ABUSE TRACKER

ROME
Crux

Claire Giangravè
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

May 15, 2018

ROME – In the ongoing case involving the leader of a lay Catholic association in Sicily charged with the sexual abuse of at least six underage girls, a former bishop of the local diocese in the 1980s has denied having any knowledge of the accusations and said the issue “had been buried.”

“No one came to tell me clearly how things stood,” said Monsignor Giuseppe Malandrino, who was Bishop of Acireale for over 18 years (1979-1998), in an early May interview with local media. “What can I control if there’s nothing? Now everyone speaks, but at the time…”

The lay-led “Catholic Culture and Environment Association,” or ACCA, came under fire in August 2017 when its spiritual leader, Piero Alfio Capuana, 73, was arrested and charged with the sexual abuse of six minors.

Capuana, who denies the allegations, is known as the “Archangel” among his followers. He spent six months in prison, and is currently under house arrest awaiting trial.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

May 15, 2018

Pope Francis is currently holding a series of closed-door meetings with the Bishops of Chile to formulate a response to the abuse crisis that has rocked the Church in that country. The discussions are being attended by 31 diocesan and auxiliary bishops and 3 emeritus bishops, and will be ongoing until May 17th.

Press conference of two Chilean bishops

On the eve of the meeting, two Chilean bishops held a press conference in Rome. They are Bishop Fernando Ramos, Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago and General Secretary of the Chilean Episcopal Conference, and Bishop Juan Ignacio González of San Bernardo.

Called by the Pope

Archbishop Ramos recalled Pope Francis’ letter of April 8th with which he summoned the bishops to the Vatican. He explained how the Bishops have come specifically: “To receive the conclusions of the report by Archbishop Scicluna following his visit to Chile, and also to discern short, medium and long term measures to restore communion and justice”. These, according to the General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference were “the two great themes to which the Holy Father invited us with his letter”.

Discerning responsibilities

Speaking at the press conference in Rome, Archbishop Ramos said the content of the meetings with the Pope would include: “The issues of abuse of power, abuse of conscience, and sexual abuse, that have occurred in recent decades in the Chilean Church, as well as the mechanisms that led, in some cases, to concealment and serious omissions against the victims. A second point is to share the conclusions the Holy Father drew from Archbishop Scicluna’s report. And a third point is the Pope’s invitation to make a long synodal process of discernment to understand the responsibilities of each and every one regarding these terrible wounds of abuse, and to seek necessary changes so that they are not repeated”.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com

May 14, 2018

About half of the nearly 170 people who filed clergy sex abuse lawsuits have completed giving details and additional information to the Archdiocese of Agana’s attorneys during interviews to help evaluate claims for possible settlement.

Attorney David Lujan said 40 of the nearly 120 clergy sex abuse victims he represents had already been interviewed as of last week and interviews will continue in the next few weeks.

More than 40 plaintiffs represented by two other law firms gave their interviews in March and April. A third law firm, representing 10 plaintiffs, also has separate interviews.

Interview is part of pre-mediation process

The interview process is much like a deposition. Each person who filed a clergy sex abuse lawsuit is interviewed for an average of two hours, and those present during the interview are attorneys for the defendants including the archdiocese, along with the plaintiff’s own attorney.

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OHIO
The Blade

By Jennifer Feehan | BLADE STAFF WRITER

May 14, 2018

One of three Toledo area pastors caught up in an alleged child sex trafficking scheme admitted in court Monday that he had sex with two minor girls, even at times at his friend’s church office.

Kenneth Butler, 38, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to sex traffic children, obstruction of a sex trafficking investigation, and two counts of sex trafficking of children.

Although three of the charges carry maximum possible sentences of life in prison, Butler is to be sentenced to 17½ years in prison as part of a plea agreement. Judge Jack Zouhary scheduled sentencing for Sept. 12.

“This defendant has admitted to crimes that include preying on a foster child who was previously the victim of sexual abuse, and he committed these crimes in a house of worship,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said in a news release. “Butler may hold himself out to the community as a pastor, but in the eyes of the law he is a criminal who pays money to sexually assault children.”

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OHIO
Patch

By Chris Mosby, Patch Staff

May 14, 2018

TOLEDO, OH — A former Toledo-area pastor had sex with two underage girls, including a victim of sexual abuse, according to a plea agreement released by the Department of Justice. Kenneth Butler will now likely spend the next 17 years of his life in prison.

“This defendant has admitted to crimes that include preying on a foster child who was previously the victim of sexual abuse, and he committed these crimes in a house of worship,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said. “Butler may hold himself out to the community as a pastor, but in the eyes of the law he is a criminal who pays money to sexually assault children.”

According to Butler’s plea agreement, between 2015 and March 2017, the pastor had sex with two girls both under the age of 18. On different occasions, he gave the girls small amounts of cash or rides before engaging in sexual acts.

Prior to coming to Toledo, Butler was a pastor of a Detroit church for five years. His church closed in 2013, and then he moved south and became a member of the Greater Life Christian Center in Toledo. Butler became friends with Anthony Haynes, who was the lead pastor of the church at that time.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

May 14, 2018

An investigation into how an ex youth worker jailed for child sex offences almost became a foster carer is due to start after almost a year of delays.

Ex youth worker Michael ‘Mik’ Smith was jailed in 2014 for sexual offences against children.

He was almost approved to become a foster carer by Pembrokeshire council despite concerns about his conduct.

The council said an independent chairman would be appointed in June.

A cabinet inquiry into the council’s dealings with Smith was due to begin in June 2017, but it has not yet begun after attempts to start it failed due to issues forming a task and finish group.

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MARYLAND
WBAL

May 14, 2918

Barry Simms

BALTIMORE —
A former teacher at a Baltimore Catholic school faces child sex abuse charges.

Police arrested Ryan Penalver, 27, after St. Frances Academy received allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old female student. Penalver had been held without bail, but a judge released him Monday on his own recognizance.

Penalver has taught history at St. Frances Academy for seven years. He’s charged with sex abuse of a minor, third- and fourth-degree sex offenses, second-degree child abuse and perverted practice.

“We believe the relationship started in April and continued into May. A friend of the victim reported it to the school, who immediately contacted Child Protective Services, and they contacted us,” Baltimore police Detective Jeremy Silbert said.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

By Elise Harris

Vatican City, May 14, 2018 / 01:55 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Speaking on the eve of a 3-day meeting with Pope Francis about a massive clerical abuse scandal, several Chilean prelates said they are ready to listen, and to work toward eradicating sexual abuse in the Church.

In a May 14 press conference ahead of their May 15-17 meeting with Pope Francis, two leading Chilean bishops said clerical sexual abuse is “unacceptable” and “intolerable,” and is something they are committed to eradicating.

The bishops said their attitude going into meetings with the pope this week is one of “pain and shame,” and that their main goals are to listen to what Francis has to say and to find a way forward which brings both healing and reparation for victims, as well as stricter prevention measures.

In comments to the media, Bishop Fernando Ramos, auxiliary bishop of Santiago, said he and his fellow prelates feel pain because “there are victims, people, who have suffered these abuses and this causes us great pain.”

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MARYLAND
Fox Baltimore

May 14, 2018

by Bryna Zume

BALTIMORE (WBFF) – A teacher at an east Baltimore Catholic school has been fired after he allegedly had “an inappropriate relationship with a student,” according to a letter sent by the school.

Ryan Penalver, 27, was a history teacher at Saint Frances Academy, on East Chase Street near Greenmount Avenue, since 2012.

He allegedly had a relationship with a 15-year-old student and was arrested Friday, said police.

The school sent a letter to parents and guardians saying: “In accordance with Maryland law and the policies of the school, SFA reported the allegations to Child Protective Services as soon as possible. Mr. Penalver was relieved of his duties immediately, and is no longer an employee of the school.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PETER SMITH
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

MAY 14, 2018

A 1983 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette feature article opens with heart-warming words that — 35 years later — now chill the blood:

“The Rev. Lawrence A. O’Connell, pastor of St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin Church in Whitehall, wishes only to live out his remaining years near his beloved elementary school and its children.”

The longtime parish pastor, officially retiring at age 77, said he hoped “to remain here to teach religion and stay active with the children. … I used to greet them all as they came in the door.”

O’Connell died of a heart attack in 1986, his public good name intact.

In 2004, a different narrative emerged.

That year, two women sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh to say that in those hallway greetings when they were young students in the 1950s and 1960s, O’Connell would for years put his arms around them, fondle their breasts and force them to kiss him.

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CANADA
Oak Bay News

STEVEN HEYWOOD

May. 14, 2018

Angel Sampson recalls being called “heathen,” “savage,” and “evil.”

She also remembers the fear of attending school, where she experienced not only emotional abuse, but physical harm at the hands of the people entrusted with her education and care.

From 1964 to ‘67, and starting when she was six years old, Sampson attended the Tsartlip Indian Day School in Brentwood Bay. It wasn’t what people might recognize as a residential school — the site of pain and suffering by many of Canada’s Indigenous people — but the conditions Sampson says she faced were not any different.

In fact, the only difference, she said, was that the children got to go home at night.

That still didn’t prevent the abuse from happening, she said. Sampson remembers having her hair pulled, being choked and battered unconscious to the point where other students thought she’d died. As a young child, she said you were afraid to talk about it, and the nuns of the Catholic Church who ran the Day School created an environment where the children were fearful of speaking up.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

May 14, 2018

by Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — A Chilean bishop acknowledged the damage inflicted on survivors of clerical sex abuse and the mishandling of cases by church leaders in the country.

“I am not saying that perhaps we have made mistakes. We have made mistakes,” said Bishop Juan Ignacio Gonzalez Errazuriz of San Bernardo.

Gonzalez, along with Auxiliary Bishop Fernando Ramos Perez of Santiago, met with journalists May 14 on the eve of a three-day meeting between Pope Francis and 34 Chilean bishops.

The bishops are meeting at the Vatican May 15-17 to discuss with Francis their handling of clerical sex abuse allegations.

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ROME
America

Gerard O’Connell

May 14, 2018

The 34 Chilean bishops have come to Rome “in pain and shame” because of the victims who have suffered abuse in their church, and they are conscious that as bishops they have erred. They have come “in a spirit of humility and openness,” willing to hear what Pope Francis has to say to them, and “ready to collaborate with him and do whatever he asks.” That was the message that two representatives of the Chilean bishops communicated to the international press at a conference at the Vatican Radio center on May 14.

The bishops had delegated two of their number to meet the press this evening: Fernando Ramos Pérez, the secretary general of the bishops’ conference and auxiliary bishop in the Santiago archdiocese, and Juan Ignacio González Errázuriz, the bishop of San Bernardo and a member of Opus Dei.

