ABUSE TRACKER

VATIKAN
Katholisch

[The Vatican plans to have international child protection guidelines. A draft of the paper that deals with abuse prevention of children, adolescents and vulnerable adults is completed and will soon be submitted to Pope Francis.]

Der Vatikan plant internationale Kinderschutz-Leitlinien für die katholische Kirche. Der Entwurf eines Papiers, das sich mit der Prävention des Missbrauchs von Kindern, Heranwachsenden und schutzbedürftigen Erwachsenen befasst, sei fertig und solle demnächst Papst Franziskus vorgelegt werden, teilte die vatikanische Kinderschutzkommission am Montag mit.

Einwöchiges Treffen im Vatikan

Die Kommission, der auch der deutsche Jesuit Hans Zollner angehört, war von Montag vergangener Woche bis Sonntag zu einem Treffen der Arbeitsgruppen und ihrer Jahresvollversammlung in Rom zusammengekommen. Vorsitzender des Gremiums ist der Bostoner Kardinal Sean O’Malley.

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ROMA
Rete L’Abuso

ROME – “The priest does with me as a man does with a woman. He removed the clothes, turn up his cassock, takes me on his lap, tells me not to worry …. ” It is a ten year old child who speaks. He reveals his grandmother what he had not had the courage to tell her mother for fear of “taking slaps’.]

ROMA – «Il prete fa con me come un uomo fa con una donna. Mi toglie i vestiti, alza la tonaca, mi prende sulle sue ginocchia, mi dice di stare tranquillo…». È un bambino di dieci anni che parla. E rivela alla nonna quello che non aveva avuto il coraggio di dire alla madre per paura di «prendere schiaffi». O di «essere arrestato», come padre Edson Alves dos Santos, sacerdote brasiliano di 64 anni, gli aveva detto, dopo averlo violentato, che sarebbe accaduto se non avesse mantenuto il segreto. È solo una delle agghiaccianti denunce di atti di pedofilia compiuti da sacerdoti in Brasile e giunte drammaticamente all’attenzione del Vaticano.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Laurie Mason Schroeder, Matt Coughlin and Pamela Lehman
Of The Morning Call

ALLENTOWN — The pastor of St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church is charged with possession of child pornography in a warrant filed Tuesday morning in district court in Emmaus.

John Stephen Mraz, 66, of Emmaus, is charged in the warrant filed by Lehigh County detectives with one felony count of possession of child pornography, one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility and a misdemeanor count of selling obscene materials. The charges list July 25 as the date of the offenses.

Mraz was arraigned Tuesday morning and is free on $50,000 unsecured bail, court records state.

Parishoners said Mraz has been out about a month from St. Ann’s Church with what church officials said were “medical issues.”

According to court records:

A parishioner worked on a laptop computer owned by Mraz and saw a folder titled “naked boys.” Police said the parishioner gave the laptop computer back, but was upset and reported it to the diocese. The diocese then contacted the district attorney’s office. …

The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office said they plan to announce the results of a sex abuse investigation related to allegations involving child pornography against a Roman Catholic priest Tuesday morning during a press conference in the county courthouse.

A press conference is scheduled at 10:30 a.m. in the district attorney’s office on Hamilton Street in Allentown.

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UNITED STATES
CBS News

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016, 8:32 PM|Pope Francis is launching a new initiative to educate and train bishops on how to deal with child abuse. Some people are praising this initiative. But Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian disagrees. Garabedian was featured prominently as a character in the film “Spotlight” and he joins CBSN with more on how this may just be “another layer of bureaucracy.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

September 13, 2016
.
DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

A senior Catholic cleric was warned that a priest was sexually abusing Aboriginal boys, but he dismissed the allegations as “nothing to be concerned about” after driving down the main street of the town involved, a royal commission has heard.

The cleric, the late Frank Ryan, also received repeated warnings about another pedophile priest, John Farrell, but asked one of his victim’s parents not to go to police, saying that doing so might harm the child.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard yesterday that both priests were subsequently convicted of sexually abusing children.

The commission, which is investigating the church’s response to Farrell’s crimes, has heard ­several senior officials, including at least one bishop, were aware of allegations against him decades before he was jailed.

One of Farrell’s victims yesterday told the commission he went to Ryan in 1981 after Farrell ­assaulted him inside a church in Moree, northern NSW, and was told “It’s OK, I’ll sort it out”.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

Ramon De Plata says he witnessed a priest and a seminarian sexually abusing an altar boy back in the 1960s.

Guam – The Archdiocese of Agana is responding to the latest claims of sexual abuse that were made against Archbishop Anthony Apuron and a now deceased priest.

“On behalf of Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, SDB, the Archdiocese extends our prayers to Mr. De Plata and most certainly the altar boy whom Mr. De Plata said he witnessed being abused by the late Father Antonio Cruz and Father Tony Apuron in March of 1964,” a statement from Father Jeff San Nicolas, the delegate to Apostolic Administrator Archbishop Hon.

Ramon De Plata is the latest accuser to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of church clergy members. De Plata alleges that he witnessed Father Cruz and then-seminarian Anthony Apuron engaging in a threesome with a 10-year-old altar server at the Chalan Pago church rectory back in March 1964. De Plata says he witnessed the boy performing oral sex on Father Cruz while Apuron was performing fellatio on the young boy.

“We assure Mr. De Plata that we take his allegation and all allegations of sexual abuse very seriously,” Father San Nicolas stated.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Deacon Leonard Stohr, the Archdiocese of Agana’s sexual abuse response coordinator, said he spoke Tuesday with a man who reported he witnessed the Rev. Antonio Cruz and seminarian Anthony S. Apuron — now the island’s archbishop — sexually molest a 10-year-old altar boy during a church rectory sleepover in March 1964.

Yigo resident Ramon Afaisen De Plata, 62, on Sunday told the Pacific Daily News he witnessed the molestation when he was 10 years old, after entering the priest’s bedroom to use the restroom. He said his older brother saw the same thing. He gave a statement to other island media Monday, and the Archdiocese issued a written statement Monday evening, saying it will investigate.

“Though Father Cruz is deceased, the issue will still be investigated,” Stohr said Tuesday, adding the work will be done by an independent investigator. “There may be other victims or witnesses that we may offer support to at this time. The witnesses could also include Mr. De Plata’s brother. The investigation will try to find out Father Cruz’s date of ordination, his assignments, which churches and villages, his positions whether he’s a parish priest or pastor, his superiors, the altar servers at the time, other parishioners, and going through church records,” Stohr said. Any information will be forwarded to the Vatican, he said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

September 13, 2016

EAN HIGGINS
ReporterSydney
@EanHiggins

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

The Child Abuse Royal Commission has released its report into Sydney’s elite Knox Grammar School, which finds the former long serving headmaster Ian Paterson gave evidence on oath that was “clearly incorrect” and that he “covered-up” allegations of abuse by staff.

Dr Paterson told the commission he only heard of one instance of sex abuse at the school but the commission has found he knew of allegations against two named teachers, as well as a third who had an affair with a student and a fourth who assaulted a 14-year-old while wearing a balaclava.

The Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse found Dr Paterson failed to prioritise the welfare of the boys at Knox over the reputation of the school by covering up allegations in relation to two teachers and failing to notify the parents of boys who had made allegations.

A number of former students reported the abuse to police in 2009 following the establishment of Strike Force Arika, which investigated allegations of historical child sex offences at Knox.

Five teachers from Knox — Roger James, Adrian Nisbett, Damien Vance, Craig Treloar and Barrie Stewart — were charged and later convicted of child sex offences against students.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Rachel Browne

Former headmaster of Knox Grammar Ian Paterson deliberately covered up allegations about child sexual abuse because he placed the reputation of the school ahead of student welfare, a royal commission has found.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has delivered a scathing assessment of Dr Paterson in its report into how Knox Grammar and the Uniting Church handled multiple allegations about teachers over a 40-year period.

Former Knox Grammar headmaster Ian Paterson delivers his opening statement to the royal commission and admits responsibility for all matters which occurred during his time
Dr Paterson “deliberately withheld information” from a police officer who was investigating sex abuse allegations at the school, the report found.

He also failed to notify parents of the boys who had made allegations and did not inform Knox Grammar’s school council of sex abuse claims.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

13 September, 2016

The Royal Commission’s report into Case Study 23 – the response of Knox Grammar School and the Uniting Church of Australia to allegations of child sexual abuse at Knox Grammar School in Wahroonga – was released today.

The report follows a public hearing held in 2015 which inquired into the experiences of sexual abuse of former students at Knox Grammar School in Wahroonga NSW. The hearing also examined the response of Knox and the Uniting Church in Australia between 1970 and 2012 to concerns raised about inappropriate conduct by a number of teachers towards students at Knox.

The Royal Commission heard evidence from 12 former students of the school who detailed the sexual abuse that they suffered while at Knox and the devastating effect it had on them. Most of the former students gave evidence to the Royal Commission that they did not disclose the abuse while they were at school. The parents of two students also gave evidence about the impact of the abuse on their children and families.

A number of former students reported the abuse to police in 2009 following the establishment of Strike Force Arika, which investigated allegations of historical child sex offences at Knox. Five teachers from Knox – Roger James, Adrian Nisbett, Damien Vance, Craig Treloar and Barrie Stewart – were charged and later convicted of child sex offences against students.

A former headmaster of Knox, Dr Ian Paterson, told the Royal Commission that, during his 29 years in the role, he was only aware of one instance of sexual abuse, involving Mr Vance.

The Royal Commission found that was clearly incorrect and that Dr Paterson was aware of allegations in relation to Mr Nisbett, Mr Treloar, Mr Stewart and an ‘affair’ between then student Anthony Carden and teacher, known as ARZ. Mr Nisbett continued to teach at Knox until 2004 and Mr Treloar continued to teach at Knox until 2009. The Royal Commission found Dr Paterson was also aware of a sexual assault on a 14-year-old student, ARN, in one of the boarding house dormitories by a man wearing a balaclava.

The Royal Commission found that Dr Paterson provided misleading and positive references to former teachers Roger James and Damien Vance.

By 1992, Dr Paterson and a number of senior staff members were aware of allegations of an ‘affair’ between former student Anthony Carden and teacher ARZ and that Barrie Stewart had sexually molested a student, ATJ. The Royal Commission found that Dr Paterson failed to inform the Knox Council of these allegations. The Royal Commission also found that Dr Paterson’s response to these allegations involved him seeking to cover up these allegations. Mr Stewart continued to teach at Knox until 2000.

The Royal Commission found that, during Dr Paterson’s time as headmaster of Knox, his attitude and the culture he fostered at the school were dismissive of allegations of child sexual abuse and that he deliberately withheld information from the Knox Council, the body responsible for the management of the school.

The Royal Commission found Dr Paterson failed to prioritise the welfare of the boys at Knox over the reputation of the school by covering up allegations in relation to two teachers and failing to notify the parents of boys who had made allegations..

Read the full report.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

A former long-serving headmaster of Sydney’s elite Knox Grammar School covered up allegations of child abuse by staff and gave clearly incorrect evidence about his knowledge of such accusations, a royal commission has found.

Dr Ian Paterson, who served as headmaster at the exclusive north shore boys’ school for almost 30 years, told the Royal Commission into Institutional Reponses to Child Sex Abuse last year he only heard of one instance of sex abuse at the school.

But in a report released on Tuesday, the commission found his evidence was “clearly incorrect”, and Dr Paterson knew of allegations against three other teachers and an “affair” between another teacher and a student.

Dr Paterson was also aware of a sexual assault on a 14-year-old student, known as ARN, in one of the boarding house dormitories by a man wearing a balaclava, the commission found.

