ABUSE TRACKER

ARIZONA
The Arizona Republic

By Jason Pohl

November 10, 2017

A renowned professor of medieval art history at Arizona State University was forced to resign Thursday after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn announced he had sexually abused minors decades ago while he was an East Coast priest.

Professor Jaime Lara was ordained in 1973 and was in active ministry until 1992 when he was laicized by the Vatican for sexually abusing children, the Diocese of Brooklyn confirmed Wednesday on its website.

Upon learning of his history as a priest, ASU officials on Thursday requested he resign from his role as a research professor from the university’s Tempe campus, school officials confirmed to The Arizona Republic.

His resignation was tendered that same day and effective immediately.

The laicization, which prohibits Lara from carrying out priestly duties, was handed down by a decree from the Vatican office “authorized to deal with cases involving sexual abuse of minors by a cleric,” the Diocese said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC

November 10, 2017

By Reevel Alderson

A 61-year-old man from Glasgow has told the BBC he was sexually abused on a football trip to Manchester United in the late 1960s.

James, who wants to keep his anonymity, believes he was “trafficked” to English football clubs by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic order which ran his school.

He said he was repeatedly abused by the brothers at his primary school.

In a statement, Manchester United said it had found no information relating to the Marist Brothers in its review.

The Old Trafford club looked into historical abuse as part of the English FA’s inquiry, led by barrister Clive Sheldon QC.

It is looking at the way clubs or the FA dealt with concerns over child sex abuse between 1970 and 2005.

However, James said he thought his abuse happened on a trip in 1969, when he was 12 or 13.
Initiation ceremony

The UK’s National Crime Agency told the BBC it had concluded James was a victim of “modern slavery”.

It is unusual for the agency to investigate such historical allegations.

James told the BBC he was in a group of “elite” young footballers who were selected by his school to take part in a tournament in Manchester.

The boys were taken to Old Trafford and the club’s training ground, where they played matches and toured the stadium, the boot room and directors’ offices.

James said he had visions of becoming a Manchester United player like his heroes George Best and Bobby Charlton but he said he was taken from the hostel where the boys were staying and sexually abused.

He said he did not know who abused him but he was taken outside as part of an “initiation ceremony”.

“It was non-consensual sex,” he said.

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BROOKLYN (NY)
BishopAccountability.org

November 11, 2017

Summary of Case: Adam F. Prochaski was a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn ordained in 1968. He spent his entire career at Holy Cross parish and school in Maspeth, Queens, which was established by and served the Polish community. Prochaski was an assistant priest unitl 1989, when he was named pastor. Prochaski left the parish in 1994 and, through 2002, was indexed in the Official Catholic Directory as “Absent on Leave” or “Absent on Sick Leave.”

In September 2017 a former Holy Cross teacher, Linda Porcaro, stated publicly that in 1990 seven of her female students told her that Prochaski was sexually abusing them. Porcaro said she reported this to the school principal, whose response was to laugh and say that “everyone knew about Father P.” Porcaro said she later told a new principal, who reported the allegations to the diocese, but that “not much was done.” The diocese claimed that it first received allegations against Prochaski in 1994 and that he left the priesthood soon thereafter. The diocese denied responsibility for Prochaski after 1994, despite his having been indexed in the Directories through 2002.

By October 2017, twenty-three women had come forward with allegations that Prochaski sexually abused them when they were students at Holy Cross. The abuse allegedly occurred between 1972 and 1994, and was of girls ages 5 to 16. Many of the girls were Polish immigrants, brought to the U.S. via a special program run by Prochaski. Porcaro said that she had heard from “hundreds” of former students who said that the priest had abused them.

Prochaski reportedly went on to marry and to work as an addictions counselor.

The New York Police Department initiated an investigation. The statute of limitations for child sexual abuse in New York state prevents criminal or civil litigation after the alleged victim reaches age 23, with the exception of rape.

Ordained: 1968

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UNITED STATES
The Spectrum

November 10, 2017

By Emily Havens

For the first time, Rachel Jeffs appeared on national television to discuss what her life was like as the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the former FLDS prophet.

Rachel Jeffs’ story will be shared on NBC’s “Dateline” on Friday night. On Friday morning, Rachel Jeffs appeared on “Megyn Kelly TODAY” to answer questions about life inside the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, what it was like being a sister wife, and the abuse she endured from her own father when she was a child.

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ARIZONA
The State Press

November 10, 2017

By Reilly Kneedler

The University asked for Lara’s resignation Thursday and he is no longer with ASU

ASU research professor James “Jaime” Lara had his priesthood revoked by the Vatican in 1992 for sexually abusing children, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn said in a statement Thursday.

The University asked for his resignation Thursday in light of the announcement, according to an ASU official. Lara agreed to resign and is no longer associated with the University, according to a University statement.

“Jaime Lara is no longer affiliated with Arizona State University, effective Thursday,” the statement read.

The ASU official said the University found out about Lara’s history with the clergy when the diocese announced it on its website Thursday.

“We found out when the diocese posted it and somebody walked over to his office and said ‘You need to resign or we’re going to fire you,’” the official said. “And he said ‘OK, I’ll resign.’”

Lara did not respond to requests for comment.

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WICHITA (KS)
The Wichita Eagle

November 10, 2017

By Stan Finger and Katherine Burgess

A Catholic priest has been removed from the pulpit after taking a hiking trip with parish children and no other adults.

The Rev. Andrew Seiler was removed from ministry at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Conway Springs last month after an Oct. 9 hiking trip, according to a letter from the diocese sent to parishioners Thursday and provided to The Eagle.

The letter said there were no allegations of abuse against Seiler and that “no harm was done to the children.” Being alone with a minor goes against behavioral boundaries set by the diocese.

A statement announcing Seiler’s leave was read at each of the Masses at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Conway Springs on the weekend of Oct. 14-15, and Seiler has not returned to the pulpit.

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CANADA
The Chronicle Herald

November 10, 2017

By Tom Urbaniak

Last month, Bill 30 was introduced in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It was unanimously given second reading by MLAs after less than a minute of debate. This new Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth Act is still before the standing committee on local and private bills, where it was rightly deferred for more consideration.

The implications are anything but local or private.

This proposed law would grant to Roman Catholic Archbishop Anthony Mancini regulatory powers that are currently held only by officials of the government. He would become, in effect, his own registrar of joint stock companies, with the unilateral power to create, dissolve, modify and completely control dozens of civil corporations.

The new act would also allow him to use provincial law, not just church law, to require parishes to “work collaboratively” with him on all matters.

I am a practising Catholic in the neighbouring Diocese of Antigonish. Our diocese, like so many others, was ravaged by sexual abuse of children by some priests. For decades, bishops covered up those crimes and transferred sexual predators from one unsuspecting parish to another.

This continued because the bishops claimed to have personal control over all personnel, accounts and property in the diocese. When finally faced with civil liability, they took money and property from the parishes, but kept the old, secretive structures going.

The parishes could not vet these priests or supervise them in any way. The bishop himself was answerable to no council and accounted to no lay people. There was no transparency.

In 2009, the then bishop, Raymond Lahey, was arrested in turn. He was eventually convicted and jailed for the possession of child pornography.

Mancini should be aware that the scandals were enabled by a system of no oversight or accountability. But now, he has asked the Nova Scotia House of Assembly to enshrine and protect that very sick system in the laws of the province.

MLAs should respectfully decline. They should allow the future parish corporations to have the same rights and responsibilities in law as any other corporations or societies in Nova Scotia. Their own bylaws could still reflect their Catholic identity and membership in the archdiocese.

On the surface, Bill 30 might appear to protect parishes by giving them their own civil incorporation to shield their assets in the event of crimes by the bishop and his priests in other parishes.

But this bill actually further disenfranchises parishioners and makes it virtually impossible for parishes to guard themselves against abuses.

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

November 3, 2017

By Oliver Lewis

[Note: The Bristlecone Project exhibition runs from Monday, November 6 to April 1, 2018, at Canterbury Museum.]

An installation telling the stories of male survivors of sexual abuse is expected to help other men open up about their own trauma.

The Bristlecone Project exhibition, featuring black-and-white photographs of 24 New Zealand men abused in childhood, opens at Canterbury Museum on Monday.

“People have been trying to hide this for so long, and now it’s going to be in the public’s face,” said Ken Clearwater, manager of the Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust.

“We’re taking the lid off a can of worms and throwing the lid away. We’ve been carrying this shame and guilt for so long, it’s time people understand the damage it does.”

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MANHATTAN (NY)
CBS (WCBS 880)

November 9, 2017

By Alex Silverman

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Two men are accusing an active upper Manhattan priest of abusing them decades ago, and calling on the archdiocese to keep him away from children.

Minnesota-based attorneys Patrick Noaker and Jessica Arbour who work for the group Lawyers Helping Survivors of Child Sex Abuse, say their clients, whom they did not name, filed claims with the archdiocese’s victim compensation program in September and October. They claim Fr. Lawrence Quinn abused them when he was assigned to a parish in the Bronx throughout the 1990s.

“One boy was an altar boy at Our Lady of Mercy, and the other was trying to become an altar boy,” Noaker said. One of the accusers was 5 years old when the alleged abuse began; the other was 12.

Quinn is now assigned to Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Inwood, which has an elementary school on the property.

“The archdiocese has done nothing to inform these parishioners that there may be a lone wolf in their midst,” Arbour said.

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SAN JOSE (CA)
NBC

November 9, 2017

By Vicky Nguyen and Michael Bott

The group of teachers and staff accused of sexually assaulting or harassing students at a Catholic high school for girls in San Jose is growing after an explosive essay published in the Washington Post last month described the sexual assault of two students by a former Spanish teacher nearly three decades ago.

Since Presentation High School graduate Kathryn Leehane published that essay, NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned of accusations against several other teachers or staff members, including at least one that’s still employed at the school.

Several sources who spoke with NBC Bay Area also described reporting incidents of sexual misconduct they witnessed or learned of to school Principal Mary Miller, but they question whether those incidents were ever reported to authorities.

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UNITED STATES
The Detroit News

November 10, 2017

By Charles E. Ramirez

Six-time Olympic medal-winning gymnast Aly Raisman said she is also a victim of Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University doctor accused of sexually assaulting more than 100 girls.

Raisman confirmed the abuse to TV news magazine “60 Minutes,” which will broadcast the interview set to air Sunday, according to USA Today. The three-time gold medalist and captain of the 2012 and 2016 Olympic teams also describes it in her book, “Fierce,” which will be released next week.

“I am angry. I’m really upset,” Raisman told “60 Minutes.” “I see these young girls that come up to me, and they ask for pictures or autographs, whatever it is … I just want to create change so that they never, ever have to go through this.”

Her disclosure of the attack comes about a month after her teammate on the so-called “Fierce Five” gymnastics team, Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney she was sexually assaulted by Nassar when she was young.

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UNITED STATES
ESPN

November 10, 2017

John Barr/The Associated Press

Aly Raisman, a six-time Olympic medalist and two-time national team captain, said she was sexually abused by former Michigan State and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, according to CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

Nassar already faces 22 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and could receive a sentence of life in prison.

Raisman told “60 Minutes,” in an interview scheduled to air Sunday, that she spoke to FBI investigators after serving as national team captain at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. In the interview, Raisman said she didn’t know why it took so long for allegations against Nassar to come forward.

“Why are we looking at why didn’t the girls speak up? Why not look at what about the culture?” she said. “What did USA Gymnastics do, and Larry Nassar do, to manipulate these girls so much that they are so afraid to speak up?”

Now 23, Raisman told “60 Minutes” that she started seeing Nassar when she was 15. She details the abuse in her book “Fierce,” which will be released on Nov. 14.

USA Gymnastics said in a statement Friday that Raisman sharing her personal experience took “great courage” and it is “appalled by the conduct of which Larry Nassar is accused.”

Raisman, who was also captain of the team for the 2012 Games in London, is the second member of the “Fierce Five” U.S. women’s gymnastics team — and third Olympian overall — to allege abuses by Nassar. Just last month, Raisman offered her support to McKayla Maroney after she alleged abuse by Nassar dating back to 2009, when she was just 13.

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UNITED STATES
CBS News

November 10, 2017

In an interview with 60 Minutes, the Olympic gold medalist says she spoke with FBI investigators after the Rio games

One of America’s biggest Olympic stars has come forward to accuse the former U.S. women’s gymnastics team doctor of sexual abuse. Aly Raisman, who won six medals, three of them gold, for the U.S. at the last two Olympic Summer Games, says she was sexually abused by Dr. Larry Nassar. Raisman tells her story to Dr. Jon LaPook for a 60 Minutes report to be broadcast Sunday, Nov. 12 at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Raisman, 23, says she was first treated by Dr. Nassar when she was 15. She talks about her experiences in a new book called “Fierce.” It’s the story of a girl who dreamed of going to the Olympics, and how she realized her goal, but it also includes new insights into a scandal that goes to the highest level of Raisman’s sport.

Dr. Nassar, who worked with the U.S. women’s national gymnastics teams for more than two decades, is now in jail. He pleaded guilty to child pornography charges but not guilty to charges of sexual assault. More than 130 women, many of them former athletes, have filed civil lawsuits alleging that Nassar sexually abused them under the guise of treating them for hip, back, and other athletic injuries. Raisman tells 60 Minutes that after the Rio Olympics she spoke to FBI investigators about Dr. Nassar.

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INWOOD (NY)
Washington Heights Patch

November 9, 2017

By Brendan Krisel

A priest at Our Lady of Martyrs Church in Inwood allegedly molested two boys while serving at a parish in the Bronx.

INWOOD, NY — A catholic priest accused of molesting two boys at a Bronx church is now stationed at an Inwood parish, lawyers told Patch Thursday.

Two men have accused Lawrence Quinn of molesting them at Our Lady of Mercy Church in the Bronx, but the priest still serves the New York Archdiocese as a Parochial Vicar at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Inwood on Arden Street, the accusers’ lawyer Patrick Noaker told Patch.

Quinn preyed on his first victim when he served as an altar boy at the Bronx church between 1990 and 1996, Noaker told Patch. The boy was between 5- and 11-years-old at the time of the abuse, the lawyer said. The second victim was between 12- and 14-years-old when Quinn molested him between 1999 and 2001, Noaker said. The boy was training to become an altar boy at the time of the assault, the lawyer told Patch.

Both men have filed claims against Quinn with the New York Archdiocese through its Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, but Quinn continues to serve the church to this day, Noaker told Patch.

“Protecting kids must be our first priority,” Noaker said during a press conference in front of the archdiocese Manhattan headquarters Thursday. “It is extremely troubling that Father Lawrence Quinn is still serving in a parish after two survivors have come forward and alerted the Church with reports of his abuse.”

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GLASGOW (SCOTLAND)
BBC Scotland

November 10, 2017

By Reevel Alderson

A 61-year-old man from Glasgow has told the BBC he was sexually abused on a football trip to Manchester United in the late 1960s.

James, who wants to keep his anonymity, believes he was “trafficked” to English football clubs by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic order which ran his school.

He said he was repeatedly abused by the brothers at his primary school.

In a statement, Manchester United said it had found no information relating to the Marist Brothers in its review.

The Old Trafford club looked into historical abuse as part of the English FA’s inquiry, led by barrister Clive Sheldon QC.

It is looking at the way clubs or the FA dealt with concerns over child sex abuse between 1970 and 2005.

However, James said he thought his abuse happened on a trip in 1969, when he was 12 or 13.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Review

November 09, 2017

The Archdiocese of St. Louis has received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Father Dennis B. Zacheis. The acts are alleged to have occurred while he was an associate pastor at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Parish in Mehlville from 1975 to 1979. Father Zacheis denies the allegation.

