ABUSE TRACKER

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
dotCommonweal

June 22, 2012

Posted by Paul Moses

Many will be elated that Monsignor William Lynn has been found guilty of one count of child endangerment. I’m not. It’s a sad day for Lynn, and for the church. And yet, it’s a necessary one.

The Philadelphia jury, which acquitted Lynn on two other counts, worked extremely hard. I hope we’ll see interviews with some of the jurors that explain their decision.

Absent that, it’s a little difficult to interpret the verdict with the information available. Sometimes, juries just compromise – no favor to Lynn, since it only takes a conviction on one count to expose a defendant to prison time and change the course of his life. For a defendant, there is really no such thing as a “mixed verdict,” as this is being called.

The jurors’ questions during the long deliberation indicated that they were very troubled by the conspiracy charge, and the panel passed up the chance to convict Lynn of entering into an illicit agreement with his superiors. So – this is preliminary – it looks like a verdict that focuses on Lynn’s personal responsibility. To reach it, the jury had to reject the so-called “only-following-orders” defense – a weak defense in any case.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Statement by Christopher Anderson, Executive Director, MaleSurvivor, 917 524 8934 on June 22, 2012

MaleSurvivor applauds the jury for it’s courageous verdict and the tireless work of prosecutors and officials in the case against Monsignor Lynn.

This verdict sends a clear and unmistakable message to all institutions that harbor and enable molesters to thrive within their walls: Sexual abuse will not be tolerated in our communities any longer. This verdict also sends a powerful message to all survivors of sexual abuse: Your voices will be heard. Finally, instead of facing obstruction and defeat, those who have suffered in silence for far too long are beginning to feel empowered to come forward and speak openly about what was once an unspeakable shame. Not only does this help survivors heal, it also begins to help heal our society as well.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Boston Herald

[with video]

By John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian / The Philadelphia Inquirer
Saturday, June 23, 2012

PHILADELPHIA — A jury convicted Msgr. William J. Lynn of child endangerment Friday, finding that as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia secretary for clergy, he ignored credible warning signs about a priest who later sexually assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy.

The verdict, after a three-month trial, marked the first time since the clergy sex-abuse scandal erupted a decade ago that a Catholic Church supervisor has been found criminally liable for child-sex crimes by a priest.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina immediately revoked Lynn’s bail, and deputy sheriffs escorted the white-haired monsignor to a holding cell. Lynn faces up to seven years in prison, and prosecutors vowed to seek a term near the maximum.

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PHILIPPINES
Tempo

MANILA, Philippines – No, this is not about pedophile priests or bishops with mistresses and a love child or two. It’s about five parish priests, all belonging to the same Metro Manila diocese, whose battle cry is, “Thou shall not steal.”

They have serious allegations against their bishop – from mismanagement of the diocese’s funds, to the tune of millions and millions over the course of the last 10 years (out of the bishop’s reign of 15); mistreatment of priests and other inferiors, like shouting at them and humiliating them in public; and “his relationship with that woman,” allegedly his accountant and treasurer who holds, they say, the power of the purse.

The leader and oldest member of the group said parishioners have long suspected that the bishop has been hoarding proceeds from the second collection at the end of the mass. “That woman,” he added, has a lot of explaining to do, even if she comes from a well-off family and lives with her husband in a high-end subdivision not far from town.

Priests and parishioners want to know where the funds, principally sourced from the churches’ collections and the donations of generous souls, have gone – to heaven, that hot place below, or are they still on earth?

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

[with video]

By Omari Fleming, Reporter

PHILADELPHIA –
It was a mixed verdict Friday in the landmark Philadelphia priest sex abuse case, but victims say it’s an important step forward for their rights.

Monsignor William Lynn was convicted of child endangerment, which could get him up to seven years in prison

It’s the first time a church official has been convicted of covering abuse allegations. He was acquitted of conspiracy charges.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyBurbs

Posted on June 23, 2012

by Christian Menno

Bucks residents had plenty to say Friday following the landmark conviction of a Roman Catholic Church official charged with child endangerment and the hung-jury outcome of another priest with local ties accused of sexually abusing a minor.

A Philadelphia jury agreed with prosecutors that Monsignor William Lynn, 61, helped keep predators in the priesthood by moving them to different parishes under the guise that the transfers were health-related.

Lynn, 61, could face three-and-a-half to seven years in prison. He faced two counts of child endangerment charges and one count of conspiracy. Only one child endangerment charge was upheld by the jury Friday.

“Priests should be people you can trust,” said Dorothea Christian, 61, of Newtown Township on Friday. “To hear about these kinds of things is horrifying.”

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WISCONSIN
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: A Green Bay diocesan priest, Feeney has been accused of sexually abusing many children, male and female, throughout his career. At least 12 have come forward. He was moved among 18 parishes in the diocese within 30 years. In 1978 the parents of two young teenage brothers reported to diocesan officials and police that Feeney had molested their boys. The parents dropped the charges when the diocese told them the problem would be taken care of. In 1979 two mothers went to law enforcement officials with complaints about Feeney, but were persuaded by a prosecutor not to press charges. In 1983 Green Bay bishop Wycislo told Feeney that unless he found a job in another diocese he would face going to treatment, or prosecution. Feeney found work as a priest in San Diego, CA and Las Vegas, NV parishes, and in Nevada prisons. He was removed from ministry in 1986 after being accused of smuggling drug paraphernalia and women’s underwear into a Nevada prison in exchange for sex with prisoners. Feeney was arrested in 2002 for the 1978 sexual assaults of the two young brothers in Wisconsin. He was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Feeney was defrocked by the Vatican in 2005. He was released from prison to a Wisconsin halfway house in Nov. 2011, and is a registered sex offender.

Ordained: 1952

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ROME
Irish Examiner

By TP O’Mahony

Saturday, June 23, 2012

THE firing on May 24 of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the president of the Vatican Bank, because of a failure to “promote transparency”, must have sent a frisson of fear through the upper echelons of the Roman Curia, coming as it did three decades after another scandal involving the same institution.

The fall-out from the tragic events of 1982 still reverberate, and the police file on the death of Roberto Calvi, head of Banco Ambrosiano in Milan, is still open. It was that bank’s close links with the Vatican and its involvement in money laundering that led to a huge scandal.

To experienced Vatican watchers — mindful that in March this year the US State Department, for the first time, included the Vatican in the list of states deemed to be “vulnerable” to money laundering operations— it was surely a case of plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Just before the sacking of the head of the Vatican Bank, an Italian journalist, Gianluigi Nuzzi, published His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI. The book, based on leaked documents from the papal apartments — the so-called “Vatileaks” controversy — contains a mixture of revelations, including some about clashes over the management of the Vatican Bank.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Bilgrimage

In Philadelphia today, the jury in the Philadelphia abuse trial found Msgr. William Lynn guilty of child endangerment. Brian Roewe reports on this story at National Catholic Reporter. Jerry Slevin, a Harvard-trained lawyer who has closely followed this trial, has sent the following powerful statement about the verdict:

A Philly jury, that included several Catholics, has found a former top aide to two prominent Philly Catholic Cardinals guilty of endangering children who were sexually assaulted by predatory priests as described here and here.

The Cardinals’ aide, Monsignor Lynn, offered as his main defense that he was only following the Cardinals’ orders pursuant to the Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese’s massive child abuse cover-up program that continued for decades until as late as last year at least.

The Cardinals had very close ties to the Vatican. One of them, Cardinal Rigali, worked closely with the current pope in Rome for over a decade and was St. Louis mentor for New York’s Cardinal Dolan, head of the American bishops.

The trial revealed in detail a cover-up program that appears to be standard operating procedure in the Catholic Church worldwide.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Huffington Post

The Associated Press | June 23, 2012

One of the recurring themes in this case was: Who would believe a kid? The answer is: We here in Bellefonte, Pa., would believe a kid.” – Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly after retired Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted Friday of child sex abuse.
___

“Lynn was a smart, able manager who at any time could have called the police, warned parishes or threatened to blow the whistle. He was not a helpless good guy. The only helpless people in this ongoing catastrophe were the children, the many hundreds of boys and girls who were sodomized and terrorized by the men Lynn managed.” – Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, after Philadelphia Monsignor William Lynn was convicted Friday of one count of child endangerment and faces up to seven years in prison.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By George Jackson
Saturday, 23 June 2012

A pensioner priest could not eat or sleep after police informed him that he had been accused of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl, a court was told.

Fr Eugene Boland denies five charges of indecent assault between June 1990 and 1992 in the parochial house of St Joseph’s parish in the Galliagh area of Londonderry when he was the parish administrator.

The 66-year-old from Killyclogher Road in Omagh told Derry Crown Court yesterday: “I remember I could not sleep, I could not eat. I was horrified.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New York Times

By JON HURDLE and ERIK ECKHOLM

PHILADELPHIA — Msgr. William J. Lynn, a former cardinal’s aide, was found guilty Friday of endangering children, becoming the first senior official of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States convicted of covering up sexual abuses by priests under his supervision.

The 12-member jury acquitted Monsignor Lynn, of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, of conspiracy and a second count of endangerment after a trial that prosecutors and victims rights groups called a turning point in the abuse scandals that have shaken the Catholic Church.

