ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED STATES/MEXICO
KLEW

BY ELIZABETH FAUGL FRIDAY, JANUARY 29TH 2016

(WSYX/WTTE) — A seminary student from Ohio is facing federal charges for reportedly traveling to San Diego trying to arrange to have sex with infants in Mexico, officials said.

Joel Wright, 23, from Columbus, was arrested at San Diego International Airport by agents from Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Investigators said they got a tip in November about an ad Wright placed on Craiglist in search of adopting an infant in Tijuana, Mexico. According to the criminal complaint, the tipster said he’d responded to the ad and learned the person was studying to be a priest in Ohio. Federal investigators said Wright placed the ad.

Authorities said the tipster later revealed he’d first started communicating with Wright in 2014 about adopting a child. The tipster added Wright traveled to Tijuana in July of 2014 to meet with him, hoping to adopt the child. The person — who investigators kept anonymous — said Wright paid him money as an adoption fee. The tipster took the money and told Wright he would come with the child — but never did.

Investigators said after the tipster began responding to the newest Craigslist ad, the conversation eventually revealed Wright’s “desire to engage in illicit sexual conduct with female infants.” In one email, Wright reportedly said, “I have not gone all the way before but I have made it very close in the past so I do have experance.” (sic)

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CALIFORNIA/MEXICO
San Diego Union-Tribune

By David Hernandez Jan. 29, 2016

SAN DIEGO — An Ohio seminary student accused of traveling to San Diego to have sex with infants in Mexico was arrested after his plane landed at the San Diego airport Friday, authorities said.

Joel Wright, 23, was taken into federal custody and charged with two felony counts, including traveling with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor and attempting to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country within the Southern District of California, according to the criminal complaint.

After receiving a tip, a Homeland Security Investigations undercover agent took over an email account and began a conversation with Wright, who believed he was communicating with a Mexico-based tour guide he met after placing an online ad.

Wright, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, allegedly wrote that he wanted to travel to Tijuana to adopt or own a child under 3 years old and have sex with the infant, according to the criminal complaint.

Wright booked a flight to San Diego and planned to meet a friend of the tour guide at the San Diego airport. Investigators allege the plan was for Wright and the tour guide to travel to Tijuana and go to a hotel, where Wright would be brought female infants.

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UNITED STATES/MEXICO
NBC4i

[with video]

By Dan Pearlman and Michelle Rotuno-Johnson
Published: January 29, 2016

Warning: Some of the details of this article and the above portion of our broadcast may be too disturbing for some viewers.

SAN DIEGO (WCMH) – An Ohio seminary student suspected of travelling to San Diego to have sex with multiple infants in Mexico was taken into federal custody Friday at Lindberg Field by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Joel A. Wright, 23, of Columbus, Ohio, is charged in a criminal complaint with two felony counts, according to the ICE. The allegations include travelling with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor; and attempting to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country within the Southern District of California.

Father John Allen with the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus said Wright was a student there for one semester. Allen said Wright’s status as a seminarian was terminated the moment he left the seminary without authorization.

The Diocese of Steubenville issued the following statement.

Joel Wright was a first year pre-theology student at the Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio.

Wright was discerning ordination to the priesthood for the Diocese of Steubenville.

Immediately upon learning of the allegations against Wright, Diocese of Steubenville Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton suspended Wright from the studies.

The action is in accord with the diocesan child protection decree.

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MEXICO/CALIFORNIA
Irish Independent

A Roman Catholic seminary student has been arrested in California, suspected of intending to travel to Mexico to have sex with a baby or toddler.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Joel Wright, 23, of Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, was taken into custody after getting off a plane in San Diego.

Authorities say he sent emails to an undercover federal agent posing as a travel guide, saying he wanted to adopt or purchase a girl under three in Tijuana, Mexico, for the purposes of having sex with her. He make his first court appearance on Monday.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Lowell Sun

By Lisa Redmond, lredmond@lowellsun.com

LOWELL — The pastor of a small local church grimaced as a Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced him to 15 to 18 years in state prison for raping and abusing a young girl for a decade.

Defiant to the end, Oscar Sanchez told Lowell Superior Court Judge Robert Ullmann, “I never touched her. I never raped her.”

A jury found Sanchez, 35, guilty last month. His wife, Luisa Osario-Sanchez, 43, was found guilty of assault and battery and reckless endangerment of a child. She was sentenced to one year in jail.

Osario-Sanchez accused the victim of “manipulating the system,” yet she told her, “I love you and I forgive you.”

Sanchez and Osario-Sanchez are co-pastors of the Church of God The Holy Branch on Loring Street.

Sanchez will be on probation for 10 years, and Osario-Sanchez for five years, following their release. Both also must comply with a list of conditions, including no contact with the victim or witnesses who testified during the trial last month.

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CHILE
The Freethinker

When ex-Nazi paedophile Paul Schäfer, above, fled from Germany in 1959 after being charged with child abuse, the lay preacher established ‘one of the worst sects in the history of humanity – a stupid, fanatical Christianity.’

That’s the description of Colonia Dignidad provided by Winfried Hempel, who escaped the abusive sect 18 years ago.

According to this report, Hempel, now a lawyer, is heading a lawsuit against the German and Chilean states for the suffering he and other youngsters endured in the Colonia Dignidad commune.

Hempel, 38, alleges that both countries allowed the abuse to happen at the ironically named “Dignity Camp”, originally set up to deliver Christian charity to the local communities
Before his death at the age of 88 in a Chilean prison in 2010, Schäfer collaborated with the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, whose secret police used the colony as a place to torture opponents.

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NEW MEXICO
KRQE

By Justin Cox
Published: January 28, 2016

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – A topic that is usually whispered about was made loud and clear Wednesday.

Victims of sexual abuse by priests shared their stories at the Albuquerque Museum.

More than 300 survivors have come forward to report abuse by priests of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

One victim says secrecy is their biggest foe, and the best way to conquer it is by speaking out.

The group SNAP organized the rally.

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NEBRASKA
Lincoln Journal Star

BY C. PATRICK ROWAN

I was baptized a Roman Catholic January, 1937, and have been a faithful Catholic since that time. I have been a practicing Catholic here in Lincoln since 1971 when I moved here to take a position with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

I have noticed that the Lincoln Diocese is very conservative and comparatively strict, which in itself is not a bad thing.

However, more recently, given world events, socially, politically and religiously, differences have arisen between what Catholic lay people hear, see and experience, between the Vatican, Pope Francis and the American Bishops. This perceived difference is especially noticeable here in the Lincoln Catholic Diocese.

Recently Lincoln Journal Star readers were informed that “A Catholic bishop who was the first American priest convicted of not notifying police of suspected child abuse in a timely manner is now the chaplain at a Lincoln convent. But Lincoln’s bishop said Robert Finn paid for his mistake by completing two years of probation and deserves mercy.”

This news came as a complete shock to the Catholic community here in Southeast Nebraska. A number of letters criticizing Bishop James Conley’s appointment of Bishop Finn appeared in the LJS, but for the most part, members of the Lincoln Diocese remained silent, perhaps fearing to publicly express disapproval of Bishop Conley’s appointment.

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TEXAS
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

BY DEANNA BOYD
dboyd@star-telegram.com

This report includes sexually graphic descriptions.

The first time he was inappropriately touched, it started with a prayer.

One moment, the 31-year-old man recalled for jurors Friday, Dan Haby Jr. was sitting down and praying on the twin mattress he brought into the bedroom for the 15-year-old church member to sleep on.

Then the pastor began “spooning” him and repeatedly rubbing his face and lips up and down the teen’s face and pushing his erection against the boy’s leg.

“I was in shock; I really didn’t understand what was going on,” said the man, now a special education teacher, told jurors. “He told me that he was not a married man and he needed to be able to relieve stress.”

Their time together, the accuser said Haby told him, allowed the pastor to relieve stress “and in doing so he could be a better pastor and more effective minister on Sunday mornings to those in the church.”

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WEST VIRGINIA
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

By GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — A man facing charges including incest, sexual assault and sexual abuse involving a female juvenile waived his right Friday to a preliminary hearing in Mercer County Magistrate Court.

James Lilly, 24, of Bluefield has been charged with one count of incest, one count of second-degree sexual assault and 31 counts of first-degree sexual abuse, Detective K.L. Adams, with the Bluefield Police Department, said after Lilly was arrested on Jan. 12.

Lilly is currently free on a $125,000 cash, surety or property bond of 10 percent, according to records at the Mercer County Magistrate Clerk’s Office. He was scheduled Friday for a preliminary hearing before Magistrate James Dent. On Friday afternoon, Dent was notified that Lilly had waived the preliminary hearing. The case will go before the Mercer County Grand Jury.

Lilly, by his own admission, is transgender and in the process of becoming a woman, Adams said at the time of the arrest.

Lilly once served with youth ministry at the Christ Episcopal Church in Bluefield.

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CANADA
CBC News

By Meghan Grant, CBC News Posted: Jan 29, 2016

For failing to protect a child from sexual abuse at the hands of a predatory priest, the Catholic Church in Alberta should pay one of its former altar boys $4 million, according to a recently launched lawsuit.

Now 52-years-old, the plaintiff — a southern Alberta man — is also suing the estate of Father Robert Joseph Whyte for what he says he suffered between the ages of eight and 15.

“[He] was a young, vulnerable and innocent child who trusted that he was safe and secure with a priest of the Catholic Church,” reads the statement of claim filed at the Calgary Courts Centre.

In 1990, Whyte pleaded guilty to 18 charges of sexual abuse against boys aged 11 to 17 for crimes committed between 1962 to 1982 but the plaintiff was not one of the complainants. Whyte died in 2014.

The allegations outlined in the document took place at St. Mary’s and Water Valley Churches between 1972 to 1979.

The pair sometimes travelled together with the worst of the alleged sexual abuse taking place on a trip to Radium Hot Springs when the priest made the boy sleep in his bed and tried to have sex with him, according to the document.

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FLORIDA
Palm Beach Post

By Joe Capozzi and Jorge Milian – Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Father John Gallagher has spent much of the past week portraying himself to media outlets in Ireland and Florida as a whistleblower punished by the Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach for alerting authorities to a pedophile priest.

But with the blessing of Bishop Gerald Barbarito, another version of Gallagher is emerging from diocese employees and parishioners. They paint an unflattering portrait of an egotistical problem-priest who spread lies about the diocese because he was passed over for a promotion for at least the second time in six years.

“The only reason that this is going on is that John is very upset and angry that he was not named pastor. That’s the bottom line. He wanted to be pastor of Holy Name so bad,’’ said Father Nestor Rodriguez, pastor at St. Ann’s Church in West Palm Beach. “John is a disgruntled employee of the diocese. He needs serious professional help.’’

Among allegations made to The Palm Beach Post about the 60-year-old priest, who rose from humble Northern Ireland origins and bounced around 11 pastoral assignments since coming to Florida in 2000, are:

• Gallagher sparked numerous complaints from Hispanic parishioners at Holy Name of Jesus Church in West Palm Beach. They say he drove a wedge into the congregation’s 2,000 members by mistreating Hispanics and trying to push them away from the church because he said they didn’t contribute enough to the collection plate.

• He harassed a Cuban priest, Father Jose Crucet, prompting Hispanic parishioners to demand Gallagher’s transfer. When Crucet resigned because of stress, Gallagher replaced him with Father Jose Palimattom, who was arrested two months into his new assignment for showing pornographic images to a 14-year-old boy after Mass in January 2015. …

Gallagher’s assertions also sharply contrasted with the zero-tolerance policy adopted by the Palm Beach Diocese in 2002 after the resignation of the second of two bishops in four years over charges of improper sexual relationships with teenage boys.

