ABUSE TRACKER

TEXAS/VIRGINIA
Richmond Times-Dispatch

BY LOUIS LLOVIO
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Geronimo Aguilar, the disgraced founder and former senior pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center, has been indicted by a Texas grand jury on two counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child younger than 14 and on two counts of indecency with a child.

If convicted on the two aggravated sexual assault charges, which are first-degree felonies, Aguilar, who once led raucous church services packed with throngs of loyal followers, could spend the rest of his life in a Texas prison.

The indecency charges are second-degree felonies that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.

Aguilar and his attorney did not respond to a request for comment Friday evening.

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ALASKA
News-Miner

Weston Morrow /wmorrow@newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS—The Catholic Church announced Friday that Pope Francis had appointed Fairbanks Bishop Donald J. Kettler to lead the diocese of St. Cloud, Minn.

The announcement came 15 months after St. Cloud Bishop John Kinney submitted a letter of retirement to the Vatican. Catholic law requires bishops retirement at age 75.

Kettler has been bishop of the diocese of Fairbanks for 11 years, first arriving in 2002, two years after the death of the prior bishop, Rev. Michael J. Kaniecki. Kaniecki had held the post since 1984.

Kettler presided over the diocese when more than a dozen men sued the Fairbanks branch of the Catholic church, accusing one of its priests of sexual abuse. The diocese’s own announcement Friday about Kettler’s departure noted he “oversaw the darkest period in the diocese’s history.”

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OHIO
Dayton Daily News

By News Staff

CINCINNATI — A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy 22 years ago was found guilty of sex charges in federal court Friday.

Rev. Robert Poandl, of Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners, was found guilty of one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex, a charge that carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

No bond was set on Poandl. He was ordered to have no contact with minors and will be fitted with a global tracking device.

Poandl, 72, took the boy to Spencer, W.Va., on Aug. 3, 1991, and raped him while visiting a church there, prosecutors said. Poandl’s attorney, Stephen Wenke, told jurors the allegations were false and denied the boy was even on the trip.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Australian

US catholic priest caught in school carpark with pantless 15-year-old boy in Pennsylvania

A CATHOLIC priest has been caught in a car with a pantless 15-year-old boy.

Reverand W. Jeffrey Paulish was charged by police in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, with one count of “involuntary deviate sexual intercourse” and one count of “unlawful contact with a minor” after the pair were spotted in a car on a college campus.

The priest is being held in the county jail on $50,000 bail.

Police say they found Rev Paulish with the boy after responding to a call from the Worthington Scranton campus of Penn State University.

The priest told the police he was “counseling” the teen after being approached by the boy who was in “emotional distress”.

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OHIO
Local 12

[with video]

CINCINNATI (Adam Clements) — “I can honestly say I have been to hell and back in these last four and a half years.”

They’re the words of a mother, relieved after hearing one word – Guilty.

A jury found Father Robert Poandl guilty of federal sex abuse charges.

His victim says the priest took him to visit a church in West Virginia in 1991, and molested him. At the time, the victim was just ten years old.

“He has dealt with this for 22 years, until he could finally see justice.” says the victim’s mother.

The victim’s parents are happy with the legal system, but still disappointed in the church.

“In the case of our son,” says the victim’s father, “none of them contacted him. One priest contacted us privately, and that was it. That’s all the help we got from the church.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Times-Leader

September 21. 2013

By Roger DuPuis – rdupuis@civitasmedia.com

SCRANTON — A priest who has served at more than a dozen Northeastern Pennsylvania parishes — including several in Luzerne County — has been suspended from his post in Old Forge after he allegedly was caught in a car on a college campus having sex with a boy.

Security officers at Penn State Worthington Scranton say they discovered the Rev. William Jeffery Paulish, 56, parked in a red Toyota Thursday night with a 15-year-old boy who wasn’t wearing any pants, according to an affidavit.

The priest told investigators he arraigned the liaison via postings on the website Craigslist, Lackawanna County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer McCambridge said Friday night.

Paulish initially told police he was walking around campus working on his homily, according to the affidavit. He said he encountered the boy by chance, learned that the teen was in emotional distress and was counseling the youth, police said. …

——————————————

Parish assignments

The Diocese of Scranton provided a list of The Rev. William Jeffrey Paulish’s assignments since his ordination 25 years ago:
• Sept. 3, 1988 – ordained
• Sept. 9, 1988 – June 19, 1991: assistant pastor, Our Lady of the Snows, Clarks Summit
• June 20, 1991 – Jan. 14, 1992: assistant pastor, Annunciation, Williamsport
• Jan. 15 – June 21, 1992: assistant pastor, St. Cecilia’s, Exeter
• June 22, 1992 – July 6, 1993: assistant pastor, Most Precious Blood, Hazleton
• July 7, 1993 – Jan. 23, 1994: assistant pastor, Sacred Heart, Peckville
• Jan. 24, 1994 – July 4, 2000: chaplain, Little Flower Manor, Wilkes-Barre
• July 5, 2000 – July 5, 2004: pastor at St. Francis Xavier, Friendsville, St. Patrick’s, Middletown, and St. Thomas the Apostle, Little Meadows
• July 6 – Nov. 9, 2004: leave of absence, health reasons
• Nov. 10, 2004 – June 28, 2005: assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s, Minooka, Immaculate Conception and St. John the Baptist, Taylor
• June 29 – Sept. 12, 2005: chaplain, St. Mary’s Villa, Elmhurst
• Sept. 13 – Nov. 8, 2005: assistant pastor, St. Patrick’s, Scranton
• Nov. 9, 2005 – March 24, 2006: leave of absence (no reason listed)
• March 24 – Oct. 11, 2006: residence at St. Cecilia, Exeter
• Oct. 11, 2006 – July 8, 2008: assistant pastor, St. Mary’s, Old Forge
• July 9, 2008 – July 6, 2011: administrator, St. Elizabeth, Bear Creek (and pastor from July 7, 2010 – July 10, 2011)
• July 11, 2011 – Aug. 5, 2012: leave of absence, health reasons
• Aug. 6 – Nov. 14, 2012: assistant pastor, Holy Cross, Olyphant
• Nov. 15, 2012 – July 14, 2013: leave of absence, health reasons
• July 15 – Sept. 20: assistant pastor, Prince of Peace, Old Forge
• Sept. 20: leave of absence pending investigation of alleged sexual misconduct with a minor

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PENNSYLVANIA
Citizens Voice

BY JOSEPH KOHUT (STAFF WRITER)
Published: September 21, 2013

A priest charged with having sex with a 15-year-old boy was reassigned 15 times by the Diocese of Scranton over a 25-year ministry that grew out of a career counseling troubled youths.

The Rev. William Paulish, 56, of Blakely, was appointed as a primary therapist at Lourdesmont, a facility for troubled teen-aged boys and girls in December 1983.

The Rev. Paulish was caught by Penn State Worthington Scranton security in his red 2009 Toyota Venza with a 15-year-old Thursday night. The boy did not have pants on and both later admitted to performing sex acts, police said.

The Rev. Paulish was ordained in the Diocese of Scranton in 1988. His first assignment was as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of Snows in Clarks Summit from Sept. 9, 1988 to June 19, 1991. Previously, he worked at Lourdesmont and at a guidance clinic in Massachusetts. Phone messages to Lourdesmont were not returned.

As a priest, he had five reassignments in his first 5½ years, ending up as chaplain at Little Flower Manor in Wilkes-Barre from Jan. 24, 1994 until July 4, 2000, the most stable period of his career, according to information provided by the diocese.

Over the next 13 years the Rev. Paulish was moved another nine times.

He spent two years and one month on three separate leaves of absence. Two were accounted for by the diocese as health-related. The reason for the other was not specified.

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OHIO
Columbus Dispatch

By Lisa Cornwell
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saturday September 21, 2013

CINCINNATI — A priest charged with taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex more than two decades ago was found guilty yesterday.

Jurors in federal court in Cincinnati found Robert Poandl, 72, guilty of one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex, a charge that carries a possible sentence of 10 years in prison.

Poandl, from the Glenmary Home Missioners in suburban Cincinnati, took the boy to Spencer, W.Va., on Aug. 3, 1991, and raped him while visiting a church there, prosecutors said.

Poandl’s attorney, Stephen Wenke, told jurors that the allegations were false, denying the boy was even on the trip.

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OHIO
WLWT

CINCINNATI —A priest charged with taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex more than two decades ago was found guilty on Friday.

Federal jurors in Cincinnati found Robert Poandl guilty of one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex, a charge that carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Poandl, from the suburban Cincinnati-based Glenmary Home Missioners, took the boy to Spencer, W.Va., on Aug. 3, 1991, and raped him while visiting a church there, prosecutors said. Poandl’s attorney, Stephen Wenke, told jurors the allegations were false and denied the boy was even on the trip.

The accuser, who’s now in his 30s, waited until 2009 before telling law enforcement officials in West Virginia that he’d been abused. Poandl was indicted there on charges accusing him of sexually abusing the boy, but a judge dismissed those charges in 2010.

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OHIO
Fox 19

Posted by Kelly Taylor

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) –
A Cincinnati area priest has been found guilty of sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy he took to West Virginia more than two decades ago.

Federal jurors returned a guilty verdict Friday afternoon for Robert Poandl, 72, of the Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners. According to trial testimony, in August 1991, Poandl transported the boy from Cincinnati to Spencer, West Virginia where he sexually assaulted the child.

The crime was not disclosed until the victim came forward in 2009.

A federal grand jury indicted Poandl, known as ‘Father Bob’, in November 2012. FBI agents arrested him at the Glenmary Missioners. He has been on house arrest with electronic monitoring since his arrest.

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OHIO
WCPO

[with video]

Greg Noble
gregory.noble@wcpo.com

Tom McKee
tom.mckee@wcpo.com

Anna Langlinais, anna.langlinais@wcpo.com

NOTE: Graphic details were discussed during testimony that may be difficult to read or considered inappropriate .

CINCINNATI – A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy 22 years ago showed no emotion when he was found guilty of sex charges in federal court Friday.

Rev. Robert Poandl, of Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners, was convicted of one count of transportation of a minor across state lines for illicit purposes.

Poandl, 72, faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing.

When his verdict was read, Poandl’s face didn’t move. Around him, there were tears and bursts of emotion. Behind him, a man shouted, “Thank God.”

Poandl did not comment after the verdict. He remains free on house arrest with electronic monitoring. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Barrett ordered him to have no contact with minors.

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ARGENTINA
Infobae

Los fiscales de Morón Alejandro Varela y Carolina María Rodríguez pidieron al Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 la “inmediata detención” del cura Grassi, cuya condena de 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual fue confirmada por la Suprema Corte Bonaerense.

Fuentes judiciales informaron a Infobae que así se lo pidieron al Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 de Morón al asegurar que existe peligro de fuga. Asimismo, también realizaron el mismo pedido los querellantes Juan Pablo Gallego y Sergio Piris, representantes de chicos presuntamente abusados por el sacerdote.

“Como ya reiteradamente lo sostuvimos todas las veces que hemos solicitado la detención, el peligro de fuga que consagraría la impunidad absoluta para el imputado, con la sentencia impuesta por la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, ya se hace palpable, ya que no podemos olvidarnos de la conducta del nombrado Grassi a lo largo del proceso, para lo que es menester mencionar a modo ejemplificativo alguna de sus conductas que hacen que podamos afirmar ya con certeza el peligro de fuga existente”, dijeron los fiscales.

