ABUSE TRACKER

CALIFORNIA
Daily Democrat

A judge refused Wednesday to exclude a former Woodland priest’s admissions of child molestation to church officials, according to the Sacramento Bee.

The Rev. Uriel Ojeda — former parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mercy parish in Redding — is facing seven counts of molesting a girl under the age of 14 in Sacramento and Shasta counties. Ojeda also served as a priest at Woodland’s Holy Rosary Catholic Church from 2007 to 2009, when the counts allegedly took place.

Ojeda had tried to have the statements ruled inadmissable on grounds he made them under the protection of a clergy-penitent privilege, according to the Bee. Ojeda said it never crossed his mind that his discussions about his alleged misconduct might be turned over to police.

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ISRAEL
The Jerusalem Post

07/04/2013

By AHARON WEXLER
It is my hope and prayer that the election this summer of new chief rabbis will be used as a opportunity to clean house.

The disturbing allegations against Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger have brought the rabbinate in Israel to a new low.

The rabbinate, an institution one would hope would serve as a bridge between Judaism and the state, has been one of the chief culprits in distancing Jews from their heritage and their God in heaven.

It used to be that Cyprus was the destination last resort for couples seeking to be married because one of them was not Jewish. Now, even fully kosher Jews are opting to be married abroad to escape the draconian scrutiny of the rabbis here in Israel. It is for this very reason that organizations such as Tzohar have found much success in the Israeli public for doing what the rabbinate has failed to do; namely create a welcoming environment for Jews to celebrate life-cycle events.

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IRELAND
RTE News

President Michael D Higgins has congratulated survivors of Magdelene Laundries for making society listen to the terrible wrongs done to them.

He told a group of the women at Áras an Uachtaráin that he was pleased the justice of their cause had led to public acknowledgement of the enormous wrong they suffered at the hands of the State and society.

A group of 39 so-called “Magdalene women” met President Higgins at the request of Steven O’Riordan, spokesman for the Magdalene Survivors Together group.

Ten travelled from Britain for the occasion which many said they could never have predicted even in their wildest dreams.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

04 JULY 2013

PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins said the recognition by the State of its failures in the Magdalene Laundries was due to the “indefatigable efforts” of those incarcerated.

The President welcomed women detained in Magdalene Laundries to Aras an Uachtarain just days after they criticised a multi-million compensation package on offer from the State as part of a redress scheme. President Higgins said the story of the Magdalene women was a tale of a “terrible wrong” and a “failure” to respect the human rights and dignity of around 10,000 women and girls.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Kritisches-Netzwerk

Von Wolfgang Blaschka

Ausgesuchte Knabenstimmen zum Engelsklang eines berühmten Chores zu verschmelzen war das eine. Das andere war das strenge Strafregime unserer sadistischen Präfekten und Direktoren. Die meisten waren Priester. Die Gottgeweihten bewirtschafteten einen quirligen Tümpel quakender Frösche. Das waren wir. Dann neigten sie sich herab, und siehe da: Im Spiegel der Wasserfläche wurden sie immer öfter zu giftigen Kröten. Wir hatten Angst vor ihnen. Manchmal wurden sie schwach und fischten im trüben Gewässer. Sie, die über uns standen, und die Rohrstöcke sausen ließen, um uns zu dirigieren und abzurichten. Und gelegentlich tauchten sie ein wie in einen Jungbrunnen. Die Opfer von damals sind heute Mitte Fünfzig. Sie befinden sich immer noch im Bann ihrer früheren Qualen.

Einen habe ich getroffen, einen Schauspieler, der im Gespräch beim Kaffeetrinken stotterte. Als ich nachfragte, wie das denn zusammengehe und woher das komme, meinte er nur lakonisch: „Domspatzen“. – „Was, Du auch?“ Und er erzählte mir von seiner Vergewaltigung im Arbeitszimmer des Direktors in Etterzhausen: „Er legte mich vornüber auf den Schreibtisch, zog mir die Hosen herunter und fi….e mich von hinten.“ Klare Aussage. Gar nicht gestottert. Das Stottern war auch nie auf der Bühne, vor Publikum, mit vorgegebener Rolle, nicht einmal bei den Proben. Nur im normalen Leben in privaten Gesprächen, wo er nie wusste, was der nächste Moment brächte und ihm abverlangte, da würde er ins Schlingern geraten. Eine echte Verdrehung im Verhalten, das die meisten genau andersrum an den Tag legten: Sie würden unsicher vor größeren Gruppen, vor einem Auditorium, vor der Öffentlichkeit.

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OSTERREICH
Osterreich.at

Er war wie der Teufel im Talar, seine Zöglinge nannten Pater Alfons M. (79) nur den Folterknecht. Über 20 Jahre unterhielt der Konviktsdirektor des Stiftes Kremsmünster ein wahres Terror-Regime. Seine Schüler wurden gequält, geschlagen und sexuell missbraucht. Mit zwölf Jahren Haft quittierten dies die Richter am Mittwoch im Landesgericht Steyr. Das Urteil ist nicht rechtskräftig, es gilt die Unschuldsvermutung.

Pater erklärte
 Buben für vogelfrei
Gewalt und sexuelle Übergriffe an 39 Zöglingen ermittelte die Staatsanwaltschaft, 24 davon mündeten schließlich in der Anklage. Unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit berichteten die Opfer von damals schließlich von Schlägen mit einer Ochsenpeitsche, von Fußtritten und dem Herausreißen von Haaren. Gelegentlich soll der Pater einen der Buben sogar für vogelfrei erklärt haben. Die Mitschüler seien ermuntert worden, den Betreffenden zu drangsalieren.

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VATIKAN
Zeit

Der neue Papst geht gegen Geldwäsche und Korruption vor, hartnäckiger als seine Vorgänger. Sein erstes Ziel: die Papstbank IOR.

Der Name klingt nach frommer, karitativer Arbeit. “Institut für religiöse Werke”, kurz IOR, nennt sich das Geldhaus, das seit mehr als 70 Jahren seine Geschäfte unter dem Dach des Vatikans betreibt. Seit Langem steht die päpstliche Bank unter dem Verdacht, dunkle Geschäfte zu betreiben: illegale Parteienfinanzierung, Geldwäsche, Korruption. Die Bank gilt als eines der mächtigsten und undurchsichtigsten Geldhäuser der Welt. Von jenen Bankern, denen Einblick in die Geschäfte des Instituts gewährt wurde, kamen mehrere auf ungeklärte Weise zu Tode – unter ihnen der Bankangestellte Roberto Calvi im Jahr 1982 und der Jurist Michele Sindona vier Jahre später.

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COLORADO
Denver Post

COLORADO SPRINGS — The Rev. Charles Robert “Bob” Manning was acquitted Wednesday evening of charges that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old boy and of child porn counts but found guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The jury announced the verdict in the 4th Judicial District Court.

Formerly the pastor at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Colorado Springs, Manning was accused of coaxing the boy into a series of sex acts during a booze- and pot-fueled encounter in the fall of 2011. He retired in May 2012 when the allegations became public, and after posting $10,000 bond, he obtained a judge’s permission to move into a home for retired priests in the St. Louis area.

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VATICAN CITY
GlobalPost

AFP

The Vatican on Wednesday said it had joined a global network of government agencies fighting against money laundering, as part of its efforts to reform its scandal-ridden finances.

The move was a recognition of the Vatican’s “systematic efforts in tracking and fighting money laundering,” said Rene Bruelhart, head of the Vatican’s Financial Intelligence Authority.

The Vatican said in a statement that the Egmont Group, which consists of more than 130 national financial intelligence units, had announced the move at a meeting in South Africa.

Membership of the network “facilitates the exchange of information in the fight against financial crime,” the statement said.

The Vatican is undertaking reforms in a bid to be included on a “white list” of countries combating money laundering compiled by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Read the letter to one of his victims here

Read a letter to Reverand Pedro Bantigue here

Letters presented to the Special Commission of Inquiry

By JASON GORDON July 4, 2013

THESE are the letters that show how much the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese knew about the behaviour of paedophile priest Denis McAlinden.

For decades, the region’s most senior clergy knew about his offending, shared information among themselves, and became increasingly worried that victims would go to police.

They saw fit to ostracise McAlinden, pictured, strip him of his priestly duties and send him overseas, even warning senior international clergy of his tendencies, but they never took the information to police.

The letters are among dozens so far tendered to the Special Commission of Inquiry in Newcastle. Commissioner Margaret Cunneen on Thursday agreed to them being made public.

In one, a psychiatrist hired to evaluate McAlinden’s state of mind said the priest admitted to becoming ‘‘a little over familiar with children’’.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX From: The Australian July 04, 2013

A NSW POLICE detective failed to pursue a line of inquiry about a pedophile priest that, a decade later, allowed other officers to uncover evidence suggesting the Catholic church knew about these crimes, an inquiry has heard.

In 2002, the NSW special commission of inquiry has heard, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox asked a retired bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, Leo Clarke, if he had any knowledge of two alleged victims of the priest.

The late bishop Clarke replied “No, you would have to ask (the then bishop) Michael Malone about that.”

Detective Fox did not, however, subsequently ask Bishop Malone about the priest, Denis McAlinden, the inquiry heard. Nor did he do so during a formal police interview with the bishop the following year, in which they discussed a different pedophile priest.

During cross-examination of the policeman, Bishop Malone’s barrister, Simon Harben SC, asked “Here was a perfect opportunity for an investigator of your experience to pursue a line of inquiry, wasn’t it?”

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ITALY
Reuters

Thu Jul 4, 2013

By Philip Pullella

SALERNO, Italy (Reuters) – Even though he was known to like to live well, police said they were startled when they entered Monsignor Nunzio Scarano’s apartment after he called them one night in January to report a burglary.

The apartment, in one of Salerno’s most up-market neighborhoods in the city center, was huge, with art lining the walls and hallways divided by Roman-style columns.

Scarano, a Vatican official with close ties to the Vatican bank and who is now in Rome’s Queen of Heaven jail, had called police to report that thieves had stolen part of his art collection.

Interviews with two key chief investigators in different judicial and police departments in Salerno, in southern Italy, and police pictures of the apartment viewed by Reuters give the most detailed picture to date of Scarano’s wealth.

The investigators disclosed that the trove of stolen goods estimated to be worth up to 6 million euro ($7.82 million) included six works by Giorgio de Chirico, one by Renato Guttuso, one attributed to Marc Chagall and pieces of religious art.

