ABUSE TRACKER

SCOTLAND
The Courier

By MICHAEL ALEXANDER, 27 May 2014

A West Lothian man who says he was abused at a residential school in Fife during the mid-1960s has backed calls for a full national inquiry into all institutional abuse across Scotland.

The man, who asked to be identified only as John, contacted The Courier after reading that six men with links to a notorious Irish Catholic brotherhood have been arrested and charged in connection with allegations of serious child abuse at the former St Ninian’s School in Falkland, which was run by the Irish Christian Brothers.

John, who said he had “bottled up” his experiences for more than 40 years, said he only now felt able to speak about the “hell” he went through having read on The Courier website that others have come forward.

John, whose family feel they have been “scarred” by those experiences decades ago, said it upset him greatly to recall the abuse but he wants to see justice done.

Born in Edinburgh, the 62-year-old married father-of-three and grandfather-of-five said he was 10 months old when he and his older brother were sent into the care of nuns at Nazareth House in Bonnyrigg — itself the focus of an abuse scandal — where he said conditions were “brutal”.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, May 27, 2014

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

Last night, Pope Francis claimed that three bishops are under investigation – one of whom has been convicted – regarding the child sexual abuse scandal. We believe and hope one of them is Bishop Robert Finn in Kansas City. (We in SNAP don’t know of another bishop who has been convicted of endangering kids who is still on the job, so we are fairly confident Francis is talking about Finn.)

[Irish Times]

[Vatican Insider]

Finn deserves to be fired or at least demoted because of his deceit, recklessness, callousness and selfishness in pedophile priest cases (Everyone knows about Finn’s wrongdoing in the Fr. Shawn Ratigan case. But he also kept Fr. Michael Tierney on the job in a parish for more than six months, despite multiple allegations against him in at least two civil lawsuits, and has mishandled numerous other cases.)

For decades, Catholic officials have excelled at saying the right things about abuse and cover up. They make grand speeches about how they are going to tackle the on-going crisis. And time and time again they refuse to take real action to stop those who are committing or concealing child sex crimes. This must end if kids are to become safer in the church.

In the past 25 years, we know of just four or five low level church staff who have been disciplined in anyway.

We know of no bishops who have been disciplined. And we’re convinced that this is why the cover ups continue – because those who enable this horror by stonewalling prosecutors, stiff-arming police, shredding documents, and transferring predators are promoted, not punished, in the church.

Almost two years ago, Bishop Finn was criminally convicted in a court of law for not reporting suspected child sex crimes, but he remains on the job today, with just as much power as before. Not one of the world’s 4,000 Catholic bishops and not even one of the Vatican’s hundreds of staffers have denounced Finn. Neither of the last two popes have done or said anything to hold Finn responsible for his egregious and deliberate wrongdoing.

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UNITED STATES
The Washington Times

By Meredith Somers-The Washington Times Monday, May 26, 2014

In February, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child blasted the Holy See’s handling of the sex abuse scandal, and suggested that the Catholic Church revise its canon to approve homosexuality, abortion, birth control and premarital sex.

The U.N. Committee Against Torture applauded Pope Francis for several steps taken under his papacy, including the creation of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, and a statement he made last month that the church would “not take one step backward” with regards to dealing with the sex abuse cases.

According to the Central Office of Church Statistics in the Vatican Secretariat of State, the church has more than 400,000 priests and 5,000 bishops serving its 1.2 billion followers worldwide.

Archbishop Tomasi said during his appearance before the committee earlier this month that the Holy See had defrocked 848 priests and slapped 2,572 clergy members with lesser sanctions in the last 10 years.

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SCOTLAND
Scottish Catholic Observer

The Vatican’s chief prosecutor of sex abuse crimes has said that the Church needs to do more to develop the process for punishing bishops who fail in their duty to protect children.

Fr Robert W Oliver, (above) promoter of justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that the Church does have ‘procedures to deal with bishops who are negligent in supervision. It is a crime.’ However, he said more work needs to be done on the procedures.

“We need to move forward on this,” the American priest said. “The law itself is there, the process itself needs to be developed. It is clear that it is a crime, but how we deal with this crime needs to be developed.”

In an interview with an Irish newspaper while in Dublin to meet safeguarding representatives from dioceses and religious orders, Fr Oliver also said that he believed Pope Francis will work quickly on recommendations from the new Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY May 27, 2014

A FORMER NSW judge who studied to be a priest with a future notorious Hunter child sex offender has launched a devastating critique of the Catholic Church’s six popes, including two new saints, who covered up a global child sex abuse crisis for nearly a century.

Popes Pius XI, Pius XII, Paul VI, Benedict XVI and the recently named papal saints John Paul II and John XXIII ‘‘effectively facilitated child sexual abuse’’, retired acting NSW district court judge Kieran Tapsell argues in his new book, Potiphar’s Wife: The Vatican’s Secret and Child Sexual Abuse.

While canon law until 1917 required sex offender priests to be dismissed and reported to police, a series of canon law changes and papal decrees since imposed a ‘‘permanent silence’’ that continues to prohibit reporting of some matters in some Australian states even today, Tapsell said.

He reserved some of his most devastating criticism for Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who blamed Irish bishops in 2010 after the release of damning reports into child sexual abuse in that country, but failed to mention bishops were prohibited from reporting cases to police.

‘‘The cover-up of child sexual abuse did not occur because of bad faith or incompetence on the part of bishops, albeit in some cases that existed, but because they were ordered to cover it up through canon law by six popes since Pius XI in 1922,’’ Tapsell said.

Benedict XVI ‘‘knew that he was part of the Roman Curia that was administering, confirming and entrenching a system of privilege of clergy that not only protected child sex offenders from going to jail, but that led to further sex attacks by them on children’’.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 27 May 2014 (VIS) – At the end of his trip, during the flight from Tel Aviv to Rome, Pope Francis spoke for over 40 minutes with the journalists who accompanied him on the flight, answering their questions on various issues linked not only to his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but also in relation to the abuse of minors, remarried divorcees, his upcoming trips, priestly celibacy, and so on. Below is a summary of some of the Pope’s answers.

The Holy Land and the prayer meeting in the Vatican with Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas.

The most authentic gestures are those that we don’t think about, those that come to us, aren’t they? I thought about suggesting it during the trip, but there were many logistical problems, because each one has to consider the territory, and it’s not easy. So I thought about a meeting, and at the end, I came up with this invitation. It will be an encounter to pray, not for the purposes of mediation. We will pray with the two presidents; prayer is important, it helps. Afterwards, each person will return home. There would be a rabbi, a Muslim, and myself.

Abuse of minors

At the moment there are three bishops under investigations: one has already been found guilty and we are now considering the penalty to be imposed. There are no privileges. … A priest who does this betrays the Body of the Lord, because this priest must lead this child, this boy, this girl, to sanctity, and this boy or girl trusts in him; and instead of leading them to sanctity he abuses them. This is very serious. It is like, by way of comparison, holding a black Mass. You are supposed to lead them to sanctity and instead you lead them to a problem that will last their entire lives. In a few days’ time there will be a Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae with some survivors of abuse, and then a meeting with them. … But we must move forward on this issue, with zero tolerance!

Contradiction between the poor and austere Church and the financial scandals within

The Gospel tells us that Lord Jesus once said to His disciples that it is inevitable that there will be scandals, because we are human and we are sinners. And there will be scandals. The key is trying to avoid that there are more of them! Economic administration calls for honesty and transparency. The two Commissions, the one which has studied the IOR and the Commission that has studied the Vatican as whole, have reached their conclusions, and now the ministry, the Secretariat for the economy directed by Cardinal Pell, will carry out the reforms that the two Commissions have advised. … For instance, in the IOR I think that around 1,600 accounts have been closed, belonging to people who were not entitled to hold an account at the IOR. The IOR exists to help the Church, and accounts can be held by bishops, Vatican employees, and their widows or widowers, to draw their pensions. … But other private individuals are not entitled to accounts. It is not open to all.

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Vatican Insider

ANDREA TORNIELLI
ON THE FLIGHT FROM TEL AVIV TO ROME

Pope Francis speaks to journalists on board the flight from Tel Aviv to Rome, answering questions off the cuff for an hour despite his exhausting trip.

Abuse against minors

“At the moment there are three bishops under investigation. One has already been convicted and the punishment needs to be decided. There will be no preferential treatment when it comes to child abuse. In Argentina we call those who receive preferential treatment “spoilt children”. There will be no “spoilt children” in this case. It is a very serious problem. When a priest commits abuse, he betrays the Lord’s body. A priest must guide children towards sainthood. And the child trusts him. But instead, he abuses him or her. This is very serious. It’s like celebrating a black mass! Instead of steering him or her towards the sainthood you create a problem that will stay with him or her for all of his or her life. Soon there will be a mass with some abuse victims in St. Martha’s House. Then I will hold a meeting with them. A zero tolerance approach needs to to be adopted with regards to this issue.”

The 15 million Euros that were embezzled from the IOR and given to Lux Vide and the financial scandals

“The Lord Jesus once told his disciples: scandals are inevitable, we are humans and all of us are sinners. The issue is preventing more from happening. Economic administration requires honesty and transparency. The two commissions, the one which investigated the IOR and the one which looked into the financial and economic situation of the Vatican as a whole, have now reached their conclusions and will carry forward the recommended reforms, along with the ministry and Secretariat for the Economy headed by cardinal Pell. But there will still be incongruities, there always will be because we are humans. And the reform process needs to be ongoing. The Church’s fathers said the Church must be “simper reformanda”. We are sinners, we are weak. The Secretariat for the Economy will help prevent scandals and problems. For example, 1600 illegitimate accounts have been closed down in the IOR. The IOR is there to help the Church, bishops, dioceses, Vatican staff, their widows and embassies have the right to an account with the IOR, but no one else. It is not an open thing. And this was work well done, closing down the accounts of those who were not entitled to have one. I would like to say one thing: the question regarding the 15 million Euros is still being looked into; it is not yet clear what happened.”

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UNITED STATES
CNN

By Dana Ford, CNN

(CNN) — Pope Francis spoke out against sexual abuse by Catholic clergy on Monday and said he plans to meet with victims in early June.

Stressing that such abuse constitutes a horrific crime, he told reporters aboard the papal plane that three bishops are under investigation.

It was not clear whether the bishops are under investigation for alleged abuse, or for purported involvement in some sort of cover-up.

A priest who abuses a child betrays the body of the Lord, the Pope said, according to pool reports. He called for zero tolerance.

Among the expected invitees to the meeting are abuse victims from Germany, England and Ireland, and Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston.

Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for the cardinal, said the time and date of the meeting have not been finalized.

