ABUSE TRACKER

CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

Alene Tchekmedyian

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

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

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

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

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ZIMBABWE
Bulawayo 24

by Alice Dube

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

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

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

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

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

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ZIMBABWE
News 24

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

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

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

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

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RHODE ISLAND
Church Militant

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

Claims group swindled woman out of her inheritance

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

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

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

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CANADA
Edmonton Journal

PAIGE PARSONS

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

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

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

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

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

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GUAM
KUAM

Jan 10, 2017

By Sabrina Salas Matanane

Letter from Presbyteral Council

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

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent

Dina Rickman @dinarickman

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

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

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

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

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AUSTRALIA
Lawyers Weekly

Emma Ryan

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

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

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

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

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

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

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

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

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

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

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

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

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

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

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

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10 January
UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

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

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

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

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

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

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By MATT DATHAN, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR MAILONLINE

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

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

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

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

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Owen Bowcott Legal affairs correspondent

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

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

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

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

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ARGENTINA
El Tribuno

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

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

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

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

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

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

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

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

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

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CALIFORNIA
The Record

By Almendra Carpizo
Record Staff Writer

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

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

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

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

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

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

* Restructuring of secured loans.

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

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

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

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Stephen Naysmith

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

BY ALPHEA SAUNDERS Senior staff reporter saundersa@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

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

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

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

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

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

CHRIS MARSHALL
Wednesday 11 January 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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GHANA
Ghana Web

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Loop

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

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Government of Jamaica – Jamaica Information Service

By Shari-Ann Palmer January 10, 2017

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Loop

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

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

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

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

See full text of Laing’s poem below.

YOUNG GIRL
By:©Saccheen Laing

Saturday draws to a close and fear sets in.

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

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

I am immaculately dressed and ready to meet my abuser.

She kisses me

As she betrays me.

She knows fully that the man of God abuses me

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CANADA
National Post

Joseph Brean | January 9, 2017

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

Q: Why was Furlong such a controversial speaker?

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

Q: What did she find?

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

Q: Did police investigate?

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

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

BY KIMBERLEY HIBBERT Observer staff reporter hibbertk@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, January 09, 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Loop

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

BY BALFORD HENRY Senior staff reporter balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

Damion Mitchell, Integration Editor

The sex scandal in the Moravian Church is deepening.

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

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

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

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TEXAS
San Antonio Express-News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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TEXAS
KIII

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

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

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

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

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CALIFORNIA/UTAH
Angelus

January 10, 2017 – By JD Long-Garcia

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes, your excellency.”

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

“What is it?” Bishop Solis said.

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

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UTAH
KATC

Updated: Jan 10, 2017

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

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

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

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

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IRELAND
Irish Central

Kate Hickey @KateHickey_ January 10, 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Loop

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

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

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

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

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RHODE ISLAND
ABC News

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

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

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

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

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

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AUSTRALIA
The Austrlaian

January 10, 2017

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

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

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

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

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

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

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

January 10, 2017

GREG BROWN
JournalistMelbourne
@gregbrown_TheOz

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Loop

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

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

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

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

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

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IRELAND
The Journal

Cianan Brennan

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

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

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

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

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

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Editorial

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

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

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

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

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Derry Now

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

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

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

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

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Tom Cowie, Melissa Cunningham

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

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

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

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

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Jan 09, 2017

By Krystal Paco

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

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

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

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

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

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

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

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

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FLORIDA
ABC 7

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

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

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

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

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

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

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Shannon Deery, Herald Sun
January 9, 2017

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

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

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

He worked at parishes including Ballarat, Mortlake and Warrnambool.

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

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By James Hancock

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

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

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

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

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AUSTRALIA
Weekly Times

Australian Associated Press
January 9, 2017

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

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

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

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

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NEW YORK
Post-Star

Ken Tingley

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

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

That was clear.

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

I read the letter more than once.

I thought about throwing it away.

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

There were not easy answers to their concerns.

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

Sunday | January 8, 2017

Tamara Bailey, Gleaner Writer

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

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

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

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

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

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

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

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

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

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

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

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IRELAND
The Journal

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

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

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

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

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

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

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IRELAND
Irish Central

Nick Bramhill @IrishCentral January 08, 2017

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

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

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

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

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

Tom Moran
tmoran@starledger.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release, January 6, 2017

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

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

[Washington Times]

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

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UTAH
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

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

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

[Fox 13]

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

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

PARIS GOURTSOYANNIS

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

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

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

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

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JAMAICA
Loop

The principal of the all-girls Hampton School in St Elizabeth has sought to explain her presence at Wednesday’s bail hearing for the Moravian pastor charged with raping a 15-year-old.

