ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Bloomberg Businessweek

By Carol Matlack and Bernhard Warner on February 11, 2013

Memo to the College of Cardinals: You didn’t ask our advice, so we won’t give it, on the person you should choose as the next spiritual leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. But whoever it is, could you please ask him to get the ATMs in the Vatican Museum working again?

The Bank of Italy last month shut down all ATMs in the Vatican and blocked its museum’s ticket windows and shops from accepting debit and credit-card payments from visitors. It was the latest chapter in a messy scandal involving the Vatican Bank, which regulators say has failed to comply with international banking standards and money-laundering regulations.

True, the $120 million or so in annual revenue from Vatican visitors is peanuts compared with the tens of billions raised and spent annually by Catholic dioceses and institutions worldwide. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for the next pope to have a good head for business.

Pope Benedict XVI, who announced today he will resign on Feb. 28 for health reasons, “has had a very difficult papacy” from a financial standpoint, says Chester Gillis, dean of Georgetown College and professor of theology at Georgetown University. Settlements and judgments in sexual-abuse cases have cost billions of dollars already and forced some dioceses into bankruptcy. More such lawsuits are still pending.

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VATICAN CITY
Gazzetta del Sud

Rome, February 12 – A credit-card and ATM block that has plagued visitors to the Vatican since January is over, a spokesman said Tuesday. “The system of electronic payments with ATMs and credit cards has been reactivated,” spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said. He said the new service was “guaranteed” by a deal with Swiss company Aduno Sa. On January 1 the Bank of Italy froze all credit-card and ATM transactions inside the Vatican City over its failure to fully implement international anti-money-laundering standards. In late December, the central bank denied Deutsche Bank Italy, the Vatican’s former provider of electronic-payment services, a permit because of the Vatican’s shortcomings in financial controls and oversight.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Wayne K. Spear

Jamie Doward’s April 24, 2005 Guardian column, “The Pope, the letter and the child sex claim,” closes with the assertion that the reign of Benedict XVI may well be judged in relation to the sexual crimes and criminals long cloistered by the Vatican, and indeed Joseph Ratzinger himself. As the current Pope departs, the time is full for a summation of these crimes as well as these criminals.

As consequence of the courage and tenacity of the victims — of which there are as many as ten thousand, according to the hJohn Jay College report— an indictment of the church’s top-most offices may now be assembled.

For years, rarely a month has passed without some new and lurid disclosure thickening the already rotten stench of a closed-rank institution obsessed with its self-preservation. In January we were informed of the Cardinal Roger Mahony’s removal from duties and the release of priest files which contain the “terribly sad and evil” acts (as Archbishop Gomez termed them) committed throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

This latest revisiting of a decade-long, international outrage recalls what is perhaps the most notorious case of Boston’s then Archbishop, Bernard Law, whose cover-ups of child rape led to disgrace and resignation late in 2002. Since that time many thousands of allegations have issued, and a disgusting pattern of institutional obfuscation and evasion, guided from the very top, has emerged.

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IRELAND
Sinead O’Connor

I would like to congratulate Pope Benedict on his wise decision to retire before the very worst of what has been going on is discovered. I appreciate his alluding to some of it in his statement and assure him The Most High forgives those who can faithfully say they did wrong.

I also note with with interest the choice of a day so close to St Bernadette’s feast day to make the announcement. Perhaps her body could now be given a respectful burial and cease to be exploited in the macabre way it has been for decades.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by Joshua J. McElwee | Feb. 12, 2013

Analysis
Until the moment of his resignation at 8 p.m. Rome time Feb. 28, the Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI is fully on the job as supreme pastor of the Roman Catholic church.

But as the first pontifex maximus to effectively give two weeks’ notice, what exactly will he be doing?

Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesperson, said in a press bulletin Tuesday the pope intends to at least maintain his current public schedule, which includes a public service to mark the beginning of Lent Wednesday and a number of visits over coming days with pastors in Rome and bishops throughout Italy.

What Lombardi didn’t answer is whether the pope intends to use his remaining time to direct the functioning of the various Vatican offices, over which he has final governance and alone can give explicit orders.

Until Feb. 28, those offices essentially face a ticking clock. Once Benedict formally steps aside, their leaders must resign and all their work, except that considered most essential for the basic functioning of the church, must come to a halt.

Among offices facing the clock are the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, responsible for recommending priests for appointments as bishops in places throughout the world, and the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, known for acting as the church’s doctrinal watchdog.

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UNITED STATES
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

By Sara Malm

A 105-year-old Zen Buddhist master has been accused of sexually assaulting his female students during private teaching sessions.

Joshu Sasaki, best known for being the teacher of artist Leonard Cohen, has allegedly groped and sexually harassed women across the U.S. for over 50 years.

An independent council of Buddhist leaders recently admitted to ignoring years of accusations against the famously charismatic ‘roshi’.

Last month, a ‘witnessing council’ of senior teachers of Mr Sasaki’s Zen Buddhist community published a statement, admitting that the have ‘struggled with our teacher Joshu Sasaki Roshi’s sexual misconduct for a significant portion of his career in the United States’.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By MARK OPPENHEIMER and IAN LOVETT

Published: February 11, 2013

Since arriving in Los Angeles from Japan in 1962, the Buddhist teacher Joshu Sasaki, who is 105 years old, has taught thousands of Americans at his two Zen centers in the area and one in New Mexico. He has influenced thousands more enlightenment seekers through a chain of some 30 affiliated Zen centers from the Puget Sound to Princeton to Berlin. And he is known as a Buddhist teacher of Leonard Cohen, the poet and songwriter.

Mr. Sasaki has also, according to an investigation by an independent council of Buddhist leaders, released in January, groped and sexually harassed female students for decades, taking advantage of their loyalty to a famously charismatic roshi, or master.

The allegations against Mr. Sasaki have upset and obsessed Zen Buddhists across the country, who are part of a close-knit world in which many participants seem to know, or at least know of, the principal teachers.

Mr. Sasaki did not respond to requests for interviews made through Paul Karsten, a member of the board of Rinzai-ji, his main center in Los Angeles. Mr. Karsten said that Mr. Sasaki’s senior priests are conducting their own inquiry. And he cautioned that the independent council took the accounts it heard from dozens of students at face value and did not investigate any “for veracity.”

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CANADA
CP24

The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013

MONTREAL — Word that a Canadian cardinal is a presumed contender to succeed Pope Benedict has been met with a mixed response in his own Quebec backyard.

Advocates for victims of sexual abuse by priests and even a member of the clergy aren’t quite in Marc Cardinal Ouellet’s cheering section.

The idea of a global icon emerging from here has stirred the local imagination.

But that excitement is tempered by the fact that Ouellet’s home province has become intensely secular and even anti-clerical over the years.

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PHILIPPINES
Straits Times

MANILA (REUTERS) – With attention turning from Europe to the “new” world, worshippers in the Philippines prayed quietly and took to social media on Tuesday in the hope their cardinal might be chosen as the next leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

Many Catholics in the Philippines, the largest Christian community in Asia, were shocked by Pope Benedict’s resignation, including their charismatic leader, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.

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NEW YORK
WNYT

[paddypower.com]

Posted at: 02/12/2013
By: Bill Lambdin

TROY – In the United Kingdom, the short money at betting parlors is going to a 64 year old Cardinal from Ghana with strong ties to the Capital Region, Peter Turkson.

“Peter Turkson is the red hot favorite,” said Rupert Adams of William Hill Bookmakers. “Interestingly, we put him in at five to one yesterday when the big announcement occurred. He’s been backed quite heavily, in from five to three to one, which would suggest that some people think that he’s a genuine contender.”

Peter Turkson studied for the priesthood at a seminary along the Hudson in Rensselaer.

The future Cardinal and possible Pope carried the word and lived his faith in places like Arbor Hill.

He’s continued to visit here, taking part in a service at Siena College last May.

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VATICAN CITY
The Grio

VATICAN CITY (AP) — One of Africa’s brightest hopes to be the next pope, Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, says the time is right for a pontiff from the developing world, and that he’s up for the job “if it’s the will of God.”

In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, the day after Pope Benedict XVI announced he would soon resign, Turkson said the “young churches” of Africa and Asia have now become solid enough that they have produced “mature clergymen and prelates that are capable of exercising leadership also of this world institution.”

The church in the Third World doesn’t need a pope of its own to thrive, he said. It’s done just fine growing exponentially with European pontiffs. But Turkson said a pope from the global south, where half of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics live, would “go a long way to strengthen them in their resolve.”

Turkson, 64, became Ghana’s first cardinal when he was elevated by Pope John Paul II in 2003, while he was archbishop of Cape Coast. Six years later, Benedict tapped him to head the Vatican’s peace and justice office, which tackles issues such as the global financial meltdown, armed conflicts and ethical codes for the business world.

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ROME
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)

The cardinal who could become the first black pope said Tuesday that the Roman Catholic Church faces grave challenges in remaining relevant in the modern world even as he laid out a conservative vision of how to deal with society’s “alternative lifestyles”.

By Malcolm Moore, Rome
8:50PM GMT 12 Feb 2013

Cardinal Peter Turkson, a 64-year-old Ghanaian prelate, is the bookmaker’s early favourite to succeed Pope Benedict XVI.

He told The Daily Telegraph Tuesday that his biggest challenge, should he be elected, would be to maintain an orthodox Catholic doctrine while “at the same time knowing how to apply it so that you do not become irrelevant in a world that has continuous changes”.

Cardinal Turkson, who holds one of the most important jobs in the Roman Curia and has been repeatedly promoted by Pope Benedict, was quick to take a conservative line on gay marriage and other “alternative lifestyles”.

“We need to find ways of dealing with the challenges coming up from society and culture,” he said, adding that the Church needed to “evangelise”, or convert, those who had embraced “alternative lifestyles, trends or gender issues”. He added: “We cannot fail in our task of providing guidance.”

Cardinal Turkson has caused controversy in the past both by screening a video claiming that Europe faced being overrun by Muslims and by insisting that condoms were not the solution to preventing HIV. …

He acknowledged that he will be in the running when 118 cardinals enter into a conclave in the Sistine Chapel next month to select their next leader.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Lisa Wangsness, John R. Ellement and Martin Finucane
| Globe Staff
February 12, 2013

BRAINTREE — Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley said today he was “kind of blindsided” by Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to retire while in office, and jokingly dismissed the suggestion that he might be chosen as the new leader of the Roman Catholic church.

“I haven’t lost any sleep about it,’’ O’Malley told reporters during an afternoon news conference at the Boston archdiocese’s headquarters here. “And I have bought a round-trip ticket so I’m counting on coming home.’’

O’Malley said he had not anticipated Benedict’s decision to retire Feb. 28 because of declining health instead of dying in office as most of his predecessors have done during the 2,000-year history of the church. Benedict is the first pope in nearly 600 years to retire.

“I was surprised as everyone else,’’ O’Malley said.

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VATICAN CITY
The Christian Century

Feb 12, 2013 by David Gibson and Alessandro Speciale

Pope Benedict XVI’s sudden announcement that he would resign by the end of the month took the church and the world by surprise, in large part because it was a move without precedent in the modern world.

