ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED STATES
Mercury News

By Sean Murphy
Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — Nearly three dozen states have failed to meet conditions of a 2006 federal law that requires them to join a nationwide program to track sex offenders, including five states that have completely given up on the effort because of persistent doubts about how it works and how much it costs.

The states, including some of the nation’s largest, stand to lose millions of dollars in government grants for law enforcement, but some have concluded that honoring the law would be far more expensive than simply living without the money.

“The requirements would have been a huge expense,” said Doris Smith, who oversees grant programs at the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Lawmakers weren’t willing to spend that much, even though the state will lose $226,000.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, named after a boy kidnapped from a Florida mall and killed in 1981, was supposed to create a uniform system for registering and tracking sex offenders that would link all 50 states, plus U.S. territories and tribal lands. When President George W. Bush signed it into law, many states quickly realized they would have to overhaul their sex offender registration systems to comply.

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OREGON
KVAL

[with video]

EUGENE, Ore. — One of the 15 most wanted fugitives in the United States is suspected to be hiding in Eugene, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday.

Frederick Cecil McLean is a fugitive child molester who fled the San Diego area in 2004-05. The USMS said he molested dozens of children over a 20 year period while in California, using his position in the Jehovah’s witness Church to find victims.

Investigators found evidence that 54-year-old McLean may be hiding in the Eugene area. U.S. Marshal Service spokesperson Thomas Maranda added that he might be living under an assumed identity.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

[with video]

Updated: Mgr Charles Scicluna, the new Auxiliary Bishop of Malta, said today that he looked forward to returning to Malta after 17 years of service in the Holy See.

“I look forward to returning to Malta, to assist and to learn from Archbishop Cremona and to listen to and serve the Maltese people,” he told timesofmalta.com.

The formal announcement of Mgr Scicluna’s nomination was made today, and it was welcomed by the Curia, with Archbishop Cremona describing it as ‘ a grace’.

At his hometime Lija, bells pealed when the official announcement was made today.

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VATICAN CITY
WGME

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s sex crimes prosecutor, who for a decade oversaw the Vatican’s response to cases of priests who sexually abuse children, is leaving the Vatican and returning to his native Malta to be an auxiliary bishop.

Monsignor Charles Scicluna is known for his tough line on abusive priests. He was brought into the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from the Vatican’s high court in 2002 to handle the tsunami of cases into Rome after the Vatican in 2001 ordered bishops to send all their abuse cases to the Vatican for review.

As the so-called “promotor of justice,” Scicluna worked directly under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

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EUROPE
Salem-News

Reverend Kevin Annett, M.A., M.Div. Salem-News.com

(BRUSSELS) – I’ve been traveling across Europe and North America since August, helping to establish our Common Law Court of Justice. This Court is something new and historic in the world, a grassroots movement of citizen-powered justice that on October 15 will begin to turn the tables on criminal bodies of church and state.

The Court is now functioning in seven countries, and will issue indictments and enforce its verdicts and sentences against those responsible for hideous crimes against children. More specific directions will be issued to all 58 of its citizen jurors before October 15.

Hundreds of people are on board now with the Court: citizen jurors, judges and prosecutors, and many eyewitnesses and plaintiffs. Summonses have been issued, including to the Pope himself and heads of state. And in response, a senior catholic Cardinal has shown a willingness to break from the Pope and negotiate some of our demands on behalf of a faction in the hierarchy.

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INDIA
What They Knew

In a story from the ‘now we have heard it all’ file comes the sad and enraging story of Sister Mary Florence from Trichy, India. The nun’s quest for justice began when she alleges that she was raped and impregnated by Jesuit priest Rathinam Rajarathnam SJ the President of St. Joseph’s College from 2006-2008. She’s been excommunicated and kicked out of her order, he is still listed as Director of St. Joseph’s College and is still a Jesuit.

Francis Mary or Florence Mary, 28, once a nun, had joined the college in Tiruchy in 2006 for pursuing her MA. During this time, she met Rajarathinam, principal of St Joseph’s College. One day in January 2006, when she went to meet him, Rajarathinam served her a cold drink laced with sedatives, she alleged in the complaint. She was raped, obscene pictures were taken on his cellphone camera, and she was threatened against telling anyone about it.

Fr. Rajarathinam took her to several places and abused her, she said, adding that this resulted in a pregnancy which was aborted at a private hospital in 2008. However, when the news about her pregnancy and abortion became public, the nun was excommunicated and removed from the order.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Times

A Vatican court has found Pope Benedict’s former butler guilty of stealing sensitive documents and sentenced him to 18 months in prison.

The court delivered its verdict after a two-hour deliberation on the last day of the trial of Paolo Gabriele. The prosecution had asked for a three-year sentence.

The defence asked the court to reduce the charges from “aggravated theft” to “misappropriation” and for him to be freed.

Pope Benedict will “most likely” pardon Gabriele, a Vatican spokesman said today. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi also told reporters the court reached its verdict in “full independence” without any interference from Vatican officials.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Pacific Church News

The Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus, Episcopal Bishop of California and an invited guest for the installation of Archbishop-designate Salvatore Cordileone, was not allowed to be seated. He was escorted to a basement room at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral and detained by an usher until the time the service began, whereupon Bishop Andrus left the cathedral. More information will be forthcoming as it is available.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Bishop Marc

A post to clarify my experience at the installation of Archbishop Cordileone at St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco.

I was dropped off at the cathedral at 1:30PM by my assistant. After making my way around protestors and showing my invitation to security guards, I was in the lower level area to which I was directed by 1:40.

The instructions the Archdiocese had given my assistant were that I should be at St. Mary’s by 1:45. The service was scheduled to begin at 2.

I identified myself to an assistant to the archbishop, who spoke to someone through a headset, saying, “Bishop Andrus is here.”

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Washington Post

Episcopal bishop says he was denied entrance to Catholic archbishop’s installation Mass

By Kevin Eckstrom| Religion News Service, Published: October 5

What started off as a rocky relationship between the Episcopal and Roman Catholic bishops of San Francisco got even worse on Thursday (Oct. 4) when Episcopal Bishop Marc Andrus said he was denied entrance to the installation Mass of the new Roman Catholic archbishop.

Andrus said he arrived at St. Mary’s Cathedral 30 minutes before the installation Mass of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was scheduled to start, but was kept in a holding area with an employee of the Catholic archdiocese until after the service started.

After other local clergy had processed in for the 2 p.m. Mass, Andrus said the message was clear that he was unwelcome, even though he had been invited.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
SFist

Marc Andrus, an Episcopal Bishop of California noteworthy for his public anti-Prop 8 stance, was not allowed to be seated at Thursday’s installation of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, even though he was an invited guest. Instead, he was “escorted to a basement room at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral and detained by an usher until the time the service began.” As soon as the debut performance (if you will) began, Bishop Andrus left the cathedral.

In an article explaining his basement-shaming at the hands of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Andrus writes:

At this point no other guests remained in the downstairs area. The employee and I chatted while waiting. I began to wonder about the time holdup. I checked my phone; it was 1:50PM. I asked the employee standing with me if the service indeed started at 2, which she affirmed.

At 2PM, when the service was to begin, I said to the employee, “I think I understand, and feel I should leave.” Her response was, “Thank you for being understanding.” I quietly walked out the door. No one attempted to stop me. No attempt was ever made to explain the delay or any process for seating. I arrived early, before the time given my assistant, and waited to leave until after the service had begun.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

Mgr Charles Scicluna, a lead figure in the Vatican’s investigations into child abuse by clerics, has been appointed Malta’s Auxiliary Bishop.

An official announcement is expected to be made by the Roman Curia today according to Italian newspaper La Stampa, which broke the news yesterday taking some local Church officials by surprise.

The Vatican media office would not confirm the appointment, saying its policy was only to discuss official nominations. Similarly, a Malta Curia spokesman said he had no information on the nomination.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

The Curia in Malta confirmed today that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Monsignor Charles J. Scicluna as Auxiliary Bishop of Malta. The news was revealed by Italian newspaper La Stampa yesterday. Mgr Scicluna will be Titular Bishop of San Leone.

The episcopal ordination will be held on November 24.

“As Auxiliary Bishop, His Lordship Monsignor Scicluna, 53, will be called to be the closest collaborator and advisor of His Grace Archbishop Paul Cremona O.P. with leadership responsibilities in the Curia and in diocesan pastoral ministry. On his Episcopal ordination on 24 November 2012, Monsignor Scicluna will become a member of the Maltese Episcopal Conference alongside the Archbishop and the Bishop of Gozo, His Lordship Monsignor Mario Grech,” the Curia said.

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MALTA
Malta Independent

by John Cordina

The man in charge of handling complaints of sexual abuse by Catholic Church personnel, Mgr Charles Scicluna, is to be made an auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese of Malta.

Mgr Scicluna has been the Promoter of Justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – the present-day successor of the Holy Inquisition – since 2001.

In this role, he is effectively the chief prosecutor in the most serious cases concerning priests, including sexual abuse by minors, and has become known for his zero-tolerance policy towards such acts.

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UXBRIDGE (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Susan Spencer TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

UXBRIDGE — A pastor’s wife has won a year-long restraining order against her husband after claiming her husband abused her and had welcomed young women into her home for sex.

In an Uxbridge District Court hearing yesterday, in an affidavit filed by Beth Stanley, she accused her husband, Dennis H. Stanley, of making her sleep downstairs while he was with the female guests. A judge initially granted a temporary restraining order Monday but extended it Friday after hearing from Mrs. Stanley. The pastor of the non-denominational Church of the End Times was arrested after a standoff with police Monday.

In the affidavit Mrs. Stanley filed on Monday for the restraining order she said: “My husband invited ten girls to live in our house for the last week or more. He now sleeps upstairs with them in bed. My husband believes this is the love he needs and can get from them. … My husband and his girlfriends have locked me out of our house!” …

Dennis Stanley, reached by phone yesterday, said, “She’s (my wife) obviously trying to make me look like a moron.”