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, in consultation with the Review Board of the archdiocese, made the allegation known for the sake of openness and transparency.

Father Zacheis retired from ministry without priestly faculties in 2010 due to alleged irregularities in finances for which he was responsible as pastor of St. Anthony in Sullivan. He currently resides in a private residence.

Father Zacheis served as associate pastor at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in south St. Louis from 1979-85, Christ, Prince of Peace in Manchester from 1985-88 and St. Matthias in Lemay from 1988-92. He was pastor of St. Gertrude Parish in Krakow from 1994-2003, St. Alban Roe in Wildwood from 2003-04 and St. Anthony in Sullivan from 2005-09.

As pastor of the parish in Sullivan, Father Zacheis also was known for a large number of new Catholics joining the faith in a town that is largely nonCatholic.

Anyone with reports of abuse of a minor involving a member of the clergy or other church personnel to contact Sandra Price, executive director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection, at (314) 792-7271, the Missouri Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at (800) 392-3738 and/or law enforcement officials.

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CANADA
Anglican Journal

November 9, 2017

By Joelle Kidd

A woman who claims a priest in the diocese of Fredericton tried to kill her is suing him, the Anglican Church of Canada, the diocese of Fredericton, and the Corporation of the Anglican Parish of St. Stephen (Christ Church Anglican), in St. Stephen, N.B.

Cynthia Mae Moore claims that she and the Rev. William Morton, who was rector at the Anglican Parish of St. Stephen, carried on an extra-marital affair between February 2012 and December 2015.

She alleges that on Nov. 24, 2015, while she was visiting Morton at his house, he threatened to skin her alive and scrape her breasts with a box cutter, according to a statement of claim filed with the Court of Queen’s Bench in Saint John, N.B., October 2.

After she left, Moore alleges that Morton came to her house and attempted to kill her. “He succeeded in cutting her breasts and abdomen with a box cutter,” the statement of claim reads.

Moore alleges that on December 8, 2015, Morton attacked her again and “attempted to kill her with a knife to her throat.”

According to the CBC, that same day, Morton was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a weapon after “the St. Stephen RCMP received a 911 call about a disturbance involving a man and a woman, shortly before 1 a.m.” Morton, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, was ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment. He later changed his pleas to guilty of both offences on August 23, 2016.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

November 10, 2017

By Haidee V Eugenio

Father Louis Brouillard, around 1964, allegedly made young boys walk from Agana Springs to Mangilao after they refused to swim naked, and subjected them to repeated sexual abuse at the Mangilao parish, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court.

A plaintiff, identified only as B.F. in court documents to protect his privacy, filed a $10 million clergy sex abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana, the Boy Scouts of America, Brouillard and scout leader Edward Pereira, along with up to 50 others.

B.F., represented by attorney David Lujan, said he was about 10 to 11 years old when Brouillard, also a scout master, and Pereira, sexually abused and molested him.

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ROME
The Associated Press

November 10, 2017

By Nicole Winfield

Gianluigi Nuzzi, one of the journalists charged by the Vatican in 2015 in the Vatileaks II case, has written a new book covering scandals in the Vatican. He alleges sexual abuse of a minor took place at a seminary within Vatican City, and that Mother Teresa’s account at the Vatican Bank was so large, the institution would have defaulted if she removed the money.

ROME – The Italian journalist who was put on trial by the Vatican for publishing confidential documents has written a new book alleging a host of Catholic sins, including gay sex in the Vatican’s youth seminary.

Gianluigi Nuzzi’s Original Sin went on sale Thursday. At a news conference, Nuzzi said his lawyers had hand-delivered a copy to the Vatican’s criminal prosecutor, saying at least one of the seminarians was a minor at the time of the alleged escapades.

The Vatican didn’t immediately comment.

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ROME
International Business Times

November 10, 2017

By Isabelle Gerretsen

Pope Francis is facing mounting pressure to crack down on clerical sex abuse.

A new book contains bombshell allegations that priests sexually abused teenage boys at a youth seminary in the Vatican, claiming reports of abuse were stifled.

Original Sin, Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi’s latest book, includes the shocking claim that a man, who recently became a priest, sexually assaulted a 17-year-old boy in 2012.

The abuse reportedly took place at the Vatican’s St. Pius X pre-seminary for middle- and high-schoolers, where many Catholic students are trained to become priests.

Kamil Tadeusz Jazembowski, the victim’s roommate, told Nuzzi that the adult seminarian repeatedly visited their bedroom, where he had oral sex with the boy.

Jazembowski said his roommate “felt obliged to go along with it”, describing the abuser as a man who exercised “a form of power and intimidation” over the students and imposed “bullying or sexual acts” on them.

When he raised his concerns with Vatican authorities, Jazembowski says he was told to leave the residence. The book reproduces a letter written by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the ex-seminarian in 2014, which states that no sexual abuse of a minor had taken place and that the matter would be handed over to the Vatican’s office for clergy.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

November 11, 2017

By Mark Dapin

Discovering his best mate from university was sexually abused as a child sends Mark Dapin on a quest for understanding.

I was drinking in a raucous, shallow bar at the Sydney Writers’ Festival with my UK publisher, Ravi Mirchandani, when Ravi told me he planned to publish a memoir by an author from the northern English town of Accrington, Lancashire.

I felt slightly nauseous. My forearms goose-pimpled.

“Is it Graham?” I asked. Twice.

“Yes …” said Ravi, carefully.

“Am I in it?” I asked. Twice.

“No,” said Ravi. “Is anyone with my name in it? Anyone who sounds like me?”

Ravi shook his head. I truly, deeply, viscerally did not want to be in Graham’s book.

“I think I should tell you what it’s about,” said Ravi.

“It’s the story of how Graham was sexually abused by his headmaster at school.”

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

November 10, 2017

By Vicki Tidwell Palmer, LCSW

The recent allegations about a 1979 incident involving then 32-year old Alabama Assistant District Attorney Roy Moore illustrate, once again, that we are woefully misinformed and misguided about the reality of childhood sexual abuse and assault.

When an adult—whether a teacher, clergy member, coach, or in this case a prosecutor in a courthouse—initiates a sexual conversation or has sexual contact with a minor child, the incident is child sexual abuse, period.

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BROOKLYN (NY)
The New York Times

November 9, 2017

By Sharon Otterman

Over the past 25 years, a university professor named Jaime Lara built an illustrious career in the academic world of sacred art history. He was a professor at Yale University for more than a decade, wrote five books and won more than a dozen prestigious awards and fellowships. Since 2013, he has been a professor of medieval and renaissance studies at Arizona State University.

But through his rise, Mr. Lara has kept a secret. On Thursday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn revealed that 25 years ago, Mr. Lara, then known as the Rev. James Lara, was laicized by the Vatican for sexually abusing children.

The Brooklyn diocese hid Father Lara’s secret from the public, but quietly posted Mr. Lara’s name on its website on Thursday morning, confirming that he had been laicized, or defrocked, for the abuse. Later in the day, the diocese posted the names of seven more former priests who were defrocked for child sexual abuse offenses, in an effort to protect children who might come into contact with them.

The public posting was meant to partly answer victims and their advocates who have pleaded for decades for the publication of all of the names of priests credibly accused or defrocked for child sexual abuse, to prevent the abuse of additional children. About 15 dioceses around the country have published partial lists.

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UNITED STATES
Patheos

November 9, 2017

By Hemant Mehta

Last year, an Australian commission found that the Jehovah’s Witnesses were turning a blind eye to serious problems within their ranks. The Royal Commission’s report said kids were not “adequately protected from the risk of sexual abuse” in the organization.

And just last month, in Canada, a $66 million class action lawsuit was filed against the Witnesses by victims who said the religious group not only failed to prevent abuse but didn’t do much even after it was reported.

Part of the problem is the Watchtower Society’s own policies, like the “Two-Witness rule,” which says church elders shouldn’t take seriously a victim’s account of abuse unless another person witnessed it… even though the only other person around may have been the abuser himself.

In many cases, the accused abusers aren’t disciplined in any meaningful way. Sometimes they remain in the organization, giving them an opportunity to strike again. It’s all too similar to the problems that have long plagued the Catholic Church.

You would think that members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses would be appalled by all this. That they would demand reforms from the inside. That at least some people would leave the religion in protest.

But, unlike the Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses really live in a bubble where they’re insulated from outside criticism. They’re taught to avoid critics. They’re told that ex-Witnesses are notoriously litigious. The policy of disfellowshipping says Witnesses shouldn’t have any interactions with ex-Witnesses, even if they’re family members.

That makes it very hard to let members know about the awful things being done by the Watchtower Society, what critics are saying about them, and why. It’s not like their church elders are going to talk about it. And like Donald Trump writing off all criticism of him as “fake news,” Witnesses are likely to think any lawsuits against their church are being filed by “enemies” trying to persecute them.

The problem isn’t that no one is telling them the truth. The problem is that Witnesses are predisposed not to listen to the critics.

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ROME
My Dayton Daily News

November 09, 2017

The Italian journalist who was put on trial by the Vatican for publishing confidential documents has written a new book alleging a host of Catholic sins, including gay sex in the Vatican’s youth seminary.

Gianluigi Nuzzi’s “Original Sin” went on sale Thursday. At a news conference, Nuzzi said his lawyers had hand-delivered a copy to the Vatican’s criminal prosecutor, saying at least one of the seminarians was a minor at the time of the alleged escapades.

The Vatican didn’t immediately comment.

The book reproduces documents from the Vatican’s scandal-marred bank, showing multi-million-dollar accounts in the names of Popes Paul VI and John Paul II and their private secretaries. And it alleges that hidden powers in the Vatican were blocking the reforms of Pope Francis and his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

The book delves into the case of one of the Vatican’s biggest mysteries, the 1983 disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee.

And it gathers together years of exposes into the gay subculture of the Vatican. The new claims concern the Vatican’s St. Pius X pre-seminary for middle and high schoolers who are considering a possible vocation to the priesthood.

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REDONDO BEACH (CA)
The Beach Reporter

November 9, 2017

By David Rosenfeld

For 22 years, until 2003, Monsignor Michael Lenihan led the congregation at St. Lawrence Martyr Catholic Church in South Redondo Beach where he continued to live until his death in 2011. By most accounts the Irish-born Lenihan was a revered spiritual leader.

Now, an attorney handling a child sex abuse case against former St. Lawrence priest Chris Cunningham claims Lenihan knew the priest was accused of sexual assault before Cunningham arrived at the Redondo Beach parish in 1998. The lawyer also said he has a witness prepared to testify that Lenihan was notified about the incident involving a child at St. Lawrence school before Cunningham was transferred to another parish in 2001 where he allegedly continued to molest young boys.

The St. Lawrence alleged victim was recently added to a 2015 case against Cunningham and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for molestation reportedly committed at St. Louise de Marillac in Covina. That was Cunningham’s next post after the Redondo Beach parish.

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ROME
ANSA

November 9, 2017

Alleges multiple cases at San Pio X preseminary

(ANSA) – Rome, November 9 – Vatileaks author Gianluigi Nuzzi has written a new book on Vatican secrets, Peccato Originale (Original Sin) on alleged sexual abuse of choirboys.

Nuzzi, whose earlier tomes Your Holiness and Via Crucis saw him tried and acquitted in the Vatileaks 1 and 2 trials, reveals more alleged financial chicanery and background to the Manuela Orlandi disappearance.

But his main focus is on alleged sex abuse in the San Pio X preseminary, where dioceses send middle-school boys aspiring to become priests, who serve as choirboys in St Peter’s.

An ex-choirboy delivered a letter to Pope Francis in May, Nuzzi recounts.

But the first person to reveal abuses was Polish Kamil Tadeusz Jarzembowski, who entered the San Pio X at the age of 13, and in June 2014 sent various complaints to Church authorities.

He said he had witnessed at least 140 “sexual acts” on his underage roommate by an unidentified adult who later became a priest. The man had free access to the preseminary, was “well liked by various monsignori” and “able to exert a form of power and intimidation over the youngest seminarians”.

Kamil reported the alleged abuse to various high-ranking cardinals, Nuzzi says, but no action was taken.

He then turned to the Secretariat of State and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles abuse cases, also without any results, except for being expelled from the seminary, Nuzzi says.

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DUNEDIN (NEW ZEALAND)
Otago Daily Times

November 9, 2017

By Tim Miller

A Dunedin survivor of sexual abuse says he and others like him are ready for a long fight for justice.

A resolution was passed in Christchurch yesterday at the South-South Institute conference, which is organised by the Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust, asking the Government to commit to a Royal Commission or similar level of inquiry into the institutional abuse of children in New Zealand.

The resolution asks that any New Zealand inquiry be modelled on the Australian Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

Dunedin man Darryl Smith was one of about 100 male survivors of sexual abuse who backed the call for an injury earlier this week.

Mr Smith spent more than a decade in state care, in New Zealand and Australia, beginning as a 7-year-old boy in the early 1970s.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Smith, who also gave evidence for the Australian Royal Commission, said survivors were aware it was just the start of a long journey for justice.

”We fought to get this far and we will keep fighting to keep this moving forward, not just for us but for future generations.”

Any inquiry needed to be full and comprehensive, or it would not be worth the time and effort, Mr Smith said.

Labour has promised to launch an inquiry into the historic abuse of children in state care.

National advocate for male survivors of sexual abuse Ken Clearwater will present the resolution to the Prime Minister.

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THAILAND
Thai PBS

November 09, 2017

The dean monk in Wiengsa district of Nan province has appointed a fact finding committee to investigate after a post about a monk buying sex service with a boy went viral on the internet.

The dean monk Phra Khru Sirinantavit’s action came after a video clip showing a monk was chatting on Facebook with a boy about a sex deal. The boy agreed to meet the monk at the temple.

The monk was later located at a temple in Wiengsa district of Nan.

Phra Khru Sirinantavit said he would like to find out if the clip was posted by the monk himself or his Facebook was hacked and posted by the hacker.

If the monk posted the clip by himself , then he would be guilty for violating Buddhist disciplines and would be defrocked.

For the child sex abuse, the dean monk said it would be the action of the police to deal with him.

The Nan Office of National Buddhism director Sittha Moolhong said authorities are now trying to locate where the monk is attached to and will take action under the boundary of law.

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MANHATTAN (NY)
New York Daily News

November 9, 2017

By Aaron Showalter, Laura Dimon, and Larry McShane

A Manhattan parish priest remains on the job despite allegations from two former altar boys that he sexually abused the pair, an attorney charged Thursday.

The Rev. Lawrence Quinn targeted the boys in two separate incidents while in a Bronx parish where he spent nearly two decades, according to lawyer Patrick Noeker.

“Protecting kids must be our first priority,” said Noeker. “It is extremely troubling that Quinn is still serving in a parish after two survivors have come forward and alerted the church with reports of his abuse.”

The first incident, with an altar boy under the age of 11, allegedly occurred between 1990-96. The second happened between 1999-2001 and involved a 12-to-14-year-old victim, said Noeker.

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DULUTH (MN)
Minn Post

November 9, 2017

Duluth Diocese bankruptcy update. The Duluth News Tribune reports: “One of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth’s insurers will pay $8.95 million in a settlement that, if approved, will see a portion of the money go to child sexual abuse survivors in the organization’s bankruptcy case, according to St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson. … The proposed settlement calls for Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America to contribute to the case, although an agreement is “contingent on confirmation of a consensual plan of reorganization agreed to by all parties, which is not imminent despite negotiations,” according to a news release from Anderson’s office Thursday.”

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DULUTH (MN)
MPR News

November 9, 2017

By Martin Moylan

An insurer for the bankrupt Diocese of Duluth has agreed to provide $9 million that could help compensate clergy sexual abuse victims.