But what comes next is as old and familiar as the papacy itself: Speculating about who will succeed to the Throne of St. Peter.

Indeed, within months of Benedict’s own election in 2005, church insiders and online oddsmakers were trying to figure out who might be next, given that Benedict – now 85 – was already aging, increasingly frail, and had himself declared that he did not expect his reign to be a long one.

So what will happen when the world’s cardinals gather before the splendor of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope? Who are the “papabile,” as the Italians say, the “pope-able” cardinals?

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UNITED STATES
U.S. Catholic

By Scott Alessi

With everyone from the New York Times to Stephen Colbert (complete with Papal Speculatron 7500) trying to figure out who will be the next pope, it is only natural that people at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops would join in the fun. This morning, on day three of the USCCB’s Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington, I was fortunate enough to sit at a breakfast table surrounded by a few bishops’ conference staffers. And despite the many interesting topics of conversation going on at the gathering, everyone wanted to talk papal picks.

Of course, no one really knew anything beyond the general speculation going around. Cardinal Angelo Scola sounds like a safe bet. Cardinal Marc Ouellet has long been talked about as a successor to Benedict and is just as often dismissed for being a Canadian (though it is still much more likely for him to become pope than anyone born on American soil). But gossip and speculation aside, who would people working toward peace and social justice want to see get the nod from the conclave? That one is easy: Cardinal Peter Turkson.

If you keep tabs on the church’s statements about justice and peace, you’ve likely heard Turkson’s name before. Turkson, from Ghana, has served as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace since being appointed by Pope Benedict in 2009. He hasn’t been afraid to speak up on important issues and has already been labelled by some as the “potential first black pope”–even long before Benedict announced his plans to step down.

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NEW YORK
Religion News Service

[with poll]

David Gibson | Feb 12, 2013

NEW YORK (RNS) Walk the streets of Manhattan, especially around St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and ask passersby about Cardinal Timothy Dolan and two things stand out: one, they know who you’re talking about, and two, they like him. Often love him.

Both responses are unusual in the U.S. today: generally, Catholic churchmen are either interchangeable faces to the public, or, if they are known, it’s because of an unflattering headline.

Now Dolan’s extraordinary visibility and popularity are being cited as factors that could make him the first American with a realistic shot at being elected pope when the College of Cardinals gathers in March to elect a successor to Benedict XVI.

But will any of the factors that make Dolan a contender actually help him with the 117 other cardinals huddled in the Sistine Chapel to vote for the pope? He is as orthodox as any of them, but he is also an American, which was always seen as a disqualifier. Yet he is head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and a player in church circles and secular politics. So maybe this time is different?

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VATICAN CITY
euronews

[with video]

When lightning struck the Vatican on the night of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation, many in Rome could not help but question whether it was a sign from on high that a storm may be brewing for the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican is facing a raft of tough, almost unprecendented, challenges include appointing a new pope while the current one is still alive and finding a role for the retired pontiff.

Euronews correspondent Alberto De Filipis reports from Rome on the uncertain atmosphere around the Vatican:

“The Holy See has made its official statement about what’s going on. Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, with visible nerves, addressed journalists. Yet, a few questions remain unanswered”.

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AUSTRALIA
Goodiwindi Argus

By Catherine Armitage
Feb. 13, 2013

THE Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, agrees the idea of his becoming the next Pope is ”fantastic”, but he means fantastic in the traditional sense of fanciful, not the modern sense of terrific.

As election of the next pope approaches, ”some of the suggestions made will be simply fantastic”, Cardinal Pell said in an interview carried on the Sydney Archdiocese website on Tuesday. ”Some of them will be made to meet local demand for a candidate that they know.

”Will you be staying in Rome or would that be fantastic?” the archdiocese’s head of communications, Katrina Lee, asked. ”Of course I will be coming home,” he said, laughing.

The Catholic theologian Paul Collins agreed. ”I don’t think George Pell has any chance of being elected,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Guyra Argus

By Barney Zwartz
Feb. 13, 2013

IT MIGHT be the world’s most exclusive election, where 120 elaborately garbed elderly men employing ancient rituals amid great ceremony set the course for a sixth of the world’s population, the 1.2 billion people who call themselves Roman Catholic.

It comes around, on average, every seven years, one of which will be 2013 thanks to the dramatic announcement by Benedict XVI on Monday that at 8pm on February 28 he will cease to be Pope.

By Easter, according to a Vatican spokesman, the 266th Pope will be installed. And this conclave offers the strongest likelihood yet that he may come from the developing world of Latin America, Asia or Africa – the first non-European Pope (if you don’t count the Roman empire).

While there are several strong candidates, known as papabile, none stands out. So, as always, lobbying, and what in Australia might be called factional deals, will be vital.

What the cardinals decide are the most urgent issues will determine their choice. At 78, Pope Benedict was not initially considered a serious candidate in 2005, but acceptance of his view that fighting secularism in Europe was a top priority – combined with some impressive performances as dean of the college of cardinals – led to his election.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic News Agency

Vatican City, Feb 12, 2013 / 02:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the conclave to elect Pope Benedict’s successor, 11 of the 117 cardinals eligible to vote in the closed-room meeting will be Americans.

The Diocese of Rome will be “sede vacante” or vacant at 8 p.m. on Feb. 28, when Pope Benedict’s resignation goes into effect. On that day, 117 cardinals will be eligible to elect the successor to the Holy See. The conclave must begin within 20 days of his date of resignation.

All cardinals below the age of 80 come to Rome to participate in the conclave. Most of these cardinal-electors – 67 of the 117 – have been appointed by Pope Benedict himself.

Once the Diocese of Rome is vacant, nearly all offices of the Roman Curia, the administrative offices governing the Church, are suspended, and will have to be reconfirmed by the next pontiff. One of the few that continues, because of its urgent nature dealing with issues of absolution and indulgences, is the Apostolic Penitentiary.

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VATICAN CITY
ABC News

By Jeffrey Kofman
@JeffreyKofman

Feb 12, 2013

VATICAN CITY–That didn’t take long. Just a day after the Pope’s stunning decision to resign there’s already a playful joke circulating here in Rome:

Question: What will they call the ex-Pope?

Answer: Ex-Benedict

In case you missed it, the answer is a cute play on the breakfast dish “Eggs Benedict.”

Kidding aside, there are a lot of unanswered questions about how the church will deal with a situation that really is without precedent. Sure, popes resigned 600 and 800 years ago, but the situations are, well, hardly parallel. The closest might be Celestine V, known as the Hermit Pope, who resigned in 1294. He had lived in total seclusion and quickly realized he was not equipped to deal with the cut and thrust of 13th Century Vatican politics.

In his resignation Monday, Benedict XVI acknowledged his own mortal shortcomings: “in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”

Standing in front of St. Peters at night, John Thavis, a veteran Vatican journalist and author of the soon-to-published “The Vatican Diaries” said it’s impossible to predict how a Pope and a former Pope will co-exist, “there is no job description for a retired Pope.”

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CALIFORNIA
ATNV

[with video]

By Stephanie Kayser and Sean Patrick Lewis

Monday, February 11, 2013

Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday that he will be stepping down from his position on February 28.

Citing his age and diminishing strength as the reason for his resignation, he will be the first pope to step down in nearly 600 years.

“In today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary,” said the pope. “Strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.” …

“A new pope is only as good as the men who support him,” said Joelle Casteix, Western Regional Director for The Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, “and we believe that anyone that Cardinal Mahony would elect as pope would be someone who would continue the cover-up of child sexual abuse.”

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

At what moment will Pope Benedict XVI lose his infallibility and his soverign immunity? Apparently, on February 28 when he formally resigns. Perhaps, the historically unsupportable claims of papal infallibility will cease soon. As to the lack of legal immunity, since Joseph Ratzinger can be sued and prosecuted after February 28, he apparently will follow Cardinal Law’s lead and stay safely on papal grounds evading subpoenas.

Ratzinger’s new Vatican quarters have been undergoing renovation apparently as his retirement base reportedly since the last nuns were removed in November. The editor of the forthcoming complete edition of his works, Archbishop Mueller, is now on site as chief Inquisitor at the CDF. Cardinal Law’s ex-aide is in as chief prosecutor. His handsome aide was just made a Bishop. The Pope is ready. He can now focus on his last written effort to push his narrow views, on his music and on dealing with prosecutors’ requests. He has Cardinal Sodano and their subservient Cardinals on site to continue to cover-up the sex abuse and financial scandals until they install their hand-picked and subservient successor, God forbid. Why didn’t Ratzinger think of this five years ago?

If you took a time capsule ride back to 1787 Versailles, you would be struck by the ruthless and unaccountable style of the French King. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic James Madison was drafting a Constitution that prohibited kings and provided for accountable and term-limited rulers who could be impeached for cause by elected representatives. By 1918, the idea of accountability had swept through Europe, except in Vatican City where an absolute monarchy still is the rule with a self perpetuating papal clique that can lock up a butler in a closet-sized room for months without real due process. Unless the imperial coercive structure is changed back to the Catholic consensual structure Jesus and his first disciples left behind, it matters little who is Pope. The insightful butler clearly understood this. …

We all have a moral obligation to protect children and signing a petition is a simple, yet potentially effective, way towards meeting that obligation. Please take a minute and sign it at:

[Click here for the petition.]

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOX

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – Local clergy abuse survivors have some thoughts on what they would like to see in the next Pope.

First, David Clohessy with the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) says he would like to see the next Pope order bishops worldwide to post the names of credibly-accused priests on their websites.

“We’d like to see the Pope take very clear and harsh disciplines, even against a handful of the hundreds of bishops across the globe who continue to conceal child sex crimes,” he said.

“At the risk of sounding harsh, this Pope has offered some nice words and nice gestures about the abuse crisis but virtually no meaningful action that protects children.”

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
NPR

[with audio]

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest in the U.S. and Latinos make up a majority of its parishioners. Latino Catholics there are hopeful a new papacy will bring an end to the child sex-abuse scandals that have rocked the archdiocese.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The Pope’s departure comes as the largest Catholic diocese in the United States is struggling with recent revelations from newly released records about sexual abuse by priests. Now, the man in the middle of that scandal, Cardinal Roger Mahoney, will be among the cardinals who elect a successor to Pope Benedict. Latinos make up 70 percent of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. NPR’s Shereen Marisol Meraji reports on their reaction to the pope’s resignation.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS RINGING)

SHEREEN MARISOL MERAJI, BYLINE: The church of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles was here nearly 200 years ago, when this was Mexico. And it’s still mostly Latinos who go there.

SOCORRO HERNANDEZ: (Spanish spoken)

MERAJI: Socorro Hernandez was there praying with her friend, Elisabet Maldonado. She says, in her opinion, the church shouldn’t choose popes who are on in years.

