ABUSE TRACKER

JOLIET (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 18, 2012

Joliet Bishop Conlon has reversed himself, putting a suspended, credibly accused child molesting cleric back on the job last week and removing him again this week.

Last week, Conlon acted selfishly and deceptively, blaming the Vatican for his own decision to put the predator priest back in parish ministry. It’s clear that Conlon wanted the priest back to work but has changed his mind, citing some vague “subsequent discussions.”

While we’re grateful that, for now, Fr. Lee Ryan won’t be visiting parishioners in their homes. He belongs behind bars or in a remote, secure treatment facility. Instead of using his public relations staff to do “damage control” after his reckless move, Conlon should be using them to aggressively seek out others who’ve been hurt by this child molesting cleric.

We strongly suspect that another allegation against Ryan has come in and that Conlon is refusing to acknowledge it.

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OREGON
Fox 12

By FOX 12 Webstaff

WOODBURN, OR (KPTV) –
A judge has removed himself from the case of a Woodburn priest accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy.

Judge Thomas Hart recused himself without reason from the case of Father Angel Perez on Monday, according to the judge’s office.

Marion County Circuit Court Judge Susan Tripp will now be assigned to the case.

The alleged victim called police early in the morning Aug. 13 to report inappropriate contact from Perez, the head priest at St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Woodburn.

According to court documents filed by Woodburn police, the alleged victim told detectives he was spending the night at the priest’s home in Woodburn and woke up to flashes, possibly from a cell phone camera.

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JOLIET (IL)
The Daily Journal

The Daily Journal staff reports

According to media reports, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of the Joliet Diocese, has withdrawn the reinstatement of the Rev. F. Lee Ryan.

Conlon announced last week that Ryan could minister to homebound parishioners of St, Edmund Catholic Church in Watseka and St. Joseph Mission in Crescent City.

In a prepared statement Tuesday, Conlon said, “Subsequent discussions that have occurred since the decision have highlighted that any action needs to fulfill the larger need of the Church to confront the scandal of child abuse in the midst and work to diligently restore trust.

“For the sake of the greater good of the Church, I have decided to revoke my earlier permission and once again place Fr. Ryan on full administrative leave.”

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Analysis by Claire O’Sullivan

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

THE 145 pages of Justice for Magdalene’s submission to the inter-departmental committee investigating State involvement in the Magdalene Laundries makes you ashamed to be Irish.

Reading it, you can’t help but feel repulsed, sickened and deeply ashamed — disgusted that any human being, let alone religious organisation, could treat another human being in such a way and that the Irish State could stand idly by and let it happen.

JFM describes from testimony how the women suffered abuse of various kinds — their hair was forcibly cut, they were beaten with belts until they bled and once the door to the outside world was shut on them, they were referred to by number not by name.

Over the course of the submission, JFM hold religious orders and the State directly and indirectly responsible for systematically humiliating, imprisoning and enslaving thousands of young Irish girls.

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ROME
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: September 18, 2012

The faded papyrus fragment is smaller than a business card, with eight lines on one side, in black ink legible under a magnifying glass. Just below the line about Jesus having a wife, the papyrus includes a second provocative clause that purportedly says, “she will be able to be my disciple.”

The finding was made public in Rome on Tuesday at an international meeting of Coptic scholars by the historian Karen L. King, who has published several books about new Gospel discoveries and is the first woman to hold the nation’s oldest endowed chair, the Hollis professor of divinity.

The provenance of the papyrus fragment is a mystery, and its owner has asked to remain anonymous. Until Tuesday, Dr. King had shown the fragment to only a small circle of experts in papyrology and Coptic linguistics, who concluded that it is most likely not a forgery. But she and her collaborators say they are eager for more scholars to weigh in and perhaps upend their conclusions.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Statement of Philadelphia Clergy Abuse Survivor Michael W. McDonnell:

“I speak not only for myself but for the countless others who suffered adolescent horror — you are not alone. Today is not just about seeking justice, but also, as it was written by President John F. Kennedy, about “our most admirable human virtue- courage.” As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by the clergy, I can tell you that there is no doubt that the conspiracy to cover-up the grave moral actions by the clergy started long before these tragedies ever became public. It was protocol. It is today that courage brings me here, it is today that more will be revealed.”

Statement of Philadelphia Clergy Abuse Survivor Andrew Druding (Addressed to Msgr. Francis Feret):

I have been impacted every day of my life because of the unspeakable things you did to me. You did this to me in a place that was sacred to my family, my grandparents were married in that church, so were my parents, my mom, her 3 siblings were all baptized in that church, I was baptized in that church. And it was in that church that you chose to victimize me in such an evil way. Even as I write this, I cringe and feel sick to my stomach recalling this & so many other instances of your sick behavior. And while these things do not define me, they have to some extent, left me as damaged goods.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Complaint McDonnell

Complaint JD 203

Complaint JD 196

Complaint JD 197

Complaint JD 198

Complaint Dale

Complaint Druding

Complaint JD 195 and Jane Doe 190

(Philadelphia, PA) At a news conference today in Philadelphia, attorney Jeff Anderson and co-counsels Marci Hamilton and Dan Monahan announced the filing of eight new lawsuits for nine survivors of clergy abuse against the Philadelphia Archdiocese, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Cardinal Justin Rigali, Msgr. William Lynn and the seven individual priests accused of the sexual abuse. The filing of these lawsuits brings the total number filed against the Archdiocese by Jeff Anderson & Associates to 16 complaints on behalf of 17 survivors.

Speaking at the news conference, Michael W. McDonnell, whose complaint alleges abuse by two of the named priests, said in part: “As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by the clergy, I can tell you that there is no doubt that the conspiracy to cover-up the grave moral actions by the clergy started long before these tragedies ever became public. It was protocol. It is today that courage brings me here, it is today that more will be revealed.”

Co-counsel Marci Hamilton said, “It is not easy for these survivors to come forward. But, after have been frustrated by the Archdiocese’s persistent failures to protect children and its ongoing failure to take responsibility for the horrendous abuse suffered by so many at the hands of its priests and employees, their courage is surely demonstrated today.”

Also attending the news conference was victim/survivor Andy Druding, who said he was sexually abused by Msgr. Francis Feret at St. Timothy in Northeast Philadelphia, “a place that was sacred to my family and grandparents, who were married in that church.”

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UNITED STATES/PHILIPPINES
The Dallas Morning News

By Brooks Egerton/Reporter
begerton@dallasnews.com
1:03 pm on September 18, 2012

National Geographic‘s new issue exposes the ivory business, which has been hiding in plain sight since a worldwide trade ban was enacted in 1989. And a major player in the magazine’s story is a priest in the Philippines whom I wrote about in 2005 when investigating another global-trafficking phenomenon — the Catholic Church’s movement of sexual abuse suspects across international borders to escape justice.

The priest, Monsignor Cristobal Garcia, is now quoted as explaining how to smuggle ivory into the United States: “Wrap it in old, stinky underwear and pour ketchup on it.” And if an icon won’t fit in a suitcase? Here’s how National Geographic‘s Bryan Christy summarizes Garcia’s advice: “I might get a certificate from the National Museum of the Philippines declaring my image to be antique, or I could get a carver to issue a paper declaring it to be imitation or alter the carving date to before the ivory ban.”

Garcia also made provocative comments when I interviewed him about why he fled the U.S. in 1985. He admitted having sex with altar boys and supplying them with drugs — but said he did it because they threatened to accuse him of abuse. One boy “not only seduced me, he also raped me,” Garcia told me.

My story was part of a Dallas Morning News series called “Runaway Priests: Hiding in Plain Sight.” Reese Dunklin, Brendan Case and I documented more than 200 cases in which Catholic clergymen had gone abroad and stayed in ministry.

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CALIFORNIA
The Union Democrat

Written by Alexander MacLean, The Union Democrat
September 18, 2012

A former Catholic priest has denied allegations that he molested an altar boy while ministering at a San Andreas parish from 2000 to 2002, and local supporters have rallied around him.

Michael Kelly, who left for his native Ireland earlier this year after being found liable of sexual abuse in a 2007 lawsuit, said Monday in an email sent to The Union Democrat that he couldn’t discuss many details of the case but fiercely denied any wrongdoing.

“Never, ever did I molest IN ANY WAY this person,” Kelly wrote in the email. “The allegations are completely false as are ANY allegations of my molesting anyone at any time. It never happened. Never.”

Meanwhile, a number of parishioners and friends have signed up with a group publicly defending the former Mother Lode priest, citing positive personal experiences and questionable evidence used by attorneys.

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JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

BY BOB OKON bokon@stmedianetwork.com September 18, 2012

The Rev. F. Lee Ryan has been removed from public ministry again.

Ryan, who has faced an allegation of sexual relations with a minor more than four decades ago, was put back into limited ministry last week after a ruling from the Vatican based on church law.

But Joliet Bishop R. Daniel Conlon announced Tuesday that he has decided to put Ryan back on “full administrative leave.”

In a written statement, Conlon said, “Last week I announced that Father F. Lee Ryan would be permitted to exercise a very narrow priestly ministry. Subsequent discussions that have occurred since that decision have highlighted that any action needs to fulfill the larger need of the Church to confront the scandal of child abuse in its midst and diligently restore trust.

“For the sake of the greater good of the Church, I have decided to revoke my earlier permission and once again place Fr. Ryan on full administrative leave.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

Philadelphia prosecutors scoffed Tuesday at a new claim by defense lawyers that they withheld evidence that might have helped Msgr. William J. Lynn at his landmark child-sex abuse and endangerment trial.

The District Attorney’s Office never received a formal statement or polygraph results suggesting that Lynn’s codefendant, former priest Edward Avery, had lied when he admitted sexually assaulting a former altar boy, according to Hugh Burns, chief of the appeals unit.

The accuser’s testimony about the 1999 attack became a cornerstone of Lynn’s trial.

“To say that we knew [Avery] was innocent was, I’m sorry, it’s insane,” Burns said. “What we know is that he formally pleaded guilty because he had evidence that made him guilty.”

