ABUSE TRACKER

MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
CONTACT: 414.429.7259

In a major victory today for some 570 victim/survivors who have filed cases in federal bankruptcy court charging fraud by the Milwaukee Archdiocese in the concealment and transfer of priest child sex offenders, Judge Susan V. Kelley has ruled that three key cases the archdiocese has sought to dismiss can proceed. Because the majority of cases filed by victims are similar to the three allowed into court today, the ruling should finally bring an end to the archdiocese unprecedented two year legal attack seeking to have nearly all the cases thrown out.

Sadly, it probably won’t.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki’s aggressive and wasteful legal strategy has also, it was learned, cost parishioners 9 million dollars in lawyers and consultant fees. Because of this, church lawyers are today claiming that, while they themselves have billed for millions, there is no restitution available from the archdiocese for a single victim/survivor.

Listecki, who is himself a lawyer, filed for bankruptcy two years ago “to properly compensate all victim survivors.” It’s clear now he never intended these words, and has instead made a lot of other lawyers rich.

It’s doubtful that the archdiocese, which moved tens of millions of dollars off the books before filing for bankruptcy, is suddenly without resources. In fact, Listecki himself claimed before filing that the archdiocese had only 4.2 million dollars to settle cases and lawyers’ fees. He has now spent over twice that amount without settling a single case.

Kelley also has indicated that she is willing to revisit and possibly lift significant sections of the protective order placed on the 60,000 plus pages of abuse related documents now under court seal, saying she will rule on the matter soon. The documents and depositions are expected to provide the fullest picture yet of the extent of criminal behavior by scores of offender clergy against children over the past 50 years, along with the systematic efforts by Milwaukee archbishops, bishops and church officials to cover-up these crimes.

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WISCONSIN
CBS 58

[with video]

by Michele McCormack

WAUKESHA—A judge revoked the probation of 53-year-old Joel Hochmuth Wednesday and ordered him to prison for four years.

Court documents reveal he violated court orders to stay away from the Internet and hasn’t followed terms of his work release schedule.

Hochmuth also admitted to masturbating in some woods near his workplace.

Hochmuth lost his job at the Wisconsin Lutheran Synod last year after he was arrested on child porn charges.

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FLORIDA
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Rev. Neil Doherty, also known as “Gus”, was an active priest of the Miami archdiocese for nearly 33 years, and the subject of accusations of child sexual abuse which span his entire career. Doherty worked as a counselor for Catholic Family Services to whom the archdiocese would regularly refer troubled boys. Many of those boys have sinced surfaced with accusations against Doherty. Doherty’s modus operandi is reported to have been to drug the boys, some of whom have said they would awaken to find Doherty abusing them. Doherty’s accusers contend the archdiocese was warned many times over the decades that he was abusing children. In 1972 a fellow priest reported that Doherty had adopted an adolescent boy, who was sleeping in Doherty’s bedroom. The same priest had warned archdiocesan officials the year before that Doherty should stay away from drug rehabilitation facilities after a raid on a halfway house for boys at which Doherty was a supervisor. Both warnings were ignored. There were reports of the sexual abuse of boys by Doherty to the archdiocese in 1983 from a psychologist and in 1987 from a psychologist and a church secretary, after which Doherty was allowed to continue in ministry. The church secretary was fired. In 1992 the archdiocese received a report from the parents of a boy who claimed to have been drugged and raped by Doherty in 1978; the archdiocese settled with the family 1n 1994. In 1992 Doherty was sent for a psychological evaluation; his superiors were told he should be removed from his role as a parish priest. He was not. It wasn’t until the clergy sexual abuse crisis was making headlines in April 2002 that Doherty was placed on leave. In 2006 Doherty was arrested and charged with child sexual abuse for drugging and raping a boy between 1996-2000, beginning when the boy was 9 years old. By November 2011, 26 men had come forward with accusations that Doherty drugged and sexually abused them as children. In January 2013 Doherty pleaded “no contest” to the charges of lewd and lascivious acts on a child.

Ordained: 1969

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on January 24, 2013

We’re disturbed by these new child sex abuse accusations against Rev. Stan Archie.

Research, history and our experience shows that false allegations in cases like this are extremely rare. We strongly suspect there are others who have been sexually victimized by this minister. For their healing, and for the safety of others, we hope they step forward, call police, expose wrongdoing so that more crimes can be prevented.

We commend both of the young women who are, by seeking justice, essentially warning other unsuspecting and vulnerable individuals about this predator. Their courage is safeguarding others.

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LOUISIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on January 24, 2013

An accused former priest from Louisiana is asking a judge and to reduce his bond.

We hope that the judge in this case does not reduce Fr. Mark Broussard’s bond. Kids are always safer when predators are behind bars, and we hope that Broussard remains there and away from children. Given the fact that he was originally charged with 224 counts related to child sex crimes, we think it is a no-brainer that he is a danger to children and must be kept away.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

January 25, 2013

Paul Bibby
Court Reporter

Two alleged victims of child sexual abuse by the now-retired Catholic priest Father Finian Egan have had court-imposed suppression orders on their names lifted so they can talk publicly about their experiences.

Nikki Wells and Kelly-Anne Roache are among four people who were allegedly abused by Father Egan between 1972 and 1987 while he worked at parishes in Sydney and on the central coast.

Father Egan was arrested in April last year and charged with 17 child sex offences.

He denies the charges and is expected to face trial later this year.

On Friday, the prosecution in the case asked Downing Centre District Court Judge, Reg Blanch, to lift the suppression orders preventing publication of Ms Wells and Ms Roache’s names at their behest.

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IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

The Vatican case against Fr Tony Flannery hinges on whether or not the Redemptorist accepts the Church’s teaching on the nature of the priesthood.

Michael Kelly

There is “no question” of Fr Tony Flannery facing excommunication senior Vatican sources have told this newspaper, and they have insisted that the case hinges on whether or not the Redemptorist accepts the Church’s teaching on the nature of the priesthood.

During a press conference in Dublin at the weekend, Fr Flannery (66) – a founder member of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) – said he was “threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church for suggesting that, in the future, women might become priests and calling for this and other matters to be open for discussion”.

However, senior Vatican sources have indicated to The Irish Catholic that the Holy See has not threatened excommunication against the priest and the case against Fr Flannery is about the fundamental nature of the Church’s understanding of the priesthood.

Sources in the Roman Curia who spoke to The Irish Catholic this week claim that it is a 2010 contention by Fr Flannery that he no longer believed that “the priesthood as we currently have it in the Church originated with Jesus” or that Jesus designated “a special group of his followers as priests,” that is problematic for the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF).

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IRELAND
Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery was threatened with excommunication by the Vatican, according to documents seen by The Irish Times, contrary to claims by “senior Vatican sources”, as reported in this week’s Irish Catholic newspaper.

It quoted such “senior Vatican sources” and “sources in the Roman Curia” as saying there was “no question” of Fr Flannery facing excommunication” and that “the Holy See has not threatened excommunication against the priest”.

A document from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), dated June 11th, 2012, accused Fr Flannery of expressing “heretical or heterodox statements about central church doctrines of the Catholic Christian faith” in “several of his columns” for Reality magazine.

The same document pointed out that “the Church’s canon law (canon 1044) calls a priest who has committed the delict of heresy ‘irregular for the exercise of orders received’, while canon 1364 says that ‘a heretic incurs a latae sententiae excommunication’.”

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CALIFORNIA
NPR

by Tovia Smith

January 24, 2013

Prosecutors in California say they are reviewing newly-released personnel files that document efforts by the Los Angeles Archdiocese to cover up clergy sexual abuse. They haven’t said whether they might pursue criminal charges against retired Cardinal Roger Mahony. Statutes of limitations make prosecution difficult, but victims are calling on authorities to be more creative and find a way to punish church higher-ups for protecting abusive priests, rather then children.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Batya Ungar-Sargon

Published January 24, 2013.

When is a long prison sentence too long?

That’s the question many inside and outside the ultra-Orthodox community are asking this week after a judge dealt Nechemya Weberman a 103-year term behind bars for abusing a young girl.

“The abuse of a child cannot be swept under the rug or dealt with by insular groups believing only they know what is best for their community,” Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes said at a press conference following Weberman’s sentencing.

The prosecutor’s statement closely echoed his thoughts in a written statement published in the New York Daily News on January 19, in which Hynes compared the Hasidim to organized crime groups. He proudly trumpeted the Weberman sentencing as a way to “send a message” to the community as a whole.

“I compare it to the Mafia, but at least in Mafia cases we can offer victims witness protection. That does not work in these insular communities,” Hynes wrote. “I hope the verdict and sentence sends a very clear and unmistakable message to people in certain parts of the Orthodox community.”

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WISCONSIN
Patch

By Sarah Millard

January 23, 2013

The former Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) communication director — who was fired from his position upon his arrest for child pornography possession — will spend four years in prison after he followed a boys cross country team on multiple occasions.

Joel W. Hochmuth also was sentenced Wednesday to five years of extended supervision after his probation was revoked on his child porn possession conviction.

In addition to the “stalking conduct,” according to a hearing report, Hochmuth’s probation was revoked for the following reasons:
•Masturbating while naked in the woods near his workplace in Colgate and inside his workplace
•Having access to the Internet via his cell phone and failing to provide that information to his probation agent.
•Deviating from his approved schedule at the work-release jail
•Leaving his approved work site without permission
•Having “drive by” contact with minors

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WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel

Jan. 24, 2013

Waukesha – A former Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod official has been sentenced to prison after he violated conditions of his probation on a conviction of possessing child pornography.

Joel Hochmuth, 53, had been sentenced last year to a year in jail with work release privileges and 10 years of probation.

At the time, Waukesha County Circuit Judge Kathryn W. Foster warned Hochmuth that any hint of “going back to any kind of behavior like this” would result in a prison term of up to the maximum 25 years.

Foster sentenced Hochmuth on Wednesday to four years in prison, followed by five years of extended supervision. He was given credit for 242 days he’s spent in jail.

