ABUSE TRACKER

CALIFORNIA
My News LA

POSTED BY KEN STONE ON NOVEMBER 20, 2015

The Kabbalah Centre International and one of its former co-directors should collectively pay more than $1.1 million to a former student who met the rabbi for a late-night meeting that turned into an attempted sexual assault, an attorney told a jury Friday.

In his final argument to a jury hearing trial of Jena Scaccetti’s lawsuit against the KCI and Rabbi Yehuda Berg, lawyer Alain Bonavida said his client was involuntarily touched on her leg and held by Berg in a tight embrace when she met with him at his mother’s New York City apartment the night of Oct. 25-26, 2012.

“That’s a sexual assault,” Bonavida said. “She didn’t consent to that.”

But Berg’s attorney, John Cline, said his client did not sexually abuse Scaccetti.

“This is not a case about rape, this is not a case about violence,” he told the Los Angeles Superior Court jury. “This was a human encounter between two people one night in their lives.”

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UNITED KINGDOM/INDIA
Daily Mail

By Christian Gysin and Lee Sorrell For The Daily Mail

A fugitive Church of England vicar has been told by judges to return to India where he faces charges of sexually assaulting a boy of 15.

The Rev Jonathan Robinson – an acquaintance of former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams – is accused of attacking the youngster twice in 2011.

The boy, who stayed at a children’s home set up by the clergyman, said he was kidnapped and taken to New Delhi where he was molested in cheap hostels.

But by the time a warrant was issued for Robinson’s arrest, the married cleric had returned home to Wales. Judges at the High Court in Madras have now agreed to lift an Interpol ‘wanted’ alert in the hope that he will voluntarily fly to India to face trial.

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INDIA
Premier

Sat 21 Nov 2015
By Aaron James

Judges in India have called for a former Church of England vicar to stand trial over claims he sexually abused a 15-year-old boy in the country twice.

According to the Daily Mail, Revd Jonathan Robinson is accused of abusing the boy in hostels in the Indian capital Delhi in 2011. The boy was under Mr Robinson’s care at a children’s home in Vallioor, south India, which he founded in 1998.

The home was part of The Grail Trust UK, a British charity also founded by Mr Robinson. In a career of more than forty years, Revd Robinson worked at churches in London, Surrey, Bath and Herefordshire before his retirement from that form of ministry in 2001.

He left the country for Wales before Indian authorities could issue an arrest warrant for him, and has since been on an Interpol “wanted” list.

Indian judges have decided to lift this status however, in the hope that Revd Robinson will return to India to stand trial.

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NEW YORK
The Examiner

Neal Rentz | Nov 22, 2015 |

A White Plains-based developer is proposing a major development for a portion of the property owned by the Legion of Christ in Mount Pleasant that would include 116 single-family homes and an assisted living facility.

The developer, Baker Residential, is also proposing to donate 16.5 acres of the 165-acre property on Columbus Avenue to the town, which would use it for recreational facilities.

The site is vacant wooded land that is located in a General Office Building zone (OB-1) at 582 and 590 Columbus Ave.

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ROME
The New York Times

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
NOV. 21, 2015

ROME — Vatican prosecutors on Saturday formally indicted five people in connection with the theft of confidential documents used to write two tell-all books describing purported mismanagement in the Roman Catholic Church’s bureaucracy.

The five defendants were charged with “illegally procuring and successively revealing information and documents concerning the fundamental interests of the Holy See and the state,” the Vatican said in a statement issued Saturday.

Msgr. Lucio Ángel Vallejo Balda, and Francesca Chaouqui, a laywoman, were part of a commission set up by Pope Francis to examine the Vatican’s financial holdings and affairs. They were also charged with criminal conspiracy, as was Monsignor Vallejo Balda’s assistant, Nicola Maio.

The authors of the two books — Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi — are accused of “demanding and exercising pressures, above all on Vallejo Balda, to obtain confidential documents and information, that in part they used to draft two books,” according to the statement. The books, Mr. Nuzzi’s “Merchants in the Temple” and Mr. Fittipaldi’s “Avarice,” were published this month. …

Reached by telephone on Saturday afternoon, Mr. Fittipaldi said he was “incredulous” that the Vatican was putting him on trial. “I didn’t reveal anything that put the life of the pope at risk,” he said. “Instead, the documents recount the financial scandals of the curia, crazy investments, greed. It seems strange that they would investigate the teller of those misdeeds rather than those who carried them out.”

Putting journalists on trial is a chilling message from the Vatican, the writers said. “They want to show that they are a state with laws that have to be respected even if we don’t like them,” even if they are undemocratic, Mr. Fittipaldi said. “They want to make an example of this. It’s going to be more difficult for scandals of this type to emerge in the future,” because those who might want to expose corruption and mismanagement will be more wary.

Mr. Nuzzi remained defiant. “I am proud to have published information that was not supposed to get out, as any journalist would have done,” he said. “I didn’t reveal state secrets” involving internal military or security or intelligence issues, “but instances of dishonesty and abuse, and I will continue to do so.”

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UNITED STATES
Entertainment Weekly

BY JOE MCGOVERN

For all the severity of its subject matter, Tom McCarthy’s extraordinary journalism drama Spotlight (in theaters now) is not a movie of noble gestures and emotive Oscar-bait moments. And the performance which best encapsulates the film’s unassuming, non-vainglorious, worker-bee approach to its story is Liev Schreiber’s as the Boston Globe’s editor-in-chief Marty Baron, who pressed his paper to fully investigate the colossal cover-up in Boston of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

Spotlight has been compared favorably — and justifiably — to the gold standard in journalism movies, 1976’s seminal All the President’s Men. According to that point of analogy, Schreiber’s top boss role is similar to Jason Robards Oscar-winning part as the saucy, colorful Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. But Baron, who left the Boston Globe in 2012 and incidentally now runs the Washington Post, is a quieter and more reticent personality, especially for a newsman. Having arrived from his previous job at the Miami Herald as the film begins, Baron is viewed with suspicion by most of his staff — and the good ol’ boy Irish Catholic culture.

Schreiber’s acting in the film is a masterpiece of tranquility. The penetrating screen presence which the actor has brought to dozens of roles during his 20 year film and TV career — including The Daytrippers, The Sum of All Fears, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Ray Donovan, not to mention his Tony-winning work on stage — has been fascinatingly coiled in Spotlight into a stealth tiger of a man, whose calmness betrays his deep ethical conviction. Baron, ultimately, is the truest hero of the movie. And Schreiber, for the miraculously ego-less way in which he communicates that, gives what just might just be the most nuanced, subtly commanding performance of his life.

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MEXICO
Huffington Post

Lee Moran
Trends Editor, The Huffington Post

A Christian pastor in Mexico has been arrested over allegations that he raped two underage sisters more than 100 times over a four-year period.

Alfredo Huerta Zavala, 56, allegedly told the siblings — who were 9 and 10 years old when the abuse is said to have begun — that they should trust him “unconditionally” because he had been chosen by Christ, multiple media outlets in Mexico reported Wednesday.

He is also alleged to have invoked the “name of God” to force them into performing sexual acts. The girls are now 13 and 14.

The attacks reportedly occurred when the sisters were supposed to be helping Zavala carry out chores around the Luz del Mundo church in the city of Oaxaca every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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UNITED STATES
Georgetown Voice

By Brian McMahon on November 20, 2015

Over and over again, taking responsibility proves to be a challenging task for human beings and their institutions. Individuals go to great lengths to deny and conceal; as a result, others must go even further to unpack the truths that threaten our communities and livelihoods. Investigative journalism is a powerful medium, one that has condemned and exposed individuals, institutions, and governments. In the film world, depictions of investigative reporting have often cast the men and women behind the stories as heroes, as renegades working outside of and above whatever corruption they seek to uncover.

With the release of the movie Spotlight, which details The Boston Globe’s investigation of the Massachusetts Catholic sex abuse scandal, director Tom McCarthy has graduated from the mold that defines iconic journalism films such as All the President’s Men, the critically acclaimed film following two journalists as they exposed the Watergate Scandal. Instead of glorifying the paper’s reporters, McCarthy and co-screenwriter Josh Singer attempt to portray them as they were: intelligent but flawed individuals, capable of fantastic reporting but also of missing or neglecting crucial information.

Marty Baron, Executive Editor of The Washington Post, views Spotlight as more aware of the realities of investigative reporters. In an email to the Voice, Baron wrote, “I’m not an expert on Hollywood depictions of journalists. Generally, however, they seem to depict us as crusaders or as rascals, mostly the latter. The beauty of this film is that it recognizes that journalists, even as in memorable scenes, collaboration reigns supreme, individual senses of purpose augmented by a collective thirst they can do a lot of good, have their flaws. And sometimes those flaws mean we fail to pursue stories as energetically or as deeply as we should.”

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CALIFORNIA
San Diego Union-Tribune

By Peter Rowe Nov. 20, 2015

In the new movie “Spotlight,” a character describes Richard Sipe as a “hippie ex-priest shacking up with some nun.”

When the real Sipe heard this line, he laughed. The 82-year-old La Jollan is often called worse: Traitor.

Sipe never appears on screen in “Spotlight,” a dramatization of the Boston Globe’s 2001-02 investigation of the Catholic Church covering up the crimes of pedophile priests. Yet his insights, formed after decades of research on priests, permeate the film.

A psychotherapist who treated troubled clergy, Sipe drew on about 500 case files for his 1990 study of celibacy, “A Secret World.” Another 500 priests were also interviewed, plus an equal number of lay people who had been sex partners — as adults or children, willing or unwilling — of Catholic clergy.

His conclusions: At any one time, no more than half of priests are practicing celibacy. Most of the others are engaged in sexual relationships with women or men, but Sipe found that 6 percent prey on minors. (After further research, he revised that figure to 6 percent to 9 percent.)

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UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

Vatican action speaks louder than Pope Francis words.

Pope Francis keeps preaching but the Vatican keeps proving him wrong!

On November 17, 2015, Gianluigi Nuzzi (Via Crucis “Way of the Cross” translated in English as “Merchants in the Temple” author) defied Vatican summons and refused to go and appear before Vatican court – saying that Vatican law is “medieval”. Emiliano Fittipaldi (“Avarice” author) went – but he refused to answer prosecutors’ questions saying he’d rather go to jail than reveal his Vatileaks sources. Their books are alarming the Vatican because they expose several secret well-documented Vatican Evils: (1) colossal Vatican financial corruptions –– proving the Vatican is worse than the merchants in the Temple of Solomon. (2) Vatican properties in central Rome worth hundreds of millions of Euros –– proving the Vatican avarice and Pope Francis hypocrisy in a church for the poor. (VA now stands for both Vatican Autocracy & Vatican Avarice! Grazie mille, Italian journalists!) (3) Vatican-owned BROTHELS, pricey gay saunas and massage parlours where Catholic priests pay for sex –– proving the active sex gay double-life of celibate priests. On November 21, 2015, a Vatican judge indicted five people over leaked documents, alleging ‘Organized Crime’ (WTF & LOL)

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent November 21, 2015

ROME — A Vatican judge has indicted a monsignor, two former members of an expired papal commission, and two Italian journalists for allegedly disseminating secret internal documents regarding the Holy See’s finances. They will stand trial for “procuring and revealing” confidential material.

The trial will begin Tuesday, one day before Pope Francis is set to depart for a five-day trip to Kenya, Uganda, and war-torn Central African Republic.

According to information provided by the Vatican’s Office for the Promotion of Justice, those who refuse to attend will be tried “in absentia.” That’s likely a reference to the two journalists, both of whom refused to be interrogated by Vatican prosecutors and said they won’t show up for a trial.

The five facing charges are Spanish Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, Italian public relations expert Francesca Chaouqui, Italian layman Nicola Maio (Vallejo’s assistant), and reporters Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, who each wrote recently released books that relied on leaked documents.

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UNITED STATES
No Longer on a Pedestal

Carol Kuhnert always trusted priests completely. As a child growing up in a strict Catholic family, clergy stood on pedestals next to God in her eyes. When her brother, Norman, expressed a desire to become a priest and entered the seminary after eighth grade, Carol had no idea that one day, her daughter would reveal a shocking secret: Norman was a serial pedophile.

Stunned and angered by what she learned, Carol not only reveals how she confronted her brother and the Catholic Church but also reflects on the events that led up to that moment, providing a poignant glimpse into her faith, her belief that priests were infallible, and her trust in the church, its leaders, and their assurance to her that they were handling everything. But as time passed and Carol struggled to understand why molesters were being left in active ministry and victims were being ignored, she details how she embarked on a purposeful crusade to prompt the church to take action and bring justice and hope to its sexual-abuse victims.

