ABUSE TRACKER

INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
Indianapolis Star

Written by
Tim Evans and Peter Smith

6:25 a.m. update

Joseph W. Tobin has officially been appointed the next archbishop of Indianapolis by Pope Benedict XVI, according to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis website.

The announcement was made in Rome. Tobin will succeed Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, who is leaving for health reasons.

The press conference in Indianapolis to introduce Tobin will be streamed live at http://www.archindy.org/archbishop/conference.html.

9:06 p.m. Oct. 17 post

A high-ranking Vatican official, seen as a moderate who is sympathetic to American nuns in their ongoing tensions with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, is expected to be named Thursday as the next archbishop of Indianapolis.

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CROATIA
Times Colonist (Canada)

By The Associated Press
October 18, 2012

ZAGREB, Croatia – Police in Croatia say they have arrested a Catholic priest who allegedly made off with more than a million euros of church money.

Police said Thursday they launched a criminal probe against priest Sime Nimac after the Church accused him of illegally selling church land for €1.3 million ($1.7 million) and taking the sale money. They said Nimac was arrested on Wednesday in the capital of Zagreb.

The case has drawn much public attention in Croatia. Local media have reported that Nimac also ran off with a married woman who had allegedly helped him draw the money from the bank.

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WHITINSVILLE (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Lee Hammel TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
lhammel@telegram.com

The former House of Affirmation at 120 Hill St., Whitinsville, has been sold to a Northbridge businessman.

James M. Knott Sr., of 456 Hill St., Whitinsville, bought the property for $800,000 last week. Mr. Knott, owner and CEO of Riverdale Mills Corp. in Northbridge said he intends to use the 89-room, 26-acre property as a conference center and wedding facility.

The property is the subject of a Worcester Superior Court civil suit filed by two gay men who accused Diocese of Worcester officials of discriminating against them on the basis of sexual orientation while they were negotiating to buy it. James Fairbanks and Alain J. Beret, a married couple from Sutton, said they planned to renovate the mansion and turn it into a banquet hall to host weddings and other functions as well as their personal residence.

Their suit alleges they were turned down by church officials solely because they are gay and might have held same-sex weddings on the property.

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PHOENIX (AZ)
What They Knew

…Or How to Deceive a Bishop: From the Jesuit Guide to Everything.

In a surprise move the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix released a list of 29 clerics accused of sexual abuse, joining only 25 other diocese in the United States to do so. One name that stands out on that list is the familiar Donald McGuire SJ of the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus. You can visit the Diocese of Phoenix’s site listing the clerics HERE.

The Bishop of Phoenix Thomas J. Olmsted has been issuing statements and community warnings about the Chicago Jesuit since 2007 when he was first informed that the child abusing cleric had been operating in his jurisdiction. A very responsible move given that he was never informed of McGuire’s presence by the Chicago Jesuits.

According to the Bishop:

The Diocese of Phoenix has no record of Fr. Donald J. McGuire asking for or receiving faculties to administer sacraments in the Diocese at any time. However, the Diocese is aware that Fr. Donald J. McGuire conducted several privately-sponsored retreats for adults over the age of 21 at Mt. Claret Retreat Center in Phoenix in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2001. Those retreats were not sponsored by or conducted by the Diocese of Phoenix, but were held at a Diocesan facility, which was rented out by a private association not affiliated with the Diocese. Fr. Donald J. McGuire is believed to also have conducted privately sponsored retreats in Casa Grande, Arizona, in the 1980s and 1990s as well as a privately sponsored retreat in Payson, Arizona, in 2002.

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VATICAN CITY
DFW Catholic

Vatican City, Oct 18, 2012 / 12:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Ireland’s delegation to the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization presented ways to re-evangelize a country shaken by abuse scandals, undermined by poor catechesis and assaulted by secularism.

“(T)he Church must now speak with a voice which is hopeful yet humble, confident yet compassionate, with a claim to authority that must be more evidently rooted in the Gospel and the love of Christ,” said Bishop Kieran O’Reilly of Killaloe during the Oct. 16 afternoon session of the synod.

“This is the context in which the new evangelization will take place” in Ireland, he stated.

Referring to the abuse scandals, Bishop O’Reilly said the Church in Ireland is living the “recent crises in a dramatic way.”

But he expressed hope for renewal through a 10-year program of re-evangelization that the bishops’ conference will be implementing. It will emphasize catechesis and deep appreciation for Christ’s message.

Bishop O’Reilly also said the New Evangelization must involve a “fuller and significant biblical apostolate.”

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AUSTRALIA
Adelaide Now

Paul Mulvey
AAP
October 18, 2012

MORE victims of church sexual abuse will kill themselves unless Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry acts swiftly to protect the men who still contemplate suicide every day, one campaigner fears.

Up to 50 men taught in the 1960s and 70s by convicted pedophiles Brother Robert Best, Brother Edward Dowlan, Brother Stephen Farrell and Father Gerald Ridsdale at Catholic schools in Ballarat and elsewhere in Victoria have taken their own lives and many more former students suffer from the long term impact of abuse.

Survivor Peter Blenkiron says the inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious organisations, which opens on Friday, cannot afford to take too long to recommend action and has called for a government-run, church-funded support system to help keep these men alive.

“What I’m worried about is that it’ll take too long and people will die before there’s any sort of resolution,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
Fox 8

By Michael Martinez and Paul Vercammen, CNN

(CNN) — More than 20,000 confidential Boy Scout documents will be released Thursday identifying more than 1,000 leaders and volunteers banned from the group after being accused of sexual or inappropriate conduct with boys.

The public release of the Scouts’ 1,247 “ineligible volunteer files” from 1965 to 1985 will not contain the identities of the boy victims and witnesses. The national files are being distributed with the approval of the Oregon Supreme Court by a law firm that won an $18.5 million judgment in 2010 against the Boy Scouts in a case where a Scoutmaster sexually abused a boy.

Wayne Perry, president of Boy Scouts of America, said the group is deeply committed to youth protection, but he acknowledged that in some cases, the organization’s response to allegations of abuse by volunteers “were plainly insufficient, inappropriate or wrong.”

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OHIO
WSAZ

[with video]

GALLIPOLIS, Ohio (WSAZ) — A trust betrayed — that was the feeling in Gallia County Wednesday night where a man of the church is now in jail, charged with sexual assault.

Police believe there may be more than one victim.

The news is really hitting home for church members at Simpson Chapel United Methodist.

“It’s a beautiful church, and it has a lot of beautiful people in it,” said Ginny Showalter of Rio Grande, Ohio.

Showwalter is still proud to call herself a member. She’s just ashamed of what her pastor’s accused of doing.

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OHIO
Daily Tribune

RIO GRANDE — A Gallia County pastor was arrested on Tuesday afternoon and is being charged in relation to allegations that he had sexually assaulted a teenager who had been his student.

David Young, 46, was taken into custody by deputies with the Gallia County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of agents with Crimes Against Children Unit of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) at the Simpson Chapel United Methodist Church in Rio Grande where he is the pastor.

According to a press release issued by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Young has been accused of sexually assaulting a teenager between the ages of 13 and 14 who was part of a class he had been teaching through the church.

“These allegations are extremely distressing because Ohioans should be able to trust people in positions of authority,” Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine commented about the case. “We will go to all lengths necessary to hold those who commit crimes against children accountable.”

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

A FORMER priest sacked by the Catholic church in 2005 has been arrested in northern NSW over a number of historic sex offences against young girls.

A 59-year-old man, known as Father F, is expected to be charged with a number of child-sex offences against three girls in the 1970s and 1980s, a police source has told AAP.

He was arrested at an Armidale home at 6.30am (AEDT) today after an almost three-month investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse by a priest based in the area, police said.

The man has been taken to Armidale Police Station, where he is assisting police.

Father F was implicated in other abuse cases the Catholic Church was accused of covering up, ABC TV’s Four Corners reported in June.

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AUSTRALIA
The Border Mail

By BEVAN SHIELDS
Oct. 18, 2012

A FORMER Catholic priest arrested this morning has been charged with 25 serious sexual crimes against three girls, one as young as five.

The 59-year-old man appeared in court this afternoon after officers from Strike Force Glenroe apprehended him in an early-morning operation at his home in Armidale, in northern NSW, today. He was refused bail.

Police allege the man sexually abused three girls in the 1970s and 1980s. The charges include indecent assault, acts of indecency and sexual intercourse without consent. The girls were aged between 5 and 18 years old when the alleged crimes were committed.

The trio contacted police earlier this year, the commander of the NSW Police Sex Crimes Squad, Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec, told reporters in Sydney today.

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AUSTRALIA
Coolum News

APN Newsdesk |
18th Oct 2012

A FORMER Catholic priest is facing 25 charges relating to historic child-sex offences after he was arrested in Armidale on Thursday morning.

The state’s Sex Crimes Squad formed Strike Force Glenroe in July to investigate allegations of child sexual abuse.

About 6.30am on Thursday detectives attached to Strike Force Glenroe and New England Local Area Command arrested a 59-year-old man.

He was taken to Armidale Police Station and later charged with a string of offences.

The alleged acts were committed against three girls in the 1970s and 1980s.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

A former priest has been charged with 25 historical child sex offences, with police set to inquire into whether the Catholic Church took part in a cover-up.

The man was denied bail when he appeared in Armidale Local Court, in northern NSW, on Thursday, accused of repeatedly molesting three girls between 1979 and 1988.