Bishop Ramos said they would have several meetings with Pope Francis over the next three days, starting early Tuesday afternoon, May 15, and continuing until May 17. They would meet him as a group “in a long synodal process,” which may not necessarily conclude in these three days, “to discern the short-, medium- and long-term measures” that need to be taken in the face of the present situation. They did not yet know if they will have individual meetings with him. Nor is it scheduled that they will concelebrate the Eucharist with the pope, he said. They did not know exactly how this whole process will unfold.

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ROME
Crux

Inés San Martín
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

May 14, 2018

ROME – Some might say that the 34 Chilean bishops who are now in Rome to meet with Pope Francis to address the way they’ve handled clerical sexual abuse scandals are like lambs to the slaughter. Two of them projected just that image when talking to journalists on Monday, saying that they’ve come to Rome with “pain,” “shame,” and “humility,” to “listen” and “discern.”

Bishop Fernando Ramos Pérez, secretary general of the Chilean bishops’ conference, said that the bishops who have arrived in Rome have done so with “pain, because there are people who’ve been victims of abuse,” but also with shame, “because the abuses have occurred in ecclesial environments where this type of abuse should never happen.”

“We have made mistakes, many mistakes,” said Bishop Ignacio González, who acknowledged that the Catholic Church in Chile had failed when it comes to protecting children.

The bishop, a member of the Chilean council for the prevention of abuse and accompaniment of victims said he “understood the rage, the anger,” of Chilean survivors of abuse who’ve asked for Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz, the former Archbishop of Santiago, to face trial for covering up abuse.

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WISCONSIN
The Cap Times

May 14, 2018

By Jessie Opoien

Milwaukee attorney Matt Flynn’s campaign manager said Monday the candidate is the subject of a “smear campaign” as he faces calls from Wisconsin women’s groups to drop out of the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Flynn, a former chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, represented the Archdiocese of Milwaukee against victims of sexual abuse by priests during his work with the law firm Quarles & Brady.

His campaign held a call with reporters on Monday to announce a series of videos featuring three supporters of Flynn’s campaign, including Karen Gotzler, the former director of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center. Gotzler said as a person who was raised Catholic, she is pleased Flynn worked to “rid our church of these abusers.”

The call comes a week after the Wisconsin Women’s March and the Madison and Wisconsin chapters of the National Organization for Women called on Flynn to end his campaign.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Erie News Now

May 14th 2018

Bishop Emeritus Donald Trautman of the Erie Diocese issued a new statement Monday regarding the charges filed against former priest David Poulson for the sexual abuse of two young boys.

It reads:

The Erie Times News stated in its May 14, 2018, edition “that the Diocese of Erie engaged in a cover-up of David Poulson’s behavior under the administration of Bishop Donald Trautman,” according to Attorney General Josh Shapiro. There was no such cover-up.

Why would I cover up Father Poulson’s behavior when I had reported to several district atttorneys the behavior of other priests? I know of no sexual abuse by Poulson during my time as Bishop of Erie. Why would I cover up Poulson’s sinful behavior when I had removed 22 priests from ministry and sought their dismissal from the clerical state?

Can a bishop be misled? Yes, I was misled, and others were as well. In early 2018, members of the clergy continuing education committee invited Poulson to give the Day of Recollection for the priests of the Erie Diocese. Needless to say, the Day of Recollection was cancelled.

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

May 13, 2019

NICOLE WINFIELD

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Chile’s Catholic bishops said Monday they were open to whatever Pope Francis proposes to overhaul the Chilean church, including the removal of bishops, reforms of seminaries and paying financial reparation to victims of a clergy sex abuse and cover-up scandal.

Representatives of the Chilean bishops conference told reporters they were heading into three days of meetings with Francis humbled, pained and shamed for their own errors in handling abuse cases. They said they wanted to listen to Francis and would follow his lead in asking forgiveness of the victims they had discredited.

A conference spokesman, Bishop Juan Ignacio Gonzalez, said “it’s possible” some bishops would offer to resign, but that it was up to the pope. “We’ll respect what he says. If he asks, we’ll do it,” he said.

Francis summoned the bishops to Rome for an emergency summit after receiving a 2,300-page report on the abuse cover-up scandal, which he had helped fuel. During a visit to Chile in January, Francis strongly defended a bishop, Juan Barros, who was accused by victims of Chile’s most notorious predator priest of having witnessed and ignored their abuse.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By Stephen Wright for the Daily Mail

14 May 2018

A woman’s claims that she was the victim of a Westminster paedophile plot will not be examined by the public inquiry into child sex abuse after doubts emerged about her story.

Four months after the Daily Mail raised questions about Esther Baker’s account of supposed VIP abuse, it has been announced that her allegations will not be investigated by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

Inquiry chairman Professor Alexis Jay described Miss Baker’s allegations as ‘highly contentious’ and added that she is the subject of a complaint to police that she had perverted the course of justice.

‘I have decided that the inquiry will not investigate the issues that Miss Baker has raised that relate to her own alleged experiences of child sexual abuse,’ Professor Jay said.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Post Editorial Board

May 13, 2018

Does New York City — with its once-unimaginable record-low crime rates — still need private (but city-funded) citizen-patrol groups?

The question became more pressing with the arrest Thursday of Jacob Daskal, politically wired president and co-founder of the Boro Park Shomrim, on charges he repeatedly raped a 15-year-old girl over a period of months in his home.

It’s not the Brooklyn group’s first brush with the law, either.

Last year, Shomrim official Alex “Shaya” Lichtenstein was sentenced to 32 months in prison for bribing cops on a regular basis to get hard-to-obtain full-carry handgun permits for paying clients, including some with criminal records.

The group itself has been accused of violently beating suspects it apprehends. And Daskal reportedly was able to arrange for Orthodox Jews arrested for minor crimes to avoid being booked through the system.

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EGYPT
News 24

2018-05-13

Egypt on Friday arrested an activist who posted a video on social media in which she hit out at national institutions and voiced opposition to sexual harassment, security sources said.

In the clip uploaded to Facebook this week, Amal Fathi criticised organisations including state-owned Banque Misr, whose male security staff she accused of being predatory towards women.

She also criticised the government over human rights and economic conditions in the country, as well as accusing it of failing to protect women.

Fathi, a 33-year-old mother, stands accused of “insulting all the institutions of the state” and undermining patriotism, the security sources said.

She would be brought before Egypt’s prosecutor general.

London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International said Fathi was arrested for her criticism of the government “for failing to protect women”.

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MAINE
Press Herald

BY PENELOPE OVERTON
STAFF WRITER

May 14, 2018

Kevin Battle was a baby when church officials raided his family home in Ireland and plucked him from the arms of his mother, an unmarried 24-year-old who had run away from the convent where she and hundreds of other Irish girls were sent to give birth to secret children.

After raising the boy she named William for more than a year, his mother couldn’t bear to give him up, so she grabbed her chubby-cheeked boy and escaped home to her family in County Limerick. But the nuns had plans for the boy, so they tracked down the mother and child and forcefully reclaimed him.

Within weeks of seizing the baby, the Catholic Church sold him to an Irish couple in New York grieving the death of their own infant. The price? A $1,000 donation to the church. Records show that the convent, Sean Ross Abbey, secretly exported 438 children like Battle to America.

Yet Battle, a retired South Portland police officer who works as a harbor master and state legislator, grew up knowing none of this. He’d always known he was adopted. He’d searched for his mother, following the paper trail to Ireland in 1978, but the nuns there told him she was dead.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Jennifer Bain, Larry Celona and Laura Italiano

May 11, 2018

The politically connected Shomrim leader accused of repeatedly raping a 15-year-old girl implicated himself in a recorded phone call with his victim, prosecutors revealed Friday.

Jacob “Yanky” Daskal, 59, who helped found the neighborhood Boro Park Shomrim patrol group some 30 years ago, knew his victim prior to the alleged attacks, prosecutors said.

The major campaign donor pleaded not guilty at his Friday arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court and quickly posted $75,000 bond.

At the brief hearing, prosecutors said they set up and recorded a phone call earlier this week between Daskal and the young girl he is accused of sexually abusing in the Borough Park home he shares with his wife and family.

“There was a controlled phone call,” said Assistant District Attorney Kevin O’Donnell.

O’Donnell did not describe the call or elaborate on Daskal’s relationship with the girl, except to say “the parties are known to each other.”

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AUSTRALIA
New York Times

By Damien Cave

May 14, 2018

SYDNEY, Australia — An Australian court is to decide on Wednesday whether two planned trials for Cardinal George Pell, the senior Vatican official accused of sexual abuse, will be conducted in secret with the public barred from knowing what took place until the proceedings are over.

On Friday, prosecutors in the state of Victoria applied for a “super injunction” against news coverage of the separate trials. Legal experts described the application as an extreme move aimed at keeping juries in both cases from learning anything that might cause bias.

But a trial held behind closed doors would also limit accountability for the judge, jury and lawyers in the case.

“The proposed order is a blanket ban and is the most extreme form of order that can be made,” said Jason Bosland, deputy director of the Centre for Media and Communications Law at Melbourne Law School.

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WISCONSIN
Blugold Media

[with audio]

Sydney Purpora

May 13, 2018

Peter Isely, a survivor of priest abuse and a founding member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), was sexually assaulted at age 13 at Saint Lawrence Seminary High School in Fond Du Lac county. His story illustrates the struggles he and other survivors faced and how the abuse changed his life.

Documents discussed in the podcast are linked below for listener reference:

* Isely publicized his abuse in the Milwaukee Journal in 1992.
*Victim blaming tactics used by Isely’s offender.
*Court documents and victim testimony involving accused priests at St. Lawrence.

Father Gale Liefeld starting abusing Peter Isely when he was 13. The grooming techniques Liefeld used are recognized in a 2015 research article written by the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire professor and researcher, Jason Spraitz. The tactics priests who abuse children use, make it hard to identify and stop the assault.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Erie News NOW

May 14th 2018

Erie-area Catholics headed to mass this weekend, many entering their churches for the first time since new charges of priest sexual abuse were unveiled in the Erie Diocese.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General announced charges Tuesday against former priest David Poulson, 64, related to the sexual abuse of minors.

He also took former Bishop Donald Trautman to task for a secret memo that, if handled differently, may have protected future victims.

Most parishioners did not want to talk. One man who chose not to show his face said he is glad it is now in the open.

