ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Rachel Browne

The NSW government’s child abuse reporting hotline is clogged with thousands of less serious cases that do not warrant high level investigation, a royal commission has heard.

Department of Family and Community Services secretary Michael Coutts-Trotter told the inquiry the large volume of less serious reports affected resources available for the more severe cases, known as “risk of significant harm” reports.

Almost half the reports made to the FaCS child protection helpline in 2016 did not meet the criteria for statutory action, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard.

“We have effectively 100 child protection caseworkers receiving reports of risk that don’t clear the statutory threshold and we really want to try to free that effort up to be more effective in keeping children safe,” Mr Coutts-Trotter said.

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KENYA
Vatican Radio

The Bishop of Nakuru Diocese in Kenya, Maurice Muhatia Makumba, has called on heads of Catholic Private Education Institutions to eradicate bullying and abuse in schools.

“In contemporary Kenya, we have been witnessing a culture that seems to condone and perpetuate the abuse of pupils and students by peers or adults such as, bullying, corporal punishment, sexual abuse and harassment, sexual orgies, sexual perversions, violence, cultism, drugs and substance abuse,” stated Bishop Muhatia.

“With effective leadership, educational institutions can prevent, detect and respond to such evils before they ruin our young people,” he said.

The Chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops Commission for Education and Religious Education was speaking Tuesday during the opening ceremony of the 3rd Annual Conference for the Catholic Private Educational Institutions Associations (CAPEIA) at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sydney Morning Herald

Nick Miller

London: “The word is kidnapped,” Edward Delaney says, of his being sent to Australia as a seven year-old, condemned to a boyhood of horrific abuse.

On Tuesday, he told Britain’s inquiry into child sexual abuse that he recently burnt his British passport, in fury at the injustice done to him – and to his parents, who had asked for him to return, but were fobbed off with the lie that he was in a better place.

Mr Delaney, 67, from Melbourne, was born in England to a single mother and lived in an orphanage while his mother saved money for rare visits from London.

But the orphanage signed papers to send him to Australia.

“I was purely and simply kidnapped out of a country, taken from my mother,” he told the inquiry. He was one of thousands sent in the post-war period, recruited by Anglican and Catholic institutions such as the Fairbridge Society.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Outlook

Dear brothers and sisters,

The Royal Commission has begun the so-called Catholic wrap-up. The three week final hearing focuses on not individual cases but the contributing factors and the deep causes of child sexual abuse and cover up in the Catholic Church in Australia over the last 60 years. All of the serving archbishops and several bishops including myself had to appear in front of the Commission and give our testimony in the witness box. It was not exactly like the Nuremberg trial. But in many ways, it was unprecedented.

It was a threshold moment and a transition point of profound significance for the Church in this country. Admission of systemic dysfunction, catastrophic failure and criminal negligence on the part of Church authorities of all levels gave credence to an institutional pathology. What is required for the Church to rid itself of this cancerous illness moving forward is not simply to treat the symptoms. We need to go to the root causes. We need to go back to the drawing board. We must have the courage to see how far we have strayed from the core values of the Gospel and to face up to the task of metanoia, that is, repenting of our sins and converting to the person and message of Christ, the humble suffering Servant.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Mar 08, 2017

By Krystal Paco

With the Archdiocesan Finance Council behind him Archbishop Michael Byrnes announced the establishment of a settlement fund of $1 million to aid victims of child sexual abuse. He said it will be developed and administered by a third party to establish the procedures for payment of claims. He said they are actively searching for an administrator of the fund.

“The establishment of the fund to aid victims is another concrete step in our effort to reach out to victims of child sexual abuse and do all that we can to help them … and help them heal… and help them find peace… help them find a sense of closure for what they dealt with fo so many years, the Archbishop said. AFC President Richard Untalan says the administrator does not necessarily have to be from Guam, but they are looking for someone with a legal background. He added the $1 million in the fund is just the starting point.

The money is from the liquidation of certain church assets but was not specific. When asked whether the RMS was part of the liquidation, Untalan said no but everything is on the table. He added currently an assessment of the property is being conducted. In total he said the church has assets of $132 million. The AFC is hoping to establish the fund in one month. Untalan says this shows our serious intent that we want this fund to operate independently and to address the sexual abuse victims.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com March 8, 2017

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes announced Wednesday the establishment of an initial $1 million aid fund for Guam’s clergy sex abuse victims.

“The establishment of this settlement fund to aid victims is just another concrete step in our effort to reach out to victims of child sexual abuse and to do all that we can to help them, to help them heal, to help them find peace, to help them find a sense of closure for what they dealt with for so many years. We know that money alone will not heal (their suffering), but to aid the healing with opportunity for counseling and any other kinds of service of assistance they might require,” Byrnes said.

Byrnes said there will be no requirement that claimants keep the fact or amount of their payment confidential. He said if new abusers are identified during the claims process, they will be reported to law enforcement and to the archdiocese by a third-party fund administrator, as required by law.

Archdiocesan Finance Council President Richard Untalan said the $1 million fund isn’t meant to settle out of court the $115 million in lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Agana.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Burton Mail

A children’s charity has told survivors of sexual abuse that they will be “listened to” in an attempt to get them to come forward, after a former teacher who assaulting a boy more than 35 years ago was finally caught.

Raymond Peter Thompson, from Burton, was given a 16-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Newport Crown Court on Friday, February 17, for the offence, which the family of the victim said has ruined his life.

Thompson had been a teacher at a primary school in Burton, and also taught a class at a Sunday school for a Baptist church in the town. He committed the offence while on a camping trip with the church in Sandown on the Isle of Wight between July 1, 1980, and August 31, 1980.

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GUAM
KUAM

[with video]

Updated: Mar 08, 2017

By Krystal Paco

With the Archdiocesan Finance Council behind him, Archbishop Michael Byrnes announced the establishment of a settlement fund of $1 million to aid victims of child sexual abuse. He said it will be developed and administered by a third-party to establish the procedures for payment of claims. He said they are actively searching for an administrator of the fund.

His Excellency announced, “The establishment of this settlement fund to aid victims is just another concrete step in our effort to reach out to victims of child sexual abuse and do all that we can to help them to help them heal, to help them find peace. To help them find a sense of closure for what they dealt with for so many years. We know that money alone will not heal – but it can aid the healing.”

AFC president Richard Untalan says the administrator does not necessarily have to be from Guam, but they are looking for someone with a legal background. He added the $1 million in the fund is just the starting point. The money is from the liquidation of certain church assets but was not specific. When asked whether the RMS was part of the liquidation, Untalan said no but everything is on the table.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Timothy Mchenry

The Archdiocese Finance Counsel held the first of several press conferences to discuss church finances in the wake of multiple clergy sex abuse lawsuits.

Guam – The Archdiocese of Agana has set up a fund created to help the victims of clergy sexual abuse. But, chairman of the newly-created archdiocese finance council said, the church is hurting financially, and has begun to liquidate assets to help recover from the multiple lawsuits facing the church.

“What I’d like to present to you today is the establishment of a fund to aid victims of child sexual abuse,” said Byrnes.

According to Byrnes, the fund has a current balance of 1 million dollars but is not limited in the amount it will generate. Modeled after a similar fund established by the Archdiocese of New York. So how does it work exactly?

AFC chair Rich Untalan emphasized the need for the administering of funds and the fund itself to be free of church influence which he says is important to allow victims to gain a sense of comfort when discussing their abuse.

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GUAM
Associated Press

BY GRACE GARCES BORDALLO
ASSOCIATED PRESS

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — The Roman Catholic Church of Guam has established a $1 million settlement fund for victims of child sexual abuse.

In a news conference with his nine-member archdiocese finance council, Archbishop Michael J. Byrnes said the funds will become available as soon as the archdiocese has put in place an administrator who will be supported by an independent third party. After these are in place, Byrnes said victims can contact the administrator directly. He added victims’ confidentiality will be respected.

To date, 24 victims have filed a lawsuit for clergy child sexual abuse against the archdiocese of Agana in Guam.

Byrnes said the archdiocese has taken steps to revamp its sexual abuse policy.

“We will show no tolerance to abusers,” Byrnes said.

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OHIO
Dayton Daily News

Jeremy P. Kelley
Monday, March 6, 2017

A claim of sexual abuse against Aaron Chivington, a Fairborn pastor who coached middle school basketball for Fairborn City Schools, has been ruled unsubstantiated.

“I knew that the stories that were told about me were greatly exaggerated versions of the truth, so I really wasn’t worried about if we were going to be cleared, it was just a matter of when,” he said.

Chivington was placed on administrative leave by the school district Jan. 5 after complaints were lodged against him by a parent, according to Fairborn Superintendent Mark North.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – Conversations

Joanne McCarthy’s stories in The Newcastle Herald helped spark a world-first Royal Commission.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began in 2013 and concludes this year.

Joanne first started reporting the activities of paedophile priests in the Hunter-Maitland Diocese of the Catholic Church in 2002.

Many of their victims were very young children when they were terribly abused.

And while she’s won acclaim for her work, hearing so many victims’ stories has taken a toll.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Altoona Mirror

Editorial

The reforms announced Monday by the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese in regard to addressing allegations of child sex abuse are an encouraging step that all should welcome.

Still, there are unanswered questions that many parishioners of this diocese likely are harboring in the aftermath of the news conference at which the positive moves were announced by Bishop Mark Bartchak and acting Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song.

To briefly recap:

– A five-member Independent Oversight Board for Youth Protection, whose mission will be to advise diocesan officials on child abuse prevention and enforcement, will be established.

– All members of the current review board, which is charged with advising the bishop on abuse cases, will be replaced.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
8 Mar 2017

CONVICTED Catholic paedophile priest Vince Ryan and convicted Hunter Marist Brother Romuald have been charged with fresh child sex offences over three decades.

Strike Force Georgiana Detective Senior Constable Luke Briggs charged Mr Ryan, 78, with six child sex offences on Wednesday, including three charges of indecently assaulting two boys, aged 10 and 11, at St Joseph’s Primary School at The Junction in 1973 and 1974.

He was also charged with three offences involving a boy, aged 9-12, at Cessnock between 1988 and 1991. He was charged with two sexual assault offences and one charge of attempting sexual intercourse with the boy.

