ABUSE TRACKER

SCHWEIZ
Doki

[Summary: Christina was 6 when she was abused by missionaries in South America. The missionaries were there to translate the Bible for native people in Bolivia. The perpetrators were never prosecuted and their actions are now time-barred but Christina has decided to speak out about the abuse.]

Als Christina sechs Jahre alt war, missbrauchten sie Missionare über viele Jahre aufs Schlimmste. Christina Krüsi glaubte sie helfe ihremVater die Bibel zu übersetzen, wenn sie sich nicht wehre. Die Täter waren gut organisiert und sehr pervers. Die Mission der Täter war eigentlich, im Urwald die Bibel für die Indianer zu übersetzen. Dass ihr Kind sexuell missbraucht wurde, glauben die Eltern von Christina inzwischen und auch die Täter sind ihnen bekannt. Diese wurden nie vor Gericht gestellt und inzwischen sind die Taten verjährt und die meisten der Vergewaltiger gestorben. Erst mit über dreissig konnte Christina endlich über die schlimmen Taten reden. Ein wichtiges Mosaiksteinchen in ihrem Heilungsprozess ist eine Reise nach Bolivien. Dort ist der Ort der schrecklichen Erlebnisse und Taten. Diese Doku zeigt eine starke Frau, die nicht zerbrochen ist, obwohl ihr im Namen Gottes schlimmes angetan wurde…

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[con video]

[Summary: J’Accuse is an eight-minute video in which some representatives of pedophila priests in Italy tell their stories and publicly denounce their situation and their indignation at the false media campaign launched by the Vatican. The media campaign deeply offends and subjects victims to further violence at the hands of the “executioner.” The video is in three language with subtitles and has been sent to Pope Francis.]

Un “j’accuse” di 8 minuti nel quale alcuni rappresentanti delle vittime italiane di preti pedofili, mettendoci la faccia, denunciano pubblicamente la loro situazione e la loro indignazione davanti ad una campagna mediatica falsa, avviata dal Vaticano e fatta sulla loro pelle.

Una campagna mediatica che offende profondamente e sottopone le vittime ad un’ulteriore violenza, per mano di quel carnefice, che invece di riparare, propaganda il falso cercando di far credere all’opinione pubblica che la chiesa sta intervenendo in aiuto delle vittime.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.– Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez said the Vatican is following the trial of ex-Vatican envoy Josef Wesolowski, accused of committing pedophile acts while exercising his religious and diplomatic post in the Dominican Republic.

“The Vatican is following his case at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the one that handles child abuse cases. We’re supposed to wait for its verdict,” said the prelate.

The Cardinal said he did not know how the process go. “I just stuck to report the case to the Pope,” he pointed out.

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UNITED STATES
The Pilot

5/10/2014, BY GEORGE P. MATYSEK JR.

BALTIMORE (CNS) — When considering the suppression of parishes or the closing of church buildings, bishops should hew closely to canon law not simply because it’s a legal requirement of the church, Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said, but because it helps foster unity.

In a May 7 interview with the Catholic Review, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican’s highest court, said following proper procedures helps ensure legitimate decisions.

“When we don’t follow the requirements of the law, then people rightly claim that they’ve been aggrieved by this,” said Cardinal Burke, who was a featured speaker at the Eastern Regional Conference of the Canon Law Society of America, held May 6-8 in Baltimore. The cardinal’s presentation was closed to the media, but he granted a brief interview to the Catholic Review.

“(When) we do follow the requirements of the law,” he said, “even if we take a decision that’s unfavorable to people, at least they know that it was taken legitimately with respect to what the church requires for that decision.”

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IDAHO
Idaho Statesman

Forest Reuben Gibson, 33, was arrested April 28 by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office for alleged sexual abuse of a minor ages 16 or 17. The sheriff’s office announced the arrest Friday, noting that investigators worry there could be more victims in Canyon County and other nearby areas.

Anyone with information about possible victims or abuse is asked to contact Canyon County Detective Shawn Becker at 454-7261 or sbecker@canyonco.org.

Details of the allegations against Gibson are sparse. Friday’s announcement noted that the Payette County Prosecutor’s Office is involved and described Gibson as a “local church youth leader.” But Payette County’s ties to the case were not spelled out, and it wasn’t clear if the alleged abuse involved a member of Gibson’s church.

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IDAHO
Idaho Press-Tribune

CALDWELL — A local church youth leader was arrested by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office on April 28 for sexual abuse of a minor child 16 or 17 years of age, and police are searching for any other victims.

Forest Reuben Gibson, 33, was arrested after an investigation by the sheriff’s office in conjunction with the Payette County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Detectives are concerned there may be additional victims in Canyon County and surrounding areas, according to a news release.

Anyone who has information about Gibson or who could help identify other victims should call Detective Shawn Becker at 454-7261 or email him at sbecker@canyonco.org.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Greenville News

[with video]

Stephen Pettit replaces Dr. Stephen Jones, who for health reasons announced in December he would end his nine-year tenure as BJU’s president at the end of commencement May 9.

On Saturday, longtime evangelist Stephen D. Pettit Sr. will take over the helm of Bob Jones University, the first president of the institution not named Jones.

Pettit replaces Dr. Stephen Jones, who will end his nine-year tenure Friday due to health reasons.

Jones announced his resignation in December, which in turn launched a months-long search for a new president to lead the school founded in 1927 by Bob Jones Sr.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The State

BY AMY BURNS
Greenville News
May 10, 2014

Incoming Bob Jones University president Steve Pettit said he plans to continue the school’s long tradition of cultural conservatism while also balancing the demands of a modern society.

“That’s what Bob Jones University desires. I don’t think they would have asked me to come if they didn’t want that,” he said, speaking at a press conference one day after being announced as the university’s new president.

“Bob Jones University has a long-standing tradition of being culturally a very conservative Christian institution. And that’s what I am,” he said. “We just want to implement that in the day and age in which we’re living.” …

In his board role, Pettit said he voted for the investigation into handling of past sexual abuse allegations being conducted by GRACE, or Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment. A final report on the yearlong study is expected soon.

“We will do everything that is right and appropriate to really serve people who have suffered and to change the things within our culture as they come,” Pettit said.

He emphasized “honesty and total transparency” in addressing the situation, which has raised some eyebrows over the school’s having terminated and then reinstated its contract with GRACE earlier this year.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: May 10, 2014

The thick manila envelope landed in Bob Schwiderski’s mailbox in March. He tore it open — and found something he’d never seen in his 25 years advocating for victims of clergy abuse.

Inside were 20 notes of support from parishioners at a local church. “We love you and hold you in our hearts,” wrote one woman, pledging to devote four masses, 30 rosaries and other prayers to the abused. “I am praying for healing for us all,” another wrote.

Stunned, Schwiderski eventually called the Church of St. Paul in Ham Lake and proposed a face-to-face meeting with church members. They invited the vicar general of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Rev. Charles Lachowitzer, and on Thursday night a rare evening of reconciliation unfolded. There was no talk of lawsuits. No priest bashing. No victim blaming. Just people coming together “to try to heal,” church members said.

“Some of us have been digging in the trenches for 25 years and have never had an opportunity to do anything like this,” Schwiderski, state director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), told parishioners gathered in a chapel at the Church of St. Paul.

“This is huge,” he said. “You’ve got the vicar general and this old war horse on the same stage,” he added with a smile.

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VATICAN CITY
Miami Herald

BY NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY — Italian victims of priestly sex abuse appealed directly to Pope Francis for justice Friday, calling for a commission of inquiry into the problem in the Vatican’s backyard.

In letters and a video posted online, 17 survivors denounced the treatment they have received by the Italian Catholic Church and the Vatican itself. Half of them are former students of a notorious school for the deaf in Verona where hundreds of children are believed to have been sexually assaulted over the years by two dozen priests and religious brothers.

The “Abuse Network” organization, one of the most active in Italy, said it sent a copy of the video to the Vatican’s deputy secretary of state, Monsignor Angelo Becciu, addressed to the pope. There was no comment Friday from the Vatican on whether it had been received or viewed.

In a letter to Francis sent last month, the Verona deaf victims called for a commission of inquiry to be set up as has been done in Ireland and Australia to investigate the depths of the scandal in Italy.

The Abuse Network has posted online the names of some 150 Italian priests it says have been convicted by Italian courts since 2000 for abuse-related crimes in a bid to show that the problem is very real in Italy. Yet the Italian bishops’ conference has been slow to respond to the problem and only this year released Vatican-mandated guidelines for how to protect children.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Gerry Braiden
Senior reporter

Friday 9 May 2014

HE offered an olive branch but the strange case of Scotland’s “whistleblowing rebel priest” is not going away any time soon.

After a year of standing by his allegations of powerful gay cliques within the clergy and resisting moves by the Catholic hierarchy against him, Father Matthew Despard made reconciliatory overtures last weekend.

According to his lawyer, Father Despard now seeks a “brotherly” way out of the legal actions racking up against him, talking of “respect and honour” and “resolving breaches in relations”.

Given the likely eviction from his parish house and the potential of being returned to civilian life, perhaps that is understandable for a guy approaching 50 with no obvious career to fall back on.

Proceedings under church law against him for publication of his memoirs, Priesthood In Crisis, must be completed and talk of civil action by several of those mentioned in the book continues.

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ITALY
ANSA

(ANSA) – Rome, May 9 – An organization of survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests has sent Pope Francis a videotaped appeal for justice and compensation, La Repubblica newspaper reported Friday.

The organization called Rete l’Abuso (Abuse Network) made the video featuring dozens of adult survivors of child sexual abuse in religious institutions. Among them are eight deaf-mute people who were enrolled at the Antonio Provolo religious institute for disabled children in the northern city of Verona, where some 25 priests abused at least 100 victims from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. In a 2011 letter, an association of adult survivors of the abuse at Provolo wrote to then-pope Benedict XVI, asking him to deconsecrate three churches they said they were sexually assaulted in as children.

In their video message, the victims call on Francis for compensation, because the crimes committed against them have long since timed out under Italian law.

In a Wednesday hearing in Geneva, Vatican UN Ambassador Silvano Tomasi told the UN Committee on the Convention against Torture that since 1950, the Holy See has paid sex-abuse victims a total of $2.5 billion in damages and $78 million to pay for therapy. The Abuse Network in February called on the Vatican to declassify its archives on pedophile priests so they can be turned over to public prosecutors.

On its website, it has published a list of 148 convicted child-molesting priests, as well as a map of Italy detailing all the parishes where child abuse allegations have surfaced.

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VATICAN CITY
UPI

By Ed Adamczyk | May 9, 2014

VATICAN CITY, May 9 (UPI) –Pope Francis has been sent a video made by victims of child sex abuse at the hands of priests, calling for sympathy and compensation.

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported Friday the Rete l’Abuso (Abuse Network) organization produced the video, which presents several dozen adult victims of child sex abuse. They include eight deaf and mute people who were enrolled in a school in Verona, where 25 priests abused at least 100 students from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Those in the video call on the pope for compensation, noting the statute of limitations for prosecution under Italian law has expired.