He said the groups of young women were just a gathering after church.

“There’s nothing sexual or whatever the accusations might be. It’s just friendships. Just friends.”

Dennis Stanley said that the women were invited to stay at the house because, “I own the house and I let whoever I want stay there.”

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CANADA
The Chronicle-Herald

As a nun and a pediatrician, Sister Nuala Kenny devoted much of her professional life to helping people feel better.

Her new book, Healing the Church, aims to apply balm to the Catholic Church. Subtitled Diagnosing and Treating the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis, the book is aimed at a particular audience.

“Ordinary lay people,” Kenny, semi-retired, said from the Halifax convent where she lives with three other sisters.

“It’s an attempt to find some way to get people to begin talking about what are the lessons that we have learned from this crisis, about who we are as a church, with specific attention to how we are when we relate as clergy and laity.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

The legal arena has become a sort of second home to the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese — but hardly a sanctuary.

Bishop Robert Finn’s criminal misdemeanor conviction this past summer for failing to report suspected child abuse involving the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, analysts say, could dramatically undercut the diocese’s defense against mounting civil lawsuits.

More than two dozen pending cases allege offenses ranging from sexual abuse by priests to wrongful death.

The Ratigan case triggered a new wave of litigation.

“Now that Bishop Finn has (been convicted), the diocese is at absolute risk,” said Patrick Wall, a canon lawyer and former Roman Catholic priest who has worked on behalf of clergy sexual abuse victims for a decade.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WTMJ

[with video]

By WTMJ News Team

CREATED Oct. 5, 2012

MILWAUKEE- The controversy over the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal hits the big screen.

Not only that, but Friday night is the US premiere of the film. It’s called Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God — a documentary focused on the sexual assaults within the church right here in Milwaukee.

With bright lights, ticket lines, even a red carpet, the event had all the trimmings of a blockbuster premiere.

The film brought a message to the big screen. Telling the story of hundreds of young men abused by Father Lawrence Murphy, the headmaster at St. John’s School for the Deaf in St. Francis.

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IRELAND
Toronto Star

Sandro Contenta
Feature Writer

DUBLIN, IRELAND—Rev. Seamus Ryan, a gentle Catholic priest on the verge of retirement, lives in a cluttered home next to St. Matthew’s Parish, where he ministers to a precipitously decreasing flock from the working-class neighbourhood of Ballyfermot.

On a September day that threatened rain, he sat with a cup of tea in a comfortable armchair, relaxing after having married a young couple. Baptisms, marriages and funerals still keep priests busy in Ireland. But Ryan takes little solace from a church reduced to what some call a “hatch, match and dispatch” service.

“People have lost contact with the church,” he says. “At the wedding today, they were no longer familiar with the responses. They’ve lost the language, even. There’s just a silence.” …

The backdrop to the battle is a Roman Catholic Church in crisis in Europe and North America. Vocations to the priesthood are drying up and sex abuse scandals reveal a hierarchy often more interested in protecting the institution than protecting children.

“The church is 200 years behind the times,” Cardinal Carlo Martini told an Italian journalist in comments he approved before his death in late August. “Why doesn’t it stir? Are we afraid?”

“Our culture has become old,” the highly respected cardinal added in his missive from the grave, “our churches and our religious houses are big and empty, the bureaucratic apparatus of the church grows, our rites and our dress are pompous.”

In this atmosphere of crisis, rebellious reform groups are multiplying. Hoban’s association began two years ago and already represents 1,000 of Ireland’s 4,500 priests. In Austria, a group called Preachers’ Initiative, which says it represents 10 per cent of the country’s Catholic priests, has issued a “Call to Disobedience” manifesto that demands the ordination of women and an end to priestly celibacy. Groups in Germany and the United States are making similar noises.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

Pope Benedict’s ex-butler Paolo Gabriele has been found guilty of stealing confidential papers and sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Prosecutors had called for a three-year sentence but it was reduced because of “mitigating circumstances”.

Speaking before the verdict, he said he acted out of love for the Church and did not see himself as a thief.

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VATICAN CITY
The Telegraph

The Pope’s butler was given an 18-month prison sentence today after being found guilty by a Vatican tribunal of stealing confidential documents from the desk of Benedict XVI.

By Nick Squires, Vatican City
11:33AM BST 06 Oct 2012

Judges in the “Vatileaks” case also ordered him to pay legal expenses for the trial.

Vatican prosecutors had asked for a three year prison sentence for Paolo Gabriele, 46, who amassed a huge collection of stolen papal documents in his grace-and-favour apartment within the walls of the city state.

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VATICAN CITY
KTVL

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The pope’s butler has insisted that he’s no thief and that he leaked the pope’s private correspondence to a journalist out of a “visceral love” for the Catholic Church and its pope.

Paolo Gabriele delivered a final statement to a Vatican tribunal today before its three judges began deliberating whether he is guilty of aggravated theft in the gravest Vatican security breach in memory.

Defense attorney Cristiana Arru insisted in closing arguments that only photocopies, not original documents, were taken from the Apostolic Palace, disputing testimony from the pope’s secretary that original letters were in the evidence seized from Gabriele’s home.

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VATICAN CITY
WTAQ

Saturday, October 06, 2012

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A Vatican court on Saturday found Pope Benedict’s former butler guilty of stealing sensitive documents and sentenced him to a year and a half in prison.

The court delivered its verdict after a two-hour deliberation on the last day of the trial.

The prosecution had asked for a three-year sentence.

The defense asked the court to reduce the charges from “aggravated theft” to “misappropriation” and for him to be freed.

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VATICAN CITY
Gorey Guardian (Ireland)

Saturday October 06 2012

The pope’s butler has been convicted of stealing the pontiff’s private documents and leaking them to a journalist, and has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre read the verdict aloud, one hour after the three-judge panel began deliberating Paolo Gabriele’s fate. He said the sentence was reduced to 18 months from three years because of a series of mitigating circumstances, including that Gabriele had no previous record.

In his final appeal to the court, Gabriele insisted “I don’t feel like a thief” and said he leaked the pope’s private correspondence to a journalist out of a “visceral love” for the church and the pope.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on October 05, 2012

■Groups blast Altoona bishop over child sex crimes
■They want him to post the names of all predator priests
■At least 30 US Catholic prelates have taken “this simple safety step”
■SNAP: “At least 25 local clergy are proven, admitted or credibly accused abusers”
■Self help organization wants “outreach & warnings” about a just-accused local priest

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will urge Altoona Catholic bishop to
— seek out others who may have seen or suspected child sex crimes by a recently arrested priest,
— personally visit each parish where the accused predator worked, begging other victims to come forward, get help, and call police, and
— post the names of all current and former local child molesting clerics on the diocese website.

They will also prod people who were molested by clergy – of any denomination to “find the courage to speak up and start healing.”

WHEN
Monday, Oct. 8 at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE
Outside the Altoona Catholic diocesan headquarters (chancery office) at 927 South Logan Blvd. (corner of Hawthorne) in Hollidaysburg, PA ( 814-695-5579 )

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MASSACHUSETTS
Wisconsin Gazette

Written by Lisa Neff, Staff writer
Oct 5, 2012

James Fairbanks and Alain Beret saw potential in the property – 44 rooms, 26 acres and community zeal for preservation. The stately though deteriorated mansion in Northbridge, Mass., seemed an ideal location for an inn or a special events.

But despite an offer and a deposit, the seller – the Worcester Diocese of the Catholic Church – backed out of the deal.

The diocese says the deal-breaker was money. The couple claims it was discrimination.

The vacant property at the center of the controversy most recently hosted the Oakhurst Retreat and Conference Center, an office for the church’s youth ministry.

Before that, beginning in 1973, the mansion was the site of the House of Affirmation, a retreat for “troubled priests” founded by the Rev. Thomas A. Kane. In a notice in a church-affiliated newsletter from decades ago, Kane announced that the center was at “the service of all priests and religious who are not embarrassed to become a more fulfilled and healthier person.”

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Julie Leininger Pycior

At present there is a standoff between the Vatican and the organization that represents 80 percent of American nuns, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious/LCWR. The hierarchy likely will break the stalemate right after the noisy election season, and they hold all the power (that is, unless the nuns simply rebel).

Or maybe not? God writes with straight but crooked lines, according to two people often characterized as Catholic activist icons, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton.

The dividing line between the Vatican and the nuns does seem rigid. Rome scored the LCWR for “radical feminism” and placed a male prelate in charge of monitoring these 75,000 women (yes, even as the episcopate remains tainted by the pedophilia cover-up scandal). The monitor, Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle, is urging the Catholics in his archdiocese to vote in favor of a resolution, which he promoted, that would overturn a law recognizing gay marriage — this, in line with the Pope, who has stated that same-sex unions “threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself.”

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
National Catholic Reporter

by
Monica Clark

Salvatore J. Cordileone chose the theme of “rebuilding” for his installation as the ninth archbishop of San Francisco on Thursday.

For his homily, Cordileone, whose appointment drew strong criticism because of his opposition to gay marriage, drew on the example of St. Francis of Assisi, the city’s patron whose feast was being celebrated. St. Francis, the archbishop said, “didn’t make a new church, he repaired the old one. He built upon it.”

About 200 demonstrators, some supporting the city’s new archbishop and others opposing his appointment, stood together on the sidewalk outside St. Mary’s Cathedral while 2,000 invited guests gathered inside to witness Cordileone’s installation.

Both groups held signs proclaiming their messages to those arriving for the 2 p.m. Mass and those driving along one of San Francisco’s busiest streets. …

In addition to divergent opinions marriage, there were posters abhorring the sexual abuse of children by priests and signs referring to Cordileone’s recent arrest for drunken driving. But there were no confrontations, and an atmosphere of respect, or at least tolerance, prevailed.