Mr Ryan was jailed for 14 years in the late 1990s for offences against nearly 30 Hunter boys.

On Monday Strike Force Georgiana Detective Senior Constable Simon Grob charged former Hamilton Marist Brother Romuald – real name Francis Cable – with 14 offences against five victims aged 13-14, between 1971 and 1974.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Donna De Jesus

55-year-old Anthony Flores shared his story and urges other victims to come forward.
Guam – The Archdiocese of Agana now has 24 victims filing a lawsuit against the church for allegations of child sexual abuse, after 55-year-old Anthony Flores came forward, accusing former priest Father Louis Brouillard.

Brouillard was also a scoutmaster with the Boy Scouts of America. After four decades, Anthony Flores broke his silence about the abuse. Flores is one of many victims to come forward and file a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana, but this is the first time the Boy Scouts of America were named as defendants and the first time a lawsuit has been filed jointly with a mainland law firm, Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala PLLC.

Flores told PNC that he decided to come forward when two other victims accused the church of abuse. He says he served as an altar boy with them in the 1970’s, and tried to help by reporting the abuse to Monsignor Zoilo Camacho at the time, who Flores says did not believe him.

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GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon |For The Guam Daily Post Mar 8, 2017

Two former altar boys have come forward and filed lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Agana and the late Father Antonio C. Cruz for alleged sexual abuse that occurred on the parish grounds at Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey Catholic Church in Chalan Pago.

Richard Scroggs, 57, and Tomas Afaisen De Plata, 62, allege they were sexually abused and molested by Cruz when he was the parish priest.

De Plata alleges that he was repeatedly sexually molested by Cruz. In September 1963, Cruz offered to pay De Plata to help clean the Chalan Pago parish rectory. The lawsuit states that Cruz left to meet another priest then returned and called De Plata to his bedroom and began performing oral copulation on him. In the midst of the sexual act, Father Louis Brouillard entered the room and took pictures of Cruz performing oral sex on the 11-year-old boy, the lawsuit alleges.

Brouillard allegedly told Cruz, “I’ll give you the pictures later.” Cruz instructed De Plata not to say anything and paid him $50.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com March 8, 2017

One of two additional clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed Wednesday said a now-deceased priest kept nude photos of “numerous altar boys” and priests “committing sexual acts on minors.”

Tomas Afaisen De Plata and Richard Daniel Scroggs’ separate complaints bring to 26 the total number of clergy sexual abuse lawsuits filed thus far against the Archdiocese of Agana and Catholic clergy.

De Plata, now 62, said the now deceased Rev. Antonio C. Cruz sexually abused him as an altar boy multiple times around 1963 to 1965 when he was 11 to 13 years old. He and Scroggs are represented by Attorney David Lujan.

The complaint says Cruz handed him an envelope with $50 in exchange for not saying anything about Father Louis Brouillard taking a photo of Cruz while performing a sexual act on De Plata at the rectory of the Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey Catholic Church in Chalan Pago.

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UNITED STATES
Lexology

Sedgwick LLP

Cara Vecchione
USA March 7 2017

In Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA v. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, No. 653575/2014, 2017 WL 748834 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cty. February 27, 2017), a New York trial court held that the Diocese must pay multiple self-insured retentions per year — one per occurrence — in a coverage dispute involving claims that foster care agencies affiliated with the Diocese negligently placed ten children with an abusive foster mother over a twenty-two year period.

The trial court tracked the reasoning of the Court of Appeals in a separate coverage dispute concerning claims of sexual abuse by a priest, Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 21 N.Y.3d 139 (2013). In Diocese of Brooklyn, the Court of Appeals made clear that the “unfortunate event” test should be applied to determine whether separate incidents are characterized as one occurrence, absent policy language demonstrating an intent to aggregate the incidents into a single occurrence. The Court of Appeals dismissed the argument that the acts of abuse should be deemed a single occurrence because they amounted to “continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions.” Applying the “unfortunate event” test, the Court of Appeals held that numerous incidents of molestation by the same priest against one plaintiff constituted multiple occurrences, in part because the acts of abuse took place in several locations over a six year period and were not precipitated by the same causal continuum.

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UNITED STATES
Voice of the Faithful

Rev. Thomas P. Doyle, who has a doctorate in canon law and five master’s degrees, sacrificed a rising career at the Vatican Embassy to become an outspoken advocate for church abuse victims. Since 1984, when he became involved with the issue of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy while serving at the Embassy, he has become an expert in the canonical and pastoral dimensions of this problem—working directly with victims, their families, accused priests, and Church officials.

SNAP is well known by sex abuse survivors throughout the world. It’s also well known by those who still believe the clergy abuse phenomenon is a gross exaggeration that is primarily about harming the Church.

SNAP was started by Barbara Blaine in 1988. Barbara is a survivor of sexual violation by a priest whom she and her family trusted. She was violated as a pre-teen. By the time she was a young woman the scars were still as painful as ever. Barbara started SNAP as a support group for other survivors because, as she herself has said, “No one else would help so we had to help ourselves.”

Barbara was dead right. I have been involved with survivors since 1984. I have heard many … more than I can count … tell their sad and shocking stories. All were from devout Catholic families and naturally turned to the Church for help, but to their added shock they found they were being ignored, lied to, threatened into silence and in general treated as if they had some sort of communicable disease. Barbara Blaine experienced this and had the courage to stand up rather than stay a victim.

SNAP grew steadily because the number of victims increased when the media began actually covering it and not burying it. SNAP and the LINKUP were the only places victims could go for support. The Church was no help. In fact, when victims got involved with the Church, even to a minor degree, they almost always ended up being re-traumatized.

By the nineties, SNAP members were not just sitting in rooms listening to each other’s stories. They were organizing for a purpose: to get the attention of the bishops and the institutional church. Sex abuse by clerics was far more widespread than anyone imagined and certainly far, far worse than the Church spokespersons claimed.

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IRELAND
Evening Echo

A woman has revealed how her baby boy “was just left to die” days after he was born in a mother-and-baby home in Co. Cork in 1961.

Bridget, who is in her 70s and lives in England, rang RTE Radio One’s Liveline today to tell of how her son William was born in Bessborough, Cork, but died after only six weeks.

She described how her baby fell ill after only three days in the institution, but was only brought to hospital nearly three weeks later despite Bessborough knowing that her baby “was desperately ill”.

She said she believes her baby would have survived if he received the medical attention he needed at the time.

She also revealed how nuns said her baby “would be easier to sell” because he was a boy, and they insisted on giving him a Catholic name, rather than the name she wanted, for the same reason.

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INDIA
New Indian Express

By Babu K Peter | Express News Service

KOCHI: Even as a deluge of support pours in for Fr Robin, accused in the Kottiyoor sexual abuse case, the Kerala Theological Association (KTA) has issued an apology while accepting “the clergy may have deviated from the pious path”.

KTA, an organisation of priests, members of religious congregations and laymen engaged in research in theology, has tendered the apology in a statement to the victim, her family, the Catholic community and to society. “The unfortunate incident evokes nothing but apology. We apologise for deviating from the spiritual way and for misleading the people,” a statement issued by Fr Vincent Kundukulam said.

“It is an opportunity for priests to do a self-introspection. There is no point in covering it up by saying “we are also humans, after all,” he said.

Society holds priests in high regard as the people have great expectations from them. Emotional outbursts and reactions on media indicate how much trust and respect they have reposed in them, the statement said. It’s a misconception a person becomes divine once he is ordained a priest. If you consider priesthood as a profession and drift away from Jesus and the poor, you will fall, he said.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Denise Calnan
March 7 2017

A woman has told of how nuns at a mother and baby home forced her to change her baby son’s name “so he would be easier to sell”.

Bridget, who rang RTE Radio One’s Liveline today, told of how her son William was born in 1961 in Bessborough, Cork and died just six weeks later. Bridget, aged in her seventies and who now lives in England, described how she sensed something was wrong the moment she arrived at the mother and baby home.

She also described how nuns were “delighted” when they saw she gave birth to a baby boy, as he would “be easier to sell” and insisted that he be given the Catholic name of Gerard for the same reason.

She said she believes her baby would have survived if he received the medical attention he needed at the time.

Bridget was working in Ireland when she fell pregnant aged 17. She joined a work agency to get a travel fare to the UK where she continued to work until the summer before her due date.

“They paid my fare so I went to London and was working away, but I had it in the back of my mind, ‘what am I going to do?’,” an emotional Bridget told Liveline.

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IRELAND
The Guardian

Emer O’Toole

It has been confirmed that significant numbers of children’s remains lie in a mass grave adjacent to a former home for unmarried mothers run by the Bon Secours Sisters in Tuam, County Galway. This is exactly where local historian Catherine Corless, who was instrumental in bringing the mass grave to light, said they would be. A state-established commission of inquiry into mother and baby homes recently located the site in a structure that “appears to be related to the treatment/containment of sewage and/or waste water”, but which we are not supposed to call a septic tank.

The archbishop of Tuam, Michael Neary, says he is “deeply shocked and horrified”. Deeply. Because what could the church have known about the abuse of children in its institutions? When Irish taoiseach Enda Kenny was asked if he was similarly shocked, he answered: “Absolutely. To think you pass by the location on so many occasions over the years.” To think. Because what would Kenny, in Irish politics since the 70s, know about state-funded, church-perpetrated abuse of women and children? Even the commission of inquiry – already under critique by the UN – said in its official statement that it was “shocked by this discovery”.

If I am shocked, it is by the pretence of so much shock. When Corless discovered death certificates for 796 children at the home between 1925 and 1961 but burial records for only two, it was clear that hundreds of bodies existed somewhere. They did not, after all, ascend into heaven like the virgin mother. Corless then uncovered oral histories from reliable local witnesses, offering evidence of where those children’s remains could be found. So what did the church and state think had happened? That the nuns had buried the babies in a lovely wee graveyard somewhere, but just couldn’t remember where?

Or maybe the church and state are expressing shock that nuns in mid-20th century Ireland could have so little regard for the lives and deaths of children in their care. The Ryan report in 2009 documented the systematic sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children in church-run, state-funded institutions. It revealed that when confronted with evidence of child abuse, the church would transfer abusers to other institutions, where they could abuse other children. The Christian Brothers legally blocked the report from naming and shaming its members. Meanwhile, Cardinal Seán Brady – now known to have participated in the cover-up of abuse by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth – muttered about how ashamed he was.

