ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

A royal commission investigating an alleged cover-up of child sex abuse within a NSW Anglican diocese will hear from an abuse survivor who rang a church hotline only to be answered by a priest who was later accused of sexual misconduct.

CKA will be the third abuse survivor to give evidence at the hearing which began on Tuesday.

On Thursday he is expected to tell of repeated attempts to report being sexually abused by a parish priest in a Newcastle parish in the 1970s.

In 1996 and 1999 when CKA rang the diocese’s sexual abuse hotline the telephone was answered by Graeme Lawrence who was dean of Christchurch Cathedral in Newcastle.

Lawrence was defrocked by Bishop Brian Farran in 2010 for sexual misconduct.

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FRANKREICH
Frankfurter Allgemeine

02.08.2016, von MICHAELA WIEGEL, PARIS

Eine Woche nach dem islamistischen Terroranschlag auf die Kirche in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray haben Gläubige am Dienstag Abschied von dem ermordeten Priester Jacques Hamel genommen. In der Kathedrale von Rouen versammelten sich am Nachmittag rund 2000 Menschen zu einer Trauerfeier für den 85 Jahre alten katholischen Geistlichen. Viele weitere, die keinen Platz mehr in der Kathedrale fanden, wohnten der Übertragung vor Großbildschirmen am Eingang bei. Danach wurde Hamel im Familienkreis beigesetzt.

In der Kathedrale wandten sich seine Schwester und eine Nichte an die Trauergemeinde. Sie erinnerte daran, dass sich ihr Bruder während des Algerien-Kriegs entschieden habe, als einfacher Soldat zu dienen, obwohl ihm damals der Offiziersgrad angeboten worden sei, sagte die Schwester. Diesen habe er abgelehnt, da er keine Befehle zum Töten habe geben wollen. „Er war mein Bruder. Er war unser aller Bruder“, sagte Roselyne Hamel. Der Erzbischof von Rouen, Dominique Lebrun, verurteilte jegliche Gewalt. Es könne nicht sein, dass Morde nötig seien, um einander zu Gerechtigkeit und Liebe zu bekehren. Zu den Katholiken in Frankreich sagte er: „Wir sind verletzt, bestürzt, aber nicht geschlagen.“ Er begrüßte die „Worte und Gesten unserer muslimischen Freunde“, die zeigten, dass auch sie Gewalt ablehnten.

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RHODE ISLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Aug. 3

Statement by Ann Hagan Webb, Rhode Island director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

(annhaganwebb@gmail.com, 617-513-8442)

We applaud the brave, compassionate and persistent victims at a Rhode Island for being smart enough to unite, brave enough to share their pain, wise enough to consult attorneys and strong enough to endure a long process of justice, prevention and healing. Their success should deter would-be wrongdoers and inspire suffering victims.

[NECN]

A settlement like this usually only happens when school or church officials are sitting on mountains of evidence that they repeatedly and callously put kids in harm’s way. Terrified of having this incriminating information surface in court or in public, they eventually pull out their checkbooks and so do their insurers.

We suspect that there are others who were molested at St. George’s who are still suffering in shame, silence and self-blame. We hope they’ll be inspired by the courage of their former colleagues and step forward now so they can recover and so that others can be spared.

We also suspect that criminal charges against some of the wrongdoers are still possible. And we remind everyone that it’s our duty to share what we know or suspect about child sex crimes and cover ups with law enforcement. It’s their job to determine whether formal charges can be filed.

We call on Episcopal bishops in New England – where most victims and most of those who committed and concealed these crimes are apt to be living – to use their vast resources to seek out and help other victims of St. George predators. They should use parish bulletins, church websites, pulpit announcements and news conferences to beg anyone with information or suspicions about these predators to step forward. And they should use these same resources to warn families who are near these predators about them.

Now is no time for complacency at St. George’s. Complacency endangers kids. Vigilance protects them.

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CONNECTICUT
Insurance Journal

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford has won a judgment against an insurer it sued for failing to reimburse the archdiocese for payments it made to settle sexual misconduct cases involving priests and minors.

A federal judge in New Haven ruled against Interstate Fire & Casualty last Thursday and ordered the Chicago-based company to pay the archdiocese $945,000 plus an amount of interest to be determined later.

The insurer denied allegations that it breached its contract by refusing to reimburse church officials for more than $1 million in payments made in four abuse cases after the company reimbursed them for previous settlements.

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UNITED STATES
Frum Follies

Yehuda Shohat and Ariela Sternbuch reported in Yediot Aharonot a year ago about the advice that Israeli rabbis give about whether to report sexual assaults to the police. Sternbuch called up 27 individuals describing obviously criminal sexual assaults.

Until now, only the interaction with Rabbi Ratzon Arussi was translated into English along with his rationalizations (See Haanah Katsman, “Rabbi Defends Not Reporting Sex Abuse”).

What is notable for most of these responses is they did not invoke any prohibitions of mesira (snitching).

Instead they engaged in victim blaming, worried about the impact on the offender and his family, warned about impact of reporting in the marriage prospects of the victim, and insisted the police were ineffective. They often assumed the offense was a one-time event and assumed teshuva (repentence). Their practical solutions for preventing repetitions of this offense involved giving the offender a tongue lashing.

These rabbis abdicated their responsibility to protect the public from presumed sexual assailants.

This is why I always advise against contacting rabbis for advice about reporting abuse, except for the small number of rabbis with reliable reputations for supporting the use of the police to protect the community. Even some of those are inconsistent, supporting it in theory or in special cases but not in others.

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Aug. 3

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

Boston area Catholic officials are accused of committed and concealing child sex crimes by a female teacher against a girl. We hope this lawsuit will bring comfort to some, knowing that an alleged sex offender has now been “outed” and knowing that youngsters are now safer. We also hope this case will expose what her colleagues and supervisors did and didn’t do to protect kids. And we hope others who have information or suspicions about her crimes will come forward now to protect others and begin healing.

[WCVB]
[NECN]

We believe Catholic officials were warned about Diane Ryszewski before she reportedly “sexually abused the then 14-year-old girl between 1975-1977” while both were at Marian High School in Framingham and lived together in Hopkinton. We also believe they could and should have done more to stop her wrongful actions.

All of us must accept the painful reality that women can be sexual predators too. We must also be careful to use appropriate language to describe these crimes.

We hope that

–her victim (or victims) feel some relief, and

–archdiocesan and school officials aggressively seek out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered this teachers’ crimes.

We also hope that Cardinal Sean O’Malley will

–alert his colleagues in North Carolina, where Ryszewski now lives, and ask them to warn families about her, and

–use parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements to beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to contact the independent, experienced professionals in law enforcement.

Regardless of what Catholic officials do or don’t do now, we beg current and former school staff, students and parents to take action, rather than wait for and hope that O’Malley will step up. We beg everyone associated with this school, now or in the past, to spread the word about these charges against Ryszewski and prod potentially helpful sources and witnesses to call law enforcement immediately.

We suspect that Ryszewski could still be criminally convicted. If so, we hope she ends up behind bars as long as possible so more kids are safe. And we hope secular authorities will consider charges against anyone who may have ignored or hidden her crimes.

Finally, we applaud this brave, wounded but strong woman who is taking action today to safeguard others and deter similar crimes and cover ups now and in the future. It takes real courage to squarely face one’s pain and to publicly confront wrongdoers. We are confident that this lawsuit will be a positive step forward in her long journey of healing.

No matter what judges, prosecutors, school or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic or public schools to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

(The victim is represented by Boston attorney Carmen Durso.)

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ISRAEL
Frum Follies

They called it Belzen-Bergen for its reign of terror of physical abuse, psychological abuse, and sexual abuse.

I rarely hesitate, but just this once, I will pass on the details reported in Yediot Achronot.

וּרְאִיתֶם אתו וּזְכַרְתֶּם אֶת כָּל מִצְות ה’ וַעֲשיתֶם אתָם וְלא תָתוּרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם זנִים אַחֲרֵיהֶם

In a strange inversion of religious tradition, tzizit (ritual fringes), which are supposed to remind one of all the commandments are used by these cretins to cover their faces, to conceal and get others to forget all the rules of civicivilization they are accused of violating.

As always, the greater question is how could this go on for so long and hurt so many kids with no one noticing, with no one breaking into this torture chamber and shutting it down.

The answers, I suspect, include too much concern with enforcing authority and not enough with listening to children, too much concern for the reputation of adults, especially leaders, and not enough concern for the dignity and rights of children.

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RHODE ISLAND
Seattle PI

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — St. George’s School has agreed to a settlement over sexual abuse allegations that would provide compensation for up to 30 former students, the elite Rhode Island boarding school announced Wednesday.

The Middletown school announced the pact in a joint statement with a group representing sex abuse victims, saying the institution will provide an undisclosed sum to settle the claims. Paul Finn, a mediator who also worked on the clergy sex abuse settlement in Boston, will determine how much each person will receive.

Katie Wales Lovkay told the headmaster in 1979 that an athletic trainer abused her, but he sent her to the school therapist and did not report it to authorities. A week before her 1980 graduation, she was expelled.

“This was never about the money. This was about being heard, and St. George’s realized that what they have done to us in the past is completely wrong,” Lovkay said. “It’s nice to know it’s done, it’s over.”

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RHODE ISLAND
Boston Globe

By Bella English GLOBE STAFF AUGUST 03, 2016

Survivors of sexual abuse at St. George’s School and school officials announced Wednesday that they have settled a claim for compensation for up to 30 alumni for incidents going as far back as the 1970s.

The settlement, the terms of which remain confidential, caps months of allegations of sexual abuse at the elite school in Middletown, R.I., by dozens of alumni.

Both sides released a statement praising what some are calling reparations.

“St. George’s has done something meaningful and important for survivors,” said Anne Scott, whose allegation of rape in the late 1970s by the former school athletic director was the catalyst that brought forth other allegations. “It’s hard to put into words what it feels like to receive this kind of validation and support, after all these years.”

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ISRAEL/UNITED STATES
Arutz Sheva

Shai Landesman, 03/08/16

Yona Weinberg, a convicted sex offender from the United States who is now living in the Har Nof neighborhood in Jerusalem, is stepping up litigation against Rabbi Ya’akov Horowitz, an American Rabbi who’s been warning people living around Weinberg of his past.

Rabbi Horowitz is slated to give a lecture in a Har Nof community center about protecting the community and especially children from sexual harassment and abuse. Horowitz is well-known in the US as an activist for the cause of raising awareness of sex abuse of children in the Jewish community.

Weinberg, 37, was convicted on two counts of sexual abuse of minors, 13-year-old boys who he was teaching for their Bar-Mitzvahs, in 2009. He served 13 months in prison for the offenses. His name and picture are listed in the US sex offenders database, and was designated as someone who still poses a significant threat to the public.

