ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED STATES
Albany Tribune

Bill Donohue

There was a time when we needed a group called Catholic Whistleblowers, but this assembly is a little too late: they missed the boat by a half-century. The homosexual scandal began in the mid-1960s and ended 20 years later. Today, it hardly exists. In 2012, there were six credible allegations made against approximately 40,000 priests. To put it differently, if someone said in 1955 that we must do something about polio, just after the approval of the Salk vaccine, we’d think him nuts.

One might think that a group called Catholic Whistleblowers would blow the whistle on bishops who are shielding molesting priests. But they can’t even name one. The best they can do is mention the arrest of Father Michael Fugee in Newark for violating a judicial order. In the 12 years since his case was thrown out of court—for groping a teenager while wrestling in front of family members—there have been no complaints. No matter, this is all about getting Archbishop John Myers, not Fugee.

Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability is responsible for forming the new group. If she is in earnest, she can begin her whistleblowing exercises by finally naming the 55 predator priests that her entity says Cardinal Timothy Dolan is hiding. She knows the accusations are a lie.

Sr. Maureen Turlish is another member, and she is known for calling allegations made agains t priests in the Philadelphia grand juries as “facts,” even though more than 20 of them are patently untrue. Fr. James Connell, now a hero to victims’ groups, was himself charged with covering up for the worst molester in the history of the Catholic Church in America. Fr. Thomas Doyle believes that Jesus Christ did not found the Catholic Church, and that the Mass is composed of “magic words.” Robert Hoatson, a former priest, picketed the building where the Catholic League is housed wearing a sign, “Cath. Lg. Opposed to Jesus.”

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UNITED STATES
The American Conservative

By ROD DREHER • May 21, 2013

A new organization has launched:

They call themselves Catholic Whistleblowers, a newly formed cadre of priests and nuns who say the Roman Catholic Church is still protecting sexual predators.

Although they know they could face repercussions, they have banded together to push the new pope to clean house and the American bishops to enforce the zero-tolerance policies they adopted more than a decade ago.

The group began organizing quietly nine months ago without the knowledge of their superiors or their peers, and plan to make their campaign public this week. Most in the steering group of 12 have blown the whistle on abusers in the past, and three are canon lawyers who once handled abuse cases on the church’s behalf. Four say they were sexually abused as children.

Their aim, they say, is to support both victims and fellow whistle-blowers, and identify shortcomings in church policies. They hope to help not just minors, but also adults who fall prey to clergy who exploit their power for sex. They say that their motivation is to make the church better and safer, and to show the world that there are good priests and nuns in the church.

“We’ve dedicated our lives to the church,” the Rev. John Bambrick, a priest in the Diocese of Trenton, said at a meeting of the group last week in New York. “Having sex offenders in ministry is damaging to our ministry.”

I find this incredibly heartening. Can’t tell you the number of conversations I had years ago, at the beginning of the scandal, with good Catholic priests who were disgusted by the cover-ups and the corruption, and who were themselves suffering for the sins of their abusive brother priests and — most notably — the bishops who covered up for them and made excuses. But it was extremely rare that these men would speak out. Extremely. If they had, they might have done some good. But they were afraid, or they were compromised personally, or … something. It’s hard to imagine who would have had more credibility in these matters than priests themselves — and how much good they might have done to restore the laity’s faith in the institutional church, simply by standing up and demanding that the bishops do the right thing.

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MAINE
Portland Press Herald

By Scott Dolan sdolan@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND — Two brothers who served as altar boys in the 1970s are suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, claiming diocese officials knew the Rev. James Vallely was sexually abusing them and other young children but failed to act to stop it.

The brothers, Jeffrey and Frederick Conroy, each filed suit last week in Cumberland County Superior Court, accusing Vallely, who is now dead, of abusing them from 1976 through 1979 while they were altar boys at St. Michael’s Parish in South Berwick.

Their attorney, Mitchell Garabedian of Boston, said he has represented nine victims who say they were abused by Vallely from approximately 1958 to 1979.

“The children were approximately 8 to 16 years old at the time of the abuse,” Garabedian said. “The sexual abuse consisted of fondling and rape on multiple occasions for years of multiple children.”

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ILLINOIS
Huffington Post

By Meredith Bennett-Smith

In May of 2002, the Rev. Donald O’Connor was relieved from his parish after the Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois substantiated allegations of sexual abuse that occurred between 1967 and 1970, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Yet years after being removed from his position, O’Connor was still getting money from parishioners who had no idea they were paying an accused pedophile to pray for them, according to a local investigation.

Documents obtained by Chicago ABC affiliate WLS-TV show that mere weeks after O’Connor was barred from the ministry, the disgraced priest was offered a potentially lucrative job performing “mass intentions,” a Catholic tradition that allows parishioners to pay priests for a personal prayer.

The payments were offered by Diocese Chancellor Sister Judith A. Davies in a letter sent on June 20, 2002, a month after O’Connor was officially dismissed, WLS-TV reports. If O’Connor was in need of stipends, he should contact Davies’ secretary, and “a check will be issued every three months,” the letter read, according to the station.

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BEGLIE
VTM

[mit video]

39 slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik hebben zich vandaag verenigd voor een zogenaamde “class action”-zaak tegen de Belgische bisschoppen, de hogere oversten van de Belgische religieuzen en de Heilige stoel. Een “class-action”-zaak is een vordering van een groep mensen tegen de beschuldigden. Om die groepszaak te mogen houden, was er toestemming van de Gentse balie nodig.

De zaak werd ingeleid door het kantoor van advocaten Walter Van Steenbrugge en Christine Mussche. “Het gaat om mensen die vanaf de jaren ’50 misbruikt zijn, soms van hun drie tot 18 jaar, binnen een gezagsrelatie in de kerk. Ze zijn psychisch getekend voor het leven”, laat advocaat Van Steenbrugge weten. Er zijn maar vier mensen uit de anonimiteit getreden, de 35 anderen treden in de rechtszaak op bij volmacht. “In totaal hadden 140 mensen ons kantoor aangezocht maar die hebben door het misbruik geen vertrouwen meer in mensen”, zegt Van Steenbrugge.

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BELGIE
Knack

(Belga) De rechtbank van eerste aanleg in Gent is niet bevoegd om te oordelen over de groepsvordering rond het misbruik in de kerk. Dat hebben de advocaten van de Heilige Stoel vandaag gepleit. “De immuniteit van de Heilige Stoel is niet voor discussie vatbaar. Bovendien kan de burgerlijke rechtbank niet oordelen omdat de strafrechtelijke zaak (rond de Operatie Kelk, nvdr.) nog lopende is.”

Volgens de advocaten geldt de immuniteit van de Heilige Stoel. “Het leed staat buiten kijf, maar de Heilige Stoel draagt geen juridische verantwoordelijkheid. De verdediging identificeert de paus met de Heilige Stoel, maar de Rooms-katholieke kerk heeft geen rechtspersoonlijkheid”, zei advocaat Raf Verstraeten. De verdediging wierp ook de verjaring op, waarbij gesteld werd dat 34 van de 39 eisers een aanvraag hebben ingediend voor financiële compensatie bij het centrum voor arbitrage inzake seksueel misbruik.

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BELGIE
Knack

De rechtbank van eerste aanleg in Gent is niet bevoegd om te oordelen over de groepsvordering rond het misbruik in de kerk. Dat hebben de advocaten van de Heilige Stoel gepleit.

“De immuniteit van de Heilige Stoel is niet voor discussie vatbaar”, stellen de advocaten. “Het leed staat buiten kijf, maar de Heilige Stoel draagt geen juridische verantwoordelijkheid. De verdediging identificeert de paus met de Heilige Stoel, maar de Rooms-katholieke kerk heeft geen rechtspersoonlijkheid”, zei advocaat Raf Verstraeten.

De verdediging wierp ook de verjaring op, waarbij gesteld werd dat 34 van de 39 eisers een aanvraag hebben ingediend voor financiële compensatie bij het centrum voor arbitrage inzake seksueel misbruik.

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BELGIE
De Standaard

In Gent is vandaag voor de rechtbank van eerste aanleg de burgerrechtelijke zaak gestart tegen de Kerk die een groep slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik door geestelijken heeft aangespannen. Het gaat niet over de feiten an sich, maar over de doofpotoperatie, het zogenaamde schuldig verzuim door oversten. De slachtoffers eisen een schadevergoeding. Volgens de advocaten van de Heilige Stoel is de rechtbank niet bevoegd.

Volgens advocaat Walter Van Steenbrugge verenigt de groepsvordering tegen de Belgische bisschoppen, de hogere oversten van de Belgische religieuzen en de Heilige Stoel 39 slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik.

Het advocatenkantoor kreeg van de Gentse balie de toestemming om een collectieve vordering of ‘class action’-zaak in te stellen. De bedoeling van de klacht is om de aansprakelijkheid in hoofde van de Heilige Stoel, de Belgische bisschoppen en de hogere oversten te laten vaststellen. De burgerlijke zaak werd in 2011 ingeleid voor de rechtbank van eerste aanleg, maar wed dinsdag pas gepleit.

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BELGIE
De Redactie

Volgens de advocaten van de Heilige Stoel, de top van de katholieke kerk, is de rechtbank van eerste aanleg in Gent niet bevoegd om te oordelen over de groepsvordering rond het misbruik in de kerk. Dat hebben ze vandaag gepleit. Over de zaak, die al dan niet losstaat van Operatie Kelk, zijn er veel vragen. Een uitspraak volgt ten vroegste op 1 oktober.

39 slachtoffers van misbruik hebben de Heilige Stoel in Rome, de Belgische bisschoppen en oversten, en bisschop Vangheluwe gedagvaard, omdat ze pedofiele priesters zouden hebben beschermd. De slachtoffers, die vertegenwoordigd worden door meester Walter Van Steenbrugge, eisen een schadevergoeding. Maar Fernand Keuleneer, de advocaat van de Belgische kerkoversten, denkt niet dat het zo ver zal komen.

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UNITED STATES
Almost Diamonds

The classic picture we have of a child victim of sexual abuse in religious institutions is a boy being abused by a Catholic priest. There are a couple of good reasons for that.

The first is that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church has given us a central group of people we can point fingers at for the decades of inaction (or action against victims) in their churches. The victims of Catholic priests have a powerful central authority to deal with, and it’s given them reason to band together and reason for news media to report on their immense struggle to be acknowledged.

The other reason is that, again because the Catholic Church has a central authority, it has made it easier for researchers studying church-facilitated abuse to use the Church as a proxy for religious institutions more generally.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

May 21, 2013

Anna Patty and Harriet Alexander

A coalition of 30 legal, community, health and women’s organisations have complained to the United Nations about planned changes to the NSW victims’ compensation scheme on the grounds they will particularly discriminate against women.

The groups which include Community Legal Centres NSW and Women’s Legal Services have written to the UN special rapporteur on violence against women.

The Community Legal Centres NSW chairperson Anna Cody said the law will not only disadvantage thousands of victims already in the claims system, it will make it even harder for female victims of crime to claim in the future.

