ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Boston Globe

By Frances D’Emilio
Associated Press
April 05, 2013

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis directed the Vatican on Friday to act decisively on clergy sex abuse cases and take measures against pedophile priests, saying the Catholic Church’s ‘‘credibility’’ was on the line. The announcement was quickly dismissed by victims’ advocates as just more talk.

Clergy abuse victims have called for swift and bold action from Francis as soon as he was elected pope last month. Yet in his homeland, Roman Catholic activists had characterized him as being slow to act against such abuse in his years heading the Argentine church.

Friday’s development left victims’ advocates unimpressed.

‘‘Once again, has have happened hundreds of times already, a top Catholic official says he’s asking another top Catholic official to take action about pedophile priests and complicit bishops,’’ said Barbara Dorris, an official of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a U.S.-based organization.

‘‘Big deal. Actions speak louder than words. And one of the first actions Pope Francis took was to visit perhaps the most high-profile corrupt prelate on the planet, Cardinal Bernard Law, who remains a powerful church official despite having been drummed out of Boston for hiding and enabling crimes by hundreds of child molesting clerics,’’ Dorris said in a statement.

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PENNSYLVANIA
York Dispatch

By CHRISTINA KAUFFMAN 505-5436 / @ydyorkcountyyorkdispatch.com
Updated: 04/05/2013

She looks pretty tough now, sporting big hoop earrings and a spiked, two-toned faux hawk.

But 20 years ago, Stephanie Fessler was a vulnerable 4-year-old girl told she was to blame for being sexually assaulted by a male congregation member at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

She was 14 the second time it happened. This time, it came at the hands of a 50-year-old woman from the church. Fessler said she was given the same punishment as her abuser.

“I was publicly reproved (disgraced) at a church meeting,” Fessler said Thursday after speaking about the abuse in public for the first time. “Because she was a woman, I should’ve known better. It was against the church …”

The 24-year-old West York woman was one of a few sexual assault survivors to share their stories Thursday for the kickoff ceremony for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

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UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

A retired West Sussex Church of England priest and a former organist and choirmaster have been found guilty of a string of child sex abuse offences dating back more than 25 years.

A judge said that Father Keith Wilkie Denford and Michael Mytton had committed “a grave and gross breach of trust”. Prosecutors said Denford, 78, used the respectability of the cassock to groom and abuse two boys over an 18-month period from when they were aged around 13.

Following Denford and Mytton’s convictions, the Bishop of Chichester Dr Warner said: “I note the verdict reached by the court today and we will now move swiftly to implement our own disciplinary procedures following this verdict in the case of Mr Denford.

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CALIFORNIA
Record Searchlight

A suspended Redding priest charged with seven felony counts of child molestation will be in Sacramento County Superior Court today for a trial readiness conference.

The Rev. Uriel Ojeda, 33, is scheduled to begin standing trial Tuesday.

Arrested Nov. 30, 2011, Ojeda is accused of seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a teenage girl over a two-year span — starting when she was 14 — in Sacramento and Shasta counties, according to the criminal complaint. The allegations came to light when the diocese received a complaint from a parishioner’s family.

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ARGENTINA
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Apr. 5, 2013

Buenos Aires, Argentina —
I spent this week in Argentina in search of insight into Pope Francis from the people who know him best as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the man who was their archbishop for fifteen years.

For sure, the first impression here is deep national pride. Locals say there’s probably never been a better-attended Holy Week in the history of Argentinian Catholicism than after Francis’ election.

A Via Crucis procession in Rosario, the country’s second city, usually draws 200,000 people, but this time it attracted 350,000; attendance at the cathedral in Buenos Aires was estimated to be two to three times greater than 2012. All across the country, church-goers reported standing-room-only crowds and long lines for confession.

The election of an Argentine pope seems to have had a soothing effect on the culture generally.

A talented young Argentinian journalist named Ines San Martin, my aide and translator this week, tells the following story.

She was on a bus in Buenos Aires when the driver and a passenger got into a shouting match, with the passenger demanding the driver’s license number and threatening to call the police. Just as things seemed on the brink of falling apart, an elderly woman stood up and said: “What are you fighting about? We’ve got an Argentinian pope!”

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A retired Church of England priest and a church organist have been found guilty of abusing teenage boys.

Father Keith Wilkie Denford, 78, from Shoreham-by-Sea, was found guilty at Hove Crown Court on three charges of indecently assaulting two boys.

Michael Mytton, 68, from East Chiltington, East Sussex, was found guilty on three charges. Both denied abusing the boys between 1987 and 1990.

The judge said the pair had committed “a grave breach of trust”.

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FLORIDA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on April 05, 2013

A school teacher in Palm Beach has been arrested for abusing children as young as nine.

We are grateful to Palm Beach police for not only arresting Stephen Budd, but also for reaching out to families to find more victims. School officials at Rosarian Academy should follow this example and use all of their resources to find other victims and help them come forward.

We agree with the police that there are likely more victims, especially given that Budd worked around special education students. In the past, Budd has also worked at another catholic school (St. Francis of Assisi) where he also prepared students to receive sacraments. It is highly likely that Budd victimized children in those roles as well, and we urge church and school officials there to aggressively reach out to parents of both current and former students.

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VATICAN CITY
Telegraph (UK)

Pope Francis said the Catholic Church must “act decisively” against the scourge of paedophile priests, in his first public remarks on the scandal since being elected last month.

By Nick Squires, Rome
3:01PM BST 05 Apr 2013

Tackling the sexual abuse of children by clergymen was vital for restoring the “credibility” of the Church worldwide, Francis said.

He issued the declaration after holding a meeting with Archbishop Gerhard Muller, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican department which investigates cases of sexual abuse and decides if priests should be defrocked.

“The Holy Father in particular asked that the Congregation, continuing the line adopted by Benedict XVI, act decisively in cases of sexual abuse, promoting above all measures to protect minors, help for those who in the past suffered such violence and the necessary procedures against those who are guilty,” the Vatican said in a statement.

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FLORIDA
Daily News

By ALEESE KOPF and DAVID ROGERS
Daily News Staff Writers

A former Rosarian Academy teacher was arrested Thursday on numerous charges, including sexual battery on a child, West Palm Beach police officials said Thursday.

Stephen J. Budd, a fourth-grade teacher at Rosarian at the time of the alleged crimes, was charged with three counts of sexual battery on a child, two counts of sexual performance by a child, two counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition, and two counts of battery of a child.

Budd, 51, of West Palm Beach, was arrested and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail early Thursday morning. He is being held without bail.

“We fear there may be additional victims so the purpose of this today is to announce his arrest with the hopes that if there are additional victims, they will come forward,” said West Palm Beach Police Chief Vincent Demasi at a Thursday news conference.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on April 05, 2013

Once again, as has happened hundreds of times already, a top Catholic official says he’s asking another top Catholic official to take action about pedophile priests and complicit bishops.

Big deal.

Actions speak louder than words. And one of the first actions Pope Francis took was to visit perhaps the most high profile corrupt prelate on the planet – Cardinal Bernard Law – who remains a powerful church official despite having been drummed out of Boston for hiding and enabling crimes by hundreds of child molesting clerics.

It’s tragic that Pope Francis is asking a top aide to stay on the irresponsible path charted by Pope Benedict. It’s tragic that a pope who’s shown a willingness to send signals that hint at change in several ways is not signaling that he wants no change in how the church deals with child sex crimes and cover ups.

Kids won’t be helped by a “continuation” of the tiny symbolic gestures taken by Pope Benedict. Kids will be helped by decisive changes. Thus far, Pope Francis hasn’t even discussed, much less adopted, even a single reform. In fact, by visiting Law, the pope has continued to ignore – and thus encourage – heinous wrongdoing.

Some will say “At least the new pope is discussing abuse within his first month as head of the church. Isn’t that progress?” It’s not. Catholic officials have long discussed abuse – privately for centuries and publicly for decades. Action, not discussion, is needed.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

Editorial

Australia

Down under, the hunt for truth is on.

The National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC) salutes the courage of the survivors in Australia who would not rest until a vehicle was created for the truth.

That vehicle, the Australian parliament’s inquiry, backed by Prime Minister Julie Gillard and known as Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, has begun its work. More than 5,000 victims are expected to testify and the commission says the number could go higher.

5,000 – that’s a number that should be left to sink in upon the Church, the religious communities and the state institutions in which victims became victims.

Free basic legal advice will be available to victims, the commission has announced.

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VATICAN CITY
Bloomberg Businessweek

By Lorenzo Totaro and Chiara Vasarri on April 05, 2013

Pope Francis stressed the need for the Catholic Church to act in line with his predecessor Benedict XVI in fighting sexual abuses, according to a statement by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

The statement was issued after a meeting between the pontiff and Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, prefect of the congregation ruling on the Catholic doctrine.