“We asked ourselves how did this monsignor come to own this place and possess these expensive works of art,” said a senior investigator in the southern Italian city who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

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ILLINOIS
CBS Chicago

(CBS) – A youth minister at a West Dundee church has been charged with having sexual contact with a minor, according to a release from the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office.

Chad A. Coe, 31, of the 500 block of Dundee Avenue, Elgin, has been charged with one count of criminal sexual assault and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Coe is the Director of Youth Ministry at First Congregational Church of Dundee and had sexual contact with a minor at the church between June 10 and June 14, 2013.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

By Clifford Ward
Special to the Tribune
July 3, 2013

The youth minister of a West Dundee church has been accused of sexual contact with a minor at the church, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office announced Wednesday.

Chad A. Coe, 31, of the 500 block of Dundee Avenue in Elgin, with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, prosecutors said.

Coe, who authorities said is the director of the youth ministry at the First Congregational Church of Dundee, is accused of having sexual contact with a person younger than 18 at the church between June 10 and 14, according to a press release from the state’s attorney’s office.

Officials did not say whether the minor was a participant in one of Coe’s youth programs, but did say Coe was “in a position of trust and/or authority” over the alleged victim.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Elloise Farrow-Smith

An abuse survivor said the Royal Commission into child abuse had given him the chance to pour his heart out for the first time.

Richard ‘Tommy’ Campion said he was sexually and physically abused during the 14 years that he lived at the Church of England North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore.

He spoke with members of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse for two hours yesterday at a Brisbane hotel.

Mr Campion has been battling for recognition from the Anglican Church for 8 years and said this was the first time his pain has had a hearing.

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UNITED STATES
Des Moines Register

Written by
TOM CARNEY

In light of the publicity in recent years about the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, it’s fair to ask, “Is the Catholic Church doing any better in protecting children?”

It appears so.

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, which gathered data for an annual audit of U.S. Catholic dioceses, found “the fewest allegations and victims reported since the data collection for the annual reports began in 2004.”

The Annual Report on the Implementation of the Charter for Protection of Children and Young People says that all but one U.S. diocese — Lincoln, Neb. — are compliant with its 17-point charter. The charter is described as “a comprehensive set of procedures” established by American bishops in 2002 “for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy.” It includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability and prevention of acts of abuse.

Although one case is too many, it’s noteworthy that the incidence of sexual abuse by priests is mostly in the past, though we can expect a continuation of reporting of past incidents. The report notes that “68 percent of allegations made in 2011 were of incidents from 1960-1984,” and the most common period for allegations was 1975-1979. The report also found that most of the accused have died or been removed from ministry, and many had been accused previously.

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ILLINOIS
Daily Herald

By Harry Hitzeman
A 31-year-old youth minister at a West Dundee church has been charged with having sex at the church with a minor.

Chad A. Coe, of Elgin, was arrested Tuesday night and faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. Coe, the director of youth ministry at First Congregational Church of Dundee, was arrested after the youth’s mother alerted authorities, according to the Kane County state’s attorney’s office.

Coe, of the 500 block of Dundee Avenue, is charged with using his position of trust and authority to have sex with a minor between June 10 and 14, prosecutors said.

He is charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, authorities said. The youth is between 13 and 17 years old, according to court records.

Aaron James, the senior pastor at the church, 900 S. Eighth St., said Coe has been placed on administrative leave and the church is “cooperating fully with every aspect of the ongoing investigation.”

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NEW YORK
IrishCentral

By JAMES O’SHEA, IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Thursday, July 4, 2013

The New York Times has launched a strong attack on Cardinal TImothy Dolan over his alleged shifting of $57 million in funds when he ran the Milwaukee diocese to avoid paying off child abuse victims.

The New York Times editorial called the Cardinal’s actions “shocking” and stated Milwaukee “church officials kept criminal behavior secret from civil authority,”citing evidence newly available in 6,000 pages of documents.

The hard hitting editorial states “Tragic as the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church has been, it is shocking to discover that Cardinal Timothy Dolan, while archbishop of Milwaukee, moved $57 million off the archdiocesan books into a cemetery trust fund six years ago in order to protect the money from damage suits by victims of abuse by priests.”

Cardinal Dolan, has denied the allegation and described the charges as “old and discredited” allegation and “malarkey.”

However The Times says the new documents make clear “he sought and received fast approval from the Vatican to transfer the money just as the Wisconsin Supreme Court was about to open the door to damage suits by victims raped and abused as children by Roman Catholic clergy.”

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

[cemetery trust transfer]

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Published: July 3, 2013

Tragic as the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church has been, it is shocking to discover that Cardinal Timothy Dolan, while archbishop of Milwaukee, moved $57 million off the archdiocesan books into a cemetery trust fund six years ago in order to protect the money from damage suits by victims of abuse by priests.
Related

Cardinal Dolan, now the archbishop of New York, has denied shielding the funds as an “old and discredited” allegation and “malarkey.” But newly released court documents make it clear that he sought and received fast approval from the Vatican to transfer the money just as the Wisconsin Supreme Court was about to open the door to damage suits by victims raped and abused as children by Roman Catholic clergy.

“I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability,” Cardinal Dolan wrote rather cynically in his 2007 letter to the Vatican. The letter was released by the Milwaukee Archdiocese as part of a bankruptcy court fight with lawyers in 575 cases of damage claims. The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011. The law bars a debtor from transferring funds in a way that protects one class of creditors over another.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Nic Rigby
BBC News

A former resident of a Catholic orphanage at the centre of historic child abuse allegations has waived his right to anonymity to urge others to contact the police.

Tony Walsh, 65, was sent to St Francis Boys Home in Shefford, Bedfordshire, in the 1950s.

He says he was sexually abused by Father John Ryan at the home.

His allegations led to the priest’s arrest in 2003 but he was released without charge and died in 2008.

Mr Walsh, who was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk but now lives in Spain, is the third man to inform the BBC he was sexually and physically abused by Father Ryan.

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AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

By ELLE WATSON July 4, 2013

The whistleblower cop at the centre of a Hunter sex abuse inquiry said he never believed Bishop Michael Malone’s claim that he did not intentionally forewarn a paedophile priest about a police investigation.

The Commission of Inquiry heard the former Newcastle and Maitland Bishop met with the priest James Fletcher at his Branxton presbytery in 2002 and told him there had been a formal complaint of child sexual abuse against him [Fletcher].

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox told the inquiry, Bishop Malone told him the reason for his visit was to check the welfare of Fletcher who was upset.

In a statement to the Chief Inspector, Bishop Malone said Fletcher did not know about the investigation before their meeting.

“Why would he go out there and console him about something he didn’t know?” Chief Inspector Fox asked.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Renew America

By Matt C. Abbott

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has released over 6000 documents pertaining to its clergy sex offenders. I commend Archbishop Jerome Listecki for his candor; he wrote (in part):

…Attorneys for abuse survivors have determined that these documents demonstrate how the archdiocese handled allegations of sexual abuse, responded to reports and dealt with offending priests. It will be painful on many levels. It may contribute to re-living the abuse of victims at the hands of priests. It will disturb the faithful who have placed trust and confidence in archdiocesan leadership. It will embarrass and shame the good priests who have offered their lives in service to the church.

Shortly after I announced the decision to release the documents related to diocesan priests with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, I offered an Atonement Mass at St. John Vianney Parish in Brookfield. A person approached me after Mass and expressed appreciation for the decision. The individual believed it would aid in the healing process of victim survivors. I pray that the release of the documents achieves that goal in some small way….

The documents can be viewed at the archdiocese’s website, www.archmil.org.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Dan Cox

An inquiry has heard a paedophile priest was allowed to continue running private reading classes at Catholic schools in the New South Wales Hunter Valley despite being accused of child sexual abuse.

The inquiry is investigating senior policeman Peter Fox’s claims the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese covered-up abuse by two priests, James Fletcher and Denis McAlinden.

Documents tendered this week show senior church officials knew about the abuse by both men but did not tell police.

Detective Chief Inspector Fox said all of the documents would have helped with his investigations.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Dan Cox

A NSW inquiry has heard a paedophile priest was allowed to continue running private reading classes at Hunter Valley Catholic schools despite being accused of child sexual abuse.

The special commission of inquiry at Newcastle Supreme Court is investigating whistleblower police officer Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox’s claims the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese covered up abuse by two priests, James Fletcher and Denis McAlinden.

Inspector Fox has told the commission that in 2003, the bishop of Maitland-Newcastle at the time, Michael Malone, “defied his suggestion” to have Fletcher stood down as a priest while the abuse investigation was underway.

Inspector Fox said he strongly suggested the priest have minimal contact with children by moving him to a diocesan office job.

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COLORADO
Gazette

By Lance Benzel Published: July 3, 2013

A Colorado Springs priest whose attorneys painted him as a “prime target for false allegations” was acquitted Wednesday of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old altar boy.

But the Rev. Charles Robert “Bob” Manning, 78, didn’t walk on all counts.

Despite his acquittal on the sex assault counts and child pornography charges, the now-retired clergyman was found guilty of two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a felony alleging that he supplied the boy with pot and alcohol.

Manning could face two to six years in prison, but is eligible for probation. Sentencing is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sept. 26. He remains free on bond, and must report to the courthouse probation office Monday to begin requirements for a pre-sentencing report.

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COLORADO
KRDO

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –
A former Colorado Springs priest has been found not guilty of sexual assault on a child.

Father Charles Manning, 78, used to be the pastor at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church

Manning was accused of sexually assaulting a child who was interested in joining the Catholic Church in 2011.

During the trial, Manning’s former executive assistant said Manning gave the victim private classes, but said she never noticed anything inappropriate about the relationship.

A Catholic Victim’s Assistance coordinator testified that Manning forced the victim to dance and perform sex acts on him.

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UNITED STATES
The Courier-Journal

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Peter Smith

Louisville pastor C.J. Mahaney — accused in a lawsuit of allegedly covering up sexual abuse by others in the denomination he once led — has withdrawn from the 2014 program of a prominent Louisville pastor’s conference that he founded along with Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler and two other pastors.

The Together for the Gospel (T4G) conference draws thousands to Louisville every two years, many of them men attracted to the revival of Calvinist doctrines related to the sovereignty of God and the authority of male leaders.

Mahaney said in a July 1 statement that his participation in the upcoming 2014 conference could create “a hindrance to this conference” due to his role in the lawsuit, but he said his withdrawal should not be seen as a reflection on the merits of the case itself.

