ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED STATES
Z Magazine

By Bill Berkowitz

Strategies used by the Church to cover up its worldwide sexual abuse scandal include: the Vatican’s refusal to cooperate with civil authorities; officially sanctioned priest shifting; the destruction of evidence; punishing whistleblowers and rewarding enablers; and blaming the victims.

At the end of February, the eyes of the world were on Pope Benedict XVI as he left the Vatican by helicopter to spend the final hours of what many would characterize as his scandal-dogged papacy at the papal summer retreat. According to the New York Times, “Onlookers in St. Peter’s Square cheered, church bells rang and Romans stood on rooftops to wave flags as he flew by.”

To the tens of thousands of survivors of the Roman Catholic Church’s worldwide sexual abuse scandals, there was little to cheer about.

A Philadelphia Grand Jury report put the long-lived scandal in unambiguous terms: by sexual abuse, “We mean rape. Boys who were raped… girls who were raped…. But even those victims whose physical abuse did not include actual rape—those who were subjected to fondling, to masturbation, to pornography—suffered psychological abuse that scarred their lives and sapped the faith in which they had been raised.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
diesseits

„Ich kann nicht mehr“ – Der im April 2010 gegründete Zusammenschluss von Opfern sexueller Gewalt „netzwerkB“ steht möglicherweise vor dem Aus. Anfang Juni soll über die Fortführung der Vereinsarbeit entschieden werden. Norbert Denef, Vorstandsvorsitzender und Missbrauchsbetroffener, hält mehr finanzielle Unterstützung für unverzichtbar.

Arik Platzek
Montag, 22. April 2013

Katholische Bischöfe und Politiker wird es freuen: Die im Zuge der Enthüllungen unzähliger Fälle des sexuellen Missbrauchs durch kirchliche Funktionsträger vor drei Jahren gegründete unabhängige Vereinigung für die Rechte und Belange von Betroffenen von sexualisierter Gewalt netzwerkB stellt möglicherweise noch in diesem Jahr ihre Arbeit ein.

Denn Norbert Denef, Gründer und treibende Kraft hinter dem Betrieb von netzwerkB, ist erschöpft. Die Gründe bringt er so auf den Punkt: „Niemand kann dauerhaft rund um die Uhr arbeiten, sieben Tage in der Woche und 365 Tage im Jahr.“

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DEUTSCHLAND
Helmut Jacob

Ca. 4700 Euro pro Opfer –Kniefall vor der ehemaligen Vorsitzenden des Rundes Tisches?

Unter der Überschrift „Ein Jahr Beratung für Betroffene der Heimerziehung“ teilt der Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) in seiner Pressemitteilung vom 13.03.2013 bemerkenswertes zum Opferfonds für mißhandelte Heimkinder in den zwei Nachkriegsjahrzehnten mit:

„Seit dem 1. Januar 2012 haben sich über 850 Betroffene an die Anlaufstelle beim LWL gewandt, um Beratung und Unterstützung zu bekommen.“ Konkreter fügt der LWL an: „Über 700 Vereinbarungen hierzu seien bereits geschlossen worden, … . So hat der Fonds über 3,3 Millionen Euro für Anträge aus Westfalen gezahlt. Die Betroffenen bekommen das Geld entweder als Ersatz für fehlende Rentenversicherungszeiten ausgezahlt, wenn sie während ihrer Heimunterbringung arbeiten mußten, oder sie bekommen Sachleistungen wie spezielle Therapien finanziert.“ (1)

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DEUTSCHLAND
Freie Presse

Der ehemalige Pfarrer der Pfarrei St. Marien Oelsnitz-Stollberg-Lugau wurde 2010 mit dem Vorwurf des sexuellen Missbrauchs einer Minderjährigen konfrontiert.

Stollberg (fp). Nach drei langen Jahren jetzt die Gewissheit: Der ehemalige Pfarrer der Pfarrei St. Marien Oelsnitz-Stollberg-Lugau, Josef Reichl, ist rehabilitiert.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by NCR Editorial Staff | Apr. 22, 2013

The sister’s voice cracked with emotion as she explained her disappointment. She and the sisters in her community were “sad, so sad” when they heard the news from the Vatican April 15 that Pope Francis had “reaffirmed” the conclusions of the doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the program of reform ordered last year by the Congregation for the Doctrine for the Faith.

Was this the dose of cold reality — the other shoe falling — that would signal that despite all the lovely symbolism of this young papacy, over the long haul the status quo would prevail? We fully understand the sadness the sister who called NCR expressed. Women religious in the United States have been ill-treated over the last four years, targets of a humiliating and, in the end, unjust takeover of their leadership organization. The Vatican has attempted to place their fate in the hands of three men, none of whom has experienced life in a religious community. Their dioceses have only benefited from the work of sisters who increasingly are the last vestige of Catholic presence in some of the most neglected corners of our cities. They stay where others — priests and bishops among them — have fled.

We also know the LCWR leadership has spent many hours and considerable resources to convey the nature of their organization and the work and lives of the women religious so that church figures better understand why the women feel they have been so unjustly treated.

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WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

At “Mass of Atonement” Listecki must explain leaving Wauwatosa priest with years of child sex abuse reports working with children

At “Mass of Atonement” Listecki must explain leaving Wauwatosa priest with years of child sex abuse reports working with children

Group wants Listecki to “atone” by immediately placing Marsicek on church sex offender registry

Dozens of clergy known to have raped or abused children and minors still being kept secret by church officials

WHO/WHAT
Victims of clergy sexual abuse who are members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org/SNAPwisconsin.com), after displaying childhood photos and candles in a makeshift memorial, will discuss before attending a “Mass of Atonement” conducted by Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, the recent and ongoing revelations concerning Fr. Robert Marsicek.

Marsicek, pastor of two Milwaukee area parishes and grade schools, Pius X and Mother of Good Council, was suspended from his job in March after it was learned that he was under a current child sex abuse police investigation in Wauwatosa. Marsicek, however, was already under a police investigation in California since last May for child sexual assaults that took place in the late 1980’s and early 1990s’. And in recent years, according to the Wauwatosa police report, complaints by parents and others about Marsicek were reported to Milwaukee church officials and known by both Archbishop Listecki and Archbishop—now Cardinal Archbishop of New York—Timothy Dolan.

Both Listecki and Dolan left Marsicek working with children and neither archbishop notified parents or parishioners of the complaints against Marsicek or his history in California. Survivors of Marsicek are also coming forward to SNAP and law enforcement who were sexually assaulted by him when working in the Green Bay Diocese in the 1970’s (see Marsicek’s assignment history).

SNAP has long insisted that Dolan, and now Listecki, must release the complete list of all known clergy child sex offenders who have worked or are working in the archdiocese. Approximately half of these clergy belong to religious orders assigned to the archdiocese, and are not on the current archdiocese published list. In a court agreement last month in Federal Bankruptcy Court the archdiocese is required to release the church file of any cleric who is on or at any time added to the registry.

WHERE
Outside of St. John Vianney Parish, 1755 N. Calhoun Rd, Brookfield

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

JARED OWENS
From:The Australian
April 22, 2013

HEARINGS conducted by the NSW Cunneen sex abuse inquiry will be closed to the public iif the witnesses are expected to give evidence of criminality.

A directions hearing in Sydney was this morning told the inquiry’s “in camera” sessions would not be limited to the evidence of sex abuse victims, but also “certain other relevant witnesses” whose evidence could relate to “future criminal proceedings”.

Counsel assisting the inquiry, Julia Lonergan SC, said the public hearings would be held in private, “without access to them by the media or the general public”, so as “not to prejudice by pre-trial publicity any future criminal proceedings”.

Special Commissioner Margaret Cunneen is investigating the circumstances in which NSW Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox was directed to cease investigating sexual abuse at the state’s notorious Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese, and whether church figures obstructed or hindered his investigations.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne has revealed it has dealt with 46 cases of child abuse since 1955.

But the church has told the Victorian child abuse inquiry there may have been more because records were poorly kept.

The Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier, says the church’s approach to complaints is much better now than in the 1950s and 60s.

“Children were frankly disbelieved; disbelieved by their parents, they were disbelieved by the adults around them when they raised complaints,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

People confessing to child sex crimes would not be absolved of their sins by the Anglican Church until they reported the matter to police, an inquiry has been told.

Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne Philip Freier said while confessions were limited in the church, there was a risk offenders may seek the sacrament to alleviate their conscience.

But the church required confessors to report their crimes to police before they could receive absolution, he told the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child sex abuse.

“There is a risk, and possibly a certain pathology in some offenders, where having any means to convince them that what they’ve done isn’t as bad as what they probably know it is, helps their offending behaviour,” Dr Freier said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By Rob Cooper

Professor Richard Dawkins has claimed that forcing a religion on children without questioning its merits is as bad as ‘child abuse’.

In typically incendiary style, the leading atheist said he was against the ‘indoctrination of religion’ and teaching it as fact.

The evolutionary scientist, speaking at the Chipping Norton Literary Festival yesterday, was repeating claims he made last year which were roundly condemned by charities and politicians.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

April 22, 2013

Dan Oakes
Justice Editor for The Age

The former principal of a notorious Catholic school in Sunbury has been charged with child-sex offences stretching back almost 40 years after police negotiated the man’s return from Rome with the Catholic Church.

Police have hailed the arrest of Father Julian Fox as ‘‘a breakthrough in co-operation between the Victoria Police and the Catholic Church’’.

The 67-year-old went to the police crime command headquarters at St Kilda Road and was charged with 10 offences, including buggery, indecent assault and common-law assault, allegedly committed in Sunbury and Ferntree Gully between 1976 and 1985.

Police said they had been negotiating with the Church since July over the priest’s return. He has been bailed to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News (US)

MELBOURNE, Australia April 22, 2013 (AP)

Australian police arrested a Roman Catholic priest on pedophilia charges Monday, following months of negotiations to have him returned from the Vatican.

A police statement said the 67-year-old priest, whose name has not been made public, presented himself at Victoria state police headquarters in Melbourne on Monday.

The priest was charged with 10 counts of child abuse allegedly committed in Melbourne’s outskirts between 1976 and 1985. He was released on bail and will appear before a magistrate on Friday.