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ARGENTINA
TN

Luego de que la Corte Suprema de la provincia de Buenos Aires ratificara la condena de 15 años a Grassi por abuso sexual y corrupción a menores, llegaron tres pedidos de detención. Ayer, lo hizo la Cámara de Casación bonaerense. Hoy, el fiscal de la causa, Alejandro Varela, y Sergio Piris, abogado de una de las víctimas. Pero el sacerdote todavía está libre. ¿Por qué? Todo indica que la historia se terminará de resolver el próximo lunes.

El Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal 1 de Morón fijó una audiencia para el lunes por la situación de Grassi, según confirmó el abogado querellante, Juan Pablo Gallego. La audiencia, que se realizará a las 13, “está dirigida a todas las partes y al propio acusado. Esperemos que de acá al lunes se pueda cumplir esta situación dado el peligro de fuga”, agregó Gallego.

“Amerita la inmediata detención ante el peligro de fuga. Hay peligro de fuga”, había dicho antes el fiscal del caso, Alejandro Varela.

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ARGENTINA
La Nacion

El padre Grassi, sacerdote condenado por abuso sexual y corrupción de menores en perjuicio de tres chicos de la Fundación Felices Los Niños, que conducía, está a punto de ser detenido. En las vísperas, aún en su casa, salió a saludar.

Grassi vive con prisión morigerada en una quinta situada frente a la Fundación Felices los Niños, y donde ocurrieron los hechos por los que fue condenado.

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PERU
RPP

La ministra de la Mujer, Ana Jara Velásquez, felicitó a la Iglesia Católica por la destitución del obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, acusado de pedofilia.

“Yo celebro como ministra de la Mujer y como mujer que esta sanción lo separe de los cargos eclesiástico que él tenía. Espero que esta misma justicia la alcancemos a través de los operadores del derecho en el Perú”, expresó en declaraciones a RPP Noticias.

Jara dijo que si bien su sector no es parte del proceso -como ente rector de la defensa de la niñez y la adolescencia- solicitará que Ministerio Público le alcance la resolución judicial que “aparentemente habría librado de responsabilidades al exobispo”.

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PERU
Andina

Lima, set. 20 (ANDINA). La fiscalía de Ayacucho abrió de oficio una investigación en contra del exobispo auxiliar de la prelatura de Ayacucho Gabino Miranda, a quien se le acusa de pedofilia, motivo por el cual el Vaticano lo retiró de sus funciones.

Según informó el Ministerio Público, a través de sus redes sociales, el caso del exobispo auxiliar de Ayacucho se encuentra en la Segunda Fiscalía Provincial Penal de Huamanga.

Gabino Miranda, de 53 años, fue destituido de su cargo de obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho por el Vaticano debido a acusaciones de pedofilia, confirmó en la víspera Luis Bambarén, obispo emérito de Chimbote, a un medio local.

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PERU
ACI Prensa

LIMA, 20 Sep. 13 / 12:32 pm (ACI/EWTN Noticias).- El Obispo Emérito de Chimbote (Perú), Mons. Luis Bambarén, informó que Monseñor Gabino Miranda, Obispo Auxiliar de Ayacucho, ciudad de la sierra sur del país, ha sido destituido por la Santa Sede debido a acusaciones de pedofilia.

En una entrevista televisiva a un medio local, Mons. Bambarén confirmó la información que había circulado como un rumor entre diversos medios de prensa, pero que aún no ha sido comunicada oficialmente por el Vaticano.

Algunos medios de comunicación indicaron erróneamente que el Obispo es miembro del Opus Dei. La Oficina de Información de esta institución en Perú informó hoy que “Gabino Miranda no ha estado nunca incardinado en el clero de la Prelatura del Opus Dei”.

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PERU
La Republica

Luego de la columna de Diego García Sayán, varios lectores, al igual que él, pidieron al Ministerio Público investigar el caso.

En su columna de hoy, el presidente de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Diego García Sayán, advirtió el caso de un obispo del Arzobispado andino que habría sido destituido por el Vaticano por pedofilia.

“La reciente destitución que habría producido el Papa a un obispo auxiliar en una localidad andina del Perú por acusaciones de pedofilia”, escribió García Sayán, quien apuntó que no existe información oficial del caso.

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PERU
RPP

Mediante un comunicado de prensa, el Arzobispado Metropolitano de Ayacucho informó que una vez que retorne al país el monseñor Salvador Piñeiro García-Calderon, absolverá las consultas referidas a la renuncia del exobispo auxiliar de esa región, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, acusado de pedofilia.

En el comunicado se notifica que el monseñor de Ayacucho se encuentra fuera del país por compromisos pactados con antelación.

En tanto, el Ministerio Público informó este viernes que la Fiscalía de Ayacucho abrió de oficio una investigación en contra del exobispo auxiliar.

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PERU
La Republica

Ministerio Público hizo eco del pedido de diversas autoridades sobre las sospechas que ocasionaron la destitución del religioso.

La Fiscalía de Ayacucho abrió una investigación en contra del destituido obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, por el presunto delito de abuso sexual contra menores de edad, así lo informó el Ministerio Público desde su cuenta oficial en Twitter.

La investigación estará a cargo de la Segunda Fiscalía Provincial Penal de Huamanga.

Como se recuerda, el obispo emérito de Chimbote, monseñor Luis Bambarén, informó que el Vaticano había destituido a Miranda, de 53 años, por las denuncias que existen al respecto.

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PERU
El Comercio

Así lo confirmó monseñor Luis Bambarén, quien espera que la Fiscalía actúe de oficio. El religioso del Opus Dei cumplía funciones en Ayacucho

Gabino Miranda, quien se desempeñaba como obispo auxiliar de la ciudad de Ayacucho, fue destituido por el Vaticano por acusaciones de pedofilia, confirmó el obispo emérito de Chimbote, monseñor Luis Bambarén.

Las declaraciones de Bambarén, dadas en el canal de cable ATV+, se dan horas después de que el caso se diera a conocer en una columna de opinión del presidente de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), Diego García Sayán en el diario “La República”.

Sayán había advertido que el Arzobispado de Ayacucho había retirado de su página web el nombre y la foto del cuestionado obispo auxiliar del Opus Dei sin que existiera un pronunciamiento oficial del caso.

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CALIFORNIA
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated September 20, 2013

Dear Governor Jerry Brown,

Tomorrow there will be a RALLY IN SUPPORT OF SB 131 at the State Capitol. Please do not count the numbers of people who will attend this rally because victims of pedophiles (priests) do not go door to door to explain the heinous crimes they have suffered as children under the hands of holy sacred priests. They do not go to TV talk shows to explain how they were sodomized by sacred priests of the confessionals or rectories of the Roman Catholic Church because the clout of the Vatican and the Pope especially John Paul II were overpowering. In fact, this is probably the most “solitary suffering” of a “living Hell” among all the crimes in the world – that it takes decades into their adulthood – before they can acknowledge and accept that they were unjustly sexually abused by “Representatives and Voices of God” because they are sacred priests who can clone God’s flesh.

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PERU
Reuters

LIMA | Fri Sep 20, 2013

(Reuters) – The Vatican, under Pope Francis’ “zero-tolerance” policy for pedophile priests, removed an auxiliary bishop from his post in a Peruvian province because of allegations he sexually abused children, a bishop said on Friday.

Luis Bambaren, the former president of Peru’s bishops’ conference and bishop emeritus of Chimbote, told local media that Gabino Miranda was dismissed as auxiliary bishop in the dioceses of Ayacucho, a poor Andean region in southern Peru, after he was accused of having sexual relations with minors.

“It is what the Pope said – zero tolerance,” Bambaren said on RPP radio. “Those are very serious crimes, especially when it has to do with a bishop.”

A Church official confirmed to Reuters that Miranda, 53, had resigned from Peru’s bishops’ conference but declined to say why.

The attorney general’s office said on Friday that it was investigating Miranda and would announce actions soon.

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OHIO
WHIO

By News Staff
CINCINNATI — A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy 22 years ago was found guilty of sex charges in federal court Friday.

Rev. Robert Poandl, of Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners, was found guilty of one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex, a charge that carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

No bond was set on Poandl. He was ordered to have no contact with minors and will be fitted with a global tracking device.

Poandl, 72, took the boy to Spencer, W.Va., on Aug. 3, 1991, and raped him while visiting a church there, prosecutors said. Poandl’s attorney, Stephen Wenke, told jurors the allegations were false and denied the boy was even on the trip.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

September 21, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

Dissident priest Greg Reynolds has been both defrocked and excommunicated over his support for women priests and gays – the first person ever excommunicated in Melbourne, he believes.

The order comes direct from the Vatican, not at the request of Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart, and apparently follows a secret denunciation in the best traditions of the inquisition, according to Father Reynolds.

The excommunication document – written in Latin and giving no reason – was dated May 31, meaning it comes under the authority of Pope Francis who made headlines on Thursday calling for a less rule-obsessed church.

Father Reynolds, who resigned as a parish priest in 2011 and last year founded Inclusive Catholics, said he had expected to be laicised (defrocked), but not excommunicated. But it would make no difference to his ministry.

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OHIO
7th Space

CINCINNATI—A United States District Court jury has convicted Robert Frank Poandl, 72, of Fairfield, Ohio, of one count of interstate transportation of a minor for illicit purposes, a federal law known as the Mann Act. Carter M Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Kevin R Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); William Hayes, Acting Special Agent in Charge of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Ohio and Michigan; and agencies in the Greater Cincinnati Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force announced the verdict reached today following a trial that began September 16 before United States District Judge Michael R Barrett. According to trial testimony, in August 1991, Poandl transported a 10-year-old boy from Cincinnati to West Virginia, where he sexually assaulted the child. The crime was not disclosed until the victim came forward in 2009.

The crime is punishable by a sentence ranging from zero to 10 years in prison. Judge Barrett will set a date for sentencing. “Today’s verdict should give victims courage to come forward, even if the abuse happened years ago,” United States Attorney Stewart said. A federal grand jury indicted Poandl, known as “Father Bob,” in November 2012.

FBI agents arrested him at the Glenmary Missioners in Fairfield, Ohio. He has been on house arrest with electronic monitoring since his arrest. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WNEP

[with video]

OLD FORGE – The Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton said it is unsettling to him personally that yet again a priest is involved in alleged inappropriate, immoral and illegal behavior.

His statement comes after a priest from a church in Old Forge was caught allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Father Jeffery Paulish began serving as an Assistant Pastor at Prince of Peace in July, returning to serve the Roman Catholic Church after taking a leave of absence for health reasons.

Father Paulish walked out of the Dunmore Police Department handcuffed, accused of molesting a teen.
The Old Forge Priest grew up in Blakely. Diane Kwolek lives only a few doors away.

“I`m shocked, I would never ever, ever in my life suspected this,” said Kwolek.

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

By ALFRED P. DOBLIN

Alfred P. Doblin is the editorial page editor of The Record. Contact him at doblin@northjersey.com. Follow AlfredPDoblin on Twitter.

SOMETHING remarkable is happening in Rome. Fifty years ago, Pope John XXIII opened a window in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis has torn off the roof.

In a remarkable interview with a Jesuit journalist, the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, conducted this summer and published this week, the pope does more than tug at the cobwebs or move the furniture; he lays the room bare.