Rabbi Horowitz tweeted a warning to Har Nof residents to “beware of convicted sex offender Yona Weinberg”, for which Weinberg sued him for slander.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Carmen L. Durso

WHAT: LAW SUIT BY ADULT v. MARIAN HIGH SCHOOL, FRAMINGHAM, PRINCIPAL, TEACHER, AND BOSTON ARCHDIOCESE, FOR SEXUAL ABUSE OF HER AS A TEENAGE GIRL, BY A FEMALE TEACHER FOR TWO YEARS, WHEN SCHOOL SUPERVISORS KNEW SHE WAS LIVING IN TEACHER’S HOME

WHEN: WEDNESDAY, 10:30 A.M.

WHERE: 175 FEDERAL STREET, SUITE 1425, BOSTON

PLAINTIFF WILL BE PRESENT AND WILL SPEAK WITH MEDIA WHO WILL AGREE TO PROTECT IDENTITY AND ALTER FACE & VOICE

COPY OF COMPLAINT AVAILABLE

Carmen Durso
DURSOLAW
Law Office of Carmen L. Durso
175 Federal Street, Suite 1425
Boston, MA 02110-2287
T: 617-728-9123 / 800-287-9123
carmen@dursolaw.com
www.dursolaw.com

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FRANKREICH
kathpress

Paris, 02.08.2016 (KAP/KNA) Die französische Staatsanwaltschaft hat die Ermittlungen gegen Lyons Kardinal Philippe Barbarin eingestellt. Das berichten französische Medien am Montag. Es habe keine Hinweise auf mögliche Straftaten gegeben, hieß es. Der Anwalt Barbarins, Andre Soulier, begrüßte die Entscheidung laut dem Fernsehsender France Info, betonte jedoch zugleich, diese komme nicht überraschend. Es gehe nun nicht darum, zu triumphieren oder Revanche zu fordern, sondern allein um die Feststellung, dass Barbarin und seine Mitarbeiter keine Fehler gemacht hätten. Der Kardinal sei in Gedanken stets bei den Opfern, so Soulier.

Dem Erzbischof von Lyon war vorgeworfen worden, einen Priester nicht suspendiert zu haben, der einen damals 16-Jährigen sexuell missbraucht haben soll. Der als “Pierre” bezeichnete Kläger, heute ein ranghoher Ministerialbeamter, wirft dem Pfarrer Jerome Billioud vor, 1990 bei einer Ferienfreizeit in Biarritz auf ihn masturbiert zu haben. Er sei lange Zeit traumatisiert gewesen und habe mit niemandem darüber sprechen können. Als er sich 2009 an die Justiz wandte, wurde die Klage wegen Verjährung fallengelassen.

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IRLAND
Spiegel

Diarmuid Martin hat offenbar die Nase voll. Der Erzbischof von Dublin hat Priesteranwärtern empfohlen, sich von Irlands ältestem Priesterseminar, dem St Patrick’s College in Maynooth, fernzuhalten.

Der Grund? In anonymen Briefen sei ihm von “Sexskandalen” am College berichtet worden, sagte der Leiter der größten irischen Diözese laut “Guardian”. Junge Männer sollen belästigt worden sein, auch die flächendeckende Verbreitung der Schwulen-Dating-App Grindr bereitet Martin demnach Sorgen.

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IRELAND
The Journal

A SPOKESPERSON FOR the Association of Catholic Priests has said that allegations of sexual misconduct at St Patrick’s College are “unfounded and have no substance”.

Father Brendan Hoban told Morning Ireland that Ireland’s only seminary always had a “strange hot-house kind of atmosphere, seminaries are that kind of thing”, and that the accusations came from groups that had always been critical of how the priest training college was run.

His comments come after days of controversy surrounding St Patrick’s College in Maynooth, where 55 priests are currently being trained for the priesthood.

Anonymous allegations have been made concerning gay sexual misconduct and priests using the gay dating app ‘Grindr’ in the seminary.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Minster FM

12:45pm 2nd August 2016

North Yorkshire Police is currently carrying out two investigations into alleged sexual abuse at Ampleforth College, both of which are historic.

One man has been arrested in connection with the investigation and enquires remain ongoing.

A police statement says

“North Yorkshire Police is fully co-operating with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and is keen to continue working closely with all those involved.

We have already provided a considerable amount of information, and we may be in a position to provide more as the inquiry progresses”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Frances Perraudin, North of England reporter
@fperraudin
Wednesday 3 August 2016

Police have arrested a man as part of their investigations into historical sexual abuse allegations at Ampleforth College, a prestigious Catholic boarding school in North Yorkshire.

The school is being investigated by the independent Goddard inquiry into child sexual abuse in England and Wales. The inquiry was announced in July 2014 following the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.

North Yorkshire police confirmed two investigations into alleged sexual abuse at the school were being carried out by the force and that one man had been arrested. A police spokesman said the force was fully cooperating with the Goddard inquiry and was keen to work closely with all those involved.

“We have already provided a considerable amount of information, and we may be in a position to provide more as the inquiry progresses,” he said.

Ampleforth College was founded in 1802 and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey. Allegations of sexual abuse at the school date back decades but police first started investigating in 2003 when a psychologist employed by Ampleforth to carry out risk assessments on pupils turned whistleblower.

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MASSACHUSETTS
WCVB

BOSTON —A woman is filing a lawsuit claiming a former teacher sexually assaulted her for years, and claims school administrators knew it was happening and did nothing to stop it.

According to the lawsuit, the unidentified victim claims former Marian High School physical education teacher and sports coach Diane Ryszewski sexually abused the then 14-year-old girl between 1975-1977.

The victim claims the assaults occurred daily, according to the lawsuit.

Shortly after the victim started high school Ryszewski, who was her coach, took a strong interest in her and eventually arraigned for the victim to live with her at her Hopkinton home, the lawsuit said.

During the time Ryszewski allegedly provided the victim with alcohol and drugs and engaged in continuous acts of sex abuse and rape.

The lawsuit claims that administrators, teachers and students knew of previous claims of abuse against Ryszewski before she allegedly abused the victim.

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ISRAEL
Sputnik

Israel’s Supreme Court of Justice rejected an appeal against the order to extradite Russian priest Gleb Grozovsky, suspected of child abuse, to his homeland, Grozovsky’s attorney Haim Azencott said, adding that the failed appeal was the last resort in their arsenal.

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) – In April, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked signed a decree to extradite Grozovsky, who is wanted in Russia on charges of sexual abuse against children. The extradition was postponed after Grozovsky’s defense appealed against the decision, requesting among other issues to guarantee the defendant security in his homeland.

“We received a refusal of the Supreme Court. It was our last resort, but it seems that the Supreme Court trusts a lot the Russian legal procedures,” Azencott told RIA Novosti, adding that he has run out of means to counter the decision on Grozovsky’s extradition.

He said that he would meet with his client in the near future and together they will decide on further action.

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IRELAND
Galway Independent

The Galway historian who uncovered the ‘Tuam Babies’ story has spoken of her disappointment that an investigation into Mother and Baby Homes will not include adoptions.

The Commission investigating 18 Mother and Baby Homes across the country, including the one in Tuam, was last week granted an extension of time to complete its three reports into the homes. However, it will not now include adoptions that took place outside these institutions.

All reports must now be completed by February 2018. Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone said the extension of time was to accommodate “the large number of witnesses coming forward”.

At least 150 witnesses have come forward since the Commission was set up in January 2015 and it is expected this could rise to 500.

Speaking this week, Tuam historian Catherine Corless said, “I was disappointed with Minister Zappone’s statement on the illegal adoption front and also for the group who have campaigned for so long to have everyone included in the Inquiry.”

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MASSACHUSETTS
NECN

[with copy of the lawsuit]

[with video]

A former student says she was sexually abused by her coach and gym teacher back in the 1970s

By Ally Donnelly

The first time her coach and gym teacher crossed the line was when she got into the shower with her after softball practice.

“She was laughing and making a big joke about it – I didn’t know.”

It was the 1970s. She was 14, gay, and a freshman at the Marian High School, a Catholic school in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Because she is an alleged sexual assault survivor, necn has agreed to shield her identity and call her Jane. She claims former teacher – Diane Ryszewski – sexually abused her for nearly two years and the school did nothing to stop it.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Brisbane

03 August 2016 by Terri Begley

A milestone yesterday for survivors of institutional sex abuse in Queensland.

State Cabinet will this month lift the three-year statute of limitations on victims taking civil action against state or privately run institutions.

So what does that mean for survivors what’s the next step?

KnowMore is a free, independent legal service funded by the Attorney General’s department their sole purpose is to inform and advise people who are engaging or thinking of engaging with the Royal Commission

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UNITED STATES
The News Hub

Jarred Booth

The Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses has issued a letter to all bodies of elders, giving instructions on how to handle accusations of child sexual abuse among their members or individuals associated with the religion. Dated August 1, 2016, the letter replaces previous instructions given in October 2012.

The organization has been hit with a steady stream of lawsuits and investigations over the past several years, due to what is perceived as a poor record of handling child sexual abuse allegations. The most notable lawsuits are the Candace Conti and the Jose Lopez cases, both in California and both resulting in multi-million dollar payouts by Watchtower.

In 2015 the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse investigated the Jehovah’s Witness religion, and currently the U.K. Charity Commission is working on conducting its own investigation.

The Australian Royal Commission called for sweeping changes in the way Watchtower responds to abuse allegations, including involving women in the decision-making process (I published an article in May regarding some of Watchtower’s statements on women) and not being so strict with the “two witness rule” (this rule says that, in the absence of a confession by the abuser, or some definitive physical evidence, there must be a second witness to the abuse, or else no action is taken against the abuser). The Commission also called for elders to contact the relevant authorities regarding each accusation, something that can often be done anonymously.

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GUAM
KUAM

[with video]

Updated: Aug 03, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Aside from the contentious issues over ownership of the Redemportis Mater Seminary and new allegations of child sex abuse by a priest, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai sat in the hot seat today on KUAM Radio with Isla63-AM host Jess Lujan. A part of the discussion focused on the status of Monsignor James Benavente and Father Paul Gofigan and whether in fact they were restored to their original positions.

As you may remember, the two were removed from their posts years ago by Archbishop Anthony Apuron; Father Gofigan for allegedly being disobedient and Monsignor Benavente for alleged financial mismanagement.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah MacDonald
PUBLISHED
03/08/2016

The president of Maynooth has emphasised there is a “healthy, wholesome” atmosphere at the college despite the controversy currently engulfing the national seminary.

Monsignor Hugh Connolly was commenting following on from Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s decision to pull ­trainee priests under his charge from St Patrick’s College due to a “an ­atmosphere of strange ­goings-on there”.

