ABUSE TRACKER

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Jan. 8

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

At least one Twin Cities clergy sex abuse and cover up case will go to trial on Jan. 26, attorneys say. (See http://noakerlaw.com/ )

We are grateful that local Catholics and citizens will learn more about current and former Catholic officials who recklessly and callously put kids in harm’s way. And we hope that anyone with information about the alleged child molesting cleric will speak up at this critical juncture so that justice may be done.

The trial involves Fr. Thomas Stitts. The St. Paul/Minneapolis archdiocese is a defendant. The victim’s attorneys, including Patrick Noaker of Minneapolis, insist that it will NOT settle.

Fewer than 40 of these cases have ever gone to trial. So only a few dozen Catholic officials have ever been forced to answer tough questions under oath in an open court room about their role in hiding clergy sex crimes and quietly moving proven, admitted and credibly accused predator priests.

Those questions are key to showing parishioners and the public just how irresponsible Catholic officials are when it comes to children’s safety. We applaud the courageous victim in this case who clearly wants the truth to be known, even though the trial will no doubt be brutal for him.

We beg Archbishop John Nienstedt to forbid his lawyers from mean-spirited and unnecessary attacks on this victim. (Catholic officials essentially admitted Fr. Stitts faced several credible accusers when they permanently ousted him from ministry.)

Again, we beg anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Fr. Stitts or cover ups by Catholic officials to come forward now. It’s crucial that the full truth about this scandal be revealed so that the vulnerable will be protected, the guilty will be exposed, more cover ups be prevented and the wounded be healed.

Fr. Stitts’ photo and work history are at BishopAccountability.org

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WALES
Daily Post

Jan 07, 2015 By David Williamson

Ex Welsh Secretary Peter Hain labels the department’s decision as ‘scandalous’

The Home Office has rejected former Welsh Secretary Peter Hain’s calls for the inquiry into historic child abuse to have a representative from Wales.

Mr Hain accused the Home Office of showing “total disregard” and warned that unless such person was on the panel the it would “fall short of its purpose”.

In November, Mr Hain warned it would be “scandalous” and “mind-boggling” if the Independent Panel Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse did not include somebody with in-depth knowledge of specific issues about the care of children in Wales.

However, Liberal Democrat Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone has written to the Neath MP and argued this is “not the only way” the inquiry can draw on Welsh experiences and expertise.

The panel has already been rocked by the withdrawal of Baroness Butler-Sloss and Dame Fiona Woolf as chairs following concern about their establishment links.

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UNITED KINGDOM
YouTube

Published on Jan 1, 2015

A recording of the interview in which Baroness Butler-Sloss was supposedly taking evidence from Phil Johnson in the Diocese of Chichester Abuse Inquiry. She claims that he agreed with her that the name of a bishop should be left out of the report and that she was not motivated by her caring for the church.
Listen and make up your own mind.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today

Sarah Lothian 08 January 2015

A man who was systematically abused by two Anglican priests has told Christian Today why he released a recording of a conversation with Baroness Butler-Sloss at the Chichester Abuse Inquiry.

Phil Johnson says he was forced to defend himself after being accused of ‘changing his story’ by Butler-Sloss when she guest-edited Radio Four’s Today programme at the end of December.

She resigned as chairwoman of the Westminster inquiry into establishment child abuse last summer after claims she was not impartial.

At the time Johnson was among the voices calling for her to stand down. He said that during the Diocese of Chichester Inquiry she told him she wanted to exclude his allegations of abuse by a bishop because she ‘cared about the church’ and ‘did not want to give the press a bishop’.

But on Radio Four Butler-Sloss said Johnson had given an inaccurate account. He had agreed with her not to include the reference to the bishop and agreed it was in his best interests, she claimed.

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UNITED STATES
Pew Research Center

BY MICHAEL LIPKA

In naming his second group of cardinals, Pope Francis has continued to shift the balance of Roman Catholic Church’s leadership away from the continent it has long called home.

Pope Francis’ selection of new cardinalsThe pope – the first modern pontiff born outside of Europe – announced 15 new cardinals on Jan. 4, including representatives from three Southeast Asian countries (Burma, Thailand and Vietnam) as well as New Zealand and the Pacific island nation of Tonga. Another three are from Latin America – Mexico, Uruguay and Panama – while two are natives of sub-Saharan Africa (Cape Verde and Ethiopia). Out of the 15 incoming “princes of the church,” only five are from Europe.

In less than two years, Francis has changed the geographic breakdown of the cardinals. The conclave that elected Francis in 2013 was heavily European: 52% of those cardinals were from Europe, a continent that was home to only 24% of the world’s Catholics as of 2010.

Based on the distribution of the global Catholic population, Europe is still overrepresented among cardinals who are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote for a new pope. But Europe no longer has a majority. After the new cardinals are installed Feb. 14, Europe’s share of the 125 cardinal electors will have fallen to 46%.

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MINNESOTA
Noaker Law Firm

(MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 8, 2014) -Within little more than two weeks, church officials for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis could find themselves taking the witness stand in a civil case and forced to answer questions involving a case of a young boy sexually abused by a priest in the early 1970s. . .

“It is now time for the Archdiocese to take the witness stand and answer questions in a public court of law about the way it handles pedophile priests. Questions about direct reports of sexual abuse by Fr. Stitts, concealing that abuse and destroying evidence of Fr. Stitts’ dark history,” said Patrick Noaker, Minneapolis lawyer and victim’s attorney. “Our client deserves answers after years of anguish.” “We are insisting that this case not be delayed,” said Lee James, victim’s attorney. “This already has been a case of justice delayed by several decades.” Read More.

John Doe 104 Exhibit List – 01-08-2015 – 1st Amended Exhibit List

John Doe 104 Witness List – 01-07-2015 – Witness List

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

A civil lawsuit was served January 6, 2014 on behalf of a survivor who was sexually abused by Fr. James Thoennes, a priest of the Diocese of St. Cloud. The survivor, Doe 50, was an elementary school student at St. John’s in Foley, Minnesota in the early 1970s when he met Fr. Thoennes who was assigned there. The sexual abuse occurred at Thoennes’ mother’s home in Central Minnesota where he invited Doe 50 and at least 20 other children to accompany him on overnight visits.

Notably, years before the abuse of Doe 50, Thoennes was busted by an official at the Diocese of St. Cloud and admitted he had sexually abused another boy, and had a sexual interest in children. Thoennes was not only allowed to continue working as a priest throughout the Diocese of St. Cloud, but was allowed unlimited access to children, including Doe 50. The Diocese never warned children, their parents, or the public in general about the threat Thoennes posed to kids.

In a September 2014 deposition in another case, Father Thoennes admitted to sexually abusing at least five boys while working as a priest of the Diocese. He has never been prosecuted for his crimes. Portions of that deposition were previously made public in September 2014 in another case and can be found on our website under “News & Events.”

Also in his complaint Doe 50 alleges the Diocese of St. Cloud has created a public nuisance by its handling of Thoennes and 25 other priests alleged to have sexually abused children. The Diocese continues to refuse to make known to the public critical information about offenders’ dangerous histories refusing to reveal the files that show how top officials, past and present, have protected offenders.

Doe 50 Complaint
Deposition of Father James Thoennes

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UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald

By Madeleine Teahan posted Thursday, 8 Jan 2015

The cardinal portrays men as feeble victims of a ‘feminised’ Church. He should give them more credit than that

One of the most outspoken prelates in the Catholic Church has set tongues wagging with his latest comments.

Cardinal Raymond Burke told a website called The New Emangelization: “I think there has been a great confusion with regard to the specific vocation of men in marriage and of men in general in the Church during the past 50 years or so. It’s due to a number of factors, but the radical feminism which has assaulted the Church and society since the 1960s has left men very marginalised.”

Cardinal Burke goes on to explain that, while “women are wonderful”, they are ubiquitous in the Church: “Apart from the priest the sanctuary has become full of women. The activities in the parish and even the liturgy have been influenced by women and have become so feminine in many places that men do not want to get involved.”

He also blames poor catechesis, female altar servers and a loss of the sacred in the liturgy for the marginalisation of Catholic men. He concludes: “Men are often reluctant to become active in the Church. The feminised environment and the lack of the Church’s effort to engage men has led many men to simply opt out.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Caitlin Hendel | Jan. 8, 2015

Is it possible Cardinal Raymond Burke says these things just to watch the response from the good folks at NCR and from women around the world?

Perhaps, but I’ll bite anyway.

In an interview with a group called The New Emangelization (get it? eMANgelization because it’s a ministry for men, although I thought that was already called the priesthood), Burke decries the influence of women in the church, saying an increased focus on them has “feminized” the church.

According to Burke, there are way too many women on the altar these days — servers, lectors, eucharistic ministers, oh my! Who let them get on the other side of the altar rail? Oh, wait, no more altar rails. Maybe that explains it.

“Apart from the priest, the sanctuary has become full of women,” he said. “The activities in the parish and even the liturgy have been influenced by women and have become so feminine in many places that men do not want to get involved.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience:

– Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education (for Institutes of Study);

– Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta;

– Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, France;

– Bishop Santiago Olivera of Cruz del Eje, Argentina;

– Nicola Zingaretti, president of the Latium region;

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Scalded, abused and abandoned… man tells of abuse at hands of Nazareth House nuns

BY LESLEY HOUSTON – 08 JANUARY 2015

An elderly man has revealed harrowing details of being hit by a nun and scalded with boiling water during 10 years at a Belfast home.

The frail man in his 80s told yesterday’s Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry how he ended up in hospital for three weeks following the incident at Nazareth House.

For others, however, their time to confront their abusers in the home run by the sisters of Nazareth came too late.

The inquiry was read hand-written testimony from one alleged victim, who died six years ago, that warned his tormentors would some day have to account for their actions.

It is examining abuse claims at Nazareth House and Nazareth Lodge. The two homes have previously apologised to all abused in their care.

The panel of inquiry first heard from a man, just released from hospital, who told how he was scalded with boiling water after being assaulted by a nun.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry has been told children were taunted by some nuns and treated “like slaves” at a Belfast children’s home.

The claim was made by an Irish emigrant, now aged 69, who gave evidence to the inquiry via video-link from Australia.

The inquiry is examining abuse claims at Nazareth House and Nazareth Lodge.

The homes were run by the Sisters of Nazareth, who have made an apology to all in their care.

The pensioner, who broke down and cried during part of his testimony, said children at Nazareth Lodge were called “sons of whores”.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Jan. 8

Statement by Mary Caplan of New York City, SNAP Leader, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (917 439 4187, mcaplan682@aol.com )

It’s been more than a decade since the New York Archdiocese has revealed how much it’s spending on clergy sex abuse and cover up cases. (So says self-described “loyal Catholic” Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal.) And a NY bishop is now deceitfully minimizing the scope of the pedophile priest/complicit bishop crisis.

[Wall Street Journal]

[CNN]

Bishop John O’Hara, in a NY Post op ed, claims that Noonan “must know” that widespread abuse payouts are “not the case for the Archdiocese of New York, which has not had to pay large settlements.” He claims “The situation in New York is completely different than the one found in Boston, where a decade ago Cardinal [Sean] O’Malley did sell the estate that included the residence for the archbishop of Boston, motivated by a need to pay sex abuse settlements (which we have not had here in New York).”

But Noonan writes, because “the last time the New York Archdiocese released numbers on (abuse) costs was 11 years ago.” So while his boss conceals abuse costs, Bishop O’Hara asks us to take Catholic officials to take him at his word about those costs. Given the church hierarchy’s decades of secrecy around both abuse and finances – and their pledges to be more honest – that’s just silly.

(The truth is that no one knows how many secret settlements the New York archdiocese has paid and continue to pay. That’s because the church is a monarchy and Dolan doesn’t have to disclose this information.)