“Cardinal O’Malley has been asked by the Holy Father to assist with the planning for a meeting with survivors of sexual abuse in the coming months,” said Donilon. “The cardinal looks forward to supporting this effort by Pope Francis in whatever manner will be most helpful.”

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UNITED STATES
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE
MAY 26, 2014

Pope Francis announced on the day we in the United States “remember” those whose lives were lost in war, that he will meet with survivors of clergy sexual abuse even though:

1) It has been revealed that approximately 800 babies’ bodies have been discovered on or near the grounds of a facility for unmarried women and their babies in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland run by the Bon Secours nuns.

2) Bishops who covered up and enabled clergy sexual abuse of hundreds of thousands of children are still in office and administering dioceses all over the world.

3) Sexually abusive priests continue to serve in ministry, have not been defrocked, and pose an ongoing danger to children, teenagers, and vulnerable adults.

Road to Recovery calls on Pope Francis to:

1) Have more than “cosmetic” meetings with survivors of clergy sexual abuse and get down to the real business at hand, such as firing bishops who covered up and enabled sexual abuse, defrocking priests who sexually abused children, encouraging governments to enact legislation that will strengthen laws against pedophiles, calling on local law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute any priest or religious person who has broken law or covered up clergy sexual abuse, and providing every resource available to help heal sexual abuse victims.

2) Travel to Tuam, County Galway, Ireland, and preside at the exhumation of every one of the 800 babies who died at what was supposed to be a Catholic home for unmarried women and their babies. He should then meet with every family of those babies and offer them whatever resources they need to heal from the trauma.

3) Close every Catholic institution that houses children, teenagers, or vulnerable adults, even temporarily, until independent investigators complete thorough evaluations of each and every institution and declare them safe for children, teenagers, and vulnerable adults.
Road to Recovery, Inc. is a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families.

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

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BOSTON (MA)
WBUR

By The Associated Press May 27, 2014

BOSTON — Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley is organizing a meeting between Pope Francis and a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican that will mark the first such encounter for the pope.

Francis announced the meeting on Monday and declared “zero tolerance” for any member of the clergy who would violate a child.

The Archdiocese of Boston said in a statement that the details of the meeting haven’t been finalized yet, and that O’Malley “looks forward to supporting this effort by Pope Francis in whatever manner will be most helpful.” The Archdiocese said the meeting is expected to take place “in the coming months.”

The Catholic Church clergy sex abuse crisis broke nationally in 2002 after The Boston Globe wrote a series of stories revealing that church officials in Boston shifted pedophile priests between parishes without disclosing their alleged crimes.

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CANADA
Nunatsiaq Online

DAVID MURPHY

The final installment of the Eric Dejaeger trial began May 26 with Dejaeger’s defence lawyer, Malcolm Kempt, destroying the credibility of dozens of witnesses by suggesting they lied, colluded and fabricated absurd stories at the seven-month trial.

Justice Robert Kilpatrick, who is presiding over the trial without a jury at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit, has so far heard a multitude of stories about child rape, inappropriate touching and even bestiality — the bulk of which allegedly occurred at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Igloolik between 1978 and 1982.

But most of these stories never happened, argues Kempt.

“These allegations might sell newspapers, but they’re not the truth,” he told Kilpatrick.

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Boston Globe

by John L. Allen Jr. | GLOBE STAFF MAY 26, 2014

ROME — Pope Francis said Monday that he plans to celebrate a Mass with a small group of victims of sexual abuse in the coming weeks and to hold a private meeting to hear from them, a session in which Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston will also take part.

Francis also revealed that three Catholic bishops are under Vatican investigation for matters related to sexual abuse, citing those inquiries as proof that there will be no “daddy’s boys” in the clergy who enjoy special privileges on his watch.

Francis did not make it clear whether those three bishops are being investigated for abuse they are alleged to have committed or for an alleged failure to respond properly to possible abuse by others.

The pope made the comments in a press conference during his return flight from Jerusalem to Rome, at the conclusion of a three-day trip to the Middle East.

Francis used strong language to denounce the sexual abuse of children by clergy, calling it a “very grave crime” and saying that when a priest subjects a child to abuse, it is as if the priest has celebrated a “black Mass” as part of a Satanic ritual.

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Irish Times

Paddy Agnew

Tue, May 27, 2014

Three Catholic bishops are currently under investigation over allegations of child abuse and one has already been convicted, Pope Francis has said.

Speaking as he returned to Rome after a historic three-day visit to the Holy Land, the pontiff called for a “zero-tolerance” approach to sex abuse within the church.

He also criticised “a global economic system that is centred on money, rather than the human person”.

Not for the first time, Francis’s remarks showed that the Argentine ‘Pope From Afar’ is not just a spiritual leader, he is also a shrewd and informed socio-political analyst.

Asked about the sex abuse question, the pope revealed that three bishops are currently under investigation.

“One has already been convicted and the punishment needs to be decided. There will be no preferential treatment when it comes to child abuse,” the pope said during a press conference on his plane to Rome.

“When a priest commits abuse, he betrays the Lord’s body. A priest must guide children towards sainthood. And the child trusts him. But instead, he abuses him or her.

“This is very serious. It’s like celebrating a black Mass! And you create a problem that will stay with (the victim) for all of his or her life.

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

MAY 26, 2014

BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

MAHWAH – After urging people during a Memorial Day Mass to sacrifice for the poor, assistant Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of Newark said the church needs to reevaluate its spending amid a controversy over lavish upgrades to the retirement home of the prelate he stands to succeed.

The archdiocese has been besieged by criticism, some of it directed at Hebda, for a $500,000 expansion under way at the 8.2-acre property in rural Hunterdon County used by Archbishop John J. Myers. The 4,500-square-foot house is getting a 3,000-square-foot addition complete with fireplaces, a “therapeutic whirlpool” and a second office.

While Hebda did not directly criticize Myers or the use of church money for the archbishop’s personal residence, he said in an interview that Myers and the archdiocese must pay close attention to the words of Pope Francis, who has over the past year used the world stage to focus on the suffering and the impoverished. Asked if Myers needed all the new amenities, Hebda said, “Clearly, all of us have to hear what the Holy Father is saying – that’s not just for priests and bishops, either. It’s for all of us.

“We have to find those ways of being really faithful to the Gospel and figuring out what it is that we need,” he said. “Not always what we want, but what it is that we need.”

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CANADA
The Chronicle-Herald

STEVE BRUCE COURT REPORTER
Published May 26, 2014

A former youth pastor has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for having child pornography on his computer.

Aaron Kenneth Hudgins, 31, of Timberlea pleaded guilty recently in Halifax provincial court to a charge of possession of child pornography.

Judge Bill Digby accepted a joint recommendation from lawyers to allow Hudgins to serve his jail time intermittently.

Hudgins will do his time at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth on weekends beginning June 6.

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AUSTRALIA
Forbes Advocate

The community of Forbes deserves a pat on the back after helping the Salvation Army reach their target of $7,000 during this year’s Red Shield Appeal.

The Red Shield Appeal doorknock was held yesterday, with about 45 volunteers, including 30 school students, coming together to help raise much-needed funds for the Salvos.

Over $7,000 was raised in Forbes from the doorknock on Sunday, as well as at collection points set up in the week leading up to it, which Forbes Salvation Army officer Troy Munro said was a fantastic achievement.

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El Tiempo

Por: REUTERS
.
El papa Francisco dijo ayer (lunes) que los abusos sexuales cometidos por sacerdotes eran un crimen comparable a una “misa satánica” y dijo que tendrá cero tolerancia con quienes abusaron de niños en el interior de la Iglesia Católica, incluidos obispos.

En una conversación con periodistas a bordo del avión que lo trasladó de regreso a Europa luego de una visita a Oriente Medio, el papa también anunció que se reunirá por primera vez con un grupo de víctimas de abusos en el Vaticano a inicios de junio.

Ante la pregunta de si tomaría medidas contra los obispos acusados de abusos sexuales, dijo que “no habrá hijos de papá” ni privilegios, agregando que tres obispos están actualmente bajo investigación. “El abuso sexual es un crimen tan horrendo (…) porque un sacerdote que hace esto traiciona el cuerpo de Dios. Es como una misa satánica”, dijo, en las declaraciones más duras que ha dado respecto a una crisis que sacudió a la Iglesia Católica por más de una década.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

Monday, May 26, 2014

By: Chris Cassidy

Pope Francis will meet with a group of clergy sex abuse victims next month at the Vatican as the pontiff declared “zero tolerance” for any priest who would violate a child.

“On this issue we must go forward, forward. Zero tolerance,” Francis said on his papal plane today while returning from Jerusalem.

The meeting with a half-dozen victims will mark the first such encounter for the new pope, who has been criticized by victims for not expressing personal solidarity with them.

Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, said Cardinal Sean O’Malley will help plan the meeting.

“The universal Church and the international community are blessed by Pope Francis continuing a leadership role in the response to the tragic events concerning the sexual abuse of minors by clergy. At this time the date of the meeting and other details have not been finalized. The Cardinal looks forward to supporting this effort by Pope Francis in whatever manner will be most helpful.”

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

May 27, 2014 00:01 By James Moncur

RECENT revelations in the Daily Record about St Ninian’s school in Fife have reinvigorated the call for action into allegations of attacks on children in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

PRESSURE is growing on the Scottish Government to launch a full public inquiry into historical institutional abuse across Scotland.

Victims have joined forces with politicians to demand action into allegations of attacks on children in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

They want a full and transparent probe identical to the HIA – Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry – which is currently taking place in Northern Ireland.

Recent revelations in the Record about St Ninian’s school, in ­Falkland, Fife, have reinvigorated the campaign to bring those responsible to justice and discover how much the state knew.

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VATIKAN
Radio Vatikan

Papst Franziskus ist von seinem dreitägigen Besuch im Nahen Osten nach Rom zurückgekehrt. Am späten Montagabend kurz vor 23.00 Uhr landete er mit einer Sondermaschine der israelischen Fluggesellschaft El Al auf dem römischen Flughafen Ciampino. Damit endet die zweite Auslandsreise von Papst Franziskus.

Nach seiner dreitägigen Nahost-Reise hat Franziskus während des Rückflugs von Tel Aviv am Montagabend vor mitreisenden Journalisten zu verschiedenen Themen Stellung bezogen. Dabei ging er u.a. auf die Themen Kindesmissbrauch durch Geistliche, den Zölibat, den Rücktritt seines Vorgängers Benedikt XVI. und Reisepläne für 2015 ein. Das Gespräch dauerte gut 40 Minuten. Bereits im vergangenen Jahr hatte Franziskus auf dem Rückflug vom Weltjugendtag in Rio de Janeiro eine stundenlange „fliegende Pressekonferenz“ gegeben.