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IRELAND
The Journal

[with video]

TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY used strong and emotive words in the Dáil today when discussing the Tuam mother and baby home revelations.

Today, Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone agreed to carry out a “small scoping exercise” to assess if it is possible to expand the existing terms of reference to include other homes into the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes.

Speaking in response to a question from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin in the Dáil today, Kenny said, “we gave them up because of our perverse, in fact, morbid relationship with what is called respectability”.

The Taoiseach was addressing the Dáil following last week’s revelations that substantial amounts of human remains were discovered on the site of a former mother and baby home in Tuam, County Galway.

Since the discovery, a number of survivors have called for the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes to be expanded.

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IRELAND
Irish Sun

By ADAM HIGGINS
7th March 2017

MORE than 6,000 women and children died in Ireland’s mother and baby homes, according to a survivor group.

Last week it was revealed the bodies of 800 babies were hidden in a septic tank in Tuam at one of the horror facilities run by the Bon Secour nuns.

The Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors today called for an urgent meeting with the Taoiseach to resolve the outstanding issues facing their elderly members.

The Coalition is made up of seven different survivors groups including Adoption Rights Now, The Bethany Home Survivors, Beyond Adoption Ireland, Adopted Illegally Ireland, The Castlepollard Mother And Baby Home Group, The Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse and The Adoption Coalition Worldwide.

The group are urging the Government to include all living survivors in the Commission of Inquiry that will look at what happened in these institutions.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

[with video]

Johnstown, Pa. – For victim advocate Shaun Dougherty, the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Attorney and the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese represented great talk, but wants to see great action.

Dougherty believes the Diocese should join the push for retroactivity as the step to preventing child sex abuse crimes. He explained, “I applaud the Bishop for the first step, I’d like to see him take the next big step and support Rep. Rozzi’s bill.”

Rep. Mark Rozzi’s bill would allow the elimination of the statue of limitations to apply to past cases. Dougherty believes that law would bring the great action he’s looking for instead of just the joint memorandum.

He explained, “First of all, it’s just a memorandum. This isn’t anything legally binding. The Bishop could have just been making a speech today. You know, he has to follow up on the things that he’s said. A law, is a law. And that changes everything.”

Even though it’s not legally binding, Bishop Mark Bartchak assured that this isn’t just talk and there is no going back. He said, “By putting all this out in the public, I can’t shrink from this and I don’t intend to.” He later continued, “God help a Bishop that comes later who tries to undo that because we need to protect children.”

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INDIA
Times of India

Mahir Haneef | TNN | Mar 7, 2017

KOCHI: A nun, who has been named as accused in a rape case involving a minor girl by a priest at Kottiyoor in Kannur, has approached the Kerala high court seeking anticipatory bail.

The pre-arrest bail plea was filed by sister Ophilia, who was the superintendent of the orphanage.

She and four other nuns are accused of trying to cover up the crime and have been charged with offences under provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). The girl, a plus one student, had given birth to a child at Christuraj Hospital at Koothuparamba.

After the delivery, the child was taken to orphanage where the petitioner was the superintendent. Sister Ophilia is the eighth accused in the case and is accused of not informing the child welfare committee about receiving the child.

In the petition to the high court, the nun said she has nothing to hide and that she had recorded receiving of the child in the register maintained at the orphanage.

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IRELAND
Joe

BY ALAN LOUGHNANE

Something for your Wednesday night.

TV3 will broadcast a shocking documentary which looks into the true scale of the scandal involving Mother and Baby homes this week.

Following the horrific discovery of a mass grave in Tuam last week which contained the bodies of as many as 800 babies, TV3’s documentary will look into the scandal which saw tens of thousands of women incarcerated against their will and exceptionally high rates of infant mortality.

Featuring interviews with people who lived in the homes, the documentary was originally aired in 2014 but will be shown again on TV3 at 11pm on Wednesday.

It examines how the scandal was not isolated in the Catholic Church but tells another story of Bethany Home in Dublin, run by the Church of Ireland. In this home child mortality rates were exceptionally high and mass graves were also used.

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IRELAND
Midlands 103

Sinn Féin wants Gardaí to secure the sites of the former mother and baby homes in Castlepollard and Roscrea.

Mary Lou McDonald says the message they have received from survivors is that the State hasn’t responded appropriately to the discovery of a mass grave in Tuam, Co. Galway

The Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors has today called for more institutions to be included in the commission of inquiry.

Fourteen former homes are being examined including Manor House in Castlepollard and Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea.

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IRELAND
The Journal

THE COMMISSION OF Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes might be expanded to include more institutions, according to a report from the Irish Times this morning.

The current terms of reference, or the guidelines for what the inquiry will look into, will focus on 14 mother and baby homes and four county homes.

But after the confirmation that a ‘significant’ amount of foetal and children’s remains were found in a sewage system near the Tuam mother and baby home, the government is considering expanding the terms of reference to include more institutions.

According to the Justice for Magdalenes research organisation, there are 180 institutions, agencies and individuals who were involved with unmarried mothers and their children.

The Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors say that approximately 35,000 women and girls went through nine mother and baby homes, including the one at Tuam, between 1904 and 1996.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Colm Keena

The Bon Secours order of nuns which ran the former Tuam mother and baby home now runs one of the largest private hospital groups in Ireland and has a substantial property portfolio.

The order’s hospital group produced a profit of €2.3 million in 2015, during which year it paid €3 million to the order in rent.

Founded in France, the first sisters from the Bon Secours (good help) order came to Ireland in the years after the famine and were soon involved in providing a range of services to the sick and the poor.

The order opened its first hospital in 1951, in Glasnevin, Dublin, and the group now also operates hopitals in Galway, Limerick, Cork and Tralee, as well as a care village in Cork. In 2015 it had about 2,700 staff who worked with 350 medical consultants and saw more than 200,000 patients.

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IRELAND
Galway Bay FM

Galway Bay fm newsroom – A Ballinasloe man is seeking leave to bring judicial review proceedings against Tusla in a bid to get all information that exists concerning his infant sister’s time at the Tuam mother and baby home.

73 year old Peter Mulryan, of Derrymullen is taking the action to find out what happened to his infant sibling, who was born at the home in 1954.

The High Court heard that Mr Mulryan is extremely ill with cancer and is anxious to find out what happened to his sister Marian Bridget Mulryan.

According to the Irish Times, records show she died in February 1955, just nine months after her birth at the home – but Mr Mulryan is unsure if she died, if she was trafficked, or if she is buried in the pit at the home.

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UNITED STATES
International Business Times

By Ewan Palmer
March 7, 2017

A leading US-based conservative civil rights campaigner has once again dismissed reports that remains of hundreds of babies and infants found in a sewage chamber at a home for unmarried mothers and their babies in Ireland as “fake news”.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said there is “no evidence” that up to 800 babies had been buried at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home site in Tuam, Co Galway, as part of a cover-up dating back to the 1920s.

This is despite an official report by the Irish Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes saying a “significant quantities of human remains” of babies and infants ranging from 35 foetal weeks to two to three years old had been discovered in several underground chambers located below the disused institution.

A spokesperson for the Commission added they were “shocked by this discovery and is continuing its investigation into who was responsible for the disposal of human remains in this way.”

Donohue previously described the claims of the discovery of the remains as “fake news”. Writing in Catholicleague.org, he added: “It was a lie in 2014 and it is a lie in 2017. There is no evidence of a mass grave outside a home for unmarried women operated by nuns in Tuam, Ireland, near Galway, in the 20th century. The hoax is now back again, and an obliging media are running with the story as if it were true.”

In a separate post, Donohue has repeated his claims the story of the discovery of hundred of babies and children in Tuam is a untrue.

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IRELAND
Connacht Tribune

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Sinn Féin says the Garda Commissioner needs to make a statement on the developments at the former Mother and Baby home in Tuam.

The party says the one message it has received from survivors is that the State hasn’t responded in the way they had expected in relation to the discovery of a mass grave.

Meanwhile, the Children’s Minister will today brief her cabinet colleagues on the latest developments in relation to the discovery.

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IRELAND
RTE News

Gardaí say they are liaising with the local coroner in Co Galway, following the revelation that significant quantities of infants’ remains were found on the site of the former mother and baby home in Tuam.

It is understood any decision on garda involvement in the matter will be made following considerations by the coroner.

The matter was referred to the north Galway coroner by the Mother and Baby Home Commission of Investigation, following analysis of bones found in two underground structures.

The 1962 Coroners’ Act states that unexplained deaths have to be reported, regardless of when they are thought to have occurred.

Scientific analysis of the remains found in Tuam has dated them to the same period when the Bon Secours sisters operated a home in the town.

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IRELAND
Galway Bay FM

Galway Bay fm newsroom – A white ribbon protest will take place later this week outside the Bon Secours Hospital in Renmore in light of the Tuam babies scandal (10/03 ).

The event is being organised by People Before Profit Galway.

The group claims that the institutional structure which involved the Bons Secours order, state agencies and the Catholic Church are to blame.

PBP Galway is outlining a number of demands including the creation of a memorial to the victims, and that the Bons Secours group re-consider the existence of their order.

The white ribbon protest will get underway outside the Bon Secours Hospital at 5.30 on Friday evening.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Tuesday, March 07, 2017

Enda Kenny has described the horror of the Tuam buried babies discovery but refused to commit to widening the inquiry so that up to 180 institutions are investigated, writes Juno McEnroe, Political Correspondent.

Amid claims in the Dáil that the commission of investigation terms are inadequate, Mr Kenny said he would not interfere with the independent probe as well as the separate role of gardaí and coroners.

He was speaking after the shock confirmation last week that “significant” infants remains have been found at the former Church-run site in Galway.

Mr Kenny described the find as a “social and cultural sepulchre”. He conceded that the State had been responsible for placing children in the mother-and-baby institutions.

Mr Kenny also said it was important to deal with the issue now rather than wait another 20 years.

But he refused to address calls to extend the remit of the inquiry.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Marie O’Halloran

Taoiseach Enda Kenny described Ireland of the era of mother and baby homes as a “social and cultural sepulchre” or tomb.