Burns comments marked the office’s first response since defense lawyers on Monday cited Avery in their latest bid to win bail for Lynn, the former secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Nine more people, alleging sexual abuse by priests, have filed suit against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. They join ten other alleged victims in charging that an archdiocesan conspiracy to protect priests allowed the abuse to occur.

Two of the plaintiffs appeared today with their attorneys at a center city news conference.

Andrew Druding (far right in photo) was visibly agitated, and his wife quietly wept, as he read a letter he wrote but never sent to his grade-school music teacher, Fr. Francis Feret.

” ‘You took advantage of a nine-year-old boy who loved to sing and was afraid to tell because you were a priest, God’s messenger on Earth, the most holy person in my life. I’ve never forgotten what you did to me, so graphic, so horrific…’ ”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS News

Archdiocese of Philadelphia hit with eight new lawsuits over alleged cover-up of sexual abuse

(CBS/AP) PHILADELPHIA – Nine plaintiffs filed eight new civil lawsuits Tuesday alleging the Archdiocese of Philadelphia covered up child sex assault allegations made against seven Roman Catholic priests.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said their clients decided to come forward when former archdiocesan official Monsignor William Lynn was found guilty of child endangerment and received a three- to six-year prison sentence. The 61-year-old is the first U.S. church official convicted of endangering children by keeping predatory priests in ministry. He served as secretary for clergy at the Philadelphia Archdiocese from 1992 to 2004.

According to CBS Philly, Lynn is seeking bail while he appeals his conviction.

Named in the latest lawsuits are Lynn, Archbishop Charles Chaput, his predecessor, Cardinal Justin Rigali, and the priests accused by the plaintiffs of sexual abuse.

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JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Manya Brachear
Tribune reporter

A Joliet-area priest reinstated last week after being removed from ministry over an allegation of sexual abuse has been withdrawn once again, Joliet Bishop R. Daniel Conlon confirmed today.

Last week, parishioners learned that the Rev. F. Lee Ryan could minister to homebound parishioners of St. Edmund Catholic Church in Watseka, south of Kankakee, and St. Joseph Mission in Crescent City. He had been removed from ministry in May 2010 because of an alleged relationship with a teenager in the 1970s.

But Conlon, who also serves as chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People for U.S. Catholic bishops, returned him to limited ministry last week because the allegation did not meet the criteria of a crime under church law at that time.

“Subsequent discussions that have occurred since that decision have highlighted that any action needs to fulfill the larger need of the Church to confront the scandal of child abuse in its midst and work to diligently restore trust,” Conlon said in a statement. “For the sake of the greater good of the Church, I have decided to revoke my earlier permission and once again place Fr. Ryan on full administrative leave.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Lawyers for nine purported survivors of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia today announced the filing of eight lawsuits against the church and seven individual priests.

The names of the seven priests are already publicly known because of their appearance in one or both Philadelphia County grand jury reports.

But today two victims insisted that their names be made public to encourage other victims to come forward and press their cases.

“I may be damaged goods, but I’m not going to allow you to beat me,” said Andrew Druding, of Northeast Philadelphia at the Center City news conference as his wife, Denise, wiped away tears as she sat in the front row.

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BOSTON (MA)
National Catholic Reporter

Sep. 18, 2012
By Jerry Filteau

BOSTON — At a two-day conference in Boston, Voice of the Faithful celebrated 10 years of battling sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and working to change the church structures that permitted and at times facilitated it. But the 450 conference participants spent most of Friday and Saturday exploring how to continue and expand that struggle over the next decade and beyond.

When the organization was founded in 2002 at the peak of the U.S. scandal of clergy sexual abuse of minors, the organization spoke with “a prophetic voice. Never forget, your voice rose up from your faith, from your love for the church,” Fr. Donald Cozzens, writer in residence at John Carroll University in Cleveland, told the gathering Saturday morning.

“When others lost their nerve and their voice, you didn’t lose your nerve or your voice,” he said. “I salute your courage to come together 10 years ago, to speak your truth to power then, throughout the last decade, now, and into the future. Speaking the truth to power is never easy.”

Cozzens, the award-winning author of The Changing Face of the Priesthood and other widely acclaimed books on priesthood in the U.S. today, said that by faith, he meant not only “belief in Jesus Christ and his teaching and his church, but also … trust.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Interview with Fr. Enzo Fortunato, spokesman for the Sacred Convent of Assisi and Director of “Rivista di San Francesco”, the convent’s monthly magazine

Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican City

“The Church is not behind the times, it actually represents strong beliefs that have an effect. It is modernity that is facing a crisis,” Fr. Enzo Fortunato, a Franciscan theologian, spokesman for the Sacred Convent of Assisi and Director of Rivista di San Francesco, the convent’s monthly magazine.

Are movements and the Church as an institution at loggerheads with each other?

“I have never heard the Pope or competent dicasteries say anything against religious movements. I have only ever heard comments about their beauty and richness. I like to think of them as “communicating vessels” that enrich each other.”

Does the Church have difficulty in relating to modernity?

“I believe it is modernity that has difficulties in the relationship it has with itself. Modernity is basically characterised by weak short-lived thinking that does not help humans face the reality of their problems. The Church’s thinking is strong and gives impetus.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA — Eight new civil lawsuits allege the Archdiocese of Philadelphia covered up child sex assault allegations made against seven Roman Catholic priests.

The lawsuits were being filed Tuesday by a total of nine plaintiffs. Their attorneys plan to release more details at an afternoon news conference.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said their clients decided to come forward when former archdiocesan official Monsignor William Lynn was found guilty of child endangerment and received a three- to six-year prison sentence.

Named in the latest lawsuits are Lynn, Archbishop Charles Chaput, his predecessor, Cardinal Justin Rigali, and the priests accused by the plaintiffs of sexual abuse.

The 61-year-old Lynn is the first U.S. church official convicted of endangering children by keeping predator priests in ministry. He served as secretary for clergy at the Philadelphia Archdiocese from 1992 to 2004.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

By Jackie Gailey

Tuesday, Sep 18, 2012

Eight new civil lawsuits claiming the Archdiocese of Philadelphia covered up child sex abuse allegations have been filed in Philadelphia.

Attorneys with Jeff Anderson & Associates have scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. on Tuesday in Center City to announce the filings by nine alleged survivors of clergy abuse.

Named in the lawsuits are the Archdiocese, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Cardinal Justin Rigali, Msgr. William Lynn and the seven individual priests accused of sexual abuse.

Lynn, the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was convicted in June of child endangerment for failing to oust then-priest Edward Avery after a 1992 sex abuse complaint. Lynn is serving three to six years in prison.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 17, 2012

Archbishop Chaput has placed Fr. Michael Chapman on leave from ministry after receiving more allegations against the priest in May of 2012.

In the announcement today from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, a spokesman claimed that “Father Chapman had never actually returned to active public ministry, did not have access to children and was not residing in a parish at any time since the May 4th announcement.” Farrell said.

It’s disingenuous and misleading for Philly church officials to claim Fr. Chapman didn’t have access to kids. Unless they’d put him in a remote, secure treatment facility, he did in fact – and likely still does in fact – have access to kids. It’s just wrong for church officials to pretend they effectively monitor suspended and credibly accused child molesting clerics 24/7.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

[Anne M. Burke to Voice of the Faithful: Envisaging a World-Wide Council of the Laity]

As a companion piece to Anne Burke’s Voice of the Faithful speech last week, which I posted yesterday, I’m now posting Joseph O’Callaghan’s comments to the VOTF gathering as he received the Saint Catherine of Siena award on 14 September. As with Anne Burke’s speech, Joe O’Callaghan’s commentary comes to us by way of Jerry Slevin–and I’m very grateful both to Jerry and to Joe for their generosity in seeing that this material is made available to Bilgrimage readers. Joseph O’Callaghan is a professor emeritus of history from Fordham University, author of Electing Our Bishops (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), and a leader of the active Bridgeport, Connecticut, VOTF group. His presentation as he received the Saint Catherine of Siena award follows:

——————

My very dear friends,

I am deeply honored to be a recipient of the St. Catherine of Siena Award. I want to share it, however, with my sisters and brothers of Voice of the Faithful in the Diocese of Bridgeport, many of whom are here this evening. The award is theirs as much as it is mine. Each one of them has unselfishly contributed his or her special gifts to the reform and renewal of the Church that we love.

It is fitting that this award should be named for St. Catherine of Siena, for she, like us, lived during an unsettled period in the life of the Church. For seventy years in the fourteenth century the popes abandoned the bishopric of Rome, their primary responsibility, and took up residence at Avignon in southern France. Recognizing how wrong that was, Catherine admonished Pope Gregory XI and eventually persuaded him to return to Rome.

Our Church today is buffeted by similar turbulence. The Church in which we grew up is collapsing. I believe that that is the work of the Holy Spirit who is deliberately pulling down the edifice built on clericalism and hierarchy, an edifice that Jesus would find incomprehensible.

Yet, amid the wreckage that now afflicts the institutional Church, Catholics everywhere, and most especially our brave and courageous nuns, continue to do the work of Jesus Christ, feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, the sick, and the elderly, and speaking out against war and militarism. The beauty of the Church, when viewed through the lens of the commitment of its followers to the transformation of our society, is still there for all to see.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

Die Diskussion über den Missbrauchsskandal hat es möglich gemacht: Drei Männer erinnern sich an Schrecken ihrer Kindheit in katholischen Heimen – und sprechen darüber.

Seine Eltern gaben ihm den Namen Elvis, als er im Winter 1962 geboren wurde. Seine Mutter war aus Lettland geflohen und in einem Ulmer Wohnheim gestrandet. Als sie krank wurde, kam der kleine Elvis auf Anordnung des Jugendamts ins katholische Säuglingsheim St. Josef, das in einem alten Schloss im baden-württembergischen Dorf Hürbel untergebracht war. Seinem Vater traute man die Betreuung eines Kindes nicht zu. Ein Kind im gottesfürchtigen Kleinkosmos Hürbel, das den Namen eines amerikanischen Sängers trug, vor dem die Bürgersleute ihre Kinder warnten, weil er sich obszön bewegte und lächerliche Glitzerkostüme trug. Seine Eltern durfte Elvis Stiurins nicht wiedersehen, auch als die Mutter wieder gesund war.

