ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella | VATICAN CITY

Pope Francis is to elevate five Roman Catholic prelates from outside Italy and the Vatican to the rank of cardinal, the elite group of churchmen who are his closest advisers and can enter a conclave to choose his successor.

The pope, making the surprise announcement during his weekly Sunday address, said the men came from Mali, Spain, Sweden, Laos and El Salvador. The ceremony to elevate them, known as a consistory, would take place on June 28.

The fact that none of the five are Italian and none hold Vatican positions underscores Francis’ conviction that the Church is a global institution that should become increasingly less Italian-centric.

Naming new cardinals is one of the most significant powers of the papacy, allowing a pontiff to put his stamp on the future of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church.

The new cardinals were named as Archbishop Jean Zerbo, 73, of Bamako, Mali, Archbishop Juan José Omella, 71, of Barcelona, Spain, Bishop Anders Arborelius, 67, of Stockholm, Bishop Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, 73, of Pakse, Laos, and Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chávez, 74, of San Salvador.

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UNITED STATES/IRELAND
IrishCentral

Dara Kelly @IrishCentral May 21, 2017

Were you adopted from Ireland? Or are you a mother whose child was adopted because you were unmarried there?

Were you born in a Mother and Baby Home, a County Home or similar place in Ireland?

Or are you a relative of an adopted person from Ireland? Or did you once work for an institution or agency involved with unmarried mothers and their children there?

The Adoption Rights Alliance and the Justice for Magdalenes Research group launched Clann in 2016 to gather the data and submit a group report to the ongoing Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters in Ireland.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com May 20, 2017

Within a year since former altar boy Roy Quintanilla came forward on May 17, 2016 to accuse Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of sexually abusing him in the 1970s, not only has the Vatican promptly stepped in but also placed a global spotlight on Guam’s clergy sex abuses.

“We’ve come a long way,” Quintanilla told Pacific Daily News. “We wouldn’t have come this far were it not for the Catholic community’s support. It’s amazing what we can do as a community.”

In a predominantly Catholic community, publicly accusing any priest, much less the Guam archbishop for some 30 years, was unthinkable, until Quintanilla and other former Agat altar boys stepped forward.

A year later, 66 clergy sex abuse lawsuits involving 11 Guam Catholic priests including Apuron have been filed in local and federal courts.

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ZIMBABWE
Nehanda Radio

Anglican Manicaland diocese priest, Reverend Gilbert Sambona, has been accused of having a romantic affair with a married parishioner.

Mr Clever Ndiringepi, a church member, claimed that the man of cloth was in an intimate relationship with his wife, Bridget. In November last year, Mr Ndiringepi wrote a two-paged letter of complaint to the Anglican Manicaland diocese leader, Bishop Erik Ruwona. “On the 1st of November 2016, I checked my wife’s (Bridget Ndiringepi) phone. I went through Whatsapp chats and came across a disturbing chat between her and a person saved as Mbona Rev, with the cell number +263 773 436 942 on the 31st of October 2016 and Sunday 30th October 2016.

“All these were love messages. It’s undoubted that the two are in love as per attached copies of the chat. I also noticed messages of the same nature between the two, even in my wife’s Netone number. “There were also Ecocash transfers from the Reverend to my wife… I have become very unsettled with this issue so much that I am now suffering from hypertension,” reads part of the letter.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Kathianne Boniello May 20, 2017

A Chelsea priest allegedly caught with child porn is suing Timothy Cardinal Dolan, among others, for $2 million, claiming he was falsely accused.

The Rev. Keith Fennessy was tossed from the pulpit at St. Columba Church in 2015 after the Archdiocese of New York said it discovered “pornographic material” on his computer. Fennessy was not criminally charged.

The priest now says in legal papers that the cardinal, the archdiocese and spokesman Joseph Zwilling and Catholic New York newspaper made the accusations with a “reckless disregard” for the truth.

In the 2016 Catholic New York article on the allegations being referred to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Zwilling confirmed the images found on Fennessy’s computer were “of minors.”

The DA eventually declined to prosecute Fennessy, and he was never defrocked.

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ITALIA/ARGENTINA
Rete L’Abuso

[PROVOLO: The church does not hand over the documents to justice.]

Al di là dei proclami della Santa Sede puntualmente riportati dalla stampa, nel concreto l’ennesimo rifiuto della Santa Sede a collaborare con la giustizia.

PROVOLO la chiesa non informerà la giustizia

La commissione del Vaticano che indaga sulle denunce di abuso all’istituto Provolo, ha dichiarato che lo impedisce un accordo tra Vaticano e Argentina .

Il giorno prima di partire, dopo la sua seconda visita per l’indagine interna alla chiesa che vuole accertare se i due sacerdoti dell’istituto (già denunciati a Verona anni fa) sono colpevoli delle decine di abusi di cui sono accusati. Il vicario giudiziale del vaticano ha dato appuntamento ai giornalisti in un hotel del centro per una conferenza stampa , per parlare del suo lavoro.

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ILLINOIS
Journal Courier

AP

Illinois is set to eliminate the statute of limitations in child sex-abuse cases, a change prosecutors and a victim of former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert called for after Hastert was imprisoned for violating banking laws while trying to silence a student he abused decades ago.

The Illinois House unanimously approved the legislation Thursday, sending it to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who supports it.

State Attorney General Lisa Madigan argued Hastert’s case provided a prime example of why Illinois should join 36 other states and the federal government in removing its time limits for charging people accused of child-sex crimes.

A federal judge dubbed Hastert “a serial child molester” at his sentencing last year, saying the former speaker sexually abused at least four former students at Yorkville High School in suburban Chicago from 1965 to 1981.

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MARYLAND
Bustle

ByALAINA URQUHART-WHITE

With its new docuseries The Keepers, Netflix is diving into a cold case that has remained unsolved for decades. The series takes a deep look at the mysterious 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik, who was a beloved teacher at Archbishop Keough Catholic High School in Baltimore. But, the series isn’t only focused on Cesnik’s story. It also delves into the many allegations of sexual abuse against Keough’s chaplain, Father Joseph Maskell. Maskell was never charged with a crime and denied the allegations until his death in 2001, and told The Baltimore Sun in 1994 that “I never had sex with a kid … It is absolutely untrue.” Because of the allegations, The Sunday Times reports that Maskell was stripped of his ministry by the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1994 but continued to gain employment after fleeing to Ireland in 1996. So, where else did Father Maskell work?

According to the Archdiocese of Baltimore website, before working as chaplain at Keough High School, Maskell served at Sacred Heart of Mary in Baltimore from 1965 to 1966. After that, he moved on to work at St. Clement in Lansdowne from 1966 to 1968. He then worked as the chaplain for Archbishop Keough Catholic High School from 1967 to 1975 and was also chaplain for the Baltimore police department during that time, according to The Times article. Additionally he worked at Our Lady of Victory from 1968 to 1970. Between 1970 and 1980, Maskell was living and “assisting” at St. Clement, while he served at the Division of Schools from 1975 to 1980. Between 1980 and 1982, he served at Annunciation before moving on to Holy Cross from 1982 to 1992. His final stint of employment in the United States before he fled to Ireland was for St. Augustine in Elkridge from 1993 to 1994.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore acknowledged the allegations against Maskell in a statement to Bustle.

“Since the 1990s, when the Archdiocese of Baltimore first learned of an allegation of child sexual abuse against Maskell, and on numerous occasions since, the Archdiocese has publicly acknowledged and apologized for the horrific abuse committed by him. The Archdiocese reported the allegations to civil authorities in the 1990s and cooperated fully in any investigation, removed Father Maskell’s faculties to function as a priest, apologized to victims and offered them counseling assistance, sought additional victims, and provided direct financial assistance to 16 individuals abused by Maskell.

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UNITED STATES
Romper

By Megan Walsh

Netflix’s upcoming true crime documentary series The Keepers revisits the 1969 murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, who was brutally killed decades ago. Cesnik taught at the Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore alongside the school chaplain Father Joseph Maskell and Director of Religious Services Father Neil Magnus, both of whom were allegedly abusing some of the girls (neither Maskell or Magnus was convicted of sexual assault, denying any part in accusations). Years later in the ’90s, two women came forward to share what happened to them during their time at Keough. One of those women was named Teresa Lancaster. But who is Teresa Lancaster on The Keepers?

Currently, Lancaster is an attorney living in Baltimore and a child sexual abuse activist who works with victims through the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests. But she was also one of the women who brought Father Maskell’s abuse to light. In 1994, she and another former Keough student named Jean Wehner filed a suit against Maskell, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the School Sisters of Notre Dame (who ran the school), and a gynecologist named Dr. Christian Richter. Neither Lancaster nor Wehner truly saw justice served for what happened to them, but they did make public the abuse that had formerly been a closely-kept secret. (Like Maskell, Richter maintained his innocence and said he had not been part of any abuse.)

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UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on May 21, 2017 by Betty Clermont

“There’s an expectation that the relationship between President Trump and Pope Francis will be difficult to establish [but] that is not the case at all,” Louis Bono, temporary charge d’affaires in the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, said. When the pope and Trump meet on May 24, “They’ll have the opportunity to speak frankly if there are any areas of differences, but more so, to focus on those areas where we do have common ground and to identify how we can work together further,” Bono said.

In a White House Rose Garden ceremony on May 4, Trump decried the “attacks against the Little Sisters of the Poor” before signing his executive order on “religious freedom.” He invited the sisters present to stand beside him and shook the hands of two of them. Trump congratulated them and told the sisters that they “sort of just won a lawsuit.” He added, “I want you to know, your long ordeal will soon be over,” referring to their lawsuit against Obamacare that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

After Trump’s announcement, Sister Constance Veit, a spokesperson for the religious community, “summed up her hopes for what lies ahead with a football analogy. ‘We’re on the one-yard line, first down. We just have to get it over the goal line,’” she said.

Pope Francis met with the Little Sisters of the Poor while in the U.S. in support of their lawsuit. The year before, the pope granted a private audience to Hobby Lobby’s Green family, asking them “how their Supreme Court fight against President Obama’s contraception mandate was progressing.” …

“MY CARDINALS”

During the primaries, the USCCB video, “The Right to Religious Freedom,” showed a clip of Hillary Clinton while a voice-over intoned that “the government is stopping us from practicing our faith.”

