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.
AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times
Following another priest’s sworn evidence that contradicted his own, Gerald Ridsdale changes his story about approaching now-Cardinal George Pell.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
AUSTRALIA
The Age
May 28, 2015
Jane Lee
Legal Affairs Reporter for The Age
COMMENT
In his blind loyalty to those who have washed their hands of him, Gerald Ridsdale has betrayed those he has already failed.
Who was the priest in the room when he raped a child in his office?
He would not, or could not, say. For almost two days, he said he could not remember George Pell living with him. Now he said he could only remember McMahon.
Expectations were probably too high. He is an elderly man in jail. He has admitted to more than 100 crimes against children, which have been aired at three court cases, one state inquiry and half a royal commission. What more, one might think, does he have to lose?
Two things: a few years of freedom if he is released on parole in 2019, and any remaining ties he has left with senior church authorities.
The commission already knows that the church authorities decided Ridsdale should move on to other parishes, where he then abused others. All that was left was to find out who he told, what he said, and how they reached these decisions.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
UNITED STATES
Verdict
The Front Against Child Sex Abuse Expands to the Family: Josh Duggar, the Duggars, and What Every Family Should Know About Incest
Marci A. Hamilton
The war against child sex abuse received an infusion of weapons and power when the Boston Globe revealed the pattern of the cover-up by the Catholic hierarchy in 2001. With horror, the world witnessed secondhand the bishops shuffling pedophiles among parishes and fresh child victims. That same pattern has emerged in state after state, like Pennsylvania, where Philadelphia District Attorneys Lynne Abraham and Seth Williams put together thorough documentation in 2005 and 2011 Grand Jury Reports, and Minnesota, where statute of limitations reform has opened the door to the justice system that in turn has revealed the specifics of the cover-up. The unfolding story has also been told in Australia and Ireland.
These revelations painted a paradigm of adults letting children be abused by other adults. I call it “adult preferentialism.” As adults, we are persuaded that our interests (e.g., reputations and jobs and relationships) are much more important than the needs of children. We worry about the long-lasting effects on our reputations, but expect the kids to “get over it.” It is shocking when revealed, but that paradigm has played itself out in one venue after another since 2001, including (1) multiples of religious organizations from the Jehovah’s Witnesses to the ultra-Orthodox Jews, and (2) sports programs from Penn State football to Olympic swimming and speedskating.
Then elite private schools like Poly Prep and Horace Mann came into the spotlight, as well as public schools. Horace Mann is in the news this week because a coalition of alumnae and experts like Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, Charol Shakeshaft, and I banded together to find a way to make sure the serial abuse at Horace Mann and the institution’s hardhearted response did not happen at any other private schools. The Horace Mann Action Coalition issued a scathing report this week, replete with important guidelines for private schools.
The Irony Underlying All of these Revelations About Child Sex Abuse: Most Abuse Happens in the Home
While we learned about, discussed, and reacted to the abuse in all of these “safe” venues, the abuse that occurs the most remained unspoken: Incest. There was a time when all sex abuse discussions were taboo; that taboo has persisted with respect to family-on-family abuse. Incest is the last frontier for child sex abuse.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
AUSTRALIA
The Conversation
Jayne Lucke
Professor & Director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society at La Trobe University
Thanks to many generous contributors I now have an arsenal of potential responses to the question “what do you do?”. My options span a wide range of possible replies, including the flippant, cheeky, risqué, straight, cryptic, serious, intense, and downright arrogant. I am now equipped for any situation with an answer I can choose to suit the context, the characteristics of the questioner, and my own willingness to engage.
If only we all had such luxury when it comes to matters relating to sex. Misunderstandings and awkwardness about sex can be more than just an inconvenience or embarrassment. Sometimes there are potentially devastating consequences. The way we engage with ideas relating to sex can have far-reaching effects on our lives as individuals, within our families and on a broader societal level.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse provides us with a painful example of how badly things can go wrong. The public hearings in Ballarat have reminded us of the awful pain of people abused by a person in authority and the long-term impact of this betrayal. The royal commission also raises questions for us all about what went wrong, how to bring those responsible to justice, deal compassionately with the many people affected and most importantly, how to make sure this does not happen again.
This week in an op-ed piece for The Age, Dr Timothy Jones proposes that the view of the Catholic Church towards paedophilia as a sin, rather than a criminal act, was one of the factors that led to the church’s approach towards offenders – a policy that protected the offender and exposed new groups of vulnerable children to horrific abuse. A realisation of the impact on abused children came later as broader understandings of child sexual abuse changed.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
UNITED STATES
The Cap Times
E.J. DIONNE JR. | national columnist
BOSTON — Consider the stunned disbelief, perhaps of a somewhat aggressive sort, that would have greeted anyone who might have told a tavern crowd in Dorchester or Southie three decades ago that Ireland would be the first nation in the world to approve gay marriage by popular vote.
It is a mark of how much has changed in such a short time that Ireland’s vote for gay marriage last week was, in the end, the expected outcome — even if the breadth of marriage equality’s victory was breathtaking.
The referendum carried 62 percent of the vote. Only one of the nation’s 43 parliamentary constituencies, Roscommon-South Leitrim, voted “no,” and even there, supporters won nearly 49 percent of the vote. The rural-urban split many anticipated did not materialize. Socially conservative areas that had opposed liberalizing Ireland’s abortion and divorce laws in the past voted to allow gays and lesbians to marry.
The different outcome this time says something about why social liberalism finds its strongest expression these days around gay rights questions. If politics is often polarized because social changes can leave behind both winners and losers, it is far harder to make a case that there are any losers in the effort to provide for equality around sexual orientation. Ireland, a heartland of Catholicism that did so much to shape the Catholic Church in the United States, seemed to see things exactly this way.
But it’s also true that Ireland has undergone a sweeping cultural transformation in a very short time. Irish faith in the church was badly shaken by the hierarchy’s cover-up of the sex-abuse crisis even as the island was overtaken by a raucous materialism during the economic boom between 1995 and 2008. It was the era of the “Celtic tiger,” a prime example of how good things could be under capitalism.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
UNITED KINGDOM
Nottingham Post
By Tom Norton | Posted: May 28, 2015
More reports of abuse within the Methodist church were recorded in our region than anywhere else in the country, a publication has revealed.
The Methodist Church in Britain has published findings showing that more than 220 reports of historic abuse were made locally, out of 1,885 cases across the country.
The organisation’s general secretary, Reverend Dr Martyn Akins, has issued a full apology to survivors of abuse, calling the findings “a deep source of grief and shame to the Church.”
The most common report of abuse related to sexual abuse, of which there were 914 cases in the UK.
Five hundred and sixty-five cases were classified as “other”, followed by 245 cases of physical, 207 of emotional, 135 of neglect, 87 of financial, 85 of domestic violence, 76 of institutional, 69 of racial and four of spiritual/ritual.
There were also 126 reports made where the category is “not-stated”.
In Nottingham and Derby 225 safeguarding concerns were reported. In some cases, multiple concerns could have been submitted about one individual.
The church has said that a high number does not necessarily indicate more abuse, with at least one other district reporting high numbers because of good record keeping.
Seventy active ministers from Nottingham and Derby were contacted, of which 68 replied.
The independent inquiry was led by Jane Stacey, former deputy chief executive of Barnado’s.
She said: “There are many lessons to be learnt, but the most challenging are those that require a significant culture change throughout the church, and particularly for ministers and church leaders. The Church will need further courage to implement the review’s recommendations, which are far-reaching and call for major changes in both practice and culture.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
UNITED KINGDOM
ITV
A report into allegations of historical abuse within the Methodist Church has been published.
It covers physical and sexual abuses cases, dating back to the 1950s.
In the UK and Channel Islands, there was a total of nearly 2,000 reports of abuse. Seven of those cases were reported by people in the Channel Islands.
The report shows a large number of the cases concerned the abuse of children, and many were of a sexual nature:
34% Of victims were under age 18
46% Of victims were female
200 Cases of alleged abuse by Church Ministers
276 Cases of alleged abuse by Church lay employees
914 Cases of reported sexual abuse
The Church has said it wants to be open about the past, and to improve safeguarding procedures in the future.
It has also apologised for failing to protect children and adults.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
UNITED KINGDOM
Express
By TOM BATCHELOR
The Methodist Church in Britain has offered an “unreserved apology” for its systemic failure to protect youngsters dating back to the 1950s.
Leading child safety charity NSPCC described the findings as a “horrifying catalogue of abuse”, adding: “A vast number of victims must have endured appalling experiences while the Church refused to listen to their pleas for help.”
Responding to the shocking 100-page report, the Church said it was now committed to introducing safeguards for children.
The investigation, which has taken three years, has led to six police investigations into abuse, with the NSPCC warning that “abuse was still being inflicted in recent years”.
The Church said it was “deeply regrettable” that ministers had “not always listened properly” to those who had suffered abuse.
Rev Dr Martyn Atkins, general secretary of the Methodist Conference, said: “On behalf of the Methodist Church in Britain I want to express an unreserved apology for the failure of its current and earlier processes fully to protect children, young people and adults from physical and sexual abuse inflicted by some ministers in Full Connexion and members of the Methodist 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.
UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Press Association
Thursday 28 May 2015
The Methodist Church in Britain has apologised for failing to protect children and adults after an investigation uncovered nearly 2,000 reports of physical and sexual abuse within the institution dating to 1950.
The MCB, which published the findings of the independent inquiry on Thursday, said it wanted to be open about the past and to have stronger safeguarding procedures in the future.
Rev Dr Martyn Atkins, its general secretary and secretary of the Methodist Conference, said: “On behalf of the Methodist Church in Britain, I want to express an unreserved apology for the failure of its current and earlier processes fully to protect children, young people and adults from physical and sexual abuse inflicted by some ministers in Full Connexion and members of the Methodist Church. That abuse has been inflicted by some Methodists on children, young people and adults is and will remain a deep source of grief and shame to the church.”
He described it as “deeply regrettable” that the church had “not always listened properly to those abused” nor had it always cared for them. “In respect of these things we have, as a Christian church, clearly failed to live in ways that glorify God and honour Christ,” he said. “I am certain that the Methodist Conference will want to resolve to do all in its power to improve its systems to protect children, young people and adults from abuse within the life of the church and on church premises, and to review them diligently on a regular basis.”
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.
COLORADO
Montrose Press
By Katharhynn Heidelberg Daily Press Senior Writer
The trial for Jeremias Quintero, who is accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy, has been reset from its June date to October.
Quintero is charged with sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust and with sexual exploitation of a child.
He denies allegations that he molested the teen and showed him pornography in 2013, at which time Quintero was the pastor of an apostolic church in Delta and Glenwood Springs.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror
28 MAY 2015
BY RYAN HOOPER
The British arm of the Methodist Church has sensationally apologised for failing to protect children and adults, after garnering almost 2,000 complaints of physical and sexual abuse since the 1950s.
In a 100-page report, published today, the church said it wanted to be honest and open about the past.
The church was also keen to ensure that mistakes from the past can be learned from in the future.
Rev Dr Martyn Atkins, general secretary of the Methodist Conference said: “On behalf of the Methodist Church in Britain I want to express an unreserved apology for the failure of its current and earlier processes fully to protect children, young people and adults from physical and sexual abuse inflicted by some ministers in Full Connexion and members of the Methodist Church.
“That abuse has been inflicted by some Methodists on children, young people and adults is and will remain a deep source of grief and shame to the 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.
UNITED KINGDOM
The Methodist Church in Britain
28 May 2015
Courage, Cost & Hope: The Report on the Past Cases Review, 2013-2015
News: Church issues ‘full and unreserved apology’ to abuse survivors
____
Background to the review
THE PAST CASES REVIEW SUBMISSIONS OFFICIALLY ENDED ON THE 24TH DECEMBER 2014. ANY PAST CONCERNS (AS WITH CURRENT CONCERNS) SHOULD BE REPORTED DIRECTLY TO YOUR DISTRICT SAFEGUARDING OFFICER.
SEE THE MAIN SAFEGUARDING PAGE FOR YOUR DISTRICT SAFEGUARDING OFFICER CONTACT DETAILS
“The Church needs to be sure that it has revisited cases using the benefit of hindsight, to be sure that no one has mistakenly left situations where vulnerable people may remain at risk. This is a great opportunity to see what went well, as well as to learn from mistakes we may have made, alongside reviewing the safety of past cases.”