His attorney, Paul Bucher, said Hochmuth’s violations did not involve any assaultive behavior, or more exposure to pornography. He said Hochmuth, after failing a polygraph exam, admitted that he had watched a boy’s cross-country team as it ran, and once disrobed and masturbated in the woods while he was performing his work-release job as a landscaper.

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MISSOURI
Missourinet

By Mike Lear

The president of the state Board of Education is accused of child sexual abuse, defamation and counseling malpractice in a lawsuit filed this week.

The Kansas City Star reports the suit was filed by a Kansas City area woman who accuses the Reverend Stan Archie of encouraging her to be sexually promiscuous and tell him about her sexual experiences in counseling sessions beginning when she was 15. She says when she ended their relationship, he began harassing and defaming her. The suit also names the his church.

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MISSOURI
Daily Journal

The new head of the Missouri State Board of Education is facing a second lawsuit accusing him of using his position as pastor of a Kansas City church to engage in sexual misconduct.

The latest lawsuit, filed late Wednesday, alleges the Rev. Stan Archie made lewd comments about his sexual prowess after he began counseling a 15-year-old congregant, who is now 23. The lawsuit says Archie encouraged the girl to act promiscuously and report her experiences to him.

A lawsuit filed last year claimed that Archie engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with his former assistant.

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SPAIN
The Bellingham Herald

By SINIKKA TARVAINEN — dpa

MADRID — Spain will do “whatever it can” to help the judiciary investigate cases of stolen babies and illegal adoptions stretching back for decades, Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said Thursday, after one of the key suspects died.

As many as 300,000 children may have been stolen from their mothers by independently operated rings comprised of doctors, nurses, midwives, officials, cemetery workers and intermediaries between the 1940s and 1990s, according to victims’ representatives.

The government has already adopted measures such as arranging for free DNA tests for some of those affected.

One of the best-known suspects – Maria Gomez Valbuena, a nun – died Tuesday at the age of 87 in Madrid, her religious order said.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

January 24

By JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

A lawsuit filed in Jackson County accuses the new president of the Missouri State Board of Education of child sexual abuse, defamation and counseling malpractice.

The civil suit, filed this week in Jackson County Circuit Court by a Kansas City-area woman identified as Jane Doe DL, alleges that the Rev. Stan Archie began committing repeated acts of sexual misconduct against the plaintiff when she went to him for counseling at 15.

Archie, who began his term as Board of Education president this month, is co-founder and senior pastor of Christian Fellowship Baptist Church at 4509 Troost Ave. in Kansas City. The lawsuit is the second in a year alleging sexual misconduct against Archie.

Archie’s actions, the lawsuit says, were “outrageous and utterly repugnant to a civilized society.”

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

The Vatican priest child abuse “cover-up denial”, that was so evident at the recent Roman Synod of Bishops, may be manageable for another year or two, but likely not much longer, even with a new Pope. International reality checks, in the form of factual and not mythical revelations, are rapidly exposing the Vatican’s latest mystical smokescreens to be the poor public relations ploys they are. So many innocent Catholic children have been raped by too many predatory priests protected by complicit Cardinals and Bishops. There are limits to trusting Catholics’ inculcated gullibility, and even an ex-FOX News pro working for the Pope can spin only so much. Facts stubbornly speak for themselves. Papal “Tweets” and “Apps” are no substitute for papal candor.

On an academic level, a promising young UK/Italian lay ecclesiologist has effectively exposed the mainly mythological foundation of the Vatican’s claim for absolute papal primacy. The recent book, “Democracy and the Christian Church”, concisely shows the scriptural, theological, philosophical and historical weaknesses of the papal claim and is accessible in part by clicking on at: http://amzn.com/0567449521

Catholics are increasingly learning that hierarchical conduct too often deviates significantly from papal propaganda. Initial Los Angeles secret abuse file revelations have exposed Cardinal Mahony’s reckless protection of known predatory priests. Criminal allegations of drug dealing against, and related cross-dressing and porn shop operation reports about, a former Bridgeport state chaplain of the Knights of Malta and top subordinate to Cardinal Egan and to Archbishop Lori, head of the Pope’s anti-Obama “religious liberty crusade”, are almost incredibly unsavory.

Moreover, reported efforts apparently to protect the secrecy of Munich and Regensburg files of the Pope and his brother, relating to alleged failures in the 1970′s to curtail a Munich predatory priest and to protect abused Regensburg choir boys, by sacking a too thorough German academic investigator, further erodes the steadily disappearing papal credibility. Ruthless attempts to silence a popular Irish priest who spoke about women and married priests, and apparently also to try to curtail an Irish priests’ “union”, are backfiring as the brave priest stands fast. Continued diatribes against gay marriage by a reported drunk driver San Francisco Archbishop appear cynical and desperate at best. Seemingly unending criminal trial disclosures about Cardinal Rigali’s Philly pedophile priest paradise continues to disgust many Catholics. Millions of U.S. Catholics have had enough and want to see these hypocritical and unaccountable actions curbed promptly.

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UNITED STATES
Uprising Radio

In the same week that Jewish ultra-Orthodox counselor Nechemya Weberman was sentenced to 103 years in prison for sexually abusing a teenage girl in 2007, documents were released this past Monday showing that Catholic religious leader Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Los Angeles Archdiocese knowingly conspired with other church officials to protect priests who were known to have sexually abused children in the 1980s.

The LA Archdiocese, which is the nation’s largest, had been fighting to keep the documents secret since 2007 when a $660 million dollar judgment was awarded to 500 victims of church sexual abuse. A recent LA superior court judge’s ruling however, ordered the release of 30,000 documents naming the pedophile priests despite the church’s pleas to protect their privacy.

Although all the documents have not yet been released, the ones which have, provide proof that Mahony and Monsignor Thomas J. Curry acted to protect Monsignor Peter Garcia who had bound and raped an 11 year old boy and sexually abused more than a dozen other boys.

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UNITED STATES
We the People – petition site

The Robert William Finn Atonement Act would require the following:

Immediate registration with the National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) of any religious authority (practicing on American soil) convicted of any child sexual abuse or tangentially related crime, to include criminal conviction of failure to report suspected child abuse by anyone within the oversight of a religious authority;

Immediate registration of a convicted religious authority with his/her state and/or local (where applicable) sex offender registry;

Immediate prohibition of the convicted religious authority from living or working within 1000 feet of any school, playground, church or other common gathering places for children for a minimum of 25 years.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WeAreCentralPA

By: Danielle Krout

Updated: January 23, 2013

JOHNSTOWN, CAMBRIA COUNTY— SNAP, The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is urging the alleged victims of Brother Stephen Baker to step forward to police.

“Victims feel like they’re alone they always feel like they’re the only ones,” said Judy Jones, SNAP Associate Director. “Once they know they’re not… that helps them have the courage to speak up and come forward.”

Jones spoke in Johnstown Wednesday morning outside the Public Safety Building. She said she wanted to let others know it’s OK to come forward.

‘My brother and several of my family members were abused by our parish priest back in Ohio growing up,” said Jones. “It’s why I work for SNAP and I why I am here today.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The JC

By Simon Rocker, January 24, 2013

Britain’s Charedi establishment, already buffeted by allegations of sexual abuse against women by one of its senior rabbis, is about to become embroiled in fresh controversy.

Channel 4’s Dispatches strand is to broadcast an investigation next Wednesday night into claims of the sexual abuse of children within the strictly Orthodox communities of the UK.

In Britain’s Hidden Child Abuse, in secretly filmed footage, Rabbi Ephraim Padwa, the rabbinical head of the Stamford Hill-based Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, tells a man who says he was abused as a child in Stamford Hill not to go to the police.

One Orthodox community worker, aware of the programme’s contents, said its effect would be “like a tsunami”.

The footage of Rabbi Padwa was shot undercover by a man raised in Stamford Hill who says that he was “sexually abused… when I was younger” and asks whether “it is a good idea to speak to the police about it”.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
LA Daily Nes

Doug McIntyre: Facts blow holes in Cardinal Roger Mahony’s accounts

By Doug McIntyre, Columnistdailynews.com
Posted: 01/22/2013

He has index cards, says the Holy Man. And on those index cards are names. He prays in his chapel nightly for the names on those index cards.

They’re the names of children molested – even raped – by priests in his charge.

“I was naive” about abuse, says the Holy Man. “I’m sorry,” he says.

Which is not what he says in internal church documents, 30,000 unredacted pages worth, finally brought into the light of day after years of foot-dragging, stonewalling and legal maneuvering.

The Holy Man is the former head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony.

In these documents we find the Smoking Cassock proving Mahony complicit in the cover-up of the worst crime short of murder, child molestation.

“This is all intolerable and unacceptable to me,” Mahony wrote in 1991.

Yet he continued to tolerate it. He continued to accept it.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on January 24, 2013

According to WFMJ, Bishop George Murry claims that the diocese “may need review to see if it could have handled the situation better.” That’s absurd.

For more than three years, he and his top aides kept secret about multiple and credible child sex crime allegations against a serial child molesting cleric. They did this even though the predator walks free and had been sent to another state where he lived, for years, among unsuspecting neighbors and families. They did this despite a decade of promises to be “open and transparent” in child sex and cover up cases. And they did this – kept silence – for five months after paying settlements to 11 wounded victims. They never disclosed a single allegation or settlement involving Br. Baker. Baker’s victims warned parents, parishioners and the public about this dangerous cleric.

It’s hard to imagine how they could have handled this sordid matter any worse. It’s clear that Bishop Murray and his staff wanted to do what Catholic officials have done for years – keep everyone in the dark until the criminal and civil statutes of limitations expired, so they could protect themselves and their reputations.

Murry essentially is trying to blame everyone else: lawyers, Fransiscans and victims.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

Justice arrived surely and sternly for child sex abuser Nechemya Weberman, thanks to an effective prosecution by Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.

Give him and his office credit — without forgetting that it has taken far too long for victims of sex crimes in the borough’s Hasidic community to have their prosecutor fully in their corner.

Let this welcome change be a permanent one.

Weberman, 54, was sentenced Tuesday to 103 years in prison for repeatedly preying upon a young girl, starting when she was just 12.