When Wikileaks released the “hacked Democratic National Committee data from Russian intelligence” on Oct. 11, Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails were included. His correspondence relating to the Catholic Church was seized upon by the U.S. bishops, although it was several years old and had nothing to do with Clinton or any political campaign.

In short, the bishops’ attacks against Clinton and Podesta were hyperbolic, dishonest and highly partisan, including those made by the prelate of Wall Street, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, the elected president of the USCCB.

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MARYLAND
National Catholic Register

A question posed by the Netflix series is whether Sister Cathy Cesnik knew of a priest’s abuse – and whether that knowledge played a part in her murder.

Kathy Schiffer

A seven-part Netflix docu-series scheduled to air beginning Friday, May 19 will focus on priestly sexual abuse of high school students in Baltimore in the 1960s, and the subsequent murder of a 26-year-old nun who may have discovered the abuse.

“The Keepers” will no doubt titillate viewers with its sordid tale of sex and murder; but what it is not expected to do, say officials of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, is accurately reflect the Archdiocese’s efforts to deal with the abuse and to cooperate with the murder investigation of the nun.

The series will reportedly suggest a connection between the abuse cases and the death of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, S.S.N.D. – although the recent exhumation of the body of Fr. Joseph Maskell fails to substantiate that connection.

Does “The Keepers” Accurately Reflect the Archdiocese’s Role?

In their quest to produce a blockbuster exposé, the writers of “The Keepers” interviewed women who were sexually abused as high school girls in the 1960s and ’70s by Fr. Joseph Maskell, then chaplain of Baltimore’s Archbishop Keough High School. The victims allege that Fr. Maskell was involved in the death of Sister Cathy Cesnik, who once taught at the same school, and that there was a cover-up on the part of the Archdiocese – although they provide no evidence to support their claim. In fact, neither the abuse nor the suggestion that Maskell might be involved in the nun’s death were known to the Archdiocese or to the police until the 1990s.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

Jeremy Venosta
@jeremyvenosta

21 May 2017

Victims and their supporters made their voices heard in the fight against sexual abuse during a march on Sturt Street on Sunday afternoon.

Two years two the day after the Loud Fence movement first took to Ballarat’s streets, community members returned to make a stand and keep the issue at the forefront of public debate.

Loud Fence started during the Royal Commission into child sex abuse by the Catholic clergy in the Ballarat.

Its message was about giving support to victims so they felt comfortable enough to come forward and talk about their experience.

The Royal Commission has finished hearing from victims and maintaining support for them remains a key issue for Loud Fence members.

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NEW YORK
Lewisboro Daily Voice

A group of men who were sexually abused as children by Archdiocese of New York priests who worked in the Hudson Valley named their abusers as financial terms of settlements they received through the archdiocese’s new sexual abuse survivor compensation fund were released, according to the New York Times.

The lawyer for the seven victims said they had each received settlements of $150,000 to $350,000 each from the archdiocese, The Times reported.

The cases involved the following priests from the area:

* Rev. Gennaro “Jerry” Gentile, who was removed from the ministry in 2002, after working at Holy Name of Mary in Croton-on-Hudson, St. Mary’s in Wappingers Falls, St. Joseph’s Seminary and St. Eugene’s in Yonkers, St. Mary’s in Poughkeepsie, St. Denis in Hopewell Junction and Immaculate Conception in Tuckahoe.

* Rev. Richard Gorman, who worked at St. Barnabas Church in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx about a block away from Yonkers, was removed in January 2016 after being accused of abusing Westchester minors.

* Rev. Peter Kihm, who was removed from Good Shepherd in Rhinebeck in 2016 following abuse allegations after earlier working in Westchester and Rockland.

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ARGENTINA
Rete L’Abuso

[Shame, guilt and sadness. Ache. These are the words of monsignor Sergio Buenanueva, responsible for the prevention of sexual abuse against children in the Argentina episcopate.The church in the birth of the pope is going through a serious crisis following the scandal in the institute for deaf children “Provolo” in Mendoza.]

Intervista con Sergio Buenanueva, vescovo di San Francisco e presidente della Commissione dei Ministeri della Conferenza episcopale argentina, sulla risposta della Chiesa contro le violenze sessuali su minori

Vergogna, rimorso e tristezza. Dolore. Sono le parole di monsignor Sergio Buenanueva, responsabile della prevenzione degli abusi sessuali contro i minori nell’episcopato argentino. La Chiesa nel Paese natale del Papa sta attraversando una grave crisi a seguito dello scandalo nell’istituto per bambini sordomuti “Próvolo”, a Mendoza. Di questo e di altro Vatican Insider ne parla con il vescovo di San Francisco.

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ITALIA
Giornalettismo

[Teacher of religion accused of sexual acts with a student, 14.]

Un 48enne, sposato e con figli, a processo a Palermo

Un ex professore di religione dell’istituto Gonzaga di Palermo è finito a processo con l’accusa di aver fatto sesso con un’alunna di 14 anni. Per l’insegnante, 48 anni, sposato e padre di due figli, la Procura ha chiesto e ottenuto il giudizio immediato. Avrebbe abusato dell’allieva minorenne nel 2015. A maggio dello scorso anno è finito agli arresti domiciliari. Ha poi scelto il rito abbreviato. Il processo è iniziato da poco.

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ROME
Rome Reports

[with video]

2017-05-20

When a bishop receives news of an alleged sex abuse case, some may be surprised to know there is a process when handling each case.

MIGUEL YAÑEZ
Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
“When this large number of cases exploded in some countries in the Church, in my opinion the greatest indignation was not only the existence of these cases, but the mismanagement by the leaders of the Church. I think that point is a point that is changing. Today there are some clear rules about what a bishop or religious superior must do when he receives a complaint from a victim.”

FR. JUSTIN WACHS
Canon Lawyer
“When a bishop receives an accusation, he’s going to do everything he can to make himself or his staff available to receive the alleged victim’s story and denunciation of the cleric: the priest or deacon or maybe even a bishop. That’s not an easy moment because that person usually comes hurting. It’s a very challenging moment.”

The first step is to question the truth and credibility of the case and reliability of the persons involved. There should be a clear statement of compliance with both civil and Church authorities, and requirements and neutrality in order to investigate the matter.

Once the bishop receives the news, he begins the process of the preliminary investigation, gathering all evidence from both sides. He must act quickly, but not react to the case without listening and considering both sides.

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CALIFORNIA
Fox LA

MAY 17 2017

(FOX 11) – An Alhambra teacher was arrested today for allegedly having sexual relations with a former student at an all-girls Catholic school.

Alhambra Police arrested 42 year old Diana Yniguez also known as Diana Wendel. They say she had unlawful sexual relations with her former 17 year old student

Police say the high school teacher met the girl in her class two years ago at Ramona Convent Secondary School.

On Tuesday, investigators say one of the girl’s family member saw sexual text messages the teacher had sent, and told the girl’s father, who showed police the phone.

Detectives say the relationship started in March of this year…and the interactions took place at school and in the teacher’s car.

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CALIFORNIA
ABC 7

ALHAMBRA, Calif. (KABC) — A female teacher was arrested on suspicion of having a sexual relationship with a student at an all-girls Catholic school in Alhambra, according to authorities.

Alhambra police said 42-year-old Diana Wendel, a teacher at Ramona Convent Secondary School for the past three years, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after a graphic text was found on a student’s phone by her relative on Tuesday.

Officials said the student’s father reported the text message and turned the cellphone over to police.

“A concerned relative of the female victim actually discovered the sexually graphic text messages and obviously alerted the parent who in turn came to the police department to report this,” Sgt. Steven Carr with the Alhambra Police Department said.

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CALIFORNIA
Daily Mail (UK)

By Emily Crane For Dailymail.com

A female teacher at an all-girls Catholic school has been accused of having a sexual relationship with a student after a graphic text message was allegedly uncovered by the girl’s parents.

Diana Wendel, a teacher at Ramona Convent Secondary School, was arrested on Wednesday in Alhambra, California.

The 42-year-old, who has taught at the school for three years, is accused of having a sexual relationship with the 17-year-old girl over the past two to three months.

The sexual contact allegedly took place on the school’s campus in Wendel’s car.

Police said the girl’s father alerted them to the situation after being made aware of a graphic text message on Tuesday night.

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NEW MEXICO
The Taos News

By Uriel J. Garcia
The New Mexican

A lawsuit filed in April against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe says a 2015 film about widespread child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in the Boston area triggered a New Mexico’s man’s childhood memories of being sexually abused by two priests at an Albuquerque church.

Attorneys representing the man, identified as John Doe 66, filed the suit Thursday in the 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque. It also names the Church of Ascension Parish in Albuquerque’s South Valley as a defendant.

The lawsuit, one of more than 60 similar complaints against the archdiocese filed in the last few years by the Law Offices of Brad D. Hall, comes as the archdiocese has asked a state judge in the First Judicial District in Santa Fe to seal records in a separate case alleging sexual abuse by one of its priests.

Filed in December, that suit says seven San Miguel County men, who are not identified, were molested as children by a priest at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Las Vegas, N.M. The priest, Monsignor Hubert C. Lomme, died in 1986 at age 79. The men’s attorneys are asking a judge to reject the archdiocese’s request earlier this month to conceal documents in the case. The request is “overbroad, complex and limiting,” the attorneys say, calling it a “gag order.”

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MARYLAND
ABC 2

[with video]

Brian Kuebler

BALTIMORE – “The Keepers” dropped early Friday morning.

The seven part documentary lays bare all the theories surrounding the 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik and the role Father Joseph Maskell may have played in it.

But the abuse Maskell was accused of is also at issue.

“Oh I think it is a story that is highly relevant, needed to be told,” said attorney Sheldon Jacobs.

Jacobs represented 13 victims who alleged Maskell abused them some 45 years ago.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Union Leader

By KIMBERLY HOUGHTON

NASHUA — A local judge will consider next month whether the former principal at St. Francis of Assisi School, accused of stealing more than $152,000 from the private school in Litchfield, is now competent to stand trial.

It has been nearly four years since Shannon Dannible, 40, of Amesbury, Mass., was indicted on a felony count of unauthorized taking or transfer in connection with the alleged embezzlement; she has been free on bail since her arrest several years ago. Last August, Judge Jacalyn Colburn deemed that Dannible was incompetent to stand trial, but said at the time that if Dannible continued attending psychotherapy and treatment, her competency may potentially be restored within the year.