To bolster his case, Gallagher supplied media outlets with a letter written to Cardinal Sean O’Malley by Chief Deputy Michael Gauger of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, praising Gallagher for his help in prosecuting Palimattom.

The Irish Independent newspaper published Gallagher’s assertions Monday, prompting several media outlets in Ireland and Florida, including The Palm Beach Post, to pursue the story.

The diocese initially responded with vague denials. But when the stories prompted a protest Tuesday in front of diocese offices in Palm Beach Gardens by members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the diocese went on the offensive.

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CANADA
Vancouver Sun

Douglas Todd

A letter to the editor in today’s Vancouver Sun brought back memories about the many years in which I wrote about 150 articles about clergy sex abuse, including in residential schools.

The surprising letter came from Coquitlam’s Leona Huggins, a survivor of teenage abuse at the hands of Catholic priest John Edward McCann.

Leona’s letter thanked The Sun for publishing accounts of priestly sex abuse long before the Boston Globe did it’s now-famous 2002 expose, which is featured in the riveting Oscar-nominated movie, Spotlight. Leona also warns that the goal of rooting out clergy abusers is not yet over.

I interviewed Leona in 1994. Re-reading what she went through brought back painful emotions and, of course, strong empathy.

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LOUISIANA
KSLA

By Laura Heller

CALCASIEU PARISH, LA (KPLC) –
Twelve jurors have now been selected in a former priest’s sex abuse trial.

The process began Monday and lasted all week.

Former priest Mark Anthony Broussard is accused of sexually assaulting boys when he was a priest in Calcasieu between 1986 and 1991. He faces five sex charges – two counts of aggravated rape, one count of aggravated oral sexual battery, one count of oral sexual battery and one count of molestation of a juvenile.

Broussard was initially indicted on 224 counts of sexual abuse, but the charges were reduced to five which reflect the entirety of the accusations.

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HAWAII
Hawaii News Now

By Keoki Kerr

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) –
The Roman Catholic Church has reached settlements in 30 lawsuits filed by people in Hawaii who claim they were sexually abused by priests decades ago when they were children.

They are among 63 people who have made abuse allegations against priests in 40 lawsuits, according to legal documents obtained by Hawaii News Now.

Some of the cases have been reported in the media, such as the 2012 lawsuit filed by Mark Pinkosh claiming two priests at St. Anthony Church in Kailua sexually abused him.

Pinkosh said when he told then-Father Joseph Ferrario that another priest had raped him, Ferrario told him to keep the incidents secret and then Ferrario raped him. Ferrario, who is now deceased, went on to become the bishop of the Catholic Church in Hawaii.

Other cases have been kept quiet, with the plaintiffs listed as John or Jane Roe.

Hawaii News Now has learned that Pinkosh and 62 other alleged victims of priest sex abuse went to mediation last year with the Catholic Church to try to settle their 40 lawsuits.

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AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser

Colin James
Sunday Mail (SA)

A DISGRACED Anglican priest who helped run a boys’ society targeted by paedophiles in South Australia and other states says it was a “sitting duck” for child abuse.

Former Tasmanian archdeacon Louis Daniels has publicly admitted he was among several Church of England Boys’ Society (CEBS) officeholders who targeted boys at youth camps between the 1960s and 1990s.

The serial sex offenders included senior Adelaide CEBS official Robert Brandenburg, who regularly visited Tasmania before he committed suicide in 1999 after his arrest on child sex offences.

Daniels, 68, told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse during the week that he attended various youth camps with Brandenburg, who had an estimated 80 victims, and another convicted paedophile, Garth Hawkins.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Emirates 24/7

By Agencies
Published Saturday, January 30, 2016

A federal judge has delayed next week’s sentencing for a priest convicted of having sex with poor street children during missionary trips to Honduras.

The judge will hold a hearing Tuesday on whether to grant a new trial for the Rev. Joseph Maurizio instead of sentencing the 70-year-old priest that day in Johnstown, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By Jeremy Kohler St. Louis Post-Dispatch

‘ARE YOU STILL A PRIEST?’
By the Rev. Gerald J. Kleba
Published by CreateSpace, 244 pages, $14.95 (paper)

Priests are supposed to love children.

That’s the message of a self-published book, “Are You Still a Priest?” by the Rev. Gerald J. Kleba, pastor of St. Cronan Roman Catholic Church in St. Louis.

About 14 years ago, Kleba took over as pastor of a parish devastated by sexual abuse and cover-up.

The sex abuse scandal was erupting in the Boston Archdiocese, thanks to the Boston Globe’s reporting into its failures to protect children from predator priests. In the last week of February 2002, as the Post-Dispatch was preparing its own story about secret settlements by the St. Louis Archdiocese to victims of sexual abuse, the archdiocese removed two priests from their assignments.

One was the Rev. Joseph Ross, pastor of St. Cronan. The archdiocese had assigned him there in 1991 after he had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a minor; the archdiocese did not tell members of his new parish he could be a threat.

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CANADA
Calgary Sun

BY KEVIN MARTIN, CALGARY SUN
FIRST POSTED: FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016

The victim of years of sexual abuse at the hands of a Calgary Catholic priest in the 1970s still suffers “flashbacks,” a $4-million lawsuit claims.

The 52-year-old plaintiff, whom Postmedia is not naming as a result of the sexual nature of the lawsuit, says he was victimized by convicted child molester Fr. Robert Joseph Whyte.

Whyte, who died in 2014, was sentence to four years in Calgary in 1990 after admitting sexually abusing boys between 1962 and 1982.

The plaintiff, a former altar boy at churches in Cochrane and Water Valley, was in contact with Whyte between 1972 and 1979, when he was between the ages of eight and 15.

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GERMANY
National Catholic Reporter

[“Das System Regensburg” – Die Zeit]

Christa Pongratz-Lippitt | Jan. 29, 2016

A former chairman of the lay diocesan council in Regensburg, Germany, has alleged that Vatican Cardinal Gerhard Müller “systematically” prevented the investigation of abuse in Germany’s famous “Regensburger Domspatzen” boys’ choir during his time as Bishop of Regensburg.

The allegations against Müller, who is now the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, coincided with 60 further alleged abuse victims coming forward since Ulrich Weber, an independent lawyer, published an interim report in January which showed that three times as many boys had been abused between 1953 and 1992 than reported by the diocese.

“My impartiality as an independent lawyer is the reason why more alleged victims now want to consult me. They feel that I will listen to them,” Weber, who was commissioned by the Regensburg diocese to further investigate the abuse at the choir boys school, told domradio.de.

In a long interview in the German weekly Die Zeit, former chairman Fritz Wallner described how Müller, who was Bishop of Regensburg from 2002-2012, and his vicar-general, Fr. Michael Fuchs, “systematically” prevented abuse cases from being investigated and calls for Fuchs, who is still vicar-general of Regensburg, to step down.

In 2005, Müller disbanded the lay diocesan council, Wallner said, “as he wanted to hold the reins firmly in his own hands and that proved fatal for inner-church investigation of abuse.”

Two years later, Wallner said that Müller installed a priest in a parish who had been sentenced for sexually abusing minors in a previous parish. When the priest was again arrested for abusing children in his new parish, Wallner said Müller defended his decision to re-install the priest by pointing out that he had been assured by the man’s psychiatrist that he was “healed.”

Asked at the time whether he felt responsible for re-installing the priest now that he had again sexually abused children, Müller said that the priest had denied the abuse 12 times to Müller’s face, and therefore the priest, had a “disturbed view of the truth.”

According to Wallner, Müller ignored the 2002 German bishops’ conference’s guidelines, which recommended that priests sentenced for sexual abuse of minors should never again be allowed to work with children or young people. Müller’s view was that each diocese had to shoulder the responsibility for such cases itself.

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PENNSYLVANIA
NBC 10

A federal judge has delayed next week’s sentencing for a priest convicted of having sex with poor street children during missionary trips to Honduras.

The judge will hold a hearing Tuesday on whether to grant a new trial for the Rev. Joseph Maurizio instead of sentencing the 70-year-old priest that day in Johnstown, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Maurizio, a suspended Somerset County priest was convicted in September of charges including engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, also known as sexual tourism.

Maurizio’s attorney has filed several sealed motions and documents in the last month, so his specific claims are unclear.

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MEXICO
Telesur

Mexican activists, including priests, have launched a campaign accusing Mexico’s Catholic Archdiocese of protecting Rev. Gerardo Silvestre Hernandez, who is believed to have sexually abused about 100 children.

Hernandez is in prison since 2013 on charges of corruption of minors, however the activists have directly accused the Archbishop of Oaxaca Jose Luis Chavez of protecting the pedophile priest by blocking an investigation into the case.

The activists said the abuses by Hernandez were committed in seven indigenous communities.

Relatives of the victims have drafted a letter that they intend to hand to Pope Francis, who will visit Mexico next month. In the letter, they ask the pontiff for justice and action to ensure that “this doesn’t happen again.”

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Convicted molester gets to be around kids
Victims blast move by Jackson Co. prosecutors
DA’s office agreed to loosen parole restrictions
But the predator had already violated earlier conditions
Deacon “for decades” just pled guilty to felony last month
Victims group begs others who were hurt to “step forward”
Abuser lives in Belton & was deacon at Grandview Baptist Church

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

–hand out copies of a two page “sentencing modification” document,
–blast Jackson County prosecutors for agreeing to let an convicted child molester be around kids,
–prod church officials, where the predator was a deacon, to aggressively seek out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes, and
–urge those with information or suspicions about child sex crimes and cover ups to keep calling police and prosecutors, not church officials.

WHEN
TODAY, Friday, Jan. 29 at 2:30 p.m.

WHERE
Outside the Jackson County prosecutor’s office (north side), 1315 Locust in downtown in Kansas City MO

WHO
Two-fhree members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a St. Louis man who is the organization’s long time director

WHY
Yesterday, with the agreement of a Jackson County prosecutor, a just-convicted child molester sought – and likely won – a “parole modification” that enables him to be around “those under age 16 in an unsupervised capacity on a daily basis.” SNAP thinks this is “a reckless and callous move.”

Last month, John Henry Stone of Belton pled guilty to a felony: sexually assaulting a girl younger than 14 between August through December of 2014. Her family was befriended by Stone at Grandview Baptist Church (913-281-1150) where Stone was a deacon for decades and helped lead several children’s programs, including Vacation Bible School.

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ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe Daily

Holly Cross Church bishop and owner of Rekai Tangwena Children’s Home in Nyanga — Livingstone Tonderai Nerwande — is alleged to have indecently assaulted three vulnerable children at his orphanage.

Nerwande, who rose to fame in the 1990s when he was still a Anglican Church priest through his exorcism powers, is expected to appear in court today facing six counts of indecent charges.

The 77-year-old man of cloth is set to appear today before Nyanga provincial magistrate, Mr Ignatio Mhene. Some of the victims are crippled teenagers who were staying at the orphanage for safety and special care.

According to court papers, Nerwande is alleged to have perpetrated the abuse on the minors since 2014 and the crimes surfaced this month.

In February 2014, on an unknown date, but around 2pm, he allegedly called the 16-year-old victim to his office.

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INDIANA
Post-Tribune

Teresa Auch Schultz
Post-Tribune

Hammond police are investigating an allegation of child molestation at St. Casimir School in Hammond.

According to a release from Lt. Rich Hoyda, a mother reported Monday that her child had been molested during school hours at the Catholic school in the North Hammond neighborhood. The release did not indicate who allegedly molested the child. According to the police report, the incident happened Monday.

Hoyda said in the release the school is cooperating with the investigation.