The complaint says the government bill runs counter to the UN’s recommendations on reparation for women who have been subjected to violence.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON MAY 21, 2013

Two new suits filed against predator priest
He was convicted last year on child porn charges
In new approach, little-known Missouri law is used
It forbids surreptitious underwear pictures of anyone
Support group wants suspended clerics put in treatment centers

WHAT:
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will

— announce two new civil lawsuits against the KC Catholic diocese and a jailed priest who pled guilty last August to child pornography, and

— repeat and expand its plea that the bishop put all child molesting KC cleric into treatment centers, instead of letting them live unsupervised among unsuspecting families

WHEN:
TODAY, Tuesday, May 21, at 2:30 p.m.

WHERE:
Outside the Kansas City Catholic diocese headquarters, 20 West 9th (corner of Baltimore) in downtown Kansas City, MO

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FLORIDA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

FLORIDA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON MAY 21, 2013

Two brothers are suing a Catholic diocese saying they were molested by a priest who worked at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Winter Springs and other parishes in the Orlando area.

[The Republic]

[BishopAccountability.org]

We applaud these brave brothers for coming forward and seeking justice. Every time clergy sex abuse victims find the courage to speak up, kids become safer and truth becomes revealed.

We hope this step will help these courageous men heal. We are confident it will help Maine Catholics learn more about corruption in their church’s hierarchy.

Though Fr. Vallely may be elderly, it’s important to remember that advanced age doesn’t “cure” a pedophile. In fact, parents are often more apt to trust their children around a slow-moving elderly man, especially one who claims to be “spiritual.”

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MAINE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON MAY 21, 2013

Two brothers are suing a Maine Catholic diocese saying they were molested by a priest.

[News Archive.

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Vatican Crimes

The St. Louis Archdiocese had what Archbishop Robert Carlson ridiculously called “sad news” about clergy sexual abuse. If he even remotely cared about the abuse committed unto these children he, with the authority placed upon him in his position, would see to it that justice is served when it comes to these criminals, but instead takes the nations for fools since nothing is mentioned about the Catholic order he is called to follow called CRIMENS SOLLICITATIONIS whereby the Vatican protects pedophile priests worldwide.

But the good news is that this cave of criminals known as the CATHOLIC CHURCH can not hide from the just retribution coming their way since they can not run from God’s justice which will soon manifest against them. The truth about the Catholic Church is surfacing, their end is inevitable, and now information about the fact that the Archdiocese of St. Louis is not exempt from the damage of these criminals is being discovered…

On May 1, the archdiocese posted a statement from Carlson on its website saying he had permanently removed the Rev. Leroy Valentine, 71, from ministry. Need we remind them that criminals belong in jail? What good is simply ‘removing’ them from ministry if these criminals could still have access to children?

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UNITED STATES
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director (Milwaukee)
CONTACT: 414.429.7259

As featured in today’s New York Times, Fr. Jim Connell of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and other clergy who have come forward on the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church have launched a national “whistleblowers” website to invite and help others to do the same. The group’s website is http://www.catholicwhistleblowers.org/.

The group sent a letter today to Pope Francis asking him to take necessary steps to restore the church’s credibility, revoke all oaths of secrecy, open the files on abuse cases, remove from office any bishops who obstructed justice and create an international forum for dialogue between survivors and church leaders.

Connell is also a founding member of a pioneering group of clergy and survivors in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee who over the last two years have been working publically and privately together to end clerical sexual abuse in the local church, bring offenders to justice, and insist on full institutional accountability and transparency.

Connell and the other clergy in today’s Times story are demonstrating what real leadership looks like by Catholic clergy. By coming forward they have followed the path, difficult, necessary, and ultimately liberating, of the many clerical survivors around the country who preceded them. They have earned the trust and respect of survivors, the public and the church.

The clergy whistle blowers is a hard won beginning of, one can only hope, of how the sexual abuse crisis in the church will be resolved. It certainly cannot be done without clergy like Connell and others. And if clergy and other Catholic leaders finally come forward on this crisis, speak out, demand justice, then the longed for day may come when survivors will no longer need to.

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NEW JERSEY
PhillyBurbs

Associated Press |

A judge has ordered a New Jersey priest held while a grand jury considers whether he violated a legal agreement to stay away from children.

Bail for Michael Fugee (FOO’-gee) remains at $25,000 following his brief court appearance Tuesday in Bergen County, where he’s charged with contempt of a judicial order.

Fugee resigned from the Newark Archdiocese earlier this month after he admitted he worked unsupervised with kids.

Fugee was convicted of aggravated criminal assault in 2003, but the conviction was thrown out on a legal technicality.

Fugee reached a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to return to the ministry if his job didn’t involve parishioners under 18.

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NEW JERSEY
CBS New York

HACKENSACK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – A once-accused pedophile priest in New Jersey is being held on $25,000 bail while a grand jury considers whether he violated a legal agreement to stay away from children.

The Rev. Michael Fugee, 52, traded in his collar for an orange prison jumpsuit, handcuffs and shackles during his brief court appearance in Bergen County on Tuesday morning, 1010 WINS’ Steve Sandberg reported.

He was arrested at St. Antoninus Parish in Newark following an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.

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UNITED STATES
Newsmax

Tuesday, 21 May 2013
By Courtney Coren

A group of priests and nuns calling themselves Catholic Whistleblowers are pressing Pope Francis and the American bishops to take on those in the church who are still protecting sexual predators.

The group formed quietly about nine months ago and plans to go public with their campaign this week. Of the 12 members in the steering group, some have exposed abusers before, three are canon lawyers who have represented the church in abuse cases in the past, and four say they were sexually abused as children, The New York Times reports.

The whistleblowers say they aim to provide support for victims and others who would come forward as well to expose areas where the church is falling short in dealing with the abuse problem. They also want the world to know that there are good priests and nuns in the church who are fighting against the sex abuse scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church in recent years.

“We’ve dedicated our lives to the church,” said the Rev. John Bambrick at a meeting of the group in New York last week. “Having sex offenders in ministry is damaging to our ministry.”

The whistleblowers have sent a letter to Pope Francis asking that he get involved with helping to heal the victims and restoring the church’s credibility by revoking all oaths of secrecy, opening the files on abuse cases, removing from office any bishops who are obstructing justice, and creating an international forum that would serve as a place where sex abuse victims and church leaders could meet, the Times reported Tuesday.

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MAINE
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 21, 2013

PORTLAND, Maine — Two brothers are suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, saying church officials knew a priest was sexually abusing them and other children but did nothing to stop it.

In complaints filed in Cumberland County Superior Court, Jeffrey and Frederick Conroy say they the late Father James Vallely abused them from approximately 1976 through approximately 1979 when they were altar boys at St. Michael’s Parish in South Berwick.

Frederick Conroy is now 46 and lives in Massachusetts. Jeffrey Conroy is 45 and lives in Texas.

The suits seek unspecified damages on claims including fraudulent concealment, infliction of emotional distress and negligent supervision.

The diocese announced in 2005 that Vallely was among nine dead priests against whom child sexual abuse allegations had been validated.

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NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Mark Mueller/The Star-Ledger
on May 21, 2013

HACKENSACK — Wearing a bright orange jump suit with the letters “BCJ Prisoner” on the back, the priest at the center of the furor in the archdiocese in Newark made his first court appearance this morning on charges he violated a court sanctioned ban on working with children.

The Rev. Michael Fugee, 52, stood for the brief hearing as Bergen County Assistant Prosecutor Demetra Maurice read the seven counts against him.

Maurice is the prosecutor who reached an agreement with Fugee in 2007.

Bob Hoatson, a former priest in the Newark Archdiocese and head of a New Jersey support group called Road to Recovery, was in the courtroom this morning.

“I’m here to see a 10-year attempt to hold Fugee and the archdiocese accountable after they have been coddling him and moving him from place to place, and then arrogantly proclaiming he’s an innocent man,” Hoatson said. “The review board that returned him to ministry should be disbanded and we need a broom to sweep the archdiocese clean.”

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

TUESDAY MAY 21, 2013
BY KIBRET MARKOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

A former Wyckoff associate pastor said nothing during his first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court Tuesday morning, a day after his arrest for disobeying a judicial order that bars him from working with children.

The Rev. Michael Fugee, a former Wyckoff associate pastor who was allowed to continue working as a priest despite confessing to groping a 13-year-old boy, was arrested Monday. He had purposely disobeyed the judicial order that prohibited him from having contact with children, a prosecutor said during the hearing. Fugee had heard confessions from minors and attended a youth retreat on two occasions, the prosecutor said.

Fugee is charged with seven counts of violating the order.

Bail was set at $25,000 and Fugee was remanded to the Bergen County Jail.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

[The Catholic Whistleblowers]

[Letter to Pope Francis]

Michael D’Antonio

Twelve new apostles of truth — they call themselves The Catholic Whistleblowers — are raising their voices against a system of cover-up and denial, calling on Pope Francis to follow a six-point plan for ending the era of scandal caused by priests who have sexually abused children. Nuns and priests alike, the 12 Americans are asking for commonsense efforts including:

* An international advisory board of abuse survivors to facilitate talks between church leaders and victims.
* Revocation of pledges of secrecy to avoid scandal for bishops.
* Full public access to documents relevant to abuse cases.
* Removal of officials who facilitated abuse, obstructed justice or destroyed documents.

These and other policy suggestions form the base of the group’s suggested program for resolving a scandal made worse by bishops who have been “proposing themselves to be seen as the victims” of the claims made by men and women who were sexually abused in childhood by clergy. They add, “For this reason, without a doubt, the Church’s sexual abuse crisis and scandal live on today as strong as ever.”

The whistleblowers include Rev. Thomas Doyle, a former official of the Vatican embassy in Washington who was the first priest to criticize the hierarchy’s response to sexual abuse back in the 1980s. He is joined by five other active priests and two nuns who serve the church in Delaware and New Jersey. Among the group is the Rev. John Bambrick of Trenton, N.J., who was himself abused by a priest at age 15. After making a complaint, Bambrick was assured that the priest who abused him had been barred from working as a priest. He later discovered the man was still in ministry.

In their letter, the members of the group liken themselves to a New Testament beggar who sought healing from Jesus. “The beggar refused to be cast into silence for he knew his healing could only come from the dispenser of the divine mercy,” they write. “Like this poor disfigured beggar we call out to you from the side of the road, we who have been cast off, the apostles telling us to be silent. Please, Pope Francis, do not pass us by.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Anglican Diocese of Chichester

Gordon Trevor Rideout, 74, from Polegate, East Sussex was found guilty at Lewes Crown Court today, Monday 20 May and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Rideout was found guilty of 36 sexual offences against 16 young girls and boys. His Honour Judge Anthony said the sentencing reflects the 1956 Act but if he were sentencing under the current legislation today it would be higher.

In summing up the Judge said the victims’ evidence was extremely clear and compelling. He went on to say they were routinely not believed and that Gordon Rideout knew that and took advantage. He added: “You used your clergy position to get close. Your sole aim was to abuse, knowing they will not be believed and punished.”