Wenn er heute über seine frühe Kindheit nachdenkt, erinnert sich Elvis Stiurins als Erstes an den scharfen Geruch. Er entströmte den Gummieinlagen unter den Kindermatratzen im Schlafsaal von Hürbel, auf denen sich nachts der Urin der Bettnässer staute. “Wir hatten nichts, kein Spielzeug, keine Privatsphäre. Zuneigung gab’s nicht, nur Schläge”, sagt der 49-Jährige. Mit zwei anderen Heiminsassen von damals, Paul Nägele und Wolfgang Ott Dos Santos, ist er nach Hürbel zurückgekehrt, wo das ehemalige Säuglingsheim heute fast verfallen ist.

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DEUTSCHLAND
taz

HAMBURG taz | Wurde Hamburgs evangelische Bischöfin Kirsten Fehrs wirklich von den Ermittlungen gegen vier frühere ranghohe kirchliche Mitarbeiter überrascht, wie sie bei einer Pressekonferenz sagte? Dorothee Schencking, eine der Anzeigensteller, bestreitet das: Auch der Kirchenleitung müsse „bereits im Januar des Jahres bekannt gewesen sein“, dass zwei Anzeigen wegen Strafvereitelung erstattet worden seien.

Spätestens im Juli müsste die Kirchenleitung aber von den Ermittlungen informiert worden sein, wie der Ahrensburger Pastor Helgo Matthias Haak berichtet. Er selbst sei am 19. Juli von der Kriminalpolizei vorgeladen worden. Propst Hartwig Liebich, den er um Aussagegenehmigung bat, habe das Schriftstück ans Kieler Landeskirchenamt weitergeleitet – die Erlaubnis auszusagen sei am 20. Juli erteilt worden, die Vernehmung habe am 30. Juli stattgefunden.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Rundschau

Limburg –
Es sind unruhige Zeiten für Franz Josef Kaspar, den 74-jährigen Generalvikar des katholischen Bistums Limburg. Erst fiel Kaspar auf, weil er gemeinsam mit Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst in der First Class flog – ausgerechnet zu Sozialprojekten nach Indien. Dann grummelte es mächtig, als der Leiter des Frankfurter Hauses der Begegnung sein Amt verlor und entsetzte Katholiken in Kaspar die treibende Kraft erblickten und von einem „totalitären System“ sprachen.

Nun macht ihm seine Vergangenheit als Stiftungsdirektor des Behindertenheims St. Vincenzstift in Rüdesheim-Aulhausen zu schaffen. Das Bistum trat am Wochenende Vorwürfen entgegen, „Dr. Kaspar habe sich an Vertuschungen von Missbrauchsfällen beteiligt“. Das könne schon deshalb nicht richtig sein, „weil bis zu seinem Ausscheiden 2006 keine entsprechenden Vorwürfe gegen seinen Vorgänger erhoben worden“ seien, hieß es in der Mitteilung. Vielmehr habe sich Kaspar Verdienste um das Ende der sogenannten „Schwarzen Pädagogik“ erworben.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

Missbrauchsopfer werfen der katholischen Kirche im Bistum Limburg mangelnde Aufklärung im Fall des verstorbenen Leiters des St. Vincenzstiftes bei Rüdesheim, Rudolf Müller, vor. Ein dazu bereits seit 2010 vorliegender interner Ermittlungsbericht spricht von übereinstimmenden Aussagen über vollzogene oder versuchte Vergewaltigung sogar während der Beichtsituation; es gebe “keine Zweifel an den Missbrauchshandlungen durch Müller”. Erste Hinweise auf dessen mutmaßliches unsittliches Vorgehen einer jungen Frau gegenüber, die in der Zentralküche des Heims arbeitete, wurden bereits 1970 durch eine Unterschriftenaktion mit Vorwürfen gegen den Priester laut. In den Akten des Ordinariats existiert eine Notiz der Personalabteilung vom 4. September 1970 über diese Vorwürfe. Müller schrieb damals verzweifelte Briefe, in denen er Mädchen aufforderte, über das Geschehen zu schweigen. Möglicherweise aus Angst vor Enttarnung beging er wenige Tage später Selbstmord. Der heutige Limburger Generalvikar Franz Kaspar wurde kurz darauf sein Nachfolger, fiel aber nicht durch eine offensive Aufklärung des Falls auf.

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DEUTSCHLAND
News Echo

Trier – Aufgrund von Missbrauch an fünf minderjährigen Jungen hat das Bistum Trier einen 72 Jahre alten Priester entlassen.

Die Missbrauchsfälle sollen sich zwischen den Jahren 1966 und 1980 abgespielt haben, unter den Opfern soll auch der Neffe des Priesters gewesen sein. Dieser hatte das Bistum vor zwei Jahren über die Vorfälle informiert, wie die „Saarbrücker Zeitung“ („SZ“) berichtet.

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OSTERREICH
Der Standard

Hans Weiss hat in seinem neuen Buch Vorgänge in 135 Einrichtungen untersucht und liefert einen erschütternden Befund

Wien – Bis weit ins letzte Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts hinein waren die Kinder- und Jugendheime in Österreich “Zentren der Gewalttätigkeit und des sexuellen Missbrauchs”. Zu diesem Befund kommt Hans Weiss in seinem Buch “Tatort Kinderheim”, das am Montagabend in der Wiener Hauptbücherei präsentiert wird. Bei einigen Heimen habe es sich um regelrechte “Kindergulags” gehandelt, hält Weiss fest.

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UNITED STATES
OpEd News

By
Rev. Dan Vojir

Another Institution Based On Trust Is Tarnished. Will The “New And Improved” Boy Scouts Weather The Scandal?

(Reuters) – The Boy Scouts of America could face a wave of bad publicity as decades of records of confirmed or alleged child molesters within the U.S. organization are expected to be released in coming weeks.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported the organization failed to report allegations of sex abuse of scouts by adult leaders and volunteers to police in hundreds of cases from 1970 to 1991. In some cases, the Boy Scouts helped the accused “cover their tracks,” the paper said.

Over Or Covert: What’s In A Cover-up?

Paul Mones, one of the attorneys in a landmark case of molestation* stated that “In the Catholic Church there were overt cover-ups, and I don’t think you see a lot of that here with the Boy Scouts.” But what would make the cover-ups more overt? Mones didn’t speculate. (Apparently, in the law, there are varying degrees of cover-up.) Matter of administration and hierarchy – or lack of them – were part of the problem from 1971 to 1991: vetting and regulations were not strictly enforced. The “Perversion Files” were kept since 1919, but kept out of the public eye … until now. Over 400 cases were not reported. Some of those cases involved offenders who went on to abuse as many as 20 more boys over the years.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Fox 6

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee’s Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) says a prominent Milwaukee pediatrician who worked at Children’s Hospital for over 35 years has been identified as a child sex offender in secret files maintained by the Boy Scouts of America. These allegations came to light following the publishing of an article in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times newspaper.

The Los Angeles Times story detailed previously sealed files that it said showed Boy Scouts officials “failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.”

In the article, 1,600 “ineligible volunteer” files from 1970 to 1991 were reviewed by the paper after the paper obtained them through a 1992 lawsuit against the Boy Scouts. The “perversion files” were a blacklist of alleged sexual molesters, it said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

Was the historic conviction in June of Philadelphia’s Msgr. William J. Lynn based on a crime that never even happened?!

Ralph Cipriano at the Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog has exclusively reported that a motion filed on Monday in Pennsylvania Superior Court “contains a bombshell disclosure – that Father (sic) Edward V. Avery passed a polygraph test indicating he had never touched the former 10-year-old altar boy he pleaded guilty to abusing.”

Before the start of the historic trial last spring, the former priest Avery entered his guilty plea to the abuse charges against him. And it was because of these alleged crimes that Msgr. Lynn was eventually convicted of endangering the welfare of a child. But according to Cipriano:

“[Avery] received a 2 1/2 to five year sentence, even though he told authorities he never even met the boy. The only reason Avery pleaded guilty, according to the motion, was that he was credibly accused by another victim, and that he was offered a good deal by the prosecution … Avery was facing a prison sentence of up to 20 years if convicted …”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

A motion to reconsider bail filed in Pennsylvania Superior Court contains a bombshell disclosure — that Father Edward V. Avery passed a polygraph test indicating he had never touched the former 10-year-old altar boy he pleaded guilty to abusing.

Avery pleaded guilty on March 22 to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with the boy, and received a 2 1/2 to five year sentence, even though he told authorities he never even met the boy. The only reason Avery pleaded guilty, according to the motion, was that he was credibly accused by another victim, and that he was offered a good deal by the prosecution. But the deal had one condition, that Avery plead guilty to a conspiracy involving Msgr. William J. Lynn, former Archdiocese of Philadelphia secretary for the clergy. Avery was facing a prison sentence of up to 20 years if convicted of molesting the boy, and instead he got a sentence of 2 1/2 to 5 years.

The motion was filed Monday by Thomas A. Bergstrom, Allison Khaskelis and Alan J. Tauber, defense lawyers for Msgr. Lynn, the first Catholic administrator in the nation to be convicted for transferring abusive priests from one parish to another. Lynn’s lawyers say they were only recently told about the polygraph test by Avery’s lawyer, so they cite the polygraph as evidence that Lynn should be released on bail. Lynn previously was denied bail by Judge. M. Teresa Sarmina, as well as Superior Court.

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ONTARIO (CA)
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on September 17, 2012

What: Holding signs and photos of themselves when they were abused, abuse victims and their supporters will disclose a new child sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit against the San Bernardo Catholic Diocese and a convicted predator priest. The suit charges that now-convicted priest Jose Alejandro “Alex” Castillo:
•sexually abused an Ontario teen in 2003,
•had a 20-year history of known and unreported predatory behavior, and
•was intentionally put in poor, Spanish speaking communities where children are less likely to report

Victims will also urge San Bernardino’s Bishop Gerald Barnes to:
•reach out to every person who encountered the child-molesting priest,
•turn over all evidence of abuse to law enforcement,
•beg the priest’s supporters to keep their kids away from him, and
•ask anyone who saw, suspected or suffered abuse to call police, not church officials.

