ABUSE TRACKER

FARIBAULT (MN)
Faribault Daily News

October 23, 2014

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is hosting a Mass of healing, reconciliation, and hope at Divine Mercy Catholic Church.

Following mass, there will be an opportunity for private prayer with both priests and trained lay pastoral leaders. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will also be available throughout the evening.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

OCTOBER 25, 2014

Michael McKenna
Reporter
Brisbane

ANGLICAN Bishop Bill Ray has called on Australia’s royal commission into child abuse to hold public hearings and use its special powers to investigate the cover-up of the rape and beatings of young boys at a north Queensland boarding school in the 1960s.

The north Queensland Bishop yesterday said he feared the ­extent of the sexual abuse by former principal Robert Waddington and other clergy at St Barnabas boarding school in Ravenshoe, southwest or Cairns, would remain secret unless the commission investigated.

School files are missing, believed to be have been thrown down a disused mineshaft in 1990.

Bishop Ray’s call comes two days after a church-ordered inquiry found a systematic cover-up by church officials, including the former Archbishop of York, now Lord David Hope, of 1999 and 2003 complaints of Waddington’s abuse in Queensland and Britain. Waddington was principal at Ravenshoe for almost a decade before returning in 1970 to ­England where he rose to become the head of education for the church in Britain and later dean of Manchester.

A joint investigation by The Australian and The Times prompted the British inquiry after revealing the mishandling of the complaints and that at least six boys and a young clergyman were sexually abused and beaten by Waddington.

Bishop Ray said he had referred the case to the royal commission after last year’s newspaper investigation but now believed it should go to a hearing.

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

MALTA
Times of Malta

A court has ordered the continuation of a civil claim for compensation filed by 10 clerical abuse victims after it turned down the former priests’ request for them to contest the case.

The priests had failed to reply to the civil case within the stipulated timeframe so technically, they were prohibited from contesting the case.

In August 2011, Godwin Scerri, 78, and Charles Pulis, 69, were respectively sentenced to five and six years’ imprisonment for sexually abusing boys in their care at St Joseph Home, in Santa Venera more than two decades ago.

Mr Pulis was defrocked during the proceedings while Mr Scerri’s defrocking followed the court judgment, which was confirmed on appeal a month later.

Lawrence Grech, Joseph Magro, Leonard Camilleri, David Cassar, Noel Dimech, Angelo Spiteri, Raymond Azzopardi, Charles Falzon, Phillip Cauchi and Joseph Mangion filed a civil case in the First Hall of the Civil Court, calling on the court to liquidate the damages they suffered.

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

UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Rhymes with Religion

Boz Tchividjian | Oct 23, 2014

Since beginning this blog almost ten months ago, I have posted a couple interviews with individuals I believe are heroes for their commitment and service to shining light into the dark places as they serve children and survivors of sexual abuse. I am amazed and immeasurably blessed at these quiet champions and think it is critical that they be introduced to the wider world. In an effort to facilitate this introduction, I have decided to start a monthly interview feature entitled, ‘Heroes in our Midst’. – Boz

Two years ago, I was privileged to meet a man who is giving his life to serving a large population of sexual abuse survivors who have been kept in silence for generations. Chris Anderson is the executive director of MaleSurvivor, an organization that serves male survivors of sexual trauma and their loved ones. This first of a two part interview with Chris will address the challenges faced by male sexual abuse survivors and the work of MaleSurvivor. Part two of the interview, which will be posted next week, will focus on the unique struggles that male survivors of sexual abuse face within faith communities and how those communities can actually be a resource for authentic hope and healing.

Boz: Tell us a little bit about MaleSurvivor? What is it and when did it start?

Chris: MaleSurvivor was founded in 1994 by a group of social workers, clinicians, and other interested professionals who recognized the lack of any formal organizations working to raise awareness and address the unique needs of male victims of sexual abuse. Nationwide, approximately 25% of men – 1 in 4 will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime.

In our 20 years we have grown into a unique non-profit that brings together professionals across disciplines and survivors to build “communities of hope, healing, and support.” From the very beginning MaleSurvivor has worked to tear down barriers that keep male victims silent and ashamed. We helped establish one of the first, and currently the largest, online discussion board for male survivors and their loved ones. In 2001, MaleSurvivor held it’s first “Weekend of Recovery” – a unique experiential retreat that brings together a small group of male survivors with a trained, compassionate, and experienced group of mental health professionals for a powerful healing experience. Since that time MaleSurvivor has run over 60 retreats in locations all over North America and we have had over 1000 men attend a Weekend. Lastly, we continue to work to build relationships with professionals around the world to train others in how to better engage with and support male survivors of any form of sexual abuse.

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

LOUISIANA
The News Star

Barbara Leader, The News-Star October 24, 2014

A former pastor at St. Paschal’s Catholic Church in West Monroe has been identified by as a credibly accused child molester.

According to a news release by SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Father Charles Potocki was named Thursday by the St Paul’s Archdiocese and a legal firm as being one of our priests having “substantiated claims against them of sexually abusing a minor.”

Potocki also reportedly worked in Minnesota and Nebraska.

According to a news release issued Friday, Catholic officials claim they don’t know when Potocki was at St. Paschal’s.

SNAP is calling on anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Father Potocki, or any cleric, “to speak up, get help, expose wrongdoers, protectors others and start healing.”

Potocki was a religious order priest from the Order of Friar Minor and assigned to the Shreveport diocese.

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

TOWSON (MD)
Jewish Times

October 23, 2014
BY MARC SHAPIRO

A Towson University senior who is taking a class Rabbi Barry Freundel taught prior to his arrest said she and “a couple of other girls” were invited to tour his synagogue.

“I had never planned on doing the mikvah, but going to the synagogue sounded like a cool experience,” Karen Berry, who is a student in the “Judeo-Christian Perspectives in Medical Ethics” class, said Thursday afternoon outside the classroom.

Freundel was arrested on Oct. 14 for allegedly setting up a hidden camera disguised as a clock radio in the National Capital Mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath next door to his Washington, D.C., synagogue, Kesher Israel Congregation, in Georgetown. He is charged with six counts of voyeurism, to which he has pleaded not guilty. He is suspended without pay from his synagogue and suspended from all faculty responsibilities at Towson.

On Wednesday, the university began its own investigation into whether or not Freundel violated Title IX guidelines that pertain to sexual misconduct, university spokesman Ray Feldmann said. His office in the university’s liberal arts building was searched by police the previous day

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

WASHINGTON (DC)
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Nathan Guttman
Published October 24, 2014

There is no playbook guiding Modern Orthodox congregations on what to do when their rabbi is accused of abusing congregants and of violating their privacy at the most holy and intimate of moments.

But when the venerable Washington congregation Kesher Israel got the news on October 14 that its spiritual leader of more than 26 years had been arrested on just such charges, its members didn’t hesitate: First, the board voted unanimously to suspend Rabbi Barry Freundel. Then, the very next night, its members gathered to dance in the street, as Jewish tradition demands, to celebrate their completion of the yearly cycle of reading the Torah.

“We will celebrate, dance, sing,” said Kesher’s president, Elanit Jakabovics, as she urged congregants to fulfill the calling to be joyous on Simchat Torah.

None of this was meant to mask or paper over the sense of utter shock that swept across the pews at the small but prominent synagogue in the upscale Washington neighborhood of Georgetown during the long holiday weekend of which Simchat Torah was a part. Freundel, according to the charges connected to his arrest, had used a hidden camera in the synagogue’s mikveh, or ritual bath, to record videos of female congregants and other women as they disrobed to submerge themselves in its waters.

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

ITALY
The Local

The Vatican has launched an investigation into a diocese in north-west Italy following a series of scandals by “playboy priests”, including one being convicted for sexual abuse and another posting naked photos of himself on Facebook.

Pope Francis has ordered a Catholic Church representative to help bishop Mario Oliveri bring his priests into line, Il Messaggero reported.

During his 25-year-old reign over the diocese of Albenga-Imperia, Oliveri has allegedly turned a blind eye to the actions of priests under his direction.

They include Luciano Massaferro, who was sentenced to seven years and eight months for sexual abuse, and Gabriel Viorel Irla, a priest who allegedly posed naked on Facebook. Another priest – Alfonso Maria Parente – reportedly stole money from a Catholic church.

Other priests have raised eyebrows for working in bars at night and having tattoos, Il Messaggero said.

The Vatican’s decision to intervene follows a visit to the diocese by envoy Adriano Bernardini, after a local woman, Luisia Bonello, sent a dossier to the Pope detailing the scandals. Bonello committed suicide last month and an investigation is currently underway into her death.

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

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated on 24 October 2014)

In late 2014, a New South Wales magistrate is conducting the next steps in the court case of a former Catholic priest (from Moree and Armidale in northern NSW). The priest, whose name (for legal reasons) cannot be published at this stage, has already pleaded “Guilty” to 45 child-sex charges. Now, in the Armidale Local Court, the magistrate has begun preliminary proceedings (a “committal hearing”) to determine how the court system will handle 31 other charges, to which the ex-priest is pleading “Not Guilty”. There are multiple steps in this complex process, and the final steps may not be completed until 2015.

The ex-priest (who turned 61 years of age in mid-2014) allegedly committed the offences in the 1970s and 1980s while he was living in Armidale and Moree.

So far, each step in the process has been conducted by a magistrate in the Armidale Local Court but eventually all the charges will be passed on to a judge in a higher court, the New South Wales District Court.

The 45 charges to which the ex-priest has pleaded “Guilty” involved offences committed against five boys and three girls. For these charges, the District Court will merely need to conduct a sentencing.

The 31 other charges, which the ex-priest is contesting with his “Not Guilty” plea, are a more complex process and these contested charges are a reason why the court has placed a non-publication order on the priest’s name at this stage. After the magistrate finishes the committal hearing, these 31 contested charges would proceed to the NSW District Court, where the ex-priest would have the opportunity to confirm (or otherwise) his “Not Guilty” plea. If a jury is needed, the judge will preside over the jury hearings.

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

RUSSIA
Voices from Russia

Dear Metropolitan Tikhon,

We are members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims.

It recently came to our attention that the Archdiocese of Canada has continued to pay Archbishop Seraphim Storheim a salary, despite the fact that his retirement was announced by the synod of bishops on 3 April 2014.

http://archdiocese.ca/content/2014-may-23-24-ottawa-minutes-and-reports

(Page 6)

The material linked above clearly indicates that the archbishop is no longer an employee of the archdiocese. It seems apparent to us that these monies are simply a clandestine way to use Church resources to help pay for Archbishop Seraphim’s attorneys.

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

MALTA
Malta Today

Daniel Mizzi 24 October 2014

The First Hall Civil Court has ordered the continuation of a compensation claim filed by 10 sexual abuse victims after it rejected the request of two defrocked priest for them to contest the case.

The case goes back to August 2011, when two priests of the St Paul’s Missionary Society, Godwin Scerri, 78, and Carmelo Pulis, 69, were defrocked and jailed for five and six years respectively after they had been convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys in their care at St Joseph’s Home in Santa Venera in the 1980s.

Following the priest’s imprisonment, the ten victims, led by Lawrence Grech – the man who broke the silence on this case – called for financial compensation, but did not specify the amount.

The compensation claim was filed by Lawrence Grech, Joseph Magro, Leonard Camilleri, David Cassar, Noel Dimech, Angelo Spiteri, Raymond Azzopardi, Charles Falzon, Phillip Cauchi and Joseph Mangion against the Curia, the government, the Attorney General, Carmel Pulis, Godwin Scerri, the Archbishop and the St Paul’s Missionary Society.

Contesting the compensation claim, the priests argued that they did not respond within the stipulated 20-day timeframe due to several reasons since the assistant superior general of the Society left them with the impression that “everything would be handled.” Consequently, it argued that it should nevertheless be given the opportunity to contest the claims.

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

NEW YORK
Times of Israel

Manny Waks

It is heartbreaking that yet another victim of child sexual abuse within the Jewish community has suffered a tragic premature death. Last weekend, 34-year old Joey Diangello (formerly Yoel Deutsch) from New York died of a drug overdose. It is somewhat irrelevant if the overdose was intentional or not, as some have been debating on blogs and social media. We will probably never know definitively. What we do know is that Joey was sexually abused within his former Hasidic community. “I think when that person raped me, he murdered my Jewish soul,” Joey told PIX11 Investigates in early 2009, when he courageously went public with his story, describing how he was raped in a Mikvah (Jewish ritual bath-house) as a child. Joey became a victim advocate and featured in numerous media articles.

It is reasonable to connect Joey’s untimely death with his abuse as a child. Statistics show that drug use among victims of child sexual abuse is higher than in the general population. Moreover, suicide was apparently on Joey’s mind, as noted in his recent Jewish New Year message to Rabbi Eisenman.