Elizabeth Hall, Safeguarding Adviser (Child & Adult Protection) for the Church of England & the Methodist Church in Britain.
The Church aims to review all ‘safeguarding cases’ since 1950. For the purposes of the review, a ‘safeguarding concern’ is defined as any concern that a child or adult may be at risk, be suffering or have suffered abuse, or that someone represents a risk of abuse to others.
The review invites anyone from the districts with any knowledge of a previous or current concern, to respond.
The Church has commissioned an independent expert who will review all the responses and advise the Church on any action that needs to be taken.
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UNITED KINGDOM
The Methodist Church in Britain
A. BACKGROUND
The Methodist Conference in 2010 adopted replies to Memorials 35 and 36 that accepted the need for a review of past child protection cases, something to which the Methodist Council was already committed, and asked for a strategy for such a review process to be presented to the Methodist Council and for progress to be reported to the Conference in 2011.
The 2011 Conference approved the outline plan for the Past Safeguarding Cases Review (2011 Conference Agenda, pp. 119-129), which included proposals for a pilot to be based in the Wales Synod and Leeds District.
The following remit was agreed:
Remit – what is a case?
It is suggested that ‘case’ is defined as a ‘safeguarding concern’.
The Church of England focused its work, which started in 2007, on child protection cases. Since that date, the work with adults who may be vulnerable has developed in importance. The Methodist Church has just published a new policy ‘Safeguarding Adults’. It is therefore proposed that this review incorporate harm to adults.
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UNITED KINGDOM
The Methodist Church in Britain
Full report available here
The Methodist Church in Britain has today published the report of an independent review of past safeguarding cases related to the Church from 1950 to 2014.
Speaking on behalf of the Church, the Secretary of the Methodist Conference and General Secretary the Revd Dr Martyn Atkins has issued a full and unreserved apology to survivors and victims of abuse in response to the report:
“On behalf of the Methodist Church in Britain I want to express an unreserved apology for the failure of its current and earlier processes fully to protect children, young people and adults from physical and sexual abuse inflicted by some ministers in Full Connexion and members of the Methodist Church. That abuse has been inflicted by some Methodists on children, young people and adults is and will remain a deep source of grief and shame to the Church.
“We have not always listened properly to those abused or cared for them, and this is deeply regrettable. In respect of these things we have, as a Christian Church, clearly failed to live in ways that glorify God and honour Christ.
“I am certain that the Methodist Conference will want to resolve to do all in its power to improve its systems to protect children, young people and adults from abuse within the life of the Church and on Church premises, and to review them diligently on a regular basis.”
The independent Past Cases Review considered all safeguarding cases for which there were written records and those recalled from memory by ministers and members of the Church going back to 1950. These included cases that occurred within a church context as well as those which were reported to the church as a matter of pastoral concern but which occurred away from the church.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post
The Methodist Church in Britain has apologised for failing to protect children and adults following nearly 2,000 reports of physical and sexual abuse within the institution dating back to the 1950s.
Publishing a 100-page report today, the Methodist Church in Britain said it wanted to be open about the past and to have stronger safeguarding procedures in the future.
Rev Dr Martyn Atkins, general secretary of the Methodist Conference said: “On behalf of the Methodist Church in Britain I want to express an unreserved apology for the failure of its current and earlier processes fully to protect children, young people and adults from physical and sexual abuse inflicted by some ministers in Full Connexion and members of the Methodist Church.
“That abuse has been inflicted by some Methodists on children, young people and adults is and will remain a deep source of grief and shame to the 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.
TEXAS
WOAI
A salacious civil lawsuit, accusing the San Antonio catholic archdiocese and two high profile priests of sexual abuse and the following cover-up, has been filed in Bexar County.
The unnamed male claims that, between 1980 and 1983, he was living in an orphanage steps away from Assumption Seminary. He was befriended by a student, named Brother Jesus Dominguez, who would help him with homework and take him out to restaurants.
“For about two years, Brother Dominguez would end our outing by taking me back to his dormitory quarters, where he would often fondle and masturbate my penis,” the lawsuit, obtained by Newsradio 1200 WOAI, reads.
It goes on to say that Brother Dominguez took the victim and a friend to Disneyland, where they faced about one month of abuse. When he questioned the abuse, the lawsuits claims Brother Dominguez would fake a heart attack or, on another occasion, threaten to kill them both.
The lawsuit reads that the victim confided in father Virgilio Elizondo, but was once again sexually assaulted.
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AUSTRALIA
WA Today
Following another priest’s sworn evidence that contradicted his own, Gerald Ridsdale changes his story about approaching now-Cardinal George Pell.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
AUSTRALIA
ABC News
Child sexual abuse inquiry: Notorious paedophile Gerald Ridsdale raped girl at home he shared with George Pell, ‘and another priest heard’
By court reporter Peta Carlyon
Notorious paedophile Gerald Ridsdale molested an 11-year-old girl in the home he once shared with other priests, including now Cardinal George Pell, an inquiry into child sexual abuse has been told.
Ridsdale, an 81-year-old former priest, was back in the witness box for a second day at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Ballarat.
The inquiry heard the defrocked priest abused the girl at the Ballarat East presbytery in the 1970s, where he was living with a number of other priests, including Australia’s now most senior Catholic leader.
The inquiry heard the girl went to look at the rock collection in Ridsdale’s bedroom, but saw a pornographic magazine and ran away.
When Ridsdale caught up to her, he raped her.
Court documents read out at the inquiry revealed the girl believed another priest was there and heard her being assaulted, but did not intervene.
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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian
Oliver Milman
@olliemilman
Thursday 28 May 2015
Convicted paedophile Gerald Ridsdale has been questioned over the sexual abuse of a young girl in a house he shared with George Pell, Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric.
At a royal commission hearing in the Victorian city of Ballarat on Thursday, Ridsdale, who has been in jail for child sex offences since 1994, was asked about a further conviction last year for an assault on a 10 or 11-year-old girl in 1972 or 1973.
The judge in the case remarked in sentencing that “this complainant believes another priest was present for a short time while you were sexually assaulting her and must have been aware of the assault but did not intervene”.
Under questioning from Gail Furness, counsel assisting the royal commission, Ridsdale said he did not remember the incident but accepted he committed the offence and that another priest may have been present.
Asked with whom he was living at the time, Ridsdale said: “Well, I said I didn’t remember any of the priests who were there with me but you tell me that George Pell was there at the same time so I have to accept that, that George Pell was there, but I don’t remember any of the others.”
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AUSTRALIA
The Age
‘Another priest’ present when Gerald Ridsdale abused a child in his bedroom, royal commission hears
May 28, 2015
Jane Lee, Rania Spooner
Another priest was present when Gerald Ridsdale raped a child in his bedroom in a house he shared with other priests, including George Pell, a royal commission has heard.
Ridsdale told the royal commission he could not remember who the priest was.
Counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness, SC, asked Ridsdale about his abuse of a child in his bedroom at St Alipius’ presbytery, where he lived with George Pell in the early 1970s. Ridsdale has accepted that he lived with Pell at the time, but has told the commission he cannot remember having any dealings with him.
Between 1972 and 1973, he abused a girl after she followed him into his bedroom to see his rock collection.
The girl believed that there was another priest there for a short time while Ridsdale sexually abused her, but did not intervene.
“I accept that’s what she believed,” Ridsdale said.
Counsel assisting the commission said “can you help us with who was the priest?”
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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail
By AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
Two Sydney archbishops knew of pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale’s “sexual problems” and that he should be kept away from children, an inquiry has heard.
The child sex abuse royal commission has also heard allegations raised during Ridsdale’s last court case that a victim believed another priest walked in while Ridsdale was sexually assaulting her.
Ballarat Bishop Ronald Mulkearns also knew Ridsdale was committing crimes and abusing children, the commission heard.
Ridsdale was sent out of Victoria, effectively to a desk job in Sydney, to get him away from parishes and access to children, senior counsel assisting the commission Gail Furness SC said on Thursday.
Documents before the commission show Bishop Mulkearns discussed with the new Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal Edward Clancy the conditions of Ridsdale’s transfer to Sydney, as agreed under his predecessor Cardinal Sir James Freeman.
The conditions were that Ridsdale worked at the Catholic Enquiry Centre, had no contact with children and continued with counselling.
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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now
By Megan Neil
AAP
EVEN Gerald Ridsdale says he should never have been a priest.
THE 81-year-old says he’s sorry “so many others” could have been saved had Catholic Church figures who knew he was abusing children gone to police.
Two Ballarat bishops knew of Ridsdale’s crimes, one as early as 1961, and two Sydney archbishops knew he had “sexual problems” and should be kept away from children, an inquiry has heard.
Ridsdale was moved between numerous Victorian parishes before being sent to a desk job in Sydney, a move senior counsel assisting the royal commission Gail Furness SC said was designed to get him away from parishes and access to children.
Documents before the child sex abuse royal commission show Ballarat Bishop Ronald Mulkearns first agreed on conditions for Ridsdale’s transfer with the Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal Sir James Freeman.
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AUSTRALIA
SBS
Source: AAP
28 MAY 2015
The family of a boy abused by pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale in NSW visit him in jail in Victoria, not knowing their son was molested, the royal commission has heard.
Ridsdale said he could not remember offending against a child when he went to live at White Cliffs in NSW, after stepping down from parish work in 1988.
“I can’t think of anyone that I did,” he told the child sex abuse royal commission’s Ballarat inquiry on Thursday.
Senior counsel assisting the commission Gail Furness SC said there was a family Ridsdale met and became friendly with.
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NEW YORK
Watertown Daily Times
PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2015
WATERTOWN — The former pastor of Smithville Baptist Church was sentenced Wednesday in Jefferson County Court to 10 years’ probation supervision for having sexual contact with a 9-year-old girl in 2008.
Thomas W. Wilson, 63, of 20560 Weaver Road, was also ordered to register with the state as a Level 1 sex offender after pleading guilty March 24 to first-degree sexual abuse.
He had been charged in January with having sexual contact with the youth July 6, 2008, in Sackets Harbor. State police said at the time of Mr. Wilson’s arrest that the incident occurred behind the Lake Ontario Playhouse in Sackets Harbor.
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AUSTRALIA
The Age
May 28, 2015
Rania Spooner
Paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale has conceded he shared meals with George Pell and chatted with him when the pair lived together in the ’70s, but denied telling the prominent Catholic leader that he was abusing children.
The admission comes after he told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Wednesday, which was holding hearings in Ballarat, that he could not remember living with Cardinal Pell at all.
Records show they lived together for about a year.
The commission has also heard that Cardinal Pell was present at a September 1982 meeting involving three other senior clerics – including then-Bishop Ronald Mulkearns – who had all received complaints about Ridsdale’s behaviour towards children.
At the meeting there was a discussion about removing Ridsdale from the Victorian town of Mortlake – where he has since admitted abusing more than 50 children – and moving him to Sydney.
Ridsdale accepted the reason that he was moved was to get him away from Victorian parishes and limit his access to children.
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AUSTRALIA
7 News
Megan Neil
May 28, 2015
Pedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale says he did not tell then-Father George Pell that he was abusing children.
Ridsdale and Pell lived in the Ballarat East presbytery together for about a year in the early 1970s.
Ridsdale told the child abuse royal commission he would have chatted with Father Pell but he did not tell him about his issues with children since his time in the seminary.
“No I don’t think so,” Ridsdale told the commission’s Ballarat inquiry on Thursday.
The commission has heard Ballarat Bishop Ronald Mulkearns told a meeting of his advisers, the College of Consultors, that it had become necessary to move Ridsdale from the parish of Mortlake in 1982.
Commission chair Justice Peter McClellan said it was incredible Ridsdale could not remember his discussions with Bishop Mulkearns about being removed.
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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
live stream
Former priest Gerald Ridsdale continues his testimony for a second day.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald
Lord Patten of Barnes’ lecture for the English and Welsh bishops’ World Communications Day
The Invitation
Shortly after the 2010 election, I was asked by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, if I would help to organise the visit of Emeritus Pope Benedict to the United Kingdom. This naturally brought me into regular contact with Vatican officials. I had visited the Vatican before as a Minister and European Commissioner and met both Pope St John Paul and some of his officials. But the events of 2010 ensured more regular contact and some complicated discussions. I have to say, for example, that acting as a go-between with the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, and the Vatican was far from straightforward not least at the Edinburgh side of the partnership! But in the event, the visit of His Holiness went very well, above all for two reasons. First, the Pope himself – who impressed all who met him as a holy, scholarly, gentle intellectual with a remarkable facility for expressing complex issues in simple and beautiful language. Second, there were the congregations who came to the masses and vigils during the visit, representing as they did the depth and breadth of Catholicism in England and Scotland – every age, every social class and every ethnicity.