The judge said that Gordon Rideout has led a good life since 1973 but that he showed no guilt for what he did and no remorse.

Rideout will now be required to register as a sex offender for life on his release from prison.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Chichester Observer

THE Bishop of Chichester has spoken out after the latest sentencing of a priest for historic sex offences against children.

Speaking after the sentencing of former priest Gordon Rideout, Dr Martin Warner said: “Our primary concern today is with the people who have had to live for a very long time with the consequences of the shameful abuse they suffered from Gordon Rideout.

“We should pay tribute to those who, at considerable personal and emotional cost, have been able to come forward, to provide evidence, and to substantiate accusations as witnesses in the trial which has led to a guilty verdict. Gordon Rideout has been the cause of immeasurable and destructive suffering over a long period of time.

“He has also betrayed the trust and respect of many who have valued his ministry.

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National Catholic Reporter

Hans Kung | May. 21, 2013

ESSAY

Who could have imagined what has happened in the last weeks?

When I decided, months ago, to resign all of my official duties on the occasion of my 85th birthday, I assumed I would never see fulfilled my dream that — after all the setbacks following the Second Vatican Council — the Catholic church would once again experience the kind of rejuvenation that it did under Pope John XXIII.

Then my theological companion over so many decades, Joseph Ratzinger — both of us are now 85 — suddenly announced his resignation from the papal office effective at the end of February. And on March 19, St. Joseph’s feast day and my birthday, a new pope with the surprising and programmatic name Francis assumed this office.

Has Jorge Mario Bergoglio considered why no pope has dared to choose the name of Francis until now? At any rate, the Argentine was aware that with the name of Francis he was connecting himself with Francis of Assisi, the world-famous 13th-century downshifter who had been the fun-loving, worldly son of a rich textile merchant in Assisi, until at the age of 24, he gave up his family, wealth and career, even giving his splendid clothes back to his father.

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FRANCE
la Croix

À la suite du chapitre général qui s’est tenu du 9 au 29 avril à Saint-Jodard (Loire), le P. Thomas Joachim, prieur général de la communauté Saint-Jean a écrit à tous les frères pour les informer que leur fondateur, le P. Marie-Dominique Philippe (1912-2006) « a parfois posé des gestes contraires à la chasteté » à l’égard de plusieurs femmes adultes qu’il accompagnait.

Pourquoi avez-vous décidé de révéler maintenant, sept ans après sa mort, les zones d’ombre de votre fondateur ?

P. Thomas Joachim : Notre chapitre général, en avril, avait pour objet de faire le point sur la communauté et sur l’héritage que notre fondateur nous a légué : comment nous l’intégrons et comment nous nous positionnons vis-à-vis de lui… Or, depuis que j’ai été élu prieur général en 2010, j’ai eu accès à un certain nombre de témoignages le concernant et j’ai senti que la communauté était mûre pour regarder en face les choses, sans les édulcorer, sans se cacher les zones d’ombre de notre fondateur, tout en reconnaissant aussi tout ce qu’il nous a apporté.

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FRANCE
Fait-Religieux

Le prieur général de la Communauté Saint Jean a écrit à tous les frères – souvent connus sous le nom de « Petits Gris » en raison de la couleur de leur habit monastique – pour les informer de l’existence de témoignages « convergents et crédibles » sur les manquements à la chasteté de leur fondateur, le père Marie-Dominique Philippe (1912-2006), auprès de femmes adultes dont il était l’accompagnateur spirituel. Ces gestes contraires à la chasteté ont été évoqués devant les frères délégués au chapitre général de la congrégation, qui s’est tenu au mois d’avril.

Frère Thomas Joachim, le prieur général, a appelé tous les frères à un regard vrai et lucide sur eux-mêmes et leur histoire. Les faits reprochés au père Philippe sont graves. Les cas se comptent entre cinq et dix, selon le porte-parole de la communauté. « Le premier pas face aux difficultés, écrit le prieur, citant le pape François, c’est de bien les regarder, en parler, et jamais de les cacher ». Le chapitre général s’est donc engagé à un soin supplémentaire dans le discernement des vocations, à lancer une réflexion sur la gouvernance, et à approfondir l’enjeu de la chasteté.

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FRANCE
Radio Vatican

Le prieur général de la Communauté Saint Jean, parfois plus connus sous le nom de « Petits gris», a informé ses frères de l’existence de témoignages convergents et crédibles sur les manquements à la chasteté de leur fondateur, le Père Marie-Dominique Philippe, auprès de femmes adultes dont il était l’accompagnateur spirituel. Ces gestes contraires à la chasteté ont été évoqués devant l’ensemble des frères délégués au chapître général de la congrégation, tenu au mois d’avril.

Frère Thomas Joachim a écrit à tous les frères pour les appeler à un regard vrai et lucide sur eux-mêmes et leur histoire. Les faits reprochés au Père Philippe sont graves. Les cas se comptent entre cinq et dix, selon le porte-parole de la communauté, le Frère Renaud-Marie. « Le premier pas face aux difficultés – écrit le Prieur, citant le pape François – c’est de bien les regarder, en parler, et jamais de les cacher ». Néanmoins, le Père Thomas Joachim demande à ses frères de faire la part des choses quant à l’attitude à tenir face au fondateur : ne pas réduire un homme à ses fautes, honorer son charisme et son héritage intellectuel, tenir ensemble la vérité et la justice.

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FRANCE
La Vie

JEAN MERCIER
CRÉÉ LE 13/05/2013

Le prieur de la Communauté Saint Jean, le Père Thomas Joachim, a informé ses frères de l’existence de témoignages “convergents et crédibles” sur les manquements à la chasteté du Père Marie-Dominique Philippe auprès de femmes dont il était l’accompagnateur spirituel.

Regarder la vérité, aussi dure soit-elle, en toute lucidité. C’est actuellement le défi des membres de la Communauté Saint Jean, parfois plus connus sous le nom de “Petits gris”, en raison de la couleur de leur habit monastique. Suite au chapitre général de la congrégation, tenu du 9 au 29 avril 2013, le Prieur général, Frère Thomas Joachim, a en effet écrit à tous les frères de la communauté pour les informer d’une révolution copernicienne dans le regard porté sur leur fondateur, le Père Marie-Dominique Philippe (1912-2006).

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FRANCE
Catholic Culture

The Community of St. John has acknowledged that its founder, Father Marie-Dominique Philippe, had improper relations with women under his spiritual direction.

Established by Father Philippe in 1975, the Community of St. John grew rapidly, particularly among traditional-minded Catholics in France. Father Philippe led the group until he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2001. Upon his death in 2006, he was praised by Pope Benedict XVI for a life “entirely given to the Lord and to his brothers.”

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NEW JERSEY
Anglocat on the Prowl

From yesterday’s Newark Star Ledger:

Late in 2007, members of a secretive review board in the Archdiocese of Newark began the task of determining whether the Rev. Michael Fugee had committed sexual abuse by groping the genitals of a 13-year-old boy during two impromptu wrestling matches.

If the allegations were found credible — and if Archbishop John J. Myers concurred — Fugee would be banned from ministry forever in keeping with a landmark zero-tolerance rule adopted by the nation’s bishops in 2002.

The board, composed mainly of lay people appointed by Myers, had at its disposal Fugee’s police confession, documents from his criminal trial and a copy of an agreement he signed with law enforcement pledging he would never again work with children. It also had evidence of Fugee’s entry in a state rehabilitation program, itself an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.

Yet the panel found no sexual abuse occurred, clearing the way for the priest’s eventual return to ministry.

When it subsequently became clear that Fugee was violating the restrictions contained in the agreement, “Myers’ spokesman, Jim Goodness, initially said Fugee’s actions were within the scope of his agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office because he was supervised at all times. Goodness later reversed himself, acknowledging the agreement had been violated but saying Fugee acted alone.”

As for Abp. Myers, “[l]ate last week, he returned from a weeklong trip to Poland, where he celebrated Mass with Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the top Vatican official in charge of policing sex abuse within the church.”

How very nice.

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NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON MAY 21, 2013

For immediate release: Monday, May 20

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

Fr. Michael Fugee, a Catholic priest of the Newark Archdiocese, has been arrested. He admitted molesting a child, recanted, was tried and convicted. His conviction was overturned on a technicality, and he and his church supervisors promised prosecutors that he would not be around kids. Then, weeks ago, the Newark Star Ledger disclosed that this agreement had been repeatedly and flagrantly violated.

Arresting Fr. Fugee is a ‘no brainer.’ The real issue: will Archbishop Myers be arrested too? We hope so. He’s just as guilty of violating the prosecutor’s deal as Fr. Fugee. We are grateful that Fr. Fugee will, finally, be kept away from kids, even if it’s just for a few hours.

But Archbishop Myers has violated the prosecutor’s agreement too. We urge law enforcement to pursue him too. If kids are to be truly safe, law enforcement must go after those who conceal and enable child sex crimes, not just those who commit child sex crimes.

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NEW JERSEY
New Jersey 101.5

By Townsquare News Network May 20, 2013

A former New Jersey priest has been arrested after allegedly working unsupervised with children despite a legal agreement barring him from doing so.

Michael Fugee was arrested Monday on charges of contempt of a judicial order. He is to appear in court Tuesday.

Fugee was convicted of aggravated criminal assault in 2003 after police say he confessed to grabbing a boy’s crotch. The conviction was thrown out and Fugee reached a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to return to the ministry if his job didn’t involve parishioners under 18.

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBS Chicago

(STMW) — Jesuit officials in Chicago will pay $19.6 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought by six men who claim they were molested by a former priest and onetime spiritual advisor to Mother Teresa, an attorney for the plaintiffs said Monday.

Donald McGuire, formerly of Oak Lawn, is serving a 25-year prison term after being convicted in Chicago in 2008 of federal charges that he brought a minor across state lines to engage in sex. He also was convicted in 2006 of molesting two boys in Wisconsin during the 1960s.

“The amount of the settlement is reflective of the magnitude of misconduct by the top Jesuit officials,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

The $19.6 million settlement against the Chicago Province for the Society of Jesus was reached in January.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Whistleblowers

We are a network of current and former priests, women religious, brothers, deacons, and laypersons who actively support survivors of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Many of us have reported instances of sexual abuse to civil or church authorities, and we all struggle to expose the cover-up of abuse by church leadership. We are aware of how difficult it is to speak out on this issue, and we support each other in that effort.

1) To other current or former church insiders who have sought to stop abusers, prevent abuse, or support survivors, we offer a network of peers who understand. To those who have been marginalized or have suffered serious consequences because of their brave acts, we provide moral and canonical support.

2) We also provide support for all people in the Catholic Church who wish to speak out about abuse, but are daunted by the repercussions. By advocating for whistleblowers, we aim to create a culture in which honest action is possible.

Contact us at info@catholicwhistleblowers.org.

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CANADA
CBC News

An outspoken Anglican priest is facing fraud charges linked to the finances at his church in Topsail.