She fell into his power when her school told her parents to send her to Weberman for counseling. At their sessions, he forced her to perform oral sex and reenact scenes from pornographic videos.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

There’s no understating the importance of the 103-year prison sentence imposed this week on Nechemya Weberman. A respected member of the Satmar Hasidic community, Weberman will probably die in prison now that Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Ingram threw the book at him after his conviction for sexually abusing a child he was “counseling.”

His fate is richly deserved.

The conviction wouldn’t have come without the courage of the victim, now a teenager, who defied the politically connected Orthodox sect to testify.

It was also a big win for Brooklyn DA Joe Hynes, who finally brought a sex-abuse case against a member of the insular Satmar community. Of course, only the harsh glare of the press spotlight — shone by The Post, among others — got Hynes to act.

The DA says this case marks “a sea change.” We sure hope so.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
WFMJ

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Diocese of Youngstown hosted a press conference Thursday morning to address the recent media attention surrounding its schools.

At the event, Bishop George Murry addressed this slew of recent accusations and the coverage surrounding them.

Murry says there are currently no credible accusations against anyone in the ministry nor any of the diocesan employees, but wants to ensure Mahoning Valley residents that the diocese takes all precautions to protect the children in their care.

The diocese was recently under fire for lawsuits with 11 men who say Franciscan Brother Stephen Baker molested them when they were boys attending school at Warren John F Kennedy.

Those suits have been settled, but over a dozen more people have come forward since the settlement went public also saying Brother Baker molested them.

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UNITED STATES
City of Angels

Kay Ebeling

Mainstream news again reports that a bishop will not be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations in one particular state.

When will some reporter somewhere realize that in every archdiocese in the country the same pattern of cover-up, and aiding and abetting of pedophile priests took place, so the crimes of the bishops happened across state lines, on a national level.

The crimes of the bishops are Federal Crimes.

So instead of we as a nation just throwing up our hands and saying the statutes of limitations are past on state and county levels, why are there no FEDERAL INDICTMENTS of bishops all across the country, since they carried out their crimes in exactly the same manner in every archdiocese across the country?

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OHIO
Tribune Chronicle

January 24, 2013

YOUNGSTOWN – Bishop George Murry of the Catholic Diocese says there are no current allegations of abuse against any members of the diocese.

At a news conference this morning, Murry also said he is personally reaching out to any victims of abuse by Brother Stephen Baker, a Franciscan brother who was a coach and trainer at John F. Kennedy High School in the mid-1980s.

Last week it was announced that at least 11 former students had accused Baker of sexually abusing them and that they reached a settlement with the order, diocese and the school.

Murry also said he thought the Franciscans would make the settlement public because Baker was never an employee of the diocese, but because they have not, they are asking that if anyone else is a victim of Baker that they contact civil authorities and the diocese.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
Youngstown Vindicator

YOUNGSTOWN

Bishop George V. Murry said Thursday he wants to reassure the people of the Mahoning Valley that the Diocese of Youngstown is taking “every possible action” to protect children from sexual abuse.

The bishop held a news conference this morning to address the recent news that 11 men settled out of court with Warren John F. Kennedy High School as a result of sexual abuse they suffered there.

The man accused of the abuse is Franciscan Brother Stephen P. Baker, who taught, coached baseball and served as athletic trainer at the school from 1986 to 1991.

“While I understand that nothing I say will eliminate their agony, I want them to know that I stand with them and will not tolerate abusive behavior from church officials,” Bishop Murry said.

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CANADA
Ottawa Citizen

By Teresa Smith, Ottawa Citizen January 24, 2013

OTTAWA — An elderly Catholic priest who taught at various high schools in the Ottawa region has pleaded guilty for the second time in a year to sexually assaulting a teen boy in his care.

Father Kenneth John O’Keefe, 82, pleaded guilty in a Hull courtroom this week of “indecently assaulting” a then-17-year-old boy over the course of four months between September and December, 1969.

He also pleaded guilty to “an act of gross indecency” during the same period, with the same victim, known only as G-L.B.

G-L.B. was a student at Ottawa’s St. Joseph’s Catholic School, which closed down a decade ago and reopened in a new location.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
San Luis Obispo Tribune

By MARYCLAIRE DALE — Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — A lawyer for a Philadelphia Catholic school ex-teacher accused of raping an altar boy says the accuser is “gaming the system” after years of drug addiction.

The lawyer says his awkward, vision-impaired client is an easy target for someone hoping to sue the Roman Catholic church.

The 24-year-old accuser says he was raped by two priests and the sixth-grade teacher, Bernard Shero.

Philadelphia prosecutors relied on the accuser to file a landmark 2011 grand jury report and charge the three men with passing the boy around.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Duckhome

Geschrieben von
Jochen Hoff

Donnerstag, 24. Januar 2013

Ach ja die Katholiban. Sie sind extrem verlässlich darin, alles Schlechte was man über sie denkt und laut ausspricht, vom Vorwurf des Vorurteils zu befreien, indem sie es sofort in der schlimmsten denkbaren Form realisieren. Der Bischof von Kansas City, Robert W. Finn wurde wegen der Beihilfe zur Vertuschung von Kindesmissbrauch verurteilt.

Auch der frühere US-Erzbischof Roger M. Mahoney dürfte einer Verurteilung wegen der aktiven Vertuschung von 75 Missbrauchsfällen wohl nicht entgehen, genauso wenig wie seine Helfer. Aber beiden amerikanischen Priestern muss man zugute halten, dass sie lediglich Schaden von ihrer Kirche abwenden wollten. Der ehemalige Bischof von Regensburg Müller, hat aber den Pfarrer von Riekhofen bewusst und nach eigener Aussage in seiner alleinigen Verantwortung nachdem er bereits wegen Kindesmissbrauch in Viehtach auffällig und verurteilt wurde in Riekhofen eine neue Pfarrtselle und damit die Gelegenheit zum erneuten Kindesmissbrauch gegeben.

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DEUTSCHLAND
domradio

Laut der neuen Milieustudie fordern Katholiken aller Lebenswelten die Kirche zu Änderungen auf. domradio.de-Chefredakteur Ingo Brüggenjürgen meint dazu: “Es braucht keine weiteren klugen Analysen und Papiere, sondern den Mut zum Aufbruch!”

Gerade erst hat das vorzeitige Ende der “Pfeiffer-Studie” zur Aufklärung des sexuellen Missbrauchs die Gemüter erregt, da kommt für die Kirche der nächste Hammer. Die neue Sinus-Milieu-Studie der katholischen Kirche hat es in sich: Die befragten Katholiken, gerade auch die treuesten Anhänger, leiden unter dem Umgang mit den Missbrauchsfällen. Der Priestermangel und die großen Seelsorgeeinheiten sowie wenig sprachkundige Priester aus fernen Ländern werden nicht als gute Lösungen angesehen. Themen wie “Stellung der Frau”, “Zölibat”, “Pastoral an wiederverheirateten Geschiedenen” und “Sexualmoral der Kirche” sind nicht die Themen der bösen Medienschaffenden, sondern werden von den Katholiken selber nicht länger geduldig ertragen, sondern offen angesprochen und vielfach kritisiert.

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OSTERREICH
Kurier

“Liebe deinen Nächsten, wie dich selbst”, heißt es in der Bibel. Ein Pater aus Vorarlberg hat das Zitat über Jahre hinweg zu wörtlich genommen und sehr frei interpretiert. Zudem hat er Liebe mit sexuellem Missbrauch verwechselt.

Pater Johannes aus dem Bregenzer Kloster Mehrerau soll mehrere Kinder sexuell missbraucht und vergewaltigt haben. Als Lehrer und Regens des Kloster-Gymnasiums. Der Mann ist geständig und wurde dennoch nie dafür verurteilt.

Das Kloster muss von seiner Vergangenheit gewusst haben. Jahrzehntelang wurde darüber geschwiegen. Was Pater Johannes wiederum ermöglichte, Kinder zu missbrauchen. Bereits 1968 war Pater Johannes wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs eines Kindes bedingt zu vier Monaten schweren Kerkers verurteilt worden. Anfang der 1970er-Jahre wurde er dennoch als Lehrer im Stiftsgymnasium aufgenommen. Das Zisterzienser-Stift ließ den Pädophilen wieder auf Kinder los. Erst im Jahr 2004 kam seine pädophile Neigung erneut ans Tageslicht. Der Polizei gestand Pater Johannes, von etwa 1970 bis 1982 “fünf bis zehn Schüler wiederholt sexuell missbraucht” zu haben. Das Gericht musste ihn dennoch ziehen lassen. Wegen Verjährung. Trotz Geständnisses.

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LOUISIANA
NECN

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — A former priest accused of molesting boys asked the court to reduce his bond and suppress his statement to police.

The American Press reports ( ) the motions were two of six filed Wednesday by Mark Anthony Broussard.

Broussard is being held at the Calcasieu Correctional Center on $3.42 million bond.

The motion to suppress his statement was on Wednesday’s docket, but both sides met for a pretrial conference at which the dates were set. A hearing on the motions is set for April 10.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: A Third Order Regular Franciscan brother, Baker was a religion teacher, baseball coach and athletic trainer at high schools in Youngstown, OH and Johnstown, PA; he was also assigned at some point earlier in his career to a high school and boys’ home in Norfolk, VA. Baker is said to have sexually abused “dozens, if not hundreds” of former students. His modus operandi is said to have been to tell male athletes they needed massages to prevent injuries, then to proceed to rub them down with oils, including their genitals. He is also accused of digitally penetrating them. Former students have said he would grope them in hallways and during religion class. One former female student has reported that he requested she show up for treatment of a sports injury in loose fitting clothing and no underwear. Baker was the subject of a 2012 settlement with eleven of his accusers. He is said by a superior to have been removed from ministry “long before 2010.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Lurgan Mail

A FORMER Lurgan priest, who pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a young girl, is to face sentencing next week.

Fr Terence Rafferty, who had been a priest in St Peter’s Parish in Lurgan, was convicted at Craigavon Crown Court before Christmas on four counts of indecent assault relating to offences in 2001.

He was due to appear before Craigavon Magistrates Court last Friday however the case was adjourned until January 31.

