ABUSE TRACKER

WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director
CONTACT: 414-336-8575

Today the Green Bay diocese issued a statement that one of its senior priests, Fr. Justin Werner, has been restricted from ministry due to a report of sexual abuse of a child or minor while he was at St. Edward in Mackville a few decades ago. Making this statement is a good start. The diocese now has to make sure parishes where Werner has been conducting ministry, especially recently, like St. Bernard’s in Appleton, are asked to help the police with any information on the case.

Child sexual abuse is the most unreported crime in the United States. Fewer than 10 percent of all victims report the crime, and it usually takes years, if not decades to come forward.

Because the alleged crimes took place under the old Wisconsin criminal statute of limitations for child sexual assault it is unlikely Werner will face prosecution.

While it is encouraging the diocese is notifying the public about Werner, why do they continue to be silent about the at least 51 clerics, as of 2004, acknowledged by the diocese to have confirmed, credible, and substantiated acts of sexual assault of a child or minor? 35 of those priests are diocesan and 16 belong to the Norbertine religious order, headquartered in De Pere.

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UNITED STATES
Whispers in the Loggia

To repeat a line once said of Seán O’Malley among his Capuchin confreres, “The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.”

So the more recent story goes, in the days after Pope Francis’ election, the cardinal-archbishop of Boston dispatched his priest secretary to the Domus with a note for the new pontiff, ordering the aide “to give this letter to someone who will put it into the Pope’s hands.”

As it turned out, Fr Jonathan Gaspar didn’t just end up delivering the message – he was received by the Pope.

While we don’t know the contents, they were clearly appreciated – this morning, O’Malley was the lone North American named to Papa Bergoglio’s eight-cardinal “task force” chartered both to advise Francis in his universal role and study the reform of the Roman Curia.

Given the significance of the call, perhaps it’s to be expected that some have wondered why the nod fell to the 68 year-old Capuchin as opposed to others.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Press TV (Iran)

British police are investigating a widespread child abuse cover-up in the Catholic Church in the UK with a bishop under probe, local media reported.

The Metropolitan Police has set up the so-called Operation Fernbridge to look into historical cases of paedophilia in Britain.

The detectives are examining claims that the prelate protected priests who were sexually abusing youngsters, the Sunday People has revealed.

The paper said other areas of the Catholic church are also under investigation to find if there has been a large-scale cover-up of paedophilia.

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WISCONSIN
NBC 26

[with video]

By NBC26 News Team

CREATED Apr. 13, 2013

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Diocese is restricting a retired priest from public ministry following an allegation of child abuse.

The Diocese says it received the allegation against Father Justin Werner. Father Werner denies any wrongdoing, and an investigation is underway. The abuse is alleged to have happened at St. Edward Parish in Mackville in the 1970s.

The Diocese released a statement Saturday saying, “The Diocese is pastorally assisting both the person bringing the allegation and Father Werner. The Diocese asks for prayers for both of them, and for all affected.”

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WISCONSIN
Post-Crescent

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay has restricted a retired priest from performing public ministry after learning of an allegation of abuse against him.

The Rev. Justin N. Werner, 84, denied an accusation that he abused a minor at St. Edward Parish in Mackville during the 1970s, according to a statement from the diocese.

Justine Lodl, spokeswoman for the diocese, said the allegation has been reported to civil authorities, but would not say which law enforcement agency was handling it.

Calls made Saturday by Gannett Wisconsin Media to Brown and Outagamie county law enforcement agencies did not turn up a report. An Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department official said the report could have gone directly to the investigation division, which was not open Saturday.

Lodl said a private investigator also is reviewing the allegation. Werner will be restricted from public ministry pending the outcome of the review. Werner told Post-Crescent Media on Saturday that he did not have a comment and was not aware of the specifics of the allegations.

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CANADA
YouTube

Published on Apr 13, 2013

Bishop Ronald Fabbro apologies to the sexual abuse victims of priests in the Diocese of London and about plans to prevent such abuse in the future.

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KANSAS CITY (KS)
The Leaven

On April 2, the Safe Environment Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas received a report alleging abuse of a minor by Father Anthony Putti, a priest of the Diocese of Guntur, India, where he currently resides.

The archdiocese has never received any other allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor against Father Putti. Father Putti denies the allegation. His bishop has also been informed. He served in the archdiocese before and while pursuing graduate studies in theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Ill.

Upon completing his studies, Father Putti was assigned in July 2008 as pastor of St. Gregory Parish, Marysville, and St. Malachy Parish, Beattie. He was assigned to assist at Prince of Peace Parish, Olathe, from June 2003 until beginning graduate studies in September 2005 and at St. Michael the Archangel Parish, Leawood, in summer 2007.

In September 2010, Father Putti resigned his pastoral duties and was recalled to his home diocese after admitting to sexual relations with an adult who had requested privacy in the matter.

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CHILE
Cooperativa

El cardenal chileno Francisco Javier Errázuriz se mostró contento por haber sido elegido entre los ocho cardenales que ayudarán al papa Francisco a reformar la Curia romana, ante las críticas que esto desató, el clérigo sostuvo que “yo creo claramente que hice mi deber”.

Tras una ceremonia celebrada esta mañana en la Catedral Metropolitana, donde el arzobispo Ricardo Ezzati ordenó a siete nuevos sacerdotes para la arquidiócesis de Santiago, el cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz se refirió a su nombramiento y a las reacciones que esto ha generado en las víctimas de Karadima.

“Parece que el papa pensó distinto, yo creo claramente que hice mi deber y que hay personas que están muy enojadas todavía y jamás he visto que se haga un juicio a un juez por ejemplo, porque al comienzo toma más tiempo llegar a la certidumbre sobre las denuncias presentadas”, señaló Errázuriz.

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CHILE
Bio Bio

Publicado por Denisse Charpentier | La Información es de Juan Carlos Alvarado

Los querellantes del caso Karadima reaccionaron molestos por el nombramiento del cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz por parte del Papa Francisco, como uno de los miembros del equipo que realizará la reforma a la Curia Romana.

El Arzobispo Ricardo Ezzati dijo que los querellantes tienen derecho a no estar de acuerdo, y el mismo Errázuriz afirmó que, al parecer, el Papa tiene una opinión más favorable a él.

Polémica desató la decisión del Papa Francisco de convocar al cardenal Errázuriz, Arzobispo emérito de Santiago, como uno de los 8 cardenales que lo acompañarán en su proceso de reforma a la Curia Romana.

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CHILE
Terra

El cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz respondió a los denunciantes del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, quienes criticaron la decisión del Papa Francisco de nombrar al arzobispo emérito de Santiago como parte de un grupo de cardenales para que lo asesore en reformar la Curia romana.Ante las críticas, el cardenal Errázuriz respondió que “parece que el Papa pensó distinto”. “Yo creo claramente que cumplí con mi deber y que hay personas que están muy enojadas todavía”, manifestó.

Añadió que “jamás he visto que se juzgue a un juez porque se tomó más tiempo para llegar a la certidumbre sobre las denuncias presentadas”, informa Emol.

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CANADA
YouTube

Published on Apr 13, 2013

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, set up to heal wounds from residential schools, has embarked on a massive project to document school children’s deaths and find their burial sites. The commission held a forum on residential schools Mar. 1-3 in Vancouver.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Paul Berger

Published April 14, 2013, issue of April 19, 2013

Yeshiva University finds itself immersed this spring in a tale of two honorees. One, a former president of the United States, is accused of anti-Israel bias. The other, a leading Y.U. rabbi, is accused of racism and a disregard for victims of child sex abuse.

Hershel Schachter, the Y.U. rabbi in question, has also been criticized in years past for suggesting that the prime minister of Israel be shot if he compromises with the Palestinians on Jerusalem, and for appearing to compare women to monkeys.

But while an event organized by Y.U.’s rabbinic school to honor Schachter in May has aroused little opposition, the decision by a student-run journal at Y.U.’s law school to honor former president Jimmy Carter on April 10 sparked swift, furious and widespread criticism.

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OSTERREICH
Muenchner Kirchenradio

Das älteste Kloster im deutschsprachigen Raum hat nach einer dreijährigen Übergangszeit wieder einen Erzabt: Korbinian Birnbacher. Er ist vergangene Woche gewählt worden.

Birn­ba­chers Vor­gän­ger, Bruno Be­cker, war wegen Miss­brauchs­vor­wür­fen zu­rück­ge­tre­ten. Die Auf­ar­bei­tung der Fälle sei aber auf einem guten Weg, so Birn­ba­cher im Münch­ner Kir­chen­ra­dio. Er habe sich sehr über die Wahl zum neuen Erz­abt ge­freut. Gleich­zei­tig spricht Birn­ba­cher, der bis­he­ri­ge Prior des Stifts, aber von einer gro­ßen Ver­ant­wor­tung, die er mit sei­nem Amt an­tritt. 2010 war be­kannt ge­wor­den, dass der da­ma­li­ge Erz­abt von St. Peter, Be­cker, einen Min­der­jäh­ri­gen se­xu­ell miss­braucht haben soll. Auch zwei an­de­re Pa­tres sol­len sich meh­re­re Male an Kin­dern ver­gan­gen haben. Laut Birn­ba­cher seien die Fälle bis­lang unter Ein­be­zie­hung von Psy­cho­lo­gen und Ju­ris­ten sehr gut auf­ge­ar­bei­tet wor­den. Er selbst pfle­ge einen engen Kon­takt zu den Op­fern, die das Stift auch fi­nan­zi­ell ent­schä­digt habe. Viele von ihnen hät­ten be­reits an­ge­kün­digt, bei sei­ner Weihe zum Erz­abt am 21. April dabei zu sein.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

vor wenigen Tagen hieß es noch “Papst Franziskus – Armut als neue Leitsatz” … Jetzt wird ausgerechnet der ehemalige Trierer Bischof, Kardinal Marx, Erzbischof von München als “Reformberater” berufen

“Papst Franziskus beruft Beratergremium”

Acht Kardinälen sollen dem Papst dabei helfen, die Kurie zu reformieren. Auch der Erzbischof von München, Kardinal Marx, ist einer der Berater. Er ist fast der einzige Europäer in der Expertengruppe, die die Neuorganisation der Kirchenleitung organisieren soll.

den vollständigen Artikel auf “sueddeutsche.de” lesen

•Marx residiert in millionensaniertem Prunk-Palais
•Fingerfertige Ministranten – Im Fall eines mutmaßlichen Kinderschänders belegen neue Dokumente die Versäumnisse des früheren Erzbischofs Ratzinger und seines Nachfolgers Marx.