Heather Murray sought to explain herself in a statement issued Thursday as she came under heavy criticism on social media after it was reported that she attended the hearing of 64-year-old Rupert Clarke in the St Elizabeth Parish Court.

“I find it necessary to set the record straight in the matter of my presence at the bail hearing of Rev Rupert Clarke,” Murray said.

“His wife has been my very good friend since we both attended Hampton School in the 1960s/70s. We are both long time educators who have been serving together for many years on several boards, committees and commissions. We are both Justices of the Peace,” she added.

“Such is the closeness of our relationship that when the news broke, I was naturally the first person to whom she turned for solace and support,” the principal added. “I have not left her side since because I know that my friend needs me. She reached out to me as a wife, mother and friend.”

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

January 6, 2017

Sherine Williams

The principal of the Hampton School, Heather Murray, has issued a statement defending her presence at the bail hearing of a Moravian minister of religion who is charged with having sex with a minor.

While outside the St Elizabeth Parish Court, Murray reportedly tried to block The Gleaner’s photographer from taking a photograph of the Moravian minister, Rupert Clarke.

Since then, Murray has faced huge public backlash, particularly from persons on social media who claim that Murray’s presence at the hearing was appalling, especially in light of her position as principal of an all-girls institution. In the statement last night, Murray sought “to set the record straight”, stating that she went to the hearing in support of the minister’s wife, who, she says, is a high-school friend of hers.

“We are both long-time educators who have been serving together for many years on several boards, committees, and commissions. We are both justices of the peace. Such is the closeness of our relationship that when the news broke, I was, naturally, the first person to whom she turned for solace and support. I have not left her side since because I know that my friend needs me. She reached out to me as a wife, mother, and friend,” Murray explained in the release.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

[with audio]

Damion Mitchell, Integration Editor

The executive committee of the Board of the Hampton School in St Elizabeth is to meet with the embattled principal Heather Murray over her conduct at the bail hearing of the Manchester-based pastor on sex charges.

Murray has been the subject of intense social media pressure since Wednesday when she appeared at the bail hearing of 64-year-old Rupert Clarke, the pastor charged with having sex with a minor.

She is also reported to have attempted to block The Gleaner photographer from taking images of the accused pastor while he was being led from the courthouse.

The chairman of board of the Hampton School Trevor Blake said the board held talks with Murray yesterday raising concern about the reports that she had sought to block media representatives and he said she denied interfering with journalists.

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JAMAICA
Loop

Outspoken councillor for the Trafalgar Division in St Andrew, the PNP’s Kari Douglas on Friday reiterated her call for Hampton High principal Heather Murray to be fired or resign after her appearance at a bail hearing for an accused child molester.

Douglas, in a media release, said she has taken note of media reports concerning the controversial attendance of Murray at a bail hearing for 64-year-old Moravian pastor, Rupert Clarke, in the St Elizabeth Parish Court. Pastor Clarke was charged on Tuesday after being allegedly caught in a compromising position in his car with a 15-year-old girl in Austin district, St Elizabeth.

Douglas, who had earlier called for Murray’s dismissal via Facebook, said she is troubled by the developments and finds unsatisfactory, Murray’s ‘explanation’ that she merely attended Court in support of her friend who’s the wife of the accused man.

The Councilor for the Trafalgar Division said she also finds deeply troubling that Murray has failed to address several reports which indicate that she attempted to block photographs being taken by the media of the accused child abuser.

Commenting, Councilor Douglas said, “for far too long, communities and especially so people in society who should know better have sent both overt and tacit signals of support for persons accused of sexually molesting our children. I have seen in my division and across the country cases where little girls who are being abused are fearful of speaking out because the abuser receives support from authority figures. Mrs. Murray’s explanation for her attendance at Court is unsatisfactory and should be rejected.”

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

Sunday, January 08, 2017

The spotlight is on principal of the Hampton School for Girls in Malvern, St Elizabeth, tomorrow, at the start of the new school term.

Heather Murray was at the centre of an incident last week when she, along with two other supporters of a church leader accused of rape, turned up at the St Elizabeth Parish Court for the mention of the sex matter involving the clergyman.

Not only did Murray display her support for Rupert Clarke, 64, who is charged with raping a minor aged 15, but she also attempted to block a photographer from snapping images of the accused man.

The behaviour of the school principal was heavily criticised on social media, with some of her critics suggesting that she stepped out of line in leading support to the accused, considering that she is the administrative head of an all-girls school.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

January 2, 2017

Almost the entire congregation at the Nazareth Moravian Church in northwest Manchester broke down in tears yesterday as worshippers wrestled with their emotions amid reports that their 64-year-old pastor remained in a St Elizabeth jail cell, accused of committing sex crimes against a 15-year-old girl.

