ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED KINGDOM
Anglican Diocese of Gloucester

The following is a letter from the Bishop of Tewkesbury, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, to members of the Diocese:

You will by now have seen the statement issued by the Diocesan Communications Department last Friday indicating that Bishop Michael has stepped back from his ministry as Bishop of Gloucester. I know that, like me, you will have been deeply saddened by this news.

Various news outlets are carrying a story that this is an investigation by the Metropolitan Police into allegations of indecent assault on a child aged under 18 years and indecent assault on a second female aged over 18 years. The police have confirmed that no arrest has been made. You will all realise that this is therefore a traumatic time for Bishop Michael, his family and for those who have made the allegations. Please hold them in your prayers.

I am sorry that we have not been able to say more until now. I know many people have found this frustrating but I hope you will understand our reasons for this and will appreciate that we have been liaising very closely with Lambeth Palace.

Yesterday the Archbishop of Canterbury signed an Instrument of Delegation that allows me to act as diocesan bishop. I am working closely with senior colleagues in the diocese to ensure diary commitments are covered in the coming weeks. We will communicate to you directly where this is not possible, but please do contact my office with any queries you have. The Dean, the Archdeacons and I also want to make ourselves available to you for conversations either by phone or in person.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times

by Madeleine Davies

Posted: 08 Aug 2014

THE Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Michael Perham, withdrew from ministry in his diocese on Saturday, shortly before being questioned by police about historic allegations of indecent assault.

A tweet from a diocesan officer on Saturday read: “For personal reasons, Rt Revd Michael Perham has stepped back from his ministry as the Bishop of Gloucester.”

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that, on Tuesday, a 66-year-old man attended a police station in Gloucestershire by appointment, “where he was interviewed under caution on suspicion of indecent assault on a child aged under 18 years; and indecent assault on a second female, aged over 18 years. He was not arrested.

“The alleged incidents are said to have occurred between 1980 and 1981 and are being investigated by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service’s Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command.”

In a letter to the diocese issued on Wednesday, the Bishop of Tewkesbury, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, confirmed that, the previous day, the Archbishop of Canterbury had signed an Instrument of Delegation, allowing him to act as diocesan bishop.

Referring to the police investigation, he said: “You will all realise that this is therefore a traumatic time for Bishop Michael, his family and for those who have made the allegations. Please hold them in your prayers.”

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UNITED STATES
Boston Globe

By Tom Russo | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 07, 2014

The biblical theme of a messiah dying for our sins gets a ripped-from-the-headlines workout in “Calvary,” a weighty Irish indie from writer-director John Michael McDonagh and lead Brendan Gleeson (“Harry Potter,” McDonagh’s “The Guard”). Taking its title from the site where Christ was crucified, the controversy-courting film has a lot of Catholic church business (and doctrine) on its mind, and veers from poetically eloquent to jarringly blunt in hashing it all out.

The provocative discourse frequently elevates the movie above what’s ultimately a familiar pedigree — arthouse import showing us around a picturesque British Isles outpost exaggeratedly populated by characters who are odd, if not flat-out messed-up. But the mood also keeps some mischievous touches from providing the black-comic relief that McDonagh intends, and even slightly undermines the suspense.

The movie opens with Gleeson’s sage Father James in a confessional, listening to the unseen parishioner on the other side of the screen reveal in very graphic terms that a priest repeatedly molested him as a boy. (“Certainly a startling opening line,” says Gleeson’s distressed character, in a darkly self-referential bit of dialogue.) The man is murderously vengeful, and with his old tormentor long dead, he’s deliberately targeting an innocent clergyman to make his statement more shocking and impactful. Some supporters of sexual abuse survivors have charged McDonagh with turning victim into villain. Mostly, it feels like it’s left to us to judge.

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UNITED STATES
Chicago Sun-Times

By CLAUDIA PUIG Gannett News Service August 7, 2014

‘Calvary’ offers a fascinating look at contemporary attitudes toward the priesthood and Catholicism, as well as an impeccable lead performance by Brendan Gleeson and darkly sharp wit.

Gleeson is a masterful actor whose indelible roles include key parts in “The Guard” and “In Bruges.” His portrait of Father James, an Irishman who found his vocation late in life, is brilliant in its blend of compassion, weariness, humility and faith.

Set in the starkly picturesque fishing village of Easkey in County Sligo, Ireland, this comic drama is worth seeing if only for Gleeson’s soulful portrayal. “Calvary” is also profoundly compelling for the light it shines on how public attitudes have changed toward the clergy in the wake of the abusive-priests scandal.

A multilayered and compelling film, Calvary explores forgiveness, revenge, faith and the loss of belief. But it trips up slightly with its broad characterizations. A couple of supporting characters come off as caricatures, and one of them, a male prostitute, seems to have wandered in from another movie.

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KENTUCKY
WFIE

By Emily Busby, Reporter

OWENSBORO, KY (WFIE) –
Retired Owensboro Priest Louis Piskula has been sentenced to five years in prison in a sex abuse case.

Piskula pleaded guilty to one count of 1st degree sexual abuse of a minor.

The guilty plea was part of plea agreement for charges relating to incidents in 1978 at Blessed Mother Church in Owensboro.

Piskula must now register as a sex offender for 20 years and undergo treatment at the state penitentiary.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By FRANK BRUNI and ROSS DOUTHAT AUGUST 7, 2014

Welcome to The Moviegoers, an occasional new series in which the Op-Ed columnists Frank Bruni and Ross Douthat banter about movies, pop culture, television and other real-world distractions. From 1993-95, Frank was a movie critic for The Detroit Free Press, and he has written frequently on culture for The New York Times Magazine and for the Arts & Leisure section. Ross is the film critic for National Review and frequently writes about film and TV on his Times blog.

Frank Bruni: Ross, maybe because you’d told me that you were going to roll with the crowds and buy a ticket for “Guardians of the Galaxy,” or maybe because I’d done “Godzilla” and the “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and it was time to swerve in the opposite direction, I went and checked out “Calvary” the other night.

My summer moviegoing tends to cling to the poles. I hop aboard one of the loud, frenetic, big-budget blockbusters that supposedly define the season, then I sneak away to one of the quiet, independent movies that utterly defy it. I binge and I purge. And I’d like to circle back to the binges, but first: “Calvary.”

Have you seen it? I think you should. I think you will: You’re Catholic, and it’s a serious look at the tattered repute of the Roman Catholic Church today. I spent many years writing about the crisis of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and long ago published a book on the topic, and that crisis is the context and starting point of “Calvary,” whose hero (played by the Irish actor Brendan Gleeson) is a priest in the midst of a casually and sometimes caustically disobedient flock.

Most of the people in his seaside village in Ireland seem to feel no intimidation around him, no obligation even to feign rectitude. To several of them he’s a relic, a curiosity, a prompt for mockery, a magnet for anger. In one subtly devastating scene, a father finds his daughter walking and talking alone with the priest on an isolated country road and yanks the girl away, as if removing her from the clutches of a predator. It’s a reminder that the casualties of the crisis include many good priests who work under a cloud of suspicion, trying to recapture a trust that was once a given and is now a luxury.

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OHIO
Vindicator

Published: Fri, August 8, 2014
Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A former deacon and teacher at two schools in Mahoning County has lost his teaching license.

Ernest Formichelli taught at Cardinal Mooney High School from 1976-2013 and St. Christine School from 1971-76, according to diocese records. He no longer is employed by the Diocese of Youngstown and no longer is a deacon.

In September 2013, the Ohio Board of Education accepted a resolution “to accept the voluntary surrender and to enter an order to revoke permanently the five-year professional high school teaching license and permanent nontax teaching certificate” of Formichelli.

In an email, the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the information about Formichelli was a “random discovery” it made on the state board of education website, www.education.ohio.gov.

During a news conference in June, Judy Jones, Midwest associate director of SNAP, said a SNAP member had been abused by a deacon, and another person also had accused that deacon of abuse. SNAP would not name the deacon at that time, but Jones said Thursday that the accusations were against Formichelli.

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CANADA
The StarPhoenix

BY DAVE BATTAGELLO AND ANDREA HILL, POSTMEDIA NEWS, THE STARPHOENIX
AUGUST 7, 2014

A former Basilian priest and Catholic high school teacher found guilty of a lengthy history of abusing male students, including two in Saskatoon, died last week in Toronto at the age of 92.

William Hodgson (Hod) Marshall, pleaded guilty in 2013 to sexually assaulting two Saskatoon boys in 1959 and 1961. Two years earlier, he had pleaded guilty to 16 counts of indecent assault of minors and one count of sexual assault for incidents that occurred between 1952 and 1986 while he taught at high schools in Windsor, Toronto and Sudbury.

“I wouldn’t mind knowing where they’re burying him so I could go urinate on his grave,” said Tim Ryans of Saskatoon, who was “felt up” by Marshall while the priest was a physical education teacher at St. Paul’s High School. He came forward with his story after he heard of Marshall’s convictions in Ontario.

Ryans, now in his 60s, said he doesn’t dwell on the encounter much and made an effort to avoid Marshall throughout his high school years, but he knows other classmates who remain traumatized by Marshall’s advances.

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MINNESOTA
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

With news compilation.

Machiavellian Archbishop John Nienstedt replies to media calls for his resignation

Ever since a lay woman and canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger released her affidavit where she described the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a place where child abusers were given repeated opportunities to remain in the priesthood by (her boss) Archbishop John Nienstedt, several newspapers have called for Nienstedt’s resignation. The Star Tribune was one of those newspapers and oddly, it allowed Nienstedt to defend himself on August 1st in its “Editorial counterpoint: Archdiocese is working to restore trust, Nienstedt says” wherein he wrote, “In the end, it comes down to this: Eighteen years ago, Pope John Paul II chose me to serve the church as a bishop, an authentic successor of the Apostles. A bishop’s role is more like that of a father of a family than that of a CEO. I am bound to continue in my office as long as the Holy Father has appointed me here”.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

SNAP: Archbishop Ignored Warnings About Predator Priest; Recommended Wadeson to San Francisco Archdiocese

Friday, 08 August 2014

Guam – The Survivors Network Against Those Abused by Priests [SNAP] has issued another statement accusing Guam Archbishop Apuron of ignoring warnings about the predator allegations against Father John Wadeson, and then recommending Father Wadeson to the San Francisco Archdiocese.

The latest SNAP release points out that the attorney for the Los Angels Archdiocese had warned Archbishop Apuron in 2011 that Father Wadeson had been accused of abusing 2 children in the 1970s, and that he had been banned from acting as a priest in the LA Archdiocese.

Yet, the Archbishop gave Father Wadeson a recommendation to practice his ministry in San Francisco, says SNAP. The San Francisco Archdiocese later revoked Father Wadeson from ministry after Archbishop Apuron himself removed Wadeson from active ministry here on Guam.

SNAP is calling on Archbishop Apuron to release the names of all accused clerics who have worked in the Archdiocese, turn over priest files to police and prosecutors, and reach out to all parishes, urging victims to report abuse to the police, not the archdiocese.

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AUSTRALIA
Armidale Express

By VICTORIA NUGENT Aug. 8, 2014

AN alleged child sex abuse victim who came forward after hearing his priest’s name on the radio will give evidence at a committal hearing.

The former priest was committed to Armidale District Court in September for 76 historic child sex offences yesterday.

He pleaded guilty to 45 charges, and not guilty to 31 charges at Armidale Local Court. Fifty charges were dismissed.

However, three charges relating to one victim, now a truck driver, must face a committal hearing to see if there is enough evidence to proceed.

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UNTIED STATES
Harvard Gazette

By Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Staff Writer

Although they may seem disparate at first glance, crises like the Catholic Church clergy sex-abuse scandal, investor Bernie Madoff’s multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme, and the 2008 global financial meltdown all have at least one commonality: For years, some very smart people failed to notice or act on critical information that could have limited the damage.

More recently, executives at the Veterans Administration and General Motors have been criticized for failing to see and cure corrupt organizational cultures that led to accusations of criminal harm done to patients and consumers by negligent employees.

So why didn’t the leaders of these organizations, or others in similar straits, identify key problems and act before things turned catastrophic?

“They don’t want to see, they can’t see, the organization isn’t designed to see, and there’s other people who are doing their best to keep us from seeing,” said Max Bazerman, the Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and co-director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership,

Social scientists have long identified our tendency to overlook bad news when it suits us as “motivated blindness,” a term that refers to a systemic failure to notice unethical behavior in others when it’s not in our interest to do so. The condition affects virtually everyone. Even leaders who have gained tremendous success through focus and application in one arena sometimes lack the self-awareness to routinely question whether information on which they’re basing decisions is reliable.

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CANADA
CTV

Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, August 7, 2014

TORONTO — Sensitive testimony from survivors of Canada’s notorious residential school system should be kept for 15 years then destroyed, an Ontario court has ruled.