So here we have what may be described as akin to the murder of an innocent man – whose Jewish soul had already been murdered – yet the Jewish world maintains its relative silence. At the time of writing, not a single mainstream Jewish media outlet has covered this story. Moreover, I have not seen a single prominent Jewish community leader – rabbinic or otherwise – speaking out about this tragedy. The only ones who have spoken out are victims/survivors of child sexual abuse, victim advocates and those who were connected to Joey in some way. Of course some individual community members have also spoken out.

A disturbing story that has been the focus of the Jewish world and media this past week has been the allegations regarding Rabbi Barry Freundel. It is most appropriate to compare the lack of reactions to Joey’s death, as noted above, to the reactions regarding Rabbi Freundel. In the latter case, so many rabbis, community leaders and members have shared their opinion and generally expressed their disgust. And the media – both Jewish and mainstream – has provided this case significant coverage. The vast majority of those that have spoken out have very little, if anything, to do with the actual case. The most common point of connection is that Rabbi Freundel is a prominent Orthodox rabbi who is alleged to have been filming women using his Synagogue’s ritual bath. Of course those victimised by his alleged actions deserve our full support and compassion. Moreover, it is appropriate for rabbis, community leaders and members globally to condemn Rabbi Freundel’s alleged abuse, as is currently happening. Indeed, I applaud the ground-breaking changes that have ensued – impressively, within a week of these allegations surfacing.

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

WASHINGTON (DC)
National Catholic Reporter

Maureen Fiedler
Oct. 23, 2014

It was a cool, rainy night Wednesday at Augustana Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C. But the drizzly weather did not keep more than 150 people from coming out to hear Fr. Tony Flannery, a priest from Ireland who has been ordered by the Vatican to sign a statement of orthodoxy and to remain silent. But Flannery — unlike many theologians before him — did not sign and won’t keep quiet. In fact, this was the first stop in an 18-city speaking tour of the United States, sponsored by a coalition of U.S. church reform groups.

The evening began when the Rev. John Kidd, the Lutheran pastor, welcomed this congregation of “modern Catholic reformers” to his church and offered quotations from Martin Luther on the significance of conscience. Both he and Flannery were grinning from ear to ear.

I interviewed Flannery the day before for “Interfaith Voices” and found him an absolutely delightful human being who has been deeply hurt by his treatment at the hand of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican. He explained that they condemned him and his views without even a conversation with him. They communicated only with the leadership of his Redemptorist order. He had no opportunity to dialogue or answer the charges against him.

“Any institution which acts against human rights and human dignity has lost its legitimacy,” he said.

His reforming views include many that are held by majorities of Catholics today: welcoming LGBT people into church life and treating them with dignity, choice in the use of contraception, and the ordination of women. (Although he sounds like many feminist theologians I know who don’t think women should become part of the current “system.”) He believes that the role of women is the “elephant in the church,” the obvious issue that cries out for change.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Victims’ anger as Clegg backs boss of abuse inquiry: Deputy PM says he has ‘not heard anything’ to suggest she is wrong choice for the role

By Sam Greenhill and Jack Doyle for the Daily Mail

Nick Clegg was condemned by sex assault victims yesterday for giving his support to the under-fire chairman of the Government’s child abuse inquiry.

The deputy prime minister offered his backing to Fiona Woolf, who faces mounting pressure to quit over her friendship with Lord Brittan, a possible key witness at the inquiry.

Mr Clegg said he had ‘not heard anything’ suggesting she was the wrong choice for the role.

But survivors of abuse, including one of his old schoolfriends, accused him of being on ‘a different planet’. Ian McFadyen, who was subjected to violent sexual assaults by two male teachers at Caldicott School in the 1970s, when he was in the same year group as the future Liberal Democrat leader, is spearheading the drive to have Mrs Woolf removed as inquiry chairman.

After the deputy prime minister backed Mrs Woolf, Mr McFadyen wrote on Twitter: ‘I’m sorry Mr Clegg, do we live on a different planet?’ Mr McFadyen is behind a High Court challenge demanding a judicial review of Mrs Woolf’s appointment.

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

MARYLAND
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: October 23, 2014

WASHINGTON — Towson University has launched an internal investigation into whether it complied with federal sex discrimination laws after learning a rabbi who teaches there invited students to take ritual baths at his District of Columbia synagogue.

The school also began more aggressive efforts to find current and former students of 62-year-old Barry Freundel, who has been charged with six counts of voyeurism after police found a clock radio with a hidden camera in the shower area of a ritual bath at the Kesher Israel Congregation in Georgetown. Police say at least six women were taped changing clothes, and that Freundel was captured on tape setting up the recording device.

Police have not said whether any of the recordings show Towson students, and school spokesman Ray Feldmann said the university will not publicly reveal if any had come forward.

Freundel’s attorney, Jeffrey Harris, declined to comment on specifics of the allegations Thursday.

“He’s pleaded not guilty and we stand by that plea,” Harris told The Associated Press. “That says it all.”

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

ITALY
Nigerian Bulletin

Catholic Church to Investigate Italian Priests For Posting Nude Pictures Online,Stealing Offering

The Catholic Church is set to investigate priests in the diocese of Albenga-Imperia in Italy for allegedly posting nude pictures online, stealing church money and sexually harassing worshipers.

A scandal-ridden Catholic diocese in Italy where priests posted naked photos of themselves on gay websites, raided church coffers and sexually harassed parishioners is to be investigated by a special envoy to Pope Francis. The Pope reportedly intends to send an “apostolic administrator” to assess allegations that the diocese of Albenga-Imperia, in the Liguria region of northern Italy, has hosted a string of “playboy priests” moon-lighting as barmen, stealing parish funds and getting tattooed.

Described by one Italian newspaper as “the most gossiped about diocese in Italy”, it has been run for the last 25 years by Bishop Mario Oliveri, 70. He is expected to be replaced in the near future by an auxiliary bishop, according to Il Secolo XIX, the region’s main newspaper. Pope Francis has already sent Adriano Bernardini, an apostolic nuncio, or ambassador, to conduct a preliminary investigation into the scandals thay have allegedly unfolded under Bishop Oliveri’s watch.

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

ITALY
Daily Mail (UK)

Pervert priests who posed nude for gay websites, sexually harassed parishioners and stealing Communion cash in Italy are set to be investigated by the Pope

Pope Francis has ordered a secret sex inquiry into an Italian bishop who has presided over a diocese of ‘playboy priests’, it has been reported.

An independent investigator has been called in to the Albenga-Imperia diocese in northern Italy, which has been rocked by scandal after scandal.

Priests have variously been caught naked pictures of themselves on Facebook, having affairs with parishioners and moonlighting as barmen.

Others, more seriously, have been investigated or convicted for child abuse.

Pope Francis has sent an apostolic visitor to assess the capability of Bishop Mario Oliveri, who has been in charge for 25 years.

The decision follows a primary investigation by a papal Nuncio sent in after Francis was warned about the wayward diocese, La Repubblica reported.

The bishop is accused of having welcomed aspiring priests into the seminary without discernment, including former models, reality stars, priests with tattoos, bodybuilders and trainees who had been expelled from the seminary, generated a body of ‘weak’ priests, the newspaper reported.

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

ITALY
Irish Independent

Pope Francis has launched an investigation into a Catholic diocese in Italy where priests have posted naked photos of themselves on gay websites, stolen money from church coffers and sexually harassed parishioners, according to Italian media.

The Pope has despatched a special envoy to the Albenga-Imperia diocese, in northern Italy, which has hosted a string of “playboy priests” moon-lighting as barmen, stealing parish funds and getting tattooed.

Led by Bishop Mario Oliveri (70), Albenga-Imperia has been described as “most gossiped about diocese in Italy”. While the bishop is not accused of any wrong-doing himself, the recruitment standards have been strongly criticised – with priests with very chequered pasts appearing in the diocese.

Some of the scandals which have enveloped the diocese include a priest who was found guilty of running an under-age prostitution ring and others who posted nude photos of themselves on Facebook and gay websites.

Other priests associated with the diocese have been accused of openly having gay relationships, stealing Communion money and sexually harassing mass-goers.

The scandals hit the headlines in Italy last month after Luisa Bonello, a doctor who lives in the diocese, committed suicide. She had written to the Pope last February to express her horror at what was going on in the diocese.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

OCTOBER 24, 2014

Michael McKenna
Reporter
Brisbane

THE head of Australia’s Anglican Church has acknowledged the “cover-up’’ of child sexual abuse in Queensland and Britain as it emerged a pedophile clergyman was still allowed access to choirboys after the first complaints were made to church officials.

Primate of Australia, Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier yesterday said he was profoundly disappointed with handling of allegations of horrific sexual abuse of boys by former Queensland headmaster, and later Dean of Manchester Robert Waddington over several decades.

A church-ordered inquiry in Britain this week found a “systemic failure” of church officials, led by the former Archbishop of York, now Lord David Hope of Thornes, in handling allegations against Waddington, made in 1999, 2003 and 2004.

The 164-page report by British judge Sally Cahill, following a year-long inquiry prompted by a joint investigation by The Australian and The Times, has sparked a proposed overhaul of child protection measures within the Church of England.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times

by Madeleine Davies

Posted: 24 Oct 2014

IN JULY 2008, a 26-year-old woman complained to the Dean of Jersey, the Very Revd Robert Key, that she had been subject to abusive behaviour by a churchwarden. Five years later, an investigation into his handling of her complaint resulted in his suspension by the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Tim Dakin. This led to claims of “constitutional crisis” in Jersey, and, eventually, transfer of episcopal oversight for the island to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The facts of the case have been subject to extensive scrutiny and dispute. Both the Dean, reinstated in April last year, and the woman have criticised that first investigation, carried out by a psychotherapist, Jan Korris. In 2013, Bishop Dakin commissioned two more reviews of the situation. The results of neither have been published after concerns about confidentiality and legality.

What is agreed is that, three months after the 26-year-old arrived at a church in Jersey, a churchwarden and his wife invited her to stay in their home.

“We took risks in our relationship with [the woman] but thought we were doing so under God’s calling,” he later told the Dean.

According to the Korris report, within a few months, the woman had moved out and reported “unwelcome and potentially abusive behaviour” to the Dean. Over the course of the next three years, she also made complaints against the Dean, the safeguarding officer, and others, and was eventually arrested for breaking a harassment order and deported from the island for three years. She has since written a number of blog posts expressing her rage and hurt about what she says was violation at the hands of the Church.

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

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee can proceed with its efforts to throw out 11 sex abuse claims filed in its ongoing bankruptcy, a judge ruled this week.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley on Wednesday refused to stay motions filed by the archdiocese arguing for the dismissal of those claims, over the objections of victims’ attorneys.

Jeffrey Anderson, whose firm represents most of the 575 who have filed sex abuse claims in the case, pleaded with Kelley to stay the motions, saying the archdiocese’s efforts to “pick off” survivors exacts an emotional toll. Kelley rejected that, saying she is sympathetic to the pain of victims but also is required to apply the law in the bankruptcy case.

“I am sensitive — and you know that I am, attorney Anderson — to the plight of the survivors…. But at this point, I have to apply the law,” she said.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2011 to address its mounting sex abuse claims.

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

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Caroline O’Doherty

Religious orders are still failing to respond adequately to victims of clerical child sex abuse, the latest tranche of monitoring reports reveals.

While practices have improved in terms of acting quickly on allegations of abuse and alerting the gardaí and health authorities, orders are subsequently running scared of complainants and cutting themselves off from contact with them.

“They miss that human bit,” said Teresa Devlin, chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) which yesterday published reviews of safeguarding practice in 18 orders and congregations.

“After they have notified the civil authorities, they should be writing and inviting those people to come and meet with them. Survivors can get angry and can get upset, but that’s what they have to put up with.”

The latest tranche of reports shows that many orders are still having to actively manage members against whom allegations have been made but where there has either been no criminal investigation — because the complaint relates to a time when the member was working overseas — or no conviction.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah MacDonald
PUBLISHED
24/10/2014

The way religious congregations respond to survivors of clerical sexual abuse needs to improve and become more compassionate and meaningful.

That was one of the key findings of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) in its sixth tranche of safeguarding audits, which were published yesterday.

The reviews cover five male religious congregations and 13 female religious congregations and document 121 allegations against 54 priests and religious brothers or sisters which resulted in just two criminal convictions.

The audits also found that time frames for reporting abuse allegations to the civil authorities up to 2009 was “variable”, but has “improved considerably since the introduction of the Safeguarding Children, Standards and Guidance”.

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

ITALY
Press TV (Iran)

[with video]

The Catholic Church has been hit with another sex scandal as a special envoy to Pope Francis is to investigate an Italian diocese for alleged sexual harassment of parishioners and involvement in pornography.

Pope Francis is set to send the envoy to the northern city of Albenga in the region of Liguria to assess the allegations that the diocese has hosted a group of “playboy priests.”