Furthermore, Bishop O’Hara’s comments mislead the public. In our view, the New York archdiocese handles abuse almost exactly like the Boston archdiocese does – hiding as much as possible, disclosing only when forced to, minimizing the crisis, and exploiting legal technicalities. The difference: New York Catholic officials have more effectively exploited those technicalities and kept a very tight lid on the crisis, thanks largely to archaic, arbitrary and predator-friendly state laws (that Dolan and his colleagues lobby hard to keep in place).

Cardinal Dolan should censure Bishop O’Hara. For decades, Catholic officials have pledged to be “open and transparent” about the clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis. Dolan himself is violating this pledge. But O’Hara goes one step further and deceives the flock about it.

Noonan says that NYC Cardinal Timothy Dolan should sell his “splendid 15,000-foot mansion on Madison Avenue.” The profits, she argues, should be donated to local Catholic schools.

(Dolan’s home is worth roughly $30 million, according to an August CNN report “The lavish homes of American archbishops.” That report shows that almost one third of the US’s top Catholic officials defy the pontiff’s example and live in homes worth more than $1 million.)

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NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

Peggy Noonan

Now and then a writer hits a nerve. In the case of my column on the threatened closing of my neighborhood church, St. Thomas More, by the Archdiocese of New York, I hit some inflamed and throbbing ones.

Here is the column protesting church closings in the archdiocese, questioning the reasons behind them, and offering suggestions for alternative ways for the archdiocese to raise money.

Here is a reply from Bishop John O’Hara of the New York Archdiocese, printed as a letter to the editor in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal.

Bishop O’Hara also wrote an op-ed-style response in Sunday’s New York Post. It is not available online, but I will quote from it.

* * *
To clear away small things:

Bishop O’Hara says I imply the decision to close St. Thomas More has been made. I said it is “threatened.” It is. I asked Cardinal Timothy Dolan, New York’s archbishop, to save it. He can.

The bishop says I committed “a deliberate injustice” to the cardinal by implying the cost of the ongoing $180 million refurbishment of St. Patrick’s Cathedral has added to the archdiocese’s financial pressures. But it has added to those pressures: It is not paid for. How is it an injustice to point that out? The bishop says the cardinal “has spent countless hours” fundraising. I am certain this is true, and certain everyone feels sympathy for his efforts to turn pledges and promises into checks.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

Catholic World News – January 08, 2015

Pope Francis has appointed Msgr. Joël Mercier, a French priest, as the new secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy and has elevated him to the dignity of an archbishop.

Born in 1945, the prelate studied classics at the Sorbonne and was ordained to the priesthood in 1970. He subsequently earned a doctorate in canon law and returned to his French diocese until 2002, when he was became a staff member of the Congregation for Bishops.

Since 2007, Msgr. Mercier has also served as spiritual director of the Pontifical French Seminary in Rome.

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GUAM
KUAM

by Jolene Toves

Guam – The debate continues over who holds control over the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona. Wednesday we shared the responses of Archdiocese of Agana chancellor Father Adrian Cristobal in regards to the seminary his responses have left the Concerned Catholics of Guam dumbfounded as they believe his statements are “flat out lies and the proof is in the paper trail”.

Dave Sablan, CCOG vice president, said, “You got to look at the connection between deed of restriction and what that property can be used for a seminary and so it can be restricted to that he has assigned it by the decree but you connect it over to then what is this company suppose to do and how are they deciding the issues relating to their work you look at the makeup of the board because the board decides everything the policies of how they are to operate and what it can do with that property and you will find that the archbishop is just one of four individuals”. In Father Adrian’s response to KUAM News he states that it was the Archdiocese Finance Council who wanted to alienate the seminary and sell it to cover the debt incurred by the catholic cemeteries, however the CCOG contends that this is not the case and alleges that Archbishop Anthony Apuron secretly made the declaration to assign the property over to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary Corporation in November 2011.

“That’s not true,” he stated. “Mr. Richard Untalan is a member of the Finance Council, Mr. Joe Rivera is a member of the Finance Council – before both have confirmed to us personally that they advised against the alienation of that property they sought legal opinion from the archdiocesan attorney and all opined that alienation assignment the words may be different but they mean the same thing.”

And while Father Adrian is adamant that Archbishop Apuron retains control over the seminary and it remains an asset of the Archdiocese of Agana the CCOG says the paper trail shows otherwise. “The property was definitely assigned to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary Corporation if you read articles nine and ten of the articles of incorporation of that company or organization it specifically states that there are four guarantors one of them is the archbishop,” he said.

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ITALY
Catholic Herald (UK)

by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi posted Thursday, 8 Jan 2015

The ousted chairman of the Vatican bank tells his side of the story for the first time

I have a question for Cardinal George Pell, who as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy is supervising the reform of the finances of the Holy See. Your Eminence, are you sure you have been properly informed about the recent history of the Vatican bank, of which I was chairman from 2009 until I was dismissed after a vote of no confidence in 2012?

In an article for the Catholic Herald last month, Cardinal Pell explained why he believes that the finances of the Holy See are in good shape and everything is now under control. Indeed, he said that the Vatican’s financial situation was much healthier than it seemed – because hundreds of millions of euros had come to light that were missing from the Vatican’s balance sheet.

The cardinal’s article will have reassured the faithful who make substantial financial sacrifices to support the Church. It will also have offered comfort to the many religious organisations that rely on such resources to make ends meet. Yet the article appeared to unsettle the Vatican’s spokesman, who said that there was “nothing illegal, illicit or poorly administered” about the money left off the balance sheet.

Cardinal Pell mentioned me by name in the article, noting that the last years of Benedict XVI’s pontificate were a troubled time for the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican bank. “The bank’s director, Dr Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was sacked by the lay board,” he wrote, “and a power struggle in the Vatican resulted in the regular leaking of information.”

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CALIFORNIA
Visalia Times-Delta

Luis Hernandez, lfhernan@visaliatimesdelta.com
January 7, 2015

Former St. Rita’s Catholic Church priest, the Rev. Ignacio Villafan, was placed on paid administrative leave following his arrest last week on embezzlement charges.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno Chancellor Teresa Dominguez said Villafan “has been removed from an active role” in the church.

Villafan, 49, was taken into custody on two counts of felony grand theft after a lengthy investigation into the church’s handling of its finances. A $50,000 bail was ordered for Villafan when he was arrested last week. According to Tulare County Sheriff’s Department jail records, Villafan is no longer in custody, likely having posted bail. He’s scheduled for an arraignment at Tulare County Superior Court on Jan. 22.

Villafan faces a maximum seven-year prison sentence. Previously, Tulare County Assistant District Attorney Anthony Fultz indicated that’s an unlikely outcome.

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INDIA/UNITED STATES
India Today

A 47-year-old Indian priest has been arrested in the US state of Florida on charges of possessing child pornography, with authorities saying he asked a 14-year-old boy to help him delete about 40 pornographic images of young boys from his phone.

Jose Palimattom, a visiting priest from India, was arrested on Monday on charges of possession of pornography and distributing it to a minor.

He is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of USD 10,000 bail.

Palimottom is a priest of the Franciscan Province of St Thomas the Apostle in India and began serving a two-year residency in December 2014 at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Palm Beach, a parish of the Diocese of Palm Beach.

The priest has allegedly told authorities that he had been reprimanded at his church in India for being “involved with a minor male,” but the incident was not reported to police.

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FLORIDA
WPTV

[with video]

Brian Entin

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A spokeswoman with the Diocese of Palm Beach says they will not bond Father Palimattom out of jail.

Palimattom was arrested Monday after investigators say he showed a minor child pornography.

The Diocese of Palm Beach says Palimattom’s superiors in India will decide whether or not to bond him out on the $10,000 bond, but the local diocese will not be involved.

Diocese officials say background checks revealed no prior misconduct.

According to probable cause reports, a pastor at the church told investigators Palimattom was told to never have contact with a minor without an adult present and also not to go on Facebook.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Noticias Sin

[The Polish Press Agency has reported that based on unofficial information that ex-nuncio Josef Wesolowski suffers from depression. There currently is no information on a trial date at the Vatican and there has been a delay in canonical and legal proceedings. He is alledged to have abused boys in the Dominican Republic and fled to the Vatican.]

REDACCIÓN.- La agencia de Prensa Polaca informó que de acuerdo con información extraoficial el exnuncio Josef Wesolowski sufre de depresión.

Wesolowski después de 60 días de arresto domiciliario ahora está libre. Él no ha sido mantenido bajo custodia debido a su estado de salud.

Según un medio polaco, en la actualidad no hay información sobre la fecha del juicio a Wesolowski, acusado de pederastia en República Dominicana.

Según el medio, al parecer hay un retraso en los procedimientos canónicos y legales en el Vaticano.

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UNITED STATES
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By David Gibson Religion News Service

Cardinal Raymond Burke, a senior American churchman in Rome who has been one of the most outspoken critics of Pope Francis’ push for reform, is roiling the waters yet again, this time arguing that the Catholic Church has become too “feminized.”

Burke, the former St. Louis archbishop who was recently demoted from the Vatican’s highest court to a ceremonial philanthropic post, also pointed to the introduction of altar girls for why fewer men are joining the priesthood.

“Young boys don’t want to do things with girls. It’s just natural,” Burke said in an interview published on Monday. “I think that this has contributed to a loss of priestly vocations. …

Burke’s comments prompted the St. Louis-based group the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, to issue a statement calling on Pope Francis to condemn the remarks.

“The church becomes a more dangerous and unhealthy place when high-ranking Catholic officials mischaracterize and minimize the abuse and cover-up crisis,” the statement read. “That’s why it’s crucial that Francis and other top church staff denounce and clarify Cardinal Raymond Burke’s outrageous claim.”

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IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

by Michael Kelly
January 8, 2015

Ireland is unlikely to see the appointment of a new cardinal until at least 2019. However, changed patterns under Pope Francis could put the tradition of the Archbishop of Armagh being a cardinal in jeopardy.

Pope Francis named his second batch of cardinals at the weekend, including 15 under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a Papal election.

The Pope also appointed five so-called ‘honourary’ cardinals who are over the age of 80 and therefore, ineligible to elect a future Pontiff.

While Armagh’s Cardinal Seán Brady retired in August last year, he continues to be a cardinal-elector and eligible to serve on bodies of the Roman Curia until his 80th birthday in 2019. While retired Archbishop of Dublin Cardinal Desmond Connell, who turns 89 in March, is no longer eligible to vote, he remains an active member of the College of Cardinals.

It was always considered unlikely that the Pope would choose either Archbishop Eamon Martin in Armagh or Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in Dublin in this consistory since it would be unprecedented for such a small country to have two voting cardinals.

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ITALY
Catholic Herald (UK)

by Staff Reporter
posted Thursday, 8 Jan 2015

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi says Benedict XVI called for his immediate rehabilitation in an exclusive article for the Catholic Herald

The ousted chairman of the Vatican bank has urged the cardinal overseeing Vatican financial reform to throughly examine the events that led to his dramatic departure in 2012.

In this week’s edition of the Catholic Herald, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi explains for the first time in detail why he believes he was ousted.

Dr Gotti Tedeschi says he is writing in response to an article by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, published by the Catholic Herald last month.

In the article, Cardinal Pell said the Vatican’s finances were in better shape than many had feared, thanks to the discovery of hundreds of millions of euros that were “tucked away in particular sectional accounts and did not appear on the balance sheet”.

Dr Gotti Tedeschi writes: “Cardinal Pell is absolutely right when he says the Holy See has a strong desire to comply with international standards of financial transparency. That is exactly what Benedict XVI set out to achieve when he launched sweeping reforms of the Vatican’s finances.”