The organization’s website identifies 148 priests convicted of child molestation, and a map of Italy detailing the Catholic parishes where the crimes occurred.

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OSTERREICH
Kathweb

[Summary: The Vienna archdiocese has stepped up its efforts in prevention of abuse and held a discussion Wednesday with experts from Austria and Bolivia on their experiences of abuse and related prevention efforts.]

Wien, 08.05.2014 (KAP) Die Erzdiözese Wien verstärkt ihre Bemühungen in der Missbrauchsprävention und lud aus diesem Grund zu einem internationalen Erfahrungsaustausch. Unter dem Titel “Missbrauch und Gewalt verhindern! In Familie – Kirche – Internet”, diskutierten am Mittwochabend in Wien Experten aus Österreich und Bolivien über ihre Erfahrungen mit Missbrauch und entsprechenden Präventionsbemühungen.

Martina Greiner-Lebenbauer von der Stabstelle für Missbrauchs -und Gewaltprävention der Erzdiözese Wien wies darauf hin, dass sich in Wien und Österreich allgemein in den vergangenen 20 Jahren sehr viel zum Besseren geändert habe. Die Bischöfe hätten mit ihrer Rahmenordnung zur Aufklärung und Prävention von Missbrauch klare und effiziente Vorgaben gegeben. So sei das Thema inzwischen längst Bestandteil der Priesterausbildung oder der Ausbildung von Ehrenamtlichen und spiele auch bei Einstellungsgesprächen für den kirchlichen Dienst eine wichtige Rolle. Es gebe zahlreiche Studientagungen und auch Präventionsbeauftragte in diversen kirchlichen Einrichtungen und Pfarren. Jede Diözese verfüge auch über eine eigene Präventionsstelle.

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VEREINIGTE STAATEN
Roy Bougeois

Gestern fragte die Augsburger Allgemeine, ob Johannes Paul II. mit Schuld am Leid der Missbrauchsopfer habe.

Gleichzeitig meldet sich in der U.S. Zeitschrift National Catholic Reporter ein Insider, der amerikanische Jesuit Tom Doyle, zu Wort. Tom war in den achtziger Jahren in der Nuntiatur in Washington, DC tätig und setzt sich in den letzten 30 Jahren für die Opfer des Klerikermissbrauchs ein. Er vertritt auch Pater Roy kirchenrechtlich als Anwalt.

P. Tom Doyle schreibt, die die Heiligsprechung von Johannes Paul II. ein Schlag ins Gesicht nicht nur der Missbrauchsopfer ist, sondern auch der von der Kirche bestraften und ausgestoßenen, wie Pater Roy. Ein Beitrag, der sehr nachdenklich macht. Wer sind die wirklichen Heiligen in der Kirche? Aus aktuellem Anlass der Heiligsprechung von Johannes XXIII. und von Johannes Paul II. am 27. April 2014 bringen wir hier seinen Artikel in der Übersetzung in voller Länge.

National Catholic Reporter
25.4.2014

von Thomas P. Doyle

In dem Bücherregal meines Arbeitszimmer steht, in Leder gebunden, eine Kopie des Kirchenrechts. Nicht irgendeine Kopie. Diese hat Papst Johannes Paul II signiert auf Bitte meines damaligen Chefs, Kardinal Pio Laghi. Der Papst hat es datiert: der 6.6.1983. Da bin ich mir sicher, damals habe ich ihn bewundert.

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ITALIA
Blitz

[Summary: Victims of clergy sexual abuse in Italy have sent a video to Pope Francis in which they tell their stories.]

ROMA – “Papa Francesco, almeno tu fai giustizia”. L’Abuso, l’associazione italiana in difesa delle vittime nella Chiesa cattolica, ha consegnato a Papa Francesco una richiesta di aiuto, una raccolta di testimonianze in difesa delle vittime dei preti pedofili.

Nel video-messaggio per Papa Francesco anche le testimonianze di 8 sordomuti del Provolo di Verona, uno dei casi più gravi confermati dalla Commissione pontificia, che non sono mai stati risarciti: per la legge italiana i reati commessi erano già prescritti.

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IRELAND
Irish Post

By Niall O Sullivan on May 9, 2014

IRELAND’S new Minister for Justice must follow Alan Shatter’s lead by reuniting thousands of families torn apart by forced adoption, a leading campaigner has said.

Just as the now-disgraced former minister was once praised for bringing justice to women who suffered in Magdalene Laundries, Susan Lohan said his replacement must help forced adoption victims.

The Adoption Rights Alliance co-founder claimed Frances Fitzgerald would have “no excuse” for failing to act due to her past experience as Children’s Minister.

“We expect Frances Fitzgerald to continue to engage with us on dealing with the injustices of forced and illegal adoptions in Ireland by introducing laws that would reunite thousands of families,” Ms Lohan said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By FIONA HENDERSON May 9, 2014

THE Ballarat Catholic diocese has set up a paid position to help prevent a repeat of its clergy sexual abuse past.

A part-time diocesan co-ordinator for professional standards will establish strict conduct policies for not only the ministry but also lay workers and volunteers.

Vicar-general Father Justin Driscoll said the diocese realised it had a lot of work to do.

“It’s part of a culture change for us. We’re going beyond that reactive stage and we’re trying to do what’s right. It’s far more of a proactive stage.

“We want to implement best practice, not minimum standards so that everyone’s safe and no one’s at risk.

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ITALIA
La Repubblica – Inchieste

[con video]

MILANO – “Papa Francesco ascolta anche noi”. È questa la richiesta contenuta nel video-messaggio che Rete L’Abuso, l’associazione italiana in difesa delle vittime di pedofilia nella Chiesa Cattolica, ha consegnato a Papa Francesco poche ore fa in Vaticano. In questo video parlano alcune delle vittime di abusi sessuali emersi negli ultimi anni, tra cui il caso recentissimo di Giada, la ragazza diciottenne di Portocannone in provincia di Campobasso che dopo aver denunciato il suo parroco si è ritrovata contro gli abitanti del suo paese che la accusano di essersi inventata tutto.

A chiudere il videomessaggio sono otto vittime dell’Istituto per Sordomuti Provolo di Verona, gravissimo caso esploso nel 2009 dopo un’inchiesta dell’Espresso e che ebbe molta risonanza anche all’estero. Si parlò di oltre 25 religiosi coinvolti e più di cento vittime abusate dalla metà degli anni ’50 fino alla metà degli anni ’90. Venne anche istituita una commissione d’inchiesta vaticana che confermò gli abusi, ma per la legge italiana quasi tutti i reati erano ormai prescritti e le vittime non sono mai state risarcite. “Non vogliamo sfidare nessuno”, spiega Francesco Zanardi portavoce di Rete L’Abuso “ma abbiamo voluto far parlare le vittime, alcune giovanissime, perché si raccontasse la verità su di loro: nessuno le ha ascoltate, nessuno le ha risarcite sono state lasciate sole. I media amano questo nuovo Papa noi gli chiedano: Perché non ci ascolti?”

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ROME
Gazzetta del Sud

Rome – An organization of survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests has sent Pope Francis a videotaped appeal for justice and compensation, La Repubblica newspaper reported Friday. The organization called Rete l’Abuso (Abuse Network) made the video featuring dozens of adult survivors of child sexual abuse in religious institutions. Among them are eight deaf-mute people who were enrolled at the Antonio Provolo religious institute for disabled children in the northern city of Verona, where some 25 priests abused at least 100 victims from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. In a 2011 letter, an association of adult survivors of the abuse at Provolo wrote to then-pope Benedict XVI, asking him to deconsecrate three churches they said they were sexually assaulted in as children. In their video message, the victims call on Francis for compensation, because the crimes committed against them have long since timed out under Italian law. In a Wednesday hearing in Geneva, Vatican UN Ambassador Silvano Tomasi told the UN Committee on the Convention against Torture that since 1950, the Holy See has paid sex-abuse victims a total of $2.5 billion in damages and $78 million to pay for therapy.

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UNITED STATES
Matthew Fox

Just last month, Greystone Press released an eloquent testament to the shattering impact of childhood sexual abuse, and the power of truth-speaking in the healing process, in Catholic Boy Blues: A Poet’s Journal of Healing by Norbert Krapf, past Indiana Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize nominee, emeritus prof. of English at Long Island University, and author of twenty-five critically acclaimed books.

In his Preface, Matthew Fox speaks to the depth of Krapf’s message:

“The late poet Derrick Walcott, in accepting the Nobel Prize for poetry in 1992, declared that “the fate of poetry is to fall in love with the world in spite of history.” This powerful statement reminds us of the darkness that so much history contains—the wars, the injustices, the mistakes, the crimes, the malfeasance, the lies. History tempts us to give up on life. Poetry (and other art forms) are that gift from the gods that allows us to endure, to heal and to thrive in spite of history.

Lately, first in the Roman Catholic Church, and now in the football hierarchy of Penn State University, one shadow side of history, the rape and abuse of children and the cover up by powers that be, has been making headlines and telling us things about ourselves and our institutions that we prefer not to hear. Denial reigns. Adultism rules when institutional ego and reputation take precedence over the safety of children whether that institution is a university or a church. In this book, from an acclaimed poet laureate, we hear the truth that burns through denial and we pray once again that the truth will.

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WASHINGTON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, May 9, 2014

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

Child sex cases against a Catholic cleric who molested more than 50 kids – and who worked at several Seattle area schools – are expected to settle soon.

[Seattle Weekly]

We urge Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain to aggressively spread the word about his crimes and beg anyone who saw, suspected or suffered them to call police. Specifically, we beg Sartain to put notices in parish bulletins and on church websites prodding victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police so that the cleric might be charged, convicted and kept away from kids.

The cleric, Brother Edward Courtney, belongs to a Catholic religious order, the New Rochelle, New York based Christian Brothers.

We urge Christian Brothers officials to explain and apologize for “paying Courtney’s way at (a university” to earn accreditation as a school principal” and writing “letters of recommendation on his behalf” even after they’d received multiple credible abuse reports against him (according to Seattle Weekly).

Over two decades from coast to coast, Br. Courtney was a principal, teacher and coach in ten schools (in New York, Nevada and Washington state) and is believed to be living now in Honolulu. We strongly suspect that neither Br. Courtney’s neighbors nor his family really know the truth about him, so he could well be molesting kids even now.

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INDIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, May 09, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314-503-0003, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

A former Indiana professor has been hired at a Chicago Catholic university, despite allegations that he “likely” recently sexually harassed a married couple.

[Inside Higher Ed]

He is Miguel H. Diaz, who represented the U.S. at the Vatican from 2009-2012. He also taught Theology at Notre Dame University.

We strongly urge Loyola University (where he will soon teach) officials to reverse and explain their reckless decision. We also call on officials at the University of Dayton (where he previously taught) to admit and disclose Diaz’ wrongdoing, so that others will be protected from his predatory tendencies.

No students and staff at any college should be subjected to sexual harassment. Given the findings of University of Dayton officials, Diaz does not belong on any campus.