The priests in the diocese are accused of sexually harassing parishioners, posting naked photos of themselves online and raiding church coffers as well as moonlighting as barmen and stealing parish funds.

In addition, a priest working for the diocese has been found guilty of organizing an underage prostitution ring.

The Albenga diocese has been run for the last 25 years by Bishop Mario Oliveri, aged 70, and has been described by Italian media as “the most gossiped about diocese in Italy.” According to local media, Oliveri is expected to be replaced by an auxiliary bishop.

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

MISSOURI
Webster Kirkwood Times

October 24, 2014
Rev. John J. Ghio, who most recently served at Annunciation Catholic Parish in Webster Groves, has been suspended by the Archdiocese of St. Louis following allegations of sexual abuse.

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson announced Ghio’s suspension this week in a letter to archdiocesan parishes. The abuse was alleged to have occurred in the early 1980s.

Ghio is currently retired from active ministry and resides in a monitored environment, according to the archdiocese. He joined Annunciation Parish as priest in residence in June 2011, and had previously spent time at other St. Louis area parishes.

“I have suspended Father Ghio’s priestly faculties until a canonical process is concluded,” Carlson said in a statement.

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

ITALY
International Business Times

By Mark Hanrahan @markdhanrahanm.hanrahan@ibtimes.com on October 24 2014

Pope Francis is to send a special administrator to take charge of an Italian diocese where priests have been accused of a spate of crimes including theft and sexual abuse. The diocese has been seen as hosting a number of so-called “playboy priests,” who often broke the law.

The appointment of an “apostolic administrator” follows a report on the diocese of Albenga-Imperia in northern Italy by papal envoy Monsignor Adriano Bernardini, according to a report in The Times of London. The paper reports that one priest in the diocese was jailed for four years for running a prostitution ring, while another posted naked photographs of himself on a gay website.

The scandals took place during the tenure of Bishop Mario Oliveri who, while not accused of any wrongdoing personally, is regarded as having recruited a number of priests with checkered personal histories, according to a report from The Telegraph.

When asked by the paper about the scandals, the bishop reportedly said: “I don’t want to talk about it – it’s not the right time.” The Vatican also reportedly said that it would not comment on an ongoing investigation.

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

NEW YORK
Chappaqua Daily Voice

by Tom Auchterlonie

NEW CASTLE, N.Y. — The Legionaries of Christ is suing the Town of New Castle to overturn the loss of its property tax exemption.

In the lawsuit, dated Oct. 14 and filed with the state Supreme Court in White Plains, the Roman Catholic religious organization argues that the use of the property, which is about 97 acres, has not changed.

“To date, Petitioner continues to use the Property for its religious purposes,” the complaint says.

The lawsuit is called a tax certiorari, a type of litigation used for challenging property assessments.

The non-profit organization’s corporate name, which is Legion of Christ, Incorporated, is listed as the plaintiff. The suit claims that the exemption had been granted every year since the organization bought the property in 1994.

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse this week released three research reports that shed light on the history of child protection legislation in Australia, out-of-home care residential institutions and past inquiries that have reviewed these institutions.

Royal Commission CEO Phillip Reed said these historical reports, prepared by Professor Shurlee Swain of the Australian Catholic University, provide a much-needed context for the work of the Royal Commission.

“The Royal Commission was set up to investigate where systems have failed to protect children, and to make recommendations on how to improve them,” Mr Reed said. “This research helps the Royal Commissioners better understand the broader socio-political and legislative contexts within which the cases we are considering have taken place.”

Mr Reed said that as a community we have largely moved away from the institutionalisation of children who cannot live at home and have come to rely more on evidence and best practice to guide our policies in this area.

The reports form part of the comprehensive research program supporting the work of the Royal Commission and to inform its findings and recommendations.

The Royal Commission has commissioned a significant number of research projects across a range of themes including the causes, prevention and responses to institutional child sexual abuse and support for victims and survivors.

You can read the reports via this link: http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/policy-and-research/published-research

About the reports

History of child protection legislation documents the history of child protection legislation in Australia from its establishment in 1860 to today. It reveals the way different jurisdictions structured their child welfare system initially around concerns of vagrancy to establishing systems of inspection and regulation of punishment. It also includes ways in which parents were treated under legislation, from the desire to prevent them from ‘foisting their children on the system’ to keeping families together. It then documents legislation dealing with special groups such as Aboriginal children, child migrants and children with disabilities.

History of Institutions providing out of home residential care for children examines the history of the many different types of institutions providing out-of-home care for children from 1788 to the de-institutional movement of the 1980s. It sheds light on the complex mix of government, church, charitable and community organisations that provided care.

History of Australian inquiries reviewing institutions providing care for children summarises the history of Australian inquiries that have reviewed institutions providing care for children from 1852 to 2013. The inquiries fall into three main categories: those that examined the establishment and refinement of the child welfare system from 1852 to postwar, those that examined child abuse scandals of 1860s to the 1990s, and those that hear survivor testimony from 1990s to now.

For specific stakeholder enquiries please contact stakeholders@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission will hold a public hearing at the Hobart Federal Court from 19 November 2014 at 10:00am AEST.

The public hearing will inquire into the responses by the Hutchins School and the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania to allegations of child sexual abuse at the School.

The scope and purpose of the public hearing is to inquire into:

1. The Hutchins School’s response to allegations of child sexual abuse made against David Ralph Lawrence and Lyndon Alfred Hickman.
2. The role of the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania in respect of the Hutchins School’s response to allegations of child sexual abuse made against David Ralph Lawrence and Lyndon Alfred Hickman.
3. Any related matters.

Any person or institution who believes that they have a direct and substantial interest in the scope and purpose of the public hearing is invited to lodge a written application for leave to appear at the public hearing by 29 October 2014. See the application for leave to appear.

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

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Madeleine Baran St. Paul, Minn. Oct 23, 2014

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has released the names of 17 additional priests accused of sexual abuse, as part of a settlement of a clergy abuse lawsuit.

Four of the names were previously unknown to the public. They include the Revs. Robert Clark, Donald Dummer, Harry Majerus and John Owens.

In a statement, Archbishop John Nienstedt said he released the names as part of a legal settlement reached last week with attorney Jeff Anderson. Nienstedt said the 17 men “have substantiated claims against them of sexually abusing a minor while they were assigned as priests.”

However, the archbishop did not explain why the archdiocese had kept the allegations secret. Nor did he provide information on the alleged sex crimes or when the archdiocese learned of them.

The disclosure also raises questions about the archdiocese’s previous statements that it had already released every name. Nienstedt’s statement does not explain how the archdiocese determined that more priests had “substantiated claims” against them. Nienstedt did not respond to an interview request.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By RICHARD MARSDEN FOR THE DAILY MAIL

A former archbishop who failed to act on alleged crimes of a paedophile priest should be jailed, the abuser’s victims have said.

Lord Hope, the former Archbishop of York, did not act on 19 occasions when allegations of abuse or inappropriate conduct by the priest were raised with him, a scathing report revealed yesterday.

But despite that, Lord Hope remains as an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Bradford.

Eli Ward and Bim Atkinson, who were among seven victims of the Very Reverend Robert Waddington, former Dean of Manchester, said it is ‘incredible’ that the man who did nothing to stop the priest has been allowed to keep his post.

The report by Judge Sally Cahill QC said Lord Hope failed to act because his ‘concern for the welfare of Robert Waddington seems to have been paramount’.

Waddington, who kept an official position in the church until 2005 and died in 2007, targeted young choirboys over several decades. One of the seven victims committed suicide in 1989.

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

MINNESOTA
San Francisco Chronicle

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Archbishop John Nienstedt made a false statement when he testified earlier this year about his knowledge of an abusive priest’s past, according to a report Thursday by Minnesota Public Radio News.

The station reported (http://bit.ly/1wv8TSJ ) that during his April 2 sworn deposition, Nienstedt said he had learned about the prior conviction of the Rev. Gilbert Gustafson “during the last six months.”

But letters obtained by MPR show that one parishioner wrote to Nienstedt about Gustafson in 2008. The parishioner said Gustafson had a criminal conviction and was working as a consultant for Twin Cities parishes.

Nienstedt responded with a letter of his own two weeks later, MPR reported. In it, he told the parishioner he had no control over Gustafson because he was no longer an archdiocesan priest. Nienstedt also referred in the letter to Gustafson as a former priest — which was not true.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has come under fire in the last year for the way it handled allegations of sexual abuse by clergy, prompting some to call for Nienstedt to resign. His statements on Gustafson mark the second time his April testimony has been called into question.

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

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: October 23, 2014

The latest list brings to 55 the number of priests credibly accused of abuse while serving the archdiocese.

The names of 17 more priests identified as child sex abusers were released Thursday, a sign of the new transparency created by the historic clergy abuse settlement announced last week between the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and victims’ advocates.

The priests served in 84 parishes in Minnesota, including 56 in the archdiocese. Nine priests were accused of misconduct while working in the Twin Cities archdiocese, bringing to 55 now its list of “credibly accused” offenders.

For church officials and victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson, the joint release of information illustrates the impact of the settlement, which has both parties working together to release priest names and files.

“This is the first significant disclosure of information that arose from the settlement,” said Anderson. “It’s a very hopeful sign.”

Archbishop John Nienstedt, in a written statement, said he was “profoundly saddened” by the harm the abuse caused the victims and their families.

“Ten of these 17 men are deceased,” he wrote, “but the pain they caused is very much alive.”

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

NORTH DAKOTA
Bismark Tribune

By Andrew Sheeler

The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Bismarck on Thurday named longtime Bismarck priest and disc jockey Father John Owens as one of 17 priests facing allegations of sexual abuse of a minor.

The announcement comes as part of a settlement agreement with the law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates, which represented alleged victims in the case.

The 85-year-old Owens now resides in Forest Lake, Minn., where he lives a life of atonement, according to a prepared statement released by the office of the Bismarck Diocese.

For nearly 40 years, Owens lived and worked in Bismarck, where he served as director of communications for the local diocese and also ran a weekly radio show on KFYR, “Padre’s Platters,” that reached out to area youths and discussed drugs, alcohol, acne, obesity, sex, teenage pregnancy and other problems, according to a Tribune article from June 2, 1982.

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

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Oct. 23

Statement by Barbara Dorris of SNAP (314 503 0003)

Again, Pope Francis says he’s sending an “investigator” into a scandal-ridden diocese. This is not an effective approach.

[Telegraph]

Despite making nice promises on abuse, Francis has yet to defrock, demote, discipline or even clearly denounce a single Catholic employee anywhere for refusing to call police or prosecutors about known or suspected child sex crimes. Not one.

Until he does, he can respond when scandals reach a fever pitch by announcing another small, belated and ineffective internal church “investigation” into one of hundreds of dioceses where priests are accused of committing sexual misdeeds or crimes. But little or nothing will change.

Let’s be honest: this is a late, tepid and almost silly response to a global crisis of sexual crimes and misdeeds by thousands of clerics who are helped by thousands of complicit church colleagues and supervisors. This is like battling Ebola with band-aids. The Pope knows better.

We applaud every single person who has reported wrongdoing in the diocese of Albenga-Imperia. Staying silent helps no one. We hope their courage will inspire others who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by any cleric will find the courage to speak up, get help, expose wrongdoers, protect others and start healing.

The best way to do this, however, is to call secular authorities, not church officials and to keep reporting until someone listens and acts.

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

IRELAND
Aljazeera

Laurence Lee

In recent months there has been a welter of reports about the horror of FGM, or female genital mutilation. The health service in the UK, for instance, is having to deal with thousands of cases, but because FGM is ‘cultural’ politicians don’t appear to be able to do much to wipe it out.

While FGM has become a real cause of concern in the UK – the former foreign secretary William Hague was particularly personally interested in it – nobody ever said a thing about a practice carried out for many, many years in Ireland which is only now being regarded as a similar human rights violation.

It’s called symphysiotomy, or the separation of the pelvis. Put simply, it involves sawing through a woman’s pelvic bone and cartilage during a difficult childbirth to open up the pelvis and enable birth.

It was banned in most places before the 20th century, but in Ireland hundreds and hundreds of women had it done to them, apparently because doctors preferred it to caesarian section. Why? Because c-section limits the number of children a woman can have, and once a woman has been effectively spatchcocked through symphysiotomy the doctors hoped she could have more and more. After all, this is in line with Catholic thinking on family size.

You can see in the attached video what the effects of all this were: women felt butchered, their physical lives and emotional wellbeing wrecked completely by a medical hierarchy which seemed, to campaigners, to insert religious dogma into medical practice. As a violation of a person’s rights, often without their consent, it’s easy to see the comparison with FGM.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Washington Post

Top Anglican calls for lifting seal of confessional in child abuse cases

By Trevor Grundy | Religion News Service October 23

CANTERBURY, England — Anglican priests should no longer be bound by the centuries-old principle of confidentiality in confessions when they are told of sexual crimes committed against children, the Church of England’s No. 2 official said.