In an angry response to the discovery of the remains of children in Tuam, Mr Kenny described it as a “chamber of horrors”. He said “we better deal with this now” because if they did not another taoiseach in 20 years would be saying, “if we only knew then, if only we had done then. But his or her then is our now. And now we do know and now we have to do now, all of us in this House together.”

The Taoiseach said “we need some little time to reflect on the issue.”

He was responding to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin who said “there must be a resolve by Government and Oireachtas to once and for all address the gaps in services for children in this country by a resolve to comprehensively invest in these services”.

The Fianna Fáil leader highlighted the lack of services including the current homelessness of 2,500 children.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

[with video]

State broadcaster RTÉ has produced a poignant video to remember the 796 children who died in the Tuam Mother and Baby Home.

The video, which runs for almost five minutes, lists each infant along with the year they died and their age.

“The work of Catherine Corless brought to light 796 children’s death certs relating to the home in Tuam. Here are all of their names,” the broadcaster said in a tweet from the Claire Byrne Live show.

Ms Corless, an amateur historian, is credited with bringing to light the burial of children in an unmarked ground on the property.

Ms Corless has written in the Irish Independent this week about the 798 death certificates in total she investigated (two of the children were buried in the main Tuam graveyard as they were orphans).

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

John Downing
March 7 2017

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has described the Tuam Mother and Baby Home – where hundreds of babies’ remains were discovered – as “a chamber of horrors.”

In a very strongly-worded response to questions about the controversy, Mr Kenny said the Tuam revelations did not only concern a mass grave – but “a social and cultural sepulchre.”

Mr Kenny said the revelations were a cause of shock and shame across the country. He said the nuns who ran mother and baby homes did not “kidnap children” – society gave up the children to these nuns, in part to spare them the viciousness of gossip.

“Women of that era had an amazing capacity to self-impregnate,” he said with irony in reference to widespread hypocrisy in Irish society in recent generations.

The Taoiseach was replying to questions from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin who praised the work of historian, Catherine Corless, in bringing these cases to light. He condemned the treatment of single mothers, who broke societal rules on sexual behaviour, and the treatment of their children.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A victim of physical and sexual abuse at a Catholic orphanage in Australia has revealed how he turned on one of his tormentors – threatening to cut his throat if he “laid a finger on him”.

Edward Delaney told the inquiry into child abuse a Christian Brother had regularly beaten him with a strap, to which a hacksaw blade had been fixed.

He was among thousands of children sent to Australia in the post-war period under UK government-approved schemes.

Mr Delaney said it was “kidnapping”.

The first phase of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales is looking at the way organisations have protected children outside the UK.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

[Tuam babies horror is “fake news” says Bill Donohue of the Catholic League – IrishCentral]

Bill Donohue comments on the accuracy of Irish Central:

Irish Central employs dunces. Here’s the latest proof.

Cahir O’Doherty likes to write boilerplate stories, and as a result his ability to get facts straight is seriously compromised. He, like many others, is experiencing apoplexy over my analysis of the fake news story about a “mass grave” containing the bodies of 800 children in Tuam, Ireland.

He says that Catherine Corless, the person peddling the hoax, “never spoke of” a mass grave. Wrong. On May 25, 2014, Alison O’Reilly of the Irish Daily Mail quoted Corless saying, “I am certain there are 796 children in the mass grave.”

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SCOTLAND
The Times

Will Humphries
March 7 2017
The Times

A church minister who killed himself has been accused by his wife of having affairs with seven of his congregation, it is claimed.

The Rev Iain Campbell was head of the Free Church of Scotland and a Presbyterian scholar whose recorded sermons were listened to by thousands of followers around the world.

His death in January aged 53 shocked devout communities on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, where the Sabbath is strictly observed.

Hundreds would gather to hear Mr Campbell, a father of three, deliver 40-minute sermons on the perils of sin and the sanctity of marriage, but now the Free Church of Scotland is investigating allegations said to have been made by his wife, Anne, 54, that he had committed adultery among his flock. The church, which has about 15,000 adherents, said that it was taking the allegations very seriously and would act on them.

A source told the Daily Mail: “It is said Anne was suspicious about Iain’s activities and confronted him, allegedly after finding compromising emails in his trash files. After first taking an overdose, he hanged himself in hospital in Stornoway. He died later in Glasgow. He is now accused of up to seven affairs, all with full church members.

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NEDERLAND
Express

Marie Collins, een Ierse vrouw die in haar jeugd seksueel misbruikt werd door een priester, heeft ontslag genomen uit de commissie die paus Franciscus adviseert in de strijd tegen kindermisbruik in de kerk.

De Pauselijke Commissie voor de Bescherming van Minderjarigen werd drie jaar geleden door de paus in het leven geroepen met als doelstelling maatregelen voor te stellen die kinderen en minderjarigen binnen de kerk moeten beschermen tegen pedofilie. De katholieke kerk kwam de voorbije decennia herhaaldelijk in opspraak vanwege seksschandalen met minderjarigen en dat in zowat alle landen waar ze actief is.

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We Are Church

After more than 3 years in office the efforts by Pope Francis to reform the Roman Catholic Church are stalling. The conservative curia are fighting to retain power and control and are blocking reforms by Pope Francis to make our church more compassionate in the image of Christ. The most powerful dicastry in the Vatican is the Congregation for Doctrine and Faith (CDF) with Cardinal Gerhard Müller at its head. The CDF has now been shown to have:

* Refused the request from the Pontifical Abuse Commission that all letters from survivors should receive a reply
* Refused to allow a tribunal to be set up to investigate and censure bishops regarding covering up sexual abuse
* Refused to change the processes it uses for investigating priests & religious which are unjust and in breach of natural justice

Sigrid Grabmeier, Chair of We Are Church International, said, “The CDF has come to symbolize those aspects of our Church that serve to protect and preserve institutional power, often at the expense of the people of God. Many Catholics see it as perverting rather than exemplifying the Gospel. For the good of our Church, substantive change—a conversion, really—is needed in this important office. And quickly.”

In order to move forward towards a renewed and reformed church We Are Church International call on Pope Francis to replace Cardinal Gerhard Müller with someone who will introduce transparency, justice and compassion in the CDF.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bulletin

Appointment of auxiliary bishop of Saint Louis, U.S.A.

The Holy Father has appointed as auxiliary bishop of Saint Louis, U.S.A., Msgr. Mark S. Rivituso, of the clergy of the same archdiocese, assigning him the titular see of Turuzi. Msgr. Rivituso is currently vicar general.

Msgr. Mark S. Rivituso

Msgr. Mark S. Rivituso was born on 20 September 1961 in Saint Louis, Missouri, in the same archdiocese. After attending the “Saint Mary High School” in Saint Louis, he carried out his ecclesiastical studies at the “Cardinal Glennon College Seminary” and the “Kenrick Seminary” in Saint Louis. He subsequently obtained a licentiate in canon law from the “Saint Paul” University of Ottawa, Canada (1996).

He was ordained a priest for the archdiocese of Saint Louis on 16 January 1988.

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IRELAND
The Journal

DEIRDRE WADDING WAS 18-years-old when she entered the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork.

It was 1981, and though Wadding said she was not a victim of “cruelty or physical abuse”, she, like the other girls at the home, suffered emotional and psychological abuse that would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

“I shared a room with a girl who was only 13-years-old, she was a child. I was 18, she sobbed her heart out for her mother every night and I mean it was incredibly, incredibly traumatic,” she said.

“The trauma of banishment, you had the trauma of guilt and shame that was imposed by the very fact of being there. You had the enormous trauma and sorrow of loss of your child being placed for adoption and that’s something that’s left a lasting impact on my life.”

Speaking to TheJournal.ie earlier today, Wadding, who is a People Before Profit councillor in Wexford, explained that all of the girls in the convent were given a new name that they could pick themselves – she chose ‘Ciara’.

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IRELAND
Irish Mirror

BYAMY COLES
7 MAR 2017

A mother and baby home survivor said he was close to being “one of those children left in a mass grave” after he suffered multiple illnesses as a baby.

Derek Leinster was born in the Protestant Bethany Home, in Rathgar, Dublin, in 1941.

At four-and-a-half-months old he was “torn” from his mother’s arms and left to suffer through horrific diseases like pneumonia and diphtheria.

Fortunately he survived, but was dangerously close to becoming one of the 220 babies and toddlers who died at the home between 1922 and 1949.

Derek said many of them were buried in paupers’ graves.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Luke Byrne and Ryan Nugent
March 7 2017

Dublin city’s senior archaeologist has told the private developer of a former Catholic institution that the site may contain human burials.

Dr Ruth Johnson indicated that because the property at The Crescent, Donnybrook, was a former Magdalene Laundry, it could contain remains.

Significantly, her observation was made as part of the planning process in September 2016, five months before the confirmed discovery of children’s remains at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam last week.

There are calls for every Magdalene Laundry, mother and baby home and industrial school to be searched for secret deposits of human remains – and to halt development on these sites until this is completed.

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UNITED STATES
IrishCentral

[THE DUNCES AT IRISH CENTRAL – Catholic League]

Cahir O’Doherty @randomirish March 07, 2017

He says not to believe the Commission of Investigation, don’t believe the Irish government, don’t even believe the Catholic Bishops, who have just reacted with “shock” and “shame” at the discovery of “significant human remains” at the former Mother and Baby Home at Tuam, County Galway.

Only Bill Donohue of the Catholic League in New York knows the truth – the same kind of “truth” Holocaust deniers might approve of.

He says it is all ‘fake news,’ nothing to see, no one to be held to account over 800 dead children in a Mother and Baby home in Tuam, County Galway.

He besmirches the memory of helpless young children, some literally emaciated and starved to death, in pursuit of his own grandiose and grotesque need for attention.

He’s the only one who knows the story of a “mass grave” in County Galway is pure hokum. “It was a lie in 2014 and it is a lie in 2017,” he writes.

“There is no evidence of a mass grave outside a home for unmarried women operated by nuns in Tuam, Ireland, near Galway, in the 20th century. The hoax is now back again, and an obliging media are running with the story as if it were true.”

He is contradicting his own Catholic bishops, who accept the horror of what happened at the home.

