ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MARK SCHLIEBS THE AUSTRALIAN NOVEMBER 21, 2013

THE Catholic Church has dragged out for more than a year the case of a seriously ill abuse victim who is seeking substantially more than the $40,000 he received as part of a settlement in 2011.

This is despite an admission by the church that the man had been sodomised by several clerics.

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CANADA
Sylvia’s Site

As everyone knows the Father Eric Dejaeger sex abuse trial in Iqaluit was cancelled today due to a raging blizzard which swept throught the area. Believe it or not, this is the same storm which devastated Washington Illinois, caused havoc and power outages in southern Ontario, roared through Quebec, and on up to Nunavut with a blizzard which shut down the entire community of Iqaluit. And yes, that was it for the trial. It was under way for the day, but shortly thereafter the weather deteriorated to a point that the trial was cancelled and courthouse was shut down.

Hopefully the snow plows will be running full tilt through the night and the roads of Iqaluit will be open for travel by morning. Right now the temperature is -23 C with blowing snow and reduced visibility. Conditions are expected to improve by morning.

Let’s cross our fingers that the case can proceed, and that those witnesses who were to finish testifying today can do so tomorrow and then get back home to their family and friends.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Phillip Aspinall, head of the Australian Anglican Church (known elsewhere as the Episcopalian Church or the Church of England), knew the details of the horrific abuse at his church’s North Coast Children’s Home for a long time, but did not intervene because he felt that the local diocese responsible was an “autonomous organisation.”

Prime Minister Tony Abbott could claim that Liberal MPs who disgraced themselves could ignore him because they were responsible to their local constituency committee. Similarly, President Obama could do the same with a corrupt Democrat congressman and U.K. Prime Minister Cameron could distance himself from a Conservative MP. Naturally, they would not do this, as no-one would believe they had no other influence over the problem lawmaker.

For Aspinall to claim no influence over disgraced Grafton bishop, Keith Slater (see previous posting) beggars belief. Yet, this is what his professional standards staffer, Rod McLary, told the Royal Commission today. Mr McLary claimed that Aspinall’s national role was “to encourage, offer counsel and attempt to persuade other bishops and archbishops on certain matters.”

Aspinall was, however, privy to the details of the abuse, from several quarters. Victim “Tommy” Campion had written him a long letter, and had a meeting with Aspinall, detailing the abuses. Lawyer Simon Harrison (see yesterday’s posting), who represented victims, had written to Aspinall, again detailing abuses. Mr Harrison told the enquiry that he was never told that Aspinall had been in touch with the then Bishop of Grafton, Keith Slater, and he would have expected to have correspondence from Aspinall telling him what he was doing.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Southcoast Today

By Matt Camara
mcamara@s-t.com
November 20, 2013

NEW BEDFORD — About a dozen parishioners have formed a committee to reinstate the Rev. Marek Chmurski as the pastor of St. Lawrence Martyr Church and the parish remains divided over Bishop George W. Coleman’s decision to remove him.

“We strongly believe that there was no consensus by the congregation on the issues raised against Father Chmurski. We believe that documentations presented were not objectively written,” the group called Parishioners Seeking Justice for Father Chmurski wrote in a letter to The Standard-Times.

The group objects to an attempt by other parishioners who last year wrote the bishop concerned about Chmurski’s ministry.

The Fall River Diocese conducted a year-long inquiry into Chmurski’s ministry of St. Lawrence — New Bedford’s oldest parish — and removed him in a Sept. 30 decree. The decree came after the bishop had asked for Chmurski’s resignation the previous June.

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RUSSIA
Interfax

St. Petersburg, November 20, Interfax – Priest Gleb Grozovsky, who is accused of molesting schoolgirls, has been suspended from service for the period of the investigation into his case.

“He cannot administer service during this period,” the St. Petersburg Metropolia told Interfax-Religion on Tuesday.

An international search warrant has been issued for Father Gleg, who has been arrested in absentia by a Russian court.

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
BishopAccountability.org
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

New records show accused Catholic priests are still in RI parishes
One of them, ousted this year, was accused months or years earlier
Groups say hundreds of abuse reports seem to be missing from police release
They call on AG and US Attorney to launch investigation of Providence diocese

WHAT
Holding poster-size blow-ups of selected documents, clergy sex abuse victims and a leader of a research/watchdog group will:

— point to new evidence that RI Catholic officials continue to keep accused priests in ministry without informing the public
— highlight “shocking revelations” in newly public records of alleged sex abuse by RI priests, and
— urge prosecutors to investigate whether the diocese’s retention of accused priests is putting minors at risk

WHEN
1:30pm, Wednesday, November 20

WHERE
Renaissance Providence Downtown Hotel
5 Avenue of the Arts [120 Francis St., if using GPS]
Providence, RI
Meeting room: The Handel Room, Temple Level

WHO
– Two survivors of sexual abuse by RI priests, including the New England spokesperson for SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests)
– A leader of a national Catholic abuse research group based in MA

WHY
On Wednesday 11/19, a RI TV station made public a collection of 45 confidential sex abuse reports from the Providence diocese to the RI State Police. The letters were posted tonight on the website of WJAR-TV (Ch. 10 – NBC), which had obtained them from the State Police by filing a public records request. All 45 letters are signed by diocesan official Robert N. McCarthy, a retired state police lieutenant. Since 1992, McCarthy has handled all sex abuse allegations against Providence priests. See:

[NBC 10]

At the news conference, the survivors and researchers will point to letters that raise disturbing questions about three recent cases:

1. In a January 8, 2013 letter, McCarthy recounts confronting an active pastor about sexual misconduct allegations by three complainants. Two were age 16 and one was 18 when the alleged abuse occurred. McCarthy refers to an investigation he had conducted involving the priest and one of the complainants during a previous winter. Did that previous investigation concern possible sexual misconduct? Why wasn’t the priest removed from ministry then?

On January 13, 2013, the Providence diocese announced the removal of Rev. Barry Meehan, pastor of St. Timothy’s Church in Warwick RI, because of “a credible allegation of sexual misconduct that allegedly took place more than 25 years ago.” See:

[BishopAccountability.org]

Is Rev. Meehan the active pastor described by McCarthy in the January 8, 2013 letter? If so, why did the diocese tell the public that Meehan had only one alleged victim, when the letter indicates he was accused by three? And why did the diocese’s announcement about Meehan refer only to a recent allegation and not the situation that McCarthy had investigated in a previous winter?

If the January 8, 2013 letter refers to a different priest, who is he? And if the diocese has removed him, why hasn’t that been announced?

2. An April 17, 2012 letter reports allegations of child molestation by two brothers against a priest who appears to be running a RI parish today. Did the diocese or State Police investigate the allegations? On what basis did the diocese decide to retain the priest?

3. In a May 9, 2011 letter about possible recent sexual abuse of a female parishioner by an active Providence priest, McCarthy cites three previous reports about the priest, including a 1994 warning and a 2002 allegation that he had molested two high school girls. Given repeated signs that the priest was dangerous, why did the diocese allow him to stay in ministry for years? Who is he, and is he still active today?

Although the State Police redacted from the letters the names of priests, parishes, towns and dates, they did not black out the dioceses’s file numbers, which suggest an “astonishingly high number” of complaints, according to Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, a MA-based research group that has studied the abuse crisis since 2003.

The gaps in the file numbers point to the fact that an “enormous number of abuse reports is missing from this collection,” says attorney Helen McGonigle. McGonigle was raped as a six-year-old in East Greenwich RI by the Rev. Brendan Smyth. She reported her abuse to the diocese in 2006 but no letter about her abuse is included in the new release.

As a measure of what is missing, the RI letters can be compared to a similar release of public records in New Hampshire. In 2009, the NH Attorney General’s office made public all the abuse reports it had received since 2003 from the Manchester NH diocese, which is smaller than Providence. The release included more than 125 complaints – and the AG chose to keep the names of most accused priests visible. In contrast, the reports to the State Police from the Providence diocese during the same period – 2003 to 2009 – total only 8. Where are the missing reports? See the Catholic abuse records released by the NH AG:

[BishopAccountability.org]

Finally, the letters reveal McCarthy’s “profound lack of respect for victims,” says Dr. Ann Hagan Webb, a licensed psychologist in RI and MA. Webb was sexually assaulted beginning at age five by Msgr. Anthony DeAngelis in West Warwick RI. In many of the letters, McCarthy provides gratuitous details about a victim’s unemployment, addictions or use of medication. These details seem intended to undermine the credibility of the complainant, Webb says.

For these four reasons – 1) the diocese’s persistence in keeping accused priests in ministry; 2) its high number of complaints; 3) the fact that they may have withheld many reports to the State Police; and 4) the disregard shown by its intake official for the truthfulness of victims – the state Attorney General and the US Attorney for Rhode Island must investigate the Providence diocese, the survivors and research group believe.

Common sense suggests that this diocese requires oversight, says Doyle. “Providence church officials are still taking chances with priests who have been reported for abuse. They are secretive and unaccountable. Rhode Island prosecutors should step in and investigate, as prosecutors have done in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Pennsylvania. The safety of children demands it.”

*
About BishopAccountability.org
Founded in 2003, BishopAccountability.org is the world’s largest public library of documents related to the abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church. An independent non-profit, it is not a victims’ advocacy group and is not affiliated with any church, reform, or victims’ organization.

About SNAP
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988, is based in Chicago and has more than 12,000 members in 65 nations (but we have heard from victims in more than 100 countries). Despite the word “priest” in our title, we help people who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org.

CONTACT

Anne Barrett Doyle, BishopAccountability.org, barrett.doyle@comcast.net, 781-439-5208 cell
Dr. Ann Hagan Webb, RI Abuse Survivor & Spokesperson for SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, annhaganwebb@gmail.com, 617-513-8442 cell
Helen McGonigle, Attorney and RI Abuse Survivor, 203-300-2107 cell
Terence McKiernan, BishopAccountability.org, mckiernan1@comcast.net, 508-479-9304

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NEDERLAND
KNR

S-HERTOGENBOSCH – UTRECHT – De voorzitters van Bisschoppenconferentie en Konferentie Nederlandse Religieuzen (KNR) maken bekend dat er een sluitingsdatum komt per 1 juli 2014 voor meldingen en het indienen van klachten inzake seksueel misbruik tegen overledenen en klachten betreffende seksueel misbruik dat verjaard is.

De Bisschoppenconferentie en KNR treden op korte termijn in overleg met de slachtoffergroepen en Beheer en Toezicht (B&T) inzake de uitwerking. De Bisschoppenconferentie en KNR hechten aan een zorgvuldige voorbereiding en een stappenplan dat met de slachtoffergroepen is opgesteld. Er moeten belangrijke randvoorwaarden worden vervuld, zo hebben de slachtoffergroepen de Bisschoppenconferentie en de KNR laten weten. Nu reeds roepen de Bisschoppenconferentie en de KNR slachtoffers op zich te melden, indien zij dit nog niet hebben gedaan.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Convicted pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale will be sentenced next year after pleading guilty to new child sex charges.

The defrocked Catholic priest was formally arraigned in the Victorian County Court on Wednesday, pleading guilty to 28 counts of indecent assault, one count of carnal knowledge of a child and one count of buggery.

Ridsdale has admitted abusing three girls and 11 boys between the 1960s and 1980, when he was parish priest at churches in regional Victoria and Melbourne.

Ridsdale, 79, is serving a long jail sentence for multiple child sex offences.

