Month: August 2015

MISSOURI
KCTV

[with video]

By DeAnn Smith, Digital Content Manager
deann.smith@kctv5.com
By Heather Staggers, Reporter

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) –
He is one of the most controversial priests in the history of the Kansas City Catholic Church, and one group is upset that he has quietly moved into a neighborhood that’s popular with families.

Father Michael Tierney is no longer an active priest, but he has not been defrocked by the Vatican despite the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph paying money to settle sex abuse claims involving Tierney.

Members of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests put fliers on the doors of those living near Tierney’s home near Oak Street and East 64th Terrace. They said that residents have a right to know about the predator living among their midst.

“If a predator priest is so dangerous that a bishop won’t let him work in a parish then he is too dangerous to live among families who don’t know what he’s done,” said SNAP’s David Clohessy.

The diocese settled with 32 sex abuse victims for abuse suffered at the hands of 14 priests including Tierney. Four child sex abuse lawsuits against him have been settled, and he has long been subject of SNAP’s ire with the Catholic Church. Then Bishop Robert Finn apparently first learned of the allegations against Tierney in 2008 but apparently didn’t remove him over “credible reports” of abuse until June 2011. The allegations dated back to the 1970s and 1980s.

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

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Fox News

Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. – A New Hampshire prep school graduate convicted of having sexual contact with a 15-year-old classmate as part of a game of sexual conquest must register as a sex offender for life, a punishment his lawyer likens to being branded.

Legal experts and reform advocates say the punishment exceeds the crime.

Nineteen-year-old Owen Labrie was convicted Friday following a two-week trial that exposed a practice at St. Paul’s School in Concord known as Senior Salute, in which graduating students try to have sex with younger classmates.

The Tunbridge, Vermont, resident faces up to 11 years in prison. He can ask the court to take him off the registry 15 years after he finishes his sentence.

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
WQOW

By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Eight minutes of silence instead of a homily marked the Vatican funeral Monday of a former papal diplomat, whose trial on charges of possession of child pornography and sexual abuse of minors had begun this summer in a Holy See courtroom.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said time for silent reflection followed the Gospel reading at Jozef Wesolowski’s funeral in a Vatican administrative palazzo’s chapel.

The Holy See, citing preliminary autopsy results, has said Wesolowski, 67, died of a heart attack in his room at the Vatican on Aug. 27.

During the funeral, a ritual prayer was recited so God might “cancel the sins that (Wesolowski) had committed with human fragility.”

Cameras were banned during the funeral. Burial will be in Wesolowski’s native Poland.

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
KSTP

Created: 08/31/2015

By: Jennie Lissarrague

A judge has ordered the Diocese of Crookston to produce all records about sexual abuse reported against any priest before 1985.

The diocese is a defendant in a clergy sex abuse lawsuit, and the documents will be produced under seal, according to lawyer Jeff Anderson. The lawsuit alleges that the victim was sexually abuse by the Rev. J. Vincent Fitzgerald; the victim says he met Fitzgerald at St. Ann’s Parish in Naytahwaush, Minnesota, in the mid-1980s.

The diocese previously released a list of credibly-abused priests but hasn’t publicly released the related documents, Anderson said. Anderson said the documents will show what the diocese knew about abusive priests, when it knew and how officials responded.

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WATYKAN
TVP

[The body of Jozef Wesolowski was dressed in cassock and he wore the bishop’s ring. The Vatican held the funeral Mass monday. He was given the ceremony because although accused of pedophilia and expelled from the clerical state, the judgment did not become final.]

W sutannie i z pierścieniem biskupim złożono do trumny ciało Józefa Wesołowskiego, byłego nuncjusza apostolskiego na Dominikanie. W poniedziałek w Watykanie odbyła się msza żałobna za zmarłego. Zachowano odpowiedni ceremoniał, bo choć oskarżonego o pedofilię byłego arcybiskupa co prawda wydalono ze stanu duchownego, to jednak wyrok się nie uprawomocnił.

Mszę żałobną w intencji Józefa Wesołowskiego odprawiono w kaplicy Gubernatoratu Państwa Watykańskiego. Odprawił ją papieski jałmużnik arcybiskup Konrad Krajewski.

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
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Autopsy on Archbishop Accused of Sexual Abuse Coordinated by the Same Man Who Performed the Disputed Autopsy on Two Murdered Swiss Guards

Betty Clermont

Posted on August 31, 2015

A Vatican trial for Pope Francis’ ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Archbishop Josef Wesolowski, age 67, was scheduled for July 11 but was halted due to the archbishop’s “illness.” Wesolowski was accused of soliciting sex for money from Santo Domingo’s poorest boys and possession of child pornography.

Had the trial taken place, testimony would have confirmed that the pope allowed Wesolowski to remain a free man for 14 months regardless of how many times the pope said he was taking “action” against prelates on the issue of sex abuse; and that, during this time, Wesolowski acquired more than 100,000 computer files of pornography with disturbing photos of children who were likely victims of human trafficking – an issue on which Pope Francis wants to be seen as a world leader. At a July 21 conference for mayors from around the world held in the Vatican, the pope told the group he hoped they would address “how climate change affects the trafficking of people.”

Wesolowski’s body was discovered on August 28 in his Vatican quarters. The next day, the Vatican announced that an autopsy was performed by “a commission of three [unnamed] experts, coordinated by Giovanni Arcudi, Professor of Forensic Medicine … From the first conclusions reached by the macroscopic examination, it is confirmed the natural cause of death was a cardiac event.” No mention was made where the postmortem was conducted.

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
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Kieran Tapsell on Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s Testimony Before Australian Abuse Commission: Vatican’s Belief That Church Law Trumps Civil Law Is Big Obstacle for Commission

Highly recommended: Kieran Tapsell’s conversation with Noel Debien of ABC Australia yesterday evening. Kieran Tapsell is an attorney and author of the book Potiphar’s Wife: The Vatican’s Secret and Child Sexual Abuse (Adelaide: ATF Press, 2014). In introducing Tapsell, Debien notes that the testimony last week of Bishop Geoffrey Robinson before the Australian Royal Commission about Sexual Abuse has gotten surprisingly little media coverage. I suspect this may be the case because, as I noted in my posting last Wednesday about Robinson’s testimony, he was unsparing in his criticism of the silence of the powerful Pope John Paul II about the abuse crisis in the Catholic church, and he also stated bluntly that the popular Pope Francis has not provided real leadership for the church as it addresses this crisis.

In his discussion with Debien, Tapsell reads between the lines of Bishop Robinson’s testimony, and points out that the Australian bishops — along with other bishops in other countries — could not address the abuse crisis effectively, when it began to come to their attention, because the Vatican had tied one hand behind their backs. Because the crisis deals with clerics, the Vatican insisted that all cases of clerical sexual abuse be referred specifically to the Vatican itself, and be treated as matters to be resolved by canon law — though canon law is frequently in conflict with civil law regarding sexual abuse of minors.

This strategy was crafted specifically by John Paul II and his right-hand man in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, who chose to respond to the Irish Murphy Commission report by maintaining that bishops, and not the Vatican, were creating the problem of ineffective response to the abuse crisis, since bishops were not following canon law. Though Irish civil law requires that priests abusing minors be referred to Irish criminal officials and not to the Vatican, to be dealt with per canon law . . . . And though the Vatican has simultaneously sought to maintain that priests abusing minors are independent agents who are in no way under the control of the Vatican or even of their diocesan bishops . . . .

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
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on a Catholic League-Polling Company survey of Catholics:

Earlier this month, the Catholic League commissioned The Polling Company, headed by Kellyanne Conway, to conduct a nationwide survey of Catholics. In addition to the usual questions asked of respondents, we asked about issues the media have little interest in pursuing. We also dug deeper, seeking to tap the ways Catholics are conflicted over various matters.

The problem with many surveys is that they seek to elicit a black and white response to contemporary subjects; this is especially problematic when contentious issues are being weighed. Our survey was designed to allow for a more nuanced, and therefore accurate, response.

The findings suggest that most Catholics are faithful sons and daughters, and this is especially true of practicing Catholics. To read my analysis of the survey data, click here. The analysis has been sent to the bishops of every diocese in the nation.

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
The News (Poland)

The funeral of a defrocked Polish bishop who died on Friday while being tried for the sexual abuse of minors is being held at the Vatican on Monday afternoon.

The service for the late Józef Wesołowski is being held in a chapel behind St. Peter’s Basilica, although his body will be flown back to Poland for burial, the Vatican has confirmed.

Initial autopsy results indicated that Wesołowski, who turned 67 last month, died of a heart attack.

His trial at the Vatican began on 11 July, but was immediately adjourned after the defendant fell ill.

The child abuse charges, which concern Wesołowski’s tenure as papal nuncio in the Dominican Republic between January 2008 and August 2013, were based on evidence submitted by the judicial authorities of Santo Domingo.

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.

CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
AGI

[Laicization of former nuncio Jozeph Wesolowski has upheld by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and rejected Wesolowski’s appearl. Wesolowski died on Aug. 28.]

(AGI) – CdV, 31 ago. – La condanna alla riduzione alla stato laicale dell’ex nunzio apostolico Joseph Wesolowski, deceduto nei giorni scorsi, era stata confermata in appello dalla Congregazione della Dottrina della Fede, che aveva respinto il ricorso dell’imputato. Il provvedimento canonico, tuttavia, non era stato ancora pubblicato, presumibilmente per non interferire nel processo penale iniziato lo scorso luglio con un rinvio a data da destinarsi.

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WATYKAN
SE

[Funeral ceremonies Jozeph Wesolowski, who died on Friday August 28, will be held on Monday 31 August. As determined by the Italian media, the former archbishop is to be buried as a man of the cloth. La Repubblica reports that the deceased was dressed in a cassock wore his episcopal ring. We still do not know, however, where he will be buried.]

Uroczystości pogrzebowe Józefa Wesołowskiego, który zmarł w piątek 28 sierpnia, odbędą się w poniedziałek 31 sierpnia. Jak ustaliły włoskie media, były arcybiskup ma zostać pochowany jako osoba duchowna. La Repubblica podaje, że zmarły przed złożeniem do trumny został ubrany w sutannę, zaś na palec włożono mu biskupi pierścień. Wciąż nie wiadomo jednak, gdzie zostanie pochowany Józef Wesołowski.

Józef Wesołowski zostanie pochowany w Polsce. Uroczystości pogrzebowe Wesołowskiego odbędą się 31 sierpnia (w poniedziałek) po południu w Watykanie. Później, po załatwieniu wszelkich formalności, ciało byłego duchownego zostanie przetransportowane do Polski. To właśnie w kraju zostanie on pochowany, Nie wiadomo jednak, gdzie odbędzie się pogrzeb. Obecnie trumna z ciałem zmarłego jest wystawiona w kaplicy Gubernatoratu Państwa Watykańskiego. Jak ustaliły włoskie media, Józef Wesołowski przed złożeniem do trumny został ubrany w sutannę, zaś na palec włożono mu biskupi pierścień. Wciąż nie wiadomo jednak, gdzie dokładnie zostanie pochowany Józef Wesołowski.

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DEUTSCHLAND
RP

[Many dioceses in Germany are seeing seniors leaving the church which is evidence that the Catholic Church cannot even hold on to elderly members.]

Düsseldorf. In vielen Bistümern der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland hat sich die Zahl der ausgetretenen Senioren verdoppelt. Dies ist ein Beleg dafür, wie schwach die Kirchenbindung selbst bei älteren Menschen geworden ist. Von Lothar Schröder

Der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland gehen jetzt auch die Senioren verloren. So hat sich die Zahl der Austritte von über 60-Jährigen 2014 im Vergleich zum Vorjahr fast verdoppelt. Dies ergab eine Umfrage unserer Zeitung unter allen 27 deutschen Bistümern. Elf von ihnen verfügten über Erhebungen der Austritte nach Altersgruppen – darunter die Bistümer von Aachen und Bamberg, Essen, Münster und Würzburg.