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IRELAND
Irish Sun

BY ED CARTY
7th March 2017

SURVIVORS of institutions for unmarried mothers and their babies have called for an urgent meeting with the Taoiseach over demands to extend an inquiry into deaths in the homes.

A commission set up to investigate alleged abuse at one Catholic Church facility in Tuam, Co Galway has excavated part of a burial site and found a “significant” quantity of human remains in “underground chambers”.

The Coalition of Mother And Baby Home Survivors said it wants all living people who passed through that home or any of the other facilities to be included in a statutory investigation.

A spokesperson said: “It is deeply unfair and hurtful to our community that so many of our fellow survivors have been omitted from the inquiry.

“The real issue here is Ireland’s treatment of single mothers and their babies, not what happened to some of them behind the high walls of the mother and baby homes.

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IRELAND
Newstalk

7 Mar 2017
Stephen McNeice

Last week, the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes confirmed the discovery of a ‘significant amount’ of children’s remains at the site of a former Bon Secours home in Tuam.

The Co Galway home operated between 1925 and 1961. It is believed several hundred children were buried at the site, and the recovered remains are likely to date from the 1950s.

Politicians on all sides of the political divide have condemned the find, while the Archbishop Bishop of Tuam Michael Neary said he was horrified and greatly shocked to learn of the scale of the discovery.

Meanwhile, journalists from Ireland and around the world have descended on Tuam amid international shock and horror over the discovery.

Newstalk Drive reporter Henry McKean visited the Dublin Road Estate in Tuam – built in the 1960s and 70s on the site of the former mother and baby home.

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MALTA
Malta Today

A new judge will be assigned to the case of 10 victims of clerical sex abuse after a court upheld the appeal and declared that the men would suffer a breach of their right to a fair hearing if the judge currently presiding over the case failed to recuse himself

Matthew Agius 7 March 2017

The Constitutional Court has effectively ordered the recusal of a judge hearing a claim for damages by 10 victims of clerical sex abuse, saying the victims’ fears that the sitting judge’s involvement in Church-related organisations objectively justified their fears of bias.

Former residents at the Missionary Society of St Paul’s St Joseph Home in Hamrun, Lawrence Grech, Joseph Magro, Leonard Camilleri, David Cassar, Noel Dimech, Angelo Spiteri, Raymond Azzopardi, Charles Falzon, Philip Cauchi and Joseph Mangion had filed a claim for damages against the Missionary Society of St Paul following the 2012 conviction of defrocked Missionary Society of St Paul priests Fr Charles Pulis and Fr Godwin Scerri. Pulis and Scerri were sentenced to five and six years’ imprisonment respectively for sexually abusing a number of boys in their care.

When this case was allotted to judge Joseph R. Micallef, the victims had asked him to recuse himself, citing the judge’s connections to the Church as President of a foundation which runs Catholic radio station Radju Marija.

But Mr Justice Micallef had been of the opinion that the rules regulating recusal in the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure precluded him from abstaining from hearing the case and that he was therefore obliged to hear it.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

A case concerning sexual abuse at a church home run by the Missionary Society of St Paul is to proceed before a different judge, with plaintiffs winning a partial victory in court today.

After a long legal battle, the court of appeal presided by Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo and Mr Justice Noel Cuschieri pronounced that the civil case filed by the ten victims against the Attorney General, the MSSP, the Maltese Archdiocese as well as the two convicted priests, Godwin Scerri and Charles Pulis, should no longer be heard by Mr Justice Joseph R Micallef.

The issue stemmed from the victims’ claim regarding the possible partiality of Judge Micallef in view of his current role as President of the Radio Maria Association.

The plaintiffs had claimed that the judge’s close affiliation with the religious organisation could give rise to a bias which could in turn result in a possible breach of the plaintiffs’ right to a fair hearing as safeguarded under the Maltese Constitution as well as under the European Convention on Human Rights.

In the course of the civil proceedings for damages, the plaintiffs had raised this plea demanding the recusal of Mr Justice Micallef. The plea was however rejected by the judge himself who declared that he was bound by the laws of procedure to continue to preside over the case.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Tim Healy
March 7 2017

Three victims of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth should get a new hearing of damages claims after it emerged senior clerics were aware of the abuse, the Supreme Court was urged.

The three, in the late 1990s, settled actions in Northern Ireland for between £16,000 and £25,000 (€18,500-€28,900) over abuse by Smyth.

The cases by the man and his cousin were against Smyth himself, the Norbertine order and the late Cardinal Cahal Daly.

His sister’s case was just against the Norbertines, who paid all the settlement monies, with no admission of liability.

In 2014, the High Court halted actions the three brought here against Bishop Leo O’Reilly as representative of the Kilmore diocese over 2012 information in which it was alleged there was a failure to stop Smyth’s abuse in 1975.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

Katie Burgess

The Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn has revealed another former priest living next to a Canberra school could be a concern to the community.

It is understood the archdiocese is in the process of removing the ex-priest from accommodation next to Ainslie School, in Canberra’s north.

The revelation came less than a week after three priests were moved from a retirement home for clergy next to two southside schools.

After the ACT Education Directorate asked the archdiocese if there were any other “arrangements” that would not meet community expectations in place, they were advised there was an “arrangement” next to Ainslie School.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Pat Oliva
March 7, 201

Each time I see the Laity Forward Movement and the Concerned Catholics of Guam organizations in the news, they remind me I should feel shame and disgrace for our church. Moreover, they tell everyone (including Protestant church members) that our church has no dignity. They claim membership of the Catholic community, which is easily misconstrued as representation for all Catholics on Guam.

I want to say they do not represent me, a proud Chamorro Catholic.

I understand members of both esteemed organizations want retribution for those who may have done wrong. But do they realize that each time they picket and each time they speak up in the media or are seen out in public as a group, they are nourishing that same division in our church that they themselves are praying to heal? They drag the face of our Catholic Church — the whole church — in the mud in the eyes of everyone, even in front of the Protestant churches and their members.

It says, “Take a look at how bad our church is,” and they say it over and over and over again. Is that really what they are trying to accomplish, and deliberately so? Do they realize this is the image they are conveying, or perhaps they do realize it and just don’t care? Well, whether they realize it or not, it is what it is.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

by Daniel Hamburg

JOHNSTOWN – Monday, bishop Mark Bartchak announced sweeping changes in the Catholic church to protect victims of child sex abuse.

Victims of abuse by clergy are reacting to news of those reforms, including one victim, originally from Johnstown, who says he was abused as a child.

Shaun Dougherty said that Monday’s press conference was a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done in Harrisburg at the state capitol to pass actual law.

Dougherty said he was surprised by the announcement, but happy to see it.

“It was the first big step for the church in moving forward,” Dougherty said. “I think it was a crucial first step for future generations of victims.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Altoona Mirror

MAR 7, 2017

RYAN BROWN
Staff Writer
rbrown@altoonamirror.com

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown and the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed a series of broad reforms Monday, aimed at preventing child sex abuse and responding swiftly to future allegations.

The new policies and advisory bodies, revealed at a joint press conference by acting Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song and Bishop Mark Bartchak, come roughly a year after the state attorney general issued a forceful report detailing decades of child abuse cases and cover-ups.

Under the agreement, the diocese will establish a five-member Independent Oversight Board for Youth Protection, slated to advise officials on child abuse prevention and enforcement. The diocese is also set to establish new rules for contacting law enforcement and publishing accused clergymen’s names, to reform its allegation review board and to hire a consultant and a new official to handle abuse, according to the document.

“One year ago I made a public pledge to victim-survivors. … Today I reaffirm that pledge,” Bartchak said.

Song stressed that the memorandum doesn’t constitute a court order; Bartchak was a “willing partner” in the process, she said.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with video]

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com
March 7, 2017

For about 40 years, Anthony Cruz Flores locked away in a dark corner of his memory, the sexual abuse by a priest who was also his scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts of America.

Flores kept the story even from his wife of 32 years, Doris, who’s been supportive of her husband’s quest for healing, closure and justice since he opened up to her this year.

“What made me decide to tell my story is that I read about two altar boys that were with me at the time,” Flores, now 55, said.

Flores said he is talking about Vicente G. Perez, 51, and Bruce A. Diaz, 47, two of the six who filed sex abuse lawsuits against Guam clergy in the U.S. District Court of Guam in January.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Cormac McQuinn
March 7 2017

A woman who had to give up her child for adoption after being sent to a mother and baby home has spoken of the trauma she went through as a teenager.

Deirdre Wadding said coverage of the horror at Tuam – where it’s believed that hundreds of babies died – “stirred up my own experiences”.

Now a People Before Profit councillor, Ms Wadding was sent to the Bessboro Home in Cork in 1981 when she became pregnant at the age of 18.

Run by a different religious order to Tuam, Ms Wadding said she didn’t experience “brutality”.
But she said: “You had the trauma of guilt and shame that was imposed by the very fact of being there.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Tuesday, March 07, 2017

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

The names of almost 800 children who died in two of the country’s largest mother and baby homes were given to the HSE by a religious order in 2011.

This revelation shows the State was aware of the vast number of deaths in Bessborough in Cork and Sean Ross Abbey Roscrea three years before the Tuam babies scandal made global headlines.

The Irish Examiner has previously revealed that concerns over infant mortality rates and other practices at Tuam and Bessborough were raised by senior HSE personnel in 2012.

A report about concerns over Bessborough deaths was forwarded to both the Department of Health and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs that year.

The Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary, which ran the homes, gave the registers to the HSE when it ceased operating its adoption service in 2011. They are now held by Tusla.

In the case of Bessborough, the register shows that 470 infants and 10 women died in Bessborough between 1934 and 1953. A total of 273 deaths come in just a six-year period between 1939 and 1944. However, the Order reported 353 deaths to State inspectors in this period.

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IRELAND
Herald

Luke Byrne and Ryan Nugent – 07 March 2017

Dublin city’s senior archaeologist has told the private developer of a former Catholic institution that the site may contain human burials.

Dr Ruth Johnson indicated that because the property at The Crescent, Donnybrook, was a former Magdalene Laundry, it could contain remains.

Significantly, her observation was made as part of the planning process in September 2016, five months before the confirmed discovery of children’s remains at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam last week.