The former Administrator of Newry Cathedral, whose address was given as Chestnut Grove, Newry, had five other offences of indecent assault between December 2000 and January 2002 left on the books.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Albany Times Union

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

Updated 10:56 am, Thursday, January 24, 2013

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest and an ex-teacher charged with sexually assaulting an altar boy won’t testify at their trial, which will soon move to closing arguments.

The case hinges on the credibility of the accuser, a 24-year-old policeman’s son and longtime heroin addict.

His accounts of being raped in about 1999 by the Rev. Charles Engelhardt, teacher Bernard Shero and a now-defrocked priest have changed significantly over time.

A church social worker has testified that the accuser initially said he had been violently attacked for hours by one man, punched by another and tied up by a third.

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MISSISSIPPI
Clarion-Ledger

Editorial

There sometimes appears to be no such thing as fairness in the courts when sentencing is involved — ironic since our systems are set up to foster that very thing.

But take the John Langworthy case as an example. The former Clinton church music minister and school choir director pleaded guilty this week to five felony counts of gratification of lust for molesting children almost 30 years ago.

Langworthy will serve no time in prison for molesting the children, a fact that seems outrageous for the heinous crimes. Consider only that former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky received last year 30 to 60 years in prison — effectively a life sentence — from a Pennsylvania judge for the sexual abuse of 10 boys.

Sandusky, of course, did not plea bargain. He was convicted by a jury on 45 of 48 counts related to the sexual abuse of boys over a 15-year period.

Langworthy, a longtime Clinton school district choir director and former music minister at Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton, entered a guilty plea before Hinds Circuit Court Judge Bill Gowan to five counts of an eight-count indictment. The guilty pleas were part of a plea agreement with the Hinds County district attorney’s office.

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OHIO
Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown

January 18, 2013

The story in today’s Tribune Chronicle claiming that the Trumbull County Children Services Board did not receive notification from the Diocese of Youngstown about Brother Stephen Baker, who has been accused of abusing 11 former students at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, is inaccurate.

The fact is that once the Diocese received sufficient information to make a report from the attorney representing the alleged victims, a letter was sent by Diocesan legal counsel to the Trumbull County Children Services Board.

Although Ohio State law does not require the reporting of allegation when the victims are presently adults, it is the policy of the Diocese to make such a report. This policy was followed in this case.

We regret that inaccurate information was published in the Tribune Chronicle.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
WYTV

Youngstown Diocese Bishop George Murry apologized Thursday to alleged victims of sexual abuse by a Franciscan friar who abused teenage boys during his tenures at Warren’s John F. Kennedy High School and at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pa.

It was the first time Murry directly addressed questions about the abuse accusations that came to light last week when Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian announced 10 former JFK students and a former St. Mary’s students reached high-five figure settlements with the diocese, JFK and the T.O.R. Franciscan Order.

Since, more than 35 former students at JFK and Bishop McCort have come forward and alleged friar Stephen P. Baker sexually molested them under the guise of treating sports-related injuries at the schools.

Garabedian said on Thursday a teacher at one of the schools, that eventually committed suicide in Canada, was aware of the abuse allegations and instructed at least one student to stay away from Baker.

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

[Caffoe file – BishopAccountability.org]

[Documents Selected and Highlighted on the AbusedInSoCal.com Website
Caffoe 1975 – Manning’s Chancellor Rawden Keeps Caffoe, Overly Affectionate with Altarboys, in Parish]

[Other Information
• Summary of Caffoe’s Personnel File, in the Addendum Released by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2005
• Information on Caffoe’s Assignments and Allegations, in the Database Compiled by the LA Times
• Cheat Sheet on Caffoe by AbusedInSoCal.com
• Secrecy and Reluctant Revelation in the Los Angeles Archdiocese: The Example of the Rev. Lynn Caffoe File]

By Gustavo Arellano
Thu., Jan. 24 2013

In 1975, Lynn Caffoe, a priest at St. Callistus Church in Garden Grove, approached officials at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles with a curious demand: he wanted to leave because he had just molested a boy.

The Diocese of Orange had yet to be born, so each of Orange County’s Catholic churches fell under the domain of LA Cardinal Timothy Manning and his right-hand man, Monsignor John A. Rawden. The two already knew that one of Caffoe’s superiors had already complained that they should keep an eye on the young priest lest he spend “too much time with the chosen few,” according to church documents. And who might that be? The same report said he has a “tendency to gather younger ones around.”

So when parents at St. Callistus went to Rawden to complain that Caffoe had been “overly affectionate to some of the altar boys,” what did Rawden do? Side with the pervert.

Caffoe, according to a document included in the LA archdiocese’s recent document dump of priest personnel files, “wanted an immediate transfer in spite of the fact that he claimed innocence of the charge. He felt it better for the well being of the parish.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Action Alert: Important Milwaukee Archdiocese Bankruptcy Court Hearing Thursday January 24, 1:00 p.m.

WHERE: Milwaukee Federal Courthouse, 517 E. Wisconsin Avenue

In Federal Bankruptcy Court on Thursday January 24, Judge Susan V. Kelley will rule on four cases that could determine if the remaining 570 victim/survivors who have filed cases will be allowed to proceed. Last month, lawyers for the archdiocese sought to dismiss these cases. Kelley heard arguments but declined to issue a ruling and is likely to do so tomorrow. The archdiocese, by objecting to these four claims, is seeking, in principle, to dismiss nearly every one of the cases filed. (For details, see the press advisory from last month when the ruling was first expected.)

The archdiocese has also just filed another 157 case objections, this time based on the argument that they have no responsibility for religious order offenders, even though most of these individuals were officially assigned to the archdiocese to work in parishes and schools and could only work here with the direct consent and supervision of the archbishop. It’s not sure if Kelley will start hearing arguments on this issue tomorrow. There has not been sufficient time for victims’ attorneys and the Creditors Committee to submit their written response to the court. An eventual ruling for victim/survivors on this crucial issue, however, would be a major step in bringing accountability, transparency and public safety concerning scores of religious order child molesters who have harmed children while working for the archdiocese. (NB: Some of these claims objections also include lay employees and volunteers from the archdiocese who committed sex crimes against children.)

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FRANCE – REUNION
Linfo

L’ancien curé des paroisses de Sainte-Rose et de Bras-Panon qui est accusé d’avoir agressé sexuellement de jeunes paroissiens nie catégoriquement les faits graves qui lui sont reprochés.

Depuis ce mardi après-midi, le Tribunal Correctionnel de Saint-Denis examine une affaire très sensible qui a ébranlé l’Eglise de La Réunion. Le Parquet a requis aujourd’hui une peine de six ans de prison à l’encontre de Michel Tual.

Michel Tual, cet ancien prêtre qui a officié durant près de dix ans dans les paroisses de Sainte-Rose et de Bras-Panon est jugé pour des faits d’agression sexuelle sur des mineurs de moins de 15 ans.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

[with video]

By Maria Miller

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. —

It’s been a week since sex abuse allegations surfaced in Johnstown involving a Franciscan brother who worked at Bishop McCort in the 1990s. Students have come forward alleging abuse took place while brother Baker worked at the school as a religion teacher and athletic trainer.

6 News learned Wednesday that Baker also held teaching positions at a middle school in Ohio and a boys home in Virginia.

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona – Johnstown admitted last week that Bishop Mark Bartchak first heard allegations against Baker in 2011. Before that, it’s not clear as to who knew what and when. But the Boston attorney representing several alleged victims said he’s working to find that answer.

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FRANCE – REUNION
Linfo

Au terme de plusieurs heures de délibérations, le Tribunal Correctionnel de Saint-Denis a condamné l’ancien curé Michel Tual à une peine de cinq ans de prison, le jugeant coupable d’agressions sexuelles sur des mineurs.

Il est arrivé libre au Palais de Justice de Champ-Fleuri mais c’est en prison que Michel Tual dormira ce soir.

Le Parquet avait requis cet après-midi à son encontre une peine de six mois de prison avec mandat de dépôt.

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FRANCE – REUNION
Linfo

Hier, les victimes de l’ancien curé de Bras Panon ont dû affronter l’homme qui les a fait souffrir durant leur enfance. Une épreuve difficile qui a fait remonter bien des souvenirs douloureux. Un jeune homme a accepté de témoigner.

Aujourd’hui adulte, Martin (prénom d’emprunt) attendait la vérité lors du procès de Michel Tual. Le jeune homme a été surpris par le comportement du prévenu qui a nié en bloc les faits graves qui lui sont reprochés. L’attitude de l’ancien curé de Bras Panon et de Sainte-Rose a choqué les victimes présentes à l’audience.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated January 23, 2013

8 SUGGESTIONS on how to publicly defy and stop Benedict XVI excommunication of Fr. Flannery

Italian Galileo & Irish Tony Flannery: parallel victims of Vatican Last Tsar Benedict XVI Tyranny

In the 17th Century, Galileo offered the Pope and the Vatican Inquisition to look at the telescope “a thousand times” but they refused. By using merely their naked eyes to look at the planets, they doggedly insisted that ‘the Earth is the center of the universe and that the Sun revolved around the Earth’ – based on the Bible alone, and they shamed and condemned Galileo for his scientific beliefs. The rest is history.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

BOYCOTT the Vatican Museum and boycott ALL donations to the Vatican Catholic Church Reign of Terror

Vatican Assets in England and in the United States of America

Vatican assets in London

– premises of Bulgari, the upmarket jewellers in New Bond Street

– headquarters of the wealthy investment bank Altium Capital, on the corner of St James’s Square

– Pall Mall

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NECN

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest and ex-teacher charged with sexually assaulting an altar boy could testify Thursday as the two-week Philadelphia trial nears an end.

The case hinges on the credibility of the accuser, a 24-year-old policeman’s son and longtime heroin addict.

His accounts of being raped in about 1999 by the Rev. Charles Engelhardt, teacher Bernard Shero and a now-defrocked priest have changed significantly over time.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune-Democrat

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is alerting parishioners that a priest accused of molesting a New Hampshire teen in the 1980s once served in western Pennsylvania.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported earlier this month that the Rev. Michael Ledoux resigned as dean of secular Widener University in July after school officials learned he was accused of abusing the boy decades earlier. Ledoux has denied wrongdoing and was never criminally charged by New Hampshire authorities, though his Franciscan order settled a related lawsuit in 2002 and banned him from public ministry.