“I think that it was a cover up,” said a St. Patrick Church parishioner. “I think it needed to start from the Pope all the way down to the bishop, but I also think it’s been going on for years. That’s my personal opinion. Hopefully, they’ll clean it up. Unfortunately, if it came down to alter boys, that’s sad that it happened.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Go Erie

By Ed Palattella

May 14, 3018

The child sex abuse charges filed against the Rev. David Poulson were largely based on evidence the Catholic Diocese of Erie gathered and gave police.

The phone call was from Texas. It rang in the offices of the Catholic Diocese of Erie in late January.

The call set off a series of events that culminated on Tuesday with the arrest of the Rev. David L. Poulson on charges that he sexually abused two boys from 2002 to 2010.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office charged Poulson based on a presentment from a statewide investigative jury that heard evidence in the case.

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AUSTRALIA
Crux

Christopher White
NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT

May 14, 2018

In recent months, the Australian Catholic Church has been in the spotlight, primarily due to news that the former Archbishop of Sydney and the pope’s current finance minister, Cardinal George Pell, will stand trial for “historical sexual offenses” amid continuing fallout from the Church’s clerical abuse crisis.

As the Church attempts to change the narrative about its role in public life, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane has been elected as the new head of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Serving as his vice-president will be Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney.

Soon after their election, Bishop Richard Umbers, an auxiliary bishop of Sydney, tweeted that with the election of Coleridge and Fisher, the Australian bishops had “put forward the two most articulate bishops in the conference.”

In an interview with Crux, Coleridge describes how he intends to navigate the tensions between the Church and various political and ecclesial battles in Australia – and in a way that puts Jesus Christ at the center of his work.

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IRELAND
Irish Mirror

By Sylvia Pownall

14 MAY 2018

Presidential hopeful Kevin Sharkey has called on Pope Francis to apologise to the people of Ireland on behalf of the Catholic Church.

The 56-year-old claimed the Vatican has left us “adrift” in the wake of clerical sex abuse scandals.

The artist and former TV presenter, who wants to become the country’s first black president, was born in a mother and baby home.

He suffered a childhood of abuse after being adopted and sent to an industrial school in Galway.

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ROME
Crux

Inés San Martín
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

May 14, 2018

ROME – Starting Tuesday, 33 Chilean bishops will meet Pope Francis in Rome for three days to talk about the “extraordinary challenges” created by clerical sexual abuse and abuses of power in the country’s Church “in the last decade.”

The quotes come from a Vatican statement issued on Saturday, ahead of the meeting.

One bit of mini-drama heading in was whether Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, the retired archbishop of Santiago who’s been accused by survivors of covering up abuse cases, would attend. A member of the pope’s “C9” council of cardinal advisers, Errazuriz originally said he would skip the meeting but eventually boarded a plane for Rome on Saturday, saying simply, “I changed my mind.”

Saturday’s Vatican statement, presumably released with the pope’s green light, appeared to leave no room for doubt: At least some in the Chilean hierarchy have been found wanting, even if no actual canonical processes have taken place.

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CHILE
Associated Press

May 14, 2018

EVA VERGARA

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Even as Pope Francis apologized for his failures in connection with Chile’s most famous case of clerical sex abuse, the pope and that country’s deeply discredited Catholic Church are under mounting pressure to address another, even bigger sex scandal.

The blooming scandal of the Marist Brothers, a congregation dedicated to education, has not yet drawn great attention worldwide — unlike allegations that a bishop covered up the crimes of a pedophile priest, Rev. Fernando Karadima.

Francis recently spent several days at his Vatican hotel in talks with three of Karadima’s victims; this week he is meeting with all of Chile’s bishops to address the crisis that has implicated several church leaders and religious orders.

In the Marist case, the accusations of abuse are many.

“It’s a situation of systematic abuse where there are multiple abusers throughout time, within and outside the congregation,” Juan Pablo Hermosilla, an attorney for some of the victims told The Associated Press. He said that there at least 20 cases of abuse, but that there could be more.

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CYPRUS
9 News

By Ehsan Knopf

May 14, 2018

A bishop at a Greek Orthodox church has come under fire over video showing him forcefully plunging a wailing infant into a basin of water.

The video, captioned “IS THIS YOUR PRIEST!!!?????” and posted to Twitter by user @Miss_Patriciah last week, shows the bishop vigorously dunking the child three times into the water before handing it back to its parents.

The force of the man’s movements sends water spraying in all directions. Five girls standing in the background watching the ceremony can be seen recoiling and stepping backwards.

The video has since been viewed more than 14 million times and was filmed in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, The Sun reports.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Bradford Era

By MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER Era Associate Editor
marcie@bradfordera.com

May 9, 2018

t’s been 36 years since Jim VanSickle spoke to Father David Poulson.

The next time the Bradford Central Christian High School graduate sees the priest, he hopes it will be in a courtroom.

Poulson was arraigned Tuesday on allegations that he abused two young boys in the Cambridge Springs area. It was a story too familiar to VanSickle.

“My abuse happened from 1979 to 1982 while I was a student at Bradford Central Christian,” VanSickle said.

He spoke to Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office, and testified before the statewide investigating grand jury about what had happened to him so many years ago, when Poulson was first ordained. He’s hoping he’ll be asked to testify at his criminal trial, too.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Doree Lewak

May 12, 2018

Judaism refers to its followers as “people of the book.” But the children — some 57,000 of them in New York City alone, according to the 2013 census — of the state’s ultra-Orthodox communities are largely being denied an education that includes science, math and English books.

In April, state Senator Simcha Felder (D – Brooklyn) refused to sign off on the state budget unless yeshivas, which accept millions of dollars in government funding, were given more autonomy over curricula. Per a Post editorial, “Felder demanded [legislation] to exempt private yeshivas from state requirements to provide adequate education in basic areas such as English, math, science and history.”

It was announced on Wednesday that Felder secured some $200,000 in discretionary funds for “education access” programs for Agudath Israel, the lobbying force that helped fight state efforts to impose instructional standards on yeshivas.

Advocates who believe Jewish children are being harmed by yeshivas are devastated by the news.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Go Erie

May 13, 2018

In his latest effort, state Rep. Mark Rozzi wants the General Assembly to pass a law that would give the victims retroactive access to the civil courts.

The prosecution of the Rev. David Poulson, the Catholic Diocese of Erie priest charged on Tuesday with child sexual abuse, will take place in Jefferson County, where Poulson owns a hunting camp.

The Jefferson County connection was notable to state Rep. Mark Rozzi.

The Berks County Democrat for years has been pushing to expand the rights of child sexual abuse victims.

In his latest effort, Rozzi wants the General Assembly to pass a law that would give the victims retroactive access to the civil courts. He has lobbied for the change by sharing his story of how a priest raped him in the mid-1980s, when he was 13.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Go Erie

May 13, 2018

The Rev. David L. Poulson, a Catholic Diocese of Erie priest, was arrested Tuesday on charges he sexually abused two boys in three counties between 2002 and 2010.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Poulson not only assaulted one of the victims in two church rectories, but also defiled the sacrament of reconciliation by making that boy “confess” the sexual abuse to Poulson, his abuser.

Worse, Shapiro asserted diocesan leaders knew of Poulson’s predatory behaviors eight years ago, but did not alert law enforcement or parishioners or remove him from ministry.

Shapiro said a May 2010 diocesan memo showed that after church officials received a complaint about Poulson’s behavior with minors, Poulson admitted to then-Erie Bishop Donald W. Trautman that his text messages with boys were “suggestive to sexual advances” and that he had been sexually aroused while tutoring a boy. Trautman, Shapiro said, admonished Poulson to stop and returned him to ministry.

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UNITED STATES
Crux

John L. Allen Jr.
EDITOR

May 13, 2018

News Analysis

In one of our earliest talks over the years, the late Cardinal Francis George of Chicago gave a precocious young reporter a valuable piece of advice: “Be careful about using the word ‘unprecedented’,” he said. “In the Catholic Church, everything has happened at least once.”

Thus it is that as the bishops of Chile arrive in Rome this weekend for meetings with Pope Francis Tuesday through Thursday on that country’s clerical sexual abuse crisis, we can certainly call the summit “extraordinary,” but not a complete novelty. In fact, we’ve seen a version of this show before: April 23-24, 2002, when all the residential cardinals in the United States, along with the top two officers of the U.S. bishops’ conference, were summoned to Rome to discuss the abuse scandals exploding in America.

Looking back, that summit turned out to be a watershed.

It may be difficult to remember now how all-compassing the atmosphere of crisis was in that moment. In early 2002, the Catholic sex abuse scandals, initially centered on Boston and then rippling across the country, appeared on the front page of the New York Times forty-one days in a row, eclipsing the previous record set during the peak of the Watergate scandals in 1974 that brought down the Nixon administration.

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VATICAN CITY
Telesur

May 13, 2018

“It is fundamental to re-establish trust in the Church,” said the pope, reversing his previously dismissive attitude towards the abuse allegations.

Chile’s bishops should take responsibility for their actions and make amends for the “devastating wounds” inflicted on the Catholic church, Pope Francis said Saturday, in response to the hundreds of sex abuse allegations faced by the clergy.

Ahead of next week’s meeting with the Chilean diocese, the pontiff released a statement warning bishops of his plans to address the Catholic church’s handling of sex crimes and their perpetrators.

There is a serious need to deeply examine the “mechanisms,” consequences and causes that resulted in scandalous cover-ups and omissions of justice for victims, the pope wrote.

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SCOTLAND
Sunday Post

Written by Gordon Blackstock

13 May 2018

A LEADER of the Catholic Church in Scotland is expected to be called to give evidence at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

Archbishop Emeritus Mario Conti may be asked to attend the hearings after witnesses accused him of previously dismissing their claims against the Sisters of Nazareth as “fantasy”.

Since April, the inquiry – led by Lady Smith – has heard evidence from former residents at the Nazareth House home which was run by the Catholic order.

Last week, one witness claimed she was sexually abused by a priest after she went to confession.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston Herald

Howie Carr

May 11, 2018

It’s beyond dispute that the late Massachusetts Congressman Gerry Studds was a sexual predator. And now, thanks to a lawsuit filed last week, even more details about his unspeakable behavior around young boys are on the public record.

In 1983, Studds was censured by the House of Representatives in a 420-3 vote after he plied a 17-year-old male Congressional page with vodka and then sodomized him. In some states, it would have been statutory rape. In Massachusetts, Studds was easily reelected six times.

Studds felt no shame. As the X-rated details of his sordid conduct were read into the record on the floor of the House, he turned his back on his colleagues.

Before his election to Congress in 1972, Studds was a teacher, a “master,” at St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H. Talk about elite — it’s the alma mater of both John Forbes Kerry and Robert Mueller (Class of ’61).

