A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.
SLOVENIA
STA
Ljubljana, 20 January – The Supreme Court upholding a judgement that ordered the Catholic Church to pay damages to a victim of a paedophile priest can only help the institution that builds itself on trust and religion, the daily Delo says in Wednesday’s commentary.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
WASHINGTON
KUOW
[audio\
By BILL RADKE & MATT MARTIN
Bill Radke speaks with Greg Magnoni, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Seattle, about why the church recently released a list of 77 priests accused of sexually abusing minors.
Radke also speaks with Mary Dispenza, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, about her reaction to the list and what she would like to see the church do in order to better handle abusive priests.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
CALIFORNIA
A Room with a Pew
PAUL FERICANO
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.”
— Seneca
On January 12, the 165 friars that make up the Franciscan Province of St. Barbara in California overwhelmingly elected a new provincial, David Gaa. Their choice not only signified the most hopeful sign of change in the province since the clergy abuse crisis of 1993, but it also brought an end to seven years of autocratic rule. Make no mistake: the Franciscans are poised to do a complete 180 in the ways that count most. And while the friars would never admit to it publicly, it’s clear that Gaa’s election is a compassionate but firm repudiation of former provincial John Hardin’s divisive policies. The suffering people of this province, friars and laypersons alike, could not feel more grateful if St. Francis himself had kneeled and washed their feet.
The evidence supporting this new direction was overwhelming. Many Franciscans felt angry, frustrated, and weary with the management style and spiritual path of their order. Their votes last week reflected this as plainly as their hopes for the future. Not only did they elect a new provincial with strong reconciliation and pastoral credentials who, for years, worked as a missionary in the Ukraine and the American southwest, but they also chose a vicar provincial, Martin Ibarra, with equally sound pastoral skills who has spent the last several years ministering to the poorest of the poor in Mexico. These are the top two men the friars have chosen to lead them into a brighter light. And to ensure their success, they elected a slate of six new definitor friars (Garrett Galvin, Anthony Garibaldi, John Gutierrez, Dan Lackie, Bill Minkel and Joe Schwab), the majority of whom have a long history of engaging in pastoral and social justice work.
Dissatisfaction among the friars has been smoldering for quite some time. Over the past few years, private conversations have revealed a deep displeasure with some of their “misfit brothers” (as one friar put it kindly). If I sometimes challenged them to take action I was often met with silence. One can argue that a sense of helplessness kept the friars from publicly speaking out. But their oath of allegiance actually contributed to their own suffering and, more to the point, to the unnecessary suffering of others. Repressive vows of obedience shackled these men to an antiquated rule that ultimately allowed others to distort the order’s principles and to abuse their power. Does this sound familiar? We saw these same tactics employed during the worst years of the abuse crisis. As a result, the unhealthy environment that one outgoing administration created will long be remembered as one of the most regressive leaderships on record and one of the least Franciscan in spirit. The irony here would be woefully tragic if it weren’t so absurd. And perhaps it’s a bit of both.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
MICHIGAN
Pioneer Press
Associated Press
POSTED: 01/19/2016
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Some members of a Michigan Catholic diocese have expressed concerns that a priest who led the Twin Cities archdiocese during a clergy sex abuse scandal is helping out in a Battle Creek church.
John Nienstedt is celebrating Masses at St. Philip while its pastor recovers from an illness.
Nienstedt resigned as archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in June after charges were filed claiming the church failed to protect children from clergy sex abuse. Nienstedt has not been charged.
The Associated Press left a message Tuesday evening seeking comment from Nienstedt.
St. Philip parent Samantha Pearl said “the church is demonstrating that it is willing (to) protect those who have hurt children.”
“It’s hard to imagine them inviting this kind of scandal on themselves,” she said. “It defies reason that this is the choice they have made and that they continue (to) defend. It makes no sense.”
Kalamazoo diocese spokeswoman Victoria Cessna said the church has no knowledge of pending allegations against Nienstedt. She added the diocese uses “every process available to us to ensure that the Archbishop, as any visiting priest who is exercising priestly ministry, meets the requirements set forth for them to do so.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
NEW ZEALAND
The Northern Advocate
By Kristin Edge
A clinical psychologist has given evidence in a trial involving the alleged sexual abuse of 13 Northland girls to help a jury understand why children do not report abuse when it happens.
The trial in the Whangarei District Court has been set down for three weeks during which all 13 complainants, who at the time were aged between 6 and 15, are expected to give evidence. James Brian Sanders, 68, has denied 38 charges including rape and indecent assault committed against 13 complainants at Doubtless Bay and Bream Bay between 1998 and 2013.
The alleged offending happened when Sanders was president of the Bream Bay branch of the Latter Day Saints Church and when he helped his wife run an after-school programme in the Far North.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
January 20, 2016-
Paul Byrnes
Film critic
SPOTLIGHT ★★★★1/2
(M) General release (129 minutes)
From January 28
At the end of Spotlight, in case you weren’t already angry enough, there is a list of all the places around the world in which major cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy have been uncovered since the Spotlight investigative team did its work in Boston in 2002. There are 105 American cities and 102 from other parts of the world. These include a list of 22 places in Australia, from Adelaide to Wollongong.
That’s hardly a surprise, given that our own Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has produced so much harrowing and damning testimony since 2013 – and it’s not finished yet.
Wisely, the movie is not about child abuse. It’s about how a newspaper, The Boston Globe, had the guts to go after the Catholic Church in a town full of Catholics, knowing that their own heavily Catholic readership would not like it. It’s about the way the Catholic Church, a powerful institution in Boston (as everywhere), tried to conceal the knowledge that almost 250 of its priests were implicated in child sexual abuse – some of them repeatedly, in other dioceses, before they were given new positions supervising children in Boston. And it’s about a depressing question, one that faces every newspaper journalist: could this story still be done now? How many of the world’s great newspapers can still afford to run a unit like Spotlight, the oldest continuous investigative unit in the American media, founded in 1970?
Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, Win Win) handles this story with restraint and intelligence. This might just be the best newspaper film since All the President’s Men in 1976. The reasons are many, but mainly a sense of proportion, by which I mean the movie doesn’t treat the reporters as bigger than the story. Mark Ruffalo plays the rumpled Mike Rezendes, a terrier, always ready to fight, but he’s no more important than the other reporters. Michael Keaton is the Spotlight team leader, Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson, who plays golf with some of the people he has to go after.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
WASHINGTON
The News Tribune
FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD
The Archdiocese of Seattle last week published what it calls a comprehensive list of priests and clergy known to have sexually abused children. The 76 men and one woman on the list held positions of authority in the Catholic church around Western Washington – including Pierce County – as far back as 1923. Their egregious breaches of sacred trust had been known for years.
The list easily could be filed under the label “what took you so long?” It could be cross-referenced under the heading “better late than never.”
It took several years for the archdiocese to release the list because of what a spokesman described Tuesday as a long, sustained process of “facing our failure.” The church has apologized and tried to help victims heal, rooted out the offenders, and installed safeguards to ensure that crimes so evil are never again perpetrated by individuals acting in persona Christi.
An Archdiocese Review Board has worked deliberately (translation: slowly) since 2003. Taking measured steps toward openness and transparency is part of the process, spokesman Greg Magnoni said. The list was released freely, not compelled by any legal threat, he said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
MEXICO
Daily Mail (UK)
Ruth Wariner was the thirty-ninth of her father’s forty-two children, growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turn a blind eye to the practices of her community. She lived in ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity.
After Ruth’s father – the man who had been the founding prophet of the colony – was murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarried, becoming the second wife of another faithful congregant.
At their church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can only ascend to heaven by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible.
That is what life was like on Colonia LeBaron, the polygamous compound in Chihuahua, Mexico, where Ruth lived until she ran away at the age of 15, taking her three younger siblings with her.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
January 20, 2016
Shannon Deery
Herald Sun
A MAN who vandalised court and church buildings calling for George Pell to be jailed has been slapped with a good behaviour bond.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, today admitted to the early morning attacks on Melbourne’s County Court and the Catholic Church’s headquarters.
He launched the attacks in the early hours of November 25, a day after the child abuse royal commission continued its probe into the Melbourne Archdiocese.
The attacks, in which he sprayed anti-Pell slogans, were caught on CCTV.
The man claims to be the victim of sexual abuse but his alleged attacker was acquitted in 1995.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
WASHINGTON
HeraldNet
Julie Muhlstein | jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com
A day after my husband died in 1998, Sister Dolores Crosby showed up on my doorstep. She handed me a used paperback. It was “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” by the rabbi Harold Kushner.
I considered Crosby a friend, although not a close one. From 1992 to 1999, she was the respected and well-liked principal of Everett’s Immaculate Conception & Our Lady of Perpetual Help School where my kids went to school.
And now? I’m stunned. That was my reaction to seeing Crosby’s name — the only woman — on the list of 77 names released Friday by the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle. According to the archdiocese, the listed people either admitted to sexually abusing children while serving as Catholic clergy or the church found that allegations against them were credible.
Crosby, who retired from Immaculate in 1999, was 73 when she died in 2007 in her native Spokane. The niece of famous crooner Bing Crosby, she had also worked at Holy Rosary School in Edmonds and St. Frances Cabrini School in Pierce County in the 1970s, and for 13 years at Our Lady of the Lake School in Seattle.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
HAWAII
Honolulu Civil Beat
By Chad Blair
Lawsuits against the Catholic Church alleging sexual abuse of parishioners are all too common.
But in a twist, the Roman Catholic Church in Hawaii is suing a local insurance company, alleging that the insurer won’t cover settlements arising from scores of past sexual abuses cases in the islands.
In a lawsuit filed Jan. 14 in 1st Circuit Court in Honolulu, the church alleges that First Insurance Co. of Hawaii refuses to honor commitments made in liability policies it sold the church over the course of several decades.
The settlements, according to the lawsuit, involve more than 60 former and current parishioners and students who confirm that when they were children, “a number of priests or brothers of others subjected them to sexual abuse.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
AUSTRALIA
The Guardian
Kristina Keneally
Viewed through modern eyes, it seems extraordinary that it took the Catholic church nearly two millennia to comprehensively condemn slavery.
After centuries of grappling with the issue, including attempts to distinguish between just and unjust enslavement of human beings, the Catholic church gave a full denunciation of slavery in the 1965 Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World).
The Catholic church is a slow-moving beast, especially when it comes to social and economic reforms. Fifty years after Vatican II, the Church announced just this week that it would slavery-proof its supply chains.
Australian Cardinal George Pell, Prefect of the Holy See Secretariat of the Economy, confirmed in a keynote speech at an international financial conference in Rome this week that the Vatican would join some 400 companies in eradicating the use of forced labor from suppliers. Cardinal Pell not only signed the Church up to the anti-slavery campaign, but also provided his assessment of the current global “economic malaise” and offered what he described as a “Catholic contribution” to improving the global economy.
Pell’s speech was odd, but it was also revealing. Odd because Pell did not offer a coherent and systematic assessment grounded in Catholic social thought (and these exist) of how to achieve a fair and just economy. Rather he provided a selective history of Catholic economic teachings and a disjointed commentary that borrowed from both the Occupy Movement and Margaret Thatcher. Maybe that’s the best we can expect from a man whose boss is an Argentinean socialist, and whose good friend is Tony Abbott. Pell straddled the fence: he condemned CEOs who earn large bonuses as the “undeserving rich” who pay too little tax, but also took to task nations who accumulated debt and political constituencies that won’t embrace sacrifices. …
For Cardinal Pell, this preference for motivating right action by inspiration rather than regulation is relevant when it comes to understanding his reaction, as well as others in the church, to the sexual abuse crisis. Pell has preferred to deal with complaints about priests on a discrete basis rather than recognise a systemic problem that requires a systemic solution. His Towards Healing process is just that – a process for handling complaints. It does not prescribe new rules or regulations for the purpose or preventing future abuse.
The church in Australia and across the western world comprehensively failed to understand that the rules – the laws of civil society – applied to them. Rather than heed the law, or even use it to their advantage to motivate priests to comply with civil laws, the church continued to believe that individual priests could make individual decisions to stop abusing children. The hierarchy believed that priests could be “inspired” to be good. This, of course, had disastrous consequences for thousands of children.
Cardinal Pell has been a reluctant participant in the Royal Commission into Institutional Sexual Abuse. Pell is the only person to be called before the Royal Commission for a third time. Scheduled to appear in December 2015, he submitted a last minute request to appear via video-link, citing poor health that prevented his travel to Australia. The Commission declined his request. At this stage it is unclear if or when Pell will appear.