Detectives from Strike Force Glenroe arrested him at his Armidale home about 6.30am (AEDT) following an ongoing investigation that began in July.

He faces up to 10 years in jail if found guilty of the offences.

Magistrate Mark Richardson denied his bail application and ordered the man’s name not be published to protect the anonymity of the alleged victims.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Star

18th October 2012

By Daily Star reporter

A VICAR was slammed by support groups last night after accusing Jimmy Savile’s victims of trying to make money.

The Rev Dr John Cameron, from St Andrews, Fife, alleged the victims had “the clear intention of being compensated” by the late DJ’s charities.

“I don’t like witch-hunts,” he said.

“I’m not saying that it didn’t happen but some of the claims are strange. I think it’s gone too far now.’’

But Marnie Collins, manager at the Kingdom Abuse Survivors Project, said: “Victims are not looking for money but to have their experience validated.’’

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

October 18, 2012

A Catholic priest stood down amid child sexual abuse allegations has declined to comment about the case, while his parishioners say they are in disbelief.

Father Peter Grasby, parish priest of St Mary Magdalen, Jordanville, near Chadstone, told The Age this morning that he did not want to discuss the alleged incidents involving a boy aged 10 to 14 in another parish more than 30 years ago.

“No, I don’t want to talk about it with anybody, sorry,” Father Grasby said, before hanging up.

Earlier, six people gathered for mass in his church, which borders St Mary Magdalen primary school.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX
From:The Australian
October 18, 2012

A FORMER NSW priest has been arrested by detectives investigating alleged child sex abuse, almost 30 years after church authorities were first warned about his alleged behaviour.

Father F, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested this morning at his home in Armidale. Police anticipate charging him today with a number of offences relating to three girls during the 1970s and 80s.

The former priest was removed from public ministry after a meeting with three senior clergy in 1992, at which he allegedly admitted to child sexual assault, although this information was not passed on to the police.

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AUSTRALIA
Farm Weekl

LEESHA MCKENNY

18 Oct, 2012 08:11 AM

A former NSW priest who allegedly told three senior Catholic clergy a decade ago that he had repeatedly sexually abused altar boys has been arrested in Armidale for historic offences against girls.

Detectives arrested the man known as Father F in the state’s New England region today in relation to a number of child-sex offences against three female children in the 1970s and 1980s.

The State Crime Command’s sex crimes squad set up Strike Force Glenroe in July to investigate allegations of that Father F had abused altar boys while a priest based in Armidale and Parramatta.

Father F, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was removed from public ministry after a meeting with three clergy in 1992, following continued allegations of abuse after he was moved from the Armidale diocese to Parramatta.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

A FORMER priest who the Catholic church sacked in 2005 has been arrested in northern NSW over a number of historic sex offences against young girls.

A 59-year-old man, known as Father F, is expected to be charged with a number of child-sex offences against three girls in the 1970s and 1980s, a police source has told AAP.

He was arrested at an Armidale home at 6.30am (AEDT) on Thursday following an almost three-month investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse by a priest based in the area, police said.

The man has been taken to Armidale Police Station where he is currently assisting police.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

The archpriest of St. Peter’s basilica has angrily denied that he had any involvement in the “Vatileaks” scandal.

During his trial for theft of confidential papal documents, Paolo Gabriele testified that he had spoken with Cardinal Angelo Comastri, among other Vatican officials, about his concerns that Pope Benedict XVI was being misled by subordinates. But Gabriele said that he acted alone in taking the Vatican documents, and Cardinal Comastri has vigorously rejected the idea that he was associated with the thefts.

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ROME
The Tablet (United Kingdom)

16 October 2012

Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the papal delegate charged with reforming the scandal-stained Legion of Christ (LC), has removed the conservative order’s director-general four years before the end of his 12-year mandate.

In a letter on 10 October to members of the Legion and their Regnum Christi (RC) lay movement, the cardinal announced that Fr Álvaro Corcuera had agreed to take “a sort of sabbatical year”, ostensibly for health reasons.

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ROME
CathNews

Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the papal delegate charged with reforming the scandal-stained Legion of Christ (LC), has removed the conservative order’s director-general four years before the end of his 12-year mandate, reports The Tablet.

In a letter on October 10 to members of the Legion and their Regnum Christi (RC) lay movement, the cardinal announced that Fr Álvaro Corcuera had agreed to take “a sort of sabbatical year”, ostensibly for health reasons.

Fr Corcuera, 55, was elected head of the two groups in 2005 after the Vatican blocked their founder, the late Marcial Maciel, from re-election.

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MISSOURI
Lake News

Stover — A year after being acquitted of child molestation, the pastor of a small Baptist church in Stover is back in court.

Travis Smith, 42, was arraigned in Moniteau County this week on charges of rape, sexual abuse and sodomy. The charges stem from allegations relating to incidents that allegedly took place in 1998, 1999 and 2005. The allegations involve two different victims.

Smith is currently free on $70,000 bond. He is scheduled to return to court in November.

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OHIO
10 TV
GALLIPOLIS, Ohio – Agents arrested a Gallia County pastor at his church on Tuesday.

According to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, David Young was arrested at his church, the Simpson Chapel United Methodist Church, in Rio Grande, by agents with the AG’s Crimes Against Children Unit.

Young is accused of sexually assaulting a teenager between the ages of 13 and 14. The teenager was a member of a class Young taught, according to the AG’s Office.

“These allegations are extremely distressing because Ohioans should be able to trust people in positions of authority,” said AG Mike DeWine. “We’ll go to all lengths necessary to hold those who commit crimes against children accountable.”

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OHIO
WSAZ

GALLIPOLIS, Ohio (WSAZ) — A Gallia County pastor is facing charges after investigators say he sexually abused a teenager.

According to a press release from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, agents with the Crimes Against Children Unit, which is part of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, assisted deputies with the Gallia County Sheriff’s Office in the arrest of David Young Tuesday afternoon.

Investigators took Young into custody at the Simpson Chapel United Methodist Church in Rio Grande, Ohio, where he is the pastor.

According to the release, Young is accused of sexually assaulting a teenager between the ages of 13 and 14 who was part of a class he taught through the church.

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MOBILE (AL)
Fox 10

Chasity Byrd

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – The jury hearing the case of former pastor Cederick McMillian found him guilty of sex abuse and sodomy after deliberating for an hour Wednesday morning.

The jury chose not to take a lunch break before they began deliberations on Wednesday, Oct. 17. McMillian was convicted sodomy and sex abuse involving his step-daughter, who the prosecution said was 14 years old at the time the abuse happened.

Defense attorney Jeff Deen said he’s disappointed with the verdict.

“I think it was a good cross section of the community, and they heard the evidence and worked hard on the case but they have to make the decision,” said Deen.

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MOBILE (AL)
AL.com

By Brendan Kirby | bkirby@al.com

MOBILE, Alabama – A jury today convicted a local pastor of sexually abusing a teenage girl.

The jury found Cederick McMillan, 27, guilty of second-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse.

The Eight Mile man is pastor of New Birth Community Church in Mobile and helped found Prichard Preparatory Academy.

Law enforcement authorities accused him of sexually touching and having oral sex with a girl when she was 14 years old in 2007.

“I’m very upset with the jury verdict,” defense attorney Jeff Deen said. “But he had a good cross-section of the community, and I’m a very strong believer in the jury system.”

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AUSTRALIA
New South Wales Police Force

Former Catholic priest arrested in relation to historic child-sex offences – Strike Force Glenroe

Thursday, 18 October 2012 08:19:17 AM

***Editors’ note: Footage of today’s arrest will be sent to media later today via YouSendIt. Still images are available by contacting State Crime Command Media on 0417 004 101. We also anticipate holding a media conference at the Police Executive Offices in Elizabeth Street, Sydney, at 1pm today. Stand by for a Media Advisory.***

Detectives have arrested a former Catholic priest in the state’s New England region in relation to a number of historic child-sex offences.

State Crime Command’s Sex Crimes Squad formed Strike Force Glenroe in July 2012 to investigate allegations of child sexual abuse by a priest based in Armidale.

About 6.30am today (Thursday 18 October 2012), detectives attached to Strike Force Glenroe and New England Local Area Command arrested a 59-year-old man in Armidale.

He was taken to Armidale Police Station, where he is currently assisting police with their inquiries.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

A PROMINENT NSW Catholic priest has been arrested in the state’s north this morning following allegations of sexually assaulting a number of children under 16.

Police raided the priest’s Armidale home this morning during a dramatic raid, removing several items from inside.

Armidale Police Inspector Greg Steer confirmed his officers had made an arrest this morning.

“We’re certainly not denying it but we don’t wish to comment on it at this time,” he said.

“He is very well known in Armidale, but well known in Sydney as well.”

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

By police reporter Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop, ABC
October 18, 2012, 9:11 am

A former Catholic priest known as Father F has been arrested over child sex allegations at Armidale in northern New South Wales.

New South Wales Police launched an investigation into Father F after allegations were aired by the ABC’s Four Corners program.

It is understood the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested at dawn at a home in Armidale in the state’s north.

He was arrested as part of Strike Force Glenroe, formed in July to investigate the allegations.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

A former Catholic priest has been arrested in northern NSW over a number of child-sex offences dating back to the 1970s and 80s.

The 59-year-old is expected to be charged with a number offences against three girls, police said.

He was arrested at an Armidale home at 6.30am (AEDT) on Thursday following an almost three-month investigation.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on October 17, 2012

It’s the structure, not the membership, of this board that’s the problem. As long as the archbishop picks every single member and as long as the board depends almost strictly on church officials for information, it will lack effectiveness, objectivity and credibility.