Police said they had been negotiating with the Catholic Church since July 2012 to have him returned to Australia.

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AUSTRALIA
Big Pond News

Monday, April 22, 2013

Most child sex abuse complaints brought to the Uniting Church were not referred to police, an inquiry heard.

Most child sex abuse complaints brought to the Uniting Church have not been referred to police by the church, a Victorian inquiry has heard.

Legal adviser for the church’s Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Philip Battye, said police had been involved in only a small number of complaints.

‘It would be a smaller number rather than a larger number,’ Mr Battye told the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse allegations on Monday.

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AUSTRALIA
WA Today

April 22, 2013

Genevieve Gannon and Melissa Iaria
AAP

Two of Australia’s largest churches say it’s up to the people who were sexually abused as children to go to the police.

The Anglican and Uniting churches in Victoria have together paid more than $2.25 million in compensation to victims over the past 10 to 15 years but have only referred a small number of allegations to authorities, a Victorian inquiry has heard.

Melbourne’s Anglican Archbishop Dr Philip Freier says a culture of disbelieving children who complained of sex abuse and an unwillingness to face up to difficult and shameful things had helped the crime go undetected.

“As you look backwards you can see broadly as a culture we’ve not readily listened to children when they’ve made complaints,” Dr Freier told the parliamentary inquiry on Monday.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

The majority of child sex abuse claims brought before two churches have not been referred to police, an inquiry has heard.

Two of Australia’s largest churches say it’s up to the people who were sexually abused as children to go to the police.

The Anglican and Uniting churches in Victoria have together paid more than $2.25 million in compensation to victims over the past 10 to 15 years but have only referred a small number of allegations to authorities, a Victorian inquiry has heard.

Melbourne’s Anglican Archbishop Dr Philip Freier says a culture of disbelieving children who complained of sex abuse and an unwillingness to face up to difficult and shameful things had helped the crime go undetected.

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AUSTRALIA
The Border Mail

By Barney Zwartz
April 22, 2013, 1 p.m.

Child sexual abuse flourished in the past because Australian culture did not readily listen to children when they made complaints and because the churches did not want to face difficult and shameful things, Melbourne Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier said on Monday.

“We’ve always had high expectations but not the necessary checks and balances,” he told the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled sex abuse.

“Functions would be clustered unhelpfully in one person or office, and it was a small community. People knew each other.

“Children would be disbelieved by parents and the adults around them and sometimes even punished for talking about it. It was an awful thing.”

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AUSTRALIA
International Business Times

By Esther Tanquintic-Misa | April 22, 2013

If parents and adults had paid more attention in the previous years to the complaints of children that they have been sexually abused by members of a religious church or community, the burgeoning number might have already been nipped right in the bud early on.

Philip Freier, Melbourne Anglican Archbishop, told a Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled sex abuse, said it is most unfortunate children’s grievances were not being heard, at worst just plainly disregarded.

“Children were frankly disbelieved; disbelieved by their parents, they were disbelieved by the adults around them when they raised complaints,” Archbishop Freier said.

Since 1955, the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne said it has dealt with 46 cases of child abuse. But Mr Freier said the numbers could be more because records were poorly kept

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AUSTRALIA
Anglican Diocese of Melbourne

Archbishop Freier speaks of his Church’s abhorrence for abuse, re-affirms goals of State Inquiry

22/04/2013

Media release

​Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr Philip Freier, today said that he welcomed the opportunity, on behalf of all Anglicans in the Diocese of Melbourne, to appear before the Parliamentary Committee inquiring into the handling of child sex abuse by religious and other non-government organisations.

In his concluding statement to the Committee today he spoke of the Church’s abhorrence for abuse, and his own experiences in dealing with both perpetrators and victims. He reiterated his apology for the pain and misery that such abuse has caused both victims and the broader community. He also spoke of the courage of those victims appearing before the Inquiry and the value of their testimony as an opportunity for organisations such as the Melbourne Diocese to better understand and continue to evolve its processes for complaint resolution. Moreover, anything that can be done to prevent abuse in the future is to be strongly affirmed and implemented.

Dr Freier acknowledged the importance of the trust and confidence of the broader community in religious organisations and welcomed the Inquiry as a way in which that confidence might begin to be restored, accepting that both the Inquiry and the Royal Commission have impacted on the wider communities’ faith in the Church.

In presenting the Diocese of Melbourne’s testimony to the Inquiry he spoke of the importance of transparent, fair and efficient processes to deal with complaints and of the importance of an organisational culture which did not tolerate abuse in any form, particularly child sexual abuse, which is the focus of the Inquiry. Assisted by the Director of Professional Standards, an independent office established by the Diocese, Dr Freier outlined the development of protocols, procedures and legislation that had occurred since 1994 and the development of the professional standards practices of the Diocese which today govern the accountability of clergy and church workers.

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AUSTRALIA
Anglican Diocese of Melbourne

22/04/2013

by Muriel Porter

Fewer than 10 clergy in the Melbourne Diocese have either lost their licences to officiate or relinquished their holy orders because of child sexual abuse allegations, the diocese’s Director of Professional Standards, Ms Claire Sargent, told the Victorian Parliament’s enquiry into how institutions have handled child sexual abuse complaints on Monday (22 April). Some others had not been appointed to roles they had sought, she said.

Her office held records of 46 complaints, the “vast majority” against clergy, since 1955, Ms Sargent added. There did not seem to be any “pattern” of abuse in Melbourne diocese, as had been the case in other dioceses, and complaints seemed to relate to “opportunistic” abuse. Ms Sargent said that records before the 1990s had been “less than adequate”, but there had been increasing documentation since 2002/2003.

A total of $268,000 has been paid in financial compensation to 10 complaints since 2003, not including the costs of counselling and other support provided by the Diocese, the hearing heard. There are currently 685 authorised clergy in the Diocese.

Ms Sargent, the Archbishop, and the Diocesan Registrar and General Manager, Mr Ken Spackman, were subjected to polite but sustained scrutiny over a two-hour period into the Diocese’s history of complaint handling, and its current approach, by the Parliamentary committee conducting the hearing.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

Wayne Flower
Herald Sun
April 22, 2013

A CATHOLIC priest who moved to Rome after years of allegedly committing child sex offences in Victoria has returned to face justice.

Taskforce Sano detectives arrested the priest today in relation to alleged historic child sexual abuse matters committed between 1976 and 1985 in Sunbury and Ferntree Gully.

Police had been negotiating with the Catholic Church over the man’s return since July last year.

The priest’s return to Victoria is seen as a major a breakthrough in co-operation between Victoria Police and the Catholic Church.

The 67-year-old man, along with his legal representative, presented himself to police at Crime Command Headquarters at St Kilda Rd.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

ABC

A 67-year-old Catholic priest has been arrested following negotiations between Victoria Police and the Catholic Church to have him returned to Australia from Rome.

The Ascot Vale man has been charged with 10 offences relating to alleged child sexual abuse between 1976 and 1985 in Sunbury and Ferntree Gully.

He will face the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.

The Victoria Police Taskforce Sano had been negotiating the man’s return with the church since July last year.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Stuart Rintoul
From:The Australian
April 22, 2013

CHURCHES and community organisations had a culture that helped child sex abuse go undetected, Melbourne’s Anglican archbishop has told an inquiry.

Dr Peter Freier has told Victoria’s abuse inquiry it has records of 46 complaints against clergy and church workers and has paid out compensation of $268,000 in the past 10 years.

Dr Freier said historically there had been a culture that provided opportunities for people who wanted to breach the trust of children to do so and for children’s complaints to be ignored.

“As you look backwards you can see broadly as a culture we’ve not readily listened to children when they’ve made complaints,” Dr Freier told the inquiry.

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AUSTRALIA
International Business Times

By Esther Tanquintic-Misa | April 22, 2013

Believed to have sought the perks of an anonymous life in Rome, an Australian 67-year-old Catholic priest is bound to face 10 legal cases of sexual abuse related charges once he gets back home.

A spokeswoman from Australia’s local Victoria police said they have been negotiating for the return of the Ascot Vale man from Rome since July 2012.

It was late in 2012 when detectives were able to establish complaints against the Australian Catholic priest, gathered from complaints generated from the Victorian inquiry into child sex abuse. The child sexual abuse cases allegedly happened between 1976 and 1985 in Sunbury and Ferntree Gully.

The priest’s return to Victoria is seen as a major a breakthrough in co-operation between Victoria Police and the Catholic Church, the police spokeswoman said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

PIA AKERMAN
From:The Australian
April 22, 2013

VICTORIAN Police have charged a Catholic priest with child sex offences after he returned to Melbourne from Rome.

Detectives from Taskforce Sano, which was established last year to deal with complaints arising from the Victorian inquiry into child sex abuse, arrested the 67-year-old man today in relation to alleged historic child sexual abuse matters committed between 1976 and 1985 in Sunbury and Ferntree Gully.

“Victoria Police have been negotiating with the Catholic Church since July 2012 to have the man returned from Rome,” a police spokeswoman said.

“The return of this man to Victoria is considered a breakthrough in cooperation between the Victoria Police and the Catholic Church.”

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

Shannon Deery
Herald Sun
April 22, 20131:21PM

FORMER Catholic principal Julian Fox has been charged with child sex crimes spanning two decades.

The former Salesian College, Rupertswood, principal was charged with 10 offences this morning.

The charges came after Fr Fox returned from Rome on Friday.

Allegations have been levelled at the Salesian Order that they knowingly let Fr Fox relocate to Rome after accusations were made against him.

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AUSTRALIA
Victoria Police

Monday, 22 April 2013

Taskforce Sano detectives arrested a catholic priest today in relation to alleged historic child sexual abuse matters committed between 1976 and 1985 in Sunbury and Ferntree Gully.

Victoria Police have been negotiating with the Catholic Church since July 2012 to have the man returned from Rome.

The return of this man to Victoria is considered a break through in co-operation between the Victoria Police and the Catholic Church.

The 67-year-old man, along with his legal representative, presented himself to police at Crime Command Headquarters at 412 St Kilda Road, Melbourne.