•Kardinal Marx: Homosexuelle sind “gescheiterte Menschen”

•Priester drängen Kardinal Marx zu mehr Dialog

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DEUTSCHLAND
NW-News

VON ANNIKA FALK

Paderborn. Auch mehr als drei Jahre nach den ersten Meldungen über sexuellen Missbrauch innerhalb der Katholischen Kirche erreichen den zuständigen Arbeitsstab beim Erzbistum Paderborn immer wieder Anfragen. Ansprechpartner für die Opfer ist Manfred Frigger, ehemaliger Leiter der Eheberatung.

Der Arbeitsstab Sexueller Missbrauch wurde bereits 2002 eingeführt, nachdem erste Missbrauchsfälle in den USA und Irland publik geworden waren. Der Vatikan verordnete damals, dass jedes Erzbistum eine entsprechende Anlaufstelle einrichten soll. “Anfangs wurde die Kommission von einem Prälaten geleitet, man merkte dann aber, dass es schwierig sein könnte, wenn ein hochrangiger Kirchenmann mit den Opfern spricht”, sagt Frigger, der den Stab seit 2003 leitet.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

“Missbrauchs-Opfer wollen gehört werden”

Insgesamt 23 Frauen und 66 Männer haben sich beim Erzbistum Paderborn gemeldet, einige Fälle spielten sich aber in anderen Bistümern oder in der Evangelischen Kirche ab, wurden also weitervermittelt. Innerhalb des hiesigen Erzbistums beschuldigten 16 Frauen und 26 Männer insgesamt 42 Kleriker und andere Mitarbeiter im kirchlichen Dienst. 27 Anträge konntennicht anerkannt werden, weil “nur” körperliche Gewalt vorlag, die Opfer wurden an den “Heimkinderfond” des Landschaftsverbands Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) weiterempfohlen.

Bei den meisten Fällen waren die Beschuldigten nicht mehr am Leben. Die Staatsanwaltschaft wurde in fünf Fällen eingeschaltet. Ein Priester mit knapp 90 Jahren wurde zur Selbstanzeige gedrängt, doch auch sein Fall war – wie die anderen – verjährt. So kam es nie zu einem Prozess.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Lisa Wangsness
| Globe Staff
April 13, 2013

Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley to a panel of nine prelates from around the world who will advise him on reforming governance of the church.

The Vatican’s announcement on Saturday, exactly one month after Francis’s election, sends a strong signal that the new pope hopes to confront the problems within the curia, or Vatican bureaucracy, that distracted and embarrassed his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.

It also suggests he may intend to address bishops’ longstanding complaints that power in the Catholic church has become too centralized in Rome, analysts said.

“The election of Francis was in part a vote to shake things up, and this would be first concrete indication that might actually happen,” said John Allen, the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.

He called the appointment of O’Malley “an early indication that O’Malley may be this pope’s go-to guy in the US.”

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

Sunday, April 14, 2013

By:
Gary J. Remal 
, Christine McConville

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley could emerge as a key player in the Vatican as he assumes a potentially game-changing role on a new committee charged with advising Pope Francis on worldwide Catholic church reforms.

“Potentially this is an earthquake rather than a tremor,” said John L. Allen Jr. of National Catholic Reporter.

“This has the making of the biggest real-world decentralization of the church since the Second Vatican Council,” 
Allen said..

O’Malley was appointed to the elite new eight-cardinal Vatican Advisory Council yesterday.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

The appointment of eight advisers, including the Archbishop of Sydney George Pell, to a new Vatican panel will help revamp the Catholic church, former Australian ambassador to the Holy See Tim Fischer says.

Cardinal Pell is one of seven cardinals and one monsignor – the others are from Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Asia – appointed to the group by Pope Francis.

In its announcement on Saturday, the Vatican said Francis got the idea to form the advisory body from the pre-conclave meetings.

“He has formed a group of cardinals to advise him in the governing of the universal church and to study a revision of the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia,” the statement said.

Mr Fischer welcomed the announcement.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Cardinal George Pell says he would welcome a reduction in Italy’s influence over the Vatican, as he prepares to join a committee appointed by the pope to reform the church’s administrative body.

The Archbishop of Sydney has been selected by Pope Francis to sit on a committee that will look to reform the Curia, the administrative branch of the church.

Cardinal Pell, who is flying to Rome tonight for preliminary meetings, said the committee will lead to greater discipline in the upper echelons of the church, alluding to last year’s leaking of secret papal documents by Emeritus Pope Benedict’s butler.

A cardinal from each continent has been selected to form the committee, a move that Cardinal Pell says is reflective of the church’s changing demographics.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

AUSTRALIA’S most senior Catholic Cardinal George Pell says he’ll work with seven other high ranking churchmen appointed by the Pope to a new Vatican panel to bring “better discipline” to the church and avoid “Vatileaks” type scandals.

Cardinal Pell, 71, is being hailed as a voice for Oceania on the permanent advisory group.

He was appointed by Pope Francis on Saturday night alongside six other cardinals and one Monsignor.

Cardinal Pell said in his new role he would help the Pope in “anyway I can”.

“I am very sure the Holy Father will be working for a better discipline,” Cardinal Pell told the ABC on Sunday.

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AUSTRALIA
AFP

SYDNEY — Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric Cardinal George Pell, picked by the pope to help advise him on governance and reforms, said Sunday “better discipline” was needed in the church.

The Sydney Archbishop also suggested less Italian influence at the Vatican would be welcome.

Pell was one of eight cardinals from around the world selected by Pope Francis on Saturday to advise him in the new pontiff’s first step towards reforming the Catholic Church’s opaque administration.

The group will examine updating the constitution of the Roman Curia — the Church administration which analysts say is badly in need of reform.

Pell said he would help the pope in “anyway I can”.

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ITALY
Gazzetta del Sud

12/04/2013

More people drawn to pews, priest sex-abuse a dwindling concern

Vatican City, April 12 – Ever since he was named pontiff one month ago and opted to present himself without the traditional papal red cape trimmed with ermine, Pope Francis has had no shortage of admirers drawn to his modest, down-to-earth touch. That popularity extends to Catholics and non-Catholics alike in Italy, according to a new poll Friday that shows four out of five Italians view Francis favorably. Fully 92% of Catholics told pollsters IPR Marketing that they found Francis to be close to the faithful, humble, determined, appealing to the young, authoritative, and also sincere. About 77% of non-Catholics expressed similar positive opinions. Although 60% of Italians polled say they want the newly elected pontiff to give top priority to dealing with sexual abuse by priests, that number has fallen from one month ago, according to the survey. Last month, as many as 67% wanted the new pope to deal with the long-standing problem of priest pedophilia, said the opinion poll, which surveyed the opinions of 1,000 Italians.

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WISCONSIN
Press-Gazette

GREEN BAY — A retired priest has been accused of abusing a minor in the 1970s, the Diocese of Green Bay announced Saturday.

The Rev. Justin N. Werner denies the allegation, the diocese said in a statement. The abuse is alleged to have happened at St. Edward Parish in Mackville, which is in Outagamine County.

Justine Lodl, director of communications with the diocese, declined further comment on the matter, saying it remains under investigation.

The diocese said Werner is being “temporarily restricted from performing any public ministry pending the outcome of a complete review of these matters, which includes an investigation by an independent professional investigator.”

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SOUTH AFRICA
Daily Maverick

Pierre de Vos

13 Apr 2013 05:59 (South Africa)

It is not often that a senior leader of a powerful and (still relatively) influential religious organisation gives media interviews that potentially expose him (somehow such religious leaders are almost always men) to possible criminal prosecution. However, over the past month Cardinal Wilfred Napier has twice made statements about the Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse allegations against paedophile priests that raise serious questions about whether he has adhered to the law.

Cardinal Napier is not a stranger to controversy. In a recent interview with the Mail & Guardian he displayed a remarkable lack of either logic or compassion, stating that he could not be accused of homophobia “because I don’t know any homosexuals” – an implausible claim, given the fact that I personally know of two South African Catholic priests who are practicing homosexuals (the one in a loving long term relationship with another man, the other a slightly sad cruiser for sex on the internet).

Arguing that there must be something “radically wrong with a society that can go against revelation and reason”, Cardinal Napier stated in this interview that “with same-sex marriages we are carrying out someone else’s agenda. It’s a new kind of slavery, with America saying you won’t get aid unless you distribute condoms, legalise homosexuality”.

Perhaps the Cardinal should consider the possibility that it’s the Catholic Church – not gay men and lesbians – that is in the wrong for displaying such disdain, even hatred, towards consenting adults who experience emotional and sexual attraction for members of their own sex. When a Cardinal expresses disgust and revulsion for legal rules that prohibit unfair discrimination against fellow South Africans, it might well be the Cardinal who is suffering from a lack of reason and who remains blind to revelation – let alone compassion and plain common human decency.

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UNITED STATES
Buffalo News

By Michael D. Langan
NEWS BOOK REVIEWER

Pulitzer Prize winner Michael D’Antonio’s new book “Mortal Sins” will be the gold standard for unraveling what happened during the Catholic priests’ sex abuse scandal of the last three decades. D’Antonio’s balanced exposition and analysis is the equivalent of a cleansing shower on a disturbing period in church history that will reverberate for 100 years or more.