Debbie Bosak, spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Gary, which runs the school, said that the school doesn’t know much about the case as police haven’t shared many details. She added that part of the issue is that the child is very young and hasn’t been able to identify the suspect. She said the school is not aware of a specific suspect. However, it will continue to cooperate with police as needed, Bosak said.

“If something like that’s happening in our school, that needs to be certainly dealt with immediately,” she said.

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INDIANA
WLS

By Diane Pathieu

HAMMOND, Ill. (WLS) — School officials promised parents transparency as police investigate an alleged case of child molestation at St. Casimir Catholic School in Hammond, Indiana.

The incident allegedly occurred at St. Casimir during school hours. Investigators said the mother of the child reported the incident to police.

A spokesperson with the Catholic Diocese of Gary said police contacted the school’s principal to make her aware of the complaint. A note was sent home to parents to let them know about the investigation.

“It’s just, it was frightening. I mean not knowing the answers – no one’s giving us answers or answering our questions. We’re going to be put to the side and no one is bringing light to anything. It’s like all hush hush,” said one parent, who did not want to be identified.

Javier Galvan said he is worried about his son, who attends St. Casimir. Kimberly Patterson said if the allegations are true, she’s going to keep a closer eye on what happens at the school.

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AUSTRALIA
The Examiner

By ADAM LANGENBERG
Jan. 27, 2016

A PAEDOPHILE priest was promoted to Archdeacon of Burnie by a former Anglican Bishop who had been told of allegations he had behaved inappropriately with young boys, a royal commission has heard.

In opening, counsel assisting Naomi Sharp told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that Bishop of Tasmania Philip Newell was made aware of allegations about inappropriate behaviour from priest Louis Daniels in 1987.

Ms Sharp said Bishop Newell was told of allegations by three boys about the behaviour of Daniels, then the chairman of the Church of England Boys Society.

Child abuse victim BYG said he told Bishop Newell in June 1987 that Daniels had repeatedly grabbed, kissed and fondled him.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

[Abuse allegations: Hildesheim diocese will use an independent appraiser.]

Das Bistum Hildesheim ist wegen seiner mangelnden Aufklärungsarbeit nach Missbrauchsvorwürfen gegen Pater Peter R. kritisiert worden. Nun hat das Bistum angekündigt, den Umgang mit den Vorwürfen von einem unabhängigen Gutachter untersuchen zu lassen.

“Der Gutachter soll auch den Auftrag erhalten, zu überprüfen, ob es möglicherweise weitere Fälle des sexuellen Missbrauchs durch R. in der Diözese gegeben hat”, heißt es in einer Mitteilung. Der Gutachter solle mit der zuständigen Staatsanwaltschaft eng zusammenarbeiten. Wer den Job übernehmen wird, ist noch nicht bekannt.

Hintergrund: 2010 wandte sich ein junges Mädchen namens Anna* an das Bistum und erhob schwere Vorwürfe gegen Pfarrer R. Der stand damals schon im Zentrum des großen Missbrauchsskandals am Berliner Canisius-Kolleg – doch das Bistum Hildesheim gab die neuen Hinweise erst Monate später an die Staatsanwaltschaft weiter. Die Vorgänge wurden erst im vergangenen November durch eine WDR-Dokumentation öffentlich.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Kirchen Zeitung

[Independent expert to examine abuse case in the Hildesheim diocese.]

Ein unabhängiger Gutachter soll sich jetzt mit den Fall des sexuellen Missbrauchs durch den ehemaligen Pfarrer Peter R. im Bistum Hildesheim befassen – und auch überprüfen, ob es weitere Fälle gegeben hat. Das hat das Bistum am Donnerstag, 28. Januar 2016, mitgeteilt.

Am Vorabend hatte sich im zweiten Teil der Sendung “Die Richter Gottes” des Westdeutschen Rundfunks die Mutter einer heute 20-jährigen jungen Frau, die von dem Pfarrer 2006 sexuell missbraucht worden war, geäußert. Die Frau hat darin erklärt, sie sei bereits ab 1993 von dem Pfarrer missbraucht worden. Seitens des Bistums war schon vor der Ausstrahlung beteuert worden, dass es bislang keinen Kontakt zu der Mutter gegeben habe.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Heise

[Six years after the discovery of mass abuse by clergy in the German Catholic Church the extent of acts still not in sight and the handling of abuse cases by church leaders raises further questions.]

Christoph Fleischmann 29.01.2016

Sechs Jahre nach der Aufdeckung massenhaften Missbrauchs in der Kirche zeigt das Beispiel Bistum Hildesheim, wie stark bestimmte Muster vorherrschen

Sechs Jahre nach der Aufdeckung massenhaften Missbrauchs durch Geistliche in der katholischen Kirche ist das Ausmaß der Taten noch immer nicht absehbar – und der Umgang der Kirchenleitungen mit den Überlebenden des Missbrauchs wirft weiter Fragen auf. Aktuell steht das Bistum Hildesheim im Fokus und der dort ab den achtziger Jahren arbeitende Priester Peter R., der erst als Jesuitenpater dort eingesetzt war und nach seiner Entlassung aus dem Jesuitenorden vom Bistum Hildesheim übernommen wurde.

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BELGIE
De Standaard

[Today begins the process of appeal for victims of sexual abuse against the Holy See and the Belgian bishops.]

Yves Delepeleire

Vandaag begint het proces in beroep van slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik tegen de Heilige Stoel en de Belgische bisschoppen.

De advocaten van de slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de Kerk en van de kerkelijke oversten kijken elkaar vandaag weer in de ogen voor het hof van beroep in Gent. 36 slachtoffers, verenigd door advocaten Walter Van Steenbrugge en Christine Mussche, willen dat de Heilige Stoel en de Belgische bisschoppen aansprakelijk worden gesteld voor de ‘doofpotschade’ die de slachtoffers is aangedaan.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Katholisch

[The abuse scandal is back. Or rather it has not long ceased. The new reports from Hildesheim are disturbing, but there is also disturbing news from from Regensburg, Ettal, Bonn and elsewhere.]

Der Missbrauchsskandal ist zurück. Besser gesagt, er hat noch lange nicht aufgehört. Die neuen Berichte aus Hildesheim sind verstörend, aber auch aus Regensburg, Ettal, Bonn und anderswo sind irritierende Nachrichten zu hören. Eine Szene aus dem Jahr 2010 mag dabei symptomatisch erscheinen. Das Bistum Hildesheim gibt eine Pressekonferenz, bei der beteuert wird, man werde sich um Verdachtsfälle kümmern, vor allem einen inzwischen bekannten Täter beobachten und aufmerksam sein.

Vier Wochen später sitzt ein Mädchen vor den gleichen Leuten, die zuvor die Presse informiert haben, und berichtet von einem vermeintlichen Missbrauch. Täter soll eben jene Person sein, von der die halbe Republik durch die Berichterstattung über das Berliner Canisius Kolleg weiß. Man schickt das Mädchen nach Hause. Ein halbes Jahr später wird dann das Mädchen medizinisch betreut – das Bistum reagiert und schaltet die Staatsanwaltschaft ein. Das Bistum und auch der Bischof haben inzwischen Fehler eingeräumt. Doch nun kommen weitere Berichte heraus, auch die Mutter des Mädchens sei missbraucht worden. Nun soll, im Jahr 2016 (!) ein unabhängiger Gutachter eingesetzt werden. Der Sumpf scheint immer tiefer zu werden, je genauer man hinschaut.

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INDIANA
NWI Times

HAMMOND — A teary St. Casimir principal spoke to parents asking for their understanding, prayer and patience as Hammond police investigate an alleged child molestation incident reported to police Monday.

“My daughter goes to this school, too. I know all of you want peace of mind as parents,” St. Casimir Principal Lorenza Pastrick said. “We have great parents and staff here. I can’t, and won’t, let any of our children be at risk.”

A special Friday morning meeting was held following the child molestation allegations reported Monday, drawing a crowd of more than 150 parents to the Catholic school.

Hammond Police Lt. Richard Hoyda said the incident was reported by the child’s mother.

According to the police report, the incident occurred between 7:15 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. Monday. The mother reported the incident to police by telephone at 6:11 that night.

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FLORIDA
National Catholic Reporter

Sarah Mac Donald | Jan. 29, 2016

The diocese of Palm Beach has hit back at claims by one of its priests that he has been ostracized for helping to prosecute a suspected pedophile priest who was jailed for six months for having shown a 14-year-old parishioner up to 40 pornographic images on his phone.

The Catholic Whistleblowers network, which is dedicated to exposing abuse cover-ups, has weighed in in support of Fr. John Gallagher, claiming the diocese of Palm Beach demoted him because he wasn’t “silent about alleged sexual abuse of minor children.”

Irish-born Gallagher has served in Palm Beach since 2000 and claims he was stood down from his role in the parish of the Holy Name of Jesus Christ in West Palm Beach for reporting abuse-related activities concerning Franciscan​ Fr Jose Palimattom, a visiting priest from India, who had been at the parish of the Holy Name of Jesus Christ for just four weeks in December 2014 when a complaint was made.

Speaking to the Pat Kenny Radio Show Jan. 27 in Ireland, the 48-year-old priest also claimed that when he contacted the diocese to report the incident the morning after it had been reported to him, the diocesan official told him, “We’ve dealt with this before, we normally put them on a plane and send them back.”

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VATIKAN
Katholisch

[Pope Francis thanks the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for its work against child abuse.]

Papst Franziskus hat der Glaubenskongregation für ihren Kampf gegen sexuellen Missbrauch gedankt. Die Vatikanbehörde widme sich dieser Aufgabe mit Einsatz und Verantwortungsbewusstsein, sagte er am Freitag in einer Rede an deren Mitglieder im Vatikan. Er forderte, die Integrität des Glaubens müsse begleitet sein von einer Integrität der Sitten in der Kirche.

Die vom deutschen Kardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller geleitete Glaubenskongregation ist unter anderem für Verfahren gegen Kleriker zuständig, die wegen Missbrauchs beschuldigt sind. 2015 hatte Franziskus bei der Kongregation einen Gerichtshof für Bischöfe errichtet, die Verdachtsfällen auf Missbrauch nicht nachgegangen sind oder Verbrechen vertuscht haben. In den vergangenen Jahren hat die Kongregation mehrere hundert Priester wegen sexueller Übergriffe auf Kinder und Jugendliche in den Laienstand versetzt.

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UNITED STATES
Rome Reports

[with video]

Boston. January 2002

There are two recurring elements in the sexual abuse crisis: a priest who abuses children and a bishop who did not immediately remove him from contact with children.

On January 6, 2002, the Boston Globe published the story of father John Geoghan, who for 30 years had abused more than 130 children. Boston Cardinal Bernard Law thought the problem could be solved by moving him to a new parish after abuse cases. So John Geoghan was transferred to half a dozen parishes. At each new parish, parents complained to the archdiocese that the priest had abused children.

Geoghan’s case triggered a wave of complaints against other American bishops who had also put avoidance of scandal above the safety of children.

The Pope summoned all American cardinals to the Vatican to brief him on the sexual abuse scandals.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Morning Times

Posted: Friday, January 29, 2016

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A federal judge has delayed next week’s sentencing for a priest convicted of having sex with poor street children during missionary trips to Honduras.

The judge will instead hold a hearing on sealed motions seeking a new trial for the Rev. Joseph Maurizio. The 70-year-old Somerset County priest was convicted in September of sexual tourism, child pornography and money laundering charges.

Maurizio’s attorney has filed several sealed motions and documents in the last month, so his specific claims are unclear. But an order from a federal judge in Johnstown delaying Tuesday’s sentencing says he’ll instead consider claims that prosecutors withheld evidence that may have been favorable to the priest, among other issues.

