ABUSE TRACKER

SOUTH CAROLINA
Greenville News

Donna Isbell Walker, diwalker@greenvillenews.com February 12, 2015

Hope, survival and justice were the themes of Thursday’s Julie Valentine Luncheon.

Two victims of sexual abuse shared their stories at the annual fundraiser for Julie Valentine Center’s sexual assault- and child abuse-prevention programs, and their prevailing message was that victims should never shoulder the blame for their abusers’ actions.

Jim Clemente, a retired FBI profiler, recounted his ordeal of teen sex abuse at a church camp, and his mission to educate parents and children that predators most often are outwardly “nice” people who prey on vulnerable kids.

Jen Bicha told her story of years of rapes by her older brother and the search for healing that ended with her brother’s conviction and prison sentence.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The government is being urged to extend the scope of the child sexual abuse inquiry to cover the whole of the UK – rather than just England and Wales.

The investigation should cover Scotland and Northern Ireland, including claims of abuse at Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast in the 1970s, a Home Affairs Committee report said.

The panel must seek to avoid “gaps” between the various inquiries, it said.

The Home Office said the report had been noted and was being considered.

The independent, panel-led inquiry was set up by Home Secretary Theresa May last year to consider whether public bodies and other institutions failed in their duty to protect children.

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CANADA
Global News

By Blaine Gaffney
Reporter Global News

VERNON – The “controlling and manipulative” Okanagan man believed he had the blessing of the Bible when he beat his children.

But a judge says that doesn’t excuse criminal conduct and he sentenced the man to 4.5 years imprisonment.

The assaults took place in the family home at or near Armstrong between October 2009 and August 2012 when the three children were between the ages of 18 months and four years.

Their father, identified in court documents as L.I., would frequently hit the children with a nine inch long wooden comb, or his hands, causing bruises and welts.

On one occasion, L.I. pinned his two-year-old son to the floor and covered his mouth and nose until the child’s face turned red.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Jean Edwards

The head rabbi of Melbourne’s Yeshivah Centre has told the royal commission into child sexual abuse he believes a gay person can be “cured” by therapy, like a paedophile.

Rabbi Zvi Telsner told the commission he believed there was a possibility paedophiles could be cured by counselling and spiritual guidance.

When asked if therapy could do the same for someone who is gay, he replied: “I would say the same thing can happen to someone who is gay, I would suspect. There is a possibility, I’m not discounting that”.

Rabbi Telsner said therapy could help paedophiles change their behaviour.

“There’s a certain belief that if someone for example after 20 or 25 years has not committed any offences, and all of this time has gone to therapy, there would be a good possibility that person may have been able to change his way of life,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

SHANNON DEERY HERALD SUN FEBRUARY 13, 2015

RABBIS embroiled in a sex abuse crisis that has rocked Melbourne’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community still “don’t get it”, a senior figure has admitted.

On the last day of royal commission hearings into Yeshiva Centres in Melbourne and Bondi, Rabbi Yaakov Glasman said some Chabad figures were still clueless when it came to handling child sexual abuse.

Rabbi Glasman, the immediate past president of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, said the hearings had caused untold damage to the Jewish community because of a handful of radical-thinking rabbis whose evidence has sparked widespread outrage.

“It would be an understatement to say we are deeply disturbed by some of the comments made by some rabbis,” he said.

“There can be no words to mitigate the damage that they have caused.

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

February 13, 2015

According to Melbourne’s Monash University research, the fully observant or frum community in Victoria accounts for about 15% of the Victorian Jewish community.

This includes Adass, Chabad/Lubavitch and observant Modern Orthodox Jews. Hence, the Chabad community is a very small percentage of the overall Jewish community but it is also the main source of Rabbonim for the mainstream Orthodox Jewish community. This means that it dominates the Rabbinic Council of Victoria, which is the peak body for the Orthodox Rabbinate.

The Yeshivah Centre is the leadership centre for the Lubavitch community whose key institutions includes various community institutions, most notably Chabad and Yeshivah Synagogues, Chabad Youth and Yeshivah Beth Rivkah College.

None of the Yeshivah or Chabad organisations are members of the mainstream Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) and tend to operate separately to the rest of the community, which includes Modern Orthodox, Conservative or Masorti, Progressive Judaism and secular Jews.

The vast majority of Jews in Victoria identify as Orthodox because of tradition or family connection to an Orthodox Synagogue. Nevertheless, most of these Orthodox Jews are not particularly observant, and would find their views on social and communal issues far closer to the views of the general Victorian community rather than anything espoused by the Chabad leadership.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Jonathan Pitts
The Baltimore Sun

Episcopal Church officials are considering whether the Rev. Heather Elizabeth Cook — now facing criminal charges in connection with a drunken driving accident that killed a bicyclist in December — may have lied about her struggles with alcohol to smooth her path to election as the No. 2 bishop in the Diocese of Maryland last year.

In a written notice to Cook made public this week, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said church investigators have received information about “misrepresentations” regarding her “experience with alcohol” that she allegedly made in connection with her candidacy for bishop suffragan.

That information is cited as one reason church officials acted this week to formally restrict Cook from acting as a member of the clergy.

In a case that has roiled the national church and sparked controversy about how it elects its bishops, the mention of “misrepresentations” marks the first time officials have raised the possibility Cook lied during the search process for bishop suffragan, the second-ranking official in a diocese.

According to the notice from Schori, the church is looking at whether Cook gave false information to her former employer, the Diocese of Easton, about her history with alcohol as the Maryland diocese conducted background searches on its final three final candidates. The national church is conducting an investigation that could lead to disciplinary action against Cook.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

New York Archdiocese Parishioners See System of Secrets as They Fight Church Closings

By SHARON OTTERMAN
FEB. 12, 2015

For aggrieved parishioners at churches ordered closed or merged by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan last November, it seemed like a simple task: Get a copy of the formal decree of his decision on their parishes, so they could properly appeal to the Vatican.

So across the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, they began calling and writing letters to Cardinal Dolan and his senior aides, asking for the decrees. Some seven weeks later, a definitive answer came back: No, they could not have copies.

But archdiocesan officials said they would allow parishioners to view the documents — under certain conditions.

There could be no photographs and no transcriptions. Notes could be taken, but sometimes only after the document was out of sight. Viewings were by appointment, monitored by archdiocesan officials, parishioners who saw their decrees said.

The rules bewildered parishioners, who feared they might be stymied in filing their appeals. And several leading canon lawyers interviewed this week said they represented a highly unusual departure from church norms.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Belfast Telegraph

13 FEBRUARY 2015

Home Secretary Theresa May has been criticised by MPs for refusing to release details of the salary of the new head of the inquiry into historic child sex abuse.

The Commons Home Affairs Committee strongly endorsed the appointment of the New Zealand High Court judge Justice Lowell Goddard to head the inquiry after the two previous chairs were forced to step down over perceived conflicts of interest.

But the committee said it was “disappointed” that Mrs May had refused to disclose her proposed salary range, saying only that it would be “in line with other public appointments of this nature”.

“This is not in line with the open and transparent approach we would expect in the course of a pre-appointment process,” the committee said.

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CANADA
Castanet

By Carmen Weld Feb 12, 2015

An Armstrong father will spend 4 1/2 years behind bars after he beat his family in the name of God.

The 42-year-old man, called L.I. to protect the identity of the victims, was convicted of seven counts against his 30-year-old wife and children in 2009 and 2010. These include six counts of committing assault and one count of sexual assault.

The assaults all took place in their family home near Armstrong, between October 2009 and August 2012, when the three children were between the ages of 18 months and four years.

According to B.C. Supreme Court Justice Frank Cole’s judgment, L.I., formerly a pastor doing missionary work in Africa, used faith as a defence for his actions.

Cole said when the wife would attempt to stop L.I. from hurting the children, he would shush her and say, “This is the way the Bible tells us to treat children. Otherwise, they will become liars and prostitutes.”

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

The rising waves from government investigations, from Australia, to the UK, to Minneapolis USA and elsewhere are hammering the Vatican Titanic. And the international priest abuse survivor group, SNAP, has finally called for US Federal officials to pursue a national investigation, like Australia has and the UK is just beginning. A USA investigation is coming in due course, unless Pope Francis is successful in getting a right wing ally like Jeb Bush elected US President next year in the expectation of burying any US national investigation.

Yet Catholic Church leaders this week are continuing to sail blindly, full steam ahead, into the priest child abuse iceberg, with their latest secretive meetings of over 150 Cardinals in their full red dress uniforms. The Cardinals are meeting to discuss re-arranging the crews’ deck chairs on the sinking Vatican Titanic to enhance papal power.

Please see “Pope Francis Must Fire Cardinal Pell Now‏” here, [Christian Catholicism], “NY Times Pulls Punches As SNAP Jabs Pope & US Pols On Abuse Ploys“, here, [Christian Catholicism] “Will UK Probe of Teresa May Compel Ex-Pope Benedict To Testify?‏‏‏” , here [Christian Catholicism] and The Crisis Pope Francis Faces. Please see also prominent Australian abuse advocate, Aletha Blayse’s persuasive case for a US presidential investigation commission like Australia already has, here,”Child Abuse, War, and the Need for a National Commission of Inquiry into Child Abuse”, here, [Christian Catholicism]

By now many Cardinals must be worried that they jumped too fast out of ex-Pope Benedict’s overheating frying pan into Pope Francis uncontrolled fires. Authoritarian Francis is often wrong but rarely in doubt.

Just follow some of the latest papal wizard’s meanderings down the Yellow Brick Road. Don’t breed like rabbits, just don’t use the Pill. It is selfish not to have children and more are better. Help the poor, but honor, like he seems to do, the crony capitalist billionaires from Wall Street, Big Oil and Big Media who help keep the poor, well poor, and the Catholic Church’s leaders rich. Protect children, but don’t report priest child abuse to the police unless legally obligated to do so. Say that bishops should be held accountable, then study how to do so forever. Slap your kids, but do so respectfully. Protect women, but oppose treaties that actually seek to do so. Be nice to abuse survivors, but go bankrupt to avoid compensating them justly, or if you are Cardinal Pell, grind the victims into unconditional surrender. Don’t judge gay folks, just ostracize them from Church institutions as Archbishop Cordileone is now doing in San Francisco..

Is Pope Francis really shrewd, or just opportunistic, or even duplicitous and hypocritical? Perhaps his advanced age and overwork and excessive traveling has caught up to him? He had planned to retire several years ago. He may have to soon enough.

The Cardinals began with greetings today (2/12/15) from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals and the dominant Vatican bureaucrat for most of a quarter century. His longtime protege and likely next pope, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was at Pope Francis’ right hand during the past two days as the elite Council of Cardinals rubber stamped the pope’s reorganization plans to consolidate the pope’s power.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

AAP

The principal of a Melbourne Jewish school will be next to give evidence to an inquiry into responses to sexual abuse at Jewish schools and community centres.

Yeshivah College principal Rabbi Joshua Smukler will testify on the final day of hearings at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Friday.

Yeshivah Melbourne spiritual leader Rabbi Zvi Telsner is also expected to continue his evidence.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Jewish Daily Forward

Rabbi Barry Freundel secretly videotaped at least 150 women in the mikveh at his prominent Washington D.C. synagogue, prosectors reportedly told a meeting of alleged victims.

The disgraced Orthodox cleric has been criminally charged with peeping on six naked women in the ritual bath at Kesher Israel.

But prosecutors said the number of victims is far higher at a closed-door hearing, the Associated Press reported.

The AP quoted three separate sources who revealed details of the meeting at which the new information was disclosed. Prosecutors are discussing the possiblility of a plea deal and want to gauge the willingness of victims to testify about the potentially humiliating invasions of their privacy.

The revelation dramatically expands the scope of the legal problems facing Freundel. He faces misdemeanor voyeurism charges in connection with the six women who have come forward to accuse him so far. But he could now face scores more criminal counts.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
TribTown

By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press
First Posted: February 12, 2015

WASHINGTON — A rabbi accused of secretly videotaping nude women at a Jewish ritual bath recorded more than 150 women, prosecutors said during a meeting with victims, the first specifics they have given on the scope of the man’s recording.