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

November 20, 2013

The 49-yr-old businessman has been charged with three offences of gross indecency on young boys aged 12, 14 and 16 over 20 years ago.

Hayman left Sydney to live in the USA and indictment has cast a shadow over those responsible for running Sydney’s Yeshiva Centre where Hayman met his alleged victims.

A spokesperson for the Yeshiva Centre told J-Wire that Hayman did act as a volunteer at Yeshiva events and camps but was never employed by them.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

November 20, 2013

Emma Partridge
Crime Reporter

A businessman accused of sexually assaulting under-age boys he met through Bondi’s Yeshiva Centre was expected to return to his family home in Los Angeles after $1 million was posted for his bail

Daniel Robert Hayman, 49, was granted permission to leave the country despite being charged with a third offence, relating to the indecent assault of a 12-year-old.

Documents tendered to the court reveal he “exposed his naked body” to the young boy in the 1980s.

Mr Hayman appeared before Waverley Local Court on Wednesday charged with a further two counts of gross indecency against two males, aged 14 and 16.

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AUSTRALIA
Maribymong Weekly

By Goya Dmytryshchak

An Altona Meadows woman who spoke at last week’s Rally of Hope at Victoria’s Parliament House has criticised Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s defence of Cardinal George Pell over the Catholic Church’s handling of child sex abuse.

Mairead Ashcroft addressed Wednesday’s rally (pictured), which coincided with the tabling of a state government report on clergy and non-religious institutions’ child sex abuse.

Ms Ashcroft gave evidence before the Victorian inquiry into the handling of child abuse that she had been abused by Catholic brother Bernard Hartman, from age 8 to 11.

Hartman, 73, has been charged with 14 counts of indecent assault and is scheduled to face court next Thursday.

The day after the rally, Mr Abbott told Fairfax radio that he ‘‘had a lot of time for Cardinal Pell”. Mr Abbott said he hadn’t read the parliamentary report, which states Cardinal Pell’s evidence revealed “a reluctance to acknowledge and accept responsibility for the Catholic Church’s institutional failure to respond appropriately to allegations of criminal child abuse”.

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DELAWARE
The News Journal

[with video]

Written by
Sean O’Sullivan
The News Journal

WILMINGTON — A federal jury awarded $2.4 million Monday to a New Jersey man who was repeatedly sexually abused by a Marist brother some 30 years ago.

Brian Elliott, 44, of Cedar Knolls, N.J., testified that Damian Galligan, a member of the Marist Catholic religious order, sexually abused him starting in 1977 when Elliott was 8 years old and continued until he was 14.

Two of those hundreds of incidents of abuse occurred in Delaware in the summer of 1981 when Galligan took the young Elliott on a trip across state lines to visit Washington, D.C., which is what brought the case to the U.S. District Court in Delaware.

While Elliott said he was abused by Galligan in at least four states – including New Jersey where he lived, New York where Galligan lived and Virginia – it was only in Delaware that Elliott could file a civil suit.

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DELAWARE
The Star-Ledger

By Jeff Goldman/The Star-Ledger
on November 19, 2013

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Morris County man said he doesn’t expect to see any of the $2.4 million a Delaware court awarded him Monday for being sexually abused as a child by a cleric in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Brian Elliott, 44, of the Cedar Knolls section of Hanover Township said he was abused by Brother Damian Galligan from 1977 until about 1981, according to a report on DelawareOnline.com. Galligan admitted in a 2012 video deposition that he abused Elliott during a trip to Washington D.C.

The abuse also took place “hundreds, if not thousands” of other times, the report said.

The jury in Delaware ordered that Elliott receive $1.4 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

Galligan, 86, lives in a retirement home in St. Louis and is thought to have few significant assets, the report said.

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DELAWARE
USA Today

A federal jury Monday awarded $2.4 million to a New Jersey man who was repeatedly sexually abused by a Marist brother some 30 years ago. This portion of the video deposition of Brother Damian Galligan was played for the jury. The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

ALL Catholics must take action on child sex abuse, the head of the body set-up to represent the Catholic Church says.

Truth Justice and Healing Council chief executive Francis Sullivan said the various inquiries into abuse provided an opportunity to reform the church and address a scandal that has driven people from it for so long.

The church has been at the centre of three inquiries, including the now-concluded Victorian inquiry, the royal commission and a NSW inquiry into abuse in the Diocese of Maitland and Newcastle.

Mr Sullivan said community disgust and outrage will be unleashed as the inquiries continue, but all Catholics could work to restore trust in the institution with “action and authenticity”.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

A royal commission has heard a witness saw a young girl pinned down and gang raped by five older boys at the Anglican-run NSW orphanage at the centre of abuse allegations.

A former resident of the Lismore children’s home has told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse sitting in Sydney he witnessed the attack and was scared into silence.

The witness, known as CD, says he arrived at the North Coast Children’s Home aged six, and was regularly whipped with a pony whip and cane by matron Jean O’Neill.

He says he once saw a group of about five older boys pin down one of the young girls who lived in the home, and they all raped her.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Ashleigh Raper

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard an alleged victim threatened suicide during a lengthy compensation battle with the Anglican Church.

The commission this week began its third round of public hearings, this time to examine the alleged sexual and physical abuse of up to 200 children at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore.

The hearing will consider what happened at the home and how the Anglican Diocese of Grafton responded to allegations of abuse.

Solicitor Simon Harrison was holding negotiations with the head of the Anglican Church, Dr Phillip Aspinall over a compensation settlement.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

November 20, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

Victoria Police evidence about child sexual abuse that savaged the Catholic Church was unfair and an attempt by the force to distance itself from its own failures, a state government report says.

It took 16 years, and issues becoming public, before police paid attention to the fundamental problems in the way the church in Melbourne dealt with complaints – a process to which police had originally agreed – the report says.

Betrayal of Trust, the report of the parliamentary inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse, was tabled last week.

In testimony to the inquiry last October, police accused the church of deliberately impeding their investigations into child abuse, dissuading victims from reporting to police, failing to engage with police, protecting sexual offenders and alerting suspects of allegations against them.

Police also attacked the Melbourne Response independent commissioner, Peter O’Callaghan, QC, and complained that not one case had been referred to them.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

ADRIENNE FRANCIS – ABC
November 20, 2013

The new Catholic archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn says the church could do more to support victims of child sexual abuse.

Former Victorian bishop Christopher Prowse has been installed as the new Catholic archbishop during a solemn mass at St Christopher’s Cathedral in Forrest.

In delivering the homily, Archbishop Prowse mentioned the Royal Commission and parliamentary inquiries into child sexual abuse, telling the packed congregation he truly felt for its victims.

“We can always do a lot more,” he said.

“First of all, we have got to listen to their stories. I think we need to really improve on that.

“The victims, these courageous and brave people, coming out to share their horrendous stories and we want to stand alongside them and be supportive of them in these fragile times.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Legal fight like being ‘raped’ again, child abuse victim tells Royal Commission

Dan Box
From: The Australian
November 20, 2013

A VICTIM of child abuse, who was repeatedly raped as a young girl while living in a children’s home, has said the experience of dealing legally with the Anglican church about what took place “was like being raped all over again.”

In a written statement read to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse this morning, the woman said she was seven when she entered the home in the Anglican Diocese of Grafton, northern NSW.

“It smelt terrible, like faeces, and there was vomit on the ground. I could see about twenty-odd children, all dirty.

“It was horrific. I felt that I couldn’t protect myself or my sister … I was told, and I heard other children being told, that we were ‘dirty little heathens’,” her statement said.

Decades later, the woman joined roughly 40 other former residents seeking compensation from the church, which spent years challenging their claims and denying any liability for what happened at the home.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

November 20, 2013

Barney Zwartz

Ordinary Catholics have to take responsibility for the church as it emerges from the abuse crisis and tries to rebuild trust, says church spokesman Francis Sullivan.

In a speech on Wednesday evening in Ballarat – deliberately chosen as one of the regional centres most scarred by clergy sexual abuse – Mr Sullivan said the church was at a critical juncture and warned that revelations soon to emerge at the royal commission would dishearten and disillusion Catholics around the country.

“Community disgust and outrage will again be unleashed,” he said.

The royal commission next month begins a public session examining the Catholic response Towards Healing, and how the church dealt with four separate victims.

The Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled clergy child sexual abuse was scathing about the church in its report last week, and the church has since endorsed the report’s wide-ranging recommendations for legal and other reforms.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

BY ANNETTE BLACKWELL AAP NOVEMBER 20, 2013

PROTECTING investors in a multimillion-dollar diocesan investment fund debt took priority over the claims of abuse victims from a NSW Anglican children’s home, an inquiry has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney was told on Wednesday that the Diocese of Grafton was $12 million in debt after building a private school at Clarence Valley, which never attracted enough students.

The diocese has been accused of mishandling compensation settlements and claims from people who were brutally abused from the 1940s to 1980s at a Church of England orphanage in Lismore.

In evidence by video link, Anthony Newby said when he became registrar at Grafton in October 2010 the school debt was not being serviced.

An oversight committee was set up to open lines of credit involving other dioceses – not an easy task as only two, Perth and Adelaide, eventually came on board.

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MINNESOTA
KARE

[with video]

John Croman

ST. PAUL, Minn. — In his latest John Doe sex abuse lawsuit, attorney Jeffrey Anderson targets a former Twin Cities priest and the order he belonged to until 2011, based at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville.

The plaintiff is a man who alleges he was sexually abused between 1989 and 1992 by Father Francis Hoefgen, who at the time served at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Hastings.

Anderson and his legal team maintain that Hoefgen should’ve been kept from taking that post in Hastings based on his prior behavior in a different parish.

The alleged victim said the abuse started when he was 10 and ended when he was 13, at the same time Hoefgen was reassigned to another church facility in Frontenac.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Royal commission into child sexual abuse hears more harrowing evidence against Anglican Diocese of Grafton

MATTHEW BENNS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH NOVEMBER 20, 2013

THE whoosh of the riding crop and the screams of the children echoed through the corridors of the Anglican Church children’s home, the royal commission into child sexual abuse heard yesterday.

“I remember hearing the whoosh of the riding crop every time Matron hit the child,” a victim from the former North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore said in a statement read to the commission.

“The whoosh noise filled me with intense fear,” said the victim, who can only be identified as CM.

Matron Jean O’Neill would take children into her office and close the door. “I heard her whipping children in her office with the crop and the children screaming.

“I would be whipped for the most trivial things like not using my manners,” said CM, who was seven when first whipped with the leather covered, steel riding crop. “It would leave red marks, bruises and cuts on me which sometimes took two weeks to heal.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with audio]

The Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse has been told that the Anglican Church took a hardline and antagonistic approach to dealing with abuse victims from the North Coast Children’s Home. An advisor to the Anglican Primate of Australia told the inquiry that there was concern about how the diocese was handling the negotiations, but couldn’t intervene.

Transcript

MARK COLVIN: The child abuse Royal Commission has heard that the Anglican Church took a harsh and antagonistic approach to victims of abuse from the New South Wales North Coast Children’s Home.

The inquiry’s been told that the Grafton Diocese which ran the home took a legal hard line against compensation claims by the former residents of the orphanage.

The lawyer representing the group said the Grafton Diocese had “gone rogue” and the Church’s key negotiator had “an attitude of machismo on par with Clint Eastwood.”

A warning: some parts of Emily Bourke’s report may distress some listeners.

EMILY BOURKE: The Royal Commission has heard more shocking accounts from survivors of abuse at the North Coast Children’s home.

A statement from witness CN was read to the inquiry.