Nine reasons were given at the time for his removal, but Dr Gotti Tedeschi says the reasons were “misleading” and that he is convinced he lost a vote of no confidence after he presented the board “with a plan that would have totally changed the role and governance of the bank”.

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TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News

By JOE SIMNACHER jsimnacher@dallasnews.com
Staff Writer

Published: 07 January 2015

Patricia Ruth Hall “Trish” McLelland of Dallas devoted the last 21 years of her life to preventing predators from harming children.

The legal assistant started with a 1993 research assignment to build a database for a lawsuit against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. After that case was won, she continued to expand the list of church perpetrators, working evenings and weekends.

In 2004, the database was donated to BishopAccountability.org, making it available to the public. It has since grown to include data on priests around the world.

McLelland, 68, died Jan. 1 of natural causes at Grace Presbyterian Village.

A memorial will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Laurel Land Funeral Home, 6000 S. R.L. Thornton Freeway in Dallas.

“I don’t think it’s any exaggeration that the work she did certainly saved lives — it saved kids from being abused,” said Terry McKiernan, founder and president of BishopAccountability.org. “People use that database and find out that priest is now a counselor in a public school or something like that.”

McLelland was gentle and nice to everyone, but had a “steely determination to do the work she did,” McKiernan said.

“She was very, very focused on making sure that this terrible story that she had devoted her life to working on got told,” he said.

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FLORIDA
International Business Times

By Mangala Dilip January 8, 2015

An Indian-origin catholic priest’s hopes of “joy and happiness” in 2015 were thwarted by his arrest in Florida for possession of child pornography and exposing a minor to the same. Reverend Jose Palimattom, 48, a Catholic priest visiting from India, was arrested by Palm Beach County officers on Monday and his bail is set for $10,000.

Priest jose Palimattom from Kerala, India, with his motherFacebook/ Jose Palimattom
West Palm Beach Florida division of abc reports that Palimattom had sought the help of a 4-year old boy to delete over 40 pornographic images of young boys from his phone. The tag words in the images included “little boys,” and “young boys 10-18 yoa”, etc.

The father of the minor was informed of the matter and he immediately contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office. That night, the priest even sent a text to the victim, “goodnight, sweet dreams.”
Palimattom, a priest of the Franciscan Province of St Thomas the Apostle in India, was serving a two-year residency at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Palm Beach from December 2014. He admitted to the officers that back in India he had been reprimanded by his church for being “involved with a minor male”. The incident was not reported to the police.

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OREGON
KTVZ

[the indictment – via KATU]

Kandra Kent

BEND, Ore. –
Appearing by video from jail Wednesday afternoon, Gresham Pastor James Worley got emotional as he heard the charges against him, alleging that he’d sexually abused a boy and girl between 2002 and 2004.

“(The boy) was approximately 2 years old to 4 years old and (the girl) was between 6 and 8,” Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Brigid Turner said in Circuit Judge Randy Miller’s courtroom.

Worley, senior pastor at Powell Valley Church, is charged with numerous counts of raping, sodomizing and sexually abusing the girl. He was arrested late last month in Gresham and brought to Bend Tuesday.

He’s also charged with three counts of inducing the boy and girl to engage in sexual conduct in another person’s view.

Prosecutors worry there’s more victims.

“His access to children over the years, working with children, he is currently a youth pastor in Gresham,” Turner said.

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OREGON
KATU

By Joe Douglass, On Your Side Investigator Published: Jan 7, 2015

BEND, Ore. – A pastor from Gresham accused of sexually abusing children faced a judge for the first time in the case as the prosecutor revealed disturbing new details about the charges on Wednesday.

Brigid Turner, a deputy district attorney in Deschutes County, told the court there were two victims, a boy who was two to four years old at the time of the alleged abuse, and a girl who was six to eight.

Turner said James “Jamie” Worley repeatedly molested the children from 2002 to 2004 in Deschutes County. The indictment includes 37 charges.

“Most of the counts are Class A felonies, sexual abuse committed against two minors,” said Turner.

>>The indictment

As the deputy DA talked about the allegations, Worley shook his head and motioned with his hands before the public defender told him to stop.

KATU has confirmed the alleged victims in the case were not children that Worley worked with.

Still, Turner fears there may be more victims.

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OREGON
Bend Bulletin

By Claire Withycombe / The Bulletin / @kcwithycombe
Published Jan 8, 2015

A Gresham youth pastor is being held on $1 million bail after being indicted in Deschutes County on Wednesday in connection with allegations that he sexually abused his son and stepdaughter more than a decade ago.

James Worley, 42, allegedly abused the children consistently between 2002 and 2004 while he was director of recreation at a facility in Sunriver, where he had contact with minors, said Deputy District Attorney Brigid Turner.

In all, Worley faces 37 charges, including two counts of first-degree rape, 20 counts of first-degree sexual abuse, 11 counts of first-degree sodomy, one count of attempted sodomy and three counts of using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct.

Worley was terminated for misconduct from his position as a police officer in Tillamook in 2007 and currently works as a youth pastor at a church in Gresham. Turner said the abuse was “repeated” and “continuous” and allegedly took place while Worley’s son was 2 to 4 years old and while his stepdaughter was 6 to 8 years old.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

PUBLISHED
08/01/2015

A PRIEST facing dismissal has vowed to fight to clear his name after a top Vatican court rejected his appeal against being defrocked following a Church investigation into child sexual abuse allegations.

Fr Dan Duane (76) told the Irish Independent that he was “very disappointed” by the decision of the Vatican to uphold a ruling of the Apostolic Signatura, one of Rome’s highest clerical courts, which recommended he be dismissed.

Fr Duane, from Mallow, Co Cork, has been in restricted ministry for the past eight years, and had appealed the ruling of a canonical court in Ireland that he be dismissed from the clerical state.

Pope Francis has now endorsed the decision of the Roman court and the Diocese of Cloyne yesterday apologised to those who had levelled abuse allegations for the length of time the clerical dismissal process took.

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SOUTH AFRICA/GERMANY
The Citizen

Alleged paedophile and former Randburg priest Georg Kerkhoff is accused of abusing his 11-year-old godson in German court papers.

Kerkhoff, 56, would go on trial on Friday on 23 charges related to crimes allegedly committed in Krefeld and Nettetal, Germany, from 2001 to 2006.The New Age reported.

According to court papers Kerkhoff allegedly touched his godson’s genitals.

He is also accused of showing the boy and his eight-year-old brother pictures of naked men.

“He also lay naked on [top of] the stripped child and did rhythmic movements during sexual intercourse,” the report quoted court documents.

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CANADA
The Carillon

A former Winnipeg priest is facing allegations of sexual assault against children.

Father Ron Léger, the former pastor of Holy Family Parish on Archibald Street, is charged with three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference.

Two of the sexual assault charges date to the 1980s, while the third charge of sexual assault and the charge of sexual interference were for alleged incidents that occurred between late 2002 and late 2004.

His first court date is Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. in Winnipeg.

Léger is out of custody and currently residing in eastern Canada. He is presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.

Léger was appointed pastor of Holy Family Parish in 1995. Before that, he founded Teen Stop Jeunesse, a teen drop-in centre, in 1980. The centre was originally called Ron’s Drop-In and was located on Rue Des Meurons, but it has since moved to St. Anne’s Road.

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UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

Those who’ll be going to watch the movie ‘Spotlight’ should also go and visit the “Little Rome” in Boston. ‘Spotlight’ is about the Boston Globe’s initial investigation on priest pedophilia (and making Michael Keaton richer than what he already is). “Little Rome” in Boston is the testament written-in-stone of the once-upon-a-time seat of Catholic power of infamous Cardinal Bernard Law (a character in the movie) and where visiting Pope John Paul II slept — which is now owned by Boston College. As the New York Times reported, “The conversion of the cardinals’ residence is the final step in the transformation of a leafy expanse on the western edge of Boston that was once so packed with Catholic institutions — a seminary, a college, the residence and the archdiocesan headquarters — that it was referred to as Little Rome.” The “Little Rome” in Boston is a reminder that — the beginning is not what counts – but – the ending is what matters. “Little Rome” in Boston now joins the ranks of prime real estate of many Catholic churches, especially in New York, that are being shut down and sold for other (secular) uses — just as the New York Times aptly entitled its article, Seat of Boston’s Catholic Power Gives Way to Other Pursuits

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WALTHAM (MA)
BishopAccountability.org

January 7, 2015

It has recently come to our attention that a statement issued by SNAP on September 8, 2014, about Fr. Chinemere Onyeocha of the Altoona-Johnstown diocese has been taken off the SNAP website. BishopAccountability.org has removed the statement from our site because it is no longer on the SNAP site, and because we could find no public sources corroborating assertions in the SNAP statement. Posting the SNAP statement was an error, for which we apologize.

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OREGON
KATU

By Chelsea Kopta, On Your Side Investigator Published: Jan 7, 2015

GRESHAM, Ore. — The investigation into James Worley, an evangelical pastor and former Tillamook police officer who’s now accused of child sex crimes, extends to several other counties across the state of Oregon, KATU’s On Your Side Investigators learned Tuesday.

Worley was already indicted by a Deschutes County grand jury last month but on Tuesday, KATU confirmed that Oregon State Police is investigating other allegations of abuse in counties where Worley lived and worked.

The OSP, which is the lead agency in the Worley investigation, would not specify which counties they were focusing on.

The indictment filed Dec. 16 in Deschutes County charges Worley with 37 counts, including two counts of rape, 20 counts of sexual abuse, 11 counts of sodomy, one count of attempted sodomy and three counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct. The alleged abuse occurred between Sept. 1, 2002 and June 30, 2004 while the children were under the ages of 14 and 12, according to the indictment.

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

By: Dave Aeikens

A former Foley Catholic elementary school student is suing St. Cloud Diocese and a former priest, saying he was abused by a priest that officials knew had abused children.

The suit claims the 50-year-old was abused by the Rev. James Thoennes in the 1970s at the home of Thoennes’s mother in Central Minnesota while he was a student at St. John’s Elementary School.

The suit claims the priest was allowed to continue working and was allowed unlimited access to children including the plaintiff.

The complaint also alleges the Diocese created a public nuisance about how it has handled the charges against Thoennes and 25 other priest alleged to have abused children.

A statement from St. Cloud Diocese said diocese officials have not seen the complaint.

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UNITED STATES
Salon

JENNY KUTNER

American cardinal Raymond Burke is not a progressive guy. The controversial religious leader was demoted from his powerful position as the head of the Vatican’s highest court after criticizing Pope Francis last year, and has not been shy about spewing vitriol at the LGBT community, women’s rights advocates or the Obama administration. In a recent interview with The New Emangelization Project, a website dedicated to attracting men to the church, Burke focused his attention on the “radical” feminists whom he believes have disrupted catholicism, blaming them for the prevalence of priests molesting children.

Burke charged the feminist movement with commandeering the church and forcing leaders to “constantly address women’s issues at the expense of addressing critical issues important to men,” and said that it was “feminization” that led some priests to sexually abuse children:

The Church becomes very feminized. Women are wonderful, of course. They respond very naturally to the invitation to be active in the Church. Apart from the priest, the sanctuary has become full of women. The activities in the parish and even the liturgy have been influenced by women and have become so feminine in many places that men do not want to get involved. […]

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Barry Roche

Wed, Jan 7, 2015

A former priest in the Diocese of Cloyne has lost his appeal against dismissal from the priesthood after the Vatican found that a canonical court was correct in its decision to uphold complaints by five women that he had abused them when minors.

Dan Duane (76), a native of Doneraile in North Cork, had appealed a decision by the Canonical Court in Ireland in March 2013 to dismiss him from the priesthood on foot of evidence given by five woman that he abused them in North Cork in the 1970s and 1980s.

Mr Duane had appealed the canonical court ruling to the Apostolic Signatura, which oversees the administration of justice in the church, and to Pope Francis but the church authorities in Rome rejected the appeal after deliberating for several months on all the evidence presented.

