ABUSE TRACKER

MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

Local Catholic dioceses might need some of the money they spent fighting gay marriage. Chao Xiong of the Strib reports: “A 51-year-old Twin Cities man sued Wednesday alleging sexual abuse by a Catholic priest in the 1970s, the first such lawsuit since the Child Victims Act was signed into law last week by Gov. Mark Dayton. The act strips away the statute of limitations that previously gave child sex-abuse victims until the age of 24 to sue. Exactly what impact it will have is unclear, but St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, who is representing the man, said more litigation is inevitable. … Anderson’s client, Doe 1, is suing former priest Thomas Adamson, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona in Ramsey County District Court. Anderson is also asking the archdiocese and diocese to publicly release the names of 46 priests who have ‘credible allegations of sexual abuse.’ ”

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MINNESOTA
The Bemidji Pioneer

[the lawsuit]

JUSTIN GLAWE
BEMIDJI PIONEER

BEMIDJI — The first lawsuit born of the Minnesota Child Victims Act was filed Wednesday, and the lawyer representing “John Doe 1” in the case said more suits will be filed against James Porter, a priest who worked in Bemidji and admitted to abusing more than 100 children across the country from 1960-73.

The bill, signed into law by Gov. Mark Dayton on May 9, provides a three-year window for victims of past abuse to have their day in court. After the window closes, victims must abide by the original statute of limitations, which requires them to file suit before they reach age 25.

In 1992, Jeff Anderson, of Anderson and Associates in St. Paul, represented 15 victims from the Bemidji area who came forward with allegations against Porter — a priest at St. Philip’s Catholic Church from 1969-70.

“There will be more Porter cases,” Anderson told The Bemidji Pioneer on Wednesday.

The suit filed by Anderson on Wednesday named the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, the Diocese of Winona and Father Thomas Adamson as defendants.

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MINNESOTA
WDAY

By: Associated Press

ST. PAUL — Attorneys have announced the first civil lawsuit over alleged sex abuse by a priest since the Minnesota Legislature loosened the statute of limitations.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday on behalf of an anonymous 51-year-old Twin Cities man who alleges he was sexually abused nearly 40 years ago by a former priest.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the suit also accuses the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona of being a public nuisance for refusing to release the names of 46 priests “credibly accused” of molesting children.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

[the lawsuit]

Article by: CHAO XIONG , Star Tribune Updated: May 29, 2013

A 51-year-old Twin Cities man sued Wednesday alleging sexual abuse by a Catholic priest in the 1970s, the first such lawsuit since the Child Victims Act was signed into law last week by Gov. Mark Dayton.

The act strips away the statute of limitations that previously gave child sex-abuse victims until the age of 24 to sue. Exactly what impact it will have is unclear, but St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, who is representing the man, said more litigation is inevitable.

“He was suffering in the shadows,” Anderson said of his client, who is remaining anonymous. “There are going to be many more [suits] to come, as they should. Now is the time for reckoning.”

Anderson’s client, Doe 1, is suing former priest Thomas Adamson, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona in Ramsey County District Court. Anderson is also asking the archdiocese and diocese to publicly release the names of 46 priests who have “credible allegations of sexual abuse.”

The suit claims that church leaders knew that Adamson sexually abused boys starting in the 1960s while he worked in southern Minnesota. He was moved often, and ended up at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in St. Paul Park from 1976 to 1979, where he sexually abused Doe 1 from 1976 to 1977, the suit claims. Adamson “groomed” the boy and his parents, Anderson said, and would sexually abuse him after taking him to athletic events or playing basketball with him.

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MINNESOTA
Albert Lea Tribune

[the lawsuit via Jeff Anderson & Associates]

By Sarah Stultz

A former priest who served a stint at St. Theodore Catholic Church in the 1960s is facing multiple allegations of sexual abuse against children over a 20-year period.

St. Paul lawyer Jeff Anderson on Wednesday announced he filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of a 51-year-old Twin Cities man, against former Rev. Thomas Adamson.

Adamson served in the Albert Lea parish in 1967 and 1968, at which time he was also the chaplain of Lea College. He came to the city from an administrative position in Hammond, and after leaving Albert Lea, he was moved to St. Lawrence O’Toole in Fountain and St. Kilian’s in Wycoff.

A news release from the Jeff Anderson & Associates firm states Adamson was moved to 15 locations during a 20-year period, allegedly molesting boys in almost every parish he served.

It also alleges the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona concealed or ignored Adamson’s alleged abuse of children, in turn endangering children and the public safety.

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AUSTRALIA
CNN

By Monica Attard, for CNN
updated 3:35 AM EDT, Thu May 30, 2013

Sydney, Australia (CNN) — Australia’s most senior Catholic has urged the government of Victoria not to change the state’s laws to allow the victims of sex abuse at the hands of clergy to seek higher compensation than currently available.

Cardinal George Pell said this would amount to discrimination against the Australian Catholic Church.
This comes after a tumultuous week in which the victims of church sex abuse heard Cardinal Pell acknowledge the church had covered up the abuse of minors, out of fear the scandal would envelope the faith.

Pell was this week, the final witness in a state government enquiry into the responses to the allegations of child sex abuse by religious and non-government institutions in the state of Victoria. The cardinal also apologized for the abuse.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
May 30, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson has filed the first lawsuit under a new Minnesota law that allows victims of child sexual abuse to bring claims decades later.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court on behalf of an unnamed 51-year-old man, accuses the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona of negligence for allowing a known pedophile to continue working with children for years.

The plaintiff, identified as “Doe 1” seeks a court order to force the church to release an internal list of “credibly accused child molesting priests” and accuses the church of creating a public nuisance by keeping the names secret. The man also seeks more than $50,000 from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the Diocese of Winona and former priest and alleged abuser Thomas Adamson.

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IRELAND
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin

The number of Dublin priests, against whom an allegation of child sexual abuse has been recorded, has not increased in the past year.This is the first time this figure has remained static since the Archdiocese began publishing annual updates almost 8 years ago.

This year, the Child Safeguarding and Protection Service (CSPS) will acknowledge the work of hundreds of volunteers who received training and who are responsible for implementing safeguarding procedures in a special Diocesan Safeguarding Day. This is to recognise the crucial work carried out by these women and men in helping maintain a safe environment for children in the life of the Church in Dublin.

This year also saw the setting up of a new Diocesan Safeguarding Committee. This voluntary group of lay and religious men and women with relevant expertise, supports guides and enhances the work of the Diocese, its parishes, offices and agencies in promoting good safeguarding practices.

Within the past 12 months the Service also began the distribution of a regular newsletter to all 199 parishes and groups working in the Archdiocese, keeping them updated on new developments and events.

The Diocesan Director for Child Safeguarding and Protection, Andrew Fagan, said they are arriving, albeit slowly, at a position where the Service has a fuller picture of what happened in the past. He said that while there has been a fall off in the number of allegations against men not previously known to them, this must not lead to complacency. “We continue to monitor those who could pose a risk to children and we must remain steadfast and focussed on Safeguarding to ensure that the risk to children participating in church life today is minimal”.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

The number of Dublin priests against whom an allegation of child sexual abuse has been recorded has not increased in the past year.

It is the first time this figure has remained static in almost a decade.

However the suspicion of abuse, which is categorised by the Church as being less serious than an allegation, was raised against two priests of the archdiocese who were not previously the subject of complaints.

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UNITED STATES
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

By Tribune-Review

Published: Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C. and former bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, met with Pope Francis Wednesday in Rome, Vatican and archdiocese officials said.

The Archdiocese of Washington’s spokeswoman said Wuerl was in Rome for a meeting of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which he is a member. The Congregation reviews Catholic practices and cases of alleged abuse by priests. The Vatican Information Service noted that the Pope received Wuerl Wednesday afternoon, but gave no details.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

A ROMAN Catholic Bishop is to step down after more than 30 years in the role.

The Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Devine tendered his resignation in August last year on his 75th birthday.

Bishop Devine continued in his post for 10 months as no successor was appointed and his office will now be handled by an administrator until a new Bishop of Motherwell is ordained.

He became a Bishop in 1977 and took the role in Motherwell in May 1983.

A statement from the Diocese of Motherwell said: “He will always have a deep fondness for the people of Lanarkshire and is greatly appreciative of the loyalty, support and generosity that he has received not only from his own congregations but from people of all faiths and none.”

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NOVA YORK
BBC Portugal

Alessandra Corrêa
De Nova York para a BBC Brasil

Durante mais de 30 anos, o padre americano Bruce Teague suportou o peso de um segredo nunca revelado: o de que, aos nove anos de idade, quando era coroinha, foi abusado sexualmente por um padre de sua paróquia, no Estado de Massachusetts.
Hoje, aos 65 anos, Teague usa sua experiência para ajudar outros sobreviventes desse tipo de crime.

Ele é um dos membros de um recém-criado grupo de padres e freiras dos EUA que se uniram para denunciar os abusos que continuam ocorrendo dentro da Igreja Católica e incentivar que vítimas e testemunhas rompam o isolamento e venham a público relatar novos casos.
Batizado de Catholic Whistleblowers (“denunciantes católicos”, em tradução livre), o grupo surgiu informalmente no ano passado e tornou sua campanha pública neste mês, em uma entrevista coletiva em Nova York.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

by SUE ELLEN BROWDER 05/29/2013

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sexual-abuse “window” legislation, similar to the law that led to diocesan payouts of over $1 billion in California in 2003, is snaking its way through state legislatures across the nation.

Senate Bill 131, which may go to the floor of the California Senate as early as today, could put the Catholic Church again in financial jeopardy by opening up yet another year in which civil cases alleging sexual abuse that happened decades ago could be filed in court.
“Our chief concern with this bill is that it goes backwards, that it opens up the statute of limitations all over again for one year in 2014,” said Kevin Eckery, spokesman for the California Catholic Conference.

When California passed the 2002 law that opened up a one-year “window” into the legal system in 2003 for anyone to sue the Church for past alleged sexual abuse, assurances were made that this “one time” legal initiative would allow the Church to address past sex scandals and then move forward, a promise that seems to be forgotten.

But there’s a new twist to the legislation this time around: the 2014 legal “window” would apply not only to the Catholic Church but to all private and non-profit organizations, such as the YMCA/YWCA, private schools, private businesses, Protestant churches and Little League.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | May. 29, 2013

The U.S. bishops’ conference has named a Jesuit known for conventional views on marriage and sexuality as its new doctrinal watchdog, replacing a key staffer behind several controversial criticisms of theologians in recent years.

