ABUSE TRACKER

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Sep. 06, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

The first Catholic bishop criminally charged in the decades-long clergy sex abuse crisis was found guilty Thursday of one misdemeanor count of failing to report a priest known to be in possession of lewd images of children.

Bishop Robert Finn of the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese was sentenced to serve two years unsupervised probation, which was then suspended.

Finn and his Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese went to trial today before Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court Judge John Torrence. Each charge against Finn carried a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

When the trial started at 2:30 p.m., Torrence severed the parties, allowing Finn and the diocese to be charged separately. Torrence began with Finn’s trial, and testimony ended at about 2:50 p.m. Torrence handed down the verdict at 3:30 p.m.

Jean Peters Baker presented evidence on behalf of the prosecutors, arguing that there was a period of time between May 2010 and May 2011 that Finn should have become aware of a problem with former Kansas City priest Shawn Ratigan, who pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges in August.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
KCTV

[with video]

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) –
Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn was found guilty of failing to report an abusive priest to state authorities.

A Jackson County judge acquitted him of a second similar charge. The charges involved different time frames.

Finn apologized for his actions in court following the judge’s decision. He was placed on probation.

“I truly regret and am sorry for the hurt these events have caused,” Finn said.

Judge John Torrence issued the verdict after hearing opening remarks from Finn’s attorneys and prosecutors and reviewing documents.

“I hope this ends a chapter of history that has been a long and dark chapter,” Torrence said.

Finn was the top-ranking Catholic official in the U.S. to be charged with shielding an abusive priest. The case came to a surprising end after both sides agreed to waive a trial by jury and allow Torrence to reach a decision

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Associated Press

By BILL DRAPER, Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A judge has found a Missouri bishop guilty of one misdemeanor count for failing to report suspected child abuse by a priest, and acquitted him on a second count.

Robert Finn is the nation’s highest-ranking Catholic official charged with shielding an abusive priest. He received two years of probation, but that sentence was suspended.

The charges stem from the child pornography case of Rev. Shawn Ratigan, in which Finn and other church officials knew about photos on the priest’s computer but didn’t turn him in for six months.

Ratigan pleaded guilty in August to child porn charges.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By MARK MORRIS and JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn today became the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic official convicted during the church’s decades-long child sexual abuse scandal.

Following a short non-jury trial, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Torrence convicted Finn of one misdemeanor count of failing to report suspicions of child abuse but acquitted him on another count. Though the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph also was to be tried Thursday on the same two counts, Torrence severed the cases shortly after the proceedings opened.

The charges stemmed from the church’s handling of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, on whose laptop a diocesan vendor found hundreds of lewd photos of young girls in December 2010. Finn’s second-in-command at the diocese, Monsignor Robert Murphy, did not report the photographs to police for five months.

Finn is the first bishop in the country, and is believed to be one of only two bishops in the world, convicted of failing to report suspected child abuse. The other case happened in France.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WORCESTER (MA)
Sergio E. Carvajal – Carvajal & Nielsen, P.C.

Who: James Fairbanks and Alain Beret; Attorney Sergio Carvajal, Carvajal & Nielsen, P.C.

What: Press Conference
When: 11:30 a.m., Monday, Sept. 10, 2012

Where: Worcester Superior Court, 225 Main St., Worcester, Mass. In case of rain, the press conference will be moved to the fifth floor of the Worcester Law Library, 184 Main St. Parking is available behind the courthouse.

Why: An important announcement will be made relating to the decision of the House of Affirmation, Inc., an affiliate of the Diocese of Worcester, to pull out of the sale of Oakhurst in Northbridge, Mass., to Fairbanks and Beret after learning that the two men are gay and would potentially hold gay marriages at Oakhurst.

Visuals: Several speakers will be on hand to address the press outside the Worcester Superior Court.

Directions: 225 Main St., Worcester, Mass.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Conor Ryan

Thursday, September 06, 2012

An abuser from within the Dominican Friars played a role in national initiatives of the Catholic Church to improve responses to child abuse.

The man was alleged to have abused children in the late 1950s and early 1960. The accusations were not made until 1990. He stayed in his ministry until 1995, during which time he took part in the anti-abuse measures.

In another case a prolifically abusive priest, labelled Fr X, was told about an allegation made by a pupil in 1973.

However, the report of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) said this only led to further torment for the child. “[The boy] was sent to the headmaster and was further abused by [Fr X]. The boy then advised that this second abuse had happened, but he was not believed because the abuse was denied by Fr X.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The “most tragic wound” of clerical sexual abuse will not heal without a response from the entire Catholic Church — hierarchy and laity together — said the chief Vatican investigator of abuse cases.

“I think that slowly, slowly, slowly we are getting toward a response that is truly ecclesial — it’s not hierarchical, it’s the church. We are in this together, in suffering (from) the wound and trying to respond to it,” Msgr. Charles Scicluna told Vatican Radio.

The monsignor, whose formal title is promoter of justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke to Vatican Radio during a Sept. 4-5 conference in England titled “Redeeming Power: Overcoming Abuse in Church and Society.”

The European Society of Catholic Theology sponsored the conference at St. Mary’s University College in Twickenham as part of the International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology’s three-year research project on “the power of theology to overcome power abuse in church and society.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

SOUTH DAKOTA
San Francisco Chronicle

CHET BROKAW, Associated Press

Updated 12:39 p.m., Thursday, September 6, 2012

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday that nearly 20 former students who allege they were sexually abused decades ago at an American Indian boarding school cannot continue their lawsuits against the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls and the religious organizations that ran the school.

In two rulings, the high court upheld a trial judge’s decision to dismiss the lawsuits against the diocese and several groups that ran St. Paul’s School in Marty at the time of the alleged abuse more than 35 years ago.

The Supreme Court said the students waited too long to sue Blue Cloud Abbey of northeastern South Dakota, Pennsylvania-based Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Oblate Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament of Marty, which the school and provided priests, nuns and others to work there.

The justices also said the students cannot sue the diocese because it did not operate or control the school and it was not acting as custodians of the school’s students.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEDERLAND
de Stentor

donderdag 06 september 2012

UTRECHT – De klachtencommissie voor seksueel misbruik in de RK Kerk heeft een van de twee klachten tegen de Maastrichtse pastoor Jan Schafraad ongegrond verklaard. Er is voor de beschuldiging van seksueel misbruik te weinig ondersteunend bewijs is, blijkt uit een uitspraak van de commissie.

Twee mensen hebben tegen de pastoor een klacht ingediend. Schafraad zou hen vroeger als muziekleraar in jongensinternaat Bleijerheide seksueel hebben misbruikt. De pastoor heeft altijd ontkend. De andere klacht wordt later behandeld.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IOWA
WCF Courier

WAVERLY, Iowa — A former pastor is scheduled to report Friday morning to the Bremer County Jail, first stop on his way to prison.

Dennis Brown, 67, of Eldora, pleaded guilty in June to third-degree sexual abuse, admitting illegal contact with a 15-year-old boy. On Tuesday, the court ordered Brown to serve up to 10 years in prison but suspended a $1,000 fine.

The boy and Brown met online, according to court documents, and then in person in Waverly. The teenager’s family found out, however, and reported the incident to authorities.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
KMBC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —
A bench trial is under way for Kansas City Catholic Bishop Robert Finn.

The trial in Jackson County Court is a trial by judge and not by a jury. It started at 2:30 p.m. A decision in the case is expected this afternoon.

The bishop faces a misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse to the state in the case of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who was charged with taking indecent pictures of children.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
KCUR

By Frank Morris

The highest ranking US Catholic Church official ever to face criminal charges related to child sexual abuse is set to go to trial in Jackson County Circuit Court.

The case will be decided by a judge alone, not a jury, and could be over today.

Whose responsibility to alert officials?

Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph face charges of failing to report a priest who they knew had taken hundreds of lewd pictures of children. Two misdemeanor counts. Prosecutors say Bishop Finn was responsible for alerting state officials, but didn’t do it, until months after finding out about the photographs. Finn’s lawyers say that duty fell to a lower church official. That’s a key point of contention. The priest in question has already pleaded guilty to federal charges of producing child pornography. Many related civil suits are pending.

Bench trial avoids publicity, shields witnesses

Yesterday it came to light that lawyers and prosecutors had agreed to a one-day bench trial. Giving up a jury trial allows the diocese to avoid what would likely have been a solid week of bad publicity, and from having to find a pool of unbiased jurors. It shields witnesses from having to testify in public.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

Almost a year after Bishop Robert Finn and his diocese were charged with failing to report child-abuse suspicions, they will appear in court today to lay their case before a judge and not a jury. Members of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, spoke with the media on the courthouse steps Thursday morning to discuss their feelings about possible verdicts and how they want the case to be handled. (Video by Todd Feeback – Sept. 6, 2012)

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Voice from the Desert

From Tom Doyle: CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SELECTED SOURCES RELATED TO CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE, ECCLESIASTICAL POLITICS AND THEOLOGY AND CHURCH HISTORY, Revised September 5, 2012

First is a note from Tom Doyle, introducing the last update of his bibliography. Then is the latest version of the bibliography.

* * *
I am sending out another edition of my bibliography because I received several valuable suggestions after the last go-around. I am most grateful to Christopher Pett from the UK for his suggested entries. I have not read the books he suggested…but I just ordered them from Amazon so I’ll get to them soon.

Another plug for Ray Mouton’s IN GOD’S HOUSE. I’ve started it and have also read some reviews from Europe…..all I can say is that if you want to know how it all started and if you want to get a glimpse of the byzantine world Ray, Mike Peterson and I stumbled into, this is the place to go. I haven’t finished it yet so…..hold on for my final review.