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UNITED STATES
The Guardian

Karen McVeigh in New York
guardian.co.uk, Monday 11 February 2013

Victims of the child sex abuse crisis that has engulfed the Catholic church during Pope Benedict’s tenure welcomed his unexpected resignation on Monday, amid speculation over what prompted his departure.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap), an organisation of 12,000 members worldwide, claim Benedict is personally responsible for widespread abuse within the church because he chose to protect its reputation over the safety of children. US lawyers who are currently suing the pontiff and other high-ranking Holy See officials for systematically concealing sexual crimes around the world, said his resignation may lead to more international prosecutions.

David Clohessy, executive director of Snap, condemned the pope’s “terrible record” on child sex abuse and said he hoped he would “finally show some courageous leadership on the abuse crisis” in his remaining days.

Clohessy told the Guardian: “Before he became pope his predecessor put him in charge of the abuse crisis. He has read thousands of pages of reports of the abuse cases from across the world. He knows more about clergy sex crimes and cover-ups than anyone else in the church yet he has done precious little to protect children.”

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

By Gustavo Arellano
Tue., Feb. 12 2013

I have long admired the work of Mark Pinsky, the longtime religion reporter for the Orlando Sentinel and author of the best-selling The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of America’s Most Animated Family, a fabulous book that makes its points in a way that leaves you knowing Pinsky knows his Jesus from Jeebus. Guy’s a rock star, so imagine my shock years ago when first digging into the Eleuterio Ramos sex-abuse scandal and discovering that the first person to ever write about the Diocese of Orange’s worst-ever pedophile priest was none other than Pinsky.

His articles appeared in the Los Angeles Times in 1993. Twenty years later, I finally had the chance to talk to Pinsky about them.

I got in contact with Pinsky through author Daniel A. Olivas, who wrote about his own Ramos encounter for The New York Times recently. Pinsky reached out to Olivas to congratulate him on the touching essay, and Olivas forwarded me Pinsky’s contact info.

In an email, Pinsky remembered well the trial–Ramos, his ultimate protector Michael Driscoll (now the Bishop of Boise), the incredulity of the church’s defense. But what he remembers the most was a note that former Orange Bishop Norman McFarland wrote to the Times after Pinsky’s piece appeared, calling it “predatory” reporting. Pinsky and his editors found the note so amusing they pinned it to the wall of the Times’ Orange County bureau.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

Die deutschen Bischöfe stehen nach dem Scheitern des Forschungsprojekts zum Missbrauchsskandal massiv in der Kritik. Der Präsident des Kinderschutzbundes wirft der katholischen Kirche vor, sich dem Thema nicht mehr stellen zu wollen.

Hamburg – Der Präsident des Kinderschutzbunds, Heinz Hilgers, hat der katholischen Kirche nach dem Stopp des Forschungsprojekts über Kindesmissbrauch den Willen zur Aufklärung abgesprochen. “Ich habe den Verdacht, dass starke Kräfte in der katholischen Kirche jetzt nach der Methode Vergessen-und-Vergeben arbeiten”, sagte Hilgers der “Saarbrücker Zeitung”. “Es gibt derzeit keine Missbrauchsskandale, über die öffentlich berichtet wird, und deshalb glaubt man in Kirchenkreisen jetzt offenbar, den Mantel des Schweigens darüber hängen zu können.”

Die wissenschaftliche Aufarbeitung des Missbrauchsskandals ist nach einem Zerwürfnis zwischen der Kirche und dem Kriminologischen Forschungsinstitut Niedersachsen vorerst gescheitert. Der Leiter des Instituts, Christian Pfeiffer, will das Forschungsprojekt trotzdem fortsetzen – auch ohne Unterstützung der Bischöfe. Die wiederum suchen nun nach einem neuen Projektpartner.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Brennpunkt Ortenau

Anfang des Jahres kündigte die katholische Kirche den Vertrag mit dem Kriminologischen Institut Niedersachsen, das den Missbrauchsskandal in Deutschland wissenschaftlich untersuchen sollte. Die Erzdiözese Freiburg hat eine eigene Untersuchung in Auftrag gegeben. Wird sie tatsächlich alle Fälle von sexuellem Missbrauch in der Ortenau offenlegen?

„Gott schütze unser Tal“ steht unter dem Christuskreuz an der Dorfstraße in Oberharmersbach. Von 1967 bis 1992 hätte es eigentlich heißen müssen: „Gott schütze uns vor unserem Pfarrer.“ Denn was sich in dieser Zeit in dem kleinen Kurort abgespielt hat, erinnert mehr an einen Hollywood-Thriller als an die Realität. Pfarrer Bühler, der damalige Seelsorger der Gemeinde, hat während seiner gesamten Zeit in Oberharmesbach systematisch Ministranten und andere Jugendliche missbraucht. Schätzungen gehen von 100 bis 150 Opfern aus. „Mehrere Generationen von jungen Männern sind davon betroffen“, erzählt der Oberharmersbacher Raphael Hildebrandt. Auch ihn vergewaltigte der Pfarrer immer wieder. „Insgesamt waren es so 400 mal“, schätzt er. „Aber heute weiß ich: Ich hatte noch Glück. Andere sind doppelt so oft von ihm missbraucht worden.“

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UNITED STATES
Democracy Now!

Speculation is mounting over who will become the next pope after Pope Benedict XVI shocked the Catholic Church on Monday when he became the first pontiff to resign in almost 600 years. Benedict’s resignation comes as the Catholic Church is facing scrutiny over its handling of the widening priest sexual abuse scandal and its crackdown on liberal nuns. We’re joined by Barbara Blaine of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and Sister Simone Campbell of the Catholic social justice group NETWORK, which was heavily criticized by the Vatican last year. [includes rush transcript]

Guests:

Barbara Blaine, president and founder of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice group.

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CALIFORNIA
News 10

[with video]

Dave Marquis

El DORADO HILLS, Calif. – Teresa Rosson claims she faced abuse by her parish priest that might have stopped years sooner had then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger acted earlier.

“He’d tell you scary stories, you know, so he could touch you,” recalled Rosson, who said her parish priest, Fr. Stephen Kiesle, began sexually abusing her at age 11 in 1972.

“He would touch my thigh, move his hand up,” Rosson said of the abuse, which she claims began when Kiesle started a relationship with her mother.

In 1981, Oakland Bishop John Cummins wrote several letters to Rome asking that Father Stephen Kiesle be tossed out of the priesthood over allegations of sexual abuse of both boys and girls.

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UNITED STATES
Joey Piscitelli

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Joey Piscitelli

Pope Benedict XVI , aka Joseph Ratzinger, announced on February 11th that he would be resigning early as the leader of over a billion Catholics worldwide. The reason for the surprising decision by the pontiff was due to “deterioration, and incapacity”, and “advanced age”, as stated by the Vatican spokesperson in a public announcement.

It has been 600 years since the last resignation of a pope was announced. Some skeptics however, view the unusual move as the result of a culmination of assorted causes of “deterioration”. The Pope and the Vatican have been steeped in numerous scandals ranging from widespread sex abuse scandals and coverups, to money laundering.

Some of the scandals that are suspected of having high impact that have contributed to the deterioration of the empire under Ratzinger are notable, many of them recent. Among them:

– The release of the film Mea Maxima Culpa on HBO Feb 4th , 2013 which documents the involvement of Cardinal Ratzinger, ( Pope Benedict) – who is accused of coverups, and failure to remove sex abuser Father Murphy of Milwaukee School for the Deaf. Fr. Murphy molested and raped 200 pupils over a 24 year period. The Pope was the head of the Vatican Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith at the time, which is the office that is responsible for removing abusive clergy. Ratzinger is accused of hierarchy complicity in several dozen sex abuse cases, whereas the Pontiff himself failed to remove the predator.

– The release of 12,000 internal file documents from the Los Angeles Diocese sex abuse scandal on January 31, 2013. The Catholic Church had fought having to release the files for six years. Thirty thousand files were supposed to be released as part of a settlement agreement with abuse victims 6 years ago, and many of the files – which implicate Bishops and Cardinals and hierarchy figures, have still not been released. Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles, has been implicated in numerous clergy abuse transfers and coverups, many of them while under the jurisdiction of Ratzinger.

– In January 2013, the Italian treasury froze privileges for the Vatican to use Italian banking services because of the breach of money laundering regulations. The Pope hired Swiss money laundering expert Rene Brulhart to help the Vatican with the scandal.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by Cindy Wooden,Catholic News Service | Feb. 12, 2013

Vatican City —
The Vatican monastery where Pope Benedict XVI intends to live began its life as the Vatican gardener’s house, but was established as a cloistered convent by Blessed John Paul II in 1994.

When Pope Benedict, 85, announced Monday that his age and declining energies prompted his decision to resign effective Feb. 28, the Vatican said he would move out to the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo while remodeling work was completed on the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens.

Pope Benedict said it was his intention to “devotedly serve the holy church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.”

Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters Tuesday he did not know when the remodeling work would be finished and Pope Benedict could move in. He said, however, that because the monastery is small, the pope would be joined by a small staff, but another community of cloistered sisters would not be moving in.

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VATICAN CITY
The Huffington Post

By Cavan Sieczkowski Posted: 02/12/2013

Was it just Mother Nature or a sign from God?

Lightning appeared to strike St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on Monday just hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, according to the BBC. The lightning strike happened around 6 p.m. local time.

Global news agency Agence France-Presse was the first to publish the startling photo of a lightning bolt coming out of the heavens and appearing to strike the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, one of Catholicism’s holiest sites.

AFP photographer Filippo Monteforte caught the amazing photograph on Monday evening during a storm. “It was icy cold and the rain was falling in sheets,” he told AFP. “When the storm started, I thought that lightning might strike the rod, so I decided it was worth seeing whether – if it DID strike – I could get the shot at exactly the right moment.”

He waited two hours before lightning struck twice and he captured a still image. “The first bolt was huge and lit up the sky, but unfortunately I missed it,” he told AFP. “I had better luck the second time, and was able to snap a couple of images of the dome illuminated by the bolt.”
n Post | By Cavan Sieczkowski Posted: 02/12/2013

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VATICAN CITY
WCAI

By Mark Memmott

On this morning after the surprise announcement that Pope Benedict XVI is resigning at the end of the month, NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli looks at the numbers and concludes it’s more than likely the next pope will be a European, just like nearly all the others.

Why?

As Sylvia told Morning Edition guest host Linda Wertheimer:

— 117 cardinals are eligible to vote at the upcoming conclave (only those under the age of 80 can take part).

— 61 are from Europe. That’s 52 percent of the votes.

— Of the 56 others: 19 are from Latin America, 14 are from North America, 11 are from Africa, 11 are from Asia and 1 is from Oceania.

What’s more, the cardinals who will choose the next pope are all in their positions thanks to the German-born Benedict and his predecessor, Polish-born Pope John Paul II. It’s hard to imagine those cardinals choosing “someone who would really veer” from those popes’ views of the world and the church, Sylvia said.

Put the numbers and the cardinals’ makeup together and, Sylvia concludes, “it will probably be a European.” Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola, 71, is a leading contender.

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IRELAND
The Journal

SAINT MALACHY is not the most high-profile of saints – but the oncoming vacancy in the office of pope has thrust him back into the limelight.

