ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

August 15, 2017

Rabbi charged with sex assault makes first court appearance

CONNECTICUT
ABC News

AP

A Connecticut rabbi accused of repeatedly raping and molesting a teenage boy who was awarded $15 million in a civil lawsuit appeared Monday before a judge for the first time since being arrested last month.

Rabbi Daniel Greer did not speak during the brief hearing in New Haven Superior Court. His next hearing is Aug. 29.

The 77-year-old Greer is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy who attended the Yeshiva of New Haven school from 2001 to 2005. Greer, of New Haven, was a founder and principal of the school, which was established in 1977.

Greer’s lawyer, William Dow III, has said Greer will plead not guilty to the felony charges of second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. Greer did not enter pleas Monday and remains free after posting $100,000 bail.

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Bishop Seane in shameful sex sandals

BOTSWANA
The Monitor

Reverend Valentine Seane’s alleged insatiable sexual needs are behind his sudden and seemingly unceremonious resignation as Bishop of Gaborone. Seane has been at the helm of the local chapter of the church for eight years.

By TSAONE BASIMANEBOTLHE Fri 11 Aug 2017

This is according to letters written to the Holy See in Rome, Italy and Pretoria, South Africa this year. In a letter to Marc Cardinal Quellet in Rome written by Sisters of Calvary, Gaborone, they appealed that Eminence Archbishop Peter Wells had not acted on their grievances to date “while on the other hand, Bishop Seane continues to sexually abuse us”. Wells is the Vatican Apostolic Nunciature in Pretoria.

“Bishop Seane’s insatiable sexual needs are putting us at risk, more so that he does not use condoms, hence the urgent resolution of this matter (sic). The end result of his actions, we are in spiritual crisis of unending abortions,” the sisters wrote. They claimed that some of them are on the verge of resigning from sisterhood and are afraid that their congregation will die a natural death. Hence they appealed to Quellet to save them from this shameful misery.

“We submit that we are ready to testify before an enquiry against the abuse under reference. We are also determined to go public if the church is not willing to protect us!” Before they wrote to Rome, they appealed to Wells over Seane’s impropriety.

“We write to formally lodge a complaint against Bishop Seane’s verbal and sexual abuse on some of us… In every Diocesan event, our Bishop always publicly capitalises in belittling us (sic). He likes saying that we are lacking proper orientation in our formation.”

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Roma Admits Bishop Seane Resigned To Clear His Name

BOTSWANA
The Monitor

Despite last week’s denials by the Vicar General, Father Andrew Makgetla that Bishop Valentine Seane was forced to resign, a statement he sent to different Roman Catholic branches, shows that the Bishop resigned to clear his name.

By TSAONE BASIMANEBOTLHE Mon 14 Aug 2017

Seane resigned last week following an investigation into accusations of sexual abuse.

In the press statement issued last Friday to the Catholics around the country, Makgetla explained that the Catholic Church of the Diocese of Gaborone “is extremely saddened by circumstances surrounding the recent resignation of its Bishop. Bishop Seane resigned his post to assuage the accusation and allegations against him. This painful event took the church by surprise. In the light of this, we want to assure Catholics that the leadership of the Church is looking into all aspects of the current situation.”

Father Makgetla said The Holy See, through the apostolic Nunciature to Botswana received unsigned letters from different groups including a group calling itself Catholic Community of Botswana, something that the Father denied last week in an interview with sister publication, Mmegi.

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Royal commission confession recommendation lights a spark

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

SOLICITOR Vivian Waller summed up the case for legislation requiring clergy to report all child sex allegations to authorities – even allegations raised during confession.

“I think it’s about time the Catholic Church was dragged out of the dark ages,” she said on Monday after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse released its Criminal Justice report.

It might have had 85 recommendations to address what commission chair Justice Peter McClellan identified as the almost “insurmountable barriers” currently facing child sex victims when they negotiate the criminal justice system.

But all focus was on just one recommendation that directly challenges the Catholic Church – the seal of the confessional.

Vivian Waller put the perspective of survivors and their advocates: “We can no longer think about sexual offending against children as some kind of forgivable sin.”

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

Mexico City Archdiocese clarifies number of abuse cases reported

MEXICO
National Catholic Reporter

Aug 14, 2017
by David Agren, Catholic News Service

MEXICO CITY — The Archdiocese of Mexico City said it reported six cases of priests accused of sexually abusing minors to prosecutors between 2010 and 2017, following a change in Mexico’s Religious Associations Law requiring such crimes to be brought to the authorities’ attention.

“Cardinal Norberto Rivera left it clear that, starting with the implementation of (the law in 2010) — which requires religious leaders and their representatives to inform the corresponding authority about the probable committing of crimes — he had knowledge of the probable commission of six acts, presumably criminal, after being told by his vicars,” the archdiocesan publication Desde la Fe said in an Aug. 10 article. “He instructed (the vicars) to report them immediately to the corresponding authorities.”

The article followed news that Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera was interviewed by an investigator from the federal attorney general’s office over criminal complaints of covering up 15 cases of abuse. Rivera’s lawyer, Armando Martinez Gomez, said the complaints were filed by a pair of former priests.

Fr. Hugo Valdemar Romero, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, said the accusations were brought to “create a scandal of such a level that the pope would accept (the cardinal’s) resignation” more quickly. Rivera turned 75 June 6 and, in accordance with canon law, submitted his resignation to Pope Francis.

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Stateside law firms withdraw as church’s legal counsels

GUAM
Pacific News Center

By Janela Carrera – August 15, 2017

Local attorney John Terlaje will remain counsel of record for the Archdiocese of Agana.

Guam – The stateside legal counsel for the Archdiocese of Agana has made a request to withdraw as attorneys of record for the church.

The request comes amid talks of moving forward with settlement negotiations between the scores of sex abuse victims and the archdiocese. Attorneys Mary McNamara and Britt Evangelist of the law firm Swanson & McNamara, LLP, and Paul Gaspari and Daniel Zamora, of the law firm Weintraub | Tobin, filed the request Tuesday as an unopposed motion.

No specific reason was provided but the motion did indicate that local attorney John Terlaje will continue to represent the archdiocese and that no trial date has been set on the matter.

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Priest Frank Brennan warns he will defy confessional crackdown

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

August 15, 2017

JOHN FERGUSON
Victorian EditorMelbourne
@fergusonjw

Australia’s best credentialed priest on legal matters will defy any new laws to convict Catholic clergy for breaking the seal of the confessional on child sex abuse but gravely doubts he will ever be confronted with this dilemma.

Father Frank Brennan, a Jesuit priest and professor of law at the Australian Catholic University, yesterday rejected recommendations by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that would force priests — under the threat of criminal sanctions — to break the confessional confidence of offenders.

Under the church’s canon law, priests must maintain sec­recy about sins that a person confesses in a manner sometimes compared with client-lawyer confidentiality but in a holy context it is considered an ­untouchable imperative. But the royal commission headlined its 85 recommendations in its long criminal justice report on a crackdown on one of the church’s central pillars.

Father Brennan said if the law were to be introduced in Australia his only options as a priest would be to stop hearing confessions or to defy any legislation that sought to break the seal of confidentiality.

Father Brennan’s position was backed yesterday by the ­nation’s most senior bishops but rejected by the church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council, which had previously argued the seal should remain intact.

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

Why is the Catholic Church protecting paedophiles?

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Susie O’Brien, Herald Sun
August 15, 2017

WHY is the Catholic Church continuing to protect and forgive paedophiles?

This is the only way to interpret the church’s desire to allow allegations of abuse made in the confessional to be exempt from mandatory reporting to police.

In an extraordinary admission, Catholic bishops have opposed any move to force priests to report details of child sexual abuse received during confession.

This is despite calls from the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse to make it illegal for them not to do so.

Recommendations released by the commission this week suggest clergy who fail to report such information would face criminal charges.

The report states confession has been a forum where both victims and perpetrators have disclosed sexual abuse in the past.

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Marshall, St. Mary’s College principal in Sault Ste. Marie from 1980-85, died in 2014

CANADA
Sault Star

By Harold Carmichael, Postmedia
Monday, August 14, 2017

A trial date is expected to be set Sept. 6 in a $5-million lawsuit filed by an alleged victim of a now-dead Catholic priest at a Sudbury high school decades ago.

The victim, now 61, was 12 when he attended St. Charles College in the late 1960s, where William Hodgson Marshall was a teacher and sports coach.Marshall was later principal of St. Mary’s College in Sault Ste. Marie.

According to the man’s statement of claim, the sexual assaults lasted for more than a year. The alleged victim claims he was expelled from the school for reporting Marshall’s behaviour.

Individuals and parties listed in the lawsuit include Marshall, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, the Basilian Fathers and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie.

None of the allegations contained in the lawsuit have been proven in court.

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Casey steps down from church professional standards role

AUSTRALIA
Goulburn Post

Louise Thrower
@ThrowerLouise

15 Aug 2017

If Matt Casey’s Catholic faith was ever tested over the past eight years, he remembered his late father’s wise words.

“He said it was important not to let the church, a human organisation, get in the way of your faith. It’s the best piece of advice I ever had,” he said.

“People have said to me that they don’t want anything to do with the church ever again, but it doesn’t mean God doesn’t love them.”

Mr Casey, a former Goulburn detective, retired from his role as director of the Institute for Professional Standards and Safeguarding on June 30. It was established by the Archbishop of Canberra/Goulburn, Christopher Prowse, in October, 2015 in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. However Mr Casey’s previous work with the Archdiocese since 2008 has covered child protection and safeguarding across not just schools and churches but its organisations. It was during his initial work as coordinator for parish support that he discovered several professional standards matters and raised them with the Archbishop.

“We then realised the extent of work that had to be done in ensuring people had appropriate working with children checks. When I later took on the role I picked up historic complaints of abuse, some of which dated back to 1946,” Mr Casey said.

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Two women abused as children to advise inquiry on Welsh victims

WALES
Daily Mail

By Press Association

Two women have promised to champion the cause of Welsh victims after being appointed to advise the public inquiry into child sexual abuse.

May Baxter-Thornton from Newport and Emma Lewis from Swansea, who have both experienced child sexual abuse, will sit on the victims and survivors panel of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

Their role will include advising the inquiry on how best to reach and listen to victims and survivors in Wales.

Inquiry chair, Professor Alexis Jay OBE said: “May and Emma have demonstrated a proven commitment to reaching and supporting victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in Wales.

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Australia Archbishop Rejects Sex-Abuse Exception to the Secrecy of Confession

AUSTRALIA
New York Times

By JACQUELINE WILLIAMS
AUG. 15, 2017

It’s confidential and considered sacred — a conversation strictly between a confessor and priest, never to be divulged. The secrecy of the confessional, a centuries-old sacrament, is taken so seriously that some priests would die before disclosing what has been shared.

Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, who as president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference represents all Roman Catholic clergy in the country, said Tuesday that he would rather go to jail than breach the seal of confession.

“The laws in our country and in many other countries recognize the special nature of confession as part of the freedom of religion, which has to be respected,” Archbishop Hart told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

His comments came a day after religious institutions across the country were forced to defend the secrecy of confession after Australia’s Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended a sweep of legislative and policy changes, one of which would require priests who hear about sexual abuse in the confessional to report it to the authorities. The 85 recommendations were aimed at reforming Australia’s criminal justice system to provide a fairer response to sex-abuse victims, the commission said.

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Man pleads to sexually abusing boy years ago

MICHIGAN
WOOD

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) — A former youth pastor has admitted to sexually abusing a young boy in Jenison a decade ago.

Daniel Hoffman, 31, pleaded guilty last week to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Authorities say Hoffman was being treated at a Zeeland hospital for a “psychotic break” last autumn when he told a nurse about the abuse. The victim, who used to be neighbors with Hoffman and is now an adult, confirmed to detectives that it happened between 2003 and 2008.

Since the period when the abused happened, Hoffman has worked at Jenison Public Schools and as a youth minister.

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Gerald Ridsdale victim taken to priest by her father, court told

AUSTRALIA
The Age

Adam Cooper

WARNING: This story contains content that may distress some readers.

A young girl was woken from her bed and driven by her own father to be left with paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale who then sexually abused her, a court has heard.

Ridsdale, arguably Australia’s most notorious paedophile priest with past convictions for assaults on more than 50 children, on Tuesday formally pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting another 12 children, including the girl, when he was a priest in Victoria.

He pleaded guilty to 23 charges, including two counts of rape and one of buggery.

Ridsdale told one altar boy the abuse was “part of God’s work”, the Victorian County Court heard.

A day after findings were handed down in the royal commission into child sexual abuse, Ridsdale, 83, used a walking frame to enter the County Court dock and kept his head bowed as more of his devastating offending was outlined.

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

Paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale assaulted girl on altar of Ballarat church, court told

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Melissa Brown and Helen Vines

A father took his daughter to a notorious paedophile priest to be abused, including one time when she was assaulted on the altar of a Ballarat church, a Victorian court has heard.

Gerald Ridsdale is back in court after pleading guilty to more historical sex offences, including rape and indecent assault.

The 83-year-old has been in jail since 1994 for abusing numerous children, but has now admitted to raping and indecently assaulting 12 more victims between 1961 and 1988 in western Victoria.

The County Court heard his youngest victim was six years old, several victims endured excruciating pain during the abuse and many of the offences happened in Ridsdale’s car, including when he was driving.

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Paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale facing sex charges over 11 more victims

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Shannon Deery, Herald Sun

VICTORIA Legal Aid has urged a judge to give vile sex monster Gerald Ridsdale the chance at parole despite shocking new admissions he raped a girl in a church.

The horrific ordeal of the young girl whose father left her on a church altar to be raped by Ridsdale on Tuesday moved a courtroom to tears.

But his taxpayer funded lawyer Tim Marsh, VLA’s chief counsel, urged County Court judge Irene Lawson not to interfere with Ridsdale’s earliest release date which is currently April 8, 2019.

“Mr Ridsdale is clearly a repugnant figure to many, for reasons that are only too understandable,” he said.

“The task for this court is not to pass a sentence that addresses community sentiment, but to impose a sentence that’s just in all the circumstances and applies the fundamentals of sentencing law.”

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Pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale ‘abused girl, 10, on the altar’

AUSTRALIA
9 News

A father undressed his daughter and laid her on a church altar where pedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale indecently assaulted her, a court has heard.

Ridsdale, 83, has pleaded guilty to 23 charges, mainly indecent assaults but including rape, involving offences committed against 11 boys and one girl between 1962 and 1988.

Crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams said on one occasion in 1974 the 10-year-old girl was woken up by her father, while Ridsdale waited in the hallway, and driven with the priest to the church.

“(The girl’s) father carried her to the confessional booth and took her clothes off her then carried her to the altar and lay her down,” Mr McWilliams told the Victorian County Court.

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August 14, 2017

Exalumnos narran los abusos sexuales cometidos por religiosos en colegio de Argentina

(ARGENTINA)
La Teja [San José, Costa Rica]

August 14, 2017

By Agencia AP

Read original article

En ese instituto estudiaron el presidente de Argentina, Mauricio Macri, y otros miembros de la élite de ese país.

Rufino Varela estaba afligido, confundido, cuando a los 12 años le contó al capellán de su escuela que había sido abusado sexualmente por un albañil en la casa de su familia.

En lugar de ayudarlo, cuenta Varela, el cura Finnlugh Mac Conastair le bajó los pantalones, le manoseó las nalgas y los genitales y luego le azotó en una habitación situada debajo de la capilla de uno de los colegios más prestigiosos de Argentina.

Después, el cura irlandés, conocido como “padre Alfredo”, le ofreció caramelos y le dijo que debían mantener lo sucedido como un secreto con Dios.

“Yo había ido a pedir ayuda, pero sentía que era como un castigo que me daba Dios” , expresó Varela a The Associated Press.

“Tengo el recuerdo de haber vuelto a la clase, guardar el llanto y volver a casa y no hablar tampoco”.

Mantuvo el secreto casi cuatro décadas. Pero finalmente habló del tema hace algunos meses, abriendo las puertas a más denuncias de exalumnos que dicen haber sido víctimas de abusos por parte de religiosos en el colegio donde estudiaron el presidente Mauricio Macri y otros miembros de la élite argentina.

El escándalo es uno de varios que involucra a religiosos en la patria del papa Francisco, quien prometió una política de “tolerancia cero” con los abusos que han estremecido a la institución en todo el mundo.

Si bien el pontífice no tuvo relación alguna con lo denunciado por Varela–ya que en el momento de lo ocurrido encabezaba la orden jesuita, ajena a la escuela –, el exalumno dice que recibió una llamada del papa este año tras hablar públicamente de lo que había sido víctima.

El Colegio Cardenal Newman fue fundado en 1948 por los Hermanos Cristianos, una orden religiosa con más de dos siglos de vida que se enfocaba en la educación de los desamparados.

En los últimos años se enfrentó a denuncias de abusos ocurridos en varias de las escuelas que administra en todo el mundo.

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Cuando se produjo el encuentro entre Varela y Mac Conastair, en 1977, este colegio socialmente conservador había pasado a ser una especie de refugio para los hijos de los ricos.

Varela dice que decidió confrontar a los directivos del Newman en relación a su caso tras escuchar que el colegio planeaba añadir una corona al león de su escudo de armas en honor a Macri, quien egresó de allí en 1976 y fue elegido presidente en el 2015.