Msgr Connolly admitted that he was “worried” about the allegations that some seminarians had been listed on a gay dating app, but there was no “concrete detail” to back it up.

But he emphasised that there was a good atmosphere at the college.

“The broader atmosphere is, I think, actually quite a wholesome, healthy one because there are a lot of interplay between students of many, many disciplines, lay students and clerics, male and female, people who are engaged pastorally,” he told RTÉ’s ‘Drivetime’.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Irish News

SUZANNE MCGONAGLE
03 August, 2016

THE north’s largest Catholic diocese has said it “plans to continue to send seminarians to Maynooth” despite a boycott by the Archbishop of Dublin.

Dr Diarmuid Martin said he is now sending trainee priests to the Irish College in Rome amid allegations students at St Patrick’s College in Co Kildare are using the gay dating app Grindr.

He said he was “somewhat unhappy” about “an atmosphere that was growing in Maynooth” following a series of anonymous accusations in letters and blogs.

“There are allegations on different sides,” he said.

“One is that there is a homosexual, a gay culture, that students have been using an app called Grindr, which is a gay dating app, which would be inappropriate for seminarians, not just because they are trained to be celibate priests but because an app like that is something which would be fostering promiscuous sexuality, which is certainly not in any way the mature vision of sexuality one would expect a priest to understand.”

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

The closed strange world of seminaries,’ was how Archbishop Diarmuid Martin put it yesterday, when speaking of the latest Maynooth crisis. There is no doubt that the opaque culture of such institutions has contributed greatly to the latest controversy besetting Ireland’s national seminary.

“Maynooth is 200 years old. It has a long tradition and a proud tradition but I feel that for the situation in Dublin we probably need a different way in the long term,” the archbishop said.

O tempora! O mores! (Oh the times! Oh the customs!) It is already clear, whatever the reaction of other bishops, that nothing can be the same again if Maynooth is to retain the confidence of Irish Catholics.

When a trustee at Maynooth such as Archbishop Diarmuid Martin publicly articulates in such forthright terms his anxieties about what has been going on there, action will be forced on his fellow trustee archbishops and bishops to act. But venerable institutions are notoriously difficult to change, as has been seen with the Catholic Church itself. Old customs/practices die very hard.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Nicola Anderson
PUBLISHED
03/08/2016

The following are excerpts from an interview Archbishop Diarmuid Martin gave on ‘RTÉ News One’ yesterday.

‘There is a tradition that there were no Dublin students in Maynooth for a long time. But on this particular occasion, I was somewhat unhappy and I made this decision some months ago, that there was an atmosphere growing in Maynooth and which you would learn about through anonymous accusations made, letters and blogs, accusing people of either misconduct or accusing the faculty of Maynooth of not treating allegations correctly. And I felt that a quarrelsome attitude was not the healthiest place for my students to be and I decided to send them to the Irish College in Rome.”

In response to a question that his decision was due to a quarrelsome attitude among staff in Maynooth:

“No, coming from a whole series of anonymous allegations being passed around and this was on blogs. Some of the material has resulted to be true, but the trouble with anonymous complaints is that it’s almost impossible to investigate them and carry them through to success from my point of view in the seminary.

“I simply felt that type of quarrelsome attitude and a culture of anonymous letters is poisonous and until that’s cleared up, I would be happier sending my students elsewhere.

“The allegations are that a homosexual, gay culture (exists), that students (are) using an app called Grindr, a gay dating app, which would be inappropriate for seminarians. Not just because they are training to be priests but an app like that is something which would be fostering promiscuous sexuality, which is certainly not in any way the mature vision of sexuality you would expect a priest to understand.

“Then there are people saying anyone who tries to go to the authorities with an allegation, that they’re being dismissed from the seminary.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

David Quinn
PUBLISHED
03/08/2016

Seminaries have been part and parcel of the life of the Catholic Church only since the 16th Century.

I say ‘only’ because this means that for the first 15 centuries of the Church’s existence, there were no seminaries. Priests did not train in seminaries. For the most part they learned by what was, in effect, an apprenticeship system – that is, they learned by working alongside an experienced priest. A tiny minority attended universities.

What does this mean? It means that the Catholic Church did without seminaries for the great part of its history and it can do without them again. It means that the Church in Ireland can do without St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, if needs be.

The key thing is that candidates for the priesthood are well trained. That means they are well trained intellectually, and also that they receive good moral and spiritual formation.

It’s probably useful enough for the purposes of this exercise to think about a seminary in the same way we think about a school. Obviously, the students in a seminary will be older than the students in a school, but schools, like seminaries, want to educate their students well, they want to help form their moral characters, and in the case of faith schools, provide them with some sort of spiritual formation also.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Tony Flannery
PUBLISHED
03/08/2016

The current dispute over certain “goings on” in the national seminary in Maynooth raises serious questions for and about the Catholic Church, questions that will not be resolved by simply changing personnel, or by adjusting the type of spiritual or theological formation being taught there.

These questions are not peculiar to Maynooth, but are common to seminaries in Europe, North America and other places.

Reading the reflections of people who have worked in seminaries in the last 20 years or so, it appears that applicants for admission to seminaries came largely from one or other of two categories of young men. Many are of homosexual orientation, or are young and confused or uncertain about their sexuality. This is due in part to the enormous change that has taken place in society’s view of sexuality, and consequently much less value being put on a life of celibacy.

Church teaching and attitudes have also become much more positive in this area. The modern young heterosexual male is much less inclined to sacrifice marriage, sexuality and intimacy than previous generations.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Editorial

To some, Diarmuid Martin is the very model of a modern major archbishop. To others, he is an anachronism, too hard-wired into the Vatican to countenance going down the roads many feel the Church must take to avoid being left behind.

The current imbroglio over Maynooth, to which he will no longer be sending seminarians of the Dublin diocese, is symptomatic of the difficulties that a church with one foot in the past has in coming to terms with the 21st century.

But if Dr Martin no longer believes the National Seminary is the right environment for men to study to become priests, should he not be attempting to reform it? Turning his back on it and sending his charges to Rome suggests he has made a judgment call.

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IRELAND
RTE News

A member of the Association of Catholic Priests has criticised Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s decision to transfer three seminarians to Rome.

Fr Brendan Hoban said the National Seminary in Maynooth could be extremely damaged by the move.

Yesterday, Dr Martin said he does not believe the seminary in Co Kildare is the right environment for men to study to become priests.

He made the comments following allegations of gay sexual activity, the use of the dating app Grindr and other anonymous allegations of misconduct at the seminary.

The Archbishop said he made his decision to send the Dublin seminarians at Maynooth to study at the Irish College in Rome because he was “somewhat unhappy” about a growing atmosphere in Maynooth where anonymous allegations were being made accusing people of misconduct or accusing the faculty at Maynooth of not treating allegations correctly.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah MacDonald, Alan O’Keeffe and Nicola Anderson
PUBLISHED
03/08/2016

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has been left isolated by his colleagues in his stance against the national seminary in Maynooth.

A series of senior bishops have backed the college amid allegations of a “gay culture” in St Patrick’s College. Archbishop Martin has withdrawn his trainee priests from Maynooth due to what he described as allegations of a “homosexual, gay culture, that students are using an app called Grindr, a gay dating app”.

However, the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland will continue to send trainee priests to Maynooth. A spokesman for Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin, the Primate of All Ireland, told the Irish Independent the Archdiocese was “extremely grateful to St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, for the spiritual, human, pastoral and academic formation that he received there”.

Archbishop of Cashel and Emly Kieran O’Reilly also says he will send seminarians to Maynooth.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Clear division has emerged between the Catholic archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin and his fellow archbishops over the suitability of St Patrick’s College Maynooth for training priests.

It came as the authorities at Maynooth said they have “has no concrete or credible evidence of the existence of any alleged ‘active gay subculture’”.

On Monday Archbishop Martin, a trustee at the college, said he had decided not to send Dublin seminarians to Maynooth any longer due to “an atmosphere of strange goings-on there”.

“It seems like a quarrelsome place with anonymous letters being sent around. I don’t think this is a good place for students,” Archbishop Martin said.

Dublin seminarians would go to the Irish College in Rome instead, he said.

However, in response to queries from The Irish Times, the three other archbishop trustees at Maynooth disagreed.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Vivienne Clarke

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin is “moving the deck chairs on the Titanic” rather than addressing the important issues facing the Catholic Church in Ireland, a member of the Association of Catholic Priests has said.

Speaking after the Archbishop’s decision to transfer three seminarians to Rome after concerns emerged about “strange goings on” and a gay subculture at St Patrick’s College in Maynooth, Fr Brendan Hoban said he did not understand Dr Martin’s intentions.

“Behind all of this is the bigger question of vocations to the priesthood,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

“Dublin has 99 parishes, over a million Catholics, and only one diocesan priest under the age of 40. So it seems extraordinary that attention is being given to what seems to be moving deck chairs on the Titanic rather than getting to the issues that are important.”

Dr Martin’s move follows anonymous allegations being circulated about seminarian activities in Maynooth, including that some had been using a gay dating app.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
3 Aug 2016

FORMER Newcastle Bishop Alfred Holland has repeatedly denied being told of allegations of child sexual abuse against any priest during his time in Newcastle.

Giving evidence by video link from Sydney, Bishop Holland said he had no idea that Father Peter Rushton or any other priest had been abusing boys.

He told Commissioner Peter McClellan that he now accepted that Rushton and others had been serial paedophiles but he insisted that was only because it had been published in the media.

He disputed earlier evidence from a lay church member, Suzan Aslin, that she had told him of Rushton’s abuse of another priest’s son, who had been discovered curled in a ball on his bed after Rushton had assaulted him at the age of four or five.

Asked by counsel assisting Naomi Sharp if there was a framework for reporting priest misconduct at that time, Bishop Holland said: “There was no structure to deal with that”.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

MARK COLVIN: This following story from the child abuse royal commission contains details you may find disturbing.

An Anglican priest has issued a scathing criticism of members of the church hierarchy at a public hearing investigating decades of abuse at the hands of the clergy.

The inquiry is focusing on the Diocese of Newcastle in New South Wales, but Reverend Roger Dyer says the church has been affected by the actions of paedophiles Australia-wide.

And he’s spoken openly about how he was ostracised when he attempted to raise the alarm in recent years.

But one former Bishop remains adamant that he never knew that a priest who he promoted was a prolific child sex offender.

Thomas Oriti reports.

THOMAS ORITI: Peter Rushton has been described as a serial paedophile, but the Anglican priest from Newcastle died in 2007 without ever being convicted, and that haunts Reverend Roger Dyer.