The single guilty verdict was widely seen as a victory for the district attorney’s office, which has been investigating the archdiocese aggressively since 2002, and it was hailed by victim advocates who have argued for years that senior church officials should be held accountable for concealing evidence and transferring predatory priests to unwary parishes. …

Victims advocates said that they hoped the conviction would embolden prosecutors in other states to investigate senior church officials, and predicted that it would lead to more victim lawsuits.

“The guilty verdict sends a strong and clear message that shielding and enabling predator priests is a heinous crime that threatens families, communities and children, and must be punished as such,” said Barbara Dorris, of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
PBS Newshour

[with video]

Transcript

JEFFREY BROWN: A jury convicted a U.S. church official for the first time for the handling and cover-up of sexual abuse claims.

Sixty-one-year-old Monsignor William Lynn of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was found guilty of child endangerment. Prosecutors said he recommended reassigning priests accused of abuse to unsuspecting parishes when he served as secretary of the clergy from 1992 to 2004. The jury acquitted him on one count of conspiracy and another of endangerment. He could face up to seven years in prison.

The jury could not agree on a verdict for his co-defendant, Rev. James Brennan. He was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy in 1996.

After the verdict, district attorney Seth Williams had this to say.

SETH WILLIAMS, Philadelphia district attorney: What happened here was unspeakable. People who knew that these were predators were much more concerned with the institution than the victims of sexual assault. They failed to recognize that the church is its people.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian and Julie Zauzmer
Inquirer Staff Writers

In the end, jurors said, it was not about the Catholic Church or the prosecution’s carefully crafted litany of Philadelphia priests who over the years abused children and got away with it.

It was about two people and what they did, and what prosecutors proved beyond a reasonable doubt, said Isa Logan, foreman of the 12 Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jurors in the landmark Catholic Church sex-abuse trial.

Logan, 35, a muscular, 6-foot-6 Army veteran, bank worker, and deacon of a nondenominational West Philadelphia church, met with reporters Friday afternoon and, above the noise of traffic around City Hall, tried to give some insight into the jurors’ deliberations.

“We followed the court’s instructions and the evidence,” said Logan, a father of three who said he gained a new appreciation for the vulnerability of children.

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SAN JOSE (CA)
Ventura County Star

The Associated Press
Posted June 23, 2012

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Attorneys representing a California man charged with assaulting a priest who he claims raped him decades ago want a judge to declare a mistrial.

The attorneys have said that a prosecutor committed misconduct in handling the priest’s testimony. The defense attorneys accuse the prosecutor of knowingly allowing false testimony, known as “suborning perjury.”

Father Jerold Lindner denied under oath on the witness stand Wednesday that he molested William Lynch during a 1975 camping trip.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Times

Published: Saturday, June 23, 2012

A look at the week that was, the issues and people who made headlines, and a few darts and laurels for those who deserve them.

LAUREL: To the jury that took on the grueling Philly priest sex-abuse case. They heard 10 weeks of testimony, then deliberated 13 days before delivering a split verdict. It was a thankless task, but they performed their civic duty.

DART: To the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Monsignor William Lynn now becomes the first high-ranking church official to be convicted in connection with priest sexual abuse. He was convicted of one count of child endangerment, but was acquitted on another endangerment count as well as conspiracy. The jury was deadlocked on both charges against the Rev. James Brennan and a mistrial was declared. There are no winners in this case, only a terrible sadness.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

[2005 Grand Jury report – BishopAccountability.org]

By Robert Moran
Inquirer Staff Writer

Msgr. William J. Lynn was a top aide to Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, but little was known publicly about him when his name first surfaced amid the initial allegations of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, as a church official investigating the claims.

In 2005, he suddenly became a central figure in a 418-page grand jury report accusing church leaders, including Bevilacqua, of failing to take appropriate actions when priests were accused of abuse. Lynn’s name was mentioned 652 times in the report.

He was found guilty Friday of one count of child endangerment, becoming the highest-ranking church official in the country to be convicted of such a crime.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
U-T San Diego

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic church official was convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy Friday in a landmark clergy-abuse trial, making him the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up abuse claims.

Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in the ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said.

Lynn, 61, served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

“Many in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia hierarchy had dirty hands,” Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said. Williams said he didn’t have sufficient evidence last year to charge other officials, including Bevilacqua, who died in January at age 88. Lynn had faced about 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted of all three counts he faced — conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment. He was convicted of a single endangerment count, which carries a possible 3½- to seven-year prison term.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

By PHIL HERON,
editor@delcotimes.com
@philheron

One was the smiling, grandfatherly architect of Penn State’s legendary defense, the man who put together ‘Linebacker U.’

The other was a former high-ranking official of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, now a parish priest. Not just any parish priest – my parish priest.

This morning both are in jail.

And maybe the rest of us can start to see our way out of this prison of grim daily reports on the horrific things adults can do to children.

To be honest, I’m a little numb. And just overwhelmingly sad.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquiry

[2011 Grand Jury report]

By David O’Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer

The 2011 Philadelphia grand jury report that accused Msgr. William J. Lynn of child endangerment did much more than set in motion the landmark felony trial that ended Friday with his conviction.

The 124-page report – which charged the archdiocese with keeping in active ministry 37 priests accused of inappropriate behavior with children – triggered a series of actions by the local church to finally deal forcefully with the simmering sexual-abuse scandal.

Within days of the report’s release, then-archbishop Cardinal Justin Rigali placed 21 of the accused priests on administrative leave (the other 16 were already removed from ministry or had no substantial charges against them), and hired former sex-crimes prosecutor Gina M. Smith to assemble a team of law-enforcement and child-abuse experts to investigate the charges.

Last month, Rigali’s successor, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, announced that five of the accused priests would be permanently removed from ministry as a result of that investigation and that three had been exonerated.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By David O’Reilly, Jennifer Lin, Melissa Dribben, and Anthony R. Wood
Inquirer Staff Writers

As news circulated Friday afternoon that a jury had found Msgr. William J. Lynn guilty of child endangerment, many around the region praised the decision as fair, while some found it too gentle and a few maintained that the priest should have been set free.

“He only got one count?” asked Erin McGonigal, 31, who gasped when told of the verdict.

“What about all the kids, all the people who suffered?” she asked, standing outside Immaculate Mary nursing home in Northeast Philadelphia. She expressed doubt that Lynn would get the maximum prison sentence of seven years.

Her mother, Marybeth McGonigal, 57, said Lynn had officiated at her wedding in 1980 at St. Bernard’s parish in Frankford. Although she thought he was likable and “hip” at the time, she said she now found it “scary” that he married her and her husband.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

Moments after he had been convicted of endangering the welfare of a child, Msgr. William J. Lynn bowed his head at the defense table. The issue now was whether his bail would be revoked, and the speaker was Lynn’s longtime antagonist, Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington.

The monsignor had just been convicted of a third-degree felony that “calls for a lengthy jail sentence,” Blessington roared. “Let’s start it today. That’s justice.”

The monsignor had his back to courtroom spectators, but everybody could see the back of his neck and his ears turning bright red.

Moments later, family members wept silently as the monsignor was led away by sheriff’s deputies. “Oh God,” one young woman sobbed. His shame was now complete. Lynn would spend the night as the newest inmate at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, known as CFCF, at 7901 State Road in Northeast Philadelphia.

Outside the Criminal Justice Center, Father James J. Brennan walked out into the mid-afternoon heat and was immediately surrounded by reporters and TV cameras.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writers

A jury convicted Msgr. William J. Lynn of child endangerment Friday, finding that as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia secretary for clergy, he ignored credible warning signs about a priest who later sexually assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy.

The verdict, after a three-month trial, marked the first time since the clergy sex-abuse scandal erupted nationally a decade ago that a Catholic Church supervisor had been found criminally liable for child-sex crimes by a priest.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina immediately revoked Lynn’s bail, and deputy sheriffs escorted the white-haired monsignor to a holding cell. Lynn faces up to seven years in prison, and prosecutors vowed to seek a term near the maximum.

The jury of seven men and five women acquitted Lynn on two other counts and deadlocked on attempted-rape and child-endangerment charges against his codefendant, the Rev. James J. Brennan.

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CALIFORNIA
Marin Independent Journal

By The Associated Press
Posted: 06/22/2012

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Attorneys representing a man accused of assaulting a priest he claims raped him decades ago are seeking a mistrial.

The attorneys claimed Friday that prosecutors committed misconduct in their handling of the priest’s testimony.

Father Jerold Lindner denied on Wednesday that he molested William Lynch during a 1975 camping trip. Lynch has pleaded not guilty to assaulting Lindner in 2010 and his trial started Wednesday.

During her opening statements, Santa Clara County deputy district attorney Vicki Gemetti told the jury that Lindner did molest Lynch. Gemetti predicted Lindner would deny the molestation, but urged the jury to convict Lynch anyway.

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CALIFORNIA
KTVU

KTVU.com and Wires

SAN JOSE, Calif. —

The defense attorneys for a man accused of the 2010 beating of a Jesuit priest he says molested him as a child, have filed a motion requesting a mistrial in the case on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct.

Will Lynch, 44, allegedly attacked the Rev. Jerold Lindner at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos on May 10, 2010.

His trial on assault charges began in San Jose on Monday amid a firestorm of accusations of sexual abuse by Lindner, who Lynch said sexually abused him and his brother on a camping trip when he was 7-years old.