In a decision released Thursday, Superior Court Justice Paul Perell said the time should be used to see whether those involved might agree to have their records transferred to a new national archive.

“During the 15-year retention period, there shall be a court-approved program to advise the survivors of their choice to transfer some of the documents instead of having (them) destroyed,” Perell wrote.

Residential school survivors have respiratory damage, hearing loss, broken bones
Court urged to seal, not destroy, residential school records

The justice said that destroying the documents is necessary to protect the confidentiality and privacy of the information, and to safeguard the assessment process itself.

If survivors want their records kept, the material will have to be redacted to protect perpetrators or other third parties.

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TEXAS
KVIA

EL PASO, Texas –
Victor J. Reza, an El Paso diocesan school board member, admitted to investigators to downloading child pornography, according to the affidavit in the case.

Reza was arrested on Tuesday on a federal child porn charge. According to jail records, Reza has been charged with in transit/receipt and distribution of child sexual exploitation material.

In the affidavit Reza told investigators that he works in the computer and information technology (IT) field.

Reza stated in the affidavit that he likes all kinds of pornography, but prefers “rape pornography,” “heavy action pornography but not gang rapes,” and pornography that includes young girls “coming of age.”

He also said he searches for “PTHC,” which Reza explained means “pre-teen hardcore” and it involves children performing sex acts who are “underage.”

Reza said in the affidavit that “underage” to him is “around 16 years or younger. and that he would search, download, view and pleasure himself to child pornography about one time a month for the last three to five years.

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MISSOURI
Associated Baptist Press

By Vicki Brown

Windermere Baptist Conference Center in Missouri will choose a new executive following the arrest of Jerald “Jerry” Hill on charges of soliciting sex with an animal, its board chair said Aug. 7.

According to several news reports, Hill, 56, was arrested Aug. 5 by an undercover investigator with the Boone County Sheriff’s Department Cyber Crimes Task Force. Tipped that an advertisement had been posted on Craigslist, the officer offered a dog and arranged a meeting in a Columbia, Mo., park.

Hill, Windermere’s president and chief executive officer, was released from the Boone County Jail after posting a $1,000 bond.

Windermere board members discussed the arrest by telephone on Aug. 6, chairman Arthur Mallory said. “The board is very supportive of [Hill] and grateful for his work at Windermere,” he said.

Mallory added the board sees the action as “a personal issue with Jerry” and that trustees are concerned about both Hill and the conference center.

“We are concerned for the well-being of Jerry … and we are also concerned with the well-being of Windermere,” Mallory said. “Windermere will continue to function in a good way…. It is a significant piece of God’s kingdom’s work.”

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MISSOURI
ABC 17

Heather Hourigan, Reporter, heather.hourigan@kmiz.com
POSTED: 09:35 PM CDT Aug 06, 2014

COLUMBIA,Mo. –
For the first time in the Boone County Sheriff’s Department Cyber Crimes Task detectives arrested a man on charges of trying to have sex with an animal.

Wednesday we learned through sources and viewer tips Hill was a church leader at Windermere Baptist Conference Center.

We have contacted to the church several times Wednesday for comment, but have not heard back.

“This is a reality of what we see in cyber crimes is that bestiality and this kind of act is an ongoing issue out there,” said Detective Tracy Perkins with the Boone County Sheriff’s Department Cyber Crimes Task Force.

Hill is accused of taking to Craigslist days ago posting he wanted a dog to engage in sexual activities with.

Users of the website are the ones who hold the power to regulate the site by flagging things found inappropriate, which happened to Hill’s post when a Craigslist user saw what he was asking for, flagged it, and then left a tip for the Cyber Crimes Task Force.

“As the cyber crimes unit our responsibility is to protect children and when these types of tips come to us and we know someone is wanting to do such a behavior to an animal we have to step out of our zone that we work in and do the same thing for an animal,” said Perkins.

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MISSOURI
Colombia Tribune

By THE TRIBUNE’S STAFF
Wednesday, August 6, 2014

The Boone County Sheriff’s Department Cyber Crimes Task Force on Tuesday arrested a 56-year-old Camden County man after he allegedly used the Internet to try to find a dog to have sex with.

Jerald L. Hill of the 500 block of Forest Circle in Roach was arrested in Columbia at 11:35 a.m. yesterday on suspicion of attempted unlawful sex with an animal and attempted animal abuse, Boone County sheriff’s Detective Tracy Perkins said in a news release. Hill was released from the Boone County Jail after posting bond totaling $1,000.

The investigation began last week when the task force got a tip that someone had posted an ad on Craigslist looking for two types of animals with which to have sex, Perkins said. One of the animals he sought was a dog. Perkins declined to say what other type of animal Hill sought.

A detective with the task force exchanged emails with Hill under the guise of offering a dog that Hill could have sex with, Perkins said in a news release.

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MISSOURI
Gawker

Jay Hathaway

A Missouri Baptist conference center is seeking a new CEO after its current leader was arrested while allegedly trying to arrange sex with a dog and an unnamed other animal on Craigslist.

Police said Jerry Hill, of Boone County, Mo.’s Windermere Baptist Conference Center, was arrested Tuesday afternoon for attempted unlawful sex with an animal and attempted animal abuse.

The Columbia Tribune reports the investigation started with a Craigslist ad seeking two types of animals—one was a dog, police declined to comment on the other. Investigators responded to the ad, offering up a dog for sex, and Hill was arrested when he showed up to meet them.

“We are concerned for the well-being of Jerry…and we are also concerned with the well-being of Windermere,” Windermere chairman of the board Arthur Mallory said, according to Baptist news site Word and Way. “Windermere will continue to function in a good way…. It is a significant piece of God’s kingdom’s work.”

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Aug. 7

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 )

Another predator priest has been “outed.” But more than 50 St. Louis predator priests identities are still under wraps because Catholic officials continue to protect wrongdoers rather than kids.

We hope that anyone who saw, suspected or suffered crimes by Fr. Alexander P. Lippert will come forward, get help, and call police (so those who may have shielded this priest or destroyed evidence or intimidated witnesses or obstructed justice or lied to authorities might be prosecuted.)

[St. Louis Review]

Local Catholic officials were forced recently to disclose that there are at least 115 credibly accused child molesting clerics in the archdiocese. Now, largely because of the courage of victims, St. Louisans know the names of about 50 predators. (See BishopAccountability.org) So most child molesting clerics are still being protected by Archbishop Robert Carlson and his staff.

So today’s disclosure is a tiny, belated and begrudging step forward down a long, long road. And disclosing the identity of predators is a bare minimum first step. Catholic officials – past and present – must do much more to warn parishioners and the public about child molesting clerics and aggressively seek out and support those who could put those predators behind bars – victims, witnesses and whistleblowers.

Finally, Carlson claims that his staff has “sent an announcement for the bulletins of the parishes where Father Lippert served or resided.” That’s not good enough. He should order parish staff to post those announcements on parish websites, publish them in parish bulletins, and read them aloud from parish pulpits. And he should lead by example, by listing all proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics on his archdiocesan website, like some 30 other US bishops have done.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Belfast Telegraph

07 AUGUST 2014

One of Britain’s top policemen has warned that forces in England and Wales are ill-equipped to deal with inquiries into past wrongdoing.

Sir Hugh Orde said there is increased demand for dealing with historical matters and current inquiries risk being under-resourced.

The president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) addressed an event in Belfast.

He said: “We are seeing a demand to look into the past more and more and the police services of England and Wales are ill-equipped to deal with that.

“You cannot under-resource a historic inquiry; bizarrely, you can under-resource current inquiries.”

Sir Hugh established the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) of independent detectives in Northern Ireland to deal with more than 3,000 unresolved murders.

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GEORGIA
The Raw Story

By David Ferguson
Thursday, August 7, 2014

A Georgia appeals court ruled that the Fulton County District Court judge was incorrect to toss out a suit filed by an anonymous sex abuse victim against the Atlanta Catholic Diocese.

According to the ALM’s Daily Report Online, the three-judge Georgia Court of Appeals panel ruled that Fulton State Court Judge Patsy Porter was wrong when she ruled in 2013 that the suit filed against Holy Cross Catholic Church was invalid because the plaintiff’s name was listed as “Jane Doe” and that it was too late for the plaintiff to include her name.

“Because we hold that the trial court erred in concluding that the complaint was void, we reverse,” the panel said in its decision.

“We further hold that the trial court has the discretion to consider whether Doe is
entitled to proceed under a pseudonym and, therefore,” the judges said, the suit against Holy Cross and the Atlanta Diocese may proceed.

In Jane Doe v. Archdiocese of Atlanta, et al., the plaintiff alleged that Holy Cross Catholic Church was negligent in failing to stop a music minister then in its employ from sexually assaulting her when she was 14 years old.

The appeals panel said that Judge Porter’s decision was wrong because the plaintiff’s name was revealed to the trial judge and to the church in the case, but had only been withheld from legal filings.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

BY MARK MORRIS
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
08/07/2014

A split verdict Thursday in a lawsuit alleging that a local clergyman sexually exploited a former church staff member gave both sides something they wanted.

The jury ruled just after noon Thursday that the Rev. Stan Archie’s Christian Fellowship Baptist Church must pay $350,000 to the former staffer and her husband for misrepresenting that its 2007 investigation into her abused allegations was a serious inquiry aimed at learning the truth.

“I think this is a good and fair verdict,” said Rebecca Randles, who represented the couple. “I hope our clients are able to heal.”

Archie resigned as president of the Missouri State Board of Education in January 2013 after two women filed lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.

The former staffer alleged that Archie had taken sexual advantage of her by abusing his position as a pastoral counselor at the church. Three other women testified at trial this month that Archie also had sexually abused them during counseling sessions.

Yet jurors rejected claims alleging that Archie and the church had defrauded the staffer by misrepresentating that the pastor was a “safe and competent” counselor.

The jury appeared to have ruled either that the no misrepresentation had occurred, or that the staffer had not been injured.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Courthouse News Service

By JACK BOUBOUSHIAN

CHICAGO (CN) – A rabbi in charge of four Orthodox seminaries in Israel sexually assaulted girls in his charge, and threatened to ruin their marriage prospects if they reported him, the girls’ parents claim in a federal class action.

Gary Miller and six other named plaintiffs sued Elimelech Meisels, Rachel Slanger, Peninim of America, Yaakov Yarmish, Tzvi Gartner and four subsidiary Jewish seminaries in Jerusalem, on Monday in Federal Court.

“From approximately 2004 until the present date, defendant Elimelech Meisels engaged in a fraudulent and unlawful scheme to induce Orthodox Jewish parents from across the United States to send their daughters to various seminaries in Israel that he controlled under the guise of educational and spiritual development,” the complaint states. “In truth, defendant Meisels’ true aim was to fraudulently and unlawfully take thousands of dollars from each of these parents and to induce these girls, by telephone, mail, wire and other means, to travel thousands of miles outside the United States and away from their parents for the purpose of sexually assaulting these vulnerable young girls.”

Orthodox Jewish children are traditionally sent to study the Torah for one year after high school in Israel. For girls, their attendance at a seminary “profoundly shapes and influences their marriage prospects within a quasi arranged marriage system known as the Shidduch (translated literally as Introduction) system,” the complaint states.

“This influence is so important that it causes Orthodox Jewish parents to save money for years in hopes of being able to afford the annual tuition that regularly exceeds twenty thousand dollars ($20,000).”

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UNITED STATES
Frum Follies

A lawsuit was filed in a US federal court on Monday August 4th by five families who registered their daughters to attend the post-HS, Jerusalem-based, ultra-orthodox but non-Hassidic seminaries operated at the time by Elimelech Meisels. Meisels has since confessed to sexually abusing students to a Chicago rabbinical court (aka, Special Beis Din, Chicago Beis Din, or CBD).

The parents of the prospective students paid hefty deposits toward the 2014-2015 tuition of over $20,000. The CBD revealed the abuse and recommended not sending students to these seminaries in a ruling released on July 10. The CBD subsequently declared on July 30th:

We stand by our July 10 statement that we do not recommend prospective students attend these seminaries, and also note, based on evidence including testimony by victims and staff and admissions by Elimelech Meisels, our conclusion that certain senior staff members failed in their responsibilities toward students.

The CBD issued that statement because an Israeli Beit Din (IBD) attempted to whitewash the seminaries and declare they were sold, Meisels was out, all the other staff were good and no other seminary was allowed to accept students who were registered with Meisels.