“The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules,” he said. It is a stunning, simplistic assessment of what has hurt the Catholic Church. Francis clearly sees that the institution and the strident tone it has taken on all things small has not been in concert with a mission of mercy for all.

Francis’ comments on gays will be the ones most discussed on cable and the Internet. The media sometimes has locked itself up in small things, as well. The pope has not changed church teachings on homosexuality. He does not question them, dispute them or purport to rewrite them. On homosexuality, the pope is moving away from a conversation based solely on sex.

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.

SOUTH AFRICA
Expatica

South Africa has released a German Catholic priest, wanted for child abuse by Germany, on bail but will put him on trial in November for committing similar acts in the country, sources said Friday.

The priest, whose identity was not given but who was said to be in his fifties and from Aachen in western Germany, was arrested on September 13 as he left a court in the northern town of Brits where he was standing trial for assault and acts of indecency.

The arrest was based on an international warrant and a German extradition request issued several years ago, sources familiar with the case said.

Bail was set at 5,000 rands (375 euros/$505) and his release was conditional on staying in Kwazulu-Natal province where he is being hosted by the Ishowe 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.

OHIO
Newsnet5

By: Greg Noble, WCPO.com
By: Anna Langlinai, WCPO.com

CINCINNATI – A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy 22 years ago showed no emotion when he was found guilty of sex charges in federal court Friday.

Rev. Robert Poandl, of Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners, was convicted of one count of transportation of a minor across state lines for illicit purposes.

Poandl, 72, faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing.

When his verdict was read, Poandl’s face didn’t move. Around him, there were tears and bursts of emotion. Behind him, a man shouted, “Thank God.”

No bond was set on Poandl. He was ordered to have no contact with minors and a judge said he will be fitted with a global tracking device.

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.

ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Herald

In the last six months countless thousands, if not millions of words have been written about Pope Francis but this apparently minute scrutiny of the new global superstar seems to be missing at least one detail which is not minor — his opinion of Father Julio César Grassi, whose conviction for child-molesting at a children’s foundation has just been upheld. Or perhaps rather more to the point (since Pope Francis now has a universal Church in his charge), the opinion of Jorge Bergoglio who was the cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aires during all the 11 years which the saga of the Grassi case have lasted so far without any known views on the issue.

Yet however intriguing this question whose answer will also carry some significance for the future of the Church, this issue goes beyond both Father Grassi and Pope Francis. As far as the Grassi case is concerned, there is a need to ask not only about the apparent silence of the man who was Buenos Aires archbishop until early this year but about the Argentine Church on the ground here and now which does not seem to be doing anything to sanction or condemn Father Grassi. Yet the latter is far from being the only or worst case of an errant priest. If the phrase were not so singularly unfortunate in this context, it might almost be said that Father Grassi’s offences are child’s play compared to the crimes against humanity of the former Buenos Aires provincial police chaplain Christian von Wernich, convicted in 2007 on 34 counts of kidnapping, 37 of torture and seven of homicide. The Church has had rather more time to react to this than to Grassi’s conviction which was only upheld this week and yet Von Wernich has never been unfrocked — indeed, as Church spokesmen have admitted, the former police chaplain continues to hold mass at Marcos Paz prison where he is serving out his life sentence along with various others of his partners in crime. Such indulgence contrasts with the sanctions slapped on theological or ideological dissidents or on priests seeking to form a family.

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

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Sep. 20, 2013 The Francis Chronicles

The U.S. Catholic bishop who grabbed headlines when he said he was “disappointed” Pope Francis had not spoken more about abortion now says he is “grateful” to the pope for widening the vision of the church.

Providence, R.I., Bishop Thomas Tobin made his newest remarks in a statement Friday, one day after Jesuit publications around the world published an exclusive interview with the pontiff, who said he felt “reprimanded” by some in the church.

“Being a Catholic does not mean having to choose between doctrine and charity, between truth and love,” Tobin writes in the statement. “It includes both. We are grateful to Pope Francis for reminding us of that vision.”

Earlier, in a Sept. 12 story in his diocesan newspaper, Tobin expressed his disappointment in Francis.

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VATICAN CITY
John Thavis

In a wide-ranging interview with Jesuit publications, Pope Francis said today’s church needs to “heal wounds” by proclaiming the Gospel and moving away from the “small-minded rules” that have sometimes dominated its message.

The interview, published in the United States by America magazine, is well worth reading in its entirely. It gives a more complete picture of the Argentine pope, including his spirituality, his goals as pope and some interesting self-criticism.

Asked what the church needs most today, the pope said it was “the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity.”

“I see the church as a field hospital after battle.It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else,” he said.

“The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all,” 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.

ARGENTINA
Fort Mills Times

The Associated Press
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina —
In a story Sept. 19 about a priest convicted of sexually abusing a boy, The Associated Press reported erroneously that it was Argentina’s Supreme Court that upheld his 15-year prison sentence. The Supreme Court of Buenos Aires Province confirmed the sentence.

A corrected version of the story is below:

15-year term for Argentine priest sex abuse upheld
Buenos Aires Provincial Supreme Court confirms 15-year sex abuse term for ‘Happy Children’ priest

By ALMUDENA CALATRAVA
Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The Supreme Court of Buenos Aires Province has upheld the 15-year prison sentence of a priest convicted of sexually abusing a boy in his “Happy Children” foundation, prompting the victim’s attorney on Thursday to call for the cleric’s immediate arrest.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on reaction to Pope Francis’ interview published yesterday by America magazine:

Pope Francis is a reformer; he is not a revolutionary. The distinction is important. His style and tone are different, but he shares with John Paul II and Benedict XVI the same doctrinal positions, and the same vision, of the Catholic Church.

Some conservatives are in mourning. They shouldn’t be. Some liberals are popping the cork. They shouldn’t be. Knee-jerk reactions are typically a function of ignorance, and that’s what we are witnessing. It would be so refreshing if people actually read what the pope said.

Already, there are some on the left who are seizing the moment to stifle the speech of loyal sons and daughters of the Church. Chris Cuomo tried that today with me, but it didn’t work. Don’t take my word for it—click here to see what happened.

Left-wing spin doctors, like those at GLAAD, are saying the pope “has recognized the harm that the Roman Catholic hierarchy’s campaigns against LGBT people and families have caused.” But no bishop has ever condemned gays for being gay. GLAAD is playing games: it wants to say that anyone who supports marriage, properly understood, is a bigot. Only ideologues believe such nonsense.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Times-Leader

September 20. 2013

By Roger DuPuis – rdupuis@civitasmedia.com

SCRANTON — A Lackawanna County priest who formerly worked in Luzerne County has been suspended from his post at an Old Forge parish after he allegedly was caught having sex with a boy in a car on a college campus.

The Rev. William Jeffery Paulish, 56, faces charges including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault after campus security said they discovered Paulish in a parked vehicle with the 15-year-old Thursday night.

Paulish has been serving as an assistant pastor at Prince of Peace Parish in Old Forge, but in past years was assigned to posts in Exeter, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre and Bear Creek, according to Diocese of Scranton records.

Diocesan officials pledged to cooperate with investigators.

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.

ALASKA
Alaska Dispatch

Dermot Cole
September 20, 2013

Fairbanks Bishop Donald Kettler will be leaving Alaska to take over as the Catholic bishop in St. Cloud, Minn., the Fairbanks Diocese announced today.

Kettler, who has been the Fairbanks bishop for 11 years, is to assume his new Minnesota post Nov. 7. An appointed administrator will direct the Alaska diocese until Pope Francis appoints a new bishop.

Kettler oversaw the diocese through the process of dealing with sexual abuse charges and reorganization through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The diocese encompasses a vast territory of about 400,000 square miles.

A press release from the diocese quoted Kettler about his new assignment as saying: “I was deeply touched. While it is sad to leave the people of Alaska, who I have come to love, I have a sense of returning home with this new assignment.”

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.

AUSTRALIA
The Standard

By EVERARD HIMMELREICH Sept. 21, 2013

THERE has never been a better time for child abuse victims in the south-west to tell their stories because the community is determined to right the wrongs of the past, a leading police officer claims.

That was the message the Victoria Police’s SANO taskforce investigating new and historical allegations of child sexual abuse told a Warrnambool community forum on Thursday night.

Acting Detective Sergeant Tim Kennedy from SANO said he believed the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry and the federal government’s royal commission into child abuse had caused a groundswell change in opinion about the abuse of children in the care of government and non-government organisations.

In a plea to local victims of child abuse, Acting Detective Sergeant Kennedy said the government inquiries had dispelled a lot of doubt in the community about the incidence of child abuse in institutional care.

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.

OHIO
Cincinnati Enquirer

Written by
Amber Hunt

A longtime Catholic priest who prosecutors say had a history of molesting children was found guilty Friday of taking a Cincinnati boy to West Virginia and assaulting him in 1991.

The Rev. Robert F. Poandl belongs to Fairfield-based Catholic religious order called the Glenmary Home Missioners and is not associated with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The priest, who was relieved of ministerial duties in February 2012, faces up to 10 years in prison for the conviction.

According to testimony at a U.S. District Court trial that began Monday in Cincinnati, Poandl took the boy, with his mother’s permission, on an overnight trip to a rectory in West Virginia. Once there, he awakened the boy in the middle of the night by having sex with him. The victim told authorities that after the act, Poandl said they had just sinned and needed to pray to God for forgiveness.

The victim, who now is in his 30s and testified at the trial, didn’t tell anyone about the assault for 18 years.

Judy Jones, the Midwest associate director for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said that Poandl’s employment history had “big red flags” because he had been transferred about 30 times in 44 years.

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OHIO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Sept. 20

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 grateful that Fr. Robert Poandl has been found guilty to sexually abusing a 10 year old boy. However, we are worried that he may receive such a light sentence.

We are especially grateful to this brave victim and his family. Their courage to speak up, their wisdom to seek justice and their patience to endure delays has been heroic. Because of their compassion and determination, this dangerous predator will always be publicly known as a child molester.

We hope Fr. Poandl will be spending a long time behind bars away from innocent children.

It’s crucial that the justice system has accurate information about Fr. Poandl and his crimes so that he can be appropriately sentenced. So it’s important that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered his crimes now come forward to prosecutors.

Church officials transferred Fr. Poandl roughly 30 times in 44 years (sometimes to the same location twice). He could well have victims spread far across the US. So we urge the bishops in every diocese where Fr. Poandl worked to aggressively reach out to others who may have been assaulted and may still be suffering in shame, silence and self-blame. This includes the dioceses of New Orleans LA, Atlanta GA, Tulsa OK, Savannah GA, Jackson, MS, and Harrisburg PA. So should Fr. Poandl’s supervisors and colleagues at the Glenmary Home Missionaries.

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LOWELL (MA)
The Sun

By Lisa Redmond, lredmond@lowellsun.com
UPDATED: 09/20/2013

LOWELL — A high-ranking priest within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston was given six months probation after admitting to sufficient facts after police caught him in his car behind a Lowell cemetery with a prostitute last month.

In Lowell District Court on Friday, Monsignor Arthur Coyle, 62, of Lowell, admitted to sufficient facts to one count of sexual conduct for a fee.

Judge Elizabeth Cremens continued Coyle’s case for six months during which time he is on probation. While on probation, Coyle, a priest for 36 years, must continue counseling and he must stay away from the Highlands section of Lowell.

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OHIO
Fox 11

Reported by: Associated Press
Reported: Friday, September 20, 2013

CINCINNATI
A jury has resumed deliberations in the trial of an Ohio priest charged with taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex more than two decades ago.

