ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service
1.11.2017

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The leadership of the Order of Malta denied the legality of a Vatican investigation into the forced resignation of the group’s former grand chancellor, but the commission established by Pope Francis said it “is completely legitimate and authorized” to investigate the matter and inform the pope.

According to one of the legal notes prepared for the commission, the pope’s right to be informed of the circumstances surrounding the removal of Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager relates “to the authority he exercises directly and immediately over all baptized faithful, whether lay or clerical.”

“This is not about interfering in the internal affairs of the order because the purpose of the commission, as is evident, is to give an account to the Holy Father on the procedures (used to remove von Boeselager) and nothing else,” said the note, which was dated Jan. 11 and shown to Catholic News Service.

The Grand Magistry of the order had released a statement Jan. 10 stating its refusal to cooperate with the Vatican commission, citing what it termed the “legal irrelevance” of the commission and claiming that the members were “appointed by the Secretary of State of the Vatican.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Hackey Citizen

Josh Loeb

A leading rabbi has said he feels confident there is no child safeguarding scandal “waiting to break out” in the Hasidic Jewish community after the council’s frustration at a lack of regulatory oversight of unregistered schools in Stamford Hill was revealed at a heated public meeting.

Rabbi Avrohom Pinter described as “hysteria” suggestions there might be a “Rotherham-type” situation involving sex abuse in the notoriously insular community but said an arrangement had to be agreed to allow the authorities to assure themselves that all children were safe.

There are believed to be more than 30 unregistered schools currently operating illegally in Hackney, and the council has concerns about large numbers of children from strictly orthodox Jewish families “going missing” from the school system in their early teens.

Because they have been effectively stonewalled by those running these unregistered schools, safeguarding chiefs can not be sure all precautions are being taken to guard against the risk of the sexual abuse of children. Though this could happen in any setting, they said the risk was higher in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community purely by virtue of the lack of official oversight.

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GUAM
KUAM

Jan 11, 2017

By Krystal Paco

The Concerned Catholics of Guam has serious concerns with a recent decision by Archbishop Michael Byrnes to send Father Adrian Cristobal to Canada to study canon law. In a letter to the Archdiocesan Presbyteral Council, CCOG president David Sablan said Father Cristobal should be disciplined rather than rewarded.

“Are we going to be paying for his monthly stipends while he’s off at school? Are we going to be paying for his tuition and his room and board? You know, this is a real slap in the face to the people,” Sablan said, “after we have exposed that this particular priest is one of the main causes of the division here in the church.”

Sablan questioned whether the assignment was meant to serve the archdiocese, or instead stash Father Cristobal at a distant seminary. Father Cristobal was involved in allegations made against both Father Paul Gofigan and Monsignor James Benavente.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Education secretary John Swinney should reveal whether adults who suffered child abuse are to be compensated, opponents have said, following a shocking report on the experiences of children in the Scottish care system.

The report by the National Confidential Forum for victims of child abuse (NCF) revealed claims that children had been subjected tor regimes of torture and ritual humiliation in a variety of settings such as children’s homes, secure units and residential schools over the past eight decades.

Some of the accounts given by those who came forward to speak to the NCF spoke of treatment such as waterboarding and sleep deprivation.

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AUSTRALIA
Forward

A version of this piece originally appeared in Plus61J.

How does a twelve-year-old survive when he has been the victim of child sexual abuse and compounding abuses perpetrated by leaders of the community entrusted with his care? How does he grow up to become a Jewish community leader and one of Australia’s best known advocates and crusaders against child sexual abuse in both the Jewish and wider communities, nationally and internationally? How has he healed himself and helped others firmly to propel themselves onto paths of healing?

Survivor Manny Waks describes his many achievements to date in this memoir co-authored with Michael Visontay.

Born in 1976, Waks, the second of 17 children, was raised in Melbourne’s Chabad community, an ultra-Orthodox sect of Judaism that ruled his life. He lived across the road from the Yeshivah Centre, which includes the Yeshivah College. At home, discipline was harsh.

All problems, major and minor, were brought to the rabbi, who dictated solutions. Absolute obedience was demanded of both children and adults and weapons of choice in enforcing it, as evidenced by treatment later meted out to Waks and other victims of child sexual abuse and their families, were shame, ridicule, ostracism, nasty gossip and outright slander.

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JAMAICA
Loop

As news continues to emerge about the extra-marital sexual activities of Moravian Pastor Rupert Clarke with young girls, members of the Maidstone community in Manchester are crying shame on him.

“Him disgrace Maidstone,” one young woman told Loop News, as she and a group of people discussed the scandal in the town square, just a stone’s throw away from the Nazareth Moravian Church where Clarke pastored.

Clarke has been suspended from pastoral duties since being arrested and charged in December 2016 after he was caught in his car in St Elizabeth allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl. He had been a pastor at the church in this deep rural community for just over two years.

News has surfaced this week that an older sister of the minor was impregnated by the pastor. Her son with the pastor is said to be about 4 years old.

Other young women have come out with allegations of sexual relations with the pastor whose marriage to his wife, a principal of a college in Manchester, has seen more years than they have.

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CANADA
Vancouver Sun

TRACY SHERLOCK

The lone Aboriginal member of a committee struck to create a sexual assault policy for the University of B.C. has resigned over the reinstatement of John Furlong as the keynote speaker at an athletics fundraising event.

Daniel Justice, the First Nations and Indigenous Studies chair and professor at UBC, said in his resignation letter that the decision to reinstate Furlong undermines the work he and the university are doing to build relationships with Indigenous people.

“There were many responsible and compassionate ways this matter might have been handled that would not have once again silenced or erased the abuse allegations of dozens of people from the Lake Babine First Nation — some of whom I understand have contacted your office and have received no response — but the result of UBC press releases has been to do precisely that,” Justice said in his resignation letter to UBC president Santa Ono. “(A)fter consultation with members of my community and significant reflection, my priority must be to support under-represented Indigenous voices on these matters, and I believe that a viable and legitimate survivor-centred approach to sexual assault cannot stand with integrity alongside this deeply troubling action. At least not for me.”

UBC issued a short statement in response to Justice’s resignation.

“We respect Dr. Justice’s decision to resign from the committee and we thank him for his hard work on the committee,” UBC said in a statement.

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CANADA
Times Colonist

THE CANADIAN PRESS

JANUARY 11, 2017

VANCOUVER – The only indigenous professor on a committee working on a new sexual assault policy at the University of British Columbia has resigned from the group after the school brought back John Furlong to speak at an upcoming fundraiser.

Daniel Heath Justice said in a letter to university president Santa Ono that the decision “silenced and erased” allegations that Furlong physically abused First Nations students while teaching at a Catholic school in Burns Lake, B.C., in 1969 and 1970.

Justice, chair of First Nations and indigenous studies, said he could not continue to serve on the committee because Ono’s reversal has undermined the credibility of the process.

“I believe that a viable and legitimate survivor-centred approach to sexual assault cannot stand with integrity alongside this deeply troubling decision,” Justice said in the letter posted on Twitter.

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JAMAICA
Loop

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Paula Llewellyn, has indicated that she will be seeking to have the sex case involving a pastor of the Moravian Church transferred from St Elizabeth to Kingston, to ensure fairness to all the parties involved.

There has been intense media spotlight on 64-year-old Rupert Clarke’s arrest and prosecution for allegedly having sex with a minor, and Llewellyn said there is concern about whether this could prejudice the case, which will be tried by a jury.

As a result, her office is to apply to have the case transferred to Kingston in March, when the St Elizabeth Circuit Court opens.

It has been noted that a defence attorney could use arguments on the question of prejudice to have a case dismissed.

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JAMAICA
The Star

SHANICE WATSON
January 11, 2017

An elderly churchgoer has earned the ire of many after she was captured on video after church on Sunday defending her embattled pastor, Rupert Clarke, who is facing rape churches and is implicated in a number of other sexual misconducts.

“Dem deh smaddy a condemn Pastor. Worser than him still inna the world. Why dem dress up inna dem deh sexual abuse something? Weh di backside dem a go? Why dem no dress inna nice clothes? Dem a condemn minister and worser than fi him disgrace deh bout ya!” the senior citizen quarrelled.

Her statements were directed at a group of 14 women who staged a peaceful protest at the Nazareth Moravian Church in Manchester, where Clarke is a pastor.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

Hampton High School Principal Heather Murray is being sent on two weeks leave as of January 16 for her actions outside the St Elizabeth Parish Court last week, where she attended the arraignment for Moravian minister Rupert Clarke, who has been charged with rape and carnal abuse of a 15-year-old girl from the parish.

Education Minister Senator Ruel Reid made the announcement in a news release issued last night. The decision was taken at a meeting called by Reid and attended by senior education ministry officers, Murray, members of the Hampton Board and the Munro and Dickenson Trust yesterday.

Reid said given the way Murray’s actions had been interpreted, and the controversy having affected her administrative responsibilities, the time off was necessary “for reflection and completion of her report to the board and the trustees”.

Stemming from the meeting, Murray also issued a statement apologising for her behaviour.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

The embattled principal of the St Elizabeth-based Hampton School Heather Murray has been sent on two weeks leave.

The Education Ministry says Murray is also expected to go for professional counselling services given what was described as her recent emotional stress.

At the same time, the school board has been given until January 30 to submit a full report to the Education Ministry on Murray’s action outside the St Elizabeth Parish Court last week Wednesday, January 4.

Television footage showed Murray attempting to block the media from taking images of Rupert Clarke, the 64-year-old pastor of the Nazareth Moravian Church charged with having sex with a minor.

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CANADA
CBC News

Victim alleges he was paid a settlement in 1993

By Caroline Barghout, CBC News Posted: Jan 12, 2017

It is a secret he’s kept for 28 years. Now Joe is ready to talk about the sexual abuse he said he endured at the hand of a Winnipeg priest.

It was October 1988 when Joe first met Father Omer Desjardins. He was working as the night caregiver at Credo Home, a Winnipeg group home run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a Roman Catholic religious community of priests and brothers commonly referred to as the Oblates.

Joe had just turned 15 and didn’t want to live with his mother and her boyfriend. He became a ward of Child and Family Services and was placed in the group home.

“We didn’t really talk to him much cause he didn’t show up for work until 9 or 9:30 p.m., somewhere around there and bedtime for us was 10:30 p.m. on school nights,” said Joe, 43, who does not want his last name used.

But within a few weeks Joe said Desjardins started coming into his room to talk.

“It was pretty normal stuff,” Joe said. “Within a couple weeks, he was coming into the bedroom every night. It started off he’d be rubbing your back. Eventually his hands would slowly start to move.”