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OHIO/PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, May 9, 2014

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 Catholic cleric, who was convicted of disorderly conduct involving a minor and was recently “outed,” also worked in Cincinnati. We want Catholic officials from Ohio and Pennsylvania to reach out to victims.

[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Brother Ralph Mravintz was convicted of disorderly conduct in 1986, which was a reduced charge from sexual assault of a teenage boy. He worked in Pittsburgh in the 1960s and 1980s. He also worked in Cincinnati at Purcell High School from 1948-49.

We want Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Catholic officials to immediately:

– reach out to anyone who was hurt by him and may be suffering in silence and self blame, and

– post on their websites the names of dozens of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics – especially those who are still living and may be hurting other kids right now.

Mravinzt is now deceased.

We hope every single person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati – whether in a school or parish – will come forward, get help, call police, expose wrongdoers and start healing.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Thomas C. Fox | May. 8, 2014

A U.S. women religious leadership group expressed regret today that two years of private meetings with the Vatican doctrinal congregation have not borne fruit and have “broken down” and, as a result, “mistrust has developed.”

But the leaders also rededicated their organization to continued dialogue with Vatican officials, saying, “The continuation of such conversation may be one of the most critical endeavors we, as leaders, can pursue for the sake of the world, the Church, and religious life.”

“In our meetings at the [Congregations for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF)], [the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)] was saddened to learn that impressions of the organization in the past decades have become institutionalized in the Vatican, and these institutionalized perceptions have led to judgments and ultimately to the doctrinal assessment,” the LCWR leaders said in a statement released Thursday.

“During the meeting it became evident that despite maximum efforts through the years, communication has broken down and as a result, mistrust has developed. What created an opening toward dialogue in this meeting was hearing first-hand the way the CDF perceives LCWR. We do not recognize ourselves in the doctrinal assessment of the conference and realize that, despite that fact, our attempts to clarify misperceptions have led to deeper misunderstandings.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: May 8, 2014

Hearing begins in lawsuit over whether names of accused priests should be revealed.

A priest’s right to privacy vs. the public’s right to know about sexual misconduct claims was the subject of a court hearing Thursday pitting the Twin Cities archdiocese against attorneys for an alleged abuse victim.

Creating a “good cause standard” for releasing the names of priests accused of abuse was the first order of business before Special Master Judge Robert Schumacher, recently appointed to handle disputes over the release of documents and depositions in a lawsuit that has rocked the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The archdiocese argued that priests’ names should be made public only when there is a “preponderance of evidence” that the priest violated sexual misconduct laws, or that the accusation “was not false.”

“What we’re trying to do is balance the risk of harm to victims against the allegations of misconduct that have no foundation or are false,” said archdiocese attorney Tom Weiser.

But Jeff Anderson, the plaintiff’s attorney, argued that the names of all priests accused of criminal sexual misconduct, or suspected of criminal misconduct, should be public — unless the allegation is clearly false or fabricated.

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AUSTRALIA
Leigh Day

8 May 2014

Abuse lawyer Frances Swaine who has worked with the Child Migrant Trust for many years has given the announcement by the Christian Brothers (CB) in Australia that they will review unjust compensation payments made to survivors of childhood abuse a muted welcome.

The Royal Commission into child sex abuse is currently sitting in Perth, Australia and is looking into possible abuse carried out in children’s’ homes run by the Christian Brothers.

Many British child migrants who were sent to Australia and other Commonwealth countries over many decades lived in homes run by the Brothers, and many of them suffered appalling abuse.

The extent of the abuse was revealed to the Royal Commission last week when 11 men gave evidence about the brutal and continuous abuse that they suffered at four orphanages run by the Brotherhood.

Following the giving of evidence last week the Christian Brothers have said that they will re-examine any unjust payments made to survivors of abuse by them.

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
lewisblayse.net

At the end of the month, the NSW Special Commission of Enquiry is due to release its final report. The full title of the special commission of enquiry is the “Special Commission of Inquiry into matters relating to the Police investigation of certain child sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.”

Many people have latched on to what they see as the core issue at stake. At the core of the enquiry, for many people, is the existence of a ‘Catholic mafia’ within the ranks of the NSW police force. A Catholic mafia that, if it exists, is responsible for protecting accused Catholic clergy from investigations and convictions in NSW. A Catholic mafia, that, if it exists, represents a serious blight on the Australian system of justice. A Catholic mafia that, if it exists, needs to be rooted out quickly before more children are harmed by predators potentially protected at high levels of the NSW system of justice.

While the existence of a Catholic mafia within the ranks of the NSW police is indeed an allegation made by whistleblower police officer, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, whose fearless stance sparked the NSW enquiry (and indeed gave the necessary impetus for establishment of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse), and may be what most concerned people really want to know about, this is not in fact the focus of the NSW enquiry. Even if it should be.

The NSW enquiry established by former NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and headed by Margaret Cunneen SC is very limited in its scope. It’s only charged with the ability to look at two matters:

1. “The circumstances in which Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox was asked to cease investigating relevant matters and whether it was appropriate to do so; and
2. Whether, and the extent to which, officials of the Catholic Church facilitated, assisted, or co-operated with, Police investigations of relevant matters, including whether any investigation has been hindered or obstructed by, amongst other things, the failure to report alleged criminal offences, the discouraging of witnesses to come forward, the alerting of alleged offenders to possible police actions, or the destruction of evidence.”

Note the use of the term “relevant matters.” which are said to be:

“… any matter relating directly or indirectly to alleged child sexual abuse involving Father Denis McAlinden or Father James Fletcher, including the responses to such allegations by officials of the Catholic Church (and whether or not the matter involved, or is alleged to have involved, criminal conduct).”

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
MAY 9, 2014

Pope Francis’s new commission to protect minors got off to a candid start by warning that the scandal of pedophile priests has been a worldwide problem and requires reforms that hold diocesan leaders accountable. “In many people’s minds, it is an American problem, an Irish problem or a German problem,” Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, a member of the commission, said after its first meeting in Rome last week. “The church has to face it is everywhere in the world.”

This realism about the challenge ahead was in sharp contrast to the defense of the church’s record offered a few days later when a Vatican delegation in Geneva faced a second United Nations panel, the first having sharply criticized the church for evading the problem and failing to uphold the international treaty against torture. “We must not be fossilized in the past,” Archbishop Silvano Tomasi declared, as if the scandal and cover-ups were fading into history. He insisted that the church was well on its way to “cleaning house,” and offered the Vatican’s tally of 848 priests dismissed for sexual abuse of minors in a decade and 2,572 others disciplined. The numbers just underlined the scope of the scandal and the belated attempts to address it. And his argument that the torture treaty applies only in the confines of the Vatican defies logic.

Missing from the tally was the complicit role of diocesan prelates. Cardinal O’Malley said the commission wants “clear and effective protocols” for holding diocesan leaders accountable so they cannot again duck their obligations to civil authorities. Archbishop Tomasi says church policy now is to report “credible accusations” to police. But it is far from reassuring that while the Italian bishops’ conference recently released guidelines to protect minors, it insisted it had no legal obligation to report offenses to police. It is this kind of high-handedness toward civil authority that helped perpetuate the scandal.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY OREN YANIV
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, May 8, 2014

The prosecution against a trio of Brooklyn Hasids accused of taking a photo of a sex abuse victim who was testifying in court continued to fade away Thursday with the second dismissal in as many months.

The misdemeanor contempt charge against Joseph Fried was surprisingly dropped on the eve of trial after prosecutors announced they “did a forensic review and determined there was insufficient evidence.”

A co-defendant with the unusual name of Lemon Juice saw his case fizzle out until it was dismissed March 21.

All three were charged for taking the illegal picture while the teen victim of Nechemya Weberman was on the stand during the high-profile 2012 trial of the Satmar counselor who’s now serving a 50-year sentence.

“Mr. Fried is gratified that his innocence was finally established and the case against him dismissed,” his lawyer, Susan Necheles, said after the hearing in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Josh Saul
May 8, 2014

The Brooklyn District Attorney dropped criminal contempt charges Thursday against an Orthodox Jewish man accused of taking photos of an emotional sex abuse victim as she testified in a Brooklyn court in 2012.

“There was insufficient evidence to prosecute,” a Brooklyn District Attorney spokeswoman said.

Joseph Fried was arrested along with three other men on December 29, 2012 for secretly snapping photos of the victim of prominent Orthodox counselor Nechemya Weberman while the pretty teen was on the Brooklyn Supreme Court stand.

The victim’s husband criticized prosecutors for letting Fried skate.

“We are very upset that DA Kenneth Thompson’s office is dropping charges against Fried and all others who intimidate victims of sexual abuse,” the husband said.

“I call on Kenneth Thompson to start taking things about sexual abuse and intimidation more seriously because if not more children’s lives will be taken away.”

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AUSTRALIA
Echo Netdaily

Eoin Blackwell, AAP

For the past 70 years, Gordon Grant has rarely slept more than two hours a night.

It isn’t the memories of his two tours of Vietnam that keeps the former soldier awake in the dark.

It’s the nightmare he lived while in the care of the Christian Brothers at St Joseph’s Farm and Trade School, in Bindoon, Western Australia, that won’t let him rest.

When he was 13 years old, the principal of the school, Brother Paul Francis Keaney, asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up.

‘He was a huge man, and I said, “I don’t know yet, brother”, and without warning, he slammed his clenched fist into my face and I was knocked backwards along the cement floor,’ Mr Grant told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Perth last week.

‘He had broken my nose and it started to bleed before I got up from the floor.’

When Keaney asked him again, he replied he wanted to be a poultry farmer.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Peterborough Telegraph

by Stephen Briggs
stephen.briggs@peterboroughtoday.co.uk
Published on the 09 May 2014

A former Peterborough priest will have no further action taken against him following his arrest on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children.

Father David Jennings (57) had been priest at St Peter and All Souls Church in Peterborough, until he moved to the parish of St Mary’s Church in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

He was arrested in January on suspicion of having indecent images of children.

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CALIFORNIA
KUSI

[with video]

By Sasha Foo

The allegations in the lawsuit against the head of a drug and alcohol rehab program, with connections to the Point Loma-based Rock Church, are serious. Six women – a former employee and five program participants – say they were groped or sexually assaulted by a man who called himself the director of the Rock Recovery Ministry. Jaycee Peacock says he watched her when she showered.

“David made disgusting sexual comments and found a way to touch me inappropriately every single day.”

Taylor Peyton says he groped her and made her simulate giving him oral sex.

“As soon as I arrived, I was subjected to constant sexual conduct from David that escalated to the point where he finally began sexually assaulting me.”

The target of their complaint is David Powers. A Youtube video was posted in October 2009 by the Rock Church praising the work of Powers and his wife Tina in helping young women kick their addictions to drugs or alcohol. But now, the man who was supposed to help them is accused of sexually abusing them.

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UNITED STATES
Democracy Now

Is the Protestant world is teetering on the edge of a sex-abuse scandal similar to the one that rocked the Catholic Church? We are joined by reporter Kathryn Joyce, whose cover story in The American Prospect profiles Boz Tchividjian, a law professor at Liberty University — a school founded by Reverend Jerry Falwell — and former prosecutor who worked on many sexual abuse cases. Tchividjian used his experience to found GRACE — Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment. GRACE made headlines in February when the famous evangelical school, Bob Jones University, hired it to interview faculty and students about their experiences with sexual assault, then fired it before the it had a chance to report the results — only to hire it back after a public outcry. Tchividjian is the grandson of the famous evangelist, Rev. Billy Graham.