Christopher was kind enough to suggest books by Alice Miller on the consequences of childhood abuse. I have always admitted that the weakest link in my bibliography is the section on psychology and trauma for which I depend heavily on the input of others more knowledgeable than myself. I checked on Alice Miller and find that she has published a number of books on the subject. Before adding any I want to take a closer look and also get the publication information…but they will be in the next version.

Tom

* * *

CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
OF
SELECTED SOURCES RELATED TO CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE,
ECCLESIASTICAL POLITICS AND THEOLOGY AND CHURCH HISTORY

Thomas P. Doyle

Revised September 5, 2012

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CANADA
The Ottawa Citizen

By Andrew Seymour, Ottawa Citizen September 6, 2012 1:01 PM

OTTAWA — A priest and former high school teacher admitted Thursday he indecently assaulted a male student in 1974 at Ottawa’s St. Pius high school.

Kenneth O’Keefe, 81, touched the 16-year-old when the boy slept over at his apartment.

O’Keefe told his victim not to be “foolish” when he suggested sleeping on the floor. Instead, he offered to share the bed.

“If you can’t trust a priest, who can you trust?,” O’Keefe asked.

Once in bed, the teen woke up to the priest grinding against him from behind. O’Keefe was also reaching around with his hand in the boy’s underwear, touching him.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CANADA
24 Hours

By Megan Gillis, QMI Agency

OTTAWA – The Crown is seeking six months behind bars for an 81-year-old priest who admitted Thursday to molesting a 16-year-old boy who was his student four decades ago.

Father John James Kenneth O’Keefe pleaded guilty to indecent assault on a male. He’s expected to be sentenced on Thursday afternoon.

The victim was a Grade 11 student at at St. Pius High School in the fall term of 1974 when he had a fight with his parents and went to his homeroom teacher, O’Keefe – who told students they could talk to him any time – for help.

They went to O’Keefe’s bachelor apartment, where there was only one bed so the victim said he’d sleep on the floor. O’Keefe told him not to be foolish.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 06, 2012

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging a Kansas City judge and prosecutor to delay any sentencing of embattled Bishop Robert Finn today, should he plead guilty or be found guilty of concealing child sex crimes. A copy of the letter, sent this morning by fax and e mail, is below:

*****
Dear Judge John M. Torrence:
Dear Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker:

We respectfully urge that Bishop Robert Finn not be sentenced today. Essentially he is guilty of a crime involving secrecy. He ignored and refused to listen to people who should have been listened to. It would be a shame if his case was resolved in a way that also involved secrecy and the ignoring of people who should have been listened to.

Bishop Finn wants this over as soon as possible with the least amount of public scrutiny and public input. While sentencing the Bishop today serves his interests, it does not serve the public’s interest. Nor does it help bring justice, healing and prevention.

Normally, weeks transpire between a guilty finding or plea and a criminal’s sentencing. That’s what should happen here. Bishop Finn should receive no special consideration or privileges. Doing so would only undermine public trust and faith in our justice system.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

According to Bishop R. Daniel Conlon, chair of the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference’s Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, the credibility of the Catholic bishops vis-a-vis the abuse crisis has been “shredded.” And the Catholic church now finds itself at a moment akin to the Reformation moment, in which “the episcopacy, the regular clergy, even the papacy were discredited.”

And how can things be otherwise, I wonder, when it has been revealed that the president of the USCCB, His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan, knew of and then lied about payoffs to pedophile priests in his former diocese of Milwaukee? And when, instead of coming clean and facing questions from the public after his lie was exposed, he chose the equally shameful path of shifting blame to the media and abuse survivors?

And when he then walked away from the media’s questions and hasn’t addressed them since? Though that hasn’t stopped him from attending the conventions of both major political parties in the capacity of a kingmaker, one mediating between the two sectors of power as if he’s a medieval prince of the church anointing monarchs.

Shtick ill-befitting a moral leader whose own moral credibility is in shreds–or so it seems to me as a very little person living in a faraway, powerless little place, and observing the doings of princes and kingmakers from afar. Because I’m one of those little people in faraway, powerless places who was taught–over and over again–by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, and ministers that telling a lie brings shame to myself and my family and is immoral in the extreme, I have to admit that I just don’t get the posturing. The chutzpah. The failure to address one’s loss of moral credibility even as one asserts the right to make or break kings!

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

For Immediate Release 9/6/12

Contact: Kristine Ward, Kristineward@hotmail.com, 937-272-0308

We believe Bishop Finn should be jailed for failing in his duty as a mandatory reporter in the child pornography case of Shawn Ratigan.

A strong and clear message needs to be sent to protect children. Bishops above all should stand to protect the innocent and the vulnerable. Indeed to whom much is given, much is expected.

Mandatory means mandatory not delegate, look the other way, or shield the perpetrator or protect a church’s reputation.

Bishop Finn should not seek to slide off, shrug off, or duck responsibility in this case. He should set an example. When failure in duty occurs, it should be set right. Bishops should go above and beyond what is expected.

Child pornography is a serious crime. Those who know about it should stop it.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Thursday September 06 2012

The audits of child protection practices in four dioceses and three religious orders, which were published yesterday, show that the Catholic Church still has some way to go before it fully grasps the enormity of the wrong done by priests and religious to innocent and defenceless children.

While the audits of the dioceses of Cork and Ross, Kildare and Leighlin, and Limerick were broadly positive, the same cannot be said of the diocese of Clonfert, where the current bishop, Dr John Kirby, was found to have transferred two priests against whom allegations of abuse had been made to other parishes.

Dr Kirby’s defence, that he did not know the true nature of paedophilia at the time he transferred the two priests, one in 1990 and the other in 1994, is absurd. His claim that he believed in the early 1990s that paedophilia was a case of “a friendship gone astray” is quite frankly incredible.

By the early 1990s, the full extent of the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and religious was beginning to emerge. The notorious paedophile priest Brendan Smyth had been arrested in 1991. Delays in processing his extradition to Northern Ireland led to the collapse of the Fianna Fail/Labour coalition in November 1994.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Thursday September 06 2012

IT’S almost 20 years since the Irish Catholic Church hierarchy established an ‘advisory panel’ to deal with the scourge of clerical sexual abuse.

They were on a ‘learning-curve’ then, the argument goes, and they didn’t know that the abuse of a child was a crime.

It must have been one hell of a learning curve if Bishop John Kirby’s comments on paedophilia are to be taken at face value.

Yesterday, as a report was published that showed how he had moved two priests accused of abuse to another parish in the early 1990s, the Bishop of Clonfert said he thought at the time that the abuse of a child was a “friendship that crossed a boundary line”.

Dealing with abuse, Bishop Kirby told Galway Bay FM, had been a “very difficult experience” for him.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Fox 4

September 6, 2012, by Michelle Pekarsky

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A decision could come Thursday on the charges against Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn and his diocese that they failed to report to authorities their suspicions of child pornography.

Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph face two misdemeanor counts of failing to report suspicions of child abuse. Prosecutors say they found lewd photographs of children on Shawn Ratigan’s laptop computer, but didn’t report it for six months.

On Wednesday, Finn and the diocese agreed to allow a judge to decide their guilt or innocence rather than a jury, which will avoid a lengthy and public trial. It was scheduled to begin Sept. 24.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MAINE
Courier

By Marc Filippino
Staff Writer

BIDDEFORD – A pastor who works with homeless residents has resigned from a local mission in downtown Biddeford after being charged with possessing child pornography.

James Napier, 60, a pastor and director of New Beginnings Christian Mission located at 137 Main St. in Biddeford, was arrested at his home in Alfred on Saturday, Sept. 1 and was charged with possession of sexually explicit material, according to a press release from Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

According to the release, members of the State Police Computer Crimes Unit were tipped off on Friday, Aug. 31, when a search of Napier’s computer found more than 100 images of child pornography. The charge is a felony since the children depicted appear to be younger than the age of 18, according to the release.

There was no indication any of the children in images on his computer were from Maine, according to the release.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Catholic News Service

By Michael Kelly
Catholic News Service

DUBLIN (CNS) — The latest audits of the Irish church’s handling of abuse allegations show that, while substantial progress continues to be made, as recently as a year ago there were still areas of noncompliance with agreed-upon procedures.

The reviews — carried out by the independent watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church — showed that as recently as July 2011, one religious congregation was not reporting abuse allegations to the civil authorities. The reports also show that, as recently as 12 months ago, religious congregations were not following the Vatican’s procedure on reporting all allegations to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Ian Elliott, head of the national board, said the “reviews indicate that full compliance has not yet been achieved by all of those reviewed, although many examples of excellent practice were found.”

Four dioceses and three religious congregations published the results of their independent audits Sept. 5, looking at incidents back to 1975.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Echo

By Katie Clark

MEMBERS of a church congregation will be demonstrating against the suspension of their priest in Christchurch town centre tomorrow.

People from St George’s Church in Jumpers will be meeting in Saxon Square to publicly object to the “undemocratic and unchristian manner” in which Reverend Andrew Hawthorne has been suspended.

In May, The Daily Echo reported Mr Hawthorne had been placed on gardening leave more than a year ago, leading to false rumours to spread and increasing concern among regular churchgoers. Since then, the priest has been formally suspended and is now not even allowed to enter the church, where he was once minster.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
ABC Radio National

[with audio]

Broadcast: Wednesday 5 September 2012 5:30PM (view full episode)

A Catholic priest has been charged with two counts of so-called misprision of a felony. Police claim that Fr Tom Brennan failed to report to authorities allegations of sex crimes that a fellow priest is alleged to have committed against two boys in the late 1970s. At the time, Fr Brennan was principal of St Pius X school in Newcastle, where a man accused of sexual offences, now former priest John Denham, taught. Fr Brennan has also been charged with assault for allegedly caning the two boys when they reported the alleged instances to him.