CN (read statement): I was raped three times by older boys who lived in the home. I was told and I heard other children being told by staff that we were dirty little heathens. I was told I was bad and horrible. I was made to feel worthless by the people in the home.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 11/19/2013

A former Hastings priest and St. John’s Abbey are among defendants in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by a Minnesota man who alleges the priest sexually abused him after “graduating” from a sex-offender treatment facility.

The plaintiff, now in his 30s, also sued the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the treatment center, St. Luke Institute of Silver Spring, Md.

Francis Hoefgen admitted to police in 1984 that he sexually abused a minor, then was assigned the next year to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church in Hastings after an evaluation at the institute, said the plaintiff’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, of St. Paul, in a statement.

Hoefgen sexually abused the plaintiff, identified as John Doe 27, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton from about 1989 to 1992, the suit claimed. The boy was then 10 to 13 years old.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
David Unze

The file containing details of the investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by the Rev. Fran Hoefgen likely was destroyed in the 1990s as part of a routine purging of records from cases in which no charges were filed.

Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall released two documents Tuesday from the state Department of Administration that showed that numerous adult and juvenile case files in which no charges were filed were ordered destroyed in two document purges, one in May 1996 and the other in February 1998.

Then-County Attorney Roger Van Heel was listed as the person reporting the document destruction to the state in one instance and First Assistant County Attorney Patrick Strom was the reporting party in the other instance.

The county attorney’s office has case files dating back to the 1960s, said Mike Lieberg, head of that office’s criminal division, but those are files in which criminal charges were filed.

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

MINNESOTA
KSTP

[with video]

By: Scott Theisen
A Minnesota man who claims he was sexually abused by a priest from 1989 through 1992 sued the Twin Cities archdiocese, St. John’s Abbey and a center that treats clergy with psychological issues on Tuesday.

The lawsuit claims Francis Hoefgen, a former monk and priest, was at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church in Hastings when he molested the plaintiff, who was 10 to 13 years old at the time. It alleges the defendants were negligent and should have known Hoefgen was a danger because he admitted to abusing a teenage boy just a few years earlier. It also alleges church officials didn’t warn Hoefgen’s new parish about the risk.

“This is quite disturbing, quite alarming. But also quite familiar and quite typical,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney for the plaintiff, who’s identified in the lawsuit as Doe 27. “All of these entities made conscious choices to conceal, instead of reveal, the truth about the hazard and because of it, countless kids were hurt.”

Hoefgen did not return a message seeking comment. His attorney, Robert Stich, said Tuesday he had just received the complaint and was in the process of analyzing it.

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

MINNESOTA
KSTP

[with video]

By: Leslie Dyste
A Minnesota man who claims he was sexually abused by a priest from 1989 through 1992 sued the Twin Cities archdiocese, St. John’s Abbey and a center that treats clergy with psychological issues on Tuesday.

The lawsuit claims Francis Hoefgen was at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church in Hastings when he molested the plaintiff, who was 10 to 13 years old at the time. It alleges the defendants should have known Hoefgen was a danger because he admitted to abusing another boy just a few years earlier. It also alleges church officials didn’t warn Hoefgen’s new parish about the risk.

“This is quite disturbing, quite alarming. But also quite familiar and quite typical,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney for the plaintiff, who’s identified in the lawsuit as Doe 27. “All of these entities made conscious choices to conceal, instead of reveal, the truth about the hazard and because of it, countless kids were hurt.”

Click here to watch ‘part 2’ of the news conference.
Click here to read the full story.

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

CANADA
CBC News

The defence lawyer for a priest facing dozens of sex abuse charges involving Inuit children is questioning the memory and motivation of the complainants.

Eric Dejaeger faces 68 charges related to the sexual abuse of children in Igloolik three decades ago. Yesterday, he pleaded guilty to eight counts of indecent assault.

This morning, Dejaeger’s defense lawyer Malcolm Kempt cross-examined a 43-year-old woman who says the accused taped her face-down by her wrists and feet to a bed frame and violated her when she was a little girl.

Kempt asked the witness what Dejaeger was wearing at the time and requested she outline specific events around the attack. He also queried her about a $16,000 out-of-court settlement she got from the Catholic Church.

Kempt has said the memory and credibility of alleged victims about events 30 years ago are key to Dejaeger’s defence.

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

SCOTLAND
Independent Catholic News

By: Dan Bergin, Michael Glacken
Posted: Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Scottish parishioners walked out of Mass at St John Ogilivie’s Church in High Blantyre on Sunday, in protest at the sudden dismissal of their parish priest, Father Matthew Despard the night before.

Father Despard, 48, published his book ‘Crisis in the Priesthood’ on Amazon after the resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who admit ted that he had gay relationships over a number of years and was accused by some priests of making unwanted homosexual advances towards them.

In April this year, the previous Bishop of Motherwell Bishop Joseph Devine, had said that no sanctions would be taken against Fr Despard. On Saturday Bishop Toal told the congregation that a ‘penal judicial process’ had been instituted against Fr Despard because of the book.

When acting Bishop Joseph Toal came to say Mass in the parish with Fr William Nolan, who has been appointed temporary administrator, one woman got up to speak in defence of Fr Despard. The majority of the congregation then stood up and walked out. Many were in tears. Parishioners have now begun a petition calling for Fr Despard’s reinstatement.

A spokesman for Bishop Toal said: “Since there is a canonical case in progress at the present time, Bishop Toal felt it was appropriate to remove Fr Matthew Despard from Parish Ministry until the judicial process has run its course. This action does not prejudice the case in any way.”

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

MINNESOTA
Mankato Free Press

By Dan Nienaber
dnienaber@mankatofreepress.com

NEW ULM — A Minnetonka attorney has filed a second lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of New Ulm, claiming officials there allowed a priest to continue working at churches under its control when they should have known he was sexually abusing teenagers.

The diocese responded to the allegations by Patrick Noaker and his client, identified as John Doe 107, with a news release listing the locations Rev. William Marks worked while he was a serving as a priest from 1936 through 1979. The diocese in New Ulm wasn’t created until 1957, but the allegations claim the boy was sexually abused from about 1957 to 1960 while he was an altar boy at the Church of St. John in Hector.

The incident will be investigated, but there is no additional information at this time, the news release said. It also said the diocese regrets the “devastating effects of sexual misconduct on the part of clergy” and that it is working diligently to provide a safe environment at its churches.

A similar response was issued after Noaker filed his first lawsuit against the diocese in June that claims another client was sexually abused by Rev. Francis Markey while Markey was serving as a substitute priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Henderson. The victim was about 15 years old when he was allegedly assaulted in 1982.

A third lawsuit, filed in September by another attorney, names two women who claim they were sexually assaulted by Rev. David Roney while he was serving as a priest in Willmar during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

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

MINNESOTA
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: November 19, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors have charged a Maplewood priest for allegedly fondling a female parishioner while giving her spiritual guidance.

The Rev. Mark Huberty, 43, pastor of the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was charged Tuesday in Hennepin County.

Huberty is charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony. He was charged by summons and is not in custody.

According to the complaint, Huberty and the woman met in 2008 when the woman came to him for spiritual counseling.

The woman went to police in May. The priest went on leave and was removed from the church rectory in September pending the investigation.

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

DELAWARE
Houston Chronicle

RANDALL CHASE, Associated Press | November 19, 2013

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware man who reached a $1.7 million settlement in a priest sex abuse case has been killed in a motorcycle accident.

State police say 43-year-old Joseph Curry was riding his motorcycle at high speed Tuesday morning on U.S. 40 when he ran a red light and crashed into a utility trailer.

In 2011, Curry reached a settlement with St. Dennis parish in Galena, Md., over claims that he was molested as a boy by the late Rev. Edward Carley. Carley was one of several pedophile priest identified by the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington.

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

MINNESOTA
KDUZ

Another lawsuit has been filed against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, by a man who claims he was one of at least 27 molested by a cleric who served in Hastings, Hector, and other southern Minnesota towns.

MNN reports the personal injury lawsuit filed on behalf of John Doe 107 names the late Revered William Marks as his abuser, and also names the Diocese of New Ulm.

Bob Schwiderski of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says he was abused by the same priest in the early 60′s and he is appalled by the refusal of church officials to name every priest credibly accused of molesting children — referring to the story outlined in Luke 25-through-37. Schwiderski says “They have not been good Samaritans. As they have been on that path, riding their donkeys, and they see those lying at the side of the road bleeding they refuse to get off their donkeys and help those that have been harmed”.

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RHODE ISLAND
NBC 10

Part 1 – I-Team: Letters raise questions about alleged sex abuse in diocese

[with copies of the letters]

Updated: Nov 19, 2013
By Katie Davis

PROVIDENCE –
In a recent investigation, the NBC 10 I-Team obtained through a records request 88 pages detailing sexual abuse by Rhode Island Roman Catholic priests, going back more than 30 years.

In each case, a letter detailing allegations of sexual abuse was sent to Rhode Island State Police by the Diocese of Providence.

The diocese began the practice around 2003, although there’s no legal mandate requiring the letters.

A total of 45 letters were sent to state police between 2003 and 2013.

The documents which were stamped “confidential” were heavily redacted by state police.

The names of priests were blacked out, even those people who are already dead. Dates and locations were blacked out. The names of the churches were blacked out too.

But the details that remained were stories from victims who say there were sexually assaulted, raped and told to keep quiet.

Some where children forced to engage in oral sex and were told no one would believe them.

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AUSTRALIA
The Morning Bulletin

Jessica Grewal 20th Nov 2013

AFTER apologising for his failure to handle child abuse claims, Grafton’s outgoing Anglican bishop Keith Slater chose as his replacement a man who for 10 years helped run the home where untold horrors were alleged to have been committed.

The revelation came yesterday, the second day of an inquiry into the Grafton diocese’s response to allegations of sexual abuse at Lismore’s North Coast Children’s Home.

Former acting registrar Anne Hywood was questioned for much of the day about her role in the events leading up to former Grafton Bishop Slater’s exit earlier this year.

She told of how she had become so concerned about the way in which Bishop Slater and then registrar and Clarence Valley councillor Pat Comben had handled allegations of sexual abuse at the home that she wrote to senior clergy members in Sydney.

She believed the pair managed claims on their own for many years, without complying with the professional standards protocol and had looked at the situation from a legal position rather than the obligation of the church.

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

NEW YORK
The Journal News

NEW YORK — Faced with a priest shortage and dwindling attendance, the Archdiocese of New York is looking to close and merge some parishes.

The Wall Street Journal says the archdiocese is in discussions with its 368 parishes. It expects to deliver recommendations to Cardinal Timothy Dolan by June.

The decision on closings and mergers is to be announced in September, archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said.

The archdiocese closed 21 parishes in 2007. This year, it also closed 24 Catholic schools.

The Rev. John O’Hara, who’s leading the church’s effort, says the archdiocese has many churches with attendance well below the building’s capacity, making them financially unviable. He says the Catholic church would like to spend more money on education programs.

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

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
November 19, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman filed criminal sexual misconduct charges Tuesday against the Rev. Mark Huberty, who served as pastor at Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood from 2007 until September.

According to the charges, Huberty inappropriately touched a woman under his spiritual care. They later engaged in other sexual activity over several months in the woman’s Maplewood home, at the church and in Huberty’s car.

Huberty and the woman were scheduled to go on a vacation to Kansas City in April, the complaint says. He later canceled the vacation, upsetting the victim. She later approached Huberty asking how she could stay in the church and attend mass knowing what they did together. Huberty “revealed that other women friends seemed to have no problem remaining active in the church when their relationship with him ended,” the complaint says.