A link to a statement of support for Mahaney issued by Mohler and the other two T4G founders in May no longer functions, nor does it appears on the T4G home page. The statement was already revised once to correct an inaccurate assertion that the lawsuit only targeted Mahaney because of his ministry work. (Excerpts from that statement are in a previous post.)

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CHICAGO (IL)
WBEZ

July 3, 2013
By: Chip Mitchell

The case of a defrocked Roman Catholic priest who went to prison six years ago for sexually abusing boys is still dogging Chicago Cardinal Francis George. Attorneys for alleged victims of the priest got to grill George for a full day last week, sources close to the proceedings say.

That deposition, a secret session held June 25 at a law firm downtown, included about six hours of questioning by a half dozen lawyers. They represent boys and young men who claim to have been abused by Daniel McCormack, a former pastor of St. Agatha’s, a church on the city’s impoverished West Side.

The proceedings were part of a consolidated case before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Clare Elizabeth McWilliams. The case combines lawsuits brought by at least 15 alleged McCormack victims.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because McWilliams has ordered the proceedings and case files to remain confidential to protect the alleged victims.

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COLORADO
Gazette

By Lance Benzel Modified: July 3, 2013

Rev. Charles Robert “Bob” Manning was acquitted Wednesday evening of charges that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old boy and of child porn counts but found guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The jury announced the verdict in 4th Judicial District Court.

Formerly the pastor at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Colorado Springs, Manning was accused of coaxing the boy into a series of sex acts during a booze and pot-fueled encounter in the fall of 2011. He retired in May 2012 when the allegations became public, and after posting $10,000 bond, he obtained a judge’s permission to move into a home for retired priests in the St. Louis, Mo., area.

An arrest affidavit alleges the boy came to Manning for advice on becoming a Catholic and the priest began giving him private lessons, during which he gave the boy alcohol and marijuana. Colorado Springs police also say Manning took the boy to get his nipples pierced, kissed the boy on the lips and engaged in other sexual acts, after which he thanked the boy.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- The Santiago Office of the Prosecutor on Wednesday announced it awaits the Immigration Agency to specify whether catholic priest native of Poland, Wojciech (Alberto) Gil, accused of pedophilia by several families, left the country with another identity.

“We cannot get ahead of the investigation since it must be determined whether the priest managed to leave Dominican Republic with another identity, so we have to wait for Immigration to investigate,” said Santiago prosecutor Luisa Liranzo.

After the rape allegation at the mountain town of Janico burst to the spotlight, investigators determined that two of the minors from Juncalito managed to leave the country, possibility in the company of the priest.

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WISCONSIN
Patch

[Daniel Budzynski]

Posted by Charles Gorney (Editor), July 3, 2013

A priest whose name appears on a list of priests removed or restricted from ministry because of substianted allegations of sexual abuse of minors worked in Greenfield in the 1990s, according to records released Monday.

The release, partly motivated by the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, includes about 6,000 pages of documents — from personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse to depositions of high-ranking archdiocese officials, including former archbishop Timothy Dolan.

Among the names listed is Daniel Budzynski, who was chaplain at Villa Clement Health Care Center from 1992 until 1994.

The documents were selected by the abuse survivor attorneys, archdiocese chief of staff Jerry Topczewski told Patch. Though the records were released as part of a bankruptcy agreement, Topczewski stressed that releasing the files can be part of the healing process for abuse survivors.

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.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
The Guardian (UK)

[the documents – Jeff Anderson & Associates]

[the documents – Milwaukee archdiocese]

Sadhbh Walshe
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 July 2013

On Monday, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee released 6,000 pages of documents pertaining to the church’s handling of decades of allegations of child sex abuse by priests. In a blog post on his website, the current archbishop of Milwaukee, Jerome Listecki, said he hoped that by “voluntarily making the documents public” they will help abuse victims and their families to understand the past, review the present and allow the church to move forward. The documents certainly offer a unique insight into the past and present, but are far more likely to confirm what survivors have long suspected: that the church is far more interested in protecting its assets and reputation than it was or is in protecting them.

It would be nice to think that the disclosure indicates a new willingness by the church to be more transparent and open about its handling of sex abuse within its ranks, but Archbishop Listecki’s claim that the documents were released “voluntarily” appears to be something of a misrepresentation at best. According to Jeff Anderson, an attorney who has been working with many abuse survivors, the archdiocese only “volunteered” to release the documents (after years of fighting to keep them sealed) on the eve of a judicial hearing in bankruptcy court was likely to have compelled them to do so.

In 2011, facing 575 cases of abuse filed against them, the Milwaukee archdiocese initiated bankruptcy proceedings, prompting claims by victims’ lawyers that the move was simply an attempt to avoid having to pay compensation. Some explosive disclosures in the released documents add quite a bit of substance to these claims.

In 2007 Cardinal Tim Dolan, then acting archbishop of Milwaukee, wrote to the Vatican requesting permission to move over $56mn in assets to a cemetery trust fund. The letter included this nugget:

“By transferring these assets to the trust, I foresee an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.”

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.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Huffington Post

A Roman Catholic Church cardinal referred to gay people as “faggots” during an interview about the nomination of an openly gay man for a U.S. ambassador position.

Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez was asked by a group of reporters on June 27 about Obama’s decision to nominate James “Wally” Brewster, who had been a top Obama campaign bundler, for the position of U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. “From the United States, we can expect anything,” Rodriguez replied, adding pointedly that the U.S. government was trying to “push forward its agenda” in selecting Brewster for the position, according to The Huffington Post’s translation of the Spanish-language video.

Rodriguez, who is also the Archbishop of Santo Domingo, the largest city in the country, was then asked about Haiti’s recent ban on Dominican poultry products.

“We jumped from faggots and lesbians then? We’re jumping to chickens now?” Rodriguez said.

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.

IRELAND
Huffington Post

Craig Considine

Dear Pope Francis,

I have had the utmost admiration for you. Your new leadership in terms of interfaith relations, especially with Muslims, is such a breath of fresh air. You are such a welcoming leader. We can see it in your beautiful smile. We can see it in your everyday actions.

You have made us proud to be Catholic again. We love your warmth, your kindness. You have brought new life into our Church.

But there is just this one thing, Pope Francis.

You must take a firm stand against the continuing child sex abuse scandal.

This is an on-going scandal which is so gross, so against the most basic teachings of our Lord Savior, Jesus Christ.

How can we look up to our Church leaders if they are criminals?

How can we look up to our Priests if they are following such a misguided path?

We need leadership, Pope Francis!

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.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

1) According to BishopAccountability.org, there are 66 proven, admitted, and credibly accused predators within the Milwaukee Archdiocese.

(This number does not include the perhaps dozens of relative order predators who have lived or worked–or still live or work–in the Milwaukee Archdiocese now.)

Yet after decades of secrecy and years of legal wrangling, Milwaukee Archdiocese finally released some files yesterday on 42 accused priests.

That’s just 64% of the known child molesting clerics in the Archdiocese. (This of course doesn’t count any of the hundreds of child molesting clerics who are or have been in the archdiocese but who work for religious orders.)

2) At the same time, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki claims that “no organization in the world does more to combat sexual abuse of minors than the Catholic Church in the United States.”

Really? “No organization does more?”

Imagine a doctor saying “You’ve got cancer and I’ll surgically remove just 64% of it and let’s just see what happens.” Or a police department saying “We’ve arrested 64% of the members of a violent street gang, and we’re stopping here.”

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AUSTRIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release Wednesday, July 3

Statement by Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director, SNAPdorris@gmail.com 314-862-7688

An Austrian court has charged Alfons August Mandorfer, a Catholic priest from Kremsmuenster, Austria, with sexually and physically abusing dozens of boys and has sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

We commend the brave victims who testified against Mandorfer leading to his conviction and disabling him from bringing harm to others.

We also hope it will encourage others who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes to come forward, expose predators, protect kids and start healing. It’s always tempting to keep quiet about child sex crimes – whether known or suspected. However, it’s also always irresponsible. Kids are only safe when adults are brave and caring enough to speak up.

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.

CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Saturday, July 3

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com)

We are grateful that a judge ruled today against a predator priest who claimed his abuse admission should not be heard as evidence in a criminal case.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Eugene L. Balonon today rejected a motion by Fr. Uriel Ojeda that Ojeda’s acknowledgement of heinous crimes should be kept from jurors.

Time and time again, child molesting clerics admit their crimes to colleagues or police, then later claim they were coerced or that their admissions should be kept secret. Time and time again, Catholic officials abuse the ‘priest-penitent privilege’ to hide their hurtful deeds.

We are glad this judge didn’t buy the spurious claim that Fr. Ojeda expected his admission of child sex crimes should be kept private.

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.

CALIFORNIA
Record Searchlight

SACRAMENTO — A suspended Redding priest charged with seven felony counts of child molestation lost his bid today to try to block statements he allegedly made to a Sacramento diocese official and a private investigator.

A Sacramento County Superior Court judge ruled today that the statements made by the Rev. Uriel Ojeda to church officials can be used against him during his upcoming trial, the Sacramento Bee reported this morning.

Ojeda, 33, who was arrested Nov. 30, 2011, is accused of lewd and lascivious acts with a teenage girl over a two-year span — starting when she was 14 — in Sacramento and Shasta counties, according to the criminal complaint.

Ojeda, who is free of jail custody on $70,000 bail, was the assistant pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Redding at the time of his 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.

AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

By ELLE WATSON July 4, 2013

Whistleblower Peter Fox knows of three Hunter sexual abuse victims who refuse to come forward to police because they fear retribution from the church.

The detective chief inspector told the special commission of inquiry yesterday that reprisals from members of the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese not only extended to victims but church officials, including a Lochinvar nun whose order ostracised her because she gave evidence against paedophile priest James Fletcher.

The sister told Chief Inspector Fox she was asked to leave the order – St Joseph’s of Lochinvar – after her evidence assisted in the prosecution of the sexual predator in 2005.

During his second day in the witness box, the chief inspector said he knew of victims and their families who were no longer welcomed at church, whose cars had been vandalised and eggs thrown at their homes after reporting the abuse.

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
Patch

[William Effinger]

[Siegfried Widera]

Posted by Charles Gorney (Editor), July 3, 2013

Two priests whose names appear on a list of priests removed or restricted from ministry because of substianted allegations of sexual abuse of minors worked in Port Washington parishes in the 1970s, according to records released Monday.