Fr. Peter Ryan will become executive director of the bishops’ secretariat of doctrine and canonical affairs in August, the conference announced Wednesday.

The appointment, which comes as the bishops’ conference prepares a change in its top leadership in the fall, may be a sign of what stance the bishops will take toward those who hold more progressive viewpoints under the new pontificate of Pope Francis.

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MALTA
Malta Today

Chris Mangion

The victims of sexual abuse committed by two priests at the St Joseph’s Home for Boys in Santa Venera are to file a compensation claim in court today.

Lawrence Grech, who was the man who broke the silence and led the victims’ legal battle against the priests today filed the claim together with nine other victims.

The victims are claiming that since the two priests were sentenced to jail, the victims should receive compensation, however stopped short of demanding a specific amount.

In November, defrocked priests Carmelo Pulis and Godwin Scerri were sentenced to six years and five years imprisonment respectively.

The judgment was confirmed on appeal by Mr. Justice Scicluna on the basis of clear evidence of lewd and lustful acts which were committed by the two on 11 ‘passive victims’.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

The 10 victims of sex abuse by former priests today filed a civil case requesting the court to liquidate for damages.

The victims filed their case against abusers Carmelo Pulis and Godwin Scerri, the Missionary Society of St Paul, the Archdiocese of Malta, and the directors general at the Office of the Prime Minister, the Education and Employment Ministry and the Social Solidarity and Family ministry.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Steve Adubato
on May 26, 2013

There was lots of feedback to my recent column about a texting dad who was not “in the moment” at his 8-year-old son’s baseball game, as well as to an earlier column on the much-publicized leadership failures of the Archdiocese of Newark in the case of the disgraced Rev. Michael Fugee. Here is a sampling: …

Finally, Fred Kanter of Mountain Lakes responded to my column on the Newark Archdiocese leadership failure in the case of the Rev. Michael Fugee, who was arrested and arraigned last week. The Rev. Fugee admitted to groping a young boy and was later in the presence of children, despite a signed agreement with prosecutors barring such behavior.

Said Kanter: “The business of any religion, according to them, is truth. This latest example is like episode 5,222 of a daytime soap opera, it’s just more of the same. Trust them (the leadership of the church) to do what’s right, and they deny any culpability while silently playing a game of musical chairs with serial pedophiles. So this time a big public display was made of an agreement just for show. Then they just stealthily continued the game and tell us they interpret the agreement differently. I find it morally depraved and disgusting, nothing less.”

The last thing the Catholic Church’s brand needed was a devastating hit to its reputation like this. Institutions, organizations and businesses are expected to demonstrate strong leadership and communicate in a clear, concise and credible fashion when a crisis occurs. The Archdiocese in Newark has failed miserably on both counts and to date has done nothing to turn this situation around.

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WASHINGTON
The Spokesman-Review

May 29, 2013

Thomas Clouse The Spokesman-Review

A Spokane man has been charged with child rape and molestation in a case that has prompted Gonzaga University officials to review on-campus security measures.

Timothy D. Woodard, 48, a Gonzaga employee, is facing seven felony charges, including first-degree rape and first-degree child molestation, stemming from events that the victim said occurred in 1998 or 1999 when he was 10.

The charges prompted an email from Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh, who wrote university staff because Woodard continued to work there as a general maintenance employee. Once officials learned of the charges, they placed Woodard on administrative leave.

“The allegations state that some abuse may have taken place on Gonzaga’s campus; specifically, there are allegations that one or more instances occurred in our fitness facilities,” McCulloh wrote in an email obtained by The Spokesman-Review. “The incidents alleged in these charges are extremely serious, and I am deeply saddened to learn of them.”

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WASHINGTON
The Cardinal Newman Society

May 29, 2013 | By Tim Drake

A Gonzaga University employee is facing seven felony charges, including first-degree rape and first-degree child molestation, that took place in 1998 or 1999 when the victim was 10, The Spokesman-Review is reporting.

The employee, a general maintenance worker at the time, has been placed on administrative leave by the University. The Spokesman-Review reports that the worker knew the victim and the victim’s family.

The charges prompted Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh to write an email to University staff last Friday.

“The allegations state that some abuse may have taken place on Gonzaga’s campus; specifically, there are allegations that one or more instances occurred in our fitness facilities,” McCulloh wrote in an email obtained by The Cardinal Newman Society. “The incidents alleged in these charges are extremely serious, and I am deeply saddened to learn of them.”

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WASHINGTON
The Cardinal Newman Society

May 28, 2013 | By Tim Drake

Newly unsealed documents reveal that federal agents seized dozens of DVDs and videos last month from a Gonzaga University faculty office and apartment as part of an ongoing child pornography investigation, reported The Spokesman-Review.

The investigation is looking into online purchases and movie downloads allegedly made by a professor who was placed on administrative leave by the University following the raid, which took place last month.

“The university is deeply saddened to read the contents of the search warrant,” Earl “Marty” Martin, Executive Vice President at Gonzaga, told the newspaper. “The safety and security of our campus is our utmost concern.”

According to court records, someone using a faculty member’s credit card spent more $1,654 on 29 purchases between Dec. 26, 2008, and Jan. 15, 2011, from a Toronto film company that was raided in 2010 under a joint investigation by U.S. and Canadian law enforcement agencies.

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VATICAN CITY
Legionaries of Christ

Pope Francis received Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, Pontifical Delegate of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi, in an audience this Monday, May 27. During the 45-minute meeting, Cardinal De Paolis updated Pope Francis on the different steps of the path that the Legion and Regnum Christi have undertaken. He focused on his third year as Pontifical Delegate.

The Delegate and the Pope also spoke of the principle task entrusted to Cardinal De Paolis: guiding the congregation and elaborating the new constitutions of the Legion of Christ. These constitutions will be presented to an extraordinary General Chapter which will be tentatively celebrated at the beginning of 2014. The Chapter will also elect a new general government for the congregation.

Cardinal De Paolis told the Holy Father about the attention that he has given to Regnum Christi, which he describes as “a precious reality that enriches and complements the Legion’s field of action.” He also spoke of the Consecrated Men and Women and the lay people committed in this Movement.

Finally, the Delegate informed the Pope that he foresees the need for a specific statute, or rule, for Regnum Christi that would regulate the life of the members and their relationship with the Legion. This statute will also have to be approved by the General Chapter of the Legion, by the General Assemblies of the Consecrated Men and Women and by an Assembly of the entire Movement.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporteri

Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service | May. 29, 2013

ROME — As the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi prepare for a new beginning after a Vatican-ordered reform, the groups are asking members to participate in a novena of atonement and healing in the aftermath of their founder’s misconduct.

“In each of us, the healing process has been and continues to be deeply personal,” said a letter signed by Legionary Fr. Sylvester Heereman, acting superior; Gloria Rodriguez, director of the consecrated women’s branch of Regnum Christi; and Jorge Lopez, director of the consecrated men’s branch of Regnum Christi.

The general chapter of the Legionaries and the general assemblies of Regnum Christi’s male and female branches are likely to be held early in 2014, bringing the election of new superiors and the adoption of new constitutions and statutes, the three leaders said in a letter Tuesday to members.

In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI ordered the reform and reorganization of Regnum Christi and the Legionaries after revelations that their founder, the late Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, had fathered children and sexually abused seminarians.

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NEW JERSEY
New Jersey 101.5

By Ray Rossi May 29, 2013

When scandals come to light, much like the latest one concerning the silence of Archbishop Myers of the Newark Archdiocese over the priest who groped a young boy some years ago; usually the response is, “I stopped going years ago!”

So, whether it’s scandal, non-belief, or what have you; have you given up going to Mass, shul, whatever?

It doesn’t help whenever you see religions act like they’re a part of corporate America, albeit without the tax implications.

For instance, just this past week, the ongoing scandal progressed in the case of Farther Michael Fugee’s non compliance of an agreement made with the Bergen County prosecutor. He agreed not to have any interaction with kids following his trial for having groped a 13 year old boy during “wrestling.”

He had since been arrested and currently out on bail for having broken that agreement.

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UNITED STATES
The Cardinal Newsman Society

May 29, 2013 | By Tim Drake |

Documents released last week as part of a settlement reveal that Chicago Jesuits concealed the crimes of convicted sex offender Fr. Donald McGuire, S.J. for more than 40 years. During that time Fr. McGuire worked at a variety of Jesuit educational institutions.

The documents were part of a $19.6 million settlement between the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus and six men from four states announced on Tuesday.

According to a record of his assignments, between 1965 and 1981, Fr. McGuire worked at a variety of educational institutions, including: Loyola Academy in Chicago, Newman College, and the University of San Francisco’s Ignatius Institute.

A 1970 letter written by the Rev. John H. Reinke, then-president of Loyola Academy in Wilmette, described Fr. McGuire’s presence at the school as “positively destructive and corrosive.”

While the settlement doesn’t name any priests accused of abusing minors who have not been previously disclosed to the public, it did name a number of Jesuit superiors who kept Fr. McGuire’s crimes a secret and, the victims’ attorneys said, which enabled him to abuse more young men.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

Posted by Sheila Sanchez (Editor), May 29, 2013

Legislation by state Sen. Jim Beall to overhaul the statute of limitations so adult survivors of child molestation can seek justice in civil courts against their abusers was passed earlier this month by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Senate Bill 131 changes California’s antiquated statute of limitations on civil claims brought forward for childhood sexual abuse,’’ said Beall, whose District 15 includes Los Gatos.

“The bill gives victims more time to recognize the psychological trauma that is linked to their childhood abuse and take action to gain a measure of justice,’’ he added.

Victim rights advocate Kim Goldman told the Judiciary Committee that addictions and suicides have been linked to adults who suffered sexual abuse as children.

“The resulting harms are latent injuries that do not manifest themselves until later in life,’’ said Goldman, who argued for allowing victims more time to sue their abusers.

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WASHINGTON
The Spokesman-Review

Thomas Clouse The Spokesman-Review

Federal agents seized dozens of DVDs and other videos from a Gonzaga University faculty office and apartment as part of an ongoing child pornography investigation, newly unsealed documents show.