The victim filed a report with the Maplewood Police Department in May after Huberty encouraged her to not tell her husband about the relationship.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
David Unze

ST. PAUL — A civil lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses a former St. John’s Abbey priest of sexually abusing a child at a Hastings parish where he was assigned after his superiors knew he had sexually abused a boy in Cold Spring.

The Rev. Francis “Fran” Hoefgen admitted in March 1984 that he had sexually abused a boy in the St. Boniface parish residence in Cold Spring. Hoefgen was sent to St. Luke Institute in Maryland for evaluation and treatment and never was charged criminally in Stearns County.

Officials in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis then assigned Hoefgen to a parish in Hastings, where he sexually abused another boy from 1989 to 1992, according to the lawsuit. The victim in the Hastings abuse was 10-13 at the time and is suing Hoefgen, St. John’s Abbey, St. Luke Institute and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Hoefgen’s superiors were aware of his record of abuse when they assigned him to Hastings, said attorney Jeff Anderson, who filed the lawsuit. But they did nothing to tell anyone in Hastings about it.

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

MINNESOTA
KEYC

[with video]

By Mitch Keegan, Anchor, KEYC News

The Diocese of New Ulm has been named in a new lawsuit filed over alleged sexual abuse by a priest.

Minnetonka attorney Patrick Noaker filed the lawsuit in Ramsey County on behalf of a Colorado plaintiff referred to as John Doe 107.

The complaint says Father William Marks, who died in 1979, sexually abused the plaintiff while serving at the Church of St. John in Hector.

The lawsuit also names the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, which was Father Marks’ jurisdiction before the New Ulm Diocese was created in 1957.

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

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Nov. 19 2013

Statement by Minnesota SNAP leader Megan Peterson (218-689-9049, Survivor19@live.com)

We are glad Father Mark Huberty faces criminal charges for sexually exploiting a parishioner. It’s virtually always hurtful – and often illegal – for clerics to have any sexual contact with a congregant.

[Pioneer Press]

If a criminal embezzles from a bank, no one talks about their “financial relationship.” So no one should ever talk about “a relationship” between a predatory priest and a parishioner. It’s a crime. It should be treated and described as a crime. It should not be minimized or mischaracterized by words or phrases that suggest consent when no genuine consent is possible.

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

DELAWARE
The News Journal

[with video

Joseph L. Curry, one of the first victims of clergy sexual abuse to tell his story publicly in Delaware, died today when his motorcycle slammed into another vehicle on U.S. 40 near Bear.

State police say Curry, 43, of New Castle, was speeding eastbound on U.S. 40 at about 9:21 a.m. when he went through a red traffic light. Police say Thomas B. Christy, 50, of West Chester, Pa., was turning left onto U.S. 40 from Church Road in a 2006 GMC Sierra pickup truck with a utility trailer behind it.

The motorcycle struck the side of the utility trailer, pinning both Curry and the motorcycle underneath it, according to state police spokesman Sgt. Paul Shavack.

Curry was taken to Christiana Hospital Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead. Christy was not injured.

Curry was among dozens of abuse victims who filed suit against the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington under provisions of the 2007 Child Victims Act. The Delaware law made it possible for those whose cases would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations to file suit in civil court.

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MINNESOTA
KMSP

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) –
A Minnesota man filed a lawsuit Tuesday against St. John’s Abbey, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the St. Luke Institute, alleging they should have known the priest who abused him was a sexual predator.

The lawsuit claims Rev. Fran Hoefgen sexually abused the victim between 1989 and 1993, when he was 10 to 13 years old. The alleged abuse occurred during Rev. Hoefgen’s tenure at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Hastings, Minn.

The lawsuit alleges the defendants should have known Hoefgen was a danger to children because he sexually abused another boy at the St. Boniface School in Cold Spring, Minn. in 1983.

Hoefgen confessed to the St. Boniface abuse in a signed statement to police, but was never charged. Instead, the priest was sent to the St. Luke Institute for mental health evaluation, then returned ministry.

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

CANADA
The Record

By Record staff

A retired Anglican priest from Cambridge has been found guilty of sex offences dating back almost 25 years.

Rev. George Ferris, 66, faced two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation in connection with offences that took place in Brant County between 1983 and 1989.

His trial in October was held in Ontario Court in Brantford. The Brantford Expositor reports a 42-year-old witness testified he was molested over several years from the age of about 13, in a situation that escalated from embraces to oral and anal sex. The court was also told the witness asked Ferris for “hush” money in 2006, and received $5,000 deposited in his bank account.

Ferris served at St. James’ Anglican Church on Ellis Road in Cambridge for about nine years until his retirement at the end of December 2010. He served as interim priest at St. James’ Anglican Church in Ingersoll in 2011.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 11/19/2013

Prosecutors have charged a Maplewood priest with criminal sexual conduct, alleging he had a sexual relationship with a female parishioner while giving her spiritual guidance.

Mark Andrew Huberty, 43, of the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was charged Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court.

While meeting regularly with the woman to discuss issues raised in her catechism classes, Huberty asked her to be his friend, according to the criminal complaint.

Huberty “explained that a rule of their friendship was that any touching would be above the waist and over clothing,” and began to regularly visit her in her home, the complaint said.

As time went on, Huberty began to slip his hands under the woman’s pants and fondle her buttocks, as well as fondle her breast while hugging her, the complaint said. The behavior progressed to Huberty asking the woman to stroke his genitals, charges said.

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

MINNESOTA
WCCO

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is facing new accusations of child sexual abuse by a priest.

Those claims are part of a new lawsuit filed by a Twin Cities man who said he was molested by Father Francis Hoefgen, who had already admitted to sexually abusing children. Lawyers held a news conference Tuesday on the matter and are asking the church to hand over more information.

The plaintiff in this suit wants the names of clerics and priests who have been credibly accused of molesting children. Attorneys named the priest at the center of this lawsuit, Hoefgen, and explained why he should not have still been in the priesthood.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday says Rev. Francis Hoefgen molested the man from 1989 through 1992 when the victim was 10 to 13 years old. Hoefgen was at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church at the time.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- The Justice Ministry on Monday said it concluded the investigation into ousted Vatican envoy Jozef Wesolowski with depositions from five victims.

It said the prelate’s case file and has medical exams were sent to the Vatican, with taped the testimony from some of the victims, as well as statements from the deacon Francisco Javier Occis, who was allegedly aware of the Catholic bishop’s actions and affirmed he had intercourse with Wesolowski.

Among the victims is a boy who is18 years of age today, but was abused for several years when he was a minor.

In his deposition, the deacon said that “he (Wesolowski) apparently smoked and took passes (snorted cocaine). He never did it in front of me. He bought the drug on the street,”

The Pope has the audios by the victims and the versions of the deacon.

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UNITED STATES
LA Progressive

By John MacMurray

“As it was in the beginning, it now and ever shall be…” pretty much sums up what most of us know about the history of the Catholic Church; it’s always just sort of been there just like it is.

And priests have always been celibate, so stories about young parishioners being molested have been part of Church history since, well, since forever.

Not so, in fact.

The Roman Catholic Church has changed greatly over its long life, and one of the points that has changed is the issue of celibacy for the Clergy.

Until about the 13th century, celibacy was seen as optional.

In fact, most priests and other officials in the early Church were married. The first 39 Popes, from St. Peter (AD32-AD67) to St. Anastasius I (AD399-AD401), were married. During this time also, women were ordained to the priesthood; but that came to an end in AD494.

It was 13th Century Medieval politics that forced the issue. The Church leadership decided that the best way for it to stay out of the nepotism and succession problems was to have an unmarried clergy that was not involved in the fights.

This might be a good time to explain the difference between priests and clerics. A priest is engaged in a vocation of service, a spiritual calling from God. A cleric occupies an organizational position in the institutional church. A man can be a priest without being a cleric.

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MINNESOTA
The Journal

November 19, 2013
By Kevin Sweeney – Journal Editor , The Journal

NEW ULM – The Diocese of New Ulm has been named as a defendant in a second lawsuit that accuses the diocese of failing to protect parishioners from sexual abuse from a priest that it should have known was a sexual predator.

The lawsuit was filed in Ramsey County Monday on behalf of a defendant identified as John Doe 107, now an adult residing in Colorado. The suit names the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of New Ulm.

The lawsuit claims the plaintiff was sexually abused by the Rev. William J. Marks, who was a priest in the two dioceses from 1948 to 1979. Marks, who died in November 1979, was assigned to parishes including St. Dionysus in Tyler, St. John’s Catholic Church in Hector, and St. Clotilde in Green Valley. All were located within the Archdiocese until 1959, when the Diocese of New Ulm was formed.

The suit alleges that the plaintiff was abused by Fr. Marks from 1957 to 1960, when he was 10 to 14 years old and served as an altar boy at St. John’s in Hector. The plaintiff said Marks would hug the boy hard, and slide his hands into and over the boy’s pants, usually before and after mass when the boy was changing into or out of his altar boy robes.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Abuses at the North Coast Children’s Home have been detailed to the third “case study” hearing of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney this week. The institution was run by the Anglican Church (known elsewhere as the Episcopalian Church or the Church of England), although their officials have denied this, claiming it was, in fact, run by a committee, and therefore the church was not morally or legally responsible for what happened there.

The audacity of the church’s attempts to deny responsibility can be shown by the inclusion of the sign on the main gate to the Home (pictured above) clearly identifying the “Church of England” (as the Anglican Church was then known). The above photo was tended to the enquiry as evidence.

An insight into Phillip Aspinall’s (see previous posting) church’s duplicity was given by the testimony, today, of lawyer, Simon Harrison, who represented some of the victims. He testified that the way the Anglican Church dealt with the claims was the most “scurrilous and mean-minded” he has ever seen. He said that a lawyer for the Grafton diocese, Peter Roland, claimed there were limited funds for Mr Harrison’s clients.

“He was pleading poverty, but I have seen that so many times with churches I just took it as a matter of course. Out of all the claims I’ve dealt with over quite a few years, the way this was dealt with by the church was perhaps the most scurrilous and mean-minded attitude I’d ever come across quite frankly.” When Mr Harrison represented a former resident, known only as CA, who sought compensation after the group settlement had been reached in 2007, he was told the North Coast Children’s Home file was closed.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

In an interview with the National Catholic Register, the Archbishop of Boston says “the Church is not a democracy” but a place of “dialogue and prayer”

MARCO TOSATTI
ROME

In two weeks’ time, the international group of eight cardinals Bergoglio chose to advise him on Curia reform will be holding their second meeting to discuss the progress of the work being done. The process of reform will not necessarily be a quick one: Paul VI’s reforms were several years in the making and even John Paul II’s Curia, which was decidedly smaller, took about two years to reform completely. After December’s meeting and another meeting in February on the occasion of the Consistory announced for the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, there will be yet another, apparently informal, meeting between members of the College of Cardinals. During this meeting it is likely that cardinals will at least be given some general guide lines. For now, very little information has been given about concrete plans.

The interview the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley gave a few days ago to the National Catholic Register doesn’t seem to provide any clues either. “As has been announced, there is a desire to reform the curia, to make it more at the service of the Holy Father and the local Churches. The goal is to make the curia more efficient and thus to allow the Holy Father to govern more effectively. It is important to review the functions of the dicasteries and pontifical councils, to see how they can work better.”