ROGER DYER: At no stage has anyone ever apologised to me for the treatment I have received as a consequence of speaking out. My intention at St Luke’s was to expose and acknowledge the pain caused by paedophilia, and to enable the parish to heal from the abuse that it experienced, and to move forward.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News August 3, 2016

Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai said Tuesday the Archdiocese of Agana treats seriously the latest accusation of sex abuse against a priest and two members of the church.

During a public hearing at the Legislature on Monday, Leo B. Tudela, 73, told senators a priest and two other members of the Catholic Church sexually abused him in the 1950s. Tudela was one of several people who testified on a bill that would lift the time restriction for victims of child abuse to file lawsuits against their perpetrators.

Tudela said the Archdiocese of Agana appears to have failed to not only stop abuses but also tolerated and perpetuated “evil acts upon young innocent boys.”

Hon on Tuesday reiterated his desire to meet with people who’ve recently accused Arcbishop Anthony Apuron of sexual abuse. He also said he wants to meet with Tudela.

“As I said previously, when allegations of this sort happen, we realize it is a very serious matter so we treat them as such, independent of whatever feeling I have,” Hon said.

Following an interview with Pacific Daily News on Tuesday, Hon released a statement to media listing additions to the local church’s current policy on how to handle sexual misconduct cases.

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OKLAHOMA
NewsOK

Kyle Schwab Published: August 3, 2016

A Del City man on Tuesday was sentenced to more than 27 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting a 15-year-old girl who attended a religious course he taught at a Del City church.

Donnie Ray Schultz, 45, pleaded guilty in April to one count of sexual exploitation of a child. Oklahoma City federal prosecutors said Schultz was in a sexual relationship with the victim’s mother at the time of the crime.

During Tuesday’s sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Hale called it a “twisted triangle of a relationship.”

Schultz apologized Tuesday and told the judge, “I’m broken for what I’ve done.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Kristina Keneally

Facebook reminder from 2008 popped up in my husband’s newsfeed last week. It was a photo from World Youth Day in Sydney. He sent me the link with a note, “Hard to believe that this was just eight years ago.”

Just eight years ago, Australia’s Cardinal George Pell walked the streets of Sydney unencumbered, basking in the glow of World Youth Day and the adulation of its 250,000 young attendees. The royal commission into institutional responses to sexual abuse hadn’t taken place. The Irish government hadn’t yet released its official report into sexual abuse in the Catholic church in that country. No one had seen the movie Spotlight. Most people assumed the isolated reports of clerical sexual abuse of children were just that – isolated.

Eight years later, and another round of World Youth Day celebrations has just finished, held this time in Poland. Around 2.5 million young people from across the globe attended. Pope Francis used the five-day celebration to speak to young Catholics about issues as diverse as terrorism, poverty, and technology. He also spoke about faith and God’s call to them. He was – as you might expect for such a popular pope – very well received.

Then Francis left World Youth Day, got on a plane home and spent his time on the flight talking to journalists about police investigations into allegations of child sexual abuse against Pell.

This juxtaposition is jarring, to say the least.

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MINNESOTA
The Catholic Spirit

Maria Wiering | August 2, 2016

With the closure of the criminal case, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office made public documents from its investigation of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, including memos and affidavits addressing an inquiry of whether Archbishop John Nienstedt, then head of the archdiocese, may have mishandled a clergy sex abuse case because of his friendship with former priest Curtis Wehmeyer and his own alleged sexual misconduct.

The documents include references to an internal investigation of Archbishop Nienstedt the archdiocese initiated in January 2014 into allegations of sexual misconduct as a priest and bishop of Detroit and New Ulm.

In a statement to The Catholic Spirit, Archbishop Nienstedt reiterated that the allegations are “absolutely and entirely false” and said he was “relieved by the release of the information.” He stated that he is heterosexual and has been celibate his whole life.

“I believe that the allegations have been made as a personal attack against me due to my unwavering stance on issues consistent with Church teaching, such as opposition to so-called same sex marriage,” he said, acknowledging the “he said, he said” nature of the allegations. “It is my word against the accusers, and, as much as they want to seem to discredit me, I don’t want to harm them.”

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IRELAND
The Journal

MAYNOOTH SEMINARY HAS said there is “no concrete or credible evidence” of alleged misbehaviour at the priest training college.

The statement comes amid allegations of gay sexual activity and other misconduct at the seminary which is currently training 55 people for the priesthood.

The allegations led to a decision by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin to not send any trainee Catholic priests to the Kildare-based seminary.

These allegations, Martin said, have come from anonymous sources including letters, blogs and whistleblowers and include claims that gay dating app Grindr is being used by some trainee priests at the college.

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IRELAND
America

Rhona Tarrant | Aug 2 2016

The news this week that the Archbishop of Dublin is withdrawing his student priests from St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and sending them instead to the Irish College in Rome has cast a further shadow over Ireland’s national seminary.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin told The Irish Times that his decision was based on the fact that he “wasn’t happy with Maynooth.” He cited “an atmosphere of strange goings-on there, it seems like a quarrelsome place with anonymous letters being sent around.” He added, “I don’t think this is a good place for students. However, when I informed the president of Maynooth of my decision, I did add ‘at least for the moment.’”

The decision from Archbishop Martin, one of Ireland’s most respected religious leaders, comes after anonymous letters were circulated in clerical circles alleging a culture of gay activity at the college, including the use of the gay dating app, Grindr. Other claims of sexual harassment of seminarians by staff members in the college have been reported, with allegations that the confidentiality clause for seminarians has prevented more from coming forward.

Archbishop Martin, a trustee of St. Patrick’s, made no comment on the reports, but said he had a “certain bonding” with Rome and the Irish College in Rome. The archbishop, who was recently appointed to the newly established Vatican Secretariat for Communications, worked in Rome for more than 25 years, mainly with the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and as the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah MacDonald
PUBLISHED
03/08/2016

Another former priest who studied at St Patrick’s seminary in Thurles before it was shut down in 2002 has said that the problems in seminary formation are wider than just Maynooth.

The individual is the second man to report to the Irish Independent about allegations of inappropriate behaviour at training institutions for priests.

The man spoke out ­after Archbishop of Dublin ­Diarmuid Martin explained that his decision not to send trainee priests to St Patrick’s College was due to a “worrying” atmosphere.

The fresh claims come after a former trainee priest, who alleges that he was harassed by a member of staff while studying in Maynooth, made an official complaint to gardaí yesterday.

He said that a priest who was meant to be his “spiritual father” acted inappropriately towards him on a number of occasions.

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AUSTRALIA
The Daily Telegraph

NEIL KEENE, The Daily Telegraph
August 2, 2016

A PRIEST who tried to expose paedophilia within the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle was ostracised by colleagues and undermined by senior members of the church.

Reverend Roger Dyer, former Rector at Wallsend Parish, told the Royal Commission today that he raised concerns about the sexual history of paedophile priest Peter Rushton to no avail.

At a church Synod in 2010, he attempted to raise a motion “for the Newcastle Diocese acknowledge the effect of allegations of child sexual abuse and the effect of this on the work of the ministry of the church”.

But a group of influential church leaders at the Synod tried to thwart his motion and accompanying speech, to the point where one of them attempted to physically stop him taking the stage.

Rev Dyer ignored their remonstrations and had the motion successfully passed.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Dan Cox

A former bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle has denied ever being told allegations that one of his priests, Peter Rushton, had sexually abused children.

Former bishop Alfred Holland today gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which is examining abuse within the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle.

The commission yesterday heard paedophile priest Rushton worked across the diocese from 1963, but allegations of sexual abuse involving him only came to light after his death in 2007.

Former Wallsend Sunday school teacher Pamela Wilson today said she was told the son of an assistant priest had been abused by Rushton when he was four or five years old.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

Two police detectives joked with a paedophile Anglican priest about the children “they would have in their tent that night,” a royal commission has heard.

The evidence, given on oath before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse today, is the first time it has heard the child abuse scandal now consuming the Anglican diocese of Newcastle in NSW may extend beyond the church.

Eight current or former Newcastle bishops, including the current Archbishop of Perth Roger Herft, have been called to give evidence during the current hearing. The commission has heard evidence that powerful people within the church were allegedly complicit in the cover-up of child abuse and the diocese is “harbouring a large number of active offenders with little or no accountability in place.”

Anglican priest Roger Dyer told the commission today that a former parishioner told him about a conversation he overheard involving the late Newcastle priest Peter Rushton.

Rushton was a repeat offender who was protected by senior clerics known as “the gang of three” within the city’s Anglican diocese, the commission has heard. Evidence before the commission suggests he was allowed to foster children from an Anglican-run boys’ home to live with him, and provided one such boy to be gang-raped by other men.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Ian Kirkwood

An Anglican priest who spoke out against serial paedophile priest Peter Rushton told the royal commission on Wednesday the process had taken a huge toll on him.

He has also told of hearing that Rushton had been with two vice squad detectives joking about which boys they would take to their tents one night after a scouting trip to the Williams River, in the Hunter Valley.

This anecdote – which came from a church member – marks a potential wider link to paedophile activity outside of the church.

The Rev Roger Dyer told the commission’s hearing in Newcastle he was the priest at St Luke’s Wallsend from 2006 to 2010, following Rushton into the parish.

Having worked in parishes that had been damaged by paedophilia, he said “the signs are the way the men relate to you and I just had a really, really bad feeling”.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Aug 03, 2016

By Krystal Paco

A former Archdiocese of Agana finance officer says a priest who was recently accused of molestation remained on payroll years after he had left the island. According to Deacon Steve Martinez, he has a clear recollection that from 2006 to 2012 while serving as the church finance officer, the Archdiocese of Agana was paying Father Louis Brouillard a monthly stipend of $900, which later decreased to $650 a month.

On Monday, former Saipan resident Leo Tudela publicly accused Father Louis and two other church members of sexually abusing him in the late 1950s while he lived here on Guam. At the time, Tudela was only 13 years old and Father Louis was a priest at Santa Terisita Church in Mangilao.

Father Louis was listed on an official list of clergy members released by the Archdiocese of Duluth with credible allegations of child sexual abuse. He was removed from ministry in 1985.

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IRELAND
Catholic Herald (UK)

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin made the decision after allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said he would no longer send students to the national seminary at Maynooth amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

The archbishop referred to allegations of what he described as a “gay culture” in the seminary and further allegations that some seminarians have been using a gay dating app.

The archbishop said he was “somewhat unhappy about an atmosphere that was growing” at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, saying he felt it was not the healthiest place for his students to be.

“There are people saying that anyone who tries to go to the authorities with an allegation are being dismissed from the seminary,” the archbishop said in an interview with RTE Radio. He said his intention was to send students to Rome’s Pontifical Irish College.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

By Annette Blackwell – AAP on August 3, 2016

An Anglican bishop who appointed and promoted pedophile clergy in a NSW diocese has repeatedly denied he knew anything about their sexual activities.