Rev. John Dinn had been on leave since January when financial irregularities were uncovered at St. John the Evangelist Church in Conception Bay South.

This past weekend, Archdeacon Sandra Tilley told parishioners that Dinn is now facing criminal charges and will remain on leave pending the outcome of court proceedings

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AUSTRALIA
Adelaide Now

MELBOURNE’S top Catholic has admitted he made an ill advised comment when he said it was “better late than never” that the church petitioned Rome to defrock an abusing priest after 18 years.

Asked at a Victorian parliamentary inquiry on Monday why it had taken so long to defrock pedophile priest Desmond Gannon, Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart replied it was “better late than never”.

But on Tuesday, Archbishop Hart admitted the comment was ill advised.

“I think it inadequately represents the situation,” he told ABC Radio.

When pressed further, Archbishop Hart replied: “Certainly, on reflection I can say it was an ill advised comment, but my determination at the time had been to try and make quite clear that with the removal from work of Gannon that the opportunity for offending was removed.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
CBS Pittsburgh

A western Pennsylvania Catholic priest who was removed from public ministry in 2009 after an allegation of past child sex abuse deemed “credible” by his bishop has now been indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of possessing child pornography.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WTAE

PITTSBURGH —A Catholic priest who was removed from public ministry after an allegation of past child sex abuse was deemed “credible” by the Pittsburgh diocese has now been indicted on a federal charge of possessing child pornography.

Dzermejko was first put on administrative leave after a diocesan spokesman said there appeared to be “some semblance of truth” to the abuse allegations, and he was eventually removed from public ministry after Bishop David Zubik said the allegations were deemed “credible.” But Dzermejko was never criminally charged with the alleged abuse, which dated back to the 1980s and involved another parish.

Defense attorney John Knorr said prosecutors have provided few details about the new child porn allegations so far. He said that Dzermejko has pleaded not guilty “and we’re expecting that he’ll persist in that.” Records show that the indictment was returned on May 7 and unsealed on Friday, and that Dzermejko is free on $50,000 unsecured bond.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

[annual report]

ALLISON BRAY – 21 MAY 2013

ONLY a fraction of more than 700 abuse allegations against 320 priests have resulted in convictions since 1975, according to the Catholic Church’s independent child protection watchdog.

Ian Elliott, who is stepping down next month as head of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI), said the low conviction rate was a cause for concern.

“The number of convictions from both dioceses and religious orders for serious offences against children is low,” he said in the annual report released yesterday.

Only 26 prosecutions have emerged from 723 allegations against 320 priests since 1975, he said.

“What’s striking is that credible allegations against named priests have had a very low batting average,” he told the Irish Independent. He estimated that only about 8pc of cases result in prosecutions.

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IRELAND
The Journal

[annual report]

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH’S watchdog has confirmed that it received an allegation of abuse last year. The complaint outlined an incident that allegedly took place in 2012.

The notification underlines the need for constant vigilance, good safeguarding practice and prompt action, said CEO of the NBSCCCI Ian Elliot on the publication of the organisation’s annual report.

The Board was notified of two allegations of abuse having taken place since 2000 but the vast majority of the 242 accusations received related to years between 1960 and 1990. Some dated as far back as 1940.

Information about all 242 allegations, concerns and suspicions have been passed to the gardaí/PSNI and, where appropriate, the HSC/HSE. The number of convictions for serious offences remains low, with just 26 prosecutions out of a total of 723 allegations (involving 320 priests).

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NEW JERSEY
Patch

By Devin McGinley

Former Wyckoff pastor Michael Fugee was arrested and charged Monday with multiple counts of contempt of a court order, after allegedly violating a 2007 agreement with prosecutors to discontinue work with children following accusations of sexual misconduct.

The cleric has been living at St. Antoninus Parish on South Orange Avenue in Newark.

Fugee, 52, confessed in 2001 to two acts of sexual misconduct with a Wyckoff teenager, once during a visit to the teen’s home and again during an overnight church retreat to Virginia. The confession was later recanted, and a 2003 conviction was overturned on judicial error in 2007.

Prosecutors opted not to retry Fugee, and instead reached an agreement with the priest and the Archdiocese of Newark that Fugee would return to the priesthood under the condition that he refrain from working with minors.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

LEEANN SHELTON Staff Reporter May 20, 2013

Jesuit officials in Chicago will pay $19.6 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought by six men who claim they were molested by a former priest and onetime spiritual adviser to Mother Teresa, an attorney for the plaintiffs said Monday.

Donald McGuire, formerly of Oak Lawn, is serving a 25-year prison term after being convicted in Chicago in 2008 of federal charges that he brought a minor across state lines to engage in sex. He also was convicted in 2006 of molesting two boys in Wisconsin during the 1960s.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priestsi

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON MAY 20, 2013
For immediate release: Monday, May 20

Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com)

Six men who were sexually violated as kids by a widely-known Jesuit priest, Fr. Donald McGuire, have reached a settlement totaling nearly $20 million. We applaud their courage and strength.

These six brave men have, despite their horrific pain, struggled to expose corruption by some of the top Jesuits in the US. More truth about awful church crimes and cover ups is being revealed and for that, Catholics should be grateful.

This isn’t just another settlement. It’s a settlement involving America’s most prominent child molesting cleric (a high profile priest who was Mother Teresa’s confessor) and Catholicism’s most elite religious order (the Jesuits). It’s a settlement that, by its size alone, shows that Catholic officials are terrified of having to testify in open court about their complicity in McGuire’s egregious child sex crimes. And it’s a settlement that should make parents pause before sending their youngsters to Jesuit schools.

I know some of McGuire’s victims. They have been deeply traumatized. But they have put their own misery aside in the effort to protect kids from him and warn parents about him. Because of McGuire’s criminal conviction and this settlement, they have largely succeeded, against long odds. We in SNAP are deeply appreciative of their concern for children and their commitment to justice.

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

MONDAY, MAY 20, 2013
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

A former Wyckoff assistant pastor, who had been allowed to continue working as a priest despite confessing to the sexual abuse of a 13-year-old child, was arrested Monday and charged with violating an agreement with law enforcement officials that barred him from working with children.

The Rev. Michael Fugee was arrested at a Newark parish on Monday and was charged with seven counts of violating a judicial order, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said in a statement.

Molinelli said that Fugee, a former associate pastor at St. Elizabeth parish in Wyckoff, allegedly heard confessions from children on at least seven occasions, including twice at a Rochelle Park parish where church authorities had allowed him to live in the rectory.

Fugee heard confessions in February and again in March at Sacred Heart Church in Rochelle Park, Molinelli said. Fugee left that parish earlier this year after The Record inquired about him living there. He also herd confession from minors at Our Lady of Visitation Church in Paramus in December, the prosecutor said.

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NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Mark Mueller/The Star-Ledger
on May 20, 2013 at 8:12 PM, updated May 20, 2013 at 8:26 PM

NEWARK — A Roman Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Newark was criminally charged today with violating a court-sanctioned agreement that bars him from working with children for life.

The Rev. Michael Fugee, whose attendance at youth retreats and other events involving minors was disclosed in a series of Star-Ledger stories in recent weeks, was arrested by members of the special victims unit of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office at St. Antoninus Parish in Newark, a statement from the prosecutor’s office said.

Fugee, 52, was charged with seven counts of contempt of a judicial order, a fourth-degree crime that carries a maximum prison term of 18 months.

The Bergen County investigators, who launched an investigation after the newspaper alerted them to Fugee’s interactions with kids, found the priest heard confessions from minors at youth retreats along Lake Hopatcong in April 2010 and at the Kateri Environmental Center in Marlboro in September 2010 and again in September 2012.

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NEW JERSEY
CBS New York

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — A once-accused pedophile priest in New Jersey has been arrested, on charges that he violated a judicial order by having contact with young parish members.

The Rev. Michael Fugee, 52, was arrested at St. Antoninus Parish in Newark following an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.

Fugee entered into an agreement with the prosecutor’s Office to avoid retrial on the abuse conviction after the groping incident six years ago. The agreement required Fugee never again to have unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Whistleblowers

Catholic Whistleblowers
P.O. Box 279
Livingston, New Jersey 07039

His Holiness Pope Francis
Bishop of Rome
Vatican City State, Europe

April 29, 2013
Feast of St. Catherine of Siena

Your Holiness,

From the convictions of our conscience we wish to make known for the good of the Church, you and the Christian faithful the experience we have lived regarding the ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis and scandal.

Pope Francis, like the beggar whom the Lord passed by on the street (Lk18:35) but who nonetheless called out for healing, we call out to you. The beggar was shunned by the apostles who attempted to silence him, to hide his hideous disfigurement from the Lord as if he might disfigure the one who created him. The beggar refused to be cast into silence for he knew his healing could only come from the dispenser of the divine mercy. Like this poor disfigured beggar we call out to you from the side of the road, we who have been cast off, the apostles telling us to be silent. Please, Pope Francis, do not pass us by.

From the start, the apostles had the duty to sanctify and heal the faithful in their journey as companions of Christ. In other words, throughout the Church’s history the pope and the other bishops, as successors to Saint Peter and the apostles, are to be spiritual leaders who strengthen all of the faithful in their missionary efforts. The faithful trust that the pope and the other bishops will fulfill that responsibility.

During the past decades this previously embraced level of trust has been severely damaged, although not irreversibly so, by the crisis of clergy sexual abuse of children, adolescents, and vulnerable adults. This damage has grown into a full-blown scandal because of a self-righteous spirit of injustice, and the commitment to secrecy that many bishops and other Church leaders have demonstrated. This behavior has adversely influenced the religious practice of many persons, a scandal that hinders the mission of the Church.

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NEW JERSEY
San Francisco Chronicle

Updated 6:19 pm, Monday, May 20, 2013

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — A former New Jersey priest has been arrested after allegedly working unsupervised with children despite a legal agreement barring him from doing so.

Michael FU’-gee was arrested Monday on charges of contempt of a judicial order. He is to appear in court Tuesday.

Fugee was convicted of aggravated criminal assault in 2003 after police say he confessed to grabbing a boy’s crotch. The conviction was thrown out and Fugee reached a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to return to the ministry if his job didn’t involve parishioners under 18.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: May 20, 2013

They call themselves Catholic Whistleblowers, a newly formed cadre of priests and nuns who say the Roman Catholic Church is still protecting sexual predators.

Several members of the group, which includes priests and nuns, met in Manhattan last week.

Although they know they could face repercussions, they have banded together to push the new pope to clean house and the American bishops to enforce the zero-tolerance policies they adopted more than a decade ago.

The group began organizing quietly nine months ago without the knowledge of their superiors or their peers, and plan to make their campaign public this week. Most in the steering group of 12 have blown the whistle on abusers in the past, and three are canon lawyers who once handled abuse cases on the church’s behalf. Four say they were sexually abused as children.

Their aim, they say, is to support both victims and fellow whistle-blowers, and identify shortcomings in church policies. They hope to help not just minors, but also adults who fall prey to clergy who exploit their power for sex. They say that their motivation is to make the church better and safer, and to show the world that there are good priests and nuns in the church.