It was perhaps my encounters with Rome then, and my subsequent three year experience as the principal regulator of the BBC, that led to an unexpected phone call in July last year. I was telephoned out of the blue by Cardinal George Pell whom I had only seen once before preaching in his cathedral in Sydney at a Christmas morning mass a few years ago. I of course know as well that he was an Oxford alumnus, with a doctorate from the university and a formidable knowledge of English history especially of the 16th century. Cardinal Pell invited me to take the chair of a committee charged with reviewing the Holy See’s media operations and proposing new structures. This was related to the overall work he was doing to reform the Vatican’s financial and administrative structures which had become subjects of growing public and private concern.
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INDIANA
ABC 57
By Melissa Hudson
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – A Notre Dame professor and priest is a defendant in a lawsuit filed in San Antonio, Texas alleging he and another priest sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.
The priests named in the suit are Father Jesus Armando Dominguez and Father Virgilio Elizondo.
Notre Dame confirmed Elizondo is on the faculty, according to a statement by University Spokesman Dennis K. Brown..
We can confirm that Father Elizondo is on the faculty, but we have just learned of the allegation. We are reserving further comment until we examine the plaintiff’s San Antonio filing and make further inquiries.
The lawsuit says while living in an orphanage near the Assumption Seminary of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Father Dominguez, then still a student at seminary, began acting as a father figure to the victim and took him out to eat and to movies.
The victim alleges after these outings, Father Dominguez would take him back to the dormitory quarters and fondle him.
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TEXAS/INDIANA
WSBT
[with video[
Annie Chang
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –
Former students of Fr. Virgilio Elizondo, the Notre Dame professor and Texas priest accused of sexually abusing a boy in the 1980s, spoke to WSBT 22 about their teacher Wednesday.
Elizondo is named in a lawsuit filed last week in San Antonio. Court documents filed on behalf of the plaintiff, an unnamed man, accuse two priests of sexually molesting the man when he was a child.
The plaintiff, an orphan, claims he was regularly abused by a local priest named Fr. Jesse Dominguez, over a period of two years, until Dominguez moved away.
The plaintiff also claims he tried to confide in Elizondo about those experiences in 1983. The two were in the car together. That’s when, according to court documents, Elizondo allegedly reached over, kissed the minor, and began to “fondle the Plaintiff’s genitals.”
The suit names the ArchDiocese of San Antonio, accusing officials of trying to cover up the plaintiff’s story, as well as the two priests.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald
British peer offers scathing critique of the Holy See’s current communications structures
The British peer charged with the reform of the Vatican’s media operation has urged the Holy See to radically overhaul its communications.
Lord Patten of Barnes offered a scathing critique of the Vatican’s current media structures, saying they were unfit for the digital age.
Giving the English and Welsh bishops’ World Communications Day Lecture in London, he said that, while “the Church has cleaned up and cleared up the way it manages its finances, putting an appropriate emphasis on modern accountancy and auditing, including transparency”, communications had not received adequate attention.
He said: “It would be bizarre if the Vatican was to run its media with its eyes closed to the way every other media organisation is managed in the second decade of the 21st century.
“It would be beyond bizarre to deny the Vatican the sort of modern media operation that others – including existing national church organisations – take for granted.”
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ARKANSAS
Huffington Post
By Hilary Hanson
The Arkansas state trooper who reportedly gave the young Josh Duggar a “very stern talk” once had a Yahoo profile in which he detailed his own sexual interest in children, according to a 2009 court document.
The Pulaski County, Arkansas, “risk assessment” document, which is publicly available online and was posted by Jezebel on Wednesday, detailed the criminal history of the former officer, Joe Hutchens, who is now serving a 56-year sentence on child porn charges.
When Hutchens was still working as a trooper in 2006, Jim Bob Duggar approached him with the information that the teenaged Josh had sexually molested someone, according to a police report obtained by InTouch. Josh had, in fact, “forcibly fondled” five underage girls, some of whom were his sisters. Hutchens did not officially report the teen’s actions but instead gave him a “very stern talk,” the report said.
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CANADA
Ottawa Citizen
MARK KENNEDY, OTTAWA CITIZEN
Opposition party leaders are calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to show personal “leadership” in his government’s public response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) next week.
But it’s unclear if Harper will even participate in the closing events for the six-year probe of the aboriginal residential school system.
Harper’s involvement is considered important because he was the political leader who delivered a historic apology in the House of Commons in 2008 for the federal government’s role in the residential school saga.
Now, he will be faced with responding to recommendations from the commission that will tell the brutal truth of how 150,000 aboriginal children were stripped from their families for many decades by the federal government and sent to church-run schools where many suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
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UNITED STATES
Barrier Breaker
Matt Chandler: Let Us Reconcile You To Your Child Porn Viewing Ex, Or You’re Excommunicated
May 27, 2015 by Peter Mosley
So, this one pisses me off. It pisses me off because it shows, clearly, the oppressiveness of the concept of Christian grace.
People think that “grace” is the most wonderful concept in Christendom. But it’s the most offensive, in my opinion, because it is a tool the church can use to give you no recourse against people who have profoundly hurt you. It is a way the church can say you HAVE to be OK with something someone did that was profoundly offensive. Most common — among far right movements like Quiverfull and within the Catholic Church — it seems, is the forced forgiveness of child sexual abuse.
You think child sexual abuse is bad? Get over it. God forgave that person (especially if it is a man). Move along; nothing to see here. Oh, you’re not a Christian? You’re LGBT? Sorry, but the church is going to bear down on you, hard, and say that you’re an ugly-hearted degenerate who is unable to control his or her sexual desires around children, whether there is proof that you actually or more at risk for molesting children or not. Sorry, our magic wand of God’s grace isn’t bestowed to you, sinner. But repent and say that our imaginary friend who loves you so much he wants to control every aspect of your life is the ruler of the universe, and we can use him to force people to be OK with whatever child you decide to sexually abuse.
And people deny this is true when it is right in front of our faces and has happened for years. Louis CK has a skit in which the Catholic Church is portrayed as an excuse for priests to “fuck little boys in the ass,” which has a strong ring of truth to it.
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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, May 27
Statement by Mary Caplan of New York City, SNAP Leader, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 917 439 4187, mcaplan682@aol.com )
We’re very grateful to the Horace Mann alums and victims who have painstakingly and courageously put this report together. Kids are safer because of their courage and hard work.
But of course Horace Mann officials, not Horace Mann victims, should have shown this courage and done this hard work. Tragically, they refused. They also refused to cooperate with this investigation in any way.
We support these victims in their recommendations for reform and prevention, especially regarding the statute of limitations.
One in four girls and one in eight boys is molested. So clearly, what our society is doing now to stop predators and protect kids, especially in churches and schools, is failing.
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NEW YORK
New York Daily News
BY GINGER ADAMS OTIS
As many as 64 students at an upscale Bronx prep school Horace Mann were abused by as many as 22 faculty and staff in a decades-long sex abuse scandal, according to an independent report released Wednesday.
The comprehensive report was the result of an investigation funded by Horace Mann alumni and conducted by Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder — who noted throughout her findings the school refused to
Snyder had to rely primarily on the testimony of alleged sex abuse victims, she said. …
l Included among the abusers — both men and women — were a headmaster, coaches, teachers, a school chaplain, a dean of guidance and department heads.
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CHILE
Iglesia – Conferencia Episcopal de Chile
Al presentar el texto, el secretario general de la Conferencia Episcopal, mons. Cristián Contreras Villarroel, obispo de Melipilla, explicó que desde el año 2002, la CECh se ha planteado como un desafío prioritario abordar la problemática del abuso sexual de menores de edad, tanto en la Iglesia como en la sociedad chilena.
Tras el primer Protocolo del año 2003 para enfrentar estas situaciones, actualizado y complementado el año 2011, los Obispos redactaron, a petición de la Santa Sede, el documento de Líneas guía, es decir, procedimientos claros y coordinados en el manejo de los casos de abuso, tanto para asistir a las víctimas como para formar a la comunidad eclesial en la protección de los menores de edad.
El texto fue revisado por la Santa Sede y su versión final fue aprobada en la 109ª Asamblea Plenaria, celebrada en abril pasada. Lleva por título “Cuidado y Esperanza. Líneas Guía de la Conferencia Episcopal de Chile para tratar los casos de abusos sexuales a menores de edad”.
Mons. Contreras Villarroel informó que el pasado domingo 24 de mayo, en la solemnidad de Pentecostés, la fiesta del Espíritu Santo, todos los obispos diocesanos de Chile firmaron el decreto que promulga estas Líneas Guía como norma oficial en cada una de las circunscripciones. Explicó que las nuevas Normas comenzarán a regir el 16 de julio, solemnidad de Nuestra Señora del Carmen.
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CHILE
Ultima Hora
[Presentadas Líneas guía para casos de abusos a menores de edad – Iglesia]
[Chilean Catholic bishops deliver guidance for dealing with cases of sexual abuse.The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Chile on Wednesday presented the document “Care and Hope,” a guide to procedures for handling cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.The text drafted by the Chilean bishops was developed at the request of the Vatican which in May 2011 sent a letter to the Episcopal Conferences worldwide requesting general guidelines for assisting victims of abuse and to prevent such cases. “This I is the result of a process undertaken by the church in Chile one of the most painful moments in its history. The abuse of minors perpetrated by clerics certainly mark a before and after in the Chilean church life,” said Bishop Alejandro Goic, vice president of the Episcopal Conference.]
La Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Chile entregó este miércoles el documento “Cuidado y Esperanza”, una guía con procedimientos para el manejo de los casos de abusos sexuales dentro de la iglesia católica.
EFE
El texto redactado por los obispos chilenos se elaboró a petición del Vaticano, que en mayo de 2011 remitió una carta a las Conferencias Episcopales de todo el mundo solicitando líneas generales para asistir a las víctimas de abusos y para prevenir este tipo de casos.
“Este es el fruto de un proceso emprendido por la iglesia en Chile en uno de los momentos más dolorosos de su historia. Los abusos contra menores perpetrados por clérigos marcan, ciertamente, un antes y un después en la vida eclesial chilena”, sostuvo el vicepresidente de la Conferencia Episcopal, monseñor Alejandro Goic.
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TEXAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, May 27
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com)
Notre Dame officials should immediately suspend a priest on their faculty who is accused of child sex crimes. They, along with San Antonio Catholic officials, should aggressively seek out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by the cleric or cover ups by his church supervisors.
[WSBT]
A high-profile priest and professor, Fr. Virgilio Elizondo, is accused in a new civil lawsuit of sexually assaulting a child in Texas in the 1980s. We commend this brave individual who is taking action to protect others and expose those who commit and conceal heinous crimes against children.
More than a dozen years ago, US Catholic officials pledged to promptly suspend credibly accused child molesting clerics. This new suit, we believe, constitutes a credible allegation.
Fr. Elizondo should be removed from his post and sent to a remote, secure, independently-run treatment facility so that kids can be safer. And anyone with information or suspicions about clergy sex crimes or cover ups should call secular authorities, not church officials.
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ARKANSAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, May 27
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 503 0003, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )
It’s time for the Duggar family to break their silence about admitted child sex crimes by one of their own, especially in light of new revelations that they sued an Arkansas child safety agency. And it’s time for an independent law enforcement investigation into this serious matter.
[People]
They should also stop minimizing Josh Duggar’s crimes by calling them “teenaged mistakes.” And every single person who saw, suspected or suffered crimes or cover ups by the Duggars or their church colleagues should find the courage to call police and prosecutors now.
Josh, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar obviously did not promptly report suspicions or admissions of child sex crimes to law enforcement. Josh has made a vague, brief apology. His parents, however, have not – and one could argue, because they were adults at the time, they are even more culpable than their son was.
They have thus forfeited any moral authority they may have had.
But there are many ways to skin a cat. And just because law enforcement authorities were thwarted years ago doesn’t necessarily mean they are thwarted still. It’s possible that the Duggars might be prosecuted for crimes like the intimidation of witnesses, the destruction of evidence, or the obstruction of justice. So we call on Arkansas secular officials to investigate this troubling situation so that the truth might be exposed, future cover ups might be deterred and faith in the justice system might be restored.
