ABUSE TRACKER

WEST VIRGINIA
Charleston Gazette

By David Clohessy

Justice comes rarely for victims of childhood sexual assault. When it does, it’s only after a painful legal process. This week in Charleston, an appeals court could make that already difficult process even harder for West Virginia victims who use civil courts to warn the public about predators.

Our group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, has monitored cases involving child molesters in many denominations for more than 25 years. We’ve never seen one quite like this one from Martinsburg.

A dozen children and their parents are suing Mormon officials for allegedly enabling and concealing the heinous abuses committed by a now ex-Mormon, Christopher Michael Jensen. There’s no doubt about Jensen’s guilt — he was convicted of assaulting youngsters in both Utah and West Virginia.

But Mormon officials are fighting hard to defend themselves. In fact, they’ve convinced a judge to appoint a private lawyer to defend Jensen, a move that’s exceedingly rare in civil cases. Worse, they’ve persuaded that judge to force the victims to pay half of Jensen’s defense lawyers’ fees.

In the United States, we have a long and honorable tradition of making sure that every accused person, no matter how egregious his or her purported crimes, has legal representation. But no one is guaranteed an attorney in a civil matter. And very few, in a civil court, ever have to pay to help the opposing side.

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CHILE
The Tribune

BY EVA VERGARA
Associated Press
April 20, 2015

SANTIAGO, CHILE — Parishioners in a southern Chile diocese are gathering wherever their new bishop appears, but their presence is not the sort of assembly the Catholic Church would expect.

In the month since Bishop Juan Barros was installed in Osorno, the priest has had to sneak out of back exits, call on riot police to shepherd him from the city’s cathedral and coordinate movements with bodyguards and police canine units.

Such is the public routine of the bishop who is denounced by his opponents as having shielded Chile’s most notorious pedophile priest. For his part, Barros says relations are improving.

The appointment of Barros by Pope Francis has unleashed an unprecedented protest, with more than 1,300 church members, 30 diocesan priests and nearly half of Chile’s Parliament sending letters urging the pope to reconsider.

At least three men say Barros was present when they were sexually molested in the 1980s and 1990s by the Rev. Fernando Karadima. Karadima was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2011 for sexually abusing minors, ordered to live out his life cloistered in a nun’s convent. Barros has said he knew nothing of Karadima’s abuses. …

Barros, previously chaplain of Chile’s armed forces, has celebrated Mass a half-dozen times, including during Holy Week, but parishioners say attendance is down and the bishop must travel with a police escort to keep protesters at bay.

“You can feel something sour that transcends all kinds of church activities,” said Carlos Meza, a 43-year-old parishioner. “It’s not just during Masses.”

An April 8 meeting between Barros and parishioners fell apart when the bishop showed up with two body guards and police dogs, a move the parishioners said was unnecessarily aggressive.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor April 21, 2015

ROME — In what is likely to be hailed as major step toward accountability for Catholic bishops who mishandle sexual abuse allegations, the Vatican has announced the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

The announcement came Tuesday in a brief statement in the Vatican’s daily news bulletin, released at noon Rome time. Finn, whose resignation is effective immediately, will remain a bishop, but no longer lead a diocese. It is up to Pope Francis to name his successor.

Finn, 62, is the lone American bishop ever to be found guilty of a criminal charge for failure to report an accusation of child abuse. His September 2012 conviction on a misdemeanor charge stemmed from Finn waiting several months before telling police that explicit images of young girls had been discovered on the computer of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, one of his priests.

Finn was sentenced to two years of probation, and the diocese received a fine of $1.1 million when an arbitrator ruled that it had violated the terms of an earlier settlement.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, Missouri, according to the Holy See Press Office.

In 2012, the prelate was found guilty of failing to report evidence of sexual abuse by a priest of his diocese.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Apr. 21, 2015

VATICAN CITY U.S. Bishop Robert Finn, the Catholic prelate in the U.S. heartland who became a symbol internationally of the church’s failures in addressing the sexual abuse crisis, has resigned. He was the first bishop criminally convicted of mishandling an abusive priest, yet remained in office for another three years.

The Vatican announced Finn’s resignation as head of the diocese of St. Joseph-Kansas City, Mo. in a terse note in its daily news bulletin Tuesday.

While the note did not provide any reason for the move, it is extraordinarily rare for bishops in the Catholic church to resign without cause before they reach the traditional retirement age of 75.

Finn, who is 62 and had led the diocese since 2005, was also neither assigned a new diocese or as yet given a new leadership role in the church.

Other than for reasons of health, only one other bishop among the some 200 U.S. Catholic dioceses and eparchies has resigned his role in such a manner in at least the past decade.

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Bolletino

Resignation of Bishop of Kansas City-Saint Joseph (USA)

The Holy Father Francis has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph (USA), presented by Bishop. Robert W. Finn, in accordance with can. 401 § 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

Rinuncia del Vescovo di Kansas City-Saint Joseph (U.S.A.)

Il Santo Padre Francesco ha accettato la rinuncia al governo pastorale della diocesi di Kansas City-Saint Joseph (U.S.A.), presentata da S.E. Mons. Robert W. Finn, in conformità al can. 401 § 2 del Codice di Diritto Canonico.

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WASHINGTON
Seattle PI

Posted on April 20, 2015 | By Joel Connelly

Pope Francis would have enjoyed Seattle Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen, when he moved out of the bishop’s mansion, when he drove his sprawling diocese in an old VW bug, and when he preached a guileless Gospel.

The problem for Hunthausen came in that he embodied the reformist Second Vatican Council at a time (the 1980′s) when icy, careerist authoritarians were reasserting top-down control of the Roman Catholic Church.

In John McCoy’s excellent new book, “A Still and Quiet Conscience: The Archbishop Who Challenged a Pope, a President and a Church” (Orbis Books, $26), clashing views of Catholicism are captured in conversation.

McCoy was ideally situated to watch Hunthausen’s intended humiliation. The author served as religion reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and later communications director for the Seattle archdiocese.

Authoritarian Cardinal Josef Ratzinger rebukes Hunthausen for allowing the gay Catholic group Dignity to use St. James Cathedral. The Seattle archbishop replies by evoking John 8:11 in which the Pharisees bring to Jesus a woman caught in adultery and demand that she be stoned to death. Fireworks follow:

“Hunthausen was recounting the Gospel story when Ratzinger, his voice full of wrath, interrupted him. ‘Are you presuming to lecture me?’” he demanded.

“The archbishop paused, caught his breath and quietly continued. In regard to Dignity, he explained, ‘I tried to do what I thought Jesus would do. Jesus didn’t wait until people changed before he talked to them. He began a dialogue and I think that’s what they church ought to do with the gay community.’

“Infuriated, Ratzinger silenced him again. ‘Don’t preach to me,’” he said.

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By Kristin Stoller

HARTFORD — For years, Marie Collins thought it was her fault.

Shortly after her 13th birthday in Ireland in 1960, Collins became ill and was admitted to a Dublin children’s hospital. She said her mother was pleased to find out that a hospital chaplain, a Catholic priest, had taken a special interest in her.

But soon, Collins said, that interest turned to abuse, as the priest subjected her to “indecent” photographs and touches.

“I had gone in [to the hospital] a very confident, happy child,” she said. “When I came out, I was a very different child.”

Collins spoke Saturday morning at the 2015 National Assembly of the Voice of the Faithful, a Massachusetts-based group formed after the priest sex abuse scandal broke more than 10 years ago.

The group is dedicated to supporting victims of abuse, and also says it supports priests of integrity and structural change within the church.

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UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

With news compilation

Many books have been written about Pope Francis as the “Great Reformer” but all those are pathological lies of the Vatican Opus Dei Beast PR Deceits Team. One of Pope Francis’ main reforms was the clean-up of the Vatican Bank where thousands of accounts were simply “closed” but in reality, they were merely transferred to the Vatican’s other secret banks in Switzerland, the other country the Vatican owns (run by Swiss Guard Army alumni) under the guise of “neutral country” that serves as the safest haven for the ill-gotten wealth of despots and American imperialists and European imperialists. The real reform – IF Pope Francis is to reform the Catholic Church – should begin in Chile and San Francisco where the laity or people themselves are asking him to oust two bishops to whom they refuse to submit themselves in blind obedience.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

Child abuse inquiry: former MP ‘sensationalised’ abuse allegations at Neerkol orphanage near Rockhampton, Sister Berneice Loch says

By Marlina Whop and William Rollo
April 21, 2015

A senior nun has criticised a former Queensland MP for “sensationalising” allegations of abuse at the Neerkol orphanage near Rockhampton in State Parliament during the 1990s.

Sister Berneice Loch has testified today at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in the central Queensland city.

Sister Loch was a senior member of the Sisters of Mercy when allegations of abuse at the orphanage first came to light in the 1990s.

In September 1996, then-Queensland minister for family, youth and community care, Kevin Lingard, told State Parliament that six calls had been made to the child sexual abuse hotline about former residents of the orphanage.

Mr Lingard planned to refer the matter to the then children’s commissioner.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

The clerical abuse scandal cost American dioceses and religious orders $119,079,647 between mid-2013 and mid-2014, according to a report released on April 17 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Only 59% of those funds were allotted to settlements ($62.9 million) and therapy for abuse victims ($7.7 million). The remaining funds were spent on attorneys’ fees ($28.8 million), support for offenders ($15.4 million), and other costs ($4.2 million), according to the 2014 “Report on the Implementation of the Charter for Protection of Children and Young People.”

These expenses brought the total cost of the clerical abuse scandal to American dioceses and religious institutes between 2004 and mid-2014 to $2,895,629,230, according to the data in the current report and previous reports.

The report added that dioceses, eparchies, and religious orders spent an additional $31,667,740 for child protection efforts in 2013-14.

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NEW JERSEY
Houston Chronicle

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Jury deliberations will continue Tuesday in the federal case of an Orthodox rabbi accused in New Jersey of using brutal tactics to force unwilling Jewish men to divorce their wives.

The jury concluded its second full day of deliberations on Monday. They asked for a transcript of the testimony given by Rabbi Aryeh Ralbog, who was granted immunity by federal prosecutors.

Rabbi Mendel Epstein faces charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and attempted kidnapping with his son and two other Orthodox rabbis. Prosecutors say the rabbi’s team used brutal methods and tools, including handcuffs and electric cattle prods, to torture the men into granting divorces.

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NRE JERSEY
NJ.com

By MaryAnn Spoto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on April 20, 2015

TRENTON — Jurors deliberating in the trial of a Lakewood rabbi accused of arranging beatings to force men to grant their wives religious divorces finished their second full day of discussions without reaching a verdict on Monday.

By the end of the day, jurors sent out a note requesting the transcript of the testimony of Rabbi Aryeh Ralbog, who testified against Rabbi Mendel Epstein in a kidnapping conspiracy trial.

Ralbog, who was granted immunity from prosecution by federal prosecutors in exchange for his testimony, including his description of an investigation launched by a group of rabbis in Brooklyn into one of the alleged kidnappings.

Epstein, a prominent rabbi who specializes in divorce proceedings, was on trial along with his son, David “Ari” Epstein, and two other rabbis, Binyamin Stimler and Jay Goldstein, on conspiracy, kidnapping and attempted kidnapping charges that grew out of a federal undercover sting.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY MICHAEL O’KEEFFE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, April 20, 2015

Andy Gabel had represented the United States in three Olympics and won a silver medal in the 5,000-meter short track relay at the 1994 Lillehammer Games when he moved to Saratoga Springs to train for the 1998 Olympic trials. Gabel, then 33, was already an icon in the sport – especially to a local high school kid who hoped to compete against the world’s very best.

Bridie Farrell was 15 years old and a promising junior skater when Gabel moved to her hometown, and she admits she was “starstruck” by Gabel, especially after he took an interest in her budding career.

Gabel drove her to the practice rink at 5 a.m. every morning, taught her how to properly sharpen and align her skates and even gave her tips on technique, Farrell says. Gabel also repeatedly molested Farrell over the course of several months in 1997 and 1998 she adds a secret she kept for years. Gabel later acknowledged he had an “inappropriate relationship with a female teammate.”

“I didn’t think anybody would believe me if I came forward,” Farrell says. “He was getting ready for his fourth Olympics and I was a nobody and that was my mindset. It is a lot for a kid to carry.”

Farrell is unable to pursue criminal prosecution or a civil lawsuit against Gabel because New York statute of limitations on sex abuse cases bars victims from bringing charges after their 23rd birthday. That is why she will join other sexual abuse survivors and their advocates in Albany on Wednesday to lobby state lawmakers to approve the Child Victims Act.

The bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens) calls for the elimination of criminal and civil statutes of limitations for future child abuse victims; it would also open up a one-year window for victims of past crimes to pursue criminal and civil cases. Markey has asked Pope Francis to meet with survivors of childhood sexual abuse when he visits New York in September. She’s also asked the pope persuade the New York Catholic Conference of Bishops to drop its opposition to her bill.