No Longer on Pedestals shares the powerful and inspirational true story of one woman’s journey to the truth and her subsequent heartfelt mission to reach out to abuse survivors after she learns her brother is a pedophile priest.

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NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

Leaders of the Salesian Priests and Brothers have refused to settle a childhood sexual abuse claim against one of their priests, Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB, causing the victim, who was abused in Indiana, to be re-victimized. The victim is being denied justice.

What
A press conference and leafleting alerting the media, parishioners, and general public about the refusal of the Salesian Priests and Brothers, based in New Rochelle, New York, to help settle a claim of sexual abuse of a child by a member of the Salesians of Don Bosco religious order, Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB.

When
Sunday, November 22, 2015 from 9:30 am until Noon (Masses at 9:00, 10:30, and Noon).
Press conference at 11:30 am

Where
On the public sidewalk outside Our Lady of the Valley Church, 510 Valley Street, Orange, NJ, 07050. The parish is administered by the Salesian Priests and Brothers based in New Rochelle, New York.

Who
Members of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families, including its co-founder and President, Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D.

Why
The Salesian Priests and Brothers of Don Bosco, based in New Rochelle, New York, refuse to settle the claim of a man who was sexually abused in Indiana as a child by a serial pedophile Salesian priest and help him heal. They have told the man to “take a hike.” The man was sexually abused as a minor child by a serial pedophile priest, Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB, at St. Dominic Savio Juniorate in Cedar Lake, Indiana. The victim met with leaders of the Salesian religious order who coldly and callously informed him that they will not help him heal.

Demonstrators will call on the Salesians of Don Bosco, who administer Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Orange, to acknowledge and settle the claim of the childhood sexual abuse victim and help him heal.

In addition, demonstrators will call on Catholic parishioners of Our Lady of the Valley Parish to demand of their priests and brothers that they settle a sexual abuse case against Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB.

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc., Livingston, NJ – 862-368-2800
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

Elise Harris

Vatican City, Nov 21, 2015 / 09:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican has formally indicted five people for the recent leak and dissemination of private financial documents, including two former members of a Holy See commission and two journalists.

A Nov. 21 communique from the Vatican announced that the five would stand trial for the “unlawful disclosure of confidential information and documents.”

Those being charged are Spanish Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, Italian PR woman Francesca Chaouqui, Nicola Maio (Vallejo’s secretary), and journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi.

On Nov. 10 the Vatican announced it would be investigating Nuzzi and Fittipaldi for publishing the documents. At the same time the Vatican made known that others who, due to their position, could be complicit in having acquired the documents in question, were also being investigated.

Though no names were given, it now appears Maio was the one to whom the Vatican was referring.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

The Vatican has charged five people, including two journalists and a top priest or monsignor, over the leaking and publication of secret documents.

The documents were cited in two books, by journalists Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi, alleging misspending and corruption at the Vatican.

The journalists deny claims that they exerted pressure to obtain information.

Two members of a papal commission advising on economic reform, and an assistant, were also charged.

Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda, and his colleague on the commission, public relations expert Francesca Chaouqui, were arrested early in November.

The books, “Merchants in the Temple” by Mr Nuzzi and “Avarice” by Mr Fittipaldi, included details of alleged corruption, theft and uncontrolled spending in the Holy See.

In a statement, the Vatican said magistrates “notified the accused and their lawyers of the charges filed… for the unlawful disclosure of information and confidential documents”.

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VATICAN CITY
NRP

Two journalists and three former Vatican officials have been formally charged with “criminal misappropriation” and other crimes, the Vatican says, in a case tied to allegations of financial misdeeds by Catholic Church officials.

Those arrested include Spanish Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda and Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, who served on a special Vatican commission on economic reform that was assembled by Pope Francis shortly after he was elected in 2013.

Vatican police arrested the pair earlier this month; Chaouqui was released after a brief detention, due to her cooperation with the authorities.

Also facing charges are Vallejo’s secretary, Nicola Maio, as well as Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi — two journalists who published books this month that promise a rare glimpse into scandals and corruption in the Roman Catholic Church.

Fittipaldi’s book, Avarice, is currently No. 3 on the list of bestsellers on Amazon’s Italian site, just behind Nuzzi’s Way of the Cross.

Nuzzi was also involved in the original “Vatileaks” scandal of 2012, when he published a book containing private Vatican documents and letters. Some say that scandal contributed to Pope Benedict’s resignation.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

Cardinal George Pell has been described as a lightning rod for outrage and his third time before the child abuse royal commission will be no different.

Cardinal Pell, now the Vatican’s financial chief, will return from Rome next month to give evidence to the commission’s resumed inquiry into widespread abuse in the Ballarat diocese and to answer what he knew about offenders in the Melbourne archdiocese.

The former Ballarat priest’s decision to hire lawyers to question abuse survivors, when the Catholic Church won’t, has already attracted outrage despite both victims being willing to be cross-examined.

Another Ballarat victim, Stephen Woods, said Cardinal Pell returning as a witness was a step in the right direction but he would also put victims who had given sworn evidence in trials and to the commission through more trauma.

“He’s never been in a situation where his whole life was traumatised,” Mr Woods said.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Megan Neil
November 22, 2015

Melbourne’s Doveton parish appears to have been a “dumping ground” for problem priests, four of them pedophiles.

A string of abusers operated in the Holy Family Parish and elsewhere in the Archdiocese of Melbourne for decades.

“It appears to have been a parish that might have been a dumping ground,” Broken Rites spokesman Dr Wayne Chamley said of Doveton.

“There was a series of problem priests and they all seemed to end up down there. These priests were dropped in there and it was hoped that the problem was going to go away and unfortunately it didn’t.”

The Catholic Church must fully explain itself, the church’s own Truth Justice and Healing Council says.

“Regardless of whether we’re talking about Doveton or any of the other parishes, where Catholic communities have been scandalised by the handling of the abuse crisis, it needs to be made plain by the church what it did, how it did it and why,” TJHC chief executive Francis Sullivan said.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

ROME | BY GAVIN JONES

The Vatican on Saturday ordered five people, including two Italian journalists, to stand trial for leaking and publishing secret documents, in the latest development in a leaks scandal which is rocking the papacy.

The trial stems from the publication of two recent books which depict a Vatican plagued by mismanagement, greed and corruption and where Pope Francis faces stiff resistance from the old guard to his reform agenda.

The Holy See was embarrassed and angered by the books, which it said used information that should never have been allowed to leave the walls of the city state.

Prosecutors said three Vatican officials, including a high-ranking priest, formed “an organised criminal association” with the aim of “divulging information and documents concerning the fundamental interests of the Holy See and the State”.

The first hearing in the trial will begin on Tuesday at 0930 GMT, the president of the Vatican court ordered.

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UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Betty Clermont

“Fraud worth millions, machinations of the Vatican Bank, the true extent of the pope’s treasury” and “offerings of the faithful withheld from charity, theft and trade scams” during the reign of Pope Francis are the subjects of two recently published books. One includes tape recordings revealing the pontiff’s hands-on management of the smallest details of his fortune.

Yet the mainstream media reported that these books prove the pope desires a “Church of the poor” and is “reforming” the Vatican despite opposition from the “old guard” obstructing his “clean-up.”

Due to this type of disceitful reporting, Pope Francis is still the fourth most powerful person in the world behind only Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, and Barack Obama, but ahead of Xi Jinping.Avarizia (“Avarice – the deadly sin as a parasite in the fiber of the Church”) by Emiliano Fittipaldi and Via Crucis (released in English as “Merchants in the Temple”) by Gianluigi Nuzz were both released November 5.

Fittipaldi, a reporter for L’Espresso, has high-powered contacts both in and out of the Church. The author based his book on “a large amount of internal documents of the Vatican gathered from confidential sources and verbal statements from sources inside the curia.” “The greatest bombshell is that the Vatican is still working as a profitable merchant bank,” he said.

Nuzzi is best known for disclosing much of the information which fueled the “Vati-leaks” scandal in 2012 and was included in his book, His Holiness. Nuzzi said his sources were emails, minutes of meetings, recorded private conversations and memos. Via Crucis is about mismanagement, waste and secrecy.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

[with audio]

(Vatican Radio) On Friday November 20th, the day the UN marks Universal Children’s Day, a meeting of Catholic child protection experts concluded in Trier, Germany, with a pledge to step up Europe-wide cooperation in safeguarding and prevention of abuse. The meeting, jointly organised by the dioceses of Trier and Hamburg, together with the Church in Luxemburg, brought together representatives from 13 European countries to reflect on the theological, psychological, social and legal implications of the crisis. Philippa Hitchen has been attending the three day encounter.

35 years since the first survivors of clerical sex abuse started telling their stories, this conference is taking stock of how far European countries have come in dealing with the complex issues of prevention and care of all those affected by the crisis.

Unsurprisingly it’s in the English speaking countries, where such stories first started making news headlines in the late 1990s, that most work has been done to combat these crimes, to support survivors, to promote psycho-sexual training in seminaries and to make prevention a priority at parish, diocesan and national level. Telephone helplines, confidential counselling, advice on compensation and spiritual support programmes are among the many services available in these countries, while newer areas of research include the effects of this crisis on non-offending priests who often feel “tarred with the same brush” and have lost confidence in the institutional Church.

In Germany, the Netherlands and surrounding central European nations, revelations surfaced more recently, around five years ago, yet much work has been done here too by bishops and leaders of religious institutes to make up for lost time and put effective prevention and training programmes in place.

A very different picture emerges from the Mediterranean and eastern European countries where denial of the problem is still widespread and few victims are willing to come forward to speak about their experiences. France, Italy, Spain and Portugal may pay lip service to the guidelines required by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith yet the subject remains largely taboo, with little or no national coordination for victim support. One French survivor, abused as a child by a priest friend of her parents, spoke movingly of her journey of healing and repairing relationships with the Church, yet her courageous testimony – for the first time in a public arena – remains an isolated example.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Bolletino

Il Tribunale dello Stato della Città del Vaticano ha provveduto alla notifica agli imputati e ai loro avvocati della richiesta di rinvio a giudizio presentata dall’Ufficio del Promotore di Giustizia a conclusione della fase istruttoria del procedimento in corso per la divulgazione illecita di notizie e documenti riservati, e del conseguente Decreto di rinvio a giudizio, emesso dal Presidente del Tribunale in data 20 novembre.

Richiesta di rinvio a giudizio

Pubblichiamo qui di seguito la parte dispositiva della richiesta, firmata dal Promotore di Giustizia, Prof. Avv. Gian Pietro Milano, e dal Promotore di Giustizia Aggiunto, Prof. Avv. Roberto Zannotti:

IL PROMOTORE DI GIUSTIZIA

visti gli artt. 353, 355 e 359 c.p.p., chiede all’Ecc.mo Presidente del Tribunale di emettere, a carico delle persone di seguito indicate, e precisamente:

1. Angel Lucio VALLEJO BALDA, nato a Villamediana de Iregua (Spagna) il 12 giugno 1961;

2. Francesca Immacolata CHAOUQUI, nata a Cosenza l’8 dicembre 1981;

3. Nicola MAIO, nato a Benevento il 2 marzo 1978;

4. Emiliano FITTIPALDI, nato a Napoli il 13 novembre 1974;

5. Gianluigi NUZZI, nato a Milano il 3 giugno 1969.

decreto di citazione a giudizio per rispondere:

A) Angel Lucio VALLEJO BALDA, Francesca Immacolata CHAOUQUI e Nicola MAIO

del reato di cui all’ art. 248 cod. pen. (quest’ultimo come sostituito ad opera dell’art. 25 della Legge n. IX dell’11 luglio 2013) «perché all’interno della Prefettura per gli affari economici e di COSEA si associavano tra loro formando un sodalizio criminale organizzato, dotato di una sua composizione e struttura autonoma, i cui promotori sono da individuarsi in Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda e Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, allo scopo di commettere più delitti di divulgazione di notizie e documenti concernenti gli interessi fondamentali della Santa Sede e dello Stato»;

B) Tutti gli imputati sopra citati (dal n. 1 al n. 5)

del reato di cui agli artt. 63 e 116-bis cod. pen. (quest’ultimo introdotto ad opera della Legge n. IX dell’11 luglio 2013) «perché, in concorso tra loro, Vallejo Balda nella qualità di Segretario generale della Prefettura per gli affari economici, Chaouqui quale membro della COSEA, Maio quale collaboratore di Vallejo Balda per le questioni riguardanti la COSEA, Fittipaldi e Nuzzi quali giornalisti, si sono illegittimamente procurati e successivamente hanno rivelato notizie e documenti concernenti gli interessi fondamentali della Santa Sede e dello Stato; in particolare, Vallejo Balda, Chaouqui e Maio si procuravano tali notizie e documenti nell’ambito dei loro rispettivi incarichi nella Prefettura per gli affari economici e nella COSEA; mentre Fittipaldi e Nuzzi sollecitavano ed esercitavano pressioni, soprattutto su Vallejo Balda, per ottenere documenti e notizie riservati, che poi in parte hanno utilizzato per la redazione di due libri usciti in Italia nel novembre 2015».