Where: Outside of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, 710 S Sultana St. (corner of Mission), Ontario

When: Tuesday, September 18 at 11:45 am

Who: Two – three victims of sexual abuse and their supporters who are members of a self-help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Katherine Donnelly

Tuesday September 18 2012

PARENTS will start voting within weeks on whether they want to hand over a Catholic primary school in their area to another patron body.

In a ground-breaking move, the Department of Education will seek the views of parents in five areas on the demand for a change in patronage, and their preference for who should run the schools.

The Irish Independent has learned that three of the five areas to be surveyed are Trim, Co Meath; Tramore, Co Waterford; and Arklow, Co Wicklow.

The fourth and fifth will be in Dublin and Co Mayo, although final decisions have yet to be made on the particular areas.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

The following is Anne M. Burke’s speech to Voice of the Faithful, 14 September 2012. This comes to us courtesy of a request by Jerry Slevin to Anne Burke to permit it to be posted here.* I appreciate Jerry for bringing this to us, and Anne Burke for her graciousness in allowing Bilgrimage to post her speech, which follows:

————

As Thomas Edison, the man who changed the world for millions with his application of electricity and inventions, lay dying in 1931, at his bedside was Henry Ford, the man who revolutionized how Americans moved. As Edison died, Ford captured his last breath in a bottle. He was certain that Edison’s genius would be part of what he seized. He sensed the energy of Edison’s reason even in his dying gasp.

Perhaps there really was something there to capture, but as we all know Edison’s genius was more expansive than his breath. Edison used to say, that genius was one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Genius was hard work, but it did permeate every aspect of his colossal imagination and sense ofcreativity.

I am here today, to salute you and your sense of imagination and creativity – two critically important components of Christian discipleship. I sense the energy of reason in all you do. Your imagination and creativity are what give you your “voice.” And now, after ten years, we realize that without your voice, here in the United States, everyone’s freedom as a Catholic would be more threatened. Everyone’s liberty as a disciple would be more contained. We never needed you more. You do not need me to give you a list ofthe ways in which the liberty of disciples is being threatened. I think I gave up cataloguing things when they arrested the Pope’s butler for leaking information. The Vatican’s assault on American religious women also pushed me to the very edge. That’s why I need to hear your voice – the Voice of the Faithful.

What effect your voice has made. Just when we thought no one was listening, you opened your mouth and the faithful found a fresh opportunity to shatter the sinister machinations of leaders who do not listen. Just when it looked like no one would confront the poor leadership and tattered wagon circling of the bishops a decade ago – you spoke and a voice of faithfulness uttered words of love for the church, and challenge for its leadership. In the process, Boston received a new archbishop. The formation of the Voice o fthe Faithful established a new American vocabulary for the truth. What you have done reminds me of something St. Catherine of Siena said – Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.

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CANADA
The Telegram

Published on September 18, 2012

Barb Sweet

From the time he was three, Toby Obed desperately wanted to go home. But by the time he got there his parents were deceased and he had to relearn the Inuit culture and language.

“I will never, ever be able to take back my childhood. And I will never be able to say I lived a normal life. I will never be able to say I grew up in my hometown,” Obed said during a visit this past week to St. John’s where he was interviewed by lawyers for the Attorney General of Canada during the discovery process.

Obed is one of the representative plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit over alleged abuse at residential schools.

Five schools named

The class-action lawsuit involves Labrador Metis, Innu and Inuit students who attended five schools — Yale, Lockwood, Makkovik, Nain and St. Anthony. Two schools were run by Moravian Missionaries, while the remaining three were overseen by the International Grenfell Association.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Patch

By Brittany Tressler

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has placed the Rev. Michael Chapman, former priest of St. Agnes from 1986-1990, back on administrative leave following allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

According to the press release, Chapman was originally placed on leave in March 2011 for an alleged violation of The Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries.

In May of 2012, as Archbishop Charles Chaput and the Office for Child and Youth Protection was working with the parish for his return, the Archdiocese received allegations of sexual abuse of minors against Chapman.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
San Francisco Chronicle

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Attorneys for a jailed Philadelphia monsignor say their client’s one-time co-defendant lied when he pleaded guilty to abusing an altar boy.

Monsignor William Lynn is seeking bail while he appeals his conviction on child endangerment charges for failing to protect a boy from the priest he now claims lied when admitting the abuse.

In a Superior Court motion filed Monday, Lynn’s attorneys say former priest Edward Avery gave prosecutors a statement and took a polygraph test in which he denied even knowing the boy. The motion claims Avery didn’t actually abuse the boy but opted to plead guilty in order to receive a lesser jail term.

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WASHINGTON
Christian Newswire

Contact: K. Godfrey Easter, 206-793-7295 ; ACTSandBEYOND.org

SEATTLE, Sept. 17, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ — Kenny has barely entered his twenties now and his frustrated mother, Lishuan, insists, “He’s still struggling.” Since Kenny spoke out publicly about the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a well-known Northwest minister, he’s been unable to find help where it ought to be found in abundance.

Minister Timothy Dampier (photo) (1), the gifted and locally popular Christian minister pled guilty last week to 22 counts of sexually abusing 10 Greater sexually area children over a ten year span. Dampier began preying on him when he was only ten and the abuse continued well into Kenny’s pubescent years.

During young Kenny’s formative years, Lishuan trusted Dampier enough to be her son’s mentor. Kenny played the drums for his predator, as Dampier skillfully played the organ, sang or preached. Kenny was one of the well regarded young preacher’s first victims. He used to refer to his attacker as “Minister Dampier,” “God Dad,” and “Uncle.” It continued until he returned home one day and told his mom only that he had had enough of hanging with Dampier.

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TEXAS
KDAF

Doug Magditch
doug.magditch@cw33.com, Follow Me @DougMagditch

7:20 p.m. CDT, September 17, 2012
IRVING— Hundreds of allegations of child sex abuse went unreported. Some were even covered up. That’s according to a report by the LA Times.

The accused? Irving-based Boy Scouts of America.

The LA Times uncovered these allegations in the Boy Scouts of America’s confidential “perversion files,” dated from 1970-1991.

Out of 1,600 files uncovered, 400 allegations went unreported, and 100 were covered up, according to the article.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, is calling for criminal action.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Sydney

18/09/2012 , 11:55 AM by Kelly Fuller

A submission will be handed to the member for the Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay today calling for a free child sexual assault counselling service to be offered in Armidale.

Last May the state government closed the Armidale Child Sexual Assault Service due to funding changes.

Recent media attention about reports of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have added renewed vigour to the campaign.

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UNITED STATES
The Record

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

THE SORDID, sickening account of widespread child molestation over a 20-year period by leaders affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America carries forth a disturbing societal trend grown all-too-familiar: Leaders of a respected institution meant to help build character look the other way when discovering that children in their care are being violated by adult supervisors.

We saw this misguided culture in the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in recent years, and we saw it again last fall in the sexual abuse patterns involving former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. In those cases, and in the case of the Scouts — as reported in a major investigation by the Los Angeles Times — reports of sexual abuse and molestation were put on the back burner, matters to be handled “in-house,” in many instances without taking the initiative to notify police or parents.

The Times reviewed some 1,600 confidential files — so-called “perversion files” — dating from 1970 to 1991 and found that the Scouts, instead of reporting potential abuse or showing concern for victims, instead frequently urged the admitted adult offenders to quietly step aside, so as to preserve the name and reputation of the institution.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
The Christian Post

By Katherine Weber, Christian Post Reporter

September 17, 2012|5:10 pm

The Rev. Darrell Wayne Blair of New Breed Christian Center in Fort Worth, Texas is facing charges of sexual assault after a woman told police in late August that the pastor had sexually assaulted her several times as a teenager.

Blair, along with being the minister of the Fort Worth church, has close connections to famed Gospel singer Kirk Franklin and his gospel group, “Kirk Franklin and the Family,” according to his biography on New Breed Christian Center’s website.

The Rev. Blair turned himself in to Crowley authorities on Monday, Sept. 10 and was released on $25,000 bail after an unidentified female told police on Aug. 21 that Blair had allegedly sexually assaulted her from ages 14-18, ending in 2000.

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TULSA (OK)
News On 6

Tami Beyersdoerfer, NewsOn6.com
Ashlei King, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma –
Charges were filed Monday against five employees of Victory Christian Center, who police say failed to report the sexual abuse of a child on the Victory campus.

Police said a 13-year-old girl reported to the employees that she was raped by a man who also worked at Victory. They said those employees waited two weeks before notifying the girl’s parents or police.

Just a few years ago, Oklahoma changed its law to say anyone who suspects child abuse must report it in a timely manner.

Charica Dene Daugherty, 27, John Samuel Daugherty, 28, Anna George, 24, Harold F. Sullivan, 73, and Paul Wilemstein, 33, were all charged with misdemeanor failure to report child abuse.

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MONTANA
Beartooth NBC

By Kristin Price

Lawyers representing both sides in a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse involving the Diocese of Montana and Ursuline Sisters of The Western Province met briefly in Judge Jeffery Sherlock’s chambers today to update the status of the lawsuit.

The judge has heard several status reports on the matter after legal representation agreed earlier this year to hold mediation to resolve the lawsuit.

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UNITED STATES
U.S. Catholic

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Scott Appleby

Principle:

“In the church all are one in Christ; there is no Greek or Roman, no Jew or Gentile, no male or female”—and no hierarchy of privilege or status or honor conferred by ministerial office or rank alone. All baptized believers immersed in the sacramental life and apostolic works of the Catholic community are to be respected as equal inheritors of the ancient traditions and full participants in the work of redemption, a work accomplished by and through Christ alone. The church, catholic and apostolic, is a graced community of sinners and pilgrims, and those who receive holy orders must never set themselves apart from or above the faithful; to the contrary, the clergy must be subject, like the laity, to the correction and exhortations of all the faithful.