Dannible allegedly stole $152,468 from the Catholic school’s bank accounts by issuing herself checks, withdrawing cash for herself and directing school funds to pay off personal debts during a four-year period when she was an administrator at the school from 2007-2011.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Pokrov

Author: Melanie Jula Sakoda
Date Published: 05/18/2017
Publication: Pokrov.org

Memorandum of Decision and Order on Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment

Pokrov.org has obtained a copy of the Memorandum of Decision and Order on Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment in the case of Manter vs. Abdelahad. A copy of the order is linked above.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

May 19, 2017 By Steve Tawa

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — While the re-trial of Monsignor William Lynn in the church sex-abuse scandal may be a year away, lawyers were back in court for a hearing on whether his defense lawyer violated the judge’s gag order.

After a routine hearing recently, the Philadelphia Inquirer incorrectly described the charge Msgr. Lynn faces.

The caption below his photo read he is “accused of sexual misconduct.” He is not.

The 66-year old Lynn is charged with one count of child endangerment involving his supervisory role over priests accused of sexual misconduct.

Even though Judge Gwendolyn Bright imposed a gag order barring the lawyers and parties from publicly discussing the case, when defense lawyer Thomas Bergstrom opened his Inquirer the following morning, he admits to “losing his temper.”

He sent off a flurry of emails to longtime Inquirer reporter Joe Slobodzian, who had absolutely nothing to do with the error. His story was correct. The people who wrote the caption got it wrong.

Judge Bright did not fault Bergstrom for getting the paper to fix the mistake, but she did lay into him for cc’ing – copying his remarks – to another reporter who writes an on-line blog.

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CANADA
Hamilton Spectator

Waterloo Region Record
By Joanna Smith

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to ask Pope Francis for a formal apology for the role of the Roman Catholic Church in the residential school system when the two meet during a private audience later this month.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission included the demand for a papal apology — to survivors, their families and communities — among the 94 recommendations in its report on the dark history and legacy of residential schools.

Trudeau, who has promised to act on all 94 recommendations, has previously promised to speak to the Pope about an apology, but noted he could not compel him to agree.

“It is a conversation that is going to have to happen between the two gentlemen,” said a federal government official, who spoke on the condition that sources not be named.

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UNITED STATES
Questions from a Ewe

This might strike readers as unusual but sometimes I just don’t know what to say.

Earlier this month I received an email from the Pontifical North American College (PNAC) inviting me to join its rector on a pilgrimage. PNAC is the US bishops’ seminary in Rome. Somehow, I do not think of myself as being on the PNAC’s “A” list for invitations to anything. Nonetheless, I received the invitation.

Maybe some readers would like to join the PNAC trip so here’s a link to the flyer advertising the trip.

Receiving the invitation is not what left me speechless. It was the pilgrimage’s description and price…$7,699 per person for a 9 night luxury cruise on the Mediterranean. There is also an option for $12,399 per person for folks with more discerning tastes. The flyer describes free-flowing champagne, butlers, room service, shoe shine service, spas and marble-clad bathrooms…you know…all the amenities Jesus had. I am sure there will be reflection exercise on “where would Jesus cruise” and “what kind of marble would inspire Jesus to excrete.”

To put this in perspective, the global annual median salary in 2012 was estimated at about $1,225 USD. Thus, the modest per person pilgrimage package, in the name of Jesus, is equivalent to about 6 people’s annual income. About every day and a half on the cruise, each of these fine pious folks will burn through the equivalent of one person’s entire annual income. The more luxurious package equates to 10 people’s annual income, burning through more than a person’s annual income equivalent per day.

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ARGENTINA
El Dia

[According to Vatican envoys “the boys fall in love and denounce by spite”]

“Hay personas despechadas. Por ejemplo, una chica, un chico… se enamora de un sacerdote, y éste no le responde. Tan despechado puede ser el varón como la mujer. Entonces, lo denuncian”. En esos términos se refirió uno de los sacerdotes, que forma parte de la Comitiva enviada por el Vaticano a investigar los casos de abusos en el Instituto Provolo, al referirse al origen de las denuncias por ataques sexuales que involucran a miembros de la Iglesia Católica.

Según la mirada del cura Dante Simón muchas de las denuncias por abuso que se radican no son verdaderas y se fundamentan en “despechos” que tienen los denunciantes con los ministros religiosos por “no responder”. Simón se encuentra desde hace algunas semanas en Mendoza para tratar de echar luz sobre los sucesos ocurridos en el Instituto Antonio Próvolo de Luján de Cuyo. Junto a Juan Martínez encabezan la comisión investigadora.

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ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Herald

In an interview addressing scandal in Mendoza, Father Dante Simón talks of kids who ‘fall in love with a priest’ and are rejected

A Vatican envoy sent to investigate a shocking paedophilia cover-up at the Antonio Próvolo Institute for deaf children in Mendoza province — where priests and employees have been accused of the systematic sexual abuse of minors over decades — has sparked outrage after describing some of the children who laid claims as “spiteful.”

Father Dante Simón, one of the two envoys sent by the Vatican to probe the scandal, suggested that some accusations have been dismissed because they were invented by “spiteful” boys who had fallen in love with priests and were rejected. Despite the fact that more than 60 former students have come forward with allegations involving sexual abuse at the institute, Simón chose to highlight “dismissed” cases.

“A few (cases) have been dismissed,” the priest told the Mendoza Post. “Because there are people who are spiteful. For example, a girl or a boy falls in love with a priest, and he doesn’t respond back. The boy can be very spiteful like a woman can. So, they denounce him (the priest),” Simón told reporter Martín Tejerina.

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IRELAND
The Journal

OVER SEVEN ACRES of school playing fields to be sold by the Christian Brothers to pay compensation for child abuse are already zoned for housing for any potential developers.

Yesterday, it emerged how the land surrounding Clonkeen College in Deansgrange, south Dublin, was to be sold without the prior knowledge of the Board of Management or parents of pupils.

The land, which is expected to fetch over €18 million, has been zoned for housing since as 1998, making it a desired target for developers.

The news has been condemned by locals and school officials. They said a lot of money has been put into the school’s facilities and that the strategy for the next 10 years revolved around keeping the fields.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

May 20, 2017

REBECCA URBAN
JournalistMelbourne
@RurbsOz

Lawyers acting for George Pell lobbied the Victorian state prosecutor over a new book about the senior Catholic figure in an apparent bid to thwart its planned release in the midst of an active police investigation.

Law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth also wrote repeatedly to publisher Melbourne University Press to warn of potential legal consequences if the book made it to print.

The publisher’s chief executive, Louise Adler, confirmed she had received three letters from lawyers representing Cardinal Pell in the lead-up to the release of journalist Louise Milligan’s book Cardinal: The rise and fall of George Pell on Monday.

By Wednesday, Victoria Police confirmed the Office of Public Prosecutions, which had been considering a brief of evidence relating to historic sex-abuse allegations against Cardinal Pell since February, had provided official advice on whether charges should be laid.

The allegations have been vehemently denied by Cardinal Pell, a senior church official based at the Vatican.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

May 20, 2017

DENNIS SHANAHAN
Political EditorCanberra

Noel Pearson has delivered an ­impassioned plea for fair treatment for George Pell as concern grows about “journalistic vigilantism” in the form of allegations that risk undermining any chance of a fair trial.

The indigenous rights campaigner, lawyer and respected public advocate says what is happening to Cardinal Pell is “just not right”, and an abuse of process that threatens everyone’s rights.

“Those who seek truth and justice for victims of abuse should be alarmed at the way this journalistic vigilantism imperils fair legal process,” Mr Pearson said.

He said he was ashamed “more of us” had not spoken out and ­lifted “our heads above the parapets to face the certitude of these ­latter-day Robespierres”.

The Law Institute of Victoria has also raised concerns about publicity jeopardising Cardinal Pell’s chance of a fair trial should he face an Australian court.

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ILLINOIS
WSPY News

Tyler Bachman May 19, 2017

A bill that will eliminate statutes of limitations for child sex crimes and one that highlights former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s child sex scandal is on its way to Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk for a signature.

That measure passed in the Illinois House on Thursday and the Gov. has indicated his intention to sign the bill – ultimately doing away with any and all limitation against a felony Criminal Sexual Assault and Sexual Abuse crime against a child.

Current law states that serious sexual offenses against children must be reported and prosecuted within 20 years of the survivor turning 18. Two exceptions to the law are listed, one, in which physical evidence proved the abuse, and the second in which a mandated reporter didn’t report the abuse.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Scott Cross testified in 2016 about Hastert’s sexual abuse and their support of the bill that passed, Thursday.

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ILLINOIS
CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) — Pointing to former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s admission he molested boys decades ago when he was a teacher and wrestling coach, Illinois lawmakers have passed legislation to do away with the statute of limitations on child sex crimes, and Gov. Bruce Rauner has vowed to sign it.

Hastert is serving a 15-month prison term for violating banking laws to cover up hush money payments to one of his victims. At his sentencing, he admitted to sexually abusing boys when he was a teacher at Yorkville High School. However, prosecutors were not able to charge him with sex abuse, because his crimes did not come to light until after the statute of limitations had passed.

One of his victims, Scott Cross, testified at an Illinois Senate hearing last year, urging lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations on child sex crimes. Cross was only 17 when he was abused by Hastert in the 1970s.

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SCHWEIZ
Neue Zurcher Zeitung

[There were cases of sexual abuse or other violence against children in several children’s homes.This is evidenced by a study. Graubünden plays a special role in coercive measures.]

von Jörg Krummenacher 18.5.2017

In jedem zehnten Bündner Kinderheim gab es Fälle von sexuellem Missbrauch oder sonstiger Gewalt gegen Kinder. Dies belegt eine Studie. Graubünden spielt bei Zwangsmassnahmen eine Sonderrolle.

Rund 150 staatliche und private Kinderheime gab es im Zeitraum zwischen den 1950er und den 1980er Jahren im Kanton Graubünden – eine im nationalen Vergleich hohe Zahl. Dass es in manchen Heimen der Schweiz wenig idyllisch zu und her ging, ist im Lauf der vergangenen Jahre bereits mehrfach ans Licht gekommen. Graubünden stellt dabei keine Ausnahme dar, wie nun eine 2015 von der Kantonsregierung in Auftrag gegebene Studie belegt. Das Autorenteam um Tanja Rietmann vom Zentrum für Geschlechterforschung der Universität Bern stellt fest, dass massive Schläge, Essensentzug, Einsperren oder Herabwürdigen gängige Praktiken waren. Zudem liessen sich für knapp zehn Prozent der Bündner Heime Fälle von sexuellem Missbrauch oder sonstiger Gewaltanwendung gegenüber Kindern in den Akten nachweisen.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Lorna Siggins

Advice from international experts on the future of “significant” children’s remains found at a mother and babies home in Tuam, Co Galway will be considered by a Government inter-departmental committee on Friday.