But other insurers and the diocese have yet to agree on what money they may provide to more than 100 victims. Josh Peck, one of the attorneys representing abuse survivors, said it’s good to see the deal with an insurer but a resolution of the bankruptcy is not imminent.

“Well, we need the other insurers to step and participate,” he said. “And there’s a lot more negotiation and lot more work to be done on the case in general before we can get to a point where we have a consensual plan that everybody can agree to.”

In a statement, the diocese said it the deal with the insurer, Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America, is a major step forward.

“The diocese has always wanted to provide compensation to victims in the most just way possible and to emerge from bankruptcy as soon as we can,” the church said in the statement. “We know that compensation alone is not sufficient to address the pain caused by members of the clergy. Bishop Sirba and the clergy and faithful of the diocese continue to offer their prayers and support to all victims in hope of healing.”

The diocese filed for bankruptcy about two years ago, after a jury ordered it to pay $5 million to a sexual abuse victim. The church said it could not pay that judgment and also possibly compensate other claimants.

The diocese has admitted to having credible accusations of sex abuse against some three dozen priests.

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DULUTH (MN)
Duluth News Tribune

November 9, 2017

One of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth’s insurers will pay $8.95 million in a settlement that, if approved, will see a portion of the money go to child sexual abuse survivors in the organization’s bankruptcy case, according to St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson.

The proposed settlement calls for Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America to contribute to the case, although an agreement is “contingent on confirmation of a consensual plan of reorganization agreed to by all parties, which is not imminent despite negotiations,” according to a news release from Anderson’s office Thursday.

“This is promising and there is hope but the key is getting the other insurance companies to step up and honor their obligations,” Anderson said.

A judge will consider the settlement at a Jan. 4 hearing.

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SAN JUAN (ARGENTINA)
Tiempo de San Juan

November 7, 2017

[Google Translate: The school attended by President Macri and much of his entono, the prestigious Cardinal Newman, separated from his pastoral duties Fray Luis Lenzi, for “misconduct” with the students of the establishment.]

Es el padre Luis Lenzi hace más de 10 años trabaja en la comunidad dominica de San Juan.

El colegio al que asistió el presidente Macri y gran parte de su entono, el prestigioso Cardenal Newman, separó de sus tareas pastorales al Fray Luis Lenzi, por “inconducta” con los alumnos del establecimiento.

Tras la decisión del colegio porteño, la comunidad dominica de San Juan hizo lo propio, suspendiendo en sus funciones al cura, que hace más de 10 años que trabaja en la Provincia.

El director general del colegio, Luis Olivero, señaló a medios porteños que “siete personas del colegio lo vieron en diferentes situaciones cometiendo imprudencias con los chicos y por eso decidimos aplicar el protocolo que tenemos para estos casos”. Se refería al protocolo para lidiar con situaciones de abuso y que incluye la convocatoria de dos psicólogos e informar a la comisión directiva del colegio.

“Luego de haber tomado conocimiento de situaciones irregulares que tuvieron lugar en espacios abiertos y que fueron advertidas por personal del colegio, se ha decidido su apartamiento”, dice el comunicado.

La repercusión en San Juan fue inmediata y la comunidad dominica emitió un comunicado en que precisa que “en cumplimiento de nuestras propias normas fray Luis Lenzi ha sido apartado preventivamente de toda tarea pastoral en relación con menores”.

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ARGENTINA
El Sol

November 9, 2017

By Melisa Stopansky

[Google Translate: The prosecution of sexual offenses requested an extension in the main case due to pending a series of studies, including a DNA to the accused.]

La fiscalía de delitos sexuales solicitó una prórroga en la causa principal por estar pendientes una serie de estudios, entre ellos, un ADN a los imputados.

La fiscalía de Delitos Sexuales abocada a pleno a la investigación de los abusos sexuales a una veintena de niños y adolescentes sordo mudos que ocurrían en el Instituto Próvolo de Luján de Cuyo, solicitó una prórroga a la Justicia de Garantías por estar pendientes una serie de estudios y pericias relevantes para el caso, además de varios testimonios en Cámara Gesell que se producirán esta semana de víctimas que siguen recordando y dando cuenta de las atrocidades que estuvieron ocultas por al menos una década.

Uno de los elementos claves, es el análisis del ADN de los seis imputados, entre los cuales se encuentran dos sacerdotes que administraban y dirigían el Instituto Próvolo. Se trata de Horacio Corbacho (56) y Nicola Corradi (82), ambos están detenidos y con prisión preventiva confirmada por un tribunal de alzada. También está detenida como partícipe la monja Kumico Kosaka, quien goza del beneficio de la prisión domiciliaria al igual que Corradi.

El pedido se hizo por el hallazgo de una bombacha de nena con restos de material genético de un hombre y que fue encontrada en una de las habitaciones del instituto.

Entre otras pericias, se aguarda el análisis de un negativo de fotos que podría tratarse de pornografía infantil ya que fue hallado en otra de las dependencias donde ocurrían los vejámenes.

Y el análisis a un CPU que también fue secuestrado en los allanamientos en los que podrían encontrarse elementos importantes para la investigación.

La prórroga quedará sujeta al análisis del cuatro juzgado de Garantías donde se otorgaron las prisiones preventivas a los imputados Corradi, Corbacho, Kosaka y a los empleados José Bordón, al administrativo José Luis Ojeda y al administrativo Armando Gómez.

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NIGERIA
Deutschlandfunk

November 8, 2017

By Katrin Gänsler

[Google Translate: Child abuse and incest are punishable in Nigeria, but hardly anyone indicates the deeds. The victims are stigmatized. The religious Rosemary Ukata tries to bring perpetrators to justice.]

Kindesmissbrauch und Inzest sind in Nigeria zwar strafbar, doch kaum jemand zeigt die Taten an. Die Opfer werden stigmatisiert. Die Ordensfrau Rosemary Ukata versucht, Täter vor Gericht zu bringen.

Ordensschwester Rosemary Ukata sitzt in einem winzigen Büro in Ogoja, einer Kleinstadt im Süden Nigerias. Von außen dringt der Straßenlärm herein. Immer wieder kommt jemand, der ihren Rat braucht. Die 59-Jährige, die aus dem Bundesstaat Abia im Südosten des Landes stammt, bleibt gelassen und freundlich, aber auch bestimmt. Besonders viel Zeit nimmt sie sich für Helen. Die junge Frau kann häufig nur stumm nicken, da ihr immer wieder die Tränen kommen. Schwester Rosemary fast Helens Geschichte zusammen:

“Helen ist eines der Vergewaltigungsopfer. Um genau zu sein, war es Inzest. Wir haben sie kennengelernt, weil ein Nachbar besorgt war. Er ist zu uns ins Büro gekommen und hat erzählt, dass das Mädchen vom Vater missbraucht worden ist. Dadurch ist es schwanger geworden.”

Sexueller Missbrauch und Inzest sind in Nigeria strafbar. Doch meistens kommt es nicht einmal zu einer Anzeige. Genau das will die Ordensschwester, die 1999 das “Zentrum für Frauenstudien und Einmischung” – kurz CWSI – gegründet hat, ändern. In einem aktuellen Fall steht beispielsweise gerade ein Mann vor Gericht, der eine Dreijährige vergewaltigt hat. CWSI übernimmt die Prozesskosten.

Auch im Fall von Helen gingen die Mitarbeiter zur Polizei. Doch die Antwort war ernüchternd:

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ARGENTINA
Clarín

November 8, 2017

[Google Translate: The Dominican priest Luis Federico Lenzi, separated from his position at the Cardinal Newman School of San Isidro after having been found in “irregular situations” with students, said today through an audio on WhatsApp that what happened “is a huge mistake” .]

A través de un audio de WhatsApp, el fraile Luis Lenzi minimizó su separación del cargo. Lo acusan de haber sido encontrado en “situaciones irregulares” con alumnos.

El sacerdote dominico Luis Federico Lenzi, separado de su cargo en el colegio Cardenal Newman de San Isidro tras haber sido encontrado en “situaciones irregulares” con alumnos, dijo hoy a través de un audio de Whatsapp que lo ocurrido “es todo un enorme error”.

La respuesta del cura, que es uno de los tres sacerdotes dominicos de ésa orden en San Juan, se conoció a través de un audio de Whatsapp enviado a la comunidad de la provincia cuyana y que esta mañana se viralizó.

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ARGENTINA
Elentrerios

November 8, 2017

Diario Uno Entre Ríos

[Google Translate: On Monday the 13th, the trial of priest Justo José Ilarraz, accused of seven cases of corruption and abuse of minors when he was the prefect of discipline at the archdiocesan seminary of Our Lady of the Cenacle, between 1985 and 1993, began in the courts of Paraná. which were pupils children between 10 and 14 years. Although it is not defined, at the stage of the allegations, the prosecutor’s office and the plaintiffs will demand more than 25 years in prison.]

El sacerdote fue acusado de siete hechos de abusos ocurridos dentro de seminario de Paraná. Tras siete años de investigación, finalmente el religioso se sentará en el banquillo de los acusados. La querella y Fiscalía pedirán más de 25 años.

El lunes 13 iniciará en los tribunales de Paraná, el juicio al cura Justo José Ilarraz, acusado por siete casos de corrupción y abuso de menores cuando ejercía como prefecto de disciplina en el seminario arquidiocesano Nuestra Señora del Cenáculo, entre 1985 y 1993, establecimiento en el que eran pupilos niños de entre 10 y 14 años. Si bien no está definido, en la etapa de los alegatos la fiscalía y las querellan van a reclamar penas superiores a los 25 años de cárcel.

Es un juicio lleno de polémicas y medidas dilatorias que derivaron en la intervención de toda la estructura judicial de la provincia de Entre Ríos, de Casación a nivel nacional y ahora se espera la definición de la Corte Suprema de Justicia para establecer si la causa está o no prescripta, tal cual sostiene la defensa del cura.

El debate será a puertas cerradas, y es el segundo que se sustancia a un religioso en Entre Ríos por abuso y corrupción de menores, ya que por la misma situación fue condenado a 25 años de prisión efectiva el cura Juan Diego Escobar Gaviria, de Nogoyá.

Al sacerdote, a quien se juzgará en la causa caratulada “Ilarraz, Justo José s/promoción a la corrupción agravada”, se lo acusa de haber abusado de siete adolescentes, de entre 10 y 14 años, que cursaban el ciclo básico como pupilos en el seminario menor, un colegio orientado al sacerdocio.

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ARGENTINA
Analisis Digital

November 9, 2017

[Google Translate: Next Monday, November 13, the trial of priest Justo José Ilarraz, accused of seven cases of corruption and child abuse when he was prefect of discipline in the Archdiocesan Seminary “Our Lady of the Cenacle,” will begin in the Courts of Paraná. 1985 and 1993, establishment in which children between 10 and 14 years old were pupils. Although it is not defined, it is estimated that at the stage of the allegations the prosecution and the complaints will demand penalties exceeding 25 years in prison.]

El próximo lunes 13 de noviembre se iniciará en los Tribunales de Paraná, el juicio al cura Justo José Ilarraz, acusado por siete casos de corrupción y abuso de menores cuando ejercía como prefecto de disciplina en el Seminario Arquidiocesano “Nuestra Señora del Cenáculo”, entre 1985 y 1993, establecimiento en el que eran pupilos niños de entre 10 y 14 años. Si bien no está definido, se estima que en la etapa de los alegatos la fiscalía y las querellas van a reclamar penas superiores a los 25 años de cárcel. El 13 de septiembre de 2012, la revista ANÁLISIS publicó en su portada la denuncia de los abusos de Ilarraz, lo que permitió actuar de oficio a la Procuración general y sumar a los pocos días los primeros dos testimonios de sus víctimas. Finalmente, tras cinco años de investigación, el sacerdote se sentará en el banquillo de los acusados. El debate será a puertas cerradas.
Es un juicio lleno de polémicas y medidas dilatorias que derivaron en la intervención de toda la estructura judicial de la provincia de Entre Ríos, de Casación a nivel nacional y ahora se espera la definición de la Corte Suprema de Justicia para establecer si la causa está o no prescripta, tal como sostiene la defensa del cura.

El debate será a puertas cerradas, y es el segundo que se sustancia a un religioso en Entre Ríos por abuso y corrupción de menores, ya que por la misma situación fue condenado a 25 años de prisión efectiva el cura Juan Diego Escobar Gaviria, de Lucas González.

Al sacerdote, a quien se juzgará en la causa caratulada “Ilarraz, Justo José s/Promoción a la corrupción agravada”, se lo acusa de haber abusado de siete adolescentes, de entre 10 y 14 años, que cursaban el ciclo básico como pupilos en el seminario menor, un colegio orientado al sacerdocio.

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ARGENTINA
El Litoral

November 8, 2017

[Google Translate: The Oral Court of Paraná will begin on Monday the trial of priest Justo José Ilarraz, accused of seven cases of corruption and abuse of minors when he was the prefect of discipline at the Archdiocesan Seminary Nuestra Señora del Cenáculo, between 1985 and 1993, establishment in which children between 10 and 14 years old were pupils.]

Telam

El Tribunal Oral de Paraná comenzará el lunes el juicio al cura Justo José Ilarraz, acusado por siete casos de corrupción y abuso de menores cuando ejercía como prefecto de disciplina en el Seminario Arquidiocesano Nuestra Señora del Cenáculo, entre 1985 y 1993, establecimiento en el que eran pupilos niños de entre 10 y 14 años.

El juicio, que comenzará a las 9 y será a puertas cerradas, será el segundo que se sustancia a un religioso en Entre Ríos por abuso y corrupción de menores, ya que por la misma causa fue condenado a 25 años de prisión efectiva el cura Juan Diego Escobar Gaviria, de Nogoyá.

Al sacerdote, a quien se juzgará en la causa caratulada ‘Ilarraz, Justo José s/promoción a la corrupción agravada‘, se lo acusa de haber abusado de siete adolescentes, de entre 10 y 14 años, que cursaban el ciclo básico como pupilos en el seminario Menor, un colegio orientado al sacerdocio.Ilarraz fue suspendido por la Igesia en 2012 para oficiar misas en público, pero antes, en 1993, el entonces arzobispo de Paraná, Monseñor Estanislao Esteban Karlic, lo autorizó para que viajara a Roma.

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GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

November 9, 2017

By Mindy Aguon

A Mangilao man alleges he was sexually abused by a priest and a Boy Scout leader 53 years ago.

In a lawsuit filed yesterday in the District Court of Guam, B.F., who used his initials to protect his identity, accused retired priest Louis Brouillard and Edward Pereira of sexually abusing him over a two-year period beginning in 1964.

The civil complaint filed against the Archdiocese of Agana, the Boy Scouts of America and Brouillard alleges that B.F. met Brouillard when he was serving as priest of the Mangilao parish and Pereira served as a Scout leader.

The boy was never officially an altar boy, although Brouillard allowed him to serve as a back-up altar server and participate in Boy Scout outings, the lawsuit states.

B.F. alleges the abuse occurred at the Mangilao rectory where Brouillard walked around naked, exposing himself to boys. The priest allegedly had the boys take turns sitting naked on his lap while he fondled them and forced them to perform sexual acts.

The alleged abuse continued during Boy Scout swimming outings. B.F. recalled that on two occasions while at Agana Springs, he and several of his friends refused to remove their clothes and Brouillard made them walk home to Mangilao.

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AUSTRALIA
The Gympie Times

November 9, 2017

By Arthur Gorrie

Joe Kiernan was born into a real-life Stephen King horror story in 1960.

Stolen from his unmarried mother at birth, “because that’s what they did then,” he was sent to the infamous St Joseph’s orphanage at Neerkol, near Rockhampton – an institution so evil its grounds include a memorial to the abused children who died there.