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NEW JERSEY
The Raw Story

ERIC W. DOLAN
20 APR 2015

A church in New Jersey is standing by its pastor after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman for several years, starting when she was 17.

Pastor James E. Simmons Jr., 64, of New Life in Christ Ministries turned himself in to authorities last week after he was charged with sexual assault, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child.

Church elder Freddie Alexander told an applauding congregation on Sunday that the accusations against the pastor were the work of Satan.

“If Satan knew what he was doing to New Life, he wouldn’t have done it. Because what Satan don’t know, what he turn around and did is made New Life get closer… now, because of what Satan has done, he is bringing [us] together.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Foundation to Abolish Chile Sexual Abuse (FACSA)

April 20, 2015

URGENT, TIME SENSITIVE REQUEST:

There is possibility that PA House Judiciary Chairman Marsico may bring the proposed statute of limitations legislation before the House Judiciary Committee tomorrow. This is likely NOT because he has changed his mind about the legislation, but rather likely some devious political move.

Please contact members of the House Judiciary Committee tonight or very early tomorrow (you can leave a message on their phone line).

MAIN MESSAGE:
Support these bills (HB 661, 951 and 655) to protect PA children now and that will be coming up for a vote in Judiciary Committee tomorrow.

BECAUSE:
* Child Sexual Abuse is an epidemic: 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 5 boys will experience some form of sexual abuse before they are 18. Only 1 in 10 every tell.
* The longterm health-care and economic impact of child sex abuse is staggering and society has been picking up the tab for this for decades.
* Current SOL laws are arbitrary and have not been taken up in the Judiciary Committee for 10 years.
* SOL Reform laws have been introduced EVERY legislative session for the last 10 years and have been ignored, despite very strong recommendations from the first Philadelphia Grand Jury that investigated the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2005.
* Current SOL laws favor perpetrators who rely on the fear of children and teens to not report.
* There is a body of scientific, social and legal evidence that indicates it can take more than 20 years for adult victims to come forward thus aging out of the current SOLs.
* Predators do not retire. They cannot stop the compulsion to abuse children and teens.

Judiciay Committee Members and Harrisburg Office phone numbers:

Ron Marsico 717-783-2014
Todd Stephens 717-260-6163
Jim Cox 717-772-2435
Sheryl Delozier 717-783-5282
Garth Everett 717-787-5270
Glen Grell 717-783-2063
Joseph Hackett 717-260-6168
Barry Jozwiak 717-772-9940
Mark Keller 717-783-1593
Tim Krieger 717-260-6146
Tedd Nesbit 717-783-6438
Mike Regan 717-783-8783
Rick Saccone 717-260-6122
Marcy Toepel 717-787-9501
Tarah Toohil 717-260-6136
Mike Vereb 717-705-7164

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OREGON
Courthouse News Service

By JUNE SEATTLE

PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) – The Archdiocese of Portland, Ore. will pay $525,000 to settle 50-year-old allegations from an alleged victim of a pedophile priest.

The pseudonymous Martin Voe claimed the Rev. Maurice Grammond sexually abused him while presiding at St. Charles Church in Portland in the late 1950s.

The archdiocese issued an apology in 2000 and settled a lawsuit with 25 men who claimed Grammond had molested them. Grammond died in 2002.

Voe sued the archdiocese in 2008, three years after a claims bar date the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon set in January 2005, regarding existing claims against the archdiocese or archbishop.

The Archdiocese of Portland was the first Roman Catholic diocese in the nation to file for bankruptcy, in 2004, overwhelmed by costs arising from sexual abuse lawsuits.

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NEW YORK
Assemblywoman Margaret M. Markey

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 20, 2015

Assemblywoman Markey Asks Him to Meet with NY Legislators and Advocates for Reform of Child Sex Abuse Codes; Seeks Help to Convince NY Bishops to Align Their Policies with Vatican and End Their Opposition to Reform of State’s Archaic Statute of Limitations

Assemblywoman Margaret Markey has asked Pope Francis to schedule a meeting with New York survivors of childhood sexual abuse when he comes to the U.S. in September.

After news that the Holy Father has planned to visit New York City in September she wrote to him saying: “Some of us who have been outspoken in the struggle to provide support and justice for survivors of child sexual abuse would like to meet with you to ask for your help in convincing New York Bishops to bring their views in alignment with yours on the subject of abuse.”

She said that meeting with key members of the New York State Legislature and representatives of organizations that are hard at work to update the laws of our state “would provide a symbolic opportunity to the general public and New York clergy about the importance of this issue.“

The Assemblywoman has not yet received an official response to her request, but she said this visit is a unique opportunity for the Catholic Church to take leadership in addressing the crisis in how poorly New York treats victims of childhood sexual abuse. The state currently ranks among the very worst of all states in America in how it deals with victims of child sexual abuse crimes, right at the bottom of all 50 states along with Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Indiana, according to a survey by the Cardozo Law School.

Under current law victims of child sex abuse in New York must come forward to bring criminal or civil charges within five years of their 18th birthday or lose the opportunity to ever bring charges against their abuser. Many other states either have no or extended statute of limitations, including California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Delaware and Connecticut.

The Child Victims Act of New York (A2872-Markey/S63-Hoylman) seeks to completely eliminate the civil and criminal statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse crimes. In addition, it would completely suspend the civil statute of limitations for one year in order to give older victims an opportunity to get justice and expose predators who have been hidden and remain free to abuse new generations of children. Assemblywoman Markey is hosting a Lobby Day in support of the Child Victims Act is in Albany on April 22 when advocates will reach out to legislators.

The New York Catholic Conference of Bishops has been among the most vociferous opponents of the Child Victims Act since it was first advanced in the State Legislature. The measure has been adopted in one form or another by the Assembly four times since 2006, but has never come to the floor of the State Senate.

In her letter to Pope Francis, the Assemblywoman said, “Those of us in New York who are battling the scourge of childhood sexual abuse were encouraged by your strong message… to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. We took particular note of your call to open pathways of reconciliation and healing for those who have been abused and your reminder that there is no place in the ministry for those who abuse children…. This is a view that resonates strongly in America, where there have been several notorious examples of cover-up over recent years that have revealed how abusers of children have been hidden by clergy and often remained free to continue their despicable crimes.”

She added, “In New York, as in many states in America, the fight to address childhood sexual abuse has often revolved around reforming archaic statutes of limitations that restrict the ability of victims to get justice for the crimes done against them by abusers and the organizations that have protected them. Unfortunately, Catholic Bishops have been among the most vocal opponents of reform of these statutes in so many states, particularly in New York. In fact, the opposition to reform of New York’s statutes of limitations has been largely mounted by the Bishops of our own state. This opposition appears to directly contradict the reforms in the Church’s own changes in Canon Law in 2001, 2003 and 2010 relating to statues of limitations and as well as your own views on the subject expressed over the past several months.”

The national organization, the Catholic Whistleblowers, has targeted reform of New York’s codes was a priority in 2015. The group of canon law experts and religious leaders contends that all criminal and civil statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse should be removed so as to better protect children and to do justice. In a recent message to the Bishops of New York State, they point to changes in the church’s own statute of limitations concerning both the crime of sexual abuse of a minor and also actions to recover compensation for damages incurred because of the crime. The statement by the group’s Steering Committee said, “Now therefore, is the time for the Catholic Bishops of New York State to follow the example of Saint John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI and voice support for the Child Victims Act to become Law in New York State.”

Following is the text of Assemblywoman Markey’s letter to Pope Francis:

His Holiness, Pope Francis, Apostolic Palace, 00120 Vatican City

Most Holy Father:

Those of us in New York who are battling the scourge of childhood sexual abuse were encouraged by your strong message of February 2, 2015, to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. We took particular note of your call to open pathways of reconciliation and healing for those who have been abused and your reminder that there is no place in the ministry for those who abuse children.

Reports after the first meeting of the Commission said there was a strong sentiment for recommendations to hold bishops accountable for cover-ups or failing to prevent abuse. This is a view that resonates strongly in America, where there have been several notorious examples of cover-up over recent years that have revealed how abusers of children have been hidden by clergy and often remained free to continue their despicable crimes.

In New York, as in many states in America, the fight to address childhood sexual abuse has often revolved around reforming archaic statutes of limitations that restrict the ability of victims to get justice for the crimes done against them by abusers and the organizations that have protected them. Unfortunately, Catholic Bishops have been among the most vocal opponents of reform of these statutes in so many states, particularly in New York.

In fact, the opposition to reform of New York’s statutes of limitations has been largely mounted by the bishops of our own state. This opposition appears to directly contradict the reforms in the Church’s own changes in Canon Law in 2001, 2003 and 2010 relating to statues of limitations and as well as your own views on the subject expressed over the past several months.

We are all delighted to know that you will be coming to New York City in September. Some of us who have been outspoken in the struggle to provide support and justice for survivors of child sexual abuse would like to meet with you to ask for your help in convincing New York Bishops to bring their views in alignment with yours on the subject of abuse.

Meeting with key members of the New York State Legislature and representatives of organizations that are hard at work to update the laws of our state would provide a symbolic opportunity to the general public and New York clergy about the importance of this issue.

New York ranks among the very worst of the 50 American states in how it deals with child sex abuse crimes and opposition of New York Bishops continues to prolong the agony of victims, delay justice for them, and leave perpetrators free to continue their abuse.

Respectfully, Margaret M. Markey, Member, New York State Assembly

CC: Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, Chair of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
For media information, call Assemblywoman Markey’s Office, Mike Armstrong, 718-651-
3185, 518-455-4755, armmic@earthlink.net.
Contacts for the Catholic Whistleblowers: Rev. James Connell (414-940-8054); Sr. Claire
Smith, OSU (718-885-0893); Sr. Sally Butler, OP (718-237-0905)
For information about current statutes of limitations in states across the U.S. and various
local state initiatives to reform them see the website: SOL-Reform.com

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Betrayed By Silence: An MPR News investigation
Explore the full investigation Clergy abuse, cover-up and crisis in the Twin Cities Catholic church

Jon Collins · Apr 20, 2015

MPR News has received a Peabody Award for an investigative documentary examining the child sex-abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The Peabody Awards are one of the highest honors in broadcast journalism.

The “Betrayed by Silence” documentary aired in July and examined how leaders within the archdiocese shielded priests who sexually abused children, despite decades of public assurances that the Catholic Church was safe.

The Peabody Awards website said the documentary uncovered how Archbishop Harry Flynn, who headed the committee that wrote the U.S. Catholic Church’s abuse policy “not only failed to follow it but participated in cover-ups.”

The documentary was reported by reporter Madeleine Baran, produced by Sasha Aslanian and edited by News Director Mike Edgerly. It was the result of an investigation by a team of MPR News journalists that began in 2013.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Minnesota Public Radio is taking home a Peabody Award for its documentary, “Betrayed By Silence,” which took an indepth look into the child sex-abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

It is the sixth time either MPR or its parent company, American Public Media, has received the prestigious award.

“The individual stories throughout the investigation were superbly reported and important, yet difficult because of the victims’ painful experiences,” said MPR’s news managing editor Chris Worthington.
“This final story was critical for a full understanding — it went beyond what happened to show how and why it persisted over decades and who could’ve stopped it.”

The coverage, led by Madeleine Baran, has already received wide recognition, including a Alfred I.duPont-Columbia University Award.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

April 20, 2015

(St. Paul, Minn.)–April 20, 2015– Minnesota Public Radio News today received a George Foster Peabody Award for its radio documentary “Betrayed by Silence,” an unflinching, deeply reported story that revealed how leaders of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over decades systematically shielded priests who sexually abused children while claiming they were national leaders in prevention. The award is the highest honor in broadcast media. Along with receiving the Alfred A. duPont Award earlier this year, MPR News’ reporting about the archdiocese has earned the top two national honors for broadcast journalism.

“We’re humbled and grateful to receive the award,” said Chris Worthington, MPR News managing director and the project’s editor. “The individual stories throughout the investigation were superbly reported and important, yet difficult because of the victims’ painful experiences. This final story was critical for a full understanding — it went beyond what happened to show how and why it persisted over decades and who could’ve stopped it.”

The documentary was reported and produced by Madeleine Baran and Sasha Aslanian. It was edited by Mike Edgerly, MPR News’ news director.

“I’m grateful to the abuse survivors and their families and everyone who came forward to help us tell this important story,” said Baran.