The interdepartmental committee has been established by Minister for Children Katherine Zappone with a remit to source “appropriate” technical expertise, both national and international.

The remains were found during archaeological work initiated last year for the Commission on the Investigation of Mother and Baby Homes, and have been referred to the county coroner.

The inter-departmental group, which is chaired by her department’s secretary-general Dr Fergal Lynch, is expected to report back before the end of May on the best expertise to advise on the next stages.

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GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | The Guam Daily Post May 19, 2017

Two more victims, who allege that former Guam priest Louis Brouillard sexually abused them, have filed lawsuits recently in the local court.

Attorney Michael Berman and his two clients, with the initials E.T. and J.S., filed complaints in the Superior Court of Guam earlier this month against the Archdiocese of Agana, Brouillard and the Boy Scouts of America Aloha Council Chamorro District. Both victims are former altar boys and Boy Scouts.

Berman is the latest attorney to join a growing list of attorneys who have filed, collectively, more than 60 sex-abuse cases involving former Guam priests.

The first, a 53-year-old man of Barrigada, E.T., alleged Brouillard sexually molested him between 1977 and 1979 when he was 13 or 14 years old and an altar boy at the San Roke Catholic Church in Barrigada.

According to court documents, Brouillard served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Agana and a scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts. Brouillard had access to his alleged victims through both church and Boy Scouts functions, the lawsuit alleges.

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NEW YORK
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the way the New York Times covers stories on the sexual abuse of minors:

Newspapers are expected to print news, but that was most certainly not the case today with the New York Times.

It ran a story of almost 800 words on the compensation program of the New York Archdiocese for victims of sexual abuse. There was nothing new in the article: The names of the six priests, who committed their offenses in the 1970s and 1980s, had already been made public. So what was the point? None of the priests are in ministry and five were booted.

It could be argued that the New York Times has an obligation to cover everything and anything about the sexual abuse of minors. But that is simply not true, and I will prove it.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

May 20, 2017

GERARD HENDERSON
Columnist

If Cardinal George Pell was anything other than Australia’s best known Christian who happens to be a social conservative and holds the third most senior position in the Vatican, the civil libertarians in our midst would be calling for him to receive due process.

Instead, with the notable ­exception of lawyer Terry O’Gorman in Brisbane, there has been ­silence as a baying pack of jour­nalists and some politicians effectively have branded Pell guilty of historical child sexual abuse. ­Before charges have been laid or a trial conducted.

This is what we know of the ­allegations against Pell. In February last year, the Herald Sun revealed that he was to be subjected to a police investigation concerning crimes that allegedly took place at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne between 1996 and 2001. To accept this allegation you have to believe that Pell was an ­active pederast at the very time he set up the Melbourne ­Response to deal with child sexual abuse in co-operation with Victoria Police and after consulting the Victorian governor, premier and solicitor-general, along with male and female lawyers. Pell must have been completely reckless or is innocent of the allegations made against him.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

May 19, 2017

REBECCA URBAN
JournalistMelbourne
@RurbsOz

The federal government is expected to release draft legislation for the Commonwealth Redress Scheme for survivors of sexual abuse by August and is confident the states and territories, as well as non-government groups, will choose to take part.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter today met with state and territory attorney’s general as well as the heads of major churches and charities in a bid to work out arrangements for the scheme, which will provide financial compensation as well as support services to a potential 60,000 claimants across the country.

Mr Porter has encouraged them all to opt-in to the scheme, arguing that a national approach was the best way to ensure that victims received redress as recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

“There was a large amount of good faith and very positive contribution.” he said following the meeting, which was held in Melbourne.

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AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL
Herald Sun

Shannon Deery, Herald Sun
May 19, 2017

A PRINCIPAL on the run from Victorian authorities is living overseas after beating attempts to have her extradited.

The first new picture of Malka Leifer emerged this week almost a decade after she fled Melbourne hours after allegations of her rampant sexual abuse were made public.

The mother of eight had been living under house arrest but is now free to come and go as she pleases while living in hiding in Israel.

She claimed she was psychotic to beat extradition attempts but was this week spotted enjoying herself during a traditional Jewish festival in the town of Meron.

The picture was taken by a Melbourne woman and has been verified by Leifer’s alleged victims.

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AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL
ABC News

By Middle East correspondent Sophie McNeill

Victims say they are angry a school principal wanted in Victoria on 74 charges of child sexual abuse has been allegedly spotted at a religious festival in Israel, despite her lawyers’ claims she is too ill to attend two years of extradition hearings.

Israeli prosecutors have told the ABC they are examining purported photos of Malka Leifer taken last week in a town in northern Israel.

Police want Malka Leifer returned to Melbourne, but for two years she has been fighting her extradition to Australia in the Israeli courts.

For the alleged victims of Ms Leifer’s abuse, like 29-year-old Dassi Erlich, the surfacing of the photo has turned her world upside down.

Starting when she was 15, Ms Erlich said she endured years of sexual abuse at the hands of Ms Leifer, then principal of her ultra-orthodox Jewish girls’ school in Melbourne.

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RUSSIA
RAPSI

ST. PETERSBURG, May 19 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) – The St. Petersburg City Court has extended detention of Russian priest Gleb Grozovsky, who stands charged with sexual abuse of children, until June 14, RAPSI learnt on Friday from the court’s press-service.

According to investigators, Grozovsky committed several crimes against minors in 2011 and 2013.

In 2013, he fled to Israel and applied for citizenship. However, his application was dismissed.

In April 2014, Grozovsky was put on the international wanted list. Israeli police arrested him in September. In January 2015, a court in Jerusalem ruled that the priest should be extradited to Russia pursuant to the European Convention on Extradition. The ruling was appealed but rejected. In April 2016, the Justice Minister signed an order on Grozovsky’s extradition.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Pokrov

Author: Melanie Jula Sakoda
Date Published: 05/10/2017
Publication: Pokrov.org

On May 1, 2017, the judge in the case of Manter vs. Abdelahad denied the defendants motion for summary judgment. Pokrov.org is working to obtain a copy of the memorandum denying the motion.

The case is currently scheduled for jury trial to begin on June 1, 2017. However, the defendants recently filed motions to postpone the upcoming court proceedings.

Susan Manter filed her lawsuit against the priest and others more than three years ago, in September of 2013.

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CANADA
The Standard

By Allan Benner, The Standard
Thursday, May 18, 2017

For the second time since 2010, former priest Donald Grecco pleaded guilty to charges related to the molestation of two boys more than 40 years ago.

He was in a St. Catharines courtroom last Friday, where he pleaded guilty to three counts of gross indecency, following the September 2015 arrest of the then-75-year-old by Haldimand County OPP officers.

The charges were related to incidents that took place between 1977 and 1982 in Niagara Falls, Haldimand County and in the United States at a time when Grecco was working as a priest at St. Thomas More Church in Niagara Falls, St. Kevin’s Church in Welland and St. Stephen’s Church in Cayuga.

Grecco is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on Sept. 7.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Carl O’Brien, Tim O’Brien

The decision by the Congregation of the Christian Brothers to sell eight acres of playing fields in a Dublin school has “betrayed” its teachers, the school’s principal told parents last night.

Clonkeen College in Deansgrange will lose most of its playing fields after the Christian Brothers-created trust announced plans to sell off two-thirds of the school’s sports pitches.

Speaking before nearly 500 people at an emergency meeting last night, the school’s principal, Mr Edward Melly that he is “still in shock” after he learned of the sell-off plan. …

Redress payments

He said he was told €10m had to be paid to the Minister for Education as part of the Christian Brothers’ redress payments for abuse of children who had been in their care. Unspecified amounts of money from the sale would go towards sustaining the ageing Brothers community and legal costs.

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CONNECTICUT
CT Post

By Daniel Tepfer

BRIDGEPORT – A local lawyer has won a $20 million verdict against a prominent rabbi accused of sexually abusing a teenage student in 2002.

A federal court jury deliberated nearly two days before ordering New Haven Rabbi Daniel Greer and his Yeshiva of New Haven on Thursday to pay the plaintiff, Eliyahu Mirlis, now 28, $15 million plus $5 million in punitive damages.

“The justice system works,” said Mirlis’ lawyer, Antonio Ponvert III, of the local law firm Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder. “My client came forward showing great courage to right a wrong and to protect other children. Child abuse in all its forms must end and this is a step in that process.”

The lawsuit claims that beginning in the fall of 2002 and continuing for the entirety of the victim’s sophomore, junior and senior high school years, when he was 15, 16 and 17 years old, “Rabbi Greer repeatedly and continuously sexually abused, exploited, and assaulted him.”

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CONNECTICUT
WTNH

[with video]

By Jesse Gosselin, News 8 Digital Executive Producer
Published: May 18, 2017

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A jury Thursday awarded $20 million to the victim in a sexual abuse case against a New Haven rabbi.

New Haven Rabbi Daniel Greer and his Yeshiva of New Haven were was ordered to pay the victim, 29-year-old Eliyahu Mirlis, $15 million, plus $5 million in punitive damages, after a jury in the federal civil case deliberated for nearly two days.

Mirlis filed the federal lawsuit against Greer in 2016. Greer was his former principal at Yeshiva of New Haven. The suit alleged that the rabbi had sexually abused him hundreds of times over the course of three years while he was a student.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court because the victim resides in New Jersey.

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CONNECTICUT
Fox 61

MAY 18, 2017, BY DOUG STEWART AND CARMEN CHAU

NEW HAVEN — A jury awarded $20 million to a man who accused a New Haven rabbi of repeated sexual abuse.

In the federal suit, Eliyahu Mirlis accused Rabbi Daniel Greer, founder of an Orthodox Jewish school and prominent neighborhood resident, of sexual abuse him while Mirlis was a student at the school.

The jury awarded $15 million to the plaintiff. He was also was entitled to punitive damaged of one third of the verdict by state law.