Paul Mones, co-counsel in Lynch’s defense along with Pat Harris, said he believes prosecutorial misconduct occurred when Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Vicki Gemetti told the jury in opening statements that Lindner would probably lie about having molested Lynch and his brother.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
Vindicator

By John W. Goodwin Jr.
jgoodwin@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The Diocese of Youngstown has issued a statement saying a priest was not wrong for failing to notify police about information he received years ago concerning the molestation of an underage girl.

Michael Parent, 55, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to 13 years in prison for raping his stepdaughter for years while living in Mahoning County. The rapes began in 1984 when the girl was 5 and did not end until 1996 when she was almost 18.

The victim, who is now 34, told authorities she went to the Rev. Michael Seifert and spoke about the assaults when she was 15, but the matter was never taken to police.

The diocese, in a press release issued Thursday afternoon, said it was not made aware of the issue or the allegations that Father Seifert did not report what the girl said to authorities until a story appeared in Thursday’s Vindicator, but church officials maintain that a priest cannot divulge information given in confidence.

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YOUNGSTOWN (OH)
WKBN

The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown released a statement on Thursday explaining the sacred laws of confession after a story that ran in the Youngstown Vindicator on Thursday stated a priest did not report child abuse allegations to police.

The victim, who is now 34, was 15 at the time. She allegedly told Rev. Michael Seifert during a confession that her stepfather, Michael Parent, raped her. Parent was sentenced to 13 years in prison earlier this week because of the assaults.

The Diocese said if the victim confided during confession, the seal of confession cannot be broken under any circumstance.

“It is because of the sacred nature of that sacrament, the content of it, that it is protected by the seal of confession in church law, and respected by civil law,” said Fr. John Jerek of the Diocese of Youngstown.

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CALIFORNIA
KGO

Karina Rusk

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — Attorneys for Will Lynch, accused of beating former priest Jerry Lindner, who he says abused him, have filed a motion for a mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct.

Lynch is accused of tracking down and beating Father Jerry Lindner at his church retirement facility in Los Gatos in 2010, but he claims Lindner molested him in the 1970s.

The deputy district attorney, in her opening statement Thursday, said the former priest would probably lie about molesting Lynch and his brothers. When asked under oath, Lindner did indeed deny the molestation providing the basis for the request for a mistrial, perjury, which the prosecutor herself predicted.

Lindner had never been in a courtroom before and never had to answer to charges of molestation because of the court’s statute of limitations. This case was a way for Lynch, one of the men who says he was horrifically abused by Father Lindner, to put him on the stand.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks

Reporter Elizabeth Fielder discusses the prosecution’s strategy and the case’s outcome. The audio above includes comments from the jury foreman, a defense attorney and District Attorney Seth Williams.

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CALIFORNIA
Santa Cruz Sentinel

Claiming that the prosecutor in the San Jose priest-beating trial committed misconduct, defense attorneys Friday asked the judge to declare a mistrial based on the explosive accusation.

Attorneys for Will Lynch — who is accused of beating up the Jesuit priest he says brutally molested him and his brother when they were children — claim the prosecutor committed misconduct by suborning perjury.

Deputy District Attorney Vicki Gemetti, they contend, put Father Jerold Lindner on the stand Wednesday after announcing to the jury he would almost certainly lie under oath by denying the alleged molestation.

As predicted, Lindner testified he had not raped Lynch when he was 7 or molested his 4-year-old brother on a camping trip in the 1970s in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic News Agency

Philadelphia, Pa., Jun 22, 2012 / 04:45 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In response to the jury decision in the trial of former Archdiocese of Philadelphia official Monsignor William J. Lynn, the archdiocese has offered a “heartfelt apology” to all abuse victims and expressed commitment to child safety and “reform and renewal.”

“This has been a difficult time for all Catholics, especially victims of sexual abuse,” the archdiocese said June 22. “The lessons of the last year have made our Church a more vigilant guardian of our people’s safety.”

A Philadelphia jury on Friday convicted Msgr. Lynn, the former secretary of clergy under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, on a count of child endangerment for failing to protect children from abusive priests.

Prosecutors argued that Msgr. Lynn’s actions showed a pattern by Church officials to cover up the abuse, but the jury found him not guilty on a conspiracy charge and a second count of endangerment.

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CALIFORNIA
Navy Times

By Gidget Fuentes – Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jun 22, 2012

SAN DIEGO — The Marine Corps has formally charged a Navy chaplain at the Marine Corps’ desert training base with several counts of alleged misconduct, including sexual harassment, indecent conduct, assault and fraternization, a spokesman confirmed Friday.

The chaplain, Lt. Cmdr. Steven E. Hicks, is scheduled to appear July 24 at an Article 32 investigation hearing at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., said Marine Capt. Nick Mannweiler, a combat center spokesman.

Hicks, 57, is a Catholic priest assigned who arrived at Twentynine Palms in 2008. He was pulled from his religious duties after allegations surfaced and an investigation began in late February, Mannweiler said. He remains assigned to the combat center staff.

Mannweiler said he did not have information about the nature of the charges, and he said he could not provide a copy of the official charge sheet that details the allegations. The Article 32 officer will preside over the preliminary hearing and recommend whether the charges against Hicks should be sent to a court-martial, be reduced or dismissed.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Seattle PI

MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

Updated 03:37 p.m., Friday, June 22, 2012

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Roman Catholic church official was convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy Friday in a landmark clergy-abuse trial, making him the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up abuse claims.

Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said. …

The defense also pledged to appeal the conviction.

“He’s upset. He’s crushed. He’s in custody and he didn’t want anything else but to help kids,” defense lawyer Jeffrey M. Lindy said. …

Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, called the verdict “a watershed moment” in the priest sex-abuse crisis.

“Lynn was a smart, able manager who at any time could have called the police, warned parishes, or threatened to blow the whistle,” McKiernan said. “He was not a helpless good guy. The only helpless people in this ongoing catastrophe were the children, the many hundreds of boys and girls who were sodomized and terrorized by the men Lynn managed.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Wall Street Journal

By STEVE EDER, JENNIFER LEVITZ and PETER LOFTUS

PHILADELPHIA—A Philadelphia jury delivered a sharp rebuke of the Catholic Church’s handling of allegations of sexual abuse by its priests, convicting for the first time a senior church official of not taking steps that could have prevented further attacks.

Msgr. William Lynn, who served as secretary for clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004, was found guilty on Friday of one count of child endangerment for allowing a priest to take a new assignment involving contact with children even after learning of allegations that he had engaged in inappropriate contact with at least one minor. The jury deadlocked in the case of another priest who was overseen by Msgr. Lynn and also on trial, the Rev. James Brennan.

The landmark ruling came after jurors heard nearly 10 weeks of testimony in a trial that opened a window into how one of the nation’s largest Catholic dioceses grappled with the sort of allegations that have shaken the church for more than a decade.

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UNITED STATES
The Christian Century

Jun 22, 2012 by David Gibson

(RNS) A popular online advice columnist has said that the late Rev. Robert Drinan, a famed Jesuit priest and onetime Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, tried to kiss and fondle her in the 1970s when she was 18 or 19 years old.

Emily Yoffe, who writes Slate’s “Dear Prudence” column, said she was prompted to write her first-person account after reading coverage of the trial of Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach who is charged with raping and molesting 10 boys.

In the column, published Thursday (June 21), Yoffe said she was sexually assaulted three times before she turned 20.

The first episode took place was when she was 9 years old and a 15-year-old cousin tried to fondle her; the second was at age 15 when the father of a school friend drove her home and tried to kiss and grope her before she fled the car.

The third attack, she said, allegedly occurred when Drinan, who died in 2007, drove her home after a fundraiser for his reelection campaign; Drinan was first elected to Congress in 1970 on an anti-war platform and served five terms until then-Pope John Paul II said priests could not run for elected office.

Yoffe, whose family supported Drinan, wrote that as the priest was dropping her off in his car, he “began jabbering incoherently about men and women” and then tried to kiss her and ran his hands over her breasts. She said she shoved him away and scrambled out of the car, leaving a smear of pink lipstick on his clerical collar.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Christian Post

By Jeff Schapiro , Christian Post Reporter

June 22, 2012|5:21 pm

The Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which is still dealing with the fallout of a sex abuse scandal, announced Thursday that it will be cutting 45 jobs due to financial difficulties that have been building up for years.

Archbishop Charles Chaput says the massive legal and professional costs associated with the sex abuse cases had little to do with the decision to cut jobs. Instead, he says, it was based on a long overdue need to restructure, and a desire to cut down the archdiocese’s projected deficit of more than $17 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

“These are good men and women who have served the Church well,” said Chaput in a statement. “I take this action with great reluctance, as one of several urgently needed steps to restore the local Church to a healthy financial footing. Every departing employee has the sincere gratitude of the Archdiocese and will be treated with maximum consideration.”

In addition to cutting dozens of jobs, the archdiocese will merge 19 of its offices and ministries. It has also decided to suspend the publication of Phaith Magazine, and will cease publishing its 117-year-old newspaper, The Catholic Standard & Times, which published its last issue in June.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Press TV (Iran)

Msgr. William J. Lynn was found guilty Friday of one count of endangering children, becoming the first senior official of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States to be convicted for covering up child sexual abuses by priests under his supervision.

The 12-member jury acquitted him on a conspiracy charge and a second count of endangerment after a three-month trial that prosecutors and victims rights groups considered a milestone in the sexual abuse scandals that have shaken the Catholic Church.

But the mixed verdict was widely seen as a victory for the district attorney’s office in Philadelphia, which has been investigating the archdiocese aggressively since 2002 and for victim advocates, who have argued for years that senior officials should be held accountable.