“The Holy Father recommended in particular that the Congregation continue the line desired by Benedict XVI of decisive action regarding cases of sexual abuse primarily by promoting measures for child protection,” the statement said. The Pope also highlighted the need to help those who in the past have suffered such violence and that the perpetrators undergo “due process,” according to the statement.

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VATICAN CITY
NEWS.com.au

POPE Francis is urging Vatican disciplinarians to act “with determination” against sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic clergy, in his first public pronouncement on the issue.

“The Holy Father in particular asked that the congregation … act with determination in cases of sexual abuse,” the Vatican said in a statement, referring to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles such cases, after the Pope met with its director.

The statement noted that the policy followed “the line established” by Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI.

The Argentine Pope, elected last month, asked for “stepped-up measures to protect minors and help those who were subjected to such violence in the past”.

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VATICAN CITY
CNN

By Livia Borghese and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

updated 9:29 AM EDT, Fri April 5, 2013

Rome (CNN) — Pope Francis has told the Vatican to “act decisively” against sexual abuse and carry out “due proceedings against the guilty,” the Vatican announced Friday.

Francis last month took the helm of a Roman Catholic Church that has been rocked in recent years by allegations of priests sexually abusing minors.

Francis recommended that the Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith “act decisively with regard to cases of sexual abuse, first of all by promoting measures for the protection of minors, as well as in offering assistance to those who have suffered abuse, carrying out due proceedings against the guilty,” the Vatican said.

The statement does not specify who “the guilty” are.

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ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on April 04, 2013

A hospital now says that a controversial Catholic priest who had been a chaplain there is being removed. In an email yesterday, an official with Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield disclosed that Fr. Thomas Corbino has been ousted.

Corbino has been accused of inappropriate behavior with youngsters.

On Tuesday, holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, urged hospital officials to fire Corbino.

They also urged

–Joliet Catholic officials to aggressively seek out others who may have experienced inappropriate contact with the cleric, and

–urge anyone who may have seen, suspected, or suffered clergy sex crimes – by Corbino or any other current of former Joliet church official- report to the police immediately.

SNAP recently obtained documents that show concern about Corbino’s behavior while he was worked at St. Pius X church in Lombard, IL. (He left there last year.) The records include an email from a former altar boy addressed to Corbino that alleges sexual abuse, and a statement from an investigator relating to a Will County State’s Attorney Investigative Report into sex abuse allegations against Corbino.

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VATICAN CITY
USA Today

Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY
9:43a.m. EDT April 5, 2013

Pope Francis, in one of his first substantive actions since his election three weeks ago, signals that local bishops’ conferences should step up to discipline priests, serve victims

Pope Francis has called for strong, specific worldwide measures for the Catholic Church to act “with determination” against clergy sex abuse — the scandal that has rocked the church for more than a decade.

It is one of the first actions on a major issue in Francis’ weeks-old papacy, one marked chiefly by attention to his humble, cut-the-pageantry style.

After he met Friday with the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, the Vatican said in a statement: “The Holy Father recommended that the congregation continue the line sought by Benedict XVI, to act with determination in regard to cases of sexual abuse.”

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

Pope Francis has called for “decisive action” in the fight against sex abuse of minors by priests.

He told Bishop Gerhard Mueller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith – the doctrinal watchdog that deals with sex abuse cases – to ensure perpetrators were punished.

It was the Argentine Pope’s first public statement on clerical sex abuse.

He was elected last month, replacing Pope Emeritus Benedict, who became the first pope in 600 years to resign.

When first elected, Benedict XVI promised to rid his Church of the “filth” of clerical sex abuse, but critics accused him of covering up abuse in the past and failing to protect children from paedophile priests.

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FLORIDA
WPTV

[with video]

Stephen Budd, former Rosarian Academy teacher arrested; accused of sexual activity with young girls

By: Tania Rogers

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A former Rosarian Academy teacher is behind bars, accused of sexual activity with two young girls. The alleged incidents happened in the 2006 school year.

Investigators say Stephen Budd was arrested Wednesday night, accused of sexual activity with two young girls who are former students.

51 year old Stephen Budd appeared in court Thursday morning, accused of sexual assault. According to the West Palm Beach Police Chief, back in 2006, Budd allegedly had sexual encounters with two 4th graders. Budd reportedly would use “Budd Bucks” to reward the girls, as candy, in return for sexual acts.

One victim told police Budd recently tried to get in touch with her through Facebook. That’s when she told her parents, who contacted police.

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FLORIDA
WPTV

[with video]

By: Dan Corcoran

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The alleged crimes occurred inside Rosarian Academy, West Palm Beach police say, at the hands of 51-year old Stephen Budd. Parents who were close with Budd years ago are shocked.

“Yes, my daughter was in his class,” said ‘Steven’, who did not want to publicize his last name, in fear of identifying his daughter. “I got sick to my stomach because you never know now.” ‘Steven’ said his daughter was a fourth grade student of Stephen Budd at Rosarian Academy in 2006 and 2007.

West Palm Beach police say that is when the suspect would use what he called “Budd Bucks”, offering rewards of candy to at least two female students in exchange for sexual acts.

‘Steven’ says neither he nor his daughter knew anything about any alleged abuse. “She was shocked,” he said. “She was almost in tears because that’s not the teacher that she had.”

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FLORIDA
Palm Beach Post

By Alexandra Seltzer
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Just hours after a county judge denied bail for a Palm Beach County school teacher accused of sexually assaulting a former student, West Palm Beach’s police chief called on parents to come forward if their children claim they also were assaulted by the 51-year-old man.

Stephen Budd was arrested late Wednesday at his West Palm Beach apartment, not long after a former student of his at Rosarian Academy School, a private Catholic school in West Palm Beach, told police that during the 2006-07 school year, Budd would give them “Budd bucks,” which she explained was candy in return for sexual acts.

The girls were 9 years old at the time of alleged abuse. The former students shared an oath and didn’t want anyone to know about what happened, a city police spokesman said.

“We, based on our investigation, feel that he is a serial offender,” West Palm Beach Police Chief Vincent Demasi said Thursday at police headquarters. “We’re very confident that there are additional victims out there.”

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

Pope Francis says he will act “with determination” against sex abuse cases in church

By Associated Press

Updated: Friday, April 5

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has indicated that he will act against sex abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican said in a statement Friday that the pope has urged the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith to “act with determination with regard to cases of sexual abuse.” The statement cited measures promoted by Benedict XVI to protect minors, helping victims of sexual violence and taking necessary action against perpetrators..

U.S. victims of clergy abuse have demanded swift and bold actions from the new Jesuit pontiff.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

VATICAN CITY | Fri Apr 5, 2013

(Reuters) – Pope Francis wants the Catholic Church to “act decisively” to root out sexual abuse of children by priests and ensure that the perpetrators undergo due process, the Vatican said on Friday.

Officials said that Francis, in a meeting with Holy See doctrinal chief Archbishop Gerhard Muller, had declared that combating sexual abuse was important “for the Church and its credibility”.

Francis inherited a Church mired in problems and a major scandal over priestly abuse of children.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 5 April 2013 (VIS) – This morning the Holy Father received in audience Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A communique released by that dicastery reads that, during the course of the audience, various issues pertaining to the Congregation were discussed. In particular, the Holy Father recommended that the Congregation, continuing along the lines set by Benedict XVI, act decisively with regard to cases of sexual abuse, first of all by promoting measures for the protection of minors, as well as in offering assistance to those who have suffered abuse, carrying out due proceedings against the guilty, and in the commitment of bishops’ conferences to formulate and implement the necessary directives in this area that is so important for the Church’s witness and credibility. The Holy Father assured that victims of abuse are present in a particular way in his prayers for those who are suffering.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Berkshire Eagle

By Andrew Amelinckx, Berkshire Eagle Staff
berkshireeagle.com
Posted: 04/05/2013

BOSTON — A former Roman Catholic priest who was convicted of raping two altar boys in Berkshire County in the 1980s was denied a new trial by a Massachusetts Appeals Court this week.

Gary Mercure, 65, the former pastor at Our Lady of The Annunciation Parish in Queensbury, N.Y., was convicted in February 2011 in Berkshire Superior Court of three counts of rape of a child by force and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14. He is serving a 20- to 25-year prison sentence.

In the appeal, Mercure’s lawyer argued that the jury had been unduly prejudiced after being allowed to hear testimony concerning uncharged sex crimes involving the two victims and six others that allegedly occurred when they were altar boys in his parish in New York.

The statute of limitations prevented criminal charges being brought in that state.

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ILLINOIS
SaukValley.com

BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 525
Created: Friday, April 5, 2013

DIXON – Local law enforcement authorities still won’t say whether they are investigating a former Dixon priest who was removed from his parish.

Last month, church leaders removed the Rev. John Gow from St. Patrick Parish as the result of a law enforcement investigation into his computer use, according to a statement from Monsignor Eric Barr, vicar of the diocese of Rockford….