Journalists from MPR News will accept the award at a ceremony in New York May 31. MPR News is one of 40 winners that will be honored as the “Best of the Best” in television, radio, podcast and web programming in 2014. The awards ceremony will be filmed for broadcast to air on June 21.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Nick Woltman
nwoltman@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 04/20/2015

Minnesota Public Radio News on Monday received a 2014 George Foster Peabody award for “Betrayed by Silence,” its documentary about child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“We’re humbled and grateful to receive the award,” Managing Editor Chris Worthington said in a news release. “The individual stories throughout the investigation were superbly reported and important, yet difficult because of the victims’ painful experiences.”

The investigation, published in July, was reported by Madeleine Baran, produced by Sasha Aslanian and edited by news director Mike Edgerly. Worthington supervised the project.

The Peabody Awards, administered by Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, recognize excellence in broadcast journalism.

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CANADA
Calgary Herald

Child abuse investigators have charged a former pastor in connection with a sexual assault dating back to 1994.

The charges came after the victim contacted police to report a series of sexual assaults that allegedly occurred during counselling sessions with a pastor.

Wagdi Yousif Iskander, 52, of Calgary, is charged with sexual assault and sexual interference with a child under 14.

At the time the abuse allegedly occurred, Iskander was the pastor of the Arabic Baptist Church, which used space at the Cambrian Heights Baptist Church.

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CANADA
660 nEWS

Chris Bowen Apr 20, 2015

A man who was once a pastor at a northeast church has been charged with a sexual assualt dating back more than 20 years.

The Calgary Police Child Abuse Unit has charged 52 year old Wagdi Yousif Iskander with Sexual Assault and Sexual Interference with a child under 14.

The alleged incidents happened during counselling sessions in 1994.

At the time, the accused was the pastor of the Arabic Baptist Chruch, which used space at Cambrian Heights Baptist Church in the northwest.

No word on when he is due in court.

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NEW YORK
The Legislative Gazette

By MATTHEW D’ONOFRIO

April 20, 2015

In accordance with Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Month, Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, D-Maspeth, is inviting advocates for her Child Victims Act (A.2872/S.63) to join her at The Well on Wednesday, April 22 to meet with lawmakers in support of the legislation.

“There is no limit on what is a life-time of suffering and anguish for so many victims of child sexual abuse,” said Markey. “That is why there should be no limit on the ability of victims and society to prosecute abusers. Nor should there be any limit on holding accountable those institutions and organizations that have deliberately protected and hidden perpetrators. Their actions make it possible for pedophiles to continue to prey on new victims.”

Starting at 9:30 a.m. an informational exhibition, open to the general public all day, will be held covering the subject of child sexual abuse and the statute of limitations for those crimes. A press conference will follow at 1 p.m.

The supporting organizations expected to be present are Catholic Whistleblowers, Downstate Crime Victims Coalition, Prevent Child Abuse New York, Call to Action, Voice of the Faithful, Catholics of Conscience and Horace Mann Action Coalition. Two Buffalo child sexual abuse victims Vanessa DeRosa and Tino Flores, New York schools Horace Mann and Poly Prep Day School, as well as USA Speedskating star Bridie Farrell, will also be in attendance.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Apr. 20, 2015 NCR Today

Since late last week, rumors have been flying in Kansas City, Mo., that the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn is imminent. There is no hard evidence to support these rumors.

I did not plan to write about this, but I’ve been fielding phone calls and emails almost nonstop since the middle of last week. Much of what I am hearing is wrong, and for this reason, I decided I needed to write about it.

NCR learned last week that Finn was in Rome on April 14 after missing a previously scheduled confirmation service the day before. NCR did not report on this because that information by itself was not substantial enough to warrant a story. It is certainly not unusual for a bishop to visit Rome, and we did not have any hard evidence to suggest the meeting was tied to a resignation or removal.

Here’s what we do know:

Finn was the subject an apostolic visitation in September that looked into his leadership of the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese. About two dozen people — supporters, critics and neutral people — were interviewed and a report was filed with the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops.

Finn has been the subject of a couple of petitions started by laypeople in the diocese asking that he resign. Those petitions stem from Finn’s 2012 conviction on a misdemeanor charge of failing to report suspected child abuse in a case involving the former priest of this diocese, Shawn Ratigan. …

Finn was to have presided at a confirmation ceremony at Presentation Parish in Lee’s Summit, Mo., on April 13. The parish was informed that afternoon that Finn would not attend and that the vicar general, Fr. Charles Rowe, would preside instead.

About midday on April 14 in Rome, NCR Vatican correspondent Joshua J. McElwee, saw Finn outside St. Peter’s Square near the Vatican Press Office. Finn and McElwee exchanged greetings and parted. Finn did not say what he was doing in Rome.

McElwee contacted the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese to ask why the bishop was in Rome and to place a formal request for an interview with Finn. The diocesan spokesman, Jack Smith, replied in an email that the bishop’s trip to Rome was for a “private visit” and that an interview would not be possible because by 4:30 p.m. Rome time, “the bishop is already supposed to have left Rome,” Smith told McElwee.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent April 20, 2015

ROME — Although Pope Francis doesn’t arrive in Washington, DC for his US debut until late September, a Vatican spokesman said Monday the trip will actually begin more than four months earlier when the pontiff visits Rome’s main American seminary May 2.

Francis is heading to the Pontifical North American College (NAC) for a Mass in honor of Junipero Serra, an 18th-century Spanish Franciscan celebrated as the founder of the Church on the West Coast of the United States, but also derided by critics as the “Columbus of California” for his role in decimating the native population.

Francis will formally declare Serra a saint during his American trip, which will take him to DC, New York, and Philadelphia for a Vatican-sponsored meeting of families Sept 23-27. …

It may also be a preview of controversy likely to swirl when Francis canonizes Serra, a Franciscan priest who founded nine missions from San Diego to San Francisco during the 18th century. Native Americans and others claim that he imposed Christianity on the region, wiped out native populations, and enslaved converts to the faith.

During a press conference in Rome Monday, Church officials defined Serra as a man who made mistakes, but also a historical figure who defended natives from Spanish colonizers like no one else.

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CONNECTICUT
Crux

By Michael O’Loughlin
National reporter April 20, 2015

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Vatican’s special commission on clergy sexual abuse has given Pope Francis a proposal on how to punish bishops who failed to protect minors from sexual abuse by clergy under their oversight.

Marie Collins, a member of the panel — formally known as the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — and herself a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, said she couldn’t reveal details of the proposal, but that personally, she believes some bishops must be removed from office. Among those she cited was Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, convicted in 2012 of failing to report suspected child abuse to civil authorities.

“I cannot understand how Bishop Finn is still in position, when anyone else with a conviction that he has could not run a Sunday school in a parish. He wouldn’t pass a background check,” she said in an interview with Crux. “I don’t know how anybody like that could be left in charge of a diocese.”

Collins said her working group has discussed Finn’s case, as well as that of the newly installed Bishop Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid of Osorno, Chile, who is tied to one of that country’s most notorious abusers.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

APRIL 21, 2015

Sarah Elks
Reporter

The retired Catholic bishop of Rockhampton has told victims of child sexual abuse at a church ­orphanage that he feels “a terrible sense of shame and disgrace over what happened to you”.

Brian Heenan yesterday ­directly addressed the now adult survivors of abuse at Neerkol, the notorious orphanage run by the Sisters of Mercy nuns for decades until 1975.

“(I have realised) how dreadful it must have been for (you),” Bishop Heenan told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

“I just want to say to (the survivors) again, my heart goes out to you and it’s been reinforced this week because of what you shared with us.

“I feel a terrible sense of shame and disgrace over what happened to you at Neerkol.”

The royal commission has been sitting in Rockhampton, in central Queensland, for a week, and has been told of horrific sexual abuse by priests and physical abuse by nuns at the orphanage.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Allentown Catholic Diocese begins process to defrock priest accused of fathering child.

August 31, 2010
By Devon Lash, OF THE MORNING CALL

When Mark Rozzi learned a young woman in his own Berks County neighborhood was allegedly involved in a sexual relationship with a priest, it seemed he was 13 again.

At that age, Rozzi said, he was sexually abused by his teacher and priest at Holy Guardian Angels outside Reading. It took decades for him to talk about the abuse. On Monday, joining a small group of protesters outside the Allentown Catholic Diocese headquarters in South Whitehall Township, he encouraged others like him not to wait so long.

“Bad stuff happens to good people,” said Rozzi, now 39 and living in Muhlenberg Township. “But you have to keep coming forward, because there are so many victims that are afraid to talk about this.”

The group, the Lehigh Valley chapter of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, urged diocesan leaders to seek out victims of abuse and, as recommended by the sign one woman hoisted, “do everything possible.”

The four demonstrators gathered in response to a lawsuit filed last week that claims a Reading priest, the Rev. Luis A. Bonilla Margarito, started a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student that led to her pregnancy.

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SCOTLAND
Christian Today

Mark Woods CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 20 April 2015

A Roman Catholic priest in Scotland who alleged there was a culture of sexual bullying in seminaries stretching back decades has been found guilty by a Church tribunal of injuring the reputation of the Church and its clergy.

The church of St John Ogilvie in High Blantyre, where Fr Matthew Despard was priest.
Father Matthew Despard, who was suspended from his parish at St John Ogilvie in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, made the claims in a self-published book entitled ‘Priesthood in Crisis’.

The e-book has been removed from sale on Amazon’s Kindle service following legal threats by priests who said they had been defamed, but its description says that it is “a story of one priest’s experience in the priesthood and his efforts to live out his vocation honourably despite his awareness of corruption in parts of the Church that he loves”.

Fr Despard alleged that a “powerful gay Mafia” was at work. He said that as a trainee priest he was approached inappropriately and that other seminarians who spurned the advances of others were bullied.

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ALABAMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Decision reached on indictment of predator priest
Mother of alleged victim is told charges will be filed
Records are sealed, however, so outcome is unclear
Victims call on church & court officials to disclose ruling
SNAP: “Catholic bishop should aggressively seek out others who have been hurt”
Support group also releases list of 14 other “credibly accused AL child molesting clerics”

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will

– discuss a grand jury’s decision about possibly indicting an accused predator priest,
– beg church and court officials, for the safety of children, to disclose that recent decision,
– prod others who were similarly abused to step forward so they can begin to heal, and
– urge Birmingham’s bishop head to disclose the identity and whereabouts of other credibly accused clerics who have lived or worked in the area

WHEN
Monday, April 20 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the Cathedral of St Paul, 2120 3rd Avenue, North (corner of 22nd Street N ) in Birmingham, AL

WHO
Two members of a self-help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director

WHY
A grand jury has reached a decision about indicting a Birmingham Catholic on child sex abuse charges. That decision is sealed but last week, the mother of the alleged victim was told by prosecutors that the grand jury has issued a “true bill” and the criminal case will proceed.

Almost 1.5 years ago, Fr. David Lawrence Stone (205-767-8384) was arrested in Jefferson County and accused of molesting a child younger than 12 years old. (Fr. Stone also goes by the name “Francis Mary Stone.”) The alleged victim is Fr. Stone’s child.

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VIRGINIA
The Virginian-Pilot

By Bill Bartel
The Virginian-Pilot
April 20, 2015

A victims advocacy group said last week it will again request that Roman Catholic leaders in southeast Virginia ask parishioners whether they were molested by a friar, once based in Norfolk, who had been linked to dozens of child assaults in other states.

The new request is triggered by media reports last week that three more victims of Brother Stephen Baker reached financial settlements with church-related groups. The three said Baker abused them in the 1990s while they were teenagers at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pa.

Baker, who committed suicide in 2013, was on the faculty of a now-closed Norfolk parochial school in the 1970s. His death sparked the advocacy group’s initial request for assistance by the Richmond diocese, which includes Hampton Roads.

Becky Ianni, the Virginia director for the national organization SNAP, Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests, said she hopes that enough time has passed that anyone who might have been victimized by Baker will seek counseling.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Justice4PAKids

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!
PRESS CONTACT: Maureen Cislo, 484-325-4092 info@justice4pakids.org

Justice4pakids is the only organization in the state of Pennsylvania to host a 5k/fun run for survivors of child sexual abuse. Slated for Saturday May 2 on the Chester Valley Trail in Exton, the family friendly event features an easy flat course for all runners or walkers.

“This is a day of hope, a day of empowerment, a day to be free—walking away from your predator and walking into a new future,” says Maureen Cislo, President of Justice4pakids.
This is more than a run against child sexual abuse- this is a day to honor survivors of child sexual abuse while bringing greater awareness to this health crises.

“1 in 4 girls and 1 in 5 boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. In 90% of reported cases, the child knows their perpetrator,” says Robert Nelson, a survivor and Chair of the Justice4pakids Board of Directors.

Many survivors will be coming out to participate and will receive a special certificate for completing the walk/run. DJ Danny Madonna’s Superior Sound will spin some fun tunes and a meaningful song will be played and dedicated towards survivors. Runners and walkers will also be able to write a message on their back of their T-shirt such as: “I am walking to support CSA survivor Joan.”