The sexual abuse of children and young adults by a tiny minority of Catholic priests is itself a terrible stain on the institutional church—but the repeated failure of the bishops and other priests to report and remove the perpetrators has magnified and deepened, beyond immediate repair, the erosion of trust and the crisis of faith within the Catholic community.

This moral blindness and outrageous complacency in the face of evil is all the more damning and damaging in that it arises from within a body of Catholic leaders, some of whose most prominent members have been harsh in their judgments of the moral failings of the laity.

Quick to perceive challenges to their authority in the exercise of theological exploration and spiritual creativity, especially among women, they have placed their own “class” of Catholics—the ordained—above recrimination while seldom hesitating to “prune” the church of “dissenters” to their increasingly authoritarian rule. Jealous of their prerogatives as “elites,” they have identified their own often narrow interests with the will of Christ and the good of the church.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
Inquirer Staff Writer

In March, Edward Avery made a bombshell decision: He took a plea deal.

Avery, a former priest, admitted he had sexually assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy in 1999. He was sentenced to 21/2 to five years in prison.

Weeks later, the victim described the attack for jurors at the landmark clergy sex-abuse trial of Avery’s codefendant, Msgr. William J. Lynn. After hearing the testimony, the jury convicted Lynn of endangerment because he had let Avery live at the boy’s parish.

On Monday, Lynn’s lawyers dropped their own bombshell in their latest bid to free him on bail. They said that Avery lied about abusing the altar boy in order to win a lighter term, and that “zealous and single-minded prosecutors” hid the information from them because they were determined to convict Lynn, the first church official charged with enabling abuse.

In a motion in Superior Court, Lynn’s lawyers say they learned last month that Avery gave prosecutors a statement, and took a polygraph test, in which he denied even knowing the victim, much less assaulting him twice after Masses at St. Jerome Church in Northeast Philadelphia.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin and Aubrey Whelan
Inquirer Staff Writers

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia said Monday that it had suspended a former Northeast Philadelphia pastor over a claim that he sexually abused a minor, four months after church officials publicly cleared him of another misconduct accusation.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput in May declared the Rev. Michael Chapman suitable to return to active ministry. The 56-year-old cleric was preparing to resume working as a priest when the archdiocese received a new accusation that Chapman had sexually abused a minor approximately 30 years ago, the archdiocese said Monday.

Church officials passed the accusation to law enforcement and halted Chapman’s reinstatement, according to Donna Farrell, a spokeswoman for the archbishop.

“Father Chapman had never actually returned to active public ministry, did not have access to children, and was not residing in a parish at any time since the May 4 announcement,” Farrell said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

BY PHILLIP LUCAS
Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Staff Writer

A 56-YEAR-OLD PRIEST who was preparing to return to ministry after being cleared in a child-sex-abuse investigation has been placed on administrative leave for a second time as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia investigates new allegations against him.

Michael Chapman, who has served for 11 years at Ascension of Our Lord, on Westmoreland Street near G, in Kensington, spent about a year on administrative leave before being cleared to return to ministry in May.

However, the Archdiocese received a second child-sex-abuse complaint against him the same month, reported the allegation to police and delayed his return to ministry, according to Donna Farrell, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Officials did not elaborate on the nature of the allegations against Chapman.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks

September 18, 2012
By Associated Press

Eight new civil lawsuits allege the Archdiocese of Philadelphia covered up child sex assault allegations made against seven Roman Catholic priests.

The lawsuits are being filed today by a total of nine plaintiffs. Their attorneys plan to release more details this afternoon.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs say their clients decided to come forward when former archdiocesan official Msgr. William Lynn was convicted of child endangerment and received a three- to six-year prison sentence.

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RHODE ISLAND
Turn to 10

[with video]

By: Katie Davis | NBC 10
Published: September 17, 2012

PROVIDENCE —
A Rhode Island man said Monday he was abused decades ago at a boarding school operated by a religious order based in Burrillville.

The Brothers of the Sacred Heart has faced similar allegations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Holding photos of child sex abuse victims from across the country, a small group from BishopAccountability.org gathered outside the office of Rhode Island’s attorney general, demanding an investigation.

“If this attorney general can’t take action, then I believe children of Rhode Island will continue to be at risk by this order,” said Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.org.

The sex abuse survivors group said the small religious order has been hit by at least 10 sex abuse lawsuits in recent years.

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By Helen Jung, The Oregonian

A plea hearing scheduled for Monday in the sex-abuse case for Woodburn priest Angel Armando Perez has been postponed.

Marion County Circuit Judge Thomas Hart, who was assigned to hear the case, recused himself from the case Monday morning. He declined through his clerk to comment on his reasons.

Prosecutors and attorneys for the 46-year-old priest are scheduled to meet for a status conference with the new judge assigned to the case, Marion County Circuit Judge Susan Tripp, on Monday, Sept. 24.

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BOSTON (MA)
The Republic

JAY LINDSAY Associated Press
September 17, 2012

BOSTON — A plan to revive the Boston Archdiocese by organizing its 288 parishes into 135 clusters that share staffing and resources has reached Cardinal Sean O’Malley for final approval.

The Boston Archdiocese devised the plan over nearly two years as it faces potentially crippling problems, including a priest shortage, and worsening financial and attendance numbers. The proposal aims to keep parishes intact while a push to draw back lapsed Catholics reinvigorates the archdiocese and fills up churches again.

Two key archdiocesan groups, the Presbyteral Council and Cardinal’s Cabinet, approved the proposal earlier this month. O’Malley will make his decision by November.

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ARGENTINA
Nuevo Diario

Buscan evitar que el cura Justo José Ilarraz quede detenido. El abogado Jorge Muñoz, apoderado legal del sacerdote, anunció que hoy presentará un recurso de hábeas corpus preventivo. “Esta presentación judicial es a fin de resguardar la persona del sacerdote, evitando la situación de condición de peligrosidad procesal”, explicó el letrado a LA GACETA.

“Estoy convencido absolutamente -agregó Muñoz-, que las actuaciones derivadas de oficio en la provincia de Entre ríos, (que corresponden en virtud de la probable competencia judicial) devienen nulas al no existir denuncias por parte de los presuntos ofendidos del delito. Ello, en virtud de que esta clase de tipos penales requieren de la promoción de las denuncias de las victimas para poder activar al órgano jurisdiccional. Se trata de delitos de acción pública dependientes de instancia privada”, insistió.

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OREGON
KOIN

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The plea hearing for a Woodburn priest accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy has been postponed.

The Oregonian reports that Judge Thomas Hart recused himself from the case Monday. The judge declined to say why.

The priest, Angel Armando Perez, has been charged sexual abuse, use of a child in display of sexually explicit conduct, furnishing liquor to a minor and tampering with physical evidence.

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ARGENTINA
Online-911

Asi lo informó el abogado Jorge Muñoz, apoderado legal de Justo José Ilarraz. El sacerdote es acusado de abusar sexualmente de al menos 50 chicos que asistían al Seminario Menor de la capital de Entre Ríos entre 1984 y 1992.

18:07 : Un recurso de hábeas corpus preventivo en resguardo de “la libertad ambulatoria” fue presentado hoy por el abogado defensor del cura Justo José Ilarraz, acusado de abusar sexualmente de al menos 50 chicos que asistían al Seminario Menor, en Paraná.

“Esta presentación judicial es sólo al fin de resguardar la persona del sacerdote y evitar la condición de peligrosidad procesal”, explicó a Télam el abogado Jorge Muñoz, apoderado legal de Ilarraz.

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ARGENTINA
La Gaceta

El abogado Jorge Muñoz, apoderado legal del sacerdote Justo José Ilarraz, acusado de abusar sexualmente de al menos 50 chicos que asistían al Seminario Menor, en Paraná, anunció que hoy presentará un recurso de hábeas corpus preventivo. “La presentación judicial tiene el fin de resguardar la persona del sacerdote, evitando la situación de condición de peligrosidad procesal”, explicó el letrado a LA GACETA.

“Estoy convencido -agregó Muñoz-, de que las actuaciones derivadas de oficio en la provincia de Entre ríos, (que corresponden en virtud de la probable competencia judicial) devienen nulas, al no existir denuncias por parte de los presuntos ofendidos del delito. Ello, en virtud de que esta clase de tipos penales requieren de la promoción de las denuncias de las victimas para poder activar al órgano jurisdiccional. Se trata de delitos de acción pública dependientes de instancia privada”, insistió.

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ARGENTINA
Catholic News Agency

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sep 17, 2012 / 04:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archdiocese of Parana, Argentina voiced sorrow over the actions of Father Justo Jose Ilarraz, who is accused of sexually abusing at least 50 children over the span of eight years.

“The latest news reports cause us great shame and immense sorrow over the most serious crimes committed by someone who ought to serve the moral life of the people by his example and teaching,” the archdiocese said in a Sept. 13 statement.

According to the archdiocese, Fr. Ilarraz abused children between the ages of 12 and 14 at the Seminary of Parana from 1984 to 1992.

It also announced that the Archbishop of Parana and the Bishop of Concepcion de Tucuman have taken steps to remove the accused priest from ministry “until the Holy See resolves his situation.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

By Jean Edwards

Two former Catholic school teachers have broken their silence about sex abuse in the Doveton parish in Melbourne’s south-east.

They say the church hierarchy covered up or ignored their repeated pleas for something to be done about a predatory priest.

Graeme Sleeman, a former school principal and teacher, resigned from his job in the mid-1980s in a desperate bid to force the church to stop Father Peter Searson from sexually abusing children at the Holy Family School.

“I was contemplating suicide because I did not see a way out of the problem that the church had created,” he said.

“I’d stood up for the rights of children. I’d stood up for the right of the church and I’d been cast aside.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

A Roman Catholic priest in Philadelphia who was previously cleared of inappropriate conduct has been suspended due to new allegations of sexual abuse, church officials said Monday.

Reverend Michael Chapman, 56, was placed on administrative leave due to allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

The accusations, which involve minors and date back about 30 years, first surfaced last spring, according to the archdiocese.