The commissioners said Dr Paterson failed to prioritise the welfare of the boys at Knox over the reputation of the school by covering up allegations in relation to two teachers, and failing to notify the parents of a boy who made allegations.

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VATICAN CITY
Independent (UK)

Gabriel Samuels

The Catholic Church has confirmed it plans to hold a worldwide day of prayer for victims of sexual abuse, as it continues to make efforts to protect vulnerable children.

Pope Francis announced the proposal following a meeting of the panel he set up to tackle child abuse within the Church and help survivors of past attacks. The Church will also establish an educational website with information and advice.

According to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, the day of prayer was suggested by an abuse survivor and could be “one part of the healing process for survivors and the community of believers”, as well as “an important way of consciousness raising in the Church”.

A spokesperson for the commission said the proposals had been discussed by clerics from around the world with Australian, South African and Filipino bishops already organising when to hold the prayer day.

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GEORGIA
News4Jax

By Jim Piggott – Reporter
September 12, 2016

BRUNSWICK, Ga. – A Georgia pastor accused of molesting a church member six years ago when the boy was 15 told News4Jax, “They are alleging things I could not have done; no possible way I could have done.”

Kenneth Adkins, 56, has been in the Glynn County jail since his Aug. 26 arrest on a charge of aggravated child abuse.

Adkins said he was arrested two days after he voluntarily came to answer questions about the accusations against him and quickly realized he’d need to call an attorney.

He said the young man used to be a member of his church and they met in 2010 when the teenager attended a summit his church hosted.

“I think we may have baptized him in the church. I was at that church for two months before I left and started another ministry and he came over along with a group of a bunch of kids. We had hundreds and hundreds of kids and he’s just one of the kids,” Adkins said. “They’re alleging I committed these things between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2010, and during that whole year really, he was just one of several kids. We were so busy that year. That was my first, starting the church.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Mazoe Ford

The former headmaster of Sydney’s Knox Grammar School “failed to prioritise the welfare of boys over the reputation of the school” by covering up allegations of child sexual abuse, a royal commission has found.

The report on last year’s hearing at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse examining Knox Grammar was released today.

The 2015 hearing also looked into the experiences of 12 survivors, as well as the response from the school and the Uniting Church of Australia, to concerns raised about several teachers between 1970 and 2012.

At the hearing, Dr Ian Paterson said that during his 29 years as headmaster he was only aware of one instance of sexual abuse involving one teacher.

However, the royal commission found that was “clearly incorrect” and that Dr Paterson was also aware of allegations in relation to three other teachers, as well as an affair between a teacher and a student, and an incident where a boarding school student was sexually assaulted by someone in a balaclava.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Press Association
Monday 12 September 2016

A “cruel and sadistic” carer molested boys at a Catholic children’s home and terrorised them with a punishment known as “the clappers”, a court heard.

James McCann, 80, is accused of 52 charges of violent and sexual assault on 26 boys aged between eight and 12.

The Old Bailey heard that McCann repeatedly abused the boys at St Francis children’s home in Shefford, Bedfordshire, in the 1960s and 70s.

The home, which was run by the Roman Catholic diocese of Northampton, was closed down in 1974 and the alleged victims are now aged in their 50s and 60s.

Judge Rebecca Poulet QC told jurors that McCann was not fit to stand trial and it was therefore their job to decide the facts alone.

Opening the case against McCann, John Price QC told jurors: “The prosecution alleges that during his nine years at the home and on very many occasions he violently assaulted and indecently assaulted or sexually abused many of the children for whose care he shared responsibility with the other members of staff at the home.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A “cruel and sadistic” carer molested boys at a Catholic children’s home and terrorised them with a punishment known as The Clappers, a court has heard.

James McCann, 80, from Norfolk, is accused of violent and sexual assaults on 26 boys aged between eight and 12.

He allegedly abused the boys at St Francis children’s home in Shefford, Bedfordshire, in the 1960s and 1970s.

An Old Bailey judge has ruled he is not fit to stand trial and the jury must decide the facts alone.

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MAINE
Portland Press Herald

BY MATT BYRNE STAFF WRITER
mbyrne@pressherald.com | @mattbyrnePPH | 207-791-6303

WEST BATH — A longtime leader of a youth theater program sexually abused three girls under the age of 13 whom he met when he was a director of the group’s community musicals, according to an affidavit released in court Monday.

Henry A. Eichman, 56, of Topsham, made his first appearance in West Bath District Court Monday afternoon on two counts each of sexual exploitation of a minor under 12, unlawful sexual contact and violation of privacy. He was arrested Friday after Topsham police executed a search warrant at his home.

The affidavit described pool parties and sleepovers that Eichman had with children who participated in the theater program.

The allegations against Eichman have devastated the community of parents and children who participate in the Midcoast Youth Theater program, said Julie Meyer, president of the program’s board of directors. The all-volunteer organization put on six productions in 2015 that involved about 300 children and parents. Eichman helped found the group in 2003. …

Eichman has been a part-time drama teacher at St. John’s Catholic School in Brunswick since 2008, according to Dave Guthro, communications director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. Guthro said in an email that Eichman also assisted with the afterschool program in spring 2016 and had returned to assist that program this academic year, but was suspended and barred from the campus after his arrest Friday.

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OHIO
Vindicator

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown and the Third Order Regular Franciscan Friars of Hollidaysburg, Pa., have reached a $900,000 settlement with 28 people who say they were sexually abused by Brother Stephen Baker, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

Baker, formerly a teacher and coach at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, killed himself in 2013.

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OHIO
Tribune Chronicle

September 13, 2016
By MARLY KOSINSKI , Tribune Chronicle

YOUNGSTOWN – The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown and an order of Franciscan Friars based in Pennsylvania have settled 28 sexual abuse claims for $900,000, a diocesan official has confirmed.

The abuse claims were made against the late Brother Stephen Baker, a member of the Third Order Regulars, Franciscan Friars Province of the Immaculate Conception based in Hollidaysburg, Pa. Baker, who committed suicide in 2013 at 62 after the abuse allegations came to light, was a coach, teacher and athletic trainer at Warren John F. Kennedy High School in the 1980s.

Msgr. John Zuraw, spokesman for the Youngstown Diocese, said the diocese, along with the Franciscan Friars, “settled through mediation with 28 victims of Brother Baker.”

Zuraw said the diocesan attorney said the claims were settled previously, but he did not know when. He also did not know how much of the settlement came from the diocese and how much came from the friars, but said both “contributed to the $900,000.”

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AUSTRALIA
Northern Daily Leader

Rachel Browne
13 Sep 2016

A senior Catholic Church official advised the family of a boy who was sexually molested by a priest not to report it to the police unless they wanted to see their child “torn to pieces’’ in court, a royal commission has heard.

The second day of a public hearing into jailed paedophile priest John Joseph Farrell was told allegations against him were played down as just his way of “showing affection” for boys.

Karolyn Graham told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse she was distraught when her son Michael McGroder disclosed how the former Moree priest molested him in 1984.

She and her then husband confronted the vicar general in the Diocese of Armidale Monsignor Frank Ryan about the allegations involving their son as well as a number of other boys, the commission heard.

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VATICAN CITY
Borneo Post

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Monday announced plans for a worldwide day of prayer for the victims of sexual abuse, in line with a proposal from his child protection panel.

The panel, a commission of experts which advises Francis on efforts to combat clerical child sexual abuse, said the initiative had been made by an abuse survivor.

“The commission believes that prayer is one part of the healing process for survivors and the community of believers,” a statement said.

“Public prayer is also an important way of consciousness raising in the Church.”

The move was announced after the latest week-long meeting of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in Rome.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

[with video]

A 62-year-old man from Chalan Pago has come forward claiming to be a witness to another incident of alleged sexual abuse by Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

Ramon Afaisen De Plata said that in March 1964, he was a 10-year-old altar boy at Our Lady Peace Parish in Chalan Pago. While staying overnight with about eight other altar boys in the parish rectory, De Plata said he saw Apuron – a seminarian at the time – and another clergy member, Rev. Antonio Cruz, engaging in sexual activity with another 10-year-old altar boy.

“The restroom was located inside (Cruz’s) bedroom. I woke up late in the night to use the restroom. When I entered Pale Cruz’s bedroom, I saw Pale Cruz lying on the bed naked. One of the altar boys was on the bed naked,” De Plata stated in a written testimony.

The boy was lying on his side and performing fellatio on Cruz, De Plata stated, while Apuron performed fellatio on the boy. De Plata turned away from the scene and headed toward the bathroom, only for Apuron to follow him and place an arm around his shoulder. De Plata said his older brother, also an altar boy, suddenly appeared behind them and the two left the rectory. De Plata said they opted not to speak to each other about what they saw that night.

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

The Guam legislature has unanimously approved the permanent removal of the statute of limitations for all sexual abuse crimes.

If approved by the governor, the bill will allow victims to file civil cases against their alleged assailant.

The bill was introduced this year after several former altar boys alleged that the Catholic Archbishop Anthony Apuron sexually abused them while he was parish priest in the 1970s.

Today’s Guam Daily Post carries testimony of a 62-year-old man who claims to have witnessed the Archbishop having sex with a 10-year-old boy in 1964 when a group of altar boys had been invited to spend the night at the parish rectory.

The latest accuser is the fifth person to come forward alleging sex abuse by the then parish priest.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

Miranda Forster – AAP on September 13, 2016

A NSW priest has admitted he supported disgraced ex-priest John Farrell by keeping quiet about sex abuse allegations, conceding he felt no obligation to protect child parishioners.

Armidale priest Bernard Flood worked alongside Farrell at the Moree parish in northern NSW in the early 1980s when a number of complaints about Farrell abusing boys surfaced.

Fronting the child sex abuse royal commission on Tuesday, Father Flood admitted he’d remained friendly with Farrell after the allegations surfaced, saying he’d wanted to help get the wayward priest back on track.

When Farrell was moved to another parish at Tamworth, Fr Flood didn’t tell the priest in charge about the abuse allegations due to “professional boundaries”.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

The father of a boy who was sexually abused by a Catholic priest was asked by a senior cleric not to go to police and told that to do so might be harmful to his child.

Giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse this morning, the boy’s mother, Karolyn Graham, said she “was horrified and felt intimidated by the church” as a result.

Her son, Michael McGroder, told the commission he was sexually abused by his parish priest when he was serving as an altar boy in Moree, northern NSW, in 1984.

The priest, John Farrell, was jailed earlier this year for sexual offences against 12 child victims.

Ms Graham told the commission her husband met with Monsignor Frank Ryan, who was then the vicar general of the Armidale diocese, in April 1984 to disclose his son’s abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Mazoe Ford

Former Moree Catholic priest Father John Joseph Farrell “only fondled genitals as it was his way of showing affection” a church official allegedly told the parent of an abused alter boy, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is looking into the behaviour of Father Farrell, who sexual abused alter boys in Moree in the 1980s, and how the Catholic Diocese of Armidale and Parramatta handled complaints about him.

Karolyn Graham told the inquiry that in 1984 her former husband, Patrick, went to see the Vicar-General of the Armidale Diocese, Monsignor Frank Ryan, after their nine-year-old son Michael McGroder revealed he had been touched inappropriately by Father Farrell.

“Monsignor Ryan asked [my husband] not to go to police as it would be traumatic for Michael and the family and asked whether we wanted to see our boy in a witness stand being torn to pieces,” Ms Graham told the royal commission.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday

A CARER at a Catholic children’s home carried out a campaign of sexual and physical abuse against 26 boys in his care in the 1960s and 1970s, a court has heard.

James McCann, 80, allegedly tortured some of the lads by clapping his hands over their ears, causing excruciating pain and nausea.

McCann is said to have abused the youngsters while working at the St Francis Children’s Home, in Shefford, Bedfordshire.