Then there is the question of internationalisation, a subject which has been debated for many years and which has been dealt with at the top levels of the Catholic Church (this is the third non-Italian Pope in a row) but perhaps not so much at other levels. “The Church has grown so much and is more international. So there is a desire to internationalize the curia to some extent. That could be difficult, however, because of linguistic challenges and the need for people to live in Rome.”

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COLOMBIA
El Tiempo

[Summary: Obeying Vatican orders, the Colombian Catholic Church has begun taking measures to avoid child sexual abuse by priests.]

Denuncias ante las autoridades civiles y un mayor filtro en los seminarios, parte de las medidas.

Obedeciendo a órdenes vaticanas, la Iglesia Católica colombiana empezó a impartir una lista de medidas con las que se busca evitar casos de abusos sexuales a niños por parte de sus sacerdotes.

Se trata de una serie de decretos, producto de una asamblea plenaria de obispos realizada en junio pasado –con instrucciones de la Santa Sede que surgieron desde el pontificado de Benedicto XVI- que ya están siendo implementados en varias jurisdicciones eclesiásticas del país. Las primeras son las diócesis de Ibagué y Espinal (Tolima), Tunja (Boyacá) y Girardota (Antioquia) pero las demás se irán sumando paulatinamente.

En general, estas medidas prometen que habrá tolerancia cero con los sacerdotes involucrados en casos de pederastia. Según monseñor José Daniel Falla, secretario general de la Conferencia Episcopal, se busca establecer una política integral de protección a los menores de edad para prevenir, investigar y sancionar eventuales delitos sexuales en las instituciones de la Iglesia.

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
The American Conservative

By ROD DREHER • November 16, 201

… while leaving a legion of them in one’s own:

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois has announced that he will conduct prayers of exorcism at the city’s cathedral on November 20, the date when Illinois Governor Pat Quinn will sign into law a bill recognizing same-sex marriage.

In a statement released by the Springfield diocese, Bishop Paprocki explained that the ritual of exorcism is designed not only for cases of demonic possession, but also for circumstances when the work of the devil is evident in public activities “and in various forms of opposition to and persecution of the Church.”

I’ll bet there’s not a bit of difference between my view of SSM and Bishop Paprocki’s. But I wonder if Bishop Paprocki has publicly exorcised his chancery. From a 2006 investigation then-Bishop Lucas ordered into his predecessor’s behavior:

Bishop Ryan engaged in sexual misconduct with adults and used his authority to conceal this misconduct. Although denied by Bishop Ryan, this behavior did occur and caused scandal in the Church by leading others to do evil. It resulted in feelings of hurt and anger, as well as thoughts of doubt and mistrust both in the Church as an institution and in its leaders. There is anecdotal evidence of local Catholics abandoning the faith as a result of that behavior. Bishop Ryan no longer resides in the diocese and no longer participates in public ministry.

From the Catholic News Service’s report on the results of the investigation:

Retired Springfield Bishop “engaged in improper sexual conduct and used his office to conceal his activities” when he headed the diocese, said an investigative report released by the diocese Aug. 2.

It said Springfield’s bishop from 1984 to 1999, fostered “a culture of secrecy … that discouraged faithful priests from coming forward with information about misconduct” by other clergy in the diocese.

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

MINNESOTA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on November 19, 2013

On October 5, the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis, which has been mired in a sex abuse and cover-up crisis, announced that an “independent” task force will convene to investigate how archdiocese officials handled abuse allegations, as well as review policies and procedures in place.
.
The official announcement stated that “The Vicar [Fr. Reginald Whitt] and the task force, which will convene this week, will have full authority and all the resources needed to complete their work. The findings and recommendations of this task force will be released publicly when the final report is complete.”

Then, less than two weeks later in a letter to clergy, Rev. Reginald Whitt wrote “Access to these files will be within my control, and limited only to what is necessary for the Task Force to be able to make an informed decision with respect to their policy review.”

Sound familiar? It’s the same tactic that bishops have been using with lay review boards for years: make a big announcement about being “open and transparent,” appoint a review board, then, when media attention dies down, tie the board members’ hands behind their back and throw them under the bus.

It’s public relations, nothing more.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

NCR Editorial Staff | Nov. 19, 2013

EDITORIAL

The documents we reprinted as a pullout in the center of the Nov. 22-Dec. 5 issue of the newspaper were sent to NCR by someone who feared the questionnaire from the Vatican about next year’s Synod of Bishops on the family wouldn’t get as wide a distribution as intended, at least here in the United States. The bishops of England and Wales put the questionnaire online for all to examine and respond to, but the instructions from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops didn’t seem to push for widest possible distribution.

NCR posted the documents online Oct. 31. At first, a couple church officials said NCR was making too much of this questionnaire — “We get requests like this all the time. We’ll handle it in the usual manner,” they said. The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, told another news outlet Nov. 2 that it is “only a document sent to bishops’ conferences” and a part of the habitual “praxis” of the Synod of Bishops. To say the document was more than that, he said, was “not true.”

But on Nov. 5, the Vatican had called a news conference to explain the documents and it too posted them online. The Synod of Bishops’ general secretary, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, said he expected pastors would provide summaries of the views and experiences of their parishioners, and that their findings would be “channeled” in turn through national bishops’ conferences for ultimate consideration by the synod. However, he also welcomed individual Catholics to communicate directly with the synod’s offices at the Vatican. Synod staff would consider that input for the synod’s working document, which should be published in May 2014, he said.

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

FORT WORTH (TX)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

Msgr. Michael F. Olson has been named the bishop of the Ft. Worth Catholic diocese.

[Star-Telegram]

We are glad every time a newly named bishop comes from outside a chancery office. Olson is no “outsider.” But we are encouraged because his last position wasn’t inside a diocesan headquarters.

Still, we urge Ft. Worth citizens and Catholics to be skeptical. Vigilance protects kids. Complacency protects no one. So while it’s tempting to give the new guy “the benefit of the doubt,” we urge parishioners and the public to report known and suspected clergy sexual misdeeds to secular officials, not church officials.

There are 12 publicly accused Ft. Worth child molesting clerics (according to BishopAccountability.org). We suspect the real number us three or four or five times higher. We hope the new bishop will scour the files and disclose the names, photos, whereabouts and work histories of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric who lives/lived or works/worked in the diocese (whether living or deceased, religious order or diocesan). And we hope he will update the list regularly and publicly.

Finally, we hope he will aggressively seek out others who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes by Father William Paiz. Last year, Fr. Paiz was accused of assaulting a child at All Saints Catholic Church, St. George Catholic Church and other locations. He worked at Nolan High School.

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

FORT WORTH (TX)
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Nov. 19, 2013 NCR Today

This is a press release from the U.S. bishops’ conference this morning:

Pope names seminary rector bishop of Fort Worth, Texas

November 19, 2013

WASHINGTON—Pope Francis has named Msgr. Michael Olson, 47, a priest of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas and rector of Holy Trinity Seminary at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, as bishop of Fort Worth.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, November 19, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

He succeeds Bishop Kevin Vann, who was named bishop of Orange, California, September 21, 2012.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Nov. 19, 2013 Distinctly Catholic

“Il Santo Padre Francesco ha nominato Vescovo di Fort Worth (U.S.A.) Mons. Michael F. Olson, del clero della medesima diocesi, finora Rettore del Seminario Holy Trinity a Irving, Texas.”

Placet! I remember Bishop-elect Olson when he was a Basselin Scholar at Theological College when I was also an inmate there. He was very smart and very, very funny. I also like the idea of bishops being chosen from within a diocese, not always, but a good candidate should not be excluded simply because he is a priest of the diocese in question. The good people of Ft. Worth are getting a very good man as their bishop. Ad multos annos!

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

by ANDREA GAGLIARDUCCI/CNA 11/19/2013

VATICAN CITY — At least 30 priests employed in Vatican departments may be removed from their posts and sent to dioceses in the following months, according to three different Vatican sources.
“The Congregation for Clergy will be the first of the list,” a Vatican source familiar with the congregation told CNA.

Four priests employed in the congregation have been called to serve in dioceses. Among them is Msgr. Luciano Alimandi, who had been private secretary for a number of years to the department’s former head Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos.

According to the source, Msgr. Alimandi and the other three were “all part of the Cardinal Mauro Piacenza’s inner circle.” He was prefect of the Congregation for Clergy until last September.

Cardinal Piacenza was appointed to lead the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary tribunal on Sept. 21. Archbishop Beniamino Stella replaced him as prefect for the Congregation of the Clergy.

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MINNESOTA
Westport News

By AMY FORLITI, Associated Press
Updated 12:48 pm, Tuesday, November 19, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who claims he was sexually abused by a priest in Hastings is suing the Twin Cities archdiocese, St. John’s Abbey, and a center that treats clergy with psychological issues.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday says Rev. Francis Hoefgen molested the man from 1989 through 1992 when the victim was 10 to 13 years old. Hoefgen was at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church at the time.

The lawsuit alleges defendants should have known Hoefgen was a danger because he molested another boy in 1983 at St. Boniface rectory in Cold Spring. Hoefgen admitted the abuse to police in a signed statement but wasn’t charged.

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MICHIGAN
The Mining Journal

MARQUETTE – Officials of the Catholic Diocese of Marquette have deemed credible a recent allegation of sexual abuse of a minor made against a deceased religious order priest from Belgium.

The allegation was lodged against the Rev. Bernard (“Father Ben”) Van der Schueren, S.J., a priest of the Society of Jesus, commonly called the Jesuits. The complaint deals with an incident involving a boy that happened during July of 1989 when Van der Schueren filled in for a diocesan priest at St. Michael Parish in Marquette, according to a press release from the diocese.

Van der Schueren died in 2009 at the age of 86.

As soon as the allegation was received, diocesan officials immediately began following the Diocese of Marquette’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct in Ministry, the release said. In keeping with that policy, the complaint was referred to Jesuit leadership, in this case, the Chicago-Detroit Province.

In addition, the Office of the Administrator of the Diocese of Marquette informed the Diocesan Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People of the complaint, and the diocesan attorney reported the allegation to the Marquette County Prosecutor’s Office.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 11/19/2013

A former Hastings priest and St. John’s Abbey were among those named Tuesday in a lawsuit by a Minnesota man who alleges the priest sexually abused him after “graduating” from a sex-offender treatment facility.

The alleged victim, now in his 30s, also sued the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and the treatment facility, Saint Luke Institute of Silver Springs, MD.

Rev. Francis Hoefgen admitted to police in 1984 that he sexually abused a minor, then was assigned the next year to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings after an evaluation at the institute, said the plaintiff’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, of St. Paul, in a statement.

It was at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton that Hoefgen sexually abused the plaintiff, identified as John Doe 27.

Hoefgen, a member of St. John’s Abbey, remained in ministry until 1992, serving in Cold Spring, Minn., as well as Hastings, Anderson said. Public records show him living currently in Columbia Heights. He was only 42 when his priestly assignments ended.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: TONY KENNEDY , Star Tribune Updated: November 19, 2013

Tuesday’s lawsuit claims prominent clergy treatment center and archdiocese concealed threat to minors.

Lawyers filed suit Tuesday morning in St. Paul against a Catholic-run treatment facility that cared for an abusive priest who then was sent to a new parish where he allegedly targeted a 10-year-old boy for years of repeated abuse.