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NEW YORK
Riverdale Press

By Shant Shahrigian
Posted 1/28/16

Father Richard Gorman, known for years of activism throughout the Bronx, is denying allegations he sexually abused minors about 30 years ago, according to his lawyer.

Murray Richmond said charges made public last week through an Archdiocese of New York press release are completely false.

In the Jan. 21 statement, which did not go into detail about the allegations, the archdiocese said Fr. Gorman would not be permitted “to publicly function as a priest,” including as director of prison chaplains for the archdiocese.

“As usual, the archdiocese immediately reported the allegations to law enforcement officials for investigation, who have deemed the allegations to be credible, although they have not yet been substantiated,” the statement read in part. It referred people “with information or concerns” about Fr. Gorman to the Westchester District Attorney’s Office.

The priest subsequently resigned as chairman of nearby Community Board 12 and stepped down as a board member of the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts amid a flurry of citywide media coverage.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Rhymes with Religion

Boz Tchividjian | Jan 29, 2016

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to connect with an amazing woman after she stepped forward to share about being re-traumatized by her former church after reporting being sexually abused as a minor. What amazed me about Natalie Greenfield is that she did not back down or succumb to silence when her former church leaders attempted to publicly malign, demean, and intimidate her. Instead, she continued to speak and boldly expose the ugly truth, knowing that her actions would attract the continued ire of a religious institution attempting to save face. Natalie’s words and her life have become a source of great hope and inspiration to many watching abuse survivors around the country who still suffer in silence, shame, and fear. I am very grateful that our paths have crossed and am privileged to call Natalie Greenfield a friend and a hero. – Boz
_____________________________________________________________________________

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of growing up to be all kinds of different things. I wanted to be a ballerina, a veterinarian, a cowgirl, a famous singer. I wanted to fall in love and get married when I was thirty and have a couple of kids, but first I wanted to do everything else. As I got older I realized more than anything I wanted to be a musician. I wanted to write songs and travel the world singing them. I wanted the world to know who I was; I’m a born performer and being on stage felt like home to me.

All of that changed when I was thirteen years old and met the man who targeted me, groomed me for months and then sexually abused me for almost 2 years, destroying the remaining years of my childhood. I lived in the prison this man built around me, I cut myself off from friends and family and I wore a smile to disguise my pain. The abuse finally ended when I was sixteen years old. I hid the abuse for almost 2 more years before speaking out about it, and when I did speak up I was abandoned by my church community and burdened with even more shame. Healing from longterm childhood sexual abuse and the subsequent shaming I experienced has been a life consuming challenge.

I’m now twenty eight years old and married to my best friend, we have three incredible children together and a fourth on the way and life is full and joyful like I never knew was possible. Still, I know what the child sex abuse statistics are and I can’t help but worry my own children might be hurt the way I was. The truth is, most abuse happens at the hands of friends or family members – people who are already in positions of trust and familiarity. It’s also true that most parents of abuse victims will tell you they never saw it coming.

From the moment I saw my first positive pregnancy test I knew I had to be equipped and educated to protect my children. I also knew I needed to equip my children so they could protect themselves when I wouldn’t be able to shield them from the dangers of the world. Honestly, the task felt downright overwhelming until I realized I’m not the only parent who cares deeply about this very thing. Granted, not many people I had access to eight years ago were talking openly about sexual abuse, I longed for conversations that would help me normalize my own healing process as well as educate me for my future as a parent, but I discovered that when I began to speak openly about what happened to me and what I was experiencing as a result, some of the stigma began to fade just a little. Since breaking the ice and beginning to talk about my abuse and shaming, I’ve spoken frequently and openly about the topic and it’s been hugely helpful for me not only when it comes to processing my thoughts about the abuse but also in teaching me how I can help protect and educate others.

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UNITED STATES
The JC

By Stephen Applebaum, January 29, 2016

One of the hottest contenders for the Best Picture Oscar is Spotlight, which tells the powerful, true story of how the eponymous team of investigative reporters at the Boston Globe newspaper exposed a decades-long cover-up by the Catholic Church to protect priests guilty of sexually abusing children.

That the investigation took place at all is credited to the Globe’s first Jewish editor, Marty Baron (played by Liev Schreiber in the film), who, on his first day at the paper, saw a story that he felt needed to be pursued.

Baron had come from the Miami Herald and was an unusual appointment. “The newspaper had been accustomed to having people who have a strong connection to Boston be in charge of it,” he tells me from his office at the Washington Post, where he is now executive editor, “and I think the entire community was accustomed to that as well. I had spent almost no time in the city and so I was labelled an outsider – and made to feel like an outsider.”

While being “somewhat the object of wariness” created discomfort, he had the advantage of being able to “see things through fresh eyes”, he suggests. “I didn’t have any attachments to the community at all. I had no allegiances, no obligations as a result of friendship, nothing like that. So I think that allowed me to approach things with some level of distance and objectivity.”

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VATICAN CITY
ANSA

(ANSA) – Vatican City, January 29 – Pope Francis thanked the members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) on Friday for their efforts in investigating cases involving sex abuse of minors by members of the Catholic clergy.

In an address at the group’s plenary assembly, Pope Francis said, “Christian faith, in fact, isn’t just knowledge to memorise, but truth to live in love. Therefore, together with doctrine of the faith, one must also conserve the integrity of customs, particularly in the most delicate areas of life.

Adhering to Christian faith implies both the act of reason and the moral answer to its gift. In this regard, I thank you for all the effort and responsibility you put forth in treating cases of abuse of minors on the part of clergy”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

[with audio]

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the participants in the annual Plenary Session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) on Friday in the Vatican.

The CDF is tasked with a range of responsibilities, from determining the doctrinal soundness of theological and catechetical works, to advising and giving judgment on matters relating to areas like medicine and bioethics, to conducting canonical trials in cases of child sex abuse by clergy – work for which the Holy Father had words of praise and encouragement.

Pope Francis focused his broad-ranging remarks around three distinct points: the inter-relatedness of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy; the importance of collegiality in ecclesial life and governance; the complementary relationship of charismatic and hierarchical gifts in the life and mission of the Church.

“When, in the evening of life,” said Pope Francis, “it shall be asked of us what we did to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty, equally shall it be asked of us if we helped people find their way out of doubt, if we were committed to welcoming sinners – admonishing or correcting them, if we were capable of combatting ignorance, especially that ignorance which regards Christian faith and the good life.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – The World Today

KIM LANDERS: Let’s go now to the Child Sexual Abuse Royal Commission in Hobart.

A convicted paedophile has agreed he’d prefer that his evidence worked to protect the reputation of the Anglican Church and the archbishop of Brisbane Phillip Aspinall.

But former priest Robin Goodfellow has denied he’d lie on oath to achieve that goal.

The royal commission is examining how the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania and the Church of England Boys Society handled dozens of abuse allegations from the 1970s to the early 2000s.

Samantha Donovan is following the hearings and joins me now.

Samantha, remind us what the commission has heard about Archbishop Phillip Aspinall’s involvement in this episode?

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Well, Kim, the survivor witness BYF has told the royal commission that in 1982 when he was a teenager, he was staying at the Anglican rectory in Triabunna on Tasmania’s east coast.

The priest, Garth Hawkins lived there.

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FLORIDA
WPTV

The Diocese of Palm Beach is responding to a local priest’s claims he has been “frozen out” by the church.

Father John Gallagher claims he was placed on medical leave after blowing the whistle on the behavior of a visiting priest.

He says the church went as far as to change the locks on his parochial home while he was sick in the hospital.

The diocese has released a statement saying Gallagher’s account is “completely inaccurate” and his reassignment was not related to the incident with the visiting priest.

You can read the complete response from the Diocese of Palm Beach here.

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UNITED STATES
Church Militant

by Joseph Pelletier • ChurchMilitant.com • January 28, 2016

OAXACA, Mexico (ChurchMilitant.com) – A Mexican archbishop is being accused of protecting a priest many claim abused up to 100 children.

In a press conference held Tuesday, multiple priests and activists charged José Luis Chávez Botello, the archbishop of Antequere-Oaxaca, with intentionally concealing sexual abuse reportedly perpetrated by a diocesan priest.

Several speakers at the conference, which was held by the Oaxaca Children’s Forum, claim the Rev. Gerardo Silvestre Hernández molested “more than 100 victims,” with the first instance of abuse occurring nearly a decade ago.

“In 2006, Gerardo Silvestre abused a nine-year-old boy during a six-month internship,” asserted Alejandro de Jesus from the Oaxaca Children’s Forum. This occurred, de Jesus continued, while Silvestre was serving the San Pablo Huitzo parish in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

January 28, 2016

Cardinal George Pell, who announced in December that health problems prevented him from traveling to Australia to testify before a commission investigating sexual abuse, has also cancelled a speaking date in January in the United States.

The Australian cardinal, who now serves as prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, was scheduled to appear in Miami this month. But citing a “worsening” heart condition, he said that doctors had advised him against making the trip from Rome.

In December, Cardinal Pell had said that his health would not allow a return to Australian to appear before a royal commission investigating sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. His announcement had met with some skepticism among his critics.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Altoona Mirror

January 29, 2016

By Phil Ray (pray@altoonamirror.com) , The Altoona Mirror

U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson in Johnstown on Thursday ordered a second hearing on a request for a new trial for the Rev. Joseph D. Maurizio, the Somerset County priest convicted last September of sexually abusing two Honduran children during his annual visits to the country.

Maurizio was expected to be sentenced Tuesday on charges of sexual abuse, possession of child pornography and money laundering.

Gibson put the sentencing on hold and stated in his order that he will instead hear another request by Altoona attorneys Steven P. Passarello and Daniel Kiss for a new trial based on recently discovered evidence that the prosecution violated federal rules that require it to reveal evidence to the defense that could show the defendant to be innocent.

Passarello, when contacted Thursday afternoon, said he couldn’t talk about the newly discovered evidence but confirmed that a new hearing will be held. Gibson, in early December, dismissed the defense request for a new trial, although he did toss out one of the five guilty verdicts against Maurizio.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By political reporter Anna Henderson

The Federal Government has taken the next step towards compensating victims of institutional child sex abuse by confirming plans to consult with states on a national scheme.

The Coalition has announced consultations on a nationally consistent approach to “redress” victims, in response to the lengthy royal commission process that had been underway since 2013.

The Federal Government has released a statement saying “governments and non-government institutions should take essential responsibility for the wrongs committed under their care”.

Options for redress could include compensation, a personal response and counselling.

The Opposition put forward its own proposal last year for a $20 million contribution to establish a National Redress Agency.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Melissa Davey
@MelissaLDavey
Friday 29 January 2016

The federal government will work with the state and territory governments to implement and fund a redress scheme for victims of child sexual abuse by July next year.

While individual states and territories will be responsible for redress that applies to institutions within their jurisdiction, the federal government will work with the jurisdictions to ensure the redress is consistent across the country, according to a statement from the department of the attorney general, George Brandis.

The royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse made its final recommendations for victim compensation through a national redress scheme in September, saying it was essential to ensure justice for survivors of abuse within religious organisations, sporting clubs, schools and other institutions.

The commission said the government should announce its willingness to adopt such a scheme by the end of 2015, but victims had been left waiting.

In a statement released on Friday by Brandis and the social services minister, Christian Porter, the government said it recognised the importance of implementing a national approach to redress “as quickly as possible”.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The Catholic Church has given a lukewarm reception to the federal government’s plans for redress schemes for survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.