As one survivor who is signed up to walk sums it up: “This is amazing! You are providing a safe place to come together and have a positive impact in a bad situation. It has given me a place to have positive thoughts and be hopeful. This is not always easy – even after 35+ years. My story has always been so personal and I have kept it very much to myself and shared only when necessary. I feel much more empowered now and accepted. In this group, I am looked at as a survivor NOT a victim. This is very important.”

Join in the 3nd Annual 5K Run and 1Mile Walk on Saturday, May 2, at Chester Valley Trail Entrance, 140 Church Farm Lane, Exton. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. Timed race starts at 8 a.m. sharp. $25 fee on race day. Prizes for First, Second & Third Place! “Keep Your Body Safe” coloring books will be handed out to all children for free.

Justice4pakids is a 501 c-3 whose mission is to stop child sexual abuse by raising awareness through its education and prevention programs. Find out more at: www.justice4pakids.org

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Rich Calder
April 20, 2015

He lost a lawsuit against Yeshiva University’s prestigious all-boys school involving alleged decades-long sex abuse — so his parents are now trying to make an end-run at justice.

In what their lawyer calls a first-of-its-kind move in the state, Israel and Chaya Gutman are set to file a lawsuit Monday claiming that the embattled Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy in Manhattan is guilty of deceptive advertising by touting the high school as a safe place to send youths.

“This is the first case in which a parent has sued a school for deceptive practices based upon the school’s retention of known sexual predators,” said the Florida couple’s lawyer, Kevin Mulhearn, to The Post.

“This is a lawsuit brought by parents who suffered every person’s worst nightmare.”

According to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit, “Most savvy Jewish educational consumers… would have never imagined that [the school], despite its glowing and positive impressions, would have permitted their son to endure an educational experience… that was consistently threatened, and often stained, by known sexual predators in high positions of authority.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

by Rachel Millard, Reporter

An inquiry into abuse at a boys’ home may provide clues to crack a 35-year-old unsolved murder, the man originally convicted of the killing has said.

Colin Wallace, who spent nearly six years in prison following the death of Brighton antiques dealer Jonathan Lewis, told The Argus questions remain unanswered over the 1980 mystery.

The now 72-year-old, who was cleared on appeal in 1996, was an Army intelligence office working in Northern Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s.

As well as working on secretive black propaganda missions at the height of the Troubles, Mr Wallace also blew the whistle on abuse at the notorious Kincora boys’ home in Belfast. Following his release from prison, investigative journalist Paul Foot suggested he may have been framed over the death in order to keep him quiet over his top secret work in Northern Ireland and what he knew about Kincora. An inquiry into abuse at the home is ongoing in Northern Ireland, and, speaking to The Argus from his home in Arundel, Mr Wallace said it may yet spark revelations about the Lewis case.

He said: “The whole thing, in my own mind, I link the two up but in reality I have to keep the two separate. The danger is I cannot prove anything.

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FIJI
Fiji Times

Luke Rawalai
Monday, April 20, 2015

VICTIMS of abuses are never responsible for what happens to them as such unspeakable acts are the fault of the perpetrator, says Australian author and social worker Doctor Marian Zaunbrecher.

Dr Zaunbrecher, who is also a reverend, said victims of any form of abuse had the right to be angry at their perpetrators.

She said for abuse to stop, women, children and men needed to be educated and told that they had a right to their own body.

“Also, they have the right to say no and not feel responsible for the abuse that they face because it is the problem of the perpetrator,” she said.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

April 20, 2015

Miranda Forster

A retired Catholic bishop who was slow to act on child sexual abuse allegations against members of his clergy says he feels shamed by what happened to abuse victims.

Bishop Brian Heenan told a royal commission on Monday he felt a “terrible sense of shame and disgrace” over what happened to former residents of the Neerkol orphanage, near Rockhampton.

Former orphanage residents last week told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse of the physical, sexual and psychological abuse they suffered at the hands of nuns and priests before the orphanage closed in 1978.

Bishop Heenan was the head of the local Catholic diocese in the 1990s when abuse victims came forward.

He publicly dismissed the allegations as “scurrilous” and allowed the priest at the centre of the claims to continue working in the church, including alongside children, for several years.

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AUSTRALIA
Radio Australia

Child sex abuse inquiry: Retired Bishop sorry for sexual abuse of children at Queensland orphanage

By Marlina Whop and William Rollo

Retired Rockhampton Bishop Brian Heenan apologises for the sexual abuse of children at St Joseph’s Orphanage at Neerkol in central Queensland and for failing victims when they came forward.

Retired Rockhampton Bishop Brian Heenan has apologised for the sexual abuse of children at St Joseph’s Orphanage at Neerkol in central Queensland and for failing victims when they came forward.

“I apologise again for the harm and suffering of former [residents] at Joseph orphanage residents at the hands of the Catholic Church, priests and sisters and staff,” he said outside the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

“I also apologise for the way in which I responded to these victims. I failed them and for that I’ll be forever sorry.”

Bishop Heenan was cross examined for the second day at the Rockhampton hearings over the church’s responses to the abuse allegations at the Neerkol orphanage from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Father Reg Durham, who was the administrator for the parish of Neerkol and had resided in the presbytery, was charged in 1997 with 40 sexual offences against five former residents and pleaded guilty to six counts of indecently dealing with a child.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier-Mail

Retired Queensland Bishop Brian Heenan ashamed of child abuse in Catholic Church, Royal Commission hears

MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL APRIL 20, 2015

A RETIRED Queensland Bishop has expressed deep sorrow about child sexual abuse inside the Catholic Church, and spoken of his own “terrible sense of shame and disgrace”.

Bishop Brian Heenan, appearing at the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse at Rockhampton, said listening to a week of evidence from victims had moved him deeply.

“I realised all over again how dreadful it must have been for them,” Bishop Heenan, appointed in 1991 and now retired, said.

“I just want to say, my heart goes out to you, and that has been reinforced this week because of what you have shared with us.”

The Royal Commission has heard evidence from victims of child sexual abuse in Rockhampton, including former residents of Neerkol Orphanage, west of the city.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Roman Catholic religious brother who worked for years in Pittsburgh is scheduled to go on trial today in Australia on charges of sexually abusing children there.

Brother Bernard Hartman of the Marianist religious order returned to Australia in 2013 to face 18 charges of sexually assaulting two girls and two boys in the 1970s and early 1980s, when he was assigned to a Catholic school in Melbourne.

Details about the trial are limited because the presiding judge has issued a “suppression order,” according to the Office of Public Prosecutions in the Australian state of Victoria.

Under Australian law, a judge can partially or entirely forbid the release or publication of details about a court case under certain circumstances, including those that might distress or embarrass alleged victims of sexual offenses, according to a Melbourne Law School study.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

A retired Catholic bishop says he’ll be “forever sorry” for the way he responded to former residents of an infamous central Queensland orphanage whose shocking stories of abuse were laid bare at a royal commission.

Retired Rockhampton bishop Brian Heenan told the sex abuse royal commission he felt “a terrible sense of shame and disgrace” at what happened to children at the St Joseph’s Neerkol orphanage, near Rockhampton.

Former orphanage residents told a public hearing last week of suffering regular sexual abuse by priests, and of frequent sadistic beatings and other punishments meted out by nuns.

Bishop Heenan conceded before the commission on Friday that he failed to adequately respond to victims’ allegations when they first emerged in the 1990s.

On Monday he addressed the victims directly in a statement outside the Rockhampton court house, where the public hearing is being held.

“I want to apologise again for the harm and the suffering of former St Joseph’s Orphanage residents at the hands of the Catholic Church, priests and sisters and staff,” he said.

“I also apologise for the way in which I responded to these victims.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Monday 20 April 2015

A retired Catholic bishop who was slow to act on child sexual abuse allegations against members of his clergy says he feels shamed by what happened to victims.

Bishop Brian Heenan told a royal commission on Monday he felt a “terrible sense of shame and disgrace” over what happened to former residents of the Neerkol orphanage, near Rockhampton.

Former orphanage residents last week told the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse of the physical, sexual and psychological abuse they suffered at the hands of nuns and priests before the orphanage closed in 1978.

Heenan was the head of the local Catholic diocese in the 1990s when abuse victims came forward. He publicly dismissed the allegations as “scurrilous” and allowed the priest at the centre of the claims to continue working in the church, including alongside children, for several years.

Heenan later formally apologised to victims. He told the commission that hearing the former residents’ stories again had reinforced to him their “dreadful” experience.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lancaster Online

The LNP Editorial Board

THE ISSUE

State legislators and advocates for sexual assault victims lobbied last week for reforms to Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations law. Adult victims of childhood sexual abuse only have until they’re 30 to bring civil action against their abusers. Bills in the state House and Senate would raise that to age 50. That would bring the civil statute in line with the criminal statute of limitations. The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the public affairs arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, and the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania have lobbied against statute of limitation reform.

Pennsylvania should be on the side of making sure the perpetrators of sexual abuse are held accountable. Pennsylvania should be on the side of making sure victims of sexual abuse who want their day in court get it.

Anything that doesn’t meet that standard is not good enough, no matter how the counterargument is cloaked or framed.

State Rep. Mark Rozzi is among those leading the charge to do what is right. He tells of being raped by his parish priest when he was 13. He tells the story of two of his childhood friends — sexually abused by the same priest — committing suicide.

It often takes years, even decades, for victims to report childhood sexual abuse. Rozzi says he was in his late 30s when he decided he “couldn’t take it anymore. I was done suffering in silence.”

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By The Associated Press
on April 19, 2015

SPOKANE — The former director of Morning Star Boys’ Ranch was reinstated as a Catholic priest last week after an internal review found sex abuse claims could not be substantiated.

The Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, now 82, was removed from the ministry in 2006 amid a growing number of reports from people who said they were abused sexually or physically by him or his ranch staff.

As part of a broader process by the Diocese of Spokane, retired federal judge Michael Hogan investigated or reviewed charges against Weitensteiner, The Spokesman-Review reported. Last month, Hogan rejected the last four claims of sex abuse.

“One by one, each of those claims were denied or declared noncredible” by Hogan, according to the diocese.

A review of Hogan’s rulings by two diocesan advisory groups — the Diocesan Review Board, a group of mostly laypeople who are not employed by the church, and a panel of priests called the College of Consultors — led to the recommendation that Weitensteiner be reinstated.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Marlina Whop and William Rollo

Retired Rockhampton Bishop Brian Heenan has returned today to continue giving evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in the central Queensland city.

The inquiry has been told that for more than three decades, children at St Joseph’s Orphanage at Neerkol, west of Rockhampton, were raped, molested and beaten.

Today’s hearing was due to begin at 10:30am but delayed because of webcast problems.

Bishop Heenan has been explaining the Catholic church’s response to abuse allegations at the orphanage from the 1940s to the 1970s, which was run by the Sisters of Mercy.

He allowed one of the main offenders, Father Reg Durham, to continue working for the Catholic Church for three years despite a woman alleging in 1994 he sexually abused her since she was a child.

It took Bishop Heenan three years to restrict Father Durham’s contact with children, and in 1999 he gave him a character a reference.

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AUSTRALIA
The Morning Bulletin

UPDATE 11.10AM: The Royal Commission has heard the Diocese of Rockhampton would have been prepared to pay for Fr Reginald Durham’s headstone after he died.

It’s not known if the church played any part in commissioning the headstone.

The solicitor for witness AYB submitted two photographs of Fr Durham’s headstone. One inscription on it reads “made up a royal priesthood to serve God”.

10AM: DAY FIVE of the Royal Commission hearing into child sex abuse at Neerkol Orphanage gets underway today with ex-bishop Brian Heenan continuing his evidence.

The commission last week heard how Fr Heenan wrote a positive character reference for his former priest Reginald Durham (deceased), when he was convicted of child sexual abuse offences.

We will update you with more information as it comes to hand.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Monday 20 April 2015

Jody Harrison
Reporter

A PRIEST who alleged that a “powerful gay Mafia” was behind sexual bullying in the Scottish catholic Church has been found guilty of defaming churchmen and parishioners.

Father Matthew Despard, of St John Ogilvie in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, made the claims in a self-published book titled “priesthood in crisis”, claiming that sexual misconduct had been widespread in junior seminaries for decades.

He also said he had alerted church authorities, but that nothing had been done.

Father Despard will now be removed from his parish and will spend three months in penance after a church tribunal found him guilty of injuring the reputation of the church and its clergy.

In a letter to the priest, the Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Toal, said: “The judges determined that of the 21 of the 26 charges brought against Father Despard, five were not proven.

“In the majority of cases, the tribunal ruled that Father Despard had injured the good reputation of a number of people, both lay and clergy.”