Bishop of Cloyne, Dr William Crean yesterday paid tribute to the women who gave evidence to three priest judges of the canonical court in 2010 and 2012 and he apologised to them for the abuse which they had suffered at the hands of Mr Duane.

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UNITED STATES
The Frisky

Cardinal Raymond Burke once held the high-ranking position of Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. However, last year, Pope Frank — disagreeing with his right-wing positions on things — demoted him to “patron” of the Knights of Malta, which was a major diss.

Now that he has more time on his hands, Cardinal Burke — a man known for having spent $20,000 on a bejeweled crown and $30,000 on a glamorous 20-foot long cape (pictured above) — is giving out interviews to prestigious internet sites like “The New eMANgelization” about how women went and ruined the Catholic Church with all their silly talk of liberation and whathaveyou.

The interview, friends, is utterly, utterly priceless. About as priceless as you would imagine a Catholic MRA site interview with a demoted priest fond of bejeweled crowns would be. It’s full of interesting tidbits about how the women’s liberation movement just about ruined the Catholic Church because we feminized all the men and girls are allowed to be “altar girls” now. There are also, naturally, some fun parts about why boys need to start telling their priests about their masturbation habits.

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ARGENTINA/ITALIA
La Gaceta

[Italy may refuse extradition priest accused of abuse. The extradition of Alessandro Rossi , the priest accused of sexual abuse, from Italy to our country must be processed under the provisions of Law No. 23,719, which is the Extradition Treaty signed with the Italian Republic. Among other regulations, the treaty allows either country to refuse to extradite a national.]

La extradición de Alessandro de Rossi, el sacerdote acusado de abuso sexual, desde Italia a nuestro país debe tramitarse conforme lo dispuesto por la ley Nº 23.719, que es la Convención de Extradición firmada con la República Italiana. Entre otras normativas, el tratado permite a cualquiera de los dos países a rehusarse a extraditar a un nacional.

El sacerdote italiano fue arrestado en Roma por pedido de la justicia salteña, que ahora tiene 45 días para solicitar la extradición antes que vuelva a quedar libre. Si esa solicitud llegase a concretarse, el artículo N° 4 establece que “cada parte podrá rehusar la extradición del propio nacional” y que en caso de negarla, “la parte requerida tendrá la obligación, a pedido de la parte requirente, de someter el caso a las propias autoridades competentes para la eventual promoción de un proceso penal”.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry has been told that a young boy was scalded by boiling water after being assaulted by a nun at a Belfast children’s home.

The victim was praised by the inquiry’s chairman for making “considerable physical effort” to give evidence.

The inquiry is examining abuse claims at Nazareth House and Nazareth Lodge.

The homes were run by the Sisters of Nazareth, who have repeated an earlier apology to all abused in their care.

The inquiry’s chairman, Sir Anthony Harte, said the victim, now an elderly man, has just been discharged from hospital but was “determined to come”.

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FLORIDA
National Catholic Reporter

Catholic News Service | Jan. 7, 2015

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. An Indian priest faced an obscenity charge after asking a teenage boy to help him delete images of child pornography from his cellphone.
Franciscan Fr. Jose Palimattom was jailed Monday after admitting he asked a 14-year-old boy to help delete various files on his phone and that the image showed up during the purge.

Police said he also told them he had been reprimanded by his superiors in Franciscan Province of St. Thomas the Apostle in India for being involved with a boy, but that the incident was not reported to law enforcement authorities.

The Palm Beach diocese said Palimattom began serving at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Palm Beach in December after being screened. The diocese said he had been certified for ministry by provincial authorities in India.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Alicia Fabbre
Chicago Tribune

For the third time in three years, the Diocese of Joliet and a former priest are the subject of a lawsuit charging abuse.

Attorneys for Stan Lewandowski, 47, filed the lawsuit in Will County last week. The suit alleges Lewandowski was abused by Lawrence Gibbs, a priest who left the ministry in the 1990s following allegations of abuse.

Lewandowski, who was 10 at the time of the alleged abuse, served as an altar boy at Divine Savior Catholic Church in Downers Grove and attended a religious retreat with Gibbs and other boys during the summer of 1977, according to the lawsuit.

The 12-count lawsuit claims Gibbs gave Lewandowski alcohol and played strip poker with him. Gibbs also allegedly showed Lewandowski pornography and taught him how to masturbate. Gibbs also performed oral sex on the boy, according to the lawsuit.

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CANADA
CBC News

A former colleague of a priest charged with sexual assault and sexual interference says he believes Father Ronald Léger is innocent.

“I feel really sorry for him and also for all the parishioners​ because Father Ron was an excellent priest,” said Jean-Jacques Serceau, who is the director of Holy Family Parish on Archibald Street. “I don’t think he can commit something like that.”

Serceau said he has known Léger for almost a decade and considers him a close friend.

He added the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Boniface, Albert LeGatt, will speak and offer help at mass next Sunday.

“At least now it’s out and at least we have to deal with that,” said Serceau.

Some Winnipeg Catholics say they will be watching this story closely.

“Priests are often in a position of authority,” said Ken Jones, who does not go to Holy Family Parish. “It’s like anything that’s hidden. Until you talk about it, until you bring it out to the light of day, it stays hidden. That’s unfortunate for the church and especially for the victims.”

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

dunze@stcloudtimes.com January 7, 2015

A former student at a Foley elementary school has sued a former St. Cloud Diocese priest, accusing him of abusing him years after the diocese knew the priest had abused other children.

The lawsuit accuses Rev. James Thoennes of abusing the boy in the early 1970s when Thoennes was assigned to St. John Parish in Foley. The suit says Thoennes abused the child at Thoennes’ mother’s home in Central Minnesota, a place where Thoennes invited several children to accompany him on overnight visits.

The lawsuit also names the diocese as a defendant and accuses the diocese of knowing that Thoennes had abused children before it assigned him to Foley.

Thoennes was deposed in September for a separate lawsuit and admitted sexually abusing at least five boys while working as a priest in the St. Cloud Diocese.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with video]

Written by
Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Pacific Daily News

A few dozen of the island’s Catholics took their prayers to the streets yesterday afternoon in another attempt to call the Vatican’s attention to a variety of concerns about the current leadership of the island’s Catholic Church.

Holding rosaries, saying prayers, and a few of them carrying statues, they walked several blocks from a vacant lot across from St. Anthony’s church in Tamuning to the Carmelite monastery compound, where visiting representatives of the Vatican were holding private meetings with certain members of the local church community.

Yesterday’s walk was the first of three public prayer events being held this week by certain members of the local Catholic community who have been trying to call the Vatican’s attention — for months — to problems they’ve said have divided the local Catholic Church.

Danny Cabe, one of about 50 people who joined the prayer walk, held a statue of Mother Mary.

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IRELAND
Evening Echo

The Vatican has rejected an appeal by a former-priest in the diocese of Cloyne against dismissal from the priesthood over child sexual abuse.

Dan Duane from Mallow, Co Cork was defrocked in 2013, following a Canonical trial for abusing teenagers and minors, and he appealed that decision to Rome.

Mr Duane was previously acquitted of indecent assault at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on two occasions in 2011.

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CANADA
Winnipeg Free Press

A former Winnipeg priest is facing allegations of sexual assault against children.

Father Ron Léger, the former pastor of Holy Family Parish on Archibald Street, has been charged with three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference.

Two of the sexual assault charges date back to the 1980s, while the third charge of sexual assault and the charge of sexual interference were for alleged incidents that occurred between late 2002 and late 2004.

His first court date is Jan. 26 at 1 p.m.

Léger is out of custody and currently residing in eastern Canada. He is presumed innocent until a court of law proves otherwise.

Léger was appointed pastor of Holy Family Parish in 1995. Before that, he founded Teen Stop Jeunesse, a teen drop-in centre, in 1980. The centre was originally called Ron’s Drop-In and was located on Rue Des Meurons, but it has since moved to the 500 block of St. Anne’s Rd.

In a statement provided Wednesday, the Winnipeg Police Service said the investigation into the case was completed by officers with the child abuse unit.

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UNITED STATES
International Business Times

By Zoe Mintz

American Cardinal Raymond Burke, a known conservative and one of Pope Francis’ biggest critics, says the “radical feminist movement” has left Roman Catholic men feeling “marginalized” since the 1960s. His comments were made in an interview published Jan. 5 with Matthew James Christoff of “The New Emangelization,” a Catholic men’s ministry.

“Men are often reluctant to become active in the Church. The feminized environment and the lack of the Church’s effort to engage men has led many men to simply opt out,” Burke said. He points to the popularity of pornography, saying it promotes extramarital sex, a “materialistic and consumer-focused” society that pushes parents to work longer hours and the introduction of altar girls as reasons for men to feel reluctant to be active Catholics.

“The introduction of girl servers also led many boys to abandon altar service. Young boys don’t want to do things with girls. It’s just natural. The girls were also very good at altar service. So many boys drifted away over time,” Burke said, adding that this contributed to the declining number of priestly vocations in the church.

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DALLAS (TX)

The memorial service for Trish McLelland has been scheduled for:

Thursday, January 8, 2015
2:00 p.m.

Laurel Land Funeral Home
6000 South R. L. Thornton Free
Dallas, TX 75232
214-371-1336

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UNITED STATES
The New EMANgelization

Recently, I had the great honor to have an audience with His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke to discuss the state of Catholic men in the United States.

Here is the full transcript:

Matthew James Christoff of the New Emangelization Project: Your Eminence, we are delighted and blessed to be here with you. Today, we are here to talk about the state of Catholic men in the United States and how we might draw more men into the New Evangelization. Maybe to start, how would Your Eminence describe the state of men in the Catholic Church today?

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke: I think there has been a great confusion with regard to the specific vocation of men in marriage and of men in general in the Church during the past 50 years or so. It’s due to a number of factors, but the radical feminism which has assaulted the Church and society since the 1960s has left men very marginalized.

Unfortunately, the radical feminist movement strongly influenced the Church, leading the Church to constantly address women’s issues at the expense of addressing critical issues important to men; the importance of the father, whether in the union of marriage or not; the importance of a father to children; the importance of fatherhood for priests; the critical impact of a manly character; the emphasis on the particular gifts that God gives to men for the good of the whole society.

The goodness and importance of men became very obscured, and for all practical purposes, were not emphasized at all. This is despite the fact that it was a long tradition in the Church, especially through the devotion of St. Joseph, to stress the manly character of the man who sacrifices his life for the sake of the home, who prepares with chivalry to defend his wife and his children and who works to provide the livelihood for the family. So much of this tradition of heralding the heroic nature of manhood has been lost in the Church today.

All of those virtuous characteristics of the male sex are very important for a child to observe as they grow up and mature. The healthy relationship with the father helps the child to prepare to move from the intimate love of the mother, building a discipline so that the child can avoid excessive self‑love. This ensures that the child is able to identify himself or herself properly as a person in relationship with others; this is critical for both boys and girls.

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UNITED STATES
The Raw Story

DAVID FERGUSON
07 JAN 2015

A controversial conservative Catholic cardinal said in an interview that the forces of “radical feminism” have brought the once-mighty church to its knees, led to a “fluffy,” feminized view of sexuality and made way for generations of pedophile priests.

Cardinal Raymond Burke said in an interview with website “The New Emangelism: Drawing Men to Jesus Christ and His Catholic Church” that the church needs to return to its male-centered roots and stop catering to “women’s issues” in order to regain its once robust standing in the world.

Burke is the former St. Louis Cardinal who headed the Vatican’s highest court until a recent run-in with Pope Francis saw him demoted to a ceremonial position far from the church’s seat of power.