TRANSCRIPT

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

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We turn now to a new exposé that asks if the Protestant world is teetering on the edge of a sex-abuse scandal similar to the one that has rocked the Catholic Church. The person trying to address the problem may surprise you. As sex-abuse allegations multiply, it is Reverend Billy Graham’s grandson who is on a mission to persuade Protestant churches to come clean. Kathryn Joyce’s cover story in The American Prospect profiles Boz Tchividjian, a law professor at Liberty University, a school founded by Reverend Jerry Falwell, and former prosecutor who has worked on many sex-abuse cases. He used his experience to found an organization called GRACE: Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment.

AMY GOODMAN: GRACE made headlines in February when the famous evangelical school, Bob Jones University, hired it to interview faculty and students about their experiences with sexual assault, then fired it before it had a chance to report the results, only to hire it back after a public outcry. Well, reporter Kathryn Joyce joins us now to discuss this major exposé, “By Grace Alone: As Sex-Abuse Allegations Multiply, Billy Graham’s Grandson is on a Mission to Persuade Protestant Churches to Come Clean.” Kathryn Joyce is also the author of The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption and Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement.

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ILLINOIS
My Suburban Life

By ED MCMENAMIN – emcmenamin@shawmedia.com

Thousands of pages of documents released April 30 by a Chicago law firm detail decades of sexual abuse by DuPage County priests, including priests with ties to Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Itasca and Roselle, and the protection they allegedly received from the Diocese of Joliet.

The files of 16 priests accused of abuse, long held confidential by the diocese, were obtained and released by Jeff Anderson and Associates to coincide with five new lawsuits filed by the firm against four offenders.

Priests named in the diocesan documents include the Rev. Anthony Ross, who worked as associate pastor at St. Peter Parish in Itasca from 1980 until 1982 and as associate pastor and then temporary administrator at St. Isidore Parish in Bloomingdale from 1989 until 1990; the Rev. Phillip Dedera, who worked as associate pastor at St. Walter Parish in Roselle from 1979 until 1984; the Rev. Donald Pock, who worked as pastor at St. Peter Parish in Itasca from 1987 until 2002; and the Rev. Salvatore Formusa, who worked at St. Luke Parish in Carol Stream from 1967 until 1968.

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ILLINOIS
My Suburban Life

By ED MCMENAMIN – emcmenamin@shawmedia.com

Thousands of pages of documents released April 30 by a Chicago law firm detail decades of sexual abuse by DuPage County priests, including three priests who worked at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Bensenville, and the protection they allegedly received from the Diocese of Joliet.

The files of 16 priests accused of abuse, long held confidential by the diocese, were obtained and released by Jeff Anderson and Associates to coincide with five new lawsuits filed by the firm against four offenders.

Priests named in the diocesan documents include the Rev. Anthony Ross, who worked as pastor at St. Charles Borromeo from 1990 until 1993; the Rev. Michael Gibbney, who worked as associate pastor at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Bensenville from 1980 until 1986 and associate pastor at St. Charles Borromeo Parish from 1986 until 1988; and the Rev. James Burnett, who worked as an associate at St. Charles Borromeo Parish from 1968 until 1974.

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ILLINOIS
My Suburban Life

By ED MCMENAMIN – emcmenamin@shawmedia.com

Thousands of pages of documents released April 30 by a Chicago law firm detail decades of sexual abuse by DuPage County priests, including three priests who worked at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Bensenville, and the protection they allegedly received from the Diocese of Joliet.

The files of 16 priests accused of abuse, long held confidential by the diocese, were obtained and released by Jeff Anderson and Associates to coincide with five new lawsuits filed by the firm against four offenders.

Priests named in the diocesan documents include the Rev. Anthony Ross, who worked as pastor at St. Charles Borromeo from 1990 until 1993; the Rev. Michael Gibbney, who worked as associate pastor at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Bensenville from 1980 until 1986 and associate pastor at St. Charles Borromeo Parish from 1986 until 1988; and the Rev. James Burnett, who worked as an associate at St. Charles Borromeo Parish from 1968 until 1974.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Los Angeles

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — The former pastor of a Perris church was formally charged Thursday in the rape of a female congregation member.

Jerome Anthony Clay Sr., 41, of Perris was arrested in March after a young woman alleged she had been assaulted by the defendant.

Clay resigned as pastor of the Compassion Life Church at 190 E. 5th St. upon his arrest. He is scheduled for arraignment Friday at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

He is free on $110,000 bail, authorities said.

City News Service said they could not reach Clay for comment but that the church’s interim pastor, Jerry Vaughan, said he found the allegation of rape hard to believe.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By court reporter James Hancock
Updated Thu 8 May 2014

It can now be reported a convicted paedophile whose crime sparked a royal commission in South Australia into handling of school sex abuse cases has been convicted of more sex offences against young girls.

Mark Christopher Harvey, 43, went on trial this year for sexually exploiting four girls when he was the director of an out-of-school-hours care program in Adelaide’s north-western suburbs.

The court heard Harvey regularly removed the girls’ socks, gently bit their toes, touched their chests and exposed himself.

A judge found him guilty of charges last month but the outcome of the trial could not be reported until a publication ban was lifted today.

Submissions on Harvey’s sentence will be heard next month.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Jean Kennedy

In informal hearing rooms set up by the child sex abuse royal commission, victims are telling their stories of abuse in private.

Around 1,500 people nationwide have so far spoken about what happened to them. More than 1,000 others are on a ballooning waiting list, which grows by an extra 40 people each week.

Some are in their 80s and 90s, and many have carried their secrets for a lifetime. Their stories are not treated as legal evidence, their claims are not tested – as in a court of law. But they are believed and their trauma acknowledged.

So far out of the royal commission’s private hearings 156 cases have been referred to the police for investigation.

But lawyers say despite government and institutional apologies for the so-called sins of the past, the abuse of children in care is not confined to the past, it is still happening.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

08 May 2014 by Richard Scorer

Reviewed by Eileen Shearer
BITEBACK, 352pp, £20
Tablet bookshop price £18
Tel 01420 592974

Richard Scorer’s account of the sexual-abuse scandals over the past 30 years makes distressing and depressing reading. Scorer is a leading specialist in child-abuse litigation. He has brought together a selection of case histories from the 1960s to the present day that illustrates turning points and recurring themes; however, its analysis of the causes of clerical child sexual abuse is somewhat limited, as is its account of the Church’s developing response to safeguarding vulnerable people.

Although a number of safeguarding officials and some leading figures in the Catholic Church in England and Wales spoke to Scorer off the record (“all were very courteous and helpful”, he says) those currently charged with safeguarding – the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS) and the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC) – did not speak to him, on legal advice, Scorer believes. If this is true, it’s a shame. It risks perpetuating the perception that the Church in England and Wales continues to cover up abuse, and makes it less likely that the real progress that has been made in some areas in recent years will be recognised.

Despite Scorer’s evident desire to give credit where it is due to church leaders (notably to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and Cardinal Vincent Nichols), he concludes that the only substantial achievement of the past decade and a half is that cases are now reported to the police. This is far from the whole story. Even a cursory review of the CSAS and NCSC websites shows that safeguarding policies and procedures that accord with best practice are now in place, and give the most detailed information about allegations of abuse and their outcomes available. Scorer’s focus lies in past decades. The work of the NCSC and CSAS since 2008 is barely touched on. Strangely, the first chairman of the NCSC, Bill Kilgallon, a fiercely inde­pendent and principled authority on the safeguarding of children, is not mentioned.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By FRANCIS X. CLINES MAY 8, 2014

The 57,000 American women who are working among the needy as Catholic nuns received some words of encouragement this week from a German cardinal, dubbed “the pope’s theologian” because of his close friendship with Pope Francis. “I am also considered suspect!” Cardinal Walter Kasper, an outspoken liberal church writer, said at Fordham University on Monday. He was alluding to a Vatican investigation into “the quality of the life” at women’s religious institutes — code for Rome-appointed busybodies probing nuns for feminist influences and traces of heresy.

When the Vatican crackdown on nuns was announced five years ago — in the United States and no other country — it struck many church critics and laymen as a chauvinist overreach from Rome, particularly amid the raging scandal of the male clergy’s raping and abusing children. Progressive orders like the Sisters of St. Joseph, who revolutionized the treatment of imprisoned women in New York, received particular scrutiny.

“Well, it’s all nonsense,” Bob Bennett said at the time, speaking as a lawyer who led the church’s lay inquiry into the pedophilia scandal. “They are the jewels, the church’s class act,” Mr. Bennett said of the nuns.

The Vatican, however, is only stiffening its challenge to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious — the nuns’ hierarchy — with a new requirement that the sisters’ annual conference agendas and speakers be vetted by a Vatican overseer. Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Vatican bureaucracy on doctrine, accused the sisters this week of resisting mandated reforms and preferring speakers who diverged from church teaching.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Matt Miller | mmiller@pennlive.com
on May 08, 2014

The state Supreme Court agreed Thursday to consider a plea to overturn an appeals court ruling that freed a Roman Catholic Church official convicted of child endangerment in a priest sex abuse scandal.

Pennsylvania’s highest court took on the case on a appeal by Philadelphia prosecutors, who want to send Monsignor William Lynn back to prison.

Lynn, 63, was the first U.S. church officials to be charged with hiding child molestation complaints against priests. He was the contact person for the filing of such complaints in Philadelphia from 1992 through 2004.

Prosecutors claimed Lynn, a former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, covered up sex abuse incidents and put children at risk by reassigning priests who were sex predators to new parishes in Philadelphia.

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MINNESOTA
Houston Chronicle

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has withdrawn its request to interview the mother of a man who says he’s a victim of sexual abuse by a priest.

But the archdiocese wants Special Master Robert Schumacher to order the man to have a psychiatric evaluation. The Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/1oaVtbG ) says the archdiocese also wants the court officer to determine what constitutes “good cause” for releasing the names of priests who’ve been accused of abusing children but have not been criminally charged.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, May 8, 2014

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 PA’s highest court will look at this case. And we hope they will side with vulnerable kids over complicit adults.

[Philadelphia Inquirer]

If Msgr. Lynn walks free, we fear that more child sex crimes will be concealed and more kids will be hurt.

If Msgr. Lynn is jailed, we are confident that others will be deterred from hiding predators and endangering kids.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

JOSEPH A. SLOBODZIAN, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
POSTED: Thursday, May 8, 2014

Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court agreed Thursday to resolve questions about the key legal theory underpinning the landmark 2012 prosecution of the first Catholic Church official charged in the clergy child sex-abuse scandal.

The decision by the state’s highest court will decide the future of Msgr. William J. Lynn, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s former official responsible for investigating and recommending punishment for priests accused of sexual and other misconduct.