Francis Sullivan, CEO of the church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council, welcomed the government’s announcement on Friday that it would work with states and territories to develop a “nationally consistent approach” to paying redress.

However Mr Sullivan said it was “disappointing” that the federal government is not further advanced in its plans, considering it has had recommendations for a redress scheme from the child abuse royal commission for months.

“This is, at best, a tentative start to what has been a very long wait for child sexual abuse survivors,” Mr Sullivan said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The JC

Todros Grynhaus, a “dangerous and manipulative” former teacher who abused two teenage girls has had his appeal against his prison sentence thrown out.

Todros Grynhaus, a rabbi’s son and prominent member of the Charedi community in Salford, was jailed for 13 year and two months at Manchester Crown Court last July.

He challenged the sentence at London’s Criminal Appeal Court on Thursday, with his lawyers arguing it was ”far too long”.

But his appeal was thrown out by three senior judges, who said he could not complain given the breach of trust involved in his crimes.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

January 29, 2016

Jane Lee
Legal affairs, health and science reporter

The Turnbull government has agreed to lead a national redress scheme for child sexual abuse survivors but has not committed to contributing any shortfall funding for institutions that cannot pay compensation.

Attorney-General George Brandis and Social Services Minister Christian Porter said in a joint statement on Friday that they would develop a “nationally consistent approach” so that survivors of all institutions would “receive proper redress, irrespective of the location of the institution at the time of the offending or the present status of the offending institution”.

“We will soon commence discussions with the states and territories to carefully work through the many complex issues to achieve an outcome for survivors as soon as possible,” they said, without setting a deadline for negotiations.

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WASHINGTON
KING5

[with video]

Elisa Hahn, KING 5 News January 28, 2016

SEATTLE — Two weeks ago the Seattle Catholic Archdiocese posted a list of 77 clergy members who are deemed by the church to be abusers of children. A victims group claims that predator list is incomplete.

“I’m a Catholic through and through,” said Steve Snider, “but I can’t go to church. I tried.”

Snider still has his faith, but says he has lost his church. He was one of the handful of people standing outside of St James Thursday.

They are all members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, a support group for people who have been sexually abused in religious settings.

“When they’re not being a 100 percent truthful and they’re still trying to hide, it feels like we’re being molested all over again,” said Snider.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

By Andrew Drummond
January 29, 2016

Tasmania’s Anglican community was Sue Clayton’s life in the 1980s, but after hearing reports of sexual abuse by a priest and disagreeing with how the church handled the allegations, her world started to crumble.

Confidential revelations in 1987 by two teenage boys that they had been molested prompted the school teacher to arrange a meeting with Bishop Phillip Newell to express her concerns.

She told a royal commission hearing on Friday she had faith the senior clergy would deal with the matter.

“You are to speak to no one about this,” she said she was told by Bishop Newell at the end of the meeting.

“These matters were of a confidential nature.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald

by Edward Condon posted Thursday, 28 Jan 2016

In the post-Vatican II Church notions of crime and justice had no place and abusers were labelled as victims

The film Spotlight, which opens in the UK this week, tells the story of the Boston Globe’s work in uncovering the child sex abuse scandal in that city. It has received, both here and in the United States, rave reviews and will, rightly, bring with it a revisiting of the terrible crimes which were committed, and covered up, in Boston, but also in many other dioceses.

For Catholics, this can be an occasion for mixed emotions: on the one hand, everyone shares the rage and revulsion which is the only possible response to the horrific pattern of abuse and denial which played out in so many places. On the other, there is a certain tribal resistance which many of us feel at the wider media broad-brush painting of the Church we love, and of which we have a totally different experience, as a monolithic embodiment of hypocrisy and evil. Neither feeling is unreasonable, nor are they mutually contradictory.

My own attempts to reconcile the two, in part, steered me towards my study of canon law, and penal law in particular. What I expected to learn was that canon law was part of the problem, that it was the mechanism which allowed for the crimes of child abusers to be ignored, excused, and covered up. It was a great relief discovering that the opposite was true; the pattern of abuse and cover up, so especially seen in Boston and Los Angeles, was not a product of canon law, nor even its abuse, but of its flagrant violation. Changes and updates were needed, but, broadly speaking, the law itself was sound and, had it been followed, we would not have seen the pattern of tragedy which we did in many places. But when a law can be ignored with impunity, however internally sound it may be, it cries out for reform.

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IOWA
Catholic Globe – Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City

One of the challenges of leading sessions of Protecting God’s Children for Adults is encouraging people to speak up and take action when observing something that raises concerns. It seems that many people find themselves on one end of the action spectrum. They either think the best thing is to do nothing and take care of their own children without “butting in,” or they become angry and hurl accusations at the one whose behavior raises concerns. Facilitators must encourage people to look carefully at a situation and consider the many possible actions available before taking the one that is appropriate to the circumstances and has the potential to make the biggest impact.

Attendees in our Virtus classes have different reactions when learning about the nature and scope of the problem of child sexual abuse. While parents aren’t the only attendees, some people come to the sessions annoyed that they have to be there. They feel they are doing all that can be done to protect their own children or the children in their purview. Most people are shocked to discover what it takes to create a safe environment for our children.

In our Virtus sessions, we work with participants to identify the potentially risky adult behaviors that indicate a person is a possible risk to children. We clarify those behaviors and talk about how they show up in real situations around us daily. When we discuss communicating our concerns, we invite them to consider that what may happen when we see these behaviors. Sometimes people gossip about the person or persons whose behavior gives concern. Sometimes people react fearfully and convince themselves that what they saw was probably innocent, that it couldn’t really be a warning sign.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Spotlight
Rating: *****
Verdict: Troubling but superb

Judging films, as everyone knows, is a highly subjective business. One person’s unmissable is another’s unwatchable. But with three five-star assessments dished out here in recent weeks (The Revenant, Room and now Spotlight), it seems timely to consider what, from where I’m sitting, makes a film deserving of the full caboodle of stars.

It should surely be one of two things — a film you absolutely have to see, or one that is unimprovable. Only rarely does a movie come along that fulfils both those criteria, but I think Spotlight does.

It tells a seismically important and troubling story with such integrity, such a lack of showiness on the part of the actors and their director, Tom McCarthy, that it would unequivocally get my vote, if only I had one, for Best Picture at next month’s Academy Awards. In both tone and theme, it is strongly reminiscent of 1976 film All The President’s Men: a true story of investigative reporters doggedly uncovering a scandal. But this scandal is far more shocking even than the Watergate conspiracy.

In 2002, the Boston Globe exposed the long, systematic concealment by the Catholic Church of the sexual abuse of children by almost 100 priests in the area.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

Mark Naglazas
January 29, 2016

Spotlight (M)
4.5 stars
Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams
Director Tom McCarthy

Review Mark Naglazas

The newspaper picture is one of Hollywood’s richest sub-genres, yielding great comedies and satires (His Girl Friday, Broadcast News), sour dissections of the profession (Ace in the Hole, The Sweet Smell of Success) and several flat-out masterpieces (Citizen Kane, Network).

However, not even the greatest of all movies about newspapers, All the President’s Men, has been so devoted to capturing the unglamorous grind of investigative journalism as Spotlight, which tells the true story of the Boston’s Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-wining expose of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Indeed, co-writer and director Tom McCarthy (The Visitor) was so intent on recreating the hard slog of putting together a great story – the hours wading through documents, the struggle to get witnesses to talk, the butting up against legal barriers – he risked boring the audience.

It was a risk worth taking as McCarthy and his remarkable ensemble cast have made the slow-drip gathering of facts as gripping as any jacked-up Hollywood thriller, reminding us that truth is always stranger and more compelling than fiction.

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ZIMBABWE
Manica Post

Abel Zhakata Senior Reporter

HOLY Cross Church bishop and owner of Rekai Tangwena Children’s Home in Nyanga — Livingstone Tonderai Nerwande — is alleged to have indecently assaulted three vulnerable children at his orphanage.

Nerwande, who rose to fame in the 1990s when he was still a Anglican Church priest through his exorcism powers, is expected to appear in court today facing six counts of indecent charges.

The 77-year-old man of cloth is set to appear today before Nyanga provincial magistrate, Mr Ignatio Mhene. Some of the victims are crippled teenagers who were staying at the orphanage for safety and special care.

According to court papers which are in possession of this paper, Nerwande is alleged to have perpetrated the abuse on the minors since 2014 and the crimes surfaced this month.

In February 2014, on an unknown date, but around 2pm, he allegedly called the 16-year-old victim to his office.

“The accused person told the complainant that he wanted to pray for her. The girl knelt down and the bishop started praying while holding the complainant’s head. He went further to fondle the complainant’s breast and licked her ears without her consent,” read the papers.

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GERMANY
Deutsche Welle

No one wants to be a victim, but boys in Germany were sexually abused in Catholic schools. Now a new play examines their struggles as adults – and comes painfully close to reality.

One after the other, the actors enter the dark stage and sit on chairs arranged in a half-circle. Thomas Melle’s play, “Bilder von uns” (Pictures of us) begins by separating the individuals from each other – and that is not a coincidence.

“No one is the only one,” a victim will later say, “But each one is alone with their memories.”

These are memories of the unspeakable: the abuse of a priest, who inappropriately touches the children in his care in the shower and sauna, who takes nude pictures of them, and even forces them to engage in sexual conduct. All of these things happened many years ago, in a school.
Since then, time has passed. But one day, a photo turns up.

Jesko is a 40-year-old media manager who is successful in his job and happily married. He discovers the photograph on his mobile phone. It’s a picture of him, naked, as a young boy. He continues to receive similar photographs. Is someone trying to blackmail him?

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

LOL a Vatican official and not just any low ranking priest, Archbishop Angelo Becciu in an interview, said that Vatican officials and employees are ‘ashamed to tell people’ where they work especially with the recent two books by the Vatileaks Italian journalists on the Vatican Avarice and the Merchants in the Temple – in allusion to the merchants in the Temple of Solomon – whose tables Jesus overturned in anger as he said, “It is written: ‘My house is the house of prayer’, but you have made it a den of robbers.’”. LOL no wonder Pope Francis has even hired a comedian, an Oscar winning actor as his official spokesperson for his new book, The Name of God is Mercy, because people will listen more to a Hollywood actor than to a priest.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Multi-Oscar nominated movie Spotlight brings the Boston Globe’s shocking expose of the Catholic Church’s abuse cover-up to the big screen. Susan Griffin talks to the film’s director, cast and the real-life journalists they portray, about tackling such sensitive subject matter.

In the summer of 2001, Marty Baron began his first day in charge of the Boston Globe. Within hours, he’d asked the boss of the paper’s investigative team, Spotlight, to look closer into a column about a local priest accused of sexually abusing dozens of young parishioners over a three-decade period.

Cut to January 2002, and despite staunch resistance from church officials, the journalists, including editor Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson, reporters Sacha Pfeiffer and Michael Rezendes and researcher Matt Carroll, shook the world by exposing the Catholic Church’s systematic cover-up of paedophilia perpetrated by more than 70 local priests in the city.

Now a film, entitled Spotlight – which has been nominated for six Oscars, three Golden Globes and three Baftas – tells how the team conferred with the victims’ lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, interviewed the adult survivors and pursued the release of sealed court records to uncover the truth.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Emilie Gramenz

A former Anglican rector and convicted paedophile has said he suspected a church friend was “in cahoots” with other offenders sexually abusing boys around Australia.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been examining the Anglican Church and its youth group, the Church of England Boys Society (CEBS), at a public hearing in Hobart.

Former rector Garth Hawkins, who changed his name to Robin Goodfellow, was convicted in 2003 for sexually abusing seven boys as he moved between Tasmanian parishes in the 1970s and ’80s.