Burke has used his position in the Catholic hierarchy to harangue Democrats and endorse radical Republican politics, an ideological orientation that has been increasingly at odds with the new Pope’s more pluralistic church.

Now Burke is lashing out at what he sees as an over-feminized church that has “marginalized men.”

“I think there has been a great confusion with regard to the specific vocation of men in marriage and of men in general in the Church during the past 50 years or so,” Burke told The New Emangelism (TME) in an interview published Monday. “It’s due to a number of factors, but the radical feminism which has assaulted the Church and society since the 1960s has left men very marginalized.”

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IRELAND
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference

A former priest of the Cloyne Diocese, who was dismissed from the clerical state following a Canonical trial for abusing teenagers and minors, has had his appeal rejected by the authorities in Rome. The decision was taken after a long period of deliberation on all the evidence provided.

Dan Duane, from Mallow, appealed the decision of the Canonical Court in Ireland to dismiss him from clerical ministry to the Apostolic Signatura and Pope Francis. The appeal has now been turned down.

Bishop William Crean, Bishop of Cloyne said: “We are most grateful to the survivors of abuse who had the courage to come forward to tell their stories. This long and painful process for all involved has now reached completion. We regret that the process took so long.

“On behalf of the priests and people of the Diocese may I once again extend my deepest sympathy and sorrow that they had to suffer so much from a person in whom they had placed their trust. I apologise to them once again and to all who have suffered abuse of any kind at the hands of clergy.

“I want to assure the people of Cloyne that the most comprehensive child protection measures are in place in the Diocese to ensure that these evil acts never again occur. We can never be complacent and the work continues on a daily basis, by hundreds of people, to ensure that our children and young people are safe from harm.”

The Vatican’s decision has been communicated privately to the survivors of abuse in this case.

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IRELAND
RTE News

A former priest of the Diocese of Cloyne in Co Cork has lost his appeal against his dismissal as a cleric.

Dan Duane, who is in his mid-70s and from Mallow, was defrocked in March 2013 following a canonical trial for abusing teenagers and minors, the diocese said in a statement.

This afternoon, the diocese announced that Mr Duane’s appeal against his dismissal had been rejected by church authorities in Rome.

Bishop of Cloyne Dr William Crean paid tribute to people who had come forward to tell their stories. He apologised to them and expressed sorrow to them.

Dr Crean insisted that what he called comprehensive child protection measures were now in place in the Diocese of Cloyne.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Jan. 7

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

We are grateful that Albany Catholic officials are removing the name of a credibly accused predator priest from a church building but saddened by their refusal to explain why and because of their apparent rationale for the move.

[Watershed Post]

Despite at least two child sex abuse accusations against Fr. Robert H. Purcell – at least one of them deemed “credible” by church officials – Purcell’s name remained until just days ago on a building at Sacred Heart Parish in Margaretville. Albany diocesan officials removed him from ministry, but callously kept his name on church property for more than four years.

Now, adding insult to injury, they refuse to explain why his name was removed.

A church strategic planning report recommended the sign change. Joanne Callahan, a Sacred Heart’s parishioner who wrote the report said it didn’t mention the abuse charges against Fr. Purcell but “came to the conclusion that (the building) is underused, we’re going to try to get it more used.”

“Removing Purcell’s name from the sign appears to be key to that strategy,” reported a local newspaper.

Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, Fr. Steven Scarmozzino and other church officials should be ashamed of themselves. They should

–apologize for keeping Purcell’s name on the building for years,
–apologize for their secrecy about the report,
–explain why the sign has now been changed, and
–use their vast resources to aggressively seek out others who may have been hurt by Fr. Purcell and other child molesting clerics in the Albany diocese.

Because almost no Catholic official ever does this kind of aggressive outreach, we beg every single person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in the Albany diocese to come forward, get help, call police, expose wrongdoers, deter deceit and start healing.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Jan. 7

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 503 0003, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org )

A controversial cardinal “blames gay clergy for the church’s sexual abuse crisis,” and says priests “who were feminized and confused about their own sexual identity” molested children.

[Religion News Service]

The church becomes a more dangerous and unhealthy place when high-ranking Catholic officials mischaracterize and minimize the abuse and cover up crisis. That’s why it’s crucial that Francis and other top church staff denounce and clarify Cardinal Raymond Burke’s outrageous claim.

If one must identify only one crux of the crisis, it is the widespread and continuing cover ups by bishops, – not the crimes or motives of individual priests – that should be cited. To focus strictly on the “bad apple” child molesting clerics – and ignore the devastating role of selfish and secretive bishops – is irresponsible.

In the eyes of many, Burke is a discredited, demoted fanatic. Still, he remains a cardinal and a Vatican official with millions of admirers. His words hurt victims and confuse parishioners. They should not stand unaddressed. It’s callous of Catholic officials do nothing when their colleagues make hurtful comments that make victims, witnesses and whistleblowers become hopeless and stay silent.

We beg Pope Francis to set the record straight here.

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IRELAND
Newstalk

The Vatican has rejected an appeal by an ex-priest in the diocese of Cloyne against dismissal from the priesthood over child sexual abuse.

Dan Duane from Mallow was defrocked in 2013, following a Canonical trial for abusing teenagers and minors, and he appealed that decision to Rome.

Mr Duane was previously acquitted of indecent assault at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on two occasions in 2011.

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UNITED STATES
Jeff Anderson & Associates

BLOG: PATRICK J. WALL

The Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph has announced that Father Robert Harrison OFM cap has admitted to sexually abusing minors under his care. The fact that a Roman Catholic priest has sexually violated a child while standing in loco parentis is not new.

What is new is that Father Robert Harrison OFM cap went undetected for half a century.
Ordained in 1964, Father Harrison was well trained by the Hierarchy. Father Robert studied philosophy, theology, social work and law. Harrison was given the tools to detect weaknesses, select a vulnerable child and conceal his crimes for several decades.

What stands out however is that for over 50 years dozens of Archbishops, Bishops, Provincials, Pastors and Principles failed to catch a confessed child molester in their midst.

Before Father Harrison confessed he served under dozens of Roman Catholic officials including:

8 Capuchin Provincials, 3 Archbishops of Milwaukee, 4 Archbishop of New York, 6 School Principals and dozens of Pastors and local Capuchin superiors.

Harrison evaded several audits and reviews.

In 2002, the USCCB in Dallas ended the one bite philosophy towards child sexual abuse by clerics and religious. The conference of major superiors of Men in 2003 also promised zero tolerance.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

David Gibson | January 7, 2015

(RNS) Cardinal Raymond Burke, a senior American churchman in Rome who has been one of the most outspoken critics of Pope Francis’ push for reform, is roiling the waters yet again, this time arguing that the Catholic Church has become too “feminized.”

Burke, who was recently demoted from the Vatican’s highest court to a ceremonial philanthropic post, pointed to the introduction of altar girls for why fewer men are joining the priesthood.

“Young boys don’t want to do things with girls. It’s just natural,” Burke said in an interview published on Monday (Jan. 5). “I think that this has contributed to a loss of priestly vocations.

“It requires a certain manly discipline to serve as an altar boy in service at the side of (a) priest, and most priests have their first deep experiences of the liturgy as altar boys,” the former archbishop of St. Louis told Matthew James Christoff, who heads a Catholic men’s ministry that called the New Emangelization Project.

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UNITED STATES
Wonkette

by Rebecca Schoenkopf
Jan 07

There’s this Catholic Cardinal — Raymond Cardinal Burke — and he is the worst! New Pope demoted him already, because Burke is a super-dick, but New Pope forgot to tell him to STFU and go die in a fire. How is Burke delighting us with his words today? Well, he interviews with “The New Emangelization” (not kidding) about how “radical feminists” murdered the Catholic Church. Because of course he fucking did. For his next trick, he will probably cover up some child molestations and excommunicate the entire Democratic Party. Oh wait, he already did.

So which shit, of the holy variety, is bubbling from Raymond Cardinal Burke’s flaccid lips today? Let us blockquote them for you, because we’re not afraid to be servicey!

Radical Feminism ‘Assaulted’ the Church

[T]he radical feminism which has assaulted the Church and society since the 1960s has left men very marginalized.

Unfortunately, the radical feminist movement strongly influenced the Church, leading the Church to constantly address women’s issues at the expense of addressing critical issues important to men; the importance of the father, whether in the union of marriage or not; the importance of a father to children; the importance of fatherhood for priests; the critical impact of a manly character; the emphasis on the particular gifts that God gives to men for the good of the whole society.

We may have seen some radical guitar masses in the 1970s. Radical feminists at Mass, assaulting the Church until it forgot to include “critical issues important to men”? Not so much! And WTF is the “importance of fatherhood for priests”? We thought that was one of those things priests are not actually supposed to do, or it will lead to them becoming hot and sexy DEFROCKED priests? And why are the radical feminists making priests wear frocks anyway?

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FLORIDA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach

By: DPB Office of Communications
Date: January 6, 2015

In response to the arrest and criminal charges filed against Reverend Jose Palimattom, OFM, a priest visiting from India, the Diocese of Palm Beach is issuing the following statement:

“The Diocese of Palm Beach is greatly concerned and takes very seriously the charges against Father Jose Palimattom, OFM. Father Palimottom is a priest of the Franciscan Province of St. Thomas the Apostle in India and began serving in December 2014 at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Palm Beach, a parish of the Diocese of Palm Beach. Father Palimattom was arrested yesterday on charges of possession of pornography and distributing it to a minor.

Upon learning about the allegations, the Diocese of Palm Beach immediately contacted authorities and cooperated in the investigation conducted by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. This cooperation resulted in the arrest of Father Palimattom.

The Diocese of Palm Beach completes a thorough screening of visiting priests and religious before granting them faculties to minister or celebrate sacraments within its diocese. As part of its due diligence, the diocese completed a background screening which also included a screening in India, and received a Certificate of Aptitude from the Minister Provincial in India. During this background process, no prior misconduct was revealed.

Bishop Gerald Barbarito wishes to assure the faithful community that this allegation is being taken very seriously and expresses sincere regret to the family involved and all the faithful hurt by this regrettable matter.

The Diocese of Palm Beach encourages anyone who may have additional information on this or similar matters to contact the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office at 561 688-3400 and the Chancellor of the Diocese of Palm Beach at 561-775-9500.”

The Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach encompasses the five counties of Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee. Comprised of 280,000 Catholics in 53 parishes and missions, the diocese also serves the faithful community through its schools.

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FLORIDA
WBZT

The Diocese of Palm Beach is responding to the arrest of a visiting priest from India.

The Reverend Jose Palimattom began serving at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Palm Beach last month. Investigators say he showed a 14 year old parishioner his cell phone, with about 40 images of nude pre-teen boys, asking for help in deleting the pictures.

Detectives say the 47 year old priest told them he had been reprimanded by his superiors in India for involvement with a minor. But the local Diocese says it did a thorough background check and no prior misconduct was revealed.

Here is the official statement from the Diocese of Palm Beach, with regards to this incident:

“The Diocese of Palm Beach is greatly concerned and takes very seriously the charges against Father Jose Palimattom, OFM. Father Palimottom is a priest of the Franciscan Province of St. Thomas the Apostle in India and began serving in December 2014 at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Palm Beach, a parish of the Diocese of Palm Beach. Father Palimattom was arrested yesterday on charges of possession of pornography and distributing it to a minor.

Upon learning about the allegations, the Diocese of Palm Beach immediately contacted authorities and cooperated in the investigation conducted by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. This cooperation resulted in the arrest of Father Palimattom.

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NEW YORK
NY1

[with video]

A longtime teacher at a Bronx Catholic school has been dismissed after the school says he admitted to sexually abusing children several decades ago.

Cardinal Hayes High School sent a letter to parents Monday telling them that Father Robert Harrison had been removed.

He has also been stripped of his ability to serve as a priest or engage in any type of ministry.