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Marie Collins, the tenacious Irish survivor of priest sexual abuse as a teenage hospital patient, and a charter member of Pope Francis’ sex abuse advisory commission, explained inspiringly and bravely on 4/18/15 to a Hartford (USA) group of Catholic reformers, including me, her sober strategy and modest expectations, especially in light of the commission’s limited mandate and inadequate funding. She spoke in detail of her commission experiences and concerns and hope at the national meeting of the Voice of the Faithful (VOTF). A senior VOTF representative indicated to me that Marie Collins’ very important address will be posted on its website here,

[VOTF]

She had just returned from her “non-meeting” with the pope. She wanted to discuss with Pope Francis his outrageous choice to make Juan Barros, who has been accused of helping shield a fellow priest abusing youths (including Juan Carlos Cruz), as the new bishop of Osorno, Chile. Barros’ bishop installion ceremony triggered unprecedented violent protests of thousands in majority Catholic Chile (see here, here, and here).

These protests are the beginning of the Catholic Revolution likely to erupt again soon in Philadelphia, or Philly, where Cruz, a top US communications executive and former journalist now lives. Philly was a key locale for the American Revolution that led to the downfall of many medieval monarchies. The papal monarchy will likely be the next and last to fall. Shocking disclosures from Philly criminal proceedings, of a top priest personnel aide to former Philly Cardinals Rigali and Bevilacqua, have already earned Philly a fair claim to be the USA’s Pedophile Priest Paradise over many decades, even though Bevilacqua’s video deposition remains hidden so far. The pope seems to think his media magic dust can cover over these disturbing facts. See my “… the Philadelphia Inquirer: A Time of Truth About Child Abuse”, here,

[Bilgrimage]

Marie Collins’ tenacity points to serious trouble after the Chile revolt for the pope’s upcoming visit to Philly, a key part of his evident and unfolding strategy to elect next year a “Vatican/US bishop friendly” right wing US president, with Jeb Bush the pope’s evident top choice. If the pope fails on curtailing child abuse, he becomes a US political liability. See my “Why Is Pope For A New US War That Aids Bush Neocons & BigOil Mainly?” here,

[Christian Catholicism]

Marie Collins has prudently decided, like Eleanor Roosevelt with her key role in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to “light a candle, rather than to curse the darkness. Marie Collins has extensive experience in Ireland dealing with senior Catholic Church bureaucrats and government officials, on getting “blood out of a stone”!

Marie Collins understands fully the limited agenda, the slow pace and the limited funding that the pope has so far embedded in his “go slow” abuse commission. But she is bravely determined, it seems clear, to seize the narrow opportunity afforded her as a member to press forward, inch by inch, to make sure children are saved from the horrors she encountered.

Marie Collins acknowledges the pope’s commission has serious limitations, but also some potential opportunities as well that she hopes to pursue without illusion. She has already made clear that she will quit if she thinks insufficient progress is being made and that she will presss the pope whenever necessary. She pointed in he USA talk to the commission’s inadequate funding and staffing, pradoxically as the pope’s Vatican Bank’s financial consultants began with a reported $1 million front end retainer, and US bishops just announced they spent $150 million last year on containing the US abuse scandal and protecting bishops mainly. The pope needs to “put his money where his mouth is” on curtailing the abuse scandal.

The pope seems poised to distract further from the abuse scandal with an encyclical on climate change, often denied by Big Oil interests. The pope’s top financial advisor was reportedly for a dozen years Chairman of BP until the end of 2009. BP is enduring a regrettable 5th anniversary now. On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and caused 200 million gallons of sticky black crude oil to spew into the ocean, setting off a devastating environmental disaster. Will Francis in his encyclical take on his Big Oil backers? Unlikely. Indeed, Francis has actively promoted population expansion, a key contributor to environmental degradation. Judging by the pope’s avoidance of the child abuse scandal, his environental encyclical is likely to be more of his mixed messaging and pious platitudes. See on the 2010 BP disaster Reuters’ new video, here,

[Reuters]

Pope Francis has evidently carefully avoided the Barros subject publicly, even though he reportedly was involved in Barros’ appointment and likely knows him. Please see the superb and relevant analysis, “Vatican Defends the Chilean Appointment” here, BishopAccountability.org .

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sudwest Presse

[Abuse allegations have been made against the Protestant Brethren Korntal involving 200 children. They are seeking 12 million euros in compensation.]

Die Betroffenen werfen der Brüdergemeinde vor, in den 50er bis 80er Jahren in den zwei Kinderheimen der Gemeinde sexuell missbraucht und gedemütigt worden zu sein. Die Brüdergemeinde schließt nach Angaben von Freitag jegliche Zahlungen aus. Der SWR hatte zuerst über die Forderung berichtet.

Die Brüdergemeinde ist nach Angaben eines Sprechers noch mit der Aufarbeitung der Ereignisse beschäftigt. Bei dem Gespräch, das den Betroffenen bei der Überwindung des Leids helfen soll, seien die Vertreter der Heimkinder beteiligt.

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ITALIA
Il Fatto Quotidiano

[ Don Giovanni Desio, the 53 year old native of Milan and former pastor at Casalborsetti, who was arrested April 5, 2014 on charges of sexual acts on four children who were entrusted to him, has apologized with a letter and offered 100 thousand euro in total compensation to the families of the victims.]

È di 9 anni di reclusione la richiesta avanzata dal pm alla seconda udienza del rito abbreviato contro don Giovanni Desio, 53enne originario di Milano ed ex parroco di Casalborsetti, arrestato il 5 aprile 2014 con l’accusa di atti sessuali su quattro minori che gli erano stati affidati. L’udienza, avvenuta al Palazzo di Giustizia di Ravenna di fronte al gup Antonella Guidomei, segue quella del 9 marzo scorso, in cui si erano costituite quattro parti civili: due minorenni con i genitori, la Diocesi di Ravenna-Cervia e l’associazione ‘Dalla parte dei minori’, attiva sul territorio dal 2003. Non si erano costituiti, invece, il Comune di Ravenna e altri due ragazzini molestati.

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NORTH CAROLINA
WCNC

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — A former youth pastor at a church in Kannapolis is behind bars on charges of statutory rape and indecent liberties.

Benjamin Hollifield, 25, is being held on a $ 1 million bond.

Hollifield was fired from his position as youth pastor at Piedmont Baptist Church following the arrest.

The Pastor there released a statement saying Hollifield was “terminated for abusing a child and violating the church’s trust and policies.”

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

A retired Catholic bishop who admitted to putting the church’s reputation before child sexual abuse victims is due to face more questions at a royal commission.

Bishop Brian Heenan is expected to return to the witness box when the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse resumes in central Queensland on Monday.

Bishop Heenan was the head of the Catholic diocese in Rockhampton in the 1990s when former residents of the Neerkol orphanage came forward with historical child sexual abuse allegations.

The religious leader came under fire for initially dismissing the allegations as “scurrilous” and for failing to take action against the priest at the centre of the claims.

At the royal commission on Friday, Bishop Heenan conceded he had been more concerned with protecting the reputation of the Catholic church than with supporting abuse victims.

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UNITED STATES
The Raw Story

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
18 APR 2015

The Catholic Church in the US forked out $120 million to victims of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy and $30 million on pedophile prevention programs over 12 months, according to an annual report.

The bulk of the $150 million between June of 2013 and 2014 was spent on compensation, therapy and legal fees for victims, the report said, and the rest went to preventing the abuse from occurring, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said.

The US bishops conduct an annual study of sexual abuse allegations following a church scandal over pedophile priests came under the spotlight in 2002. In the fallout senior church officials acknowledged they had protected priests responsible for the sexual abuse of children.

The report said there were 657 allegations of underage sexual abuse by priests, of which 130 have been recognized and 243 are still under investigation and the rest unproven. Most allegations relate to events that took place years earlier.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mail on Sunday

By Martin Beckford and Paul Cahalan for The Mail on Sunday

The Director of Public Prosecutions was under growing pressure to stand down last night over her failure to put Lord Janner on trial for serious child abuse offences.

Alison Saunders’s position as the country’s top prosecutor looked bleak as she faced unprecedented criticism from the Home Secretary, police chiefs, crime tsars, prominent MPs – and even one of her predecessors.

Mrs Saunders said her job as head of the Crown Prosecution Service was to make the correct legal decisions in difficult cases, not the most popular ones. But she was accused of ignoring the rights of victims and of perpetrating Establishment cover-ups by deciding that Labour peer Lord Janner should not be charged – despite evidence of 22 offences against nine victims dating back to the 1960s.

Theresa May became the first Cabinet Minister to question the DPP’s judgment in ruling that the 86-year-old should not be prosecuted on the grounds that his dementia is now too advanced for him to have a fair trial.

The Home Secretary told the BBC: ‘I was very concerned when I heard about this decision. I have been very clear in everything I have said so far about the child sexual abuse issue… I expect to see justice done.’

Former DPP Lord Macdonald of River Glaven said it would have been better if Lord Janner had undergone a procedure whereby a jury can decide on the facts of a case without apportioning guilt and without a sentence being passed, if a suspect is unfit to plead.

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UNITED STATES
The Atlantic

ROSS DOUTHAT
APR 18 2015

In 1979, almost a year into the papacy of John Paul II, a novel called The Vicar of Christ spent 13 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. The work of a Princeton legal scholar, Walter F. Murphy, it featured an unlikely papal candidate named Declan Walsh—first a war hero, then a United States Supreme Court justice, and then (after an affair and his wife’s untimely death) a monk—who is summoned to the throne of Saint Peter by a deadlocked, desperate conclave.

Once elevated, Walsh takes the name Francesco—that is, Francis—and sets about using the office in extraordinary ways. He launches a global crusade against hunger, staffed by Catholic youth and funded by the sale of Vatican treasures. He intervenes repeatedly in world conflicts, at one point flying into Tel Aviv during an Arab bombing campaign. He lays plans to gradually reverse the Church’s teachings on contraception and clerical celibacy, and banishes conservative cardinals to monastic life when they plot against him. He flirts with the Arian heresy, which doubted Jesus’s full divinity, and he embraces Quaker-style religious pacifism, arguing that just-war theory is out of date in an age of nuclear arms and total war. (This last move eventually gets him assassinated, probably by one of the governments threatened by his quest for peace.)

Murphy’s book is mostly forgotten, but his hook, the idea of a progressive pope who sets out to bring sweeping change to Catholicism, has endured in the cultural imagination. The priest-novelist Andrew M. Greeley’s 1996 potboiler White Smoke, for instance, culminates in the election of a modernizing Spanish cardinal, whose conservative opponents are undone by the wily politicking of two Irish American prelates. Two years ago, Showtime shot a pilot for a series called The Vatican, in which Kyle Chandler (a k a Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights) played a rising-star New York cardinal with progressive views—only to spike the show, perhaps feeling overtaken by events, 10 months after Pope Benedict XVI unexpectedly resigned.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

Seven years ago, Cardinal Francis George testified about “the one egregious time” he said the Archdiocese of Chicago’s efforts to protect children under his leadership “failed to our great shame.”

He was talking about former priest Daniel McCormack.

McCormack sexually abused children on George’s watch while assigned to St. Agatha Parish on Chicago’s West Side. Arrested in January 2006, McCormack wasn’t removed from the priesthood until November 2007. He pleaded guilty that year.

“I had thought he was being supervised,” George said in a 2008 deposition. “And it wasn’t adequate.”

The cardinal’s handling of sex abuse allegations against McCormack and other priests in the archdiocese mar his legacy in the eyes of some.

“We would never wish anyone the kind of pain that we understand that he had to endure with his cancer,” Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said after George’s death Friday.

Still, she said the cardinal, who died Friday after years battling cancer, was “reckless” when it came to dealing with abusive priests.

“He left children at risk,” Blaine said, “even after he promised he wouldn’t do that.”

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CALIFORNIA
SFGate

By Kevin Fagan
April 18, 2015

All those praying that Pope Francis will take notice of their pleas and bounce Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone from his post in San Francisco had better settle in for a lot of time on their figurative knees.

Just about the last thing the Vatican ever does, experts say, is strip a bishop of his job because of political trouble in the pews — such as that being caused by a group of more than 100 local Catholics so upset about Cordileone’s conservative policies that they took out a full-page open letter in The Chronicle last week asking the pope to replace him.

“It’s so unusual for a bishop to be removed from office by the pope that there is a Latin term for it,” said the Rev. James Bretzke, professor of moral theology at Boston College. “It’s promoveatur ut amoveatur, which means, ‘Let him be promoted so that he can be removed.’

“That’s the way it’s been for centuries. And that’s the way it is now.”

Church watchers say that’s how St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke wound up being “promoted” to a legal post in the Vatican in 2008, four years after declaring that he would refuse communion to pro-abortion-rights presidential candidate John Kerry, among other provocations. And it’s reportedly how Bishop Joseph Martino was allowed in 2009 to gracefully retire at 63 — 12 years before the usual retirement age for bishops — after alienating his flock in Scranton, Pa., by espousing authoritarian views and closing nearly half the schools and parishes in his diocese.