There are calls for every Magdalene Laundry, mother and baby home and industrial school to be searched for secret deposits of human remains – and to halt development on these sites until this is completed.

Councillor Mannix Flynn said the archaeologist’s assessment highlighted how it was already known that every former Catholic institution site could contain remains.

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NEVADA
Reno Gazette-Journal

Lisa Krasner and Irene Bustamante-Adams, Special to the RGJ

Assemblywoman Lisa Krasner and Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante-Adams are from different political parties and different parts of the state yet they are working together to pass bipartisan legislation to extend the statute of limitations for child victims of sexual abuse.

The statute of limitations is the time within which a lawsuit must be initiated by a victim.

Child victims of sexual assault are profoundly affected by the abuse. There is a psychological effect that weighs heavy on a victim. Studies show that many victims report they were unable to deal with what happened to them as a child, until much later in life.

Irene Bustamante-Adams is a Democrat in the Assembly from southern Nevada. (Photo: Provided)
One in four women and one in five men report being sexually abused as a child, yet psychologists believe that most cases go unreported.

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MALTA
Malta Independent

A Constitutional court accepted a number of plaintiffs’ requests for the recusal of Judge Joseph R Micallef in a civil case where they are claiming damages over child abuse suffered at the hands of now defrocked and imprisoned priests Godwin Scerri, Charles Pulis and the Missionary Society of St Paul (MSSP).

The plaintiffs – Lawrence Grech, Joseph Magro, Leonard Camilleri, David Cassar, Noel Dimech, Angelo Spiteri, Raymond Azzopardi, Charles Falzon, Philip Cauchi and Joseph Mangion – had filed a criminal case against the Curia, the two priests who had abused them, the Missionary Order of St. Paul (MSSP), the Prime Minister, the Education and Family ministers and the Attorney General in 2012. The plaintiffs had claimed that the authorities had been aware of the abuse, but had done nothing to stop it.

Mr Scerri and Mr Pulis had been allowed to keep their positions at the home, holding absolute control over their victims. Confirmed upon appeal, Mr Scerri and Mr Pulis received a prison sentence of five and six years respectively.

In a separate civil case, the plaintiffs filed an appeal on 28 April 2016 before the First Hall of Civil Court before Judge Mark Chetcuti in order for Judge Joseph R Micallef to be recused, citing a breach in their right to a fair trial.

They originally filed the civil case, being heard before Mr Justice Micallef, against Missionary Society of St Paul, Godwin Scerri and Charles Pulis, among others. The plaintiffs filed a case for punitive damages over abuse that took place while they, as children, had been residents of the Archdiocese of Malta.

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AUSTRALIA
Melville Times

Written by Josh Zimmerman

CHILD protection expert Andrea Musulin will host an education session designed to help parents and guardians understand and recognise the grooming that is often a precursor to child sexual abuse.

A 30-year veteran of WA Police, Mrs Musulin worked predominantly on cases involving children, youth and domestic violence.

She has a deep understanding of the lasting trauma caused by sexual predators and is dedicated to helping parents ensure their children are not among the 25 per cent of Australian children who fall victim to abuse before their 18th birthdays.

“I don’t sugar coat any of the information; it is delivered very factually and people go away feeling more empowered and knowledgeable,” Mrs Musulin said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

by Katie O’Toole

JOHNSTOWN — Leaders of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests reacted to joint press conference held by the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese and Department of Justice about abuse prevention plans.

The Survivors Network, otherwise known as SNAP, protested outside the Diocese Administration Center last week. Protesters said they felt the Diocese had not implemented enough change in the year that passed after the grand jury report was released.

The 147-page reported outlined abuse accusations made against 50 priests since the 1960s.

The current Bishop Mark Bartchak and acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song held a press conference Monday outlining plans to prevent future abuse within the Diocese.

“One case of sexual abuse is too many,” Bartchak said. “We need to repent in that and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

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KENTUCKY
Courier-Journal

Andrew Wolfson , @adwolfson March 6, 2017

Disgraced ex-priest Louis Miller, who was accused in lawsuits of molesting dozens of children at four parishes under the watch of three archbishops — and convicted of sexually abusing 28 of them — died Saturday at the Kentucky State Reformatory, where he was serving a 30-year sentence. He was 86.

Miller, the most prolific of the archdiocese’s abusive priests, was accused in civil cases of molesting at least 52 boys and four girls over 40 years, in locker rooms, hallway closets, hospital rooms and church sacristies.

In one parish alone, Holy Spirit, Miller molested 24 students, including 14 members of the class of 1963 who were in sixth grade at the time, according to lawsuits filed in Jefferson Circuit Court filed on behalf of 243 victims that were settled in 2008 by the archdiocese for $25.7 million. The Courier-Journal reported that Miller was moved from parish to parish as abuse was reported.

In a statement Monday, the archdiocese noted that Miller, who was removed from the priesthood in 2004 by Pope John Paul II, “expressed sorrow for his actions and begged victims forgiveness” at his sentencing a year earlier.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon |For The Guam Daily Post Mar 7, 2017

A lawsuit naming the Boy Scouts of America as a defendant in a child sex abuse case that allegedly occurred in Guam decades ago, and involving a former scout and altar boy, was filed in the Superior Court of Guam today.

While previously filed lawsuits named the Archdiocese of Agana as a defendant in similar lawsuits alleging abuse of former altar boys, today’s filing was the first recent child sex abuse case in Guam to directly name the Boy Scouts of America and its Aloha Council as defendants.

Anthony “Tony” Flores, 55, a former altar boy and scout, alleges in the lawsuit he reported sexual abuse to the archdiocese when he was 16, but was told to “be quiet”.

In addition to the Boy Scouts of America and the archdiocese, the lawsuit also names the alleged abuser, Louis Brouillard, a former priest who served in Guam, as a defendant.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

This is now the 24th lawsuit to be filed against the Archdiocese of Agana as well.

Guam – A new alleged sex abuse victim has come forward with allegations against the Archdiocese, but this time, he is being represented by a different law firm and has named other institutions in the lawsuit as well.

Now in his 50s, Anthony Flores says he was only 16 years old when he was molested by former Guam Priest Father Louis Brouillard back in the 1970s while Brouillard was the scout master for the Boy Scouts. But in addition to the Archdiocese of Agana, Flores also names the Boy Scouts of America and the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts as defendants in the case.

A press release was issued by Attorney Kevin Fowler who’s representing Flores. Fowler says his law firm is the first of the 24 lawsuits filed against the church that’s teamed up with a stateside law firm, namely Pfau, Cochran, Vertetis Amala PLLC.

In the release, Flores says he first reported the abuse to Msgr. Zoilo Camacho but Flores says Camacho snapped at him and told him “be quiet and get out of my office.”

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INDIA
Outlook

Six persons have been taken into custody for allegedly sexually abusing seven minor girls of an orphanage at Muttil in the district, police said today.

11 cases have been registered in connection with the case, including under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, following a complaint from the orphanage authorities.

The statements of the victims, all below 15 years, have been recorded and their medical examination completed, police said.

The gang lured the girls and forced them to watch pornographic films before subjecting them to sexual abuse, police said, adding, a search is on for three more persons involved in the crime.
They were allegedly subjected to sexual abuse over a period of two months.

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INDIA
Hindustan Times

Ramesh Babu KC
Hindustan Times, Thiruvananthapuram

The Kerala police on Tuesday arrested six people who allegedly assaulted seven minor girls of an orphanage in Kalpetta in north Kerala’s Wayanad district. The latest incident comes on the heels of the arrest of a priest in the district for raping a minor girl who later gave birth to baby in a private hospital.

The latest incident unfolded Monday evening when the security guard of the orphanage found a girl in tears coming out of a shop near the Yatheem Khan orphanage. An inquiry revealed that many students of the orphanage in the 12-16 age group were lured by a gang into the shop and subjected to abuse for more than four months, police said.

According to initial reports, the girls were lured by the gang on their way to school. They were offered sweets and forced to watch pornographic clips before being subjected to abuse. They were threatened with serious repercussions if they complained. The police sent all girls to medical examination on Monday night and tests later confirmed sexual assault.

Three more accused are absconding. All accused would be charged under the protection of children from sexual offices act. All children of the orphanage would be counselled to find out whether more girls have undergone similar experience, police said.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Fiach Kelly, Kitty Holland, Lorna Siggins

The Government is considering expanding the scope of the inquiry into mother and baby homes to include a far greater number of institutions than initially planned.

Government sources said the prospect of expanding the Commission of Investigation is being examined in light of public concern since confirmation last week that the remains of a “significant” number of babies and infants up to three years of age were found on the site of the former mother and baby home in Tuam, Co Galway.

Several hundred bodies were discovered under the site of the former institution for unmarried mothers run by the Sisters of the Bon Secours.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday described what has been discovered in Tuam as “appalling, truly appalling”, and said the terms of reference for the inquiry would be expanded, if necessary.

“This is not something that happened way back in the dawn of history,” the Taoiseach said. “This happened in some cases in our own time. It’s a horrendous situation for those whose siblings were treated in this fashion.”

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NEW YORK
WIVB

By Marissa Perlman, News 4 Reporter
Published: March 6, 2017

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Victims of child sex abuse in New York say they’re being denied their day in court. They say of the catholic church and other powerful groups are stopping lawmakers from passing a bill.

It would change the statute of limitations on filing criminal charges against an abuser.

The bill would create a one-year window to allow for lawsuits no matter when the abuse occurred. The church says this would cause the institution financial harm if they became responsible for decades-old cases that would open only civil cases. They also say it wouldn’t actually put any offenders behind bars.

In a statement, the New York State Catholic Conference says,

“The Catholic Church has zero tolerance for sexual abuse and supports proposals in the New York State Legislature to extend the time allowed under the law to file criminal charges or civil lawsuits against those who abuse children.

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TEXAS
Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Krista M Torralva , Corpus Christi Caller-Times

A Bee County jury couldn’t decide whether a priest and philanthropist raped a teenage girl at her grandparents’ Beeville-area home.

State District Judge Starr Bauer declared a mistrial Friday in the aggravated sexual assault trial against Stephen Tarlton Dougherty.

Jurors heard testimony over four days and deliberated about six hours. Dougherty and his accuser, who was 13 when she said he raped her, took the stand. The judge released jurors about 10 p.m. Friday after they said they were deadlocked.