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OSTERREICH
Kurier

[An 81-year-old ex-priest, who abused youngsters in Austria, must continue to be incarcerated.]

Mit 81 Jahren ist August M. einer der ältesten Gefangenen in der Strafvollzugsanstalt Stein in Krems (NÖ). Er sitzt seit März hinter Gittern, davor war er in einer Seniorenresidenz in Wels untergebracht. Der wegen jahrelangen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Zöglingen im Jänner vom Oberlandesgericht Linz rechtskräftig zu zwölf Jahren Haft verurteilte Ex-Konviktsdirektor des Stiftes Kremsmünster (OÖ) gilt als problemloser Häftling. “Er ist ein sehr ruhiger Insasse, er grüßt und sagt Bitte und Danke. Hätten wir lauter Gefangene mit derart angenehmen Umgangsformen, wäre unser Leben leichter”, lobt Anstaltsleiter-Stellvertreter Roland Wanek. Der betagte Häftling falle auch nicht durch “aufdringliche” Religiosität auf, führe ein mönchisches, eher zurückgezogenes Leben. “Er besucht aber regelmäßig den Gottesdienst.”

M.s Verhalten war jedoch nicht immer so mustergültig. Zwischen 1967 und 1996 lebte der Ex-Pater seine pädophile Neigung an Generationen von Stiftsschülern aus. Manche der minderjährigen Opfer wurden körperlich schwer misshandelt, teils ging er mit Ochsenpeitsche, Tritten oder beidhändig ausgeführten “Stereowatschen” auf die Schutzbefohlenen los. Es kam auch vor, dass er Kinder einfach für “vogelfrei” erklärte – Mitschüler durften den Betreffenden dann drangsalieren, ohne Konsequenzen befürchten zu müssen. M. drohte einigen auch damit, seine Pumpgun zu holen, die er bis 2010 illegal besaß.

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

Brendan Hoban, writing in his column in the Western People, gives his reaction to Bishop Crean recently forcing a Pastoral Council to withdraw an invitation to Tony Flannery to speak in a local community hall.

“It has brought the Irish Catholic Church once more into disrepute in that it showed that other voices have no place in it, even if Pope Francis encourages them in the wider Church. It insulted Tony Flannery …… it shows once again that the people are ahead of the priests, the priests are ahead of the bishops and the bishops, caught in the nineteenth century, are either out of touch or in abject denial.” …

Fr Tony Flannery has paid a high price for his membership of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP). A founder member, over five years ago, in the dog-days of the Pope Benedict era, Tony and others (including myself) spelled out as our platform the need for an agenda of reform for the Church we had served for decades – and which everyone (or almost everyone) could see was dying by the day.

That we struck a nerve with our fellow-priests was obvious. Within a year or so over 1,000 priests has signed on as members. But because we didn’t fit into the tradition of priests being seen and not heard and because bishops were in denial of the reality of Catholic life in Ireland, we were regarded as ‘dissidents’, partly responsible (as Pope Benedict’s Apostolic Visitation team would later report) for the bleak situation of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious. The high-powered ‘Visitors’ from overseas (Cardinals and archbishops) looked in from afar for scapegoats and the ACP, to their mind, fitted the bill. We were part of the reason, they concluded, why the Church in Ireland was in such disarray!

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Live

BY LESLEY-ANNE MCKEOWN

The inquiry will also focus on allegations arising out of St Patrick’s Training School, Rathgael Training School in Bangor and Lisnevin Training School, Newtownards

A long-running public inquiry will examine allegations of historic child abuse at juvenile justice institutions when it resumes this week.

Retired judge Sir Anthony Hart is leading the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) probe, one of the UK’s largest inquiries into physical, sexual and emotional harm to children at homes run by the church, state and voluntary organisations.

Its seventh module, expected to last until November, will focus on allegations arising out of St Patrick’s Training School and Hydebank Young Offenders’ Centre in Belfast, Rathgael Training School in Bangor and Lisnevin Training School in Newtownards.

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.

SCOTLAND
Express

By GREG CHRISTISON
Sun, Aug 30, 2015

Senior officers have warned that the probe – due to begin within the next month – will place a “significant demand” on the crisis-hit force.

The inquiry, which will be chaired by Susan O’Brien QC, will investigate historic abuse cases involving children in care, including both church and state-run children’s homes, boarding schools, foster care and hospitals.

Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone told a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority that there would be an impact on resources.

“It’s an inquiry that Police Scotland totally welcomes,” he said.

“It’s going to give victims of sexual abuse in the past a forum in which to raise their concerns but, inevitably, there will be an impact for us. There are demands of investigating historic crime as opposed to current crime, and how you balance current demand against historic demand is one which we are actively engaged with.”

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

Recommendations on how to compensate thousands of people who were abused in orphanages and children’s homes across Australia will be sent to the federal government on Monday.

The recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse are a key outcome for the national inquiry, which will run until the end of 2017.

The recommendations will be made public once they are considered by the Attorney-General’s office but there is no indication how long that will take.

On Sunday CLAN, a key support and advocacy network for care-leavers, called on the government to publish the recommendations without delay.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – Sunday Nights

[with audio]

Sunday, August 30, 2015
by Jennifer Fleming

STORY 1

You may or may not Have been keeping your eye on the Royal Commission into sexual abuse, but on Monday last week, there was some important testimony given.You probably heard the bishop’s opinion about Cardinal Pell – that he broke the unity of the Australian Catholic bishops response. Those were the headlines

But Retired Catholic bishop Geoffrey Robinson, who led the church’s response to sexual abuse right up until 2004 gave MUCH more significant testimony than that. And the media seems to have largely ignored it.He got an earlier hearing because the bishop has terminal cancer.

Not only his words, but the documents TABLED in evidence are quite important in understanding how Australian Catholic leaders had one arm tied behind their back the whole time. By the Vatican. More importantly, they still do in 2015. Right now.

These matter caught the eye of our special guest , Kieran Tapsell. He’s a lawyer, and the author of a book called Potiphar’s wife- about the deep secrecy surrounding sexual abuse in church circles. The Pontifical Secret.

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AUSTRALIA
Manny Waks

30/8/2015 0

The following letter was sent by a Yeshivah Centre Melbourne victim/survivor of child sexual abuse to a member of the current (interim) Committee of Management. It is being reproduced here with the express permission of the victim/survivor.

Dear [REDACTED],

I hope you are well.

It is important that I relate to you the following ‘conversation’ that transpired between Rabbi Telsner and myself yesterday.

After raising an important issue with Rabbi Telsner relating to positions of authority within the Yeshivah institution, I was shocked by his inappropriate and disgraceful response.

In addition to the fact that he did not attempt to understand or address the particular issue I raised (merely referring to it as an accusation from me alone, despite several complaints of similar nature by other individuals and victims), he proceeded to attack, in his words: “Individuals that are wanting to destroy the mosed [institution]”.

Rabbi Telsner referred to Manny Waks and particularly his father as a ‘Meshugane’ [crazy].

Rabbi Telsner referred to [REDACTED – another Yeshivah victim/survivor] as a problem – that he is intent on destroying the Yeshivah. He referred to the fact that [REDACTED – the same victim/survivor] wrote a “defamatory” article about him as recently as last week in the [REDACTED], “for no reason”.

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CHILE
La Tercera

Abogado del Arzobispado de Santiago: “Nuestro compromiso fundamental es con las víctimas de Karadima y con la verdad”

[The lawyer for the Santiago, Chile, archbishop said their fundamental commitment is to the victims of Fernando Karadima and to truth. This sets the stage for presentation of evidence in the cil trial which begins this week.]

Sergio Rodríguez G.
30 de agosto del 2015

“Este proceso comenzó hace casi tres años. Durante ese período hemos trabajado intensamente, analizando con cuidado todos los antecedentes de lo sucedido, para determinar si existe algún indicio de lo que señalan los demandantes respecto del arzobispado. Y no hemos encontrado nada”, dice el abogado Nicolás Luco Illanes, quien representa legalmente a la Iglesia de Santiago.

El profesional se refiere a la demanda civil entablada en 2013 por Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton y José Andrés Murillo, víctimas del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, respecto de la supuesta complicidad o encubrimiento del arzobispado en los abusos cometidos por el religioso. Específicamente, demandan $ 450 millones.

La Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago acaba de terminar la fase de revisión de los puntos de prueba. Ahora, el expediente volverá al ministro de fuero, Juan Manuel Muñoz, quien esta semana dictaría el cúmplase, con lo que comenzará un plazo de 20 días para que las partes presenten las pruebas. Frente a esta inminente etapa decisiva, Luco explica la estrategia de defensa del arzobispado.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Irish News

30 August, 2015

A LONG RUNNING public inquiry will examine allegations of historic child abuse at juvenile justice institutions when it resumes this week.

Retired judge Sir Anthony Hart is leading the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) probe, one of the UK’s largest inquiries into physical, sexual and emotional harm to children at homes run by the church, state and voluntary organisations.

Its seventh module, expected to last until November, will focus on allegations arising out of St Patrick’s Training School and Hydebank Young Offenders’ Centre in Belfast, Rathgael Training School in Bangor and Lisnevin Training School in Newtownards.

In June, the HIA, spent a week examining the failings that allowed notorious paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth to continue abusing children over four decades.

Retired Catholic Primate Cardinal Sean Brady was among those who gave evidence and said he hoped light would be shed on a “dark chapter” in the church’s history.

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

MALTA
Malta Today

Tim Diacono 30 August 2015

A defrocked priest who was convicted of sexually abusing boys at the former St. Joseph Home in Santa Venera in the 1980s has applied for parole, Sunday newspaper Illum has reported.

If parole is granted, it would mean that Carmelo Pulis would only have spent half of his six-year prison sentence behind bars.

Police investigations into allegations of paedophilia by three members of the Missionary Society of St. Paul commenced in 2003, after one of the victims, Lawrence Grech, went public about the abuse he suffered while residing at St. Joseph’s Home. Other victims eventually followed his suit, and the scandal let to the home’s closure later that year.

In 2011, Pulis, 78, and Godwin Scerri, 78, were defrocked and jailed for five and six years respectively after a court found them guilty of sexually abusing ten boys in their care in the 1980s.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Rubén Rosario
rrosario@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 08/29/2015

Many people would love an audience with Pope Francis, my kind of pope, during his weeklong U.S. trip next month to Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia.

Tom O’Connell of Hudson, Wis., is one of them. Heck, as a humble but still wretched sinner, I also want to hug or shake his Holiness’ hand — I don’t kiss rings — and then bend his ears. But I would gladly have Tom take my place on the long line of remote hopefuls.

“I realize there are hundreds of others who would like to meet you and all have very great need,” the funeral home owner wrote in a typed letter he sent the pope at his Vatican address in February.

“I feel my circumstances and situation needs to be heard, not just because my family needs to heal, but also because the tragic chain of events that led to the loss of three lives, damage to other young lives and damaged faith in God is being repeated over and over,” the two-page missive continues. “Helping my family to heal will hopefully lead to healing for many other families and the Catholic Church. It would show your healing power to the many who have suffered.”

On Feb. 5, 2002, a medical examiner arriving to get signatures on a death certificate found Daniel, 39 — O’Connell’s second-oldest son and the director of the family-run business — shot to death in his office at the O’Connell Funeral Home in downtown Hudson. Nearby lay the body of James Ellison, 22, a University of Minnesota mortuary sciences intern. For nearly two years, the case remained unsolved and the subject of rumors about who did it. A double homicide is big news in a bucolic place like Hudson.