The lawsuit was reported yesterday in Court House News, They quote from the suit:

From approximately 2004 until the present date, defendant Elimelech Meisels engaged in a fraudulent and unlawful scheme to induce Orthodox Jewish parents from across the United States to send their daughters to various seminaries in Israel that he controlled under the guise of educational and spiritual development,” the complaint states. “In truth, defendant Meisels’ true aim was to fraudulently and unlawfully take thousands of dollars from each of these parents and to induce these girls, by telephone, mail, wire and other means, to travel thousands of miles outside the United States and away from their parents for the purpose of sexually assaulting these vulnerable young girls……

Defendant Meisels, like many other sexual predators, preyed on the vulnerable. He did this by developing mentor-mentee relationships with girls and exploiting these relationships to lure the girls into late night coffee meetings and other private settings and then sexually assaulted them.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Aug. 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 )

We are deeply grateful that now women and girls will be safer because a jury has found Rev. Stan Archie guilty of sexually assaulting a woman. His church must pay her $350,000. While no amount of money can adequately compensate a victim of clergy sexual violence, this sum makes it clear that an impartial jury found that church officials acted recklessly with the safety of their flock.

We are also deeply grateful to every woman who found the courage to speak up about this predator and testify against him in court. They are to be commended for acting bravely and responsibly. Because of their strength, others will be spared the trauma caused by clergy sex crimes.

Rev. Archie’s lawyer claimed the minister could not have committed the crimes because of a window in a door to the room where he assaulted this woman. The notion that a window would stop a predator is just silly. Many times, clergy who prey on the vulnerable are ‘out of control’ and sometimes act impulsively and in ways that defy common sense.

We hope every single person who saw, suspected or suffered Rev. Archie’s crimes will come forward, get help, call police, protect others and start healing. Every single church or agency that ever gave Rev. Archie access to innocent kids and vulnerable adults should now work hard to find others he has hurt. We especially call on the KC police department, where Rev. Archie was a chaplain, to seek out anyone he may have assaulted using his police title or position.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Review

SUBMITTED ON AUGUST 06, 2014

The Archdiocese of St. Louis has deemed credible a report alleging sexual abuse of a minor by the late Father Alexander Lippert in the early 1970s. The Archdiocesan Review Board made the determination, and Archbishop Robert J. Carlson accepted the board’s recommendation citing credible evidence.

Father Lippert died in April 2000, before the allegations were made. Therefore, he can’t defend himself, so officially the allegation is considered “credible though unsubstantiated.” However, there is enough evidence to conclude the abuse could have occurred as reported, according to the archdiocese.

In 33 years as a priest, Father Lippert served or resided at 11 parishes. He was assigned to Holy Guardian Angels in south St. Louis in April 1956; Immaculate Conception in Union in July of 1959; St. Liborius in north St. Louis in 1961; St. Teresa in north St. Louis in 1963;St. Ferdinand in Florissant in 1965; St. Aloysius in Spanish Lake in May of 1968; St. Paul the Apostle in Pine Lawn (resided, during leave of absence) in July of 1970; Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (Old Cathedral) in Downtown St. Louis in June of 1980; St. Catherine of Alexandria in Coffman in November of 1980; St. Ambrose in south St. Louis in May of 1983; and St. Thomas of Aquin in south St. Louis in April of 1986.

Father Lippert took a sick leave in July 1988, then the archdiocese relieved him of priestly duties and granted retirement in January of 1991.

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TEXAS
San Antonio Express-News

BY GUILLERMO CONTRERAS : AUGUST 7, 2014

SAN ANTONIO — A former priest who later went on to be a top San Antonio Independent School District employee is to be sentenced Friday for awarding himself contracts to perform maintenance work on classrooms for the district.

Anthony “Tony” Mayhan, 67, took a plea deal in October in which he pleaded guilty to one count of bribery so three other bribery charges could be dismissed. His lawyer, Don Flanary, is hoping his client’s cleric past can win him leniency. His past was previously undisclosed, but was made public this week in a court document Flanary filed.

Mayhan was ordained a priest in 1978 and was granted rare special permission from the Vatican to leave the priesthood in 1991 in good standing. That allowed him to serve as a communion minister and to marry his wife in the church, Flanary wrote in a sentencing memorandum to Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery.

Mayhan also was director of teacher personnel for the Archdiocese of San Antonio before joining SAISD as the compliance monitor of its federal programs department.

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GUAM
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, August 07, 2014

For more information: David Clohessy ( 314-566-9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

Victims blast archbishop: Come clean about priest
He knew about banned cleric, sex abuse allegations
LA lawyers even called and warned him, but
Archbishop told San Francisco cleric had “good standing”

Come clean, protect kids, SNAP says

Victims of child sex abuse are asking why the Guam Archbishop ignored warnings about a predator priest and kept the priest in active and prominent ministry. They are also demanding direct action to prevent future abuse and cover-ups.

Members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), the nation’s largest support group for men and women abused in religious and institutional settings, are questioning why Hagatna Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron allowed Fr. John H. Wadeson to remain in ministry after allegations of sex abuse against him became well known.

According to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Wadeson has been accused of abuse by two children in the 1970 and has been banned from acting as a priest there.

Michael Hennigan, attorney for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said in a recent interview that the archdiocese called Apuron’s offices in 2011 to warn them about Wadeson and his past.

[ABC News]

Despite this, Apuron gave Wadeson a recommendation to work in San Francisco, which was revoked when Apuron removed Wadeson from ministry and the allegations against Wadeson made the national news.

[ABC News]

Members of SNAP are blasting Apuron’s reckless behavior and demanding concrete action.

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CHICAGO (IL)
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Aug. 7, 2014

CHICAGO

Among a veritable “who’s who” list of speakers who played major roles in revealing the Catholic church’s clergy sexual abuse crisis, perhaps no one at the annual conference of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests last week generated as much anticipation as Jennifer Haselberger.

The former canonical chancellor for the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese, Haselberger received a standing ovation before uttering a word. Other presenters — who included Fr. Tom Doyle, former National Review Board member Illinois Justice Anne Burke, journalist Jason Berry and author Michael D’Antonio — frequently referenced her role in exposing missteps and oversights in the archdiocese’s handling of abuse allegations, with one speaker even recapping portions of her dissertation.

But Haselberger opted not to use her time to delve into her April 2013 decision to resign, her experiences and frustrations in the Twin Cities, or the fallout that followed her disclosure of documents to Minnesota Public Radio and local authorities. Rather, she sought to offer a possible path forward for the church.

“I think it’s important not to just point out the problems but also to help try and articulate a solution,” she told NCR Saturday following her speech.

Haselbeger used as a starting pointing Pope Francis’ message in a July homily at a Mass during his meeting with abuse survivors, requesting the church make reparations for its crimes. “I ask for the grace to weep, the grace for the Church to weep and make reparation for her sons and daughters who betrayed their mission, who abused innocent persons,” the pope said.

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CANADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Aug. 6, 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 sad for the family of a notorious serial predator priest, Father William Hodgson Marshall, who has passed away. But we are relieved that he can no longer devastate any young lives.

We hope this child molesting cleric’s death brings some degree of comfort and closure to those he has so severely hurt. .

Finally, we hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered crimes by this priest will step forward and get help.

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Catholic Free Press

By Father Paul J. Tougas
CFP Correspondent

John L. Allen Jr., a journalist well know for his coverage of the Catholic Church, has taken on a new role in the secular media. As an associate editor at The Boston Globe, Mr. Allen said he hopes to help shape the newspaper’s coverage of the universal Church.

In a recent email interview, Mr. Allen noted that all the Italian daily newspapers have someone to specifically cover the Vatican, “but it is a first in this country for a major daily to hire an analyst specifically focused on Catholicism.”

“This sort of thing is new to the United States; it’s unusual and it is a reflection of The Boston Globe’s desire to get it right,” Mr. Allen said.

Mr. Allen began his assignment at the Globe in February where he continues to pen the All Things Column he wrote while at the National Catholic Reporter. He worked for NCR, an independent national Catholic newspaper, for 16 years and was its Vatican correspondent. He has also been correspondent at the Vatican for CNN. He is the author of nine books and a regular speaker on Catholic issues. He can be followed on Twitter – @JohnLAllenJr – or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JohnLAllenJr.

According to the journalist, The Boston Globe operates in a solidly Catholic location in New England but also across this country.

“For me to help shape the coverage of the Church in a major publication was too enticing to resist,” said Mr. Allen.

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OHIO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, August 7, 2014

For more info: David Clohessy ( 314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com ), Judy Jones (636-433-2511, SNAPjudy@gmail.com )

Deacon loses teaching license
SNAP to bishop: “Tell parents why”
Four others were disciplined at same time
Each has been credibly accused of molesting kids
Victims say “Catholic officials must now finally ‘come clean’”

Education officials have permanently revoked the teaching license of a Catholic deacon and a victim’s support group is calling on Youngstown’s bishop and parochial school staff to explain why.

The group says that Deacon Ernest Formichelli, who also taught in several Catholic schools, has molested at least one child.

According to minutes of the September 2013 meeting of the Ohio State Board of Education, the board revoked Formichelli’s teaching license and “orders Formichelli be permanently ineligible to apply for any license issued by the State Board of Education.”

Formichelli “waived his right to a hearing,” the minutes say, and has forfeited both his five-year professional high school teaching license, issued in 2012, and permanent non-tax teaching certificate issued in 1978.

“We strongly suspect a victim or concerned parent reported to the state that Formichelli was accused of molesting at least one child,” said Judy Jones, the Midwest associate director of the Survivors Network of those Abuse by Priests (SNAP). “For the safety of kids and the healing of victims, Bishop George Murry must make public why this deacon’s license was revoked.”

Four other teachers lost their licenses at that same board meeting. All of them have been publicly accused of molesting kids. (They are Kelsey L. Hartmann, Mercades R. Blue, Thomas J. Mouat Jr. and Jeffery S. Rohrer Jr.) The wording in the state board’s minutes about all five cases is identical.

“Few adults voluntarily give up the chance to teach school, anywhere in Ohio, unless they fear what an investigation into their actions will reveal,” said David Clohessy, SNAP’s director. “I worked for a school district for five years. When state education officials take action and yank a teacher’s license, it’s not over something trivial.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
WZ

[Summary: A priest has for the past week been in custody in Germany after being extradited from South Africa. Georg K. is accused of 37 cases of sexual abuse.]

Willich. Seit einer Woche sitzt er nun in Deutschland in Untersuchungshaft: Die Rede ist von dem aus Willich stammenden Pfarrer Georg K.. Ihm wird von der Krefelder Staatsanwaltschaft Missbrauch in 37 Fällen vorgeworfen, aus Südafrika war er deshalb ausgeliefert worden. Dort hatte der 56-Jährige wegen ähnlicher Vowürfe lange vor Gericht gestanden.

Bei der Aufklärung der Dinge, die K. zur Last gelegt werden, hatte Johannes Heibel von der deutschen Initiative gegen Gewalt und sexuellen Missbrauch an Kindern und Jugendlichen eine Schlüsselrolle inne. Heibel ist es auch, der sich nun in einem Brief an den Personalchef des Bistums Aachen, Pfarrer Heiner Schmitz, gewandt hat. Darin fordert er ihn auf, K. zu einem umfassenden Geständnis zu bewegen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

[Summary: A chaplain in the Aachen diocese must answer in court on charges that he allegedly possessed and distributed child and youth pornography.]

Ein Kaplan aus dem Bistum Aachen steht im September wegen Besitzes und Verbreitung von Kinder- und Jugendpornografie vor Gericht. Dem 36-Jährigen werde in zwei Fällen die Verbreitung von Dateien mit kinderpornografischen Inhalten durch E-Mail-Versand vorgeworfen, teilte eine Sprecherin des Landgerichts am Mittwoch mit. In einem Fall soll er kinder- und jugendpornografisches Material auf einem Rechner gehabt haben. Das Bistum Aachen bestätigte, dass es sich bei dem Beschuldigten um einen 2012 geweihten Kaplan aus Heinsberg handelt. “Aachener Zeitung” und “Aachener Nachrichten” hatten zuvor berichtet.

Der Hinweis war nach Angaben der Staatsanwaltschaft Aachen von Ermittlern aus Ostdeutschland im Zuge eines Verfahrens gegen einen anderen Verdächtigen gekommen. Der Prozess am Amtsgericht Heinsberg findet nach Angaben der Gerichtssprecherin am 12. September statt. Sie konnte keine Angaben dazu machen, ob der beschuldigte Kaplan die Taten zugegeben hat.

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TEXAS
Fox 14

[with video]

By Crystal Price

EL PASO, Texas — On Wednesday, Victor Jerome Reza, 53, made his initial appearance in federal court as he faces on charges of possession and distribution of child exploitation material.

Officers with the Department of Homeland Security arrested Reza at his home on Sundance Avenue in far east El Paso yesterday.
See video of Reza being escorted by authorities.

Homeland Security Investigations officials said child porn videos and pictures were found in his home.

We have no word on the age of the children in the material or if they are local.

HSI officials said it is one of their main priorities to identify the victims.

The Diocese of El Paso’s Chancery Office confirmed late Wednesday that Reza is a member of the Diocesan School Board and has served since 2008.