When prosecutors charged Barry Freundel with voyeurism late last year, they based the accusations on recordings of six women but indicated more had been filmed. During a meeting with victims Wednesday evening at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, prosecutors discussed the number of victims revealed by an investigation along with the benefits of a plea deal in the case.

The meeting was closed to the press. But three people who attended told The Associated Press what was discussed. Two individuals spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the closed-door meeting.

The third person, a victim, is not being identified because The Associated Press does not identify victims of sex crimes.

Freundel’s attorney, Jeffrey Harris, did not immediately return a call Thursday requesting comment. William Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia, which is prosecuting the case, declined comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
WBAL

Prosecutors say a rabbi is accused of secretly videotaping more than 150 nude women at a Jewish ritual bath, the first specifics they have given on the scope of the man’s filming.

Those details were divulged at a meeting with victims Wednesday night at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, according to three people who attended the meeting. The meeting was closed to the press.

Two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the closed-door meeting.

A third is a victim of the sex crime and is not being identified by The Associated Press.

When prosecutors charged Barry Freundel with voyeurism late last year, they based the accusations on recordings of six women but indicated more women had been filmed.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Prosecutors told alleged victims of Rabbi Barry Freundel that Freundel allegedly secretly videotaped more than 150 nude women at the mikvah (Jewish ritual bath) located next to his Modern Orthodox synagogue in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, the AP reported. This confirms earlier reports by FailedMessiah.com and other media that number of Freundel’s alleged victims was likely to be at least 100.

Prosecutors held a closed meeting with a group of Freundel’s alleged victims Wednesday night at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, three people who attended the meeting told the AP.

Two of those three people reportedly spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the meeting while the third is a victim and therefore is not being publicly identified.

The current charges against Freundel – once one of the most powerful rabbis in America – are based on the videotaping of six women in the Capital Mikvah located next to the Kesher Israel synagogue Freundel headed for decades until he he was fired late last year over the voyeurism.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
NBC Washington

Sources told News4 more charges could be brought against a D.C. rabbi accused of secretly videotaping women participating in ritual baths at the Georgetown’s National Capital Mikvah.

Rabbi Barry Freundel was arrested in October 2014, and sources tell News4 police have identified 152 women being recorded while bathing at the mikvah; 88 women were recorded in the past three years and 64 were recorded more than three years ago.

The videos date back to 2009.

Wednesday night, a meeting was held with his alleged victims in which a possible plea deal was discussed. Sources told News4 prosecutors won’t settle for probation and want Freundel to spend time behind bars.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

ANNE CLARK, RIVER FOREST, ILLINOIS February 12, 2015

Pope Francis’ new anti-sex abuse commission met recently in Rome. Members demanded bishops be held accountable for how they handle allegations. The Vatican has vowed that it’s “keenly aware that the issue of accountability is of major importance.”

The St. Cloud Times reported June 11 that the ex-headmaster of St. John’s Preparatory School was accused of sexual abuse. “The allegations of inappropriate contact by the Rev. Timothy Backous surfaced in a letter sent May 31 by Chris and Kathy McDermid, who live in St. Cloud and whose son was in the choir when it made a trip to Europe in 1990, to Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The letter was copied to (St. John’s Abbot John) Klassen and St. Cloud Bishop Donald Kettler.”

Minnesota Public Radio reported June 11 that the McDermids met with the head of St. John’s at the time, Abbot Jerome Theisen. They said “Theisen promised that Backous would no longer be allowed to work with the boys’ choir or students at St. John’s, the McDermids said, adding they put the matter behind them.”

Backous went on to serve as athletic director of St. John’s University and headmaster of St. John’s Prep. The family was not notified of this continued contact with children or that the promise he would no longer be allowed to work with children had not been fulfilled.

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LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune

By Rebecca Catalanello, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on February 12, 2015

The man who founded New Bethany Home for Girls, where some former students say they were abused, has died.

Mack Ford, 82, was found dead inside his home shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 11) by a relative, Bienville Parish Coroner Don Smith said. Ford’s death appears to be from natural causes, but Smith said his office will be conducting an autopsy.

Ford, a high school dropout turned Independent Fundamentalist Baptist preacher, opened New Bethany in 1971 on a former penal farm turned convalescent home off Louisiana Highway 9 in Arcadia, La., about 50 miles east of Shreveport.

Over three decades until it closed its doors in 2001, New Bethany took in sometimes hundreds of girls a year, according to newspaper accounts and court documents. Ford marketed the school as a home for wayward youth — “a mission project to the incorrigible, unwanted rejects,” he told attorneys in 1997. “Destitute, lonely, prostitutes, drug addicts.”

But many of the former residents who found themselves behind the barbed wire gates of the compound have relayed — to police, media, social workers and others — stories of harsh, physical and mental abuse that included beatings, solitary confinement, and, more recently, sexual abuse.

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LOUISIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Feb. 12

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 hope the death of Mack Ford will bring some measure of closure and healing to the girls’ whose lives he devastated. Though he goes to his grave having faced no consequences for his child sex crimes, Ford’s victim can take a little comfort from knowing that he can’t assault any more children.

[The Times-Picayune]

We hope these brave women will also take pride in having publicly exposed him and in convincing a prosecutor to convene a grand jury to dig in to Ford’s awful crimes. No doubt others who were raped and sodomized as children found inspiration in their courage.

“The moral arc of the universe is long but bends towards justice,” Martin Luther King once said. In the conventional sense, these deeply wounded women found no justice in the courts. But in the court of public opinion, they clearly prevailed.

King also said “No lie lives forever.” All of us should be grateful that these strong women unveiled Mack Ford’s many lies.

We wish them continued strength in their recovery from the horrific childhood trauma Ford forced on them for his selfish pleasure.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC/POLAND
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- The Justice Ministry on Thursday said Polish authorities notified by that the criminal trial against former priest Wojciech Gil (padre Alberto Gil), starts in March, on charges of sexually abusing seven Dominican boys in the highland town of Juncalito, Santiago Province (north).

The Wolomin, Poland Regional Court set the hearings from March 20 to 25, and continues April 10 and 24.

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VATICAN CITY
SpyGhana

The Vatican fears a terrorist attack against Pope Francis, a veteran cardinal said in a Thursday interview, in the most outspoken acknowledgment to date of a possible threat posed by the Islamic State group.vatican

“The fear is there,” Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told the Italian version of the Huffington Post website. Serving as Secretary of State from 2006 to 2013, Bertone was the Vatican’s second-in-command after retired pope Benedict XVI.

“But there is also a calm and confident attitude, given the precautions that have been taken,” he added, noting that police surveillance and intelligence has been strengthened, along with efforts to reach out to moderate Islam.

“The first defence against the threats coming from fanaticism like the [Islamic State] is this dialogue with the most level-headed and reasoning sections of other religions,” the cardinal said.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

THE MINNEAPOLIS ARCHDIOCESE is re-opening a child sex abuse investigation into Fr. William Stolzman,who was at SLU for four years. This is according to the archdiocesan spokeswoman, ex-KMOV reporter Ann Steffens.

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CANADA
Indian Country Today Media Network

Sentenced to three years for the sexual abuse of boys at a Saskatchewan residential school more than 50 years ago, convicted pedophile Paul Leroux has been granted full parole after serving just one year, CBC News reports.

The victims were all students at Beauval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan during the 1970s, according to CBC News. Among other factors, the judge took into account Leroux’s age, which was 73 at the time, and gave him concurrent, rather than consecutive, sentences, radio station CKOM reported after the 2013 sentencing. Leroux’s victims did not buy it.

“I think it was a farce, given the number of offenses,” said one of the victims to CBC News after his December 2013 sentencing. “And I don’t think age should have ever been a factor in his sentencing, because he sure didn’t consider the age of the people he molested.”

Leroux, who worked as a dormitory supervisor at the Beauval school—which was in operation from 1895 through 1983, and was run by the Catholic Church—had served 10 years for similar abuse at Grollier Hall in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, CBC News said.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A victim of an alleged paedophile priest extradited from New Zealand has applauded a decision to move his court proceedings from Sydney to Newcastle.

Police began investigating Catholic Brother Bernard Kevin McGrath in 2010.

After years of calling for his extradition, police finally brought the 67 year old back from New Zealand just before Christmas.

He is facing 252 child sex charges relating to the alleged abuse of 35 boys in the Lake Macquarie region near Newcastle in the 1970’s and 80’s.

Up until now his court proceedings have been in Sydney, but yesterday the matter was moved to Newcastle.

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NEW JERSEY
Press of Atlantic City

By STEPHANIE LODER, Staff Writer

The Rev. Terence McAlinden, former pastor at St. Theresa Church in Little Egg Harbor Township who was removed from ministry in 2007 amid allegations of sexual abuse, has died, the Diocese of Trenton said Tuesday.

McAlinden died Feb. 6.

The diocese declined to release information about his death, according to a statement from the diocese.

“I can confirm that Fr. Terence McAlinden died on February 6, 2015. Prior to his death he had requested that there be no obituary and no funeral Mass. The Diocese is respecting his requests,” said Rayanne Bennett, a spokeswoman for Bishop David M. O’Connell.

McAlinden was the pastor at St. Theresa’s when he was removed from the ministry by the diocese after Chris Naples, 39, of Bass River Township, reported that he was molested by McAlinden for several years.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

(Reuters) – The Vatican is considering setting up an environmental think tank, a spokesman said on Thursday, which could influence the opinion of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics on such thorny issues as climate change.

Father Federico Lombardi said the proposal was discussed at a closed-door meeting of cardinals from around the world who are at the Vatican to deliberate a reform of the Church’s central administration, known as the Curia.

“We see a growth in the awareness (of environmental problems) and in the importance of reflection, commitment, and study of environmental issues and their relation to social and human questions,” he told reporters at a briefing.

Pope Francis has said that man is destroying nature and betraying God’s calling to be stewards of creation.

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MEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., Jan. 17, 2015

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

GALLUP – Officials with the Diocese of Gallup are continuing to promise answers to questions about the Rev. Ravi Kiran’s sudden departure from St. Anthony Mission in October and Kiran’s financial management of the Zuni mission.

Diocesan officials had issued mixed messages in December. The Rev. Kevin Finnegan, the diocesan chancellor and vicar general who temporarily took over supervision of the Zuni parish, told parishioners that Kiran had been cleared of wrongdoing. However, in the days following Finnegan’s announcement, Susan Boswell, the diocese’s leading bankruptcy attorney, and Suzanne Hammons, the diocese’s media coordinator, said the investigation was ongoing.

In December, Hammons had said she expected the diocese to release a summary of the mission audit before the end of the month.

On Thursday, Hammons apologized for that deadline not being met.

“I’m kind of leery of giving you a date,” Hammons said, adding she had “no word as of yet” about the audit summary’s release but thought once again it would be soon.

Hammons said the delay was caused when diocesan officials decided to “take a deeper look” into the finances of the mission, which includes both a parish church and K8 school, in order to do a “thorough job” of the audit.

List of abusers

Hammons also clarified some statements she made in December after Bishop James S. Wall released an updated list of credibly accused sex abusers from the Gallup Diocese and posted the list on the diocesan website.

Diocesan officials have said its investigation into other alleged abusers is ongoing, but they have not explained why the names of four former Gallup priests were not included on the recent list. All four have been confirmed as credibly accused abusers by other Catholic dioceses or religious orders.

“Just because they aren’t on the list now doesn’t mean they won’t be,” Hammons said, adding, “Sometimes it takes a while to dig through the files.”

Hammons had made statements in December that the Gallup Diocese would not post photographs of the credibly accused abusers on the diocesan website, or include information about their current whereabouts – information that some Catholic dioceses do post online.

Backing away from that statement a bit, Hammons said although the diocese doesn’t plan to add that information to the website list now, it doesn’t mean it won’t add the information in the future.

