ABUSE TRACKER

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

Cardinal Keith O’Brien resigns as head of Catholic Church in Scotland with immediate effect following allegations of misconduct dating back 30 years

SCOTLAND’S top Catholic Cardinal Keith O’Brien has resigned from his position as head of the church in Scotland after being accused of inappropriate conduct by three priests.

BRITAINS most senior Roman Catholic cleric Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who is facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour, is stepping down with immediate effect.

He said he tendered his resignation some time ago, but added: “The Holy Father has now decided that my resignation will take effect today.”

Cardinal O’Brien, Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, said he would not be joining the conclave to choose a successor to Pope Benedict XVI: “I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me – but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor.”

In a statement issued by the Scottish Catholic Church, he said: “I have valued the opportunity of serving the people of Scotland and overseas in various ways since becoming a priest.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The New York Times

By ALAN COWELL and JOHN F. BURNS

Published: February 25, 2013

LONDON — A day after a newspaper accused him of committing “inappropriate acts” in his relations with three priests and one former priest, Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, said Monday that he had offered his resignation to the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI had accepted it.

But he made no specific, public comment on the account in The Observer newspaper on Sunday, which said accusations dating back to the 1980s had been forwarded to the Vatican.

Cardinal O’Brien said he had canceled plans to attend the deliberations at the Vatican over the selection of a new pope to replace Benedict, who stunned the Catholic world by announcing his own resignation on Feb. 11.

A statement issued by the media office of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland said Cardinal O’Brien had already told the pope some time ago of his intention to resign as his 75th birthday approached on March 17. But no date was set.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Detroit Free Press

By Kim Hjelmgaard
USA TODAY

LONDON — The United Kingdom’s top cardinal, Keith O’Brien, is to step down, effective immediately, according to a statement published on the website of the Scottish Catholic news office.

Cardinal O’Brien, who is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland and the U.K.’s most senior Roman Catholic, was due to take part in the election of the next pope next month to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, a process known as the “conclave.’ He said in a statement that he will not attend.

He is resigning due to allegations surrounding inappropriate behavior toward priests dating from the 1980s. He contests the allegations.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Beast

Things just keep getting worse at the Vatican. Britain’s top Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, resigned on Monday as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh amid allegations of inappropriate behavior with priests. O’Brien will not be allowed to participate in the papal election for Pope Benedict’s successor, leaving Britain without a representative. He was set to retire after taking part in the papal election. On Sunday, Britain’s Observer reported that three priests and one former priest had complained to the pope’s representative in Britain about O’Brien’s behavior, with the former priest accusing O’Brien of making sexual advances toward him in 1980.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Brisbane Times

LONDON: Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the top Catholic official in Britain, is stepping down a day after publication of reports of ‘‘inappropriate’’ behaviour in his relations with priests working for him.

O’Brien, an outspoken critic of gay rights, is alleged to have made unwelcome advances against priests reporting to him, the BBC reported.

The Vatican announced on Monday that Pope Benedict XVI had accepted Cardinal O’Brien’s resignation.

‘‘The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has accepted on the 18 February 2013 the resignation of His Eminence Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh,’’ a statement said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

[live text]

[with video]

Key Points
Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, resigns as leader of the Scottish Catholic Church

It comes after newspaper reports that three priests and one ex-priest had complained about inappropriate behaviour towards them in the ’80s

The Scottish Catholic Church says the cardinal, who is 74 and was due to retire in a few weeks, contests the claims and is taking legal advice

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VATICAN CITY
Wall Street Journal

By STACY MEICHTRY and BRUCE ORWALL

Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien resigned, saying he won’t attend the coming conclave of cardinals to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

In a statement, Cardinal O’Brien said his resignation, tendered on Feb. 18, had been accepted by the pope.

The resignation comes close on the heels of a report in The Observer newspaper in the U.K. on Sunday, which detailed allegations of inappropriate behavior against Cardinal O’Brien that date back to the 1980s.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the pope “immediately” accepted Cardinal O’Brien’s resignation in order to address the an “unclear situation” before cardinals from around the world gather in Rome for the conclave.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Moneycontrol

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric resigned on Monday following allegations he behaved in an “inappropriate” way with other priests, and said he would not be going to the Vatican to take part in the election for Pope Benedict’s replacement.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who had been expected to take part in the conclave, said he had tendered his resignation to Pope Benedict some months ago as he was turning 75 and because he was suffering from “indifferent health”.

The pope, who himself is stepping down on February 28 because of ill health, had decided to accept O’Brien’s resignation before he left the role, O’Brien, the archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, said in a statement.

“For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologise to all whom I have offended,” said the statement, which made no reference to the recent allegations.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Time

By AP / GREGORY KATZ and NICOLE WINFIELD
Feb. 25, 2013

(LONDON) — Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s highest-ranking Catholic leader, says he is resigning as archbishop in the wake of misconduct allegations and will be skipping the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

The cardinal said in a statement Monday that he will not attend because he doesn’t want media attention focused on him during the important session in Rome.

Experts said the decision not to attend the papal conclave is unprecedented; never before has a cardinal stayed away from a conclave because of personal scandal, according to Vatican historian Ambrogio Piazzoni, the vice prefect of the Vatican library.

The Vatican confirmed that O’Brien had resigned as archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh. It was accepted under the code of canon law due to O’Brien’s age; he turns 75 — the normal retirement age for bishops — on March 17.

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VATICAN CITY
News 24

Vatican City – After a Pole and a German, will the Roman Catholic Church revert to an Italian leader once again?

Italy has the biggest voting bloc in the conclave to elect the next pope, with 28 of the 117 cardinal electors, but only one Italian, Milan Archbishop Angelo Scola, is widely seen as “papabile”, or a strong candidate to succeed Benedict XVI.

Many cardinals oppose the idea of adding to the long line of Italians who preceded the back-to-back foreign popes, John Paul II of Poland and the German Benedict.

The last pope before John Paul II who did not hail from the Italian peninsula was Adrian VI, from the bishopric of Utrecht who died in 1523.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

(Reuters) – The Vatican said on Monday that a report into papal documents leaked by Pope Benedict’s butler in the so-called “Vatileaks scandal” last year will remain confidential and only be shown to the next pontiff.

“The Holy Father has decided that the facts of this investigation, the contents of which are known only to Himself, will be made available exclusively to the new Pontiff,” the Vatican said in a statement.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

Pope Benedict XVI has altered Roman Catholic Church law which governs the conclave to elect his successor, the Vatican has said.

The change to the constitution means the cardinals will no longer have to wait 15 days after the papacy becomes vacant before beginning the conclave.

Therefore, the conclave can now start before 15 March.

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VATICAN CITY
Indian Express

Investigators into theso-called “Vatileaks” scandal were to meet with Pope Benedict XVI, two months after submitting their secret report into the leaks of papal documents to a journalist.

The three retired cardinals, Julian Herranz of Spain,Slovakian Jozef Tomko and Italian Salvatore De Giorgi, were set to see the pope at 11:00 am today, according to the Vatican’s daily programme.

The meeting comes just three days before Benedict steps down following his shock resignation announcement on January 11. The 85-year-old German pope cited his age as the main factor in his nearly unprecedented decision, but observers said Vatileaks may have been the last straw in a scandal-ridden papacy.

The run-up to next month’s conclave to elect a successor to Benedict has seen new scandals and allegations emerge, including claims of “inappropriate behaviour” on the part of one of the cardinal electors, Keith O’Brien of Britain.

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VATICAN CITY
France 24

AFP – Cardinals suspected of having protected predator priests should be allowed to take part in next month’s papal conclave, the Vatican’s former prosecutor on child sex abuse cases said Monday.

Amid mounting criticism over the presence of such cardinals, notably Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, among the men who will choose a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, Monsignor Charles Scicluna said they had kept quiet “out of fear of scandal”.

Citing canon law, he said the cardinals “have the right and duty” to vote in the conclave.

“Wisdom is not (God)-given just to saints but also to sinners,” said Scicluna, who was in charge of Vatican efforts to combat the scourge of predator priests before his promotion to auxiliary bishop of Malta in 2012.

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OHIO/PENNSYLVANIA
13 ABC

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) – About 50 more people have come forward to say they were sexually abused at Catholic schools in Pennsylvania and Ohio by a Franciscan brother who killed himself in January.

That’s according to attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who settled 11 alleged abuse cases against the friar.

Brother Stephen Baker stabbed himself in the heart at a western Pennsylvania monastery on Jan. 26. His death came a little over a week after the disclosure of financial settlements in alleged abuse cases in Warren, Ohio. A coroner told the Altoona Mirror that Baker left a short note apologizing for his actions.

Attorney Garabedian says the new accusers have alleged in recent weeks that they were abused between 1982 and 2007. Some said Baker abused them even after he left teaching in 2000 when he would attend school events in Johnstown, Pa.

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SCOTLAND
Scottish Catholic Church Media Office

11am – Monday 25 February 2013

Pope accepts Cardinal O’Brien’s resignation

The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has accepted on the 18 February 2013 the resignation of His Eminence Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh. This information will be announced and published in the Osservatore Romano of Monday 25 February 2013.

The Cardinal had already presented last November his resignation in view of his 75th birthday on 17 March 2013, and it was accepted by the Holy Father with the formula ‘nunc pro tunc’ (now for later). Given the imminent Vacant See, the Holy Father has now decided to accept the said resignation definitively.

Reacting to the acceptance of his resignation, Cardinal O’Brien said;

“Approaching the age of seventy-five and at times in indifferent health, I tendered my resignation as Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh to Pope Benedict XVI some months ago. I was happy to know that he accepted my resignation ‘nunc pro tunc’ – (now – but to take effect later) on 13 November 2012. The Holy Father has now decided that my resignation will take effect today, 25 February 2013, and that he will appoint an Apostolic Administrator to govern the Archdiocese in my place until my successor as Archbishop is appointed. In the meantime I will give every assistance to the Apostolic Administrator and to our new Archbishop, once he is appointed, as I prepare to move into retirement.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 February 2013

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the UK’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, has resigned with immediate effect after being accused of “inappropriate acts” towards fellow priests.

The Scottish Catholic church announced that Pope Benedict had accepted the cardinal’s resignation as archibishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, which came after the Observer disclosed a series of allegations by three priests and one former priest.

