ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

August 25, 2015

Public hearing into Salvation Army (Southern Territory)

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

25 August, 2015

The Royal Commission will hold a public hearing in Adelaide commencing on 6 October 2015 at the Roma Mitchell Commonwealth Law Court Building, 3 Angas Street, Adelaide.

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

1. The experiences of former child residents of the following institutions operated by the Salvation Army (Southern Territory) between 1940 and 1990:

a. Eden Park Boys’ Home, South Australia (Eden Park);

b. Box Hill Boys’ Home, Victoria (Box Hill);

c. Bayswater Boys’ Home, Victoria (Bayswater); and

d. The Salvation Army Boys’ Home (also known as Hollywood Children’s Village), Nedlands, Western Australia (Nedlands).

2. The response of the Salvation Army (Southern Territory) to allegations of child sexual abuse of former residents of Eden Park, Box Hill, Bayswater and Nedlands.

3. The past and current policies, practices and procedures of The Salvation Army (Southern Territory) for responding to claims of child sexual abuse in the institutions it operated.

4. Some aspects of the criminal law that govern the prosecution of child sexual abuse offences in South Australia, in particular the issue of joinder.

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.

Nedlands boys’ home to be examined at child sex abuse Royal Commission

AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

A PUBLIC Royal Commission hearing in October to examine the Salvation Army’s response to child sex abuse allegations at its institutions will include a former WA boys’ home.

The hearing, starting on October 6 in Adelaide, will look into the experiences of former child residents between 1940 and 1990 at The Salvation Army Boys’ Home in Nedlands — also known as Hollywood Children’s Village — as well as the Eden Park Boys’ Home in South Australia and Victoria’s Box Hills Boys’ Home and Bayswater Boys’ Home.

The scope of the hearing into the organisation’s institutions in the southern territory will include the Salvation Army’s response to child sex abuse allegations and its past and current policies in dealing with these matters.

People or groups who believe they have a direct or substantial interest in the hearing can lodge written applications for leave to appear by September 18.

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.

Group alleges church knew accused priest was in DC area

VIRGINIA
WUSA

ARLINGTON, Va. (WUSA9) — A group of protestors stood outside the Arlington Diocese Monday to bring attention to sexual abuse allegations against a priest who taught in Maryland and Virginia.

According to a church memo obtained SNAP chapter of Washington D.C. and Virginia, Catholic Church officials knew that Rev. Manuel Gallo Espinoza was in Maryland years after he fled the country in the wake of sexual abuse allegations.

In 2003, Rev. Espinoza allegedly had sexual contact with a 15-year-old boy at a New Jersey church. According to SNAP, two church officials urged Rev. Espinoza to go back to his native Ecuador before he got in trouble.

In 2005, SNAP says Rev. Espinoza returned to the United States and taught for three years at Beville Middle School in Woodbridge, Va. Then, from 2008 to February 2014, he taught Spanish at Parkdale High School in Riverdale, Md.

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.

Archdiocese of Milwaukee plan would pay more sexual abuse victims

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee would compensate more sexual abuse victims than it originally stated as part of a $21 million settlement announced earlier this month, under the reorganization plan it filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Members of the bankruptcy creditors committee raised concerns about the archdiocese’s announcement, saying it had excluded 72 survivors they believed were to be compensated when they agreed to the settlement in July. Thirty-three of those would now be eligible for compensation, according to the revised plan.

“We’re much closer to where we thought it was going to be,” said Charles Linneman, who chairs the creditors committee, which is made up of abuse victims but represents all creditors in the case.

“The archdiocese has worked with us in the last two weeks, and a lot more claims have moved to a higher class,” he said. “And there’s more to come that we are still working on.”

Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said in an email that the church is continuing to work with survivors’ attorneys to address questions regarding the treatment of their claims “and will continue to do so until the plan is confirmed.”

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

Milwaukee archdiocese to file bankruptcy amid sex abuse settlement

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Inquirer

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed its bankruptcy reorganization plan Monday, formalizing a recent settlement deal that will divvy up $21 million among more than 300 victims of clergy sex abuse.

The archdiocese submitted the bankruptcy reorganization plan Monday night, archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski said.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011 to address its sex abuse lawsuit liabilities. The bankruptcy plan is scheduled for review in November, and church officials are “hopeful this is approved by the judge,” Topczewski said.

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

Former Tulsa pastor sentenced to life in prison for sexual abuse charges

OKLAHOMA
KJRH

TULSA – A former Tulsa pastor accused of sexually abusing and impregnating a minor was sentenced Monday.

Documents show that Gregory Ivan Hawkins will serve seven concurrent life sentences for allegedly impregnating a teen, under the age of 18, in 2013.

Hawkins was the former pastor of Zion Plaza Church in north Tulsa and also owned Zion Childcare and Learning Center.

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.

Former pastor enters guilty plea in molestation case

INDIANA
WTHI

WHITE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) — A former pastor accused of child molestation admitted his guilt in a White County courtroom Monday.

James Crawn, 46, is a former pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Idaville. He was arrested in late April and charged with two counts of child molesting, as well as child seduction and sexual misconduct with a minor.

According to court documents, Crawn is accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy during counseling services arranged by the boy’s mother. The alleged molestation took place in 2006 while Crawn was a pastor at a Monticello church.

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

Ex-pastor, school official faces life in prison for teen sex charge

FLORIDA
Sun Sentinel

By Paula McMahon
Sun Sentinel

Former church youth pastor, charter school leader and unofficial foster parent Jeffery London faces a maximum of life in federal prison when he is sentenced today for using a cellphone to lure an underage boy into sexual activity with him.

But London’s defense says he should get a maximum punishment of 15 years for the lone sex crime he has been convicted of committing.

London, 51, was acquitted of 27 state child sex abuse charges after a jury trial in state court in Broward in April 2014.

But in June, another jury found him guilty of persuading, inducing, enticing and coercing a 16-year old boy to engage in sexual activity after a separate trial in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

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.

Abuse royal commission…

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Abuse royal commission: Ballarat bishop Ronald Mulkearns’ cancer

TESSA AKERMAN
THE AUSTRALIANAUGUST 25, 2015

The man who is key to answering the question of why the Diocese of Ballarat was the site of extensive sexual abuse by Catholic ­clergy may not give evidence to the royal commission after being diagnosed with cancer.

The Ballarat Diocese told The Australian yesterday that Bishop Ronald Mulkearns underwent surgery last week and his prognosis was uncertain.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard evidence the former bishop knew of Gerald Ridsdale’s offending and moved him from parish to parish when complaints were made. Ridsdale was Australia’s worst pedophile priest and abused scores — and possibly hundreds — of children in Victoria and NSW.

Bishop Mulkearns avoided the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse in institutions, citing ill health and memory loss after a stroke in 1998.

Broken Rites’ Wayne Chamley said the seriousness of Bishop Mulkearns’s condition was unknown and hopefully he would be stabilised by the time the second public hearings into Ballarat began in November.

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.

Two Survivors of Sexual Abuse by Father Donald Rieder …

MINNESOTA
Legal Examiner

Two Survivors of Sexual Abuse by Father Donald Rieder Filing Lawsuits against Diocese of St. Cloud

Posted by Mike Bryant
August 24, 2015

In 2003 Rieder Pled Guilty to Abusing a Young Girl in the 1990s, and Admitted to Abusing Others in his 40 Year Career as a Catholic Priest

One Survivor Whose Case was Settled Will Speak Publicly About Her Sexual
Abuse by Rieder at Paynesville Church in the 1970s

WHAT: At a press conference tomorrow in St. Cloud, attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant will:

• Announce the filing of two lawsuits on behalf of women abused as minors, identified as Does 65 and 67, naming the Diocese of St. Cloud and two individual parishes as defendants. The women were sexually abused by Rieder at St. James in Randall, Minn., and at St. Anne’s in Kimball, Minn., in the 1960s when they were ages 11-15. They are able to bring these lawsuits as a result of Minnesota’s Child Victims Act, which gives child abuse victims until May 25, 2016, to file civil lawsuits.
• Introduce another courageous survivor, who will speak publicly about her own abuse by Rieder, giving her name and the details of the case she settled with Diocese.
• Discuss the lawsuits, which name St. James and St. Anne’s, and the Diocese as defendants, and allege that Rieder’s abuse of Plaintiffs resulted from the Diocese’s and churches’ negligence and concealment of information about the danger of sexual abuse by Rieder and others in the Catholic Church. By refusing to publicly release information on abusers, the Diocese continues to put children at risk. The survivors and attorneys will urge the Diocese and Bishop to come clean and release the files of all offenders. The lawsuit seeks an order requiring the Diocese to release this information to help keep children safe.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 25, 2015 at 1:00 PM CDT

WHERE: Stearns County Courthouse
725 Courthouse Square
St. Cloud, MN 56303

Contact Jeff Anderson: Office/651.227.9990 Cell/612.817.8665
Contact Mike Bryant: Office/320.259.5414 Cell/ 800-359-0061

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.

Diocese Of St. Cloud Facing 2 New Lawsuits Over Sexual Abuse Claims

MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Diocese of St. Cloud will soon be facing new legal charges over allegations of sexual abuse.

Two unidentified women say they were abused as minors in Randall, Minnesota by Father Donald Rieder, a 40-year priest with the church. They say it happened when they were ages 11 to 15 in the 1960s.

Attorneys say they’ll announce the filing of two lawsuits on behalf of the women at a press conference Tuesday in St. Cloud. The lawsuits name St. James and St. Anne’s as defendants, in addition to the Diocese.

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

Silence in the Catholic church may be its weapon of self destruction

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Kristina Keneally

In a day of remarkable evidence before the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, Bishop Geoffrey Robinson offered damning assessments of the most senior Catholic clerics on the planet. Pope John Paul II “handled the abuse poorly”. Cardinal George Pell was a “most ineffectual bishop” and “the majority of the priests wished he’d get transferred somewhere else.” Even Pope Francis is not providing “real leadership”.

But his most chilling and telling statement about the Catholic church was the one he made about the church hierarchy’s response to revelations about child sexual abuse: “What we got was silence, so bishops were loyal to the silence.”

Robinson’s statement is simple, but it speaks of the extent to which the church hierarchy exercises control – and enforces silence – through a combination of rigid orthodoxy, secretive practices, intimidation, and threat of exclusion or excommunication. Even many Catholics may not be aware of the how the church leadership manages the institution, as most of us in the pews interact only with our local parish priest.

For nearly 25 years I have been engaged with what can be broadly termed “the progressive movement” in the Catholic church: theologians and activist groups agitating to modernise the institution and break open the undemocratic, celibate male stranglehold on power in the church.

I have known many priests over the years who privately cheer the progressives on, but publicly stay silent. These priests walk a fine and dangerous line, fearful sometimes that one comment in a homily will cause a parishioner to report them to the bishop and invite a world of pain. I’ve known of priests and theologians who faced a fate similar to outspoken Toowoomba bishop Bill Morris: forced out after a “sham process instituted in Rome to get rid of (him) at any cost, and regardless of any particular charges.”

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

Roman Catholic cardinal arrested for DUI on the Big Island

HAWAII
Hawaii News Now

KAILUA-KONA, HAWAII (HawaiiNewsNow) –
A retired Roman Catholic cardinal has been arrested on the Big Island for driving under the influence on Thursday.

Police say The Most Eminent Cardinal William Levada was weaving in and out of traffic when they pulled him over late Thursday night on Hina Lani street in Kailua-Kona.

Levada was arrested for DUI and released after posting $500 bail.

The 79-year-old, from California, was the highest ranking American Cardinal under Pope Benedict the 16th, and retired in 2012.

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.

Catholic Cardinal’s Hawaii Getaway Ends In DUI Arrest

HAWAII
Huffington Post

Chris D’Angelo
Associate Editor, HuffPost Hawaii
Posted: 08/24/2015

One of the Roman Catholic Church’s most senior clergymen was arrested last week for driving under the influence during a trip to Hawaii.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported Monday that 79-year-old Cardinal William Joseph Levada, of Menlo Park, California, was stopped at about midnight Thursday in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island after a patrol car saw him swerve.

Levada, formerly the highest ranking American official in the Vatican, was charged with driving under the influence and was released from police custody after posting $500 bail.