The release, partly motivated by the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, includes about 6,000 pages of documents — from personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse to depositions of high-ranking archdiocese officials, including former archbishop Timothy Dolan.

Among the names listed are William Effinger, who was temporary administrator of St. Peter of Alcantara in 1979, and Siegfried Widera, who was an associate pastor at St. Mary’s Congregation in the early 1970s.

The documents were selected by the abuse survivor attorneys, archdiocese chief of staff Jerry Topczewski told Patch. Though the records were released as part of a bankruptcy agreement, Topczewski stressed that releasing the files can be part of the healing process for abuse survivors.

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
Patch

Posted by Charles Gorney (Editor), July 3, 2013

Six priests whose names appear on a list of priests removed or restricted from ministry because of substianted allegations of sexual abuse of minors worked in Menomonee Falls, according to records released Monday.

The release, partly motivated by the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, includes about 6,000 pages of documents — from personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse to depositions of high-ranking archdiocese officials, including former archbishop Timothy Dolan.

Among the names listed are:
Daniel Budzynski, assistant at St. Mary Parish, 1961-1962
Jerome Lanser, curate at St. Mary Parish, 1964-1969
Ronald Bandle, associate pastor at St. Mary Parish, 1974-1981
Daniel Massie, associate pastor at St. Mary Parish, 1980-1986
John Knotek, pastor at St. James Parish, 1968-1972
Andrew Doyle, associate pastor at St. Anthony Parish, 1984-1988

The documents were selected by the abuse survivor attorneys, archdiocese chief of staff Jerry Topczewski told Patch. Though the records were released as part of a bankruptcy agreement, Topczewski stressed that releasing the files can be part of the healing process for abuse survivors.

“Ultimately, we want them to know that the church loves them,” Topczewski said. “And the church owes them a debt of gratitude for having the courage to come forward.”

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
Patch

[Daniel Budzynski]

Posted by Charles Gorney (Editor), July 3, 2013

A priest whose name appears on a list of priests removed or restricted from ministry because of substianted allegations of sexual abuse of minors worked in Caledonia in the 1980s, according to records released Monday.

The release, partly motivated by the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, includes about 6,000 pages of documents — from personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse to depositions of high-ranking archdiocese officials, including former archbishop Timothy Dolan.

Among the names listed is Daniel Budzynski, who was pastor at St. Louis Parish from 1984 until 1987.

According to the Racine Journal Times, at least five of the priests named in the documents allegedly molested children in parishes in Racine County.

The documents were selected by the abuse survivor attorneys, archdiocese chief of staff Jerry Topczewski told Patch. Though the records were released as part of a bankruptcy agreement, Topczewski stressed that releasing the files can be part of the healing process for abuse survivors.

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.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
PRI

[with audio]

Within the 6,000-plus pages of documents released by the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee is evidence that Archbishop Timothy Dolan moved money that may have gone to victims of childhood sexual abuse into a fund for cemetery care. Dolan calls the charges “old and discredited attacks.”

Among the information in new documents released by the Milwaukee Archdiocese is evidence that Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, put $57 million in a trust fund for cemeteries out of concern it could be awarded to victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

Dolan, the current archbishop of New York and the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, was considered a contender for the recent papal vacancy eventually filled by Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina. Dolan has long been regarded as one of the “good guys” of the Catholic Church for being an outspoken supporter of the victims of clergy sexual abuse scandals.

“When you think of what happened, both that a man who proposes to act in the name of God would have abused an innocent young person and that some bishops would have, in a way, countenanced that by reassigning abusers — that’s nothing less than hideous,” Dolan said on a 60 Minutes interview in 2011. “That’s nothing less than nauseating,”

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CALIFORNIA
Sacramento Bee

By Andy Furillo
afurrillo@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jul. 3, 2013

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Eugene L. Balonon denied efforts by the Rev. Uriel Ojeda to exclude his alleged admissions of child molestation to Catholic Sacramento diocese officials at his upcoming trial.

Ojeda’s attorney, Jesse Ortiz, had argued that the young priest believed his statements to a church official and a private investigator were confidential and should be excluded.

Ojeda is accused in a seven-count complaint of molesting a girl younger than 14 while he worked at parishes in Woodland and Redding.

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
Patch

Six priests named in the sexual abuse files worked at three different churches in Waukesha from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Posted by Charles Gorney (Editor), July 3, 2013

Six priests whose names appear on a list of priests removed or restricted from ministry because of substianted allegations of sexual abuse of minors worked in Waukesha, according to records released Monday.

The release, partly motivated by the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, includes about 6,000 pages of documents — from personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse to depositions of high-ranking archdiocese officials, including former archbishop Timothy Dolan.

Among the names listed are:
David Hanser, faculty at Catholic Memorial High School, 1961-1970
Donald Peters, faculty at Catholic Memorial High School, 1967-1969
George Hopf, assistant at St. Mary Parish, 1962-1966
Ronald Bandle, pastoral team member at St. Mary Parish, 1983-1989
John Wagner, associate pastor at St. William Parish, 1973-1974
Franklyn Becker, associate pastor at St. William Parish, 1974-1975

The documents were selected by the abuse survivor attorneys, archdiocese chief of staff Jerry Topczewski told Patch. Though the records were released as part of a bankruptcy agreement, Topczewski stressed that releasing the files can be part of the healing process for abuse survivors.

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.

ROME
Gazzetta del Sud

Rome, July 3 – Two men being probed together with disgraced Vatican prelate Msgr Nunzio Scarano denied Wednesday that 20 million euros in cash seized by police belonged to them. “Those 20 million euros are not ours,” Paolo and Cesare D’Amico, whose family was friendly with Scarano, told prosecutors. Their version of events does not correspond to what Scarano, who until recently led a key Vatican accounting unit, told prosecutors under continued questioning. Scarano has denied charges that he conspired with a former Italian spy and a financial broker to try to secretly repatriate 20 million euros of laundered money from Switzerland to Italy. Scarano, who is from the port city of Salerno near Naples, was suspended a month ago from his job as head of analytic accounts at the Holy See’s asset-management agency APSA when police started sifting through his assets because of his suspiciously large financial holdings and artistic trove.

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ROME
Bloomberg Businessweek

July 03, 2013

ROME (AP) — An Italian shipping family denies any role in an alleged money-smuggling plot involving a Vatican accountant. The d’Amico family says the priest who was jailed in the affair, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, was their “spiritual” adviser.

A family lawyer, Vincenzo Cupri, spoke to reporters Wednesday as he left offices of Rome prosecutors who are investigating the alleged plot to spirit 20 million euros ($26 million) from Switzerland into Italy.

Scarano has been suspended by the Vatican from his accountant post. Prosecutors say they suspect the money belongs to the d’Amico family and was deposited in Switzerland to avoid Italian taxes.

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ROME
Fox News

ROME, Italy (AFP) – A senior cleric arrested last week is suspected of acting as a front for suspicious payments made through the Vatican bank from Monaco, Italian newspapers reported on Wednesday, citing leaked documents.

Monsignor Nunzio Scarano “is a real screen in front of the actual economic beneficiary of the operation and he interrupts the traceability of the money,” said one financial police document, quoted by the Corriere della Sera daily.

The investigators allege that Scarano had used Vatican bank accounts to make transfers on behalf of his friends, including an attempt to move 20 million euros ($26 million) on behalf of a Neapolitan shipowning family.

Scarano’s lawyers have rejected the charges.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Seattle PI

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Newly released financial statements show the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia had a whopping $39 million deficit last year.

However, church officials say their fiscal situation has improved dramatically since then. A spokesman for the archdiocese says the current deficit is about $6 million.

The church released full audited financial reports for the first time on Wednesday. Previously, the archdiocese had released only informal statements.

Archbishop Charles Chaput (SHAP’-yoo) wrote in his column last week that the fiscal problems stem mostly from years of overspending, not fraud or the priest sex-abuse scandal.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CatholicPhilly

See the full Archdiocesan financial report.

See the supplemental document to the report.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CatholicPhilly

BY MATTHEW GAMBINO

Archbishop Charles Chaput in his column last week on CatholicPhilly.com called the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s new financial report “very serious – and that’s an understatement.”

True to his word, a 37-page report released today shows an operating deficit of $39.1 million for the fiscal year spanning July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012.

An accompanying supplemental document to the report, audited by the firm Grant Thornton, put the deficit in the context of new accounting procedures and one-time expenses and revenues during the period.

Those “non-recurring” items included revenues of $15.8 million from the sale of Cardinal Dougherty and Northeast Catholic high schools (closed in 2010) and expenses totaling $21.2 million. Considering those one-time adjustments, the “core” operating deficit for the year was $17.4 million.

Notable components of those expenses were a $13 million increase in the self-insurance reserve needed to pay insurance claims against the Archdiocese in areas such as workman’s compensation, liability and automobile insurance; and legal and professional fees of $11.9 million.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Harold Brubaker, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, July 3, 2013

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Wednesday reported a staggering $39.2 million loss for the year ended June 30, 2012, while disclosing unprecedented details about longterm financial deficits totaling $350 million.

Even after stripping away millions in unusual expenses, including $11.9 million for legal and professional services related to the priest sex-abuse scandal and other issues, the archdiocese said its cash expenses 2012 still exceeded revenue by $17.4 million.

“It’s not so simple to say our problems are related to the sexual-abuse crisis,” Timothy O’Shaughnessy, chief financial officer for the archdiocese, said. “That is a serious issue, a very serious issue that I believe the church is taking more seriously now.

“We’ve also had serious financial problems independent of the abuse crisis,” said O’Shaughnessy, who became CFO in April 2012. Somewhat more positive financial news could be on the horizon in the nation’s sixth-largest diocese, which covers the five counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania and is home to nearly 1.5 million Catholics.

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WISCONSIN
Seattle PI

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Documents released by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on sexual abuse of children by priests show the incidents often occurred on overnight trips.

The Duluth News Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1aCqIFN ) that of 42 priest files released Monday, 22 contain references to molestation on camping trips, a cross-state bicycle ride and at least one Caribbean cruise.

The newspaper says geographic details aren’t always specific. Many incidents are noted vaguely as occurring “up north” — a generalization that sometimes refers to suburban Milwaukee, sometimes Wisconsin’s northern counties, but more often left unidentified.