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DEUTSCHLAND
netzwerkB

[Summary: Norbert Denef, who chairs a network of those affected by sexual violence, said the victims no longer pray but want to negotiate on equal terms for compensation and the pope should understand this.]

netzwerkB Pressemitteilung vom 27. Mai 2014

Papst Franziskus hat auf dem Rückflug von seiner Reise durch den Nahen Osten vor Journalisten gesagt:

“Sexueller Missbrauch ist eine schreckliche Straftat (…), weil ein Geistlicher, der so etwas tut, Verrat begeht am Leib des Herrn. Das ist wie eine satanische Messe.“

Der Papst kündigte an, mit acht “Opfern sexuellem Missbrauchs“ in der ersten Juni-Woche im Vatikan eine Messe zu feiern. Anschließend wolle er sich mit ihnen in privaten Gesprächen über ihre Erfahrungen unterhalten.

Norbert Denef, Vorsitzender des Netzwerks Betroffener von sexualisierter Gewalt e.V., kurz netzwerkB, nimmt hierzu wie folgt Stellung:

Wenn Papst Franziskus ankündigt mit “Opfern sexuellem Missbrauchs“ eine „Messe“ feiern zu wollen, dann mag das für gläubige „Missbrauchsopfer“ ein wichtiges Ereignis sein, gemeinsam mit dem Papst beten zu dürfen.

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Sueddeutsche

Seinem Vorgänger Benedikt XVI. werfen Kritiker vor, zu lange geschwiegen zu haben. Papst Franziskus kündigt nun “null Toleranz” gegenüber Kindesmissbrauch in der Kirche an und verurteilt sexuelle Übergriffe scharf. In Rom will er mit Betroffenen sprechen.

Papst Franziskus hat ein entschiedenes Vorgehen der Kirche gegen Verantwortliche sexueller Übergriffe auf Minderjährige versprochen. Der Missbrauch Schutzbedürftiger sei “ein Sakrileg” und vergleichbar mit einer “satanischen Messe”, sagte das Oberhaupt der katholischen Kirche am Montagabend auf der Rückreise von einer mehrtägigen Reise im Nahen Osten nach Rom vor Journalisten.

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Spiegel

Überraschend deutlich hat sich Papst Franziskus zu Fällen von Kindesmissbrauch in der katholischen Kirche geäußert. Auch der Zölibat und ein möglicher Rücktritt kamen bei einer Fragerunde über den Wolken zur Sprache.

Rom/Jerusalem – Nach seiner dreitägigen Nahost-Reise hat Papst Franziskus während des Rückflugs nach Rom zu einigen kontrovers diskutierten Themen der katholischen Kirche Stellung bezogen. Ungewohnt deutlich äußerte er sich unter anderem zu Fällen von Kindesmissbrauch durch Geistliche. Zur Sprache kamen auch der Zölibat sowie der Rücktritt seines Vorgängers Benedikt XVI.

Pädophile Übergriffe seien ein großes Problem, bei dem es für die Kirche nur eine Null-Toleranz gebe, bekräftigte er. “Sexueller Missbrauch ist ein schreckliche Straftat, weil ein Geistlicher, der so etwas tut, Verrat begeht am Leib des Herrn. Das ist wie eine satanische Messe”, sagte Franziskus.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

NICOLA BERKOVIC THE AUSTRALIAN MAY 27, 2014

THE chief executive running the royal commission into child sexual abuse will quit her position at the end of next week.

Janette Dines was appointed to the role in late 2012 and has been a commonwealth public servant for 20 years.

Royal Commission chair Justice Peter McClellan said Ms Dines had been the driving force behind the establishment of the office of the Royal Commission since its announcement in late 2012.

“Ms Dines has successfully created the structure and facilities that have enabled the Royal Commission to achieve a large amount in a short time,” Justice McClellan said.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will deliver its Interim Report on 30 June.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)

Australian Associated Press
theguardian.com, Monday 26 May 2014

The chief executive of the royal commission into child sexual abuse, Janette Dines, has resigned.

Dines will leave her position on 6 June.

Justice Peter McClellan, who chairs the royal commission, said Dines had been the driving force behind establishing the commission since its inception in late 2012, but gave no reason for her departure.

“Ms Dines has successfully created the structure and facilities that have enabled the royal commission to achieve a large amount in a short time,” McClellan said in a statement.

“On behalf of the commissioners, I express our great appreciation to Ms Dines for the contribution she has made to our work.”

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

ABC

BY THE NATIONAL REPORTING TEAM’S DAN OAKES, WITH THOMAS ORITI
May 27, 2014

The chief executive of the royal commission into child sexual abuse has resigned.

Janette Dines was appointed to the commission in late 2012 and was previously the director-general of Emergency Management Australia.

Ms Dines, who has been a Commonwealth public servant for 20 years, will leave the position on June 6.

While the circumstances surrounding her departure remain unclear, the ABC understands Ms Dines will be returning to a previous role.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began hearing evidence from victims of child sexual abuse early last year and has heard from more than 1,500 witnesses, with more than 150 cases of abuse being referred to police for investigation.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Jeremy Bowen
BBC Middle East editor

On the plane back to Rome after his Middle East tour, Pope Francis said that the sexual abuse of children by priests was as bad as performing a satanic mass.

Scandals involving priests abusing children sexually and in other ways have caused enormous damage to Catholicism.

Secular people might say that paedophilia is actually much worse than a satanic rite.

But for a pope to compare crimes carried out by Catholic priests to worshipping the devil counts as strong language.

The Pope is saying what many Catholics who have been horrified by repeated child sex abuse scandals want to hear.

But he will have to follow his words with actions if he wants to stop scandals doing any more damage to the Church.

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AUSTRALIA
Christian Today

By: Rachel Ford
Tuesday, 27 May 2014

Pope Francis has announced plans to meet with survivors of clerical sexual abuse.

In a press conference on Monday, the Holy Father said that he plans to celebrate Mass with the survivors in Rome next month, while declaring ‘zero tolerance’ for any member of the clergy who abused a child.

CEO of the Catholic Church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council, Francis Sullivan, has welcome the announcement, saying that meeting directly with survivors is the best way to get a true understanding of the devastation caused by child sexual assault crimes.

“This meeting sends yet another very clear message that sexual abuse within the Church is at the very forefront of the Pope’s thinking,” he said.

“Working with his new Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, the Pope is taking real action to address the horror of clerical sexual abuse.”

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UNITED STATES
Newser

Head of abuse survivors’ group criticizes pope’s meeting with victims as ‘another gesture’

By The Associated Press

Pope Francis says his plans to meet with a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican is part of an effort to “go forward” with “zero tolerance” in confronting and preventing clergy abuse. But the head of a U.S. victims’ group has dismissed the upcoming session as “another gesture, another public relations coup” that could prove meaningless.

The meeting with a half-dozen victims, announced on Monday, is being organized by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston. It will mark the first such encounter for the pope, who has been criticized by victims for not expressing personal solidarity with them when he has reached out to other people who suffer.

“On this issue we must go forward, forward. Zero tolerance,” Francis said, calling abuse of children an “ugly” crime that betrays God. He said the meeting and a Mass at the Vatican hotel where he lives would take place early next month.

The Archdiocese of Boston said in a statement that the details of the meeting haven’t been finalized yet, and that O’Malley “looks forward to supporting this effort by Pope Francis in whatever manner will be most helpful.” The Archdiocese said the meeting is expected to take place “in the coming months.”

David Clohessy, executive director of the main U.S. victims’ group, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said the pope has shown himself to be capable of making real change in other areas such as church governance and finance but hasn’t done so in dealing with sex abuse by Catholic clergy.

“The simple truth is this is another gesture, another public relations coup, another nice bit of symbolism that will leave no child better off and bring no real reform to a continuing, scandal-ridden church hierarchy,” he said.

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Gazzetta del Sud

Rome, May 27 – Pope Francis says three bishops are being investigated in connection with sexual abuse cases, adding that the Church “must go forward with zero tolerance” for abuse and no special treatment for perpetrators. During a press conference as the pope returned from a three-day visit to the Holy Land, Francis said he will meet with sexual abuse survivors from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany in the coming weeks. He described abuse at the hands of Church officials, including priests, as a “grave crime” comparable to a “black Mass” by Satanists.

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Washington Post

Pope Francis’s rollicking plane ride home: Rule of celibate priests ‘always open’ to change

BY TERRENCE MCCOY
May 27

Even for a pope widely recognized as ebullient and spry, the three-day trip to the Holy Land must have been exhausting. It included helicopter rides, hand-kissing, tomb visits, gentle diplomacy that may boost peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis, and even an argument with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over what language Jesus spoke.

So when Francis finally climbed aboard his plane Monday night to return to Rome, a Vatican spokesman told reporters to keep the questions short. The pope had to rest.

But 77-year-old Francis, looking alert, was having none of that. And in what turned into one of the more freewheeling exchanges of Francis’s 15 months as pontiff, he took an hour of questions that touched on sexual assault victims, celibate priests and whether he had plans for retirement. Both the candor and the impromptu nature with which he responded is likely to expand his growing reputation as the most tolerant, iconoclastic pope of the past 40 years.

The church has “zero tolerance” for sexual abuse: Francis revealed the Vatican is investigating three bishops for abuse-related crimes against minors. He said he is planning on meeting a half-dozen sexual assault victims early next month, the first time he has done so.

“There will be no preferential treatment when it comes to child abuse,” he said, adding that one of the bishops under investigation has already been convicted. “It is a very serious problem. When a priest commits abuse, he betrays the Lord’s body. A priest must guide children towards sainthood. And the child trusts him. But instead, he abuses him or her. This is very serious. It’s like celebrating a black mass.”

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CALIFORNIA
Herald Online

BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. — The attorneys at the law firm of Owen, Patterson & Owen have filed suit in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Kern on behalf of a four-year-old minor by way of her guardian. According to court documents, the young girl was allegedly sexually abused on multiple occasions while in the care of First United Methodist Church of Bakersfield’s First Experiences Preschool in Bakersfield, California.

As recently reported by KERO-TV in Bakersfield, California, and Kern Golden Empire the plaintiff suffered sexual abuse during naptimes that were unsupervised. According to court documents, the abuse also occurred at lunchtime, in restrooms, in the classrooms and/or on the playground. The school staff was allegedly made aware of the occurrences but failed to communicate the sexual abuse to the plaintiff’s parents or to authorities. Teachers and school staff members fall into a category of people that are legally required to report negligence or abuse to law enforcement.

“We ask that the parents of children who attend and/or have attended First United Methodist Church of Bakersfield and First Experiences Preschool contact our office with any information immediately,” said lead attorney Greg Owen of Owen, Patterson & Owen.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: KATHERINE KERSTEN Updated: May 23, 2014

The sexual abuse of children is profoundly evil. Over the years, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has mismanaged clergy sexual abuse in a way that has led to grievous suffering.