The lawsuit said Rabbi Daniel Greer, the principal and rabbi for the all-boys Yeshiva of New Haven / The Gan School, sexually abused the plaintiff, Eliyahu Mirlis, now 28. Attorneys filed the lawsuit in federal court last year.

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CONNECTICUT
New Haven Register

By Anna Bisaro, New Haven Register

HARTFORD >> A federal jury Thursday awarded a New Jersey man $15 million in his civil lawsuit accusing Daniel Greer, a prominent New Haven rabbi, real estate developer and founder of an Orthodox Jewish school of sexually abusing him for years while he attended Greer’s yeshiva.

The verdict was read at 3:40 p.m., with jurors in agreement that there was enough evidence to find Greer and the Yeshiva of New Haven legally liable over the victim’s accusations that Greer raped and sexually molested him over several years.

The jury was tasked with determining liability on civil counts against Greer and the yeshiva. The counts included negligence by the school, intentional infliction of emotional distress by Greer and the school, recklessness by the school and Greer and assault and battery against Greer.

The jury found there was sufficient evidence on each count.

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CONNECTICUT
New York Post

Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. — A federal jury on Thursday awarded $15 million to a New Jersey man who accused a prominent Connecticut rabbi of repeatedly raping and molesting him when he was a teenager.

Rabbi Daniel Greer and his Yeshiva of New Haven were ordered Thursday to pay the compensatory damages to Eliyahu Mirlis. Mirlis alleged in a lawsuit that Greer sexually abused him for three years while he was a student at the Jewish boarding school from 2001 to 2005.

Greer was the school’s principal. He has denied the allegations and has not been criminally charged.

The Associated Press generally doesn’t name people who say they were sexually abused, but Mirlis’ attorney said he wanted to come forward.

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CONNECTICUT
NECN

[with video]

Matt Austin

A federal jury has awarded $20 million to a man who accused a prominent Connecticut rabbi of repeatedly raping and molesting him when he was a teenager.

“The jury wacked him and the school for a $20-million verdict. Justice was done,” Antonio Ponvert III, attorney for Eliyahu Mirlis, said.

Rabbi Daniel Greer and his Yeshiva of New Haven were ordered Thursday to pay Mirlis $15 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

Mirlis alleged in a lawsuit that Greer, the school’s principal, sexually abused him for three years while he was a student at the Jewish boarding school from 2001 to 2005.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By James Hancock

“Very substantial progress” has been made towards setting up a proposed national redress scheme for victims of child sexual abuse, with no state or territory government ruling out signing up to the project, according to Social Services Minister Christian Porter.

He met with Attorneys-General and representatives of various church and community groups in Melbourne on Friday morning to discuss details of the scheme.

The Federal Government has allocated $33 million for its establishment by the middle of next year, with victims to receive up to $150,000 in compensation.

The Commonwealth lacks the powers to force the states to sign up, but Mr Porter is confident after the meeting that any issues can be resolved.

“Now each of them have offered up views and suggestions and nominated challenges but these are things I think, based on the goodwill and good faith of today’s discussions, can be worked through,” he said.

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NEW YORK
New York Times

By SHARON OTTERMAN
MAY 18, 2017

Seven men who were abused as children by priests of the Archdiocese of New York revealed on Thursday some of the details of the settlements they had received through the archdiocese’s new sexual abuse survivor compensation fund.

Since October, more than 100 victims have settled their sex abuse cases with the archdiocese by taking their claims to the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program. But very few details have been revealed because the program keeps the cases confidential, and no victims have yet spoken out.

The seven victims who revealed details on Thursday did so through their lawyer, J. Michael Reck. He said that they had received settlements of $150,000 to $350,000 each from the archdiocese. And he named the men’s abusers, saying his clients hoped that other possible victims would come forward and file claims.

“It’s a public safety imperative, because these are individuals who in many cases have an extended history in the archdiocese,” Mr. Reck said.

New York Archdiocese Offers Compensation Program for Sexual Abuse Victims OCT. 6, 2016

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
19 May 2017

TWO months after telling the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that he needed a long break to think about his future, possibly beyond the Anglican Church, retiring Newcastle Anglican Bishop Greg Thompson will be farewelled at a service on Sunday night.

The bishop who exposed the culture that supported crimes against children for decades – and who was made to feel “not welcome in his own cathedral” for doing so – will be thanked at a service in Newcastle’s Christ Church Cathedral.

“In his short time as our bishop he has been the catalyst for deep cultural change around the protection of children and the support of victims of abuse. He called us to face our past and in doing so shape a healthy future. This will be his enduring legacy,” Bishop Peter Stuart said in a statement this week on behalf of the diocese.

Bishop Thompson became the head of the Anglican church in the Hunter in February 2014. In a later interview with the Newcastle Herald he said returning to the region where he was born and raised forced him to confront abuse in his past.

In a statement to the royal commission Bishop Thompson said he was sexually abused as a child by boarders who stayed at his family home, and later by Anglican clerics Canon Eric Barker and Bishop Ian Shevill.

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UNITED STATES
New York Times

By MIKE HALE
MAY 18, 2017

What quality does a true-crime story need most to become a national conversation piece? Lurid details (“The Jinx”)? A complicated mystery (“Making a Murderer”)? A social-justice angle (“Serial”)?

“The Keepers,” a seven-part Netflix documentary series (available on Friday) bidding to be the next true-crime must-watch, has all of those in abundance. It incorporates a half-century-old unsolved murder case, shocking details of sexual abuse and devastating indictments of the indifference and obstructionism of the Roman Catholic Church as well as of the Baltimore and Maryland criminal justice systems.

All of these make “The Keepers,” directed by Ryan White (“The Case Against 8”), an often fascinating and devastating experience. If it’s not quite as addictive, across seven hours, as the best of its competition, it’s not for lack of effort or craft. But yoking together the disparate elements of the story Mr. White is trying to tell would have been a tall order for anyone.

The show’s primary hook is its cold case, the murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik, a young Baltimore nun and schoolteacher who disappeared in November 1969 and whose body was found two months later, dumped in a field. No one was ever charged in her death. Mr. White starts with that story and immediately introduces two memorable and appealing figures: Gemma Hoskins and Abbie Schaub, former students of Sister Cesknik’s who have devoted themselves in recent years to investigating her case.

But there’s more. In the series’s second episode, we meet Jean Hargadon Wehner, who figures significantly in the Cesnik case but has her own, separate story to tell, about horrific abuse at the hands of a male faculty member at the same school where Sister Cesnik taught.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Altoona Mirror

MAY 19, 2017

KAY STEPHENS
Staff Writer
kstephens@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Blair County judge is being asked to examine the validity of fraud, constructive fraud and conspiracy allegations in one of two civil lawsuits filed last year on behalf of a pair of sisters who said they were sexually molested by an Altoona priest between 1975 and 1981.

In courtroom arguments Thursday, an attorney on behalf of the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese and two related defendants advised Judge Jolene G. Kopriva that arguments on behalf of Renee Rice provide no valid legal basis for the civil case to move forward.

It was the diocese, said Pittsburgh attorney Eric N. Anderson, that sent Rice a letter in July 2006, acknowledging her allegations and suggesting she take part in additional review.

“The diocese asked her to come to them … so how can she project any fraud?” Anderson asked.

But why did the diocese make that request, Altoona attorney Richard Serbin asked in court, pointing out that Rice had already provided details to a diocesan investigator.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Herald (UK)

Archbishop Fisher said parts of the media and legal systems were already treating the cardinal as guilty

Public prosecutors have submitted recommendations to Victoria Police on whether to try Australian Cardinal George Pell on decades-old abuse allegations, but their advice has not been made public.

Until police decide how to proceed, Archbishop Anthony Fisher has said he will not be commenting on the case.

“Justice must be left to run its course,” Archbishop Fisher said in a statement this week.

Archbishop Fisher said Cardinal Pell, currently head of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, “has cooperated in every way with multiple police, parliamentary and Royal Commission investigations.”

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AUSTRALIA
Warwick Daily News

A SOUTHERN Downs man who was this month charged with nine historical child sex offences faced court in Armidale on Wednesday.

Granted conditional bail during his first court appearance, the former priest was ordered this week to continue serving the same bail arrangements and the case was adjourned until June 21.

Aged in his 70s, the man was extradited to New South Wales from Warwick Magistrates Court earlier this month to answer to allegations of indecent assault upon a male.

Police said four alleged victims had come forward in relation to alleged offences between 1970-1982 in the Armidale area.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Lowell Sun

Sun Staff Report

LAWRENCE — Two weeks after Central Catholic’s dean and basketball coach resigned for allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a former student, another school employee has resigned for alleged misconduct, according to The Eagle Tribune.

John Housianitis, the social studies teacher who allegedly posted “compromising photos” of himself online, has resigned, the school’s president announced on Thursday.

Housianitis has been on administrative leave since late April. He is a former Lawrence School Committee member.

“I accept Mr. Housianitis’ resignation with regret. John’s violation of our policies was regrettable, however, it was not physically harmful to any student,” Central Catholic President Christopher Sullivan said in a statement released Thursday. “John’s service to the school and its students will long be remembered. I wish him well in the future.”

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IRELAND
Galway Independent

Sinn Féin Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh has called on Minister for Children Katherine Zappone to challenge her Cabinet colleagues to do much more to bring clarity to the Tuam Mother and Baby Home scandal, and allow access to records and documents which would help survivors to come to terms with what happened to themselves and their family members.

Speaking during a Seanad debate in relation to the Interim Report of the Commission on Mother and Baby Homes, Senator Ó Clochartaigh said, “The relatives and campaigners don’t want sympathy and feign praise, they want information and access to records and the truth. Many of them believe that the state and establishment are closing ranks to ensure that doesn’t happen and are becoming increasingly frustrated and angry.

“When we debated this issue with the Minister in March I asked questions on a number of specific issues which have not been answered. I challenged her to clarify if she had questioned Galway County Council in relation to allowing relatives and researchers such as Catherine Corless access to public records.

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CONNECTICUT
New Haven Independent

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK | May 18, 2017

Hartford — A federal jury Thursday ordered prominent Rabbi Daniel Greer and his Elm Street yeshiva to pay a former student $15 million in compensatory damages because the rabbi raped and repeatedly abused him 15 years ago.

The jury awarded an additional $5 million in punitive damages, to pay the lawyers.

In adjudicating a civil lawsuit brought by Eliyahu Mirlis, a former high school student at the Yeshiva of New Haven, the jury deliberated in U.S. District Court here for 12 hours over two days before coming to its unanimous decision.