The trial has already sent a sobering message to church officials and others overseeing children around the country, a message punctuated by Monsignor Lynn’s conviction on a charge that could bring a prison term of three-and-a-half to seven years.

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UNITED STATES
EIN News

/EINPresswire.com/ (Plymouth Meeting, PA)— American Catholic Dioceses have spent $2.1 billion so far on settlement-related costs for the multi-decade sexual abuse scandals involving their priests and bishops, reports Reuters.

Recently, American cardinal Joseph William Levada announced that more than 4,000 cases of sexual abuse of children by priests have been investigated during the last ten years.

“The number is shocking and dramatic but, sadly, more cases are likely to emerge,” says Peter S. Pelullo, a frequent guest on the Dr. Drew show and author of the recently released
book “Betrayal and the Beast.”

In his book Mr. Pelullo focuses on his own journey as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and sexual predation. For many years he kept hidden and refused to face his own debilitating issues as a survivor—the shame, frustration, multiple addictions, depression, and other influences that directly impacted his life. Finally, at the age of fifty-five, Mr. Pelullo confronted the sexual abuse he endured as a child.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Times

By PATTI MENGERS
pmengers@delcotimes.com, @pattimengers

Boston may be where the national clerical sex abuse scandal was first exposed when a priest was convicted of child molestation in 2002, but Philadelphia will be remembered as the place where a church official was first held criminally liable for not stopping the abuse.

Friday’s child endangerment conviction of the Rev. Msgr. William Lynn by a Philadelphia jury for allowing a known pedophile priest to have continued access to youngsters while he was secretary for clergy is precedent-setting, said Anne Bowen Poulin, a law professor at the Augustinian-run Villanova University in Radnor.

“What it shows is that the church documented so much of this history of abuse within the church. This signals to prosecutors that this evidence may be available,” said Poulin, who has taught at the Roman Catholic university since 1981.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Christian Century

Jun 22, 2012 by David Gibson

(RNS) A Philadelphia priest was convicted Friday (June 22) of one count of child endangerment, becoming the first cleric in the Catholic Church’s long-running clergy abuse scandal to be tried and found guilty of shielding molesters.

Monsignor William Lynn, 61, was acquitted of conspiracy and a second endangerment charge after a three-month trial that had seemed on the verge of a hung jury two days earlier.

After a day off on Thursday, the jury of seven men and five women returned to deliberations Friday and by early afternoon announced the conviction on a single charge against Lynn. The jurors said they were deadlocked on attempted rape and endangerment charges against Lynn’s codefendant, the Rev. James J. Brennan. …

“This day — and the relief, vindication and healing it gives clergy sex abuse victims — is long overdue,” said Barbara Dorris of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “The guilty verdict sends a strong and clear message that shielding and enabling predator priests is a heinous crime that threatens families, communities and children, and must be punished as such.”

Terence McKiernan, head of BishopAccountability.org, another victim advocacy group, called Lynn’s conviction “a watershed moment in the Catholic abuse crisis.”

“It is a warning to other church officials and a model to prosecutors nationwide,” McKiernan said. “Because of the Lynn verdict, bishops and church officials are now accountable — they are no longer immune from judgment and punishment.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Los Angeles Times

By David Zucchino

June 22, 2012, 1:31 p.m.
A Pennsylvania jury Friday convicted Msgr. William J. Lynn of child endangerment for covering up sexual abuse of children by priests, but found the former Philadelphia archdiocese official not guilty of conspiracy and another endangerment charge.

Lynn, 61, is the first Roman Catholic official in the U.S. to be tried and convicted on charges related to the church scandal in which priests across the country sexually abused children for years. In the landmark case, prosecutors said Lynn reassigned pedophile priests in Philadelphia while covering up allegations of sexual abuse.

The jury of seven men and five women deadlocked on attempted rape and child endangerment charges against the Rev. James J. Brennan, prompting the judge in the case to declare a mistrial on those charges. Prosecutors could decide to retry Brennan.

By assigning pedophile priests to unsuspecting parishes, prosecutors said, Lynn exposed more children to potential abuse in an attempt to protect the church’s reputation and stave off lawsuits. Prosecutors produced a list that Lynn compiled in 1994 naming 37 priests in the archdiocese who had been identified as pedophiles or were suspected of sexually abusing children.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
AFP

By Daniel Kelley (AFP)

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — A Philadelphia monsignor became Friday the highest-ranking US church official to be convicted over a child sex cover-up, as he was was found guilty of endangerment.

Monsignor William Lynn, who served as secretary of the Philadelphia Archdiocese from 1994 to 2001, was acquitted of two other counts — one of conspiracy and a second charge of child endangerment.

Lynn, 61, who took the witness stand for three days during his 10-week trial, is not charged with molesting children, but rather with covering up crimes of priests who did. His sentence is due to be announced on August 13.

The trial, the first in the United States involving a senior official in the Catholic Church, also centered on two other Philadelphia priests. …

“We needed clarity on how to apply the evidence. We needed to learn how to apply the elements of the charges,” jury foreman Isa Logan said. “Every juror wanted justice. We just wanted to do what was right.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
ABA Journal

Posted Jun 22, 2012
By Martha Neil

Monsignor William Lynn on Friday became the first senior Roman Catholic official in the U.S. to be criminally convicted concerning oversight of claimed child sex-abuse by priests.

He was found guilty of child endangerment after a jury deliberated for nearly two weeks, but acquitted of conspiracy and a second charge of child endangerment, according to the Associated Press and Reuters.

Lynn, who is now 61, had his bail revoked and was taken into custody after the verdict. He served from 1992 to 2004 as secretary for clergy in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Most of that time, he worked under the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who was the final decision-maker concerning what to do with priests accused of abuse, according to trial testimony.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
BBC News

A high-ranking Philadelphia Roman Catholic Church official has been found guilty of endangering the welfare of a child in a sex abuse case.

Monsignor William Lynn was acquitted of two additional charges.

Prosecutors alleged that Lynn, who supervised hundreds of priests, helped cover-up child sex abuse, often by transferring priests to new parishes.

He is now the highest-ranking US Roman Catholic official convicted in connection in a wider scandal.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New Jersey Herald

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The jury foreman in a landmark priest sex-abuse case says he’d have taken a court-martial in the Army rather than follow unjust orders.

Thirty-5-year-old Isa (EE’-suh) Logan is a bank employee and deacon in his independent West Philadelphia church.

He’s the foreman of a jury that convicted Monsignor William Lynn on Friday over his handling of sex-abuse complaints at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

The 61-year-old Lynn faces 3-1/2 to five years in prison for felony child endangerment, and is now in custody after his bail was revoked. He’s been acquitted of 2 other counts.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Jeffrey R. Anderson | 3:15 PM

A Philadelphia jury made history today when it found Msgr. William Lynn guilty of endangering the welfare of a child. The jury’s decision is historic and unprecedented. Until now no top Catholic official has been criminally convicted for child endangerment. The result of this difficult and arduous trial presents the first true day of reckoning in the criminal justice system against any top official in the Catholic church hierarchy.

For decades the top officials of the Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and elsewhere, have operated above the law and with impunity, believing that they could not and would never be held accountable. Now, finally, because of courageous survivors, as well as prosecutors and law enforcement that were willing to take a stand, justice is served. With this justice comes great hope and promise to all those who have fought for so long.

We applaud the prosecutors, the survivors, and all those who contributed to the exposure of the truth. We are deeply grateful for the many survivors with whom we work. And we continue to be inspired by those who chose to break the silence and make their painful histories known in order to protect other kids. A new and better day is upon us and we’re proud to stand on the shoulders of the courageous survivors whom we work with every day.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

by Susan Matthews

For the first time ever, a jury has found a Catholic Church official guilty of child endangerment. It certainly wasn’t the first time one was guilty, but it’s an important step toward making it the last time. This verdict will do more to protect children than any Bishops’ charter or archdiocesan initiative. Why? Because now there is real accountability.

Msgr. Lynn faces jail but that is nothing compared to the life sentence the victims of his crime face. Despite that, this verdict is a victory.

As Kathy Kane wrote in our comments: ”Prior to the 2011GJ report there were 27 priests with abuse allegations/boundary issues in the Archdiocese. They were in our parishes, schools, CYO and Prep programs. Every single victim who has ever came forward, even if not involved in the trial, has kept our children protected, kept them safer than they ever would have been had the truth not been revealed. There is no amount of justice that could ever be served to the victims in the Philly AD for the years of horror that occurred, but your efforts have kept this generation of children safer from child predators. Each night when every victim closes their eyes, they can say that they protected children. Others have done just the opposite and some day will answer to a higher authority than any judge or jury. This trial produced a mixed bag of verdicts… a plea deal, an acquittal, hung jury and conviction. My verdict on what the victims have accomplished…Heroic.”

I couldn’t agree more. Children are safer.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director (Milwaukee)

CONTACT: 414.429.7259

In a historic verdict today in Philadelphia, for the first time in the church child sex abuse crisis a top church official has been criminally convicted of child endangerment. Monsignor William J. Lynn served as secretary of clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004. The judge revoked Lynn’s bail and ordered him immediately to jail. He could face up to seven years in prison.