News reports and commentary about the problem may lead some Minnesotans to conclude not just that we’ve seen a grave and reprehensible failure of leadership by a handful of church officials, but that there is an unprecedented epidemic of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church (“How could this happen? A window into the culture that protected pedophile priests,” April 23).

There’s an untold story behind this barrage of headlines.

Sexual abuse of children is an appallingly widespread phenomenon. Studies suggest that as many as 2 million American children ages 2 to 17 are victimized every year. Sexual abuse is indeed rampant, but where is it occurring?

A substantial share of abuse — estimates range as high as 60 percent — takes place in the family setting, with stepfathers and a mother’s live-in boyfriend frequently responsible. Children in foster care are at special risk. Studies suggest they may be four times more likely to be sexually abused than other children.

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Mirror (UK)

May 27, 2014 02:31 By Chris Richards

Pope Francis has likened sex abuse by Catholic clergy to a “satanic Mass” – and has vowed to take a “zero tolerance” approach to paedophile priests.

The pontiff, 77, said three bishops were under investigation by the Vatican, although it is not clear if they were accused of committing abuse itself or of having covered it up.

He was speaking on board the papal plane after visiting Jerusalem, and ahead of a meeting with a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican next month.

The Argentine-born pope said: “Sexual abuse is such an ugly crime … because a priest who does this betrays the body of the Lord.

“It is like a satanic Mass.

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International Business Times

By Vittorio Hernandez | May 27, 2014

Fresh from his trip to the Holy Land, Pope Francis announced a renewed war against sex abuse, particularly of minors. He declared to media while aboard a plane returning to Rome that he has a zero tolerance for members of the clergy involved in child abuse scandals.

He disclosed that the Vatican is investigating three bishops on abuse-related charges, but the pontiff did not clarify if the bishops were the perpetrators or tried to cover it up.

As part of his zero tolerance policy, the pope has scheduled a meeting with half-dozen sex abuse victims, which would be a first for Pope Francis. The meeting, which would include a Mass, would be held in June at the Vatican dorm where the pontiff is staying.

Boston Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, who heads a commission the pope established to study ways of dealing with the problem, will attend the event.

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Radio New Zealand

The Pope says he will meet a group of sex abuse victims in June after comparing the “ugly crime” to performing “a satanic Mass”.

Speaking after his three-day tour of the Middle East on Monday, Pope Francis said he would show zero tolerance for anyone in the Roman Catholic Church who abuses children.

“Sexual abuse is such an ugly crime … because a priest who does this betrays the body of the Lord,” he said.

The 77-year-old spoke to journalists for nearly an hour on his flight to Rome, the BBC reports, but it was not clear if the zero tolerance policy would extend to bishops accused of turning a blind eye to abuse by priests in their dioceses.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

[with audio]

(Vatican Radio) Despite the grueling schedule of his three day pilgrimage to the Holy Land, on Monday evening Pope Francis held an hour long in-flight question and answer session with the journalists who had accompanied him. The Pope responded to their questions on issues that ranged from the Churches’ efforts in combatting the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, to the reform of the Curia. The Pope addressed questions that have arisen ahead of October’s Synod on the family, regarding the situation of divorced and remarried Catholics, he spoke of future papal travels and dwelt the modern day reality of Christian martyrs for the faith.

Responding to a question on the Churches handling of the abuse crisis, Pope Francis stated that there will be no preferential treatment when it comes to child abuse. That three bishops are currently under investigation for and one has been convicted with punishment pending. Such abuse is a betrayal of the Lord’s body, he said. He then announced that next week he will hold a two day meeting with survivors of abuse and celebrate mass with them at his residence in Casa Santa Marta.

Responding to a question on the issue of communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, which has arisen ahead of next October’s Synod on the Family, Pope Francis lamented that the entire Synod should be boiled down to this one issue. He noted the real issue is the crisis that the family is undergoing today with a drop in the number of young people choosing to marry. However, the Pope did add that the procedure of preparation for marriage and annulments of marriage needed further reflection. He also concluded that divorced Catholics must not be treated as if they had been excommunicated.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

On his return flight from the Holy Land to Rome, Pope Francis told reporters that the sexual abuse of minors is a “very grave crime” and that three bishops are under investigation for matters related to abuse.

“We must go forward with zero tolerance,” the Pope said, as he compared the clerical abuse of minors to a priest taking part in a satanic ritual.

Pope Francis also said he would celebrate Mass for a group in abuse victims.

According to summaries of the press conference published by Vatican Radio and by John Allen of the Boston Globe, the Pope also confirmed that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s former Secretary of State, is under investigation for financial irregularities and that priestly celibacy, while not a “dogma of the faith,” is a discipline “that I value very much and see as a gift for the Church.”

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UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

To understand the UN Report, go to SNAP and The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) who livestreamed their discussion of the UN report on the Vatican hearing that the Committee Against Torture (CAT) released earlier today:
http://ccrjustice.org/files/CAT_C_VAT_CO_1_17271_E.pdf

CCR and SNAP respond to UN CAT report – YouTube
► 55:05► 55:05
www.youtube.com/watch?v=okE21mDm_wo
3 days ago – Uploaded by SNAPnetwork
CCR and SNAP respond to UN CAT report. … CCR and SNAP respond to UN CAT report. SNAPnetwork·4 …

On May 23, 2014, should the (UN CAT) United Nations Committee Against Torture hand the judgement that the Vatican a.k.a. Holy See is ‘guilty of torture’, it will make an unprecedented declaration that will change forever the course of history for mankind and trump over religion like never before. It will announce the birth of justice for hundreds of thousands of silent Catholic survivors sexually tortured by thousands of pedophile priests of the bestial Vatican JP2 Army worldwide in the 20th century due to the Vatican culture of sexual abuse.

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Reuters

(Reuters) – Pope Francis on Monday said he believed that Roman Catholic priests should be celibate but the rule was not an unchangeable dogma, and “the door is always open” to change.

Francis made similar comments when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires but his remarks to reporters on a plane returning from a Middle East trip were the first he has made since becoming pope.

“Celibacy is not a dogma,” he said in answer to a question about whether the Catholic Church could some day allow priests to marry as they can in some other Christian Churches. …

There has been pressure for change, particularly in the wake of recent sexual abuse scandals with proponents of optional celibacy in the Church arguing that sexual frustrations could drive some priests to sexually abuse children.

But the Church has rejected this argument, saying that paedophilia, whether in the Church or outside of it, is carried out by people with psychological problems.

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Thomson Reuters Foundation

ROME, May 26 (Reuters) – Pope Francis said on Monday he would be open to retiring eventually like his predecessor, Benedict XVI, instead of ruling for life, adding that the concept of a “pope emeritus” could someday become normal in the Church

“I will do what the Lord tells me to do,” he told reporters on the plane returning from a trip to the Middle East, when asked if he someday would retire if his health did not permit him to rule the 1.2 billion-member Church properly.

“I think that Benedict XVI is not a unique case. I think we should see him as an institution who opened a door, the door of emeritus popes,” the 77-year-old pontiff said.

He said the fact that people were living longer had made the possibility of popes resigning for health reasons in the future more likely.

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CANADA
CBC News

[with video]

A monument to honour those who attended residential schools in Canada was unveiled on Monday near the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

The engraved stone monument, located at the Peace Garden outside the museum, was first suggested by an elder who was a residential school survivor.

Nelson James of Roseau River had called on the federal government to erect something in tribute to those who attended residential schools before his death five years ago.

James said such a monument needed to be in a public place where many would see it and gain an understanding of what happened in that dark part of Canada’s history.

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UNITED STATES
POPE FRANCIS the CON-Christ.

In Israel, Pope Francis clones Christ’s flesh & pleas for children’s protection after canonizing 2 popes who protected JP2 Army pedophile priests in 20th century

Paris Arrow

Updated May 25, 2014 Pope Francis says Mass in Manger Square where Jesus was born after 9-months in Mary’s womb and born by natural birth vs. his 9-seconds reincarnation in the Eucharist sorcery by Pope Francis and priests

Amazing how Jesus has lose his Middle East roots and Jewish identity (albeit born in Bethlehem, Palestine, a Muslim country) and lose His Biblical mission as a poor itinerant preacher for He has become Roman Catholic and hostage of the most tiny country – the Vatican City where He is also the most caged captive in gold tabernacles by tyrant evil popes – those 2,000 year old chameleons Pretenders and Impostors of Jesus and con-artists CON-Christ popes. From mass murderers, thieves, pedophiles, gays, adulterers like the Borgias, to John Paul II the Great Saint of Pedophiles, to Pope Francis the Worst Thief of Mankind – all popes use Christ as their mask, disguise and bait to serve one master alone –the Vatican Mammon Beast a.k.a. Opus Dei Beast ruling in the Vatican Palace – with only one goal – to preserve the Vatican Billions in secret Vatican Swiss Banks because the Vatican owns Switzerland.

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AUSTRALIA
YouTube

Shatter the Silence has produced a new video called Australian Survivors 7 – The Collusion Between Church and State.

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CANADA
CJAD

Victims who were sexually abused by priests as children are calling on Quebecers to boycott the Catholic Church.

Represented by former justice minister and lawyer Marc Bellemare, the victims are asking Quebecers to stop giving the Catholic Church donations because they say it isn’t recognizing the damage the abuse brought to their lives by using the statute of limitations as an excuse not to pay them compensation.

By law, the statute of limitations sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event can be initiated.

“They want to teach the moral to all of us but they are using the law totally immorally to destroy us in front of the trial,” victim Frank Tremblay said.

“I want the population of Quebec to think before they give,” he continued.

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ROME
Chicago Tribune

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Eric Walsh)
Reuters
May 26, 2014

ROME – Pope Francis on Monday branded sexual abuse of children by priests a crime comparable to a “satanic Mass” and said he would show zero tolerance for anyone in the Catholic Church who abused children, including bishops.

Speaking to reporters on the plane taking him back from a visit to the Middle East, the pope also announced that he would have his first meeting with a group of abuse victims at the Vatican early next month.

Asked about whether he would move against bishops who were accused of sexual abuse, he said “there will be no daddy’s boys” and no privileges, adding that three bishops were currently under investigation.

“Sexual abuse is such an ugly crime … because a priest who does this betrays the body of the Lord. It is like a satanic Mass,” he said in some of the toughest language he has used on a crisis which has rocked the Church for more than a decade.” We must go ahead with zero tolerance” he said.