This case stirs up memories of a recent trial in the United States, where Monsignor William Lynn of Philadelphia has been sent to jail. He was not a sex offender himself but moved priests whom he knew were offenders between parishes, rather than reporting them to police. Dr Andrew Morrison, a barrister, senior counsel, and NSW spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, explains why the case of Fr Tom Brennan so important.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY Michael O’Keeffe

A federal judge in Brooklyn has ordered officials at Poly Prep Country Day School to produce the names of current and former members of the board of trustees from 1966 until the present.

United States Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak issued the order on Aug. 30, two days after U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block ruled that he will allow portions of an explosive sex-abuse lawsuit to proceed against the elite private school.

Lawyers for the 12 plaintiffs who claim they were sexually abused by longtime Poly Prep football coach Phil Foglietta had asked the court in June to compel the school to produce the names, last known addresses and dates of service for all current and former members of the board.

The plaintiffs, according to Pollak’s order, said they wanted the information to “ascertain the acts, omissions, and culpability of individual trustees in order to determine how to proceed with plaintiff’s remaining claims.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Majella O’Sullivan

Thursday September 06 2012

A FIANNA Fail senator has called for the resignation of the Bishop of Clonfert, Dr John Kirby, accusing him of being “unfit for leadership”.

Senator Mark Daly said Bishop Kirby had difficulty distinguishing right from wrong and should step down from his leadership role within the Church.

An audit by the church’s child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) published yesterday found that Dr Kirby had transferred two abusive priests from one parish to another in 1990 and 1994, although the abuse had been reported to the civil authorities.

Dr Kirby admitted he made “a grave mistake” but said he believed, at the time, paedophilia to be a “friendship that had gone astray”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Colm Kelpie, Ed Carty and Caroline Crawford

Thursday September 06 2012

A bishop was at the centre of intense controversy last night after it emerged he moved paedophile priests from one parish to another.

Dr John Kirby of the Diocese of Clonfert had explained his actions by stating he believed paedophilia to be a “friendship that had gone astray”.

The church’s child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC), detailed a litany of child protection failures in its latest audits focusing on four dioceses, and, for the first time, three religious congregations.

It reserved some of its most scathing criticisms for two of the congregations, highlighting that information about serial abusers was not passed on to the gardai and that one order maintained a “culture of secrecy”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Majella O’Sullivan

Thursday September 06 2012

A FIANNA Fail senator has called for the resignation of the Bishop of Clonfert, Dr John Kirby, accusing him of being “unfit for leadership”.

Senator Mark Daly said Bishop Kirby had difficulty distinguishing right from wrong and should step down from his leadership role within the Church.

An audit by the church’s child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) published yesterday found that Dr Kirby had transferred two abusive priests from one parish to another in 1990 and 1994, although the abuse had been reported to the civil authorities.

Dr Kirby admitted he made “a grave mistake” but said he believed, at the time, paedophilia to be a “friendship that had gone astray”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Newstalk

The culture of denial is endemic in the Catholic Church world-wide according to a Dublin Augustinian priest.

Michael Mernagh says if an audit was done of every religious congregation in the country many more cases of child abuse and their cover-up would be revealed.

His comments follow the publication of the reports of 7 audits of religious congregations and dioceses by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church yesterday.

They found more than 330 allegations of abuse against 146 priests and members of congregations.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

[Safeguarding Reviews 2nd Tranche – September 2012]

Thursday, September 06, 2012

A Dublin priest has said that if an audit were done of every religious congregation in the country, many more cases of child abuse – and their cover-up – would be revealed.

The reports of seven audits of religious congregations and dioceses by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church were released yesterday.

They found more than 330 allegations of abuse against 146 priests and members of congregations.

Records dating back to 1975 were examined in the dioceses of Clonfert in Galway, Cork and Ross, Limerick and Kildare and Leighlin, as well as the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, the Dominicans and the Congregation of the Holy Spirit.

Augustinian priest in Meath Street in Dublin Michael Mernagh said many still refused to acknowledge the nature and extent of abuse carried out by members of the Church.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CALIFORNIA
KPCC

A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Wednesday by an alleged victim of Catholic priest abuse is just the first, activists say, after a California Court of Appeal ruling last week opened the door to additional lawsuits in these cases.

A Sacramento woman, referred to as Jane Doe SS in the suit, filed the civil suit against the L.A. Catholic Archdiocese and St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs. The woman alleges that she was a 15-year-old student at the school in 1980 when Michael Nocita, a Catholic priest and teacher there at the time, sexually abused her on school grounds during school hours.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (an activist organization also known as SNAP) announced the lawsuit outside St. Paul High School. SNAP Western Regional Director Joelle Casteix called last week’s court ruling a “landmark” decision for California alleged victims of California Catholic priest abuse.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on September 5, 2012

so says Bishop Finn of Kansas City in his decision to have a bench trial instead of a jury verdict on his criminal charges of failure to report child sexual abuse.

Hopefully, the judge will give victims the justice and accountability they deserve. Let’s just hope that NY’s Cardinal Dolan doesn’t blame Fr. Shawn Ratigan’s six-year-old victims for causing such “shame” to the church.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Colm Kelpie

Thursday September 06 2012

SERIAL abusers went undetected and unchecked with one religious congregation maintaining a “culture of secrecy”, audits of three orders found.

It is the first time that religious congregations have been audited by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSC), with some of the most scathing criticisms reserved for the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

The Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog focused on three congregations — the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC); the Irish Province of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (the Spiritans) and the Dominican Friars.

The NBSC stated that its leadership not only failed to pass allegations to the gardai and health chiefs, but also maintained an air of secrecy within their own community.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Mark Vincent Healy

Thursday September 06 2012

THE national audit and review of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit is to be broadly welcomed. The report’s findings are an appalling litany of failures to victims and their families and to those who are no longer with us to see the report publicised.

The management of some allegations raised after 1996, when clear guidelines were established in the Catholic Church, makes for harrowing reading. It is particularly appalling that some allegations were not reported to the civil authorities for up to four years after the congregation was informed.

Consider the implications of a victim coming forward who has been horrendously damaged by sexual abuse from childhood by a member of the Spiritans (Holy Ghost Fathers) and who received no support for more than four years from the HSE or the Garda.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk
Sep 6, 2012

Word out of Kansas City is that Bishop Robert Finn and his diocese will be spared the indignity of a trial by jury later this month on criminal misdemeanor charges of failing to report a suspected pedophile priest to the proper civil authorities. Instead, a judge today will hear evidence agreed upon by prosecution and defense, then render an immediate verdict.

To this old courthouse reporter it sounds like a plea bargain without the plea. A year ago, a diocese-commissioned report by a former U.S. attorney laid out the facts of the case in such a way as to leave no doubt that Finn & Co. not only failed to follow their own procedures but also ignored Missouri’s reporting law in the process. The bishop will presumably claim that he didn’t mean to break the law. The judge will presumably be unimpressed. I predict a fine plus probation. A little community service would be nice.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Ralph Riegel

Thursday September 06 2012

FRESH concerns emerged over how church dioceses share information after a report revealed that three priests who retired to Ireland had child abuse convictions.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) published its review of child protection practices in the diocese yesterday.

The NBSC focused particular attention on priests who retired to the diocese from overseas, or who spent considerable time here in their retirement .

Three of these were found to have child abuse convictions from overseas. One man has now been removed from the priesthood.

None are the focus of any abuse complaints in relation to the Diocese of Cork and Ross — and none had any involvement with church activities or children’s groups here. But the NBSC said it was crucial that proper information be shared between dioceses.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Cork Independent

Posted on 06/09/2012

by Peter Horgan @horganp

“There is no place in the church for those who would harm the young.”

That was the message from Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr John Buckley, at the launch of the Audit and Review of Safeguarding Practice in the diocese of Cork and Ross.

Twenty six priests were the subject of allegations of abuse from 1975 to the present day, with 50 allegations in total being made in that period. The majority of the abuse allegations happened between 1989 and 2011 with the abuse itself occurring in the 60s and 70s. Church authorities could not give the date of the most recent case of abuse.

Of the 26 priests accused of abuse, eight are now dead. Three have returned to ministry and 15 are either out of ministry and under supervision or have left the priesthood.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Limerick Post

by Bernie English

Thursday, 06 September 2012

ALMOST quarter-of-a-million Euros in compensation, excluding legal fees, has been paid out in the last six months by the Diocese of Limerick in agreed settlement to survivors of clerical child sex abuse, it has been revealed.

When asked by the Limerick Post during a press conference, Diocesan administrator, Fr Tony Mullins, revealed that for the first time the diocese has paid money to survivors.

And it has emerged that the late Bishop Jeremiah Newman allowed a priest to minister in Limerick despite “apparently having knowledge of his abusive behaviour in England”.

The total cost of the settlements, which were agreed through a process of negotiation, was €323,000 including legal fees, with compensation to the two individuals making up €220,000.
The information emerged during a press briefing on the publication of the Review of Safeguarding Practice in the Diocese of Limerick undertaken by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI).

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Barry Duggan

Thursday September 06 2012

A BISHOP of Limerick allowed a priest with a child abuse conviction to serve in his diocese despite knowing of the cleric’s previous criminal behaviour.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) audit believes the priest, who moved from overseas, went on to abuse children again.