There is a Monsignor Lynn in every single diocese and religious order around the United States. That includes, of course, the Milwaukee Archdiocese, which is now in federal bankruptcy court, seeking to keep secret 40,000 pages of internal church files and testimony by former Milwaukee bishops concerning the transfer and concealment of child sex predators. Principally, Bishop Richard Sklba, who former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland testified was his “go to guy” on “all abuse cases”. Sklba remained the number two man of the diocese under Cardinal Timothy Dolan as well. Yet Sklba, unlike Lynn, has yet to face a single criminal charge for his decades long involvement in covering up child sex crimes, just like Lynn. And Sklba is not the only conspirator who endangered children in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Today’s verdict should send a chilling message to Sklba and every senior church official around the country: your boss—even if he is a cardinal or an archbishop–will no longer be able to protect you from following and implementing their child sex abuse cover up directives. From now on, the excuse, “I was just following orders” is not only a thoroughly discredited moral defense, but a legal one as well.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NECN

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A spokeswoman for a sexual abuse victims support group says the verdict in the Philadelphia priest abuse trial was heartbreaking.

Karen Polesir is a spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. She was outside the courthouse as the verdicts were being read.

Monsignor William Lynn has been convicted of child endangerment. He is the first U.S. church official convicted of a crime for mishandling sex-abuse accusations.

But Lynn also was acquitted of two counts. And jurors couldn’t agree on a verdict for his co-defendant, the Rev. James Brennan, who was accused of sexually abusing a teenager.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

Hear from Isa Logan, the first juror to talk today about the verdicts in the landmark priest sex abuse trial. Monsignor William Lynn was found guilty of one count of child endangerment and not guilty on a second child endangerment charge. He is also not guilty of conspiracy. Jurors could not reach agreement on the attempted rape or child endangerment charge against Reverend James Brennan.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

The jury in Philadelphia has heard the cry of unprotected children and we are grateful.

We believe the cause of innocent children has been advanced today and we are grateful.

We believe all bishops and all chanceries staffs have effectively been put on notice that is criminally wrong to put the protection of adults, priests or any other adult, before the protection of innocent children—particularly when the children made their plight known to those in positions of moral and spiritual leadership. For this, we are grateful.

We believe there should not be a delay in the sentencing of Monsignor William Lynn. The jury has spoken: children need protection.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic League

The jury in the trial of two Philadelphia Catholic priests has reached a verdict. Msgr. William Lynn was acquitted of conspiracy; on the two charges of child endangerment, he was acquitted on one of them, and found guilty on the other. The jury was deadlocked on two charges against Rev. James Brennan: one for attempted rape, and one for child endangerment.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

The witch-hunt has come to an end, and those who have been clamoring for blood lost big time. What made this a witch-hunt was the decision of former Philadelphia D.A. Lynne Abraham to summarily ignore what she was empowered to do in 2001: she was given the charge “to investigate the sexual abuse of minors by individuals associated with religious organizations and denominations.” Had she done so, those cases of minors who may have been sexually molested by ministers, rabbis, and others, would have been investigated. Instead, absolutely nothing was done about these cases.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

Updated 3:25 p.m.

Jurors have reached an unprecedented decision in the landmark sex-abuse and child endangerment trial of two Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests.

Msgr. William J. Lynn, found guilty on one count of child endangerment, is the first church official nationwide to be convicted for enabling or covering up clergy-sex abuse. He faces up to seven years in prison.

Lynn was acquitted of two other charges, one of conspiracy and a second count of endangerment.

The jury was deadlocked on attempted rape and endangerment charges against his codefendant, the Rev. James J. Brennan.

The jury was excused by Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina, so the trial is over, with a mistrial on the Brennan charges.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

This has been a difficult time for all Catholics, especially victims of sexual abuse. The lessons of the last year have made our Church a more vigilant guardian of our people’s safety. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is on a journey of reform and renewal that requires honesty and hope. We are committed to providing support and assistance to parishioners as they and the Church seek to more deeply understand sexual violence, and to create an environment that is safe and welcoming to all, including past victims.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia offers a heartfelt apology to all victims of clergy sexual abuse. Now and in the future, the Church will continue to take vigorous steps to ensure safe church environments for all the faithful in Philadelphia.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on June 22, 2012

This day—and the relief, vindication and healing it gives clergy sex abuse victims—is long overdue. The guilty verdict sends a strong and clear message that shielding and enabling predator priests is a heinous crime that threatens families, communities and children, and must be punished as such. It is also the criminal justice system’s “shot across the bow,” sending a clear signal to all institutions: “Protect kids, oust predators or go to jail.”

The evidence against Msgr. Lynn was overwhelming. Perpetrators have been enabled and free to prey on children because Catholic officials like Lynn hid crimes, intimidated whistle blowers, discredited witnesses, destroyed evidence and fabricated alibis. This verdict provides a measure of justice for every child who was hurt in the archdiocese and was forced to suffer in shame and silence as their perpetrator roamed freely with the help and blessing of top church officials.

The unsung heroes of this case are the dozens of victims, witnesses and whistleblowers who bravely came forward to testify. Many told harrowing stories of how they were horribly abused by priests they trusted, while others explained their frustration when they went to church officials for help but were ignored, deceived and maligned. We are grateful to these courageous men and women for their efforts to protect kids, expose wrongdoing and get healing. They refused to remain silent and did the right thing by going to law enforcement and not church officials.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Peter Isely on June 22, 2012

We agree with prosecutors: Msgr. Lynn is a flight risk and should be jailed right now. That’s only prudent.

Time and time again over the years, Catholic officials who have committed or concealed child sex crimes have fled overseas. BishopAccountability.org

Why take this risk?

Msgr. Lynn’s been convicted of just one charge. But keep in mind that for at least 12 years, and likely longer, he suspected and knew of but concealed and enabled horrific child sex crimes by perhaps dozens of clerics. He and his current and former church supervisors have much to fear. He might very well flee abroad.

So let’s put justice and safety first, and lock up Msgr. Lynn right away.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on June 22, 2012

The historic guilty verdict today against a top Philadelphia Catholic official should embolden KC prosecutors and give KC Bishop Finn serious pause.

Finn faces essentially the same charge that his Philly colleague did – endangering kids by concealing crimes.

For the first time in history, a high ranking US Catholic official was held responsible – for knowingly, repeatedly and selfishly – putting kids in harm’s way. He was led from the courtroom in handcuffs.

We hope this landmark verdict will prompt current and former Catholic officials – in Philly, in KC and across the country – to “come clean” with what they know about child molesting clerics. We also hope it will give hope to victims and encourage them to call police and prosecutors, so that other child molesters and corrupt officials can be exposed, removed, charged, convicted and jailed, so kids will be safer.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

UPDATED 3:25 P.M.

The packed courtroom in Philadelphia’s Criminal Justice Center had been warned that no outbursts would be tolerated.

But that wasn’t enough to restrain lead prosecutor Patrick Blessington.

A jury foreman read the verdict finding Monsignor William J. Lynn guilty of one count of child endangerment and declared a hung jury in charges against Father James Brennan.

Lynn was found not guilty on conspiracy and another charge of child endangerment

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter

by Brian Roewe on Jun. 22, 2012 NCR Today

After 13 days of deliberation, the jury in the landmark Philadelphia abuse trial has found Msgr. William J. Lynn guilty on one charge of child endangerment, acquitting him on a second endangerment charge and on one count of conspiracy.

The jury declared itself hung on both charges against Fr. James J. Brennan, who had been accused of attempted sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy in 1996. Prosecutors could choose to retry its case against him.

Lynn faced charges of child endangerment and conspiracy for his role in an alleged cover-up of priest sex abuse during his tenure as secretary of clergy for the Philadelphia archdiocese from 1992 to 2004.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Register

by JOAN FRAWLEY DESMOND
06/22/2012

PHILADELPHIA — A jury today found a former Philadelphia archdiocesan official guilty on one of two counts of child endangerment, but cleared him of the other as well as a conspiracy charge.

In a closely watched landmark case, Msgr. William Lynn, 61, the archdiocese’s secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004 and the most senior U.S. Church official to be criminally charged in an abuse case, was accused of knowingly placing minors in danger when he reassigned troubled priests to parishes where they would have access to children.

Msgr. Lynn faces three and a half to seven years in prison.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

PHILADELPHIA –
A Philadelphia jury has found a church official guilty of endangering the welfare of a child in the landmark Catholic Church sex abuse trial.

However, the panel reported Friday that it found Monsignor William Lynn not guilty of a conspiracy count and one additional child endangerment charge.

The jury reported that it was hung on both counts concerning the Rev. James Brennan.

The announcement came during the 13th day of deliberations in the case.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New York Times

By JON HURDLE and ERIK ECKHOLM

Published: June 22, 2012

PHILADELPHIA — Msgr. William J. Lynn, a former archbishop’s aide, was found guilty Friday of endangering children, becoming the first senior official of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States to be convicted of covering up child sexual abuses by priests under his supervision.

The 12-member jury acquitted Monsignor Lynn, of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, on a conspiracy charge and a second count of endangerment after a three-month trial that prosecutors and victims rights groups called a milestone in the sexual abuse scandals that have shaken the Catholic church.

The single guilty verdict was widely seen as a victory for the district attorney’s office, which has been investigating the archdiocese aggressively since 2002, and it was hailed by victim advocates who have argued for years that senior church officials should be held accountable for concealing evidence and transferring predatory priests to unwary parishes.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CNN

From Susan Candiotti and Sarah Hoye, CNN

updated 2:30 PM EDT, Fri June 22, 2012

(CNN) — Monsignor William Lynn, the highest-ranking cleric accused of imperiling children by helping cover up sexual abuse, was found guilty Friday of one count of child endangerment and acquitted on other two charges.