“Today, the order of service is going to be a little different. We all know the crisis we are going through,” supplemental pastor, the Reverend Sherol Watson told congregants at the outset of the 11 a.m. service.

What followed were two hours of intercessory prayers and songs of penitence and faith.

There was no sermon and the welcome and notices were reserved for last.

Earlier, as worshippers trickled into the cut-stone edifice founded in 1838, they hustled to their pews, huddling into groups of twos and threes, discussing the week that was in hushed tones.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

The St Elizabeth police have now opened a wider investigation into sex crimes allegedly perpetrated by a 64-year-old Moravian minister of religion.

The pastor was last night arrested and is now facing the possibility of rape and carnal abuse of a 15-year-old girl.

The police report that about 9 o’clock last night, a team was on patrol in a community near Black River when they observed a parked car that aroused their suspicion.

They went to investigate and reportedly found the pastor in a compromising position with the child.

He was immediately taken into police custody.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Gleaner

January 3, 2017

Damion Mitchell, Integration Editor

The St Elizabeth police have now charged the 64-year-old pastor of the Nazareth Moravian Church in Manchester with a sex crime against a 15-year-old girl.

Rupert Clarke was charged by police investigators today with having sex with a minor.

He is booked to appear in the St Elizabeth Parish Court tomorrow.

In the meantime, the police say other charges are pending as they deepen their investigations into other allegations against Clarke.

The police report that about 9 o’clock on Wednesday night, a team was on patrol in a community near Santa Cruz when they observed a parked car that aroused their suspicion.

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JAMAICA
Loop

The principal of the all-girls Hampton School, Heather Murray, who, in one move, has hit the public spotlight, has been summoned, along with the school board Chairman, Trevor Blake, to a meeting with Education, Youth and Information Minister, Ruel Reid.

The principal has come under intense public criticism, especially on social media, for having attended the bail hearing of Moravian minister, Rupert Clarke, in the St Elizabeth Parish Court on Wednesday.

Pastor Clarke appeared in court on a charge of sexual abuse of a minor, after he was allegedly caught by police personnel in a compromising position with a 15-year-old girl in a car in Austin district in St Elizabeth.

At court, Murray was noticeably photographed attempting to block journalists from taking pictures and video footage of Clarke exiting the building after the hearing..

The school principal has since issued a statement, seeking to justify her actions.

In the statement, she said she attended the court hearing in a show of support for Clarke’s wife, who has been her close friend from their childhood days.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

BY GARFIELD MYERS Editor-at-Large South Central Bureau
myersg@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, January 08, 2017

SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Chief of police in St Elizabeth Superintendent Lanford Salmon has warned men who are attracted to underaged girls to heed the lessons from the recent arrest of a Moravian pastor on sex offence charges.

“The lesson for adult males is, leave the little girls on their own. Leave them alone. Allow them to mature and to make their own decisions at the right time,” said Salmon.

Rupert Clarke, 64, a senior pastor of the Moravian Church based in Manchester was charged recently with rape and also of having sexual intercourse with a child (a minor) under the age of 16.

Under Jamaican law, 16 is the legal age of consent in sexual matters, meaning that children under that age cannot legally consent to sexual relations.

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JAMAICA
Jamaica Observer

Editorial

Society, we know, has no absolute control over the perverted nature of individuals. But surely we can and must exercise greater control over the actions of these warped perverts who sexually abuse children, often resulting in life-altering experiences and permanent and irreparable damage to them.

This is the responsibility of every Jamaican, but the vast majority of us have manifestly failed to fulfil our duty to the children of Jamaica. All of us are culpable to different degrees, ranging from turning a blind eye to those heinous crimes, not speaking out against them or leaving the problem to be dealt with by parents, teachers, guardians, police, social workers or counsellors who are already overwhelmed. We all have to do more.

A society that does not protect the vulnerable, the children, the aged, the handicapped and the desperately poor is a failed society. Jamaica is not alone in its failure and sexual abuse of minors. It is a worldwide problem. But this does not exonerate our lack of action. …

Everybody is presumed innocent until proven guilty, therefore we must not pre-judge cases before the courts, as is now being done by some people in relation to the case of Pastor Rupert Clarke, who has been charged due to allegations of having sex with a minor.

However, while we observe that ideal, it should not prevent us from dealing with the issue of child abuse, which is really a national shame.

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INDIANA
Belleville News-Democrat

By The Editorial Board

When an institution measures time in centuries, change comes slowly. Still, it is dismaying that it takes a religious institution decades to finally find the moral high ground.

Last week a letter from Pope Francis to the world’s Catholic bishops was made public. He called for zero tolerance for child molesters within the clergy.

“It is a sin that shames us,” the pope wrote. “Persons responsible for the protection of those children destroyed their dignity.”