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The Dallas Morning News

By NICOLE WINFIELD The Associated Press
Published: 26 May 2014

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Francis announced Monday he would meet with a group of sex abuse victims next month at the Vatican and declared “zero tolerance” for any member of the clergy who would violate a child.

Francis also revealed that three bishops are currently under investigation by the Vatican for abuse-related reasons, though it wasn’t clear if they were accused of committing abuse itself or of having covered it up.

“There are no privileges,” he said.

The meeting with a half-dozen victims, which will include a Mass celebrated by Francis at the Vatican hotel where he lives, will mark the first such encounter for the pope, who has been criticized by victims for not expressing personal solidarity with them when he has reached out to other people who suffer.

In a press conference Monday aboard the papal plane returning from Jerusalem, Francis said he would travel to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January 2015. And he suggested that he might follow in emeritus Pope Benedict XVI’s footsteps and retire if he no longer had the strength to do the job.

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Huffington Post

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis has announced he will meet with a group of sex abuse victims next month at the Vatican and declared “zero tolerance” for any member of the clergy who would violate a child.

Francis also revealed that three bishops are currently under investigation by the Vatican for abuse-related reasons, though it wasn’t clear if they were accused of committing abuse itself or of having covered it up.

The meeting with victims marks the first for this pope.

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ITV (UK)

Pope Francis has branded sexual abuse of children by priests an ugly crime comparable to a “satanic Mass” and said he would show zero tolerance for anyone in the Catholic Church who abused children, including bishops.

Speaking to reporters on the plane taking him back from a visit to the Middle East, the pope also announced that he would have his first meeting with a group of abuse victims at the Vatican early next month.

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The West Australian

ABOARD PAPAL PLANE (Undefined) (AFP) – Pope Francis on Monday warned there were “no privileges” for bishops when it came to child sex crimes and said he would hold a special mass with victims next week in the Vatican.

“Three bishops are being investigated,” Francis told reporters on his return flight from the Middle East when asked about the thousands of scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church.

“One of them has already been convicted. There are no privileges. Priests who do this are betraying the Lord,” said the Argentine pontiff, who has set up a new committee to root out abuse.

Francis also said he would be celebrating a mass next week at his Vatican residence, St Martha’s, with “six or eight victims” and would then meet with them privately to talk about their ordeal.

The pope last month personally asked forgiveness for the “evil” of abuses and promised more action in response to accusations of cover-ups and excessive leniency by the Vatican.

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ISRAEL
KY 3

(CNN) –
Pope Francis spoke out against sexual abuse by Catholic clergy on Monday and said he plans to meet with victims in early June.

Stressing that such abuse constitutes a horrific crime, he told reporters aboard the papal plane that three bishops are under investigation.

It was not immediately clear whether the bishops are under investigation for alleged abuse, or for purported involvement in some sort of cover-up.

A priest who abuses a child betrays the body of the Lord, the Pope said, according to pool reports. He called for zero tolerance.

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ISRAEL
USA Today

[with video]

Michele Chabin, USA TODAY May 26, 2014

JERUSALEM — Pope Francis said Monday he will meet with a group of sex abuse victims next month at the Vatican and declared “zero tolerance” for any member of the clergy who would violate a child.

Francis also said that three bishops are under investigation by the Vatican for abuse-related reasons, though it wasn’t clear if they were accused of committing abuse itself or of having covered it up.

The meeting with victims marks the first for this pope. He disclosed the plan in a press conference aboard the papal plane returning from a three-day trip to Jerusalem.

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Catholic News Service

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM JERUSALEM (CNS) — Pope Francis will meet with a group of sex abuse victims for the first time in June, he told reporters May 26.

During an inflight news conference on his return to Rome from the Holy Land, the pope also confirmed reports the Vatican is investigating charges its former secretary of state misappropriated $20 million from the Vatican bank. And he announced he plans to visit the Philippines and Sri Lanka in January.

The pope described the abuse of children by priests as “such an ugly crime” and a “very grave” problem, the betrayal of a priest’s duty to lead young people to holiness, comparable to performance of a Black Mass.

“We must move ahead, ahead, zero tolerance,” he said.

As an indication of how seriously he takes the problem, the pope said he would meet in the first week of June with a group of six to eight sex abuse victims from various countries, including Germany, England and Ireland. He also will celebrate a private Mass with the group in the Vatican guesthouse, where he lives. Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, a member of the recently established Vatican commission on child protection, will be present at the gathering, the pope said.

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CANADA
CBC News

Eric Dejaeger’s defence lawyer argued today that the former Oblate priest is not guilty of most of the allegations against him.

Dejaeger, 67, is on trial for dozens of charges of sex offences against children dating back to his time in Igloolik, Nunavut three decades ago.

In his closing argument this morning, defence lawyer Malcolm Kempt said the Crown has painted Dejaeger as an “evil monster.”

Kempt says his client is a sex offender and has admitted he touched eight boys in a sexual and inappropriate manner. He pleaded guilty to those charges in November.

But Kempt says Dejaeger is not guilty on the other counts.

More than 40 people testified during Dejaeger’s trial.

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NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte Observer

By Tim Funk
tfunk@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Sunday, May. 25, 2014

The Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, whose flock is more than 10 times larger than when the diocese was created in 1972, has embarked on a $65 million fundraising campaign that organizers say would address an increased demand for services and sacred space that shows no signs of letting up as more Catholics relocate here.

The campaign is by far the most ambitious in the history of the 46-county diocese. And if the goal is reached, the money would be used for, among other things, renovating Catholic schools, expanding Catholic charities, shoring up the priest retirement fund, boosting building plans, and ramping up ministries geared to the growing immigrant population – especially Hispanics. They make up about half of the more than 340,000 Catholics in the diocese.

Catholicism is now the largest single religious denomination in Mecklenburg County, which has 15 Catholic churches.

But at a time when Charlotte-area Catholics appear divided over the conservative leadership style of Bishop Peter Jugis, 57, the campaign could be imperiled – at least in Mecklenburg County, home to the diocese’s three largest parishes.

Many parents of Charlotte Catholic High students are still angry over his and the diocese’s handling of two recent controversies at the school, including last week’s resignation of popular principal Jerry Healy. That came amid questions about the school’s financial accounts.

And some well-heeled parishioners are boycotting the campaign to protest a $4 million earmark for additions at St. Patrick Cathedral in Dilworth – the bishop’s church – that they call a wasteful throwback to a traditionalist Catholicism that’s out of step with Pope Francis’ calls for more humility and less pageantry.

The focus of their ire: Plans to build a crypt, a part of the church used for burial of bishops, and an additional dressing room, or sacristy, this one reserved for the bishop to put on his vestments before Mass at St. Patrick. Currently, Jugis, like his predecessors, “vests” at the rectory next to the church.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Post

Gospel Coalition Council Member Suggests That Tone of Online Discourse Keeps Focus Off Sex Abuse Victims

BY MORGAN LEE , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
May 26, 2014

The recent online sparring between leaders within and outside the Gospel Coalition because of new revelations in the Sovereign Grace sex abuse scandal and Tullian Tchividjian’s departure from the Reformed movement unfortunately keeps the attention off the the sexual abuse victims, says a coalition council member.

Gospel Coalition council member K. Edward Copeland, who is the pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Rockford, Illinois, told The Christian Post that “situations like this kind of show something about the Christian community that we need to work on and that is finding ways in our disagreement to be more gracious and to be more willing to listen to what each other are saying before we respond.”

“I think [that victims of sex abuse] deserve more from all parties involved since they are the actual victims and they’re the ones who need our support and understanding even while all the facts are being ferreted out,” Copeland said.

The Illinois pastor clarified that his words were “coming from somebody who has not been intimately involved in terms of personal knowledge in relationship to what has been going at Sovereign Grace or with Tullian and various debates that he has had with various members,” but that it seemed to him “that a lot of the blogosphere from whichever angle you want to look at it from has not been very gracious.”

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PORTO RICO
Apocalisse Laica

Ein katholischer Priester IN PORTO RICO ARRESTED mit der Staatsanwaltschaft DER SEXUELLE Handel mit Minderjährigen

(RIVERFLASH) – HAPPENING IN PUERTO RICO, EINEM UNABHÄNGIGEN STAAT MIT DEN USA ASSOZIIERT, EIN KATHOLISCHER PRIESTER WURDE AM 13. MAI UNTER DEM VORWURF DES SEX-HANDEL MIT MINDERJÄHRIGEN UND KINDESMISSBRAUCH VERHAFTET. UM DIE GÜLTIGKEIT DER NACHRICHTEN BESTÄTIGEN, MIGUEL PEREIRA, DER SPRECHER DES JUSTIZMINISTERIUMS VON PUERTO RICO.

DER PRIESTER, ISRAEL BERRÍOS, PUERTO RICO 58 JAHRE, IST JETZT UNTER HAUSARREST IN SEINER RESIDENZ IN NARANJITO, EINER KLEINEN STADT IM ZENTRALEN BEREICH DER INSEL. AUF SEINEM FACEBOOK-PROFIL DON BERRÍOS EIN BILD VON IHM, WÄHREND DIE HÄNDE SCHÜTTELN MIT DEM VERSTORBENEN PAPST JOHANNES PAUL II., WURDE ABER SOFORT VON DEN AUFGABEN, DIE ICH DURCHGEFÜHRT, IN DER DIÖZESE VON CAGUAS ANGEHOBEN. DIE MASSNAHME WIRD, SOBALD DIE KIRCHE HAT GELERNT, DASS DER PRIESTER WAR IN UNTERSUCHUNG FÜR DAS VERBRECHEN DER PÄDOPHILIE GEMACHT.

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SCHWEIZ
Blick

[Summary: Basel writer Claude Cueni, who said he was abused by priests at the College of Schwyz, speaks out about the abuse in his latest novel. The Schwyzer education department said it is taking the allegations seriously and some preliminary investigations have been started.]

Der Basler Schriftsteller Claude Cueni hat in seinem neusten Roman «Script Avenue» Vorwürfe gegen die frühere Internatsführung am Kollegium Schwyz geäussert. Es soll zu sexuellen Übergriffen durch Priester gekommen sein. Die Regierung will nun die Faktenlage klären.

Das Bildungsdepartement und die Kantonsschule Kollegium Schwyz würde die Vorwürfe ernst nehmen, teilte das Schwyzer Bildungsdepartement heute mit. Es fordert den Schriftsteller auf, die Vorwürfe zu konkretisieren. Gleichzeitig wurden interne Vorabklärungen eingeleitet, um die Faktenlage zu klären.

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OSTERREICH
Der Standard

[Summary: The civil lawsuit by a former pupil of Admonter, who said he was abused by two friars, must be renegotiated according to the Vienna supreme court. The man is asking 410,000 euros.]