“We’ve dedicated our lives to the church,” the Rev. John Bambrick, a priest in the Diocese of Trenton, said at a meeting of the group last week in New York. “Having sex offenders in ministry is damaging to our ministry.” …

Each member has a history of standing up publicly on behalf of abuse victims, but until last year most of them did not know of one another. A Catholic laywoman, Anne Barrett Doyle, who lives in Boston, suggested they should meet. She is the co-director of BishopAccountability.org, a Web site and advocacy group that is building a database of documents on clergy abuse cases, and a co-worker, Suzy Nauman, had been keeping a running list of priests and nuns who had helped expose predators or had spoken out.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Attorneys to announce record $19.6 Million settlement of lawsuit of six sexual abuse victims of prominent former Jesuit Donald McGuire

Survivors and Attorneys to present newly obtained details and photos

What: At a news conference on Tuesday in Chicago prominent clergy abuse attorneys Jeff Anderson and Marc Pearlman will:

• Announce the settlement of a lawsuit against the Jesuit’s Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus involving sexual abuse of six men sexually abused as youth by former Jesuit Donald McGuire.
• Identify top Jesuit officials who endangered children by failing to stop McGuire’s predatory exploitation.
• Produce newly obtained evidence of McGuire’s 40-year pattern of abusing children on several continents as he traveled the world on behalf of the Jesuits.
• Introduce a survivor of abuse by McGuire who will speak publicly about his abuse.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 21 at 1 P.M.

WHERE: Law offices of Kerns, Frost & Pearlman and Jeff Anderson and Associates
Three First National Plaza
70 West Madison, Suite 5350
Chicago, IL

WHO: Attorney Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based, internationally known trial lawyer widely recognized as a pioneer in sexual abuse litigation. Anderson has represented thousands of survivors of sexual abuse by authority figures and clergy. Attorney Marc Pearlman, Chicago-based attorney who has partnered with Jeff Anderson on numerous clergy abuse cases in Illinois. Patrick Wall, former Benedictine monk and priest who has studied Father McGuire since 2002

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ALABAMA
Local 15

UPDATE 4:30 P.M.

The Archdiocese of Mobile issued the following release to Local 15 News.

When we were informed by federal authorities of the accusation against Deacon Robert Nouwen, of possession of child pornography, Archbishop Rodi and Father Jim Cink, Director of the Office of Child Protection, met with Deacon Nouwen. He admitted only to limited and temporary possession of child pornography and was immediately put on administrative leave, meaning he could not exercise any ministry. This was shared with the parish and made public. The Archdiocese of Mobile had no prior knowledge of his misconduct with minors and his background check did not reveal his abuse of minors.

In the ongoing federal investigation he admitted to federal authorities that he had raped two children. In the interest of cooperating fully with the federal investigation, we felt it inappropriate to make any public statements until sentencing was complete. Now that federal authorities have completed their process, the Archdiocese will refer his case to the Vatican and Deacon Nouwen continues to be prohibited from exercising any ministry. Specifically, we will ask for permission to proceed with the laicization of Deacon Nouwen.

The Archdiocese of Mobile has made the commitment not to tolerate sexual abuse of minors and to cooperate with civil authorities. We have acted in keeping these promises by immediately placing Deacon Nouwen on administrative leave and cooperating fully with federal authorities.When we were informed by federal authorities of the accusation against Deacon Robert Nouwen, of possession of child pornography, Archbishop Rodi and Father Jim Cink, Director of the Office of Child Protection, met with Deacon Nouwen. He admitted only to limited and temporary possession of child pornography and was immediately put on administrative leave, meaning he could not exercise any ministry. This was shared with the parish and made public. The Archdiocese of Mobile had no prior knowledge of his misconduct with minors and his background check did not reveal his abuse of minors.

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CALIFORNIA
Santa Cruz Sentinel

By Jason Hoppin
Santa Cruz Sentinel

SANTA CRUZ — A child psychologist accused of molesting his patients was rearrested this week after prosecutors expanded their case against him.

John W. Visher, 56, abused four victims as far back as 2001, prosecutors allege. He was first arrested at his La Selva Beach home in September based on complaints from a 9-year-old girl, and this week saw several new counts added involving three more underage victims.

“The defendant has engaged in a decade-long (if not longer) campaign of utilizing his position of power and control to molest the children he was supposed to be counseling and helping,” prosecutor Michael Gilman wrote in court papers. …

According to court papers, Capitola police investigated Visher in 2001 and 2005, though neither resulted in charges. County Child Protective Services also investigated the 2001 case, which involved a 5-year-old boy.

Due to statutes of limitations, none of the charges involve the 2001 case. Authorities have contacted that victim, who reportedly confirmed and added to the original report.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WESA

By MARK NOOTBAAR
A federal grand jury has indicted a former Pittsburgh-area priest on a charge of possessing child pornography.

The one-count indictment against David Dzermejko of Braddock for “possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor” was unsealed Friday.

The indictment alleges that “on or about January 11, 2013, Dzermejko possessed visual depictions, namely, still images in computer graphics files, the production of which involved the use of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.”

Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese Bishop David Zubik responded to the indictment Monday by pledging to give his full cooperation to the investigation.

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IRELAND
RTE News

The Catholic Church’s independent child protection watchdog has said that services provided to both the victims and perpetrators of clerical sexual abuse need to be reviewed.

Ian Elliott, the chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, said that standards agreed with Church leaders in 2009 were in need of overhaul.

Speaking on RTÉ’s News At One, Mr Elliott said that specific attention should be paid to the “outreach to victims” and to the services offered to those who pose a risk to children.

The NBSCCC board issued its latest annual report today. Mr Elliot said the most outstanding feature of the 242 complaints that it dealt with in 2012 was the number of abuse complaints that were historic, with some dating back to the 1940s.

Mr Elliott’s role as CEO of the NBSCCC comes to an end next month after six years at the helm.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New Jersey Herald

By JOE MANDAK
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A western Pennsylvania Catholic priest who was removed from public ministry in 2009 after an allegation of past child sex abuse deemed “credible” by his bishop has now been indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of possessing child pornography.

The indictment announced Monday by federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh doesn’t specify how much pornography the Rev. David Dzermejko (jer-MAY’-koh) allegedly had on his computers in January. The 64-year-old priest now lives in Braddock, but was pastor of Mary, Mother of the Church parish in Charleroi when he was removed four years ago.

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MINNESOTA
Patrick J. Wall

Former Minnesota priest Jim Fitzpatrick is courageously speaking about the child sexual abuse crimes by Father Thomas Adamson and the cover-up by the Bishops of Winona.

Almost 50 years ago, Fitzpatrick broke the silence about what distraught parents from Caledonia told him about the priest and notified Winona Bishop Edward A. Fitzgerald about Adamson the very next day.

Fr. Jim Fitzpatrick served the Church as a pastor and teacher from 1963-1973. Fitz left active ministry in 1973, married and continued serving the Church as a parish administrator in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. And he would remain in the dark about Adamson.

After Fitz’ report in 1965, Adamson was cycled from parish to parish, treatment center to treatment center and diocese to diocese.

Unknown to Fitz, Bishop Loras Watters, successor to Bishop Fitzgerald, had reports from four experts about Fr. Adamson—the Institute for Living (a well-known Catholic treatment facility), a local priest therapist, the Bishop’s own priest personnel board and the Servants of the Paraclete. All said that Adamson was fixated on boys.

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ALABAMA
WPMI

MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) A former deacon at St. Vincent de Paul Church was sentenced to prison time on child pornography charges.

Monday, Robert Nouwen was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison. The judge recommended the sentence be served at a medical facility due to Nouwen’s health condition.

Nouwen was also ordered to undergo sex offender treatment and will be placed on supervised release for the remainder of his life after he is released from prison.

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Brendan Kirby | bkirby@al.com
on May 20, 2013

MOBILE, Alabama – Decades of a secret past of child sexual abuse caught up with a former Catholic deacon this morning, with a federal judge sentencing him to almost six years in prison on a child pornography charge.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service tracked down Robert L. Nouwen from a Canadian company’s customer list, but by then, he already had destroyed the movies he had ordered for $188. A search of his home and computer did not turn up any child pornography.

Had Nouwen not admitted to agents that he had bought the movies, the investigation likely would have ended there, defense attorney Gordon Armstrong said.

In addition, Armstrong said, the 82-year-old Mobile man may well have received much more lenient punishment had he not come forward with numerous instances of sexual abuse against young boys.

“It started with him,” he told Chief U.S. District Judge William Steele. “It started with his own admissions.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

MONDAY, MAY 20, 2013

[TWIN PHILLY SCANDALS – Catholic League]

[The ad: FOUR CATHOLIC MEN FRAMED – Catholic League]

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

Bill Donhoue, president of the Catholic League, ripped The Philadelphia Inquirer today for not printing a $58,000 ad that would have called attention to the local district attorney’s prosecution of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Donohue also ripped the Inky’s news coverage.

“There are two scandals going on in Philadelphia, and both involve injustices done to the Catholic Church,” Donohue said. “One is legal, and the other is journalistic.”

“The legal scandal involves the prosecution of three Catholic priests, and one Catholic layman, in a case so incredible that it would be turned down as too fictional a script for a TV crime show,” Donohue wrote. “The other involves the Philadelphia Inquirer’s decision to keep the public in the dark about this case.”

In a press release posted on the league’s site, Donohue said the Inky refused to tell him why they decided not to run the ad.

“The statement that I wrote was submitted to the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 14, 2013; it was to run as a two-page ad on May 20,” Donohue wrote. “On May 15, were were told that a decision was made by those ‘at the top’ not to run it; when we asked for an explanation, were told there would be none.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

By Brian Bowling

Published: Monday, May 20, 2013

A federal grand jury has indicted a former pastor of Mary, Mother of Church Parish in Charleroi on a child pornography charge, according to court documents unsealed Friday.

The grand jury indicted the Rev. David Dzermejko, 64, of Braddock on May 7. He pleaded not guilty to the charge Wednesday and was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond, according to court records.
His attorney, John Knorr, declined comment.

Bishop David Zubik said Dzermejko was “removed from active ministry in June 2009 and has been forbidden from celebrating the sacraments publicly, from wearing clerical attire, or presenting himself publicly as a priest. It is also necessary for me to stress that we had no knowledge that he was involved in the activity for which he has now been charged.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

May 20, 2013

By Rich Lord / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Braddock man suspended from the priesthood three years ago following accusations of child sexual abuse was charged this month with possession of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Pittsburgh announced today.

U.S. Attorney David Hickton’s office made the charges public against David Dzermejko following the unsealing last week of a one-count indictment. He had computer files with depictions of minors engaged in sexual conduct, according to the indictment.

Mr. Dzermejko, 64, was released last week on $50,000 unsecured bond and barred from computer use and unsupervised contact with children.