The monumentality of the evil laid out in “Mortal Sins” will gag readers. While there is no prurience in the writing, the matter-of-factness of the sexual activity is jaw-dropping. The crimes documented include a fact pattern of enormous proportion. The doggedness of those who pursued justice is admirable.

In “Mortal Sins” D’Antonio makes the case that:

• The abuse scandal is the product of the church’s culture of secrecy and sexual blackmail.

• Three Americans – lawyer Jeff Anderson, priest Thomas Doyle and victim Barbara Blaine – are responsible for creating a worldwide movement that has seen hundreds of priests convicted of crimes and more than $3 billion paid to people who were abused as children, with countless more claims unresolved.

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WISCONSIN
Post-Crescent

Written by
Holly Meyer
Post-Crescent Media

A retired Catholic priest has been restricted from performing any public ministry after the Diocese of Green Bay received an allegation of abuse against him.

The senior priest, Justin N. Werner, denied that he was involved in any abuse of a minor at St. Edward Parish in Mackville during the 1970s, according to a statement from the dioceses.

The diocese reported the allegation to the civil authorities, but would not say which law enforcement agency was handling it, said Justine Lodl, diocese spokeswoman.

An independent investigator also is reviewing the allegations and Werner will be restricted from public ministry until the review is complete.

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INDIA
Times of India

Bella Jaisinghani, TNN | Apr 14, 2013

VATICAN CITY/MUMBAI: India’s Oswald Gracias is among eight high-ranking cardinals who were on Saturday appointed by Pope Francis to an advisory council to look into ways of reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. The council will help the Pope revise the Apostolic Constitution and Church administration which helps him in daily governance, the Vatican said in a statement.

Gracias, 68, is archbishop of Bombay (Mumbai), having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. He was raised to the cardinalate in 2007.

In Mumbai, there was elation at the gathering of priests at Holy Name Cathedral for a special function to mark the ordination of permanent deacons when the news broke on Saturday evening. A loud round of applause went up as Cardinal Gracias walked down the aisle and blessed the assembly.

“The secretary of state, who is the second in command, called me last Sunday to seek my consent for the appointment. This means that the Pope is looking to set up a different style of governance and reorganize the universal Church. Of course, it is a good sign that India is being taken seriously and that our feedback is being sought. When I was in Rome recently, I said India should be taken seriously and it is nice to see it happening,” Cardinal Gracias told TOI after the function.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

[with video]

ARCHBISHOP of Sydney George Pell has been appointed by Pope Francis to a permanent advisory group to help him run the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Pell is one of eight cardinals and one monsignor – the others are from Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Asia – who have been appointed to the group.

The panel is a clear indication that Francis wants to reflect the universal nature of the church in its governance and core decision-making, particularly given the church is growing and counts most of the world’s Catholics in the southern hemisphere.

In the run-up to the conclave that elected Francis pope one month ago, a reform of the Vatican bureaucracy was a constant drumbeat, as were calls to make the Vatican itself more responsive to the needs of bishops around the world.

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UNITED STATES
CNN

By Michael D’Antonio, Special to CNN

updated 11:44 AM EDT, Sat April 13, 2013

Editor’s note: Michael D’Antonio is the author of “Mortal Sins, Sex, Crime and the Era of Catholic Scandal.” He is a former religion writer for Newsday.

(CNN) — Thirty days of signs and signals have revealed to the world in Francis I, a pope who seems eager to earn the title pontiff, or bridge-builder. Beginning with his choice of a name, which evokes the beloved image of St. Francis of Assisi, the former cardinal of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, put the world on notice that change was afoot by forgoing the fancy red slippers and ermine stole favored by other popes.

Since then he has shown a remarkable common touch in his encounters with the public and greater sensitivity to others than the man who came before him.

Try as he did, Francis’ immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, never looked comfortable in his own skin, let alone in pastoral contact with others. Clad in his ornate robes, he seemed to keep the world at arm’s length in a way that betrayed his long service as Rome’s “Rottweiler” (a nickname he received from the press) in charge of disciplining those who deviated from doctrine.

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WISCONSIN
Press-Gazette

A retired priest has been accused of abusing a minor in the 1970s, the Diocese of Green Bay announced Saturday.

The Rev. Justin N. Werner denies the allegation, the diocese said in a statement.

The statement reads:

In following the Policies of Appropriate Conduct of the Diocese, Father Werner, a senior (retired) priest, has been temporarily restricted from performing any public ministry pending the outcome of a complete review of these matters, which includes an investigation by an independent professional investigator. The abuse is alleged to have happened at St. Edward Parish in Mackville in the 1970s. The Diocese has notified civil authorities of the allegation following its mandatory reporting policy.

The Diocese is assisting both the person bringing the allegation and Father Werner. The Diocese asks for prayers for both of them, and for all affected.

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WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Tom Kertscher of the Journal Sentinel

April 13, 2013

The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay announced Saturday that Father Justin Werner, a retired priest, has been accused of abusing a minor in the 1970s.

According to a statement from the diocese:

The abuse is alleged to have occurred at St. Edward Parish in Mackville, which is about six miles north of Appleton. Werner denies the allegation.

Werner has been temporarily restricted from performing any public ministry pending the outcome of a review by the diocese, which includes an investigation by an independent professional investigator.

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WISCONSIN
Fox 11

GREEN BAY – The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay says it has received an allegation of abuse of a minor against Father Justin N. Werner.

The Diocese said in a press release Saturday Father Werner denies the allegation.

Diocesan officials say Father Werner, a senior (retired) priest, has been temporarily restricted from performing any public ministry pending the outcome of a complete review. That includes an investigation by an independent professional investigator.

The Diocese says the abuse is alleged to have happened at St. Edward Parish in Mackville in the 1970s. Diocesan officials say they have notified Outagamie County authorities of the allegation following its mandatory reporting policy.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

A bishop is believed to be under investigation by officers from Operation Fernbridge – set up by the Metropolitan Police to look into historical cases of paedophilia

Cops are probing an alleged widespread child abuse cover-up in the Catholic Church in the UK, the Sunday People reports .

A bishop is believed to be under investigation by officers from Operation Fernbridge – set up by the Metropolitan Police to look into historical cases of paedophilia.

The detectives are examining claims that the prelate protected priests who were sexually abusing youngsters, investigative website Exaro and the Sunday People can reveal today.

Officers are also thought to be probing other areas of the Catholic church that may have been involved in a large-scale cover-up of paedophilia.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 12 April 2013 (VIS) – At 10:00 this morning, the Holy Father Frances went to the library of the Secretariat of State to meet the entire staff of the two sections of the Secretariat, that is, nearly 300 people—not only priests but also religious and lay men and women.

The Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., greeted the Pope with a brief address of welcome and presentation, assuring the Pope of the dedicated and cordial service of all those present who work in the Secretariat of State, which is fully the “Pope’s Secretariat”.

The Pope responded with a few brief words emphasizing his sincere and heartfelt gratitude for the welcome he has been given and for all the work carried out in this period, noting that tomorrow will already be a month from his election, as well as for the priceless commitment of service carried out by all the members of the Secretariat of State.

After imparting his blessing, the Pope personally greeted everyone present. The meeting lasted around 50 minutes.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

The Catholic Church’s new leader has appointed a group of top churchmen to advise him on how to reform the Vatican’s often arcane bureaucracy.

Pope Francis chose eight cardinals and a bishop who between them represent nearly every continent, and only one of whom is currently a Vatican official.

The bureaucracy, or Curia, has been blamed for the Church’s hesitant response to sex abuse and other crises.

It is nearly 50 years since the Vatican’s last major reforms.

The cardinals who elected Pope Francis last month were strongly critical about basic failings of the Curia under Pope Emeritus Benedict, the BBC’s David Willey reports from Rome.

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CHILE
Terra

Tanto José Andrés Murillo y Juan Carlos Cruz, quien son denunciantes del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, criticaron la noticia que se conoció esta mañana, sobre la decisión del papa Francisco de nombrar al cardenal chielno Francisco Javier Errázuriz dentro de los miembros del grupo que lo asesorará en la reforma de la curia romana.

El arzobispo emérito de Santiago ha sido cuestionado por los denunciantes del ex párroco de El Bosque por encubrir los abusos del sacerdote.

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VATICAN CITY
Firstpost

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis held his first meeting on Friday with staff of the Vatican department that was at the centre of last year’s scandal over leaked documents alleging corruption, ahead of expected changes to its leadership.

The person he chooses to succeed Cardinal Tarciscio Bertone as head of the Secretariat of State will be among his most important decisions because he will be instrumental in helping Francis set the tone for a humbler Church following a period of scandals.

Bertone has been widely blamed for failing to prevent the many mishaps and infighting in Church government during the eight-year pontificate of now-retired Pope Benedict.

Francis inherited a Church struggling to deal with priests’ sexual abuse of children; the alleged corruption and infighting in the Vatican’s central administration, known as the Curia; and conflict over the running of the Vatican’s scandal-ridden bank.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Jordan Graham

Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley has been chosen for a Vatican advisory group to counsel Pope Francis on reforming the Catholic Church’s bureaucracy.

The leader of the Boston archdiocese will join cardinals from countries including Chile, India, Australia and the Congo.

The Vatican said the idea for the advisory group came from discussions that took place during pre-conclave meetings, and its first meeting will be in the beginning of October.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop of Sydney George Pell and seven other cardinals to advise him on how to reform the Catholic Church.

The eight cardinals will help the newly-elected Pontiff put into place changes in the Curia.

The Curia has been held responsible for some of the mishaps and scandals that plagued the eight-year reign of Pope Benedict XVI before he resigned in February.

Pope Francis was elected by a conclave of cardinals a month ago amid expectations he would undertake reforms.