One wonders what finally made the difference? An epiphany? “Spotlight”? The pleas of deaf Italian children molested by their priest teacher?

It certainly wasn’t the pleas in 1993 of the victims of the first of 17 clergy members removed in the Belleville Diocese. It still wasn’t the judgments against the Diocese in 2009 for $1.2 million or in 2011 for $6.33 million or in 2012 for three undisclosed awards to clergy abuse victims.

Only two of those 17 abusers lost their collars. The shame cast doubt on scores of good clergy members, hurt the faithful and indelibly changed the relationship between priests and parishioners.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Whether to make any new child sexual abuse statute-of-limitation laws retroactive to include past incidents that have gone unpursued in the legal system became a point of contention in the Pennsylvania General Assembly last year.

It appears like the same political and legal debate might occur again during the 2017 session that recently got underway.

Currently, victims who were under the age of 18 when alleged abuse occurred can file civil charges until they reach age 30.

Criminal charges can also be brought until age 30 for individuals born before Aug. 27, 2002. That limit increases to age 50 for accusers born after that same date.

During the process, one group – led by state Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks – has sought to make any increase in the statutes include retroactivity, meaning alleged violators could face charges for past allegations that had already surpassed their time limit. That version overwhelmingly passed the House.

But the bill that unanimously got through the Senate included an amendment – introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson – that stripped the retroactivity.

No compromise was reached.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Reading Eagle

By Liam Migdail-Smith

READING, PA

Mark Rozzi’s defining moment of 2016 didn’t come in the halls of the state Capitol, where his signature piece of legislation was suddenly propelled into the spotlight.

It came at the supermarket deli counter.

Rozzi, a state lawmaker, had championed a plan to reopen a window for people sexually abused as children to sue those responsible. For the Muhlenberg Township Democrat, it was a chance to channel his struggle with the memory of being raped by a priest as a teen into fighting for his fellow victims.

The proposal gained momentum, drawing long-silent victims out of the shadows to tell their stories. But when it was defeated in June, victims were devastated. And after a victim from Cambria County took his life, Rozzi began to question whether he was doing more harm than good.

That brief meeting at the deli counter in August changed his mind. An elderly man approached, put his hands on Rozzi’s and said: “I’m watching everything you’re doing. Please do not stop fighting for all of us.”

Then the stranger was gone. And Rozzi went back to work with renewed determination.

He decided he wasn’t going to settle for a watered-down version of his plan that would expand protection for victims abused now or in the future but not offer relief for those who have been struggling for decades.

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NORTH CAROLINA
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: William J. Kuder was a priest of the Diocese of Raleigh, ordained in 1936. He assisted at parishes in New Bern, Greensboro and Leaksville-Spray. After a three-year leave of absence, he was assigned in 1942 as pastor of St. Lucien’s in Spruce Pine, and from 1949 until his death in 1960, he was pastor of St. Joan of Arc in Asheville.

In 1995 a man reported to the Charlotte diocese (which absorbed Raleigh when established in 1971), that Kuder had sexually abused him at St. Joan of Arc for four years, beginning when the man was age 9 in 1952. He said the abuse included oral and anal rape, and that Kuder would drive him to rectories 20 and 50 miles away to confess his “sin” of sex with a priest. Kuder allegedly threatened the boy with eternal damnation if he broke the seal of confession. After coming forward, Kuder’s accuser said he heard from 10 more victims. His two brothers also alleged abuse by Kuder when they were ages 9-13, and said the priest drove them, too, to faraway priests for confession and used the threat of hell to silence them.

Born: 1898
Ordained: 1936
Died: March 24, 1960

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NEW JERSEY
New York Times

By JAMES BARRON
JAN. 6, 2017

NEWARK — In a ceremony that combined pageantry with a promise of a different style and approach, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin was installed on Friday as the archbishop of Newark.

In his homily, Cardinal Tobin said he was thankful for his new job, though he described it as “a daunting proposition.” But he focused his remarks on what he called “the chasm between life and faith.”

He had cited that chasm, he told a congregation that included bishops, priests and elected officials, when a woman at a recent dinner party asked him what he considered to be the greatest challenge facing the church. He said it was not the answer she was expecting. …

But for all the pageantry, Cardinal Tobin is inheriting a troubled archdiocese. The archbishop he succeeded, John J. Myers, was denounced for the archdiocese’s handling of pedophile priests and for allocating more than $500,000 for an addition to his weekend house in Hunterdon County, N.J. The Star-Ledger of Newark hailed Archbishop Myers’s retirement last summer with an editorial that declared, “Blessed are we to be rid of this man.”

