ABUSE TRACKER

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

“Blind eye: Pope Francis has done little to combat priest sex abuse.” That’s the headline in the latest issue of Ms. Magazine penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael D’Antonio. “Nearly all of the recent action taken by the church has been spurred by whistleblowers, victims and advocates outside the church speaking out,” he writes, citing the KC Bishop Robert Finn case as an example. (Finn hails from our town.)

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils

Paris Arrow

The much awaited “Vatican trial of the century” of ex-Papal Nuncio pedophile pimp Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski hanged around Pope Francis’s neck and it spoke louder than all his Opus Dei Beast PR Deceits Team script speeches – and louder than his papal necklace with a crucifix… so it had to be rid off … (especially before his USA-Cuba papal visit) – either by divine intervention or human intervention – and as everyone already knows – anything is possible inside the Vatican State filled with secrets of Pope Crimes and Vatican Evils throughout the centuries.

Ex-Papal Nuncio Archbishop Wesolowski was really the epitome archetypal embodiment of the Vatican crimes against humanity’s children in half-of-20th-century and 21st century and he was one of the biggest living proofs of the JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
La Rosa Rossa

L’ex nunzio Jozef Wesolowski, deceduto la notte scorsa in Vaticano, è stato trovato morto questa mattina intorno alle 5.00, davanti alla tv accesa, da un francescano del Collegio dei Penitenzieri – i frati che confessano i fedeli nella Basilica di San Pietro -, presso i quali l’ex presule polacco abitava, con divieto di lasciare i confini vaticani, in attesa del processo per pedofilia e pedopornografia. Era sotto processo in Vaticano per gli atti di pedofilia che avrebbe commesso a Santo Domingo e per il possesso di materiale pedopornografico all’interno del proprio PC.

La notizia della morte di Wesolowski è stata confermata dalla Santa Sede. Józef Wesołowski, già Nunzio Apostolico. “Il Santo Padre è stato doverosamente informato di tutto”, chiude la nota della Santa Sede.

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VATIKAN
Radio Vatikan

Die Autopsie an den verstorbenen ehemaligen Nuntius Józef Wesolowski hat ergeben, dass er wegen einem Herzstillstand gestorben ist. Das teilte der Vatikan an diesem Samstag mit. Die vatikanische Justizbehörde hatte kurz nach dem Tod des wegen Kindesmissbrauch beschuldigten ehemaligen Vatikandiplomaten eine Untersuchung verordnet. Die Autopsie wurde von drei Experten durchgeführt unter der Leitung eines Experten der römischen Universität Tor Vergata. Die Untersuchung fand am Freitagnachmittag statt, so die Vatikannote. Wesolowski war am Donnerstagabend im Vatikan verstorben. Die Autopsie hat ergeben, dass es sich um „einen natürlichen Tod“ handelte. In den kommenden Tagen werde die vatikanische Justizbehörde weitere Resultate, die von einem Labor getätigt werden, in Betracht ziehen.

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PHILIPPINES
ABS-CBN

Shelby Sebens, Reuters
Posted at 08/29/2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – Authorities in the Philippines are searching for a Catholic priest from Oregon who went missing while facing criminal charges for allegedly hiding a camera in a church bathroom, officials with the Archdiocese of Portland said on Friday.

Father Ysrael Bien is accused of personal invasion of privacy, tampering with physical evidence, and initiating a false police report, according to a search warrant issued last week by a Washington County Circuit Court judge.

The camera, disguised as an electrical outlet, was found in late April near a toilet in the men’s bathroom of the St. Francis Catholic Church in Sherwood, Oregon.

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INDIANA
WANE

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) A former pastor from West Virginia appeared in a LaGrange County courtroom Thursday afternoon to face a felony charge of child molestation.

Police arrested James R. Smith, 24, in West Virginia on August 11, according to our partners at KPC Media. He was extradited to LaGrange County and has been held in the LaGrange County Jail.

Detectives started investigating after a young boy said Smith assaulted him in the bathroom of a home while the two were visiting family in LaGrange County.

West Virginia officials charged Smith, a former pastor, with a similar offense last year. He was charged with first-degree sexual abuse after a young boy there said Smith assaulted him numerous times over the course of five years.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Bolletino

[An autopsy performed on the late Jozef Wesolowski shows he died of a “cardiac event.”]

A seguito dell’improvvisa scomparsa, avvenuta nella tarda serata di giovedì 27 agosto u.s., del già Nunzio Apostolico Józef Wesołowski, l’Ufficio del Promotore di Giustizia vaticano, nell’ambito degli adempimenti di propria competenza, ha disposto l’effettuazione di un esame autoptico, nominando una Commissione peritale di tre esperti, coordinata dal Prof. Giovanni Arcudi, docente di Medicina Legale nell’Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”.

Gli accertamenti sono stati effettuati nel pomeriggio di ieri e, dalle prime conclusioni tratte dall’esame macroscopico, risulta confermata la causa naturale del decesso, riferibile ad evento cardiaco.

Nei prossimi giorni l’Ufficio del Promotore di Giustizia acquisirà le ulteriori risultanze degli usuali esami di laboratorio effettuati da detta Commissione.

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VATICAN CITY
Mercury News

The Associated Press
Posted: 08/29/2015

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says an autopsy has determined that its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, who went on trial at the Holy See this summer for alleged sexual abuse of minors, died of a heart attack.

It indicated Saturday that laboratory results coming later could better describe the “cardiac event” responsible for the sudden death of Jozef Wesolowski, a 67-year-old Pole, on Thursday evening at the Vatican. A Vatican statement says initial conclusions point to a heart attack.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Alcohol, beatings and sex predators: Inside Sunbury’s Salesian mansion of pure evil

Shannon Deery

JAMES was in year 9 when he was first called to the principal’s office.

It was the late 1980s and he was expecting “six of the best” — a favoured punishment of Father Julian Fox, whose weapon of choice was a pool cue.

Entering the office he saw an older priest sitting in an armchair, and felt a little safer. At least he wasn’t alone. But not even an audience could stop Fox.

He beat the boy then ordered him to drop his pants, sexually assaulting him.

As James left the office, he was stopped by the older priest who handed him a toy puzzle — a reward.

“Good boy,” he told him, patting him on the shoulder.

James is one of hundreds of boys abused by the very men who had been entrusted with his care.

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DOMINIKANISCHEN REPUBLIK
DomRep Total

Santo Domingo.- In der Dominikanischen Republik war Josef Wesolowski lange Zeit der Nuntius des Vatikan. Als damaliger Botschafter des Papstes hatte der Kirchenmann sich an minderjährigen Jungen vergriffen und wurde wegen mehrfachen sexuellen Missbrauchs, Besitz von pornographischem Material (Kinderpornos) und anderer Verbrechen angeklagt. Die Katholische Kirche hatte den Ex-Erzbischof aller Ämter enthoben und danach lebte Wesolowski in der Vatikanstadt, unter strengen Auflagen. Sämtliche elektronische Geräte wurden ihm untersagt (Tablet, PC, Smartphone) und bei dem ersten Prozesstag fehlte Wesolowski. Die Anwälte entschuldigten die Abwesenheit durch eine plötzliche Erkrankung, der Prozess wurde verschoben.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
La Tribuna

[Yeni Reynoso, the Dominican prosecutor who led the investigation against Wesolowski in the Caribbean country, said on his Twitter account that the death of the ex-nuncio is “unfair to the victims.” ​​The official wrote that he always wondered why the trial was stopped.]