The investigation, headed by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and local office of the FBI, is looking into dozens of online purchases and movie downloads made by someone using the credit card and mailing address of the Rev. Gary Uhlenkott, a music professor who was placed on administrative leave by the university following last month’s raid. No charges have been filed and Uhlenkott has not been arrested, but authorities say the investigation is continuing.

In a statement Friday, the university said it is watching for the outcome of the investigation.

“The university is deeply saddened to read the contents of the search warrant,” said Gonzaga’s Executive Vice President Earl “Marty” Martin, referring to the U.S. District Court documents unsealed this week. “The safety and security of our campus is our utmost concern. We are also concerned about Father Uhlenkott’s well-being, and we are awaiting the conclusion of this federal investigation.”

Under federal statutes, those convicted of possessing child pornography must serve a mandatory minimum five-year prison term and register as a sex offender for life.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

By Phil Lawler | May 29, 2013

What’s wrong with this picture? Federal agents raid a Catholic university in the state of Washington, and find a trove of child pornography, purchased with the credit card of a professor—who happens to be a Jesuit priest.

Father Gary Uhlenkott is now on leave, as the federal investigation continues. We don’t know all the details, but federal officials say that more than $1,600 of porn was ordered with his credit-card account and shipped to his physical and/or internet address.

Horrifying? Certainly. A scandal? No doubt. But let me take a different perspective on this wretched affair. Leave aside, for now, the question of Father Uhlenkott’s guilt or innocence. Here’s what I want to know: How could he (or someone using his identity) spend $1,600 on videos of any description, without attracting someone’s attention?

Can you, dear reader, spend $1,600 on your own entertainment—even assuming it’s healthy, licit entertainment—without prompting questions from your spouse, your boss, your parents, your colleagues, or your accountant? I certainly can’t. And unlike Father Uhlenkott, I haven’t taken a vow of poverty.

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IRELAND
UTV

29 May 2013

A priest has been granted temporary leave of absence from the ministry, during the investigation of a child safeguarding allegation.

He was serving in the Diocese of Clogher, which covers Monaghan, Fermanagh, Donegal and Tyrone.

In a statement, a diocesan spokesman said the claim relates to an incident a number of years ago.

The allegation has been reported to the civil authorities, and the church said it is following procedures laid down by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The diocesan statement added: “The safety and wellbeing of children remain of paramount concern to the Diocese and all resources are being used to ensure this.

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UNITED STATES
BIshopAccountability.org

The burden of disclosing sexual abuse by Catholic clerics and its cover-up by religious leaders has fallen almost completely on victims. Most church insiders who have witnessed misconduct have chosen not to report it. However, there have been remarkable exceptions. BishopAccountability.org is building a database of whistleblowers – priests, women religious, and other church employees who reported colleagues to church or civil authorities and fought their superiors’ concealment of abuse. By documenting this overlooked aspect of the crisis, we hope to raise awareness that whistleblowers must be protected in both the church and civil society, and help witnesses who have stayed silent to find the courage to come forward.

Unlike priests and nuns who have taken bold stands on either traditional or liberal issues, those who expose their colleagues’ sexual assaults or their superiors’ dishonesty have no lay constituencies to support them. Many of the individuals profiled below have experienced retaliation and grief in some form – defamation, job loss, career derailment, ostracization, pressure by superiors to admit to mental illness, and in at least one case, suicide.

We will be adding steadily to this list, as well as to our preliminary international list. Later this year, we also will post a list of lay whistleblowers. To suggest names in any of these categories, please email us.

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AUSTRALIA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
28 May 2013

Speaking to the six members of the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry, a packed meeting room and overflow room for victims of abuse, support groups and media, Cardinal Pell said he was “fully apologetic and absolutely sorry” for victims of child sex abuse committed by priests or church works.

As Cardinal Pell’s appearance was streamed live he said to the committee “that is the basis for everything which I’ll now say”.

The Archbishop was Sydney was invited to appear before the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the handling of sex abuse allegations during the time he was archbishop of Melbourne (1996-2001).

Originally scheduled to last from 1.30-3.30pm the Cardinal’s appearance ran to six pm with a short recess called by the Chair of the Committee, Ms G. Crozier.

Answering many repetitive questions Cardinal Pell said victims of abuse are and must be the church’s first priority. On a number of occasions he renewed his apology to victims and their families saying the terrible crimes carried out by convicted priest-paedophiles were appalling and reprehensible.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

PIA AKERMAN From: The Australian May 30, 2013

THE nation’s most senior Catholic has warned Victoria not to pursue legislative reform that would end the church’s protection from sexual abuse victims seeking greater levels of compensation in the courts.

Victims and legal groups yesterday responded angrily to George Pell’s written submission to the Victorian inquiry he faced this week, describing some of his words as incredible and offensive.

Cardinal Pell cautioned inquiry members against recommending reforms that would recognise the church as a legal entity that could be sued for the actions of its priests.

The inquiry had been fed a “misunderstanding of the facts and analysis” underpinning the 2007 NSW Court of Appeal ruling on legal action taken against the church by abused altar boy John Ellis. “The Ellis decision stands for nothing more than the commonsense proposition that you cannot be liable for wrongdoing of others unless you authorised, or are directly or indirectly responsible for supervising, their conduct,” he said.

“Unless the parliament intends to discriminate against the Catholic community and single it out for special treatment, proposals for legislative reform would effectively have to make all incorporated and unincorporated entities liable for the criminal conduct of their employees or members.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

29 MAY 2013

Victims groups have stepped up pressure on the Stormont Executive to widen its historical institutional abuse inquiry.

Clerical abuse victims and former residents of Magdalene laundry-type institutions in Northern Ireland said there was no justification for their exclusion from the investigation headed by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart and have launched a joint campaign calling for the remit to be immediately extended.

Michael Connolly, a victim of clerical child sex abuse in Fermanagh in the early 1970s, said: “The Northern Ireland inquiry into institutional child abuse is very welcome but it does nothing for me and the many other victims of clerical abuse who were molested in locations outside children’s homes or who suffered as adult women in Magdalene laundry-style homes. Our abuse was no less and our call for justice is no less deserving of being heard.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Times

Published: Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Amid the turmoil in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia over the last decade, it is reassuring that the Vatican recognizes those in the front lines who have had to bear the brunt of public ire.

Donna Farrell of Springfield and Richard McCarron of Haverford are scheduled to be presented with two of the highest papal honors awarded to laypersons in the Roman Catholic Church during 6:30 p.m. Mass Sunday at the Cathedral Basilica of SS Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

Farrell, who was director for more than seven and a half of her nearly 14 years in the archdiocesan communications office, is set to receive the Pro Ecclesia et Pontiface medal, also known as the cross of honor.

McGarron, who served as secretary of Catholic education for nearly 12 of his 27 years with the archdiocese, is scheduled to be dubbed Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory.

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OHIO
Star Beacon

By SHELLEY TERRY – sterry@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

JEFFERSON — A man accused of extorting more than $100,000 from an area priest will spend the next several years in prison, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Ashtabula County Prosecutor Thomas Sartini said Tuesday.

Brian Gaster, 27, of Ashtabula, was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday morning. Gaster pleaded guilty to two charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

Gaster’s actions resulted in the resignation of the Rev. Stephen Wassie, 59, from St. Joseph Calasanctius in Jefferson in May 2011. The circumstances surrounding Wassie’s resignation related to the handling of finances at the parish, according to the Most Rev. George V. Murry, the diocese’s bishop, on May 15, 2011.

“This defendant specifically targeted a priest in order to take advantage of his trust and charity,” DeWine said. “The victim genuinely thought this man and his family needed help, but the only help the defendant needed was help funding his drug addiction.”

Investigators said Gaster lied to Wassie, telling him that he had a seriously ill child and that a family member had been kidnapped and needed thousands of dollars for ransom.

Wassie gave Gaster $133,000 of his personal savings and parish money, investigators said.

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IRELAND
Fermanagh Herald

THERE was shock and disbelief among parishioners in Roslea when they were informed at Masses at the weekend that their parish priest, Canon John McCabe was standing down while a child safeguarding allegation against him is investigated.

One parishioner said Canon McCabe was very well liked.

“He came to us from Castleblayney, and this last few years he hasn’t been in great form. He kept very privately to himself.”

Local councillor, Brian McCaffrey told the Herald were, ‘still raw memories’ of the Fr Jeremiah McGrath affair. He was convicted in 2007 at Liverpool Crown Court of facilitating a child sex offence, and subsequently jailed. He was priest in Roslea at the time.

It is not clear whether it is the PSNI or the Garda who are investigating the child safeguarding allegation against Canon McCabe.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

AAP
Updated May 29, 2013

Civil action against a convicted pedophile priest needs to be expedited because witnesses could die before the case is heard, a Sydney Supreme Court judge has been told.

Brother Thomas Grealy, a principal of the Patrician Brothers primary school in Granville in the 1970s, was convicted and jailed in 1997 for the rape of a 10-year-old student.

He is now being sued by two men who allege he sexually abused them when they were children.

The action against Grealy, the trustees of the school and the archdiocese of Sydney was lodged in 2010 and has yet to be heard, although the case against the archdiocese was dismissed in 2011.

Tony Bartley SC, representing the alleged victims, said some witnesses, including the father of one of the men, were now elderly.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
KABC

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Catholic Church officials have until September to release secret files on priests accused of molesting children in the Los Angeles archdiocese.

Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias made the ruling Tuesday and attorneys say the first files could be made public within the next few weeks.

After a five-year legal battle to keep the documents sealed, the archdiocese released files on 120 priests earlier this year, but many clergy members who worked within the archdiocese weren’t included if they belonged to separate religious orders.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

May 30, 2013

Jared Lynch

Victims of serial child rapist Gerald Ridsdale have been told the former Catholic priest could be freed from prison within a month.

Ridsdale, 79, who abused dozens of children over three decades from the 1960s, was sentenced in 2006 to a maximum of 13 years, a term that would expire in 2019. He was already serving a maximum 18-year term from 1994.

Victims have recently been contacted by the Adult Parole Board and informed that the paedophile could be released as soon as June 29, sparking fears that he is likely to reoffend.

Victims of Ridsdale said he should never be freed. ”The damage to the victims … to the rest of the family circle goes on and on. It never goes away. It is constantly present,” said ”Shirley”, whose sons were abused by him.

”The victims get a life sentence but the perpetrator certainly doesn’t have a life sentence.”