A Gympie survivor of unimaginable abuse, Mr Kiernan was able to smile at times yesterday as he told of his feelings, now the prosecutions have begun and the truth has come out at a Royal Commission.

“Some former residents don’t want the buildings destroyed, but it’s owned by other people now and they have a right to do what they want,” Mr Kiernan said yesterday.

And he said the demolition crews might just find some gruesome reminders of the Neerkol horror story.

“So be it,” Mr Kiernan said yesterday.

“They might find some bodies or bones.

“If they do and there are some without death certificates, it’s back in the hands of the police.”

Mr Kiernan is one of thousands of people who survived the care of church and state and who have now given evidence to the Child Abuse Royal Commission.

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PHILIPPINES
The Manila Standard

November 09, 2017

By Florencio Fianza

It is possible that in the not too distant future, we will be seeing married priests administering to the Roman Catholic faithful in this country.

Brazilian Claudio Cardinal Hummes, who is a friend of Pope Francis, requested the Pope to lift the ban on the ordination of married men specifically for Brazil which is the largest Roman Catholic country in the world.

The request is for the church to consider “vin probati,” the ordination of married men with proven great faith. Brazil, just like many other countries around the world, is suffering from a shortage of priests having only one priest per 10,000 faithful. It is thought that the ordination of married men might alleviate this acute problem.

This however, is not the only problem facing the Catholic Church today. There is the matter of sexual misconduct by priests which has caused tremendous damage to the prestige and reputation of the church as the guardian of faith and morals in the last couple of decades. At the moment, Australian Cardinal George Pell, formerly the third most powerful official in the Vatican, is undergoing criminal trial for child sexual abuse in his native country.

In the so-called Eastern Catholic Church, where priests are allowed to marry, the problem of sexual misconduct is not often heard of. Allowing priests to marry or ordaining married men with proven great faith might therefore go a long way in lessening this problem of the Catholic Church. It is like solving two huge problems with a single shot.

The issue of married priests has always been a contentious problem of the Church right from the very beginning. Right from the start, priests were allowed to marry. Seven popes in antiquity were in fact married starting with St Peter. The apostles were also married. But there were Church leaders who questioned not only the practicality of married priests but also whether marriage was damaging the purity of the church. Matters like married priests not sleeping with their wives the night before celebrating the holy mass started being required. Other subjects such as material things being evil and that a person cannot be married and be perfect at the same time started to take root in early Church teachings.

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TORONTO (CANADA)
The Toronto Star

November 7, 2017

By Kelly Nolan

Instead of supporting lawyers who work to silence victims, workplaces should try evolving the culture from a patriarchal system of entitlement to one where women never have to be afraid.

As leader after leader falls from grace in the current sweep of sexual harassment and assault accusations, CEOs, chairs of the boards, human resources executives and corporate legal counsel are rushing into emergency meetings to assess their risk and build crisis communications strategies to “manage” the potential fallout.

What’s on the meeting agenda? Reviews of past nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), risk assessments on unresolved complaints from employees and disgruntled employees who have fled the company.

“What is our exposure on this?”

“How do we manage what we have hidden in our corporate closet?”

What should be on the agenda? How to create equity frameworks to ensure our employees are safe and free from harassment and the abuse of power. How to ensure transparency so the women on their team and their future recruits know their well-being trumps the “Trumps” in the office.

NDAs are the devil’s work. They silence victims, protect the employer from taking responsibility and secure a perfect environment for predators — and have done so for years. (Fox News … say no more.)

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UNITED STATES
The Church Militant

November 9, 2017

TRANSCRIPT

Next week, the American bishops will gather for one of their twice-a-year meetings and discuss a bevy of topics. But as the bishops meet, out-in-the-pews, committed Catholics are becoming increasingly concerned about the direction the conference is taking as a whole. By committed Catholics, we mean Catholics who not only go to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days and have a devotional life but also have a very good understanding of the ruinous state the Church is in.

They are not looking at little things here and there and investing all their hope and common sense in these small things — laudable and joyful as they are. It is precisely the attitude and tone and direction of the bishops’ conference that sucks the joy and hope out of these efforts, giving committed Catholics pause to think that they will suddenly be shut down or sidelined without any notice.

This has been the case with multiple little religious communities that have tried to form or homeschooling efforts on the part of concerned parents or distribution of faithful catechetical materials or various speakers not being allowed to present on church property and so forth. Add to this the wall of opposition to anything even closely resembling Tradition, and we aren’t talking necessarily about the Latin Mass but attempts to get rid of abuses and liturgical overreaches that currently exist and are ignored or the near-refusal, however politely it may be framed, to allow any resurgence or restoration of Catholic identity as it relates to the political and cultural order, for example.

Tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands, of committed Catholics have simply grown to not trust the bishops when it comes to promotion of the authentic Catholic faith. In fact, those Catholics see many of the bishops more along the lines of being the actual problem, not just a hindrance. There is, simply stated, a mountain range of evidence pointing at the bishops collectively not caring about committed Catholics. It has not been for nothing that tens of thousands of committed Catholic parents will not let their children attend Catholic schools anymore for fear of losing the Faith. The same motive is behind thousands of Catholic families who Sunday after Sunday pile into vans and drive long distances to go to a reverent Mass, driving right past a number of other, more convenient parishes along the way. They simply don’t trust the priests who are allowed by the bishop to continue in their ministry.

When you add to that climate the silence in the face of heresies, dissent, horrible catechesis, bowing to false ecumenism, which was on full display front and center during Revolt Day last week, and a host of other sins — the approval of all things gay and gay clergy, the anti-Catholic preaching that happens regularly at Catholic parishes, the promotion of a massively worldly agenda dressed up in spiritual rags — climate change, immigration, death penalty, community organizing, social justice warrior “collections,” to name just a few. These are politically liberal, practically socialist positions that too many of the bishops like to baptize and pass off as somehow Catholic, and of course, the realization that many of these bishops were involved directly or indirectly with the gay clergy sex abuse scandal which has cost the Church in the U.S. nearly $4 billion.

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NEW YORK
Mondaq

November 9, 2017

By Stephanie L. Aranyos
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart

On November 6, 2017, Mayor de Blasio signed New York City Council legislation Int. 1313-2016 (also referred to as Int. 1313-A or the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act) into law, expanding the New York City Earned Sick Time Act. The new law will allow employees to take “safe” time related to family offense matters, sexual abuse, stalking, and human trafficking. The new law is set to take effect on or about Monday, May 7, 2018.

The New York City Earned Sick Time Act, which took effect on April 1, 2014, requires that New York City employers with 5 or more employees provide up to 40 hours of paid sick time to eligible employees in a calendar year. Employers with fewer than five employees must provide the equivalent of unpaid leave. While the safe time expansion does not expand the number of hours an employer is required to provide to employees, it significantly expands the permissible uses for safe/sick time.

Under the new law, employees will be permitted to take safe time if they are victims of a family offense matter, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking, or if a family member has been a victim of such crimes, in the following circumstances:

a. to obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or other shelter or services program for relief from a family offense matter, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking;

b. to participate in safety planning, temporarily or permanently relocate, or take other actions to increase the safety of the employee or employee’s family members from future family offense matters, sexual offenses, stalking, or human trafficking;

c. to meet with a civil attorney or other social service provider to obtain information and advice on, and prepare for or participate in any criminal or civil proceeding, including but not limited to, matters related to a family offense matter, sexual offense, stalking, human trafficking, custody, visitation, matrimonial issues, orders of protection, immigration, housing, discrimination in employment, housing or consumer credit;

d. to file a complaint or domestic incident report with law enforcement;

e. to meet with a district attorney’s office;

f. to enroll children in a new school; or

g. to take other actions necessary to maintain, improve, or restore the physical, psychological, or economic health or safety of the employee or the employee’s family member or to protect those who associate or work with the employee.”

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BOSTON
Boston Herald

November 09, 2017

By Chris Villani and Joe Dwinell

Heather Unruh’s complaint against Kevin Spacey could be the cornerstone of a class-action suit against the Hollywood star, similar to the cases filed against the Archdiocese of Boston during the clergy sex abuse scandal.

And such a sweeping civil action could cost the now-banished “House of Cards” actor millions, said Boston civil litigation lawyer Mark Itzkowitz.

“An award could be astronomical,” said Itzkowitz. “The fact that so many people are coming forward against Spacey lends credibility” to Unruh’s accusation.

The former Channel 5 anchor told reporters yesterday Spacey plied her underage son with alcohol in June 2016 at the Club Car restaurant on Nantucket. He then allegedly grabbed the then-18-year-old’s genitals, she said. Prosecutors said they have launched an investigation.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who is representing Unruh’s son, said he is exploring taking civil action against the A-list actor.

Spacey’s career has been in a free fall, and he announced last week he is seeking treatment after actor Anthony Rapp said Spacey made an unwanted sexual advance at him during a party at Spacey’s home in the 1980s, when Spacey was 26 and Rapp was just 14.

Filmmaker Tony Montana and others have since come forth with similar allegations against the 58-year-old Spacey.

Hub attorney Carmen L. Durso said accusers lining up against Spacey makes a case against him that much stronger.

“If he has 10 victims, you could theoretically have all 10 victims testify at a civil trial,” Durso said. “It gives the jury a basis for believing the victim, buttressing the victim’s credibility in talking about something that other people agreed that person did before and was in a habit of doing.”

Durso said the key is showing a pattern of alleged criminal behavior.

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BOSTON
The Los Angeles Times

November 8, 2017

By Libby Hill

Authorities in the Cape and Islands District of Mass. have confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that a police investigation involving Kevin Spacey is underway following an allegation that he groped the teenage son of a former Boston TV news anchor.

At a Wednesday news conference in Boston, Heather Unruh alleged that the Oscar-winning actor assaulted her son last year when he was 18.

Unruh sat alongside lawyer Mitchell Garabedian and her teenage daughter as she shared the story that began unfolding with a tweet several weeks ago.

“The #weinsteinscandal has emboldened me,” Unruh tweeted on Oct. 13. “I was a Kevin Spacey fan until he assaulted a loved one. Time the dominoes fell.”

And the dominoes did begin to fall for Spacey. On Oct. 29, actor Anthony Rapp publicly alleged that Spacey made a sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Spacey was 26 and Rapp just 14.

Spacey said last week that he did not recall the incident with Rapp but apologized for the encounter. He also said he is seeking “evaluation and treatment.”

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BOSTON
The New York Times

November 8, 2017

By Katharine Q. Seelye

BOSTON — A longtime Boston television journalist on Wednesday accused Kevin Spacey of sexually assaulting her 18-year-old son in the summer of 2016 at a Nantucket bar.

At an emotional news conference, Heather Unruh, a former news anchor for WCVB, an ABC affiliate, said that the actor plied her son with “drink after drink” and then reached down his pants and grabbed his genitals. Her son had told Mr. Spacey that he was 21, she said, though he was only 18.

“But,” said Ms. Unruh, regardless of her son’s age, “Kevin Spacey had no right to sexually assault him. There was no consent.” She said she hoped the actor would go to jail.

Mr. Spacey and his spokesman did not immediately reply to email messages seeking comment on Wednesday.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

November 8, 2017

By Peter Jesserer Smith

When Soviet tanks rumbled into Lithuania in 1991, a pair of young journalists crossed the border — for the second time — to chronicle the death throes of the Soviet Union for the National Catholic Register.

Soviet dictator Josef Stalin once reputedly scoffed, “The Pope! How many divisions has he got?” when told Pope Pius XI wanted to see signs of encouragement for religion and Catholics in Russia. More than 50 years later, Joop Koopman and Jonathan Luxmoore were on assignment for the Register, crisscrossing in a secondhand Polonez, a Polish car with a cast-iron bumper that Luxmoore bought from a Belgian ambassador, sending back their firsthand accounts of watching the empire Stalin built crumble before St. John Paul II’s religious revolution.

“We were at the cutting-edge of political reform and change,” recalled Koopman, who went on to serve as the newspaper’s editor during the 1990s.

These and other stories of the past 90 years rest in the Register’s archives. But the fading pages of print also tell the story of a long line of men and women who served as custodians of a great mission to form, inform and challenge generations of Catholic readers to engage the world through the global lens of the Catholic faith.

From its very beginnings Nov. 8, 1927, up to its present day as a news service of the EWTN Global Catholic Network, the Register has left its mark on both its readers and the journalists who aspired to bring the best professional writing to its pages.

Denver Origins

The National Catholic Register was born out of the Denver Catholic Register, which began as an effort in 1905 to set the record straight for Colorado’s Catholics and had been overseen by Msgr. Matthew Smith since 1913. Msgr. Smith took over leadership of the Denver newspaper as a lay journalist, bringing to the paper professional journalistic standards. He had been a priest only four years when he launched the national edition of the Register in 1927.

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ENGLAND
The Argus

November 7, 2017

TWO brothers have described the moment they realised they were abused by the same man.

Phil and Gary Johnson were both abused by the Reverend Roy Cotton while they were members of the choir at St Andrew’s church in Eastbourne.

Cotton, who died in 2006, was never prosecuted, but the brothers’ case led to the prosecutions of several other clergy.

Theresa May, when she was Home Secretary, ordered a national inquiry into abuse cases by the clergy.

Phil Johnson said: “There was a story on the lunchtime news on the radio about an abusive vicar. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Gary froze. And the penny dropped in that moment.”

The brothers’ fight for justice ended 20 years ago, as they were told there were not enough independent witnesses to prosecute Cotton.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic News Service

November 7, 2017

By Greg Erlandson

Harvey Weinstein is a pig.

It’s not language I would normally use in a column, but the cascade of revelations about his treatment of women and men, most particularly his twisted and apparently constant sexual advances, demands a blunt assessment. The accusations that have toppled this modern-day film mogul make for disturbing reading every morning at the breakfast table.

The exposure of his predatory bullying in this age of predatory bullies has had at least a few benefits, however.

First, it has ignited an explosion of confessions on the part of women in the entertainment industry as well as other professions. I might say all professions. The #MeToo hashtag makes for harrowing reading, a rolling tide of upsetting, at times horrifying, anecdotes that can easily fill the reader with a deep despair for man’s inhumanity to woman.

While many of us make our way through our days without harassing or being harassed, it is clear that many of our sisters (and some of our brothers) are not so fortunate. That so many have felt it necessary to remain silent for so long speaks not just to fear of the abuser’s retaliation, but also to the fear that the rest of us will turn away.

As we Catholics have seen in the clergy sexual abuse crisis, this fear is not unfounded. Of course, we must be sensitive to the risk of false allegations, which is why we need due process, but not no process or a sham process.

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MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
CBS (WCCO)

November 7, 2017

By Liz Collin

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A student at a Minnesota Catholic college vanished in the middle of the night. This week marks 15 years since Josh Guimond went missing from St. John’s University.

A standout student, the 20-year-old had a bright future ahead. That all changed Nov. 9, 2002. Guimond’s disappearance would later face extra scrutiny, both for the clergy sex-abuse scandal and for the investigators assigned to the case.

A decade and a half later, WCCO’s Liz Collin went back to talk to a family still waiting for answers, the investigators trying to find them and to the friends who last saw Guimond before his trail went cold.

There is a certain Minnesota modesty when Brian Guimond describes his son — class president of his Maple Lake High School, voted most likely to succeed by his peers, planning for a future in politics and law.

“Oh yeah honor rolls and all that,” he said.

Raised Catholic, Brian made sure his son was in a pew each Sunday. Another reason Josh’s choice to attend St. John’s University made perfect sense. He was a junior in college and that November weekend of 2002 marked deer opener. Instead of taking part in the annual hunting tradition with dad, homework kept Josh in Collegeville.

We now know that Saturday night, Nov. 9, Josh met up with friends to play cards. The next day, his dad discovered Josh hadn’t been seen since.