PRIEST’S SECRET LIFE REVEALED

Cops, after chasing well over 1,000 tips and leads that went nowhere, dug up evidence pointing at the most shocking and unlikeliest of killers: an associate pastor at nearby St. Patrick Church.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Acento

[VATICANO.-The Office of the Promoter of Justice announced that the Vatican appointed a commission of experts to conduct the autopsy on the body of Joseph Wesolowski, who died on Friday at dawn, and who was awaiting trial on charges of sexual violation minor when he was ambassador in Dominican Republic. Wesolowski’s sudden death has aroused doubts and suspicions in Dominican Republic and other countries.The Vatican authorities insist that the former papal nuncio died of “natural causes.”]

VATICANO.-La Oficina del Promotor de Justicia del Vaticano anunció que nombró una comisión de de expertos para llevar a cabo la autopsia al cadáver de Jósef Wesolowski, muerto el viernes en la madrugada, y quien estaba a espera de juicio por cargos de violación sexual de menores cuando estuvo de embajador en República Dominicana.

La muerte repentina de Wesolowski ha despertado dudas y sospechas en República Dominicana y en otros países.

Las autoridades vaticanas insisten en que el ex nuncio del papa murió por “causas naturales”.

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CHILE
ADN Radio

[Juan Carlos Cruz, who spoke out against abuse he suffered by priest Fernando Karadima, arrived in Osorno, Chile, to participate in a series of activities by people who want the resignation of Bishop Juan Barros. Barros is accused to witnessing abuse of minors by Karadima but not acting on that knowlege.]

Juan Carlos Cruz llegó hoy a la ciudad sureña para participar de una serie de actividades en la zona, donde se exige la renuncia del obispo.

ADNRADIO.CL | AGOSTO 29 DE 2015

Esta jornada llegó a Osorno Juan Carlos Cruz, uno de los denunciantes del caso Karadima quien viajó a la ciudad sureña realizar una serie de actividades con los laicos de la zona, quienes exigen la salida del obispo Juan Barros por encubrir al ex párroco de El Bosque.

“No tengo palabras para describir cómo fue encontrarme con cientos de personas en el aeropuerto, es gente tan valiente y tan comprometida que no entiendo como Juan Barros no ve eso y no renuncia”, dijo Cruz en conversación con ADN, quien también se reunirá con el clero diocesano de Osorno.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor

By RAY DUCKLER
Monitor staff
Saturday, August 29, 2015

During the Watergate investigation 41 years ago, Sen. Howard Baker of Tennessee, wondering about Richard Nixon’s role in the scandal, asked, “What did the president know and when did he know it?”

Baker’s succinctly worded curiosity has resonated through the decades, and it remains relevant as we examine the nationally covered rape trial that ended in superior court Friday.

What did those in charge at St. Paul’s School, trusted with teenage students at a college-like campus, know about something called the “senior salute,” and when did they know it?

Owen Labrie, charged with raping a 15-year-old St. Paul’s School freshman while he was an 18-year-old senior, was acquitted of the most serious charges, aggravated felonious sexual assault.

He was, however, found guilty of statutory rape because of the victim’s age and a felony charge of using a computer to lure a minor.

At least one school official, we heard, knew something was going on, before the national media descended on the city to cover what’s been called a culture of sexual misconduct.

“I came to understand the senior salute as one element of a larger vernacular the kids at St. Paul’s used to describe a wide range of relations between students, some of which, I would say, included sexual (activity),” Chad Green, dean of students at the school, testified this week.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Rhymes with Religion

Boz Tchividjian | Aug 28, 2015

When the abusive behavior of Christian leaders is uncovered, all too often the immediate response is not an unconditional admission or a genuine expression of authentic repentance. Instead, a common response is a new narrative. A false narrative. A narrative that attempts to paint a picture of the situation without any regard for truth. A narrative designed to protect reputations and preserve future incomes. A narrative designed to keep the leaders in the spotlight and the victims out of the way.

Since many of these leaders tend to be narcissistic, the primary purpose of the false narrative is to enable them to hold onto the spotlight as they crave affirmation and continued relevance in a world that is quick to turn the spotlight elsewhere. Seeking out friendly media interviews is one way that provides opportunities for offending leaders to elaborate and “sell” their new narrative. Social media is also a very effective means to communicate this narrative because it tends to attract those who crave the leader’s attention and who will be quick to “like”, “share”, “comment”, “reply” or “re-tweet” the leader’s narrative. These same followers will often be quick to vilify and attack anyone who questions or criticizes the leader or the narrative.

Though false narratives vary with each offending leader and each situation, three types seem to be common amongst offending leaders:

Redefine Narrative: Offending leaders are often quick to try and change the narrative from one of abuse to something less offensive and more acceptable to the watching public. One way this is accomplished is to re-defining the abuse with terms such as “mistake”, “misjudgment”, “failure” or “misunderstanding”. Such a redefining is usually coupled with the offending leader publicly expressing sorrow and asking for forgiveness. Do you see what’s happening? The false narrative subtly minimizes the actual abuse, as the offending leader appears to be repentant about a far less serious offense. The hope is that this approach will prompt many to express support for the offending leader as “humble” and “Godly”, while castigating anyone who expresses doubt or who attempts to point out the false narrative.

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By Steve Duin | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on August 29, 2015

The major independent Catholic institutions in the area – including Marylhurst University, the University of Portland, and high schools like St. Mary’s Academy – have a simple code of conduct:

Live out your faith. And stay off the Archbishop’s radar screen.

Alexander King Sample – who was installed 29 months ago, replacing John G. Vlazny – is more conservative than most Catholics in town. He’s also more alert to challenges to his authority.

That preeminence provides essential context to the Lauren Brown debacle at St. Mary’s. The administration’s attempt to bury the story after her dismissal is a reminder of the tactics that prolonged the priest sexual-abuse crisis, a scandal that should have ended the unforgiving Catholic lectures on sexual morality.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

A network for people who were raised in orphanages and children’s homes has called on the government to publish without delay recommendations on redress for thousands of abuse survivors.

On Monday the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will hand over its findings on how to compensate people who were abused as children while they were in care at government and non-government facilities.

It is not known when the government will publish the recommendations.

The recommendations from the commission are a key outcome for the national inquiry, which will run until the end of 2017.

Commission chair Peter McClellan announced last week the August 31 hand-over to the Attorney General’s office.

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JAPAN
Japan Times

Requests for legal advice from women who suffered sexual abuse in childhood have been on the increase since a 2014 court ruling that granted a woman’s request for compensation.

With the aid of lawyers, the woman is campaigning for a suspension of the statute of limitations, which often prevents victims from filing lawsuits or criminal complaints.

Since the Sapporo High Court ruling in September 2014, lawyer Toko Teramachi, who worked for the plaintiff, has received about 20 inquiries from women in their 30s and 40s who claim to have experienced similar sexual abuse.

“I was surprised to learn there were so many victims,” Teramachi said.

The high court ruling, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in July this year, ordered an uncle of the plaintiff, in her 40s, to pay her about ¥30 million ($246,000), including ¥20 million in damages and ¥9 million to cover medical costs for treating depression attributed to the abuse.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Times-Tribune

BY DAVID SINGLETON AND BOB KALINOWSKI, STAFF WRITERS

Published: August 30, 2015

The simple rite unfolded on a lazy summer afternoon, light on pomp but weighted with possibility for the Diocese of Scranton.

Parishioners filled almost every pew last month at Our Lady of the Eucharist Parish in Pittston to witness history in the making as the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., bishop of Scranton, installed Sister Mary Ann Cody, I.H.M., as parish life coordinator to shepherd the faith community in the absence of a resident priest.

The Rev. Jeffrey Walsh, based at St. Peter’s Cathedral Rectory in Scranton, will serve as the sacramental minister, but Sister Cody will provide Our Lady of the Eucharist’s day-to-day pastoral and organizational leadership in a role the bishop described as “faithful witness, wise teacher and servant leader.”

Sister Cody, a longtime Catholic educator who previously acted as the parish’s pastoral associate, is the first parish life coordinator within the diocese.

She won’t be the last.

After a long period of tumult and upheaval during which it shuttered churches and schools, consolidated parishes, wrestled with finances and dealt with fallout from the clergy sexual abuse scandal, the Diocese of Scranton confronts a new challenge.

A diminishing number of active priests to minister to the spiritual needs of the nearly 280,000 Roman Catholics in Northeast Pennsylvania in the coming years will require the diocese to embrace other forms of pastoral leadership.

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MALTA
Malta Today

Jurgen Balzan
30 August 2015

A Gozitan priest who was defrocked by the Vatican in 2013 has not yet been notified of his dismissal by the Gozo bishop, Mario Grech.

Grech’s dithering has led to calls for his resignation, with a number of Gozitan priests reporting the bishop’s misconduct to the Vatican.

MaltaToday is informed that in March 2013, the Vatican had upheld its original decision to defrock Dominic Camilleri, who in 2003 was first investigated by the Maltese church over the sexual abuse of minors.

However, the Gozo bishop has not executed Camilleri’s dismissal and sources have told MaltaToday that this could be connected to the shamed priest’s alleged threats to expose other cases of sexual abuse involving Gozitan priests.

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UNITED STATES
Patheos – Love, Joy Feminism

Breaking: Leadership of Josh Duggar’s Treatment Center Allegedly Involved in Sex Abuse Coverup

August 28, 2015 by Libby Anne

Earlier this week Josh Duggar checked into Reformers Unanimous (RU), a Christian residential addiction treatment program in Rockford, Illinois, run by North Love Baptist Church and co-founded by the church’s authoritarian Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) pastor, Paul Kingsbury. Over the past twenty-four-hours, I have spoken with a number of individuals involved with or affected by either North Love or Kingsbury. Of primary importance are allegations that Kingsbury is actively supporting an accused sex offender, Richard DeVall, who is serving as a missionary in Bolivia and is sponsored by North Love Baptist Church. If true, this would seem to disqualify Kingsbury from running a recovery program for individuals suffering from porn addiction and sex addiction*, but Independent Fundamentalist Baptist churches seem to run by their own rules.

There are some striking similarities here. After Josh Duggar molested his younger sisters as a teenager, he was sent to one of Bill Gothard’s training centers to take part in a construction program while receiving Christian mentoring. A decade later, Bill Gothard resigned after several dozen women leveled accusations of sexual abuse against him. This time Josh has been sent to Reformers Unanimous, a program founded by a church that has a history of involvement in Gothard’s Institute for Basic Life Principles and which focuses on physical labor and Bible study. Paul Kingsbury, co-founder and chair of Reformers Unanimous, is alleged to be providing financial support through his church to an accused sex offender who has refused to return to the country to face charges. In other words, the Duggars appear to have sent Josh for round two of the same failed treatment. …

Kingsbury’s Alleged Support for an Accused Sex Offender
Several years ago, Bob Jones University invited GRACE, an organization run by Billy Graham’s grandson and Liberty University professor Boz Tchividijian, to conduct an investigation of their handling of rape and sexual assault on campus. The final report released by GRACE detailed a situation in the early 1990s where BJU expelled and then readmitted a man accused of sexual assault. According to the GRACE report, “the alleged perpetrator minimized the extent of his crime, but he admitted to touching her inappropriately without her consent while he believed she was sleeping.” The perpetrator was readmitted to BJU after claiming that he had reconciled with his victim, but this was later revealed to be a lie.