My prediction – we won’t see Cardinal Pell physically in Australia again, at least until the Royal Commission has completed its work and submitted its findings. Perhaps never.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal
By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 20th, 2016
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Attorneys in the Diocese of Gallup bankruptcy case told a judge Tuesday that they plan to submit a proposed settlement plan in early February.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma said he hopes to schedule a confirmation hearing in April to finalize the settlement and resolve the 26-month-old case.
An attorney representing 57 alleged victims of sexual abuse said in a phone interview Tuesday that the settlement may include a release of church documents by the diocese.
Two members of the claimants’ committee are negotiating with the diocese about “nonmonetary” issues such as document disclosures and policy changes, said James Stang, a Los Angeles attorney who represents alleged victims.
The Diocese of Gallup in November 2013 became the ninth Roman Catholic diocese in the U.S. to file for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy in response to lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children by clergy.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
UNITED KINGDOM
The Press and Journal
20 January 2016 by Jon Hebditch
A police probe into claims of historic child abuse at a Moray monastery has ended with no one being charged.
The investigation focused on allegations a young boy was violently sexually abused and two others suffered physical harm at 13th century Pluscarden Abbey in the 1960s and 1980s.
Officers began making inquiries at the Roman Catholic abbey – the only working medieval monastery in the UK – after being contacted by a man who claimed to have suffered abuse.
Both he and a second man who also made allegations of abuse at the Benedictine monastery have discussed their claims with support group White Flowers Alba.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
MINNESOTA
KSTP
Dave Aeikens
St. John’s Abbey says it has released the files of 18 monks believed to have sexually abused children.
The 18 files include nine monks who have died and two who have separated from St. John’s Abbey and live as laymen.
The other seven files include monks who live on the St. John’s campus under a safety plan the abbey has developed.
The abbey said in a statement it knows of no incident of sexual abuse of a minor by a monk at St. John’s in more than two decades.
The files include detailed personal information on the monks that is protected by state and federal laws, the statement said.
“The victims need to know the scope, the magnitude, the horrific nature of this abuse,” said Charles Reid, a St. Thomas professor and Catholic Church expert. “When we learn everything about these priests, it benefits everyone,” Reid said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times
Ben Rodgers, brodgers@stcloudtimes.com
COLLEGEVILLE — St. John’s Abbey announced Tuesday it released the personnel files of 18 monks who have been accused of sexual misconduct against minors.
The release of the personnel records is a part of a 2015 settlement of a sexual abuse lawsuit brought against the abbey and one of the 18 accused monks.
The monks whose files were released include Allen Tarlton, Richard Eckroth, Tom Gillespie, Finian McDonald, Robert Blumeyer, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Fran Hoefgen, Othmar Hohmann and Bruce Wollmering.
According to the abbey, nine of the monks whose files have been released are now deceased, and two have left the abbey. The other seven live at the abbey under a campus safety plan, according to the abbey’s statement issued Tuesday.
The files that were published on Tuesday were released to Jeff Anderson & Associates law firm, who would publish the files in their entirety. According to a release from the law firm, nine of the 18 files were released in 2015.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio
Matt Sepic Collegeville, Minn.
Jan 19, 2016
St. John’s Abbey on Tuesday made public the personnel files of 18 monks it says have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors decades ago.
The release of the papers is the result of a lawsuit settled last spring. The pages number in the thousands. They include everything from the monks’ birth and baptismal certificates to work assignments on the 2,700-acre campus.
There are also many personal letters and emails, as well as psychosexual assessments from doctors.
Attorney Jeff Anderson had already made documents public on nine of the monks. Abbot John Klassen says the release of the rest is the abbey’s latest step in reckoning with allegations of sex abuse.
“We look at this as a 30-year process of responding in a positive way to respond to survivors, secondly to make sure we hold offenders accountable, and thirdly to make sure that we’re living in a safe environment.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
MINNESOTA
MinnPost
By John Fitzgerald
St. John’s Abbey on Tuesday released personnel records on 18 monks accused of sexual abuse against minors. Ben Rodgers of the St. Cloud Daily Times reports that the files were released to Jeff Anderson & Associates law firm, which notes that seven of the 18 monks were allowed to work in diocese after initial reports of abuse. The files are available at The Minnesota Transparency Initiative’s website. The monks are Andre Bennett (dead), Michael Bik (on restriction), Robert Blumeyer (dead), Cosmas Dahlheimer (dead), Richard Eckroth (dead), Thomas Gillespie (on restriction), Francis Hoefgen (no longer a monk), Othmar Hohmann (dead), Dominic Keller (dead), John Kelly (no longer a monk), Brennan Maiers (on restriction), Finian McDonald (on restriction), Dunstan Morse (on restriction), James Phillips (on restriction), Francisco Schulte (on restriction), Allen Tarlton (on restriction), Pirmin Wendt (dead), Bruce Wollmering (dead).
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MINNESOTA
The Worthy Adversary
Posted by Joelle Casteix on January 19, 2016
or … The proof is in the paper, but only if you can find it.
And the monks at St. John’s want to make sure you never find it.
Today, Minnesota Public Radio announced that St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville (MN) is releasing the secret sex abuse files of 18 predatory monks in a large document dump. The monks were forced to release the files to victims as a result of a 2015 lawsuit brought by a victim from the St. John’s Prep School. In theory, it was supposed to be up to the victim when the documents were made public.
Some of the 18 predators whose files are slated to be released live in the St. John’s Monastic Residence (location C above – right smack between the Prep School dorm and cafeteria, in case you were wondering if the offending monks had access to students on campus.). The prep school has students from the 6th to 12th grades. High schoolers can live on campus.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
MINNESOTA
Saint John’s Abbey – Minnesota Transparency Initiative
Saint John’s Abbey is voluntarily releasing the files of monks who credibly have been accused of sexual abuse of minors. These files include the personal letters, medical records, legal documents, and other papers that document every aspect of these monks’ lives. They are being released with the consent of the monks in the hope that their disclosure will help survivors.
Read an interview with Abbot John Klassen, OSB, on the importance of the files and their role in the abbey’s decades-long journey to help the healing of survivors, to hold offending monks accountable and to prevent abuse. The interview is here.
The release of these files builds on a more-than-quarter-century-long record of transparency by the Abbey, including multiple times in which the names of those credibly accused have been made public. In no way do we minimize the actions of the monks or the harm caused survivors. We do believe, though, that a fair discussion of these issues must include some critical facts:
* No incident of sexual abuse of a minor by a monk of Saint John’s has occurred in more than two decades. Saint John’s is a safe and nurturing environment. …
Bennett, Andre
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Bik, Michael
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Blumeyer, Robert
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Dahlheimer, Cosmas
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Eckroth, Richard
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Gillespie, Thomas
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Hoefgen, Francis
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Hohmann, Othmar
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Keller, Dominic
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Maiers, Brennan
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McDonald, Finian
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Moorse, Dunstan
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Phillips, James
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Schulte, Francisco
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Tarlton, Allen
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Wendt, Pirmin
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Wollmering, Bruce
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Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune JANUARY 19, 2016
St. John’s Abbey released its personnel files on 18 monks credibly accused of sexually abusing minors on Tuesday, but the files already were being labeled incomplete by victims’ advocates.
It marks the first time the abbey, long the subject of sex abuse allegations, has made its files public. The release was the result of a legal settlement reached by a St. Cloud man who said he was sexually abused by a monk as a 14-year-old prep school student in 1977.
The monks worked as teachers, counselors, parish priests and chaplains across Minnesota and beyond. The files reveal how they were transferred to other religious work even as the abbey was aware of sexual improprieties.
“The files share heartbreaking and tragic details of suffering inflicted on survivors of misconduct,” said Abbot John Klassen. “We in the monastic community grieve the pain and suffering of those who have been harmed.”
But Patrick Marker, a former St. John’s Preparatory student who has long run a website focusing on sexual misconduct at the abbey, said the list is incomplete.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates
1/19/2016
St. John’s Abbey Releases Files of 18 Monks Accused of Sexual Abuse as Required by 2015 Settlement
Monks Were Allowed to Work Elsewhere After Abbey Received Abuse Reports, Including Minnesota Dioceses
Dioceses of St. Cloud, Duluth and Crookston Have Yet to Release Their Files on Accused St. John’s Monks
(St. Paul, MN) – St. John’s Abbey today released personnel files of 18 of its monks who were credibly accused of sexually abusing minors. The documents in the files show that several of these monks were allowed to work at other parishes and dioceses internationally, in the United States and in Minnesota, without warning to parishioners or the public in those locations, after St. John’s Abbey received abuse reports about them.
Today’s release was required pursuant to the terms of the 2015 settlement of a sexual abuse lawsuit brought by Troy Bramlage against St. John’s Abbey and the Rev. Allen Tarlton, one of the 18 credibly accused monks. Nine of the 18 files were previously released publicly by Jeff Anderson and Associates, Bramlage’s attorneys, pursuant to the settlement in 2015. The files of the following credibly accused monks were released previously: Tarlton, Richard Eckroth, Tom Gillespie, Finian McDonald, Robert Blumeyer, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Fran Hoefgen, Othmar Hohmann and Bruce Wollmering. The other nine monk files released today are those of Michael Bik, Brennan Maiers, Dunstan Moorse, James Phillips, Francisco Schulte, Andre Bennett, Dominic Keller, James Kelly and Pirmin Wendt.
The files show that multiple accused monks were allowed to work at other locations after the Abbey received abuse reports, including:
• Hoefgen – Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and Diocese of Marquette, MI;
• Hohmann – Diocese of Duluth, Diocese of St. Cloud
• Tarlton – Bahamas, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Archdiocese of Louisville;
• Eckroth – Bahamas
• Schulte – Bahamas, Rome, Mexico City, Oregon, Diocese of Crookston, Diocese of St. Cloud;
• Moorse – Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archdiocese of Santa Fe;
• Maiers – Diocese of Duluth, Diocese of St. Cloud
“It is alarming that so many of these credibly accused monks were allowed to work at other parishes, dioceses and communities after St. John’s Abbey received abuse reports,” said Mike Finnegan, attorney for Bramlage. “Parishioners, parents, kids and communities were not warned about the monks’ abusive past. We urge the Dioceses of St. Cloud, Duluth and Crookston to release all files and documents on these monks and any other credibly accused priests.”
Contact: Jeff Anderson: Office/651.964.3473 Cell/612.817.8665
Mike Finnegan: Office/651.964.3473 Cell/612.205.5531
Mike Bryant: Office/320.259.5414 Cell/800.359.0061
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
OREGON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those abused by Priests (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
Long-secret records about a child molesting Catholic cleric who worked in Oregon have been released because abuse victims insisted on the disclosure as part of a legal settlement. Oregon church officials should tell parents, parishioners and the public about him.
He’s Father Raymond Francisco Schulte. (His photo is at BishopAccountability.org) As recently as 2010, he was living in Rome. But around 1998, he worked at three missions of the Parish of St. Patrick in Madras, Oregon (in the Baker diocese).
He is accused of sexually molesting a child in 1988 and of knowing about abuse by two other clerics (Br. Dunstan Moorse and Br. John Kelly). His Catholic supervisors claim he’s living a “restricted” lifestyle in Minnesota at St. John’s but has reportedly traveled often, including to Italy. Two boys filed a civil abuse and cover up suit against him in 2010 and one year later, another similar suit was filed in Puerto Rico. At least one of those suits has settled. And church officials from two institutions – St. John’s Abbey and the St. Cloud diocese – have included his name on lists they’ve made public of credibly accused clerics.
Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample and Baker Bishop Liam Cary should personally visit the parishes near where Fr. Schulte lived or worked (even temporarily), begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to come forward. They should also use parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements across the entire diocese to seek out others who may have been assaulted and are still suffering. And they should permanently post on his diocesan website the names, photos and whereabouts of every child molesting Oregon are cleric, whether alive or dead, diocesan or religious order, or admitted, proven or credibly accused. (About 30 US bishops have done this. It’s the bare minimum a bishop should do to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.)
We hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups in Oregon will summon the strength to speak up. Kids are safer only when victims, witnesses and whistleblowers are courageous enough to act. Silence is tempting but it only helps wrongdoers.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail
By EMMA GLANFIELD FOR MAILONLINE
A children’s pastor raped two vulnerable teenage girls after grooming them on Facebook, a court heard today.
Timothy Storey, 35, allegedly led a ‘double life’ expounding Christian values of abstinence at St Michael’s Church in Victoria, central London, while targeting young girls from the congregation.