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UXBRIDGE (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Susan Spencer TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

UXBRIDGE — Beth Stanley, the wife of Dennis H. Stanley, the pastor who was arrested after a standoff with police Monday, received a one-year extension on a restraining order today. She accuses her husband of abusing her and bringing home young women while she was made to sleep downstairs.

A judge initially granted a temporary restraining order Monday and extended it today after hearing from Mrs. Stanley.

Mrs. Stanley, who said she and her husband of 22 years were high school sweethearts, has filed for divorce. The couple has three children ages 7, 10 and 13.

Dennis and his brother David H. Stanley, both of Uxbridge, were in Uxbridge District Court this morning on charges stemming from a one-hour standoff with police Monday night regarding a violation of a restraining order.

The Stanley brothers, who own Driveways Corp. paving company, founded the Church of the End Times in 2006 and serve as pastors of the nondenominational Christian church. Their videos on YouTube show “Pastor David” conducting exorcisms.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sudwest Presse

50 Jahre nach dem Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzil hat der Tübinger Theologe Hans Küng erneut die katholische Kirche und Papst Benedikt XVI. scharf kritisiert. Seit Beginn der 80er Jahre lebe Joseph Ratzinger, der heutige Papst, in einer Scheinwelt,

sagte Küng der in Ulm erscheinenden “Südwest Presse”. “Verschärft hat er das noch, weil er nur Ja-Sager” als Berater berufen habe. Auf dem Petersplatz in Rom werde “Macht zelebriert, geführt von Jubel-Katholiken”, während die Kirche in den Gemeinden ausblute. Küng hofft auf “eine Reform von unten”. Küng war 1962 als Berater am Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzil beteiligt.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Mittelbayerische

Der Missbrauchsprozess gegen einen Olympia-Trainer des DSV ist ein weiteres Mal vertagt worden.

Der Missbrauchsprozess gegen einen Olympia-Trainer des Deutschen Schwimm-Verbandes (DSV) ist ein weiteres Mal vertagt worden. Nach kurzer Verhandlung am Freitag kündigte die Strafkammer des Amtsgerichtes Kiel die Fortsetzung für den 24. Oktober an. Dann sollen zwei Zeugen vernommen werden. Mit einem Urteil ist, so ein Gerichtssprecher auf SID-Nachfrage, aber auch am dann siebten Verhandlungstag nicht zu rechnen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Express

Von JÜRGEN DREVES

Augsburg –
Erleichterung über das Rücktrittsgesuch von Bischof Walter Mixa (68): Selbst im Augsburger Bistum des der Lüge überführten Gottesmannes überwiegt die Zufriedenheit mit der Entscheidung.

Weihbischof Anton Losinger diagnostiziert einen schweren Image-Schaden für die katholische Kirche. „Unter den Gläubigen gibt es deutliche Kritik und Vertrauensverlust. Es gibt Kirchenaustrittszahlen, die uns bedrücken.“ Im Bistum Augsburg liegt die Zahl um 50 bis 70 Prozent höher als im Vorjahr.

Bischof Mixa hatte Vorwürfe, Heimkinder geschlagen zu haben, zunächst vehement bestritten. Später gab er dann zu, als Stadtpfarrer von Schrobenhausen Ohrfeigen ausgeteilt zu haben.

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SCHWEIZ
kipa

Zürich, 2.10.12 (Kipa) Unter dem Namen “Projekt Vaticanum III” wollen katholische Initiativgruppen auch in der Schweiz Konzilsdokumente in die heutige Zeit übersetzen. Die Dokumente sollen in drei Jahren dem Vatikan übergeben werden. Die Initiativgruppen hoffen, dass sie die Kirchenleitung in Rom von den Reformbestrebungen überzeugen und so dazu beitragen können, die “vorherrschende

Das Projekt ist eine Initiative der österreichischen Plattform “Wir sind Kirche”, der sich international viele Interessierte angeschlossen haben, heisst es in der Medienmitteilung. Auch eine Schweizer Gruppe arbeitet mit und hat sich vorgenommen, die Pastoralkonstitution “Gaudium et spes für unser Jahrhundert weiterzudenken” und in der gegenwärtigen Welt nach Zeichen von “Freude und Hoffnung” Umschau zu halten. An der Projektgruppe Schweiz arbeiten die Theologen Brigitte Durrer, Leo Karrer, Walter Kirchschläger, Erwin Koller und Helen Schüngel-Straumann mit.

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ITALY
Sudtirol

Nals – Im Bildungshaus Lichtenburg in Nals findet heute eine Tagung statt, in deren Rahmen man sich mit sexuellem Missbrauch in Kirche und Gesellschaft konstruktiv auseinandersetzen will. Die Tagung wurde von Bischof Ivo Muser eröffnet.

Im Jahr 2010 hat die Kurie eine Ombudsstelle eingerichtet, bei der sich 54 Personen gemeldet haben. In 31 Fällen war die Anlaufstelle zuständig und erzielte auch Erfolge.

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IRELAND
Galway News

October 5, 2012

The Irish Association of Catholic Priests will hold an assembly in Galway tomorrow aimed at promoting real dialogue on reform and renewal of the Church.

Up to 400 priests, religious and lay catholics are expected to attend ‘Towards an assembly for the West’ which takes place at the Clayton Hotel at Briarhill from 10am to 4pm.

The meeting, which is broken into three key sessions, will have a number of speakers outling a vision for the future, with contributions from the floor.

Admission is free but booking is advisable on the website
associationofcatholicpriests.com

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MICHIGAN
The Hillsdale Collegian

by Roxanne Turnbull on October 5, 2012

Father David Reamsnyder began his priestly duties at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Hillsdale, Mich., Sunday, Sept. 23.

Reamsnyder was selected by the Diocese of Lansing to replace Father Jeffrey Njus after it was discovered Njus had violated his vow of celibacy – leaving the Hillsdale parish without a priest. He will stay in Hillsdale for one year. Afterwards, he said he hopes to become a chaplain in a military unit.

Reamsnyder, his wife Beth, and his two children moved into the rectory of the church recently. As a former Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism, Reamsnyder is permitted to serve as a married Catholic priest under the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

The Ordinariate, created in January 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI for Anglicans converting to Catholicism, was established “to build up the Church through mutual mission and ministry while retaining elements of the Anglican patrimony.”

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MICHIGAN
The Hillsdale Collegian

by Roxanne Turnbull on September 8, 2012

Father Jeffrey Njus was asked to leave his position at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Hillsdale, Mich., on Aug. 22 after it was discovered he had violated his vow of celibacy before coming to Hillsdale.

“It was a blow not only to the Catholic Society but to the entire Catholic community. By now the shock has worn away, and we are recovering for sure,” said Gannon Hyland, junior and president of the Hillsdale Catholic Society.

According to a statement given by the Diocese of Lansing, Njus was asked to take leave because “of boundary violations in a pastoral context with adult women prior to his appointment to Hillsdale.”

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Fri, 10/05/2012

by
John L. Allen Jr.
All Things Catholic

The 25th Synod of Bishops begins Sunday, this one dedicated to “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” New evangelization is the apple of Pope Benedict XVI’s eye, so the synod, held every couple of years or so since 1967, is being touted by the Vatican, along with the Year of Faith that opens Oct. 11, as the biggest happening of the fall.

In all honesty, at least from a media point of view, it’s not even the biggest Vatican event happening right now. That distinction belongs to the trial of Paolo Gabriele, the former papal butler charged with being the mole at the heart of the Vatican leaks scandal. An initial verdict could come as early as Saturday. …

Will the synod be overshadowed by the butler’s trial?

Technically no, because if the trial wraps up tomorrow it’ll be out of the way before the synod begins. Yet the procedure allows for an appeal, so if Gabriele is convicted there will still be stories to do about where the process goes from here, along with a renewed drumbeat of speculation about a possible papal pardon.

This intersection of the trial and the synod could play out in different ways.

On the one hand, it could be styled a further proof of just how colossally tone-deaf the Vatican is with regard to PR. At the very moment they’re deliberating how to make Catholicism look inviting and attractive, they’ve also basically handed the media an engraved invitation to produce stories about corruption, palace intrigue and back-biting at the highest levels of power.

On the other hand, if the Vatican could somehow use the trial to show that it’s committed to due process and that it has nothing to hide, it might actually debunk some anti-clerical stereotypes that get in the way of drawing people to the faith.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Headline at USA Today site yesterday: “SF Prelate Jokes about DUI Charge at Installation.”

Because what’s funnier, after all, than operating a vehicle when you’re drunk? At night. On busy streets in a major city. With your elderly mother and a yet to be identified young man in the car.

Ha ha ha funny.

As someone who lost a good friend to a drunk driver several days after that friend retired–a drunk driver who had previously killed a teenager in another lethal accident when he was driving while intoxicated–I tend to hear these “jokes” with a certain revulsion in the pit of my stomach.

So. We American Catholics now have an archbishop of a major American city, San Francisco, who is not only arrested for DUI within weeks before his installation, but who has the temerity, the unmitigated gall–the total lack of grace and class–to joke about his criminal actions and his arrest.

But we also have a sitting bishop in another major American city, Kansas City, who’s still sitting there on his episcopal throne, undisturbed in his exercise of office, after his criminal conviction for protecting a priest in his charge who possessed child pornography. As Patrick Wall rightly observes in his latest posting about Finn and Kansas City, we American Catholics appear to be living in a church of bishops gone wild.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The man who acted as a symbolic figure in the battle against paedophilia is to take up his new post as Auxiliary Bishop of Malta

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

Mgr. Charles J. Scicluna – the prelate who fought alongside cardinal Ratzinger and then Pope Benedict XVI in the battle without boundaries against the sad phenomenon of clerical sex abuse against minors – is leaving the Vatican.

His appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of his hometown of Valetta (Malta) will be announced tomorrow. In recent years, Scicluna has held the role of Promoter of Justice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a transferral has been on the cards for a while. What was unexpected is the fact that he is being given a role outside the Roman Curia.