According to that statement, Catholic school policies require that board members undergo a criminal background check and Safe Environment training for the diocese. The diocese added that Mr. Reza had completed those requirements.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

[with video]

Posted by Joelle Casteix on August 7, 2014

Even $5 can make a huge difference.

I have often mentioned my volunteer work with SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. They are the nation’s largest and oldest support group for adult survivors who were sexually abused as children in religious and institutional settings.

In the past few years, their mission has expanded dramatically to help a wide range of victims from many denominations, institutions, and organizations. Don’t let the word “priest” fool you—at their convention last week, I met survivors from/of universities, protestant churches, incest, orthodox, Judaism, Islam, boarding schools, group homes, and the list (quite tragically) goes on and on.

Some of SNAP’s volunteer leaders have come together for a project-specific Indiegogo campaign. They are raising the money to send 2 leaders to 3 cities to train other survivors to set up and grow support groups. It’s a small project, but will have a HUGE impact on survivors in the cities where new groups are formed.

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KENTUCKY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, August 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 )

A Kentucky priest, who pled guilty to child sexual abuse, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison and must register as a sex offender. We are glad that he will be going to prison, but believe he should have received a harsher punishment.

We are grateful to the victims of Fr. Louis Francis Piskula who stepped forward and worked with law enforcement. When victims stay silent, nothing changes. But when victims find the courage to take action, there’s at least a chance for prevention, healing and justice.

We urge Kentucky Catholic officials to visit every parish where Piskula worked and beg anyone who saw, suspect, or suffered child sex crimes to come forward and report abuse. It is never too late to speak up.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites Australia researcher (updated 7 August 2014)

This Broken Rites article is the most comprehensive account available about a Melbourne Catholic priest, Father James Scannell, who raped a boy during a sex-education lesson more than 40 years ago. After the rape, Scannell ordered the boy to “confess” and never to tell anybody about it. The victim (now in his fifties) finally reported this crime to the police after learning that his aunt’s funeral in 2010 was to be conducted by this priest.

In the Melbourne County Court on 1 July 2014 a jury convicted Father James Henry Scannell, 88, on a charge of buggery, committed against the 12-year-old boy in the early 1970s.

On 7 August 2014, Judge David Parsons gave Scannell a two-year jail sentence. He must serve 12 months before he becomes eligible for parole.

During the trial, the court was told that in the early 1970s, Father Scannell was doing some ministering in a Melbourne parish (St Anne’s, East Kew), where the 12-year-old boy lived with his mother and some sisters. The boy’s father was absent from the family. The boy’s aunt knew Father Scannell and she presumed that a Catholic priest would be a good “male role model” for the boy. The boy was paid to do some odd jobs at the priest’s house in East Kew.. Father Scannell was then aged in his mid-forties.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

SHANNON DEERY NEWS LIMITED AUGUST 07, 2014

A PRIEST accused of being one of the state’s worst paedophiles could be freed from prison today after serving just 11 months of a 13-year sentence.

The move is believed to have devastated many of David Edwin Rapson’s alleged victims who fought for more than 25 to bring him to justice.

The former priest was jailed last year after a County Court jury found him guilty of eight counts of indecent assault and five counts of rape of young boys.

But the convictions were today quashed by the Court of Appeal after a concession by the Office of Public Prosecutions that Rapson, 61, should have faced several trials.

They admitted because of the varying nature of Rapson’s alleged offending it was unfair for all the matters to be determined by a single jury. He will now face retrials in the County Court.

He rose to become vice-principal of Sunbury’s notorious Salesian College Rupertswood despite a string of allegations being levelled at him.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

August 7, 2014

Adam Cooper
Court reporter for The Age

An 88-year-old retired priest will spend at least one year in prison for sexually assaulting a boy in his care more than 40 years ago.

James Henry Scannell, who has worked as a priest across Melbourne for half a century and was a chaplain at Kew Cottages, was on Thursday jailed for two years, to serve a minimum of 12 months, for sexually assaulting a boy in Kew between 1970 and 1972.

Scannell, who is of poor health, had trouble getting to his feet and used a walking stick when led out of the County Court dock by security, as some of his large group of supporters cried.

Outside court, Bernard Barrett, from the victims’ support group Broken Rites, said Scannell was still working up until early last year, when he was suspended by the church pending the result of the trial. Dr Barrett called on the church to explain why Scannell’s offending was covered up for so long.

“Questions need to be asked of the Melbourne archdiocese about why and how this sort of thing could have happened and how it’s taken all these years for it to come out,” he said.

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ZAMBIA
Zambian Watchdog

August 7, 2014

Richard Luonde, the former priest who was kicked out of the Anglican Church for alleged adultery and other sins has now sued the church demanding money.

Luonde also wants the court to force the church to give him back his preaching job so that he continues getting paid, because, he claims he was called by God and wanted to die as a priest.

Lounde, a former St Peter’s Anglican Church priest-in-charge in Kitwe asked the Ndola Industrial Relations Court (IRC) to order the church to give him back his portfolio and pay him to his satisfaction.
“I was called as a priest and I want to die a priest. I want the church to give me back my portfolio and pay what is due to my satisfaction and what else the court will deem fit,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

JOEL CRESSWELL AAP AUGUST 07, 2014

A MELBOURNE Catholic priest has been jailed for abusing an altar boy during a sexual education lesson more than 40 years ago.

PRIEST James Henry Scannell was asked by a long-time friend and member of his East Kew parish to discuss puberty with her nephew in the early 1970s.

Instead, Scannell, wearing only a dressing gown, led the boy into his bedroom, stripped him naked and sexually abused him.

Victorian County Court Judge David Parsons on Thursday jailed Scannell for two years, telling the 88-year-old he had abused his position of authority.

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AUSTRALIA
3AW

Posted by: Ashleigh Brown | 7 August, 2014

A former priest has been jailed for two years for the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy in Kew over 40 years ago.

88-year-old James Henry Scannell will spend at least 12 months behind bars before being eligible for parole.

The former Catholic priest was found guilty in July of sexually assaulting the altar boy, who had gone to the priest’s home in Kew between 1970 and 1972, to do odd jobs for pocket money.

After the abuse, Scannell made the 12-year-old confess his sins and ordered him not to speak of what happened, before the boy walked home crying.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A disabled woman has begun a legal case against her former parish priest for sexually abusing her over a 14-year period.

Jennifer Herrick is seeking aggravated damages from Father Tom Knowles and three senior members of his Catholic Church order, the Blessed Sacrament Fathers.

Ms Herrick says Father Knowles repeatedly exploited her vulnerability as a disabled and sexually naive parishioner.

In June, Ms Herrick spoke exclusively to the ABC about how the church was using the controversial Ellis defence to fight her claim.

Today, she took the long train ride from her home on the NSW Central Coast to Sydney for the first day of her hearing in the Supreme Court.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

BY MARK MORRIS
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
08/06/2014

A Jackson County jury began deliberations late Wednesday afternoon on the question of whether the Rev. Stan Archie sexually exploited a church staffer by using his position as a pastoral counselor.

Archie, a former Kansas City police chaplain and pastor of Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, resigned as president of the Missouri State Board of Education in January 2013 after two women filed lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.

Jurors got the case after an afternoon of closing arguments that were alternately emotional and dispassionately legal.

Noting that three other women had testified at trial that Archie had sexually abused them during church counseling sessions, lawyer Rebecca Randles asked jurors to find both Archie and the church liable of civil fraud for representing that he was a “safe and competent” counselor.

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MINNESOTA
TheMediaReport

David Pierre

For over a decade now, we at TheMediaReport.com have likely reviewed several thousand news articles, television episodes, radio interviews, and documentary films in our mission to encourage accuracy in the media’s coverage of the Catholic Church abuse story line.

However, we don’t believe we have seen a piece of media as grossly inaccurate and irresponsible as a recent multimedia special presentation produced by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), “Betrayed by Silence,” which purports to chronicle the history of the Catholic Church abuse scandal as it relates to Minnesota.

MPR’s not-so-hidden agenda

MPR’s multimedia program is so loaded with flat-out falsehoods and misrepresentations that one hardly knows where to begin.

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VATICAN CITY
Chiesa

by Sandro Magister

VATICAN CITY, August 7, 2014 – There are those who maintain, and even say they are certain, that Pope Francis wants to reform the papacy to the point of “destructuring” the role of the Roman pontiff as it was developed in the second millennium of the Christian era, beginning with the Gregorian reform and continuing through the magisterium of the Council of Trent and of Vatican I.

This seems to be the gist of two significant declarations that have come in recent weeks.

The author of one of these is the lay monk Enzo Bianchi (in the photo), founder and prior of the monastery of Bose.

On July 23, after Pope Francis appointed him as a consultant for the pontifical council for the promotion of Christian unity, Bianchi released shattering statements to the website Vatican Insider.

The position that the prior of Bose received is not of great significance in itself. But it received enthusiastic coverage in the media, given the vast influence of Bianchi’s words in the Catholic world – and not only among progressives – and his regular contributions to the front pages of important Italian secular newspapers like “la Repubblica” and “La Stampa.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Hull Daily Mail

A CHRISTIAN who vowed not to have sex before marriage raped a woman while she slept and while she was unconscious through drugs, a court heard.

Adam Burdall, 23, is accused of four counts of rape, which he denies.

Giving evidence in Mr Burdall’s trial at Hull Crown Court, Andrew Jefferson, who was projects director at Christ Church, Bridlington, said Mr Burdall told him he raped the woman when he visited the church in a “distressed” state around Christmas 2012.

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NORTH CAROLINA
WSOC

[with video]

By Mark Becker

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police in Charlotte said the Methodist minister charged with assaulting two children may face more charges.

Orlando Caldera made his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon on charges that he fondled two girls, 6 and 10 years old, at Memorial United Methodist Church, where he was a pastor working with the church’s Hispanic members.

Police say they have identified other potential victims and are scheduling interviews for the children with counselors, and those interviews could lead to more charges.

Caldera did not say anything about the charges as he appeared on a video monitor from the jail.

The judge told Caldera through an interpreter that he would appoint an attorney to represent him on the charges.

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UNITED STATES
Slate

By Amanda Marcotte

Pastor Mark Driscoll of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church has gained national notoriety for his sex-obsessed, hypermasculinized take on Christianity that mostly serves to justify the desires of men who believe they are entitled to completely submissive wives. Good news: Some evangelical Christians are speaking out against him. Dozens of evangelicals camped out in front of Mars Hill on Sunday, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, in order to call Driscoll out for his ugly behavior and particularly his views on women, saying he’s gone too far and needs to “acknowledge his sins and repent”:

“Mark Driscoll has sort of become the face of Christianity in Seattle. It’s insane, some of it,” said Bruce Hanson, who goes to church elsewhere. Kay Willette chimed in, adding, “Mark Driscoll is the Rush Limbaugh of Christianity, a bombastic big-mouth.”

Two members of Mars Hill’s Board of Advisers and Accountability have resigned in the past week as criticisms of Driscoll escalate. The latest incident drawing alarm is the revelation that Driscoll has been using a pseudonym to post on message boards, where he laments that “We live in a pussified nation” and that it’s full of “sensitive emasculated men.” Former members of the church that were protesting Driscoll told the Post-Intelligencer that they disapprove of how the pastor portrays women as “accessories in marriage” who exist just “to please their husbands.”

The protests are just the latest in a series of high-profile stories involving Driscoll, including accusations of plagiarism that were reported on by Ruth Graham in Slate last year. But they are also the latest in a series of high-profile instances of evangelical Christians standing up against members of their own church.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Blackmore Vale

By DavidBol | Posted: August 06, 2014

A Dorset-born bishop has been questioned by police over allegations of historical sex abuse.

The Bishop of Gloucester, The Right Reverend Michael Perham, was quizzed over the claims, dating back more than 30 years.

Days after standing down for “personal reasons”, the Dorchester native was quizzed about allegations that he had abused a girl under 18 and a woman.

Speculation had been mounting since the Bishop resigned on Friday as the cathedral prepared for a series of First World War centenary services.

Now it has emerged that officers probing historic allegations of indecent assault had arranged to speak to the married father-of-four on a voluntary basis. The investigation is being run by the Metropolitan Police Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis wants a “poor church for the poor,” but that “doesn’t necessarily mean a church with empty coffers,” said Cardinal George Pell, “and it certainly doesn’t mean a church that is sloppy or inefficient or open to being robbed.”

A month after unveiling a “new economic framework for the Holy See,” including a host of changes to the Vatican’s financial structures, the cardinal discussed the meaning of those reforms and the challenges to their implementation in an interview with Catholic News Service.

Cardinal Pell, a former archbishop of Sydney whom the pope named in February to the new office of prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, spoke to CNS about a range of issues, including Vatican financial scandals; the need for more transparency, “checks and balances” and oversight by laypeople; efforts to internationalize the Vatican bureaucracy while reducing its overall size; and the relative importance of his own role in the church’s central administration, the Roman Curia.