Malachy is the supposed author of the ‘Prophecy of the Popes’ – a list allegedly written in 1139, but ‘rediscovered’ in 1590 – which claims to have predicted the identities (or at least attributes) of each pope between the time of its writing and the end of the Church.

While its authenticity is not affirmed by the Church itself, and while it is impossible to know whether the list was written retrospectively before it was first published in 1595, it appears to have been successful in some ways – though of course its predictions are suitably vague so as to apply to most cases anyway.

The argument that the list is a hoax gathers further weight with the fact that for each of the popes mentioned before 1590, it describes something historical about their upbringing or background – but only makes vague references to events in subsequent pontificates.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

Abuse Survivors and Their Allies Remember Benedict’s Legacy: “Failed to Achieve,” “Words Rang Hollow,” “Never Once Contacted, Spoke To, or Apologized,” “Did Not Do Enough”

William D. Lindsey

And it’s not merely LGBT Catholics and their allies (I’m referring to my previous posting) who see Benedict’s legacy in decidedly more sober terms than do the leading luminaries who dominate the discourse at the center of the Catholic conversation: the same is true for Catholics who have survived childhood sexual abuse by clerics, and those who stand in solidarity with abuse survivors. Here’s a selection of statements from this group of important commentators:

Kristine Ward of National Survivor Advocates Coalition:

Pope Benedict made a sensible decision. It is evidence the papacy and the Church can change.

Let’s hope it is a signal of strength for the next pope to take the steps that the Church needs.

The Church is in bad shape and needs the tremendous power of the papacy to be used courageously and forcefully for good – starting with the sexual abuse crisis, the largest crisis the Church has faced in 500 years. . . .

And:

Pope Benedict should bar Cardinal Roger Mahony from entering the conclave. The Los Angeles documents are evidence enough that this high honor of voting for the next Pope should be withdrawn from him. There should be an empty chair to mark Mahony’s spot.

And:

The next pope should end corruption in the Church starting with a papal balcony announcement of the removal of criminally convicted Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Anne Barrett Doyle of Bishop Accountability:

Joseph Ratzinger leaves the papacy having failed to achieve what should have been his job one: to rectify the incalculable harm done to the hundreds of thousands of children sexually abused by Catholic priests. He leaves hundreds of culpable bishops in power and a culture of secrecy intact. . . .

Benedict’s words rang hollow. He spoke as a shocked bystander, as if he had just stumbled upon the abuse crisis. But more than anyone in the Vatican, he knew about the damage done to innocent children. As archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Ratzinger had allowed the transfer of accused priest Rev. Peter Hullermann, and certainly managed many other abuse cases as well. Since 1981, when he was named head of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith (CDF), he had been at the center of the Vatican’s abuse bureaucracy, reviewing many files and, unfortunately, implementing Pope John Paul II’s policy of not laicizing abusive priests. In Spring 2001, the Pope gave Cardinal Ratzinger and the CDF sole responsibility for abuse cases, and in that role, Cardinal Ratzinger read hundreds of files and became the Vatican’s most knowledgeable and powerful person on this issue.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Feb. 12, 2013

Rome —
When you’re talking about a church with more than 2,000 years of history, you don’t get a chance to use terms such as “uncharted waters” very often, but that’s precisely where Catholicism finds itself in the wake of Benedict XVI’s bombshell announcement that he plans to resign Feb. 28.

At the moment, the list of unknowns about what it all means is considerably longer than the certainties. During a Vatican briefing Tuesday, reporters amused themselves by compiling a list of all the times the spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, replied to questions with some version of “I don’t have precise information on that.” They included:
• Exactly when will Benedict XVI depart for Castel Gandolfo after the formal end of his papacy at 8 p.m. Rome time Feb. 28, and when exactly will he return to move into a former monastery on Vatican grounds?
• What will happen to symbols of Benedict’s papacy, such as papal ring and seal?
• Will Benedict take part in the public ceremonies of his successor, such as the installation Mass of the new pope?
• What will Benedict’s title be after he steps down?
• Who exactly will move in with Benedict to run his household and act as aides?

Lombardi was charmingly frank in conceding that this is a “new situation” and it’s not always “immediately obvious” how things will play out.

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IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests

Approximately 75 people attended the ACI meeting in Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow, on Wednesday the 6th February. The meeting was held in the Lord Bagenal Hotel and was organised by local man, Pascal O’Dea, from Bagenalstown. …

At the end of the ‘break out’ session the appointed rapporteur from each group summarised the views of the group members. The following are the key issues identified.

The church is seen to be in crisis following the revelations contained in the Murphy and Ryan Reports and the subsequent diocesan reports on the clerical sex abuse scandals. Despite the passage of time there is still anger and disbelief at the way some senior church leaders in Ireland, and elsewhere, placed the reputation of the institutional church above the well-being of victims.

A clear ‘disconnect’ was identified between the local church at parish level and what is seen as the institutional church at diocesan and national level, not to mention at the level of the Vatican. People expressed general satisfaction with the way the church operated at local level but highlighted the absence of leadership from those in positions of authority in the church in our country.

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IRELAND/AUSTRALIA
Association of Catholic Priests

The new executive of the National Council of Priests of Australia (NCP) met in Geelong, Victoria, 4 – 7 February 2013. Among the many issues discussed, two prominent matters were considered.

The following is a statement from the executive on these issues.

Statement by NCP concerning the establishment of a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The National Council of Priests of Australia (NCP) welcomes the Federal Government initiative of a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to address both individual and systemic abuse in this critical area. We hope the investigation of the Royal Commission will endeavour to face honestly and openly the pain and trauma experienced by those who have been abused, particularly within the Catholic Church.

As an organisation which represents a significant number of Catholic priests across Australia we wish to express our deep regret and shame at the abhorrent offences committed by some of our brothers and the subsequent mishandling and cover ups that occurred in some instances of abuse by people in authority within the Church.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Cardinal Roger Mahony Blogs LA

It is interesting that the preliminary speculation about who might be elected by the College of Cardinals to succeed Pope Benedict XVI seem to follow a “secular election mentality.” The American media, in particular, are viewing this opportunity in the Church from the perspective of American political elections. Wrong.

That is, the speculation is upon geopolitical, demographic, and even “power” propositions.

Fortunately, the election of the Successor to St. Peter is in the power of the Holy Spirit, not earthly electoral pundits.

I recall so vividly in 2005 participating in the Conclave which elected Pope Benedict XVI. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit were palpable. There was no secular voice or influence. It was incredible.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 11 February 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father appointed Msgr. Robert J. Coyle as as military ordinary for the United States of America, assigning him the titular see of Zabi. The bishop-elect was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1964 and was ordained a priest in 1991. He has served in several pastoral roles, currently as pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Mineola, New York. He was a military chaplain from 1991 to 1999, when he was named to Corpus Christi Parish, but has remained a reservist chaplain and has achieved the level of commander.

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UNITED STATES
WUSA

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) — Nearly 80 million Americans still call themselves Catholic, but their numbers have been dwindling.

And among American Catholics, some are proud of Pope Benedict’s decision to resign…. and others are furious that he’s failed to do more to deal with child sex abuse by priests.

The resignation was a shock to the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl. “It’s very startling. Totally unprepared for it.”

Cardinal Wuerl had just been with the Pope in October, and he says he saw no sign Benedict was struggling with his duties. “There was no doubt he was in full possession of his faculties.”

Cardinal Wuerl will be part of the conclave that will select the next Pope… and he says he will be looking for continuity with the conservative teachings of Benedict and John Paul. “There is a basic doctrine that is the bedrock of Catholic faith.”

But many American Catholics are pushing for a change. “The last thing we want is continuity,” says David Lorenz of Bowie, who was abused by the priest and guidance councilor at his Catholic High School. Lorenz was sodomized at a sleepover when he was just 16.

Lorenz says Pope Benedict has offered comforting words, but that he’s failed to punish bishops for hiding abusive priest and covering up the sexual abuse of children that is tearing the church apart. “This Pope has done nothing…. This thing is going to haunt them for a thousand years until they stand up and confront it and come clean.”

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on February 12, 2013

Among the papal candidates, we are most worried about Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez of Honduras, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the USA.

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras

He has accused much of the U.S. media of being anti-Catholic and claimed that the major networks and newspapers “made themselves protagonists of what I do not hesitate to define as a persecution of the church.”

He also opposed proposals that local bishops turn all allegations of clerical sexual abuse over to civil authorities for investigation and possible prosecution.

“I would be willing to go to jail before harming one of my priests — I am not a policeman,” he said. “I am a priest, a bishop.”

[BishopAccountabity.org]

Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, Mexico City

He has blamed the media for “attacks on the church” in regards to over-reporting on sex abuse claims.

http://www.natcath.org/crisis/071902g.htm

In that same interview, he claimed that there are no “documented” cases of abuse against minors in Mexico.

He also repeatedly minimized and concealed the widely reported multiple child sex abuse allegations involving Fr. Nicholas Aguilar Rivera who is from Mexico, worked in the Los Angeles archdiocese and whose current whereabouts are unknown.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the USA

Our concerns about this savvy but reckless prelate are detailed here:

[SNAP]

It’s important to keep in mind that we are a support group, not a research organization. We don’t claim to have any “inside information” about the papal candidates or selection process.

What we do have is a burning desire to safeguard innocent children and vulnerable adults in the church, and to do whatever we possibly can to protect others. And we have 25 years of experience in watching and dealing with Catholic officials in child sex abuse and cover up cases across the globe.

So we acknowledge that we know almost nothing about how these papal candidates have dealt with clergy sex crimes and cover ups: Cardinal Peter Turkson, Cardinal Peter Erd, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri.

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MASSACHUSETTS
WBUR

By Monica Brady-Myerov February 12, 2013

BOSTON — Following Pope Benedict XVI’s surprise announcement that he’s resigning at the end of the month, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who was traveling on Monday, released a statement saying that it is time to reflect on the pope’s legacy and achievements.

Many in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston reacted positively to Benedict’s decision, but there was some skepticism among victims of clergy sexual abuse about why a pope — for the first time in nearly six centuries — is resigning. …

A leading member of the victims community, Bernie McDaid, of Salem, was the first to speak with the pope. McDaid said Benedict’s departure is a relief to him.

“I hate to say it this way, but I will — one down and many more to go,” McDaid said. “Anybody culpable for this problem with children needs to step down.”

McDaid said he’s spoken to many other abuse victims who feel the same way. BishopAccountability.org, the website that tracks priest abuse and the coverup all the way to the Vatican, thinks there’s more to the story.

“It’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many more revelations to come,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, the co-founder of BishopAccountability.org. “I think it’s very possible that he knows of something on the horizon that finally was the tipping point and just caused him to resign.”

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ROME
Reuters

6:05 a.m. CST, February 12, 2013

By James Mackenzie

ROME, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Pope Benedict leaves office having failed to stamp out the sexual abuse of children by priests and with the culture of secrecy that fostered the scandal still in place, groups representing some of the victims said on Monday.