Federal jurors in Cincinnati deliberated for a couple of hours Thursday in the case of Robert Poandl and resumed Friday morning. The Roman Catholic priest has pleaded not guilty to a charge of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex.

Prosecutors say the charge carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Francis has started building his team of trusted collaborators. Cardinal Mauro Piacenza is being transferred to the Apostolic Penitentiary

MARCO TOSATTI
ROME

Tomorrow morning the Holy See will announce two important changes in the Curia. The Prefect of the Clergy, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, is leaving the post to which he was appointed by Benedict XVI three years ago. Croatian archbishop Nikola Eterovic, who has been Secretary of the Synod of Bishops for more than nine years, is being replaced by Lorenzo Baldisseri, the Secretary of the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Piacenza will take over as Penitentiary Major of the Apostolic Penitentiary, currently held by Portuguese cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro. The cassocked diplomat Archbishop Beniamino Stella has been appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. He is currently President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the training school of the Holy See’s future Nuncios. Stella has been president of the Academy since 2007. Nikola Eterovic has been appointed as Nuncio to Germany. Mgr. Crociata, who is currently Secretary Generalo f the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), is expected to be appointed Military Ordinary of Italy.

The changes are taking place a short time before Francis’ meeting with the international team of eight cardinals who are supposed to be advising the Pope on the reform of the Church’s structures. The meeting has been scheduled for the beginning of October. This the first big change the Pope has made to the system inherited from Benedict XVI, other than the appointment of Archbishop Pietro Parolin as Vatican Secretary of State, replacing Tarcisio Bertone.

The reasons for these changes are not given, as per protocol. They are a papal prerogative. Mauro Piacenza started working for the Congregation for the Clergy in 1990, before he was nominated President of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and returned to the Congregation for the Clergy as Secretary, when the Brazilian Claudio Hummes was Prefect. Hummes drew in significant support for Francis in the Conclave that elected him Pope. Piacenza took over from Hummes in 2010 when Hummes reached the age limit for his position.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

Most of us, I imagine, read our emails backwards. That is to say that when a bunch of emails pile up in our inboxes, they are usually arranged from most recent to least recent. This is like reading Chapter Ten of a novel, then reading Chapter Nine, and so forth.

The Riverfront Times has an article on Archbishop Carlson and his history of handling claims of abuse. One of the very helpful things the RFT does is to embed on their website the original documents related to the issues they are reporting. And so you can bypass any possible lax reporting or media spin by going to the source. This was particularly helpful in the Bishop Finn case. I still have readers, for example, who are quite rightly concerned about how the media tarnishes the Catholic Church by reporting half-truths, but who don’t realize that in this internet age, and especially in the Bishop Finn case, original source documents are available (i.e., the Graves Report and the Stipulation of Testimony). And apparently the Pope has recently stirred up concern with an interview that few people are bothering to read, relying instead on media reports. But its full English translation can be read at America Magazine.

So it’s more possible now to go to the source than it ever has been.

And the source the RFT provides (which I’ve embedded below) is really rather stunning. For the effect of reading them from page one to page five – which is chronologically backwards – is jaw dropping.

These documents aren’t really a reflection on Robert Carlson personally as much as they are on the unbelievably stupid and careless way the Church in the U.S. has been handling abuse. Yes, there’s the really awful fact that Carlson focuses on the potential bad publicity this case might bring the archdiocese, while exhibiting a more tepid concern over the suffering of the victim. Still, Carlson’s most recent memo is written in an attempt to remove the perpetrator (Fr. Tom Adamson) from ministry – which is indeed what ended up happening. But there’s something worse than that revealed in these three documents.

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UNITED STATES
Catholics4Change

While this blog focuses on clergy child sex abuse, we think it’s important to take a break to acknowledge the Pope’s interview. His leadership style will have an impact on clericalism – a leading cause of the coverups.

by Susan Matthews

As a parent, I realize how impossible it would be to raise and guide my children if they weren’t in my house – under my roof. Many Catholics have left home. With his landmark interview, Pope Francis, the Father of our Church, is acting like any good Dad. He is opening the doors to his home. That gesture is also allowing light into an institution darkened by clericalism.

Some are misinterpreting his message as an accommodation. Yet, Pope Francis mentions no change in doctrine – just a different approach to teaching. The same approach that Jesus took.

Crazy. A Pope that acts like Jesus. He is reaching out to the marginalized and embracing the troubled with empathy and love. What a revolutionary idea. I’ve read comments that call Pope Francis a heretic. That’s what they called Christ.

But do his words change anything for Philadelphia Catholics? We are reeling in the aftermath of greed, mismanagement and scandal. At the same time, our physical identity is being dismantled due to shifting demographics and financial limitations. Archbishop Chaput has the unenviable task of closing parishes, schools and nursing homes. I don’t question his morals, but I do question his ability to raise morale. He was assigned to us by a very different Pope who sought a smaller, more orthodox Church. That hasn’t been a winning strategy.

Right now, we can’t depend on our local institutional Church to create and maintain a strong positive presence across all of our neighborhoods. But there are 1.3 million of us. With those numbers, we can still feed the hungry, protect our youth, shelter the homeless, provide health care and educate children across the archdiocese.

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.

TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade

BY TOM HENRY
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Toledo is like “an awkward teenager,” a city in transition that suffers from an identity crisis.

So said Will Lucas as he set the stage Thursday for the second TEDx Toledo event in the auditorium of the Fifth Third building at One SeaGate downtown for 265 attendees, many of whom had paid $75 to hear 23 speakers from different walks of life provide thoughts on what should be the city’s vision for the future. …

Dave Beckwith, founder of the Great Lakes Institute consulting firm, said he is inspired by three nationally known figures with Toledo ties who have made a difference in countless lives: Geraldine Jensen, founder of the Association for Children for Enforcement of Supports Inc., known as ACES, which works to get more child-support payments; Baldemar Velasquez, founder of the Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee, known as FLOC, and Barbara Blaine of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

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ARGENTINA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
Dave Aeikens and Kirsti Marohn

The new bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud told the media and diocese employees at a news conference Friday morning that he is happy to be back in Minnesota.

Donald Kettler of Fairbanks, Alaska, will take over as bishop of the St. Cloud diocese Nov. 7.

Kettler, 68, has been the Fairbanks bishop since 2002. He will replace John F. Kinney, who has served since 1995.

A tall and imposing figure wearing a black suit and large gold crucifix, Kettler said he’s received a warm welcome in St. Cloud and feels a little bit of a sense of coming home.

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ALASKA/MINNESOTA
KTUU

By Chris Klint
Channel 2 News
8:17 a.m. AKDT, September 20, 2013

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—
The bishop of Fairbanks’ Roman Catholic diocese has received a new posting in Minnesota from the Vatican, church officials announced Friday.

According to a statement from the Fairbanks diocese, Bishop Donald J. Kettler has been appointed to lead the St. Cloud, Minn. diocese. The move was prompted by the retirement of current St. Cloud Bishop John Kinney, recommended in church guidelines at age 75.

“The Vatican announced the appointment at 2 a.m. Alaska time today,” church officials wrote. “Bishop Kettler was in St. Cloud and joined diocesan officials for the announcement.”

Ordained as Fairbanks’ bishop in 2002, Kettler has led its congregation for 11 years. The diocese was forced to declare bankruptcy during his tenure in 2008, in a plan approved by its creditors — including almost all of the 258 victims of clergy sexual abuse who had sued the diocese at the time.

“In the face of that revelation and to fairly address the harm, Bishop Kettler filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in federal Bankruptcy Court on 7 March 2008,” church officials wrote. “The diocese emerged from bankruptcy almost two years later, in January 2010.”

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Sept. 20

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

Fairbanks Bishop Donald Kettler has been named to head the St. Cloud Minnesota diocese. We’re disappointed by this choice.

Kettler graduated from St. John’s in St. Cloud, a dreadfully abuse-ridden institution. For a decade he’s run a scandal-ridden diocese. (There are 45 proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting Fairbanks clerics, according to BishopAccountability.org) We’ve seen no signs that Kettler has learned from these experiences and handles child sex crimes any differently than most of his peers, who continue to put their careers above the well-being of their flocks.

In fact, Kettler’s most noteworthy act as bishop was to exploit and hide behind Chapter 11 laws to avoid facing tough questions under oath about predator priests. This is a shrewd and manipulative tactic that protects only the reputations of complicity Catholic officials and endangers vulnerable Catholic children, by continuing to keep secret the names of those who commit and conceal heinous child sex crimes.

[SNAP]

Pope Francis has made some promising words and gestures about numerous subjects. But he’s taken no action that has any impact on children’s safety. And he continues the patterns of his predecessors by promoting men like Kettler who have done little to heal the wounded, protect the vulnerable or expose the truth.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Sept. 20

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

After arranging the meeting on Craig’s List, a Scranton priest was arrested last night with a teenager in his car.

[The Times-Tribune]

Starting this Sunday, Scranton’s bishop should go to each parish where Fr. Reverend William Jeffery Paulish worked, begging anyone who may have any information on suspicions about this situation to call police or prosecutors.

That’s what a truly caring shepherd would do.

We predict, however, that every single Scranton Catholic employee will stay silent and do nothing. The bishop’s public relations team will

So we urge every current or former Scranton area Catholic church employee or member to search his or her conscience, find some courage, and spread the word about these allegations against Fr. Paulish. We urge anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Fr. Paulish or cover ups by Scranton church officials to call law enforcement immediately. That kind of prompt, compassionate action is what protects kids.

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UNITED STATES
The Raw Story

By David Edwards
Friday, September 20, 2013

Catholic League President Bill Donohue on Friday seemed to miss Pope Francis’ recent call to make the Catholic Church a “home for all” and insisted that “molesting priests were gay” instead of being pedophiles.

On Thursday, America magazine published a lengthy interview where the pope said that the church had become “obsessed” abortion, contraception and same sex marriage.

The pope called on Catholics to make the church a “home for all.”

“We have to find a new balance,” he said, adding, “otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”

But only a day later, the message seemed to be lost on Donohue, who has a history of insisting that priests who molested children were gay and did not molest their victims.

“When men have sex with adolescent men, it’s called homosexuality. It is not pedophilia,” Donohue told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Friday. “Less than 5 percent of the priests involved in molestation are pedophiles. I will never stop telling the truth. And the pope never said we should either. I am against gay bashing.”

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SCRANTON (PA)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton

On September 20, 2013, the Diocese of Scranton was notified of an incident involving Father W. Jeffrey Paulish, a priest of the Diocese of Scranton, who according to law enforcement officials was discovered in an inappropriate sexual act with a minor. Upon being notified of this incident, the cleric was immediately removed from his assignment and his faculties to exercise priestly ministry were suspended. The Diocese has pledged its cooperation to law enforcement and asks that anyone who may have been sexually abused by Father Paulish or any member of the clergy notify the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office at (570) 963-6717 or local law enforcement.

In response to this situation, the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of Scranton, expressed his remorse and personal sorrow for the young man who was victimized and his family. In expressing his concern for the Prince of Peace parish community, where Father Paulish most recently served, as well as the faithful and clergy of the Diocese of Scranton, the Bishop said, “I wish to acknowledge how unsettling this is to me personally and to countless others, that yet again a priest has been involved in such inappropriate, immoral and illegal behavior.” The Bishop requests that the faithful of the Diocese join him in praying for this victim and all who are impacted by child sexual abuse.