This man, identified as Richard DeVall, is currently serving as a missionary in Bolivia. According to the GRACE report, his victim finally went to the authorities in 2012. Shortly after this she received a letter of apology from DeVall. Not satisfied, she contacted DuVall’s missionary agency, Baptist Pioneer Mission (BPM), asking them to remove him from the field “due to potential risks he could pose to others.” They refused, telling her that DeVall “had been repentant to the mission board by confessing his offense and writing a letter of apology.” When she asked whether BPM would encourage DeVall to return to the United States to face charges for his crime, the board responded that they would “use any legal means to protect” DeVall. In spite of claiming in his apology letter that he would “cooperate and work with all those who are involved in the issue,” DeVall insisted that the matter must be handled “in a Biblical way” and, according to GRACE, has refused to return to the United States to face criminal charges.

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UNITED STATES
Raw Story

BETHANIA PALMA MARKUS
29 AUG 2015

A leader at the Christian rehabilitation center Josh Duggar supposedly checked into is helping another accused sexual predator avoid prosecution by keeping him abroad, Patheos reports.

Duggar has purportedly sought treatment at Reformers Unanimous — a facility run by North Love Baptist Church. The pastor of North Love Baptist, Paul Kingsbury, helped a man accused of sexual assault remain on a religious mission overseas to avoid prosecution in the United States, according to Patheos.

Richard DeVall, a missionary currently serving in Bolivia with Baptist Pioneer Mission Agency, was accused of committing sexual assault in the 1990s on the campus of Bob Jones University (BJU), according to Patheos. DeVall was expelled as a result of the allegations, but then readmitted.

The victim went to authorities in 2012 with the accusations. Shortly thereafter, DeVall contacted her asking for her forgiveness.

The victim contacted Baptist Pioneer Mission Agency, asking that DeVall be removed from fieldwork because of the risk he posed to others. When she requested DeVall be returned to the United States to face criminal charges, she was told the missionary agency would protect him. DeVall then refused to return to the U.S., insisting the matter would be handled “in the Biblical way.”

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.– The National District prosecutor Yeni Berenice Reynoso said Friday that the death of former Polish archbishop and the Vatican’s former ambassador to Santo Domingo, who faced trial on charges of pedophilia in the Dominican Republic, is “unfair” to the victims.

“I always wondered why a new date was not given for the trial of Wesolowski, not even after leaving the hospital,” the National District prosecutor wrote on her Twitter account.

According to a statement from the Vatican, Jozef Wesolowski, 67, was found dead in his Vatican room early Friday, where he had lived since last year, after he was placed under house arrest.

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VATICAN CITY
Courier-Mail (Australia)

THE former papal envoy to the Dominican Republic, who went on trial at the Holy See this summer for alleged sexual abuse of minors, died of a heart attack, according to initial autopsy results, the Vatican said Saturday.

A Vatican statement indicated that laboratory results, expected in coming days, could elaborate on the cause of the sudden death of Jozef Wesolowski, a 67-year-old Pole, on Thursday evening at the Vatican.

The Vatican announced the death on Friday.

After work performed so far, “and from the initial conclusions based on the macroscopic examination, a natural cause of death, due to a cardiac event, is confirmed,” said the Vatican statement.

The Vatican prosecutor’s office appointed a panel of three experts coordinated by a forensic medicine professor at Rome’s Tor Vergata University to determine the cause of death.

A Vatican trial against Wesolowski was an opportunity for Pope Francis to show he’s carrying out pledges to punish high-ranking churchmen accused of sexually abusing minors or covering up abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Times

Paddy Agnew

Sat, Aug 29, 2015

The Holy See today stated that the autopsy on the former papal nuncio Josef Wesolowski, who died on Thursday night in the Vatican, has concluded that he died as a result of a “heart event”.

In its statement, the Holy See said that the autopsy was carried out by a “commission of three experts”, led by professor of forensic medicine Giovanni Arcudi of Rome’s Tor Vergata University, adding:

“The autopsy took place [Friday] afternoon and, from initial examination of the corpse, it was determined the natural cause of death was attributed to a heart event.”

Archbishop Josef Wesolowski was charged with child abuse and possession of child pornography. In June 2014, he was found guilty by a church disciplinary panel and deemed no longer fit to serve as a priest. Photograph: Danny Polanco/EPAArchbishop on trial for paedophile crimes found dead in Vatican

The statement said that, in the coming days, “the [chief prosecutor] will receive further results of the usual laboratory tests . . . ”

Archbishop Wesolowski (67), formerly papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, was about to stand trial in a Vatican City court, accused of a wide variety of criminal offences relating to paedophilia.

His sudden death has prompted intense specultation.

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INDIA
Business Standard

A ten-year-old girl was allegedly molested by a priest of a Gurdwara in Jagjitpur village near here.

The incident took place on August 22 when the girl was returning home from the Gurdwara, police said today.

Phagwara DSP Manpreet Singh Dhillon said the accused ‘Baba’ Roshan Singh tried to molest the girl but she ran away.

The matter was first brought to the notice of the village panchayat, he said.

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MINNESOTA
Hibbing Daily Tribune

By Kelly Grinsteinner Editor kgrinsteinner@hibbingdailytribune.net

HIBBING — The Hibbing priest charged with sexual misconduct in May now faces an additional charge of criminal sexual conduct and a new charge of possession of child pornography.

Brian M. Lederer, 29, appeared before Judge David E. Ackerson in St. Louis County District Court in Hibbing Thursday. During the hearing, Ackerson granted the prosecution’s motion to amend the formal complaint to reflect the two additional charges.

Lederer was ordained in June 2012 and was an associate pastor at Blessed Sacrament when was arrested and charged. He often had contact with children of the parish and students at Assumption School.

Once charged, Lederer was placed on administrative leave by the Diocese of Duluth. While on leave, he is not allowed to minister as a priest and/or have contact with anyone under age 18.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

“Blind eye: Pope Francis has done little to combat priest sex abuse.” That’s the headline in the latest issue of Ms. Magazine penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael D’Antonio. “Nearly all of the recent action taken by the church has been spurred by whistleblowers, victims and advocates outside the church speaking out,” he writes, citing the KC Bishop Robert Finn case as an example. (Finn hails from our town.)

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils

Paris Arrow

The much awaited “Vatican trial of the century” of ex-Papal Nuncio pedophile pimp Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski hanged around Pope Francis’s neck and it spoke louder than all his Opus Dei Beast PR Deceits Team script speeches – and louder than his papal necklace with a crucifix… so it had to be rid off … (especially before his USA-Cuba papal visit) – either by divine intervention or human intervention – and as everyone already knows – anything is possible inside the Vatican State filled with secrets of Pope Crimes and Vatican Evils throughout the centuries.

Ex-Papal Nuncio Archbishop Wesolowski was really the epitome archetypal embodiment of the Vatican crimes against humanity’s children in half-of-20th-century and 21st century and he was one of the biggest living proofs of the JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
La Rosa Rossa

L’ex nunzio Jozef Wesolowski, deceduto la notte scorsa in Vaticano, è stato trovato morto questa mattina intorno alle 5.00, davanti alla tv accesa, da un francescano del Collegio dei Penitenzieri – i frati che confessano i fedeli nella Basilica di San Pietro -, presso i quali l’ex presule polacco abitava, con divieto di lasciare i confini vaticani, in attesa del processo per pedofilia e pedopornografia. Era sotto processo in Vaticano per gli atti di pedofilia che avrebbe commesso a Santo Domingo e per il possesso di materiale pedopornografico all’interno del proprio PC.

La notizia della morte di Wesolowski è stata confermata dalla Santa Sede. Józef Wesołowski, già Nunzio Apostolico. “Il Santo Padre è stato doverosamente informato di tutto”, chiude la nota della Santa Sede.

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VATIKAN
Radio Vatikan

Die Autopsie an den verstorbenen ehemaligen Nuntius Józef Wesolowski hat ergeben, dass er wegen einem Herzstillstand gestorben ist. Das teilte der Vatikan an diesem Samstag mit. Die vatikanische Justizbehörde hatte kurz nach dem Tod des wegen Kindesmissbrauch beschuldigten ehemaligen Vatikandiplomaten eine Untersuchung verordnet. Die Autopsie wurde von drei Experten durchgeführt unter der Leitung eines Experten der römischen Universität Tor Vergata. Die Untersuchung fand am Freitagnachmittag statt, so die Vatikannote. Wesolowski war am Donnerstagabend im Vatikan verstorben. Die Autopsie hat ergeben, dass es sich um „einen natürlichen Tod“ handelte. In den kommenden Tagen werde die vatikanische Justizbehörde weitere Resultate, die von einem Labor getätigt werden, in Betracht ziehen.

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PHILIPPINES
ABS-CBN

Shelby Sebens, Reuters
Posted at 08/29/2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – Authorities in the Philippines are searching for a Catholic priest from Oregon who went missing while facing criminal charges for allegedly hiding a camera in a church bathroom, officials with the Archdiocese of Portland said on Friday.

Father Ysrael Bien is accused of personal invasion of privacy, tampering with physical evidence, and initiating a false police report, according to a search warrant issued last week by a Washington County Circuit Court judge.

The camera, disguised as an electrical outlet, was found in late April near a toilet in the men’s bathroom of the St. Francis Catholic Church in Sherwood, Oregon.

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INDIANA
WANE

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) A former pastor from West Virginia appeared in a LaGrange County courtroom Thursday afternoon to face a felony charge of child molestation.

Police arrested James R. Smith, 24, in West Virginia on August 11, according to our partners at KPC Media. He was extradited to LaGrange County and has been held in the LaGrange County Jail.

Detectives started investigating after a young boy said Smith assaulted him in the bathroom of a home while the two were visiting family in LaGrange County.

West Virginia officials charged Smith, a former pastor, with a similar offense last year. He was charged with first-degree sexual abuse after a young boy there said Smith assaulted him numerous times over the course of five years.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Bolletino

[An autopsy performed on the late Jozef Wesolowski shows he died of a “cardiac event.”]

A seguito dell’improvvisa scomparsa, avvenuta nella tarda serata di giovedì 27 agosto u.s., del già Nunzio Apostolico Józef Wesołowski, l’Ufficio del Promotore di Giustizia vaticano, nell’ambito degli adempimenti di propria competenza, ha disposto l’effettuazione di un esame autoptico, nominando una Commissione peritale di tre esperti, coordinata dal Prof. Giovanni Arcudi, docente di Medicina Legale nell’Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”.

Gli accertamenti sono stati effettuati nel pomeriggio di ieri e, dalle prime conclusioni tratte dall’esame macroscopico, risulta confermata la causa naturale del decesso, riferibile ad evento cardiaco.

Nei prossimi giorni l’Ufficio del Promotore di Giustizia acquisirà le ulteriori risultanze degli usuali esami di laboratorio effettuati da detta Commissione.

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VATICAN CITY
Mercury News

The Associated Press
Posted: 08/29/2015

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says an autopsy has determined that its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, who went on trial at the Holy See this summer for alleged sexual abuse of minors, died of a heart attack.

It indicated Saturday that laboratory results coming later could better describe the “cardiac event” responsible for the sudden death of Jozef Wesolowski, a 67-year-old Pole, on Thursday evening at the Vatican. A Vatican statement says initial conclusions point to a heart attack.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Alcohol, beatings and sex predators: Inside Sunbury’s Salesian mansion of pure evil

Shannon Deery

JAMES was in year 9 when he was first called to the principal’s office.

It was the late 1980s and he was expecting “six of the best” — a favoured punishment of Father Julian Fox, whose weapon of choice was a pool cue.

Entering the office he saw an older priest sitting in an armchair, and felt a little safer. At least he wasn’t alone. But not even an audience could stop Fox.

He beat the boy then ordered him to drop his pants, sexually assaulting him.

As James left the office, he was stopped by the older priest who handed him a toy puzzle — a reward.