Hammons was also asked if the diocese had informed law enforcement agencies about the current whereabouts of the credibly accused abusers who are still living. At least 10 of the 31 credibly accused abusers on the Diocese of Gallup’s list are known to be still alive.

Hammons said she did not know the answer to that and admitted there was further work to do regarding the list of abusers.

“There’s a lot of different strings to follow,” she said.

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NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., Jan. 22, 2015

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

ALBUQUERQUE – Bankruptcy attorneys, accountants and insurance investigators have billed the Diocese of Gallup nearly $1.5 million in professional fees and expenses for just the first 10 months of the diocese’s Chapter 11 reorganization case.

The church bankruptcy, which was filed Nov. 12, 2013, is now entering its 15th month and is racking up additional professional fees and expenses with each passing month.

According to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, four law firms, an accounting firm and an insurance archaeology company have billed the diocese $1,452,383.90 in professional fees and expenses from Nov. 12, 2013 to Sept. 30, 2014.

Just prior to the filing date, the Diocese of Gallup paid fees of $297,505.32 to three of the firms, which pushes the combined pre- and post-filing total to nearly $1.75 million.

In addition, the most recent quarterly billing statements, for the period ending Dec. 31, 2014, have yet to be submitted to the court.

Billing breakdown

Quarles & Brady, LLP, the Tucson law firm that is acting as the Gallup Diocese’s lead bankruptcy counsel, billed the lion’s share with $905,906.71 for fees and expenses from Nov. 12, 2013 to Sept. 30, 2014.*

Keegan, Linscott & Kenon, P.C., the Tucson accounting firm that has supervised the diocese’s finances throughout the bankruptcy process, billed the next highest total of $237,950.47.

The California law firm of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP, which represents the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, billed the diocese $235,172.80. Although lead attorney James I. Stang and the committee represent the interests of the 56 people who filed confidential clergy sex abuse claims against the diocese, the Diocese of Gallup is responsible for paying the law firm’s fees and expenses.

The Insurance Archaeology Group, a New York company that specializes in investigating insurance assets, billed the diocese $46,433.20.

Walker & Associates, P.C., an Albuquerque firm specializing in bankruptcy law, billed the diocese $18,062.40, which includes fees, expenses and New Mexico gross receipts taxes. Unlike the other professional firms, Walker & Associates’ total only runs through April 30, 2014.

Stelzner, Winter, Warburton, Flores, Sanchez & Dawes, P.A., also of Albuquerque, billed the diocese $8,858.45, which also includes legal fees, expenses and state gross receipts taxes. Prior to the bankruptcy filing, the Stelzner firm was the Diocese of Gallup’s primary law firm that handled clergy sex abuse lawsuits and claims.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma must approve all the professional fees and expenses. Last February Thuma warned attorneys in the case that he didn’t want to see most of the money in the reorganization going toward litigation costs.

Funding strategy

The Insurance Archaeology Group is the only professional firm to have received payment from the Gallup Diocese since the Chapter 11 petition was filed.

According to court records, the accounting and law firms will have to wait for payment until the diocese’s plan of reorganization is approved and funded.

Based on developments thus far, attorneys for both the Diocese of Gallup and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors have been looking to fund the reorganization plan through the diocese’s insurance coverage and by attempting to tap into the financial resources of other Catholic entities, such as the Diocese of Corpus Christi and Franciscan provinces, which allegedly allowed sexually abusive clergy to serve in the Gallup Diocese.

Although attorneys with Quarles & Brady have stated that they have worked to identify “property that is not critical to the continued mission and ministry” of the diocese that could be sold to help fund a plan of reorganization, sales of diocesan commercial property, residential lots, and ranch land have not happened yet.

Instead, earlier this month, diocesan attorneys filed a motion requesting authorization to hire an Albuquerque appraisal company to appraise five key pieces of church property in Gallup and Thoreau. At least four of the properties, the Gallup chancery office, two Catholic schools, and the diocese’s retreat center, are all very closely tied to the diocese’s mission and ministry.

Diocesan attorneys did not respond to requests for comment about those appraisal plans.
In contrast to the Diocese of Gallup’s slower moving case, a bankruptcy judge approved the Diocese of Helena’s reorganization plan last week – just one year after the Montana diocese filed its Chapter 11 petition.

According to media reports, the Helena plan includes a $16.4 million settlement for hundreds of clergy abuse survivors, plus another $4.45 million payment from the Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province to settle an abuse lawsuit filed by 45 Native American plaintiffs.

*Reporter’s Note: The figure of $905,906.71 was incorrect – over by $3,134.61 – due to an addition error by Quarles & Brady in Document No. 326, filed Nov. 14, 2014, regarding their fees and expenses from April 1 through June 30, 2014. The firm subsequently corrected the error in a later court document.

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NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., Feb. 7, 2015

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

ALBUQUERQUE – The Diocese of Gallup, which had to borrow money in order to file for Chapter 11 reorganization, currently owes its lead bankruptcy law firm more than $1 million in legal fees and expenses.

The diocese’s total bankruptcy bill is now in excess of $1.8 million for professional services and expenses provided by various attorneys, accountants and insurance researchers. The updated total represents fees and expenses through Dec. 31, 2014.

Documents filed last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court show the Gallup Diocese has been billed $1,854,316 by six different professional firms.

The diocese’s lead bankruptcy firm, Quarles & Brady LLP of Tucson, is owed the bulk of the money, with its current billing now at $1,129,598. The law firm’s most recent notice of fees and expenses, filed Jan.30, corrected a previous addition error included in a billing notice dated Nov. 14, 2014.

Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP is legal counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which represents the interests of clergy abuse survivors who have filed claims against the diocese in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The Diocese of Gallup is responsible for the firm’s legal fees and expenses, which are now up to $373,374.

The diocese’s Tucson accounting firm, Keegan, LinScott & Kenon, P.C., is now owed $277,093.

Stelzner, Winter, Warburton, Flores, Sanchez & Dawes, P.A., a New Mexico law firm that frequently represented the diocese prior to the Chapter 11 filing, is owed $9,754.

Walker & Associates, P.C., the diocese’s Albuquerque bankruptcy law firm, has not submitted an updated bill beyond its first bill for $18,062.

Insurance Archaeology Group, an insurance research company, did not incur any fees and expenses in the most recent quarterly billing period.

Other than Insurance Archaeology Group, which has been paid $46,433, none of the other firms are slated to receive payment for their professional services until the Diocese of Gallup’s plan of reorganization is approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Prior to filing its Chapter 11 petition, the Diocese of Gallup borrowed $200,000 from the Diocese of Phoenix and $29,000 from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. In December 2013, in testimony before the Assistant U.S. Trustee, Gallup Bishop James S. Wall said he took out the two loans in order to file for Chapter 11 reorganization.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Riverfront Times

By Danny Wicentowski Thu., Feb. 12 2015

If Pope Francis wants to change Church doctrine on divorce and gay marriage, he’ll have to go through Cardinal Raymond Burke.

That shouldn’t shock anyone who has followed Burke’s career path since he left St. Louis as archbishop in 2008, especially since the cantankerous, ultra-conservative prelate mansplained his way into the headlines last month by blaming women and gay clergy for the Church’s molestation crisis. In October, when it appeared — for a moment — that the Vatican was ready to make a “seismic shift” on gay rights in the church, Burke used it as an opportunity to publicly remind folks that expressions of gayness can damage children.

But Burke went further this week, telling a French news program that he would feel compelled to “resist” Pope Francis if the pontiff tries to soften Church doctrine.

Burke and the pope are hardly buddies, and much has been made of the pope’s decision to remove Burke from his spot on the church’s highest court. But Burke’s recent sit-down with France2, which aired Sunday, is notable for the interviewer’s blunt probing of rocky relationship between the two spiritual leaders.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

The principal of a Melbourne Jewish school will be next to give evidence to an inquiry into responses to sexual abuse at Jewish schools and community centres.

Yeshivah College principal Rabbi Joshua Smukler will testify on the final day of hearings at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Friday.

Yeshivah Melbourne spiritual leader Rabbi Zvi Telsner is also expected to continue his evidence.

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GERMANY
Catholic News Agency

By Jan Bentz

Rome, Italy, Feb 12, 2015 / 04:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- While church attendees dwindle in Germany, questions have arisen once again over the controversial state-imposed church tax – and whether it’s time for the country’s bishops to address concerns around it.

“We are in a time when more and more people realize that the financial apparatus Church works well, that the facade is optimal but what is behind it? Where is the true faith?” asked Martin Lohmann, Catholic publicist, author and spokesperson of the advocacy group Christian Action in Germany.

“While we have a decreasing of Church membership,” he told CNA on Feb. 9, “on the other side we have a raising of Church tax.”

When Germans register as Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish on their tax forms, the government automatically collects an income tax from them which amounts to 8 or 9 percent of their total income tax, or 3-4 percent of their salary.

The “church tax” is given to the religious communities, rather than those communities collecting a tithe. The Church uses its funds to help run its parishes, schools, hospitals, and welfare projects.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

BY JOANNE SWEENEY – 12 FEBRUARY 2015

A government inquiry into historical child sex abuse may yet hear allegations regarding Kincora boys home following an undertaking by the head of the inquiry.

Justice Lowell Coddard surprised some members of the Home Affairs select committee when she said she had heard of the Kincora case, but was “not familiar” with it in response to a question about it from Liberal Democrat MP Julian Huppert.

She told the committee on Wednesday that she anticipated there would “probably be avenues by which to revisit” the issue and that she would “certainly raise it” for consideration with the home secretary if she felt it was important to do so.

Three senior care staff at the home in east Belfast were jailed in 1891 for sexual abusing 11 boys.

However, there have been claims that high-ranking security services personnel and senior political figures from England were also involved in the abuse.

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UNITED STATES
The Hill

By Allan J. Lichtman, contributor

Pope Francis has expressed many wise and compassionate thoughts in his brief reign as pontiff:

“We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor.”

“If a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. We shouldn’t marginalize people for this.”

“The people of God want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats or government officials.”

“Women are asking deep questions that must be addressed. We must therefore investigate further the role of women in the Church.”

“Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else — God is in this person’s life.”

However, Pope Francis stumbled badly in his recent unscripted comments on the physical punishment of children. The pope said, “One time, I heard a father say, ‘At times I have to hit my children a bit, but never in the face so as not to humiliate them.'” The pope then added: “That’s great. He had a sense of dignity. He should punish, do the right thing, and then move on.”

Every attempt to hurt a child has baleful consequences. The many dozens of independent scientific studies now conducted on physical punishment demonstrate that it has multiple harmful effects on children, parents and society and virtually no positive effects of any kind.

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CANADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, February 12, 2015

For more information: Melanie Jula Sakoda ( 925-708-6175 cell, melanie.sakoda@gmail.com ), Cappy Larson ( 415-637-2006 cell, cappy@rlarson.com ), David Clohessy ( 314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

Clergy sex abuse victims again beg synod to defrock archbishop
He was the Orthodox Church in America’s highest ranking cleric in Canada
But, his appeal denied, he is now in jail for sexually assaulting a young boy

SNAP to church officials: “No more excuses, follow your abuse policy”

Members of an abuse survivors’ group are again urging Orthodox Church in America (OCA) officials to defrock a high ranking clergyman who was found guilty of molesting a child.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, say that the denomination has publicly acknowledged that their sex abuse policy requires that clergy who have been convicted of child sexual abuse be laicized by the synod of bishops.

[Orthodox Church in America]

Storheim was convicted in January of 2014 for sexually violating an 11 year old altar boy in Winnipeg. The archbishop was sentenced to 8 months in jail the following July, but appealed both the conviction and the sentence. However, his conviction and his sentence were recently upheld by the appellate court.

[Winnipeg Free Press]

[CTV]

[Winnipeg Sun]

The survivors’ group wrote to the OCA’s synod of bishops before their meeting last spring, begging them to follow their policy in Storheim’s case.