Bishop Jeremiah Newman allowed him work in Limerick for less than a year in the ’80s, before he was removed.

The report found that it was only after Dr Newman’s successor, Dr Donal Murray, became bishop that children’s welfare became a priority in Limerick.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
The Australian

AAP
September 06, 2012

THE criminal case against the highest-ranking Catholic official in the US to be charged with shielding an abusive priest is headed for a swift ending after prosecutors and the bishop’s lawyer agreed Wednesday to let a judge – not jurors – decide the case.

Lawyers for Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn and prosecutors will have their case tried by a judge Thursday, weeks ahead of a scheduled Sept. 24 jury trial on misdemeanour charges that Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph failed to report suspected child abuse. The judge is expected to reach a verdict later that day.

The charges stem from the Rev. Shawn Ratigan’s child porn case, in which church officials knew about photos on the priest’s computer but didn’t turn him in for six months. Finn has argued that he was not the diocese’s mandated reporter under the law – at the time, the responsibility rested mainly with Vicar General Robert Murphy – so Finn should not face charges.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

ITALY
Chiesa

His last interview, published posthumously, has ignited the controversy. The leading authorities of the Church have ignored it, with the sole exception of Cardinal Ruini. One more reason to analyze it critically

by Sandro Magister

ROME, September 6, 2012 – “Cardinal Martini did not leave us a spiritual testament in the explicit sense of the word. His inheritance is entirely in his life and in his magisterium, and we must continue to draw on it for a long time. He did, however, choose the phrase to be written on his grave, taken from Psalm 119 [118]: ‘A lamp to my feet is your word, a light to my path.’ In this way, he himself has given us the key to interpret his existence and his ministry.”

With these words, spoken on September 3 in the homily at the funeral for his predecessor, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Angelo Scola, revoked the qualification of “spiritual testament” from the interview with Martini published the day after his death by “Corriere della Sera”:

> L’ultima intervista: “Chiesa indietro di 200 anni. Perché non si scuote, perché abbiamo paura?”

In effect, if this interview were truly the quintessence of Martini’s legacy for the Church and the world – as those responsible for it want it to be believed – the figure of the deceased cardinal would correspond precisely to that label of “anti-pope” which was applied to him over the years by circles inside and outside of the Church, but which clashes strongly with the lofty and heartfelt attestations of esteem expressed repeatedly toward him by Benedict XVI himself, most recently in his unusual message for the archdiocese of Milan on the day of the funeral of the one who was its archbishop from 1979 to 2002:

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

BOSTON (MA)
Boston Catholic Insider

On August 18, The Economist published an article entitled, “The Catholic Church in America: Earthly concerns” which somewhat accurately portrays the financial state of many dioceses in the U.S. but which also made some inaccurate statements or implications about Boston. A number of readers have asked us to comment on this, and today we take a few moments to belatedly do so.

This excerpt gives the gist of the article:

The sexual-abuse scandals of the past 20 years have brought shame to the church around the world. In America they have also brought financial strains…The church’s finances look poorly co-ordinated considering (or perhaps because of) their complexity. The management of money is often sloppy. And some parts of the church have indulged in ungainly financial contortions in some cases—it is alleged—both to divert funds away from uses intended by donors and to frustrate creditors with legitimate claims, including its own nuns and priests. The dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy may not be typical of the church as a whole. But given the overall lack of openness there is no way of knowing to what extent they are outliers. Thousands of claims for damages following sexual-abuse cases, which typically cost the church over $1m per victim, according to lawyers involved, have led to a liquidity crisis.

That much is accurate. But later, the article said the following:

Some dioceses have, in effect, raided priests’ pension funds to cover settlements and other losses. The church regularly collects money in the name of priests’ retirement. But in the dioceses that have gone bust lawyers and judges confirm that those funds are commingled with other investments, which makes them easily diverted to other uses. Under Cardinal Bernard Law, the archdiocese of Boston contributed nothing to its clergy retirement fund between 1986 and 2002, despite receiving an estimated $70m-90m in Easter and Christmas offerings that many parishioners believed would benefit retired priests.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

VICTIMS OF clerical sex abuse could be forgiven for feeling revulsion and rage over the manner in which members of the Catholic hierarchy and religious congregations delayed the implementation of procedures and guidelines designed to protect children and to report criminal behaviour to the Garda Síochána. The latest review by the National Board for Safeguarding Children concludes that while progress has been made on these issues, full compliance is some way off.

The importance of the work being done by the board was reflected by the immediate acceptance of its criticisms and recommendations by the four dioceses and the three religious congregations concerned. The fact that it took a review by this church-appointed body to ensure child protection guidelines are implemented is, however, a cause for concern. It is clear that remnants of a culture involving denial, cover-up and the administrative transfers of offenders still persist.

As on previous occasions, outpourings of remorse and apologies to victims have followed these reports. They deal with offences going back to 1975. In some dioceses, lessons have been learned and strict procedures introduced. In others, progress has been slow and achieved reluctantly.

There was little change from traditional responses to abuse within the three religious congregations reviewed and the inspectors recorded their shock and dismay. In one congregation it found “a complete disregard for victims”; in another, there was no awareness of the impact of child sexual abuse. All three have offered a new approach and a commitment to change.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IOWA
WOWT

[with video]

Investigators in a sexual abuse case involving a former Harlan, Iowa man believe there are more victims out there.

Sixty-eight-year-old Bobby Smith of Eldorado, Missouri has been charged with three counts of third-degree sexual abuse. The alleged victim is from Harlan and claims the abuse happened 14 years ago at a Council Bluffs motel.

Smith is being held at the Pottawattamie County Jail, accused of abusing a 12-year-old boy. It’s something that just doesn’t happen in a small town like Harlan, but the alleged victim says he was taken away from this small town in 1998 when he was 12 and sexually abused.

At the time, Smith was the teacher of the Midweek Children’s Program at First Baptist Church in Harlan. Pastor Dan Hawn has been with the church for two years. “Once he was arrested and it was public knowledge, we then sent a letter to our church family to inform them of the allegations and make them aware.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

OREGON
KATU

[with video]

PORTLAND, Ore. – An Oregon woman who has accused two former church leaders of sexual abuse is now suing the church for ignoring it for years.

The 29-year-old woman filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday, suing the Apostolic Faith Church for the abuse she claims happened more than 20 years ago. Neither of the men she named in the lawsuit were ever arrested or charged with a crime.

The woman, who agreed to tell her story if her name was not disclosed, said the Apostolic Faith Church ignored her repeated pleas for help. She said starting at the age of 4, the assistant minister and a day care worker at the church each sexually abused her.

“I really didn’t know that was wrong. I was too young to decipher,” she said Wednesday.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Philadelphia Inquirer

By David Clohessy

Ten years ago this summer, America’s Catholic bishops pledged to aggressively investigate allegations of sexual predation by clerics, to show “zero tolerance” for abuse, and to be transparent about the problem. Since then, however, church officials have consistently lined up to protect themselves and their clergy in case after case.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. bishops recently cited a Pew survey that showed seven of 10 Catholics are “satisfied” with the prelates’ performance, up from 51 percent a decade ago. The bishops’ 2002 “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” has proven to be mostly a public-relations campaign, and the Pew numbers suggest it has worked to an extent. But most of what the church hierarchy has actually done over the past decade amounts to mere motion, not progress.

For example, church officials have required that thousands of teachers, janitors, clerks, and organists around the country undergo background checks and training to recognize signs of abuse upon being hired by Catholic institutions – though few accusations of abuse have involved organists or janitors. The church also set up review panels, advisory boards, and “auditors” to oversee parish programs and policies, but they are toothless entities staffed and controlled by the bishops.

At best, these policies do no harm. Perhaps a background check has kept a child molester or two from being hired to teach or clean floors at a Catholic school. And because of all the expensive training, thousands of lay Catholics no doubt know more about abuse. However, when the church leadership learns of an allegation of abuse, it still prefers to conduct its own investigation and, more often than not, attempt to discredit the victim. And when it became clear that 37 priests accused of sexual misbehavior were still at their parish jobs in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, it was clear that the archdiocese’s review board had no idea about many of them.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PENNSYLVANIA
EIN News

Proposed Pennsylvania bill would give victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to hold abusers accountable for their actions

September 06, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ — Penn State Scandal May Change State Law, Extend Time to File Charges

It is a piece of legislation that is more than six years in the making. The proposal aims to give victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to hold abusers accountable for their actions, allowing an extension on filing deadlines for civil and criminal suits.

A bill attempting to reduce the rate of these injuries to children should easily make it through the legislature and be passed, so why the delay? The House Judiciary Committee chairman has been notoriously reluctant to advance bills addressing this issue. One likely reason: pressure from the Catholic Church.

Details of the Bill

The bill is designed to amend existing state law. Currently, a victim in Pennsylvania has until the age of thirty to file a civil suit against an alleged sexual predator. The bill would extend this statute of limitations, giving the victim until the age of fifty (with very few exceptions) to file a claim.

In addition, victims are currently only able to bring a criminal charge against an alleged abuser before the victim reached the age of 50. The amendment would remove the statute of limitations on criminal suits, allowing a victim to hold an abuser criminally liable at any time (under limited circumstances).

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

SOUTH CAROLINA
SCNow

By: Ellen Meder | SCNow
Published: September 04, 2012

CHERAW, S.C. —
Former Fourth Circuit Solicitor Jay Hodge said Tuesday that a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against him by two Cheraw residents contains “lies” and is an attack based on a personal vendetta.