Storey began his ‘incremental, insidious’ grooming by sending the girls flattering messages on Facebook, jurors at Woolwich Crown Court heard.
He allegedly sent explicit sexual content including photographs of his penis and his manipulation of the women was so powerful one of them described him as ‘more influential than God’, jurors were told.
Storey is said to have bullied girls when they didn’t submit to his demands, telling one she ‘wasn’t worth wasting a condom on’.
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ITALIA
Perugia Today
[Father Lucio Gatti, who has been accused to sexual abuse and other kinds of abuse, is back in court but the discussion is about compensation for the victims.]
È iniziato oggi il processo, in sede civile, a Don Lucio Gatti. Il prete che patteggiò in sede penale, due anni di reclusione, per abusi sugli ospiti della Comunità di Sanfatucchio di Castiglione del Lago (PG) che egli stesso dirigeva.
Diversi i capi di imputazione che lo riguardavano, tra i più importanti abuso dei mezzi di correzione e abuso sessuale. Umiliava e ricattava i suoi assistiti, spesso persone abbandonate e con problemi di tossicodipendenza, fino al punto da abusarne sessualmente.
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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
We are thrilled that Rev. Jacob Malone has been arrested but we hope law enforcement officials will investigate and perhaps charge others at his churches – in Minnesota, Pennsylvania or Arizona – who may have ignored or concealed his child sex crimes.
[NBC 10]
Very often, such investigations turn up evidence that fellow church employees or members knew of or suspected child sex crimes but kept silent. We hope that’s not the case here. But it’s important that such investigations happen. That’s the best way to deter current and future cover ups in other churches.
We hope every single person who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Malone or cover ups by his colleagues will find the strength to call police, expose wrongdoers and protect kids.
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UNITED KINGDOM
The Crown Prosecution Service
An independent inquiry into allegations made against Lord Greville Janner
Response to the independent inquiry into allegations made against Lord Greville Janner
19/01/2016
On Friday 15 January, Mr Justice Openshaw brought to an end criminal proceedings against Lord Greville Janner for child sexual offences, after the Central Criminal Court received formal evidence of his death.
The conclusion of criminal proceedings means that the findings of an independent inquiry into the handling of past allegations of sexual abuse by Lord Janner can now be published.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) commissioned the inquiry last year, when she stated that decisions not to prosecute following previous investigations into Lord Janner were wrong. Retired High Court Judge Sir Richard Henriques was asked to conduct a thorough and independent review into the CPS decision making and handling of all past allegations relating to the Lord Janner case and to make any recommendations he felt appropriate.
The independent inquiry found:
* The decision not to charge Lord Janner in 1991 was wrong and there was enough evidence against him to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for offences of indecent assault and buggery. In addition, the police investigation was inadequate and no charging decision should have been taken by the CPS until the police had undertaken further enquiries.
* In 2002, allegations against Lord Janner were not supplied by the police to the CPS and accordingly no prosecution was possible. This merits investigation by the IPCC.
* There was sufficient evidence to prosecute Lord Janner in 2007 for indecent assault and buggery. He should have been arrested and interviewed and his home searched.
Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said: “The inquiry’s findings that mistakes were made confirms my view that failings in the past by prosecutors and police meant that proceedings were not brought. It is a matter of sincere regret that on three occasions, opportunities to put the allegations against Lord Janner before a jury were not taken.
“It is important that we understand the steps which led to these decisions not to prosecute, and ensure that no such mistakes can be made again.
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MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
A Detroit priest who rose to become an archbishop but resigned amid controversy is back in Michigan and generating more controversy. He’s accused of sexual impropriety with several Detroit area seminarians, retaliating against one who rebuffed his advances, concealing clergy sex crimes, and interfering with an investigation into his alleged sexual misdeeds.
For seven years, Archbishop John Nienstedt headed the Catholic church in St. Paul Minnesota. But he stepped down last year ten days after prosecutors filed criminal charges against Nienstedt’s archdiocese, becoming “the nation’s first (to be) charged with failure to protect children,” according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
But three days ago, Nienstedt said his first masses at his new post at St. Philip’s parish in Battle Creek in the Kalamazoo diocese. He has deep roots in the Detroit area (see below).
This is a stunningly reckless and callous move. We call on Pope Francis to reverse it all of Michigan’s bishops to denounce it. Again, he is accused of committing sexual misconduct and concealing child sex crimes. Why take the risk that he’ll hurt young Michigan Catholics or betray adult Michigan Catholics?
This is an outrage. Kalamazoo church officials are putting young people in harm’s way. It’s just that simple.
Shame on Kalamazoo Bishop Paul Bradley, Twin Cities Archbishop Bernard Hebda and on every single Catholic priest, employee and parishioner who silently approves or accepts this dangerous decision without protest.
As Michigan’s “metropolitan” prelate, it’s especially important that Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron denounce this move.
This is a key reason clergy sex crimes, misdeeds and cover ups continue in the church: because those who commit these heinous acts are still usually protected – and sometimes promoted – regardless of how much harm they cause.
We urge Michigan Catholics and citizens to learn about Nienstedt’s deceitful handling of the abuse and cover up crisis, especially the case of Fr. Curtis Wehmeyer, at BishopAccountability.org
Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, like Nienstedt, resigned because of the abuse crisis. Pope John Paul later put Law back into a church. Pope Francis is allowing the same irresponsible move here. Arguably, this is worse. Law was never personally accused of sexually abusing or exploiting anyone.
Catholics who believe their church hierarchy has “reformed” and now handles abuse cases “better” should take note. This decision shows that Catholic officials still put the wishes and needs of their brother bishops ahead of nearly every other consideration, including the safety of the flock.
Again, Pope Francis should stop this reckless and hurtful move.
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DEUTSCHLAND
religion.orf
[According to a former member of the Regensburg cathedral choir said many teachers at the world-famous boys’ choir were not only physically and sexually violent but they also had Nazi pasts. These included former SA, SS and Nazi party members that could not teach in a regular schools, according to Udo Kaiser. Kaiser is among sexual abuse victims at the choir and he said he was abused at the time Georg Ratzinger was choir director.]
Laut einem früheren Mitglied der „Regensburger Domspatzen“ waren viele Lehrer bei dem weltberühmten Knabenchor nicht nur gewalttätig und sexuell übergriffig, sondern hatten auch eine NS-Vergangenheit.
„Das waren ja lauter frühere SA-, SS- und NSDAP-Leute, die an einer normalen Schule nicht unterrichten durften“, sagte Udo Kaiser einem Kathpress-Bericht zufolge der Berliner „tageszeitung“ (taz). Es werde nichts getan, um diese Verbindungen aufzuklären. Kaiser wurde nach eigenen Angaben in seiner Zeit bei den Domspatzen, deren Kapellmeister 1964 bis 1994 Georg Ratzinger, Bruder von Papst Benedikt XVI., gewesen war, sexuell missbraucht. Die Diözese Regensburg habe das bis heute nicht anerkannt.
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DEUTSCHLAND
Katholisch
Der Zwischenbericht zu den Misshandlungs- und Missbrauchsfällen bei den Regensburger Domspatzen hat offenbar noch mehr Betroffene ermutigt, sich beim zuständigen Juristen Ulrich Weber zu melden. Seit seiner Pressekonferenz am 8. Januar hätten ihm 60 weitere Personen von körperlicher Gewalt berichtet, sagte der unabhängige Anwalt am Dienstag dem Bayerischen Rundfunk (BR): “Meine Neutralität ist der Grund dafür, dass sich erneut Opfer bei mir melden. Sie haben den Eindruck, bei mir Gehör zu finden.”
Das Bistum Regensburg selbst wollte sich nicht zu den neuen Zahlen äußern. “Unabhängigkeit bedeutet, dass wir die Arbeit von Herrn Weber nicht kommentieren”, sagte ein Sprecher auf Anfrage der Katholischen Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA).
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DEUTSCHLAND
BR
[An additional 60 people have come foward to say they suffered abuse at the Regensburg choir school. The lawyer conducting the investigation previously announced that 231 were victims.]
Am 8. Januar hat der Regensburger Rechtsanwalt Ulrich Weber seinen Zwischenbericht über Misshandlungen bei den Regensburger Domspatzen vorgelegt – mit dem Ergebnis, dass sich seitdem 60 weitere Opfer bei ihm gemeldet haben. Ein ehemaliger Domspatz sagt außerdem, dass viele prügelnde Lehrer NS-belastet waren.
231 Fälle körperlicher Gewalt und 62 Fälle sexuellen Missbrauchs von 1953 bis 1992 nennt der mit der Klärung der Vorfälle beauftragte Rechtsanwalt Ulrich Weber in seinem Zwischenbericht. Die meisten Misshandlungen seien in der früheren Vorschule der Domspatzen in Etterzhausen und dann in Pielenhofen bei Regensburg begangen worden. Weber geht davon aus, dass die Dunkelziffer der misshandelten Kinder noch deutlich höher liegt. Das zeigen auch die aktuellen Reaktionen auf seinen Zwischenbericht: In den vergangenen zehn Tagen haben sich 60 weitere Opfer körperlicher Gewalt gemeldet.
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DEUTSCHLAND
BR
[Conductor Lothar Zagrosek discusses his time spent at the Regensburg boys choir school in the 1950s.]
Mindestens 231 Fälle körperlicher Misshandlungen habe es bei den Regensburger Domspatzen gegeben, so der mit der Aufklärung betraute Rechtsanwalt Ulrich Weber. Erstmals äußert sich nun auch ein großer Name der Musikwelt als Betroffener: der Dirigent Lothar Zagrosek. Hier sein Bericht.
“Mein Name ist Lothar Zagrosek. Ich war mit meinem Zwillingsbruder Eberhard und einem drei Jahre jüngeren Bruder Johannes in den Jahren 1952 bis 1959 in Etterzhausen und in Regensburg. Die Schilderung meiner Erlebnisse möchte ich auf einige wenige aber signifikante Erinnerungen beschränken. Mein kleinerer Bruder Johannes hatte einmal während einer Messe nicht sofort mitgesungen, weil er das Kirchenlied im Liederbuch nicht gleich gefunden hatte. Daraufhin wurde er noch während der “heiligen” Messe herausgerufen und in der Bibliothek so geschlagen, dass man eine Putzfrau rufen musste, um das Blut aufzuwischen. Sein Ohrläppchen war eingerissen.”
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016
For more information: David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org), David Ouellette, NH SNAP Leader (603-833-0391, SNAPNH@SNAPnetwork.org)
Victims urge prosecutors to pursue predator priest
He admitted abuse and pledged to stay away from kids
But he’s worked for years at two more NH churches
SNAP to AG: “Investigate whether he violated plea deal”
Group also prods Hillsborough County Attorney to act
A victims’ support group is urging New Hampshire prosecutors to investigate whether an admitted predator priest broke a legal agreement that he stay away from children.
Fr. Mark Fleming, who now lives in Manchester, “admitted molesting three boys” and “signed an agreement that forbade him from ‘participating in any future religious, educational, or organized social programs which involve children,’” according to legal documents and news accounts.
“The Hillsborough County Attorney’s office agreed not to seek indictments if Fleming stuck to the deal,” the Concord Monitor reported yesterday.
But until recently, Fr. Fleming worked at South Parish Unitarian in Charlestown, NH (603 826 3418) and before that at the First Universalist Church of West Chesterfield(603-256-6193, betseybrackett@hotmail.com, Shanjmac@gmail.com).
“If prosecutors sign plea deals with predators, they must enforce those deals,” said David Clohessy of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “Unitarian officials admit he worked at these churches. He may, in fact, have worked in other settings around kids. So we beg New Hampshire’s Attorney General and Hillsborough County’s prosecutor to investigate this troubling situation.”
Documents from the Manchester diocese and the attorney general’s office “reveal that Fleming admitted molesting three boys at Saint John the Evangelist Parish in Hudson in 1983” and Fr. Fleming’s work at those churches “may have broken his (non-contact) agreement,” the Concord Monitor reported on Monday.
“A murderer shouldn’t work in a gun shop and an admitted serial child molesting cleric shouldn’t work in a church, especially when he’s sworn to law enforcement that he won’t,” said David Ouellette of Rochester, SNAP’s New Hampshire Director. “Common sense tells us Fr. Fleming broke his word. But only an independent investigation by experienced law enforcement professionals can tell us he has assaulted more boys or girls since his 1984 plea deal.”