In a statement emailed to The Huffington Post by a spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Levada said, “I regret my error in judgment. I intend to continue fully cooperating with the authorities.”

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.

Priest formerly in Yakima ordered to pay $5 million in abuse case

WASHINGTON
The Spokesman-Review

Kip Hill The Spokesman-Review

A federal judge in Spokane awarded an Oregon man $5 million in damages stemming from sexual abuse by a Catholic priest in Yakima more than 30 years ago.

The priest, Ernest Dale Calhoun, did not contest the allegations made by the man, who was identified only by his initials in court documents. The case was filed with the U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington in August 2014.

Both the Corporation of the Catholic Bishop of Yakima and the Beaumont Diocese in Texas where Calhoun served before arriving in Yakima in 1977 had previously been dismissed from the case. The Beaumont Diocese settled with the man for an undisclosed amount of money, and the Yakima diocese paid $75,000 to settle the case, according to local news accounts.

The victim’s attorney, Vito de la Cruz, of Yakima, called the award “the largest civil judgment entered against an individual priest in Central and Eastern Washington.”

“The judgment entered by Court is significant because of the amount, but more importantly, because it holds Calhoun accountable for decades of emotional trauma he inflicted on our client,” de la Cruz said in a statement.

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

August 24, 2015

Agrupación laica contra obispo de Osorno espera reunirse con víctima de Karadima, Juan Carlos Cruz

CHILE
Bio Bio

[An association of lay people who oppose appointment of Juan Barros as bishop of Osorno are continuing their efforts. They have met with Juan Carlos Cruz, who was abused by former priest Fernando Karadima, and are speaking of a possible trip to Rome to explain their views to Pope Francis.]

La Agrupación de Laicos de Osorno continúa con su misión de que el obispo Juan Barros deje el cargo, a quien acusan de estar vinculado al sacerdote Fernando Karadima. Dentro de su agenda tienen contemplada la visita de Juan Carlos Cruz, víctima de abusos del ex párroco de El Bosque, y además un posible viaje a Roma, de modo de explicar al Papa Francisco el clima de división en el mundo católico osornino.

Mario Vargas, vocero del movimiento, detalló que esperan la visita de Juan Carlos Cruz, denunciante del caso Karadima, extendiendo la invitación al propio Juan Barros para que exponga su verdad junto a Cruz.

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.

Record jugment issued against priest who served Yakima diocese

WASHINGTON
Yakima Herald-Republic

By Jane Gargas
jgargas@yakimaherald.com

SPOKANE, Wash. — A federal district court judge in Spokane has issued a $5 million judgment against a priest who served in the Catholic Diocese of Yakima in the 1970s and ‘80s.

The civil lawsuit, brought by a man known as C.S. in court documents, alleged that the Rev. Dale Calhoun sexually abused him beginning in 1977 when he was 12 and ending when he was 17.

The settlement is the largest civil judgment against an individual priest in Central and Eastern Washington, according to attorneys Bryan Smith and Vito de la Cruz of Tamaki Law.

The Catholic Diocese of Beaumont, Texas, where Calhoun was ordained, was removed from the lawsuit after agreeing to settle with C.S. for between $20,000 and $25,000.

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

Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese preps bankruptcy filing that includes money to abuse victims

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Fox News

Published August 24, 2015
Associated Press

MILWAUKEE – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee expects to file its bankruptcy reorganization plan Monday, formalizing a recent settlement deal that will divvy up $21 million among more than 300 victims of clergy sex abuse.

Church lawyers have until midnight to submit the documents and were “dotting the I’s” on various forms throughout the day, archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski said.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2011 to address its sex abuse lawsuit liabilities. The bankruptcy plan is scheduled for review in November, and church officials are “hopeful this is approved by the judge,” Topczewski said.

“We’re confident she will appreciate the work that’s been done getting to this point,” he added.

The creditors’ committee, which comprises five abuse victims, is expected to endorse the deal, committee chairman Charles Linneman said.

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

Creepy Priest Going To Jail For Groping A Sleeping Woman On A Plane

CALIFORNIA
LAist

BY JULIET BENNETT RYLAH IN NEWS ON AUG 24, 2015

A Catholic priest who molested a woman on a flight from Philadelphia to LAX has been sentenced to go to jail. Prosecutors say the priest interpreted the woman he groped as “coy” even though she was actually asleep.

Marcelo De Jesumaria, a 46-year-old Catholic priest originally from Lake Arrowhead, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell after being found guilty in May of abusive sexual contact, according to a release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office. His one-year sentence is to be split between six months in jail, then six months of house arrest. De Jesumaria will also have to register as a sex offender, and was let go from his position as clergy in November. The maximum sentence for De Jesumaria’s conviction was two years.

The incident happened on August 17, 2014 on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. De Jesumaria was not seated next to the victim at first, but eventually asked a flight attendant if he could switch seats in order to sit next to his ‘wife.’ De Jesumaria moved to sit in a middle seat between a man, who was seated next to the window, and the victim, whom De Jesumaria had claimed was his wife.

The victim said she fell asleep during the flight, but woke up when De Jesumaria touched her high on her left leg, close to her crotch area. She said De Jesumaria then put his arm around her and grabbed her breast. She said he held her tightly for a while, but eventually loosened his grip and she got up. She went to the bathroom, then used a call button to get a flight attendant’s attention and reported De Jesumaria’s behavior.

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.

SoCal Priest Sentenced to Prison for Sexually Assaulting Woman Aboard Plane

CALIFORNIA
NBC Los Angeles

By Joel Grover and Matthew Glasser

A Southern California Catholic priest was sentenced to federal prison Monday for sexually assaulting a female passenger aboard a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles.

Father Marcelo De Jesumaria, 46, formerly of Lake Arrowhead, was sentenced in federal court to six months in prison and six months of home detention for the crime of “abusive sexual contact” on the August 2014 flight. He was convicted in May of this year.

In February 2014, the NBC4 I-Team revealed that there had been a spike in the number of sexual assaults aboard airplanes in the last year. Most of the crimes took place on overnight flights while passengers were asleep.

In this recent case, the US Attorney’s Office said Father De Jesumaria touched a woman’s breast, inner thigh, and groin on the red-eye flight to LA.

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.

Lake Arrowhead priest ordered to register as sex offender

CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times

A Lake Arrowhead priest will register as a sex offender and spend a year in custody after a federal jury sentenced him Monday for touching a woman’s breast and inner thigh on a cross-country airplane trip.

Marcelo De Jesumaria, 46, a Catholic priest formerly of Lake Arrowhead and who now lives in the High Desert community of Valyermo, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

De Jesumaria was on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on Aug. 17, 2014, when he was able to move to the last row of the plane after asking a flight attendant if he could “sit next to his wife,” according to a news release. After moving to a seat between a man and the woman, she awoke sleeping much of the flight to feel De Jesumaria’s hand on top her left leg, near her groin. She then felt him wrap his arm around her body and grab her breast, DOJ officials said in a news release Monday.

When he relaxed his tight grip on the woman, she got up and went to the plane’s bathroom, official said. She used a call button to summon a flight attendant and reported that De Jesumaria had been touching her inappropriately, according to the DOJ.

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.

Priest gets six months in prison for groping woman on plane

CALIFORNIA
New York Post

Reuters

A Catholic priest convicted of groping a woman on a U.S. airline flight was sentenced to six months in federal prison on Monday after the victim testified that she was still traumatized by the ordeal, prosecutors said.

Marcelo De Jesumaria, 46, was also sentenced to six months of home confinement by a federal judge who ordered him to register as a sex offender, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

Prosecutors say that the incident took place on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on Aug. 17, 2014 when De Jesumaria moved from his assigned seat to the last row of the aircraft, telling a flight attendant he wanted to “sit next to his wife.”

The victim, who had been sleeping, told authorities that she awoke to find De Jesumaria touching the top of her leg and then wrap his arm around her body to grab her breast.

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

California Priest Gets Prison in Sexual Abuse During Flight

CALIFORNIA
ABC News

LOS ANGELES — Aug 24, 2015

By AMANDA LEE MYERS Associated Press

A California-based Catholic priest was sentenced Monday to six months in prison followed by six months of home confinement for groping a sleeping woman seated next to him on an airliner.

Marcelo de Jesumaria, 46, was sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles. A jury found him guilty in May of abusive sexual contact.

Jesumaria touched a sleeping woman’s buttocks, breast and groin during a nighttime flight last August from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, according to prosecutors.

The woman, a model, says she woke up as Jesumaria was touching her and reported the abuse to flight attendants and later an FBI agent. Jesumaria told the agent that he enjoys “cozy flights” with women and purposefully changed his seat to be next to the woman, but he initially denied touching her breast, according to prosecutors.

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 details: Priest took ‘child erotica’ photos of St. Margaret Mary students

KENTUCKY
WLKY

[with video]

By Jennifer Weigel

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —WLKY has obtained the arrest warrant in the case against Stephen Pohl.

(Editor’s note: At this time, we have chosen not to post the warrant because of the sensitive nature of the case and the fact that it involves dozens of local children.)

According to the warrant and the detective in charge of the case, photos taken by Pohl, a former priest at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church constituted “child erotica.”

Louisville Metro Police Crimes Against Children Detective Dan Jackman described child erotica as images, materials or items that are sexually arousing to certain individuals, but do not rise to the level of child pornography.

Pohl was arrested Friday evening in Florida. He resigned Thursday from his position at St. Margaret Mary.

According to the arrest warrant, Pohl took a group photo of St. Margaret Mary students during a meeting of an after-school club, but then pulled a 10-year-old boy to the side to take individual pictures. …

The student’s mother asked Pohl via email the next day to send her the photos. Pohl replied by sending the group picture and the first picture of the boy. The mother asked Pohl to send the other photos, but received no response. Soon after, the boy’s mother sent another email to Pohl, asking for the other photos of her son, and received no response. The boy’s father left a voicemail for Pohl asking to meet with him about the photos, according to the warrant.

Pohl called the mother to say he was out shopping and that the pictures had been deleted. Moments later, the parents saw Pohl walk into the store in which they were shopping.

The parents saw that Pohl had his cellphone in his front pocket and approached him.

The student’s father told the detective that Pohl was “shaking like a leaf” as he handed over the phone. The student’s father found the photos of his son and several photos of other children. He recognized one boy as a St. Margaret Mary student posed in a similar manner to his son, according to the warrant.

The father told Pohl that the types of pictures on his phone were highly inappropriate, but Pohl said the boys chose their poses to show off their muscles.

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.

Victims applaud minister’s sentence but urge more action

OKLAHOMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Aug. 24

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

We’re grateful that Rev. Gregory Ivan Hawkins has gotten a tough sentence. Now, however, others at Zion Plaza Church and Zion Child Care& Learning Center must launch an aggressive outreach campaign to find and help others who are in pain because of Rev. Hawkins’ crimes.

[Tulsa World]

Too often, when law enforcement pursues a child molesting cleric, his supervisors, colleagues and church members stay silent. That’s wrong. They have a moral and civic duty to aggressively seek out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered the minister’s crimes. They must urge these victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to step forward, get help, expose wrongdoing, protect others and start healing.

Only a fool would believe that this brave 15 year old girl is Rev. Hawkins’ first and only victim. And only timid, self-serving church members and staff would sit passively by and let others who were hurt by Rev. Hawkins suffer in shame, isolation, confusion and despair.

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.

Multi-Million Dollar Award Issued in Yakima Sexual Abuse Case

WASHINGTON
KAPP

By Kevin Uretsky. Published Monday, August 24th, 2015

A federal judge issued a $5 million civil judgment against former Yakima priest Father Dale Calhoun following a lawsuit filed by a man Calhoun sexually abused between the ages of 12 and 17. The Plaintiff filed his lawsuit under the pseudonym “C.S.” to protect his privacy.

According to lawyers representing “C.S.”, Calhoun’s abuse of young boys in Yakima and Beaumont has been the subject of several lawsuits over the years, including one case that was appealed to the Washington Supreme Court in 1998. That case, C.J.C. v. Corporation of the Catholic Bishop of Yakima, confirmed the right of victims of childhood sexual abuse to bring claims against priests and the Churches that hire them.