The cardinal, who sits on the nine-member Council of Cardinals advising Pope Francis on reform of the Curia and governance of the universal church, also spoke more generally about what the church can learn from, and teach to, organizations in the secular world

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CANADA
Windsor Star

Aug 06, 2014

A former Basilian priest and Windsor Catholic high school teacher found guilty of a lengthy history of abusing male students passed away last week in Toronto at the age of 92.

William Hodgson (Hod) Marshall, pleaded guilty in 2011 to 16 counts of indecent assault of minors and one count of sexual assault for incidents that occurred between 1952 and 1986.

The incidents occurred while Marshall taught at Assumption and Holy Names high schools in Windsor, plus other Catholic high schools in Toronto and Sudbury.

“I have been dealing with pain and suffering this person put on me for the last 60 years,” said Jerry Boyle, 74, a victim who suffered abuse starting at 14. “There is some relief. It is one more page in the book closed.

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TEXAS
Fox 14

[statement from the diocese]

By Crystal Price
EL PASO, Texas — On Wednesday, Victor Jerome Reza, 53, made his initial appearance in federal court as he faces on charges of possession and distribution of child exploitation material.

Officers with the Department of Homeland Security arrested Reza at his home on Sundance Avenue in far east El Paso yesterday.

See video of Reza being escorted by authorities.

Homeland Security Investigations officials said child porn videos and pictures were found in his home.

We have no word on the age of the children in the material or if they are local.

HSI officials said it is one of their main priorities to identify the victims.

The Diocese of El Paso’s Chancery Office confirmed late Wednesday that Reza is a member of the Diocesan School Board and has served since 2008.

According to that statement, Catholic school policies require that board members undergo a criminal background check and Safe Environment training for the diocese. The diocese added that Mr. Reza had completed those requirements.

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TEXAS
El Paso Times

[statement from the diocese]

By Aaron Martinez / El Paso Times
POSTED: 08/06/2014

A Catholic Diocese of El Paso school board member was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of distribution and possession of child pornography, federal officials said.

Victor Jerome Reza, 53, was arrested after an investigation by the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations department allegedly revealed he had downloaded child exploitation videos and photos on his home computer, HSI spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said.

Reza has been a board member of the El Paso Catholic Schools Diocesan School Board since 2008, diocese officials said in a statement. The board manages all activities related to Catholic schools in the Diocese of El Paso.

“Anytime we hear of an allegation of sexual misconduct or abuse of a minor we are very concerned,” diocese officials said in a statement. “Mr. Victor J. Reza is a member of our Diocesan School board and has served since 2008.”

Diocese officials said a criminal background check was performed on Reza, but declined to comment further.

“They (board members) are required to undergo a criminal background check and Safe Environment training for the Diocese,” diocese officials said. “Mr. Reza completed these requirements. The Diocese cannot comment on the details of this issue since it is an ongoing criminal investigation.”

Reza was escorted from El Paso County Jail on Wednesday to the federal courthouse for a preliminary hearing. A detention hearing was set for Aug. 11. As Reza was escorted from the county jail, he declined comment.

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TEXAS
KVIA

[with video]

[statement from the diocese]

Leonard Martinez
Darren Hunt
Aug 06, 2014

EL PASO, Texas –
Victor J. Reza, a member of the El Paso Catholic Schools Diocesan School Board, was arrested on Tuesday on a federal child porn charge.

According to jail records, Reza has been charged with in transit/receipt and distribution of child sexual exploitation material.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), child porn that was downloaded, not produced, was allegedly found on Reza’s home computer.

A somber looking Reza did not answer any questions from the media as he was walked from the county jail to a vehicle Wednesday morning, pausing only to give a brief “no comment” before being seatbelted into the vehicle.

The diocesean school board oversees matters pertaining to education for the elementary and secondary schools of the diocese.

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TEXAS
KVIA

[statement from the diocese]

EL PASO, Texas –

The Catholic Diocese of El Paso released the following statement in response to the arrest of Victor J. Reza.

Reza is a member of the diocesan school board.

“Anytime we hear of an allegation of sexual misconduct or abuse of a minor we are very concerned. Mr. Victor J. Reza is a member of our Diocesan School Board and has served since 2008.

The School Board members advise the Diocesan Bishop on matters of Catholic School Policies. They are required to undergo a criminal background check and Safe Environment training for the Diocese.

Mr. Reza completed these requirements. The Diocese cannot comment on the details of this issue since it is an ongoing criminal investigation.

In the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, we have diligently worked to make our parishes and schools safe from predators and to educate our people on the scourge of sexual misconduct and abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

The Marist Brothers have apologised for “inaction and poor processes” in response to child sex abuse allegations, and say they are now reviewing past settlements to victims.

The Catholic order has been under scrutiny in recent months as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse examined its handling of complaints against two pedophile brothers who abused children in NSW, Queensland and the ACT.

The order’s provincial head in Australia, Jeffrey Crowe, paid tribute on Thursday to those who had spoken out after suffering at the hands of John Chute and Gregory Sutton.

“It has been a difficult and challenging time for all involved, particularly the victims who have given evidence,” he said.

“This process has enabled us to honestly confront the crimes that have been committed, and our own failures as an institution in the past.

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INDIA
The Hindu

Two girl students studying in Classes VI and IX who went missing two months ago were traced by the police on Monday and entrusted to the custody of the Child Welfare Committee here on Tuesday.

It was alleged that the girls, aged 12 – 14 years, who fell into the vile influence of a gang were forced into the flesh trade. In this connection the police arrested five persons, including a priest, a layman and three women and remanded them in judicial custody on Wednesday.

Those arrested include priest Aruldas (60) of Vishistapuram, Kala (48) and Jameena of Vriddhachalam, Sathish Kumar of Vadalur and Dhanalakshmi of Thittakudi.

They were booked under various counts such as kidnapping, wrongful confinement and violation of the Prevention of Child Abuse Act, 2012.

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NEW YORK
New York Law Journal

Dennis J. Dozis, New York Law Journal
August 7, 2014

Religious freedom is a fundamental tenet of our jurisprudence.1 The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which is binding on the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”2 The Establishment Clause “is a prohibition of government sponsorship of religion which requires that government neither aid nor formally establish a religion.”3 Said prohibition exists because there is a substantial danger that the government will become entangled in essentially religious controversies or intervene on behalf of groups espousing particular doctrines or beliefs.4

Although civil disputes involving religious parties may be adjudicated if neutral principles of secular law are exclusively involved, the Establishment Clause absolutely prohibits civil courts from deciding actions in which the nature of the issues raised are in any way religious.5 As the New York Court of Appeals has explained:

The United States Constitution protects the right of individuals to believe what they cannot prove. They may not be put to the proof of their religious doctrines or beliefs…If these doctrines are subject to trial before a jury charged with finding their truth or falsity, then the same can be done with the religious beliefs of any sect. When the triers of fact undertake that task, they enter a forbidden domain…[C]ivil courts are forbidden from interfering in or determining religious disputes. Such rulings violate the First Amendment because they simultaneously establish one religious belief as correct … while interfering with the free exercise of the opposing faction’s beliefs.6

As a result of the prohibition against secular entanglement in religious beliefs, the courts of this state have undertaken the arduous task of defining the Establishment Clause’s scope in sexual affair and abuse cases and identifying which individuals are protected thereunder. In so doing, the courts have published tense decisions and engendered precedent contracting and expanding the constitutional proscription.

For example, in Langford v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, a parishioner of a Queens church brought, inter alia, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims against a priest and a diocese in connection with an alleged sexual affair which developed during the course of spiritual counseling.7 The Supreme Court, Kings County, dismissed the claims upon motion practice, and plaintiff appealed. By a 3-1 decision, the Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed and held that:

The cause of action alleging that [the priest] negligently handled the counseling relationship in fact stated a claim for malpractice. As such, it was properly dismissed because any attempt to define the duty of care owed by a member of the clergy to a parishioner fosters excessive entanglement with religion.8

In a partially dissenting opinion, Justice Sondra M. Miller sharply disagreed with the majority and opined that the plaintiff’s allegations fully supported recovery against the priest under a theory of breach of fiduciary duty. In her dissent, she stated:

I disagree most significantly with the majority’s holding that any attempt to define the duty of care owed by a member of the clergy to a parishioner fosters excessive entanglement with religion. That holding will establish appellate precedent shielding from civil judicial examination even the most flagrant clerical misconduct perpetrated upon vulnerable parishioners, children as well as adults. The injured will be deprived of any recourse short of criminal prosecution. The miscreant clergy, unsanctioned, will remain free to continue undeterred.…Moreover, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was not intended to protect the misconduct of clergy where examination of their conduct does not require any inquiry into church doctrine. Clearly no examination of church doctrine is required in order for the plaintiff’s claims against her priest to be heard.9

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KENTUCKY
Messenger-Inquirer

By Steve Vied Messenger-Inquirer

The Rev. Louis Francis Piskula, a 74-year-old former priest who served at several local Catholic parishes, was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday in Daviess Circuit Court after he earlier pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor under 12.

Piskula must undergo sexual abuse offender treatment while incarcerated and must also register as a sex offender for 20 years.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

BY MARY SANCHEZ
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
08/05/2014

The Rev. Stan Archie’s image shifts, depending on who is telling his story.

He’s an exemplary man who pulled himself from childhood abuse, a gang and drug dealing to become a pillar of the community, respected enough to head the Missouri State Board of Education.

But he might also be a deviant man who used his position with a church he co-founded to inappropriately counsel women, turning the sessions sexual, including an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old girl.

A jury will decide. Closing arguments are expected Wednesday in a civil suit against Archie. His former assistant at Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, 4509 Troost Ave., says Archie had an affair with her, then targeted her for harassment and defamation when she ended it.

The Rev. Stan Archie’s former assistant at Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, 4509 Troost Ave., says Archie had an affair with her, then targeted her for harassment and defamation when she ended it.
The Rev. Stan Archie’s former assistant at Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, 4509 Troost Ave., says Archie had an affair with her, then targeted her for harassment and defamation when she ended it. | File photo

A separate civil suit, one that attorneys said has been resolved, accused Archie of child sexual abuse, defamation and counseling malpractice in the case of the 15-year-old former church member. That now 24-year-old woman testified at the ongoing trial.

None of Archie’s accusers are named in the suits. It’s a complicated case, not only because the two suits entwine, but because the church is also named as a defendant. Allegations are that its leadership knew of tendencies by Archie to abuse his power and did not protect the former assistant, who attended the church with her husband.

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LOUISIANA
The Advertiser

By Claire Taylor
ctaylor@theadvertiser.com August 6, 2014

In December 2011, when the Diocese of Lake Charles received credible allegations that a former priest had sexually abused boys, church officials immediately reported it to police.

That’s what church leaders are supposed to do, according to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People adopted in 2005 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“The Diocese of Lake Charles immediately reports any allegations involving the abuse of minors to the local authorities,” the Rev. Nathan Long wrote on behalf of the Diocese in a statement to The Daily Advertiser this week.

But that wasn’t the case before church reforms that grew out of priest sex scandals across the nation, starting in the Diocese of Lafayette in the 1980s with the notorious former priest, Gilbert Gauthe.

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MASSACHUSETTS
WWLP

[with video]

By Laura Hutchinson, 22News I-Team Reporter
Published: August 6, 2014

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Next week the western Massachusetts Catholic community will officially welcome their new Bishop.

22News spoke with Bishop Mitchell Rozanski Wednesday about how he’s getting settled and what he plans to do here.

The announcement was made in June and he’s made sporadic appearances since then but, next week Bishop Mitchell Rozanski will officially be installed into the Diocese of Springfield to replace Timothy McDonnell who retired.

“I’m glad to be here, it’s wonderful to be settled in,” Rozanski said. …

Bishop Rozanski acknowledges the Catholic Church has had its challenges from sex abuse scandals and the cover-ups that followed although he says he’s never been a part of it.

“No, no when I was both a priest and Bishop in Baltimore, we had a very proactive archbishop, series of Archbishops in terms of abuse.”

He says he’s learned from some of the best and knows how he’d handle a crisis. Although right now, he’s focused on getting settled in and meeting his neighbors.

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MINNESOTA
City Pages

[with video]

By Aaron Rupar Mon., Aug. 4 2014

Last week, embattled Archbishop John Nienstedt did the media rounds, granting one-on-one interviews to most local outlets. (Our invitation must’ve gotten lost in the mail…)

Fox 9 reporter/anchor Tom Lyden’s interview with the archbishop was especially noteworthy. Lyden, who’s married to a man he’s been in a relationship with for more than two decades, grilled Nienstedt about his own sexuality and anti-gay views. The line of questioning culminated in the archbishop acknowledging that his beliefs about the sinfulness of same-sex sexual relations don’t seemingly make much sense at all.