Leoben/Graz/Wien – Die zivilrechtliche Klage eines ehemaligen Zöglings gegen zwei Admonter Patres und das Stift muss in Leoben neu verhandelt werden. Das hat der Oberste Gerichtshof (OGH) in Wien entschieden, wie am Freitag bekannt wurde. Die dritte Instanz hat damit das Urteil aus Leoben und den Beschluss des Oberlandesgerichts Graz aufgehoben. Nun müssen erst einmal die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen eindeutig geklärt werden.

Der frühere Zögling hat nach Übergriffen in den 1960er-Jahren auf 410.000 Euro Schadenersatz geklagt, nachdem er bereits von der sogenannten Klasnic-Kommission 25.000 Euro und 100 Therapiestunden zugesprochen bekommen hatte. Der frühere Schüler soll von den beiden Paters nach eigenen Angaben in der Freizeit im Internat u.a. bis zur Bewusstlosigkeit geschlagen und auch mehrmals vergewaltigt worden sein. Laut Klage leide das Opfer noch heute an den Folgewirkungen wie etwa dauerhafte Verletzungen sowie teilweisen Hörverlust.

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GENF
Kipa

Rom, 23.5.14 (Kipa) Der Vatikan sieht sich durch eine Stellungnahme des Uno-Antifolterkomitees weitgehend in seiner Linie bestätigt. Der am Freitag, 23. Mai, von dem Gremium in Genf veröffentlichte Text würdige umfassend die Bemühungen der Kirchenleitung im Kampf gegen Folter und sexuellen Missbrauch Minderjähriger, heisst es in einer Erklärung des Heiligen Stuhls. Dies betreffe auch die finanzielle Entschädigung und andere Hilfen für Missbrauchsopfer.

Insgesamt bescheinige das Uno-Anti-Folter-Komitee der Kirchenleitung viele «ernsthafte und substanzielle Reformen» entsprechend den Zielen der Antifolterkonvention, die der Heilige Stuhl 2002 unterzeichnete, so die Erklärung weiter.

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OSTERREICH
Wir Sind Kirche

[We Are Church in Austria has commented on the excommunication of Martha Heizer and her husband.]

– mit Stellungnahme von Wir sind Kirche Deutschland

> Basisinfo > Stellungnahme> Pressemeldungen > Grundsätzliche Fragen

neu
Stellungnahme der KirchenVolksBewegung Wir sind Kirche Deutschland
„Aufforderung zum Sinneswandel, nicht Ausschluss aus der Kirche“
> hier

Bischof Scheuer: Selbst-Exkommunikation ist immer auch Niederlage für die Kirche
> Webseite Bistum Innsbruck 22.5.2014

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The State

BY DAVID WREN
The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
May 23, 2014

Reginald Wayne Miller, the president and founder of Cathedral Bible College, is not allowed to set foot on the college campus in Marion or communicate with any of the school’s current or former foreign students as an investigation continues into allegations that Miller threatened to cancel foreign students’ visas if they did not work long hours for little pay.

Those terms are part of a $250,000 secured bond that Magistrate Judge Thomas Rogers set for Miller during a detention hearing Friday in federal court. In addition, Miller will be on home detention and will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device.

“I don’t think we’ve identified all of the potential victims yet,” said Carrie Fisher, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case. Fisher said some victims may have already left the country and some may be former students who have yet to come forward. “Our investigation just started this week.”

Miller, who wore shackles and orange prison garb at the hearing, did not speak except to tell Rogers that he understood and agreed to the bond requirements. His public defender, William Nettles, said Miller’s friends and family will attempt to raise the money needed for bond. Miller also turned over his passport to court officials. He was still booked into the Florence County Detention Center as of Friday afternoon.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The Raw Story

By David Edwards
Sunday, May 25, 2014

The president of a South Carolina Bible college was charged last week with essentially treating foreign students as slaves by forcing them to perform work for little or no pay.

According to The Sun News, federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Cathedral Bible College President Reginald Wayne Miller, accusing him of forced labor.

An affidavit included with the complaint said that students “described a pervasive climate of fear in which their legal status as non-immigrant students was in constant jeopardy, at the sole discretion of Dr. Miller, who threatened expulsion and therefore termination of their legal presence in the United States for noncompliance with his demands.”

Students told investigators that classes at the school “were not real,” and that the real purpose of the school was to force them to work over the maximum of 20 hours per week that federal law allows for student visas. The students alleged that Miller often forced them to live in substandard conditions without hot water, heat or air-conditioning.

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AUSTRALIA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn

26 May 2014

The way in which Marist Brothers responded to child sexual abuse in schools in the ACT, NSW and Queensland will be the subject of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s next public hearing, in Canberra.

The hearing, to be held from Tuesday 10 June, will examine the way the brothers dealt with Brother John Chute (aka Brother Kostka) while he was in a Canberra school.

The commission will also examine abuse perpetrated by another convicted former brother known as KA. The abuse by both brothers took place before 1993.

Truth Justice and Healing Council CEO Francis Sullivan said this latest hearing will require the Marist leadership to explain and to be fully transparent about what happened at the time and about what has been put in place since to ensure the safety of children within their care.

“This latest hearing will again bring into sharp focus the past failing of Catholic Church organisations in dealing with child sexual abuse,” Mr Sullivan said.

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IRELAND
The Journal

EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know as you kick off your day. …

5. #MASS GRAVE: A mass grave beside a former home for unmarried mothers may contain the bodies of almost 800 babies, reports the front page of the Irish Mail on Sunday. As many as 796 children are believed to have been interred in the concrete tank in Tuam in Galway between 1925 and 1961.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

Cahir O’Doherty @irishcentral May 26,2014

According to a report in the Irish Mail on Sunday, a mass grave has been located beside a former home for unmarried mothers and babies in County Galway. The grave is believed to contain the bodies of up to eight hundred babies, buried on the former grounds of the institution known locally as “The Home” in Tuam, north of Galway city, between 1925 and 1961

Run by the Bon Secours nuns, “The Home” housed thousands of unmarried mothers and their “illegitimate” children over those years.

According to Irish Mail on Sunday the causes of death listed for “as many as 796 children” included “malnutrition, measles, convulsions, tuberculosis, gastroenteritis and pneumonia.”

The babies were usually buried without a coffin in a plot that had once housed “a water tank,” the report claims. No memorials were erected, the site was left unmarked and unmourned.

The staggering mortality rate of “The Home” was apparently replicated elsewhere in Ireland.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)

Helen Davidson
theguardian.com, Monday 26 May 2014

The Salvation Army’s annual doorknock appeal saw an almost 20% drop in donations this year, according to interim estimates, with potential donors citing damaging allegations about the organisation raised in the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

The Red Shield Appeal doorknock – which sees scores of volunteers visit homes and public places across the country – raised just $4.97m on the weekend, according to the interim Sunday evening tally, well short of the $10m goal.

It was a drop of just under 20% on last year’s count, taken at the same time, of $6.17m. Previous appeals have also seen a decline year on year, but only of between 5% and 6%.

There was also a significant drop in the number of volunteer collectors signing up.

A spokesman for the Salvation Army, Bruce Harmer, told Guardian Australia there were a number of reasons for the reduced donations, not necessarily just the focus on the organisation in multiple hearings by the royal commission.

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GERMANY
IOL

May 26 2014
By SAPA

Limburg – A revamped garden attached to the residence of a bishop who resigned in disgrace this year because of the amount of money he spent on his own home was opened to the public in the western German city of Limburg.

Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who became known internationally as the “bling bishop,” resigned in March after months of criticism for the 31-million euros spent on renovating his residence, including the fitting of a 15-million-euro bathtub.

The diocese decided that the residence’s Garden of Mary – which received a 790 000-euro investment under the bishop – should be open to everyone.

About 700 people showed up on the first day, reported the diocese. Tebartz-van Elst’s lavish lifestyle was a public embarrassment to the Catholic Church, which has returned its focus to charity and the poor under Pope Francis.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

A JUDGE has broken down while jailing a Victorian paedophile priest who plummeted the “depths of evil hypocrisy” in his abuse of 15 schoolchildren.

Frank Klep preyed on sick and vulnerable boys while running the infirmary at Salesian College in Rupertswood, telling one of his victims that what he was doing was “natural”.

Victorian County Court Judge Frank Gucciardo choked back tears and had to briefly leave the courtroom after describing the impact of Klep’s crimes.

“The young men you have abused were broken by your conduct,” Judge Gucciardo told Klep on Monday.

“There is no doubt your conduct plummets the depths of evil hypocrisy.” Judge Gucciardo jailed Klep for 10 and a half years, setting a non-parole period of six and a half years.

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AUSTRALIA
The Sun Daily

SYDNEY: A paedophile Catholic priest convicted of 15 sex offences against boys as young as 11 was jailed for 10 and a half years Monday.

Frank Klep, aged 70, was in charge of a Melbourne school’s sick bay in the 1970s and 1980s and abused more than 20 boys who went to the infirmary when they were ill.

Judge Frank Gucciardo became so upset during the sentencing he had to leave the room to compose himself for a few minutes, the Herald-Sun newspaper reported.

“Your conduct exemplified the depth of evil hypocrisy,” the judge told Klep.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Peta Carlyon

Paedophile Victorian priest Frank Klep has been sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for sex offences.

Klep taught at Salesian College Rupertswood in Sunbury, north of Melbourne, in the 1970s and ’80s.

He pleaded guilty to 15 sex offences involving many boys, including siblings at the school aged between 11 and 15.

The court heard Klep was in charge of the school’s sick bay and abused the boys when they came to him unwell.

Judge Frank Gucciardo described the 70-year-old’s conduct as appalling, predatory and vile, and said it had created devastating lifelong consequences for Klep’s victims and their families.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

EMILY MOULTON PERTHNOW MAY 26, 2014

YOU would think that, after enduring years of unimaginable abuse at Bindoon, Gordon Grant would want the former Christian Brothers orphanage razed to the ground.

For four years he was brutally beaten, sexually assaulted and forced to work as a farm labourer despite being a child.

He says he has no pleasant memories of the Catholic-run agricultural college yet he wants the school to thrive, to become a beacon of vocational education, even though it serves as a constant reminder of the suffering hundreds of children endured at the hands of the Christian Brothers.

“Some say the school should be closed down,” the 80-year-old explains after a trip to the place he referred to as “hell” during the recent Royal Commission hearings into child sexual abuse.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MACDONALD – PUBLISHED 26 MAY 2014

A NEW initiative launched by the Catholic Church in Ireland is to offer survivors of clerical and religious abuse a chance to re-engage with their faith and re-connect with the church.

Towards Peace was launched in St Joseph’s parish in Wilton, Cork, yesterday by Bishop John Buckley of Cork and Ross and Una Allen, who is chair of the new service.