O’Brien has denied the allegations and had been expected to continue in his post as head of the Scottish Catholic church until mid-March, when he was due to retire at age 75.

But in a detailed statement, O’Brien said he resigned on Monday, and apologised to any people he had let down. He said he did not want the controversy to overshadow the election of the new pope.

“I have valued the opportunity of serving the people of Scotland and overseas in various ways since becoming a priest,” he said. “Looking back over my years of ministry: For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologise to all whom I have offended.”

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Wall Street Journal

By JAMES HOOKWAY

The Roman Catholic Church is contending with more than the aftermath of sexual-abuse scandals in Europe and North America as it prepares to select a new pope. Its authority is being questioned more frequently in the barrios and tower-blocks of developing-world strongholds like the Philippines, too.

Congregations in places such as Latin America, Africa and the Philippines now make up a majority of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. Often they are viewed as a bedrock of support for the institution as its influence in Europe and elsewhere continues to decline. But as economies around what used to be known as the Third World quickly grow and millions of people move to megacities such as São Paulo or Manila, once-faithful Catholics are beginning to look for more immediate answers to their day-to-day problems.

Across traditionally Catholic-dominated regions, Protestant evangelical groups have enjoyed explosive growth in popularity as Catholics have switched to a faith that they view as being more attuned to modern life in a quickly changing world. In Brazil, where evangelicals now make up over a fifth of the population compared with fewer than 4% four decades ago, preachers such as Edir Macedo use their own television networks and the Internet to preach about finding success as their country quickly grows. In Christian parts of Africa, too, evangelicals are gaining ground, now making up 10% of the population of the entire continent and providing a ready following for American pastors such as Rick Warren and Benny Hinn

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OHIO
Tribune Chronicle

February 25, 2013

By VIRGINIA SHANK – Staff reporter (vshank@tribtoday.com) , Tribune Chronicle | TribToday.com

WARREN – At least 65 people, here and in other states, have now come forward claiming to be sexual abuse victims of the late Brother Stephen Baker, an advocate speaking on their behalf said Sunday.

Robert Hoatson of New Jersey-based Road to Recovery was in the area this past weekend he said “to meet with potential victims.” Hoatson said that based on statistics indicating only 10 percent of child sex victims report being abused, he believes Baker “may be one of the most prolific” sexual child abusers he is aware of.

“Based on the number of people who have come forward we believe the number of victims could be in the hundreds,” Hoatson said during a news conference in front of John F. Kennedy High School in Warren.

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PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

By Ivy C. Tejano

Monday, February 25, 2013

DAVAO CITY Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is throwing full support to Roman Catholic activists in United States (US) who are calling on a cardinal not to take part in the Papal Conclave this year after he was found to have been protecting priests who have figured in several sexual abuse cases.

Based on an article from the Reuters, the activists delivered a petition with around 10,000 marks to the North Hollywood Church, where Cardinal Roger Mahony lives, to advise the latter not to attend the conclave so as not to insult the survivors of sexual abuse committed by some priest in Los Angeles during his term as archbishop from 1985 to 2011.

In his television program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” on Sunday, Duterte said his stance on the matter is the same to those catholic activists.

According to church files unsealed under a US court order dated January 2013, Mahony worked to send priests known to be abusers, out of state, to protect them from law enforcement scrutiny in the 1980s.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Frontiers LA

By Karen Ocamb
News Editor

The Roman Catholic Church seems to be coming apart at its brocade seams—thanks to the seemingly unending child sexual abuse scandal, another revelation of “inappropriate” behavior by a priest and allegations of a gay underground at the Vatican. Former Cardinal Roger M. Mahony flew to Rome to late Saturday to participant in the conclave to select the next pope on the same day he was deposed in a lawsuit alleging he had covered up for a pedophile priest. Mahony ignored a petition signed by 10,000 victims and church-lovers asking him not to go (see video below).

Meanwhile in England, Reuters reported Sunday that Cardinal Keith O’Brien, 74, had been reported to the Vatican for 30 years for “inappropriate” behavior towards others priests. This is the same cardinal who called gay marriage a “grotesque subversion.” The Observer newspaper reported that three priests and a former priest had demanded that O’Brien resign and not participate in the conclave so selection of Pope Benedict’s successor would be “clean.”

“Clean” might be difficult, given stories swirling around the pope’s resignation. Pope Benedict XVI, 85, said he was stepping down on Feb. 28 because of “advanced age.” New reports suggest it might be more complicated than that. Before his election to pope, Benedict XVI was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who the late gay author Paul Monette called “diabolical” and “the Vatican’s Minister of Hate” in Last Watch of the Night. In Becoming a Man, Monette wrote:

Vatican II castrated itself, and the rosy 60s are no more. A new Inquisition is in full cry, led by the rabid dog in brocade, Cardinal Ratzinger of the Curia, the malevolent divine who laid down the law that loving gay was a matter of “intrinsic evil.” In the decade of the AIDS calamity I’ve come to see the church of the Polish pope [Pope John Paul] as a sort of Greenwich Mean of moral ro—thus in my small way returning the compliment of Sturmfuhrer Ratzinger. Hardly a week goes by that we don’t hear from the pope’s minions in the colonie—O’Connor in New York, Mahony in L.A.—spewing their misogyny and homophobia, delirious with triumph that sex finally equals death.

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CANADA
iPolitics

By Paul Adams | Feb 24, 2013

Nothing has undermined the moral authority of the Catholic Church more than its handling of the torture and rape to which many children in its care have been subjected.

It is not just the abuse itself that is so shocking. As the church often reminds us, it is an institution made up of human beings subject to human frailty.

It is the complicity of the church hierarchy — bishops, cardinals and popes — in covering up the truth and, in the course of doing so, abetting and condoning criminal behaviour.

As the American conservative Catholic commentator Michael Brendan Dougherty has remarked, the church should be telling these men: “Go to the monastery and wait for the cops.”

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OHIO
Youngstown Vindicator

BY Jordan Cohen
news@vindy.com

WARREN

At least 50 more men have come forward claiming sexual abuse at the hands of Franciscan Brother Steven Baker, the head of a support group for victims of molestation by clergy said Sunday that

Most of the accusers attended Warren’s John F. Kennedy High School and St. Mary’s Middle School from 1986 to 1990.

“We think the total is nearly 65, and that would make him one of the most prolific pedophiles in the history of the church,” said Robert Hoatson, a former priest who heads Road to Recovery, a New Jersey-based support group for victims of sexual molestation by priests and other Catholic clergy.

Baker committed suicide Jan. 26 shortly after the school, a Franciscan order and the Diocese of Youngstown settled with 11 male students who said they had been assaulted by Baker while he served as a sports trainer, baseball coach and religion teacher at JFK.

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UNITED STATES
Press TV (Iran)

Dozens of Americans have declared that they were abused by a Catholic priest, in yet another scandal for the Vatican.

About 50 people have reported that the abuses took place in Catholic schools in the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio during the period of 1982 to 2007 by Franciscan friar Brother Stephen Baker, who apologized in a note prior to stabbing himself to death on January 26.

Baker’s death came after the disclosure of financial settlements for 11 men, who accused him of sexually abusing them, while he was a teacher and a coach at Catholic John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio, from 1986 to 1990.

The Roman Catholic Church has been hit by numerous scandals in the United States and in Europe over the past few years, involving allegations of covering up sexual abuse of children by priests to protect pedophiles and the Church’s own reputation.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Increasing numbers of Cardinals seem to be facing serious criminal prosecution risks that likely will increase rapidly. Pope John Paul II mainly avoided acknowledging these risks and Pope Benedict XVI duplicitously tried to Tweet them away. They both failed and made matters worse, certainly from a criminal defense perspective. Prosecutors and jurors will no longer give Cardinals the benefit of the doubt and the media is aggressively reporting Cardinals’ sins more often. The next Pope must confront these risks honestly and openly or the risk of imprisonment will only increase for Cardinals worldwide. Abuse survivors must be treated justly and children must be protected effectively. Hierarchical wrongdoers must be exposed, removed and punished transparently and promptly. This requires papal leadership and real reforms now.

In the past week, Catholic scholar, Hans Kung, Dominican priest, Matthew Fox, and Oxford historian, Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch, have weighed in on the current crisis. Their assessments must be listened to, or some Cardinals will very likely be prosecuted in the near term.

Fr. Kung just spoke of his former university colleague, Joseph Ratzinger, this week as reported here at:

[Spiegel]

The seemingly unending and substantially unaddressed Vatican scandals of child abuse cover-ups, sexual blackmail, financial corruption and managerial incompetence have reached a tipping point making resignation the only option apparently. Shortly, on March 1, Cardinals reportedly will be told secretly what is in the confidential report of the three octogenerian Cardinal survivors of Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin and Franco. They have seen it all before, no doubt.

The next Pope will surely be bogged down for years in ongoing worldwide governmental investigations, civil litigation and criminal prosecutions of the Church’s hierarchy that are now beginning to mushroom. These challenges are already burdened by the overall dark legacy left by ex-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and his Polish predecessor, so concisely summarized by Dominican priest, Matthew Fox, a student of key theologian, M.-D. Chenu, who theologically guided Joseph Ratzinger and Karol Wotyla at Vatican II, accessible here:

[Huffington Post]

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UNITED KINGDOM/VATICAN CITY
The Times

Ruth Gledhill, Mike Wade

The Pope is considering how to respond to allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” against Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric.

Vatican officials confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI had taken “into his own hands” the accusations against Cardinal Keith O’Brien by three priests and a former priest.

Cardinal O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh and the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, missed High Mass in Edinburgh yesterday, where he had been expected to celebrate the eight-year reign of Pope Benedict, which ends at 8pm on Thursday.

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UNITED KINGDOM/VATICAN CITY
The Guardian

Severin Carrell, Catherine Deveney, John Hooper and Sam Jones
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 February 2013

Pope Benedict XVI is considering how to respond after being told about allegations that the UK’s most senior Catholic has been accused of “inappropriate acts” against fellow priests.

The Vatican confirmed the pope had seen allegations made by priests against Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the head of the Scottish Catholic church, by three serving priests and a former priest in his diocese which date back to 1980.