He was found not guilty on a second count of endangerment and a conspiracy charge to protect a priest accused of abuse.

The jury was unable to bring a verdict against co-defendant Rev. James Brennan, who was charged with attempted rape of a 14-year-old altar boy and endangering the welfare of a child.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS News

(CBS/AP) PHILADELPHIA – Monsignor William Lynn, a Roman Catholic church official, has been convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy in a groundbreaking clergy-abuse trial in Philadelphia.

Lynn is the first U.S. church official convicted of a crime for how he handled sex-abuse accusations.

Lynn has been on leave from the church since his arrest last year. The criminal case stems from his long stint as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NPR

by Eyder Peralta

A jury found Msgr. William J. Lynn, of Philadelphia, guilty on one count of endangerment stemming from allegations that he helped coverup the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. Lynn was acquitted of another count of endangerment and one count of conspiracy, the AP reports.

Lynn was the first Roman Catholic official to be tried in the United States in the aftermath of the priest abuse scandal. The jury returned its verdict on its 13th day of deliberations and two days after the judge sent them back to deliberate further after they said they were deadlocked on all but one charge.

As The Philadelphia Inquirer reports, Lynn was never accused of touching a child, instead he was accused of encouraging the reassignment of priests despite the fact that there were signs they had sexually abused children.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Reuters

(Reuters) – Monsignor William Lynn was found guilty on Friday of one count of endangering the welfare of a child, making him the highest-ranking U.S. Roman Catholic official convicted in the church child sex abuse scandal.

The jury acquitted Lynn, who oversaw hundreds of priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, on two other counts.

The jury deliberated 13 days before reaching a decision in the trial of Lynn, 61, who for 12 years served as secretary of the clergy.

He was accused of conspiracy and child endangerment in what prosecutors said was an effort to cover up child sex abuse allegations, often by transferring priests to unsuspecting parishes.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
MSNBC

By NBC News and news services

UPDATED AT 2:17 p.m. ET: PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic Church official has been convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy in a groundbreaking clergy-abuse trial in Philadelphia, according to The Associated Press.

EARLIER: Monsignor William Lynn is the first Roman Catholic church official in the United States tried for his role in protecting predator priests. He’s charged with conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment for allegedly keeping accused priests in parish work around children.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Associated Press

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Roman Catholic church official was convicted Friday of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy in a groundbreaking clergy-abuse trial, becoming the first U.S. church official convicted of a crime for how he handled abuse claims.

Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priest was being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said.

Lynn, 61, had faced about 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted of all three counts he faced — conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment. He was convicted only on one of the endangerment counts, leaving him with the possibility of 3 1/2 to seven years in prison.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Houston Chronicle

MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

Updated 01:14 p.m., Friday, June 22, 2012

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Roman Catholic church official has been convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy in a groundbreaking clergy-abuse trial in Philadelphia.

Monsignor William Lynn is the first U.S. church official convicted of a crime for how he handled sex-abuse accusations.

Lynn has been on leave from the church since his arrest last year. The criminal case stems from his long stint as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua (beh-vih-LAH’-kwah).

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
MSNBC

By NBC News and news services

PHILADELPHIA — After 13 days of deliberations, the jury has reached a verdict in a landmark clergy-abuse case involving a Roman Catholic church official. The verdict will be read at 2 p.m. ET, NBC10.com reported.

Monsignor William Lynn is the first Roman Catholic church official in the United States tried for his role in protecting predator priests. He’s charged with conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment for allegedly keeping accused priests in parish work around children.

Lynn is on trial with Rev. James Brennan Brennan, 49, is charged with the attempted rape of a 14-year-old boy in 1996, along with child endangerment.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CNN

Jurors in Philadelphia on Friday reached a partial verdict in the landmark trial of Monsignor William Lynn, the highest-ranking cleric accused of endangering children by helping cover up sexual abuse, according to a source with knowledge of the proceedings.

Lynn, a defendant along with another Philadelphia priest, faces two counts of endangering the welfare of a child by allowing dangerous priests to continue in the ministry in roles in which they had access to children, and one count of conspiracy to protect a priest accused of abuse.

If convicted, Lynn could be sentenced to up to 21 years in prison.

Also on trial is the Rev. James Brennan, who faces charges of attempted rape of a 14-year-old boy, endangering the welfare of a child and other counts.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

PHILADELPHIA –
Court officials say the jury has reached a decision in the landmark Catholic Church priest sex abuse trial.

The jury will be in court at 2 p.m., and we will bring the panel’s decision as soon as we can.

The announcement from the court came after a 13th day of deliberations in the case.

On Wednesday, jurors said they were unable to agree on four of the five charges against Monsignor William Lynn and Reverend James Brennan.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Fox News

Published June 22, 2012

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA – A jury reached a verdict in a groundbreaking priest-abuse trial and was poised to announce it Friday afternoon.

Monsignor William Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged for allegedly helping an archdiocese cover up abuse claims. He faces about 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment.

Lynn is on leave from the Philadelphia archdiocese, where he served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004.

Defense lawyers said Lynn alone tried to document abuse complaints, get priests into treatment and alert the cardinal to the growing crisis. Church documents show therapists had called one accused priest a ticking “time bomb” and “powder keg.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Philadelphia jury deciding the fates of two priests in the child sex abuse case was preparing to announce its decision this afternoon. But a verdict on most of the charges was unlikely.

The announcement was expected shortly after 2pm, according to court officials.

The jury did not deliberate yesterday after telling Judge Teresa Sarmina on Wednesday that they were deadlocked on four of the five counts against defendants Monsignor William Lynn and Father James Brennan, who have pleaded not guilty.

The judge had ordered the jury to keep trying and they worked without asking for any further assistance, including additional legal instructions or testimony readbacks, offered by the court.

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UNITED STATES
First Things

Jun 22, 2012

Rev. Thomas V. Berg

Cardinal Velasio de Paolis was named papal delegate to the Legionaries of Christ early in July 2010 to shepherd the congregation through a “process of profound re-evaluation” as mandated in a communiqué from the Holy See to the Legionaries on May 1st of that same year. His appointment followed upon a close scrutiny of all Legionary houses of formation and apostolate—a “canonical visitation”—conducted by a team of bishops appointed by the Pope. The visitation was mandated by Benedict after the congregation’s major superiors admitted in early 2009 that Maciel had lived a morally depraved double life, fathering at least a daughter and perhaps other children from at least one mistress, and sexually abusing young seminarians.

After twenty-three years as a Legionary, I discerned that it was best for me to abandon the congregation in 2009. Since the naming of De Paolis, I have watched and waited for needed reform. Now, two years later, I have decided to lift my silence to express my deep disappointment as well as my profound concern for the fine young men and dedicated priests who still compose the Legion.

In point of fact, the Legionaries are not some centuries-old and long-cherished religious family, deserving of every ounce of the Church’s energies to salvage it. The Legion’s seventy-one years of existence are immersed in controversy. Serious questions have been raised about the various “approvals” of the Legion in the 1940’s on account of Maciel’s duplicity. The Legion also escaped extinction under dubious circumstances after a Vatican investigation of Maciel in the 1950’s. I have held for quite some time that it would have been best for the Legionaries and the Church had Benedict opted to suppress the congregation. That he did not do.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The deadlocked jury reported for duty again this morning in the trial of two Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests.

On Wednesday, the panel of seven men and five women said told Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina it had reached a consensus on only one of the five counts against Msgr. William J. Lynn and the Rev. James J. Brennan. It did not identify which charge or defendant.

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NEW YORK
The Brooklyn Paper

By Aaron Short
The Brooklyn Paper

Prosecutors accused four Orthodox Jewish men of trying to use threats and bribes to convince a victim and a witness to drop a sexual assault case against an influential Williamsburg rabbi.

Brooklyn residents Abraham Rubin, 48, and brothers Joseph, Jacob, and Hertzka Berger were indicted in criminal court on Thursday for allegedly pressuring the victim and her boyfriend to not cooperate with law enforcement over the explosive sexual molestation case they filed against ultra-Orthodox rabbi Nechemya Weberman last year.

Rubin bore the brunt of the charges for allegedly trying to buy the victim’s silence with a $500,000 bribe and advising them to flee the country. He even offered to provide the witness with an attorney who could help them learn techniques so they could be uncooperative at the trial, according to authorities.

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VATICAN CITY
The Salt Lake Tribune

By ALESSANDRO SPECIALE
Religion News Service

First Published Jun 21 2012

For the past six months, the so-called Vatileaks affair has rocked the frescoed halls of the Vatican, plunging the global center of the Roman Catholic Church into turmoil.

Sparked by the publication of dozens of confidential documents, the scandal has led to the arrest of Pope Benedict XVI’s butler and might even be linked to the ouster of the president of the controversial Vatican Bank.

But, as in most things Vatican, it has at times been difficult to tell fact from fiction. Amid the media frenzy, people have often been left wondering what is going on inside the Holy See. Here’s what we know:

What’s been revealed?