Chapman was first placed on leave in March 2011 for allegedly violating standards of ministerial behavior and boundaries, church officials said. A subsequent investigation found him suitable for ministry.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 17, 2012

Here’s the next step in the Boy Scouts child sex abuse and cover up scandal – every Scout official who knew of or suspected or concealed these heinous crimes should be ousted and, if possible, prosecuted for failure to report possible child sex crimes to law enforcement.

It’s not enough to say “we’re doing better these days.” Scout officials deceived parents, police and the public about child molesters in the past. How can we believe them when they claim now that they’ve stopped?

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UNITED STATES
CNN

(CNN) — A sex abuse support group called on the Boy Scouts of America to oust any official still with the organization who was involved in covering up child sex crimes.

The demand by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests was in reaction to a Los Angeles Times story detailing previously sealed files that it said showed scouting officials “failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.”

The 1,600 “ineligible volunteer” files from 1970 to 1991 reviewed by the Times were obtained through a 1992 lawsuit against the Boy Scouts, the newspaper reported Sunday. The “perversion files” were a blacklist of alleged sexual molesters, it said.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Prominent Milwaukee pediatrician identified as child sex offender in Boy Scout’s ‘perversion files’

CONTACT: Peter Isely SNAP Midwest Director, 414.429.7259 , John Pilmaier SNAP Wisconsin Director, 414.336.8575

Dr. Thomas Kowalski, a highly prominent Milwaukee physician who specializes in pediatrics, neonatal, and adolescent medicine and who worked as a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for over 35 years has been identified as a child sex offender in secret files maintained by the Boy Scouts of America as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Kowalski, who was a volunteer camp doctor for the Milwaukee County Council of Boy Scouts, identifies himself in his online professional profile as “semi-retired” but “looking for part time or consulting work” with children and adolescents.

Kowalski’s Boy Scout file was obtained by the Times in a court ordered release of 1,600 secret documents maintained in what Boy Scout officials dubbed the “Perversion Files”. The files detail hundreds of child sexual assaults known by scouting officials but kept from the public and often the police.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Washington Post

By Tim Townsend| Religion News Service, Updated: Monday, September 17

ST. LOUIS — In the middle of the 16th century, Catholic bishops and theologians met sporadically in the city of Trento in northern Italy to discuss the church’s response to the Reformation. Over the course of 18 years, the Council of Trent produced documents correcting abuses like indulgences and other corruption.

In 1564, the council ordered that some naked figures in Michelangelo’s massive “Last Judgment” fresco in the Sistine Chapel be covered up as a result of the council’s dictate that “all lasciviousness be avoided; in such wise that figures shall not be painted or adorned with a beauty exciting to lust.”

It will be difficult for critics to compare Michelangelo’s nudes with the ones photographed by the Rev. John Blair. Just after the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri launched an investigation of the St. Louis priest, many of his photos of nude models were removed from the Internet.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WPVI

PHILADELPHIA – September 17, 2012 (WPVI) — A Philadelphia priest who was cleared of sexual abuse allegations has been placed on leave because of new allegations.

The Reverend Michael Chapman, 56, is the pastor of Ascension of Our Lord Parish.

He was first accused of abuse back in March, 2011.

The Archdiocese cleared him of any wrongdoing this past May and deemed him suitable to return to his post.

But, before Chapman returned, the Archdiocese said it received several allegations of sexual abuse of minors, which allegedly occurred 30 years ago.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New Jersey Herald

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Roman Catholic church officials in Philadelphia have suspended another priest due to allegations of sexual abuse.

According to the archdiocese, the accusations involve minors and date back about 30 years. Officials say the claims first surfaced last spring.

The Associated Press is not naming the 56-year-old priest because he has not been criminally charged. He could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Church officials say the priest was first placed on leave in March 2011 for allegedly violating standards of ministerial behavior and boundaries.

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UNITED STATES
The Church of England Newspaper

Posted by George Conger on Monday, September 17th, 2012

A Missouri state court has found Bishop Robert Finn of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph guilty of failing to report suspected child abuse. The 7 September 2012 conviction of Bishop Finn makes him the most senior U.S. Catholic cleric convicted in that church’s clergy sex abuse scandal.

After pleading no contest to the charges and declining to exercise his right to a trial by jury, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Torrence placed Bishop Finn on probation, ordered him to ensure the diocesan staff implements an effective child abuse prevention programme, and create a fund to pay for the counselling of abuse victims.

Last week’s ruling follows the August conviction by a Philadelphia court of the secretary of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Msgr. William Lynn, who was sentenced to six years imprisonment for covering up child sex abuse by Philadelphia priests.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

By WJAC Web Staff and The Associated Press

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. —

The state attorney general may take over the investigation of a local priest who was suspended last month amid allegations of sexual abuse from more than 30 years ago.

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown last month suspended the Rev. George Koharchik, who had been pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Mount Union.

Koharchik is not permitted to function as a priest and won’t have contact with children while he is on leave.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., has placed Reverend Michael Chapman on administrative leave following allegations of sexual abuse of minors. Father Chapman, Pastor of Ascension of Our Lord Parish in Philadelphia, was originally placed on leave in March 2011 for an alleged violation of The Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries.

After investigation of the alleged Standards violation by the Multi-Disciplinary Team, and evaluation by the Archdiocesan Review Board, Archbishop Chaput found Father Chapman suitable for ministry in May 2012. As part of the Honesty, Healing and Hope in Christ parish restoration initiative, the Office for Child and Youth protection was working with the parish to prepare for his return. Before Father Chapman’s return, the Archdiocese received allegations of sexual abuse of minors against Father Chapman in May 2012. The abuse reportedly occurred approximately thirty years ago. The Archdiocese immediately reported the new allegations to law enforcement and delayed Father Chapman’s return to the parish. Since the allegations were received, Father Chapman has not been exercising his ministry publicly or residing at an Archdiocesan parish. After an initial investigation by the Archdiocesan Office for Investigations, the Archbishop placed Father Chapman on administrative leave.

An announcement was made at Ascension of Our Lord Parish this past weekend and counselors were available.

Father Chapman is 56 years old. He was ordained in 1982. He served at the following parishes, schools, and offices: Saint Bonaventure, Philadelphia (1982-1986); Little Flower High School(1983-1985); Saint Agnes, West Chester (1986-1990); Saint Henry, Philadelphia (1990-1991); Priest Vocation Coordinator for the Hispanic Apostolate (1990-1994); Hispanic MinistryCoordinator for Montgomery County (1991-1992); Saint Veronica, Philadelphia (1994-1999); Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul (1999-2001); Ascension of Our Lord, Philadelphia (2001-2011); placed on administrative leave (2011).

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Mercury

By Mercury staff
Posted: 09/17/12

A Philadelphia area priest who had recently been OK’d to return to ministry is being kept on administrative leave after new allegations emerged against him.

According to a press release from the Philadelphia Archdiocese, Rev. Michael Chapman, who had been previously accused of violation of the church’s standards, had been cleared in May and was expected to return to ministry when the archdiocese was made aware of allegations that Chapman sexually abused minors about 30 years ago. Chapman was immediately placed on administrative leave until the allegations were investigated. Chapman was serving as pastor at Ascension of Our Lord Parish in Philadelphia when the initial claims were made against him ov violating the Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries in March of 2011.

“Since the allegations were received, Father Chapman has not been exercising his ministry publicly or residing at an Archdiocesan parish. After an initial investigation by the Archdiocesan Office for Investigations, the Archbishop placed Father Chapman on administrative leave,” read a press release from the archdiocese that also said the claims were reported to law enforcement.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Monday said it had suspended a former Northeast Philadelphia pastor to investigate new claims of misconduct involving minors, three months after church officials publicly cleared the priest of a similar allegation.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput declared the priest, the Rev. Michael Chapman, suitable in May to return to active ministry. Chapman, 56, was preparing to resume his priestly duties when the archdiocese received a new accusation that Chapman had abused a minor approximately 30 years ago, the archdiocese announced.

Church officials immediately turned over the accusation to law enforcement and halted Chapman’s return, according to Donna Farrell, a spokeswoman for the archbishop.

“Father Chapman had never actually returned to active public ministry, did not have access to children and was not residing in a parish at any time since the May 4th announcement,” Farrell said.

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UNITED STATES
What They Knew: An Archive of Jesuit Accountability – Clergy Sexual Abuse in the Society of Jesus

[with documents]

In September 2001, then Bishop Raymond Burke of the Diocese of La Crosse Wisconsin was shopping for a retreat master. He asked around and then remembered hearing a name from his good Jesuit friend John Hardon SJ (Burke later goes on to nominate Hardon for sainthood). The name he came across was Donald McGuire SJ of the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus. He writes to McGuire, and McGuire accepts his invitation.

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OREGON
Statesman Journal

Written by
Emily Gillespie
Statesman Journal

The priest of a Catholic church in Woodburn who is accused of sexually touching a 12-year-old Salem boy is expected to enter a plea this morning.

Angel Armando Perez, 46, faces charges of first-degree sex abuse, using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct, four counts of delivering alcohol to a minor, tampering with evidence and driving under the influence of intoxicants.

The boy reported that he had spent the night on an air mattress at Perez’s house and awoke to the Perez touching his genitals and taking pictures with his cell phone, court record states.

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UNITED STATES
Las Vegas Review-Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted: Sep. 17, 2012

LOS ANGELES – The Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of suspected child sex abusers to authorities and often helped cover up the accusations over two decades, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

In a review of 1,600 of the organization’s confidential “perversion” files dating from 1970 to 1991, the newspaper found that Scout leaders helped suspected molesters push the allegations under the rug in about 400 instances.

The Scouts have fought to keep the files confidential, but they emerged as part of a lawsuit against the organization, the Times said.

The files date to 1919 and were kept as a type of “blacklist” of people unfit to serve in the organization.

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UNITED STATES
USA Today

Over a 20-year period, the Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and even helped many to cover their tracks, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The newspaper says its extensive review of 1,600 confidential “perversion files” from 1970 to 1991 found that BSA officials frequently allowed suspected molesters to leave the organization for bogus reasons like business demands or “chronic brain dysfunction.”

Times reporters Kim Christensen and Jason Felch write that while the Boy Scouts has kept a blacklist of alleged molesters since 1919, it often didn’t work, as men would slip back into the program and face new accusations.