He joined the school at the age of 29 in 1965 and worked there until it closed in 1974, the Old Bailey heard yesterday (September 12).

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

[with audio]

Former altar boys who say they were sexually abused by the Catholic priest John Joseph Farrell in the 1980s have given evidence at a Commission hearing in Sydney.

The commission has heard that a senior church official urged the father of one of the boys not to go to the police.

This is the last public hearing involving how Catholic institutions responded to claims of child sexual abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
Herald Malaysia

VATICAN CITY: The Pope recently met two Italian victims of clerical abuse, one of them was a child when the abuse took place and the other an adult. This is according to Fr. Hans Zollner, a German psychologist, Jesuit and a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors that met from 5 to 11 September in the Vatican. He supported the idea of instituting a prayer day for paedophilia victims, proposed a model for helping national Bishops’ Conferences to further improve anti-abuse guidelines and said he was satisfied with the recent papal document on the responsibility of bishops and other Church superiors in this field. The Commission will also soon be launching its very own website. Its members were invited for the first time to a refresher course for bishops in the Vatican.

“Two Italian victims of abuse attended a meeting with the Holy Father as part of last Saturday’s Jubilee Audience,” Fr. Zollner told Vatican Radio. During the course of the meeting two books were delivered to him, both published this year in Italian: “Giulia e il lupo” (Julia and the wolf) by Luisa Bove, with a preface by Hans Zollner (Ancora editrice) and “Vorrei risorgere dalle mie ferite” (I want to rise from my wounds) by Anna Deodato (EDB). Last April, these two books were presented to the San Fedele cultural foundation in Milan. The first book, Zollner explained, “is about the experience of a young woman who was abused by a priest in Italy. This is the first book published in Italian, in Italy, about an experience in Italy. The other book is about consecrated women who are abused by priests. From what these two ladies told me, the Pope was shocked and asked to be updated on this too. So I think that from what we have seen and heard in recent years, under Francis pontificate as well as Pope Benedict’s, the Popes have shown deep personal concern, empathy and closeness to people in great difficulty as well as to those who have suffered sexual abuse by a member of the clergy.”

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NEBRASKA
Omaha World-Herald

MINDEN, Neb. — A former Kearney Catholic High School coach is charged in Kearney County Court with two felonies and one misdemeanor: child abuse; enticement by electronic communications device; and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

According to court records, Shawn Dowse, 44, of Kearney, was arrested Thursday on a Kearney County warrant. The court has sealed details about the reason for his arrest.

Dowse was the boys golf coach at Kearney Catholic High School in the spring 2016 season. A Kearney Catholic High School representative said Dowse did not sign another contract for this year.

If convicted, Dowse could spend up to three years in prison on the child abuse charge, a Class IIIA felony; up to two years in prison on the enticement charge, a Class IV felony; and up to one year in jail on the contributing to the delinquency of a minor count, a Class I misdemeanor.

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VATICAN CITY
America

Gerard O’Connell | Sep 12 2016

The commission set up by Pope Francis in March 2014 to advise him on preventing child sexual abuse is now making significant progress. A report published by the Vatican following the Sept. 8-11 plenary meeting of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors reveals the role of members in educating Vatican personnel and church leadership in countries across the globe on their responsibility for the protection of children, adolescents and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse.

The report shows that commission members have already addressed meetings of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, where the Holy See’s diplomats are trained, and the Congregation for Consecrated Life, which oversees religious orders and institutes of consecrated life worldwide. In the coming weeks, it will address a meeting of the Congregation for Clergy, as well as sessions for the training of new bishops (those appointed over the past year) organized by the Congregations for the Evangelization of Peoples and for Bishops. Indeed, the fact that Marie Collins, a survivor of abuse, will address these latter sessions with other commission members is a real breakthrough at the level of the Vatican.

Moreover, it reports that commission members have sought to educate church leadership through talks and workshops, on all five continents. They went to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Fiji, Argentina, Colombia, Santo Domingo, the United States, Ghana, Tanzania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Italy. In the coming months, they plan to do likewise in Mexico, Ecuador, the conference of major superiors of men in the United States and will hold a workshop for the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences.

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VATICAN CITY
RTE News

Pope Francis has announced plans for a worldwide day of prayer for the victims of sexual abuse in line with a proposal from his child protection panel.

The panel has also decided to establish a website later this year to help protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse in both the Catholic Church and wider society.

The panel, which includes a leading Irish survivor of clerical child abuse Marie Collins, advises Pope Francis on efforts to combat clerical abuse which has become a major scandal, mostly in developed countries, over the past quarter century.

A spokesperson for the panel said members have addressed church gatherings on all five continents and that the prayer initiative had been proposed by an abuse survivor.

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OHIO
Road to Recovery

The Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, and the Third Order Regular Franciscan Friars, based in Hollidaysburg, PA, disrespect twenty-eight (28) childhood victims of sexual abuse by Br. Stephen Baker, T.O.R., with a settlement of nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000.00), thus re-victimizing and disrespecting the victims, once again acting unfairly toward sexual abuse victims and preventing healing

Twenty-eight (28) innocent childhood sexual abuse victims of serial clergy sexual abuser, Br. Stephen Baker of the Third Order Regular Franciscans of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, have been re-victimized by the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, and the Third Order Regular Franciscan Friars because they refused to fairly and reasonably settle claims of twenty-eight (28) childhood sexual abuse victims, thus preventing victims from healing

The Youngstown Diocese recently announced a so-called “expansion” of its efforts to ensure the safety of children, but the Youngstown Diocese and the Third Order Regular Franciscan Friars would be more moral and ethical if they reasonably and justly settled claims of childhood sexual abuse by clergymen, like Br. Stephen Baker, T.O.R., who was able to abuse dozens of children because the Youngstown Diocese and the Third Order Regular Franciscan Friars enabled Br. Stephen Baker’s dangerous and destructive actions

What
A press conference announcing a disrespectful settlement of nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000.00) for twenty-eight (28) sexual abuse victims of serial pedophile Br. Stephen Baker, T.O.R., who taught at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio

When
Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 11:00 am

Where
On the public sidewalk across from the headquarters of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, at 144 West Wood Street, Youngstown, Ohio 44503 – 330-744-8451

Who
Barbara Aponte, mother of Br. Stephen Baker victim, Luke Bradesku (RIP), who was part of the settlement; Dr. Robert M. Hoatson, President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families; and possibly another victim of Br. Stephen Baker, T.O.R.

Why
The Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, and the Third Order Regular Franciscan Friars refused to settle twenty-eight (28) sexual abuse claims against Br. Stephen Baker, T.O.R. fairly and reasonably, hiding behind and bolstered by antiquated statute of limitations laws in the State of Ohio. The path of destruction of sexual abuse by Br. Stephen Baker, T.O.R. at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Warren, Ohio, is well-documented and undeniable, yet the Diocese of Youngstown and the Third Order Regular Franciscan Friars disrespected Br. Baker’s victims by settling twenty-eight (28) cases for nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000.00). Demonstrators will discuss the disrespectful settlement and express their disappointment with the Diocese of Youngstown and the Third Order Regular Franciscan Friars for not fairly and reasonably settling their claims and preventing victims from healing.

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D. – 862-368-2800 – roberthoatson@gmail.com
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

Ukrainian Orthodox authorities have barred the pastor of a Humboldt Park church from serving as a priest following allegations that he improperly took more than $500,000 from a 93-year-old parishioner diagnosed with dementia.

Nicholas Chervyatiuk has not been charged with a crime, and he has vigorously denied the allegations, made in papers filed in probate court this spring by the Cook County public guardian.

Church leaders began gathering legal documents and acted against Chervyatiuk following an Aug. 19 Tribune report on the case. He had served as a priest at Holy Patronage Church, 900 N. Washtenaw Ave.

Chervyatiuk, 55, allegedly used the money he took to support two restaurants he ran with a convicted drug dealer, his Brash & Sassy, Inc. hair salon and his portfolio of Chicago-area rental properties, according to probate court papers and separate land, business and court records.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Kathleen McPhillips
12 Sep 2016

DURING his evidence to the royal commission Bishop Bill Wright made the observation that he felt concentrating on events of 30 years ago was not a useful exercise, and it is more important to understand what is happening now with regard to child abuse and protection. The Commissioner’s response was to state that the community had asked for a royal commission into organisations and that this be done in the public eye.

Understanding the history of abuse is vitally important to the health of the current community. Let me explain why.

First, it is vital to bring to public knowledge the traumatic events that occurred across Catholic parishes and schools in the last 60 or so years. The knowledge gleaned from the hearings provides the validation that the abuse occurred and had devastating effects. Those children are now adults and their suffering continues. Some took their lives. This needs to be investigated and acknowledged. Secondly, sexual abuse of a child is a crime and many perpetrators have not been bought to justice or have died. The crime of concealing abuse by failing to report it has also to be put to legal testing.

Thirdly, given that the Catholic Church represents 40 per cent of all cases before the royal commission it seems obvious to me there is a problem with a Church culture which has allowed such high levels of abuse to continue. Incredibly, very little research has been undertaken into the culture of clericalism by the Catholic Church. Most of the religious leaders seemed at a loss to understand why it happened. Brother Peter Carroll, the Provincial of the Marist Brothers, stated that the order was thinking about undertaking research into why over 150 brothers have been identified as sexual abusers. Let’s hope this happens.

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VATICAN CITY
Daily Mail (UK)

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, Sept 12 (Reuters) – Newly appointed Catholic bishops will get training on how to deal with child abuse from a panel of experts, including victims, which Pope Francis set up to root out sexual molestation by clerics.

The move, announced on Monday, is a big step for the panel – made up of clerics and lay people, including women, mostly with little previous Vatican experience – that has struggled to be fully accepted within the Church’s power structure.

The decision to draw on the expertise of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors comes after a French monsignor who taught so-called “baby bishops” courses for new Church leaders, caused an uproar by telling them they did not necessarily have to report abuse to civil authorities.

Monsignor Tony Anatrella was later rebuked by the president of the commission, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who said bishops had “a moral and ethical responsibility” to do so.
The worldwide sex abuse scandal first came to light in Boston in 2001 when it was revealed that predatory priests were shunted from parish to parish instead of being defrocked and handed over to the police.

Francis has compared the abuse of children by priests to devil worship and vowed a “zero tolerance” approach, setting up the commission in 2014, a year after taking office, to advise him on how to root out sexual abuse within the Church.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
ACI Prensa

[Pope Francis received on Saturday to two Italian victims of clergy abuse, as reported by Father Hans Zollner, German psychologist member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.]

VATICANO, 12 Sep. 16 / 11:06 am (ACI).- El Papa Francisco recibió el pasado sábado a dos víctimas italianas de abusos del clero, según ha informado el P. Hans Zollner, psicólogo alemán miembro de la Pontificia Comisión para la Tutela de los Menores.

El sacerdote explicó a Radio Vaticana que el encuentro tuvo lugar en el marco de la Audiencia Jubilar del sábado pasado. Durante la reunión se entregaron dos libros que fueron publicados en italiano este mismo año: “Julia y el lobo”, de Luisa Bove y con un prefacio del propio Hans Zollner, y “Quisiera resurgir de mis heridas”, de Anna Deodato.

Zollner, explicó que el primero de ellos “es sobre la experiencia de una joven que sufrió abusos de un sacerdote en Italia”.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Shawn Raymundo, sraymundo@guampdn.com September 13, 2016

In a 13-0 vote, lawmakers Monday morning unanimously approved legislation to permanently remove the statute of limitations for all sexual abuse crimes, allowing victims to file civil cases against their alleged assailant.