Speaking at the end of an internal inquiry on whether senior church officials ignored abuse allegations involving children, Archbishop of York John Sentamu said that “what happened was shameful, terrible, bad, bad, bad.”

He said that the Church of England must break the confidentiality of confession in cases where people disclosed the abuse of children. “If someone tells you a child has been abused, the confession doesn’t seem to me a cloak for hiding that business. How can you hear a confession about somebody abusing a child and the matter must be sealed up and you mustn’t talk about it?”

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

AUSTRALIA
Armidale Express

Armidale’s court drama in the case of a defrocked priest facing historic child sexual abuse charges

By SAMANTHA-JO HARRIS Oct. 24, 2014

THE committal of a defrocked priest has heard one alleged victim of historic child sexual abuse told his mother “he raped me too”.

On Wednesday Armidale Local Court heard how the man, who was in court to be cross-examined, discovered the allegations against the former priest after he heard about it on the radio.

In a statement made to police in early 2013 the man claimed the “mongrel from Moree” had assaulted him when he was an altar boy in the early 1980s.

The complainant, his mother and partner were in court to be cross-examined about their evidence to see if they would give evidence at the trial.

Magistrate Karen Stafford allowed the cross-examination to start, saying there were “inconsistencies in the statements” and the fact the allegations were from a recovered memory.

But the hearing was delayed after the Crown prosecutor Peter Woods was rushed to hospital with chest pain.

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

ITALIA
Il Mattino

ALBENGA – ​ La diocesi di Albenga è stata commissariata da Papa Francesco: era retta da 25 anni da monsignor Mario Oliveri, 70 anni.

La decisione sarebbe stata presa dopo che il Nunzio apostolico Adriano Bernardini ha compiuto una indagine sulla chiesa locale. Era stato inviato lì dal papa dopo che in Vaticano erano arrivate varie segnalazioni su un clero ”disinvolto”.

La notizia non è stata commentata dal vescovo. E la curia ha scelto il silenzio. A monsignor Oliveri viene rimproverato di aver accolto in seminario aspiranti sacerdoti senza aver esaminato con attenzione la reale vocazione dei giovani e questo avrebbe generato preti ”deboli”.

Così la sua diocesi ha dovuto subire vari scandali: sacerdoti condannati o indagati per pedofilia, altri che posano nudi su Facebook, parroci con tatuaggi, sacerdoti che lasciano le parrocchie portando via la ”cassa”, preti che fanno i barman in locali notturni, altri che corteggiano le fedeli.

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

ITALIA
Liguria Notizie

GENOVA. 23 OTT. La diocesi di Albenga, retta da 25 anni da monsignor Mario Oliveri, 70 anni, sarebbe stata commissariata da Papa Francesco.

La decisione sarebbe stata presa dopo che il Nunzio apostolico Adriano Bernardini ha compiuto un’ indagine sulla chiesa locale.

Era stato inviato lì dal Papa dopo che in Vaticano erano arrivate varie segnalazioni su un clero “disinvolto”.

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

ITALIA
Repubblica

dal nostro inviato MASSIMO CALANDRI

ALBENGA – “Liberaci dal male”, mormora monsignor Mario Oliveri dall’altare della cattedrale di San Michele Arcangelo. E sulla fronte gli s’allunga una ruga profonda: dolore, inquietudine. Amen, signor vescovo: ma è proprio vero che con tutti questi preti peccatori, Papa Francesco ha deciso di “commissariare” la sua diocesi? “Non voglio parlarne. Non è il momento”, taglia corto.

Dopo un quarto di secolo da indisturbato padrone di casa, Oliveri tra pochi giorni dovrà condividere il palazzo vescovile di Albenga con un altro prelato. Un “amministratore apostolico” scelto da Bergoglio per aiutarlo a reggere il peso dei troppi scandali delle sue parrocchie: sacerdoti condannati o indagati per pedofilia, altri che in processione corteggiano le fedeli più carine, parroci che posano nudi su Facebook o per siti gay, che svuotano le cassette delle elemosine e se la danno a gambe, che palpeggiano turiste adolescenti sul lungomare.

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

ITALY
Telegraph (UK)

Pope Francis to investigate ‘playboy priests’ who posed naked online in scandal-hit disocese

By Nick Squires, Rome 23 Oct 2014

A scandal-ridden Catholic diocese in Italy where priests posted naked photos of themselves on gay websites, raided church coffers and sexually harassed parishioners is to be investigated by a special envoy to Pope Francis.

The Pope reportedly intends to send an “apostolic administrator” to assess allegations that the diocese of Albenga-Imperia, in the Liguria region of northern Italy, has hosted a string of “playboy priests” moon-lighting as barmen, stealing parish funds and getting tattooed.

Described by one Italian newspaper as “the most gossiped about diocese in Italy”, it has been run for the last 25 years by Bishop Mario Oliveri, 70.

He is expected to be replaced in the near future by an auxiliary bishop, according to Il Secolo XIX, the region’s main newspaper.

Pope Francis has already sent Adriano Bernardini, an apostolic nuncio, or ambassador, to conduct a preliminary investigation into the scandals thay have allegedly unfolded under Bishop Oliveri’s watch

The bishop himself is not accused of any wrongdoing, but is reported to have been overly-charitable in recruiting “black sheep” priests with distinctly chequered pasts, including trainee priests expelled from seminaries for misconduct.

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

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, October 23

Statement by Frank Meuers of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 952-334-5180, frankameuers@gmail.com )

We are glad the names of four newly “outed” predator priests are surfacing today, especially because three of them are likely living among unsuspecting neighbors in Massachusetts, and Arizona and Forest Lake, MN. (Fr. Donald Drummer, Fr. Robert P. Clark and Fr. John Owens, respectively). But police, prosecutors, parishioners, parents and the public need and deserve to know where and when these priests assaulted children. Archbishop Neinstedt must be more forthcoming if kids are to be better protected and victims are to be better supported.

Catholic officials are NOT disclosing when abuse reports were made against these priests. We suspect that in virtually every case, St. Paul church employees sat on this information for years or decades.

Let’s look specifically at the four newly-named priests. With each of them, Twin Cities Catholic officials kept secret about the child sex abuse allegations against them for years. This secrecy continued unabated over the past decade, despite an allegedly binding national US bishops’ abuse policy that supposedly mandates “openness and transparency.”

They hid accusations against Fr. Clark for at least 14 years, against Fr. Owens for at least nine years, and against Fr. Drummer for at least eight years. Among just those three clerics, that’s 31 years of secrecy, recklessness and callousness.

(Fr. Clark was “removed from active ministry on March 26, 2002.” Fr. Owens was quietly ousted in 2005. Ditto with Fr. Drummer in 2006. And we suspect that allegations against Fr. Majerus were first made in 1971, but he stayed on the job until 1987.)

This new information confirms again just how much St. Paul Catholic officials have endangered and continue to endanger kids. In each case, Twin Cities church officials chose to endanger kids and protect predators by making these moves behind the scenes instead of disclosing them in public.

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

IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Thu, Oct 23, 2014

Support for people making allegations of clerical child sexual abuse continues to be inconsistent in some Catholic Church religious congregations, a review published today has found.

“Contact in many instances was not made directlyby the congregation and the opportunity for pastoral support was missed,” it said .

The observation was made by Teresa Devlin, chief executive of the Church’s child protection watchdog, its National Board for Safeguarding Children.

Today it has published 18 reviews of child safeguarding practices involving five five male and 13 female religious congregations. Eight are standard reviews of safeguarding practices against the seven established standards that the Catholic Church in Ireland has agreed to meet.

The congregations fully reviewed included the Vincentian Fathers, the Redemptorists, Sisters of St Louis, Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the Pallottines, St Joseph’s Missionary Society (Mill Hill), The Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers), the Presentation Sisters.

However, because 10 of the congregations are so small and have very limited contact with children, also due to the advanced age of their members and the fact that they face no allegations of sexual abuse in Ireland, these were assessed against a revised framework. “The 10 Congregations demonstrated a strong sense of commitment to working positively with the National Board, in spite of their limited ministries”, Ms Devlin said.

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

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

October 23, 2014 Author: berger

As part of a settlement agreement, Twin Cities Catholic officials released names of 17 priests with “substantiated claims of abuse” against them. Among them: Fr. Edward Beutner who worked at SLU in the 1970s and Fr. James Porter who was at a church treatment center here.

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

IRELAND
RTE News

The Catholic Church child protection watchdog has found that eight religious congregations often failed to contact directly people making child sexual abuse allegations against priests, brothers and nuns and their support for complainants continues to be inconsistent.

In audits of the congregations, the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church also found the time frame for reporting allegations against congregation members to the civil authorities was variable up until 2009.

However, it has improved considerably since the introduction of new church standards.

This latest tranche of audits by the NBSCCC examines the responses of eight religious congregations to allegations of abuse against their members.

The congregations are the Presentation Sisters, the Vincentian Fathers, The Redemptorists, the Sisters of St Louis, the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, The Pallottines, The Mill Hill Fathers and the Missionaries of Africa, also known as the White Fathers.

It said allegations were made against a number of priests ministering abroad by children both in Ireland and in missionary countries.

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

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[with copy of Archbishop Nienstedt’s testimony]

Madeleine Baran St. Paul, Minn. Oct 23, 2014

Archbishop John Nienstedt gave a false statement under oath about his knowledge of a priest’s criminal conviction for sexually assaulting a child, letters obtained by MPR News show.

Nienstedt testified on April 2 that he first learned of the criminal conviction of the Rev. Gilbert Gustafson, an archdiocesan priest, “during the last six months.” He also claimed little knowledge of Gustafson. “I believe that he is retired,” Nienstedt testified. “He’s in our monitoring program, and he’s living on his own.”

That statement surprised Catholic parishioner LaLonne Murphy, who had written to Nienstedt more than six years ago to inform him of Gustafson’s criminal conviction and his ongoing work as a consultant for Twin Cities parishes.

Murphy, who retired last year as director of liturgy and music at St. Edward’s parish in Bloomington, provided MPR News copies of the letters she sent to Nienstedt, as well as the archbishop’s

Nienstedt’s false statement casts doubt on his credibility as he struggles to respond to a clergy sex abuse scandal that has led to calls for his resignation as the leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

This latest revelation marks the second time that Nienstedt’s testimony in that April deposition has been called into question. MPR News reported in August that Nienstedt gave false testimony about his knowledge of a different priest accused of abuse.

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

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 10/23/2014

The Twin Cities archdiocese and the law offices of Jeff Anderson issued a joint statement Thursday disclosing the names of 17 priests with “substantiated” claims against them of sexual abuse of a minor.

The names bring to 55 the priests deemed to have substantiated claims of child sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Ten of the 17 priests have died, “but the pain they caused is very much alive,” Archbishop John Nienstedt said in a written statement. “I am profoundly saddened and sorry for the harm clergy sexual abuse has caused victims and survivors, their families and the community.”

The joint statement comes 10 days after archdiocese officials and Anderson’s office, which represents victims of clergy sex abuse, held a joint news conference at the Landmark Center. They announced settlement of a lawsuit that had disgorged more than 50,000 pages of priest personnel documents going back decades and a new child protection plan.

The disclosures Thursday were part of the Oct. 13 settlement, Anderson said.

Four of the names have never been released to the public before, he said. Those are Robert P. Clark, Donald Dummer, Harry Majerus and John Owens. Dummer and Owens are still alive.

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

MINNESOTA
KAAL

(AP) – The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has released the names of another 17 priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

The release of the names is part of last week’s settlement between the archdiocese and a victim of alleged abuse.

Nine of the priests had claims against them inside the archdiocese; the other eight priests had claims against them elsewhere, but some may have traveled to the archdiocese, had temporary assignments in the archdiocese or lived there as a lay person.

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

MASSACHUSETTS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Oct. 23

Statement by Barbara Dorris of SNAP (314 503 0003)

A Catholic priest who lives in Tewksbury has been “outed” today for the first time as a credibly accused child molester. We call on Massachusetts Catholic officials to warn parents, parishioners and the public about him.

In a joint announcement by a law firm and the St. Paul archdiocese, Fr. Donald Drummer is one of three priests whose names are being disclosed today for the first time as having “substantiated claims against (him) of sexually abusing a minor.” The revelations come as part of a settlement of a clergy sex abuse and cover up lawsuit announced last week (John Doe 1 vs. Fr. Thomas Adamson and the St. Paul archdiocese).

We applaud Doe for insisting that more names of predator priests are disclosed as a result of his courageous litigation.

[St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese]

Let there be no mistake about this new information: it’s being released because victims have filed lawsuits and insist on real safety measures, not just pay offs. It’s not a sign of reform by Catholic officials. It’s a sign that when victims are brave enough to step forward and smart enough to file lawsuits, more truth can be exposed and more kids can be protected.