[SNAP]

SNAP has again written to the synod, again asking them to act at their spring meeting to enforce their own guidelines. The text of the letter, sent today by fax (where available) and email to 12 hierarchs is pasted below. The names and contact information for the bishops follow the text.

“At the risk of repeating myself, this is a no-brainer and should have happened last year,” said Cappy Larson of SNAP. “Both Archbishop Seraphim’s guilt and church policy are crystal clear. Now even the appeal is over and the archbishop is serving his sentence. No more excuses, the synod needs to follow its policy!”

“Please,” added Melanie Jula Sakoda, also of SNAP, “make sure that this convicted child molester can never again use his religious titles or roles to get access to and hurt another child.”

From 1990 until his forced retirement in March of 2014, Storheim headed the OCA’s Archdiocese of Canada and was based in Ottawa, Ontario. Prior to that he worked in Edmonton and other cities in Alberta, Winnipeg in Manitoba, London, also in Ontario, Charlotte, North Carolina in the United States, and in Finland.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Joe Kimball

The late Monsignor J. Jerome Boxleitner, the long-time head of Catholic Charities who died in 2013, is on a new list of priests accused of sexual abuse.

Boxleitner is one of 17 priests on the list released Wednesday by attorney Jeff Anderson.

Shortly before Boxleitner died, St. Paul officials wanted to name a building for him, but the priest said he didn’t want that, noting: “you should never name something after someone until they’ve been dead for 10 years, to be sure you haven’t made a mistake.”

The Pioneer Press said Anderson’s firm filed a notice of claim with the archdiocese for those 17. “A claim is a precursor to a lawsuit, but because the archdiocese has filed for bankruptcy protection, no new suits can be filed and the claims will be filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court as part of its reorganization,” the story said.

Boxleitner was widely lauded when he died in May, 2013, for his 21 years at Catholic Charities and his work with the homeless.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 12 February 2015 (VIS) – A total of 165 cardinals participated in this morning’s first session of the Extraordinary Consistory with the Holy Father. Twenty-five were unable to attend due to illness or other serious problems, according to a report from the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., following the morning meeting.

Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga explained that the meeting of the Council of Cardinals (the so-called “C9”) which came to an end yesterday afternoon, focused primarily but not exclusively on the reform of the Curia; other themes addressed were the regulation of the Synod, the work of the Commission for the Protection of Minors, and relations with the economic entities of the Holy See (COSEA and IOR).

Bishop Marcello Semeraro, secretary of the C9, presented the main lines of reform of the Roman Curia, in the light of the meeting of heads of the dicasteries that took place in November 2014. The issues to be considered are the functions of the Roman Curia, its relationship with other entities such as the episcopal conferences, the criteria for rationalisation and simplification that must guide it in its tasks, the Secretariat of State, the coordination of the dicasteries of the Curia, the relationship between religious and laypersons and the procedures that must govern the preparation of the new constitution.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 12 February 2015 (VIS) – At 9 a.m. this morning, in the Vatican’s Synod Hall, the Extraordinary Consistory of the College of Cardinals began, attended by the Holy Father and by those who will be created cardinals in next Saturday’s consistory. The works will take place over two days, today and tomorrow, with sessions from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Following the Terce prayer and greetings from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, the Holy Father Francis gave a brief address to those present. “Welcome to this communion, expressed in collegiality”, he began, thanking the Comission of the nine cardinals and its coordinator, Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga and the secretary, Bishop Marcello Semeraro who presented a summary of the work carried out during these months in drafting the new Apostolic Constitution on the reform of the Curia. This summary, noted Pope Francis, “has been prepared on the basis of many suggestions, also on the part of the heads and officers of the dicasteries, alongside experts on the subject”.

“The aim is always that of promoting greater harmony in the work of the various dicasteries and offices, in order to achieve more effective collaboration in that absolute transparency that edifies authentic synodality and collegiality”, he continued, commenting that “reform is not an end in itself, but a way of giving strong Christian witness; to promote more effective evangelisation; to promote a fruitful ecumenical spirit; and to encourage a more constructive dialogue with all”.

“Reform, strongly advocated by the majority of cardinals in the context of the general congregations before the Conclave, must continue to enhance the identity of the Roman Curia itself, that is, that of assisting Peter’s Successor in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office for the good and in the service of the universal Church and the particular Churches, in order to strengthen unity of faith and the communion of the people of God, and to promote the mission of the Church in the world”, continued the Pontiff.

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AUSTRALIA
The Jewish Daily Forward

By JTA
Published February 12, 2015.

A senior rabbi resigned as a director of Chabad’s Yeshiva Center in Sydney following comments he made at the Royal Commission into the child sexual abuse scandal inside two Chabad institutions in Australia.

Rabbi Yossi Feldman, a son of the chief rabbi of Chabad in Sydney, stood down from the board of management of the Yeshiva Center Wednesday in the wake of a torrent of criticism from the rabbinate and mainstream Jewish leaders, who labeled his testimony as “repugnant to Jewish values and to Judaism.”

Feldman told the commission, which is investigating how rabbis responded to the abuse in Sydney and Melbourne in the 1980s and 1990s, that he did not believe it appropriate for victims to go to the police if offenses took place decades prior. He also claimed that the law should be lenient on pedophiles who had not offended for two decades and had repented.

“As of today I am resigning from my position as a director on the board of management of The Yeshiva Centre, which includes my administrative responsibilities,” Rabbi Feldman said in a statement. “I apologize to anyone in the rabbinate, the Jewish community and the wider Australian community who have been embarrassed or ashamed by my views, words, understandings, recordings or emails about child sexual abuse or any other matter.”

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UNITED STATES
Cardinal Roger Mahony Blogs L.A.

Pope Francis will meet with all the Cardinals of the world, along with those to be created on February 14, in Rome on Thursday and Friday, February 12 and 13.

We have been informed that the agenda will focus on the ongoing restructuring of the Vatican Curia, the various offices which assist the Pope in his governance of the Universal Church.

This will be fascinating, and it is becoming increasingly obvious that Pope Francis is leading all of us disciples of Jesus into a fuller and deeper relationship with Jesus as a first step. Any renewal of the broader Church must begin with our own personal renewal in and through Jesus. Then, Pope Francis is pointing us to a simpler organizational and administrative structure, preferring the simpler model of the Church in the Acts of the Apostles. This model places greater autonomy at the local levels of the Church, as lived out historically in the Eastern Catholic Churches and in the Orthodox Churches.

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GUAM
Concerned Catholics of Guam

CCOG will be having a village meeting on February 19, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. at the Yona Senior Citizen Center at Baza Gardens. All are welcome!

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AUSTRALIA
The Daily Beast

Emily Shire

Aided by a communal pressure to not go to secular authorities, some Orthodox Jewish boys in Australia say their sexual abuse has gone unpunished for years.

It is as disgusting as it is ironic that the mikveh—the ritual baths where Jews and converts to Judaism immerse to purify themselves—was one of the places Manny Waks says he was sexually abused as an Orthodox Jewish teenager in Melbourne. According to him, Shmuel David Cyprys, the head of security at Yeshivah Centre—the school Waks attended—instructed him to go to the mikveh with him in 1990.

“During the abuse I became very dizzy and told him that I needed to get out of the water. I went over to the drying area and sat down on the floor. Cyprys came over to me and continued what he had been doing in the bath,” Waks remembered. “I remember feeling very dizzy to the point where I blacked out briefly. Soon after I got up, dressed myself and walked home.”

Waks shared this account last week at the start of the Australia Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse. The Jewish community is hardly the only group that the Australian government is probing. It has, however, warranted two weeks of specific scrutiny as more people like Waks, who kept their abuse hidden for decades after their rabbis allegedly failed to respond, have decided to go public for the entire Jewish community and the country to hear their stories.

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AUSTRALIA
The JC

By Dan Goldberg, February 12, 2015

An inquiry into a child sex abuse scandal that engulfed two Australian Chabad institutions in the 1980s and 1990s has been suffused with acrimony and accusations, tragedy and trauma.

In an email to one of the victims that was read out at the hearing last week, Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, from Sydney, said: “I’m prepared to say that Rabbi [Boruch] Lesches lied when he said that he didn’t know about the abuse.”

Lesches, who now lives in the US, was a senior official at Chabad’s headquarters in Sydney at the time of the abuse. It is understood he will not appear before the commission despite attempts by Australian officials to bring him in.

“People say that everything that will come out is a hilul hashem (desecration of God’s name) — I say the hilul hashem is if it doesn’t come out,” Rabbi Gutnick wrote. “These guys are all bastards. They all have blood on their hands.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

February 13, 2015

Pia Akerman
Reporter
Melbourne

THE rabbi who presided over Melbourne’s Yeshivah College while two staff members were abusing children has apologised for the first time to the victims, prompting renewed calls for his resignation.

Rabbi Abraham Glick joined Yeshivah College — part of the orthodox Chabad community — as a teacher in 1970, becoming head of Jewish studies from 1974 and principal from 1988 to 2007. He was involved in a decision to send teacher and rabbi David Kramer to Israel in 1992 when an abuse allegation was made, and also served as principal while Yeshivah worker David Cyprys was abusing boys in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Rabbi Glick told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse yesterday that he was “sickened” the abuse had occurred under his watch.

“I would like to apologise to the students,” he said.

“I see that many mistakes were made. We should have been more vigilant, we should have responded better. Anything that we could do to help them in their healing process, move forwards, I personally would like to know … I think that would help me in my healing process.”

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SCOTLAND
The Tablet

12 February 2015 by Brian Morton

A proposed restructuring of parishes in the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh will lead to a reduction in the number of full-time priests to about 30 by 2035.

Making the prediction, Archbishop Leo Cushley described the restructuring process as “painful” and “unpleasant” but essential in light of falling attendance at Mass, fewer baptisms and weddings, and a dramatic stall in the number of vocations to the priesthood.

Those close to the archdiocese deny that there has been any “O’Brien effect”, as reported in some media, or direct fall-out from the admission of sexual misconduct by disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien in 2013.

The archdiocese has a Catholic population of around 110,000 and has 129 priests, including some who are retired. But the process of restructuring, for which proposals have been canvassed from deaneries and which will be discussed by clergy and lay representatives in a consultation process beginning at Easter 2015, has already begun.

Since 2008 the 109 parishes in St Andrews and Edinburgh have been organised into 31 parish “clusters” by which clergy minister to more than one parish within a particular locality.

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VATICAN CITY
Commonweal

Robert Mickens

February 11, 2015

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors held its first full plenary session in Rome last week under the direction of Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley. They told journalists at a briefing on Saturday they were formulating suggestions for how Pope Francis should make bishops accountable for implementing protection guidelines. As expected, certain survivors’ groups and other critics of the Vatican dismissed this as yet more empty words. That’s unfortunate. But it’s also understandable, especially given the Vatican’s lack of transparency when it comes to dealing with such bishops. The head of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, offered a rare public display (at least for him) of how defensive church officials can be when pressed for more openness. Visibly irritated, he snapped back at an Italian TV journalist who attempted to ask why there was a delay in the trial of Jozef Wesolowski, the defrocked bishop and former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic who has been charged with sexual abuse of young boys. “It has nothing to do [with this briefing],” the priest said curtly. When she pressed him an aide took the microphone from her and Fr. Lombardi said, “Enough! Let’s move on.” This, too, was unfortunate. The Holy See has publicly dealt with at least four bishops for either committing abuse or trying to cover it up. But there has been no transparency regarding their whereabouts or their status. In addition to Wesolowski, there is also Belgian Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, who “resigned” in 2010 after admitting to molesting his young nephews. Where is he now? Has he been laicized? The Vatican has not said. Then there is Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who also “resigned,” just before the conclave of 2013 after being accused of sexual harassment by a number of seminarians and priests. Where is he? The Vatican will not say. And, of course, there’s the case of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, who was given a two-year suspended sentence after being criminally convicted for failing to report sexual abuse of minors. The Vatican supposedly carried out an investigation last September and two months later in a TV interview Cardinal O’Malley had this to say about the Finn case: “It’s a question the Holy See must address urgently.” Is it cynical to wonder what in the world transparency and urgency mean in the Vatican?