It continues to be a ‘garbage in, garbage out’ system in which a corrupt hierarchy cynically exploits well-meaning Catholics who naively lend their reputations to an inherently flawed structure.

There’s one good way to deal with child sex abuse reports – through the time tested, open American justice system, both criminal and civil. And there’s one good way to deal with older child sex abuse reports – through reforming the statute of limitations so that these cases are dealt with by impartial secular professionals, not biased religious amateurs.

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MARYLAND
Huffington Post

By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON — Three female plaintiffs claim in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that an evangelical church group covered up allegations of sexual abuse against children, failed to report accusations of misconduct to the police and discouraged its members from cooperating with law enforcement.

The lawsuit was filed in Maryland state court against Sovereign Grace Ministries, a 30-year-old family of churches, with about 100 congregations. Most of its churches are in the U.S., but it also has planted churches in about 21 countries.

The plaintiffs allege a conspiracy spanning more than two decades to conceal sexual abuse committed by church members. The alleged abuse happened in Maryland and northern Virginia in the 1980s and 1990s. The lawsuit accuses church representatives of permitting suspected pedophiles to interact with children, supplying them with free legal advice to avoid prosecution and forcing victims to meet with and “forgive” the person that had molested them.

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UNITED STATES
International Business Times

[with video]

Beware all those who fall under the scrutiny of Alex Gibney. The documentary filmmaker first came to mass attention with his acclaimed 2005 documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, a movie that from initially looking at the sudden bankruptcy of the American energy company provided a prescient examination of the greed and corruption that can occur inside modern financial institutions.

It was followed by winning an Academy Award in 2007 for Taxi to the Dark Side, a film that used the death of an Aghan taxi driver at the Bagram Internment Facility to examine the ways the United States policy on torture defies the Geneva Convention.

His new film, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, goes straight for the Vatican jugular.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Former Philadelphia prosecutor Robert Spinelli to serve as chair;
former Philadelphia First Assistant District Attorney Arnold Gordon to serve as vice chair;
Reverend Stephen Leva and Christine Campbell to serve as Review Board members

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced today that Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. has appointed former Philadelphia prosecutor Robert Spinelli as the new chair and former Philadelphia First Assistant District Attorney Arnold Gordon as the new vice chair of the Archdiocesan Review Board. Both Mr. Spinelli and Mr. Gordon have served on the Review Board since June of 2011.

Dr. Ana Maria Catanzaro and Rev. Msgr. Thomas Owens recently completed their terms of service on the Review Board. Archbishop Chaput has appointed Christine Campbell, RN, the Trauma Program Manager at Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and Rev. Stephen Leva, Pastor of Saint Timothy Parish in Philadelphia to fill the seats they vacated.

In making these announcements, Archbishop Chaput said, “The work of the Archdiocesan Review Board is critical to our efforts to protect children and young people. Our Archdiocese is privileged to benefit from the talent of its members, each of whom serves with dedication and passion. I’m grateful to Dr. Ana Maria Catanzaro and Msgr. Thomas Owens for their extraordinary service during a very difficult time in the life of our local Church.”

He continued, “I’m confident that Mr. Spinelli and Mr. Gordon have the right mix of leadership skills, professional background, and energy to serve as chair and vice chair. Lastly, I’m pleased that Father Steve Leva and Christine Campbell have agreed to serve on the Review Board. It’s a position that will demand much of their time and talent and I know they have the expertise necessary to make positive, impactful contributions to the Board’s work.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NECN

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has appointed a former prosecutor as the new chair of its 12-member board that investigates allegations of sexual abuse and other complaints involving priests.

The archdiocese announced Wednesday it was appointing former Philadelphia prosecutor Robert Spinelli as the new chair of the Archdiocesan Review Board. Former First Assistant District Attorney Arnold Gordon will be the new vice chair. Both have been on the board since June 2011.

Ana Maria Catanzaro and the Rev. Thomas Owens recently completed their terms of service on the board.

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

UNITED STATES
Reasonably Catholic

[with audio]

The Oct. 16 episode of Reasonably Catholic: Keeping the Faith goes to Boston to attend the 10th anniversary conference of Voice of the Faithful, a lay organization that formed in reaction to revelations of clergy sexual abuse.

We hear from attendees and speakers who look back at VOTF’s beginnings and ahead to its future. Suffice it to say, VOTF has found its voice.

Those heard in this episode include:

Rev. James Connell, pastor of Holy Name of Jesus and St. Clement Parishes in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a canon lawyer who advocates on behalf of victims/survivors of clergy sexual abuse of minors.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

A meeting with all papal representatives across the world is to be held next June in Rome

Vatican Insider staff
Rome

The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone announced this during his speech at the Synod on the new evangelisation that is currently taking place in the Vatican. The cardinal explained that the meeting is one of the initiatives planned for the Year of Faith and was inspired by a similar gathering held in the year 2000 on the occasion of the Jubilee.

In agreement with the Episcopates, the Holy See uses “instruments of diplomatic dialogue with civil authorities,” to ensure that its action “is not aimed at guaranteeing anachronistic privileges but guaranteeing the Church as much freedom in internal government and in the exercise of its mission, to which it lays legitimate claim as possible. When this freedom exists, it also benefits members of other religious faiths and fosters social harmony,” Bertone told Synod Fathers.

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UNITED KINGDOM
News & Star

By Phil Coleman

The Bishop of Carlisle has apologised for the church’s handling of a vicar guilty of child sex crimes.

Perverted Ronald Johns first admitted abusing children in 1993.

But he did not face a criminal prosecution until this year because his boss, the then Bishop of Carlisle, The Right Reverend Ian Harland, chose to transfer Johns from his job as a canon at Carlisle Cathedral to a new post at Caldbeck.

The Bishop did not report the matter to the police.

The Bishop’s decision appears to have been based on the unwillingness of the victims – by then adults – to speak to police themselves and on the report of a forensic psychiatrist who judged Johns was unlikely to reoffend.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Times & Star

By Phil Coleman

Caldbeck villagers have spoken of their shock after learning how a former Bishop of Carlisle saddled them with a vicar who admitted sexually abusing children.

Related: Bishop of Carlisle’s apology for sex case vicar

Former Carlisle Cathedral canon Ronald Johns is awaiting sentence for a string of child sex crimes.

Justice finally caught up with him at the city’s crown court last month, when he pleaded guilty to 10 offences against three boys between 1983 and 1991.

In a highly unusual move this week, the current Bishop of Carlisle, the Right Reverend James Newcome, offered a personal apology for how the church handled the affair, particularly the failure of the late Bishop Ian Harland, who was Johns’ boss, to report the abuse to the police.

In a letter to church officials sent out this week, Richard Pratt, the Archdeacon of West Cumberland, spelled out the depth of the failure.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

October 18, 2012

Barney Zwartz

THE Catholic Church has stood down a priest in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs while it investigates serious allegations of child sexual abuse.

Father Peter Grasby, parish priest of St Mary Magdalen, Jordanville, near Chadstone, was put on administrative leave on August 31, and the parishioners and school families were notified by letter the next weekend.

The allegations are about incidents more than 30 years ago in another parish involving a boy aged 10 to 14 at the time.

Monsignor Greg Bennet, vicar-general of the Melbourne archdiocese, told The Age that Father Grasby was helping independent commissioner Jeff Gleeson, QC, in his inquiries, and that he denied the allegations.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Dan Box
From:The Australian
October 18, 2012

QUEENSLAND police are investigating whether a Catholic priest sexually abused schoolchildren during the 1970s and 80s, despite at least one family warning the then archbishop of Brisbane about his alleged assaults.

One alleged victim of Father Dermot Casey said she was serially abused by the priest over several months as a nine or 10-year-old pupil at St Joseph’s Tobruk Memorial School during the mid-70s.

The girl’s family reported their concerns to church authorities at the time, during a meeting at which they say the late archbishop of Brisbane, Francis Rush, was present, although the church was unable to confirm this.

Father Casey was subsequently moved to another parish, Salisbury, where police are investigating whether he abused other children at a second school.

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INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
The Courier-Journal

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Peter Smith

A high-ranking Vatican official, seen as sympathetic to American nuns in their ongoing tensions with the church hierarchy, is reportedly to be announced as the next archbishop of Indianapolis.

The American-born Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin, a Redemptorist priest, has been secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The Italian paper La Stampa, the British-based Catholic publication, The Tablet, and the blog Whispers in the Loggia are reporting the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI will take place later this week.

There are 151 parishes and about 225,000 Catholics in the archdiocese, which extends from Indy down to the Kentucky line, including such Louisville-neighboring counties as Clark, Floyd and Harrison. Archbishop Daniel Buechlein retired early due to health problems.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A retired priest from Suffolk has admitted he carried out several sex assaults on teenage boys.

Father Haley Dossor, 71, of Kirton near Felixstowe, pleaded guilty at Ipswich Crown Court to six charges of indecent assault against boys aged 13 to 17.

He retired as a priest at St Mary-at-the-Elms church, Ipswich in 2007. The abuse happened between 1990 and 2004.

Dossor is due to be sentenced some time after 12 November and the judge warned him he could face prison.

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SCHWEIZ
kath.ch

In Feldkirch hat der Prozess wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs und Gewaltanwendungen im Kloster Mehrerau begonnen. Die Klosterleitung wusste angeblich sehr wenig über die Entgleisungen des tyrannisierenden Paters.