“People are free to complain to the Vatican about bishops, but there is no formal process for removing them,” said Patricia Miller, an author who writes nationally on Catholic issues. “You can lobby it, and if you have the Vatican’s ear because you are a big donor or someone with big influence, you might get heard some. But the Vatican is not a democracy. It is literally a feudal court, a monarchy.

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ILLINOIS
My Suburban Life

By BOB OKON – bokon@shawmedia.com

Note to readers: The following story contains graphic descriptions of allegations of abuse by priests and may be offensive to some readers.

Steven Janik said he was an altar boy in the early 1980s being urged to consider the priesthood when the abuse began.

Janik was 13 or 14 at the time and was being interviewed by a priest who would determine whether he would be recommended for the seminary.

“When I was doing my one-on-one interview with him, one of the first questions he asked was, did I know what testicles were,” Janik said.

The next question was even stranger.

“He asked me if I knew what masturbation was. I did not. He took out a book and showed me,” Janik said.

Janik, who now lives in Wheaton, was among 14 men whose claims of sexual abuse against five priests in the Diocese of Joliet have been settled since July. Two law firms representing the men announced the settlements totaling $4.14 million last week.

Lawsuits filed on behalf of four of the plaintiffs tell similar stories of priests taking advantage of teenagers who were altar boys or interested in the priesthood.

One lawsuit alleges the abuse took place at the former St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Romeoville, a high school for boys interested in the priesthood.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

April 19, 2015

Cathy Kezelman

Another week and another school is under investigation for historical child sexual abuse.

Last Monday, Newington College, a private boys’ school in Sydney, was the latest school rocked by historic child sexual abuse allegations. The reports indicated that the school sent an email out to the parents of current and former students notifying them of an anticipated court case involving allegations of prior abuse at the school.

Two weeks earlier, another one of Sydney’s most prestigious private schools, St Ignatius College, Riverview, was forced to send a letter to parents informing them about child sexual abuse allegations made by a former student.

Both cases follow the chilling public inquiry into yet another prestigious private boys’ school, Knox Grammar, which was the focus of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse earlier this year. This particular case shocked the community – not only in relation to the reality of the three-decade history of child sexual abuse at the school, and the currency of the case up till 2012, but by the numbers of teachers charged.

The conduct of the school was especially disturbing. With the loss of records, and the former headmaster reportedly contradicting evidence that he gave earlier in the investigation, we saw evidence which suggested ongoing cover-ups, as well as the compounding impacts on victims. This public hearing is to recommence its inquiry, in late April.

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NORTH CAROLINA
WSOC

ROWAN CO., N.C. — A man was arrested Friday night and accused of sex crimes involving children, Rowan County officials said.

Benjamin Ross Hollifield, 25, is being held on a $1 million bond at the Rowan County Detention Center.

Hollifield is charged with indecent liberties with children and statutory rape/sex offense with a person aged 13, 14, or 15 by a person at least six years older.

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NORTH CAROLINA
WBTV

[with video]

By David Whisenant

SALISBURY, NC (WBTV) – A former Rowan County youth pastor is being held under a bond of $1 million, accused of sex crimes involving a child that attended his church. Sources tell WBTV that Hollifield was the youth pastor and outreach pastor at Piedmont Baptist Church in Kannapolis, NC.

Benjamin Ross Hollifield, 25, was arrested on Friday night and booked into the Rowan County Detention Center just after 10 p.m. on charges of taking indecent liberties with children and statutory rape/sex offense with a person aged 13, 14, or 15 by a person at least six years older.

Piedmont Baptist Church in Kannapolis released a statement Saturday on their website saying Hollifield was fired and that “The one known victim and their family are valued members of our church, and we are praying for and ministering to them during this difficult time. We would ask that you please respect their privacy.”

PBC went on to say that they screen anyone who works with children and “Piedmont Baptist Church reports all matters of potential child abuse to the authorities, as was done in this case by our senior pastor.”

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NORTH CAROLINA
Salisbury Post

By Jeanie Groh

A Kannapolis youth pastor has been charged with felony sex offenses with a 13-year-old church member.

Benjamin Ross Hollifield, 25, of the 1000 block of Buck Board Lane in Salisbury, has been charged with four counts of felony indecent liberties with a child and 10 counts of felony statutory rape or sex offense with a minor six or more years younger than himself.

The incidents took place between Feb. 15 and March 8.

Hollifield was the youth and outreach pastor at Piedmont Baptist Church, and has since been terminated from his position.

A statement on the church’s website said “Piedmont Baptist Church reports all matters of potential child abuse to the authorities, as was done in this case by our senior pastor.”

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NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte Observer

BY JOE MARUSAKJMARUSAK@CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
04/18/2015

A Kannapolis youth pastor has been arrested and charged with sex offenses against a 13-year-old church member.

Benjamin Ross Hollifield, 25, of Salisbury, is in the Rowan County Detention Center on $1 million bail on charges of felony indecent liberties with a child and felony statutory rape or sex offense with a minor six or more years younger than himself, jail records show. He was placed in jail on Friday, records show.

The Salisbury Post reported the victim is 13. Hollifield was youth and outreach pastor at Piedmont Baptist Church, multiple media outlets reported.

In a statement on its website, the church said one of its employees was fired “for abusing a child and violating the church’s trust and policies.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Lexology

Bolt Burdon Kemp
Dino Nocivelli

United Kingdom
April 15 2015

Survivors of childhood abuse often feel that their lives were changed beyond recognition the first time their abuser started to groom and abuse them.

As the vast majority of child abuse survivors do not disclose their abuse for a number of years after the actual assaults, this causes a period of time where they often struggle to manage the emotional impact of the abuse and this then affects their relationships with family members, partners and friends. Often survivors will become disruptive in school and at home while it is also very common to see them start to drink excessively, take illegal drugs or self-harm in an effort to erase their feelings and memories of the abuse.

Below I have noted extracts from some of my current clients (their names have been anonymised for confidentiality, as have their abusers) who have had a number of different relationships affected due to childhood sexual abuse:

Parents

Peter’s family were practicising Roman Catholics and were parishioners in their local church. Their local priest, Father Steven, presented himself as a good standing member of society and therefore my client’s mother had no issue when Father Steven first asked her if Peter, who was still a child at this time, wanted to become an altar server and later on if he wanted to help out at the church. Peter was sexually abused by Father Steven at the church while he was carrying out these roles.

Peter’s mother noticed that he had started to misbehave at home and school while his school teachers had told her that he seemed unable to focus on his studies and his effort had decreased substantially. At the same time, Peter’s family continued to go to mass every Sunday and his mother even confided in Father Steven about the change in Peter’s behaviour as she was struggling to control him and she was becoming increasingly concerned.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic World Report

April 18, 2015
Ann Carey

A French journalist I know called me for help on an article she was writing about the reform plan for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) accepted April 16 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

She said she was confused by all the articles on the topic in the U.S. press and wanted to ask me “Who really won? The sisters or the Vatican?”

At first I was stunned by this win-lose terminology, and I wondered why she would have considered the doctrinal reform of a canonically-erected entity to be a conflict of some kind, with the outcome producing a winner and a loser.

My own impression of the outcome was that everyone won because the CDF had helped the LCWR to be a better organization for sisters by refocusing its role to be “centered on Jesus Christ and faithful to the teachings of the Church,” according to the final report.

Then I took time to read several media stories on the topic and discovered that some of the articles made it sound as if the CDF’s reform of the LCWR indeed was adversarial, akin to “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” or a new “Star Wars” sequel.

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ROME
National Catholic Register

by RICCARDO CASCIOLI 04/17/2015

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, 66, is troubled by the negative campaign that has been waged against him. Ordained a bishop by Pope John Paul II in 1995, the respected expert in canon law was called to Rome by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 as prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura before being appointed cardinal in 2010.

In recent months, critics have described him as an “ultraconservative fanatic,” “anti-Conciliar,” “in conspiracy against the Pope” and even ready for a schism should the upcoming family synod open up unwelcome changes.

The criticism has been so defamatory that in Italy several bishops have even refused to host his lectures in their dioceses. Where he has been allowed to give a conference — as recently in some cities in the north of Italy — there are invariably priests who oppose him and accuse him of spreading propaganda against the Pope.

“It’s total nonsense, I don’t understand this attitude. I have never said a single word against the Pope; I strive only to serve the truth, a task that we all have. I have always seen my talks and my activities as a support to the Petrine ministry. The people who know me well can witness to the fact I am not anti-papal. On the contrary, I have always been extremely loyal and wanted to serve the Holy Father, as I am doing now.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

by Rachel Millard, Crime reporter

The man who blew the lid on abuse at a notorious boys’ home said a flawed Sussex Police report led to others being let off the hook.

Former Army intelligence officer Colin Wallace tipped-off reporters about abuse at Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast, seven years before three members of staff were prosecuted in 1980.

Sussex Police officers were brought in two years later to investigate how the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) conducted its inquiries. A report, from the then chief constable of Sussex Police Sir George Terry, followed in 1983.

The report, Mr Wallace argues, was flawed and led to others not being investigated. He also claims an inquiry, which is currently being held into the abuse, has been weakened as a result of the report more than 30 years before.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

Strangolato e riverso a terra in una pozza di sangue. Padre Lanfranco Rossi, 55 anni, teologo e autore di numerose pubblicazioni, è stato ammazzato all’interno della comunità religiosa di San Feliciano “I ricostruttori della preghiera” a Zagarolo.

IL RITROVAMENTO – Il ritrovamento è avvenuto nei giorni scorsi in un bosco. Ora sul caso indagano i carabinieri di Palestrina in collaborazione con i Ris di Roma che hanno disposto gli esami del caso. Per il momento si parla di una lite finita male. Pare esclusa, per ora, la pista della rapina finita male visto le condizioni di povertà in cui viveva il religioso.

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MARYLAND
CBS Baltimore

Christie Ileto

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. (WJZ) — Police call it one of the most serious child pornography cases they have ever seen. A Cockeysville man, who comes in constant contact with children, is found with 250,000 illegal images.

Christie Ileto stays on the investigation.

Police say during interviews, Gibson admitted to downloading and sharing child pornography. Some 250,000 images were found on his computer, and police fear there could be more.

Once a trusted church youth leader, now police say Gregory Gibson is behind one of Baltimore County’s worst child porn cases.

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

MARYLAND
WBAL

[with video]

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. —A 63-year-old Cockeysville man who is a youth group leader at a local church has been charged with possession and distribution of hundreds of thousands of pornographic images of extremely young children.

Gregory W. Gibson is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $750,000 bail. He was arrested Thursday at his home.

Detectives in BCoPD’s Crimes Against Children Unit said it is one of the most serious child pornography cases they have ever seen.

“Our detectives say is one of the worst child porn cases they’ve ever seen,” Baltimore County police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said.

Police said so far they have discovered about 250,000 pornographic images of extremely young, prepubescent children — mostly girls — on Gibson’s computers and hard drives.

The images depict child sexual abuse and explicit sex acts and erotica involving children, police said.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Alison Knezevich
The Baltimore Sun

A youth group leader for the Chinese Christian Church of Baltimore in Parkville has been arrested in what Baltimore County police say is one of the most serious child pornography cases they have ever seen.

Gregory W. Gibson, 63, of Cockeysville was charged Friday with possession and distribution of child pornography. County police said they have seized computers and hard drives containing a “massive” amount of images — about 250,000 so far.

The images depict extremely young children, mostly girls, being sexually abused, police said.

Police said they don’t have evidence that Gibson sexually abused the children or that he knows any of the children depicted in the pornography.

He was arrested Thursday at his home on the 10300 block of Malcolm Circle and is being held at the county detention center on $750,000 bail.

Police said that during interviews with detectives, Gibson admitted to downloading and sharing child pornography.

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NEDERLAND
CIP

[An allegation has been made that the Catholic Church in the Netherlands is ignoring reports of sexual abuse and is transferring erring priests to developing countries.]

PvdA en D66 willen een verklaring van minister van Veiligheid en Justitie Ard van der Steur over de situatie omtrent het misbruik in de katholieke kerk. De katholieke kerk negeert meldingen van seksueel misbruik en verdachte geestelijken worden vaak overgeplaatst naar ontwikkelingslanden. Marith Rebel, PvdA-Kamerlid, wil dat het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik RKK niet sluit op 1 mei.

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UNITED STATES
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

April 17, 2015

WASHINGTON—The Catholic Church in the United States spent a total of $150,747,387 in costs related to child protection efforts and to allegations of clergy sexual abuse of minors in dioceses and religious orders between July 2013 and June 2014, according to an annual survey conducted by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) included in the annual audit report on the response of the Catholic Church in the United States to clergy sexual abuse.