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ARGENTINA
El Patagónico

November 7, 2017

[Google Translate: The Criminal Chamber upheld the decision of the Criminal Oral Court 1 of Morón, which last April granted the benefit of “two for one” to the priest Julio César Grassi, sentenced to 15 years in prison for aggravated sexual abuse of minors and who will be imprisoned until 2026]

Lo confirmó la Cámara Penal. Con la reducción de la pena, estará preso hasta 2026.

La Cámara Penal ratificó el fallo del Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 de Morón, que en abril pasado concedió el beneficio del “dos por uno” al sacerdote Julio César Grassi, condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual agravado a menores y que estará preso hasta 2026.

El Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 de Morón, el mismo que lo sentenció en primera instancia, había realizado un cálculo de la pena a cumplir y determinado que a Grassi le restan cumplir aún nueve años, cuatro meses y 20 días de condena, por lo que estará detenido hasta el 10 de agosto de 2026.

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PERU
Diario Correo

November 7, 2017

By Jorge Alberto

[Google Translate: The complaint against the priest of Huamanga – Ayacucho, Felix Pariona Huacre, for sexual abuse against a minor has been filed today for the second and final time.]

La menor que denunció el hecho no acudió al examen psicológico

La denuncia contra el sacerdote de Huamanga – Ayacucho, Felix Pariona Huacre, por abuso sexual en contra de una menor ha sido archivado hoy por segunda y definitiva vez.

El caso fue archivado por primera vez por la Segunda Fiscalía Provincial Penal Corporativa de Huamanga, a cargo del fiscal Nilo Paredes. Pero tras una revisión la Cuarta Fiscalía Superior Penal de Ayacucho revisó el caso y ordenó que este se reabra.

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ARGENTINA
Info Bae

November 8, 2017

[Google Translate: His name monopolized the public light of all the media in the country after the Cardenal Newman School, one of the most prestigious in Argentina, decided to dismiss him for “irregular situations” he had in the institution itself. However, the priest Luis Lenzi denied any type of accusation and affirmed that during his period in the entity “nothing serious happened”.]

Luis Lenzi negó haber cometido cualquier tipo de abuso con los alumnos de la entidad y calificó el hecho como algo “confuso, triste y tan feo”. En tanto, la Orden de Predicadores emitió un comunicado en el que condenó las acciones del cura en la institución educativa de San Isidro

Su nombre acaparó la luz pública de todos los medios del país después de que el colegio Cardenal Newman, uno de los más prestigiosos de la Argentina, decidiera despedirlo por “situaciones irregulares” que tuvo en la propia institución. Sin embargo, el cura Luis Lenzi negó cualquier tipo de acusación y afirmó que durante su período en la entidad “no pasó nada grave”.

“No ha pasado nada grave y absolutamente nada con ningún chico de todo lo que se pueda pensar. Pero hay detalles prácticos de los que prefiero no hablar. No ha pasado nada grave para mí, pero espero que un poco se decante el momento”, explicó el padre Lenzi en una conversación telefónica con el Diario de Cuyo.

Al margen de sus tareas en el Newman, Lenzi es uno de los tres frailes que integran la orden de los domínicos a cargo del colegio y de la iglesia de Santo Domingo en la provincia cuyana.

El escándalo explotó el lunes, cuando el propio Colegio Newman envió un comunicado a los padres de la institución en el que informaba sobre la decisión tomada.

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ARGENTINA
La Capital

November 8, 2017

[Google Translate: The Chamber of Criminal and Criminal Appeals of Morón granted the priest Julio César Grassi the benefit of the so-called “2 x 1 law” and recalculated his release in August 2026, instead of 2028, as was expected when He was convicted for abusing a minor.]

El religioso estará en prisión hasta agosto de 2026. La Cámara de Morón aplicó el beneficio para el tiempo en que estuvo preso sin condena firme

La Cámara de Apelaciones en lo Penal y Criminal de Morón le concedió al sacerdote Julio César Grassi el beneficio de la llamada “ley del 2 x 1” y recalculó su salida en libertad para agosto de 2026, en lugar de 2028, como estaba previsto cuando fue condenado por abusar de un menor.

De esta forma, la Cámara de Apelaciones confirmó el fallo de primera instancia del Tribunal en lo Criminal 1 de Morón y resolvió aplicar los beneficios de una ley que fue derogada por la Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación.

El sacerdote fue condenado a 15 años de prisión por abusar sexualmente del menor conocido como “Gabriel”, a quien cuidaba en la Fundación Felices los Niños que dirigía el cura, en un proceso que duró 11 años, desde octubre de 2002, cuando el caso salió a la luz por una investigación televisiva.

Grassi estuvo en la cárcel desde el 23 de octubre al 21 de noviembre de 2002; luego bajo prisión domiciliaria entre el 7 de marzo de 2012 y el 31 de mayo de ese año y finalmente fue apresado otra vez el 23 de septiembre de 2013 hasta la actualidad, alojado en el penal de Campana

El cálculo de la pena de 15 años se tomaba a partir de esa última fecha, por lo que el cura tenía como data de su libertad el 2028.

Ahora, la Cámara de Apelaciones computó esos dos períodos en los que Grassi estuvo en prisión sin sentencia, aplicó la ley del dos por uno y la nueva fecha de salida es 2026, un año y nueve meses antes de lo previsto en la condena

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BUENOS AIRES (ARGENTINA)
Diario La Verdad

November 7, 2017

[Google Translate: The Argentine Justice today confirmed the reduction of the sentence, from 15 to 13 years, to a priest condemned for having abused a minor while running a foundation for poor children and adolescents.]

Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Rebajan condena a sacerdote acusado de abuso a menor.

La Justicia argentina confirmó hoy la rebaja de la pena, de 15 a 13 años, a un sacerdote condenado por haber abusado de un menor mientras dirigía una fundación para niños y adolescentes pobres.

La Cámara de Apelaciones en lo Penal y Criminal de Morón ratificó el beneficio que ya le había concedido otro tribunal de la misma localidad, al contar doble el año y nueve meses que el cura Julio César Grassi pasó en prisión domiciliaria o preventiva más allá del tiempo máximo establecido por la ley (dos años).

La decisión en primera instancia de aplicar el llamado “dos por uno”, tomada hace medio año, generó una fuerte polémica en Argentina y duras críticas de los denunciantes, tanto por la gravedad de los delitos como por el hecho de que este beneficio ya había sido anulado por la Corte Suprema del país.

Tras la confirmación de este fallo, el religioso saldrá de la cárcel en 2026 y no en 2028, como estaba previsto tras una condena a 15 años de cárcel.

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PERU
El Comercio

November 8, 2017

Redaccion EC

[Google Translate: Through a communiqué, the Metropolitan Archbishopric of Ayacucho rejected accusations of rape and undue touching against the priest of his jurisdiction Félix Pariona Huacre. The religious has been accused by a girl of initials ALL of sexually abusing her when she was between 15 and 17 years old.]

El religioso Félix Pariona, quien continúa oficiando misas, ha sido responsabilizado por una menor de abuso sexual

A través de un comunicado, el Arzobispado Metropolitano de Ayacucho rechazó las acusaciones de violación y tocamientos indebidos en contra del sacerdote de su jurisdicción Félix Pariona Huacre. El religioso ha sido acusado por una joven de iniciales A.L.L. de abusar sexualmente de ella cuando tenía entre 15 y 17 años.

De acuerdo al Arzobispado de Ayacucho, ellos han colaborado con las investigaciones del Ministerio Público, pero refieren que el caso se archivó por falta de pruebas el 20 de julio de 2017.

En la carta firmada por Monseñor Salvador Piñeiro, Arzobispo Metropolitano de Ayacucho, se detalla además que pese a que el caso se reabrió después por disposición del Fiscal Superior tras una queja de la defensa de la menor, ella no habría acudido al examen psicológico dispuesto dentro del plazo de 30 días de investigación.

“Tenemos la segunda disposición definitiva del archivamiento de fecha 7 de noviembre de 2017”, indica el comunicado.

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PERU
America TV

November 7, 2017

[Google Translate: The Archbishop of Ayacucho issued a statement to inform the filing for the second time of the case of an alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by a Catholic priest that occurred inside the Ayacucho seminary.]

Arzobispado informó que el Ministerio Público no encontró pruebas

El Arzobispado de Ayacucho emitió un comunicado para informar el archivamiento por segunda vez del caso de una presunta violación de una niña de 15 años por un sacerdote católico que habría ocurrido al interior del seminario de Ayacucho.

La organización informó que el Ministerio Público no halló más pruebas para determinar alguna culpabilidad de este sacerdote. Por este motivo, señalaron, este 7 de noviembre se determinó el archivamiento por segunda vez de este caso.

Sin embargo, el abogado de la menor ha indicado que esta no es la última instancia, ya que elevarán una queja de derecho de lo actuado ante el fiscal superior de Ayacucho en un plazo de 5 días.

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ARGENTINA
Analisis Digital

November 8, 2017

[Google Translate: The renowned journalist Miriam Lewin, who led the investigation that revealed the abuses of priest Julio César Grassi, was not surprised by the determination of the justice to grant the benefit of 2×1 to the priest sentenced to 15 years in prison and assured that “coming from Grassi we know that you should never lower your arms “because” he does not give up “. In this regard, he affirmed that “the investigation that required the most efforts of journalists to support and protect witnesses and to cover them from the siege of reprisals was clearly that of Grassi.” He also warned that “this is not going to end here” because “the next step will be to compute all that time that we consider absolute freedom but legally has the label of light prison as a prison completed, whereupon I would be released immediately. ” In this context, he regretted feeling “again the bitter feeling that justice does not serve as a remedy”. He asserted that “the wound of child sexual abuse is a permanently open wound, which does not stop bleeding” and claimed that “the Church clearly pronounces in these cases, so that eventually none of these pedophiles have ruined their lives. so many children that are concealed, protected and sustained by the Church. “]

Reclamó un pronunciamiento claro de la Iglesia contra los abusos

La reconocida periodista Miriam Lewin, quien encabezó la investigación que reveló los abusos del cura Julio César Grassi, no se manifestó sorprendida por la determinación de la justicia de otorgarle el beneficio del 2×1 al sacerdote condenado a 15 años de prisión y aseguró que “viniendo de Grassi sabemos que no hay que bajar los brazos nunca” porque “no se da por vencido”. En ese sentido, afirmó que “la investigación que más esfuerzos nos requirió a los periodistas para sostener y proteger a los testigos y para cubrirlos del asedio de las represalias fue claramente la de Grassi”. Además advirtió que “esto no va a terminar acá” ya que “el próximo paso será que le computen todo ese tiempo que consideramos de absoluta libertad pero que legalmente tiene la etiqueta de prisión morigerada como prisión cumplida, con lo cual saldría inmediatamente en libertad”. En este contexto, lamentó sentir “de nuevo la sensación amarga de que la justicia no sirve como reparación”. Aseveró que “la herida del abuso sexual infantil es una herida abierta permanentemente, que no deja de sangrar” y reclamó que “la Iglesia se pronuncie claramente en estos casos, para que finalmente no haya ninguno de estos pedófilos que le han arruinado la vida a tantos chicos que sean encubiertos, protegidos y sostenidos por la Iglesia”.

En declaraciones realizadas al programa A Quien Corresponda (Radio De la Plaza) Lewin sostuvo que “viniendo de Grassi sabemos que no hay que bajar los brazos nunca” y admitió: “Muchas veces me preguntan cuál fue la investigación en la que más represalias sufrieron los testigos, en las que me sentí más acosada o en peligro, y todos imaginan que sería la de los vuelos de la muerte o de corrupción policial o política, pero sin embargo la investigación que más esfuerzos nos requirió a los periodistas para sostener y proteger a los testigos y para cubrirlos del asedio de las represalias fue claramente la de Grassi”.

“Grassi nunca se da por vencido, jamás dejó de tener abogados de primera línea por más que no dieran la cara en algunas etapas del proceso y en este momento entendemos que lo está defendiendo Jorge Sandro, quien también asesoró en la defensa de Gregorio Ríos en el caso de Alfredo Yabrán. Y por eso creemos que esto no va a terminar acá”.

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ARGENTINA
Todo Noticias

November 7, 2017

[Google Translate: The Newman School reported that it separated one of the priests who works in that educational institution from his position. Luis Lenzi will no longer work there because he was found in “irregular situations” with the students who attend class.]

El sacerdote Luis Lenzi tuvo conductas incorrectas con los chicos “en lugares abiertos”.

El Colegio Newman informó que separó de su cargo a uno de los curas que trabaja en esa institución educativa. Luis Lenzi no trabajará más allí por haber sido encontrado en “situaciones irregulares” con los alumnos que asisten a clase.

El escueto comunicado del establecimiento educativo asegura que la escuela tomó la determinación luego de saber que esas situaciones “tuvieron lugar en espacios abiertos y que fueron advertidas por personal del colegio”.

De acuerdo a lo que informó el diario Clarín, las razones que aduce el texto oficial no tienen que ver con casos de abuso sexual, sino con conductas incorrectas por su cargo de docente.

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NEW BRUNSWICK (CANADA)
CBC News

November 08, 2017

By Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon

Cynthia Mae Moore seeks damages over 2 attacks by Rev. William Morton in St. Stephen in 2015

A New Brunswick woman who claims her former minister tried twice to kill her is suing him, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Anglican Diocese of Fredericton and the Anglican Parish of St. Stephen.

Cynthia Mae Moore, 60, claims she was in a nearly four-year extramarital affair with Rev. William Morton, her minister at Christ Church in St. Stephen, when he threatened to skin her alive and scraped her breasts with a box cutter.

The incident happened at Morton’s St. Stephen home on Nov. 24, 2015, according to the notice of action and statement of claim, filed with the Court of Queen’s Bench in Saint John.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
The Crime Report

November 8, 2017

By Tom Nugent

It was the kind of moment that an investigative reporter never forgets.

Harsh accusations were told to WJZ by many of [Father] Maskell’s victims. We have spoken with two of these women, and now a third is coming forward with a real bombshell. She told WJZ she was abused not only by Father Maskell, but also by police officers. . . .

It happened last February 27, when Baltimore’s CBS outlet, WJZ-TV, reported that local police were investigating credible reports of cops raping teenagers at a Catholic high school for girls in the city, back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

But the shocking TV news report also marked a huge turning point in this investigative reporter’s 22-year effort to uncover the truth about the murder of a teaching nun, Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, who had reportedly tried to blow the whistle on widespread sexual abuse of students at her high school in southwest Baltimore.

The February 27 news story was an unexpected development, for sure.

For the first time ever, a major television station in Baltimore was talking openly—live and on the air—about the possibility that the nun’s murder had been covered up by police officials for more than four decades because an open investigation might reveal that “several” local policemen had been engaged in the sexual abuse, along with several law-breaking Roman Catholic priests.

Until then, the story of the 22-year struggle to uncover and report the abuse—along with an alleged Church and police cover-up—had been a depressing chronicle of stonewalling, frustration and official indifference.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

November 08, 2017

By Daniel McConnell

Six properties promised to the State by the Catholic Church in 2002 still remain outside full public ownership 15 years later, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

Documents obtained reveal a further 13 properties “handed over” in 2009, including the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin, also continue to remain outside of the State’s control.

The Department of Education has been sharply criticised by the chairman and members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for the “unacceptable delays” in transferring the properties over to the State.

The PAC is to bring the secretary general of the Department of Education, Seán Ó Foghlú, next week to seek answers from him over the failure to transfer the lands.

PAC chairman Sean Fleming, speaking to the Irish Examiner, said there has been a total “malaise” within the department.

“Clearly there has been an insufficient determination to wrap this matter up,” he said. “It is completely unacceptable to have these matters outstanding 15 years after agreements were reached.