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RICHMOND (VA)
WTVR

[with video]

May 29, 2013, by Alix Bryan and Mark Holmberg

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR)–Pastor Geronimo Aguilar of the Richmond Outreach Center, who is currently in Fort Worth, Texas being arraigned on sex charges, lives in a $590,000 home in South Richmond with his family.

But he doesn’t own it. It’s the ROC church’s parsonage, according to property records. And as a parsonage, it is tax exempt. Technically, Aguilar – the founder of the popular Richmond megachurch – and his family can deduct every living expense, from light bulbs to lawn care.

CBS-6 checked the property records of the homes of the other pastors of megachurches in the area, and other random big ones as well.

All are either owned by the pastors, or a trust in the pastor’s name, property records show.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
UTV

Former residents of Magdalene Laundries in Northern Ireland are calling for an inquiry into their abuse allegations.

It is thought hundreds of people across the region could come forward with their claims of abuse if a new investigation is established, or the current inquiry amended.

The current Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry does not cover victims of clerical child abuse and former residents of Magdalene Laundry-type institutions in NI.

But on Wednesday, they will gather to ask for the terms of that inquiry to be extended to include them.

They are backed by Amnesty International, and Patrick Corrigan from the organisation said it is now time for NI’s politicians to take further action.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
News Letter

Northern Ireland victims of clerical child abuse and former residents of Magdalene Laundry-type institutions are coming together to call on the Stormont Executive to establish inquiries into their abuse allegations.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International will publish research setting out the case for independent and effective inquiries into allegations of abuse by victims who are not covered by the current Historic Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry.

Victims of clerical child sexual abuse and former residents of Magdalene Laundry-type institutions in Northern Ireland, not covered by the HIA inquiry, will call for an extension of the terms of reference of the inquiry or the establishment of a fresh inquiry into their allegations of abuse.

Two briefings papers from Amnesty International – one covering clerical child abuse and one covering abuse in Magdalene Laundry-type institutions inn Northern Ireland will be published.

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IRELAND
BBC News

A Catholic priest has temporarily stood aside while an historic child safeguarding allegation is investigated.

The allegation relating to a priest in the Diocese of Clogher dates back some years.

The church said it has been reported to the civil authorities.

It added that all procedures laid down by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland were being observed.

In a statement, it said: “The Diocese of Clogher has been informed of a child safeguarding allegation in relation to a priest of the Diocese.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

On November 9 last year, Georgie Crozier strode to the lectern, fixed me with a steely gaze and read a short statement defending the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse.

Although the chairwoman of the six-MP committee running the inquiry did not explicitly mention it, she was clearly stung by my opinion piece in The Age two days earlier criticising the pace and depth the inquiry had shown to that point – just 1½ days of hearings – and the opaqueness of the process. She answered many questions in the article, and concluded: ”We have begun the process, let us get on with it.”

This article is an odd sort of mea culpa, because I am not convinced I was entirely wrong at the time. The committee did start slowly, and there were legitimate doubts about its political will. But I certainly wouldn’t write such an article now.

I think the members gained self-belief and momentum as they went along, were appalled by what victims told them, and got emotionally involved. It is impossible not to, the stories are so harrowing. Those involved in the inquiry needed regular counselling.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Adelaide

[with audio]

29/05/2013 , 1:25 PM by Michaela Andreyev

The Catholic Church is facing weeks of official questioning over the sexual abuse scandal that goes back several decades in Australia.

Cardinal George Pell has already appeared before the Victorian parliamentary committee inquiry, at which he confessed false documents were created and priests took part in “reprehensible” cover-ups.

He noted that if his senior colleagues had been gossips – which they were not – they might have talked about various problems and realised earlier “just how widespread this awful business was”.

Ian spoke to Wayne Chamley, spokesperson for Broken Rites, an organisation dedicated to exposing and denouncing cases in the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Australia.

Broken Rites has supported male and female victims from the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church and the Uniting Church, as well as from smaller denominations.

Mr Chamley said it was not too late for any complainant to contact the Royal Commission – in fact they can do so at any time over the next two years.

Royal Commission hotline: 1800 099 340
Royal Commission website: www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au
Broken Rites Australian national hotline: (03) 9457 4999

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

May 29, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

Cardinal George Pell has apologised for a meeting with abuse victims at which the father later said the then Melbourne Catholic Archbishop showed a “sociopathic lack of empathy”.

Calling that 1997 meeting at Oakleigh one of the most difficult he has ever been involved with, Cardinal Pell said: “My only intention was to listen to their story and to try to help. It is clear that I did not succeed in this.

“No matter what I said or did, it seemed to make things worse. I am sorry for whatever I did to upset them at this meeting. It was always my intention (and always has been) to treat Mr and Mrs Foster and their daughters with the utmost respect and compassion.”

The cardinal’s apology is part of his submission to the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled sexual abuse, submitted on Friday night and posted on the inquiry’s website on Wednesday morning. On Monday he was the inquiry’s last witness.

“I am very sorry … for the suffering of the Foster family. I am also sorry that I have been unable to persuade Mr and Mrs Foster of my good intentions,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

[written submission]
[appendix 1]
[appendix 2
[appendix 3]
[appendix 4]

GENEVIEVE GANNON AAP MAY 29, 2013

AUSTRALIA’S most senior Catholic says the Victorian government would be “discriminating against the Catholic community” if it adopts law reforms wanted by sex abuse victims.

Cardinal George Pell said the Ellis defence, a NSW Supreme Court ruling that found the trustees of the Catholic Church were not liable for the actions of pedophile priests, was a “commonsense proposition”.

Advocates and legal experts have called for the repeal of laws preventing church trustees from being sued for abuse by clergy.

Monash University academic Judith Corin says doing so would enable victims to pursue greater damages through the courts.

In a written submission to Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into child abuse, Cardinal Pell said the principle of the Ellis decision was that an entity could not be liable for the wrongdoing of others unless it authorised or was responsible for supervising their conduct.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

AAP MAY 29, 2013

CARDINAL George Pell has apologised to the Victorian parents of two girls repeatedly abused by a Catholic priest while they were in primary school.

Anthony Foster has described Cardinal Pell, whom he met while the cardinal was archbishop of Melbourne, as having a sociopathic lack of understanding.

Cardinal Pell said when he met with the Fosters his only intention was to listen and try to help but he did not recall exactly what was said.

“I am sorry for whatever I did to upset them at this meeting,” Cardinal Pell said in a written submission to Victoria’s abuse inquiry.

“I am very sorry for the abuse suffered by Emma and Katie Foster and for the suffering of the Foster family.”

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013
BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

The lawyer for Michael Fugee, a priest accused of violating a ban on ministering to children, said Tuesday that even though a high-ranking Newark Archdiocese official resigned last week over “failures” in supervising the cleric, the official had not been in charge of monitoring him.

Attorney Michael D’Alessio said an agreement that prohibited Fugee’s involvement with children contained no provision for vicar general John E. Doran to supervise the priest. In fact, nothing in the agreement — signed by Fugee, the archdiocese and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office — addressed the question of who would watch to be sure Fugee obeyed the agreement, the lawyer said.

Newark Archbishop John J. Myers has faced a torrent of criticism since the revelation that Fugee, despite the agreement, attended youth retreats throughout New Jersey. Fugee was convicted in 2003 of groping a teenage boy when he was an assistant pastor in Wyckoff, but the verdict was overturned because of a judicial error. He was arrested last week and charged with seven counts of violating a judicial order by hearing confessions from children.

Several prominent Democratic politicians and some Catholics have called for Myers’ resignation. They say Myers should not have returned Fugee to the ministry in 2009.

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VIRGINIA
WJLA

[with video]

By Jeff Goldberg May 28, 2013

A Clifton man who formerly worked as a principal is behind bars for allegedly sexually assaulting a 9-year-old during a church-sanctioned youth overnight camping trip.
.
Thomas H. Clement, 62, was arrested last week and faces two counts of felony aggravated sexual battery of a minor.

A male victim, who was 9 at the time of the alleged incident, claims he was sexually abused by Clement in 2009. Police received the victim’s complaint in February 2013.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Leader

Published: 2 June 2013
By: Paul Dobbyn

CARDINAL George Pell of Sydney said he was “fully apologetic and absolutely sorry” when questioned at the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into institutional child sex abuse.

“I’m certainly totally committed to improving the situation. I know the Holy Father is too,” he told the inquiry last Monday.

He said the problem existed on two levels – the grim list of abuses and secondly how the Church dealt with them.

Cardinal Pell acknowledged the Catholic Church within Australia covered up the “foul crime” of child abuse and this had led to suicides.

Other points he made during his testimony included that the problem did not lie in Church structure but inactivity or poor judgements of some bishops in the area of sexual abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

BY CANDACE SUTTON NEWS.COM.AU MAY 29, 2013

TWO days after Sydney Archbishop Cardinal Pell apologised for decades of child sex abuse but said the Church had changed, a court has heard a Catholic order is fighting a court case to avoid paying sex abuse victims.

Senior Sydney barrister, Tony Bartley, SC, told the NSW Supreme Court this morning that the Patrician Brothers order at Granville was using “a variant” of the defence George Pell had used when an alleged victim of sex abuse by the Catholic Church claimed senior officials were liable.

Mr Bartley was appearing for two defendants, known only as PAO and PMA, who are suing for damages for their abuse at a Patrician brothers school between 1974 and 1977.

Brother Thomas William Grealy was convicted in 1997 of molestation and buggery of boys at the school and spent four years in jail for the rape and indecent assault of two boys when he was principal.

Brother Augustine, as Grealy was then known, would cover the statue of the Virgin Mary in his office with a coat before abusing the boys in his care.

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AUSTRALIA
Scoop

By Binoy Kampmark

Cardinal George Pell is a terrier of the wrong sort. Combative for the Catholic church, he does the Pope’s bidding down under with a loud bark and occasional bite. Much of it has proven disastrous for the Church’s reputation in Australia and elsewhere. That particular institution is very much in the spotlight of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Sexual Child Abuse, and things are not going well. Before Victorian parliamentarians, Pell demonstrated, as he has done for so long, that he shows a distinct “sociopathic lack of empathy” for his victims.

Certainly, for Pell, a degree of blamelessness has been cultivated. This might well be his own interior justification. The abusive, institutional mechanism that so typified the church institutions might well have been a cultural monstrosity – but Pell was immune to it. Or at least, that’s the impression he gives. Governance, and action, are not necessarily the same thing in the Pell book of revelations.