Scicluna embodied the line of zero tolerance of sexual abuse against minors, adopted by Benedict XVI and supported the Pope’s efforts to change canonical laws and existing laws and above all, the mentality: he placed special emphasis on the suffering of abuse victims and promulgated a series of “emergency” laws. Not surprisingly, these special laws sparked an internal debate in the Holy See.

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TEXAS
KVEO

[wth video]

RIO GRANDE VALLEY — Two organizations, SNAP and Call to Action, are asking Bishop Flores to release the names of priest who are accused of being charged with sexual abuse of children. The SNAP organization, group of individuals who say they were abused by priest, and Call to Action rallied in front of the San Juan Shire in Pharr on Wednesday morning and both believe there are priest in the church who have been credibly accused of abusing children. Both organizations want the names of those being accused to be made public so that children are protected in the future and that past victims can come forward. SNAP spokesperson Barbara Blaine stated, “Church officials have successfully shielded over 98% of the predator priests from law enforcement, but those priests still pose a risk to children and we believe at a bare minimum that Bishop Flores and the diocese has a duty to protect children.”

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VATICAN CITY
WFLX

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) – He had the trust of Pope Benedict XVI and the cardinals, monsignors and priests who run the Roman Catholic Church. And because of his privileged position as papal butler, he had access to their deepest secrets: confidential letters, memos, financial reports.

From under Benedict’s nose, Paolo Gabriele used the photocopier in the small office he shared with the two papal secretaries that adjoined the pope’s library, studio and chapel – and, he says, started copying them all.

At first he kept the documents to himself. Then he found a journalist he trusted, and the intrigues and injustices he saw around him spread around the world in the gravest Vatican security breach of modern times.

A three-judge Vatican tribunal on Saturday will decide whether Gabriele is guilty of aggravated theft, accused of stealing the pope’s private papers and leaking them to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, whose book “His Holiness: Pope Benedict XVI’s secret papers” became an immediate blockbuster when it was published in May. Gabriele has pleaded innocent, claiming he never took original documents, though he said he was guilty of “having betrayed the trust of the Holy Father, whom I love as a son would.” …

Gabriele himself told the court this week that he became increasingly “scandalized” when, as he would serve Benedict his lunch, the pope would ask questions about issues he should have been informed about. That suggested to Gabriele that the pope was being intentionally kept in the dark by his advisers.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Kate Connolly in Tübingen
guardian.co.uk, Friday 5 October 2012

One of the world’s most prominent Catholic theologians has called for a revolution from below to unseat the pope and force radical reform at the Vatican.

Hans Küng is appealing to priests and churchgoers to confront the Catholic hierarchy, which he says is corrupt, lacking credibility and apathetic to the real concerns of the church’s members.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Küng, who had close contact with the pope when the two worked together as young theologians, described the church as an “authoritarian system” with parallels to Germany’s Nazi dictatorship.

“The unconditional obedience demanded by bishops who swear their allegiance to the pope when they make their holy oath is almost as extreme as that of the German generals who were forced to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler,” he said.

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Vatican Insider

L’uomo simbolo della lotta agli abusi contro i minori sarà vescovo ausiliare a Malta

Andrea Tornielli
Città del Vaticano

Monsignor Charles J. Scicluna, il prelato che negli ultimi dieci anni è stato a fianco prima del cardinale Ratzinger e poi di Benedetto XVI nella lotta senza quartiere al triste fenomeno degli abusi sessuali commessi da esponenti del clero contro i minori, lascia il Vaticano.

Sarà annunciata domani la sua nomina a vescovo ausiliare della diocesi di la Valletta, a Malta, suo paese d’origine. Un trasferimento per Scicluna, che in questi anni ha ricoperto l’incarico di promotore di giustizia presso la congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, era nell’aria. Meno prevedibile, il fatto che venga promosso fuori dalla curia romana.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

Place:Off Off Broadway
Venue:Fourth Street Theatre
Cast: Starring David Beck, Joe Capozzi, Alfredo Diaz, Jorge Humberto Hoyos, Tom Pilutik and Bilgin Turker

Plot Description for For Pete’s Sake

Have you ever had a secret? Something so terrible, so dark, that it suffocated you, slowly destroying your life and leaving you emotionally starved, empty inside? ‘For Pete’s Sake’ takes you on a journey inside Joe’s mind as he struggles with the truth. Tormented by the voices in his head and the memories from his past, Joe takes a comedic look at the tragedy in his life as he struggles to find understanding and free himself from an abusive past. This is a play that gives voice to survivors of sexual abuse…and it’s a comedy.

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VATICAN CITY
Malta Today

Matthew Vella

Monsignor Charles J. Scicluna, the Vatican prelate who for many years stood by the side of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the Catholic Church’s congregation for the doctrine of faith, is expected to be appointed auxiliary bishop of Malta.

Scicluna, 53, the Vatican’s promoter of justice and chief prosecutor in the clerical sex abuse scandals that rocked the Roman Curia in the past decade, is expected to take up the role of Bishop Annetto Depasquale, according to Italian newspaper La Stampa.

La Stampa’s specialist Vatican Insider blog noted that his promotion outside the Vatican’s inner circle, by sending Scicluna back to his native island, was not expected.

“Scicluna was the incarnation of the zero-tolerance policy towards the church sex abuse cases and he sustained Ratzinger’s activity when it came to changing existing laws and canonical norms, but above everything else a change in mentality: he brought to the frontline the suffering of abuse victims and he promulgate so called emergency laws. And this was the subject of internal discussions inside the Holy See,” La Stampa said.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on October 04, 2012

■Group appeals to Buffalo rabbis
■It doesn’t want whistleblower ousted
■A vote is scheduled to be held this Friday
■Local rabbi organization may impeach its president
■He spoke up about a credibly accused abusive colleague

A self-help group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging Buffalo rabbis to postpone their plans to act tomorrow against a colleague who warned the public that a once-ousted rabbi was leading services again in recent weeks.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are writing the Buffalo Board of Rabbis about Rabbi Keith Karnofsky. Karnofsky is currently the president of the rabbis’ group, but a meeting is set for Friday at which some members plan to try to impeach him.

Some rabbis are apparently upset with Karnofsky, in part, because he told The Buffalo News about Rabbi Charles Shalman, who helped with seven services recently at the Jewish student organization at the campus of the University of Buffalo.

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UXBRIDGE (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

YOUNG WOMEN GIVEN TRESPASS NOTICES, ALLIGATOR REMOVED FROM HOME

By Susan Spencer/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

UXBRIDGE — Two brothers who serve as pastors of the Church of the End Times, as well as directors of a local paving company, were arraigned in Uxbridge District Court Wednesday on charges related to violation of a restraining order after a standoff with police at their home.

A young woman at the home was also arraigned on charges of trespassing, disorderly conduct and assault and battery on a police officer.

According to court documents, Uxbridge Police Officers Thomas Stockwell and Josiah Morrissette attempted to serve a restraining order Monday around 7:30 p.m. to Dennis H. Stanley, 36, of 41 Murphy’s Way. The restraining order was sought by Mr. Stanley’s wife.

When Mr. Stanley arrived home, where police were waiting outside, his brother David H. Stanley, 40, of 51 Murphy’s Way came over and joined Dennis in refusing to take the restraining order from the police.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
SF Bay

By Jesse Garnier

October 5, 2012

t’s been a week of lows and highs for newly-installed San Francisco archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.

On Monday, Cordileone pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless driving after his arrest at a DUI checkpoint in San Diego last month.

Then on Thursday, Cordileone was installed as the latest Catholic archbishop of San Francisco in a ceremony at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

We can’t call His Excellence a drunk driver here, even though San Diego police said he blew greater than the legal limit of 0.08 at a late-night checkpoint set up to ensnare newly-arrived San Diego State students in August.

Instead, a plea bargain reduced his charges, meaning “reckless driver” is the most severe criminal label that can be attached to the 56-year-old San Diego native.

Bay City News reported Cordileone’s sentence is believed to be three years of probation plus about $1,000 in fines and a mandated appearance at a Mothers Against Drunk Driving victims’ panel.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
ABC News

By LISA LEFF Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO October 5, 2012 (AP)

San Francisco’s new Roman Catholic archbishop made self-deprecating jokes about his recent drunken-driving arrest during his formal installation ceremony, which came just days after he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving.

But Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone, a strong supporter of California’s ban on same-sex marriage, did not refer to the distress his appointment has aroused in this gay-friendly city and mentioned marriage only obliquely Thursday. …

Cordileone had been scheduled to appear in court on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence next Tuesday. Court records show he pleaded guilty on Monday to a reduced charge of reckless driving, an option frequently given to first-time DUI offenders, said Gina Coburn, a spokeswoman for the San Diego City Attorney.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
U-T San Diego

Written by
Dana Littlefield

SAN DIEGO — The new archbishop of San Francisco for the Catholic Church has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless driving after being arrested in San Diego on suspicion of drunken driving.

Then-Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, 56, was taken into custody Aug. 25 after being stopped at a DUI checkpoint near San Diego State University.

He was scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court next week on misdemeanor DUI charges but instead pleaded guilty Monday to alcohol-related reckless driving, a lesser charge commonly known as a “wet reckless.”

Cordileone was placed on three years’ probation and ordered to pay a fine. He also will have to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving victim-impact panel and a three-month, first-conviction program through the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

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CALIFORNIA
Press TV (Iran)

The Roman Catholic archbishop in the western US city of San Francisco has pleaded guilty to the charge of reckless driving after being originally arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Following a plea bargain with legal authorities, Salvatore Joseph Cordileone entered the guilty plea to a less severe offense of misdemeanor, reckless driving, on Monday in San Diego County Superior Court after he was arrested last August in the southern borderline California city for driving under the influence of alcohol.

A native of San Diego, the American cleric was reportedly stopped at a late-night checkpoint near San Diego State University after having dinner with his mother. He was then transferred to a county jail.