Reati commessi nella Città del Vaticano, dal marzo 2013 al 5 novembre 2015.

* * *
Decreto di rinvio a giudizio

A seguito della richiesta di rinvio a giudizio presentata dal Promotore di Giustizia, il Presidente del Tribunale della Città del Vaticano, Prof. Giuseppe Dalla Torre, ha emesso il Decreto che stabilisce per il giorno 24 novembre 2015, alle ore 10.30, la prima udienza del processo nei confronti degli imputati Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda, Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, Nicola Maio, Emiliano Fittipaldi, Gianluigi Nuzzi, avvertendo che non comparendo saranno giudicati in contumacia.

Allo stesso tempo ha stabilito la seguente composizione del collegio giudicante: Prof. Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Presidente; Prof. Avv. Piero Antonio Bonnet, Giudice; Prof. Avv. Paolo Papanti-Pelletier, Giudice; Prof. Avv. Venerando Marano, Giudice supplente.

Il Decreto fissa al giorno 28 novembre 2015, alle ore 12.30, il termine per proporre le prove a difesa, mentre si riserva a successivo provvedimento la citazione dei testi.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Nov. 21, 2015

ROME The Vatican is criminally charging five people over the latest scandal of leaks of sensitive documents, in an extraordinary move that will see three Vatican employees and two Italian journalists stand trial for “procuring and revealing” confidential information.

The Vatican’s press office announced the charges in a press release mid-day Saturday, saying the first hearing in the case will be held Tuesday. Should any of the five decide not to attend, the release says they will be tried in absentia.

That last notice could raise interesting questions and controversy, as one of the journalists has already refused to participate in a Vatican investigation of the matter, saying the city-state’s legal process is based on norms from centuries ago and does not provide adequate protection for journalistic activity.

While Italy and the Vatican have an extradition agreement, it is unknown how that agreement would function should the journalist not participate in the trial and subsequently be found guilty.

The charges relate to books recently released by Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi, titled Avarizia (“Greed”) and Merchants in the Temple, respectively. Both books outline instances of questionable Vatican spending and financial practices, citing leaked documents.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican) The Vatican formally charged five people in connection with the unauthorized and illicit sharing of sensitive and privileged documents and information, including a pair of journalists who have written recently published books detailing alleged mismanagement in the Vatican, two officials, and a secretary to one of the officials.

A statement from the Press Office of the Holy See on Friday included the detailed charge sheet, which named the journalists, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, as well as the former Vatican officials, Msgr. Lucio Vallejo Balda and Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, along with Msgr. Vallejo’s secretary, Nicola Maio.

Vallejo, Chaouqui, and Maio, are charged with criminal conspiracy “to divulge information and documents concerning the fundamental interests of the Holy See and the [Vatican City] State”, while all five defendants are charged with criminal misappropriation and misuse of Vatican documents.

A hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 24th, 2015, at 10:30 AM, in the Vatican criminal court.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

by Edward Pentin 11/21/2015

The Vatican has charged five people over the leaking of confidential documents concerning financial reform of the curia.

In a statement released today, the Vatican said the Court of Vatican City State had summoned Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, Francesca Immaculate Chaouqui, Nicola Maio, Emiliano Fittipaldi, and Gianluigi Nuzzi to attend preliminary hearings beginning on the morning of Nov. 24.

The defendants are accused of “wrongful disclosure of information and confidential documents”.

Spanish Msgr. Vallejo and Italian PR expert Francesca Chaouqui were arrested earlier this month on suspicion of leaking the documents. Journalists Nuzzi and Fittipaldi were questioned after they published books containing leaked information.

Msgr. Vallejo and Chaouqui were both members of COSEA, a special commission set up by Pope Francis to advise him on economic reform within the Vatican. Maio worked as secretary to Msgr. Vallejo Balda on the commission which was disbanded to make way for the new Vatican Secretariat for the Economy.

Fittipaldi said he was shocked by the Vatican’s move. “Maybe I’m naive but I believed they would investigate those I denounced for criminal activity, not the person that revealed the crimes,” he told Italy’s ANSA news agency.

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VATICAN CITY
Business Standard

AFP | Vatican City
November 21, 2015

The Vatican has charged five people over a damning leaks scandal at the heart of the Catholic Church, with a preliminary hearing set for November 24, Italian media reported today.

Vatican deputy spokesman Ciro Benedettini confirmed to AFP that “summons are being served”, adding that an official statement would be made later.

“Vatican magistrates have charged five people at the end of an investigation into the stealing and publishing of confidential Holy See documents,” the Repubblica daily said.

Spanish priest Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and Italian PR expert Francesca Chaouqui were arrested early this month on suspicion of stealing and leaking classified documents to the media.

Journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi were questioned after they published books containing leaked information.

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VATICAN CITY
Voice of America

Associated Press
November 21, 2015

VATICAN CITY—
A Vatican judge on Saturday indicted five people, including two journalists and a high-ranking Vatican monsignor, in the latest scandal involving leaked documents that informed two books alleging financial malfeasance in the Roman Catholic Church bureaucracy.

Two members of the pope’s reforms commission and a newly identified assistant were indicted on charges of disclosing confidential Vatican information and documents, while two journalists were indicted on a charge of soliciting and exerting pressure to obtain the information, according to the indictments released by the Vatican on Saturday.

Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda and Francesca Chaouqui were arrested by the Vatican earlier this month; Balda is being held while Chaouqui was released after agreeing to cooperate with the investigation.

The indictment also identifies for first time an assistant to Balda, Nicola Maio, as under suspicion.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Marianne T. Duddy-Burke Become a fan
Executive Director, DignityUSA

As the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) concludes its annual meeting this week, it reveals itself as grossly out of touch with both grassroots Catholicism and with Pope Francis. While there were certainly some who objected, the strong majority of US Bishops set forth an agenda that has little to do with the Gospel of Jesus, is opposed by the majority of US Catholics, and will squander Church resources, even as parishes, schools, and service programs continue to be shuttered due to decimated diocesan budgets.

USCCB members voted 210-21 (with a handful of abstentions) to promote a Voters’ Guide for Catholics that instructs Catholics to evaluate candidates based on their positions on abortion and same-sex marriage. In an even more lopsided vote (233-4), the bishops set their priorities through 2020 as:

• Evangelization
• Family and marriage (including attempts to rollback same-sex marriage and support for government officials who refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-gender couples)
• Ending abortion and limiting access to contraception
• Vocations to priesthood
• Religious liberty

Wait a minute! Where is the emphasis on supporting immigration reform and assistance for refugees fleeing war and violence? As the gap between rich and poor continues to widen, and as resources continue to flow to the few, why is ending poverty not at the top of this list? Do US bishops not believe our Church should be on the forefront of efforts to end climate change and its devastating effect on our one God-given planet? Where do efforts to end structural racism, misogyny, human trafficking, or terrorism fit among their concerns?

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

by STEVEN D. GREYDANUS 11/20/2015

In a crucial sequence in Thomas McCarthy’s Spotlight, a victim of sexual abuse by a priest telling his story to a Boston Globe reporter says simply, “Then he molested me.”

The reporter, Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), looks at him empathically. “I think language is going to be so important here,” she prompts gently. “Just saying ‘molest’ isn’t enough. People need to know what happened.”

We cloak the monstrous in euphemisms. We call it “unspeakable” or “unthinkable” — designations that are accurate simply because in using them we make them so. In Catholic circles a dozen years ago, one sometimes heard about “The Crisis”; later it became “The Scandal.” We all knew what these terms referred to, but did we really know?

Did we picture scenes like Spotlight’s queasy prologue: an assistant DA arriving at a police station, late at night, where a detained priest has been deferentially placed in the break room, the press sent away, while a bishop soothingly assures reeling family members that the offending cleric will be removed, and this will never, ever happen again? Did we think about how routinely such scenes played out in police stations for years and years?

Did we think about the lawyers employed by Church authorities to facilitate private mediations with families so there would be no bookings, no charges, no court records, no paper trail? The testimony from victims, witnesses and whistleblowers that was buried, suppressed or just plain ignored?

“If it takes a village to raise a child,” flamboyant lawyer Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci) says, “it takes a village to abuse one.” That’s not true, of course, but it may take a village to let the same abusers get away with it again and again.

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SCOTLAND
Scottish Catholic Observer

BREAKING NEWS

The members of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland have agreed on a plan for implementing the recommendations of the McLellan report.

The plan—detailing how the Church will overhaul its safeguarding structure for dealing with allegations of abuse—will go up on the Bishops’ Conference website on Sunday at noon. The release date was chosen to mark the second anniversary of the Bishops’ Conference announcement of a commission to investigate this issue and just over three months after the McLellan report was published.

The SCO has examined the plan, which aims to establish a comprehensive, transparent and consistent process, in advance of its release. The plan been devised under the auspices of the strategic management group, which contains representatives from the General Secretariat of the Bishops’ Conference and the Catholic Safeguarding Commission.

The document details the Church’s intention to overhaul its safeguarding service, its safeguarding manual and training and create an independent body to oversee these processes. It states that the Church ‘must reach out to survivors’ of clergy abuse and involve them in this process. It also states that the Church will establish a ‘clear policy with regard to meeting any costs relating to the counselling of survivors’ and will consider other case-specific forms of restitution for survivors.

The creation of an independent auditing group will be one of the first tasks, as this group will analyse the implementation of the McLellan report’s recommendations. The exact nature of the independent oversight will be determined by examples of best practice in other Churches and charities.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

ALASTAIR DALTON

An independent body is to be established by the Catholic Church in Scotland to oversee the safeguarding of victims and potential victims of abuse.

The move will form part of a major overhaul of how the Church deals with abuse cases as it implements recommendations by the McLellan Commission on protecting children and vulnerable adults.

The Church accepted the findings in full when the report was published in August. It aims to implement most of the recommendations within two years.

The commission report said creating proper safeguards was the “greatest challenge” facing the Church following decades of child abuse.

The reforms, agreed by the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, will be published tomorrow – the second anniversary of the launch of the commission under the Very Rev Andrew McLellan, a former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Scotland’s bishops have agreed on an action plan in response to an independent review of the Catholic Church’s handling of abuse allegations, according to reports.

In August, a commission led by the Very Rev Andrew McLellan called for the church in Scotland to make an ”unmistakable and unequivocal” apology and said support for survivors of abuse must be its ”absolute priority”.

The commission made eight recommendations, including that justice must be done for those who have been abused and that the church’s safeguarding policies and practices be completely rewritten and subject to external scrutiny.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Bedford Today

Amanda Devlin
amanda.devlin@jpress.co.uk

Two men have been charged with abusing 26 boys – some as young as five years old – at a Shefford boys’ home in the 1960s.

A 79-year-old man from Swaffham, Norfolk, is charged with 66 offences – 18 sexual and 48 physical – which are alleged to have taken place at St Francis Boys’ Home between 1963 and 1974.

The 25 boys were aged between five and 16.

A 73-year-old man from Bedford has been charged with six sexual offences against four boys aged between 11 and 16.

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UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

Two men have been charged with 72 counts relating to the abuse of 26 boys at a boys’ home in Bedfordshire.

The abuses are alleged to have happened at St Francis Boys’ Home in Shefford between 1963 and 1974.

A 79-year-old man from Swaffham in Norfolk, has been charged with 66 offences against 25 boys aged between five and 16.

A 73-year-old man from Bedford has been charged with six offences against four boys aged between 11 and 16.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Newmarket Journal

Two men have been charged with historical child sexual offences against 26 boys at a children’s home in Bedfordshire, police said.

James McCann, 79, is charged with with 66 offences dating back to 1963 against children as young as five.

The 18 sexual offences and 48 physical offences are alleged to have taken place at St Francis’ Boys Home, in Shefford, between 1963 and 1974, Bedfordshire Police said.

The 25 alleged victims were aged between five and 16.

John Christopher Cahill, 73, is charged separately with six sexual offences against four four boys aged between 11 and 16.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Nic Rigby
BBC News

Two men have been charged with abusing 26 children at a Catholic boys’ home in Bedfordshire more than 40 years ago.