His response, for example, to questioning about why the former Melbourne archbishop Frank Little did conceal instances of abuse is suggestive of that. “Yes, archbishop Little did cover up but he inherited a situation where there were no protocols and no procedures and, for some strange reason, he never spoke to anybody about it” (The Australian, May 28). The suggestion is specious, if for no other reason that the Catholic church remains one of the most protocol driven institutions on the planet, a hybrid creature of legal sophistication. Errors and heresies are noted; behaviour punished, when required. When necessary, bad behaviour has been concealed.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Posted: Wednesday, May 29, 2013

BY BRANDON SHULLEETA Richmond Times-Dispatch

The leader of a group of child sexual abuse victims on Tuesday demanded an apology from supporters of a Richmond pastor charged with sexually assaulting two young girls in Texas.

Geronimo Aguilar, pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center, faces charges in Texas for alleged offenses dating to 1996. He is on a paid leave from the church, whose board released a statement last week saying it “believes the accusations against him to be completely untrue and unfounded.”

At a public gathering of three people and several reporters outside the Richmond Police Department, Becky Ianni, the Virginia director for the Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests, called for an apology and said supporters should back Aguilar only quietly if they must do so while he’s being investigated.

“Publically supporting the accused perpetrator is not only hurtful to alleged victims but very intimidating to other victims who might be thinking about coming forward,” Ianni said.

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George Pell warns against moves he says would amount to discrimination against Catholics

[written submission]
[appendix 1]
[appendix 2
[appendix 3]
[appendix 4]

PIA AKERMAN From: The Australian May 29, 2013

CARDINAL George Pell has warned Victoria not to pursue legislative change which would help sexual abuse victims sue for greater compensation, saying such a move would amount to discrimination against Catholics.

In a written submission to the Victorian inquiry examining responses to child sexual abuse, the nation’s most senior Catholic cleric said legal changes proposed by victims’ rights groups would be a significant departure from the law and “cause considerable injustice”.

Cardinal Pell said a number of submissions to the inquiry, which he testified before on Monday, had shown “misunderstanding of the facts and analysis” underpinning the NSW Court of Appeal decision which found the church did not exist as a legal entity capable of being sued.

“The Ellis decision stands for nothing more than the commonsense proposition that you cannot be liable for wrongdoing of others unless you authorised, or are directly or indirectly responsible for supervising, their conduct,” he said, referring to the ruling on 2004 legal action taken against the church by abused altar boy John Ellis.

“The body corporate which Mr Ellis sued was created in 1936 by statute and has operated on the same basis in Sydney since its creation.

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MINNESOTA
Winona Daily News

The first civil lawsuit to be filed under a new Minnesota law eliminating the statute of limitations for children who have been sexually abused is expected to be announced this afternoon.

The suit will be filed on behalf of a 51-year-old unidentified Twin Cities man, and will name the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, the Diocese of Winona and former priest Thomas Adamson as defendants. Jeff Anderson, of Anderson and Associates, is representing the plaintiff.

Adamson, 78, was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Winona in 1958. Allegations of his sexual involvement with young boys date from the early 1960s. In 1975, he was transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Paul after a number of abuse complaints had been brought to the attention of church officials in the Winona diocese. He continued in the active priesthood until 1984.

While Adamson never faced criminal abuse charges — the statute of limitations had expired — he was named in three civil suits settled out of court, and a fourth suit brought against the Diocese of Winona and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was decided in favor of the complainant.

It wasn’t known Tuesday how much the lawsuit will seek in damages, or what time period it will focus on. Anderson and others are expected to announce more details of the suit today at a press conference in St. Paul.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Lancashire Evening Post

A victim of a retired schoolteacher has spoken of her anger after it was revealed he made two confessions to priests that he had sexually abused children – years before being brought to justice.

Believing he was on his deathbed, John Davis, 75, of Fensway, Hutton, confessed his crimes to a hospital priest several years before the victims found the courage to report the offences to police.

Davis, who taught at St John Southworth’s RC High School in Grimsargh, then went on to confess to a priest at church when he recovered from his illness and was released from hospital.

He later pleaded guilty to nine counts of indecent assault on several young girls.

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AUSTRALIA
The Chronicle

TOOWOOMBA’S Catholic Diocese says the latest revelations of cover-ups of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church are disappointing.

Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s top-ranking Catholic, has fronted a Victorian inquiry into systematic failings by religious and non-government organisations to deal with child abuse.

Cardinal Pell told the inquiry that some members of the church tried to cover up child sexual abuse by other members of the clergy.

Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba executive officer Mark Copland believes the current inquiry in Victoria and an upcoming Royal Commission will go some way to uncovering and correcting the mistakes of the past.

“My hope is that the truth is told and responded to in the manner in which it has been given,” he said.

“Ultimately my hope is that we do everything we can to support survivors and their families and ensure that we have transparent policies and procedures that will ensure it will not occur again.”

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AUSTRALIA
Geelong Advertiser

Danny Lannen | May 29th, 2013

VICTORIA’S parliamentary inquiry into institutional child abuse has concluded, with the Catholic Church remaining more concerned about fixing a situation than fixing people, according to Geelong priest Father Kevin Dillon.

The St Mary’s parish priest said testimony by Catholic Cardinal George Pell at the final inquiry hearing “wasn’t a step backwards” but didn’t reach out enough in practical terms.

Cardinal Pell expressed full apology and absolute sorrow for past abuses and said fear of scandal led to cover-up by the church.

Fr Dillon, who attended the hearing in support of Geelong abuse victims, said religious leaders remained ignorant.

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RICHMOND (VA)
NBC 12

[with video]

By Laura Geller

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) –
The case involving accusations against a local mega-church’s founder continues to get publicity.

Tuesday, an agency, which supports people sexually abused by priests, advocated for Richmond Outreach Center Pastor Geronimo Aguilar’s alleged victims and called for the church board to apologize.

The group met at Richmond Police Headquarters because it says authorities, not the church, are the proper ones to deal with situations like what’s going on with Pastor G right now. SNAP, or the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, representatives say they know this because they’ve been in the victims’ shoes.

Becky Ianni says as a child, she was sexually abused by her priest in Northern Virginia.

“When I came forward with my abuse I was very afraid because many people supported my perpetrator,” she explained. “They thought he was the greatest man ever and I was afraid to come forward because what if I wasn’t believed.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

May 28, 2013

Lawrence Money
Journalist

”Building on the past” says the sign outside Victoria’s Parliament House. It refers to renovations to the old grey edifice but, on this overcast Monday afternoon, it could almost have applied to the proceedings inside as Cardinal George Pell attempted to explain the inexplicable sins of yore – systematic paedophilia by Catholic priests.

Pell, who last month was basking in the glory of an appointment to a Vatican panel on leaked documents, was this time a Daniel walking into the lions’ den – the state parliamentary inquiry into child abuse – and the inquisitorial team had a full set of teeth. ”Were you a Pontius Pilate, washing your hands of the problem?” asked MP Frank McGuire. Pell denied it and, while one curious member of the media Googled ”Pilate” on his laptop, the cardinal pointed out that he had attended at least ”three meetings of victims”.

The savaging continued. Had Pell ”supported” the notorious priest Gerald Ridsdale in a court case where they walked out of the courtroom together? Pell admitted he had been there but would not have called it ”support” and besides, he not realised the implications at the time.

And no, he confirmed that he had never gone to court to support any victims – but none had ever asked him. Suddenly, there were echoes of Rupert Murdoch at the hacking inquiry when the cardinal volunteered a declaration of profuse regret: ”I am fully apologetic and absolutely sorry.”

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

UNITED STATES
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

Southern Baptist leaders in a movement that goes by names including the “New Calvinism” and “young, restless and Reformed” voiced support for a friend and colleague accused in a Maryland lawsuit of collusion in what is being called American evangelicalism’s biggest sex scandal to date.

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., joined Presbyterian minister Ligon Duncan in a statement of support for C.J. Mahaney, one of several defendants accused of permitting and covering up the sexual abuse of children in churches affiliated with Sovereign Grace Ministries, a Calvinist church-planting organization based in Louisville, Ky.

“We have stood beside our friend, C. J. Mahaney, and we can speak to his personal integrity,” the trio, who with Mahaney started a biennial preaching conference called Together for the Gospel in 2006, said in a statement on the T4G website.

Dever, Duncan and Mohler said they have wanted to speak publicly on Mahaney but waited until after Maryland Judge Sharon V. Burrell dismissed most of the lawsuit on a technicality. She ruled that nine of 11 plaintiffs did not sue within three years after turning 18 as required under Maryland’s statute of limitations.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
KPCC

Sharon McNary | May 28th

A Superior Court judge on Tuesday set September 10 as the deadline for Catholic religious orders to release confidential personnel files of members who were accused of sexually abusing children. The files are related to lawsuits that have already been settled.

Attorney Raymond Boucher said the deadline affects more than 50 religious orders that operate independently from the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which has already made public thousands of pages of files.

The order is part of litigation against the Los Angeles Archdiocese that resulted in a $660 million settlement.

The archdiocese released personnel files about its priests within the past year, but files of the independent orders that report to the Vatican through a different authority structure had not been released.

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NEW JERSEY
U.S. Catholic

NEWARK, N.J. (CNS) — Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark said he was unaware that a priest who agreed not to have unsupervised contact with minors was working with youngsters and, after an investigation, sought the resignation of the archdiocese’s vicar general for mishandling the priest’s case.

Writing in an opinion piece in the May 25 issue of the Star-Ledger, the daily newspaper in Newark, Archbishop Myers said that Msgr. John E. Doran, the vicar general, agreed to resign after it was found existing protocols “were not always observed.”

The resignation was effective immediately, the archbishop said.

Archbishop Myers said the change in administration was one of several steps being taken to strengthen the archdiocese’s response to sexual abuse.

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

CALIFORNIA
KUSI

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A judge says Roman Catholic religious orders have until September to release secret files on their priests who were accused of molesting children while working in the Los Angeles archdiocese.

Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias said Tuesday the orders must release documents on dozens of priests who belonged to orders such as the Vincentians, Claretians and Marinists, among others.

Lead plaintiff attorney Ray Boucher says the first files could be public within three weeks.