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MARYLAND
Inside Baltimore

“I’m No Longer Invisible,” Says Woman
Who Told Church, Police she was raped,
Later taken to view nun’s Corpse by Priest

“The Church is Finally Starting to see me!”
–Jean Wehner, after Recent Settlement

By Tom Nugent

January 2017 – A woman who 24 years ago tried to warn the Catholic Church in Maryland that a priest had shown her the body of a murdered teaching nun recently earned a $50,000 settlement from the Archdiocese of Baltimore (AOB) for clergy sexual-abuse “injuries” she reportedly received while attending a Baltimore girls’ Catholic high school in the late 1960s.

The mediated settlement marked the latest startling development in one of the most tangled and perplexing homicide “cold cases” in Maryland history . . . the 1969 slaying of a 26-year-old teaching nun, Sister Catherine Cesnik, who reportedly had been trying to blow the whistle on widespread sexual abuse by two priests at Archbishop Keough High School in southwest Baltimore.

Still unsolved after thousands of hours of fruitless investigation by Maryland police and the FBI, the shocking case made national headlines recently, when retired Baltimore-area homicide detectives disclosed that the Catholic Church had used its powerful influence to impede their investigation of the Cesnik murder (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/14/cesnik-nun-murder-maskell_n_7267532.html).

Now 63 and practicing as a certified Spiritual Director/Life Coach and Reflexologist in the Baltimore area, Jean Hargadon Wehner (CTACC, NBCR) became a highly controversial figure in the mid-1990s after telling police and Church officials that the priest who served as chaplain at her high school, Father A. Joseph Maskell, had taken her to a remote patch of open land near a dumpster a few miles from the school. There, she said, he had shown her the decaying body of her former English teacher.

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CONNECTICUT/NEW JERSEY
CT Post

By Stephanie Kim

Updated January 6, 2017

WILTON — New Jersey State Police are seeking help in locating additional victims of Ethan Chandler, 42, of Belleville, N.J, who was arrested on child sex charges.

Chandler lived in Norwalk, Stamford and Monroe during the mid-1990s, officials said, and used to work part-time at Hope Church in Wilton.

Cliffe Knechtle, who was an associate and senior pastor at Hope Church from 1989 to 2000, said Chandler worked part-time in music and later became more involved in youth ministry after he left.

Knechtle said they haven’t talked since the news of Chandler’s arrest. He described Chandler as a “very kind, very warm gentleman.”

“When I was there, he did an outstanding job,” said Knechtle, who’s been the senior pastor of Grace Community Church in New Canaan since its founding in 2001. “I pray that if they are false accusations, that they be dropped; if they are true, then he would face the truth and come clean and repent and get back on the track of following Christ.”

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NEW JERSEY
New York Daily News

BY
LARRY MCSHANE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, January 7, 2017

Joseph Cardinal Tobin was installed Friday as the new head of the Archdiocese of Newark, replacing his oft-criticized predecessor with a deft display of humility.

Tobin, chosen by Pope Francis to serve as shepherd to the flock of 1.5 million New Jersey Roman Catholics, told 2,000 worshippers in the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart that the task ahead was challenging.

“It is a daunting proposition, not because of the size, rich history or wonderful diversity of this portion of the vineyard,” said the 64-year-old cardinal.

“Rather, the appointment reminds me the stakes are incredibly high, for if we permit the chasm between faith and life to continue to expand, we risk losing Christ, reducing him simply to an interesting idea or a comforting, nostalgic memory.”

Tobin replaces departing Archbishop John Myers, who alienated many New Jersey Catholics with his perceived mishandling of sex abuse cases involving priests and the construction of his posh $500,000 retirement home.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Spare Change News

By Jordan Frias

Fifteen years after the Boston Globe’s Spotlight series uncovered the widespread sexual abuse of Catholic priest — and more than a year after it became a highly acclaimed film on the big screen — the issue of priest molesting children still exists throughout Massachusetts and worldwide.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian and members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) held a press conference to shed light on the Catholic church’s lack of transparency and cooperation in dealing with these cases and more recent accusations of abuse.

“Pope Francis is making compassionate statements but it’s not being followed with compassionate activity,” Garabedian, who helped the Globe expose the Catholic church in its 2002 Spotlight reports, told the audience. “Transparency is necessary. The records have to be released for this to begin to end.”

Garabedian said he is handling 49 cases in Connecticut’s federal court alone against Douglas Perlitz, a Jesuit priest at Fairfield University who is accused of sexually abusing children at a school in Haiti. He’s also received calls across the country about abuse from other priests.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Telegram & Gazette

By Susan Spencer
Telegram & Gazette Staff

An Uxbridge Cub Scout leader and instructional assistant at Northbridge High School was arrested following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on child pornography charges Thursday. Dozens of pornographic videos of children were found posted online from his home and school Internet service, authorities said.