The claims – which are denied by the cardinal and remain unproven – add to a series of controversies over senior figures in the church and within the Vatican that will overshadow Benedict’s final days as pontiff and the first weeks of his successor.

As the pope gave his last pontifical blessing to crowds in St Peter’s Square on Sunday morning before stepping down this Thursday, his spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said: “The pope is informed about the problem and the issue is now in his hands.” O’Brien, who is also due to retire on his 75th birthday next month, is the only Catholic in the UK within the elite group of 117 cardinals eligible to vote on the pope’s successor. It is not known whether he will attend the vote.

The claims against O’Brien, reported in the Observer, surround allegations of “unwanted behaviour” following late-night drinking and “inappropriate contact” involving the three priests, who are all serving within the cardinal’s diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, and a former priest who is now married.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

By MARTYN MCLAUGHLIN and NATALIE WALKER
Published on Sunday 24 February 2013

POPE Benedict will consider allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” levelled by priests against Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic clergyman, Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

In a move that has sent shockwaves throughout the Church, three priests and one former cleric have sent detailed allegations relating to Cardinal O’Brien’s behaviour towards them to the Pope’s representative in the UK.

Yesterday, as the move to involve the papacy in investigating the allegations became public, Cardinal O’Brien did not say Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh, at which he would have led prayers for the Pope.

Last night, it was confirmed that the demands by the four for the cardinal – due to travel to Rome tomorrow to take part in the election of a new pope – to resign have been received by the Vatican.

Federico Lombardi, a spokesman for the Vatican, said: “The Pope is informed about the problem and the question is now in his hands.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The New York Times

By JOHN F. BURNS

Published: February 24, 2013

LONDON — Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, has been accused of committing “inappropriate acts” in his relations with three priests and one former priest, the Observer newspaper reported Sunday. The accusations, which date back to the 1980s have been forwarded to the Vatican.

The newspaper said the four men had made their complaints to the pope’s representative in Britain, Antonio Mennini, and that the complaints had reached Archbishop Mennini in the week before Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation on Feb. 11.

The timing of the Observer’s article, which was apparently drawn from church sources with access to the file that Archbishop Mennini had forwarded to Rome, became an immediate focus of attention.

Reports from Rome in recent days have described the feverish speculation — and intrigue, according to Vatican insiders — surrounding the choice of the new pope, who is set to be chosen by a conclave of 117 eligible cardinals, among them Cardinal O’Brien, scheduled to convene at the Vatican sometime in March. Benedict’s resignation takes effect Thursday.

The Catholic Church has been besieged during Benedict’s eight years in office by scandals over pedophilia and other forms of sexual abuse by priests. But the three weeks since he announced his decision to retire on the grounds of failing health have been marked by a surge of Italian news media reports, many of them speculative, of gay sex scandals in the Vatican and other allegations of sexual abuse by priests.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Feb. 24, 2013

Two recent twists in the unfolding drama of Benedict’s resignation and the election of the next pope raise the age-old question at the heart of any good PR strategy: When is it important to speak up, and when it wiser to put a sock in it?

One sidebar to the papal transition story focuses on a number of cardinals whose participation in the conclave is kicking up dust, a list which includes Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles.

In the last several days, news stories on Mahony have cited comments he’s made either on his blog or through his Twitter account. On his blog, Mahony has been trying to share his spiritual journey in Lent, especially in the wake of new furor over his handling of sex abuse cases in Los Angeles. On Twitter, he’s been referring to his participation in the upcoming conclave.

It’s hard to say, but one sometimes one has the impression that Mahony is actually fueling some of the negative coverage by offering quotable quotes via social media.

On a different front, Saturday brought an extraordinarily bristling statement from the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, intended to rebut the story about a “gay lobby” supposedly behind Benedict’s resignation in the Italian press.

The statement complained of “unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories,” and even suggesting the media is trying to influence the papal election.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Feb. 24, 2013

ROME — John Allen is offering a profile each day of one of the most frequently touted papabili, or men who could be pope. The old saying in Rome is that he who enters a conclave as pope exits as a cardinal, meaning there’s no guarantee one of these men actually will be chosen. They are, however, the leading names drawing buzz in Rome these days, ensuring they will be in the spotlight as the conclave draws near. The profiles of these men also suggest the issues and the qualities other cardinals see as desirable heading into the election.

There’s a lot of chatter these days about a “Third World pope,” and it’s a realistic possibility. Politically speaking, however, it overlooks one bit of arithmetic: 61 of the 116 cardinals who will file into the Sistine Chapel still hail from Europe, so discounting candidates from the Old Continent means ruling out half the talent pool a priori.

Moreover, there are Europeans and then there are Europeans. Electing an Italian might strike some cardinals as heading back to the future, but choosing a pope from a long-neglected corner of the continent might seem almost as bold to them as picking someone from, say, Latin America.

If so, many church insiders believe that Cardinal Péter Erdõ of Budapest, Hungary, could get a very serious look.

A canon lawyer by training, Erdõ has been on the ecclesiastical fast track his entire career. In 2001, while he was still an auxiliary bishop and before he’d even turned 50, he was elected to his first term as President of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe. He was reelected to a second five-year term in 2006.

In 2002, he was named the Archbishop of Hungary’s premier see at the tender age of 50, and made a cardinal a year later. At 52, he was the youngest cardinal to participate in the conclave that elected Benedict XVI in 2005. Eight years later, there are still only five cardinal electors younger than Erdõ, who’s now 60.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, former archbishop of Westminster, discusses the allegations of inappropriate acts concerning Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Murphy-O’Connor says that he is very sad to hear about the allegations. O’Brien is due to take part in the conclave at the Vatican next month to choose a new pope. O’Brien strenuously denies the allegations

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CANADA
Edmonton Journal

By The Canadian Press February 24, 2013

TORONTO – Toronto’s Thomas Cardinal Collins says he is keeping an open mind and will keep an open ear to the advice of other cardinals as he heads to Vatican City to help select a new pope.

Collins says he has no idea yet what characteristics the next pope should have, adding he will first get to know the 116 cardinals who will join him in conclave to pick the next head of the Catholic Church.

Collins says he has been intensely studying historical studies of the “awesome process” of a papal conclave, which he has never participated in before.

He says he has received emails encouraging him to express a willingness to become pope, but adds he has no interest in the church’s top post.

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OHIO/PENNSYLVANIA
KVUE

Associated Press

Posted on February 24, 2013

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — About 50 more people have come forward to say they were sexually abused at Catholic schools in Pennsylvania and Ohio by a Franciscan brother who killed himself in January, said an attorney who settled 11 alleged abuse cases against the friar.

Brother Stephen Baker, 62, stabbed himself in the heart at a western Pennsylvania monastery on Jan. 26, a little over a week after the disclosure of financial settlements in alleged abuse cases in Warren, Ohio. A coroner told the Altoona Mirror that Baker left a short note apologizing for his actions.

The new accusers have alleged in recent weeks that they were abused between 1982 and 2007, attorney Mitchell Garabedian said Sunday. Some said Baker abused them even after he left teaching in 2000 when he would attend school events in Johnstown, Pa., Garabedian said.

The latest allegations come from people in 12 states who went to school in Warren or were either middle school or high school students in Johnstown, where Baker taught and coached, Garabedian said.

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VATICAN CITY
ABC News – AM (Australia)

When Pope Benedict XVI unexpectedly announced his impending retirement he told the world he was simply too old to fulfil his duties, but Italian newspapers claim that a sex scandal, infighting and corruption within the Vatican were behind his decision. There are also demands that two cardinals not be allowed to take part in the conclave to elect a new pope.

Philip Williams

Transcript

TONY EASTLEY: When the Pope unexpectedly announced he was retiring he told the world he was simply too old to fulfil his duties. But Italian newspapers claim that a sex scandal, infighting and corruption within the Vatican were behind his decision.

Adding to the Vatican’s woes, there are demands that two cardinals not be allowed to take part in the conclave to elect a new pope.

Here’s Europe correspondent, Philip Williams.

PHILIP WILIAMS: With St Peter’s Square packed with tens of thousands of the faithful, Pope Benedict took to the balcony for his final Sunday blessing as Pontiff.

BENEDICT XVI: I offer warm greeting to all the English speaking visitors present for this Angelus prayer. I thank everyone for the many expressions of gratitude, affection, closeness and prayer which I have received in these days.

PHILIP WILIAMS: But even before he leaves, there are stories of dark forces within the Vatican – warring factions and illicit sexual encounters.

Italy’s La Republica newspaper says a red bound two volume report on nefarious activities within the Vatican walls convinced the Pontiff it was time to go.

This has been dismissed by the Pontiff’s media people, but it’s a story that refused to disappear ahead of the conclave of 117 cardinals who will decide amongst them who has the right qualities to be the next pope.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Severin Carrell and Catherine Deveney
The Guardian, Sunday 24 February 2013

The four complaints against Cardinal Keith O’Brien alleging “inappropriate acts” were given to the pope’s representative in the UK, Antonio Mennini, in early February.

They arrived at the papal nuncio’s London office, delivered by a trusted intermediary from the cardinal’s diocese, a few days before Pope Benedict XVI stunned the Catholic world with his decision to resign.

The earliest of the allegations, which are denied by O’Brien, dates back to 1980. That complainant, who is now married, was then a 20-year-old seminarian at St Andrew’s College, Drygrange, where O’Brien was the rector and his “spiritual director”. The statement claims he made an inappropriate approach after night prayers.

The complainant said he was too frightened to report the incident, and became depressed. He was ordained, but told Mennini he resigned when O’Brien was promoted to bishop in the mid-1980s.

“I knew then he would always have power over me,” he alleges. “It was assumed I left the priesthood to get married. I did not. I left to preserve my integrity.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Washington Post

Britain’s top cardinal accused of ‘inappropriate’ behavior with priests

By Anthony Faiola

Sunday, February 24

LONDON — On the same day as his last public blessing Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI confronted the threat of a fresh scandal within the church hierarchy, with Vatican officials informing him of new allegations that Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric had engaged in inappropriate behavior with priests.

In Britain, the accusations against Cardinal Keith O’Brien — head of the church in Scotland and one of this nation’s most strident opponents of gay rights — were already escalating into a national furor. The controversy revolved around a report first published Saturday night on the Web site of Britain’s Observer newspaper, saying that four men — three current priests and one former priest — had denounced O’Brien earlier this month for engaging in “inappropriate” and “intimate” behavior.