The archdiocese released files on 120 priests earlier this year under a judge’s order after a 5-year legal battle.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on May 28, 2013

The California Child Victims Act—SB 131—has made it through Appropriations and is scheduled for a vote on the Senate Floor TOMORROW. The bill dramatically extends the civil statute of limitations for children who are sexually abused and gives older victims a one-year window to come forward, expose their abuser and seek accountability.

In short, if signed into law, SB 131 will allow hundreds of child sex abuse victims to get justice. SB 131 will also help keep kids safe RIGHT NOW by exposing abusers who have escaped criminal prosecution.
Remember – we would know NOTHING about the crimes committed in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and other dioceses across the state were it not for brave victims using the civil justice system.

No bishop has ever voluntarily made public a secret sex abuse file. The Boy Scouts’ files would still be hidden were it not for victims demanding justice.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

By Victoria Kim and Harriet Ryan
May 28, 2013

Thousands of pages of secret files held by Roman Catholic orders concerning priests accused of molesting children will be released throughout the summer beginning as early as next month, according to attorneys.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias set a deadline of September for the religious orders to turn over files on dozens of priests for public release at a hearing Tuesday. The release of confidential files kept by the orders, such as the Salesians, Vincentians and Marinists, were agreed to as part of settlements with victims.

“Most of the orders have come forward with a positive attitude .… We want to get this behind us,” Raymond Boucher, an attorney for victims, told the judge.

The secret files, which are required by Catholic church law, would shed light on how high-ranking officials at the orders and leaders of the L.A. archdiocese dealt with allegations of abuse by priests who were assigned to work in Los Angeles. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles released 12,000 pages of its own closely-held document cache in January, but many of the files for priests who belonged to Catholic orders were scant.

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MARYLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON MAY 28, 2013

Shame on those ministers who are now publicly rallying around Rev. C. J. Mahaney just because a legal technicality voided most of the child sex abuse and cover up suits lawsuits against Sovereign Grace Ministries.

It’s dreadfully hurtful to child sex abuse victims when people in authority publicly back accused wrongdoers. And it hinders criminal investigations because it intimidates victims, witnesses and whistleblowers into staying silent.

Support Rev. Mahaney if you must. But do so privately in ways that don’t further harm depress and scare other child sex abuse victims into keeping silent and thus helping child predators escape detection and prosecution.

At best, it’s disingenuous for these ministers to “take sides” now, while at least two victims’ abuse and cover up suits are pending.

At worst, it’s mean-spirited.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

8 May 2013

A victim of Anglican priest Canon Gordon Rideout, who was jailed for abusing children in the 1960s and 70s, has spoken out about the effect his actions had on her.

Inge Beeson waived her anonymity to speak about the abuse she suffered when she was a member of a choir he ran at a military base in Hampshire.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

MAY 28, 2013 BY SUSAN MATTHEWS

If the institutional Church really wants to prevent child sex abuse, it can’t continue to rely on therapists whose theories and practices fall outside the guidelines of the American Psychological and Psychiatric Associations. That advice may have proven convenient in cover ups but does little for real healing.

Let’s look at the case of Father Edward DePaoli who was arrested in 1985 for the child pornography he’d stashed at Holy Martyrs Church in Oreland, PA. I’ve abbreviated a more detailed account reported by Ralph Cipriano in his Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog post. Even after his arrest, Father DePaoli continued his porn habit. After being sentenced to a year’s probation, the diocese sent him to a treatment facility for sex offenders. Free to come and go, he was caught leaving an adult book store. A subsequent search of his room turned up more child porn.

Despite all this, Cardinal Bevilacqua didn’t want to end the pervert’s priestly ministry. He was sent to NJ where he got into more of the same trouble and worse. Memos reveal that Msgr. Lynn worried that denying Father DePaoli a place back in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia might have “a severe negative effect” on the priest’s chances of recovery. Never mind, the severe negative effect he might have on children.

So what did a Archdiocesan therapist make of all this? Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons, who served on the Counseling Committee of Psychiatrists and Psychologists for Religious of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,” said the priest had suffered “what I would view as a minor relapse.” He didn’t think Father DePaoli needed to be hospitalized again and that he “could function well in ministry.” Two years earlier, Dr. Fitzgibbons had pronounced, “I believe that Father DePaoli has made a complete recovery.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

18 May 2013

From the court appearances of accused TV stars to historic scandals involving priests, music teachers and care workers, to the killing of young girls, Britain’s news pages, websites and TV bulletins are awash with cases of the sexual abuse of children. This week the shocking details of the depravity of a group of men in Oxford were revealed during a court case which saw a gang of eight convicted of the rape and torture of six girls over more than a decade. The conclusion to be drawn is that in Britain sexual exploitation and predation is endemic; that it goes back decades and continues into the present. Many perpetrators have been allowed to continue their crimes unchallenged.

The Catholic Church was one of the first institutions in this country to stand accused of negligence in its dealing with the child victims of abuse and the handling of their abusers. Some critics of the Church blamed its tradition of a celibate priesthood, claiming that sexual frustration was the primary cause. But the scandals now coming to light show that celibacy is not a common denominator. Paedophilia is about power, about people in positions of authority, or who are famous, or are even ordinary but have gained power through long-term grooming of children, who target the vulnerable and defenceless.

There are other common factors. Paedophiles continue targeting young people because institutions allow them to do so. Sometimes those institutions were the ones to which the criminals belonged – the Catholic Church, the Church of England, the BBC – and which failed to act because those in charge were more concerned with the institutions’ reputations and the impact of scandal than with the pain of a child.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Epistulae Tiberii

Berlin (PEB) – Generalvikar Prälat Tobias Przytarski hat an alle Geist­lichen im Erz­bistum Berlin einen Brief ge­schrie­ben, in dem er auf einen Miss­brauchs­täter hin­weist, der im Um­feld katholi­scher Pfarr­ge­mein­den bekannt geworden ist. Anlass des Schrei­bens ist eine Be­richt­er­stattung der Ber­liner Morgen­post vom 28. April 2013, das grund­sätz­liche An­lie­gen des Briefes besteht darin, für ein Klima der Acht­sam­keit und Prä­ven­tion zu werben:

“Liebe Mitbrüder, aus aktuellem Anlass und prä­ven­tiven Gesichts­punkten heraus gebe ich Ihnen einen Artikel aus der Berliner Morgen­post vom 28. April zur Kenntnis, der über einen Ende 70-jährigen Miss­brauchs­täter berichtet, der in katho­lischen Gemein­den Kontakt zu Jungen und deren Eltern aufbaut, sich Ver­trauen er­schleicht, Jungen sexuell miss­braucht und deswegen im letzten Jahr zu einer vier­jähr­igen Bewährungs­strafe verur­teilt wurde. Vier katholische Gemeinden in Berlin sind mir bekannt, in denen der Täter sich umtrieb.

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OSTERREICH
der Standard

Dem früheren Internatsschüler, heute 46 Jahre alt, steht Schadenersatz für die 1982 erlittene Gewalttat zu

Bregenz – Das Kloster Mehrerau blitzte auch im zweiten Zivilrechtsverfahren eines Missbrauchsopfers ab. Der Berufssenat am Oberlandesgericht Innsbruck bestätigte das Ersturteil des Landesgerichts Feldkirch. Dem früheren Internatsschüler, heute 46 Jahre alt, steht Schadenersatz für die 1982 erlittene Gewalttat zu. Der Anspruch ist nicht verjährt, das Kloster muss für seinen ehemaligen Internatsleiter, der den Buben vergewaltigt hatte, haften. Begründet wird die Entscheidung mit eigenem Fehlverhalten der Klosterleitung, die von früheren Delikten des Priesters gewusst habe. Der Geistliche wurde bereits 1968 einschlägig verurteilt – was sei-ner Karriere im Schul- und Internatsdienst aber nicht im Wege stand.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Outreach Center

May 28, 2013
Pastor Jason Helmlinger, Executive Pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center, has voluntarily removed himself from his pastoral duties while he addresses his summons and the misdemeanor charge that has been brought against him. This will remain in effect until his situation has been resolved. He will also seek counseling regarding this issue. The Board of Directors of the Richmond Outreach Center is in agreement with his decision.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Posted: Tuesday, May 28, 2013

BY LOUIS LLOVIO
Richmond Times-Dispatch

RICHMOND — An executive pastor at the Richmond Outreach Center is temporarily stepping down pending misdemeanor charges for making threatening and obscene phone calls.

Jason W. Helmlinger, 41, a former Henrico County police officer, was charged for making threats against a critic of Geronimo Aguilar, the south Richmond megachurch’s senior pastor. Aguilar was transferred to Texas last week to face child sexual assault charges.

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RICHMOND (VA)
NBC 12

By Laura Geller

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) –
The Executive Pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center will no longer be conducting his pastoral duties while he deals with a criminal case.

Pastor Jason Helmlinger voluntarily removed himself from his responsibilities, the Board of Directors of the ROC announced Tuesday. The board says he will not conduct any pastoral duties until a criminal case involving threatening phone calls has been resolved. Helmlinger will also seek counseling regarding this issue.

Helmlinger was arrested earlier this month on one misdemeanor count of with using profanity over a public airway. He allegedly called former ROC member Allen Caldwell and threatened him, according to a Richmond Police source.

Helmlinger was released on summons and is set to appear in court Jun

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RICHMOND (VA)
WTVR

[with video]

May 28, 2013, by Scott Wise

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – The Executive Pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center (ROC) has “voluntarily removed himself from his pastoral duties” after he was charged with a misdemeanor, according to a statement on the center’s website.

Pastor Jason Helmlinger was charged with using profanity over a public airway, according to court documents. Helmlinger was released on summons.

“This will remain in effect until his situation has been resolved. He will also seek counseling regarding this issue. The Board of Directors of the Richmond Outreach Center is in agreement with his decision,” the ROC statement read.

Helmlinger is due in court in early June for an arraignment.

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RICHMOND (VA)
WRIC

Posted: May 28, 2013

RICHMOND, VA—Following ROC Pastor Geronimo Aguilar’s Friday extradition to Texas on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a minor, a Tuesday protest is set to take place outside the Richmond Police headquarters.

The protest comes in response to the scandal revolving “Pastor G,” the head pastor of the ROC, who faces seven felony charges in Texas, including the aggravated sexual assault of two children under the age of 14.

The protest is being organized by SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which says the rally is being held outside the police station to emphasize that suspected clergy sex crimes should be reported to secular officials, not church officials.