The eight jurors slapped Greer with the eight-figure bill for the emotional suffering he caused Mirlis by assaulting and battering the boy over a three-year period, from his sophomore to senior years at the high school. The panel calculated the total after also concluding that Greer and the yeshiva had shown recklessness and intentional infliction of emotional distress and the school separately had displayed negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

That sum was less than half of the $38 million that the plaintiff’s attorney, Antonio Ponvert III, had requested.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Eagle-Tribune

By Kiera Blessing kblessing@eagletribune.com

LAWRENCE — A second staff member has left Central Catholic High School following allegations of inappropriate behavior.

John Housianitis, a social studies teacher at the school and a graduate of the Class of 1977, resigned his position after he was found to have posted “compromising photos of himself on an adults-only, password-protected website,” according to Central Catholic President Christopher Sullivan.

“I accept Mr. Housianitis’ resignation with regret. John’s violation of our policies was regrettable, however, it was not physically harmful to any student,” Sullivan said in a statement released Thursday. “John’s service to the school and its students will long be remembered. I wish him well in the future.”

Sullivan announced Housianitis’ resignation Thursday afternoon, but said his departure from the school was effective beginning April 26, the day he was placed on leave from the school.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Seven men abused by priests as children were paid nearly $2 million total through a settlement program founded by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, their attorney said Thursday, urging more victims to come forward.

The men, whose identities were not revealed, were abused by six priests in separate incidents, attorney Mike Reck said during a press conference at the Hotel Pennsylvania. Each victim received $150,000 to $350,000 through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program founded by the Archdiocese of New York.

“This is a full measure of accountability and it is a way of saying that this happened. It was wrong. And it was not your fault,” attorney Mike Reck said.

Five of the alleged abusers — Msgr. John O’Keefe and priests Peter Kihm, Gennaro “Jerry” Gentile, Francis Stinner and Ralph LaBelle — have been defrocked. A sixth, Richard Gorman, has been removed from the ministry and is awaiting a proceeding about whether he will be defrocked, Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said. Most of the ex-priests could not be reached. LaBelle declined to comment.

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NEW YORK
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on lies told by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) about the New York Archdiocese compensation program for victims of sexual abuse:

When it comes to clergy sexual abuse, the New York Archdiocese has one of the best records in the nation: it has not only handled the relatively few cases brought before it with diligence, it instituted a program to compensate victims. But to some, it is never enough. Worse is when critics lie about the facts.

SNAP is a disgraced outfit whose ethically challenged leaders recently did themselves in. Now someone whom we have never heard of has surfaced demanding that the New York archdiocese publish the names of six miscreant priests, the implication being that there is a cover-up.

This is a non-starter: the names of the offending priests have already been published by the archdiocese. It is scurrilous to imply otherwise.

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CANADA
CBC News

By Tori Weldon, CBC News

Former Catholic priest Yvon Arsenault was back in court Thursday to face a charge of indecent assault against a male dating back to the 1970s. He’s already in prison for molesting nine boys between 1971 and 1980.

The 74-year-old man is accused of assaulting a male between January 1970 and December 1973 in Shediac. The charge reflects the Criminal Code at the time. The age of the alleged victim was not provided.

Arsenault appeared without a lawyer and is scheduled to return to court June 22.

At his court appearance Thursday, Arsenault appeared to be heavier, with a beard, glasses and a buzz cut that he didn’t have at his sentencing in February.

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AUSTRALIA
Reveal: The Center for Investigative Reporting

By Trey Bundy / May 18, 2017

A former Jehovah’s Witness in Australia is scheduled to appear in court this week to face charges that he sexually abused four teenage boys between 1993 and 2013, according to a news report.

The case is significant because it stems from an ongoing investigation by the Australian Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which found that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not to report child sexual abuse to law enforcement as a matter of policy.

The commission obtained records from the religion’s headquarters in Australia detailing allegations of child abuse going back to 1950. Investigators identified 1,006 alleged abusers, none of whom had been reported to authorities. The commission referred hundreds of those cases to law enforcement and now we’re starting to see criminal charges filed.

“We hope that this arrest is one of many that police make against perpetrators within the JW faith that have got away with their crimes for far too long,” said Lisa Flynn, an attorney who has represented hundreds of victims of child sexual abuse, including former Jehovah’s Witnesses and some who have appeared before the Royal Commission. “It is a very positive step that we are seeing police investigations, and now, subsequent arrests.”

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CONNECTICUT
Forward

May 18, 2017 By Josh Nathan-Kazis

A prominent New Haven, Conn. rabbi facing a civil lawsuit in federal court has refused under questioning to say whether he forced his accuser to have sex with him.

“Did you force Eli Mirlis to have sex with you when he was a child?” Mirlis’s attorney asked Rabbi Daniel Greer at a May 11 hearing, according to a report in the New Haven Independent.

Greer’s attorney interjected to advise Greer to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights. “I invoke the right to privilege,” Greer said, according to the paper.

The trial began early this month. Mirlis claims that Greer sexually abused him while he was a student at Greer’s yeshiva in New Haven. Greer denies the charges.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Rev. Charles Bodziak and Renée Rice sat inside a Blair County courtroom on Thursday, separated by only a few feet, decades after the priest allegedly sexually abused the then-young child.

Neither spoke.

But they were the key figures in a civil case brought by Rice against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown, retired Bishop Joseph Adamec, and the estate of deceased Bishop James Hogan. She has accused them of committing fraud, constructive fraud and conspiracy. Bodziak is also included in the conspiracy charge.

Afterwards, both talked to reporters.

“All I know, myself as a priest, (I’m) a victim because I’m innocent. I never did anything,” said Bodziak before his attorney, Thomas Foor, subtly guided him away from reporters.

When asked how it felt to learn her alleged abuser called himself a victim, Rice said, “It’s hard. It’s really hard.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

A Blair County judge is expected to decide on Thursday if a civil case involving the alleged sexual abuse of two children decades ago can continue.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown, retired Bishop Joseph Adamec, and the estate of deceased Bishop James Hogan are accused of fraud, constructive fraud and conspiracy in the case.

Last June, sisters Cheryl Haun and Renée Rice, now in their late 40s, filed the case, alleging they were molested by Rev. Charles Bodziak, who is also named as a defendant, when he served at St. Leo’s in Altoona during the 1970s and into the 1980s. (The Tribune-Democrat does not normally identify alleged victims of sexual crimes. The sisters, however, have publicly identified themselves and spoken with reporters.)

The defendants are asking for the dismissal since the statute of limitations has expired for the crime of child sexual abuse in the case of Bodziak. The request has been made specifically in the Rice accusations.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

May 19, 2017

REBECCA URBAN
JournalistMelbourne
@RurbsOz

Cardinal George Pell and his alleged victims should know within weeks if police will lay charges over historical child-sex-abuse allegations, as concerns mount about whether a fair trial would be possible.

Victoria Police Commissioner Graham Ashton yesterday said a decision would be made quickly. However, the assurance of a deadline is understood to have been met with scepticism by church officials, given the matter has gone back and forth between police and prosecutors for more than a year.

Combined with the long-running Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which has probed allegations of child sex abuse by some Catholic priests and others, claims against Cardinal Pell that date back about 40 years have been the subject of extensive media attention and public scrutiny. Interest culminated this week with the high-profile release of a book about him.

The Law Council of Victoria has raised concerns about publicity and whether it has jeopardised Cardinal Pell’s chance of receiving a fair trial should he face an Australian court.

Cardinal Pell has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Amy Remeikis

Social Services Minister Christian Porter has begun the delicate job of convincing the states and other groups to join a Commonwealth scheme designed to compensate survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.

Mr Porter will sit down with attorneys-general from across the nation in Melbourne on Friday to discuss the scheme in the first step towards convincing the states and territories to join it.

Separate meetings will be held with leaders of churches, charities and other non-government institutions as part of the same mission, with the government hoping for a “nationally consistent approach” to compensating about 60,000 survivors, which has been estimated to cost about $4 billion.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune MAY 18, 2017

The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis expressed concern Thursday over the legal fees being racked up in the case — about $15 million to date.

“It bothers me so much that all these attorney fees are being run up,” U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Kressel said at a hearing Thursday, adding that legal fees are consuming funds that could be directed to survivors of archdiocese clergy sex abuse.

In an attempt to curb the spending, Kressel ordered that no expert witnesses be hired for the time being. He also ordered an expedited schedule for both parties to argue their legal objections to each other’s compensation plan, setting a June 15 status conference to review them.

“I’m trying to save money and time and get this decided,” Kressel said.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Telegram & Gazette

By Dianne Williamson
Telegram & Gazette Staff

Until this week, Susan Manter hadn’t set foot in a courtroom in five years, not since her shocking testimony about a beloved priest roiled a parish and sent the clergyman to jail.

In May of 2012, the Rev. Charles Michael Abdelahad of Shrewsbury was convicted of physically abusing the vulnerable mother of three during bizarre counseling sessions in which he slapped her, swore at her, kicked her in the shins, struck her with a miniature bat, knocked her head against a radiator, ripped her clothes off and bit her breasts. When she complained, the priest known affectionately as Father Mike explained that the two were engaged in “spiritual warfare” and that her body was “a battleground.”

Today, Manter said she wants people held accountable “for what they did.” More accurately, perhaps, she also wants them to pay for what they didn’t do, as these horrific counseling sessions dragged on for three years.

On Tuesday, the 49-year-old Holden woman sat in the front row of a Worcester Superior Court courtroom while her lawyer recounted the stunning actions of the priest and shameful inaction of those who knew what was happening at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, but did little to confront the priest or protect his victim. Manter has filed a civil suit against Father Mike and three others. One of the defendants is the late primate of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America, Philip Saliba, who did nothing to intervene even when notified about the sessions. Archbishop Saliba died in 2014.

“I’m really looking forward to having my story told,” Manter said Tuesday. Asked if she was nervous about seeing the man who abused her, she said, “I’m angry. Nauseated. Nervous? Of course I’m nervous. It’s human nature.”

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY
STEPHEN REX BROWN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Thursday, May 18, 2017

An attorney for church sex abuse survivors will name and shame priests from the Archdiocese of New York, who allegedly molested his clients when they were kids, on Thursday.

The seven men each received settlements between $150,000 and $350,000 through a compensation program founded by Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

“It is some measure of justice,” said the victims’ attorney, Mike Reck.