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UNITED STATES
Sound Cloud

Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate Director, radio interview on FOX News 1460 AM/101 FM, Salinas, California regarding new pope, Pope Francis I. March 14, 2013.

( SNAP, The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 12,000 members. Despite the word priest in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, teachers, Protestant ministers and preachers, and, increasingly, victims who were assaulted in a wide range of institutional settings like orphanages, summer camps, athletic programs, Boy Scouts, etc. The SNAP web address is: www.snapnetwork.org )

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WTMJ

By Jay Sorgi

CREATED Apr. 4, 2013

MILWAUKEE – A spokesman for the Milwaukee Archdiocese told Newsradio 620 WTMJ’s Gene Mueller the reasons why it released thousands of pages of records about sex abuse cases involving members of the clergy.

“This, the Archbishop thought, is a way to say ‘Let’s give the complete picture. Let’s open up these files and documents and let people judge for themselves,” said Milwaukee Archdiocese Chief of Staff Jerry Topczewski on Newsradio 620 WTMJ’s “Wisconsin’s Morning News.”

“People are wondering, ‘What else don’t we know?’ I think this will give people the assurance that this is it. These are the stories.”

He told Gene that the stories are upsetting, but that the church worked proactively to help heal victims.

“Who wouldn’t be upset when you learn of some innocent child being harmed by someone who should have had the trust of the child, the family, the parishioners in the pew?” said Topczewski.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Wiscosin Public Radio

By Chuck Quirmbach

Clergy abuse victims in Milwaukee say they want more documents from the Catholic Church than the church is promising to release.

The St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in downtown Milwaukee. The Milwaukee archdiocese plans to publicly release thousands of documents regarding child molestation this summer.

As part of the Catholic Church’s two-year-old bankruptcy case in Milwaukee, Archbishop Jerome Listecki says that on July 1, he will release thousands of pages of documents regarding clergy sex abuse

But the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) says it also wants information about abuse committed by religious order clerics, deacons and Catholic school employees. SNAP Midwest Director Peter Isely says those other cases may represent at least half of all church-related molestations.

“And so when you talk about half a glass, that may be okay with some things, but it’s not acceptable when it comes to child molesters. The archbishop knows right now that there are 10 child molesters in this neighborhood. Why would he only tell you about five of them?”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
58 News

by Matt Doyle

Milwaukee—“This is a historic day for child sexual abuse victims,” SNAP Midwest Director Peter Isely said.

The Milwaukee Archdiocese’s decision to release thousands of documents about sex abuse spells temporary relief for some.

“We are halfway to the goal,” Isely said.

It comes as the Archdiocese bankruptcy case continues. A spokesman said this will help move the bankruptcy case forward as well as help victims.

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OSTERREICH
ORF

Der Fall eines ehemaligen Paters des oberösterreichischen Stiftes Kremsmünster, der Zöglinge missbraucht haben soll, könnte nun – gut drei Jahre nach Bekanntwerden – bald vor Gericht landen.

Der Akt über die Missbrauchsvorwürfe gegen den ehemaligen Pater ist nach der Prüfung durch das Ministerium auf dem Weg zurück zur Staatsanwaltschaft Steyr. Opfer üben jedoch immer wieder Kritik an der Justiz, weil das Verfahren so lange dauert.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Neue Zurcher Zeitung

(ap) Das Erzbistum Milwaukee in den USA will nun doch die umfassenden Akten zu den Fällen von sexuellem Missbrauch durch Geistliche veröffentlichen. Bisher hatte sich das Bistum dagegen gesträubt. Die Ankündigung erfolgte am Mittwoch – einen Tag vor einer Anhörung vor einem Insolvenzgericht. Anfang Januar 2011 hatte die Erzdiözese bekanntgegeben, wegen Entschädigungszahlungen an Missbrauchsopfer zahlungsunfähig zu sein.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Lancashire Evening Post

Canon Stephen Shield, 53, who was dean at the Roman Catholic cathedral in St Peter’s Road, Lancaster, was arrested by police on March 23.

He was later charged with three sexual offences relating to one male and bailed to appear before Preston magistrates on Wednesday, April 17.

The offences are alleged to have been committed more than two decades ago when the alleged victim was aged between 17 and 24.

A Lancaster diocese spokesman this week confirmed that Canon Shield had withdrawn from the ministry pending the outcome of the court proceedings.

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AUSTRALIA
Western Advocate

THE Australian public should prepare to be shocked, disgusted and saddened by the revelations of a Royal Commission into the institutional sexual abuse of minors.

The commission got under way in Melbourne this week, but already dozens of victims have told their haunting tales of abuse during public hearings in regional Victoria.

In many cases this abuse took place decades ago but, as the sight of grown men and women breaking down while giving evidence shows, their pain is still very real.

We have already heard from victims who say the appalling sexual abuse inflicted on them as children changed their lives forever.

Many have grown into adults leading dysfunctional lives, suspicious of others and unable to love.

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AUSTRALIA
Western Advocate

VICTIMS of sexual abuse will have to wait for some time yet to learn if they will be able to give evidence in Bathurst as part of the new royal commission which started this week.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began hearings in Melbourne on Wednesday.

It will examine all institutions in a far-ranging inquiry that will last at least three years.

A spokesman for the Royal Commission said yesterday dates and venues for hearings had yet to be determined.

“Following its opening yesterday, the Royal Commission has now gone into a series of private sessions, which will help determine where and when hearings will be held,” he said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyBurbs

Posted: Friday, April 5, 2013

By Danielle Camilli Staff writer

MOUNT HOLLY — A Pemberton Township deacon pleaded not guilty to charges that he molested two girls at Calvary Baptist Church during separate alleged incidents over the last three years.

Joseph V. Pullen Jr., 59, of Whispering Pines Boulevard in Pemberton Township, entered the plea at his arraignment in Burlington County Superior Court on Monday. Earlier this year, a Burlington County grand jury indicted him on three counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and other related charges, said county First Assistant Prosecutor Raymond Milavsky.

Pullen was arrested last July after a girl and her family reported she had been sexually assaulted during a service at the Scrapetown Church where he served as a deacon, authorities said.

A second victim told police she was molested at Calvary Baptist back in 2010, according to court documents. Authorities also allege he sexually abused the same child in 2009 and 2011.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISC

MILWAUKEE —Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests are praising the church’s decision to release thousands of pages of previously sealed documents, but they said it’s not enough.

Archbishop Jerome Listecki is trying to prepare people for what they may see in the records detailing cases of child sexual abuse.

The records also include sworn depositions by former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland and New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

The promised release of documents marks a turning point in the long legal battle between abuse survivors and the Catholic Church.

“Let’s shed the light where it needs to be shed and let people understand what happened,” Milwaukee Archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski said.

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UNITED STATES
The Indypendent

By
Nicholas Powers.

April 4, 2013
Issue #
185

It comes out of the dark. Memories like steam leave the person confused, ashamed and scared. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse won’t know for years what happened to their bodies. The hot hands of the pedophile are folded into the depths of forgetting until some jarring moment, some odd connection opens a passageway to daylight. When the pedophile’s face becomes visible in the mind, the next shock is that it’s someone they know.

And what if that face is supposed to be the face of God? It is a learned fear and respect for figures of authority that creates silent victims of abuse. Their mute suffering deepens to the degree that the sexual predator has social status, which is why for decades, pedophile priests were invisible: above them was the blinding light of God. It has only been in the past two decades that the mystique of the Catholic Church has been eroded enough for everyone to see the shifty shuffling of pedophiles from one parish to another by church leaders in Rome, including former Pope Benedict Ratzinger.

The Catholic Church, with its 1.2 billion followers, is the largest Christian denomination in the world. It’s a top-down hierarchy: standing at the summit is the Pope, an elderly man who is God’s representative on earth; next are the dioceses, which are led by a bishop; below them are the parishes, which are overseen by priests, deacons or lay ministers. Ornate Catholic churches can be seen in every country, sometimes nestled between tall modern skyscrapers, sometimes in the tangled foliage of the country. For hundreds of years, millions of people have gone through those doors in search of salvation and now we learn, many have emerged scarred with guilt and shame.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

By Stacy St. Clair and Christy Gutowski, Chicago Tribune reporters
10:01 p.m. CDT, April 4, 2013

The Joliet Diocese acknowledges church officials allowed a Roman Catholic priest to serve as a hospital chaplain even though the bishop declared him unfit for parish ministry because of “inappropriate behavior” with a boy years earlier.

The Rev. Thomas Corbino was not charged with a crime, but Bishop R. Daniel Conlon placed him on “restricted ministry” in 2012 and barred him from having unsupervised interactions with children before he became a part-time volunteer chaplain at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, a diocese spokesman said.

The hospital fired Corbino on Tuesday after learning about the misconduct allegation against him, Central DuPage spokesman Christopher King said. The diocese had not mentioned the allegation when it recommended him for the volunteer post, King said.