The letter said Harrison told school officials about the abuse just before Christmas break, during an investigation into his finances.

Harrison said the abuse took place in the 1970s and 80s in the Bronx, Manhattan and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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IRELAND
The Journal

A FORMER PRIEST who was cleared of criminal charges of child abuse but was dismissed by the church has had his appeal rejected by authorities in Rome.

Dan Duane of the Cloyne Diocese had appealed the decision by the Canonical Court in Ireland to remove him from the priesthood but the Vatican has dismissed the appeal.

Numerous accusations of abuse against Duane were made to gardaí but just two made it to trial, both of which led to the Mallow man being cleared.

Duane’s appeal to the Apostolic Signatura and Pope Francis led to the Catholic Church’s judicial authority reviewing all the evidence against him.

The appeal has now been turned down following “a long period of deliberation”.

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MARYLAND
WTOP

By Kate Ryan | @kryanwtop.com
January 7, 2015

WASHINGTON — An Episcopal bishop called a colleague last month to tell him she thought she had hit a cyclist and was “in shock.”

In a statement released Tuesday, the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland outlined the events after 58-year-old Bishop Heather Elizabeth Cook reportedly hit a cyclist on Dec. 27. Cyclist Tom Palermo, 41, of Baltimore, was killed.

According to the diocese’s statement, at 2:59 p.m. Bishop Cook called the Rev. Scott Slater. She told him she thought she hit a cyclist and “was in shock.” Slater arrived at the scene and found her with police in a patrol car.

At 5:27 p.m., Slater got a call from the Baltimore City Police, who said he could pick up Cook.

Slater took the bishop to her apartment, made sure a friend would stay with her, prayed with her, then left.

Tuesday’s statement from the church explains that a disciplinary inquiry, referred to as a Title IV within the church, is underway. In the meantime, Cook remains on leave with pay and benefits.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Church and State

Exclusive excerpt from Geoffrey Robertson’s book, The Case of the Pope: Vatican Accountability for Human Rights Abuse (published by Penguin Books in 2010). This book delivers a devastating indictment of the way the Vatican has run a secret legal system that shields paedophile priests from criminal trial around the world.

Is the Pope morally or legally responsible for the negligence that has allowed so many terrible crimes to go unpunished? Should he and his seat of power, the Holy See, continue to enjoy an immunity that places them above the law?

Geoffrey Robertson QC, a distinguished human rights lawyer and judge, evinces a deep respect for the good works of Catholics and their church. But, he argues, unless Pope Benedict XVI can divest himself of the beguilements of statehood and devotion to obsolescent Canon law, the Vatican will remain a serious enemy to the advance of human rights.

In the exclusive excerpt below – the first six pages of Chapter 10, “Can the Pope be Sued?” – Robertson reveals that unless the Vatican confronts its history of protecting paedophile priests and abandons its claim to deal with them under Canon Law, then its leader might well be sued for damages or end up as the subject of investigation by the prosecutor at an international court.

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GUAM
KUAM

by Jolene Toves

Guam – As the Concerned Catholics of Guam organization met with a delegation from the Vatican on island for a pastoral visit late this afternoon, the Archdiocese of Agana responds to the findings of the group’s investigation into the Redemptoris Mater Seminary – and according to Father Adrian Cristobal the multimillion dollar property remains an asset of the archdiocese, despite claims and documents provided by the CCOG.

Father Cristobal, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Agana, is responding to recent concerns raised by the group which believes the seminary property is no longer an asset of the archdiocese and that the seminary is not following its intended mission to form young men into diocesan priests.

In response to questions submitted in writing to the archdiocese, Father Adrian says that could not be further from the truth ‘this is totally false” . Father Adrian says the title is listed in the property of the Archdiocese of Agana. Matter of fact he also states that the property came into the archdiocese thanks to the Neocatechumenal Way.

He also responds to the CCOG’s contention that in December 2011 Archbishop Anthony Apuron signed off on a declaration of deed against the advice of the Archdiocese Finance Council. Father Adrian again denies those allegations. He says it was the other way around and that the council wanted to alienate the property ” in fact had the intention to sell the property to cover the debt incurred by the cathedral and catholic cemeteries.”

Father Adrian said that the establishment of a diocesan seminary and a prestigious theological institute are “goods” of such paramount importance for the life of the diocese that to think to sell the property to cover a deficit is “unthinkable and it would be irresponsible for the archbishop to even harbor that idea. The seminary and the institute are both essential to help the evangelization in the Pacific.” and cites that Canon Law 114 requires that a seminary possess the means necessary for fulfilling its goals including the stability of the property on which it is operating.

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FLORIDA
Florida Times-Union

By Matt Sedensky Wed, Jan 7, 2015

WEST PALM BEACH — A Catholic priest from India was jailed after asking a 14-year-old boy to help him delete dozens of images of child pornography from his phone, authorities said.

When questioned by police, the Rev. Jose Palimattom said he had been reprimanded by his superiors in India for his involvement with a boy, authorities said. When he came to the U.S., the pastor at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in West Palm Beach told him he was not allowed to have contact with minors without another adult present, and was restricted from using Facebook, according to a police report.

Palimattom was in jail Tuesday on an obscenity charge.

The Diocese of Palm Beach said it had done a thorough background screening on Palimattom, but that no prior conduct was revealed.

“This allegation is being taken very seriously,” the diocese said in a statement.

Dianne Laubert, a spokeswoman for the diocese, provided no immediate clarification as to why the priest claimed restrictions were placed on him. She said she was not aware of a lawyer being hired on Palimattom’s behalf, and there was no mention of one in initial court filings.

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NEW YORK
WPIX

JANUARY 6, 2015, BY ANDREA CAVALLIER

THE BRONX (PIX11) — A priest and junior varisity basketball coach at a prestigious Bronx high school has admitted to sexually abusing minors, according to school officials.

A letter was sent home Jan. 5 to inform parents that Father Robert Harrison had been fired after his confession.

According to a statement released by the president of Cardinal Hayes High School, Harrison confessed to sexually abusing minors in the 1970s and the 1980s.

Harrison was initially being questioned about his alleged mishandling of finances when he made the admission shortly before Christmas break.

It is not clear if the alleged victims were students at Cardinal Hayes, an all-boys Catholic high school in the Concourse Village section of the Bronx. It has an enrollment of about 940 students, according to the school’s website.

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UNITED STATES
Bizpac Review

Rabbi rallies Jewish people to support Alan Dershowitz through rape allegations: ‘He deserves our solidarity’

The sex trade scandal involving Britain’s Prince Andrew is hurting the reputations of several famous figures including prominent attorney and defender of Israel, Alan Dershowitz, with allegations that he engaged in sexual acts with a minor.

In the lawsuit brought by a woman against financier Jeffrey Epstein, Dershowitz is named with others such as the aforementioned prince, former president Bill Clinton, and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

The woman, who was a minor at the time, alleges that Dershowitz engaged in sexual activity with her on multiple occasions, according to the Washington Post.

But Dershowitz has at least one staunch defender, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.

The Rabbi wrote on op-ed in the New York Observer where he said he believes the attorney and called on the Jewish community to stand firm behind Dershowitz even though no one knows if the allegations against him are factual yet.

“There is no way any of us can know if any of this is true. But I believe Mr. Dershowitz, and not just because he denies it,” he said. “Rather, it would seem that if any of this happened the woman in question would seek criminal charges against Mr. Dershowitz, or at the very least civil damages.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mondaq

Last Updated: 6 January 2015
Article by Judith Martin and Mary Coyles
Clyde & Co

Amidst wider claims of failings within Westminster and the Criminal Justice system, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, states that the new wider panel inquiry into historic child abuse will examine churches, the BBC and political parties.

The government is now facing increasing pressure about the viability of the inquiry in its current form. There is pressure for the inquiry to be disbanded and replaced with a more powerful body. Inevitably if this occurs there will be further delays and it remains to be seen what format the inquiry will ultimately take. The inquiry has previously faced controversy having already come under pressure and scrutiny with criticisms about potential conflicts of interest and that it is not fit for purpose. Fiona Wolfe, Lord Mayor of London, resigned in October amidst concerns and issues with her past links to Lord Brittan followed by the resignation of Baroness Butler-Sloss in July, owing to her late brother’s role as Attorney General during one of the relevant periods. It is fair to say that whoever is finally appointed as the Chair of the inquiry will have a challenging task ahead.

Despite the current challenges and controversy the Home Secretary appears to remain steadfast in her commitment to the inquiry and has confirmed the government’s willingness to consider, if necessary, an upgrade to a full public inquiry. She has also suggested the possibility of granting the inquiry statutory status at some point in the future. The Home Secretary reiterates that the “confidence of survivors is paramount.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

BY STAFF REPORTER – 07 JANUARY 2015

The oldest witness to appear before the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry has recounted how he endured savage daily beatings with a leather strap from a nun in Nazareth Lodge – and how he was sexually abused by other boys at the Belfast home.

Speaking from his wheelchair, the 89-year old man shared harrowing memories of bed-wetting, physical and sexual abuse while in the care of the religious organisation his mother had trusted to look after him.

He told the inquiry session that his punishment for wetting his bed was to be stripped naked, placed in a freezing bath and be doused with buckets of water; he would then have to kneel, still naked, in front of one of the nuns, while she beat him with a leather strap.

Entering Nazareth Lodge in 1929 at the age of three, after his father had abandoned his family, from then on he only saw his mother for an hour each summer.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

An 89-year-old man has described how he was sexually abused by teenage boys and beaten by nuns at Nazareth Lodge home in Belfast.

He is the oldest witness to appear before the Historical Institutional Abuse in Banbridge, County Down.

The man, who appeared in a wheelchair, said he was just three years old when he arrived at the home.

He talked about being attacked. But he also said that as an adult he had a good life and was “free as a bird”.

The man said his father had abandoned the family and his mother left him at the home. She wanted to get an education in the hope that her family would have a better life, he said.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: Sharp Drop in Religious Affiliation in Northeastern U.S. Due to Catholic Abuse Crisis and Bishops Shielding Child Molesters

This is a Catholic birdcage dropping in that it addresses Catholic issues: as Fred Clark points out at his Slacktivist site today, yesterday at his Spiritual Polticis site, Mark Silk looked at the story of religious decline in the northeastern U.S. Mark notes that Rod Dreher recently asked for help in understanding why there’s such precipitous decline in religious affiliation of late in that region of the country.

Here’s Mark’s sharp analysis: noting that the American Religious Identification Survey 2008 report and PRRI’s American Religion Atlas show a decline in religious affiliation from 84 percent to 64 percent in the Northeast in the period 1990-2013, Mark observes,

The answer has everything to do with Roman Catholicism, the region’s largest religious tradition. From 1990 to 2013, the proportion of self-identified Catholics in the Northeast shrank dramatically, from 43 percent to 31 percent. By contrast, the Catholic proportion of the population in the rest of the country has declined by only four points, from 26 percent to 22 percent.

Much of the regional disparity has to do with the church’s Latinization. Latino immigration has been disproportionately into the West and the South, increasing the percentage of Catholics in each region. But this does not explain the difference between the Northeast and the Midwest, where the Catholic proportion of the population has declined by just six points (27 percent to 21 percent), despite having fewer Latino immigrants.

To be sure, shrinking Northeastern Catholicism does not account for the entire decline in Northeastern Christianity. The proportion of non-Catholic Christians in the Northeast shrank by 17 percent between 1990 and 2013, from 41 percent to 34 percent. That, however, is equivalent to the shrinkage of non-Catholics in the Midwest (16 percent) and well below the West (26 percent) and the South (29 percent). In other words, to the extent that the Northeast has de-christianized relative to the rest of the country, it has to do with Catholics — and specifically, with white Catholics.