It could also dictate the standards for prosecutors to bring future charges against church officials accused of covering up misconduct by clergy they supervise.

The Supreme Court did not set a date for oral argument, or even a briefing schedule for what will likely be months of legal filings by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and lawyers for the Archdiocese and Lynn.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Reporter

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press
First Posted: May 08, 2014

PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will review the landmark prosecution of a Roman Catholic church official tried over his handling of sex-abuse complaints.

Monsignor William Lynn was convicted of felony child endangerment at a high-profile 2012 trial, and served 18 months in prison.

However, an appeals court unanimously threw out the conviction last year.

Philadelphia prosecutors want the conviction restored, and the state Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear the case.

The 63-year-old Lynn is now on house arrest at a city rectory.

He served as secretary of clergy in the Philadelphia archdiocese from 1992 to 2004.

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UNITED STATES
Commonweal

An Interview with Cardinal Walter Kasper
Matthew Boudway and Grant Gallicho May 7, 2014

During his first Angelus address, Pope Francis recommended a work of theology that “has done me so much good” because it “says that mercy changes everything; it changes the world by making it less cold and more fair.” That book is Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life by Cardinal Walter Kasper, which has just been published by Paulist Press. Before serving as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (2001-2010), Kasper was bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart (1989-1999). He has taught theology at the University of Tubingen, the Westphalian University of Munster, and the Catholic University of America. Last week, associate editors Matthew Boudway and Grant Gallicho spoke with the cardinal in New York. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Commonweal: In your book Mercy, you argue that mercy is basic to God’s nature. How is mercy key to understanding God?

Cardinal Walter Kasper: The doctrine on God was arrived at by ontological understanding—God is absolute being and so on, which is not wrong. But the biblical understanding is much deeper and more personal. God’s relation to Moses in the Burning Bush is not “I am,” but “I am with you. I am for you. I am going with you.” In this context, mercy is already very fundamental in the Old Testament. The God of the Old Testament is not an angry God but a merciful God, if you read the Psalms. This ontological understanding of God was so strong that justice became the main attribute of God, not mercy. Thomas Aquinas clearly said that mercy is much more fundamental because God does not answer to the demands of our rules. Mercy is the faithfulness of God to his own being as love. Because God is love. And mercy is the love revealed to us in concrete deeds and words. So mercy becomes not only the central attribute of God, but also the key of Christian existence. Be merciful as God is merciful. We have to imitate God’s mercy.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | May. 8, 2014 Distinctly Catholic

First, congratulations to Grant Gallicho and Matthew Boudway at Commonweal for scoring an in-depth interview with Cardinal Walter Kasper and, more importantly, for doing their homework and asking really smart, well-prepared questions. Second, kudos to Cardinal Kasper for inviting all of us to think more deeply and with greater nuance about a host of issues. Whether one agrees with all of his conclusions or insights, his is a powerful and faithful mind.

Of course, the key comments of Kasper’s that will warm the hearts of liberal Catholics are his various insistences on the need to ask the question: Where is the mercy for people in this situation? This is a question Christians must always be prepared to ask. It is always a relevant question. But before this line of thinking leads us to a general and unspecific suspicion of legalism and canonical concerns more generally, let us modify the question a tad: Where is the mercy for priests who sexually abused minors? Surely, God’s sacrifice on Calvary redeems them too, does it not? Nor is it enough to observe that if the Church shows mercy to priests who abused minors, the Church does an injustice both to the victims of clergy sex abuse and to the 95 percent of priests who have never touched a minor inappropriately. No, we must face the question head-on, and it is not an easy question. The best I have come up with? It is a strange form of mercy that permits a priest who abused a child to return to a way of life that will continue to give him a unique type of access into other people’s intimate lives, where the temptation to commit the sin and crime again will manifest itself anew. It is akin to putting an open bottle of scotch in front of someone struggling to stay sober. I confess I am not entirely satisfied with that answer, but, as I say, it is the best I have been able to come up with. The larger point is this. Yes, we must always ask how we can be vehicles of God’s mercy, but balancing mercy with justice, as Cardinal Kasper suggests, cannot be a smokescreen for laxity. Similarly, in hearing some commentators chastise Cardinal Kasper for threatening the Church’s approach to the issue of divorce and remarriage, one has the suspicion that they get some kind of thrill by appearing to be rigorists. Rigor is to be avoided as much as laxity.

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HAWAII
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, May 8, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 8627688, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

A Christian brother, who is accused of molesting dozens of children across the country, is allegedly living in Hawaii. We hope church officials will act responsibly and warn unsuspecting families about this dangerous man.

[Seattle Weekly]

Edward Courtney joined the Christian Brothers of Ireland in 1957 and according to church records immediately started to prey on young boys. That was in New York. Since then he has been a teacher and coach at roughly 10 different schools – Catholic and public – across the US, including IL, MI, WA, and NV.

Transferring predator clergy is one of the most callous and dangerous actions church officials can take. Because of these heartless and irresponsible officials dozens of children were molested. 50 victims of Br. Courtney have come forward; we suspect there are many more suffering in silence and self blame. We urge church officials in Hawaii to warn their flock about Br. Courtney.

We hope anyone who is suffering in silence will speak up and get help. We hope anyone who saw or suspects anything will report to law enforcement. And we hope church officials, in all the places Courtney worked, will publicly disclose his whereabouts, work history and photo.

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UNITED STATES
Questions from a Ewe

Dear Pope Francis, I’m really confused.
Because I read the very same day in the news

That pedophile priests are beyond Vatican controls
While the Curia again raked American nuns over the coals.

With abusive priests they claim their arms only reach the Vatican wall
But with the American nuns, suddenly across the ocean, those same arms can sprawl?

For predator priests the Curia says they must respect the law for each land.
Shouldn’t they do likewise when American nuns’ Constitutional liberties are at hand?

Maybe like the game my kids used to play,
They simply think that it’s “Happy Opposite Day?”

Because in my land, the land of the nuns in question
Free-speaking women are no problem, but sexually abusive priests deserve incarceration.

The pedophile priests are only part of the problem.
The Vatican ignores bishops shuffling predators round-robin.

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.

SEATTLE (WA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, May 8, 2014

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

In light of the Fr. Harold Quigg scandal, Seattle’s Catholic archbishop now says he’ll re-examine his “monitoring” policy. But he shouldn’t.

It’s not his “monitoring” policy that needs fixing. It’s his secrecy practice that needs fixing.

[Seattle PI)

For a decade, Seattle kids have been at risk around Fr. Quigg because Archbishop Peter Sartain and his staff hid Fr. Quigg’s sexual misdeeds. Now Sartain is deliberately trying to evade responsibility for his own callous secrecy.

Sartain wants us to focus on Fr. Quigg’s wearing a Roman collar. Instead, we should focus on Sartain’s duplicitousness and recklessness.

Let’s be clear: Fr. Quigg broke the law. He molested a teenager (perhaps several). Then, he broke church rules. He’s likely still dangerous. He belongs behind bars.

But the most recent offender here is Archbishop Sartain. He broke two serious promises that he has repeatedly made for years – to be honest with his flock about predators and to keep predators away from kids so that kids could be safe. He broke his own archdiocesan abuse policy. He broke the U.S. national bishops’ abuse policy. He made it easier for a predator priest to severely hurt more teenagers.

If Seattle Catholic officials hadn’t hidden Fr. Quigg’s misconduct, he might be in prison now (where it wouldn’t matter if he wears a priest’s uniform or not). And if Sartain had warned his flock about Fr. Quigg, parents would have kept their children away from him (no matter what he was wearing).

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VATICANO
Terra

Es la primera vez que el Vaticano aporta estadísticas detalladas de las medidas disciplinarias adoptadas contra curas acusados de abusar a menores: 848 fueron expulsados del sacerdocio y otros 2.572 recibieron sanciones menores en la última década. (BBC Mundo)

“Si bien la Santa Sede no tiene competencia para juzgar a los pederastas fuera del Estado del Vaticano, sí que realiza procedimientos eclesiásticos contra aquellas personas sobre las que pesan abusos a menores”.

Así lo subrayó este martes Silvano Tomasi, representante permanente del Vaticano ante la Organización de Naciones Unidas en Ginebra, Suiza, en el segundo día consecutivo de comparecencia ante el Comité de la ONU contra la Tortura.

En su intervención, Tomasi explicó que la Santa Sede no tiene jurisdicción penal en los casos de abusos ocurridos fuera del Vaticano, pero sí tiene competencia para destituir o sancionar a los sacerdotes culpables si se demuestra que han cometido el delito.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue wrote to Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie today urging him to veto S.B. 2687, a bill that would suspend the statute of limitations for cases involving the sexual abuse of minors. To read it, click here.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

[with audio]

There’s been an angry reaction from victims groups after a Vatican official spoke of the effectiveness of the Australian Church’s redress scheme.

There’s been an angry reaction from victims groups after reports a Vatican official told the United Nations that the Australian Church’s redress scheme for victims of clerical abuse has been effective.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says a Vatican archbishop told the UN Committee Against Torture the Australian Church’s Towards Healing process was an example of the church “responding positively” to victims of abuse.

Towards Healing contains the principles and procedures in responding to complaints of abuse against the Church in Australia.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

A nun has told an inquiry she did not get any holidays during her first five years working at a former residential home in Londonderry in the 1960s.

The Historical Abuse Inquiry is examining claims of abuse at 13 homes and training centres in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 1995.

The nun, whose identity cannot be revealed, worked at the former St Joseph’s home in Termonbacca, Derry.

She said she and another nun were responsible for looking after 60 boys.

“In the first five years, I don’t remember any holidays” she said.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

by ANDREA GAGLIARDUCCI/CNA/EWTN NEWS 05/08/2014

VATICAN CITY — After years of tension, news that Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has invited Pope Francis to visit the country may be a sign that relations between the Holy See and Ireland are returning to normal.

Within just months of the re-opening of Ireland’s Vatican embassy, Prime Minister Kenny announced the invitation to the Pope at a press conference held at the Irish College in Rome April 27.

According to The Irish Times, the prime minister said he told Pope Francis that his papacy had brought about “an extraordinary difference to the perception of the Catholic Church,” and that in Ireland now there is “a clearer and healthier relationship between Church and State.”

Ireland’s government announced on Jan. 21 the re-opening of its embassy to the Holy See in Rome, which had been closed in November of 2011 due to what was claimed to be economic reasons.

The decision to close the embassy at the time, and thus not have a resident diplomat, came after years of friction between Holy See and Ireland especially with regard to local sex abuse scandals.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

May 8, 2014 8:11 am | Author: berger

The St. Louis-based Marianists are in hot water again, this time in Pittsburgh, where in the last few days, four of the Catholic religious order’s clerics have been publicly accused of molesting students years ago. The reports began to surface after SNAP prodded the church authorities to seek out others hurt by a fifth Marianist, Brother Bernard Hartman, who faces criminal abuse charges and also taught in our town. . .