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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Thomas C. Fox | Jan. 18, 2016
The call came 36 years ago this month. It was the always-scheming Arthur Jones. He said he would be in Washington, wanted to sit down at the National Press Club over lunch. Jones was NCR editor; I was then an editor at The Washington Star. I’d written for NCR over the years and always enjoyed Jones’ edgy journalism style.
We had corresponded over the years and had met once, in Rome, during the conclave following Pope Paul VI’s death in 1978. He was there for NCR; I, for the Detroit Free Press, where I was a reporter before coming to the Star.
Over lunch at the Press Club in January 1980, Jones asked if I might consider coming to Kansas City, Mo., as NCR editor. As I had just come to Washington 18 months before, I told him the timing was bad.
He was persistent. Two months later, he called again. “There’s no other journalism position in America with the freedom and satisfaction of NCR editor,” he again said. Would I consider coming to Kansas City, just to look around?
Well, you know where this story went. …
And, of course, in June 1985, we began coverage of the clergy sex abuse tragedy. Alone for years, we were persistent and faced much ecclesial and social pressures. Jones, and later editors Tom Roberts and Dennis Coday, have stayed the course, much to their credit.
Countless other reports, exposés and features have filled NCR’s pages over the years. The late 1990s and early 2000s were years of editorial transition, from print to electronic. It has meant our reporting has gotten much faster, our reach farther. We have gone from weekly to hourly, from national to global.
And in the past two years, we’ve added Global Sisters Report to our editorial repertoire. It has been a creative source of energy within the company, highlighting some of the best work going on in the church today.
Oh, the rich memories.
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MINNESOTA/MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP outreach director (314-503-0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)
“I’m being picked on because of the evil news media’s and gay marriage supporters.” That’s what the just-moved ex-head of the Twin Cities Catholic archdiocese told his new Michigan flock last Sunday.
Shame on Archbishop John Nienstedt. We hope his ducking and dodging will persuade prosecutors to cut him and his complicit church colleagues no slack and those with knowledge of and suspicions about his own sexual misconduct to step forward.
In the Twin Cities, some 400 child sex abuse victims have come forward in recent years. Some 66 clerics are proven, admitted or credibly accused child molesters. The archdiocese faces pending criminal charges for refusing to report suspicions of child sex crimes to police.
But no matter. Nienstedt’s to blame for none of this. It’s tragic, and telling, that even now he can’t find the humility to admit, or even pretend to admit, a single lie, deceit, misstep or irresponsible move.
Like thousands of Catholic clerics who commit or conceal heinous child sex crimes, Nienstedt has quietly been moved out of state and recklessly put back to work in a parish even though he’s accused of
–sexual impropriety with young seminarians
–retaliating against at least one of them who rebuffed his sexual advances
— repeatedly minimizing, enabling and hiding child sex crimes by other clerics.
The archdiocese he headed for years faces a pending criminal charges. And he’s one of about two dozen US bishops to resign in the face of allegations of committing and/or concealing clergy sexual misdeeds.
But he’s done nothing wrong, he’s telling his new Battle Creek Michigan parishioners. Shame on him.
While providing no proof or specifics, he self-servingly claims that
–news media last week reported “misleading information” about him and
–that “some would like to punish (him) for (his) defense of Catholic teachings (on) marriage.”
How convenient to cry “misinformation” while refusing to give media interviews or even a single example of inaccurate reporting. How disingenuous to attack and claim to know others’ people’s motives.
Every US Catholic bishop opposes gay marriage. So why haven’t pro-gay marriage forces gotten every bishop to resign and every diocese to be criminally charged and every prelate to be accused of molesting six or more seminarians and retaliating against one who rejected his sexual advances?
We hope Nienstedt’s mind-boggling denials will prod:
— St. Paul prosecutor John Choi to double down on his effort to hold Nienstedt and his: colleagues responsible for their irresponsible decisions to protect themselves and endanger others,
— St. Paul Catholic officials, especially Archbishop Bernard Hebda, to denounce Nienstedt, and
– every single person who saw, suspected or suffered sexual misdeeds or cover ups in Minnesota or Michigan will find the strength to call police, expose wrongdoers and protect kids.
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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Brian Roewe | Jan. 19, 2016
After years of raising concerns to U.S. bishops about potential holes in their clergy sexual abuse policies to little avail, a group of Catholic advocates has requested Vatican intervention.
Catholic Whistleblowers, in a formal request for investigation, alleges the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has not followed through fully on its policy of zero tolerance toward abusive priests and deacons, in part because its guidelines lack a mechanism to assure that bishops send the necessary cases to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In addition, the organization argues that the conference uses a higher bar than church law to determine which cases require review by Rome.
“In a deliberate and ongoing way, the USCCB reneges on its commitment [to zero tolerance]. The conference does not exercise the leadership necessary to assure that known sexually abusive priests and deacons are removed from the community and that the community is warned about the sexually abusive priests and deacons,” Fr. James Connell, a canon lawyer and a member of Catholic Whistleblowers, said in the letter.
The U.S. bishops’ conference declined comment on the petition, saying that since it was sent to the Congregation for Bishops, the conference defers to the Vatican on how the questions raised are addressed.
The 13-page letter, dated Jan. 4, is addressed to Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, and was mailed to more than 450 U.S. bishops. It requests a formal investigation into the U.S. bishops’ practices, particularly those spelled out in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, or the Dallas Charter. Like previous petitions Catholic Whistleblowers has sent the Vatican, the latest cites Canons 1389 and 1399 of the Code of Canon Law, arguing the U.S. bishops’ conference has caused harm and scandal through its policies and behavior to address sexual abuse.
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IRELAND
National Catholic Reporter
Sarah Mac Donald | Jan. 19, 2016
DUBLIN Irish clerical abuse survivor Marie Collins has said she hopes 2016 will see results from the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, despite the “frustratingly slow” pace of the reforms being developed by it.
Speaking to NCR in a personal capacity, Collins, a member of the commission, admitted that she has found Vatican bureaucracy “very difficult.”
The safeguarding body, which is starting its third year of work, is headed up by Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley and holds its next plenary meeting at the beginning of February.
“We do work in our working groups in between these big plenary meetings. A lot of it is done electronically. We’re working all the time. It is busy and quite stressful,” said Collins.
Collins, who brought the priest who abused her as a sick child in a Dublin hospital in the 1960s to justice in 1997, warned that “there is still resistance” within the church to safeguarding protocols and that is why the commission’s work is “essential.”
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PENNSYLVANIA
The Republic
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: 1/19/16
WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania — Police say a married Pennsylvania pastor wanted on charges he raped and impregnated a teen girl is back in the United States and in custody.
West Whiteland Township police tell WCAU-TV that Jacob Malone arrived Monday at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport from Ecuador. He was arrested by customs agents and is awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania.
The 33-year-old Exton resident was charged earlier this month with rape, institutional sexual assault and other crimes. Police say it began in September 2014, when the girl was 17.
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PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyVoice
BY CHRISTINA LOBRUTTO
PhillyVoice Staff
A Chester County pastor accused of raping and impregnating a teenage girl has been arrested, CBSPhilly reports.
Jacob Malone, 33, was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers upon his arrival back in the United States at Newark Liberty International Airport.
West Whiteland, Pa. Detective Scott Pezick told People Thursday afternoon that Malone, of Exton, had been in Ecuador for approximately two weeks.
He is expected to face charges of rape, institutional sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of minor and furnishing liquor to a child, according to the detective.
Malone reportedly met the victim when she was 12 while he was a pastor at a church she attended in Mesa, Arizona. In 2014, he reached out to the then-17-year-old girl and invited her to stay with him and his family at his new home in Minnesota, where he allegedly tried to have inappropriate contact with her.
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PENNSYLVANIA
NJ.com
By Jeff Goldman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 19, 2016
A former pastor at a Pennsylvania church who fled to Ecuador after allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl was arrested entering the country at Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday, authorities said.
Jacob Malone, 33, of Exton was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and will be extradited to Chester County to face charges of institutional sexual assault and rape, West Whiteland, Pa., police said in a news release.
Malone met the victim when she was 12 and he worked at a church in Mesa, Arizona. The married father then moved to a church in Minnesota before relocating his family to Downington, Pa in 2014.
The then-17-year-old girl moved in with Malone and his family soon after they settled in suburban Philadelphia, police said. He allegedly provided the victim alcohol after she turned 18 and sexually assaulted her on one occasion after she became intoxicated, police said.
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PENNSYLVANIA
NBC 10
[with video]
A former Chester County, Pennsylvania, pastor wanted on charges he raped and impregnated a teen girl sat behind bars Monday morning after returning to the United States to face charges.
Jacob Malone, who lived in Exton, was in Ecuador as allegations came to light that he raped a girl while working at Calvary Fellowship Church in Downingtown, said police.
Malone arrived in Newark, New Jersey and was taken into custody by United State Customs agents at Liberty International Airport, said West Whiteland Township Police..
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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso
“Basta essere presi in giro, ora voglio i fatti”. Dopo 6 anni di attesa che sono pesati come un macigno sulla sua vita, quella della moglie e i suoi 2 figli, Diego Esposito ha deciso di intraprendere una clamorosa protesta, lo sciopero della fame ad oltranza.
Diego è tra le altre cose l’unica delle vittime della rete L’ABUSO ad aver ricevuto una risposta scritta dal Vaticano, nella quale gli si prometteva di intervenire, ma dopo più di 2 anni, dopo l’assordante silenzio della Diocesi di Napoli che per ora si è limitata a nascondere il prete, Diego non ce la fa più. “Le vittime chiedono giustizia e vedere impunito il proprio carnefice non è giustizia, ma un’ulteriore violenza”, commenta Diego.
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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso
[NAPLES January 18, Diego Esposito (not his real name) has begun a hunger strike to the death because Father Silverio Mura, who Diego alleges abused him, is hiding from the curia.]
Come annunciato la scorsa settimana, è iniziato questa mattina lo sciopero della fame a oltranza di Diego Esposito (nome di fantasia) , vittima don Silverio Mura, il sacerdote napoletano nascosto dalla curia.
Una protesta civile e non violenta con la quale Diego vuole sensibilizzare la Diocesi e le gerarchie vaticane alle quali chiede da 6 anni “verità e giustizia”. Scrisse anche a Papa Francesco il quale rispose a Diego, ma a distanza di due anni da quella risposta, Diego denuncia che niente è cambiato.
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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit
[Andreas Ebert was abused as a child in the evangelical Windsbach Boys Choir. He has forgiven the perpetrators. This is a conversation about covering up in the Catholic and Protestant churches.]
Andreas Ebert wurde als Kind im evangelischen Windsbacher Knabenchor misshandelt. Er hat den Tätern verziehen und wurde Pfarrer. Ein Gespräch über Vertuschung in der katholischen und evangelischen Kirche.
Interview: Hannes Leitlein
Frage: Bei Missbrauch steht meistens die katholische Kirche im Fokus. Sie wurden im evangelischen Windsbacher Knabenchor drangsaliert.
Andreas Ebert: Gegen die Vorkommnisse in Regensburg war das in Windsbach vergleichsweise harmlos. Dort ist mir kein Fall sexuellen Missbrauchs bekannt. Doch es gab auch bei uns ein System der Gewalt. Delinquenten wurden vom Internatsleiter übers Knie gelegt und mit der Peitsche behandelt. Sein Nachfolger hat im Jähzorn brutal zugeschlagen. Unser Chorleiter wandte selten körperliche Gewalt an. Das lief vor allem auf der psychischen Ebene ab. Für ihn waren wir “Stimmmaterial”. Wenn wir versagten, wurden wir erniedrigt.
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DEUTSCHLAND
Aachener Zeitung
[The Aachen diocese has stop paying a priest accused of sexual abuse.]
AACHEN. Der wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs verurteilte Pfarrer K. aus Nettetal erhält kein Geld mehr vom Bistum Aachen. Das bestätigte am Montag Bistumssprecher Stefan Wieland auf Anfrage unserer Zeitung.
Nachdem der Bundesgerichtshof K.s Revision im Herbst verworfen hatte und das Urteil des Landgerichts Krefeld rechtskräftig wurde, habe das Bistum die Zuwendungen in Höhe von 1100 Euro pro Monat gestrichen. Unmittelbar danach habe das Bistum die Akten des Falles in den Vatikan geschickt, wo nun das kirchenrechtliche Verfahren läuft, sagte Wieland weiter.
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DEUTSCHLAND
Baden Online
[An allegation of sexual abuse has been made against Father Richard.]