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CANADA
rdNewsNow

By Leanne Murray

It was standing room only in a Red Deer courtroom Wednesday afternoon as a local pastor learned his fate after being convicted of sexual assault.

Stanley Richard Schalk, 58, was found guilty of the offence this past September following a trial in front of Provincial Court Judge Darrell Riemer.

In his verbal ruling, Riemer said Schalk took the victim, who was 42 at the time and whose name is protected under a court-ordered publication ban, to an acreage near Delburne on the afternoon of June 15, 2015. Riemer said the two were seated next to each other on a blanket on the ground when Schalk grabbed the woman’s breast without her consent.

Riemer said this left the victim angry and upset and referenced an incident about a week prior to the occurrence near Delburne where Schalk hugged the victim and grabbed her behind. Riemer said the woman told Schalk not to do that again and so he was “put on notice that that kind of conduct would not be consented to.”

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JAMAICA
Loop

The Principal of Hampton School in St Elizabeth, Heather Murray, has issued a broad apology to the nation for her actions at the bail hearing of Moravian pastor Rupert Clarke last Wednesday.

Clarke appeared before the St Elizabeth Parish Court on a charge of having sex with a minor.

In her statement dated January 10, but released on Wednesday, Murray said she got caught up in the emotional trauma of the embarrassment and pain which the wife of the accused man, who is her lifelong friend, was experiencing as a result of the development, and in that circumstance, failed to realise that her presence at or near the courthouse could be interpreted as taking the side of her friend’s husband, with no regard for the alleged victim.

She also apologised for having taken steps which amounted to interference with the work of the media in their bid to cover the bail hearing.

Below is the full text of Mrs. Murray’s apology:

“The past few days have been among the most difficult periods of my life.

“I attended the in-camera arraignment of Rupert Clarke at the special request of Mrs Yvonne Clarke, my sister and friend, who relied on me for total support during a period of intense physical and emotional distress.

“This state of personal turmoil rendered her incapable of being present at the Black River Courthouse while the Resident Magistrate was considering an application for bail.

“On a personal level, I had become so immersed in the emotional trauma of the hurt and embarrassment which the wife of the accused was experiencing, that I failed to realise that my presence in the precincts of the Court could possibly be misconstrued as taking the side of her husband, rather than the (alleged) victim.

“In my sisterly embrace and response of loyalty to her, I failed to take into account that my being there could expose my office or the institution I head to any hint of controversy or cloud of misunderstanding.

“At the start of the new school term yesterday (Monday) morning, I apologised to my ladies (students), who greeted me with love and understanding. Now that I have also apologised to the Munro and Dickenson Trust, as well as the Hampton School Board, I hereby offer a fulsome apology to the education community and Jamaica for my presence and actions in Black River, which have been misinterpreted as support for the individual accused of rape and molestation of a 15-year-old girl.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

Thursday | January 12, 2017

Edmond Campbell

The hotline to make reports of incidents of child abuse will now be working 24 hours a day, eight hours more than the previous 16 hours it operated. This move by the Government comes in the wake of increased reports of child abuse.

The Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR) currently operates the 1-888-PROTECT hotline from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. When reports are made to the OCR, the agency establishes a case number then refers the matter to one of several departments, including the Child Development Agency, the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA), and the Children’s Advocate.

Speaking yesterday at the post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, Minister of Education and Information Ruel Reid said that funding for the hotline has been increased.

In recent times, there has been intense public debate about issues of child abuse in the wake of the alleged sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl by a 64-year-old Moravian pastor, who has since been charged with having sex with a minor.

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GEORGIA
Golden Isles News

By WES WOLFE wwolfe@goldenisles.news

It shouldn’t be surprising that it’s taking a while to receive a judgment on the Rev. Kenneth Adkins’ second bond hearing, as defense attorney Kevin Gough entered into evidence 30-40 hours of jailhouse phone calls by the pastor facing multiple child sexual abuse counts.

Gough said the phone calls, in their entirety, help show that the prosecution’s contentions are unfounded that his client might leave town if released. Gough said the calls show instead that the court should grant Adkins a bond so he can leave jail on pretrial release to go about addressing personal issues, not the least of which is his own health.

Gough said prosecutors entering excerpts of phone calls into evidence and then playing them in open court during the first bond hearing, without advising him beforehand, placed the defense at an unfair disadvantage.

Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett ordered Gough and prosecutors to have briefs stating their arguments and noting relevant excerpts in the recordings to back those arguments, with the deadline of Dec. 23.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

BY ALPHEA SAUNDERS Observer staff reporter saundersa@jamaicaobserver.com

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Education Minister Senator Ruel Reid has called on Jamaicans to be cautious in their public utterances about the rape and carnal abuse case involving 64-year-old Moravian pastor Rupert Clarke and a 15-year-old St Elizabeth girl.

Addressing a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House yesterday, Reid said that the Government was urging all Jamaicans, especially those in the community where the minor lives “to treat the family with sensitivity and due regard to their well-being”.

The minister pointed out that, according to a report from the Child Development Agency (CDA) on its investigations, the family has been ostracised by the community. “The CDA investigations also show that there is general indifference towards the victim and her family. The family claims they are being blamed for bringing the accused into disrepute… and disclose that they feel very uncomfortable in their home environment. They also spoke of numerous rumours that are circulating which have placed them in a negative light,” he stated.

Reid said that a CDA safety evaluation has found that the 15-year-old and a younger sister are at a high risk of harm, especially emotional trauma, due to the sexual nature of the alleged abuse, and pointed out that this is aggravated by the fact that the incident continues to dominate the media and public discussion. He confirmed that both girls have been taken into State care.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

Hampton School Principal Heather Murray, who has found herself embroiled in the controversy surrounding rape and carnal abuse charges brought against Moravian minister of religion Rupert Clarke, yesterday apologised for interfering with the work of media personnel outside the St Elizabeth Parish Court on January 4.

Murray had tried to block television cameras from recording Clarke leaving the courthouse after he was arraigned.

“I accept that it was imprudent and inappropriate for me to take any steps in the precincts of the courthouse, irrespective of the legal stipulations, which could interfere with the rights of the free press or impede the work of media practitioners in the pursuit of duty,” she said in a statement issued hours after Education Minister Ruel Reid met with administrators of the school located on Malvern, St Elizabeth.

Murray also apologised to the education community and the country for her presence and actions, which she said have been “misinterpreted as support” for the accused pastor.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Thomas Oriti

A man who says he was abused by an Australian Catholic priest has expressed concerns about perceived delays in the investigation.

The abuse is said to have been committed in the UK, and the Crown Office there had announced plans to extradite the man from Sydney more than a year ago.

The man making the allegations, Hugh Kennedy who lives in UK, has questioned why Father Denis Alexander remains in Australia.

“You need to get ready for the long haul because nothing really happens,” he said.

“Information is not forthcoming and you really just don’t know where, or when, or if ever, your case will come to court.”

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CALIFORNIA
The Union Democrat

By Alex MacLean, The Union Democrat
Published Jan 11, 2017

Nearly three years since filing for bankruptcy in response to a flood of sexual-abuse claims, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton is hoping to close the book on what Bishop Stephen Blaire has described as a “very difficult chapter.”

Judge Christopher M. Klein of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California approved Blaire’s reorganization plan for the diocese on Tuesday, according to a written statement. The diocese filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 15, 2014, after paying out more than $15 million to settle nearly two dozen sex-abuse claims over a 20-year period.

“The approved consensual Plan will allow the Diocese to exit bankruptcy within the next few weeks,” the statement said. “The Diocese with limited financial assets will be able to continue its essential ministries and services to meet the needs of the parishioners and others who rely on the Diocese’s ministry, education, and charitable outreach.”

Under the plan, the diocese has agreed to pay $15 million to survivors of sexual abuse by clergy. Part of the plan also involves making “non-monetary” commitments to the survivors that the diocese described as “important aspects of any healing process.”

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
12 Jan 2017

FORMER Newcastle Anglican priest George Parker has died only three weeks after he was charged with 24 child sex offences against two young boys in the 1970s.

Father Parker, 79, was first charged with child sex offences in 2000. But in a controversial Newcastle District Court case in 2001, four charges relating to the sexual assault of the young boys were no-billed after an Anglican church register was produced during the trial.

No-billed matters are withdrawn from court but can be resumed at a later date if there is further evidence.

Newcastle Police Strike Force Arinya-2 Detective Acting Inspector Jeff Little reinstated the no-billed offences and charged the priest with 20 fresh offences, including five counts of buggery, after travelling to Ballarat on December 23.

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FLORIDA
Belfast Telegraph

A Co Tyrone priest living in the US has launched a libel case in Florida after he accused the Catholic Church there of orchestrating a child abuse cover-up.

Strabane native Fr John Gallagher is suing the Palm Beach Diocese following his successful efforts two years ago to prosecute a fellow priest for showing child porn images to a teenager.

Fr Gallagher’s efforts won him praise from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office but condemnation from the Palm Beach Diocese, and particularly Bishop Gerald Barbarito.

The bishop is also being placed on notice to appear at a deposition in this case.

The 23-page lawsuit, filed yesterday in Palm Beach Circuit Court, accuses the diocese of orchestrating a cover-up and campaign of intimidation, slander and libel directed at Fr Gallagher and effectively destroying his ability to remain a priest.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Editorial

Gov. Cuomo is at long last pushing to fix indefensible state statutes of limitation that bar men and women abused as children from seeking justice after their 23rd birthday.

Thank you, governor, for hearing the cries of thousands of New Yorkers vilely taken advantage of, many of whose voices have filled the pages of the Daily News over the past year.

Those are people like Christopher Couret, 31, one of at least seven alleged victims who grew up in a Long Island foster home. And Antonio Flores, 51, who alleges abuse from the age of 10 by a Catholic priest never charged. And Kathryn Robb, 56, who alleges abuse by her brother at the age of 9.

All struggled for years with shame and guilt, only to be confronted with the fact that the legal clock to seek justice had run out.

Last year Cuomo, while expressing sympathy for victims, stopped short of getting behind a reform measure that had passed the state Assembly.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Giselle Wakatama and David Marchese

A former Hunter Valley priest accused of child abuse has died just weeks after charges against him were reinstated.

During a recent royal commission hearing into Newcastle’s Anglican Diocese, abuse survivor CKA said he was abused by a priest known as CKC while he was an altar boy between 1971 and 1975.

A trial against CKC started in 2001, but the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions ended up withdrawing the charges.