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

Court rules former Yakima priest to pay $5 million in sexual abuse case

WASHINGTON
KIMA

BBOLD ADVERTISING NEWS RELEASE — On Thursday, August 20, 2015, the Honorable Rosanna Malouf Petersen (Chief Judge of the Federal District Court, Eastern District of Washington) issued a civil judgment against Father Dale Calhoun in the amount of $5 million in a lawsuit filed by a man Calhoun sexually abused between the ages of 12 and 17. The Plaintiff filed his lawsuit under the pseudonym “C.S.” to protect his privacy.

Fr. Calhoun, is still incardinated as a priest in the Diocese of Yakima. This means that, despite multiple claims against him, Calhoun remains a priest enjoying the protections of the Catholic Church. Calhoun, who currently lives in the Beaumont, Texas area, sexually abused C.S. when C.S. was a teenaged boy. That Fr. Calhoun remains incardinated as a priest continues a disturbing pattern of conduct by the Bishops of Beaumont and Yakima especially in light of the early warnings about him.

When Calhoun was still in seminary, underclassmen complained about Calhoun asking them to discuss sexual fantasies and masturbation as part of a bogus “study” into human sexuality. Calhoun was sent for evaluations. A psychiatrist warned superiors against ordaining him as a priest. The Bishop of Beaumont ignored the warnings and ordained Calhoun as a priest.

Fr. Calhoun’s abuse of young boys in Yakima and Beaumont has been the subject of several lawsuits over the years, including one case that was appealed to the Washington Supreme Court in 1998. That case, C.J.C. v. Corporation of the Catholic Bishop of Yakima, confirmed the right of victims of childhood sexual abuse to bring claims against priests and the Churches that hire and place them in the community. Many of the victims of clergy abuse, including C.S., suffer life-long trauma as a result of the sexual abuse by priests including depression, anger and violence issues, alcohol and drug dependency, alienation from their faith, and relationship deficits. Often it takes years of therapy for sexual abuse victims to address their trauma.

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The St. Paul’s rape case shows schools are still in denial about sexual assault

UNITED STATES
Quartz

WRITTEN BY
Katherine Tarbox

August 23, 2015

As the case for accused rapist Owen Labrie began in New Hampshire on Aug. 18, it put a spotlight on St. Paul’s School. At the heart of the matter is the “senior salute,” described by the media as a competition among upperclassmen at the storied, elite boarding school to take the virginity of new female students. This has been described as a decades-old tradition dating back to the William Randolph Hearst days, but it’s actually a new development for life at St. Paul’s.

The “senior salute” was not part of the culture when I attended St. Paul’s from 1997 to 2000, nor was it around for students who graduated just five years ago. The conditions that enabled this deplorable lie to take hold are not unique to one boarding school, but are part of a centuries-old custom that the well-educated and privileged adhere to. They don’t discuss sexual crimes, therefore, consequences of such behavior are misunderstood or ignored. How else can we explain how male students felt so justified, perhaps even entitled, to tally the number of virginities they can claim?

Last year, a friend of mine toured the University of Pennsylvania when a fraternity came out of their house naked, and circled the group, chanting, “We want your daughters.” This is the mindset that allowed the young men of St. Paul’s to develop the “senior salute.” When my friend called the school to report the incident, she says she was essentially hung up on by the administration.

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New England prep school rape defendant in competition: friend

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Reuters

CONCORD, N.H. | BY TED SIEFER

A former student at an elite New Hampshire prep school, who is on trial for allegedly raping a younger student last year, told a friend he was in competition to “score” with the most girls before graduation, the friend testified on Monday.

Prosecutors have said Owen Labrie, now 19, took a 15-year-old girl to the roof of a campus building before sexually assaulting her in a machine room at St. Paul’s School.

Central to the trial has been an alleged, long-standing tradition among students at the nearly 160-year-old school known as “senior salute”: an invitation from graduating students to younger students to get together, often for sexual purposes. St. Paul’s has said any such allegations do not reflect the school culture.

The friend testified that he had encouraged the girl to accept Labrie’s invitation for a “senior salute” after Labrie said he was competing with another student to have sexual encounters with as many girls as possible before graduation.

“I said he’s a nice guy. I just kind of played it down, I guess. It’s just a senior salute,” said the student, who was not named. The judge in the case has ordered the identities of all minors who testify to be kept confidential.

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St Paul’s prep school trial: accused rapist admitted to sex, say former students

NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Guardian (UK)

JM Lawrence in Concord, New Hampshire

Monday 24 August 2015

Boys at an elite New Hampshire prep school crowded into a senior’s room asking if rumors were true Owen Labrie had sex with a freshman girl during an unofficial school tradition known as “Senior Salute”, his friend testified in court Monday.

Labrie, 19, who is accused of raping the underage girl, told the students “No” while nodding yes and smirking, one of his friends at the St Paul’s School testified.

Now in its second week, the trial held in a packed, small courtroom has put a spotlight on St Paul’s, where annual tuition exceeds $50,000 and alumni include Secretary of State John Kerry.

The witness, a stocky hockey player who wore a suit coat and tie and will be a junior this year, told jurors Labrie later told him he had sex with the girl.

“I asked him in a pretty serious manner if he had sex with her, and he told me he did,” said the boy, who also testified he coaxed the girl to meet Labrie after she initially declined.

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Friends of rape-trial defendant explain ‘slaying,’ ‘Senior Salute’

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston.com

BY ALLISON MANNING @ALLYMANNING

Three young men took the stand in their friend’s rape trial today, describing in sometimes graphic language the traditions of “scoring” and the “Senior Salute” at their New Hampshire prep school.

Prosecutors are trying to prove that Owen Labrie, a now-19-year-old graduate of the prestigious St. Paul’s School, targeted a younger classmate months before she agreed to meet up with him as part of the longstanding Senior Salute tradition. The two went to a secluded room on campus on May 30, 2014, where she says she was raped. He says it was consensual.

Interspersed with questions about Labrie were inquires about the Senior Salute tradition. Prosecutors asked: What exactly was it?

“It was a term that was used to explain … the feeling of a last-chance-dance kind of atmosphere in the last spring term of every year,” said Malcolm Salovaara, a 2013 graduate who now goes to Dartmouth College.

Though he had graduated a year before, Salovaara was in a Facebook group with Labrie and another recent grad called “Slayers Anonymous.” He said it was just a way to keep in touch, and wasn’t any kind of competition.

Prosecutor Catherine J. Ruffle asked what “slaying” was. Salovaara said it was a synonym for scoring or hooking up.

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Tulsa pastor sentenced to seven life sentences for sexually abusing girl

OKLAHOMA
Tulsa World

By ARIANNA PICKARD World Staff Writer

A Tulsa minister was sentenced Monday to seven concurrent life terms in prison for sexually abusing and impregnating a 15-year-old girl.

Gregory Ivan Hawkins, 56, was sentenced in Tulsa County District Court by Judge James Caputo.

Hawkins was charged with seven counts of child sex abuse in Tulsa County in 2013 and pleaded guilty to two of the counts and no contest to the others on June 15.

A 15-year-old girl told Tulsa police that Hawkins had begun abusing her in 2012 and was the father of her then-unborn child.

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FBI Report: Priest Took “Weird” Photos Of Schoolboys

KENTUCKY
Lex 18

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) FBI officials say that the Louisville priest arrested for child porn charges took some very strange photos of students at his parish school.

Father Stephen Pohl was arrested Friday night in Florida, just hours after he resigned from his position at St. Margaret Mary, and days after he was placed on leave pending the investigation, WAVE 3 News reports.

It was in the nine page police report that two of the students at the school detailed an interaction with Father Pohl.

One of the boys said he was part of a group photo taken outside the church. The report goes on to state that as the students were walking back inside, Pohl asked the boy if he could take photos of him individually, which the boy allowed. The boy told investigators that he told Pohl “this is weird.”

The boy reported the incident to his mother, who called Pohl requesting to see the photos.

Pohl sent the group photo and one of the individual photos, but not all of them, the documents claim. The mother emailed twice more and even called Pohl, requesting to see all of the photos. The boy’s parents ran into Pohl the next day out shopping and asked to see his cell phone.

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Criminal complaint details priest allegations

KENTUCKY
The Courier-Journal

Matthew Glowicki, @MattGlo August 24, 2015

Ex-pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish Stephen Pohl now faces federal charges of accessing child pornography.

Pohl, 57, was charged Monday and is due to appear for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Porcelli, at 2:00 p.m., in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida.

According to a criminal complaint, Pohl accessed child pornography in 2015 on a laptop and desktop computer in the office and rectory of St. Margaret Mary Parish, 7813 Shelbyville Road.

Those images were of naked young boys ranging in age from infancy to mid-teens, according to the complaint.

The images were never downloaded to the computer, the complaint notes, but were viewed online by Pohl and detected through forensic analysis of the computer hard drives.

More than 150 photos depicting students at St. Margaret Mary were also found, though none of those photos constitute child porn, the complaint states.

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Australia–Victims praise bishop for “rare honesty”

AUSTRALIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Aug. 24

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

Finally, a Catholic bishop tells the truth: Pope Francis isn’t showing real leadership on abuse and Cardinal George Pell took action on abuse only because a secular official threatened him.

Retired Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson made this brave observation and this disappointing disclosure in testimony to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

[Sydney Morning Herald]

Francis is masterful at powerful gestures. But gestures aren’t reform. Gestures aren’t leadership. Gestures don’t protect kids.

We hope that Catholics, citizens and secular officials start taking a hard look at Francis’ real track record – past and current – on child sex crimes and cover ups. We hope they stop saying “Well, at least he’s doing something” and start asking “Is anything he’s doing effective in any real way?”

In our view, the answer is a distressing but resounding NO.

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Missbrauch: Vorwürfe gegen Papst Johannes Paul II

AUSTRALIEN
religion.orf@at

Ein australischer Bischof hat im Zusammenhang mit den Skandalen um den Missbrauch Minderjähriger in der katholischen Kirche Vorwürfe gegen den 2005 gestorbenen Papst Johannes Paul II. erhoben.

Den Umgang mit dem Thema Missbrauch durch Johannes Paul II. (1978-2005) nannte Bischof Geoffrey Robinson (78) am Montag nach Medienberichten vor einer staatlichen Untersuchungskommission in Sydney „armselig“. Statt die Bischöfe zu Solidarität mit den Opfern zu verpflichten, habe er ein „Schweigen“ gefördert. Selbst Papst Franziskus zeige in dieser Sache nicht die nötige Führungsstärke. Allerdings gebe es einflussreiche Personen, die sich Reformvorhaben des derzeitigen Kirchenoberhaupts „mit Zähnen und Klauen“ widersetzten.

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Innerkirchliche Kritik an Umgang mit Missbrauch

AUSTRALIEN
Katholisch

Sydney – 24.08.2015

Der australische Kardinal George Pell, bis 2014 Erzbischof von Sydney, ist von einem seiner früheren Weihbischöfe für den Umgang mit dem Missbrauchsskandal kritisiert worden. Aus Profilierungsdrang habe Pell ein eigenes Aufklärungsprogramm für sein Bistum gestartet und so eine gemeinsame Aktion der australischen Bischöfe unterlaufen, sagte der 78-jährige emeritierte Weihbischof Geoffrey Robinson vor einem staatlichen Untersuchungsausschuss am Montag in Sydney.

“Er hat unsere Einheit zerstört”, zitierten australische Medien Robinson. Dieser selbst hatte seit 1994 mit anderen Bischöfen an dem Programm “Towards Healing” für eine Aufklärung von Kindesmissbrauch durch Kirchenmitarbeiter gearbeitet. 1996 rief Pell, damals gerade zum Erzbischof von Melbourne ernannt, als eigene Initiative “Melbourne Response” ins Leben. Robinson warf Pell vor, er habe sich als führende Gestalt in der Missbrauchsaufklärung etablieren wollen und zugleich zu hohe Hürden für eine Kontaktaufnahme durch Opfer aufgestellt.