VATICANO (AP). El exembajador del Vaticano en República Dominicana, que fue acusado por fiscales de la iglesia de abusar sexualmente de menores en el país caribeño, falleció de causas aparentemente naturales, anunció el viernes la Santa Sede.

Jozef Wesolowski fue encontrado muerto en su habitación en el Vaticano a primera hora del viernes, dijo un comunicado del Vaticano. El fiscal de la ciudad-Estado ordenó una autopsia de inmediato y que sus resultados serán dados a conocer cuanto antes.

El Vaticano dijo que el papa Francisco estaba al tanto de lo sucedido.

Yeni Reynoso, fiscal de la capital dominicana y quien encabezó la investigación contra Wesolowski en el país caribeño, dijo en su cuenta en Twitter que el deceso del exnuncio es “injusto para las víctimas” del exsacerdote.

La funcionaria escribió que “siempre me pregunté por qué el juicio de #Wesolowski fue dejado sin fecha el día de la suspensión y después de salir del hospital”.

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VATICAAN
KerkNet

BRUSSEL (KerkNet) – De Pool Jozef Wesolowski (67), de van kindermisbruik verdachte voormalige apostolische nuntius in de Dominikaanse Republiek, werd vrijdagmorgen dood in zijn kamer aangetroffen. Volgens een onderzoek stierf hij een natuurlijke dood. De resultaten van de autopsie worden weldra bekendgemaakt. De Pool, die onder huisarrest stond, was al enige tijd ziek. In juli verbleef hij geruime tijd in een ziekenhuis in Rome. Jozef Wesolowski werd in 2014 wegens het misbruik door het Vaticaan teruggezet in de lekenstand en van al zijn priestertaken en rechten ontheven.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston Globe

AUGUST 28, 2015

Below is a statement from the victim and her family following the verdicts in the St. Paul’s School rape case.

“Our family, like many others, have read several articles on campus sexual assault in recent years with concern as our daughters progressed through school. But never in our worst nightmares could we have imagined that we would be experiencing this issue firsthand with our 15-year-old daughter during her first year of high school. The reality of this national epidemic has hit home and there is overwhelming sadness for the large number of students suffering from sexual violence everyday in this nation.

Today, a measure of justice has been served for victims of sexual violence. While he was not convicted on all charges, Owen Labrie was held accountable in some way by a jury of his peers for crimes he committed against our daughter. This conviction requires him to take ownership for his actions and gives him the opportunity to reflect upon the harm he has caused. There is no joy in this outcome, however, as our daughter can never get back what she has lost nor can St. Paul’s School ever be our community again.

We still feel betrayed that St. Paul’s School allowed and fostered a toxic culture that left our daughter and other students at risk to sexual violence. We trusted the school to protect her and it failed us. We continue to feel anger and disappointment for the lack of character and integrity that the young men of St. Paul’s School showed, laughing and joking with Owen Labrie at graduation about “slaying” our daughter. Both the school and these young men should bear the shame of these crimes along with Owen Labrie.

While we stood together as a family through this process, it was our young daughter who took the stand to speak the truth and request justice. We admire her bravery in coming forward and speaking out in the face of great adversity. It is truly her courage that has made this measure of justice possible today.

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CALIFORNIA
New York Daily News

BY NICOLE HENSLEY

A priest caught with a hidden camera in a Sherwood, Ore., church fled to the Philippines to evade an arrest warrant signed last week, local reports said.

Rev. Ysrael Bien left the country in defiance of the Archdiocese of Portland’s orders to stay put while on administrative leave from the St. Francis Catholic Church.

“I didn’t expect him to disobey,” Archbishop Alexander Sample told the Oregonian.

A teenage boy had found a hidden camera disguised as an electrical outlet in a church bathroom and handed it over to Bien.

The ensuing drama has left parishioners not expecting the 34-year-old priest to return or ever be found.

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POLONIA/CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
La Tercera

Tras la muerte del ex nuncio apostólico en República Dominicana Josef Wesolowski, la fiscalía estatal polaca archivará las investigaciones en su contra por abuso sexual, según señaló un vocero de la fiscalía del distrito de la capital Varsovia. “Una vez muerto el sospechoso, congelaremos el proceso”, señaló.

La Fiscalía de Varsovia investigaba de forma independiente las acusaciones de abuso sexual contra el ex nuncio de origen polaco.

Un sacerdote que trabajó durante la época de Wesolowski como nuncio en República Dominicana fue condenado en mayo a siete años de cárcel por abuso sexual de niños en el Estado caribeño y en Polonia. Además, fue suspendido del sacerdocio.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston Globe

Below is a letter from the St. Paul’s School administration to the school community addressing the Owen Labrie verdict:

By now you have likely learned of the verdicts in the trial of Owen Labrie ’14. The trial has been deeply painful for all of us in the St. Paul’s community, but especially for the young woman who has suffered through this nightmare. From the beginning – some 15 months ago – to the conclusion of the trial, she and her family have shown remarkable moral courage and strength. Her resolve and unwavering commitment to the pursuit of the truth have been inspiring to us and to many outside our School community.

In June of 2014, when we first learned about these disturbing events, and informed you of the arrest of Owen Labrie, we pledged that we would use this case and the issues raised by it to learn more about ourselves and to make our School better. We began more than a year ago by conducting a comprehensive review of the safety of our School environment and of our reporting procedures to ensure they continue to meet the highest standards. We also made policy changes and enhanced programming in several key areas to further support our students in making St. Paul’s the healthiest residential learning environment possible. In addition, we invited independent experts and researchers to our campus to advise us on the best ways to strengthen the trust, respect and understanding that is so critical for a tight-knit, fully residential community like ours. More information about the speakers and the topic areas they covered can be accessed on the “From the Rector” page of our website under the “Focus on Healthy Community” section.

With advice and guidance from a team of public health professionals, we developed and began implementing additional programming to strengthen our community through enhanced education and prevention efforts in such areas as harassment, bullying, gender-based violence, and substance abuse. Our work continues as we strive to strengthen our Living in Community curriculum, develop new bystander intervention training for all students and heads of house, and conduct a review of School policies and practices surrounding student conduct and discipline. Our expectation is that these efforts will allow our faculty, staff, administration, and students to continue to be engaged in critical introspection with an eye to improving how we live together.

The topics raised by the trial have been an area of focus for the School for some time, and these same issues have been highlighted for the broader St. Paul’s community through testimony in court and recently in the press. To the frustration of many, the public discussion of the trial over the past two weeks has inaccurately portrayed St. Paul’s School and our culture. The allegations about our culture are not emblematic of our School or our values, our rules, or our student body, alumni, faculty, and staff.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Aug. 28

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)

Kids are safer now that Wesolowski has passed. But sadly, now no one will ever know how many Catholic officials concealed his crimes for how many months or years.

Had Vatican officials turned over Wesolowski to secular authorities, as they should have, he might have already been tried, convicted and imprisoned. And more truth about wrongdoers in his case might have surfaced.

Two weeks ago, the BBC reported that Wesolowski was walking freely in Rome:

[BishopAccountability.org]

Last year a church official disclosed that he saw Wesolowski walking freely in Rome:

[SNAP]

This is incredibly irresponsible and dangerous. During his time in Rome, we hope Wesolowski did not hurt more children.