The case was no-billed when CKC’s defence team produced a register showing the abuse could not have happened when CKA said it did.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

January 11, 2017

By Lauraann Wood
Law Bulletin staff writer

Two brothers who allege they were victims of sexual abuse by a former Catholic priest have settled their lawsuit for $2.7 million.

The brothers — who are identified as John Doe A and John Doe B in the lawsuit — sued the Archdiocese of Chicago in 2014, alleging it allowed Daniel McCormack to be ordained as a priest and placed him in a church to teach and mentor children despite having knowledge of prior sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Cardinal Francis George appointed McCormack to serve as pastor of St. Agatha’s Catholic Church and Our Lady of the Westside School in 2000 on the city’s West Side, a post in which McCormack served until 2005.

He was placed in the position despite the archdiocese’s knowledge that McCormack faced prior allegations of sexual abuse against both fellow seminarians and young children in previous places he served in the 1980s and 1990s, according to the Does’ lawsuit.

McCormack’s alleged abuse of the Doe brothers began near the end of a summer camp program they attended at the church and school in 2004 and went into the 2004-2005 school year, said Mark A. Brown, a partner at Lane & Lane LLC who represented the plaintiffs. They did not attend the school but were attending a daily after-school program at the time, he said.

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FLORIDA
Sun Sentinel

Andy Reid
Sun Sentinel

A priest dubbed a liar last year by the Diocese of Palm Beach filed a libel lawsuit Wednesday, accusing church leaders of trying to cover up sexual misconduct.

The Rev. John Gallagher in 2015 helped investigators catch a priest who showed child porn to a teenager at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County sheriff’s records show.

Then last year, Gallagher attracted international attention when he told reporters that he was passed over for head pastor at Holy Name after cooperating with authorities.

The diocese has called that a fabrication. On Jan. 26, 2016, the diocese issued a statement saying Gallagher was “blatantly lying” and “in need of professional assistance.”

The diocese has maintained that it fully cooperated with authorities and that Gallagher didn’t get the top job at Holy Name because of his poor performance there.

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FLORIDA
ABC News

By TERRY SPENCER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Jan 11, 2017

A Roman Catholic priest filed suit Wednesday against his former diocese, saying that the bishop pushed him aside and lied about him because he called law enforcement after another priest showed child pornography to a teenage boy and cooperated with the investigation.

The Rev. John Gallagher said that Bishop Gerald Barbarito of the Palm Beach Diocese forced him from the church where he worked and publicly called him a liar after he refused to cover up for the other priest. Joseph Palimattom was convicted of showing obscene material to a minor, spent six months in jail and was deported home to India.

Gallagher told The Associated Press that his case shows the church has not reformed as promised after it became public knowledge that church leaders had covered up sexual abuse by priests for decades around the world.

“Any priest could be in this situation,” Gallagher said. “Any priest in this situation should know that if it happened to them, they will not get the support of the church. You will be ostracized.”

The lawsuit does not seek a specific amount, but Gallagher’s attorney Ted Babbitt said he will seek enough to cover Gallagher’s lost salary and benefits plus punitive damages for his lost reputation.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, January 11, 2017

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo is weighing in for the first time with his own plan for a Child Victims Act designed to help child sex abuse survivors seek legal recourse as adults.

Cuomo, as part of a formal written agenda to be given to the Legislature Tuesday, said he wants to do away entirely with the statute of limitation that prohibits those who were abused as children from bringing criminal cases after their 23rd birthday.

Cuomo’s plan would also allow victims to bring civil lawsuits for 50 years after their attacks took place and would open up a one-year look-back window for survivors who under current law can no longer bring cases to do so.

In addition, the plan would treat public and private institutions the same by doing away with a current requirement that gives those abused in a school or other public entity only 90 days from the attack to notify of their intent to sue.

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FLORIDA
Irish Independent

Greg Harkin
PUBLISHED
11/01/2017

An Irish priest is suing his diocese in the United States in a row over paedophile priests.

Fr John Gallagher appeared at a press conference in Florida on Wednesday alongside his lawyer after filing a defamation case against the Palm Beach Diocese.

The priest alleged his diocese cut off communication with him two years ago for notifying police when he learned a visiting priest from India had been showing child porn to a teenage boy.

Fr Jose Palimatton was arrested, convicted and jailed.

Fr Gallagher said the diocese demoted him, removed his belongings from the rectory and changed the locks so he couldn’t get back in.

Asked by reporters at the press conference what he hoped to achieve with the lawsuit, Fr Gallagher responded: “Vindication and clearing of my name. I did what was right. I upheld the law and I followed their law. And this is how I’ve been treated.”

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ESPANA
El Pais

[The Office of the Prosecutor in Spain will investigate the sexual abuse of the Donostiarra priest condemned by the church.]

ADRIÁN MATEOS – admateos Bilbao
11/01/2017

La Fiscalía de Guipúzcoa intervendrá en el supuesto caso de abuso sexual a menores cometido por el sacerdote Juan Cruz Mendizábal, que ayer fue condenado por la Iglesia por los «tocamientos deshonestos» que realizó a dos niños en los años 2001 y 2005. El organismo investigará si existen pruebas para interponer una querella o iniciar algún tipo de acción penal contra el clérigo, que ejercía en la parroquia de San Vicente y era responsable del grupo juvenil de tiempo libre Xirimiri Gazte Taldea.

El Obispado fue consciente del caso en marzo de 2016, cuando Mendizábal trabajaba como vicario general, cargo del que fue destituido un mes después tras comprobarse «la veracidad de las acusaciones». El procedimiento contra el clérigo, que era conocido en el templo como «Kakux», concluyó «con una declaración de culpabilidad del reo y la imposición a este de diversas penas expiatorias», destaca la institución.

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POLAND
Political Critique

AGATA DIDUSZKO-ZYGLEWSKA

Government agencies, independent from the Catholic Church, in many countries have begun up to investigate claims of sexual abuse of children in the Church. Unfortunately, the influence the Church in Polish politics means that children in Poland cannot count on such protection from paedophiles in cassocks. Two facts from the last year may attest to the difficult situation facing child victims of sexual abuse by priests. Firstly, the new head of the Parliamentary Commission of Justice and Human Rights is a prosecutor who, in 2001, decided to dismiss the charges against a priest accused of molesting young girls. As prosecutor he decided that the defendant had, in fact, been using his skills in bioenergy therapy. Secondly, In 2002, during another pedophilia scandal, the newly appointed Archbishop of Kraków, and the head of Polish Church, failed to support the victims, despite the insight he had into the particulars of the case. ‘Have No Fear’ (Nie lękajcie się), founded in 2015, is the first Polish organization that brings together victims of paedophile priests. It is supported internationally by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Agata Diduszko-Zyglewska: What is your reason for being active in Poland?

Barbara Blaine: The survivors of sexual abuse within the Church have come to Warsaw in support of the ‘Have No Fear’ Foundation in Poland, which is celebrating its third anniversary. It is an inspiring organisation and we are trying to help it achieve its goals. Our help is necessary, I believe, because Church officials in Poland have left children at risk. They are more interested in protecting perpetrators, enablers and the reputation of the Church than children.

As a child, were you a victim of abuse by a priest?

Yes, I am one of the victims. The priest in my parish began to sexually violate me in the summer between seventh and eighth grade. I was twelve or thirteen. The first time he assaulted me I thought that my body had completely frozen. My mind kept saying: ‘No, stop, don’t touch me there’. I remember him saying, ‘Stop shaking, I won’t hurt you’. I could not understand how a priest could commit such a crime, so I assumed immediately that something must have been wrong with me, that I had made the good priest do this bad thing. I felt very dirty, ashamed and confused. He promised me that it would never happen again, but it did, many times.

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UNITED STATES
Jewish Philanthropy

By Guila Benchimol

While Donald Trump has claimed that focusing on his comments about sexual violence are “nothing more than a distraction from the important issues we are facing today,” I beg to differ. This moment demands practical suggestions as to what we can do differently so that we can do better. While other issues affecting the Jewish community are equally as pressing, this moment is one where many victims and survivors of sexual violence are reeling from the results of the election which has communicated to them that their pain and experiences do not matter.

One place to start is by educating ourselves about how to read and understand the many stories about sexual violence that are now being shared. I have written in the past about how the techniques of neutralization, which are the strategies that are used by perpetrators and others, neutralize victims and dilute their claims of injury and suffering. These strategies allow us to ignore or disbelieve victims and justify such a response.

Gresham Sykes and David Matza introduced their theory of neutralization in the ‘50s to explain that youths who committed crime used specific techniques to push aside the feelings of shame that would generally accompany their criminal acts. The five techniques are the denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of the victim, condemnation of the condemner, and an appeal to higher loyalties. Three of these techniques, the ones in which responsibility, the injury, and the victim are denied, are particularly salient when it comes to victims of sexual violence in general, and even more so when the offender and victim are acquainted, or when the victim is female. They are known as rape myths and have a similar effect as the techniques of neutralization.

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FLORIDA
Palm Beach Post

By Jane Musgrave – Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

WEST PALM BEACH —
A former priest at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church on Wednesday sued the Diocese of Palm Beach, claiming it punished him for exposing a pedophile priest rather than covering it up as they wanted.

The lawsuit, filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, accuses the diocese and Bishop Gerald Barbarito of defaming the 49-year-old priest by issuing a statement that Gallagher fabricated allegations that it urged him not to tell law enforcement that a visiting priest showed pornographic pictures to a 14-year-old at the church.

“Today is a sad day,” the Rev. John Gallagher said in a morning press conference. “Thirty years of my life has been destroyed by the Roman church.”

His treatment is especially heinous because the Catholic Church under the leadership of Pope Francis has pledged to vigorously root out priests accused of sex offenses, said attorney Ted Babbitt, who represents Gallagher.

Instead, he said, when Gallagher learned of transgressions by a visiting priest, the Rev. Jose Varkey Palimattom, he was told the best course of action was to put his new colleague on a plane back to his home in India. He also learned Palimattom had a history of inappropriate conduct with children in India, he said.

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FLORIDA
WPBF

Jan 11, 2017

Ted White

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —
A south Florida priest is suing the Palm Beach Diocese claiming he was ostracized after blowing the whistle on another priest.

Father John Gallagher says two years ago, the diocese cut off communication with him for notifying police when he learned a visiting priest from India had been showing child porn.

That priest admitted to the crime and was convicted.

He said the diocese demoted him, removed his belongings from the rectory and changed the locks so he couldn’t get back in.