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UNITED STATES
Democracy Now

The U.N. Committee on Torture sharply questioned the Vatican this week over its handling of sexual abuse inside the Catholic Church. The hearing came just four months after the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child accused the Vatican of systematically turning a blind eye to decades of abuse and attempting to cover up sex crimes. During this week’s hearing, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi revealed the church had dismissed more than 800 priests for sexual abuse of children in the past decade. A number of survivors of sexual abuse attended this week’s hearing, including our guest, Barbara Blaine, president and founder of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. We are also joined by Katherine Gallagher, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights and counsel for SNAP in their international advocacy work.

TRANSCRIPT

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

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The U.N. Committee on Torture sharply questioned the Vatican this week over its handling of sexual abuse inside the Catholic Church. The hearing came just four months after another U.N. body, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, accused the Vatican of systematically turning a blind eye to decades of abuse and attempting to cover up sex crimes. During this week’s hearing, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi revealed the church had dismissed more than 800 priests for sexual abuse of children in the past decade.

ARCHBISHOP SILVANO TOMASI: There were, since 2004 to the end of 2015, 848 priests who were dismissed from the clerical status and reduced to the lay status, and several hundred more had received other types of penalties, so that together they are about 3,500 priests.

AMY GOODMAN: Archbishop Tomasi went on to say the church has been addressing the crisis in a systematic and effective way over the past decade.

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AUSTRALIA
Bendigo Advertiser

May 9, 2014

Victoria’s move to require priests to gain accreditation to work with children should be considered nationally, Premier Denis Napthine says.

Victoria was taking a leadership role in addressing the issue, and it could set the tone of a national response, Dr Napthine said.

”I believe other states and jurisdictions will look at what we’re doing to require ministers of religion to have a working with children check if they have any dealings with children and families,” he said. ”I think other states and other jurisdictions should have a good hard look at it.”

A minister with children in their congregation, or who otherwise comes into contact with children as part of their duties, will be required to obtain the check.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER  , Star Tribune Updated: May 8, 2014

Thursday hearing is first by special master appointed to handle legal wrangling in clergy sex abuse case.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will ask the court Thursday for permission to interview family members of an alleged victim of priest sex abuse, and to have him undergo a psychological evaluation by a psychologist of its choosing.

The court will also be asked to determine what is “good cause” for releasing the name of priests accused of abusing children but not criminally charged.

The three motions will be heard by Special Master Judge Robert Schumacher, appointed to handle some of the legal wrangling involved in a lawsuit that has forced open the archdiocese’s practices on handling abusive priests.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of alleged victim John Doe 1 last May, who claimed he was abused by the Rev. Thomas Adamson even after the priest’s sexual misconduct was known to the church.

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MINNESOTA
Daily Reporter

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: May 08, 2014

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is asking a judge for permission to interview family members of a man who says he’s a victim of sexual abuse by a priest.

The archdiocese is also asking Special Master Judge Robert Schumacher to order the man to have a psychological evaluation. The Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/1oaVtbG ) says a third motion to be heard Thursday asks the judge to determine what is “good cause” for releasing the names of priests accused of abusing children, but who have not been criminally charged.

Schumacher is a retired Minnesota Court of Appeals judge appointed to handle some of the legal battles involved in a lawsuit over how the archdiocese handles abusive priests. The lawsuit filed by John Doe 1 claims he was abused by Rev. Thomas Adamson even after the priest’s sexual misconduct was known by the church.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, May 8, 2014

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

Several child sex cases against a Catholic cleric who molested more than 50 kids – and who worked in at least one New York parochial school – are expected to settle soon.

[Seattle Weekly]

We urge New York’s Cardinal Tim Dolan to aggressively spread the word about him and beg anyone who saw, suspected or suffered his crimes to call police.

The cleric, Brother Edward Courtney, belongs to a Catholic religious order, the New Rochelle-based Christian Brothers.

We urge Christian Brothers officials to explain and apologize for “paying Courtney’s way to earn accreditation as a school principal” and writing “letters of recommendation on his behalf” even after they’d received multiple credible abuse reports against him (according to Seattle Weekly).

Over two decades from coast to coast, Br. Courtney was a principal, teacher and coach in ten schools (in New York, Nevada and Washington state) and is believed to be living now in Honolulu. We strongly suspect that neither Br. Courtney’s neighbors nor his family really know the truth about him, so he could well be molesting kids even now.

Br. Courtney worked at New York City’s Sacred Heart School from 1957 to 1960 where, according to Seattle Weekly, “he almost immediately began to prey on young boys.” We strongly suspect that he was assigned to other NY area schools more recently. And we strongly suspect there are dozens of his victims in New York who have yet to come forward.

Later in his career, “despite the church’s knowledge of his serial molesting in their schools,” Br. Courtney used “the Catholics’ recommendations to gain employment at public schools” in Washington and Nevada,” according to the Seattle Weekly.

The newspaper reports that perhaps “within days,” the Seattle Archdiocese may settle with an unknown number of Br. Courtney’s victims.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Huffington Post

The Huffington Post | by Kim Bellware

Accusations of sexual harassment are trailing a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican who is set to take a post at one of the largest Catholic universities in the nation.

Miguel H. Diaz will join Loyola University in Chicago this summer, leaving behind the University of Dayton in Ohio, where last year he was accused of sexually harassing a married couple who were fellow UD professors, according to a new report from the college and Inside Higher Ed.

The Catholic theologian and married father of four is accused of “making various sexual requests and references to sexually explicit feelings,” according to a letter from the UD provost to the alleged victims that Inside Higher Ed obtained this year. According to the publication:

A “preponderance of evidence” led the outside attorney to conclude there was “reasonable cause to believe that some of [Díaz’s] conduct constituted sexual harassment that created an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment,” according to a letter sent to the alleged victims by Dayton’s general counsel.

Loyola first announced in February that Diaz and his wife would assume faculty positions at the university in the coming year.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times

Dan Keenan

Thu, May 8, 2014

Three former residents at two Derry homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth have spoken positively at the North’s historical abuse inquiry about the care they received.

One witness told the inquiry in Banbridge yesterday he appreciated the nuns who ran the institution. The food, lodgings and the system of care were basic, but good, he said.

He said some older boys did hit younger residents, and nuns did sometimes give those who misbehaved a “warm ear”. But he said that was how things were in the 1950s.

A little Jeyes Fluid was added to baths, but in no way was it an awful experience, he said. The care was as good as possible given the fact so few nuns were caring for more than 70 boys. He denied boys who wet the bed were ritually humiliated by nuns or anyone else.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN MAY 08, 2014

THE email appears to contradict much of what the policeman will go on to say. Sent several hours before NSW Police Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox goes live on the ABC claiming he was “ordered to stand down” from the investigation into a pedophile Catholic priest, it warns the detective has a “propensity to run investigations ‘in the press’.”

Its author, the close-cropped, combative crime manager of the NSW Police Newcastle command, Wayne Humphrey, is blunt in his assessment of his colleague.

“DCI Fox … does not have information (unless he has lied to investigators) that is either admissible or relevant,” the email says. “He has represented evidence from witnesses that has been found to be incorrect.”

This account, contained in an email exchange between senior police, is not passed on to the ABC, however, which interviews Fox later that night on its flagship Lateline program on television. Predictably, the November 2012 broadcast creates a storm and is widely seen as critical in the decision, four days later, to announce the royal commission into child sexual abuse. Lateline subsequently wins a prestigious Walkley award for the report.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN MAY 08, 2014

SENSATIONAL claims by a NSW Police detective about his force’s investigation of Catholic Church child abuse, which helped trigger a royal commission, are not supported by the evidence, a state inquiry is ­expected to report this month.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox was quickly dubbed a “hero cop” after he used a live ­interview on the ABC’s Lateline in November 2012 to criticise his employer, including saying he was “ordered to stand down” from one such case.

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AUSTRALIA/MALTA
Times of Malta

Christian Brothers in and around Perth in Australia are to review child-abuse settlements considered unjust and unreasonably low by the victims, including some from Malta, a Royal Commission has been told.

The commission was considering institutional responses to child sexual abuse, which took place mostly in the 1960s.

During the hearings, the commission heard evidence, including by Maltese men, of relentless rapes and beatings they suffered when they were boys.

As the hearings ended yesterday, the order announced it would provide lifelong psychological counselling to abuse survivors.

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AUSTRALIA
Galus Australis

By Vivien Resovsky:

Recently I attended the first International Congress for Child Protection Organisations in Jewish Communities [the Congress] that was held at the Haruv Institute at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The Congress was sponsored by Haruv and Magen, an Israeli child protection organisation in Beit Shemesh.

I believe that in order to really understand the problems in Melbourne we need to understand the overall problem and culture underpinning the way in which Ultra Orthodox communities deal with child sexual abuse.

However it is important to note that here is one big difference between Melbourne and most other Jewish communities in how child sexual abuse is dealt with. In most countries community services for Ultra Orthodox steams of Judaism are usually delivered separately, because the Ultra Orthodox way of life and customs are so different to less religious streams of Judaism. That is not the case in Melbourne.

In Melbourne child protection is lead by the Chabad dominated volunteer organization The Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault (The Taskforce). Although the vast majority of the Melbourne Jewish community are not Ultra Orthodox and don’t relate to or even understand the Chabad way of life, The Taskforce assert to be delivering a sensitive and unified response to child sexual abuse that covers all steams of Judaism. Thus the way in which all our children are protected is informed by Ultra orthodox “experts” such as USA based psychologist Dr David Pelcovitz and Israeli based Debbie Gross who works with the Ultra Orthoodox in family violence.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Removing time limits that prevent historic child sex abuse victims pursuing civil compensation in Victoria will make little difference by itself, victims say.

The government says it will overhaul the Limitations of Actions Act so organisations can’t “hide” behind time limits or other impediments in the legislation to avoid liability.

The government says it supports in-principle all 15 recommendations from the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse handed down last year, with some already enacted.

But advocacy group Ballarat and District Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse says it needs to adopt all of them.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

BY GENEVIEVE GANNON
May 8, 2014

Victorian child abuse victims will no longer be constrained by time limits in seeking compensation from the organisations that harboured their abusers, but another hurdle remains.

Premier Denis Napthine says organisations will no longer be able to hide behind the statute of limitations for victims who want to take civil action.

Victims advocacy group Broken Rites said removing time limits was an important step for victims, as it could take 20 or 30 years for some to come to terms with their childhood abuse.

“For victims who are still looking for justice and felt justice was denied that’s an important turnaround that they can now bring their claim forward without that time limit that was there previously,” spokeswoman Chris MacIsaac said.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

MATT JOHNSTON STATE POLITICS REPORTER HERALD SUN MAY 08, 2014

ALL religious ministers will have working with children’s checks and there will be new standards for organisations dealing with youth under a $10 million State Government reform.

Premier Denis Napthine revealed the changes, which are a further response to the Victorian Parliament’s inquiry into child abuse titled Betrayal of Trust.

That groundbreaking report has already led to new anti-grooming laws, and laws making it an offence to hide reports of abuse.

Dr Napthine said the latest measures, which will cost $10 million over four years, will further enhance child protection.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

AAP MAY 08, 2014

STATUTORY time limits blocking historical child sex abuse cases from going to court in Victoria are to be removed.