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WISCONSIN
FemPop

By Josephine Maria

It is extremely rare that a film makes me question anything about my life. I went into Mea Maxima Culpa expecting to hear another sad story, in another town, about something so far removed from me that I would come out, write a review, and move on. Instead, Mea Maxima Culpa made me question everything I know about the Catholic administration in my hometown of Milwaukee. Then it kept going.

I am not Catholic, and there is no clergy or administration who I have ever given my confidence or total trust. The intimate relationship a person has with their priest or minister is foreign to me. However, my family at large are devout Roman Catholics. It was not until this film that I realized how ingrained in me was the assumption that the Catholic hierarchy was doing what it thought was best, and would never allow harm by one of its members to continue. My assumption was wrong.

In cases of assault and rape, we often forget that men can be the victims. Mea Maxima Culpa is the story of 4 men fighting against their abuser, Father Lawrence Murphy. The place where these men were assaulted as children, along with hundreds of other, took place at a school for the deaf that was a couple of blocks from my childhood home. By the time I was growing up there, Father Lawrence had retired and died a year before my family moved- without going to court. The trail doesn’t stop there.

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CANADA
Metro

By Phoebe Ho

A 90-year-old priest will be released this Thanksgiving after serving a two-year sentence for sexually abusing more than a dozen children across the province.

Rev. William Hodgson Marshall was convicted in June 2011 for sexually abusing 16 boys and one woman while he was working at schools in Windsor, Toronto, and Sudbury from 1952 to 1985. He now automatically qualifies for statutory release after serving two-thirds of his sentence under federal law.

Parole conditions have been imposed indicating Marshall must avoid any location where children are present, he must report any relationship with an adult who cares for children and avoid any contact with the victims and their families

Living arrangements have been made for the disgraced priest to stay with his former employer and religious order, the Congregation of St. Basil, says the Basilian Fathers’ spokesperson Rev. Timothy Scott.

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SOUTH AFRICA
The New York Times

By MATT MCCANN

At a book signing in Cape Town, the photographer Pierre Crocquet was writing his name in copies of his book “Pinky Promise” when he thought he recognized someone in the crowd. Was that James just now, one of the subjects — a perpetrator — who participated in the making of this book, a documentary project on child sexual abuse?

Or was it Mr. Crocquet’s imagination? Either seemed plausible; James had had a career in military intelligence during the decades of apartheid and used those techniques, and disguises, to abuse children undetected. An air of paranoia hung over him — perhaps it had seeped into Mr. Crocquet’s psyche as well, and his mind was playing tricks. After all, Mr. Crocquet had spent a lot of time with James, getting to know him over the course of the project, which had been three years in the making.

“Pinky Promise,” the first edition of which was published by Fourthwall Books last year, is an unusual view of child sexual abuse. It presents the stories of eight people, three abusers and five who were abused. The subjects tell their own stories, and occasionally we hear from family members or therapists. Its materials aren’t only photographic and documentary — besides the personal testimonies, there are also scraps from journals, drawings, family photos and report cards, creating a kaleidoscopic presentation of the effects of a transformative, and sometimes defining, trauma.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Yahoo! News

By LISA LEFF | Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Amid heavy security and the splendor of his faith’s most sacred rites, the new Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco assumed office Thursday without referring to the distress his appointment has aroused in this gay-friendly city, but offering self-deprecating jokes about his recent drunken driving arrest.

Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone, wearing gold and red robes with a matching miter, told an audience of more than 2,000 invited guests at his installation mass that he was grateful for the messages of support he had received from people of different religious and political viewpoints following the Aug. 25 arrest in his home town of San Diego.

“I know in my life God has always had a way of putting me in my place. I would say, though, that in the latest episode of my life God has outdone himself,” Cordileone said with a chuckle as he delivered his first homily as archbishop.

The 56-year-old priest, the second-youngest U.S. archbishop, went on to say he did not know “if it’s theologically correct to say God has a way of making himself known in this way,” and asked for the indulgence of other high-ranking church leaders in the audience.

The connection, he said, was that the compassion he was shown “in the wake of the regrettable mistake I made to drive after drinking” made him hopeful the Bay Area’s Catholic community has the tools it needs to be part of a broader rebuilding of the church. …

Cordileone’s arrest came after he was stopped at a police checkpoint near San Diego State University. His mother and a visiting priest from Germany were with him in the car he was driving. He said at the time that he had consumed some alcohol while having dinner with friends then decided to drive his mother home.

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UNITED STATES
Voice of the Faithful

NEWTON, Mass., Oct. 1, 2012 – Recent exposing of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s financial woes (see “Archdiocese of Phila. in serious financial shape – and so are its parishes,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Sept. 30, 2012) underscores the Roman Catholic Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful’s long-time calls for more transparency and accountability in parish and diocesan finances.

VOTF distributed a paper called Financial Transparency and Accountability during its recently concluded 10th Year Conference in Boston. “Since its founding in 2002,” the paper begins, “Voice of the Faithful® has worked consistently to support increased transparency and accountability with regard to church finances at the parish and the diocesan levels. We (VOTF members) realized then that the scandal of clerical sexual abuse was enabled by lack of diocesan financial transparency. Since 2002, significant progress has been made in many dioceses, although the progress has varied greatly across the United States.”

VOTF is on record as applauding the progress in financial transparency in the Archdiocese of Boston under Cardinal Sean O’Malley; while local financial experts in Philadelphia, according to Philadelphia Inquirer, point to the opposite there. “’It probably seems to them (Philadelphia archdiocese) that they are being more transparent,’ said Nancy Gunza, a partner in the Plymouth Meeting office of the accounting firm CliftonLarsonAllen, who looked at the (archdiocese’s) June financial report. ‘But without a fully consolidated set of financial statements, the picture’s not complete.’”

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Thu, 10/04/2012

by
Joshua J. McElwee

The high-ranking church official responsible for the Vatican’s takeover of the group that represents the majority of U.S. Catholic sisters has warned that the sisters should not “take an attitude against Rome” or be “anti-Rome.”

“Setting oneself up against ‘Rome’ has never brought authentic reform or renewal to the church,” Archbishop Gerhard Müller said in an interview posted to the National Catholic Register website Thursday.

Müller is the head of the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which last April sharply criticized the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the organization that represents about 80 percent of U.S. Catholic sisters.

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HAWAII
What They Knew

Another Chapter in Where in the World was Donald McGuire SJ – Hawaii

This time at WTK we begin with a picture and not a document. In an image worth a thousand words and possibly millions more in monetary damages for victims, we have Donald McGuire SJ in Honolulu, Hawaii circa 2003. He was already under strict supervision from Chicago at the time of the picture and had to provide itineraries to his superiors for approval of travel. We don’t know if any young male “assistants” accompanied him to the sandy beaches of Honolulu, yet. Or if this was his only trip there? As WTK reported earlier McGuire’s good friend and fellow sued abuser Bishop Joseph Sullivan of Baton Rouge was subject to a lawsuit in Hawaii in 2005.

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TEXAS
KFOX 14

By Jesse Martinez

EL PASO, Texas —

A youth minister accused of possessing pornographic images of children plead guilty and faces up to 30 years in prison, according to federal officials.

U.S. attorney Robert Pitman and FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Morgan announced that Joe Tapia, 46, pleaded guilty to solicitation of material relating to the sexual exploitation of children. Tapia made his plea Thursday before U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo.

Tapia admitted that he had images of child pornography as well as a sexually explicit instant messenger chat with a 16-year-old male on his work computer.

Tapia also admitted that he recorded video and still images of two individuals while they were changing for a church performance.

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HAMMOND (IL)
Post-Tribune

By Teresa Auch Schultz tauch@post-trib.com October 4, 2012

Updated: October 4, 2012

A federal judge has sealed communication between Jack Schaap, the former pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, and his 17-year-old victim, according to an order filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond.

U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano granted a motion by Schaap’s attorneys to keep the documents, which include emails and letters, private because they include information that identifies the victim.

Schaap pleaded guilty last month to taking the girl, who was receiving counseling from him and was one of his congregants at First Baptist, across state lines into Illinois and Wisconsin for sexual activity.

Schaap said during his hearing he didn’t realize what he was doing was criminal, although he did know it was a sin.

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WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
CONTACT: 414.429.7259

W. H. Auden wrote in his famous poem “September 1, 1939”, the terrible day the German army invaded Poland, that “all I have is a voice to undo the folded lie.”

The brave survivors of childhood rape and sexual assault of the Milwaukee Archdiocese from St. John’s School for the Deaf have been undoing the folded lies of the Milwaukee Catholic hierarchy and their Vatican overseers for a very long time: nearly four decades. Now these beautiful voices—which are really the single voice of justice for all victims of clergy sex crimes—will be heard and seen by a worldwide audience thanks to Oscar winning director Alex Gibney’s powerful new film, “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God”, which will make its U.S. premier in Milwaukee on Friday.

Survivors and family members of priest predators of the Milwaukee Archdiocese are expected to be in attendance at the premier to welcome Gibney and his film, and will once again embrace these deaf survivor champions and advocates, several of whom are long-time local SNAP leaders.

Unfortunately, Fr. Lawrence Murphy, the predator priest who is the focus of Gibney’s film, is only one of literally dozens of clerics and church workers in the Milwaukee Archdiocese—at least as many as 144, according to recent filings in U.S. Federal Court—alleged to have raped and assaulted children and minors. And most of these recorded crimes against children, over 8,000 according to the court records, took place during a 25 year period from 1976 to 2002 when the Milwaukee Archdiocese was under the control of one man: Archbishop Rembert Weakland.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Radio Maria

Il vescovo della diocesi di Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, Robert W. Finn, 59 anni, è il primo vescovo della Chiesa cattolica a subire una condanna per aver coperto casi di pedofilia nella sua diocesi.