“We will now hear evidence from Mr Ó Foghlú on this matter next week and the lack of progress will be top of the agenda.”

PAC member Catherine Murphy echoed Mr Fleming’s concerns, saying the delays are “astonishing”.

“The public deserves better than vague updates and an inability from the department to fully disclose their engagements with the congregations,” she said.

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SAN JOSE (CA)
The Mercury News

November 7, 2017

By Tracey Kaplan

SAN JOSE — A private Catholic girls school in San Jose is grappling with accusations from a graduate who said a longtime teacher who has since died sexually molested her and another student decades ago but never was held accountable.

In an essay published in the Washington Post, Kathryn Leehane described her frustration after she reported to school officials and police that a teacher had sexually molested her and another student.

“The teacher remained at the school,” wrote Leehane, who did not name the teacher or the school. “Eventually, I lost hope for justice.”

The essay, titled “When the Legal System Fails Sexual Assault Victims, We Have To Find Our Own closure,” prompted graduates of the school Monday to circulate an online petition on change.org to Presentation High School. As of Tuesday afternoon, about 1,900 people had signed it.

The unnamed authors of the petition are demanding an independent investigation and a public apology. They also want officials who were told about the allegations but did not take appropriate action to face “consequences.”

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IRELAND
Catholic Herald

November 7, 2017

The Association of Catholic Priests say the sessions are in response to demand from members

Irish priests who have been falsely accused of sexually abusing children are being offered group therapy sessions in a bid to improve their mental health.

Ireland’s Association of Catholic Priests will run its first so-called “Circle of Healing” later in November in Cork, as part of an innovative new move to help innocent churchmen who have been affected by past abuse scandals.

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ENGLAND
The Tablet

November 8, 2017

By Bernadette Kehoe

Ampleforth has been rocked by a series of allegations linking priests to the abuse of boys

One of Britain’s leading Catholic schools, Ampleforth College, has revealed that some Benedictine monks there have received specialist training on how best to help victims and survivors of sexual abuse. In a statement ahead of its participation in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) later this month, Ampleforth said the aim was “to be much more focussed on survivors of abuse.”

So far, four monks have undergone two days of intensive training with an external agency which was recruited for the task, with the aim of rolling it out further in the coming months. A spokeswoman told The Tablet: “We wanted to make sure the monks were able to listen and respond to abuse survivors in the most appropriate way possible and to better understand the journey of abuse survivors. “

One monk added : “The training was very helpful. It gave me a deeper insight into the likely feelings of those who have been abused and I feel it prepared me to be more sympathetic and helpful to survivors who contact us.” The spokeswoman conceded the Inquiry could be a trigger for people to come forward and a confidential independent telephone helpline has also been set up for victims.

Ampleforth has been rocked by a series of allegations linking priests to the abuse of boys. Since 1996 three monks and a lay teacher have been convicted of sex offences against more than 30 pupils dating back to the mid-1960s and up to the mid-1990s. Ampleforth’s statement expressed ‘sincere and heartfelt apologies to anyone who suffered abuse in our schools, monastery, parishes or other ministries.’

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ROME
Crux

November 8, 2017

By Claire Giangravè

The preliminary hearing in a trial of the leader of a Catholic lay association, who is charged with the sexual abuse of at least six underage girls, took place Nov. 4 in southern Italy. Three of the alleged victims took to the stand to testify to their accounts of the abuses which the accused was able to perpetrate for the better part of forty years with no ecclesiastic or governmental oversight.

ROME – In a case that raises questions about how an association proclaiming itself Catholic and meeting in a parish could escape Church oversight for decades, a Nov. 4 preliminary hearing in a trial of the group’s leader on sexual abuse charges featured testimony from three of his alleged female victims.

Pietro Alfio , 73, has been under arrest since Aug. 2, when an investigation called ‘Operation 12 Apostles,’ conducted by police in Sicily, uncovered a deep web of political, ecclesiastic and judicial ties that allegedly allowed Capuana to carry on abuses within the lay-led ‘Culture and Environment Catholic Association,’ or ACCA.

The group is listed as a ‘civil association’ and has up to 5,000 followers, who still meet in the little-known municipality of Aci Bonacorsi, located inside the Diocese of Acireale on the Italian island of Sicily.

By all accounts, Capuana was a charismatic and charming personality, referred to as ‘Archangel’ by his disciples.

During the preliminary hearing, local reports say that Capuana, wearing blue trousers and a light-colored shirt, “dragged himself” into the courtroom, looking thin and weary and accompanied by four armed penitentiary guards.

The hearing was presided over by the magistrate in charge of preliminary investigations, Anna Maria Cristaldi, and took place behind closed doors.

Three girls, one of them still a minor, took to the stand to testify before the judge, accompanied by their lawyer Tommaso Tamburino. Capuana was not allowed to see the witnesses as he stood behind bars, with a wooden screen hiding the witnesses in order to protect their identity. After the hearing, the girls exited through a back door.

Capuana was silent though most of the hearing, except for the few times he muttered indignantly at the accusations before being reprimanded by the judge.

Though the hearing was secret, the pre-trial detention order for Capuana, obtained by Crux in collaboration with local media outlet Laspiapress, revealed the grisly details discovered during the police investigation, including wiretaps of conversations among the alleged perpetrators.

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CONCORD (NH)
The Associated Press

November 7, 2017

In a story Nov. 2 about a report on sexual misconduct at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire, The Associated Press erroneously reported when a former Episcopal priest pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a student. The priest pleaded guilty on May 15, not last week.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Report highlights pattern of sexual abuse at prep school

The rector of a prep school in New Hampshire says he is upset by accounts of sexual misconduct involving faculty that go back decades and the school’s failure to protect students under its care

By Michael Casey

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Over several decades, former faculty and staff at a prep school are accused of singling out students, plying them with alcohol and then attempting to kiss, fondle and commit other acts of sexual misconduct with them, according to a report released by the school late Wednesday.

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GUATEMALA
La Prensa Libre

November 3, 2017

[Google Translate: A retired priest of 96 years will face 70 charges for possession and dissemination of child pornography, after being accused of distributing “by mistake” the material to other elders in the retirement home where he lived.]

Un sacerdote retirado y de 96 años enfrentará 70 cargos por posesión y difusión de pornografía infantil, luego de ser acusado de distribuir “por error” el material a otros ancianos en la casa de retiro donde vivía.

El caso lo revelaron esta semana las agencias de noticias RT y New York Post, que cuentan la historia del hombre, que en apariencia almacenaba los archivos pornográficos en su computadora “incluidas fotos de niñas de hasta ocho años de edad”.

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ENGLAND
Christian Today

November 6, 2017

By Jayne Ozanne

It’s one of the first lessons in life – bad things happen. Bad things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. They can happen in ‘dark and dangerous places’, but they can also happen in places that are supposed to be ‘safe’ and full of light. Sadly, this often makes the impact of what has happened even more wounding, with devastating consequences on an individual’s ability to trust.

The critical thing of course is – what happens afterwards? How do we respond? What should we do – Keep Calm and Carry On as ‘normal’ (or as near to it as we can pretend to be), or allow ourselves to be changed and altered by the experience, learning from it so that we ensure it doesn’t happen again?

The Church of England appears to be extremely good at adopting the former – wartime – strategy. It just carries on carrying on. However, in doing so it becomes more and more like a Carry On film – a farcical comedy that stretches reality to breaking point and risks becoming the butt of too many jokes.

So, here’s my bad thing: I was raped – by a priest. No matter that it happened over 25 years ago. It happened. I finally told someone – a bishop – last year, and was advised discreetly to drop the allegations. I’m sure it was with the best of intentions, but it was like a kick in the stomach, adding quite literally insult to injury.

It has caused me to reflect – not only on my reasons for staying quiet for so many years, but also on my experience in finally coming forward. Most importantly, however, it has made me consider what I would have ideally liked to have happened – how I would have liked to have been treated, and what might have helped me to speak out sooner. For that is the point of my disclosure – to help us reflect and change.

Obviously, the first thing I would have dearly loved would have been to have been taught – from an early age – that this sort of behaviour is completely unacceptable, out of order, and absolutely not my fault. The years of self-blame and shame were arguably the most damaging. These were the years where I carried this awful truth on my own, too ashamed to speak out, and too guilty about what I saw as my own complicity to call it for what it was – rape.

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DUBLIN (IRELAND)
Catholic News Service

November 6, 2017

By Nick Bramhill

DUBLIN (CNS) — Irish priests who have been falsely accused of sexually abusing children are being offered group therapy sessions in a bid to improve their mental health.

Ireland’s Association of Catholic Priests will run its first so-called “Circle of Healing” later in November in Cork, as part of an innovative new move to help innocent churchmen who have been affected by past abuse scandals.

Father Roy Donovan, a spokesman for the 1,000-strong priests’ group, said the purpose of the workshops was to not only “help heal the scars” of clergymen cleared of abuse allegations, but also to provide support to clerics who still felt traumatized or a sense of collective guilt over crimes carried out by the minority of pedophile priests in their fold.

“A lot of good, decent priests have been affected by the abuse carried out by other priests in the past,” he said. “They’ve suffered shock and a sense of shame over what’s happened, and that’s partly why we’re holding a circle of healing.”

He said the sessions were in response to demand from the group’s members.
“Hopefully, those who attend will find some benefit and, if it goes well, then it’s quite likely that we’ll hold regular circles of healing around the country,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

November 5, 2017

By David Leonhardt

I caught the journalism bug in high school. I was fortunate to be a scholarship student at a rigorous New York private school with a weekly newspaper, and some of the older students I admired taught me the power that the written word could have.

When we complained verbally to teachers or administrators about a problem, they could ignore us. When we put our arguments in writing, they tended to pay attention. So we became teenage crusaders, inveighing against perceived injustices. Sometimes, the subjects were sophomoric (“censorship” of the talent show), but often they were serious (inequality, racism, South African divestment).

Three decades later, I look back on the experience with deep gratitude. I also look back with haunting regret.

For all of our crusading, we ignored the biggest story at the school. We were aware of the rumors — the teachers who made comments about girls’ bodies, the teacher suspiciously friendly with female students, the music teacher solicitous of male students.

But we never wrote about it. As best as I can remember, we didn’t even talk about writing about it. We didn’t know how. It seemed too dark, too uncertain.

In 2012, the truth came out. My school — Horace Mann — had tolerated sexual molestation for decades. Administrators whose most solemn responsibility was protecting children instead chose to look the other way and protect child abusers. The music teacher, a cultish figure named Johannes Somary, was the worst abuser during my time. One of his victims later committed suicide.

The current torrent of harassment revelations — following Jodi Kantor’s and Megan Twohey’s Times exposé of Harvey Weinstein — has caused me to think back on high school again, because every big case has had something in common with Horace Mann.

People knew.

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BUENOS AIRES (ARGENTINA)
El Intransigente

November 6, 2017

[Google Translate: The controversial benefit of the 2X1 , which was applied a few months ago to different genocides, was now applied in the case of priest Julio César Grassi , who is sentenced to 15 years in prison for aggravated sexual abuse of minors . Is that the Criminal Chamber ratified the decision of the Criminal Oral Court 1 of Morón , which, last April, granted this reduction of the sentence to the priest.]

La Cámara Penal ratificó el fallo del Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 de Morón, que, en abril pasado, le concedió esta reducción de la pena al sacerdote. De todas maneras, estará preso hasta el 10 de agosto de 2026

BUENOS AIRES (Redacción) – El polémico beneficio del 2X1, que hace algunos meses fue aplicado a diferentes genocidas, ahora se aplicó en el caso del cura Julio César Grassi, quien está condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual agravado a menores. Es que la Cámara Penal ratificó el fallo del Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 de Morón, que, en abril pasado, le concedió esta reducción de la pena al sacerdote.

A pesar de que aún estará preso hasta el 10 de agosto de 2026, dicho tribunal que lo había sentenciado en primera instancia, lo había beneficiado con el “dos por uno”. Incluso, el TOC1 destacó que a Grassi todavía le restan cumplir nueve años, cuatro meses y 20 días de condena. De todas maneras, en el momento de la resolución, el cura ya había cumplido tres años, nueve meses y veinte días de su condena, lapso que se computa como “dos por uno” por ser cumplido antes de que la sentencia quede firme.

En tanto, el 21 de marzo pasado, la Corte Suprema de Justicia confirmó la condena a Grassi por “abuso sexual agravado por resultar sacerdote, encargado de la educación y de la guarda del menor víctima, reiterado, dos hechos, en concurso real entre sí, que a su vez concurren formalmente con corrupción de menores agravada”. Con esta medida, la condena emitida en el 2009, que ya había sido confirmada por la Cámara de Casación y la Suprema Corte de la provincia de Buenos Aires, quedó firme.

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BUENOS ARIES (ARGENTINA)
Info Cielo

November 7, 2017

[Google Translate: The priest Julio César Grassi, condemned for aggravated sexual abuse to minors to 15 years of prison in 2009, received the benefit of 2×1. In this way, it will be released in 2026 and the indignation was immediate. The rejection of this resolution calls into question the actions of justice and the questioning of the Catholic Church reappear.]

En fallo dividido, la justicia ordenó reducir la pena al condenado por abuso sexual abusado. Había sido condenado a 15 años de prisión en 2009.

El cura Julio César Grassi, condenado por abuso sexual agravado a menores de edad a 15 años de prisión en el 2009, recibió el beneficio del 2×1. De este modo, saldrá en libertad en el 2026 y la indignación no se hizo esperar. El rechazo a esta resolución pone en tela de juicio al accionar de la justicia y los cuestionamientos a la iglesia católica afloran nuevamente.

El fallo fue dividido la Cámara Penal le concedió el beneficio al abusador luego de que su condena fuera confirmada por la Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación el 21 de marzo pasado.

Por este motivo, el cura violador permanecerá preso sólo hasta el año 2026 ya que cada año que pasó prisión sin condena firme se le computarán ahora como dos.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

November 6, 2017

By Heidi Schlumpf

Sexual violence victims speak out, while church leaders remain quiet

Jessica Mesman Griffith was sitting outside her high school cafeteria, waiting for a ride home after dance team practice, when a janitor approached her with his penis exposed and started masturbating in front of her. She was 14 — and terrified.

About a year later, while hanging out with her girlfriends, each one started sharing stories of sexual assault or violence, by a babysitter, an uncle or their mom’s boyfriend. That’s when Griffith realized, “I’m a girl, and because I’m a girl, I’m not safe.”

Griffith didn’t share her own story about the janitor with those friends, in part because it seemed less severe than their revelations. But she never told anyone else about it either, because she was embarrassed and felt somehow responsible.

Only much later did Griffith realize that church teaching about sexuality may have contributed to her silence. Teachers and clergy at her Catholic grade school had only talked about sex in terms of sin, so she came to associate the two. When she was sexually harassed by the janitor, she felt sinful.

“It just felt so dirty and tainted,” said Griffin, co-founder of the Catholic blog Sick Pilgrim and co-author of the spiritual memoir Strange Journey. “Just by witnessing it, I felt I was culpable. I was sure I did something wrong to provoke this.”

Griffin is speaking out now, as reports of sexual harassment by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein have prompted more victims to go public. Those revelations also spurred a social media campaign in which victims have used the hashtag #metoo to indicate their own experiences of sexual assault, harassment, rape or other sexual violence.

One in three women (and one in six men) have been victims of contact sexual violence at some point in their lifetimes, according to the government’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.