Mr. Dzermejko is the former pastor of Mary, Mother of the Church in Charleroi. In 2010, Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik found credible accusations that Mr. Dzermejko abused two males, one of whom was deceased when his parents brought forth the allegation.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Observer-Reporter

A Roman Catholic priest who once served a Charleroi parish has been indicted in federal court on a charge of possession of child pornography.

The one-count indictment unsealed Friday accuses David Dzermejko, 64, of Braddock, of having photographs in computer and graphic files involving children engaging in sexually explicit conduct, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Dzermejko is facing a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, Hickton stated in a news release.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

NCR Editorial Staff | May. 20, 2013

EDITORIAL

It is understandable that much of the attention paid to the recent meeting of the International Union of Superiors General in Rome was focused at detecting the state of things between the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Vatican.

That is, of course, an important relationship and one that became particularly strained during Pope Benedict XVI’s reign, which saw a Vatican-imposed investigation and an attempt at a virtual takeover of the organization, an umbrella group for some 80 percent of U.S. sisters.

Exactly where all of this now goes under the new papacy of Francis is yet unknown. However, what became clear during the meeting in Rome is that while LCWR’s troubles may be an important part of the story, they remain only a portion of the larger global picture coming to light among leaders of women religious around the world.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

Published on 20/05/2013

Police have paid tribute to the courage of the victims in the trial of Gordon Rideout – and hope the verdict and sentencing have brought them some closure.

Detective Chief Inspector Jon Gross of Sussex Police said, “This has been a wide-reaching investigation, the success of which has been founded upon very strong inter-agency co-operation and the courage of the many victims and witnesses who have provided testimony in this case.

“It is difficult to overestimate the significance of this verdict for those who have finally seen justice, many decades after being prey to the sexual abuse perpetrated by Gordon Rideout.

“His offending over that period has been hugely impactive upon the lives of his victims, from childhood to the present day. It is hoped this case will bring a sense of closure to all of those who provided evidence to the investigation while underlining to the wider community that it is never too late to report serious crimes, however long ago the alleged offending took place.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Former Church of England priest, 74, abused girls and boys at Barnardo’s home then savagely beat victims who tried to speak out

By ALEX WARD

A retired Church of England priest found guilty of a catalogue of historic sex attacks on young children at a Barnardo’s home has been jailed for 10 years.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 74, abused more than a dozen girls and boys at the now closed home at Ifield Hall in Crawley, West Sussex, over a four-year period.

The former Anglican clergyman from Polegate, East Sussex, also indecently assaulted two girls at an army site in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

At Lewes Crown Court, Rideout was found guilty of 34 counts of indecent assault and two counts of attempted rape on 16 children between January 1962 and January 1973. He was cleared of one count of indecent assault on a boy at a second Barnardo’s home in Essex.

As he was sentenced today, the Bishop of Chichester, Dr Martin Warner, said Rideout had caused ‘immeasurable and destructive suffering’ over a long period of time.

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SERBIEN
Europe Online

Prunksucht, sexueller Missbrauch, Diebstahl und selbst Morddrohungen: Die Serbisch-Orthodoxe Kirche steckt im Tief. Jetzt attackiert sie auch noch den Staat.

Belgrad (dpa) – Die Bischöfe der Serbisch-Orthodoxen Kirche lassen selbst Regierungschef Ivica Dacic verzweifeln: «Unser lieber Gott tut mir leid, dass er von solchen Leuten vertreten wird», sagte der Spitzenpolitiker in der vergangenen Woche. Der Grund: Zwei prominente Bischöfe hatten ihm öffentlich die Ermordung vorausgesagt, weil er eine angeblich falsche nationale Politik führe.

«Sex, Kriminalität und Sünde unter dem Talar», kommentierte jüngst das Politmagazin NIN die vielen Affären rund um die Geistlichen. Mit am schlimmsten soll es der inzwischen zwangspensionierte Bischof Vasilije Kacavenda getrieben haben. Im letzten Monat musste sich die engste Kirchenführung (Heiliger Synod) öffentlich zugängliche Videofilme über sexuellen Missbrauch von Kindern durch ihren Glaubensbruder anschauen – und schickte ihn endlich aufs Altenteil.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Stuttgarter Zeitung

Michael Trauthig, 20.05.2013

Köln Die Wunden der Missbrauchsopfer soll ein Glaubensfest Anfang Juni in Köln heilen, sagt Joachim Meisner. Der Theologe beklagt die Gotteskrise und kritisiert die Familienpolitik. Deutschland sterbe aus, habe aber zugleich eine perfekte Gesetzgebung für Abtreibung und dränge die Frauen aus den Familien heraus, um die Produktion zu sichern.

Herr Kardinal, warum veranstalten Sie einen Gegen-Katholikentag?
Das ist ein Missverständnis. Der Eucharistische Kongress Anfang Juni in Köln hat mit dem Katholikentag überhaupt nichts zu tun. Vielmehr: als vor fast vier Jahren die sexuellen Missbräuche sichtbar wurden, hat mich das so erschüttert, dass ich überlegte, wie Heilung möglich ist. Die schaffen wir selbst nicht. Wir beten in der Pfingstsequenz „Heile, was verwundet ist“, und wir haben den Heiland in der Eucharistie in unserer Mitte. Diese Kraft wollen wir nun wirksam werden lassen mit einem großen Glaubensfest, damit die vielen Verwundungen wieder geheilt werden können.

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AUSTRALIEN
Kipa

Melbourne, 20.5.13 (Kipa) Der katholische Erzbischof von Melbourne, Denis Hart, hat bei einer Parlamentsanhörung im australischen Bundesstaat Victoria zum Thema sexueller Missbrauch «Geheimniskrämerei und Vertuschung» eingeräumt. «Das hatte sich wie Mehltau über die Kirche gelegt», sagte Hart am Montag laut australischen Medienberichten.

Die Verantwortungsträger hätten zu lange gebraucht, um zu verstehen, was «eigentlich vor sich ging». Dies habe sich mit dem Amtsantritt von George Pell als Nachfolger des Melbourner Erzbischofs Frank Little im Jahr 1996 verbessert. Little habe sich einfach «nicht vorstellen können, dass Priester, die das Beste im Menschen repräsentieren sollen», zu solchen Taten fähig gewesen seien, sagte Hart. Erzbischof Hart war der erste hochrangige Kirchenvertreter, der vor dem Ausschuss in Melbourne aussagte. In einer Woche, am 27. Mai, folgt dann sein Amtsvorgänger (1996-2001), Sydneys Kardinal George Pell.

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JOLIET (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON MAY 20, 2013

A convicted predator priest who headed a Joliet Catholic school in the 1990s before moving to Florida has been sentenced to life in prison after molesting again.

Fr. William C. Wert was sentenced last Thursday in Florida for molesting a boy for five months in the Venice diocese.

In 2007, he was convicted of molesting a Washington DC child but served only 15 days in jail. In 2001, he was living at a Catholic retirement home in Venice when he was arrested on the more recent abuse charge.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sussex Express

BREAKING NEWS: Polegate priest receives 10 year sentence for the “systematic” sexual assault of young boys and girls.

A former priest has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the “systematic” sexual abuse of vulnerable children.

Gordon Trevor Rideout was found guilty of two attempted rapes and 34 counts of indecent assault on young boys and girls in care homes over a 10 year period.

The 74-year-old stood motionless in the dock today (Monday) as one of his victims wept uncontrollably as the verdict was read out in Lewes Crown Court.

He hung his head as the jury foreman gave the guilty verdict to 36 of the 37 counts he stood trial for.

His Lord Justice Anthony described the evidence against Rideout as “clear and compelling” but had to sentence him under the sentencing regime as it was at the time the crimes were committed.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

May 21, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

Paedophile priests in Melbourne were moved from parish to parish in a culture of secrecy and cover-up in which the Catholic Church was slow to act, Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart said on Thursday.

A predecessor, Sir Frank Little, dealt with all complaints secretly, keeping no records. He moved paedophiles such as serial abusers Wilfred Baker and Kevin O’Donnell to “innocent parishes” where they blighted more lives, Archbishop Hart conceded at the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse.

“It was an awful blight on the church. I want to put my anger and pain and anguish about this to the committee.”

He said before 1996, when he became Vicar-General in Melbourne and Cardinal George Pell became Archbishop, the church was “too keen to look after herself and her good name and not keen enough to look after the terrible anguish of the victims. Since the 1990s, that has changed – slowly and with agony, but it has changed.”

In a public statement, Archbishop Hart said he took responsibility, but he told the inquiry the only person responsible was the archbishop at the time.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

EDITORIAL HERALD SUN MAY 21, 2013

WHEN Archbishop Denis Hart replied “better late than never” after being asked why the Catholic Church had taken 18 years to defrock a paedophile priest, there was what might be called a disbelieving silence.

A moment’s reflection might have allowed Archbishop Hart to reconsider what was at least offensive and at worst suggested his own attitude to child sex abuse might need to change.

“Better never” such crimes were committed.

As reported in the Herald Sun, the Archbishop was being questioned over the case of Father Desmond Gannon, who was jailed in 2009 for having molested an altar boy on several occasions between 1968 and 1969. Accusations had been made against the priest in the late 1980s, but no request had been made to Rome to have him defrocked until 2012.

Archbishop Hart’s response that reporting the paedophile priest was hampered because the priest had been sent to jail and because of changes to church law do little to explain what the church’s critics regard as a cover-up.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – Lateline

[with video]

The Archibishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, has admitted the church covered up sexual abuse claims against priests and has been slow to act on abuse claims.

Transcript

EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: The Archbishop of Melbourne has admitted the Church covered up allegations of sexual abuse by priests.

Denis Hart told Victoria’s parliamentary abuse inquiry that the Church takes full responsibility for its actions, but his contrition provided little comfort for abuse victims and their families.

Hamish Fitzsimmons reports from Melbourne on Archbishop Hart’s long-anticipated appearance.

HAMISH FITZSIMMONS, REPORTER: Much of the focus of this parliamentary inquiry into abuse by organisations has been on the crimes committed by clergy in the Ballarat region of Central Victoria. But the state’s most senior Catholic was today addressing the situation in the nation’s second largest city.

DENIS HART, ARCHBISHOP OF MELBOURNE: My evidence today will solely refer to the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: The inquiry was told that of the 1,748 priests who’ve worked in Victoria, less than four per cent have been sexual offenders – 59 priests according to Archbishop Hart. At the same time, the Archbishop recognises the damage that’s been done to the 300 victims recorded in Melbourne so far

DENIS HART: I acknowledge that our incapacity to see and to react to this situation in a timely way has given rise to the need for this inquiry. I understand that the community is looking for someone to take responsibility for the terrible acts that occurred. I take responsibility.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

EXCLUSIVE BY JANET FIFE-YEOMANS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH MAY 20, 2013

THE country’s top Anglican, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, personally intervened days before the shock resignation of the Grafton bishop over his mishandling of abuse claims at a notorious children’s home.

In an indication of how seriously churches are taking the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Archbishop Aspinall last week sent the commission an internal church review of the scandal.