Bishops Accountability, a U.S. pressure group, said the pope had apologised frequently for the harm done by priests but had never taken effective action to rectify the “incalculable harm” done to hundreds of thousands of children by predatory clergy.

“Benedict’s words rang hollow. He spoke as a shocked bystander, as if he had just stumbled upon the abuse crisis,” Anne Barrett Doyle, the group’s co-director said in a statement.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Kristine Ward | Feb. 12, 2013 Examining the Crisis

Pope Benedict made a sensible decision. It is evidence the papacy and the Church can change.

Let’s hope it is a signal of strength for the next pope to take the steps that the Church needs.

The Church is in bad shape and needs the tremendous power of the papacy to be used courageously and forcefully for good – starting with the sexual abuse crisis, the largest crisis the Church has faced in 500 years.

Pope Benedict, by being in the unique position of being alive, and with his considerable political skills that were in evidence before and during the last conclave will have influence over the coming conclave and, it can be reasonably expected, into the next papacy.

Pope Benedict should bar Cardinal Roger Mahony from entering the conclave. The Los Angeles documents are evidence enough that this high honor of voting for the next Pope should be withdrawn from him. There should be an empty chair to mark Mahony’s spot.

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VATICAN CITY
Global Post

Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation on February 28 will leave his successor a formidable to-do list as the head of a Roman Catholic Church hit hard by sex abuse and money laundering scandals, internal bickering and growing secularism in Europe.

Here is a list of key issues facing the future pope:

— SEX ABUSE: After sordid revelations of child abuse by priests erupted in Europe and the United States, Benedict apologised for the Church’s role in turning a blind eye and protecting abusers, but campaigners say not enough has been done to bring suspects before the law. The revelations appear to be far from over: the latest case saw a Los Angeles bishop stripped of his office last month after being linked to an abuse cover-up.

— VATICAN MONEY LAUNDERING: Plagued by a dark history of murky financial dealings and accusations of mafia ties, the Vatican bank has promised to step up efforts against money laundering. Despite insisting it wants to make it on to the White List of financially virtuous states, moves to increase transparency have been plodding. The head of the bank was sacked in May last year — according to some because he was too zealous at sniffing out suspicious deals — and his successor has still not been named.

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MICHIGAN
WLNS

It may never be known whether Pope Benedict’s resignation had anything to do with increasing cases of child sexual abuse within the clergy.

Nick Perreault spoke to a victim who says he was abused by a priest in the 50’s he believes the resignation is coincidental, but hopes the it will bring a change to the church.

“The era of cover up and conspiracy in the Catholic church has to end,” said Greg Guggemos.

It’s something Greg Guggemos says he unfortunately witnessed first hand.

In 2010 he received a settlement from the Diocese of Lansing after he alleged that Monsignor John Slowey assaulted him in the 50’s, while he was living at the St. Vincent orphanage.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY

Published: February 11, 2013

POPE BENEDICT XVI quit. Good. He was utterly bereft of charm, tone-deaf and a protector of priests who abused children. He’d been a member of the Hitler Youth. In addition to this woeful résumé, he had no use for women.

The Roman Catholic Church, which in so many ways has been a great boon to the City of New York, has been choked and bludgeoned into insignificance by a small group of men based in Italy.

Priests cannot marry. Why? I will tell you why. Priests cannot marry because they would have to marry women. Women cannot be priests.

Why? Women cannot become priests because of a bunch of old men. These old men justify their beliefs with a brace of ridiculous arguments that Jesus would have overturned in a minute. “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” What about that is hard to understand? If you can become a priest, I can become a priest. Period. Equality.

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AUSTRALIA
Hobsons Bay Weekly

By GOYA DMYTRYSHCHAK
Feb. 12, 2013

HOBSONS Bay councillors are expected to defy a council officers’ report that recommends not changing the name of a street named after a paedophile Catholic priest because there’s insufficient support.

A report prepared for last night’s council meeting recommended against changing the name of Rubeo Avenue in Altona Meadows.

As reported exclusively in the Weekly on November 28, a mother and daughter petitioned for a change.

Point Cook woman Christine Dunsmore and her mother Jen Austin, of Altona North, believe their former family priest Victor Rubeo “shouldn’t be revered in any way, shape or form”.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Sacramento

[with video]

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – After Pope Benedict’s stunning announcement Monday that he was retiring as the head of the Roman Catholic Church, many are wondering how the change in leadership will affect the priest sex abuse scandal.

CBS13′s Laura Cole talked with one victim in Sacramento on Monday.

“It’s difficult,” Chico Chavez said. “You kind of become a bystander of life and not really a participant.”

Chavez, who was sexually molested by a Sacramento priest as a child, believes there’s more to Pope Benedict’s decision to resign than just health reasons.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
CBS Los Angeles

[with video]

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — With a large hat covering his face – and the passage of time covering his secrets – former priest Joseph Pina wasn’t talking.

“Mr. Pina, did you tell LAUSD about your past?” asked CBS2 Investigative Reporter David Goldstein.

“I have no comment,” Pina replied.

“Did you think you had to tell LAUSD about your past?” Goldstein asked.

“No comment right now,” replied Pina.

Goldstein caught up with Pina just after the Archodiocese released his formerly secret files in which he admitted to a psychologist that he fell in love with a 13-year-old girl in the late 80s.

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UNITED STATES
Minnesota SNAP

Vinnie Nauheimer

What if you had the ability to undo egregious wrongs that affected hundreds of thousands of people worldwide would you, could you do it? What if there was only a sixteen day window for you to act? Would you find the time? Pope Benedict XVI, you have just sixteen days to perform this wondrous task. You’ve heard all about the crimes. You’ve heard the pleas of survivors; they have haunted you since before you took the office of pope. They will haunt your legacy for eternity too if you pay no heed to this request. I’m begging you on behalf of survivors of clergy abuse and their families all around the world, set them free, hear the pleas, hear their suffering, take to heart their pain and publicize the global clergy abuse files regardless of the rank of the offending priest. Only you can alleviate the endless suffering of victims and their families by giving their suffering validity and naming their tormentors!

Whether you wanted it or not, God gave you the opportunity to change the church and put an end to the worldwide sexual abuse of children by priests and bishops. God has given you two opportunities, one as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the second as Pope Benedict XVI to clean up this evil mess festering within His church. In both instances, you have not been up to the task. Now with just days left before the voluntary end of your papacy, you have yet a third chance. We implore you, to summon the courage before God and man to do what you swore to do in assuming your position as a priest, protect the flock.

A man of your intelligence knows beyond a shadow of a doubt about how the sexual abuse of children corrupts, has corrupted and has thrown the Catholic Church and your papacy into a tailspin. Now is the time to resurrect the church as a parting gift to the victims, the future of the church and to Jesus Christ who founded this church. It is your last chance to rectify the wrongs.

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UNITED STATES
Religion Dispatches

By Elizabeth Drescher

In the wake of Benedict’s sudden announcement of his early retirement, Catholic luminaries from Cardinal Timothy Dolan to James Martin, SJ have already begun, as is the custom when a papal career ends, to lionize the leader of the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.

But on the margins of the Catholic Church, the legacy Benedict began shaping in 1980 as Cardinal Ratzinger, when he was named as Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faithful (the office formerly known as the Inquisition), and which he solidified during a mere eight years as Bishop of Rome is seen as something far more complex and troubling. …

Joelle Casteix, Western Region Director for SNAP, which advocates on behalf of some 20,000 survivors and allies of those abused by Roman Catholic priests, likewise sees the action of laypeople as critical to any meaningful change in the Roman Catholic Church. “The only way that we can have influence,” she says, “is if Catholics sitting in the pews demand change. It’s time for the Catholic laity stand up and demand that the church truly embody the teachings of Jesus Christ in protecting children.” She sees that as unlikely to happen between now and when the College of Cardinals meets in March to elect a new pope, especially in a Church that “evolves in geological time.”

Pope Benedict, Casteix says, “offered empty promises and apologies” about the abuse scandal “as a PR move” while at the same time “portraying victims as enemies of the Church.” This, she says, has continued to “ensure the marginalization of abuse victims within the Church” even as civil authorities have moved more decisively to extract a measure of justice from abusive priests and the Church leaders who often enabled them to continue as abusers and actively covered up the Church’s protection of them.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Reuters

(Reuters) – A former Los Angeles Catholic archbishop who was stripped of all public duties after being linked to efforts to conceal child sex abuse by priests said on Monday he planned to participate in the process to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

The announcement by Cardinal Roger Mahony, which angered a prominent victims support group, came less than two weeks after 12,000 pages of church files unsealed under court order showed Mahony worked to send priests accused of abuse out of state to shield known abusers from law enforcement scrutiny in the 1980s.

“I look forward to traveling to Rome soon to help thank Pope Benedict XVI for his gifted service to the Church, and to participate in the Conclave to elect his successor,” Mahoney, 76, said in a statement released on Monday by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. …

Joelle Casteix, western regional director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said she was concerned that it was not in Mahony’s best interest to “elect anyone who will punish wrongdoers and take child molesters out of ministry.

“We fear that anyone that he votes for will only continue this shameful cover-up of child sexual abuse,” she added.

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NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand

Pope Benedict XVI is to step down at the end of February as head of the Catholic Church, saying he is no longer strong enough to fulfil his duties.

The 85-year-old German-born pontiff made the announcement in Latin in a speech in the Apostolic Palace on Monday that he is resigning as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics after nearly eight years. …

Sex abuse victims welcome resignation

Survivors of sexual abuse say Pope Benedict XVI has done nothing to punish paedophile priests or church seniors who looked the other way.

In the United States, a group representing 12,000 people who say they have been abused by priests is describing his legacy as one of shame. The survivors’ network, known as SNAP, has members worldwide.

Joelle Casteix, an American spokesperson, told Radio New Zealand’s Checkpoint programme on Tuesday her first reaction to the news of the Pope’s resignation was one of shock, but now she sees that it makes sense.

“The past five years there have been child sex abuse inquiries against the Catholic Church across the globe. The sex abuse scandal has reached every level of the Catholic Church and his health has declined.

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CALIFORNIA
LA Daily News

By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer
dailybreeze.com
Posted: 02/11/2013

At churches, schools, offices and across social media, Pope Benedict XVI’s historic announcement that he’s resigning triggered a wave of surprise, a flurry of tributes, and speculation about how the Catholic Church will evolve under his successor.

Worshippers expressed astonishment at the news they’d heard when they awakened for morning Mass, and priests quickly tucked a reference to Pope Benedict into their sermons.

Leaders at the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the nation’s largest, scrambled to react to the pope’s statement that he will step down Feb. 28 because of failing health.

Archbishop Jose Gomez quickly posted a statement on his Facebook page, expressing affection for the 85-year-old pope and describing him as “one of the wisest persons in our world today.” …

Joelle Casteix, western regional director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said her group was upset with Pope Benedict’s resignation because they believe he will not be held accountable for the cover up of sex abuse by members of the clergy.

And while she feels that the College of Cardinals will act to protect it own, she still holds out hope for victims of sex abuse.

“I hope there will finally be that man of action who will punish wrongdoers and who will ensure that molesters are turned over to civil authorities.