James McCann, 79, of Suffield Court, Swaffham, Norfolk, is charged with 18 sexual assaults and 48 assaults in connection with St Francis Boy’s Home, Shefford, between 1963 and 1974.

John Cahill, 73, of Chandos Court, Bedford, has been charged with six sexual offences against four boys.

Both men will appear at Luton Magistrates’ Court on 30 November.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

The federal government is adding to abuse victims’ distress by not agreeing to a national redress scheme for survivors of institutional sexual abuse, a victim says.

Stephen Woods, who was abused by three Ballarat priests as a child, says the coalition’s stance is compounding the situation for survivors.

“The federal Liberal government refuses to help victims by coming to the table and seeing that as a whole society we need healing, we need a start,” Mr Woods told AAP.

“That is one thing that’s upsetting victims, absolutely hugely, and it is totally down to the federal Liberal government.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Daniel Keane

South Australia’s outgoing guardian for children has challenged the royal commission into the child protection system to be ambitious in its recommendations, saying previous overhauls have only tackled “low-hanging fruit”.

Pam Simmons will leave the job next month after more than 10 years in the role.

Since June 2004, she has been a strong voice for children in state care.

The current royal commission is being headed by former Supreme Court justice Margaret Nyland and was prompted by the crimes of former Families SA carer Shannon Grant McCoole.

It is due to hand down its findings next year.

It follows other major inquiries scrutinising the state’s child protection mechanisms including the inquest into the 2012 death of Chloe Valentine, and the Debelle Inquiry, which released its findings in 2013.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

Jacob Lupfer | November 20, 2015

(RNS) Covering religion in the news media is not for the faint of heart. People of faith accuse writers of anti-religious bias, while nonbelievers allege excessive sympathy for religious subjects. Every story is controversial. Every story necessarily involves something many people hold to be sacred.

Yet it is frequently in the public interest for nonsectarian media to cover religion news vigorously. The Boston Globe’s reporting on the Catholic child sexual abuse scandal in that city was a shining example. Its coverage won the paper accolades, led to the exposure of abuse elsewhere, and is now the subject of a major motion picture. “Spotlight” opens nationwide Friday (Nov. 20).

The movie follows three reporters and three editors who pursued the story in 2001 and 2002. Sensing there was more to the story than a few abusive priests facing criminal charges, a new editor-in-chief assigned the Spotlight investigative team to dig deeper, even at the risk of upending the Catholic power structure in Boston.

The journalists interviewed victims, lawyers, and other sources and ultimately uncovered a systemic failure in the Catholic hierarchy to acknowledge and responsibly deal with scores of priests who sexually abused hundreds of victims.

Even as the number of known abusers grew from a few to nearly 100, the reporters, their editors, and the Boston Archdiocese knew that the most damning and sickening story was the practice of moving problem priests from parish to parish — guaranteeing that more children would be preyed upon.

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MINNESOTA
PRNewswire

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — The Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq (www.cushwakenm.com) Advisory Services Group of Paul Donovan, Jaclyn May and Jeremy Striffler is accepting bids through December 21 on the Hayden Center, a three-story, 63,000 sq. ft. former school at 328 Kellogg Boulevard West in St. Paul.

Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq has negotiated an agreement to sell the property, owned by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis, for $4.5 million to the Minnesota Historical Society. That agreement is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and the team will accept bids from other interested parties through the Dec. 21 deadline.

Any interested parties should contact Jeremy Striffler at 612-305-2108. Property information can be found at http://ebrochure.cushwakenm.com/HaydenCenter.

Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq continues to list three other properties for the Archdiocese, including:

The Chancery – Located at 226 and 230 Summit Avenue, the Chancery is a two-building, approximately 44,000 sq. ft. complex and was built in 1961. 226 Summit is a three-story office building with 230 Summit as an attached two-story structure that serves as the residence of the Archbishop. The Chancery has undergone numerous capital improvements since 2004 and sits on 3.38 acres of land. Together or separately 226 and 230 present re-purposing opportunities into office or residential as well as a complete ground up housing development.

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CANADA
Timmins Press

By Alan S. Hale, The Daily Press
Friday, November 20, 2015

Former students of one of Canada’s most infamous Indian Residential Schools may get a do-over for their application to receive compensation from the federal government’s settlement agreement.

On Friday, the lawyer representing survivors of St. Anne’s Residential School near Fort Albany filed a Request for Direction in federal court, arguing that her clients should get another chance to make their case to receive compensation because the government’s lawyers had been withholding the evidence.

“It would be very, very appropriate if the government took responsibility for the things that were kept hidden. Now is the time for the country is to hear what happened in these schools,” said the Deputy Grand Chief of the Mushkegowuk Council, Rebecca Friday.

When the federal government settled a class-action lawsuit by residential school survivors out-of-court in 2006, a process was set up where former students had to prove to the satisfaction of adjudicators that they suffered abuse while at the schools. To help them do this, they are supposed to have access to access to government and court documents to present as evidence.

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CONNECTICUT
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford

Statement from Archbishop Leonard P. Blair re: the movie, “Spotlight”

(November 20, 2015)

The new film “Spotlight” recounts a deeply painful and pivotal chapter in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States, when in 2002 the Boston Globe investigated and reported on sexual abuse by clergy and the failures of Bishops in the face of such reprehensible acts.

We recognize the important role of the journalists who brought this issue to light. It prompted a call-to-action, leading to major Church reforms and meaningful change. We also acknowledge the scores of people at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and others who worked diligently with the Bishops to create the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, published in June 2002.

Since the inception of the Charter 14 years ago, the Archdiocese of Hartford has remained true to its principles. The Archdiocese has developed and upheld a culture of “zero tolerance” of sexual abuse, with clearly defined legal and pastoral consequences for offenders should abuse of any form take place.

Our overriding goal is to create a safe, protective environment for children, young people and others who might be vulnerable. This goal is supported by mandatory background checks for all personnel who come in contact with a minor or vulnerable adult. To ensure that the Charter and its conduct codes are followed, we willingly comply with an annual audit overseen by an independent, unbiased entity. Additionally, we require sexual abuse awareness training for all Archdiocesan employees, as well as those who teach Catholic school or a parish religious formation program. We thank the many clergy, lay faithful, religious and professionals involved in developing and implementing training. The Archdiocese of Hartford welcomes Pope Francis’ Papal Commission, which the Holy Father created in 2014 to advise him on additional reform measures.

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KENTUCKY
Ledger Independent

CHRISTY HOOTS christy.hoots@lee.net

VANCEBURG | A former Lewis County preacher accused of sexual abuse will be sent for a psychiatric evaluation before a trial date can be set in the case.

Duncan Aker, who was most recently living in Greensburg, Ind., was arrested in May and charged with five counts of sexual abuse and four counts of sodomy after a Lewis County grand jury handed down an indictment against him in April.

During a pretrial hearing on Friday, Aker’s attorney, Daniel Dickerson asked the court to send Aker for a psychiatric evaluation to see if he is competent to stand trial and form criminal intent.

Circuit Court Judge Robert C. Conley approved the request and asked the motion be submitted.

According to the May indictment, Aker allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse and sexual contact through forcible compulsion with a male under the age of 12 between October 2007 and March 2010.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MEGAN DRAPALSKI
THE AUSTRALIAN
NOVEMBER

The Anglican Church in Brisbane has rejected allegations it was ­refusing to refund fees to former students who suffered abuse ­despite its “clear policy” to do so.

Brisbane Anglican Archbishop Phillip Aspinall had said outside the royal commission into child sexual abuse in Brisbane last week that the church would reimburse school fees for any victim.

But when he appeared before the commission in Sydney yesterday, Dr Aspinall expressed surprise when he was told a senior church official had told an abuse victim on Monday that fees would not be refunded.

Dr Aspinall said any such ­exchange must have been the ­result of “miscommunication”.

Lawyer Kevin Kelso, representing abuse victims, suggested to Dr Aspinall that the policy was being ignored by the church’s professional standards office. 21, 2015

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IOWA
Catholic Globe

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I write to you today to bring attention to a new movie titled “Spotlight” that will be released nationwide on Nov. 20.

The movie, according to its website, features the 2002 story of the Boston Globe journalists who investigated the clerical sexual abuse issue within the Archdiocese of Boston. The film features several notable actors and actresses and has received critical acclaim.

Due to the sensitive subject matter, you should be informed and prepared for the possible public attention to the movie. This also offers an opportunity to raise awareness on what has been and continues to be done within the Catholic Church to ensure the safety of children.

I have spoken with victims and their families over the years who have suffered from sexual abuse. I share Pope Francis’ sentiments that any situation of abuse “may no longer be kept secret” and that we must ensure “that those responsible will be held to account.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Catholic

Friday, November 20, 2015

The movie “Spotlight” tells the story of Boston Globe journalists who documented sexual abuse by Catholic priests and held bishops accountable to Catholic moral teaching. The story that unfolded in Boston in 2002 is a painful, shameful part of Catholic history in our country. The church has learned from the mistakes of the past while working diligently to ensure that what is portrayed in this movie never happens again. Since 1988, our Diocese of Pittsburgh has followed a policy of zero tolerance, of removing any cleric who sexually abused a minor.

Thanks to the courageous efforts of so many people, including and especially victims-survivors, the Catholic Church in the United States has become a leader in efforts to prevent, detect and respond to accusations of child sexual abuse. At the same time, we know that victims-survivors continue to suffer great pain. As our Holy Father, Pope Francis, stated after his recent meeting in Philadelphia with those who had been abused as children, “God weeps” because priests and bishops “who were charged with the tender care of these little ones violated them and caused them great harm.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Comet

A 79-year-old man from Swaffham in Norfolk has been charged with 66 offences – 18 sexual and 48 physical – which are alleged to have taken place at St Francis Boys’ Home between 1963 and 1974. The 25 boys were aged between five and 16.

A 73-year-old man from Bedford has also been charged with six sexual offences against four boys aged between 11 and 16.

Both men will appear at Luton Magistrates’ Court on 30 November.

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UNITED STATES
PRNewswire

NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Simmons Hanly Conroy, working with Boston-based plaintiffs’ attorney Mitchell Garabedian, has filed over 100 new cases alleging sex abuse of young Haitian boys at an orphanage in Haiti more than seven years ago by convicted pedophile Douglas Perlitz.

The new cases, filed Nov. 12 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, follow the 2013 landmark settlement for $12 million of 24 consolidated sex abuse cases alleging negligent supervision of Perlitz at the orphanage. Simmons Hanly Conroy negotiated that settlement, paid by defendants the Society of Jesus of New England; Fairfield University; the Order of Malta; Hope Carter, a volunteer at the Haitian facility; and Father Paul Carrier.

Claims in all the cases involve improper supervision of Perlitz’s activities as he operated the school for underprivileged boys in Cap Haitien, Haiti, from the late 1990s until around 2010, during which time Perlitz raped and otherwise sexually abused the victims. In 2011, Perlitz was convicted of sexual abuse and currently is serving a 19-year, seven-month federal prison sentence in Seagoville, Texas.

According to the new complaint, Perlitz repeatedly molested boys, ages 9 to 21, at the orphanage and demanded sexual favors in exchange for shoes, clothing, money or other necessities. Boys who were willing to accede to Perlitz’s demands were provided with new clothes and shoes, as well as cash, while boys who refused Perlitz’s demands were forced to go without basic necessities.

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UNITED STATES
Jezebel

Mary Pflum Peterson

Catholic priests have become synonymous with “abuse” in recent years, but they’ve never been the only people of the cloth guilty of inflicting physical and emotional pain on innocent victims. Seldom talked about are the rarely maligned women of the Church: sisters who intentionally abused fellow nuns behind convent walls. Nun abuse is that other dirty little secret of the Catholic Church—and it’s a secret that affected, and crushed, the spirits of scores of young women. My mother was one of them.

My mother entered the convent in the fall of 1957 at the age of 21, determined to save the world through her faith. She left nearly a decade later, beaten down physically and mentally, emaciated and fragile. On the early morning in which she finally exited, her head was bald in patches, owing to the hatchet-job-style haircuts the convent had subjected her to for years. She had no civilian clothes to wear—having given all of her worldly possessions up upon entering the convent—and so was forced by a pair of presiding nuns to wear ill-fitting clothing that she said smelled and a pair of mismatched shoes. She shook uncontrollably. Worst of all were her eyes. Her large brown eyes, wide and excited when she’d entered the convent, went listless and flat. In the words of my uncle, my mother’s youngest brother, who was horrified at the sight of her the morning she returned to their childhood home, “She looked like a mangy dog. A beat-up, mangy dog.”

“It was those nuns,” my uncle said, growing angry. “They were supposed to protect her, but they did just the opposite.”