Bee County Assistant District Attorney Terry Breen said he plans to re-try the case. A second trial is slated for June.

The accuser, now 18, told a counselor years later Dougherty raped her in December 2011. The counselor persuaded the woman to tell police and in June 2016 Dougherty was indicted of a first-degree felony, punishable by as much as life in prison.

Doughtery, 60, denied the rape accusation. He and his lawyer, John Pinckney of San Antonio, suggested the woman’s grandparents pushed the accusation after a business deal went bad.

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WISCONSIN
CBS 58

[with video]

A Milwaukee priest is charged with felony sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

75 year old Robert Marsicek appeared for his preliminary hearing Monday.

Marsicek is accused of repeatedly touching a girl beginning when she was 6 years old. Prosecutors say it happened from 2007 until 2010 at St. Pius X Parish and school in Wauwatosa.

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PENNSYLVANIA
United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH – Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song and Bishop Mark L. Bartchak of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown announced today reforms by the Diocese to protect the children of the Diocese from sexual abuse, ensure that all allegations of sexual abuse are immediately reported to law enforcement and provide victims with access to a full range of counseling and support services.

The reforms are summarized in a memorandum of understanding. The memorandum is the product of extensive collaboration between the Diocese and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Among other core reforms, the memorandum provides for:

* The creation of an independent, multidisciplinary oversight board;
* The retention of an outside expert to develop a new, comprehensive child abuse prevention program;
* A reporting protocol that requires the Diocese to report allegations of child sexual abuse to law enforcement within twelve hours after receipt; and
* Counseling and support services for victims by qualified and independent mental health professionals chosen by the victims.

“These unprecedented reforms put victims first, providing them with access to needed support and counseling,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Song. “Through this agreement, allegations of sexual abuse will be immediately reported to law enforcement and suspected offenders removed from contact with children.”

“Since the release of the Grand Jury report last year, I have focused on strengthening our commitment to children and youth protection and providing continued support to survivors of sexual abuse,” said Bishop Bartchak. “The framework announced today represents the culmination of those efforts. As we look to the future, I believe these comprehensive and unprecedented reforms will make the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown a leader in the safety and protection of young people.”

Assistant United States Attorneys Michael A. Comber, Philip P. O’Connor, and Colin J. Callahan handled this matter on behalf of the United States.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

By: Chris Miller
Posted: Mar 06, 2017

Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa – There has been a call for change and responsibility after a grand jury report revealed decades of child sex abuse inside the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese.

In that report, at least 50 priests and other church leaders were accused of sexually assaulting children in their parishes dating back four decades.

Monday, the U.S. District Attorney for Western Pennsylvania and the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown held a news conference to lay out new reforms within the church to better protect children.

Many victims and their supporters have criticized the diocese for what they call a lack of response. Bishop Mark Bartchak said the changes took time because he and other church leaders were committed to finding a detailed and comprehensive approach.

The reforms were detailed in what the Bishop called a “Memorandum of Understanding”.

Some of the key points include:

* The creation of an independent oversight board.
* A new reporting protocol that requires the diocese to report allegations of child sexual abuse to law enforcement within 12 hours of hearing about the accusation.
* Increased counseling and support services for victims by qualified and independent mental health professionals, that can be chosen by the victims.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WNEP

MARCH 6, 2017, BY NIKKI KRIZE

LOCK HAVEN — A child sexual abuse bombshell rocked a Roman Catholic diocese serving parts of our area last year. On Monday, church officials announced their plan to protect the children in the diocese.

Officials with the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown must now report allegations of sexual abuse to law enforcement within 12 hours.

And the diocese, in agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office, plans to have an outside agency investigate abuse claims.

This all comes one year after the state attorney general’s office said over the years more than 50 priests sexually abused hundreds of children, including some in Clinton County. Officials at the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown hope the changes announced Monday will protect children.

It’s hard to forget the state attorney general’s grand jury report that brought to life sexual abuse at the hands of priests within the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Olivia Kelleher

Two women who ran away from a mother and baby home in Cork while heavily pregnant are to reunite later this week for the first time in close on three decades.

Catherine Coffey O’Brien was seven months pregnant in 1989 when she fled the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home with her friend Angela (not her real name), who was six months pregnant.

Catherine says the pair were out posting letters for the nuns when they made the decision to flee.

“We were posting cards to America for the nuns when we decided to thumb a lift. We managed to get a guy to stop at Patrick’s Bridge and we told him we were running away from the home. He was ‘bricking it’.

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IRELAND
The Journal

A UNITED NATIONS committee has published its concluding observations on how Ireland is eliminating all forms of discrimination against women, and found that there are “several crucial gaps” in the country’s obligations on women’s rights and equality.

The UN committee said that the scope of reference for the investigation into abuse at mother and baby homes is “narrow” and that it may not address the whole spectrum of abuses perpetrated against women and girls.

The committee was also critical of the State’s efforts to address the issue of abuse, ill-treatment or neglect of children in the Magdalene Laundries, it said:

Ireland has failed to establish an independent, thorough and effective investigation, in line with international standards.

It added that “no effort has been made to establish an independent investigation to identify, prosecute and punish the perpetrators who performed the medical procedure of symphysiotomy without the consent of women”.

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IRELAND
98 FM

6 Mar 2017
Trish Laverty

A UN committee’s called for independent investigations into Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries.

It says victims should get compensation and official apologies, while it’s also criticised our strict abortion laws.

There are calls for the sites of two former Magdalene laundries in Dublin to be examined for children’s graves, following Friday’s shocking confirmation that hundreds of babies’ and childrens’ remains had been discovered in a Tuam home run by the Bon Secours nuns.

‘Significant quantities’ were discovered in a septic tank. Records show that almost 800 deaths were recorded at the home over almost 40 years.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Kitty Holland

The terms of reference of the investigation into mother and baby homes is “too narrow”, the United Nations has warned.

It says the Commission of Investigation as established may not uncover all abuses inflicted on women and girls in these homes, the perpetrators of which should be “prosecuted and punished”.

In its “concluding observations” report – following examination of Ireland last month – the UN Committee on the elimination of discrimination against women (CEDAW) says Ireland has, “failed to establish an independent, thorough and effective investigation, in line with international standards, into all allegations of abuse, ill-treatment or neglect of women and children in the Magdalene laundries in order the establish the role of the State and church in the perpetration of alleged violations”.

The terms of reference for the commission of investigation into the homes, “is narrow such that it does not cover all homes and analogous institutions [and] therefore may not address the whole spectrum of abuses perpetrated against women and girls”.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Legacy – Boston Globe

JOHNSON, Rev. Richard G. Age 94, died peacefully on March 2, 2017 at the Sancta Maria Nursing Facility in Cambridge. “Father Dick” as he was known was born in Peabody, MA on August 11, 1922 and was raised in Marblehead. He graduated from St. John’s Prep in 1939 and Holy Cross College in 1943 where he served as the President of the Purple Key Society. Upon graduating from Holy Cross, Father Johnson went to St. John’s Seminary in Brighton and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1947. His assignments included St. Mary’s, Ayer; St. Mary’s, Lynn; Sacred Heart, Roslindale; Star of the Sea, Salisbury and St. Mary’s Star of the Sea, Beverly, from which he retired in 1997.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WESA

By VIRGINIA ALVINO YOUNG

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has agreed to take more steps to protect children from sexual abuse.

Outlined Monday with Acting U.S. Attorney Soo Song, the Memorandum of Understanding comes after a former priest of the diocese was convicted last year of sexually exploiting several boys. A grand jury report detailed more systemic abuse and cover-ups.

Song said the diocese agreed to a comprehensive plan with specific requirements, including “very tight time frames” for suspected abuse.

“So all allegations of good faith suspicion of child sexual abuse (will be) reported to law enforcement in 12 hours,” she said. “Immediately removing suspected offenders from contact with children (and) putting clergy on leave within 24 hours following a credible allegation of child sexual abuse.”

The diocese will also implement an independent oversight board, develop new sexual abuse policies and fund a 24-hour hotline service to receive complaints of assault.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / PIttsburgh Post-Gazette

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown agreed with federal prosecutors to formal policies Monday to detect and prevent sexual abuse by priests.

The memorandum of understanding, while lacking the enforcement power of a court order, commits the diocese to completely replacing the board it uses to review allegations and to a greater reliance on experts.

The diocese was subject of a withering state grand jury report a year ago this week. That report criticized what it termed a pattern of covering up sexual abuse of hundreds of minors by more than 50 priests and others associated with the church, mostly taking place in the last half of the 20th century.

But this agreement resulted from a parallel investigation by federal prosecutors that resulted in a diocesan priest, the Rev. Joseph Maurizio, being sentenced last year for sexually abusing two boys during missionary trips to Honduras.

Acting U.S. Attorney Soo Song said her office looked into “every possible legal theory to be sure children in this diocese were made safe.” Her predecessor, David Hickton, had publicly floated the possibility of investigating under statutes targeting organized crime.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

The High Court has been urged to help a man find out what happened to his infant sister after she was born at St Mary’s mother and baby home in Tuam, Co Galway.

Peter Mulryan was described by his solicitor as elderly and “extremely ill” with cancer, the court heard.

His solicitor, Kevin Higgins, said Mr Mulryan, whose infant sister Marian Bridget Mulryan is believed to be among 796 children recorded as having died in Tuam between 1925-61, was too unwell on Monday to be in court.

Mr Mulryan is extremely anxious to get whatever records exist concerning her.
He wants Tusla to look at the material it has “and see what happened to that little girl, did she die, was she trafficked or is she buried in the pit”, Mr Higgins said.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Mary Carolan

A solicitor for an elderly man described as “extremely ill” with cancer has urged the High Court to help him find out what happened to his infant sister after she was born at St Mary’s mother-and-baby home in Tuam.

Solicitor Kevin Higgins said Peter Mulryan, whose infant sister Marian Bridget Mulryan is believed to be among 796 children recorded as having died there between 1925-1961, was too unwell on Monday to be in court and is extremely anxious to get whatever records exist concerning her.

He wants Tusla to look at the material it has “and see what happened to that little girl, did she die, was she trafficked or is she buried in the pit”, Mr Higgins said.