WPBF 25 News asked Gallagher what he hopes the lawsuit will d

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ROME
The Guardian (UK)

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome

Pope Francis is facing an extraordinary challenge to his authority from an ancient Catholic order that is refusing to cooperate with a Vatican investigation into the sacking of a top official over the distribution of tens of thousands of condoms.

The controversy has been simmering for weeks, but the Knights of Malta’s rejection of the investigation – an unprecedented act in recent times – has now escalated the matter.

The conservative order said in a statement it intended to protect its sovereignty from official oversight and its members had the legal right not to cooperate with the Vatican investigation, which was approved by Pope Francis late last year, and is being led by the Vatican’s second most senior official, the secretary of state, Pietro Parolin.

The fight is increasingly being seen not just as a battle over the investigation, but as a sign of the increasing anger and disobedience by some Catholic traditionalists who are opposed to Francis’s papacy because they view him as too progressive on issues involving social doctrine.

“It is not just the fact that they are defying the pope’s authority, but they are doing so using language that is disrespectful and confrontational,” said Austen Ivereigh, who has written a biography of the pope. “It is as bad as it looks.”

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NEW YORK
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Jan. 11, 2017

New York

Cardinal Timothy Dolan has informed his clergy he is considering moving his archdiocese’s headquarters out of the building it now occupies in midtown Manhattan in a bid to save money and to correct what he says is an “unfair and inaccurate perception of the archdiocese as some bloated, money-grabbing corporation.”

The cardinal revealed the possible move in a highly charged letter to his priests and deacons in late November in which he also takes the clergy to task for complaining about how the archdiocese collects money from its parishes and exhorts them to challenge parishioners to donate more frequently and abundantly.

Throughout the four-page letter, obtained by NCR, Dolan takes a biting tone, lamenting that his priests reportedly either complain about the archdiocese interfering in their parishes’ affairs or that his administration is not doing enough to support their particular favored areas of ministry.

Pushing his priests to encourage their parishioners to give more money to the archdiocese, the cardinal asks at one point: “Why are we afraid to urge our people to sacrificial generosity?”

“The Evangelicals sure demand stewardship!” he exhorts. “The Mormons sure do! Our Jewish Synagogues do! Planned Parenthood sure pushes its donors! The secular causes sure do!”

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

Alene Tchekmedyian

A California appeals court has affirmed a judge’s decision to throw out a lawsuit challenging a state law requiring therapists to report patients who admit to viewing child pornography to the police, capping a two-year legal battle over patient privacy rights.

Two therapists and a substance abuse counselor who treat sexual addiction sued the state in 2015, arguing that changes to the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act violate a patient’s constitutionally protected right to privacy and deter them from getting help.

The state countered that a patient’s right to privacy is outweighed by a far more compelling interest in protecting sexually exploited children.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge tossed the case, ruling that there’s no “zone of privacy” for illegal conduct and that patients who seek therapy for downloading child pornography do so knowing they’ll be reported and may be prosecuted.

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ZIMBABWE
Bulawayo 24

by Alice Dube

An irate and sex starved Anglican priest at St Annes Parish in Pumula South, Father Climax Dewa aged 65 allegedly threatened to axe her wife accusing her of being a gold digger.

He also accused his wife Doris Dewa (38) of denying him his conjugal rights.

Dewa was dragged to court by his wife who had applied for a peace order against the man of the cloth accusing him of physically, emotionally and psychologically abusing her.

According to the state controlled Chronicle, an angry Dewa told his wife on 5 January around 1 am that she was a gold digger.

“She’s disrespectful and has become the new man in my house.

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ZIMBABWE
News 24

Cape Town – A Zimbabwean Anglican priest, 65, threatened to axe his wife after he accused her of denying him his conjugal rights and of being “disrespectful”, a report said on Wednesday.

According to the Chronicle newspaper, this came to light when Father Climax Dewa appeared in court on Tuesday in Bulawayo for violating a peace order not to physically and verbally abuse his wife, Doris Dewa, 38.

Doris had applied for a peace order against her husband last year, as she accused him of physically, emotionally and psychologically abusing her. The order was granted to in April.

Father Dewa told the court during his appearance that his wife was a “gold digger”. He also claimed that she was “disrespectful”, adding that she also denied him his conjugal rights.

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RHODE ISLAND
Church Militant

by Stefan Farrar • ChurchMilitant.com • January 10, 2017

Claims group swindled woman out of her inheritance

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (ChurchMilitant.com) – The Legion of Christ (LC) is facing a lawsuit that could cost them millions. Last week, a Rhode Island judge allowed Americans United for Life (AUL), a pro-life group, to continue its suit against the religious order. The lawsuit alleges the LC interfered with an inheritance AUL was supposed to receive from Gabrielle Mee, a widow worth $60 million dollars.

The AUL is accusing the LC of convincing Mee to leave her entire fortune to the Legion, thereby cutting AUL out of her will. This lawsuit is another legal battle for the order, which is still dealing with fallout from Fr. Marcial Maciel’s sexual abuse, founder of the LC. An official investigation by the Vatican found that Maciel sexually abused minors (including his own children), seminarians and had three children with mistresses, and forced him in 2006 into retirement, counseling him to spend the rest of his days in prayer and penance

Jim Fair, spokesman for the LC, commented, “We believe the Legion of Christ acted appropriately in its relationship with Mrs. Mee.” Rhode Island Judge Michael Silverstein didn’t dismiss the entire suit against the LC, although he did dismiss the claims of fraud and undue influence in the lawsuit.

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CANADA
Edmonton Journal

PAIGE PARSONS

An Anglican priest now faces upwards of 30 charges for gross indecency and sexual assault, after being arrested early last year on allegations that he abused teenage boys in an Edmonton youth jail during the 1980s.

Gordon William Dominey, 64, was first charged in February 2016 after five complainants alleged the priest abused them while they were in the Edmonton Youth Development Centre between 1985 and 1989. Those complainants were between the ages of 14 and 17 at the time of the alleged abuses.

By March 2016, an additional four complainants had come forward and police laid additional charges, bringing the total to 27, including 18 sexual-assault charges and nine gross-indecency charges.

Seven more charges — four counts of sexual assault and three counts of gross indecency — were laid in October 2016. Edmonton police have not said when those offences were alleged to have occurred.

In Edmonton provincial court Tuesday, Dominey appeared for a preliminary hearing on his initial 27 charges. After electing to have the seven more recent charges also tried by judge and jury, it was determined all 33 counts will be dealt with during the preliminary hearing.

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GUAM
KUAM

Jan 10, 2017

By Sabrina Salas Matanane

Letter from Presbyteral Council

The Concerned Catholics of Guam organization has serious concerns with a recent decision by Archbishop Michael Byrnes to send Fr. Adrian Cristobal to Canada to study Canon Law. In a letter to the Archdiocesan Presbyteral Council, CCOG President Dave Sablan argues that Fr. Adrian is one of the priests at the center of the division within the local church. He contends that instead of rewarding him by sending him to study Canon Law he should be disciplined, “for lies he has perpetrated that has harmed the Church on Guam,” the letter stated.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent

Dina Rickman @dinarickman

A central London council has been warned it risks “another Rotherham” sexual abuse scandal if it does not deal with the thousands of children thought to be taught at illegal schools.

Hackney Council is at the centre of a child protection scandal after an investigation by The Independent found more than 1,000 boys in the borough are currently missing from registered schools and are instead thought to be educated in illegal ultra-Orthodox Jewish yeshivas.

At a meeting of Hackney Council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Board, which is holding an inquiry into unregistered Jewish schools, Chair Councillor Christopher Kennedy said: “We worried there might be another Rotherham situation in Hackney if we didn’t take action when we were told there were all these missing children on the school register.”

His comments came as religious leaders told Hackney council they felt being pressured to teach a particular agenda by Ofsted. Jospeh Stauber, headteacher of the registered Talmud Torah Yetev Lev primary school for children in Hackney, warned councillors: “Don’t try to tell us what to learn with the children when it’s against our religion. That’s why we keep on hiding.”

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AUSTRALIA
Lawyers Weekly

Emma Ryan

The director of Bennett & Philp Lawyers has called for greater legislation surrounding sexual and physical abuse, saying current Queensland laws don’t go far enough and should be amended as a priority in 2017.

The director of Bennett & Philp Lawyers has called for greater legislation surrounding sexual and physical abuse, saying current Queensland laws don’t go far enough and should be amended as a priority in 2017.

Trent Johnson (pictured), an accredited injury compensation specialist and a director of Brisbane firm Bennett & Philp Lawyers, said despite Queensland recently removing the time limit for childhood victims of sexual abuse to claim compensation for their injuries, the state’s system is still “flawed”.

This comes after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended that the various state and territory governments abolish their respective time limits for claims by victims of childhood abuse.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Brian Altman QC is to take over as the most senior lawyer in the inquiry into child sex abuse in England and Wales.

His appointment as lead counsel was confirmed by the inquiry’s fourth chairwoman, Professor Alexis Jay.

He replaces Ben Emmerson QC, who quit in September and was subsequently cleared of allegations of sexual assault and harassment.

He has served as first senior treasury counsel – prosecuting serious cases for the Crown Prosecution Service.

The inquiry, which was set up in July 2014, has previously experienced a string of problems.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

The Inquiry has announced a further preliminary hearing in relation to the Child Migration Programmes case study in the investigation into the protection of children outside of the UK will be held on Tuesday 31 January 2017 at 10:30 am at the International Dispute Resolution Centre, Fleet Street, London.

The first public hearing for the case study in this investigation will begin on Monday 27 February.

Preliminary hearings are not normally broadcast, but they are open to the press and public. Seats will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Media wishing to attend are asked to notify the press office by calling 0203 789 2114 or emailing pressoffice@iicsa.org.uk

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10 January
UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has today announced that Brian Altman QC is to be new lead Counsel.

The Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Professor Alexis Jay OBE said:

“I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Brian Altman QC as lead Counsel to the Inquiry. He is hugely experienced, having spent 16 years as Treasury Counsel, the last two and a half years of which were as First Senior Treasury Counsel. This is an important appointment for the Inquiry and I look forward to working with Brian as we take forward the work of the Inquiry.”

Speaking after his appointment was confirmed, Mr Altman QC said:

​“The Government and the public have set the Inquiry a huge challenge to investigate institutional responses to child sexual abuse in the past, and to report and make recommendations in order to prevent such abuse happening in the future. I am delighted to have been appointed to lead a team of lawyers dedicated to completing the task of the Inquiry. I will work to ensure that the investigations and the public hearings are kept on track in order to deliver the terms of reference of the Inquiry. I look forward to taking up my post.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By MATT DATHAN, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR MAILONLINE

The troubled inquiry into historical child sex abuse has named Brian Altman QC, a leading barrister, as its most senior lawyer.