“The parents who’ve entrusted their children to me for 35 years will know that this is a lie,” Hodge said. “Once the names of these two alleged victims are revealed, then many other people who don’t know me will also know it’s a lie.”

The two men who brought the suit against the Boy Scouts of America, the Pee Dee Area Council Boy Scouts of America, First Presbyterian Church of Cheraw, Hodge and the estate of William C. Hebard, allege that they were the victims of past sexual abuse while in the care of Hodge and Hebard, adult scout leaders with Troop 663, which is sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Cheraw. The suit, filed in Chesterfield County Court, alleges that Hodge and the now deceased Hebard engaged in various sexual acts with two unnamed plaintiffs between 1975 and 1980.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

OREGON
The Oregonian

By Stuart Tomlinson, The Oregonian

The rules at the Apostolic Faith Church in Portland in the 1980s were very strict: Women and girls wore skirts and long-sleeved shirts. No makeup, no jewelry, no TV.

What wasn’t strict, a $5.25 million lawsuit alleges, was the church’s policy about hiring men to work in the church’s daycare center or as assistant pastors.

On Wednesday, a 30-year-old Portland woman known only under the pseudonym “HK” in the lawsuit, said she was sexually abused by daycare worker James Sheals and assistant pastor Walt Smith. The abuse started when she was 4 and ended when she was 8, spanning 1986 through 1990, she said at a news conference.

Attorney Kelly Clark said church officials knew they had a widespread problem with pedophiles operating inside the church, but did nothing about it.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

SOUTH CAROLINA
Carolina Live

by Tonya Brown

NewsChannel 15 has learned the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office and the State Law Enforcement Division have been asked to look into sexual abuse allegations against Jay Hodge.

We’re waiting to learn if the agencies will investigate.

Hodge is accused of molesting two brothers, ages 10 and 11, when he was a Boy Scout leader between 1975 and 1980.

The men, now 47 and 48 years old, have filed a civil lawsuit against Hodge, Boy Scouts of America, (http://www.scouting.org/) Pee Dee Area Council Boy Scouts of America, (http://www.peedeescouts.org/) First Presbyterian Church of Cheraw, and the Estate of William Hebard. They are seeking unspecified damages. …

The lawsuit says Boy Scouts of America, Pee Dee Area Council Boy Scouts of America, and First Presbyterian Church all failed to report Hebard and Hodge to law enforcement and failed to exclude them from acting as Scout leaders.

It says they continued to let Hodge and Hebard be involved in Boy Scout activities after learning of the alleged abuse.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: September 5, 2012

The trial of Bishop Robert W. Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph on charges of failure to report suspected child abuse has been moved up to Thursday and will be decided by a judge, not a jury. The change was made public in a court filing on Wednesday, and avoids a lengthy public trial that was set to start Sept. 24. Bishop Finn is the first Roman Catholic prelate in the country to be indicted in the sexual abuse scandals. He and the diocese each face two misdemeanor counts of failing to report hundreds of lewd photographs of young girls on a laptop computer belonging to the Rev. Shawn Ratigan. Father Ratigan pleaded guilty to pornography charges in August.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Patch

By Karen Sorensen

The Catholic Church’s failure to address and fix the widespread problem of sexual abuse in its ranks has left the reputation of its hierarchy “shredded,” Diocese of Joliet Bishop Daniel Conlon told staffers.

Conlon, who chaired the bishops’ Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, said it was an “illusion” to believe the church could repair its credibility by implementing new policies on child protection while doing “some decent publicity.”

Conlon was quoted in a speech he gave in August to a conference of staffers who oversee child safety programs in American dioceses in an article in the Aug. 30 edition of Origins, according to the Religion News Service.

The situation is akin to the Reformation, when “the episcopacy, the regular clergy, even the papacy were discredited,” he said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Central

By
CATHY HAYES,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Thursday, September 6, 2012, 7:18 AM

Galway bishop Dr John Kirby has apologized for his part in the movement of two priests who abused children in the Clonfert dioceses.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Kirby said there were no guidelines in place when he moved the two priests in the 1990s. The bishop said at the time he believed that separating the priests from the victims was the solution. He said he understood that the sexual abuse being reported was simply “that it was a friendship that crossed boundary line.”

On Newstalk’s “Lunchtime” show the chief executive of Barnardos, a charity for vulnerable children, described Kirby’s excuse as “Childish, puerile, infantile.”

Reacting to Kirby’s comments, Ian Elliot the chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, said, “Care needs to be taken when appointing a bishop that you do not appoint a bishop with these attitudes.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

[Safeguarding Reviews 2nd Tranche – September 2012]

By Louise Hogan

Thursday September 06 2012

ONE priest was convicted of sexual abuse after 18 allegations were made against 10 priests in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin over almost four decades.

An in-depth review by the church’s child safety watchdog, the church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC), yesterday moved to issue 12 recommendations to make child safety structures “more robust” in the diocese covering 56 parishes from Kildare to Wexford.

While not highly critical of child safety measures, the board stated it was “regrettable” that not all of the suggestions to improve child safeguarding contained in an independent consultant’s report from six years ago had been followed up.

Monsignor Brendan Byrne, Diocesan administrator, said work was already under way on fulfilling the recommendations, including the appointment of a lay person as a ‘designated person’ on the child safeguarding team.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Caroline Crawford

Thursday September 06 2012

CONCERNS about two priests who abused children in the Clonfert diocese had been raised in their previous ministries.

The two men, who had both come to the diocese from religious orders, then went on to abuse children after their transfer to the Clonfert diocese.

However, information highlighting concerns about the two men was not passed on to their new bishop.

Speaking yesterday at the launch of the report into the Clonfert Diocese, Bishop John Kirby said he believed the men may have abused even more children while in the diocese. However, no further allegations ever came to light.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Connaught Tribune

September 6, 2012

by Enda Cunningham

The Bishop of Clonfert has issued a personal apology for sexual abuse carried out by two priests in his diocese, admitting that it was “gross innocence” that led him to deal with the priests by transferring them to new parishes.

And Dr John Kirby told the Connacht Tribune that while he did not consider resigning at any point, he would be “gone in the morning” if he dealt with abuse allegations in the same manner today.

In fact, there were complaints about a total of seven priests who either worked, served or lived in the diocese.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Limerick Leader

By Mike Dwane
Published on Thursday 6 September 2012

THE Diocese of Limerick has confirmed that it has paid out €220,000 this year to two people who made allegations of child sexual abuse against priests.

Once legal fees were factored in, the total bill came to around €320,000 – but the diocese stressed that the cost of the settlements did not come from mass collections.

It has also emerged that there are currently five priests living in Limerick who have been removed from ministry after being the subject of abuse complaints.

Although all five cases were investigated by gardai – including one priest who was the subject of complaints from seven people – none of the men has ever been prosecuted. The five are being housed by and have their living expenses met by the Diocese of Limerick.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Advocates for Jewish victims of child sex abuse cancel meeting with Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes

By Reuven Blau / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Advocates for Jewish victims of childhood sexual abuse cancelled a meeting with Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, charging he has ignored their push for reforms.

Several leading Jewish advocates are angry Hynes still refuses to list names of the alleged molesters in the Jewish community, reach out to educate yeshivas, or take action against rabbis and other community officials who harass and intimidate victims.

“This is the same game. Since he has to appease the rabbis in Brooklyn he should send all the Jewish cases to Staten Island,” fumed Mark Meyer Appel, founder of Voice of Justice, a child advocacy group, referring to Hynes’ decision to defer the Vito Lopez investigation due to political ties.

Hynes chief spokesman said the meeting had merely been postponed due to scheduling conflicts. “It’s an ongoing process,” Jerry Schmetterer said. “We are all happy on this end to continue.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Jackson County prosecutors and attorneys for Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph have agreed to have a judge hear their case weeks before their scheduled jury trial date. …

Judge John Torrence will hear the case at 2:30 p.m. Thursday and is expected to reach a verdict later that day.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Digital Journal

By Greta McClain
Sep 5, 2012

New York- Last week Fr. Benedict Groeschel, a prominent Catholic priest, found himself in the eye of a controversial storm after he made statements blaming children for sexual abuse. Reactions to his his comments were swift and fierce.

Many organizations and individuals expressed their outrage over Groeschel’s comments, as well as asking why leaders within the Catholic Church have called his statements wrong, but have issued no form of disciplinary action for the remarks. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) issued a statement calling for Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Daniel Conlon to immediately censure Groeschel. The statement went on to say

“Dolan should speak not only because he is the Catholic leader of America, but also because both Groeschel and his order are based in New York, thus falling under Dolan’s supervision. Conlon should speak because he is the chair of the USCCB Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, and should know firsthand the devastation that sex abuse wreaks on a child.”

Mark Crawford, leader of the New Jersey SNAP office, issued the following statement:

“Benedict treated many priests with credible allegations of clergy abuse. If the Archdiocese of NY was so quick to distance themselves from his [Groeschel] remarks, then what are they doing about all the priests he “cleared” for return to the ministry, because they were seduced by young boys?
The Salesian who molested me and many other boys was counseled by Benedict Groeschel before the abuses we now know about. I know there were others which were never disclosed publicly and perhaps that is why he was sent to Benedict in the first place.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Galway Advertiser

By Martina Nee

The Bishop of Clonfert this week apologised for the mistakes make at a time when allegations and complaints of child sexual abuse were made against priests in the diocese adding that guidelines and policies have now been put in place to ensure that these mistakes are not repeated.

Speaking yesterday following the publication of a report by The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCCI) Bishop John Kirby referred to his dealings of allegations made against two priests and admitted that at the time he had been “unaware of the recidivous nature, of the compulsive nature, of sexual abuse”.