Nun abuse remains little talked about in the church. There are a few studies that have been conducted, including one in 1996 that reported that as many as 40 percent of Catholic nuns in the United States (or around 34,000 sisters at that time) claimed to have been sexually abused in some capacity and that “all nuns who claimed repeated sexual exploitation reported that they were pressured by religious superiors for sexual favors.”

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IRELAND
Irish News

BRIAN CAMPBELL
21 November, 2015

FR BRIAN D’Arcy is many things – a priest, a writer, a broadcaster, a loyal Fermanagh GAA fan and a deep thinker.

The Enniskillen-based cleric became headline news in 2012 when the Vatican censured him because his journalism and radio broadcasts had allegedly “scandalised” the Catholic faithful.

His views on celibacy for priests, contraception and his vocal criticism of the Church’s handling of clerical sexual abuse led the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to censure him and insist that his Sunday World column be checked by a Church censor before publication.

When the story came to light, Fr D’Arcy said he had been “living with the pain of censure for 14 months”. He went on, “I remain a priest in good standing and I have continued to carry out my priestly duties with the same dedication as before.”

He said he had continued to write and broadcast “since the news of the Vatican’s displeasure was filtered down to me” in 2011. “I shall continue my ministry in communication because I believe that the Church cherishes freedom of speech as an inviolable principle.”

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NEW JERSEY
The Trentonian

By Isaac Avilucea, iavilucea@trentonian.com, @IsaacAvilucea on Twitter
POSTED: 11/20/15

A former Trenton priest will pay his penance for sexually assaulting a teenage boy in a specialized adult treatment center for sex offenders rather than state prison.

Rev. Romannilo Apura, 68, will serve three years at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel, run by the Department of Corrections, following his sentencing Friday before Judge Robert Billmeier.

The priest from the Diocese of Trenton will be placed on lifetime parole supervision when he is released and must register as a sex offender under the state’s Megan’s Law. He cannot have unsupervised contact with anybody under 18, according to the prosecutor’s office.

He is also forbidden from having any contact with his victim, a teenage boy who was forced to engage in a sex act with the priest at a home in Trenton.

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NEW MEXICO/ARIZONA
Arizona Journal

By Linda Kor

Less than a year after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, N.M., released the names of 31 priests church officials admit had sexually abused their parishioners, there is now a possibility that some of those victims may not receive the financial compensation owed to them.

The controversy surrounds the abuse committed by Clement Hageman, who was a priest from 1930 until his death in 1975, and who was known by the Diocese of Gallup, as a pedophile for most of those years. Despite that knowledge, the diocese assigned Hageman to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Holbrook from 1942 to 1952, and to Madre de Dios Parish in Winslow from 1965 to 1975.

The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2013 after a lawsuit was filed by those claiming to be victims of sexual abuse by priests within the diocese. According to court documents, one of the two insurers expected to provide money to settle that lawsuit stated it is not liable for the claims filed by 16 of Hageman’s alleged victims, most of whom are from Winslow. The 16 are among 57 alleged victims of clerical sexual abuse who have filed claims in the bankruptcy case.

The Guaranty Association inherited responsibility for insurance policies issued to the diocese from 1965 to 1977 by Home Insurance Co., which entered liquidation proceedings in 2003. But the Home Insurance policies excluded injuries that were “either expected or intended” by the diocese. The argument is that since the diocese was aware that Hagman was sexually abusing his parishioners prior to his assignments in Holbrook and Winslow, those claims are not covered by the policy.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

Joel Adams, Reporter

THE Church of England has been hit by a fresh blow after another clergyman was jailed for sex crimes involving teenage boys.

Peter Keeley-Pannett has been sentenced to 32 months in prison after he used the webcam application Skype to view underage boys whom he contacted through internet chat rooms, while working as an unpaid deacon at the St Nicolas Church, Portslade.

He pleaded guilty to making over 150 indecent images of underage boys, and to several counts relating to causing teenage boys between 13 and 15 to engage in sexual activity.

The Diocese of Chichester has been rocked by repeated sex abuse cases in the last two years but this is the first which relates to recent offences rather than historic cases dating from the 1970s and 80s.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Cristina Rojas | For NJ.com
on November 20, 2015

TRENTON — A former Diocese of Trenton priest was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for molesting a 16-year-old boy in a Trenton home last year.

The Rev. Romannilo “Nilo” Apura was sentenced to three years in prison on Friday.
Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office

The Rev. Romannilo “Nilo” Apura was arrested last summer following a second incident when he attempted to remove the boy’s pants, authorities said at the time.

Apura, who was most recently a pastor at St. Martha Parish in Point Pleasant, will have to be registered as a sex offender, assistant prosecutor Jennifer Downing said.

A restraining order also bars him from contacting the victim or his family and he cannot have unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18, she said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Times

By Tom Davidson tdavidson@timesonline.com

PITTSBURGH — As the new movie “Spotlight” opens in theaters nationwide, it’s evident the wounds wrought by the Catholic sexual abuse scandal that rocked the American church more than a decade ago remain unhealed.

Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik, an Ambridge native, offered an apology that was published on the front page of the Pittsburgh Catholic, the weekly diocesan newspaper that will be distributed in parishes during Masses this weekend.

The film tells the story of the Boston Globe reporters who broke the story in 2002, and it reveals “a painful, shameful part of Catholic history in our country,” Zubik wrote in the statement.

“I offer my apology to and lift up in my daily prayers all those who have been harmed by someone who was entrusted to represent Christ,” Zubik wrote.

“The church has learned from the mistakes of the past while working diligently to ensure that what is portrayed in this movie never happens again. Since 1988, our Diocese of Pittsburgh has followed a policy of zero tolerance, of removing any cleric who sexually abused a minor.”

Although the church has worked to address any accusations, Zubike wrote, “we know that victims-survivors continue to suffer great pain.”

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VATICAN CITY
The Journal (Ireland)

POPE FRANCIS TODAY described some Catholic priests as so scary and neurotic he keeps well away from them.

In comments at a conference on training for the priesthood, the 78-year-old pontiff revealed he is instinctively suspicious of overly pious candidates.

“I will tell you sincerely, I’m scared of rigid priests. I keep away from them. They bite!”

His remarks drew laughs from the audience, but Francis was making the serious point that some people drawn to a clerical career are fundamentally unstable, and that this inevitably creates problems for the church if they are not weeded out.

“If you are sick, if you are neurotic, go and see a doctor, spiritual or physical. The doctor will give you pills. But, please, don’t let the faithful pay for neurotic priests. ‘
‘
As well as assessing the spiritual state of candidates, seminaries should also seek to judge their physical and psychological condition, the Pope argued.

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CANADA
National Post

The Canadian Press

LONDON, Ont. — A London, Ont., college professor is facing sex charges dating back to the period when he was an Anglican priest at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church on the Chippewa-On-The-Thames Native Reserve outside London.

Police say they investigated allegations of sexual abuse involving three First Nation boys that began in 1977 when they were seven years old, and ended in 1983 when they were 12 years old.

It is alleged that the offences occurred at the home of the accused in London.

David Norton, 69, is charged with three counts of indecent assault on a male, and one count of sexual assault.

Police say the investigation is continuing and are asking anyone with information related to the alleged incidents, or similar incidents, to call investigators.

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WISCONSIN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015

For more information: David Clohessy 314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, Peter Isely 414 429 7250, peterisely@yahoo.com

Two Milwaukee predators are exposed
Both admitted molesting kids in other states
Neither have ever been “outed” in Wisconsin before
One, an ex-seminarian, now faces pending criminal charges
SNAP: “Catholic officials should spread the word about them”

Two admitted child molesting Catholic clerics who spent time in Milwaukee are being publicly exposed as predators by a victims’ group. It’s urging local Catholic officials to help prosecutors convict one of them.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are warning the public about Kevin Sloniker, an ex-seminarian who was arrested weeks ago in Menomonie for sexually abusing children and Fr. Eric Middlecamp who Catholic officials acknowledge molested kids and worked in Milwaukee.

Sloniker told police he sexually assaulted nine boys in recent years and Fr. Middlecamp told his church supervisors he’d committed child sex crimes.

In 2005, Sloniker was kicked out of a Winona MN seminary after reportedly trying to circumcise himself. Still, he later became a Catholic youth counselor in Idaho.

From 1995 to 2011, Fr. Middlecamp worked at the Salvatorian headquarters at 1735 Hi-Mount Blvd. and lived with other clerics at a place called “Jordan House” (3800 N. 92nd St., 414-463-7570).

In the 1990s, he was accused of sexually abusing boys and girls in the late 1950s through 1970s. When he admitted his crimes, his Catholic supervisors reportedly moved him to Milwaukee.

According to the Official Catholic Directory, Fr. Middlecamp spent much of his career in Wisconsin (including nearly 20 years, in several stints, New Holstein WI in St Nazianz WI at a seminary). He also worked in Washington DC, Sioux City IA, Oakland CA and Phoenix AZ.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Some young men are too rigid or fundamentalist and join the priesthood because of mental deficiencies. The Pope recalled the importance of the family and the personalisation of human formation. He told bishops: “Be present in your dioceses of resign”

IACOPO SCARAMUZZI
VATICAN CITY

“Be careful of who you admit to the seminary,” because there could be people with mental deficiencies among the candidates to the priesthood. Pope Francis said this in an audience with participants of a Conference sponsored by the Congregation for the Clergy marking the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the Vatican II decrees “Presbyterorum ordinis” (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests) and “Optatam Totius” (Decree on Priestly Training) (Pontifical Urbaniana University, 19-20).

Speaking off the cuff, Francis told a story about when he taught the novices of the Society of Jesus. A “good” boy didn’t pass the psychiatrist’s test and she said to Bergoglio: “These boys are fine until they have settled, until they feel completely secure. Then the problems start. Father, have you ever asked yourself why there are policemen who are torturers,” the doctor apparently asked Francis. The Pope told clergy that they must think twice when a young man “is too confident, rigid and fundamentalist”. Hence, his invitation to them to beware when admitting candidates to the seminary: “There are mentally ill boys who seek strong structures that can protect them”, such as “the police, the army and the clergy”.

In his speech, the Pope remembered the reform Benedict XVI wanted to introduce. He put the Congregation for the Clergy, now headed by Cardinal Beniamino Stella, in charge of the seminaries so the dicastery “can start dealing with the life and ministry of the presbyteries from the moment candidates enter the seminary, working to ensure vocations are promoted and nurtured and can lead to priests living saintly lives. A priest’s path towards sainthood being in he seminary!”

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CANADA
London Free Press

By Jane Sims, The London Free Press
Friday, November 20, 2015

A retired Anglican priest who has taught First Nations history at King’s University College has been charged sexually assaulting three First Nations boys almost 40 years ago.

David Norton, 69, was the priest at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church at Chippewa-On-The-Thames just west of London in 1977.

He’s charged with three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault.

London police said the complainants are three First Nations men who were just 7 in 1977. The abuses continued until 1983 when they were 12.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

By Michael Rezendes GLOBE STAFF NOVEMBER 20, 2015

How the world has changed in the 13 years since the Spotlight Team first revealed that the leader of the Catholic Church in Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, allowed one of his priests to continue working even though Law knew that Fr. John Geoghan had spent his career sexually assaulting children.

Since the Globe uncovered a pattern of moving pedophile priests rather than stopping them, the scandal has spread to more than 100 cities across the nation and at least 100 more around the world. In the Boston archdiocese alone, more than 250 priests and brothers have been publicly accused of abusing minors. The Globe wrote 600 stories on priest sexual abuse in 2002 and won a Pulitzer Prize for revealing the coverup, which is chronicled in the new movie “Spotlight.”

But, when the Globe published the first story on Jan. 6, 2002, no one on the Spotlight Team imagined that a five-month investigation would lead to Law’s resignation and a global crisis for the Catholic Church that continues to this day.

“I don’t think any of us had a sense of what was going to happen,” recalls my Spotlight colleague Sacha Pfeiffer.

Today, more than a decade after American bishops pledged to better protect young people from sexual abuse, the scandal is still not over. Bishops in Kansas City and Minneapolis were recently removed from their posts for continuing to cover up for abusive priests.

And in Rome, Pope Francis established a commission chaired by Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley to study clergy sexual abuse, along with a tribunal to hold bishops accountable for abuse in their dioceses. But survivors want to see more concrete action before they’ll be convinced these measures are more than public relations.

For the Spotlight Team — and many others at the Globe — the far-reaching impact of the investigation has yielded invaluable lessons.

One is the importance of investigative reporting in holding powerful institutions and individuals accountable for their actions — even those that profess to be paragons of probity and morality.