Attorney-General Robert Clark says the government will remove provisions that can block a victim of child abuse taking legal action.

“We don’t want any organisation to be able to use time limits or other impediments in the legislation in order to hide behind those to avoid liabilities,” Mr Clark told reporters on Thursday.

He said the government would overhaul the Limitations of Actions Act.

“We are going to go through each and every one of the provisions of the Limitations of Actions Act to work out where they should be removed, amended or otherwise modified,” Mr Clark said.

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AUSTRALIA
Radio Australia

[with audio]

Updated 8 May 2014

Victims of child sexual abuse by Christian Brothers from anywhere in Australia are being invited to approach the church for compensation and or life-long psychological counselling if they need it.

After almost two weeks of Royal Commission hearings into the matter in Perth, the leadership of the Christian Brothers says the order is prepared to re-open the compensation cases that have been settled for unfair or unreasonably low amounts.

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CALIFORNIA
NBC San Diego

[with video]

By Rory Devine and Monica Garske | Thursday, May 8, 2014

A San Diego-based attorney said he plans to file a civil lawsuit Thursday on behalf of six women who claim they were alleged victims of sexual battery and harassment at a drug and alcohol recovery program the lawsuit says is affiliated with the Rock Church Ministries of San Diego.

The lawsuit naming the Rock Church Ministries claims the women suffered sexual misconduct at the hands of a recovery program director. It names husband and wife David and Tina Powers and the sober living facilities and recovery homes they run, which the lawsuit says are affiliated with the Rock Church.

Attorney Irwin Zalkin told NBC 7 his clients were exploited by those in charge of this recovery program because they were vulnerable.

“These are the most vulnerable of the population. They’re people who are really trying to deal with the horrible disease of addiction, and they’ve gone there to seek sanctuary. They’ve gone there to seek healing and what they get is a sex fest,” said Zalkin.

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GENEVA
Press TV (Iran)

[with video]

Thu May 8, 2014

In Geneva, a United Nations panel is trying to ascertain whether the Church has violated an international convention against torture in its response to the clergy sexual abuse.The UN is urging a permanent investigation system to end what it called a climate of impunity prevailing in the Vatican for decades. The Church is accused of putting its reputation and interests ahead of those of sex abuse victims.

After facing trenchant questioning by the UN anti-torture panel on Monday, the Vatican issued its formal answers on Tuesday. For the first time, the Vatican has released comprehensive statistics on how it has disciplined clergymen accused of raping and molesting children. Vatican says 850 priests have been deprived of ecclesiastical status and roughly another 2,600 given lesser sanctions over the past decade. However the number of sexual abuses is thought to be much higher. The UN anti-torture panel has also raised the possibility that the Church’s failure to investigate its clergy could have broader legal implications. The panel will issue its final observations and recommendations on the 23rd of May.

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AUSTRALIA
Slater & Gordon

Media Release

07 May 2014

Slater & Gordon lawyers have welcomed a statement at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that the Christian Brothers will review the compensation given to former residents in Western Australia.

Slater & Gordon lawyer Hayden Stephens, who worked on the case two decades ago, outlined to the commission last week the refusals by the Christian Brothers and Church authorities to admit liability and the vigorous defence of a civil legal case brought on by former residents.

“The Royal Commission has presented an opportunity for the Church to address the hurt they have caused by providing financial support for their victims,” he said.

“I believe this change in the Church’s approach would certainly be welcomed by the men that we represented.

“I am glad to hear that there has been a change in heart from the Christian Brothers and they are open to revisiting settlements which are considered by the victims as unjust.

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ALABAMA
WVTM

Pleasant Grove PD: man who claimed to be associate pastor re-arrested on sex charges after second victim comes forward

By Amber Hawkins

PLEASANT GROVE, AL – A Pleasant Grove man who claimed to be an associate pastor has been re-arrested for sexual abuse after a second victim came forward.

Pleasant Grove Police arrested Tyrone Banks, Sr., on Wednesday. He’s charged with sexual abuse first degree. Banks is in the Jefferson County Jail without bond.

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com
on May 07, 2014

PLEASANT GROVE, Alabama – A 58-year-old man arrested on charges he raped a 13-year-old girl inside a Jefferson County church is back in jail after a second victim came forward.

Pleasant Grove police on Wednesday morning re-arrested Tyrone Banks Sr. at his lawyer’s office in Bessemer, said Sgt. Danny Reid. Banks is now charged in Pleasant Grove with first-degree sexual abuse, which is sexual contact by forcible compulsion.

Reid said Banks is the associate pastor at Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church. Jefferson County sheriff’s officials on Monday announced charges of rape by forcible compulsion and first-degree sodomy against Banks.

The victim in the latest case contacted Pleasant Grove police this week after news of Banks’ arrest was made public. Reid said the victim is 19 years old, but was 16 when the sexual assault took place. That assault didn’t happen in a church. “She is very distraught,’’ that it happened again, Reid said.

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TENNESSEE
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

A former pastor at Baptist churches in Arkansas and Tennessee faces multiple charges of sexually abusing children following his arrest May 5 on a warrant issued after conducting a graveside service at a cemetery in his hometown of Covington, Tenn.

Larry Michael Berkley, 34, who goes by Michael, faces charges including sexual assault in the first and second degree, five counts of knowingly supplying alcohol to minors, three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, sexual solicitation and two counts of loaning pornography to a minor.

Police in Harrison, Ark., say the alleged crimes occurred while Berkley was pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation that belongs to North Arkansas Baptist Association.

According to the Harrison Daily Times, police began investigating Berkley after interviewing a church member and her 15-year-old son in late March. The woman told police rumors had been circulating about things that went on when Berkley was alone with youth, and her son had recently confirmed that at least some of those rumors where true.

She reported that she was contacted by members of churches where Berkley formerly served and was told he was accused of similar things while there, including at least one church in Tennessee.

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ALABAMA
CBS 42

Natalie Tejeda
Published: Wednesday, May 7, 2014

PLEASANT GROVE, Al (WIAT) — Three teenage girls have come forward, claiming a Hueytown pastor abused them. That associate pastor was arrested again today at his lawyers office and is now being held without bond in the Jefferson County jail.

“I thought this was just an isolated incident,” said Earlie Terry. “But to come to find out somebody else is involved…”

Earlie Terry is one of the founding members of the Pleasant Hills Baptist Church, He left about a decade ago but still lives close by. He can’t believe the scandal that’s now surrounding Associate Pastor Tyrone Banks.

“It bothers me and the whole neighborhood you know,” says Terry. “We don’t have anything that happens out here.”

Banks was arrested Sunday for the rape and sodomy of a 13 year old girl. She claimed he brought her to the church and attacked her in the kitchen. Then today Banks was again arrested after a second teenage girl claimed she had been the victim of sexual abuse in his Pleasant Grove home.

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UNITED KINGDOM
National Secular Society

The Vatican has, for the first time, revealed how it has disciplined priests accused of raping and molesting children.

According to the Holy See’s UN ambassador in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, over the past decade, the Vatican has defrocked 848 priests who were believed to have raped or molested children, and sanctioned a further 2,572 priests for lesser offences. Sanctions included “a life of prayer and penitence.”

Overall all, according to its officials, the Vatican handled more than 3,400 cases of sexual abuse since 2004.

The figures were revealed during the Vatican’s examination by the UN Committee Against Torture this week.

During the examination, Archbishop Tomasi admitted that it was only in 2010 that the Vatican explicitly told bishops and religious superiors to report to police any credible cases of abuse, where local reporting laws required them to do so. According to an Associated Press report, previously, bishops and religious superiors had been “shuffling paedophile priests from diocese to diocese rather than subjecting them to church trials.”

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UNITED STATES
World Bulletin

World Bulletin/News Desk

Barbara Blaine, President of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests asked the Vatican to reveal the names and whereabouts of predator priests following on from the Holy See’s disclosure of defrocked priests on Tuesday.

The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) are investigating the report by the Papacy to determine if it is in compliance with the Convention Against Torture. The report published that 848 priests were defrocked and another 2,572 were given lesser sanctions for sexual abuse of children over the last decade.

Blaine told the Anadolu Agency that “we don’t know if the numbers are complete and we have no way of knowing unless the Vatican opens its files on sex crimes and turns them over to the police.”

She explained that knowing the quantity of abuses will not help protect children, but she said that what would be far more helpful would be if the Vatican gives the names and whereabouts of the predator priests so that parents are able to keep the children away from them.

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SEATTLE (WA)
Seattle PI

Posted on May 7, 2014 | By Joel Connelly

The Archdiocese of Seattle ignored the recommendations of its own review board, keeping secret the restrictions put on a priest whose conduct the panel described as “egregious.” A decade later, it is facing the upset flock of a north end Catholic parish.

Archbishop J. Peter Sartain and top deputies faced an angry audience of more than 150 parishoners at St. Bridget’s Church on Tuesday night.

Sartain had to acknowledge mistakes in a letter which claimed the archdiocese “learned recently that Harry Quigg did not comply with the terms of his ministry restrictions.”

In 2004, members of the archdiocesan case review board urged in a letter to Archbishop Alex Brunett, Sartain’s predecessor, that names of “offending” priests be disclosed:

“It will be much harder for those offending priests who do practice their ministry, even though barred, to do so because the entire church community will know and can inform the chancery if there is a barred priest involved in ministry.”

The board members had Harry Quigg in mind, writing:

“This is not an entirely academic discussion because a review board member was in the congregation of a liturgy that included the active participation of a priest whom you earlier indicated had been barred from the ministry.”

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CANADA
CBC News

Former residential school students in the North are being taken advantage of by some form filling companies and law firms, according to some Northern lawyers.

Aboriginal people are eligible for payments under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement for serious abuses experienced at the schools.

But lawyers say former students are losing thousands of dollars in exorbitant fees paid to companies that fill out the forms to help them apply for the money.

“We have vulnerable people who are already victimized and for the most part lawyers are doing a really good job, and then you have these few lawyers that everyone is going to remember, and it is just so sad and so disappointing and so wrong, ” said Donna Oliver, a lawyer who represents former students in the Northwest Territories.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New Pittsburgh Courier

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Letters to alumni of Pittsburgh’s North Catholic High School prompted by reports that a former teacher is being prosecuted for child-sex crimes in Australia has resulted in new allegations against four other brothers from the same religious order – three of whom are dead.

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh says only one graduate contacted church officials about Marianist Brother Bernard Hartman. The 74-year-old clergyman is awaiting trial in Australia on charges he molested four students at a Catholic school there in the 1970s and 80s.

When Pittsburgh officials learned of those charges earlier this year, they alerted alumni because Hartman also taught at the school briefly in 1961, 1970 and then from 1986-97.

The new allegations have been turned over to prosecutors, though the only living brother newly accused now lives outside the country.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

By Bill Zlatos

Published: Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Five members of a religious order may have abused as many as 12 students of the former North Catholic High School in the second-biggest sexual abuse scandal at one school in the Pittsburgh diocese, officials confirmed Wednesday.

The Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, said the diocese views the allegations “with a great deal of sadness for those who have been victimized.”