Through a spokesman, O’Brien denied the charges and was said he was seeking legal counsel.

If proven true, the allegations could rock the church at a highly sensitive time, highlighting a Vatican in crisis as its cardinals begin to gather in Rome to pick the pope’s successor after his surprise resignation earlier this month.

The exact nature and timing of the alleged contact, which the Observer said was reported to the Vatican’s emissary in London a week before Benedict’s Feb. 11 resignation, were not spelled out. But one of the alleged victims claimed that O’Brien had started a “relationship” with him in the 1980s that resulted in the need for long-term counseling. Another of the men said O’Brien had initiated “inappropriate contact” during nightly prayers, according to the paper.

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CALIFORNIA
Sonoma News

By David Bolling INDEX-TRIBUNE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

Feb 14, 2013

Father John Crews, the longtime executive director of Hanna Boys Center, resigned late last week following the allegation of a single act of sexual misconduct dating back to the early 1970s.

According to Bishop Robert F. Vasa, of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, the allegation “came to our attention on Tuesday (Feb. 12) and was immediately reported to the police.”

Vasa, who said he had been out of town when the allegations surfaced, added the diocese then learned the matter had already been reported to the police. “A mandatory reporter,” he said, “reported it to police, and then to us.”

But according to Sebastopol Police Chief Jeffrey Weaver, his office received a telephone report from a private citizen, not a mandatory reporter such as a priest or therapist, on Friday, Feb. 1 stating that someone had been victimized by a priest at a church in Sebastopol more than 40 years ago.

“We were told the victim was not accessible,” said Weaver. Asked if that meant the victim was dead, Weaver said he did not know.

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CALIFORNIA
Hanna Boys Center

Father John Crews to Leave Hanna after nearly 30 years

Sonoma, CA, February 13, 2013- Father John Crews, longtime Executive Director of the Hanna Boys Center, has resigned after an allegation was made of an inappropriate relationship in the 1970’s prior to his arrival at Hanna Boys Center in 1984.

Hanna Boys Center management moved quickly to meet with Father Crews after learning about the allegation. After the meeting, in the best interest of the school, Father Crews tendered his resignation and it was accepted by the Hanna Board of Trustees.

“We are shocked and saddened and take any allegation of this nature very seriously,” said Jack Bertges, Hanna Boys Center’s current Chair of the Board of Trustees. “We want our supporters and community to know that this alleged incident did not occur during John Crews’ tenure at the Hanna Boys Center and that we have no reason to believe that there was any inappropriate conduct between Father Crews and the students of Hanna Boys Center,” Bertges added.

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UNITED STATES
Minnesota SNAP

By Vinnie Nauheimer

What if all the prophecies about Benedict XVI being the next to last pope are true, but not for the universal reason everyone suspects? Suppose fulfillment of the prophecies doesn’t mean the end of the world, but instead means the end of a centuries old corrupt Vatican reign? The recent sordid revelations bursting forth from the Vatican will hasten the end of days for the hierarchy and the end of daze for millions of Catholics.

Prophecies from Malachy to Fatima and every one in between, including the rarely mentioned prophecy of a Japanese nun from Akita, Japan, Sister Sasagawa have predicted the end of days. However, Sister Sasagawa quoting the Blessed Virgin has a prophecy that has hit the bulls eye, with no interpretation needed, that describes current Vatican events. She said she was told, “The work of the devil will infiltrate even the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against other bishops.” It wouldn’t stretch anybody’s mind (except maybe a bishop’s) to believe that the Blessed Mother was prophesying the scenario currently surrounding Benedict’s resignation.

My personal favorite prophecy is from her son, Jesus: Luke 12:1-3

He began to say unto his disciples first of all, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees (Hierarchy), which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
WLS

Chuck Goudie

February 24, 2013 (WLS) — As Chicago’s Cardinal Frances George and his cardinal colleagues begin arriving in Rome to replace the retiring pope, they find themselves gathering under a new, unexpected and ill-timed Vatican cloud.

Church leaders were caught off-guard a few days ago by an Italian newspaper report that stated Pope Benedict XVI was resigning after he learned of a gay-sex network operated by some of his highest ranking prelates.

Vatican officials have strongly denied that the pope was motivated by such a revelation, saying that his age and health caused him to become the first pontiff to abdicate in 600 years.

However, the Vatican has not issued a blanket denial that a blackmail-prone, gay-sex network was uncovered.

The report in La Repubblica states that top churchmen-including some unnamed cardinals who have a vote for the new pope-have been blackmailed by forces outside the Vatican. “Everything revolves around the non-observance of the sixth and seventh commandment” according to the newspaper, which is Italy’s largest-circulation daily.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Boston Herald

By
Associated Press

LONDON — The Vatican is looking into allegations of “inappropriate behavior” by Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s most senior Catholic cleric, officials said Sunday. The claims came at a sensitive time, as O’Brien and other cardinals prepare for a conclave to choose the next pope.

O’Brien, who heads the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, was taking advice from lawyers after British newspaper The Observer reported that three priests and a former priest have filed complaints to the Vatican alleging that the cardinal approached them in an inappropriate manner.

The paper did not cite the names of the priests, but it said their allegations date back to the 1980s..

“Cardinal O’Brien contests these claims and is taking legal advice,” Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Scottish Catholic Church, said. He declined to comment further.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the complaints had been channeled through the office of the papal nuncio — the Vatican’s ambassador — in London. “The pope has been informed, and the question is in his hands,” Lombardi said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Mike Wade, Nick Drainey

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s most senior Catholic cleric, this morning failed to appear at High Mass in Edinburgh after allegations of inappropriate behaviour were levelled against him.

Cardinal O’Brien was due to deliver a homily to Pope Benedict XVI at St Mary’s RC Cathedral, but instead the service was led Stephen Robson, the Auxiliary Bishop of Edinburgh.

The allegations, by three priests and a former priest from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, claim that Cardinal O’Brien had committed “inappropriate acts” going back 33 years.

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UNITED KINGDOM
International Business Times

By Timur Moon

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s most senior Catholic clergyman, should be allowed to decide for himself whether to take part in next week’s Vatican conclave to select the next Pope after allegations he made “inappropriate advances” to other priests, according to the former Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.

Three priests and one former priest in Scotland have reported Cardinal O’Brien to the Vatican over the claims, which stretch back 30 years.

One of the complainants said the cardinal’s inappropriate behaviour led him to seek long-term psychological counselling.

Cardinal O’Brien has denied the allegations.

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POLAND
Church Militant

Fr. Dariusz Oko, Ph.D.
For several weeks now Poland has witnessed a heated discussion on the “huge homosexual underground in the Church”, provoked by the most recent book by Fr. Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski entitled Chodzi mi tylko o prawdę[1](Truth Is All That Matters). Some deny any such underground exists, and put forward theses profoundly inconsistent with the teaching of the Church, both being at odds with truth[2]. The problem is serious to the extent I feel I must join in the discussion as well, because I also care about truth, and first of all about good, the fundamental wellbeing of man and of the Church – the basic community in which he lives.

Any discussion should have as its starting point the basic, axiomatic assumption that any one of us can know with certainty only a part, and that part is likely to be partially wrong. That should result in any opinions being presented with humility, and the arguments of partners or opponents being listened to with attention. That way we may best benefit from the parts of knowledge each of us has, and correct them. They will always remain only parts, but they will be bigger and purified from errors
to a greater extent. That is the blessing of an honest dialogue, and it is in this spirit that I want to proceed.

My feeling of duty to take a stance results from my involvement in the philosophical criticism of homosexual ideology and homosexual propaganda (abbreviated to homoideology and
homopropaganda), which I have dealt with for several years now to the order and with encouragement from many cardinals and bishops.[3] In doing that, I have accumulated what is probably the biggest Polish collection of writings on the topic, one of the largest collections of data. This has been accomplished with the help of many friends and allies, both lay people and clergymen, university professors and practicing physicians, as well as a large number of people I had not known before, but who, encouraged by the opinions I have expressed and having read my articles, wished to add to and correct my knowledge.

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UNITED STATES
LifeSite News

by Steve Jalsevac

Fri Feb 22, 2013

The resignation of Pope Benedict is causing a series of large explosions along the way to the new conclave to replace the burnt-out reformer Pope. Some of us have been desperately waiting for many years for the power and influence of an extremely damaging homosexual mafia within the Catholic clergy to be exposed and dealt with. It appears this might finally be happening in a very dramatic fashion thanks to Benedict in the last few days of his pontificate.

Italian media reports on the details of a Benedict-ordered internal investigation on the Vatileaks scandal, if true, are astounding. The reports appear to confirm what LifeSiteNews and many others have been incessantly warning about for years only to be constantly dismissed as being overly negative, divisive and sensationalist.

Deny, deny, deny has been the standard response and many good priests and laity and even bishops have been subjected to ridicule and ruthless treatment for daring to try to expose the scandals and criminal or otherwise highly immoral actions of homosexuals in parishes, orders, chanceries and even the Vatican itself.

At the same time as this Vatican controversy is raging, the English translation of another report, this time by a Polish priest, on the wide extent and influence of homosexual clergy has just been released. With the Pope against the homoheresy by Fr. Dariusz Oko, reveals the global phenomena of a “huge homosexual underground in the Church”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Secretariat of State’s tough statement and Fr. Lombardi’s comments: “There is slander and malicious gossip going round, against the Church’s leadership”

Vatican Insider staff
Rome

The Holy See’s Secretariat of State has issued a statement condemning attempts to condition cardinals ahead of the Conclave, through the publication of “news reports…which are often unverified or not verifiable, or even false, even subsequent damage to people and institutions.”

The statement issued by the Vatican Secretariat of State and published by Vatican Radio goes on to say: “The freedom of the College of Cardinals, which alone, under the law, is responsible for the election of the Roman Pontiff, – has always been strongly defended by the Holy See, as a guarantee of a choice based on evaluations solely for the good of the Church.”

“Over the centuries, – the text continues – the Cardinals have faced multiple forms of pressure exerted on the individual voters and the same College, with the aim of conditioning decisions, to bend them to a political or worldly logic.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

[UK’s top cardinal accused of ‘inappropriate acts’ by priests – The Observer]

Three priests and one former priest have denounced Scotland’s Cardinal O’Brien for what they allege as “inappropriate behavior” with them in the 1980s.