Sen. Frank Blas Jr., R-Barrigada, introduced Bill 326-33 a few months ago, following several public accusations by former altar boys who allege that Archbishop Anthony Apuron sexually abused them while he was parish priest in Agat during the 1970s. If the bill becomes law, it could allow the alleged victims to sue Apuron.

Sens. Tina Muna Barnes, D-Mangilao and Tom Ada, D-Tamuning were absent from session Monday.

Last week, Joseph “Joe” Santos, the founder of a local grassroots group advocating to help victims of child sexual abuse, presented Blas with a petition that contained signatures from more than 3,000 people who support the bill.

“In light of growing awareness of child sexual abuse, many states have begun to reform criminal statutes. We are hoping to the do same here on Guam,” Blas told his fellow lawmakers during session Monday morning.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 12, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Defense in the $2 million libel and slander suit against Archbishop Anthony Apuron and the Archdiocese of Agana are asking the court to dismiss the complaint. In court filings made late Monday, defense calls the defamation suit “unusual”, as it was sparked by paid ads by the Concerned Catholics of Guam.

Defense states the archdiocese has publicly recanted and retracted Apuron’s statements at issue and notes plaintiffs fail to plead special damages.

The plaintiffs listed are Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton, Roland Sondia, and Doris Concepcion on behalf of her son Joseph “Sonny” Quinata. Each of the plaintiffs alleges Apuron molested them decades ago. The suit follows press release and video statements from the archdiocese and Apuron, which defended Apuron’s innocence and called his accusers liars who were out to destroy the church.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Carol Glatz Catholic News Service | Sep. 12, 2016

VATICAN CITY
Members of the pope’s commission for child protection, including an abuse survivor, have been speaking with new bishops and major Vatican offices as part of a mandate to develop and educate the church about best practices.

Pope Francis also approved the establishment of a day of prayer for survivors of abuse, but decided it will be up to each nation’s bishops’ conference to decide when the memorial should be held, according a press release Sept. 12 from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Members of the pontifical commission have spoken recently with officials at the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, as well as at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which trains priests for service in the Vatican’s diplomatic corps.

Pontifical commission members, who were in Rome in early September, were also set to address the Congregation for Clergy and to speak at seminars for recently appointed bishops; the training seminars are organized by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Marie Collins, a commission member and survivor of clerical abuse, was scheduled to be one of a number of commission members to address the Sept. 11-18 session of what is commonly referred to as “new bishops school.”

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

[with video]

Written by Janela Carrera

Ramon De Plata says the victim passed away before he could share his own story of sexual abuse.

Guam – The sex abuse scandal continues in the catholic church, this time a former altar server has come forward with explosive details involving Archbishop Anthony Apuron, another priest and a young altar boy allegedly engaged in a threesome.

Ramon De Plata is the latest to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of Church members. Although De Plata says he was never physically abused, he did witness something that he wishes he had never seen. De Plata says he was 10 years old and an altar server at the Our Lady of Peace church in Chalan Pago back in March 1964.

He and a number of other altar boys were invited to sleep over at the rectory by Pale Antonio Cruz and by Archbishop Anthony Apuron who was at the time just a seminarian. While getting ready for bed, De Plata says Pale Cruz told the boys that he would leave his bedroom door open in case any of the boys needed to use the restroom in the middle of the night.

“So later in the evening I needed the restroom. So I got up and went there and when I walked in the door and everything, I noticed to my right that the priest was naked, the altar boy was naked and the altar boy was [expletive] the priest’s penis and he was turned halfway where Apuron was kneeling on the floor and he was [expletive] the altar boy,” explained De Plata.

De Plata says he headed straight for the restroom when Apuron followed him. Behind Apuron was De Plata’s brother who asked De Plata if everything was alright. De Plata says he left the rectory and went straight home as his brother followed him.

His brother confirmed that he had also witnessed the same thing but both agreed to get some rest and talk about the shocking experience the next morning.

But De Plata says he and his brother never spoke about what they witnessed the next day.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with video]

Jojo Santo Tomas, jsantotoma@guampdn.com September 13, 2016

Church officials will investigate a report that Archbishop Anthony Apuron and another priest sexually abused an altar boy in Chalan Pago 52 years ago, according to a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Agana Monday night.

Yigo resident Ramon Afaisen De Plata, 62, told Pacific Daily News he witnessed an altar boy being abused at Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey Catholic Church. The pastor at the time, the Rev. Antonio C. Cruz, lived above the church, he said.

“When I was 10 years old, in March 1964, I witnessed Pale Antonio Cruz and Anthony Apuron molest an altar boy,” said De Plata. “I was also an altar boy at the time. During the Lenten week, about eight of us were rehearsing for the High Latin Mass services, which were very difficult. … We finished late one night and Pale Cruz asked us to spend the night. So we did.”

Ramon De Plata said he woke up to use the restroom, which was located inside Cruz’s bedroom. When he walked in, he said Cruz was lying naked on the bed with a boy, and Apuron was kneeling on the floor — all engaged in a sex act.

“The altar boy was my age, 10 years old at the time,” said De Plata. He said both the altar boy and Cruz are since “difunto,” the Chamorro word for dead.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

A pedophile priest allegedly told two of the Catholic Church’s most influential clerics he sexually abused five young boys, but was not defrocked for more than a decade, a royal commission heard yesterday.

The priest, John Farrell, was jailed earlier this year, 24 years after the meeting took place and 32 years after the church received reports of him abusing children.

Lawyers for the NSW government yesterday sought to have the evidence of the two clerics, Brian Lucas and John Usher, suppressed to protect possible future court proceedings.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard the pair were “the architects of the church’s ­response” to child sex abuse by priests, and became among the most influential clerics in Australia. Father Lucas “became the person bishops and congregational leaders would call when a complaint or problem relating to sexual abuse surfaced”, counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness SC, said.

His “job was, as he described it, to help the bishop or major superior manage the person who was making the complaint and … get the man out of the business”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) met in Plenary Assembly last week, September 8-11 focusing their attention on the three key areas of education, a Day of Prayer and the Holy Father’s MOTU PROPRIO “As a Loving Mother”, on the accountability of Church leadership. The Plenary also recognised the importance of digital technology and have announced the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors will be going live with its own website.

The Working Group meetings focused on the updates for current projects, and developing draft proposals for Pope Francis.

Lydia O’Kane spoke to Commission member Gabriel Dy-Liacco from the Philippines about the Commissions work.

Please find below the full press statement from the Commission:

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors [PCPM] works throughout the year and came together in Rome from September 5 through 11 for a week of Working Group meetings, [Guidelines, Healing and Care, Education, Formation, Theology and Spirituality, Canonical and Civil Norms] and for its Plenary Assembly.

The Working Group meetings focused on the updates for current projects, and developing draft proposals for the Holy Father, Pope Francis. For example, the Commission has developed a template for guidelines in the safeguarding and protection of children, adolescents and vulnerable adults, which we will shortly present to the Holy Father for his consideration.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Stephen Naysmith

Negativity surrounding the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has overshadowed the difficult and important work it is trying to do.

Concerns provoked by the resignation of key employees of the inquiry, former chair Susan O’Brien QC and panel member professor Michael Lamb earlier this year were unavoidable.

Our coverage of complaints lodged against a civil servant, Jessica McPherson – tangentially connected to the Inquiry, also within Government, through her work setting up the In Care Survivor Support Fund to help victims of abuse – has been a frustration.

Representatives of the independent inquiry point out that she doesn’t work for them, or the Scottish Government’s sponsoring department.

Ask any member of most survivor groups if she has been involved in the setting up of the inquiry, though, and they say she has. Many count her among their frustrations with their experience of being involved in the inquiry. Perceptions matter. That is why it is heartening to hear from some survivors of abuse about their positive experience of taking part in the core business of the inquiry – evidence gathering.

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KANSAS
Fox 4

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas released a statement on Sunday announcing that one of its priests has been suspended after church officials had received reports that the priest had visited inappropriate websites on the internet.

Because the websites allegedly depict minors, the Archdiocese immediately notified the FBI to investigate the allegation and law enforcement has initiated an investigation.

The priest in question, Fr. Chris Rossman, pastor of Annunciation Church in Baldwin City and St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lapeer, Kan. has been suspended from ministry, pending investigations by law enforcement as well as the Archdiocese.

The Archdiocese said in a statement they will continue to cooperate fully with police.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston Globe

By Nestor Ramos GLOBE STAFF SEPTEMBER 12, 2016

Two weeks ago, Chessy Prout’s name and face were relegated to the darkest corners of the Internet, where trolls reveled in outing — and trashing — a teenage sexual assault victim. They posted pictures of her and her home and her sisters.

But Google her today, and you’ll find story after story about a survivor’s bravery.

In coming forward publicly last month, Prout, who was 15 when she was assaulted by Owen Labrie on the campus of their elite Concord, N.H., prep school, didn’t so much reveal her identity as she reclaimed it, she said in an interview with the Globe.

She leaned on her family, her faith, and her recent friendship with other survivors of sexual violence in deciding to break her silence in an Aug. 30 national television interview, she said. And with “take back the night” rallies and marches echoing in her mind, she decided, she said, “to take back the Internet.”

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 11, 2016

By Sabrina Salas Matanane

All senators who were present during session today passed Bill 326. The legislation lifts the civil statute of limitations in cases involving child sex abuse. The legislation passed amid multiple allegations of child molestation accusations made against local clergy including Archbishop Anthony Apuron. Several men have come forward alleging Apuron molested them when they were altar boys at Mt. Carmel Church in Agat where he had served as a priest. These same men testified in support of the bill when it had its public hearing.

The vote on Bill 326 was 13–yes and 2– excused absences.

The bill was authored by Sen. Frank Blas, Jr. He thanked his colleagues for their support and church groups that actively pushed for the bill to give relief to victims of child sex abuse, “We know that time restrictions have been a particularly pressing problem in light of the delicate nature of child sex crimes as victims often need many years to overcome the pain of their abuse and time to obtain the courage needed to speak out about the abuse that they have suffered,” Senator Blas said.

“As the national trend moves toward loosening past restrictions and statutes of limitations, we are now doing the same with the passage of Bill No. 326-33(COR).”

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GUAM
Guam Daily Posta

John O’Connor | Post News Staff

Bill 326-33, a measure that would lift the civil statute of limitations in cases involving child sex abuse has passed the legislature with 13 votes. Sens. Tina Muna-Barnes and Tom Ada did not vote and were excused absences.

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VATICAN CITY
Star Tribune

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press SEPTEMBER 12, 2016

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis’ sex abuse commission has scored a victory within the Vatican: Members have been invited to address Vatican congregations and a training course for new bishops, suggesting that the Holy See now considers child protection programs to be an important responsibility for church leaders.

Commission members praised the development as a breakthrough given that bishops have long been accused of covering up for abusers by moving pedophile priests from parish to parish rather than reporting them to police. For decades, the Vatican too turned a blind eye and failed to take action against problem priests or their bishop enablers.

Commission members have already addressed the Vatican congregations for priests and religious orders and the Vatican’s diplomatic school. This week, members including Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins will address the new bishops’ course, which the Vatican hosts for all bishops named in the previous year to teach them how to run their dioceses.

The presentations come after the Vatican was embarrassed last year when, during the annual “baby bishops” course, a French priest delivering an official presentation told bishops they don’t need to report priests suspected of raping or molesting children to civil authorities.

He said it was up to the victims or their parents to do so.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Rachel Browne

The long-running child sexual abuse royal commission has indicated the number of public hearings will slow down with the final case study to be heard in March next year.

Chairman of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Peter McClellan​ announced public hearings would be drawing to a close in his remarks ahead of an inquiry into convicted paedophile priest John Joseph Farrell.

Justice McClellan told the Sydney hearing that the inquiry into Farrell would be the last dealing with Catholic institutions.