The leaked documents vary in content: Most simply give interesting details on the inner workings of the Vatican bureaucracy, or on Rome’s take on local church developments. For example, a letter by Chicago Cardinal Francis George shows how he asked the Vatican to block the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Catholic movement, from giving a “pro-life” award to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn for ending the state’s death penalty. George argued that the award was inappropriate because Quinn supports abortion rights.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

A priest felt devastated when allegations of indecent assault against a 14-year-old girl were put to him, a jury has been told.

Father Eugene Boland denies five charges of indecently assaulting the teenager at his parochial house in Londonderry more than 20 years ago.

The court was told Father Boland denied the allegations when interviewed at Omagh Police Station in April 2010.

Father Boland told the jury he could not sleep and could not eat.

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UNITED STATES
Bangor Daily News

By Emily Yoffe, Slate

Posted June 22, 2012

It could have been much worse. None of the three people who molested me when I was young was a predatory pedophile like Jerry Sandusky. What I went through was brief and sadly common. It’s estimated, though no one knows the actual numbers, that one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before they reach 18. What happened shook me up at the time, but my experiences weren’t shattering. I didn’t repress the memories — I’ve just never given them much thought. But the trial of Sandusky, the former Penn State football coach, has made me think more deeply about what was done to me and what I did in response.

As Dear Prudence, I always urge people to report any sexual abuse. Removing the secrecy takes the shame from the victim and puts the blame on the perpetrator. Exposure is the way to stop repeat offenders. But I never told anyone back then. Even with the benefit of hindsight, considering the world in which these events took place — from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s — and the family in which I lived, I still understand my choice. …

The last incident was not child abuse, because I was no longer a minor, though I was still a teenager of 18 or 19. Several years earlier, my family had worked for the election of our congressman, Father Robert Drinan, an anti-Vietnam War, pro-choice priest. He was in town for a fundraiser or town meeting, and I went. Afterward he offered me a ride to the subway. (You’d think I would have learned.) He was in his 50s, and as he drove we chatted about college. We got to where he was letting me off, he turned off the engine, and he began jabbering incoherently about men and women. Then he lunged, shoving his tongue in my mouth while running his hands over my breasts and up and down my torso. It seems like the set-up for a joke, a Jewish woman being molested by a Jesuit. As we tussled, I had probably the most naïve thought of my life: “How could this be happening, he’s a priest!”

As I shoved him off and opened the car door to get out, I saw I had left a smear of my pink lipstick on his clerical collar. Again, I told no one. It was embarrassing, revolting, and I had no desire to make accusations against a congressman, especially one I admired. …

Editors Note: In response to this story, Drinan’s niece, Ann Drinan, has requested that this statement be printed on behalf of the family: “We find it odd that anyone would come forward with this allegation decades later when our uncle is dead and in no position to defend himself.”

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This was confirmed by AIF director, Francesco De Pasquale, who had criticised the new laws in recent months

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

The new Vatican anti-money laundering law which came into force last January provides “a more precise and complete institutional system” in comparison to Moneyval’s requests. The fact that such a comment on the new financial transparency laws – which have sparked serious controversy over the past few months – should come from the director of the AIF (the Vatican Financial Information Authority), Francesco De Pasquale, is significant.

The Vatican’s transparency law (No. 127), written by lawyer Marcello Condemi towards the end of 2010 and enforced in April 2011, was meant to undergo some modifications to help it meet international criteria for inclusion in the OECD’s white list of financially virtuous countries. These modifications, which were made hastily in juts three weeks last December, by a workgroup led by American lawyer, Jeffrey Lena, came into force on 25 January this year. The President of the AIF, Cardinal Nicora, Gotti Tedeschi and De Pasquale himself, held that in some points, the new law excessively scaled down the AIF’s power and as such was seen as a step backwards. This was the last battle fought by the President of the Vatican bank (IOR) before the no-confidence vote which led to his sudden dismissal.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

With the jury off today, it’s a good time to speculate about if the jury remains deadlocked, should District Attorney Seth Williams retry the case?

Will Spade, a former Philadelphia assistant district attorney who worked on the 2005 grand jury investigation of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, says it’s a no-brainer.

“I really do think they have to because it’s such an important case and because they’ve staked so much on it,” said Spade, now a defense lawyer. “To Seth’s credit he’s the first prosecutor in America to actually hold the Catholic hierarchy responsible for this stuff. I think there’s too much riding on it, so they have to do it.”

Spade even volunteered to help the war effort.

“If the jury does hang or there’s a less than completely successful verdict, I will volunter to go back to the D.A.’s office and help them out with this retrial,” Spade said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

June 21, 2012|By John P. Martin, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Lawyers call a judge’s speech to a deadlocked jury a “dynamite charge,” the workingman’s nickname for a bid to blast through an impasse.

On Wednesday, the 12th day of jury deliberations in the 13th week of the child-endangerment and sex-abuse trial of two Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests, the dynamite sticks came out. It just wasn’t clear who might get hurt.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina’s directive could dislodge a verdict in the landmark trial of a Catholic Church supervisor. Or it could implode a case a decade in the making.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic Sentinel

Catholic News Service

PHILADELPHIA — Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia has announced a reorganization of the archdiocesan administration that will result in the loss of 40 jobs and the closing of The Catholic Standard & Times, the 117-year-old archdiocesan newspaper.

Changes include the elimination of some offices and the combination of others, with reduced staffing levels.

The recent June issue of the Standard & Times, which went from a weekly to monthly publication schedule last year, was the last of the newspaper.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
ABC News

PHILADELPHIA June 21, 2012 (AP)

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia is cutting 45 jobs to address a $17 million deficit.

Archbishop Charles Chaput (SHAP’-yoo) says the budget gap is unrelated to the extraordinary legal costs incurred from criminal and civil priest-abuse cases.

The church will consolidate jobs in the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center, which now employs 244 people in more than 40 ministry programs and offices.

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PHILADELPHIA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Last month, at my request, the Archdiocese published a financial report that was as comprehensive as possible. In the years ahead, that annual report will improve and become even more thorough. After the past decade of anger and confusion in the Church, Philadelphia Catholics want a life of faith where their children are safe and their spirits are nourished. For as long as God gives me time as your bishop, I promise to work to make that happen.

I know that few things in the Church seem less fertile than talk about money. What finally matters to all of us is the welfare – including the spiritual welfare — of the people we love. Yet as every adult knows, no family can survive for long without using its resources wisely. The zeal to do good things is a natural part of the Christian vocation. But it needs to be anchored in reality and guided by prudence. If we act otherwise, we ignore sound stewardship and create bigger and more painful difficulties for the future, because we can’t quick-fix our way out of problems that we behave ourselves into.

Earlier today, June 21, I approved a staff reduction of more than 40 employees connected with the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center. These are good men and women who have served the Church well. I took this action with great reluctance, as one of several urgently needed steps to restore our Church to a healthy footing. Every departing employee has the respect and sincere gratitude of the Archdiocese and will be treated with maximum consideration, including appropriate severance and counseling.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Plan will stabilize central office operation, ensure long-term financial stability and position the Archdiocese for future growth

Today, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced steps aimed at cutting a projected deficit exceeding $17 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012. The Archdiocesan Pastoral Center, comprised of the Office for Financial Services and including more than 40 ministry programs and offices, has operated with significant deficits for many years. The restructuring – approved by Archbishop Chaput after a comprehensive review of operations — includes a staff reduction involving 45 positions, the merging and consolidation of 19 offices and/or ministries, the ceasing of The Catholic Standard & Times and the suspension of Phaith Magazine. The Archdiocese is also planning no raises for remaining staff in the next fiscal year. These steps will sharply reduce the expected deficit, provide better stewardship for operations, and help ensure improved financial health.

The extraordinary legal and professional costs of the past 16 months, while burdensome, played little role in the current budget decisions, according to the Archbishop. The financial and organizational difficulties facing the Archdiocese are structural and have been building for many years. They can no longer be sustained, and all of the Church’s works must return to a spirit of careful stewardship.

All employees released in the staff reduction will receive 60 days of pay in lieu of notice and full-time employees will be eligible for one week of severance pay for each year of completed service. All affected employees will also be paid for accrued and unused vacation time. In addition to severance, the Archdiocese will also provide medical coverage through September 30 and departing employees will be eligible for a COBRA-like benefit for the six months following. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will also contract with a third party firm to provide job counseling and career services, and protocols are in place to match displaced employees’ skills with openings in other offices, including Catholic Social Services and Catholic Healthcare Services, which were not impacted by this restructuring and maintain separate budgets.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

By Jason Nark
Daily News Staff Writer

ON WEDNESDAY, when he addressed a conference of Catholic journalists in Indianapolis, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said, “The habits of Catholic culture run very deep in the Philadelphia region.”

On Thursday, Chaput announced deep and drastic cuts for the church back here in Philadelphia, including 45 layoffs, the consolidation of several offices and ministries, and the elimination of its print newspaper, the Catholic Standard & Times, a very old reading habit for local Catholics.

“It’s the end of an era,” said Susan Matthews, a former Standard and Times editor who runs the Catholics4Change.com website. “With over a million Catholics in the city, it was not only a source for news but for historical records.”

In a news release issued Thursday, the Archdiocese said it would be closing the paper and suspending the production of its monthly magazine, Phaith.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

June 21, 2012|By David O’Reilly, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Facing a $17 million deficit in its operating budget, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Thursday closed its youth office, shut down its Hispanic evangelization center, ended publication of its monthly newspaper, and laid off 45 employees – 18 percent of the headquarters staff – as part of a massive restructuring.