CHRISTIANE ECKERT, FELDKIRCH. 1982 wurde ein Bub vom Internatsleiter in der Mehrerau schwer missbraucht und stundenlang vergewaltigt. Dafür will das Opfer zumindest 135 000 Euro finanziellen Ausgleich. Sein Leben geriet nach diesen Übergriffen aus den Fugen. Doch das Kloster will nicht zahlen. Vorläufig dreht sich der Prozess noch um die Frage der Verjährung. Immer wieder kreisen die Fragen um die Stellung des pädophilen Paters. War er leitend oder hatte er wenig zu entscheiden, das ist wichtig …

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KORATIEN
Express

Belgrad –
Ein katholischer Mönch soll heimlich Kirchenbesitz verkauft und sich dann mit einer Frau aus dem Staub gemacht haben. Der 34-Jährige sei in Kroatien mit umgerechnet rund 1,3 Millionen Euro verschwunden, bestätigte die Diözese Split-Makarska am Dienstag.

Der Mann verkaufte vier Hektar Kirchenland und hob unerlaubt Bargeld ab. Zuletzt gesehen wurde er Medienberichten zufolge vor zwei Wochen: in einem teuren Cabrio mit einer Frau auf dem Beifahrersitz.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Rheinpfalz

(gana). In der Debatte um die Missbrauchsfälle am Homburger Gymnasium Johanneum hat ein neues Kapitel begonnen. Der Vermittler zwischen der Ordensleitung der Hiltruper Missionare, die die Schule gründeten, und Missbrauchsopfern, die dort zur Schule gingen, hat sein Amt niedergelegt.

HOMBURG

Mehrere Missbrauchsopfer haben sich in der ”Initiative Ehemaliger Johanneum Homburg” zusammengeschlossen. Ihnen teilte der sogenannte Mediator Bernd Haupert mit, dass er nicht mehr weiter als Vermittler zwischen den beiden Seiten zur Verfügung stehe. Nach Bekanntwerden der Vorfälle am ehemaligen Internat der katholischen Privatschule hatten die Hiltruper Missionare Martin Kleer zum Missbrauchsbeauftragten ernannt. Er ist selbst Mitglied der Herz-Jesu-Missionare, wie die Ordensgemeinschaft offiziell heißt. Haupert fungierte als Ansprechpartner für Opfer, die nicht direkt mit dem Orden in Kontakt treten wollten. Er arbeitet als Professor an der Mainzer Fachhochschule.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Rheinpfalz

Am Homburger Johanneum gab es mehr Missbrauchsfälle und Täter als bislang bekannt. Das sagt Bernd Haupert, der bis vor Kurzem zwischen den Opfern und den Hiltruper Missionaren vermittelte. Die geistliche Gemeinschaft hat das Gymnasium gegründet und das inzwischen geschlossene Internat betrieben, in dem die Übergriffe stattfanden.

Haupert meldete sich gestern bei der RHEINPFALZ, nachdem er von einer Dienstreise zurückgekehrt war. Er erläuterte im Gespräch, warum er sein Mandat als Mediator niederlegte (). Haupert spricht von einem ”schockierenden Brief”, den er von einem Anwalt eines Ordensmitgliedes erhalten habe. In dem Schreiben ”wurde mir mit einem Gerichtsverfahren gedroht”. Haupert kritisiert, dass Ordensmitglieder Inhalte aus vertraulichen Gesprächen nach außen getragen hätten. ”Das widerspricht dem Wesen der Mediation. Das ist unmöglich”, ärgert sich der Mainzer Professor. Daraufhin habe er dem Orden und der Opfer-Initiative mitgeteilt, dass er unter diesen Umständen nicht mehr als Mediator zur Verfügung stehe.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Munstersche Zeitung

HILTRUP Die Debatte um die Missbrauchsfälle durch die Hiltruper Missionare vom Heiligsten Herzen Jesu (MSC) in einem Internat im Saarland geht in eine neue Runde: Prof. Bernhard Haupert, der bislang als Mediator zwischen dem Orden und den Missbrauchsopfern vermittelte, hat sein Amt niedergelegt. Ein Anwalt habe ihm gedroht.Von Inga Tawadrous

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

HILTRUP Die Debatte um die Missbrauchsfälle durch die Hiltruper Missionare vom Heiligsten Herzen Jesu (MSC) in einem Internat im Saarland geht in eine neue Runde: Prof. Bernhard Haupert, der bislang als Mediator zwischen dem Orden und den Missbrauchsopfern vermittelte, hat sein Amt niedergelegt. Ein Anwalt habe ihm gedroht.

Dass er den Missbrauchsopfern als Ansprechpartner nicht mehr zur Verfügung stehen wird, habe Haupert bereits Ende Juli per E-Mail „als direkte Reaktion auf die Drohungen eines Anwalts“ angekündigt, sagt Florian S., Sprecher der „Initiative Ehemaliger Johanneum Homburg“ gegenüber unserer Redaktion. „Offiziell bestätigt hat er uns seine Entscheidung auf Nachfrage am 13. September“, so Florian S.

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NORTHBRIDGE (MA)
Daily Voice

by Deborah E. Gauthier

NORTHBRIDGE, Mass. – James Knott, owner of Riverdale Mills on Riverdale Street in Northbridge, confirmed Tuesday that he purchased Oakhurst Retreat and Conference Center on Hill Street.

The property has been owned by the Catholic Diocese of Worcester for many years and was formerly the House of Affirmation, a facility for troubled priests.

It has been a center of controversy since August when the church refused to sell the property to Alain Beret and James Fairbanks, a gay married couple from Sutton who planned to restore the mansion and host weddings and other social events there.

Church officials said they rejected the sale because the couple could not show solid financing; Beret and Fairbanks said the church backed away from their agreement after learning they were a gay couple and they are suing the church.

Knott said he paid $800,000 for the mansion, outbuildings and approximately 30 acres. His plan is to restore the historic 89-room mansion built by Chester Whitin Lasell in 1890. Lasell was president of Whitin Machine Works from 1887 to 1932 and the home’s 44 bedrooms were used for mill workers.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Fox 6

[with video]

Posted on: 7:56 pm, October 15, 2012, by Jenna Sachs

MILWAUKEE — A break down in talks between Milwaukee’s Archdiocese and victims of sex abuse by priests means they’re all headed back to court — as the Archdiocese approaches its second year of bankruptcy.

The church and its 575 victims have been in court-ordered mediation since July, trying to hammer out what one judge called “astronomical costs.”

An advocacy group for those abused by priests says the Archdiocese has refused to accept responsibility.

“This is a really sad day for victims and their families. What this is about — and what it’s been about since they day they filed bankruptcy — is secrets,” John Pilmeier with Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests said.

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UNITED STATES
What They Knew

In our previous post we examined former Chicago Provincial Robert Wild SJ’s reaction or inaction when it came to reports of his “mentally unbalanced” priest. Now a year after those reports, in 1991 we have Donald McGuire SJ and Robert Wild SJ talking about the real issue, sexual abuse of children and young men by Don. Fr. Wild decided to let McGuire take a walk on this charge.

In the documents below, Fr. Wild received a call from an alert Christian Brother. In February of 1991, The Chicago Province was contacted by Br. Ricardo Palacio, Director of the Christian Brother Retreat House in St. Helena, California. McGuire had been at the center conducting a retreat to a youth group from Kolbe Academy, a private Catholic school in Napa Valley.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Ballarat

[with audio]

By Margaret Burin

Father Paul Bird has been ordained as the new bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat. He hopes to improve the image of the Catholic Church by showing it has changed the way it handles abuse allegations.

Sworn in with the presence of 30 bishops and 95 priests from around Australia and abroad, Father Bird is the eighth Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat.

His leadership role oversees a large part of central and western Victoria.

Music written by father Bird was used in the ordinance ceremony, which ended with a welcome parade outside St Patrick’s Cathedral.

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AUSTRALIA
Australian Teacher Magazine

PERTH, Oct 16 – A former school chaplain on trial for child pornography offences has told a court he believes someone set him up but denied he was trying to implicate three men connected to the school.

Matthew David O’Meara, 42, is on trial in the WA District Court on four child pornography charges related to explicit images and video files on two thumb drives.

The married father of two had been working as a chaplain at Perth College for nearly eight months in 2010 before he was charged and fired from the school.

The court has heard that one thumb drive was found by a teacher on her desk in August 2010 and the other was seized by police from O’Meara’s trouser pocket during a search of his office.

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AUSTRALIA
WA Today

October 17, 2012

Rania Spooner
Court and crime reporter

The wife of a chaplain accused of collecting child pornography while working at an elite girls’ school has taken to the stand in defence of her husband.

Karina O’Meara described her husband Matthew O’Meara, 42, as an “honest”, “dignified” and “respected” man who preferred to avoid conflict, speaking at his Perth District Court trial today.

Mr O’Meara has pleaded not guilty to four counts of possessing child pornography in relation to two portable thumb drives discovered at Perth College in August 2010.

The father-of-two was linked to one device – found on a neighbouring teacher’s desk – when scanned copies of his electoral roll forms were found inside one of its folders – next to thousands of images of illicit material, the court has heard.

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UNITED KINGDOM
EADT 24

Colin Adwent
Wednesday, October 17, 2012

A 71-year-old retired priest today admitted six indecent assaults on two youths dating back to the 1990s.