The Ascot Vale man has been charged with 10 offences, including buggery, indecent assault and common law assault.

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AUSTRALIA
Hong King Standard

Australian police have arrested a Roman Catholic priest on pedophilia charges, following months of negotiations to have him returned from the Vatican.

A police statement said the 67-year-old priest presented himself at Victoria state police headquarters in Melbourne on Monday. His name has not been made public, AP reports.

The priest was charged with 10 counts of child abuse allegedly committed in Melbourne’s outskirts between 1976 and 1985. He was released on bail and will appear before a magistrate on Friday.
Police said they had been negotiating with the Catholic Church since July 2012 to have him returned to Australia.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

AAP

April 22, 2013

A Catholic priest living in Rome has returned to Australia to be charged with sexually abusing Victorian children after months of negotiation between police and the church.

The 67-year-old man had been wanted for questioning over historical child sexual abuse allegations over the past 10 months.

But the priest and his lawyer walked into the Victoria Police crime department headquarters in Melbourne to face the allegations on Monday.

“The return of this man to Victoria is considered a breakthrough in co-operation between the Victoria Police and the Catholic Church,” a police statement said.
.

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IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By Louise Hogan– 22 April 2013

An Irish priest whose love affair rocked the Catholic Church has revealed that he feels new restrictions sent to him by the Vatican make him a “second-class citizen”.

Sean Page (54), originally from Castlerea, Co Roscommon, last year wed his partner, Clarice Young, a mother of five.

The wedding took place in a simple Church of England ceremony near his home in Rochdale, greater Manchester.

But despite leaving the Catholic Church, he still feels it is interfering with his life.

Among the conditions delivered to him in a Vatican document were to ensure any wedding celebration was “low-key”, to “absent himself” from areas where he would have been known as a priest and to undertake to not engage in teaching theology.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

Edward Jay Epstein

On June 5, 2012, financial police in Piacenza, Italy, searched the home of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who was the target of a money laundering investigation. Up until just a few weeks earlier, he had headed the Popes’ secretive organization for dealing with the world of Mammon, called not without irony the “Institute for Works Religious,” since it operates as an off-shore bank that is beyond the laws and regulations of Italy, the European Union, or any other authority. The raid uncovered a secret dossier that included 47 binders of Vatican documents, some of which exposed the Vatican Bank’s loopholes for laundering money, arrangements for discrete accounts, and a note instructing that these documents be delivered to a lawyer and the media if anything foul happened to Tedeschi. As it was reported in the Italian press, he had feared for his life because the some of the secret accounts serviced individuals in the Mafia and other criminal organizations.

Thirty years earlier, the body of Roberto Calvi, known as “God’s Banker” because of his work for the Vatican bank, was found hanging under Blackfriars bridge in London, a well-organized murder which was never solved. Also missing was a half-billion dollars siphoned through the Vatican bank to anonymous corporations owned by unknown parties. And no one found at that time certain documents from Calvi’s attache case, which more than a half decade later were used to attempt to blackmail the Pope for $40 million. (Only $2 million was paid to the blackmailers by the Vatican Bank before the police moved in.)

The secret at the heart of these crimes, as it is brilliantly adumbrated in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part III, was and remains that the Vatican is desperately short of money, and had been for more than a century. It was so impoverished after the First World War that it borrowed $100,000 from a bank to pay for the funeral of Pope Benedict XV. It had priceless art and church properties, but it could not sell them, nor did Dioceses abroad provide funds. All it had was the meager revenue from the sale of postage stamps and the annual Peter’s Pence collection boxes in churches. In light of its dire financial situation, it had no choice but to allegedly accept a settlement in 1929 with the government of Benito Mussolini, which provided it with $91.4 million in cash and bonds. That sum at prevailing interest rates did not yield enough income to pay the Vatican’s expenses, so, to get a high return, the Popes used the Vatican’s sovereign status to set up a no-hold-barred offshore bank under the guise of an “Institute For Religious Work.” As its President Archbishop Paul Marcinkus told me, after he moved to full-fledged money laundering in the Bahamas, “You can’t run the church on Hail Marys alone.” Unfortunately, in the banking scandal following the death of God’s Banker, the Vatican bank lost a large part of it capital.

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CALIFORNIA
The Press-Enterprise

The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino next month will begin including an intention for victims of sexual abuse in a monthly Mass at the diocesan pastoral center in San Bernardino.

An intention refers to when participants in a Mass are asked to say special prayers for someone and keep that person in their thoughts throughout a service. Usually, it is for someone who has passed away, diocesan spokesman John Andrews told me.

On the first Tuesday of every month, the intention of the Mass at the pastoral center will be for all victims of sexual abuse, including those abused by priests, he said.

“It’s not the end-all,” Andrews said. “It’s one more thing we can do to try to walk with them on their journey.”

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Balfe was a Jesuit priest ordained in 1927 whose career took him to Indian missions in Alaska, Washington state and Montana. He was also assigned to several parishes and hospitals. Balfe was accused in a lawsuit settled in 2011 of having sexually abused children residing at the St. Ignatius Mission boarding school in Montana. He died in 1969.

Ordained: 1927
Died: 1969

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Bartles was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1965. He went on to work in Kansas, Florida, Georgia, Alaska, New Orleans, Jamaica and Brazil. He died in 1993. An accusation against Bartles was revealed in the Fairbanks diocese’s bankruptcy reorganization documents in 2010.

Ordained: 1965
Died: July 28, 1993

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Rev. Thomas J. Hidding, s.j. was accused in 2002 of having sexually abused a Florida high school student between 1980-1982, when he was a Jesuit seminarian and teacher. He was ordained in 1986, and spent his career in Louisiana and Florida. Hidding was removed from active ministry after the accusation surfaced in May 2002. He died Oct. 12, 2005.

Ordained: 1986

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CALIFORNIA
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: McKeon was ordained a Franciscan priest of the Santa Barbara, CA Province in 1952. The first 11 years of his ministry were spent at the Franciscan minor seminary in Santa Barbara, where he taught and was for a time Prefect of Discipline. He went on to serve as Promoter of Vocations for the province and, for almost 20 years, pastor of Mission San Luis Rey. He also served as an auxiliary Navy chaplain. McKeon was accused in lawsuits in the 2000s of having sexually abused at least three boys during his time at the minor seminary. He died in 1986.

Ordained: June 8, 1952
Died: Feb. 26, 1986

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBN

An historic conference for survivors of abuse and trauma on the mission field is being held in Chicago this weekend.

The event is sponsored by MK Safety Net, a group started in 1999 by alumni from a Christian and Missionary Alliance boarding school in West Africa.

“Abuse sent many MKs (missionary kids) and their families on an ‘Unexpected Journey.’ This conference will address actions and steps to help us move toward reclaiming our lives and breaking the silence,” the group said on its website.

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UNITED STATES
Boston Globe

By David M. Shribman

April 20, 2013

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis last month, nearly every Vatican insider, observer, and commentator remarked that he had inherited leadership of a church that was troubled and in upheaval. For nearly three decades, the Catholic hierarchy had struggled with the challenges of a catastrophic sexual abuse scandal, a profound crisis of faith, and a lingering public-relations disaster.

Michael D’Antonio’s “Mortal Sins,’’ perhaps the most comprehensive history of the wrongdoing to date, will only fuel those dilemmas. This is a devastating chronicle not only of sexual abuse but also of abuse of power — or, rather, of the inclination of those in power to avert their eyes from abuse.

Every page ripples with lurid tales of dysfunction, corruption, exploitation — and, ultimately, of heartbreak, both inside and outside the church. The calamity is that this scandal, spanning cases coast to coast and spilling across the globe, seems so repetitive — so utterly familiar — with revelations prompting revelations until the reader, like the church, can barely tolerate the next episode.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

A look at books – the Magdalene Laundries, Reverend Ian Paisley and the Irish Diaspora

Tip Sheet by Cahir O’Doherty

It Doesn’t Ring a Bell
By Racer Lynch

It hasn’t been two decades since the last Magdalene Laundry in Ireland closed in 1996. That’s well within the living memory of young adults. The question is, what to do with all that suffering now that its come to light?

Even now most would prefer to look the other way, exactly the way they used to when these unpaid gulags were in operation. The Irish government had to be browbeaten for years by a group of committed former inmates and their offspring before finally offering a full apology. That apology was offered in February 2013, by the way, just two months ago.

So the Irish reluctance to face up to the legacy of widespread physical and sexual abuse has been one of the most remarkable aspects of the now three decade long crisis in the Catholic Church. Instead of principled stock taking, denial, defensiveness and even blaming the victims have been the standard responses.

So what happens to the nation that fails to confront its own traumas? Does it hand them and their legacy on to the next generation without comment?

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Apr. 21, 2013

Another veteran Vatican figure has signaled openness to civil recognition of same-sex unions, in the wake of similar comments in early February from the Vatican’s top official on the family. It’s a position also once reportedly seen with favor by the future pope while he was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The latest expression of support for civil recognition as an alternative to gay marriage comes from Archbishop Piero Marini, who served for 18 years as Pope John Paul II’s liturgical Master of Ceremonies.

“There are many couples that suffer because their civil rights aren’t recognized,” Marini said.

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UNITED STATES
Failed Messiah

Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz also says you should ask a rabbi before reporting suspected child sexual abuse to police or your city’s child protection services and invokes the No True Scotsman Fallacy – any Orthodox Jew who commits heinous crimes like child sexual abuse is not really an Orthodox Jew, Breitowitz claims, insisting that God and Judaism are not at fault for what its most visible adherent s may do wrong.

Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz says no matter how bad the behavior of haredi Jews may seem, we’re better than the non-Jews, and the haredi community is the place to go to live a fulfilled, moral life.

He also says that you should ask a rabbi before reporting suspected child sexual abuse to police or your city’s child protection services and invokes the No True Scotsman Fallacy – any Orthodox Jew who commits heinous crimes like child sexual abuse is not really an Orthodox Jew, Breitowitz claims, insisting that God and Judaism are not at fault for what its most visible adherents may do wrong.

On top of that, he says students at Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem don’t really have many questions related to this because Jerusalem’s Jews are holier than the Jews elsewhere, and he implies the problems of child sexual abuse, theft and corruption don’t really exist there – which is false.