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PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Dispatch

The Associated Press
UPDATED: 09/20/2013

SCRANTON, Pa.—A northeastern Pennsylvania priest is facing charges after police say he was caught having sex with a 15-year-old boy in a parked car.

The Rev. W. Jeffery Paulish is an assistant pastor at Prince of Peace Parish in Old Forge. He is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and related counts.

Police said the 56-year-old priest was caught in a car in a parking lot with the partially undressed teen around 9 p.m. Thursday by Penn State’s Worthington-Scranton campus security.

The Scranton Diocese says it’s cooperating with the police investigation and Paulish is suspended from his duties.

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ARGENTINA
Infobae

[Summary: Journalist Luis Novaresio interviewed by telephone prosecutor Alejandro Varela on Friday in order to clarify the legal situation of priest Julio Cesar Grassi but they encountered strange interference on the telephone line. Novaresio at first took the situation with humor but became less amused with repeated interference. The interference ended when the call was terminated.]

El periodista Luis Novaresio entrevistó este viernes al fiscal Alejandro Varela. La entrevista buscaba aclarar cuál es la situación procesal del sacerdote Julio César Grassi y si finalmente quedará detenido. Ya desde la primera intervención del letrado, comenzaron a escucharse tonos de marcado de un teléfono, como si alguien estuviera conectado a través de la línea telefónica.

“Estamos saliendo al aire ya, así que no pierdan el tiempo, pongan directamente la radio”, alertó el periodista ante la primera interrupción.

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ARGENTINA
TN

Desde que comenzó la entrevista radial hasta que terminó hubo interferencias: no eran ruidos de “fritura” sino dedos que marcaban el teléfono, que evidenciaban que el aparato estaba intervenido. Los tonos aparecían cuando el fiscal de Morón Alejandro Varela empezaba a contestar sobre el caso Grassi.

El periodista Luis Novaresio, en radio La Red, lo hizo notar y primero el comentario fue en tono de broma: “Estamos saliendo al aire ya, así que no pierdan el tiempo, pongan directamente la radio”, dijo. Pero luego, el fiscal señaló: “Para usted puede ser que sea nuevo, pero para mí esto es permanente, me pasa siempre”.

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ARGENTINA
Diario Veloz

El tribunal criminal uno de Morón citó “de urgencia” al cura Julio Cesar Grassi en la causa 2438, con la firma de los doctores Mariana Maldonado, Claudio José Cheminede y Pablo Guillermo Lucero.

Hasta el momento se desconoce el objetivo de la citación.

La causa contra Grassi por 17 hechos de abuso sexual y corrupción de menores de la Fundación Felices Los Niños, que él presidía, se inició en 2002, en tanto el juicio oral se llevó a cabo en 2009.

En junio de 2009, el Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal 1 de Morón condenó a 15 años de prisión al cura al considerado culpable de haber abusado en dos oportunidades del menor identificado como “Gabriel”, quien estaba a su cuidado en la Fundación, y por un tercer hecho de corrupción de otro menor, ocurrido en 1996.

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ROME
Reuters

ROME | Fri Sep 20, 2013

(Reuters) – A prelate and former Vatican finance official at the center of a money-laundering investigation will appear in court on December 3, judicial sources said on Friday.

Monsignor Nunzio Scarano is accused along with a secret service agent and a financial broker of conspiring to smuggle millions of euros out of Switzerland for rich shipbuilder friends in his home town of Salerno, near Naples, in southern Italy.

The case has added to the clouds over the Vatican Bank, formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).

Although no evidence has emerged that could link the IOR directly to the charges against Scarano, the bank was already caught up in an investigation into suspected money laundering, which eventually led investigators to him.

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Global Ethic Foundation

Hans Küng
Erlebte Menschlichkeit, Erinnerungen Band III

Begegnungen und Einsichten: Hans Küng erinnert sich sehr persönlich an an sein Leben der letzten vier Jahrzehnte.

Die persönliche Bilanz eines großen Denkers.

Das Leben geht weiter – aber wie? So fragte sich Hans Küng in den dunkelsten Stunden seines Lebens, als ihm vom Papst die Lehrbefugnis entzogen worden war. Was niemand erwartet hatte, trat ein: Hans Küng wird nicht zum Schweigen gebracht, sondern entfaltet seine Wirkung als universaler Denker – weit über die bloße Kirchenkritik hinaus. Mit großer Offenheit erzählt Hans Küng das Leben »meiner letzten drei Jahrzehnte«. Er beschreibt, wie der Versuch der römischen Kirche scheitert, ihren gefährlichsten Kritiker zu isolieren. Die Macht des Papstes reicht auch im ausgehenden 20. Jahrhundert noch weit und könnte das Leben dieses Priesters und Professors zerstören. Küng aber wehrt sich – und bleibt katholischerTheologe.

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SCOTLAND
The Tablet

20 September 2013

The new Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh who is to be ordained and installed tomorrow has said he would support an inquiry into clerical sex abuse in the Church in Scotland.

Archbishop-elect Leo Cushley, who succeeds Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him, is in favour of initiating a process to help develop child protection guidelines and support victims.

Following claims of abuse at the Benedictine Fort Augustus School and its prep school, there have been calls for an inquiry similar to the one conducted by Lord Nolan for the Church in England and Wales in 2001.

A spokesman said that Archbishop Cushley “believes that the Nolan Report was a very useful exercise, whose results pointed to recommendations that had been in place in Scotland for some time.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Times-Tribune

BY JOSEPH KOHUT (STAFF WRITER)
Published: September 20, 2013

An assistant pastor from an Old Forge church charged for sex crimes involving a 15-year-old boy has been removed from his assignment and can no longer serve as a priest, according to a statement from the Diocese of Scranton.

Dan Gallagher, diocesan community affairs manager, wrote in an e-mail that the diocese is pledging to assist police in their investigation against The Rev. William Jeffery Paulish.

“Upon being notified of this incident, the cleric was immediately removed from his assignment and his faculties to exercise priestly ministry were suspended,” Mr. Gallagher writes. “The Diocese has pledged its cooperation to law enforcement and asks that anyone who may have been sexually abused by Father Paulish or any member of the clergy notify the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office at 570-963-6717 or local law enforcement.”

The Rev. Paulish, 56, 450 3rd St., Blakely, was caught by Penn State Worthington-Scranton security in a car in a parking lot with the teen around 9 last night, according to an arrest affidavit. The teenager did not have pants on.

The priest had arranged the encounter with the boy through an advertisement on Craigslist.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PA Homepage

Statement Regarding Reverend W. Jeffrey Paulish

On September 20, 2013, the Diocese of Scranton was notified of an incident involving Father W. Jeffrey Paulish, a priest of the Diocese of Scranton, who according to law enforcement officials was discovered in an inappropriate sexual act with a minor. Upon being notified of this incident, the cleric was immediately removed from his assignment and his faculties to exercise priestly ministry were suspended. The Diocese has pledged its cooperation to law enforcement and asks that anyone who may have been sexually abused by Father Paulish or any member of the clergy notify the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office at (570) 963-6717 or local law enforcement.

In response to this situation, the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of Scranton, expressed his remorse and personal sorrow for the young man who was victimized and his family. In expressing his concern for the Prince of Peace parish community, where Father Paulish most recently served, as well as the faithful and clergy of the Diocese of Scranton, the Bishop said, “I wish to acknowledge how unsettling this is to me personally and to countless others, that yet again a priest has been involved in such inappropriate, immoral and illegal behavior.” The Bishop requests that the faithful of the Diocese join him in praying for this victim and all who are impacted by child sexual abuse.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PA Homepage

[with video]

A local priest is accused of multiple sex crimes after he was found with a fifteen year-old boy. Father William Jeffery Paulish was arraigned overnight and is locked-up this morning. He’s facing charges of indecent assault, corruption of minors and indecent exposure after police say he was caught in a car with the teen Exactly six hours after police say Father William Jeffery Paulish, who’s known as Father Jeff Paulish was found in a car with a pants- less 15-year-old boy… he was led out of the Dunmore Police Barracks in handcuffs. The 56-year-old most recently served as an assistant pastor at Prince of Peace Parish in Old Forge.

Parishioner Lou Pettinato, of Old Forge told Eyewitness News “As far as I know, he was a nice priest, he was dedicated to his profession, that’s all I know about him.”

“This entire investigation only started around 9:00 o’clock Thursday night, when security at the Penn State Worthington Scranton campus noticed a suspicious vehicle by its tennis courts.police responded… and allegedly found Father Paulish and the boy together inside.”

Parishioner Kim Zupon doesn’t take the allegations lightly.” Appalled, disgusted and sick to my stomach. It’s horrible. Absolutely horrible”

Initially, Paulish told police he was walking around the campus working on his homily and met the boy by chance and was counseling him… he later admitted placing an advertisement on the Craigs-list website and the two agreed to meet. Paulish’s Red Toyota Venza is now marked with evidence markers

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

September 21, 2013

David Marr

George Pell ruled the Catholic church with an iron will and, even as victims of sex abuse came forward, steadfastly tried to protect it.

The lumbering figure walking the length of Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building to the sound of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus on the night of August 16, 1996, was in better health than he had been for years. He had shed weight. A little grey was showing under the mitre but, all things being equal, George Pell had 20 years ahead of him to fulfil Rome’s mandate. He had been a contentious figure inside the church for years but his appointment to Melbourne exposed him to wider scrutiny.
Australia was beginning to pay attention. That he broke the mould made him interesting. Catholic archbishops hadn’t sounded like him for 40 years. He was deliberate rather than graceful. He had the bearing of a football coach rather than a divine. His face was chunky and his mouth surprisingly small. His voice was masculine but oddly refined: Oxford laid over Ballarat.

Pell’s promise not to play legal games was entirely empty.

That he had so little charm was arresting. He seemed not to try to win people over. He was not a persuader. He spoke at that slow, clear pace headmasters and doctors use, a pace that says: if you fail to obey, you don’t have the excuse of misunderstanding me. The threat is in the rhythm. He had a powerful man’s habit of often seeming to focus his attention elsewhere. He didn’t hug. He flinched from the attentions of the devout. He appeared to have sex well bricked up inside himself with the determination of a professional celibate.

A week after Rome announced his appointment as Archbishop of Melbourne, a court lifted orders suppressing media reports of the paedophile ring of St Alipius. The media were ready. The stories were sober, shocking and detailed. Victims put their names to stories of abuse and betrayal.

The archbishop-designate found himself in the thick of an ugly controversy. It was reported for the first time that he had lived in the St Alipius presbytery and walked Father Gerard Ridsdale to court. Stephen Woods, abused by Brother Edward Dowlan for years when he was a little boy and raped when he turned to Ridsdale for help, called for a royal commission and for Pell’s resignation: “He should have known, he ought to have known what was going on.”

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NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board

One year ago, at the peak of the 2012 presidential election, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers issued a pastoral letter telling New Jersey Catholics they should base their vote on abortion and gay marriage.

He went on to write that those who cannot embrace his diktats on these issues — which include a majority of Catholics in America — should refrain from taking communion.

“To continue to receive Holy Communion while so dissenting would be objectively dishonest,” he wrote.

Yesterday, Pope Francis refuted that pinched and narrow view of Christ’s teachings, offering a fresh breath of tolerance and inclusion. In his first lengthy interview since taking office six months ago, the new pope said too many church officials have become “obsessed” with these issues at the expense of church teachings on poverty, peace and unconditional love of every human being.