“I felt it was a friendship that had gone astray and that was wrong. I now know how bad that was, it was a grave mistake. It was not acceptable. Now my understanding is much greater and much deeper that it was at that time and I apologise profusely for the mistakes that I made at the time”.

The audits were in relation to four dioceses and, for the first time, three religious congregations looking at child protection practices and involved the examination of a total of 330 allegations of abuse against 146 priests and members of those congregations around the country. Clonfert Diocese is one of the smallest of 26 Catholic dioceses in the country with 24 parishes across east Galway, and parts of counties Roscommon and Offaly.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

ANALYSIS: It is risible for a bishop to suggest he thought in the early 1990s that the sex abuse of a child was ‘a friendship that crossed a boundary’, writes PATSY McGARRY

ANYBODY WHO believed, even hoped, that the Catholic Church in Ireland had passed the peak of its clerical child sex abuse crisis must be in despair. The findings in the seven reviews of child protection practices in four dioceses and three religious congregations published yesterday were “disappointing”, said Ian Elliott, with remarkable restraint.

Chief executive of the church’s child protection watchdog, its National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC), he led the reviews in the dioceses of Clonfert, Cork Ross, Kildare Leighlin, Limerick, as well as the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart congregation, the male Dominican congregation and the Spiritan, better known to most people as the Holy Ghost Fathers.

Those who have defended the church on the basis of the “historical” nature of abuse complaints against priests must feel sickened by these reports. Despite their valiant efforts at upholding a beleaguered and beloved institution, they too have been badly let down by senior church figures, again, when it comes to implementing basic child safeguarding practices.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

[Safeguarding Reviews 2nd Tranche – September 2012]

MARY CAROLAN

STATEMENT: AN APOLOGY by the Spiritan Congregation for the “appalling legacy” of decades of child abuse by 47 priests is “hollow” unless the order properly cares for the known victims and seeks out the unknown, an abuse survivor said.

Mark Vincent Healy said he was in contact with about 30 victims but there must be many more. A total of 47 priests had abused children but the Spiritans hadn’t asked who they were, he said. “Have they even looked for them? Go find the lost sheep.”

Mr Healy was abused between 1968-73 by the late Fr Henry Maloney at St Mary’s College, Rathmines. Maloney was convicted in 2009 of abusing Mr Healy and Paul Daly, who died last May. The priest had previously been convicted of child abuse in 2000. After St Mary’s, he was transferred to Sierra Leone.

Mr Healy noted a Catholic Church watchdog’s review of the Spiritans’ handling of 142 abuse allegations had identified leadership failures that caused many children “a lifetime of distress” and was “not glowing” about the congregation’s current child protection measures. A matter as serious as child protection “cannot be fudged” and the current measures showed a “surprising laxity”, he believed.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

MARY CAROLAN

HOLY GHOSTS: A REVIEW of child safeguarding practices in the Holy Ghost congregation has found “unacceptable failures” over decades to protect children from 47 alleged abusing priests in its schools here.

The Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC), also expressed “grave concerns” that an abuser removed from ministry in 1995 was on an internet forum just last year. Another, unknown to the congregation leaders, was until recently engaged in temporary ministry despite not having the order’s required clearance document.

These cases raised issues about the effectiveness of monitoring in the congregation, the review said.

The Spiritans run several well-known schools in Ireland. Four are in Dublin – Blackrock College, St Mary’s College, Templeogue College and St Michael’s College. A fifth, Rockwell College, is in Co Tipperary.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

ALISON HEALY in Carlow

Kildare and Leighlin: EIGHTEEN ALLEGATIONS of sexual abuse were made against 10 priests in the diocese of Kildare and Leighlin between January 1975 and last May, according to the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.

It made 12 recommendations which the diocese “accepted in full”, its administrator Msgr Brendan Byrne said. The diocese has been without a bishop since Dr Jim Moriarty resigned in April 2010, following publication of the Murphy report.

The audit noted that the Kildare and Leighlin diocese “has had relatively few cases to deal with”. The diocese covers 56 parishes in Co Carlow and parts of Kildare, Laois, Offaly, Kilkenny, Wicklow and Wexford.

Of the 10 priests against whom allegations were made, two are still alive. One of those, Fr Peter Cribben, was convicted of the abuse of a 14-year-old boy in March 2009. Charges have not been brought against the second priest. Msgr Byrne said both were “completely out of ministry” and under diocesan supervision.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

DAVID RALEIGH

LIMERICK DIOCESE: DR DONAL Murray was praised in yesterday’s audit of the Limerick diocese for implementing “robust safeguards” to deal with allegations against Limerick priests, despite having been forced to resign as the bishop of Limerick in 2009 over his handling of allegations of clerical child sexual abuse in the Dublin archdiocese.

The report on the audit of the Limerick diocese’s child safeguarding procedures said Dr Murray was “credited with putting in place in the diocese robust safeguards and prompt responses to allegations of abuse”.

“The vacuum created by his departure is still felt in the diocese, though the presence of the diocesan administrator, Fr Tony Mullins, enables the business of safeguarding children to remain a central focus in the diocese,” the report said. “Significantly, the departure of Bishop Murray had a major influence on the confidence of diocesan staff in carrying out their safeguarding duties.”

The audit by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland singles out Dr Murray’s predecessor, Bishop Jeremiah Newman, for inadequate handling of dealing with allegations, although it does not name him.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

BARRY ROCHE

MONITORING: BISHOP JOHN Buckley and child protection officers in the diocese of Cork and Ross yesterday moved to allay fears regarding any risk to children from a group of convicted clerics resident in the diocese but monitored from the UK.

Three of the five clerics mentioned by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in its audit of child protection practices in Cork and Ross have convictions in the UK for child sexual abuse but all five have retired to or come on holidays to the diocese of Cork and Ross.

Responsibility for monitoring the five priests lies with their home dioceses in the UK. The audit was critical of church authorities in the UK for not making information on the five priests more readily available to the diocese of Cork and Ross.

However, Cork and Ross child protection officer Cleo Yates moved to offer reassurance, saying the diocese had worked to ensure they were properly supervised.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

BARRY ROCHE

CORK AND ROSS: THE DIOCESE of Cork and Ross substantially met the main standards set down by the church in terms of protecting children, the National Board for Safeguarding Children found (NBSC).

Cork and Ross had fully met 42 of the 47 standards set down by the Catholic Church in its guidance document published in 2009 while it had partially met the remaining five standards, the NBSC found.

“I welcome the positive outcome to this report and its recommendations which will further enhance our safeguarding service,” said Bishop John Buckley yesterday.

“The review will be a source of assurance to the people of the diocese and a confirmation the diocese is taking its obligations in relation to child protection very seriously.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

BARRY ROCHE, Southern Correspondent

BOARDING SCHOOL: GARDAÍ HAVE confirmed that they expect to forward a file to the DPP before the end of the month on allegations of clerical child sexual and physical abuse at a former boys’ boarding school run by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

Gardaí in Cobh and Glanmire in Co Cork have spent the past year investigating complaints of abuse made by former pupils of the Sacred Heart College in Carrignavar relating to the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

The complaints are of a historical nature and relate to when the college was a boarding school run by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, whose members were among the teaching staff involved in the education at the time of about 200 boarders and 150 day pupils.

Originally a seminary, the school, which became coeducational in 1987, ceased taking boarders in 1995, the same year that the first lay principal was appointed.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY

SACRED HEART: THE NATIONAL Board for Safeguarding Children review of the Sacred Heart Missionaries (MSC) found the congregation’s child protection policies were “deeply flawed”.

It said it was “difficult to express adequately the failure of this society to effectively protect vulnerable children”.

The congregation “failed to take account of admissions by perpetrators by passing them on to the appropriate authorities. It even failed to alert other church authorities of the risks posed by identified individuals.”

Leaders at the congregation “failed to discharge their responsibilities to protect vulnerable young people who would come in contact with members against whom credible allegations had been made or who had admitted to abuse”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

[Safeguarding Reviews 2nd Tranche – September 2012]

FIONA GARTLAND

DOMINICANS: ALLEGATIONS OF sexual abuse have been made against 27 Dominican friars since 1975, a review of that order has found.

Some 52 allegations were reported to gardaí, concerning the 27 friars, and two friars were convicted of offences against children.

One friar who had allegations made against him in 1990 was allowed to continue in ministry until 1995 and took part in national church initiatives aimed at improving responses to allegations of abuse.

The Review of Safeguarding Practice in the Irish Province of Dominican Friars, by The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, said 12 of the 27 friars with allegations against them were alive at the time of the review.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

JOHN FALLON

CLONFERT: THE BISHOP of Clonfert Dr John Kirby has said it never occurred to him that he should consider resigning after it emerged that he had moved two priests at the centre of child sex abuse allegations to other parishes in the 1990s.

He also dismissed a suggestion that it was unwritten church policy in the early 1990s to move priests suspected of abusing children to other parishes rather than report them to the Garda.

Dr Kirby (73) said he “hadn’t a clue” about how paedophiles operated 20 years ago and thought that it was a case of “a friendship that crossed a boundary line”.

Dr Kirby, who has been bishop of Clonfert since 1988, said he would handle matters differently now if complaints emerged about a priest and, while he felt moving the suspected priests to other parishes might solve the problem, he denied it was church policy at the time.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

CARL O’BRIEN

SUMMARY: The audits point to common themes in the way abuse allegations were mishandled

AUDITS INTO Catholic dioceses and religious orders have revealed that hundreds of schoolchildren were exposed to serial abusers over a 35-year period in many communities across the State.