He will take over the role of lead counsel to the probe following the resignation last year of Ben Emmerson QC.

Announcing the appointment, inquiry chairwoman Professor Alexis Jay described Mr Altman as ‘hugely experienced’.

The probe has been beset by problems and Mr Emmerson’s resignation, which was announced in September, was one of a number of departures of senior figures.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent

The former Old Bailey prosecutor Brian Altman QC has been named as the new lead counsel for the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

Altman, who has specialised in serious crime and terrorism cases, replaces Ben Emmerson QC, who resigned last September amid disputes over the scale of the investigation.

Welcoming Altman’s appointment, the IICSA’s chair, Prof Alexis Jay OBE, said: “He is hugely experienced, having spent 16 years as Treasury counsel, the last two and a half years of which were as first senior Treasury counsel. This is an important appointment for the inquiry and I look forward to working with Brian.”

Altman said: “The government and the public have set the inquiry a huge challenge to investigate institutional responses to child sexual abuse in the past, and to report and make recommendations in order to prevent such abuse happening in the future.

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ARGENTINA
El Tribuno

[For the first time, the priest Agustín Rosa Torino will present a disclaimer on the accusations of sexual abuse that weigh against him. He will do so by means of a letter that he will send to the Criminal Prosecutor’s Office 2 of the Unit for Crimes against Sexual Integrity tomorrow or Thursday, according to the lawyer of the religious, Raymundo Sosa, told El Tribuno.]

La medida se concretará por escrito mañana o el jueves. En el documento intentará defenderse de las acusaciones por abuso sexual en su contra.

Por primera vez, el cura Agustín Rosa Torino presentará un descargo sobre las acusaciones de abuso sexual que pesan en su contra. Lo hará mediante un escrito que remitirá a la Fiscalía Penal 2 de la Unidad de Delitos contra la Integridad Sexual mañana o el jueves, según adelantó a El Tribuno el abogado del religioso, Raymundo Sosa.

En la causa se investigan las denuncias de dos exnovicios y una exmonja del Instituto Religioso Discípulos de Jesús de San Juan Bautista, fundado por Rosa. Los abusos habrían ocurrido en esa congregación y, según los testimonios, hubo otras supuestas víctimas de los ataques.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[Rete L’Abuso turned over to the presecutor documents pertaining to priest Nicola Corradi, who is accused to abusing students at a school for deaf children.]

Sette pagine di denuncia, più di 80 di allegati in un articolato fascicolo depositato pochi giorni fa dalla Rete L’ABUSO presso gli uffici dell’Autorità Giudiziaria di Verona, altri due, meno corposi sono stati invece inviati ai p.m. argentini Gustavo Stroppiana e Fernando Cartasegna.

Nei fascicoli si espongono una serie di elementi rilevanti e si chiede che vengano ravvisate le eventuali responsabilità omissive attribuibili alle gerarchie ecclesiastiche.

Una serie di informazioni degne di nota ma mai denunciate formalmente all’Autorità Giudiziaria che oggi, dopo l’arresto di don Nicola Corradi avvenuto a fine novembre in Argentina, è il caso di prendere in seria considerazione.

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CALIFORNIA
The Record

By Almendra Carpizo
Record Staff Writer

STOCKTON – The Diocese of Stockton is just weeks from exiting bankruptcy after a judge approved its reorganization plan on Tuesday.

The diocese had filed for bankruptcy more than two years ago after legal costs stemming from dozens of child sexual-abuse lawsuits depleted its funds.

In September, Bishop Stephen E. Blaire announced the diocese had negotiated with all the parties involved to reach a consensual plan that would allow the diocese to exit bankruptcy.

The plan approved by Judge Christopher M. Klein (the same judge who oversaw the bankruptcy of the city of Stockton) includes:

* $15 million to survivors of sexual abuse and a trust for the benefit of survivors.

* Payment of at least 50 percent of what is owed to unsecured creditors.

* Restructuring of secured loans.

* Funding from the plan will come from the Diocese of Stockton, settling insurance carriers and other entities associated with the diocese.

“The plan demonstrates the Diocese of Stockton’s commitment to provide for survivors of sexual abuse in a fair, just and equitable manner from its available resources,” according to a news release from the diocese.

Blaire expressed gratitude to everyone involved in the process for “helping bring this very difficult chapter in the history of the diocese to an equitable resolution.”

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Stephen Naysmith

CHILDREN were tortured at Scottish schools, children’s homes and residential units with waterboarding, sleep-deprivation and force-feeding among the practices deployed to torment them, a major study into alleged abuse has claimed.

The report from the National Confidential Forum (NCF), a body set up to anonymously document the experiences of abuse victims, also records testimony alleging the humiliation of children for bed-wetting and others having their hair shaved off to suppress their identity.

Costing more than £4 million since it was established in 2014, the forum has faced accusations of being a “talking shop” because it lacked powers to hold abusers to account.

The subsequent Scottish Child Abuse inquiry may have appealed to more victims because it could ultimately lead to prosecutions.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

BY ALPHEA SAUNDERS Senior staff reporter saundersa@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The care and protection case for the 15-year-old St Elizabeth girl involved in the rape and carnal abuse case against Moravian pastor Rupert Clarke is to go before the St Elizabeth Parish Court tomorrow, the Jamaica Observer has learnt.

The child and another sibling from the same home are now in State care. The story has rocked the nation over the past week, again bringing into focus the harsh economic realities faced by many impoverished families, and the inherent vulnerabilities, especially among young women and girls in depressed socio-economic conditions.

The Observer has learnt that the girl is one of 10 children and lived in extremely difficult circumstances in the rural community with her mother, who had also lived in St James, but moved to St Elizabeth after the death of the children’s father.

According to information obtained by the Observer the mother now lives in an abandoned building in an area off the beaten path without plumbing and electricity with several of her daughters, as well as a grandchild.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

CHRIS MARSHALL
Wednesday 11 January 2017

Later this month, judge Lady Smith will convene the preliminary hearing of Scotland’s national child abuse inquiry.

It feels as if the hearing has been a long time coming, taking place more than two years after the inquiry was announced by the Scottish Government.

It is almost a year since then chairwoman Susan O’Brien held a public session at a Glasgow hotel in which she made an emotional plea for survivors to come forward and give evidence.

Much has happened in the intervening months. Ms O’Brien has gone along with fellow panel member Professor Michael Lamb, who resigned citing government interference and describing the inquiry as “doomed”.

Indeed there were points last year where the inquiry looked set to follow in the footsteps of its larger and more controversial English counterpart, which has lurched from crisis to crisis.

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GHANA
Ghana Web

Rev. Monsignor Professor Stephen Ntim, Dean of the faculty of education at the Catholic University College of Ghana has opined that personality problems could be the cause of sexual impropriety by some Catholic and the church could stop the menace by rigorously screening candidates who present themselves for the priesthood in the Catholic Church.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 26th national and 14th biennial congress of the National Union of Ghana Diocesan Priests’ Associations (NUGDPA) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on Tuesday January, 3, Monsignor Ntim said priests are generally content and happy about their vocation and the few sex scandals and pedophilia recorded in the Church could be as a result of what he describes as childhood baggage from families.

“If generally priests are happy and joyful, how do we reconcile these with the few clinical syndromes such as the sex scandal and the pedophilia in Europe and the US? How do we explain the few instances of embarrassing sexual misbehavior of few priests here in Ghana as well? Why do some priests leave the priesthood? In some parts of the world that has experienced priestly sexual scandals such as the U.S, these few priests were those found to have had childhood dysfunction and probably should not have entered the Seminary in the first place. Childhood dysfunction such as childhood sexual abuse places people at high risk of later adult psychological problems. Similarly in Ghana, many of our brothers experiencing some struggle in the priesthood either with themselves or with their Bishops because of sexual impropriety for most of the time could be that they have personality problems” Prof Ntim said.

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JAMAICA
Loop

The mother of the two teenaged girls who were placed in state care following allegations of sexual assault by Moravian pastor, Rupert Clarke, could soon be facing charges herself.

The woman, who reportedly has 11 children living in very poor circumstances, is likely to face charges of child neglect, among other child abuse-related offences.

Last week, the 15-year-old who was allegedly found in a compromising position with Pastor Clarke, as well as her 13-year-old sister, were taken from the mother’s custody by the Child Development Agency (CDA) and placed in state care.

This occurred amid reports that the accused clergyman was sexually involved with more than one of the woman’s children.

Clarke, 64, of the Nazareth Moravian Church in Manchester, has been charged with having sex with the 15-year-old child. He is under a wider probe for at least two other allegations of sexual offences involving other teenagers.

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JAMAICA
Government of Jamaica – Jamaica Information Service

By Shari-Ann Palmer January 10, 2017

Information, Hon. Floyd Green, says the State is offering assistance to the child and family who have been caught up in the allegations of sexual abuse involving a local pastor.

In an interview with JIS News, Mr. Green said protection of the victim is of utmost importance to the Ministry, and the Child Development Agency (CDA) has begun its intervention with the family.

“Our CDA officers have gone in and have done a home assessment. We have already started counselling because we always think about how we can get our children back on a road where they can have a productive life and they can minimise the impact of the incident,” he noted.

The State Minister said the victim, who is 15 years old, and her sister, aged 13, have been removed from their family home and placed in “safe keeping”, adding that remaining teenagers in the home will also receive counselling.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) and the wider Christian community said they regret the recent news of the allegations of abuse of one of the nation’s children by a minister of the church.

In a statement today, the group said: “While we await the outcome of the legal process, we do not support or condone the abuse of our children or the misconduct of our leaders. We are seized by the gravity of the impact and implications on the church, families and wider society on account of the case at hand.”

The group said, undoubtedly, the outrage has served as a reminder to the church of the high standard with which the church and its leaders are held by the society and the burden of responsibility in ensuring that the church lives up to those expectations.

“The public response has been accentuated on account of the rate of child abuse in our country and the very early sexual initiation of many of our youth. This is a major concern for the church as well.”

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JAMAICA
Loop

Saccheen Laing is the latest poet to sound off on the Moravian pastor sex scandal that has rocked Jamaica.

Laing, in a poem entitled Young Girl, tells the story of a female child who is being sexually abused by a pastor. The traumatised child is forced to face her abuser each Sunday at church while the congregation, and even the child’s mother, turns a blind eye to his crimes.

Two weeks ago, a 15-year-old girl was allegedly found in a compromising position with a 64-year-old Moravian pastor, who has since been charged with rape.