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Australischer Bischof beklagt Schweigen von Johannes Paul II

AUSTRALIEN
Zeit

Der emeritierte Bischof Geoffrey Robinson (78) hat schwere Vorwürfe gegen die katholische Kirche erhoben. Vor einer Untersuchungskommission in Sydney, die den Missbrauch Minderjähriger in der Kirche aufklären soll, äußerte er sich über das Verhalten Papst Johannes Pauls II.: “Von ihm kam dazu nur Schweigen, und die Bischöfe zeigten ihre Loyalität, indem sie auch schwiegen.”

Die australischen Bischöfe seien sich des Problems seit Mitte der achtziger Jahre bewusst gewesen, berichtet die australische Zeitung The Sydney Morning Herold. Auch der ranghöchste Vertreter der katholischen Kirche in Australien, Kardinal George Pell, habe versagt. Pell hat oft bestritten, dass Missbrauch in der Kirche weit verbreitet war. Heute ist er im Vatikan für die Finanzen zuständig.

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Seriensextäter bei den Schulbrüdern

OSTERREICH
Kurier

Den meisten Eindruck auf die Richterin hat die Schilderung eines Zeugen gemacht, dessen körperliche Nachwirkungen der in seiner Kindheit widerfahrenen sexuellen Misshandlungen im Verhandlungsaaal ganz offensichtlich wurden: Zitternd und mit Zähneklappern erinnerte sich der Mann an die Erlebnisse bei den Schulbrüdern in Wien-Strebersdorf.

„Es war dem Zeugen anzusehen und anzumerken, welche Überwindung es ihn kostete, über die Ereignisse zu sprechen“, schreibt Richterin Daniela Fitz im (nicht rechtskräftigen) Urteil.

Abgewiesen

Mit diesem Spruch des Landesgerichts für Zivilrechtssachen wurde das Begehren des Ordens der Schulbrüder auf Unterlassung von Behauptungen über jahrzehntelange sexuellen Missbrauch in den Einrichtungen des Ordens abgewiesen.

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US Haredi Rabbis Join Forces to Tackle Child Abuse

UNITED STATES
Arutz Sheva

Over one hundred prominent haredi rabbis and Jewish educators from across the United States have signed a landmark public pronouncement, urging the public to help combat the scourge of sexual abuse.

The kol koreh (public pronouncement) has already garnered 108 signatures, affirming the obligation under Jewish law to immediately report and notify secular law enforcement when a reasonable suspicion of child abuse exists.

While there is no indication of higher levels of abuse within the haredi Jewish community than among the wider public, victims rights activists and victims of abuse themselves have long complained that too often cases are not dealt with properly, due in part to some community leaders preferring to deal with abuse themselves instead of reporting it to police.

In some cases, abusers have even been encouraged to leave the country on a self-imposed “exile,” thus evading police while remaining free to carry out their crimes elsewhere.

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Catholic priest faces sentencing for molesting sleeping airline passenger

CALIFORNIA
My News LA

A Catholic priest who sexually assaulted a sleeping woman aboard a cross-country flight to Los Angeles faces up to two years in federal prison when he is sentenced Monday.

Marcelo De Jesumaria, who previously served in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino, was convicted in May of abusive sexual contact on the US Airways flight from Philadelphia last summer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to court papers, a female passenger, identified only as “BD,” woke up during the August 2014 flight to find the priest’s “hands on her breast, groin, and buttocks.”

De Jesumaria was removed from the ministry last November when the allegations against him surfaced.

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OR–Please help us protect the vulnerable

OREGON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

SNAP volunteers, including Portland SNAP leader Jeannie Cratty, handed out this flier in Sherwood on Sunday, at the parish where Fr. Ysrael Bien allegedly installed a hidden bathroom camera. Fr. Bien has reportedly fled to the Philippines.

We are members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org). Our mission is to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded and expose the truth to deter future cover ups of sex crimes and misdeeds by clergy of any faith group.

We apologize if we seem intrusive. But we’re here because we fear that Fr. Ysrael Bien

–may hurt innocent kids or vulnerable adults in the Philippines or
–may have hurt innocent kids or vulnerable adults in Oregon.

We’d like your help in safeguarding others. We respectfully ask that you:

–seek out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered misdeeds or crimes by Fr. Bien,
–track down former church members and parish staff, and ask them about Fr. Bien, and
–urge anyone with information or suspicions (however small, old or seemingly insignificant) to call law enforcement.

(If more victims, witnesses or whistleblowers step forward, Fr. Bien may be charged with more crimes which will increase the chances that he’ll be extradited, convicted and imprisoned, making everyone safer and deterring similar crimes and cover ups in the future.)

We also hope you will ask Archbishop Sample to

–write his colleagues in the Philippines begging them to keep Fr. Bien away from kids and out of parishes
–aggressively urge anyone in Oregon who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes or cover ups by Fr. Bien to contact law enforcement, and
–pledge to SNAP also contends that Sample should have yank the passport of the next priest who is accused or suspected of sexual misconduct, and
–disclose, to help law enforcement and reassure local Catholics, all church facilities where Fr. Bien spent time.

Thanks for reading this flier. We hope you’ll pass it on to others who care about safety and healing.

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RESEARCH SUGGESTS FIVE WOMEN BURIED AT TUAM MOTHER AND BABY HOME

IRELAND
Kildare Nationalist

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015

New research suggests five women may have been buried in an unmarked mass grave, along with hundreds of children at the Tuam Mother and Baby home in County Galway.

Historian Catherine Corless, who uncovered evidence that nearly 800 children were buried on the grounds of the home, now believes that the five women are buried with them.

A report in today’s Irish Mail on Sunday says nine unmarried mothers died during their time at the home, but the historian has only been able to find burial certificates for four of them.

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How five unmarried mothers were buried in an unmarked mass grave …

IRELAND
The Irish Mail on Sunday

How five unmarried mothers were buried in an unmarked mass grave alongside 796 babies who went missing at Irish nuns’ Mother and Baby home of horrors

By Alison O’reilly For The Irish Mail On Sunday

The bodies of five women who died at a home for unmarried mothers are believed to be buried in an unmarked mass grave with nearly 800 missing children, according to new research.

The single mothers, aged between 24 and 42, were inmates in the controversial Tuam institution run by the Bon Secours nuns in County Galway, Ireland, from 1925 to 1961.

The home made headlines around the world in June 2014 when the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed that no burial records existed for 796 children who died there – and prompted the establishment of a Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby homes.

Reports show that the children suffered malnutrition and neglect, which caused the deaths of many, while others died of measles, convulsions, TB, gastroenteritis and pneumonia.

Evidence gathered by local historian Catherine Corless strongly suggests the babies were buried in a mass grave behind the property.

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Scots sex inquiry expert vows to weed out paedophiles and slates authorities who blanked kids’ pleas

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

THE UK could be on the brink of one the most shocking child sex abuse exposés in history, according to Scotland’s most respected social work expert.

A five-year inquiry has been launched to uncover institutional paedophile activity and cover ups, and Professor Alexis Jay who is on the panel of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, has warned that the range of abuse is potentially enormous.

The investigation has been launched amid allegations of abuse rings in Westminster. Professor Jay said: “Regrettably, what I think we are seeing is the uncovering of a scale of abuse, across many institutions, which we have never anticipated.

“We don’t know yet exactly what we will find but it stretches back a long, long way.”

Scotland’s former chief social work adviser has previously issued damning indictments on the systematic failures which allowed for the abuse of at least 1400 children in Rotherham.

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Kol Koreh Addresses Child Abuse, Urges Reporting To Secular Authorities

UNITED STATES
The Jewish Press

By: Menachem Rephun
Published: August 23rd, 2015

One-hundred-and-seven rabbanim and dayanim have contributed their signatures to a kol koreh (public pronouncement) affirming the halachic obligation of all Jews to immediately report and notify secular law enforcement when they know of an instance of child abuse. The kol koreh is a historic watershed, due to its unprecedented, broad-based support from a large number of haredi rabbanim.

Some of the signers include Rabbi Nota Greenblatt, dayan, posek, and rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedola in Memphis; Dovid Goldwasser, rav of Bnei Yitzchok in Brooklyn; Rabbi Dov Aharon Brisman, rosh beis din of B’datz Philadephia; Rabbi Peretz Steinberg, co-chairman of Bais Din Agudath Yisroel in Kew Garden Hills; Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Toras Chaim; Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum, rav of Nachlas Yitzchok in Kew Gardens Hills; Rabbi Kalman Epstein, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Shaar HaTorah in Queens; and Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst, dayan of Agudas Israel of Illinois, who was heavily involved in putting the kol koreh together.

As its foundation, the kol koreh refers to the Torah’s statement in Leviticus 19:16, admonishing Jews to “not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed.” In the view of the kol koreh and the rabbanim who signed it, this “obligates every member of the community to do all in one’s power to prevent harm to others.” According to the document, “Every individual with firsthand knowledge or reasonable cause for suspicion of child abuse has a Torah obligation to promptly notify the proper civil authorities.”

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‘Some popes gave out the wrong message’, retired bishop tells sex abuse inquiry

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

August 24, 2015

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

A retired Catholic bishop has told a royal commission that the Vatican failed to show leadership on the issue of clerical sexual abuse and Cardinal George Pell had “destroyed” a unified Australian response to victims.

Geoffrey Robinson, former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Sydney and an architect of the church’s response to abuse claims, told a royal commission no one wanted to tackle the issue of clerical sexual assault.

In a day of testimony to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Bishop Robinson said sexual abuse had been covered up by the church and suspect priests were moved between parishes due to a failure of leadership within the church.

“The message the popes have been giving out have been very important and I think that some popes gave out the wrong message … and some archbishops too,” he said.
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The 78-year-old, who is undergoing chemotherapy for terminal cancer, told the royal commission he was shocked when he first heard allegations about Australian priests abusing children at a meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in the mid-1980s.

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Australian bishop faults Papal leadership on clerical abuse

AUSTRALIA
Scottish Catholic Observer

The retired auxiliary bishop of Sydney has called on Pope Francis to show more leadership when dealing with historical child abuse within the Catholic Church.

Bishop Emeritus Geoffrey Robinson (above) is giving evidence today before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney. He feels that the Vatican did not understand the scale of the problem and that St John Paul II ‘handled abuse poorly’ during his Papacy from 1978 to 2005.

The bishop told the commission of his ideal scenario where John Paul II had come to the microphone in St Peter’s Square in 1997 and told the crowd he had received reports of widespread sexual abuse of minors by priests and religious which had shocked him to the core.

“A real leadership like that from the Pope would have been marvellous, and from subsequent popes, now we still don’t have that kind of leadership, not even from Francis,” Bishop Robinson said. “It didn’t fit into his image of Church, and he couldn’t deal with it. Instead, what we got from him was silence. And so bishops were loyal to the silence.”

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Sherwood parishioners face heartache, disillusionment after hidden camera scandal

OREGON
The Oregonian

By Melissa Binder | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on August 23, 2015

It had taken years to get comfortable in the church.

Now this.

“I am sorry beyond words for the pain and the anguish that you have been suffering,” the archbishop said, scanning the silent crowd. “You need to hear that again: I am sorry.”

Heartache hung in the air. Peter Hainley watched the archbishop skeptically from the back row of pews, his wife and three sons by his side.

Hainley was abused by a priest at 12 years old, he said. Now his youngest son is 11 and the priest at St. Francis Catholic Church in Sherwood is wanted for allegedly placing a hidden camera in a church bathroom.

“I’m so disillusioned right now,” he said, shaking his head.

His wife, Leocadia Hainley, patted his chest. “It’s too much,” she said.

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Archbishop apologizes for priest accused in hidden-camera case: ‘I didn’t expect him to disobey’

OREGON
The Oregonian

By Emily E. Smith | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on August 23, 2015

The Rev. Alexander Sample, the archbishop of Portland, said Sunday he feels betrayed by a priest suspected of hiding a spy camera in a church bathroom and was too trusting in letting him live with a friend.

The priest left the country and returned to his home in the Philippines, avoiding arrest last week on charges of invasion of privacy, tampering with evidence and initiating a false report.

Apologizing to parishioners, Sample said he never anticipated 34-year-old Father Ysrael Bien’s deception and understands how they could feel deep hurt and confusion of their own.

“People should expect more from us,” he said.