The Church spent a total of $31, 667,740 on safe environment training programs, background checks, and other protective efforts, and $119,029,647 on settlements paid to victims, therapy for victims, attorneys’ fees and other costs related to allegations.

Over 80 percent of credible allegations of abuse reported between July 2013 and June 2014 date back over 25 years, with the majority occurring from the 1960s-80s. According to responses gathered by CARA from all but one of the 195 dioceses and eparchies in the United States, two of the 294 credible allegations of clergy sexual abuse of minors made during this time occurred in 2014. The remaining credible allegations date back as early as the 1920s. According to the audit, all new cases were reported to civil authorities.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the report clearly shows the need to remain vigilant in the protection of children.

“Though our promise to protect and heal made in 2002 remains strong, we must not become complacent with what has been accomplished. It is my hope and prayer that as we continue to ful¬fill our promise, the Church will help model ways of addressing and bringing to light the darkness and evil of abuse wherever it exists,” said Archbishop Kurtz.

The full audit report is available online: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/index.cfm

The full audit showed that all participating dioceses and eparchies were in compliance with the requirement of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, adopted by the U.S. bishops in 2002, to provide safe environment training to children, priests, deacons, candidates for ordination, educators, employees and volunteers. A total of 4,484,609 children (92 percent) were trained in 2014, along with 99 percent of priests (35,319), deacons (16,089) and educators (160,757) and 98 percent of volunteers (1,931,187) and candidate for ordination (6,503) and 97 percent (250,087) of other employees.

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USA
ORF.at

[The Catholic Church in the United States has paid last within a year about 120 million dollars (nearly 111 million euros) to victims of sexual abuse.]

Die katholische Kirche in den USA hat zuletzt binnen eines Jahres rund 120 Millionen Dollar (fast 111 Mio. Euro) an Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs ausgezahlt. Die Zahl bezieht sich auf den Zeitraum von Mitte 2013 bis Mitte 2014 und geht aus einem gestern von der Bischofskonferenz des Landes vorgelegten Jahresbericht hervor. Sie umfasst etwa Entschädigungen und Therapiekosten.

Zudem wurden demnach 30 Millionen Dollar für Programme zur Bekämpfung von Pädophilie ausgegeben. Wie in zahlreichen anderen Ländern der Welt hatten auch in den USA Missbrauchsskandale die katholische Kirche schwer erschüttert.

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UNITED STATES
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

MARCH 2015

Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People

PROGRESS

In every diocese/eparchy audited, individuals coming forward with allegations are treated with respect
and offered assistance in their healing process.

Those making allegations are not required to sign condentiality agreements. Reports of child sexual abuse are reported to civil authorities and priests who were found to have committed sexual abuse of minors are removed from ministry. Dioceses/eparchies are being open and transparent with the faithful, informing communities affected by abuse.

Adults who work around children are being trained to create safe environments and to be attentive to the behavior of others; this includes clergy, employees, and volunteers—even children are being taught to be aware of signs of grooming and to report it.

NUMBERS

The Secretariat receives two sets of numbers each year. One set is from the auditors. These numbers include all the information from both onsite and data collection audits. The numbers from the audit include all allegations reported from a diocese/eparchy during the audit year, not just the allegations that could be substantiated. For the audit, the following denitions are used:

• Substantiated: enough evidence exists to prove the abuse occurred
• Unsubstantiated: enough evidence exists to prove the abuse did not occur
• Unable to be proven: there is not enough evidence to determine whether or not the abuse occurred (generally used when the cleric is deceased or his status or location is unknown)
• Investigation ongoing: still under investigation
• Other: investigation not yet begun or referred to another diocese/eparchy for investigation

During the 2014 audit year (July 1, 2013–June 30, 2014), 620 survivors of child sexual abuse by clergy came forward to make 657 allegations for the first time: 130 cases were substantiated; 62 were unsubstantiated; 243 were still under investigation; 210 were unable to be proven or disproven; and 12 were of Lincoln declining to participate. There was a 75 percent response rate from religious orders.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Gregory D. Perez

In the latest incident involving a sexual abuse scandal to hit the Catholic Church in Guam, there seems to be a lack of transparency with the leadership of the Church in accepting its responsibility and role in the incident. Once again, our confidence and trust is being shaken and tested.

Archbishop Apuron is the head of the Catholic Church in Guam. It is under his watch that all these problems are cropping up. It is his responsibility to show leadership and “clean up his house” of all these problems — from the lack of financial transparency to its handling of clergy sex abuse. And in this latter case, a mishandling of it could be financially disastrous to our archdiocese.

In the United States alone, billions of dollars in claims have been paid out over the past 50 years in Boston, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, New Orleans, New York and elsewhere because of their denying, running, hiding, lying, concealing, manipulating, deceiving and pretending that all is well and not to worry. Should we wait until lawsuits are brought against the Archdiocese of Agana before any action is taken to clean house?

In the case of Fr. Luis Camacho, we see absence of proper training by the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, or RMS, of its young men to be ordained as priests and sent out into parishes as pastors. We seriously ask: Are the seminary’s “formators” screening these seminarians for the difficult task of being pastors in our parishes — before they are ordained as priests?

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WEST VIRGINIA
Addicting Info

WENDY GITTLESON APRIL 17, 2015

The Mormon Church, much like the Catholic Church, has been embroiled in sex scandals and the church’s coverup. In West Virginia, a judge presiding over one case ordered that the families of victims pay half the legal costs of the convicted abuser.

21-year-old Christopher Michael Jensen was found guilty in 2013 of one count of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of child abuse. The victims were three and four years old in 2007, when the abuse occurred.

Jensen, who is currently serving up to 75 years in prison, is the son of two local Mormon leaders. Since the trial, 12 children and their families have come forward and filed a lawsuit against Jensen’s parents.

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UNITED STATES
The Republican

At Vatican, Cardinal O’Malley raises issue of bishop accountability in reporting sexual abuse, though Chilean bishop remains

By Anne-Gerard Flynn | aflynn@repub.com
on April 18, 2015

This article is a follow on Clergy sexual abuse survivor Marie Collins heads to Rome in protest over bishop’s appointment before Hartford talk.

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston has reportedly made known to Pope Francis, in the guise of bishop accountability, the concerns of members of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors over the pope’s appointment of a Chilean bishop who has been accused of covering up abuse.

Clergy sexual abuse survivor Marie Collins, who will be the keynote speaker at the 2015 National Assembly of the Voice of the Faithful in Hartford on April 18, was one of three members who flew to Rome over the weekend to meet with O’Malley. O’Malley heads the Vatican commission and was in Rome for a meeting of the Council of Cardinals that advises the pope on reforming the Vatican bureaucracy.

According to the Catholic news website CruxNow, O’Malley spoke with both Francis and the council on the accountability of bishops who fail to report sexual abuse.

Francis met with six survivors of church sexual abuse last summer, asking their forgiveness for the actions of pedophile priests, and saying in a homily that “all bishops must carry out their pastoral ministry with the utmost care in order to help foster the protection of minors, and they will be held accountable.”

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ROME
Vatican Radio

Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the Pontifical North American College on May 2 to celebrate Mass during a Day of Reflection with the title “Fra Junípero Serra: Apostle of California, and Witness to Sanctity.”

Pope Francis has announced he intends to canonize Blessed Junípero Serra during his visit to the United States in September.

The Pontifical North American College is the national seminary for the United States, and is located on the Janiculum Hill, which overlooks St. Peter’s Basilica.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release April 17, 2015

Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, SNAP President and Founder – bblaine@snapnetwork.org; 312-455-1499 (office), 312-399-4747 (cell)

We extend our heartfelt sympathy to Chicago’s Catholics and everyone grieving the loss of Cardinal George, including the many members and supporters of SNAP who are faithful Catholics who relied on George for guidance and prayer.

[ABC7]

We do not know how many children would not have had their innocence shattered by Fr Dan McCormick – and other predator priests- if George had done the right thing. Their preventable pain and suffering will, no doubt, haunt them for years to come.

We hope the lessons learned will be passed to George’s successors. During these difficult days for Chicagoland parishioners, we hope the faith that sustained George will provide consolation and peace to the Catholic community of Chicago.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

Cardinal Francis George will be buried in the George family plot at All Saints Cemetery & Mausoleum in suburban Des Plaines, where his parents, Francis J. and Julia R. George, were laid to rest.

His funeral arrangements include a public visitation beginning at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Holy Name Cathedral, and a funeral at noon Thursday, which will require a ticket to attend, the archdiocese said.

A modest, light gray gravestone marks the burial site of George’s parents and a third relative. Julia George died in 1983, her husband a year later.

All Saints, which was consecrated in 1923, lies west of the Des Plaines River and is divided by River Road south of Central Road. Cardinal George dedicated the cemetery’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Garden Mausoleum on July 30, 2001.

According to the catholiccemeterieschicago.org, the oldest part of the cemetery, All Saints East, opened in 1923. All Saints West was opened in 1954, and in 1961 it became the site of the first interment chapel building in archdiocesan cemeteries. In July, a 30-foot-tall shrine honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe will be dedicated at the cemetery.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago

Tuesday, April 21

1 p.m. Holy Name Cathedral Doors Open
2 p.m. Rite of Reception (Open to the Public)
2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Visitation (Open to the Public)
7:30 p.m. Prayer Vigil for Priests and Seminarians (Attendance by Ticket Only)
9 to 11 p.m. Visitation (Open to the Public)
11 p.m. Holy Name Cathedral Doors Close

Wednesday, April 22

7 to 9:30 a.m. Visitation (Open to the Public)
10:30 a.m. Interfaith Service (Open to the Public)
11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Visitation (Open to the Public)
7:30 p.m. Prayer Vigil for Women and Men Religious, Deacons and their Wives (Attendance by Ticket Only)
9 p.m. Wednesday, April 22 until 7:30 a.m. Thursday, April 23

Visitation and All Night Vigil Conducted by Lay Ecclesial Movements
(Open to the Public)

Thursday, April 23

7:30 a.m. Prayer Service (Open to the Public)
8 a.m. Holy Name Cathedral Closed for Funeral Mass Preparation
11 a.m. Holy Name Cathedral Doors Open for Funeral Mass (Attendance by Ticket Only)
12 p.m. Funeral Mass (Attendance by Ticket Only)

Immediately following the Funeral Mass, the Committal Service will take place at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines. Per the Cardinal’s wishes, he will be buried in the George family plot. (Open to the Public)

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Cardinal’s favorite charities will be appreciated – Priests Retirement and Mutual Aid Association (PRMAA) or To Teach Who Christ Is, a campaign to support scholarships for students in Catholic Schools.

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBS Chicago

(CBS) – Grief at the passing of Chicago’s Francis Cardinal George should not completely overshadow sex abuse that occurred on his watch as archbishop, a frequent adversary said Friday.

George passed away Friday morning after a long struggle with cancer.

Barbara Blaine, president and founder of SNAP, a survivors network of those abused by priests, said she’s sorry about the physical pain the former archbishop endured.

“We feel sadness, not only for his passing but also for the suffering that we know he endured during these last months. We wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” Blaine said. “We are also concerned and want to offer sympathy to the children who were sexually violated by priests and their family members — the children’s whose innocence was needlessly shattered because of Cardinal George’s recklessness.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
Seattle PI

CHICAGO (AP) — Funeral services for Cardinal Francis George will be held Thursday at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral.

George, who retired as Chicago archbishop in the fall of 2014, died Friday after a long battle with cancer.

The Chicago archdiocese announced that the funeral arrangements will include a public visitation that begins Tuesday. Interspersed with visitation will be an invitation-only prayer vigil for priests and seminarians on Tuesday, an interfaith service on Wednesday morning and an invitation-only prayer vigil for women and men religious, deacons and their wives.

The funeral service at noon Thursday will require a ticket to attend.

George will be buried in his family’s plot at All Saints Cemetery & Mausoleum in the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines.

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GEORGIA
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to recognize how important it is for communities and families to work together to prevent all types of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, psychological abuse and sexual abuse.

Research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control estimates that one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. Only one in 10 children ever tell anyone, and of those who do, over half, 58 percent, delay disclosure for five years or more.

In fact, according to Angela Williams, a Marietta mother of two, and founder of Voice Today, which advocates for victims of childhood sexual abuse, the median age for a victim to disclose childhood sexual abuse is 40.

And so, Williams, an ordinary east Cobb mom, has been on an extraordinary mission to help bring a voice and justice to victims and survivors who are silenced by a legal system that has imposed arbitrary deadlines of inadequately short civil statutes of limitations.