Jason A. Andolina, 42, an Uxbridge resident who worked in Northbridge, appeared Thursday in U.S. District Court in Worcester before Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy. A preliminary detention hearing was set for Monday.

Northbridge Superintendent of Schools Catherine Stickney notified parents by automated phone call Thursday and posted a message on the district’s website, which reads in part: “Today, I was informed by law enforcement personnel, that an instructional assistant at Northbridge High School has been arrested for criminal conduct. We have been informed that his criminal conduct does not involve any students in the Northbridge Public Schools. After receiving this information, I immediately removed him from the workplace including restricting his access to school district buildings, grounds, and events. …

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston confirmed Mr. Andolina is a Cub Scout leader. A Telegram & Gazette article from 2015 lists Mr. Andolina as the Pinewood Derby chairman for Pack 25, which is chartered by St. Mary’s Church in Uxbridge.

The church office was closed Friday and no one was available for comment.

Raymond L. Delisle, communications director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, said he could not comment on an individual’s criminal offender record information check, but said, “Our process is that anybody who is serving (at a parish) has to be CORI’d.”

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

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

Some Guam Catholics want action instead of words from Pope Francis after his renewed call for bishops to observe zero tolerance for child abuse, now that at least 15 former altar boys have come forward alleging they were sexually abused or raped by priests on Guam.

“I am hopeful that Pope Francis and church leaders are addressing what has been covered up for too long. In some cases, the bishops in certain dioceses covered up the terrible abuse by clergy and allowed further abuse to occur,” Concerned Catholics of Guam Vice President Andrew Camacho said.

The Vatican released on Jan. 2 the text of a Dec. 28 letter the pope sent to bishops about the atrocities toward children, including wars, slave labor, malnutrition, lack of education, and sexual exploitation, including abuses by priests.

“It is a sin that shames us. Persons responsible for the protection of those children destroyed their dignity. We regret this deeply and we beg for forgiveness. We join in the pain of the victims and weep for this sin,” the pope said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsweek

BY RALPH CIPRIANO ON 1/6/17

In the latest twist in the rapidly unraveling “Billy Doe” sex abuse case, a lawyer for one of the four men sent to jail by the testimony of a former altar boy says prosecutorial misconduct should clear his client from further legal jeopardy. Thomas Bergstrom, a lawyer for Monsignor William Lynn, said in court that the lead detective in the case told the District Attorney ’s office he didn’t find the boy credible but that his warning was ignored.

Billy Doe’s claims that he had been brutally and repeatedly raped over a period of several years put three priests and a former Catholic school teacher in jail, where one of the men died.

In a pretrial hearing on January 4, Bergstrom charged that when Detective Joseph Walsh told a top prosecutor about his grave concerns, she didn’t want to hear it. “You’re damaging my case. You’re hurting my case,” he claimed former Assistant District Attorney Mariana Sorensen replied.

“You can’t turn a blind eye to that,” Bergstrom told Judge Gwendolyn Bright, arguing that this was prosecutorial misconduct. He then asked the judge to invoke the ultimate penalty for that malfeasance by dismissing the pending retrial of Lynn.

Walsh met with Bergstrom in November and December and provided what Bergstrom described in court as exculpatory evidence regarding possible misconduct in the prosecutor’s office. While Bergstrom and ADA Patrick Blessington battled over what Walsh and Sorensen said and did, the detective, now retired, paced in the hallway outside the courtroom.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Derry Now

Friday 6th of January 2017

A report has been completed into allegations of child abuse at a number of residential homes in Derry.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry was set up in 2013 to look at historical abuse claims at homes throughout Northern Ireland

These included former children’s residential homes in Derry at St Joseph’s Home at Termonbacca, Nazareth House Children’s Home, Fort James and Harberton House.

The inquiry also dealt with institutions run by the Good Shepherd Sisters in Derry, Belfast and Newry.

The inquiry today submitted its report to the First Minister and deputy First Minister.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Derry Journal

The chairman of the Historical Abuse Inquiry Sir Anthony Hart has thanked those who came forward to give evidence.

He was speaking as the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry submitted its findings to Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness on Friday, ahead of the report being made public on Friday, January 20.

The handing over of the report to the First and Deputy First Ministers prior to its general publication was a requirement under the Historical Institutional Abuse Act (Northern Ireland) 2013.

In delivering his Report, Sir Anthony Hart said: “I want to thank everyone who came forward to tell us of their experiences as I know how hard it was for many to find the courage to do so.

“I also want to thank all those who worked with the Inquiry in a co-operative way, and by doing so helped my colleagues and myself to complete our Report on time.”

The Report will be formally published on January 20, following a statement by the Chairman, Sir Anthony Hart at a public meeting in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Shaws Bridge, Belfast.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times

Amanda Ferguson

The report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in Northern Ireland is to be published on January 20th.