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WISCONSIN
Patch

David Hanser was associate pastor at St. John Vianney Parish in the 1970s, and James Flynt, Vincent Silvestri, Charles Walter and Thomas Trepanier were associate pastors at St. Dominic Parish.

Posted by Charles Gorney (Editor), July 3, 2013

The release, partly motivated by the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, includes about 6,000 pages of documents — from personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse to depositions of high-ranking archdiocese officials, including former archbishop Timothy Dolan.

Among the names listed are:

David Hanser, associate pastor and temporary administrator at St. John Vianney Parish, 1972-1978
James Flynt, associate pastor at St. Dominic Parish, 1987-1989
Vincent Silvestri, associate pastor at St. Dominic, 1983-1993
Charles Walter, associate pastor at St. Dominic, 1984-1987
Thomas Trepanier, associate pastor at St. Dominic, 2000-2002

The documents were selected by the abuse survivor attorneys, archdiocese chief of staff Jerry Topczewski told Patch. Though the records were released as part of a bankruptcy agreement, Topczewski stressed that releasing the files can be part of the healing process for abuse survivors.

“Ultimately, we want them to know that the church loves them,” Topczewski said. “And the church owes them a debt of gratitude for having the courage to come forward.”

But according to press releases from SNAP Wisconsin, the local arm of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, the documents have some major implications for the archdiocese.

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AUSTRIA
New Straits Times

VIENNA: An Austrian court has found a defrocked Roman Catholic priest guilty of sexually and physically abusing dozens of boys and has sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

Alfons August Mandorfer was convicted Wednesday on charges arising from his time as a director of a school run by a monastery in the Upper Austrian town of Kremsmuenster. He held that position between 1973 and 1993.

Mandorfer was dismissed as a priest after several former pupils accused him several years ago of abuse.

Hundreds of alleged sexual victims of Catholic clergy in Austria have come forward in recent years as part of pedophilia accusations rocking the church internationally.

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MASSACHUSETTS
NECN – Broadside

[with video]

July 2, 2013

(NECN) – New documents have shed light on the role of Cardinal Timothy Dolan in sexual abuse claims against the Milwaukee archdiocese.

Letters show that he tried to warn the Catholic Church that “the potential for true scandal is very real.” Victims also claim the documents show he transferred $57 million into a trust in an attempt to protect it from abuse lawsuits, and that he devised a plan to pay abusive priests to leave the church.

Abuse survivor advocates Gary Bergeron and Anne Barrett Doyle join Broadside to discuss these revelations and what it means for Dolan and the Church.

“What’s shocking is that he seems to have anticipation of this bankruptcy of the Archdiocese, to protect some funds so victims would not have access to it,” Doyle said.

Bergeron was less concerned with what it means for Dolan, focusing on the lack of prominence this issue has had at the federal level.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX From: The Australian July 04, 2013

THE Pope’s representative in Canberra, and potentially the Vatican itself, were involved in an attempt by senior Australian Catholic bishops to defrock a pedophile priest rather than report his crimes to police, an inquiry has heard.

Three successive bishops in Newcastle also had knowledge that Father Denis McAlinden was abusing children, while bishops in England, The Philippines and Papua New Guinea were warned of allegations against him.

In an exchange of letters with McAlinden during the 1990s, the late bishop of Maitland-Newcastle Leo Clarke asked him to petition the Holy See in Rome for a formal laicisation — effectively ending his career as a priest.

“Your good name will be protected by the confidential nature of this process,” Clarke wrote.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

July 4, 2013

Catherine Armitage
Senior Writer

The Pope’s representative in Australia knew of ”serious accusations” against the notorious priest Denis McAlinden from at least 1995, the inquiry into alleged cover-ups of paedophilia by two Hunter region priests has heard.

Leo Clarke, then bishop of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, wrote to the Holy See’s diplomatic representative in Australia in 1995 seeking his help with a ”very delicate matter” relating to ”serious accusations concerning a priest of the diocese, McAlinden”, counsel assisting the inquiry Julia Lonergan, SC, said on Wednesday.

The letter referred to steps being taken to remove McAlinden from the priesthood. It said during an interview with Father Brian Lucas, that ”Father McAlinden admitted that the allegations were true”.

Former bishop of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese: Leo Clarke. Photo: Supplied
The Manuka, ACT-based Apostolic Nuncio, as the papal ambassador is known, was also informed that McAlinden had agreed to seek counselling in England.

According to the evidence Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox asked Bishop Clarke, by then retired, about rumours he’d heard that the bishop might know about more victims of McAlinden. Bishop Clarke told him “no”, Chief Inspector Fox said.

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OSTERREICH
Kleine Zeitung

Der wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs und Misshandlung angeklagte ehemalige Konviktsdirektor des Stifts Kremsmünster ist am Landesgericht Steyr zu einer zwölfjährigen Haftstafe verurteilt worden. Das Urteil ist nicht rechtskräftig.

Der ehemalige Konviktsdirektor des oö. Stiftes Kremsmünster ist am Mittwoch von einem Schöffensenat im Landesgericht Steyr zu zwölf Jahren Haft verurteilt worden. Der 79-Jährige, dem sexuelle und gewalttätige Übergriffe auf insgesamt 24 ehemalige Schüler vorgeworfen werden, reagierte stoisch. Das Urteil in dem Prozess, der weitgehend unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit stattfand, ist nicht rechtskräftig. Die Opfervertreter haben den 79-Jährigen und Unbekannte wegen der Vorgänge im Stift auch wegen Wiederbetätigung angezeigt.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The reckless operations of Monsignor: isolated case or general mechanism that does not work? Why was it not stopped sooner?

ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY

If the investigative elements that emerge from eavesdropping an investigation for corruption and fraud that led to the imprisonment of Monsignor Nuncio Scarano are confirmed, this time it will not be easy for the authorities of Oltretevere to argue that we are faced with the classic “rotten apple.”

From inside the Vatican, someone who obviously still does not realize what has happened, filters out this observation: “The errors of the individual do not question the institution. If anything they can question the way in which the institution takes on staff.” In other words: the system works, but we need to be more careful about who we hire … An applicable reference to the same Monsignor Scarano, as well as to the managers of the IOR who authorized his reckless transactions just as the Vatican undertook the process to comply with money laundering regulations.

The Holy See has assured full cooperation with the Italian judiciary, and therefore the bank accounts of the former robed banker one can probably figure out who has authorized the movement of large sums and why, which were used – according to the accusation – to do favours (reciprocated) for businessmen friends. A movement that, even without waiting for the entry into force of special anti-money laundering rules, should worry about the leadership of the bank. Instead this has not happened. No one noticed anything. No one seems to have worried. Thus, Scarano has been suspended as a precaution after the news of the investigation on him by the Italian judiciary, and not before. Perhaps it is not correct to speak of “system”, but of “cultural habit” yes. Something evidently rooted in time.

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COLORADO
Courthouse News Service

By SAM REY
DENVER (CN) – A grieving woman who sought consolation from a Catholic priest claims in court that he took her clothes off, “prayed over her naked body,” sprinkled her with holy water and then sexually assaulted her.

Jane Doe No. 34 sued the Archdiocese of Denver in Denver County Court. The Archdiocese is the only defendant, though all the allegations concern its employee, Father Jose Saenz.

Doe claims she met Saenz when he was a pastor at Saint Mary of the Crown Mission in Carbondale, Colo. Saenz performed the funeral service for one of Doe’s friends, whose death left her “severely depressed to the point where she was having suicidal thoughts,” she says in the complaint.

The depression lasted for more than three months, she says, until July 4, 2011, when she called Saenz on the phone “to discuss her suicidal feelings.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
U.S. Catholic

By Bryan Cones

The much-anticipated release of documents related to sex abuse has revealed–exactly what we have come to expect from the this whole sorry affair. The most sensational news will surely be that current New York Archbishop and Cardinal Timothy Dolan moved some $57 million from diocesan accounts to cemetary trust funds to protect them from lawsuits. (Dolan has disputed the purpose of the transfer, but his request to the Vatican to transfer the funds stated that the purpose of the transfer was to protect them from legal liability.) Coverage also notes $20,000 payments to priests who were convinced to resign their orders voluntarily.

An NCR story quotes former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland describing his dilemma regarding whether or when to make public allegations against priests: “There are a lot of things that when you make an assignment you don’t disclose,” he said, noting other problems such as alcohol abuse and financial troubles as other problems for some priests. Weakland also admitted treating priests accused of abuse differently from, say, a teacher: “There was a certain obligation that I had toward the priests that went beyond what I might have toward anyone else.”

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OSTERREICH
der Standard

3. Juli 2013

“Die Dauer und die Gleichgültigkeit des Angeklagten übersteigt für uns alles Dagewesene”, sagte der Richter – Urteil nicht rechtskräftig

Steyr/Kremsmünster – Der ehemalige Konviktsdirektor des oberösterreichischen Stiftes Kremsmünster ist am Mittwoch von einem Schöffensenat im Landesgericht Steyr zu zwölf Jahren Haft verurteilt worden. Dem heute 79-Jährigen, der mittlerweile in den Laienstand zurückversetzt wurden, werden sexuelle und gewalttätige Übergriffe auf insgesamt 24 ehemalige Schüler vorgeworfen.

Der Prozess fand großteils unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit statt. Der Angeklagte hatte zwar ein Geständnis abgelegt und sich bei den Opfern entschuldigt, die Opferanwälte vermissten aber Reue. Der Verteidiger hatte einen Freispruch verlangt, weil die Taten verjährt seien.

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OSTERREICH
kathweb

Zwölf Jahre Haft für Sexual- und Gewaltdelikte – Stift: “Opfern wird auf diese Weise ein Stück Gerechtigkeit zuteil”

03.07.2013

Linz, 03.07.2013 (KAP) Ein 79-jähriger ehemaliger Pater des Stiftes Kremsmünster ist am Mittwoch wegen Missbrauch im Landesgericht Steyr zu zwölf Jahren Haft verurteilt worden. Das Stift hat das Urteil in ein er Stellungnahme gegenüber “Kathpress” begrüßt. Dem ehemaligen Ordensgeistlichen, der mittlerweile in den Laienstand zurückversetzt ist, wurde eine Reihe von Delikten angelastet, darunter sexueller Missbrauch sowie andere Sexual- und Gewaltdelikte. Nach Ermittlungen in anfangs 39 Fällen sprach die Staatsanwaltschaft nun von 24 Opfern, davon 15 von sexuellen Handlungen.