Yet Catholic Church leaders have been conspicuously quiet on the issue. This silence — combined with teachings and systems that contribute to a culture in which sexual violence against women is rampant — makes the church complicit, say theologians and those who work with victims. And given the church’s own lack of accountability in response to clergy sexual abuse, its credibility on the issue is already damaged.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.
CNA/EWTN News

Nov 7, 2017

By Mary Rezac

Washington D.C., Nov 7, 2017 / 03:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After years of research, the U.S. bishops are rolling out a new training program that takes some of the best risk-management practices from other industries and applies them to child protection in the Church.

The new program, entitled “Creating a Culture of Protection and Healing,” is being piloted in several dioceses and will eventually be available to any diocese by request.

The principles of the program, which will add to the existing trainings and protections already in place, borrows tools and techniques of HROs (highly reliable organizations) from industries in the secular world that also frequently deal with high-risk situations, such as hospitals or airlines.

These HROs are in industries in which, when accidents do occur “it’s rather volatile, it costs lives,” Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CNA.

“For example in the airline industry when a plane crashes or something like that,” it can be very costly in terms of loss of life, he said.

“So the industry is looking at ways to make sure that even the lowest person on the chain of command – if they see something that’s untoward, they speak up, they say something, they report it. They know how and what to do when they come across a situation that could cause a problem in the future.”

That’s the same attitude and level of awareness that the bishops are hoping to create in dioceses who implement this new program, he said.

“We’re trying to create this mindfulness, a change in culture, so safe environments can be not only established but indeed maintained, because that’s the key. We have to constantly be on our toes, on our guard, with no room for complacency.”

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NOVA SCOTIA (CANADA)
The Catholic Register

November 6, 2017

The Catholic Church in Nova Scotia has recently been exposed to unfriendly fire.

It started when a Liberal cabinet minister introduced a bill to a committee of the legislature to allow the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth, one of only two dioceses in the province, to divest itself of assets and place them into sub-corporations controlled by individual parishes. The committee then deferred the bill.

The deferral came at the urgings of Halifax lawyer John McKiggan, who represents hundreds of sexual assault victims allegedly abused by priests.

The lawyer said reorganizing the archdiocese would make it more difficult for abuse victims to receive fair compensation for their injuries. He hinted that the reorganization was simply a way to hide assets in the event of future legal actions.

Premier Stephen McNeil lauded the committee for deferring the bill as the government reviews it to ensure no unintended consequences might ensue. But the suggestion that the archdiocese was trying to stow away assets drew the ire of the archdiocesan chancellor.

“First of all, under Church rules the bishop can’t do that,” Deacon Bob Britton told local media. “And if he did that, then the question would be: How much longer would he be the bishop?”

Britton said lawyers have told the Church that the courts have already determined that the archdiocese and individual parishes would be responsible for any future claims of sexual abuse.

“The unintended consequences that are alluded to are simply not there,” he said.

Nova Scotia’s other diocese — Antigonish — agreed to a $16-million settlement in 2012 to be paid to 125 confirmed and alleged victims of sexual abuse. The settlement forced the diocese to put about 150 properties up for sale and require more than 100 parishes to yield savings.

Britton said the intent of the new bill is to recognize in civil law what is already a Church reality — that each parish is a separate entity while still joined with the archdiocese.

“The claims of a kind of nefarious motives, I assure you, they are not there,” said Britton.

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SANTA BARBARA (CA)
PR Newswire

Nov. 7, 2017

“It’s Not Okay to abuse and use anyone,” says singer/songwriter/author Linda Newlin in her new, provocative song and music video. The images and scenes depict all forms of abuse going on in our world and challenge the abusers who have hurt others and those who have been complicit by keeping quiet.

Newlin originally wrote the song and produced the video on the heels of the sexual abuse scandals perpetrated by the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts but its message is just as relevant today. Just this weekend, Facebook was flooded with “Me Too” messages from tens of thousands of women speaking up about sexual harassment and abuse.

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ENGLAND
Christian Today

November 7, 2017

By Florence Gildea

‘I […] was worried I would be blacklisted as untrustworthy. In Westminster, where power and loyalties are hard currency, I feared making enemies’, wrote Jane Merrick as she explained why she did not report former defence secretary Michael Fallon’s attempt to kiss her to the party whips.

Labour activist Bex Bailey was told by a senior party member not to report the fact that she was raped because it might damage her career. Other women who have come forward as victims of sexual assault or harassment in Westminster have found that officials have ‘at best turned a blind eye and at worst actively covered it up’. Why is it that institutions are so reluctant to hold their members accountable for sexual assault?

It’s a pattern we are becoming used to, that is even becoming normalised: someone (typically male) empowered with a sense of entitlement, acts towards another (typically female) as if he had the right to her body and then somehow passes the burden of shame and professional consequences on to the one they have assaulted. Unless, the abuser or those around them reassures the victim, they keep it to themselves. Otherwise, the one who has been betrayed is warned: you won’t be trusted; you’ll be letting the side down. It is not surprising that efforts to hush up sexual assault scar all political parties. Such is the cost of tribalism.

Both the UK’s major political parties, I’m sure, wish perpetrators of sexual assault were only to be found on the opposite side of the Commons. All institutions, likewise, hope it is only Hollywood and Westminster where these incidents take place. Yet nothing could be further from the truth: a survey for the Young Women’s Trust found one in eight large employers admit they are aware of sexual harassment that has gone unreported. More than half of women say they have experienced sexual harassment at work, according to research by the TUC.

We all want to be immune from wrongdoing ­­– just as much perhaps as we want to be immune from harm. It is surely the belief that we – whoever that ‘we’ is – are above such things that leads people to suggest that victims of sexual assault should not come forward. After all, we don’t have a systemic problem: it’s just a couple of bad apples. No need to make a fuss.

No wonder, then, that the Church has so often suppressed the truth of sexual assault in order to present itself as the representative of the Truth. If victims of sexual assault in Westminster can be asked to put party loyalty over their own needs, how much more can church leaders ask those in their care to prioritise God’s public image.

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LIMERICK (IRELAND)
The Limerick Post

November 6, 2017

A COUNTY Limerick priest is extending a helping hand to his traumatised colleagues who have been falsely accused of sexually abusing children.

Caherconlish parish priest Fr Roy Donovan, who is spokesman for the 1,000 member Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), said that they are offering group therapy sessions to help innocent churchmen who have been affected by abuse scandals.

Fr Donovan said the purpose of the ‘circle of healing’ workshops is to not only ‘help heal the scars’ of clergymen cleared of allegations, but also to provide support to clerics who feel traumatised over crimes committed by ‘the small minority of paedophiles’ in their fold.

“A lot of good, decent priests have been affected by the abuse carried out by other priests in the past. They’ve been traumatised and left with a sense of shame over what’s happened, and that’s partly why we’re holding a circle of healing.

“We’re holding the first one in Cork later this month, and it follows a demand from our members. There’ll be 20 priests attending the first session and it will run for two hours. It will be very much like a group therapy session.

The APC has been advocating radical reform in the Church including the relaxation of celibacy rules and the ordination of women priests.

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MEXICO CITY
The Associated Press

November 6, 2017

By Mark Stevenson

Mexico City • Prosecutors in northern Mexico say they have detained wanted U.S. polygamist Orson William Black Jr. and his followers and are investigating whether Black was involved in the death of three American youths whose bodies were found at a ranch in September.

The arrest of Black on Sunday — along with four of his wives, a woman described as “a concubine” and about 20 Americans without proper documents — marks the end of the fundamentalist sect leader’s long, strange period on the lam.

Few thought the trail to finding him would end in bloodshed.

The prosecutors’ office in the border state of Chihuahua says Black, 56, was captured in an area largely populated by Mennonites and is under investigation for the deaths of three Americans aged 15, 19 and 23 on Sept. 10.

In keeping with Mexican legal practice, the office identified the victims by their first names — Robert W.B., Jesse L.B. and Michael B. — and suggested they may have all carried the last name Black.

Prosecutors did not say why Black was a suspect in the deaths, but suggested the victims may have been members of his religious group. Black was a member of polygamous The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints but split from that group in the 1980s. The FLDS began after the mainstream Mormon church disavowed polygamy in 1890.
Black was charged in 2003 in Mohave County, Ariz., with two felony counts of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor and three felony counts of sexual conduct with a minor. Black fled before he could be prosecuted.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office filed the charges and alleged Black married two girls underage. One of the counts, according to a 2003 article by the Phoenix New Times, refers to one of the children conceived by an underage brides was a boy born in December 1998 and named Robert William Black. It was unclear Monday whether he is one of the murder victims.

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ENGLAND
Catholic Herald

November 6, 2017

By Fr. Alexander Lucie-Smith

The Church needs renewal. Does it have the people who can bring it about?

Did you hear the first reading at Mass yesterday, the Thirty-First Sunday of the Year, cycle A? Here it is again, in case you missed it. It comes from the prophet Malachi.

I am a great king, says the Lord of Hosts, and my name is feared throughout the nations. And now, priests, this warning is for you. If you do not listen, if you do not find it in your heart to glorify my name, says the Lord of Hosts, I will send the curse on you and curse your very blessing. But you, you have strayed from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your teaching. You have destroyed the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of Hosts. And so I in my turn have made you contemptible and vile in the eyes of the whole people in repayment for the way you have not kept to my paths but have shown partiality in your administration.

Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why, then, do we break faith with one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?

These words are a nice reminder to us all that the words of the Bible are not just of their own time, but for all time; goodness knows what in particular the priests of Israel had done to arouse the prophet’s wrath, but the words resonate today for reasons we all know.

First of all, the child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. This was caused by priests who “strayed from the way”, that did not keep to the Church’s teaching, a teaching they themselves were supposed not just to uphold but to teach and preach. If that wasn’t bad enough, the subsequent cover-up turned a bad situation into a full-blown crisis, because it revealed to the world, and to those of us in the Church, that the Church’s institutions were not working as they should have been. In other words, those charged with oversight were not overseeing things properly.

Most of the vilification for the child abuse crisis has fallen on the priests of the Church, largely because these are the only “officials” of the Church the general public meets, though there have been several high ranking clergy who have also been made “contemptible and vile in the eyes of the whole people”: one thinks, for example, of Cardinal Law of Boston, as well as the most unfair persecution, from some quarters, of Pope Benedict XVI. But on the whole, it is the priests, the men who are the daily point of contact with the public, who have had their collective reputation besmirched. That is something we priests have had to live with. But that is not really the most bitter fruit of the Church’s mismanagement: the real harm done is seen in the ruined lives of the abused and in the loss of faith by the laity.

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BOSTON (MA)
The Conversation

November 6, 2017

The Church of England is the latest institution to be swept up in the #MeToo wave of disclosures about sexual abuse and harassment. As Rachel Trewick, the bishop of Gloucester told the Guardian, it’s dangerous to imagine that the “church is somehow an elite group of people” immune from the issue of harassment. In an interview with Channel 4 News, Jayne Ozanne, a senior lay member of the church, said she thought sexual harassment and abuse was widespread within the church.

My ongoing research into how women clergy negotiate their belonging in the Church of England suggests that the institution has a uniquely problematic relationship with sex and gender. The stories I’m hearing from women priests about everyday unhealthy and humiliating practices based on perceptions of gender are in many ways no different to the stories lots of other women might tell.

Yet, women clergy must also negotiate a system whose symbolism is dominated by men in their bid to belong within the institution – and access power. Life has not been easy for women in the church: a male saviour, sent by God with masculine names, a traditionally male priesthood, a male-oriented history, a creation myth that casts the woman as temptress, and the battles required to read Biblical text in a non-sexist way. The legacy of Christian culture is that men and women are constructed as different, in ways that hand power to men.

Women clergy are awake to the ways in which this plays out. As priests, they must slay the demons attached to the myth of being different-but-equal. Roles and attitudes expected of women that are hidden in “feminine” traits undermine their leadership and authority in subtle ways. For example, the way they look is constantly judged and evaluated. One woman recounted that she was told the feminine timbre of her voice made her inaudible.

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GUAM
USA Today Network

November 5, 2017

By Haidee V Eugenio

HAGÅTÑA, Guam — Former Guam priest Louis Brouillard did not show much emotion and remained fairly sharp mentally when he provided, over a four-day period, information about the “tragic circumstances that allowed him to have access to Guam’s children for many years,” according to one of the attorneys involved in more than 140 lawsuits accusing Brouillard of child sex abuse.

Brouillard’s Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 deposition in Pine City, Minnesota, where he lives, brought together attorneys for most plaintiffs and defendants from different parts of the nation.

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ST. PAUL and MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
Star Tribune

November 4, 2017

By Karen Zamora

14 of the men have died; none who survives serves in any pastoral role.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Friday afternoon released the names of 19 deceased or former priests or members of religious orders against whom it now acknowledges “substantiated claims of sexual abuse of minors.”

Many of the names have long been in the public domain, released by their religious orders on their own lists of members credibly accused of abuse, named in victims’ lawsuits or on websites compiled by abuse survivors. But it appears to be the first time the archdiocese has released their names in relation to its own jurisdiction.

In a statement on the archdiocese’s website, Tim O’Malley, director of the archdiocese’s Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, wrote, “Eighteen of the men have been disclosed by their diocese or religious order based on alleged abuse outside of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, but had, at some point, served or spent time in this archdiocese. The other man served in the archdiocese until his death in the early 1960s and is being disclosed now based on recent interviews with victims/survivors who courageously came forward.”

Tom Halden, director of communications for the archdiocese, said late Friday that he had no comment beyond what the news release said.

Fourteen of the men on the new list have died. None who survives now serves in any pastoral capacity.

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ST. PAUL and MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
Pioneer Press

November 3, 2017

By Deanna Weniger

The names of 19 men have been added to the growing list of abusers who at some point served or spent time in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The statement, posted Friday on the archdiocese’s website, defined the men as those “who have substantiated claims of sexual abuse of a minor against them.”

All but one of the men committed the alleged abuse outside of the Twin Cities, but were included because they spent some time during their careers at the local diocese, the statement said.

One man, Vincent Worzalla, who died in 1962, was accused of abuse within the local diocese. He worked at Holy Cross in Minneapolis from 1915 to 1951 and at Holy Trinity in South St. Paul from 1951 until his death.

He is being disclosed now “based on recent interviews with victims/survivors who courageously came forward,” the statement said.

Some of the names on the list already had been released, due to prior litigation. Fourteen are deceased.

Those still living are James Moeglein, Dunstan Moorse, Michael Paquet, James Phillips and Thomas O’Brien.

The others listed are Cornelius Devenster, John Gleason, Othmar Hohmann, Paul Kabat, Thomas Meyer, Orville Munie, John Murphy, David Roney, Urban Schmitt, Michael Skoblik, Charles Stark, Emil Twardochleb and Pirmin Wendt.

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LISBON (PORTUGAL)
Diário de Notícias

November 5, 2017

By Élvio Passos

[Google Translate: Father Giselo Andrade assumed the paternity of a girl, born on August 18 of this year, in the parish of São Pedro, probably in the Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital. The fact that the parish priest of Monte had a daughter gave rise to a series of public statements and initiatives, some humorous in order to ask the bishop of Funchal to at least remove the priest from the duties for which he is appointed.]

Giselo Andrade quer continuar padre, mas pondera pôr o lugar à disposição da Diocese

O padre Giselo Andrade assumiu a paternidade de uma menina, nascida no dia 18 de Agosto deste ano, na freguesia de São Pedro, provavelmente, no Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça. O facto de o pároco do Monte ter uma filha deu azo a um conjunto de alegações e iniciativas públicas, algumas jocosas outras no sentido de pedir ao bispo do Funchal que, no mínimo, afastasse o sacerdote das funções para que está nomeado.