Jeff Anderson, the St. Paul attorney who filed the suit on behalf of “Doe 27,” said it is the first lawsuit under Minnesota’s new Child Victims Act to name St. Luke Institute as a defendant. The facility in Silver Spring, Md., has been a popular destination for the treatment of Minnesota Catholic monks and priests who have been accused of sexual abuse of children, other sexual misconduct and addiction. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville are also being sued on behalf of Doe 27.

Coupled with a separate sexual abuse lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of a victim of another priest, the archdiocese has been sued at least 21 times since the Child Victims Act lifted the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse cases and gave past victims a three-year window to bring previously barred claims.

Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for St. Luke Institute, said she had not seen the lawsuit and had no immediate comment. The archdiocese could not be reached immediately for comment.

According to the latest complaint, the Rev. Francis Hoefgen, now 63, openly admitted to police in Cold Spring, Minn., that he sexually abused a 17-year-old boy while assigned to St. Boniface of Cold Spring in 1983. Then-Abbot Jerome Theisen, who was in charge of monks and priests from St. John’s Abbey, learned of the abuse in March 1984 and directed him to St. Luke’s, where he resided for about six months.

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WORCESTER (MA)
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Ares was a priest of the Worcester diocese, ordained in 1987. He was was indicted in late 1993 on charges of rape and indecent assault on a male youth who had gone to him for counseling. The case ended in a mistrial when the jury couldn’t reach a verdict. Ares died in 1998.

Ordained: 1987

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GALLUP (NM)
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on November 19, 2013

Months after the Diocese of Gallup announced intentions to seek bankruptcy protection, Gallup Bishop James Wall FINALLY filed a declaration with the federal bankruptcy court to officially begin the process.

Why the delay? Why were James Wall and church officials stalling? Perhaps it was this astonishing revelation:

Bishop Wall says in his declaration that there are 105 victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Gallup. According to the Gallup Independent, those survivors are alive.

When you compare the number of victims in Gallup with other dioceses, the shocking nature of the numbers is clear:

According to Catholic-Hierarchy.org, in 2006 (the last year that numbers were available), there were 60,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Gallup. The total population was 470,000.
Now, let’s compare:

In 2003, California opened a one-year civil window for victims of child sexual abuse. During that year, 97 victims came forward in the Diocese of Orange. At the time, there were 1,280,159 Catholics in Orange. The total population was slightly over 3 million.

That same year a little farther south, 150 victims came forward and filed child sex abuse and cover-up lawsuits against the Diocese of San Diego. That year, there were approximately 919,000 Catholics in that diocese. Total population was 3.1 million.

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CANADA
CTV

The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, November 19, 2013

IQALUIT, Nunavut — The defence lawyer for a priest facing dozens of sex abuse charges involving Inuit children is questioning the memory and motivation of the complainants.

Malcolm Kempt has cross-examined a woman who says Eric Dejaeger taped her face-down by her wrists and feet to a bed frame and violated her when she was a little girl.

Kempt asked the witness what Dejaeger was wearing at the time and requested she outline specific events around the attack.

Canada allowed priest charged with sex abuse to leave the country: church leader
He also queried her about a $16,000 out-of-court settlement she got from the Catholic Church.
Kempt has said the memory and credibility of alleged victims about events 30 years ago are key to Dejaeger’s defence.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday November 19, 2013

Statement by Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director, 314-862-7688 SNAPdorris@gmail.com

An unusual new clergy child sex abuse and cover up suit charges that a Catholic facility is negligent for enabling predator priests to be put back on the job, sometimes even after the clerics admit to sexually assaulting kids. We applaud this novel approach. Kids are safer when all institutions the protect pedophiles are held responsible, not just the sex offenders’ direct supervisors.

[Anderson Advocates]

This is the second time in a week that a Twin Cities area predator priest who admitted molesting kids and was put back on the job is in the news. (The other: Fr. Clarence Vavra)

St. Luke’s has evaluated and housed hundreds of credibly accused child molesting clerics, enabling them to flee and stay hidden, often until a controversy blows over. It has likely seen more priests accused of molesting kids than any other church facility, and has dealt with many of the most notorious serial clergy predators.

St. Luke’s has often refused to tell police when its “patients” tell its “therapists” about child sex crimes. St. Luke officials claim they are not legally required to make such reports.

In many cases, predators have left St. Luke’s and been assigned to a parish only to continue molesting children.

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NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, NM, Nov. 18, 2013

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

ALBUQUERQUE — For more than a decade, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup has declined to specify how many alleged victims have come forward with allegations of clergy sex abuse.

But during the diocese’s first hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Friday — mixed into the courtroom’s opening discussion of how to keep the diocese operational and how the Chapter 11 process will begin to move forward — a startling number emerged against the backdrop of mundane details. It was a number that was repeatedly referenced in discussions about mailing lists, notices that had to be sent, and names and addresses that had to be kept confidential.

Based on statements made by Judge David T. Thuma, as well as by attorneys for both the diocese and for some of the abuse survivors, apparently 105 people have come forward and said they are survivors of clergy sex abuse in the diocese. That number includes people who have already signed financial settlements with the diocese in the past, people who came forward with allegations but did not seek settlements and those who have current claims against the diocese.

Because the 105 names are included on the case’s confidential mailing list, presumably all 105 individuals are still living.

This figure significantly boosts any previous estimates as to the total number of clergy sex abuse victims in the Gallup Diocese. A number of alleged victims are deceased, including some who have committed suicide and others who have died of alcohol and drug abuse, based on past reporting. It is also possible that more abuse survivors could come forward.

As part of the Chapter 11 process, a “bar date” deadline will be set. Abuse survivors who want to file a claim against the Gallup Diocese must come forward by that date.

According to the hearing Friday, the court will be approving a plan to provide notice to abuse survivors and the public, and a creditors’ committee will be formed. In church bankruptcy cases, the creditors’ committees generally have five to seven members who are clergy sex abuse survivors.

Also Friday, Thuma ruled that employees of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup can continue to be paid and receive benefits during bankruptcy protection proceedings.

For those interested in reading the documents the Diocese of Gallup initially filed in bankruptcy court, they are available for download via the Voice of the Southwest website. They are located in the “News” section under the headline “Chapter 11 Filing: Documents from November 12 and 13.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this story
Online: www.voiceofthesouthwest.org/category/news/

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday November 19, 2013

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

We are worried that some victims of child sex crimes will be even more afraid to report predators in light of the damage award in the recent case involving a Catholic school teacher.

[NBC Bay Area]

It’s extremely tough for men, women and kids who were sexually assaulted as children to speak up, get help, expose wrongdoers, protect others and start healing. Most victims never tell of the horror they endured. So most predators are never charged, convicted or jailed. And so the horrific cycle of violence and pain continues, and millions of children’s lives are shattered every year.

One way to help end this tragedy is to make it easier, not harder, for victims to disclose their suffering and pursue their perpetrators.

Again, we fear this $362,000 award will scare more already-wounded and struggling victims into staying silent.

So we call on San Jose Bishop Patrick J. McGrath to educate his flock about how rare false abuse allegations are leveled against Catholic employees.

The overwhelming majority of child sex abuse charges against Catholic officials are legitimate.

Consider:

–According to BishopAccountability.org: “Fewer than 2 percent of sexual abuse allegations against the Catholic church appear to be false.”

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NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, NM, Nov. 14, 2013

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

ALBUQUERQUE — The Diocese of Gallup filed its petition for Chapter 11 reorganization in Albuquerque’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court late Tuesday, after claiming mounting clergy sex abuse claims forced the decision.

The diocese’s newly hired bankruptcy attorneys are set to appear before Judge David T. Thuma for an emergency hearing Friday morning to ask the court to approve a number of motions to keep the diocese operating. Included in the motions are requests to use existing bank accounts and cash management system, prohibit utility service providers from discontinuing services and the payment of wages to its employees.

The diocese, incorporated in both New Mexico and Arizona, filed more than 400 pages of documents. Listed creditors include a couple of banks, a number of local and national utility companies and about 50 employees, including six priests out of the 38 priests reported to be working in the diocese. It is unclear why the remaining priests are not listed as employees.

The main creditors are expected to be individuals with clergy sex abuse claims against the diocese. Currently, 13 men and women, represented by attorneys Robert E. Pastor, of Phoenix, and John C. Manly, of Irvine, Calif., have filed clergy sex abuse lawsuits against the diocese in Arizona’s Coconino County Superior Court. The diocese has said there are another eight pending claims not in litigation, and it expects more claims to be filed. Pastor and Manly are listed as attorneys for tort claimants, as is Houston attorney Richard T. Fass.

Bishop’s declaration

“I believe it is in everyone’s best interests to move the Reorganization Case expeditiously to conclusion,” Gallup Bishop James S. Wall stated in a declaration document he filed supporting the petition. “Otherwise, estate assets will be consumed with the costs of the Chapter 11 as opposed to being primarily used to compensate those who have been harmed.”

Wall admitted the diocese “will be challenged just to pay the costs of administration of the Reorganization Case, without regard to funding a plan to compensate those who have been abused.”

Certainly the diocese’s bankruptcy attorneys — who charge hundreds of dollars per hour — might walk away from the Chapter 11 with more money than any claimant who was sexually abused as a child by a Gallup priest.

Those attorneys are Susan Bowell, Elizabeth Fella and Lori Winkelman, of Quarles & Brady in Tucson, Ariz., and Thomas D. Walker, of Walker & Associates in Albuquerque. Boswell, the top bankruptcy attorney, has previously represented other Roman Catholic dioceses.

In addition, the diocese hired Keegan, Linscott & Kenon, a Tucson tax, accounting and business consulting firm, after its chief financial officer, Deacon James Hoy, resigned just two months before the Chapter 11 announcement was made.

Bankruptcy strategy

Where the diocese will be getting the money to pay these attorneys, accountants and creditors was not explained by the bishop in his declaration document. However, the bishop appears to hint at the diocese’s bankruptcy strategy through the following points:

-Wall claims the Gallup Diocese is the poorest Roman Catholic diocese in the country.

-Wall emphasizes the large Native American population in the diocese’s geographic area even though the majority of Catholics in the diocese are Hispanic and Anglo, and the majority of Native Americans are not Catholic.

-Wall offers considerable explanation as to how the Gallup Diocese and its parishes “are separate ecclesiastical entities in their own right” and that their debts and assets are separate from each other. The only exception to that is St. Anthony’s Parish in McNary, Ariz., which “simply does not have the resources to support itself,” Wall states.

-Wall states, “The diocesan bishop … does not have the right to possess, sell, encumber or otherwise dispose of parish property.”

-Wall also states that although in many instances the Diocese of Gallup is listed on the deeds to parish property as the title holder, this “does not reflect the true ownership of the property.”

-Wall admits that shortly before the diocese filed the Chapter 11 petition, he and a representative of every parish “executed and caused to be recorded in the public records of the county in which the real property was located a notice of the trust relationship” between the diocese and the parish. Wall said this was done in “order to avoid any confusion about the ownership” of parish property.

-Wall continues to claim most of the clergy abuse allegations date back to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s even though a number of publicly accused abusers remained in ministry in the 1980s and 1990s and last decade.

In contrast, although the bishop has stated the need for Chapter 11 reorganization was caused by rising numbers of clergy sex abuse claims, Wall, in his submitted document, does not provide any information about the names of the clergy sex abusers whose crimes against children led the diocese into bankruptcy court, nor does he offer information about the total number of alleged victims who have come forward or the total number of abuse allegations.

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CANADA
Nunatsiaq Online

DAVID MURPHY

The Nunavut Court of Justice heard stories of child rape, bestiality and defecation as a means to escape sexual assault on Nov. 18, day one of the Eric Dejaeger trial in Iqaluit.