“After the present case study has been completed the commission will turn its attention in a public hearing to harmful sexual behaviours of children within schools,” he said.

“There may be a limited number of future case studies.”

The commission heard the final case study is expected to be heard in March, examining the cause and impact of child sexual abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
12 Sep 2016

ABOUT 2300 people having private sessions with the child abuse Royal Commission have reported abuse in Catholic institutions, according to figures quoted on Monday by the chair of the commission, Justice Peter McClellan.

Speaking at the opening of the commission’s 44th case study, Justice McClellan said more than 5800 people had asked for private sessions with the commission: he expected the total to reach 7200 by the time the commission finished at the end of next year.

“Abuse in Catholic institutions was reported by 40 per cent of all private session attendees . . .” Justice McClellan said. He said information had been received about more than 400 institutions. Case studies were chosen to reflect geographic spread and institution type.

The commission had referred 1659 matters to the police for possible prosecution, putting police resources “under significant pressure”. Prosecutions had been brought against 71 people.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Candice Prosser

The Salvation Army failed to protect children in its institutions between 1940 and 1990 and provided a culture where they felt afraid and powerless to resist ongoing abuse, a royal commission has found.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse today released its response into its Salvation Army Southern Territory (TSAS) case study after hearing harrowing stories of physical and sexual abuse and cruelty.

It heard about a “culture of humiliation” and a “culture of punishment and fear” at Salvation Army-run children’s homes in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, where children were regularly beaten, degraded and sexually abused.

It examined the Eden Park Boys’ Home at Wistow in SA, the Box Hill and Bayswater Boys’ homes in Victoria, and the Hollywood Children’s Village at Nedlands in WA.

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AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser

Tory Shepherd, Political Editor, The Advertiser
September 12, 2016

YOUNG boys at the Eden Park Salvation Army home were raped and threatened with violence if they complained, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has found.

The commission investigated incidents at the home between 1940 and 1980 and in its report released on Monday, found the Salvation Army had failed to protect children in its care.

According to the report, a seven-year-old was raped by older boys and staff, boys were locked up in small windowless spaces, thrashed, sexually abused and then threatened if they spoke up.

Graham Rundle was abused more than 200 times after he was put into the home at age seven.

After his arrival at Eden Park Boys’ Home, he was raped by between seven and nine boys, at least twice a week. He told an employee, William John Keith Ellis, because he was bleeding badly. That’s when Mr Ellis started abusing him.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)

Australian Associated Press
Monday 12 September 2016

Widespread child sexual abuse in Salvation Army homes across three states often went unreported because the victims didn’t think they would be believed, a royal commission has found.

The commission has also criticised the church for failing to take action when children did come forward, entrenching a culture in which staff and officers were able to continue to offend.

“In many instances, where knowledge of physical or sexual abuse was brought to the attention of the Salvation Army, it failed to follow its own orders and regulations,” the commission said in its report released on Monday.

And, in some cases, children who complained about their treatment were threatened with physical harm.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Brad Ryan

The royal commission into child sexual abuse has referred more than 1,500 matters to authorities, straining the resources of police forces around the country, one of its hearings has been told.

Justice Peter McClellan, who chairs the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, told a hearing in Sydney that 1,659 matters had been passed on to police to consider for further investigation.

Prosecutions have been brought against 71 people.

“Because of the volume of references, the resources of the various police forces have been placed under significant pressure,” Justice McClellan said.

“I understand a great many references are awaiting investigation, or the investigations are underway but not complete.”

Justice McClellan said the commission had received information about more than 4,000 institutions, but it was impossible to hold public hearings into all of them.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 12, 2016

By Krystal Paco

In the last few months we’ve heard from Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton, Roland Sondia, Doris Concepcion on behalf of her late son Joseph “Sonny” Quinata, and Leo Tudela. Each of the men alleges they were altar boys when they were molested or raped by the hands of church clergy. And now, another man who served as an altar boy at Our Lady of Peace in Chalan Pago alleges he was a witness to as well as a victim of child sex abuse.

The year was 1964. Ramon Afaisen De Plata was an altar boy at Our Lady of Peace Parish when he alleges he and his older brother witnessed Pale Antonio Cruz and then-seminarian Anthony Apuron engaging in sexual acts with another altar boy during a sleepover at the rectory.

De Plata told KUAM News, “I woke up late in the night to use the restroom. When I entered Pale Cruz’s bedroom, I saw Pale Cruz lying on the bed naked. One of the altar boys was on the bed naked. He was lying on his side.”

The altar boy was performing fellatio on Pale Cruz while Apuron performed fellatio on the boy. That boy, De Plata says, is not alive today to tell his story. De Plata, who is now 62 years old, says he and his brother never talked about that sighting ever again. But De Plata would later tell his mother about other encounters he had with the priest.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail (UK)

By CINDY TRAN FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

The royal commission has referred more than 1,500 child sexual abuse cases to the police to consider for further investigation, a hearing has heard.

Up to 71 people were prosecuted after 1,659 matters reported since 2013 were passed on, imposing strains on resources of police forces in Australia, ABC News reported.

Chairman of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Peter McClellan​ told a Sydney hearing the cases have led to a growing pressure to investigate allegations of paedophilia across the country.

‘Because of the volume of references, the resources of the various police forces have been placed under significant pressure,’ Justice McClellan said.

Justice McClellan said the commission had received information about 4,000 institutions but found it would be difficult to hold public hearings into all the cases.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

12 SEP 2016

A Catholic priest was given “a new start” at a NSW parish despite being under a cloud of child sex abuse complaints, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told that John Joseph Farrell, 62, was appointed to a clergy position at Tamworth east in 1984, not long after he’d left the Moree parish because of complaints he’d sexually abused a number of boys.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Rachel Browne

Senior members of the Catholic Church were first informed a priest had molested young boys in 1984 but he continued to move around parishes in NSW for almost a decade before being suspended, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is holding a public hearing into former priest John Joseph Farrell who was jailed for a minimum term of 18 years in May after being found guilty of a string of sexual offences against children.
When Farrell was confronted with the allegations, the commission heard he admitted to church officials “he had done something stupid”.

Ms Furness told the commission Farrell was treated by psychologist Gary Boyle, declaring himself “a new man” after one session. Dr Boyle found that, “Farrell did not present as a man with true paedophilia”, the commission heard.

Farrell was moved to Tamworth and then to Merrylands and Kenthurst in Sydney.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Nicole Chettle

Catholic church officials were strongly opposed to the ordination of a priest who was later accused of molesting children and who was repeatedly transferred despite concerns from clergy and parishioners, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is investigating how Catholic church authorities at Parramatta, in Sydney’s west, and Armidale, in northern New South Wales, handled allegations of abuse by the former priest John Joseph Farrell.

In her opening statement, counsel assisting the inquiry Gail Furness SC said that, at one point, Farrell told a Bishop there were incidents that could have “brought him 14 years apiece”, but that he was not questioned about that.

Ms Furness said concerns were raised about Farrell from the beginning of his career.

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ARKANSAS
Arkansas Catholic

PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 12, 2016
BY DWAIN HEBDA
ARKANSAS CATHOLIC

When the movie “Spotlight” won the Best Picture Oscar earlier this year, some Catholics may have rolled their eyes given the movie’s true-story subject matter. Based on the Boston Globe’s uncovering of the priest sex scandal there and the archdiocese’s attempts to cover it up, it seemed to the uninitiated another case of Hollywood rewarding films that kicked around the Universal Church.

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor was not one of those people.

“I saw the movie, and I thought it was well done,” he said. “It wasn’t about something in the Church that we can be especially proud of, but I thought it represented what happened and how the reporters did their jobs in a way that didn’t overly-sensationalize things.”

Bishop Taylor’s assessment of the film was shared by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and sums up the attitude he’s brought to the Diocese of Little Rock. In his eight years in Arkansas, Bishop Taylor has made proper conduct between the clergy and the Catholic faithful a top priority.

“One of the most important obligations I have here in the diocese is to ensure the relationship between our clergy and our faithful is appropriate in every way,” Bishop Taylor said. “It’s not a particularly enjoyable part of the role of bishop, but it’s absolutely necessary for people to feel connected to the Church and know that their children are safe.”

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

12 September, 2016

The Royal Commission’s report into Case Study 33 – The response of The Salvation Army (Southern Territory) to allegations of child sexual abuse at children’s homes that it operated, was released today.

The report follows a public hearing held in Adelaide, which examined the experiences of former child residents, as well as the response of The Salvation Army (Southern Territory) (TSAS) to allegations of child sexual abuse of former residents of boy’s homes in Eden Park (SA), Box Hill and Bayswater (Victoria) and Nedlands (WA).

The Royal Commission heard evidence from 12 former residents of these institutions who spoke of physical and sexual abuse by officers and employees of TSAS, and other residents, that they suffered while they lived at the institutions.

TSAS operated 55 separate children’s homes between 1894 and 1998. TSAS estimates that more than 3,000 officers and employees were engaged to work at the homes over that period. Approximately 15,000 to 17,000 children passed through the homes operated by TSAS.

The Royal Commission found that many former residents of the institutions run by TSAS did not report their complaints of sexual abuse at the time it was occurring because they did not think there was anyone to tell, they did not think they would be believed or they were threatened with physical harm.

The Royal Commission also determined that some former residents were physically punished after telling officers or employees of The Salvation Army about their complaints of sexual abuse.

The Royal Commission found that before 1990, The Salvation Army had no policies or procedures which governed how to handle and respond to complaints of sexual abuse received in respect of its institutions.

However, the Royal Commission notes that at least from 1895, the Orders and Regulations for Soldiers of The Salvation Army (and its ancillary volumes), provide different bases for disciplinary action against an officer, soldier or employee of The Salvation Army for any physical or sexual abuse of a child within the care of The Salvation Army.

The Royal Commission concludes that in failing to take action against its staff and officers who were breaching Orders and Regulations prohibiting the mistreatment of children, TSAS provided a culture in the institutions in which staff and officers were able to continue their prohibited behaviour.

The Royal Commission heard that from 1995 through to 2014, TSAS had received a total of 418 claims and paid approximately $18 million to former residents of their institutions. The Royal Commission found that in the resolution of claims were instances in which TSAS relied on technical legal defences, statutes of limitations and vicarious liability principles.

TSAS has since reviewed settled claims, prioritising cases where claimants were not represented and cases where new factual material has come to light after a claim was settled.

The Royal Commission recommends that represented claimants who settled their claims at a time when TSAS relied on technical defences should be included in the review.

Read the full report.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

John O’Connor | Post News Staff

Another slew of bills are slated for the legislative floor today as senators begin session. At the top of the agenda is Bill 326-33, a measure that seeks to eliminate the statute of limitations for civil claims involving sexually abused children.

A series of public hearings on the bill saw testimony from alleged victims of Archbishop Anthony Apuron and other priests. Leo Tudela, the eldest of the accusers at 73 years old, alleged for the first time during his testimony in early August that he was sexually abused by Rev. Louis Brouillard in the 1950s.

Apuron’s accusers, on the other hand, each made public statements about their alleged abuse at different times. All four accusers, however, have filed a $2 million libel and slander lawsuit against Apuron and other officials of the Archdiocese of Agana.

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KANSAS
KSHB

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – The FBI is investigating a Kansas priest after the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas received a report that one of its priests had visited inappropriate internet websites depicting minors.

The Archdiocese said they notified the FBI immediately on September 9 and have suspended Father Chris Rossman of the Annunciation Church in Baldwin City and St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lapeer, Kansas.

The Archdiocese asks anyone who has knowledge of inappropriate conduct by any priest, deacon, employee or volunteer to please contact the confidential report line at (913) 647-3051 to make a report to Jan Saylor, Archdiocesan Report Investigator, or call law enforcement directly.