In an extraordinary day of evidence at a royal commission hearing into child sex abuse in the Anglican diocese of Newcastle, NSW, Bishop Alfred Holland who ran the diocese for 14 years to 1992 repeatedly denied any knowledge of extensive child sex abuse on his watch.

Bishop Holland said several times he could not recall ever being made aware of allegations against prolific pedophile Peter Rushton, whom he made archdeacon of Maitland.

He also could not recall ever hearing that there was a pedophile ring operating out of Anglican-run boys home St Alban’s at Cessnock, or being contacted by an assistant priest reporting that Rushton had abused his five-year-old son.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyVoice

BY RALPH CIPRIANO
PhillyVoice Contributor

On the day that Msgr. William J. Lynn got out of jail, District Attorney R. Seth Williams announced he would retry the priest for allegedly endangering the welfare of children.

Today, Lynn’s sister and brother-in-law showed up at the State Correctional Institute at Waymart, in Northeast Pennsylvania, where Lynn has served 33 months out of his minimum 36-month sentence, to pick up the monsignor and drive him to their home in Reading.

About 145 miles south of the prison, at the Criminal Justice Center in Center City Philadelphia, Common Pleas Court Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright set bail at 10 percent of $250,000 for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s former secretary for clergy, while he awaits a retrial next year.

Lynn’s lawyer, Thomas A. Bergstrom, said the district attorney’s decision will waste taxpayers’ money, and doesn’t make much sense from a legal standpoint.

“He’s hell-bent to retry the case,” Bergstrom said of Williams. “For some reason, he continues to want to beat on [Lynn].”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Northern Echo

Stuart Minting

POLICE are investigating two cases of alleged historic sexual abuse at a boarding school dubbed the Catholic Eton.

North Yorkshire Police confirmed one man has been arrested and enquires are ongoing at Ampleforth College, near Thirsk.

The school, which opened in 1802 and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey, is being investigated by the Goddard Inquiry into child sexual abuse.

The independent inquiry was launched in 2014 to investigate how seriously public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse.

The inquiry team has pledged to demand accountability for past institutional failings, support victims to share their experience of abuse and make practical recommendations to ensure children are protected.

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TEXAS
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Stephen Tarleton Dougherty was ordained for the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity in 2003. He resided at the S.O.L.T. headquarters in Robstown TX and worked in parishes in Mathis and Corpus Christi in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. Dougherty was removed from active ministry in December 2011 after the diocese received an allegation that he had engaged in sexual misconduct. In June 2016 he was arrested and indicted by a Grand Jury for felony sexual assault of a child. He pled not guilty. His accuser filed a civil lawsuit in July 2016 claiming Dougherty sexually abused her from 2005-2011, beginning when she was 7 years-old.

Ordained: 2003

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Paddy Agnew, Patsy McGarry

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin is to cease sending trainee priests from the diocese to St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, because of a worrying “atmosphere” at the national seminary.

Meanwhile a former Maynooth seminarian has in recent days made a complaint to the Garda in Dublin about alleged sexual harassment at the college between 2007 and 2009.

Asked why Dublin is to send its three seminary students next autumn to the Irish College in Rome rather than to Maynooth, Dr Martin told The Irish Times he “wasn’t happy” with Maynooth.

“There seems to be an atmosphere of strange goings-on there, it seems like a quarrelsome place with anonymous letters being sent around,” he said in Krakow, Poland, where he was attending World Youth Day. “I don’t think this is a good place for students. However, when I informed the president of Maynooth of my decision, I did add ‘at least for the moment’.” …

A former Maynooth seminarian told The Irish Times yesterday how, as a seminarian there from 2007-2009, he felt he was being continuously sexually harassed by an individual. He made a formal complaint to authorities. An internal inquiry was set up which found the allegations unproven.

Senior church figures

College authorities tried to persuade him to forget it and stay on but he said he felt so aggrieved he could not. He brought his complaints to other senior church figures and it was suggested he might attend a seminary abroad.

Now in his mid 30s, he is married and works in Dublin.

He said it remained a concern to him that the individual about whom he had complained at Maynooth never faced any discipline, while a seminarian who witnessed an incident he complained about was badly treated later.

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IRELAND
The Guardian

Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent
Tuesday 2 August 2016

The archbishop of Dublin will no longer send his student priests to be trained at Ireland’s oldest seminary amid claims of sexual harassment, a culture of gay sex and the use of the gay dating app Grindr on the campus.

Dr Diarmuid Martin has condemned the atmosphere at St Patrick’s College in Maynooth and will instead advise his seminarians either to be trained at Irish College in Rome or to work in parishes in Dublin.

The leader of Ireland’s largest diocese said there had been “poisonous” claims contained in anonymous letters about sex scandals at the college, 16 miles (26 km) from the capital.

Responding to reports coming out of the college, the head of Dublin’s Roman Catholics told RTE Radio on Tuesday that he was “somewhat unhappy about an atmosphere that was growing” there. Martin said he felt it was not the healthiest place for his student priests to be.

“There are allegations on different sides,” Martin said. “One is that there is a homosexual, a gay culture, that students have been using an app called Grindr, which is a gay dating app, which would be inappropriate for seminarians, not just because they are trained to be celibate priests but because an app like that is something which would be fostering promiscuous sexuality, which is certainly not in any way the mature vision of sexuality one would expect a priest to understand.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Northern Echo

22 Mar 2016 / Bruce Unwin, Chief Reporter (Durham)

A THEOLOGY professor avoided a prison sentence after indecent images of children were found stored on his domestic computer equipment.

But the discovery of the 165 images in a police raid at the home of Professor Charles Thomas Robert Hayward, led to the loss of the esteemed academic’s good character.

The 68-year-old bachelor was arrested after police visited his home in Neville’s Cross, Durham, last January.

Durham Crown Court was told three computers and 11 memory sticks contained 165 indecent images of male youngsters.

Chris Baker, prosecuting, said three were in the most serious category, while 45 other film clips, were of eight hours and 25 minutes’ duration.

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ISRAEL
YNet News

Gilad Morag
Published: 02.08.16

Six teachers from a Talmud Torah school (“Cheder”) belonging to the Belz Hasidic dynasty were indicted on Tuesday for the abuse and assault of minors, with the main defendant accused of many cases of sodomy with minors, indecent assault, and extortion.

According to the indictments, the offenses were allegedly committed over the course of 11 years from 2000 to 2011 against 22 complainants aged 3-10, who were taught by the defendants.

During that time, the defendants committed daily physical and emotional violence against the students, which was characterized by cruelty, humiliation, and intimidation.

According to the indictments, the students called the school “Bergen-Belsen,” referring to the Nazi concentration camp, while the main defendant, 49-year-old Avraham Mordechai Rosenfeld, was dubbed “Rosenazi.”

Rosenfeld, the indictment states, brought students to a lounge at the school that contained beds and a closet in which he kept sweets, some of which he confiscated from the students. He allegedly ordered the students to come with him into the room, where he sexually assaulted them. After they stopped crying, he gave them sweets and sent them on their way.

In many of the cases, Rosenfeld beat the students using wooden sticks or planks that he ordered the students to gather during recess.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Daily News

BY
MAX GELMAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, August 2, 2016

The first U.S. church official to be jailed for shielding pedophile priests will be released from prison, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Monsignor William Lynn, 65, can be released on bail after his conviction was tossed out by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on July 26.

In 2012, Lynn became the first U.S. Roman Catholic Church official to be charged with or convicted of protecting child molesters within the church.

Lynn served almost his entire three-year sentence and was up for parole in October. He was able to post 10% of his $250,000 bail.

Even though Lynn’s conviction has now been overturned twice, Philadelphia’s top prosecutor vowed to bring Lynn to trial a third time, saying there is “substantial evidence” against him.

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PENNSYLVANIA
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Aug. 2, 2016

Msgr. William Lynn, the first U.S. church official convicted for his handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations, was released from prison on $250,000 bail Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Lynn, 65, served as secretary for clergy for the Philadelphia archdiocese from 1992 to 2004. In June 2012 a jury found him guilty on one charge of child endangerment in relation to former priest Edward Avery.

Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a petition to review a December appeals court ruling that vacated the conviction and ordered a new trial. The Supreme Court decision opened the door for Lynn’s release Tuesday from Waymart State Prison. He is expected to live with family as he awaits a new trial.

At the bail hearing, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams confirmed that his office will retry Lynn on the child endangerment charge.

“There is substantial evidence, including testimony from the defendant himself, to establish his guilt. A retrial is the right thing to do in the pursuit of justice,” Williams said in a statement.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Metro

SAM NEWHOUSE

The highest ranking Catholic clergy member convicted of criminal charges as a result of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex abuse scandal walked out of court a free man Tuesday for the second time, but a retrial is awaiting him.

Monsignor William Lynn, who was sentenced to three to six years in prison on charges of child endangerment in 2012, was freed on bail Tuesday morning, prosecutors said. An appeals court had ruled that certain evidence was improperly allowed in at his first trial and ordered a new trial.

This marks the second time Lynn, 65, was let out of jail.

An appeals court previously freed Lynn after ruling that child endangerment laws shouldn’t apply to administrators like him in 2013. But the state Supreme Court disagreed and sent Lynn back to jail in 2015.

Prosecutors from the office of District Attorney Seth Williams announced their intentions to pursue a new conviction of Lynn at trial at the hearing during which he was released.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Aug. 2

Statement by Karen Polesir, Philadelphia area volunteer director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (karenpolesir@yahoo.com)

A Philadelphia church staffer who repeatedly refused to call 911 about child molesting clerics will soon be released from prison. We applaud prosecutor Seth Williams’ vow to retry him.

[CBS Philly]

For the morale of deeply suffering Philly area Catholics, victims, witnesses and whistleblowers, it’s important to see the glass as “half full” – finally, a Catholic enabler – a church official who put kids in harms’ way – has been punished. And he may be punished further. That should make many employers think again when they’re tempted to hide known or suspected child sex crimes.

However, some who are hiding child sex crimes will be relieved or maybe even emboldened by this news. They’re both wrong and stupid. Increasingly, law enforcement officials are pursuing both those who commit and those who conceal sexual violence.

We hope Msgr. William Lynn is convicted again. That will be even more effective at deterring cover ups of child sex crimes.

Since Lynn will be re-tried, it’s critical that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. No matter how small, old or seemingly insignificant your information or suspicions might be, you have a moral and civic duty to call the independent professionals in law enforcement now. Staying silent hurts kids, adults and the church itself.

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PENNSYLVANIA
NBC 10

[with video]

A former Philadelphia church official who made history when he faced charges of helping to shield pedophile priests will walk free on bail after a court overturned his conviction, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

Monsignor William Lynn already posted 10 percent of his $250,000 bail about 11 a.m., less than an hour after a Philadelphia judge ruled that he can be released on bail. Pennsylvania’s highest court affirmed a lower court’s decision to overturn Lynn’s conviction, granting him a new trial.