The inquiry had a remit to investigate physical, emotional and sexual childhood abuse and neglect in residential institutions in the North over a 73-year period up to 1995.

The inquiry chairman, Sir Anthony Hart, confirmed he had submitted his report to First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

“I want to thank everyone who came forward to tell us of their experiences as I know how hard it was for many to find the courage to do so,” he said. “I also want to thank all those who worked with the inquiry in a co-operative way, and by doing so help my colleagues and myself to complete our report on time.”

The report will be formally published following a statement by the chairman at a public meeting in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Belfast.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

An inquiry team that investigated historical child abuse at Northern Ireland residential homes has passed its final report to Stormont’s leaders.

The Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry heard harrowing testimony from hundreds of former residents who made claims of sexual, physical and emotional suffering over many decades in church, state and charity-run homes.

While the report will not be made public until later in the month, the panel has already made clear it will be recommending some form of compensation be offered to victims.

Inquiry chair, retired judge Sir Anthony Hart, said: “I want to thank everyone who came forward to tell us of their experiences as I know how hard it was for many to find the courage to do so.

“I also want to thank all those who worked with the inquiry in a co-operative way, and by doing so helped my colleagues and myself to complete our report on time.”

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TEXAS
NewsChannel 5

[with video]

Nick Beres
Jan 5, 2017

GALLATIN, Tenn. – A former pastor at a well-known Middle Tennessee church has been accused of a crime.

Detectives said the charges came after an investigation involving an alleged video made of a teenage girl.

The suspect in this case, identified as Jody Dwayne Brown, was a worship leader for both adults and youth ministry at Freedom Church in Gallatin.

Brown has been charged with attempted aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and unlawful photography in violation of privacy.

“We have young people and older people and mix of two and video taking place that maybe shouldn’t take place, but it’s important to investigate,” said Sumner County Sheriff’s Detective Eddie Cripps.

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VATIKANSTADT
Katholisches

[The pope has urged zero tolerance in sexual abuse of minors.]

(Rom) Papst Franziskus veröffentlichte am 28. Dezember, dem Fest der Unschuldigen Kinder, einen Brief an alle Bischöfe der katholischen Kirche. Darin forderte er die Brüder im Bischofsamt zum Thema Kindesmißbrauch auf: „Machen wir uns den Auftrag zu ‚null Toleranz‘ in diesem Bereich klar und aufrichtig zu Eigen.“ In dem Schreiben geht es um „Notsituationen und anhaltende Krisen“, um „Sexualhandel“ um Migration und „Unterernährung“, „Kinderarbeit“, „Sklaverei“, Schulbildung, Ausbildung und „äußerste Armut“.

Wörtlich schreibt Franziskus:

„Wir brauchen den Mut, sie vor den neuen Gestalten eines Herodes unserer Zeit zu verteidigen, welche die Unschuld unserer Kinder missbrauchen. Unschuld gebrochen unter der Last der Schwarz- und Sklavenarbeit, unter der Last der Prostitution und Ausbeutung. Unschuld zerstört von Kriegen und gezwungener Auswanderung zusammen mit dem Verlust von allem, was dies mit sich bringt. Tausende unserer Kinder sind in die Hände von Banditen, von Mafiaorganisationen, von Todeshändlern geraten, die nichts anderes machen, als ihre Bedürfnisse zu missbrauchen und auszubeuten.“

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DEUTSCHLAND
General-Anzeiger

[BONN. In 1959, clerics of the Redemptorists abused an eleven-year-old boy. The victim lamented in vain. Only now the order has officially apologized to Dieter Beckmann.

06.01.2017 BONN. 1959 missbrauchten Geistliche der Redemptoristen einen elfjährigen Jungen. Das Opfer klagte vergeblich vor Gericht. Erst jetzt hat der Orden sich offiziell bei Beckmann entschuldigt.

Es sind vor allem die nächtlichen Gerüche von Schweiß und Sperma, die Dieter Beckmann auch Jahrzehnte nach den Missbrauchstaten nicht mehr loslassen. Es sind diese widerwärtigen Geräusche von Männern, die ihm, dem damals Elfjährigen, Gewalt antaten. Es ist dieser Spalt Licht einer immer nur kurz geöffneten Tür, aus der nie Rettung kam. „Die haben mich als Opfer betrachtet, das sie jede Nacht aufs Neue abriefen“, sagt Beckmann tonlos.

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ITALIEN
Focus

[Police are investigating an Italian priest.]

Ein italienischer Pfarrer soll in seinem Pfarrhaus in Padua Orgien abgehalten und bis zu 15 Frauen prostituiert haben. Drei weibliche Gemeindemitglieder verständigten die Polizei. Die ermittelt nun wegen Zuhälterei und Ausübung psychologischer Gewalt durch den Pfarrer Andrea Contin.