Gegen Pater Richard aus der Seelsorgeeinheit Zell am Harmersbach ist der Vorwurf des sexuellen Missbrauchs erhoben worden, das teilte ein Sprecher des Kapuzinerordens heute per Schreiben mit. Der Fall liege weit über 30 Jahre zurück. Pater Richard habe das Kloster bereits verlassen und lasse derzeit alle Ämter ruhen.
Pater Richard aus der Seelsorgeeinheit Zell am Harmersbach lässt ab sofort seine Aufgaben in der Seelsorgeeinheit und im Kloster ruhen. Das teilte der Provinzial der Kapuziner, Bruder Maruinus heute über einen Sprecher des Ordens in einem Schreiben mit.
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DEUTSCHLAND
Evangelisch
[Those affected by sexual abuse are calling for an overhaul of the penal code as it relates to sexual abuse.]
Sexualisierte Gewalt an Kindern, Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen sei nach wie vor ein mehr oder weniger straffreies Delikt, beklagte der Betroffenenrat beim Missbrauchsbeauftragten der Bundesregierung am Dienstag in Berlin. Neben Gesetzesänderungen sei auch eine repräsentative Studie über den Umgang mit Sexualstraftätern bei der Polizei, den Staatsanwaltschaften und Gerichten nötig.
“Wir fordern, dass das Ausmaß und die Existenz sexualisierter Gewalt in allen Gesellschaftsschichten sowie das Leid und die Folgen von erlebter sexualisierter Gewalt gesellschaftlich anerkannt und nicht totgeschwiegen werden”, heißt es in der Stellungnahme des Betroffenenrats. Das Gremium rief die Opfer von Übergriffen in der Silvesternacht, aber auch alle anderen Betroffenen auf, über die Taten zu sprechen und sich Hilfe zu suchen.
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DEUTSCHLAND
epd
[Abuse expert misses academic workup.]
Der Leiter des Kinderschutz-Zentrums an der Päpstlichen Universität Gregoriana in Rom vermisst akademisch-theologische Arbeiten über den Missbrauch von Kindern in der Kirche. “Die akademische Theologie hält Abstand zu dem so schweren, abgründigen Thema”, sagte der deutsche Theologe, Psychologieprofessor und Psychotherapeut Hans Zollner der Zeitschrift “Publik-Forum”. Es gebe “nahezu keine Veröffentlichungen”. Es stellten sich aber dringende Fragen wie die, was es bedeute, beim Täter von Vergebung zu sprechen und bei einem Opfer von Erlösung oder Heilung.
Wichtig sei es auch, zu erforschen, was der Missbrauch von Kindern für das Bild der Kirche von sich selbst bedeute oder was es heiße, dass der Priester als “Mann Gottes” ein Täter sei, sagte Zollner, der auch Mitglied der Päpstlichen Kommission für den Schutz von Minderjährigen ist. Bischöfe delegierten das Problem gern an Psychologen und Kirchenrechtler, kritisierte der Vizerektor der Universität Gregoriana und sagte: “Das genügt nicht.”
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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
By David Clohessy
Every single day, I try my best to read – or at least skim – every single article about clergy abuse I can find. One reason is because of guys like Fr. Anthony Daly, a Jesuit.
And I try even harder to read the smaller or more obscure new sources. One reason is because of stories like the one I recently saw in the St. Louis University News. There I found a statement by Fr. Daly that’s very telling.
WHAT HE SAID
Fr. Daly confirmed that each year he takes (an abuse) exam (from his religious order).
“Every year I’ve got to do [the exam] so that if someone sues our order, the settlement will be less.”
WHY IT MATTERS:
Catholic officials have long claimed their abuse policies, procedures and protocols are well-intentioned. We disagree.
They claim the policies are about “helping” victims and “preventing” abuse.
We say they’re about smart public relations and legal defense.
And Fr. Daly’s comment proves our point.
LET’S GET SPECIFIC
Look at some of the parts of the “Dallas Charter” and ask yourself “Who really benefits from this?”
— They set up one person in each diocese to handle abuse reports. This makes dioceses look good. But ask yourselves: is this genuine reform, or simply savvy PR and simple efficiency? (And ask yourselves: did any mom or dad try to report the abuse of his or her child but give up because the diocese had no “point person” designated to handle abuse.)
— They’ll talk of fingerprinting/background checks of staff. But most church officials conceal clergy sex crimes so predator priests rarely have convictions on their records. And this doesn’t address the core issue: corrupt, callous bishops with limitless power.
— They set up review boards, but these panels are entirely handpicked by bishops, made up almost always of just Catholics, have no real power, can only make recommendations, and get almost all of their information from the same chancery staff who have concealed and are concealing pedophile priests. And again, these committees don’t address the core issue: corrupt, callous bishops with limitless power that is often abused.
— They talk of training kids & volunteers. But of course this doesn’t address the core issue: corrupt, callous bishops. And other groups that deal with kids did this decades ago. And actions speak louder than words, so all the workbooks and talk and training sessions have little impact when the church hierarchy remains secretive, reckless, & unresponsive.
— They talk of ‘codes of conduct’ that employees must now sign saying “I won’t abuse.” But these are, of course, utterly meaningless. (Is there a child molesting cleric anywhere who pondered molesting a kid, realized he or she had never signed a pledge to NOT molest, so opted to go ahead and molest?)
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KENYA
Standard Digital
By Mercy Kahenda
Police are interrogating three suspects who allegedly burnt a minor in Ponda Mali estate on the outskirts of Nakuru town, claiming they were exorcising demons from her.
The suspects were reportedly in a group of seven, all of whom are members of The Holy Spirit of Israel Church during the last Friday night incident. County Police Commander Hassan Barua said four other suspects associated with the burning of the 13-year-old girl are still at large.
Mr. Barua said police officers are following leads to arrest the suspects, who are well known to the victim.
“Officers are following some leads to arrest the suspects, who have since gone into hiding. This is a criminal incident that cannot be accepted,” he said.
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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com
By Rev. Alexander Santora/For the Jersey Journal
on January 19, 2016
Archbishop Bernard Hebda made it official: he’s staying in the Newark Archdiocese.
Ever since the coadjutor or assisting Archbishop, was given a second job last June as Temporary Administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis, rumors have swirled that he would remain there. “I will be there until a new man is installed and expect to come back,” said Hebda in a wide-ranging, one-hour interview in the archbishop’s conference room at the Newark chancery on Clifton Street. “I’ve said this from the very beginning.”
Having come to Newark in November 2013, Hebda made a very positive impression as he visited parishes, schools, deanery meetings and attended events. But much of that has been curtailed since he travels to Minnesota weekly – a five hour trek to get to and from the airport with a three hour flight.
Archbishop John Nienstedt resigned on June 15, 2013. Archbishop Carlo Vigano, the Apostolic Nuncio, called Hebda the Saturday before to alert him to the possibility and inform him that Pope Francis would appoint him administrator.
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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Rajeev Syal
Monday 18 January 2016
A former Conservative MP who is under investigation for child murder has accused the Metropolitan police of attempting to kill off the Westminster paedophile inquiry to protect the careers of senior officers.
Harvey Proctor made the claim after the Met’s Operation Midland – which is investigating claims that establishment figures murdered and raped boys – dropped claims of child abuse against the war hero Lord Bramall.
Steve Rodhouse, deputy chief constable of the Met, who is in charge of Operation Midland, has written to Proctor’s solicitors to say that detectives are assessing new information which could be relevant to their inquiry.
The former MP for Billericay, who denies the claims against him, said Rodhouse’s latest claim was part of a plan to kill off Operation Midland by degrees.
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ROME
Catholic Herald (UK)
Mgr Nunzio Scarano was found not guilty of involvement in a huge tax evasion plot
A former Vatican accountant has been cleared of corruption and plotting to smuggle millions of euros into Italy via a tax evasion scheme.
Mgr Nunzio Scarano was chief accountant for Apsa, which manages the Vatican’s property portfolio, until his arrest in 2013.
At a court in Rome, Mgr Scarano was found innocent of corruption and attempted money-smuggling but was convicted of making false accusations against one of his co-defendants, and was handed a two-year suspended sentence.
Mgr Scarano had denied plotting to transport €20 million (£15.2 million) in untaxed cash on a private plane from Switzerland to Italy.
A financial broker and a former intelligence agent were also allegedly involved in the plot, prosecutors claimed, but the agent was not able to carry out the plan.
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ROME
International Business Times
BY VISHAKHA SONAWANE ON 01/19/16
A court in Rome acquitted a former Vatican accountant Monday of corruption charges and plotting to smuggle millions of untaxed euros into Italy from Switzerland. Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was also facing a separate trial for money laundering in the southern Italian town of Salerno, charges he denied.
Prosecutors alleged that Scarano conspired to smuggle 20 million euros (about $22 million), using a private plane, from Switzerland in a tax-evasion scheme on behalf of a rich family of ship owners from Naples, Agence France-Presse reported. The Rome court acquitted Scarano of corruption and attempted money-smuggling charges but found him guilty of making false accusations against one of his co-defendants, for which the ex-accountant was handed down a two-year suspended sentence, according to AFP. Scarano, who has been nicknamed “Mr. 500” for his reported tendency to carry 500 euro bills on his person, denied any wrongdoing.
According to prosecutors, a former intelligence agent and a financial broker were also part of Scarano’s money-smuggling plot. They added that the agent, who allegedly rented the private plane, was unable to execute the plan. During the trial, the cases involving the agent and the broker were separated from Scarano’s case, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Scarano worked for Apsa, an organization that looks after the Vatican’s real estate holdings and stock portfolios, until his arrest in 2013. After his arrest, the Vatican froze the monsignor’s assets, worth 2.2 million euros (over $2.3 million).
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AUSTRALIA
ABC News
Prestigious Hobart boys school, The Hutchins School, has admitted that “more could have been done” to respond to concerns about the sexual abuse of students.
The school has formally responded to findings of abuse at the school, which were outlined in a report by the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse.
The commission investigated reports of abuse by former headmaster David Lawrence and teacher Lyndon Hickman in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the Anglican Church’s response.
It noted that given the number of students who had complained about sexual abuse and the number of teachers implicated, the nature of the school environment “clearly placed students at risk”.
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AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL
The Times of Israel
For more than a year, the State Attorney’s Office has been trying without success to extradite an ultra-Orthodox woman who is wanted in Australia on 74 counts of sexual assault against Jewish girls who were her students in a Melbourne school.
The woman, Malka Leifer, allegedly assaulted the girls while she was principal of the Adass Israel School in Melbourne, Australia, until 2008.
Leifer today lives in Bnei Brak, a largely ultra-Orthodox city in central Israel where she is under house arrest. She fled Australia to Israel, allegedly with the help of school employees, on the night she got wind of the allegations against her in 2008.
The school psychologist told Leifer that she was facing arrest, and on the same day the school staff bought plane tickets for her and her family, according to evidence presented at a civil trial in Australia last year.
Most of Leifer’s alleged victims were 14-15 years old at the time of the assaults.
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WASHINGTON
The Daily World
A handful of former Catholic clergymen from Grays Harbor and Pacific counties have been included on a list of clergy and religious officials accused of sexually abusing a minor.
The list was compiled by the Archdiocese of Seattle and is “being published as part of the Archdiocese of Seattle’s ongoing commitment to transparency and to encourage persons sexually abused by clergy or by anyone working on behalf of the church to come forward.”
Included on the list are Richard Stohr, who was assigned at Our Lady of Good Help in Hoquiam from 1970-1973, James McSorley, assigned to St. Mary in Aberdeen in 1982 and Anthony Slane, who was assigned to Our Lady of Good Help in Hoquiam from 1982-1987.
In Pacific County, James Knelleken was at Immaculate Conception in Raymond from 1958 to 1964.
All four of the men are deceased.
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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post
Patrick Beretta
Leaves fall early in Montana. On the first day of October, the trees, in front of St Patrick Church in Butte, seemed to welcome Bishop George Thomas with bare, ascetic arms. He was coming to our church to deliver a solemn message on the terribly dark subject of child abuse. On all of us gathered, the crisis had taken a heavy toll. None of us knew what to expect. As we waited, our souls felt as naked and cold as branches.
Just as humanity has always been on the move, from its origins the Church has also been in motion. Since the time of the apostles it became a pilgrim church on the Silk Road, Roman thoroughfares, Mediterranean sailings. But the primary journey of the Church has always been interior. Some of these pilgrimages within were transcendent, some were tragic. The recent child abuse scandal has been a pilgrimage of great shame and sorrow.