Philadelphia’s district attorney is vowing to retry Lynn, who will likely be able to leave Waymart State Correctional Institution, in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, sometime Tuesday, according to his attorney.

Lynn’s attorney, Tom Bergstrom, told NBC10’s Rosemary Connors that Lynn plans to go live with his sister and her family. He is due back in Philadelphia court on Thursday morning for a status hearing.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyVoice

BY Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams is vowing to retry a former church official over his handling of abuse complaints, even though his conviction has been twice overturned.

A judge on Tuesday said Monsignor William Lynn can be released on $250,000 bail after Pennsylvania’s highest court granted him a new trial. Family members are expected to pick him up later Tuesday from a state prison in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Lynn was the first U.S. Roman Catholic Church official ever charged and convicted of helping to shield child molesters within its ranks.

Appeals courts have wrestled ever since with the legality of his conviction.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Fox 29

UPDATED:AUG 02 2016

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The former Philadelphia church official who has served nearly three years over his handling of abuse complaints will soon be free in lieu of $250,000 bail, but the district attorney is vowing to retry him.

Monsignor William Lynn, 65, was granted bail during a Tuesday morning hearing. Family members are expected to pick him up later in the day from a state prison in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Lynn was the first U.S. Roman Catholic Church official ever charged and convicted of helping to shield child molesters within its ranks.

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GUAM
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agana

On Wednesday, July 27 during a news conference, I read out loud a long statement in which I spoke of the allegations of child abuse against Archbishop Apuron while he was a priest in the parish of Agat in the 1970s. This is an extremely serious matter and the people we serve are rightly expecting us, in particular the Clergy, to treat it as such.

The Archdiocese should always assume and believe that the intent of those who make allegations of this sort is to bring to light serious claims of abuse. Allow me to quote Pope Francis who met with “survivors” in Philadelphia last September. “I am grateful for this opportunity to meet you. I am blessed by your presence. Thank you for coming here today, (…) I deeply regret that some bishops failed in their responsibility to protect children. It is very disturbing to know that in some cases bishops were even abusers. I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead. Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children.”

Again with no less earnestness I, as pastor appointed by Pope Francis for the care of souls in the Archdiocese of Agaña, want to express my sincere desire to personally meet with Mr. Quintanilla, Mrs. Conception, Mr. Denton and Mr. Sondia.

Dear Brothers and Sisters let us pray continuously for healing and reconciliation.

God bless you all.

+Savio Hon Tai Fai, SDB
Apostolic Administrator
Archdiocese of Agaña

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Aug 02, 2016

By Sabrina Salas Matanane

The Archdiocese of Agana makes it official. In a release to media on Tuesday, Apostolic Administrator Savio Hon Tai Fai issues a revised policy on Sexual Misconduct. Should the Archbishop stand as the accused, the policy states he must recuse himself from proceedings immediately. Then the Moderator of the Curia must present the case to the Holy See via the Apostolic Delegate in the Pacific Oceania and keep the Chancellor’s Office as well as the Presbyteral Council informed. Archbishop Hon was appointed by the Vatican to care for the Archdiocese of Agana amid allegations of molestation made against Archbishop Anthony Apuron who has been placed on leave.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Jane O’Faherty
PUBLISHED
02/08/2016

A Bethany Home survivor is taking a case to the European Court of Human Rights over his treatment at the mother and baby home.

Derek Leinster was born at the home in Rathgar, Dublin and has campaigned since 1998 for abuse victims who suffered there. Mr Leinster said taking the case to Strasbourg was one of the biggest undertakings the Bethany survivors had faced.

“I’ve been planning this for 17 years,” he said, adding that the remaining Bethany survivors were now “well into their 70s and 80s”.

“I’ve had solicitors telling me what a great case I have, but none have offered me anything more than their sympathy. I don’t need or want their sympathy. I want action.”

Bethany Home was a privately- run residential institution mainly for women of the Protestant faith.

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ISRAEL
Times of Israel

BY STUART WINER August 2, 2016

Idictments were filed Tuesday against six teachers at an ultra-Orthodox school in Tel Aviv for alleged severe physical abuse of pupils. One of the suspects is also accused of serious sexual abuse.

Suspects Avraham Rosenfeld, 49; Yisrael Haim Shapira, 65; Haim Fishgrund, 69; Moshe Hirsch, 39; Menachem Alberstein, 62; and Avraham Pinhas Deitish, 53, were indicted at Tel Aviv District Court for abuse of and attacks on minors in their care.

An additional an indictment was filed against Rosenfeld on multiple incidents of sexually assaulting a minor below the age of 16, indecent acts, extortion under threats, and making threats.

The incidents all happened at the Talmud Torah Machzikei Hadass School of the Belz Hasidic sect between the years 2000 and 2011. Some 22 pupils are suspected of having suffered abuse during that time, beginning when they were aged 3-4 years, and continuing on until sixth grade, when they were around 10-11 years old.

Rosenfeld allegedly ordered individual pupils to go alone with him into a room, offering candies as an incentive, Channel 2 reported. He would then allegedly sexually abuse the children, according to the indictments. Afterwards, he would give the children candies and release them.

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ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva

Ido ben Porat, 02/08/16

An indictment was filed this morning (Tuesday) against 6 teachers at a Tel Aviv haredi boys school associated with the Belz hassidic sect, on charges of child abuse against 22 of their students.

According to the indictment, the six were educators at the institution, and taught minors aged 3 to 10.

From 2000 to 2011, beginning when the students were 3-4 years old, until they were 10, the 6 men took advantage of their positions of power to enact daily systematic physical and mental abuse against the boys.

In addition, one of the educators was charged with sodomy and indecent acts against the boys during the period that the boys were aged 7 until age 10.

The same man was charged with blackmail, realized threats, and abuse of minors in his custody, in light of the fact that he physically abused his own son for years until his son left the house, and instilled an atmosphere of deep in fear among members of his household.

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CANADA/UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Naomi Schaefer Riley
August 2

“The majority of the kids I went to school with are dead,” says Manny Jules, “because of the experience they had, the abuse.”

Jules, 63, is the former chief of the Kamloops band of First Nations in British Columbia. As a child, he attended a residential Catholic school, where he remembers students experiencing physical, sexual and emotional abuse while separated from their families and community.

This trauma, shared for decades by Native American youths across Canada and the United States who were sent to Catholic schools, is at least in part to blame for the high level of alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide in Indian communities.

Today, the Catholic Church has apologized – Pope Benedict XVI did so in 2009; Pope Francis did in 2015. But the Church still operates schools for Native children. And that is where the real reconciliation is happening.

Take the St. Labre mission in southeastern Montana. Named after the French saint Benedict Joseph Labre, St. Labre was founded in 1884 by a small group of Catholic Ursuline Sisters from Toledo. Today, Saint Labre runs a variety of programs for the Crow and Northern Cheyenne peoples, including group homes for children whose parents can’t care for them, elder services, day care and job training.

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IRELAND
Clare FM

2 August, 2016

The Bishop elect of the Killaloe Diocese has defended the record of the National Seminary in Maynooth.

It comes amidst reports that the Archbishop of Dublin is sending trainee priests to study in Rome, saying that he doesn’t believe Maynooth is a good place for students as there appears to be an “atmosphere of strange goings on” there.

Fr Fintan Monaghan was appointed Bishop of the Killaloe Diocese by Pope Francis on Friday, 18 months after the departure of Kieran O’Reilly.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

The Church has been under sustained attack for more than a decade.

Abject failure to deal head on with a series of scandals has done irreparable damage. There has been a clamour amongst its enemies to tear down its structures; but by far the greatest reputational threat to its standing has come from within.

Confirmation by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin that he would no longer be sending priests of the Dublin Diocese to St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and would instead be sending them to the Irish College in Rome, begs many questions.

Dr Martin has refused to elaborate, obliquely referring to “strange goings on,” and “a quarrelsome atmosphere.”

Neither, one would imagine, would be conducive for preparation for a life of service. All the same, the difficulty is that refusal to clarify what precisely is the problem will not do much for either the standing of the college or, indeed, the church.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah MacDonald
PUBLISHED
02/08/2016

Once again, the national seminary in Maynooth, which has been educating men for the catholic priesthood since 1795, finds itself mired in scandal.

There are currently approximately 80 men studying for the priesthood at Maynooth.

For most of its recent history, Maynooth comprised three colleges in one: the national seminary; St Patrick’s College, a pontifical university; and NUI Maynooth, a secular college.

Under the 1997 Universities Act, the seminary and pontifical college formally split from NUIM, giving it greater autonomy as a secular university.

It was Monsignor Micheál Ledwith, who, in his final year as president of Maynooth, oversaw that separation.

A priest of the diocese of Ferns, Ledwith was first appointed a lecturer in theology at St Patrick’s College in 1977.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah McDonald
PUBLISHED
02/08/2016

The latest scandal to hit the Catholic seminary in Maynooth has implications not only for a college with a venerable 200-year history, but it also appears to be tearing apart the country’s bishops, while forcing some of the Irish Church’s most loyal Catholics to question a few sacred cows.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has referred to “strange goings-on” in the Co Kildare seminary and a host of people are becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of transparency.

Anthony Murphy, the editor of the ‘Catholic Voice’, a weekly paper that in Catholic circles would ordinarily be seen as a cheerleader for the hierarchy, has described the bishops’ inaction on the situation in Maynooth as “a great scandal” and he has castigated them for not prioritising the welfare of young seminarians.

He told the Irish Independent that, by their inaction, the bishops “have betrayed their obligation to protect both faith and faithful”.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

David Quinn
PUBLISHED
02/08/2016

Following one official report after another into the disastrous handling of clerical child abuse scandals by the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, at the end of 2010, announced an ‘Apostolic Visitation’ to Irish dioceses, religious orders and seminaries.

To put it more simply, he sent an inspection team to investigate the church’s child-protection systems. In the case of the seminaries, in particular St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, the national seminary, the purpose was to see how well they were being run.

The man who headed up the inspection of the seminaries was the Archbishop of New York, the ebullient Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was himself rector for a time of the National American College in Rome – that is the North American seminary in Rome, the American equivalent of our Irish College there.

The details of his subsequent investigation into the seminaries were never published. All we got was an outline of his recommendations.

One recommendation was that the ‘episcopal governance’ of the seminaries be improved; that is, the bishops should exercise more oversight. In the case of Maynooth, that means those who are its trustees.

What must Cardinal Dolan be thinking now, several years on from his inspection, assuming he has heard that Dublin will not be sending any of its trainee priests to Maynooth this autumn?