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UNITED STATES
Current – The Young Turks

Sexual assault survivor on Pope Benedict’s resignation: ‘He’s resigning without having done what he needs to have done’

Cenk talks to Peter Isely, a founding member of the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), about the surprising resignation of Pope Benedict and his legacy. “The point about Benedict resigning is that he’s resigning without having done what he needs to have done as Pope,” Isely says, referring to the continuing child abuse scandals and coverups within the Catholic Church. Isely continues his point, laying out direction for the papal sucessor. “The first day he comes into office, [he needs to] sign a decree…that any priest that has sexually assaulted or harmed a child is going to be immediately removed from the priesthood.”

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The Guardian (United Kingdom)

Ian Traynor in Brussels, Karen McVeigh in New York and Henry McDonald in Dublin
guardian.co.uk, Monday 11 February 2013

For the legions of people whose childhoods and adult lives were wrecked by sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the Roman Catholic clergy, Pope Benedict XVI is an unloved pontiff who will not be missed.

Victims of the epidemic of sex- and child-abuse scandals that erupted under Benedict’s papacy reacted bitterly to his resignation, either charging the outgoing pontiff with being directly complicit in a criminal conspiracy to cover up the thousands of paedophilia cases that have come to light over the past three years, or with failing to stand up to reactionary elements in the church resolved to keep the scandals under wraps.

From Benedict’s native Germany to the USA, abuse victims and campaigners criticised an eight-year papacy that struggled to cope with the flood of disclosures of crimes and abuse rampant for decades within the church. Matthias Katsch, of the NetworkB group of German clerical-abuse victims, said: “The rule of law is more important than a new pope.”

Norbert Denef, 64, from the Baltic coast of north Germany, was abused as a boy by his local priest for six years. In 2003, Denef took his case to the bishop of Magdeburg. He was offered €25,000 (then £17,000) in return for a signed pledge of silence about what he suffered as a six-year-old boy. He then raised the issue with the Vatican and received a letter that said Pope John Paul II would pray for him so that Denef could forgive his molester.

“We won’t miss this pope,” said Denef. He likened the Vatican’s treatment of the molestation disclosures to “mafia-style organised crime rings”.

That view was echoed by David Clohessy in the US, executive director of SNAP (Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests), an organisation with 12,000 members: “His record is terrible. Before he became pope, his predecessor put him in charge of the abuse crisis.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Beacon

By Patricia Rice, special to the Beacon

In an announcement that surprised even his closest associates and flummoxed the Vatican chief spokesman, Pope Benedict XVI, 85, told a gathering of cardinals that he is resigning at the end of the month. …

Acting on abuse

St. Louisan David Clohessy, the executive director of SNAP the largest network of survivors of those who have been abused by priests, is hopeful that Benedict might take some decisive action in the next week to clean the church of those priests who have abused children or those bishops who have sheltered abusive priests. He is “absolutely” sure the pope understands the issue well.

“No one more than Benedict has more knowledge about the (scandal of clerical sex abuse) and no one has more power. So we still hope that in the days remaining the pope will use some of that power, now that he is free of any political considerations and other obligations to act,” Clohessy said.

Clohessy acknowledged that this pope had long worked on the issue before he became pope and encouraged Pope John Paul II to take action in 2002 when the late pope was ailing and his physical efforts curtailed.

“Benedict talked more than Pope John Paul did about” clerical sex abuse of minors, he said. “But talking is not enough, you have to take action to protect kids. So, it is hard to give him credit for addressing the public scandal when the revelations greatly increased during his papacy.” “We hope that the he next pope will take more action to protect kids.”

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VATICAN CITY
Courthouse News Service

By JACK BOUBOUSHIAN

(CN) – Pope Benedict’s retirement plans may open him up to prosecution by the International Criminal Court for sheltering child abusers, an advocacy group said Monday.

Citing his frail health on Monday, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he will step down as pope after less than eight years in office. He is the first pope to retire in the last 600 years.

Though a surprise to many, one group that the announcement failed to rattle is the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). It announced hours later: “whether he is in office or not makes no difference, but it may lower the bar of resistance enough for justice to be served.”

“In this case, all roads really do lead to Rome,” the group said in a statement. “Not only does Pope Benedict XVI bear responsibility in his official capacity for the church-wide policy of systematic and widespread concealment and enabling of the crimes, but he bears individual responsibility in a number of cases in which he ensured that perpetrators would be shielded and protected and left in place to assault more victims.”

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UNITED STATES
Yahoo! News

By Liz Goodwin, Yahoo! News

Pope Benedict XVI, 85, will become the first pontiff to resign since the 15th century, the Vatican announced on Monday. He steps down on Feb. 28.

The pope said he was resigning because he does not have the physical strength necessary to do the job.

“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” the pope said in a statement.

The pope took the helm in 2005, just when allegations that the church covered up sexual abuse by clerics were making waves in the U.S. and Ireland. Over the pope’s next eight years on the job, sexual abuse allegations also surfaced in Germany, Norway and other European countries, and the ensuing crisis became one of the defining aspects of his tenure.

In a statement on Monday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the pope had brought a “listening heart” to victims of sexual abuse.

But some advocates and victims groups said on Monday that the pope did not turn his listening into adequate action.

David Clohessy, for one, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told Yahoo News that the pope’s record on helping those abused by clergy is “terrible.”

While he was pope, reporters uncovered Benedict XVI’s personal connection to what advocates characterize as an inadequate response to abuse by church leadership for decades. In 1980, the pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was aware of a 1980 decision to move a German priest who had molested children back into a parish after he received treatment from a psychiatrist, The New York Times reported in 2010.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KSHB

[with video]

By: Cynthia Newsome

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Pope Benedict XVI’s legacy is the subject of much debate.

Dennis Coday, managing editor of the National Catholic Reporter, has covered Benedict since he first became pope in 2005.

Coday said the high point of the pope’s career was his push to encourage faith.

“He declared this the year of faith and wanted to increase Christianity in society,” Coday explained.

But Coday said he was disappointed the pope wasn’t more transparent about priests accused of sex crimes. Many of those priests were often reassigned to other churches to avoid prosecution and embarrassment for the church.

“The Pope apologized, but he could have done more,” he added.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

Ronnie Polaneczky, Daily News Columnist
Posted: Tuesday, February 12, 2013

IF I’M EVER elected pope – a long shot for a female, nonpracticing Catholic – I would never resign from the position the way Pope Benedict XVI has done after fewer than eight years on the job.

The pontiff cites his age, faltering health and decreasing stamina as reasons for handing over his staff and crown. But if I were pope, I wouldn’t care how creaky, pooped or mentally goofy I was becoming. I’d hang on to those red slippers until my last breath.

That’s how badly I want to be infallible. …

Pedophile priests wouldn’t have been secretly moved from parish to parish like Parcheesi pieces because one of those parents would’ve said, “If we don’t do something about this now, the next kid who’s hurt might be mine.”

Pope Benedict could’ve used his nearly eight years of infallibility to open all church records to the light of day, to come clean about the extent of the cover-up and let the chips fall where they would’ve. And he’d have an easy answer to those who might’ve implicated him in the cover-up, back in the days when he was a cardinal.

“I was fallible then. And now I’m not.”

See how well this thing works?

Pope Benedict will step down on Feb. 28. That gives him 16 more days of infallibility – time in which he can act without worrying about “even the possibility of error.” I can think of no better way to use his time than to honor a request of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

In a statement released Monday, its founders called upon the pope to take meaningful action on behalf of victims of priest sex crimes.

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MINNESOTA
KARE

[with video]

Boua Xiong

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Pope Benedict’s reign started at the height of sex scandals in the Catholic church. Eight years later, as he steps down, the issue still plagues him as much as it does the victims.

“He didn’t finish his job,” Bob Schwiderski said Monday after he learned about the resignation.

Schwiderski was an altar boy for St. John’s Catholic Church in Hector more than five decades ago. It was there he said he was sexually abused repeatedly by a priest.

“I was 7-years-old the first time,” he said.

The abuse continued until he was 11. He didn’t tell anyone until he was in his 30s and only after he found out others suffered the same way he did too. Over the years, he listened to the Pope apologize and set new reporting rules, but he said that was never enough.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Telegraph

The new Pope should not condemn contraception, its former leader in England and Wales suggested today as speculation began about the future of the Church following the surprise resignation of Benedict XVI.

By John-Paul Ford Rojas
10:23AM GMT 12 Feb 2013

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said that while a radical departure from previous teaching was not likely, it would be “wise” to focus on “what’s good and what’s true” about marriage and family life instead.

He said that Catholic teaching on sexuality should steer away from saying “we condemn this, we condemn that”.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

AUSTRALIAN human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson says the Pope’s resignation could expose him to lawsuits from victims of pedophile priests.

Robertson, writing in UK newspaper the Independent, argues the Pope’s resignation is “merely expedient” as he’d become too old to cope in the job.

“It would have been both astonishing and courageous, a few years ago, had it been offered in atonement for the atrocity to which he had for 30 years turned a blind eye – the rape, buggery and molestation of tens of thousands of small boys in priestly care,” writes the author of The Case of The Pope: Vatican Accountability for Human Rights Abuse.

Robertson, based in London, argues that the Pope’s “command responsibility” goes back to 1981 when he was appointed head of the Vatican body that disciplines errant priests.

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euronews

Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned on February 11 and is expected to leave his post on February 28, will leave behind a Vatican administration mired in scandal over child sex abuse by priests. David Lorenz, who heads up a US group for victims, says the pope failed to really tackle the problem. Lorenz himself was abused by a priest working as a guidance counsellor at his school when he was 16.

Lorenz himself was abused by a priest working as a guidance counsellor at his school when he was 16. Lorenz said of the outgoing pope, “He’s apologised the Irish. He’s apologised to the United States. He’s apologised to Australia, Germany, Spain – you know, letters of apology for what’s gone on in those countries. But the fact is there’s been no action, and words without action really are emptiness.”

Looking ahead to the next pope, Lorenz said, “I’m concerned that we’ll get somebody just as poor and just as rigid on this issue as he was.” Cardinal Roger Mahony, the former Archbishop of Los Angeles, was stripped of his public duties after being linked to efforts to conceal abuse within the Roman Catholic Church.

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ROME
The Times (United Kingdom)

James Bone
Rome

Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to abdicate because of old age followed secret surgery late last year to replace the battery in his pacemaker, it has emerged today.

The 85-year-old pontiff had a new battery implanted to replace one in the pacemaker he received after suffering a stroke over a decade ago.

According to Italy’s Il Sole 24 business newspaper, the operation took place at the Pius XI clinic in Rome just under three months ago.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Press-Telegram

With the selection of a new pope, the Roman Catholic Church signals the way forward for an institution whose policies affect the whole world. The shocking news Monday that Pope Benedict XVI is resigning this month presents just such an occasion, giving the church a chance to move beyond the sins of the past, to modernize.

But the church can hardly expect to cleanse itself as long as Benedict’s replacement will be chosen by a College of Cardinals that includes Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles.