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ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Victims blast bishop over ‘delay, secrecy & deception’

For immediate release: Friday, Sept. 20

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

A week after returning a troubled priest back on the job in Alton, Springfield’s Catholic bishop is letting another priest – who worked in Granite City – temporarily resign because he’s accused of child sex crimes. But the bishop kept the accusation secret for weeks. And the bishop continues to use misleading language and doing the bare minimum.

[State Journal-Register]

Yesterday, Bishop Thomas Paprocki temporarily let Fr. Robert “Bud” DeGrand resign from his posts at Catholic parishes in Sigel, Neoga, Green Creek and Lillyville.

First, Paprocki should suspend Fr. DeGrand. That’s what the US bishops pledged to do when credible child sex abuse reports surfaced. That’s what the US bishops’ official sex abuse policy mandates. There’s a difference between someone stepping aside and someone being TOLD to step aside. To let a credibly accused child molesting cleric decide whether to temporarily step down minimizes the horror he or she allegedly committed.

Second, Paprocki admits his hand-picked abuse panel quietly urged him to oust Fr. DeGrand almost a week ago. But he kept silent and delayed. Worse, Paprocki admits getting the allegation ten days ago. In that time, he again kept silent and delayed.

Why does that matter? Because every day a child sex abuse report is kept hidden, a child sex abuser is free to keep abusing. And every day of secrecy and delay gives those who commit and conceal child sex crimes more chances to destroy evidence, intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, discredit whistleblowers, fabricate alibis and even flee the country. Every day of secrecy and delay makes it harder for police and prosecutors to pursue child predators.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Sep. 20, 2013 All Things Catholic

Having spent the early part of this week in Australia and New Zealand, I’m arriving today in Rome, where the buzz is about Pope Francis’ blockbuster interview with 16 Jesuit publications around the world, including America magazine in the United States, in which he pointedly rejects a church of what he calls “small-minded rules.”

In political terms, Francis says something out loud that arguably had already become clear, but with a degree of candor that popes don’t often provide: “I have never been a right-winger.”

At the level of content, there’s not much groundbreaking in the interview with respect to his hour-and-20-minute press conference aboard the papal plane July 28. He offers the same blend of traditional doctrine with a deep emphasis on mercy, stressing that the church needs to be more pastoral and less judgmental in engaging questions such as abortion, homosexuality and women.

Francis offers extended reflections on his Jesuit vocation and identity, and also some insights into his personal reactions to the experience of taking on the Catholic church’s top job. The full English translation of the 12,000-word interview, which was conducted in Italian, can be found here.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Times-Tribune

BY JOSEPH KOHUT (STAFF WRITER)
Published: September 20, 2013

An assistant pastor from an Old Forge church is charged for sex crimes involving a 15-year-old boy, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer McCambridge said.

Reverend William Jeffery Paulish, of Blakely, was caught by Penn State Worthington-Scranton security in a car in a parking lot with the teen around 9:30 last night, she said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what the security guards saw in the car, but it raised enough suspicion to call police, Miss McCambridge said.

Miss McCambridge said the priest had arranged the encounter with the boy through an advertisement on Craigslist.

Rev. Paulish is an assistant pastor at Prince of Peace Parish in Old Forge, according to the church web site.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Sept. 20

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

Pope Francis continues to make comments and gestures that show compassion and a willingness to break old, unhealthy church patterns. And he makes millions of Catholics feel better.

[New York Times]

But it’s time for him to bring these traits to bear on the crisis that even he refuses to deal with – the church’s on-going and rampant child sex abuse and cover up crisis.

It’s good to make adults happier. But it’s better to make children safer. That should have been the pontiff’s top priority on day one. It should become his top priority now. He’s done nothing to protect children, expose predators and deter cover ups. Not as a priest, bishop, archbishop or cardinal. Not as the pope.

Next month, in an unprecedented move, Pope Francis will bring eight cardinals to Rome to consult with him on what many believe is a crucial church issue. But that issue is governance, not child sex crimes and cover ups. To us, that’s heartbreaking. A more efficient Vatican bureaucracy would be good. A world of safer children would be better.

We challenge Catholics to ask themselves to name a single tangible step has Pope Francis taken, at any point in his decades-long clerical career, to make kids safer. Until he does, thousands of boys and girls across the globe will be sexually assaulted by priests, nuns, bishops, brothers and seminarians. Thousands of child molesting clerics will continue to walk free, along with thousands of their complicit colleagues.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Maree Walk, head of the NSW government department of communities which was responsible for monitoring Larkins, came to the job in 2011 from the Benevolent Society (see previous posting). At present, the management of about 12,000 children in statutory (court-ordered) foster care, and all new entrants, is being moved in stages from Community Services to non-government agencies, such as the Benevolent Society.

Ms. Walk would do well as a church spokesperson on abuse. She followed all of the standard excuses and platitudes. There were the belated admissions, and statements of how things were so much better since then.

She deeply regretted the “inappropriate administrative error” concerning Larkins. Further, “Community Services deeply regrets the mistake and . . . wishes to express its deep regret for this action and understands that this error had very serious outcomes for children.”

Concerning the stuff-up of advising only Larkins, and not his management committee of concerns about him, Ms. Walk confirmed that,” It had been wrong to deal directly with him over the assessment and not with the management committee who oversaw the organisation.”

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VATICAN CITY
America Magazine

Antonio Spadaro, S.J.

The exclusive interview with Pope Francis

Editor’s Note: This interview with Pope Francis took place over the course of three meetings during August 2013 in Rome. The interview was conducted in person by Antonio Spadaro, S.J., editor in chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal. Father Spadaro conducted the interview on behalf of La Civiltà Cattolica, America and several other major Jesuit journals around the world. The editorial teams at each of the journals prepared questions and sent them to Father Spadaro, who then consolidated and organized them. The interview was conducted in Italian. After the Italian text was officially approved, America commissioned a team of five independent experts to translate it into English. America is solely responsible for the accuracy of this translation. This interview is copyrighted by America Press and cannot be used, except for brief quotations, without written permission.

Father Spadaro met the pope at the Vatican in the pope’s apartments in the Casa Santa Marta, where he has chosen to live since his election. Father Spadaro begins his account of the interview with a description of the pope’s living quarters.

The setting is simple, austere. The workspace occupied by the desk is small. I am impressed not only by the simplicity of the furniture, but also by the objects in the room. There are only a few. These include an icon of St. Francis, a statue of Our Lady of Luján, patron saint of Argentina, a crucifix and a statue of St. Joseph sleeping. The spirituality of Jorge Mario Bergoglio is not made of “harmonized energies,” as he would call them, but of human faces: Christ, St. Francis, St. Joseph and Mary.

The pope speaks of his trip to Brazil. He considers it a true grace, that World Youth Day was for him a “mystery.” He says that he is not used to talking to so many people: “I can look at individual persons, one at a time, to come into contact in a personal way with the person I have before me. I am not used to the masses,” the pope remarks. He also speaks about the moment during the conclave when he began to realize that he might be elected pope. At lunch on Wednesday, March 13, he felt a deep and inexplicable inner peace and comfort come over him, he said, along with a great darkness. And those feelings accompanied him until his election later that day.

The pope had spoken earlier about his great difficulty in giving interviews. He said that he prefers to think rather than provide answers on the spot in interviews. In this interview the pope interrupted what he was saying in response to a question several times, in order to add something to an earlier response. Talking with Pope Francis is a kind of volcanic flow of ideas that are bound up with each other. Even taking notes gives me an uncomfortable feeling, as if I were trying to suppress a surging spring of dialogue.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 20 September 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father:

– appointed Bishop Donald J. Kettler as bishop of Saint Cloud (area 31,730, population 559,865, Catholics 142,042, priests 216, permanent deacons 52, religious 637), U.S.A. Bishop Kettler, previously bishop of Fairbanks, U.S.A., was born in Minneapolis, U.S.A., in 1944, was ordained to the priesthood in 1970, and received episcopal ordination in 2002. He succeeds Bishop John F. Kinney, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, upon having reached the age limit, was accepted by Holy Father.

– appointed Archbishop Roger Lawrence Schwietz, O.M.I., of Anchorage, U.S.A., as apostolic administrator “sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” of Fairbanks (U.S.A.).

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 19 September 2013 (VIS) – At midday, in the Sala Clementina of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father received in audience the recently appointed bishops who will participate in the congress organised by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Eastern Churches.

Francis encouraged the bishops, in the words of St. Peter, to “tend the flock of God that is in your charge”, and reminded them that “we are called and made Shepherds not by ourselves, but by the Lord, and not to serve ourselves, but rather to serve the flock entrusted to our care, to serve to the extent of offering our lives, like Christ, the Good Shepherd”.

The Pope asked what it means to “tend”, to have “ habitual and daily care” of the flock.

“Three thoughts arise from this”, he explained. First, the importance of welcoming with generosity: “Your heart must be large enough to be able to welcome all the men and women you meet during your days and whom you will seek out as you walk your parishes and your communities”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 20 September 2013 (VIS) – Pope Francis has granted a lengthy interview, published in the Italian Jesuit magazine “La Civilta Cattolica” and simultaneously in another sixteen magazines linked to the Society of Jesus throughout the world. The interview was the result of three private meetings and more than six hours of discussion between the Pope and the editor of “La Civilta Cattolica”, Fr. Antonio Spadaro, during the month of August at the Santa Marta guesthouse.

In the interview, more than thirty pages long, the Pope talks frankly about himself, his artistic and literary tastes (Dostoyevski and Holderlin, Borges and Cervantes, Caravaggio and Chagall, but also Fellini’s “La Strada”, Rossellini, “Babette’s Feast”, Mozart, and Wagner’s “Tetralogy”), and his experience in the Society of Jesus and as archbishop of Buenos Aires. He defines himself as “a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”

Referring to his period as Provincial in the Society of Jesus, he says, “My authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions led me to have serious problems and to be accused of being ultraconservative”. However, as archbishop this experience helped him to understand the importance of listening to the viewpoints of others. “I believe that consultation is very important. The consistories, the synods are, for example, important places to make real and active this consultation. We must, however, give them a less rigid form”.

He also talks about how his Jesuit training, and the process of discernment in particular, have enabled him to better face his ministry. “For example, many think that changes and reforms can take place in a short time. I believe that we always need time to lay the foundations for real, effective change. … The wisdom of discernment redeems the necessary ambiguity of life and helps us find the most appropriate means, which do not always coincide with what looks great and strong.”

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ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Herald

Judges reprimand priest convicted of sexual abuse for violating house arrest conditions

A court in the Buenos Aires province district of Morón ordered the arrest of priest Julio César Grassi yesterday for “failing to fulfil the conditions of his house arrest.”

The tribunal issued this ruling after the Buenos Aires province Supreme Court upheld Grassi’s 15-year prison sentence for sexually abusing a boy in his “Happy Children” foundation.

However, Morón’s general prosecutor Federico Nieva Woodgate specified that even though the ruling brings Grassi closer to jail, “it does not actually order his detention.”

‘Pedophile privileges’

Grassi maintained his innocence during the appeal and continued to live in a house across the street from the foundation, despite the conviction and additional allegations that he had abused more than a dozen children there.

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KENYA
Standard

By Hudson Gumbihi

Open discussion on sex in the Catholic Church is almost taboo, yet there is widespread intimacy between priests and nuns.