Perante as acusações e ainda sem a confirmação de que o padre tinha uma filha, no dia 27 de Outubro, o DIÁRIO pediu a Giselo Andrade que esclarecesse/comentasse as acusações, que lhe eram dirigidas, com incidência no facto de ter um filho e ter sido ‘obrigado’ a assumi-lo. Pedimos, igualmente, esclarecimentos sobre a administração da paróquia, sendo o padre acusado de ‘empregar’ a família e não prestar contas.

A resposta de Giselo Andrade, no mesmo dia, foi forte: “Relativamente aos factos alegados nego-os peremptoriamente sendo certo que me reserva ao direito de intentar queixa-crime contra os responsáveis por uma eventual publicação através da impressa ou de qualquer outro meio de divulgação.”

De facto, a pergunta do DIÁRIO falava em filho e o padre Giselo é pai de uma menina, podendo ser essa a interpretação do sacerdote, para negar o que é verdade. Na última sexta-feira, voltámos a tentar o contacto com o pároco do Monte para saber se mantinha o que dissera, uma semana antes, ou se gostaria de fazer outros esclarecimentos. Desta vez, não obtivemos resposta.

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PERU
Jornada

November 6, 2017

[Google Translate: After several months of not having obtained any result, before the complaint filed with the Public Prosecutor for acts of rape against the priest Félix Pariona Huacre, the defense of the victim ALL released the result of the psychological report which states “(). .. The patient presents trauma of psychosexual origin due to sexual abuse and other alterations of a sexual nature produced during her childhood and adolescence … () “]

Tras varios meses de no haber obtenido resultado alguno, ante la denuncia presentada al Ministerio Público por actos de violación sexual contra el sacerdote Félix Pariona Huacre, la defensa de la víctima A.L.L. dio a conocer el resultado del informe psicológico el cual señala “( )…La paciente presenta trauma de origen psicosexual producto de eventos de abuso sexual y otras alteraciones de índole sexual producidos durante su niñez y adolescencia… ( )”

Sin embargo, desde que se denunció el hecho en febrero de este año, la Segunda Fiscalía Corporativa de Huamanga a cargo del fiscal Nilo Paredes Chávez archivó el caso resolviendo que no existen indicios relevantes de la existencia del delito. Esta extraña decisión ha levantado oscuros vínculos entre dos instituciones (Ministerio Público y la Iglesia Católica).

Frente a esta resolución la defensa ha presentado la queja de derecho el cual ha sido declarado fundado en segunda instancia, por ese motivo se ha ampliado la investigación, lo cual amerita un nuevo pronunciamiento.

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ARGENTINA
Diario del Sur Digital

November 6, 2017

[Google Translate: While awaiting the resolution of the cassation appeal filed for the annulment of the ruling that last September sentenced him to 25 years in prison, the priest Juan Diego Escobar Gaviria faces a new request for preventive detention in the context of another case of abuse and corruption of minors processed by the Fiscal Unit of Nogoyá.]

dos pedidos de prisión preventiva, una condena y un nuevo juicio próximo a iniciarse

Mientras aguarda que se resuelva el recurso de casación presentado para que se dicte la nulidad del fallo que en septiembre último lo condenó a 25 años de cárcel, el cura Juan Diego Escobar Gaviria se enfrenta a un nuevo pedido de prisión preventiva en el marco de otro caso de abuso y corrupción de menores que tramita la Unidad Fiscal de Nogoyá.

Así lo indicó a Entre Ríos Ahora el fiscal Federico Uriburu, de la Unidad Fiscal de Nogoyá, que ya tiene concluida la investigación penal preparatoria de la nueva denuncia por abuso que pesa sobre el cura, ya condenado por otros cuatro casos. El caso ya fue ventilado durante el juicio oral al que fue sometido el cura, en agosto pasado en Gualeguay.

Escobar Gaviria, que fue párroco de San Lucas Evangelista, de Lucas González, entre 2005 y 2016, enfrentó, en agosto último, un juicio oral y público por cuatro casos de abusos y corrupción de menores. El Tribunal de Juicios y Apelaciones de Gualeguay, que lo juzgó, lo halló culpable de los delitos de abusos y corrupción de menores, y lo condenó a 25 años de prisión. Aunque hasta tanto quede firme esa sentencia, decidió sostener la prisión preventiva que le dictó la Justicia el 21 de abril, y lo mantuvo preso en la Unidad Penal de Victoria, donde está ahora.

Durante el desarrollo de las audiencias, uno de los testigos que llevaron los fiscales Dardo Tórtul y Federico Uriburu contó de los abusos a los que lo sometía Escobar Gaviria, y su testimonio derivó en la apertura de una nueva investigación penal preparatoria. En el marco de esa instrucción, el abogado Mariano Navarro ya se constituyó como querellante y esta semana el fiscal Uriburu pedirá la prisión preventiva del sacerdote, medida que piensa solicitar al juez de Garantías de Nogoyá, Gustavo Acosta. La petición es que la preventiva se extienda hasta el inicio del nuevo juicio.

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ARGENTINA
Filo News

November 6, 2017

[Google Translate: In a divided decision, the Criminal Chamber granted the benefit of 2×1 to Father Julio César Grassi , whose sentence of 15 years in prison for sexual abuse had been confirmed by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation on March 21.]

En un fallo dividido, el Tribunal N° 1 de Morón aplicó el beneficio del 2×1. De esta manera, deberá cumplir dos años menos de cárcel y saldrá en 2026

En un fallo dividido, la Cámara Penal concedió el beneficio del 2×1 al padre Julio César Grassi, cuya condena a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual había sido confirmada por la Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación el 21 de marzo pasado.

De esta manera, la condena de Grassi ahora será hasta 2026, ya que se vio beneficiado con el mecanismo del 2×1 el tiempo que estuvo en prisión preventiva.

El cura fue detenido en 2013, acusado de la violación de un chico que acudía a la institución presidida por Grassi, Felices los Niños.

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CHILE
BioBioChile

November 4, 2017

Por Guido Focacci; La Información es de Cristóbal Cruz

[Google Translate excerpt: Precht, a Chilean priest guilty of sexual abuse against minors and adults , was condemned in 2012 by the ecclesiastical justice and separated for five years from the priestly ministry, sentence that will be completed in December, one month after Pope Francis visited Chile.]

El arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, presidió la misa en conmemoración al recientemente canonizado sacerdote español, Faustino Míguez, eucaristía celebrada en la Catedral Metropolitana y tras la cual se refirió nuevamente a Cristián Precht.

Precht, sacerdote chileno culpable de abusos sexuales contra menores y mayores de edad, fue condenado en 2012 por la justicia eclesiástica y apartado por cinco años del ministerio sacerdotal, sentencia que completará en diciembre, a un mes de la visita del papa Francisco a Chile.

Respecto al término de esta condena, Ezzati aseguró que, una vez cumplida su pena, Cristián Precht deberá sacar las lecciones correspondientes para continuar con una vida más sana.

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ENGLAND
Kent Online

November 6, 2017

By Tom Acres

New details have emerged of the horrific abuse inflicted upon young girls at a Church of England children’s home during a callous regime lasting more than three decades.

Dozens of harrowing accounts from Kendall House in Gravesend were told in an independent review published last year and in a follow-up report, which both featured stories of how girls as young as nine were injected with drugs, kept in straitjackets and raped.

Most reports were based on interviews with women kept at the home in Pelham Road as children and teenagers, but now a former member of staff has spoken openly.

In an exclusive interview with the Messenger, the 62-year-old man, who asked to be referred to as L Simpson, said recalling his time at Kendall House brought back “terrible memories” which made him “feel sick”.

He worked there during the summer of 1975, between years of study at Kingston University, where he was working on a sociology dissertation. He was offered work there through his flatmate, whose father was a vicar with connections to Kendall House.

Mr Simpson, who was 20, soon realised it was not the placement he was expecting.

“I started on the same day as another chap called Ron. He had very little experience, and I had only done some volunteering at a short stay unit in Putney over Christmas,” he said. “We were asked to wait in the garden and this young guy came up to me and said, ‘I would ask to leave here. What goes on here isn’t right’.”

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ENGLAND
Christian Today

November 6, 2017

By Harry Farley

The Church of England’s ruling general synod is being urged to publicly debate bishops’ response to sexual harassment at its next meeting after allegations of abuse and assault were levelled at clergy members.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York were told the ‘urgent’ discussion would allow the CofE’s safeguarding system, which has come under fire for its lack of accountability, to be scrutinised.

It comes after a prominent member of the national synod, which meets twice a year, claimed she was raped by a priest and told by a bishop to drop the claims.

Jayne Ozanne, a founding member of the Archbishops’ Council advisory body, is calling for a separate, independent body to handle claims of assault and abuse within the church.

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IRELAND
The New York Times

November 5, 2017

[Note: Multiple letters to the editor follow the single letter excerpted below]

To the Editor:

Re “The Lost Children of Tuam,” by Dan Barry (Special Report, Oct. 29):

I grew up in the long shadow of one of Ireland’s most notorious institutions for boys, St. Conleth’s industrial school in County Offaly. The school’s reputation for harsh treatment was such that we were often threatened with being sent to St. Conleth’s if we didn’t behave.

The Irish writer John McGahern, himself a victim of the tyrannical Irish version of the Catholic Church, once said:

“The true history of the thirties, forties and fifties in this country has yet to be written. When it does, I believe it will be shown to have been a very dark time indeed, in which an insular church colluded with an insecure state to bring about a society that was often bigoted, intolerant, cowardly, philistine and spiritually crippled.”

Your report on St. Mary’s Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, has borne out Mr. McGahern’s prescience. Dan Barry follows a long line of reporters and activists who in the late 1970s succeeded in forcing the Irish government to investigate the conditions of its more than 70 industrial schools, its orphanages and its Magdalene Laundries for “fallen women,” who took care of church linens, among other things.

The courage of reporters like Mr. Barry shines a bright light on how dark the dark times mentioned by Mr. McGahern really were.

TOM PHELAN, FREEPORT, N.Y.

The writer’s novel “Nailer” is set against the backdrop of Ireland’s abusive industrial schools and the church-state collusion that allowed them to flourish.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Guardian News & Media Ltd via Gulf News

November 4, 2017

By Rory Carroll

Despite barely getting a release in 2015, ‘An Open Secret’ is seeing renewed interest online amid sex abuse allegations

When the documentary An Open Secret tried to lift the lid on child abuse in Hollywood, it billed itself as “the film Hollywood doesn’t want you to see”. The marketing tagline did not exaggerate.
The film died upon release in 2015. There was no theatrical release to speak of, no television deal, no video on demand distribution.

“We got zero Hollywood offers to distribute the film. Not even one. Literally no offers for any price whatsoever,” said Gabe Hoffman, a Florida-based hedge fund manager who financed the film.
It did not seem to matter that it was directed by an Oscar-nominated director, Amy Berg, or that it uncovered damning evidence of the sexual abuse of teenage boys by figures in the film industry.
“There was nowhere to see it,” said Lorien Haynes, the film’s writer. “I don’t think it impacted at all. Nobody saw it. We released a film that didn’t [seem to] exist.”

Now, two years later, multiple “open secrets” of predatory behaviour are detonating across Hollywood and the documentary that blew the whistle is getting millions of viewers — but still no distribution deal.

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SANTA FE
Santa Fe New Mexican

November 4, 2017

By Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe

On Sept. 12, 2017, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe released a list of 74 priests, deacons and religious who have been accused of sexual abuse of children. The vast majority of these abuses occurred over 25 years ago.

Since then, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has implemented a number of strict measures, including removing perpetrators from ministry, terminating employment of perpetrators, instituting a zero tolerance policy and implementing Safe Environment and Victim’s Assistance Programs throughout the archdiocese. As a result, since 1993, the archdiocese has received only two reports of clergy sexual misconduct with a minor where the incident was reported to have occurred later than 1993.

On Oct. 18, 2017, Judge Alan Malott, a District Court judge in Albuquerque, ordered the public release of approximately 1,000 pages of documents related to three of the most prolific child abusers to have ever served in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe: Arthur Perrault, Sabine Griego and Jason Sigler. Although their crimes were committed decades ago, it is my hope that the release of these documents to the public will further aid in the healing process for past victims and their families.

It is difficult to put into words my sadness and shame over the betrayal of trust by members of the clergy who were supposed to love and protect our children and young people, and for the pain and suffering endured by victims of this abuse. I offer my sincere apology on behalf of the archdiocese to survivors and their families and my continued commitment to support and assist you on your road to healing and recovery.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Luke 18:16). It is at the heart of the church’s mission, therefore, to protect, nurture and care for our children. Indeed, the church and any society can be judged on how well it cares for the vulnerable in its midst. When the church fails in this sacred responsibility, we betray the trust Christ has given us and the trust of those we have a responsibility to look out for and safeguard.

I firmly believe that actions speak louder than words. What is often lost or relegated to a footnote in the media’s coverage of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in New Mexico are the many steps this archdiocese has taken over the past 25 years to prevent sexual abuse of children. First of all, since 1993, the archdiocese has adopted a “zero tolerance” policy with respect to clergy credibly accused of sexual misconduct with minors. Of the 74 names on the archdiocese’s list of accused clergy, those who are still living have been permanently restricted from public ministry or removed from the priesthood.

Moreover, the archdiocese continues to expand and develop its Victim’s Assistance and Safe Environment Programs. The archdiocese requires that all clergy, employees and volunteers undergo criminal background checks and attend workshops on recognizing and reporting signs that a child may be the victim of physical or sexual abuse or harassment.

Seminary candidates for the archdiocese also undergo extensive psychological testing and screening as a prerequisite to admission, followed by continuing evaluation and support. All clergy must participate in ongoing sexual abuse awareness and prevention training every five years.

The archdiocese’s programs include, but are not limited to, providing counseling to victims of clergy sexual abuse at the expense of the archdiocese, conducting annual children and youth protection classes at every grade level in the Catholic school system as well as in parish-based religious education programs for those who are not enrolled in Catholic schools. These programs also reinforce appropriate boundaries that must be adhered to when adults interact with children and young people.

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

November 6, 2017

A Catholic priest who admitted decades of sexual abuse on Guam has made further admissions in a depositions hearing.

Louis Brouillard, who is now 96, was on Guam between 1948 and 1981, and is accused of abusing dozens of children during that time.

The Guam Catholic Church is facing more than 140 lawsuits alleging decades of child sex abuse, but Father Brouillard is the only person to have admitted any crimes.

The Pacific Daily News reported that lawyers representing many of the plaintiffs met with Father Brouillard and his attorney last week for four days of depositions hearings.

One of the lawyers, Steven Reich, said the priest was mentally sharp and cooperative, and provided additional sworn evidence about abuse.

Father Brouillard was transferred from Guam to Minnesota in 1981 as accusations surfaced, but three recent lawsuits accuse him of bringing boys from Guam to the US mainland to continue the abuse.

Meanwhile, Mr Reich said an agreement was yet to be reached on the possibility of out-of-court mediation with the church.

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ENGLAND
Christian Today

November 3, 2017

By Harry Farley

The Archbishop of Canterbury is being urged by a clerical abuse survivor to abandon the Church’s insurer in the wake of a scandal over its ‘derisory and heartless’ treatment of victims.

It comes after three bishops urged the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group (EIG) to review a settlement of £35,000 that was offered to Gilo, whose surname is withheld to protect his identity, saying they were ‘very concerned about the way in which the claim was handled at the time’.

The Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, the Bishop at Lambeth, Tim Thornton, and the Bishop of Buckingham, Alan Wilson, expressed their concern that ‘horse-trading’ between lawyers about settlement figures had ‘little concern for the impact’ on the survivor.

Now Gilo is urging the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, to review the settlement offers made by EIG to abuse survivors and relieve the company of its responsibility to reach settlements.

‘The way the Church and its insurers has treated survivors institutionally compounds the abuse we have already suffered,’ he wrote in the letter to Welby.

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