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OREGON
KMTR

GRESHAM, Ore. – An evangelical pastor and former police officer is facing more than 30 charges of sex crimes involving two children, one boy and one girl.

James Daniel Worley, 42, has been a senior pastor at Powell Valley Church in Gresham since 2012, according to the church’s website.

The indictment filed Dec. 16 in Deschutes County charges Worley with 37 counts, including two counts of rape, 20 counts of sexual abuse, 11 counts of sodomy, one count of attempted sodomy and three counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.

In the latter three counts, the documents state Worley “did unlawfully and knowingly induce (the victims) … to engage in sexually explicit conduct for a person to observe.”

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MISSOURI
Christian Today

Published 07 January 2015 | Diana Lyn Lopez-Mitjavile

Travis R. Smith, a Baptist preacher charged with felony child sex abuse, got a new court date. Instead of having to appear in court during the first week of January at the Moniteau County Court, the accused is scheduled to appear on Jan. 16.

The 44-year-old Smith was arrested in 2012 for child sexual abuse cases that allegedly occurred in 1998, 1999 and 2005. The charges included forcible rape, statutory rape and sexual abuse. The 2005 charge included alleged acts involving sodomy.

This would not be the first time the preacher has faced a judge in court for child molestation charges. He was acquitted back in 2011 for another sex abuse charge involving a minor.

Smith was arrested by the Missouri State Highway Patrol back in October 2014 following an intensive investigation by one division that worked with drug and crime control. The state police had the accused transferred over to the Moniteau County Sheriff’s Department.

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OREGON
KTVZ

BEND, Ore. –
A 42-year-old Gresham pastor and fired Tillamook police officer was arrested late last month and brought to the Deschutes County Jail on Tuesday, where he was booked on 37 rape and abuse charges involving crimes with two children 10 to 12 years ago.

James Daniel Worley, senior pastor at Powell Valley Church in Gresham, was arrested Dec. 30 in Multnomah County following a Dec. 16 grand jury indictment. He was transported Tuesday to the Deschutes County Jail in Bend, one day before an initial court appearance scheduled Wednesday afternoon. He was being held on $500,000 bail.

The charges include 20 counts of first-degree sex abuse, two counts of first-degree rape, 11 counts of first-degree sodomy, one count of attempted sodomy and three counts of using a child in sexually explicit conduct, jail records show. The charges involve two children who under the ages of 14 and 12 and allege crimes in Deschutes County between Sept. 1, 2002 and June 30, 2004.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Education Minister Peter Collier has revealed that one small school in Perth is using corporal punishment against students, which is still allowed in a loophole in the legislation.

The Western Australian government is now seeking to change the legislation to ban the cane and other physical discipline methods at all schools in the state.

Caning was banned in WA public schools but did not include private schools. …

Nollamara Christian Academy’s Pastor Roger Monasmith said the school uses a small paddle “like a ping-pong bat” as a form of discipline.

Pastor Monasmith told PerthNow in 2011 that corporal punishment was never used in anger and the students would have disobeyed school rules and God by fighting, swearing, being disrespectful to teachers or failing to complete their work for several days in a row.

“We always give them a warning before we use it and we’ll give them one swat (on the behind) and then the next time if they do the same thing, they get two swats,” he said.

“We try to help these kids as much as we can because there are two things that are very important for kids to learn responsibility and accountability.”

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GUAM
Marianas Variety

WEDNESDAY, 07 JAN 2015
BY JASMINE STOLE | VARIETY NEWS STAFF

CONCERNED Catholics of Guam confirmed that the group will be meeting with visiting Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, Archbishop Martin Krebs and Rev. Tadeusz Nowak while the three Catholic church officials are on island for the week.

Concerned Catholics Vice President Dave Sablan said while the time and date for a meeting have yet to be finalized, the group is ready to present their petition and report to Hon, Krebs and Nowak.

“We will address issues of the clergy and how they are treated, the two seminaries … alleged mismanagement of the assets of the archdiocese … and the division in the parishes between those who follow the Neocatechemunal Way and those that don’t,” Sablan said.

Ultimately, the group is calling for unity, harmony and consistent teachings in the parishes on Guam. Sablan said that instead of unity, harmony and consistency, “there is a division with different Mass services for the regular parishioners and those who are in the Neocatechemunal Way group.”

Within the Catholic community, there is a divide that has caused disagreements among family members, Sablan said. “Some family members are at odds with each other as to which is the correct way to worship God,” he said. Neocatechumenal Way teachings differ from the traditional practices to the dismay of some local Catholics who want to continue their faith the same way they were brought up, he said.

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NEW YORK
Watershed Post

By Julia Reischel
1/6/15

For four years, the name of a priest found responsible for sexually abusing minors has adorned the front of his parish’s community center in the Delaware County village of Margaretville. Even after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany removed Robert H. Purcell from the ministry and forbade him from using the title “Reverend,” the imposing metal letters that spelled out “Very Rev. Robert H. Purcell” remained set in stone.

Until Sunday, Jan. 4, six months after Purcell’s death, when church officials announced the sign would be removed. Steven Scarmozzino, Sacred Heart’s current priest, made the announcement at Mass on Sunday morning at the Sacred Heart Parish in Margaretville. By the end of the day, the letters were pried off, leaving only a rusty shadow on a blank stone behind.

Church officials did not give a specific reason for the sign’s removal, and have not linked it directly with Purcell’s stained legacy.

Six years, two sex abuse scandals

The small Sacred Heart Parish, which says on its website that it has 300 registered members, has endured back-to-back sex abuse scandals involving its priests.

In 2010, another priest, James McDevitt, pled guilty in Middletown Town Court to two counts of forcible touching for spanking the bare bottoms of six area boys while he was a priest in Margaretville in 2008 and 2009.

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FLORIDA
Farmer, Jaffe, Weissing, Edwards, Fistos and Lehrman

January 6, 2015

by Adam Horowitz

Rev. Jose Palimattom, a 47-year old Catholic priest assigned to Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, was arrested today for having child pornography on his cell phone and showing the images to a minor. According to police, the priest asked a 14-year old boy from his parish to help him delete pictures from his cell phone. In so doing, the boy discovered dozens of image of nude pre-pubescent boys on the priest’s cell phone with tags such as “little boys” and told his father about what he found. The boy’s father then called the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.

Rev. Palimattom is a priest of the Franciscan Province of St. Thomas the Apostle in India who came to the Diocese of Palm Beach from India in late 2014 for a two-year assignment. Under church rules, Rev. Palimattom is under the supervision of Diocese of Palm Beach’s Bishop Gerald Barbarito. Rev. Palimattom lived and worked at Holy Names Catholic Church, located at 345 South Military Trail in West Palm Beach.

Upon being questioned by police, Rev. Palimattom admitted to law enforcement that he viewed child pornography to satisfy his curiosity. He also admitted to having previously gotten into trouble with his religious superior in India for being “involved with a minor male”, but that incident was never reported to law enforcement. The head pastor at Holy Name Catholic Church also told law enforcement that the Diocese of Palm Beach previously directed Palimattom not to have contact with minors without another adult present and that Palimattom was restricted from using Facebook.

According to sexual abuse attorney Adam Horowitz: “If the Diocese of Palm Beach had concerns about Rev. Palimattom’s interactions with minors, they should have immediately removed him from the ministry under their own rules and warned parishioners that he was dangerous. There is no place in the priesthood for people who collect and view child pornography.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
UTV

An 89-year-old man – the oldest person to come forward to speak to the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry – has described how he was beaten every day by a nun and constantly sexually abused by older boys in Nazareth Lodge in Belfast.

Helped to the witness box in his wheelchair, the 89-year-old man told the inquiry he had been sent to Nazareth Lodge in 1929 when he was just three years old.

He described a life of fear and abuse, telling the panel that because he wet the bed every morning he would be placed in an ice cold bath and had buckets of water thrown over him.

He would then be forced to kneel naked outside the office of a particular nun, belonging to the Sisters of Nazareth, and when she came out of her office she would force him to lie on the tiled floor and beat him with a leather strap.

“It was so sore,” he said, “it made me cry.”

The 89-year-old recalled how he was sexually abused by the older boys at night in the bathroom and he would cry in bed every night because of the abuse.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

by Donal Hickey

New historical allegations of child sex abuse by priests in the Kerry diocese have been received since a report on clerical abuse in the diocese was published just over a year ago.

The new cases relate to the 1960s, 70s and 90s, but none concern priests who are currently in active ministry in the scattered diocese of 130,000 Catholics, which also includes parts of north and west Cork.

Three new allegations of abuse have been made against two deceased priests in the diocese. Also, two third-party allegations were made against two priests, one now deceased and one a priest from another diocese.

In addition, an unspecified number of allegations were made against two priests — one deceased and one who is not active in ministry — who retired to Kerry from other dioceses.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY Denis Slattery

A support group for victims of sexual abuse blasted a Bronx school and the Catholic church for waiting to inform the public about a pedophile priest who came forward weeks ago.

Officials from Cardinal Hayes High School informed parents Monday that Father Robert Harrison, a Franciscan priest who had been at the school since 1989, admitted to sexually abusing minors in the 1970s and 1980s and was fired on Dec. 22.

“We suspect obviously selfish reasons for the two irresponsible weeks of secrecy,” said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivor Network of Those Abused by Priests. “We suspect Catholic officials didn’t want to risk hurting holiday donations.”

Harrison taught religion and coached JV basketball during his 26 years at the Grand Concourse school for boys.

“(T)hus far, it does not appear that any of the abuse involved students from Cardinal Hayes,” the school’s president, Father Joseph Tierney, said in a letter to parents on Monday.

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CHILE
CHV

[The Chamber of Deputies voted to remove Chilean citizenship from Irish priest John O’Reilly. The vote was intended to show that Chile does not accept sexual abuse of minors. O’Reilly was recently sentenced to four years probation for abuse of a minor while he was spiritual adviser at Colegio Cumbres.]

En una iniciativa aprobada por 96 votos a favor, cinco abstenciones y sólo uno en contra de Ignacio Urrutia , la cámara de diputados optó por retirar la nacionalidad que le fue concedida al sacerdote irlandés John O’Reilly el año 2008 por ser parte de los “extranjeros ilustres”, los que destacan por haber hecho un aporte al progreso del país.

Los parlamentarios señalaron que con la resolución buscan demostrar que en Chile no se aceptará el abuso sexual contra menores.

Cabe recordar que O’Reilly fue condenado a cuatro años de libertad vigilada por el abuso de una menor de edad mientras era asesor espiritual del colegio Cumbres, pasando a integrar una lista de pedófilos que no pueden ejercer en áreas educativas.

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TEXAS
Houston Chronicle

By Brian Rogers | January 6, 2015

A former pastor at a southwest Harris County church was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for sexual contact with an 8-year-old girl.

Romulo Jimenez, 69, was charged in 2013 with continuous sexual abuse of a child after the girl told authorities Jimenez inappropriately touched her at Centro Christiano Vida Nueva at 8811 Synott when Jimenez was a pastor.

The girl told investigators Jimenez took her into his office at the church, laid her on the desk, rubbed her legs, lowered her pants and underwear and kissed her, according to court records.

On another occasion, she told investigators, Jimenez made her sit on his lap in his parked car in the church parking lot while he kissed her.

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CANADA
CBC News

Father Ronald Leger is facing three sexual assault charges and one charge of sexual interference.

Two of the sexual assault charges date back to the 1980s.

The remaining two charges go back to 2002.

The 76-year-old priest used to head up Holy Family Parish on Archibald Street and founded Teen Stop Jeunesse.

The Archdiocese of St. Boniface said it has been cooperating with Winnipeg police since it learned about the investigation in February of 2014.

In an emailed statement, the Archdiocese expressed “deep sorrow to the victims who have come forward as well as to their families and the entire parish community of Holy Family who have been affected by the alleged actions by their former pastor.”