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IRELAND
Christian Today

James Macintyre
02 August 2016

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has decided to stop sending trainee priests from the diocese to the Irish national seminary because of what he calls “strange goings-on” there, amid reports of a “gay sub-culture”.

Instead of sending the would-be priests to St Patrick’s College in Maynooth, in north County Kildare, Archbishop Martin will dispatch them to the Irish College in Rome. This process will begin with three seminarians going to Rome next autumn.

The move comes after claims in the Irish press of rumours that some of the 60 resident seminarians at Maynooth have been using the homosexual dating app ‘Grindr’.

Martin told The Irish Times: “I wasn’t happy with Maynooth…There seems to be an atmosphere of strange goings-on there, it seems like a quarrelsome place with anonymous letters being sent around. I don’t think this is a good place for students”. He added: “However, when I informed the president of Maynooth of my decision, I did add ‘at least for the moment’.”

The anonymous letters were reportedly circulated in clerical circles about the use of the dating app.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Main Post

[New crisis management in cases of abuse?]

Christine Jeske

Ofizielle Stellungnahmen würden nicht weiterhelfen. Durch sie bestehe die Gefahr, dass Gräben und Verletzungen neu aufgerissen werden. So lauteten die Worte von Thomas Keßler, Generalvikar der Diözese Würzburg, im Herbst 2015. Sie stehen in einem Brief an ein weibliches Missbrauchsopfer aus Eichenbühl im Landkreis Miltenberg.

Es war die Ablehnung einer Bitte. Die Frau hat den Würzburger Bischof Friedhelm Hofmann im September in einem Brief um eine persönliche Stellungnahme im Fall des ehemaligen Pfarrers W. gebeten – „in der Kirche im Gottesdienst“. Damit würde die „Angelegenheit“ in Eichenbühl endlich zu Ende gebracht werden. Abschlägig geantwortet hat einige Wochen später der Generalvikar.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) In the course of a dialogue during a meeting with the participants in the Plenary Assembly of Superiors General, which took place in May, Pope Francis expressed his intention to “establish an official commission that could study the question” of the diaconate of women, “especially with regard to the first ages of the Church.”

After intense prayer and mature reflection, Pope Francis has decided to institute the Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women. As president of the Commission, Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, SJ. In addition to Archbishop Ladaria, the commission is composed of six women and six men from academic institutions around the world.

Below, please find the complete list of the members of the Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women:

President:

Abp Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Members:

Sr. Nuria Calduch‑Benages, M.H.S.F.N., member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission;

Prof. Francesca Cocchini, of the «La Sapienza» University, and of the Patristic Institute “Augustinianum,” Rome;

Msgr. Piero Coda, President of the University Institute «Sophia», Loppiano, and member of the International Theological Commission;

Fr Robert Dodaro, O.S.A., President of the Patristic Institute “Augustinianum,” Rome and professor of patrology;

Fr Santiago Madrigal Terrazas, S.J., professor of ecclesiology at the Pontifical University “Comillas,” Madrid;

Sr Mary Melone, S.F.A., Rector of the Pontifical University “Anonianum,” Rome;

Fr Karl‑Heinz Menke, professor emeritus of dogmatic theology at the University of Bonn and member of the International Theological Commission;

Fr Aimable Musoni, S.D.B., professor of ecclesiology at the Pontifical Salesian University, Rome;

Fr Bernard Pottier, S.J., professor at the “Institut d’Etudes Théologiques,” Brussels, and member of the International Theological Commission;

Prof. Marianne Schlosser, professor of spiritual theology at the University of Vienana, and member of the International Theological Commission;

Prof. Michelina Tenace, professor of fundamental theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome;

Prof. Phyllis Zagano, professor at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York.

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VATICAN CITY
KITV

By Lindsay Isaac CNN

(CNN) — Pope Francis has created a commission to study the historical role of female deacons in the Catholic Church, the Vatican’s press office said.

The commission was initially promised by the Pope after a meeting with a group of nuns on May 12.

“In the course of a dialogue during a meeting with the participants in the Plenary Assembly of Superiors General, Pope Francis expressed his intention to establish an official commission that could study the question” of the diaconate of women, “especially with regard to the first ages of the Church.”

“After intense prayer and mature reflection, Pope Francis has decided to institute the Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women,” the statement said.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

The decision by Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin to send seminarians from his archdiocese to Rome instead of Maynooth has very serious implications for the future of Ireland’s national seminary.

More immediately, it poses a very serious question for the remaining three of Ireland’s four Catholic Archbishops and those 13 other bishops who are also trustees at St Patrick’s College Maynooth.

Dr Martin withdrew Dublin seminarians from Maynooth because “there seems to an atmosphere of strange goings-on there, it seems like a quarrelsome place with anonymous letters being sent around. I don’t think this is a good place for students.”

If he feels that way, how can other bishops continue to send seminarians to Maynooth? What of the 55 men currently studying there?

If the Catholic leader, who has earned and retained a rare respect among the wider Irish public, has lost confidence in Maynooth, how can others do but follow suit?

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CONNECTICUT
Republican-American

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford has won a judgment against an insurer it sued for failing to reimburse the archdiocese for payments it made to settle sexual misconduct cases involving priests and minors.

A federal judge in New Haven ruled against Interstate Fire & Casualty on Thursday and ordered the Chicago-based company to pay the archdiocese $945,000 plus an amount of interest to be determined later.

The insurer denied allegations that it breached its contract by refusing to reimburse church officials for more than $1 million in payments made in four abuse cases after the company reimbursed them for previous settlements.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Aug 02, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Insincere and cold – that’s how one concerned Catholic described his meet with Guam’s interim archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai early last month. Bob Klitzkie continues to speak out on the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, despite Archbishop Hon’s assurance that the Yona property is owned by the Archdiocese of Agana.

“The archbishop gave the property to a group controlled by the Gennarinis in New Jersey,” Klitzke told KUAM News. “Archbishop Hon says that the archbishop owns it, without a doubt. They’re at the very minimum is a good faced dispute about who owns the seminary property and for him to say without a doubt means that he either doesn’t know what’s going on in his own diocese, he doesn’t care, or something more sinister than that.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Times Union

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A former Philadelphia church official imprisoned over his handling of abuse complaints is seeking bail after Pennsylvania’s highest court granted him a new trial.

Monsignor William Lynn is the first person ever charged and convicted of helping the Roman Catholic Church shield child molesters within its ranks.

Appeals courts have wrestled ever since with the legality of his conviction.

Lynn has been in and out of prison as the courts have twice thrown out his conviction. He’s served nearly three years of a three- to six-year sentence, and is due to be paroled in October.

Defense lawyer Thomas Bergstrom plans to ask a judge on Tuesday to release the 65-year-old Lynn.

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AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

The ACT government’s decision to introduce a bill to scrap the time limits restricting the ability of alleged survivors of child sexual abuse to seek compensation will finally bring the territory into step with NSW and Victoria.

Victoria scrapped its statute of limitations provisions a year ago and the NSW government’s decision took effect on March 17. Neither jurisdiction has had its court system overwhelmed by a sudden flood of historic compensation cases.

Why the ACT government has taken so long to act remains a mystery. Its previous argument, that it was holding off on such action until it was determined whether or not other states or territories would commit to a national redress scheme for abuse survivors, does not compute.

NSW and Victoria were happy to abolish their statute of limitations provisions while simultaneously pushing for the scheme of redress.

By bowing to the obvious and acknowledging the terms of a redress scheme will take some time to finalise, Attorney-General, Simon Corbell, has belatedly put the needs of the victims – many of whom have been suffering the consequences of their abuse for decades – before political process.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Northern Echo

Bruce Unwin, Chief Reporter (Durham)

A JURY was urged not to take the modern “broad brush” view that every accuser must be believed when it deliberates in the case of a former senior clergyman accused of historic abuse.

Defence counsel Andrew Stubbs was addressing the juryon the sixth day of the Durham Crown Court trial of the ex-Archdeacon of Auckland, Granville Gibson.

The 80-year-old now retired Anglican cleric, from Darlington, denies six counts of indecent assault and one further serious sexual offence.

All the allegations relate to his days as minister at St Clare’s Church, in Newton Aycliffe, in the late 1970s and early eighties.

They were said to have been committed on a teenage member of congregation, an 18-year-old community service worker and a fledgling churchman, in his mid-20s.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

Amy Remeikis

Having taken steps to remove legal barriers stopping institutionalised child sex abuse survivors from applying to have their civil cases heard in the courts, the state government is considering broadening the reforms to encompass other victims.

The removal of the statute of limitations for those who suffered sexual abuse while in state institutions opens the way for those victims to apply to the court for damages.

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said the state would adopt a “model litigant” attitude, meaning it would not use the statute as an excuse for why a case should not go ahead before the legislation making it official is passed.

In cases where it is a litigant, the government will also allow those who have previously received damages – such as in the Forde Inquiry redress scheme – to move forward with civil cases.

Queensland has followed in the footsteps of New South Wales and Victoria in following the recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and removing the statute of limitations, with the ACT government also announcing on Monday it would follow suit.

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AUSTRALIA
The Daily Telegraph

Neil Keene, The Daily Telegraph
August 1, 2016

A PAEDOPHILE Anglican minister used a knife to cut one of his victims while he raped him to symbolise the “blood of Christ”, a Royal Commission has heard.

Giving evidence in Newcastle this afternoon, Paul Gray described how he was in the Church of England Boys Brigade in Newcastle in the 1960s and became an altar boy aged 12.

Speaking through tears, Mr Gray said he was first raped when he was 10 by now-deceased Fr Peter Rushton — the first assault of years of weekly or fortnightly abuse to come.

Fr Rushton, who was Mr Gray’s godfather, would sometimes cut into Mr Gray’s back, “symbolic of the blood of Christ”, Mr Gray said.

He recounted a church camp during which he was chased by two men and raped in the bush while another boy was raped nearby.

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RHODE ISLAND
Boston Globe

By Kevin Cullen GLOBE COLUMNIST AUGUST 02, 2016

Pope Francis made a powerful statement last week without saying a word. His silent visit to Auschwitz allowed the stilled voices of all those murdered there to be heard.

The pope’s respectful silence showed that moral authority does not have to be shouted, that sometimes it’s what you don’t say that speaks louder.

The pope has gone some way toward restoring some of the moral authority of a church that was severely eroded by generations of covering up the sexual abuse of young people by priests. His success has been rooted as much in how he says things as what he says.

“Who am I to judge?” he says, and for someone who is deemed infallible on matters of his faith he has managed to maintain the tenets of Catholic teaching without coming off like a self-righteous, judgmental know-it-all.

And then there’s the bishop of Providence.

Every once in a while, Bishop Tom Tobin comes up with an ecclesiastical dope slap, a bracing reminder that not all of the hierarchy agree with the pope’s distaste for judgmental finger-wagging.