By Gerard O’Connell
Rome

Scotland’s Cardinal Keith O’Brien has denied allegations that he engaged in “inappropriate behavior” with three priests and a former-priests some 30 years ago.

His fellow British cardinal and friend, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor stated this on the BBC on Sunday morning, February 24. He said “The cardinal has denied these allegations”, and expressed sadness at this news.

The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi told journalists, “The Pope has been informed of these allegations, and the problem is now in his hands.”

The allegations have been transmitted to the Vatican according to The Observer, a British Sunday daily which broke the news on February 24. It reported that “three priests and a former priest in Scotland” have reported Cardinal O’Brien to the Vatican alleging instances of “inappropriate behavior stretching back 30 years.”

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

Cardinal Roger Mahony intends to help select a new pope in Rome despite calls from some critics that he withdraw from the process in the wake of revelations about his actions in the priest sex-abuse scandal.

The day Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation almost two weeks ago, Mahony wrote on his blog that he looked forward to participating in the conclave of cardinals in Rome to elect Benedict’s successor.

That stance elicited some criticism given that last month the Los Angeles Archdiocese stripped Mahony, its former archbishop, of his public duties after it was revealed that he plotted to conceal child molestation by priests.

But Mahony indicated via Twitter on Friday that he still would be part of the sequestered papal selection process. He tweeted: “Just a few short hours before my departure for Rome. Will be tweeting often from Rome, except during the actual Conclave itself. Prayers!”

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

By ROSEMARY FREE
Published on Sunday 24 February 2013

THE most senior Roman Catholic cleric in Britain failed to show for Mass in Edinburgh today amid claims of inappropriate behaviour dating back three decades.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, is facing allegations from three priests and one former priest who are demanding his immediate resignation, it has emerged.

The allegations sent shockwaves through the Catholic community on the day that Pope Benedict XVI gave his final Sunday blessing before tens of thousands of people in St Peter’s Square. The cardinal, who remained in his official residence in Morningside this morning, is contesting the claims, and is taking legal advice. A spokesman for the Vatican said that “the pope is informed about the problem and the question is now in his hands.”

In tears

Bishop Steven Robson, who took the special Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh in the cardinal’s absence, told the congregation – some of whom were in tears – that they “cannot not be saddened” by events, after which a number of people left the cathedral.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the former archbishop of Westminster, said he was “very sad” to hear of the allegations made against Cardinal O’Brien and would have to “see how that pans out.”

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VATICAN CITY/UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Vatican confirms priests’ written allegations against Cardinal Keith O’Brien have been received and issue is in pontiff’s hands

Severin Carrell, Catherine Deveney, John Hooper and Sam Jones
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 February 2013

The pope has been told about allegations that the UK’s most senior Catholic had been accused of “inappropriate acts” against fellow priests, and is considering how to respond.

Hours after the allegations were published by the Observer, the Vatican confirmed that written allegations against Cardinal Keith O’Brien by three serving priests and one former priest were being studied by Pope Benedict XVI.

As the pope gave his last pontifical blessing to crowds in St Peter’s Square, a spokesman for the Vatican said “the pope is informed about the problem and the issue is now in his hands”.

Cardinal O’Brien, the UK’s most senior Roman Catholic and head of the Scottish Catholic church, missed giving mass at his cathedral on Sunday, citing legal advice. He contests the allegations, which date back 30 years to the 1980s, when O’Brien was a rector of a seminary in Aberdeen and then archbishop.

The cardinal, who is himself to retire in mid-March after taking part in the conclave at the Vatican next month to choose the new pope, had been due to hold mass at St Mary’s cathedral in Edinburgh to celebrate Pope Benedict XVI’s eight years as pontiff.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Harlow Star

Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric should be allowed to help choose the next Pope despite facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour, the former archbishop of Westminster says.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor expressed sadness at the claims – which have been denied – made against Cardinal Keith O’Brien, leader of the church in Scotland.

Three priests and a former priest have complained to the Vatican about behaviour towards them going back 30 years, according to the Observer. They are reported to be demanding Cardinal O’Brien’s immediate resignation.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said: “I was obviously very sad to hear that. The cardinal has denied the allegations, so I think we will just have to see how that pans out. There have been other cases which have been a great scandal to the church over these past years. I think the church has to face up – has faced up – to some of them very well indeed.”

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said it was up to Cardinal O’Brien – who is reported to have sought legal advice – “how he faces the allegations”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
NBC News

By Mohammed Abbas, Reuters

LONDON — Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, a cardinal expected to take part in the conclave to choose the next pope, rejected allegations on Sunday that he had behaved in an “inappropriate” way with other priests.

The Observer newspaper said Cardinal Keith O’Brien, 74, the archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, who is known for outspoken views on homosexuality, had been reported to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behavior stretching back 30 years.

“Cardinal O’Brien contests these claims and is taking legal advice,” a spokesman for the cardinal said.

Three priests and a former priest, from a Scottish diocese, have complained to the Vatican and demanded O’Brien’s immediate resignation, the newspaper said, adding that they wanted the conclave to choose Pope Benedict’s successor to be “clean”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Britain’s most senior Catholic ‘should be allowed to vote on next Pope’ despite allegations of inappropriate acts

Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric should be allowed to vote on the next Pope despite facing allegations of ‘inappropriate’ acts involving four men, the former archbishop of Westminster has said.

By Telegraph reporters
3:32PM GMT 24 Feb 2013

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said he was saddened by the allegations made against Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the only figure based in mainland Britain with a vote on the next Pope.

Cardinal O’Brien is said to be “contesting” the claims which involve three priests and a former cleric.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said: “I was obviously very sad to hear that.

“The cardinal has denied the allegations, so I think we will just have to see how that pans out. There have been other cases which have been a great scandal to the church over these past years.

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CANADA
Montreal Gazette

RIMOUSKI — The Assembly of Quebec Catholic Bishops is happy that Cardinal Marc Ouellet is being considered a possible successor to Pope Benedict XVI, who is resigning this week, but doesn’t want to show any preference.

The president of the assembly, Bishop Pierre-André Fournier of Rimouski, believes that Ouellet has the qualifications to assume the highest office in the church. He said he’s not surprised that the former archbishop of Quebec is on the list of potential candidates. But he notes that the cardinals, who will assemble in a conclave in mid-March, must elect the person who best responds to the needs of the Catholic Church.

Bishop Fournier said he admired the courage of Benedict, who said he no longer had the physical strength necessary to exercise his functions as the “great servant” of the church.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Chicago Tribune

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, a cardinal expected to take part in the conclave to choose the next pope, rejected allegations on Sunday that he had behaved in an “inappropriate” way with other priests.

The Observer newspaper said Cardinal Keith O’Brien, 74, the archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, who is known for outspoken views on homosexuality, had been reported to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behavior stretching back 30 years.

“Cardinal O’Brien contests these claims and is taking legal advice,” a spokesman for the cardinal said.

Three priests and a former priest, from a Scottish diocese, have complained to the Vatican and demanded O’Brien’s immediate resignation, the newspaper said, adding that they wanted the conclave to choose Pope Benedict’s successor to be “clean”.

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SCOTLAND
ITV

by Debi Edward: ITV News Scotland Correspondent

Cardinal Keith O’Brien has not turned up to St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh.

An apology was given to the congregation saying he wouldn’t be coming due to the allegations in a Sunday newspaper.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Irish Times

Britain’s most senior Catholic cleric should be allowed to help choose the next Pope despite facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour, the former archbishop of Westminster said today.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor expressed sadness at the claims, which are denied, which have been made against Cardinal Keith O’Brien, leader of the Catholic church in Scotland.

Three priests and a former priest have complained to the Vatican about behaviour towards them going back 30 years, according to the Observer. They are reported to be demanding Cardinal O’Brien’s immediate resignation.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said: “I was obviously very sad to hear that.

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ARIZONA
Arizona Daily Star

[Kevin Barmasse – Los Angeles archdiocese]

Stephanie Innes Arizona Daily Star

When a young Catholic priest in Los Angeles was accused of sexually molesting a 12-year-old boy in 1983, church officials did not remove him from ministry.

Instead, they sent him to Tucson.

Recently released court documents from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles show church officials allowed Kevin Barmasse to minister in Tucson for seven years after that original accusation.

Once in Tucson, Barmasse worked at three churches in Southern Arizona and was later accused of molesting five local teens who had been members of youth groups he led.

Those five teens, now men in their 40s, later filed lawsuits saying Barmasse abused them. They received a total of nearly $2 million apiece in settlement money from the Los Angeles archdiocese and the Tucson diocese. The settlements in Tucson were part of the local diocese’s bankruptcy case.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
News Letter

By MICHAEL MCGLADE
Published on Sunday 24 February 2013

THE most senior Catholic cleric in Britain – Cardinal Keith O’Brien – who was born in Ballycastle – is facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

Three priests and a former priest in Scotland have reported Cardinal O’Brien, to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behaviour stretching back 30 years.

A report published in the Observer website claimed the four, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, have complained to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican’s ambassador to Britain, and demanded O’Brien’s immediate resignation. A spokesman for the cardinal said that the claims were contested.

One of the complainants, it is understood, alleges that the cardinal developed an inappropriate relationship with him, resulting in a need for long-term psychological counselling.

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SCOTLAND
The Scottish Sun

By CAMERON HAY

SCOTLAND’S top Catholic was last night set to fight allegations made by four priests.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, 74, has been accused of “inappropriate behaviour” dating back more than 33 years.

It is understood that three serving and one former priest have made claims against the churchman in reports to the Vatican.

But last night a spokesman for the Edinburgh-based Cardinal said he will “contest” the claims.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, has missed Sunday Mass after being accused of inappropriate behaviour.

The Observer said three priests and one former priest have made complaints going back 30 years against the 74-year-old cardinal, who is leader of the Scottish Catholic Church.

They demand his immediate resignation. …

‘Saddened’

He was due to take Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh to celebrate the eight years of Pope Benedict holding office.

But Bishop Stephen Robson, who is auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, made a statement at the cathedral.