Last week, two alumni filed a 22-page lawsuit in New Hampshire against the prep school, claiming it was “a haven for sexual predators.”

One of whom was identified as future U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.).

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ROME
Crux

Inés San Martín
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

May 12, 2018

ROME – Pope Francis will be meeting with 33 Chilean bishops next week to look into the “mechanisms that have led to the cover up and grave omissions towards” Chilean victims of clerical sexual abuse.

According to a Vatican statement, Francis wanted to meet with the bishops “interpellated by the circumstances and the extraordinary challenges that pose the abuse of power, sexual [abuse] and [abuses] of conscience that have occurred in Chile in the last decades.”

The pope, the statement continues, “thinks it’s necessary to look into causes and consequences, as well as the mechanisms that have led to the cover up and grave omissions towards the victims.”

The meetings between the pope and the Chilean bishops will take place in the Vatican May 14-17. Also present will be Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

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CHILE
Conferencia Episcopal de Chile

May 10, 2018

[1. The Holy Father has summoned the Bishops of Chile to meet him to make known the conclusions of the recent visit of His Excellency Charles Scicluna to our country, and his own conclusions in this regard. He also invites us to have an open and fraternal dialogue to collaborate “in the discernment of the measures that in the short, medium and long term, should be adopted to reestablish the ecclesial communion in Chile with the aim of repairing as much as possible the scandal and reestablishing Justice”. With humility and hope we come to the call of Peter’s successor.]

Fecha: 10/05/2018
Referencia: Prot.57/2008
País: Chile
Ciudad: Santiago
Autor: El Comité Permanente de la Conferencia Episcopal de Chile

1. El Santo Padre ha convocado a los Obispos de Chile a encontrarse con él para dar a conocer las conclusiones de la reciente visita de S.E. Mons. Charles Scicluna a nuestro país, y sus propias conclusiones al respecto. Nos invita también a tener un diálogo abierto y fraterno para colaborar “en el discernimiento de las medidas que a corto, medio y largo plazo, deberán ser adoptadas para restablecer la comunión eclesial en Chile con el objetivo de reparar en lo posible el escándalo y restablecer la justicia”. Con humildad y esperanza acudimos al llamado del sucesor de Pedro.

2. A pocos días de reunirnos con él, reiteramos nuestra unión con el Papa Francisco en el dolor y vergüenza expresados frente a los delitos cometidos contra menores y adultos en ambientes eclesiales. Reconocemos que, a pesar de las acciones realizadas estos años por la Iglesia, no siempre se ha logrado sanar las heridas de los abusos, las que siguen siendo una llaga abierta en los corazones de las víctimas y para el Pueblo de Dios.

3. Valoramos el reciente encuentro del Santo Padre con tres de las víctimas de Fernando Karadima. La actitud del Papa Francisco al acogerlos marca un ejemplo y nos muestra el camino que la Iglesia chilena está llamada a seguir ante las denuncias de abuso de conciencia, abuso sexual y, en definitiva, frente a todo abuso de poder que pueda ocurrir al interior de nuestras comunidades.

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

BY NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

May 12, 2018

VATICAN CITY
The Vatican made it clear Saturday that Pope Francis had summoned Chile’s bishops to Rome for a papal dressing-down because of their role in covering up sexual abuse by priests and their “grave omissions” in caring for victims.

In an exceedingly harsh statement that set the tone for next week’s meetings, the Vatican said Francis wanted to discern responsibilities for the crisis and map changes in Chilean church to prevent these “devastating wounds” from repeating themselves.

“It is fundamental to re-establish trust in the church through good pastors … who know how to accompany the suffering of victims and work in a determined and untiring way to prevent abuse,” the statement said.

For years, sex abuse victims have blasted the Chilean hierarchy for discrediting their claims, protecting abusers, moving them around rather than turning them over to police and then handing out light sentences when church sanctions are imposed.

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UNITED STATES
The Hill

BY MIRANDA GREEN – 05/11/18

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is defending against allegations that Administrator Scott Pruitt dined privately with a cardinal accused of sexual assault during his visit to the Vatican last summer.

A spokesman for the agency denied that Pruitt met one-on-one with Cardinal George Pell during his trip to Italy and the Vatican in June, saying that Pruitt dined with a group of 12 to 15 individuals and had no prior knowledge of Pell attending. He added that Pruitt was not aware of the allegations against Pell.

“There was not a private one-on-one dinner with Cardinal Pell, as certain media outlets have portrayed. He was one of 12 to 15 individuals who attended the dinner and EPA had no knowledge that he was coming to the dinner,” EPA’s Jahan Wilcox said in a statement. “It is incorrect to report that any knowledge of the allegations against Cardinal Pell were raised to Administrator Pruitt’s level.”

New York Times reporter Eric Lipton on Thursday tweeted documents, first obtained by the Sierra Club through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, that showed a working timeline before and during Pruitt’s trip. Those documents linked Pruitt to Pell and allege that EPA officials were aware of the allegations made against the Cardinal.

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RHODE ISLAND
Narragansett Times

By KENDRA GRAVELLE

May 10, 2018

PROVIDENCE—Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee has joined with other advocates for victims of sexual abuse to fight to abolish the statute of limitations for pressing civil charges against alleged sexual abusers.

Introduced in the House by McEntee (D-Dist. 33, South Kingstown, Narragansett) and in the Senate by Sen. Donna M. Nesselbush (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, North Providence), the legislation proposed would eliminate the current seven-year civil statute of limitations (SOL) for injuries suffered as a result of sexual abuse.

“Basically, what happens to these people is when they get abused as a child they’re silenced by their perpetrator,” McEntee said Monday. “Then once they get their voice as adults they’re silenced again.”

The current SOL means victims of sexual abuse have just seven years from the time they experience the abuse—or from the time they turn 18—to file a claim.

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UNITED STATES
Sydney Morning Herald

By Rachel Olding

12 May 2018

New York: Cardinal George Pell has emerged as a mystery guest who dined at a lavish Rome restaurant with embattled US environmental chief Scott Pruitt to secretly plan a public debate challenging climate change.

The five-star rooftop dinner, which came three weeks before Pell was charged with historic child sexual abuse, was deliberately removed from four different public schedules released by Pruitt’s offices due to the allegations hanging over the Vatican financial chief, it has emerged.

The extraordinary revelations not only add another twist in the tale of the American environmental administrator under fire for excessive spending and dubious ethics, but also pit Pell squarely against the Pope, who has declared that climate change is real.

Pruitt, the administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, is the subject of 11 separate investigations into his lavish travel habits, conflicts of interests and management practices.

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MICHIGAN
Church Militant

by Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D. • ChurchMilitant.com

May 11, 2018

Is the diocese of Saginaw colluding with local media in a smear campaign against the prosecutor pursuing criminal sex abuse charges against priests?

After the launch of a criminal probe into possible sex abuse cover-up in the Michigan diocese, the diocese is returning fire, calling into question the integrity of Assistant Prosecutor Mark Gaertner, who’s taken the lead in the investigation.

Gaertner is prosecuting longtime Saginaw priest Father Robert DeLand, arrested in February and charged with sexually assaulting multiple young men. The prosecutor’s office has since been flooded with tips implicating multiple other clergy, leading to the launch of a criminal investigation of the entire diocese and even raids on the bishop’s home, the cathedral and the chancery.

Now reports of a smear campaign against the prosecutor, with local media trying to discredit him by unearthing an old case and a 2004 letter.

A little background: In 2000, Gaertner was in an election race for prosecutor in Huron County against a man named Tim Rutkowski. Rutkowski is brother to current vicar general of the diocese Father Bill Rutkowski, according to inside sources a well-known homosexual in a long-term relationship with a priest in the Lansing diocese — a charge officially denied.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Go Erie

Ed Palattella

May 12, 2018

Grand jury: State police sergeant co-owned hunting camp with the Rev. David Poulson and knew Poulson ‘frequented the camp with young boys.’

The statewide grand jury presentment used to charge the Rev. David L. Poulson with child sex abuse is built around the testimony of two men who said Poulson, a former priest in the Catholic Diocese of Erie, molested them as boys in 2002-2010.

As supporting information, the presentment, which is similar to an indictment, cites statements that a Pennsylvania State Police sergeant made about Poulson.

The sergeant, however, did not investigate against Poulson.

The sergeant was Poulson’s friend.

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VATICAN CITY
Lewiston Tribune

By NICOLE WINFIELD Of The Associated Press

May 12, 2018

VATICAN CITY – Chilean bishops are arriving in Rome ahead of an expected brow-beating next week from Pope Francis, who says he was misled about a bishop at the center of the Chilean Church’s sex abuse scandal.

One top-ranked churchman is apparently not coming: Cardinal Javier Errazuriz, retired archbishop of Santiago, who sits on Francis’ kitchen cabinet. Abuse survivors have laid much of the blame for the scandal on Errazuriz, whom they accuse of discrediting victims and covering up abuse rather than punishing pedophiles.

The executive committee of the Chilean bishops conference said Thursday the 30-plus bishops were coming with “humility and hope.” They praised Francis’ recent meetings with victims of the Rev. Fernando Karadima of Chile.

Francis had invited Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo to the Vatican so he could personally apologize for having discredited them during his January trip to Chile. Francis had said their accusations against a Karadima protege, Bishop Juan Barros, were “calumny” and demanded they present proof of his wrongdoing.

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ROME
Crux

Inés San Martín
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

May 12, 2018

ROME – Days before Pope Francis is scheduled to meet with over 30 Chilean bishops to discuss the clerical sexual abuse crisis in the country, victims are speaking out, and the laity of the diocese at the center of the story are demanding to have a voice in the naming of their bishop.

The laity, more than “mere observers”

A group of laity in the Diocese of Osorno released a statement on Thursday saying that they are “expectantly” awaiting the outcome of the May 14-17 meeting between Francis and the Chilean bishops. They also request that Spanish Father Jordi Bertomeu, a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, be appointed as the “interlocutor” to choose their new bishop.

The statement also demands that the laity be consulted in the decisions that need to be made to resolve the crisis, instead of being “mere observers and receptors of important decisions already taken – either in Rome, the bishops’ conference, or the Apostolic nunciature.”

The statement called for an end to “unilateral decision-making,” adding that the Church is living through a moment which is calling it to a “profound and genuine conversion.”

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UNITED KINDOM
Catholic Herald

by Christopher Altieri

11 May 2018

t’s a bit of a head-scratcher. Just over a week ago, three abuse survivors met Pope Francis, and then gave an important press conference reflecting on the meeting. Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton, and José Andres Murillo said Pope Francis had admitted he was “part of the problem”, and had pledged to do more in future. The news was widely covered – but not by Vatican media. The weekly Spanish-language edition of L’Osservatore Romano that came out last Friday had a piece that took note of the weekend meetings and briefly mentioned the Wednesday press conference. Otherwise, crickets.