We hope that anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Fr. Drummer – or any cleric – will find the courage to speak up, get help, expose wrongdoers, protect others and start healing.

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

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

The Names of 17 Priests Accused of Child Sexual Abuse Added to Archdiocese’s List of Abusers

Disclosures part of Doe 1 settlement and child protection action plan

Documents and priest files on all 17 priests soon to follow

(St. Paul, MN) – Today, the names of 17 additional priests who are the subject of substantiated claims of sexual abuse of minors were added to Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis’ disclosure lists posted on its website. In addition, three men whose names were previously identified as having unsubstantiated claims are now added to the substantiated claim disclosure list. This disclosure of names was agreed upon as part of the settlement of the Doe 1 civil lawsuit and is an early step in the child protection action plan announced last week.

At least four of the names* announced today have never been released to the public before. The list of names includes the following priests:
Edward Beutner Ambrose Filbin *Harry Majerus James Porter
*Robert Clark Jerry Foley William Marks Charles Potocki
Eugene Salvatore Corica Ralph Goniea Wendell Mohs Roger Vaughn
*Donald Dummer Reginald Krakovsky Jim Nickel James Vedro
Thomas Erickson Robert Loftus *John Owens Adalbert Woski

“This is a big step forward in an action plan begun and reached as part of an agreement with the Archdiocese,” said attorney Jeff Anderson. “The more that is known about these offenders and their histories, the safer our community becomes. This is just the beginning of a plan for full disclosure.”

Attached is a fact sheet compiled by Jeff Anderson & Associates based on files received in the Doe 1 case, the official Catholic Directories, and independent investigations. Documents and priest files on all 17 priests will be released in the upcoming weeks and will be available at www.andersonadvocates.com.

————————————————-

NEVER BEFORE KNOWN

Robert Clark (deceased)
Donald Dummer, OMI (alive- Tewksbury, MA)
Harry Majerus (deceased)
John Owens (alive- Forest Lake, MN)

NEWLY RELEASED BY THE ARCHDICOESE – ALIVE

Thomas Ericksen, Minneapolis, MN
Jerry Foley, Minneapolis, MN
Wendal Mohs, OSC, Sartel, MN
Roger Vaughn, OSC, New York, NY (previously released but “unsubstantiated”)
James Vedro, OSC, Murrieta, CA

NEWLY RELEASED BY THE ARCHDIOCESE – DECEASED

Edward Beutner
Eugene Salvatore Corica (previously released but “unsubstantiated”)
Ambrose Filbin
Ralph Goniea, OMI
Reginald Krakovsky, TOR
Robert Loftus (previously released but “unsubstantiated”)
William Marks
Jim Nickel
James Porter
Charles Potocki, OFM
James Vedro
Adalbert Wolski, TOR

This information was compiled by Jeff Anderson & Associates based on files received in the Doe 1 case, the official Catholic Directories, and independent investigations.

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

MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Thursday, October 23, 2014
Source: Rita Beatty, Communications Manager

From Archbishop John Nienstedt, Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Today, we join law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates in jointly disclosing the names and assignment histories of 17 men who have substantiated claims against them of sexually abusing a minor while they were assigned as priests. As part of a legal settlement with Jeff Anderson and Associates announced last week, a process was established for the disclosure of additional names of priests who are the subject of substantiated claims of sexual abuse of a minor.

Of these 17 men whose names are disclosed today, nine are the subjects of substantiated claims of abuse of a minor within this archdiocese.

The remaining eight individuals are or were priests of other dioceses or religious orders who have substantiated claims of sexual abuse of a minor outside of this archdiocese. The archdiocese is not aware of any substantiated claim of sexual abuse of a minor asserted against these individuals relating to any conduct that occurred in this archdiocese. Some of these eight individuals held temporary assignments in this archdiocese. In other cases, they may have traveled to the archdiocese, or resided here without ministry faculties or lived here as a lay person.

Most of the reported incidents of abuse related to these 17 men occurred between the mid-1950s and the mid-1980s. All of these men have been permanently removed from ministry in this archdiocese; most of them have been out of ministry here for a decade or more. Ten of these 17 men are deceased, but the pain they caused is very much alive. I am profoundly saddened and sorry for the harm clergy sexual abuse has caused victims and survivors, their families and the community.

In addition, the status has changed for three men whose names were previously disclosed. Both Eugene Corica and Robert Loftus are now moved to the list of men who are subjects of substantiated claims of sexual abuse of a minor within this archdiocese, bringing the total number of names on that list to 55. Roger Vaughn is added to the new list of men who are the subjects of substantiated claims of sexual abuse of a minor outside of this archdiocese. There are a total of nine names on that list. …

DISCLOSED NAMES

Edward Beutner
Robert P. Clark
Donald Dummer
Thomas Ericksen
Ambrose Filbin
Jerry Foley
Ralph Goniea
Reginald Krakovsky
Harry Majerus
William Marks
Wendell Mohs
James Nickel
John Owens
James Porter
Charles Potocki
James Vedro
Adalbert Wolski

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

NORTH DAKOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Oct. 23

Statement by Barbara Dorris of SNAP (314 503 0003)

A Catholic priest from Bismarck has been “outed” today for the first time as a credibly accused child molester. We call on North Dakota Catholic officials to warn parents, parishioners and the public about him and to beg anyone with information or suspicions about him to call law enforcement immediately.

[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis]

In a joint announcement by a law firm and the St. Paul archdiocese, Fr. John Owen is one of three priests whose names are being disclosed today for the first time as having “substantiated claims against (him) of sexually abusing a minor.” The revelations come as part of a settlement of a clergy sex abuse and cover up lawsuit announced last week (John Doe 1 vs. Fr. Thomas Adamson and the St. Paul archdiocese).

More about Fr. Owen is here:

[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis]

We applaud Doe for insisting that more names of predator priests are disclosed as a result of his courageous litigation. And we denounce Bismarck Catholic officials who apparently have kept silent about the accusations against Fr. Owens for almost a decade. (Twin Cities church officials say they “removed his faculties” in 2005. We strongly suspect that even before then they alerted their North Dakota colleagues about these allegations against Fr. Owens.)

We urge Bismarck’s bishop to “come clean,” explain why he and his colleagues have hidden these allegations, and to fire or at least demote every single Catholic employee who endangered kids by keeping quiet about them.

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

UNITED STATES
Second City Torah

October 23, 2014 by Rabbi Ben Greenberg

It has now been more than a week since the revelations occurred in the media of the alleged voyeuristic spying committed by one of the most influential and powerful Modern Orthodox rabbis in America, Rabbi Barry Freundel. If it was not horrible enough that women, most of them in the process of converting to Judaism, were violated in one of the most special and intimate ritual places in Judaism, it is now clear that the problems go back for years. Abuses of a sexual nature are often more about exerting power over someone as much as they are about sexual gratification. Secretly filming women nude at their most vulnerable in a time of their lives during a conversion process when they are particularly vulnerable is about unequivocally declaring, “I have absolute power over you: your soul, who you will marry and when you will marry them and, yes, even your very body.” The violations of rabbinic propriety that surfaced beginning in 2012 (and perhaps earlier) were also abuses of power.

These abuses of power are not unique to Rabbi Freundel or to the Orthodox rabbinate as Rabbi Ruth Abusch Magder pointed out in a blog post on MyJewishLearning.com. They do send a very powerful message though: The time has long come to open up the door for learned women working in clergy roles in the Orthodox community to join all of the Modern Orthodox rabbinic associations. The time has long come to make sure every mikvah has women serving on its board of directors.

Opening up the power structures to women is not because all men have failed, it is because men in conversation only with themselves fail. Men and women together can make better decisions, hold each other accountable and make sure that the needs, concerns and voices of both women and men are respected.

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

IRELAND
RTE News

Catholic Primate of All Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin is to call this afternoon for the development of a new relationship between his church and the media characterised by mutual respect and trust.

In an address to the Radharc television awards ceremony in Dublin, he praised what he calls the “vitally important role” the Irish and global media have played in exposing child sexual abuse inside the Catholic Church.

According to his speaking notes, he also criticised some unidentified commentators, particularly on social media, for failing to objectively question stories, and for publishing instead “their consensus caricature of the Church”.

Archbishop Eamon Martin recalled 35 years of output on RTÉ by what he called the “radical” Catholic television documentary unit of the same name on a wide spectrum of contemporary issues from ethics at home to liberation theology abroad.

He called for the development of a new relationship between his church and the media characterised by mutual respect and trust and not based on fawning or deferential attitudes.

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

IRELAND
The Journal

CATHOLIC ORDERS ARE getting better at reporting child abuse allegations.

That is according to the latest child welfare reports from the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.

The reports cover five male and 18 female female religious congregations.

The reports show that between variable times in the 70s and 2009, there were 121 allegations of abuse against 54 members of the orders. Of these, two brothers from the Missionaries of Africa were convicted. The complaints came from children in Ireland and abroad.

However, despite the improvement, the board’s CEO Teresa Devlin says the responses to complaints are “inconsistent”.

“However, support for complainants continues to be inconsistent. Contact in many instances was not made directly by the congregation and the opportunity for pastoral support was missed. This however is an improving picture and the reviewers highlighted instances of compassionate meaningful responses to survivors.”

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

ISRAEL
Haaretz

By Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie | Oct. 23, 2014

Wherever you look right now in the Jewish press, you find distressing stories about conversion to Judaism – and about the ugly politics of the conversion process.

Conversion should be moving and sublime, demanding but profoundly meaningful, and reflective of Judaism’s broadly inclusive values. Sadly, what we see in the media in the last few weeks is how human weakness and political opportunism have caused pain and suffering to candidates for conversion in America and turned conversion in Israel into a political football. Whatever else happens, this much is certain: Sacred values have been trampled.

The “voyeur case,” as it’s been called in the press, involves Rabbi Barry Freundel, a Washington, D.C. rabbi accused of videotaping women candidates for conversion while they were naked in the mikveh (ritual bath). The Jewish world has responded to these accusations with outrage and revulsion. But since Rabbi Freundel denies the charges and nothing as yet has been proven, full consideration of the matter will have to wait.

For now, it can simply be noted that in some ways the case is not about conversion at all; it is about rabbinic misconduct and exploitation of religious authority, of the sort that can happen in a variety of settings and by clergy of all movements and all faiths. At the same time, it does raise questions about the problems of conversion in the American Orthodox world, which in recent years has adapted its procedures, usually not for the better, to accommodate the demands of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. At a later point, these matters will need to be discussed.

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

TOWSON (MD)
WTOP

By Nick Iannelli

TOWSON, Md. — Students of a disgraced rabbi are back in class, stunned and saddened to hear about allegations against their former teacher.

Barry Freundel was arrested last week and charged with voyeurism.

According to police, Freundel used a hidden camera to film women as they undressed, preparing for a ritual bath at Freundel’s synagogue in Georgetown.

“It’s just very surreal,” explains Jonathan Munshaw, one of Freundel’s students.

Freundel was a respected, longtime teacher at Towson University.

The school has now replaced him with a new teacher who asked students to share their feelings when they went back to the classroom for the first time Tuesday.

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

ROME
Reuters

By James Martin October 23, 2014

If you told me a few years ago that a synod of bishops would make the front page of almost every newspaper, be featured prominently on almost every news website, and be the topic of heated conversation among Catholics worldwide, I would have said that you were — to use a theological term — crazy.

The interest generated by the Synod of Bishops on the Family, the two-week meeting of bishops, priests and lay people that concluded last weekend at the Vatican, surprised even veteran Vaticanologists. In recent years, synods did not garner much enthusiasm, to put it mildly. One reason for the renewed interest this year was Pope Francis’s urging participants to be as open as possible. And they were. Not only to one another, but also in the daily media briefings, which brought their candor before the general public.

The document that received the most attention was the relatio, or report, issued midway through the two-week session. (The Synod of Bishops on the Family, incidentally, is a two-year event. This session was the first. In other words, that first relatio was midway through midway.) The first relatio was characterized by a warm pastoral outreach to divorce and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples, as well as to gays and lesbians, the last of which were included under the subject line “Welcoming Homosexual Persons.”

The synod’s final relatio, however, proved a less controversial publication, reflecting the variety of viewpoints that exist among the Catholic bishops. Nevertheless, there was still a great deal of confusion over the final document, particularly regarding what it did or did not do. So let’s address those two questions.

WHAT DID THE SYNOD DO?

1. Fostered openness

The synod seems to have ushered in an era of openness in the Vatican. In the past, the results of synods were sometimes seen to be foregone conclusions. Why? Some bishops, for a variety of reasons, may not have felt as comfortable discussing controversial topics, or may have concluded that a pope might not want certain topics raised. That was not the case this month. Bishops were vocal, disagreeing with one another politely but vigorously, a consequence of the pope’s encouragement to be open. “Speak clearly,” he said at the synod’s opening. “Don’t tell anyone, ‘You can’t say that.’”