As the business model for newspapers across the country falters, many news organizations are cutting their investigative staffs or eliminating them entirely. And no wonder. Investigative journalism is expensive. The Spotlight Team’s investigation of the church started with four reporters and expanded to eight shortly after the initial stories were published. That whole group stayed on the story for the rest of the year.

But the Globe actually has increased its commitment to investigative reporting, shoring up the Spotlight Team’s traditional roster of four with two more reporters, creating a permanent six-person team.

The clergy abuse investigation also provided an early lesson in the power of the Internet. Although it may seem all-too-obvious today, the Globe’s decision to post church documents used in its reporting provided readers with powerful, direct evidence that Law and other church officials had spent decades covering up Geoghan’s abuses.

The Internet also helped spread the Spotlight Team’s stories — and the church’s internal records — worldwide, spurring lawsuits, investigations by other news organizations, and complaints from thousands of victims.

At the same time, the investigation underscored the importance of old-fashioned, shoe-leather reporting. Though new technologies have provided investigative reporters with an array of shiny tools, the series showed there is no substitute for knocking on doors for face-to-face encounters with reluctant sources who needed to be assured of a reporter’s sincerity or determination.

Perhaps most important, the investigation highlighted the need for vigilance, or a continuing commitment to cover and advance the story.

Since the publication of those early stories, the Globe has continued to hold the church accountable for its actions regarding clergy sexual abuse.

In 2012, the Globe revealed that a prominent Jesuit and trustee at Boston College played a major role in covering up decades of abuse by a Jesuit priest from Chicago. In 2014, the Globe reported that a prominent American cleric named by Pope Francis to prosecute cases of priestly abuse was himself involved in the coverup of molestations.

But the stories from 2002 take us back to a time before anyone knew how far the scandal would reach, a time when powerful people tried to deny that there was any scandal at all.

Michael Rezendes can be reached at michael.rezendes@globe.com.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

November 20, 2015 12:18 pm | Author: berger

Two bishops from our area won national posts in the U.S. Conference of Bishops this week. Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, formerly of Belleville, was elected chair of the bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship.” And Cardinal Timothy Dolan of NY, a Ballwin native, was tapped to head the bishops’ Pro-Life Activities.”

TONIGHT, the highly-acclaimed movie, “Spotlight,” opens in our town and dozens of others. Last month, SNAP’s David Clohessy hobnobbed with some of the stars – Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Lev Schreiber and others – at the NYC and Boston openings. It’s the story of how journalists exposed 249 predator priests in one archdiocese through dogged investigations. Their work ultimately led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law (formerly of Missouri), the first prelate to step down because of the church’s crisis. The movie also stars Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci and “Mad Men’s” John Slattery.

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VATICAN CITY
ANSA

(ANSA) Vatican City, November 20 – Pope Francis on Friday said the Catholic Church should choose its seminarians more carefully, saying some priestly hopefuls are men with psychiatric problems looking for a protective structure.

Francis warned clergymen to “keep their eyes open” with respect to the admission to seminaries of men wanting to join the priesthood.

“There are young men who are psychologically ill and are looking for strong structures to protect them,” the pope told the Congregation for the Clergy. These include “the police force, the army and the clergy,” he said. Francis went on to talk about the priestly vocation. Priests “are not professionals in pastoral care or evangelisation, who turn up and do what they have to, perhaps even well, but as if it were a job,” he said. They are not “philanthropists or public officials, but fathers and brothers” who are called “to be among people,” continued the pope, recalling also that formation does not happen “in a laboratory but within the family”. The pope also urged bishops to remain “close to” to their priests.

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CONNECTICUT
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

for immediate release: Friday, Nov. 20, 2015

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 prosecutor claims she’s been told that a Hartford priest will ‘never be a priest again.’ We doubt that’s true.

[Journal Inquirer]

Earlier this week Fr. Paul A. Gotta was convicted in a plea bargain of second-degree breach of peace. Next month, he faces firearms charges. He’s accused of molesting a child.

Now is no time for complacency. We’ve seen far too many other priests – both credibly accused of crimes and proven guilty of crimes – who’ve been kept in or returned to parishes. (Remember: the Catholic church continues to experience a severe shortage of priests and seminarians. The pressure to keep them in the job, no matter how egregious their wrongdoing may be, is tremendous.)

[Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests]

We repeat what we said yesterday: Hartford Archbishop Leonard Blair should take Fr. Gotta’s passport so he can’t flee the country (as Fr. Augusto Cortez of the Rockville Centre diocese and dozens of other predator priests have done).

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MINNESOTA
Crookston Times

Posted Nov. 20, 2015

Crookston, Minn.

Former Crookston Diocese Fr. Charles J. Gormly was recently named as a serial predator priest by the Survivors Network of those abused by Priests (SNAP), a support group for clergy abuse victims. Several pages of previously-secret records of the priest were recently made public after a request by the Jeff Anderson & Associates firm during a clergy abuse trial against the Diocese of Duluth on priests accused of child sex abuse.

The documents were introduced into evidence in the Bill Weis vs. Diocese of Duluth civil lawsuit conducted in Ramsey County. They pertain to four priests accused of sexually abusing children while working in the Diocese of Duluth.

Until the documents were released, attorneys were not able to say that Gormly had been in the Diocese of Crookston or that he had offended in the Diocese of Crookston. They believe he served in Crookston in the late 1950s.

The newly-released records show a bishop admitting that Fr. Gormly “has a sexual problem that prompts him to molest small girls,” that “his record in Crookston was not the best” and that Fr. Gormly was sent for “treatment” to at least two facilities.

The SNAP network issued a news release Thursday urging victims of clergy sexual abuse or witnesses to it in the Crookston diocese or elsewhere to speak up.

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COLORADO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Nov. 20, 2015

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 new lawsuit has been filed against a predator priest who lives in Denver. Colorado Catholic officials should warn parents, police, parishioners, prosecutors and the public about him.

[Daily Herald]

He’s Fr. Henry Slade and he pled guilty in 1990 to sexual misconduct with a disabled 18 year old. He’s been sued for child sexual abuse before and Joliet’s bishop admits Fr. Slade is “credibly accused” of child sex crimes.

[BisopAccountability.org]

(This new suit also says another priest, Fr. Phillip Dedera, heard and ignored the boy’s screams for help and later offered him marijuana after the attack to “help him forget” it.)

Archbishop Samuel Aquila should personally visit the parishes near where Fr. Slade lives, begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to come forward. He 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 he should permanently post on his diocesan website the names, photos and whereabouts of every child molesting Denver 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.)

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Nov. 20, 2015

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those abused by Priests (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

An accused predator priest from Long Island spent time in Staten Island. NYC Cardinal Timothy Dolan should aggressively seek out anyone he may have hurt in the archdiocese.

[Newsday]

The priest, Fr. Augusto Cortez, is believed to have fled the US and returned to Central America. But he could still be in NYC.

Common sense and decency tell us that Dolan, and Rockville Center Bishop William Murphy, have a moral responsibility to help law enforcement catch and convict Fr. Cortez. But instead of lending a hand, Murphy is making up excuses and Dolan’s staying silent.

We beg them both to stop hair-splitting and ducking and dodging behind the claim that Fr. Cortez belongs to a religious order and isn’t on their diocesan payrolls. It’s a Catholic bishop’s duty to protect and help his flock from any child molesting cleric, no matter who signs the predator’s paycheck.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those abused by Priests (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

Several pages of previously-secret records about a serial predator priest who worked in the Crookston diocese and abused in the Duluth diocese have been made public. They paint an unflattering view of the Catholic church hierarchy.

He’s Fr. Charles J. Gormly. Last December, “the Diocese of Duluth included Father Gormly on its official list of clergy members who have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse,” according to a Minnesota newspaper.

[BishopAccountability.org]

[Jeff Anderson & Associates]

The newly released records show a bishop admitting that Fr. Gormly “has a sexual problem that prompts him to molest small girls,” that “his record in Crookston was not the best,” and that Fr. Gormly was sent for “treatment” to at least two facilities.

We hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups in Crookston 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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VERMONT
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Nov. 20, 2015

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com,davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

This week, Vermont Bishop Christopher Coyne takes charge of communication for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. What irony: He takes over during the week that a film called ‘Spotlight’ opens nationally. That movie depicts horrific deceit and corruption in the Boston Archdiocese, where Coyne worked as Cardinal Bernard Law’s primary mouthpiece, a post he held from 2002-2005. (See Rocco Palmo’s blog “Whispers in the Loggia.”)

[BishopAccountability.org]

Pope Francis should never have promoted Coyne. Coyne’s brother bishops should have never given him this post. But now that he’s in this position, Coyne must lead by example and, at a bare minimum, do what 30 US bishops have reluctantly done: post names of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics on his diocesan website.

[BishopAccountability.org]

For years in Boston, time and time again, Coyne repeated deceptive public relations spin about heinous child sex crimes and callous cover ups by Law and other Catholic officials. How does this qualify Coyne to lead America’s bishops?

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MEXICO
Daily Star (UK)

Alfredo Huerta Zavala, 56, took advantage of his trusted position to abuse the sisters over a four-year period in city of Oaxaca, in the southern Mexican state of the same name.

Police say the girls, who are now 13 and 14, would have been just 9 and 10 when the abuse began.

The girls were reportedly abused when they attended the congregation and estimate that they were raped more than 100 times.

According to statements, the child molester used the “name of God” and his religion to trick and convince the youngsters into allowing the abuse.

A local news portal reported: “He made them believe that he was chosen by Christ and for this reason they should trust in him unconditionally.”

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CONNECTICUT
Journal Inquirer

Friday, November 20, 2015

By Alex Wood
Journal Inquirer

Although the sexual-assault case against the former administrator of East Windsor’s two Roman Catholic parishes ended this week with his conviction only of a misdemeanor not involving sexual misconduct, the conviction should end his career as a priest, a prosecutor says.

The Rev. Paul A. Gotta, who formerly served at St. Philip Church on South Main Street and St. Catherine Church on Windsorville Road, was convicted in a plea bargain of second-degree breach of peace, under a provision of that law that deals with assaulting or striking another person.

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UNITED STATES
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

November 19, 2015 • By Calvin Wilson

Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton) isn’t sure what to expect from Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber), the newly appointed editor-in-chief of the Boston Globe. Robinson is the leader of Spotlight — a team of journalists devoted to time-consuming and labor-intensive investigations — and he’s concerned that Baron might be a cost-cutter who’s out to dismantle it.

Baron has no such goal. An outsider to Boston, his interest is in surmising the lay of the land and, if necessary, shaking things up. And he’s barely had time to settle into his office when he suggests a project for Spotlight: looking into cases involving pedophile priests, and the role of the Catholic Church in protecting them.

Robinson is all too aware that, in a city that’s largely Catholic, the story is a powder keg. But it’s also a story for which the Globe must take responsibility, even if it does so belatedly.

Against a backdrop of opposition explicit and implied, reporters Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) set out after the truth. And Robinson grapples with his own culpability in helping to perpetuate sexual abuse.

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UNITED STATES
America Magazine

November 30, 2015 Issue

The Editors

The new movie “Spotlight,” focusing on The Boston Globe’s coverage of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy in Boston, reminds us of the need to be vigilant about abuse in the church—and indeed anywhere. And the Catholic Church has made great strides in combating abuse. That is why Pope Francis’ comments about the alleged cover-up by the recently installed bishop of the Diocese of Osorno, in Chile, were disheartening. “Please, don’t lose your calm,” Pope Francis said in October to a group of pilgrims at the Vatican in remarks that later became public. “Osorno is suffering, yes, but for being dumb.”

Bishop Juan Barros had been a protégé of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a charismatic priest who has been accused of sexual abuse. Father Karadima has denied any wrongdoing but was nonetheless ordered to a life of “prayer and penance” by the Vatican, which clearly found sufficient cause to do so. (One victim accused then-Father Barros of being present during an incident of abuse.) The anger in Chile over this case was so intense that a raucous crowd showed up to protest at Bishop Barros’s installation Mass. But Osorno, said the pope, “has let its head be filled with what politicians say, judging a bishop without any proof.”

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TEXAS
Dallas Morning News

Tasha Tsiaperas

Police believe a former associate pastor at a Garland church may have sexually assaulted several children, officials said Friday.

Aaron Gaddis, 55, was charged last month with sexual assault of a child in connection with the 2002 rape of a 15-year-old boy, said Garland police spokesman Lt. Pedro Barineau.

At the time, Gaddis was an associate pastor at the Mt. Hebron Missionary Baptist Church in Garland. The assault allegedly occurred at Gaddis’ DeSoto home, police said.