We hope Wesolowski’s passing brings some measure of comfort to his victims. We urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered Wesolowkski’s crimes to contact secular authorities. Though he obviously won’t be prosecuted, it’s possible that some clerics who ignored or concealed his crimes might be brought to justice.

We also hope that Vatican officials stop their centuries-old practice of handling clergy sex crimes and cover ups. Child molesting clerics should be dealt with by the independent, unbiased professionals in secular law enforcement, not by biased, secretive church colleagues.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Catholic News Service reports that:

In its official statement about his death, the Vatican referred to him as “His Excellency Monsignor Josef Wesolowski,” even though he was dismissed from the clerical state in June 2014 after an investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

His appeal of the dismissal was denied, Father Benedettini said, “but was not officially communicated so as not to aggravate the situation” while he was awaiting the separate criminal trial. He was still listed as an archbishop in the 2015 edition of the “Annuario Pontificio,” the Vatican yearbook.

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UNITED STATES
The Catholic Report

Please allow me to say I know how this hurts but there is a path to healing and moving forward. When you are ready to tell someone, we are here for you. It helps to tell someone, I know it is scary, you are at your all time low, your trust factor it at the lowest point, but when you do you, you will feel better about yourself. This will lead to control, which leads to moving to a better way of life.

Once you are on the path to talking to someone , you will want your life back and you will have to make decisions. These are the steps I took and found to be of value.

* Telling Someone: This is a is tough one to figure out. What I did was start small. Start with your closest friends and family. Now the next step is talking with the police. In the past some police forces were reluctant to file a report. In fact, in my case it took multiple times for the police to file a report. That is not the case anymore. I do recommend that someone be there with you as this will be a big challenge, but it is necessary. The last thing you want is for another child to go through what you went through, file the report. The police will take it from there and inform all concerned parties. The next person who needs to know is a lawyer. You will need to understand what your rights are. If you do decide to move forward with legal proceedings, you need to have someone who’s job it is to protect you. If you are worried about information being revealed you are protected by attorney client privileges and they are bound by law to keep everything confidential. On a side note, for me it was educational, illuminating and empowering. While the last paragraph was a few sentences it is hard to do but rewarding.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on August 28, 2015

Tell me what is wrong with these two excerpts from this week’s news:

From Newsday:
Francis, 78, a Jesuit from Argentina, is moving in a similar direction, McCartin said. He has overhauled the Vatican bureaucracy, encouraged open debate within the church, instituted a mechanism for removing bishops who covered up the priest sex-abuse scandal and adopted a simple lifestyle as pope, trying to emulate his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi. (emphasis mine)

From the NY Times:
Francis is not the first pope to have addressed the issue of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy, but he has drafted new rules giving prosecutors more leeway in the cases, allowing criminal charges to be applied to Vatican employees anywhere. He is also the first pope to take action against superiors accused of covering up for priests. (emphasis mine)

Have you guessed? Are you stumped? Okay, okay. I’ll tell you. Francis hasn’t taken action against superiors who covered up for abusing priests nor has he instituted a mechanism for removing bishops.

Allowing KC/St. Joseph Robert Finn to resign three years after a conviction for child endangerment or allowing Archbishop John Nienstedt to resign in the wake of a huge sex scandal is NOT a mechanism.

Unless “allowing complicit bishops to freely resign with full rights, power, and honors—and no punishment, accountability, or shame” is a mechanism, of course.

These men have not been publicly sanctioned. Francis has said NOTHING publicly about how these men allowed criminals to wreak havoc on the children in their dioceses. They were not forced out of their jobs. There was never a public reason given by the Vatican for accepting the resignations.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston.com

Owen Labrie guilty of misdemeanor sex-assault charges; acquitted of more serious charges

By Allison Manning @allymanning
Boston.com Staff | 08.28.15

A prep school graduate who was headed to Harvard before he was arrested on rape charges last year was found not guilty Friday of the more serious charges of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, but guilty of three misdemeanor sexual assault charges.

Owen Labrie, now 19, could face 12 months of incarceration for each misdemeanor conviction and having to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Labrie was also found guilty of one felony charge of using a computer to solicit the girl and a misdemeanor count of endangering children.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
WIVB

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former senior at a New Hampshire prep school has been acquitted of felony rape but convicted of misdemeanor sex charges regarding a 15-year-old freshman.

The jury of nine men and three women on Friday found Owen Labrie, of Tunbridge, Vermont, not guilty of raping the girl in an academic building at St. Paul’s School two days before he graduated last year.

But they found him guilty of three misdemeanor sex assault charges.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
CBS News

CONCORD, N.H. — A jury has found former New Hampshire prep school student Owen Labrie not guilty of all three felony sex charges but guilty of lesser offenses — including three charges of misdemeanor sex assault — in his rape trial for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old female student two days before he graduated last year.

Labrie, of Tunbridge, Vermont, faced nine charges, including the three felony sex assault charges that carried potential sentences of 10 to 20 years in prison.

Labrie was also found guilty of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, and of using a computer to lure the girl, a Class B felony. He was found not guilty on a simple assault charge.

The jury deliberated 7 and a half hours. Labrie wept after the verdict was read.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Aug. 28, 2015

ROME
The disgraced former papal ambassador who was to be the first to be tried by the Vatican for sexual abuse of minors and for possession of child pornography has died while awaiting trial.

Former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who served as the pope’s representative to the Dominican Republic until being accused of sexual misconduct with minors in 2013, was found dead “during the first hours of the morning,” the Vatican said in a statement Friday.

At first inspection, the statement said, the death seemed to be of natural causes. An autopsy is expected to be completed Friday, it said, with the results communicated “as soon as possible.”

Pope Francis “has been duly informed,” the statement concluded.

Wesolowski, a native of Poland, had served in the church diplomatic post since 2008 but was recalled to Rome two years ago after allegations of abusing young boys and possessing child pornography.

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VATICAN CITY
InterAksyon

By: Angus MacKinnon, Agence France-Presse
August 28, 2015

VATICAN – Josef Wesolowski, a former Polish archbishop who had been due to be the first cleric tried in the Vatican for child sex abuse, has been found dead in his apartment in the city state.

Wesolowski, 67, was found slumped in front of his television, officials said, and the Vatican said in an official statement that it appeared the disgraced former prelate had died of natural causes.

An autopsy was to be carried out during the day and the results published as soon as possible, the Vatican said, adding that Pope Francis was being kept fully informed.

Wesolowski’s death came six weeks after his landmark trial was suspended after only seven minutes because of an undisclosed illness which resulted in the accused being hospitalized on the eve of its start.

Wesolowski was charged with possessing child pornography in Rome in 2013-14, and the sexual abuse of minors during his 2008-13 stint as the Vatican nuncio, or ambassador, in the Dominican Republic.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
NBC News

by ERIK ORTIZ

Jurors reached a verdict Friday in a rape trial that pitted the credibility of a former student of an elite New Hampshire prep school against his accuser.

Owen Labrie, now 19, faces nine criminal counts in the alleged rape of a freshman girl in May 2014 at their boarding academy, the prestigious St. Paul’s School in Concord.

The two-week trial has cast a harsh light on the school, whose alumni include Secretary of State John Kerry, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, a Kennedy and three Vanderbilts.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2015 / 09:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Jozef Wesolowski, the laicized, former apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic who faced criminal charges of possession of child pornography and pedophilic acts in Vatican City died on Friday at the age of 67.