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VATICAN CITY
Los Angeles Times

By Tom Kington
April 13, 2013

ROME — Pope Francis launched a long-awaited cleanup of the Vatican by announcing a task force Saturday made up of eight high-ranking cardinals, including one American, who will determine how best to reform the much-criticized Curia, or Vatican administration.

The new panel, comprising senior prelates from five continents, will meet for the first time in early October. Only one serving Vatican official has been named to the body.

The Vatican’s sluggish and dysfunctional bureaucracy has been blamed for a number of gaffes that plagued the papacy of Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who announced his resignation as head of the Roman Catholic Church in February. Infighting and power struggles inside the Curia were exposed by private papal letters leaked by Benedict’s butler.

In meetings held before they chose Francis as the new pontiff last month, many cardinals reportedly called for a shakeup of the Vatican, complaining that they felt the Curia was unresponsive and out of touch with its far-flung bishops and cardinals.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Gal Tziperman Lotan, Globe Correspondent

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley was one of nine high-ranking prelates Pope Francis named Saturday to an advisory group on revising Vatican government, according to the Archdiocese of Boston.

The group of eight cardinals and one bishop includes one Vatican insider, two Latin American cardinals, and representatives from India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Australia, and Germany, according to a posting on the archdiocese’s Facebook page.

O’Malley will remain stationed in Boston, said Terrence C. Donilon, an archdiocese spokesman.

Donilon said he did not know when O’Malley got the news of his appointment.

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VATICAN CITY
Ottawa Citizen

Pope faces tough decisions as Vatican reforms loom; style and record suggest he’ll go it alone

By Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press
April 13, 2013

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has spent much of his first month as pope charming ordinary Catholics with his ordinary yet extraordinary papal ways and making clear he is very much the boss when it comes to decisions as small as the shoes he wears to where he rests his head at night.

In the coming months, he’ll face decisions of far greater import as he responds to demands from cardinals in far-flung dioceses and Vatican officials at home for an overhaul of the Holy See bureaucracy, the dysfunctional family business he inherited one month ago Saturday.

Given Francis’ governing style and track record, it’s likely he’ll make these choices with an eye to efficiency, and very much alone.

Prelates are demanding term limits on Vatican jobs to prevent priests from becoming career bureaucrats. They want consolidated financial reports to remove the cloak of secrecy from the Vatican’s murky finances. And they want regular Cabinet meetings where department heads actually talk to one another to make the Vatican a help to the church’s evangelizing mission, not a hindrance.

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VATICAN CITY
The New York Times

By GAIA PIANIGIANI and RACHEL DONADIO

Published: April 13, 2013

VATICAN CITY — In his first significant decision since becoming pontiff — and a radical step toward more democracy in the Roman Catholic Church — Pope Francis on Saturday named a group of eight cardinals from around the world to advise him in governing the church and overhauling the troubled Vatican hierarchy, which has been rocked by scandals.

Although the group will not have legislative power, Vatican experts said the move was a strong sign that Francis was eager to consult widely and promote greater dialogue between the Vatican hierarchy and churches worldwide. The eight cardinals named include the archbishop of Boston and prelates from Australia, Chile, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Germany, Honduras, India and Italy.

“It’s an epochal shift because it brings the Vatican closer to a more collegial governance,” said Paolo Rodari, a Vatican expert with the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica. He was using a term meaning a greater sharing of power between Rome and local churches in governing the Catholic Church.

That concept was central to the liberalizing changes of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, but critics said both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI consolidated more control with the Vatican. Francis’ new advisory group reverses the trend.

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VATICAN CITY
swissinfo

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis, in his first major decision, on Saturday set up an advisory board of cardinals from around the world to help him govern the Catholic Church and reform its troubled central administration.

The eight cardinals will help him put into place changes in an administration which has been held responsible for some of the mishaps and scandals that plagued the eight-year reign of Pope Benedict before he resigned in February.

A Vatican statement said the group would “advise him in the governing of the universal Church” as well as in making administrative changes, a sign that Francis wants to consult more widely than Benedict did before making decisions.

The eight prelates come from Italy, Chile, India, Germany, Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States, Australia, and Honduras, indicating that Francis intends to take seriously calls by bishops from around the world to have more say in Vatican decisions that affect their areas.

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BOSTON (MA)
Houston Chronicle

BOSTON (AP) — The head of the Roman Catholic church in Boston is among nine cardinals named by Pope Francis to advise him on running the church and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley is among members of the advisory panel announced by the Vatican on Saturday. The group includes current Vatican officials, but more importantly cardinals from Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia. They will hold their first meeting Oct. 1-3.

The Vatican says Pope Francis appointed the advisers following suggestions that emerged during meetings in the run-up to the conclave that elected him.

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VATIKAN
Deutsche Welle

Rund einen Monat nach seiner Wahl hat Papst Franziskus eine Reformkommission eingesetzt, die ihn bei der Regierung der Weltkirche beraten soll. Ist der Papst am Ende nicht mehr ganz so päpstlich?

Franziskus bleibt seinem Stil treu und sorgt weiter für frischen Wind im Vatikan. Jetzt berief er acht Kardinäle, die Vorschläge für eine Reform der vatikanischen Behörden erarbeiten sollen. Vatikansprecher Federico Lombardi sprach ausdrücklich von einem “Signal” des Papstes. Franziskus wolle zeigen, dass die Vorschläge während der Versammlungen vor dem Konklave bei ihm angekommen seien.

Bei den täglichen Treffen im Vorfeld der Papstwahl hatten nicht nur Kardinäle aus der Weltkirche eine Bevormundung der Ortskirchen durch Rom oder mangelnde Abstimmung und Ineffizienz in der vatikanischen Verwaltung kritisiert.

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Dierk Shaefers Blog

»Die reiche Schweiz gibt sich knauserig«

und steht erst am Anfang für Kompensationsleistungen für die Leiden von Kindern unter staatlicher und kirchlicher Obhut. Der Schweizer „Beobachter“ gibt einen Länderüberblick.

Auszüge:
•Irland stellt für misshandelte Heimkinder insgesamt 1,28 Milliarden Euro bereit, die Kirche musste dem Staat dafür Ländereien und Gebäude im Wert von 128 Millionen Euro abtreten. Das dürfte nicht alles gewesen sein: Anfang Februar lag eine Unter­suchung über Frauen vor, die als «gefallene Mädchen» in Zwangs­arbeitsinstitutionen eingewiesen und dort häufig Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs geworden waren. Bis im Sommer soll für die rund 1000 Überlebenden ein Entschädigungsplan vorliegen.
•In Schweden erhalten die Opfer von Misshandlung, Vernachlässigung und Gewalt eine Entschädigung von je 250’000 Kronen (rund 37’000 Franken).
•Deutschland zwei Entschädigungsfonds: einerseits der mit 120 Millionen Euro dotierte Fonds «Heimerziehung West» – Bund, Länder und Kirchen steuern hier je ein Drittel bei, wobei 20 Millionen Euro zur wissenschaftlichen Begleitung und Aufarbeitung abgezogen werden. Und anderseits der Fonds «Heimerziehung in der DDR in den Jahren 1949 bis 1990», der vom Bund, den neuen Bundesländern und Berlin mit über 40 Millionen Euro ausgestattet wurde.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Apr. 13, 2013

In a signal that major reform may be on the horizon, the Vatican announced today that Pope Francis has formed a group of eight cardinals from around the world to “advise him on the government of the universal church” and “to study a project of revision” of a document from John Paul II on the Roman Curia.

At first blush, all these cardinals seem like strong personalities. Several have voiced criticisms over the years about various aspects of Vatican operations, while two, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston and Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, Germany, have played key roles in the church’s response to the child sexual abuse crisis.

The group’s first meeting is set for Oct. 1-3, and meanwhile, according to the Vatican statement, the pope will be in regular contact with the cardinals individually.

The brief item in the Vatican’s daily press bulletin did not explain how these cardinals were chosen, or how long they will serve in these roles.

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NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Jason Grant/The Star-Ledger
on April 12, 2013

MORRIS TOWNSHIP — In June, attorney Gregory Gianforcaro held a news conference outside the Morris County Courthouse to announce his client, a victim of sexual abuse in the 1980s at the Delbarton School, wanted to join a growing chorus of men speaking out about violations they claim went on secretly for years at the school.

Gianforcaro said he was filing a lawsuit on his client’s behalf, seeking to free him from a confidentiality clause in a settlement agreement his client had signed with Delbarton at age 19 in lieu of suing the all-boys Catholic school.

And at some point that afternoon, Gianforcaro also mentioned, according to a Star-Ledger article published the next day, that the 1988 settlement paid his client seven figures.

That utterance of seven figures, Delbarton’s lawyer said today, meant Gianforcaro himself had knowingly violated the confidentiality clause in the 1988 settlement agreement.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Francis has taken a most significant decision by setting up a group of eight cardinals from all continents to advise him in governing the Catholic Church and reforming the Roman Curia

Gerard O’Connell
Vatican City

In a highly significant and ground-breaking move, indicating a new, more collegial style of leadership, Pope Francis has chosen a group of eight cardinals, from all continents and the Roman Curia, to act as his special advisors in governing the Catholic Church and reforming the Roman Curia.

The Secretariat of State broke the news in a press statement on April 13, exactly one month after his election. It said “The Holy Father, Francis, taking up a suggestion that emerged in the course of the General Congregations preceding the Conclave, has set up a group of Cardinals to advise him in the government of the universal Church and to study a project of revision of the Apostolic Constitution “Pastor Bonus” on the Roman Curia”.

The Apostolic Constitution “Pastor Bonus” referred to in the Vatican statement was issued by Pope John Paul II in 1988 and introduced reforms in the Roman Curia, the civil service that assists the Pope in the government of the Church.