“En lugar de una corona dorada, deberían pensar en una corona de espinas en recuerdo de aquellos alumnos que sufrieron actos aberrantes”, sostuvo Varela.

Agregó que el rector del colegio, Alberto Olivero, se reunió con él, le ofreció terapia psicológica y trató de convencerlo de que no hiciese pública su denuncia.

El colegio se negó a comentar el tema e indicó que todo lo que tenía que decir figura en comunicados.

Frustrado con la actitud del centro educativo, Varela habló con el diario La Nación de Argentina en diciembre del 2016 y comenzó a escribir sobre el tema en Facebook.

En febrero sonó su teléfono. Del otro lado estaba el papa Francisco, quien le expresó su solidaridad y le ofreció disculpas en nombre de la iglesia.

“Estoy con usted, rezamos por usted” , le dijo, según relata Varela. “Tiene que ser consciente de que es un eslabón muy importante en una cadena que está rota”.

El Vaticano no confirma y desmiente esas llamadas, aunque dice que son parte de la tarea pastoral del pontífice.

Varela afirma que una veintena de exalumnos se pusieron en contacto con él y describieron abusos similares a manos de Mac Conastair, un pasionista, y de al menos otro sacerdote de los Hermanos Cristianos del colegio.

Al menos cuatro exestudiantes dijeron a la Associated Press haber sufrido o sido testigos de abusos. Los dos religiosos involucrados en estas denuncias han muerto.

Ellis, quien hoy tiene 52 años, dice que está analizando la posibilidad de pedir una compensación económica por el abuso.Julio Castaño dijo que el capellán, a quien consideraba un “representante de Dios en la tierra”, lo llamó a su habitación en 1979, cuando tenía 12 años, y le pidió que se provocara una erección.

Luego lo toqueteó.

Señaló que decidió hablar del tema porque “hay una necesidad de sanar, sacar para afuera, sacar esa mochila de encima y la esperanza de que esto sirva a más gente…que no se repita”.

Otro exalumno afirmó que el hermano John Derham lo sentó en su falda en la biblioteca de la escuela y lo besó en la boca.

Un cuarto exalumno, Guillermo Newbery, de 68 años, dijo a la AP que vio cómo Derham hacía sentar a los alumnos en su falda durante las clases.

Newbery dijo que le contó a los padres lo sucedido en 1963 y que ellos hicieron la denuncia ante la Asociación de Padres del colegio. Derham falleció en 1986.

Cuando Varela ventiló su denuncia en la prensa, Olivero envió una carta a la comunidad del Newman y reconoció el abuso de al menos un estudiante hace 40 años.

Se colocó una copia de la carta en el ingreso al colegio. Sin dar nombres, dice que “el Instituto de Hermanos Cristianos pide disculpas sin reservas a todos aquellos exalumnos que, en esos años, pudieron haber sido lastimados como resultado del comportamiento inadecuado e injustificable de este sacerdote, quien oficiaba de capellán del colegio”.

El director de los Hermanos Cristianos en América Latina, Hugo Cáceres, le envió una carta a Varela expresando “su mensaje de solidaridad y compasión cristiana a todas las víctimas de abusos que tuvieron lugar hace más de 30 años en el Colegio Cardenal Newman”.

Cuando se produjo el abuso de Varela, el rector era John Burke, un irlandés que estuvo a cargo del Newman de 1979 a 1996. Posteriormente fue designado miembro de la comisión de los Hermanos Cristianos para el bienestar de los niños en Europa.

Burke confirmó que supo de la denuncia del abuso en 1980, pero que no supo la identidad de la víctima hasta que Varela hizo su denuncia pública.

“Hacia el final del año escolar de 1980, me informaron de una denuncia de comportamiento inadecuado del capellán del colegio hacia un alumno cuya identidad no se conocía o no me fue revelada”, manifestó Burke en una declaración a la AP.

No estaba claro cómo se enteró Burke del caso, aunque Varela dijo que en una ocasión le habló del asunto al hermano Desmond Finnegan, quien le aconsejó que no dijese nada y que rezase por el capellán.

En un extraño giro, Burke dijo que pidió asesoría sobre el caso a un juez de menores que resultó ser el padre de Varela.

“Entiendo su sorpresa al oír que yo había hablado con su padre sobre el cura”, le escribió Burke a Varela en junio del 2016.

Varela dijo que su padre falleció sin haberse enterado de que la víctima del abuso había sido su propio hijo.

Burke le dijo a AP que tomó “inmediatamente medidas que considero apropiadas para garantizar la seguridad y el bienestar de todos los alumnos en la escuela y de toda persona que entrase en contacto con el capellán”.

Las medidas incluyeron “la expulsión inmediata del capellán dispuesta por su superior religioso y el obispo de la diócesis”.

Documentos obtenidos por la AP indican que Mac Conastair fue transferido a la vicaría de San Cayetano, pero no se sabe si tuvo contacto con otros menores antes de morir en 1997.

Expertos en abusos por parte de sacerdotes dicen que las medidas tomadas por Burke fueron significativas porque en la década de 1970 la iglesia no tenía reglas como las actuales para lidiar con estos delitos.

“Da la impresión de que al menos John Burke tomó algunas medidas y el obispo sacó al cura del colegio”, expresó Maeve Lewis, directora ejecutiva de la organización defensora de víctimas de abusos One in Four.

“Eso pasó aquí (en Irlanda) todo el tiempo y nadie acudió a su obispo”.

A Varela, no obstante, le frustró que Burke, el colegio y la hermandad cristiana no reconocieran públicamente los “aberrantes abusos sexuales y psicológicos”.

“No soy la única víctima del Colegio Newman. Eso lo sabemos los dos”, le escribió Varela a Burke en octubre del 2016.

También criticó al exrector por no haber hablado del abuso al tomar la palabra durante la cena anual de exalumnos de ese mes, a la que asistió Macri.

Un video publicado online por la asociación de exalumnos del Newman hace cinco años muestra a Burke hablando de Derham y diciendo que era “la persona más extraordinaria”.

En marzo del 2017 la iglesia organizó una misa para ofrecer disculpas a Varela y a cualquier otra víctima.

“La Iglesia ha pedido perdón y yo renuevo ese pedido de perdón aquí, en mi Diócesis, a todas aquellas personas que han sido víctimas de abusos siendo niños o jóvenes, por miembros de nuestra jerarquía”, expresó el obispo de San Isidro Oscar Ojea en su homilía.

En Argentina, dos curas y otros tres individuos fueron detenidos el año pasado, acusados de abusos sexuales de más de 20 alumnos en el Instituto Antonio Provolo para niños con problemas auditivos.

Uno de los religiosos había sido acusado de abusar de estudiantes en una escuela de Provolo en Verona, Italia, y la denuncia llegó incluso al papa Francisco en el 2014, pero el Vaticano no tomó medidas en su contra.

El Colegio Champagnat, fundado por los Hermanos Maristas en el centro de Buenos Aires, informó hace poco que un hermano habría abusado de un alumno hace 38 años.

Esa escuela de élite, entre cuyos exalumnos figura el expresidente Fernando de la Rúa, dijo que el hermano había continuado sus labores directivas en la escuela en la década pasada.

Acotó que comenzó una investigación y que la persona en cuestión, que no fue identificada, fue enviada a un asilo para “hermanos ancianos y enfermos”.

Varela dijo que espera más de la iglesia.

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

Denuncian abusos en colegio de presidente argentino

(ARGENTINA)
Associated Press [New York NY]

August 14, 2017

By PAUL BYRNE, LUIS ANDRÉS HENAO Y ALMUDENA CALATRAVAASSOCIATED PRESS

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BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Rufino Varela estaba afligido, confundido, cuando a los 12 años le contó al capellán de su escuela que había sido abusado sexualmente por un albañil en la casa de su familia. 

En lugar de ayudarlo, cuenta Varela, el cura Finnlugh Mac Conastair le bajó los pantalones, le manoseó las nalgas y los genitales y luego le azotó en una habitación situada debajo de la capilla de uno de los colegios más prestigiosos de Argentina. Después, el cura irlandés, conocido como “padre Alfredo”, le ofreció caramelos y le dijo que debían mantener lo sucedido como un secreto con Dios. 

“Yo había ido a pedir ayuda, pero sentía que era como un castigo que me daba Dios”, expresó Varela a The Associated Press. “Tengo el recuerdo de haber vuelto a la clase, guardar el llanto y volver a casa y no hablar tampoco”.

Mantuvo el secreto casi cuatro décadas. Pero finalmente habló del tema hace algunos meses, abriendo las puertas a más denuncias de exalumnos que dicen haber sido víctimas de abusos por parte de religiosos en el colegio donde estudiaron el presidente Mauricio Macri y otros miembros de la elite argentina. 

El escándalo es uno de varios que involucra a religiosos en la patria del papa Francisco, quien prometió una política de “tolerancia cero” con los abusos que han estremecido a la institución en todo el mundo. 

Si bien el pontífice no tuvo relación alguna con lo denunciado por Varela–ya que en el momento de lo ocurrido encabezaba la orden jesuita, ajena a la escuela–, el exalumno dice que recibió una llamada del papa este año tras hablar públicamente de lo que había sido víctima. 

El Colegio Cardenal Newman fue fundado en 1948 por los Hermanos Cristianos, una orden religiosa con más de dos siglos de vida que se enfocaba en la educación de los desamparados. En los últimos años se enfrentó a denuncias de abusos ocurridos en varias de las escuelas que administra en todo el mundo. 

Cuando se produjo el encuentro entre Varela y Mac Conastair, en 1977, este colegio socialmente conservador había pasado a ser una especie de refugio para los hijos de los ricos.

Varela dice que decidió confrontar a los directivos del Newman en relación a su caso tras escuchar que el colegio planeaba añadir una corona al león de su escudo de armas en honor a Macri, quien egresó de allí en 1976 y fue elegido presidente en el 2015. 

“En lugar de una corona dorada, deberían pensar en una corona de espinas en recuerdo de aquellos alumnos que sufrieron actos aberrantes”, sostuvo Varela. 

Agregó que el rector del colegio, Alberto Olivero, se reunió con él, le ofreció terapia psicológica y trató de convencerlo de que no hiciese pública su denuncia. El colegio se negó a comentar el tema e indicó que todo lo que tenía que decir figura en comunicados. 

Frustrado con la actitud del centro educativo, Varela habló con el diario La Nación en diciembre del 2016 y comenzó a escribir sobre el tema en Facebook. 

En febrero sonó su teléfono. Del otro lado estaba el papa Francisco, quien le expresó su solidaridad y le ofreció disculpas en nombre de la iglesia. “Estoy con usted, rezamos por usted”, le dijo, según relata Varela. “Tiene que ser consciente de que es un eslabón muy importante en una cadena que está rota”.

El Vaticano no confirma y desmiente esas llamadas, aunque dice que son parte de la tarea pastoral del pontífice. 

Varela afirma que una veintena de ex alumnos se pusieron en contacto con él y describieron abusos similares a manos de Mac Conastair, un pasionista, y de al menos otro sacerdote de los Hermanos Cristianos del colegio. Al menos cuatro ex estudiantes dijeron a la Associated Press haber sufrido o sido testigos de abusos. Los dos religiosos involucrados en estas denuncias han muerto. 

Pedro Ellis declaró a la AP que tenía unos 14 años cuando Mac Conastair lo llamó a su habitación para darle una charla sobre educación sexual. “Con la excusa de chequear cómo estaba mi aparato reproductor, me hizo desnudar de forma entera”, manifestó. “Me acostó boca abajo en la cama de él, y me tocó primero las nalgas y sin decirme nada me introdujo uno o dos dedos en mi recto”. 

Ellis, quien hoy tiene 52 años, dice que está analizando la posibilidad de pedir una compensación económica por el abuso. 

Julio Castaño dijo que el capellán, a quien consideraba un “representante de Dios en la tierra”, lo llamó a su habitación en 1979, cuando tenía 12 años, y le pidió que se provocara una erección. Luego lo toqueteó.

Señaló que decidió hablar del tema porque “hay una necesidad de sanar, sacar para afuera, sacar esa mochila de encima y la esperanza de que esto sirva a más gente…que no se repita”. 

Otro ex alumno afirmó que el hermano John Derham lo sentó en su falda en la biblioteca de la escuela y lo besó en la boca. Un cuarto ex alumno, Guillermo Newbery, de 68 años, dijo a la AP que vio cómo Derham hacía sentar a los alumnos en su falda durante las clases. “Vi caricias que eran excesivas… Llamaba a dar la lección a los chicos bonitos y los sobaba mientras estaban sentados en sus faldas; los acariciaba, era algo muy molesto e improcedente”, sostuvo. 

Newbery dijo que le contó a los padres lo sucedido en 1963 y que ellos hicieron la denuncia ante la Asociación de Padres del colegio. Derham falleció en 1986. 

Cuando Varela ventiló su denuncia en la prensa, Olivero envió una carta a la comunidad del Newman y reconoció el abuso de al menos un estudiante hace 40 años. 

Se colocó una copia de la carta en el ingreso al colegio. Sin dar nombres, dice que “el Instituto de Hermanos Cristianos pide disculpas sin reservas a todos aquellos exalumnos que, en esos años, pudieron haber sido lastimados como resultado del comportamiento inadecuado e injustificable de este sacerdote, quien oficiaba de capellán del colegio”.

El director de los Hermanos Cristianos en América Latina, Hugo Cáceres, le envió una carta a Varela expresando “su mensaje de solidaridad y compasión cristiana a todas las víctimas de abusos que tuvieron lugar hace más de 30 años en el Colegio Cardenal Newman”. 

Cuando se produjo el abuso de Varela, el rector era John Burke, un irlandés que estuvo a cargo del Newman de 1979 a 1996. Posteriormente fue designado miembro de la comisión de los Hermanos Cristianos para el bienestar de los niños en Europa. 

Burke confirmó que supo de la denuncia del abuso en 1980, pero que no supo la identidad de la víctima hasta que Varela hizo su denuncia pública. 

“Hacia el final del año escolar de 1980, me informaron de una denuncia de comportamiento inadecuado del capellán del colegio hacia un alumno cuya identidad no se conocía o no me fue revelada”, manifestó Burke en una declaración a la AP. 

No estaba claro cómo se enteró Burke del caso, aunque Varela dijo que en una ocasión le habló del asunto al hermano Desmond Finnegan, quien le aconsejó que no dijese nada y que rezase por el capellán. 

En un extraño giro, Burke dijo que pidió asesoría sobre el caso a un juez de menores que resultó ser el padre de Varela. 

“Entiendo su sorpresa al oír que yo había hablado con su padre sobre el cura”, le escribió Burke a Varela en junio del 2016. Varela dijo que su padre falleció sin haberse enterado de que la víctima del abuso había sido su propio hijo. 

Burke le dijo a AP que tomó “inmediatamente medidas que considero apropiadas para garantizar la seguridad y el bienestar de todos los alumnos en la escuela y de toda persona que entrase en contacto con el capellán”. 

Las medidas incluyeron “la expulsión inmediata del capellán dispuesta por su superior religioso y el obispo de la diócesis”. 

Documentos obtenidos por la AP indican que Mac Conastair fue transferido a la vicaría de San Cayetano, pero no se sabe si tuvo contacto con otros menores antes de morir en 1997. 

Expertos en abusos por parte de sacerdotes dicen que las medidas tomadas por Burke fueron significativas porque en la década de 1970 la iglesia no tenía reglas como las actuales para lidiar con estos delitos. 

“Da la impresión de que al menos John Burke tomó algunas medidas y el obispo sacó al cura del colegio”, expresó Maeve Lewis, directora ejecutiva de la organización defensora de víctimas de abusos One in Four. “Eso pasó aquí (en Irlanda) todo el tiempo y nadie acudió a su obispo”. 

A Varela, no obstante, le frustró que Burke, el colegio y la hermandad cristiana no reconocieran públicamente los “aberrantes abusos sexuales y psicológicos”. 

“No soy la única víctima del Colegio Newman. Eso lo sabemos los dos”, le escribió Varela a Burke en octubre del 2016. También criticó al ex rector por no haber hablado del abuso al tomar la palabra durante la cena anual de exalumnos de ese mes, a la que asistió Macri. 

Un video publicado online por la asociación de ex alumnos del Newman hace cinco años muestra a Burke hablando de Derham y diciendo que era “la persona más extraordinaria”. 

En marzo del 2017 la iglesia organizó una misa para ofrecer disculpas a Varela y a cualquier otra víctima. 

“La Iglesia ha pedido perdón y yo renuevo ese pedido de perdón aquí, en mi Diócesis, a todas aquellas personas que han sido víctimas de abusos siendo niños o jóvenes, por miembros de nuestra jerarquía”, expresó el obispo de San Isidro Oscar Ojea en su homilía. 

En Argentina, dos curas y otros tres individuos fueron detenidos el año pasado, acusados de abusos sexuales de más de 20 alumnos en el Instituto Antonio Provolo para niños con problemas auditivos. Uno de los religiosos había sido acusado de abusar de estudiantes en una escuela de Provolo en Verona, Italia, y la denuncia llegó incluso al papa Francisco en el 2014, pero el Vaticano no tomó medidas en su contra. 