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INDIANA
The Republic
By TOM COYNE Associated Press
May 27, 2015
SOUTH BEND, Indiana — A Texas lawsuit accuses a Roman Catholic priest who’s a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame and a former priest of sexually abusing an underage boy more than 30 years ago.
The lawsuit filed Friday in San Antonio, Texas, alleges the unidentified boy was sexually abused by ex-priest Jesus Armando Dominguez while he was a student at Assumption Seminary of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. The lawsuit alleges he was sexually abused again when he reported the abuse to the Rev. Virgilio Elizondo, now a Notre Dame professor. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Notre Dame spokesman Paul Browne said Wednesday the university was “reserving comment until further inquiries are completed.”
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AUSTRALIA
Gazette Herald
Pedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale will resume giving proof for a second day earlier than the kid intercourse abuse royal fee’s Ballarat inquiry.
On Wednesday, he revealed how he had a longtime sample of discovering victims, befriending their households and establishing drop-in centres to lure weak younger boys.
However, victims have been disillusioned that his testimony revealed only a few particulars about who within the church knew of his offending and moved him from parish to parish.
Instead Ridsdale testified that he couldn’t even recall sharing a presbytery with Cardinal George Pell in 1970s.
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NEW MEXICO
KRQE
GALLUP, N.M. (AP) – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup has incurred over $2.25 million of legal fees and expenses in its ongoing bankruptcy reorganization case.
The Gallup Independent reports that the cost figures are from billing statements submitted to the federal Bankruptcy Court by attorneys, accountants, insurance researchers and real estate appraisers.
Facing mountain lawsuits alleging clergy sex abuse, the diocese filed in November 2013 for protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.
The total cost figure of $2.25 million includes $57,000 already paid by the district. The remaining fees and expenses won’t be paid until the diocese has an approved plan for reorganization.
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OHIO
Ohio.com
By John Harper, Northeast Ohio Media Group
on May 22, 2015
NORTHFIELD CENTER TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The sentencing of a former teacher and school board president on 15 child porn charges has opened old wounds for parents and former students at St. Barnabas School and church in Northfield Center.
Decades of child abuse at St. Barnabas and other catholic schools came to light 13 years ago when the Rev. Daniel McBride, the only priest indicted in a sweeping grand-jury investigation of sex-abuse complaints in the Cleveland Catholic Diocese. McBride was sentenced to three years’ probation for having sex with a teen prostitute last year
The diocese issued a statement saying McBride’s case was “a personal matter and was never connected with the exercise of his priestly ministry.”
Now the Rev. Ralph Wiatrowsky of St. Barnabas has asked a judge to reconsider sentencing former Nordonia Hills school board President Steve Bittel to prison after 67 child porn files were found on his computer. And the letter has some parents outraged.
Angela Mitchell was a student at St. Barnabas in the 1980s, and while she was never a victim of sexual abuse, she says she knows others who were. She is one of 1,600 local parents who have joined a private Facebook group to coordinate efforts asking the Diocese of Cleveland to reconsider Wiatrowsky’s job.
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ARKANSAS
In Touch Weekly
DUGGAR BREAKING NEWS: DISGRACED COP WHO DIDN’T REPORT MOLESTATION SHOOTS DOWN JIM BOB’S STORY
The disgraced Arkansas state trooper who was first alerted to the Josh Duggar molestation allegations is contradicting the story Jim Bob Duggar later told Springdale, Ark., police, In Touch Weekly is reporting exclusively in the new issue that goes on sale today.
In 2006, Jim Bob told Springdale police that he took Josh to see State Trooper Joseph Hutchens and that Josh “admitted to Hutchens what [Josh, redacted] had done,” according to the police report, obtained exclusively by In Touch through the Freedom of Information Act. At this point, there were five victims and multiple molestations by Josh.
But Hutchens, in his only interview since the Duggar scandal has been uncovered, says that Jim Bob told him about only one incident of molestation and that, in part, is why he decided not to report Josh to the abuse hotline.
Hutchens is serving 56 years in prison for child pornography and admits his “reputation is shot.” He was interviewed by a representative of a local law firm at In Touch’s request and promised nothing in return for his recollections.
Hutchens’ failure to report the abuse caused the police to halt their 2006 investigation because the statute of limitations ran out.
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FLORIDA
WPBF
[with video]
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —Both sides are questioning a pool of potential jurors in the Stephen Budd sexual molestation trial which began Tuesday.
Budd, 53, was a fourth grade teacher at Rosarian Academy in 2006-2007 when two former students now say he coerced them into performing sex acts on him and each other, in exchange for “Budd Bucks.”
The fake money with Budd’s picture on it could be traded for candy and prizes.
The girls told police the abuse went on for months in the classroom, where Budd would have them perform sex acts on him while they crouched under his desk during class. They said he also had them perform sex on each other and take nude pictures with the class Polaroid.
One girl said she would throw her clothing away after it was soiled for fear her parents would discover it.
The girls said they took a vow of silence, but one came forward recently after she said Budd contacted her on Facebook.
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ARKANSAS
The Raw Story
TRAVIS GETTYS
27 MAY 2015
The former state trooper said Jim Bob Duggar – a one-time friend of his – lied when he brought his teenage son to him to discuss molestation claims, according to reports.
The reality show star said he took his eldest son, Josh Duggar, to meet with Joseph Hutchens, then an Arkansas state trooper and now serving a 56-year prison term for child pornography, a year after learning the teen had molested his sisters and at least one other girl.
But Hutchens said the patriarch of the “19 Kids and Counting” family lied to him and said the teen had molested only one girl, reported the InTouch Weekly.
“Jim Bob explained to me that Josh inappropriately touched [a victim] while she was asleep,” Hutchens told the magazine. “He said it only happened one time.”
Hutchens gave Josh Duggar “a very stern talk,” according to his father, but took no official action – but he told the magazine that he might have done more if he realized the extent of the abuse going on in the family’s home.
“I am a Christian myself, and I worry that if something else had happened, I would have been responsible,” said Hutchens, who was convicted four years later on child porn charges.
He served three years in prison but was arrested shortly after his 2010 release on four additional counts for distributing child pornography and remains in prison – where he spoke to an Arkansas lawyer on behalf of InTouch as part of an investigative report.
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CITTA DEL VATICANO
La Repubblica
CITTÀ DEL VATICANO .
Un summit con inviti mirati, nel cuore di Roma, per discutere sui temi più sensibili del prossimo Sinodo sulla famiglia, compresa quale pastorale adottare verso le coppie omosessuali e i divorziati risposati. Un incontro programmato da tempo e a cui sono stati invitati esponenti di primo piano della Chiesa tedesca, francese e svizzera, e che cade significativamente oggi, quarant’otto ore dopo quel sì alle nozze gay dell’Irlanda che ha aperto in tutto il mondo cattolico una riflessione che non può essere scontata: «Ci dobbiamo fermare, guardare ai fatti e metterci in ascolto dei giovani. Non si può negare l’evidenza », ha dichiarato l’arcivescovo di Dublino, Diarmuid Martin, alla televisione nazionale irlandese. Del resto, anche Francesco l’ha detto a chiare lettere: il Sinodo non è un Parlamento nel quale fazioni diverse si contrappongono.
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ROMA
La Repubblica
ROMA .
«Cosa possiamo dire a una gioventù che non si ritrova negli orientamenti della Chiesa? Come dobbiamo impostare una pratica dell’eros? Qui ci troviamo di fronte a problemi con cui fare i conti, altrimenti la gente finirà per allontanarsi».
L’allarme pacato lanciato a metà lavori da un sacerdote e docente scuote i tavoli messi a rettangolo fra i 50 convenuti all’Università Gregoriana di Roma, nella giornata di studio organizzata per il Sinodo dei vescovi previsto in autunno. “Matrimonio e divorzio”, “Sessualità come espressione dell’amore” sono i titoli su cui si discute. Temi di un’attualità bruciante, dopo il sì del referendum in Irlanda sulle nozze gay. Ci sono molti big della Chiesa, come il cardinale Reinhard Marx, arcivescovo di Monaco di Baviera e capo dei vescovi tedeschi, l’arcivescovo di Marsiglia Georges Pontier che è presidente della Conferenza episcopale francese, quello di Havre, Brunin, il vescovo di Dresda, Koch, quello della Bassa Sassonia, Bode, lo svizzero Gmur, il segretario generale dei vescovi tedeschi Langendorfer, teologi emeriti e professori universitari come il presidente della Comunità di Sant’Egidio, Marco Impagliazzo. Tutti ospitati dal vice rettore della Gregoriana, padre Hans Zollner, e vincolati a non attribuire la paternità delle dichiarazioni agli intervenuti. Lavori a porte chiuse, a cui è stata invitata a partecipare, quale unico media italiano, La Repubblica.
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ROME
National Catholic Register
BY EDWARD PENTIN 05/26/2015
ROME — A one-day study meeting — open only to a select group of individuals — took place at the Pontifical Gregorian University on Monday with the aim of urging “pastoral innovations” at the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the Family in October.
Around 50 participants, including bishops, theologians and media representatives, took part in the gathering, at the invitation of the presidents of the bishops’ conferences of Germany, Switzerland and France — Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Bishop Markus Büchel and Archbishop Georges Pontier.
One of the key topics discussed at the closed-door meeting was how the Church could better welcome those in stable same-sex unions, and reportedly “no one” opposed such unions being recognized as valid by the Church.
Participants also spoke of the need to “develop” the Church’s teaching on human sexuality and called not for a theology of the body, as famously taught by St. John Paul II, but the development of a “theology of love.”
One Swiss priest discussed the “importance of the human sex drive,” while another participant, talking about holy Communion for remarried divorcees, asked: “How can we deny it, as though it were a punishment for the people who have failed and found a new partner with whom to start a new life?”
Marco Ansaldo, a reporter for the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, who was present at the meeting, said the words seemed “revolutionary, uttered by clergymen.”
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TEXAS
San Antonio Express-News
BY MICHELLE CASADY : MAY 27, 2015
SAN ANTONIO — A civil lawsuit that alleges sexual abuse on the part of two priests in the Archdiocese of San Antonio was filed this month in Bexar County Court.
Father Jesus Armando Dominguez and Father Virgilio Elizondo are named as defendants in the suit, alongside the Archdiocese of San Antonio and three archbishops, who, according to the allegations laid out in the 19-page suit, conspired to cover-up the abuses rather than report them to authorities.
The plaintiff, identified as John Doe, alleges he was sexually abused by Dominguez from 1980 until 1983 when he was living in an orphanage and Dominguez was attending seminary school at Assumption Seminary.
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INDIANA/TEXAS
WNDU
By: Brandon Kusz
A decorated priest and member of the University of Notre Dame faculty has been accused of sexually molesting a minor.
The allegations were made in a civil lawsuit filed May 22 in Bexar County, Texas.
The unnamed plaintiff alleges that Father Jesus Armando Dominguez and Father Virgilio Elizondo sexually molested him while he lived in a San Antonio orphanage in the early 1980s.
Elizondo, who became known as the “father of U.S. Latino religious thought,” has been a member of the Notre Dame faculty since 2002.
He was also presented with Notre Dame’s highest honor, the Laetare Medal, in 1997.
“I came from a neighborhood where no one thought I would make it out or amount to anything,” he said, in a quote posted on his Notre Dame faculty webpage. “Even as a boy, I knew I wanted to do something good for the world.”
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OHIO
Toledo News Now
[with video]
By Cristina Mutchler
(Toledo News Now) – Friday, the Diocese of Toledo issued a statement regarding a Maumee priest being accused of violating the diocesan code on sexual abuse of minors.
Reverend Samuel Punnoor of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church is now on administrative leave. And while he has not been formally charged with any crime, Lucas County Children Services is investigating.
The diocese says the allegations were brought forth on May 6 and immediately brought to the attention of Lucas County Children Services. Punnoor was addressed by Bishop Thomas and diocesan officials about the allegation last week after he returned from his home parish in India.
The diocese says this is the first allegation regarding Father Punnoor, who has served in the Diocese of Toledo since April 2011. They say he passed necessary background checks and completed ‘safe environment training.’ …
Representatives of the group SNAP, or ‘Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests,’ say that’s not enough.
“We think that at a bare minimum, the Bishop should be reaching out and encouraging parishioners and employees and former employees and former parishioners to speak up. That it’s both their Christian and civic duty to report any information they have to the police. We think they should be reporting all of this information to police and law enforcement officials rather than to church officials,” said Barbara Blaine, President of SNAP.