“Good boy,” he told him, patting him on the shoulder.

James is one of hundreds of boys abused by the very men who had been entrusted with his care.

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DOMINIKANISCHEN REPUBLIK
DomRep Total

Santo Domingo.- In der Dominikanischen Republik war Josef Wesolowski lange Zeit der Nuntius des Vatikan. Als damaliger Botschafter des Papstes hatte der Kirchenmann sich an minderjährigen Jungen vergriffen und wurde wegen mehrfachen sexuellen Missbrauchs, Besitz von pornographischem Material (Kinderpornos) und anderer Verbrechen angeklagt. Die Katholische Kirche hatte den Ex-Erzbischof aller Ämter enthoben und danach lebte Wesolowski in der Vatikanstadt, unter strengen Auflagen. Sämtliche elektronische Geräte wurden ihm untersagt (Tablet, PC, Smartphone) und bei dem ersten Prozesstag fehlte Wesolowski. Die Anwälte entschuldigten die Abwesenheit durch eine plötzliche Erkrankung, der Prozess wurde verschoben.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
La Tribuna

[Yeni Reynoso, the Dominican prosecutor who led the investigation against Wesolowski in the Caribbean country, said on his Twitter account that the death of the ex-nuncio is “unfair to the victims.” ​​The official wrote that he always wondered why the trial was stopped.]

VATICANO (AP). El exembajador del Vaticano en República Dominicana, que fue acusado por fiscales de la iglesia de abusar sexualmente de menores en el país caribeño, falleció de causas aparentemente naturales, anunció el viernes la Santa Sede.

Jozef Wesolowski fue encontrado muerto en su habitación en el Vaticano a primera hora del viernes, dijo un comunicado del Vaticano. El fiscal de la ciudad-Estado ordenó una autopsia de inmediato y que sus resultados serán dados a conocer cuanto antes.

El Vaticano dijo que el papa Francisco estaba al tanto de lo sucedido.

Yeni Reynoso, fiscal de la capital dominicana y quien encabezó la investigación contra Wesolowski en el país caribeño, dijo en su cuenta en Twitter que el deceso del exnuncio es “injusto para las víctimas” del exsacerdote.

La funcionaria escribió que “siempre me pregunté por qué el juicio de #Wesolowski fue dejado sin fecha el día de la suspensión y después de salir del hospital”.

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VATICAAN
KerkNet

BRUSSEL (KerkNet) – De Pool Jozef Wesolowski (67), de van kindermisbruik verdachte voormalige apostolische nuntius in de Dominikaanse Republiek, werd vrijdagmorgen dood in zijn kamer aangetroffen. Volgens een onderzoek stierf hij een natuurlijke dood. De resultaten van de autopsie worden weldra bekendgemaakt. De Pool, die onder huisarrest stond, was al enige tijd ziek. In juli verbleef hij geruime tijd in een ziekenhuis in Rome. Jozef Wesolowski werd in 2014 wegens het misbruik door het Vaticaan teruggezet in de lekenstand en van al zijn priestertaken en rechten ontheven.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston Globe

AUGUST 28, 2015

Below is a statement from the victim and her family following the verdicts in the St. Paul’s School rape case.

“Our family, like many others, have read several articles on campus sexual assault in recent years with concern as our daughters progressed through school. But never in our worst nightmares could we have imagined that we would be experiencing this issue firsthand with our 15-year-old daughter during her first year of high school. The reality of this national epidemic has hit home and there is overwhelming sadness for the large number of students suffering from sexual violence everyday in this nation.

Today, a measure of justice has been served for victims of sexual violence. While he was not convicted on all charges, Owen Labrie was held accountable in some way by a jury of his peers for crimes he committed against our daughter. This conviction requires him to take ownership for his actions and gives him the opportunity to reflect upon the harm he has caused. There is no joy in this outcome, however, as our daughter can never get back what she has lost nor can St. Paul’s School ever be our community again.

We still feel betrayed that St. Paul’s School allowed and fostered a toxic culture that left our daughter and other students at risk to sexual violence. We trusted the school to protect her and it failed us. We continue to feel anger and disappointment for the lack of character and integrity that the young men of St. Paul’s School showed, laughing and joking with Owen Labrie at graduation about “slaying” our daughter. Both the school and these young men should bear the shame of these crimes along with Owen Labrie.

While we stood together as a family through this process, it was our young daughter who took the stand to speak the truth and request justice. We admire her bravery in coming forward and speaking out in the face of great adversity. It is truly her courage that has made this measure of justice possible today.

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CALIFORNIA
New York Daily News

BY NICOLE HENSLEY

A priest caught with a hidden camera in a Sherwood, Ore., church fled to the Philippines to evade an arrest warrant signed last week, local reports said.

Rev. Ysrael Bien left the country in defiance of the Archdiocese of Portland’s orders to stay put while on administrative leave from the St. Francis Catholic Church.

“I didn’t expect him to disobey,” Archbishop Alexander Sample told the Oregonian.

A teenage boy had found a hidden camera disguised as an electrical outlet in a church bathroom and handed it over to Bien.

The ensuing drama has left parishioners not expecting the 34-year-old priest to return or ever be found.

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POLONIA/CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
La Tercera

Tras la muerte del ex nuncio apostólico en República Dominicana Josef Wesolowski, la fiscalía estatal polaca archivará las investigaciones en su contra por abuso sexual, según señaló un vocero de la fiscalía del distrito de la capital Varsovia. “Una vez muerto el sospechoso, congelaremos el proceso”, señaló.

La Fiscalía de Varsovia investigaba de forma independiente las acusaciones de abuso sexual contra el ex nuncio de origen polaco.

Un sacerdote que trabajó durante la época de Wesolowski como nuncio en República Dominicana fue condenado en mayo a siete años de cárcel por abuso sexual de niños en el Estado caribeño y en Polonia. Además, fue suspendido del sacerdocio.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston Globe

Below is a letter from the St. Paul’s School administration to the school community addressing the Owen Labrie verdict:

By now you have likely learned of the verdicts in the trial of Owen Labrie ’14. The trial has been deeply painful for all of us in the St. Paul’s community, but especially for the young woman who has suffered through this nightmare. From the beginning – some 15 months ago – to the conclusion of the trial, she and her family have shown remarkable moral courage and strength. Her resolve and unwavering commitment to the pursuit of the truth have been inspiring to us and to many outside our School community.

In June of 2014, when we first learned about these disturbing events, and informed you of the arrest of Owen Labrie, we pledged that we would use this case and the issues raised by it to learn more about ourselves and to make our School better. We began more than a year ago by conducting a comprehensive review of the safety of our School environment and of our reporting procedures to ensure they continue to meet the highest standards. We also made policy changes and enhanced programming in several key areas to further support our students in making St. Paul’s the healthiest residential learning environment possible. In addition, we invited independent experts and researchers to our campus to advise us on the best ways to strengthen the trust, respect and understanding that is so critical for a tight-knit, fully residential community like ours. More information about the speakers and the topic areas they covered can be accessed on the “From the Rector” page of our website under the “Focus on Healthy Community” section.

With advice and guidance from a team of public health professionals, we developed and began implementing additional programming to strengthen our community through enhanced education and prevention efforts in such areas as harassment, bullying, gender-based violence, and substance abuse. Our work continues as we strive to strengthen our Living in Community curriculum, develop new bystander intervention training for all students and heads of house, and conduct a review of School policies and practices surrounding student conduct and discipline. Our expectation is that these efforts will allow our faculty, staff, administration, and students to continue to be engaged in critical introspection with an eye to improving how we live together.

The topics raised by the trial have been an area of focus for the School for some time, and these same issues have been highlighted for the broader St. Paul’s community through testimony in court and recently in the press. To the frustration of many, the public discussion of the trial over the past two weeks has inaccurately portrayed St. Paul’s School and our culture. The allegations about our culture are not emblematic of our School or our values, our rules, or our student body, alumni, faculty, and staff.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Aug. 28

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

Kids are safer now that Wesolowski has passed. But sadly, now no one will ever know how many Catholic officials concealed his crimes for how many months or years.

Had Vatican officials turned over Wesolowski to secular authorities, as they should have, he might have already been tried, convicted and imprisoned. And more truth about wrongdoers in his case might have surfaced.

Two weeks ago, the BBC reported that Wesolowski was walking freely in Rome:

[BishopAccountability.org]

Last year a church official disclosed that he saw Wesolowski walking freely in Rome:

[SNAP]

This is incredibly irresponsible and dangerous. During his time in Rome, we hope Wesolowski did not hurt more children.

We hope Wesolowski’s passing brings some measure of comfort to his victims. We urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered Wesolowkski’s crimes to contact secular authorities. Though he obviously won’t be prosecuted, it’s possible that some clerics who ignored or concealed his crimes might be brought to justice.

We also hope that Vatican officials stop their centuries-old practice of handling clergy sex crimes and cover ups. Child molesting clerics should be dealt with by the independent, unbiased professionals in secular law enforcement, not by biased, secretive church colleagues.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Catholic News Service reports that:

In its official statement about his death, the Vatican referred to him as “His Excellency Monsignor Josef Wesolowski,” even though he was dismissed from the clerical state in June 2014 after an investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

His appeal of the dismissal was denied, Father Benedettini said, “but was not officially communicated so as not to aggravate the situation” while he was awaiting the separate criminal trial. He was still listed as an archbishop in the 2015 edition of the “Annuario Pontificio,” the Vatican yearbook.

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UNITED STATES
The Catholic Report

Please allow me to say I know how this hurts but there is a path to healing and moving forward. When you are ready to tell someone, we are here for you. It helps to tell someone, I know it is scary, you are at your all time low, your trust factor it at the lowest point, but when you do you, you will feel better about yourself. This will lead to control, which leads to moving to a better way of life.

Once you are on the path to talking to someone , you will want your life back and you will have to make decisions. These are the steps I took and found to be of value.

* Telling Someone: This is a is tough one to figure out. What I did was start small. Start with your closest friends and family. Now the next step is talking with the police. In the past some police forces were reluctant to file a report. In fact, in my case it took multiple times for the police to file a report. That is not the case anymore. I do recommend that someone be there with you as this will be a big challenge, but it is necessary. The last thing you want is for another child to go through what you went through, file the report. The police will take it from there and inform all concerned parties. The next person who needs to know is a lawyer. You will need to understand what your rights are. If you do decide to move forward with legal proceedings, you need to have someone who’s job it is to protect you. If you are worried about information being revealed you are protected by attorney client privileges and they are bound by law to keep everything confidential. On a side note, for me it was educational, illuminating and empowering. While the last paragraph was a few sentences it is hard to do but rewarding.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on August 28, 2015

Tell me what is wrong with these two excerpts from this week’s news:

From Newsday:
Francis, 78, a Jesuit from Argentina, is moving in a similar direction, McCartin said. He has overhauled the Vatican bureaucracy, encouraged open debate within the church, instituted a mechanism for removing bishops who covered up the priest sex-abuse scandal and adopted a simple lifestyle as pope, trying to emulate his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi. (emphasis mine)

From the NY Times:
Francis is not the first pope to have addressed the issue of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy, but he has drafted new rules giving prosecutors more leeway in the cases, allowing criminal charges to be applied to Vatican employees anywhere. He is also the first pope to take action against superiors accused of covering up for priests. (emphasis mine)

Have you guessed? Are you stumped? Okay, okay. I’ll tell you. Francis hasn’t taken action against superiors who covered up for abusing priests nor has he instituted a mechanism for removing bishops.

Allowing KC/St. Joseph Robert Finn to resign three years after a conviction for child endangerment or allowing Archbishop John Nienstedt to resign in the wake of a huge sex scandal is NOT a mechanism.