My only personal encounter with the horror of child abuse was not within the Church. Years ago, I had a restaurant employee who, one evening, did not come to work. After days of wild speculations and contradictory rumors, his daughter came to see me. Nothing in life had prepared me for the experience she recounted. Her father had been arrested because, as a child, she had been sexually abused by him. The staff and I knew them both very well and we literally felt physically sick for days afterwards. The dreadful abuse of one child had made victims of all of us.
Since the painful subject of clergy sexual child abuse came to the attention of the media, a false narrative has emerged. The scrutiny and the numerous investigations and reports have given the false impression that child abuse is essentially a catholic scourge. Whereas all surveys in the US and other countries have shown this crime to be widespread and not specific to particular religious affiliations. Indeed some evidence shows that the incidence in public institutions is higher. And, further, most abusers by far are family members and home is the most common setting
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UNITED STATES
Forward
No matter what happens at the Oscars, the very best film of 2015 was “Spotlight,” the improbable drama of how a team of newspaper reporters painstakingly revealed an institutional cover-up of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The film’s excellence lay not only in its superb acting and storytelling, but in the way it humanized without sensationalizing the lasting pain of child abuse.
Who can forget the scene of a tough Bostonian recounting how a priest molested him when he was a vulnerable youngster? His confusion, embarrassment and shame were laid bare on the screen before us, allowing us to viscerally understand how it can take years for a young victim to comprehend what happened and to muster the courage to challenge a figure of religious authority.
That image needs to remain in our sights, alongside the images of the young men the Forward wrote about in 2012 and 2013 who bravely stepped up to reveal the abuse they suffered at the hands of esteemed rabbis at Yeshiva University High School for Boys.
And it should remain alongside the stunning essay by Sara Kabakov published in this week’s Forward, where she for the first time detailed how she was repeatedly molested in her home by the former rabbi and spiritual guru Marc Gafni when she was only a teenager and he was a rabbinical student.
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AUSTRALIA
Geelong Advertiser
January 18, 2016
DANNY LANNEN
Geelong Advertiser
PARISH priest Fr Kevin Dillon wants St Mary’s Basilica’s Yarra St fence to shout on behalf of victims of institutional sexual abuse.
The acclaimed advocate joined abuse survivor Chris Pianto tying ribbons to the fence yesterday, signalling it had become part of the Loud Fence movement which originated in Ballarat and has gone global.
Fr Dillon urged people to follow the lead by tying ribbons for themselves or in support of victims they might know.
“The invitation is there,” Fr Dillon said.
“Such a simple little sign lots of people can do which over time will bring I think a sense of recognition for people.
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MASSACHUSETTS
Item
LYNN —Â The longtime pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish, The Rev. James Gaudreau, is not being charged after a yearlong investigation into an allegation of child sexual abuse.
“I thank God and His Blessed Mother for this day of deliverance, and I thank all those parishioners of St. Joseph’s Parish and others who stood by me and prayed for me during this long ordeal,” Gaudreau said in a statement through his attorney. “My conscience was always clear. I knew that I was innocent of any wrongdoing. I was also confident that, in time, I would be thoroughly exonerated.”
But Gaudreau remains on administrative leave pending the conclusion of an investigation by the archdiocese.
“While the criminal investigation may have concluded, Gaudreau is well aware that the ecclesiastical process can now continue,” Terrence Donilon, a spokesperson for the archdiocese, said in an email Monday. “Under our policies and procedures a preliminary investigation may now continue given that it will not interfere with a civil investigation. Gaudreau remains on administrative leave and restricted from public ministry. Our thoughts and prayers remain with all persons affected by these matters.”
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SLOVENIA
STA
Ljubljana, 19 January – The Supreme Court has upheld a 2013 judgement that ordered the Catholic Church to pay damages to a victim of a paedophile priest thus setting a precedent for any further damages suits, according to the daily Delo.
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MICHIGAN
MLive
By Rosemary Parker | rparker3@mlive.com
on January 19, 2016
BATTLE CREEK, MI — A pastor was sick. Another priest was available.
When Archbishop John Nienstedt celebrated three Masses at St. Philip Catholic Church this weekend, he was merely helping out his old friend Fr. John Fleckenstein, who is ill. He plans to continue to help as needed for about a six months.
In the eyes of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, it’s just a matter of old friends who made an arrangement between themselves in a way that does not violate any rule of the Diocese, a spokesperson said.
Nienstedt may have passed muster with church leaders. But many parents, community members and former victims of sexual abuse are angered by the arrival of the archbishop who is embroiled in one of the ugliest clergy sex scandals in the country, at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Nienstedt and his high-ranking clergy were accused of repeatedly ignoring warnings, for years, about sexually abusive priests, and of failing to contact law enforcement to report possible criminal acts they knew about.
“The entire nation’s Roman Catholic child sexual abuse scandal just moved to Battle Creek,” said former Catholic priest and monk Patrick Wall, now a Minnesota attorney, about the decision to allow Nienstedt to fill in as a temporary volunteer priest here.
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KENTUCKY
WAVE
[with video]
By Connie Leonard
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – It was a shocking confession when a Louisville priest and former St. Margaret Mary Pastor admitted to accessing child porn. Now, as Steven Pohl waits to be sentenced, some parents have signed a petition demanding photographs.
According to the parents attorney, the petition has more than 100 signatures. During the investigation of Pohl it was discovered that he took photos of some students fully clothed, in what was described as inappropriate stances or positions.
Parents involved with the petition want to make sure those photos are preserved so they can see them and depending on what they find, a civil suit could follow.
Even if there were no student victims at St. Margaret Mary as Federal investigators have said, there were some students who ended up in those clothed photos taken by Pohl. Those photos were not part of the child pornography case against the priest who has now pleaded guilty to accessing child porn on his computer. Some parents want to see them anyway. A parent driven petition obtained by WAVE 3 News asks the Archdiocese of Louisville, St. Margaret Mary, the U.S. Attorney’s office, the FBI and other agencies to provide those the images. A return letter from the school explained to parents that Federal authorities have the images.
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MINNESOTA/MICHIGAN
City Pages
BY MIKE MULLEN
MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2016
t’s hard enough getting a job these days. Here’s a tip: You don’t have to include all of your work experience, especially if you’re not sure listing a previous gig will help you get the new job. Say, for example, your former employer is in bankruptcy, and you’ve been indicted as a lead figure in a conspiracy to cover up the sexual abuse of children. That might be something you would leave off your resume.
This sort of selective memory is our best guess for the surprisingly swift career comeback for Archbishop John Nienstedt. Nienstedt held that post with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for eight years. But he vacated his position in June, for some fairly obvious reasons. The church was in bankruptcy, and, by August, would be facing more than 400 claims of sexual abuse by parishioners.
Reason number two: The archdiocese had been indicted on criminal charges, which alleged that Nienstedt and other higher-ups in the church had repeatedly ignored or quieted disturbing talk about Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, now in prison for sexual abuse and child pornography.
The nature of Nienstedt’s assignment by the Kalamazoo Diocese is unclear: He’s filling in for another priest, who has come to Mayo Clinic for treatment of a serious illness; it’s also not apparent if Nienstedt is being paid or is just taking the position as a favor to the church.
His role was announced quietly in a local church bulletin, and Nienstedt has variously been described as “retired” or “emeritus,” as in this statement, given to the National Catholic Reporter:
“Archbishop Emeritus Nienstedt begins his temporary ministry at St. Philip Parish as a priest in good standing, having met the Church’s stringent standards required to attain that status.”
Said “good standing” is good enough for some of Nienstedt’s new parishioners, who told WWMT television station in Michigan that Nienstedt seemed like a decent enough guy on first impression. One guy shook hands with Nienstedt, and thought that went well. Another churchgoer says Nienstedt “denies any kind of wrongdoing and I feel he is telling the truth.”
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LOUISIANA
Beaumont Enterprise
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Retired Archbishop Francis B. Schulte, who led the Archdiocese of New Orleans from 1989 to 2001, has died in his native Philadelphia.
Archdiocese spokeswoman Sarah Comiskey McDonald says Schulte died on Sunday at a church-run retirement facility. He was 89.
Schulte, who was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1952, served as a bishop in Philadelphia and in West Virginia before he became the archbishop in New Orleans. McDonald said Schulte moved back to Philadelphia several years after his 2001 retirement.
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LOUISIANA
Louisiana Record
Chris Galford
Jan. 18, 2016
BATON ROUGE — One case has given rise to another, as the Rev. Jeff Bayhi filed a defamation and false light suit against Baton Rouge’s WBRZ-TV on Nov. 20, alleging the station misrepresented allegations in another case involving the Catholic priest as facts.
The case in question pertained to Rebecca Mayeux, who claims that at the age of 14 she was sexually abused by a now-deceased parishioner in Bayhi’s church, Our Lady of the Assumption in Clinton. In that case, she alleges Bayhi neglected his duty to Louisiana law by failing to report the alleged abuse. At the heart of the case is the notion that she made these initial claims in confessional. The question is whether the confidentiality of confessional overrides the obligation to report abuse.
“Should Father Bayhi violate that sacred seal in any way, his faculties as a Roman Catholic priest would be immediately and automatically suspended by the Vatican itself,” Henry Olinde Jr., Bayhi’s lawyer who is with the law firm of Olinde & Mercer in Baton Rouge, noted in the suit against WBRZ.
Previously, the Baton Rouge diocese had attempted to block Mayeux’s testimony on the grounds of that sacred seal, but State District Judge Mike Caldwell ruled that seal was Mayeux’s to break. After some back and forth up the legal chain, the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the notion that priests are mandatory reporters of abuse and likewise that Mayeux had every right to waive her privilege of confession.
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ROME
Wall Street Journal
By LIAM MOLONEY
Jan. 18, 2016
ROME—A Rome court acquitted a former Vatican official on corruption charges tied to allegations that he had tried to smuggle millions of euros into Italy from Switzerland.
The court found Msgr. Nunzio Scarano innocent of having corrupted public officials as part of an alleged attempt to bring €20 million ($21.8 million) from Switzerland to Italy in a private plane in 2012 on behalf of friends.
Prosecutors alleged that Msgr. Scarano was working with a former member of the Italian Secret Service and a financial broker, but that the plan ultimately fell through because of bickering among the trio. He was accused of having bribed Italian police to smooth the way for transporting the cash. The two other individuals are being tried separately.
The monsignor is an accountant who had been a senior official at the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, or APSA, the Vatican office that manages the Holy See’s large real estate holdings. APSA has come under scrutiny for a lack of transparency in its financial dealings and is one of the targets of reforms to clean up the Holy See’s financial management.
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ROME
Boston Herald
Associated Press Monday, January 18, 2016
ROME — A court in Rome Monday acquitted an Italian monsignor, who was fired from his job as a Vatican accountant, of corruption, a defense lawyer for the priest said.
According to prosecutors, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was involved in a plot to use a private plane to try to smuggle 20 million euros (about $22 million) from Switzerland into Italy in a tax-evasion scheme. They suspected the money had been deposited in Switzerland to avoid Italian taxes.
A lawyer for Scarano, Silverio Sica, confirmed Italian news reports that the court acquitted his client of corruption but convicted him on a slander charge and gave him a suspended two-year sentence. The monsignor had denied any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors alleged that a former intelligence agent and a financial broker were part of the plot along with Scarano. The ex-agent, who allegedly had rented a plane to fly to Switzerland to get the money, never was able to carry out the mission, prosecutors contended. During the trial, the cases involving the ex-agent and the broker were separated from Scarano’s case.
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ROME
News 24
Rome – A former Vatican accountant known as “Mr 500” for his cash-rich lifestyle was acquitted by an Italian court on Monday of corruption and attempted money-smuggling.
Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was a chief accountant for APSA, the organisation that manages the Vatican’s vast real estate portfolio, before his arrest in June 2013 for allegedly plotting to smuggle millions of euros in cash into Italy.
Investigators had accused Scarano of hatching a plot to use a private plane to repatriate €20m that were untaxed from Switzerland, on behalf of a rich family of ship owners from Naples.
A court in Rome found Scarano innocent of corruption and attempted money-smuggling, but guilty of making false accusations against one of his co-defendants, slapping him with a two-year suspended sentence.
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ROME
Daily Mail
By Philip Pullella
ROME, Jan 18 (Reuters) – A former Vatican prelate was acquitted on Monday of conspiring to smuggle millions of euros in cash into Italy from Switzerland for rich friends.
Monsignor Nunzio Scarano worked for 22 years as a senior accountant in APSA, a Vatican department that handles real estate and stock investments for the Holy See.
He was dismissed from his post after Italian magistrates charged him in June 2013 with plotting, along with an Italian secret service agent and a financial broker, to smuggle 20 million euros ($21.8 million) into Italy.