Here’s a transcript of the portion of Lyden’s interview that came right after Nienstedt denied being homosexual or ever having partaken in homosexual relations, followed by the raw video:

Nienstedt: I’m not against gays. I look at all individuals [as] children of God and they deserve the respect and the dignity of their personhood.

Lyden: That’s not what you said about Brokeback Mountain the movie. You came out pretty strongly about that being an immoral movie.

N: I was critical of the movie, yes. I don’t know if I used the word ‘immoral.’

L: And yet that seems to contradict what you’re telling me now, your criticism of that movie.

N: The church makes a clear distinction between someone who would have an attraction that would be same sex and the behavior itself.

L: So when you say you have nothing against homosexuals, you have nothing against homosexuals as long as they’re not having sex.

N: We believe, correctly, that sexual relations take place within the context of a committed marriage relationship.

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MINNESOTA
The Raw Story

By Arturo Garcia
Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt struggled to explain his views on homosexuality to a local gay reporter in raw footage from an interview conducted late last month, Minneapolis City Pages reported.

“Tell me, archbishop, why should I lead the life of a priest?” KMSP-TV reporter Tom Lyden asked Nienstedt in response to the archbishop’s statement that gay people needed to live “chaste” lives.

“Because it is of your nature to, um, express yourself sexually through a committed relationship,” Nienstedt replied.

“I am. I’ve been with the same partner and husband now for 21 years,” Lyden said.

KMSP posted the footage on Aug. 1, a day after airing Lyden’s report about Niendstedt’s efforts to reassure the Minneapolis-St. Paul community that his diocese would put “victims first” in regards to sexual assault allegations against local clergy, including a new policy mandating that the diocese notify police rather than conduct their own investigations.

“Why would we believe you today when you say, ‘victims first,’ when we’ve been hearing that for about 30 years?” Lyden asked.

“Well, because we’re saying it again, and we’re saying it with gusto,” Niendstedt replied. “And we’re saying it with meaning.”

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

Thursday, 7 August 2014

The Marist Brothers will be back under the spotlight when the child sex abuse royal commission resumes public hearings in Sydney.

The Catholic order has apologised to its faithful, saying the failings of its leadership were to blame for the crimes of two pedophile brothers across three decades in NSW, Queensland and the ACT.

‘On behalf of all Marist Brothers I acknowledge and apologise to their victims for the abuse and very real damage done to young people by their criminal actions,’ the order’s provincial head in Australia Jeffrey Crowe said last month, in a letter he penned after listening to hearings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

This phase of the inquiry, resuming on Thursday, is focused on the responses of the Marist Brothers and its schools to allegations of child sexual abuse levelled at Brother John Chute and former Brother Gregory Sutton.

It is also looking into the handling of compensation claims.

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UNITED STATES
Christ or Chaos

THOMAS A. DROLESKEY

As promised when posting Jorge and Miguel: As Red As They Get very early this morning, I am hereby providing you with links to the legal files that provide complete documentation concerning the indisputably predatory homosexual behavior of Father Carlos Urrutigoity, who as of yet is still being defended by the Opus Dei “bishop” of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, Rogelio Livieres, who says that the predator priest came recommended to him by none other than Joseph “Cardinal” Ratzinger just days before the latter’s big promotion to become the so-called “pope” of Tradition, the great Hegelian “restorer” of Modernism’s “evolution of doctrine” that he re-labeled as the “hermeneutic of continuity,” “Pope Benedict XVI.

(See Still No Excuses For Those Who Defend the Society of Saint John. See also A Special Report on the Society of Saint John (2000) and No Excuses For Those Who Indemnify the Society of Saint John

The legal files were provided to me by Mr. James Bendell, the courageous attorney who worked so long and so valiantly with the heroic founder of The Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc., Mr. Stephen G. Brady, in the effort to expose and shame the predatory priest named “Bishop” Daniel Leo Ryan of Springfield, Illinois (see Sick From Head to Toe and Seven Years Later, which was written fully two years before I came to recognize the true state of the Church Militant in this time of apostasy and betrayal), and who represented one client who had been the victim of the predatory homosexual behavior of Fathers Carlos Urrutigoity and Eric Ensey and another client.

Here, therefore, are the legal filings, the first and second of which contain graphic material that should not be read by those who seek to avoid such horrific details:

1. The largest file contains Mr. Bendell’s interrogation of one of the chief enablers and protectors of the Society of Saint John, “Bishop” James Clifford Timlin of the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and other documents to support Mr. Bendell’s opposition to motion made by the attorney for the Diocese of Scranton to dismiss the lawsuit. Other supporting documents are contained in this large file: SJ Motion.

2. The second document is the letter that the Superior-General of the Society of Saint John, Bishop Bernard Fellay, sent to the aforement conciliar “bishop” of Scranton, James Clifford Timlin, to warn him abou Father Carlos Urrutigoity’s predatory ways: Bishop Fellay Letter to James Timlin.

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CANADA
Sylvia’s Site

Two convicted Basilian molesters are dead.

Convicted Basilian clerical molesters and confreres William Hodgson Marshall and Father Robert Whyte csb are dead.

Both taught at St. Michael’s College School in Toronto in the early 50s. Both were at Assumption College in Windsor Ontario in latter part of the same decade. Both have been living at the Cardinal Flahiff Basilian Centre in Toronto for years (Whyte since shortly after his 1990 conviction and subsequent incarceration, and Marshall since around 1998 following his return from St. Lucia.)

Marshall, who pled guilty June 2011 to 17 charges related to sex abuse of 17 victims was sentenced to two years in jail. Some time after his guilty plea he was laicized/defrocked. . He continued to live in the Basilian residence in Toronto after his laicization.

Whyte, who pled guilty in 1990 to 18 charges of sex abuse of boys aged 11 to 17, was sentenced to four years in prison.

The pair died six days apart.

Father Robert Whyte csb died 22 July 2014

William Hodgson Marshall died 28 July 2014.

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CANADA
CTV

A retired Windsor priest convicted of several sex offences has died.

CTV News has learned that Father William Hodgson Marshall has died, he was 92. Marshall pleaded guilty to 17 counts of indecent assault against former Windsor, Toronto, and Sudbury students.

Marshall also pleaded guilty in 2013 to sexually assaulting two Saskatoon boys in 1959 and 1961. He received a sentence of six months in the community, to be served at the Cardinal Flahiff Basilian Centre in Toronto.

Marshall admitted in June 2011 to sexually abusing 17 young people and sentenced to two years in prison. In October 2012, Marshall was qualified for statutory release, serving a total of 16 months in jail.

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PENNSYLVANIA
CBS Pittsburgh

Harold Hayes

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Homestead pastor Duane Youngblood waived charges of corrupting the morals of a minor to trial, but has yet to be arraigned on new charges including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault.

His lawyer, Milton Raiford says his client had a two-hour meeting with county detectives this week about the original case, and will talk with them about the new charges as well.

Raiford also publicly apologized to Leonard Robinson, the online reporter he accused two weeks ago of having a relationship with Youngblood.

Raiford said today he mistakenly thought Robinson was someone else. Robinson accepted Raiford’s apology.

Previously, a male congregation member, now 21, told police Youngblood sexually abused him over a two-and-a-half year period from 2009 to 2011 while Youngblood was supposed to be counseling him at the church.

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NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE – AUGUST 6, 2014

Lawsuit filed against Archdiocese of Newark, NJ, Sacred Heart Parish and School, Newark, NJ, and others because of sexual abuse of a child by the late Rev. Robert G. Gibney

Archdiocese of Newark and victim/survivor of clergy sexual abuse unable to mediate a settlement recently

Newark Archdiocese must do the right thing and allow clergy sexual abuse victim to heal by validating the clergy sexual abuse victim’s claim

What: A press conference announcing the filing of a lawsuit against the Newark Archdiocese, Sacred Heart Parish and School, Newark, NJ, and others because of the sexual abuse of a child by the late Rev. Robert G. Gibney of the Newark Archdiocese.

When: Thursday, August 7, 2014 at 11:00 AM.

Where: On the sidewalk across the street from the front entrance of the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Newark, 171 Clifton Avenue, Newark, NJ 07104

Who: Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., co-founder and President of Road to Recovery, Inc. and advocate for clergy sexual abuse victims worldwide; survivors of clergy sexual abuse, and supporters.

Why: A courageous clergy sexual abuse victim of the late Rev. Robert G. Gibney of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ, recently appeared at a mediation in an attempt to settle his sexual abuse claim against the late Fr. Robert Gibney, the Archdiocese of Newark, Sacred Heart Parish and

School, Newark, NJ, and others with his attorneys, Mitchell Garabedian, of Boston, MA, and Gregory Gianforcaro of Phillipsburg, NJ. The victim/survivor is attempting to validate his claim in order to heal from the harm done to him approximately between 1961 and 1963 when Fr.

Robert Gibney was assigned to Sacred Heart Parish and School in the Vailsburg section of Newark, NJ. Representatives of the Archdiocese of Newark and attorneys for the victim/survivor were unable to reach a settlement agreement on the claim, so a lawsuit has been filed in New

Jersey State Superior Court in Essex County and the victim/survivor requests a jury trial on the matter of clergy sexual abuse by the late Fr. Robert Gibney. The late Fr. Robert Gibney, who was born in 1927 and died in 2012, served at: St. Cecilia Parish, Kearny; Immaculate Conception Seminary, Mahwah (Dean); Sacred Heart Parish, Newark; St. Mary Parish, Dumont; St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Cedar Grove (Pastor); Overlook Hospital, Summit (Chaplain); Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Ridgewood (Pastor); and as a military chaplain.

Contacts: Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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GUAM
Jungle Watch

Guam – A news conference comprised of various individuals who have assisted in the financial matters of the Catholic Cemeteries of Guam and the Cathedral-Basilica will be held to respond to, correct, and refute allegations of financial mismanagement made public by Archbishop Sablan Apuron.

These individuals have given of their time, professional acumen, and personal resources to assist Msgr. James Benavente in bringing to order the financial matters of these two entities prior to, during, and after the report by Deloitte and Touche and the allegation of financial mismanagement by Archbishop Apuron.

The news conference will be held at 10:00 a.m. today, August 6, 2014, on the front steps of the Cathedral-Basilica.

As this point, the following individuals have confirmed their attendance and participation:

Mr. Joseph Rivera, former Director of the Bureau of Budget & Management Research
Mr. Art Ilagan, Insurance & Banking Commissioner and former Director of the Department of Revenue & Taxation
Mr. Rick Duenas, Certified Public Accountant and son of former Chief Judge and Sir Knight Cristobal C. Duenas.
Mr. Richard Untalan, past chairman of the Archdiocesan Finance Council
Deacon Steve Martinez, former Finance Officer of the Archdiocese of Agaña.

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MASSACHUSETTS
MassLive

Springfield’s Bishop Mitchell Rozanski, loyal to Orioles, Church doctrine and being a listener

By Anne-Gerard Flynn | aflynn@repub.com
on August 06, 2014

The Most Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski will be installed as the ninth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield on Aug. 12 at 2 p.m. at St. Michael’s Cathedral. Rozanski, of Polish heritage, has been auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where his duties included ministry to Hispanics, as well as to clergy and religious. Appointed auxiliary by Pope John Paul II, his ordination on Aug. 24, 2004, at the age of 46, made him the youngest bishop in the United States at the time.

On the day before his 56th birthday on Aug. 6, Rozanski gave one of his first area interviews, fielding questions in the diocesan chancery about his favorite baseball team (the Orioles), his mother’s advice to remember his working class roots, and his beliefs in Catholic education, a pastoral approach to Catholic doctrine and ongoing Church vigilance against any abuse of minors.

“The charter has been effective,” said Rozanski, who is involved with minor revisions to the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops’ seminal, Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, first issued to Church workers, in 2005. All 195 U.S. dioceses now have staff to assist victims of abuse, bishops are required to report allegations of abuse to law enforcement authorities, and most dioceses undergo annual review of compliance with the document’s 17 points. Billions of dollars in settlement money has been paid by the Church to victims of pedophile clergy, in the wake of victims coming forward and the release of court documents showing a pattern of suspected clergy being transferred to different assignments. “It has raised the consciousness of bishops, priests, deacons, religious, lay ecclesial ministers, catechists, anybody entrusted with youth that, when they feel something is wrong, that they step forward and say it.”

Rozanski stressed that ongoing awareness and adherence to the charter’s regulations is key, something Pope Francis underscored in his recent statement that “all bishops must carry out their pastoral ministry with the utmost care in order to help foster the protection of minors, and they will be held accountable.” The pope’s statement was seen as addressing criticisms that bishops transferred pedophile priests, rather than address allegations of abuse against them.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, August 06, 2014

For more information: David Clohessy ( 314-566-9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

Victims pass resolution for archbishop’s removal
They cite cover-up of abuse and “hidden evidence”
SNAP to all Minnesota bishops: Beg pope to fire archbishop

In response to a months-long clergy sex abuse and cover-up scandal in the Twin Cities, a support group for victims of sexual abuse is calling for the immediate removal of St. Paul’s archbishop.