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VATIKAN
Katholisch

Der Vatikan hat einen Bericht des UN-Sicherheitsrats über sexuelle Gewalt in bewaffneten Konflikten kritisiert. Es sei “enttäuschend”, dass die Studie religiös motivierte Übergriffe dieser Art nicht berücksichtige, heißt es in einer Stellungnahme des Vatikan-Vertreters bei den Vereinten Nationen, Erzbischof Francis Assisi Chullikatt, vor dem Sicherheitsrat.

In der von Radio Vatikan am Samstag veröffentlichten Stellungnahme betonte der Erzbischof, religiös motivierte sexuelle Gewalt gebe es immer noch in “fast jeder Region der Welt”. Zugleich rief er zu einem entschiedeneren Vorgehen gegen sexuelle Gewalt weltweit auf. Dieses dürfe nicht Opfer politischer Interessen werden.

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TEXAS
My Plain View

[John Salazar – Archdiocese of Los Angeles]

By SHANNA SISSOM | Herald Managing Editor

TULIA — A trial date has been set for the former Tulia priest accused of child molestation while he served at the Church of the Holy Spirit.

The Rev. John Anthony Salazar was sent to Tulia in 1991 as a convicted child molester who had completed a treatment program for pedophile priests and been banned for life from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

He would spend over a decade in Tulia, and eventually face more allegations of child sexual abuse until his departure in May 2002 when he was removed from ministry. That was a month before the Roman Catholic bishops in America adopted a charter aimed at protecting children from pedophile priests.

Salazar, 57, is scheduled to stand trial on a charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact in Swisher County’s 64th Judicial District Court, presided over by Judge Robert Kinkaid Jr., on Aug. 29, 2013, according to court records. The victim in this case was 12 years old when the alleged abuse began in 1997, according to information in the clerk’s office file.

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ITALIA
IVG

Savona. Si è conclusa verso le 12,30 la prima parte del volantinaggio “Basta Bugie. Fanno male ai bambini” promosso dagli attivisti della Rete L’Abuso che si è tenuto questa mattina in corso Italia a Savona. “Durante la sola mattinata sono state distribuite quasi 5000 copie del volantino che avevamo preventivato di distribuire nell’arco di tutta la giornata, un numero enorme in una città di 36000 abitanti” spiega Francesco Zanardi, uno dei promotori dell’iniziativa.

“Non sono mancati i commenti durissimi nei confronti della Diocesi savonese, protagonista di un trentennale e ormai indiscutibile degrado morale e civile finalmente visibile a tutti sopratutto dopo la denuncia de Le Iene che ha raccontato oltre ai sotterfugi anche particolari raccapriccianti su quelle che sono state le omissioni a danni di bambini indifesi affidati alle cure del clero savonese. Molte le critiche anche nei confronti dell’attuale Vescovo di Savona, vittima della sua politica all’insegna della disonestà e delle proprie dichiarazioni che lo hanno visto in almeno tre occasioni promettere pubblicamente provvedimenti mai concretizzati” prosegue Zanardi.

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VATICAN CITY
The Sunday Times (UK)

John Follain Published: 21 April 2013

POPE FRANCIS plans to appoint lay women to top jobs in the Vatican and to dilute the power of Italian cardinals in a radical shake-up of the Catholic Church’s government following a series of scandals.

In a move branded as “revolutionary” by Vatican watchers, the Pope last weekend appointed eight cardinals to advise him on the governance and reform of the Curia, the church’s bureaucracy which has been tainted by controversies over child sex abuse by priests, leaks of papal files and allegations of corruption.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, whom Francis named to head the panel and who is now seen as a “power behind the papal throne”, predicted a difficult fight ahead for the Argentine pontiff.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Radio Dresden

Die katholische Kirche startet ein Präventionsprojekt gegen sexuellen Missbrauch. Beim sogenannten Starkmachtag kommen dazu heute 40 Kinder in der Dresdner Herz-Jesu-Gemeinde zusammen. Die 5 bis 13-jährigen werden dabei durch zwei Clowns sensibel an das Thema herangeführt. Der Kinder sollen auf spielerische Art und Weise lernen, wie sie sexuelle Grenzüberschreitungen erkennen und dagegen vorgehen können. Der Starkmachtag in Dresden ist die Pilotveranstaltung für das Kinderschutzprogramm im gesamten Bistum Dresden-Meißen. Weitere Projekttage sind im Raum Leipzig und Chemnitz/Vogtland geplant.

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OSTERREICH
Kirchen Privilegien

Kardinal Schönborn zählt zu den 100 reichsten Österreichern

(Wien, 19.4.2013, PUR) In einer Kolumne im Gratisblatt “Heute“ wirft Kardinal Christoph Schönborn den Initiatoren des Volksbegehrens vor, Neid zu schüren und “Unseriöses zu verbreiten“. So streitet er beispielsweise ab, dass die Kirche “steinreich“ sei und verweist einzig auf Kirchen und Klöster als „steinernen Besitz“. Dass Schönborn persönlich über feudale Besitztümer verfügt verschweigt er jedoch. Mensalgüter stehen Bischöfen zu ihrer privaten Verfügung und sollen ein “fürstliches“ Leben ermöglichen, in der Öffentlichkeit gibt es über diese Konstruktionen kaum Informationen: nur die Bischöfe und einige Verwalter wissen darüber Bescheid.

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DEUTSCHLAND
IKVU

Jutta Lehnert wird für ihr jugendpolitisches Engagement und für ihren engagierten Einsatz gegen sexualisierte Gewalt in der Kirche ausgezeichnet.

18.04.2013 Oscar Romero-Haus/Bonn

Am 3. Mai 2013 verleiht die IKvu in Hamburg den „Dorothee Sölle-Preis für aufrechten Gang“ an JUTTA LEHNERT, Geistliche Leiterin der Katholischen Studierenden Jugend (KSJ) im Bistum Trier und Pastoralreferentin im Dekanat Koblenz.

Die Preisverleihung ist Teil des Programms des 34. Deutschen Evangelischen Kirchentags in Hamburg und findet am Freitag, den 3. Mai 2013, während des Liturgischen Tags zu Dorothee Sölle statt: Veranstaltung „Dorothee Sölle wahrnehmen und weiterdenken“
15 – 18 Uhr, Halle A2 (Messegelände).

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DEUTSCHLAND
Der Tagesspiegel

von Sidney Gennies
Drei Jahre sind die Missbrauchskandale am Canisiuskolleg und der Odenwaldschule her. Der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Bundesregierung fordert nun eine unabhängige Kommission – es kann also noch dauern, bis sich etwas tut.

Der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Bundesregierung, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, hat sich für eine unabhängige Kommission zur Aufarbeitung von sexuellem Missbrauch an Kindern ausgesprochen. Ähnlich wie die irische „Ryan-Kommission“ solle sie zur weiteren Aufarbeitung des Kindesmissbrauchs beitragen, sagte Rörig am Freitag in Berlin. Die Kommission solle dem Bundestag und der Regierung regelmäßig Bericht erstatten, Daten zu sexuellem Missbrauch erheben und wissenschaftlich auswerten. Vor der nächsten Bundestagswahl wird es aber kaum dazu kommen. „Wir sollten zunächst die Arbeitsergebnisse des unabhängigen Beauftragten abwarten“, sagte die familienpolitische Sprecherin der CDU/CSU-Fraktion, Dorothee Bär, dem Tagesspiegel.

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ARGENTINA
Irish Independent

Michael Warren Buenos Aires– 20 April 2013

Pope Francis has been accused in an Argentine courtroom of failing to help protect a fellow Jesuit priest from the country’s military dictatorship and right-wing death squads.

Graciela Yorio accused the then Jorge Mario Bergoglio of turning his back on her brother, the late Orlando Virgilio Yorio, before and after he and another priest were taken by the junta’s agents and tortured in 1976.

Fr Bergoglio has said he did what he could as a young Jesuit leader with no real power to protect Fr Yorio and other slum priests from being kidnapped.

He testified in 2010 that he worked behind the scenes to win the freedom of Fr Yorio and the other priest, Francisco Jalics. But Ms Yorio disagreed.

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CALIFORNIA
Sacramento Bee

By Robert D. Dávila
rdavila@sacbee.com

Published: Monday, Apr. 15, 2013

A former pastor at Divine Savior Catholic Church in Orangevale is under investigation following allegations that he sexually abused two children who were parishioners in the 1980s and 1990s.

Officials at Divine Savior read a statement at Sunday Masses informing parishioners about the allegations against the Rev. Robert “Bob” Marsicek, who was pastor from 1987 to 2001. The statement said Marsicek is under investigation for a similar complaint in Wisconsin, where he is a pastor in the Milwaukee Archdiocese.

The statement read by the Rev. Roman Mueller, current pastor at Divine Savior, said the allegations against Marsicek involve two children who belonged to the church in the 1980s and 1990s.

Kevin Eckery, a Sacramento Diocese spokesman, said diocese officials learned about the complaint “several months ago” and turned the case over to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By Aimee Green, The Oregonian

Ten years after a man secured a $900,000 settlement for abuse as a child by one of Oregon’s most notorious pedophile priests, an ugly battle over how much his attorneys got to keep is finally over.

The man’s case came to light two years ago after he filed a lawsuit saying that his attorneys claimed $877,000 of his settlement, leaving him with just $23,000. The news stirred public outrage — and deeply embarrassed the legal community, which constantly fights the stereotype of greedy, money-grabbing lawyers.

But since then, the man known only as G.B. has managed to recover $225,000. And though he’s better off than he was before, that’s far short of the $600,000 he should have gotten if his attorneys had taken only the standard fee of 33 percent.

“It’s just a travesty,” said Richard A. Weill, a volunteer trial attorney for the Oregon State Bar.

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SOUTH AFRICA
Mail & Guardian

A church leader accused in the US of complicity in covering up child abuse shouldn’t be allowed to speak at a local Rezolution Christian conference.

Whilst it is impossible to know with certainty the rate of child sexual abuse that occurs in South Africa because of the general under-reporting of these specific cases, it is estimated that one in three girls and one in five boys suffer sexual abuse before the age of 18 years.