The newspaper, which broke earlier aspects of the story in August, examined more than 500 cases in which the Scouts had heard of alleged abuse through tips from parents or staff members.

DOCUMENTS: A paper trail of abuse

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KMBZ

A small group of supporters and opponents of Bishop Robert Finn were at Kansas City’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception yesterday. Finn was recently found guilty of failure to report suspected child abuse connected to the Shawn Ratigan case. Kristine Ward, chair of the National Survivor Advocates Coalition organized the event.

She says the diocese is sending the wrong message. “The highest values that are being taught now from the Bishop’s chair are to protect the reputation of the church, save the bishop from embarrassment and if you happen to get caught to give a luke-warm milk-toast apology,” says Ward. But one Finn supporter told KMBZ, the bishop has been unfairly singled out.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
San Antonio Express-News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A national Catholic organization is pushing for Bishop Robert Finn to resign after he became the highest-ranking U.S. church official convicted of a crime related to the child sexual abuse scandal.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/Nxevak ) reported that the National Survivor Advocates Coalition made the demand during a news conference Sunday in downtown Kansas City. Coalition chairwoman Kristine Ward says a criminally convicted bishop “cannot lead.”

Finn leads the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. He was convicted earlier this month of one misdemeanor for failing to report child abuse suspicions.

The charges stem from a case in which church officials knew about child porn photos on a priest’s computer but didn’t turn him in until six months later.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WFMJ

Posted: Sep 17, 2012

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) – The state attorney general may take over the investigation of a central Pennsylvania priest who was suspended last month amid allegations of sexual abuse involving children several decades ago.

The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown (http://bit.ly/V3DN0q ) reports Monday that may happen because four alleged victims have now come forward, including one outside Cambria County, where the district attorney is now investigating the claims of 3 other alleged male victims.

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown last month suspended the Rev. George Koharchik, who had been pastor of Saint Catherine of Siena Parish in Mount Union. He’s not permitted to function as a priest and won’t have contact with children while he is on leave.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office today released the following communique.

“Giuseppe della Torre, president of the Tribunal of Vatican City State, today issued a decree ruling that the first hearing of the trial of Paolo Gabriele and Claudio Sciarpelletti, will take place at 9.30 a.m. on 29 September. The two accused were sent for trial by the examining magistrate on 13 August. The hearing will take place in the audience hall of the Tribunal of Vatican City State. The parties concerned have been notified of the decree”.

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VATICAN CITY
CNBC

Published: Monday, 17 Sep 2012

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The trial of Pope Benedict’s former butler on charges of aggravated theft in the so-called “Vatileaks” scandal will start on September 29, the Vatican said on Monday.

Paolo Gabriele will be tried alongside Claudio Sciarpelletti, a Vatican computer expert, in a case which involved the leaking of sensitive documents alleging corruption in the Vatican.

Gabriele, who helped the pontiff dress, served him his meals and rode in the front seat of the popemobile at general audiences, is accused of taking letters from Benedict’s desk and leaking them to reporters.

The episode, which has been highly embarrassing for the Vatican, exposed what some saw as a power struggle among some cardinals in the Vatican.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Gloucester Times

By Tom Dalton Staff Writer

A decade ago, as the priest sex abuse scandal rocked the Archdiocese of Boston, media reports appeared about a small group of lay Catholics meeting in the basement of a Wellesley church to share the hurt and anger they felt over the church leadership’s handling of the crisis.

Miles away in Topsfield, Vince and Jolene Guerra heard the news and knew they had to do something.

So they jumped in their car and made the nearly hourlong drive to St. John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley, where they were moved by gut-wrenching accounts of abuse and by the heartfelt, thought-provoking dialogue with other Catholics. It was a trip they made many times.

It was also a heady time. Media flocked to the meetings. The national press came.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune reporter

9:10 p.m. CDT, September 16, 2012

A group of Chicago-area Roman Catholics dedicated to reforming its church is asking parishioners which leader they would like to see at the helm of the Chicago Archdiocese once Cardinal Francis George retires.

Members of Voice of the Faithful, an organization of progressive Catholics focused on church accountability, have set up two websites to solicit suggestions from people in the pews.

Activists said the unprecedented undertaking fulfills centuries-old canon law that calls on the faithful to communicate their needs and weigh in on major decisions.

“The average layman does not realize his duty according to canon law to make needs known when it comes to selecting bishops,” said Mary Jean Cardwell, a parishioner at Sts. Faith, Hope and Charity Catholic Church in Winnetka and one of the initiative’s organizers. “Who knows better the needs of the community than I do? I’ve lived here for 43 years. … So many things have been done by our current cardinal, but there are things that have been left undone. It’s a very important endeavor that we’re doing.”

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CANADA
Salem-News

Kevin Annett Salem-News.com
(Affiliated with The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State)

Learn more: www.hiddenfromhistory.org

(SASKATCHEWAN) – Hello and welcome. My name is Kevin Annett Eagle Strong Voice and I am speaking to you today on behalf of the Council of Elders of the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State: a multinational coalition of over fifteen organizations in seven countries.

Under the authority of that Tribunal as well as Common Law and the Natural Land Law Jurisdiction of Sovereign Nations, I declare that as of this day, Saturday, September 15, 2012, a Public International Court of Justice is hereby convened to consider evidence related to charges of crimes against humanity and criminal conspiracy by institutions of church and state, and their fiduciary officers.

The crimes that will be documented and judged in our Court are abominable and almost unimaginable. They span centuries, and range from outright murder to systematic torture, rape, slave labor, germ warfare, medical experimentation, drug testing, involuntary sterilizations, child trafficking, genocide and wars of extermination against peaceful nations. These crimes are all the more heinous by the fact that they were often aimed at children and occured not randomly by isolated individuals, but historically, systematically, deliberately, and officially, by express command of heads of church and state according to their laws and customs – and by the fact that many of these crimes carry on today against the innocent at the hands of the same authorizing institutions and heads of state.

The enormity of these crimes requires a new approach. For this Court is a unique experiment, in that under existing international law, institutions cannot be brought to trial or account for genocidal or criminal actions, despite the fact that these crimes arise from and are caused by such institutions. There has consequently been no legal recourse for millions of people whose cultures and lives have been destroyed by the deliberate plans and actions of institutions of church and state, such as in the case of the conquest of entire continents of non-Christian people by European kingdoms operating under the sanction of so-called papal laws.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Kathy Mellott kmellott@tribdem.com

— The number of people who say they were sexually molested by a priest in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is growing, and indications as of late last week are that the investigation and any criminal prosecution of the Rev. George Koharchik may be handled by the office of the state attorney general.

As of Friday, four men had stepped forward to say they were molested by Koharchik, some as long ago as three decades ago, when they were young boys.

On Aug. 24, the diocese announced that Koharchik, 63, a Windber native who was raised in Johnstown, had been placed on leave from active ministry in the priesthood by church leader Bishop Mark Bartchak.

Information regarding the allegations, minus the names of the victims, was turned over to the Cambria County District Attorney’s Office for investigation last month.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By KAREN DILLON
The Kansas City Star

Members of a national Catholic organization on Sunday demanded the resignation of Bishop Robert W. Finn, who was convicted this month of failing to report child sexual abuse.

The National Survivor Advocates Coalition, which has its headquarters in Dayton, Ohio, held a news conference at Barney Allis Plaza in downtown Kansas City — in the shadow of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception — to make its demand.

“A criminally convicted bishop cannot lead. Bishop Finn must resign or be removed by Pope Benedict,” said coalition chairwoman Kristine Ward. “Every hour he remains bishop revictimizes survivors and their families.”

Finn, who is head of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, is the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic cleric to be convicted in the church’s decades-long child sexual abuse scandal.

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AUSTRALIA
Adelaide Now

HUNDREDS of people have gathered in Newcastle to call for a royal commission into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

Almost 400 people attended the public forum at the Newcastle Panthers club on Sunday, in which people shared their experiences of abuse within the Catholic Church and other organisations.

“We filled the auditorium. We couldn’t have fitted any more,” NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge told AAP.

He said there was a unanimous call for a royal commission to investigate cases of abuse and look at offences which were covered up.

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WASHINGTON
Patch

By Jeanne Gustafson

September 16, 2012

Timothy L. Dampier pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple charges of rape of a child and child molestation for sexually abusing boys when he was involved in church and youth organizations, the King County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Dampier, 39, pleaded guilty to a total of 22 counts involving ten victims between the ages of nine and 17. The charges include Rape of a Child (First and Second Degree), Child Molestation (First, Second and Third Degree), Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Possession of Child Pornography, and Communication with a Minor for Immoral Purposes.

Dampier was arrested last year and charged with a number of crimes against minor boys, after being questioned at his job at the Boys & Girls Club. The investigation was launched after one of the victims, now 21 years old, went to the minister of a Seattle church and told him that Dampier had abused him. The victim had heard that Dampier was hired as a musician by that church and told the minister he was concerned about the safety of other children. The minister notified Seattle Police of the man’s report.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

BY: Lou Michel

The mother of a 6-year-old girl molested by an elder at a West Side church calls the crime more than just a criminal act.

It was a breach of trust in a spiritual setting.

Abel Poloche gained the confidence of her and other church members, the mother said, in part because he once worked as a doctor in Venezuela and conducted himself in a caring manner at the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Vermont Street, especially when working with the children.

Poloche, 61, was sentenced earlier this summer in Erie County Court to six months in jail after pleading guilty to felony attempted sexual abuse of the girl in a computer room at the church as she sat on his lap.

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UNITED STATES
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

[Boy Scouts helped alleged molesters cover tracks, files show – Los Angeles Times]

Boy Scouts of America covered up HUNDREDS of child sex abuse cases and let molesters slip away, according to secret ‘perversion files’

By Snejana Farberov

Over the course of about two decades, the Boys Scouts of America (BSA) has failed to report hundreds of cases of child sex abuse involving counselors and officials, according to the organization’s confidential internal files.

An explosive expose by the Los Angels Times based on 1,600 documents dating from 1971 to 1991 has revealed that Boy Scout officials would often urge admitted molesters to quietly resign and then hide the allegations from the victims’ parents.