The case has attracted widespread interest and brought the controversial subject of sexual abuse in the church into the national spotlight. Over the weekend, another poet, Sonya Stewart, released a poem, under the headline Shocked, Ashamed and Mortified, on the subject.

See full text of Laing’s poem below.

YOUNG GIRL
By:©Saccheen Laing

Saturday draws to a close and fear sets in.

With Sunday comes the realization that I will have to see him.

My mother picks out my clothes and prepares me for church.

I am immaculately dressed and ready to meet my abuser.

She kisses me

As she betrays me.

She knows fully that the man of God abuses me

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CANADA
National Post

Joseph Brean | January 9, 2017

On Monday, the University of British Columbia reinstated John Furlong, 66, a top sports executive in Vancouver, as the keynote speaker at the Millennium Scholarship Breakfast next month after initially cancelling his appearance. National Post‘s Joseph Brean unpicks the tangled history.

Q: Why was Furlong such a controversial speaker?

A: It began in 2009 with a tip to Laura Robinson, a journalist with expertise in sports, both as a decorated athlete and coach. She heard that Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Winter Olympics, had been concealing his past as a physical education teacher at Immaculata Catholic School, a day school in Burns Lake, in 1969 and 1970, which goes unaddressed in his biography, Patriot Hearts – Inside the Olympics that Changed a Country. As she understood, Furlong had beaten children, perhaps even raped them. She started investigating.

Q: What did she find?

A: Robinson arranged to have a flier displayed at the Burns Lake Band Office announcing her investigation into historical abuse by Furlong, and her request to hear stories in confidence. Three dozen people gathered, and waited together for an hour before she arrived, which was later flagged as a methodological concern. In the end, seven said they were physically abused by him, another that she was sexually abused.

Q: Did police investigate?

A: Yes, but not all the claims, and not to the satisfaction of many critics, including the Assembly of First Nations. Few actual police complaints were filed. In the case of Beverly Abraham, who contacted police with a complaint after being urged by Robinson, an investigating officer spoke with Abraham and her family members, and found “many troubling inconsistencies,” including changing names and dates. In the end, police found “nothing to substantiate the complaint” and therefore sent nothing to prosecutors.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[Continued insults to the victims by the now former bishop of Savona Vittorio Lupi. Yesterday on online newspapers, which are unfortunately also in the print media the victims of pedophile priests in Savona, are once again forced to suffer the public humiliation by Bishop Lupi who in his last homily said he was saddened for what happened and in hindsight today would redo the same things.]

Bugiardo senza vergogna e con un senso civico profondo quanto una pozzanghera, questo è quello possiamo dire per esperienza personale di Vittorio Lupi che con noi vittime si è comportato tutt’altro che da uomo di chiesa.

Ieri sui giornali online, oggi purtroppo anche sulla carta stampata le vittime dei preti pedofili savonesi, don Nello Giraudo Pietro Pinetto e Giorgio Barbacini, sono ancora una volta costrette a subire l’umiliazione pubblica di un uomo che nella sua ultima omelia si è detto addolorato per quanto accaduto e col senno di poi oggi rifarebbe le stesse cose.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

BY KIMBERLEY HIBBERT Observer staff reporter hibbertk@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, January 09, 2017

A local pastor yesterday reaffirmed the church’s stance on morality and good family values, declaring that each member of society must live up to what’s expected of them, especially clergymen.

According to Bishop Couvator Holdsworth, God’s moral code for an orderly and wholesome society is rooted in the scriptures.

“God’s principle speaks to the responsible parenthood. Ephesians 6 speaks to the need for children to be obedient and to show respect for the elderly and those that are less fortunate, the poor, and the needy,” he said.

“God’s principles speak to an orderly society… there was a time in our land that our leaders were respected; our pastors, teachers, nurses were honourable people in our society. We can bring back those glory days by each one of us today making a commitment to not only talk the talk, but walk the talk; practise what we preach,” Bishop Couvator Holdsworth said in his message at Greater Grace Temple Worship Centre on Deanery Road in Kingston, where cops assigned to the Non-Geographic Formations Number Two (Mobile Reserve, Motorised Patrol Division, Traffic and Highway Patrol, Mounted Troop Division and Canine Division) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force gathered for their New Year’s service under the theme ‘Save the Police Family…Secure the Nation’s Future’.

When the Jamaica Observer spoke to Holdsworth following the service, he said in light of the recent charges of carnal abuse and rape laid against Manchester pastor Rupert Clarke, it is time for saints to set their lives straight.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

A group calling itself Jamaicans United Against Domestic Violence and Child Abuse has started a petition calling for the dismissal of the principal of the Hampton School over her actions last week at the bail hearing of the Moravian pastor on sex charges.

Heather Murray is reported to have attempted to block a Gleaner photographer trying to capture images of the 64-year-old pastor Rupert Clarke, as he left court.

Before attempting the block the photographer, Murray sought to intervene in an interview between a Gleaner reporter and Moravian minister, Robert Patmore outside the courthouse.

In a statement last week, Murray said she went to court to support the wife of the pastor.

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JAMAICA
Loop

Under intense pressure, Hampton School Principal, Heather Murray, has apologised to students at the institution for what she described as “a breach of common sense” on her part after her appearance at a bail hearing for an accused child molester.

In addressing a group of students at the all-girls institution in devotion on Monday’s first day of the new school term, Murray, a close friend of the accused man’s wife, explained that she went to the court as a Justice of the Peace (JP), to sign documents relating to the accused man’s bail bond.

She said she obstructed photo journalists taking pictures of the accused, Pastor Rupert Clarke, because his lawyer had indicated it was illegal to do so, even though she was not aware of that as a JP.

The principal said she was hurt over the allegations against Clarke, who has been accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl. The 64-year-old pastor was allegedly caught by police personnel on patrol in St Elizabeth, in a compromising position in a parked car with the girl nearly two weeks ago.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

BY BALFORD HENRY Senior staff reporter balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

A former minister of the local Moravian Church in Jamaica has accused the church leadership of applying double standards in relation to allegations of sexual misconduct against embattled pastor Rupert Clarke.

Dr Canute Thompson has called on the head of the church, Dr Paul Gardner, to state whether he had fulfilled a promise made in early 2014 to investigate allegations against 64-year-old Clarke, who was recently charged by the police with having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Dr Thompson accused the church of being inconsistent in its response to charges of misconduct within the church, including “different rules for different individuals” in relation to a variety of issues, including allegations of sexual misconduct.

“I have consistently raised with the church, going back to the 80s, what I have seen as double standards,” Dr Thompson said in a much-publicised response to Clarke’s arrest.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

The rape and carnal abuse case involving Moravian clergyman Rev Rupert Clarke has taken on an alarming new twist, including claims by the family of the girl he is accused of abusing that they were being harassed by people in their community to keep silent.

Checks by the Jamaica Observer with several members of the police in St Elizabeth revealed that, while they have heard of rumours of intimidation against the family, no actual reports had been made to the authorities on this particular matter.

“Yes, we have heard about these rumours of intimidation against the family of the girl in the mentioned case. In fact, we have heard of many other allegations in the case in question. We have investigated and are still investigating all these claims, but to date no one is willing to give a statement to us,” one policeman told the Observer last evening.

“This is most disconcerting for us, as people must come forward for us to either provide protection, or to share any information they have to assist us with the case. We cannot operate solely on rumours alone,” the policeman said.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

Damion Mitchell, Integration Editor

The sex scandal in the Moravian Church is deepening.

A former Moravian Minister has now produced a trail of email contradicting claims by the church leadership that it had no previous knowledge of allegations of misconduct against the 64-year-old pastor now before the court on a sex charge.

The email between Dr Canute Thompson and the president of the Moravian Church in Jamaica Dr Paul Gardner date back to 2014.

They have come days after Gardner rejected assertions that Rupert Clarke, the 64-year-old pastor charged with having sex with a minor was previously reported for sexual misconduct.

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TEXAS
San Antonio Express-News

By J. Michael Parker and Elaine Ayala
January 9, 2017

Retired Archbishop Patrick Flores, a onetime migrant farm worker and high school dropout who overcame discrimination to eventually become the nation’s first Mexican-American bishop, died Monday in San Antonio.

Flores, whose full name was Patricio Fernandez Flores,waged a long battle with congestive heart failure, dementia and Meniere’s disease, a hearing disorder that causes veritgo, tinnitus and hearing loss. In the end, he suffered pneumonia.

He had not been seen in public much since 2008 and was living in Padua Place Residence, a retirement home for priests. …

He always said his deepest sorrow was over sexual abuse by priests. He insisted he’d acted in good faith and, with one early exception, always removed abusive priests from ministry immediately upon learning of credible allegations.

Others angrily disputed his claims, saying he didn’t believe their allegations and demanded proof.

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TEXAS
KIII

SAN ANTONIO (KENS5) – SAN ANTONIO – Former Archbishop Patricio Fernandez Flores passed away Monday at the age of 87, according to the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Flores served as the fourth archbishop of San Antonio from 1979-2005. The Archdiocese said he was the first Mexican-American elevated to this hierarchy in the Catholic Church in the United States.

After Flores’ ordination to the priesthood, he previously served at Houston parishes.

He also served as director of the Christian Family Movement and as director of the Bishop’s Committee for the Spanish-Speaking, a ministry that encouraged bilingual congregations.

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CALIFORNIA/UTAH
Angelus

January 10, 2017 – By JD Long-Garcia

Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Solis was listening to his brother priests during a morning deanery meeting in San Pedro when his cell phone began to vibrate. He ignored it. It went off again. And then again, but he didn’t answer.

He had another meeting later that afternoon, so he couldn’t join the others for lunch. He checked his phone and noticed that it was the papal nuncio — Archbishop Christophe Pierre — who had been calling. Bishop Solis called him back.

“Am I in trouble? What did I do?” Bishop Solis quipped once the archbishop had picked up the phone.

“No, no, no,” Bishop Solis recalled Archbishop Pierre saying, then adding as a side note, “The papal nuncio has a great sense of humor, you know?”

“Bishop, are you by yourself?” the archbishop asked Bishop Solis.

“Yes, your excellency.”

“I would like to share some good news with you.”

“What is it?” Bishop Solis said.

“The Holy Father has appointed you to be the ordinary in Salt Lake City.”

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UTAH
KATC

Updated: Jan 10, 2017

His Holiness, Pope Francis has appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles Oscar A. Solis as Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, the Vatican announced today.

Bishop Solis was appointed as Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles on December 11, 2003 by Pope John Paul II and ordained on February 10, 2004, becoming the first Filipino-American elevated to the episcopacy in the history of the United States. He will now be the first Filipino-American Bishop to lead a Diocese in the United States.