Unless “allowing complicit bishops to freely resign with full rights, power, and honors—and no punishment, accountability, or shame” is a mechanism, of course.

These men have not been publicly sanctioned. Francis has said NOTHING publicly about how these men allowed criminals to wreak havoc on the children in their dioceses. They were not forced out of their jobs. There was never a public reason given by the Vatican for accepting the resignations.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston.com

Owen Labrie guilty of misdemeanor sex-assault charges; acquitted of more serious charges

By Allison Manning @allymanning
Boston.com Staff | 08.28.15

A prep school graduate who was headed to Harvard before he was arrested on rape charges last year was found not guilty Friday of the more serious charges of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, but guilty of three misdemeanor sexual assault charges.

Owen Labrie, now 19, could face 12 months of incarceration for each misdemeanor conviction and having to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Labrie was also found guilty of one felony charge of using a computer to solicit the girl and a misdemeanor count of endangering children.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
WIVB

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former senior at a New Hampshire prep school has been acquitted of felony rape but convicted of misdemeanor sex charges regarding a 15-year-old freshman.

The jury of nine men and three women on Friday found Owen Labrie, of Tunbridge, Vermont, not guilty of raping the girl in an academic building at St. Paul’s School two days before he graduated last year.

But they found him guilty of three misdemeanor sex assault charges.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
CBS News

CONCORD, N.H. — A jury has found former New Hampshire prep school student Owen Labrie not guilty of all three felony sex charges but guilty of lesser offenses — including three charges of misdemeanor sex assault — in his rape trial for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old female student two days before he graduated last year.

Labrie, of Tunbridge, Vermont, faced nine charges, including the three felony sex assault charges that carried potential sentences of 10 to 20 years in prison.

Labrie was also found guilty of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, and of using a computer to lure the girl, a Class B felony. He was found not guilty on a simple assault charge.

The jury deliberated 7 and a half hours. Labrie wept after the verdict was read.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Aug. 28, 2015

ROME
The disgraced former papal ambassador who was to be the first to be tried by the Vatican for sexual abuse of minors and for possession of child pornography has died while awaiting trial.

Former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who served as the pope’s representative to the Dominican Republic until being accused of sexual misconduct with minors in 2013, was found dead “during the first hours of the morning,” the Vatican said in a statement Friday.

At first inspection, the statement said, the death seemed to be of natural causes. An autopsy is expected to be completed Friday, it said, with the results communicated “as soon as possible.”

Pope Francis “has been duly informed,” the statement concluded.

Wesolowski, a native of Poland, had served in the church diplomatic post since 2008 but was recalled to Rome two years ago after allegations of abusing young boys and possessing child pornography.

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VATICAN CITY
InterAksyon

By: Angus MacKinnon, Agence France-Presse
August 28, 2015

VATICAN – Josef Wesolowski, a former Polish archbishop who had been due to be the first cleric tried in the Vatican for child sex abuse, has been found dead in his apartment in the city state.

Wesolowski, 67, was found slumped in front of his television, officials said, and the Vatican said in an official statement that it appeared the disgraced former prelate had died of natural causes.

An autopsy was to be carried out during the day and the results published as soon as possible, the Vatican said, adding that Pope Francis was being kept fully informed.

Wesolowski’s death came six weeks after his landmark trial was suspended after only seven minutes because of an undisclosed illness which resulted in the accused being hospitalized on the eve of its start.

Wesolowski was charged with possessing child pornography in Rome in 2013-14, and the sexual abuse of minors during his 2008-13 stint as the Vatican nuncio, or ambassador, in the Dominican Republic.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
NBC News

by ERIK ORTIZ

Jurors reached a verdict Friday in a rape trial that pitted the credibility of a former student of an elite New Hampshire prep school against his accuser.

Owen Labrie, now 19, faces nine criminal counts in the alleged rape of a freshman girl in May 2014 at their boarding academy, the prestigious St. Paul’s School in Concord.

The two-week trial has cast a harsh light on the school, whose alumni include Secretary of State John Kerry, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, a Kennedy and three Vanderbilts.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2015 / 09:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Jozef Wesolowski, the laicized, former apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic who faced criminal charges of possession of child pornography and pedophilic acts in Vatican City died on Friday at the age of 67.

The Holy See press office announced Aug. 28 that Wesolowski dead in his room at the Vatican’s Collegio dei Penitenzieri in front of a TV, which was turned on, at about 5 am by a Franciscan religious.

The Vatican has said that preliminary investigations indicate he died of natural causes, but an autopsy will be performed nonetheless.

In 2013, allegations arose that then-Archbishop Wesolowski had engaged in sexual misconduct. He resigned as apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic on Aug. 21 of that year. After the printing of the original accusations, a 13-year-old boy came forward with further allegations that Wesolowski had solicited him for sexual favors in exchange for money.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release Friday, August 28

Statement by northern Minnesota SNAP leader Verne Wagner (lwagsmn@yahoo.com, 218-340-1277)

A Catholic priest, Fr. Brian Lederer, who was arrested in May of 2015 now faces 5 felony counts. A fourth victim has come forward and child pornography has been found on his personal computer. Lederer is currently free on bail.

What we should ask is whether the seminary where Lederer came from ever suspected or had any documentation showing concerns that this priest was a danger to children. Hibbing, MN was Lederer’s first assignment. Did the Duluth Diocese do any background checks on him with the seminary? Last year Fr. Timothy Backus was appointed by Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba to work in Ministry as a Vice President at Essentia Hospital and Associate Pastor at St. Michaels parish in Duluth knowing that he has been credibly accused of molesting a young boy in 1990’s. In this day and age and with their past record publicly known how could they not properly perform vetting these men.

Is the Duluth Diocese even doing background checks and if so how?

What did the seminary where Lederer came from know? How did Lederer slip through the churches screening for pedophiles? Do they even do screening and if so how?

Prosecutors need to ask these questions in order to protect our children from future priests. It’s well documented that the public cannot depend on Bishop Surba to keep these accused pedophiles out of our towns and away from our children

We beg people to remember charges are not convictions. Now more than ever we urge anyone who have been victimized by Lederer or other clergy to call 911 and report these men. We also ask anyone with knowledge regarding child abuse by clergy to contact law enforcement to help us protect our children.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article posted 28 August 2015)

Broken Rites has examined an out-of-court civil settlement, in which a Catholic religious order (the Salesian Fathers) made a payment to a former Melbourne schoolboy who complained that he was sexually abused by a priest, Father Julian Fox. Father Fox was a minister, teacher and administrator at several Salesian schools, including Salesian College, ‘Rupertswood”, which was a boarding school at Sunbury, north-west of Melbourne.

In 2000, the Salesians’ Australian head office signed an out-of-court settlement with a Melbourne man (Luke Quilligan). According to the settlement deed. Luke alleged that “over a period of time between 1978 and 1979, whilst a student at Salesian College, Rupertswood, Sunbury, he was unlawfully sexually and/or physically assaulted by Fr Fox”. According to the deed, Luke further alleged that “as a result of the assaults he sustained loss, damage and injuries and may require counseling or therapy in the future.” The deed says the Salesians were making the settlement to avoid litigation.

Luke’s story

Luke Quilligan was born in 1964. His father died and his mother sent the boy to Rupertswood College, Sunbury, as a boarder in 1979 (for Year 8). He stayed at the college for a year and a half. The mother presumed that the Salesian Fathers would be a good role model for a boy with no male parent.

It is alleged that Luke was sexually abused while at this school. According to Luke, he reported the sexual abuse to Father Terence Jennings, who was the principal (called the rector) of Rupertswood college. According to Luke, Jennings intimidated Luke into remaining silent about the abuse. That is, Jennings covered up the alleged abuse. As well as being the college principal, Jennings had also previously been the provincial superior (i.e., the head) of the Salesian order in the whole of Australia. So this story goes right to the top of the Salesian order in Australia. Jennings died in 2001.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites Australia researcher (updated 28 August 2015)

The former Australian head of a worldwide Catholic religious order was sentenced to jail on 28 August 2015 for child-sex crimes. Father Julian Fox, 70, of the Salesian order, was found guilty of indecently assaulting boys at two Melbourne schools. The crimes occurred between 1976 and 1985. After these crimes, Father Fox was appointed as the Australian head of the Salesian order. Later, the Salesians allowed him to flee to Rome, thus enabling him to evade Australian police — until the police eventually forced him back to Australia to face the courts. During the sentencing in 2015, Fox’s defence lawyer told the court that Father Fox is still officially a Catholic priest and he has the support of the Salesians.

Various Salesian websites have claimed that the Salesians are the second or third largest Catholic religious order in the world. The Salesians operate in “more than 125 countries”.

The sentencing of Father Fox was conducted by a judge in the Melbourne County Court. Broken Rites representatives were present in court.

The charges against Father Fox were laid by the Sex Crime Squad of the Victoria Police. In 2012, the Sex Crime Squad established a special team of detectives in Melbourne, called “Task Force Sano”, to investigate child-abuse allegations in religious organisations.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Beast

Barbie Latza Nadeau

After raping boys and keeping child porn at the Vatican, Josef Wesolowski was set to stand trial for his sins. Now his fate will be left to a higher power.

VATICAN CITY — Josef Wesolowski died too soon. The 67-year-old former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, whose undeniable crimes of child-sex abuse ran the gamut from victimizing shoe shine boys in Santo Domingo to hoarding more than 100,000 files with child pornography inside Vatican City died in his private room in a Vatican City palazzo overnight.

An autopsy was ordered to confirm his cause of death, which was said to be from natural causes. No foul play is suspected, according to a Vatican statement no doubt meant to stifle conspiracy theorists, which read simply: “Vatican authorities quickly carried out the first investigation and have established that the death was caused by natural causes.”

Wesolowski, from Poland, who was defrocked for his heinous sins last year, was easily the poster priest of bad behavior and his shocking case was meant to prove that the Church was finally doing something to stop the vile sins of some of its clergy. His was to be the first ever sex abuse trial held inside the Holy See in front of a new Vatican Tribunal endorsed by Pope Francis himself. The idea was that if the Vatican could convict one of their elite, then it would surely prove to naysayers that the days of rampant cover-ups were over.

In 2013, Wesolowski was whisked to Vatican City before officials in the Dominican Republic could arrest him. When he arrived, the attorney general of Warsaw filed an immediate order for his extradition, hoping his nationality would outweigh his clerical status, but the request was immediately denied by the Roman Curia.,

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

Rosie Scammell | August 28, 2015

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican on Friday (Aug. 28) announced the death of Jozef Wesolowski, an ex-diplomat who was to be the first high-ranking Vatican official to stand trial for child sex abuse.

Wesolowski was found dead in his room at the Vatican early Friday (Aug. 28), with authorities determining he died of natural causes. The Vatican’s Promoter of Justice immediately ordered an autopsy, the results of which have not yet been made public.

The Polish ex-nuncio — as Vatican ambassadors are called — had been due to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with children during his time in the Dominican Republic. Criminal proceedings were expected to get underway on July 11 but were halted after Wesolowski was hospitalized.

A lawyer for the former bishop said at the time he was unaware of Wesolowski suffering from health problems.

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VATICAN CITY
Dallas Morning News

NICOLE WINFIELD
The Associated Press

Published: 28 August 2015

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, the highest-ranking Holy See official to ever be charged with sexually abusing young boys, was found dead Friday as he awaited trial, the Vatican said.

In a statement, the Vatican press office said preliminary checks on Jozef Wesolowski, 67, “indicated that the death was from natural causes.”