He said: “A number of allegations of inappropriate behaviour have been made against the cardinal. The cardinal has sought legal advice and it would be inappropriate to comment at this time. There will be further statements in due course.

“As always in times of need such as this we cannot not be saddened by the events of the last 24 hours.

“It is to the Lord that we turn to now in times of need.”

A spokesman for the Vatican said that “the Pope is informed about the problem and the question is now in his hands”.

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NEDERLAND
NRC

door Joep Dohmen

Het schandaal rond het grootschalig kindermisbruik kost de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk in Nederland bijna 30 miljoen euro. Daarvan is 19,2 miljoen euro smartengeld voor de slachtoffers, blijkt uit onderzoek van NRC Handelsblad. De kosten van het klachtenmeldpunt en de commissie-Deetman, die de Kerk zelf moet betalen, bedragen 10,5 miljoen.

In het buitenland is de Kerk beduidend meer kwijt. Bisdommen en congregaties in de Verenigde Staten, Ierland, Canada en Australië betaalden bij elkaar 2 miljard euro aan smartengeld en kosten. Alleen al in Ierland zegden religieuze ordes in 2009 een half miljard euro toe.

Komende week is het drie jaar geleden dat het misbruikschandaal in Nederland uitbrak. Op 26 februari 2010 onthulden NRC Handelsblad en de Wereldomroep het jarenlange misbruik van leerlingen door de paters en broeders salesianen in internaat Don Rua in ’s-Heerenberg. Daarna volgde een vloed aan mediaberichten over kindermisbruik door kerkelijke dienaren.

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VATICAN CITY
Manila Bulletin

VATICAN CITY (AP/Reuters) — Pope Benedict XVI made his last St. Peter’s Square window appearance of his pontificate on Sunday.

Addressing the crowd, the pontiff said he was following God’s wishes by resigning and turning to a life of prayer.

Although facing a life of seclusion form the public, Pope Benedict said he will continue to serve the church with the “same dedication and love” after resigning.

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IOWA
Radio Iowa

February 23, 2013 By O. Kay Henderson

The state’s four Catholic bishops say interest in the election of a new pope is creating “energy” in their church.

“Maybe this is a bad analogy, but it’s almost like watching Britain and their monarchy,” Davenport Bishop Martin Amos said during a visit to the Iowa statehouse this past week. “Everybody gets excited about it and I think there’s a lot of excitement when it’s been so long that a pope retired.”

Bishop Richard Pates of the Des Moines Catholic Diocese said he’s experienced some of the energy first-hand as he’s talked with students in Catholic schools about the search for a new pope.

“Anytime you have a new beginning, it gives people a great deal of hope and, I think, creates curiosity for the church and where it’s going to go,” Pates said, “and personalities make a difference, obviously.”

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

A Catholic organization has delivered a petition with thousands of signatures asking Cardinal Roger Mahony to recuse himself from the conclave in Rome that will select the next pope.

The group, Catholics United, collected nearly 10,000 signatures making “a simple request” that the former archbishop of Los Angeles not participate in the process because of the priest abuse scandals that happened under his watch, said Chris Pumpelly, communications director for Catholics United.

The petition was delivered Saturday to St. Charles Borromeo in North Hollywood, where the cardinal resides. It was accepted by a church staff member.

Pumpelly said that the conclave offers “an opportunity for healing in the church” and that having someone like Mahony, with his complicated history, runs counter to that.

“This is one thing that would cast a cloud of scandal and shame over the conclave,” Pumpelly said of the participation of Mahony and others connected to priest abuse scandals.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
NBC Los Angeles

[with video]

By Samantha Tata

Saturday, Feb 23, 2013

Thousands of signatures demanding that retired Cardinal Roger Mahony withdraw from voting in upcoming papal conclave were set to be delivered Saturday afternoon to a North Hollywood church, where Mahony has a residence.

The former archbishop of Los Angeles, Mahony was stripped of his public and administrative duties in January for his role in shielding alleged priest child molesters. But that does not affect his standing with Rome.

“It’s a symbolic statement to say we will be heard,” said Chris Pumpelly, spokesman for Washington, D.C.-based Catholics United.

“There is pain in this church and we will no longer be silenced. We love the church. We just can’t stand this crisis of leadership.”

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
LA Daily News

[Photos: Catholics United Petition Cardinal Mahony]

By Mariecar Mendoza, Staff Writer
dailynews.com
Posted: 02/23/2013

Shortly before he heads to Rome to help elect the next pope, Cardinal Roger Mahony gave a closed-door deposition on Saturday in a lawsuit over a priest suspected of molesting as many as 26 children in Los Angeles in the late 1980s.

Mahony was required to give the deposition regarding Father Nicholas Aguilar Rivera, who fled the country in 1988 as he was being investigated on multiple charges of sexual abuse.

Aguilar Rivera remains a fugitive in Mexico.

Attorney Anthony De Marco is suing the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on behalf of one of Aguilar Rivera’s alleged victims.

De Marco said in a brief email afterward that the deposition “went well,” but declined to comment further about it due to court orders.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
KTLA

by Doug Kolk
KTLA 5 Reporter

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — A Catholic organization has delivered a petition with thousands of signatures asking Cardinal Roger Mahony to recuse himself from the conclave in Rome that will select the next pope.

The group, Catholics United, collected nearly 10,000 signatures making “a simple request” that the former archbishop of Los Angeles not participate in the process because of the priest abuse scandals that happened under his watch, said Chris Pumpelly, communications director for Catholics United.

The petition was delivered Saturday to St. Charles Borromeo in North Hollywood, where the cardinal resides. It was accepted by a church staff member.

Pumpelly said that the conclave offers “an opportunity for healing in the church” and that having someone like Mahony, with his complicated history, runs counter to that.

“This is one thing that would cast a cloud of scandal and shame over the conclave,” Pumpelly said of the participation of Mahony and others connected to priest abuse scandals.

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UNITED STATES
CBS News

By Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson

(CBS News) NEW YORK – About 116 cardinals will vote for the new pope. Eleven are American — including Cardinal Roger Mahony of California. But there are Catholics in both Los Angeles and Italy demanding Mahony stay away because of his role in shielding sexually abusive priests.

Cardinal Roger Mahony led the Los Angeles archdiocese, the largest in the United States for 25 years. He retired in 2011.

Calls increase for abuse-tainted cardinal to withdraw from vote for new pope
Should abuse-tainted cardinal be allowed to vote for new pope?

On Saturday, Mahony was deposed for a lawsuit filed by a 35-year-old man who claims he was the victim of sexual abuse in the 1980s. The suit alleges that church leaders allowed the accused priest to leave the United States to avoid prosecution. The priest remains a fugitive in Mexico.

Earlier this February, the Los Angeles archdiocese released more than 12,000 pages of files documenting a pattern in which Mahony and other church officials reassigned many accused priests away from California — shielding them from law enforcement authorities in the 1980s.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

There’s a big disconnect between committee’s findings and personal accounts of hardship, writes Eilis O’Hanlon

24 February 2013

It would have been welcome had Martin McAleese stuck around afterwards to answer questions and provide clarification on his final report as chair of the inter-departmental committee to establish the facts of State involvement in the Magdalene Laundries, but none of the authors of the last four reports did either, so it wasn’t as if the former first husband was breaking with tradition. Nor is it the outgoing senator’s fault that the Government initially dropped the baby he handed to them.

But it is his responsibility if the report issued under his name turns out not to be as insightful a document as it seemed on first glance.

Of course, it’s easy to pick holes. Whatever failings the McAleese Report may have, it still deserves credit for nailing the myth that the laundries were wholly private institutions over which the State had no power, and the equally poisonous lie, told by the previous government to the UN, that the “vast majority” of inmates went there voluntarily.

Many of its details have also added hugely to the historical picture, including cases of disabled and psychiatrically-ill girls sent to laundries for no other reason than that it was more cost-effective than providing them with proper treatment.

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IRELAND
Limerick Leader

By Mike Dwane
Published on Saturday 23 February 2013

ENDA Kenny’s “sincere and heartfelt” apology and “modest redress” would suffice for most of the Magdalene women, according to Charleville solicitor Declan Duggan.

But a minority who spent much of their lives “deprived of liberty” should not now be deprived the right to be legally represented in seeking compensation, he said.

The Government has pledged to financially support survivors of the Magdalene laundries but terms of reference announced this week studiously avoid the word compensation. Judge John Quirke has been given three months to come up with a scheme to assist the women.

Mr Duggan represents a number of survivors – including women who spent years toiling behind the walls of the Good Shepherd laundry on Clare Street, Limerick – and has in the past acted for over 100 people at the Residential Institutions Redress Board.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

24 February 2013

Abuse victims in “Protestant Magdalene Laundries” with links to the State were not included in the redress scheme for fear of the financial cost, contrary to the official policy that money would not be a factor, official documents suggest.

Church of Ireland survivors are also convinced that they have to date been excluded from any redress scheme because they were not Catholics, but are demanding justice and are preparing a legal case against the State if not included.

Following the State apology to the Magdalene survivors, the Government is under mounting pressure from within its own ranks and from the opposition to include Protestant victims, such as survivors from Bethany Homes, in a compensation scheme, currently being extended to Catholic survivors in the Magdalene Laundries.

There are less than 20 survivors left who went through Bethany Homes, and they have argued that their inclusion in the Quirke scheme would result in a very small additional cost to the State.

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IRELAND
Journal

THERE HAVE BEEN calls for a dedicated unit to be established within the Department of Justice to help and assist survivors of the Magdalene Laundries while they wait on a redress package.

Judge John Quirke has three months to compile a report about how best to provide compensation to the 1,000 or so women who were forced to work, unpaid, in the system and are still alive today.

Among other factors, he will look at payout caps and the position of those women who received money through the Residential Institute Redress Board. Although, it has been confirmed that they will not be excluded from applying to the fund.

There are other details to figure out too, says James Smith of the Justice for Magdalenes group. “Will Judge Quirke have independent statutory powers? Will the process be transparent (private but not secret)? Will there be a process for appeal if a woman is dissatisfied? Will there be independent monitoring, such as an ombudsman who reports back on the process?”

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric has been reported to the Vatican over claims of inappropriate behaviour going back 30 years, a newspaper says.