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OHIO
Jewish Community Watch

200 members of Cleveland’s orthodox Jewish community gathered on Sunday night to hear from abuse survivors, mental health professionals, and legal experts, in a “Night of Awareness and Education” about child sexual abuse. The event was organized by Jewish Community Watch (JCW), an organization committed to raising awareness of and preventing child sexual abuse in the orthodox Jewish community. The standing-room only crowd included survivors, parents of small children, and community leaders.

Ruth Gordon spoke about her son Dave Gordon who he had been a victim of horrific sexual abuse as a child growing up in Michigan. As a young adolescent he suffered through depression and addiction but eventually turned a corner and became an outspoken anti-abuse activist. He joined the Israeli Defense Force and partook in the Operation Protective Edge in Gaza this past summer. Shortly after, he was tragically found dead of gunshot wounds.

Ruth spoke about the specific struggles that victims of abuse face within the orthodox Jewish community, where the institutional cover-ups and shame have destroyed numerous lives. She noted the irony that her late son Dave had received more unconditional support in his Narcotics Anonymous groups, which were mostly held in churches, than he received at his local synagogue. With her voice shaking she concluded with a message for the parents in attendance “watch your children, listen to your children, believe your children, protect your children and love your children”

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

[document]

ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS RE PARISH REPRESENTATION

Q: Our parish has not received a notice of claim. Why do we need representation?

A: Although each of the Archdiocesan parishes is a separate corporate entity, which means that its assets are not included in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy, all parishes have a financial interest in the outcome of the Archdiocese’s Chapter 11 case. All parishes contribute to the support of the Archdiocese through their assessments, and therefore, to the extent that the Archdiocese needs money to fund its ongoing operations in the Chapter 11 case and beyond, those funds are going to have to come primarily from the parishes. It is possible that there could be changes to the assessments, depending on the Archdiocese’s operational needs. In addition, most parishes participate in the Archdiocesan general insurance and health and dental insurance plans. Both of these plans are currently holding significant excess funds. Although the Archdiocese has possession of and may hold legal title to these funds, the parishes and other related entities have contributed the vast majority of these excess funds through the payment of their insurance premiums. As a result, the parishes have an equitable interest in the funds which needs to be protected. Finally, all parishes have been listed as creditors by the Archdiocese in the Chapter 11 case and parishes should have legal representation to advise them on how to file a claim and perform any other actions necessary to protect their interests with respect to their claims against the Archdiocese.

Q: Our Parish has received a Notice of Claim. How can an attorney help us?

A: Once your parish receives a Notice of Claim, it is important that your parish tender it as soon as possible to any insurer that may provide coverage for the claim. This is particularly important now, as the mediation process in the bankruptcy is moving quickly, so all insurance carriers with claims should be put on notice as soon as possible. An insurance coverage attorney can draft and send this correspondence on your behalf and then respond to future communications with the insurance company for you. These communications are essential to protecting your parish’s rights under its insurance policy. If the insurance company denies coverage, your insurance coverage attorney can advise you as to how best to proceed.

Q: How does our Parish know who its insurers are?

A: Since many of these claims date back to the 1960s and 1970s, if not before, finding coverage can be tricky. Rarely, are full insurance policies maintained from those time periods. Your attorney will guide your Parish in locating evidence of insurance its files, analyzing this evidence and then contacting the insurers that likely provided coverage.

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

VATICAN CITY
John Thavis

Pope Francis delivered a brief but significant talk to open a two-day meeting of cardinals, convened for a progress report on Curia reform.

At a time when the pace of the reform project is slowing and resistance has increased inside the Vatican, the pope underlined his “determination” to follow through on plans to streamline the Vatican bureaucracy, establish transparency and end the power struggles and careerism inside the Roman Curia.

He reminded his audience that two years ago, in meetings ahead of the conclave that elected him, the majority of cardinals pushed strongly for these reforms.

“The goal is to favor greater harmony in the work of the various agencies and offices, so that there is more efficient cooperation, carried out in that absolute transparency that builds true synodality and collegiality,” the pope said.

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

VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

David Gibson | February 12, 2015

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis called for a Vatican that operates with “absolute transparency” as he gathered more than 150 cardinals in Rome for high-level meetings aimed at tackling one of the toughest challenges of his reformist papacy: overhauling the dysfunctional bureaucracy of the Roman Curia.

“The goal we are aiming for is always that of encouraging greater harmony in the work of the various (curial offices) in order to create a more effective collaboration in that absolute transparency that builds authentic … collegiality,” Francis said Thursday (Feb. 12) to a lecture hall filled with the scarlet clad “princes of the church,” as the cardinals are known.

“Reform is not an end in itself, but a means of bearing a powerful Christian witness,” Francis said, a nod to the scandals that in recent years undermined the Vatican’s credibility with the public and dismayed churchmen around the world who had to deal with the fallout.

The two-day gathering with the cardinals – among them 20 new appointees who the pope will officially enroll in their ranks on Saturday – comes almost two years to the day after Francis’ predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, stunned the world by announcing that he would become the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign from office.

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

UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Jesus was Jewish, not Catholic. He said child abuse was a serious evil that should be punished severely. After Roman Emperor Constantine and his Fourth Century successors began the transformation of the Catholic Church into a “top down absolute monarchy”, too many popes, up to and including Pope Francis, lost their way on following Jesus’ Jewish mandate to protect children. Pope Francis and his Cardinals are this week working on the pope’s top priority — fine tuning the top down and unaccountable management structure apparently to maximize papal power and wealth. This structure is clearly contradicted by Jesus’ mandate for a leadership that serves, not dominates, that was mainly followed by early Christians for over three centuries.

THE CATHOLIC ANSWER FIRST. The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has found (2/11/15) that Cardinal George Pell and the Sydney Catholic Archdiocese repeatedly failed in their dealings with Sydney abuse victim John Ellis.

After Pell testified before the Royal Commission, Pell moved quickly to Rome to become the top money man in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis had rewarded his Australian service by making him head of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy. He lives in luxury in his palatial Roman “guest house”, Domus Australia, renovated with $30 million of Australian donations.

Cardinal Pell is headlining meetings this week in Rome with Pope Francis and all the world’s Cardinals. If Pope Francis is serious about holding Bishops to account, Pell must be fired pronto, not promoted and honored. Otherwise, the pope is making a mockery of Jesus’ mandates about protecting children and serving, not dominating.. Please see “Pope Francis Must Fire Cardinal Pell Now‏” here,

[Christian Catholicism]

and “NY Times Pulls Punches As SNAP Jabs Pope & US Pols On Abuse Ploys“, here, [Christian Catholicism] .

The criticism of Pell comes in a new Royal Commission Report, Report of Case Study 8: Mr John Ellis’s experience of the Towards Healing process and civil litigation. (2/11/15)

The Report found that Cardinal Pell “did not act fairly from a Christian point of view in the conduct of the litigation against Mr Ellis”. (my emphasis)

The Royal Commission examined the treatment of John Ellis, a Sydney lawyer and former altar boy who was abused repeatedly by Father Aidan Duggan between 1974 and 1979. The Report said Ellis, who suffered personally and severely as a result of the sexual abuse in his youth, spent more than a decade seeking compensation, but lost the case on a legal technicality in 2007 when the Court of Appeal ruled the Catholic Church was not an entity that could be sued.

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

MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

Dan Rodricks
BALTIMORE SUN
dan.rodricks​@baltsun.com

The Episcopal Church’s very public “Agony in the Garden” over the Heather Cook case — with most of the angst focused on whether church leaders knew about her drinking problem before they made her a bishop — continues. Now a high-ranking official is calling for the national church to officially “repent for our role” in the death of bicyclist Thomas Palermo.

Perhaps it’s the Catholic in me, but I associate “repent” with sin, a considerable step above a mere wrong or mistake that would require apology. Sin calls for repentance. So, with that word, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church, elevates this tragedy into a sphere where the laity fear to tread — into the realm of moral evil. That’s somewhere high above criminal law, and well above my credentials, up in the clouds where clergy agonize among themselves.

That’s what spiritual leaders are ordained to do. They wrestle with large moral questions. Among many instructions, they tell us what’s sinful and what isn’t.

But I have to ask: What sin is Jennings suggesting here? A lie of omission?

You could take that from the questions that keep coming up: How did Cook win election last year as Maryland’s bishop suffragan when she had received probation before judgment for drunken driving on the Eastern Shore in 2010? Sub-question: Why were those who elected her not made aware of that incident ahead of the vote?

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

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

Three separate diphtheria outbreaks among infants in one of the country’s mother and baby homes had 100% mortality rates.

The revelation is contained in a 1945 report in the Irish Medical Journal concerning the prevalence of diphtheria in infants in the Sean Ross Abbey mother and baby home operated by the Sacred Heart Sisters in Tipperary.

The report, co-written by county medical officer for Tipperary North Riding, Dr JB O’Regan, lists seven diphtheria outbreaks between 1935 and 1941.

In three of the outbreaks, all of the 31 children who contracted the disease died. In total, between 1935 and 1941, 54 out of the 118 children who contracted diphtheria died — a mortality rate of 45%.

An abstract from another paper written by Dr O’Regan indicates the mortality rate for diphtheria in infants in the county, as a whole, between 1943 and 1944 was just 2.7%. Children dying from diphtheria in Sean Ross Abbey were excluded from those statistics.

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

UNITED STATES
Perspective

There’s been stuff in the news about the Vatican’s new sex abuse commission. I’m glad they have a couple of sex abuse survivors on the commission, but I don’t expect much from the commission in terms of actually making a difference in how the Vatican handles sex abuse. Here’s a bit from Robert Mickens’ recent Letter from Rome on this …

Letter from Rome: Where Is the Vatican ‘Transparency’ on Abuse?

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors held its first full plenary session in Rome last week under the direction of Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley. They told journalists at a briefing on Saturday they were formulating suggestions for how Pope Francis should make bishops accountable for implementing protection guidelines. As expected, certain survivors’ groups and other critics of the Vatican dismissed this as yet more empty words. That’s unfortunate. But it’s also understandable, especially given the Vatican’s lack of transparency when it comes to dealing with such bishops. The head of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, offered a rare public display (at least for him) of how defensive church officials can be when pressed for more openness. Visibly irritated, he snapped back at an Italian TV journalist who attempted to ask why there was a delay in the trial of Jozef Wesolowski, the defrocked bishop and former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic who has been charged with sexual abuse of young boys. “It has nothing to do [with this briefing],” the priest said curtly. When she pressed him an aide took the microphone from her and Fr. Lombardi said, “Enough! Let’s move on.” This, too, was unfortunate. The Holy See has publicly dealt with at least four bishops for either committing abuse or trying to cover it up. But there has been no transparency regarding their whereabouts or their status. In addition to Wesolowski, there is also Belgian Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, who “resigned” in 2010 after admitting to molesting his young nephews. Where is he now? Has he been laicized? The Vatican has not said. Then there is Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who also “resigned,” just before the conclave of 2013 after being accused of sexual harassment by a number of seminarians and priests. Where is he? The Vatican will not say. And, of course, there’s the case of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, who was given a two-year suspended sentence after being criminally convicted for failing to report sexual abuse of minors. The Vatican supposedly carried out an investigation last September and two months later in a TV interview Cardinal O’Malley had this to say about the Finn case: “It’s a question the Holy See must address urgently.” Is it cynical to wonder what in the world transparency and urgency mean in the Vatican?

And meanwhile, more has come out about the mishandling of sex abuse in Australia by Cardinal Pell, the man in whom Pope Francis puts so much trust. One of the stories in the news today on how Pell mistreated abuse victims … Catholic church fought sex abuse victim’s claims to deter others, inquiry finds …

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

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Phyllis Zagano | Feb. 11, 2015 Just Catholic

You don’t have to speak Italian to understand the Vatican’s recent “Women’s Cultures” events, but it could help. (It was all in Italian.)