A number of priests have abandoned the celibacy vow, succumbing to the urge of the flesh with nuns being the principal partners, either willingly or through coercion.

It is a close-knit affair, which has been going on and few dare discuss, save for occasional dramas when priests either defect or are caught in child-paternity cases.

But beneath the confessions and exposes of the wayward priests lies tales of how nuns engage in sex within the otherwise conservative church known for an uncompromising stance on celibacy.

Men and women who have committed to serve the Lord exercise a simple life devoid of marriage, sex and acquisition of worldly materials within the Catholic hierarchy involving the pope, cardinals, arch-bishops, ordinary bishops, priests, seminarians and nuns.

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OHIO
Columbus Dispatch

CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio priest took a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia and raped him more than two decades ago, a federal prosecutor told jurors yesterday. The defendant’s attorney denied that the boy even made the trip.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Oakley and the attorney for Robert Poandl offered their closing arguments in the trial of Poandl, from the suburban Cincinnati-based Glenmary Home Missioners.

The Roman Catholic priest has pleaded not guilty to a charge of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex.

Defense attorney Stephen Wenke told jurors that the allegations are false and that the priest did not take the boy on the trip to Spencer, W.Va., in August 1991.

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ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Herald

Head of the Buenos Aires province Supreme Court Héctor Negri was received by Pope Francis less than three weeks ago at the Vatican. Today he rejected versions alluding he had discussed the legal situation of priest Julio César Grassi with the pontiff.

The provincial maximum tribunal ratified Grassi’s 15-year sentence for sexually abusing a boy at the “Happy Children Foundation” he was in charge of. “We have said in the ruling everything we had to say; whatever is said know and the subsequent consequences have nothing to do with the Court’s decision, this was no motive for our ruling,” the judge explained.

“A (Supreme) Court president travelling and asking someone else how he must rule would be something so horrible to do that honestly I don’t know the person who says so which justice criteria follows,” Negri insisted questioning the allegations that sparked after his meeting with the Argentine pope, following actually this week’s arrest warrant that another provincial court issued against Julio Grassi.

When asked about Francis’ position about pedophile priests, the Supreme Court president said he “did not know pope’s private thinking” about an issue that has stained the Catholic Church over the past years with sexual abuse and corruption scandals the ex Argentine cardinal is now trying to put an end to, as he insisted he met Francis for “absolutely spiritual reasons (that (lie) thousands of kilometers away from any judicial sentence.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
PA Homepage

Dunmore, Lackawanna County – The assistant pastor of a Lackawanna County church is facing sex crime charges.

William Jeffery Paulish was charged early Friday morning with indecent assault, corruption of minors, indecent exposure and unlawful contact with a minor. He was led out of the Dunmore Police Department around 3 a.m. in handcuffs and taken for arraignment.

Lackawanna County Prosecutors say the investigation began around 9 p.m. Thursday night when security staff at the Penn State Worthington Scranton Campus noticed a suspicious vehicle in their parking lot. Police responded and they allegedly found Paulish in the vehicle with a 15-year-old boy. Police say the boy had no pants on at the time.

Paulish told investigators he placed an ad on Craigslist looking for companionship and the boy responded and they met at the Penn State Campus. Paulish told investigators he asked the boy three times if he was 18-years-old.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WNEP

Posted on: 5:16 am, September 20, 2013, by Ryan Leckey and Renie Workman, updated on: 08:39am, September 20, 2013

DUNMORE– Police said a priest was caught in the act of molesting a teenager in Lackawanna County.

The arrest of Father Jeffrey Paulish happened overnight in Dunmore.

Fr. Paulish was led off to his arraignment to face various charges, including for having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old boy.

Investigators said Thursday night, they found the priest in a car with the 15-year-old in a parking lot near the tennis courts at Penn State Worthington Scranton campus.

Security officers at Penn State noticed what was happening and called for backup. Dunmore police along with state troopers showed up and arrested the priest.

The Lackawanna County deputy district attorney did not say how long the relationship was going on between the priest and the boy, but said the investigation is exploring a lot of avenues.

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SOUTH AFRICA
IOL

September 20 2013
By RIZWANA SHEIK UMAR

Durban – A Hindu priest from Chatsworth who was jailed for raping a child devotee has failed in his bid to present further evidence.

Cooper Reddy, 60, of Havenside, was sentenced in May to 15 years in prison after being convicted on two counts of rape, a count of indecent assault and one of sexual assault.

The crimes were committed since 2006, when the complainant was nine years old, and continued until 2010.

The girl had been taken to Reddy to be blessed.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 20, 2013

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson has been deposed in a case involving a priest in the archdiocese.

The deposition was Thursday in the case against the Rev. Xiu Hui Jiang. He is charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child after a teenage girl told authorities that Jiang molested her.

The archdiocese says in a statement that the case is in the hands of the Missouri court system, where the allegations can be sorted out.

The girl’s parents filed a lawsuit in July alleging that Carlson knew Jiang was a danger to children. The archdiocese says those allegations are false.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Catholic Insider

Given the financial condition of the Boston Archdiocese, one would think that the archdiocese would try to get as much money as possible when selling properties.

Not necessarily.

Here is an example. St. Catherine of Siena Church in Charleston was recently sold. The properities sold were assessed at more than $8.7M. The were sold for just $1.4M to Suffolk Company. (Note Suffolk Company appears to be different from Suffolk Construction).

A year ago in 2012, according to this article, the value of the property was follows:

* The church building is 22,000 square feet on a plot of 17,000 square feet. It was built in 1890 and is presently assessed for $2.5 million.
*The former parochial school property built in 1900, which is part of the entire package, has a land area of 31,400 square feet and a structure of 29,000 square feet and is currently assessed for $6.2 million.
*There is a third property – The Annex – built in 1920 – which has a 2000 square foot school building. This structure rests on the school parcel aforementioned.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on September 19, 2013

It’s Thursday night and you are probably thinking, “I’m watching Thursday Night Football. There is nothing possible I can do to help convince California Governor Jerry Brown to sign SB 131, the California Child Victims’ Act.”

Fortunately, you are WRONG! You can help RIGHT NOW. And we need you.
Here is what you can do:

1. Write Governor Brown using the web form here. Tell him that you support SB 131. Here are some reasons why:

SB 131 exposes predators who may still be abusing kids RIGHT NOW,
SB 131 holds wrong-doers accountable for enabling and covering up child sex abuse,
SB 131 helps victims heal from traumatic injury and takes the burden of their care off of social services and taxpayers,
SB 131 can help provide valuable evidence of criminal activity that law enforcement can use to put predators behind bars, where they belong.
There are many more.
If you do tell your own story, keep it short – no more than two-three sentences.

2. Plan to attend tomorrow’s RALLY IN SUPPORT OF SB 131 at the State Capitol. The rally, organized by concerned citizens in support of SB 131, will be on the lawn to the left of the Capitol steps – 1315 10th Street, between L and N Streets. Attendees will be wearing bright colors. Bring a sign showing your support. If you are a victim, bring a photo of yourself at the age you were abused.

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OHIO
WCPO

[with video]

Greg Noble
gregory.noble@wcpo.com
Anna Langlinais, anna.langlinais@wcpo.com

NOTE: Graphic details were discussed during testimony that may be difficult to read or considered inappropriate.

CINCINNATI – The jury in Rev. Robert Poandl’s sexual abuse trial began deliberations in federal court Thursday afternoon with the task of weighing the accuser’s startling testimony against the defense’s claim that the former drug user made it all up.

The eight women and four men heard a 32-year-old man testify that Poandl sodomized him in a West Virginia church rectory when he was 10 years old in 1991. The man said he suffered nightmares after the attack, experimented with LSD and cocaine, got hooked on Oxycodone and plotted to kill the priest and commit suicide.

During closing arguments, the U.S. attorney said Poandl groomed his victim’s family by giving them money and earning their trust with the intent to molest the boy.

The defense argued that the trip to West Virginia never happened, attacking the accuser’s drug use and credibility.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Fri, Sep 20, 2013

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said he was “very encouraged” by the words of Pope Francis.

“It sets a pastoral tone for the whole church,” he said. He said it “fairly unusual for a pope to open his heart on so many issues. It was very deep, but he had said many of these things already.”

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin: He said it was “fairly unusual for a pope to open his heart on so many issues”

Pope Francis “was going back to the old practice in the church, not in a legalistic or rigorist way, of accompanying the person within the situation in which they find themselves, where they can encounter the mercy of God.”

He described this as “the mentality of the good priest.” It was “a way which reflected a Jesus who accompanied people”.

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UNITED STATES
Los Angeles Times

By Michael McGough
September 19, 2013

It’s a familiar cycle: Pope Francis says something that seems to soften the Roman Catholic Church’s attitude toward hot-button issues; liberals (Catholic and otherwise) rejoice; conservative Catholics rush to remind gleeful Francisphiles that the pope really didn’t depart from orthodoxy.

But that sort of spin has become progressively more difficult.

This summer, Francis unforgettably said: “When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them?” A writer for the National Catholic Register first offered a “nothing new here” gloss, speculating that the pope was referring to “people with same-sex attraction who strive to live chastely (even if they sometimes fail).”

But the Register acknowledged that the pope might also have been extending a hand to “individuals who are not living chastely but who are not actively lobbying a homosexual agenda.” The Register added, “It would be nice if he’d said a little more to clarify the point further.”

Well, the pope’s interview with a Jesuit publication that hit the Internet on Thursday does provide some clarification, but not the kind conservative Catholics were hoping for. Francis made it clear that he thought the church was hurting itself with an excessive emphasis on moral issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion and contraception.

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CANADA
Mission Record

Alina KONEVSKI
Abbotsford News

“We were called savages, heathens. That we wouldn’t amount to anything in our lives if we didn’t adapt by their system.”

Katzie First Nation elder Cyril Pierre recounted his nightmarish years at St. Mary’s Mission and Residential School to University of the Fraser Valley students on Wednesday.

UFV held a “day of learning” on Sept. 18 about Indian residential schools, such as St. Mary’s in Mission. This coincided with the start of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s national four-day event in Vancouver, during which residential school survivors have been sharing their experiences. The province has designated Sept. 16 to 22 as Reconciliation Week.

UFV, like other universities across B.C., suspended most classes on Wednesday, and offered opportunities to learn about residential schools.

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CANADA
Vancouver Courier

Cheryl Rossi / Vancouver Courier
September 19, 2013

Many Canadians know students of Indian residential schools experienced terrible abuse, but the institutions weren’t a living hell for everyone.

At Sister Elizabeth Kelliher’s memorial at St. Paul’s Catholic Church on East Cordova last month, one mourner confided she respects the sisters “because they looked after us in residential school. They left their families, they became a nun and they came all the way into the wilderness to take care of us.”

It’s not a commonly heard view.

But Father Garry LaBoucane, a Métis priest who started Aug. 15 as pastor of the Sacred Heart parish, which includes two Catholic churches and a native centre, says he’s heard stories both happy and horrendous from former students of residential schools.

“It’s not just black and white,” the 65-year-old said, noting former students, particularly of his generation who cope with painful memories sometimes don’t want to hear the positive stories.

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SCOTLAND
Scottish Catholic Observer

Archbishop-elect intends to listen and learn from the laity and priests of the archdiocese

The new Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh says he is in ‘listening mode’ to find out how to heal his archdiocese as he prepares for his ordination on Saturday.