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ESPANA
La Informacion

La madres de los “niños robados” seguirán adelante con sus demandas ante la Justicia

Madrid, 24 ene (EFE).- La presidenta de Sos Bebés Robados, María Cruz Rodrigo, ha asegurado hoy que los afectados seguirán adelante con sus demandas ante la Justicia, aunque la religiosa María Gómez Valbuena, conocida como “Sor María”, imputada en dos casos de “niños robados”, haya fallecido.

“Si de verdad creía en Dios, cosa que algunas veces dudo, entonces tendría que haber dicho lo que hizo”, ha indicado Rodrigo, quien se ha mostrado convencida de que “sor María” era una pieza dentro de una trama dedicada al robo de niños.

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ESPANA
Puranoticia

La religiosa María Gómez Valbuena, conocida como «sor María», ha fallecido en Madrid, según han confirmado a ABC fuentes del convento de las Hijas de la Caridad de San Vicente Paúl que no han querido dar más detalles sobre su muerte. Al parecer la muerte se habría producido el martes y fue enterrada ayer.

Sor María, que a sus 87 años sufría de diversos problemas de salud, estaba imputada por el presunto robo de bebés en clínicas madrileñas por los delitos de detención ilegal y falsedad en documento público. Había sido citada para declarar el pasado 18 de enero tras la denuncia de Purificación Betegón por la supuesta desaparición de dos gemelas nacidas en la clínica Santa Cristina en 1981, pero la declaración fue aplazada por motivos de salud. El abogado de la religiosa presentó unos informes médicos en el Juzgado de Instrucción número 50 de Madrid para solicitar el aplazamiento. Según informó el letrado de la demandante, Alipio Barbero, los documentos alegaban una «insuficencia cardíaca».

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SPAIN
Times LIVE (South Africa)

An 87-year-old Spanish nun accused of trafficking in newborns in the 1980s, a practice believed to date from the Franco dictatorship, has died, her convent said.

Sister Maria Gomez Valbuena in April last year was the first person to go before a judge over the “stolen babies” scandal.

General Francisco Franco’s regime allowed children to be taken from their parents on moral or ideological grounds, and the practice allegedly continued for profit for years after his death in 1975.

Asked about press reports that she had died on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul convent said: “Yes indeed, but we do not have more information.”

Sister Maria had been scheduled to appear in court for questioning for a second time last week but the hearing was postponed indefinitely because of her poor health.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

The Roman Catholic Church in the United States is spending a bucketload of Catholic cash on the Catholics Come Home advertising campaign currently running in a number of media markets.

The Church has also spent incredible amounts of Catholic cash on attorneys and public relations firm to suppress, hide, and delay making public what the Catholic hierarchy and their aides and chancery staffs did with their knowledge of sexual abuse of children and minors.

Now in Los Angeles comes the deluge.

The deluge of the documents that as part of the 2007 clergy sexual abuse victims’ $660 million settlement were to be made – and now are being made – public.

But not before the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press joined forces to bring pressure to bear for the agreement for the records to be made public. And not before the Archdiocese of Los Angeles tried a last minute desperate effort to Swiss cheese the documents of the names of those in authority. The ploy didn’t work thanks to a stand-up judge who simply asked the question: don’t Catholics have a right to know what happened in their Church?

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

Tony Flannery

Some clarifications of stories that are doing the rounds in the Media.
1. The Irish Catholic says that I am not threatened with excommunication.
In June of last year, 2012 I received a document from the CDF which contained the following paragraph:

“The Church’s canon law (c. 1044) calls a priest who has committed the delict of heresy ‘irregular for the exercise of orders received’, while canon 1364 says that ‘a heretic … incurs a latae sentientiae excommunication’. Before imposing the sanctions provided for in the law, it is the practice of the CDF to take steps to restore a priest to the faith, and to ensure that he is not in a state of contumacy regarding the position(s) he may have taken. Only should these remedies fail would the canonical penalties be required”

I am not a theologian, but to me that definitely reads like a threat. If the Vatican has now decided to withdraw that threat I would be very glad. Though I would be happier still if they allowed me to continue my ministry as a priest. But if that is the case I would like to get it in writing from the CDF, but this time on official paper and with a signature! Hearing it from that classic journalistic cliché of an ‘informed source’ telling the editor of a minor Irish newspaper is not totally convincing.

2. The second issue is what exactly the argument between me and the Vatican was about.
It is correct that at first it concerned a few sentences taken for various articles I had written in Reality Magazine over the years, to do with the origins of Church and priesthood. During the early part of last year I worked on this, and in June presented the following statement to the CDF through the head of the Redemptorists:

Since some concerns have been raised by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith over possible interpretations of articles I have written in the past few years. I respectfully take this opportunity to clarify my views and to offer the reassurance necessary to lay those concerns fully to rest. Such words as I have written were written in good faith with absolutely no intent whatever to imply anything contrary to the truths we are all obliged to hold by the divine and catholic faith to which I fully adhere and to which I have always adhered.

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

We have created a petition to to have Fr. Tony Flannery returned to his priestly ministry

This will be sent to The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Michael Kelly

Thursday January 24 2013

THERE is “no question” of Fr Tony Flannery facing excommunication, senior Vatican sources have said.

And the sources also insisted that the case hinges on whether the Redemptorist priest accepts the church’s teaching on the nature of the priesthood.

The outspoken cleric, who has already been banned from ministering, claims he is facing excommunication for suggesting women might become priests in the future.

During a press conference in Dublin at the weekend, Fr Flannery (66) said he had been told by the Vatican that if he wants to remain in the church he must end his involvement with the liberal Association of Catholic Priests, of which he is a founder member.

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CALIFORNIA
Mountain News

By Glenn Barr, Reporter

An allegation of child molestation which church officials believe to be credible has been raised against Father Tim Keppel, the former long-time pastor of Catholic churches in Crest Park and Running Springs.

The allegation surfaced in a letter read by Father Leonard Krzywda to parishioners attending all Masses at both Our Lady of the Lake and St. Anne’s in the Mountains on the weekend of Jan. 12 and 13. This newspaper obtained a copy of that letter.

It states that the Congregation of the Resurrection—the church order to which Father Keppel belongs—had received information about an incident of sexual misconduct involving a minor that involved Keppel.

“The case is alleged to have occurred in the late 1970s here in the Diocese of San Bernardino involving a minor who was not a member of your parishes,” says the letter, printed on the Congregation’s letterhead.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Joseph A. Slobodzian, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: Thursday, January 24, 2013

After eight days of testimony, the Philadelphia jury in the child sex-assault trial of a priest and a former parochial-school teacher is expected to hear its final witnesses Thursday.

Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler told jurors Wednesday that they would begin deliberations this week.

The judge’s comments ended a day in which 20 defense witnesses testified for the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and Bernard Shero.

What remains unknown is whether either man will testify in his defense for the alleged serial rape of a 10-year-old altar boy in 1998 and 1999 at St. Jerome’s church in Northeast Philadelphia.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for bigtrial.net

Before he ever told his story to detectives, the district attorney, the grand jury, or the jury in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex abuse case, “Billy Doe” gave an interview to a couple of social workers from the archdiocese.

And the story he told was pretty wild, and full of violence. According to one of the social workers, Billy claimed a predator priest sat on his chest, cutting off his air, before the priest pummeled the 10-year-old altar boy with hours of anal sex. Billy told the social worker another predator priest punched him in the face and knocked him out, and when he woke up, the boy was naked and tied up with altar sashes. Billy also claimed a Catholic teacher punched him in the face, and wrapped a seat belt around his neck before raping him.

By the time Billy Doe told his story to authorities, all the violence and wild details were gone. The jury in the archdiocese sex abuse case may have to figure out why.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

It is sad but hardly surprising that Tony Flannery should, at this stage of his life, be silenced, removed from ministry and threatened with excommunication. Following on from Vatican II, the Catholic Church’s influence has waned in western societies because of sexual and financial scandals. But a determined effort is now being made by Vatican authorities to impose orthodoxy. Fr Flannery with a number of colleagues and members of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) are under threat due to their insistence on the importance of personal conscience.

Fr Flannery has written of an era of great openness in the church after Vatican II, when freedom of thought and conscience existed and priests were able to present the message of Christ in a way that addressed the reality of people’s lives. In time, as authority became more centralised in the Vatican, priests were sanctioned, silenced and dismissed because they would not “toe the line”. Orthodoxy was the imperative, he wrote. Allowing people to think for themselves was seen by a significant core of the church as dangerous.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

COLIN GLEESON

The head of Redemptorists in Rome yesterday released a statement in which he expressed his “deep regret” at the recent actions of Irish priest Fr Tony Flannery, and disputed the reasons he has given for his clash with the Vatican.

Fr Flannery told a press conference on Sunday he had been threatened with excommunication by Rome’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) for refusing to recant his more liberal views on church teachings concerning women priests, contraception and homosexuality.

Superior General of the Redemptorists Most Rev Fr Michael Brehl said yesterday however that his “deep regret” at the actions of Fr Flannery related not to these views, but to “some of the writings of Fr Flannery which were ambiguous regarding fundamental areas of Catholic doctrine”.

These “fundamental areas” include “the priesthood, the nature of the Church, and the Eucharist”, said Fr Brehl. “He was instructed to undertake a period of prayer and theological reflection to clarify his positions on these matters.

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
Irish Examiner

Thursday, January 24, 2013

A US judge ordered the unsealing of documents related to a disgraced Catholic organisation called the Legion of Christ as it faces questions about its relationship to wealthy elderly patrons, but the religious order immediately moved to block it.

Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein called the public’s right to fully scrutinise the documents “paramount”.

The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Providence Journal and the National Catholic Reporter had asked the judge to unseal the documents, which are from a lawsuit filed by a woman contesting the will of a wealthy aunt who left the Legion of Christ US$60m (€45m).

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
Wall Street Journal

Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A judge on Wednesday ordered the unsealing of documents related to a disgraced Roman Catholic organization called the Legion of Christ as it faces questions about its relationship to wealthy elderly patrons, but the religious order immediately moved to block it.

Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein called the public’s right to fully scrutinize the documents “paramount.”

The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Providence Journal and the National Catholic Reporter had asked the judge to unseal the documents, which are from a lawsuit filed by a woman contesting the will of a wealthy aunt who left the Legion of Christ $60 million. The media organizations’ attorney, Joseph Cavanagh, argued the documents could shed light on the Legion’s operations and there was no justification to seal them.

The Legion, founded in Mexico City in 1941, calls itself a religious congregation of pontifical right and says its mission involves “extending the Kingdom of Christ in society,” according to its website. The Vatican took over the Legion in 2010 after determining that its late founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, had sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children by two women. The Legion has faced other complaints, including one from someone who claims to be one of Maciel’s children.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

WHO/WHAT
Victim/survivors of childhood sexual abuse by clergy of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, including leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org/SNAPwisconsin.com) will be joined by victim/claimants in the Milwaukee Archdiocese bankruptcy hearing to discuss Judge Susan V. Kelley’s court ruling that may well determine the admissibility or dismissal of the majority of 570 cases filed by victims into the court. At issue is whether the majority of cases, charging the archdiocese with fraud by concealing and transferring known child sex offender clerics, were filed within Wisconsin’s statute of limitations. The ruling, expected in a hearing last month (see details here), was delayed by Kelley until Thursday.

Also discussed will be other recent key developments emerging from the bankruptcy court, including the rejection of the use of the first amendment by Judge Kelly to prohibit the court from examining former Archbishop, now New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s controversial and potentially fraudulent transfer of 55 million dollars into a so-called “cemetery trust” to shield assets from victims. And it was discovered last week that top archdiocesan officials for almost two months refused to turn over criminal evidence in a current and active child sex abuse investigation in Fond du Lac, telling law enforcement that Judge Kelley’s bankruptcy court prohibited them from doing so, a patently false claim.

Finally, the archdiocese has filed this week a motion for Kelly to dismiss 157 victim cases because they involve religious order sex offenders, based on the argument that the archdiocese has no responsibility for religious orders, even though most of these individuals must be officially assigned to the archdiocese and can only work in parishes and schools with the direct consent and supervision of the archbishop.

WHEN
Thursday, January 24th. Court hearing is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
On the front steps of the Federal Courthouse, 517 E. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, after the hearing.

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CALIFORNIA
KEYT

Written by Shirin Rajaee

Santa Barbara- Some confidential files released this week on clergy sex abuse in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, reveal ties to at least one prominent local religious figure. For years, the Catholic Church has fought to keep these files secret, but the documents that date back to the 1980’s are revealing. They clearly show how Archbishop Roger M. Mahony and a top adviser, Bishop Thomas Curry, who now presides over the Santa Barbara region plotted to hide child molestation by priests, from reaching the police.

Santa Barbara Attorney, Tim Hale, who represents a number of the 500 abuse victims says that there were discussions in these memos where church leaders would knowingly give the abusive priests out of the area assignments to keep them from being exposed, and kept them from seeing psychologists, in case the therapist alerted police.

Father James Ford who was assigned to many locations in the area, is one of the abusers that Mahony and Curry were covering up for.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
OneNewsNow

Becky Yeh – California correspondent (OneNewsNow.com)
Thursday, January 24, 2013

Concerning the cover-up of sex abuse in the Lost Angeles Archdiocese, a Christian attorney says a little government “intrusion” is necessary to ensure that justice be served.

Prosecutors who were unable to build a case against leaders of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are now reviewing internal church documents that were recently released. According to the Los Angeles Times, the files show how church leaders protected molester priests and sought to hide information from other church leaders. The documents reveal that retired Cardinal Roger Mahony and church hierarchy failed to discipline pedophile priests, even though they were aware there were other victims.

Bob Tyler of Advocates for Faith & Freedom says this case calls for unusual measures.

“In this case, the victims certainly deserve justice. However, a judge needs to decide whether that includes publicly identifying those individuals who may have known about the abuse but did nothing about it,” he asserts.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
KCET

Recently discovered letters from the 1980s cast a new and disturbing light on the L.A. Archdiocese and its former archbishop, Cardinal Roger Mahony. They strongly suggest that Mahony actively conspired to keep suspected pedophile priests away from the police, even going so far as to send a priest out of state to elude authorities. Mahony has apologized — again. But now there are fresh calls for prosecution.

Manny Vega of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) tells Madeleine his devastating story of abuse and what he thinks should be the fate of Mahony and the other priests involved in this scandal.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Justia Verdict

[Archive of Los Angeles Archdiocesan Documents – BishopAccountability.org]

Marci A. Hamilton

The Release of the Los Angeles Archdiocese’s Records Relating to Clergy Child Sex Abuse: The Insights It Reveals, and Why the Justice System Deserves Great Credit Here

The Earth moved in Los Angeles recently, without a flicker of the Richter scale. Files of the Los Angeles Archdiocese were released as part of a civil case in which members of the hierarchy were named, and their unforgivable actions described in their own words. These men knew about child-predator priests who gravely harmed dozens, if not hundreds, of victims, and they never once called the police before the year 2000. Instead, they helped one pedophile priest escape the country, suggested sending another to a therapist who was also a lawyer so as to ensure that attorney-client privilege would apply, and let another simply melt into the general population after returning from treatment. The details, reported by The Los Angeles Times,are nauseating.

These files are just the beginning of the earthshaking information still to be released in Los Angeles, as the revelations I have described above are from just one individual case. Soon, the files that were supposed to be released as part of the massive 2007 settlement between 550 survivors and the Archdiocese will also become public. While the Archdiocese pushed hard to have the names of the members of the hierarchy redacted in those files, the press fought back in court and won. Now, these additional files will be also released, and likely will be just as searing as the few just now released.

I know, I know. At this point in history, learning that bishops failed to protect children from priest child predators is something that, to quote Capt. Reynaud in Casablanca, “I’m shocked, shocked to find.” The bigger picture though, is where I would like my reader to look now. The truth about child sex abuse in our culture is pouring in; where did it come from?

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
KDKA

[with video]

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A priest who once served in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is accused in the alleged molestation of a boy in New Hampshire in the 1980s.

Fr. Michael Ledoux was a principal at Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport and pastor of St. Pamphilus in Beechview.

Fr. Ledoux resigned from his post at a university outside Philadelphia after the allegations surfaced.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Diocese of Pittsburgh to send letters to 2 parishes after priest accused of abuse in New Hampshire

January 24, 2013

By Ann Rodgers / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Parishioners at two churches and alumni of Serra Catholic High School will receive letters asking whether anyone was harmed by a Franciscan priest who served in the 1990s and is accused of molesting a New Hampshire high school student in the 1980s.

Father Michael Ledoux, 55, was pastor of St. Pamphilus in Beechview from 1993 to 1995, principal of Serra in McKeesport from 1995 to 2000 and said Mass at St. Angela Merici in White Oak in 1999 and 2000, said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

“While the allegation was reported to the Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003, the Diocese of Pittsburgh was not informed until recently,” he said. “No allegation was made to us at all while he was in Pittsburgh.”

Father Ledoux has been banned from ministry since the Franciscan Friars of the Province of the Immaculate Conception settled his case in 2002. In 2003, he became dean of secular Widener University near Philadelphia.

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SCHWEIZ
Sudostschweiz

Ein unabhängiger Expertenbericht bestätigt, dass Ingenbohler Schwestern zwischen 1928 und 1970 Heimzöglingen Leid zugefügt haben. Der Bericht geht auch auf die miserablen Bedingungen ein, unter denen die Schwestern bis zur Erschöpfung arbeiteten.

Ingenbohl SZ. – Die vom Kloster beauftragte Expertengruppe hat am Mittwoch nach zweijähriger Arbeit ihren Bericht vorgestellt. Auslöser war der 2010 ausgestrahlten Dokumentarfilm «Das Kinderzuchthaus» von Beat Bieri. Darin geht es um die Erziehungsanstalt Rathausen bei Luzern, in der – neben vielen anderen Heimen – Ingenbohler Schwestern tätig waren.

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OSTERREICH
Kurier

Eine kleine juristische Sensation kündigt sich in Vorarlberg an. Zwei ehemalige Schüler des Klosterinternats Mehrerau in Bregenz haben 2012 wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs durch einen Pater geklagt. Das Kloster hat sich damals auf Verjährung berufen. Dies kommt für das Landesgericht Feldkirch nicht infrage. „Das Gericht hat von der Möglichkeit Gebrauch gemacht, die Verjährungseinrede in beiden Fällen nicht anzunehmen“, sagt Gerichtssprecher Reinhard Flatz.

Die beiden Fälle sind ähnlich gelagert, aber doch von unterschiedlicher juristischer Tragweite. Ein ehemaliger Zögling, 58, gibt an, bereits 1968 im Vorarlberger Eliteinternat von Pater B. sexuell missbraucht worden zu sein. Der andere ehemalige Mehrerau-Schüler, 46, soll 1982 ebenfalls Opfer sexueller Übergriffe durch denselben Pater geworden sein. Im Fall von 1968 liegt ein psychologisches Gutachten vor, dass der Missbrauchte durch die Traumatisierung erst jetzt über die Vorfälle sprechen könne. Im anderen Fall waren die 30 Jahre Verjährungsfrist im Zivilverfahren ohnehin nicht erreicht.

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DEUTSCHLAND
kathweb

Zum Abschluss des Treffens gab es keine öffentliche Erklärung zur weiteren Vorgehensweise

23.01.2013

München (KAP) Der Ständige Rat der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz (DBK) hat am Dienstagabend seine zweitägige Krisensitzung in Würzburg beendet. Die Aufarbeitung des Missbrauchsskandals nach dem Zerwürfnis der Bischöfe mit dem Kriminologen Christian Pfeiffer stand im Mittelpunkt. Das Thema wird die DBK auch in den nächsten Monaten intensiv beschäftigen. Zum Abschluss des Treffens gab es keine öffentliche Erklärung zur weiteren Vorgehensweise.