A Franciscan priest who works as a confessor in St. Peter’s Basilica found Wesolowski dead at 5 a.m. with the television on in the Vatican room where has been held in modified house arrest for several months, it said. …

Dominican authorities had initially questioned the Vatican’s sequestration of Wesolowski after the abuse rumors began circulating. But the Holy See insisted that it had jurisdiction over him given he was a diplomat and was subject to the criminal laws of the Vatican City State. Wesolowski lost his diplomatic immunity when he was removed and defrocked, however, and the Vatican subsequently said he could face charges elsewhere after the Vatican’s case against him was finished.

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VATICAN CITY
Los Angeles Times

By TOM KINGTON

A former papal envoy accused of paying young boys for sex has died before his trial at the Vatican could get underway, officials said Friday.

In the first trial of its kind at the Vatican’s own court, Jozef Wesolowski, 67, faced seven years in jail on charges that he paid shoeshine boys for sex while serving as papal nuncio, or ambassador, in the Dominican Republic.

A Vatican statement said Wesolowski was found dead at his residence in the enclave early Friday morning. Although an autopsy has yet to be carried out, the Vatican said natural causes were a likely cause of death.

Pope Francis has been informed of Wesolowski’s death, the statement said.

In July, Wesolowski was taken to the hospital the day before he was due in court for the first day of his trial, forcing an adjournment. The Vatican did not specify the nature of his illness.

The former archbishop’s trial was the first time a senior church official was sent before a Vatican criminal court accused of sex abuse and marked a crucial test of Pope Francis’ avowal to crack down on abusive priests and the bishops accused of covering up for them. Wesolowski was accused of paying minors for sexual acts, purchasing pedophile material and offending Christian morality.

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WISCONSIN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Aug. 28, 2015

For more information: Peter Isely of Milwaukee, 414 429 7259, peterisely@yahoo.com, David Clohessy of St. Louis, 314 566 9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Vatican rules against predator priest
Child molesting cleric worked in nine WI towns
He once unsuccessfully sued one of his victims
SNAP: “Madison bishop must warn others about him”

A Vatican panel has upheld penalties against a suspended serial predator priest who worked in nine Wisconsin towns. Now a support group for clergy sex abuse victims wants Madison’s Catholic bishop to warn the public of his whereabouts and “aggressively reach out to anyone else he may have hurt.

Last month, a public relations staffer for Bishop Rorbert Morlino wrote in the diocesan newspaper that the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome “confirmed the finding” of lower church panels that Fr. Gerald Vosen “is guilty of two offenses (of sexual misconduct) with minors under the age of 16.”

“Vatican officials have apparently chosen to not defrock this repeat sex offender, so he’s still apparently getting money from Morlino’s diocese,” said Peter Isely, Midwest Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “So for the safety of kids, Morlino should disclose where Fr. Vosen is now. He should insist that Fr. Vosen live in a remote, secure, professionally-run treatment facility. And Morlino should personally visit each place where Fr. Vosen worked, begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police so this dangerous abuser might be prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned. That’s what a caring shepherd would do. That’s what best protects kids.”

“It’s not enough for church officials to say ‘he’s too dangerous. We’ll take his collar and his parish. But that’s all we’re gonna to do,’” said Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP’s outreach director. “Fr. Vosen belongs in jail. Morlino could and should help put him there, by using pulpit announcements, parish bulletins and church websites to prod others with information or suspicions about his crimes to call police.”

At one point, Fr. Vosen sued one of his accusers for slander. He lost.

Fr. Vosen worked in churches in Paoli, Verona, Avoca, Clyde, Madison, Cottage Grove, Reedsburg, Janesville and Baraboo, all in Wisconsin. http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Vosen_Gerald_P.htm

In the mid-1960s, at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Madison, Fr. Vosen worked with Fr. Lawrence M. Trainor who was also later accused of sexual abuse.

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VATIKAN
Deutsche Welle

Die vatikanischen Behörden leiteten umgehend eine Untersuchung ein, wie das Presseamt mitteilte. Vieles deute zum jetztigen Zeitpunkt auf eine natürliche Todesursache hin. Die genauen Resultate sollten möglichst bald bekanntgegeben werden, sagte der Pressesprecher.

Von Papst Franziskus unter Hausarrest gestellt

Der Prozess gegen den ehemaligen Nuntius in der Dominikanischen Republik sollte eigentlich im Sommer im Vatikan beginnen, war dann aber wegen einer Erkrankung Wesolowskis verschoben worden. Im Juli war der 67-Jährige aufgrund gesundheitlicher Probleme in ein Krankenhaus eingeliefert worden. Am 20. Juli wurde er jedoch wieder entlassen. Seither hielt er sich unter ärztlicher Beobachtung im Vatikan auf.

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VATIKAN
Kathweb

Vatikanstadt, 28.08.2015 (KAP) Jozef Wesolowski, wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs angeklagter früherer Vatikanbotschafter in der Dominikanischen Republik, ist tot. Der 67-Jährige wurde am Freitagmorgen in seiner Wohnung im Vatikan aufgefunden. Die vatikanischen Behörden leiteten umgehend eine Untersuchung ein, wie das Presseamt am Vormittag mitteilte. Diese deute auf eine natürliche Todesursache hin. Der Staatsanwalt habe eine Autopsie eingeleitet; deren Resultate sollten möglichst bald bekanntgegeben werden.

Der polnische Geistliche, der in den Laienstand zurückversetzt worden war, wartete im Vatikan auf seinen Prozess. Nach einem kirchenrechtlichen Prozess hatte der Vatikan ihn bereits im Juni 2014 in den Laienstand versetzt, also aller priesterlichen Rechte und Pflichten enthoben. Im Juli war Wesolowski aufgrund gesundheitlicher Probleme in ein Krankenhaus eingeliefert worden. Am 20. Juli wurde er jedoch wieder entlassen. Seither hielt er sich unter ärztlicher Beobachtung im Vatikan auf.

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VATIKAN
Frankfurter Allgemeine

28.08.2015, von JÖRG BREMER, ROM

Jozef Wesolowski, der wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs angeklagte frühere Vatikanbotschafter in der Dominikanischen Republik, ist am frühen Freitag tot in seinem Zimmer im Vatikan aufgefunden worden. Nach einer offiziellen Mitteilung starb der 67 Jahre alte polnische Ex-Bischof vermutlich eines natürlichen Todes; dennoch sollte noch am Freitag eine Autopsie erfolgen. Der Papst habe den Tod mit Bedauern zu Kenntnis genommen, hieß es weiter.

Am 11. Juli hätte im Vatikan der Prozess gegen den früheren Erzbischof eröffnet werden sollen. Doch Wesolowski erschien nicht. Stattdessen teilte der Vatikan mit, der Angeklagte sei am Vortag nach gesundheitlichen Beschwerden auf die Intensivstation eines römischen Krankenhauses gebracht worden. Daraufhin wurde der Prozess auf unbestimmte Zeit vertagt. Ende Juli wurde Wesolowski dann aus dem Krankenhaus entlassen und kehrte in den Vatikan zurück.

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WATYKAN
Polskie Radio

Józef Wesołowski został znaleziony martwy w swoim mieszkaniu. Z pierwszych oględzin ciała wynika, że śmierć nastąpiła z przyczyn naturalnych. Mimo to prokurator watykański zarządził sekcję zwłok, która będzie przeprowadzona jeszcze w piątek. Jej wyniki zostaną podane do publicznej wiadomości.

Papież Franciszek został poinformowany o śmierci Józefa Wesołowskiego – podano w nocie watykańskiego biura prasowego.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
El Universal

Ciudad del Vaticano.- El juicio sin precedentes en el Vaticano contra un religioso por pederastia no se celebrará, pues el acusado, el polaco Jozef Wesolowski, exnuncio de la República Dominicana, fue hoy encontrado muerto en la habitación de su residencia en los Jardines Vaticanos.

Un franciscano que vive en el Colegio de los Penitenciarios, en los Jardines Vaticanos, y donde Wesolowski, de 67 años, residía en espera de juicio, encontró a las 5.00 horas de hoy el cuerpo sin vida del prelado, sentado en un sillón y con la televisión encendida, citó Efe.

El escueto comunicado del Vaticano informaba de que “en las primeras horas de esta mañana ha sido encontrado muerto en su habitación en el Vaticano monseñor Józef Wesolowski, ex nuncio Apostólico” y que “inmediatamente, ha intervenido la autoridad vaticana para llevar a cabo las primeras verificaciones, las cuales indican que la muerte se debió a causas naturales”.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
BBC Mundo

Jozef Wesolowski, el exarzobispo y otrora nuncio apostólico del Vaticano a República Dominicana, murió antes de que fuera enjuiciado por abuso sexual de menores.

El proceso que se le seguía en el Vaticano fue suspendido en julio después de que cayera enfermo.

Wesolowski estaba acusado de pagar por tener sexo con menores en República Dominicana.

Wesolowski fue encontrado sin vida en sus aposentos en el Vaticano donde cumplía arresto domiciliario desde septiembre.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Corriere della Sera

È morto in Vaticano l’ex arcivescovo polacco Jozef Wesolowski, che era sotto processo per atti di pedofilia commessi a Santo Domingo, dove era nunzio apostolico, e detenzione di materiale pedopornografico. Il processo all’ex presule era stato sospeso lo scorso 11 luglio a seguito di un malore che lo costrinse ad un ricovero in terapia intensiva. L’ex nunzio della Repubblica dominicana, nel 2014 era stato rimosso per volontà di papa Francesco ed era anche stato il primo cittadino alla sbarra per abusi su minori nello Stato della Città del Vaticano.

Il comunicato della Santa Sede

La notizia della morte di Wesolowski è stata confermata dalla Santa Sede. «Alle prime ore di venerdì mattina – afferma un comunicato della sala stampa vaticana – è stato trovato defunto nella sua abitazione in Vaticano Jozef Wesolowski. Subito intervenuta l’autorità vaticana per i primi accertamenti, i quali indicano che la morte è dovuta a cause naturali. Il Promotore di Giustizia ha ordinato un’autopsia, che sarà effettuata oggi stesso e i cui risultati saranno comunicati appena possibile. Il Santo Padre è stato doverosamente informato di tutto».

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
la Repubblica

CITTA’ DEL VATICANO – E’ morto in Vaticano l’ex arcivescovo polacco Jozef Wesolowski, che era sotto processo per atti di pedofilia commessi a Santo Domingo, dove era nunzio apostolico, e detenzione di materiale pedopornografico. Il processo all’ex presule era stato sospeso lo scorso 11 luglio a seguito di un malore.e aggiornato a data da destinarsi.

E’ stato trovato senza vita – questa mattina intorno alle 5 davanti alla televisione accesa – da un francescano del collegio dei Penitenzieri. L’ex nunzio viveva lì, con divieto di lasciare le mura vaticane in attesa del processo.

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VATICAN CITY
Deutsche Welle

A former archbishop, Jozef Wesolowski, has passed away while awaiting trial for paying for sex with minors, Vatican officials say. He was the highest-ranking Catholic official to face accusations of pedophilia.

The 67-year old Wesolowski was found dead in on Friday, a Vatican representative said in a statement. The Polish-born defrocked priest was held under house arrest in the seat of the Catholic Church.

The initial checks “indicated that the death was from natural causes,” a press statement said, adding that Vatican prosecutors ordered an immediate autopsy.

Vatican officials informed Pope Francis of the event, the authorities reported.

Wesolowski was stripped of his rank in the church hierarchy and reduced to a layman last year, after a church tribunal found him guilty of child abuse. This is the harshest penalty the Vatican tribunal can rule against a cleric under canon law.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

THE former Australian head of the second-largest Catholic order in the world has been jailed for child sex crimes.

Father Julian Fox, 70, is today behind bars, 16 years after being accused of child sex crimes while teaching at Melbourne schools in the 1980s and 1990s.