Der am Mittwoch im Landesgericht Steyr beendete Prozess fand aus Rücksicht für die Opfer großteils unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit statt. Der Angeklagte hatte zwar ein Geständnis abgelegt und sich bei den Opfern entschuldigt, deren Anwälte vermissten aber Reue. Der Verteidiger hatte einen Freispruch verlangt, weil die Taten verjährt seien. Er meldete Nichtigkeitsbeschwerde und Berufung an. Das Urteil des Schöffensenats ist somit noch nicht rechtskräftig.

Stift: Opfern wird Gerechtigkeit zuteil

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DEUTSCHLAND
HPD

In einem sehr ausführlichen Artikel schildert das Evangelische Bayerische Sonntagsblatt einen gravierenden Dissens zwischen der Landeskirche in Bayern und der EKD über den Umgang mit Missbrauchstätern im Pfarrdienst.

In dienstlichen Zusammenhängen hat ein ordinierter evangelischer Theologe mindestens drei Frauen sexuell missbraucht. Als Pfarrer eine dreizehnjährige Konfirmandin, als Oberkirchenrat zwei Sekretärinnen.

Eine der Sekretärinnen hatten beim Landesbischof um Hilfe angefragt, die ihr aber nicht gewährt wurde.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sonntagsblatt

Ein Oberkirchenrat missbrauchte Frauen – das Urteil wird von einem EKD-Gerichtshof kassiert

Von Helmut Frank

Ein Pfarrer missbraucht eine Konfirmandin, als Oberkirchenrat missbraucht er später mehrere Mitarbeiterinnen im Landeskirchenamt. Eine der Frauen bittet den Bischof um Hilfe, aber es passiert nichts. Jahrzehnte später erst kommt es zu einem Disziplinarverfahren, der Ruhestands-Oberkirchenrat wird aus dem Dienst der bayerischen Landeskirche entfernt. Doch dieses Urteil hat nun ein Berufungsgericht der EKD kassiert – und damit eventuell einen Präzedenzfall geschaffen.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Deutsche Welle

Kardinal Timothy Dolan soll als Erzbischof von Milwaukee 57 Millionen Dollar in einen Friedhofsfonds gesteckt haben, damit das Geld nicht an Missbrauchsopfer geht. Das ergibt sich aus Bistumsdokumenten.

Die katholische Zeitschrift “National Catholic Reporter” berichtet unter Berufung auf die Dokumente des Bistums von Milwaukee in den USA, dass der damalige Erzbischof Timothy Dolan 57 Millionen Dollar in einen Friedhofsfonds geleitet haben, um das Geld vor den Entschädigungsansprüchen von Missbrauchsopfern zu sichern. Demnach hatte Dolan 2007 den kirchenrechtlichen Vorgaben entsprechend den Transfer vom Vatikan genehmigen lassen.

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UNITED STATES
Watch Keep

You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.

~ William Wilberforce

A Georgia pastor, Peter Lumpkins, authored a resolution on child abuse that was passed at the SBC annual meeting last month in Houston. A greater awareness of abuse is always a great start, but what are the practical implications of a non-binding resolution? Who will police it? Who will oversee accountability and action? What discipline will there be, if any, for churches and pastors who have failed or fail in the future to report abuse?

Does Lumpkins have a blind side when it comes to cases of recorded and documented sexual abuse of children within SBC churches, not just within evangelical organizations with which the SBC has close ties, like Sovereign Grace Ministries that prompted him to write and present the resolution?

While I appreciate the gravity of the SGM lawsuit that recently and rapidly captured his attention, where has Peter been in the last few years of documented cases of child sex abuse and coverup like happened at Prestonwood Baptist with Langworthy? Weeks ago when I first heard about his resolution, I tried a couple of times to submit a comment on Peter’s blog encouraging that the light of truth also shine on documented abuse and cover up WITHIN the SBC, like at Prestonwood, but he never would publish any of those comments. He doesn’t seem to have had any hesitation speaking out on behalf of the SGM survivors and the lawsuit (and rightly so), so why not for survivors of abuse within his own SBC churches?

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PHILIPPINES
GMA News

By Xianne Arcangel, GMA News
July 3, 2013

What can drive a revered man of cloth to turn away from his religious beliefs and become a reviled “cassocked hypocrite?”

Readers might just find the answer in the latest novel released by a Filipino author– who also happens to be a priest.

Gilbert Luis Centina III’s “Rubrics and Runes” tells the story of an idealistic priest, Jose Moran, whose convictions are tested when he discovers the double life being led by his “abominably corrupt religious superior.”

According to the book’s description on Amazon.com, the novel unmasks “cassocked hypocrites” who abuse their power by dipping their hands into their parishes’ pockets and engaging in other immoral activities.

Centina, who is described by literary critics as “a leading Christian voice in contemporary literature,” entered the Augtinian monastery in 1964. He was ordained as a priest by Jaime Cardinal Sin in 1975.

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AUSTRALIA
Bendigo Advertiser

By Barney Zwartz July 3, 2013

The Catholic Church has apologised for “legally abusing” a sexual abuse victim who lost a landmark compensation case after the church argued it could not be sued.

Asked for $750,000 in compensation for the abuse of John Ellis, the church instead spent almost exactly that sum “vigorously defending” the case, and later pursued him for those costs. Instead of giving him $750,000, it sought $755,000 from him.

Mr Ellis reveals correspondence between him and the church in a submission to the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled sexual abuse. His evidence, posted on the parliamentary inquiry’s website on Wednesday, is a reply to Sydney Archbishop Cardinal George Pell’s evidence last month.

Mr Ellis says the cardinal provided “false and misleading” testimony to the inquiry about his case.

In the Ellis case, the NSW Court of Appeal found in 2007 that neither the Sydney archdiocese trustees nor archbishop were liable for child sexual abuse by a priest. Asked to identify who should answer his claim, the archdiocese refused to do so, saying the person liable was the priest who abused him.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

A memorial garden or museum is to to be erected in Dublin to honour women who survived the Magdalene Laundries, it has been announced.

The Magdalene Survivors Together group says the memorial is to be placed at Sean McDermott Street, where the last known laundry operated until 1996.

It comes ahead of a meeting today between President Michael D Higgins and Magdalene survivors at Aras an Uachtaráin.

Last week, the Magdalene Survivors Together group asked the UN to hold a one-day forum, so that women who lived and worked in the laundries could tell their stories of alleged abuse in public.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By IAN KIRKWOOD July 3, 2013

WEDNESDAY’S Special Commission of Inquiry hearing closed with a detailed examination of whistleblowing policeman Peter Fox’s record of a 2002 meeting with then Maitland-Newcastle diocese Bishop Michael Malone.

Counsel for Mr Malone, Simon Harben SC, repeatedly took Detective Chief Inspector Fox to evidence he had given in other parts of the inquiry that appeared to give conflicting accounts of when Mr Fox had drawn up his record of their meeting.

In private sittings of the commission in March and again in the opening days of the inquiry, Mr Fox said an account of their conversation – expressed in ‘‘I said, he said’’ form – was written a month or so after the event.

But earlier this week Mr Fox gave evidence that he had written it ‘‘a day or so’’ after the meeting, which took place on June 20, 2002.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Forbes

Jay Adkisson, Contributor

New documents that have recently come to in the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal show that in 2007, the Catholic Church transferred $57 million into a trust fund “to protect it against court action”, according to an NPR Article at http://goo.gl/05N4b

In 2011, the Milwaukee Archdiocese filed its Petition for Chapter 11 protection in bankruptcy, and the judge overseeing the case ordered the documents revealing this transfer to be released for the first time.

According to the NPR Article:

One document is a letter that Dolan sent to the Vatican in June 2007 requesting permission to move $57 million into a cemetery trust fund in order to protect the funds from “any legal claim and liability.” The Vatican approved the transfer a month later, according to the documents.

During a news conference on Monday, Jeff Anderson, an attorney representing more than 500 abuse victims, said the money was to be used to “pay off some of the offenders to quietly go away.”

Dolan disagreed with the characterization of the fund in a statement released on Monday. He said it was a “perpetual care fund” from for cemeteries, not an attempt to shield money from bankruptcy.

Under Wisconsin law, Chapter 893.425, the Statute of Limitations for a fraudulent transfer is either four years from the date of the transfer, or one year after the transfer “could reasonably have been discovered by the claimant.”

Assuming that the Statute of Limitations has not run on the 2007 transfer because it just became known to claimants, this transfer would appear to be voidable as a fraudulent transfer on several grounds.

Gifts to trusts are inherently without “reasonably equivalent value”, meaning that the debtor did not get anything back that would be of any utility to creditors. If the Milwaukee Archdiocese was insolvent at the time that it made the transfer, or the transfer rendered it insolvent, then the transfer would be considered a fraudulent transfer without regard to the Church’s intent in making the transfer.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
PBS Newshour

[with video]

Transcript

GWEN IFILL: Now: new documents that show a history of sexual abuse problems in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Ray Suarez has the story.

RAY SUAREZ: Many of the cases go back decades, and most of the 6,000 pages of documents were released publicly for the first time yesterday. The records show pedophile priests were moved from parish to parish, often protected from criminal complaints.

The documents also contain files on more than 40 priests either dismissed or restricted, including the late Father Lawrence Murphy, believed to have molested as many as two hundred deaf boys. The documents also shine a light on New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan, formerly the archbishop of Milwaukee. Documents show he asked for the Vatican’s approval in 2007 to move nearly $57 million dollars off the diocesan books into a cemetery fund to protect church assets.

Dolan denies the claims as long discredited.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

The Vatican bank has named new officers to replace the director and deputy-director who resigned on July 1.

Ernst von Freyburg, the president of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), will act temporarily in the role of director for the bank. Rolando Marranci, who has been chief operating officer for an Italian bank in London, has been named acting deputy director. Antonio Montaresi, whose experience has been as a risk and compliance officer with American banks, will act as chief risk officer for the IOR.

The IOR’s president defended the institution, while acknowledging the need for continued work to repair the bank’s reputation. “Since 2010 the IOR and its management have been working hard to bring structures and processes in line with international standards for anti-money laundering,” said von Freyburg. “While we are grateful for what has been achieved, it is clear today that we need new leadership to increase the pace of this transformation process.”

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VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Athena Yenko | July 3, 2013

In the wake of the scandals that have plagued the Holy See, Pope Francis appointed a five-person crew solely tasked to wash the bank clean. This only goes to show that Pope Francis means business as he pressure the Vatican’s administrators’ to shape up.