Last week, following further revelations about Mahony’s role in protecting priests who sexually molested children, and the removal of the former head of the L.A. archdiocese from administrative duties, we called on him to resign his post as cardinal.

Mahony’s potential role in choosing Benedict’s successor underscores what a purely symbolic gesture that removal was and highlights the need for the North Hollywood resident to step aside.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

The Taoiseach has refused to say if he will apologise to the survivors of the Magdalene Laundries.

Enda Kenny met with some of the women affected yesterday, along with the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore.

Afterwards, the survivors said they expect an apology will be forthcoming.

But speaking on his way into Government Buildings this morning, the Taoiseach refused to be drawn on the issue.

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IRELAND
The Sun

By MYLES McENTEE
Political Correspondent

SURVIVORS of the Magdalene Laundries cried yesterday as they told Taoiseach Enda Kenny their harrowing stories.

Six women who served in the nun-run workhouses had an emotional three-hour meeting with Mr Kenny and Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore at Government Buildings.

Speaking afterwards, the survivors praised the meeting — and said it had helped bring some “closure” to the affair.

And they said they were sure Mr Kenny would make a formal apology on behalf of the State for their treatment, as highlighted in the McAleese Report.

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IRELAND
BBC News

Women from the Magdalene Survivors Together group have said they are confident they will receive an apology from the prime minister (taoiseach) of the Irish Republic.

The laundries were Catholic-run workhouses that operated in Ireland and where girls and women had to do unpaid, manual labour.

Many were sent there by the state.

The women were speaking after a meeting with both Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his deputy Eamon Gilmore.

They said they had received a very compassionate response from both men.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

For Immediate Release

February 11, 2013

Pope Benedict made a sensible decision. It is evidence the papacy and the Church can change.

Let’s hope it is a signal of strength for the next pope to take the steps that the Church needs.

The Church is in bad shape and needs the tremendous power of the papacy to be used courageously and forcefully for good – starting with the sexual abuse crisis, the largest crisis the Church has faced in 500 years.

Pope Benedict, by being in the unique position of being alive, and with his considerable political skills that were in evidence before and during the last conclave will have influence over the coming conclave and, it can be reasonably expected, into the next papacy.

Pope Benedict should bar Cardinal Roger Mahony from entering the conclave. The Los Angeles documents are evidence enough that this high honor of voting for the next Pope should be withdrawn from him. There should be an empty chair to mark Mahony’s spot.

Pope Benedict took a few, tiny, window dressing steps toward resolving the crisis. With the exception of action against the Legionaire of Christ founder Pope Benedict’s provided words only and weak ones at that.

What’s needed now is true righteousness and courage to match the nobility of action that the survivors have brought forth from lives crucified by rape and sodomy by priests and nuns.

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UNITED STATES
KGO

[with video]

Lyanne Melendez

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — In a surprising and rare move, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation Monday. His tenure as pope involved one of the most painful issues confronting the Catholic Church: the sexual abuse of children by some members of the clergy.

As pope, Benedict repeatedly apologized for years of inaction by the Catholic Church, but it’s what he did not do when he was cardinal that threatens to overshadow his legacy.

“Above all, I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes,” he said during that visit.

He was also the first pontiff to meet with victims. But for some of them, his actions came too late.

“No I don’t think he did enough,” said Tim Lennon, who is with Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, commonly known as SNAP.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Pope Benedict XVI has done nothing to help sexual abuse victims and has instead covered up crimes to protect the church, Australian advocates for victims of church sexual abuse say.

Melbourne lawyer Judy Courtin says the Pope had been “absolutely appalling” in his handling of the worldwide issue.

“He’s certainly been responsible for the Catholic Church’s policy of concealing and covering up (sexual abuse crimes),” Ms Courtin told AAP.

“And I know his edicts, coming from the Vatican to the bishops worldwide, have been such that there’s been threats of excommunication if they don’t keep these things secret.”

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

Retiring Pope Benedict XVI wasn’t the best governor but he did a huge amount to address child sexual abuse in the church, Brisbane’s Archbishop says.

The 85-year-old Pope announced his decision to step down during a meeting of Vatican cardinals on Monday morning (local time), saying age prevented him from carrying out his duties.

Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge says it’s “simply wrong” to suggest the retiring Pope didn’t do enough to address the abuse issue.

He said before he became Pope, he had pursued the issue with then Pope John Paul II.

“To say that this Pope has done nothing I think just flies in the face of what I take to be the facts,” the archbishop told ABC TV.

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AUSTRALIA
The Global Mail

By Stephen Crittenden
February 12, 2013

The next pope will need to come to grips with the generations of systemic sexual abuse within the Catholic church. But in Australia, the spotlight is now on the credibility of protocols set up by the church to handle such claims.

Even before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse starts, Australia’s Catholic bishops know they have a problem.

Of all the matters the royal commission is expected to delve into over the coming years, the church’s own protocols for handling allegations of abuse will be one of the most important.

The Catholic church in Australia has two separate abuse protocols: Towards Healing, covering most Australian dioceses was introduced in 1997. The Melbourne Archdiocese is covered by what has come to be known as the Melbourne Response, introduced by Archbishop George Pell (now Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney) around the same time.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Australians are sharply divided over Pope Benedict XVI’s legacy on the vexed issue of church sexual abuse.

Supporters are hailing his efforts, but critics denounce his reign as one of concealment and cover-up.

The 85-year-old pontiff’s surprise decision to retire comes as Australia embarks on a three-year royal commission into child abuse, which victim groups have urged other nations to follow.

Melbourne lawyer Judy Courtin, a PhD student studying sexual assault in the Catholic Church, said the Pope had been “absolutely appalling” in his handling of the global issue.

“There’s no doubt there’s been that culture of (the Catholic Church) protecting their assets and protecting their name by concealment and cover-up,” Ms Courtin told AAP on Tuesday.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, says there is a “continuing misconception” about what Pope Benedict XVI did to address child abuse in the Catholic church.

The 85-year-old pontiff’s surprise decision to retire comes as Australia embarks on a three-year royal commission into into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

In an online interview with the communications director of the Archdiocese of Sydney, Cardinal Pell addressed the allegation by victims’ groups and politicians that the Pope hadn’t done enough on the issue of Church sexual abuse.

“I think it’s a continuing misconception for a number of reasons,” he said.

“First of all, the overwhelming responsibility for meeting this crisis, this abuse, rests with the local hierarchy, the local bishops and the local religious superiors.

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SOUTH AFRICA
Sowetan

Pope Benedict XVI did nothing to punish pedophile priests or Church seniors who looked the other way, according to US and Irish victims hoping his successor will focus on fighting sex abuse.

Barbara Blaine, founder and president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, called the outgoing pope’s record “dismal.”

“He has made lofty statements. He has not matched those statements with deed or action. Under his reign, the children remained at risk,” Blaine said.

In recent years, the United States and Ireland have been among several countries rocked by successive sex scandals involving members of the Catholic clergy and Church higher-ups accused of covering up abuses. …

“I’m very happy that the pope is resigning because he really did not do very much about clergy sexual abuse,” said Robert Hoatson, president of victims aid group Road To Recovery.

“The next pope has to tackle this issue. This is the most important issue because it concerns children, and it is a worldwide problem and the pope has to commission a group of expert to determine what has to be done to solve this problem.

“And if it means firing all the bishops that have covered up, so be it.”

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

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

Pope Benedict’s announcement Monday at a consistory, or gathering of cardinals considering candidates for the sainthood, caught many area religious authorities and local Vatican watchers by surprise.

“Popes in the modern day just don’t quit so one has to believe that Pope Benedict is pretty sick and that the stresses of the job are really beginning to take a toll on him,” said Mathew N. Schmalz, a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross.

Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus said he learned of the resignation after turning on the radio for the morning news. …

The groups said Pope Benedict “kept the culture of secrecy intact” and that he allowed hundreds of bishops who knew of the abuse to remain in their jobs.

“Instead of remedies, he gave us words. Instead of true penitence, he gave us public relations,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, which tracks priests accused of sexually abusing individuals. “His failure to enact real change in the church’s handling of sexually abusive priests will be his significant and shameful legacy.”

Ms. Doyle said Pope Benedict could have enacted true reform by forcing the immediate resignation of bishops who did little or nothing to stop predator priests. …

“Pope Benedict followed the same script church officials have used for years, speaking of abuse in oblique terms and only when forced to do so — ignoring the cover-ups, using past tense, as if to pretend clergy sex crimes and cover-ups are not still happening now,” added Barbara Dorris, a spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

She said Pope Benedict still has time to “show true leadership and compassion” to take tangible action to safeguard vulnerable children.

Ms. Dorris urged the College of Cardinals to think about the sexually abused when picking a successor.

“For the church to truly embody the spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ, it must be led by a pontiff who demands transparency, exposes child molesting clerics, punishes wrongdoers and enablers, cooperates with law enforcement and makes true amends to those who were hurt so greatly by Catholic priests, employees, and volunteers,” she said.

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CANADA
The Globe and Mail

MICHAEL VALPY
Special to The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Feb. 12 2013

Benedict XVI’s eight-year reign as Pope was a losing battle against perception – most tellingly the perception that, as absolute ruler of the Roman Catholic Church, he did far less than enough to rid it of the cancer of sexually abusive priests and may have been complicit in its spread.

The 85-year-old German intellectual also vacates the Throne of St. Peter tarnished by accusations that he rejected all theological efforts to move Roman Catholicism toward a more progressive, contemporary morality and institutional comportment around feminism, sexual orientation and sexual behaviour, and ham-fistedly failed to reach out to those who seek God by other paths.

As well, he’s been given failing grades on his great goals of reigniting Christianity as the bedrock of European life and halting the spread of secularism and moral relativism in a materialist world.

Has it all been true? “Perception is 90 per cent of truth. It’s what people latch onto,” said Prof. Mark McGowan of University of Toronto’s St. Michael’s College, one of Canada’s outstanding scholars on the Catholic Church.

And yet the historical record of Benedict’s papacy is far more complex – perhaps no more so than on his record of handling the church’s horrific calumny of sex abuse.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
GoUpstate

A former youth pastor was sentenced to 15 years in prison last week at the conclusion of a four-day trial on a sex abuse charge in Union County, according to information released by the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Stephen Douglas Berry, 40, was convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. He must serve 85 percent of the sentence and register as a sex offender. Berry, who previously served as the youth pastor at New Life Baptist Church in Union, was accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl over a six month period in 2010.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
National Catholic Reporter

by NCR Staff | Feb. 11, 2013

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez’s public rebuke of his predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, at the end of January was quickly described as unprecedented.

Sharply critiquing Mahony’s handling of sex abuse cases after the long-delayed release of church files made clear the cardinal had shielded abusive priests from public scrutiny and possibly law enforcement at the expense of children’s safety, Gomez announced Jan. 31 that his predecessor would “no longer have any administrative or public duties” in the archdiocese.

In a hierarchical system long known for prelates reluctant to criticize one another, the public rebuke was certainly rare. Yet a question remained: What does it mean?