The high incidence of child sexual abuse is by no means unique to South Africa; it is a global problem that knows no cultural, racial, economic or societal bounds.

In an era where access to information has become an easy reality, society now more than ever has little excuse to turn a blind eye when confronted with cases of social injustice. …

One of the speakers attending the Rezolution conference, currently being held in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban this April, is implicated in a class action lawsuit against Sovereign Grace Ministries (an organisation of mainly US-based churches). As the former president of SGM, CJ Mahaney is listed as one of several defendants in the lawsuit which alleges the covering up of a number of cases of sexual abuse within the organisation.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Aleteia

The clergy sex abuse scandal, the challenges that Pope Francis puts before the Church, requests for transparency, the topic of religious liberty and a staunch condemnation of the terrorist attacks in Boston: “Evil exists, and some people choose it.”

Aleteia features this exclusive interview with His Excellency, Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia.

Archbishop Chaput, Philadelphia has been rocked by the sex abuse scandal. How badly has it shaken the faithful, and what do you see as the way out?

That expression – “rocked by scandal” – should be retired along with a lot of other media clichés. People get addicted to lurid headlines and the drug of anger. Then they stop thinking clearly about how these tragedies happen and the best way to prevent them in the future. The abuse scandal in the Church is inexcusable. Innocent children and families were terribly hurt. As a Church, we – and by “we,” I mean first of all we bishops – owe victims our sorrow for what they endured, our prayers and our material support in helping them heal. Philadelphia Catholics have spent the last decade frustrated by the sins and mistakes that happened here. It would be a miracle if their morale weren’t low. The way out of this kind of problem is for bishops and other Catholic leaders to act with honesty, humility and justice in dealing with victims and renewing the Church. Over time, that kind of witness is the only thing that heals.

How do you think Pope Francis should proceed in this area? What would you suggest to him?

The Pope seems to know very well what to do. He doesn’t need my advice. His manner is simple, direct and honest. People are starving for that kind of leadership, both within the Church and everywhere else. We live in a modern cocoon of public relations, marketing and message control. Any leader who simply tells the truth, and tells it simply, is like rain in the desert.

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UTAH
Salt Lake Tribune

By Jessica MIller
| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Apr 19 2013

A former LDS Church missionary accused of having sexual contact with a girl under the age of 14 has pleaded guilty to reduced charges.

Brandon Scott Cordero, 20, of Kaysville, was charged with two counts of first-degree felony of a rape child on Feb. 14 in 2nd District Court.

This week, Cordero pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree felony sexual abuse of child.

According to a probable cause statement, Cordero attempted to have sex with the girl multiple times between Nov. 23, 2010 and May 31, 2012.

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CANADA
Calgary Herald

By Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald April 19, 2013

A former Baptist church volunteer in Calgary has been sentenced to 38 months in prison for sexual abuse of four boys, dating back more than 30 years, as well as possession of child pornography,

Provincial court Judge Anne Brown said the man has been categorized as a pedophile and has a sexual deviancy toward young boys. She gave him 32 months for the abuse charges and six months consecutive for the nearly 700 images of child pornography.

Russell Louis Rodman, 59, will be registered as a sex offender for life. He must provide a DNA sample and not attend any park, playground or other public place where children would normally attend for the next 10 years.

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CALIFORNIA
Irvine Police Department

Contact : Julia Engen, Lieutenant 949-724-7112
jengen@cityofirvine.org

IRVINE, CA (February 10, 2013): On Saturday, February 09, 2013, Irvine Police Detectives arrested Zachary Reeder (1-28-83) of Orange for lewd conduct with a child, possession and distribution of child pornography, and child annoyance.

Detectives believe Reeder posed as a female on Facebook and befriended under-aged males. After establishing increasingly inappropriate relationships with the victims online, Reeder would convince them to take sexually explicit photos of themselves and send them to him. The false profile set up by Reeder utilized a photograph of a young white female with light blond hair.

Several victims have been identified including one that is fourteen years of age. At this time, there is no indication that Reeder had any physical contact with victims. The crimes discovered have occurred over the past two years. Detectives are investigating the possibility that Reeder targeted victims to befriend through his employment at Servite High School in Anaheim where he has worked as a history teacher since Fall, 2008. Reeder also has prior employment history at Beckman High School where he worked as a walk-on assistant baseball coach for 4 seasons through last year. The Irvine Police Department is working closely with personnel from the high schools to ensure Reeder does not have access to any students and to notify parents.

Detectives believe there may be more victims that have not yet been identified and are asking anyone with information to contact Detective Frough Jahid at 949-724-7184 or fjahid@cityofirvine.org .

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CALIFORNIA
Latinos Post

In recent years the act of “catfishing,” or lying to someone online in order to develop a relationship with them, has become increasingly popular. The most notable case of catfishing came earlier this year when it was revealed that star Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o had been the victim of one such prankster. Well now, a Los Angeles-area teacher is accused of acting similarly towards upwards of 100 boys.

The 30-year-old teacher, Zachary Joshua Reeder, worked at Servite High School, a Catholic school in Anaheim. He had previously been a teacher and a coach in Irvine.

Reeder, a married social sciences teacher with a young daughter, is alleged to have begin luring boys into online relationships sometime roughly two years ago using a fake female online profile. The boys were generally believed to be between the ages of 14 and 17.

“After establishing increasingly inappropriate relationships with the victims online, Reeder would convince them to take sexually explicit photos of themselves and send them to him,” police from the City of Irvine said in a press release.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WITF

Written by The Associated Press | Apr 19, 2013

(Gettysburg) — A Roman Catholic priest in central Pennsylvania will serve 11-1 /2 to 23 months behind bars for stealing more than $380,000 from his parish.

52-year-old former pastor Caesar Belchez transferred more than $190,000 from various accounts at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Bonneauville to an online stock account and more than $120,000 to a personal account.

Adams County Judge Michael George also has ordered Belchez to make full restitution and serve 12 years of probation. He is eligible for work release while serving his sentence.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

A former Servite and Capistrano Valley Christian Schools teacher will be arraigned Friday for allegedly encouraging sex acts and soliciting and possessing nude photos and videos of more than 105 underage boys by posing as a teenage girl on Facebook.

Orange resident Zachary Joshua Reeder, 30, faces charges of 22 felony counts of using a minor for sex acts, 15 felony counts of distributing pornography to a minor, 13 felony counts of contacting a child with the intent to commit a lewd act, six felony counts of lewd acts upon a child, two felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, one felony count of possession and control of child pornography and one felony count of distribution of child pornography.

If convicted on all counts, Reeder faces 44 years in state prison. He is out of custody on $1 million bail.

A Servite High School teacher at the time of his arrest last month, Reeder posed as a female on Facebook and befriended underage males, police said. Scores of boys from Orange County have come forward as alleged victims.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

By Steve Marble
April 19, 2013

A high school teacher is set to be arraigned Friday in Newport Beach on charges he used a fake girl’s Facebook profile to lure teenage boys to send him sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves.

Zachary Joshua Reeder, 30, of Orange, is to be charged with about 60 felonies. He could face up to 44 years in prison if convicted. He taught at Servite High School and previously worked as a teacher and coach in Irvine.

He allegedly established online relationships with at least 106 boys, some of them students he knew through teaching and coaching, prosecutors said.

While teaching at the all-male private school in Anaheim, authorities said, Reeder created a Facebook page designed to win over teenage boys and coax them into posting sexually provocative photos and videos of themselves.

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CALIFORNIA
LAist

Authorities in Orange County say a 30-year-old high school history teacher and baseball coach victimized 106 boys aged 13 to 17 when he posed as a woman on Facebook and lured the minors into sending him explicit photos and videos of themselves.

Zachary Joshua Reeder was arrested in February, and is due in court today for arraignment.

Reeder is charged with 22 felony counts of using a minor for sex acts, 15 felony counts of distributing pornography to a minor, 13 felony counts of contacting a child with the intent to commit a lewd act, six felony counts of lewd acts upon a child, two felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, one felony count of possession and control of child pornography, and one felony count of distribution of child pornography, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

The suspect allegedly used a phony Facebook account set up as a woman between 2010 and early 2013. He made contact with students at Servite, Beckman, Northwood and Canyon high schools in Orange County. Reeder would often see the same boys he asked for lewd photos and videos the following day in the classroom or in his capacity as an assistant baseball coach.

Reeder has been a history teacher at Anaheim’s Servite High School since 2008, and spent four years coaching baseball at Irvine’s Beckman High School up until the last school year.

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CALIFORNIA
Press-Telegram

By City News Service
dailybreeze.com
Posted: 04/19/2013

NEWPORT BEACH – Orange County prosecutors Thursday announced more than 100 boys were victimized by a 30-year-old history teacher and baseball coach previously charged with using a fake woman’s Facebook profile to lure underage teenage boys to send him sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves.

Zachary Joshua Reeder of Orange, who was arrested in February on charges of victimizing at least 35 boys, was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday and was being held on $1 million bail. Prosecutors now say 106 boys ages 13 to 17 from Servite, Beckman, Northwood and Canyon high schools fell victim to the alleged scheme.

Reeder taught history at Servite High School in Anaheim, where worked since 2008, Irvine police Lt. Julia Engen said. He has also worked at Beckman High School in Irvine, where he was an assistant baseball coach for four seasons — through the last school year, she said.

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CANADA
CBC News

A former baptist church deacon in Calgary has been sentenced to 38 months in jail for molesting boys at his church during the 1980s and 90s.

Russell Rodman, 59, was a volunteer at the church when the assaults happened.

He pleaded guilty last November.

His three victims were between the ages of 11 and 14 and the attacks happened between 1981 and 1995.

Rodman later moved to High River, Alta.