El Colegio Champagnat, fundado por los Hermanos Maristas en el centro de Buenos Aires, informó hace poco que un hermano habría abusado de un alumno hace 38 años. Esa escuela de elite, entre cuyos ex alumnos figura el expresidente Fernando de la Rúa, dijo que el hermano había continuado sus labores directivas en la escuela en la década pasada. Acotó que comenzó una investigación y que la persona en cuestión, que no fue identificada, fue enviada a un asilo para “hermanos ancianos y enfermos”. 

Varela dijo que espera más de la iglesia. 

Uno se pregunta, afirmó, “¿por qué, por qué estos tipos están sueltos?”. 

__

La reportera de la Associated Press Nicole Winfield colaboró en este despacho desde el Vaticano.

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

Hay tres curas misioneros en las denuncias por abuso sexual en la Argentina

VENADO TUERTO (ARGENTINA)
Infober [Buenos Aires, Argentina]

August 14, 2017

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MISIONES. Se tratan de Ladislao Chomin, condenado en 2012 a 4 años de prisión por abuso sexual de una niña en Misiones. Cumplió prisión domiciliaria; Miguel Ángel Santurio, condenado en 2013 en un juicio canónico por abuso en Misiones. Fue liberado por falta de pruebas; y Aníbal Valenzuela, obispo de Puerto Iguazú en 2007, nunca fue investigado.

Desde que en 2002 se conocieron las denuncias contra el padre Julio César Grassi, 62 nuevos casos de abuso sexual por parte de integrantes de la Iglesia se han conocido en la Argentina. En la provincial los acusados son Ladislao Chomin, Miguel Ángel Santurio y Aníbal Valenzuela.
A casi quince años de aquel escándalo, la condena del cura ha tenido un efecto cascada que dejó al descubierto que no se trataba de un hecho aislado: desde entonces, cuatro nuevas denuncias se sumaron por año y sólo tres casos fueron sancionados con la máxima pena prevista por el derecho canónico: la expulsión del sacerdocio.

Son 59 sacerdotes y tres monjas los denunciados en el país. De todos ellos, ocho recibieron una condena judicial.
En la investigación hecha por la agencia Télam se reconstruyó lo que ocurrió luego de que se conocieran las denuncias contra Grassi. Los datos no sólo dan una idea de la magnitud del problema, sino que muestran cómo un complejo sistema de responsabilidades dentro de la Iglesia permite que rara vez haya una condena.

«La mayoría de los casos no son denunciados. La Iglesia no los denuncia, son las víctimas las que se animan a contar lo que les pasó y para ellas es un proceso muy doloroso. Estos números muestran la arbitrariedad del juicio canónico, porque salvo en casos que son indefendibles o han tenido mucha trascendencia pública, la expulsión no se concreta», explicó Carlos Lombardi, abogado de la Red de Sobrevivientes de Abuso Eclesiástico y uno de los pocos especialistas en derecho canónico del país que no pertenece a la Iglesia.

El caso de Grassi, condenado en 2009 por abuso sexual agravado a uno de los chicos a los que debía cuidar en la Fundación Felices Los Niños, funcionó como disparador. Hasta entonces, sólo se habían conocido nueve hechos de abuso sexual por parte de curas.

En la Argentina no hay registros oficiales sobre la cantidad de sacerdotes o monjas denunciados y mucho menos sobre cuántas son sus víctimas.
En base a las noticias publicadas en los medios nacionales y regionales, los informes de distintos corresponsales de la agencia y la información que aportaron fuentes propias, Télam reconstruyó un mapa de la pedofilia dentro de la Iglesia utilizando el mismo mecanismo de La Casa del Encuentro, la ONG que lleva adelante el único registro nacional que existe sobre femicidio.

Este mapa muestra que en la mayor parte de los casos la Iglesia no acompañó a las víctimas, que los abusadores ya tenían antecedentes y que los traslados son la respuesta más frecuente ante una denuncia.

«Hay distintos niveles de responsabilidad en los traslados. Esos distintos niveles y esa fragmentación y discrecionalidad conspiran contra la tolerancia cero y otras premisas del Papa sobre los abusos», reconoció en una entrevista con Télam el obispo Sergio Buenanueva, presidente de la comisión de Ministerios del Episcopado.

En junio de 2015, la diócesis de Ciudad del Este decidió enviar de regreso a Mendoza al cura Carlos Urrutigoity. La primera denuncia de abuso en su contra la hizo en 1989 un compañero del seminario en La Reja, en el oeste bonaerense. Desde entonces, siguió sumando acusaciones en todos sus destinos: tres diócesis de Estados Unidos, y también en las de Mendoza y Paraguay.

El episodio de Urrutigoity no es el único. Otros cuatro curas, incluido un acusado por crímenes de lesa humanidad, encontraron refugio en Paraguay.

Un recorrido similar tuvieron los cuatro curas involucrados en el caso del Instituto del Próvolo, que llegaron al país trayendo sus denuncias por abuso sexual desde Italia y siguieron acumulándolas en Mendoza y La Plata.
Buenanueva, quien en 2011 fue designado para elaborar un protocolo a seguir ante denuncias de abuso, admitió que no sabe cuántos son los curas denunciados ni tampoco los condenados y que hoy en la Iglesia «no existe criterio único». Todo depende de la orden a la que pertenezca el abusador, si ejerce o no como sacerdote. Y si es obispo, la investigación corre entonces por cuenta del Vaticano. Así, la superposición de responsabilidades termina funcionando como una red de encubrimiento.

«Hay sanciones para los obispos cuando no investigamos los casos o hacemos acciones de encubrimiento, pero no hay castigo específico para quien no colabore o dé la información debida a la justicia secular. Y no hay tampoco un protocolo de acción. Es discrecional. La Iglesia viene revisando sus procedimientos, pero a veces tenemos un lenguaje muy eclesiástico», sostuvo Buenanueva.

El obispo recibió a Télam en la casa de retiro de Pilar, horas después de que la conferencia de obispos debatiera la semana pasada la posible conformación de una comisión para prevenir abusos en el futuro. Buenanueva respondió cada una de las preguntas, hizo autocrítica y sólo pareció incomodarse con la mención de un nombre: Grassi.

«Es un hecho complejo. Ahora se iniciaría el proceso canónico, aunque no tengo certezas. Es parte de los errores que hemos cometido», reconoció.
En estos quince años, sólo tres curas fueron sancionados con la expulsión del estado clerical que implica que ya no pueden ejercer más el sacerdocio. El primer caso conocido fue el de Miguel Ángel Santurio, expulsado en 2013. El papa Francisco fue quien ordenó la sanción contra José Mercau y Cristian Gramlich, ambos sacerdotes de San Isidro. Y aunque el primero terminó con una condena a 14 años por abuso sexual agravado contra cinco chicos de entre 11 y 15 años, las denuncias contra Santurio y Gramlich -cura en el colegio Marín de San Isidro- nunca fueron llevadas a la justicia.

La misma suerte que los abusadores corrió el sacerdote cordobés Nicolás Alessio, castigado también con la expulsión del sacerdocio pero por haber apoyado la ley de matrimonio igualitario. A diferencia de los otros, su castigo se resolvió en un trámite exprés.

La lista

El siguiente listado releva los nombres, cargos y el estado de las causas en la justicia penal y eclesiástica de los integrantes de la Iglesia denunciados por abuso según los registros a los que accedió Télam y tomando como punto de partida el caso Grassi, que se conoció a través de los medios en octubre de 2002.

1- Luis Anguita. Denunciado y sobreseído en 2004 por violar a una chica de 13 años. Se desempeñaba en el Colegio Franciscano Tierra Santa de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Sin condena.

2- Luis Alberto Brizzio. Acusado de haber abusado de un joven de 16 años en Santa Fe. La Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe dictaminó que al producirse los hechos el denunciante era mayor de edad y descartó el delito. No hubo denuncia judicial.

3- Padre Walter Eduardo Avanzini. En 1998 un programa de TV mostró cómo pagaba para tener sexo con niños y adolescentes en una plaza de Córdoba. No fue investigado.

4- Miguel Cacciuto. Acusado en 2009 de abuso en un jardín de infantes en Villa Gesell, Buenos Aires. Actual párroco de la Sagrada Familia de Mar del Plata. No fue condenado.

5- Ladislao Chomin. Condenado en 2012 a 4 años de prisión por abuso sexual de una niña en Misiones. Cumplió prisión domiciliaria.

6- Nicolás Corradi. Con prisión domiciliaria por abuso de menores en el Instituto para chicos sordos e hipoacúsicos Próvolo de Mendoza. Acumula denuncias por abuso en Italia y en el Próvolo de La Plata. No fue condenado.

7- Alessandro De Rossi. Acusado de abuso a niños entre 2008 y 2013, cuando era párroco en un templo de Salta capital. Detenido en Roma en 2014, se negó la extradición por falta de pruebas y fue liberado seis meses después.

8- Fray Diego. Denunciado penalmente en 2008 por abuso sexual contra un adolescente de 15 años en Buenos Aires. No fue investigado.

9- Juan Diego Escobar Gaviria. Elevarán a juicio oral la causa que lo investiga por abuso sexual de al menos cuatro menores en Entre Ríos. En 2016 fue detenido en la Unidad Penal Nº 5 de Victoria.

10- Atilio Jesús Garay. Acusado de violar reiteradamente a una chica en 2004 en Los Ángeles, Estados Unidos. Fue candidato a intendente de General Campos, Entre Ríos. No fue investigado ni condenado.

11- Daniel Giménez. Denunciado en marzo de 2011 por abusar de una adolescente en Formosa. Se abrió una causa judicial. No fue condenado.

12- Padre Ricardo Giménez. Denunciado en 2013 por Julieta Añazco, por abuso reiterado en La Plata. No fue llamado a declarar.

13- Hermano Isaac Gómez. Condenado a 11 años de prisión por el Tribunal Oral y Criminal N° 4 de Mercedes, Buenos Aires, por el abuso sexual agravado de un menor.

14- Giovanni Granuzzo. Forma parte de la causa Próvolo de Mendoza, donde se abusó de chicos sordos e hipoacúsicos. También fue denunciado por abuso en Verona, Italia, y La Plata junto con Nicolás Corradi, Luigi Spinelli y Eliseo Primati. Aún no fue condenado.

15- Padre Justo José Ilarraz. Se le inició investigación canónica por abusos contra al menos medio centenar de niños de entre 10 y 14 años en el Seminario Arquidiocesano «Nuestra Señora del Cenáculo» de Paraná, Entre Ríos, entre 1984 y 1992. El juicio oral comenzará en agosto próximo.

16- Padre Virginio Juan Isottón. Detenido en julio de 1999 por «abuso deshonesto» de niñas en la parroquia Nuestra Señora de Fátima, en Cañuelas, Buenos Aires. Lo declararon inocente en octubre de 2011.

17- Jorge Luis Morello. Denunciado por Iván González, seminarista de 19 años de Guaymallén, Mendoza. En 2012 se inició una demanda civil contra el arzobispado (José María Arancibia y Sergio Buenanueva) por ocultar información y tuvieron que pagar una indemnización. El arzobispado argumentó que la relación «había sido consentida». No fue condenado.

18- Albano Mattioli, ex directivo del Próvolo de La Plata. Llegó a la Argentina en 1965 desde el Próvolo de Verona, Italia, tras ser denunciado por abusos. Murió en 2013 a los 93 años en Italia y nunca fue investigado.

19- José Antonio Mercau. El papa Francisco decretó el cese de su condición sacerdotal. En 2011 fue condenado a 14 años por «abuso y sometimiento sexual agravado» en perjuicio de cinco chicos en un hogar del Tigre, Buenos Aires. Fue excarcelado el 18 de marzo de 2014.

20- Reinaldo Narvais. Acusado por acoso sexual y abuso de poder por integrantes de la parroquia Nuestra Señora de Pompeya, de Rosario. El Vaticano abrió un juicio, no dio por probado el abuso y fue declarado inocente.

21- Domingo Pacheco. Condenado en febrero último a 13 años de prisión por abusar del menor Osvaldo Ramírez en Corrientes. Sigue libre hasta que la sentencia quede firme.

22- Rubén Pardo. Acusado por violar a un chico de 14 años en 2002 en Quilmes, Buenos Aires. Murió en 2005. Nunca fue juzgado, pero la Justicia condenó al obispado local por encubrimiento y lo obligó a pagar una indemnización.

23- Héctor Pared. Condenado en marzo de 2003 a 24 años de prisión por abuso sexual en un hogar de Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires. Murió en septiembre de ese año.

24- Martín Paz. Separado de sus funciones eclesiásticas en mayo de 2003 por el arzobispo de Salta, monseñor Mario Cargnello, por abusar en Catamarca de una chica de 17 años que quedó embarazada. Hubo denuncia penal pero no fue investigado.

25- Luis Pezzolo. Detenido en septiembre de 2003 por abuso sexual en el hogar Obra de Don Bosco de Bernal, Buenos Aires. Estuvo cinco años con prisión domiciliaria. Se espera el juicio público.

26- Fernando Enrique Picciochi. Condenado en 2012 a 12 años de cárcel por abusar sexualmente de al menos cinco niños. Sebastián Cuattromo, quien iba al colegio Marianista de Caballito, Buenos Aires, lo denunció en 2000. Está en libertad por el beneficio del 2×1 desde principios de 2016.

27- Monseñor Carlos Robledo. En octubre de 2012, el ex seminarista Alfredo Bazán lo denunció por el abuso de seis adolescentes en 1987. Murió en 2009 sin ser investigado.

28- Luis Sabarre. Denunciado en 2010 por abusar de una nena de 9 años en Mendoza. La Iglesia abrió una investigación y lo declaró inocente. Fue designado como administrador parroquial del colegio Nuestra Señora de Luján de Cuyo.

29- Padre Miguel Ángel Santurio. Condenado en 2013 en un juicio canónico por abuso en Misiones. Fue liberado por falta de pruebas.

30- Mario Napoleón Sasso. Condenado en 2007 a 17 años de prisión por haber abusado sexualmente de cinco niñas en 2002 y 2003, cuando era párroco de la capilla San Manuel en Pilar, Buenos Aires. En el juicio probaron el encubrimiento de dos sacerdotes colegas de Sasso, que fueron procesados.

31- Padre «Seryo», Instituto Vicente Pallotti, Turdera, Buenos Aires. Denunciado por abusar de alumnos de ese Instituto. No fue condenado.

32- Luis Eduardo Sierra. Condenado a ocho años de prisión en 2004 por abusar en 2000 y 2001 de tres monaguillos de entre 12 y 14 años del colegio Ave María de la Obra Don Orione, de la localidad bonaerense de Claypole. No se sabe si cumplió la condena. Se fue a Paraguay, donde también lo acusaron de abusos.

33- Luigi Spinelli, consejero en el Próvolo de Mendoza. También había sido denunciado en Verona, Italia. No se sabe dónde está.

34- Edgardo Storni. Ex arzobispo de Santa Fe. En 2009 fue condenado a ocho años por abusar de un seminarista. Pasó un poco más de un año en prisión domiciliaria porque tenía más de 70 años. En 2011, la Cámara Penal anuló el fallo. Murió al año siguiente.

35- Richard Suttle. Fue denunciado en 2008 por abuso sexual de menores entre 1982 y 1983 en la escuela primaria del Sagrado Corazón, en Prescott, Arizona, Estados Unidos. En 2013 llegó a Buenos Aires como integrante del equipo de los claretianos dedicado a las misiones de las Naciones Unidas. No fue investigado.

36- Carlos Urrutigoity. Denunciado por «conductas deshonestas» en un seminario en Buenos Aires y trasladado a los Estados Unidos. Por nuevas denuncias lo reubicaron en Paraguay. Actualmente en el Instituto del Verbo Encarnado, en San Rafael, Mendoza. No fue investigado.

37- Aníbal Valenzuela. En 2007 el obispo de Puerto Iguazú (Misiones), Marcelo Martorell, decidió suspenderlo como párroco por denuncias de abusos. Tuvo el apoyo del obispo Joaquín Piña y nunca fue investigado.

38- Padre Mario Yulán. Denunciado por abuso sexual en la parroquia San Juan Bautista, en Buenos Aires en 2007, en reemplazo de José Antonio Mercau. No fue condenado.

39- Cristian Vázquez. Ex sacerdote de la capilla Virgen del Carmen de Río Grande (Tierra del Fuego), imputado por abusar de una menor en 2012. No fue condenado.

40- Renato Rasguido. En marzo de 2014 fue denunciado por abusar de un adolescente de 15 años en Andalgalá, Catamarca. En 2015 la fiscal pidió su detención, aunque no se concretó. Espera el juicio en libertad.

41- Daniel Omar Acevedo. Un joven lo denunció como autor del abuso sexual que había sufrido cuando era niño y el 13 de noviembre de 2016 fue separado como cura de Ushuaia. No fue condenado.

42- Juan de Dios Gutiérrez. Denunciado en abril de 2015 por abusar de una chica de 16 años en Belén, Catamarca. Aún no fue condenado.

43- Agustín Rosa, Salta. Detenido con prisión preventiva. La causa será elevada a juicio oral. Fue denunciado por dos ex novicios. Tiene 25 denuncias canónicas por abuso, corrupción y enriquecimiento ilícito.

44- Nicolás Osvaldo Parma Vega. Denunciado por abuso sexual pero aún no fue investigado. Pertenece a la congregación del sacerdote Agustín Rosa.