Father John Haley Dossor, of Kirton, near Felixstowe, denied a further eight indecent assaults – including one on a third male, and another charge of sexual assault by touching.

Dossor’s pleas were accepted by the prosecution when he appeared before Judge David Goodin at Ipswich Crown Court.

Three of the assaults Dossor pleaded guilty to were on a victim aged between 13 and 15.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jerry Topczewski of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee said this week that Catholic Church officials “remain hopeful a consensual resolution will ultimately be reached” in the dispute between the archdiocese and sexual abuse victims despite the failure of court-ordered mediation. We share that hope if the result serves the twin causes of truth and fair compensation for victims.

As it is, with both sides returning to bankruptcy court to continue what one observer has described as a scorched earth battle, resolution of the issues will only be further delayed. That does not seem to do anyone any good, least of all victims who have waited years for justice.

Nothing against lawyers or the work they have done so far, but with attorney fees already beyond $7 million and rising, and the archdiocese on the hook for those, it seems to us that reaching a just settlement would best serve both the archdiocese and victims.

Because of court orders, no one can say why the talks broke down, and those outside the fight don’t really know what’s in the claims and court documents. So it’s difficult to judge whether victims’ attorneys are pushing for too much, perhaps including frivolous claims in an effort to get even more money, or whether the church is dragging its feet to keep its secrets intact, perhaps to make this bankruptcy proceeding so difficult that victims elsewhere won’t try that venue.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A retired priest has admitted a series of sex assaults on youths over more than a decade.

Father John Haley Dossor, who retired as priest-in-charge at St Mary at the Elms in Ipswich, Suffolk, in 2007, pleaded guilty at Ipswich Crown Court to six indecent assaults against two boys aged between 13 and 17.

The 71-year-old, of Kirton, near Felixstowe, had denied a further nine charges relating to attacks on men and boys.

These will remain on the file but prosecutor Charles Myatt said a decision had been taken not to proceed on these counts.

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PHOENIX (AZ)
The Arizona Republic

[Phoenix diocese]

by Michael Clancy – Oct. 16, 2012
The Republic | azcentral.com

The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix on Tuesday released a list of 29 clergy members accused or convicted of abusing children, becoming one of fewer than 30 dioceses in the United States to have published a list of child-abusing priests.

While considered a significant step in transparency related to the scandal that rocked the Catholic Church a decade ago, clergy-abuse experts say the list is far from a comprehensive report on abusive priests in the Valley.

“It’s hopeful for me that the bishop (Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted) is doing what is right,” said Phoenix attorney Robert Pastor, who is representing several clergy-abuse clients. But he said he is aware of priests who have not been accused publicly and do not appear on the list.

The Phoenix Diocese’s list comes a few months after the 10th anniversary of the Dallas Charter, the church’s landmark document to address the sexual-abuse scandal and protect children from abusive priests and deacons. The charter, known formally as the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, was approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002 after the scandal ignited nationwide.

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PHOENIX (AZ)
Daily Reporter

[Phoenix diocese]

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: October 17, 2012 –

PHOENIX — The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has released a list of clergy members who have been accused of abuse.

The Arizona Republic reports (http://bit.ly/WwrQSI ) the list contains 29 names of clergy members who have been accused or convicted of abusing children. The release brings to 25 the number of dioceses in the U.S. who have made such a list public.

The newspaper reports the list does not include names of priests who had died by the time accusations were leveled against them.

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PHOENIX (AZ)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix

When a criminal charge involving a minor is filed or a credible accusation against a member of the Church concerning a minor is established, the Diocese of Phoenix immediately alerts the public through a Community Notification Statement on its website.

•Former priest Louis Ladenburger
•Fr. Jorge Cordova
•Former Jesuit priest Donald J. Mcguire
•Fr. Loren Riebe
•Deacon Maxwell Rollin (Ron) Pelton
•Former priest Dale Fushek
•Fr. John “Jack” Spaulding

List of Diocese of Phoenix priests and deacons who have been laicized and/or removed from ministry due to sexual misconduct with a minor.

List of Diocese of Phoenix Priests and Deacons who have been accused of sexual misconduct with a minor and have a Canonical case in process.

List of priests of religious communities who have served in the Diocese of Phoenix and have been laicized and/or removed from ministry by their communities due to sexual misconduct with a minor.

List of priests from other dioceses who may no longer serve in the Diocese of Phoenix due to an accusation of sexual misconduct with a minor.

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PHOENIX (AZ)
ABC 15

•By: ABC15.com staff

PHOENIX – The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has released a list of 29 clergy members who have been accused or convicted of abusing children.

The Phoenix diocese is the 25th in the nation to release a list like this one.

The list is broken down into four parts. The first list contains the names of those who have been removed from their posts because of sexual misconduct with a minor.

You can see the complete list here .

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PHOENIX (AZ)
The Arizona Republic

By Michael ClancyThe Republic | azcentral.com
Tue Oct 16, 2012

The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has released a list of 29 clergy members who have been accused or convicted of abusing children, becoming one of only 25 dioceses in the United States that has published such a list.

The publication came on Tuesday as part of a release about the 10 years of the Dallas Charter to protect children from abusive priests and deacons.

The list includes 29 names, including at least one that had not been public before. But it does not include the names of priests who were deceased at the time of accusations against them.

Among those in the latter category is former Bishop James Rausch, who died in 1981.

A Republic listing of those accused of sexual abuse includes 39 names, 40 after the previously unknown priest, Harry Morgan, is added. It includes those who died prior to the accusations. …

RELATED INFO
Diocese of Phoenix list of abusive priests

George Bredeman
Joseph Briceno
Patrick Colleary
John Doran
Laurence Florez
Dale Fushek
John Giandelone
Harold Graf
Mark Lehman
Joseph Lessard
Harry Morgan
Maxwell “Ron” Pelton
George Pirrung
Wilputte “Lan” Sherwood
John T. Sullivan
John Spaulding
Neil Emon
Joseph Henn
Louie Ladenburger
Paul LeBrun
Karl LeClaire
Jorge Ortiz Lopez
Lawrence Lovell
Donald McGuire
Richard Ohlemacher
Henry Perez
Jorge Cordova
Sung Lam
Lawrence Riebe

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CROATIA
AFP

ZAGREB — A Croatian priest has run off with almost one million euros ($1.3 million) after illegally selling church property, officials said Tuesday, amid media reports the Catholic clergyman had fled with a married woman.

Franciscan priest Sime Nimac earlier this year signed a deal with a local firm to sell a plot of church land, the Split archdiocese said in statement.

Nimac, 34, the former parish priest of Baska Voda on the southern Adriatic coast, in May withdrew more than 980,000 euros in cash from the parish’s account “without a valid explanation why the money was taken and what it will be used for,” the archdiocese added.

Local media have reported that the priest, described as a handsome aficionado of expensive clothes and luxury goods, had fled the country with a young woman who is a married employee of the bank from which the cash was withdrawn.

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UNITED STATES
News Hounds

In addition to “Fox News bishops” there is a Fox News priest. Fr. Jonathan Morris is not your average parish priest. He joined Fox News when he was stationed in Rome as a member of the disgraced “Legion of Christ” and very close pal of the order’s pedophile (and baby daddy) founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel who pandered to the rich and famous. While Morris is officially stationed at NYC’s Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, he finds time to go on various international junkets with his very special pal, Cardinal Dolan whose opposition to the president’s birth control mandate has received reverent validation on Fox by Morris and Fox hosts. Despite other clergy who occasionally make appearances on Fox, Morris has a weekly Sunday gig during which he validates GOP right wing talking points that reach a vast Fox News “parish.” So it was no surprise that Morris would support the bishops’ “rebuke” of Joe Biden over his debate remarks about the mandate. And given that the bishops are implying that Biden is a liar, it wasn’t surprising that Morris suggested the same thing!

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CROATIA
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)

A Croatian priest bedevilled with “insatiable egotism” has gone on the run with more than £1 million pocketed from an illegal land sale and in the company of a married woman, according to reports.

By Matthew Day
7:47PM BST 16 Oct 2012

Franciscan priest Father Sime Nimac disappeared after withdrawing the money he had made from selling a piece of Church land near Split without authorisation from the local diocese.

“The property was sold without the explicit written consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority,” the local Catholic Church said in a statement, adding that it had filed a lawsuit to nullify the sale.

“At the same time we express our heartfelt understanding for the public revulsion caused by the insatiable egotism of the individual in question,” the statement continued. “We offer a sincere apology on behalf of all Friars of the Franciscan Order.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WTAQ

MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) – The Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese still hopes that a settlement can be reached with hundreds of sex abuse victims, after a court-ordered mediator failed to strike a deal.

Both sides said Monday that their mediation – which Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley ordered in late July – had broken down.

About 575 people have filed financial claims against the Archdiocese, saying they deserve compensation after being sexually abused by priests a number of years ago.

The church filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January of 2011, saying it needed to compensate the abuse victims while having enough money left over to keep operating the 10 county archdiocese.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

After personally choosing Archbishop Tobin in August 2010 as Secretary of the Vatican’s congregation that oversees one million religious men and women worldwide, Pope Benedict has now reassigned him to head the Indianapolis archdiocese

Gerard O’Connell
Rome

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Archbishop Joseph William Tobin, the Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated life, as the new head of the archdiocese of Indianapolis in the USA.

While the move is likely to be warmly welcomed by the 246,000 strong Catholic community in Indianapolis archdiocese, it will certainly sadden many of the almost one million men and women religious, not only in the USA but also elsewhere in the world, sources in religious orders told Vatican Insider earlier this week.