The service is being rolled out across the church regionally over the coming months and will be unveiled in Knock next month followed by Dublin and Armagh.

It offers survivors a “spiritual companion” to accompany them in a journey towards healing their faith which may have been damaged by the abuse they suffered.

It also seeks to help survivors find forgiveness towards the institutional church for its failings.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

Frank Klep, a former priest and Victorian school principal, has been sentenced for 10 years for sexually abusing 15 boys in the 1970s and ’80s.

A judge has choked back tears as he condemned a pedophile priest for plunging to “the depths of evil hypocrisy” by abusing vulnerable schoolboys.

Victorian County Court Judge Frank Gucciardo said Frank Klep used vulnerable young men for his “vile sexual gratification”.

Klep preyed on boarders and sick children sent to his care at the infirmary he controlled at Salesian College, Rupertswood, and continued the abuse when he returned to the school as principal.

He abused more than two dozen boys at the school in the 1970s and 1980s, knowing his position of authority would keep his victims silent.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail (UK)

‘Your conduct plumbs the depths of evil hypocrisy’: Judge breaks down in TEARS and has to leave court during sentencing of paedophile priest who abused 15 boys

A judge was forced to halt his sentencing of a Victorian paedophile priest after he became visibly upset while speaking about his ‘evil’ crimes.

Judge Frank Gucciardo choked back tears and had to briefly leave the courtroom after describing the impact of Frank Klep’s abuse of 15 schoolchildren during his sentencing on Monday morning.

He remained outside the courtroom for several minutes before he came back in, apologised and continued to hand down the sentence.

Klep, 70, was jailed for 10 and a half years after preying on sick and vulnerable boys while running the infirmary at Salesian College Rupertswood in Sunbury more than 30 years ago.

‘The young men you have abused were broken by your conduct,’ Judge Gucciardo said.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Ballarat

By Lily Partland

Peter Watson’s life was torn apart when his school priest sexually abused him. Now Peter’s brother, Mick, is calling on other victims of the former Ararat priest to come forward.

Mick and Peter Watson were raised as Catholics and attended a Catholic secondary school in Ararat, Marian College.

“It was just a normal childhood out on the farm. We played sport, did all the usual things,” Mick Watson told ABC Ballarat’s Steve Martin.

That was until 1991, when a relatively young priest arrived at the school. He “wasn’t a stereotypical priest”, and a lot of the kids got on well with him. One of those who became friendly with Father Paul David Ryan was Peter.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Greens MP David Shoebridge is urging the State Government not to delay the release of a report on the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Hunter.

Commissioner Margaret Cunneen is due to hand her report to the governor this week after being granted three extensions, due to a growing witness list and extra hearings.

The inquiry looked at claims police and the Catholic Church covered up abuse by two Maitland-Newcastle paedophile priests, James Fletcher and Denis McAlinden

Green MP David Shoebridge says the report should be made public as soon as possible.

“I look forward to reading the report, but I have to say I think the real business of uncovering child abuse and the institutional failures in response to child abuse the real business of that hasn’t been conducted in this Hunter inquiry, it’s been done in the federal royal commission which many people have a great deal more comfort with,” he said.

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NEDERLAND
Omroep Gelderland

[Summary: Victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church should be able to make reports on abusive priests after the July 1 notification deadline, according to the chairman of KLOKK, a victims advocacy group.]

BEUNINGEN – Slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de katholieke kerk moeten ook na 1 juli melding kunnen blijven maken van misbruik door priesters. Dat zei voorzitter Klabbers van Stichting KLOKK (Koepel Landelijk Overleg Kerkelijk Kindermisbruik) zondag in het programma In Gelderland Live.

Het meldpunt werd geopend nadat het misbruik in het Achterhoekse ‘s-Heerenberg aan het licht kwam. Uit onderzoek van een commissie onder leiding van oud-minister Deetman bleek dat op veel meer plaatsen mensen seksueel misbruikt werden binnen Katholieke instellingen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Deutsche Bischofskonferenz

[Summary: The Germany Bishops’ Conference has updated its guidelines of handling cases of sexual abuse.]

Seit der Frühjahrs-Vollversammlung der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz im Februar 2010 hat die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz eine Vielzahl von Dokumenten zum Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch im kirchlichen Bereich herausgegeben. Diese Dokumente wurden im Januar 2012 in der Arbeitshilfe Nr. 246 „Aufklärung und Vorbeugung – Dokumente zum Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch im Bereich der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz“ veröffentlicht. Die Arbeitshilfe wurde nun völlig überarbeitet und aktualisiert.

Im Vorwort zur Neuauflage schreibt der Vorsitzende der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, Kardinal Reinhard Marx: „Ich bin dankbar, dass jetzt alle Dokumente der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz in einer aktualisierten Neuauflage dieser Arbeitshilfe zu finden sind.“ Neben der Überarbeitung der Grundlagentexte seien unter anderem wichtige Ergänzungen hinzugekommen. „Wir deutschen Bischöfe machen uns zu eigen, was Papst Franziskus den Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs im Jahre 2013 sagte, als er betonte, seine ‚Gedanken allen jenen zuzuwenden, die unter Missbrauch gelitten haben und leiden. Ich möchte ihnen versichern, dass ich sie in meine Gebete einschließe, aber ich möchte auch eindringlich betonen, dass wir alle uns klar und mutig dafür einsetzen müssen, dass jeder Mensch, vor allem die Kinder, die zu den verwundbarsten Gruppen gehören, immer verteidigt und geschützt werden.‘

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SCHWEIZ
Bote

[Summary: Basel author Claude Cueni was for a short time at a boarding school in the Schwyz canton. He has now written about pedophile priests, sexual assault and inquisitional rigor at the school.]

Schwyz. – Der Basler Autor Claude Cueni war in den 1970er-Jahren für kurze Zeit im Internat im Schwyzer Kollegi. Über 40 Jahre später erhebt er in seinem autobiografischen Roman «Script Avenue» schwere Missbrauchsvorwürfe.

Er schreibt von pädophilen Geistlichen, Erniedrigung, sexuellen Übergriffen und inquisitorischer Strenge. So seien die Schüler beispielsweise beim kollektiven Waschen betatscht oder auf dem Zimmer des Präfekten gestreichelt worden. (cc)

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ISRAEL
Rappler

AFP

JERUSALEM, Israel – Pope Francis made an impassioned plea Sunday, May 25, for the protection of children at a mass in Bethlehem’s Manager Square in the West Bank, where rights groups say minors are mistreated by Israel.

“Children are crying, they are crying a lot, and their crying challenges us,” the Argentine pontiff told thousands of Roman Catholic pilgrims in Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus, on the second day of his Middle East pilgrimage.

“All too many children continue to be exploited, maltreated, enslaved, prey to violence and illicit trafficking. Still too many children live in exile, as refugees,” said the pontiff, famed for defending the sick, poor and downtrodden.

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MONTANA
Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant
May 25, 2014

Survivors of sexual abuse have until 4:30 p.m. Aug. 11, 2014 to seek justice against their attackers. The Window that has been limited due to bankruptcy by the diocese is part of a federal court order. Anyone who was sexually abused by an employee of the diocese, or who believes the diocese is liable for their abuse before the Jan. 31 bankruptcy filing,

Those with claims must act within that time.

Abuse of children and the continued silence by the offenders needs to be prevented. If you suffered, saw, or suspected such events, it is important to know that there is help out there.

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GERMANY
Newstalk (Ireland)

Ruairi Casey

Sunday 25 May 2014

A German bishop who spent a total of €31 million on a new residence will be moved of the country by Church leaders.

Frankfurter Neue Presse reports that the College of Bishops in Rome is currently discussing re-assignment of Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, who was suspended as bishop of Limburg late last year. Though his future is unclear, it has already been decided that he will no longer work in a German-speaking country.

The paper also understands that he is still resident on the property, paying only some utilities.

Tebartz-van Elst became attained notoriety in Germany after the extent of his spending was made public. Expenses for the building included a €213,000 fish tank, €1.73 million on windows, and €20,000 on light switches.

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WASHINGTON
The Yakima Herald-Republic

Michele J. Charvet
Special to The Yakima Herald-Republic

I used to sled down Franklin Park terraces in winter. Summer was full of swimming, bike riding, and eating Yakima Big Bars. In autumn, I picked up chestnuts that lay lazily on lawns and streets as I walked home from school. Spring held the promise that summer vacation was not far away. But then, one spring, it all changed for me, as it has for too many children across the Earth. Like thieves in the night, Catholic priests touched and poked our bodies in our sexual areas. Agonizing darkness and misplaced self-loathing became our worlds.

Meanwhile, Pope John Paul ll was enamoring the world with his charisma, all the while knowing his clergy was sexually molesting children. He chose to do nothing. He chose his black-clothed clergy. He chose the bishops and cardinals. His choice was not the children.

It’s 2014 — crowds in Saint Peter’s Square are deliriously happy as John Paul II is declared a saint by Pope Francis I.

Visiting my hometown recently, my sister and I drove hastily past our childhood parish, St. Paul Cathedral. “This must be hard for you,” she said. “No,” I replied. “Sometimes, it is just easier not to feel.” We drove on to Calvary Cemetery, where my father was buried in April 1972. He died never knowing why his high school daughter had grown so distant, confused and depressed.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

May 25, 2014

The Canberra Times
Editorial

While it is self-evident the current government has many issues, the bulk of which seem to be financial, it should be careful not to lose sight of its responsibility to address a much broader range of community concerns than just the budget bottom line.

One of those concerns is the tragic issue of child abuse within a wide range of organisations including the Catholic Church, the Salvation Army and others. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will hold a hearing in Canberra 15 days from now, having already conducted public hearings in most other states. While the public hearing will be limited to matters affecting the Marist Brothers, its chief executive officer, Janette Dines, has confirmed to this paper that it has already held 47 private sessions here after receiving more than 500 calls.

Nationally, there have been 12 public hearings and 1600 private sessions (in which the commissioners travel to the complainant if necessary) since the commission was established last May. The telephone hotline has logged about 12,000 calls, or close on 30 a day, since it was established at the beginning of last year.

At this stage, the commission’s mandate is due to expire in December. Unless the government grants an extension, and the funding needed for what is a necessarily costly process, its good works will cease. There is no question this would not be a good outcome. To allow this body to lapse would be to betray the trust already invested in it by many thousands of people in the hope that lasting change may be brought about.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Two complaints have been lodged against the Bishop of Winchester over how he dealt with the Anglican Church in Jersey, the BBC understands.

The Channel Islands split from the Diocese of Winchester in January after relations broke down between Bishop Tim Dakin and Jersey’s Dean, the Very Reverend Robert Key.

It stemmed from a dispute how abuse complaints were handled.