“The information that we received on Tuesday was very concerning,” King said. “It was new to us, and we dismissed him that afternoon.”

Corbino could not be reached for comment.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Darlington & Stockton Times

Exclusive By Joe Willis, Regional Chief Reporter

THE Catholic Church has been criticised for failing to reinstate a popular parish priest who The Northern Echo can reveal was accused – but never charged – of child sexual abuse.

Parishioners continue to stand by Father Michael Higginbottom after he was suspended from St Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, in Darlington, in December 2004.

An Echo investigation today reveals that the Catholic Church paid out £35,000 to a man who claimed he was sexually assaulted by Fr Higginbottom while the priest was teaching at St Joseph’s College, in Upholland, near Wigan, in the late 1970s.

The Northern Echo put the allegations to Fr Higginbottom, he denied knowing the nature of the claims and said he could not discuss the reasons for his suspension for “legal reasons”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Littlehampton Gazette

A jury trying a retired Church of England priest from West Sussex and his former organist and choirmaster over alleged historic child sex abuse has retired to consider its verdicts for a second day.

Father Keith Wilkie Denford, 78, is accused of using the respectability of his cassock to molest two boys over an 18-month period from when they were aged around 13.

Hove Crown Court heard that one time Denford, who was the vicar at St John the Evangelist Church in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, abused one of the boys aided by organist and choirmaster Michael Mytton, 68.

Following a meal at a restaurant in Cuckfield, Denford asked Mytton to pull his Jaguar over into a layby where he went on to molest the “inconsolable” boy on the back seat, jurors heard.

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ILLINOIS
Daily Herald

David Sharos For The Sun April 4, 2013

Central DuPage Hospital has removed the Rev. Thomas Corbino, a Catholic priest who was a chaplain at the facility, due to allegations he had inappropriate contact with young people in the past.

Corbino had been serving as a chaplain at the hospital in Winfield for the past year after being reassigned from St. Pius X Church in Lombard.

In an email, the hospital announced it would no longer use the services offered by Corbino, who served as a volunteer chaplain. The hospital has been receiving pressure from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests group to get rid of Corbino.

SNAP President Barbara Blaine said there have been concerns raised about Corbino within the group during the past few weeks and that an article she read a few months ago about the Joliet Diocese’s practice of reassigning priests that have been charged with inappropriate conduct “proved to be the trigger.”

“The Diocese’s decision to put a priest in another position after he has been accused of inappropriate conduct was of interest to me since that’s what my home parish — the Diocese of Toledo — did with one perpetrator,” Blaine said. “They told me then that the priest would be monitored and that this was safe for kids, and yet things got worse. I was concerned when I learned Corbino had been moved to this position after he resigned on April 11 of 2012 from St. Pius.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Volkskrant

De Rooms-Katholieke Kerk moet alle klachten en schadeclaims over seksueel misbruik zo veel mogelijk voor het einde van dit jaar afhandelen. En dat moet met ‘warmte en ruimhartigheid’, vindt een overgrote meerderheid in de Tweede Kamer van in elk geval VVD, PvdA, PVV, SP, CDA en D66.

De Rooms-Katholieke Kerk zegt doordrongen te zijn van het ‘belang om het leed te erkennen van slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik en hen ruimhartig tegemoet te komen’. Volgens een woordvoerster van de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk hebben bisschoppen en hogere oversten bijvoorbeeld nu al persoonlijke ontmoetingen met slachtoffers en worden klachten voortvarend afgehandeld. Ze zegt dat er vertrouwen is dat alle klachten voor het einde van dit jaar zijn afgehandeld.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

Im Prozess gegen einen ehemaligen Kirchenmusiker hat die Mutter eines Opfers ausgesagt. Der Mann soll drei Kinder sexuell missbraucht haben. Angeblich hatte die Frau keine Hinweise auf die Taten.

Die Mütter von drei sexuell missbrauchten Kinder haben nach eigenen Aussagen nichts von den Taten bemerkt. Die Staatsanwaltschaft wirft einem Kirchenmusiker aus Nordenham (Landkreis Wesermarsch) vor, die Kinder von Anfang 2011 bis März 2012 sexuell missbraucht zu haben.

In dem Prozess gegen den Mann vor dem Landgericht Oldenburg sagte eine 44 Jahre alte Frau jetzt als Zeugin aus. Die Mutter sagte, es habe keine Hinweise auf sexuellen Missbrauch ihres Sohnes gegeben.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Sun-Times

By David Sharos For The Sun April 4, 2013

Central DuPage Hospital has removed the Rev. Thomas Corbino, a Catholic priest who was a chaplain at the facility, due to allegations he had inappropriate contact with young people in the past.

Corbino had been serving as a chaplain at the hospital in Winfield for the past year after being reassigned from St. Pius X Church in Lombard.

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IRELAND
National Catholic Reporter

by Paige Brettingen,Shweta Saraswat | Apr. 4, 2013

Dublin —
Reform-minded Irish Catholics say Pope Francis is unlikely to improve the reputation of the Roman Catholic church as inflexible and out of touch, especially among the young.

“The majority of young people would say they don’t hate the church,” said Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. “It’s just that the church is irrelevant to them.”

Shortly after Francis’ election last month, Martin spoke with U.S. student journalists in Ireland on a reporting trip.

Though still a bastion of European Catholicism, Ireland has seen a significant decrease in the percentage of residents who identify as Catholic. In 1920, nearly 93 percent of the Irish population described themselves as Catholic, according to census data. By 2011, that number had dropped to 84 percent.

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UNITED STATES
Herman Law

The silence about childhood sexual abuse is finally breaking.

In a Baptist Church, the Pastor and Church leaders are often revered by members of the congregation, especially the young children. It is this enormous power combined with the influence that the Church has over the lives of its members that creates such a dangerous atmosphere for childhood sexual abuse in the Baptist faith.

Studies reveal that childhood sexual abuse is as prevalent in the Baptist Church as it is in the Roman Catholic Church. Yet this denomination often has no procedures for tracking abusive clergy who are transferred out of state, for removing accused abusers from ministry, or for informing congregants that their officials have been accused of violating children. Numerous Baptist clergy have been arrested and convicted for criminal sexual misconduct. The absence of a central agency for Baptist Churches to report known or suspected child molesters has resulted in preachers moving from one church to another without their new congregation ever learning about the history of sexual abuse.

For decades, victims of childhood sexual abuse in Baptist Churches have been silenced by shame, false instruction, and the bully tactics of the Church’s leaders. Most egregiously, abuse survivors have been taught that scripture requires them to forgive their perpetrator and not to make reports to law enforcement. These tactics serve to foster an environment of abuse and allows perpetrators to go unpunished. In a Baptist congregation, the Pastor and church leaders have enormous power and influence over the lives of the Church’s members, which can create a dangerous environment for children. In most Baptist churches, there is a deacon board or committee of church elders who decide whether to hire or retain the Pastor and Church staff. These deacons and elders are responsible for doing background checks and implementing appropriate protocols to protect children. When the Church deacons and elders are negligent in their duties and children are harmed, the Church can be liable.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
National Catholic Reporter

by Brian Roewe | Apr. 4, 2013

Thousands of documents related to clergy abuse cases in Milwaukee will be released by summer.

Archbishop Jerome Listeki made the announcement Wednesday in an email to Milwaukee Catholics, which was later posted on the archdiocesan website. In the message, he begs forgiveness from the victims, and “for myself and in the name of the Church I give those abuse survivors and their families my sincere apology.”

“My hope is by making these documents public, we will shed much-needed light on how the archdiocese responded to abuse survivors over the past 40-plus years when confronting this issue and that they will aid abuse survivors and others in resolution and healing,” Listeki said.

The documents will go public on the archdiocesan website by July 1. The archbishop’s chief of staff Jerry Topczewski told the Associated Press that time is needed to redact victims’ identities

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ROME
WHEC

(AP) ROME – Italian police have arrested a Catholic priest accused of pocketing 4 million euros ($5.1 million) from the coffers of a Catholic hospital he ran and helping run up 600 million euros in debts that forced the clinic into bankruptcy and prompted the Vatican to intervene.

Italy’s financial police placed the Rev. Franco Decaminada, until 2011 the CEO of the IDI dermatological hospital in Rome, under house arrest Thursday and detained two other people while seizing a Tuscan farmhouse police say he purchased with stolen money.

The plight of IDI workers, who haven’t received paychecks for months, prompted Benedict XVI in one of his last acts as pope to name a delegate to take over the religious order that owns the hospital, though he ruled out providing financial assistance.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The jury in the trial of a Church of England priest and a church organist accused of historical child sex abuse has retired to consider its verdict.

Father Wilkie Denford, 78, from Shoreham-by-Sea, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of indecently assaulting two boys.

Michael Mytton, 68, from East Chiltington, East Sussex, has denied aiding and abetting indecent assault.

The pair are accused of abusing the boys between 1987 and 1990.