A lean Dejaeger, 66, showed up in court wearing a shaggy grey beard hanging down to his chest and blue standard-issue prison garb.

At the start of the day’s sitting, Dejaeger pleaded guilty to eight charges of indecent assault.

That leaves 69 more charges, most of them sex-related allegations involving minors, to be tried before Justice Robert Kilpatrick, who is sitting alone without a jury.

Reporters and supporter witnesses packed the courtroom to hear from three witnesses whose evidence is related to nine of the 69 charges.

The trial began with a witness who testifying about her experience with “Father Eric” inside the Catholic church in Igloolik between 1978 and 1982.

None of the witnesses may be indentified.

The first witness said Dejaeger put his hand into her pants and stroked her vagina under her underwear while she sat on his lap in the mass area of St. Stephen’s church.

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CANADA
Nunatsiaq Online

BY DAVID MURPHY)

Father Eric Dejaeger might not be sitting in an Iqaluit courtroom this week if it hadn’t been for the work of Godelieve Halsberghe.

She’s the person who discovered Dejaeger had been living and working in Belgium for 15 years in spite of outstanding arrest warrants against him issued in Nunavut and by Interpol.

This ultimately led to the priest’s return to Canada to face numerous sex charges, most of them flowing from his stay in Igloolik in the later 1970s and early 1980s.

That was in 2010. Now her niece, Lieve Halsberghe, is visiting Iqaluit to see her aunt’s work completed.

“She gave me this file and I took it on and I have to finish,” Halsberghe said in an interview with Nunatsiaq News.

She’s travelled more than 7,500 kilometers to get from Beligum to Iqaluit to attend Dejaeger’s trial, which began Nov. 18.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Examiner

Jenna Cairney 19th Nov 2013

IT MAY have been coincidence rather than conniving but neither is really good enough.

I’m talking about the timing of the announcement of the new bishop of the Grafton Diocese.

The timing of the announcement on the first day of the public inquiry’s hearing into evidence of child abuse at the Anglican Church’s North Coast Children’s Home was insensitive.

By all accounts the evidence heard yesterday was harrowing and heartbreaking.

It’s hard to think of adults breaking down in the witness stand recounting what they had to endure as children.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Channel Online

The police treatment of a disabled woman who claimed she was abused by a church warden in Jersey is being discussed by politicians today.

Back in March, the island’s Dean was suspended for failing to properly investigate the allegations by the 26-year-old disabled woman.

Jersey comes under the Diocese of Winchester which has clear safeguarding procedures on what to do when allegations of abuse are made against a church worker.

The disabled woman – known as HG – claimed a church warden had abused her, but the independent review found that the Very Rev Key did not properly handle the complaint.

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DELAWARE
Delmarva Public Radio

By DON RUSH

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – A federal jury in Delaware has awarded $2.4 million to a New Jersey man who claimed he was abused as a boy more than 30 years ago by a cleric who worked in the Archdiocese of New York.

Forty-four-year-old Brian Elliott said he was repeatedly molested by Brother Damian Galligan in several states, including while passing through Delaware during a trip to Virginia in 1981.

Galligan is 86 and lives in a Missouri retirement facility. He initially denied the allegations but later decided not to fight the lawsuit, saying he was in poor health and didn’t have the strength to do so.

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OKLAHOMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Two local Catholic bishops should do “outreach,” victims say
Accused in two states, they fear he may have hurt OK kids too
A jury awarded one of his victims $4 million but cleric has paid little

For immediate release: Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com)

A credibly accused predator priest who allegedly molested kids in two states has apparently lived in Oklahoma but never been accused here. And victims’ group is urging Oklahoma Catholic officials to warn parents, parishioners and the public about him and “aggressively” seek out anyone there who may have be hurt by him.

[Bangor Daily News]

A child sex abuse lawsuit against Fr. Raymond P. Melville, who allegedly assaulted kids in Maine and Maryland, was tossed out last week by the Maine Supreme Court. Leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, are asking the Catholic bishops of Tulsa and Oklahoma City to use church bulletins, pulpit announcements and parish websites to alert Oklahoma citizens and Catholics about Fr. Melville’s presence here.

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UNITED STATES
NEWS.com.au

HANA Williams was supposed to have a better life in the United States.

Instead, the Ethiopian teenager was subjected to horrifying abuse at the hands of her adoptive parents, Larry and Carri. Then, three years after travelling to the US from an African orphanage, Hana was found dead in her own backyard.

Carri Williams has since been convicted of “homicide by abuse” and sentenced to 37 years in prison. Her husband Larry will serve 28 years. The pair terrorised a household of nine children, two of whom were adopted, with a strict disciplinary regime that turned deadly on May 11, 2011. …

The Williams family lived on an isolated, 5.6-acre property in Sedro-Woolley, a small town deep in the American northwest. Larry and Carri practised a fundamentalist brand of Christianity while homeschooling their children and banning most TV and internet access, Slate reports.

The couple’s strict parenting style appears to have been taken from the book To Train Up A Child, which has been implicated in the deaths of two other adoptees. While the Williams’ biological children were seemingly well “trained”, their two adopted kids, Hana and Immanuel, were often singled out for brutal punishment.

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

By: Jennie Olson

There’s another lawsuit against the Catholic Church over more sexual abuse claims.

The lawsuit names the Order of St. Benedict/St. John’s Abbey, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Saint Luke Institute and Father Francis Hoefgen as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges the organizations allowed Father Hoefgen to work with children even after he admitted to police in 1984 that he sexually abused a minor.

Hoefgen, who was a member of St. John’s, was sent to Saint Luke Institute for an evaluation in 1984 and returned to ministry in 1985 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says he sexually abused a boy when he was there. The victim is a Minnesota man who is now in his 30s.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
ramirez@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH For the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, a priest within the diocese was named as its bishop on Tuesday by Pope Francis, diocese officials said.

Pope Francis named Rev. Msgr. Michael F. Olson, 47, a rector of Irving-based Holy Trinity Seminary, as the fourth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth.

The announcement of the appointment was made Tuesday morning by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States — the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S.

Olson will be ordained bishop and installed as Bishop of Fort Worth at a 2 p.m. Mass Jan. 29 in the Fort Worth Convention Center, 1201 Houston Street.

The 47-year-old Olson will become the second youngest bishop in the United States to lead a diocese. The youngest is fellow seminary classmate Bishop Oscar Cantú of the Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Both are graduates of the St. Mary Seminary in Houston, a Fort Worth diocese release states.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth

Attention: A live stream video of the introduction and press conference of Bishop-elect Michael F. Olson, S.T.D., M.A. will be made available on this web page starting at at 9:45 a.m. The event begins at 10:00 a.m.

El Papa Francisco Nombra al Rev. Mons. Michael F. Olson, S.T.D., M.A. como Nuevo Obispo De la Diócesis Católica de Fort Worth

His Holiness, Pope Francis on Tuesday named Rev. Msgr. Michael F. Olson, S.T.D., M.A. 47, a priest of the Diocese of Fort Worth and currently the rector of Irving-based Holy Trinity Seminary, the fourth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth.

The announcement of the appointment was made by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States—the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S.

Complete Press Release
Bishop-elect Michael F. Olson’s Biography

Su Santidad, el Papa Francisco este martes nombró al Rev. Mons. Michael F. Olson, S.T.D., M.A. de 47 años, un sacerdote de la Diócesis de Fort Worth y rector actual del Seminario de Holy Trinity en Irving, el cuarto obispo de la Diócesis Católica de Fort Worth.

El anuncio de este nombramiento fue hecho por el Arzobispo Carlo Maria Viganò, el Nuncio Apostólico a los Estados Unidos—el embajador del Vaticano a los EE.UU.

Nota de prensa completa
Biografía del Obispo-electo Michael F. Olson

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 19 November 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father:

– appointed Msgr. Michael F. Olson as bishop of Fort Worth (area 62,007, population 3,287,000, Catholics 710,000, priests 129, permanent deacons 109, religious 151), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Park Ridge, U.S.A. in 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1994. He holds a doctorate in moral theology from the Alphonsianum Academy, Rome, and has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles, including lecturer at the St. Louis University Medical School, formator at the St. Mary seminary, professor at St. Thomas University, Houston, priest in the parish of St. Peter the Apostle in Fort Worth, and vicar general of Fort Worth. He is currently diocesan consultor and rector of the Holy Trinity seminary in Irving.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The Anglican Diocese of Grafton broke protocol by keeping files on child abuse allegations in its registry rather than referring them for independent scrutiny.

The diocese’s view that the attention of the professional standards director was not warranted in these cases was described during a royal commission hearing on Tuesday as demonstrating the diocese was not fully committed to investigating allegations.

The northern NSW diocese is the focus of hearings in Sydney as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse looks at the response to claims of abuse at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore.

Former Anglican Diocese of Grafton acting registrar Anne Hywood told Tuesday’s public hearing a November 2012 audit identified matters in the registry that should have been referred to professional standards director Michael Elliot.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Harrowing evidence against Anglican Diocese in Grafton given at royal commission into child sexual abuse

MATTHEW BENNS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH NOVEMBER 19, 2013

YOUNG children would chant prayers in their dark church dormitory while an Anglican Minister fondled one of them under their bed clothes, the royal commission into child sexual abuse heard today.

One of the victims from the former North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore wrote a harrowing letter, years later, to the Anglican Diocese in Grafton to tell how children would say special prayers “and then have a Minister fondle your little body.”

“He would hear our prayers in the dark dormitory at the end of the home. A chair pulled to the chosen child’s bed and as all chanted the prayers his hands would wander over the small budding body,” wrote the victim, who can only be identified as CA.

“His mouth on lips that had never known a gentle human touch whilst the tongue explored a mouth that needed to scream,” wrote the female victim, now aged 58.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

A lawyer who represented abuse victims from a NSW children’s home says the way the Anglican Church dealt with the claims was the most ‘scurrilous and mean-minded’ he has ever seen.

When Simon Harrison led a group claim for victims of abuse at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore, a lawyer for the Grafton diocese, Peter Roland, claimed there were limited funds for Mr Harrison’s clients.

‘He was pleading poverty, but I have seen that so many times with churches I just took it as a matter of course,’ Mr Harrison told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Tuesday.

‘Out of all the claims I’ve dealt with over quite a few years, the way this was dealt with by the church was perhaps the most scurrilous and mean-minded attitude I’d ever come across quite frankly.’

And when Mr Harrison represented a former resident, known only as CA, who sought compensation after the group settlement had been reached in 2007, he was told the North Coast Children’s Home file was closed.

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MINNESOTA
KARE

[with video]

Rena Sarigianopoulos

MINNEAPOLIS — It seems there is a new lawsuit announced almost daily in regards to allegations of priest abuse in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Archdiocese. But how much of an impact is it really having on the image of the church?

“So far they haven’t been very adept at responding to this, so they’re getting beat up in the short term,” says public relations and crisis management specialist Jon Austin.

Austin’s whole world is helping organizations deal with the public when things go terribly wrong. He says though the Archdiocese should really be more transparent, regardless of how they handle it, they’ll likely be just fine.

“If you go to Rome and you stand in the Vatican in the square and you just contemplate the sheer scope of this organization, you have to conclude this is not an existential threat to the church,” says Austin.

That said, and not taking anything away from the seriousness of the allegations, Austin says, this is a case of a 2,000 year old establishment trying to operate in today’s world.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Gerry Braiden
Senior reporter

Tuesday 19 November 2013

AN investigation into a parish priest suspended for his memoirs alleging a culture of homosexual bullying within the church will also deal with his accusations.