Mr Mulryan (73), Derrymullen, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, wants leave to bring judicial review proceedings against Tusla aimed at getting any material that exists concerning his infant sister, recorded as having died in February 1955 nine months after her birth at the home. Mr Mulryan went with his mother to the Tuam home in July 1944, his mother later appeared to have gone to a Magdalene institution and he was “boarded out” at age four.

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INDIA
Times of India

Kannur: The Social Justice Department has formally removed Wayanad Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairman Thomas Joseph Therakam and member Betty Jose from their posts and the responsibility has been handed over to the CWC in Kozhikode. The other three members of the CWC also have been temporarily kept in abeyance from the CWC pending inquiry, according to a circular issued by social justice department secretary Mini Antony.

The official circular in his regard was issued on Monday night, after they were accused of helping Fr Robin Vadakkancheril alias Mathew Vadakkancheril, the former parish vicar of St Sebastian’s Church at Neendunoki in Kottiyoor, who is accused of raping the minor girl.

The charge against them is that they helped the accused in hushing up the case. Though the newborn of the rape survivor, who delivered on February 7, was taken to Holy Infant Mary’s Foundling Home, which is part of the Holy Infant Mary’s Girls Home at Vythiri in Wayanad, the same night, the CWC signed the surrender document only on February 20. Though the CWC said the process was as per procedure, an inquiry found serious lapses. The foundling home, which is also facing charges in the case, had raised charges against the CWC.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Barry Roche

A former priest in the Diocese of Cloyne in Co Cork has lost a personal appeal to Pope Francis against his dismissal from the priesthood after the pontiff found a canonical court was right to defrock him for “the crime of abusing minors”.

Dan Duane (78) had already lost two appeals against a decision by the Canonical Court in Ireland to dismiss him from the priesthood after it found he had abused five girls while serving as a priest in north Cork in the 1970s and 1980s.

A native of Doneraile in Co Cork, Mr Duane was ordained a priest in 1963 and served in a variety of parishes, as well as at St Colman’s College in Fermoy.

He was twice tried at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on counts of sexually abusing teenage girls in north Cork in the early 1980s. He was acquitted on the first occasion in May 2011 on the direction of the trial judge and in November 2011 he was acquitted by a jury.

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NEW YORK
Syracuse.com

By Kira Maddox | kmaddox@syracuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A well-known, retired Syracuse bishop died today, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse announced.

Rev. James M. Moynihan, the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Syracuse, was 84 years old, the diocese said. He was a bishop for 14 years, starting in 1995.

During his time as bishop, Moynihan was the first bishop to lead prayer processions to Planned Parenthood, raised $42 million through his Heritage Campaign — the largest campaign in diocese history — and created the Catholic Education Fund to help people pay for tuition, according to the diocese announcement of his death.

Moynihan, a Rochester native, had significant hurdles to navigated during his tenure, such as the declining number of clergy in the diocese and an early 2000s sex-abuse scandal.

Moynihan told The Post-Standard | Syracuse.com in 2009 as he prepared to leave his job that the sex-abuse scandal was “a time of great pain and humiliation.”

“Everyone was hurting,” he said. “My job was to be there for everyone, the abused and the abusers.”

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ROME
GMA News

Published March 7, 2017

ROME, Italy – Pope Francis was urged by a prominent church reform group Monday to oust the head of a powerful Vatican department after accusations that senior officials blocked reforms approved by the pontiff to curb sex abuse.

The row follows the resignation last week of Marie Collins, an Irish survivor of clerical sex abuse, who stepped down from Francis’s child protection panel slamming a “shameful” high-level obstruction of change in apparent defiance of the pope’s wishes.

Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), replied Sunday to Collins’s claim that his department had ignored Francis’s decision in 2015 to create a new tribunal to judge bishops who cover up sexual abuse cases.

In an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily, he said the tribunal was merely a “project” which Vatican departments felt would needlessly duplicate initiatives already in place to deal with wayward bishops.

An international group called We Are Church issued a statement urging Francis to replace Mueller “with someone who will introduce transparency, justice and compassion” in the CDF.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Latest on reforms aimed at curbing child-sex abuse at a central Pennsylvania Catholic diocese (all times local):

1:45 p.m.

Western Pennsylvania’s top federal prosecutor and the Catholic bishop over a diocese where two former bishops allegedly helped cover up child-sex abuse have announced reforms to curb such abuse.

They include creation of an oversight board to ensure the reforms are implemented and the diocese has hired an expert to develop a new child abuse prevention program. Under the new plan, the diocese has just 12 hours to report credible abuse allegations to police.

The diocese also will pay for counseling experts to be chosen by victims who need it.

Acting U.S. Attorney Soo Song and Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak announced the reforms Monday.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By David Hurst
dhurst@tribdem.com

A wide-ranging child protection plan was announced Monday to immediately notify law enforcement officials of sexual abuse allegations within the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, add an independent oversight board to review such complaints within the diocese and expand counseling options for victims of abuse.

The multi-step approach was outlined by Bishop Mark Bartchak and Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song, whose offices spent nearly a year crafting reform to protect diocese children from sexual abuse in the church.

“These unprecedented reforms put victims first, providing them with access needed to support and counseling,” Song said during a press conference in the Western District of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Among a list of moves, a memorandum of understanding between the sides outlines:

• The creation of an independent, multidisciplinary oversight board for youth protection that will include a retired law enforcement officer, former U.S. attorney and sexual abuse survivor.

• The retention of an outside expert to develop a new child abuse protection program

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

by Ron Musselman
Monday, March 6th 2017

JOHNSTOWN – The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown announced sweeping changes Monday aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and ensuring that all allegations are immediately reported to law enforcement.

The diocese also will provide sexual abuse victims with access to counseling and support services.

“One case of sexual abuse is too many,” Bishop Mark L. Bartchak said during an afternoon news conference. “We need to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The new reforms include:

• The creation of an independent, multidisciplinary oversight board that will include a former U.S. attorney and a Lutheran clergyman;
• The retention of an outside expert to develop a new, comprehensive child abuse prevention program;
• A reporting protocol that requires the diocese to report allegations of child sexual abuse to law enforcement within 12 hours after receipt;
• Taking immediate steps to prevent any contact with minors by the suspected perpetrators;
• Placing clergy on personnel or administrative leave within 24 hours of notice of a credible allegation of child sexual abuse;
• Counseling and support services for victims by qualified and independent mental health professionals chosen by the victims.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on why Ireland’s “mass grave” story is a hoax:

The big news about the discovery of a “mass grave” outside the Mother and Baby Home run by the Bon Secours Sisters in Tuam is bunk. I just got the chance to explain why when interviewed by Dublin’s Newstalk, the only exclusively talk-radio station in Ireland. The interviewer was cordial but clueless. I will discuss this matter further later today on BBC radio and other Irish radio stations.

Almost all of the media in the U.S., the U.K., and elsewhere are promoting a fake news account of a “mass grave” containing the remains of nearly 800 children. Here is the basis of my position.

* The official statement by the Mother and Baby Commission, issued March 3rd, makes no mention of a “mass grave.” Why not? If there were evidence of a mass grave surely that would be the lead story. Instead, it says “significant quantities of human remains” were found in sewage chambers. That is disturbing but it does not support the wild claims of a “mass grave.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Gazette Live

BY JAMES CAIN
6 MAR 2017

A former Middlesbrough children’s home resident has told an inquiry how she was sexually abused on board a ship when she was sent to Australia.

The little girl was still under 13 when she emigrated after living at Nazareth House in central Middlesbrough since the age of three.

Now an adult, the victim, who cannot be named, gave evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, set up to investigate how British institutions failed to protect children from abuse.

One of the 13 separate investigations launched by the inquiry, is looking into the British child migration programme which saw more than 130,000 children sent to former British colonies, mainly Australia and Canada, between the 1920s and 1970s.

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KENTUCKY
WDRB

Updated: Mar 06, 2017

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A former priest who was serving a prison sentence for sexually abusing Kentucky children has died.

Louis Miller died Saturday morning after a lengthy illness, according to Lisa Lamb, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Corrections.

Miller was removed from the priesthood in 2004 by the late Pope John Paul II after pleading guilty in 2003 to sexually abusing a Kentucky resident and other victims who were children in the 1970s.

In a deposition transcription obtained by The Associated Press, Miller said he had offered to resign as early as 1962 to his then-Archbishop John Floersh, and that two subsequent archbishops knew of his crimes but continued to keep him as a priest, moving him from parish to parish.

In explaining why he wanted to resign, Miller said: “I just knew that the crime was so horrendous in my own mind that I didn’t feel that I was worthy to remain a priest.” But he said Floersh was “compassionate,” kept him on, and told him “You will always be a good priest.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By David Hurst
dhurst@tribdem.com

The western district of Pennsylvania’s top federal prosecutor and Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese’s bishop are scheduled to announce a plan today to prevent future abuse by clergy.

Acting U.S. Attorney Soo Song and Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak plan to outline “a collaborative framework to protect the children of the diocese from sexual abuse,” according to a media advisory.

A news conference on the topic has been scheduled for 1 p.m. today in Johnstown.

Tribdem.com will provide a live stream of the news conference.

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IRELAND
Broadsheet

Last night TV3’s The People’s Debate With Vincent Browne took place in the Galway East constituency.

During the show, historian Catherine Corless introduced two former residents of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home, Peter Mulryan and PJ Haverty.

Ms Corless said Peter has a sister buried at the home but explained that he doesn’t know where she’s specifically buried.

Both men then spoke.

Peter Mulryan said:

“In the mid-Forties I was born in Tuam, in the home there and my mother was separated from me, just after a year of being there. I was taken out of there after four and a half years in that area which was absolutely shocking. Every child there went through that system, came out with pot bellies and why?

If you starve an animal or a dog, what way do they look? That’s the way we looked. It’s frightening to think we went through the same system and I inquired why this happened. I looked for information from Galway County Council, I looked for information from the church, I’m now asking the State to get heavily involved in this, as Catherine is after saying there, I also have a sister laid somewhere around, I don’t know where. I’m making inquiries, nobody can tell me where that angel lies tonight, nobody. And I will find out, no matter how long it’s going to take, what was done to my sister, laid somewhere and no record.

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