As a result more evils were being ‘exorcised’ out of the holy institution.

In a report from Reuters on Tuesday, big-wig managers for Vatican bank, Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), Director Paolo Cipriani and Massimo Tulli resigned after another Vatican scandal involving Monsignor Nunzio Scarano.

Monsignor Scarano was accused of helping two people in smuggling 20 million euro to Italy from Switzerland. Ernest von Freyberg, the German president for IOR, will temporarily assume the position of the manager until such time that a replacement is selected. The IOR had also decided to create a new position of chief risk officer. The person to be appointed for the position will be task to work on improving the bank’s compliance with financial regulations.

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ROME
Enterprise Applications

By Paolo Biondi

ROME (Reuters) – Rome prosecutors are considering requesting that two directors of the Vatican bank who resigned on Monday be sent to trial on suspicion of authorizing illegal financial transactions, judicial sources said on Tuesday.

The Vatican bank’s director general, Paolo Cipriani, and its deputy director, Massimo Tulli, left after the arrest of a senior cleric who is accused of plotting to smuggle 20 million euros ($26 million) into Italy from Switzerland.

A spokesman from the Vatican bank, known formally as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), declined to comment. Reuters was unable to reach the two men concerned.

Neither has been accused of wrongdoing although police wiretap transcripts contained in magistrates’ evidence showed contacts between Tulli and Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, the senior cleric who was arrested last week.

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ROMA
Corriere della Sera

Finiscono sotto inchiesta altre 13 operazioni fatte sui conti dell’Istituto opere religiose

ROMA – Operazioni sospette per oltre un milione di euro effettuate su conti Ior aperti presso altre banche. Almeno tredici trasferimenti di denaro dei quali non si conosce l’origine e soprattutto il reale destinatario e la causale. Esattamente come accaduto per i 23 milioni di euro che si cercò di spostare nel 2010 dal Credito Artigiano a Jp Morgan. Su questo si concentrano le verifiche della procura di Roma che contesta il reato di riciclaggio al direttore generale Paolo Cipriani e del suo vice Massimo Tulli, entrambi dimissionari. Entro qualche giorno sarà notificato l’avviso della chiusura dell’indagine che prelude al rinvio a giudizio. Ma è soltanto il primo capitolo di un’inchiesta ben più ampia che continua su ulteriori illeciti che sarebbero stati compiuti negli ultimi tre anni dai vertici dell’Istituto per le Opere religiose.

Gli accertamenti, affidati ai pubblici ministeri Stefano Pesci e Stefano Rocco Fava e coordinati dall’aggiunto Nello Rossi, sono ormai conclusi. E consentono ai magistrati di sollecitare l’archiviazione nei confronti dell’ex presidente Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, indagato per lo stesso reato proprio in relazione al trasferimento di 23 milioni di euro. Il banchiere ha infatti dimostrato di non aver mai avuto alcuna delega ad operare sui depositi e anzi ha sempre sostenuto di essere stato tagliato fuori dall’operatività dell’Istituto di credito «per la mia volontà di cambiare le regole e rendere trasparente la procedura».

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ROME
Straits Times

ROME (AFP) – Italian police have found 13 suspicious money transfers through the Vatican bank, a newspaper said Tuesday, reporting that a senior cleric arrested last week allegedly offered his own accounts to transfer money for his friends.

The Corriere della Sera daily said that the suspect operations which have triggered money laundering controls totalled more than 1.0 million euros (S$1.7 million) and were similar to a larger 23-million-euro transfer that led to an investigation that is shaking up the bank.

It also quoted from documents in the investigation against Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, the senior Vatican accountant held as part of a sweeping probe of the scandal-plagued Vatican bank.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail – Thisis Money

By PETER CAMPBELL

Eight days after disappearing from his office, the body of an Italian financier known as ‘God’s banker’ was found hanged from Blackfriars Bridge in London.

Roberto Calvi, 61, was the President of Italy’s Ambrosiano Bank when it collapsed after making £1bn of unsecured loans to brass-plate companies in Latin America.

It is still not known for certain whether Calvi’s death, which happened three days after his secretary jumped to her death from a window of the Milan bank, was murder or suicide.

Rather than an extract from a dark thriller, this is really what happened in 1982 – just one of the controversies that has embroiled the Vatican Bank, Ambrosiano’s largest shareholder.
Three decades later, the plot surrounding the Holy See’s finances remains no less thick.

Accusations of money laundering, alleged links to the Mafia and Masonic organisations and the arrest of senior bank officials alongside former secret service agents all offer sufficient ingredients to whet any budding novelist’s appetite.

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WISCONSIN
Duluth News Tribune

[the documents – Jeff Anderson & Associates]

[the documents – Milwaukee archdiocese]

James Jablonski

Jablonski timeline

Franklyn Becker

Becker timeline

Michael Neuberger

Neuberger timeline

Lawrence Murphy

Murphy timeline

Oswald Krusing

Krusing timeline

Child sexual abuse by priests described in documents released this week by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee wasn’t limited to southeastern Wisconsin.

By: Robin Washington, Duluth News Tribune

Child sexual abuse by priests described in documents released this week by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee wasn’t limited to southeastern Wisconsin.

Rather, the incidents occurred from Chicago to California to the Caribbean — and also the Northland, frequently on overnight trips taken by priests and children.

Of 42 priest files released Monday by the Milwaukee Archdiocese and reviewed by the News Tribune, 22 contain references to child molestation on camping trips, a cross-state bicycle ride and at least one Caribbean cruise.

The abuse is often explicitly described. But the geographic details are less so, many noted vaguely as occurring “up north” — a generalization that sometimes refers to suburban Milwaukee, sometimes Wisconsin’s northern counties and more often left unidentified.

“When (name redacted) was in 7th grade, (redacted) felt uneasy about the amount of time (he) spent alone with Fr. Jablonowski, including at his private quarters and place up north,” reads the file on the Rev. James Jablonowski.

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UNITED STATES
Irish Independent

JON SWAINE NEW YORK – 03 JULY 2013

AMERICA’S most senior Roman Catholic cleric obtained permission from the Vatican to move $57m (€43.9m) of church funds into a trust to shield it from sexual abuse victims seeking compensation.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, told Vatican officials in a 2007 letter that the transfer offered “improved protection of these funds from any legal claim”.

Cardinal Dolan, who is now the Archbishop of New York, has been credited with helping to root out a serious sexual abuse scandal in his previous archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

However, he has long insisted that he never deliberately sought to protect church funds from victims of abuse by clergy in the archdiocese, which he led as archbishop between 2002 and 2009.

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AUSTRALIA
The Telegraph

MIRANDA DEVINE THE DAILY TELEGRAPH JULY 03, 2013

A DAUGHTER repeatedly violently raped by her own father from the age of nine summons the courage to tell police what he did to her. He is let off by a NSW judge with a good behaviour bond as long as he attends a treatment program for incestuous paedophiles.

A boy born to a surrogate mother in Russia and bought for $8000 by the sperm donor and his Australian partner for their sexual gratification is subjected to vile abuse for six years from infancy.

A little boy constantly raped by the late serial paedophile priest Dennis McAlinden between the ages of five and nine tells his parish priest in Singleton about the rapes during his first confession.

He is given penance “apparently for his sin in being abused by that priest,” says Julia Lonergan, SC, counsel assisting the NSW commission into child sexual abuse in the Hunter Valley’s Catholic Church.

These are three stories of paedophile atrocities which appeared in this newspaper this week. There are countless others which haven’t.

While the community regards paedophilia as the most heinous crime, it seems authorities do not, whether church leaders who allowed paedophiles free rein, or courts which fail to jail them.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

By Dan Cox, ABC
Updated July 3, 2013

Documents tendered to a New South Wales inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Hunter Valley show senior Catholic Church officials knew about abuse by two paedophile priests, but failed to tell police.

The inquiry was sparked by Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox.

He claims the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese did not co-operate with police, who were investigating priests James Fletcher and Denis McAlinden over child sexual abuse allegations.

Counsel assisting the commission today tendered numerous documents which Peter Fox said would have proved helpful with his investigations into the men.

The documents show the former Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Leo Clarke tried to defrock McAlinden, rather than tell police about the allegations.

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CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee

Published: July 3, 2013

By Andy Furillo — afurillo@sacbee.com

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Eugene L. Balonon is expected to rule today whether the Rev. Uriel Ojeda’s alleged admission to child molestation accusations can be used against him at his upcoming trial.

Ojeda’s attorney, Jesse Ortiz, argued Tuesday that the young priest believed his statements to a church official and a private investigator were confidential and should be excluded under a state Evidence Code provision that protects clergy-penitent communications.

Deputy District Attorney Allison Dunham told the judge Ojeda had no expectation of confidentiality in the administrative communication he had with the church official, the Rev. Timothy Nondorf, a former staff member to Bishop Jaime Soto, and the private investigator, Joseph Sheehan, who worked on contract for the law firm that represents the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento.

Ojeda is accused in a seven-count complaint of molesting a girl who was younger than 14 while he worked at parishes in Woodland and Redding.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
News Letter

A paedophile priest told a distraught seven-year-old boy that he could get his dead grandfather into heaven if he performed a sex act on him, a court heard yesterday.

Belfast Crown Court heard that the boy was quite distressed about his grandfather being in purgatory but that 55-year-old James Martin Donaghy told the child “he could get him into heaven if he helped him” before he exposed himself and then forced the boy to perform a sex act.

Last month, just before his trial was due to begin, Donaghy, originally from Lady Wallace Drive in Lisburn but now in Magilligan jail, pleaded guilty to four charges of indecently assaulting the boy and one of common assault against the schoolboy on dates between January and May 1989.

Following a lengthy trial at the end of 2011 Donaghy was convicted of a total of 17 sex offences including indecent assault and committing acts of gross indecency against three victims and two further charges of serious sexual assault on two of his victims.

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WASHINGTON
Yakima Herald-Republic

By Jane Gargas
Yakima Herald-Republic

A man who alleges he was abused as an altar boy by a priest in Roslyn has filed a lawsuit against the Catholic dioceses of Yakima and Spokane.

The lawsuit filed in Spokane County Superior Court on Tuesday contends that beginning in 1961, the Rev. Joseph Sondergeld sexually abused the victim at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Roslyn.

The man, who is in his early 60s and identified as R.P. in the filing, says he was 9 years old when the abuse began. He says Sondergeld, now deceased, used his position within the church to groom him for abuse and molest him on church property.