The Toledo Diocese says it’s fully cooperating with the Children Services investigation. After it is complete and a report is giving on the findings, an ecclesiastical investigation will be open through the diocese.
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MINNESOTA
Sun Current
By Andrew Wig
May 27, 2015
A Richfield priest is on leave after an allegation of sexual abuse surfaced.
Rev. Gerald Dvorak, 61, a pastor at St. Peter’s Church in Richfield, is the subject of a “credible allegation” regarding the sexual abuse of a minor in the 1970s, according to a written statement from Archbishop John Nienstedt issued May 19.
Dvorak has been pastor at St. Peter’s since 2011 and was canonical administrator at Blessed Trinity Catholic School from 2011 to 2014, according to a list of Dvorak’s ministerial history provided by the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
That list dates Dvorak’s history with the ministry back to 1978, when he was a teaching parish seminarian at Saint Matthew’s Catholic Church in Saint Paul. The allegations pertain to Dvorak’s role as a seminarian, according to a letter to St. Peter’s parishioners signed by Deacon Mark Johanns. However, Nienstedt’s statement does not indicate the location to which the allegation refers.
But Nienstedt’s statement did explain what the allegation against Dvorak means.
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NORTHERN IRELAND
Fermanagh Herald
LOCAL firebrand preacher Ivan Foster has launched a scathing attack on Irish Catholicism after the South’s landslide yes vote to legalising gay marriage saying the historic vote was a direct result of the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals.
Speaking after 62 per cent of people in the South voted in favour of changing the constitution to allow gay and lesbian couple to marry, the former minister of Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church went on to brand it as a “false religion” which has “cursed” Ireland.
In a statement sent to the Fermanagh Herald, the fundamentalist accused the South of defying God and “embracing sodomy”. “This has been done in defiance of God’s Word. That, of course, is hardly surprising since the people of the land have been under the heel of Romanism for centuries and have thereby been taught to pay scant heed to what the Bible says, irrespective of the allegiance to the Word of God that the Church of Rome professes.
“Romanism is a false religion which masquerades as the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. It has indoctrinated the Irish people in its falsehoods for centuries. What a curse its dark shadow has been to Ireland.
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UNITED STATES
Christian Today
Mark Woods CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 27 May 2015
he hit US reality TV series 19 Kids and Counting, now in its 10th season, is built around the Duggar family, whose parents Jim Bob and Michelle have brought their many children up according to a strictly conservative religious ethic.
They don’t allow their children to wear revealing clothing and practise ‘chaperoned courtship’ in which no physical contact is allowed. They are strict disciplinarians who have also become spokespeople for conservative causes such as the campaign against same-sex marriage, opposition to abortion and home-schooling children.
Now, however, one of the children – Josh Duggar, now married with three children – has been found to have molested five girls, reportedly some of his own sisters among them, when he was a teenager more than 10 years ago, in 2002-3. The case had expired under the statute of limitations by the time it was reported to the police in 2006 and the police report itself was ordered destroyed by a judge last week, though it has been widely leaked on the internet. …
So is there any way back for the Duggars? Perhaps: but this is what their defenders are getting wrong.
1. They’re minimising Josh Duggar’s offences. They seem to be saying that because he ‘repented’, everything’s OK. But you don’t avoid paying the price for wrongdoing just by saying the right things.
2. They aren’t talking about the victims. The focus is all on Josh and the Duggar family. Actually, five girls were involved too, and the impact on them is simply not known. They might have been deeply marked, or not at all, but it surely wasn’t the senior Duggars’ call to make.
3. They’re angry and defensive. The Duggar family has been inspirational for a lot of conservative evangelicals and the temptation is to defend them to the hilt. That makes them blind to the real issues. Yes, some of their critics might be godless liberals who just want to give them a good kicking, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong to criticise.
4. They aren’t admitting that the senior Duggars got it wrong. They seem to have thought the problem wasn’t a problem because they’d ‘dealt with it’. But they sidestepped the law. If they’d done the right thing, they might not have had a TV show but they wouldn’t be facing this firestorm. …
And this is what the Duggars’ attackers are getting wrong.
1. Some of them are driven by an irrelevant agenda. The Duggars are poster-children for everything liberal America hates: they’re outspoken evangelical Christians and conservative right-wingers who don’t believe in sexual permissiveness and are against homosexuality, abortion and gun control and are in favour of the death penalty. A lot of the critics are only too glad to see them take a tumble.
2. Some of them are angry because they think they’ve been betrayed. A lot of people looked up to the Duggars in a way that probably wasn’t very healthy. This was an American family that really seemed to work and that had traditional values. Finding out that they weren’t perfect hurt people, and that fuels the bitterness. Some people need to step back and dial it down.
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UNITED STATES
Daily Mail
[with copy of the police report]
By CHRIS SPARGO FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
A new report claims that last week’s unsealed police report that revealed the molestation of minors by Josh Duggar also exposed the fact that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar use a ‘rod’ to ‘spank’ their children.
Radar Online is reporting that one of the unnamed minors police spoke to in their investigation made this accusation when they said ‘mother and dad spank’ followed by ‘they have a rod.’
According to the site, this individual is telling ‘investigators about alleged abuse by Jim Bob and Michelle.’
The actual police report does not at any point identify the minor being questioned or the who the ‘mother and father’ they are referring to in their statement might be.
The report reads; ‘Inv. Taylor asked [name redacted] about getting spanked. [Name redacted] said that when [redacted] is bad that [redacted] mother and dad spank [redacted].
‘Inv. Taylor asked what they use to spank. [Redacted] said that they have a rod.
‘Inv. Taylor asked if they do this to all the kids [redacted] said yes.
‘Inv. Taylor asked if they leave any bruising [redacted] said no.’
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ARKANSAS
In Touch Weekly
DUGGAR MOLESTATION CASE — ANOTHER BOMBSHELL REVEALED: JOSH SUED THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
The Josh Duggar molestation case did not end when Springdale, Ark. police closed their investigation in 2006 because the statute of limitations had run out, In Touch Weekly is reporting exclusively.
Police referred the matter to the Families in Need of Services agency, which has jurisdiction over minors. The Department of Human Services (DHS) was then brought into the case, In Touch has learned. Nine months after those agencies entered the Duggar molestation case, Josh Duggar sued the Arkansas Department of Human Services. A trial was held on August 6, 2007.
The results of the investigation into the Duggars and Josh’s trial are sealed. But a source familiar with the Duggar investigation told In Touch it was likely that Josh “appealed the DHS decision or finding from their investigation.” The source notes that DHS had the authority to apply “restrictions or stipulations about him being at home with the victims.
“Josh would be considered an in-home offender, giving DHS the authority to do an investigation. As part of your appeal rights you can request a DHS hearing to challenge what they found and their ruling.”
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ARKANSAS
New York Daily News
BY KIRTHANA RAMISETTI
A new revelation has been made in the the Duggar family’s molestation scandal.
Josh Duggar sued the Arkansas Department of Human Services several months after the police closed their 2006 investigation because the statute of limitations had run out, In Touch Weekly reports.
The publication reports that after the Springdale, Ark., police department ended its probe into allegations that 14-year-old Duggar had molested five girls (including possibly his sisters) in 2002, police referred the issue to the Families in Need of Services agency, which looks into cases involving minors.
The Department of Human Services was also brought into case, the publication reports. Nine months after the two agencies looked into the matter, Duggar sued the Department of Human Services, with the trial taking place August 6, 2007.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Jewish News
The Chief Rabbi will hold a compulsory seminar for United Synagogue rabbis to help them respond to incidents of child abuse, following the conviction of a Charedi teacher.
Writing on his website this week in the wake of the trial of Todros Grynhaus, a 50-year-old father of 10 from Manchester who was found guilty on five counts of sexual abuse of girls as young as 14, Ephraim Mirvis stated: “The conviction of a prominent member of the Manchester Jewish community for sexual abuse is of immense significance.
“I would like to commend the victims and others who withstood tremendous pressure and gave evidence. I hope that their courage will inspire others to come forward in the future.
This kind of abuse is a stain on all of society and we are no less vulnerable to the scourge of sexual crimes than any other community.
“Further to previously held training seminars for rabbis, I will be writing this week to rabbis across the country, advising them of a mandatory, dedicated seminar that the United Synagogue is organising on behalf of its communities, in order to better prepare rabbis to identify and respond to incidents of child abuse in their communities and to reinforce the importance of being vigilant at all times. In addition, I am meeting with victims of abuse and campaigners in this area to seek views from them as to what more can be done to better protect vulnerable people in our communities.”
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UNITED KINGDOM
JTA
May 27, 2015
(JTA) — British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis called on the Jewish community to report allegations of sexual abuse “without delay.”
The statement was issued on Wednesday by the Office of the Chief Rabbi in the wake of the conviction last week of a well-known teacher at several Jewish schools for sexually assaulting in the 1990s two girls who came forward in 2013.
“Perpetrators of these crimes destroy lives, and every one of us shares in the responsibility to protect victims and potential victims. As such, we must not only ensure that all incidents are reported to the police without delay, but that we must do everything in our power to promote a culture whereby reporting such crimes to the relevant statutory authorities is supported and encouraged,” the rabbi said in his statement.
“I would like to commend the victims and others who withstood tremendous pressure and gave evidence. I hope that their courage will inspire others to come forward in the future,” Mirvis also said
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UNITED STATES
Thomas P. Doyle, J.C.D., C.A.D.C.
[note: This story does not link to a web site.]
May 26, 2015
Recently a prominent psychologist with over two decades of intense experience helping clergy abuse victims said that the most morally compromised group of people he knew of were the attorneys who represent the Catholic Church in the abuse cases. The recent pronouncement of Francis LoCoco, lead lawyer for the Milwaukee Archdiocese, confirms this opinion. “Let’s spend the money” he is quoted as saying, in reference to the 56 million dollars that Cardinal Dolan illegally and immorally tried to divert in the notorious Milwaukee bankruptcy proceedings. Lest the lawyers bear the brunt of the blame, the main culprits are the present archbishop, Listecki, and his predecessor, Dolan. The squadron of attorneys work for them and not the other way around.
When abuse survivors call attention to the stonewalling tactics and often-vicious attitudes of the Church’s lawyers, its not uncommon for the bishops to plead innocence, claiming that it’s the lawyers doing their job. But the lawyers are hired by and work for the bishop and not vice versa. The disgusting charade going on in Milwaukee was cooked up by and has been sustained by Dolan and Listecki. Thus far the Milwaukee lawyers have spent over $20 million dollars to stonewall the victims. Some bishops and church cheerleaders in this case and others have regularly tried to blame the victims and their lawyers, claiming they are only in it for the money. This is nonsense. The Church lawyers get paid by the hour, win or lose. Victims’ lawyers are paid on the contingency that the case will end in favor of the victim. I have known lawyers who represented victims who took major cuts so that their clients would end up with some respectable compensation. How many of the Church lawyers work sex abuse cases pro bono? The money the archbishop is encouraging his lawyers to squander comes from the People of God of the archdiocese.
The bankruptcy process was initiated over four years ago, on January 4, 2011 to be exact, two days before the archbishop was scheduled to be deposed. The church’s lawyers are challenging each and every claim of the 570 victims who have come forward. Many of the claimants were among the 200 deaf boys sexually violated by Fr. Lawrence Murphy at St. John’s School for the Deaf. These victims have been fighting for decades for some form of justice and what they have received instead has been vicious, dishonest and certainly unchristian revictimization.
The archbishops of Milwaukee going back to Cardinal Albert Meyer have all played a key role in making the Milwaukee Church unique in its hypocritical and narcissistic response to the havoc caused by its priests. Meyer was told about Lawrence Murphy way back in the mid fifties and sent him on retreat for a month. The Redemptorist priest who reported Murphy to Cardinal Meyer also reported his behavior to the Apostolic delegate in Washington so the Holy See effectively knew about Murphy way back then.
Archbishop Cousins, whose tenure lasted from 1958 to 1977, knew about Murphy and not only did nothing, but he threatened one of the deaf boys who reported Murphy and forced him to sign a letter of retraction.
Rembert Weakland was archbishop from 1977 to 2002. He was faced with reports not only about Murphy but several other Milwaukee priests. Weakland’s track record in responding to victims is far from stellar but at least he tried to get Murphy laicized with no success, thanks to former Pope Benedict and his cohort, Cardinal Bertone who refused Weakland’s request and allowed Murphy to live out his days in the dignity of his priesthood while his victims lived out their days in the agony of his abuse. Then came Dolan in 2002.