The cuts, announced by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, come atop his shuttering of 27 schools and nine parishes since arriving in the five-county archdiocese in the fall.

Writing in his weekly column on the archdiocesan website about the latest reductions, he said he “took this action with great reluctance, as one of several urgently needed steps to restore our church to a healthy footing.”

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NEW YORK
Huffington Post

By COLLEEN LONG 06/21/12

NEW YORK — A teenage girl was offered $500,000 to leave the country instead of testifying in an upcoming sex abuse case against her former spiritual counselor in Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, prosecutors said Thursday.

Abraham Rubin, 48, offered the bribe to the girl and her boyfriend, telling them justice would be better served if they didn’t testify in the case against Nechemya Weberman, prosecutors said. Three other men also tried to harass the accuser into silence, they said.

Weberman, 53, has been accused of molesting the girl from ages 12 to 15. He has pleaded not guilty to sex abuse charges, and he has been embraced in his community and defended as wrongly accused. The girl has been threatened, ostracized and called a slut and a troublemaker, family friends said.

Both the accuser and her boyfriend could be called to testify in the case. A court date was set for July 18.

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NEW YORK
The Guardian (United Kingdom)

Zoë Blackler
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 21 June 2012

Four ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have been charged with attempted bribery and harassment in the case of an alleged child molester, as Brooklyn’s district attorney talks tough on victim intimidation.

The men, arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Thursday, are accused of trying to derail the prosecution of Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed therapist awaiting trial for sexual abusing a teenage girl.

Abraham Rubin, 48, and brothers Joseph Berger, Jacob Berger and Hertzka Berger all pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include bribing a witness, witness tampering, coercion and aggravated harassment.

The arrests are being credited to a new task force established by district attorney Charles Hynes following criticism that he has failed to curb the widespread intimidation of sex abuse victims in the Orthodox community. For decades, community leaders have hushed up child abuse allegations, and DA Hynes, who holds an elected position, is accused of minimising prosecutions under pressure from the rabbis with their powerful bloc vote. Thursday’s arrests for victim intimidation are the first in an Orthodox child sex abuse case since 2000.

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NEW YORK
Chicago Tribune

By Jessica Dye

NEW YORK, June 21 (Reuters) – Four men were charged on Thursday with attempting to intimidate and bribe a teenage girl who is a witness in an upcoming sexual-assault trial, the first case resulting from a new task force to address witness tampering in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community.

According to an indictment, Abraham Rubin, 48, offered the alleged victim and her boyfriend $500,000 to recant testimony against Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed psychotherapist
awaiting trial on charges he repeatedly abused the girl, starting when she was 12 years old.

Another indictment unsealed on Thursday said Joseph, Jacob and Hertzka Berger attempted to pressure the girl and her boyfriend to stop cooperating with law enforcement. The brothers
allegedly told the boyfriend, who is also a witness in the case, that his restaurant would lose its kosher certification if he did not cave to their demands.

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NEW YORK
The Wall Street Journal

By PERVAIZ SHALLWANI

A Brooklyn man has been charged with trying to buy the silence of an alleged sexual-abuse victim and her boyfriend in a criminal case against a beloved counselor in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, authorities said Thursday.

The man’s arrest, along with three others accused of witness intimidation, were the first from a Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office task force created this year to grapple with the intimidation of sexual-abuse victims in the Orthodox Jewish community. District Attorney Charles Hynes has been accused of not zealously prosecuting such cases in that community, but he said his office has brought more than 100 cases, even as prosecutors face limited cooperation.

Charges against one of the four defendants, Abraham Rubin, 48 years old, include trying to give the victim $500,000 to leave the U.S. instead of testifying against Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed therapist on trial for allegedly molesting the victim in his home and office from when she was 12 to 15 years old. He was arrested in February 2011.

Three other defendants arrested Thursday—Jacob, Joseph and Hertzka Berger—are accused of trying to pressure the couple into not testifying by threatening to remove a kosher certificate in a restaurant owned and operated by the boyfriend, Mr. Hynes said.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Four Hasidic men are accused of trying to bribe or pressure a sex-assault victim to prevent her from bringing the case to court

By Oren Yaniv / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Four Hasidic men were accused Thursday of intimidating witnesses — and one allegedly offered a half-million dollars — so a sex abuse case against a prominent Jewish counselor would “go away,” Brooklyn prosecutors said.

They are charged with trying to derail the upcoming trial against Nechemya Weberman, 53, who’s accused of molesting a 12-year-old girl.

“We won’t tolerate the illegal interference with the administration of justice in this county,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes. “Not only will sexual predators be caught and punished, but those who attempt to illegally protect them by witness intimidation will be prosecuted.”

The DA, who came under fire for mishandling sex abuse cases in the insular Orthodox community, convened a panel last month to combat harassment. This is the first prosecution to result from that, he said.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

By SHARON OTTERMAN

Published: June 21, 2012

The Brooklyn district attorney, facing a wave of public criticism about his handling of sexual abuse allegations in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, on Thursday charged four men with attempting to silence an accuser by offering her and her boyfriend a $500,000 bribe, and threatening her boyfriend’s business.

The district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, alleged that the men were part of an effort to protect a prominent member of the Satmar Hasidic community, Nechemya Weberman, who has been accused of 88 counts of sexual misconduct, including oral sex with a child younger than 13 years old. The charges all involve one girl, now 17, who was referred by her school to get counseling by Mr. Weberman, and then alleged she was abused by him during therapy sessions.

The charges are the first time in at least two decades that Mr. Hynes has charged Hasidic Jews with intimidation of a witness in a sexual abuse case, even though victims, their advocates and prosecutors say intimidation has long been a major obstacle to prosecution of abuse among the ultra-Orthodox. In recent weeks, Mr. Hynes has been saying that the intimidation of witnesses in the ultra-Orthodox community is worse than in the world of organized crime.

“I’m hoping that this will be a message to those who are intimidated that they should come forward and help us,” Mr. Hynes said at a news conference. “No one can engage in this kind of conduct and feel free that, based on prior experience, nothing can happen to them.”

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NEW YORK
Forward

By Paul Berger

Published June 21, 2012.

After months complaining about the resistance of ultra-Orthodox Jews to cooperate in child sex abuse cases, Brooklyn’s District Attorney has made four arrests for witness tampering.

The four were set to appear in Brooklyn Supreme Court on June 21 to be arraigned on charges of bribery and intimidation related to the looming trial of Rabbi Nechemya Weberman.

DNAinfo reported that Jacob, Joseph and Hertzka Berger and Abraham Rubin offered to pay an alleged victim $500,000 to keep quiet.

Weberman, 53, was arrested last year on charges of sexually abusing a teenage girl over several years. His case has been deeply contentious among New York’s Satmar community.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Amy Worden
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG – It’s a rare day that simply getting a bill voted out of a committee is cause for celebration in the Capitol.

But Thursday was such a day for lawmakers who have pushed for more than six years for legislation giving victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to file civil suits or criminal complaints against their alleged abusers.

In this case, the national spotlight on former Pennsylvania State University assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s child-abuse case may have helped propel the stalled legislation forward, as it has other state initiatives to protect children.

Frustrated by the House Judiciary Committee chairman’s reluctance to advance their bills, two Philadelphia Democrats, Mike McGeehan and Louise Williams Bishop, moved this week to circumvent the committee, filing a “discharge motion” to send their bills to the floor.

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GEORGIA
Times-Georgian

by Winston Jones/Times-Georgian

Members of the clergy, volunteers and nurses’ aides are among those added to the list of people required to report suspected child abuse under provisions of a new Georgia law that becomes effective July 1.

These additions are a part of House Bill 1176, known as the Criminal Justice Reform Act, which passed both the state House and Senate unanimously during the 2012 General Assembly session and was signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal.

These changes come on the heels of the well-publicized child sexual abuse trial of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The jury Thursday began deliberations on the case, which charges Sandusky with abusing 10 young boys over a period of 15 years. Some university personnel close to the case have been criticized for not being more forthcoming in reporting the suspected abuse.

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IDAHO
CDA Press

By DAVID COLE/Staff writer

COEUR d’ALENE – Attorneys for Pastor Robert “Bob” Davis of North Country Chapel in Post Falls and the California-based parent church Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa asked a judge Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit filed against them alleging a failure to protect children from a sexual predator.

The lawsuit, filed in August 2011 in 1st District Court, names four men as plaintiffs who said they were sexually abused as teenagers in 2000 to 2003 by a man who was known to have targeted boys in the past.

The lawsuit names the perpetrator as Anthony L. Iglesias, who is currently being held in a Boise prison because of convictions in Kootenai County for lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor. Iglesias was in his early 20s when he allegedly had sexual contact with the four boys. The alleged victims today are in their early 20s.

A separate and previous lawsuit names North Country Chapel and Calvary Rathdrum as defendants, saying Iglesias provided youth services for both institutions while targeting the boys. That case is pending.

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MAINE
Portland Press Herald

By Eric Russell erussell@pressherald.com
Staff Writer

The longtime spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has resigned, just a few weeks after her boss, Bishop Richard Malone, was assigned to another diocese.

Sue Bernard, who has been communications director for the diocese for more than a decade, will be director of development and college relations for Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle. …

Bernard was the voice of the diocese during a high-profile period, including the child sexual abuse scandal that spread from Massachusetts to Maine.

Before working for the diocese, Bernard spent more than 20 years in broadcasting, most of it at WAGM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Presque Isle.

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