The Holy See press office announced Aug. 28 that Wesolowski dead in his room at the Vatican’s Collegio dei Penitenzieri in front of a TV, which was turned on, at about 5 am by a Franciscan religious.

The Vatican has said that preliminary investigations indicate he died of natural causes, but an autopsy will be performed nonetheless.

In 2013, allegations arose that then-Archbishop Wesolowski had engaged in sexual misconduct. He resigned as apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic on Aug. 21 of that year. After the printing of the original accusations, a 13-year-old boy came forward with further allegations that Wesolowski had solicited him for sexual favors in exchange for money.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release Friday, August 28

Statement by northern Minnesota SNAP leader Verne Wagner (lwagsmn@yahoo.com, 218-340-1277)

A Catholic priest, Fr. Brian Lederer, who was arrested in May of 2015 now faces 5 felony counts. A fourth victim has come forward and child pornography has been found on his personal computer. Lederer is currently free on bail.

What we should ask is whether the seminary where Lederer came from ever suspected or had any documentation showing concerns that this priest was a danger to children. Hibbing, MN was Lederer’s first assignment. Did the Duluth Diocese do any background checks on him with the seminary? Last year Fr. Timothy Backus was appointed by Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba to work in Ministry as a Vice President at Essentia Hospital and Associate Pastor at St. Michaels parish in Duluth knowing that he has been credibly accused of molesting a young boy in 1990’s. In this day and age and with their past record publicly known how could they not properly perform vetting these men.

Is the Duluth Diocese even doing background checks and if so how?

What did the seminary where Lederer came from know? How did Lederer slip through the churches screening for pedophiles? Do they even do screening and if so how?

Prosecutors need to ask these questions in order to protect our children from future priests. It’s well documented that the public cannot depend on Bishop Surba to keep these accused pedophiles out of our towns and away from our children

We beg people to remember charges are not convictions. Now more than ever we urge anyone who have been victimized by Lederer or other clergy to call 911 and report these men. We also ask anyone with knowledge regarding child abuse by clergy to contact law enforcement to help us protect our children.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article posted 28 August 2015)

Broken Rites has examined an out-of-court civil settlement, in which a Catholic religious order (the Salesian Fathers) made a payment to a former Melbourne schoolboy who complained that he was sexually abused by a priest, Father Julian Fox. Father Fox was a minister, teacher and administrator at several Salesian schools, including Salesian College, ‘Rupertswood”, which was a boarding school at Sunbury, north-west of Melbourne.

In 2000, the Salesians’ Australian head office signed an out-of-court settlement with a Melbourne man (Luke Quilligan). According to the settlement deed. Luke alleged that “over a period of time between 1978 and 1979, whilst a student at Salesian College, Rupertswood, Sunbury, he was unlawfully sexually and/or physically assaulted by Fr Fox”. According to the deed, Luke further alleged that “as a result of the assaults he sustained loss, damage and injuries and may require counseling or therapy in the future.” The deed says the Salesians were making the settlement to avoid litigation.

Luke’s story

Luke Quilligan was born in 1964. His father died and his mother sent the boy to Rupertswood College, Sunbury, as a boarder in 1979 (for Year 8). He stayed at the college for a year and a half. The mother presumed that the Salesian Fathers would be a good role model for a boy with no male parent.

It is alleged that Luke was sexually abused while at this school. According to Luke, he reported the sexual abuse to Father Terence Jennings, who was the principal (called the rector) of Rupertswood college. According to Luke, Jennings intimidated Luke into remaining silent about the abuse. That is, Jennings covered up the alleged abuse. As well as being the college principal, Jennings had also previously been the provincial superior (i.e., the head) of the Salesian order in the whole of Australia. So this story goes right to the top of the Salesian order in Australia. Jennings died in 2001.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites Australia researcher (updated 28 August 2015)

The former Australian head of a worldwide Catholic religious order was sentenced to jail on 28 August 2015 for child-sex crimes. Father Julian Fox, 70, of the Salesian order, was found guilty of indecently assaulting boys at two Melbourne schools. The crimes occurred between 1976 and 1985. After these crimes, Father Fox was appointed as the Australian head of the Salesian order. Later, the Salesians allowed him to flee to Rome, thus enabling him to evade Australian police — until the police eventually forced him back to Australia to face the courts. During the sentencing in 2015, Fox’s defence lawyer told the court that Father Fox is still officially a Catholic priest and he has the support of the Salesians.

Various Salesian websites have claimed that the Salesians are the second or third largest Catholic religious order in the world. The Salesians operate in “more than 125 countries”.

The sentencing of Father Fox was conducted by a judge in the Melbourne County Court. Broken Rites representatives were present in court.

The charges against Father Fox were laid by the Sex Crime Squad of the Victoria Police. In 2012, the Sex Crime Squad established a special team of detectives in Melbourne, called “Task Force Sano”, to investigate child-abuse allegations in religious organisations.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Beast

Barbie Latza Nadeau

After raping boys and keeping child porn at the Vatican, Josef Wesolowski was set to stand trial for his sins. Now his fate will be left to a higher power.

VATICAN CITY — Josef Wesolowski died too soon. The 67-year-old former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, whose undeniable crimes of child-sex abuse ran the gamut from victimizing shoe shine boys in Santo Domingo to hoarding more than 100,000 files with child pornography inside Vatican City died in his private room in a Vatican City palazzo overnight.

An autopsy was ordered to confirm his cause of death, which was said to be from natural causes. No foul play is suspected, according to a Vatican statement no doubt meant to stifle conspiracy theorists, which read simply: “Vatican authorities quickly carried out the first investigation and have established that the death was caused by natural causes.”

Wesolowski, from Poland, who was defrocked for his heinous sins last year, was easily the poster priest of bad behavior and his shocking case was meant to prove that the Church was finally doing something to stop the vile sins of some of its clergy. His was to be the first ever sex abuse trial held inside the Holy See in front of a new Vatican Tribunal endorsed by Pope Francis himself. The idea was that if the Vatican could convict one of their elite, then it would surely prove to naysayers that the days of rampant cover-ups were over.

In 2013, Wesolowski was whisked to Vatican City before officials in the Dominican Republic could arrest him. When he arrived, the attorney general of Warsaw filed an immediate order for his extradition, hoping his nationality would outweigh his clerical status, but the request was immediately denied by the Roman Curia.,

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

Rosie Scammell | August 28, 2015

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican on Friday (Aug. 28) announced the death of Jozef Wesolowski, an ex-diplomat who was to be the first high-ranking Vatican official to stand trial for child sex abuse.

Wesolowski was found dead in his room at the Vatican early Friday (Aug. 28), with authorities determining he died of natural causes. The Vatican’s Promoter of Justice immediately ordered an autopsy, the results of which have not yet been made public.

The Polish ex-nuncio — as Vatican ambassadors are called — had been due to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with children during his time in the Dominican Republic. Criminal proceedings were expected to get underway on July 11 but were halted after Wesolowski was hospitalized.

A lawyer for the former bishop said at the time he was unaware of Wesolowski suffering from health problems.

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VATICAN CITY
Dallas Morning News

NICOLE WINFIELD
The Associated Press

Published: 28 August 2015

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, the highest-ranking Holy See official to ever be charged with sexually abusing young boys, was found dead Friday as he awaited trial, the Vatican said.