More than 300 members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), voted to pass a one-page resolution calling for the removal of St. Paul & Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt. SNAP is the nation’s largest support group for men and women sexually abused in religious and institutional settings.

Members adopted the resolution at the group’s 25th anniversary annual conference in Chicago this week

Nienstedt has been blasted by victims and Catholics for quietly moving predator clerics, hiding evidence of abuse and covering-up child sex crimes. Media outlets such as the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the New York Times have also called for Nienstedt’s removal.

Nienstedt “has actively participated in the cover up and protection of clergy who have sexually abused children and adults,” the resolution says.

“Will this resolution convince Nienstedt to step down? Probably not,” said Frank Meuers of Plymouth, SNAP’s Twin Cities director. “But we must let our voices be heard. He must step down – or Pope Francis must act – if victims are to heal and children are to be kept safe.”

The group is also urging others who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in the St. Paul archdiocese to contact secular officials, not Catholic officials.

The group is also demanding complete transparency and accountability from St. Paul Catholic officials.

The resolution is below:

Resolution calling for the removal of Archbishop Nienstedt

Whereas, Archbishop John Nienstedt of the St. Paul/Minneapolis Archdiocese has actively participated in the cover up and protection of clergy who have sexually abused children and adults.

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AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

August 6, 2014

David Ellery
Reporter for The Canberra Times.

Canberra’s Anglican bishop is investigating “disgraceful and inappropriate” behaviour by clergy and church workers in the diocese.

“There are matters with which I am currently dealing that do involve instances of abuse [in the Canberra-Goulburn diocese],” Bishop Stuart Robinson said on Wednesday. “They do involve disgraceful and inappropriate actions by leaders within the churches. And, yes, lives have been destroyed.”

Bishop Robinson was explaining the decision to hold a diocese-wide “Lamentation Sunday” this weekend to address the issue of child sex abuse.

“The Lamentation Sunday and apology is not predicated on anything other than the pain we are feeling as a result of the pain we have inflicted either directly or indirectly [on the victims of child sexual abuse] over the past 30 or 40 years,” he said.

“People responding to media reports and the royal commission tell us that these things are affecting them, even up to 50 years later, and they want to deal with them.”

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OKLAHOMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, August 06, 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 teenaged missionary from Oklahoma, who last month was charged with sexually abusing several young children from an African orphanage, will remain in custody. Our hearts ache for the vulnerable children who, instead of receiving much needed aid, were sexually assaulted. We are glad he will be kept in custody and hope officials provide outreach for other children who may have been abused.

Matthew Durham has traveled several times to Kenya to work at a children’s home with an organization called Upendo. The allegations of abuse stem from his most recent trip. We are glad a judge is keeping him in prison pending an appeal. We believe he might flee the US if given the chance.

Durham admitted in writing and on video to a “lifelong attraction” to kids, outreach is even more critical. It is possible that there are more victims who have been suffering in silence and self blame from previous trips or in the Oklahoma community he lives in. Also because he blames “inner demon{s}” for his behavior he’s less apt to respond well to treatment & this should be considered in his sentencing.

Upendo and any other organization he is associated with should immediately provide the children he abused with access to rehabilitative services and reach out to anyone else who might be suffering in silence and self blame, in Kenya and the US.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

August 6, 2014

Henrietta Cook, Jane Lee

One of Australia’s leading philanthropists has demanded the Premier urgently implement all recommendations from the Victorian inquiry into institutional child sex abuse, warning further delays will lead to a “betrayal of trust”.

The Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry’s final report was tabled in November, but only three of its 15 recommendations have since been implemented, with legislation for a fourth recommendation before parliament.

Andrew Blode, chief executive of the Jack and Robert Smorgon Families Foundation, which helped establish the Australian Council for Children and Youth Organisations and has supported hundreds of charities, recently wrote to Premier Denis Napthine to express concerns about the delay.

“Clearly, if the Victorian government delay taking action any longer, these same institutions named in the inquiry, which receive in excess of $320 million from DHS to provide community services, would be viewed as a ‘betrayal of trust’.”

On the day the report was tabled, Premier Napthine said all the recommendations “will be considered as a matter of urgency by the Government.”

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Former Catholic priest David Edwin Rapson has had his child sex abuse convictions quashed and been granted bail ahead of fresh trials.

Rapson, 61, was jailed for 13 years in 2013 for rape and sexual assault offences involving eight boys at two Victorian Catholic colleges between the 1970s and 1990.

But he was released on bail on Wednesday after the Victorian Court of Appeal quashed his convictions when the prosecution conceded the charges should not have been dealt with in the one trial.

He will now face fresh trials in the Victorian County Court.

The Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) concedes the charges against Rapson should have been heard in separate trials, rather than just one.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Pacific Daily News

Monsignor James Benavente responded directly to Archbishop Anthony Apuron, in a letter sent today, on Apuron’s previous public statements of financial mismanagement and financial record-keeping problems under Benavente’s watch.

Some of the archbishop’s statements were “absolutely wrong,” Benavente wrote.

A group of Guam financial experts also held a press conference this morning, saying the archbishop’s statements weren’t factual.

On Apuron’s public statement that the Catholic Cemeteries of Guam used land that was not under its name, but was instead under the Archdiocese of Agana, as collateral for a loan, Benavente wrote:

“Regarding the recording of the land at the Catholic Cemeteries as an asset, the Deloitte & Touche (letter) acknowledges this correction in their letter of Jan. 8, 2014. It should be noted that before the Deloitte audit, the only persons who could have have known that the land was also recorded on the Archdiocese books was you, as archbishop, and Deacon Dominic Kim. Additionally, your letter is absolutely wrong in stating that the property was used to secure a loan…. This clarification was pointed out to Deacon Kim in 2012, and a copy of that letter was also given to you.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Kincora: As this murky episode recedes ever further into the past, time is running out to shine a light on it

BY LIAM CLARKE – 06 AUGUST 2014

Kincora is one of those scandals that just won’t go away. It has always been surrounded by rumours of high-level abuse rings, prostitution of boys from care homes and a cover-up by the intelligence services.

It is rather like the fantastic rumours that swirled around major public figures like Jimmy Savile and Cyril Smyth.

It is partly the fact these rumours turned out to be true that has reignited interest in Kincora. There is a growing belief that men like Savile and Smyth did not act alone, and that they were part of a network of abusers who were too well connected to be touched.

For years the official line has also been that Kincora was solved.

Three employees who systematically abused boys and youths in the east Belfast home were jailed in 1980.

Since then there have been two official inquiries, which turned up nothing out of the ordinary.

The first, headed by Sir George Terry, the Chief Constable of Sussex, concluded in 1983 that “there is no substance to the allegations that Army intelligence had knowledge of homosexual abuse at Kincora”.

The second inquiry, under Judge William Hughes, was set up just a year later.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Kincora: How three men alerted MI5 officers to home’s dark secret… and still nothing was done to stop the child sex abuse

BY LIAM CLARKE – 06 AUGUST 2014

The Belfast Telegraph can name three people who gave information about child sex abuse in Kincora to British military intelligence only to see any investigation blocked for years by MI5.

Last night Brian Gemmell, a former captain in military intelligence, confirmed that he had passed on information from three men – James Miller, Roy Garland and Jim McCormick – to a senior MI5 officer named Ian Cameron. All three information sources were completely opposed to the abuse and wanted it ended.

Mr Gemmell, an officer in military intelligence at the time, was trying to gain an entrée to Tara, a secretive Protestant paramilitary group headed by William McGrath. Until late 1971 McGrath’s second-in-command in Tara was Mr Garland.

“I had been aware that McGrath was a child abuser since the 1940s,” Mr Garland said.

He first became aware of it when McGrath, a born-again Christian, was carrying out a mission in Faith House. The premises in Belfast’s Orpen Park has now been converted to an old people’s home and has no connection with its role in McGrath’s day.

A second source of information on McGrath was Mr Miller, an Englishman and former soldier who had settled in Northern Ireland.

He worked as a military intelligence and MI5 agent. In 1971 Mr Miller, who is now dead, was infiltrating Tara for the intelligence services and had reported his suspicions to his handlers.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Jacky Jones

Wed, Aug 6, 2014

Following the recent revelations about mother-and-baby homes, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: “It is about the kind of country Ireland was.” I wish he was right.

In 1933 George Bernard Shaw wrote: “It is amazing how the grossest abuses thrive on their reputation for being old, unhappy, far-off things in an age of imaginary progress.”

The concluding observations in Ireland’s fourth report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee show that Ireland is the kind of country that ignored women’s rights in the past and continues to do so in the present.

Sir Nigel Rodley, vice-chairman of the committee, referred to a litany of human rights abuses, including the practice of symphysiotomy, Magdalene laundries, and mother-and-baby homes as “quite a collection” and “there was nothing about accountability in anything we have heard”.

I beg to differ. Women were, and are, held accountable whereas men were, and are, not. Between 1922 and 1987, when the concept of illegitimacy was abolished, 145,073 illegitimate children were born in Ireland.

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GUAM
KUAM

by Jolene Toves

Guam – Today was moving day for Monsignor James Benavente who has been asked to leave his home of 20 years following his removal as rector of the Agana Cathedral.

This past Sunday’s cathedral bulletin – said it all a picture of a church divided and the quote “for the lesser road was chosen”. Today the controversy within the Catholic community continues as Monsignor Benavente was kicked out of the cathedral rectory – a place he called home for two decades.

His supporters and close friends like Jon Jr Calvo were in Hagatna today, helping him move out. He said, “For anybody to be uprooted after 20 years here at the Cathedral Basilica this is home for him it is home for many of the parishioners so to be abruptly removed at this time is very surprising so we wish him the best and we want to assure him that our prayers and support will always be there for him.”

It was two weeks ago Archbishop Anthony Apuron shocked the local Catholic community. He removed Monsignor Benavente from his position as the rector of the Archdiocese of Agana and as director of the Catholic Cemeteries. The archbishop took it another step further shutting down the Cathedral Museum, a project the monsignor oversaw religiously to fruition.

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GUAM
KUAM

by Ken Quintanilla

Guam – In Tumon, local blogger Tim Rohr spoke before island Rotarians. Rohr writes Jungle Watch, a blog that covers issues involving the island’s Catholic community. Even prior to the removal of Monsignor James Benavente Rohr has been highly critical of Archbishop Anthony Apuron for his controversial removal of Father Paul Gofigan last year from the Santa Barbara Church.

Rohr said, “My only hope is that the archbishop for his own health resigns ASAP.”

One Rotarian questioned, “There seems to be a lot of conviction on your part on the archbishop’s part – do you see any amicable meeting or meeting or meeting of the minds or compromise?”, to which Rohr replied, “Absolutely not.” He then reaffirmed his belief that the archbishop needs to resign.

Rohr said that a several Catholics participating in a press conference this morning on the steps of the Cathedral Basilica in Agana to respond to, correct and refute public allegations by the archbishop was just the beginning.

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GUAM
KUAM

[with video]

by Jolene Toves

Guam – “We felt compelled to speak out after the archbishop issued a statement accusing Monsignor James of financial practices that were grave and detrimental to the Archdiocese nothing is further from the truth,” explained Joe Rivera. He was one of several people who participated in a press conference this morning on the steps of the Cathedral Basilica in Agana.

It was held to respond to, correct and refute public allegations by Archbishop Anthony Apuron of financial mismanagement.

Two weeks ago the archbishop suddenly removed Monsignor James Benavente as the rector of the Archdiocese of Agana and the director of the Catholic Cemeteries. He accused him of financial mismanagement. The archbishop in a July 29th and July 31st press release cited a letter from auditors Deloitte & Touche sent in January that determined the accounting practices especially in the catholic cemeteries are “inappropriate”. The firm had been working on audit of the archdiocese finance for over a year.

Even before the January letter from the auditors, however Rivera, Art Ilagan, and Rick Duenas were asked by Monsignor James to help address and implement accounting recommendations by the firm. Rivera during the press conference provided a paper trail of correspondence outlining the corrective actions they’ve been implementing.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

VIDEO: Former BBMR Director Rivera to Archbishop: It’s Never Too Late to Say “I’m Sorry”

Guam – Concerned about what they said are false allegations against Monsignor James Benavente, various community leaders with financial backgrounds held a news conference today to refute claims of financial mismanagement made by Archbishop Anthony Apuron against the Monsignor.

“We felt compelled to speak out after the archbishop released a statement accusing Msgr. James of financial practices that were grave and detrimental to the archdiocese. Nothing is further from the truth,” said former BBMR Director Joseph Rivera.