Aguilar, known as “Pastor G,” was transported from police custody in Richmond to Richmond International Airport on Friday morning. He left Richmond on a flight to Texas, where he faces seven charges that, if convicted, could mean he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison.

Thursday afternoon, the church’s board of directors announced Aguilar was temporarily stepping down as pastor and president of the board at the Richmond Outreach Center. The board’s full statement can be read here.

A second pastor at the ROC is also in trouble with the law and has stepped down from the church. 8News has confirmed ROC executive pastor and former Henrico County Police officer Jason Helmlinger was charged and arrested for making threats against an 8News source in our on-going investigation.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BECKY IANNI ON MAY 28, 2013

Last Friday, Rev. Geronimo Aguilar, pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center, was extradited to Forth Worth, Texas where is he has been charged with seven felonies relating to the sexual abuse of two minors.

We are here today outside the Richmond Police Department headquarters for three reasons:

First, we demand that the church board publically apologize for a statement they published last Thursday. The board states that they believe the accusations of abuse to be completely untrue. They asked for prayers for Aguilar and his family but don’t mention the pain and suffering of the possible victims. Publically supporting the accused perpetrator is not only hurtful to the victims but very intimidating to other possible victims. Instead the church should withhold judgment or back him quietly. We also hope they will use their resources to reach out to anyone who may have been harmed by Aguilar.

Second, we urge church members and the public to “keep open minds.” We ask them to remember that the vast majority of accusations of childhood sexual abuse prove to be true, to educate themselves and their families about sexual abuse, to pray for all parties involved and finally to put themselves in the shoes of the alleged victim.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Victims blast Richmond church members
Board publicly back recently-arrested minister
Pastor is accused of molesting two girls in Texas
Group says rallying behind alleged molester is “hurtful”
It “intimidates other victims, witnesses & whistleblowers,” SNAP charges

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will criticize the board of a Richmond mega-church for publicly backing a just-arrested pastor who is charged with molesting children. They will also urge

–the board to publicly apologize,
–church-goers and the public to “keep open minds,” and
–anyone who may have seen suspected or suffered the minister’s crimes to call police.

WHEN
Tuesday, May 28 at noon

WHO
At least three adults who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including the organization’s Virginia Director and a woman who facilitates SNAP’s Richmond support group

WHERE
Outside the police station, 200 W Grace St.‎ (corner of N. Jefferson) in downtown Richmond VA

WHY
The board of a Richmond church is publicly supporting their pastor who was arrested last week on charges that he sexually assaulted two girls in Texas in the 1990s. And SNAP says they should withhold judgment about the minister or back him, if they must, privately. Publicly support for an accused child molester, SNAP says, is “inappropriate, hurtful, and intimidating to others who were molested and to others who may have information or suspicions about the cleric’s alleged crimes.

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IRELAND
Highland Radio

A priest in the Diocese of Clogher has been granted a temporary leave of absence from his ministry while an allegation against him is being investigated.

In a statement this afternoon – the Diocese of Clogher says it has been informed of a child safeguarding allegation that relates to some years ago.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

May 29, 2013

Jane Lee and Barney Zwartz

Eleven victims of child abuse, most at the hands of paedophile Christian Brother Robert Best, have won more than $1 million in compensation from the Catholic order.

The victims have collectively received more than $1.1 million in private settlements with the Christian Brothers since they began negotiating last November, their lawyer, Viv Waller, said.

The Christian Brothers told the state inquiry into child abuse earlier this month that they had spent more than $1 million defending Best. In 2011, Best was sentenced to 14 years and nine months in jail for sexual crimes against 11 boys at schools in Ballarat, Box Hill and Geelong during the 1970s. Most of the boys were also abused by other Brothers.

Dr Waller said on Tuesday, a day after the inquiry ended, that she was still negotiating with the Christian Brothers on the claims of 97 other clients and would pursue the matters in court if necessary, with 10 others applying for compensation under the Sentencing Act.

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AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

May 29, 2013

Jack Waterford
Editor-at-large, The Canberra Times

It was not even the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, but there was George Cardinal Pell, truculent, embattled, irritable and defensive taking on the bowling from Victorian parliamentarians inquiring into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations.

It was not a public relations triumph – not even intended to be. One can sense, however, that Pell left thinking he had given as good as he got, and that a few of his hits reached the boundary. He has shown over and over that he simply lacks the self-awareness to know that his every appearance on the subject throws fuel on to the fire – if only because his every facial tic makes it clear that he does not get it.

No one has reached stage one of argument suggesting that Pell condoned or facilitated a culture of abuse in his dioceses. But his combativeness and what one of his critics last year described as ”a sociopathic lack of empathy” seem to be one of the key factors guaranteeing that an array of public inquiries will continue to embarrass and humiliate the church over the next few years.

The archbishop of Sydney, previously the archbishop of Melbourne, has made it clear he is very sorry that there was any sexual abuse of children, particularly if it occurred at the hands of Catholic priests or religious or even lay teachers. The Catholic church, he admits, handled things badly when there suddenly seemed to be an epidemic of complaints of such matters about 25 years ago. Some of his (late) predecessor archbishops of Melbourne frankly handled the matter shamefully, he agrees, and what they did could be described as a cover-up. Once, however, he came to appreciate the dimensions of the problem, he acted swiftly and decisively, setting up an institutional response that embraced victims, led to the identification and punishment of abusers, and which seems, on the basis of present abuse reports, to have worked in much reducing the incidence of abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
The Tablet (UK)

Australia’s most senior cleric, Cardinal George Pell, has admitted clergy covered up claims of sexual abuse by priests but said he personally never covered up offences.

Speaking yesterday at an inquiry by Victoria’s parliament into the abuse of children by religious and non-government bodies in the state, he said he was “absolutely sorry” for the abuse committed by clerics against minors.

The cardinal said abuse had largely escaped the view of church officials who didn’t know what a “mess” they were presiding over. Under questioning he agreed that the fear of damaging the reputation of the Church led to a cover-up.

“Many in the Church did not understand just what damage was being done to the victims. We understand that better now,” he added.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, gives evidence to the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into the sexual abuse of children by members of non-Government organisations.

Watch Part 2 here.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By FIONA HENDERSON May 28, 2013

IN April last year, then Victorian premier Ted Baillieu announced he would set up a state government inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations.

Since then, the bipartisan family and community development committee has received 405 written submissions and conducted more than 160 hearing sessions.

This included evidence from 45 organisations in public hearings, which finished yesterday with the testimony of Australia’s top-ranking Catholic, Cardinal George Pell.

Written submissions will still be received until June 7, with the committee’s report expected on September 30.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

May 28, 2013.
THE Royal Commission into child sex abuse hasn’t even begun, but it is already obvious how much the political and social landscape has shifted, and how exposed some institutions may be as a result.

This week’s appearance at the Victorian child sex abuse inquiry by Catholic Cardinal George Pell was especially revealing.

Gone was the bluster and confidence of the past, and in its place was a subdued church leader who appeared uncharacteristically uncertain.

True, his critics wasted no time writing off his apologies and contrition as ‘‘a cynical exercise in damage control’’, but that overlooks the extraordinary reality that the church has, at last, been put on the spot by a more powerful secular authority and forced to face some hard facts.

Cardinal Pell admitted, for example, that his church had covered up cases of abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By DAMON CRONSHAW May 28, 2013

HUNTER victims of Catholic clergy sexual abuse have called for Cardinal George Pell to resign, amid claims the Church is in damage control to protect its money and power.

The Church denied the claims but victims remain unsatisfied with what they consider to be ‘‘un-Christ-like behaviour’’ over the cover-up of child sex abuse and the response to it.

The Newcastle Herald reported yesterday that Cardinal Pell told the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child sex abuse he was ‘‘fully apologetic and absolutely sorry’’ for clergy abuse. He admitted that abuse had been covered up.

Salt Ash man Rob Lipari, who was sexually assaulted as a boy by a Catholic school priest in the 1970s, alleged Cardinal Pell’s main concern was money and power.

‘‘It’s about protecting the Church’s assets and his tail,’’ Mr Lipari said.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

May 29, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

This week, in a challenging and confrontational four-hour session, Cardinal George Pell became the final witness at the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse. The inquiry began slowly, in the face of considerable scepticism about its resources and political will, but now I congratulate the committee.

It has been diligent, dedicated and determined, united in purpose and free of party politics, aided by an excellent team including Frank Vincent, QC, police adviser Mal Hyde and Crown prosecutor Claire Quin. The police Taskforce Sano attached to the inquiry has already laid new charges.

By the end, the committee received 405 submissions and held 160 hearings – just under half in secret – with 45 organisations and scores of victims, families, whistleblowers, academics and experts.

Now the committee retires to write its report, due by September 30. Whatever its recommendations, many of which could be confidently predicted now, it has already served a valuable role in giving a public voice to victims and holding the churches to account.

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NEW JERSEY
Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk | May 28, 2013

Under cover of the Memorial Day holiday, Newark Archbishop tried to put the Fugee scandal behind him by throwing his vicar general under the bus and blaming “operational failures” and/or “vulnerabilities” for the fact that the “strong protocols” of the archdiocese were not always observed. Right.

Myers’ first direct statement on the matter, delivered in different forms on the Star-Ledger op-ed page Saturday, by priests in his parishes Sunday, and by himself on video, begins, “When I first learned several weeks ago that Father Michael Fugee may have violated a lifetime ban on ministry to minors…”) Given that his spokesman initially claimed that the court order permitted the priest to minister to minors “under supervision,” that’s a telling, if backhanded, admission.

What Myers does not acknowledge is that if he had followed the protocols of the USCCB, which he helped write, he wouldn’t be in the position he is today. Under the USCCB’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, a priest is to be permanently removed from ministry “for even a single act of sexual abuse of a minor — whenever it occurred — which is admitted or established after an appropriate process in accord with canon law.”

After Fugee’s conviction for child molestation was dismissed on a technicality, the archdiocese signed a Memorandum of Understanding banning the priest from ministering to minors. You’d have thought that was an acknowledgement that sexual abuse of a minor had in fact occurred. But what Myers did next was to convene his anonymous review committee to look into the case, and lo and behold, the committee found that there had been no abuse. Whereupon he returned Fugee to ministry, giving him desk jobs in charge of doctrine and priest formation and appointing him as a chaplain at the local Catholic hospital (without letting the hospital administration know of Fugee’s past).