The case began April 26, when a 15-year-old parishioner of St. Francis Catholic Church in Sherwood discovered the camera disguised as an electrical outlet affixed to a wall near a toilet at the church. He turned it over to Bien.

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Fla. cops jail Lou. priest on child porn

KENTUCKY
The Courier-Journal

[with video]

Jeff Watkins and Kirsten Clark, The Courier-Journal August 23, 2015

Louisville priest Stephen Pohl was still in a Florida jail this weekend after being arrested on a federal warrant for possession of child pornography Friday by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department.

The arrest, prompted by an alert from the Louisville FBI office, came only hours after Louisville archdiocese leaders held a news briefing in which they outlined results of an FBI investigation of the former pastor of St. Margaret Mary parish.

They said the investigation found child porn on Pohl’s computer and also found up to 200 digital photos of St. Margaret Mary schoolchildren. All of the students were clothed, but investigators deemed some of the photos inappropriate.

Pohl, 57, who had been pastor of the parish since 2008, was recently put on leave in connection with the investigation, and he informed the archdiocese Thursday that he was resigning as pastor of the church.

He was next found in Pinellas County near Tampa Bay, Fla., by county deputies. According to Channel 10 TV in Tampa Bay, the sheriff’s department had been alerted by the FBI that Pohl was in the area and was wanted on a federal warrant.

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Church did not want to know about abuse: bishop

AUSTRALIA
Central Telegraph

A FORMER Catholic bishop has told the child abuse royal commission nobody at high levels of the church wanted to know about the abuse.

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, a critic of the church’s response to abuse, gave evidence at the commission on Monday.

He said a document dating to 2001 given to high level meetings of Catholic bishops showed the church held crimes against the doctrine as more important than crimes including pedophilia.

Bishop Robinson said the document may never have become public had it not been for the commission’s investigations.

He said it was a “completely foreign language” to him, and he was shocked by the concept that “crimes in relation to sacraments are a more serious crime than pedophilia”.

“What upsets God is when a child gets abused, that’s what makes God angry,” he said.

“The whole thing here is, it just got to me; how can I talk to people who think this way?”

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Bishop critical of Pell on abuse response

AUSTRALIA
Sky News

[with video]

Cardinal George Pell destroyed the unity of the Catholic church in Australia when he dropped a ‘bombshell’ by launching his own response to abuse victims, a bishop has told the child sex abuse royal commission.

Retired Bishop Geoffrey Robinson said the establishment of the Melbourne Response by then Archbishop Pell in 1996, months before the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference launched the nation-wide Towards Healing, was totally unexpected.

Bishop Robinson was the architect of Towards Healing, which is used by all dioceses except Melbourne. He had steered long negotiations to develop the protocol, which was launched in 1997.

On Monday, he was critical of Dr Pell’s actions, which he said were taken without any reference to the bishops’ conference.

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Popes ‘failed to address sex abuse’

AUSTRALIA
IOL

Sydney – A retired Catholic bishop told an inquiry into child sex abuse on Monday the Vatican and church leaders had failed to show leadership in dealing with abuse by the clergy, a report said.

The former auxiliary bishop of Sydney, Geoffrey Robinson, said sexual abuse by clergy had been covered up by the church and suspect priests were moved from one parish to another.

“In one way it’s cover up; in another way it’s more than a cover up,” The Sydney Morning Herald reported Robinson as saying to the inquiry.

“It’s solving the problem, it’s getting rid of it.”

Robinson, 78, has terminal cancer, but volunteered to testify at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

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Declassified Files: Officials wanted full Kincora inquiry in 1980s but were overruled

NORTHERN IRELAND
News Letter

Sam McBride
sam.mcbride@newsletter.co.uk
Monday 24 August 2015

Declassified Government files on Kincora reveal that there was a consistent consensus among senior civil servants that the scandal should be investigated by the most thorough form of public inquiry – yet that did not happen.

Time and time again, different high-ranking officials gave the view that an inquiry under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 was unavoidable given the level of concern about allegations that boys had been abused over 20 years at Kincora by senior public figures and that their crimes had been covered up.

In a 30 March 1982 meeting at Stormont Castle to discuss the issue, a detailed minute records: “Given the importance of securing public confidence in the inquiry, it was agreed that [four words underlined] in the absence of powerful arguments to the contrary it would have to be held under the authority of the 1921 Act.”

The Hughes Inquiry – eventually set up as a much weaker and more limited form of inquiry – would ultimately say that there was no evidence of either a homosexual vice ring based at Kincora or of a cover-up by the authorities.

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No records of sexual abuse complaints made about former Newport head teacher

WALES
South Wales Argus

THERE are no records of a complaint made to the former Gwent County Council about a Newport head teacher who allegedly abused a number of his pupils, according to Gwent Archives.

The Argus had previously reported the accounts of two former Malpas Church in Wales school pupils, who have both alleged that Jon Styler carried out a series of sexual assaults on boys at the school in the 1970s.

Styler, who lived alone at Queens Hill Crescent, Newport, committed suicide while on police bail in 2007.

He had been arrested on suspicion of similar offences, allegedly committed 27 years earlier.

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Police: Girl sexually abused at Birmingham church

ALABAMA
WVTM

By Meg Pace

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —Birmingham police are investigating the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl at a local church.

A man entered the Greater Temple Missionary Baptist Church around 11:45 Sunday morning.

Once inside, the suspect entered a ladies restroom. Police said that’s when the suspect encountered a 14-year-old girl and sexually abused her by touching her private areas.

Church members told WVTM 13 News that no one at the church recognized the suspect. They said he ran out of the building after the assault.

“Why would you mess with a child?” one church member, who asked not to be identified, said.

“You’re supposed to be safe in church,” said another church member.

Detectives questioned a person of interest in the case. Police said the person of interest was released to another law enforcement agency on an unrelated outstanding felony warrant.

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Church releases video statement on Witte charges

CANADA
St. Catharine’s Standard

By Don Fraser, QMI Agency
Sunday, August 23, 2015

Bethany Community Church released a Sunday video statement in response to sex charges laid against Christopher Witte.

Witte, 31, a volunteer church youth program coordinator, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference and three counts of invitation to sexual touching.

The sexual assault unit of the Niagara Regional Police launched an investigation earlier this month into allegations of historical sexual abuse of young boys at the St. Catharines church.

None of these allegations has been proven in court.

“This incident has had an impact on all of our church families,” said board chair Liz Froese, reading from a statement in the video. “We want to extend our prayers, and with God’s grace we are certain a sense of peace and justice will prevail.”

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Pope not leading on abuse reform: bishop

AUSRALIA
SBS

AAP

Pope Francis has not yet shown the type of leadership needed to deal with child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, a bishop has told a royal commission.

In a withering appraisal of how the church shrouds itself in secrecy when it comes to confronting its own faults, retired bishop Geoffrey Robinson said it had still not found the leadership it needed to tackle child sex abuse effectively.

The former auxiliary bishop of Sydney has for decades called for profound changes to deal with the church-wide blight.

On Monday he told the sex abuse royal commission those changes could mean examining the role of celibacy, putting women on the same footing as men and even re-visiting the misapplied notion of infallibility.

He said these suggestions would be viewed as heretical by most other bishops.

The church moved slowly, he said, and remarked that a 1922 papal instruction imposing a code of silence around child sex abuse crimes was so secret not even all bishops knew of it.

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South Yorkshire Police ‘forced to search conscience’ since Rotherham abuse revealed

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

Rob Parsons
Monday 24 August 2015

It was a 153-page report that sent shockwaves through a South Yorkshire town and the nation at large, sparking a raft of senior resignations and months of turmoil in local child protection services at all levels.

And a year on from the bombshell Alexis Jay report which laid bare the scale of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner says he is still at a loss to understand why police in the town turned away from hundreds of young victims.

Dr Alan Billings was elected last year as a direct result of last August’s Jay Report, after his predecessor Shaun Wright was forced to resign in its wake.

The retired Anglican priest and former deputy leader of Sheffield city council recalled how the scale of the offending in Rotherham revealed “seemed scarcely believable”.

He said everyone – public and police – first had to come to terms with the reality of what Professor Jay uncovered.

“We had to first of all accept that what Professor Jay had turned up was true, that this was the reality,” he said.

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George Pell criticised by Catholic bishop as ‘destroyer of unity’ on child sex abuse

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Bridie Jabour
@bkjabour
Sunday 23 August 2015

Cardinal George Pell “destroyed the unity” of the Catholic church’s response to child sex abuse, an Australian bishop has told the royal commission.

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, who played a key role in developing the Australian church’s response to child sex abuse, also said Pope Francis was yet to show strong leadership on the issue and one of his predecessors, John Paul II, responded “poorly” to revelations of child abuse.

Robinson worked with other bishops on an Australia-wide clergy response to abuse, Towards Healing, from 1994. When Towards Healing was close to finalisation in 1996, Pell created the Melbourne Response, taking the country’s largest dioscese out of a united response.

Robinson said Pell, then the archbishop of Melbourne, created the rival program because he wanted to be seen as a leader on abuse.

“What he came up with has a lot to recommend it, but I had very big problems with it too,” Robinson told the royal commission into institutional responses to child sex abuse in Sydney on Monday.

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Retired Catholic bishop slams Cardinal George Pell over abuse

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

AUGUST 24, 2015

Gina Rushton
Journalist
Sydney

A retired Catholic bishop has slammed Cardinal George Pell and the Vatican for impeding the church’s ability to adopt a “profound and enduring” approach to victims abused by clergy.

“Some popes gave out the wrong message,” outspoken Bishop Geoffrey Robinson told the child abuse royal commission in Sydney. Oh, and some archbishops.”

In the early 1990s, Pope John Paul II should have pledged there was “no place” for sex abusers in the church but instead “silence”was the default response, Bishop Robinson said.

“It didn’t fit into (John Paul’s) image of the church,” he said. “Real leadership like that from the Pope would have been marvellous and from subsequent popes … we still haven’t had that kind of leadership, not even from (Pope) Francis.”

The former Sydney auxiliary bishop said Cardinal Pell undermined unanimity across the clergy by dropping a “bombshell” in 1996 and announcing Melbourne would release its own protocol for responding to complaints despite having participated in a decade of work for a comprehensive countrywide approach.

“(Pell) would later claim that this meant he was the first person in Australia to have such a protocol,” he said.

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Child abuse royal commission: Former pope John Paul II handled allegations ‘poorly’, inquiry hears

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Paul Donoughue

Former pope John Paul II handled sex abuse claims within the church “poorly” because he simply could not grasp the scale of the problem, a retired senior Bishop in Sydney says.

Geoffrey Robinson, a key player in the church’s response to child sexual abuse by members of the clergy between 1994 and 2003, is giving evidence today before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney.

Bishop Robinson said he felt the Vatican was far behind in its understanding of the problem worldwide, and that John Paul II — the Pontiff from 1978 to 2005 — showed little leadership on the issue.

“If I am honest, he handled abuse poorly,” Bishop Robinson told the inquiry.

“It didn’t fit into his image of church, and he couldn’t deal with it.”

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August 23, 2015

Bishop to recall row with papal nuncio

AUSTRALIA
9 News

When Catholic bishop Geoffrey Robinson told an international conference he wasn’t happy with the level of support Rome was offering the Australian Church on child sexual abuse he was reprimanded by the Pope’s man in Canberra.

The outspoken former Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney is giving evidence about that “condemnatory” 1996 correspondence with the then papal nuncio and about other run-ins with the hierarchy and its response to abuse at a royal commission in Sydney.

Gail Furness, SC, counsel advising the commission, said the retired bishop, a canon lawyer, would give evidence about how the church handled abuse allegations over four decades.

She said the Catholic Church has operated under a papal instruction of the strictest secrecy when it came to sexual abuse by clergy which has been renewed and expanded by many popes and was still in place.

In his evidence Bishop Robinson, who is terminally ill, said the church’s response to sex abuse allegations over the years was partly to protect reputation and partly to protect fellow priests.

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Sherwood church holds first mass since priest fled police

OREGON
KGW

[with video]

SHERWOOD, Ore. — A Portland archbishop led the first Sunday mass at a Sherwood church since an arrest warrant was issued for the church’s priest.