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said one graduate contacted church officials about Marianist (Society of Mary) Brother Bernard Hartman. The 74-year-old clergyman is awaiting trial in Australia on charges he molested four students at a Catholic school there in the 1970s and ’80s.

The diocese sent a letter on April 24 alerting 9,000 alumni of North Catholic High School that Hartman, a former science teacher there, is being prosecuted for child-sex crimes in Australia. As a result, the diocese was contacted about new allegations against four other brothers from the same religious order — three of whom are known to be dead.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A Catholic priest from Great Yarmouth, arrested on suspicion of having indecent images of children, has been told no further action will be taken against him.

Father David Jennings, appointed parish priest of St Mary’s in September 2012, was arrested in January.

Father Jennings was released on police bail pending further inquiries.

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UNITED KINGDOM
This is Local London

By Becky Middleton, Chief Reporter

The horrified family of a child abuse victim is calling for a church to apologise after the funeral of a paedophile priest who carried out years of abuse was advertised in its newsletter.

Father Anthony Laundy was jailed for abusing boys while a priest at Sacred Heart church in Edge Hill, Wimbledon, and later at St Winefride’s in Kew Gardens.

He died last month.

The mother of one of his victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, expressed her shock a coach party was organised for people to attend the funeral in Croydon on Tuesday.

The woman said: “My son was systematically abused by Laundy over four to five years and he has suffered ever since.

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UNITED STATES
Slate

By Amanda Marcotte

Here is a pattern we’ve all come to expect: A victim of rape or sexual assault comes forward to authorities at the institution she is a part of, and authorities minimize the victim’s experience and are often more worried about protecting their institution’s reputation than getting justice for the victim or preventing future abuses. This has happened in sports, on college campuses, at small-town high schools, and within the Catholic church. Kathryn Joyce, in a lengthy piece for the American Prospect, profiles one man who believes, perhaps naively, that he can interrupt this process when it comes to evangelical Christian institutions.

Boz Tchividjian is an unlikely advocate for victims of sexual violence. He’s the grandson of Billy Graham and a law professor at Liberty University, a conservative Christian school founded by Jerry Falwell. But he honed his legal chops as a prosecutor who worked on many sexual abuse cases, and he’s turned that experience around to start GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), an organization devoted to investigating Christian institutions and improving their responses to people who report sexual abuse in the ranks. The only problem, as Joyce discovered, is that GRACE appears to be a little too good at its job, and often the institutions that initially hire it end up firing it rather than deal with their own cultures of covering up and minimizing sexual abuse.

The most high-profile example of this that Joyce reports on was Bob Jones University. The famously conservative Christian school brought GRACE in to clean house after 20/20 discovered, in 2011, that one of its graduates, a New Hampshire minister named Chuck Phelps, had, upon discovering that one of his congregants raped and impregnated a teenager, thought it appropriate to shame the victim by making her “confess” her supposed sins in front of the congregation. Bob Jones University didn’t want the story to reflect badly on the school, so it responded by hiring Tchividjian and his staff to interview faculty and students about their experiences with sexual assault. What they discovered was a culture of victim-blaming.

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SEATTLE (WA)
Catholic Culture

By Phil Lawler May 07, 2014

From Seattle comes this unusual story about a priest who, when removed from public ministry because of sexual abuse, ignored the order from his archbishop and continued functioning as a priest. Apparently the Seattle archdiocese only recently learned about his disobedience. But even if the archbishop had known earlier, what could he have done?

The Church does not have prison cells in which to hold canonical criminals, nor is there a corps of detectives ready to investigate allegations of ecclesiastical crime. State and local governments, which do exercise police power, cannot bring charges against a man who celebrates religious rituals without violating the principle of religious freedom. So if a suspended priest persists in celebrating Mass, who can stop him?

Ultimately, if a suspended priest persists in disobedience, he might be laicized. But then his diocese would lose all power to discipline him, and he would still be at large, with unimpeded access to young people.

For a decade Catholic bishops have been excoriated for failing to take effective disciplinary action against sexual abuse. Much of the criticism has been justified; the reaction from the hierarchy came much too late, after far too much dishonesty with the public and connivance with the abusers. But even now, after the bishops have set strict standards, some professional bishop-baiters persist in saying that whatever a bishop has done, it isn’t enough.

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TENNESSEE/ARKANSAS
The Raw Story

By Travis Gettys
Wednesday, May 7, 2014

A pastor was arrested on sex crime charges Monday while officiating a graveside service in Tennessee.

Larry Michael Berkley was taken into custody at Covington Memorial Gardens on charges out of Arkansas, where he had previously served as a pastor.

Berkley was indicted in Boone County, Ark., on first- and second-degree sexual assault charges and multiple counts of supplying alcohol to minors, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, sexual solicitation, and loaning pornography to a minor.

The investigation began in late March, when Berkley was pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Harrison, Ark., and police interviewed more than a dozen alleged victims by mid-April.

All the victims were teenage boys between 14 and 18 years old, police said.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

A former St. John’s University professor, University of Dayton theology professor and former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican was accused last year of sexually harassing a married couple who also are professors at the University of Dayton, according to a report in an online higher education publication.

According to the story published Monday on InsideHigherEd.com, Miguel H. Diaz was “found to have likely engaged in ‘unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature’ toward a married couple” at the University of Dayton. The allegation was outlined in confidential letters to the alleged victims from Dayton Provost Joseph Saliba and Dayton’s general counsel, according to the letters obtained by the website and posted online.

Gabe Fuentes, a Chicago attorney for Diaz, said he had no comment.

Prior to being named the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Diaz worked as a theology professor at St. John’s University from August 2004 until September 2009. He does not have lecturing privileges at St. John’s according to the university’s director of communication Michael Hemmesch.

Diaz, whose University of Dayton profile says he was ambassador to the Vatican from 2009-2012, is a professor of faith and culture at Dayton. He and his wife, Marian Diaz, have accepted faculty appointments at Loyola University, a Chicago Catholic university, according to the Loyola website.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

BY FRANCINE KNOWLES Religion Reporter May 6, 2014

Loyola University Chicago is hiring a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, who faced allegations that he sexually harassed two colleagues while employed as a professor at the University of Dayton, according to an online higher education publication.

An investigation of Miguel H. Diaz, conducted by outside counsel at the University of Dayton last year, found “there was reasonable cause to believe” that conduct by Diaz “constituted sexual harassment that created an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment,” InsideHigherEd.com reported, quoting confidential letters obtained by the website and posted online. The accusers are a couple and work as professors at the university, according to InsideHigherEd.com. The letters are signed by the Catholic university’s General Counsel, Mary Ann Poirier; and Provost Joseph E. Saliba; and dated July 22, 2013.

The accusing professors’ names were redacted in the letters posted on InsideHigherEd.com. In Saliba’s letter, he notes the couple had “raised concerns that Dr. Diaz was sexually harassing you through various requests and references to explicitly sexual feelings.”

The letters informed the accusing professors that Diaz had been instructed to avoid any contact with them and was told he would be fired if another claim is brought against him and he is found to have violated the law or the university’s sexual harassment policy.

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UNITED STATES
Slate

By Ben Mathis-Lilley

In response to a United Nations inquiry, the Vatican has released data on the number of priests it punished for child sexual abuse cases in the last decade. From the AP:

The Vatican revealed Tuesday that over the past decade, it has defrocked 848 priests who raped or molested children and sanctioned another 2,572 with lesser penalties, providing the first ever breakdown of how it handled the more than 3,400 cases of abuse reported to the Holy See since 2004.

There are around 410,000 priests worldwide, which means about 0.83 percent, or 1 in 120, priests were officially punished by the Vatican over that period. (The AP notes that this covers only punishments handed down by the Vatican, as opposed to “local diocesan tribunals,” which means that “the total number of sanctioned priests is likely far higher.”)

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, May 7, 2014

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 admire and appreciate the courage of North Catholic alums who are reporting having been sexually assaulted as children by four Catholic clerics. Their bravery is to be commended. Because they spoke up, three names of predators have now been exposed.

[CBS Pittsburgh]

While we are glad Pittsburgh Catholic officials did outreach to alums, diocese staff should immediately:

– disclose the name and whereabouts of the fourth accused cleric, and

– post on their website the names of dozens of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics – especially those who are still living and may be hurting other kids right now.

It’s easy to disclose allegations against deceased child molesting clerics. It’s much harder-and more important-to disclose who and where living child molesting clerics are. Pittsburgh’s bishop should do this immediately, and post this information on his website, as 30 of his colleagues have done.

One of the accused from North Catholic allegedly now lives in Australia. He almost certainly lives or works among unsuspecting and vulnerable families (because child molesting clerics are rarely jailed or kept away from kids). We urge Pittsburgh Catholic officials to use every means possible to warn those parents about this cleric. The first step in this process is simply to disclose his name.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

May 7, 2014

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Four religious brothers who taught at North Catholic High School in Troy Hill decades ago have been accused of sexual abuse in the wake of news that yet another brother was facing criminal charges in Australia, the Diocese of Pittsburgh said.

Three of the newly accused Marianist brothers — William Charles Hildebrand, Francis Meder and Ralph August Mravintz — are deceased. The fourth, John Keegan, left the religious order in 1962 and his current whereabouts are unknown, according to the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, vicar general for the diocese.

Brother Mravintz pleaded guilty in 1986 to disorderly conduct — a reduced charge after he had been initially charged with making sexual overtures to a 15-year-old boy and fondling him, according to a story in The Pittsburgh Press on Sept. 10, 1986. The story quoted a prosecutor as saying the reduction in charge was at the request of the family.

In all, the diocese has received six allegations against five brothers as of this morning, said Father Lengwin.

The diocese released the information after Michael Latusek, acting superintendent for Catholic schools in the diocese, sent a letter in March to alumni who attended what is now called Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School during the years that Brother Bernard Hartman served there.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314-503-0003, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

A former College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University professor has been hired at a Chicago Catholic university, despite allegations that he “likely” recently sexually harassed a married couple.

[Inside Higher Ed]

He is Miguel H. Diaz, who represented the U.S. at the Vatican from 2009-2012.

We strongly urge Loyola University officials to reverse and explain their reckless decision. We also call on officials at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University to reach out to staff and students about Diaz and report any abuse allegations, so that others will be protected from his predatory tendencies.

No students and staff at any college should be subjected to sexual harassment. Given the findings of University of Dayton officials, Diaz does not belong on any campus.

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TENNESSEE/ARKANSAS
WREG

May 6, 2014, by Mike Suriani

(WREG-TV) New information is coming out about a former Arkansas pastor facing a number of sexual assault charges involving children.

Larry Michael Berkley, who once was the pastor of a church in Henning, Tenn., is accused of providing kids booze drugs and porn, then sexually assaulting them, all while he was a pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church in Harrison, Arkansas.

Former pastor Larry Michael Berkley was arrested at a cemetery in Covington, Tenn., Monday afternoon.

He had just finished a funeral service when sheriff’s deputies, warrant in hand, took him into custody.
According to police in Harrison, Arkansas the investigation into the former pastor started March 28, 2014, while Berkley was a pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church.

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