The Vatican revealed the names of the eight cardinals chosen by Pope Francis:

■AFRICA: Cardinal Laurent Monswengo Pasinya, 73, archbishop of Kinshasha in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, former president of SECAM – the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (1997-2003) and co-president of Pax Christi International (2007-2009);
■ASIA: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, 68, archbishop of Bombay, India, the current President of the FABC, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences;
■EUROPE: Cardinal Reinhard Marx, 69, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, in the Federal Republic of Germany; Since 2012 he has been president of COMECE – the Bishops Conferences of the European Community;
■LATIN AMERICA: Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, 79, emeritus Archbishop of Santiago de Cile, Chile, he was president of CELAM – the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Latin America ( 2003-2007);
■NORTH AMERICA: Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, OFM, 66, archbishop of Boston, US Bishops Conference;
■OCEANIA: Cardinal George Pell, 71, the archbishop of Sydney, Australia;
■ROMAN CURIA: Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, 70, the Italian-born Holy See diplomat and currently President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State;
■COORDINATOR: Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B.,70, archbishop of Tegucigapla, Honduras, will coordinate the Group.

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VATICAN CITY
Deutche Welle

A month into his papacy, Pope Francis has set up a committee of cardinals to help advise him how to best run the Church and reform the Vatican Curia. The move could signal a willingness to facilitate change.

Pope Francis has named eight cardinals to an advisory panel that will help him run the Church and study possible reforms of the Vatican’s Curia.

“[Francis] has formed a group of cardinals to advise him in the governing of the universal church and to study a revision of the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia,” a Vatican statement said on Saturday.

The idea for the advisory body, the Vatican said, came from pre-conclave meetings.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Catholic Insider

Today, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has set up a committee of eight cardinals from around the world to advise him on how to reform the Roman Curia. Cardinal Sean O’Malley is one of the eight. Here is the Vatican statement:

The Holy Father Francis, taking up a suggestion that emerged during the General Congregations preceding the Conclave, has established a group of cardinals to advise him in the government of the universal Church and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, ‘Pastor Bonus’. …

News reports say that the committee will advise Pope Benedict on how to reform the Catholic Church’s “troubled central administration.” Reports say, “The basic failings of the Curia were aired, sometimes passionately, at closed-door meetings of cardinals before they retired into the conclave that elected Francis.”

BCI finds it ironic that Cardinal O’Malley has been appointed to a committee to reform the Roman Curia, when his own central administration is troubled and he has failed to effectively govern and reform it for the past decade. Someone just suggested to BCI that Cardinal O’Malley serving on a committee to help reform the Roman Curia would be kind of like Hillary Clinton serving on a committee to help reform international embassy security.

In Boston, for nearly 3 years we have been documenting the ongoing problems of:
o Nearly $4M annually in excessive six-figure salaries paid to lay executives
o Moving around of funds from originally designated purposes to someplace else
o Skyrocketing administrative expenses
o Cronyism in hiring

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MONTANA
Char-Koosta News

Lailani Upham

BILLINGS — A two-day journey that began with openness of childhood sexual abuse, an epidemic that has tore the fabric of Indian Country communities for generations has been faced and ideals of healing had been launched for the future generations, at the 3rd annual Hope Conference, “Healing For Our People Everywhere – Seeking the Courage To Heal.”

At the opening morning Theda New Breast, Master Trainer and Facilitator of the Native Wellness Institute stated, “It doesn’t matter the number, but that you try your best in spreading the word of healing.”

Anna Whiting Sorrell, Billings Area Indian Health Director and keynote opening speaker of the conference, urged the group to fight the fight together, make difference and make a stand that the abuse in Indian communities would not be acceptable anymore. …

John Shuster, counselor, author and ex-Roman Catholic priest and board of director of The Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests (SNAP) held a workshop “Healing Choices For Survivors of Abuse.”

Shuster lectured on history of the Roman Catholic Church sexual abuse on Indian Reservations in the Northwest and Great Plains area stating that most of the clergy that came to the Reservations were from Germany. Those who joined the seminary in Germany experienced sexual abuse in their lives and wanted to escape by joining the “priesthood” and ended up being sent to rural areas where they began perpetrating abuse on children just as had been done to them.

The abuse was brought over from what was happening in that other country, he stated.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Mein Nordenham

Oldenburg – Im Alter von 18 Jahren habe der Angeklagte seine auf Jungen im Alter von 10 bis 14 Jahren gerichtete pädophile Neigung bemerkt – und sie verdrängt und unterdrückt. Ab 2009 sei jedoch nach Trennung von der Ehefrau und einer Privatinsolvenz das Leben des heute 47 Jahre alten Vaters von zwei Kindern in eine Schieflage geraten. Ab 2010/11 hätten sich seine sexuellen Fantasien verstärkt. Von Anfang 2011 bis Anfang 2012 sei es dann zu den Missbrauchsfällen gekommen.

Pädophilie nicht im Griff
Das sagte der Vorsitzende Richter Dr. Dirk Reuter in der Urteilsbegründung des Landgerichts Oldenburg und fügte hinzu. „Vielleicht lassen sich die Übergriffe damit begründen, dass der Angeklagte seine Pädophilie nicht mehr in den Griff bekommen hat.“

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 13 April 2013 (VIS) – Following is the full text of a communique issued today by the Secretariat of State.

“The Holy Father Francis, taking up a suggestion that emerged during the General Congregations preceding the Conclave, has established a group of cardinals to advise him in the government of the universal Church and to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, ‘Pastor Bonus’.

The group consists of:

Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State;

Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop emeritus of Santiago de Chile, Chile;

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, India;

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany;

Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo;

Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley O.F.M. Cap., archbishop of Boston, USA;

Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia;

Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in the role of coordinator; and

Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, Italy, in the role of secretary.

The group’s first meeting has been scheduled for 1-3 October 2013. His Holiness is, however, currently in contact with the aforementioned cardinals.”

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VATICAN CITY
CNN

By Hada Messia and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

updated 7:41 AM EDT, Sat April 13, 2013

Rome (CNN) — Pope Francis has appointed a group of eight cardinals from around the world to look into ways of reforming the Catholic Church, the Vatican said Saturday.

The group, which includes U.S. Cardinal Sean O’Malley from Boston, will examine ways to revise the Vatican constitution, Pastor Bonus, which sets the rules for running the Roman Curia, or church hierarchy.

The cardinals — who come from North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe — will first meet in October, the Vatican said.

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VATICAN CITY
USA Today

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis marked his first month as pope on Saturday by naming nine high-ranking prelates from around the globe to a permanent advisory group to help him run the Catholic Church and study a reform of the Vatican bureaucracy — a bombshell announcement that indicates he intends a major shift in how the papacy should function.

The panel includes only one current Vatican official; the rest are cardinals and a monsignor from Europe, Africa, North and South America, Asia and Australia — a clear indication that Francis wants to reflect the universal nature of the church in its governance and core decision-making, particularly given the church is growing and counts most of the world’s Catholics in the southern hemisphere.

In the run-up to the conclave that elected Francis pope one month ago, a reform of the Vatican bureaucracy was a constant drumbeat, as were calls to make the Vatican itself more responsive to the needs of bishops around the world. Including representatives from each continent in a permanent advisory panel to the pope would seem to go a long way toward answering those calls.

In its announcement Saturday, the Vatican said that Francis got the idea to form the advisory body from the pre-conclave meetings. “He has formed a group of cardinals to advise him in the governing of the universal church and to study a revision of the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia,” the statement said. …

The members of the panel include Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Vatican city state administration — a key position that runs the actual functioning of the Vatican, including its profit-making museums. The non-Vatican officials include Cardinals Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa, the retired archbishop of Santiago, Chile; Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, India; Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo; Sean Patrick O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston; George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia; and Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Monsignor Marcello Semeraro, bishop of Albano, will be secretary while Maradiaga will serve as the group coordinator.

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AUSTRALIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Nicky Davis on April 11, 2013

The Wall Street Journal this week revealed further evidence that Pope Francis is unlikely to break with longstanding Vatican tradition and surrender secret Vatican files on Australian child sexual abuse cases to the Royal Commission.

Despite claims of a humbler, simpler regime under Francis, there is growing evidence the new pope is as incapable or unwilling as other Cardinals of putting the safety of children above protecting the interests of the institution.

It is hard to see Pope Francis complying with the Royal Commission’s requests for this vital evidence, when, as head of the Argentinian Bishops’ Conference, he could not even comply with the Vatican’s own request to to prepare guidelines for dealing with allegations of abuse.

Catholic officials have been ignoring, hiding and enabling child sex crimes for decades, if not centuries. Compared to what could and should be done to prevent these crimes, writing an abuse policy is an extraordinarily minimal move.

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UNITED STATES
Pokrov

Date Published: 4/12/2013
Publication: Pokrov.org

According to ”Greek church would take complaints to cops,” ”[t]he Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis said the church informed police when complaints of a criminal nature were made. But there was no record of an abuse complaint having ever been made.”

We here at Pokrov.org find this very hard to believe.

As United States residents, our focus has been primarily on abuse in our country. We can honestly say that it has not been our experience that the Greek Church in the US informs police when complaints of a criminal nature are made. In fact, just like their Roman Catholic counterparts, the bishops are more likely to transfer abusive priests to another unsuspecting parish. See for example, this infamous case:

Father Nicholas Katinas

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WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

A Catholic priest who was suspended from ministry at two parishes and elementary schools last month after an allegation of having inappropriate contact with a student will not face criminal charges, the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office and his religious order said Friday.

The Society of the Divine Savior said it had been notified by the district attorney’s office that no charges would be brought against Father Robert Marsicek, who was relieved of his duties at Pius X parish in Wauwatosa, Wauwatosa Catholic School and Mother of Good Counsel parish and school in Milwaukee shortly before Easter. Chief Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern said prosecutors could not prove the elements of a criminal offense based on the facts gathered in the investigation.