The victim lived in Garland, and police believe Gaddis may have assaulted other children he met at the Garland church. Barineau said investigators are asking that anyone else with information about this assault or others call police.

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TEXAS
WFAA

Jordan Armstrong, WFAA November 20, 2015

GARLAND — A Garland pastor has been arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child, and police are asking any other potential victims to come forward.

The former associate pastor of Mt. Hebron Missionary Baptist Church, Aaron Gaddis, was arrested in October.

Police said in a release Friday that Gaddis may have assaulted other children while working for the church, and they’re asking anyone with information to call them at 972-205-1699.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue addresses recent attacks on Cardinal Donald Wuerl:

The crazies on the Catholic right have set their sights on Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington. Why? Because he is close to Pope Francis, and they hate the pope. The attacks are coming from The Church Militant, a loose gang of angry right-wingers who specialize in character assassination, and American Spectator hater George Neumayr.

Three recent hit pieces by Church Militant author Christine Niles set the agenda. She says “today’s archbishop of Washington owns a penthouse in a complex valued at $43 million.” That is a lie. He owns not a centimeter of his third-floor “penthouse,” an apartment that sits atop Our Lady Queen of the Americas parish. Like bishops all over the world, he resides in a spot that was specifically designed for the local Ordinary. There is nothing scandalous about this Church patrimony.

Church Militant head Michael Voris says his unidentified sources claim that when Wuerl was the Bishop of Pittsburgh his gay-friendly approach earned him the nickname “Donna the Girl.” I taught at a Pittsburgh Catholic college during Wuerl’s years and never once did I hear anyone tag him as such. Voris also says that Wuerl stole a “Catechism work composed by Fr. John Hardon by simply putting his name to it.” That’s another lie. I guess Wuerl was channeling Hardon when he gave his TV series of lectures on the subject.

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UNITED STATES
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor November 20, 2015

Next week Vatican representatives will again testify before a United Nations panel. If the past is prologue, it could be another missed opportunity if the independent experts on the panel grind ideological axes instead of posing legitimate questions that actually fall within their purview.

In early 2014, the Vatican – technically the “Holy See,” the term for the Vatican as a sovereign entity – appeared before two different UN bodies, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee Against Torture. In both cases, the panels pressed Vatican officials on the child sexual abuse scandals in Catholicism.

Experts wanted to know, for instance, why some priests accused of abuse in Europe or North America were seemingly able to escape punishment by relocating to developing nations, or why Church officials in some areas still resist full collaboration with police and prosecutors.

While insisting the Vatican is not responsible for supervising every one of the world’s 400,000 Catholic priests, a duty that instead falls to local bishops, officials of the Holy See recognized the importance of those questions, and they provided updates on reform efforts, in effect inviting the UN to help in the quest for best practices.

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UNITED STATES
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

November 18, 2015

BALTIMORE—Reverend Monsignor J. Brian Bransfield, a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was elected general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) during their Fall General Assembly, November 17.

“I’m grateful and humbled by the confidence Archbishop Kurtz and the body of bishops have placed in me,” Msgr. Bransfield said. “My predecessor, Msgr Ronny Jenkins, demonstrated exemplary leadership. I deeply appreciate his extraordinary contribution and comprehensive work.” Msgr Bransfield added, “The expert staff at the USCCB is always equal to the task. Their missionary spirit and talent is an ongoing inspiration.”

Elected to a five-year term, the general secretary coordinates all administrative matters of the Conference, and is responsible for the coordination of the work of the Conference Committees and staff. He likewise directs and coordinates the planning and operational activities of the various secretariats and offices in support of the work of the Conference.

Msgr. Bransfield has served as associate general secretary since 2011. From 2009-2011 he served as assistant general secretary for the implementation of the USCCB strategic plan. He has also served as executive director of the USCCB Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis.

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UNITED STATES
America Magazine

Nov 17 2015

Dennis Sadowski – Catholic News Service

The U.S. bishops Nov. 17 elected Msgr. J. Brian Bransfield as the new general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

He has been associate general secretary of the conference for five years, working alongside the current general secretary, Msgr. Ronny Jenkins, whose term is ending.

Msgr. Bransfield, a Philadelphia archdiocesan priest, will step into the position in 2016. His term will run for five years. The general secretariat oversees the work of the USCCB on behalf of the U.S. bishops.

The bishops chose Msgr. Bransfield over Father Shawn McKnight, executive director of the USCCB Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. No vote tally was announced by Msgr. Jenkins.

The bishops also elected Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinnati as treasurer-elect. He received 126 votes to 110 for Bishop John M. LeVoir of New Ulm, Minnesota, on the second day of the USCCB’s annual fall general assembly in Baltimore.

Next year, Archbishop Schnurr will succeed the current USCCB treasurer, Bishop Kevin J. Farrell of Dallas.

The bishops also voted for chairmen-elect for six standing committees: Divine Worship; Migration; Domestic Justice and Human Development; Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations; Catholic Education; and Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. Other elections were for the boards of Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, or CLINIC.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Nov. 20

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

This week, Cardinal Bernard Law’s ex-spin doctor takes charge of public relations for America’s Catholic bishops. It’s a sad commentary on how little is changing in the church hierarchy on abuse.

During the week that a film called Spotlight opens nationally, Vermont Bishop Christopher Coyne becomes director of communications for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. That movie depicts horrific deceit and corruption in the Boston Archdiocese, where Coyne worked as Law’s primary mouthpiece, a post he held from 2002-2005. (See Rocco Palmo’s blog “Whispers in the Loggia.”)

[BishopAccountability.org]

Pope Francis should never have promoted Coyne. Coyne’s brother bishops should have never given him this post. But now that he’s in this position, Coyne must lead by example and, at a bare minimum, do what 30 US bishops have reluctantly done: post names of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics on his diocesan website.

[BishopAccountability.org]

For years in Boston, time and time again, Coyne repeated deceptive public relations spin about heinous child sex crimes and callous cover ups by Law and other Catholic officials. How does this qualify Coyne to lead America’s bishops?

[Burlington Free Press]

While a bishop in Indiana, we prodded Coyne to aggressively reach out to anyone who may have seen crimes by Fr. Francis Markey who was arrested by US marshals at his Indiana home in connection with the alleged rape of a 15-year-old boy twice, including the day of the boy’s father’s funeral.

As best we can tell, he ignored our request.

[SNAP]

And he’s done nothing – in Boston or Indianapolis or Burlington – that gives us any hope he’ll do any better on children’s safety in the future.

So we urge Catholics and citizens in Boston and Burlington to be skeptical and vigilant and report known or suspected clergy sex crimes and cover ups to secular authorities, not church officials.

And we urge Coyne to show that he’s capable of real leadership, not just PR spin, by posting predators’ names, photos and work histories on the Vermont diocesan website, to keep kids safe, help victims heal and deter more cover ups.

In his new post, Coyne will no doubt extol the virtues of “openness.” He must practice those virtues too. And he must start in the most critical area: the protection of children from predator priests.

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SINGAPORE
BBC News

Six senior officials of Singapore’s City Harvest megachurch have been jailed over a $50m Singapore dollar ($35m; £23m) fraud case.

The evangelical church’s pastor and founder, Kong Hee, was jailed for eight years – others received between 21 months and six years.

The court ruled last month the group had misused church finances to fund the music career of Kong’s wife, Sun Ho.

All denied the charges – the church had supported them during the trial.

State prosecutors said before sentencing it was “the largest amount of charity funds ever misappropriated in Singapore’s legal history”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said that the Church must not be obsessed by money or power, nor worship “holy bribes”. Instead her strength and joy should come from the words of Christ. He was speaking at the morning mass at Casa Santa Marta on Friday.

The Holy Father reflected on the reading from Maccabees, which tells of the people’s joy following the reconsecration of the Holy Temple, which had been destroyed by pagans and those obsessed by worldliness. The people of God celebrated, they rejoiced because they had rekindled “their true identity”. The Pope explained that “those who indulge in worldliness do not know how to celebrate – they can’t celebrate! At most, the worldly spirit can provide amusement, it can provoke excitement, but true joy can only come from faith in the Covenant”. In the Gospel, Jesus drives merchants away from the Temple saying “It is written: my house shall be called the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves”. Pope Francis noted that at the time of the Maccabees, worldly desire “displaced the Living God”. But now, it is happening “in another way altogether”.

“The Gospel says the chief priests and scribes had changed things. They had dishonored and compromised the Temple. They had dishonored the Temple! The Temple was a symbol of the Church. The Church will always – always! – be subject to the temptation of worldliness and power. Jesus did not say ‘No, do not do this inside. Go outside instead.’ He said ‘You have made it a den of thieves!’ And when the Church enters into such a state of decline, the end is bad. Very bad indeed.”

The danger of corruption

“There is always a danger of corruption within the Church. This happens when the Church, instead of being devoted to faith in Our Lord, in the Prince of Peace, in joy, in salvation, becomes dominated by money and power. This is exactly what happens here, in this Gospel reading.

These priests, chief priests and scribes were driven by money, power and they ignored the Holy Spirit. And in order to be able to justify their actions, they poisoned the free spirit of the Lord with hypocrisy. In Matthew 23, Jesus speaks of their hypocrisy. These were people who had lost their sense of Godliness, and even the ability to rejoice, to praise God. They did not know how to worship the Lord because they were too distracted by money and power, and by a form of worldiness”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A church deacon who admitted encouraging a boy to expose himself on a webcam has been jailed.
Peter Keeley-Pannett, 71, from Brighton, used a webcam to meet boys as young as 13 in chatrooms.

He had pleaded guilty at Guildford Crown Court to making indecent images of children over a two-year period.

Judge Robert Fraser sentenced Keeley-Pannett to 32 months in prison and ordered him to remain on the sex offenders register for life.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By PAIGE AUSTIN (Patch Staff)
November 19, 2015

Another woman has come forward alleging a Lake Forest church youth pastor sexually assaulted her.

The woman came forward last week after the Orange County Sheriff’s Department announced the arrest of Sean Patrick Aday, a 38-year-old pastor at Grace Community Church in Lake Forest.

Aday was arrested Nov. 7 on suspicion of rape, sodomy, penetration with a foreign object and sexual assault. He allegedly assaulted several women, ranging in age from their late teens to early 20s, at the church.

Authorities believe there may be more victims who haven’t come forward yet.

Sometimes victims think they are the only ones, and they don’t come forward until they find out that others have been assaulted, said Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Jeff Hallock.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

Abuse survivors who have been under-compensated by the Anglican Church in Queensland could have payments topped up, a royal commission has heard.

The Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Phillip Aspinall, who was continuing his evidence to a child sex abuse commission hearing into private school St Paul’s, said on Friday an independent umpire examine settlements already made by the diocese.

Dr Aspinall said he was satisfied recent payments met the benchmarks set by the royal commission, but there would be a review of all settlements made “without the benefit of those benchmarks”.

The diocese “will be very open to making some adjustments”, he said.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

There has been shock and disbelief in the wake of an ABC investigation that has revealed alleged Anglican clergy abuse had links to powerful sectors of the Hunter’s community.

Abuse allegations have gripped the diocese for almost a decade, culminating in the defrocking of several priests.

The ABC has revealed politicians, doctors, lawyers, teachers and business leaders are under investigation.

There is evidence alleged child sexual abuse within the Newcastle Anglican diocese stretched to the upper echelons of the church.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Thursday 19 November 2015

The Anglican Church in Brisbane is still refusing to refund fees to former students who suffered abuse, despite the church’s clear policy to do so, a royal commission has been told.

A resumed inquiry into how the diocese handles child sex abuse complaints was told on Friday an abuse survivor’s request for school fees to be refunded was rejected this week.

The church’s director of professional standards in southern Queensland, Gregory Milles, told the abuse survivor it “wouldn’t be policy” for the church to refund fees, the inquiry heard.

The archbishop of Brisbane, Phillip Aspinall, said the refund policy was implemented “some weeks ago”.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Leonie Mellor

Brisbane’s Anglican Archbishop Phillip Aspinall has admitted to the child sexual abuse royal commission that protocols to deal with complaints have not always been followed.

Dr Aspinall resumed giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney today, which has been looking at how two prestigious Brisbane boys schools handled sexual abuse complaints.

Last week, the Anglican Church said it would reimburse tuition fees for all students who suffered sexual abuse at their schools within the Diocese of Brisbane, which covers much of southern Queensland.

One of those schools, St Paul’s School at Bald Hills on Brisbane’s north side, employed two men who molested students, former school counsellor Kevin John Lynch and music teacher and convicted paedophile Gregory Robert Knight.