Innerhalb der DBK forderte der Eichstätter Bischof Gregor Hanke Selbstkritik. Man müsse sich der Frage stellen, warum man die Probleme, an denen die Zusammenarbeit der Bischöfe mit Pfeiffer letztendlich gescheitert waren, “nicht schon am Anfang” in den Blick genommen habe.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Loyolan

Dr. C. Colt Anderson, the Fordham University Dean of the Graduate School of Religion, presented a talk on “Lessons of History: What Can the Church of the Middle Ages Teach Us about the Modern Sex-Abuse Scandal?” this past Wednesday in Ahmanson Auditorium. He spoke with the Loyolan before the event.

Jenna Andou (JA): If a priest from a century ago learned about the realities of sexual abuse in the Church today, what would they say?

C. Colt Anderson (CA): They would probably say that they had similar problems. If you study Church history, you can see that these problems have always been around – they get worse and they get better.

JA: How would you define modern sexual abuse?

CA: I would use St. Peter Damian’s category – he says that sexual abuse is spiritual incest. It is a similar betrayal, but it is even worse because the priest’s role is supposed to be someone of absolute trust.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Kathy Mellott kmellott@tribdem.com

JOHNSTOWN — An advocacy group aimed at bringing greater accountability to Catholic church leaders in dealing with child sexual abuse by priests is mapping where Brother Stephen Baker has been during the past three decades and pushing to make sure he has no access to children.

Much of the background of Baker, a Franciscan friar, remains a mystery.

That has led to speculation that incidents of his alleged abuse of children – particularly boys – may reach into the hundreds, said Judy Jones, a St. Louis resident who works with SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).

Especially disconcerting, she said, is the past decade since Baker, a brother with the Franciscans, left Bishop McCort High School.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune-Review

By Jason Cato

Published: Thursday, January 24, 2013.

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh this week notified parishes and alumni of a high school that a priest who worked there is accused of sexual abuse.

The Rev. Michael Ledoux, 55, a Franciscan friar, served as pastor of St. Pamphilus in Beechview from 1993-95; headmaster of Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport from 1995 to 2000; and worked as an adjunct professor at Duquesne University from 1997 through 2000.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported this month that Ledoux resigned in July as a dean at Widener University in Chester because school officials learned of a 2003 allegation that he sexually abused a teenage boy in the 1980s in New Hampshire.

Ledoux could not be reached for comment.

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CALIFORNIA
Santa Barbara Independent

[Archive of Los Angeles Archdiocesan Documents – BishopAccountability.org]

Thursday, January 24, 2013

By Nick Welsh

Santa Barbara’s Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Curry has been accused of “thwarting” potential sex abuse investigations by responsible law enforcement agencies concerning at least three pedophile priests during the 1980s when Curry served as the archdiocese’s chief advisor to archbishop ​— ​and later cardinal ​— ​Roger Mahony on sex abuse cases.

Attorney Tony De Marco submitted just-released church personnel records demonstrating how concerned Curry and Mahony were that sexual-offender priests might come to the attention of law enforcement investigators. De Marco submitted these documents as part of a lawsuit he filed on behalf of a man who claims he’d been abused by a priest, Nicholas Aguilar Rivera. Rivera remains at large, and De Marco is demanding the opportunity to depose Curry and Mahony to demonstrate the extent to which the archdiocese was “thwarting law enforcement investigations.”

In 1986, Curry wrote a memo to Mahony about Michael Baker, a priest who’d admitted to molesting boys that year. Curry cautioned against allowing Baker to see a California therapist. “I see a problem here, in that if he were to mention his problem with child abuse it would put the therapist in a position of having to report him.” Curry then added, “I think we have to be very careful about whom he goes to see and what kind of information is released to the program. Given the fact that he cannot mention his past problem, the necessity to be so circumspect might defeat the purpose of his going to a therapist.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
WHPT

Saying the move is long overdue and flanked by high-profile reform advocates, state Reps. Louise Williams Bishop and Michael P. McGeehan, both D-Phila., today announced a renewed push to update archaic statute-of-limitations laws in child sexual abuse cases at a Capitol Rotunda news conference.

Bishop and McGeehan said their respective bills are patterned after ones they introduced in the last two-year legislative session but died after being inexplicably bottled up in the committee process.

Bishop has reintroduced her legislation, now known as H.B. 237, which would abolish the statute of limitations on criminal charges and civil lawsuits in cases of child sexual abuse.

“Child sexual abuse victims are slowly beginning to break the barriers of silence; however, they still face a daunting procedural obstacle — the statute of limitations,” said Bishop, who came out last year as a victim of child sexual abuse. “Instead of suppressing legislation that would lift the statute of limitations, we should be voting these game-changing bills out of committee and the House, so more victims can seek justice.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Tribune-Democrat

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says churches should notify the public about accusations of child abuse. Do you agree?

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IRELAND
Huffington Post

Steve McSwain

I was reading recently of the bravery of the Irish Catholic priest, Fr. Tony Flannery, who, at 66, is being threatened by the Vatican.

No! I thought. The Vatican never threatens anyone!

LOL!

The history of Christianity, and not just in Catholicism but in all Christian denominations, is similar. The Church has found that it thrives best not in a world it sacrifices itself to redeem — not in a world it lays down its life in order to give life to others — but, instead, it survives best by demanding coercion, by making itself into a “god” and insisting this God can only be known “our” way; by making its beliefs into an idol that the faithful must bow the knee. The church has found that, by drawing lines in theological and doctrinal sands, battle lines between “us,” the theologically “correct” and “them,” the doctrinally “wrong,” that, by doing so, the church wins.

But does it really?

Of course, it does not, as history has repeatedly demonstrated. Unfortunately, however, history, at least as far as the church is concerned, has never been a very good teacher for church leaders.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

A Roman Catholic priest who ministered at a Long Beach church pleaded no contest to sexually groping a 14-year-old girl and two young women and was sentenced to five years felony probation Wednesday.

Father Luis Jose Cuevas, 67, who served at St. Athanasius Church on Linden Avenue, admitted to groping the 14-year-old and two 19-year-olds. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors of sexual assault in February 2012 and a felony lewd act upon a child in July 2010.

“God be with you because you need him now more than we do,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Zepeda told the priest, reading from a statement from the victims.

In addition to probation, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jesse Rodriguez ordered the priest to complete a 40-hour community service program and to register as a sex offender.

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
Providence Journal

January 23, 2013 5:14 pm

By Richard C. Dujardin

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Agreeing with The Providence Journal and certain other media outlets, a state judge has ordered the unsealing of documents relating to a $60 million bequest that the late Gabrielle Mee left to the scandal-plagued Legion of Christ.

Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein ordered the unsealing on Wednesday, granting a request brought by The Providence Journal, New York Times, National Catholic Reporter and the Associated Press.

Mee’s niece, Mary Lou Dauray of Sausalito, Calif., has been challenging the distribution of her aunt’s assets, claiming that the Legion of Christ exercised undue influence on her aunt when it convinced her to donate all her money to the order before she died in 2008 at age 96. The order owns Mater Ecclesiae College in Smithfield.

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
ABC News

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. January 24, 2013 (AP)

A Rhode Island judge has ordered the unsealing of documents related to a disgraced Roman Catholic organization called the Legion of Christ as it faces questions about its relationship to wealthy elderly patrons.

Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein ruled Wednesday the public should be allowed to scrutinize the documents.

The documents are from a lawsuit filed by a woman contesting the will of a wealthy aunt who left the Legion $60 million. The Legion argued the documents could taint prospective jurors.

The Associated Press and other media organizations sought to unseal the documents, arguing they could reveal the Legion’s operations.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.comtwincities.com
Posted: 01/23/2013 12:01:00 AM CST

A priest formerly assigned to a Chanhassen parish has persuaded a judge to seal the record of his conviction for indecent exposure in a St. Paul park.

Michael John Krenik, 55, has been banned from public ministry since his November 2010 arrest. He wants to become a hospital chaplain, his attorney, Paul Engh, told Ramsey County District Judge Judith Tilsen on Wednesday, Jan. 23.

“I truly regret and am sorry for my actions of Nov. 4, 2010,” Krenik said, standing before the judge in his clerical collar. He said he wanted the conviction expunged so that he could “begin anew” in his relationship with the city, the church and himself.

Engh told the court that a parish priest, Krenik offered forgiveness to others on a regular basis.

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ARIZONA
The Salt Lake Tribune

By Jim Dalrymple II
The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Jan 22 2013

A woman who was finally able to leave an FLDS-controlled polygamous community escaped thanks to beefed up law enforcement in the area, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which pleaded Tuesday for more funding.

In a news conference, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne announced that Ruby Jessop had managed to leave Colorado City earlier this month. According to a news release, Jessop was held against her will for more than 10 years after being forced to marry her second-cousin, Haven Barlow, in 2001. Ruby, now 26, has been granted temporary custody of her six children, according to the release.

He said a criminal probe of the FLDS and the Marshal’s Office, which serves as a small police force in the twin polygamous towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, is currently under way. He declined to provide details.

“What they do is say, ‘Everybody watch her so she won’t run away.’ Then she can’t leave,” Horne said of women like Ruby. “Women who wanted to escape have been forcibly held by the marshals against their will.”

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ARIZONA
Fox News

A mother of six who authorities say was held captive in an Arizona town by Warren Jeffs’ polygamous sect and the local police force it controlled has escaped with her children, according to the state’s top lawman.

Ruby Jessop, 26, whose detention in Colorado City led to a criminal probe of the church founded by the now-imprisoned Jeffs, was granted temporary custody of the children and has left the tiny town, according to Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne. As a member of Jeffs’ Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), Jessop was forced to marry her brother-in-law at age 14. For the next dozen years, she remained trapped in the Utah-Arizona border town, Horne said, along with several other women allegedly held captive by church elders.

“What they do is say, ‘Everybody watch her so she won’t run away.’ Then she can’t leave,” Horne said. “Women who wanted to escape have been forcibly held by the marshals against their will.”

A criminal probe of the FLDS and the Marshal’s Office, the police force with jurisdiction over the twin polygamous towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, is currently ongoing, said Horne, who declined to elaborate. The Marshal’s Office has long been accused of being under the control of the sect.