Father Joseph Rodrigues, provincial of the Milwaukee-based order known as the Salvatorians, said Marsicek would remain off the job until the order completes its own review.

Marsicek, 71, was removed from his posts on Holy Thursday after a teacher at Wauwatosa Catholic observed behavior she believed to be “questionable or inappropriate,” according to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which oversees Catholic schools in the 10-county area.

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WISCONSIN
Patch

The priest who was suspended from his duties at St. Pius X Church in Wauwatosa as police investigated an allegation against him will not face any criminal charges in the incident.

The Journal Sentinel is reporting that Society of the Divine Savior said it had been notified by the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office that no charges would be brought against Father Bob Marsicek.

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CANADA
Edmonton Journal

By Brent Wittmeier, Edmonton Journal April 12, 2013

EDMONTON – Rick Chapman has seen it in childlike whimpers, afflictions hidden under heavy-duty addictions to alcohol, drugs and solvents.

An Anglican pastor with Edmonton’s ecumenical Inner City Pastoral Ministry, Chapman’s work puts him in full view of the brutal daily effects of residential schools. Roughly 60 per cent of Edmonton’s homeless have an aboriginal or Métis background, Chapman said, many directly touched — or a generation removed — from the trauma they experienced there.

“They tremble, they shake, they cry when they have to talk about what actually happened to them,” Chapman said. “The person may be 40 years old, but you’re really talking to a person who’s engaged in a history that happened to them when they’re young. And this history has not been resolved yet.”

About 100 Edmonton pastors and church leaders gathered at Trinity Lutheran Church on Friday to listen to Marie Wilson, a former journalist with CBC and one of three commissioners with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

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CHILE
etcetera

La Iglesia chilena protectora durante décadas de varios sacerdotes pederastas, pretende adaptarse a los nuevos tiempos del papa Francisco; y anunció que destinará bienes del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, violador durante más de 40 años de cientos de jóvenes, a prevenir abusos sexuales contra menores.

Karadima, estaba a cargo de la pastoral juvenil de la parroquia del Sagrado Corazón ubicada en uno de los barrios más acomodados de Santiago la capital chilena.

Y aprovechaba los viajes que hacía con los muchachos para agredirlos sexualmente; crímenes que en algunos casos continuaron durante décadas, incluso cuando sus víctimas estaban ya casados y con hijos.

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CHILE
La Tercera

Denunciante de Karadima expondrá en primera Conferencia Mundial sobre abusos sexuales en la Iglesia

por Angélica Baeza Palavecino – 12/04/2013

Los próximos 26,27 y 28 de abril en Dublin, Irlanda, se realizará la Primera Conferencia Mundial sobre abusos sexuales y violencia cometidos por miembros de la Iglesia.

Es esta histórica cumbre, Juan Carlos Cruz, uno de los denunciantes de Fernando Karadima será el orador principal, y relatará su experiencia como víctima del ex párroco de El Bosque.

“Es importante que la maldad de los obispos chilenos trascienda las fronteras y ayude a la reparación del daño en las víctimas”, dijo Cruz a La Tercera.

El periodista aseguró que su intervención “voy a contar todo, voy a contar que los obispos de El Bosque veían los abusos y siguen perteneciendo a la Conferencia Episcopal, estoy hablando de Juan Barros, Horacio Valenzuela, Andrés Arteaga y Tomislav Koljatic. Contaré el actuar de ellos y de Errázuriz, con nombre y apellido, de Ezzati, con nombre y apellido y de Cristián Contreras”.

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CHICAGO (IL)
MK Safety Net

“I Will Not Be Silent Anymore”

April 19 – 21, 2013

Holiday Inn Rolling Meadows Schaumburg
Rolling Meadows, (Chicago), Illinois
3405 Algonquin Rd Rolling Meadows, IL 60008,
United States 847-259-6600

Abuse sent many MKs and their families on an ‘Unexpected Journey’. This conference will address actions and steps to help us move toward reclaiming our lives and breaking the silence.

We invite you to come and join us to hear speakers ranging from professionals in trauma counseling, law, writers and MKs who are breaking the silence.

This conference is intended for former MKs (Missionary Kids) and their families and friends. All keynote speakers and breakout sessions will address abuse and trauma experienced by former MKs with a view to breaking the silence of abuse and offering resources to move toward healing.

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IOWA
WCFCourier

By PAT KINNEY, pat.kinney@wcfcourier.com

WATERLOO — Retired Dubuque Archbishop Jerome Hanus said Thursday he looks forward to giving a deposition soon in a 2011 lawsuit regarding his handling of an alleged clergy sex abuse incident 26 years ago by a monk at a Missouri abbey.

Hanus administered the abbey at time of the alleged abuse, and he plans to retire there.

The national Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests issued a press release Wednesday, two days after Hanus announced his resignation in Dubuque, regarding the pending deposition, critical of his handling of the matter.

Minneapolis attorney Jeff Anderson, representing the plaintiff in the Nodaway County, Mo. suit, confirmed Hanus is scheduled to be deposed this month in the pending case. In the suit, a plaintiff identified as “John Doe 181” said he was sexually molested as a minor while at a choir camp in 1987 at Conception Abbey Inc., a Benedictine abbey, by a Father Bede Parry, who also is scheduled for deposition.

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IOWA
National Catholic Reporter

by Joshua J. McElwee | Apr. 12, 2013

A Catholic archbishop in Iowa who retired Monday will be deposed in upcoming weeks in two lawsuits brought against the Benedictine abbey in Missouri where he was abbot for 10 years.

Two men who say a Benedictine priest sexually abused them as minors in the 1980s filed the lawsuits against Conception Abbey in northwest Missouri. Jerome Hanus, the retiring archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa, was abbot there at the time.

The lawsuits, filed in Missouri circuit court in the summer of 2011, say that before the priest, Bede Parry, allegedly abused the two minors, he had previously reported to Hanus other “inappropriate sexual relationships” with minors.

Upon receiving notice of the previous relationships, the lawsuits say, Hanus allowed Parry to remain as a youth choir director while receiving psychological treatment.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Louis C. Hochman/NJ.com
on April 12, 2013

MENDHAM — A date has been set to rededicate a monument to child victims of church sex abuse that has been destroyed twice in as many years — even though repairs won’t be finished when the ceremony is held.

A ceremony will be held April 28, at 2 p.m., at St. Joseph Church in Mendham, where former Rev. James Hanley abused several children.

Organizer Bill Crane, who, as a child, had been among Hanley’s victims, is extending invitations to both Gov. Chris Christie and State Sen. Barbara Buono, Christie’s challenger in the gubernatorial race. Also invited will be Bishop Arthur Joseph Serratelli of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Patterson.

“I’ve gotten so many messages from people saying, ‘Why are you making this a political issue?'” Crane said, as last month he said Christie should attend the dedication, or perhaps issue a proclamation recognizing April as Child Sex Abuse Awareness month. The governor, a Mendham resident whose family attends St. Joseph’s, hadn’t responded to an invitation sent last year, when the millstone memorial was rededicated after an earlier instance of vandalism, Crane has said.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
bkush@telegram.com

WORCESTER — Francesco C. Cesareo, the president of Assumption College, will lead a special panel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that seeks to protect children from sexual predators in the American Roman Catholic Church.

The appointment to chair the National Review Board was made by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, who serves as president of the USCCB.

Mr. Cesareo succeeds Al Notzon III, who will step down from the post at the conclusion of the June meeting of the USCCB.

The NRB advises the bishops’ Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection and was established by the Charter for Protection of Children and Young People, which was adopted by the USCCB in 2002.

Mr. Cesareo has been a member of the NRB since 2012.

“The board and its chair provide valuable feedback to the U.S. bishops and we rely on their expertise and recommendations,” Cardinal Dolan said in a statement. “Mr. Notzon has continued the proud tradition of stellar leadership. I have no doubt that Dr. Cesareo will do the same.”

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UNITED STATES
Better Business Bureau

By
Charles Wood

A fake news story that claims to offer shocking information about newly-appointed Pope Francis is making the rounds via e-mail. Spammers are using the resignation of Benedict XVI and the election of a new pope as an opportunity to spread malware.

Clicking on the fake story leads users to a website that hosts the Blackhole Exploit Kit, according to reports from Yahoo! Finance, cyber-security companies Symantec and Commtouch and others. The Blackhole Exploit Kit can be used to deliver various types of malware.

The spam e-mails have reportedly come from a fake sender email address named “CNN Breaking News.” Reported subject lines in the e-mail include:
• Opinion: Family sued new Pope. Exclusive!
• Opinion: New pope tries to shake off the past
• Opinion: Can New-Pope Benedict be Sued for the Sex Abuse Cases?
• Opinion: New Pope, Vatican officials sued over alleged sexual abuse!
• Opinion: New Pope Sued For Not Wearing Seat Belt In Popemobile…

Better Business Bureau warns consumers not to click the link. If you receive this e-mail, delete it without clicking any links. If you have already clicked a link in a similar e-mail, run an antivirus software program to find and delete the malware.

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SPAIN
Fox News

An online game takes the idea of child’s play to a questionable new level.

Vatican Quest, which has a character resembling Pope Benedict XIV snagging children and delivering them to pedophile priests while being chased my camera-wielding members of the media, is under fire in Spain by critics who claim it makes fun of both sexual abuse victims and the Catholic Church.

The Spanish human rights group Maslibres.org recently launched an online petition demanding that the website RoundGames.org remove the video game from its free website.

“Reducing to caricature the drama of child sexual abuse, and then profiting from it, offends the victims and their families, said Miguel Vidal, spokesman for Maslibres.org, according to The New York Daily News. “Representing the pope as a pimp and the cardinals as pedophiles is an offense to Catholics.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

April 13, 2013

Catherine Armitage
Senior Writer

The federal government is to spend an unprecedented $44 million on counselling for people who relive traumatic childhood experiences for the royal commission into child sex abuse.