The warrant was issued for Father Ysrael Bien, who was accused of placing a hidden camera in a bathroom at St. Francis Church.

Bien is now in his native Philippines and police are trying to track him down.

Archbishop Alexander Sample apologized to the congregation, adding he knows this is a difficult time.

“I know your faith has been shaken by recent events,” Sample said. “I understand. I am sorry beyond words for the pain and anguish you have been suffering.”

A group called the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) handed out pamphlets to churchgoers after mass.

The group wants all victims and witnesses to come forward, and for the archbishop to disclose all churches where Father Bien spent time.

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Child abuse royal commission: NSW priest ‘grabbed boys by the genitals’, retired Bishop tells inquiry

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A former NSW priest was shifted out of the priesthood and the state after complaints he was grabbing boys by the genitals and squeezing, a retired Bishop has told the child abuse royal commission.

Geoffrey Robinson, a key player in the church’s response to child sexual abuse by members of the clergy between 1994 and 2003, is giving evidence today before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney.

Bishop Robinson said that shortly after he became a priest in the 1960s in Croydon, he was told of the actions of the fellow priest, referred to by the inquiry as TS.

“This priest was about three years senior to myself,” Bishop Robinson said.

“He was not the brightest student in the [seminary], but he was probably the strongest.

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Case Study 31, August 2015, Sydney – Live hearing

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

[with live stream]

The Royal Commission will hold a public hearing in Sydney on Monday 24 August 2015.

The hearing will start at 10:00am AEST.

The public hearing will hear the evidence of retired Bishop Geoffrey Robinson regarding the history and development of the Catholic Church’s response to child sexual abuse prior to the introduction of Towards Healing.

Location
Level 17, Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place, Sydney.

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

The scope and purpose of the public hearing is to hear the evidence of retired Bishop Geoffrey Robinson regarding:

1. The history and development of the Catholic Church’s response to child sexual abuse prior to the introduction of Towards Healing.

2. His membership of the College of Consultors of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

3. The operation of Encompass Australasia.

4. His discussions with senior Vatican officials.

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The Bishop, the Pastoral Council, and myself!

IRELAND
Tony Flannery

About two months ago I got an invitation from the Pastoral Council of the parish of Killeagh in Cloyne diocese to come and give the keynote talk at a weekend parish fest they were organising for late September. The request was that I would speak on the subject of where the voice of the Spirit could be heard in today’s Church. I was happy to accept the invitation.

When notice of this talk first went out, a few weeks ago, the bishop of Cloyne, William Creanexpressed concern. He called the parish priest, Tim Hazelwood, to come to meet him. He made it clear that he was not happy that I was coming, saying he had been in touch with the RedemptoristProvincial to ascertain my ‘status’, and was informed that I was forbidden to minister publicly as a priest. The parish priest brought the bishop’s concern back to the pastoral council. They were unwilling to cancel the invitation, but they compromised by saying that the talk would take place, not in the church, but in the community hall.

Still the bishop was unhappy, and he made further contact with the Redemptorist Provincial. It seems to me that what he possibly wanted was that the Provincial would order me not to go to Killeagh. The Provincial of the Redemptorists did not give me any direction in respect of the talk in Killeagh.

Further developments took place early this past week, when the bishop came to Killeagh and met the subcommittee of the pastoral council who were delegated to organise the weekend festival. At that meeting he gave orders that the invitation be cancelled. I got a phone call from the parish priest that evening to tell me that the talk would no longer take place.

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Fr Tony Flannery disappointed at ‘silencing’ by bishop

IRELAND
Irish Times

Fiona Gartland

A move by Bishop of Cloyne William Crean to prevent outspoken priest Fr Tony Flannery from giving a talk in his diocese was “surprising and depressing”, the priest has said.

In a statement issued on his website on Sunday, Fr Flannery said since his suspension from ministry in 2012, he has given numerous talks in Ireland, England and the US.

“With one exception in the US, there had been no problem, and my talks mainly consisted of highlighting the message of Pope Francis,” he said.

“To find an Irish bishop extending the notion of ‘silencing’ to a talk in a community hall is very disappointing.”

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Pope Francis is not anti-capitalism. By his actions, he supports the plutocracy

UNTIED STATES
Daily Kos

by Betty Clermont

Two and a half years after Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s elevation as head of the Church, the dust has settled. He has packed the Vatican with vulture capitalists and those who support them. Three cardinals have emerged as the most powerful in this papacy; all have close ties to Opus Dei. Two now control Vatican finance.

Except for its clergy, Opus Dei is a secret society of global financiers, bankers, businessmen, politicians and their supporters. Still the most exhaustively researched book written about “The Work”€ as it is referred to by its members, Their Kingdom Come (1997, 2006) by Robert Hutchison, a Canadian financial journalist, traces the growth of Opus Dei financial power “by all available means”€ – deception, dirty tricks, even “€œphysical muscle.€” “What gives Opus Dei its importance is the influence it wields and also that it deploys its immense financial resources. Opus Dei knows very well that money rules the world,” Javier Sainz Moreno, professor of Law at Madrid University, told Hutchison. One of their goals was to control the Vatican’s wealth, now closer than ever to being realized.

Investigative journalist, Martin A. Lee, wrote in 1983: “Opus Dei has emerged internationally as one of the most powerful and politically committed of the Catholic lay groups. Detractors have likened the organization to a ‘€˜saintly Mafia’€™ for its members control a large number of banks and financial institutions … The tentacles of Octopus Dei, as it is sometimes called, stretch all the way to the U.S. … Opus Dei powerbrokers have gained enormous influence inside the Vatican since they helped install the current pope.” (i.e Pope John Paul II)

The first action Bergoglio took as pope was to name a Council of Cardinals.

Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, named coordinator of the group, has become “€œvirtually a €˜vice pope.” Rodriguez is “€œthe leader of Opus Dei”€ in Honduras which “participated actively in the 2009 coup against the constitutional [and progressive] president, Manuel Zelaya … Active members of this clan are making intromissions in Honduran national politics.”€

Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa “€œforged ties with then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio on the Latin American Episcopal Council in the decade before the Buenos Aires, Argentina, prelate became pope … When Pinochet was arrested in London in 1998, on orders of a magistrate judge in Madrid investigating atrocities against Spanish citizens during the Chilean dictatorship, Errazuriz denounced the move. He later criticized human rights lawsuits in Chile against Pinochet and other officials of the former regime, saying, ‘€˜Excessive justice could be detrimental to reconciliation and social peace.’€™” Errazuriz linked Chile’s economic success with reforms carried out during former General Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973 -1990). Martin A. Lee noted the close ties between Opus Dei and the Pinochet regime. …

The pope later appointed Pell as “tsar”€ over Vatican finance. (Murdoch tweeted: “€œPope Francis appoints brilliant Cardinal Pell from Sydney to be no.3 power in Vatican. Australia will miss him but world will benefit.”)

Pell’s only previous financial expertise was cheating clerical sex abuse victims out of an adequate compensation known as his “Melbourne response”€ and “€œEllis defense” where Pell “€œinstructed his lawyers to crush this victim.”€ Pell brought his Sydney business manager, Danny Casey, “who is known to have close ties to Opus Dei,”€ to the Vatican.

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Soaring rates of mental illness, substance abuse for children in care: report

AUSTRALIA
The Age

August 23, 2015

Jill Stark

Children in care are suffering significantly higher rates of mental health problems than their peers and are far more likely to smoke, drink and abuse drugs, a damning new report has revealed.

They are also five times more likely to be admitted to hospital than children living with their own families and are at greater risk of dropping out of school.

The figures, to be released by Anglicare Victoria this week, paint a bleak future for children in Victoria’s residential care system, who are lagging well behind on a range of developmental, educational and social milestones.

Forty-one per cent show high levels of emotional and behavioural difficulties compared to 18 per cent in the broader community.

Only 15 per cent of the 353 children surveyed have contact with their siblings and just 31 per cent have regular contact with friends, compared to 54 per cent in the broader community.

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Former priest arrested in Florida, charged with child pornography

KENTUCKY
WLKY

[with video]

By Anna-Lysa Gayle

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Just hours after the Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville spelled out the allegations against the former pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish Friday, Stephen Pohl was apprehended in Florida.

Pohl was arrested Friday night in Pinellas County, Florida, and charged with possession of child pornography.

According to a WLKY affiliate in St. Petersburg, Florida, Pohl’s sister maintains a home in Pinellas County.

Father Mark Spalding, appointed the temporary administrator at St. Margaret Mary, led mass Saturday.

Laurie Roberton said Spalding tried to uplift parishioners, who have been shaken by the news.

“Our priest is not my faith, our God is my faith, and that was the message,” she said.

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Rape accusations and school traditions on display in Labrie case

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor

By JEREMY BLACKMAN
Monitor staff
Saturday, August 22, 2015

It began with a headline moving across the wire last weekend: “Rape case points to sordid tradition at elite prep school.”

“When his trial begins Monday, prosecutors are expected to call current and former students to testify about the sexual culture at one of the country’s most selective boarding schools,” Associated Press reporter Lynne Tuohy wrote in her article.

The case, of course, was that of Owen Labrie, St. Paul’s School graduate accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl last year, as part of an annual ritual among seniors to have sexual contact with younger students. Labrie’s arrest last July drew regional attention, and local news outlets have been covering the claims against him – and those involving the school’s response – ever since.

But the world had not yet taken note.

Then, kaboom. The Washington Post ran Tuohy’s piece last Sunday. By Monday, CNN was following with its own coverage, and the New York Times and NBC had each sent correspondents to Concord. By Tuesday morning, the rickety old courthouse downtown was swarming with journalists and camera crews, poised for opening arguments.

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Why this apology from the Scottish Catholic church rings hollow to me

SCOTLAND
The Observer

Catherine Deveney
Sunday 23 August 2015

They process slowly to the altar, Scotland’s Catholic bishops, their elaborate robes and red zucchettos symbols of their power and status. Around them, the light, honey-coloured stone arches of St Andrew’s cathedral in Glasgow soar, Italian-style embellishment spiralling up the slender columns in Madonna-blue paint and gold leaf.

On one side of me, Peter Howson’s depiction of the Scottish martyr, St John Ogilvie, seems luminous, glowing gold amid black, a study of unbowed resignation. To the other side, archbishop Philip Tartaglia is nervously welcoming publication of the McLellan report into abuse in the Scottish Catholic church, apologising to victims in a carefully worded statement. As he talks I am struck – not for the first time since the resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien two years ago – by the way opulence sits cheek by jowl with ugliness inside the Catholic church.

“The bishops of Scotland are shamed and pained for what you have suffered,” says Tartaglia. “We say sorry. We ask for forgiveness. We apologise to those who have found church reaction slow, unsympathetic or uncaring and we reach out to them as we take up the recommendations of the McLellan Commission.”

Only hours earlier, I had been on the east coast, in Edinburgh, listening as Dr Andrew McLellan, a minister and former moderator of the Church of Scotland, delivered what he referred to as, “the most important report of my life”. His words were emotional, impassioned, gathering momentum until they became a kind of hymn to justice. He talked of the “dark past” of the church, of the enormous damage it had caused victims, of the need for the church to act “from the heart”. Crucially, he had grasped not just events but a culture, a culture of cover-up in which the church said one thing and did another. McLellan had promised a report that was neither timid nor deferential. He delivered it.

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Victims of Quebec priest sex abuse receive $14 million in compensation

CANADA
CJAD

The 111 victims of sexual assault at the hands of the Redemptorist Fathers Seminary Saint-Alphonse in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré have finally received nearly $14 million in compensation.

Former students who had been sexually assaulted by nine priests while they attended the Seminary between 1960 and 1987 had until April 17 to file their claim.

A five-year legal battle and trial ended Nov. 20, 2014, when the Redemptorists finally deposited $20 million in an account to compensate victims. It was then the largest sum ever paid in a resort of its kind in Quebec.

After attorney fees and other costs, victims divided up the remaining $14 million.