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ARIZONA
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

The incredible story of child bride forced to marry step-brother who escaped Warren Jeffs’ polygamous sect with her six children

By Rachel Quigley

PUBLISHED: 15:18 EST, 23 January 2013

Ruby Jessop was just 14-years-old when she was deemed ‘sexually mature’ by polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs and forced to marry her step-brother and have sex with different men.

She was held against her will at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for the next 12 years, in which time she bore six children and lived under the iron fist of the pervert leader.

Ruby Jessop, now 26, managed to escape from the sick and twisted world of Warren Jeffs last month and has now been granted temporary custody of the children aged from two to ten, who were being held ‘hostage’ by the sect, her sister said.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Catholic Culture

Phil Lawler

In 2002, when Pope John Paul II called the leaders of the US bishops’ conference to Rome for a discussion of the sex-abuse crisis, one cardinal, speaking to the Los Angeles Times under cover of anonymity, said that the prelates would push for the resignation of Boston’s Cardinal Bernard Law.

Cardinal Law was in trouble, of course, because of the revelations that he had covered up evidence of sexual abuse by priests, and shuffled abusive priests from one parish to another without informing parishioners.

The anonymous prelate who called for Law’s scalp was never identified, but most informed observers believe that it was Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles.

That was back in 2002. Now, after a decade of legal resistance, the Los Angeles archdiocese has released files that show how Cardinal Mahony had handling sex-abuse complaints: roughly the same way Cardinal Law did. Thanks to the dogged efforts of lawyers for the LA archdiocese, this evidence became public only after Cardinal Mahony’s retirement. But if it was indeed Cardinal Mahony who wanted Cardinal Law to step down in 2002, it seems quite clear that he should have followed his own advice.

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LONG BEACH (CA)
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on January 23, 2013

Less than 48 hours after the historic first “document dump” in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a former Long Beach priest has been sentenced to probation and must register as a sex offender.

Fr. Cuevas, Do you have a secret file in Archbishop Gomez’ office?

And people say that the “scandal” is over …

According to the Long Beach Press Telegram:

Luis Jose Cuevas, who was once a parish priest at St. Athanasius Catholic Church, 5390 Linden Ave., was given five years of probation and must register as a sex offender as part of a plea agreement.

Cuevas, who was initially charged with nine counts, agreed to one count of sexual battery against of each of three victims, including one felony because the victim was a minor.

In April of 2012, two adult women came forward to say that Cuevas had sexually assaulted them. During the police investigation, Cuevas was allowed to remain at St. Athanasius Catholic Church. When the third victim came forward—a minor who says she was molested by Cuevas during over the course of two years—Archdiocese officials removed the priest. Cuevas was arrested in July 2012.

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IRELAND
Vatican Insider

Redemptorist Superior General, Michael Brehl has asked the Irish priest to obey the instructions of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Gianni Valente
Rome

The case of rebel Redemptorist priest Tony Flannery has reached a significant turning point. In recent days Fr. Flannery announced his intention – to newspapers and in a public conference – to ignore the disciplinary measures presented against him by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Today, Michael Brehl, the Canadian Superior General of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, issued a declaration in which he expressed his deep regret for the actions recently undertaken by Flannery, also a member of the Congregation.

In his brief statement, the current Superior of the religious order founded by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, gives a brief summary of the whole affair: “In January, 2012, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith raised concerns about some of the writings of Fr. Flannery which were ambiguous regarding fundamental areas of Catholic doctrine, including the priesthood, the nature of the Church, and the Eucharist,” Brehl writes. The priest “was instructed to undertake a period of prayer and theological reflection to clarify his positions on these matters. During this sabbatical period, he was instructed not to grant interviews or make public statements, and to withdraw from active involvement in the leadership of the ACP (an independent body of Catholic priests which had been called to address the paedophilia scandal in the Irish Catholic Church, Ed.), especially since the priesthood was one of the matters on which he was asked to clarify his position. He was also instructed to withdraw from active priestly ministry during this period of prayer and reflection.”

In his statement, Fr. Brehl “earnestly” urged his confrere “to renew the efforts to find an agreed solution to the concerns raised by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith.” Finally, he invited his “Redemptorist confreres of the Irish Province to join with [him] in praying and working together in the spirit of St Alphonsus to maintain and strengthen our communion with the Universal Church.”

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LONG BEACH (CA)
NBC Southern California

[with video]

By Jonathan Lloyd and Toni Guinyard

Wednesday, Jan 23, 2013

A former Long Beach priest who entered a plea of no contest to sexual assault charges — including lewd acts involving a child — was sentenced Wednesday and ordered to register as a sex offender.

Luis Jose Cuevas, 68, who served the North Long Beach Catholic community for seven years, entered the no-contest plea in December. He was charged with eight misdemeanor counts of sex assault involving two women and one felony count of a lewd acts involving a child.

The girl, 17, accused the priest of repeatedly groping her at the church during a period of two years.

He was sentenced to five years felony probation, 40 hours of community service and one year of offender counseling. He also must register as a sex offender.

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

LONG BEACH (CA)
Press-Telegram

By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
presstelegram.com
Posted: 01/23/2013

LONG BEACH — A former Catholic priest who pleaded no contest to three counts of sexual battery avoided jail time Wednesday at his sentencing in Long Beach Superior Court.

Luis Jose Cuevas, who was once a parish priest at St. Athanasius Catholic Church, 5390 Linden Ave., was given five years of probation and must register as a sex offender as part of a plea agreement.

Cuevas, who was initially charged with nine counts, agreed to one count of sexual battery against of each of three victims, including one felony because the victim was a minor.

Prior to the sentencing, Cuevas’ lawyer, George Bird, said his client accepted responsibility for his actions and would “use his remaining time to do kind, as he attempted

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
LA Weekly

By Patrick Range McDonald
Wed., Jan. 23 2013

On the front page of this morning’s Los Angeles Times, the paper notes that several legal experts suspect Cardinal Roger Mahony will not face criminal charges for covering up clergy sex abuse due to the statute of limitations. One advocacy group says those experts have it wrong.

“We aren’t police, prosecutors or even lawyers,” says David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), in a press statement today. “But for 25 years, we’ve seen, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., ‘the long arc of history bend toward justice.’ We’ve seen secular authorities become increasingly assertive and creative and successful in pursuing sophisticated criminals.”

Founded in 1988, SNAP is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims and has more than 12,000 members.

Clohessy adds, “Remember one simple fact and one simple adage: Al Capone was nailed on tax evasion [and] ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.'”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Joseph A. Slobodzian, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Posted: Wednesday, January 23, 2013

The victim-services coordinator for the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia spent this morning on the witness stand caught in the cross-fire questioning of defense and prosecution lawyers in the sex-assault trial of a priest and a former parochial school teacher.

Lawyers for the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and Bernard Shero called Louise Hagner as part of their continuing attack on the credibility of victim-accuser “Billy Doe” in the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court trial.

Billy, now 24, alleges that Engelhardt, 66, and Shero, 49, raped and assaulted him in 1998-1999 when he was a 10-year-old altar boy at St. Jerome’s parish school in the Northeast.

Defense lawyers contend that the assaults never happened and have portrayed Billy as a troubled drug-addicted man trying to make money by suing the archdiocese.

Hagner, who said she fields sex-abuse allegations against priests and other church personnel and arranges for social and support services, testified about her telephone and in-person interviews with Billy on Jan. 30, 2009 after he called the archdiocesan sex-abuse hotline.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Citizens Voice

By Denis J. O’Malley (Staff Writer)
Published: January 23, 2013

After less than two hours of deliberation, a Monroe County jury on Tuesday convicted the former pastor accused of killing his second wife in 2008 with first-degree murder.

The relatively quick decision, which also found Arthur Schirmer, 64, guilty of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence for staging a car crash on Route 715 in Jackson Twp. to explain Betty Jean Schirmer’s death, came after an 11-day trial that saw nearly 60 witnesses testify.

Schirmer, who served as pastor at Reeders United Methodist Church at the time of the murder, showed hardly any reaction as he stood listening to the jury forewoman report the guilty verdict at about 4:20 p.m.

Just a few feet behind him on the other side of the courtroom’s wooden gallery barrier, Mr. Schirmer’s two daughters and his fiancée buried their heads in their hands and wept.

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PENNSYLVANIA
CBS News

(CBS/AP) STROUDSBURG, Pa. – A former Methodist clergyman convicted Tuesday of bludgeoning his second wife to death in 2008 will now face trial for allegedly killing his first wife.

Arthur Schirmer, 64, was found guilty of first-degree murder and evidence tampering after a jury in the Poconos concluded he clubbed Betty Schirmer on the head with a crowbar, then loaded her into their PT Cruiser and staged a low-speed accident in an effort to conceal the crime.

In September 2012, a grand jury indicted Schirmer in the 1999 death of his first wife, Jewel Schirmer. A trial date has not been set.

Schirmer has maintained his innocence in both Betty and Jewel’s deaths, and his attorney pledged to appeal the verdict. Defense attorney Brandon Reish had insisted in his closing argument that while his client cheated on Betty, he had no motive to kill her.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NECN

Jan 23, 2013

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A church social worker says she believed a longtime heroin addict was sober when he raised abuse claims against two priests and a teacher.

Louise Hagner’s testimony for the defense Wednesday is designed to discredit the accuser. The young man has testified that he was high when he first detailed the abuse.

He has since changed key details of his story.

Hagner’s notes show he said he was abused by sixth-grade teacher Bernard Shero in the classroom in 2000 and raped by the Rev. Charles Engelhardt for five hours at church.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
KDKA

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A protest will be held downtown Wednesday afternoon to urge the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese to break their silence about an alleged predator priest who used to work in the city.

According to a press release, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) will protest outside of the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese headquarters on the Boulevard of the Allies around 2 p.m.

The protest will be about Fr. Michael Ledoux, a Franciscan priest, who resigned from his position near Philadelphia after reports accused him of reportedly molesting a child.

For the last nine years, Ledoux had worked at Widener University, but prior to that he spent time at Duquesne University, Sierra Catholoc High School and St. Pamphilus parish in Pittsburgh.

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