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AUSTRALIA
The Standard Times

Only days after Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Phillip Aspinall made a public promise to refund the tuition fees of school sex crime victims, an abuse survivor who made the request was rebuffed, an inquiry has heard.

A public hearing into the abuse of dozens of boys at two Queensland private schools heard that redress policies for victims in the Anglican system were ignored.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told that an Anglican school abuse survivor who sought help on Monday was offered an apology rather than a refund of his school fees and told his counselling sessions would be rationed due to the expense.

Kevin Kelso, a lawyer representing a number of sex abuse victims, cross-examined Dr Aspinall on whether the Anglican Church Southern Queensland was genuine in its offer to assist victims.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

Press Association

A former church deacon who used Skype to make contact with vulnerable young boys has been jailed for 32 months for a string of sex offences.

Peter Keeley-Pannett, 71, stood quietly in the dock at Guildford Crown Court, Surrey, as Judge Robert Fraser told him that he “remains a high risk of serious harm to children”.

Pannett, of Brighton, was a non-stipendiary deacon in the Diocese of Chichester in West Sussex until his arrest last November.

Keeley-Pannett used a webcam to meet boys as young as 13 years old in chatrooms. His offences spanned around two years from 2010, the court heard.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By Tom Olsen on Nov 19, 2015

A prosecutor has fired back against a Hibbing priest who is seeking to have his child sexual abuse charges dismissed, alleging that evidence shows the Rev. Brian Michael Lederer demonstrated a pattern of targeting young girls.

Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Jeff Vlatkovich said in a 13-page letter to 6th Judicial District Judge David Ackerson that allegations of inappropriate touching made by four girls, along along with suspected child pornography recovered from Lederer’s computer, point to “an aggressive and/or sexual intent.”

“The defendant’s conduct for a 28-year-old man can only be viewed as designed to obtain some sort of sexual gratification,” Vlatkovich wrote.

Lederer, who worked at Blessed Sacrament Parish and Assumption Catholic School in Hibbing, faces seven felony charges related to the alleged inappropriate touching of the girls and possession of child pornography.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Nick McLaren

A Catholic priest and former teacher has given evidence in court he has no recollections of the person he allegedly indecently assaulted 27 years ago.

On the second and final day of the hearing at Albion Park Local Court, Father Patrick Kervin said he taught commerce to the alleged victim in the 1980s, and recognised his own signature on the student’s report.

But apart from that, he said he had no recollection of what the student looked like, and rejected allegations he used the school public address system to call the student to his office.

Fr Kervin also denied indecently assaulting the then 15-year old.

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UNITED STATES
Lincoln Journal Star

by L. Kent Wolgamott | Lincoln Journal Star

The Reel Story: This accurate, involving drama that tells the story of the Boston Globe’s investigation of the Catholic Church sexual abuse cover-up is one of best journalism movies ever and one of the top films of 2015.

In 2001, a new editor arrived at the Boston Globe from the Miami Herald. A newcomer, Marty Baron notices a column about a local priest accused of having sexually abused dozens of young parishioners over three decades.

Ignoring resistance from veteran staffers and those outside the newsroom who said taking on the Catholic Church in overwhelmingly Catholic Boston would be dangerous and destructive, Baron instructs the paper’s Spotlight team to follow up on the column — and not just to seek out individual cases of abuse but to unearth the system that allowed the abuse to continue.

Two years later, the Spotlight team won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism for its reporting of the Church’s cover-up of pedophilia perpetrated by more than 70 priests.

“Spotlight” tells the story of the reporting team and its investigation with accuracy, great detail and an understanding of the journalists and their world. The drama is a compelling detective story, even though the final outcome of the investigation is known.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MEDIA FOOL OF THE WEEK
STEP FORWARD MIKE (‘I’M A SNEERING SECULARIST’) SECCOMBE

While on the topic of George Pell, let’s consider Australia’s most boring newspaper. Morry Schwartz’s The Saturday Paper — edited by Erik Jensen — goes to print on Thursdays and can be found in Melbourne and Sydney inner-city coffee shops on Saturdays. Being read by leftist sandal-wearers, weather and occupational health and safety concerns permitting. Per courtesy of such up-market advertisers (last week) as Aesop signature stores, the taxpayer subsidised Wheeler Centre, Mercedes-Benz, 166 Gertrude apartments (Fitzroy, of course), Laithwaite’s Wine People and — you’ve guessed it — Rolex.

Since there is rarely any news in The [Boring] Saturday Paper, Nancy’s (male) co-owner reads the Schultz/Jensen offering on Mondays. After lunch, of course. Last Monday the weekly-tabloid-for-Rolex-wearers arrived wrapped in its very own hoarding. Unravelled it read: “The Many Trials Of George Pell”. See below.

This was one of The Saturday Paper’s “Look mum no news” occasions. Mike Seccombe’s Page One lead, which spilled to cover the whole of Page Four, was also titled “The many trials of George Pell”. The header read as follows:

As Cardinal Pell prepares for another child sex abuse hearing, his “company man” style has made him enemies within the Vatican. Mike Seccombe reports.

Mike “Smirk” Seccombe was not born into the Catholic Church — nor has he converted to Catholicism. Moreover, Mr Seccombe has not demonstrated any expertise in theology or religious history. Seccombe’s piece was yet another Saturday Paper rant at Cardinal George Pell, who holds the position of Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy — the third highest ranking official in the Holy See.

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UNITED STATES
MLive

By John Serba | jserba@mlive.com

on November 20, 2015

“Spotlight” is destined to be one of the great film procedurals. A true-story chronicle of The Boston Globe’s towering expose of the Catholic Church’s sexual-abuse scandal, its driving force is due diligence in the service of a moral imperative. In the spirit of its subjects – investigative newspaper reporters – it’s a workmanlike film, focused tightly on details. It’s not flashy, just committed.

Tom McCarthy directs with so much propulsive purpose, he renders the process of four journalists sifting needles from dozens of haystacks engrossing and suspenseful. He assembles a research montage, all quick cuts between libraries and cubicles, data entry and spreadsheets. A reporter makes a cross-town dash to a courthouse to request paperwork. One of the highest-drama moments is a slow zoom out from a speaker phone, the picture literally getting bigger as the source on the other end of the line tells four reporters some key information.

The probability of such moments being suspenseful and thrilling is low, but here we are, eyes on the screen, enraptured. “Spotlight” compels us to pay attention. And you’ll want to. Minutiae is drama when the stakes are high.

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NEW YORK
27east

By Erin McKinley

A Hampton Bays family is suing the Diocese of Rockville Centre and the Mission of St. Vincenet De Paul, saying they failed to protect an 8-year-old girl from being sexually assaulted by a now fugitive former priest.

Filed on November 13 in State Supreme Court, the suit stems from charges against Augusto Cortez for inappropriately touching a girl who was 6 years old at the time of the assault and, ultimately, giving her a sexually transmitted disease.

According to the suit, both the Mission of St. Vincent De Paul and the Diocese failed to protect the little girl by failing to remove him from the order of St. Vincent De Paul, and for lying about circumstances surrounding a previous case involving a 12-year-old girl in Brooklyn in 2008.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre is a district under the direction of the Roman Vatican that comprises of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, while the Congregation of the Mission of St. Vincent De Paul is a Roman Catholic order based in Pennsylvania.

The family first met Mr. Cortez when he was serving as a priest in the Vincentian Congregation based out of St. Rosalie’s Church in Hampton Bays, where he served until moving to St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn in 2005. Although no longer on the East End, Mr. Cortez kept close contact with the family, often conducting religious ceremonies in the family home. Then in 2008, Mr. Cortez was arrested and charged with fondling the breasts of a 12-year-old student at the St. John the Baptist Catholic Parish School while the two were alone in a computer room.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

One Melbourne parish. Four pedophile priests. One after another.

For three decades, the chief spiritual leaders for Doveton’s Holy Family Parish were its child parishioners’ worst nightmares.

‘It’s like having a terrifying regime in there for a long period of time,’ victims’ advocate Helen Last said.

‘To have them being very sick, very dysfunctional, pathological and some of them very violent, that keeps the parish quiet, keeps them frightened, highly anxious, confused, paranoid, and so they don’t seek help.’

From the 1970s to the late 1990s, a string of priests abused children in the outer eastern Melbourne suburb of Doveton.

– See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/local/melbourne/2015/11/20/doveton-parish-abuse-horrors-disclosed.html#sthash.OR6HqJqX.dpuf

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MINNESOTA
Grand Forks Herald

By Sarah Volpenhein

CROOKSTON — Catholic diocese records previously under seal show a priest with a history of sexually abusing young girls served in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Crookston likely in the 1950s.

The Rev. Francis Schenk, former bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Duluth, wrote several letters in 1960 and 1961 saying the Rev. Charles Gormly, now deceased, had a history of molesting girls. The Duluth diocese admitted last December the allegations against Gormly are credible.

In a 1961 letter, Schenk wrote Gormly had a sexual disorder which “prompts him to molest small girls” and the “same pattern showed up” in the Catholic Diocese of Crookston, where Gormly served “for some time.”

The letters do not say when Gormly was a priest in the Crookston diocese, nor which parishes he served in. But Mike Finnegan, an attorney with Jeff Anderson and Associates, a law firm renowned for litigating cases involving clergy sex abuse, said he believes Gormly served in the Crookston diocese in the late 1950s.

Gormly was ordained a Catholic priest in 1935 in the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyo., but left Wyoming in the mid 1940s, according to Jeff Anderson and Associates’ website.

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UNITED STATES
Boise Weekly

By George Prentice

Among the things lost in the decay of some of our nation’s best daily newspapers is long-form investigative journalism and, as a result, the public’s hunger for the truth. There, dear moviegoer, lies the underlying moral of Spotlight, one of the finest American films about journalism and certainly one of the best movies of 2015. While critics and audiences continue to cheer Spotlight and its clarion warning of a culture without a robust fifth estate, our nation’s media outlets–and particularly owners of daily newspaper chains–continue to push out fewer and shorter local news stories interspersed with advertiser-sponsored content. Some days, it’s tough to tell one from the other and, as good journalism should, Spotlight’s reminder of how things ought to be might piss off a discerning news consumer.

“The last 10 years have been pretty difficult on newspapers. The information they get isn’t fact-checked or investigated,” Spotlight co-screenwriter Josh Singer (The West Wing) told Boise Weekly on the red carpet of the North American premiere of at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. “And when readers get just some kind of random information coming at them, that’s really not telling us what us need to know.”

In 2001, there was plenty the citizens of Boston needed to know, “need” being the operative word. There were many people—including a few staffers at The Boston Globe—who felt the newspaper’s team of investigative reporters, dubbed Spotlight, would impose to harsh a reality on their community if and when they exposed a systemic scandal of child sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests. Some argued Boston’s storied link to the Catholic Church was too strong and too important to compromise. The reporting team from the Globe felt otherwise but instead of looking for a hero, they turned to each other for strength and direction. As a result, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Spotlight team’s investigation had intense focus and clarity. Boston was knocked back on its heels by the series of articles, but the Globe reporters knew there were two forms of abuse to uncover: the sexual abuse committed by dozens of priests and the spiritual abuse perpetrated by a church-wide cover-up.

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UNITED STATES
dotCommonweal

Dominic Preziosi
November 19, 2015

The movie Spotlight depicts how the Boston Globe in 2002 broke the story that the Boston archdiocese was covering up the abuse of children by scores of priests. Coincidently, one of the abusers portrayed in the film, former priest Ronald Paquin, was just last month released from state custody after serving a criminal sentence for repeatedly raping an altar boy over a three-year-period beginning when the victim was twelve. (Paquin also admitted to molesting fourteen other boys.) Medical specialists determined Paquin no longer met the legal criteria for “sexual dangerousness,” and so the district attorney’s office had to withdraw its bid to keep him in custody.

“The church thinks in centuries,” one character remarks in Spotlight, and in watching it I thought of all the people—if you aren’t one you probably know one—who’ve decided to take the very long view themselves. Mark Ruffalo plays Globe reporter Michael Rezendes; in one scene, after learning of the archdiocese’s systematic cover-up, he says he used to like going to Mass as a child, and that he’d always expected to go back someday. “But now…” he says, leaving the obvious unspoken: Never.

Ruffalo’s is the best performance in a movie that for better and worse plays as a newsroom procedural. Director Tom McCarthy (who also did the screenplay) keeps things compelling and taut. Churches impose themselves into scenes of reporters seeking out victims, or loom in the background. Journalists attest to the movie’s accurate depiction of the trade, the sartorial haplessness of its practitioners, the office “decor.” Even Vatican Radio gives it a thumbs-up.

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.