Father Matthew Despard was suspended amid dramatic scenes at the weekend after a penal judicial process was launched, a full eight months after his book Priesthood In Crisis was put on sale.

However, church sources have said that, as well as investigating Father Despard’s conduct in releasing the book and its impact on serving clergy, any probe would have to examine what is alleged within it.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated November 18, 2013

When the Victorian Inquiry 750-page report was tabled last November 13, 2013, it made 15 sweeping recommendations and it particularly savaged the Catholic Church because, as committee member Andrea Coote said in her speech to Parliament, the Vatican (Roman) Catholic Church was the focus of the vast majority of testimony (estimated 95% of the pedophile crimes discovered in the inquiry were committed by pedophile priests) and the report made clear, that members of the committee were unimpressed by the testimony of Catholic leaders – especially Cardinal George Pell – who trivialized and minimalized – the most heinous crimes against children committed by bestial priests – covered-up by him and his colleagues of Catholic Cardinals and Bishops for decades – to protect the “godly” reputation and hidden wealth of the Vatican (Roman) Catholic Church. One headline by The Tablet read: “Australian report finds ‘substantial criminal child abuse’ in Church” meaning the Vatican Catholic Church (it’s not “Roman Catholic”, read why and see news compilation below).

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Sentinel

Catholic News Service

SYDNEY — Australian bishops have welcomed the report by the Victorian state inquiry into clerical sexual abuse, which recommended sweeping changes in the wake of what one archbishop described as more than 25 years of “inexcusable failures” by the church.

Those who would conceal, fail to report, or knowingly expose a child to abuse, including priests and religious leaders, would face imprisonment under recommendations by the Victorian parliamentary committee.

Under current law, only those who benefit from the concealment of crime can be prosecuted. The state has six months to respond.

The report, Betrayal of Trust, also recommended overturning statutes of limitations in civil suits, improving prevention systems, requiring strict compliance audits and establishing alternative avenues of justice for victims, because it said systems set up by churches were not truly independent.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- The Vatican’s new envoy Jude Thaddeus Okolo will arrive Monday in the country, where two of his Catholic Church colleagues are at the center of major scandals involving the alleged sexual abuse of minors.

Citing sources, elnuevodiario.com.do reports that Dominican ambassador in the Vatican Victor Grimaldi on Sunday hosted a sendoff for Okolo, just months after his predecessor Jósef Wesolowski, from Poland, was ousted as the scandal surfaced of his alleged pedophilia.

Catholic priest and Polish national Wojciech Gil was also indicted for allegedly abusing boys in the town of Juncalito, Santiago Province.

Okolo’s farewell at the Dominican Embassy came after he met with Pope Francis.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Northern Echo

Dispelling myths around sexual abuse – rapists don’t look like Jimmy Savile and victims are never to blame, according to charity

By Joanna Morris
A NORTH-EAST charity is calling for more to be done to dispel myths around sexual and domestic abuse ahead of the international Eliminate Violence Against Women Day on Monday November 25.

Figures from 2010 showed more than 160,000 women living in the North-East have experienced domestic abuse and almost 150,000 have suffered sexual assault.

Since then, The Centre – a rape and sexual abuse counselling centre covering Darlington and County Durham – has seen demand increase by 100 per cent.

Despite this, many cases of rape and sexual abuse still go unreported.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Adrienne Francis

The new Canberra and Goulburn Archbishop says the Catholic Church could do more to support victims of child sexual abuse.

Former Victorian bishop Christopher Prowse was installed as the new Catholic Archbishop during a solemn Mass at St Christopher’s Cathedral in Forrest.

In delivering the homily, Archbishop Prowse mentioned the Royal Commission and parliamentary inquiries into child sexual abuse, telling the packed congregation he truly felt for its victims.

“We can always do a lot more,” Archbishop Prowse said.

“First of all, we have got to listen to their stories. I think we need to really improve on that.

“The victims, these courageous and brave people, coming out to share their horrendous stories and we want to stand alongside them and be supportive of them in these fragile times.”

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Sam Kellner hasn’t been convicted or tried. In fact, the case against him has very publicly imploded and Kellner has not been put on trial and has not pleaded guilty.

But the Jewish Daily Forward not only ran a hit piece on Kellner last week, its Twitter feed claims Kellner is a “convicted extortionist,” as you can see below.

Right below that libelous November 16, 2013 tweet about Kellner – which was still posted at 8:30 pm CST tonight, more than 2 days after it was originally made – is a tweet about a Sisterhood blog post by Elana Sztokman, Why Hasidic Sex Abuse of Boys Is Feminist Issue.

That post originally mentioned anti-child-sex-abuse activist Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg and the Vice article that opens with Nuchem’s 2005 trip to Zupnik’s mikva in Jerusalem, where he stumbled upon an adult hasid having anal sex with a young boy.

That post was taken down by the Forward and reposted a day later with that citation – and Nuchem Rosenberg – removed.

I don’t have a screenshot of the original post, unfortunately. But you can read my post on that Zupnik mikva incident from 2006. Note that Badatz Yerushalayim took Nuchem seriously and appointed a guard for the mikva to try to stop rape of children from happening there.

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NEW MEXICO
KRQE

[with video]

By Kim Vallez

GALLUP, N.M. (KRQE) – Employees of the Gallup diocese will continue to get paid and receive benefits while the diocese goes through bankruptcy protection proceedings.

The diocese announced in September that it planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because of mounting claims of clergy sex abuse.

Attorneys say more than 100 people may file claims in the case putting the diocese in a tight financial spot.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Bay Area

A Santa Clara County jury that found three schoolgirls and their parents liable for defaming a Catholic school teacher they branded a ”perv” is about to decide how much one of the students should pay in punitive damages.

The jury found on Friday that the defendants damaged John Fischler’s reputation by spreading false statements that he inappropriate touched the children and peeked into a girls’ bathroom. The former P.E. teacher was cleared by police of sexual misconduct.

The San Jose Mercury News reports the 49-year-old teacher was awarded at least $362,000 in compensatory damages.

The jury also found that one of the girls, now 14 years old, acted with malice and is liable for punitive damages. The second phase of the trial to determine how much she’ll have to pay is set to begin Monday.

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CALIFORNIA
The Raw Story

By George Chidi
Sunday, November 17, 2013

False accusations of misconduct fuel the nightmares of grade school teachers, given the litigiousness and bureaucracy of the schoolhouse.

But one former Catholic school teacher in California has achieved what his attorney called “complete vindication” against a cabal of Mean Girls-style student accusers, and their parents: a civil court judgment of $362,653 in compensatory damages after a jury found the families had spread false statements about him that damaged his reputation.

John Fischler, 49, a former physical education teacher at Holy Spirit school in Almaden Valley faced accusations of inappropriately touching 10- and 11-year-old girls and peeking in a girls’ bathroom, the San Jose Mercury News reported. After school officials cleared him of misconduct, Fischler sued the students and the parents for defamation, claiming that the persistent rumor-mongering by their families had tainted his teaching career and prevented him from returning to the classroom.

In one of the accusations, an 11-year-old girl said Fischler touched her buttocks in 2009 while teaching squat thrusts. Fischler denied having touched the girl’s rear but admitted to touching her hips to correct her form. He was admonished for violating a “no-touching” rule but cleared of misconduct. The sister of the girl, in a group with other students, later accused him of leering into a girls bathroom, a charge that police later determined was unfounded. Fischler had been forced to enter after the sound of shrieking disrupted a nearby class down the hall. Police later found that the girls had been trying deliberately to get them fired, with one of them coercing others into the false accusation.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS News

(CBS/AP) SAN JOSE, Calif. – A Northern California jury that found three schoolgirls and their parents liable for defaming a Catholic school teacher they branded as a “perv” is about to decide how much one of the students should pay in punitive damages.

The Santa Clara County Superior Court jury found on Friday that the defendants damaged John Fischler’s reputation by spreading false statements two years ago that he inappropriately touched the 10- and 11-year-old girls and peeked into a girls’ bathroom at Holy Spirit School in Almaden Valley.

The former physical education teacher was awarded $362,000 in compensatory damages.

The jury also found that one of the girls, whom Fischler called the “ringleader” in spreading the rumors, acted with malice and is liable for punitive damages. The San Jose Mercury News reports the second phase of the trial to determine how much she’ll have to pay is set to begin Monday.

According to an October report by CBS San Francisco, a girl who was a witness in the case said she was pressured into saying Fischler leered into the girl’s bathroom.

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CALIFORNIA
California Catholic Daily

The following comes from a Nov. 15 Mercury News story.

Two years after San Jose schoolgirls branded a teacher as a “perv” and “creeper” who inappropriately touched kids and peeked into their restroom, a civil jury Friday found the children and their parents financially liable for defamation in a case that pitted the rights of the accused against the aim of reporting perceived abuse.

The jury awarded $362,653 in compensatory damages to former Catholic school physical education teacher John Fischler after finding the families spread false statements about him that damaged his reputation. The 49-year-old broke into a huge smile Friday when he heard the favorable verdict, which his lawyer characterized as “complete vindication.”

“I’m grateful the jury was able to see through the smoke screen and the truth came out.” Fischler said in a choked voice outside the courtroom. “There’s always going to be a scar. But the jury saw through the deception.”

The Santa Clara County Superior Court panel also found that one of the girls — who was 11 years old at the time — acted with malice and is liable for punitive damages. The jury will decide how much during the second phase of the trial, which begins Monday. Judge William Monahan admonished jurors not to discuss the trial until it’s over.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

November 19, 2013

Barney Zwartz, Religion Editor

Victoria Police evidence about child sexual abuse that savaged the Catholic Church was unfair and an attempt to distance itself from its own failures, a state government report says.

It took 16 years – and problems becoming public – before police paid attention to the fundamental problems in the way the church in Melbourne dealt with complaints – a process to which police had originally agreed, the report says.

Betrayal of Trust, the report of the parliamentary inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse, was tabled last week.

In testimony to the inquiry last October, police accused the church of deliberately impeding their investigations into child abuse, dissuading victims from reporting to police, failing to engage with police, protecting sexual offenders and alerting suspects of allegations against them.

Police also attacked the Melbourne Response independent commissioner, Peter O’Callaghan, QC, and complained that not one case had been referred to them.

However, Mr O’Callaghan defended himself vigorously when he gave evidence, saying the church and police had signed an agreement on how the Melbourne Response church protocol would work before he was appointed, and police had not told him of any dissatisfaction until the inquiry was announced.

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GEORGIA
WSBT

[with video]

By Tom Regan

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — Parents of children who attend the Kings Way Baptist Church School in Douglasville packed a meeting Monday night to learn more about the abrupt resignation of their pastor of 15 years.

The Rev. Bill Wininger left the church last month, after allegations of sexual abuse from nearly 20 years ago in Michigan, surfaced on the Internet. Wininger has neither been arrested nor charged with any crime.

Bethany Nicole-Leonard, who claims she was abused as a child, traveled from her home in Pennsylvania to speak out to parents and other church members at the meeting. She started an online petition drive to call attention to her allegations and those of others.

“A friend of mine actually started it. A Facebook page for justice for victims of Bill Wininger, is what it’s called. We have a petition on that page, and every time it’s signed, it’s sending an email to the prosecutor in Michigan to try to get them to do a thorough investigation and take action criminally,” Nicole-Leonard told Channel 2’s Tom Regan.

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