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

OHIO
WLWT

CINCINNATI —Four freshman football players are gone from their team after questionable locker room behavior and a police investigation.

Archdiocese of Cincinnati spokesman Dan Andriacco told WLWT News 5 Wednesday night that Cincinnati police were investigating after receiving reports of alleged inappropriate behavior at McNicholas High School.

Andriacco would not say specifically what happened in the locker room, but that the four teens were suspended from school for five days and kicked off the freshmen football team.

He also said that the school had notified Cincinnati police, who have started their own investigation into the incident.

So far, no charges have been filed.

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

OHIO
Local 12

[with video]

Updated: Thursday, October 23 2014

CINCINNATI (WKRC) — The Archdiocese of Cincinnati says they are investigating an incident involving four teens at McNicholas High School for “inappropriate behavior.”

The four freshman football players were suspended from the school for five days and are no longer with the team.

The teens are scheduled to return to school Thursday.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Examiner

Oct 23, 2014 11:18 By Martin Shaw

A group of men who claimed they were sexually abused as boys in a Catholic college in Mirfield in the 1960s and 1970s have settled out of court.

The 11 men were training to be priests at the Mirfield Junior Seminary run by the Verona Fathers, an Italian missionary order.

The boys claim they were subjected to a catalogue of abuse by several priests running the boarding school.

Now it has been revealed, all 11 men have accepted payments totalling £120,000. The settlements paid by the order, now known as the Comboni Missionaries, have been made without any admission of liability.

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

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By Sam Rigney Oct. 23, 2014

HUNTER activist and abuse victim Peter Gogarty said he hopes his new book will provide understanding and hope for victims of child sexual abuse.

Mr Gogarty – a victim of Hunter paedophile priest Jim Fletcher – launched his book ‘‘Judas Church – Memoir of a Shy Young Fellow’’ at Maitland Gaol on Thursday night.

‘‘I was nine years old when I met newly ordained Catholic Priest Father James Patrick Fletcher,’’ Gogarty says.

‘‘Before I turned 18 I told him I would kill him if he ever touched me again.

‘‘Twenty-five years later, driving home from work, I heard that he had been arrested on multiple child abuse charges.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Spectator

Damian Thompson

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales are to hold an inquiry into the case of the Rt Rev Kieran Conry, he of the two (or is it three?) girlfriends, who resigned as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton when he had a crisis of conscience caused by the tabloids knocking on his door.

Displaying their celebrated transparency, the bishops have decided to keep the name of the ‘chair’ of the inquiry secret. The committee will focus on whether Conry breached guidelines on ‘vulnerable adults’. I very much doubt whether it will ask why Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor persuaded Rome to make his protégé a bishop when his relationship with a woman was already common knowledge. Conry was ‘one of us’, you see: a member of the Magic Circle of ambitious liberals (life president, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor; honorary press officer, Doctor A. Ivereigh) who had various nuncios wrapped round their little fingers.

Meanwhile, what about Catholics who are not ‘one of us’? You can’t get further from the Magic Circle than the parishioners of Our Lady of the Rosary, in Blackfen, Kent. The previous parish priest, Fr Tim Finigan, is a traditionalist who celebrated the Tridentine Latin Mass on Sundays – but also the New Mass, in strict conformity with rules laid down by Pope Benedict XVI. No sooner had he left earlier this year than the new PP, Fr Steven Fisher, cancelled the traditional services. Fr Fisher has the backing of his boss, Archbishop Peter Smith, but it’s a decision that has caused terrible distress to traditional Catholics for whom the old Mass at Blackfen was the centre of their spiritual lives. Now, you could argue that an incoming pastor is entitled to change – gently – the way things are done in his parish; but in this case the new man, having apparently concluded that the traddies were ‘divisive’, has effected change in a brutal fashion that has left his flock truly divided. More of a Cromwell than a Fisher, you might say.

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

TOWSON (MD)
WJLA

[with video]

By Brad Bell October 23, 2014

TOWSON, Md. (WJLA) – A search is under way to find out if a prominent D.C. rabbi, accused of spying on women as they undressed, may have also recorded video of students he taught at Towson University.

Rabbi Bernard “Barry” Freundel is already charged with voyeurism, after police say he hid a camera inside a ritual bath at Kesher Israel Synagogue.

At Towson, Freundel’s students wonder how many more victims there may be.

“I don’t think we should have to worry about that when we’re interacting with our teachers,” said Grace Peterson.

“I think it’s really inappropriate and … kinda disgusting,” Alex Halperin added.

Freundel was arrested last week in D.C. on charges he secretly spied on several women at the Georgetown synagogue he led as rabbi. It is alleged he used a camera hidden in a clock radio to record video of women in a sacred mikvah cleansing bath.

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

NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Hody Nemes

As a teenager, Joey Diangello, a self-described survivor of child sex abuse, left the insular Satmar Hasidic community of Williamsburg, in Brooklyn, where he’d grown up and plunged into the world of heavy metal music.

There, Diangello, who wore mascara and heavy metal T-shirts and sported long, black hair, found some measure of comfort in the music of such bands as Metallica.

But in death, Diangello, a co-founder of the group Survivors for Justice, which seeks to expose child sexual abuse in the Orthodox community — where it is often repressed — returned to the ultra-Orthodox enclave of Monsey, New York. On Ocotber 19, he was buried in a cemetery there under the birth name he abandoned long ago: Yoel Deutsch.

Diangello, who was 34, died of a drug overdose, according to PIX11, a local New York television news outlet. But friends remained uncertain of whether the death was a suicide.

“As of late he had been clean. He was running a marathon, he was really getting his life together, which is why it’s especially frustrating,” said Mark Weiss, a fellow member of Survivors for Justice.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News

Oct 23, 2014 06:00 By Neal Keeling

A paedophile former police officer has been found hanged just days after appearing in court to face fresh allegations of child abuse.

Prolific abuser Don Mackintosh, a ex-sergeant in Greater Manchester Police, and church Boys’ Brigade leader was convicted in 1994 of a string of sex offences against young boys and sentenced to nine years in jail.

Mackintosh, 71, was found hanged at his home on Calico Crescent, Stalybridge, by officers who broke in when neighbours reported he had not been seen for several days.

Last week he appeared at Manchester Crown Court for a preliminary hearing accused of indecent assault against two boys dating back to the mid 1970s and 80s. …

Mackintosh, who also worked as an education welfare officer for Manchester council in the 70s, was also a lieutenant in the 59th Battalion of the Boys’ Brigade, based at Platt Lane Methodist Church, Fallowfield, where he abused his trust to pursue youngsters.

He got away with his crimes for 25 years until one victim had the courage to come forward. This triggered a police investigation and other victims were traced.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Irish Mirror

A paedophile former police officer has been found dead just days after answering fresh child sex allegations.

Serial abuser and ex-Greater Manchester Police sergeant Don Mackintosh was found hanged at his home by officers who smashed down his door.

The twisted sex beast, who was once a church Boys’ Brigade leader, was convicted of a string of offences against young boys in 1994 and sentenced to nine years in jail.

Mackintosh, 71, was found hanged by the neck after appearing at Manchester Crown Court last week accused of indecent assault against two boys dating back to the mid 1970s and 80s.

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

WALES
Barry and District News

by Dominic Jones

A WOMAN who was raped by a Jehovah’s Witness elder in Barry has spoken out about her ordeal and her hopes for bringing legal action against the church.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is pursuing legal action against the Jehovah’s Witness church alongside fellow victim and campaigner Karen Morgan in regards to their treatment in the aftermath of being abused by Mark Sewell, 53, who was jailed for 14 years in July for one count of rape and seven counts of sexual assault.

The pair are being represented by Kathleen Hallisey, the lawyer who represented American Candice Conti in a legal action against the Witnesses following years of childhood sexual abuse in California.

The woman, now in her 50s, was raped by Sewell at his home in the early 1990s having become friends with him and his family through the church.

Following the attack, she became pregnant but subsequently miscarried.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Oldham Evening Chronicle

A FORMER deputy headmaster has been jailed for four years after admitting sexually molesting nine youngsters over 35 years ago.

Grandfather Anthony Kerr (71) and in frail physical and mental health, preyed on the vulnerable boys when he was a teacher at an Oldham school.

Kerr, who later went on to devote his life to the church and became a Church of England priest, carried out the offences over four years from the late 1970s.

Manchester Crown Court heard the circumstances were virtually identical in each case: he called the boys – some as young as seven – to his desk to hear them read for him. then he sat them on his knee and fondled them under their short trousers. If they made a mistake wile reading he would pinch them.

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

ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By Lilly Fowler lfowler@post-dispatch.com 314-340-82210

An alleged victim of sexual exploitation has fresh concerns over a pastor and former licensed psychologist who is now working as a hospice chaplain.

The Rev. Bill Little is currently employed by Unity Hospice in St. Louis’ Dogtown neighborhood. Rhonda Pitt, who together with her husband first sued Little in 2011, accusing him of sexual misconduct, is concerned the pastor could hurt someone else.

“We just need people to know. They need to be warned,” Darrell Pitt, Rhonda’s husband, said at a news conference sponsored by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “I just hope we can prevent him from hurting anyone else.”

The couple sued Little, and the now defunct Christ Memorial Baptist Church in Cool Valley, claiming that in the 1980s he used his position as pastor, and his role as their personal therapist, to engage in an affair with Rhonda.

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

YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
Vindicator

Wed, October 22, 2014
YOUNGSTOWN

The $8 million settlement reached in Pennsylvania between 88 sex-abuse victims of Brother Stephen Baker did not involve any Ohio victims, but there are still 28 alleged Ohio victims with claims.

Atty. Mitchell Garabedian of Boston said he plans to begin asking the Diocese of Youngstown for settlement negotiations “forthwith” regarding the 28 who claim also to have been victims of the Franciscan friar while he taught at Warren John F. Kennedy High School from 1986 to 1992.

Garabedian said a representative for the Diocese of Youngstown participated in the negotiations that resulted in the $8 million Pennsylvania settlement, but it was not because any victims were from within the Youngstown diocese.

The settlement was for 88 alleged sex-abuse victims of Brother Baker while he taught at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pa., from 1992 to 2001.

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

YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
Vindicator

Thu, October 23, 2014 .
By Ed Runyan
runyan@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The $8 million settlement reached in Pennsylvania between 88 sex-abuse victims of Brother Stephen Baker did not involve any Ohio victims, but there are still 28 alleged Ohio victims with claims.

Atty. Mitchell Garabedian of Boston said he plans to begin asking the Diocese of Youngstown for settlement negotiations “forthwith” regarding the 28 who claim also to have been victims of the Franciscan friar while he taught at Warren John F. Kennedy High School from 1986 to 1992.

Garabedian said a representative for the Diocese of Youngstown participated in the negotiations that resulted in the $8 million Pennsylvania settlement, but it was not because any victims were from within the Youngstown diocese.

The settlement was for 88 alleged sex-abuse victims of Brother Baker while he taught at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pa., from 1992 to 2001.

Garabedian said the 28 in Ohio are separate from the 11 men who received a settlement from the Youngstown diocese, Warren JFK High School, and Brother Baker’s religious order, the Third Order Regular Franciscans, in 2012 because of alleged sexual misconduct by Brother Baker while at JFK.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Helen Davidson
theguardian.com, Wednesday 22 October 2014

Senior members of the Church of England have issued formal apologies after an inquiry found a high level Anglican clergyman made serious failures in addressing allegations of the sexual abuse of children in Australia and Britain.

The year-long independent inquiry in Britain examined an alleged cover-up by the Anglican church in response to allegations made in 1999 and 2003 against a former Queensland school principal, Robert Waddington, and revealed by the Times of London and the Australian.

Waddington, who died in 2007, was a principal of North Queensland’s now closed St Barnabas boarding school from the early 1960s to 1970. He was unexpectedly sent to Queensland in 1954, one year after he joined the church, very soon after abuse allegations were raised, and in circumstances one former victim suggested were suspicious. After he left St Barnabas, Waddington returned to England where he held senior roles in children’s education and became the dean of Manchester.

At least six boys and one clergyman were allegedly abused by Waddington, the Australian reported, as far back as the early 1950s and as recently as 2003.

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

IRELAND
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church

Support For Complainants Inconsistent But Practice Overall Continues To Improve

(23rd October 2014 )

18 reviews of safeguarding practice across 5 male religious congregations and 13 female religious congregations have been published today. 8 of these are standard reviews measuring safeguarding practice against the 7 established standards that the Catholic Church has agreed to meet. However, because 10 of the orders in question are very small, have very limited contact with children, the advanced age of their members and no allegations of sexual abuse in Ireland, were assessed against a revised framework. This framework has been devised to address the actuality of their current existence.