Various community leaders with strong financial backgrounds gathered in support of Monsignor James Benavente this morning at the steps of the Agana Cathedral to address allegations made by Archbishop Anthony Apuron against the monsignor. Rivera and Art Ilagan, the insurance and banking commissioner and former director of Rev and Tax spoke on the ousted rector’s behalf. They were responding to specific allegations made by the Archbishop in a July 31st statement.

“There were five allegations on there. Of those five allegations, if you’ll note, two of them were already completed and addressed by Deloitte and Touché in their Jan. 8, 201[4] letter that was already printed also. And another two were addressed in documents that were submitted to the archdiocese, to Deacon Dominic Kim by the cemeteries staff in May 21st. So that’s 2 months prior to this letter,” Rivera pointed out.

Rivera noted that the last item was in the process of being corrected and that Archbishop Apuron had even acknowledged this.

“In fact the archbishop himself in a letter dated June 26, 2014, addressed to Msgr. James–a mere 6 weeks ago–that much corrective action had been accomplished. In that letter, the archbishop, based on the recommendtaions of Deloitte & Touche instructed Msgr. James to have the financial statemetns ending June 30, 2014 ready to be submitted by Aug. 15,” he said.

The news conference follows a sequence of startling events since Monsignor Benavente was fired as rector and director of the Catholic Cemeteries. A prayer service was held last week attended by hundreds in support of the monsignor. On Monday the Cathedral Museum that Monsignor Benavente pioneered was closed indefinitely and yesterday he was seen moving out of the rectory.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

Source AAP 6 AUG 2014

Former Catholic priest David Edwin Rapson has had his child sex abuse convictions quashed and been granted bail ahead of fresh trials.

Rapson, 61, was jailed for 13 years in 2013 for rape and sexual assault offences involving eight boys at two Victorian Catholic colleges between the 1970s and 1990.

But he was released on bail on Wednesday after the Victorian Court of Appeal quashed his convictions when the prosecution conceded the charges should not have been dealt with in the one trial.

He will now face fresh trials in the Victorian County Court.

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CANADA
The Telegram

Father Richard Salas is still listed as parish administrator for St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Parish in Gander, but he is no longer ministering to the congregation.

The bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Falls, Most Rev. Robert Anthony Daniels, confirmed for TC Media that Salas is under investigation by the RCMP in Gander.

Daniels said Salas was withdrawn from the public ministry several weeks ago. He declined to comment further on the matter under investigation, directing the media to the RCMP for information.

Sgt. Phil Matthews of the Gander RCMP said he is unable to fully discuss the matter at this time, but confirmed Salas has been under investigation following the RCMP receiving a complaint more than a month ago.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

VIDEO: Monsignor James Benevente Moves Out of Hagatna Cathedral; Reassigned to St. Anthony’s in Tamuning

Guam – Monsignor James Benevente has moved out of the Agana Cathedral and reassigned to the St. Anthony’s Parish in Tamuning. The Monsignor was recently removed as the Director of Guam’s Catholic Cemeteries and Rector of the Hagatna Cathedral Basilica.

After Archbishop Anthony Apuron removed Monsignor James Benevente as the director of Guam’s Catholic cemeteries and Rector of the Agana Parish for what he called “Significant accounting deficiencies in the Catholic cemeteries” Monsignor James has now been physically moved out of the Cathedrals pastoral center.

This morning the Monsignor and some close friends were seen moving boxes and furniture out of the pastoral center. The Monsignor only had this to say: “I just want to thank the people of the archdiocese of Agana and the parishioners of the Cathedral Basilica for their continued support and that’s really the only comment I’d like to say. That’s all I have to say thank you very much. Thank you for your prayers thank you.”

This is the latest in a string of controversial events happening as a result of what some are saying is in fighting within Guam’s Catholic church. Just a few days ago the cathedral’s museum was shut down and Monsignor James was instrumental in establishing the museum

Jon Junior Calvo spoke briefly on behalf of Monsignor James. “I’m here on my personal time and my willingness. Monsignor has been a close family friend of ours and we’re here to support him in this transition time,” said Calvo.

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OKLAHOMA
NewsOK

by Matt Dinger Published: August 5, 2014

A 19-year-old Edmond man accused of committing sex crimes against children while volunteering in Kenya will remain in federal custody for now, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Matthew Lane Durham was charged last month in Oklahoma City federal court with four counts of traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

Tuesday, Durham was charged with additional counts of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places and aggravated sexual abuse.

He was scheduled to be released on $10,000 bail Tuesday afternoon by a judge, but prosecutors appealed the decision.

A second judge issued an order Tuesday halting Durham’s release until the appeal can be heard.

Prosecutors argue that Durham confessed to committing the acts both in writing and on video. He has also repeatedly threatened to burn down the house of a witness, according to the appeal.

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OKLAHOMA
ABC News

OKLAHOMA CITY — Aug 5, 2014

By TIM TALLEY Associated Press

A 19-year-old man is accused of traveling from Oklahoma City to Kenya so he could sexually abuse children at an orphanage there, according to charges in a three-count indictment handed down by a federal grand jury Tuesday.

Prosecutors have alleged that Matthew Lane Durham of Edmond engaged in sex acts with as many as 10 children aged 4 to 10 while volunteering at the Upendo Children’s Home near Nairobi from April to June 2014. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of engaging in illegal sexual conduct in foreign places, aggravated sexual abuse with children and other charges.

The indictment alleges that Durham traveled from Oklahoma City to Kenya in order to engage in illicit sexual conduct with children at Upendo, which specializes in assisting neglected Kenyan children by providing them with food, housing, clothes and academic and religious instruction.

The indictment also accuses Durham of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors under 18 years of age and aggravated sexual abuse of a child under 12.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Bob Troester, said Durham could be asked to enter a plea to the charges as early as Wednesday. Durham’s attorney, Stephen Jones, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

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NEW YORK
The Journal News

A New Square educator accused of sexually abusing a young boy over five years has rejected the prosecution’s offer of state prison time in exchange for a guilty plea.

Moshe Taubenfeld plans to challenge before a jury the felony charge that he sexually abused a New Square boy from age 8 in 2001 until he turned 13 in 2006. Taubenfeld, 55, the father of 20 children, pleaded not guilty July 8 to the charge of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child.

“Our client has indicated he did nothing of that nature,” defense attorney Gerard Damiani said Wednesday.

Damiani said Taubenfeld denied the accusations when the young man asked him about the alleged abuse during a telephone conversation monitored by Ramapo police and the Rockland District Attorney’s Office.

“Apparently there was an effort to get a statement from him some time ago which proved fruitless,” Damiani said. “It resulted in denials.”

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

August 6, 2014 by J-Wire Staff

Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick has been elected president of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria. Social worker Vivien Resofsky has sent him an open letter.

On hearing of your appointment as President of the Rabbincial Council of Victoria I would like to ask the following:

Dear Rabbi Gutnick,

That the RCV implement the same reforms of child sexual abuse prevention as its counterpart the Rabbinical Council of America.

The Rabbinical Council of America’s resolution of July 2013 to reform child abuse prevention and its implementation by US Yeshiva University’s (YU) Centre for the Jewish Future, is a paradigm shift in child sexual abuse prevention in Orthodox Jewish America that puts our top Rabbi’s new pledge of reform behind and at odds with world leaders and its USA counterpart.

In 2010 the Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) followed the Rabbinical Council of America’s direction. Its resolution, Condemning and Combating Child Abuse was identical to its American counterpart. However in the wake of the child sexual abuse crisis at Yeshiva institutions in Melbourne the RCV took a different direction.

The latest American reform that incorporates, “bringing in professionals with experience in this area to train staff and educate the community about preventing sexual abuse,” wrestles control from Rabbis and challenges the way Ultra-Orthodox communities normally operate.

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MINNESOTA
Winona Daily News

Leslie Hittner

Of all the columns that I have written, those that engender the most response and encouragement are the columns that have taken the Catholic Church to task for the hierarchy’s un-Christian acts of self-preservation when it comes to the sexual abuse scandal.

It has been about 13 years since the scandal broke in Boston, and the hierarchy still has not figured out that what everybody is upset about is not the fact that there have been sexual predator priests — which is bad enough in itself — but rather that the Church leadership has repeatedly tried to cover this fact up.

We are upset that predator priests were not reported to legal authorities. We are upset that predator priests were shifted through multiple parishes in multiple dioceses, and that the parishioners in those churches were not made aware of the nature of the “father” who was giving absolution to their children. Lastly, we are upset that the Catholic Church has chosen not to hold accountable those bishops and cardinals who perpetrated this cover-up.

That lack of accountability remains even today. Selfish acts of self-preservation in the leadership of our Catholic Diocese of Winona and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis continues with petty lawsuits being argued in Ramsey County. Similar legal fights are taking place in Catholic dioceses elsewhere. Current bishops who may or may not have participated in the sexual abuse cover-up nevertheless continue to fight the bad fight begun by their forerunners.
Even proposed changes to canon law appear to continue to deal with the church’s image and don’t address civil legal issues or establish measures of accountability for bishops and cardinals who chose to skirt the law — or continue to play that silly game.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

ST. PAUL – Plaintiffs’ attorney Jeffrey Anderson released the names of eight priests from the Diocese of New Ulm who had been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors.

Six of the names had been made public previously through lawsuits, but two — the Rev. John L. Gleason and the Rev. John M. Murphy — had not. Both are deceased.

The other priests are David A. Roney, Francis Markey, Vincent Fitzgerald, William J. Marks, Michael G. Skoblik and Douglas L. Schleisman. Schleisman is the only one believed still alive.

Anderson obtained the names through a deposition taken by his co-counsel, Michael Finnegan, of the Rev. Francis J. Garvey, as part of two lawsuits. Garvey served on the priest personnel board of the diocese and was privy to information about offending priests.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

By Bill Zlatos
Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is sending letters to all the parishes where a Beaver County priest worked, informing them of an allegation of sexual abuse against him.

“The pastor will make the decision whether he wishes to read the letter at Mass and publish the letter in the parish bulletin. Our recommendation is that he does both,” said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the diocese, on Tuesday.

One person made an allegation of sexual abuse dating to the late 1990s against the Rev. John “Jack” Fitzgerald, 66, pastor of Our Lady of Peace Parish in Conway. The diocese placed him on administrative leave while authorities investigate.

Bishop David Zubik wrote a letter about the allegation that was read last weekend at all Masses at Our Lady of Peace. Fitzgerald worked as parochial vicar at seven parishes between the 1970s and 1991. He was assigned to St. Anthony in Bessemer in Lawrence County from 1991 to 1995 and worked as a part-time priest at St. John Neumann in Franklin Park. He also was chaplain of the Air National Guard’s 171st Air Refueling Wing in Moon from 1986 to 2010.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Alleged paedophile David Edwin Rapson to be freed after prosecution bungle

SHANNON DEERY NEWS LIMITED AUGUST 06, 2014

A PRIEST accused of being one of the state’s worst paedophiles could be freed from prison today after serving just 11 months of a 13-year sentence because of a bungle by state prosecutors.

The move is believed to have devastated many of David Edwin Rapson’s alleged victims who fought for more than 25 to bring him to justice.

The former priest was jailed last year after a County Court jury found him guilty of eight counts of indecent assault and five counts of rape of young boys.

But the convictions were today quashed by the Court of Appeal after a concession by the Office of Public Prosecutions that Rapson, 61, should have faced several trials.

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AUSTRALIA
WA Today

August 6, 2014

Adam Cooper
Court reporter for The Age

Former priest David Rapson is to be freed from jail and has had convictions for sexually abusing eight boys at a Catholic boarding school quashed, in a ruling that has devastated men who gave evidence in court against him.

The Office of Public Prosecutions on Wednesday conceded the 13 charges Rapson faced in the County Court last year should not have been heard in the one trial because of differences in the offending that was alleged.

The Court of Appeal said the concession was proper and quashed Rapson’s convictions on five counts of rape and eight of indecent assault, that he be released from custody on bail and that he face a new trial in the County Court.

Rapson, 61, was last year jailed for a minimum 10 years after he was found guilty by a jury of the 13 charges related to the abuse of eight boys at the school between the mid 1970s and 1990.

The latest ruling was a major blow for the eight men who testified in Rapson’s trial, and who might now have to return to the witness stand to have their allegations tested again in court.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Western Daily Press

The Bishop of Gloucester, The Right Reverend Michael Perham was questioned today over allegations of sex abuse dating back more than 30 years.

Days after standing down for “personal reasons”, he was quizzed about allegations he abused a girl under 18 and a woman.

Speculation has been mounting since the Bishop resigned on Friday as the cathedral prepared for a series of First World War centenary services.

Now it has emerged that officers probing historic allegations of indecent assault had arranged to speak to the married, father-of-four on a voluntary basis.

The investigation is being run by the Metropolitan Police Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command.

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