The commission is investigating the possibility of a multi-state paedophile ring operating in CEBS over about 40 years.

In his evidence, Hawkins was asked if he believed his friend and fellow offender Louis Daniels, the former Archdeacon of Burnie, could have been involved in a paedophile ring.

Hawkins responded: “No.”

Counsel assisting Naomi Sharp then asked: “Did you ever suspect that Mr Daniels was in cahoots with anyone in relation to his sexual abuse of boys around Australia?”

Hawkins paused before answering: “I think he probably was, yes.”

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VIRGINIA
Daily Progress

Posted: Thursday, January 28, 2016

By Dean Seal

A former youth pastor at a Charlottesville church has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a teenager in his care and will spend 30 days behind bars.

Jacob Daniel Kepple was arrested in December 2014 on two charges of taking indecent liberties with a child. The 36-year-old appeared in Charlottesville Circuit Court on Thursday to plead guilty to one of those charges as part of a plea agreement with the prosecution, which dropped his second charge.

The prosecution said in court that between 2009 and 2011, while Kepple was a youth minister at First Baptist Church on Park Street, he spent increasing amounts of one-on-one time with a high school sophomore who attended First Baptist that grew increasingly inappropriate, though the two never engaged in sexual activity.

Prosecutor Elizabeth Killeen said that over time, Kepple began hugging the victim for long periods of time, grabbing the victim’s buttocks and putting his hands down her shirt, though all contact was over the victim’s clothing.

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MINNESOTA
Grand Forks Herald

By St. Paul Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL — A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a proposed property sale and a landmark settlement agreement submitted by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The archdiocese sought the court’s approval for the potential sale of its chancery property. A $2.75 million bid was made by United Properties Development LLC (a Pohlad family company), but the archdiocese has said it expects more bids. More bids will be accepted until March 18, and a final sale will be approved by the court March 31.

The chancery sits across the street from the Cathedral of St. Paul and houses archdiocesan offices and the archbishop’s residence.

The court was also asked to approve a settlement agreement reached last month between the archdiocese and the Ramsey County attorney’s office. The agreement, which settles a civil lawsuit filed by the county attorney’s office, will require the archdiocese to implement more child protection protocols, subject to government oversight.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

Thursday, January 28, 2016by Sarah Carabott

Empowering victims of abuse would help prevent future crimes, Archbishop Charles Scicluna said yesterday in reaction to the release of a film about the cover-up of clerical abuse in Boston.

The lessons learnt by the Church should help others in the clampdown on sexual abuse, Mgr Scicluna said when asked for a comment about Spotlight, which is tipped for Oscar success.

The film, which started being screened in Maltese cinemas yesterday, tells the story of the 2002 investigation by the Boston Globe into the cover-up of clerical abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston.

The scandal had shaken the Catholic Church to its core and pushed the issue of sexual abuse of children into the limelight. The newspaper’s coverage had encouraged other victims to come forward.

“Disclosure of abuse is the best service that one can render the Church and society, because only the truth will set us free. The empowerment of victims should be at the heart of every effort to address past crimes and help prevent ­­­future ones,” the Archbishop said.

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FLORIDA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach

By: DPB Office of Communications
Date: January 28, 2016

The Diocese of Palm Beach is posting this response to our website for those who wish to read the truth and a more detailed response than what the media is printing or airing in regards to the allegations made against the diocese by Father John Gallagher.

“The Diocese of Palm Beach is deeply disheartened and troubled by the allegations of Father John Gallagher against the Diocese of Palm Beach. Our diocese can no longer stand by in relative silence when we know the allegations are a complete inaccurate representation of the facts. Though we have released our statements stating how the Diocese of Palm Beach proactively and appropriately responded to the incident with Father Palimattom and stated Father Gallagher’s reassignment was not related to that particular incident, we are compelled by the manner in which the media is presenting this case to speak out further to be certain all sides and facts of this story are known. We feel it is especially important that this information is made available to the community and in particular to our faith congregations.

The Diocese of Palm Beach acted in a prompt, thorough, and cooperative manner in regard to Father Palimattom. Father Gallagher was not in any way demoted or removed because of the incident. He was not named as pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Church for a number of reasons not related to the incident involving Father Palimattom. He was given a new assignment with all the reasons explained to him. Access to his residence was never denied him, nor was he refused sacraments. At his request, he was placed on leave and continues to receive salary, health insurance and benefits.

The policy of the Diocese of Palm Beach in regard to allegations of sexual abuse is to follow the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, established in June 2002. The Charter is a comprehensive set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy or other Church personnel. The Charter also includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability, and prevention of future acts of abuse. The Charter and Diocesan policies and procedures can be found on our website at www.diocesepb.org/safe-environments.

Additionally, our diocese has a set of Reporting Procedures for Allegations of Sexual Abuse Against Minors. These guidelines are given to all priests, religious, employees and volunteers.

Father Gallagher alleges the Diocese of Palm Beach ignored these guidelines when in fact we know the Administration Offices of the Diocese did follow those procedures and our records show Father Gallagher did not.

Our Reporting Guidelines (in three languages: English, Spanish and Creole) are available on our website, in our Employee Handbooks and we require all the Churches and schools in our diocese to post these guidelines in several public places at their facilities. We would like to now go through the steps with you in response to the recent published allegations.

REPORTING PROCEDURES FOR ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS and VULNERABLE ADULTS

STEP 1 The person receiving the allegation immediately makes an oral report to 1-800-96ABUSE (1-800-962-2873). Notes should be taken including names, dates, and times, and a log should be kept of all telephone calls made.

STEP 2 The person receiving the allegation makes an oral report to the Chancellor of the Diocese of Palm Beach at 561-775-9507, (cell 561-373-7990) who reports it to the bishop and diocesan attorney.

STEP 3 The diocesan attorney reports the allegation to the state attorney.

STEP 4 The person receiving the allegation informs the school principal, pastor or the appropriate immediate authority.

STEP 5 The person receiving the allegation sends a written report to the Department of Children and Families within 48 hours. Instructions regarding information to be included in this report are available from your entity’s pastor, principal, or administrator or the Chancellor’s office

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FLORIDA
Palm Beach Post

For the second time this week, the Diocese of Palm Beach issued a powerful rejection of claims made by a priest that he had been “frozen out” of the church after informing authorities that a colleague showed pornographic material to a minor.

Widening its defense against the assertions of Father John Gallagher, the Palm Beach Gardens-based diocese on Thursday defended its record in reporting and combating sexual abuse by priests since 2002, when the second bishop in four years departed over a sex scandal.

Bishop Gerald Barbarito, of the Diocese of Palm Beach, leads the St. Edward Catholic Church consecration in January 2015. Assisting him during the sprinkling rite is Deacon Martin Serraes.

“As a Catholic Church, we apologize for the grave harm that has been inflicted on any victims by clergy or church personnel. Words alone cannot express our sorrow, shame and disappointment for the past,” the statement said. “The church is indebted to victims of abuse who have come forward. Their witness has allowed the healing process to begin and has made the church safer for all families.”

Citing a national training program, the diocese said since 2002 it has had 30,000 clergy, religious and lay people complete the “Protecting God’s Children” workshop and said it put the same number through background screening.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Martin Moylan Jan 28, 2016

A federal bankruptcy judge told the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Thursday that it can proceed with efforts to sell the church’s Summit Avenue chancery.

Minneapolis-based United Properties, which is owned by the Pohlad family, has offered $2.75 million for the chancery, but the archdiocese expects there’ll be higher bids. Ramsey County estimates the market value of the property to be $6.3 million. Other parties have until March 18 to make offers.

Current zoning allows low-density residential projects, such as single-family homes. It’s expected the sloping chancery property could accommodate a five-story building without blocking views of the nearby Cathedral of St. Paul. There is a 1.5 acre parcel of adjacent city-owned land that could be included in a project.

Any proposed project for the nearly 4-acre site would be subject to zoning review and the scrutiny of neighbors. The sale of the chancery property is subject to court review.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune JANUARY 28, 2016

Potential buyers of the Twin Cities archbishop’s home and office have until March 18 to make an offer, under procedures approved by a bankruptcy court judge Thursday.

Prime real estate owned by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has seen renewed interest in recent weeks from prospective bidders, from groups ranging from housing to office developers, said real estate broker Paul Donovan.

“There’s strong interest,” said Donovan, who attended the court hearing. “The potential uses [of the property] explored have been creative, from re-purposing the offices to a complete redevelopment.”

The Summit Avenue chancery, across from the St. Paul Cathedral, is among those being sold by the archdiocese to pay off creditors. The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy last January, following a flood of clergy abuse claims.

The court approved a $2.75 million purchase agreement with United Properties Development earlier this month, which drew criticism for being too low. The chancery property was valued at $6.3 million “based upon the Archdiocese’s review of Ramsey County public records,” according to court documents.

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NEW YORK
Riverdale Press

By Shant Shahrigian
Posted 1/28/16

Father Richard Gorman has resigned as chairman of nearby Community Board 12 and been suspended from working as a priest following allegations he sexually abused minors about 30 years ago.

While he is denying the charges, he stepped down as chairman and as a board member of the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts following a Jan. 21 announcement from the Archdiocese of New York.It said Fr. Gorman would not be permitted “to publicly function as a priest,” including as director of prison chaplains for the archdiocese.

“As usual, the archdiocese immediately reported the allegations to law enforcement officials for investigation, who have deemed the allegations to be credible, although they have not yet been substantiated,” the statement read in part. It did not contain any details of the claims, but referred people “with information or concerns” about Fr. Gorman to the Westchester District Attorney’s Office.

Fr. Gorman referred inquires to his lawyer Murray Richmond, who said the allegations are completely false.

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UNITED STATES
KUOW

[with audio]

By PERSON: BILL RADKE & ALLIE FERGUSON

The Seattle Archdiocese recently released 77 names of clergy accused of child sexual abuse, including priests who worked on reservation land.

The Catholic Church has had a presence on Indian reservations since the 1800s. Their missionary work was intertwined with early U.S. government policy towards native Americans.

Attorney Vito de la Cruz represents many victims of abuse by Catholic clergy in the Northwest, particularly Native American victims, who he says were particularly vulnerable to this abuse.

“The history of this country has promoted the stripping of natives of all of the things that are important to them, including their religion and faith,” De La Cruz said. “And that was done with the complicity and the participation of the Catholic Church and other religions as well.

“It is a profound trauma.”

According to de la Cruz, the Catholic Church often moved priests and nuns with a history of abuse to native lands because of its remoteness and isolation. “It did nothing but exacerbate the problem because It created a whole new pool of victims for those people to abuse,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
Baptist News

By Bob Allen

An Alabama Baptist pastor says Southern Baptists should be concerned about a new magazine expose alleging child sex abuse and cover-up in a church formerly led by a pastor with close ties to the denomination’s leaders.

Rick Patrick, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Sylacauga, Ala., described a story in the February issue of the Washingtonian titled the “The Fall of a Mega Church” as “heartbreaking” in a comment on SBC Today, a blog he publishes in his capacity as executive director of Connect316, a group of pastors formed to counter the growing influence of Calvinism in the nation’s second-largest faith group.

SBC Today reprinted a blog by Brent Detwiler, a one-time colleague of Sovereign Grace Ministries founder C.J. Mahaney who for the past three years worked with victims, child abuse experts, lawyers and law enforcement in pursuit of a book detailing what media have called the largest evangelical sexual abuse scandal to date.

Apart from cover-up allegations detained by Detwiler, Patrick said for Southern Baptists there is a separate concern: “namely, that we have been forming an ever closer alliance with Sovereign Grace Ministries and C. J. Mahaney over the past several years.”