The Pontifical Council for Culture touted its meetings as analyses of the status of the world’s 3.5 billion women. (About 43 million of them speak Italian.)

The council’s offensive Christmas-week infomercial was supposed to crowdsource a video for its opening event, which did flash a few (unreadable) submissions toward its end. The avant garde production in Teatro Argentina, a Roman opera house, included a jazz trio, professionally produced videos and scripted declamations. (All in Italian.)

What are we to make of all this? The Pontifical Council for Culture seems to be the Vatican’s faculty of arts and letters. Like all Vatican councils and congregations, it is predominantly male. It includes 13 cardinals, 14 bishops and four “men of culture.” It has 35 consultors, including seven women. Its 16-person staff has male professionals and four female secretaries. It is headed by four clerics: a prefect, a delegate, a secretary and an undersecretary. Such is the crowd that set out to advise the pope on women. (In Italian.)

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The new head of an inquiry into historical child sex abuse has said she is willing to discuss the inclusion of Northern Ireland in the inquiry.

On Wednesday, Justice Lowell Goddard told the Home Affairs Select Committee she would raise it with the Home Secretary Theresa May if she felt it was appropriate.

Ms May has already said the inquiry will be confined to England and Wales.

But there have been a number of calls for Kincora Boys’ Home to be included.

Three senior care staff at the east Belfast children’s home were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys in their care.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Melissa Davey
@MelissaLDavey
Wednesday 11 February 2015

A senior orthodox Jewish rabbi who was forced to resign as director of a religious centre over remarks about child sex abuse victims says he has been made a “sacrificial lamb”.

On Wednesday Rabbi Yosef Feldman resigned from his position at the Sydney Yeshivah Centre, which runs schools, youth camps and prayer services, because of the backlash after comments he made to the royal commission into institutional responses into child sex abuse.

Giving evidence, he said perpetrators of child sex abuse should be granted leniency if they had stopped offending and had repented to God; massaging a child inappropriately was not a criminal act; it was not necessary to report to the police an alleged sex offender who was about to leave the country.

He also told the commission that despite holding a senior position within a school, he did not know about mandatory reporting laws for child sexual abuse.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

[with audio]

(Vatican Radio) Church leaders have been arriving in Rome from around the world for a two day meeting of the College of Cardinals which precedes the public consistory taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

During the closed door meeting in the Synod Hall, which opens on Thursday morning, the Church leaders will be discussing proposed reforms of the Curia that the Group of 9 cardinals has been working on earlier this week. They are expected to include some decentralisation of governance from Rome to local bishops conferences, as well as greater transparency and closer cooperation among all the different parts of the Roman Curia.

British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor has been a vocal supporter of such changes which, he says, were at the heart of discussions prior to the conclave that elected Pope Francis nearly two years ago. Philippa Hitchen caught up with him ahead of the meeting to find out more about his expectations for this encounter….

The retired archbishop of Westminster says that many cardinals have been vocal about the need for reform, especially in the days before the conclave when they were speaking about the need to tackle challenges facing the Church, here in Rome and elsewhere.

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

VATICAN CITY
Catholic Herald (UK)

by Catholic News Service posted Thursday, 12 Feb 2015

Proposals for changes to structure of the Curia emerging at the Vatican

High-level discussions are continuing on how exactly to reform the Roman Curia, but the idea of consolidating several offices into two large groups — one with family, laity and life, and the other with justice and peace, migrants and charity — seems to be taking form, the Vatican spokesman has said.

Briefing reporters yesterday, the third day of meetings of Pope Francis’s international Council of Cardinals, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, insisted “there is not and has never been” a draft document of a constitution providing a new list of all Curia offices and their responsibilities.

But there does seem to be a “concrete” and “more developed” proposal to put the pontifical councils for laity and for the family, along with the Academy for Life into one office and the pontifical councils for justice and peace, Cor Unum (charity) and migrants and travelers into another, he said.

“It does not seem to me that there are many other concrete ideas” that are ready for discussion by the entire College of Cardinals, Fr Lombardi said.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Feb. 12, 2015

VATICAN CITY
Pope Francis begin a rare meeting with some 150 Catholic cardinals to discuss reform of the Vatican bureaucracy by calling on them to speak boldly and to keep in mind the “supreme law,” which he called the “salvation of souls.”

Opening what is known as a consistory, a closed-door meeting of the world’s cardinals at the Vatican, the pope also called on the prelates to help him in building “more effective collaboration” amongst church offices “in that absolute transparency that builds authentic synodality and collegiality.”

Speaking of the reform process that he has undertaken over the past 18 months with a select group of nine cardinals, Francis said reform of the Vatican bureaucracy “is not an end in itself.”

Reform of the bureaucracy, said the pontiff, is “but a means to give a strong Christian witness; to promote a more effective evangelization; to promote a more fruitful ecumenical spirit; to encourage a more constructive dialogue with all.”

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VATICAN CITY
CTV

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press
Published Thursday, February 12, 2015

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Thursday urged his cardinals to co-operate in reforming the outdated and dysfunctional Vatican bureaucracy, saying the overhaul will help him govern the Catholic Church better and spread the faith more effectively.

Francis summoned cardinals from around the world to hear proposals for revamping the central government of the 1.2-billion-strong church. The proposals include merging offices and reducing waste.

Opening the meetings, Francis said the aim was to encourage greater harmony and collaboration in “absolute transparency,” to help the church spread the faith and reach out to others.

“Certainly, reaching that goal won’t be easy. It needs time, determination and above all the collaboration of everyone,” he said.

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

VATICAN CITY
Reuters

BY PHILIP PULLELLA
VATICAN CITY Thu Feb 12, 2015

(Reuters) – Pope Francis, starting two days of closed-door meetings with the world’s Roman Catholic cardinals, on Thursday called for greater efficiency and transparency in the Church’s troubled central administration, the Curia.

Francis was elected in 2013 with a mandate from the cardinals who chose him to reform the Curia, and has made plain his determination to bring the Church’s hierarchy closer to its 1.2 billion members.

In brief, public comments before the meetings started, he said Church administrators should strive for “greater harmony in work of the various departments and offices, in order to realize a more efficient collaboration based on absolute transparency”.

The Italian-dominated Curia’s power struggles and leaks were widely held responsible for Benedict XVI’s decision two years ago to become the first pope in six centuries to resign.

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

AUSTRALIA
Sky News

A senior Australian rabbi doesn’t think any of his peers these days would fail to tell police about reports of child sex abuse.

Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick has told a royal commission into child sexual abuse he never felt there was a religious, or Jewish community, barrier to reporting sex abuse cases to authorities.

His fellow rabbis today would agree with this view, but this was not always the case, he said.

‘I cannot think of a rabbi, that I know of, that would not agree with this policy of reporting any such things to police and acting correctly and properly with the victims of abuse,’ Rabbi Gutnick told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Thursday.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Pia Akerman
Reporter
Melbourne

THE RABBI who presided over Melbourne’s Yeshivah College as principal at a time when staff were abusing children says his responsibility to ensure students’ safety existed “in theory” but was never spelt out.

Rabbi Abraham Glick joined Yeshivah College — part of Melbourne’s Orthodox Chabad community — as a teacher in 1970, becoming head of Jewish studies from 1974 and principal from 1988 to 2007.

He was involved in a decision to send teacher and rabbi David Kramer to Israel in 1992 when an abuse allegation was made, and also served as principal while Yeshivah worker David Cyprys was abusing boys in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Rabbi Glick today told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that he only knew “in principle, in theory” that as principal he had a responsibility to be aware of issues that might put children at risk of abuse.

“It was never spelt out as such,” he said.

“I suppose at some level one could argue that yes, as principal that was my responsibility. If one understands the way Yeshivah actually operated it’s not so clear,” he said.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Sarah Farnsworth

A former principal of Yeshivah College in Melbourne has reluctantly admitted that covering up abuse at the Yeshivah centre was a “big mistake”, but he denies knowing about it.

Former teacher and principal Rabbi Abraham Glick worked closely with the head rabbi of the Yeshivah Community Rabbi Dovid Groner in the 1980s.

At the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Rabbi Glick was read a list of extensive offending by convicted paedophile David Cyrprys between 1983 to 1992.

Counsel assisting the commission, Maria Gerace challenged Rabbi Glick’s statement that children did not tell their parents what Cyrprys was doing.

Ms Gerace said a parent of a victim told Rabbi Groner of the abuse in 1984 and Cyrprys went on to abuse three other children, before another parent reported abuse in 1986.

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

AUSTRALIA
Sky News

A rabbi who was principal of a Melbourne Jewish college when some students were sexually abused admits mistakes were made in the handling of abuse cases.

But responsibility for this fell to another senior figure at Yeshivah College, the now deceased Rabbi Dovid Groner, says Rabbi Abraham Glick, who was principal from 1986 to 2007.

Rabbi Glick told the royal commission into child sex abuse that Rabbi Groner never told him about such cases, because he handled them in ‘strict confidence’.

‘I’m prepared to say that if he were alive today, I believe he would agree that that was a mistake. A big mistake,’ Rabbi Glick told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Thursday.

The commission was told David Cyprys – a locksmith and martial arts instructor at the school – abused several children in the early 1980s, and that Rabbi Groner was aware of this in 1984.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Melissa Davey
@MelissaLDavey
Thursday 12 February 2015

The former principal of an Orthodox Jewish school said he does not remember removing the scholarship of a student who reported to him that he had been sexually abused.

Rabbi Abraham Glick said he could not even remember the interstate student, identified only to the public as AVR, as having ever attended the school within the Yeshivah religious centre in Melbourne.

Glick appeared before the royal commission into institutional responses to child sex abuse on Thursday after AVR gave evidence on Monday.

AVR told the commission that in 1990 he was repeatedly raped by a security guard at the Yeshivah centre and college in Melbourne, David Cyprys, who in 2013 was convicted and jailed for his crimes.

But when he and his mother reported the abuse to Glick, AVR said his scholarship was stripped from him and he was sent home.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Rabbi Abraham Glick resigns from Yeshivah College after fronting royal commission on child abuse

February 12, 2015

Jane Lee

After fronting the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Abuse on Thursday, Rabbi Abraham Glick, the former principal of Melbourne’s Yeshivah College over the period of David Cyprys’ and David Kramer’s sexual abuse of students, has resigned his current role of teacher, writes Jane Lee.

The former principal of Yeshivah College from the period that sex offenders David Cyprys and David Kramer were abusing students has resigned as a teacher at the school.

Rabbi Abraham Glick was the principal of Melbourne’s Yeshivah College between 1986 and 2007.

Asked at the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Abuse on Thursday whether he thought resigning from any remaining positions at the Yeshivah Centre and Yeshivah College “would assist the victims to move on from the wrongs of the past”, he announced that, after much “soul searching”, he had decided to resign as a teacher.

“I resigned because I felt that [will help meet the] needs of the victims that would want me to resign.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

SHANNON DEERY HERALD SUN FEBRUARY 12, 2015

A FORMER Yeshivah College principal was told about child sex crimes being perpetrated by staff as early as 1991 but failed to act, it has been alleged.

While the school was under the leadership of Rabbi Abraham Glick, at least 10 students were molested by staff at the school between 1988 and 2007 by teacher David Kramer and security guard David Cyprys.

Before the royal commission into child sex abuse, Rabbi Glick yesterday admitted the school covered up allegations, but denied any responsibility.

Cyprys had been allowed to continue working at the school despite pleading guilty to indecent assault in 1992. Kramer was moved to the US after complaints were made by parents in the early 1990s. Cyprys is in jail and Kramer has just been released from prison.

Rabbi Glick said that because of the way the school operated, his responsibility to be aware of such issues was “never spelt out”.

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WEST VIRGINIA
WVVA

PRINCETON, W.Va. (AP) – A former church youth volunteer in Bluefield is facing new charges of sexual abuse involving children.

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph (http://bit.ly/1E25Ymt ) reports that an indictment has been returned against 56-year-old Timothy Probert.