Sources inside the Secretariat for Communications, which oversees most of the Vatican’s media and public relations apparatus, including the new Vatican News web portal, suggest the decision not to cover the event -which received worldwide press attention – was in keeping with the Holy Father’s wishes that the meetings be private and reserved. The acting head of the Secretariat for Communications, Mgr Lucio Ruiz, did not respond to repeated requests for a statement, while the Press Office of the Holy See declined to comment.

“It’s a bit surprising,” the Wall Street Journal’s Vatican correspondent, Francis X Rocca, told the Catholic Herald. “After the Pope’s dramatic gesture, and given his willingness to field tough questions, it’s puzzling that his own media apparatus would keep silent on such a major event and an important topic.” Rocca saw both sides of the question. “I can understand the desire to exercise discretion, so as not to be seen to ‘spin’ the event,” he said. On the other hand, the argument could be made that a brief statement acknowledging the presser might have shown the Pope’s willingness to face criticism; it was a judgment call.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Erie News Now

May 11th 2018

This week’s arrest of a former Erie Catholic priest on sex abuse charges came only a month after the diocese released the names of 51 priests and lay people, living and deceased, who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

It is a problem the diocese has struggled with for years.

In 2002, then Bishop Donald Trautman was also dealing with the clergy sex scandal.

He asked then District Attorney Brad Foulk to review the files and documents.

Foulk said because of the statute of limitations, no accused priests could be prosecuted.

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UNITED STATES
New York Times

By Eric Lipton and Lisa Friedman

May 11, 2018

WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, dined last year in Rome with Cardinal George Pell, a prominent climate-science denialist and Vatican leader who was also facing sexual abuse allegations. The E.P.A. later released official descriptions of the dinner that intentionally did not mention the cardinal’s presence, according to three current and former E.P.A. officials.

Kevin Chmielewski, Mr. Pruitt’s former deputy chief of staff for operations, said in an interview that top political appointees at the agency feared that the meeting would reflect poorly on Mr. Pruitt if it were made public. Twenty days after the dinner, authorities in Australia charged Cardinal Pell with sexual assault; he has denied the charges.

“It was a no-brainer,” Mr. Chmielewski said of the decision to keep Cardinal Pell’s participation quiet. His account was confirmed by two people who were familiar with the handling of the trip, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern over retribution.

On Friday, Jahan Wilcox, an E.P.A. spokesman, issued a statement confirming the June 9 meal took place while emphasizing that it “was not a private one-on-one dinner” and saying that Mr. Pruitt wasn’t aware of the allegations against Cardinal Pell. He also said the E.P.A. had no knowledge the cardinal would be attending the dinner.

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WISCONSIN
Sheboygan Press

Casey Hoff, For USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

May 11, 2018

Most Americans understand and appreciate the vital nature of our adversarial system of justice, where both sides can obtain legal representation. But some lawyers who run for public office are continuously being lambasted for having done their jobs as lawyers.

Matt Flynn, a lawyer who is seeking the Wisconsin Democratic nomination for governor, is being attacked because of his past legal representation of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the sex abuse lawsuits involving priests.

For many years when Flynn worked for the Quarles and Brady law firm, Flynn was the lead attorney for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the priest sex abuse case. In 2015, the case was ultimately settled with the archdiocese agreeing to pay $21 million to accusers and their lawyers; an amount per accuser reportedly far lower than many other priest sex abuse cases.

Peter Isely, former Midwest director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), called Flynn an “appalling choice for someone who wants to represent the citizens of Wisconsin, including families and children,” according to a story in the Wisconsin Gazette.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Examiner

by John Siciliano

May 11, 2018

The Environmental Protection Agency left out in its official dispatches that Administrator Scott Pruitt dined last year with Cardinal George Pell, a prominent climate-science denier who had been facing sexual abuse allegations, the New York Times reported Friday.

The newspaper cited three sources familiar with Pruitt’s trip to the Vatican.

Kevin Chmielewski, Pruitt’s former deputy chief of staff for operations, told the newspaper that top political appointees at the EPA feared meeting the cardinal would reflect poorly on Pruitt if it were made public.

About a month after the dinner in Rome, authorities in Australia charged Pell with sexual assault. He has denied all charges.

“It was a no-brainer,” Chmielewski said about the decision to keep quiet about Cardinal Pell’s presence. The account was confirmed by two people familiar with the trip.

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KENTUCKY
Courier-Journal

Beth Warren, Louisville Courier Journal

May 11, 2018

A priest is “on retreat” after being involved in an inappropriate relationship with an adult, Archdiocese of Louisville officials said.

The Rev. Shayne Duvall, pastor at St. Raphael Parish, “will be away for a couple of weeks to be on retreat” for “his previous involvement” in the relationship, spokeswoman Cecelia Price said in an email to Courier Journal reporter on Friday.

Price didn’t say with whom Duvall had a relationship but said it had ended.

The Rev. Jeff Shooner, vicar for priests for the archdiocese, made the announcement to St. Raphael parishioners last weekend, the email said.

“Father Shayne has fully cooperated with Archbishop (Joseph) Kurtz in addressing this situation over the past months,” Price said.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire Public Radio

By LAUREN CHOOLJIAN

Chester Irons’ relationship with St. Paul’s School didn’t always feel so complicated.

He’s in his 60s now, yet he can still remember the exhilarating feeling of being dropped off at the Concord boarding school for the first time.

“I stepped out of the car with my parents and said goodbye to them and ran off with a bunch of friends I met literally 20 minutes earlier. It was a new beginning, a new adventure and I was very excited,” he recalled in a recent phone interview.

Irons said he flourished at St Paul’s, and he loved it. And decades later, he became president of the alumni association and a member of the board of trustees.

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UNITED STATES
Newsweek

BY JOSH KEEFE

5/11/18

PA Administrator Scott Pruitt had a $240-per-person dinner at a Rome restaurant with a Vatican Cardinal, who was a climate-change skeptic and under investigation for sex abuse in 2017. The EPA office did not disclose the Cardinal was at the dinner on public records, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.

Cardinal George Pell pleaded not guilty to historical charges of sexual abuse at the end of April in his home country of Australia. But in June 2017, he had dinner with Pruitt, his top aides and others at La Terrazza, a restaurant in Rome. Pruitt’s team knew Pell was under investigation for sex abuse at the time, according to Times reporter Eric Lipton, who told the story in a series of tweets containing links to EPA documents he and colleague Lisa Friedman obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests and subsequent lawsuits.

Planning for the dinner with Pell started in May 2017. But as Lipton noted, none of the four calendars released by Pruitt’s office showed that Pell would be attending the dinner. Pruitt’s top aide, Samantha Dravis, sent an email on June 9 saying she was “at dinner with Cardinal Pell and Mr. Pruitt.”

According to that email, the two men were discussing a Wall Street Journal article by a former Obama administration official proposing a process of peer review for climate science that would use opposing teams to argue for and against scientific reports, a system known as “Red Team/Blue Team.”

Pell and Pruitt have both expressed skepticism about climate change. In 2011, Pell gave a speech in which he said carbon dioxide was “not a pollutant, but part of the stuff of life,” and that “plants would love it” if carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased. Increasing carbon dioxide emissions as a result of industrialization are a major cause of global warming.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

Posted May 10, 2018

[These dozen pages from the Spielman file were made public in a WKBW report on Bishops Head and Trautman and discussed in detail during the broadcast of that report.]

Excerpt from 7/19/93 letter from Vicar General Cunningham to Spielman:

Thank you for meeting with me this morning and for our telephone conversation last Friday. I fully understand that these are difficult days for you, and I want to assure you of my thoughts and prayers at this time.

As we have discussed, this letter will serve as confirmation of the fact that Bishop Head placed you on administrative leave effective July 16, 1993. During this period of time, the bishop expects that you will not engage in any public ministry; that is, you are not to celebrate Mass or the sacraments publicly. The faculties given to you at the time of your ordination are hereby revoked.

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ERIE (PA)
Erie News Now / WICU / WSEE

May 10, 2018

By Paul Wagner

[Includes video of the broadcast, with longer interview of Jim Faluszczak and a brief interview with Judith Burns-Quinn of SNAP.]

A former Erie Catholic priest who says he was sexually abused by a priest when he was a teenager, is reacting to this week’s arrest of a former priest on sex abuse charges.

James Faluszczak and a victim’s advocate came to Erie to talk about the latest developments.

They have been following the news from Buffalo.

Faluszczak calls the abuse case of former priest David Poulson disgusting and horrifying.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

May 10, 2018

By Charlie Specht

[Now includes video of 5/10/18 report on Bishops Head and Trautman.]

From the day he arrived in Buffalo on a snowy day in 1972, to his death in 2005, he was known as a kind, approachable and gentle shepherd of Catholics in Western New York.

“Bishop Head was in many ways a great man,” said attorney Steve Boyd, who worked for the bishop for two years. “But great men fail.”

The failures of Head and other bishops to stop the abuse of children by priests under their supervision — and to make a full accounting to the public of those crimes — becomes more apparent by the day.

In the last two months, 64 priests in Buffalo have been accused of sexual misconduct, most with children. The majority of priests served during the tenures of Head and his successor, but the full scope of the abuse is only now coming to light.

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UNITED STATES
The Hill

BRETT SAMUELS

05/10/18

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt reportedly dined in Rome last year with a Catholic leader who was under investigation at the time for child sexual abuse, according to newly published records.

The New York Times on Thursday released a series of internal communications obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request that show Pruitt dined at a five-star restaurant with Cardinal George Pell in June 2017. Pell, like Pruitt, has expressed skepticism about man-made climate change.

Documents obtained by the Times show that EPA officials began planning for the dinner in May 2017. Pell had also offered to give Pruitt a tour of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, which apparently did not take place.

The Times reported that none of the EPA schedules from that day noted that Pell was at the dinner with Pruitt.

Prior to the trip, EPA officials learned that Pell was under investigation, according to The New York Times’ Eric Lipton.

Pell has since been put on trial related to charges of sexual abuse spanning decades.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Meadville Tribune

By Keith Gushard
Meadville Tribune

May 11, 2018

A statement by the Catholic Diocese of Erie’s retired bishop insisting there was no cover-up of alleged sexual abuse by a priest against two boys conflicts with findings of fact issued by the statewide grand jury investigating the case.