The reports into three religious orders and four dioceses have uncovered at least 335 child abuse allegations against more than 150 priests or members of religious orders.

The audits also found a higher proportion of abuse allegations against members of religious congregations than against priests in the dioceses that were audited.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

MARY MINIHAN

REACTION: A STATUTORY inquiry into child abuse could be considered “if it fulfils the purpose of protecting children” once ongoing investigations are completed, Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald has said.

Fianna Fáil called on the Government to establish an independent inquiry with full statutory powers into child abuse in dioceses around the country.

Ms Fitzgerald said a comprehensive picture of how child protection was being practised by the Catholic Church would be provided by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church’s ongoing review of dioceses and religious orders and a HSE national audit.

“If there is a need, if we feel that it fulfils the purpose of protecting children, we can examine whether we need to do something on a statutory basis,” she said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

[Safeguarding Reviews 2nd Tranche – September 2012]

PATSY McGARRY, MARY MINIHAN and JOHN FALLON

A LEADING advocacy group for victims of child sexual abuse has called for a Garda investigation of senior Catholic Church figures in Ireland following new disclosures concerning child protection practices in four dioceses and three congregations published yesterday.

The findings followed reviews of the dioceses of Clonfert, Cork Ross, Kildare Leighlin and Limerick, and the congregations of the Sacred Heart Missionaries, the Spiritans (formerly Holy Ghost Fathers) and the male congregation of the Dominicans.

The reviews were conducted by the Catholic Church’s own child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC). Its chief executive Ian Elliott, who led the reviews, described the findings as “disappointing”.

Maeve Lewis, executive director of the One in Four group, said after publication of the findings yesterday it was “as if certain senior churchmen continue to believe that child protection procedures are optional, and they are above the law of the land”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Religion News Service | By David Gibson Posted: 09/05/2012

(RNS) The U.S. Catholic bishops’ point man on sexual abuse has said that the hierarchy’s credibility on fixing the problem is “shredded” and that the situation is comparable to the Reformation, when “the episcopacy, the regular clergy, even the papacy were discredited.”

Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Joliet, Ill., last month told a conference of staffers who oversee child safety programs in American dioceses that he had always assumed that consistently implementing the bishops’ policies on child protection, “coupled with some decent publicity, would turn public opinion around.”

“I now know this was an illusion,” Conlon, chairman of the bishops’ Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, said in an address on Aug. 13 to the National Safe Environment and Victim Assistance Coordinators Leadership Conference in Omaha, Neb.

His talk was published in the Aug. 30 edition of Origins, an affiliate of Catholic News Service.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
KMBZ

Bishop Robert Finn goes to trial tomorrow. The Jackson County prosecutor’s office announced the criminal case has been reset from it’s original September 24th date.

Finn and the Kansas City-St Joseph Diocese are accused of failing to report suspected child abuse based on lewd photographs of children found on Father Shawn Ratigan’s laptop. Rebecca Randles represents several of the families in a civil case. She tells KMBZ a bench trial is risky.

“Sometimes it favors the prosecution and sometimes it favors the defendant. It kind of depends on what the parties want to get out of the trial, as to whether you choose to do a jury trial or you choose to do a bench trial.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Sep. 05, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first Catholic bishop criminally charged in the decades-long clergy sex abuse crisis will not go before a jury, instead facing judgment from a local judge Thursday, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

The change indicates that Bishop Robert Finn, his Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese, and county prosecutors have negotiated a set of “stipulated facts” they will present to the judge, who could rule the same day, said Mike Mansur, a spokesperson for the Jackson County, Mo., prosecutor’s office, where the bishop and diocese are charged.

Finn and the diocese had been set to go to trial by jury Sept. 24 on misdemeanor charges of failing to report suspicions of child abuse for their handling of Fr. Shawn Ratigan, a Kansas City priest who pleaded guilty earlier this month to federal charges of producing and attempting to produce sexually graphic material of minor girls.

“The parties in the case have been negotiating stipulated facts and testimony that will be presented tomorrow to the judge,” Mansur said. Following that presentation, he said, “we would expect then that the judge might rule in the case.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on September 05, 2012

The head of the US bishops abuse panel admits he and his colleagues have no credibility because of recent scandals in Philadelphia and Kansas City. He’s half-right.

The real reason bishops’ credibility is “shredded” is because decades of secrecy, recklessness and callousness have been followed by one full decade of broken promises and continued deceit. It’s not because of one or two local scandals. It’s because bishops pledged real reform but have delivered only superficial change. They promised, in 2002, to change their actual behavior, but have only changed their formal policies.

Just recently, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the head of the US bishops’ conference, attacked a 16 year old victim on his website. Months ago, Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis filed court papers trying to get private emails of a 19 year old victim.

It’s hundreds of on-going hurtful moves like these that have “shredded” bishops’ credibility. It’s not one or two bishops’ misdeeds.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on September 05, 2012

Bishop Finn is smart to ‘fast track’ this to limit the number of witnesses who will testify and expose his deceit and wrong doing. He knows that the more evidence that’s presented, the worse he’ll look.

We suspect Finn has arranged a plea deal so that the extent of his corruption will remain hidden.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By JUDY L. THOMAS and MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star

Kansas City Bishop Robert W. Finn and the diocese he serves will appear in court Thursday for a bench trial on charges they failed to report suspicions of child abuse.

The unusual move, made public this afternoon in a court filing, will take a decision on their guilt out of the hands of a jury, and it avoids a lengthy trial that was to begin Sept. 24. The action also spares diocesan employees and victims and their families from testifying.

Prosecutors and lawyers representing Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph are sorting through a series of facts about the case, a spokesman for Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said.

“This means that all the parties in the case — the diocese, Bishop Finn and the prosecutor’s office — are negotiating what the facts and testimony will be,” said Mike Mansur. “Those will be presented to the judge.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Tom Rastrelli

The condemnations and apologies have been forthcoming since Father Benedict Groeschel, a founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, told the National Catholic Register that some teenage victims of sexual abuse seduce their priest perpetrators. He also referred to convicted sex felon Jerry Sandusky as “this poor guy” before implying that Sandusky’s victims should have spoken out sooner.

The National Catholic Register removed the interview from its website and posted an apology explaining the publication of Groeschel’s “comment was an editorial mistake.” In addition, the Register “sought clarification from Father Benedict,” as if Groeschel’s 468 word “comment” wasn’t clear enough.

The Archdiocese of New York quickly condemned Groeschel’s statements, acknowledging the harm that such comments cause victims of sexual abuse and offering “profound sympathy” and prayers to those hurt by Groeschel’s words. Their communications director stated, “The Archdiocese of New York completely disassociates itself from these comments. They do not reflect our beliefs or our practice.”

As I write this post, Father Groeschel is listed on the faculty of St. Joseph Seminary in the Archdiocese of New York, where he is entrusted with the task of teaching pastoral psychology to future priests. The website of Trinity Retreat House (also in the archdiocese) greets visitors with a letter penned by Groeschel. If their statement of disassociation had any merit, would they not fire Groeschel?

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
WGEM

Posted: Sep 05, 2012

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Jackson County prosecutors and attorneys for Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph have agreed to have a judge hear their case weeks before their scheduled jury trial date.

Finn and the diocese are each charged with a misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse to the state. The charges stem from the Rev. Shawn Ratigan’s child porn case, in which church officials knew about photos on the priest’s computer but didn’t turn him in until six months later.

Finn has argued that he was not the diocese’s mandated reporter. He and the diocese also have challenged the constitutionality of the reporting law.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MAINE
Journal Tribune

By DINA MENDROS and TAMMY WELLS
Staff Writers

Published:
Wednesday, September 5, 2012

BIDDEFORD — The work of the New Beginnings Christian Mission on Main Street will continue, despite the arrest of the mission’s director, James Napier, 60, of Alfred. Napier, a former Biddeford middle school music teacher, was arrested at his home on Saturday on child pornography-related charges.

State Police detectives uncovered more than 100 images of child pornography on Napier’s home computer, according to a statement by Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland.

“The leaders of the mission are completely committed” to continuing the work of the mission, said Pastor Barry Judd, the chief executive officer of the mission’s board of directors. Judd is the pastor of the Oak Ridge Bible Church on Oak Ridge Road. The church has no affiliation with New Beginnings, he said.

“The congregation was stunned and saddened at the news of the arrest of Mr. Napier,” said Judd.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

Born in Dublin, Ian Elliott has worked for most of his adult life in Northern Ireland before being head-hunted by the Catholic Church to be chief executive of its new child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSC).

The NBSC was set up by the Catholic Church to monitor its child protection practices.

It is funded by sponsoring bodies the Conference of Irish Bishops, the Conference of Religious of Ireland and the Conference of Religious in Ireland but operates independently.

Mr Elliott has been chief executive since July 2007.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

The following is a summary of previous reports on abuse in the Catholic Church

FERNS REPORT (OCTOBER 2005)

Investigated complaints made by 100 people against 21 priests, among them Seán Fortune. It strongly criticised the Catholic Church’s handling of allegations of child sexual abuse over a period of 40 years. From the 1960s until 1980, the report found Bishop Donal Herlihy regarded priests who sexually abused children “as guilty of moral misconduct” but said he did not seem to recognise “the wrongdoing was a serious criminal offence”. His successor, Dr Brendan Comiskey, “failed to recognise the paramount need to protect children, as a matter of urgency, from potential abusers” and the report accused him of providing erroneous information to one Garda inquiry and failing to co-operate fully with another.