45- Cristian Gramlich. Expulsado del estado clerical. No hubo investigación judicial. Las denuncias por abuso en su contra habían empezado en 1998 en el colegio Carmen Arriola de Marín de San Isidro, Buenos Aires.

46- Marcelino Moya. Denunciado en 2015, está a punto de ir a juicio oral. Cometió abusos contra menores que eran monaguillos entre 1994 y 1997 en la Parroquia Santa Rosa de Lima, de Entre Ríos.

47- Eliseo Primati. Cura del Instituto Próvolo de Mendoza. Tiene denuncias por abusos también en Italia. Aún no fue investigado.

48- Finnlugh Mac Conastair. Denunciado por abusos sexuales en el Colegio Cardenal Newman de San Isidro, Buenos Aires. El caso más conocido fue el de Rufino Varela. Aún no fue investigado. Tanto el colegio como la Congregación de Hermanos Cristianos Región de América Latina pidieron recientemente «disculpas públicas» a «todos los abusados» en esa institución.

49- Félix Alejandro Martínez. En 2002 fue denunciado junto al profesor de educación física Fernando Melo Pacheco por el abuso sexual de chicos que asistían al jardín de infantes de la Escuela Nuestra Señora del Camino, de Mar del Plata. Recientemente ofició la misa por los 20 años del asesinato de José Luis Cabezas. No fue condenado.

50- Alejandro Squizziatto. Acusado de abusar de un niño en Mendoza en 2014. No fue investigado.

51- Raúl del Castillo. Denunciado en 2008 en Mendoza por abusar de un adolescente. Está en Paraguay, no fue condenado.

52- Carlos Richard Ibañez Morino. Denunciado por abuso sexual de al menos diez jóvenes en Bell Ville, Córdoba, a principios de los ’90. En 2004, la Corte Suprema paraguaya autorizó un proyecto para extraditarlo a la Argentina. No fue condenado.

53- Carlos Alberto Dorado, Santiago del Estero. Acusado por abuso, no fue investigado.

54- Monseñor Adolfo Uriona. En 2006 una joven lo denunció por haberla manoseado cuando era obispo de Añatuya, Santiago del Estero. Fue demorado por la policía. En 2014, el papa Francisco lo nombró obispo de Río Cuarto. No fue investigado.

55- Carlos Miguel Buela. Fundador del Verbo Encarnado, Mendoza. Acusado de violar a seminaristas de la congregación. El Vaticano admitió que era culpable de «inconductas sexuales». Lo trasladaron a una iglesia en Génova. No fue condenado.

56- Fernando Yáñez. Procesado por abusar de chicos de un hogar en San Rafael, Mendoza. No fue condenado.

57- Horacio Corbacho. Detenido en Mendoza por las denuncias de abuso a chicos sordos e hipoacúsicos en el Instituto Próvolo. No fue condenado.

58- Néstor Monzón. A punto de ir a juicio oral por el abuso de dos nenes de tres años en Reconquista, Santa Fe.

59- Bibiana Fleitas. En 2015, una ex novicia escribió un libro contando los abusos de la monja en el Colegio Santa Rosa de Viterbo de San Lorenzo, Santa Fe. Fue trasladada a Mendoza pero aún no fue investigada.

60- María Alicia Pacheco. Era colaboradora de otro cura abusador, Agustín Rosa. Detenida desde diciembre de 2016 por abuso reiterado de una nena de 13 años en Salta.

61- Monja Kosaka Kumiko, acusada de ayudar y encubrir a los sacerdotes que abusaban de los chicos del Próvolo de Mendoza. Es investigada y podría enfrentar una pena de entre 10 y 50 años de cárcel.

62- Padre Julio César Grassi. Condenado en 2009 a 15 años de prisión por abusar de un menor que vivía en la Fundación Felices los Niños, que él dirigía. La Corte Suprema confirmó la sentencia en marzo último. En abril, el Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal 1 de Morón lo benefició con el 2×1 y le redujo dos años y medio la pena. La medida será apelada por los abogados querellantes.

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Three New Sexual Abuse Lawsuits in the Mormon Indian Placement Program are Filed Detailing Abuse in Three Different States (Utah, Arizona and Washington)

ARIZONA
Noaker Law

Contact Info:

Craig Vernon
Lee James
Cell: (208) 691-2768
cvernon@jvwlaw.net

James Vernon & Weeks
1626 Lincoln Way
Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814
Patrick Noaker
Cell: (612) 839-1080
Patrick@Noakerlaw.com

Noaker Law Firm LLC
333 Washington Ave N.
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Billy Keeler
Cell: (505) 979-0688
billkeeler@keelerandkeeler.com

Keeler & Keeler, LLP
108 East Aztec Avenue
Gallup, NM 87301

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONFERENCE: Plaintiff AH, will discuss being removed from the Navajo Nation to be placed in a Mesa, Arizona home in the late 1970’s where she was sexually abused on multiple occasions by her Mormon foster father. AH’s attorneys will be available to answer any questions regarding the two other lawsuits filed yesterday; one by another Navajo survivor, sexually abused by her Mormon foster father in Utah, and another adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse who was taken off the Crow Reservation in Montana and placed in a Wenatchee, Washington home where she was sexually abused by her foster grandfather.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 11:00 am

WHERE: Kimpton Palomar Hotel, Mural Room,
2 East Jefferson Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85004

WHO: Plaintiff AH and her attorneys, Billy Keeler of Gallup, New Mexico and co-counsel, Craig Vernon

Click Here for File-stamped Copy of the AH Complaint

Click Here for the File-stamped Copy of the JC Complaint

Click Here for the File-stamped Copy of the Jane Doe 1 (Chelan County, Washington)

Please contact Craig Vernon on his cell phone (208 691 2768) for any requests or additional information

THE DETAILS:

(August 15, 2017 – Phoenix, AZ).

Three separate lawsuits have been filed (two, by enrolled members of the Navajo Nation and the third by a member of the Crow Reservation) against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly known as the “Mormon” or “LDS” Church, and against LDS Family Services.

These three lawsuits follow five other lawsuits filed by adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse within the controversial Mormon “Lamanite (or Indian) Placement Program.”[1] “Not only were our clients sexually abused but the core tenants of this placement program subjected them to cultural and emotional abuse as well,” explains attorney Craig Vernon, a former member of the LDS Church and an attorney who has helped survivors of childhood sexual abuse across the nation in claims involving the LDS Church, the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America, and other entities.

“Canonized Mormon scripture teaches that Native Americans are descendants of a group of people that fled from Israel in the year 600 B.C. and settled somewhere in the Americas. According to Mormon scripture, these people then split up into two groups: The Nephites, a righteous people; and the Lamanites who, after becoming wicked and hardening their hearts, were cursed by God with a ‘skin of blackness’. This ‘curse’ doctrine, which equates having a ‘skin of darkness’ as a curse from God because of wickedness, is damaging to our clients’ self-esteem and to their culture. Telling our clients and other Native Americans that they were ‘cursed’, that they needed Mormonism to break this ‘curse’, is troublesome, to say the least.” added Vernon.

Two of the lawsuits were filed in the Navajo Nation District Court. The third was filed in Chelan County, Washington.

In the Washington lawsuit, Plaintiff Jane Doe 1 was taken off the Crow Reservation and placed with a foster family in Wenatchee, Washington. There, she was sexually abused on four separate occasions by her foster grandfather over a three-year period starting in 1970.

The Navajo Nation lawsuits both involve sexual abuse by two Mormon foster fathers. Plaintiff AH was sexually molested and abused by her Mormon foster father on multiple occasions starting in 1979. As part of this sexual abuse inside the perpetrator’s Mesa, Arizona home, AH was also forced to watch the perpetrator masturbate. AH, who currently lives in Gallup, New Mexico, will speak at the press event.

Plaintiff JC was forcibly raped on multiple occasions, in a violent fashion, by her Mormon foster father at his Enterprise, Utah home in the late 1960’s.

“Unfortunately, childhood sexual abuse isn’t a plague unique to the Catholic Church” adds Billy Keeler, a Gallup, New Mexico lawyer who, along with Mr. Vernon, represent a total of eight adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse within this program who have filed lawsuits. “It is tragic that our other clients were sexually abused during this program. Religious organizations and programs such as this should be places where children are safe from harm, not places that protect sexual predators,” comments Mr. Keeler.

“What has happened in these lawsuits is exactly why professionally-trained law enforcement should investigate reports of childhood sexual abuse. There is no evidence that any of the perpetrators of abuse were ever disciplined by the Church or criminally charged. We hope that these civil lawsuits will ‘out’ the perpetrators and answer some questions as to why the Church failed to protect these kids back in the day,” comments Mr. Vernon

Keeler points out a disturbing trend within this program: “Many of our clients informed either Church leaders or LDS Family Service case workers about the sexual abuse, yet these cries for help fell on deaf ears. They didn’t remove these vulnerable kids from these horrific homes and the abuse continued.”

The rise and fall of this program appears linked to George P. Lee, who was a key figure during the program’s most robust years. As reported in the November 1975 edition of the Mormon Church magazine, the Ensign, “Lee, in the 1950s, was one of the first participants in the Church’s Indian Placement Program and later went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, a master’s from Utah State University, and a doctorate from BYU. In 1975, he was called by President Spencer W. Kimball to be the first Native American general authority in the Church.” Lee’s primary focus was the Lamanite Placement Program. While the program grew during the George P. Lee years, such growth was accompanied by scandal.

George P. Lee served as a general authority until 1989, when he was excommunicated from the Mormon Church for what Mormon leaders called “conduct unbecoming a member of the church.” As reported by the Salt Lake Tribune on July 31, 2007, “George P. Lee pled guilty in 1994 to sexual abuse of a child. The victim of this abuse, a girl, age 17 at the time of the 1994 trial, said Lee exploited the religious respect she had for him to fondle her breasts, buttocks and genitals. She said the abuse began when she was nine years old (in approximately 1986) and lasted for three years.”

“We know of George P. Lee’s guilty plea and the sexual abuse of this nine-year-old girl; what we don’t know is how many other survivors of abuse are out there. When the General Authority that the Church assigned over this program was sexually abusing young girls, it is no wonder we see abuse within the foster families as well,” comments Vernon.

“Because of the nature of this program which took children from their homes and placed them in a strange environment, protection of children should have been paramount. It appears that was not the case,” adds Keeler.

As an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse within this program, AH has chosen to speak out at this press event. While AH will tell her story at the press event, she wishes to send a message of hope for any other survivors of sexual abuse within this program. “Understand that you are not alone. It is not your fault. The shame is not yours, rather the shame belongs to those who abused, as well as those who allowed the abuse to happen.”

[1] The Book of Mormon reads: “And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people, the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.” (emphasis added) (2 Nephi 5:21, Book of Mormon).

Patrick Noaker | Noaker Law Firm LLC | (612) 349-2735 | patrick@noakerlaw.com

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Bunbury bishop Gerard Holohan writes to parishioners to reiterate apology to church sexual abuse victims

UNITED KINGDOM
Bunbury Mail

Andrew Elstermann
@AElstermann

14 Aug 2017

Diocese of Bunbury bishop Gerald Holohan has written to parishioners to reiterate his apology to victims who suffered abuse at the hands of Father William Kevin Glover in the 1960s and 70s.

Last month, the Mail published documents tendered to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in February that revealed in 1959, Bunbury bishop John Goody agreed to hire a priest despite knowing he had previously sexually abused a number of boys.

Father Glover ministered in Esperance, which was part of the Diocese of Bunbury from 1959 and was shifted to Margaret River in 1979 where he remained until his retirement in 1992. He died six years later.

The commission has recorded five allegations of child sexual abuse filed in WA between 1997 and 2014 against Father Glover for offending in the Diocese of Bunbury between 1967 and 1986. One was also received in Victoria in 1998 for alleged offending in 1956.

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Let’s Make A Deal — Bernard Shero Getting Out Of Jail Early

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 2017

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

Like the Pope used to be, prosecutors think they’re infallible.

And when they screw up, or get caught playing dirty, they don’t apologize.

But today in Common Pleas Court, the nearest thing to a correction just happened — Judge Ellen Ceisler signed off on a deal struck between the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office and Bernard Shero’s lawyers to let Shero out of jail nearly a dozen years early.

Shero, 54, is the former schoolteacher doing 8 to 16 years for his 2013 conviction by a jury on charges that included rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of a minor, and indecent assault. But Shero’s conviction comes with a big asterisk — the alleged victim in the case was Danny Gallagher, AKA “Billy Doe,” the former altar boy who has since been outed as a complete fraud.

Shero, 54, has already done 4 years, 6 months and two weeks in jail for crimes that never happened. He has another 11 1/2 years to go on his maximum sentence. But as soon as tomorrow, he’ll be walking out of State Correctional Institution in Houtzdale, thanks to a deal finalized today during a half-hour teleconference between the prison and Judge Ceisler’s courtroom at the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia.

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Child abuse inquiry to reconvene in the autumn

SCOTLAND
Police Professional

The second phase of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry will continue with its investigation into children’s homes run by the Catholic order Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.

The Lady Smith-led hearings are to reconvene on November 28 in Edinburgh to examine historical allegations of the abuse of children in care.

The public inquiry, which began in May, has already heard a series of religious organisations apologise for historical abuse in damning testimonies.

Legislation lifting the time-limit on damages for child abuse cases was passed by the Scottish Parliament earlier this year, removing the current three-year period for personal injury actions in cases of child abuse where the person was under 18 at the time.

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Chiles Menschenrechts-Katastrophe in der Demokratie: Über 1.300 Kinder starben in den Händen des Staats, privater und katholischer Kinderheime

CHILE
Nach Den Seiten

[Chile Over 1,300 children died in the hands of the state, private and Catholic children’s homes.As a cause of death, the investigation report identifies the systematic violation of the duty of supervision, neglect, life-threatening medication, the use of violence, the formation of prostitution and the rape of hundreds of minors. The former bishop of La Serena and Chillán, Francisco José Cox Huneeus, is among the sex offenders. In order to escape the judicial authorities, the Vatican and the Chilean Church withdrew the “dignitaries”and ordered him “penance and prayer work” in the Father’s house of the Schoenstatt movement, in the Palatinate Vallendar.]

Zur falschen Zeit, beim Auftakt des Präsidentschaftswahlkampfs, platzte vor wenigen Wochen in Chile die schwerste Anklage wegen Menschenrechtsverletzungen durch den chilenischen Staat seit Ende der Militärdiktatur im Jahr 1990. Eine Untersuchungskommission des Parlaments in Valparaíso warf dem Nationalen Dienst für Minderjährige (SENAME) und den chilenischen Regierungen seit 2005 vor, für den Tod von mindestens 1.300 Kindern und Jugendlichen im Verlauf der vergangenen 11 Jahre verantwortlich zu sein. Als Todesursachen benennt der Untersuchungsbericht die systematische Verletzung der Aufsichtspflicht, Verwahrlosung, lebensbedrohliche medikamentöse Behandlungen, Gewaltanwendung, Bildung von Prostitutionsringen und Vergewaltigungen hunderter Minderjähriger, auch durch Leiter beauftragter katholischer Kinderheime. Unter den schon vor Jahren schwer belasteten Sexual-Straftätern befindet sich der ehemalige Bischof von La Serena und Chillán, Francisco José Cox Huneeus. Um den Justizbehörden zu entkommen, zogen Vatikan und die chilenische Kirche den “Würdenträger” aus dem Verkehr und verordneten ihm „Buß- und Bet-Arbeit” im Vaterhaus der Schönstatt-Bewegung, im pfälzischen Vallendar. Von Frederico Füllgraf.

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Adass Israel School backtracks on (Rabbi) Kluwgant appointment

AUSTRALIA
Manny Waks

Child sexual abuse survivor and victims advocate Dassi Erlich posted publicly regarding her recent meeting with the Adass Israel School (Melbourne) board:

​On the 28th of July, Ted Baillieu accompanied me to a meeting with the Adass School board. With the board’s permission I recorded the meeting. I have attached some excerpts below. Overall, I felt the meeting was a positive step forward. I look forward to seeing their sincere apology followed up with sincere actions – public statements of support.

Transcription of Recording:

Abe Weiszberger: Now going to Rabbi Kluwgant, since your letter came along he is not working, only as a consultant in the school.

Dassi Erlich: Have you told the board, the parents that this is what his position is?

Abe Weiszberger: The parents have never been told that he is going to be that he is principal. The letter came out to the staff and I have been to the staff and explained to the staff exactly what is his position is.

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Adass Israel School and (Rabbi) Meir Shlomo Kluwgant part ways

AUSTRALIA
Manny Waks

On behalf of several victims of child sexual abuse and other members of the community, I welcome the news that the Addas Israel School Board and (Rabbi) Meir Shlomo Kluwgant are parting ways.

Both Adass and Kluwgant have horrific histories when it comes to mishandling matters relating to child sexual abuse. Kluwgant’s appointment was a slap in the face to the Yeshivah victims who worked so hard to expose his true character and to the Adass victims who continue to suffer terribly as a result of the lack of education and poor decision-making of the Adass School Board. The appointment also needlessly brought the entire Adass community into disrepute and the community is entitled to question whether this Board can be trusted with ensuring the safety of their children and whether it is appropriate for them to continue in their current roles.