Donald Trautman, the retired bishop of the diocese, released a statement Wednesday stating there was no cover-up of the alleged sexual abuse by Father David Poulson and that Trautman “was aggressive in the removal of abusive priests.”

Findings of fact issued by the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury after it heard testimony and reviewed church records contradict Trautman’s public statement.

Trautman told Poulson to “cease and desist” suggestive contact with boys in a May 2010 confidential church memorandum written by Trautman after complaints about Poulson had been received by the diocese. The confidential church memorandum was obtained by the grand jury after it subpoenaed the diocese “to produce any and all records related to child sexual abuse perpetrated by priests and religious leaders of the diocese,” the grand jury’s findings of fact state.

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NEW YORK
Forward

Josh Nathan-Kazis

May 10, 2018

For nearly three decades, Jacob Daskal has been chasing criminal suspects through the streets of Boro Park as the head of the Shomrim, a private Orthodox Jewish security patrol he founded.

On Thursday, the tables were turned. Police in Brooklyn arrested Daskal for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl. He has been charged with rape in the third degree, among other charges.

Daskal did not answer his phone on Thursday afternoon.

The arrest, first reported by the New York Daily News, shocked the tight-knit Hasidic-dominated neighborhood of Boro Park. Daskal, the president of the Shomrim and one of its founders, has enjoyed exceptionally close ties to the leadership of the local police precinct in Boro Park, and a prominent position in the community.

Read more: https://forward.com/news/national/400881/orthodox-security-patrol-chief-charged-with-raping-16-year-old-girl/

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WISCONSIN
WQOW

May 10, 2018

Eau Claire (WQOW) –The former Democratic Party chair officially threw his hat into the governor’s race on Wednesday, and already some Wisconsinites are calling for him to drop out.

Women’s March Wisconsin, along with some of its partner organizations including groups outside of the state, believe Flynn should immediately withdraw his candidacy for governor.

They said that’s because of his previous role representing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee against priest sex abuse lawsuits, and his original refusal to answer questions about his past work when confronted about it.

Flynn had a terse response to that request: “Go jump in a lake.”

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NEW YORK
Times Union

By David Lombardo

May 10, 2018

ALBANY – State Senate Republicans proposed legislation on Thursday that would compensate victims of child sex abuse with public money in lieu of payoffs from perpetrators or institutions where the crimes may have occurred.

The bill from Sen. Catharine M. Young, R-Cattaraugus County, would end the statute of limitations for the criminal prosecution of certain sexual offenses and provide restitution for child victims using a $300 million asset forfeiture fund controlled by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, according to a press release.

Gary Greenberg, an outspoken child sex abuse survivor who helped craft the legislation, described the proposal as a positive first step.

“It’s the first time that the Republicans have put anything on the table that will actually compensate victims … it’s progress,” he said.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

MAY 10, 2018

ALBANY – Gov. Cuomo threw cold water on a Republican state senator’s proposal to create a $300 million fund earmarked for child sex abuse survivors.

Cuomo raised several concerns, including whether the $300 million is enough.

“You would cap the recovery of people and I don’t believe there should be a cap,” he said. “I believe it should be whatever the damages are.”

Cuomo said he supports a more expansive Child Victims Act bill that he and legislative Democrats have pushed for that targets the abusers themselves and their institutions.

The Daily News reported Thursday that the centerpiece of the legislation introduced by Sen. Catharine Young (R-Chautauqua County) is the creation of a $300 million Child Victim Reconciliation and Compensation Fund that would be run out of the state controller’s office.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Supporters of Cardinal George Pell are being asked to contribute to his legal fund through a series of advertisements.

Some of the ads have appeared in the Catholic Weekly, the news journal published by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.

In an article published on the Weekly’s website it also said: “When Cardinal Pell took leave from his role as Prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy to voluntarily return to Australia nearly 12 months ago to fight the charges, many supporters wanted to contribute to his legal costs.”

Cardinal Pell is fighting against historical sexual offence charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

Media reports estimate that each court day is costing Cardinal Pell tens of thousands of dollars.

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ARIZONA
Modesto Bee

BY PATTY GUERRA AND GARTH STAPLEY
pguerra@modbee.com
gstapley@modbee.com

May 10, 2018

Police investigators will lead a meeting to discuss allegations of sexual misconduct against a former Modesto pastor who went on to form a megachurch in Arizona.

The Rev. Les Hughey, who is accused of coercing female youth group members into sexual encounters during his time at First Baptist Church in Modesto four decades ago, resigned after the allegations came to light last month from the Scottsdale megachurch he founded 20 years ago.

Since The Modesto Bee’s initial story April 21, people who knew Hughey at churches where he served after leaving Modesto have come forward with allegations of their own.

One of those churches, Scottsdale Bible Church, will host the meeting on Tuesday.

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PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record

Brandie Kessler, bkessler@ydr.com

May 10, 2018

After nearly two years of investigating sexual abuse of children within six Catholic dioceses across Pennsylvania, a grand jury is getting close to issuing its report.

State Rep. Mark Rozzi, a survivor of clergy abuse and an advocate for statute of limitations reform, has told The Morning Call and PennLive that the grand jury investigation would be wrapping up this month or next.

Rozzi’s office did not respond to a request for comment on this matter.

The Rev. Thomas Doyle, who has worked with clergy abuse survivors for more than 30 years and who is familiar with the statewide grand jury report, said Wednesday that its release is “imminent,” though he didn’t know exactly when the report would be issued.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

BY MELINDA HENNEBERGER
mhenneberger@kcstar.com

May 10, 2018

Remember back in the bad old days, when the names of sex crime victims were made public? Earlier this week in Missouri, for instance.

On Wednesday, Judge Rex Burlison, the judge in the felony invasion of privacy case against Gov. Eric Greitens, ruled that the full name of the woman whose privacy he’s accused of invading can be used in court. She never asked for this, yet her privacy is being invaded all over again.

Burlison has yet to rule whether her sexual history may also be pawed over during the trial, which saw jury selection begin Thursday. It’s hard to know what purpose taking out her history and tossing it around in public could serve — Hey, look at this one! — beyond humiliating her even more.

A simple but highly effective method of shutting women up — and you know, the classics are rarely anything fancy — it’s a problem that this throwback move is even being considered.

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TEXAS
Denton Record-Chronicle

May 10, 2918

By Christy Thomas

Does God mind it when women get hurt by the men in their lives? It seems like a silly question, but recent events make it a realistic one. Yes, even as I write this, I can hardly believe we are still at this point.

As anyone who knows anything about religious news knows, Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has made it clear: He has nothing to apologize for by telling women to stay in abusive marriages and submit better to their spouses. A woman follows his advice and gets two black eyes? Patterson rejoices — the husband is finally coming to church, putting his butt in the pew for Patterson to count for “success” in ministry.

Jonathan Merritt, a longtime religion observer and writer, contends that the impact of the recent #MeToo movement will cause the Southern Baptist Convention to split if Patterson does not willingly step down as the keynote speaker at the next meeting. Too many women are finally speaking out in large numbers about the pervasive atmosphere of sexual harassment and intimidation they have long faced. To see abuse justified by a well-known religious leader appears to have crossed a line.

I think Merritt is wrong. The current outcry against Patterson’s words is only so much politically correct talk to polish the Baptist image in the eyes of those who are not part of that theological world. The truth: Patterson’s words are totally consistent with the core theology underlying the entire strain of Baptist/Calvinistic thinking.

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NEW YORK
Church Militant

by Anita Carey • ChurchMilitant.com

May 10, 2018

BUFFALO, New York (ChurchMilitant.com) – A sex abuse victim is calling out the diocese of Buffalo, New York for failing to be transparent in its handling of clerical misconduct.

“My abuser was simply moved to a nearby parish two months after I complained,” Stephanie McIntyre told Church Militant. “This has been a living hell for us.”

Father Fabian Maryanski allegedly began grooming McIntyre when she was 15, eventually getting her drunk on her 18th birthday and taking advantage of her. At age 22, she contacted the Buffalo diocese, and her complaint has been on file since 1995.

In spite of this, the priest has never been removed from active ministry — until this week, three days after The Buffalo News broke the story of McIntyre’s abuse. Now the bishop is re-opening the case. This comes in the wake of a sex abuse scandal that has rocked the diocese in recent months, with the bishop announcing a victims compensation fund to pay those harmed by priests.

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ASHLEIGH FORCE

May 11, 2018

Redress. The Anglican Diocese of Tasmania has included two local churches in a preliminary list of properties proposed for sale.

St Paul’s Church in Stanley and St Bartholomew’s Church in Forest are among the 108 properties proposed for sale by the Anglican Church in Tasmania to form a redress fund.

The fund will cover $8 million in liability payments to survivors of child sexual abuse in the church.

Reverend Richard Condie, Anglican Bishop of Tasmania, said the fund would be formed from congregation and church contributions as well as profits made from the sale of properties.

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CHILE
Yahoo!

Paulina ABRAMOVICH

May 11, 2018

Santiago (AFP) – Around 30 Chilean bishops have begun arriving in Rome for what is widely expected to be a dressing-down by Pope Francis over years of sexual abuse within the Chilean Church.

The bishops were joining Francis at the Vatican “with humility and hope,” the Chilean Bishops Conference said Thursday, ahead of talks beginning Monday that are likely to result in a major shake-up of the Chilean hierarchy.

Francis summoned the bishops to Rome in an April 12 letter saying he intended to discuss an investigation into an alleged cover-up by Bishop Juan Barros of abuse by pedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s.

He requested their assistance in finding measures “to repair the scandal as much as possible and restore justice.”

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FLORIDA
Patch

By D’Ann Lawrence White, Patch Staff

May 10, 2018

PLANT CITY, FL – Hillsborough County Sheriff’s detectives are continuing to investigate accusations of sexual abuse by a Dover Baptist church deacon to determine if there are any other victims.

David Kenneth Buser Sr., 72, of 604 N. Forbes Road, Plant City, remains in jail in lieu of a $600,000 bond after he was arrested Monday, May 7, and charged with sexually abusing two teen girls over a 10-year period.

Buser is a former deacon and Sunday school teacher at New Hope Freewill Baptist Church in Dover. Both girls knew Buser when the abuse reportedly began, according to the sheriff’s office.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Larry Celona, Tina Moore and Max Jaeger

May 10, 2018

A major political donor and president of the Boro Park Shomrim safety patrol was arrested on Thursday for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl, police said.

Cops nabbed Jacob Daskal, 59, at about 12:30 p.m. in his Brooklyn home, where he allegedly raped the teen between August and November of last year, police said.

Investigators are probing whether the abuse lasted longer, according to sources.