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KANSAS
KMBC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, said a priest has been suspended from ministry during an investigation that he had visited inappropriate websites, including those depicting minors.

Officials said they received a report about the Rev. Chris Rossman on Friday and notified the FBI immediately.

Rossman is the pastor at Annunciation Church in Baldwin City, Kansas, and St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lapeer, Kansas.

Officials said his suspension will depend on the outcome of investigations by law enforcement officials and the archdiocese. The archdiocese promised full cooperation with police and will make additional comments after the police investigation ends.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[A priest claimed he was in love with a 14-year-old girl so the judge aquitted him because, “It was love.”]

Don Marino, 55 anni all’epoca dei fatti, è il parroco di un paese in provincia di Campobasso. Per molto tempo ha intrattenuto una relazione sessuale con una ragazzina di 14 anni che era rimasta orfana. Secondo quanto denunciato, i rapporti tra i due sarebbero iniziati però quando la giovane di anni ne aveva 13. La vicenda, denunciata dai portali locali, è divenuta di rilievo nazionale grazie anche al portale Rete L’Abuso, gestito dall’associazione che raccoglie le vittime dei preti pedofili. La ragazzina cresce e la relazione si consolida, finché a 17 anni non cambia tutto e la giovane decide di ribellarsi: è ottobre di quattro anni fa.

Secondo la giovane, le violenze del parroco le avrebbero provocato disturbi psichici e fisici, oltre a causarle la caduta nel tunnel dell’anoressia. Denuncia tutto al vescovo, Monsignor Gianfranco De Luca, ancora oggi a capo della diocesi, che chiede spiegazioni a don Marino. Questi conferma la versione della ragazza e viene allontanato per questo dalla parrocchia. La ragazza a quel punto denuncia tutto alla Procura, ma non lo fa subito, fa passare qualche mese, spaventata forse dalle voci che potrebbero correre in paese.

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ITALIA
Palermo Today

Avrebbe chiesto ai ragazzini che frequentavano la parrocchia di aiutarlo a soddisfare i “desideri dello spirito”, mentre alle giovani conquiste fatte tramite internet avrebbe regalato ricariche telefoniche in cambio di fotografie delle loro parti intime. Sono alcuni dei retroscena – riportati dal Giornale di Sicilia – dell’arresto di Giusto Francesco Palazzotto, il novizio originario di Misilmeri accusato di tentato adescamento di minori, detenzione di materiale pedopornografico, violenza sessuale e tentati atti sessuali con minore.

Palazzotto, 46 anni, appartiene all’ordine dei Cusmaniani e stava facedo il suo percorso di fede nella chiesa del Cuore eucaristico di corso Calatafimi. Adesso è ai domiciliari e, interrogato dai magistrati, ha respinto ogni accusa. L’ordinanza di custodia cautelare è stata emessa dal gip su richiesta del pool coordinato dal procuratore aggiunto Salvatore De Luca.

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CANADA
Canadian Jewish News

By Janice Arnold, Staff Reporter

Twenty-one rabbis in Canada are among 300 Orthodox rabbis who have signed a strongly -worded warning of the necessity to respond in a forthright manner to sexual abuse of children in the Orthodox Jewish community.

Released in August, the proclamation was prompted by victims’ suicides “committed as a direct result of child sexual abuse,” as well as other physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual consequences.

Ignoring abuse allegations, shaming accusers and not bringing suspected incidents to the attention of secular authorities is immoral and contrary to Jewish law, they say.

The rabbis, who are mainly from the United States and Israel, acknowledge that perpetrators include family members, teachers, counsellors, youth leaders, professionals and rabbis.

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RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal Staff Writer

Posted Sep. 10, 2016

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. — An arbitration process with 30 victims in the St. George’s School sex-abuse scandal “will be wrapping up in the next few days,” and they will probably receive their undisclosed compensation “within the month,” according to Carmen L. Durso, one of their attorneys.

Meanwhile, five of the 31 other victims identified in an independent investigator’s report — released Sept. 1 — are talking with lawyers Durso and Eric MacLeish about possibly filing claims, MacLeish said.

Also, a nascent group of survivors and advocates are planning on pushing for comprehensive reforms, so that the future does not repeat the past, the lawyers say.

“We are not going to let this whole incident pass without advocating for real reforms in the future,” said MacLeish.

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AUSTRALIA
PerthNow

September 10, 2016

THE Press Council considered a complaint by Margaret Masters about two articles in The Sunday Times headed “Swan Homes hired killer” on 13 September 2015 and “Church calls cops over Swan Homes” on 20 September 2015. The articles were also published online by PerthNow with different headlines. The articles reported on allegations by former child residents of the Swan Homes orphanage of abuse by a former house master, Leonard Darcey, and Mrs Master’s father, children’s home director Angus Peterkin.

The Council’s Standards of Practice require publications to take reasonable steps to ensure factual material is accurate and not misleading and presented with reasonable fairness and balance (General Principles 1 and 3). If the material is significantly inaccurate or misleading or not reasonably fair and balanced, publications must take reasonable steps to provide adequate remedial action or an opportunity for a response to be published (General Principles 2 and 4). …

The publication said the articles were based on the recollections of seven former residents which included allegations of sexual and physical abuse by Mr Peterkin; that it reported the experiences of the two brothers on the basis of compelling and believable first-hand accounts and it also took into account the statement made by the Anglican Archdiocese of Perth confirming it had assessed four cases of abuse. The publication said that on considering the complaint from Mrs Masters it had changed the online article to refer to confirmation of complaints instead of confirmation of abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

As with any text, there are a number of different ways one might approach Vincent Panettiere’s new novel These Thy Gifts (Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2016). The plot certainly deserves attention. It’s frankly engrossing, spanning the history of American Catholicism from the post-World War II period to the present in a way that mimics the action of a camera scanning back and forth from period to period. The camera metaphor is not beside the point, since the novel itself makes frequent references to classic films and is self-consciously aware of the way in which it mimics theater and probes the thin (perhaps nonexistent) line between fact and fiction.

Another way to approach These Thy Gifts is as commentary on what has happened to American Catholicism as it emerged from its ethnic ghettoes with their family-centered parishes in mid-20th-century America and became the thing it is now — in much of the country, a suburban phenomenon with priests and bishops raised in families with little connection to the working-class struggles that gave the Catholicism of the past such strong sympathy for working people, and caused many Catholics to vote Democratic. Whereas today, the pastoral leaders of the church, raised in families without strong concern for those who labor and struggle, do everything but stand on their heads in many cases to assure us that real, honest-to-God Catholics vote Republican. . . .

These Thy Gifts focuses on the priestly life of an Italian-American priest ordained in the post-war period — Stefano (Steve) Trimboli, son of Sal, a taxi driver and committed union member, and Gloria, a dressmaker. It moves in a series of flashbacks from Father Trimboli’s discovery, after he has been made a monsignor, that a young priest sent by his bishop to his parish has sexually abused a boy in the parish who happens to have a personal connection to Trimboli himself. The flashbacks survey Trimboli’s entire clerical history, as he seeks to come to terms with the recognition that there are bad priests and bad bishops in a church in which he himself had genuinely sought to fulfill his vocation to serve the people of God.

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FRANCE
Atlantico

[Isabelle Gaulmyn, deputy editor of the Catholic daily La Croix, says in a new book that she alerted Cardinal Barbarin of the pedophile behavior of Father Bernard Preynat from 2004-2005 while the cardinal had said he was not notified until 2007.]

Isabelle de Gaulmyn, rédactrice en chef adjointe du quotidien catholique La Croix, dit dans un nouveau livre avoir alerté le cardinal Barbarin des comportements pédophiles du père Bernard Preynat dès 2004-2005, alors que le cardinal avait dit n’en avoir été averti qu’en 2007, à l’époque où les faits étaient prescrits. Dans La Croix, Philippe Barbarin avait déclaré avoir été alerté pour la première fois en 2007, par “une personne qui avait grandi à Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon”. Isabelle de Gaulmyn révèle qu’elle était cette personne.

“Lorsqu’il a avancé la date de 2007, cela m’a surprise, parce qu’à cette époque, j’étais à Rome, et on ne s’était jamais vus.

C’était donc impossible. J’ai ensuite recomposé les événements en fonction de ma propre présence à Lyon et je suis allée faire une déposition en ce sens auprès des enquêteurs, en mai. Immédiatement aussi, je me suis dit que je ne pouvais pas être la première personne à l’avoir averti, et effectivement ce n’est pas vrai”, dit-elle dans une interview à l’Obs. “Aujourd’hui, je ne peux pas m’empêcher de penser qu’en 2004-2005, la plupart de ces crimes n’étaient pas prescrits et que l’histoire aurait pu être tout autre…”, ajoute-t-elle.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, September 9, 2016,

ALBANY — The upstate investor who created a political action committee to advocate for child sex victims is backing candidates in 12 state primaries this coming Tuesday.

Gary Greenberg, who was sexually abused as a child, has used the Fighting for Children PAC he created earlier this year to help fund and support the different candidates who support the Child Victims Act that remains bottled up in the Legislature.

Greenberg has held three rallies across the state — including one in New York City Thursday for Marisol Alcantara and Carmen de LaRosa. Alcantara is involved in a four-way Democratic state Senate primary in upper Manhattan, while de LaRosa is challenging incumbent Democrat Assemblyman Guillermo Linares in the same area.

Greenberg was also supposed to hold a rally in Rochester Friday for Rachel Barnhart, who is challenging incumbent Democratic Assemblyman Harry Bronson. The Rochester rally, however, was cancelled after a local assemblyman committed suicide earlier in the day.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

WHEN the chairman of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Justice Peter McClellan, thanked the Newcastle Herald for its reporting of crimes against children, he was recognising the bravery of those whose determination to step forward has allowed the Herald to campaign as it has.

Although we like to believe that the truth will always find a way to emerge, and that good will eventually triumph over evil, history shows that this is not necessarily the case.

Not all perpetrators are caught. Not all bad deeds are punished. Not all victims or survivors are properly recompensed for the pain and suffering inflicted on them. But thanks to this Royal Commission, the spotlight has been shone like never before on the perpetrators of these heinous crimes, and, just as importantly, on those who have protected them.

It will be three years this week since the commission held its first public hearing. Although conducted in Sydney, it, too, related to events in the Hunter Region, examining the response of various agencies to a former head of the Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services, Stephen Larkin, who was prosecuted in 2012 for offences committed some 15 years earlier.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
9 Sep 2016.

THE Royal Commission’s hearings into the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic diocese have concluded, and its Newcastle Anglican hearings resume in Sydney on Wednesday, November 16.

After watching 16 of the commission’s 18 sitting days at Newcastle Court House (I had two days off to cover the ICAC Operation Spicer findings) it is clear to me that while the details of every act being examined were different – obviously enough – the underlying pattern was the same, no matter if the perpetrator was a priest or a brother, an Anglican or a Catholic.

These were men with gigantically over-inflated self-importance – thanks largely to the pedestal of “clericalism” – whose gross sexual perversions were either ignored or covered-up by bureaucracies whose instincts and actions made the reputations of themselves and their organisations the cornerstone of their responses (if any) when forced for whatever reason to account for themselves.

And while the commission heard its share of apologies from various high-ranking church figures during the Newcastle hearings, it seemed to me that at least some of the contrition was grudging, at best. A good example of this came two Fridays ago when the chairman of the commission, Justice Peter McClellan, put it to Bishop Bill Wright that there were some Catholics “who don’t really accept that the spotlight . . . should have shone on the church to the extent that it has”.

I doubt I was the only one expecting the bishop to say the spotlight was warranted. Instead, he said: “I myself, your honour, you know, wonder – it sometimes seems that so many of the case studies are delving into matters of 30 and 40 years ago and I kind of wonder where the more contemporary spotlight should be falling.”