There were many parties who worked behind the scenes to ensure the right outcome was achieved and it was particularly heartening for many to see Rabbi Beck (long-standing head Rabbi of Adass), members of the Adass staff, members of the Adass community and the broader community standing up for victims on this occasion, something for which we have been crying out for too long.

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Ultra-Orthodox baby trafficker exposed

ISRAEL/UNITED STATES
YNet News

Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth investigate allegations against Haim Aharon Yosefi, a well-known figure in the Haredi world, for taking young, pregnant Haredi woman from Israel to the US to give birth before giving the child away in an ‘adoption’ arrangement for a fee; ‘If I tell you who I’m connected to, it’ll blow your mind,’ he tells undercover journalist.

Ariella Sternbach and Yehuda Shohat|Published: 13.08.17

Haim Aharon Yosefi—a well-known businessman and figure in the ultra-Orthodox world—trades in babies. He is a central figure in a network that allegedly takes young, pregnant Haredi women from Israel to the United States to give birth before giving the child away in an “adoption” arrangement for a fee.

In a series of meetings with undercover reporters from Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth, Yosefi unwittingly provided a rare glimpse behind the curtain, openly divulging how he and his accomplices operate. He also revealed a string of other related activities including the distribution of pills to suppress sexual desire, forging identification documents and more.

Over the last few weeks, Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth sent “Devorah Leah,” a young Haredi woman with a cover story, to Yosefi. “I got pregnant by a married man, and I’m in trouble,” Devorah told Yosefi.

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Accused clergy member teaches at Simon Sanchez High School

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com Aug. 14, 2017

Until the Guam Department of Education’s legal counsel is done researching personnel policies and rules, a science teacher who is named in the latest clergy sexual abuse lawsuit will continue his job at Simon Sanchez High School, an education official said.

Vernon T. Kamiaz has been accused of sexually abusing a minor, identified in local court documents only as E.M., who was taking confirmation classes between 1989 and 1990.

Kamiaz is a science teacher Sanchez High. Thursday is the opening of classes for public schools.

Kamiaz could not be reached for comment and did not respond to a message last week to his Facebook account, asking for comment.

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Child sexual abuse disclosed in confession should be reported: royal commission

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Rachel Browne

Priests would no longer be able to use the secrecy of the confessional to avoid reporting allegations of child sexual abuse, a royal commission recommends in its latest report.

In the wide-ranging report into the criminal justice system, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has made 85 recommendations aimed at better protecting children.

One key recommendation is that failing to report information about child sexual abuse disclosed in confession should be made a criminal offence.

“The report recommends there be no exemption, excuse, protection or privilege from the offence granted to clergy for failing to report information disclosed in connection with a religious confession,” it read.

Australia’s Catholic archbishops were divided on the issue of the Seal of the Confessional when quizzed about it at a public hearing this year which was told that it had been used as an excuse not to report crimes.

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ARCHBISHOP: I’D GO TO JAIL RATHER THAN DOB IN SOMEONE WHO’D CONFESSED

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun
August 14, 2017

The royal commission into child sexual abuse today said priests should be punished if someone taking confession admits to child abuse and the priest doesn’t tell police. Catholic Archbishop Denis Hart says no priest can break confidentiality – and doing so will hurt children by making abusers less likely to admit anything even to their priest.

From The Bolt Report – Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart says confession is a fundamental part of the freedom of religion, and must remain so in Australia:

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Child sex abuse: How the royal commission plans to protect kids

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Danny Tran

Fairness and reform – that’s what the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse says are its goals in releasing dozens of recommendations on the criminal justice system.

The royal commission has made a total of 85 recommendations, including major legal and policy changes which it hopes will be adopted across the nation to stamp out child abuse and prosecute more offenders.

But what are the most important changes being proposed, and how will they change the way Australia responds to child sex abuse?

1. You could be charged for failing to report child abuse

Most child abuse laws in Australia are aimed at perpetrators but this particular law will be aimed at other people, including the owners and managers of places that have children in their care.

The royal commission is recommending that state and territory governments make it a crime not to go to the police about child abuse.

But it goes further, arguing that reasonable people who “suspect, or should have suspected” that a child is being molested would be committing a crime if they did not go to the police.

The commission said the law was necessary, “particularly in light of the evidence we have heard from a number of senior representatives of institutions effectively denying that they had any knowledge or had formed any belief or suspicion of abuse being committed in circumstances”.

“Their denials are very difficult to accept,” it said.

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Breaking the seal of confession could pit church against state

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

ANALYSIS
By Noel Debien

Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has just made recommendations that could electrically charge the relationship between church and state.

It has advised that legislators in Australian states and territories should enact laws to specifically overrule the confessional seal. The recommendation would require mandatory reporting to police from priests who hear confessions concerning child abuse.

The recommendations, if enacted, would place the church and the state in direct legal conflict and would require fundamental change within the international Catholic Church.

While priests in other Christians denominations do hear confessions, for many of Australia’s five and a half million Catholics the “seal of confession” is a sacred and secret matter, even when it comes to the heinous crime of child abuse.

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Melbourne priest wouldn’t break the seal of confession

AUSTRALIA
ABC – Drive

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has recommended 85 changes to the law in a new report.

One of the most controversial recommendations is that clergy who fail to report information about child sexual abuse heard during confession, would face criminal charges.

The proposed change has already been met with opposition from some members of the Catholic Church because of the ‘seal of confession’.

Talkback caller Martin from Heidelberg, a Melbourne priest for 34 years, told Ali Moore on Drive, “We can’t reveal what someone says to us in confession…There’s a higher law and that is – I can’t reveal.”

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Confessional secrets won’t be protected under abuse probe recommendations

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

August 14, 2017

JOHN FERGUSON
Victorian EditorMelbourne
@fergusonjw

Secrets of the confessional would no longer be an excuse for failing to report child sexual abuse under royal commission recommendations.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse today released 85 new recommendations to reform the nation’s criminal justice systems.

The report recommends making the failure to report child sex abuse in institutions a criminal offence, extending to religious confessions.

It specifically states that clergy should not be able to refuse to report a sex abuse crime detailed in the confessional.

The recommendation will spark an uproar, particularly in the Catholic Church, which treats as strictly confidential matters discussed in the confessional.

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Clergy who fail to report child abuse heard in confession should be charged – royal commission<

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Melissa Davey and agencies
Sunday 13 August 2017

Clergy who refuse to report child sexual abuse because the information was received during a religious confession could face charges if recommendations for new institutional criminal offences are accepted.

The child abuse royal commission wants failure to report child sex abuse in institutions to be a criminal offence, extending to information given in religious confessions.

People in institutions who know, suspect or should have suspected a child is being sexually abused and fail to act should face criminal charges, it says in its criminal justice report released on Monday.

Stephen Woods – who was abused by the notorious pedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale and the convicted pedophile brother Robert Charles Best while a student at St Alipius primary school in Ballarat– praised the commission for the recommendation but said it was overdue.

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Abuse confessions could see clergy charged

AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

Megan Neil
Australian Associated Press

Clergy who refuse to break the seal of confession to report child sex abusers to police may end up facing criminal charges.

The child abuse royal commission wants a new crime of failing to report child sexual abuse in institutions, including for those people who should have suspected the abuse.

The commission says the importance of protecting children from sexual abuse means there should be no exemption for clergy over information received during a religious confession, despite the Catholic Church believing the confessional seal must not be violated.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president, Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart, says confession is a fundamental part of the freedom of religion that must continue to be recognised by Australian law.

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Connecticut Rabbi in Alleged Sex Assault Case to Face Judge

CONNECTICUT
NBC Connecticut

A Connecticut rabbi accused of repeatedly raping and molesting a teenage boy is set to make his first court appearance since being arrested last month.

Rabbi Daniel Greer is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in New Haven Superior Court on felony charges of second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. His lawyer says he will plead not guilty, but it’s not clear if he will enter pleas Monday.

The 77-year-old Greer is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy who attended the Yeshiva of New Haven school from 2001 to 2005. Greer was a founder and principal of the school, which was established in 1977.

A federal jury in May awarded $15 million in damages to the now-former student in his lawsuit against Greer and the school.

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Red Cross now advising group investigating infant remains

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Maeve Sheehan
August 13 2017

An international authority on excavating human remains has advised the expert group investigating the infant remains buried beneath the former mother and baby home in Tuam.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has worked to recover and identify bodies from mass graves in conflicts across the globe, has been consulted by the expert group, as it nears the end of its technical examination of the site.

The charity is a leading expert on searching for, recovering, analysing, identifying, and managing large numbers of unidentified remains in varying states of preservation. Extraction and analysis of DNA are among the key issues the group is considering.

An update, published on the Department of Children’s website last week, said that the group had also liaised with An Garda Siochana and the coroner for North Galway, who has a role in investigating sudden, suspicious or unnatural deaths. It has also liaised with the National Monuments Services and Forensic Science Ireland.

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Clerical Abuse Scandal Hits Argentine President’s School

ARGENTINA
US News

AP

By PAUL BYRNE, LUIS ANDRES HENAO and ALMUDENA CALATRAVA, Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Rufino Varela was a distraught, confused 12-year-old when he went looking for help from the school chaplain to tell him he’d been sexually abused by a mason at his family’s home.

Instead of aiding, Varela says, the Rev. Finnlugh Mac Conastair took off the boy’s pants, flogged him and fondled him in a room below the chapel at one of Argentina’s most prestigious schools. Then, the Irish priest known by many as “Father Alfredo,” offered him candy and told him that they should keep it as a secret with God.

“I had come looking for help, but I felt that it was a punishment from God,” Varela said. “I came back to the classroom, holding back tears, went home and never spoke about it.”

The secret was kept for nearly four decades. But in recent months, Varela’s decision to break his silence has led several other former students to denounce clerical abuse at a school that has educated President Mauricio Macri and many other members of Argentina’s elite.

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Survivor frozen out of child abuse inquiry

UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Sean O’Neill, Chief Reporter
August 14 2017
The Times

A man who was thanked personally by Theresa May for his “invaluable assistance” in setting up the child abuse public inquiry has been excluded from its investigations.

Andi Lavery campaigned for the inquiry and met Mrs May when she was home secretary to describe the abuse he had suffered as a schoolboy from Benedictine monks. Mr Lavery said last night that he was “extremely distressed” and had been treated for self-harm since Alexis Jay, chairwoman of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), ruled that she would not investigate Fort Augustus Abbey, the school where he was assaulted.

Mrs May wrote to Mr Lavery in 2015 thanking him for his “openness and honesty” and expressing the hope that he would “continue to work with the independent inquiry as your experiences and your knowledge will be invaluable”.

Professor Jay has ruled that because Fort Augustus is in Scotland it falls outside the remit of her inquiry, which is considering abuse at institutions in England and Wales.

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Report on Criminal Justice released

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

14 August, 2017

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has released 85 recommendations aimed at reforming the Australian criminal justice system in order to provide a fairer response to victims of institutional child sexual abuse.

The report Criminal Justice, which was released today, recommends a sweep of legislative and policy changes. It includes reform to police and prosecution responses, evidence of complainants, sentences and appeals, and grooming offences. It also recommends new offences, including ‘failure to report’ and ‘failure to protect’.

Royal Commission CEO Philip Reed said the criminal justice system is often seen as not being effective in responding to child sexual abuse cases and conviction rates are lower compared to other crimes.

“Child sexual abuse cases are often ‘word against word’ cases with no eyewitnesses or medical or scientific evidence. Complainants often take years or decades to disclose their abuse,” Mr Reed said.

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Australia church abuse: Priests ‘must report’ confessions

AUSTRALIA
BBC News

Catholic clerics should face criminal charges if they do not report sexual abuse disclosed to them during confession, an Australian inquiry has recommended.

It is among 85 proposals to emerge from a landmark inquiry into institutional abuse in the nation.

The inquiry had heard harrowing tales of abuse, which were never passed on to the relevant authorities.

The Church has indicated it will oppose altering the rules around confession.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which began in 2013, was contacted by thousands of victims from both religious and non-religious organisations.

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Bishops call for protection of confessional seal following Royal Commission’s recommendations

AUSTRALIA
Catholic Leader

By Mark Bowling

PROTECTING the sacred dialogue between God and sinner in the confessional needs to be paramount if Australian lawmakers are to follow new recommendations proposed by the Royal Commission, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge has said.

Archbishop Coleridge was responding to the recommendations made by Royal Commission into child sexual abuse that would require members of clergy to report information even if it is revealed in the confessional.

The recommendation was one of 85 contained in a report released by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse today.

The report, titled Criminal Justice, includes reform to police and prosecution responses, evidence of complainants, sentences and appeals, and grooming offences.

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Priests should report confessions of sexual abuse: Australia’s Royal Commission

AUSTRALIA
Hindustan Times

AP

Australia’s most powerful investigative authority has recommended that priests who fail to tell police about suspected child sexual abuse should face criminal charges, even when they learn of abuse through confession.

Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended in a report on Monday that all states and territories in Australia introduce legislation that would make it a criminal offense for people to fail to report child sexual abuse in an institutional setting. Clergy who find out about sexual abuse during a confidential religious confession would not be exempt from the law.

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Commission in Australia says priests should report abuse heard in confession

AUSTRALIA
Crux

Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse says the right to practice one’s religious beliefs “must accommodate civil society’s obligation to provide for the safety of all and, in particular, children’s safety from sexual abuse.” Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said in a statement the inviolability of the seal of confession is a “fundamental part of the freedom of religion.”

A government commission in Australia on Monday said Catholic priests must violate the seal of confession if they hear about the sexual abuse of children.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was established in 2013 to investigate how institutions like schools, churches, sports clubs and government organizations have responded to allegations and instances of child sexual abuse.

On Monday, it issued its report on criminal justice, including 85 recommendations for new legal standards.

Recommendation number 35 said laws on reporting sexual abuse of children “should exclude any existing excuse, protection or privilege in relation to religious confessions.”

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August 13, 2017

Le cardinal Barbarin devait être jugé début 2018

FRANCE
Sud Ouest

[Cardinal Barbarin and six other personalities of the church will appear before the courts in the case of priest Bernard Preynat. The case of Father Bernard Preynat, charged with “sexual assault on minors, will have a new episode in September at the Lyon Criminal Court before which Cardinal Philippe Barbarin and six others were summoned to appear by the victims. But this will be only a first step. As the Le Monde newspaper says, “the trial on the merits could open in early 2018”.]

Le cardinal Barbarin et six autres personnalités de l’église comparaîtront devant la justice dans le cadre de l’affaire Bernard Preynat

L’affaire du père Bernard Preynat, mis en examen pour “agressions sexuelles sur mineurs”, connaîtra un nouvel épisode en septembre au tribunal correctionnel de Lyon devant lequel le cardinal Philippe Barbarin et six autres personnalités de l’église ont été cités à comparaître par les victimes du prélat pour non dénonciation de faits.

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New law removes statute of limitation for sexual abuse crimes

ILLINOIS
KWQC

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed legislation that will remove the statutes of limitation for sexual abuse crimes.

Rauner signed the measure Friday. Sponsor state Sen. Michael Hastings of Frankfort says the legislation puts in place “best practices for dealing with sexual assault cases statewide and puts a system in place that will encourage survivors to come forward and receive justice when they are ready.”

Statutes of limitation restrict the time when authorities can charge someone after a crime occurs. The legislation Rauner signed removes those limitations for felony criminal sexual abuse and sex crimes against children. That will allow for the prosecution of those crimes at any time.

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Crucial test for Benedictine monks’ new leader as order faces sex abuse inquiry

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Catherine Pepinster
Saturday 12 August 2017

He has been an abbot, an author, a TV star and a radio breakfast show regular and has been described as the country’s most influential Benedictine monk since Cardinal Basil Hume. Now Christopher Jamison is to attempt his most important role: saviour of the reputation of his monastic order.

At the start of August the monks of the English Benedictine Congregation – an association of 13 Roman Catholic communities of monks and nuns – elected Jamison as their leader. His installation as abbot president came just days after Professor Alexis Jay confirmed that the public inquiry she is chairing into child sexual abuse in England and Wales would focus its hearings during October and November on scandals at Benedictine schools and monasteries. The choice of Jamison was almost certainly no coincidence.

The Benedictines have been mired in controversy for 20 years following a series of revelations about sex abuse scandals at their prestigious private schools, Ampleforth, Downside, Worth and St Benedict’s, Ealing, west London. And with both the independent inquiry into child sex abuse, led by Jay, and a separate crown court trial of a Benedictine abbot on child sex abuse charges taking place this autumn, the order and its educational establishments will be under severe scrutiny.

Listeners to Chris Evans’s Radio 2 breakfast show, used to Jamison’s spiritual musings in its Pause for Thought slot, may be surprised to learn that he is taking on the difficult task of leading the order. Jamison is most at ease in front of a microphone and a camera. He has a knack of making Catholicism clear to a secular audience.

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Institutional abuse victims ask Brokenshire for help in accessing compensation

NORTHERN IRELAND
Breaking Newe

12/08/2017

Victims of institutional abuse in the North have urged the Secretary of State to intervene immediately to enable them to access stalled compensation payments.

Campaign group Survivors & Victims of Institutional Abuse (Savia) urged James Brokenshire to act after holding a meeting with the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, David Sterling.

Mr Sterling met with the Panel of Experts on Redress – a body made up of individual survivors, survivor groups, human rights organisations, academics and lawyers – on Friday afternoon.