The Observer said three priests and one former priest have made the complaint against Cardinal Keith O’Brien, 74, leader of the Scottish Catholic Church.

They have demanded his immediate resignation, it said.

A statement from the Scottish Catholic Church said Cardinal O’Brien contested the claims and was taking legal advice. …

BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott says the allegations seem to have been publicised now because the four complainants do not want Cardinal O’Brien to go to the Vatican to participate in electing a new pope.

The chances of him not going, however, are “very remote”, as not only has he denied the allegations but it is very difficult to prevent a cardinal from exercising their papal vote, unless he is detained by the state.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the former archbishop of Westminster, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme he was “very sad” to hear of the allegations made against Cardinal O’Brien.

“There have been other cases which have been a great scandal to the Church over these past years.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Channel 4 News

Three priests and a former priest report the most senior Catholic clergyman in Britain, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behaviour stretching back 30 years.

The Observer newspaper says they have demanded his immediate resignation.

The allegations come just days after Cardinal O’Brien called for Catholic priests to be able to marry and have children, saying some struggled with celibacy.

A statement from the Scottish Catholic church said Cardinal O’Brien contested the claims and was taking legal advice.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Independent

Lizzy Davies in Rome– 24 February 2013

When Pope Benedict XVI tendered the first papal resignation in almost 600 years, the more hopeful of his flock said it would help the Roman Catholic Church make a break with its recent past and usher in a new era of missionary vibrancy untainted by intrigue and scandal.

The headlines of the past fortnight, however, have shown quite how unlikely that is. Not only has anger built over the role of several compromised cardinals in the choosing of a papal successor, but increasingly lurid claims have emerged about why Benedict chose to stand down in the first place.

A major new controversy, therefore, is the last thing that the Vatican needs. Rather than heralding a bold new dawn, the most unexpected and unpredictable conclave in centuries looks increasingly likely to be overshadowed – just as much of Benedict’s papacy was – by scandal.

The clerical sex abuse scandals that dominated Benedict’s eight years as pope have left several prelates due to take part in conclave facing questions over how they handled the affairs.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Sunday 24 February 2013

SCOTLAND’S most senior Catholic is facing allegations of inappropriate acts stretching back 30 years.

It has been reported that Cardinal Keith O’Brien is at the centre of complaints by three priests and one former priest dating back 33 years.

The four, understood to be from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, are believed to have complained to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican’s ambassador to Britain, and demanded O’Brien’s immediate resignation.

A spokesman for the Cardinal said that the claims were contested. A senior source for the Catholic Church told the Sunday Herald last night that he knew nothing about the allegations.

The accusations come just days after the Cardinal sent shockwaves through the Catholic community by saying he would welcome an end to the Church�s celibacy rule for the priesthood.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sky News

Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic clergyman has been reported to the Vatican over claims of inappropriate behaviour, a newspaper has claimed.

The Observer reports that three priests and a former priest have made the allegations against Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

A spokesman for the Scottish Catholic Church told Sky News that Cardinal O’Brien “contests these claims and is taking legal advice”.

According to the Observer, the four claimants reported to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican’s ambassador to Britain, that Cardinal O’Brien had committed “inappropriate acts” going back 33 years.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Aljazeera

Three priests and one former cleric have accused Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the senior leader of the Catholic church in Britain, of committing inappropriate behaviour against them.

The UK’s Observer newspaper reported on Sunday that the cardinal, the head of the Scottish Catholic church, made the physical advances as far back as three decades ago.

The allegations against O’Brien come at a time when Roger Mahony, another cardinal, is being accused of covering up sex abuses by priests in the US, further clouding the remaining days of Benedict XVI as pope.

O’Brien and Mahony are among the 116 cardinals eligible to vote for the next leader of the 1.1 billion Catholics around the world, once Benedict resigns on February 28.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

SCOTLAND’S top Catholic Cardinal Keith O’Brien has been accused of inappropriate conduct by three priests, it has been revealed.

THE leader of Scotland’s Catholics, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, has been reported to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate conduct.

Three priests and a former priest are understood to have reported the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh to nuncio Antonio Mennini – the Vatican’s ambassador to Britain – complaining about incidents stretching back 30 years.

A newspaper last night claimed the four are demanding O’Brien’s immediate resignation.

O’Brien, 74, who is due to retire next month and denies all the claims, is Britain’s most senior Catholic.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Telegraph

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the only figure based in mainland Britain with a vote on the next Pope, is said to be “contesting” the claims which involve three priests and a former cleric.

By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor
9:59AM GMT 24 Feb 2013

Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric is fighting allegations of “inappropriate” acts involving four men.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the only figure based in mainland Britain with a vote on the next Pope, is said to be “contesting” the claims which involve three priests and a former cleric.

The allegations have been passed to the Vatican through its representative in the UK, the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Mennini.

The accusers, who have not been named, are calling for the Cardinal’s resignation and said to be anxious to prevent him attending the Conclave in Rome next month.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Indian Express

Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, who is due to vote on Pope Benedict XVI’s successor, has been reported to the Vatican over claims of inappropriate behaviour, the Observer reported today.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, contests allegations by three priests and a former priest which were sent to Rome a week before Pope Benedict’s resignation on February 11. The four claimants, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in Scotland, reported to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican’s ambassador to Britain, that O’Brien had committed “inappropriate acts” going back 33 years. One priest claims he received unwanted attention from the cardinal after a late-night drinking session. Another alleges that O’Brien used night prayers as cover for inappropriate contact, according to the paper. O’Brien has a vote in the forthcoming papal conclave. The claimants, who are demanding the cleric’s resignation, are worried that their report will not be properly addressed if he is allowed to travel to Rome.

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VATIKAN
Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten

Machtkampf im Vatikan: Im Finanz-Skandal um die Vatikan-Bank hat Papst Benedikt XVI. am Freitag überraschend eine der Schlüssel-Figuren nach Kolumbien versetzt. Ein Geheim-Bericht spricht angeblich von homosexuellen Ausschweifungen und Erpressungs-Geldern. Es geht um viel Geld, sagt ein Kardinal. Immer klar wird: Die massive Wirtschafts-Kriminalität hat Joseph Ratzinger zu seinem spektakulären Rücktritt veranlasst.

Nachdem die italienische Zeitung „La Repubblica“ am Freitag Details aus einem Geheim-Bericht von drei Kardinälen über Korruption, Unzucht und Kriminalität enthüllt hatte, reagierte Papst Benedikt XVI. mit einer überraschenden Personalie: Er griff noch einmal in den mit aller Härte geführten Machtkampf der Kirchenfürsten ein und versetzte die rechte Hand des mächtigsten Mannes im Vatikan-Stadt, des Kardinal-Staatssekretärs Tarcisio Bertone: Ettore Balestrero muss als Nuntius nach Bogotà gehen.

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VATIKAN
Neue Zurcher Zeitung

Nikos Tzermias, Rom

Am Samstagvormittag hat Papst Benedikt XVI. die diesjährigen Exerzitien für die Fastenzeit in der Kapelle Redemptoris Mater beendet und den anwesenden Kardinälen für die grosse Kompetenz, Zuneigung, Liebe und den Glauben gedankt, mit dem sie die schwere Last des Petrusamtes mitgetragen hätten. Darauf empfing Benedikt, der für den 28. Februar seinen epochalen Amtsverzicht angekündigt hat, den seinerseits scheidenden italienischen Staatspräsidenten Giorgio Napolitano zu einer Privataudienz.

Soweit zu den neusten nüchternen Fakten, die indes am Samstag nicht nur von anhaltenden Spekulationen über die tatsächlichen Umstände des Rücktritts des Papstes, sondern auch durch neue Kontroversen um die Skandale um sexuellen Missbrauch überlagert wurden. Der üblicherweise ruhig wirkende Vatikansprecher Lombardi reagierte in einem Editorial für Radio Vatikan sehr unwirsch auf den «Druck», der auf das bevorstehende Konklave ausgeübt werde. Es fehle nicht an Personen, die sich den Moment der Überraschung und Desorientierung schwacher Geister zunutze machen wollten, um Verwirrung zu säen und die Kirche und ihre Leitung in Misskredit zu bringen.

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VATIKAN
Frankfurter Rundschau

Rom –
Der Vatikan hat vor einer Beeinflussung des Konklaves durch Falschmeldungen und Gerüchte gewarnt. Nach den Spekulationen um gestohlene Dokumente, Sex und Korruption kritisierte der Vatikan die Medien und wehrte sich gegen die Gerüchte. Es sei erbärmlich, dass es kurz vor Beginn der Papstwahl „eine Verbreitung von oft ungeprüften, nicht verifizierbaren oder sogar falschen Nachrichten“ gebe, die großen Schaden für Personen und Institutionen verursache, hieß es am Samstag in einer Erklärung des vatikanischen Staatssekretariats.

Papst-Sprecher Federico Lombardi beklagte in einem Editorial für Radio Vatikan „Verleumdung und Desinformationen“. Einige versuchten, den Moment der Überraschung nach dem angekündigten Rücktritt von Papst Benedikt XVI. für Diffamierungen und Falschinformationen zu nutzen. Es werde „inakzeptabler Druck“ ausgeübt. „In den meisten Fällen haben die Richter, die scharfe moralische Urteile abgeben, nicht die geringste Autorität dazu“, sagte Lombardi.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Katholisches

Deutsche Kirche „stinkreich aber innerlich verrottet“ – Kritik an Pille-danach-Entscheidung und progressiven Aussagen deutscher Bischöfe

(Madrid/Rom) „Die brechreizauslösende deutsche Kirche. Ist sie noch katholisch?“ Das vernichtende Urteil und die Frage stammen vom spanischen Kirchenhistoriker und katholischen Kommentator Francisco José Fernández de la Cigoña. Der Spanier läßt in einem heute veröffentlichten Kommentar seiner Empörung freien Lauf über die Entscheidung der deutschen Bischofskonferenz, die „Pille danach“ zuzulassen, und über jüngste progressive Stellungnahmen deutscher Kardinäle und Bischöfe, die zum Teil „häretischer Natur“ seien, wie die Forderung nach der Frauenordination, so die italienische Internetseite Messa in Latino.