The remorseless Salesian priest left Australia in 1999, shortly before the first known complaints were made to his superiors.

He fled to Rome where he worked at the Salesian headquarters, spending more than a decade dodging calls to return to Melbourne to face justice.

In 2000, the Salesians made a confidential $36,000 payment to one victim, who died of drug abuse six years later.

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VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Mark Hanrahan @markdhanrahan

Jozef Wesolowski, a former Polish archbishop and the Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, died Friday, the Vatican said, before his trial on child sex offenses could continue.

Wesolowski, who was 67 at the time of his death, was accused of paying for sex with children in the Dominican Republic between 2008 and 2013, and possession of child pornography. His trial was postponed in July, after he was admitted to an intensive care unit due to a “sudden illness,” the nature of which was not specified, according to Catholic newspaper Crux.

A statement from the Vatican, cited by the Associated Press, said Wesolowski was found dead in his Vatican room early Friday. The Vatican prosecutor ordered an immediate autopsy, though the statement said that he appeared to have died from natural causes.

Wesolowski’s trial was to have been the first against a senior Catholic Church official under a revamped judicial regime instituted by Pope Francis, who has pushed the church to take a harder line against perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

Wesolowski was previously defrocked under canon law procedures and faced a possible prison sentence if convicted in his trial, the Guardian reported.

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VATICAN CITY
The News (Poland)

Polish-born Wesołowski had been waiting for the resumption of a trial in which he had been accused of pedophilia.

The 67-year old was the highest former dignitary of the Roman Catholic Church to be accused of pedophilia.

Shortly before the trial was due to start on 10 former archbishop July Wesołowski was taken into intensive care and was discharged after a few days.

The scandal was associated with allegations of pedophilia that erupted in the Vatican at the beginning of September 2013.

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VATICAN CITY
The Tablet

28 August 2015 by James Roberts

The former Apostolic Nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Józef Wesolowski, who was awaiting trial on charges he possessed child pornography and abused minors, died inside the Vatican in the early hours of this morning.

A Vatican statement said initial investigations indicated that he died of natural causes and an autopsy will be performed today. The communiqué said Pope Francis had been
informed of Wesolowski’s death.

The first and only hearing of the former nuncio’s trial in the Vatican took place on 11 July, but was suspended when he failed to appear. The court heard that Wesolowski had been transferred to the intensive care unit of a public hospital following the onset of an unexpected illness.

The criminal charges against the Polish national became possible after 2013, when Pope Francis approved new criminal laws applicable to all Vatican employees across the world. Any direct employee of the Holy See, including those working in a nunciature, can face a criminal trial at the Vatican as well as criminal prosecution in the country where the alleged crimes occurred.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

Jozef Wesolowski, a former archbishop and Vatican envoy to the Dominican Republic, has died before he could be tried for child sex offences.

He had been taken ill just before the start of his Vatican trial in July.

He was accused of paying for sex with children in the Dominican Republic.

Wesolowski, 66, would have been the first high-ranking church official to be tried on paedophile charges. His case was seen as a test of the Vatican’s pledge to stamp out abuse.

Last year, the Pope compared the actions of those who commit such crimes to a “satanic mass”.

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VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (UK)

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome

Friday 28 August 2015

The former Vatican ambassador Józef Wesołowski has died before he was due to go on trial for paedophilia, dealing a significant blow to Pope Francis’s efforts to tackle child sex abuse within the Catholic church.

Wesołowski was found dead at his Vatican residence early on Friday morning, the Holy See said in a statement. He is believed to have died from natural causes and a postmortem examination will be carried out on Friday to confirm the cause of death.

The Polish former archbishop was to be the first Vatican official to be tried within the walls of the Holy See for allegedly sexually abusing children while ambassador to the Dominican Republic.

The trial was scheduled to start on 11 July but was postponed after Wesołowski was taken to hospital after falling ill. Court proceedings were suspended indefinitely and were due to recommence once the accused’s health had improved.

Wesołowski, 67, returned to the Vatican two years ago amid reports that he had abused shoeshine boys plucked from the promenade in Santo Domingo. He was defrocked and arrested in 2014 and lived under house arrest while awaiting trial. In addition to the charges relating to his time as ambassador, Wesołowski was also accused of possessing child pornography at the Vatican.

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VATICAN CITY
The Times (UK)

Tom Kington Rome

Last updated at 11:58AM, August 28 2015

A former Catholic archbishop and papal nuncio accused of sexually abusing young boys has died at the Vatican, just as his ground-breaking trial got under way.

Józef Wesolowski, 67, who was on trial before a Vatican court, faced seven years in jail after allegedly paying shoeshine boys for sex in the Dominican Republic, where he served as papal nuncio.

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VATICAN CITY
Slate

By Beth Ethier

Józef Wesolowski, a former Catholic archbishop and papal envoy who was under house arrest in Vatican City, was found dead Friday ahead of his trial on charges that he sexually abused children, possessed pornography, and offended Christian morality. An autopsy is planned, but Wesolowski, 67, is believed to have died of natural causes.

Wesolowski served as apostolic nuncio, the Vatican’s chief diplomat, in the Dominican Republic from 2008 to 2013, and the case against him was considered a first for the Holy See’s criminal justice system. From the International Business Times:

Wesolowski was arrested in Rome after being recalled from the Dominican Republic over media allegations he had hired “rent boys.”

He was subsequently found guilty of sexual abuse and defrocked–the first top papal representative to receive such a sentence–in a canonical trial that paved the way for criminal charges. During the probe, Vatican detectives also found thousands of sexually explicit files on his office computer, with a second stash of material retrieved on a laptop he used during his trips abroad.

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VATICAN CITY
RTE News

A former archbishop accused of child sex offences was has died a month after he was hospitalised on the eve of his trial on paedophile charges, the Vatican said.

Jozef Wesolowski had been charged with possessing child pornography in Rome in 2013-14, and the sexual abuse of minors during his 2008-13 stint as the Vatican ambassador in the Dominican Republic.

A former papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Wesolowski appeared to have died of natural causes, the Vatican said in a statement.

The 67-year-old Pole was found dead in his rooms in the papal state, where he had been under arrest since September.

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VATICAN CITY
France 24

Polish former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, the first high-ranking Vatican official facing trial on paedophile charges, died overnight while under house arrest, the Holy See announced on Friday.

Wesolowski, 67, had suffered from health problems that caused a postponement last month of his criminal trial, which was to be the first of its kind initiated by the Vatican against a church official.

As the Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, he had been charged by church prosecutors with sexually abusing children in the Caribbean country.

He was found dead early on Friday in the Vatican room where he was being held under house arrest, a statement from the Vatican said. He had been under house arrest since September 2014.

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VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

[with video]

Józef Wesoowski, the ex-Apostolic Nuncio to the Dominican Republic, died at the Vatican. He was facing prosecution at a Vatican tribunal for possessing child pornography and abusing minors.

The 67-year-old was under house arrest and was living inside the Vatican. Initial reports suggest that he died of natural causes, but an autopsy is currently being performed to determine his exact cause of death.

FR. CIRO BENEDETTINI
Vatican Press Office

“The Holy Father has been informed of everything. They found him dead this morning at 5 o’clock with the television on. For that reason, it seems like he became ill suddenly. He was found by one of the Franciscans from the College of Prisons, where he was under house arrest.”

The former bishop resigned in August 2013 from his posts as Nuncio to the Dominican Republic and Apostolic Delegate to Puerto Rico, after being accused of child sexual abuse.

Once the accusations were proven true several months later, Pope Francis removed him from the priesthood.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

Reuters

VATICAN CITY — A Catholic former archbishop accused of child sex offenses was found dead on Friday, the Vatican said, a month after he was hospitalized on the eve of his trial.

Jozef Wesolowski faced charges of paying boys for sexual acts, downloading and buying pedophile material, and offending Christian morality, in the first trial of its kind held by the Vatican against a high-ranking Catholic official.

A former papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Wesolowski appeared to have died of natural causes, the Vatican said in a statement.

The 67-year-old Pole was found dead in his rooms in the papal state, where he had been under arrest since September. An autopsy has been scheduled to take place later on Friday.

Wesolowski fell ill in July and was taken to hospital the day before his trial, seen as an important test of Pope Francis’s drive to clean up the Catholic Church after child sex abuse scandals in several countries over many years.

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VATICAN CITY
The New York Times

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
AUG. 28, 2015

ROME — Jozef Wesolowski, a Polish former archbishop who would have been the first high-level prelate to stand before a Vatican tribunal on charges of child sexual abuse, was found dead early Friday, the Vatican said in a statement.

Initial examinations carried out by Vatican officials “determined that his death occurred from natural causes,” the statement said.

Mr. Wesolowski died in his Vatican City residence, where he had lived since September, after he was placed under house arrest. He was found by one of the Franciscan friars who lived in the same house, said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini.

An autopsy was being conducted Friday morning, Father Benedettini said.

Vatican prosecutors had accused Mr. Wesolowski, 67, of sexually abusing children in the Dominican Republic, where he was stationed from 2008 to 2013 as the Vatican’s ambassador. Already defrocked under canon law in 2014, Mr. Wesolowski was facing a prison sentence of up to eight years if found guilty.

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ZIMBABWE
Nehanda Radio

By Thandeka Moyo

BULAWAYO – The trial of a controversial pastor from Cowdray Park suburb in Bulawayo who allegedly turned a congregant, 16, into a sex slave and infected her with HIV and genital warts, took a new twist yesterday when the girl’s brother told the court that his sister made up the rape story.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the victim, took to the witness stand in defence of Greatness Tapfuma, 33, the founder of Kingdom Rulers International Church.

Giving his testimony before regional magistrate Chrispen Mberewere, the man said his sister was of loose morals and had contracted HIV way before she met Tapfuma.

“I’m very close to my sister and her mother, my step-mom. The truth is as a family we knew long back that she had HIV way before we started going to Pastor Tapfuma’s church.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

By: Cassie Hart

New sexual abuse allegation have surface against another member of the Catholic Church.

According to a statement from Archbishop Bernard Hebda on Thursday, the diocese has received “a credible allegation that the Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick, pastor at Corpus Christi parish and St. Rose of Lima parish and school in Roseville, sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.”

The Archdiocese has notified law enforcement.

During the investigation, Fr. Fitzpatrick will be on a leave of absence and will not exercise priestly ministry, the statement said.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Thursday, August 27, 2015
Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

From Archbishop Bernard Hebda

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has received a credible allegation that the Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick, pastor at Corpus Christi parish and St. Rose of Lima parish and school in Roseville, sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.

A “credible allegation” is one that is “not manifestly false or frivolous.” It is neither a presumption nor a determination of guilt. The Archdiocese has notified law enforcement. During the investigation, Father Fitzpatrick will be on a leave of absence and will not exercise priestly ministry.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

KATE CAMPBELL
PERTHNOW
AUGUST 28, 2015

EVANGELICAL Christian pastor David Volmer, charged as part of a shocking pedophile ring involving a 13-year-old girl, will learn his fate in November when he is sentenced.

Volmer, 41, briefly appeared in the Perth District Court on Friday to answer 12 charges, but refused to say anything as he left.

Apart from his lawyer Nick Scerri, the married father-of-two appeared at court alone.

A sentencing date was set for November 5.

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A Twin Cities area pastor is on leave after the Archdiocese says it received a credible sexual abuse allegation.

The Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick is accused of sexually abusing a minor in the 1980s.

Fitzpatrick is currently the pastor at Corpus Christi Parish in St. Paul and St. Rose of Lima Parish and School in Roseville.

In the 1980s he served as an Associate Pastor at Holy Spirit in St. Paul and as pastor at St. John the Evangelist in Little Canada.

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