In January, a Stormont-commissioned inquiry into abuse committed in church and state run homes in the North recommended compensation payments for victims of up to £100,000 each.

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August 12, 2017

Un prelado cuestionado por desmanejos financieros

SALTA (ARGENTINA)
El Tribuno Salta [Salta, Argentina]

August 12, 2017

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Apuntaron a Zanchetta por controvertidos usos de fondos en las Diósesis de Quilmes y Orán. 

El pasado 1 de agosto, el corresponsal del periódico La Stampa en Ciudad del Vaticano, Andrés Beltramo Alvarez, señaló que Zanchetta, en su paso por la Diócesis de Quilmes, había cosechado “numerosas denuncias en materia de malos manejos económicos, algo que se habría repetido en la demarcación eclesiástica que guió desde julio de 2013 en el norte de Argentina”.

Sobre los cuatro años de Zanchetta en la sede episcopal de Orán, el portal Caminos Religiosos sostuvo que “sus vínculos con miembros del poder político y económico” le permitieron “recibir asistencia y fondos”, dado que “invocaba ser pastor de una “diócesis necesitada'”, pero “algunos de los pedidos tenían poco que ver con actividades religiosas”.

Valores Religiosos, la publicación que fundó el presbítero Guillermo Marcó con la ayuda de Sergio Rubín, editor de Religión del diario Clarín, sugirió que “Zanchetta fue obligado a renunciar por manejos inadecuados”.

En la misma línea, Infobae tituló: “Se lo apunta por desmanejos financieros”.

¿Qué hay de concreto?

Poco después de la designación de Zachetta como obispo de Orán, en 2013, se colgó en la página de internet Change.org una petición pública urgiendo al Papa a revisar el nombramiento. La firmaron Santiago Spadafora, médico personal y estrecho colaborador del fallecido obispo Jorge Novak, y otro centenar de laicos y docentes de los colegios religiosos que Zanchetta había administrado hasta junio de 2013 como vicario de Asuntos Económicos y apoderado general de la Diócesis de Quilmes.

Hasta 2010, cuando fue despedido bajo circunstancias que aún debe esclarecer la Justicia, Spadafora había ocupado por 27 años la función de representante legal del Instituto Manuel Belgrano de Berazategui, uno de los establecimientos educativos que dependen del Obispado de Quilmes.

“Zanchetta empezó a perseguirme en 2009, promovió mi despido y me hizo una falsa denuncia, solo porque me opuse a una serie de lamentables decisiones tomadas y transmitidas por escrito”, afirmó Spadafora, quien ya había elevado las constancias del caso en 2011 al entonces cardenal Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

La petición llegó dos años después al Vaticano, con la adhesión de un importante número de laicos y docentes en los que el exvicario de Asuntos Económicos de la Diócesis de Quilmes no parece haber dejado las mejores impresiones.

Consultado por El Tribuno, Spadafora afirmó que Zanchetta no le perdonó que se opusiera a “la indicación de derivar coercitivamente fondos de la escuela, subvencionada en un 100% por el Estado provincial (de Buenos Aires), para el sostén de actividades diocesanas y pastorales cotidianas”.

“Su represalia también se debió a mi rechazo a las instrucciones de no pagar el servicio de agua corriente a la Municipalidad de Berazategui, como lo hacían otros establecimientos educativos, y de seguir en las escuelas diocesanas un procedimiento coercitivo para la cobranza de aranceles a los alumnos morosos, y discriminatorio para la inscripción (matriculación) de dichos alumnos, a través de la confección de listas negras”. La causa que le inició Zanchetta a Spadafora en 2010, por supuestos desmanejos administrativos, tiene constancias escritas de esas y otras controvertidas medidas diocesanas.

A pedido del juez de garantías de Berazategui, Damián Véndola, la fiscal María Attarián Mena acaba de disponer en la causa una serie de testimoniales que inquietan al clero.

La larga lista de testigos que solicitó Spadafora y aprobó la fiscal Attarían Mena, el pasado 1 de agosto, incluye al actual obispo de Quilmes, Carlos José Tissera; a su antecesor, Luis Teodorico Stockler; al vicario general, Carlos Alberto Abad; al contador de esa diócesis, Luis Adolfo Albertón, y a varios sacerdotes y laicos que guardaron incómodos secretos.

Sus cuestionamientos se filtraron hasta ahora discretamente en los portales religiosos y otros medios que aludieron a los supuestos “desmanejos económicos” del exobispo de Orán sin entrar en detalles.

Ahora, bajo la obligación de testificar con la verdad y bajo apercibimiento de afrontar causas por falso testimonio, prelados, sacerdotes y laicos deberán comparecer sin velos ante un estrado judicial.

Este diario accedió a copias de la candente causa que, en poco tiempo, será ventilada en un juicio oral y público.

Según sus colaboradores, cayó en una crisis depresiva

En la carta que dirigió a la comunidad diocesana de Orán el pasado 29 de julio, el exobispo Zanchetta comunicó que dejaba la sede episcopal por “un problema de salud” cuya recuperación consideraba “imposible de seguir en la provincia de Salta”. Desde entonces está recluido en Corrientes. ¿Qué tipo de tratamiento podría recibir allí que no tenga las mismas condiciones en Salta? La respuesta abona la hipótesis de una crisis depresiva. 

Se sabe, por fuentes bien informadas, que en los últimos meses el estado de salud de Zanchetta había presentado “algunos síntomas que requirieron estudios, pero nada que hiciera suponer la decisión de viajar a Roma para presentar ante el papa Francisco la renuncia como obispo”.

Una religiosa oranense, que prefirió reservar su identidad, advirtió que el contrabando, la trata de personas, el lavado de activos y el narcotráfico desplazaron a la producción y el comercio lícito del centro de la actividad económica del norte y sumieron a Orán, Tartagal, Rivadavia, Iruya y Santa Victoria -los municipios abarcados por la diócesis fronteriza- en una profunda crisis social.

“Todo eso se puso de manifiesto en la crisis de los bagayeros y en esta tristísima renuncia del padre Gustavo”, aseguró la monja. “Luego del conflicto (con los bagayeros) se lo notaba con desasosiego”, acotó.

En su carta de despedida, Zanchetta no dio detalles del problema de salud, pero voces de su entorno más cercano revelaron episodios que lo habrían obligado a recurrir a ayuda psicológica y psiquiátrica en los últimos meses.

Esas mismas fuentes afirmaron que el obispo “quedó mal parado con la gestión porque no se cumplieron los puntos acordados” para resolver aquel conflicto.

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Zanchetta, desgastado pastor, dejó en Orán una grieta eclesial

ORáN (ARGENTINA)
El Tribuno Salta [Salta, Argentina]

August 12, 2017

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Desmanejo de fondos, presión narco y crisis depresiva, los otros supuestos de su salida.Fuentes del Vaticano y de dos diócesis aportaron respuestas sobre su alejamiento. 

El pasado viernes 4, el administrador apostólico Andrés Stanovnik reunió a los sacerdotes de la Diócesis de Orán para animarlos en su misión pastoral. El día anterior, en el primer oficio religioso que celebró en el norte, el prelado había instado a todos a “evitar la disgregación con lecturas e interpretaciones del pasado”.

El mensaje caló hondo en una comunidad eclesiástica que en los últimos tiempos vio agrandarse una grieta entre el obispo y muchos de los sacerdotes de la extensa diócesis que abarca 55.000 kilómetros de los departamentos Orán, San Martín, Rivadavia, Iruya y Santa Victoria.

“Zanchetta era muy poco accesible, tenía una cuota de soberbia y disfrutaba del poder que le daba el cargo”, contaron laicos con activo trabajo en las comunidades parroquiales.

“Con su personalidad tan rígida, alejó de sus parroquias a curas jóvenes, de gran carisma, como el padre Darío Billordo, David Pintos y Rubén Gutiérrez, un cura muy querido por el Papa”, aseguraron.

“Quizás por temor a que opacaran su autoridad, a ninguno le permitía hablar con libertad con la prensa, para contar la realidad que vivían las comunidades más olvidadas de Orán, San Martín y Rivadavia”, comentaron las fuentes parroquiales.

Otro alejamiento lamentado fue el del misionero José Auletta, quien dejó huellas imborrables y penas por su sentida ausencia en barrios carenciados y comunidades originarias del norte.

El religioso de la orden Madre de la Consolata se desempeñó desde diciembre de 2015 hasta los primeros meses de 2017 en la parroquia San Ramón Nonato, de Tartagal, donde desplegó un notable trabajo social. Una mañana la feligresía de la ciudad cabecera del departamento San Martín despertó con su sorpresivo traslado a Buenos Aires y desde entonces no encontró respuestas ni consuelo a semejante pérdida.

Auletta junto a otros sacerdotes, como el párroco Luis Manco, habían impulsado proyectos que dotaron a barrios humildes y asentamientos aborígenes de agua potable, cloacas y otros servicios esenciales, con donaciones gestionadas ante fundaciones europeas. También había desplegado una comprometida labor de contención de niños y jóvenes de las barriadas más conflictivas de Tartagal. Por eso, aquella feligresía que acompañaba las iniciativas con fervor, nunca terminó de entender la decisión de sus superiores.

“El padre Auletta era una piedra en el zapato de muchos políticos que seguramente influenciaron su inexplicable traslado a Buenos Aires”, dijo una fuente cercana que pidió reserva de identidad.

Como delegado para la Cuestión Aborigen del Noroeste Argentino y miembro del Equipo Nacional de Pastoral Aborigen (Endepa), Auletta defendía a capa y espada a las comunidades originarias del norte de Salta y Jujuy, su derecho a la tierra, al agua potable y la educación. Su traslado a Buenos Aires no tuvo argumento alguno que lo justifique.

Desde su exilio, en el barrio porteño de Flores, prometió “hacer lo posible para seguir brindando servicios para la causa indígena”.

Su último gran aporte en Tartagal fue un proyecto de agua que encaró en la comunidad wichi de Kilómetro 6 junto al cacique Juan de Dios López.

Félix Calderón, dirigente guaraní de la comunidad 9 de Julio, de 70 años, aún recuerda a Auletta como “una bendición para los barrios más pobres”. Aseguró: “Nunca nadie se ocupó tanto de nosotros”. Y soltó una pregunta atragantada: “¿Por qué se lo llevaron en tan poco tiempo?”.

Ante los cuestionamientos que desataron los traslados de Auletta y otros curas misioneros, Zanchetta respondió que “muchos quieren responsabilizar al obispo, pero eso es injusto”.

La explicación episcopal fue que el padre Mauricio Guevara, provincial de la orden de la Consolata, dispuso los cambios porque se fundó una nueva comunidad en Yuto (Jujuy) hacia donde se necesitaba desplazar a algunos misioneros como Manolo García, Antonio Merigo y propio Auletta. El trasladado de este último sacerdote a Buenos Aires, con el mismo cargo, no dejó dudas de la grieta eclesiástica.

El mismo impacto tuvo en la comunidad de la parroquia Nuestra Señora de Luján, de Salvador Mazza, el traslado del cura Merigo a otro destino fuera de la Diócesis de Orán.

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Le cardinal Barbarin : « Face à la pédophilie, ma réponse n’était pas à la mesure de l’enjeu »

FRANCE
Le Monde

[In an interview with Le Monde, the prelate of Lyon denies having covered-up abuse by a priest.]

Le 24 juillet, il était à Karakoch pour célébrer une messe dans la grande ville chrétienne du nord de l’Irak, après l’éviction de l’Etat islamique de Mossoul. En septembre, il répondra à une citation à comparaître de victimes du père Bernard Preynat, un prêtre de son diocèse accusé d’avoir sexuellement agressé des enfants dont il avait la charge jusqu’en 1991.

Le cardinal Philippe Barbarin, 66 ans, qui fêtera en septembre le quinzième anniversaire de sa nomination à la tête de l’archevêché de Lyon, demeure l’une des principales voix de l’Eglise catholique en France. Prélat atypique, cet électron libre allie un conservatisme doctrinal et sociétal à une ouverture aux problèmes sociaux, un catholicisme d’affirmation et une proximité avec le pape François. Le primat des Gaules revient sur les leçons de l’affaire Preynat, les premiers pas du gouvernement et le pape François.

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Le cardinal Barbarin devrait être jugé début 2018 pour non-dénonciation d’agressions sexuelles

FRANCE
Le Monde

[Cardinal Barbarin should be tried in early 2018 for non-denunciation of sexual assaults.The date is not yet fixed, but Cardinal Barbarin and six personalities of the church, including two bishops and one of the most senior Vatican officials, will have to answer in a few months for non-denunciation of sexual assaults on minors who have accused them of covering-up abuse by Father Bernard Preynat.]

Par Emeline Cazi

La date n’est pas encore fixée mais le cardinal Barbarin et six personnalités de l’Eglise, dont deux évêques et l’un des plus hauts responsables du Vatican, devront dans quelques mois répondre des faits de non-dénonciation d’agressions sexuelles sur mineurs dont les accusent depuis deux ans des victimes du père Bernard Preynat, réunies au sein de l’association La Parole libérée.

Le père Preynat, ancien aumônier scout de l’ouest lyonnais, mis en examen pour « agressions sexuelles sur mineurs », est suspecté d’avoir fait des dizaines de victimes au sein de la troupe Saint-Luc dont il a eu la charge pendant vingt ans. Les sept personnes citées à comparaître en auraient eu connaissance mais n’ont jamais alerté la justice. Une première audience évoquera l’affaire le 19 septembre. Le procès sur le fond pourrait s’ouvrir début 2018.

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French archbishop admits failings in response to pedophile scandal

FRANCE
Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) – The Roman Catholic archbishop of Lyon acknowledged shortcomings in his response to a pedophilia scandal in his archdiocese and said more rigorous checks were in place to prevent past errors in the appointment of priests being repeated.

In an interview with Le Monde, published ahead of the Aug. 15 Feast of the Assumption celebration, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin reiterated that he had never concealed acts of sexual abuse by Father Bernard Preynat, a priest under his authority.

Preynat is accused of sexually abusing Catholic boy scouts during the 1980s and early 1990s. He is due to appear before a court next month. Preynat’s lawyer has said the priest admits the abuse but that the cases have passed the legal statute of limitations when they were reported.

Prosecutors in 2016 extensively questioned Barbarin, one of France’s top Catholic clerics, over why Preynat’s activities had not been reported to civil authorities earlier before dropping their investigation into allegations of a cover-up.

Barbarin told Le Monde he became aware of Preynat’s activities in 2007. When he “knocked on doors” for advice nobody gave him a satisfactory answer, he said.

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Police unhappy with priest abuse sentence, likely to appeal

MALTA
Times of Malta

Saturday, August 12, 2017by Matthew Xuereb

The police and the Attorney General’s Office are likely to appeal the sentence handed down to Fr Charles Fenech, who was found guilty of the violent indecent assault of a vulnerable woman.

Sources have said the police were not happy with the punishment meted out to the former director of the Kerygma Movement, who was given a three-month jail term, suspended for a year.

Times of Malta is informed that the victim, who at the time had mental health problems, is also disappointed with the punishment.

According to the law, the police have eight working days – until Wednesday – to file a note in the acts of the case, through which they can express their intention to appeal.

The Attorney General will then be notified and, in turn, will have another eight days to file his appeal.

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Russian Orthodox Priest Charged with Procuring Belarusian Prostitutes

RUSSIA
Latin American Herald Tribune

MOSCOW – A priest of the Russian Orthodox Church has been formally charged with recruiting women in Belarus and trafficking them to work as prostitutes in Russia, the Belarusian Investigative Committee announced on Friday.

The clergyman, identified as Nikolay Kireev, 39, was arrested on Aug. 3 in the northern Belarusian city of Vitebsk when he was about to board a bus to St. Petersburg accompanied by two women, aged 20 and 30.

According to a statement by the IC, police found that Kireev had allegedly persuaded the women, both of whom were Vitebsk residents, to move to St. Petersburg and work in the sex trade there.

The cleric, who served at the Peter and Pavel Cathedral in Imeni Morozova – a settlement on the banks of Lake Ladoga, near the Finnish border –, was put in pre-trial detention.

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LISTEN: Historic child abuse panel member: “I was silenced by Theresa May’s advisors to ensure she became PM”

UNITED KINGDOM
Evolve Politics

In an extraordinary interview recorded yesterday, a child abuse survivor who served on the Government’s independent inquiry into historic child sexual abuse has claimed she was silenced by Theresa May’s advisors to ensure that Ms May became Prime Minister.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of Ms Evans’ startling claims about her time serving on the inquiry.

Speaking to talkRADIO, Sharon Evans, a former journalist and the founder of Dot Com Children’s Foundation, said that the panel were “promised the child abuse inquiry would be open”, but after a short while she saw that it was ‘so obvious that everything was about the control and suppression of information” and that the supposedly independent inquiry had absolutely “no independence’.

Ms Evans claimed that the contracts panel members were made to sign by the Home Office were used to stop them from speaking openly about “very serious allegations about very public figures” – allegations which she says were taken back to the inquiry leaders, but ‘nothing was being done about” them.

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Canonist warns Church oversight of troubled lay groups has ‘no teeth’

UNITED STATES
Crux

Claire Giangravè
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Through the years the Vatican has developed strong rules and regulations to fight sex abuse in the clergy, but two recent sex abuse scandals in Catholic lay associations show that in these cases the Church is still very slow to respond and that often local bishops fail to exercise the necessary monitoring.