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ARGENTINA
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Apr. 4, 2013

Buenos Aires, Argentina – A former top aide to Pope Francis said yesterday that a little-known aspect of his record as the archbishop of Buenos Aires lends credence to speculation that sooner or later, he may shut down the Vatican Bank.

On Tuesday, the Reuters news agency quoted two Vatican officials anonymously who said that closing the bank, formally known as the “Institute for the Works of Religion,” is an option Francis might consider.

Yesterday Federico Wals, a layman who served as the future pope’s spokesperson in Buenos Aires since 2007, told NCR he believes that may well be the case.

“I think he’ll move everything to the Bank of Italy, or something like that,” Wals told NCR, citing as a precedent a key decision made by then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio when he arrived in Buenos Aires in the late 1990s.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
New York Daily News

Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s deposition to be released among files on alleged sexual abuse by priests, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee says

By Daniel Beekman / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s lawyer said he answered questions in February about his decision to publicize the names of priests who were accused of molestation. Lawyers for those who filed lawsuits believe the disclosure will expose abuse and coverups.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee will release thousands of documents related to priest sexual abuse lawsuits, including a deposition from its former head, Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

Lawyers for the men and women who filed the suit believe the documents will help expose alleged abuse and coverups.

Dolan, who served as Archbishop in Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009, said Wednesday he welcomes the July 1 disclosure. His lawyer said Dolan answered questions in February about his decision to publicize the names of priests who were accused of molestation.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Catholic Church ‘lacking leadership’ to deal with child sex abuse, professor says

PIA AKERMAN
From:The Australian
April 04, 20131

A LACK of decisive leadership within the Catholic church has thwarted a cultural shift which would better address problems of child sexual abuse, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.

Professor Caroline Taylor, social justice foundation chair at Edith Cowan University, today told the Victorian child abuse inquiry that there had not been significant change within the church hierarchy despite the raft of allegations revealed over the past five years.

“Unfortunately I don’t see anything that would have me jumping for joy,” said Professor Taylor who has specialised in research relating to sexual offences.

“I think that there has been no leadership to take this forward, that is what’s missing.

“There hasn’t been that leadership that can grab the community, take the community forward with them and say that we need to have an open discussion, we need to have an exchange of views and opinions.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By state political reporter Peta Carlyon

Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into child abuse has heard confronting evidence about child sex offenders.

Emeritus Professor Freda Briggs from the University of South Australia said she had come across sex offenders aged as young as four.

She told the hearing that schools are failing to deal with the issue….

Professor Briggs also criticised the Catholic Church’s ongoing handling of offenders within its ranks.

“They still regard child sexual abuse akin to a traffic offence,” Professor Briggs said.

Earlier, an expert on child abuse victims says ongoing public ignorance is allowing offenders within the Catholic clergy to continue grooming children.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

April 5, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

Catholic Church leaders in Australia were contributing to the ostracism and scapegoating of child sex abuse victims, showing little leadership and little ”will to know”, the inquiry into how churches handled sex abuse has heard.

Edith Cowan University social justice professor Caroline Taylor said church leaders, as well as judges and lawyers, too readily followed misleading stereotypes that minimised child abuse.

”The greatest insurance policy offenders have is the ignorance of the community,” Professor Taylor said on Thursday. ”I don’t believe the Catholic hierarchy has changed its attitude … I haven’t seen that probity and will to know, which means setting aside preconceived ideas and being open to learn. It takes courage.”

When she had suggested ways to help educate the community, she had been ”severely rebuffed”.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Janet Fife-Yeomans
From:The Daily Telegraph
April 05, 2013

THE child sex abuse royal commission is being urged to look at religious protections that have insulated the Catholic Church from ever being found liable in a court for abuse by its priests or at its schools.

The church has become notorious for hiding behind what has become known as the “Ellis defence”, a NSW Court of Appeal ruling that means the church does not exist as a legal entity that is capable of being sued.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance and other lawyers contacted yesterday by The Daily Telegraph said they were not aware of a single court judgment against the Catholic Church, although numerous cases had been settled.

Former altar boy John Ellis, a solicitor who lost his case to sue Cardinal Pell and the Archdiocese of Sydney in the landmark case, described the defence yesterday as a loaded gun.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

At 8:11 p.m. on June 9, 2010, the district attorney’s star witness in the case against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, a man subsequently identified in a 2011 grand jury report as “Billy Doe,” was walking on the 200 block of Allegheny Avenue when he caught the eye of Police Officer Cesar Torres.

At the time, Torres was on patrol in a marked police car, the officer subsequently testified.

Assistant District Attorney Katie Brown asked the officer what caught his eye about Billy Doe:

Q. What was the defendant wearing when you saw him?

A. I believe he had [on] sweatpants with a hoodie that had a jacket over it …

Q. Did something draw your attention to the defendant that brings you here today?

A. Yes, ma’am. I was traveling eastbound and I observed a large bulge coming out of the right side of the defendant’s waist area.

Q. What happened after that?

A. At that time, myself and the defendant made eye contact and he looked very surprised … um, just like, you know a look of shock. His eyes opened wide.

That large bulge turned out to be 56 bags of heroin. This is the story of how a smart criminal lawyer made that heroin disappear.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WUWM

WUWM NEWS | Apr 4, 2013

A years long attempt to access church documents related to the sex abuse scandal by victims and others will end this summer. The Milwaukee Archdiocese says it will release 3,000 pages of material on its website July 1.

Archdiocese spokesperson Jerry Topczewski says officials hope the release of the material will help victims of sexual abuse heal. He says the documents are not being released immediately because the church wants to ensure victims names are not included.

Documents will include depositions from top church officials,including sworn statements made by New York Cardinal, former Milwaukee Archbishop Tim Dolan. Dolan gave a deposition in February as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case against the archdiocese. The Milwaukee archdiocese faced a hearing today in U.S. bankruptcy court in Milwaukee.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Kerrin Thomas

A former priest from Armidale has had his bail continued during a brief appearance at Armidale Local Court on Wednesday.

The 59-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victims, is charged with 25 historic child sex offences against three girls in the 1970’s and 80’s.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Major court victory for victim/survivors: Milwaukee Archdiocese will release half its priest offender files July 1st

WHAT
Victim/survivors of childhood sexual assault by clergy, employees and volunteers of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, including the long time Milwaukee based Midwest Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPwisconsin.com/SNAPnetwork.org) will be joined by Fr. James Connell, pastor and former Vice-Chancellor of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, to:

–discuss the announcement by victims’ and church lawyers that the Archdiocese will release approximately half the priest offender files from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on July 1st and its importance for public safety,

–discuss the possible importance of the depositions also to be released of former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland, Bishop Richard Sklba, and current New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan,

–urge the release of all church child sex abuser files including documents and files related to religious order clerics, employees, permanent deacons,

–insist that the archdiocese disclose all legal costs related to preventing abuse document release.

WHEN
THURSDAY, April 4, 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Front steps of the Milwaukee Federal Courthouse, 517 E Wisconsin Ave

WHY
After two years of legal battles to prevent any public release of documents and key depositions related to the sexual abuse of children by clergy of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, it has been filed late Wednesday in the Milwaukee Federal Bankruptcy Court a public notification that the church lawyers will cease their legal efforts to keep secret internal church documents pertaining to 45 Milwaukee clergy known to have assaulted children.

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IRELAND
Limerick Post

by Kathryn Hayes

Thursday, 04 April 2013

A LIMERICK priest has stepped aside from his ministry and duties pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of child abuse.

The issues alleged against the priest who is currently attached to a parish in county Limerick relate to the mid nineties when he was located in a different part of the diocese.

Gardai say they are aware of the matter but they have not yet received a complaint to instigate an investigation.

However, the church, who were made aware of the allegations via a third-party, is to proceed with its own inquiry into the alleged abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

By Genevieve Gannon, AAP
Updated April 4, 2013

Children of devout religious families are an attractive target for pedophile priests because they are less likely to report abuse, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

Exposing an abusive religious leader puts such a child at risk of isolation from their community, their peers and their family, experts said.

Even if children do muster the courage to tell their mother or father that a priest has abused them, there is a chance they won’t be believed.

This hsd happened in the past, Professor Caroline Taylor told the Victorian inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations.

Pedophile priests know this and they exploit their position of power in the community to get away with their crimes, she said.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

A PRIEST has stepped aside from his ministry pending the outcome of a church inquiry into an allegation of child abuse dating back to the mid-1990s.

The priest is currently serving in a rural part of Co Limerick but the issues relate to an allegation when he was based elsewhere. It’s understood that while gardai are aware of the issue they have not yet received a complaint. The church has proceeded with its own inquiry nonetheless.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
NY1

[with video]

By: Mahsa Saeidi

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee will soon release thousands of pages of documents on the child sex abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church, including the deposition given by Cardinal Timothy Dolan in February. NY1’s Mahsa Saeidi filed the following report.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s handling of the child sex abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church will soon be public.