Mehrere Sexspielzeuge und Videos, die Orgien auf dem Grundstück der San Lazzaro Kirche in der norditalienischen Stadt Padua zeigen sollen, seien konfisziert worden, wie die britische Zeitung “The Times” berichtete.

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OHIO
The Columbus Dispatch

By Danae King
The Columbus Dispatch • Friday January 6, 2017

Pope Francis, speaking Wednesday at the Vatican, has renewed his call to rid the Roman Catholic Church of child sexual abuse. But Columbus activist Carol Zamonski said the past promises have produced too little action.

Though many reacted positively when Pope Francis recently called for “zero tolerance” of child sexual abuse, Carol Zamonski just felt insulted.

Zamonski, a North Side resident and central Ohio coordinator for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said she’s heard it all before, but little has changed.

“It just confirms my general feeling about the Catholic church, that it’s got such a strong culture of dishonesty and corruption,” said Zamonski, who said she is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by a priest. “It will take a lot for them to clean up their act, and so far no one has even come close to getting to that level of action with the Catholic church.”

The pope addressed the issue in a letter to bishops dated Dec. 28 and released Monday. “We hear these children and their cries of pain,” he wrote. “It is a sin that shames us.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on an article by Ralph Cipriano on the latest developments in the case of Msgr. William Lynn:

Ralph Cipriano deserves a Pulitzer Prize for his comprehensive and authoritative accounts on the proceedings against Msgr. William Lynn.

His latest article reveals new dirt on the corruption that has long marked the Philadelphia D.A.’s office in its witch hunt against the Philadelphia archdiocese.

There is a reason why some of us are increasingly skeptical about the veracity of many priestly abuse cases; the bogus claims against Msgr. Lynn being Exhibit A.

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ARGENTINA
La Nacion

[Abuse: home detention for Corradi. After paying a $ 50,000 bail and receiving an electronic bracelet to monitor his movements, Italian priest Nicola Corradi benefited from house arrest due to his advanced age and health status in the judicial case investigating abuse of deaf and hearing impaired at the Antonio Próvolo Institute in Mendoza.]

. VIERNES 06 DE ENERO DE 2017

Tras pagar una fianza de $ 50.000 y recibir una pulsera electrónica para monitorear sus movimientos, el sacerdote italiano Nicola Corradi fue beneficiado con el arresto domiciliario, por su edad avanzada y su estado de salud, en la causa judicial que investiga abusos de menores sordos e hipoacúsicos en el Instituto Antonio Próvolo de Mendoza. El sacerdote, de 82 años, había sido detenido a fines de noviembre pasado junto con el cura Horacio Corbacho (55), el ex empleado de ese instituto José Luis Ojeda, el monaguillo Jorge Bordón (55) y el jardinero Armando Gómez (46).

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NEW JERSEY
CBS New York

[with video]

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — In a historic first for the Archdiocese of Newark, a cardinal will be installed as archbishop.

CBS2’s Meg Baker spoke Thursday with Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who calls himself a man of the people.

Tobin was handpicked by Pope Francis to be the first cardinal named as archbishop of Newark in 163 years.

“I am just kind of overwhelmed by the kindness of people here associated with the archdiocese,” Tobin said.

Tobin was last the archbishop of Indianapolis. He said he was completely surprised that he would be named a cardinal and moving to New Jersey.

“I got no phone call. I got no phone call,” Tobin said. “Francis just got up St. Peter’s Square, reached in his pocket at the end of his announcements, and read these names.”

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NEW JERSEY
News 12

Security has been increased around the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark as the city gets ready to welcome its new archbishop.

Over 500 church officials gathered at the cathedral Thursday night for a vigil for Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who be the first cardinal in New Jersey to be installed as archbishop.

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NEW JERSEY
Asbury Park Press

Katie Park, @kathspark Jan. 5, 2017

HOWELL – A Howell man was charged with sexually assaulting a relative more than once, dating back at least 10 years, according to a criminal complaint.

Joseph “Joe” Prioli, 48, was arrested Dec. 30 and compelled to appear in court Jan. 3 for orally and digitally penetrating a victim who was over the age of 13 but under 16 “on various dates,” according to the complaint.

The alleged abuse stopped Jan. 1, 2007. The complaint did not state when the reported sexual assault began.

Prioli is charged with committing aggravated criminal sexual contact of a minor older than 13 but younger than 16, committing aggravated criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child.

Howell police did not respond to who was representing Prioli by press time.

Prioli was a teacher at Christian Brothers Academy, a private, all-boys school in Middletown, for around 15 years but resigned a year ago to pursue other work options, ​Brother Frank Byrne, Christian Brothers Academy President, told the Press Thursday.

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