ROME – In an effort to respond to cases and allegations of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church over the years, Pope Francis has affirmed a “zero tolerance” policy and stressed that the Vatican must be committed to enforcing accountability.

Yet two recent scandals suggest that while the Church may have developed strong controls over clergy, in cases that involve lay organizations, it sometimes struggles to impose effective oversight.
“Let’s put it this way: The process in the Church for dealing with lay people has got no teeth,” Father Francis Morrissey, a Canadian expert on canon law, told Crux.

One case is rooted in Peru, where the leader of a lay Catholic movement called the Sodalitium of Christian Life was accused of sexually and physically abusing members.

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Magdalene abuse must not go unpunished, UN tells Ireland

IRELAND
The Times (UK)

Ellen Coyne Senior Ireland Reporter
August 12 2017
The Times

Members of the Catholic Church must be prosecuted and punished for their role in the Magdalene laundries, the United Nations has said.

The UN committee against torture has unequivocally dismissed the state’s investigation into the institutions and claims damning documents showing church and state collusion against women have been ignored.

The international human rights body has said that the government must ensure that religious orders responsible for perpetrating abuse against women and children for decades must be forced to hand over evidence.

In 2011 the committee called for an independent investigation into the laundries, which helped lead to the McAleese commission and Enda Kenny’s apology in 2013 to the women who had been affected. Despite the apology, the state has maintained that it was not liable for how women and girls were treated in the institutions.

Finishing its second examination of Ireland’s compliance with torture laws yesterday, the committee criticised the McAleese commission, saying there had been no independent, thorough and effective investigation into the treatment of women.

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Ireland criticised by UN for response to Magdalene Laundries allegations

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Cormac O’Keeffe
Irish Examiner Reporter

The UN has criticised Ireland for failures in investigating allegations of ill-treatment of women at Magdalene laundries and for not prosecuting perpetrators.

The United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) asked the Government to undertake a “thorough, impartial investigation” in this area and ensure that all victims obtain redress.

UNCAT said it was “seriously concerned” at the failure of the State’s delegation to it to provide further information regarding their claim that there have been a sizeable number of investigations into abuse at reformatory and industrial schools, as documented in the Ryan Report.

The committee, which monitors adherence to the UN Convention Against Torture, issued its concluding observations, after taking submissions from Irish NGOs and holding hearings with the Government.

In its observations, UNCAT called on the Government to:

* Bring in a specific offence of domestic violence, and ensure all such allegations are recorded by gardaí and investigated;
* Hold immigration detainees separate from people charged or convicted of criminal offences;
* Ensure solitary confinement is “never applied to juveniles” and to “urgently” undertake an independent review of the prison health-care system;
* Establish a national mechanism, which would have access to all places of deprivation of liberty.

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Former student alleges repeated abuse by Calgary priest, high school teacher

CANADA
Calgary Herald

Meghan Potkins, Calgary Herald

When Brian was a teenager, he attended the funeral of a man he says sexually abused him for months.

He sat in St. Mary’s Cathedral in January of 1983, for the special funeral mass presided over by the bishop: a solemn occasion befitting the untimely death of a much-loved priest.

“It was huge. Everyone in full regalia, and I was just one little person in this whole church,” recalls Brian.

“They saw him as a saint.”

On Wednesday, a lawsuit was filed in Calgary court against a religious order of the Catholic church, alleging decades-old sexual abuse at the hands of a Calgary priest and teacher at Bishop Grandin High School that left a former Calgary resident permanently scarred.

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August 11, 2017

Abuse inquiry set to put orphanages in spotlight

SCOTLAND
Evening Times

Hannah Rodger @hannahwritesHT
Senior Reporter

AN INQUIRY into historic child sex abuse will examine practices at two west of Scotland orphanages during its next stage.

Phase two of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry will hear evidence about two care homes in Lanark and Rutherglen run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.

The inquiry has called for applications to give evidence about practices at Smyllum Park in Lanark and Rutherglen’s Bellevue House.

It has previously been reported that children who lived at the Smyllum Park orphanage endured years of harrowing treatment and abuse.

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CALL FOR FURTHER REDRESS FOR SURVIVORS OF MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES AND MOTHER AND BABY HOMES

IRELAND
Galway Bay FM

Galway Bay fm newsroom – There’s a call for further redress to survivors of Magdalene laundries and Mother and Baby Homes, such as those in Galway

The UN Committee Against Torture says its previous recommendations on historical abuse have either been only partially implemented, or not at all.

Following a review of Ireland’s compliance with the UN Convention on Torture and Other Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Ireland is complimented for its progress on ending the incarceration of children in adult prisons, and the Citizens Assembly, but it’s sharply critical of other issues.

The UN Committee against Torture or UNCAT says Ireland should undertake a thorough impartial investigation into Magdalene Laundries that has the power to compel witnesses and ensure punishment of those responsible.

The UNCAT also wants redress for survivors of Mother and baby homes, and is concerned that some survivors of institutional abuse have been left outside the now-closed redress scheme.

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UN torture committee voices “serious concern” over State response to historical abuse

IRELAND
Newstalk

[The Ryan Report – BishopAccountability.org]

The UN Committee against Torture has voiced “serious concern” over the lack of information provided by Irish State regarding investigations into historical abuse outlined in the Ryan Report.

The committee has published its final report on the Irish Government’s performance on issues including historic institutional abuse, detention and healthcare.

It has warned that its call for the State to investigate all allegations of ill-treatment of women at the Magdalene Laundries have not been implemented.

It said the state has also failed to prosecute those responsible and ensure that victims get redress for their suffering.

It has urged the Government to collect data on all criminal investigations undertaken by the gardaí into allegations of abuse at religious run institutions.

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Govt criticised by UN over lack of Magdalene investigation

IRELAND
RTE News

A United Nations committee has criticised the Government for failing to implement its recommendations to investigate allegations of ill treatment of women in Magdalene Laundries.

It has also called for urgent measures to improve the staffing of the Republic’s prisons and to convene an independent review of the entire prison health care system.

The report underlines many achievements in the six years since the UN Committee Against Torture’s previous review.

These include the creation of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the provision of community service as an alternative to imprisonment.

It also notes the 2013 McAleese Report on the State’s involvement with the Magdalene Laundries and the ex gratia scheme to help women who worked in the Laundries.

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UN criticises government for failure to prosecute abuse perpetrators in Magdalene Laundries

IRELAND
The Journal

A UNITED NATIONS committee has criticised the government for its failure to undertake an independent investigation into allegations of ill-treatment at Magdalene Laundries.

It said that it “deeply regrets” that the Irish State has failed to prosecute and punish perpetrators, which was a recommendation it had made previously.

Last month, Minister David Stanton told the UN Committee Against Torture that Ireland had a “strong human rights record” and hailed positive developments that have been made since the last report on the matter submitted to the UN in November 2015.

On the issue of investigations, accountability and redress in the context of Magdalene Laundries, the UN committee said that it had noted the creation of an “ex-gratia scheme that has provided over €25.5 million to 677 former Magdalene women to date”.

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UN Committee Concerned At Lack Of Information Provided By State On Abuse

IRELAND
K FM

A UN Committee says its seriously concerned at the lack of information provided by the Irish State into investigations into historical abuse outlined in the Ryan Report.

The UN Committee against Torture has published its final report on the Irish Government’s performance on issues including historic institutional abuse, detention and healthcare.

It’s urged the Government to collect data on all criminal investigations undertaken by the Gardai into allegations of abuse at religious run institutions.

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UN committee against torture urges inquiry on all mother and baby homes

IRELAND
Irish Times

Marie O’Halloran

The UN Committee against Torture has called on the Government to carry out an independent investigation into allegations of ill-treatment at all mother and baby homes, not just some of them.

The committee said the inquiry should include claims of forced adoption and prosecution of perpetrators.

It criticised the Government’s failure to fully investigate allegations of ill-treatment in Magdalene laundries as the committee recommended six years ago.

The UN committee calls for a fundamental review of the prison system’s health care system, highlights the urgent need for increased staffing in prisons and warns the State that it must end solitary confinement in prisons as a punishment.

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UN criticises Government for not investigating Magdalene Laundries

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Catherine Devine

August 11 2017

The United Nations has criticised the Irish Government for failing to implement its recommendations to investigate allegations of ill treatment of women in Magdalene Laundries.

The UN Committee against Torture also criticises the Government for failing to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that victims have an enforceable right to compensation.

The Committee is the most important international human rights treaty that deals with torture. It obligates countries who are parties to the treaty to prohibit and prevent torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in all circumstances. 

In the report the Committee also highlighted the need to improve staffing at prisons and to review the prison healthcare system.

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Institutional abuse victims ask Brokenshire for help in accessing compensation

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

August 11 2017

Victims of institutional abuse in Northern Ireland have urged the Secretary of State to intervene immediately to enable them to access stalled compensation payments.

Campaign group Survivors & Victims of Institutional Abuse (Savia) urged James Brokenshire to act after holding a meeting with the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, David Sterling.

Mr Sterling met with the Panel of Experts on Redress – a body made up of individual survivors, survivor groups, human rights organisations, academics and lawyers – on Friday afternoon.

In January, a Stormont-commissioned inquiry into abuse committed in church and state run homes in Northern Ireland recommended compensation payments for victims of up to £100,000 each.

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Disturbing details revealed in allegations against San Mateo teacher

CALIFORNIA
KTVU

SAN MATEO, Calif. (KTVU) – There are disturbing new details involving a San Mateo preschool teacher who was arrested back in April for taking lewd photos of his young students. For the first time, a parent of one of the victims is speaking out about the alleged crimes that happened at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School where the teacher was employed.

The mother said it’s been a traumatic experience. Her daughter has stomach aches every time she hears the teacher’s name. She wanted to come forward saying the school failed to protect her child.

The mother asked KTVU to conceal her identity. She found it odd when her eight-year-old asked her to buy her tights not realizing she said it was because her teacher Anthony Satriano wanted her wear them.

“She was very upset about something. One night, she had told me what had happened and that it made her feel weird and she didn’t know what to do,” said the mother.

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Vatican investigates claims against bishop after dozens of priests resign

INDONESIA
Catholic Herald (UK)

by Catholic News Service
posted Thursday, 10 Aug 2017

Bishop Leteng of Ruteng, Indonesia, is accused of diverting funds to a mistress but denies the charge

The Vatican has appointed an apostolic visitor to investigate claims by Indonesian priests that their bishop had a mistress and misappropriated church funds.

Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunyamin of Bandung, Indonesia, told ucanews.com that the Vatican had asked him to look into the accusations against Bishop Hubertus Leteng of Ruteng, Indonesia.

Bishop Bunyamin, also general secretary of the Indonesian bishops’ conference, was scheduled to visit the diocese on Catholic-majority Flores Island next week, ucanews.com reported.

The appointment followed social media postings that Catholics in the Ruteng diocese living in Jakarta would gather at the apostolic nunciature for a vigil calling for a speedy resolution to the situation.

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Bischof soll Affäre haben: Vatikan prüft Vorwürfe

INDONESIEN
Katholisch

[Serious accusations are raised by Indonesian priests against their bishop Hubertus Leteng: He is supposed to have embezzled church money and have an affair. Now the Vatican sends an investigator.]

Der Vatikan hat einen apostolischen Visitator für das indonesische Bistum Ruteng eingesetzt. Dem dortigen Bischof Hubertus Leteng werfen Priester der Diözese Veruntreuung von Kirchengeldern in Höhe von rund 100.000 US-Dollar und eine Beziehung zu einer Geliebten vor. Der Generalsekretär der indonesischen Bischofskonferenz, Bischof Antonius Subianto Bunyamin, soll nun im Auftrag des Vatikan die Vorwürfe untersuchen. Das sagte er dem Nachrichtenportal “UCAnews.com” am Dienstag (Ortszeit). Er wird nächste Woche in die Diözese auf die Insel Flores reisen.

Priester protestierten mit Kündigungen

Die Ernennung eines Ermittlers durch den Vatikan ist eine Reaktion auf die Protestaktion von Priestern des Bistums Ruteng: Im Juni 2017 hatten 69 Geistliche ihre Kündigungen als Pfarrpriester und Bischofsvikare eingereicht. Sie verlangten, dass Bischof Bunyamin die Vorgänge im Bistum Ruteng überprüfe. Sie reagierten damit auf Vorwürfe, Leteng habe sich heimlich 94.000 Dollar von der indonesischen Bischofskonferenz und 30.000 Dollar von der Diözese geliehen, ohne für dessen Verwendung Rechenschaft zu geben. Kurz vor dieser Protestaktion hatte Leteng die Vorwürfe nicht kommentieren wollen, berichtet das Nachrichtenportal.

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Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry to resume hearing evidence

SCOTLAND
SBS

Dan Vevers

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry will resume hearing evidence as part of the first phase of its investigations in October.

The inquiry is examining historical allegations about the abuse of children in care and has been taking statements from witnesses since last spring.

Fresh hearings to wrap up the inquiry’s first phase will begin in Rosebery House in Edinburgh on October 31 and will include expert testimony.

Investigators also announced they will launch the second phase of the inquiry on November 28, which will start by focusing on two children’s homes in South Lanarkshire run by the Catholic Church.

They are Smyllum Park in Lanark and Bellevue House in Rutherglen, both run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.

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Paedophile remains a priest

NEW ZEALAND
Otago Daily Times

By Chris Morris

The Catholic Church is defending its decision not to defrock a paedophile priest who abused boys in Dunedin.

It was confirmed this week Magnus (Max) Murray, now aged 90, is in the care of a Catholic-owned rest-home in Auckland. Despite admitting 10 charges of sexual offending against boys in Dunedin, dating back to the 1950s, Fr Murray has retained his status as a priest following his conviction in 2003, the church has confirmed.

It was a discovery that outraged Murray Heasley, the head of a group of former pupils campaigning for Kavanagh College to adequately acknowledge its links to Fr Murray’s dark past.

He was a teacher at St Paul’s High School, which later became Kavanagh College, at the time of his offending.

A picture of him was on the college’s honours wall until earlier this year, when a complaint from Dr Heasley and 12 other former pupils prompted its removal.

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Michigan woman says pastor sexually assaulted her during ‘anointing ritual’

MICHIGAN
WXYZ

[with video]

Kim Russell
Aug 9, 2017

KIMBALL, Mich. (WXYZ) – A young woman went to investigators at the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office and said she went to her pastor asking for help getting forgiveness for her sins.

He offered an anointing ritual but what happened during that ritual has her believing she is a victim of sexual assault.

Justine Morden says she worshipped at Grace Ministries in Kimball for years.

Last year she decided she wanted to repent for her sins, strengthen her relationship with god, and get more involved – so she met with Pastor Mitch Olson for counsel.

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Trudeau to apologize for residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador

CANADA
CBC News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will apologize to former students of residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Prime Minister’s Office confirms that Trudeau will apologize in Labrador.

An exact date and location have not been confirmed, but an update is expected later this summer.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper excluded the province’s former residential schools from a national apology and compensation package in 2008.

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Cardenal Rivera declara a la PGR que sólo supo de una acusación de pederastia

MEXICO
Proceso

[MEXICO CITY (AP) – Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera testified before the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) on 26 July that he had heard of one accusation of pederasty against one of its priests, who is already “being prosecuted criminally,” with information that the “own archdiocese provided to the ministerial authority.”]

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (apro).- En su comparecencia ante la Procuraduría General de la República (PGR), realizada el pasado 26 de julio, el cardenal Norberto Rivera Carrera, arzobispo primado de México, declaró que tuvo conocimiento de una sola acusación de pederastia contra uno de sus sacerdotes, el cual ya está “siendo enjuiciado penalmente”, con información que la “propia arquidiócesis proporcionó a la autoridad ministerial”.

De esta manera, el cardenal respondió personalmente a la demanda penal que, el pasado 2 de junio, interpusieron en su contra Alberto Athié y José Barba, quienes lo acusaron de haber encubierto a 15 sacerdotes de su arquidiócesis acusados de pederastia.

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Judge rules Dominican priest to be held in altar boy’s death

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
National Post (Canada)

[Revelan escena de crimen de adolescente se extendió por toda la casa cural – Diario Libre]

AP

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A Dominican judge on Thursday found enough evidence to hold a Catholic priest in jail for one year after police detained him in the killing of a 16-year-old who once served as an altar boy in his church.

Prosecutors said the victim, Fernelis Carrion, was hit twice in the back of the head with a hammer, suffocated with a plastic bag and stabbed nearly a week ago. They also said his hands and feet were tied with shoelaces and that he was gagged.

Police arrested 41-year-old Rev. Elvis Taveras after the teen’s body was found near a road north of the capital Monday.

“A person who does something like this is not human, they never were, they’re the devil!” yelled the victim’s father, Freddy Carrion, after the court hearing ended.

Local law allows Dominican authorities to temporarily hold suspects in jail before a trial as authorities continue to investigate a case.

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Byrnes sends 3 Guam seminarians to California

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com Aug. 11, 2017

Three former Guam seminarians, including two from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona, have been sent to St. Patrick’s Seminary in California.