“The findings for the 8 full reviews show that the timeframes for reporting to the civil authorities in relation to allegations against priests/brothers/sisters up until 2009 is variable but has improved considerably since the introduction of the “Safeguarding Children, Standards and Guidance,” said Teresa Devlin, CEO, NBSCCCI. “However, support for complainants continues to be inconsistent. Contact in many instances was not made directly by the Congregation and the opportunity for pastoral support was missed. This however is an improving picture and the reviewers highlighted instances of compassionate meaningful responses to survivors.”

The reports also showed that a number of the priests were in ministry abroad and allegations were made from both children in Ireland and in the missionary countries. Practice in terms of managing those situations varied, but increasingly is now dealt with by returning the accused priest to Ireland and being placed under restrictions in houses in Ireland. Where allegations have been made abroad it is rare for the complainant to pursue any action in relation to criminal or civil investigations. In these instances the Church inquiries are critical in establishing if there is a semblance of truth to the allegation and in the management of risk.

“We have also found that management plans relating to accused Priests and Brothers and sisters have improved significantly over time, though there is still room for improvement, in terms of clarity of roles, review of restrictions, and sharing of information,” said Devlin. “Adherence to other aspects of the 7 standards was less well developed in many Congregations. Many have limited ministry with children in Ireland today therefore the applicability of all criteria was limited. Recommendations for improvement where relevant have been made.”

For those 10 Congregations undergoing the revised audit process it was found that where there is ministry with children, the policy and procedures of the Diocese/Service provider was followed. The 10 Congregations demonstrated a strong sense of commitment to working positively with the National Board, in spite of their limited ministries.

“The publication of these Safeguarding reviews may evoke memories, it is important that complainants come forward if there are still unreported allegations of abuse,” said Devlin. “So, please do come forward and report them to the civil authorities and to the Diocese or Religious Order.”
ENDS

For further information please contact: Ger Kenny 087 2488393

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

IRELAND
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church

Overview Report – 6th Tranch Reviews & 1st Tranche small Female Congregations

6th Tranche Review Reports

St. Joseph’s Society for Foreign Missions ( Mill Hill)

Sisters of St Louis

Missionaries of Africa ( White Fathers)

Pallottine Fathers & Brothers

Redemptorists

Union of Sisters of the Presetnation of Blessed Virgin Mary

Vincentians

Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary

Female – Small Congregations

Notre Dame des Missions

Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa

Faithful Companions of Jesus

Daughters of the Heart of Mary

Medical Missionaries of Mary

Missionary Sisters of St. Columban

Sisters of Charity of Jesus & Mary

Sisters of Marie Reparatrice

Ursulines of Jesus

Sisters of Adoration and Reparation

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

IRELAND
RTE News

The Catholic Church child protection watchdog has fully reviewed the responses of eight religious congregations to allegations of sexual abuse of children in their care.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church said the timeframe for reporting allegations against congregation members to the civil authorities was “variable up until 2009”.

However, it said it has improved considerably since the introduction of new church standards that year.

Commenting on the audits, the board’s chief executive, Teresa Devlin, said the religious congregations’ support for complainants continues to be inconsistent.

The audit reports relate to: the Presentation Sisters, the Vincentian Fathers, the Redemptorists, the Sisters of St Louis, the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, The Pallottines, The Mill Hill Fathers and the Missionaries of Africa also known as the White Fathers.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times

by Madeleine Davies

Posted: 23 Oct 2014

IN 1999, after receiving allegations of sexual abuse by a priest in his province, Lord Hope, then Archbishop of York, wrote a letter of apology, aware that “this whole business will have caused you deep disquiet and distress and a considerable degree of sadness and pain.”

The letter was sent not to the survivor, but to the abusive priest. On Wednesday, it was published as part of a strongly critical report on the Church’s response to allegations of abuse against the priest, the former Dean of Manchester, the late Robert Waddington. It details how the failure to implement policies meant that victims were denied an opportunity to see their abuser brought to justice.

The report is the result of an inquiry commissioned last year by the present Archbishop of York, Dr Sentamu (News, 17 May 2013), after a joint investigation by The Times in London and The Australian newspaper in Sydney had revealed allegations against Waddington dating back decades.

The inquiry, led by Sally Cahill QC, concludes: “Irrespective of the policies in force, there was a systemic failure: appropriate referrals would not have taken place . . . because the decision-making was in the hands of those not qualified or sufficiently experienced in child protection to make those decisions.”

On Wednesday, Dr Sentamu, who has visited all the victims living in the UK, said he was “deeply ashamed that the Church was not vigilant enough”. There was a need for “deep repentance”.

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

CALIFORNIA
My News LA

POSTED BY JOHN SCHREIBER ON OCTOBER 22, 2014

A former teacher at the private Catholic girls school, Notre Dame Academy in West Los Angeles, was freed on $400,000 bail Wednesday after her arrest on suspicion of sexually molesting a student several years ago.

Elizabeth Brewer, 39, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of felony child sexual assault and was bailed out about 2 p.m. today, according to the sheriff’s website.

Culver City police made the arrest because the alleged crime or crimes occurred in that city between 2005 and 2007. “Mrs. Brewer was a teacher at the Notre Dame Academy in the city of Los Angeles during the same period, and it is alleged that the victim was one of her students,” Culver City police stated.

The elementary school is at 2911 Overland Ave., and the high school at 2851 Overland Ave.

So far, Brewer has not been charged, but police said detectives presented their case to the District Attorney’s office.

Anyone who may have been a victim of a similar crime, or who has more information about the case, was urged to call Detective Tobias Raya, (310) 253- 6318; or the watch commander, (310) 253-6202.

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

CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

By TRE’VELL ANDERSON

A former teacher at a Los Angeles all-girls school was arrested Wednesday and accused of sexually assaulting one of her students between 2005 and 2007.

Elizabeth “Beth” Brewer, 39, has been charged with several felony charges by the Los Angeles District Attorney, according to a Culver City Police Department press release.

Brewer was a teacher at the private, Catholic high school Notre Dame Academy. The alleged victim is believed to have been one of Brewer’s students while she taught there.

The teacher left in 2006 after six years of service for unknown reasons, according to a source with knwoledge of the case who did not want to be identified.

After working at the high school, Brewer got a job as a course instructor and research analyst at UCLA before joining the Loyola Marymount University School of Education as adjunct faculty in 2007.

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

CALIFORNIA
CBS Los Angeles

CULVER CITY (CBSLA.com) — A woman was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of the sexual assault of a former student at an all-girls Catholic high school.

Elizabeth Brewer, 39, faces several felony charges of sexual assault of a minor.

The alleged acts occurred in Culver City between 2005 and 2007, police said.

“Mrs. Brewer was a teacher at the Notre Dame Academy in the City of Los Angeles during the same time period and it is alleged that the victim was one of her students,” said Det. Raya.

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

CALIFORNIA
KTLA

OCTOBER 22, 2014, BY MELISSA PAMER

A former teacher at a Catholic girls’ high school on the Westside of Los Angeles has been arrested on suspicion of felony sexual assault in connection with incidents that occurred between 2005 and 2007.

Elizabeth Brewer, 39, was arrested Tuesday morning after a “lengthy investigation” into an alleged incidents that involved one of her underage students at Notre Dame Academy in Rancho Park, according to the Culver City Police Department.

The school’s president informed parents of the arrest in a letter Tuesday. President Nancy Coomis said she first learned of the allegations several years ago after the student had graduated and Brewer was no longer at the school.

The allegations were reported to police immediately, Coomis said.

“We have cooperated with the police investigation and will continue to do so,” Coomis wrote. “School personnel are screened on their ability to work safely with minors, are provided information to help recognize and deal with issues of child sexual abuse, and are given guidance and instruction on appropriate professional conduct with students. Every student has the right to be respected and treated with the dignity befitting a child of God.”

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

UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

WARNING — Eternal damnation awaits those who pursue sexual intimacy without pregnancy prospects, except maybe for clerics. This is the “wonderful warning” that recently Pope Francis and his Synod of Bishops, in effect, confirmed again — both for “opposite sex couples” and for “same sex couples”. This also confirmed the clear Vatican strategic link between the contraception and homosexuality issues. As the prominent Catholic observer, Peter Steinfels, noted a decade ago: “Homosexuality becomes the obvious battleground for addressing questions about nonprocreative heterosexuality.”

Papal power, of course, is derived from (1) claims that the pope is the only infallible transmitter of Jesus’ hopeful “message of love”, and (2) continued belief in these claims by over a billion docile Catholics who contribute and vote. Unending scandals of priests’ child abuse and bishops’ financial corruption, as well as chaotic clerical confrontations over “doctrines” and “turf”, like those at the recent Synod, are sending a very “unloving and fallible” message to a billion plus Catholics.

See, in the picture and report here, as a likely indication of related political and financial considerations, Pope Francis’ welcoming at the end of the Synod, Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, hardly the most “prophetic” supporter of Pope Francis’ breeding strategy:

[StarAfrica]

As usual, the voices of women, as Francis’ “Adam’s Rib”, were barely heard at the Synod, as strongly noted in “‘Baad” News Around the World” here:

[National Catholic Reporter]

The man-made “Rabbitt Rule” (Breed & Breed More!) of Popes Pius XI (1930) and Paul VI (1968) appears still to be the cornerstone of the Vatican’s key moral “doctrine of procreative sex, ONLY”. Corollaries this Rule include:

1. Catholic “opposite sex couples” must “shoot” for pregnancy in each intimate encounter; and

2. Catholic “same sex couples”, who cannot “shoot” for pregnancy, cannot be intimate ever; otherwise heterosexual couples will also demand “unfruitful non-procreative sex”.

These continuing Vatican scandal setbacks make it strategically paramount for the Vatican to generate more Catholic babies, at least to replace millions of younger, and even older, Catholics, who increasingly find the Vatican’s Church to be neither loving nor infallible. Meanwhile, the Vatican’s main worldwide religious competitor, Muslims, keep producing more babies, at a higher rate than Catholics now do, putting more pressure on the Vatican’s escalating “Baby Crusade”.

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

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

22 OCTOBER 2014

Witnesses in historic child abuse cases should be forced to give evidence as victims deserve more than promises of co-operation from Government agencies, MPs have heard.

Scandals including Rotherham, Rochdale and the brutal paedophile ring who abused boys from the Kincora home in Belfast are linked by allegations of an MI5 cover-up, Alliance Party MP Naomi Long said.

And it would be “utterly naive” to expect former security and intelligence service officials to voluntarily give evidence if they could face prosecution, Ms Long said.

She reiterated demands for the Official Secrets Act to be temporarily suspended to ensure full evidence emerged in connection to the Kincora investigation.

Ms Long added the Government-commissioned UK-wide probe into historic abuse – chaired by Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf – should also have statutory powers to compel witnesses to give evidence, as she warned state institutions had previously failed the victims.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

Updated: Wednesday, October 22 2014

By: Maria Miller

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — It’s only been a day since the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown announced an $8 million settlement with 88 alleged victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Brother Stephen Baker and already 6 News has learned at least one more alleged victim has come forward.

It was announced Wednesday by Road to Recovery, an organization that helps victims of sexual abuse.

The group was in Hollidaysburg with a parent of an alleged victim asking the diocese to do more.

“Your mind is spinning, you can’t believe it happened. You don’t want to tell anyone about this, you don’t even want it to be a reality for yourself,” said Barbara Aponte.

“I know this because as a child I was a victim of sexual abuse, not by a clergyman but by a family member.”

Aponte not only knows what it’s like to be a victim, she knows what it’s like to lose a child because of the stigmas attached to sexual abuse.

Her son, Luke Bradesku, took his own life at 29, but it took nearly 11 years until his family found out why. They say he was a victim of Baker. “Had my son gotten help, he might still be here,” Aponte said.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Independent

Child abuse investigation: PM confident inquiry chair Fiona Woolf will act ‘with integrity’ despite connection to former minister under scrutiny

Paul Peachey

The head of the Government’s sprawling historical child abuse inquiry is facing demands to step down after she admitted hosting dinner parties with the former minister under scrutiny over his role in an alleged Establishment cover-up.

In a letter to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, Fiona Woolf, a lawyer, said that she had hosted three dinner events for Lord and Lady Brittan and dined twice at their home since 2008.

Despite other connections with the couple, including living in the same street, she said this did not amount to a “close association” with the former minister.

But concern at her relationship with the couple is mounting, particularly as Ms Woolf was only appointed after the original choice to head the inquiry – Lady Butler-Sloss – was herself forced to step aside over Establishment and family links to Lord Brittan.

The peer faces questions about what actions he took, while serving as Home Secretary in the 1980s, after being handed a now-missing dossier by the late MP Geoffrey Dickens that included claims of the involvement of VIPs in a child sex ring. In her first public grilling since she was appointed head of the inquiry, Ms Woolf – the Lord Mayor of London, former Law Society president, and member of the RAC club – repeatedly denied that she was a member of the Establishment.