Tobin flew to Indianapolis on Monday 15 October. Rumors predicting this change began circulating soon after the publication in April 2012 of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s highly critical report of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the United States. At the time, it was widely known that Tobin was not happy with that report and, it seems, had not been consulted on it.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on October 16, 2012

Wisconsin abuse victims push to open files
Hundreds of pages may implicate NY’s Cardinal

Hundreds of clergy sex abuse victims are vowing to push for the disclosure of thousands of pages of secret Catholic Church documents – some of which likely involve then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who now heads the New York Archdiocese – in the wake of failed settlement talks in Milwaukee.

The victims say they will also look closely at millions of dollars which were transferred off the church’s books into trusts – again, largely on Dolan’s watch.

“We really have no choice now but to do everything we can to expose the complicity of several top church officials,” said John Pilmaier SNAP Wisconsin Director. “The Catholic hierarchy sought bankruptcy protection to keep its secrets secret. But we have a duty to shine the light of truth on the full cover up; by Dolan, Weakland, Sklba and others. The Milwaukee archdiocese has already spent $7.2 million to keep their sex abuse files hidden from Catholics and the community”. Pilmaier adds “with the failed mediation the archdiocese has signaled to victims that they plan to spend whatever it takes to keep the clergy sex abuse cover-up firmly in place”.

Court documents from the Milwaukee bankruptcy case have already revealed that Cardinal Dolan, then Archbishop of Milwaukee, secretly paid sexually abusing priests $20,000 as an incentive for them to voluntarily leave the priesthood.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments as follows:

Mark Thompson is slated to start next month as the new president and CEO of the New York Times Company. He comes in under a cloud of suspicion. Almost a year ago, a decision was made at the BBC to kill a “Newsnight” investigation into what is now becoming the most astonishing sexual abuse scandal in the history of the United Kingdom: Thompson was the director general at the BBC from 2004 to 2012, and serious questions have been raised about his role in squashing the investigation. He denies wrongdoing. The person of interest is suspected child rapist and serial predator Jimmy Savile, a celebrity icon who worked at the BBC for more than 25 years. His predatory behavior extends back six decades, and some of his sexual abuse took place on the premises of the BBC.

I have personally collected a great deal of information on this subject and will have much more to say about my findings. My interest is twofold: both the BBC and the New York Times have been among the harshest critics of the homosexual scandal that took place more than a quarter century ago in the Catholic Church. Let’s see how they react to a little “sunshine,” as they like to call it. I’m just beaming.

We know the BBC is already in deep trouble over this issue—two internal investigations are under way—but it cannot be trusted to report on itself. Indeed, contradictory accounts have already been offered, involving what Thompson knew and when he knew it. British Culture Secretary Maria Miller has called off an independent inquiry, but she may not have the last word. We support British Labor chief Ed Miliband’s call for a probe.

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CROATIA
NDTV

Agence France-Presse | Updated: October 16, 2012

Zagreb: A Croatian priest has run off with almost one million euros ($1.3 million) after illegally selling church property, officials said on Tuesday, amid media reports the Catholic clergyman had fled with a married woman.

Franciscan priest Sime Nimac earlier this year signed a deal with a local firm to sell a plot of church land, the Split archdiocese said in statement.

Nimac, 34, the former parish priest of Baska Voda on the southern Adriatic coast, in May withdrew more than 980,000 euros in cash from the parish’s account “without a valid explanation why the money was taken and what it will be used for,” the archdiocese added.

Local media have reported that the priest, described as a handsome aficionado of expensive clothes and luxury goods, had fled the country with a young woman who is a married employee of the bank from which the cash was withdrawn.

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AUSTRALIA
The Telegraph

Anglican Catholic Church leader says Peter Slipper ‘absolutely not’ welcome to be priest

THE church which ordained former Speaker Peter Slipper as a priest has washed its hands of the problem-plagued MP.

Father Michael Pope, leader of the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia (ACCA), said the “disgraceful” politician was “absolutely not” welcome despite claims to the contrary from a former archbishop.

“He is not a priest in good standing in our church,” Fr Pope said.

“I certainly don’t want him back and I don’t know anyone who does.”

The Acting Vicar-General said Mr Slipper, now an Independent MP in the seat of Fisher, had never had a licence to practise as a parish priest.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Archbishop of New York’s comments at the Synod of Bishops: humility is not a strategy but the right attitude. A video on the rise of Islam presented by Cardinal Turkson has triggered a dispute

Alessandro Speciale
Vatican City

The Church is not afraid to admit to its own mistakes. This was the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s message to journalists this morning, during the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. Exuberant as always, Dolan mentioned a television debate he recently took part in, speaking about the reaction to the paedophilia scandal in the Catholic Church and about other mistakes the Church has committed in the past.

One believer, referring to the television series The Borgias – which paints a gloomy picture of the intrigues of the Curia and the Roman nobility during the Renaissance period – asked Dolan: “How do we defend the Church with stories such as that involving Pope Alexander VI who had a lover?” Dolan’s reply was: “No, he did not just have one lover, he had many! The Church – he added – is not afraid to admit to its own mistakes.”

For the American cardinal “being humble isn’t just a pastoral strategy. It’s an evangelical demand” to ensure the Church fulfils its mission. “The new evangelisation – he added – is to do with conversion of heart and interior renewal.” Returning to the paedophilia scandal, Dolan spoke about Cardinal Marc Ouellet’s “mea culpa” for the sexual abuse committed by priests against minors, pronounced at the shrine of Lough Derg, on the occasion of the Eucharistic Congress which took place in Ireland last year.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on October 15, 2012

Apparently, Chaput has unilaterally revised the American bishops’ child sex abuse policy. For years, it officially was “one strike and you’re out.” Now, in Philly at least, it’s become “one strike and you’re in.” Chaput is putting Fr. Joseph DiGregorio back on the job, in part, because “no other complaints were reported.”

And on paper, that ten year old policy says nothing about credibly accused predator priests being restored to active ministry if a church shrink says he’s ok. But Chaput has evidently unilaterally made this change too. He’s putting DiGregorio on the job again because, in part, a “clinical evaluation” supposedly says the priest is no threat to children.

Finally, the church’s abuse policy mandates “openness and transparency” in child sex abuse cases. But Chaput won’t “explain how (Fr. DiGregorio) violated behavioral standards,” according to the Inquirer.

So in three ways, Chaput is violating the very church policy he and his brother bishops so often brag about.

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UNITED STATES/AUSTRALIA
What They Knew

On the heels of a report released by the Victoria Police in Australia, newly uncovered documents show Jesuit priest and convicted child sex abuser Donald McGuire SJ traveled frequently to Australia from the 1980s to the early 2000s with the approval and knowledge of his superiors at the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus, including taking victims on these trips. According to McGuire himself these trips over the span of two decades brought him to:

■Canberra
■Melbourne
■Sydney

The documents show the itinerant Jesuit priest Donald McGuire SJ traveled to Australia at least annually, if not more frequently. These transnational transfers occurred after his superiors had become aware of his sexual abuse of minors, restricted his ministry after he had been sent to two treatment centers in the US for sexually abusive priests and was facing criminal investigations in Chicago in 2002.

To date no investigation has been conducted to determine whether the American Jesuit priest, now convicted and imprisoned, abused any local children or vulnerable adults while in Australia. Testimony from victims at criminal trials and documents prepared by Jesuit superiors (below) show these trips included victims from the US accompanying him and alleging abuse occurring in Australia.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Wagga Wagga, Gerard Hanna says he believes a local woman who alleges she was abused by a priest in Italy in the 1970’s.

Anna Pratelli from Wagga Wagga went public last week, alleging she was abused as a teenager by a Salesian priest in Sicily who is now dead.

Ms Pratelli has refused an offer of $20,000 from the Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga to fund a return to Italy, citing concern about wording in the deed of offer that the order of assistance came from the Vatican.

Bishop Hanna says the Diocese has provided Ms Pratelli with pastoral care for more than two years.

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INDIA
Hindustan Times

A Christian organisation, Dhanya Mother Teresa Mahila Shakti Parishad, has demanded an enquiry in a case of alleged rape of a tribal woman by a Christian priest. President of Dhanya Mother Teresa Mahila Shakti Parishad, Sheela Santiago, said the tribal victim approached her for help, complaining of rape by a Father (priest).

The victim used to work at pastoral centre located opposite to St Joseph Co-ed School, near 11 number bus stop. The case is of year 2009 when she was working there as a maid servant. She was allegedly abused sexually for months by a priest at the pastoral center. When people of pastoral centre came to know about the incident, she was thrown out of job, said Sheela.

“We took the victim to the Bishop and complained against the accused priest but Bishop said he will save the clergy member and would not take any action against him,” said Sheela. We also complained to other Christian authorities including the highest order in Italy. We have been trying to get the victim president, Mahila Shakti Parishad

justice for last two years internally through Christian forums but when justice was denied, we have made written complaints to Mahila police station, Ajak police station and inspector general of Bhopal range, added Sheela.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
Inquirer Staff Writer

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said Monday that he had reinstated a Philadelphia priest whose case city prosecutors cited as proof that the archdiocese failed to properly investigate clergy sex abuse or misconduct.

The Rev. Joseph DiGregorio had been accused of molesting a teenage girl in the late 1960s. His case was a focal point of the scathing 2011 grand jury report about the handling of abuse cases by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and he was among the first of 26 priests placed on leave as church officials reexamined allegations against them.