Probert was arrested in December 2013 on three dozen counts of child sexual abuse-related charges. Sgt. M.D. Clemons of the West Virginia State Police say 12 new charges stem from another victim coming forward and additional charges being added in other cases.

Clemons said the charges involve nine young teenagers.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Tablet (UK)

11 February 2015 by Liz Dodd, Mark Brolly

The Church systematically failed abuse survivors in Australia, the royal commission has found.

In reports released today the commission strongly criticised the Church’s adherence to the Towards Healing protocol, the Australian bishops’ guidelines on handling abuse allegations.

In a number of cases it found that the Church did not act in accordance with these principles. In one instance it imposed an obligation of silence on a victim and in another it failed to provide assistance and spiritual direction.

It also said that the Sydney archdiocese and Cardinal George Pell deliberately fought the claims of one victim, John Ellis, to dissuade others from taking legal action.

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

MINNESOTA
Hastings Star Gazette

Posted on Feb 11, 2015

A former priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in New Trier was among 17 men named on a new list of alleged abusers released by a law firm based in the Twin Cities.

Rev. Marvin Klaers, who served at St. Mary’s from 1975 until 2002, was named on the list and has been accused of sexual abuse or misconduct with minors, according to the office of Twin Cities attorney Jeff Anderson. Anderson’s office said in a press release that the clergy whose “names were released have been identified in notice of claims submitted to the Archdiocese and its insurance carriers.”

In the press release, Anderson said: “Making this information known is another step towards transparency and is a testament to the courage of survivors.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

11 February 2015 By Jack Blanchard

Child sex crime in Britain is a huge international scandal, the new head of the Government’s abuse inquiry warned.

Justice Lowell Goddard, from New Zealand, told MPs: “There has been worldwide interest in this. I can’t say there has been anything like it that I can recollect in New Zealand.”

She was making her first appearance in Parliament after being appointed to head the inquiry into historic child abuse.

The previous two chiefs were forced to quit over ties to the British establishment.

Justice Goddard said she had no links to people relevant to the inquiry.

She flew to Britain on Monday to meet survivors’ groups before the hearing at the Commons home affairs committee.

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

February 12, 2015 by admin

The Commission has extended its times of operation to accommodate all those scheduled to give evidence and the first to do so today was Melbourne’s Elwood Synagogue’s Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick.

Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick told the Commission that he had grown up with jailed offender David Cyprys’s father and that David Cyprys, now serving an 8-year sentence had served on the Board of the Elwood Shule. He resigned at the time of being charged.

Rabbi Gutnick told the Commission about the cultural differences between his modern orthodoxy congregation and the ultra-orthodox Yeshivah kehilah. He said: “There is a greater emphasis on strictness of performing the various Jewish rituals in the Chabad community that there may be in the ordinary orthodox community. They both keep the same laws but our congregation will have people who are not that observant.” He agreed with Maria Gerace, the Counsel assisting the Commission that the Yeshivah community was more “insular”.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

02/11/2015

Jennifer Haselberger

But I don’t think they meant to…

Earlier today, the Communications department of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis issued a statement regarding the disclosure of 4 additional names and histories of men ‘who have substantiated claims against them of sexually abusing a minor while they were assigned as priests, or, in the case of one, before he was a priest’. (the law firm of Jeff Anderson and Associates released 17 names today).

I would assume that most of us are rather tired by now of these oh-look-what-we-just-discovered disclosures, but today’s is particularly noteworthy because of who is included: Raimond Rose, FSC.

The news that Brother Rose has been credibly accused is not new. In 2010 a lawsuit was filed alleging that he had abused twenty-one minor victims at seven different schools, including De La Salle in Minneapolis. What is new is that the Archdiocese has mistakenly identified him as a member of the clergy, subject to the restrictions of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People/Essential Norms, and capable of being ‘removed from ministry’.

Brother Raimond Rose is a member of the Brothers of Christian Schools- an institute of lay men dedicated exclusively to the mission of education. They are not priests (and probably would be offended to be mistook for one)! Brother Rose did not abuse while a priest, nor did he abuse ‘before he was a priest’. He was never in formation to become a priest. That is simply not what Christian Brothers do.

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INDIA
News 4

Updated: Wednesday, February 11 2015

By JOSIE GARCIA News 4 San Antonio

BHOPAL, INDIA – A temple priest is accused of sexually assaulting a woman he was supposed to perform an exorcism on.

Nishatpura police said Santosh Kumar Kaushik told the 34-year-old woman that she was possessed by an evil spirit and needed to have an exorcism.

On February 6, he allegedly went to her home and told her husband to leave while the ritual was performed.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Rev. Jeff Hood
Baptist Pastor, Theologian and Activist

A few days ago, Pope Francis endorsed spanking. Believing that one can spank children and leave them with dignity, Pope Francis even called such a means of punishment, “beautiful.” Unless there are records or evidence of the Pope spanking children that are not his own, I don’t think that the Pope has much direct knowledge with this subject. In an age of serial and often unreported abuse of children in the Christian world, I can think of few more ignorant statements than for the Pope to give his blessing to the abuse of children. Some might argue that the language of abuse is too strong. I would argue that abuse always begins with the violent exercising of power over someone who is powerless and this is what the Pope has just endorsed.

I grew up in a Christian context where spanking was normal and often turned into abuse. There was nothing beautiful to me about being hit. I cannot imagine being hit in a way that was not demeaning or abusive. I remember the sting. I remember the lines. I remember the blood. I remember the bruises. I remember the pain. I remember being told that God endorsed and commanded what was happening to me. I remember despising any God that would be for the abuse of children. I almost left God altogether. I could not believe in a God that promoted the hitting and abuse of the innocent. Thankfully, I lived long enough to find out that God has nothing to do with the promotion of violence toward children.

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VATICAN CITY
Chicago Sun-Times

Emily McFarlan Miller

Two years ago today, Pope Benedict XVI announced before a gathering of cardinals he would step down as pope at the end of the month.

Seated on a gold throne, wrapped in a red, fur-lined cape, Benedict sounded tired as he noted his “advanced age” and deteriorating strength, as well as “rapid changes” in a world “shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith.”

“For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the cardinals,” he said in Latin.

A cameraman put his hand to his mouth.

A cardinal began to sob.

And then there was silence, according to an eyewitness account published last year in the Catholic Herald.

It was the first time a pope voluntarily had left the papacy in nearly 600 years.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Elizabeth Mohr
emohr@pioneerpress.com

The names of 17 more Roman Catholic clergy accused of sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were released Wednesday by attorneys representing people who say they were victims.

Though some names have surfaced in discussions of abuse, none has been formally accused of sexually abusing children until now.

Attorney Jeff Anderson’s firm said a notice of claim has been filed with the archdiocese for each named clergy member. A claim is not a lawsuit, but a precursor to one. But because the archdiocese has filed for bankruptcy protection, no new lawsuits can be filed and the claims will be filed with U.S. Bankruptcy court as part of the chancery’s reorganization.

The 17 new names bring to 55 the number of clergy against whom Anderson’s firm has filed lawsuits or claims.

“The more information that gets out about the abuse here, the better our kids are protected,” said attorney Mike Finnegan, who works at the Anderson firm. “Also, having the names out there allows others who were abused by these people to know they are not alone and that they can come forward and get help now.”

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Madeleine Baran Feb 11, 2015

The St. Paul Cathedral Regina McCombs / MPR News file
The Twin Cities archdiocese and a St. Paul law firm released more names Wednesday of priests they said had been accused of sexually abusing children, but neither provided information on the allegations.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released four names and the law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates released 17 names. At least five of the men had already been identified publicly as alleged child abusers in lawsuits and media reports. MPR News is not naming most of the priests because of a lack of public information about the claims.

Also on Wednesday, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said his office had declined to file criminal charges against two clergy members for alleged sex abuse because of insufficient evidence.

Facing huge financial losses because of abuse claims, the archdiocese filed in January for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The judge overseeing the process has ordered the church, insurers and victims into mediation to establish a fair system for determining compensation.

In a written statement about the disclosure of names, Archbishop John Nienstedt said the four men named Wednesday by the archdiocese “have substantiated claims against them of sexually abusing a minor while they were assigned as priests or, in the case of one, before he was a priest.”

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An attorney has released the names of 17 clergy members accused of sexual abuse or misconduct with a minor in the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

St. Paul lawyer Jeff Anderson said Wednesday the clergy were identified in notice of claims submitted to the archdiocese and its insurance carriers.

On the archdiocese’s website, Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens says the archdiocese hopes the posting will encourage those abused by priests to come forward to not only file claims but also for help in healing.

Cozzens notes that in most cases, the alleged conduct in the notice of claims happened decades ago.
Meanwhile, the archdiocese disclosed on its website the names of four men who have substantiated claims against them while they were priests or, in one case, before they became a priest.

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VATICAN CITY
DFW Catholic

Vatican City, Feb 11, 2015 / 01:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The secretary of the Council of Cardinals will present tomorrow at the consistory a proposal for curial reform based on the pivotal notion of charity, according to a source who has seen the latest draft of the proposal.

The nine-member Council of Cardinals met Feb. 9-11 with Pope Francis at the Vatican’s St. Martha house, continuing their discussion on the reform of the Roman Curia. The meeting precedes a Feb. 12-13 consistory also discussing the reform, and a Feb. 14-15 consistory for the creation of new cardinals.

Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, who serves as coordinator of the Council of Cardinals, will report Thursday in front of the some 150 cardinals and cardinals-designate who are taking part in the consistory.

A source who has seen one of the latest updates of Bishop Semeraro’s draft told CNA Feb. 11 that “charity has now become pivotal in the new Congregation for Charity, Justice and Peace.”

The new congregation will include the Pontifical Councils for Justice and Peace, Migrants, Cor Unum and Pastoral Health Care, and the first option was that of putting everything under the umbrella of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent

PAUL GALLAGHER Author Biography Wednesday 11 February 2015

Several former panel members on the Government’s child sex abuse inquiry are refusing to return to their roles, having become worn down by the growing infighting between rival groups of campaigners, The Independent can reveal.

Graham Wilmer, Barbara Hearn and Sharon Evans are said to be so fed up with splits among campaigners – and Home Secretary Theresa May’s decision to scrap the original eight-person panel after selecting New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard as the new chair – that they have told colleagues they will not bother reapplying for their roles.

Mr Wilmer, founder of The Lantern Project charity in Merseyside, and himself a former victim of sex abuse, said he would not be reapplying because he had been “led to understand that the new panel will not include any survivors”. He described his time since the Government’s inquiry began last year as “a five month nightmare” because of continuous infighting.

Ms Hearn, who spent more than 40 years working in children’s services, has faced calls to quit because of her previous employment at the National Children’s Bureau, where a leading member of the Paedophile Information Exchange, Peter Righton, worked as a consultant between 1972 and 1974.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Feb. 11

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’re sad that a youth minister has apparently molested another child. Now that victims are cooperating and law enforcement is taking action, it’s crucial that West Virginia Presbyterian officials work harder to find other who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Timothy Probert.

[Bluefield Daily Telegraph]

We especially call on Westminster Presbyterian Pastor Jonathan Rockness to more aggressively seek out other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers and get them to call police and prosecutors. We’re glad Rockness apparently called police initially. But he and his staff and his flock can and should do more. They should issue a public call to anyone who may have information or suspicions about Probert to step forward. And they should make calls and send letters to former congregants who may have left the church because of Probert.

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

February 12, 2015 by J-Wire Staff

Day 8 of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearing being held in Melbourne saw Nechama Bendet complete her evidence and former Chair Don Wolf give his.
General Manager of the the complex which makes up the Chabad Institutions of Australia, Yeshiva-Beth Rivka Colleges and Chabad Properties Inc Nechama Bendet told the Commission that advice was sought from a QC as to whether victims could be approached.