Dolan tried to deal with the sex abuse nightmare primarily with his “hail fellow well met” personality but his rhetoric and back-slapping fell flat in the face of what he was really up to. Bankruptcy was being used by some bishops as a way to avoid trials and the revelation of the truth that comes with them, as well as a way to limit the compensation given to victims. Although he would be gone when the bankruptcy process started Dolan obviously knew where it was all going. He diverted approximately $56 million dollars into a cemetery trust in 2007. When accused of trying to hide the money in 2011, he lashed out at victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson and accused him of spreading “groundless gossip.” Dolan’s lie was discovered when a letter he wrote to the Vatican in 2007 came to light….a letter in which he sought permission to transfer the $56 million to a restricted trust. Why? To quote his own words “I foresee an improved protection of these funds from and legal claim and liability.” A local judge, Rudolph Randa, ruled that the transfer was protected by the first amendment and that “removing some or all of these funds from the trust and placing them in the bankruptcy estate would undoubtedly put substantial pressure on Archbishop Listecki to modify his behavior and violate his beliefs.” Over two years later a federal appeals court ruled that Randa was not only wrong but should have removed himself from the case. The $56 million was back on the table. Now LoCoco and his fellow lawyers have declared that they plan on spending it all in litigation. Is this protracted and obscenely expensive process about achieving justice and assuring fair compensation for victims, as Archbishop Listecki has claimed in attempting to justify it? Not by a long shot!
In his narcissistic arrogance Listecki openly invited all who were sexually abused to step forward: “nothing will prevent me from making every possible effort at moving forward toward healing and resolution with those who have been harmed.” His real plan was to get them all to step up so that he could have his lawyers do everything possible to have their cases thrown out of court. The best comment on this comes from one of the victims: “These victims have already been betrayed by the Church in the most damaging ways imaginable. How could the archbishop, a man of God, then proceed to try to throw each and every one of their cases out of court? This action in effect re-abused and betrayed these fragile victims yet again.”
Judge Randa said that putting the cemetery trust millions back on the table would put pressure on Listecki to violate his beliefs. What beliefs? There is nothing even remotely Christian or even Catholic about the travesty he is presiding over. He’s a civil lawyer himself so he knows well that the millions spent thus far represent countless billable hours for the lawyers defending his strategy. This is tons of money they will take home whether they win or lose. The only belief that seems to be in danger of violation is the belief that the victims whose lives have already been severely damaged by the negligence of his predecessor, must now be pounded into the ground and defeated once and for all.
The Milwaukee bankruptcy has been a mockery of the American judicial process. It is an unconscionable abuse and subversion of the legal process, using it as a weapon to punish and further traumatize the victims. It has surely justified the pessimistic and negative image of civil attorneys and it has also made a mockery of the office of bishop. It is an example of the virus of clericalism at its virulent worst. What Dolan, Listecki and the phalanx of attorneys have completely lost sight of, in addition to the objective meaning if justice, is what this is really all about: several hundred young boys and girls who were believing and trusting Catholics and who were betrayed and violated in the worst imaginable ways by the very men they trusted. As their lives unfolded they had the courage to take the risk of confronting the Archdiocese. Rather than act like the Body of Christ, the leaders of this Church have come at the victims with every resource available to punish them for having had the audacity to demand that which their Church incessantly preaches about, justice and charity.
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IRELAND
Religion News Service
Paul F. Morrissey / USA Today | May 27, 2015
How is it possible that Ireland, one of the most Catholic countries in the world, voted overwhelmingly to legalize gay marriage in an historic vote on May 22?
Throughout the world, the Roman Catholic Church has made opposition to gay marriage its hallmark for the past few years, even as the momentum for “marriage equality” has grown in leaps and bounds. One reason that this stunning two-to-one approval has taken place in Ireland, the first country on the world to do so, is precisely because Ireland is so overwhelmingly Catholic.
Ireland, the source of Catholic missionaries throughout the word for hundreds of years, has suffered a drastic exodus of people from its church-going ranks since the sexual abuse scandal broke into public view during the past decade. The majority of Irish men and women may still call themselves Catholic, but they no longer accept the hierarchy as believable, particularly in matters of sexual morality. Thus, the stunning rejection of the church’s view of gay marriage as an invalid relationship in the eyes of God and the church. What the church teaches about sexuality is rejected almost as a duty. The church has no credibility in matters of sexuality in Ireland.
The Irish have been brought up by the Catholic Church to view marriage as a sacrament and that’s the reason they can shift sideways to see a same-sex relationship in the same God-blessed way. Because marriage is a beautiful commitment of love, taught to them by the church, the Irish can make the connection to two people of the same sex loving each other with a similar commitment. It is the love commitment they value, and have come to see in their friends and family members who are gay and lesbian as well. Love conquers. The Irish are lovers. It doesn’t matter who the partners are — “I promise to love you all the days of my life, so help me God.”
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MINNESOTA
Hastings Star Gazette
By Jane Lightbourn
A Dakota County jury decided that there was not enough evidence to convict a former Hastings priests of criminal sexual abuse.
On Tuesday evening, after four hours of deliberations, the jury acquitted former priest Francis Hoefgen of two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. The trial had begun last Wednesday, May 20, and concluded earlier Tuesday.
Hoefgen, 64, now living in Columbia Heights, had been accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a former altar boy at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Hastings from the spring of 1989 to the fall of 1991. Hoefgen had pleaded not guilty to the charges filed almost a year ago in Dakota Country District Court.
Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said it was difficult to prosecute the case.
“We respect the jury’s decision in this matter and will always be grateful for the courage shown by the individual who came forward to share his story of sexual assault he said was inflicted upon him many years by the defendant,” he said. “Proving beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime occurred 24, 26 years years ago without significant collaborating physical evidence of the crime itself is always a difficult task. Without such corroborating evidence the jury must render the decision based primarily upon the person’s word against that of another.”
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UNITED STATES
Think Progress
BY JACK JENKINS POSTED ON MAY 27, 2015
Last week, famously Catholic Ireland voted overwhelmingly to legalize same-sex marriage in a national referendum, making it the first nation in the world to enact marriage equality through a popular vote. Within hours of the results, several journalists and pundits painted the results as a victory for secularism and a telltale sign of Ireland’s willingness to abandon the Catholic Church, which staunchly condemns same-sex marriage and whose leaders urged their congregants to vote against LGBT equality. The Church’s longstanding influence on Irish life, they concluded, was ending.
But while the narrative of a dying church is tidy, it fails to account for a religious and distinctly Catholic movement for LGBT equality quietly triumphing in Ireland and elsewhere. To be sure, recent census results show a marked growth in Irish who don’t affiliate with any religious tradition, and a notable drop in the number who attend mass each week. This is largely due to the dark specter of the child sex abuse scandal, which was particularly horrific in Ireland, as well a younger generation fed up with conservative views of homosexuality. But for all this talk of a vanishing Catholic Church, Ireland remains a deeply Catholic nation: although more than 62 percent of Irish who voted in the referendum supported same-sex marriage, a full 83.2 percent of the population still claims to be Catholic.
While the narrative of a dying church is tidy, it fails to account for a religious and distinctly Catholic movement for LGBT equality quietly triumphing in Ireland and elsewhere.
So how did so many self-identified Catholics vote for something their Church blatantly forbids? There were no national exit polls for the referendum, but Ursula Halligan, a prominent Irish TV news presenter in Ireland, offered a clue earlier this month in an op-ed for the Irish Times. In it, she detailed her own struggle with sexual identity — explaining how she fell in love with a girl at 17 — before boldly claiming that her support for same-sex marriage was not a rejection of her faith, but a passionate embrace of the person God compels her to be.
“As a person of faith and a Catholic, I believe a Yes vote is the most Christian thing to do,” Halligan wrote. “I believe the glory of God is the human being fully alive and that this includes people who are gay.”
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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Anniversaries for Finn & Law
What a weekend it was! No one apparently noticed that over Memorial Day, it was Robert Finn ten year anniversary of taking over the Kansas City diocese AND the 30 year anniversary of Bernard Law being named a cardinal.
With the possible exception of Cardinal Edward Egan, Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop John Nienstedt, Archbishop John Myers, could there be two more disgraced US Catholic prelates than Finn and Law, the first US bishop who was convicted in the abuse crisis and the first US bishop who resigned in the abuse crisis?
As we said recently in a post on Marci Hamilton’s blog: Some call Finn’s belated resignation “punishment.” But we don’t.
Finn did no jail time, of course.
He still wears a Roman collar. In fact, he still wears the pointy bishop’s hat too. And the fancy ring and robes.
That’s right – he’s still a bishop. He’s just been freed from the mundane chores of running a diocese.
But he still gets the glory roles: twice this month, to the chagrin of many, he ordained the newest clerics into the diocese.
That leads many to wonder if Finn will be showing up for graduations, ground-breakings, confirmations, funerals and other functions in Kansas City for years to come. (He’s an apparently healthy 62 years old.)
And when hundreds of US prelates gather next month in St. Louis for their annual meeting, Finn will likely be there. Ditto for bishops’ installations and the papal trip to the east coast this fall.”
[Hamilton and Griffin on Rights]
Like Finn, Law was let down easy too.
After a brief, low key stint staying with some nuns, Law rose to even greater power in Rome than ever before, exercising even more influence on the world-wide church as he sat, for years, on several key Vatican committees, including the one that helped pick and promote prelates all across the planet.
In the Catholic Church, nearly every other prevention measure – except punishing the hierarchy – has failed. Despite decades of scandals, lawsuits, settlements, exposes, prosecutions, and defections, bishops keep protecting predators and endangering kids.
So something more and different must be done. Punishing wrongdoers must happen, instead of promoting wrongdoers.
But don’t hold your breath waiting for justice in the church. Just be grateful for – and keep pushing for – justice in the courts.
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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
SHANNON DEERY HERALD SUN MAY 27, 2015
A WHISTLEBLOWER priest has revealed serial paedophile Gerald Ridsdale’s sexual behaviour was raised at a high-level church meeting in 1982.
Father Eric Bryant told the Herald Sun that concerns over Ridsdale’s “committing homosexual acts” were explicitly discussed in the meeting — which was attended by now Cardinal George Pell — at which it was decided to shift Ridsdale from the parish of Mortlake.
The stunning revelation came as Ridsdale on Wednesday broke his silence over his crimes to the royal commission.
He said church authorities knew he was molesting children in the 1960s, but gave him access to more vulnerable youngsters for almost 30 years.
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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Tagespost
[Editorial: Ireland-vote has consequences]
Von Guido Horst
Es wird nicht lange dauern, dann wird das starke Votum der wahlberechtigten Iren für die Einführung der Homo-„Ehe“ auch rechtliche Konsequenzen in anderen europäischen Staaten haben. Italien ist so ein Fall. Hier gibt es noch nicht einmal behördlich eingetragene Partnerschaften von gleichgeschlechtlichen Paaren. Von solchen „weichen Themen“ haben die Regierungen der letzten zwanzig Jahre die Finger weggelassen – der Vatikan und die Italienische Bischofskonferenz saßen ihnen wohl zu nah im Nacken. Doch nach dem, was am Samstag in Irland passiert ist, gibt es für die Regenbogen-Lobby im Stiefelstaat kein Halten mehr. Und Matteo Renzi wird nachgeben müssen. Auch in Deutschland regen sich nun die üblichen Stimmen, die nach den zivilen Lebenspartnerschaften jetzt auch die Homo-„Ehe“ nach irischem Vorbild fordern. Keiner will mehr das Schlusslicht in West- und Südeuropa sein, wenn es um die Gleichstellung von Heteros und Homos geht.
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ROME
Pontifica Universita Gregoriana
Sexual abuse may damage the fundamental worldview and the existential components of spirituality, leading to struggles in living the trauma also from a spiritual point of view.
The impact of child sexual abuse (CSA) on the spirituality of survivors can include challenges in anger, despair, confusion, guilt, and sometime a complete withdrawal from any spiritual activity. If victims are unable to maintain their faith, they may be further burdened by feelings of guilt and shame.
Survivors struggle with a loss of belief in God, justice, fairness, humanity, and the world as a good place; existential crisis such as loss of meaning and connection with others or with the world and God; and a sense of foreshortened future. The belief about fairness and justice in the world influence how they perceive the world as predictable, understandable and controllable. The underlying sense of trust and belief in a fair world influence the sense of self, relation with others and God as well as the concept of spirituality in general.