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

NEW YORK
Albany Times Union

By Bob Gardinier
Published 4:54 pm, Wednesday, October 22, 2014

TROY — A former School 14 guidance counselor and one-time Roman Catholic priest who was convicted in 2002 for inappropriately touching an 11-year-old boy and possessing a library of child pornography had his Sexual Offender Registration level 3 status — the rank assigned to the most the top level, reduced to 2 after a hearing Wednesday.

William J. Heim, now 72, appeared before Judge Andrew Ceresia asking for the reduction. Ceresia heard testimony on how the man had not re-offended since he was released from prison 10 years ago and had complied with and attended all of the sexual offender courses required by parole and probation.

Assistant District Attorney Roman Griffith, however, argued that Heim has only been off probation for a couple of years.

“He has not had that fear of going back to jail hanging over his head for only a couple of years,” Griffith said. “We argued he has not been truly tested and should stay at a level 3, which requires the person to report every 90 days whether he has moved or not.”

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

CANADA
North Renfrew Times

by Terry Myers

Father Michael Daniel Miller, 70, a Catholic priest who served in Deep River in the 1970s, will return to Pembroke court December 3 to face the verdict on charges of child sexual abuse.

Miller appeared in Pembroke court last week before Superior Court Justice Martin James on charges of gross indecency and indecent assault on a male.

Miller was previously convicted and sentenced to nine months in prison last year on five counts of indecent assault on a male.

Three of those charges involved victims who had served as altar boys at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church and whose families had welcomed him into their Deep River homes.

The current charges were laid following last year’s court proceedings, after another Deep River man came forward to claim that he also was a victim of sexual abuse at Miller’s hands in the early 70’s.

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

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Warsaw. – The Warsaw Office of the Prosecutor on Tuesday announced that a Polish priest has been charged in his country of sexually abusing minors in Poland and the Dominican Republic, AP reports.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in Warsaw, Przemyslaw Nowak, said the priest, identified only as Wojciech G., has been charged on 10 counts acts of abuse, eight of them with teen boys under 15.

Nowak said Wednesday that the alleged abuses occurred in Poland in 2000 and 2001 and in Dominican Republic from 2009 to 2013.

The priest, identified as Wojciech Gil in an interview for the TVN network , was also indicted on possession of pornography and possession of an unlicensed weapon and ammo. He was arrested near Krakow in February and has been in police custody since.

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

CHICAGO (IL)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago

Archbishop’s Residence Committee to be Established to Determine Best Uses for North State Parkway Residence

Chicago, IL (October 22, 2014) – Archbishop Blase J. Cupich has informed the priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago of his decision regarding his choice of residence and will live in the former quarters of the late Bishop Lyne at Holy Name Cathedral. Archbishop Cupich made this decision in consultation with Cardinal George, Msgr. Dan Mayall, Pastor of Holy Name Cathedral, and several Chicago priests.

Among the considerations that Archbishop Cupich took into account when making this decision was the historical significance of the North State Parkway Residence with its symbolic meaning for the people in the Archdiocese. As the home of all the Archbishops of Chicago since it was built in 1885 by Most Rev. Patrick A. Feehan, the Residence has hosted St. John Paul II and two of his predecessors before they were elected Pope, Cardinals Pacelli (Pius XII) and Montini (Paul VI). President Franklin D. Roosevelt was also an overnight guest. The important legacy of the Residence is that it was made possible through the sacrifice and financial commitment of Archdiocesan Catholics.

Another consideration for Archbishop Cupich in making this decision was his expressed desire to reside in a place where he could be most effective in serving all the people in the Archdiocese of Chicago. When his schedule permits, the Archbishop intends to say daily Mass at the Cathedral. The location also provides easy access to his office at Archbishop Quigley Center, as well as everything Chicago has to offer in everyday life in the City.

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

CHICAGO (IL)
Huffington Post

By Carol Kuruvilla

Chicago’s incoming Archbishop Blase Cupich is foregoing the archdiocese’s lavish $14.3 million Cardinal’s Mansion for humbler digs.

The Chicago Archdiocese confirmed in a press release Wednesday that Cupich is breaking from the tradition set by his predecessors and has made up his mind to move instead to the rectory at Holy Name Cathedral.

The decision was made, in part, because Cupich expressed a “desire to reside in a place where he could be most effective in serving all the people in the Archdiocese of Chicago.”

The Archbishop also has plans to say daily mass at Holy Name Cathedral, which is the seat of the Chicago archdiocese.

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

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Two clergy sex abuse stories yesterday by television stations – one in Texas, the other in Indiana – made me want to crawl back into bed and stay there.

First, KHOU TV, the CBS affiliate in Houston, reported that a girl, “when she was 13. . . .began a sexual relationship” with her 37-year-old youth pastor, Derek Hutter. The station reported that she “had sex with Hutter over a dozen times” and “had been involved with the youth minister since she was 13-years-old.”

[KHOU]

Then, WBIW, the Fox affiliate in Vincennes, reported that 34-year-old youth pastor Derrick “Duke” Hampsch is accused of “engaging sexual acts with a minor” and that “the probable cause listed three incidents in which the victim described taking part in sexual acts with Hampsch.”

[WBIW]

(emphasis added)

Look at those underlined words and phrases. Each implies consent. Each suggests that the victim, despite being a child, is a willing participant. (And one phrase – “when she began a sexual relationship” – actually says that the child was the instigator.)

Each phrase is dreadfully hurtful. Reporters simply MUST be more accurate and sensitive in their language surrounding sex crimes, especially child sex crimes.

Ever wonder why so many rape and abuse victims stay silent? In part, it’s because of callous, stupid and inappropriate reporting like this.

If I put a gun in a teller’s face and demand the bank’s money, no one writes that she “took part in a financial transaction” with me. So no one should say or suggest that somehow, when adults sexually violate kids or teenagers, there’s no coercion involved.

Child molesters are usually more subtle and less overtly violent. But they still force their victims into what may seem like compliance. But it’s not. And we shouldn’t use careless or callous language that implies an equality and a willingness between child and adult that is just not possible.

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

UNITED STATES
Watch Keep

Amy Smith

In August 2014 SNAP entered a community partnership with StoryCorps. Since 2003 StoryCorps has collected and archived more than 50,000 interviews with over 90,000 participants. With the storyteller’s permission, each conversation is recorded on a CD to share and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, and millions listen to their weekly broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition and on their Listen pages. To help commemorate the 25th Anniversary of SNAP at the 2014 National Conference, StoryCorps reserved two full recording days for SNAP members to share their stories. Since then, others have been able to record at the StoryCorps booths in San Francisco, Atlanta and Chicago.

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

FLORIDA
Tampa Bay Times

Laura C. Morel, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 22, 2014

A wrestling coach arrested Tuesday on charges that he recently hit two students was accused of stripping a Pinellas Park High student naked in 1998 after he caught the boy smoking a cigarette, according to records.

Teachers grew concerned when the student began missing classes around Thanksgiving. When confronted, the student said he felt uncomfortable seeing Scott Stern, a wrestling team volunteer, at school.

According to police records, the boy said that after Stern caught him smoking a cigarette in a car, Stern asked him to come into the wrestling room.

“Coach Stern said he could handle the smoking situation in three ways,” an officer wrote in a report. “One was to call his mother, two was the hard way, and the third was the mental way.”

The boy chose the mental way. Stern forced him to strip naked and balance a ruler on his head, records show.

When confronted by school officials and police, Stern admitted to making the student balance the ruler, but denied making him take off his clothes.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The cardinal has denied last Sunday’s alleged “incident”. At the post-Synod round table the President of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, Mgr. Melina, argued that the open approaches proposed during the Synod were simply “ways to attract people. It is like introducing end of season sales, Church style”

ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY

“It is not true that I deliberately avoided going to greet Pope Francis at the end of last Sunday’s mass because of an argument … these allegations are false,” Cardinal Ludwig Müller said at the end of a round table on the theme “The hope of the family. The Synod and beyond” held at the European University of Rome. He denied that he avoided greeting the Pope after the celebration of October 19th because of an argument a number of individuals claimed he had had with him.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Conversation

Bernard Gallagher
Reader in Social Work and Applied Social Sciences at University of Huddersfield

Bernard Gallagher has, in the past, received funding from the Department of Health, the Home Office, the Economic and Social Research Council, the NSPCC, and The Nuffield Foundation. He is a trustee of the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.

The Conversation is funded by Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Alfred P Sloan Foundation and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Our global publishing platform is funded by Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Fiona Woolf’s first appearance before the Home Affairs Committee as Chair of the independent inquiry into historical child sexual abuse provided some useful, albeit minimal, information on what work she and her panel will be undertaking.

Ms Woolf replaced Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, who was originally appointed to lead the inquiry by the home secretary, Theresa May, to investigate the handling of abuse allegations by “a variety of public bodies and other important institutions”.

There have been serious misgivings about this inquiry – particularly around its remit – from the outset, and Ms Woolf’s appointment and eventual select committee appearance have done little to address them. Indeed, the problems have only multiplied.

Softly softly

Those overseeing the inquiry seem to be in no rush to commence proceedings. The home secretary set it up on July 7 2014; Butler-Sloss was appointed on July 8, and resigned on July 14 after her establishment links and record on other child abuse investigations was pillorited in the media. Her replacement by Woolf was revealed on September 5.

Woolf did not appear before the committee until October 21, more than six weeks after she was selected and 15 weeks after May initiated the inquiry – and still the panel has not begun its substantive work.

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

ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOX

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – A retired priest with the St. Louis Archdiocese has been suspended due to a recently reported allegation of sexual abuse.

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson announced the suspension of retired priest Father John Ghio.
Carlson says the suspension is due to a recently reported allegation of sexual abuse which was alleged to have occurred in the early 1980s.

Click here to read a statement from the St. Louis Archdiocese.

Ghio is currently retired from active ministry and resides in a monitored environment.

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

FLORIDA
Fox 13

[with video]

By: Josh Cascio, FOX 13 News

CLEARWATER (FOX 13) –

Even 15 years can’t erase the awful memories.

“Degrading, like I was powerless over it,” recalled Jon.

Jon, who wanted his identity hidden, says he was 16 when he was caught smelling like cigarettes by his wrestling coach, Scott Stern at Pinellas Park High.

Stern allegedly offered not to tell Jon’s mother — if he followed his rules.

“He asked me to take off my underwear and hold a ruler over my head until arms wouldn’t hold it anymore,” Jon said. “I think it was for his own sexual fantasy, maybe for little boys.”

Jon would eventually be forced to transfer schools, and a case he filed against Stern would later be dropped. He says the encounter still haunts him.

“It is definitely still there. The first reaction I saw was, ‘Oh my God,'” he said.

That reaction came after learning of two new cases against Stern, now a wrestling coach at Clearwater Central Catholic.

In one from February, Stern is accused of making a 17-year-old strip naked, then grabbing him by the throat and groin while yelling at him. The other involves forcing another student to strip and slapping him on the rear.

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

FLORIDA
WFLA

By WFLA.com web staff

PINELLAS PARK, FL (WFLA) –
A third allegation against a former Clearwater wrestling coach surfaced on Wednesday, one day after the coach’s arrest on battery charges.

Documents released by Pinellas Park Police on Wednesday detail a 1999 abuse allegation against Scott Stern, 45, a former Pinellas Park High School wrestling coach who was arrested Tuesday on charges he battered two students at Clearwater Catholic School.

Deputies say he struck a two male students at Clearwater Catholic School, where he was a coach. Stern resigned from his coaching position at Clearwater Catholic about two weeks ago.

Investigators say Stern made one victim strip naked, he then grabbed the teen in his throat and groin area while yelling at him. The second victim was battered on several occasions between August 2013 and May 2014. Investigators say the victim was forced to take off all of his clothes and was struck with a ruler and Stern’s hand on the buttocks.

On Wednesday, Pinellas Park Police released details from an alleged 1998 incident report involving Stern and another teen. The incident described a similar scenario involving a ruler and a student who was told to strip naked.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

[with video]

THE Archbishop of York has said he is “deeply ashamed” that the Church of England failed to ensure children were not abused by a former cathedral dean.

Dr John Sentamu was responding to a report published today into the handling of allegations of sex abuse against the late Robert Waddington, formerly Dean of Manchester, which found there were “systemic failures” by the Church.

Dr Sentamu’s predecessor as Archbishop, Lord Hope of Thornes, has been accused of failing to act on information he received.

Today’s report, by Judge Sally Cahill QC, found that: “Our conclusion, having heard his (Lord Hope’s) evidence is that his concern for the welfare of Robert Waddington seems to have been paramount in his response to these allegations.”

Lord Hope has said he is “disappointed” that the report has raised concerns about how the cases were handled and denied that there was a cover-up.

Responding to the report, Dr Sentamu said: “I have already been in contact with those who gave evidence to the inquiry regarding their alleged abuse by Robert Waddington.

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