In a statement, the Vatican press office said preliminary checks on Jozef Wesolowski, 67, “indicated that the death was from natural causes.”

A Franciscan priest who works as a confessor in St. Peter’s Basilica found Wesolowski dead at 5 a.m. with the television on in the Vatican room where has been held in modified house arrest for several months, it said. …

Dominican authorities had initially questioned the Vatican’s sequestration of Wesolowski after the abuse rumors began circulating. But the Holy See insisted that it had jurisdiction over him given he was a diplomat and was subject to the criminal laws of the Vatican City State. Wesolowski lost his diplomatic immunity when he was removed and defrocked, however, and the Vatican subsequently said he could face charges elsewhere after the Vatican’s case against him was finished.

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VATICAN CITY
Los Angeles Times

By TOM KINGTON

A former papal envoy accused of paying young boys for sex has died before his trial at the Vatican could get underway, officials said Friday.

In the first trial of its kind at the Vatican’s own court, Jozef Wesolowski, 67, faced seven years in jail on charges that he paid shoeshine boys for sex while serving as papal nuncio, or ambassador, in the Dominican Republic.

A Vatican statement said Wesolowski was found dead at his residence in the enclave early Friday morning. Although an autopsy has yet to be carried out, the Vatican said natural causes were a likely cause of death.

Pope Francis has been informed of Wesolowski’s death, the statement said.

In July, Wesolowski was taken to the hospital the day before he was due in court for the first day of his trial, forcing an adjournment. The Vatican did not specify the nature of his illness.

The former archbishop’s trial was the first time a senior church official was sent before a Vatican criminal court accused of sex abuse and marked a crucial test of Pope Francis’ avowal to crack down on abusive priests and the bishops accused of covering up for them. Wesolowski was accused of paying minors for sexual acts, purchasing pedophile material and offending Christian morality.

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WISCONSIN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Aug. 28, 2015

For more information: Peter Isely of Milwaukee, 414 429 7259, peterisely@yahoo.com, David Clohessy of St. Louis, 314 566 9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Vatican rules against predator priest
Child molesting cleric worked in nine WI towns
He once unsuccessfully sued one of his victims
SNAP: “Madison bishop must warn others about him”

A Vatican panel has upheld penalties against a suspended serial predator priest who worked in nine Wisconsin towns. Now a support group for clergy sex abuse victims wants Madison’s Catholic bishop to warn the public of his whereabouts and “aggressively reach out to anyone else he may have hurt.

Last month, a public relations staffer for Bishop Rorbert Morlino wrote in the diocesan newspaper that the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome “confirmed the finding” of lower church panels that Fr. Gerald Vosen “is guilty of two offenses (of sexual misconduct) with minors under the age of 16.”

“Vatican officials have apparently chosen to not defrock this repeat sex offender, so he’s still apparently getting money from Morlino’s diocese,” said Peter Isely, Midwest Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “So for the safety of kids, Morlino should disclose where Fr. Vosen is now. He should insist that Fr. Vosen live in a remote, secure, professionally-run treatment facility. And Morlino should personally visit each place where Fr. Vosen worked, begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police so this dangerous abuser might be prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned. That’s what a caring shepherd would do. That’s what best protects kids.”

“It’s not enough for church officials to say ‘he’s too dangerous. We’ll take his collar and his parish. But that’s all we’re gonna to do,’” said Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP’s outreach director. “Fr. Vosen belongs in jail. Morlino could and should help put him there, by using pulpit announcements, parish bulletins and church websites to prod others with information or suspicions about his crimes to call police.”

At one point, Fr. Vosen sued one of his accusers for slander. He lost.

Fr. Vosen worked in churches in Paoli, Verona, Avoca, Clyde, Madison, Cottage Grove, Reedsburg, Janesville and Baraboo, all in Wisconsin. http://www.bishopaccountability.org/assign/Vosen_Gerald_P.htm

In the mid-1960s, at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Madison, Fr. Vosen worked with Fr. Lawrence M. Trainor who was also later accused of sexual abuse.

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VATIKAN
Deutsche Welle

Die vatikanischen Behörden leiteten umgehend eine Untersuchung ein, wie das Presseamt mitteilte. Vieles deute zum jetztigen Zeitpunkt auf eine natürliche Todesursache hin. Die genauen Resultate sollten möglichst bald bekanntgegeben werden, sagte der Pressesprecher.

Von Papst Franziskus unter Hausarrest gestellt

Der Prozess gegen den ehemaligen Nuntius in der Dominikanischen Republik sollte eigentlich im Sommer im Vatikan beginnen, war dann aber wegen einer Erkrankung Wesolowskis verschoben worden. Im Juli war der 67-Jährige aufgrund gesundheitlicher Probleme in ein Krankenhaus eingeliefert worden. Am 20. Juli wurde er jedoch wieder entlassen. Seither hielt er sich unter ärztlicher Beobachtung im Vatikan auf.

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VATIKAN
Kathweb

Vatikanstadt, 28.08.2015 (KAP) Jozef Wesolowski, wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs angeklagter früherer Vatikanbotschafter in der Dominikanischen Republik, ist tot. Der 67-Jährige wurde am Freitagmorgen in seiner Wohnung im Vatikan aufgefunden. Die vatikanischen Behörden leiteten umgehend eine Untersuchung ein, wie das Presseamt am Vormittag mitteilte. Diese deute auf eine natürliche Todesursache hin. Der Staatsanwalt habe eine Autopsie eingeleitet; deren Resultate sollten möglichst bald bekanntgegeben werden.

Der polnische Geistliche, der in den Laienstand zurückversetzt worden war, wartete im Vatikan auf seinen Prozess. Nach einem kirchenrechtlichen Prozess hatte der Vatikan ihn bereits im Juni 2014 in den Laienstand versetzt, also aller priesterlichen Rechte und Pflichten enthoben. Im Juli war Wesolowski aufgrund gesundheitlicher Probleme in ein Krankenhaus eingeliefert worden. Am 20. Juli wurde er jedoch wieder entlassen. Seither hielt er sich unter ärztlicher Beobachtung im Vatikan auf.

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VATIKAN
Frankfurter Allgemeine

28.08.2015, von JÖRG BREMER, ROM

Jozef Wesolowski, der wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs angeklagte frühere Vatikanbotschafter in der Dominikanischen Republik, ist am frühen Freitag tot in seinem Zimmer im Vatikan aufgefunden worden. Nach einer offiziellen Mitteilung starb der 67 Jahre alte polnische Ex-Bischof vermutlich eines natürlichen Todes; dennoch sollte noch am Freitag eine Autopsie erfolgen. Der Papst habe den Tod mit Bedauern zu Kenntnis genommen, hieß es weiter.

Am 11. Juli hätte im Vatikan der Prozess gegen den früheren Erzbischof eröffnet werden sollen. Doch Wesolowski erschien nicht. Stattdessen teilte der Vatikan mit, der Angeklagte sei am Vortag nach gesundheitlichen Beschwerden auf die Intensivstation eines römischen Krankenhauses gebracht worden. Daraufhin wurde der Prozess auf unbestimmte Zeit vertagt. Ende Juli wurde Wesolowski dann aus dem Krankenhaus entlassen und kehrte in den Vatikan zurück.