Il caso, che è stato tenuto nascosto dal vescovo per oltre cinque mesi, riguarda il sacerdote Shawn Rattigan, di Independence, nel Missouri, reo confesso in un altro processo appena concluso di cinque atti di pedofilia e detenzione di materiale pedo pornografico all’interno del suo computer.

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DEUTSCHLAND
kath.net

“Netzwerk katholischer Priester” übt schwere Kritik am Kirchensteuerdekret der Deutschen Bischöfe: Es gibt triftige Gründe für Gläubige, die Kirchensteuer in ihrer bisherigen Form einzubehalten. Katholisch ohne Kirchensteuer ist möglich

Köln (kath.net)
Guido Rodheudt, der Sprecher des Netzwerks katholischer Priester, hat in der jüngsten Ausgabe der Zeitung “Christ und Welt” schwere Kritik am Kirchensteuerdekret der deutschen Bischöfe geübt und das als eine “pastorale Zumutung” für einen Pfarrer bezeichnet. Dieser habe jetzt den Schwarzen Peter, denn erst durch die Rechtsbelehrung, die der Pfarrer mit dem angeordneten Schreiben beziehungsweise im Gespräch dem Ausgetretenen zukommen lasse, trete für diesen die Exkommunikation ein.

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DEUTSCHLAND
domradio

Die Kirchen stehen unter Druck: Als die wohl größten privaten Arbeitgeber in Deutschland beschäftigen allein ihre Wohlfahrtsverbände Caritas und Diakonie rund eine Million Mitarbeiter. Doch das gesonderte kirchliche Arbeitsrecht steht mehr denn je auf dem Prüfstand. Ein Fürsprecher ist der frühere Bundesverfassungsrichter Udo di Fabio.

In Kürze wird das Bundesarbeitsgericht über das Streikrecht bei der evangelischen Diakonie entscheiden. Beobachter erwarten, dass letztlich das Bundesverfassungsgericht angerufen wird. Auch die katholische Kirche sieht sich herausgefordert: Anders als bei den Protestanten geht es nicht um Streikrecht und Lohnfindung, sondern um die besonderen Loyalitätspflichten, die die Kirche von ihren Mitarbeitern fordert: Es geht darum, dass sie auf die Privatsphäre und die persönliche Lebensführung ihrer Arbeitnehmer zugreift und etwa Abtreibung oder neue zivile Ehe nach Scheidung mit Kündigung bestrafen kann.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Kreis Neuwied – Lehrer Dirk S. darf nicht mehr katholische Religion unterrichten. Der 37 Jahre alte Pädagoge aus dem Kreis Neuwied, der Anfang 2007 einer damals 14-jährigen Schülerin seiner Parallelklasse als Klassenlehrer gehörig den Kopf verdrehte und mit ihr eine sexuelle Beziehung einging, musste dem Bistum Trier die Lehrerlaubnis für dieses Fach, die sogenannte Missio Canonica, zurückgeben. Das erklärte Dr. Stephan Kronenburg, Leiter der Bischöflichen Pressestelle in Trier, und bestätigte somit Informationen der RZ.

Der Generalvikar des Bistums hatte den betroffenen Lehrer zum Verzicht aufgefordert, erklärte Kronenburg. Der Aufforderung aus Trier sei der Pädagoge innerhalb der gesetzten Frist nachgekommen. „Der Lehrer hat daraufhin erklärt, dass er auf die mit der Missio verbundenen Rechte (Erteilung von Religionsunterricht) verzichtet“, sagte der Chef der Bischöflichen Pressestelle. Der Generalvikar des Bistums habe seinerseits diesen Verzicht jetzt angenommen. Erst Ende August war S. auf eigenen Wunsch hin aus dem Beamtenverhältnis entlassen worden, um einem Disziplinarverfahren des Schulamtes aus dem Weg zu gehen.

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WISCONSIN
Urban Milwaukee

By Marie Rohde – Oct 4th, 2012

What does it take for a deaf man to be heard? That’s the question asked by the documentary film “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God,” which will be shown by the Milwaukee Film Festival Friday night.

Long before the waves of the Catholic Church’s child sex abuse scandal surged across America, three young men, molested as children at the St. John’s School for the Deaf in St. Francis, tried to tell their stories and stop one of the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s most prolific — and horrifying — pedophiles.

The deaf men — Gary Smith, Bob Bolger and Art Budzinski — would not accept defeat. They began their battle in 1974, launching their first organized protest a decade before the case of an abusive priest in Louisiana, Gilbert Gauthe, which was the first to make headlines across the country.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Legal Examiner

Mike Bryant
Attorney

(866) 735-1102 Ext 555

The plea of Rev. Shawn Ratigan last month to production of child pornography was a major step in the prosecution of priests who have been involved in the abuse of children. What has been revealing is the deposition testimony of Julie Creech, the IT director for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. In the deposition, she described confronting Finn about the naked images of young girls she found on Ratigan’s computer.

“Finn did indicate that…sometimes priests do things they shouldn’t,” Creech said in the deposition. “He said, ‘Sometimes boys will be boys.'”

Since this deposition, Creech did release the following statement through her lawyers:

The statement Julie Creech attributed to Bishop Finn during her deposition that “boys will be boys” is not consistent with her recollection of any conversations she had with the bishop concerning the Shawn Ratigan matter. Following the deposition, Julie realized she had misspoken. She understood that pursuant to the rules of civil practice, she would receive a copy of the deposition transcript and have the opportunity to acknowledge and correct her mistaken testimony. Because the deposition was so recently completed, Julie has not yet had a chance to do that, so we were certainly surprised to learn that an unverified copy of her testimony was attached to a pleading in a civil case.

It will be interesting what happens the next time she testifies. As with any deposition testimony, what she said was taken under oath. Seems like a very significant quote that shouldn’t have been said or offered lightly. It could be confirmation of the very attitudes that have gotten the Church in so much trouble.

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SALEM (NH)
Eagle-Tribune

By John Toole jtoole@eagletribune.com The Eagle-Tribune

SALEM — For the first time in the Greater Salem area, the leader of New Hampshire’s Roman Catholics will offer a healing Mass tonight for victims of child abuse.

Bishop Peter Libasci is scheduled to celebrate the Mass at 6:30 p.m. at St. Joseph Church on Main Street.

The service comes 10 months after Libasci became bishop of the Diocese of Manchester and 10 years into the still-unfolding Catholic clergy abuse scandal in New Hampshire.

A critic of the church’s response to the scandal, David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Libasci has disappointed those who hoped for change. “He has been disappointing on so many levels,” Clohessy said. “Libasci is in an enviable position. He can say, ‘I don’t know these men. I wasn’t here.’ That makes it much easier for him to be forthcoming and proactive.”

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CHILE
Generaccion

[con audio]

El obispo Marco Antonio Órdenes Fernández, de la región Iquique en Chile es investigado por el Vaticano a raíz de una denuncia de abuso sexual a un menor de edad.

Es la primera vez que un obispo chileno es investigado por esta causa. Y ha consternado a la población de dicha región.

El obispo, que es el más joven de la Conferencia Episcopal chilena con 47 años, dejó sus funciones en agosto de este año, aduciendo problemas en su hígado. En esa ocasión le comunicó a su entorno que estaba siendo investigado y pidió que rezaran por él.

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UNITED STATES
The Atlantic

Oct 3 2012

Michael Agresta – Michael Agresta is a writer living in Los Angeles.

Twenty years ago today, Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live—and the media largely misunderstood why. Is America finally ready to hear her out?

In the weeks and months after Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on live television, commentators in the media sought to explain the motives of her protest. Very few, however, made use of the traditional tools of journalism: interviews, research, and textual analysis. Instead, most commentators seem to have consulted their own imaginations.

On the right, John Cardinal O’Connor in Catholic New York suggested that the singer had employed “voodoo” or “sympathetic magic” to physically destroy her enemy in the Vatican—an extraordinarily poor choice of imagery for a Church authority attempting to silence an outspoken female. On the left, Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times celebrated Sinead for providing “a moment of truly great television.” He assumed offhand that she was protesting the Vatican’s positions on women’s rights or the ongoing violence in Northern Ireland, but he focused his praise on O’Connor’s acumen as an entertainer.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee and victims of sexual abuse by clergy and others will continue to try to settle after Judge Susan V. Kelley extended the mediation deadline a second time, to Oct. 12.

At issue is how many of the estimated 570 victims should be compensated and to what extent. At least one attorney has said previously that he would not agree to a settlement that did not also include the release of church documents.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2011, as it prepared to defend itself in a dozen fraud lawsuits, saying it was the only way it could fairly compensate victims and continue its essential missions. But it has sought to limit its liability by objecting to claims that are beyond the statutes of limitations for the underlying allegations; involve victims who received a prior church settlement; or accuse a teacher, religious order priest or other individual the archdiocese doesn’t consider its employee.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pocono Record

By Michael Sadowski
Pocono Record Writer

October 04, 2012

A Long Pond man who was once a volunteer at the Pocono Community Church is accused of sexually molesting a 16-year-old girl and having inappropriate relationships with two other minors at the church, according to police.

Criminal complaints against 47-year-old Ramzan Ali say he met and coerced a 16-year-old girl into sex every week for five or six weeks in a handicapped bathroom stall at the Pocono Community Church.

Pocono Mountain Regional Police also said he had inappropriate relationships with two other girls — ages 16 and 12 — though those victims’ accounts did not detail any physical, sexual contact.

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IOWA
World-Herald

By Chad Nation
WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE

COUNCIL BLUFFS — The Iowa Court of Appeals has reduced one of the three charges a former pastor at a Council Bluffs church was convicted of in 2011.

Although Efrain Umaña had the charge of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse reduced to assault, he will still likely spend the same amount of time in prison.

Umaña, 57, was found guilty of second-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sexual abuse and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse in January 2011 after members of his congregation came forth with several allegations of abuse.

The victim in the second-degree sexual abuse conviction was 11 when Umaña took her to his Council Bluffs church, Templo Monte Horeb, where she said he forced her to have sex with him.