Organisations that can deliver counselling, support and case management services before, during and after interaction with the royal commission are invited to apply for funding, the government said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard established the royal commission to investigate how institutions entrusted with children had handled allegations and instances of child sexual abuse. The government is promising to do ”everything it can to help survivors of past abuse receive support and justice”, and to ensure such practices do not recur.

Trained counsellors have begun taking calls from abuse survivors, with 5000 or more predicted to come forward. Public hearings are expected to begin within six months.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Janet Fife-Yeomans
From:The Daily Telegraph
April 13, 2013

VICTIMS of institutionalised child sex abuse have been thrown a $44 million lifeline to help them reveal their ordeals to the royal commission.

The federal government has agreed to pay for counselling and other services to support the victims and their families as they prepare to give evidence to what is becoming one of the biggest inquiries of its type in the world.

Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston yesterday welcomed the funding as “critically important”. “What a relief,” Ms Johnston said.

As the commission delves into how many institutions with a responsibility for children, including the Catholic Church, have failed to protect them from abuse, Ms Johnston said many victims would consider the commission as an “institution” and find it daunting to tell their stories.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Patricia Karvelas
From:The Australian
April 13, 2013

THE Gillard government will today reveal it will spend $44 million for counselling and support services for participants of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The government will open a tender today for organisations to run the services. The money is to be spent over a four years.

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OKLAHOMA
KRMG

By Russell Mills

TULSA —
Two Victory Christian Center employees sentenced to 30 days in jail for failing to report the rape of a 13-year-old girl at the church have returned to work after serving fifteen days.

The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office says Anna George, 25 and Paul Willemstein, 33 served as trustees while in jail, and so qualified to get double credit for time served.

They had pleaded no contest to one count each of failure to report child abuse.

Three other employees who also pleaded no contest never saw jail time.

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ARGENTINA
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Apr. 12, 2013 All Things Catholic

I spent early April in Buenos Aires, where I tried to learn more about Pope Francis from those who know him best as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The idea was to gain insight into the man and his vision of the church, and I published some of what I found along the way.

However, I also had to look into some hard questions about the new pope’s record in Argentina. They include:
• Bergoglio’s response to two priests accused of sexual abuse, where critics have suggested he dropped the ball;
• why Argentina’s conference of Catholic bishops did not finish a set of sex abuse guidelines while he served as president;
• his relationship with Argentina’s military dictatorship as a Jesuit provincial during the 1970s;
• Bergoglio’s attitude toward liberation theology; and
• confusion over where he stood on the question of civil unions during a contentious national debate on gay marriage in 2009 and 2010.

The following are the best answers I can provide based on what I learned in Argentina.

Abuser priests

On March 18, The Washington Post moved a story from Argentina about Bergoglio’s record on the sexual abuse crisis that highlighted two cases: Fr. Julio César Grassi, convicted in 2009 of two counts of abuse and acquitted of several others, and Fr. Napoleon Sasso, convicted in 2007 of abusing five minor girls.

In general, the story suggested Bergoglio did not handle either case by the standards now accepted by the church in other parts of the world. It noted he did not meet victims, did not offer apologies or financial restitution, and did not take ecclesiastical action against the priests involved.

To begin with, here’s an important point not made in the Post story or in most subsequent commentary: Neither Grassi nor Sasso is a priest of the Buenos Aires archdiocese, and thus they were never under Bergoglio’s direct supervision. (Among other things, that means Bergoglio was never in a position to impose ecclesiastical punishment, which would have to be done by their own bishops.)

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VATICAN CITY
Gazzetta del Sud

Vatican City, April 12 – The Vatican Bank’s 2012 accounts were reviewed on Friday by a committee of cardinals after they had been approved by the supervisory committee, headed by German President Ernst von Freyberg, Vatican sources told ANSA. The cardinals were part of the oversight committee, which is overseen by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the body’s president and former Vatican secretary of state under retired pope Benedict XVI. The Vatican Bank is also known as the Institute of Religious works (IOR). Von Freyberg, together with IOR managing director Paolo Cipriani, hosted a dinner for the committee in the Vatican two days ago. The Vatican Bank has been at the center of scrutiny over alleged money laundering and has vowed to deliver a complete report in December on measures it is taking. On Wednesday it announced it was continuing to work with the Council of Europe’s Moneyval agency on an evaluation of national measures to meet global standards, and will deliver a progress report in December. That report is also expected to include “a more complete overview of the measures taken in the last year to further strengthen its institutional framework in prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism”.

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SPAIN/UNITED STATES
New York Daily News

By Lee Moran / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, April 12, 2013

A video game in which Pope Benedict XVI is depicted as a pimp for pedophile Roman Catholic cardinals is facing calls to be banned.

Vatican Quest, released by U.S. firm RoundGames.com on Mar. 14, has sparked outrage in Spain with critics saying it makes fun of both sexual abuse victims and the Catholic Church.

Human rights group Maslibres.org has launched a petition demanding the free arcade game is removed from the Web, reports El Huffington Post.

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UNITED STATES
The ABP News Blog

by Christa Brown • April 12, 2013

While other major faith groups have recognized the need for clergy accountability mechanisms, Southern Baptists persist in denominational do-nothingness.

Since 2006, clergy abuse survivors, and others, have been asking the Southern Baptist Convention to implement denominational safeguards against clergy child molesters. Southern Baptists have refused.

The requests are nothing radical. We asked for the sorts of safeguards that already exist in other major faith groups in this country. We asked that the denomination provide (1) a safe place where people may report abusive ministers, (2) a denominational panel for responsibly assessing abuse reports (particularly those that cannot be criminally prosecuted), and (3) an effective means, such as a database, of assuring that assessment information reaches people in the pews.

In 2008, TIME magazine ranked Southern Baptists’ rejection of a sex-offender database as one of the top 10 underreported stories of the year.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic News Agency

By Kevin J. Jones

Boston, Mass., Apr 12, 2013 / 04:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An upcoming movie on the sex abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston has caused one screenwriter to worry that the film could exploit sex abuse for the sake of Hollywood awards.

“I have very big concerns about making the molestation of children the subject of entertainment,” screenwriter Barbara Nicolosi told CNA April 10.

“These are real people’s lives that have gotten ruined. We want to really pray that this movie doesn’t end up victimizing the victims all over again by turning their suffering into spectacle.”

Nicolosi, a former religious sister, is the founder of the Act One training program for Christians seeking careers in the entertainment industry.

She said she believes a movie about the abuse scandal is similar to screenplays about sex trafficking – both of which are not suitable for entertainment. “They’re never okay. You always feel that it’s a subject that should have been done in a documentary, not as a narrative.”

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OKLAHOMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on April 12, 2013

We’re very disappointed that the staffers from Victory Christian Church are getting released from their sentence. It seems that church criminals often get breaks that secular criminals don’t.

These two endangered children. They essentially helped, by their silence and inaction, a child predator. They deserved a longer sentence. And they deserved to serve every minute of the short sentence they received.

Adults who care about kids need to send a strong message to those who profess to care about kids – “Act recklessly and you will be harshly punished.”

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UNITED STATES
Democracy Now!

[with video]

As newly elected Pope Francis orders the Vatican to act more decisively on sexual abuse cases, we speak to retired Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit. A survivor of sexual abuse himself, Gumbleton was forced to resign in 2007 after he spoke out publicly in favor of an Ohio bill to extend the statute of limitations for cases of sexual abuse by clergy. Gumbleton spoke here in New York City last night at a benefit for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Bishop Gumbleton has also been a leading voice for peace, justice and civil rights for decades. He helped found Pax Christi and Bread for the World. We also speak to him about poverty in Detroit, Lori Berenson, war tax resistance, why he challenges the church’s position on gay marriage, the anti-nuke movement and liberation theology. [includes rush transcript–partial. More to come. Check back soon.]

Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We begin today’s show by looking at the ongoing sexual abuse scandal plaguing the Catholic Church. Newly elected Pope Francis recently made his first public statement on the issue. The pope ordered the Vatican to, quote, “act decisively as far as cases of sexual abuse are concerned, promoting, above all, measures to protect minors, help for those who have suffered such violence in the past (and) the necessary procedures against those who are guilty.”

But outside groups, including the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, have questioned the pope’s actions. While serving as cardinal in Argentina, Pope Francis was criticized for failing to meet with abuse victims.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

USCCB’s National Review Board

There is a new chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Review Board. He is Francesco C. Cesareo, who has been on the review board since last year. He is president of AssumptionCollege, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Cesareo’s appointment was made by New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who chairs the USCCB.

New review board chairs have been mostly the same as the chairs they succeed: invisible and largely ineffective. That’s except for the first two – Frank Keating, the former governor of Oklahoma, who chaired the first review board, and Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke. They both served on the first review board which actually came close to being an independent review board.

Keating, you may recall, likened the USCCB members to the Mafia as he handed in his resignation.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Wife sobs as priest is jailed for sex attack: Secret bride to stand by disgraced Catholic cleric

By Chris Brooke

The secret wife of a Roman Catholic priest made it clear she is standing by him yesterday as he was jailed for sexually assaulting a teenage girl parishioner.

William Finnegan, 60, and 48-year-old Beverley Dawson held hands and kissed outside court as he arrived for sentence.

And the divorced mother of two sobbed as her husband was given six months.

During his trial at Bradford Crown Court, Finnegan revealed he had duped his parishioners and the church authorities by marrying Mrs Dawson abroad, and secretly living with her for part of the week.

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BELGIUM
Expatica

The disgraced former Bishop of Bruges Roger Vangheluwe has said in correspondence with a man from Poperinge (West Flanders) that he hopes to have a permanent address that is publically-known soon.

Journalists from the West Flemish regional television stations WTV and Focus have read the letters and published some of their contents on their websites on Thursday.