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WATYKAN
Polskie Radio

Józef Wesołowski został znaleziony martwy w swoim mieszkaniu. Z pierwszych oględzin ciała wynika, że śmierć nastąpiła z przyczyn naturalnych. Mimo to prokurator watykański zarządził sekcję zwłok, która będzie przeprowadzona jeszcze w piątek. Jej wyniki zostaną podane do publicznej wiadomości.

Papież Franciszek został poinformowany o śmierci Józefa Wesołowskiego – podano w nocie watykańskiego biura prasowego.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
El Universal

Ciudad del Vaticano.- El juicio sin precedentes en el Vaticano contra un religioso por pederastia no se celebrará, pues el acusado, el polaco Jozef Wesolowski, exnuncio de la República Dominicana, fue hoy encontrado muerto en la habitación de su residencia en los Jardines Vaticanos.

Un franciscano que vive en el Colegio de los Penitenciarios, en los Jardines Vaticanos, y donde Wesolowski, de 67 años, residía en espera de juicio, encontró a las 5.00 horas de hoy el cuerpo sin vida del prelado, sentado en un sillón y con la televisión encendida, citó Efe.

El escueto comunicado del Vaticano informaba de que “en las primeras horas de esta mañana ha sido encontrado muerto en su habitación en el Vaticano monseñor Józef Wesolowski, ex nuncio Apostólico” y que “inmediatamente, ha intervenido la autoridad vaticana para llevar a cabo las primeras verificaciones, las cuales indican que la muerte se debió a causas naturales”.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
BBC Mundo

Jozef Wesolowski, el exarzobispo y otrora nuncio apostólico del Vaticano a República Dominicana, murió antes de que fuera enjuiciado por abuso sexual de menores.

El proceso que se le seguía en el Vaticano fue suspendido en julio después de que cayera enfermo.

Wesolowski estaba acusado de pagar por tener sexo con menores en República Dominicana.

Wesolowski fue encontrado sin vida en sus aposentos en el Vaticano donde cumplía arresto domiciliario desde septiembre.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Corriere della Sera

È morto in Vaticano l’ex arcivescovo polacco Jozef Wesolowski, che era sotto processo per atti di pedofilia commessi a Santo Domingo, dove era nunzio apostolico, e detenzione di materiale pedopornografico. Il processo all’ex presule era stato sospeso lo scorso 11 luglio a seguito di un malore che lo costrinse ad un ricovero in terapia intensiva. L’ex nunzio della Repubblica dominicana, nel 2014 era stato rimosso per volontà di papa Francesco ed era anche stato il primo cittadino alla sbarra per abusi su minori nello Stato della Città del Vaticano.

Il comunicato della Santa Sede

La notizia della morte di Wesolowski è stata confermata dalla Santa Sede. «Alle prime ore di venerdì mattina – afferma un comunicato della sala stampa vaticana – è stato trovato defunto nella sua abitazione in Vaticano Jozef Wesolowski. Subito intervenuta l’autorità vaticana per i primi accertamenti, i quali indicano che la morte è dovuta a cause naturali. Il Promotore di Giustizia ha ordinato un’autopsia, che sarà effettuata oggi stesso e i cui risultati saranno comunicati appena possibile. Il Santo Padre è stato doverosamente informato di tutto».

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
la Repubblica

CITTA’ DEL VATICANO – E’ morto in Vaticano l’ex arcivescovo polacco Jozef Wesolowski, che era sotto processo per atti di pedofilia commessi a Santo Domingo, dove era nunzio apostolico, e detenzione di materiale pedopornografico. Il processo all’ex presule era stato sospeso lo scorso 11 luglio a seguito di un malore.e aggiornato a data da destinarsi.

E’ stato trovato senza vita – questa mattina intorno alle 5 davanti alla televisione accesa – da un francescano del collegio dei Penitenzieri. L’ex nunzio viveva lì, con divieto di lasciare le mura vaticane in attesa del processo.

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VATICAN CITY
Deutsche Welle

A former archbishop, Jozef Wesolowski, has passed away while awaiting trial for paying for sex with minors, Vatican officials say. He was the highest-ranking Catholic official to face accusations of pedophilia.

The 67-year old Wesolowski was found dead in on Friday, a Vatican representative said in a statement. The Polish-born defrocked priest was held under house arrest in the seat of the Catholic Church.

The initial checks “indicated that the death was from natural causes,” a press statement said, adding that Vatican prosecutors ordered an immediate autopsy.

Vatican officials informed Pope Francis of the event, the authorities reported.

Wesolowski was stripped of his rank in the church hierarchy and reduced to a layman last year, after a church tribunal found him guilty of child abuse. This is the harshest penalty the Vatican tribunal can rule against a cleric under canon law.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

THE former Australian head of the second-largest Catholic order in the world has been jailed for child sex crimes.

Father Julian Fox, 70, is today behind bars, 16 years after being accused of child sex crimes while teaching at Melbourne schools in the 1980s and 1990s.

The remorseless Salesian priest left Australia in 1999, shortly before the first known complaints were made to his superiors.

He fled to Rome where he worked at the Salesian headquarters, spending more than a decade dodging calls to return to Melbourne to face justice.

In 2000, the Salesians made a confidential $36,000 payment to one victim, who died of drug abuse six years later.

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VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Mark Hanrahan @markdhanrahan

Jozef Wesolowski, a former Polish archbishop and the Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, died Friday, the Vatican said, before his trial on child sex offenses could continue.

Wesolowski, who was 67 at the time of his death, was accused of paying for sex with children in the Dominican Republic between 2008 and 2013, and possession of child pornography. His trial was postponed in July, after he was admitted to an intensive care unit due to a “sudden illness,” the nature of which was not specified, according to Catholic newspaper Crux.

A statement from the Vatican, cited by the Associated Press, said Wesolowski was found dead in his Vatican room early Friday. The Vatican prosecutor ordered an immediate autopsy, though the statement said that he appeared to have died from natural causes.

Wesolowski’s trial was to have been the first against a senior Catholic Church official under a revamped judicial regime instituted by Pope Francis, who has pushed the church to take a harder line against perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

Wesolowski was previously defrocked under canon law procedures and faced a possible prison sentence if convicted in his trial, the Guardian reported.

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VATICAN CITY
The News (Poland)

Polish-born Wesołowski had been waiting for the resumption of a trial in which he had been accused of pedophilia.

The 67-year old was the highest former dignitary of the Roman Catholic Church to be accused of pedophilia.

Shortly before the trial was due to start on 10 former archbishop July Wesołowski was taken into intensive care and was discharged after a few days.

The scandal was associated with allegations of pedophilia that erupted in the Vatican at the beginning of September 2013.

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VATICAN CITY
The Tablet

28 August 2015 by James Roberts

The former Apostolic Nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Józef Wesolowski, who was awaiting trial on charges he possessed child pornography and abused minors, died inside the Vatican in the early hours of this morning.

A Vatican statement said initial investigations indicated that he died of natural causes and an autopsy will be performed today. The communiqué said Pope Francis had been
informed of Wesolowski’s death.

The first and only hearing of the former nuncio’s trial in the Vatican took place on 11 July, but was suspended when he failed to appear. The court heard that Wesolowski had been transferred to the intensive care unit of a public hospital following the onset of an unexpected illness.

The criminal charges against the Polish national became possible after 2013, when Pope Francis approved new criminal laws applicable to all Vatican employees across the world. Any direct employee of the Holy See, including those working in a nunciature, can face a criminal trial at the Vatican as well as criminal prosecution in the country where the alleged crimes occurred.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

Jozef Wesolowski, a former archbishop and Vatican envoy to the Dominican Republic, has died before he could be tried for child sex offences.