MURPHY REPORT (NOVEMBER 2009)

Investigated cases involving 46 priests and more than 320 children, most of them boys. It found four successive archbishops of the Dublin archdiocese had handled allegations of child sexual abuse with “denial, arrogance and cover-up” and did not report the abuse to gardaí. It said the structures of the church facilitated the cover- up of abuse.

RYAN REPORT (MAY 2009)

Found that thousands of children suffered physical and sexual abuse over several decades in 216 residential institutions run by religious orders, implicating more than 800 priests, brothers, nuns and lay people. The Department of Education was found to have failed to carry out its “statutory duty of inspection” out of deference towards the religious congregation. The report said the religious congregations were not prepared to accept responsibility for the sexual abuse carried out by their members and did not listen to or believe people who complained of sexual abuse.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Times

MARY MINIHAN

Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald said she was shocked at some of the findings of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.

Ms Fitzgerald said best practice in child protection was ignored up until last year.

Seven reviews were conducted by the board into safeguarding practices at both diocesan and religious congregation level.

“The scale of past abuse recounted in these reviews is horrific, in particular as we know it took place, in many instances, in schools. But the extent of cover-up and the failures to safeguard children, whether by acts of commission or omission, is equally shocking,” she said.

Ms Fitzgerald was critical of the management of allegations of abuse and the alleged offenders.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay has described as “a childish excuse” comments from Bishop of Clonfert John Kirby that he previously regarded paedophilia as a “friendship that crossed a boundary line”.

Seven audits into child safeguarding practices in the Catholic Church and religious orders were published today.

The reviews found a higher incidence of allegations of abuse within the three orders than in the four dioceses – and that there is still a failure to fully comply with child protection guidelines.

NBSCCC Chief Executive Ian Elliott has said the audits found some instances of very bad practice and described his shock and disappointment at some of the findings against the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in particular.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
BBC News

By Shane Harrison
BBC News

The audit was carried out for the Catholic Church by the National Board for Safeguarding Children
The Catholic bishop of Clonfert in east Galway has apologised for moving two priests from one parish to another in the 1990s after they had abused children.

Dr John Kirby has said he did not understand the nature of paedophilia at the time.

Bishop Kirby’s remarks follow the publication of the latest independent audit of child protection practises in four Catholic dioceses, mainly in the south and west of Ireland, and three religious orders.

He described his decision to move the priests on as “a grave mistake” but said he was no’t aware at the time of the sinister nature and repeat behaviour of the abuser or of the life-long damage caused to the child.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

A long-serving bishop has sparked a storm of controversy over his fitness for the job after revealing he used to think paedophilia was friendship gone too far.

Ian Elliot, head of the Catholic Church’s child abuse watchdog, called into question the competency of Bishop John Kirby over the remarks following his audit of the Diocese of Clonfert.

“Care needs to be taken when appointing a bishop that you do not appoint a bishop with these attitudes,” Mr Elliot said. “These are basic competencies that everyone should have in authority. I’m not calling for anyone to resign but, for me, that’s an absolute basic requirement.”

Bishop Kirby, in charge of the diocese since 1989, made the ill-judged revelation on the back of apologies to survivors of two abusive priests he moved from one parish to another in 1990 and 1994. Although he signed off the transfers, he also notified gardai of the allegations.

Bishop Kirby claimed he did not understand paedophilia in an attempt to explain why he adopted the standard church response of the time to transfer clerical child abusers.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

A long-serving bishop has sparked a storm of controversy over his fitness for the job after revealing he used to think paedophilia was friendship gone too far.

Ian Elliot, head of the Catholic Church’s child abuse watchdog, called into question the competency of Bishop John Kirby over the remarks following his audit of the Diocese of Clonfert.

“Care needs to be taken when appointing a bishop that you do not appoint a bishop with these attitudes,” Mr Elliot said.

“These are basic competencies that everyone should have in authority. I’m not calling for anyone to resign but, for me, that’s an absolute basic requirement.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Weekly

The church is far from candid about its supposed price tag for responding to its sex-abuse charges.

By Tara Murtha

With the trial against ex-priest Father Charles Engelhardt and former schoolteacher Bernard Shero beginning yesterday, the Philadelphia Archdiocese is making headlines yet again. The archdiocese has been in the news constantly lately, between the landmark conviction of Msgr. William J. Lynn; the battle over statute of limitations on child-sex abuse; the closing of many Catholic schools; and all the brouhaha surrounding the incipient sale of a few lavish real-estate holdings—including Villa St. Joseph, a 19-room, 9,800-square-foot house on the Jersey shore featuring two elevators and assessed at $6.2 million.

And in article after article, the figure $11.6 million pops up.

The $11.6 million—you may have seen it in the news as $11 million, $10.6 million or $10 million—is, reporters inform us, the price the church has paid so far responding to “the current clergy sex-abuse scandal” or, to use ever-so-slightly clearer language, “the latest grand jury investigation into clergy sex-abuse and the criminal prosecution of Msgr. William J. Lynn.”

The figure is never attributed. It just hangs there, as if it is confirmed fact. Trouble is, it’s not. So where’s it from?

This past June, amid international headlines about the case against Lynn, the Archdiocese published a document titled the “Financial Report of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.”

The introduction to the report was written by Archbishop Charles Chaput: “The cost of responding to the grand jury report, the investigations related to priests on administrative leave, the subsequent criminal and civil legal proceedings and the investigation into the embezzlement has been heavy.” Chaput states that “roughly $1.6 million” of these “extraordinary costs” occurred fiscal 2011, with the remaining $10 million or so accruing in the time period ending March 31, 2012.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

by Bill Tammeus on Sep. 05, 2012 A small c catholic

As the Catholic church works through the horrific, dispiriting priest abuse scandal and attendant cover-up by bishops, there’s been little to applaud. But when something does go right — or at least mostly right — it’s worth noting.

That’s especially true in the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese. There, Bishop Robert Finn and the diocese are scheduled for a trial starting Sept. 24 on misdemeanor charges of failing to report suspected child abuse by Fr. Shawn Ratigan, who has pleaded guilty to using five girls to produce or try to produce child pornography.

Finn created a five-point plan for the diocese to respond to abuse allegations. The second point called for “appointment of an independent public liaison and ombudsman to field and investigate any reports of suspicious or inappropriate behavior.”

That ombudsman turned out to be Jenifer Valenti, a former assistant prosecuting attorney in Jackson County, Mo. After a year on the job, she issued her first report in July describing the 79 cases brought to her attention, 20 of which had to do with sexual abuse.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

6 Sep 2012

Michael Kelly

The latest audits into the Irish Church’s handling of abuse allegations reveal that while substantial progress continues to be made, there are still worrying areas of non-compliance with agreed procedures.

The reviews – carried out by the independent watchdog the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) – revealed that one religious congregation was not reporting such allegations to the civil authorities as recently as July 2011. The reports also show that religious congregations were not following the Vatican’s procedure on reporting all allegations to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) as recently as 12 months ago.

Chief Executive of the NBSCCC, Ian Elliott said that the “reviews indicate that full compliance has not yet been achieved by all of those reviewed, although many examples of excellent practice were found”.

According to Mr Elliott, good practice and sound development, found across the different Church authorities, has been welcomed by the board, which also noted the need to learn from examples of poor practice.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Breaking News

Bishop of Clonfert John Kirby said today that he had previously regarded paedophilia as a “friendship that crossed a boundary line”

He told Galway Bay FM that he has learned “sadly since” and it was a very difficult experience.

The bishop was speaking after the publication of seven audits into child safeguarding practices in the Catholic church and religious orders.

Three religious orders were also examined – the Dominicans, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the Spiritans.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

IRELAND
Leinster Leader

Published on Wednesday 5 September 2012

Some 18 allegations of sexual abuse were made against 10 priests in the Kildare and Leighlin Diocese between January 1975 and May 2012.

That is according to the review published on Wednesday morning by the Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.

Just two of these priests connected with the report are still alive, but neither are still ministering within the church.

“My thoughts today are with the survivors of abuse and with their families and I respectfully apologize to them for the hurt and offence they have carried and are still carrying,” said Monsignor Brendan Byrne, Diocesan Administrator, in a statement Wednesday lunchtime.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRIA
Catholic San Francisco

September 5th, 2012
By Sarah MacDonald

DUBLIN – The leader of the Austrian Priests’ Initiative said the dissident group’s call to disobedience reflects the lack of accountability among those who exercise power and authority in the Catholic Church.

Msgr. Helmut Schuller told Catholic News Service that reform and substantive structural change are “essential for the future of the church” in Europe and the wider world.

The Priests’ Initiative, which now represents 500 clergy in Austria, wants the Vatican to revive the “Lex Ecclesiae Fundamentalis” project initiated by Pope Paul VI following the Second Vatican Council. The project, which sought to establish a common fundamental code or church constitution similar to the U.S. Bill of Rights for church members, was shelved by Pope John Paul II in 1981.

“We are talking about providing basic rights for the people of God and a structure of participation in decision-making and feedback between the top, center and base of the church. We also want to establish a system of control for those who hold power and authority in the church,” said Msgr. Schuller, former vicar general of the Archdiocese of Vienna and former director of Caritas Austria.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MISSOURI
The Turner Report

A Friday, September 7, meeting has been scheduled in U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, to hear arguments from Kanakuk officials and the family that is suing them about Kanakuk’s refusal to turn over names of sexual abuse victims of former camp director Pete Newman.

Lawyers representing the victim, referred to in court records as John Doe, are asking for the names to reveal a pattern of abuse by Newman that Kanakuk officials allegedly allowed to continue for years.

Newman is now spending two life sentences in a Missouri prison.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.