Currently, a victim of child sexual abuse has only five years after they’ve turned 18 to pursue civil legal remedies for the justice they seek. This means that after age 23, survivors of childhood sexual abuse are victimized again by a system that prohibits them from seeking legal recourse against their abusers, and allows these child sexual predators to live freely among us.

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MICHIGAN
WZZM

MUSKEGON, Mich. (WZZM) — Grown men who say they were abused by a former church volunteer decades ago hoped to publicly confront the man during his sentencing Friday.

Randall Doctor was convicted on drug and gun charges and while the men were not allowed to speak, the abuse he has admitted to was taken into consideration.

“I think we are all just feeling relief,” said Brad White of North Muskegon. Last year, he and seven other men told police Doctor sexually abused them when they were teenagers. “I do not ever want anybody to live what we went through,” he said.

The sex crimes could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired, but the investigation into the abuse turned up drugs and guns at Doctor’s home.

“For all of those years we lived with thinking we were bad people, that there was something wrong with us,” White explained. “Guys do not talk about this.”

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MARYLAND
Patch

By ELIZABETH JANNEY (Patch Staff)
April 17, 2015

A Cockeysville man who has led youth activities at a church off Cromwell Bridge Road and whose wife runs an unlicensed day care is charged in what Baltimore County police say is “one of the most serious child pornography cases“ its detectives have ever seen.

Gregory W. Gibson, 63, was arrested Thursday at his home in the 10300 block of Malcolm Circle in Cockeysville, the Baltimore County Police Department reported. He is charged with two counts of promoting or distributing child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, online court records show.

Gibson leads a youth group at the Chinese Christian Church of Baltimore, on Cromwell Bridge Road, with participants ranging from 9 years old through college students, police said.

In addition, his wife has been operating a daycare from their home without a license, according to police, who said Friday that the proper authorities have been notified of the illegal operation.

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By Rick Bella | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on April 17, 2015

The state nearly wrapped up its case Friday against Pastor Mike Sperou, presenting seven women who testified that he sexually abused them when they were young girls growing up in his Happy Valley church.

After a Multnomah County jury hears from two more prosecution witnesses, Sperou and his attorney, Steven J. Sherlag, are expected to start putting on their defense Monday afternoon.

Sperou, who leads the North Clackamas Bible Community, has been charged with three counts of first-degree sexual penetration. If convicted on all counts, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of eight years, four months in prison.

The Oregonian/OregonLive generally does not disclose the names of possible sexual abuse victims. But the seven women connected with the case have come forward, asking that their stories be told.

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CALIFORNIA
Seasons of Grace

April 17, 2015 by Kathy Schiffer

When Fr. Joseph Illo, the pastor at San Francisco’s Star of the Sea Catholic Church, announced his decision to train only boys to be altar servers, some parishioners and others protested. Amidst the hullabaloo, the media jumped at the chance to criticize both Fr. Illo and his beleaguered bishop, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. …

Some of the outrage directed toward Fr. Illo and Archbishop Cordileone is a straw man argument, intended to discredit the archbishop for his defense of marriage as between one man and one woman. I reported yesterday about an open letter to Pope Francis, demanding Archbishop Cordileone’s replacement as archbishop.

Here’s the thing: One may argue whether Father Illo’s reasoning is correct. One cannot, however, dispute that he is within his rights as pastor to make that decision for the good of his flock. His archbishop approved his decision. Cardinal Burke has expressed the same concern–that the feminization of the Church has been harmful to efforts to attract young men to the priesthood.

But while the San Francisco Chronicle may believe that the 100 signatories on the open letter represent the Catholic population in the city by the Bay, I do not.

And next weekend, we’ll see who’s right. The OTHER Catholics in the San Francisco area–those who are faithful to the Magisterial teaching of the Church–have organized a Mass Mob at Star of the Sea, Fr. Illo’s parish. They are inviting area Catholics to attend the 4:30 p.m. Vigil Mass on Saturday, April 25, and to sign a Spiritual Bouquet, offering prayers for Fathers Illo and Driscoll. The Spiritual Bouquet will be presented after Mass on that day.

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CHICAGO (IL)
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
APRIL 17, 2015

Cardinal Francis E. George, who was the Roman Catholic archbishop of Chicago for 17 years and helped shape the American Catholic bishops’ response to the child sexual abuse scandal and their resistance to the Obama health plan’s contraception coverage, died on Friday at his residence in Chicago. He was 78.

The cause was cancer, the archdiocese said. Discovered in 2006, the cancer originated in his bladder and spread. But Cardinal George continued to work until November, when he stepped down. In December he announced that experimental treatments he had received had failed.

A quiet, cerebral man, Cardinal George was appointed to lead the Chicago archdiocese by Pope John Paul II. He was the first Chicago native to hold the seat.

It was his prominent role in responding to the sexual abuse scandal in 2002 that first made Cardinal George a national figure. Although it would be five years before he was named president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he helped persuade his brother bishops to adopt a “zero tolerance” policy, barring priests who had been credibly accused of abuse from serving in ministry.

He was credited with then shepherding the policy change through an initially resistant Vatican.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

By Sally Hind

DONALD MacNeil walked free from court last year after lawyers said he was too sick to stand trial on sex abuse allegations dating back 40 years – but alleged victims had hoped proceedings might be re-raised.

THE dad of a sex-shame priest has died before facing trial over the alleged abuse of 13 girls.

Cancer-hit Donald MacNeil, 82, walked free from court last year after lawyers said he was too sick to stand trial on allegations dating back 40 years.

Proceedings could have been re-raised against the alleged child rapist at any time but he died in hospital on Wednesday.

Yesterday, a woman who says she was abused by MacNeil from the age of nine said she was devastated she and other women will “never get justice”.

Another of MacNeil’s alleged victims is understood to have confronted the OAP on his deathbed hours before he died.

MacNeil’s son Roddy was dubbed Father Flash after fathering a child with his married cousin and bedding another lover half his age.

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WASHINGTON
KREM

SPOKANE, Wash. – The man known as Father Joe is back at being a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Spokane.

Spokane’s acting Head of the Diocese said Father Joe Weitensteiner is being reinstated in the church.

Father Joe was the former Director of Morning Star Boys Ranch. He was previously suspended and accused several times of sexually abusing young boys.

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CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7

By Chuck Goudie

CHICAGO (WLS) — Cardinal George has a long legacy in the Chicago area.

But as with anyone in a high profile position, the legacy question depends on who you ask.

By virtue of the very issues that Cardinal George focused on, he put himself in the eye of controversy, primarily with gay rights and abortion.

And then there was the issue that dogs Catholic bishops everywhere: sexual abuse by priests. In many cities, Chicago included, how bishops respond to those cases defines a bishop’s legacy.

When Cardinal George struggled into his last Mass as Chicago archbishop, his illness and the years of juggling church conflicts were apparent.

When he was appointed by Pope John Paul II nearly 18 years ago, the church sex abuse scandal was already in full bloom.

Cardinal George vowed transparency in the Chicago Archdiocese and zero tolerance for priest offenders.

Now his sharpest critics look back, including Barbara Blaine from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

“I think it’s very important that we recognize that Cardinal George’s legacy was one of commitments to protecting children and then failing to protect the children, and he admitted that he failed and yet it didn’t seem to us that he was learning from the mistakes he made,” Blaine said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Morning Bulletin

Austin King | 18th Apr 2015

WHEN pedophile priest Father Reginald Durham was charged with sexually abusing children, his leader Bishop Brian Heenan wrote him a glowing character reference.

The former Catholic Bishop of Rockhampton (Fr Heenan) believed it was his role at the time to support his priest, knowing full-well there were child sex abuse allegations against Fr Durham.

In yesterday’s Royal Commission hearing into child sexual abuse at Neerkol Orphanage, it emerged that Fr Heenan wrote the letter of reference to support his priest’s “good” side.

The commission heard Fr Heenan was trying to weigh-up the “incredible amount of good he (Fr Durham) has done against the failings that have also been part of his life”.

In his reference letter, he wrote: “Fr Durham has had a unique life as a citizen of this district, priest to many parish communities, chaplain to service personnel and inspiring friend to young and old alike.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Apr. 17, 2015 Distinctly Catholic

“Pride of being first leads you to want to kill others; humility, even humiliation, leads you to become like Jesus. And this is one thing that we don’t think. In this moment in which so many of our brothers and sisters are being martyred for the sake of Jesus’ Name, they are in this state, they have, in this moment, the joy of having suffered dishonour, and even death, for the Name of Jesus. To fly from the pride of being first, there is only the path of opening the heart to humility, to humility that never arrives without humiliation. This is one thing that is not naturally understood. It is a grace we must ask for.”
Pope Francis spoke those words this morning, and they give every journalist pause. “Pride of being first” is part of our DNA. It is our job to break news. But, the verb “break” has a double meaning, and when that news can “break” the unity of the Church, how do the obligations we have as Christians reconcile themselves with the obligations we have as journalists?

Here at NCR, there is nothing theoretical about such questions. We were pilloried for breaking stories about the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy. People said we were assaulting the Church’s hierarchy, violating the Christian call to unity, airing our Catholic family’s dirty laundry. All those charges were true – and thanks be to God, Tom Fox and others had the courage to run those stories anyway. Can anyone doubt that the cover-up of the sex abuse would have continued had we not shown the light of day, which is often the light of justice, on the situation?

Yesterday I wrote about the mess in San Francisco. It is hard not to lay the divisiveness in that archdiocese at the feet of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. This open fighting on the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle and Twitter did not occur during the tenures of the previous archbishops, one of whom, now-Cardinal William Levada. is not anyone’s idea of a doctrinal patsy. A bishop has a special responsibility to build up the unity of the flock, and in this case, it appears that Archbishop Cordileone has placed other objectives first. In the case of NCR and reporting on clergy sex abuse, the demands of truth and justice trumped the potential harm to unity. I do not perceive in +Cordileone’s statements anything that warrants inviting the kind of divisiveness his leadership has occasioned. The polarization that now characterizes the Church in San Francisco is a thing to be regretted, and it is far from clear how it will be healed. Having the chancery denounce concerned Catholics is hardly the solution.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk | Apr 17, 2015 |

“Yes, it looks like they backed down,” said a learned nun I know. “But some of us had better not be caught saying so!” So much for the huffing and puffing the Vatican has directed at her and her sisters over the past few years.

In December, an “apostolic visitation” of 350 communities of religious women, undertaken amid charges that they were beset by secularism and feminism, ended with a buss on the cheek for a job well done. And yesterday, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) gave its approval to an anodyne “Joint Final Report on the Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religion (LCWR).

The LCWR, the nuns’ main umbrella body, had come under repeated attack for embracing ideas at odds with fundamentals of the faith. After the roll-out of the “Joint Final Report,” a four-woman delegation from the LCWR spent fifty minutes chatting with Pope Francis.

Over at the Boston Globe‘s Crux, John Allen characteristically minimized the widespread sense that all this was a big deal. “Both the more sweeping investigation of women’s orders and the LCWR investigation were orphans almost as soon as they were born,” he wrote. They’d been pushed “by a handful of well-placed American cardinals in Rome coming to the end of their careers” who “persuaded friends in the right Vatican departments to set the wheels in motion.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
San Francisco Chronicle

CHICAGO (AP) — Cardinal Francis George is being remembered for his role in the clergy sex abuse scandal among other parts of his legacy.

George died Friday at the age of 78 after a long battle with cancer.

Archbishop Blase Cupich praised him for leading a group of U.S. bishops to urge the Vatican to move more quickly to oust guilty priests. The policy was at the core of church reforms on the issue.

But George came under harsh criticism for allowing a local priest to remain in a parish for months despite allegations that he’d molested children. The priest ultimately pleaded guilty and George apologized.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests on Friday said that George could have prevented some of the abuse had he ‘done the right thing.”

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CALIFORNIA
SFGate

By Lois Kazakoff on April 17, 2015

With the publication of a full-page ad in The Chronicle, 100 prominent Roman Catholics launched a full-on campaign to have Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone removed from the San Francisco Archdiocese. The archbishop’s two-year tenure has been rocky from the start but became more turbulent when the archbishop insisted teachers at parochial schools in the archdiocese sign a morality clause that characterizes sex outside marriage and homosexual relations as “gravely evil.”

The request to Pope Francis for a new church leader in San Francisco is unprecedented.

A church leader out of step with the congregation he leads or a pastoral shepherd working to uphold the traditional values of the Catholic faith? What do you think? Weigh in by taking our weekly poll.

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CALIFORNIA
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the latest attacks on San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone:

A motley group of malcontents, dissidents, and outsiders are waging war on Archbishop Cordileone.

Their latest salvo was an ad in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle asking the pope to remove the archbishop. They opened fire on him precisely because they were blown off by Vatican officials in their feeble attempt to censure the archbishop.

Those who think that Archbishop Cordileone’s supporters are going to take this lying down are sadly mistaken. Watch what happens next week.

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