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ISIS and JP2 Army empowered by religion…

UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils

Paris Arrow

Updated August 22, 2015

On August 16, 2015, the New York Times published the news “ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape” citing the rape by an Islamic State fighter on a Yazidi 12 year old girl. Similar MSM journalists quickly mimicked the NYT reportage stating clearly the two words “ISIS and rape” in their headlines. Cases in point: “Systematic rape, slavery: The horrifying conundrum of ISIS”. “How Isis has established a bureaucracy of rape”, (see more in news compilation below). On the same day, on the other side of the globe, in far away Down Under Australia – the Sydney Morning Herald published the news with the heading –– “Australian diplomat’s son in Tokyo St Mary’s child sexual abuse story”.

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August 22, 2015

Priest, mother share path of pain, anger — and abiding faith

WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Aug. 22, 2015

Lyons — They walked, mother and son, along a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.

Angie Roscioli had come with other Catholic women for a spiritual retreat led by the Rev. Domenic Roscioli on the infinite nature of God’s love. During a lull, they broke away, just the two of them, to walk and talk for a while.

To this day, Angie cannot say why she chose that moment to tell him. Maybe, she says, the prayers of the day spoke to her. Or the lesson he was trying to impart: Nothing they could do, he told them, no experience in their lives could diminish God’s love for them.

Whatever the reason, on that fall day 37 years ago, Angie told her son she had been sexually assaulted as a little girl by her parish priest.

“I can’t remember what triggered me to tell him,” she says, sitting at her kitchen table, wiping the tears from her blue eyes. “But somehow, I knew it was time.”

Her son stood for a while in silence, devastated. Then, he wrapped his arms around her.

“When I asked her why she didn’t tell me before I was ordained, she said she didn’t want to stand in the way if God wanted me to be a priest,” says Domenic Roscioli, who is nationally known for his work with Catholic women and with children who have cancer.

“That kind of faith just floored me,” he says. “I thought, ‘How can someone love God that much?’ I don’t know ifIcould love God that much.”

A voice for her generation

At 91, Angie Roscioli is thought to be the oldest of the estimated 570 men and women who filed claims in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy.

She learned Saturday that she is among the survivors to be compensated in the $21 million settlement that will be part of the bankruptcy reorganization plan the church is scheduled to file on Monday. …

“I actually think the bankruptcy has caused more pain — like pouring salt in the wounds,” says Domenic Roscioli, who fills in at parishes around the 10-county archdiocese and serves as spiritual director for its Council of Catholic Women.

“You don’t issue a call for healing and then pick them off … like a sniper. And that’s what the lawyers have been doing.

“It was like a false invitation to mercy.”

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Kentucky priest charged with child pornography arrested in Pinellas

FLORIDA
Tampa Bay Times

A Kentucky priest was arrested Friday night in Indian Rocks Beach on a charge of possession of child pornography.

According to WTSP 10News, Stephen Pohl is under investigation by the FBI after the Archdiocese of Louisville found child pornography on his computer. He is accused of taking inappropriate photos of children.

Pohl, 57, resigned from St. Margaret Mary parish in Kentucky on Thursday. Pinellas sheriff’s deputies received a tip that he was in Indian Rocks Beach and arrested him Friday at 313 Hidden Harbour Drive, WTSP 10News reported.

Pohl was living in a rectory on the same grounds as the St. Margaret Mary campus, where more than 700 children attend school, according to WDRB-TV in Louisville.

He was booked into the Pinellas County jail, where he remained Saturday.

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Priest arrested in Bay Area for child porn

FLORIDA
WTSP

Marcus A Grayson
August 22, 2015

A national manhunt ends here in the Bay Area. Stephen Pohl was a Catholic Priest from Louisville Kentucky but the FBI is also calling him a child pornographer.

Fifty-six-year-old Pohl was arrested by the FBI and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office late yesterday. He’s facing federal charges of being in possession of child pornography on his computer.

The sign on the door reads ‘gone to the beach’, but that is not true for Stephen Pohl. He is in the Pinellas County Jail facing federal charges of child pornography. Many neighbors saw the police activity yesterday, “I saw a few undercover cars that definitely [did] not fit in. It was something out of a movie” saying Lauren Fechtmann. Many in here say they are shocked this priest lived a double life.

“It makes me feel very uncomfortable to think we might have had a child pornographer living among us”, saying Rudy Croce a Neighbor

According to Karen Tancredi, the sister of Pohl, they allowed their brother, Stephen Pohl to stay at their home for the summer while they are in Indiana.

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OR–Priest fled the US during police investigation

OREGON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Group to leaflet at Catholic church
They challenge archbishop on accused cleric
Priest fled the US during police investigation
SNAP: “Church officials must do aggressive outreach”
Staff must also warn families abroad about wrongdoer, victims say

What:
As parishioners leave mass with Portland’s archbishop, two leaders of a support group for clergy sex abuse victims will hand out fliers. The leaflets urge church goers to

–seek out others who saw, suspected or suffered misdeeds or crimes by a priest fleeing the law, and
–question former church members about the cleric and urge them to call law enforcement.

The fliers also urge Portland Catholic officials to

–use church resources to aggressively reach out to anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered the cleric’s alleged crimes,
–write their Philippine colleagues and urge them to keep the priest away from children, and
—promise that the next time a priest, nun, seminarian, brother or other church employee is accused of or suspected of sexual misdeeds, church supervisors will insist that his or her passport be turned over to the archbishop, to prevent the accused from fleeing overseas.

When:
Sunday, Aug. 22 at 11:00 a.m.

Where:
Outside St. Francis Catholic Church, 15651 SW Oregon St. in Sherwood, OR (503-625-6185)

Who:
Two members of an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Portland woman who is the organization’s Oregon director

Why:
This weekend, Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample will be at St. Francis, talking about Fr. Ysrael Bien who has fled the US and returned to the Philippines. Sherwood police have issued an arrest warrant for Fr. Bien in connection with a hidden camera he apparently bought and installed in a parish bathroom.

For the safety of parishioners, SNAP wants Sample to write his colleagues in the Philippines begging them to keep Fr. Bien away from kids and out of parishes.

The group also wants Sample to “aggressively urge anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes or cover ups by Fr. Bien to contact law enforcement.” If more victims, witnesses or whistleblowers step forward, SNAP says, Fr. Bien may be charged with more crimes which will increase the chances that he’ll be extradited, convicted and imprisoned, which makes everyone safer and deters similar crimes and cover ups in the future.

SNAP also contends that Sample should have yanked Fr. Bien’s passport when this crime was reported. Or Sample should have acted decisively when it was clear that Fr. Bien lied to parishioners, by telling them he had contacted police when in fact he had not.

Some church members or staff who may have seen, suspected or suffered” crimes or misdeeds by Fr. Bien may have quit the parish in frustration or fear, SNAP says. So the organization is appealing to church-goers to contact former members or employees and ask them to share any information or suspicions they may have with law enforcement.

Finally, to help law enforcement and reassure local Catholics, the group wants Sample to disclose all church facilities where Fr. Bien spent time.

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Terminally ill retired Catholic Bishop to give evidence at child abuse royal commission

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Philippa McDonald

A Sydney Catholic Bishop who is dying of cancer and has been as advocate for a more compassionate approach by the church to victims of clergy abuse is to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Monday.

“I have cancer and it’s terminal. It’ll be better they take the evidence now than wait for later,” retired bishop Geoffrey Robinson told the ABC.

Bishop Robinson was a key player in the response of the Catholic Church to child sexual abuse by members of the clergy between 1994 and 2003.

“I’ll be telling the royal commission what I know of the story of the Catholic Church’s response, the good and the bad,” he said.

Bishop Robinson was a member and chairman of the Bishops’ National Committee for Professional Standards, part of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, which dealt with complaints of sexual abuse.

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Pope’s Money Czar Says Church Risks Being Targeted on Finance

ITALY
Bloomberg

John Follain
Flavia Rotondi
August 22, 2015

The Vatican’s financial czar has called for more honesty and transparency in the way the church handles its wealth, warning that it might be targeted “for financial irregularities” in the near future.

Cardinal George Pell, addressing a Catholic conference in Rimini, on Italy’s Adriatic Coast, said on Saturday that modern accounting methods being adopted by the Vatican were “probably the best way of ensuring honesty and efficiency.”

The Australian Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, said reforms to increase transparency currently under way “would be impossible” without Pope Francis.

“Now is the time to have or place our affairs in order and arranged in such a way that this can be demonstrated to the outside world,” Pell said. “The next wave of attacks on the church could be for financial irregularities.”

Pell quoted an unidentified European princess as once telling him “that some looked on the Vatican as being like an old noble family that was going bankrupt, losing all its money. They expected it to be incompetent, extravagant and easy pickings for thieves. We are all working hard in the Holy See, under the leadership of Pope Francis, to change this image.”

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Legionarios tardaron 35 años en admitir caso de abusos

MEXICO
Sipse

[MEXICO, DF The Legionaries of Christ acknowledged that an accusation of sexual abuse of two minors by priest Fernando Cutanda is credible. This follows an independent investigation.]

MÉXICO, D.F.- Los Legionarios de Cristo reconocieron que el sacerdote Fernando Cutanda, 35 años después de haber sido acusado, abusó sexualmente de dos menores, por lo que denunciaron al ex rector del seminario menor en New Hampshire, Estados Unidos, ante las autoridades locales.

En una carta fechada el 6 agosto y firmada por el padre John Connor, director territorial de la Legión de Cristo en EU, se da a conocer el resultado de una investigación privada que mandó a hacer la congregación.

Recuperar confianza

Al recordar que la misión de la orden es contribuir a la evangelización de los niños, Connor menciona sentir orgullo de los esfuerzos que hacen los Legionarios para que se tenga plena confianza en su trabajo.

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Prominent US-based haredi rabbis declare obligation to report child abuse to police

UNITED STATES
Jerusalem Post

More than 100 prominent haredi rabbis and Jewish educators from across the United States have signed a public declaration stating that it is an obligation of Jewish law on all Jews to immediately report and notify law enforcement officials when a reasonable suspicion of child abuse exists.

The declaration was described as “a historic watershed” for its broad-based support from a large number of haredi rabbis from major Jewish communities in the US.

The letter addresses the need to prevent and eradicate the epidemic of child abuse adversely affecting the Jewish community.

“We, the undersigned, affirm that any individual with firsthand knowledge or reasonable basis to suspect child abuse has a religious obligation to promptly notify the secular law enforcement of that information,” the declaration reads. “These individuals have the experience, expertise and training to thoroughly and responsibly investigate the matter. Furthermore, those deemed “mandated reporters” under secular law must obey their State’s reporting requirements.”

The rabbis said in their declaration that “lives can be ruined or ended by unreported child abuse, as we are too often tragically reminded” and cited the Biblical injunction “Do not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed,” as the basis for reporting suspected cases of child abuse.

Among the signatories are Rabbi Nota Greenblatt, the head of the rabbinical court in Memphis, Tenn., Rabbi Dov Aharon Brisman, head of the rabbinical court in Philadelphia, Rabbi Peretz Steinberg, co-chairman of the rabbinical court of the Agudath Yisroel organization and Rabbi Yechiel Perr, Dean of the Yeshiva of Far Rockaway/Derech Ayson Rabbinical Seminary

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Catholic priest steps down after being seen walking naked through Indiana grade school

INDIANA
Daily Mail (UK)

By CHRISTOPHER BRENNAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

The pastor of a Catholic parish has stepped down after being seen walking around naked in an accompanying school.

Father Bill O’Toole, 45, has taken a leave of absence from his position as the head of St Casimir Catholic School, which enrolls preschoolers through middle schoolers in the Chicago suburb of Hammond, Indiana.

Police were called on the priest after he was spotted through a window walking alone and naked through the school around 5pm on August 9, a Sunday.

‘School officials … were already on scene and had knowledge of the situation,’ police told the NWI Times.

Debbie Bosak, a spokeswoman for the diocese of Gary, Indiana, said that there were no children present.

A secretary was in the school but not aware that O’Toole was walking around.

St Casimir had been offering summer school during the two weeks before and after the incident.

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Quebec victims of priest sex abuse receive their $14M in compensation

CANADA
CTV

The 111 victims of the Redemptorist Order of the Saint-Alphonse Seminary in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré have finally received nearly $14 million in compensation.

Former students who were sexually assaulted by the nine priests named in the case had until April 17 to file their claim.