A committee of Catholic priests said last year the Yona seminary — which is run by the Neocatechumenal Way — may need to be closed for the good of the Archdiocese of Agana unless the seminary can clarify its purpose, seek formal accreditation to ensure the quality of its priest formation program, and ensure its financial independence.

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes decided to send the three seminarians to St. Patrick’s Seminary, which for decades has had strong ties with the Archdiocese of Agana, the archdiocese said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

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Laurence Soper accused of abusing boys at St. Benedict’s School

UNITED KINGDOM
Ealing Today

The former Abbot of Ealing Abbey, 73-year-old Laurence Soper has denied charges of sexual abuse against ten underage boys in a short hearing at the Old Bailey.

The 18 counts he is accused of date back to the seventies and eighties when he was teaching at St Benedict’s School.

He had failed to return when arrested and bailed in 2011 and a European Arrest Warrant was issued for him in 2012. He was detained in Kosovo last year after reportedly living in the country for several years. The extradition process was started at this point to bring him back to the country.

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Mediation Conference to be held in September

GUAM
Pacific News Center

By Jolene Toves – August 10, 2017

Guam – The Catholic Church has scheduled a conference to finalize the mediation process to be utilized in the sex abuse lawsuits filed against the Archdiocese of Guam.

According to Court documents, 73 of the Church Abuse cases are participating in the mediation. At this time, all parties are working together to determine how each proposed mediation process differs and ultimately decide on which mediation process they will follow.

Attorney Anthony Perez says, “my understanding from the church’s side is they want to meet September 5th to finalize the process. On my end correspondence has been ongoing. We have already submitted our proposal which is based upon Hawaii mediation order.

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Opinion: Isn’t Apuron innocent until proven guilty?

GUAM
Pacific News Center

R.B. Eusebio Published Aug. 11, 2017

The recent media headlines reporting allegations of sexual impropriety involving Rev. Justin Wachs in the diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is recycled news from a news report from June. As reported, Wachs served as a notary for the Vatican tribunal investigating sex abuse charges against Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

However, he is not one of the five judges tasked with examining evidence, evaluating and determining the validity of the evidence and finally rendering judgment. He has no say or influence in the case’s outcome.

Nevertheless, all the media appear to deem this newsworthy enough to publish as the expected conclusion of the trial draws near. Yet it aligns with the schema of those who stand to gain from Apuron’s permanent ouster from the island.

Why? By discrediting the Vatican tribunal — which has conducted the most thorough investigation into the claims against Apuron to date — those accusing the Church have more leeway to negotiate via mediation a growing number of unproven sex abuse claims. They have steered the public, via the media, to question his innocence and deemed him guilty before, during and now, near the conclusion of his trial, by discrediting the legal process.

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Dominican Republic priest arrested on suspicion of killing teen

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Angelus

Catholic News Agency

The National Police of the Dominican Republic have arrested a priest on suspicion of killing a teenager, who was allegedly sexually abused by the cleric while serving as an altar boy.

Fernely Carrión had been missing since Aug. 4, after a taxi driver dropped the 16 year-old boy off with Father Elvin Taveras. The boy’s body was later found along the road of Los Mina, a sector located outside of Santo Domingo Este. Reports indicate the teen was stabbed several times.

The young man had lived in El Torito and Villa Mella, where the priest said Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Carrión began altar serving for Father Elvin at 10 years-old. Father Elvin has also been accused of molesting Carrión, who was allegedly being paid by the priest to remain silent.

According to a Aug. 8 statement by the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, the priest will be suspended from his duties and the church will fully cooperate with the police. The victim’s family was distraught over the news but relieved that the priest is in custody and that plans for legal action are underway, reported Hoy Digital.

Freddy Carrión, the father of the victim, said “justice has been done, a person who does something like that is not a priest,” according to the news agency. Prosecutor Olga Diná Llaverías said that both he and the victim’s family will be aiming for “the maximum sentence of 30 years” for the priest.

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Urgent research needed into ‘boyfriend model’ of sex abuse, say experts

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Frances Perraudin
Thursday 10 August 2017

Calls are being made for urgent research into the “boyfriend model” of sex abuse that was used by the Newcastle sex trafficking network and others in high-profile grooming scandals.

It is characterised by a vulnerable person being encouraged to believe they are in a loving relationship with their abuser. The victims are often then coerced into having sex with the abuser’s friends or associates.

In a series of four trials at Newcastle crown court, juries found 17 men and one woman guilty of nearly 100 offences between 2011 and 2014 – including rape, human trafficking, conspiracy to incite prostitution and drug supply.

The female victims, who were between the ages of 13 and 25, were plied with alcohol and drugs before being sexually assaulted. Northumbria police characterised the abuse as following the boyfriend model.

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Supporters of sex-pest accused pastor to protest in Durban

SOUTH AFRICA
Herald Live

August 11, 2017 Bongani Mthethwa

Supporters of sex-pest accused Nigerian pastor Tim Omotoso will take to the streets of Durban today in solidarity with the controversial televangelist.

He has been charged with human trafficking and sexual violence.

The Jesus Dominion International church and its members are demanding that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) stop delaying Omotoso’s case – and also that he be released on bail.

The church has warned that the charges against their pastor could result in xenophobic violence.

“The allegations against him have never been tested in any court of law,” the church said yesterday.

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Former Maitland Marist student alleges caning so hard it required ambulance treatment

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
11 Aug 2017

THE Marist Brothers order has paid compensation to a former Hunter student who alleged he was sexually abused by a lay teacher in the 1970s, and physically assaulted so severely that he was treated by an ambulance officer on one occasion.

The former Marist Maitland student alleged he was physically and emotionally abused by four male lay teachers and three Marist Brothers, including former principal and convicted child sex offender Brother Nestor, also known as John Aloysius Littler, and sexually abused by a lay teacher outside the school.

The order denied the allegations and did not admit “any wrongdoing for any of the claims”, but agreed to a financial settlement with the man in December that included recognition of his need for on-going counselling and treatment.

The settlement occurred only weeks after a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse public hearing in Newcastle heard shocking evidence of sexual and physical abuse of students at Marist Brothers schools at Maitland and Hamilton.

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August 10, 2017

Clergy sexual abuse case filed against Brother Vernon T. Kamiaz of Agana Heights Church

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Aug 10, 2017

By Krystal Paco

Another case of clergy sexual abuse filed today. This time, against Brother Vernon T. Kamiaz of Agana Heights Church who, according to Simon Sanchez High School’s website, is a science teacher at the Yigo campus.

The alleged incidents occurred in 1989 or 1990 when victim E.M. was about 15 or 16 years old and attending confirmation classes instructed by Brother Vernon.

According to the complaint, Brother Vernon insisted on talking about E.M. and his sexual relations with his girlfriend who wanted to wait until marriage to have sex.

E.M. alleges that during a car ride, Brother Vernon reached over and grabbed his private parts announcing “I’m trying to teach you what to do so you can have sex with her.”

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Capuchin friar on Guam accused of abusing boy taking his confirmation classes

GUAM
USA Today

Haidee V. Eugenio, Pacific (Guam) Daily News Aug. 10, 2017

HAGÅTÑA, Guam — A Capuchin brother is accused of sexually abusing a boy by grabbing his private parts, purportedly to teach the child how to have sex with his girlfriend, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Guam Superior Court.

The suit represents the 97th person alleging clergy sexual abuse. The lawsuits so far have been filed in both local and federal courts and involve the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agaña or a religious order.

“Brother Vernon (T. Kamiaz) told plaintiff that he could teach plaintiff how to ‘break down her defenses’ so that he could have sex with her,” according to the lawsuit. “Plaintiff objected, saying that he respected his girlfriend’s wishes to abstain until marriage.”

The alleged abuse happened between 1989 and 1990 while the boy, identified as E.M., was taking confirmation classes at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church in Agaña Heights, about a mile south of Hagåtña where Kamiaz was the instructor, the lawsuit states. E.M. was 15 or 16 years old.

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Catechism teacher accused of abuse

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon | The Guam Daily Post Aug 10, 2017

An incident in a car with a catechism instructor has haunted a man for the last 27 years, causing him to suffer from severe anxiety attacks, according to a sex abuse civil lawsuit that was filed yesterday in the Superior Court of Guam.

E.M., who used his initials to protect his identity, filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana, the Capuchin Franciscans and Brother Vernon Kamiaz.

Kamiaz is identified as a religious clergyman and/or lay brother of the Capuchin Order, who was the instructor for confirmation classes at the Agana Heights parish in 1989 and 1990. The lawsuit seeks to hold him liable for alleged wrongful conduct.

The complaint alleges that when E.M. was 15, and was attending confirmation classes at the Agana Heights parish, Kamiaz began questioning the teen about engaging in sexual relations with his girlfriend.

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Diocese of Paterson: Priest accused of groping was properly trained

NEW JERSEY
Daily Record

Peggy Wright, @PeggyWrightDR Aug. 10, 2017

MORRISTOWN – The Diocese of Paterson on Thursday refuted a suggestion that a Polish priest who is charged with groping a 13-year-old girl in Boonton may have skipped some training and put on an ordination fast-track.

Before the accused priest, Rev. Marcin A. Nurek, 37, appeared Wednesday in Superior Court, Morristown, a former priest who co-founded a company to assist people sexually abused by clergymen led a protest in front of the courthouse. Besides saying he was there in support of the allegedly-groped teen, Robert Hoatson said he wondered whether Nurek truly completed all his training since he only arrived in the United States from Poland in 2015.

Nurek was ordained a Catholic priest on July 1. On Aug. 3, he allegedly followed a group of young girls down a Boonton street, grabbed the buttocks of one girl under her skirt but over her underwear and said she was “sexy.” He was apprehended shortly after the encounter and is charged with criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a minor.

Nurek spent six nights in the Morris County jail before a Superior Court judge Wednesday ordered his release pretrial under special conditions that include having no contact with children and reporting to the court twice a month. Nurek was released from the jail Wednesday night after supplying the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office with his passport.

Richard Sokerka, director of communications for the Diocese of Paterson, said that Nurek completed all educational and programmatic requirements before being ordained. Sokerka said that any suggestion that Nurek was fast-tracked is false.

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Rewarding sexual predators

MALTA
Times of Malta

Thursday, August 10, 2017 by Ramona Depares

I’m fed up of having to write these posts, seriously. Then again, the alternative is to just accept everything without a whisper, allowing the system to ride roughshod on unfortunate individuals as it pleases.

So, despite, knowing that I will not make the slightest iota of difference, I’m still here, typing away to put my disappointment and disgust with our legal system on record, for posterity.

Maybe in a few centuries’ time, if Earth is still around, future lecturers in legal history will point their fingers at Maltese case-law from the 21st century and do the whole LMFAO thing (if that is also, still around) before turning to students to explain exactly why those Malteasers really had no clue.

We’ve had dozens of sexual assault and rape cases where the perpetrators were pretty much let off scot free. This latest one though, starring none other than former Kerygma golden boy Charles Fenech, takes the biscuit, the cake and the whole flipping confectionery. Charles Fenech has not so much gotten off scot free, as much as he is actually being given a conciliatory pat on the back.

The facts: priest in a position of authority and respect takes advantage of a person undergoing several mental problems and sexually assaults her on multiple occasions. His reward? A three-month suspended sentence and an ‘u ijja, she says he filled an emotional void in her life’. Oh yeah, and because “by her own admission, she saw him as a caring paternal figure”.

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Updated: Fr Charles Fenech gets three-month suspended jail term for sexually abusing woman<

MALTA
Malta Independent

Helena Grech
Thursday, 10 August 2017

Fr Charles Fenech, former leader of the philanthropical Kergyma movement, was found guilty of sexually abusing a vulnerable person, landing him a three-month jail term suspended for one year.

Fenech was also charged with detaining a woman against her will and offending a person’s morals in a public sphere. He was acquitted of the last two charges.

The woman involved had testified in court, about how separation from her husband had left her very depressed, and that Fenech had become a patriarchal figure in her life.

The woman filed her first police report in August 2011. She was working at Dar Tal-Providenza and described how the priest had urged her to perform oral sex on him. Battling depression, she was eventually admitted to Mt Carmel psychiatric hospital to receive treatment.

She testified that at a later stage when she was in a better place, celebrations were being hosted at her home and Fenech was among the guests. At one point, the priest asked to speak with her alone and attempted to give her a French kiss, the victim testified.

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Former Kerygma director Fr Charles Fenech guilty of attempted violent indecent assault

MALTA
Malta Today

Matthew Agius 10 August 2017

Former Kerygma director Fr Charles Fenech has been found guilty of attempted violent indecent assault, but cleared of illegal arrest and committing indecent or immoral acts in public.

It was in December 2014 that Fenech, 57, from Rabat, was charged before Magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona with sexually abusing a woman in her 40s who was working at the Dar tal-Providenza at the time.

The woman had told police in 2011 that she been going through a period of turmoil, due to her separating from her husband and had been admitted to Mount Carmel Hospital after attempting suicide. She had explained that she had also been part of the Kerygma movement and had found an understanding and caring ear in Fr Fenech.

After her release from hospital, she had held a party at her home and invited her close friends, amongst them the accused. At one stage Fr Fenech had isolated her and attempted to French kiss her, but she had refused.

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MALTESE PRIEST CONVICTED IN SEXUAL ASSAULT ON A WOMAN

MALTA
Associated Press

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — A Maltese priest has been handed a suspended three-month sentence after he was found guilty of violent indecent assault on a woman who was undergoing psychiatric care.

The woman testified that Charles Fenech, 57, a priest who was popular in the Mediterranean island nation in the 1990s for organizing activities to raise funds for disabled people, forced her to perform oral sex on him on several occasions in 2011.

The woman was under the care of a psychiatrist after trying to commit suicide while her marriage was breaking up.

The verdict Thursday was the first involving a Maltese priest accused of sexually abusing an adult. In 2011, two Maltese priests were sentenced to a total of 11 years in jail for sexually abusing minors.

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Marikina women’s desk chief sacked over Taytay priest case

PHILIPPINES
The Manila Times

MARIKINA City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro has ordered the sacking of the city police women and children protection desk’s chief for mishandling the case of Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos, and sought a reinvestigation of the case by the City Prosecutor’s Office.

Teodoro said he ordered the relief of Chief Insp. Melanie Redon after some pieces of evidence went missing in the case against the priest who was recently caught with a 13-year-old girl on the way to a motel.

The mayor cited, among others, that there was no mention in Redon’s report of Lagarejos’ gun during the arrest and his cellphone, which was allegedly returned to the priest.

Teodoro said these are material pieces of evidence vital to the investigation.

He added they are preparing to file a motion for reconsideration on the prosecutors’ resolution accusing Lagarejos only for violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, and released him after posting P120,000 bail last week.

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Cura Elvin Taveras Durán calló durante primera entrevista con el Ministerio Público

REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Diario Libre

[SANTO DOMINGO. Prosecutor for the province of Santo Domingo, Olga Diná Llaverías, said that suspended priest Elvin Taveras Durán, accused of killing the minor Fernelis Carrión Saviñón, fell silent during the first interview held between the Attorney General and his defense lawyers, so the alleged admission of homicide to investigating police officers is not evidence that can be sustained in the merits trial.]

SANTO DOMINGO. La fiscal de la provincia Santo Domingo, Olga Diná Llaverías, declaró que el sacerdote suspendido Elvin Taveras Durán, acusado de matar al menor Fernelis Carrión Saviñón, calló durante la primera entrevista sostenida entre el Ministerio Público y sus abogados defensores, por lo que la supuesta admisión del homicidio ante los agentes policiales investigadores no es una prueba que se pueda sostener en el juicio de fondo.

“Por el momento la confesión no representa un elemento probatorio, por eso el Ministerio Público tiene que agenciarse sus propias pruebas. Ha habido una entrevista, no ha sido un interrogatorio con su representante”, declaró.

“El Ministerio Público continuará la investigación para arrojar elementos que puedan fortalecer la imputación que se ha hecho de manera provisional porque no sabemos con qué podemos encontrarnos en el camino”, dijo la fiscal y a seguidas agregó: “Por el momento el Ministerio Público ha presentado pruebas que lo vinculan al hecho, pero el Ministerio Público tiene el compromiso de presentar todos los elementos de prueba necesario para una acusación fuerte”.

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Dominican police arrest Catholic priest for teen’s murder

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
La Croix

Police in the Dominican Republic have arrested a Catholic priest for the murder of a 16-year-old who previously served as an altar boy in his church.

Father Elvin Taveras was detained after being questioned by police and prosecutors who searched his residence in the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo.

The priest is also accused of sexually abusing the teenager, and paying for his silence.

Fernely Carrion’s body was found in long grass along a road in the outskirts of the capital.

A taxi driver told the Diario Libre newspaper that he had taken the teen to meet the priest and that Taveras paid the fare.It is not clear how the boy was killed.

Taveras has been suspended from his duties as a precaution, Santo Domingo Archdiocese said in a statement on Aug. 8.

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Ex-priest Laurence Soper denies sexually abusing boys

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

An ex-Roman Catholic priest has denied sexually abusing 10 boys at a west London school in the 1970s and 80s.

Laurence Soper, 73, is charged with 18 counts of sexual assault against boys aged under 16, at St Benedict’s School in Ealing, where he taught.

The former Abbott of Ealing Abbey appeared before the Old Bailey via video link and spoke only to confirm his name and deny the charges.

He is due to go on trial at the same court on 2 October.

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