The review into the treatment of victims of sexual, physical and mental abuse at the North Coast Children’s Home at Lismore in northern NSW from the 1940s to the 1980s was brought to the Archbishop’s attention after an approach by The Daily Telegraph.

Archbishop Aspinall and the national general secretary of the Anglican Church, Martin Drevikovsky, on May 10 met with Bishop Keith Slater, the head of the Grafton Diocese for the past 10 years who resigned last week after apologising to victims “who bravely came forward to tell their story of abuse and were turned away”.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Rosemary Goring
Literary editor/columnist

Monday 20 May 2013

It was in many ways admirable of Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, to leap to the defence of the disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

Speaking of the Cardinal’s banishment from Scotland by the Vatican, he expressed his disgust. Never mealy-mouthed, he likened the cleric’s forced exile for what Rome has termed “the purpose of spiritual renewal, prayer, and penance” to the CIA’s tactics of extraordinary rendition. Decrying this draconian act, Mr Holloway urged compassion towards the elderly Cardinal O’Brien, who should be allowed to return to Dunbar, where he had hoped to spend his retirement.

“Doubtless,” he said, “a time will come when Cardinal O’Brien will want to be reconciled with those he has offended”. That could only happen, though, when the hullabaloo has died down, and the cardinal is allowed to live peacefully in his own home. Mr Holloway was in no doubt, however, that forgiveness would be forthcoming, that being the essence of Christianity.

I agree that the Vatican’s long reach is disturbing. That it can make a priest pack his bags and leave the country, in the knowledge that he cannot return without the Pope’s approval, is decidedly sinister. As Mr Holloway points out, even in the Middle Ages steps were taken to prevent this sort of interference from Rome.

The Vatican insists that the cardinal’s compulsory expulsion is “not a banishment order”, but few would interpret it otherwise. Indeed, it is simply another indication that the church behaves today, as in the past, as if it were above the laws of any nation. Although some of those who accused the cardinal of abuse are said to be content with the action taken to remove him from the scene, others are far from happy. While no complaint has been made to the police about the alleged incidents, it does not appear that the church has instigated any official investigation into the events. If it has, then it is remaining tight-lipped. In this, as in spiriting the cardinal out of Scotland, the Vatican is acting in an imperious manner better suited to medieval times than our supposedly transparent age.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By DANIEL FOGARTY AND GENEVIEVE GANNON May 21, 2013

Melbourne’s most senior Catholic has admitted child sexual abuse was covered up and the church was slow to act against pedophile priests.

Archbishop Denis Hart says a knighted former archbishop kept reports of sexual abuse to himself and that the church was keen to look after itself when addressing complaints, placing its reputation ahead of victims.

“The question of confidentiality of these matters was probably kept in one sense too much in that the church was too keen to look after herself and her good name and not keen enough to address the terrible anguish of the victims,” Archbishop Hart told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry yesterday.

He said Archbishop Sir Thomas Francis “Frank” Little had covered up abuse reports.

“Archbishop Little kept all these things to himself and there were no records,” Archbishop Hart said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

STUART RINTOUL From: The Australian May 21, 2013

MELBOURNE archbishop Denis Hart has admitted the crimes of pedophile priests were covered up by former long-time Melbourne archbishop Frank Little, who dealt with complaints confidentially, kept no records and moved offending priests to new parishes.

In a three-hour interrogation by a Victorian parliamentary inquiry, it was also revealed Archbishop Hart last year warned the Vatican of the possibility of a “scandal for the faithful” if it did not defrock a pedophile priest.

Archbishop Hart also said the church would support the extension of mandatory reporting to ministers of religion, except for the sanctity of the confessional.

Archbishop Hart said the Catholic Church had for too long been “too keen to look after herself and her good name”.

Under examination by MP Frank McGuire, Archbishop Hart agreed that Little, Melbourne archbishop from 1974 to 1996, “covered up” abuse by priests, and moved at least two pedophile priests, Kevin O’Donnell and Wilfred Baker, to what Mr McGuire called “innocent parishes and innocent children”.
Archbishop Hart said he could not justify Little’s actions, but had inherited the pain caused by his inaction.

He said he believed Little, who died in 2008 and was succeeded by George Pell, was a sensitive man who found it hard to believe that priests could do such “evil, evil things”.

Giving evidence on the church’s failure to defrock pedophile priests, Archbishop Hart said he had attempted several times to have convicted pedophile Desmond Gannon defrocked.

Archbishop Hart said Gannon, who has been sentenced five times since 1995 for sexual crimes against children committed between 1957 and 1979, had his faculties as a priest withdrawn in 1993, but until Vatican changes in 2002 it had been “an onerous process” to defrock priests against their will and Gannon was in jail, but he was “resolute” in trying to have him defrocked in 2011 and last year.

He was “not very happy” when the Vatican ruled that because of Gannon’s extreme age, and unwillingness to be laicised, he should have a “penal precept” imposed on him instead, restricting his activities.

Inquiry head Georgie Crozier read a letter from Archbishop Hart to the Vatican in December last year, in which he said: “The media in Victoria have been active in reporting the information and allegations made before the parliamentary inquiry, often concentrating on those cases involving the Catholic Church. I am gravely concerned that the steps taken in the case of Rev Desmond Gannon, in the light of this new situation and also the possibility of further allegations against him, be seen to be inadequate and the cause of scandal for the faithful.”

When it was put to him that the church had failed to defrock Gannon for 18 years, Archbishop Hart replied, to groans in the public gallery, “Well, better late than never.”

Cardinal Pell is due to give evidence next week.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Echo

A retired Church of England priest has been found guilty of a catalogue of historic sex attacks on young children at a Barnardo’s home for vulnerable youngsters.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 74, abused more than a dozen girls and boys at the now closed home at Ifield Hall in Crawley, West Sussex, over a four-year period.

The former Anglican clergyman also indecently assaulted two girls at an Army site in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

At Lewes Crown Court, Rideout was found guilty of 34 counts of indecent assault and two counts of attempted rape on 16 children between January 1962 and January 1973.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Disgraced clergyman Canon Gordon Rideout was a serial sex offender who preyed on young children across the south of England – but he could have been stopped more than 40 years ago.

Rideout, now 74, was convicted at Lewes Crown Court earlier of two attempted rapes and 34 indecent assaults on 16 boys and girls in Hampshire and Sussex in the 1960s and 1970s.

The jury heard many of his victims were too afraid to report his behaviour for fear of being beaten.

And he was one of several priests to whose alleged misdeeds the Church of England turned a blind eye.

In the 1970s he got as far as court but was cleared by a military hearing of allegations of indecent assault relating to his time as forces chaplain at St Michael’s Church on a military base in Middle Wallop, Hampshir

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Philippe Naughton
Last updated at 2:06PM, May 20 2013

A retired Anglican priest has been found guilty of abusing vulnerable boys and girls at a Barnardo’s children’s home in the 1960s and 1970s.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 74, of Polegate, East Sussex, was convicted at Lewes Crown Court of 34 indecent assaults and two attempted rapes between 1962 and 1973.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | May. 20, 2013

Ten years after the Dallas Charter, the U.S. Catholic church has made progress in the protection of children from clergy sexual abuse, but high-profile cases from coast to coast in the past year underscore the need for continued vigilance.

Those conclusions came as part of the annual compliance audit of the nation’s dioceses conducted by an independent contractor, a requirement established as part of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” which the U.S. bishops adopted at their 2002 meeting in Dallas.

“From my standpoint, I think children are safer,” Al Notzon III, chairman of the National Review Board, told NCR. “I think that we have institutionalized the whole idea of safe environment training, victim assistance. And that’s, to me, critical.”

Released in early May, the 2012 “Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” found that the past year represented the lowest levels of new allegations by minors of priest sex abuse (397) since data collection began in 2004. It also saw new lows reached in the number of victims who came forward (390), and the number of offenders (313). Each figure denotes less than half those reported in 2004, and 20 percent decreases from 2011.

In 2012 alone, 34 minors brought forth allegations, six of which were deemed credible accusations, 12 determined unfounded and 15 remaining under investigation at the time of the audit. During the same period, 887 adults who claimed abuse during their childhood came forward with allegations for the first time.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic League

[The ad: FOUR CATHOLIC MEN FRAMED]

Bill Donohue issued the following remarks today:

There are two scandals going on in Philadelphia, and both involve injustices done to the Catholic Church. One is legal, and the other is journalistic.

The legal scandal involves the prosecution of three Catholic priests, and one Catholic layman, in a case so incredible that it would be turned down as too fictional a script for a TV crime show. The other involves the Philadelphia Inquirer’s decision to keep the public in the dark about this case.

The statement that I wrote was submitted to the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 14, 2013; it was to run as a two-page ad on May 20. On May 15, we were told that a decision was made by those “at the top” not to run it; when we asked for an explanation, we were told there would be none.

By turning down the ad, the newspaper forfeited $58,000, not an insignificant sum, especially for a paper that filed for bankruptcy in 2009. It suggests that those “at the top” would rather forego the money before ever disseminating a defense about the way three Catholic priests, and one Catholic layman, were treated in court.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

An Anglican priest who abused children in the 1960s and 70s has been convicted of 36 separate sex offences.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 74, from East Sussex, who is now retired, was found guilty by a jury at Lewes Crown Court.

The attacks took place between 1962 and 1973 in Hampshire and Sussex, although most of them were carried out at Ifield Hall children’s home in Crawley, when Rideout was an assistant curate.

The charges related to 16 different children. He will be sentenced later.

Rideout, from Polegate, had denied 34 indecent assaults and two attempted rapes.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

By Anna Roberts, Crime reporter

A former priest has been found guilty of a total of 36 charges of historic sexual abuse, including two charges of attempted rape, many of them carried out at a children’s home in Sussex.

Gordon Rideout was found guilty by the jury at Lewes Crown Court of two attempted rapes and 34 indecent assaults on boys and girls as young as five years old.

He was acquitted of one charge of indecent assault.

Rideout was the assistant curate at St. Mary’s Church in Southgate, Crawley from September 1962 to September 1965 and during that time, he would regularly visit a Barnardo’s children’s home, Ifield Hall, which has since been demolished.

The majority of the offences took place there, although he was also convicted of four charges of indecent assault on two girls at the Middle Wallop army base.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

Published on 20/05/2013

The Bishop of Chichester said former priest Gordon Rideout had been the cause of ‘immeasurable and destructive suffering’ after he was found guilty of 36 counts of child sex abuse today (May 20).

The Bishop said, “Our primary concern today is with the people who have had to live for a very long time with the consequences of the shameful abuse they suffered from Gordon Rideout.

“We should pay tribute to those who, at considerable personal and emotional cost, have been able to come forward, to provide evidence, and to substantiate accusations as witnesses in the trial which has led to a guilty verdict.

“Gordon Rideout has been the cause of immeasurable and destructive suffering over a long period of time; he has also betrayed the trust and respect of many who have valued his ministry. Today’s verdict will have repercussions in many different ways across Sussex and beyond.