“They’ve been handled professionally in the program. They’re treated with respect.”

Six priests abused his clients, according to Reck. Some of the clergymen are well known, Reck said; others have not been publicly identified. He will share details of the cases, some of which he said involve “the most horrific abuse you can imagine” during a press conference at the Hotel Pennsylvania.

The seven victims — whose identities will remain secret — were all part of Phase I of the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program created by Dolan. That phase was open only to people who previously documented allegations of abuse to the Archdiocese. By accepting the settlements, they agreed they’d never pursue their cases in court.

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BURUNDI
Iwacu

LORRAINE JOSIANE MANISHATSE 05-18-2017

The police arrested Abbot Jean Marie Ciza, the principal private secretary of the Archbishop of Gitega in the afternoon of 16 May 2017. He was sent to Gitega Central Prison for raping a minor, police spokesman says.

According to sources from Gitega central province, Jean Marie Ciza was arrested in the evening of 16 May on the orders of the Attorney General of Gitega province. Police sources say he was directly sent to Gitega Central Prison because he could not spend the night in Gitega Commune dungeon due to his fragile health.

Pierre Nkurikiye, the spokesman for the police says Abbot Jean Marie Ciza is accused of raping an under-age girl.

“The victim filed a complaint against the abbot accusing him of having raped her. The girl showed the police a video she recorded when the priest was raping her, “Nkurikiye says. The police spokesman says the video showed the priest dancing naked.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Premier

Thu 18 May 2017
By Eno Adeogun

A paedophile has been jailed for two years and eight months after confessing his crime to a priest with the false belief that the chaplain was bound to keep the secret.

Stanley Wood, 66, admitted that he had sexually assaulted a six year old girl to the clergyman while he was in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for hip surgery.

Prosecutor Robert Price told Wolverhampton Crown Court: “He asked for God’s forgiveness and said he had had sex with a six year old girl.

Wood expected the admission to be kept secret but the cleric told the safeguarding nurse on the ward who according to the Express and Star, notified the defendant that the police would be informed.

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GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | The Guam Daily Post

May 18, 2017

“We think we know where he lives, but our special process server can’t seem to find him.” – Attorney David Lujan

A former Catholic priest who has been named in at least five sex abuse complaints may still be residing on island.

Raymond Cepeda, a former priest who was defrocked in December 2009 following an investigation into abuse allegations, is believed to be currently residing in Canada, Barrigada, according to attorney Gloria Rudolph, of the Law Office of Lujan and Wolff LLP, which represents the plaintiffs in the cases currently pending in federal court.

During a scheduling conference held before Magistrate Judge Joaquin Manibusan of the District Court of Guam, prosecutor David Lujan responded to questions from the judge about Cepeda, confirming that the former Guam priest has not yet been served a summons.

“We think we know where he lives, but our special process server can’t seem to find him,” Lujan told the judge.

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CHILE
Univision

[Victim of clergy abuse accuses the Vatican of massive cover-up of cases of pederasty. Juan Carlos Cruz, who was abused by a priest in Chile, says that Pope Francis’ confession after his trip to Fatima that there are 2,000 cases of clergy abuse backlogged at the Vatican is contrary to what the pontiff promised in 2014 when he created the commission of inquiry.]

Juan Carlos Cruz, qiuen fue abusado por un sacerdote en Chile, dice que la confesión de Francisco tras su viaje a Fátima, que hay 2000 casos de violaciones acumulados, es contrario a lo que prometió el pontífice en el 2014 cuando creó la comisión investigadora.

Por: Jorge Cancino

Una víctima chilena de abusos del clero criticó este lunes el reconocimiento del papa Francisco, quien el fin de semana dijo que el Vaticano tiene acumulados 2,000 casos de abuso sexual cometidos por sacerdotes.

“La situación es tremendamente frustrante”, dijo a Univision Noticias Juan Carlos Cruz, una de las víctimas chilenas del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, quien el 16 de febrero de 2011 la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe (exSanto Oficio) declaró culpable de abusos sexuales contra menores con violencia y abuso de potestad eclesiástica. “Puedo asegurar que los 2,000 casos son muchos más, esto es un encubrimiento masivo”, agregó.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By court reporter Karl Hoerr

Lawyers for Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson, accused of concealing child sex abuse in the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, have fronted court again for their third attempt to stop the case against him from going ahead.

Wilson, who has retained his position amid the criminal proceedings, is accused of failing to pass onto police information he had between 2004 and 2006 that might have helped convict Father Jim Fletcher.

It is alleged a boy told the senior clergyman, he had been indecently assaulted by Father Fletcher several years earlier.

Prosecutors claim Wilson came to believe the allegation decades later, after learning of other cases

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SCHWEIZ
Blick

[Although the sexual abuse of Friborg’s Daniel Pittet (57) by Father Joël (76) is legally barred, the Swiss capuchin province wants to deal with the case with a neutral investigation commission.]

LUZERN/FREIBURG – Obwohl der sexuelle Missbrauch Freiburgers Daniel Pittet (57) durch Pater Joël (76) rechtlich verjährt ist, will die Schweizer Kapuzinerprovinz den Fall mit einer neutrale Untersuchungskommission aufarbeiten.

Die Schweizer Kapuzinerprovinz will den Fall um den pädophilen Pater Joël (76) aufarbeiten – mithilfe einer neutralen Untersuchungskommission. Die Ergebnisse dieser Kommission sollen bereits in einigen Monaten vorliegen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
NDR

[Diocese of Hildesheim: Transparency becomes a dilemma.]

von Florian Breitmeier

Die Staatsanwaltschaft Hildesheim hat das Vorpreschen des Bistums wegen eines möglichen Missbrauchfalls an der katholischen Marienschule am Mittwoch kritisiert. Das Bistum hatte am Dienstag unter anderem bekanntgegeben, dass neben den kirchlichen Ermittlungen auch Anzeige bei der Staatsanwaltschaft erstattet worden sei. Die Diözese steckt nach der zögerlichen Informationspolitik bei früheren Missbrauchsvorwürfen offenbar in der Klemme. Offenbar wollte das Bistum unbedingt den Eindruck vermeiden, dass man aus früheren Fällen nichts gelernt habe. Ein Bistumssprecher erklärte auf Nachfrage, man habe die Öffentlichkeit angemessen und zeitnah bei Wahrung der Persönlichkeitsrechte informieren wollen.

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ROM
Radio Vatikan

[Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican financial chief, has once again rejected abuse charges against his person.]

Der vatikanische Finanzchef Kardinal George Pell hat erneut Missbrauchsvorwüfe gegen seine Person zurückgewiesen. Er respektiere aber, dass die Staatsanwaltschaft im australischen Bundesstaat Victoria der Polizei eine Anklage gegen ihn empfohlen habe und werde „selbstverständlich vollständig kooperieren”, sagte der frühere Erzbischof von Melbourne in einem TV-Interview.

Pell droht Medienberichten zufolge eine Anklage wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs. Die neuen Vorwürfe gegen den Kardinal beziehen sich nicht auf Vertuschung von Missbrauchsfällen durch ihm zugeordnete Kleriker, sondern auf angeblichen Missbrauch durch Pell selbst.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

MAY 18, 2017

Tom Rabe
Australian Associated Press

The NSW boys school where a Catholic brother is alleged to have raped and beaten young boys in the 1970s and 80s was “not for the faint-hearted” his defence has told a Sydney court.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faces 125 charges including indecent assault and buggery at the school for intellectually disabled and “criminally inclined”.

“This organisation, this school, was not for the faint-hearted, by any stretch of the imagination,” defence counsel Alex Radojev told the Downing Centre District Court on Thursday.

“Bad things happened. Evil things happened.”

But Mr Radojev stressed the trial was not about the Catholic Church, rather the actions of an individual.

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MARYLAND
MyHighPlains

(CNN) – A DNA sample taken from the exhumed remains of former priest A. Joseph Maskell does not match the DNA from the murder scene of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, according to Baltimore County Police.

Police announced on Wednesday that they had received results from Bode Cellmark Forensics laboratory in Lorton, Virginia, excluding Maskell as a contributor to a DNA profile developed from evidence taken in 1970 from the scene in Maryland where the decomposed body of Cesnik was found by a father and son out hunting. The 26-year-old nun had been missing for nearly two months.

County police opened Maskell’s grave on February 28, after securing an order from the state’s attorney, according to Elise Armacost, director of public affairs for Baltimore County Police.

Baltimore County Police have compared the DNA of several other people as part of their investigation into the never-closed case, according to Armacost, but those tests did not match the DNA profile from 1970.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The head of Victoria Police has indicated a decision is likely in the next few weeks on whether to charge Catholic Cardinal George Pell in relation to sexual abuse allegations dating back to the late 1970s.

Police confirmed on Wednesday they had received advice from Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP] and were considering whether to lay charges.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said a decision would be made on the basis of the evidence and the likelihood of conviction.

“They’re the litmus tests here and that’s the decision that needs to be taken now,” Commissioner Ashton said.

“It doesn’t need to be too long from now if we’ve got advice back.

“Generally the process from here, on cases of this nature, are generally done fairly quickly within a case of a few weeks.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser

Mitch Mott, The Advertiser

THE victim of sexual abuse by a former Christian Brothers College teacher has told an Adelaide court that his childhood was destroyed — and that he and his family continued to suffer decades after the abuse had ended.

Stephen John Hamra, 61, abused the boy, who was not a student at the school, between 1977 and 1986.

His victim, who is now an adult, read an emotional victim impact statement to Judge Paul Rice in the District Court yesterday, outlining the difficulties that he has faced since the abuse.

“Before the abuse, I was a happy, fun-loving child,” he told the court.

“Afterwards I was angry, depressed and suicidal. I wonder where my life would have been without this abuse.”

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: May 18, 2017
By Krystal Paco

Another victim of clergy sex abuse surfaces.

57-year-old B.J. was neither altar boy nor boy scout but met Father Louis Brouillard when he was around 11 or 12 while playing baseball in the village. The priest offered to take him and friends to Lonfit River to swim. During one such trip, while they were alone, the priest allegedly tied B.J. to the ground and told him he was going to teach him rescue skills because B.J. said he wanted to join the military. The priest stated, “It’s okay, don’t worry, I’m going to teach you how to get out of this and escape if you ever get tied up.” The priest performed sex acts on the boy and raped him multiple times. The boy reported bleeding and feeling like he was dying. When the priest was finished, he told the boy he was “blessing him” and compared the experience to confession in which it was between B.J., Brouillard, and God.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: May 18, 2017
By Krystal Paco

Roy Quintanilla started it all, as he announced in 2016, “I have been silent for 40 years mainly because I thought all this time I was your only victim and because I was embarrassed, humiliated, degraded, and terribly confused about what to do. I thought if I said anything that people would not believe me or people would retaliate against me for coming forward. Archbishop Apuron, I will not be silent anymore.”