He is being charged with third-degree rape, forcible touching, sex abuse, criminal sex act and acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, police said.

Daskal is the president of the politically connected Brooklyn South Safety Patrol which acts as a volunteer auxiliary police force in conjunction with the NYPD.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

May 10, 2018

While Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is touting the fact that two Franciscan friars accepted guilty pleas on charges of endangering the welfare of children, we believe the punishment brought by the legal bargaining is too soft for these men who allowed children to be in the presence of a known pedophile.

The Revs. Robert D’Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli – of the Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception – assigned Brother Stephen Baker to duties where he could be in contact with young people, even after learning that he had a history of sexual abuse.

Blair County Judge Jolene G. Kopriva sentenced Criscitelli and D’Aversa to

five years’ probation and fined them $1,000 each – the maximum for misdemeanor endangerment given the admissions they made.

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CHILE
Reuters

May 10, 2018

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile’s Roman Catholic Church said on Thursday that more than 30 bishops would meet next week with Pope Francis in Rome in an attempt to make amends for the damage caused by a sex abuse scandal that has long plagued the country’s clergy.

Days ahead of the meeting, Chile’s Episcopal Conference, a group of bishops that leads the Church, said in a statement that it felt the same “pain and embarrassment” expressed in April by Pope Francis after meeting with victims of Fernando Karadima, a former Chilean priest accused of pedophilia.

Chile’s bishops will travel to Rome from May 14-17.

“Pope Francis’ embrace [of these victims] serves as an example for the Church as it confronts accusations of abuse of conscience, sexual abuse and any other abuse of power that may have occurred in our communities,” the conference said.

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VATICAN CITY
NewsOK

By NICOLE WINFIELD

May 10, 2018

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Chilean bishops are arriving in Rome ahead of an expected brow-beating next week from Pope Francis, who says he was misled about a bishop at the center of the Chilean Church’s sex abuse scandal.

One top-ranked churchman is apparently not coming: Cardinal Javier Errazuriz, retired archbishop of Santiago who sits on Francis’ kitchen cabinet. Abuse survivors have laid much of the blame for the scandal on Errazuriz, whom they accuse of discrediting victims and covering up abuse rather than punishing pedophiles.

Errazuriz was quoted by Chile’s La Tercera paper as saying he wasn’t coming for personal reasons.

The executive committee of the Chilean bishops conference said Thursday the 30-plus bishops were coming with “humility and hope.” They praised Francis’ recent meetings with victims of the Rev. Fernando Karadima of Chile, saying his example “showed us the path that the Chilean church is called to follow.”

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By ROCCO PARASCANDOLA
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

MAY 10, 2018

An official with an influential neighborhood watch group in Brooklyn has been charged with raping a 16-year-old girl, police said Thursday.

Jacob Daskal, 59, who runs the Shomrim’s Brooklyn South Safety Patrol, a Hasidic neighborhood watch group, abused the girl between August and November of last year, police said.

Daskal was charged with rape and criminal sex act, plus three misdemeanors — forcible touching, sex abuse and acting in a manner injurious to a child.

Shomrim’s links to law enforcement have been a subplot in the ongoing federal probe involving two businessmen and a number of NYPD supervisors. In 2016, the FBI investigated what role the supervisors may have played in securing gun licenses for members of Shomrim.

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NEW YORK
WKBW

May 10, 2018

The recent reveals of Catholic priests who have been accused of sexual abuse show cases that date back decades.

But why did it take this long for the information to be made public?

Below are key figures in the Buffalo diocese dating back to the 1970s. Our I-Team has what they knew and when and the steps they took to keep the abuse out of the public eye.

Click on the people below to learn more about their role in covering up sexual abuse in the Catholic Church

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Courier

05.10.2018

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The bishops of Chile will be at the Vatican May 14-17 for meetings with Pope Francis to discuss their handling of clerical sex abuse allegations and, as Pope Francis had said, “to repair the scandal as much as possible and re-establish justice.”

The pope called all the active bishops of the country to the meeting, but also invited retired bishops. However, the Chilean media have reported that Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, retired archbishop of Santiago and a member of Pope Francis’ international Council of Cardinals, will not attend.

The three Chilean abuse survivors who met Pope Francis at the Vatican April 27-29 accused the cardinal of covering up the abuse committed by Father Fernando Karadima, who in 2011 was found guilty by a Vatican tribunal and sentenced to a life of prayer and penance. The survivors also claimed the cardinal was an active participant in campaigns to cast doubts on their honesty and their motives in coming forward.

A statement published by the Chilean bishops’ conference May 10 confirmed the dates of the Vatican meeting, but did not provide details about how many of the bishops would participate.

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UNITED STATES
NPR

[with audio]

May 10, 2018

ALEX LEFF

In January, Pope Francis traveled to South America to spread peace and hope. Many cheered him on, but he also wound up causing emotional pain when he dismissed accusations that Chilean clergy had covered up sexual abuse.

In the weeks that followed, the Vatican’s leading sex crimes investigator looked into the allegations, and the pope did an about-face: He acknowledged making mistakes.

Now, Francis has been apologizing and listening to some of those he offended most.

Last month, three men who had been molested by a Chilean priest in their youth were invited to the Vatican by Francis so he could speak with them personally and ask their forgiveness.

One of the Chilean abuse survivors, Juan Carlos Cruz, now a communications professional in Philadelphia, describes how moving the experience was for him.

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CHILE
La Tercera

9 MAY 2018

[Bishop Juan Barros is in Europe and confirms that he will attend the meeting with the Pope.]

A medida que se acerca la fecha del encuentro de los obispos en el Vaticano, poco a poco los miembros de la Conferencia Episcopal han comenzado a trasladarse a Roma.

En ese contexto, hasta este miércoles la asistencia del obispo de Osorno, Juan Barros, seguía siendo motivo de dudas. Si bien algunos cercanos a la diócesis aseguraban que su participación en la reunión estaba confirmada, otras versiones sostenían que el obispo se excusaría de asistir, especialmente luego de que hace algunas semanas se informara, mediante un comunicado de prensa, que el obispo se encontraba con dificultades de salud.

Sin embargo, fuentes cercanas confirmaron a La Tercera que el prelado salió de Chile hace algunos días, que ya se encuentra en Europa y que estaría próximo a desplazarse al Vaticano.

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NEW YORK
WSKG

May 10, 2019

By Gabe Altieri

BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) – Some people abused as children by clergy in the Syracuse Roman Catholic Diocese must decide by Wednesday whether to participate in the diocese’s compensation program, or wait to see if state lawmakers pass a bill that would extend the statute of limitations, so they could sue later.

The Diocese of Syracuse includes the Binghamton and Cortland areas.

That bill is the Child Victims Act. Besides extending the statute of limitations for people abused as children to sue, it would also open a one-year window, so that those previously barred through the statute of limitations to bring their case to court could do so.

“But that’s not the law and so we’re stuck with what we have,” said Attorney Mike Reck, who represents victims in the Syracuse Diocese.

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CHILE
National Catholic Reporter

May 10, 2018

by Joshua J. McElwee

Under increasing scrutiny about the handling of clergy sexual abuse cases over decades, Chile’s Catholic bishops say that Pope Francis’ recent emotional meetings at the Vatican with three abuse victims “shows us the path that the Chilean Church is called to follow.”

In a May 10 statement from the standing committee of their bishops’ conference, the Chilean prelates also confirm they will be meeting with Francis over four days May 14-17. The pope called the bishops to Rome en masse last month.

The committee says it “wanted to declare by means of a statement the disposition with which [the bishops] answer the call of Peter.”

“We reiterate our union with Pope Francis in the pain and shame expressed about the crimes committed against minors and adults in church settings,” the bishops say.

“We value the recent meetings of the Holy Father with three of the victims of Fernando Karadima,” the prelates continue. “The attitude of Pope Francis to welcome them sets an example … to follow in the face of accusations of abuse of conscience, sexual abuse and, ultimately, against any abuse of power that may occur within our communities.”

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KENYA
Daily Nation

MAY 10, 2018

By KITAVI MUTUA

A Kitui court on Wednesday summoned several witnesses to testify in a case against a Catholic priest, who is alleged to have impregnated a student and attempted to kill her.

The witnesses were summoned after the prosecution expressed frustration that they were unwilling to testify despite having recorded statements with police over the incident.

Father Japheth Mwove Kimanzi is accused of assaulting and causing grievous harm to the girl and her child as he attempted to cover-up infidelity due to his celibacy vows.

ADJOURNED

Chief Magistrate Maryanne Murage summoned the witnesses after they failed to attend the hearing, making it to be adjourned to June 28. She warned of consequences if they disobey the court.

The witnesses include police officers and villagers who rescued the student and took her to hospital after the alleged attack by the priest, and doctors who treated her.

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CHILE
Commonweal

Francis, the Chilean Bishops & the Abuse Crisis

By Rita Ferrone

May 10, 2018

When Pope Francis appointed Juan Barros Madrid bishop of Osorno, Chile, in 2015, violent protests broke out in the streets and in the cathedral at his installation Mass. Barros was a protégé of the notorious priest Fernando Karadima, a charismatic and influential figure in the church of Santiago who had engaged in the sexual abuse of minors over the course of three decades. Karadima was sentenced by an ecclesiastical court in 2011 to a life of prayer and penitence. Yet four of Karadima’s favorites, who had turned a blind eye to his abusive behavior and defended him when he was initially accused, were later made bishops; Barros was one of those four. When Pope Francis proclaimed Barros’s innocence and expressed belief in his side of the story over the victims’, it immediately became an international scandal.

Much is at stake in this troubling case. It is not only about Pope Francis and his grasp of the abuse crisis, although this is very important. It is also about whether and how a local church hierarchy can credibly reform itself.

On April 28 and 29, Francis, in a spirit of “reparation,” met personally with three abuse survivors who’d blown the whistle on Karadima. They had called out Barros and other bishops early and often for their complicity in failing to stop the abuse. These were the victims whose voices Francis could have heard but didn’t at first because he was misled by informants who gave him a partial and biased account of the affair. Now, Francis has spent an extended period with these survivors, listening to their stories, expressing contrition for his own role in the problem, and seeking their advice.

This gesture, although necessary and heartening, was the easy part. The hard part comes in mid-May (14-17), when Francis meets with all the Chilean bishops in Rome.* It will be a day of reckoning for these bishops, and a lot depends on how it all plays out, because the deceit concerning clerical sex abuse, and the denial of responsibility for the culture that enabled it, go to the top of the Chilean hierarchy. This is not just about the fate of one bishop. It’s about the way the whole system works.