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AUSTRALIA
PJ Media

Lest you think the Pope is a closet Lefty:

An Australian priest who supports the ordination of women has been excommunicated by Pope Francis.

In the first such excommunication since the new pontiff took office Fr Greg Reynolds was dismissed in a letter from the Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart, which stated that “the decision by Pope Francis to dismiss Fr Reynolds from the clerical state and to declare his automatic excommunication has been made because of his public teaching on the ordination of women contrary to the teaching of the Church and his public celebration of the Eucharist when he did not hold faculties to act publicly as a priest.”

Archbishop Hart also told other priests in the archdiocese by letter that Fr Reynolds’s excommunication was “because of his public teaching on the ordination of women”, which are grounds for automatic excommunication. Fr Reynolds is also a supporter of same-sex marriage and has attended rallies in favour of changing the definition of marriage. He has even reportedly presided at same-sex ceremonies.

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NEVADA
Las Vegas Review-Journal

By SEAN WHALEY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY — An attorney representing the Green Bay, Wis., Catholic Diocese argued before the Nevada Supreme Court on Tuesday that the religious organization should not have to pay $500,000 to a Las Vegas man who said a priest groped him at age 13.

Peter Mazzeo, a Las Vegas attorney representing the diocese, told the court in oral arguments that the victim, identified in court documents as John Doe 119, did not file his legal action in time. The incident dated back to 1984 but the lawsuit was not filed until 2008. The victim attempted suicide in 1991.

Mazzeo also argued that the Nevada court system did not have jurisdiction in the case because the Green Bay diocese did not have any authority or control over the priest, John Patrick Feeney.

He also argued the diocese was not liable for the actions of Feeney.

The court, which will issue a written decision later, gave no indication of how it will rule.

A Las Vegas jury in 2012 awarded the victim the $500,000, $200,000 for past pain and suffering and $300,000 in future medical expenses.

But after a month-long trial before former Clark County District Judge Valorie Vega, the jury found the Green Bay Diocese did not commit fraud and did not award punitive damages.

The diocese appealed the verdict.

Attorney Michael Finnegan, representing the victim, said the Green Bay Diocese was responsible for Feeney’s actions even outside the diocese.

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NEW YORK
News One

Jan 6, 2015 By Ruth Manuel-Logan

Father Robert Harrison (pictured left), who has taught for 26 years and coached basketball for 20 years at the renowned Cardinal Hayes High School (pictured) located in the Bronx, N.Y., has reportedly admitted to sexually abusing minors throughout the ’70s and ’80s, sending shock waves throughout the community, according to NBC 4.

Father Joseph P. Tierney, the president of the academic institution, sent home a letter to parents on Monday revealing how the highly regarded and popular priest had openly admitted to his deviant behavior during an investigation of his personal finances.

“As of now, we have not received any allegations from victims/survivors, and based upon information that we have received from Father Harrison thus far, it does not appear that any of the abuse involved students from Cardinal Hayes,” said Tierney.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Northern Echo

THE understanding most people have of online sexual abuse of children is like the activity itself – distant, intangible, even other worldly.

Hearing from a father who learned that his 13-year-old son had been groomed online then sexually assaulted by the perpetrators brought it dramatically into the present. The crime may be remote, but the victims are most certainly real.

Speaking at the launch of a pilot project aimed at improving support for children who have suffered sexual abuse online and their families, the dad revealed how he and his wife had noticed a change in their son’s behaviour. But it was only after his lengthy use of a laptop upstairs one evening, followed by his mum overhearing a telephone conversation in which he was arranging to meet someone, that the full truth emerged. …

Marie Collins, the survivor after whom the Foundation is named, was abused and photographed at the age of 13. She endured 30 years of depression, anxiety, panic attacks and numerous admissions to hospital before she found the right help to recover.

Today she says: “The photography had a much greater impact in terms of damage to me psychologically than the physical abuse. When you know there’s a photograph out there of your abuse it’s not a question of telling anyone about it but being terrified of anyone finding out or people thinking you’re complicit. I can only imagine how much worse it is for young people who are groomed into providing photographs online. You have to come to terms with the fact that those pictures are out there and you will never have control over what happens to them.”

Marie, who was appointed this year by Pope Francis to the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors, says it is vital that victims and their families get prompt and appropriate help. “There must be a coordinated response and cohesive treatment that forms a shell of support and protection around the victim and their family, because if the family don’t understand what’s going on they can’t help the child.

“Getting help early can save their lives.”

For more information, visit www.mariecollinsfoundation.org.uk

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Luke Broadwater
The Baltimore Sun

The Episcopal bishop who struck and killed a bicyclist with her car before leaving the scene told a colleague shortly afterward that she was “in shock,” the church said Tuesday.

Bishop Suffragan Heather Elizabeth Cook, 58, the Maryland church’s second-ranking official, called another church official, the Rev. Scott Slater, about 20 minutes after the Dec. 27 crash that killed Thomas Palermo, 41, who was riding his bike in northern Baltimore.

“She said she thought she had hit a bicyclist and was in shock,” according to statement released by The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

The national Episcopal Church is investigating the matter — a quasi-judicial process that could lead to the church stripping Cook of all authority. Baltimore police are still investigating the death and have released only scant details. Cook has not been charged. The church has placed her on paid administrative leave.

“Currently, we are following the disciplinary processes of the church, and we are providing pastoral care,” said Neva Rae Fox, a national spokeswoman for the Episcopal Church. “We hold Bishop Cook, the Diocese of Maryland and the Palermo family in our prayers.”

Fox said the details of the church investigation would “remain confidential.”

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GUAM
Jungle Watch

Relative to the legal observations in the previous post, I want to point out the language in the first “WHEREAS” in the Decree of Designation.

Archbishop Apuron predicates his whole Decree on RMS being the “major seminary of the Archdiocese of Agana.”

A “major seminary” is defined as a “Roman Catholic seminary giving usually the entire six years of senior college and theological training required for major orders.”

It is quite obvious from its “product” (presbyters), even if it will not publish its credentials, courses, or list of faculty, that RMS is NOT a place where one goes to get “the entire six years of senior college and theological training.”

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Pacific Daily News

A prayer walk scheduled for this afternoon, a prayer vigil on Friday and a third public prayer gathering, also on Friday, are being organized as part of a grassroots effort to send messages to a visiting delegation of Vatican representatives.

One of the organizers, Dwayne Santos, said the prayer walk will give island residents who can’t secure an appointment with the Vatican representatives a way to call attention to concerns that have divided the local Catholic community.

Participants of the prayer walk, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today, will meet across from St. Anthony’s Church in Tamuning and proceed to the Carmelite Monastery several blocks away.

The Vatican delegation is expected to hold private meetings with certain members of the local church community in the monastery compound.

“Anyone can join the walk even if they just want to be there to pray,” Santos said.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Brew

“She said she thought she had hit a bicyclist and was in shock,” priest says of Bishop Cook’s reaction to fatal crash

Fern Shen and Mark Reutter January 6, 2015

BUCKEYSTOWN, MD. – At a closed-door meeting today at a retreat center, officials of the Maryland Episcopal Diocese gave rank-and-file clergy an account of some of the events that followed Suffragan Bishop Heather Cook’s fatal car crash with bicyclist Tom Palermo.

According to a statement released after the meeting, Cook, the diocese’s No. 2 official, remains on administrative leave, “receiving pay and benefits in accordance with standard denominational practice.”

The release did not disclose any of her statements to police following the December 27 crash, or whether there was any evidence of intoxication or other impairment by the bishop, or whether she underwent a breathalyzer test, or why she left the scene of the accident for 20 minutes or longer and then returned.

(Cook was arrested in 2010 on DUI and drug possession charges while serving in the Diocese of Easton on the Eastern Shore.)

Compassion and Disappointment

Diocesan Bishop Eugene Taylor Sutton opened the meeting with a prayer from First Corinthians and then turned the 2½-hour session over to a facilitator from Loyola University.

The overwhelming sentiment of the meeting was compassion for the Palermo family, which includes a wife and two young children, a church spokesman said.

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NEVADA
KTVN

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Nevada Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments Tuesday on an appeal by Catholic church officials of a $500,000 jury award to a man who says he was molested as a 13-year-old by a priest who had moved from Wisconsin to Las Vegas.

A lawyer for the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay argued the case shouldn’t be in Nevada, that it should’ve been thrown out before trial, and that the diocese shouldn’t have been held responsible in 2012 for the priests’ actions in 1984.

The priest, John Feeney, was convicted in Wisconsin in 2004 of molesting two boys, defrocked and imprisoned. The Green Bay Diocese paid a $700,000 civil judgment in that case.

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FLORIDA
TBO

The Associated Press
Published: January 6, 2015

WEST PALM BEACH — A Catholic priest has been arrested after authorities say he asked a teen to help him remove child pornography from his cellphone.

The Rev. Jose Palimattom of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in West Palm Beach is being jailed on an obscenity charge.

According to a police report, the priest showed a 14-year-old parishioner his phone, with about 40 images of nude pre-teen boys, asking for help in deleting the pictures.

Palimattom is from India. Detectives say the 47-year-old priest told them he had been reprimanded by his superiors there for involvement with a minor.

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FLORIDA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 6

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

A Catholic priest has been arrested on charges of showing pornography to a boy. Now, Palm Beach’s bishop – and other Catholic employees – must step up and help police by aggressively seeking out other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers.

[CBS 12]

This weekend, Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito should go to every parish where Fr. Jose Palimattom worked. He should emphatically beg anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by the priest to call law enforcement. He should put notices about the priest in every parish bulletin and church website.

Barbarito must also explain to his flock why

—the priest was put at Holy Name Catholic Church in West Palm Beach even though he “also got in trouble in India for being involved with an underage boy while working there” and why that incident “was not reported to law enforcement.”

—it was the child’s father – not Catholic officials – who alerted authorities.

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OREGON
The Raw Story

TRAVIS GETTYS
06 JAN 2015

A former cop-turned-evangelical pastor was arrested last week on dozens of sex crime charges.

James Worley, senior pastor at Powell Valley Church in Oregon, was arrested Dec. 30 on 37 counts – including two counts of rape, 20 counts of sexual abuse, 11 counts of sodomy, one count of attempted sodomy and three counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.

An indictment filed Dec. 16 showed the alleged abuse took place between 2002 and 2004, when the victims were under the ages of 12 and 14 years old, reported KATU-TV.

Prosecutors said they don’t believe Worley was a pastor at the time of the abuse, although they believe there are additional victims.

Worley was fired from the Tillamook, Oregon, Police Department in 2007 for ongoing misconduct – including unethical citation writing, destroying marijuana evidence in the field, excessive Internet use while on duty, creating sexually explicit advertisements, and making unwanted sexual advances to a woman at a 911 dispatch center.

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OREGON
Catholic Sentinel

Jon DeBellis
Of the Catholic Sentinel

The safety and protection of children in the Archdiocese of Portland is forever on the mind of Cathy Shannon, director of the Child Protection Office for the archdiocese. That’s her job.

But, says Shannon, children also are kept safe because of the work of the people and staff in parishes, a lay-run review board and national support from other diocesan offices.

“Children are safer because of the efforts of a great many people,” says Shannon. “And we intend on keeping it that way.”

Since 1995, employee background checks have been a requirement in hiring procedures for those working with children and since 2002, a background check for volunteers working with minors has been required.

In keeping in compliance with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children, the background checks are just part of the equation. Also required for volunteers and staff is training using the safe environment and protection program named “Called to Protect,” by Praesidium, Inc. For adults, this program teaches about the warning signs of possible sexual abuse or boundary violations with minors, and how to respond to those warning signs. Once this training is completed, those working with children four or more times per year are also required to complete an annual online course called Armatus.

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