Prosecutors said a private plane had gone to Locarno in Switzerland in 2012 to pick up the cash and bring it into Italy without tax and customs controls. The plane returned without the cash because of last-minute complications at the Swiss bank where it was being held, officials said at the time.
The court in Rome found Scarano innocent of corruption and attempted money smuggling but guilty of a separate, lesser charge of making false accusations against one of the other defendants, for which he received a two-year suspended sentence. His two accused co-conspirators are being tried separately.
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PHILIPPINES
GMA News
When Pope Francis visited the Philippines last year, the most difficult questions he had to answer did not come from reporters. The questions came from a poor little girl.
“Marami na po ang mga batang pinabayaan ng kanilang mga magulang,” said Glyzelle Iris Palomar, 12. (Many children have been neglected by their parents.)
“Marami sa kanila ang naging biktima at masama ang nangyari, tulad ng droga o prostitusyon.” (Many of them have become victims, involved in bad circumstances such as drugs and prostitution.)
“Bakit po pumapayag ang Diyos na may ganitong nangyayari?” (Why does God allow these things to happen?)
She cried, and then continued: “At bakit kaunti lang ang tumutulong sa amin?” (And why are there only few who help us?)
Pope Francis repeated the girl’s question and then answered: “When the heart is unable to answer itself and cry, then we can understand.”
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UNITED STATES
USA Today
Andrea Mandell, USA TODAY January 18, 2016
LOS ANGELES — Spotlight edged forward in the Oscar race Sunday night.
The film overpowered big-budget movies such as The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road to win best picture at the Critics’ Choice Awards, a crucial step as the Academy Awards race tightens
Spotlight also took home the acting ensemble prize, but the investigative journalism film’s major competitors didn’t go home empty-handed. The Revenant’s Leonardo DiCaprio won best actor (he accepted via video from his media tour for the movie in Europe) and Mad Max cleaned out the action awards, winning action film, actor in an action film (Tom Hardy) and actress in an action film (Charlize Theron).
More tellingly, Mad Max director George Miller also took home the overall director prize (he wasn’t in attendance).
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MONTANA
Helena Independent Record
AL KNAUBER Independent Record
Some say preventing future sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy may depend on ending the requirement for celibacy and allowing women into the priesthood.
But if that’s not likely to happen any time soon, then strict screening and psychological testing of those seeking ordination might be the best way to prevent future crimes by clergy against children.
These differing perspectives come in the wake of confirmation by the bankruptcy court of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in March that settled a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization plan for the Diocese of Helena.
The judge approved a nearly $21 million plan to compensate the roughly 380 people who said they were sexually abused by Catholic priests and the Ursuline Sisters.
The bankruptcy court’s action comes after claims against the diocese were filed in 2011 by those who said they had been sexually abused.
The Associated Press reported in March 2015 that the majority of allegations were against Jesuit priests at the Ursuline Academy and the St. Ignatius Mission in St. Ignatius.
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MICHIGAN
WIN
BATTLE CREEK (WKZO-AM) — The retired archbishop from Minnesota who retired following a sex scandal in his diocese defended himself from the podium this weekend in Battle Creek.
Archbishop Emeritus John Nienstedt told the congregation that news reports released last week were not entirely accurate, and that he would never do what he’s been accused of doing.
Reaction from the congregation has been mixed.
John [David] Clohessy, the national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said it comes down to a simple question: “Why take the risk?”
The Kalamazoo Diocese said Nienstedt hasn’t actually been convicted, and is in good standing with the church.
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MINNESOTA/MICHIGAN
Canonical Consultation
Jennifer Haselberger
01/17/2016
The Battle Creek Enquirer is reporting that Archbishop Nienstedt spoke with parishioners of St Philip parish in Battle Creek this weekend about the concerns over his appointment.
According to the January 17, 2016, article, Nienstedt blamed the furor over his appointment on critics who dislike his stance on same-sex marriage. In addition, he said that his resignation was not the result of anything that he had done wrong. The Enquirer reports that Nienstedt stated, “I resigned as archbishop in order for the local church to have a new beginning as they come out of bankruptcy and not because of something I had done wrong.”
Unfortunately, this is probably true. Archbishop Nienstedt would be the only person who would truly know what motivated his resignation. However, the reason that it was accepted by Pope Francis could be entirely different, which again demonstrates the point of why these resignations, as opposed to punitive actions, are insufficient.
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UNITED STATES
Church Militant
Someone is not being truthful about the whole question of homosexuality and the Catholic clergy.
Our Vortex report last week citing statistics saying somewhere between 15 and 58 percent of priests in America are homosexual seems to have touched a nerve. Some clerics responded privately as well as publicly saying “No way.” Others responded privately as well as publicly saying “Right on.” So which is it?
Then just as things were quieting down, along comes the Pope’s right-hand man last week saying that indeed a homosexual lobby exists in the Vatican, and the Pope is trying to deal with it. Of course, that can’t come as a shock to anyone, really.
You’ll recall that just before the Synod kicked off last October, Fr. Krzysztof Olaf Charamsa, who worked inside the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, came out with his boyfriend for all the world to see. And then, of course, there was Fr. Dariusz Oko of Poland, who released a damning report also indicating the presence of a so-called lavender mafia in the Church.
He said in his report that the same problem going on in the world with regard to a militant homosexual agenda driving everything is also happening in the Church — and it needs to be exposed. Moreover, shortly before Pope Benedict resigned, there was the issuance of a 300-page dossier delivered to him personally also giving details on the apparently not-so-secret homosexual lobby inside the Vatican.
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UNITED STATES
Santa Monica EdHat
By Rosie Sullivan
Directed by Tom McCarthy
Starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber
4.5/5 EdHats
With Oscar nominations announced on Thursday morning, it seemed apropos to share my take on one film that is up for numerous awards (including Best Picture).
If you see one film from 2015 (besides Star Wars: A Force Awakens) it should be Spotlight. With the tagline “the true story behind the scandal that shook the world” this film delivers a riveting whistle-blower tale of The Boston Globe versus the Catholic church.
Spotlight depicts the story of how the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation, sexual abuse, and ultimate cover-up within the Boston archdioces. In 2002, after eight months of research, The Boston Globe published almost 600 articles on child sex-abuse allegations against Catholic priests and the cover ups by the church which followed. The expose shook the entire Catholic Church to its core.
In other, less-adept, hands, this tale could have fallen flat. Director Tom McCarthy (of The Visitor, Meet the Parents, and Up fame) took what could have been simply people talking in a room and turned it into a captivating lively story. Spotlight comments not only on the disappearance of hard-hitting investigative journalism but also on the rampant sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Church which was long-ignored by the church itself and by society.
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UNITED STATES
The Argus
Exclusive by Joel Adams, Reporter
THE VICTIM of a bishop jailed for sexual abuse has demanded to know whether “a deal was done” to spare the clergyman a criminal conviction.
The former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball was jailed for nearly three years last October for the sexual abuse of 16 young men.
Graham Sawyer, who was indecently assaulted by Ball while a teenager, told The Argus: “It’s difficult to know who is telling the truth in this case.
“It’s very important for everyone else’s sake that we find out whether a deal was done.”
His remarks follow the comments of a detective who was involved in a 1992 investigation of Ball which resulted in a caution but no criminal conviction for Ball.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor
By RAY DUCKLER
Monitor staff
Saturday, January 16, 2016
The South Parish Unitarian Church, locked during a cold winter rainstorm, looked like so many other churches in so many other towns.
Its steeple and clock, standing tall at the edge of Charlestown’s main strip, rose through the mist, a sign out front attached to weathered brick reading “built in 1844.”
Recently, a man named Mark Fleming, a former Catholic priest accused of molesting three young boys in the 1980s, worked at this historic site, perhaps breaking an agreement that forbade him from having contact with children younger than 16.
A Manchester attorney, Mark Abramson, who represented the boys in a civil suit in 2002, is still outraged that Fleming never served any prison time.
“It’s a shame the public can’t have the opportunity to hear in detail from these boys what happened,” Abramson said in a phone interview. “Now of course they are grown men, but they are haunted by this and it could have destroyed their lives, and to some extent it has.”
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MICHIGAN
WWMT
[with video]
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Parishioners at a local Catholic church are standing behind the man who is at least temporarily leading their church.
At one point that man was under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct and covering up abuse.
On Sunday, church goers had a strong message for those they say are too quick to judge, saying they should wait until they have all the facts.
The Kalamazoo diocese recently brought in Archbishop John Nienstedt, a retired Archbishop at the Archdiocese of Minneapolis, St. Paul to serve as the assistant priest at St. Philip Roman Catholic Church in Battle Creek while Father John Fleckenstein receives medical care.
“I think he’s a wonderful person,” said parishioner Charles Rose. “I had a chance to shake hands with him and talk with him and welcomed him to Battle Creek and to the church.” …
Miky Kingsley attended mass at St. Philip today and tells Newschannel 3 that she thinks the facts have been skewed.
“He said none of the allegations have been proven and none of them are true,” said Kingley. “He denies any kind of wrongdoing and I feel that he is telling the truth.”
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MICHIGAN
Battle Creek Enquirer
Jennifer Bowman, Battle Creek Enquirer January 17, 2016
The controversial retired priest who is volunteering at St. Philip Catholic Church told parishioners that news media last week reported “misleading information” about him and “those who know me well would verify that I would not act in those ways suggested.”
“Personally, I believe that some critics did not like the strong stance that I was forced to take in defense of Catholic teachings,” John Nienstedt said, “particularly the traditional definition of marriage, and I think they would like to punish me for those stands.”
His statement received an applause from some parishioners Sunday morning.
Nienstedt, former archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2008 until last year, is temporarily helping out at St. Philip as the Rev. John Fleckenstein deals with health issues. He addressed the media coverage as he led Mass on Sunday, telling parishioners he hoped the reports would not “jeopardize” his relationship with them and that he became a priest “to help, not hurt people.”
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UNITED STATES
CosmosTheInLost
January 13, 2016 by Artur Rosman
Isn’t it a space oddity that David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, landed on the same day as the latest round of Catholic sex scandals took off?
This coincidence, seen in the right light, appears as predestined as the plots of Kundera or Kieslowski. It also reveals something about the last acceptable prejudice and how little (what remains of) Western society really cares about the victims of sex abuse.
Let’s start with the Catholics, because in the public imagination they seem to have cornered the market on sex scandals. Catholic are under pressure because their guilt seems so obvious and culpable it could be represented in an elegant mathematical formula such as this one:
perverts + celibate priests + bad bishops + dumb laity = pedophile ~ Catholic
I’ve argued elsewhere that there is a necessary visibility to Catholicism that will not allow its past sins to disintegrate into (Ziggy) stardust. It also frequently leads to hasty generalizations like the equation above. But maybe this is for the good?
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MONTANA
Herald Courier
Associated Press
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Helena Bishop George Leo Thomas says the church had a duty to step up and accept responsibility for former priests and other employees who were accused of sexually abusing children.
Thomas tells the Independent Record (http://tinyurl.com/jf6vp9c ) the church could have fought claims by people in Montana who said they were abused, but it would not be right and they might never have seen a resolution to their cases.
Last year, the church posted a list online of the names of those accused. That was one condition of settling lawsuits filed by hundreds of people who said they were abused by priests, nuns and others dating back to the 1940s.
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CANADA
CBC News
Reconciliation starts with small moments and little steps toward mutual respect, says Reconciliation Canada co-founder, Chief Robert Joseph.
Joseph is one of approximately 150,000 First Nations children who suffered years of abuse, isolation and trauma in Canada’s residential schools. He is also the hereditary chief of the Gwawaenuk First Nation.
“True reconciliation, fundamentally, is about relationships. It means that you and I can coexist in mutual respect and all of us can afford each other dignity,” he said.
“Then we work on those issues that divide us. Sometimes it’s attitudinal racism, sometimes it’s economics, sometimes it’s social.”
Joseph is receiving an award from the Wallenberg Sugihara Civil Courage Society Sunday for his work.
The award is given to an individual who has stood up against social injustice at significant personal risk.
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IRELAND
Newstalk
Stephen McNeice
A Boston Globe journalist responsible for uncovering sexual abuse in the city at the hands of the Catholic Church says they realised the scale of the issue within days of starting research.
Walter Robinson was leader of the ‘Spotlight’ team that went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
In 2002, they launched an investigation into reports that children were being abused by priests.
The team went on to unveil a cover-up involving dozens of clergy members within the Boston Roman Catholic Archdiocese.