The cardinal’s deposition is among 3,000 documents being released on July 1.

All of the documents relate to the alleged sexual abuse of children by clergy in Milwaukee.

“I think the Catholic Church has learned a very painful lesson on what not to do in terms of dealing with sexual abuse,” said Joseph Zwilling, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York.

Prior to coming to the city, Dolan was Archbishop in Milwaukee from 2002 to 2009.

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ISRAEL
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Breslov leader Rabbi Eliezer Berland, the head of Yeshiva Shuvu Banim in Jerusalem’s Old City, has gone underground and disappeared, the haredi news website Behadrei Haredim reports.

Berland allegedly sexually abused many young Breslov women, some married, some not, some of age and some apparently minors. He fled Israel for Miami weeks ago after it became clear that he and what are often described as his henchmen and thugs could no longer contain the scandal within the Shuva Banim community after violence related to the alleged coverup became a police matter.

Police opened an investigation into Berland’s alleged sexual abuse, but Berland had already fled to Miami.

When Berland realized that he was wanted for questioning in Israel and could possibly be extradited, he left Miami and went to Switzerland, where he met with his Israel attorney, Dr. Jacob Weinroth.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

In a major development in its bankruptcy, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee announced Wednesday that it will make public thousands of pages of documents detailing its handling of clergy sex abuse cases dating back decades.

The decision – a reversal for the archdiocese – came on the eve of a scheduled hearing at which U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley was expected to order the release of at least some of those records, which are under seal.

The release of documents has been a primary objective of victims in the hundreds of clergy sex abuse cases around the country, including the Milwaukee bankruptcy. Both the archdiocese and attorneys for victims heralded the decision as a significant step toward transparency and healing for abuse survivors.

“My hope is by making these documents public we will shed much-needed light on how the archdiocese responded to abuse survivors over the past 40-plus years, and that they will aid abuse survivors and others in resolution and healing,” Archbishop Jerome Listecki said in a letter to parishes, schools and church leaders on Wednesday.

Attorney Jeffrey Anderson, who represents most of the 570-plus men and women with sex abuse claims in the bankruptcy, called it “a great day for survivors and a giant step for child protection.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Houston Chronicle

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A lawyer representing people who say they were sexually abused by priests in the Milwaukee Archdiocese says he’s glad the archdiocese has agreed to release thousands of sealed documents.

Attorney Jeff Anderson said Wednesday he’s grateful to the hundreds of abuse survivors who stayed strong in their fight to have the documents released.

The archdiocese says it’ll post about 3,000 pages of documents online by July 1.

Anderson says the victims have been seeking disclosure, exposure and closure. He says Wednesday’s announcement fulfills the first two, and the focus will soon shift toward the third.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Seattle PI

MILWAUKEE (AP) — One of the plaintiffs suing the Milwaukee archdiocese says he has mixed feelings after learning the archdiocese will release thousands of documents related to sex-abuse allegations.

Billy Kirchen of Milwaukee says he’s glad people on the outside will get a chance to see what happened behind the scenes. But the 46-year-old says the documents won’t reveal anything he didn’t already know about how church officials mishandled abuse claims.

The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify people who say they were victims of sexual abuse, but Kirchen granted permission to use his name.

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AUSTRALIA
Christian Science Monitor

By the Monitor’s Editorial Board / April 3, 2013

On Wednesday, Australia set an example for the world by opening an official inquiry that will allow people who were sexually abused as children in institutions to finally tell their stories.

At least 5,000 Australians are expected to be heard by the commission, many of them able to recount their experiences in private before the six-member panel. They will shed light on a half century of abuse in orphanages, churches, schools, detention centers, and child-care centers, and groups such as the military, Scouts, and organized sports.

Up until now, many were too ashamed to speak out. Or their stories were neglected by authorities. As children, they suffered for years in silence.

It is noteworthy that a woman prime minister, Julia Gillard, set up this panel.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Patrick Caruana
AAP
April 04, 2013

THE royal commission into institutional child abuse should be given the time and money it needs to do its job, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.

At the commission’s first hearing, chairman Justice Peter McClellan said the inquiry would be unlikely to meet its deadlines because of the volume of evidence and the scope of the terms of reference.

The commission was due to provide an interim report by the middle of next year and complete its work before the end of 2015, Justice McClellan said on Wednesday.

Justice McClellan said the commission, which has so far cost $22 million, would continue to require “very significant sums of public money”.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

FOR years they waited.

They waited to be heard, they waited to be believed, they waited for compensation and they waited for justice.

For many victims of institutional child sex abuse, the wait was too long, and they died in anonymous silence – a lot of them by their own hand.

But for their families, and for the survivors, the opening of a royal commission was a landmark.

The outpouring of emotion immediately after the brief hearing was testament to the fact that so many victims never thought the day would come.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News

Scandal-hit Chetham’s school has been given a month to clean up its act after two damning inspection reports.

Government education chiefs have given the £31,000-a-year institution until May 10 to come up with a plan of action before ministers decide whether to take further action.

The move comes after the school was hit by allegations of abuse stretching back decades – and the jailing of former choir master Michael Brewer.

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Jon Reed | jreed@al.com
on April 03, 2013

MONTGOMERY, Alabama — A former youth pastor in Wetumpka was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the sexual abuse of a child.

John A. Astorga, 38, of Titus, was convicted in Cullman County Circuit Court in December 2012 on one count of first-degree sexual abuse of a child who was less than 12 years old. Astorga received the maximum sentence, according to a news release from Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange.

Astorga, a former youth minister at the Bethel Assembly of God in Wetumpka, was convicted in April 2012 on two counts of first-degree sexual abuse in Elmore County. He was sentenced to 36 months on those charges. He has appealed that conviction.

Astorga will serve the sentences consecutively.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee

Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee

It has been more than 10 years since 2002, when the news about clergy sexual abuse of minors dominated news headlines across the country and changed forever the way the Catholic Church would be viewed because of this issue. I’m sorry this Love One Another is a little longer than usual, but there is so much ground to cover with this topic that I ask your patience. And, although you usually receive my email on Tuesdays, I send this today because I wanted you to hear this news directly from me.

This has been an especially poignant topic in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as hundreds of courageous abuse survivors have come forward to tell their story. I beg the forgiveness of those who have been harmed. For myself and in the name of the Church I give those abuse survivors and their families my sincere apology.

The challenges facing the archdiocese are many. First, acknowledging the scandalous and embarrassing facts about how men, who were trusted priests, shattered that trust through their sinful and criminal behavior. Second, learning how some in advisory and leadership roles made ill-advised decisions, even if that only became clear in hindsight. Then there have been financial challenges – settling lawsuits, failed mediation attempts and, ultimately, my decision to file for Chapter 11 financial protection in 2011.

However, there are things the archdiocese can be proud of. In the 1990s, the archdiocese was one of the first in the country to implement a formal response to abuse survivors, to hire staff to support their needs, and to publish a Code of Ethical Standards for church employees. The archdiocese has supported legislation to include clergy as mandatory reporters of abuse from the time a bill was first introduced in the mid-1990’s until it was eventually signed into law. Even before this legislation was passed, the archdiocese had its own policy requiring employees, including clergy, to report suspected child abuse to the proper civil authorities. Our policies and protocols ensure that all abuse allegations involving someone who is still alive are immediately reported to civil authorities. Safe environment education programs were developed and are now mandatory for children and youth in every parish and school. Criminal background checks and sexual abuse awareness training are required for every bishop, priest, deacon, staff member and volunteer who works with minors. Most importantly, no priest with a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor can in any way exercise public ministry in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Fox 6

April 3, 2013, by Katie DeLong and Henry Rosoff

MILWAUKEE (WITI) — The Archdiocese of Milwaukee announced on Wednesday, April 3rd on its website and via Archbishop Jerome Listecki’s blog — it WILL release thousands of pages of documents detailing clergy sexual abuse in the Milwaukee Archdiocese as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. SNAP, the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests has asked that these documents be unsealed and released to the public.

The Archdiocese made its announcement the day before the matter was to be decided in bankruptcy court. The Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in 2011 to deal with sex abuse claims. Lawyers representing the men and women who filed the claims had been seeking the documents’ release.

The documents that will be released include depositions of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop Weakland and Bishop Sklba.

SNAP has urged the Attorney General’s Office to step in and force the Milwaukee Archdiocese to turn over hundreds of pages of documents detailing child sex abuse claims as the Archdiocese goes through bankruptcy proceedings.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Lancaster Guardian

Published on 04/04/2013

A Priest based at Lancaster Cathedral was this week charged with three counts of indecent assault.

Canon Stephen Shield, 53, who was dean at the Roman Catholic cathedral in St Peter’s Road, Lancaster, was arrested by police on March 23.

On Tuesday he was charged with three sexual offences relating to one male and bailed to appear before Preston magistrates on Wednesday, April 17.