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WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

Cardinal Dolan knew of reports against suspended Milwaukee priest but left him working with children

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director (Milwaukee)

CONTACT 414.429.7259 or Mary Caplan, SNAP New York City Director,
917.439.4187

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, when Archbishop of Milwaukee, knew of concerns by parents and teachers about Fr. Robert Marsicek

, pastor of Pius X parish in Wauwatosa, but left him in ministry with children, according to a police report released today.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel religion reporter Annysa Johnson, “Two Milwaukee archbishops had been made aware of complaints over the years, Archbishop Jerome Listecki in June 2012 and then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan – now a cardinal and archbishop of New York – in 2005. Yet there appears to have been no attempt to remove Marsicek from the two Catholic schools he served until Wauwatosa Police banned him from the schools while they investigated the latest complaint.” (More details can be found at the Wauwatosa Patch story

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Ordained a Crosier priest in 1965, Funcheon was moved many times during his career with assignments in Indiana, Nebraska, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Hawaii, California, and on military bases in the United States and Germany. He left the Crosiers in the 1980s and continued to work as a priest for the Indiana diocese of Lafayette. Funcheon has admitted to sexually abusing numerous children, and accusations span the length of his decades of active ministry. Documents show that Funcheon’s superiors had concerns about his interest in young boys as far back as his time as a seminarian. In 2003 the pastor of a parish where Funcheon served in the early 1970s stated, “The picture I now have is of a predator who has potentially hundreds of direct and indirect victims here at St. Odilia alone.” In 1994 Funcheon was said by Lafayette bishop Higi to be “unassignable”. Funcheon was sent to treatment at the Vianney Renewal Center in Missouri and given retirement status. He spent the late 1990s in Washington state with his ailing mother, was in Florida in the early 2000s, and sometime after 2002 he returned to the Vianney Center, where he was known to be living in March 2013.

Ordained: 1965
Retired: 1995

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MISSOURI
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: A member of the Societ of Jesus, Barry was a teacher and, at some point, a hospital chaplain in St. Louis. He was accused in a 2004 lawsuit, along with three other priests, of having sexually abused a student at a St. Louis Jesuit high school from 1982-1985. Barry’s accuser said the priests plied him with alcohol and “played mind games” to silence him. Barry died in 1987.

Ordained: 1979
Died: Feb. 19, 1987

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VATICAN CITY
adnkronos

Vatican City, 19 April (AKI) – In a further sign of his wish for a ‘poor church’ Pope Francis has cancelled the annual stipend of 25,000 euros paid to each of five cardinals who oversee the Vatican Bank, the ‘Vatican Insider’ website reported on Friday.

Last year European regulators said the Vatican bank was not doing enough to combat money laundering, and in September, the Holy See hired a Swiss anti-money-laundering lawyer in its bid to enter a ‘white list’ of states judged to respect international standards on fighting money laundering and terrorism financing.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

After hitting Vatican employees, pope Francis’ “spending review” strikes the five commissioners who oversee the Vatican bank and whose work costs 25 thousand euro per year

GIACOMO GALEAZZI
Vatican City

No more bonuses for the Cardinals who watch over the Vatican bank. Each Cardinal already has a “salary” of five thousand euro per month. This money used to be called “piatto cardinalizio” now the name has been modernized to ” Cardinals’ cheque.” All the cardinals of the Curia receive the same amount. The other cardinals take their pay from the dioceses of which they are bishops. But there is an exception. The five IOR commissioners have so far benefited of an additional allowance of up to 2100€ per month.

The “spending review” of Pope Bergoglio extends also to the College of Cardinals. After cutting the 4,000 Vatican employees’ allowances for the papal election, Francis’ decision to “break with tradition” in the field economic resources’ management has once again been made in the name of austerity. The Pope has decided to cancel the fee that is usually paid to the five cardinals who make up the Board of Supervisors of the IOR. The decision was made to coincide with the meeting of the Committee to approve the 2012 budget. The “cuts” amount to 25,000 euro per annum, per cardinal. Because of the economic crisis, The Holy See is implementing a strategy of “spending reviews” and thrifty resources’ management, in order to prevent the precipitation of budgets further into the red. Speaking of the 2012 accounts, the president of APSA, Calcagno, admitted: “Last year we survived, it could have been much worse.”

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WISCONSIN
The Journal Times

Wauwatosa police say a Catholic priest who was suspended after a teacher reported what she considered inappropriate contact with a child is the subject of numerous complaints.

Rev. Robert Marsicek has been on leave since March 28 after a Wauwatosa Catholic School teacher reported what she thought was inappropriate contact with a child.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/14zzxOQ) Marsicek also is under investigation in California, where a woman accused him of molesting her sons in the 1990s.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by NCR Editorial Staff | Apr. 19, 2013

Editorial
“A church that does not go out of itself, sooner or later, sickens from the stale air of closed rooms,” Pope Francis has written in a letter released Thursday to his fellow Argentine bishops. This is a similar message to the one he delivered to his fellow cardinals before the conclave, impressing them enough to elect him bishop of Rome

In his new note he went on to say in the process of “going out” the church always risks running into “accidents,” adding, “I prefer a thousand times over a church of accidents than a sick church.”

A church of accidents … a church willing to take risks on the edges … a church dedicated to service of the most needy … a church working on behalf of mercy, peace and justice…

This sounds a lot like the church U.S. Catholic sisters have been building in recent decades. Not only U.S. women religious, but also women religious around the world have been at this work. It is the women who have lived closest to the marginalized; it is the women who have worked on the “peripheries;” it is the women who have gone precisely where Francis is encouraging others to go.

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CONNECTICUT
New York Post

From ASSOCIATED PRESS

HARTFORD, Conn. — A California man and his girlfriend have pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges for supplying four pounds of methamphetamine to a Roman Catholic priest’s Connecticut drug operation.

Forty-three-year-old Chad McCluskey of San Clemente and 47-year-old Kristen Laschober of Laguna Niguel pleaded guilty Thursday in US District Court in Hartford. Sentencing is set for Aug. 8 and both could face up to 10 years in prison.

The Connecticut Post reports a judge ordered McCluskey and Laschober released to an inpatient drug treatment center.

They admitted supplying meth to suspended priest Kevin Wallin of Waterbury. Wallin pleaded guilty to drug charges earlier this month and faces 11 to 14 years in prison.

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UNITED STATES
Daily World

Monsignor Keith DeRouen

When Pope Francis set up an advisory council made up of eight Cardinals from around the world, I suspect he upset the apple cart. The advice the Holy Father is seeking centers around Curia reform. The Curia is the administrative end of the Vatican, which includes the ever-in-the-news Vatican Bank. This is exactly one month after his election that he makes yet another unprecedented move. In the Church, there is an unofficial caveat given to pastors and new administrators, “Do nothing for a year!” This Pope obviously does not believe that, nor do I.

The recent scandals that have surfaced about the administration of the Vatican are examples of what can happen when there is no transparency, and when the same people have been doing the same jobs for years and left to their own direction. Pope John Paul II wrote a document on Curia reform but nothing of substance changed. Pope Benedict XVI apparently did nothing in the area of Curia reform either except to resign, which opened up speculation about how bad things had really become in the handling of very delicate issues like money, appointments to important positions, etc., and in a lot of cases revealing a kind of nepotism in place. Not a previous Vatican insider when he was elected, this visionary Pope is not afraid to think outside the box and get other visionary people together to once again open the window to allow the fresh air of transparency, honesty and true collaboration in.

Institutions can easily become afraid of such people. Institutions can easily become resistant to change, innovation and vision. And when an institution has been around for nearly 2,000 years, the chances of those fears surfacing and patterns of turf wars and nepotism developing are very high.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Isle of Thanet Gazette

By Laura Archer laura.archer@KRNmedia.co.uk

A MARGATE priest who had a rape charge against him dramatically dropped is planning to write a book about his 14-month ordeal.

Father John Taylor, 48, of Canterbury Road, walked free from Canterbury Crown Court on Monday after the prosecution offered no evidence against the Old Roman Catholic priest.

Father Taylor was arrested in February last year after a 28-year-old woman accused him of raping her.

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WISCONSIN
WISN

[with video]

Patch: Wauwatosa priest had prior allegations of inappropriate touching

WAUWATOSA, Wis. —Our news partners at the Wauwatosa Patch report that a former Wauwatosa priest who was relieved of his duties in March after a complaint had prior complaints filed against him.

Fr. Robert Marsicek, 71, was a priest at Pius X parish before becoming the subject of an investigation last month. A Wauwatosa Catholic Schools teacher reported seeing Marsicek touching a student while holding her in his lap.

Marsicek denied the allegations, saying he “had never intentionally touched a child in a sexual manner.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Volksfreund

Wegen möglichen Missbrauchs Minderjähriger ist in den vergangenen drei Jahren gegen 21 Trierer Bistumspriester eine kirchenrechtliche Untersuchung eingeleitet worden. Die Hälfte aller Fälle ist nach Angaben eines Sprechers inzwischen abgeschlossen.

Liegt es an der harten Hand des katholischen Missbrauchsbeauftragten Stephan Ackermann oder der seines obersten Richters Georg Holkenbrink? Oder ist die Zahl der Missbrauchspriester im Bistum Trier höher als in anderen Diözesen? Seit Februar 2010 wurden im Bistum Trier gegen 21 der insgesamt 700 Priester sogenannte kirchenrechtliche Voruntersuchungen eingeleitet, sagte jetzt Bischofssprecher André Uzulis auf Anfrage unserer Zeitung. Dabei geht es um eine mögliche Bestrafung der Geistlichen durch die katholische Kirche. Nach Angaben von Uzulis sind elf Verfahren „seitens des Bistums abgeschlossen“. Über eine Bestrafung wurde nur in einem Fall etwas bekannt.

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OSTERREICH
Steiermark

Nachdem sie von zwei Patres des Stifts Admont sexuell missbraucht worden sein sollen, sind zwei ehemalige Zöglinge im Jänner von der Klasnic-Kommission entschädigt worden. Eines der beiden Opfer klagt jetzt aber auch auf zivilrechtlichem Weg.

Der frühere Zögling soll von den beiden Patres vor 45 Jahren unter anderem bis zur Bewusstlosigkeit geschlagen und auch mehrmals vergewaltigt worden sein. Dafür erhielt der heute 58-Jährige im Jänner von der Klasnic-Kommission 25.000 Euro und 100 Stunden Therapie als Entschädigung.