Bishop Solis will be introduced in Salt Lake City at a diocesan press conference Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at the Diocesan Pastoral Center, 27 C Street, in the lower level Bishop Federal Hall, at 11:00 am CT/10 am PST. The press conference will be livestreamed at: www.ksl.com.

“It’s a beautiful thing to receive the appointment,” said Bishop Solis. “It’s a recognition of the diversity of the Church in America and the universality of the Church. I understand what it means to be a pastor, a shepherd of a particular diocese. It is a tremendous blessing and a responsibility and a privilege to be of service to the local Church in the United States of America, coming from the Philippines.”

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IRELAND
Irish Central

Kate Hickey @KateHickey_ January 10, 2017

Today marks five years since Irish journalist, filmmaker, and writer Mary Raftery died of ovarian cancer, aged 54. Nominated in 2011 for “NNI National Journalist of the Year” for her work in exposing the clerical abuse of children in Ireland, Raftery was regarded as one of the country’s finest investigative journalists exposing not only clerical abuse but abuse in the Irish childcare system and the appalling conditions within the country’s psychiatric units.

Raftery famously made the 1999 documentary “States of Fear” and the “Cardinal Secrets” in 2002 and her work was widely viewed as having led to the establishment of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. The Commission reported its findings in May of 2009.

Beginning her investigative career with “In Dublin” magazine in the 1970s, Raftery later moved on to “Magill” magazine and then to RTÉ.

Speaking to RTE radio at the time of her death, Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin paid tribute to journalist and documentary maker, stating, “Bringing the truth out is always a positive thing even though it may be a painful truth.

“I believe that through her exposition of sins of the past and of the moment that the church is a better place for children and a place which has learned many lessons.”

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JAMAICA
Loop

People’s National Party councillor for the Trafalgar Division in South East St. Andrew, Kari Douglas is renewing her call for the Principal of Hampton High, Heather Murray, to resign.

In a statement Monday afternoon, Councilor Douglas said she welcomes news that Murray has apologised for attempting to bar the media from taking photographs at Court of the alleged child abuser, 64-year-old Moravian pastor, Rupert Clarke, who was charged with rape last week after being allegedly caught in a compromising position in his car with a 15-year-old girl in Austin district, St Elizabeth.

However, Councillor Douglas said she is shocked by Murray’s admission that she signed documents in relation to the accused child abuser’s move to secure his temporary freedom (bail).

Commenting further, Councillor Douglas said while it is not wrong to sign documents as a Justice of the Peace in furtherance of bail being processed, Murray should have recognised that her sensitive and substantive post as Principal, along with her duty of care to hundreds of young girls, should have compelled her not to associate herself with the process of the alleged child abuser securing his temporary freedom.

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RHODE ISLAND
ABC News

By MICHELLE R. SMITH AND NICOLE WINFIELD, ASSOCIATED PRESS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Jan 9, 2017

A Rhode Island judge is allowing a lawsuit seeking millions of dollars to move forward against the disgraced Roman Catholic order the Legion of Christ.

The lawsuit, brought by the national anti-abortion group Americans United for Life, says the Legion interfered with an inheritance the group should have received from a wealthy widow. It says the Legion conspired to get Gabrielle Mee to cut the group out of her will and instead give her entire $60 million fortune to the Legion. Bernard Jackvony, a lawyer for Americans United for Life, said up to $6 million is at stake.

It’s one of several legal battles facing the Legion in the U.S. stemming from the fallout of a sexual abuse scandal involving the order’s founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, and church officials. A church investigation determined Maciel sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children. The Vatican took over the order in 2010, and Pope Benedict XVI ordered a wholesale reform.

In its lawsuit filed last year, Americans United for Life says Mee had bequeathed it 10 percent of her estate in a 1991 will. She later changed her will to leave everything to the Legion. Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein last week rejected the Legion’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, although he agreed to dismiss two claims: fraud and undue influence.

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AUSTRALIA
The Austrlaian

January 10, 2017

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

The former Anglican bishop of Ballarat David Silk sounds defensive at first when called early in the morning at his home in southwest England.

Why ask these questions about one of his priests, he must be thinking? Why dig up the past?

His tone softens when the line of questioning becomes clear. In 1996, he employed a priest who transferred from Newcastle, in NSW, where the bishop at the time was the current Archbishop of Perth, Roger Herft.

Was Monsignor Silk told at the time that child-sex alle­gations were made against the priest months after he arrived in the Victorian diocese, then made again in 1999? Or that the priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged by NSW police the following year?

No, he tells The Australian. The priest came personally recommended by Archbishop Herft.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

January 10, 2017

GREG BROWN
JournalistMelbourne
@gregbrown_TheOz

Former Victorian Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale has been charged with 36 historical counts of rape and assault that allegedly occurred in the state’s west between the 1960s and the 80s.

The 82-year-old former school chaplain and parish priest was charged by Victoria Police’s Sano Taskforce, which was established in 2012 to investigate child exploitation. He will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on January 20.

“Sano Taskforce detectives have charged a man following an investigation into alleged historical sexual abuse at various locations in the western region of Victoria between the 1960s to the 1980s,” Victoria Police said last night. “The 82-year-old man has been charged with more than 36 charges, including rape, buggery and indecent assault and common law assault.”

The Sano Taskforce continues to investigate historical sexual abuse claims made against the nation’s most senior Catholic, George Pell.

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JAMAICA
Loop

A group of women staged a quiet protest at the Nazareth Moravian Church in Manchester during the regular morning service on Sunday, to register their concern about the arrest and charge of Pastor Rupert Clarke of the church.

The 64-year-old pastor was charged after being allegedly caught by police personnel on patrol in St Elizabeth, in a compromising position with a 15-year-old girl nearly two weeks ago.

Dressed in T-shirts bearing messages against sexual abuse – “I will not be silent anymore” – the group, made up of some 15 persons, attended the church service and took seats in the front rows of the congregation.

The women, some of whom were reported to have been victims of sexual assault, expressed anger at the perceived silence of church on the matter of the pastor’s arrest.

The protesters said their actions were in support for the alleged victim.

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IRELAND
The Journal

Cianan Brennan

THE DUBIOUS NATURE of the process surrounding the adoption of Irish children by American citizens in the 1950s has come to light with the publication of foreign policy papers dating from that decade.

The documents, which range from summaries of meetings to communiqués between civil servants to briefing notes for ministers, show a bureaucratic system that was entirely hands off and saw the adoption of Irish children born outside of marriage by foreign citizens as a fundamental ‘good’.

The papers detailing these adoptions are contained in Documents on Irish Foreign Policy Volume X, which covers the years 1951 to 1957, as published by the Royal Irish Academy.

At that time, as many as 10 Irish children a month, the vast majority of them born outside marriage and as a result resident in Catholic institutions, were being adopted by Americans. Some 330 such children left these shores between 1950 and 1952, with such records only being kept from the former date.

This trend was far from secret, and indeed was openly derided in the British press.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Editorial

In a morally important move, Timothy Cardinal Dolan in October handed famed mediator Ken Feinberg a blank check to make right by those victimized by clergy in the New York Archdiocese, covering Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island and points north.

The first round of victims who can apply for compensation are 150 people who had already lodged complaints to the church.

Their deadline is Jan. 31, and participation is important. The choice is deeply personal, but the alternatives are to suffer in silence or wait and see if New York someday passes a law allowing lapsed claims to resurface.

About half of the 150 people, 72, have submitted claims. Feinberg is carefully weighing the awful details of each case and so far has produced 33 offers to compensate for suffering.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Derry Now

Following the news that the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry Report has been presented to the First and Deputy First Ministers, the Survivors (North West) group have issued a statement calling on them to give the matter the attention it deserves.

A spokesperson for the group said: “As a result of the announcement, that the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry Report has been delivered to the First and Deputy First Ministers, we, Survivors (North West), hope that the First and Deputy First Ministers, will (notwithstanding other issues) give this report the attention that it deserves.

“Hundreds of Victims and Survivors have waited decades for justice. This Inquiry and the Report, we believe holds the key to that justice.

“Sir Anthony Hart, Chairperson of the Inquiry acknowledged in his statement on Friday both the pain and the courage of those who came forward to give evidence to the Inquiry. We have no reason to doubt that the Report will be a damning indictment of the system and the Institutions that he was charged with investigating.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Tom Cowie, Melissa Cunningham

Ridsdale, 82, will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court next Friday for a mention hearing as part of an investigation by Victoria Police’s Sano Taskforce.

The disgraced Catholic priest has been charged with multiple offences against a number of alleged victims from across Victoria.

Charges include rape, buggery and unlawful and indecent assault of children between the 1960s and 1980s, when he was a priest in the Ballarat diocese.

A number of Ridsdale’s alleged victims are understood to have come forward to Victoria Police in the wake of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Jan 09, 2017

By Krystal Paco

The Sunday pickets return. After taking a brief break for the holidays, dozens of members of the Concerned Catholics of Guam and the Laity Forward Movement resumed their Sunday morning protests on the steps of the Cathedral-Basilica.

Although most of their concerns have been addressed, they continue to demand that Archbishop Anthony Apuron be defrocked and removed of his title. Apuron faces a canonical trial in Rome as well as lawsuits here at home for alleged child molestation, which he has vehemently denied.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

The protesters took a two-week break in light of the holiday season.

Guam – After a two week hiatus from their weekly protests, members of the Laity Forward Movement and the Concerned Catholics of Guam were back at it, picketing this past Sunday in front of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagatna.

Although the crowd continues at the steady dozens, the number of demands is gradually decreasing.

It started with several messages on signs calling for the reinstatement of a few beloved priests who were ousted by Archbishop Anthony Apuron; the return of the Yona seminary to archdiocese control; and the removal and defrocking of Apuron stemming from allegations of sexual abuse.

With the reappointments of Father Paul Gofigan and Msgr. James Benavente into senior positions within the church and the reversal of a controversial deed restriction on the Redemptoris Mater Seminary property, the remaining message at Sunday’s protest is for Apuron to be defrocked.

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FLORIDA
ABC 7

NORTH FORT MYERS –
A child care worker was fired after being accused of child abuse at a North Fort Myers daycare.

Lee County deputies said Janet Crappse violently dropped a baby into a crib at Kings Kidz Academy. A spokesperson for the daycare said everything was caught on surveillance video.

Kings Kidz Academy is operated by North Shore Alliance Church on Mariana Avenue.

Crappse has been in trouble before. She was charged with theft in 2013. The head pastor said he didn’t know about Crappse’s previous charge and parents learned of the latest allegations on Thursday.