Years ago, Tobin decreed that Patrick Kennedy, then a Rhode Island congressman, should be denied Communion because Kennedy supported abortion rights.

When Nelson Mandela died, Tobin denounced Mandela’s “shameful promotion of abortion” in South Africa.

Last week, the good bishop took to his Facebook page to take a slap at Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

“Tim Kaine has been widely identified as a Roman Catholic. It is also reported that he publicly supports ‘freedom of choice’ for abortion, same-sex marriage, gay adoptions, and the ordination of women as priests,” Tobin wrote. “All of these positions are clearly contrary to well-established Catholic teachings; all of them have been opposed by Pope Francis as well. Senator Kaine has said, ‘My faith is central to everything I do.’ But apparently, and unfortunately, his faith isn’t central to his public, political life.”

And apparently, and unfortunately, as he sits in judgment of others, Bishop Tobin’s obsession with following Catholic teaching didn’t apply to the cases of Helen McGonigle and Jeff Thomas. Tobin’s response in those cases was not pastoral, it was dryly legalistic. It was not in keeping with the well-established Catholic teachings of humility and compassion.

A month before Tobin called Kaine out, Tobin’s lawyers succeeded in getting lawsuits against him by McGonigle and Thomas thrown out. The Rhode Island Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that agreed with the bishop’s lawyers that McGonigle and Thomas didn’t file their suits in time.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah MacDonald
PUBLISHED
02/08/2016

A former trainee priest who alleges he was harassed by a member of staff while studying at the national seminary in Maynooth is to meet members of the Garda sexual assault unit over the coming days to file a formal complaint against the priest.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous for now, told the Irish Independent that the priest concerned was meant to be his “spiritual father” who would help him to “discern if God was calling” him to serve in the priesthood, and also to “act as a support and guide in living a chaste and celibate life”.

Instead, he alleges that the priest placed his hand on him inappropriately on a number of occasions, and that he asked him very intimate questions concerning his sexuality during meetings. This, he said, was not part of the priest’s remit.

He also told salacious jokes during the meetings.

“I am now, thank God, a happily married man. My faith was severely shaken after my experience in Maynooth, and I suffered from severe depression for a long time,” he recounted.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

AAP

A mother has told an inquiry she informed the local bishop that an Anglican priest and a youth worker who were fostering children had booked a “sex tour” in Europe, but she never heard from the Church again.

Susan Aslin, who has four boys, said in the late 1970s she became concerned that Anglican youth worker James (Jim) Brown was preying on one of her sons.

Ms Aslin was giving evidence on Tuesday at a child sex abuse royal commission hearing into how the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle responded to repeated allegations of child sex abuse against a number of its clergy and lay workers over three decades.

In 2011 Brown pleaded guilty to 27 charges of child sexual abuse of boys and was sentenced to 20 years in jail with a non-parole period of 12 years.

The commission has heard Brown was closely associated with senior priest Peter Rushton who headed a pedophile ring in the Hunter region of NSW.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

The Anglican Church in Newcastle, NSW, is “harbouring” a large number of active child abusers and has a history of violent abuse dating back decades and involving some of the city’s most influential people, a royal commission has heard.

The commission, whose public hearing opened this morning, has heard evidence that church officials provided boys to be raped and were allegedly protected by senior figures in the diocese.

Several abusive priests went to the same training college and subsequently occupied powerful positions in and around the city’s cathedral, including being appointed to church bodies established to respond to allegations of abuse.

“Records concerning professional standards matters in the diocese have been improperly altered or destroyed by members of the diocese,” counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Naomi Sharp said.

The diocese’s Professional Standards Director, Michael Elliott, is expected to tell the commission “of his belief that the Diocese is harbouring a large number of active offenders with little or no accountability in place,” Ms Sharp said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Tuesday 2 August 2016

Paul Gray broke down in the witness stand at a royal commission hearing when he told how he was repeatedly raped by a gang of men at a boys’ home run by the Anglican church in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.

Gray wept as he recalled on Tuesday how his godfather, Father Peter Rushton, who was a priest at Cessnock, had anally raped him when he was just 10.

In the mid-1960s Rushton began taking Gray to St Alban’s Home for Boys where he was locked in a room and a number of men would rape or have oral sex with him, the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse was told.

Gray told how Rushton would cut his back with a knife and smear the blood on his body, “symbolic of the blood of Christ”.

He was taken to St Alban’s regularly by Rushton for 18 months. He recalled how once a number of boys were made to lie on beds and six or eight men would choose a boy and take him to a separate room.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS AND CAMERON PHELPS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

An Anglican home for boys in the Hunter region of NSW was used by a paedophile ring headed by a senior clergyman to access and sexually abuse children.

On Tuesday the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse opened a two-week hearing into what the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle did to stop priest Peter Rushton and a pedophile network of clergy and laypeople who preyed on children for decades.

Victim Paul Gray gave evidence and said he was taken to St Albans School for Boys in the Hunter Valley in the 1960s, where there was a locked room called the ‘f***ing room’ where boys would be forced to have group oral and anal sex with adult men.

Mr Gray broke down in the witness stand when he told how he was repeatedly raped by a gang of men at the boys home.

Mr Gray wept as he recalled how his godfather Father Peter Rushton, who was a priest at Cessnock, had anally raped him when he was just 10.

In the mid-1960s Rushton began taking Mr Gray to St Alban’s Boys Home where he was locked in a room and a number of men would rape or have oral sex with him, the commission was told.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Dan Cox

An Anglican Church abuse survivor has told a royal commission’s hearings in Newcastle his back was cut while he was raped to symbolise Christ’s blood.

Abuse within the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle is being examined by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Public hearings in the city are expected to go for two weeks and will focus on the experiences of survivors of child sexual abuse, as well as potential paedophile networks.

It will look at the past and present systems, policies and practices within the Newcastle diocese for responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.

Counsel assisting the commission Naomi Sharp said the hearings would also investigate St John’s College at Morpeth.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY
2 Aug 2016

HE was the man who brought Newcastle together in 1989 after an earthquake killed 13 people and severely damaged the Anglican Christchurch Cathedral.

He was the senior Newcastle cleric with a prominent role on the Anglican Church’s sexual abuse working group in 2003 that developed national professional standards.

But the 13th Anglican Dean of Newcastle, Graeme Lawrence, was also in a “gang of three” protecting a notorious Hunter paedophile priest, and led a Griffith group of offenders to the Hunter who were later defrocked after child sex allegations, the royal commission has heard.

Over the next two weeks the commission will hear evidence Mr Lawrence’s power and influence protected child sex offenders for several decades, but did not end with his defrocking in 2012.

“It is anticipated there will be evidence that Lawrence had, and continues to have, considerable influence in the diocese,” counsel assisting Naomi Sharp told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse sitting in Newcastle on Tuesday.

That influence includes an allegation he has continued to preach at Adamstown parish despite the defrocking.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
2 Aug 2016

MORE than 30 years of child sexual abuse and cover-ups by clergy and lay members of various Anglican parishes have been laid bare on the opening day of the royal commission’s two-week hearing into the Anglican diocese of Newcastle.

In her opening address, counsel assisting the commission Naomi Sharp outlined in forensic detail the allegations against various well-known church figures – some dead, one in jail and others thrown out of the church.

Some of the abuse took place at St Alban’s Home for Boys at Cessnock, which was run by the church.

A number of the clerics involved had all studied together at St John’s Theological College at Morpeth. Some went on to hold senior positions in a clique of power that centred on the city’s Christ Church Cathedral. And as Ms Sharp recounted, these same men were even made members of committees or other church bodies charged with overseeing the response to the child sexual abuse scandal when it finally arose to public controversy.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Ian Kirkwood

More than 30 years of child sexual abuse by clergy and lay members of various Anglican parishes have been laid bare on the opening day of the royal commission’s two-week hearing into the Anglican diocese of Newcastle.

In her opening address, counsel assisting the commission Naomi Sharp outlined allegations against various church figures – some of them dead, others alive and still fighting to stay out of jail.

Some of the abuse took place at St Alban’s Home for Boys at Cessnock, which was run by the church.

A number of the clerics involved had all studied together at St John’s Theological College at Morpeth. Some went on to hold senior positions in a clique of power that centred on the city’s Christ Church Cathedral. And as Ms Sharp recounted, these same men were even made members of committees or other church bodies charged with overseeing the response to the child sexual abuse scandal when it finally arose to public controversy.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

live stream

The Royal Commission is holding a public hearing in Newcastle from Tuesday, 2 August 2016 commencing at 10:00am AEST.

The public hearing will inquire into the experiences of survivors of child sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy and lay people involved in or associated with the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle.

Location
The hearing will be held at Newcastle Courthouse, 343 Hunter Street, Newcastle.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy and Dominica Sanda
2 Aug 2016

Tuesday, August 2

Opening address

10.45AM

Peter Rushton named. Born in 1940, completed diploma in theology at Morpeth college in 1963. Ordained as a priest in 1964. Met survivor Paul Gray in Cessnock at that time.

10.35AM

Counsel assisting Naomi Sharp opens her address.

Newcastle diocese established in 1847, stretching from the Central Coast to the Manning and Paterson areas in the north, and the Hunter region.

“This is the sixth public hearing that relates to the Anglican Church,”
– Ms Sharp.

Newcastle Anglican diocese is largely Anglo Catholic in theology, explains why many of the priests in the diocese refer to themselves as Father rather than Reverend.

Newcastle Bishops Ian Shevill (1973-77), Bishop Alfred Holland (1978-1992), Bishop Roger Herft (1992-2005), Bishop Brian Farran (2005-2012) and current Bishop Greg Thompson (2012 to the present.)

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LOUISIANA
The Advocate

BY JOE GYAN JR. | JGYAN@THEADVOCATE.COM AUG 1, 2016

A young woman who claims she was just 14 when she told a Baton Rouge-area Catholic priest that a longtime church parishioner was sexually abusing her, but that the priest did nothing to stop or report the alleged abuse, can tell a jury what she allegedly told the priest in a confession, a divided state appeals court ruled.

But the dissenting member of the three-judge 1st Circuit Court of Appeal panel warned that allowing Rebecca Mayeux to mention the confessions will “place an undue burden” on the Rev. Jeff Bayhi’s “right to the free exercise of his religion and violates the constitutional command of separation of church and state.”

The appellate court, in its Friday decision, backed state District Judge Mike Caldwell, who also stated in his February ruling that Mayeux’s attorneys won’t be allowed to argue to an East Baton Rouge Parish jury that Bayhi was mandated to report her allegations to the authorities.

Caldwell declared unconstitutional a provision of the Louisiana Children’s Code that requires clergy to report allegations of wrongdoing, even if learned in the privacy of the confessional.

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