He had “this awful misgiving that there’s an awful lot of stuff going on out there now and we spend so much time on decades ago”. Justice McClellan saw things differently: “Thank you for that, but we have been charged with, and the community wanted the church, your church, amongst others, to face up to what happened in the past in a public way.” It was, as they say, a telling exchange.

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ROME
Crux

Inés San MartínSeptember 10, 2016
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

ROME- When the clerical sexual abuse scandals first erupted in the English-speaking world, above all in the United States, many Catholic observers in other parts of the world, very much including the Vatican, dismissed the revelations as an “Anglo-Saxon” problem.

Eventually, however, awareness dawned that sexual abuse is actually a global scourge, which is a large part of the reason Pope Francis shortly after his election created a new “Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors” to advise him on reform.

Headed by Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, the commission was established in 2014 and now has 15 members: 7 women and 8 men, both religious and laypeople, all of them experts in their fields, inclduing child protection trainers, psychologists, lawyers, survivors and specialists in human rights.

Among those joining the commission was Doctor Gabriel Dy-Liacco from the Philippines, an adult and adolescent psychotherapist and pastoral counselor for individuals, couples, families and groups, including both victims and perpetrators of abuse. Trained at Maryland’s Loyola University and the St. Luke Institute, he currently lives in the Philippines with his wife and children.

Dy-Liacco was in Rome this week, participating in the commission’s general assembly.

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AUSTRALIA
Starts at 60

Michael Grogan

As most Australians would be aware the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse has been holding hearings in Newcastle, New South Wales gathering evidence into how the Anglican Church handled child sexual complaints.

I think in this day and age it is not unusual to find someone you know who was either a victim or a perpetrator.

I was not a victim but I certainly knew at least three perpetrators. One was a teacher when I was at school who has since met his just desserts, another a priest I was friends with as a teenager, now deceased and in recent times a work colleague.

At the Newcastle hearings evidence has been given from a number of victims covering a long span of time, we know this atrocity has been going on a long time before anyone really took seriously the claims of the victims.

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OHIO
Vindicator

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

In its ongoing efforts to ensure that children are safe in every Catholic facility, the Diocese of Youngstown will expand its already existing safe-environment program in three ways.

First, it will implement an internationally recognized and respected program called VIRTUS to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Second, it has appointed retired Detective Sgt. Delphine Baldwin-Casey of the Youngstown Police Department as victim-assistance coordinator.

And third, Monsignor John A. Zuraw, chancellor of the Diocese was appointed coordinator of the Safe Environment Program.

In choosing the VIRTUS program and making these appointments, Bishop George V. Murry said, “These efforts will further strengthen our public commitment to protect children and vulnerable adults from any immoral and illegal activities by church personnel. Nothing is more important than protecting those who are defenseless.”

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MISSOURI
KCUR

[with audio]

Around a year ago, Bishop James Johnston came to Kansas City to lead the Catholics of northwest Missouri at a challenging time. He came in with an agenda not of his choosing: to clean up the mess of the sexual abuse scandal that engulfed his predecessor. But he also has hopes and priorities of his own.

Bishop Johnston spoke with guest host Brian Ellison on KCUR’s Central Standard about what his job entails, and about his journey from electrical engineer to getting the call from the Vatican to come to Kansas City.

These interview highlights have been edited for length and clarity.

On his background

I grew up in east Tennessee, in Knoxville. I went to a Catholic grade school and high school, then I went to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (go Vols) and studied electrical engineering. It was there that I really began to look at my life.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

by MICHAEL RUBINKAM, The Associated Press

A nearly 40 percent increase in the number of reported cases of child abuse in Pennsylvania is straining the resources of county district attorneys’ offices, with one prosecutor saying her staff is overwhelmed by the rising workload.

Prosecutors say they support a 2014 legislative overhaul of the state’s child abuse law, which, among other things, expanded the definition of child abuse and made more adults legally responsible for reporting suspected cases of it. But they’re having trouble keeping up with the resulting surge in abuse claims.

In Centre County, investigators handled more than twice as many abuse claims in 2015 as the year before.

“We’ve become absolutely crushed by the increase in numbers,” District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said.

Pennsylvania lawmakers approved about two dozen measures in response to the child sexual abuse scandal involving former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Advocates say the overhaul was badly needed to help Pennsylvania improve its response to child victims.

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GEORGIA
News4Jax

By Elizabeth Campbell – Reporter
September 09, 2016

BRUNSWICK, Ga. – A Glynn County magistrate judge on Friday found probable cause to order Pastor Ken Adkins to stand trial in Superior Court on two counts of child molestation.

Adkins, 56, pastor of the Greater Dimensions Christian Fellowship, has drawn fire in the past for his remarks about homosexuals.

A young man who used to be a member of Adkins’ church told the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that Adkins molested him in 2010, when the boy was under the age of 16.

In court, prosecutors showed two pictures of Adkins’ private parts that were allegedly emailed from his phone to the boy. Adkins’ lawyer said that since the defendant had multiple businesses, he could have had more than one phone and others could have had access to them. He also said the timing doesn’t add up, as the pictures were sent in November 2014 to prove something that happened in 2010.

Adkins shook his head as GBI Agent James Feller testified that the alleged victim, who they are calling AJ, said his relationship with Adkins started when he was 15. The boy told authorities that he met Adkins through a mutual friend. After he joined Adkins’ church and entered a mentoring program, That’s when a sexual relationship with Adkins began, he told the GBI.

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WISCONSIN
Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay

GREEN BAY, Wis. (September 9, 2016) — Bishop David L. Ricken received notification from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) at the Vatican that Michael Carroll has been found guilty of sexual abuse of minors and is permanently restricted from priestly duties and ordered to live a life of prayer and penance.

A life of prayer and penance, as defined by The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, states Carroll is no longer permitted to celebrate Mass publicly or to administer the sacraments. Furthermore, he is no longer able to wear clerical attire, or to present himself publicly as a priest.

Restrictions in Force Since 2002

Allegations first came to light in 2002, at which time Carroll was temporarily restricted from the exercise of public priestly ministry. The temporary restrictions have been in force since that time. Following diocesan policy, civil authorities were notified of the allegations against Carroll, which he categorically denied.

Following a determination by then Bishop David A. Zubik, that there was credible evidence supporting the allegations, the Diocese of Green Bay began the canonical penal process. This resulted in a trial utilizing three canon lawyers/judges from outside the diocese who ruled that Carroll was guilty and forwarded their findings to the CDF. At this point, Carroll’s canon lawyer filed an appeal with the CDF. A second trial was then ordered by the CDF and facilitated by the Archdiocese of Detroit. The second trial also returned a guilty verdict.

Bishop Ricken expressed his personal regret for the pain and suffering of all those abused by Carroll and for the long canonical process. We ask for prayers for all victim/survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

Diocesan Policies Rigorously Enforced

Diocesan policies for keeping children safe are and will continue to be rigorous. The policies include:

* Mandated background checks and abuse prevention training of all staff and volunteers in our parishes, schools and diocesan offices (approximately 36,000 people).

* Barring from ministry any clergy who have a credible allegation of abuse of a minor against them.

* Mandatory reporting of all credible allegations of abuse to local law enforcement authorities. This has ensured that due process within our legal system takes place. Year after year, the Diocese has demonstrated its compliance with its policies, with national standards, and adherence to state law.

* More information is available on the diocese’s website (www.gbdioc.org) under the section titled “Protecting Our Children.”

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WISCONSIN
NBC 26

GB Diocese priest stripped of duties – Former Green Bay Diocese Priest Michael Carroll has been stripped of his duties following being found guilty of sexual abuse of minors.

Carroll has been permanently restricted from priestly duties by the Vatican and can no longer administer sacraments, wear clerical attire or present himself publicly as a priest.

The allegations against Carroll first surfaced in 2002 when he was the priest for a Wittenberg church. He was temporarily restricted from the exercise of public priestly ministry, then found guilty in a Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, a church version of court. That board ordered Carroll to be removed from his duties.

In a statement from the Green Bay Diocese, Bishop David expressed his personal regret for the pain an suffering of all those abused by Carroll and for the long Canonical process.

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BY GABRIELLE MAYS, FOX 11 NEWS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH 2016

GREEN BAY (WLUK) — Prayer and penance, that’s the life a former priest, found guilty of assaulting children, has been ordered to live.

The order came from the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) at the Vatican.

Allegations against 72-year-old [MIchael] Carroll came in 2002, according to the Diocese of Green Bay. The four allegations date back to the late ’70’s and early ’80’s, according to the diocese.

Since then, the diocese says Carroll was temporarily restricted from the exercise of public priestly ministry.

The former priest presided over three parishes, St. Mary in Marion for eight years, St. Anthony, in Tigerton and Holy Family-St. William in Wittenberg.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 08, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Attorneys representing the Archdiocese of Agana and Archbishop Anthony Apuron have until Monday to file responses in a $2 million libel and slander lawsuit filed against them. The plaintiffs listed are Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton, Roland Sondia, and Doris Concepcion on behalf of her son, the late Joseph “Sonny” Quinata.

Each of the plaintiffs alleges Apuron molested them decades ago while he was a priest at Mount Carmel parish in Agat. The suit follows press release and video statements from the archdiocese and Apuron, which defended Apuron’s innocence and called his accusers liars who were out to destroy the church.

The only filings to date were made on behalf of the church which requests that off-island attorneys from San Francisco firm Swanson & McNamara assist in the case alongside local attorney Jeffrey Cook.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Joanne McCarthy

“During the service, all I could think about was running to my mate’s parents’ place and grabbing the biggest two knives he had and killing Father Ryan. I didn’t do it. I should have.

“The damage that bastard’s done to my life, my family, my friends and to everybody else. I feel guilty that I didn’t do it and he went on to abuse other boys,” Gerard McDonald told the royal commission this week.

Four years after the Hunter region campaigned for a royal commission following the suicide of child sex abuse victim John Pirona, public hearings have taken place on how the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic diocese responded to child sexual abuse allegations about a notorious paedophile priest and three Hunter Marist brothers.

McDonald was giving evidence about Vince Ryan, who was convicted in 1995 for offences against more than 30 young boys. Pirona was one of his victims, and his death in July 2012 – and suicide note with the final words “Too much pain” – became the final straw for the Hunter community.

In Newcastle Courthouse this week, two of Ryan’s victims, Scott Hallett and McDonald, gave shocking evidence of Ryan giving them wine as nine-year-old altar boys and urging them to have anal sex with each other in front of other boys, and of the priest having oral sex with the boys.

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ESPANA
Diario de Mallorca

[The Menorcan Sebastia Taltavull succeeds Bishop Salinas who was ousted for misconduct.]

08.09.2016

Mateu Ferrer Palma

El menorquín Sebastià Taltavull, obispo auxiliar de Barcelona, liderará provisionalmente la Iglesia de Mallorca tras fulminar el Vaticano a Javier Salinas por la conducta mantenida con su secretaria particular. Taltavull dirigirá la diócesis mallorquina hasta que el Papa nombre al sustituto definitivo del obispo defenestrado. Tras un tiempo prudencial para que Taltavull analice la situación eclesiástica local, y transmita los correspondientes informes, él mismo tiene muchas opciones de ser el elegido.

Se da por hecho que monseñor Salinas se irá de número tres del cardenal Antonio Cañizares en Valencia, como su tercer obispo auxiliar. Una rebaja de categoría que confirmaría el malestar de Roma por el daño generado con el virulento enfrentamiento de Salinas y el marido de la secretaria, Mariano de España. Las acusaciones de romper su matrimonio católico han pasado factura al prelado. La confirmación de su nuevo destino no se conocerá hasta que la Santa Sede lo divulgue oficialmente, esta misma semana.