This week marks one year since the first victim of clergy sex abuse surfaced. Quintanilla is now joined by nearly 70 others who are suing the Archdiocese of Agana. In some cases involving former priest Father Louis Brouillard, the Boy Scouts of America and Boy Scouts of America Aloha Council Chamorro District are also named defendants.

On the docket today, 11 cases. For those involving Father Antonio Cruz, plaintiffs’ counsel David Lujan clarified for the court they aren’t naming his as a defendant because he passed away in 1986. As for Raymond Cepeda who was defrocked, Lujan says they have yet to formally serve him. “We tried. We think we know where he lives but our processor can’t seem to find him,” he said.

A similar case for Brouillard who Lujan states “I don’t think we’ve served him. We attempted to depose him through his counsel but that fell apart.”

While some defendants were no-shows, counsel for the Boy Scouts was present today, attorney Patrick Civille noting they’ve filed a motion to dismiss. Patrick Civille said simply, “Read it. It’s fascinating reading.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Luke Buckmaster
@lukebuckmaster
Wednesday 17 May 2017

Litigation thrillers and courtroom dramas are not necessarily the same thing – and a movie encompassing both can do one better than the other.

Don’t Tell – debut director Tori Garrett’s well made, if heavy-handed movie about speaking out in the most challenging and degrading of circumstances – is also a reminder that films depicting real-life events are in just as much danger of indulging in caricature and ham-handed dialogue as anything from the realm of pure fiction.

Adapted from a non-fiction book by Queensland lawyer Stephen Roche, Don’t Tell recounts a landmark 2001 civil litigation case against the Anglican Church’s Toowoomba Preparatory School. In a cinematic context, one is tempted to peg it as a sort of Spotlight Down Under, given the obvious similarities in subject matter.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
18 May 2017

FORMER Hunter priest Archbishop Philip Wilson, the most senior Catholic cleric in the world to be charged with concealing the child sex crimes of another priest, has launched his third attempt to stop the case against him from proceeding.

Barrister Bret Walker, SC, for the archbishop, told three judges of the NSW Court of Appeal on Thursday that the charge against his client was invalid because of changes to the law since 1971, when Hunter priest Jim Fletcher is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy at Maitland.

Archbishop Wilson was charged with failing to tell police between 2004 and 2006 of what he allegedly knew or believed about Fletcher, based on alleged conversations with two alleged victims of Fletcher in 1976.

Police allege the information might have helped in 2004 after Fletcher was charged with offences against a third victim, and convicted of serious child sex offences. Fletcher died in jail in 2006. The police case is that a Hunter woman and a priest told Archbishop Wilson in 2004 that Fletcher had sexually assaulted a fourth victim.

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VIRGINIA
Fauquier Times

Hannah Dellinger May 17, 2017

A judge last week delayed the indecent liberties trial of model and pop singer Jordan David Baird, and fired his defense attorneys due to a possible conflict of interest.

Baird, 27, of Warrenton, is the son of a Manassas megachurch leader. Court records show one of his defense firm’s lawyers also oversaw a church investigation into allegations Baird had an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl.

Baird – second-place winner of CW’s singing competition show, The Next, in 2012 — is charged with seven counts of indecent liberties with a minor while in a custodial position for alleged sexual abuse at The Life Church, according to a criminal complaint filed in Prince William County Circuit Court. Baird has maintained he is innocent since the allegations went public, according to his attorneys.

According to prosecutors, Baird was a youth pastor at The Life Church in Manassas and was in a supervisory role over the girl during several alleged acts of sexual abuse between January and September 2015. However, his attorneys say Baird was the church’s director of music and was never employed as a youth pastor.

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KENTUCKY
The Messenger

By Laura Harvey Lead Reporter lharvey@the-messenger.com

MADISONVILLE — The Commonwealth of Kentucky Court of Appeals has denied a request from disgraced Life Temple Church pastor John Price to overturn his 2001 sexual assault convictions based on a recent Kentucky Supreme Court decision he believes modified what constitutes as “forcible compulsion.”

Price filed his appeal with the commonwealth in 2016 after filing an unsuccessful petition with Hopkins Circuit Court contending that the prosecution failed to produce sufficient evidence that he physically forced sexual contact with his victim, a female member of his church.

Price, now 62, was found guilty by a Hopkins County jury in 2001 of two counts of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, first-degree attempted rape and five counts of first-degree sexual abuse in events stemming from numerous sexual encounters that took place from approximately 1983-1993.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

Annelies Gartner

‘Don’t tell, no one will believe you anyway,” 12-year-old Lyndal was told of her sexual abuse at a prestigious Anglican school in Toowoomba in 1990.

Almost 10 years after she was abused Lyndal was a tormented young woman suffering flashbacks and self-medicating in an attempt to block out memories of the molestation she endured at the hands of her boarding master Kevin Guy.

Lyndal returned to her home town and with lawyers Stephen Roche and Jodie Collins and barrister Bob Myers took on the powerful church that denied her abuse for over a decade.

Guy was never brought to justice for his crimes. He committed suicide 40 minutes before he was due to face criminal charges in court, leaving the Church and its legal team believing the case against them ended with his death.

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KENTUCKY
WHAS

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) — A former Louisville priest and teacher has now entered into a plea agreement in his ongoing sex abuse case in Meade County. The terms of the deal have not yet been released.

Hemmerle, who previously worked at Trinity High School, is charged with two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree and five counts of sodomy and faced the possibility of life in prison if convicted at trial.

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MARYLAND
Angelus

Baltimore, Md., May 17, 2017 / 04:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- No one knows who killed Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik. A young nun who was on a year’s leave of absence, Sister Cathy, as friends called her, was murdered sometime while running an errand on the evening of November 7, 1969. She was 26 years-old.

Her body was found in a dump two months later, though authorities have never been able to identify her killer. This summer, a Netflix documentary series called “The Keepers” is reopening the case, talking to witnesses and examining the evidence before the case goes cold forever.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Sr. Cathy are precarious. A member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame since the age of 18, Sr. Cathy and her friend Sister Helen Russell Phillips both took a leave of absence in 1969 and moved out of the convent into an apartment together. A thoughtful and well-liked teacher, Sr. Cathy had taught English at Archbishop Seton Keough Catholic High School for several years before transferring to Western Public High School in 1969.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

The alleged victim says he was only 11 or 12 years old at the time and he begged Father Louis Brouillard to stop, screaming “I think I’m dying.”

Guam – Horrid details have been revealed in the latest sexual abuse lawsuit filed against former priest and Boy Scout master Father Louis Brouillard. This latest case describes a rape so violent that it might be hard for some people to stomach.

But the Boy Scouts is moving forward in seeking dismissal of the cases even with a confession from the disgraced priest.

It’s perhaps the most disturbing and frightening one yet. A lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of Agana and Boy Scouts of America revealing the horrid details of how a minor was repeatedly raped while he was tied up to a tree back in the 1970s.

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CALIFORNIA
Daily Mail (UK)

By Hannah Parry For Dailymail.com

A female churchgoer claims she was sexually assaulted by a former parish priest – and when she complained to the church was told ‘what man wouldn’t want a piece of a** every now and then?’

Dorothy Small, filed a lawsuit against Rev. Renerio Sabuga Jr., the Sacramento Catholic Diocese, and Holy Rosary priest Jonathan Molina, on Monday over the alleged assault and the church’s handling of it, the Sacramento Bee reports.

Her suit describes how Sabuga – known as Father Jong – became a close confidante after he joined Woodland’s Holy Rosary Catholic Church, California, in April 2014.

The 62-year-old said the priest began by inviting her along for bicycle rides and for dinner, but the relationship changed and he began pursuing her romantically, according to her lawsuit.

The situation escalated until February 17, 2015, when she claims the priest ‘cornered (Small) in her bedroom and sexually assaulted’ her.

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KENTUCKY
WDRB

By Chris Turner

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A Kentucky priest accused of molesting a boy forty years ago pleaded guilty to reduced charges one day before his trial was set to begin.

On Wednesday, a Meade County, Kentucky, judge accepted Father Joseph Hemmerle’s guilty pleas to two counts of first degree wanton endangerment and five counts of third degree sexual abuse, in exchange for a recommended sentence of two years of prison followed by eight years of probation.

Hemmerle made an Alford plea, in which he does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to warrant a conviction. Legally, it carries the same weight as a guilty plea.

The case involved allegations that Hemmerle abused a boy in the summers of 1977 and 1978 at Camp Tall Trees, a Catholic youth camp in Meade County.

Formal sentencing is scheduled June 29.

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MARYLAND
Fox Baltimore

by Christine Boynton
Wednesday, May 17th 2017

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) – DNA from the remains of a former Baltimore priest does not match DNA from the murder scene of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, police announced on Wednesday.

The nun’s murder has been under investigation for almost 50 years.

The body of former priest Joseph Maskell was exhumed on February 28, 2017 so that DNA could be compared to evidence gathered at the crime scene.

“Maskell is not the first suspect whose DNA has been compared to the crime scene sample,” police wrote in a release. “Over the years, BCoPD detectives have developed DNA profiles of about a half-dozen suspects and compared them against the crime scene evidence. None of these suspects’ profiles have matched.”

Investigators say their best hope now lies with interviewing anyone willing to come forward with information.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

Alison Knezevich
The Baltimore Sun

DNA evidence from a priest whose remains were exhumed does not match crime-scene evidence from the unsolved killing of Baltimore nun Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, Baltimore County police said Wednesday.

The Randallstown grave of the Rev. A. Joseph Maskell was exhumed in February so detectives could compare his DNA to physical evidence. Police had previously tested the DNA of about six other suspects in the nun’s death.

“The fact that the DNA profiles of the various suspects have not matched the crime scene evidence — it doesn’t necessarily exonerate them,” police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said.

Cesnik, who taught at Archbishop Keough and Western high schools, went missing in November 1969. Her body was found in January 1970 in Lansdowne.

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