Survivors may experience the crisis of faith that most believers experience when something terrible happens in their life. Survivors may have difficulty in believing a God who protects and is just: They may have a feeling of spiritual emptiness and a search for answers for the experience of CSA. They tend to question where God was when the abuse was happening. Often they struggle with the question why a loving God should allow something so terrible happen to them. Some may conclude that God does not exist because God will not allow sexual abuse to happen to them. They may tend to believe God is distant and uncaring. CSA may diminish their trust in God’s love for them and they may disconnect from anything religious since they feel God has abandoned and betrayed them.
– See more at: http://ccpblog.unigre.it/?p=752#sthash.3fiJWZ7w.dpuf
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AUSTRALIEN
kathweb
Canberra, 27.05.2015 (KAP/KNA) Kurienkardinal George Pell will sich vor einer australischen Missbrauchskommission gegen den Vorwurf einer Schweigegeld-Zahlung verteidigen. Er sei bereit “per Erklärung, in einer Videoschaltung oder persönlich” als Zeuge vor dem staatlichen Untersuchungsausschuss in seiner Heimatstadt Ballarat auszusagen, teilte Pell, Chef des Sekretariats für Wirtschaftsangelegenheiten im Vatikan, laut australischen Medien am Mittwoch mit.
Hintergrund ist die Anschuldigung, Pell habe dem sexuell missbrauchten Neffen eines pädophilen Priesters Geld für dessen Schweigen angeboten. Dies hatte Pell bereits zuvor zurückgewiesen.
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DEUTSCHLAND
BR
[It happened over decades and many have looked the other way: sexual abuse and physical abuse in Catholic institutions. Five years after the scandal became public, asks controversial: Has the Church learned the right lessons?]
Als 2010 bekannt wurde, dass am Berliner Canisius-Kolleg des Jesuitenordens Kinder missbraucht worden sind, wurde damit eine Welle von Enthüllungen ausgelöst. Auch viele katholische Einrichtungen in Bayern waren betroffen. Mehr als fünf Jahre sind seitdem vergangen. Kontrovers-Reporter Anna Kemmer und Christian Wölfel blicken in verschiedene bayerische Bistümer und fragen nach: Ist seitdem wirklich umfassend aufgeklärt und entschädigt worden?
Ihre Recherchen ergeben: nicht überall. Zwar zahlten die bayerischen Bistümer an mindestens 119 Betroffene rund 680.000 Euro. Manche Bistümer setzten bereits 2010 unabhängige Anwaltskanzleien und Missbrauchsbeauftragte ein.
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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Terra
[The Polish government discussed possible financial compensation to the six Dominican victims of sexual abuse by the Polish priest Wojciech Gil, a Polish official said Tuesday. He did not specify details of any compensation.]
E i obierno de Polonia analiza una posible indemnización económica a las seis víctimas dominicanas de abuso sexual por parte del sacerdote polaco Wojciech Gil, informó el martes el procurador de ese país, Andrzej Seremet.
El funcionario no precisó los detalles de las eventuales indemnizaciones.
Seremet comenzó el martes una visita a República Dominicana para suscribir un acuerdo de cooperación judicial con su similar dominicano Francisco Domínguez Brito y tenía previsto reunirse con los familiares de los seis jóvenes que fueron víctimas de abusos sexuales por parte de Gil cuando eran menores de edad.
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DOMICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today
Santo Domingo.- Poland’s chief prosecutor Andrzejeg Seremet on Tuesday acknowledged as “difficult” that former Vatican envoy Jozef Wesolowski, a Polish citizen and charged with sexual abuse of minors in the Dominican Republic, could be extradited to the Caribbean country as many people demand.
Pope Francis ordered Wesolowski’s house arrest in Rome in September last year, citing the alleged “serious acts of child abuse in the Dominican Republic.
The Polish national, who faces as long as 10 years in prison, is accused of abusing minors during his mission in the Dominican Republic, where he was Vatican envoy from January 2008 to August 2013, shortly before the scandal broke.
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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | May. 26, 2015
WASHINGTON
Pope Francis wants to retool the Catholic hierarchy so that it not only defines and enforces church teachings, but also listens and responds to how laypeople understand God’s will, German Cardinal Walter Kasper said.
Kasper, a noted theologian whose writings are known to have influenced Francis, said the pope wants to create a “listening magisterium.”
Kasper said one concept important to the pope is that of the sensus fidei, or the capacity of individual believers and the church as a whole to discern the truths of faith.
That concept, Kasper said, “was emphasized by the council … [but] Francis now wishes to give it complete meaning.
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AUSTRALIA
ABC – 7.30
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcast: 27/05/2015
Reporter: Louise Milligan
One of the worst paedophiles in Australian history, Gerald Ridsdale, has talked about the abuse he perpetrated, who knew about it and, the traps he set for it, at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Ballarat.
Transcript
LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Gerald Ridsdale is one of the worst paedophiles in Australian history. His victims are thought to number into the hundreds.
He was a Catholic priest, moved around parishes in the Ballarat Diocese for years, long after the Church knew about some of his crimes.
He’s been convicted of multiple child sex crimes on four occasions and remains in prison.
But today, for the first time, Ridsdale has had to give evidence in public. He appeared by video link at the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse and he revealed that the Catholic Church was aware of his abuse from the early-’60s, more than a decade earlier than previously thought.
Louise Milligan reports from Ballarat.
LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: For two weeks, Ballarat has been forced to face its bleak history.
In this courtroom, the shameful truth of a Catholic community, riddled with child sexual abusers for decades, has been revealed.
DAVID RIDSDALE, NEPHEW: The Church dictated the boundaries of right and wrong and the congregation’s relationship to the clergy was one of submission rather than supplication.
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ITALY
The Local
An Italian priest who allegedly posed as an American manager online has been arrested as part of an investigation into a global paedophile ring.
The 49-year-old priest was arrested in Alassio in Liguria where he had recently moved from the town of Oulx in Turin, Corriere della Sera reported.
He was arrested along with three others, including two unemployed men aged 58 and 51 and a worker aged 51 in Torrecuso, Livorno and Rome.
The priest, who has not been named, allegedly purchased pornographic photos and videos of pre-adolescents through the paedophile network on the internet.
In some cases the material included children aged just a few years old, mostly from Asia.
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TENNESSEE
The Raw Story
TOM BOGGIONI
25 MAY 2015
A Tennessee pastor who was recently admonished by police for having sex with another man in a church van parked in a parking lot, was arrested this week for embezzling an estimated $60,000 from his church’s coffers.
Boyd Watson Holder Jr. 44, was taken into custody after church officials reported that between $70,000 and $100,000 had been discovered missing from the Victory Apostolic Church bank account in Kingsport, reports the TimesNews.
It has been a rough six months for Holder, who was discovered by police last December having sex with another man in a church van in an empty parking lot. Holder reportedly apologized to the officers and was told to not “have relations in public” again before being ordered off the property.
In February church officials alerted police that money was missing from a church bank account that only Holder had access to.
When asked about the missing money, Holder told church members, “It’s none of your business.”
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TENNESSEE
Inquisitr
Boyd Holder, the 44-year-old pastor of Victory Apostolic Church in Kingsport, Tennessee, found himself in big trouble this week. On Wednesday, the man of the cloth was indicted by a grand jury and charged with stealing more than $60,000 from his church. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Holder was also slapped with a money laundering indictment.
But even though this marked the first time he was arrested and charged, Holder is not stranger to trouble with his congregation, and even with the police. While prosecutors have not said exactly what they believe Holder used the 60 grand on — some reports have the figure between $70,000 and $100,000 — reports from a local newspaper, the Kingsport Times News, as well as a local TV station, give what may be a pretty good idea.
Through his attorney, Holder has denied any wrongdoing — even in connection with an incident last December when, according to police, Holder was caught having sex with a man in a van owned by the church, parked in a lot behind a vacant building.
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CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee
BY ROSALIO AHUMADA
rahumada@modbee.com
A judge on Tuesday sentenced a man to five years in federal prison for downloading child pornography at an Oakdale church where he served as youth pastor.
Tyler David Bliss, 28, of Oakdale on March 2 pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography, according to a plea agreement memo filed in federal court. He agreed to a plea deal with federal prosecutors to avoid a trial.
Along with the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Lawrence O’Neill ordered Bliss to serve 15 years of supervised release once he is out of prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento.
Federal prosecutors said Bliss downloaded the child porn with computers at his home and his church. Bliss was a supervisor of student ministries at Bethel Church when he was arrested Feb. 17, 2014.
The Oakdale church on G Street is affiliated with the Assemblies of God.
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IRELAND
Irish Times
Derek Scally
A ghost is haunting Germany: the ghost of Catholic Ireland. Four days after Irish voters backed marriage equality, politicians of all persuasions here are demanding that Germany follow Ireland’s example and open civil marriage to all, regardless of sexual orientation.
Behind these demands lies shock. Shock that ausgerechnet Irland – Ireland of all countries – could leapfrog Germany on this key social issue.
In many German minds, Ireland is perceived as the arch-Catholic conservative backwater that progress forgot. But the Yes vote has forced a rapid rethink of how Germany views Ireland – and how liberal Germany considers itself.
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IRELAND
National Secular Society
Posted: Tue, 26 May 2015 by Keith Porteous Wood
The Catholic Church is now paying the price for its past in Ireland
NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood welcomes the Irish referendum result on marriage equality and argues that the Catholic Church’s appalling recent history in Ireland shows it deserves to be discredited- as it now has been, by the overwhelming referendum “Yes” result.
Last week, Ireland’s citizens voted in a landslide to legalise same-sex marriage. Unsurprisingly, the constituencies most in favour of “Yes” were within 50 miles of Dublin followed by the larger cities. Those least in favour tended to be nearest to the meandering border with Northern Ireland, probably with a higher proportion of protestant voters. Variations in the percentage of turnout did not impact on the overall result. More rural areas tend to be less in favour, but not always. While the very rural Mayo and Galway East were only just in favour, the even more remote Galway west was over 60% in favour.
The major lessons of the Irish referendum endorsement of same sex marriage by nearly 2:1 are religion-connected.
Primarily, it showed just how out of step the Catholic Church is with the Irish population. Even more striking is the speed with which this country, so recently completely in hock to that same Church, has changed diametrically. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, notably more realistic than many of his episcopal brethren, recognised that the Referendum signified a “social revolution” that did not happen in one day. Indeed.
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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota
[with video]
Heather Brown
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Reality TV star Josh Duggar has apologized for what he called “wrongdoing” in response to reports he molested five girls starting in 2002. Authorities have reportedly said he can’t be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has run out.
So, why do we have time limits on prosecuting crimes? Good Question.
“The problem is that stories change and evidence disappears and at some point we’re not confident that we’re going to get an accurate portrayal of what happened 20 years ago,” said David Larson, a professor of law at Hamline University.
Outside of federal crimes, each state legislature determines its own numbers for limits. Depending on the criminal or civil case, when the clock starts ticking is different for each case. It could be when the crime or negligence first happened, when it was first reported or when its effects were discovered.
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GUAM
KUAM
By Jolene Toves
The Concerned Catholics of Guam will be hosting a village meeting at the Sinajana Community Center on Thursday from 6-8pm. According to president Greg Perez, the village meetings are an effort to unite the local Catholic community, bring awareness to the issues within the Catholic Church and allow parishioners to voice their concerns.
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MINNESOTA
KSTP
[with video]
By: Beth McDonough
“For sale” signs have gone up in front of several properties owned by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
The properties include the 244 Dayton Avenue location, home to the office of The Catholic Spirit; the Archbishops’ residence and chancery offices at 226 Summit Avenue; the Hayden Center at 328 West Kellogg Boulevard and a vacant lot at 250 Dayton Avenue. There’s another property in Northfield for sale as well.
The sales are part of an effort to provide a chunk of cash at a time when the Archdiocese desperately needs it.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS asked Tom Mertens, the chief financial officer for the Archdiocese, if this was a hard move to make.
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MINNESOTA
Winona Daily News
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — For-sale signs have been posted outside several properties owned by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as it seeks to pay creditors.
KSTP-TV (http://bit.ly/1Q9xSSd ) reports the properties with the for-sale signs include the chancery and the archbishop’s residence in St. Paul near the cathedral, as well as three other properties in St. Paul and another in Northfield.