On one level, Gomez’s move against Mahony has little practical impact. Following his initial announcement, Gomez clarified Feb. 1 that Mahony remained a bishop “in good standing,” able to celebrate the sacraments and minister regularly.

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VATICAN CITY
IBN Live

Rome: Pope Benedict leaves office having failed to stamp out the sexual abuse of children by priests and with the culture of secrecy that fostered the scandal still in place, groups representing some of the victims said on Monday. Bishops Accountability, a US pressure group, said the pope had apologised frequently for the harm done by priests but had never taken effective action to rectify the “incalculable harm” done to hundreds of thousands of children by predatory clergy.

“Benedict’s words rang hollow. He spoke as a shocked bystander, as if he had just stumbled upon the abuse crisis,” Anne Barrett Doyle, the group’s co-director said in a statement. The festering child abuse scandal broke out well before the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger took office in 2005 but it overshadowed his papacy from the beginning, as more and more cases came to light in dioceses across the world.

Hundreds of victims came forward with devastating accounts of abuse suffered at the hands of priests sometimes over years that left them with deep psychological wounds. The scandal broke in Boston in 2002 when reports emerged of the systematic cover-up of sexual abuse, with guilty priests being quietly transferred between dioceses instead of being stripped of their office and handed over to civil authorities.

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UNITED STATES
PolicyMic

Hannah Kapp-Klote

The Catholic Church is a complicated political and legal entity with its own logic of accountability: priests who ordain women, like Father Roy Bourgeois, are excommunicated without ceremony, and priests who molest children, or aid in covering up the activities of such priests, are kept in the church, if not promoted. Before he was pope, Joseph Ratzinger acted was a top Vatican official, helping to re-locate a priest who sexually abused over 200 deaf boys. It’s impossible to adequately assess his papacy without discussing his role in covering up priests’ sexual abuse of children for decades, and prioritizing the public image of the Church over the well being of thousands of children.

The late atheist Christopher Hitchens was one of Ratzinger’s harshest critics, especially when it came to the church’s policy of self-policing:

“The accusations, intoned Ratzinger, were only treatable within the church’s own exclusive jurisdiction. Any sharing of the evidence with legal authorities or the press was utterly forbidden. Charges were to be investigated “in the most secretive way … restrained by a perpetual silence … and everyone … is to observe the strictest secret which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office … under the penalty of excommunication.”

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UNITED STATES
ABC News

[with video]

By RUSSELL GOLDMAN (@GoldmanRussell)

Feb. 11, 2013

When Pope Benedict XVI resigns at the end of this month, he leaves behind a Church grappling with a global fallout from sex abuse and a personal legacy marred by allegations that he was instrumental in covering up that abuse.

As the sex abuse scandal spread from North America to Europe, Benedict became the first pope to meet personally with victims, and offered repeated public apologies for the Vatican’s decades of inaction against priests who abused their congregants.

“No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse,” the pope said in a 2008 homily in Washington, D.C., before meeting with victims of abuse for the first time. “It is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention.” During the same trip to the U.S., he met with victims for the first time.

For some of the victims, however, Benedict’s actions were “lip service and a public relations campaign,” said Jeff Anderson, a Minnesota lawyer who represents victims of sex abuse. For 25 years, Benedict, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the Vatican office responsible for investigating claims of sex abuse, but he did not act until he received an explicit order from Pope John Paul II.

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UNITED STATES
Myrtle Beach Online

By MITCHELL LANDSBERG – Los Angeles Times

Time and again in his papacy, Pope Benedict XVI spoke out against the scourge of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, using words that would have been scarcely imaginable by his predecessors.

It was, he said, “evil,” “gravely immoral,” “a terrifying sign of the times.” He spoke of the “deep shame” and “humiliation” the scandal had brought on the Catholic Church. He apologized to victims.

Not long into his tenure, Benedict essentially banished an influential Mexican priest, Father Marcial Maciel, who had long been suspected of sexually abusing seminarians and boys in his care and had fathered at least three children. Benedict ordered investigations into sexual abuse and issued guidelines in 2010 that made it easier to punish abusive priests.

For all that, there were those who were ultimately disappointed by the pope’s record on the issue. Benedict never acquiesced to demands that he open Vatican records to outside scrutiny and almost never took action against those just below him – his bishops and cardinals – who failed to protect children from abusive priests.

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Raw Story

By Ian Traynor, The Guardian
Monday, February 11, 2013

For the legions of people whose childhoods and adult lives were wrecked by sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the Roman Catholic clergy, Pope Benedict XVI is an unloved pontiff who will not be missed.

Victims of the epidemic of sex- and child-abuse scandals that erupted under Benedict’s papacy reacted bitterly to his resignation, either charging the outgoing pontiff with being directly complicit in a criminal conspiracy to cover up the thousands of paedophilia cases that have come to light over the past three years, or with failing to stand up to reactionary elements in the church resolved to keep the scandals under wraps.

From Benedict’s native Germany to the USA, abuse victims and campaigners criticised an eight-year papacy that struggled to cope with the flood of disclosures of crimes and abuse rampant for decades within the church. Matthias Katsch, of the NetworkB group of German clerical-abuse victims, said: “The rule of law is more important than a new pope.”

Norbert Denef, 64, from the Baltic coast of north Germany, was abused as a boy by his local priest for six years. In 2003, Denef took his case to the bishop of Magdeburg. He was offered €25,000 (then £17,000) in return for a signed pledge of silence about what he suffered as a six-year-old boy. He then raised the issue with the Vatican and received a letter that said Pope John Paul II would pray for him so that Denef could forgive his molester.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Arthur Beesley

Background: Damning reports brought relations with the Vatican to an all-time low

Benedict XVI’s papacy came at a time of worsening relations between Ireland and the Vatican as the State deepened its investigations into clerical child abuse in the Catholic church.

The church’s response was found wanting as new light was cast on a legacy of brutal sexual violence against children and systematic cover-ups, sapping its moral authority and blunting its political influence.

A nadir was reached two years ago in the wake of the Cloyne report, when Taoiseach Enda Kenny castigated the Vatican in a Dáil speech for its “brazen disregard” for child protection.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

GERRY MORIARTY in Armagh

The Catholic Primate of All-Ireland Cardinal Seán Brady has indicated that he does not consider himself a possible successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

The Archbishop of Armagh, who will play a part in electing the next pontiff, said he would use the time ahead to reflect on how he might vote before travelling to Rome next month for the conclave of cardinals.

Asked what his response would be were he prevailed upon to be next pope, Cardinal Brady replied: “I don’t think that eventuality is likely to arise.”

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IRELAND
Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY

Sex abuse Where Ireland is concerned, Pope Benedict XVI will probably be best remembered for his Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland in 2010, following publication of the Murphy report the previous November.

The letter was unequivocal in its sympathy for victims of clerical child sex abuse and for what Irish Catholics had been through, but also in its criticisms of Irish church leadership.

It was followed by seven high-powered apostolic visitations to the four Irish Catholic archdioceses, the seminaries and religious congregations. The focus seemed to be on orthodoxy and on bringing the Irish church back into line, though few outside the church believed this was relevant to the abuse scandals.

As pope he has been proactive in his dealings with this issue, which so dominated his papacy. On all his trips abroad he has met abuse victims and has seen to it that the church is putting in place adequate child protection measures.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Lydia Mulvany of the Journal Sentinel

Feb. 11, 2013

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a Chicago-based nonprofit that has helped victims in Milwaukee, said Monday that the Catholic Church must elect a new pope that protects children from clergy sexual abuse after Pope Benedict XVI resigns.

“For the Church to truly embody the spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ, it must be led by a pontiff who demands transparency, exposes child-molesting clerics, punishes wrongdoers and enablers, cooperates with law enforcement, and makes true amends to those who were hurt so greatly by Catholic priests, employees and volunteers,” said Barbara Blaine, president of SNAP, in a release.

Blaine said that the era of secrecy and coverups must end, and that victims of sexual abuse want to ensure that other children never experience what they did.

SNAP, which has more than 12,000 members, is the largest support group for clergy abuse victims. Victims include those who were molested by religious leaders in all denominations, including priests, nuns, rabbis and Protestant ministers.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
San Francisco Chronicle

MILWAUKEE (AP) — An advocacy group that has helped clergy abuse victims in Milwaukee says the Catholic Church must elect a new pope who protects children.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, issued a statement Monday after Pope Benedict announced he is retiring at the end of February due to health issues.

SNAP President Barbara Blaine says the Catholic Church must be led by a pontiff who demands transparency, exposes child-molesting clerics, punishes wrongdoers and cooperates with law enforcement.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/XDjRlW ) report Blaine also said the new pope needs to make “true amends” to those who were hurt by Catholic priests, employees and volunteers.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Denis Hamill

An Irish-American Pope would have made my mother’s life complete.

Hey, don’t laugh: Speculation swirls that New York’s Timothy Cardinal Dolan has an outside chance of succeeding retiring Pope Benedict.

In my mother’s home, the Pope was basically the King of the World.

My immigrant parents were raised Roman Catholics in the sectarian turmoil of Ulster, the six counties of Northern Ireland that in 1921 were divided from the 26 southern counties of the Republic of Ireland.

In Ulster, Protestant “loyalists” who swore allegiance to the British crown outnumbered Catholics, 2 to 1. My parents’ lives in Northern Ireland were defined by religious sectarianism akin to the way race has divided America. The reason my mother spelled my name with one N instead of the more common two in Dennis is because I was named for St. Denis, once the bishop of Paris. It didn’t matter that there were tasty rumors of St. Denis being a cannibal; he was an “R.C.”

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PHILIPPINES
GMA News

EARL VICTOR L. ROSERO, GMA NewsFebruary 12, 2013

Some Vatican observers said Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, installed as a cardinal by the pope only last November, is one of the frontrunners to be the global Catholic Church’s next pope.

On Monday, 85-year-old German-born Pope Benedict XVI on Monday announced that he will resign on February 28, making him the first pope to do so in centuries.

Journalist John Allen Jr. of the United States-based National Catholic Reporter (NCR) has written extensively about the possible popes.

Even in 2011, when Tagle was not yet a cardinal and thus not yet eligible to become a pope, Allen already wrote that the Filipino priest was not only “a rising star in the Asian Church” but also a “papal contender.”

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VATICAN CITY
GMA News

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI, who has announced he will resign on February 28, will retire to a monastery tucked away inside the historic walls of the Holy See: so once the new pope is elected, there will be a former pontiff and his successor living in the Vatican.

Benedict, 85, who said he was standing down due to old age, will temporarily stay at the papal summer house at Castel Gandolfo near Rome.

During that time, the Mater Ecclesiae monastery building within the Vatican grounds — an oasis of calm with its own vegetable garden and blooming flowerbeds — will be renovated.

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VIRGINIA
WTVR

[with video]

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – A group of protesters from the Virginia Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) were in front of the Richmond Catholic Diocese asking for recognition of a man accused of sexually abusing more than 80 children.

Stephen Baker worked in Norfolk in the 1970s, and was accused of molesting children in three other states. He committed suicide in January, after settling 11 of the cases brought against him.

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