A key issue raised in the Commission was a meeting held by the Board of Management with the The Executive Council of Australian Jewry on the 4th of December, 2012 following the rejection of an offer to meet by The Jewish Community Council of Victoria. It was made clear that the Yeshiva was not affiliated with the ECAJ. The Commission heard that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss how to “deal with” or “respond to” the press and the allegations of child sexual abuse that was surfacing and had surfaced in the past”.

Bendet said it was a general meeting to see what the Yeshiva College was doing in regard to child sexual abuse matters. She said that “they wanted to know what processes and procedures we had in place”. Bendet agreed that she was aware that the ECAJ had “done a lot of work in the are of child sexual abuse”.

Don Wolf, former Chair of the committee of Management (COM) Yeshiva Centre, Melbourne gave his evidence today.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 9 February 2015)

A retired senior Catholic priest from western Sydney, Father Richard Cattell, is scheduled to appear in Sydney’s Penrith District Court on 20 February 2015 for sentencing on child-sex charges. The offences were committed against an altar boy in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, Father Richard Cattell was appointed as the Vicar-General of Sydney’s Parramatta diocese, helping to administer this diocese for Bishop Bede Heather.

Father Cattell retired from parish work in the mid-1990s. He later lived privately at Port Macquarie on the New South Wales mid-north coast and, recently, on the Gold Coast in Queensland. On 28 February 2014, New South Wales detectives travelled to Tweed Heads, on the New South Wales side of the Queensland border, and interviewed Richard Cattell at Tweed Heads police station about one former altar boy who has alleged that he was sexually abused while Cattell was based at parishes in western Sydney in the 1980s.

Richard St John Cattell was summoned to Tweed Heads Local Court on 24 March 2014, to enable the matter to be officially filed in New South Wales.

Police alleged that, at the time of the offences, Father Cattell was based at a parish called “Our Lady of the Rosary” in a suburb called St Marys [situated 45 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, near Penrith]. According to a church website, Reverend Richard Cattell was the parish priest in charge of Our Lady of the Rosary parish 1982 from to 1994.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

By: Jennie Olson

Two separate lists of names were released Wednesday of clergy who have been accused of sexual abuse or misconduct.

The names were put out by both the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and an attorney representing abuse clients.

The Archdiocese disclosed the names and assignment histories of four men who have substantiated claims against them of sexually abusing a minor while they were assigned as priests or, in the case of one, before he was a priest. All of those incidents happened between the mid-1950s and the mid-1980s, according to the Archdiocese.

Those names were: Michael Bik, James Robert Murphy, James Namie and Raimond Rose.

Additionally, Attorney Jeff Anderson released 17 names of priests, brothers and lay people who have also been accused of abuse or misconduct. Lawyer Jeff Anderson says all of the clergy have been identified in Notice of Claims submitted to the Archdiocese and its insurance carriers. A Notice of Claim lets the receiving party know that there may be a potential lawsuit.

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AUSTRALIA
Pro Bono

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has found that Cardinal George Pell and the Sydney Catholic Archdiocese repeatedly failed in their dealings with Sydney abuse victim John Ellis.

The criticism comes in a new Royal Commission Report, Report of Case Study 8: Mr John Ellis’s experience of the Towards Healing process and civil litigation.

The Report found that Cardinal Pell “did not act fairly from a Christian point of view in the conduct of the litigation against Mr Ellis”.

The Commission examined the treatment of John Ellis, a Sydney lawyer and former altar boy who was abused by Father Aidan Duggan between 1974 and 1979.

The report said Ellis spent more than a decade seeking compensation but lost the case on a technicality in 2007 when the Court of Appeal ruled the Catholic Church was not an entity that could be sued.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Feb. 11

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

When it comes to clergy sex crimes and cover ups, John Choi has been no ‘profile in courage.’ So we’re saddened but not surprised by news that he won’t prosecute two predator priests.

[Star Tribune]

The phrase “where there’s a will, there’s a way” comes to mind. And the case of Al Capone comes to mind. Energetic prosecutors finally nailed him on income tax evasion.

Had Choi convened a grand jury, as we urged, who knows if the outcome here would have been different? Or had he more aggressively begged victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to step forward? Or if subpoenas had been issued on Catholic officials?

What now? We can only hope that more brave victims, witnesses and whistleblowers will step forward and do all they can to expose clerics who commit and conceal child sex crimes. We also hope police and prosecutors will get more creative and aggressive about pursuing these heinous crimes and cover ups. And we hope that lawmakers will do all they can to remedy this tragic and dangerous situations through hearings and legislation that will make it easier for the victims of child sex crimes to expose the perpetrators and enablers of those crimes. Finally, we hope more victims will turn to and use the civil court system to get the truth about this horrific crisis brought into the public view.

What we know for sure is that giving up, keeping silent and suffering alone won’t help. No matter how hopeless it may seem, kids need us to stay strong and speak up.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gmurray@telegram.com

WORCESTER — The Rev. Stephen M. Gemme, the former pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Northboro, was placed on probation and ordered to make restitution Wednesday after pleading guilty to stealing nearly $240,000 from the church and its school to fuel a gambling addiction.

“Your Honor, I’m deeply ashamed and sorry for the harm I’ve caused,” the 45-year-old Rev. Gemme told Judge Janet Kenton-Walker before pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court to two counts of larceny of more than $250 by a single scheme.

As recommended by Assistant District Attorney John A. O’Leary and the priest’s lawyer, Carol S. Wheeler, Judge Kenton-Walker placed Rev. Gemme on probation for five years. As a condition of probation, Rev. Gemme was ordered to comply with a restitution agreement he entered into with the Diocese of Worcester and its insurer, the Catholic Mutual Group, calling for the immediate repayment of $50,000 and the eventual return of the balance of the nearly $240,00 he stole.

Mr. O’Leary said Rev. Gemme had agreed to pledge real estate and make cash payments to ensure that full restitution would be made. The bulk of the $50,000 paid Wednesday, $35,000, was to go to Catholic Mutual Group and the remaining $15,000 to the diocese.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Feb. 11, 2015

VATICAN CITY
The cardinals advising Pope Francis on reforming the church’s central bureaucracy have yet to create a single comprehensive draft of a new structure of governance, the Vatican spokesman said Wednesday.

Addressing the work of the Council of Cardinals during a briefing, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi said several times that many working documents had been discussed in the group, but no draft was ready.

“There is not a draft,” the spokesman said at one point. “There was not a draft of the [new] constitution.”

Lombardi was speaking Wednesday toward the end of a three-day meeting of the cardinals’ group, which is composed of nine prelates and has been advising the pope on how to reform the Vatican bureaucracy, known as the Roman Curia.

The meeting of the council is a part of an unusually busy week at the Vatican, as discussions on reform of the Curia are to continue Thursday and Friday during a rare meeting in Rome of all the church’s cardinals. On Saturday, Pope Francis will officially name 20 new cardinals in a formal ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Doug Donovan
The Baltimore Sun

A high-ranking official of the national Episcopal Church is calling on the organization to “repent for our role” in the death of bicyclist Thomas Palermo, by examining “systemic denial” about alcohol and drug abuse, and reforming the process for electing bishops.

Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, a leader in the national church’s governing body, said last year’s election of Heather Elizabeth Cook as Maryland’s bishop suffragan — despite a 2010 drunk driving conviction — is the latest example of why many in the organization believe the process is flawed.

Cook, 58, was indicted this month in Baltimore on 13 charges in the death of Palermo, a 41-year-old married father of two. She is accused of hitting Palermo on Dec. 27 with her car as she was texting and driving drunk along Roland Avenue. The charges include automobile manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident.

In 2010 Cook was charged in Caroline County for driving under the influence, and given probation before judgment, which would allow her to clear her criminal record by completing her probation.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

By SAMANTHA PERRY, Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — A former church youth volunteer and child mentor has been indicted on 50 charges related to alleged sexual abuse of children.

An indictment was returned against Timothy Probert, 56, of Mercer County, Tuesday, Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ash said.

Probert was arrested in December 2013 on 38 counts of child sexual abuse related charges. The 12 new charges stem from another victim coming forward and additional charges being added in other cases, Sgt. M.D. Clemons, with the Crimes Against Children Unit of the West Virginia State Police, said.

The charges in the indictment include 27 counts of sexual abuse by a custodian, 17 counts of first-degree sexual abuse, three counts of third-degree sexual assault, one count of second-degree sexual assault, one count of first-degree sexual assault and one count of delivery of a Schedule IV controlled substance.

Clemons said the controlled substance charge stems from Probert allegedly providing alcohol and controlled substances to one of the victims.

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AUSTRALIA
The Chronicle

Stuart Cumming | 12th Feb 2015

A ROYAL Commission has found Toowoomba Catholic primary school principal Terence Hayes failed to report serious child sex abuse allegations against one of his staff members to police.

Pedophile teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes was in 2010 sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to 44 child sexual abuse offences against 13 girls who were then aged between eight and 10 years.

Byrnes was the girls’ teacher at the time of the offences.

He was also one of the school’s two student protection contacts.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse investigated the response of Mr Hayes, his fellow school staff members and Toowoomba Catholic Education officers to allegations against Byrnes of child sexual abuse made by parents and students in 2007.

In findings published yesterday, it said the principal did not comply with procedures in the school’s student protection kit when he failed to report to police allegations made during a telephone conversation on September 3, 2007, and a meeting on September 6, 2007.

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GEORGIA
The Raw Story

SCOTT KAUFMAN
11 FEB 2015

The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Emanuel County School System in Swainsboro, Georgia after a teacher insisted that the children of atheists participate in daily prayers.

According to the lawsuit, teacher Kaytrene Bright and Cel Thompson forced the children of anonymous plaintiffs Jane and John Doe to join their classmates in prayer or leave the classroom.

“Encouraging the Doe children to pray, or isolating and punishing the Doe children for electing not to pray, violates the deeply and sincerely held moral convictions of the Doe children and therefore their First Amendment rights,” the complaint reads.

Before lunch, the teacher of Jamie Doe would ask the class to bow their heads, fold their hands, and say, “God our Father, we give thanks, for our many blessings. Amen.”

Jessie Doe’s teacher, Kaytrene Bright, would ask students to say, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. Thank you for our daily prayer. Amen.”

When John and Jane Doe learned of this, they contacted Swainsboro Primary School Principal Valorie Watkins, who told them that it they didn’t want their children to pray, their only recourse would be to have their children leave the classroom while the other children offered thanks to God.

Once this policy was initiated, Jamie told her parents that she began being teased by other students. Jesse said that his teacher, Kaytrene Bright, “used her mean voice” when she sent Jesse into the hallway, and pressured Jesse to pray.

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MINNESOTA
KARE

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A new list with the names of 17 names of priests accused of sexual misconduct while serving with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was released Wednesday by an attorney who represents many of the alleged victims.

The office of attorney Jeff Anderson says the identified priests have all been identified in notice of claims submitted to the Archdiocese and its insurance carriers.

It is KARE 11’s policy to only publish the names of those who have been named in criminal or civil litigation or those who are deceased. Among those on Wednesday’s list who meet that criteria are:

Joseph Baglio
John Jerome Boxleitner
Patrick William Coates
Leonard Cowley
Alphonsus Ferguson, S.S.C
James Namie
Jerome Plourde, O.S.C
Noel Shaughnessy, O.F.M
Ladislaus Sledz
Joseph Warnemunde
Harold Whittet
Karl M. Whittman
Vincent Worzalla

“Making this information known is another step towards transparency and is a testament to the courage of survivors,” said Anderson in a written statement.

For the complete list of names released by Anderson’s office, go to www.andersonadvocates.com.

The Archdiocese itself released a list of four priests with “substantiated claims” against them. Of those four, two names meet KARE 11’s criteria. They are:

James Namie
Raimond Rose

“All of the reported incidents of abuse related to these four men occurred between the mid-1950s and the mid-1980s,” said Archbishop John Nienstedt in a released statement. “One of the men is deceased, and the others have been permanently removed from ministry; they have been out of ministry for a decade or more. Two of the four men are from religious orders. I am profoundly saddened by the effect clergy sexual abuse continues to have on victims/survivors, their families and the community.”

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