He had been taken ill just before the start of his Vatican trial in July.

He was accused of paying for sex with children in the Dominican Republic.

Wesolowski, 66, would have been the first high-ranking church official to be tried on paedophile charges. His case was seen as a test of the Vatican’s pledge to stamp out abuse.

Last year, the Pope compared the actions of those who commit such crimes to a “satanic mass”.

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VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (UK)

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome

Friday 28 August 2015

The former Vatican ambassador Józef Wesołowski has died before he was due to go on trial for paedophilia, dealing a significant blow to Pope Francis’s efforts to tackle child sex abuse within the Catholic church.

Wesołowski was found dead at his Vatican residence early on Friday morning, the Holy See said in a statement. He is believed to have died from natural causes and a postmortem examination will be carried out on Friday to confirm the cause of death.

The Polish former archbishop was to be the first Vatican official to be tried within the walls of the Holy See for allegedly sexually abusing children while ambassador to the Dominican Republic.

The trial was scheduled to start on 11 July but was postponed after Wesołowski was taken to hospital after falling ill. Court proceedings were suspended indefinitely and were due to recommence once the accused’s health had improved.

Wesołowski, 67, returned to the Vatican two years ago amid reports that he had abused shoeshine boys plucked from the promenade in Santo Domingo. He was defrocked and arrested in 2014 and lived under house arrest while awaiting trial. In addition to the charges relating to his time as ambassador, Wesołowski was also accused of possessing child pornography at the Vatican.

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VATICAN CITY
The Times (UK)

Tom Kington Rome

Last updated at 11:58AM, August 28 2015

A former Catholic archbishop and papal nuncio accused of sexually abusing young boys has died at the Vatican, just as his ground-breaking trial got under way.

Józef Wesolowski, 67, who was on trial before a Vatican court, faced seven years in jail after allegedly paying shoeshine boys for sex in the Dominican Republic, where he served as papal nuncio.

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VATICAN CITY
Slate

By Beth Ethier

Józef Wesolowski, a former Catholic archbishop and papal envoy who was under house arrest in Vatican City, was found dead Friday ahead of his trial on charges that he sexually abused children, possessed pornography, and offended Christian morality. An autopsy is planned, but Wesolowski, 67, is believed to have died of natural causes.

Wesolowski served as apostolic nuncio, the Vatican’s chief diplomat, in the Dominican Republic from 2008 to 2013, and the case against him was considered a first for the Holy See’s criminal justice system. From the International Business Times:

Wesolowski was arrested in Rome after being recalled from the Dominican Republic over media allegations he had hired “rent boys.”

He was subsequently found guilty of sexual abuse and defrocked–the first top papal representative to receive such a sentence–in a canonical trial that paved the way for criminal charges. During the probe, Vatican detectives also found thousands of sexually explicit files on his office computer, with a second stash of material retrieved on a laptop he used during his trips abroad.

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VATICAN CITY
RTE News

A former archbishop accused of child sex offences was has died a month after he was hospitalised on the eve of his trial on paedophile charges, the Vatican said.

Jozef Wesolowski had been charged with possessing child pornography in Rome in 2013-14, and the sexual abuse of minors during his 2008-13 stint as the Vatican ambassador in the Dominican Republic.

A former papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Wesolowski appeared to have died of natural causes, the Vatican said in a statement.

The 67-year-old Pole was found dead in his rooms in the papal state, where he had been under arrest since September.

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VATICAN CITY
France 24

Polish former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, the first high-ranking Vatican official facing trial on paedophile charges, died overnight while under house arrest, the Holy See announced on Friday.

Wesolowski, 67, had suffered from health problems that caused a postponement last month of his criminal trial, which was to be the first of its kind initiated by the Vatican against a church official.

As the Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, he had been charged by church prosecutors with sexually abusing children in the Caribbean country.

He was found dead early on Friday in the Vatican room where he was being held under house arrest, a statement from the Vatican said. He had been under house arrest since September 2014.

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VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

[with video]

Józef Wesoowski, the ex-Apostolic Nuncio to the Dominican Republic, died at the Vatican. He was facing prosecution at a Vatican tribunal for possessing child pornography and abusing minors.

The 67-year-old was under house arrest and was living inside the Vatican. Initial reports suggest that he died of natural causes, but an autopsy is currently being performed to determine his exact cause of death.

FR. CIRO BENEDETTINI
Vatican Press Office

“The Holy Father has been informed of everything. They found him dead this morning at 5 o’clock with the television on. For that reason, it seems like he became ill suddenly. He was found by one of the Franciscans from the College of Prisons, where he was under house arrest.”

The former bishop resigned in August 2013 from his posts as Nuncio to the Dominican Republic and Apostolic Delegate to Puerto Rico, after being accused of child sexual abuse.

Once the accusations were proven true several months later, Pope Francis removed him from the priesthood.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

Reuters

VATICAN CITY — A Catholic former archbishop accused of child sex offenses was found dead on Friday, the Vatican said, a month after he was hospitalized on the eve of his trial.

Jozef Wesolowski faced charges of paying boys for sexual acts, downloading and buying pedophile material, and offending Christian morality, in the first trial of its kind held by the Vatican against a high-ranking Catholic official.

A former papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Wesolowski appeared to have died of natural causes, the Vatican said in a statement.

The 67-year-old Pole was found dead in his rooms in the papal state, where he had been under arrest since September. An autopsy has been scheduled to take place later on Friday.

Wesolowski fell ill in July and was taken to hospital the day before his trial, seen as an important test of Pope Francis’s drive to clean up the Catholic Church after child sex abuse scandals in several countries over many years.

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VATICAN CITY
The New York Times

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
AUG. 28, 2015

ROME — Jozef Wesolowski, a Polish former archbishop who would have been the first high-level prelate to stand before a Vatican tribunal on charges of child sexual abuse, was found dead early Friday, the Vatican said in a statement.

Initial examinations carried out by Vatican officials “determined that his death occurred from natural causes,” the statement said.

Mr. Wesolowski died in his Vatican City residence, where he had lived since September, after he was placed under house arrest. He was found by one of the Franciscan friars who lived in the same house, said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini.

An autopsy was being conducted Friday morning, Father Benedettini said.

Vatican prosecutors had accused Mr. Wesolowski, 67, of sexually abusing children in the Dominican Republic, where he was stationed from 2008 to 2013 as the Vatican’s ambassador. Already defrocked under canon law in 2014, Mr. Wesolowski was facing a prison sentence of up to eight years if found guilty.

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ZIMBABWE
Nehanda Radio

By Thandeka Moyo

BULAWAYO – The trial of a controversial pastor from Cowdray Park suburb in Bulawayo who allegedly turned a congregant, 16, into a sex slave and infected her with HIV and genital warts, took a new twist yesterday when the girl’s brother told the court that his sister made up the rape story.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the victim, took to the witness stand in defence of Greatness Tapfuma, 33, the founder of Kingdom Rulers International Church.

Giving his testimony before regional magistrate Chrispen Mberewere, the man said his sister was of loose morals and had contracted HIV way before she met Tapfuma.

“I’m very close to my sister and her mother, my step-mom. The truth is as a family we knew long back that she had HIV way before we started going to Pastor Tapfuma’s church.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

By: Cassie Hart

New sexual abuse allegation have surface against another member of the Catholic Church.