The Wartburg Watch, another blog that monitors SBC issues, reported last September that Mahaney’s current church, Sovereign Grace Church in Louisville, Ky., had recently affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville added a sentence to its “about us” webpage noting that in addition to association with Sovereign Grace Ministries it “also partners with the Southern Baptist Convention for the purposes of training and gospel mission.”

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Colin Gleeson

A complaint by a survivor of clerical child sexual abuse in relation to how he was presented in an RTÉ News bulletin on a meeting he held with Pope Francis has been rejected by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

Mark Vincent Healy met with Pope Francis in 2014 to discuss an ESRI report on the economic impact of abuse on the lives of survivors in terms of household income and labour force attachment.

Mr Healy claimed he was presented as “a lonely single aging man” in his private life, in news bulletins on RTÉ One at 1pm and 9pm on August 15th, 2014.

He said he had not engaged with the broadcaster to speak about his personal life or circumstances, but as a campaigner seeking services which he said were “badly needed” for survivors of clerical child sexual abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

January 29, 2016

Aisha Dow

There remain doubts over whether Cardinal George Pell will return to Australia next month to give testimony to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, after he failed to travel to the United States this week for a speaking engagement.

Australia’s highest-profile Catholic, who is based in Rome where he manages the Vatican’s finances, previously cancelled a planned trip to Melbourne in December to give evidence to the commission due to a “worsening” heart condition.

His testimony on how he responded to child abuse allegations as a priest in Ballarat and as the Archbishop of Melbourne was delayed until February this year, when a third public hearing into Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat is due to begin.

However, even church officials are unsure whether the 74-year-old will be able to return from Europe.

Communications director for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, Katrina Lee, said she had received no update on Cardinal Pell’s current health condition and did not know if flights had been booked for his return to Australia.

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AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL
Australian Jewish News

Israeli judges are being urged to kickstart proceedings to extradite alleged sexual abuser Malka Leifer to Australia by setting up a courtroom in her home.

Australian authorities are attempting to bring the former head teacher of the Adass Israel School back to the country to face charges of assaulting a number of students. In all, Leifer is wanted in connection with 74 counts of assault. She fled to Israel in March 2008 after claims she molested students became public.

Leifer was arrested to face extradition proceedings some 18 months ago. But attempts to extradite her are proving fruitless, as she misses extradition hearings on health grounds, claiming she suffers psychotic episodes ahead of court appearances. It has been reported that mental health experts have confirmed her panic attacks are genuine.

“To date, due to Ms Leifer’s absence from the hearings, the case has yet to progress past the initial stages,” Noam Sharvit, spokesman for Israel’s Justice Ministry, told The AJN.

The Israel National Council for the Child is now saying that if Leifer is not able to go to court, judges should get the extradition hearing moving by going to her Bnei Brak home. “Go to her instead of [conducting proceedings] in the courtroom, which is obviously too much for her,” Elizabeth Levy, the organisation’s international relations director, told The AJN.

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PORTUGAL
Blasting News

Estreia hoje nos cinemas o filme “O Caso Spotlight”, um filme baseado em fatos reais, que gira em torno de uma equipe de jornalistas de Boston e da sua investigação, reunindo provas de abuso de crianças por parte de dezenas de padres católicos. O que começou com uma investigação jornalística terminou com uma reportagem premiada e que agora chega aos cinemas.

Durante décadas, os lideres religiosos ocultaram os casos de abuso sexual transferindo os padres de região em região. Contudo, uma equipa do Boston Globe iniciou uma investigação jornalística, decidida a dar a conhecer a verdade e a levar os responsáveis a tribunal. Envolvendo vítimas e arquivos, contrapõe testemunhos e esbarra no sigilo da Igreja.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Betroffenenrat

[The Betroffenenrat welcomes the national work-up on sexual abuse and calls for an independent investigation of the Hildesheim diocese.]

28.01.2016

Der Betroffenenrat begrüßt, dass die lange geforderte unabhängige nationale Aufarbeitungskommission Kindesmissbrauch jetzt an den Start geht. Dies ist eine historische Chance!

Zugleich bedauern wir die eingeschränkte finanzielle Ausstattung der Kommission und hätten eine gesetzliche Grundlage begrüßt. Anpassungen, auch bei der Laufzeit der Kommissionsarbeit, sollten in der Zukunft vorgenommen werden. Entscheidend ist jedoch, dass es jetzt losgeht!

Vorgänge im Bistum Hildesheim – Berichterstattung von ARD und WDR

Die jüngst im Bistum Hildesheim bekannt gewordenen sexuellen Gewalttaten zeigen beispielhaft, wie sehr mangelnde gesetzliche Grundlagen gerade im kirchlich- institutionellen Bereich immer wieder zu Lasten der Opfer gehen. Täter_innen dagegen werden geschützt, jahrzehntelang!

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DEUTSCHLAND
Bistum Hildesheim

[An independent expert will investigate how the Hildesheim diocese handled allegations of sexual abuse made against Father Peter R.]

Gutachter soll auch klären, ob es weitere Fälle sexuellen Missbrauchs durch R. gab

Das Bistum Hildesheim wird den Umgang mit den Vorwürfen des sexuellen Missbrauchs Minderjähriger durch den ehemaligen Pfarrer Peter R. in der Diözese von einem unabhängigen Gutachter untersuchen lassen.

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AUSTRALIA
The Advocate

By ADAM LANGENBERG
Jan. 28, 2016

TWO convicted child sex offenders told a royal commission they denied sharing boys or that there was a paedophile ring inside the Anglican Church.

Former Anglican priests Garth Hawkins and Louis Daniels told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse they did not discuss their predilection for young boys with other priests.

Former Burnie Archdeacon Daniels, who has been convicted of sexual offences against 11 boys, said he had suspected some priests were attracted to young men or had behaved inappropriately, but didn’t see or hear anything to substantiate it.

Hawkins, who was convicted of sexual abuse against seven boys, said he was “absolutely not” involved in sharing of boys with other priests, and did not tell other priests about particularly vulnerable boys.

He legally changed his name to Robin Goodfellow in 2009.

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AUSTRALIA
Mercury

PATRICK BILLINGS
Police Reporter
Mercury

MORE damning evidence has been levelled at Brisbane’s ­incumbent Archbishop, with a paedophile priest claiming ­Phillip Aspinall “cajoled” a ­victim to sleep with him at his East Coast rectory.

Serial child abuser and ­former Anglican priest Garth Hawkins, who has changed his name to Robin Goodfellow, appeared at the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sex Abuse in Hobart yesterday.

“He was cajoled or teased by Phillip Aspinall and the other boys into joining me in my bed,” Hawkins said.

“I think he might have mentioned it when he came into my room … ‘the others had sent me in there’.”

On Wednesday, the victim said Archbishop Aspinall “put me in that bed” by “volunteering him to Hawkins”.

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WASHINGTON
Mercer Island Reporter

Allison DeAngelis
Reporter Newspapers

Three priests who served in Mercer Island and were accused of sexually abusing children over nearly three decades were among the names on a list recently released by the Archdiocese of Seattle as part of their self-proclaimed commitment to transparency.

“This is an ongoing effort for us. The disclosure of this list was determined to be a step that would contribute to our accountability and transparency,” said Greg Magnoni, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Seattle.

But some say the list is too little, too late.

“At least the archdiocese, ostensibly, released the list in an effort to be transparent. But it raises the questions of why now and why did it take so long to release this?” said Seattle attorney Michael Pfau, who has represented over 150 plaintiffs in cases of sexual abuse by priests, including many on the Eastside.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

Hundreds of people packed into St Bride’s Parish Church this morning (Thursday) to welcome back Father Paul Morton – their parish priest and friend wrongly accused of sex abuse.

Father Morton was last April cleared of any wrongdoing by the police after an eight-month investigation into the alleged historic offences.

But the priest, who has been at the helm of the Cambuslang chapel for 15 years, was subject to a further investigation by the Catholic Church.

Concluded in December, it also vindicated the East Kilbride native of any wrongdoing.

Following a petition calling for Father Morton’s speedy return to St Bride’s, the priest took to the alter to celebrate the Feast of St Thomas Aquinas.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

[The Regensburg System]

Warum wird das Ausmaß der Gewalt und des Missbrauchs bei den Domspatzen erst jetzt bekannt? Ein Gespräch mit dem ehemaligen Diözesanrat Fritz Wallner

Interview: Evelyn Finger
28. Januar 2016

DIE ZEIT: Herr Wallner, Sie kennen das Bistum Regensburg gut: 22 Jahre gehörten Sie dem Diözesanrat an, einem katholischen Laiengremium, das dem Bischof beigeordnet war. Jetzt fordern Sie den Rücktritt des Generalvikars Michael Fuchs. Warum?

FRITZ WALLNER
ist Vize-Vorsitzender der katholischen Organisation “Laienverantwortung Regensburg”.

Fritz Wallner: Weil die Bistumsleitung schon lange gewusst oder zumindest geahnt haben muss, dass die Zahl der Gewalttaten gegen Domspatzen eklatant war und damit auch die Zahl der Täter. Trotzdem wurde immer wieder so getan, als handele es sich um Einzelfälle. Vor fast sechs Jahren versprach der damalige Bischof Gerhard Ludwig Müller: Was in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten durch einzelne Erzieher, Lehrer und Bedienstete den Chorknaben angetan wurde, muss lückenlos aufgeklärt werden. Doch dann wurde die Aufklärung verschleppt, auf Anzeigen nicht reagiert. Erst in den letzten acht Monaten hat der Sonderermittler Ulrich Weber einen Großteil der Fälle zusammengetragen: Es sind ungefähr dreimal so viele wie bislang behauptet.

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NEW YORK/CALIFORNIA
Jewish Community Watch

Posted on January 27, 2016

Menachem Tewel, 32, commonly known as Mendel Tevel, was released from prison today on good behavior after serving less than seven months of a one year sentence.

Tevel was arrested in Beverly Hills, Calif. and extradited to Brooklyn, New York in October 2013 after a warrant was issued for his arrest for several counts of criminal sex acts with minors. In April of 2015, Tevel agreed to a plea bargain with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, stipulating he plead guilty to only two counts for criminal sexual acts in the third degree, which under New York penal law constitutes anal or oral sex with a minor under the age of 17 while the defendant is over the age of 21. The Kings County court sentenced him to a one-year imprisonment term on June 8 2015.

As a result of the conviction, Tevel is required to register as a sex offender within 10 days of his release. In the event that he returns to California, he will be required to register there as well.

Tevel’s victims ranged from ages 6 to 14 years old. The abuse occurred over the span of nearly a decade. At the time of the arrest in Beverly Hills, Tevel was working in close proximity with children at the JEM Community Center. Tevel’s father-in-law, Rabbi Hertzel Illulian, is the founder and director of the JEM Center.

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UNITED STATES
Reveal: The Center for Investigative Reporting

For information or interviews, contact:
Meghann Farnsworth, Managing Director, Distribution, Operations and Engagement, mfarnsworth@cironline.org

EMERYVILLE, Calif. – Blye Faust, producer of the Oscar-nominated film “Spotlight,” has joined the board of directors of The Center for Investigative Reporting.

CIR Executive Board Chairman Phil Bronstein announced Faust’s appointment as “Spotlight” had just won best picture at the 2016 Critics’ Choice Movie Awards and been nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture.