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ESPANA
Agencia Baleria

La Nunciatura Apostòlica a Espanya comunica a la Conferència Episcopal Espanyola (CEE) que a les 12 h d’avui, dijous 8 de setembre, la Santa Seu ha fet públic que el Papa Francesc ha acceptat la renúncia presentada per Mons. Javier Salinas Viñals al govern pastoral de la Diòcesi de Mallorca i l’ha nomenat bisbe auxiliar de València, assignant-li la seu titular de Monterano, Forum Clodii.

A la vegada, el Papa Francesc ha nomenat Mons. Sebastià Taltavull Anglada, actualment Bisbe Auxiliar de Barcelona, Administrador Apostòlic de la Diòcesi de Mallorca.

Mons. Javier Salinas i Vinyals
Mons. Javier Salinas va néixer a València el 23 de gener de 1948. Va cursar estudis eclesiàstics al Seminari valencià, rebent l’ordenació sacerdotal el 23 de juny de 1974. És Doctor en Catequesi per la Pontifícia Universitat Salesiana de Roma (1979-1982). El seu ministeri sacerdotal el va desenvolupar en l’Arxidiòcesi de València. El seu primer destí va ser la Parròquia de Sant Jaume, a Montcada, de la qual va ser Coadjutor de 1974 a 1976. Aquest últim any va ser nomenat formador del Seminari Menor de València, càrrec que va exercir fins a 1977, quan va ser nomenat, per un any, Consiliari diocesà del Moviment Júnior d’Acció Catòlica.

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ESPANA
El Pais

[CARTA DE S.E. MONS. JAVIER SALINAS VIÑALS ALS DIOCESANS DE MALLORCA]

[The Vatican has removed the bishop of Mallorca after an alleged affair but Javier Salinas will be transferred to Valencia after the controversy of an “improper relationship”. He is alleged to have had an affair with his secretary. The situation become known after the woman’s husband became suspicious.]

LUCÍA BOHÓRQUEZ
Palma de Mallorca 8 SEP 2016

El Vaticano ha apartado al obispo de Mallorca Javier Salinas tras develarse que supuestamente mantenía una relación sentimental con su secretaria. El papa Francisco ha ordenado su traslado a Valencia como auxiliar y ha nombrado como sustituto temporal al auxiliar de Barcelona, el mallorquín Sebastiá Tartavull.

En diciembre de 2015, el Diario de Mallorca reveló una serie de informaciones que señalaban que Salinas había mantenido una “relación impropia” con su secretaria. Según el diario, el esposo de la colaboradora del obispo comenzó a sospechar de la relación estrecha que ambos mantenían, debido al gran número de horas que ella pasaba en el Palacio Episcopal y la cantidad de actos a los que acudían.

El marido contrató a un detective privado para seguir los pasos del obispo y su secretaria, y documentó sus movimientos con numerosas fotografías que desvelaban que ambos pasaban muchas horas juntos y que el prelado incluso recibía a su colaboradora de noche en el Palacio Episcopal. El esposo también recogió el cruce de llamadas de teléfono entre ambos y descubrió que su mujer llevaba un anillo con las iniciales del obispo. Entonces decidió enviar el expediente al Vaticano para denunciar una “relación impropia” del prelado con su colaboradora.

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UNITED STATES
City of Angels

Kay Ebeling

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

With pedophile priests, Twin Towers, and war crimes, USA is now The Falling Man
*
“There was something going on that was not familiar American territory about dealing with tragedy. There were things about that day that you weren’t supposed to say, you weren’t supposed to see.” – Tom Junot, The Falling Man

I’ve seen the mentality to which Junot refers in the pedophile priest crisis, and as a result we get news like this:

Cardinal Vincent Nichols wants to ban employers asking about criminal records – Tue 06 Sep 2016 By Antony Bushfield – The leader of Catholics in England and Wales says employers should not be allowed to ask about a person’s criminal record on a job application form. Normally applications require a declaration of any past dealings with police but Cardinal Vincent Nichols said people should not be compelled to disclose their conviction. Speaking at the Conference of Prison Chaplains, he said stopping the practice would allow convicts to “put their past in context and show who they really are. It is hard to envisage the crushing disappointment of someone who has worked hard to move away from crime and learn new skills, only to be rejected for job after job and never even given the opportunity to explain how he or she has changed since being convicted years before. (Read the entire story here at Premier UK.)

The British Cardinal delivers a wonderful well-timed, compassionate argument but-

Did any reporter ask the Cardinal if pedophile priests are included in his advocacy for recovering criminals?

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ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe Daily

Friday 9th September 2016

A ROMAN Catholic priest from Bulawayo has allegedly impregnated a nun, leading to her banishment.

The Archbishop of Bulawayo, Alex Thomas, confirmed that Father Kevin Mthunzi Takaendesa had been disciplined for the offence.

He, however, dismissed reports that Father Takaendesa fled to England after impregnating the nun.

“Father Kevin was disciplined for impregnating a nun and I have it in writing but he went to England on holiday which was planned at the beginning of the year. As you know that it’s not easy to walk to England,” said Archbishop Thomas.

He declined to reveal details of the disciplinary measures, saying it was a private and confidential matter.

“Disciplinary procedures are there in every field and as a church we’ve a Code of Canon Law which lays down administrative policies. If there is any misconduct we use it to discipline members.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
8 Sep 2016

THE Marist Brothers have formally apologised to the family of Andrew Nash, whose suicide in 1974 at the age of 13 has been one of the prime symbols of the pain and suffering caused by child sexual abuse, examined at the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic hearing of the Royal Commission.

In an emotional seventh and final day of the Catholic case study, the head of the Marist Brothers in Australia, Brother Peter Carroll, acknowledged that three of its predatory brothers – Dominic, Patrick and Romuald – had many more victims than the dozens who had come forward so far.

At the close of proceedings, the commission’s chairman, Justice Peter McClellan, said it was appropriate to acknowledge that the investigation was “founded upon the suffering of a great many people across many institutions throughout Australian society”.

Paying tribute to Gold Walkey-winning journalist Joanne McCarthy, Justice McClellan said it was important for the commission to come to Newcastle, where the suffering of “so many” was “first recognised by journalists and brought forward by the Newcastle Herald.

“Without those efforts it is unlikely that this Royal Commission would have taken place,” Justice McClellan said.

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ISRAEL
The Guardian

Giles Fraser

The Legion of Christ was founded in Mexico in 1941 by the Vatican’s favourite fundraiser, Father Marcial Maciel. A friend of Pope John Paul II, in his time he made millions of dollars for the Roman Catholic church and recruited thousands of young men into the priesthood. He was feted by wealthy Mexican widows and the neocon right. But that was before he was outed as a serial abuser of children and young men and discovered to have fathered at least three children with two women, whom he kept in luxury apartments in different countries. He embezzled funds. He was a drug addict. He was even accused of abusing his own children. As he was considered too old for a trial, the Vatican quietly retired him to Florida in 2006. He died two years later. But the order he founded struggled on, under new leadership.

The year after Maciel died, a digger on a construction site in the Galilee region hit something solid in the ground. The Legion of Christ had bought the site for $16m in order to build a hotel and retreat centre on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee – a freshwater paradise of fish and fruit blighted by occasional earthquakes and a long history of terrible politics. Jesus was born and died in the Jerusalem area. But the location for most of his adult ministry was Capernaum in Galilee, just up the road from the construction site. For Christian pilgrims, this tiny area has long been the perfect location for a “Jesus experience”.

But when experts from the Israeli Antiquities Authority arrived, what they found was the first-century town of Magdala, complete with an extremely rare first-century synagogue. Destroyed by the Romans after the Jewish rebellion some time around AD67, the Magdala synagogue (unlike that in Capernaum) was not overbuilt and so provides a fascinating portal to the world in which Jesus lived and taught. Arfan Najar, the Muslim archeologist who made the original find, showed me around.

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RHODE ISLAND
Boston.com

By MICHELLE R. SMITH AP, updated on September 8, 2016

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Two victims of sexual abuse at the elite Rhode Island boarding school St. George’s have filed complaints with state licensing officials about the school’s former psychologist.

They tell The Associated Press that Peter Kosseff did not do enough to address and prevent abuse during his 35 years at the school, and they want his license revoked.

Kosseff, who still practices and has offices in South Kingstown and Newport, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The first complaint was filed in December and the other soon after, the two women told the AP. Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the Department of Health, which oversees such licenses, said such complaints are confidential and he could not confirm them. The department said Kosseff’s license was last renewed in May.

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NEW YORK
The United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York

Goal of the Alleged Scheme Was to Obtain a Religious Divorce for the Victim’s Wife

Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and William J. Bratton, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the filing of a federal criminal complaint charging SHIMEN LIEBOWITZ and AHARON GOLDBERG with conspiring to kidnap and murder an individual in order to obtain a religious divorce for that individual’s wife. LIEBOWITZ and GOLDBERG were arrested yesterday in Central Valley, New York, while meeting to plan the kidnapping and murder. They will be presented later today before Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman in federal court in Manhattan.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The defendants are charged with a chilling plot to kidnap and murder the intended victim. Over a period of months, the Complaint alleges, they met repeatedly to plan the kidnapping and to pay more than $55,000 to an individual they believed would carry it out. Thanks to the exemplary work of our partners at the FBI and NYPD, Liebowitz and Goldberg are now in custody.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “As if the plan to kidnap the victim and force him to divorce his wife in this alleged conspiracy wasn’t bad enough, the plotters allegedly decided halfway through the arrangement to go a step further and add murder to the list of their planned crimes. Our country protects freedom of religious beliefs and practices, but no one is allowed to plot a kidnapping and murder regardless of their motivation.”

According to the allegations in the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]

According to Jewish religious law as observed in certain communities, in order to effect a divorce, a husband must provide his wife with a document known as a “get.” A woman whose husband will not consent to a divorce is known as an “agunah.” In the absence of the husband’s issuing a get, an agunah may be released from her marriage only through the husband’s death.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

JOEL KELLY, AAP
September 8, 2016

A WA Catholic schoolteacher has been charged with sexually abusing two female students.

The Maylands man, 47, indecently assaulted two female students aged 13 to 14 between January 2014 and July 2015 when he was a teacher at a Catholic college, police say.

He has been charged with five counts of indecent dealing with a child over 13 and under 16 and is due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Friday.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A West Australian teacher has been charged with child sex offences after allegedly indecently assaulting two female students at a Perth Catholic college.

The Maylands man, 47, is alleged to have indecently assaulted two female students at the school between January 2014 and July 2015.

Police said the girls were aged 13 to 14 years of age at the time of the alleged offences.

The man has been charged with five counts of indecent dealing of a child over 13 years and under 16 years.

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ROME
Chiesa

Dozens of executives and officials have been left jobless by the suppression of their offices. Including some bishops and one cardinal

by Sandro Magister

ROME, September 9, 2016 – It made news this summer when two new dicasteries consolidated no fewer than six previous curial offices.

The first consolidation unified as of September 1 in a new “dicastery for laity, family, and life” the functions carried out until then by the pontifical council for the laity and by the pontifical council for the family, plus reinforced supervision of the pontifical academy for life and of the pontifical John Paul II institute for studies on marriage and family.

The second consolidation will unify effective next January 1 in a new “dicastery for the service of comprehensive human development” the functions of the pontifical council for justice and peace, of the pontifical council “Cor Unum,” of the pontifical council for the pastoral care of migrants and itinerants, of the pontifical council for the pastoral care of health care workers.

To preside over the new dicastery, Pope Francis has called from the United States the bishop of Dallas, Irish by birth, Kevin J. Farrell.

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