Their work is now portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film Spotlight, which is due on Irish cinema screens on January 29th. Michael Keaton plays Robinson in the film.
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MONTANA
Helena Independent Record
Helena Bishop George Leo Thomas held prayer services in seven Montana communities last year in the wake of a nearly $21 million settlement to resolve claims by about 380 people who accused the Diocese of Helena of sexual abuse.
Thomas spoke at churches in Helena, Bozeman, Butte, Cut Bank, Columbia Falls, St. Ignatius and Missoula, according to a list of the outreach efforts.
The services held in these seven communities were part of numerous nonmonetary provisions in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization plan for the diocese that was confirmed by the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, bankruptcy court in March 2015.
Resolution of the bankruptcy and reorganization plan came after lawsuits had been filed in state court by two groups in 2011, according to The Associated Press.
Though the outreach was required, Thomas said “with or without that agreement, this would have been necessitated by pastoral care. I think that the church has the obligation for outreach and conciliation, but also to pray for those who were victimized or aggrieved. And so I would have done that with or without any agreement with the plaintiffs.”
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DEUTSCHLAND
Domradio
Das Bistum Mainz hat die Darstellung zurückgewiesen, kircheninterne Verfahren gegen Missbrauchstäter zu “verschleppen”. Diesen Vorwurf hatte Johannes Heibel von der “Initiative gegen Gewalt und sexuellen Missbrauch an Kindern und Jugendlichen” im “Spiegel” erhoben.
Heibel bezog sich auf den Fall des früheren Rüsselsheimer Pfarrers Norbert E., der “zwar vom Bistum Mainz nicht mehr beschäftigt” werde, aber weiterhin Gehalt beziehe und “für Kirchengemeinden als Organist und Chorleiter, auch mit Minderjährigen”, gearbeitet habe.
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DEUTSCHLAND
netzwerkB
[Of reconciliation in St. Blasien]
ARD BRISANT 16.01.2016
„Um Versöhnung geht es jetzt liebe Zuschauer und um ein Thema was regelmäßig in der Öffentlichkeit steht – Missbrauch, Verschweigen und Vertuschung in der katholischen Kirche.
Das alles deckte Jesuitenpater Klaus Mertes vor etwa sechs Jahren am Canisuis-Kolleg in Berlin auf und auch Norbert Denef aus Sachsen hat so ein Verbrechen am eigenen Leib erfahren.
Er und Pater Mertes haben sich jetzt getroffen – sie wollen gemeinsam eine Stiftung gründen.
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MINNESOTA/MICHIGAN
Canonical Consultation
Jennifer Haselberger
01/16/2016
In response to the intense media interest in Archbishop Nienstedt’s temporary gig at St Philip Parish in Battle Creek, Michigan, the Diocese of Kalamazoo sent the following letter to parents of children attending the school where Nienstedt is currently residing
If the Diocese hoped this would calm the furor or assuage concerns, it would appear it was mistaken. I found this response, published in the Battle Creek Enquirer, particularly on point.
Finally, I am intrigued by the ‘additional assurances’ received by the Diocese regarding Archbishop Nienstedt’s fitness for ministry. Of most interest in this regard would be, of course, the report or reports of Greene and Espel. However, the Archdiocese has strenuously upheld (in court and elsewhere) that any work product of that investigation is privileged communication. If those reports were shared with the Diocese of Kalamazoo, that privilege may effectively have been waived.
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LAGOS
The Sun
BY OLAKUNLE OLAFIOYE
A LAGOS-BASED traditional priest has been arraigned in an Ikeja Magistrate Court for offences bordering on fraud and sexual crime.
The suspect, Ifatade Elegbeleye Ademola, 42, who was dragged before the court presided over by Mrs. O.A Olayinka Sunday Sun gathered, had allegedly detained and raped one of his female clients (name withheld) on March 12, 2012.
He was equally accused of casting a spell on his victim, who reportedly lost her senses, a development that paved way for Elegbeleye to manipulate his victim between March 2011 when he met the lady at Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos and April, 2013.
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NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY
New York Post
By Dean Balsamini
January 17, 2016
Kinky man of the cloth Rev. Peter Miqueli just can’t seem to quit his unholy habits.
The alleged S&M-loving, urine-swilling, collection-plate-stealing priest still has his muscle-bound “master” Keith Crist as a regular house guest at Miqueli’s Jersey Shore home, neighbors told The Post.
He also lets him tool around in a $50,000 red Lexus convertible registered to Miqueli. During a Post visit to the Brick, NJ, home last week, the flashy sports car discreetly wheeled straight into the garage via a remote-controlled door-opener.
“He’s here all the time,” said a neighbor, referring to the 41-year-old Crist. “Sometimes he takes in the groceries, the trash.
“They have no shame,” she said.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Kent Online
by Tom Acres
tacres@thekmgroup.co.uk
The Church of England has refused to comment on the progress of a probe into allegations of historic child abuse at a Gravesend children’s home.
It was this time last year that an independent review into Kendall House was ordered by Bishop of Rochester James Langstaff.
Speaking at the time, the bishop said he hoped the investigation would help deal with concerns people had about the home.
He said: “It is my hope that this review will be of help in pastoral and other ways to all those who have concerns about Kendall House, and will also make clear any outstanding lessons which the Church of England and others need to learn.”
However, when contacted for an update on the review, a spokesman for the bishop said there were no further announcements or statements to be made.
Teresa Cooper, a campaigner who claims she was forcibly drugged at the home between 1981 and 1984, described the apparent lack of progress in the investigation as “disgusting”.
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DEUTSCHLAND
Klasse Gegen Klasse
[Sexual violence in the Catholic Church]
16. Jan 2016
Lilly Freytag
Es ist diesen Monat sechs Jahre her, dass in Deutschland eine öffentliche Debatte über sexuellen Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche begann. Es wurde ein bisschen diskutiert, ein paar Versprechen gemacht – und sonst ist nicht viel passiert. Reaktionär*innen versuchen heute, sexuelle Gewalt zu einem Problem „der Anderen“ zu machen. Wie sehr sie damit falsch liegen, wird sichtbar, wenn wir uns an diese Debatte erinnern.
Nach den Ereignissen in Köln wird von Reaktionär*innen und Rassist*innen viel darüber geredet, dass Migrant*innen allein für den Sexismus in Deutschland verantwortlich wären. Das ist natürlich Quatsch. Sie tun so, als ob sexuelle Gewalt in Deutschland nicht Alltag wäre – und als ob sie nicht strukturelle und organisierte Formen annehmen würde. Wie absurd das ist, wird klar, wenn sexueller Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche betrachtet wird. Denn weder CDU und CSU, noch Pegida und seine Anhänger*innen werden behaupten können, dass die katholische Kirche nichts mit den Werten ihres so heiß geliebten Abendlandes zu tun hat.
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DEUTSCHLAND
Wochenblatt
[An interview with DEan Heinrich Wachter, who recently met with Pope Benedict.]
Wir treffen Prälat und Stiftsdekan Heinrich Wachter in seinem Büro in der Viereimergasse. Er traf kürzlich Papst Benedikt. Wir sprachen mit dem Geistlichen über die Missbräuche bei den Domspatzen, die Entwicklung der Weltkirche – und Papst Franziskus.
Herr Prälat, was ist für Sie der größte Unterschied zwischen Papst Benedikt und Papst Franziskus?
Prälat Wachter: Da gibt es gewaltige Unterschiede. Man kann pauschal sagen: Franziskus macht alles anders. Das ist zwar sicher nicht seine Absicht, das muss man Franziskus nicht unterstellen, aber in vielem, wie er handelt, blamiert er seinen Vorgänger. Er stellt sich grundsätzlich anders ein zu bestimmten Verhaltensweisen wie unser Benedikt. Theologisch ist Franziskus im Vergleich zu ihm aber gar nicht auf dem Laufenden. Er redet unwahrscheinlich viel, aber er gibt kaum eine klare Stellungnahme ab. Selbst Kardinal Meisner sagte zu ihm, dass seine Aussagen immer sehr problematisch sind.
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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
January 16, 2016
Shannon Deery
Herald Sun
SEX assault victims are being forced to wait up to six months for counselling because of a funding crisis gripping services.
Waiting lists have blown out since the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into child abuse started in 2012 with hundreds of people unable to tap into urgent help.
Experts say waiting lists are now at record levels, with a spike in referrals because of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse.
Some victims have turned to staging mini protests as a cry for help, with one man recently hijacking a Catholic Church service in a desperate plea for help.
Paul Levey, who was abused by notorious paedophile Gerald Ridsdale, interrupted the mass last month to lobby the church to offer more funding for victim counselling.
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PENNSYLVANIA
Christian Today
Jonah Hicap 17 January 2016
A Pennsylvania appeals court has flatly rejected the appeal of a convicted pastor and basketball coach to reduce his sentence of up to 80 years in prison for sexually abusing a boy multiple times.
Jonathan Masteller, a former Lancaster County youth pastor, was convicted in November 2014 of various charges including indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse on a 13-year-old boy and was sentenced to 25 1/5 to 80 years in prison.
The state Superior Court denied Masteller’s claim that his sentence was excessive, according to Penn Live and Raw Story. Masteller also served as basketball coach at Pequea Valley School District.
He was the victim’s basketball coach and youth pastor, according to the court decision handed down on Tuesday written by Senior Judge William Platt.
His abuse of the boy was discovered in November 2013 when a pastor at the Family Center in Gap found incriminating photos of Masteller and the boy while he was doing maintenance work on Masteller’s computer.
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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror
BY JOSHUA TAYLOR
James Carragher has been caged for an extra nine years having already spent 21 years behind bars
A twisted paedophile who attacked youngsters while acting as the boss of a children’s home was branded “the devil himself” by one of his brave victims.
Vile James Carragher has been caged for an extra nine years for the terrifying sexual abuse of young boys.
The 75-year-old fiend has already spent the past 21 years behind bars.
Carragher’s reign of terror as head of St William’s, a school for boys with behavioural problems in east Yorkshire, lasted from 1976 to 1990.
The Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough , which ran the home, is now being sued by 249 former residents who say they were abused there by Carragher or other members of staff.
One of Carragher’s victims, who was attacked as a teenager in the 1970s, told the Liverpool Echo : “He isn’t just the most evil man from hell, he is the devil himself.”
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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register
COMMENTARY: The gift of reconciliation arising from the witness of new ministers of the Divine Mercy.
by FATHER RAYMOND J. DESOUZA 01/16/2016
It was an act of reconciliation — a most suitable way to begin the Jubilee of Mercy. That’s not how we usually describe ordinations, but in this case, it was. Permit a personal explanation.
On the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12, 2015, the Legionaries of Christ ordained 44 men to the priesthood in Rome. I had been invited to attend, as one of the deacons to be ordained, Sameer Advani, is a graduate of Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, and had been active in our chaplaincy, Newman House, during his undergraduate years on campus (1999-2003).
I accepted the invitation to go out of pride in Sameer and in gratitude for God’s goodness to Newman House in raising up a priestly vocation from our men. Yet there was a touch of ambiguity in my feelings, related in part to my work at the Register.
While Sameer was frequenting Newman House in the early 2000s, I was in Rome as a seminarian myself and serving as the Register’s Rome correspondent. The Register was then owned by the Legionaries, and so my relationship with the order grew during those years, and it was a happy one.
But a lot happened after 2003, when Sameer entered the Legionaries and I returned home to take up my duties as Newman House chaplain. In 2006 came the Vatican’s decision to impose upon the founder, Father Marcial Maciel, the penalties reserved for elderly clerics guilty of sexual abuse: namely, confinement to a reserved life of prayer and penance, without any public ministry.
In 2009, the extent of Father Maciel’s duplicity and depravity became known.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor
By RAY DUCKLER
Monitor staff
Saturday, January 16, 2016
They could be living anywhere, unchecked, unregistered and under no suspicion.
What’s to stop a priest who’s molested children from living where he chooses, free to mingle in your neighborhood, greet your kids, earn their trust, and yours?
Sometimes, absolutely nothing.
Our statute of limitations permits this freedom, from both supervision and prison, creating an irony 13 years ago that helped expose the church sex abuse scandal, while allowing priests guilty of horrific crimes to walk free.
Lots of priests admitted, in writing during the state’s investigation, that they had sexually molested children, yet these same priests went on with their lives, blending in with society, the public unaware of the danger they posed.
Further, there is no central method of tracking the number of priests charged, investigated or prosecuted since the New Hampshire attorney general’s landmark report was released in March 2003.
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