The offences are alleged to have been committed more than two decades ago when the alleged victim was aged between 17 and 24.

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MICHIGAN
The Oakland Press

By CAROL HOPKINS
carol.hopkins@oakpress.com Twitter: @opcarolhopkins

An investigation into whether a priest mishandled more than $400,000 at Troy’s St. Thomas More Catholic Church is now being conducted by the FBI, according to Troy Police.

Rev. Edward Belczak was asked to temporarily step aside from his duties at the church on North Adams Road in Troy in January during the probes that he mishandled at least $429,000 in church money. The 67-year-old remains a priest but left parish housing.

Sgt. Andy Breidenich said the FBI came to the Troy Police Department about two weeks ago and took over the case. Troy police are continuing to investigate whether healthcare fraud occurred.

FBI Detroit spokesman Simon Shaykhet declined to comment on the case, and the Detroit-based U.S. Attorney’s Office would not confirm or deny they were involved with the case.

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CALIFORNIA
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: A priest of the Oakland diocese, Tollner has been accused of sexually abusing at least six children. In 1982 his sister-in-law reported that he had sexually abused her mentally retarded young adult son who had the mind of a twelve year-old. Bishop Cummins was informed of this, and of the fact that parishioners were complaining that Tollner was engaged in “suspicious behavior” with young boys involving alcohol and drugs and a hot tub Tollner had installed on the rectory roof. Tollner was kept in ministry. He was sent to St. Luke’s Institute in Maryland for treatment in 1985, but refused to stay. In 1987 a man reported that Tollner began to sexually abuse him in 1966 when the man was 11 years old, and that the abuse continued into adulthood. From 1985 to 1995 Tollner was allowed to reside at a parish, which had a school, and to hold several Chancery positions. He died in 1999.

Ordained: 1961
Died: Feb. 17, 1999

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
CBS New York

MILWAUKEE (CBSNewYork/AP) — Timothy Cardinal Dolan said Wednesday that he welcomes the upcoming release of documents related to sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, where he previously served.

Dolan gave a deposition in February in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case involving the Milwaukee Archdiocese. The deposition is among some 3,000 pages of documents that the archdiocese announced on Wednesday that it would post by July 1.

The Archdiocese in Wisconsin’s largest city had been fighting release of the documents, and faced a hearing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Milwaukee. It declared bankruptcy two years ago as it dealt with about 500 sex abuse claims.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
San Francisco Chronicle

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Retired Bishop Richard Sklba (SKIL’-buh) says he agreed to have the Archdiocese of Milwaukee release a deposition he gave in sexual abuse cases as a way of getting out the truth.

The archdiocese announced Wednesday that it would release about 3,000 pages of documents by July 1, including depositions given by Sklba, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan — who previously led the Milwaukee archdiocese — and former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland.

The documents had been sought by attorneys representing about 500 people who say they were sexually abused by priests. Their advocates have accused church leaders of moving the priests around and covering up their crimes.

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IRELAND
National Secular Society (UK)

Catholic Church to lose control of some schools in Ireland – could this be the start of a seismic shift?

Posted: Wed, 03 Apr 2013

Following a survey of parents by the Irish Department of Education, 23 primary schools across the country will be divested of their Catholic Church patronage. The move is part of the drive to encourage more choice and diversity in the types of primary schools inIreland. At present 96% of primary schools are under the patronage of religious denominations – 90% of which are Catholic.

In 2011 the Minister for Education established an expert group to consult with people and to make recommendations on how primary schools can become more inclusive of different traditions, religions and beliefs.

In April 2012 the Minister Ruairí Quinn accepted and published the Report of the Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector.

In June last year he started the process to look at the possible transfer of some schools run by the Catholic Church to other school patron bodies in 44 areas around the country.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

April 3, 2013

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki has authorized the release of a cache of documents related to its handling of sex abuse cases as part of its bankruptcy.

The decision is the result of negotiations between attorneys for victims and the archdiocese. It comes a day before what was expected to be a contentious hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court over the release of the documents.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISC

The Milwaukee Archdiocese says documents related to ongoing sexual abuse lawsuits will be released by July 1.

The archdiocese said Wednesday it will post about 3,000 pages of documents on its website. It says it’s not posting them immediately because it wants to ensure victims’ names are not included.

Archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski (top-CHES’-kee) says one goal in releasing the documents is to help the hundreds of sexual abuse survivors heal.

The documents contain depositions from top archdiocese officials and content from priest personnel files. Victims’ advocates have been seeking the documents’ release for several years.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Newsday

Published: April 3, 2013 6:04 PM
By The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE – (AP) — New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan says he welcomes the upcoming release of documents related to sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Dolan gave a deposition in February in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case involving the archdiocese that he once served. That deposition is among some 3,000 pages of documents that the archdiocese announced on Wednesday that it would post by July 1.

The archdiocese had been fighting release of the documents, and faced a hearing Thursday in U.S. bankruptcy court in Milwaukee. It declared bankruptcy two years ago as it dealt with about 500 sex abuse claims.

In a statement Thursday, Dolan says he was glad to give his deposition and hopes the release of the documents will help in the healing of abuse survivors.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
KTAR

MILWAUKEE (AP) – The Archdiocese of Milwaukee said Wednesday it will publicly release thousands of pages of documents tied to sexual abuse lawsuits, including depositions with some of its former top officials.

The archdiocese had been fighting the release of the documents, and it made its announcement the day before a hearing on the matter was to be held in U.S. bankruptcy court in Milwaukee. The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2011 to deal with about 500 sex abuse claims filed by men and women. Lawyers representing those people had been seeking the documents’ release.

The documents to be released include depositions given by New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who previously led the Milwaukee archdiocese, former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland and retired Bishop Richard Sklba. Victims’ advocates have accused archdiocese leaders of transferring abusive priests to other parishes and concealing their crimes for decades.

Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said the archdiocese plans to post the documents on its website by July 1. Along with the depositions, the cache will include documents from priests’ personnel files and the files of bishops and other church leaders.

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AUSTRALIA
Los Angeles Times

By Emily Alpert
April 3, 2013

Australia launched a sweeping national inquiry Wednesday into the sexual abuse of children, holding its first public hearing in a Melbourne court to start what a government statement called “a healing process for survivors and their families.”

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the newly opened Royal Commission into the Sexual Abuse of Children will hear the stories of abuse victims and make recommendations about stopping such crimes, and can refer suspected abusers to the police for possible prosecution. It will cover a vast array of institutions including schools, churches, child-care centers, recreational groups and detention centers.

“We’ve let children down in the past as a country,” Gillard said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “We need to learn what we can do as a nation to better protect our children in the future.”

The inquiry follows the revelation last year that hundreds of children had been abused by Roman Catholic clergy in Victoria state since the 1930s. The government was also galvanized by an open letter from a New South Wales police detective who accused the church of concealing abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Sunraysia Daily

By Graeme O’Neill
April 4, 2013

ONE of the first known victims of a notorious Mildura paedophile priest has warned that the Royal Commission into the sexual abuse of children, which opened yesterday, would confront Mildura with uncomfortable questions about the role of some of its citizens and institutions in covering up the priest’s abuse of children over 15 years.

As a 16-year-old schoolgirl in 1971, “Nancy”, who now lives under an assumed name in South Australia, believes she was the first person in Victoria to make a formal complaint of sexual abuse against a Catholic priest.

Interviewed by former Mildura detective Denis Ryan, she described how the then-head of Mildura’s Sacred Heart Catholic parish, Monsignor John Day, had molested her when she was a 12-year-old boarding-school student at Mildura’s Convent of Mercy in 1967.

Day, who died in 1978, had an ally and protector in the person of Senior Detective J. P. Barritt, head of the local office of the Criminal Investigation Branch in Mildura during Day’s term in the parish.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Palladium-Times

Posted: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 2:54 pm | Updated: 4:01 pm, Wed Apr 3, 2013.

Associated Press

The Associated Press has withdrawn its story about a priest-abuse lawsuit accusing church and local authorities of letting a Philadelphia-area priest flee to Poland during a stalled investigation. The lawsuit has not been filed. A substitute story will not be published.

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MASSACHUSETTS/NEW YORK
Post-Star

DON LEHMAN — dlehman@poststar.com

A Massachusetts state appeals court has rejected the appeal of former local priest Gary Mercure, who was convicted for molesting two young male parishioners.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Appeals Court found that Mercure was not entitled to a new trial, rejecting arguments that the trial judge erroneously allowed evidence of “uncharged sex crimes” and improper testimony and other technical errors during Mercure’s 2011 trial

The former Queensbury resident, who served as a priest at Our Lady of Annunciation Church in Queensbury and St. Mary’s in Glens Falls, was found guilty of child rape and indecent assault for sexually assaulting teens he met through the local parishes when he took them to western Massachusetts for outdoors outings.

“There is no basis for the defendant’s claim that the cumulative errors at trial require a new trial,” the court opined in a decision released Tuesday.