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TEXAS
The Monitor

Elizabeth Findell

SAN JUAN — A small cluster of activists gathered for the media Wednesday morning outside the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville offices near the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan Del Valle holding pictures of children – victims of sexual abuse by clergy members across the country.

Such victims exist in the Rio Grande Valley, too, but their abusers remain anonymous, they said.

Members of the national support group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and the local branch of Catholic activist group Call to Action held the news conference to call on Bishop Daniel Flores to release the names of priests within the Brownsville diocese who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

The diocese released a report in 2004 indicating that it has reason to believe that seven area priests sexually abused children between 1965 and 2004, based on 12 allegations.

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HAWAII
KHON 2

[with video]

Reported by: Kanoe Gibson
Email: kgibson@khon2.com

It was supposed to be a safe place– the church just across the street from his home– where a now 49-year-old Colorado man says he was sexually abused when he was an altar boy.

He’s been named John Doe No. 87 and has filed suit against the Diocese of Bismarck, alleging that while his family was stationed at Fort Shafter in the early 1970s, he was sexually abused by Father Maurice McNeely.

According to the man’s attorney, this is only the beginning of a series cases he will be filing in Hawaii and claims that there may be more victims in military families.

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PHILIPPINES
Catholic Culture

A retired Filipino prelate has told reporters that he accepted a priest for ministry, after he was charged with sexual abuse in the US, under an agreement with the accused priest’s religious order.

Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, the former Archbishop of Cebu, said that Msgr. Cristobal Garcia was given permission for ministry in the Cebu archdiocese years ago. Msgr. Garcia is now under investigation in a probe into the smuggling of ivory. When news of that investigation first became public, the Cebu archdiocese said that the priest was suspended from ministry because of the sex-abuse charges. Police reported that Msgr. Garcia was acting as administrator of a shrine.

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ALABAMA/TEXAS
Sand Mountain Reporter

Posted: Wednesday, October 3, 2012

By Jonathan Stinson | jstinson@sandmountainreporter.com

In June, Mark Allen Green, former pastor of the Cowboy Church in Marshall County, said he turned himself over to authorities in Ellis County, Texas, after he was charged with the sexual abuse of a minor.

Green went on to say he spent 90 days in jail and, since then, a grand jury in Ellis County decided not to indict him on the charges after the child who made the accusations recanted her story.

A clerk in the Ellis County District Attorney’s office confirmed that the grand jury did not indict Green.

He is also facing the same charges in Navarro County, but Green said he expected those to be dropped as well, since they were based on the same investigation, and involved the same person, in Ellis County.

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MISSOURI
Connect MidMissouri

A Morgan County pastor will be back in court again for sex crimes charges.

Travis Smith, 42, is charged with statutory rape and statutory sodomy.

The Moniteau County prosecutor said these charges stem from an alleged incident in 2005.

Smith has bonded out of jail on a nearly $70,000 bond for all the charges. He’s due in court for his arraignment later this month.

These new charges come a little more than a year after Smith was found not guilty on child molestation charges.

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CANADA
The Windsor Star

Convicted sex offender Rev. William Hodgson Marshall will be out of prison in time for Thanksgiving.

The 90-year-old disgraced Basilian priest and former Windsor high school teacher will released from custody next Monday — having automatically qualified for statutory release under federal law after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

“He is not a free man,” said Greg McCullough, one of Marshall’s Windsor victims.

“He’s free in the sense that he can walk the streets, but he’ll never be free. He’s a cowardly person who was protected by various people … when they knew full well what was going on.”

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CHILE
Catholic News Agency

Santiago, Chile, Oct 3, 2012 / 12:05 pm (CNA).- In a statement Oct. 2, the Apostolic Nunciature in Chile revealed that local Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes of Iquique is under investigation for sexual abuse.

According to the Chilean daily La Tercera, Bishop Ordenes, 47, has said he is innocent. Since the accusations were made, his poor health caused by genetic kidney condition has worsened.

The Diocese of Iquique confirmed that his health is deteriorating and that he is currently in Peru resting on doctor’s orders. He is expected to return to Chile soon to continue his recovery. Because the accused is a bishop, the investigation is being carried out by the Vatican.

The nunciature added that is has “offered psychological support and assistance to those involved and has been in contact with Bishop Ordenes.”

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UNITED STATES
What They Knew

[with document]

In another letter from November 30, 1959 Chicago – Detroit Province Jesuit superiors state in correspondence that there is “serious doubt about [his] fitness for the Order” of one Donald McGuire SJ. McGuire would later rise through the ranks of the Jesuits, befriend popes and three candidates for sainthood, only to be convicted criminally twice by juries in both state and federal court for child sexual abuse. Names of other “doubtful” Jesuit novices are included as well. Who they are, we don’t know yet.

Given the severity of the letter below, it is remarkable to see the image above from June 11, 1961 when McGuire was ordained to the priesthood. Although he remained a Jesuit for over 50 years until 2008 (although he was convicted criminally in 2006) reports of sexual abuse and improper relationships with minor children began in 1964 as we shall see later.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Heise

Thomas H. durfte für die TSA unter anderem “pat downs” bei Minderjährigen durchführen

Früher wurden katholische Priester, die in den Verdacht gerieten, Kinder zu missbraucht zu haben, nach dem Bekanntwerden der Vorwürfe in aller Stille ermahnt und versetzt. So erging es auch dem 1978 geweihten Priester Thomas H. aus der US-amerikanischen Diözese Camden im Bundesstaat New Jersey. Erst im Mai 2002, nach zunehmendem öffentlichen Druck im Gefolge tausender Missbrauchsfälle in den USA und lange nach dem Ablauf der strafrechtlichen Verjährung, meldete man Vorwürfe gegen ihn den weltlichen Behörden und warf ihn hinaus. Vorher hatte sich die Religionsgemeinschaft in zwei Zivilklagen wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Mädchen auf eine Vergleichszahlung in Höhe von 195.000 Dollar einigen müssen.

H. entging einer Anklage und fand vier Monate nach seiner Entlassung einen neuen Job: Die Transport Security Administration (TSA) setzte ihn am Philadelphia International Airport zum Kontrollieren von Fluggästen ein. In diesem Rahmen durfte er nicht nur Erwachsene betatschen, sondern auch “pat downs” bei Kindern durchführen, bis man den heute 65-Jährigen 2004 zum Kofferdurchleuchter mit einem Jahresgehalt von 75.600 Euro beförderte.

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OSTERREICH
Der Standard

Kommentar | Markus Rohrhofer, 3. Oktober 2012

Der Kardinal rät zu einem Rückschritt. “Step back and see” lautet sein Motto

Streng nach Lehrbuch haben die heimischen Bischöfe und die Pfarrerinitiative die letzte Stufe einer Konfliktbildung erreicht. Die Eskalation ist vorüber, es folgt die Phase der Abkühlung. Doch ohne Konfliktlösung verhärten sich die Fronten. Stimmt das Kräfteverhältnis, ergibt sich eine klassische Pattsituation. Das hat nun auch Kardinal Christoph Schönborn erkannt. Ein labiles Gleichgewicht, das schnell ins Wanken gerät.

Der Kardinal rät daher zu einem Rückschritt. “Step back and see” lautet sein Motto. Doch nur einen Schritt zurückzugehen und aus sicherer Entfernung zu schauen, was passiert, wird eindeutig zu wenig sein. Der jüngst präsentierte Hirtenbrief zeigt einmal mehr auf, dass man auf Bischofsebene immer noch nicht verstanden hat, dass das provokante Spiel mit dem Ungehorsam längst vorbei ist. Schlusspfiff. Unentschieden im Match Pfarrer-Unterhaus versus Bischofs-Oberliga. Eine Verlängerung wäre sinnlos.

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OSTERREICH
Tiroler Tageszeitung

Von Wolfgang Otter

Thiersee – Seelische Wunden verheilen nur langsam, oft schmerzen sie noch Jahrzehnte später. Manches Mal brechen sie auch erst spät auf und erst dann können die Betroffenen darüber reden. Diese Erfahrungen musste die Dorfgemeinschaft im idyllischen Thiersee machen, als plötzlich die Taten des verstorbenen Pfarrers und Ehrenbürgers an die Öffentlichkeit kamen.

Der Geistliche hatte vor Jahrzehnten mehrere Buben und Jugendliche sexuell missbraucht, über einen langen Zeitraum hinweg, wie sich herausstellte. Die Erzdiözese Salzburg machte die unglaublichen Vorgänge sogar selbst öffentlich. Im Anschluss an einen Gottesdienst verlas Prälat Johann Reißmeier eine dementsprechende Erklärung.

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HAWAII
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on October 03, 2012

We are grateful that more victims of Fr. Maurice McNeely are stepping forward. When victims stay silent, nothing changes. But when victims find the courage to take action, there’s at least a chance for prevention, healing and justice.

If you were hurt by a priest, suffering in shame, isolation and self-blame won’t fix it. Only by stepping forward, speaking up and getting help can you both recover personally and help others. Now’s the time to do it. . . .

Let’s hope that every person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Hawaii will find the courage and strength to speak up, call police, expose wrongdoing, protect kids and start healing.

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HAWAII
The Garden Island

Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — A 49-year-old Colorado man is suing the Catholic diocese serving western North Dakota, alleging one of its priests sexually abused him when he was a child in Hawaii decades ago.

A lawsuit filed in state court in Honolulu on Tuesday alleges a military chaplain sexually abused the plaintiff at an Army base around 1974 to 1975.

The plaintiff was an 11-to-12 year-old altar boy at a Fort Shafter chapel where the priest ministered to soldiers and their families. The priest now lives in Michigan.

The lawsuit accuses the Diocese of Bismarck of negligence. The diocese didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 3, 2012

Fr. Jose Alexis Davila, the Venezuelan national, San Diego priest, and misdemeanor sex offender, has vanished.