After a five-year battle and a long trial, the Redemptorists finally deposited $20 million into an account to compensate victims, the largest sum of ever paid in a restitution case of this kind in Quebec.
After attorney fees and other expenses, victims of the Redemptorist priests will share nearly $14 million.

Quebec Superior Court ruled back in July 2014 that the Redemptorist Order will have to pay at least $75,000 in damages to each victim who attended the Saint-Alphonse Seminary between 1960 and 1987.

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Louisville priest jailed on child porn charge

KENTUCKY
The Courier-Journal

Jeff Watkins
August 22, 2015

Father Stephen Pohl, who resigned as pastor of St. Margaret Mary church this week after a child porn investigation, was arrested Friday in Pinellas County and jailed for possession of child pornography.

An ongoing FBI investigation has found that Pohl had child porn on his computer as well as up to 200 photos of St. Margaret Mary school children, officials said. All of the students were clothed, but investigators deemed some of the photos inappropriate. Investigators also told the archdiocese that Pohl had downloaded child porn on his personal computer.

During a news briefing hours before the arrest, Chancellor Brian Reynolds said the FBI cyber crimes investigation — prompted after a child told a family member about a photo that was taken that “bothered the child” — is still ongoing and could take months. The information the archdiocese shared Friday was from an interim investigation report officials received a day earlier.

Pohl, 57, who had been pastor of the parish at 7813 Shelbyville Road since 2008 and an ordained priest since 1985, was put on leave last week. On Thursday night, after Pohl resigned, the archdiocese shared the preliminary findings with an upset school staff and parents, offering counselors and information.

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Louisville priest accused in child porn case arrested in FL

KENTUCKY
News 14

By Sarah Eisenmenger

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – A Roman Catholic priest who resigned as pastor of his Lyndon parish has been arrested in Florida.

Father Stephen Pohl was booked into custody in the Pinellas County Jail, located in Largo, Florida at 8:42 p.m. Friday.

Earlier Friday, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz and Chancellor Dr. Brian Reynolds confirmed Pohl had submitted his resignation Thursday, eight days after the Archdiocese of Louisville placed him on leave following admissions that the FBI cyber-crimes task force was investigating whether he possessed child pornography.

The FBI has declined comment, but Reynolds said investigators have confirmed that a search of Pohl’s personal computers and data devices revealed pornographic pictures and photographs of students at St. Margaret Mary School were taken on school grounds.

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Catholic Church bishop Ronald Mulkearns …

AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

Catholic Church bishop Ronald Mulkearns likely to avoid facing child sex abuse royal commission because of ill health

THE man who was in charge of the Catholic Church in Ballarat while paedophiles preyed on young children is likely to escape being forced to give evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Former bishop Ronald Mulkearns has been admitted to Ballarat’s St John of God hospital, where he on Saturday was in intensive care.

His ill health casts doubt over whether the commission will force him to give evidence.

The 84-year-old has been accused of shuffling offending priests to different parishes, but has previously maintained a stony silence when questioned.

Father Mulkearns finally spoke publicly last month after being ordered to give evidence over the alleged offending of a former priest. But he gave little away and said he could not remember most events.

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Former St. Margaret Mary pastor arrested in Florida

FLORIDA/KENTUCKY
WLKY

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. —Former St. Margaret Mary pastor Stephen Pohl was arrested Friday evening in Florida.

According to arrest documents, Pohl was booked into jail in Pinellas County just before 9 p.m. Friday on a charge of possession of child pornography.

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz said he learned of the investigation into Pohl on Aug. 12 and placed Pohl on administrative leave.

Kurtz said he accepted Pohl’s resignation on Thursday.

According to the Archdiocese of Louisville, federal investigators said child pornography was found on electronic devices belonging to Pohl.

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Chile to deport paedophile Irish priest convicted of abusing young girl

IRELAND
The Journal

THE CHILEAN GOVERNMENT has decided to deport an Irish priest who was convicted last year of sexually abusing a young girl, the interior ministry said.

The Irish-born priest, John O’Reilly, was sentenced to four years’ probation in November for repeatedly molesting the girl from the time she was five.

The abuse took place from 2010 to 2012 at an exclusive school where O’Reilly was the spiritual advisor at the time.

The interior ministry said it was revoking O’Reilly’s permanent residency and that he would have to leave the country after completing his sentence in 2018.

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UPDATE: Former St. Margaret Mary priest arrested on child porn charges

KENTUCKY
WDRB

[with video]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A Louisville priest has been arrested on child porn charges in Florida.

Officials with the Pinellas County, Florida Sheriff’s Office tell WDRB that Father Stephen Pohl was arrested Friday night near Tampa.

Pohl is charged with possession of child pornography.

The Louisville Archdiocese also released new information about Pohl, who was under investigation relating to the child pornography allegations.

In a press conference Friday afternoon, church leaders told reporters that Pohl, former pastor of St. Margaret Mary parish, submitted his resignation Thursday afternoon.

Church leaders said they first learned of the FBI Cyber Crimes Unit investigation of Father Pohl on Aug. 12. The Archdiocese told reporters that the investigation began after a child told their parents about a picture that was taken. The parents obtained a copy of the picture, reviewed it, and immediately contacted authorities.

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Kentucky priest arrested in Pinellas for child porn

FLORIDA/KENTUCKY
WTSP

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A Louisville, Kentucky priest under investigation by the FBI for child pornography was arrested in Pinellas County, Fla. Friday night.

Father Stephen Pohl resigned from his pastor position at St. Margaret Mary Parish on Aug. 20, following the FBI investigation.

It is unknown why Pohl was in Florida.

Pohl was arrested on one count of child pornography.

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Court hearing for Twin Cities Archdiocese is postponed a third time

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune AUGUST 21, 2015

The first court hearing in Ramsey County’s criminal case against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has been postponed to Oct. 29.

Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner issued the order Friday to reschedule next week’s hearing. It’s the third time the hearing has been postponed since the original June 24 court date.

In June, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi charged the archdiocese with “failure to protect children,” stemming from its lack of oversight of former priest Curtis Wehmeyer.

Wehmeyer was found guilty of sexually abusing two boys in 2010, at times plying them with alcohol and showing them pornography. Some of the incidents occurred in a trailer he parked near the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul, where he was pastor.

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Hammond priest on leave for naked walk through school

INDIANA
Chicago Tribune

The Rev. William F. O’Toole has stepped down from his post as pastor of St. Casimir and All Saints Catholic churches in Hammond after he was spotted walking naked through St. Casimir Catholic School on Aug. 9, according to the Diocese of Gary.

In a statement, diocese spokesperson Debbie Bosak said Bishop Donald Hying requested that O’Toole take a leave of absence and undergo a psychological evaluation in accordance with diocesan policies.

Shortly after 5 p.m. Aug. 9, a caller contacted Hammond Police after seeing O’Toole, 45, through a window at the school, located at 4329 Cameron Ave., in a “state of undress.” When officers arrived, O’Toole was found and school officials from the Diocese of Gary were already on the scene and aware of the situation, according to Hammond Police Lt. Richard Hoyda.

Hoyda said that police allowed O’Toole to get dressed and did not arrest him. Hammond Police are still investigating the situation, and upon the investigation’s completion, it will be sent to the Lake County Prosecutor’s office for further review.

Police did not identify the man, but the Diocese of Gary did. Bosak said a secretary was the only other person present at the school at the time, but she didn’t know that O’Toole was there.

O’Toole has apologized and said his actions showed a regrettable lack of judgment, Bosak said.

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Bishop John Buckley: Magdalene mass grave ‘must be accessible’ to public

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

The Bishop of Cork and Ross has backed the calls of campaigners to make the vandalised mass grave of Magdalene women at Sunday’s Well accessible to the public.

Bishop John Buckley’s support comes following his call for the exhumation of the remains of Little Nellie — the “unofficial patron saint” of Cork — so people can pray at her grave.

Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR) and a number of Magdalene survivors had expressed concern that there was no mention of the mass grave on the site of the former Magdalene Laundry when making his call.

However, after a query from the Irish Examiner, Bishop Buckley said he fully supported calls for the grave to be made accessible.

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Chile ordena expulsión de sacerdote irlandés

CHILE
Los Tiempos

[Priest John O’Reilly, accused of abusing a minor in Chile, has been deported back to his native Ireland.]

Santiago de Chile |

El Gobierno de Chile expulsó del país al cura irlandés John O’Reilly, exlíder local de la orden de los Legionarios de Cristo, quien cumple una condena de cuatro años en libertad vigilada por abuso sexual contra una menor.

“Revóquese el permiso de permanencia definitiva en el país al extranjero John Joseph O’Reilly de nacionalidad irlandesa ( ) deberá hacer abandono del país en un plazo de 72 horas, a contar del momento que sea notificado, si no existiesen causas o penas pendientes”, indicó una resolución del Ministerio del Interior de Chile difundida ayer por medios locales.

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Tom Doyle on Hypocrisy in Spades …

UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Tom Doyle on Hypocrisy in Spades in Milwaukee Settlement with Abuse Survivors

Today’s National Survivor Advocates Coalition News features an op-ed piece by Tom Doyle entitled “Milwaukee: Hypocrisy in Spades.” I’d provide a link for you to read it in its entirety, but don’t yet find it online. I highly recommend that you subscribe to NSAC News. You can do that by clicking here. If I find down the road that NSAC has published Tom Doyle’s essay online, as I think will happen, I’ll provide you with a link. (Later: MarkWilliam has kindly emailed to point out to me that the text is at We Are Church Ireland; If NSAC also publishes it, I’ll provide that link, too.)

Tom is commenting on the proposed settlement recently offered abuse survivors in the Milwaukee archdiocese. The settlement was presented in one media headline after another as a stunningly generous offer of church officials to settle with abuse victims and put the abuse crisis behind them.

But as Marie Rhode has pointed out, the settlement stunned survivors, since it actually excludes 240 survivors and their claims, and is, as Rhode quotes Milwaukee SNAP leader Peter Isely to say, “exponentially the lowest bankruptcy compensation for victims in the United States.” Here’s Tom Doyle’s summary of what the settlement means and offers, in effect:

A few weeks ago Francis LoCoco, Listecki’s lead lawyer, threatened to spend down the phony cemetery trust that Cardinal Dolan created to try to divert $56 million, by challenging the validity of every claim of the nearly 400 remaining survivor-claimants. The survivors had already been treated with more than enough cruelty brought on by the hard-ball legal tactics. Continued litigation would have resulted in more insult, pain and debasement. The archbishop and his lawyers forced them to accept a grossly unjust and unreasonable option in exchange for one that was even worse.

As he notes,

The main points need to be stressed to get greater clarity of the hypocrisy:
-At least 80 victims were secretly removed from the settlement without the creditor committee’s knowledge, among them appear to be the deaf victims of Fr. Murphy
-The five survivors on the committee were given nothing in writing about the settlement, were not allowed in the mediation to see any of the case reports of the victims they represented and were not told when the settlement was going to be announced
-The archdiocesan lawyers and Listecki decided unilaterally which claims were valid
-Among the 575 claims that came forth 100 involved newly alleged clergy perpetrators. The archbishop decided without any investigation that none were a danger to children.

This travesty brings even more discredit and disgrace to the already tarnished office of bishop. It is also an insulting and arrogant perversion of the federal bankruptcy process and it surely justifies every debasing pejorative joke about lawyers.

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St. Catharines church volunteer charged with sex assault

CANADA
CBC News

Police say a long-standing St. Catharines church member and volunteer has been charged with sexual assault.

Niagara Regional Police say 31-year-old Christopher Witte faces two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference and three counts of invitation to sexual touching.

Police say Witte co-ordinated many youth programs at Bethany Community Church.

The arrest follows a police investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of young boys at the church.

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Church youth volunteer makes court appearance

CANADA
St. Catharines Standard

A volunteer church youth program coordinator facing sex charges appeared briefly in St. Catharines court Friday.

Christopher Witte, 31, of St. Catharines had a bail hearing scheduled for Monday morning.

A publication ban on the proceedings was put in effect.

Witte was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference and three counts of invitation to sexual touching.

Niagara Regional Police said on Thursday its sexual assault unit launched an investigation earlier this month into allegations of historical sexual abuse of young boys at Bethany Community Church in St. Catharines.

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