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MASSACHUSETTS/NEW YORK
YNN

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — An appeal for a new trial in the case of an Albany priest convicted of four counts of rape has been denied by a Massachusetts appellate court.

Gary Mercure was found guilty in 2011 of raping two altar boys in Berkshire County in the 1980s. Mercure was a priest with the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese in Queensbury at the time of the incident.

The two boys said he raped them while on a trip to the Berkshires.

In his appeal, Mercure’s lawyer says the trial judge should not have allowed the jury to hear testimony about uncharged sex crimes from the two victims who were raped or from four other alleged victims who testified about incidents of sexual abuse by Mercure.

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MASSACHUSETTS/NEW YORK
Post-Star

A Massachusetts state appeals court has rejected the appeal of former local priest Gary Mercure, who was convicted for molesting two young male parishioners.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Appeals Court found that Mercure was not entitled to a new trial, rejecting arguments that the trial judge erroneously allowed evidence of “uncharged sex crimes” and improper testimony and other technical errors during Mercure’s 2011 trial

The former Queensbury resident, who served as a priest at Our Lady of Annunciation Church in Queensbury and St. Mary’s in Glens Falls, was found guilty of child rape and indecent assault for sexually assaulting teens he met through the local parishes when he took them to western Massachusetts for outdoors outings.

“There is no basis for the defendant’s claim that the cumulative errors at trial require a new trial,” the court opined in a decision released Tuesday.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Sharon Herald

By Melissa Klaric Herald Staff Writer

MERCER COUNTY — Sexual abuse by teachers and coaches was brought to the forefront in Pennsylvania as a result of the high profile cases of Brother Stephen Baker and Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Baker, a Franciscan friar, killed himself in January after being accused of sexually abusing students at John F. Kennedy High School, Warren, Ohio, in the late ’80s and early ’90s and at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pa.

Sandusky, a retired coach, was sent to prison last year for 30 to 60 years for sexually assaulting 10 boys.

Locally, Jamestown High School teacher Kevin A. DeFrancesco was sentenced in November to three nine-month sentences, to be served consecutively, for sexual abuse of children, unlawful contact with a minor, and attempt to commit sexual abuse with children after he sent inappropriate text messages to two female students, ages 13 and 14.

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CONNECTICUT
Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport

When a priest falls, it wounds the entire Church. As a family of faith, we are sorry for those who have been hurt by Msgr. Wallin’s actions, and we also remember that that he did much good work in his ministry.

Msgr. Wallin’s guilty plea represents an important step in his coming to terms with his own actions and their impact on others. It is a difficult moment for all of us but we hope it is also the first step in rebuilding his life. We pray that he moves toward healing and wholeness.

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CONNECTICUT
The Daily Voice

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. — A Roman Catholic priest from Fairfield County who reportedly made more than $300,000 by selling methamphetamines pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal drug charge, according to a report in Newsday.

Kevin Wallin, 61, admitted to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was scheduled to be sentenced June 25. The prosecution and defense agreed on a sentence of 11 to 14 years in prison.

He had previously served as pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport for nine years until he resigned in June 2011, citing health and personal reasons. He also served six years as pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Danbury until 2002.

“Msgr. Wallin’s guilty plea represents an important step in his coming to terms with his own actions and their impact on others,” the Diocese of Bridgeport said in a statement on its website. “It is a difficult moment for all of us, but we hope it is also the first step in rebuilding his life. We pray that he moves toward healing and wholeness.”

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NEW MEXICO
KOAT

[with video]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —A New Mexico Catholic priest is accused of molesting a young boy in the late 1980s.

The civil suit, filed Tuesday, accuses the church of negligence in training, or checking the background of Father Michael O’Brien, who served at St. Anthony’s Parish in Questa.

According to the suit, O’Brien “groomed” the altar boy by giving him massages.

Soon after, the priest is accused of sexually assaulting the boy for more than a year.

That alleged victim is now 37, and didn’t come forward about the abuse until last year, but his attorney said there could be more victims out there.

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UGANDA
The Africa Report

By Godfrey Olukya

A top Ugandan Roman Catholic Church bishop has apologised to victims of sexual abuse by the church’s priests in the East African country after a priest exposed the scandal.

Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, the leader of the church in Uganda made the apology after a letter written by Father Anthony Musaala exposing the abuse found its way into Facebook.



Last month Father Musaala wrote a letter to Lwanga complaining that many Catholic priests and bishops in the country had wives and children.



He also called on the church to allow Ugandan clerics to marry.

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DEUTSCHLAND
dbk

Vorwort
Im Jahr 2002 wurden durch die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz für alle Diözesen verbindliche Leitlinien zum Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch innerhalb der katholischen Kirche erlas-sen. Im Folgejahr wurde im Vatikan auf einem Kongress internationaler Experten zum Thema „Sexueller Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche – wissenschaftliche und juristische Perspektiven“ (Hanson, Pfäfflin & Lütz, 2004) unter anderem festgehalten, dass für die indi-viduelle Risikobeurteilung der beschuldigten Geistlichen eine Nutzung der in der forensi-schen psychiatrischen Psychiatrie etablierten Methoden und Standards unabdingbar ist.

Im Bereich der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz wurden daher seit 2004 in entsprechenden Fällen vermehrt forensisch-psychiatrische Gutachten in Auftrag gegeben. Es etablierten sich bundesweit drei Zentren, in denen der überwiegende Teil dieser Gutachten erstellt wurden, nämlich in den Instituten für Forensische Psychiatrie der Universität Duisburg-Essen (Leiter: Prof. Dr. med. N. Leygraf) und der Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Leiter: Prof. Dr. med. H.-L. Kröber) sowie in der Sektion Forensische Psychotherapie der Universität Ulm (Leiter: Prof. Dr. med. F. Pfäfflin). Im Rahmen gemeinsamer Gespräche der drei Institutsleiter mit dem Vorsitzenden der Deutschen Bischofkonferenz über die im Zusammenhang mit den Be-gutachtungen gemachten Erfahrungen entstanden erste Überlegungen, die gutachterlich gewonnenen Erkenntnisse systematisch zu erfassen und wissenschaftlich auszuwerten.

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AUSTRALIA
Telegraph

Royal Commission into Catholic Church child abuse should run as long as needed, says cop

Tory Shepherd
News Limited Network
April 03, 2013

THE police officer whose revelations sparked the Royal Commission that began today says he has ”no problem” that the deadlines are already likely to blow out.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox’s explosive revelations about child sex abuse and cover ups in the Catholic Church and police force started the momentum for a federal Royal Commission.

The commission began in Melbourne today and chairman Justice Peter McClellan warned that they will struggle to meet their deadlines as more than 5000 people are expected to want to tell their stories.

The final reporting date was initially set for the end of 2015, with an interim report due next year.

Insp Fox said it was a ”wise decision” to let the commission run as long as it needs to.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

ANOTHER important day in the history of institutionalised sexual abuse was reached yesterday with the first sitting of the royal commission in Melbourne.

As uncomfortable and lengthy as the royal commission is predicted to be, it promises to provide an opportunity for ultimate discovery of the truth.

Through the state government’s own inquiry, Victorians have seen that the impact of institutional sexual abuse continues to adversely affect victims, their families and the wider community. As we have heard in recent months, Ballarat remains an epicentre of the issue.

While the Catholic Church is not the only institution facing scrutiny through the royal commission, its response will be watched with considerable interest.

The church, through its Truth, Justice and Healing Council chief executive Francis Sullivan yesterday suggested it was time for full disclosure: “People have to brace themselves, but the reality is that unless we know what the facts are we won’t be able to get justice for victims. A lot of ordinary Catholics, though, want to see the church stand up here in this process, reveal its story and its truth,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

AAP
April 3, 2013

Parents of abuse victims say they hope to see legal changes to right the wrongs of the past start as early as this year.

Anthony Foster said it was important for governments to introduce laws that will enable the Catholic Church and other organisations to be brought to task for what they have done in the past.

He and his wife Chrissie hope the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into institutional abuse, which is already well underway, will enable this to happen sooner rather than later.

“We can start to see that action being taken this year,” Mr Foster said after the first hearing of the royal commission into institutional sexual abuse in Melbourne on Wednesday.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Editorial
From:Herald Sun
April 04, 2013

HARROWING evidence of the abuse they suffered is being heard from witnesses at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

It is a time for soul-searching, but it is also a chance to expose the cover-ups that have kept these abuses secret for so long.

The Catholic Church is not the only one guilty of protecting the predators. Other churches and state institutions are also culpable.

The preliminary report of the commission is expected in 18 months. This is ambitious when it is remembered a similar inquiry in Ireland took nine years to present its damning findings.

The Australian royal commission was established after Victorian and New South Wales inquiries started hearing evidence, not only from victims of abuse but police, who for years found their investigations frustrated by the churches and institutions where such crimes took place.

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