Volunteers and employees linked to possible abuse were allowed to leave the organization citing such far-fetched excuses as ‘chronic brain dysfunction’ and duties at the Shakespeare festival. …

The records show that the teenage victim was counseled ‘with positive results’ by the Rev. Edmond C. Micarelli, the camp’s Catholic chaplain, who later ended up in the ‘perversion files’ himself after a man told officials that he and his bother were raped by the cleric as young boys.

In 2002, the Diocese of Providence paid $13.5million to 36 victims who sued Micarelli and 10 other priests over sexual abuse going back to at least 1975.

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UNITED STATES
The Imperfect Parent

September 17th, 2012 by Ella Desrosiers

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the Boy Scouts of America’s confidential internal files revealed that the organization failed to report hundreds of child sex abuse cases to authorities over a period of twenty years.

The Los Angeles Times obtained over 1,600 of the scouting organization’s documents dating from 1971-1991. In those documents, BSA officials urged admitted child molesters to quietly resign and helped to cover their tracks with the parents and community.

Many that resigned cited unusual reasons for leaving the organization, such as “chronic brain dysfunction” and duties at a Shakespeare festival. …

The records do, however, say that the boy was then counseled by the Rev. Edmond C. Micarelli, the camp’s Catholic chaplain, with “positive results.” Unfortunately, Micarelli himself ended up in the “perversion files” after a different man told officials that he and his brother were raped by Micarelli when they were young boys.

In 2002, 36 victims sued Micarelli and 10 other priests over sexual abuse dating as far back as 1975, resulting in a judgment against the Diocese of Providence for $13.5 million.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

Almost 400 people have gathered at a public forum in Newcastle to support calls for a royal commission into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Hundreds of people have gathered in Newcastle to call for a royal commission into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

Almost 400 people attended the public forum at the Newcastle Panthers club on Sunday, in which people shared their experiences of abuse within the Catholic Church and other organisations.

“We filled the auditorium. We couldn’t have fitted any more,” NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge told AAP.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

At a rally in Newcastle more than 300 people have supported calls for a Royal Commission into the Catholic Church’s handling of clergy abuse.

The rally at Newcastle Panthers club heard from abuse victims and their families, Greens MP David Shoebridge, Independent Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper and President of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Andrew Morrison.

The meeting heard how clergy abuse over the decades has lead to suicides, alcohol and drug abuse, divorce and shattered relationships.

So far Premier Barry O’Farrell has refused to support calls for a Royal Commission, saying it would hinder police investigations.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Caroline Crawford

Monday September 17 2012

A CATHOLIC bishop who described paedophilia as “a friendship that had crossed a boundary line” has apologised for his remarks.

In a special message read at Masses throughout the Clonfert diocese yesterday, Bishop John Kirby said he had never intended to minimise the gravity of the crime and apologised especially to survivors of child abuse.

Despite his apology, the bishop at no stage said he was considering his position.

Instead, he claimed that his comments had been taken out of context.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Loyolan

Posted: Monday, September 17, 2012 1:00 am

Zaneta Pereira, News Editor

Posted on September 17, 2012

The latest alleged sexual abuse scandal committed by a member of the Roman Catholic clergy hits close to home for LMU as the accused Jesuit, Brother William Farrington, S.J., spent 15 years on the University’s campus from 1987 until his retirement in 2002.

The allegations against Farrington were brought to light last Tuesday, Sept. 11, via a letter sent out to hundreds of graduates of San Jose’s Bellarmine College Preparatory, where Farrington worked as a dormitory supervisor and a coach for the swim and dive teams. In the letter, a man who attended the Catholic high school in the 1960s came forward with the accusation that he had been sexually molested on campus by Farrington, according to the Sept. 13 Mercury News article, “Bellarmine abuse controversy still has plenty of questions remaining.” The man also urged anyone who “might have been victimized by Farrington in the mid-1960s to 1970s to come forward,” according to the same article.

The accuser’s letter was supported by an email sent from Bellarmine Prep’s president, Fr. Paul G. Sheridan, S.J, who called the claims of abuse “credible.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KSHB

[with video]

By: Lisa Benson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A national survivor’s group is calling for Bishop Robert Finn to resign from the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph. The group believes Finn’s criminal conviction leaves him unfit to lead diocese.

Kristine Ward is the chair of the National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC). She and a group of demonstrators met at Barney Allis Plaza to lay out their demand and march to the the Kansas City – St. Joseph diocese.

Ward called for Catholics to send a message with their feet and their wallets.

“We are asking them to not give their money in collection baskets until Bishop Finn resigns,” Ward said. “Put it in escrow or give it directly to survivor organizations.”

NSAC supporters met Finn supporters in front of the diocese offices. Finn supporters, like Tessa Hatler, want Finn to stay.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated September 16, 2012

There was a Walk the Talk to make Bishop Finn resign today in Kansas City, see news updates below. We will see how they will succeed like us Bostonians who ousted Cardinal Bernard Law to leave Boston forever, out of sight and out of our land. The problem of course is how, the last Tsar of the Vatican, Benedict XVI will try to protect his live Achilles Heel Bishop Finn, just like John Paul II protected his Achilles Heel Cardinal Bernard Law.

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CHILE
La Segunda

Agrupación religiosa responde a críticas del defensor de O’Reilly y da respaldo a psicóloga

Una extensa y dura respuesta emitió la entidad religiosa «Sacerdocio bajo la Ley de JesusCristo» al abogado Luis Hermosilla , quien representa al sacerdote legionario John O’Reilly, acusado de abusar sexualmente contra una menor del Colegio Cumbres.

El jurista aseguró durante una audiencia realizada el 5 de septiembre pasado que la psicóloga Ana Eugenia Chevarría -quien realizó el informe que establece los supuestos abusos- es integrante de una “secta” en cuyo sitio web se menciona el caso de Marcial Maciel, fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo, insinuando que la mujer podría estar actuando bajo mandatos espirituales para “investigar las actividades de la Iglesia Católica y en particular de Los Legionarios de Cristo”.

A través de una declaración publicada en ese mismo sitio de internet, la agrupación sostiene que “nunca hemos atacado a personas, y si las hemos nombrado ha sido porque efectivamente tienen que ver con el tema tratado. Y en particular, nunca hemos hecho ‘campaña’ en contra de una persona o institución. Los legionarios no son una ocupación en nuestro hacer”.

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UNITED STATES
Los Angeles Times

Since at least 1919, the Boy Scouts of Amer­ica has main­tained “in­eli­gible vo­lun­teer” files in­ten­ded to keep sexu­al ab­users, among oth­ers, out of its ranks. The re­cords have been closely held by the Scouts, which con­tends that con­fid­en­ti­al­ity is es­sen­tial to pro­tect vic­tims, wit­nesses and any­one falsely ac­cused.

The Times re­viewed about 1,600 of the files dat­ing from 1970 to 1991. In hun­dreds of cases, sexu­al ab­use was not re­por­ted to law en­force­ment, and Scout of­fi­cials at times act­ively hid it from par­ents and the pub­lic. In at least 50 cases, the Boy Scouts ex­pelled men for al­leged sexu­al ab­use, only to dis­cov­er later that they had reentered the Scouts and were again ac­cused of mo­lest­ing.

Here are files from some of those cases. The Times has re­dac­ted vic­tims’ names and oth­er identi­fy­ing in­form­a­tion. Some files in­clude ex­pli­cit ac­counts of sexu­al ab­use. …

Edmond C. Micarelli

[document]

Sept. 14, 2012
A long­time Scouts chap­lain and Cath­ol­ic priest, Mi­carelli was ac­cused in 1990 of rap­ing two broth­ers years earli­er. No charges were filed, but Mi­carelli later was one of a dozen de­fend­ants in a law­suit that in 2002 ended in a $13.5 mil­lion set­tle­ment by the Dio­cese of Provid­ence with 36 ab­use vic­tims.

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UNITED STATES
Los Angeles Times

When volunteers and employees were suspected of sexually abusing children, Boy Scout officials often didn’t tell police, files from 1970-91 reveal. In many cases they sought to hide the situation.

By Kim Christensen and Jason Felch, Los Angeles Times

September 16, 2012

Over two decades, the Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.

A Los Angeles Times review of 1,600 confidential files dating from 1970 to 1991 has found that Scouting officials frequently urged admitted offenders to quietly resign — and helped many cover their tracks.

Volunteers and employees suspected of abuse were allowed to leave citing bogus reasons such as business demands, “chronic brain dysfunction” and duties at a Shakespeare festival.

Documents: A paper trail of abuse

The details are contained in the organization’s confidential “perversion files,” a blacklist of alleged molesters, that the Scouts have used internally since 1919. Scouts’ lawyers around the country have been fighting in court to keep the files from public view.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Somerset County Gazette

7:00pm Sunday 16th September 2012 in News By Phil Hill

THE victim of a paedophile Anglican priest believes his human rights have been taken away by a court ruling.

He is angry the Rev Geoffrey Cooke at some stage could appeal to have his name taken off the Sex Offenders’ Register.

It follows a Supreme Court decision that placing offenders on the list for life breaches their rights.

The victim, now in his 40s, who cannot be named, said: “His human rights? What about mine?

“He took my human rights away when he abused me, so it gave me fulfilment when he was jailed and put on the register.

“Now it feels like he’s getting his human rights back and mine are being taken away again.

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NEDERLAND
Parochie Hielige Drie-eenheid Veldhoven

Geachte parochianen,

Het bestuur van de parochie is net zoals u, waarschijnlijk overvallen met de berichtgevingen de krant van vrijdag 31 augustus 2012 over de situatie met betrekking tot pastoor Donders.

Er zijn kennelijk belastende foto’s gevonden op een computer.

Wij respecteren het lopende justitiële onderzoek en wachten de resultaten af.

Wij hechten eraan te melden dat het bestuur op geen enkele manier op de hoogte was van dit onderzoek. Wij gaan na wat de rol van het Bisdom in deze is geweest. Het Bisdom heeft besloten om pastoor Donders officieel op non actief te stellen.

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