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

May 29, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age

On November 9 last year, Georgie Crozier strode to the lectern, fixed me with a steely gaze and read a short statement defending the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse.

Although the chairwoman of the six-MP committee running the inquiry did not explicitly mention it, she was clearly stung by my opinion piece in The Age two days earlier criticising the pace and depth the inquiry had shown to that point – just 1½ days of hearings – and the opaqueness of the process. She answered many questions in the article, and concluded: ”We have begun the process, let us get on with it.”

This article is an odd sort of mea culpa, because I am not convinced I was entirely wrong at the time. The committee did start slowly, and there were legitimate doubts about its political will. But I certainly wouldn’t write such an article now.

I think the members gained self-belief and momentum as they went along, were appalled by what victims told them, and got emotionally involved. It is impossible not to, the stories are so harrowing. Those involved in the inquiry needed regular counselling.

This week they finished taking evidence, the last witness being Sydney Archbishop George Pell on Monday. I congratulate the committee. It has been diligent, dedicated and determined, united in purpose and free of party politics, aided by an excellent team including Frank Vincent QC, police adviser Mal Hyde, and Crown prosecutor Claire Quin. The police Taskforce Sano attached to the inquiry has already laid new charges.

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AUSTRALIA
BDlive

BY JAMES GRUBEL, MAY 28 2013

CANBERRA — The head of the Catholic Church in Australia on Monday came under scathing attack at a Victorian state inquiry into child abuse cover-ups, as he blamed a culture of silence for what one panelist described as a “psychopathic disregard” for the welfare of children.

Cardinal George Pell, an adviser to Pope Francis on Vatican reforms, told a parliamentary hearing the church had been slow to address the suffering of victims and again issued an apology.

“I am fully apologetic, and absolutely sorry,” said Cardinal Pell at an often hostile hearing marked by at times angry questioning over the church’s compensation and investigations. Cardinal Pell was questioned for more than four hours. He said the number of reports of abuse by clergy members peaked in the 1970s and 1980s — at 620 cases — but had fallen as the church changed its approach.

“The evidence of misbehaving, crimes, has been significantly reduced. I hope the worst is behind us,” Cardinal Pell said, adding 300 people in Victoria state had received compensation for abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
BRW

Leo D’Angelo Fisher Columnist

Cardinal George Pell is Australia’s most senior Catholic, but he rejects the assertion that he is the head of the Catholic Church in Australia. At his marathon four-and-a-half-hour appearance before the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse on Monday, Pell admitted to many things, but he did not agree that the buck for systemic abuse of children by Catholic priests stopped with him.

“I’m not the Catholic Prime Minister of Australia. I am not the general manager Australia. The Catholic Church is. . . a very interesting example of a flat organisation,” he told the at times openly-hostile inquiry.

It may well be an organisational nicety of the Catholic Church hierarchy that Pell does not carry the title “chief executive officer, Catholic Church Australia Ltd” on his business card, but nobody was under the illusion that Pell was not speaking for the church as the titular, if not actual, head of the church in Australia.

When Pell told the inquiry, “I’m fully apologetic and absolutely sorry” and admitted “that lives have been blighted”, that “these crimes have contributed to too many suicides”, and that priests who had abused children in their care had been deliberately moved from parish to parish, and that “in some cases, unfortunately” paedophile priests were placed above the law – these were not the admissions of a mere parish priest. The weight of these shocking admissions about the church’s failings came from the authority of Pell’s leadership of the church.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

EDITORIALS

THE Catholic Church, like the Australian Defence Force, state-run children’s services and other churches, has been forced to learn hard lessons about the criminal abuse of innocent victims by those in positions of trust. In some cases, such depravity led to lifelong damage and even contributed to suicides.

For two decades, Catholics have suffered a sense of betrayal as the church’s propensity to cover up criminal activity, shield perpetrators and transfer them from parish to parish or school to school has been exposed. Victims naturally seek justice, comfort and closure from the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Child Abuse and the upcoming Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The inquiries, however, have another important task: to ensure that safeguards are enacted to prevent abuse in future. Judging by the evidence of Australia’s most senior Catholic leader, Cardinal George Pell, to the Victorian commission yesterday, the church has made some progress towards putting its house in order.

Two months after his appointment as Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996, Archbishop Pell set up the Independent Commission into Sexual Abuse headed by independent QC Peter O’Callaghan, with a separate panel assessing compensation payouts of up to $50,000, in line with state criminal compensation. At the time, the move was cutting-edge, putting the Archdiocese ahead of the rest of the church and other institutions. The process was more transparent than the Towards Healing protocol established shortly afterwards in other parts of the Catholic Church in Australia and well ahead of most of the US and Ireland, where the main government inquiry did not start until 1999. As the Cardinal said, the fact that 242 abuse complaints had been upheld from the 1970s, 82 from the 1980s, between 22 and 24 from the 1990s and fewer than 20 since 2000 indicated the problem was being contained.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

AAP MAY 28, 2013

CARDINAL George Pell’s appearance at Victoria’s child sex abuse inquiry was “a cynical exercise in damage control”, a barrister and victims’ advocate says.

Bryan Keon-Cohen QC says Cardinal Pell’s statements at Monday’s inquiry hearing lacked conviction and he tried to evade responsibility.

“My response to Cardinal Pell’s evidence, being as fair as I can, is that it was to me a rather cynical exercise in damage control,” Dr Keon-Cohen, president of community lobby group COIN (Commission of Inquiry Now), told ABC Radio in Melbourne.

“He offered a lot of words, he offered apologies, remorse, but to me it lacked conviction.”

He said Cardinal Pell, who is a former Archbishop of Melbourne, followed the line used by Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart last week at the inquiry.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

By Genevieve Gannon and Daniel Fogarty
From: AAP
May 28, 2013

THE Catholic Church should not be allowed to investigate allegations of child sex abuse committed within its own ranks, advocates say.

They want the church’s internal abuse response processes replaced by a government body and say legal options for victims should be strengthened.

Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, argues the church’s Melbourne Response, which he set up while archbishop of Melbourne to deal with clergy abuse claims in the archdiocese, has been sufficient.

“I’m more than happy with what we did at that time,” he told the final hearing day for Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into child abuse on Monday.

“I felt it was a sufficient response to the problem at that time and it bore very significant fruit.”

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch

BY LOUIS LLOVIO Richmond Times-Dispatch

An activist organization created by victims of childhood sexual abuse will protest the Richmond Outreach Center today outside Richmond police headquarters on Grace Street.

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is protesting the South Richmond megachurch’s decision to stand by its pastor, Geronimo Aguilar, as he faces charges in Texas for the alleged sexual abuse of two children in 1996.

The group also is urging other alleged victims to come forward to local police.

“Frankly, it’s always heartbreaking to us to see congregants immediately and publicly rally for an accused child molester instead of keeping an open mind and urging anyone with information to come forward,” said David Clohessy, a spokesman for the organization.

Clohessy said the church’s decision to stand by Aguilar sends the wrong message to victims of sexual abuse — whether inside the church or watching the case from afar — who already find it extremely difficult to come forward and discuss what happened to them as children.

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AUSTRALIA
Adelaide Now

Lloyd Jones
AAP
May 28, 2013

A MAN who was sexually abused as a boy by Catholic brothers says it is “beyond belief” that Cardinal George Pell was unaware of abuse by clergy over many years.

Cardinal Pell, Australia’s most senior Catholic, admitted to Victoria’s child sex abuse inquiry that a fear of scandal had led to cover-ups of child sex abuse in the church.

He was “absolutely sorry” for what had happened, but he had never personally covered up clergy abuse, he told the inquiry in Melbourne on Monday.

But many abuse victims were not satisfied with Cardinal Pell’s apology, saying it was insincere and he had diverted blame to others.

Sydney resident John Hennessey told AAP on Tuesday he was sexually abused by Christian Brothers at Boys Town in Western Australia where he went as a boy migrant from Britain in 1947.

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AUSTRALIA
Reuters

The head of the Catholic Church in Australia on Monday blamed a former culture of silence for the cover-up of child abuse by clergy, making it difficult to know the full extent of abuse, but added that the number of cases had dropped significantly since the church started taking stronger action.

Cardinal George Pell, an adviser to Pope Francis on Vatican reforms, told a parliamentary hearing the church had been slow to address the suffering of victims and again issued an apology.

“I am fully apologetic, and absolutely sorry,” said Pell in a tense hearing marked by at times angry questioning over the church’s compensation and investigations. Pell was questioned for more than four hours.

Pell said the number of reports of abuse by clergy members peaked in the 1970s and 80s, but had fallen as the church changed its approach.

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AUSTRALIA
International Business Times

By Precious Silva | May 28, 2013

Top ranking Catholic official Cardinal George Pell faced the Victorian Parliament yesterday afternoon to answer sexual child abuse queries. The cardinal admitted to the committee that the Church indeed tried covering up the scandal and that members of the clergy were involved.

True to what was advised to him, Cardinal Pell was honest and apologetic to the committee as he addressed their inquiries about the sexual controversies flung at the Church. He said that he was completely sorry and apologetic because the Church tried hiding the truth for decades.

There are members of the public gallery who cried as the church official answered the committee’s question. Likewise, there were even more sympathetic responses when the cardinal was finally forced to explain how the church systematically covered up the scandals. Rape victims were as young as five years old.

“I’m certainly totally committed to improving the situation. I know the Holy Father is too,” ABC quoted Pell while he faced the Victorian parliament. The cardinal defended why the church had to do the cover up despite the pressure on him that afternoon.

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MISSOURI
The Olathe News

By MARK MORRISThe Kansas City Star

The May 2011 firestorm over the handling of a disgraced Catholic priest’s production of child pornography prompted the local church to undertake the most far-reaching child protection reforms in its history.

And since then, the years have been pretty busy for the women at the center of the changes.

“I feel we have made tremendous strides in training,” said Jenifer Valenti, the ombudsman for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Since Bishop Robert Finn announced new child protection measures in the wake of the Shawn Ratigan scandal, the program has been cemented into place by a Jackson County judge who demanded regular reports on child welfare in the diocese after convicting the bishop last September of failing to report suspicions of child abuse, a misdemeanor.

One local cleric said that given the heightened scrutiny on the church, having Valenti, a former prosecutor, available to pursue complaints and answer questions is critical.

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