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OSTERREICH
kath.net

Graz (kath.net/KAP) In der Missbrauchs-Causa im Stift Admont hat der Grazer Bischof Egon Kapellari Aussagen eines Proponenten des “Volksbegehrens gegen Kirchenprivilegien” zurückgewiesen, er habe “unermüdlich behauptet, von den Vorkommnissen nie erfahren zu haben”. Wie die Pressestelle der Diözese Graz-Seckau am Donnerstag gegenüber “Kathpress” mitteilte, habe sich Kapellari dazu “in einem Briefwechsel mit einem der Kläger klar geäußert”, was auch dokumentiert sei. Werde die “unwahre Behauptung” aufrecht erhalten, wolle man dieser mit rechtlichen Schritten entgegentreten, hieß es.

Hintergrund der Klarstellung sind im Raum stehende Vorwürfe gegen zwei hochbetagte Priester des Stiftes Admont, sie hätten vor über 40 Jahren körperliche Gewalt gegen Jugendliche angewendet. Während anfangs von sexuellem Missbrauch nicht die Rede war, sei dies erst später behauptet worden, so die Mitteilung der Diözese.

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NEDERLAND
NRC

by Joep Dohmen

Een klacht wegens kindermisbruik tegen oud-bisschop Jo Gijsen is ongegrond verklaard wegens gebrek aan steunbewijs. De klachtencommissie voor seksueel misbruik binnen de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk vindt wel dat daarmee “bepaald niet gezegd wil zijn dat de door de klager gestelde feiten niet waar zouden zijn”.

Dat schrijft de klachtencommissie in haar advies dat dateert van januari vorig jaar. De uitspraak bleef tot nu toe binnenskamers in afwachting van een oordeel van het Vaticaan.

Gijsen (80) is de hoogste Nederlandse kerkbestuurder die is aangeklaagd wegens kindermisbruik. Volgens de klacht heeft de oud-bisschop van Roermond, toen hij in 1958 kapelaan was in Valkenburg aan de Geul, verregaande seksuele handelingen verricht met de 10-jarige zoon van een parochiaan. De nu 64-jarige man diende zijn klacht hierover in 2009 in, vóór het misbruikschandaal in Nederland geopenbaard werd.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Emily Moulton
From:PerthNow
April 19, 2013

A FORMER Christ Church Grammar School teacher who sexually abused a student nearly three decades ago was today jailed for 12 years.

Lindsay William Hutchinson, 63, who was the director of music at the exclusive Claremont boys’ school from 1981 to 1985, was charged with a range of sexual offences, including the rape of his young victim, who was just 13 when the abuse began.

He was jailed for 12 years for the sexual assault and rape of the boy. Hutchinson will be eligible for parole after 10 years.

In handing down his sentence, District Court Judge Patrick O’Neal described Hutchinson as a “narcissistic” man who not only brutalised his victim over an 18-month to two year period but went to extraordinary lengths to create opportunities to satisfy his sexual desires, even admitting on the stand to choosing boys schools for that very reason.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Sasha Aslanian, Minnesota Public Radio
April 19, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — As the state Legislature nears a vote on a controversial bill that would give victims of sexual abuse more time to sue, a new book chronicles the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, including some key characters and cases from Minnesota.

Some victim advocates are pursuing legislation to remove statutes of limitations in abuse cases, a step they see as a final frontier in the reckoning they seek with the church.

The Child Victims Act before the Senate would drop Minnesota’s statute of limitations for civil suits involving child sexual abuse. The House version would create a three-year window for victims to bring old cases.

In Minnesota, victims of childhood sexual abuse must file civil suits before they turn 24 – a stricter threshold than many states. Four states have eliminated statutes of limitations for these kinds of cases, and three others have opened windows for victims to file.

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ARGENTINA
Fox News

Published April 18, 2013

Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Pope Francis is being harshly criticized in an Argentine courtroom.

Graciela Yorio accused Jorge Mario Bergoglio of turning his back on her brother, the late Jesuit priest Orlando Virgilio Yorio, before and after he was kidnapped by the military dictatorship in 1976.

Bergoglio has said he did what he could as a young Jesuit leader to protect Yorio and other slum priests from being kidnapped by the right-wing junta. He also testified in 2010 that he worked behind the scenes to win their freedom.

But Graciela Yorio testified Thursday that her “brother was practically abandoned” by Bergoglio and the Church.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.comtwincities.com
Posted: 04/18/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT
April 18, 2013

The author of a new book about the priest sexual-abuse scandal is scheduled to appear in the Twin Cities on Friday and Saturday, April 19 and 20, along with St.Paul attorney Jeff Anderson.

Anderson is one of two men whose paths converge in Michael D’Antonio’s “Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime and the Era of Catholic Scandal.”

Anderson, 65, is the church outsider in the book — a Stillwater resident who has made his living suing the Catholic Church on behalf of people who allege assaults by clergy.

In his early days as a lawyer, D’Antonio writes, Anderson was infamous for parties “that would put a rock band to shame.” Anderson’s drug- and alcohol-fueled antics included, on one occasion, jumping onto a windowsill, howling with laughter and then “pissing on the sidewalk below.”

But Anderson emerges as a fierce crusader for the victims he represents. A lawsuit he filed in 1984 on behalf of the parents of a young boy “touched off a legal war of historic and global proportions,” according to the book.

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UNITED STATES
Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk | Apr 18, 2013

Michael D’Antonio came to Trinity this week to talk about his new book Mortal Sins, the best account yet of the abuse scandal in the American Catholic Church. D’Antonio, who was part of the team at Newsday that won a Pulitzer in 1984 for coverage of the Baby Jane Doe case on Long Island, is a prolific author who likes taking the side of those who take on the system.

In this case, the system is the Catholic hierarchy; those who took it on, an improbable assortment of lawyers, priests, and abuse survivors. D’Antonio shows the latter struggling through their own personal problems to achieve some measure of justice for the victims. At center stage is Jeffrey Anderson, the Minneapolis lawyer whose out-of-control lifestyle was exceeded only by his determination to hold Catholic bishops’ feet to the fire. His personal redemption helps frame the story.

Apologists for the hierarchy’s response to the scandal like to claim three things: that bishops handled accusations no differently than the heads of other organizations; that priests have, if anything, been less guilty of the sexual abuse of children than others entrusted with their care; and that the Church is now doing a better job of protecting children than any other institution.

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VATICAN CITY
USA Today

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The global economic crisis is hitting Vatican employees in their cassock pockets.

The Vatican said Thursday that Pope Francis, known for his frugal ways, had decided Vatican employees won’t be getting the bonus that traditionally comes with the election of a new pope.

In the past, the Vatican’s 4,500-plus workers — both religious and lay — would get an extra little something upon the death of one pope and another upon the election of his successor: In 2005, the total reportedly came to 1,500 euros (nearly $2,000) apiece.

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NEW JERSEY
Courthouse News Service

By ROSE BOUBOUSHIAN

(CN) – A man who claims that he was sexually molested in the first grade by a priest cannot challenge the scope of discovery in his claims against the Diocese of Camden, N.J., a federal judge ruled.

Mark Bryson, 52, alleges that he suffered traumatic amnesia and repressed memories until Feb. 10, 2010, when he saw a man who triggered memories of his alleged abuser, the Rev. Joseph Shannon.

Bryson then filed a federal complaint against the Diocese of Camden, alleging negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims.

The diocese moved to dismiss, arguing that the statute of limitations bars Bryson’s claims because the abuse occurred over 40 years ago. Citing the 1972 decision Lopez v. Swyer, Bryson countered that New Jersey’s discovery rule tolls the statute of limitations until a plaintiff knows of the wrong suffered.

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WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

April 18, 2013

The Wauwatosa priest suspended after a teacher reported what she considered sexually inappropriate contact with a child has been the subject of numerous complaints by parents and others over the years, according to a Wauwatosa Police report.

Father Robert Marsicek had been repeatedly counseled by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and his religious order, the Society of the Divine Savior, about “boundary” issues and was told to stop hugging and touching children.

In one case, a mother reported that Marsicek touched her daughter’s genitalia through her clothes, but the case was not turned over to police, and there appears to be no record of it at the archdiocese or the religious order.

Two Milwaukee archbishops had been made aware of complaints over the years, Archbishop Jerome Listecki in June 2012 and then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan – now a cardinal and archbishop of New York – in 2005.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Alessandro Speciale| Religion News Service,

Updated: Thursday, April 18

VATICAN CITY — Vatican employees won’t receive the special bonus they are traditionally awarded when a new pope is elected, the Vatican confirmed on Thursday (April 18), under orders from Pope Francis to give extra money to charity instead.

“On account of the difficult situation of the general economy, it seemed neither possible nor opportune to burden Vatican institutions with a considerable unforeseen extraordinary expense,” the Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said in an emailed statement..

In place of the employees’ bonus, Pope Francis ordered Vatican officials to make a donation to some “charitable organizations.”

The money will be drawn from the pontiff’s personal charity budget “as a sign of the church’s attention for the many people who are suffering” from the global economic slowdown, Lombardi said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

For a Church whose very name – Catholic – means broad, big and universal, it has become head shakingly predictable that when caught and called out in media exposure regarding sexual abuse it ducks head first in to the internal, the interior, the parochial.

The most recent case in point: the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown in Pennsylvania.

This diocese is one of a number in which the estimated dozens of victims of Franciscan friar Stephen Baker, who committed suicide on 1/26/13, have come forward.

Besides Altoona-Johnstown, Baker victims have come forward in the Diocese of Youngstown, OH as well as Orchard Lake, MI. He also was assigned in Iver Lake, MN.

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NEW YORK
The Journal News

Written by
Steve Lieberman

SPRING VALLEY — A religious school principal pleaded not guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges of slapping a young male student hard enough to leave swelling and bruises to his eye, ear and face.

Rabbi Meilech Spitzer, once the principal at United Talmudical Academy in the village, stood for arraignment before Justice Alan Simon on misdemeanor counts of third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He entered the plea through his lawyer, Robert Conklin.

While Spitzer made his first appearance since being arrested by Spring Valley police in February, the future of the prosecution remains cloudy.