“The Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser, Colin Perkins, and his team have continued their close working relationship with the Police throughout this investigations. On behalf of the Diocese of Chichester I would like to put on record our gratitude to them and all those involved in this case.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

Published on 20/05/2013

After former priest Gordon Rideout was found guilty of 36 charges of child sex abuse today (Monday, May 20), a Barnado’s boss has praised the courage of the victims in speaking out.

Barnardo’s director of children’s services Sam Monaghan, said, “We are extremely saddened by this case and our deepest sympathies go out to those who have suffered; it has taken great courage for them to step forward and relive their experiences.

“We are glad that justice has been served and believe it is critical that abusers are held to account for their crimes, regardless of when they took place.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

Published on 20/05/2013

Former priest Gordon Rideout has been found guilty of 36 out of the 37 child sex abuse charges he was on trial for – including two of attempted rape.

The jury returned to Lewes Crown Court this lunchtime (Monday, May 20) after spending three days considering their verdicts. He was found guilty of abusing boys and girls as young as five between 1962 and 1973.

Rideout was the assistant curate at St. Mary’s Church in Southgate, Crawley from September 1962 to September 1965 and during that time, he would regularly visit a Barnardo’s children’s home, Ifield Hall, which has since been demolished.

The majority of the offences took place there, although he was also convicted of four charges of indecent assault on two girls at the Middle Wallop army base.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

[2012 report]

Patsy McGarry

Fewer than one in 12 priests accused of child sex abuse has faced prosecution, according to latest annual report of the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog published today.
The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) report also disclosed that it was notified of 242 “allegations, concerns and suspicions of abuse” brought to the attention of Church authorities in 2012.

Most were of a historica nature and related to alleged incidents of abuse between the 1940s and 1990s, with the biggest number relating to the 60s, 70s, and 80s. All have been notified to relevant civil authorities.

The NBSC was also notified in 2012 of two allegations of abuse having taken place since 2000 and one allegation of abuse taking place in 2012. “This would underline the continued need for vigilance, good safeguarding practice and prompt action when the allegation or concern is notified to Church authority.”

It noted that following completion of its first two tranches of reviews, involving 10 dioceses and three religious congregations, “some striking trends” emerge.

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SCOTLAND
Catholic Herald

By FR ALEXANDER LUCIE-SMITH on Monday, 20 May 2013

This is the sort of headline that no Catholic can want to read: “Three months on, a cardinal is banished but his church is still in denial.” The subtitle goes on: “Cardinal Keith O’Brien has been told to leave Scotland for ‘prayer and penance’, after resigning over charges of sexual misconduct. But his accusers still wait for a proper inquiry.” You can read the whole article, by Catherine Deveney, who first broke the story, here and a further article here.

What is depressing about the article in contained in the words “three months”. It is three months since the Cardinal O’Brien story broke, and still it rumbles on. In other words, three months have passed, and still the Church has not formulated an adequate response to the crisis occasioned by the cardinal’s fall. The Church needs to take control of this story and assure the faithful that the matter is being dealt with firmly and with reasonable speed. We also need the assurance that adherence to the truth is paramount.

Instead, reading what Ms Deveney has to say, we get the impression that headless chickens are still ruling the roost, partly as a result of the way power is devolved in the Catholic Church. Who deals with this? Is it the Scottish bishops? Is it their media office? Is it the Nuncio in Wimbledon? Is it Cardinal Ouellet in Rome? Is it the Pope himself? This sorry state of affairs is compounded by the fact that three of the complainants are serving priests. If priests can’t get a hearing, who can?

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart has told Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse that the Church was slow to act on alleged abuse by clergy.

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: One by one, the leaders of Australia’s Church hierarchy are being held to account over the decades of child sex abuse that occurred around the country.

Today it was the turn of Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart to be grilled at the Victorian parliamentary inquiry on its second last day of public hearings.

Under intense questioning, Archbishop Hart was forced to admit to a cover-up and years of delay in dealing with perpetrators in his diocese.

National affairs correspondent Heather Ewart reports.

HEATHER EWART, REPORTER: These victims have been waiting years for this day to come. They’ve travelled together by train from Geelong to see the Catholic Church’s Archbishop Denis Hart face some tough questions.

What do you want from this inquiry today?

CHRIS PIANTO: Justice for the survivors of sex abuse. … Catholic clergy or abusers of children to be brought to justice.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

PATRICK CARLYON
HERALD SUN MAY 20, 2013

FORMER Melbourne archbishop Frank Little died and was buried in 2008. Yesterday, at the parliamentary child abuse inquiry, he was buried again.

Little “covered up” the abuses of paedophile priests, incumbent Archbishop Denis Hart conceded under sustained questioning.

Little arranged confidential agreements. He kept no records of complaints. And, as in the case of paedophile priest Father Wilfred Baker, it appears that Little moved offending priests from one parish to the next.

“I’m not responsible for his actions but I certainly feel the pain as a result of those failed actions,” the Archbishop said.

For almost 3 1/2 hours, he fronted a tough crowd. When his inquisitors momentarily dropped their scepticism, which wasn’t often, those in the gallery – many of them victims or families of victims – scoffed at his answers.

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IRELAND
National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland

Report of the Chief Executive Officer

A significant number of achievements and developments took place in 2012, proving it to be another busy year for the National Board.

The year witnessed the increasing development of the National Case Management Reference Group
(NCMRG) as a major new addition to the work of the National Board. This initiative was originally intended to provide an advice and support service to a limited group of dioceses and religious over the course of a year to assess its usefulness. It proved to be an outstanding success and as a consequence an increasing number of dioceses and orders have become members. Of the 26 dioceses, 15 are involved and there is a growing number of religious.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Monday, May 20, 2013

There has been a slight increase in the number of allegations of abuse being reported to the National Board for the Safeguarding of Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The group says 242 new allegations of abuse were reported to the Board between April 1 last year and the end of March this year.

That is five more than what was reported to the group the previous year.

Most allegations relate to abuse allegedly having taken place between the 1940s and 1990s, with the biggest number of allegations relating to the 60s, 70s and 80s.

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ARGENTINE
la Croix (France)

Tandis qu’une partie du clergé soutenait le régime militaire et qu’une autre s’engageait dans des mouvements contestataires, la majorité des clercs et des laïcs préférait se tenir à distance.

En 1970, alors que le général Juan Perón est exilé depuis 1955 et que la situation économique ne cesse de se dégrader en Argentine, deux grands mouvements contestataires se créent : l’Armée révolutionnaire du peuple, d’inspiration marxiste-léniniste, et les « Montoneros », d’inspiration péroniste, qui rassemblent de nombreux jeunes chrétiens. Ces deux mouvements, pour secouer le pays et le gouvernement déliquescent, lancent des actions violentes contre l’armée, la police et certains hommes d’affaires. Avec l’appui des institutions argentines, les militaires arrêtent, puis condamnent les responsables de ces mouvements et autres groupes armés

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ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Herald

Santiago Del Carril
Herald staff

After his death, many were quick to point out the that the former dictator Jorge Videla was taking many of his secrets to the grave, but one thing that hasn’t remained a mystery is the relationship that the leader had with the Catholic Church during his reign. From the very beginning of Videla’s rise to power, the dictator had developed a close friendship with the highest ranking leaders.

On the night before the declaration of the March 24, 1976 military coup, General Jorge Videla with Admiral Emilio Massera, had met with leaders of the Church hierarchy in their office and followed it up on the day of the coup d’état, with a long meeting with the military vicariate. When Archbishop Adolfo Tórtolo came out of the meeting he stated “the Church has its own specific mission.. there are circumstances in which it cannot refrain from participating even when it is a matter of problems related to the specific order of the state.”

As can be interpreted from the statements above, Videla’s led junta had a close alliance with the Church where they served as a confidants to the military in that period. Throughout the military dictatorship there were several incidents that highlighted the links between Videla and ecclesiastical authorities. This relationship was first documented in the late Human Rights activist and CELS founder Emilio Mignone’s book Witness to the Truth, which detailed the Catholic Church’s complicity with the military in this era.

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UNITED STATES
Chicago Now

By Christoffer Bell, Sunday

In the Name of the Pope, the Cardinal, and the Priest who Touched Little Timmy

As white smoke billows out of the chimney chute of the conclave, 1.2 Billion Catholics around our cerulean globe raise their hands in celebration of the dawning of a new era and the appointment of a new Pontiff; Pope Francis. “Out with the old and in with new” is a technique utilized by corporations to assuage the contemporaneous concerns of shareholders in times of trouble. And similar to the smoke and mirrors act thrown out by capitalists is the one being thrown out by the theologians. What is being talked about is the new pope, but what isn’t being talked about is what happened to the old one.

Two months have passed, and rumors continue to circulate as to why Pope Benedict XVI abdicated his responsibilities and the papal throne; the first pope to do so in over six centuries. Was it his health? Did divine intervention from the Pope’s boss give him a sign that he was needed somewhere else? The questions and requests for explanation became lost in the cries of a crowd who cheered for their new leader, but I find the Vatican’s response of, “Well we don’t know why he resigned, but look, here is our new leader let’s talk about him” sitting inside my stomach about as well as a three day old Cool-Ranch taco.

Think about it. How dirty does a corporation have to be in order for a person who has dedicated his entire life to it, to look at clandestine reports that he has received as the head of the organization and say, “You know what…nope…can’t do it.” Compounding concerns is the fact that the leadership of some of the most nefarious companies in the word decided to go down with ship instead of abandoning it. For instance, look at the hegemony of Enron. Even with the feds breathing down the Carlo Franco adorned necks of the executive board, they decided to play the scene out until the final curtain fell.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

May 20, 2013

Henrietta Cook

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart says the Catholic church has been slow to act on child abuse and admits there has been a culture of “secrecy and cover-up”.

Archbishop Hart told a packed gallery at the parliamentary inquiry into child abuse by churches that taking 18 years to act on ejecting a convicted paedophile priest was “better late than never”.

He said paedophile priests had been moved on to innocent parishes but practices had improved since 1996.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart fronts the parliamentary inquiry into child abuse by churches.

“I believe that is an awful blight on the church.”

He said the church was “too slow to realise what was going on” because they were dealing with cunning and devious criminals.

He told a packed gallery at the parliamentary committee that he was expressing his “anguish and pain”.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MICHELLE AINSWORTH, ANNIKA SMETHURST From: Herald Sun May 20, 2013

THE CATHOLIC Church has been more interested in protecting its reputation and fortune than caring for the victims of child sex abuse, Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart has admitted.

Archbishop Hart fronted the parliamentary inquiry into child sex abuse for the first time in a gruelling three-hour questioning session today.

When asked about the secrecy surrounding pre-1990 abuse claims, Archbishop Hart admitted that former archbishop Frank Little had kept all allegations confidential.

“The church was too keen to look after herself and her good name, and not keen enough to address the terrible anguish of the victims,” Archbishop Hart said.

But he shocked the inquiry’s public gallery when he said it was “better late than never” that the church had taken 18 years to write to Rome to have a priest excommunicated after he was convicted of child molestation.

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