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

NORTH CAROLINA
ABC 11

By Michael Perchick

Friday, May 04, 2018

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — A Durham rabbi has resigned following a complaint of a sexual nature, according to an attorney representing Judea Reform Congregation.

This is the second complaint against Rabbi Larry Bach over his career. Back in 2014, prior to joining Judea Reform Congregation, Bach was reprimanded by the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

Valerie Johnson, who is representing Judea Reform Congregation, said the Judea Reform Congregation Board found out about this latest complaint on April 6 and acted as quickly as possible to investigate.

In a letter to the Judea Reform Congregation, Rabbi Bach admitted that he did not follow the terms of his prior reprimand. He also said the complaint was made by a non-member of the congregation.

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NEW YORK
North Country Public Radio

by Brian Mann (Adirondack Bureau Chief) , in Ogensburg, NY

May 10, 2018 — Bishop Terry LaValley grew up in the Plattsburgh area and says the priest abuse scandal has been devastating. His decisions shape the experience of dozens of victims and define his own legacy.

Yesterday we heard from Bishop Terry LaValley about his decision not release the name of dozens of former Roman Catholic priests in the North Country who faced credible allegations of sexual misconduct.

This morning, we’re going to hear more from Bishop LaValley about how the Diocese of Ogdensburg is still coping with the clergy abuse scandal more than a decade after it erupted.

The Church has created a new program to compensate victims in the North Country, but Bishop LaValley is also opposing a measure that would make it easier for victims to sue in court.

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KANSAS
KSHB

Sam Hartle

, May 9, 2018

OLATHE, Kan. – The Reverend of the Divine Mercy Parish in Gardner has been charged with theft and computer crimes.

Johnson County, Kansas prosecutors charged Rev. Joseph Cramer with stealing at least $25,000 from the parish between Nov. 16, 2015, and May 2016. Cramer also faces two counts of computer crimes.

Cramer was booked into the Johnson County Jail Thursday and posted a $5,000 bond shortly thereafter.

One of his bond conditions is that Cramer is not allowed inside of a casino.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PETER SMITH
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

MAY 9, 2018

The Diocese of Erie’s past and present bishops are defending their supervision of a priest who was arrested Tuesday on charges of sexual abuse and who stayed in ministry for eight years after admitting his attraction to boys and to sending them sexually themed texts.

The statements came a day after the arrest of the Rev. David L. Poul­son of Oil City on charges of sexually abusing two boys between 2002 and 2010.

Both bishops sought to rebut Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s statement that “for years, the Diocese of Erie turned a blind eye to child abuse by Father David Poulson.”

Erie Bishop Emeritus Donald W. Trautman said in a written statement there “was no cover-up of sexual abuse.”

Current Bishop Lawrence Persico said it was the diocese itself, based on new information, that provided information to authorities in January 2018 that led to Father Poulson’s arrest.

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

WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

May 9, 2018

MADISON – Under fire for defending the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, candidate for governor Matt Flynn on Wednesday said he did not know at the time that a priest convicted of molesting a boy had gone on to get a license as a counselor.

“If I had known, I would have intervened with that licensing agency and said, ‘No way, why didn’t you do a criminal background check?’ ” Flynn told reporters Wednesday.

Flynn — one of 10 candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor — was responding to criticism from victims advocates for his handling of the church’s treatment of Father James Arimond, who was convicted of fourth-degree sexual assault of a teenager in 1990.

“Wisconsin deserves so much better than this,” said a statement from Sarah Pearson, co-chairwoman of Women’s March Wisconsin. “At minimum, Wisconsin’s next governor should be someone who can be trusted to protect children from abusers. Matt Flynn is not that person.”

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FLORIDA
CBS 12

May 10, 2018

by Jim Saunders/The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —
Saying judges cannot become entangled in church administrative decisions, an appeals court Wednesday blocked a Catholic priest’s defamation lawsuit against the Diocese of Palm Beach.

The lawsuit, filed by priest John Gallagher, came after series of events that started with allegations in early 2015 that another priest at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in West Palm Beach had shown child pornography to a 14-year-old boy. The other priest, Joseph Palimattom, was arrested, pleaded guilty and was ultimately deported to his native India, according to Wednesday’s ruling in the 4th District Court of Appeal.

After the incident involving the other priest, Gallagher was not offered the job of pastor of Holy Name and was reassigned to another parish, a transfer he did not accept. He alleged that the diocese tried to cover up the child-pornography incident and that he was reassigned for not going along, Wednesday’s ruling said. Gallagher, who is from Northern Ireland, also made accusations against the diocese during an interview on Irish radio.

In response, diocese officials made critical comments about Gallagher, who alleged that he had been defamed because of statements about him being a liar, unfit to be a priest and in need of professional help, Wednesday’s ruling said.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com

May 10, 2018

The Archdiocese of Agana on Thursday acknowledged the latest allegations of child sexual abuse and lawsuit filed against the church this week, which brings to 168 the total number of clergy sex abuse cases in local and federal courts since 2016.

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes, in a statement, extended prayers for accuser A.A. and all people who have come forward recently with claims of sexual abuse by Guam Catholic clergy or lay person.

A.A., in his May 9 lawsuit, said the now deceased Father Antonio C. Cruz, layman James Untalan and an altar server sexually abused him while he was an altar boy at Saint Anthony Catholic Church in Tamuning around 1981 or 1982.

The archbishop asks all Catholics “to be ever vigilant in our duty to protect all children entrusted to the care of the Church.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Go Erie

By Ed Palattella

May 10, 2018

Now-former bishop Trautman wrote 2010 memo on complaints about Rev. David Poulson, charged Tuesday with abusing two boys from 2002 to 2010. Bishop Persico, who took over in 2012, said he learned of memo in January.

On Tuesday, when he announced the filing of child sexual abuse charges against a 64-year-old priest in the Catholic Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro provided a rare look into how the diocese works at the highest levels.

On Wednesday, that look expanded.

The diocese’s current and retired bishops explained their involvement in the case of the priest, the Rev. David Poulson, accused of molesting two boys in separate and repeated incidents between 2002 and 2010.

As Bishop Lawrence Persico and retired Bishop Donald W. Trautman commented, they focused on what was one of the most explosive pieces of evidence that Shapiro disclosed against Poulson on Tuesday — a 2010 memo that Trautman wrote about complaints he had received about Poulson’s contacts with minor boys.

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

NEW YORK
Buffalo News

By News Editorial Board

May 9, 2018

Entering into a fight is sometimes the only way to get what you want. Other times, it just leaves you with a black eye. That’s what is happening to the Catholic Church as it fights to keep some victims of sexual abuse from seeking redress.

A story in Monday’s Buffalo News detailed how the New York State Catholic Conference spent $1.8 million over six years on lobbying in Albany, including a push to stop the Child Victims Act, a bill that would make it easier for victims of child molestation to file lawsuits or bring criminal charges against their abusers.

The bill, which passed the Assembly last week but faces long odds for approval in the state Senate, would create a one-year window in which victims could file civil lawsuits for alleged abuse, bypassing the statute of limitations.

Why would a religious organization spend so much on trying to fight such a law? To find the answer, follow the money.

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UNITED STATES
Watertown Daily Times

WASHINGTON POST

MAY 9, 2018

WASHINGTON – The Boy Scouts of America, which acknowledged last year that it has taken a financial hit from settlements in child abuse cases, has lobbied against proposals in multiple states that would expose the organization to more lawsuits, according to victim advocates and proponents of the legislation.

The group retained lobbyists in Georgia and New York, where lawmakers say such action helped stall proposals that included “lookback” windows allowing adults to take legal action over decades-old claims. It has hired lobbyists in Michigan, where similar proposals are being debated. The bills would give adults who were abused as children a second chance to file suit if they missed their first opportunity under state law.

The Boy Scouts’ lobbying push comes as the 108-year-old group, an institution long associated with leadership training and outdoorsmanship for American boys, sees pressure on multiple fronts. In addition to declining membership, the group has faced financial uncertainty and public relations problems related to accusations of child sex abuse against former adult volunteers.

Those accusations have led to dozens of lawsuits against the Boy Scouts in recent years, some of which have resulted in expensive settlements. The group’s exposure to lawsuits over sex abuse has drawn comparisons with the Catholic Church.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Your Erie

May 09, 2018

Follow-up statement from Bishop Lawrence Persico regarding the Poulson case

Although I released a statement yesterday, I wanted to speak with you in person today regarding the charges that have been filed against Father David Poulson.

I announced on Feb. 13 that I had received credible allegations against Father Poulson regarding the sexual abuse of minors. Following our Policy for the Protection of Children, I immediately turned the matter over to law enforcement and have cooperated with the state attorney general throughout the process that led to yesterday’s arrest.

I want to state, unequivocally, that I was not aware of any concerns regarding Father Poulson until I received those allegations in January of this year. In addition, it was not until I received and acted upon the allegation earlier this year that I learned of the memo that had been written in 2010.

Let me give you a brief overview of what I knew and when:

I* came to the Diocese of Erie in late 2012. Among many initial responsibilities and priorities, I asked to be updated on any clergy abuse cases. Father Poulson’s name was not mentioned.

* Early in my tenure, I contacted District Attorney Jack Daneri to review our clergy files, so that I could be assured there were no cases that needed to be revisited. As you know, this process was then interrupted when the grand jury investigation began in September of 2016.

* Finally, when the grand jury was convened, I decided in addition to responding to the subpoena, I would ask K&L Gates law firm to do a thorough review of all of our files and procedures. They were still in the process of reviewing all our files from the last 70 years when I received the allegation regarding Father Poulson this past January and asked them to focus on him. It was at that time that they brought the memo to my attention.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Jewish Week

HANNAH DREYFUS

May 9, 2018

n anticipation of the first summer since the emergence of the national #MeToo movement, the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) — the largest Jewish camping umbrella organization — announced the launch of an initiative to help prevent sexual harassment, abuse and misconduct at camp.

Titled the Shmira (Hebrew for “guardian”) Initiative, the effort was unveiled in March at FJC’s biennial Leaders Assembly, in an effort to better equip camps to “address these issues head on, with immediate action in conjunction with parents and law enforcement authorities,” the organization announced via press release at the time. An initial $100,000 is intended to support the development of staff training and virtual learning opportunities for the foundation’s 300 member camps.

But in a recent interview with The Jewish Week, FJC’s chief executive, Jeremy Fingerman, suggested that the new effort, at least in its early stage, will address “changing camp culture” rather than focusing on solidifying camps’ “best practices” when it comes to handling allegations of sexual abuse and harassment.

The first organization to sign on to the initiative, Moving Traditions, a group that works with teens to challenge sexism and gender norms, does not deal with abuse prevention.

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