The Rockland District Attorney’s Office needs a signed complaint by the 10-year-old boy to prosecute the rabbi. Without the signed affidavit, the case amounts to hearsay based upon the police investigation and prosecutor Eric Holzer cannot move forward, District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 18 April 2013 (VIS) – “The Holy Father shares your sorrow, and that of the many mothers and families who have and are suffering the tragic loss of their loved ones at this moment in Argentina’s history.” These are the words that the Pope addressed to Hebe de Bonafini, president of the Association of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, in a letter dated 10 April and signed by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, under-secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States.

The Bishop of Rome thus responded to the letter that Hebe de Bonafini sent to him this past 21 March, gladdened by Cardinal Bergoglio’s commitment in the “slums” of Buenos Aires and asking him to join with “all those in this unjust world who are fighting for an end to poverty.”

The Pope, writes Msgr. Camilleri, expresses his gratitude for the letter and responds to “your kindness, asking God for the strength for the fight, in the ministry that he has just accepted, for the eradication of poverty in the world, so that the suffering of so many who are in need might cease. His Holiness appreciates and highly esteems those who are close to the most disadvantaged and who make the effort to assist them, understand them, and meet their aspirations. In his prayers, he also asks that those responsible for the common good be enlightened so that they might fight the scourge of poverty with effective, equable, and caring means.”

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VATICAN CITY
Gazzetta del Sud

Buenos Aires, April 18 – Pope Francis has spoken out for the first time in his pontificate about the forced disappearances during the Dirty War of Argentina, his home country. Speaking on behalf of the pope, Antoine Camilleri, Vatican undersecretary for relations with states, said the pope “shares the pain of many mothers in that moment of Argentine history”. The response came just over a month after the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was named pope and received a letter days later from the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, an association of mothers whose children “disappeared” during the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Catholics4Change

April 18, 2013 by Susan Matthews

Justice4PAKids will hold a 5K Walk or Run and 1 Mile Fun on Saturday, May 4, 2013, starting at 8 a.m. on the Chester Valley Trail, at 140 Church Farm Lane, Exton PA.

The event will honor victims of child sexual abuse and several Chester County elected officials will be coming out to lend their support. In attendance will be: Chester County DA, Tom Hogan; Assistant DA and Candidate for Chester County Judge, Pat Carmody; State Rep. Duane Milne, and Philadelphia City Councilman, Denny O’Brien, staff members from State Senator Andy Dinniman’s office and Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone.

The timed race will include prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place with T-shirts for all participants. FREE pizza from Season’s Pizza and free snacks from Herr’s. Every child will receive a goodie bag filled such prizes as free bounce time at Bounce U, a free bowling game at The Bowling Palace, Coupons for Rita’s and Dairy Queen and more. A raffle includes Wagsworth Manor doggie day care, Dairy Queen cake, 6 tickets for a behind the scenes tour for QVC, golf passes for Broad Run Golf Course and so much more!

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NEW YORK
City & State

Written by Aaron Short on April 18, 2013

For the past eight years Assemblywoman Margaret Markey has introduced legislation to expand the statute of limitations for victims of sex abuse.

The bill, which would allow child sex abuse victims to file lawsuits against their abusers, has failed to gain traction previously, but Markey believes a number of high-profile abuse cases in the Catholic Church and the Hasidic community, and an increased lobbying effort, will sway her colleagues and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “I really think the governor is open to it,” she said. “If we get it past the Senate he’ll be open to signing it. You can’t pick up a newspaper these days without reading about an incident happening in a school or a religious institution.”

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WISCONSIN
Patch

By Jim Price

Father Robert Marsicek was the subject of a number of complaints about overt physical contact with children over nearly a decade and had repeatedly promised to reduce his contact with students before incidents on March 22 and 26 that led to a police investigation, according to Wauwatosa police reports.

Detectives investigating the recent allegations from a teacher at Wauwatosa Catholic School learned that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee had records dating to 2005 of parental concerns that Marsicek’s physical contact with children went beyond comfortable boundaries.

Marsicek, 71, responded to the police inquiry that his physicality with children is an outgrowth of his own demonstative nature and the children’s warm spirits and has never been for sexual gratification.

But the child in question told officers that on at least one of the occasions, Marsicek had touched and squeezed her breasts, the reports say.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

As many as 75 members of the Magdalene Survivors Together group will meet Judge John Quirke, president of the Law Reform Commission, in Dublin this afternoon to discuss proposed compensation packages for them.

Last February the Government asked Judge Quirke to undertake a three-month review and to recommend criteria to be applied in assessing the help it can provide to the women “in the areas of payments and other supports, including medical cards, psychological and counselling services and other welfare needs”.

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IRELAND
RTE News

Survivors of the Magdalene Laundries are to meet Judge John Quirke today to discuss proposed compensation packages.

The Government last February asked the Law Reform Commission president to carry out a review to devise recommendations on payments and support.

The 75 members of the Magdalene Survivors Together group will meet him today.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that when Judge Quirke has reported, the Government will establish a fund to assist the women, based on his recommendations.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sueddeutsche

Monika Preis ist Vertrauensperson in der “Initiative gegen Gewalt und sexuellen Missbrauch an Kindern” – und fühlt sich bei ihrer Arbeit von der Kirche eingeschüchtert.

Interview: D. Stawski

Monika Preis lebt im Bistum Regensburg. Die 50-Jährige ist Lehrerin. Vor sieben Jahren trug sie dazu bei, dass ein Geistlicher wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs verurteilt wurde. Preis engagiert sich in der “Initiative gegen Gewalt und sexuellen Missbrauch an Kindern” und ist Vertrauensperson für Betroffene. Ihr sind noch weitere Vorwürfe bekannt. Die Informationen hält sie aber zurück, weil sie sich von der Kirche eingeschüchtert fühlt. Die Geistlichen, die ihr verdächtig sind, arbeiten ihr zufolge weiterhin in ihren Ämtern. Das Bistum Regensburg teilte auf Anfrage der Süddeutschen Zeitung mit, dass Daten von Hinweisgebern absolut vertraulich behandelt würden. Dem Ordinariat seien in jüngster Zeit keine Fälle von Unterlassungserklärungen gegen Personen bekannt, die sich ans Bistum wandten.

SZ: Welche Missbrauchsvorwürfe sind Ihnen bekannt?

Monika Preis: Ein Fall wurde mir gleich nach der damaligen Verurteilung des Geistlichen zugetragen. Eine Haushälterin erhob Vorwürfe gegen ihren Pfarrer. Er soll mit ihrem Auto nach Tschechien auf den Straßenstrich gefahren sein und dort Buben aufgesucht haben, außerdem soll er eine Art Ziehsohn gehabt haben, einen 16-jährigen Schüler, der bei ihm Tag und Nacht ein- und ausging. Auch im Schlafzimmer des Pfarrers.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

Von Henrik Jacobs

Eine Anzeige aus Norderstedt, elf Anzeigen aus Schnelsen und mehrere Verdachtsfälle aus Winsen: In den vergangenen Wochen häuften sich die Vorwürfe gegen den Erzieher Stefan H. beinahe täglich. Jetzt sitzt der 29-Jährige in Untersuchungshaft. Das bestätigte die Staatsanwaltschaft Hamburg. H. soll mehrere Kinder sexuell missbraucht haben. Am Montag wurde Haftbefehl gegen den 29-Jährigen beantragt, am Mittwoch folgte der Haftbefehl. “Es besteht Wiederholungsgefahr”, begründete Carsten Rinio, Sprecher der Hamburger Staatsanwaltschaft, den Haftbefehl.

Stefan H. gilt in vier Fällen als dringend tatverdächtig. Ein Fall soll sich in Norderstedt ereignet haben, drei Fälle in Schnelsen. Die Vernehmungen der betroffenen Kinder dauerten bis zur vergangenen Woche an. Dabei hatte sich der Tatverdacht verdichtet. Ob H. möglicherweise noch wegen weiterer Taten angeklagt wird, ist noch unklar. “Die Ermittlungen gehen noch weiter”, sagte Rinio. Die Hamburger Staatsanwaltschaft hatte die Ermittlungen federführend auch für den Fall in Schleswig-Holstein übernommen.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on April 18, 2013

■“Damning” police report will be released
■It shows priest admits “sexual attraction” to boy
■Cleric was sued and temporarily suspended in 2009
■But Vatican has just “cleared him,” his relative says
■So archbishop may put him back to work, SNAP fears
■Church hid the fact that a 2nd victim also sued & settled
■A victim’s friend & relative will speak publicly for first time

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, three people who have never spoken publicly before will disclose, for the first time,
–parts of an incriminating police report on a local predator priest who was suspended in 2009, and
–the existence of a second lawsuit against and secret settlement involving the same predator priest.

Along with SNAP members, they will call on St. Louis’ Catholic archbishop to
–keep the suspended priest out of ministry,
–reveal where he now lives and how many settlements involving him have been paid,
–put him in a remote, secure treatment center, and
–reach out to anyone he may have hurt, especially in Belize (where he worked a few years ago).

WHEN
TODAY, Thursday, April 18 at 1 p.m.

WHERE
Outside archdiocesan chancery office, 4440 Lindell (near Sarah) in the CWE

WHO
Three St. Louisans who have never spoken publicly before and are all connected to the same predator priest. One is Christopher Bertke, whose friend was molested by the priest. Another is John Doe, a victim who sued that priest. The third is a relative of a victim of that same priest. (The latter two will talk in silhouette without revealing their names.) With them will be two leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

WHY
In 2009, Fr. Kevin F. Hederman – a St. Louis priest – was suspended from his ministry in Belize when he was sued for allegedly abusing a St. Louis teenager who he met at Christian Brothers high school (CBC) in Clayton.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 18 April 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father appointed: …

– Fr. David J. Walkowiak as bishop of Grand Rapids (area 17,592, population 1,318,000, Catholics 179,500, priests 141, permanent deacons 40, religious 67), Michigan, USA. Fr. Walkowiak, of the clergy of the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, USA, was born in Cleveland in 1953, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1979. Holding a doctorate in Canon Law, he serves as an associate judge of the appellate tribunal for the Province of Cincinnati as well as the pastor of St. Joan of Arc parish in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, USA. The bishop-elect succeeds Bishop Walter Allison Hurley, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

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