But DiGregorio’s case stood out for other reasons. The allegations were among the oldest against any cleric, and were leveled by a single accuser. He was also the only suspended priest to publicly deny wrongdoing.

Noting the public attention to the case, Chaput said the archdiocese enlisted more than 20 child-abuse experts to review it. The examiners concluded that DiGregorio had violated church standards for priests’ behavior, but also found “compelling evidence” that he was suitable to return to ministry, Chaput said.

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HAWAII
Hawaii Reporter

BY ANGELA BARAQUIO GREY – Fr. Maurice McNeely was the pastor at my parish school, Holy Family Catholic Academy in Honolulu, Hawaii when I was in junior high. I attended the school from 1988-1990, and I served as our Student Body President.

I saw Fr. McNeely daily at morning mass, which I attended with my family. “Fr. Mac”, as he was lovingly called by all the parishioners and students, was by far the coolest and most down-to-earth priest that had a knack for spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to all he met, in a way that anyone could understand and appreciate. A true visionary, he began what is known as “Stereo Mass” every Sunday night at 7pm, which was popular with the youth.

Fr. Mac could be found celebrating Mass on the beach at Waikiki, where all were invited to attend. He was fearless in spreading God’s word and always had time for anyone who sought help, guidance, or assistance. …

I am shocked and saddened to hear about the allegations he is currently facing in a civil lawsuit brought against him in federal and state court by a Colorado man. I cannot fathom the accusations being true, given the long history we have had knowing Fr. Maurice McNeely. He has been nothing but wonderful to my family and me, and I pray that the truth comes out in the end.

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TULSA (OK)
Fox 23

Reported by: Adam Paluka
Email: apaluka@fox23.com

Days after the attorney for two Victory Christian Center staffers charged with Failure to Report Child Abuse filed a motion to dismiss those charges; a national group is slamming the employees. On Friday, the attorney for VCC Youth Ministers John and Charica Daugherty filed the motion in Tulsa County District Court. Monday afternoon, the Executive Director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP, said the motion to dismiss was “ridiculous.”

Barbara Blaine, the Executive Director of SNAP, didn’t mince words.

“It’s disappointing that one more time, church officials are trying to weasel out their responsibility for their crimes,” she said.

The motion to dismiss the charges against the Daugherty’s says the two suspects in this case Chris Denman, who has been charged first-degree rape of a 13-year-old girl, and Israel Castillo, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of making a lewd proposal to a child and using a computer to commit a sex crime, have not been charged with child abuse. The attorney for the Daugherty’s says that means his clients can’t be charged with failure to report child abuse.

“I don’t understand what the technicality is that would somehow allow a child to be raped and then somehow say that wasn’t abuse of the child. That’s ludicrous,” Blaine said.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
NECN

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has failed to reach a settlement with victims of sexual abuse, sending both parties back to U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The archdiocese and its creditors have been in court-ordered mediation since July 20. Most of the creditors are victims or alleged victims of sexual abuse by clergy or church workers. Nearly 500 men and women claim they were sexually abused as children.

Both sides confirmed Monday the settlement talks had failed. But they declined to elaborate, citing the confidentiality of the proceedings.

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UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

Is the anti-Catholic group SNAP running out of Catholic clerics to target and resorting to attacking innocent men? It sure seems like it. Even though an abuse accusation against Wheeling, West Virginia, Bishop Michael J. Bransfield was thoroughly debunked and discredited months ago, SNAP is trying to drum up some more publicity for itself by trying to put a spotlight on the bogus case.

A proven false accusation

Last April, during the high-profile Philadelphia clergy abuse trial, a witness claimed on the stand that 40 years ago in the 1970s that an admittedly abusive priest motioned to a car carrying Bransfield and some boys and told him that Bransfield was abusing “the one in the front seat.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert | 10/15/12.

That other very expensive battle for the Catholic Church, all those sexual abuse cases, isn’t getting any cheaper in Wisconsin. Annysa Johnson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports: “The court-ordered mediation between the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and victims of sexual abuse has failed, sending the parties back to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to resume what one court official has called a scorched earth legal battle. The church and victims — at 575 members, they represent the largest class of creditors in the bankruptcy — have been in court-ordered mediation since July 20. Victims attorney Jeffrey Anderson [of St. Paul] confirmed Monday that the mediation had failed but declined to elaborate on the sticking points, citing the confidentiality of the proceedings. He said victims would now move forward to force the disclosure of thousands of pages of documents now under court seal, and to scrutinize the transfer of millions of dollars off the church’s books into trusts in the years before the bankruptcy.”

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AUSTRALIA
Green Left

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

By Chris Peterson, Melbourne

Members of the Forgotten Australians rallied in Melbourne on October 13 to demand a Royal Commission into the sexual abuse, emotional and criminal assault, and torture of children in church and government-run homes, orphanages and foster care homes. The term Forgotten Australian refers to children who were placed in care outside of their family home during the 20th century.

The Australian Mental Health Human Rights and Law Reform Coalition’s Greg Oke said: “The aim of today is to highlight the lack of resources provided to Forgotten Australians to get some justice for the absolutely hideous crimes that were committed while under state care.

“Many Forgotten Australians are still living in appalling housing conditions. Many are still suffering from disabilities and traumas inflicted on them by the institutionalised and systemic abuse while under the care of the church and the state. So far nothing has been put in place to help these survivors improve their quality of life.”

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MALTA
Times of Malta

The Church yesterday announced the setting up of a board tasked with directing victims of sexual abuse by clerics to therapy.

The Therapeutic Evaluation Board, made up of a psychologist, a psychiatrist and a social worker, will determine the sort of therapy needed by the victims and refer them to the people who can help.

The service will also apply to adults who were abused when they were minors, with the bill being footed by the relevant ecclesiastical authority. The news comes after the spokesman for a group of men who suffered sexual abuse in the late 1980s, at the St Joseph’s home for boys, said the victims were willing to speak to the Church on the possibility of receiving counselling.

He pointed out, however, that none had been provided in the past 10 years.

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MALTA
Malta Independent

The Church authorities in Malta have set up a therapeutic evaluation board for victims of sexual abuse who are minors, without prejudice to the Church’s position in civil processes which may arise and without the Church renouncing its rights of defence.

The board is made up of professional people – psychologist Anthony Gatt, psychiatrist Anthony Dimech and social worker Julian Xuereb. They have been appointed for three years and have to present an annual report about its workings to the Maltese Episcopal Conference.

The board is to evaluate and determine the therapeutic assistance which may be needed by a victim of sexual abuse committed by a pastoral operator, refer the victim to a professional person who may help, or approve the choice of professional person a victim may select and, together with the professional person chosen and the victim, follow the progress and need of the therapy being given. The cost of therapy will be borne by the ecclesiastical authority involved.

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CALIFORIA
Daily Breeze

By City News Service
dailybreeze.com

Oct 15:

INGLEWOOD – A judge today found sufficient evidence to put an Inglewood pastor on trial for nine felony sex-related counts involving an underage girl, a judge ruled today.

Inglewood Superior Court Judge John Meigs ruled there was sufficient evidence to require Gordon Barrington Solomon, 50, of Christ’s Community Church, to go to trial on seven counts of committing a lewd act on a child, and one count each of continuous sexual abuse and oral copulation of a person under the age of 14.

The criminal complaint alleges that the crimes occurred between June 1, 2010, and July 1 of this year.

Solomon was arrested on July 4 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and has remained jailed in lieu of $3 million bail. He pleaded not guilty to all charges on July 6.

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MOBILE (AL)
Fox 10

Updated: Monday, 15 Oct 2012

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Jury selection began on Monday for a former preacher who is expected to face trial for sex abuse charges in Mobile.

Cedrick D. McMillian, formerly a pastor at New Birth Baptist Church, is charged with second-degree sodomy and sexual abuse against a girl who authorities said was 14 at the time.

Both sides are hopeful that they will be able to strike a jury and begin the trial as soon as the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 15.

McMillian turned himself in in August 2011 on the charges, which prosecutors said took place in 2007 and 2008 in Mobile County. Mobile County Assistant District Attorney Nicki Patterson said in 2011 that McMillan had been text messaging a 14-year-old relative.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has reinstated a priest placed on leave after a February 2011 grand jury report into child sexual abuse.

The diocese said Monday that Archbishop Charles Chaput decided the Rev. Joseph DiGregorio is suitable for ministry.

Church officials say an investigation found the 72-year-old DiGregorio violated The Standards of Ministerial Behaviors and Boundaries more than 40 years ago, but they did not say how.

They say there’s compelling evidence that makes him suitable for ministry and that there’s no evidence he poses a danger to children. He had been suspended after the grand jury report, but later said in a radio interview the allegations against him were “a lie.”

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on October 15, 2012

A Catholic priest who faces at least seven allegations of sexual harassment is scheduled to speak tomorrow at religious conference in Orlando.

Fr. Dan Ward, a monk from St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN, was accused last week of abusing five men and two women while he was a teacher at St. John’s in the 1970’s. The offenses alleged range from unwanted physical contact to threats of failing students for not complying with his advances.

Read: MyFoxTwinCities

Leaders of an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are upset that Catholic officials are letting Fr. Ward lead a seminar despite the multiple allegations against him, and are calling on officials Maryland-based The Resource Center for Religious Institutes to stop Ward from speaking at their conference this week.