Archdiocese chief financial officer Tom Mertens tells the TV station that it was a difficult decision to try selling the properties because of their “significance and history.” He says it will be cheaper to rent spaces.
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AUSTRALIA
The Australian
BY MEGAN NEIL AAP MAY 27, 2015
THEY shared a presbytery and had enough of a relationship for George Pell to accompany his fellow priest to court, yet Gerald Ridsdale has little recollection of the cardinal.
THAT Australia’s worst pedophile priest has no memory of living with the nation’s most senior Catholic figure has angered victims, even though Cardinal Pell now says he’s prepared to appear in person before the child sex abuse royal commission’s Ballarat inquiry.
In his own much-anticipated appearance, Ridsdale maintained he remembered little of his former house mate.
Ridsdale told the commission he can’t remember any of the priests who lived at the Ballarat East presbytery with him in the early 1970s, even then Father Pell.
“I’ve been told that but I can’t remember actually being there with George,” Ridsdale said via videolink from prison.
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AUSTRALIA
Sky News
Stephen Woods stood up to get a closer look at the 81-year-old in the dark green prison jumper on the screen.
The priest who had raped the 14-year-old after he had gone to him for advice about his sexuality was no longer two to three times his size.
‘When I stood up and looked at him, he was my size,’ Mr Woods said of seeing Gerald Francis Ridsdale.
‘This time I wasn’t a kid, I was a man.
‘I saw him and I thought, You know, you’re not so powerful any more’.’
Mr Woods hasn’t seen Ridsdale since the second of his four court cases, when he was jailed in 1994 for 18 years for abusing Mr Woods and 20 other victims.
Though hurt that Ridsdale doesn’t remember the names of any of his victims, Mr Woods is focused on the child sex abuse royal commission uncovering the full story behind the widespread abuse by clergy in the Ballarat diocese.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Nehanda Radio
UNITED KINGDOM – The woman who played a key role in bringing down sex-abuse preacher Walter Masocha, will this Saturday be launching her “Victim No More” event in Milton Keynes.
Jean Gasho’s blog “He was my Daddy” was instrumental in exposing how Masocha sexually abused members of his church.
Masocha a former university lecturer, who led the Stirling-based Agape for All Nations Church, was convicted last month for groping a young deaconess while he was supposed to be praying for her stomach complaint and for putting his hand down a schoolgirl’s trousers saying he was trying to remove demons.
The deaconess was told Masocha had been “trying to remove ‘something’ from her genitals”. The schoolgirl, then aged 15, was left in tears after Masocha groped her bottom claiming she had ants or demons in her pants.
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OREGON
Oregonian
By Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on May 26, 2015
Sexual assault survivors, backed by state prosecutors and victim support groups, stood together Tuesday to say they won’t be satisfied if Oregon lawmakers extend the statute of limitations for rape to 12 years.
House Bill 2317, set to be heard Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, would double the state’s current six-year time limit to file charges in rape cases.
But 12 years is not long enough, said several rape survivors and their advocates. They want a 20-year window and blamed state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, for blocking the move.
“Six years is appallingly short. Twelve years is similarly appallingly short,” said Meg Garvin, executive director of the Portland-based National Crime Victims Law Institute and a law professor at Lewis & Clark Law School.
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OREGON
OPB
by Amelia Templeton OPB | May 26, 2015
Oregon lawmakers will consider a bill Wednesday that would double the state’s general statute of limitations on rape from 6 years to 12 years.
But some rape survivors and their advocates say that’s not enough time to bring many sexual attackers to justice. They are pushing for the revival of an earlier version of the bill that would extend the statute of limitations to 20 years.
“Let’s not be a state where women, who after finally finding the will and strength to ask for their justice and demand it, let’s not be a state where they are told they are too late for that,” said Bryn Garrett, a Portland woman whose testimony contributed to a criminal conviction for sex abuse against a pastor earlier this year. Garrett was unable to pursue charges in her own case because prosecutors did not file charges before the statute of limitations had expired.
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TEXAS
WSBT
[with video]
Suzanne Spencer
SAN ANTONIO, Tx. –
A priest and professor teaching at Notre Dame is named in a civil lawsuit in Texas. In the lawsuit, Rev. Virgilio Elizondo is one of two priests accused of sexually assaulting a minor in the 1980s.
The plaintiff, who is not named, accused Fr. Elizondo of touching the minor inappropriately. The lawsuit says Fr. Elizondo, “reached over, kissed him, and began to fondle him…”
According to the court documents, the plaintiff “fought off Father Elizondo and then ran from his vehicle” during an incident in 1983.
The same plaintiff claims another priest, Fr. Jesus Armando Dominguez, touched him inappropriately on several occasions. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff went to Elizondo “to seek clarity from Father Elizondo regarding his past interactions with the now, Father Dominquez.”
As a result, the lawsuit says the plaintiff suffered emotional trauma, loss of respect for authority, attempted suicide, and suffers from substance abuse and addictions.
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OHIO
Nordonia Hills News-Leader
by Eric Marotta and Briana Barker Editor and Reporter Published: May 27, 2015
Nordonia Hills — In addition to sponsoring a www.change.org petition calling for Board of Education President Jim Virost’s resignation, the Facebook group U-KNIGHTED for our Children has also sponsored a petition on the same website calling for the Cleveland Caltholic Diocese’s “evaluation” of the Rev. Ralph Wiatrowski, pastor of St. Barnabas Parish.
“We are asking for the immediate evaluation of Father Ralph Wiatrowski as the right choice for pastor and leader of St. Barnabas Parish and School,” the petition states.
Around 190 individuals had signed the online petition by press time May 22.
Both the Rev. Wiatrowski and Virost wrote pre-sentencing letters to the Summit County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of former School Board President Steve Bittel, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison on felony charges related to child pornography and a police standoff he initiated last September.
The Rev. Wiatrowski said he welcomes a review.
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MINNESOTA
Grand Forks Herald
By St. Paul Pioneer Press on May 26, 2015
HASTINGS, Minn. — A Dakota County jury has found a former priest not guilty of molesting an altar boy 25 years ago at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Hastings.
The former Rev. Francis Hoefgen, who had undergone treatment after a sexual abuse allegation in 1984 and was later reassigned to Hastings, was charged with criminal sexual conduct in May 2014 after a man stepped forward and claimed he had been abused between 1989 and 1991.
Hoefgen, 64, pleaded not guilty and a jury trial began last week. The jury acquitted him Tuesday evening.
Hoefgen broke down and sobbed with friends and family after the not guilty verdicts were read. He left the Hastings courtroom without commenting.
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AUSTRALIA
ABC – The World Today
ELEANOR HALL: To the royal commission into child sexual abuse in Ballarat.
One of Australia’s worst paedophiles, Gerald Ridsdale, is giving evidence there today.
Ridsdale has several convictions for sexually assaulting more than 50 children and won’t be released from jail for another seven years when he’s 88.
He’s giving evidence via video link from prison.
The now defrocked priest has told the hearing that he never told anyone about his offending for fear of being defrocked.
He’s also explained that he was molested by three people when he was a boy and struggled with sexual issues while training to be a priest.
Samantha Donovan is following the commission hearings and joins us now.
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IRELAND
Irish Independent
Tom Tuite
PUBLISHED
27/05/2015
A former lay worker with the Church of Ireland will stand trial accused of sexual abuse of 10 boys between 1977 and 1990.
Patrick O’Brien (76) is facing 75 counts of indecent assault at numerous locations throughout the State, including St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.
Mr O’Brien, with an address at Knocklyon Road, Templeogue, in Dublin, was arrested yesterday.
He was taken to Terenure Garda Station by detectives attached to the Child Protection and Human Exploitation Bureau.
He was charged and then brought to appear before Judge Cormac Dunne at Dublin District Court.
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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian
Oliver Milman
@olliemilman
Wednesday 27 May 2015
Survivors of child sexual abuse and their supporters have poured scorn on the evidence given by Gerald Ridsdale, accusing the convicted paedophile of protecting the hierarchy of the Catholic church.
Ridsdale, 81, gave evidence to the royal commission into institutional responses to child sex abuse via video link from prison, where he is serving time after being convicted of more than 140 offences against children as young as four over three decades until the 1980s.
Ridsdale repeatedly said he did not recall key details of his interaction with Catholic clergy as he was being moved around parishes in Victoria where he committed the sexual offences.
The former Catholic priest said he did not recall living with George Pell, Australia’s most senior cleric, nor why Pell agreed to appear in court as a character reference for him in 1994.
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MINNESOTA
Faribault County Register
May 27, 2015
Associated Press
HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) — A former priest has been acquitted on charges that he sexually abused an altar boy at a Hastings church almost 30 years ago.
The St. Cloud Times reports (http://on.sctimes.com/1FNPSQR ) that Hoefgen broke down and sobbed with friends and family after the not guilty verdicts were read Tuesday. He left without commenting.
The 36-year-old Red Wing man who accused Hoefgen of abuse from 1989 to 1992 hung his head in his hands after the verdicts came down. He left before the session ended.
Hoefgen was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The jury deliberated about three hours.
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AUSTRALIA
Radio Australia
Child sexual abuse inquiry: Paedophile Gerald Ridsdale continued on as priest despite bishop’s warning, royal commission hears
By court reporter Peta Carlyon
One of Australia’s most notorious paedophiles, Gerald Ridsdale, was allowed to continue on as a priest despite a bishop receiving a complaint about him in his first year, the child sexual abuse royal commission is told.
The elderly Ridsdale is giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse in Ballarat via video link from Ararat prison, where he is serving an eight-year sentence for the rape and abuse of children.
He was quizzed at length about whether or not people were warned about his offending tendencies as he was moved between schools around western Victoria, in the 1960s and 70s.
Ridsdale told the inquiry he remembered receiving a warning from a bishop over an incident involving a boy in Ballarat.
“The first complaint that ever came in was in my first year as priest,” he said.
“I remember going in a room and fondling him, and putting my hand down his trousers, it would have been a fairly brief kind of thing.”
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AUSTRALIA
The Age
May 27, 2015
Tony Wright
National affairs editor of The Age
He doesn’t look like a monster, this old man peering through spectacles, bald but for a few wisps of greyed hair above his ears.
Looks deceive. It’s all in the perspective.
He was a monster, sure enough, to little boys awed by this man in the robes of a priest who offered himself as a friend and molested them, again and again. Boys who, according to senior counsel, afterwards couldn’t bear anyone touching them or their fathers coming near.
The child in a Ballarat primary school showing the priest his toys, only to find a hand shoved down his pants. The bedwetter in an English boarding school, the Australian priest as housemaster bathing him and putting him into fresh pyjamas and taking him into his bed. The boys welcomed to the country house of the parish priest to play pool, and who accepted holiday invitations to his underground dug-out in the NSW opal-mining town of White Cliffs, only to discover themselves trapped.
No one knows how many children Gerald Ridsdale molested from the 1950s when he was a seminarian in Werribee and on through the decades of his priesthood as he was moved from parish to parish around Victoria’s western district for several decades.
He did not even inform his god, apparently, at least through the normal priestly channels – he left his child-abusing out of his religious confessions, he says, and never told his monstrous secret to anyone until the game was up. When the game finally was up, he was convicted of abusing scores of children.
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AUSTRALIA
The Age
I was abused as a child: disgraced priest Gerald Ridsdale gives evidence at sex abuse royal commission in Ballarat
May 27, 2015
Jane Lee and Rania Spooner
A paedophile priest who was convicted of more than 100 charges of sexual abuse against children over about 30 years began offending before he was ordained and says he worked with no restrictions at any of the parishes he was moved to amid numerous abuse allegations.
Gerald Ridsdale, 81, told a royal commission on Wednesday he had spent his life feeling “uncomfortable” around adults, keeping secrets and in fear of being discovered as a paedophile. He also said he had been sexually abused as a child himself, and had had a three-year relationship while in prison.
The first time he abused a child was at a camp for disadvantaged children while he was still in training to become a priest at a seminary in Werribee.
Within a year of his ordination in 1961, the Catholic Church received its first complaint about Ridsdale abusing children. Then-Bishop James O’Collins threatened to send Ridsdale “off the mission” if he offended again, which meant he would no longer work as a priest.
Ms Furness asked if this threat played on his mind as he moved to different parishes and abused children. Ridsdale, who was also abused by a cousin and an uncle when he was younger than 12, said: “It could have.”
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