“She’s with the young kids; she’s with the babies,” said parent Nancy Macclugage.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

The recent case of a 64-year-old Moravian pastor charged with having sex with a minor is cause for great concern. According to police reports, about 9 p.m. on Wednesday, December 28, 2016, a motorised police patrol in the deep rural community of Austin in Myersville, south-east St Elizabeth, came upon a parked car in a secluded area.

It was reported that the pastor was found in a “compromising position” with a 15-year-old girl. They were taken to the Black River Police Station, where the pastor was charged with having sex with a girl under the age of 16 years.

After the story broke, I was interviewed on the radio programme ‘Beyond The Headlines’ about sexual abuse in the church, and made it clear that sex with minors is not confined to the church, but is a systemic problem throughout our society.

Following the broadcast, I received a message from a Christian friend of mine in my Facebook inbox. She confided to me that she is a member of the accused pastor’s church, and that stories of his inappropriate behavior had been circulating for some time, from even before he was transferred to his present location, and that she strongly believes that church hierarchy knew about it.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Shannon Deery, Herald Sun
January 9, 2017

CATHOLIC priest Gerald Ridsdale has been charged with fresh child sex offences.

The 82-year-old is listed to front the Melbourne Magistrates Court next week where it is expected he will appear via video-link.

The Herald Sun understands Ridsdale has been charged with abusing a string of children while working as a priest in the Ballarat diocese.

He worked at parishes including Ballarat, Mortlake and Warrnambool.

The charges follow Ridsdale’s evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By James Hancock

Former Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale has been charged with a string of historical sexual abuse charges, including rape, buggery, indecent assault and assault.

The 82-year-old has been charged with at least 36 offences.

Police allege the offences occurred at several places in western Victoria from the 1960s to the 1980s.

The charges were laid by the SANO Taskforce, which was set up to investigate historical and new allegations of child sex abuse involving religious and non-government organisations.

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AUSTRALIA
Weekly Times

Australian Associated Press
January 9, 2017

Former Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale will face court over dozens of fresh historical sexual abuse offences.

Police say an 82-year-old man has been charged with more than 36 offences including rape, buggery and indecent and common assault.

It’s alleged the offences occurred at various locations in the western region of Victoria from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Ridsdale was charged by the Sano Taskforce, which was set up to investigate historical and new allegations of child sex abuse involving religious and non-government organisations.

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NEW YORK
Post-Star

Ken Tingley

The letter was written on Dec. 14 and addressed to me.

It was a serious letter written by serious people of depth and conviction.

That was clear.

It asked difficult questions and made points that made me uncomfortable.

I read the letter more than once.

I thought about throwing it away.

I thought about writing about it, changed my mind and then read it again before putting it away.

There were not easy answers to their concerns.

So I thought about it over the past month. I thought about it a lot.

The letter was signed by one man, but he indicated he was representing “Sunday and daily Mass attenders” who described themselves as “The Church.”

The letter took issue with my columns about a proposed piece of legislation that would allow victims of sexual abuse — and more specifically those abused by clergy — to have a one-year period in which they could bring suit against their abusers.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

Sunday | January 8, 2017

Tamara Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Sunday service at the Nazareth Moravian Church in Manchester was the scene of a peaceful protest this morning by 14 women rallying support for the 15-year-old St Elizabeth girl allegedly abused by 64-year-old Rupert Clarke, the pastor of the congregation.

The 64-year-old pastor charged with having sex with a minor has been granted bail in the St Elizabeth Parish Court.

Clad in t-shirts bearing messages against sexual abuse, the women sat in the front rows of the congregation this morning.

The women, some of whom were themselves victims of sexual assault, expressed their anger at the church’s silence on the matter.

“They weren’t forced out of the church or anything but they definitely received some verbal attacks,” said a representative for the group, Taitu Heron noting that the women arrived in two sets.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Cian Murray, Alan O’Keefe
PUBLISHED
08/01/2017

An art installation which was designed to remember Ireland’s Mother and Baby Centres went up in flames in Dublin’s Temple Bar this afternoon.

The fire was located on the corner of Essex and Exchange Street near the Smock Alley Theatre.

A nearby premises, that wishes not to named, confirmed that the exhibition was alight until around 5:30pm, at which time it was extinguinshed.

Mannix Flynn, who designed the piece, said: “It is destroyed. The whole piece of work is destroyed. The artwork itseslf has been there for two years. It calls to remember all the children who have been vanished, the “Tuam babies” and also the many children we know nothing about in this part of our social history.”

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IRELAND
The Journal

AN ART INSTALLATION remembering the children who died in Ireland’s Mother and Baby centres has gone up in flames in Temple Bar this evening.

Pictures have circulated showing the artwork, which was unveiled by councillor Mannix Flynn in November last year, on fire.

The feature, which is located on the corner of Essex Street and Exchange Street in Temple Bar, had listed hundreds of names of children who were deemed ‘illegitimate’ by the State.

Councillor Flynn said it’s a great shame that the fire has started and said he hopes “that it can be salvaged”.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

WEEKLY PICKET: After going on break for a couple weeks in observance of the holiday season, protests continue in light of a message released by the Vatican concerning efforts to stamp out child sexual abuse. Lou Klitzkie, spokeswoman of the group composed of members of the lay organizations Laity Forward Movement and Concerned Catholics of Guam, said their mission remained the same: to keep protesting until Archbishop Anthony Apuron is both removed from his post as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana and defrocked of the vestments of the clergy. David Castro/Post

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IRELAND
Irish Central

Nick Bramhill @IrishCentral January 08, 2017

One of Ireland’s most prominent ‘silenced’ priests has announced he will defy Church authorities when he turns 70 later this month by celebrating a public Mass in his local community center.

Fr. Tony Flannery, the outspoken founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, was banned from public ministry nearly five years ago by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) for his liberal views on women priests, homosexuality and contraception.

Since the start of his censureship the respected Redemptorist, from Athenry, Co. Galway, has spoken of his heartache at being forced by Church leaders to turn down a number invitations to lead Mass in public places – including an occasion last March when he reluctantly declined an offer to conduct a service to dozens of cancer sufferers.

He has since accepted there is little chance of the Vatican leaders ever relaxing their ban on him, meaning a return to the priesthood is highly unlikely.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

Tom Moran
tmoran@starledger.com

My mother would have cried in joy to see Cardinal Joseph Tobin take over the Newark archdiocese on Friday, and for good reason.

Think of Tobin as our own Pope Francis. At the Vatican, he was the guy who defended spunky American nuns when conservatives wanted to discipline them for questioning church orthodoxies. And in Indiana, he was vigorous in his early and public embrace of Syrian refugees, as Jesus surely would have been.

“What I find is really important in positions like mine is being able to listen,” Tobin said.

Wow. That’s not the kind of Catholic leader I grew up with, to put it mildly. So to the 1.2 million Catholics in the archdiocese, a hearty congratulations and fervent best wishes that Tobin is as good as he seems.

Tobin’s elevation, of course, is only half the reason that Catholics are celebrating this week. The other is that Archbishop John Myers, a classic pedophile protector, is leaving.

Myers, who likes to be called “Your Grace,” will retire to an opulent estate in Hunterdon County that he has used church funds to gear up just right. It has five bedrooms, a three-car garage, two elevators, a swimming pool, an indoor hot tub, three fireplaces, and a gallery so large it takes up the entire third floor. All this for a bachelor.

The money spent on this home would have gone a long way to help poor families in the archdiocese. But Myers has his priorities. Sorry, your grace, but it has to be said. …

In his final months, Myers was still protecting pedophiles, and still lying about it with the careful word games of a smarmy public relations firm.

The recent case concerned Father Kevin Gugliotta, whose latest post was at the Holy Spirit Church in Union.

He was arrested in late October after police found child pornography on a computer at his vacation home in Pennsylvania. The obvious question is whether he endangered children in New Jersey during his decades as a priest in various parishes.

“There are no allegations that he may have engaged in similar activities in New Jersey,” Myers said in a statement issued by his office.

So we can relax and be assured that our kids, at least, were safe. Right?

Wrong. In 2003, a father of two children came forward to report that Gugliotta had fondled him 15 years earlier, just before Gugliotta became a priest. The alleged victim testified to both police and the archdiocese, and Gugliotta was suspended.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release, January 6, 2017

Statement by Joelle Casteix, volunteer western regional director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests SNAPNetwork.org, (949) 322-7434, jcasteix@gmail.com

New York’s families won a small victory today. Hopefully, the bill to extend the civil statute of limitations for victims of child sex crimes will finally become a law in New York State. Then, child predators across New York will be exposed. Survivors will get healing and a sense of justice.

[Washington Times]

The private institutions who employed and protected predators can be held accountable. Once that is done, we can work together with lawmakers to tackle the host of problems in writing a bill to address sexual abuse in our public institutions.The Catholic Church and other detractors should no longer fight statute of limitation reform. Cardinal Dolan’s victim compensation plan is short on transparency and details. The only way that victims and the public can be sure that all predators are exposed is to hold predators and the private institutions that employ them accountable in the tried-and-true civil justice system.

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UTAH
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Statement by Melanie Jula Sakoda, volunteer member of the Board of Directors of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (925-708-6175)

The President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Thomas S. Monson, has been subpoenaed by lawyers in a civil suit to answer questions about what Monson knows about accusations of sexual abuse in a church-run program on a Navajo reservation during the 1960s and 1970s. Monson is the only official from the time who is still alive. The LDS has indicated that they intend to try to quash the subpoena.

[Fox 13]

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, SNAP, believes that the best way to protect children, as well as insure a just result in the lawsuit, is to have the Mormon leader reveal what, if anything, he knows about abuse allegations within the program. The victims’ group urges the LDS Church to rethink their position and to allow Monson to freely testify in the deposition. Should the Mormons continue with their intended course of action, SNAP hopes that the judge in the proceeding will order Monson to comply with the subpoena.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

PARIS GOURTSOYANNIS

Nicola Sturgeon’s government is under growing pressure to make sex education compulsory in Catholic schools amid growing alarm about the impact that online pornography and “sexting” is having on children in Scotland.

Campaigners and politicians are warning that children educated in faith schools are being left behind when it comes to combating the sexual harassment and “sextortion” threats posed by those abusing internet technology.

Scottish ministers have been told that faith schools, which teach one in five pupils in Scotland and are almost all Catholic, should no longer be allowed to follow their own guidance on sex and relationship education.

The calls follow moves by the UK government to consider making sex education compulsory in all schools south of the border.

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