There has been no comment or statement from Diocese of San Diego, who just a few months ago, said that the “sex-probation priest” was “fit for ministry.”

This past New Year’s Eve, Davila, the associate pastor of St. Jude Shrine of the West, went to a young woman’s Southcrest home and forced himself on her. She called the police and he was arrested.

Parishioners and the priest’s friends rallied on behalf of the priest. In fact, parishioners supporting the priest formed a “lynch mob” at the victim’s mother’s home, in the hopes of forcing the victim to recant her story. It didn’t work.

In April, Davila pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of “unlawful touching of an intimate part” and was sentenced to probation.

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SLOVENIA
Vatican Insider

A 42 year old German claimed he was the cardinal’s son: “I was defamed and isolated”

Vatican Insider staff
Rome

The DNA paternity test taken by Cardinal Franc Rode to prove he was not the father of a German citizen who claimed the opposite has proven negative. Ljubljana’s local press communicated the news today.

A spokesman for Munich University’s Institute of Legal Medicine, where the test was conducted, confirmed that Cardinal Franc Rode was definitely not the father of the interested party. “I am glad that the results are those I expected at the start. Defamation of this kind isolates a man in his pain,” the cardinal and former archbishop of Ljubljana said in a statement quoted by the media.

At the end of August, Slovenian daily Delo published a statement by Peter S., a 42 year old German who claimed he was born out of a relationship between Tanja Breda, his mother and Franc Rode in 1969. At the time, Cardinal Rode was a young priest and professor at the faculty of theology in Ljubljana.

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NEW YORK
Albany Times Union

By Bob Gardinier

Published 2:51 p.m., Wednesday, October 3, 2012

HUDSON — A former Claverack Catholic priest who spent nearly four years in federal prison on child pornography charges was given a Level 1 sex offender status in Columbia County Court.

Raymond Ethier, 55, who was released from federal custody in January, appeared in court last week. Assistant District Attorney James A. Carlucci asked Judge Richard M. Koweek to assign Ethier the most severe, Level 3, status, according to the district attorney’s office.

Ethier’s lawyer, Daniel Stewart, asked for Level 1, stating that his client was a “low risk to re-offend” and noting that he was also sentenced to 10 years post-release federal supervision.

A Level 1 offender is required to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 20 years, while Level 2 and 3 offenders, considered more likely to re-offend, must register for life.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Paolo Gabriele has implicated the Holy See’s police force in the Vatileaks trial

Alessandro Speciale
Vatican City

It is not just the allegations of mistreatment made by Paolo Gabriele against Vatican policemen (he claims he was treated inhumanely during his first few weeks of detention in a Vatican security cell) that have raised questions about the Vatican Gendarmerie’s conduct.

During the second hearing of the Vatileaks trial on Tuesday, the Vatican Gendarmerie – the police force of the world’s smallest State – came under the spotlight on more than one occasion because of doubts regarding its investigation methods.

The Vatican Gendarmerie was founded in 1971 and is staffed by Italian citizens. It is led by Domenico Giani, a former Italian secret services agent. Giani is the man responsible for the investigations into and arrest of Paolo Gabriele and is at the centre of some confidential documents which Gabriele leaked to the press. Particularly that “defamatory libel” – as the Vatican Promoter of Justice, Nicola Picardi called it – which ended up in one of the chapters of Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi’s book “Sua Santità” (“His Holiness”).

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PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

By Bernadette A. Parco

Thursday, October 4, 2012

A CHURCH official wasn’t expelled from a religious order in the midst of a child abuse case more than two decades ago, but chose to return home to Cebu, said Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

Cardinal Vidal also told reporters yesterday that his office received last Friday, when he was still in Manila, a copy of Arbishop Jose Palma’s instructions to stop issuing statements to the media regarding the issue.

The 81-year-old prelate said he is abiding by the directive but had to first hold a press conference just to clarify some issues that were already reported.

Msgr. Cristobal Garcia, former Archdiocesan Commission on Worship chairman, was not expelled from his former congregation, Cardinal Vidal said.

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UNITED STATES
Patrick J. Wall

Think that Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn’s recent guilty plea is a shock to Rome? Alas, for the Holy See, this is nothing new. The real question in the case of the Kansas City Bishop is: What options does the Holy See have available?

From the Roman viewpoint, this is a delicate balancing act. On one side, the Holy See does not want to concede to the “people” demanding the removal of Finn. Why? Because it is reminiscent of 19th century Lay Trusteeism. On the other side, the embarrassment of how Finn handled the Shawn Ratigan case (nearly ten years after the Charter and Norms were promulgated) is scandalous.

Here is a list of management techniques deployed by the Holy See in recent history to snuff out scandal created by Bishops. The management techniques fall into two categories: Geographic and Privation of Office.

Geographic Solution

As a new priest twenty years ago, I saw the results of the Vatican quietly removing Bishop Lawrence Welsh of Spokane, WA.

Larry sexually assaulted a teenage prostitute in Chicago while at a Knights of Columbus convention. Larry was the national Chaplain to the Knights. Chicago police investigated and the Spokane newspaper exposed it.

The Holy See acted quickly, neutralizing the scandal by saying that Welsh was arrested for drunk driving and applying the “Geographic Solution.” Larry was removed as the Ordinary of Spokane and relocated to Saint Paul/Minneapolis.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 3, 2012

Let’s talk about Joliet, IL and Fall River, MA, two dioceses with bishops who, were it not for public embarrassment, were more than happy to throw child safety under the bus.

In Joliet, Bishop Dan Conlon (the head of the USCCB committee on child protection, by the way) was going to reinstate a priest suspended two years ago for credible allegations of child sex abuse. In fact, not only were the allegations credible, but no one within the church denied that the abuse had taken place.

Instead of following the polices of the organization he heads, Conlon told the press that the Vatican was “forcing him” to reinstate Fr. Lee Ryan. Ryan was going to minister to shut-ins. In their homes. With their children and grandchildren. Unsupervised.

Conlon finally reversed his decision after huge backlash. We have yet to hear if the Vatican is mad.

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ILLINOIS
Daily Journal
By Dennis Yohnka
dyohnka@daily-journal.com
815-937-3384

Washington, D.C. attorney Mark Schamel has been offering some informal counsel to the friends of Rev. Lee Ryan, former pastor of St. Edmund Catholic Church in Watseka.

He makes it clear, though, that he can offer little optimism to the group hoping to see their 79-year-old priest cleared of sexual allegations, dating from the mid-1970s.

Schamel, a 15-year veteran defense lawyer, represents the Rev. Kevin McBrian, the other priest accused by a Florida man, now 52, who reported that his former teachers — Ryan, at Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, and McBrian, at Joliet Catholic High School

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CHILE
UPI

Published: Oct. 3, 2012

SANTIAGO, Chile, Oct. 3 (UPI) — A Catholic bishop in Chile is being investigated by the Vatican in connection with the sexual abuse of a minor, sources close to the church said.

The sources told The Santiago Times that the Vatican’s Chilean representative began looking into the case of Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez, 47, four months ago.

Ivo Scapolo has been given the task of determining if the allegations are true and whether any other complaints have been made.

Ordenes reportedly stepped down from his post in the northern city of Iquique in August, blaming ill health for his absence from religious events.

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CHILE
La Republica

Ministerio Público chileno pidió solicitó al Episcopado detalles de la investigación canónica que iniciaron. Mientras tanto Órdenes se encuentra en nuestro país con descanso médico

La justicia chilena inició una investigación contra el al obispo de Iquique por violación sexual contra un menor, luego que El Vaticano iniciara una indagación canónica.

La Fiscalía de Tarapacá señaló que pedirá al Obispado de Iquique y a la Conferencia Episcopal los antecedentes de la denuncia realizada contra Marco Órdenes, obispo de dicha diócesis, que data del 2009.

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CHILE
La Tercera

Rodrigo Pino, uno de los denunciantes por abusos supuestamente cometidos por el obispo de Iquique, Marco Antonio Ordenes, aseguró que si bien no estaba seguro de la naturaleza de su relación con el sacerdote, “a los 16 años me enamoré del obispo”.

“Estaba muy embobado, lo defendí siempre”, agregó en un testimonio rescatado por Cooperativa.

Añade que “cuando yo experimenté la primera vez y me sentía una persona culpable y sucia”, pero que el obispo le habría dicho “yo soy tu padre, yo te veo como un hijo, como un hermano, como un amante y como un amigo”.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on a petition drive against Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph:

Approximately 100,000 persons have signed a petition demanding the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn. It’s a phony exercise.

The petition is found on the website of change.org, home to mostly left-wing activists. Anyone can sign it—you don’t have to be Catholic or from Finn’s diocese. For example, almost 7,400 signatures were sent to the diocese, and all but approximately 150 were from outside the area. Of the signatories online, activists from foreign countries have signed. In short, there is no grassroots rebellion against Bishop Finn.

We know who Bishop Finn’s enemies are: the Kansas City Star and the National Catholic Reporter (both are located in Kansas City, Missouri). They are the real source behind this phony petition drive: Both have been beating the drum calling for Finn to resign. It is not child sexual abuse that angers them, it is where it takes place and under whose purview it is.

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DEUTSCHLAND
News 4 Teachers

HEPPENHEIM. Zweieinhalb Jahre nachdem der Missbrauch an der Odenwaldschule an die Öffentlichkeit kam, kritisieren viele Opfer immer noch die mangelnde Aufarbeitung durch die Schule. Schule und Opfer starten jetzt einen neuen Versuch, die Vorgänge aufzuarbeiten.

Die als schleppend kritisierte Aufarbeitung des sexuellen Missbrauchs an der Odenwaldschule könnte neuen Schwung bekommen. Zweieinhalb Jahre nachdem die Übergriffe in großem Ausmaß an die Öffentlichkeit kamen, ist ein Treffen geplant, das es in dieser Zusammensetzung aus Vertretern von Schule und Opfern noch nicht gegeben hat.

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