Archbishop-elect Leo Cushley (right) told the SCO in an exclusive interview this week—as he returned to Scotland after 20 years working for the Vatican diplomatic service—that he wanted to hear from the priests and laity of St Andrew’s and Edinburgh before ‘jumping right into’ solving its problems.

He also said that Pope Francis had advised him to be ‘merciful but firm’ in his new role, and stated that he wished to follow the Holy Father in emphasising the Church’s efforts to help the poor. He added that he hoped to adopt a co-operative style of leadership and said it was for the Vatican to decide if Cardinal Keith O’Brien could return to Scotland.

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SCOTLAND
Evening Times

THE man appointed to succeed shamed Cardinal Keith O’Brien said he is ‘looking forward’ to the challenging role.

Monsignor Leo Cushley, from Lanarkshire, will be ordained as the Archibishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh tomorrow at St Mary’s Cathedral in the capital.

Principal consecrators will be Cardinal James Michael Harvey of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, UK Papal Nuncio Antonio Mennini and Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow.

His ordination follows one of the most turbulent periods for the Catholic Church in modern history.

Cardinal O’Brien stepped down in February after three priests and a former priest made allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him.

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ARGENTINA
La Nacion

Por Pablo Morosi | LA NACION

LA PLATA.- El cura Julio César Grassi, condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual agravado y corrupción de menores, quedó a un paso de la cárcel luego de que la Sala VI del Tribunal de Casación Penal bonaerense confirmó ayer al mediodía un fallo previo que ordenaba la detención del sacerdote por incumplir el régimen de libertad provisional del que gozaba.

No obstante, hasta el cierre de esta edición la detención no se había concretado. Fuentes judiciales y policiales estimaron que podría esperarse una presentación espontánea hoy a primera hora. Otra posibilidad es que sea necesario aguardar la notificación de la medida en el Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal (TOC) N° 1 de Morón -a cargo del caso- o en la Sala I de la Cámara de Apelación y Garantías del mismo departamento judicial, instancia de supervisión del proceso.

Entretanto, trascendió que autoridades del Servicio Penitenciario Bonaerense (SPB) estudiaban la posibilidad de alojar al cura en la Unidad Penal N° 30 de General Alvear, un penal de régimen cerrado que tiene un área de máxima seguridad y otra de mediana seguridad en el que hasta hace pocas semanas estuvo detenido el uruguayo Luis Mario Vitette Sellanes, autor del robo al Banco Río de Acassuso. Allí, hasta anoche no se había reservado cupo para recibir al cura detenido.

Ayer por la tarde, luego de conocida la noticia, y un día después de que la Corte bonaerense dejó firme aquella condena a 15 años, seguidores de Grassi se congregaron en la puerta de la fundación Felices Los Niños, en Hurlingham, para manifestar su apoyo al sacerdote, que, según dijeron, se encontraba en su casa, situada frente a la entidad.

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ARGENTINA
Pagina 12

Tras el fallo de la Corte que ratificó la condena, ayer la Cámara de Casación rechazó el recurso de nulidad presentado por la defensa contra la orden para que vaya preso. Por razones procesales, esta nueva medida aún no se cumplió y Grassi anoche seguía libre.

La Justicia afirmó una vez más que el sacerdote Julio César Grassi, fundador de Felices Los Niños y condenado a 15 años de prisión por abusar sexualmente de dos jóvenes a su cargo, debe ir preso. Al cierre de esta edición, el cura no había sido detenido, aunque fuentes de la Policía Bonaerense aseguraron a este diario que sólo esperaban la orden judicial para hacerlo. La libertad restringida del presbítero se mantenía sólo por una cuestión formal: la sala VI de la Cámara de Casación provincial avaló la decisión del Tribunal Criminal No1 de Morón, que en abril pasado ordenó detener a Grassi luego de que violara las condiciones impuestas para permanecer en libertad; sin embargo, hasta ayer a la noche el tribunal no había emitido el pedido de captura correspondiente. Al parecer, no le había llegado aún la resolución de sus superiores de Casación. Durante la tarde de ayer, un puñado de defensores del sacerdote se congregaron a las puertas de la quinta de Hurlingham en la que vive Grassi, exactamente frente a la Fundación Felices Los Niños.

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ARGENTINA
El Tribuno

Esta semana, la Suprema Corte bonaerense ratificó una condena de prisión para el sacerdote Julio César Grassi, acusado de abuso sexual agravado y corrupción de menores. A las pocas horas, la Cámara de Casación ordenó su detención, pero tal sentencia no tendría operatividad inmediata, de acuerdo a la visión del fiscal de al causa.

“Entiendo que la resolución de la Sala V no se debe ejecutar de inmediato. Así como está dictada, no se va a ejecutar rápido y mucho menos en el día de hoy. El jueves veía a periodistas que decían que la Policía estaba yendo a detener a Grassi, y yo les puedo asegurar que no estaba yendo nadie, son temas procesales”, explicó el titular del Ministerio Público en diálogo con el periodista Luis Novaresio en radio La Red.

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ARGENTINA
Ambito

[Summary: Hector Negri, president of the Supreme Court of the Buenos Aires province, denied that at a meeting held with Pope Francis at the Vatican that they discussed the status of priest Julia Cesar Grassi. He dismissed stories indicating that the pope asked for an exemplary sentence. He said he does not know the pope’s private thoughts on pedophilia.]

El presidente de la Corte Suprema de la provincia de Buenos Aires, Héctor Negri, negó que en la audiencia que mantuvo con el papa Francisco en el Vaticano, hayan dialogado sobre la situación del padre Julio César Grassi y desestimó así las versiones que indicaban que el Sumo Pontífice le había pedido una condena ejemplar.

Además, sobre la situación de Grassi tras el fallo del máximo tribunal bonaerense que el miércoles ratificó la condena al cura, dijo en declaraciones a radio Vorterix que la detención “la tiene que decidir otro tribunal” y afirmó que “nosotros ya hemos dicho en la sentencia todo lo que teníamos que decir, y el tema de lo que se siga a ahora y la consecuencias ulteriores ya escapan a la decisión de la Corte, no fue motivo de nuestro pronunciamiento”.

Respecto de la posición de Francisco sobre los curas pedófilos, el presidente de la Corte bonaerense indicó que “el pensamiento íntimo del Papa en ese sentido no lo conozco”, e insistió que se entrevistó “por razonas absolutamente espirituales, alejadas a miles de kilómetros de cualquier sentencia judicial”.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The stories from the first week of public hearings by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse were ones of bureaucratic box ticking, buck passing, administrative laxity and echoes of the Keystone cops.

However the real story was how that depressing mix allowed a man, known to police as a possible child abuser, to prey on some of Australia’s most vulnerable kids – Aboriginal children in care.

Steve ‘Skip’ Larkins, 47, is now in jail for child pornography, indecent assault and forgery. He gets out next January.

It took almost two decades to nail him. Across those years there were rumours, whistleblowers, secret compensation payments, an apprehended violence order and a DPP recommendation for prosecution that came to nothing.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Even before this week’s public hearings in the Royal Commission into institutional child sexual abuse opened, hundreds of victims had been given the opportunity to give evidence at private hearings. Some of those victims came from the central Victorian city of Ballarat, a community with a long and much publicised history of sexual abuse.

Transcript

SCOTT BEVAN: Even before this week’s public hearings in the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse opened, hundreds of victims had been given the opportunity to give evidence at private hearings.

Some of those who have given evidence come from the central Victorian city of Ballarat, a community that has lived with a long and much publicised history of sexual abuse.

As others wait for the Commissioners to come to Ballarat, there are calls for survivors to receive greater support and for more action to prevent suicides resulting from abuse.

From Ballarat, Kate Stowell reports.

KATE STOWELL: The famed gold rush city of Ballarat is full of history.

The city is decorated with the opulent legacy of wealth, grand churches and halls from the late 19th century, when gold money spawned a renaissance of European architecture, amid the clash of cultures of all those who came here to make their fortune.

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AUSTRALIA
Crikey

Can you spot a paedophile? News.com.au has assembled a checklist, but the experts tell Crikey intern Angelo Russo it’s rubbish.

Child abuse advocates and experts have rubbished Australia’s most-read website, news.com.au, for running a story advising readers how to spot a paedophile. They say the checklist was inaccurate, irresponsible stereotyping.

The article, published yesterday, warns the reader of nine different “types” of child molesters and the behaviours they supposedly exhibit. These behaviours are as varied as being a teacher, dating a single mother or simply being overly eager to babysit.

Social media went berserk in protest and forced news.com.au to expunge a passage recommending people not allow child abuse sufferers near their children.

The story, by veteran journalist and former political adviser Candace Sutton, originally warned:

“Paedophiles are often the victims of child molestation themselves. If you know this about a person’s past, beware. It’s all very well to feel sorry for a person, but don’t let them anywhere near young people you know.”

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

DR CATHY KEZELMAN, PRESIDENT, ADULTS SURVIVING CHILD ABUSE NEWS.COM.AU SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

AN article, published by news.com.au, about how to recognise a child sex offender sparked controversy.

Dr Cathy Kezelman, president of Adults Surviving Child Abuse, has written the following response, which news.com.au publish in full:

“With the commencement of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse the issue of childhood abuse is being reported, spoken about and thought about far more often than ever before.

Though it is groundbreaking for the Australian society to be more aware of the issue and to have increased conversation about it, it is now more critical than ever before to have accurate reporting from the media about child sexual abuse.

Quite frankly, I was shocked at news.com.au’s piece ‘Could you spot a paedophile?’

The very title evokes fear, as do the images, and it lacked tact and sensitivity.

Although the longstanding stigma and taboo is being eroded – and that is to be welcomed – the challenge for those reporting or speaking about child abuse in the public arena is how to increase community awareness while minimising the risks of re-traumatisation for those affected and secondary traumatisation for members of the community.

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SCOTLAND
The Tablet

State of religion 1: Scotland
Tom Gallagher – 21 September 2013

Today, Leo Cushley is due to be ordained Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh. His installation comes after one of the greatest periods of crisis in the history of Scottish Catholicism. Can his appointment mark a new beginning that will see the Church regain trust and relevance?

Few tourists see Edinburgh’s Ninian’s Church. On 27 August, it was the setting for a Mass dedicated to the victims of clerical sex abuse. It was an occasion for Catholics to gather and “lament the failings of those who minister in your name which has caused such hurt to the innocent”. This was according to the notes issued in advance by the parish council.

Words encapsulating the Church’s mission were displayed on the wall behind the altar with one of them, “Trust”, conspicuously scored through. The notes prepared under the aegis of the local priest, Fr Hugh Purcell, were explicit about the actions needed for trust to be restored: “we have yet to establish the full account of the abuse committed by Cardinal O’Brien … Now some may feel that since [he] has confessed and apologised, should we not just move on? Well, we cannot move on until we establish truth and justice for those who have been abused.”

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COSTA RICA
Tempo

SAN JOSÉ (AFP) – The Costa Rican Catholic church has relieved a nun of her duties over the alleged sexual abuse of two young girls, a church official was quoted as saying Wednesday.

A church probe would be carried out in parallel to the legal process, Sixto Varela, pastor and press officer of the San Joaquin de Flores diocese, told local media. On August 30, a children’s advocacy agency alleged the nun had sexually molested and raped two girls aged three and six at the home in the province of Heredia. After the claim, the 13 girls in the home were moved to other facilities.

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