Monsignor Robert Siler, chief of staff of the Yakima Diocese, said the man didn’t contact the diocese about the alleged abuse. “It’s news to me. Our attorneys are looking into it,” he said.

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COLORADO
Gazette

By Lance Benzel Published: July 2, 2013

Was he a “prime target” for a teenage boy’s false claim – or a savvy predator who saw his opportunity and seized it?

Attorneys on Tuesday laid out divergent views of the Rev. Charles Robert “Bob” Manning as the 78-year-old priest’s trial on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old altar boy drew to a close in 4th Judicial District Court.

After six days of testimony, a six-man, six-woman jury is to begin deliberations Wednesday morning.

The jury was released at 5 p.m. Tuesday after more than two hours of fiery closing arguments. Attorneys in the case dueled over the strength of evidence against Manning and the credibility of those who testified while Manning’s oxygen tank purred in the background. He is charged with multiple counts of sexual assault on a child by one in position of trust, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possessing lewd photographs of the boy, one allegedly taken in secret.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Fox 6

[Michael Neuberger – file from Milwaukee archdiocese]

[documents]

[timeline]

July 2, 2013, by Ben Handelman

MILWAUKEE (WITI) — There are 42 names in thousands of pages of documents released on Monday, July 1st that shed light on the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal. These men named in the documents are men the church says are known sexual abusers — but one of those men says he has done nothing wrong, but says he has no way to prove that.

Like many of the priests named in the thousands of pages of documents released Monday, July 1st, Father Michael Neuberger has worked at many churches. A man who became a priest at a young age, he’s accused of molesting boys as soon as his career began.

In a psychologist’s report, released in the documents, Father Neuberger told doctors he found the confessional personally sexually arousing.

Documents say the priest offered to help by giving sex advice — sometimes including hands-on instruction.

The documents indicate Neuberger admitted his crimes to doctors and other priests. He was placed on restrictions and ordered away from churches.

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AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

By ELLE WATSON July 3, 2013

A Commission of Inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Hunter has heard a priest omitted significant detail from his police statement after an abuse victim told him the clergy was committing “filthy” acts against children.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox resumed his evidence this morning and told the inquiry he spoke to Father Bob Searle in May 2003 after a victim went to his Nelson Bay presbytery and accused priests of paedophilia.

Chief Inspector Fox said Father Searle told him the upset man yelled from outside the presbytery, claiming priests were doing “filthy things” to young boys.

When it came time for Father Searle to make an official statement he left out the incident.

Chief Inspector Fox questioned the priest about the omission but he denied recounting the victim’s accusation.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Today’s TMJ

[with video]

By Lacey Crisp with Jay Sorgi

MILWAUKEE – A former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice says the Catholic Church has done the right thing by releasing information on priests who committed sexual abuse.

“I think it’s going to take a long time of reaching out to victims who want a relationship with the church, and parishoners to work at it,” said Justice Janine Geske, who has worked with the Milwaukee Archdiocese on healing projects.

She adds more still needs to be done to heal the church and its members.

“It’s going to take time, but I think the church is going to be stronger in the long run as it learns ways to protect children and make sure these scandals do not happen.”

Catholics who were not personally affected by the scandal say transparency is the key, and they can now move foward.

“I believe that it is enough for them to put it behind them and move on and hope it doesn’t happen again,” said Casey Prescott.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

By Dan Cox, ABC
Updated July 3, 2013

A New South Wales inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Hunter Valley’s Catholic Church has heard an angry victim went to a presbytery accusing priests of doing “filthy things to little boys”.

The inquiry is examining whether the Maitland-Newcastle diocese helped or hindered the police investigation into two paedophile priests, James Fletcher and Denis McAlinden.

The probe was sparked by senior policeman Peter Fox, who is giving evidence in Newcastle.

He told the hearing that in 1998 a victim of Fletcher was drunk and angry with the world – the night he went to a local presbytery yelling that priests do “filthy things to little boys”.

Peter Fox said a priest heard the comments and told him about it during a phone call, but he was surprised when it was not included in the priest’s official statement to police.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX From: The Australian July 03, 2013

SOME of Australia’s most senior Catholic bishops, as well as the pope’s representative in Canberra and potentially the Vatican itself, were involved in an attempt to defrock a pedophile priest rather than report his crimes to police.

Three successive bishops in Newcastle, NSW, also had personal knowledge that Father Denis McAlinden was abusing children, while bishops in England, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea were also warned about the allegations against him.

In an exchange of letters with the priest during the 1990s, the late bishop Leo Clarke asked him to petition the Holy See in Rome to request his formal laicisation – effectively ending his career as a priest.

“Your good name will be protected by the confidential nature of this process,” Clarke wrote.

“A speedy resolution of this matter would be in your interest as I have it on good authority that some people are threatening to take it to the police.”

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

A former Catholic priest is out on bail after he was charged with sexually abusing young boys more than 40 years ago.

The 70-year-old from Wentworth Falls was charged on Tuesday with five counts of indecent assault against three boys, aged between 11 and 15, which allegedly occurred between 1971 and 1982.

The victims are now aged in their fifties, police said.

Acting Detective Inspector Adam Wilson said the victims were abused at parishes in Blacktown, St Marys and Richmond, as well as on church property in Shoalhaven on the NSW south coast.

He said the investigation into the abuse claims, which were first reported to police in December last year, will continue under Strike Force Nemesis, the unit investigating historical abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Post

By Nicola Menzie , Christian Post Reporter
July 2, 2013

Citing a desire to keep his peers from any “unfair and unwarranted criticism” stemming from a lawsuit filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries, C.J. Mahaney has announced his departure from the biennial Together for the Gospel (T4G) pastors conference he co-founded in 2006 with fellow evangelical Christian leaders Mark Dever, Albert Mohler and Ligon Duncan.

In a letter dated July 1, 2013, and published on the T4G website, Mahaney writes:

After much prayer, reflection and counsel I have decided to withdraw from participation in the 2014 Together for the Gospel conference. My reason for doing so is simple: I love these men and this conference and I desire to do all I possibly can to serve the ongoing fruitfulness of T4G.

Unfortunately, the civil lawsuit filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries, two former SGM churches and pastors (including myself), continues to generate the type of attention that could subject my friends to unfair and unwarranted criticism. Though dismissed in May (and now on appeal), the lawsuit could prove a distraction from the purpose of this important conference. My withdrawal is not intended to communicate anything about the merits of the suit. My decision simply reflects the reality that my participation could create a hindrance to this conference and its distinct purpose of serving so many pastors. My strong desire is to make sure this doesn’t happen. I believe the most effective way I can serve my friends who have supported me, and continue to support me, is by not participating in the 2014 conference.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Week

07/02/13
Steve Lipman
Staff Writer

In open letter, Rabbi Norman Lamm admits he must now “do teshuva” over missteps in handling the Finkelstein allegations.

Nearly seven decades after he first entered Yeshiva University as a student, five decades after he began teaching at the school, 37 years after he became its president and a decade after he stepped down from that post, Rabbi Norman Lamm this week retired from his last, mostly ceremonial, position at YU.

In an open letter which acknowledged that it was being written with the help of family, Rabbi Lamm, 85, who has been in failing health, announced that he is ending his service as chancellor and rosh ha yeshivah in accordance with an agreement reached three years ago with YU officials.

The rabbi alluded in the letter to the controversy that became public knowledge six months ago over alleged cases of sexual abuse at the YU high school for boys in the 1980s, an incident that has tarnished his reputation in the twilight of his career.

“At the time that inappropriate actions by individuals at Yeshiva were brought to my attention, I acted in a way that I thought was correct, but which now seems ill conceived,” Rabbi Lamm wrote in his six-page open letter. “I understand better today than I did then that sometimes, when you think you are doing something good, your actions do not measure up. You think you are helping, but you are not.

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NEW YORK
Jewish Daily Forward

By Paul Berger

Norman Lamm has resigned his post as chancellor of Yeshiva University. The exit of one of the most revered figures in Modern Orthodoxy has been tarnished, perhaps indelibly, by Lamm’s admission to me last year that he covered up sexual abuse of students during his tenure as president of Y.U. between 1976 and 2003.

Since I first reported Lamm’s admission there has been a great deal of speculation surrounding the circumstances of our interview. I have been accused of knowingly taking advantage of a man with a deteriorating mental state while his daughter was terminally ill. There is even a version of our interview circulating in which Lamm’s wife turns me away from his apartment door, so that I have to lurk outside until she leaves before I can sneak back in and take advantage of Lamm.

Prior to my interview with Lamm, I was unaware of rumors that Lamm or his daughter, Sara Lamm Dratch, were ill. All I knew was that a handful of former students had told me painful stories of their sexual abuse at Y.U.’s Manhattan high school for boys and that, according to them, the person who knew the most about it was Lamm.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By IAN KIRKWOOD July 3, 2013

A VICTIM of paedophile priest James Fletcher threw a bottle at the Nelson Bay presbytery in an angry outburst about ‘‘the things priests did to boys’’, the Special Commission of Inquiry in Newcastle has heard.

Resuming his evidence under questioning from counsel assisting the commission, Julia Lonergan, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox was taken through his recollection of the matter, which took place in 1998.

The bottle thrower was Fletcher victim AH.

Mr Fox said that a priest who was present when the bottle was thrown, Father Robert Searle, had initially confirmed that AH had yelled drunkenly about the things that priests did to boys.

In a phone conversation, Mr Fox said Father Searle had also said AH’s outburst was perhaps understandable ‘‘in the light of what we now know’’.

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WASHINGTON
Spokesman-Review

A man filed a lawsuit in Spokane County Superior Court on Tuesday against the Catholic Diocese of Yakima and the Diocese of Spokane. The suit claims child abuse by a Yakima priest and negligence by the Spokane Diocese.

Father Joseph Sondergeld, who is now dead, allegedly sexually abused the victim in 1961 when he was about nine years old, according to the suit. At the time, Sondergeld was a priest at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Roslyn, Wash., in the Yakima Diocese.

The victim, who was an altar boy at the church, alleges Sondergeld molested him on church property.

Sondergeld worked as a priest in the Spokane Diocese from 1916 to 1951. The victim alleges the Spokane Diocese knew Sondergeld had a history of child abuse, but negligently decided to transfer him rather than reporting his crimes to the proper authorities, according to the suit.

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