Founded in 1977, CIR is the nation’s first independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization dedicated to public service journalism. CIR empowers the public through groundbreaking investigative storytelling that sparks action, improves and saves lives, and protects our democracy. CIR reports expose injustices and failures of accountability and lead to new legislation, policy reforms, criminal investigations, grassroots organizing, changes in the public conversation and more. In a media world where speed, competition and the chase for digital clicks define success, CIR prioritizes the public’s need to know and has been on the cutting edge of the shift in where and how news is delivered.

Faust’s appointment coincides with the launch of “Reveal,” from CIR and PRX (Public Radio Exchange), the nation’s first weekly public radio show and podcast to highlight the value and impact of journalism in the public interest. It also comes as CIR is creating its new documentary unit, Reveal Films, to build on its successful history of producing award-winning documentary films, new digital platforms and a growing public appetite for deeply told true stories.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By Alex Hamer
Jan. 28, 2016

Cardinal George Pell is still too ill to fly, according to reports.

The former Ballarat priest said he could not appear in December hearings in Melbourne of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse because of his health.

This health update puts his February appearance at the Royal Commission in doubt.

The December sessions heard from Ballarat victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests, and Cardinal Pell, now the Vatican’s top money man, was to appear and give evidence on his time in the diocese.

His lawyers’ request to appear via video link, which he will do for the US appearance he has just cancelled, was refused by the Royal Commission.

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MEXICO
Tabasco Hoy

[Former priest Alberto Athie said sexual abuse by clergy is still a problem and Pope Francis has not taken concrete steps to stop it.]

Virgilio Sánchez
Agencia Reforma

El ex sacerdote Alberto Athié afirmó que el Papa Francisco combate la pederastia sólo en el discurso, pues mantiene el modelo de protección a los sacerdotes que han cometido abusos sexuales contra los niños.

“La realidad de la pederastia sigue vigente con Francisco y corresponde a él acabar, de él depende que esto termine o no, si él no lo hace, la pederastia continuará y él continuará siendo responsable de esa pederastia”, dijo en su visita a Oaxaca.

El activista señaló que Francisco tiene excelentes discursos sobre este abuso cometido a niños en todo el mundo, que nadie cuestiona, pero que no se han traducido en acciones.

Expuso que el tribunal que creó en el Vaticano para sancionar los abusos de todo tipo cometidos por sacerdotes está dentro de la estructura de la Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe; que es la misma que en el pasado dejó pasar los casos de pederastia.

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NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer
Thursday, January 28th, 2016

Two men and two women who have filed lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe each took the podium at a public “rally for survivors” event Wednesday to drop their anonymity and identify themselves as survivors of sexual abuse by priests.

The four, identified in lawsuits as John or Jane Does, told about 100 people that they were abused as children by priests, and described their later battles with guilt, shame and substance abuse. The disclosures followed those in December of two men who are suing the archdiocese.

“For me, I find this is a way to shed the guilt and shame I carried around for 40 years,” said John Lund, 54, who contends he was repeatedly raped by Clive Lynn in the early 1970s when Lynn pastored St. Therese of the Infant Jesus Parish in Albuquerque.

Lynn later served in churches in Mora and Raton before the archdiocese removed him from ministry in 1985. Church officials said Lynn had later moved to Great Britain, according to news reports.

“This man was my best friend, my father figure, my hero,” Lund said in a reception room at the Albuquerque Museum. “I was from a fractured home and I didn’t have that in my life. He exploited that.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Spectator

Deborah Ross

Like The Revenant and The Big Short, Spotlight is yet another Oscar contender ‘based on true events’ — although it has now been suggested that The Revenant was 99.7 per cent made up. (Does this matter? Only, I suppose, in the sense that you should know what you’re watching.) But we’re on firm ground with Spotlight, where the events — the Boston Globe’s uncovering of systemic child abuse by Catholic priests in Massachusetts — are a matter of record, although how you make a film about something so awful, I don’t know.

Personally, I wanted the film to give it to the Church with both barrels, and let rip with fury, but it’s too restrained for that. Instead, what we have is conscientiously dogged, as well as somewhat repetitive, driving the same points home over and over. Indeed, if I’d had £1 for every time the script employed the phrase ‘But this is the Church we’re talking about!’, it would have been an odd way to make money, but I’d have come away quite well off all the same.

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NEBRASKA
KLKN

[with video]

Posted by: Laurann Robinson
lrobinson@klkntv.com

“Bishop Finn needs to be defrocked, demoted and disciplined,” said Judy Jones with the group SNAP, which stands for Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests.

Some want a bishop in Lincoln to be removed from the church.

In 2012, Bishop Robert Finn was found guilty of failing to report suspected child abuse.

And now that he’s relocated to minister here in Lincoln, some residents want him out of the church, completely.

Jones adds, “we are here today to hand–deliver a letter to Bishop Conley, begging him to reverse his decision to have Bishop Finn minister in the diocese.”

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RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island Public Radio

[with audio]

Alumni from St. George’s School in Middletown have accused the school of breaking the law by failing to report allegations of sexual abuse spanning decades. But as Rhode Island Public Radio’s Elisabeth Harrison reports, there’s more ambiguity in state law than you might think, and it may have contributed to the school’s failure to report the abuse.

It sounds obvious that a school should report allegations of sexual abuse right away. But when the alleged abuser is a teacher or another school employee, the reality is that doesn’t always happen.

“Most instances where these allegations come to light, the perpetrator is in denial or fabricating excuses. It’s rare that an administrator is given a clear-cut case,” said Tim Conlon, an attorney who has handled many cases of sexual abuse involving schools and the Catholic Church.

According to Conlon, institutions like a church or a school generally want to avoid controversy, and parents may seek to shield their children from further trauma.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By the National Reporting Team’s Natasha Robinson and Rebecca Armitage

The NSW Government is under pressure to act immediately to introduce legislation to lift the statute of limitations that bars victims of abuse in institutional care from pursuing civil compensation cases.

Government says scheme designed for those who cannot seek payment through courts
The call came as the NSW Government reached legal settlements with women who were abused as girls at the Parramatta Girls Training School.

The ABC understands that the State Government has reached a legal settlement with about 15 women who sued the state after suffering abuse at the Parramatta institution, which housed teenage girls between 1950 and 1974.

The home, also known as the Parramatta Girls Home, was the subject of a hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2014.

At that time, it was revealed that a number of women had tried to pursue civil claims against the state for abuse including bashings and rapes suffered at the notoriously brutal Parramatta Girls Home.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Wednesday 27 January 2016

Senior Anglican clergy shared a secret understanding of each other’s attraction to young boys, a royal commission has been told.

The inquiry into the Church of England Boys’ Society being held in Hobart heard evidence on Thursday from the convicted child sexual offender Louis Daniels, 68, a former archdeacon who was one of Tasmania’s top-four church leaders in the early 1990s.

Daniels has since been jailed for pleading guilty to abusing 12 boys.

He was asked about his interaction with fellow former clergy and lay men Garth Hawkins, Robert Brandenburg, Simon Jacobs and John Elliot, all of whom have each faced abuse allegations.

“We would sort of reach the point of acknowledging a mutual gayness but there was a point which you didn’t go past,” Daniels said. “There is a whole secrecy kind of context that’s built into the whole situation.”

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By ELIZABETH MOHR | emohr@pioneerpress.com
January 28, 2016

Two more for-sale properties of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have bidders, including a development company owned by the Pohlad family, which has a history of supporting local Catholic organizations.

The Pohlad company, United Properties Development LLC, has offered $2.75 million for the chancery building, across the street from the St. Paul Cathedral, which houses archdiocese offices and the archbishop’s residence.

In a separate proposed purchase, a buyer has offered $365,000 for the archdiocese’s Hazelwood property, a rural home in Greenvale Township, Dakota County, that was donated to the church in 1998.

The proposed purchases are subject to approval by a federal bankruptcy judge.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Melissa Davey
@MelissaLDavey
Wednesday 27 January 2016

Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, is still too unwell to fly and will address a philanthropic Catholic organisation in the US on Thursday via video link from Rome.

It comes days before Australia’s royal commission into institutional responses into child sexual abuse is due to hear from Pell’s lawyers about whether he will be well enough to appear in person before the commission in February, when hearings are due to continue in Ballarat.

Pell angered Australian child sexual abuse victims in December when he cancelled his flight to Melbourne days before he was due to appear before the commission. The Vatican said Pell was too ill to travel although his specific medical condition was not disclosed.

A directions hearing will be held by the royal commission in Sydney on Friday 5 February to hear whether Pell will appear in person when hearings resume.

But it appears Pell is still too unwell to travel. His office confirmed that his membership address to Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, at its Miami symposium, will be delivered via video link from the Vatican, where Pell is the chief financial adviser.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Stephen Maguire

Richard Blackburn, a volunteer at the Congregational Church Youth Club in Raphoe, Co Donegal, attacked Rachel McAuley for up to two years and even put a bed in the vehicle.

Ms McAuley yesterday waived her anonymity so that Blackburn could be named in court.

He groomed his victim at the youth club between 2000 and 2002. Ms McAuley was 13 when the abuse began and was just short of her 15th birthday when it ended.

She went to gardaí in 2011 to reveal the tale of abuse.

Letterkenny Circuit Court heard how Blackburn bought his victim presents, including a mobile phone, so he could keep in touch.

Blackburn, aged 57, of Carnone, Raphoe, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault. Ms McAuley said in her victim impact statement read to the court that he had abused her “daily” between 2000 and 2002.

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AUSTRALIA
Townsville Bulletin

A convicted child sex offender and former priest who changed his name while in prison has failed in a bid to be preserve his “blameless” new identity.

Garth Hawkins, now 70, spent almost six years in jail for offences against seven boys while he worked as an Anglican priest at different townships across Tasmania in the 1970s and 1980s.

A royal commission hearing in Hobart on Thursday was told that during his time in prison – in 2009 – Hawkins changed his name by deed poll to Robin Goodfellow.

In English folklore, Robin Goodfellow is a character known for his pranks and mischievousness.

“He has managed to make a fresh and blameless start in life,” lawyer Roger Baker told the hearing as he asked for a non-publication order on Goodfellow’s name.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Lexology

United Kingdom January 28 2016

Andrew Lord from the abuse team at Leigh Day considers what lessons must be learnt following the serious case review into the activities of former teacher William Vahey.

William Vahey was a respected humanities teacher who worked at the prestigious Southbank International School (SIS) between 2009 and 2013. Having worked in numerous international schools over several decades, his laid-back teaching style made him popular amongst the pupils.

However, behind the façade, Vahey was a child abuser who administered drugs to several of the pupils before taking indecent images and sexually abusing them whilst they were unconscious.

Earlier this week the Local Safeguarding Children Board published their serious case review into Vahey and SIS. It made clear that a number of opportunities to challenge Vahey on his inappropriate behaviour towards children were missed, and the Department of Education has subsequently warned SIS that more must be done to ensure children are safeguarded in the future.

This appalling case has highlighted how institutional child abuse within the UK is not just a ‘historic’ problem, Vahey was able to evade criticism and investigation by “hiding in plain sight” even with our ‘modern-day awareness’ of child protection matters.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune JANUARY 27, 2016

Louise read with curiosity that St. John’s Abbey was making public its files on 18 monks who had sexually abused minors — until she clicked open the online file about the monk who abused her.

To her horror, she found more than 100 pages of highly personal information about herself taken from medical documents and e-mails she had shared with a Minneapolis therapist whom the abbey had referred her to.

The mother of two said that when she responded to the abbey’s call for abuse victims to step forward and be healed, she never expected to be victimized again.

“This was not about healing; it was betrayal,” said Louise, whose last name is not being used to protect her identity. “There’s no way to construe this as a response to an offer of healing and counseling.”

After Louise sent a scathing e-mail to Abbot John Klassen last week, her files were pulled offline.

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