“Once again, despite all the bishops’ promises of alleged reform, another credibly accused predator is still on the job in the church and being given a position of prestige,” said David Clohessy, SNAP Director. “This, of course, rubs salt in to the already-deep and still fresh wounds of his victims and which enables him to earn the trust of more unsuspecting Catholic families.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by NCR Editorial Staff | Oct. 10, 2012

Editorial —
It was a telling coincidence (whether providential is open to question) that in the same week that Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., declared implicitly that Catholics who vote for President Barack Obama, a pro-choice politician, risked the loss of their souls, a Pew Research Center poll showed that Obama was experiencing a surge of support among Catholics.

Sometime in the not-too-distant past, Paprocki’s words would have had some shock value. But the words aren’t shocking, save for their imprudence, because the public has been treated to similarly over-the-top assertions from bishops repeatedly in recent years. Catholics have become numb to the rants of culture-warrior bishops. As episcopal ultimatums fail to persuade, threats also fail to threaten.

Recall that Bishop Joseph Martino, then bishop of Scranton, Pa., was hurling thunderbolts from his episcopal throne during the last presidential election, threatening to bar candidates from Communion and comparing a vote for a pro-choice candidate to an endorsement of “homicide.” Not long after that election, Martino, said to be suffering an undisclosed illness, was dispatched to teach in a seminary far west of his perch in Scranton, an overwhelmingly Catholic region that went overwhelmingly for Obama.

It has been clear for some time that U.S. bishops have been unpersuasive in making the case for any number of political positions and strategies, from abortion to the death penalty. The reasons may be many, but certainly one of them is the fact that the bishops are saddled with the hypocrisy of their own behavior in the sex abuse crisis. Their version of pick-and-choose morality in the abuse crisis, relativistic in the extreme, makes it difficult for them to pronounce as moral authorities with any credibility.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Mercury

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Monday that Father Joseph DiGregorio, who was accused of violating the Standards of Ministerial Behavior more than 40 years ago, is suitable for ministry.

The report against DiGregorio, 72, was investigated by the Multi-Disciplinary Team as well as the Archdiocesan Review Board after the 2011 Grand Jury report by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.

“A rigorous investigative process involving more than 20 experts in child abuse did find that Father DiGregorio violated The Standards of Ministerial Behaviors and Boundaries more than 40 years ago but that there is compelling evidence that makes him suitable for ministry,” read a press release from the archdiocese.

“The MDT reports stated that that there have been no complaints about Father DiGregorio in more than forty years, there is no evidence that he poses a danger to children, and there is no indication he had or would engage in a pattern of behavior that would necessitate his removal from ministry,” the press release read.

Father DiGregoriowas ordained in 1966 and served at the following parishes and schools: Our Lady of Loreto, Philadelphia (1966-1970); King of Peace, Philadelphia (1970); Bishop McDevitt High School, Wyncote (1970-1971); Saint Anthony of Padua, Ambler (1970-1971); Saint Thomas Aquinas, Philadelphia (1971-1976); Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, Philadelphia (1976-1977); Annunciation, B.V.M., Philadelphia (1977-1982); Saint Paul, Philadelphia, (1982-1987); Saint Maria Goretti High School, Philadelphia (1983-1988); Epiphany of Our Lord, Philadelphia (1987-1988); Military Chaplain, United States Army (1988-2005); Saint Martin of Tours, Philadelphia (2005-2010); Stella Maris, Philadelphia (2010-2011); placed on administrative leave (2011).

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced today that Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., has made a final decision in one of the cases of priests placed on administrative leave following the February 2011 Grand Jury Report.

Archbishop Chaput has decided that Father Joseph DiGregorio is suitable for ministry based on reports of the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) led by veteran child abuse prosecutor Gina Maisto Smith and a further examination by the Archdiocesan Review Board which had similar findings. A rigorous investigative process involving more than 20 experts in child abuse did find that Father DiGregorio violated The Standards of Ministerial Behaviors and Boundaries more than 40 years ago but that there is compelling evidence that makes him suitable for ministry.

The MDT reports stated that that there have been no complaints about Father DiGregorio in more than forty years, there is no evidence that he poses a danger to children, and there is no indication he had or would engage in a pattern of behavior that would necessitate his removal from ministry. Based upon recommendations of the MDT and the Review Board, Archbishop Chaput made the final decision.

Announcements were made this weekend at Stella Maris Parish and St. Martin of Tours Parish, both in Philadelphia. Counselors were present. Unlike the resolution of other cases which have already been announced, greater detail was provided in this case due to its already public nature. In order to protect the individuals involved in this matter though, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is unable to provide further information about this case.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has reinstated a 72-year-old priest suspended last year after a Philadelphia grand jury report questioned how the Archdiocese of Philadelphia investigated allegations that he molested a teenage girl four decades ago.

After what the archbishop called a “rigorous investigative process” involving 20 child sex abuse experts, Chaput concluded that the priest, the Rev. Joseph DiGregorio, may once have violated behavioral standards for a priest but is not a danger to the community.

“Based on the facts of Father DiGregorio’s case, a thorough external investigation, the fact that no other complaints were reported in an atmosphere where the public was largely aware of the situation, and that thorough clinical evaluations from competent outside authorities indicate he poses no danger to minors, I found him suitable for ministry,” Chaput said in a statement.

The statement did not explain how he violated behavioral standards. Church officials in the past said violations can include such conduct as inappropriate language or what they call “boundary violations” between adults and minors.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Oct. 15, 2012

The court-ordered mediation between the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and victims of sexual abuse has failed, sending the parties back to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to resume what one court official has called a scorched earth legal battle.

The church and victims — at 575 members, they represent the largest class of creditors in the bankruptcy — have been in court-ordered mediation since July 20.

Victims attorney Jeffrey Anderson confirmed Monday that the mediation had failed but declined to elaborate on the sticking points, citing the confidentiality of the proceedings.

He said victims would now move forward to force the disclosure of thousands of pages of documents now under court seal, and to scrutinize the transfer of millions of dollars off the church’s books into trusts in the years before the bankruptcy.

The lack of a resolution “puts us back to where we were, ready to move forward with all the issues and battles that need to be fought.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WTAQ

MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) – Settlement talks have broken down between the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese and about 575 victims of sex abuse by its priests.

Victims’ attorney Jeffrey Anderson Monday confirmed a breakdown in the court-ordered mediation process. He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he would not elaborate on the reasons for the breakdown, because the proceedings were meant to be confidential.

The financial claims from the abuse victims were part of the church’s effort to reorganize its finances under Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The 10 county Milwaukee Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January of last year. It said it was the only way to fairly compensate abuse victims, while maintaining the church’s ministry.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, (VIS) – The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Duitama-Sogamoso, Colombia, presented by Bishop Carlos Prada Sanmiguel, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 15, 2012

Patrick Marker from BehindthePineCurtain broke this blockbuster story:

The organization representing lawyers practicing Catholic Church “law” recently allowed a man with numerous allegations of sexual abuse to speak to its membership at its Chicago conference.

The Canon Law Society of America (CLSA), the organization charged with “promotion of the study and application of canon law in the Roman Catholic Church,” hosted speaker Fr. Daniel Ward, OSB, a Benedictine monk and priest with at least five allegations of sexual abuse. The group did this despite being warned in a letter that the Benedictines had launched an investigation and that Marker had collected statements from the victims.

Ward’s presentation: A Diocese, a Parish, a Religious Institute, a Member: An Exploration of Canon and Civil Law is telling—his “exploration of Canon and civil law” seems to be a study on how to hide assets when a diocese is rocked by a sex abuse and cover-up scandal.

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TULSA (OK)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on October 15, 2012

It is extremely distressing how church officials at Victory Christian Center have handled this case revolving around the rape of a 13-year-old girl on church property.

First, they delayed for two weeks before notifying authorities. Second, they went into damage-control mode instead of trying to figure out why Chris Denman, the alleged rapist, was allowed access to the building and was able to victimize the young girl. Finally, they are now seeking to absolve themselves of liability using legal technicalities.

The simple fact of the matter is, in every instance in this case, John and Charica Daugherty acted improperly and out of fear for their own well-being and reputation instead of concern for the rape victim. Despite supposedly being “Christian ministers,” these two officials have acted in the least Christian and most selfish ways possible.

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VATICAN CITY
The Atlantic

Alexander Stille

Since posting our article on the “Vati-leaks” case, Paolo Gabriele, the Pope’s former butler, was convicted by a Vatican court of misappropriating papal documents and leaking them to the Italian press. Almost immediately, Father Federico Lombardi, indicated that it was “very likely” that the pope would, at some point, pardon Gabriele.

The court sentenced Gabriele to three years in prison, but reduced the term to 18 months, citing the remorse the pope’s former attendant had shown. Explaining his actions, Gabriele told the court that “he felt the strong conviction deep inside to have acted exclusively for love, a visceral love, for the Church” and the pope.

The trial, held just four months after Gabriele’s arrest in May, was part of the Vatican’s recent efforts to be, and appear to be, transparent in its handling of the scandal. The court hearings were technically public, but only a very small number of selected members of the press were allowed to attend them. There was no video coverage. Wider public understanding, then, is based on a handful of press accounts of what took place.

The trial was very brief, lasting just a week, and it contained few surprises. But there were a few points of genuine interest. At one point, Gabriele described the Pope as easy to manipulate, because he was not always well-informed about important matters. “I started believing that it is easy to manipulate a person that has such power in his hands,” Gabriele told the court, according to a Reuters report. “Sometimes the pope asked questions about things he should have been informed about.”

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