The Diocese of Winchester said it was not aware of any official complaints.

BBC Radio Jersey understands two formal complaints are being investigated by the registrar of the Archbishop of York after they were referred to the York Diocese by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

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NEW YORK
AM New York

By REUTERS May 23, 2014

Four Orthodox Jewish rabbis and one of their sons were indicted on Thursday on charges of kidnapping Jewish men and violently forcing them to grant divorces to their unhappy wives, New Jersey authorities said on Thursday.

Between 2009 and 2013, the rabbis – Mendel Epstein, Martin Wolmark, Binyamin Stimler and Jay Goldstein, who also went by “Yaakov” – kidnapped or tried to kidnap men and torture them with beatings and stun guns until they agreed to divorce their wives, according to the indictment filed in New Jersey federal court by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

Orthodox Jewish women cannot get a divorce unless their husbands consent through a document known as a “get.” Experts say such kidnapping schemes are responses to so-called “get abuse,” in which husbands demand a larger share of the couple’s communal property before granting the divorce.

The rabbis face up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine for each kidnapping count if found guilty, Fishman said in a statement.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

STEPHEN MCMAHON HERALD SUN MAY 26, 2014

IMPROVING sexual abuse and family violence reporting are top of the agenda for the nation’s new top rabbi.

Melbourne’s longtime Jewish leader Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant will today be elevated to the role of president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australia at its conference in Caulfield — making him the defacto leader of the Jewish community.

This will be the first time in six years a Victorian has held the position.

Rabbi Kluwgant said modernising the faith’s awareness around the dangers of sexual abuse and family violence were his top priorities.

This comes after a damaging police investigation into the handling of ­allegations of sexual abuse at Yeshiva College.

Numerous former college employees have been jailed for the abuse of dozens of students over several decades — but victims have accused the Executive Council of Australian Jewry of doing everything it could to downplay the scandal and abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Illawarra Mercury

By GEMMA KHAICY May 25, 2014

This year’s Red Shield Appeal yielded both donations and heartwarming stories as people across the Illawarra shared some of their struggles to volunteers over the weekend.

On Sunday, the church received about $60,000 in donations.

“A family donated and commented on the wonderful support given by the Salvos in Wollongong while their child faced addiction problems,” said a Salvation Army spokeswoman.

A Vietnam veteran drove to the organisation’s office to donate because he had been helped by the church during the war.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (updated 24 May 2014)

This Broken Rites article is the most comprehensive account available about how the large Catholic order of Salesian Fathers harboured an Australian paedophile priest, Father Frank Klep, for many years – allowing him to commit sexual crimes against defenceless boys. With help from Broken Rites, some of his victims finally managed to expose Klep and the Salesians during three court cases. Since then, more victims have contacted the police, and on 26 May 2014 Klep is scheduled to be sentenced again for the third time.

Frank Gerard Klep was ordained as a priest of the Salesian teaching order in Melbourne in 1972. Years later, some ex-students revealed that they had been sexually abused by Father Klep when they were children in his “care”. However, the Salesian order protected Klep from any complaints.

Eventually, in 1994, some ex-students managed to get Klep convicted in Melbourne for indecently assaulting them, when they were aged 13, in the sick dormitory of a Salesian secondary school, Salesian College (also known as “Rupertswood”), at Sunbury in Melbourne’s north-west. The offences occurred in the 1970s but were covered up until the 1994 court case.

On the day of the Klep court case, a Broken Rites researcher was visiting the court building (for a different case) and discovered that a Catholic priest (Father Frank Klep) was in an adjoining courtroom on child-sex charges. Therefore, Broken Rites began researching Frank Klep and the church’s cover-up. Broken Rites later found more victims of Klep.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

May 2013: First lawsuit under new law is filed by John Doe 1, a man alleging abuse by former priest Tom Adamson in 1970s.

September: Whistleblower Jennifer Haselberger tells Minnesota Public Radio that top archdiocese officials knew about sexual misconduct of Curtis Wehmeyer years before he was found guilty in 2012 of abusing two boys.

October: Vicar General Peter Laird resigns following reports of archdiocese mishandling of priest abuse reports.

The Rev. Michael Keating takes leave of absence from Universityof St. Thomas after a young woman files suit.

Former Archbishop Harry Flynn steps down as chairman of the board of trustees at the University of St. Thomas.

Former Vicar General Kevin McDonough resigns from University of St. Thomas board.

Archdiocese creates task force to review abuse policies.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Chronology of clergy abuse, May 2013-present

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: May 24, 2014

Older misconduct cases may not have ever surfaced without Child Victim’s Act.

One year ago this month, Minnesota opened its courtroom doors to alleged victims of child sex abuse that occurred decades ago — a step that has rocked the Catholic Church as never before.

More than 40 lawsuits have been filed since then under the new Minnesota Child Victim’s Act, implicating at least 30 Catholic priests in sex crimes against children.

The lawsuits claim the church has mishandled, or covered up, serious abuse charges in every diocese in the state. Five of the six Minnesota dioceses have since made public the names of long-secret priest offenders, revealing more than 100 names to date.

For those who have bottled up memories of clergy abuse for decades, too nervous or fearful to report it, the law has spurred some to step forward, said Christy, a St. Paul mother who sued her abuser last year.

“It’s like a weight lifted from my shoulders,” said Christy, who did not want her last name used.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By FIONA HENDERSON May 23, 2014

SEVENTEEN institutions have been named on Ballarat’s child sexual abuse survivors’ group submission to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse.

Nine of the institutions are local, with another eight from around Victoria, where abuse allegedly took place.

Survivor Peter Blenkiron said many individuals who had joined the submission were also taking major steps forward by changing from anonymous to named victims. …

The Ballarat institutions named include St Alipius Christian Brothers School, St Patrick’s Christian Brothers, Macarthur Street, Dean and Queen Street primary schools, St Patrick’s Secondary College, St Paul’s Technical College, St Joseph Boys’ Home and St Alipius Junior School, which was similar to a kindergarten.

Those named outside Ballarat include Geelong Grammar and St Augustine’s Orphanage in Geelong, St Joseph’s Technical College in Abbotsford, Christian Brothers College in Warrnambool, St Thomas Moore College in Forrest Hill, De La Salle College in Malvern, St Joseph’s Boys’ Home in Surrey Hills and Warragul Technical College.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

Salvation Army says donations from its Red Shield Appeal not to fund compensation for victims of abuse

MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL MAY 24, 2014

CHILD sexual abuse and a tough federal Budget will both have an impact on this weekend’s annual Red Shield Appeal.

The Salvos have promised to prove that donations will not be used to fund compensation for victims of abuse.

Red Shield Appeal Queensland director Major Neil Dickson says the tax-deductible donations he hopes will total $1.3 million by Sunday night will all be subject to an audit the public can see if necessary.

The Salvos have been concerned by reports that money raised in their 50th Red Shield Appeal will go to victims of abuse identified in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse.

Commissioner James Condon, who heads the Salvos’ eastern territory including Queensland and New South Wales, has expressed shock and deep regret about revelations of sexual abuse, including allegations that children were abused at the Alkira Home at Indooroopilly.

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UNITED STATES
The Star-Ledger

By Mark Crawford

This month, the government took action against a large, powerful corporation for keeping silent about what it knew was a defective ignition switch that put people’s lives at risk. The feds levied a $35 million fine against General Motors.

One government official pointed out that it was clear that many people within the company, from workers to executives, had known about the issue for many years, but the CEO claims to have found out about the problem only recently.

We also learned that the company’s training materials discouraged employees from using words like “defect” or “dangerous” when reporting up the chain of command.

So why did it take so many years before the car manufacturer took action to disclose or offer to correct the problem?

And it appears the company may still be trying to minimize the problem, as it now admits at least 13 deaths were related to the defect. Advocates say the number is much higher, with at least 53 deaths related to the company’s inaction.

Now our Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation and many are calling on the government to bring charges against the workers and company officials who knew about the defect. The executive director of the Center for Auto Safety said, “That’s the only way you’re going to change GM’s behavior.”

Said Transportation Secretary Anthony Fox: “Literally, silence can kill.”

I agree, but GM isn’t the only large, powerful institution that has a history of hiding facts, minimizing dangerous threats and keeping quiet about much of what it knew. The silence inflicted harm on children and families and, yes, also led to many deaths.

So one must ask: Why has our government so far failed to act when religious or charitable institutions have acted with a similar disregard for the public’s safety?

For years, we have learned of similar dangerous and irresponsible actions by large and powerful institutions, such as the Boy Scouts of America, Penn State University, the Horace Mann School, Yeshiva University, the American Boy Choir School and the Roman Catholic Church. These institutions put self-interest and self-preservation before the need for children to be safe from known sexual predators. Many lives have been devastated by these deliberate actions and some, unable to cope with the overwhelming damage, have tragically taken their own lives.

I call on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to vigorously investigate the actions of religious and charitable institutions for their criminal attempts to conceal and minimize dangerous predators — actions that included the sexual abuse of children in this country. Ireland, Spain, Australia, Canada, Germany, Chile and several other European countries have done just that, to uncover the extent and impact of child sexual abuse upon the people of their country.

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ILLINOIS
The Raw Story

By Tom Boggioni
Saturday, May 24, 2014

A Chicago-area Catholic priest,who has campaigned in his parish against Internet pornography, has been arrested for publicly exposing himself at a gas station, reports WREX13.

Monsignor Aaron R. Brodeski, 44, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of public indecency relating to an incident at a Road Ranger Gas Station, where witnesses say he exposed himself inside the gas station and then again in the parking lot.

According to Winnebego County Sheriff Deputy Chief Dominic Iasparro, Brodeski’s actions were observed by adults but no children were present.

Employees at the gas station contacted authorities who were able to track Brodeski down after being provided with his license plate number.

Following the issuance of a warrant, Brodeski turned himself in to authorities and was released after posting bail.

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ALASKA
News Miner

By Rod Boyce / rboyce@newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS—The priest assigned to Sacred Heart Cathedral has been placed on administrative leave amid allegations of computer misconduct on the Internet, the Diocese of Fairbanks announced Friday evening.

The actions of Rev. Clint Landry, ordained as a priest three years ago, are being investigated by the FBI, according to Diocesan spokesman Robert Hannon.

Landry, 57, has not been charged with a crime.

Sacred Heart is the largest Catholic congregation in Fairbanks, with about 1,000 people attending Sunday services.

Landry, who presided at services at the church, is the parochial vicar assigned to Sacred Heart and is under the direction of Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz, the apostolic administrator overseeing the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks. The diocese is awaiting the appointment of a bishop to replace Bishop Donald Kettler, who was reassigned to Minnesota last year by Pope Francis.

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