Es verwundert im katholischen Ausland weniger, daß durch die Sedisvakanz die Progressisten im Episkopat hervorpreschen. Mit größerem Unmut wird das Schweigen der anderen deutschsprachigen Kardinäle und Bischöfe registriert. „Im Augenblick muß sie die schlimmste [Landeskirche] der Welt sein“, so de la Cigoña, der es bedauert, daß Deutschland im nächsten Konklave mit sechs Kardinälen vertreten sein wird.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Vaterland (Liechtenstein)

Der in einem Missbrauchsskandal belastete frühere Erzbischof von Los Angeles, Kardinal Roger Mahony, ist am Samstag von Richtern in Los Angeles befragt worden. Der Geistliche soll am Konklave zur Wahl des neuen Papstes im März teilnehmen.

Rom/Vatikanstadt/Washington. – Mahony antwortete vier Stunden lang auf Fragen der Richter, die feststellen wollten, ob er pädophile Priester gezielt vor Strafverfolgung geschützt habe. Dabei ging es um mindestens 20 Missbrauchsfälle, berichteten italienische Medien. Der Kardinal antwortete geduldig auf die Fragen, die ihm auch die Rechtsanwälte der Opfer stellten.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Chicago Tribune

Reuters

By Brandon Lowrey

LOS ANGELES, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Roman Catholic activists on Saturday petitioned a U.S. cardinal to recuse himself from taking part in selecting a new pope so as not to insult survivors of sexual abuse by priests committed while he was archbishop of Los Angeles.

The activists delivered a petition with nearly 10,000 signatures to the North Hollywood church where Cardinal Roger Mahony resides.

“It’s a total slap in the face to victims to think (Mahony) can cover up 25 years of child sex abuse and then go prancing off to Rome like a prince of the Church,” said Joelle Casteix, western regional director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

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UNITED STATES
BBC News

Roman Catholics in the US have delivered a petition asking Cardinal Roger Mahony to stay away from the conclave in Rome to choose a new pope.

The former Archbishop of Los Angeles was stripped of his duties last month over allegations he protected priests accused of child sex abuse.

Continuing scandals over sex abuse in the Church have cast a shadow over the process of choosing a new pope.

Benedict XVI – who is abdicating – is giving his final Sunday blessing.

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CALIFORNIA
The Press Democrat

By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Saturday, February 23, 2013

Sebastopol police are beginning to delve into a 42-year-old case of alleged sexual assault linked to a Catholic priest, including the reason why it was reported long after the victim’s death, Police Chief Jeff Weaver said.

Although the police chief would not identify the suspect in the case, it clearly is related to the Rev. John Crews, the long-time director of the Hanna Boys Center near Sonoma who resigned unexpectedly Feb. 6. The Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa has acknowledged that Crews resigned in the wake of an allegation of sexual misconduct about 40 years ago.

Prior to taking the top spot at Hanna Boys Center, a highly regarded facility for at-risk boys, in 1984 Crews, 67, served at St. Sebastian’s Catholic Church in Sebastopol.

Weaver said he believes the male victim died “years ago” and that he had told the person who reported the crime earlier this month not to disclose it nor to notify police.

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CALIFORNIA
KABC

[with video]

Amy Powell

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Cardinal Roger Mahony, the retired Los Angeles archbishop, was headed to Rome on Saturday to help select the new pope, the same day Mahony was deposed over the sexual abuse scandal that took place during his watch.

Mahony was described as calm and unflappable by the attorney who questioned him for more than three hours.

Recently released files show the former head of Los Angeles’ Catholic Archdiocese maneuvered behind the scenes to protect pedophile priests in order to protect the church from scandal.

Mahony has apologized for those actions and contends he turned the archdiocese into a leader for safeguarding children.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Cardinals seem to be biting the immoral dust faster than the Dublin bookmakers’ computers can adjust their papal handicapping system. A few days ago Honduran Cardinal Maradiaga was accused credibly in the National Post of making anti-Semitic charges about priest child abuse by Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz. Now the UK’s senior Cardinal, Keith O’Brien, has been credibly reported based on allegations of four priests to have “dirty hands”. His futile attempt to pivot by recently backing married priests seems to have failed. He hails for the same area and era in Ireland as disgraced Irish Cardinal Brady (and sadly, near my parents’ birthplace). If “clean hands” were to be made a prerequisite for Cardinals’ voting, will any Cardinal still be standing to vote by March 15, or at least worthy to be Pope if “clean hands” were to be introduced for the first time as a papal requirement?

Popes for centuries have told us how they had the exclusive “truth”, the “deposit of faith”, the “Tradition”. the “Magisterium”. etc. It was drilled into the consciousness of Catholic schoolchildren, including me and mine. The mystical smokescreens are quickly dissipating as fast as the the Internet can clear them.

Will other Christians now weigh in and give their advice here? Clearly the Popes do not have all the answers and solutions. Given the historical treatment of Orthodox and Protestant traditions by Rome, these traditions will understandably be hesitant to speak up. Nevertheless, Christian Catholics need their help at this critical point. Who knows? Maybe before the Papal Olympics are over, Catholics may have to ask their “separated brethren” to lend us a Papal Quarterback?

In the past week, Catholic ecumenical scholar, Hans Kung, former Dominican and now Episcopal priest, Matthew Fox, and Anglican deacon and Oxford historian, Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch, have weighed in on the current crisis. Hopefully, other Christian leaders and scholars, will weigh in soon. Catholics need some help here. So many Catholic leaders and scholars have been muzzled for so long by the Vatican’s ruthless inquisitors under the present Pope and his Polish predecessor, that in-house Catholic “players” may arrive at the papal match too late.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Express

DETECTIVES investigating Jimmy Savile’s sordid past will this week probe claims that he was involved in a Satanic ritual where a secret film of his debauched activities is said to exist.

By: James Murray
Published: Sun, February 24, 2013

The former BBC presenter went to weird events at a place known locally as The Chamber, which had a ceremonial whipping post in the centre of the room.

The room was decorated with an occult style pentagram and goats heads.

The building housing The Chamber still exists in Whitby, North Yorkshire, but has since been redecorated and the whipping post removed.

Officers working on Scotland Yard’s Operation Yewtree investigation will travel to the coastal town in the coming days to interview a local resident who has been amassing a file of evidence about the strange goings on there decades ago.

The man, who declined to be named, said: “There is a substantial amount of information to show Savile was invited to Satanic rituals in Whitby on a number of occasions. Once someone made a recording of what unfolded and that film is still said to be in existence in DVD form.

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UNITED KINGDOM
AFP

LONDON — Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, who is due to vote on Pope Benedict XVI’s successor, has been reported to the Vatican over claims of inappropriate behaviour, the Observer reported on Sunday.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, contests allegations by three priests and a former priest which were sent to Rome a week before Pope Benedict’s resignation on February 11.

The four claimants, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in Scotland, reported to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican’s ambassador to Britain, that O’Brien had committed “inappropriate acts” going back 33 years.

One priest claims he received unwanted attention from the cardinal after a late-night drinking session. Another alleges that O’Brien used night prayers as cover for inappropriate contact, according to the paper.

O’Brien has a vote in the forthcoming papal conclave.

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CANADA
Vancouver Sun

The odds are strong – seven to two – that Canada will next month become much more famous.

Two big British bookmakers are putting serious money on a Canadian horse: Ladbrokes and PaddyPower are betting that Marc Ouellet, a cardinal from Quebec, could be elected pope at the March conclave.

If that happens, Canada’s Catholic roots and its supposedly polite, multi-faith culture will be thrust into the international spotlight.

The interest has already arrived. Popular American satirist Stephen Colbert devoted much of a show last week to mock-complaining that Ouellet would be “too Canadian” (i.e., too nice) to be pope.

When a man is catapulted to the top of a church of 1.2 billion people, unpredictable things happen to him and his country of origin. For good or ill.

A media blitz struck Poland after native son Karol Cardinal Wojtyla became John Paul II in 1978. It happened to Germany when Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

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CANADA
Vancouver Sun

If Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet is elected pope, what would the world discover about Canadian Catholicism?

Here are some of the answers: …

A LEGACY OF ABUSE STILL UNRAVELLING

While he was Pope, Benedict never made it to Canada. However, he did travel in 2008 to the U.S., where he apologized for his priests’ role in the sex abuse scandal.

High-level Catholic leaders, including New York’s Dolan, have admitted to covering up chronic abuse.

Catholic officials have admitted there have been, since the 1950s, more than 6,100 accused U.S. priests.

What’s different in Canada? The debacle over sex abuse by priests exploded in the U.S. in the past 15 years.

But Canadian bishops had brought in measures to curtail it during the early 1990s, as hundreds of priests, brothers and Catholic school staff were being convicted of molestation.

They had to respond to Catholic abuse cases that came out of Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland and from survivors of now-defunct Catholic-run residential schools, which housed and educated more than 100,000 aboriginals during the 20th century.

The Canadian Catholic Church, as a whole, has received widespread criticism for refusing to formally apologize for abuse at the schools.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Pink News

by Scott Roberts
23 February 2013

Britain’s most senior Catholic leader, notorious for his anti-gay views, has been reported to the Vatican over historical allegations of inappropriate behaviour involving several male priests.

The Observer reports three priests and one former priest made the complaint against Cardinal Keith O’Brien, leader of the Scottish Catholic Church.

The four, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, have complained to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican’s ambassador to Britain, and demanded O’Brien’s immediate resignation.

A statement from the Scottish Catholic Church said Cardinal O’Brien contested the claims and was taking legal advice.

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CALIFORNIA
NBC Southern California

By Samantha Tata

Saturday, Feb 23, 2013

Thousands of signatures demanding that retired Cardinal Roger Mahony withdraw from voting in upcoming papal conclave are set to be delivered Saturday afternoon to a North Hollywood church, where Mahony has a residence.

The former archbishop of Los Angeles, Mahony was stripped of his public and administrative duties in January for his role in shielding alleged priest child molesters. But that does not affect his standing with Rome.

“It’s a symbolic statement to say we will be heard,” said Chris Pumpelly, spokesman for Washington, D.C.-based Catholics United.

“There is pain in this church and we will no longer be silenced. We love the church. We just can’t stand this crisis of leadership.”

Janet Kwak is in North Hollywood. She’ll have a live report from the demonstration during the NBC4 News at 5 p.m.

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