Two years ago the Vatican banished Father Vangheluwe to a monastery in France as punishment for his abuse of under-age boys. Officially, no-one knows where he is staying and all correspondence with the disgraced former bishop is supposed to run via the offices of the Bruges Diocese.

It has now emerged that Father Vangheluwe regularly writes letters to a man from Poperinge whose brother committed suicide after he had be abused by a clergyman.

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SOUTH AFRICA
Mail & Guardian

12 Apr 2013 00:00 – Fatima Asmal

‘I can’t be accused of homophobia,” says Wilfred Napier, “because I don’t know any homosexuals.”

The admission is the starkest sign in a lengthy interview that the 72-year-old South African cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Durban is unshaken in the face of criticism over his remarks in a BBC interview that he believed paedophilia was a “psychological condition” that needed to be treated.

It took more than two weeks to set up the interview with Napier. The main cause of the delay was the church’s holy week, which came after the unholy row caused by Napier’s interview with the BBC after the appointment of the new pope last month.

To say Napier has had an interesting past few months is an understatement. In late February he travelled to Rome to bid farewell to Pope Benedict, who was retiring, and personally thanked him for the role he had played in the Catholic Church in general and on the African continent, which he visited twice.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By Deborah McAleese– 12 April 2013

A woman at the centre of a Catholic Church money scandal saw a priest pay her almost £150,000

Fr Conleth Byrne (78) handed over the large sums of cash to Ballycastle woman Marie Hanna believing that she was homeless and in dire financial difficulties, a court was told.

The retired parish priest, who was serving in the parish of Loughinisland, Co Down, at the time, pleaded guilty earlier this week to fraud by abuse of position.

He claimed that he gave the money to Ms Hanna (54) over a 19-month period out of “charity” and that he believed her assurances that she would pay the money back.

A prosecution barrister told the court that he had shown a “high degree of naivety”.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyBurbs

By BILL DEVLIN STAFF WRITER

Posted on April 12, 2013

WARRINGTON — Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler believes that when looking at revising Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law, there is really only one particular group of stakeholders that counts.

“It’s the children,” Heckler said. “The other public interests groups be damned.”

The DA delivered his message Thursday night at a child advocacy forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Bucks County.

Heckler was joined by state Rep. Kathy Watson, R-144, of Warrington, and state Rep. Scott Petri, R-178, of Richboro, at the event held at Central Bucks High School South.

Watson chairs the House Committee on Children and Youth Services; Petri is the sponsor of House Bill 726, which concerns the investigations and handling of child abuse cases.

Heckler recently chaired the state’s Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection. The commission was charged with conducting a comprehensive review of the laws and procedures relating to the health and safety of children after the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal at Penn State. The task force released a 427-page report last November following a year of hearings.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

By court reporter Sarah Farnsworth, ABC
Updated April 12, 2013

A rabbi who taught at a Jewish Orthodox boys’ school in Melbourne has pleaded guilty to child sex abuse dating back 20 years.

David Kramer, 52, pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to six charges of indecent assault for the sexual abuse of students at the Jewish orthodox Yeshiva College in St Kilda East between 1990 and 1992.

It is believed Kramer is the first member of a Jewish institution to admit to child sex abuse allegations in Australia.

Kramer fled overseas in the early 1990s when accusations of abuse were raised with the college.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Shannon Deery
Herald Sun
April 12, 2013

A FORMER Melbourne school teacher has pleaded guilty to sex crimes against students during his time at a prestigious Jewish college.

Convicted pedophile David Kramer, 52, pleaded guilty to five charges of indecent assault via video link at Melbourne Magistrates court today.

He also pleaded guilty a further charge of an indecent act with a person under the age of 16 while six charges were withdrawn.

It is believed to be the first time a member of Jewish institution in Australia has admitted to child sex crimes.

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OKLAHOMA
Tulsa World

By JARREL WADE World Staff Writer on Apr 12, 2013

Two Victory Christian Center staff members who were sentenced to 30 days in jail last month for failure to report the rape of a 13-year-old girl for two weeks are out early, jail records show.

Paul Howard Willemstein and Anna Alisa George have returned to work at the church and issued a statement to the Tulsa World through their attorney, Matthew Chesbro.

“I spoke with my clients and they asked that I tell you they are ‘grateful for the completion of this part of the process and hope healing can continue for everyone affected,’ ” Chesbro said in an email Thursday.

On March 18, Willemstein and George were led from the Tulsa County District Courthouse in handcuffs after they entered no-contest pleas to failure to report child abuse. Tulsa County Special Judge Bill Hiddle found them guilty of the misdemeanor charge.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

The Greek Orthodox Church would never sweep abuse allegations under the carpet, a Victorian inquiry has heard.

The church has a rigorous process for dealing with misconduct complaints, including reporting criminal behaviour to police, but it has never been tested in an allegation of child sex abuse, the parliamentary inquiry heard on Friday.

Church groups The Salvation Army and the Jehovah’s Witnesses told the inquiry on Thursday they felt it was a victim’s responsibility to report abuse to police.

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis said the church informed police when complaints of a criminal nature were made.

But there was no record of an abuse complaint having ever been made.

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UTAH
KUTV

(KUTV) A member of an LDS bishopric in Orem has been accused of sexual abuse of a teenage girl in his ward.

Cesar Duran, 31, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Tuesday on suspicion of two counts of sexually abusing a child. The charges are a first degree felony.

In response to the investigation, the LDS Church issued this statement:

“The Church has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. Those found guilty of these actions are subject to the demands of the law and also face Church discipline. The welfare of victims is our utmost concern and church leaders will continue to offer counseling and other resources to help in the healing process.”

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UTAH
Daily Herald

Paige Fieldsted – Daily Herald

OREM — An LDS leader in Orem has been arrested after a 13-year-old girl in his ward reported to family that he sexually abused her.

Cesar Duran was arrested Tuesday on two counts of sexual abuse of a child. According to police documents, Duran is in the bishopric of the accuser’s LDS ward. The accuser and her family were helping clean the church house in Orem. The girl said Duran told her he needed help cleaning a chalkboard in one of the classrooms in the building and lifted her up to reach a high place on the chalkboard. When he put her down, the girl said, Duran told her she was cute and asked for a hug. The accuser said that during the hug Duran thrust his pelvic area into hers. The accuser then left and continued cleaning and while her back was turned Duran allegedly entered the room, grabbed her hips from behind and thrust his pelvis into her backside.

Police reports say that at that point the accuser ran from the room crying and told her aunt about what had happened. The family said they confronted Duran and he said he was sorry for causing problems. Police reports say that during the ride to the jail Duran said he had made a mistake by being alone with the girl, but Duran didn’t answer any further questions and requested an attorney.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

Published on 12/04/2013

A former church organist facing prison for sexually abusing boys ran a children’s home in Polegate in the 1980s.

Michael Mytton, also known as Mark Mytton, is believed to have been at the home in Polegate although county council records do not date back that far.

Sixty-nine-year-old Mytton, also a former choirmaster, was convicted last Friday of sexual offences against boys between 23 and 26 years ago.

Mytton, of East Chiltington, and priest Keith Wilkie Denford, 78 and from Shoreham, were convicted at Hove Crown Court after a three-week trial.

The case was adjourned for sentencing on Thursday May 2, and the defendants remain on bail until then.

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UTAH
The Salt Lake Tribune

By Bob Mims and Michael McFall
The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Apr 11 2013

A local-level Mormon church counselor has been arrested for alleged sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl in his ward.

Cesar Duran, 31, was booked into Utah County jail on Tuesday on suspicion of two counts of sexually abusing a child with whom he had a relationship of special trust, a first-degree felony.

However, Duran’s defense attorney, Clayton Simms, said his client will fight the charges.

“His position is that he is absolutely innocent,” Simms said Thursday. “He was alone with this girl and didn’t protect himself from false allegations. He maintains that nothing inappropriate occurred at all, there was no sexual contact.”

LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter confirmed that Duran had, until this alleged incident, been a first counselor in the bishopric of a Spanish-speaking ward of the Geneva Height Stake in Orem.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

Former Salesian priest David Rapson faces new charges for sex offences after being ordered to stand trial

Shannon Deery
From:Herald Sun
April 12, 2013

A FORMER Salesian priest ordered to stand trial over a string of alleged sex crimes has been charged with fresh sex offences.

David Rapson, 59, was last year ordered to stand trial at the County Court after being charged with abusing seven young boys at Salesian College Rupertswood, in Sunbury, between 1973 and 1990.

He is facing charges of rape, gross indecency, and indecent assault.

The former vice principal has now been charged with more offences after a new victim made fresh allegations to new police taskforce SANO.

The taskforce was set up last year to investigate historical and new allegations that have emanated from the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph & Argus

By Jenny Loweth, T&A Reporter

A Roman Catholic priest who sexually abused a 17-year-old girl in his church had damaged her faith in God and divided a community with his lies, a judge said as he jailed him.

William Finnegan, 60, known as “Father Bill” to his parishioners, was imprisoned for six months when he appeared at Bradford Crown Court yesterday afternoon.

Finnegan was parish priest at St Clare’s RC Church, Fagley, Bradford, when he told the girl he loved her, grabbed her bottom and kissed her passionately on the lips in the church on Easter Sunday last year.

He denied sexual assault, forcing the teenager and her mother to give evidence at his trial.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Regarding: BishopAccountability.org EXPOSED [Part II]: Broadcasting Rumor and Innuendo to Trample the Innocent and the Dead

[Note that BishopAccountability.org is not alone in listing Muth, Haran, Lane, and O’Donovan. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles includes Haran on its list of accused priests

Los Angeles Archdiocese

and the Archdiocese of Boston includes Lane and O’Donovan on its list

Archdiocese of Boston

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph commissioned a report that includes a discussion of Muth’s case, including Bishop Finn’s decision to remove Muth’s faculties

Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph via BishopAccountability.org]

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