According to a statement from Archbishop Bernard Hebda on Thursday, the diocese has received “a credible allegation that the Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick, pastor at Corpus Christi parish and St. Rose of Lima parish and school in Roseville, sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.”

The Archdiocese has notified law enforcement.

During the investigation, Fr. Fitzpatrick will be on a leave of absence and will not exercise priestly ministry, the statement said.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Thursday, August 27, 2015
Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

From Archbishop Bernard Hebda

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has received a credible allegation that the Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick, pastor at Corpus Christi parish and St. Rose of Lima parish and school in Roseville, sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.

A “credible allegation” is one that is “not manifestly false or frivolous.” It is neither a presumption nor a determination of guilt. The Archdiocese has notified law enforcement. During the investigation, Father Fitzpatrick will be on a leave of absence and will not exercise priestly ministry.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

KATE CAMPBELL
PERTHNOW
AUGUST 28, 2015

EVANGELICAL Christian pastor David Volmer, charged as part of a shocking pedophile ring involving a 13-year-old girl, will learn his fate in November when he is sentenced.

Volmer, 41, briefly appeared in the Perth District Court on Friday to answer 12 charges, but refused to say anything as he left.

Apart from his lawyer Nick Scerri, the married father-of-two appeared at court alone.

A sentencing date was set for November 5.

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A Twin Cities area pastor is on leave after the Archdiocese says it received a credible sexual abuse allegation.

The Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick is accused of sexually abusing a minor in the 1980s.

Fitzpatrick is currently the pastor at Corpus Christi Parish in St. Paul and St. Rose of Lima Parish and School in Roseville.

In the 1980s he served as an Associate Pastor at Holy Spirit in St. Paul and as pastor at St. John the Evangelist in Little Canada.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse: Media misses real story

JACK THE INSIDER
THE AUSTRALIAN
AUGUST 28, 2015

While one royal commission has attracted the big headlines, there is another going more quietly about its business.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sex Abuse has barely rated a mention in news items recently until earlier this week when Bishop Geoffrey Robinson gave evidence.

Bishop Robinson was part of a group of senior clerics who developed the Church’s Towards Healing program for victims of clerical child sex abuse. His evidence contained criticisms of Cardinal George Pell and Pope John Paul II.

Naturally these criticisms became the stuff of headlines, the preoccupation with gotcha journalism being what it is but the media continues to miss the very obvious story and it is far more scandalous and far more troubling to contemplate.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

August 28, 2015

Adam Cooper and Mark Russell

The former Australian head of the Catholic Salesian order is in jail after he was found guilty of brutally sexually and physically assaulting boys at Victorian schools more than 30 years ago, it can now be revealed.

Only now can media report the cruel and devastating offending of Julian Benedict Fox, the former head of the Salesians in Australia, and a past teacher at notorious Salesian College Rupertswood in Sunbury, who was in the past year convicted in two separate County Court trials of assaulting two boys, in 1980 and 1984.

In custody since September, Fox, 70, also pleaded guilty on Friday to three counts of common assault, related to beating three other boys with a pool cue at Salesian College in 1978 and 1979.

A suppression order had prevented media from reporting the convictions, but that order was revoked on Friday by judge Graeme Hicks.

Fox was found guilty of a combined three counts of indecent assault by juries in two of the eight trials he faced between September last year and July. He was found not guilty in two trials, while four juries were discharged without verdict.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

THE former Australian head of the second-largest Catholic order in the world has been jailed for child sex crimes.

Father Julian Fox, 70, is today behind bars, 16 years after being accused of child sex crimes while teaching at Melbourne schools in the 1980s and 1990s.

The remorseless Salesian priest left Australia in 1999, shortly before the first known complaints were made to his superiors.

He fled to Rome where he worked at the Salesian headquarters, spending more than a decade dodging calls to return to Melbourne to face justice.

In 2000, the Salesians made a confidential $36,000 payment to one victim, who died of drug abuse six years later.

The death ended a police inquiry that had been frustrated by Fox’s refusal to return to Melbourne to be interviewed over the allegations.

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VATICAN CITY
CBC News

By Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press Posted: Aug 28, 2015

The Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, who had been charged by church prosecutors with sexually abusing children in the Caribbean country, died Friday of apparent natural causes as he awaited trial, the Vatican said.

Jozef Wesolowski, 67, was found dead early Friday in the Vatican room where he has been held on house arrest, a statement from the Vatican said.

Vatican officials immediately intervened and initial checks “indicated that the death was from natural causes,” a press statement said.

It said the Vatican prosecutor ordered an immediate autopsy and that Pope Francis was informed.

Wesolowski had been due to go on trial in a Vatican tribunal on July 11 for allegedly causing grave psychological harm to victims and possessing an enormous quantity of child pornography. But on the morning of the hearing, he was hospitalized in intensive care because of an unidentified “sudden illness.”

No new trial date was made public and the presiding judge had adjourned the trial indefinitely.

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VATICAN CITY
CNN

[with video]

By Ed Payne, Hada Messia and Richard Greene, CNN

(CNN) Jozef Wesolowski, a papal ambassador and the highest-ranking Catholic official to be put on trial for child abuse charges, died in his room early Friday.

“Vatican authorities quickly carried out the first investigation and have established that the death was caused by natural causes,” a Vatican statement said. An autopsy has been ordered and Pope Francis informed.

Wesolowski was accused of possession of child pornography and sexually abusing children during his time as papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic

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VATICAN CITY
BT

The Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, who had been charged with sexually abusing children in the Caribbean country, has died as he awaited trial.

Jozef Wesolowski, 67, was found dead in the Vatican room where he has been held on house arrest, according to a statement from the Vatican.

Initial checks “indicated that the death was from natural causes”, a press statement said.

It said the Vatican prosecutor ordered an immediate post-mortem and that Pope Francis was informed.

Wesolowski had been due to go on trial in a Vatican tribunal on July 11 for allegedly causing grave psychological harm to victims and possessing child pornography.

But on the morning of the hearing, he was admitted to intensive care because of an unidentified “sudden illness”. No new trial date was made public and the presiding judge had adjourned the trial indefinitely.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Herald

Wesołowski was under house arrest while awaiting trial on child sex abuse charges

The former archbishop Józef Wesołowski reportedly died at 5am inside the Vatican today.

The Vatican had placed the Polish laicised papal ambassador, 67, under house arrest as he awaited criminal trial for sexually abusing young boys.

Wesołowski served as nuncio to the Dominican Republic until August 2013.

The Vatican announced in June that a canonical court had investigated him on charges of sex abuse in the Dominican Republic.

It resulted in Wesołowski being dismissed from the clerical state, depriving him of all the rights and duties associated with being a priest except the obligation of celibacy.

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VATICAN CITY
Newsweek

Jozef Wesolowski, the disgraced former archbishop and Vatican ambassador to the Dominican Republic, has died before he could stand trial for child sex offences.

British magazine The Catholic Herald reported on Friday that Wesolowski, 67, who had been defrocked by the Vatican and placed under house arrest due to ill health, died inside the Vatican at 5 a.m. on Friday. The Polish former priest would have been the highest-ranking Vatican official ever to face criminal charges for sexual abuse of children.

A press statement from the Vatican said that initial checks by Vatican officials “indicated that the death was from natural causes,” according to AP. The statement said that the Vatican prosecutor had ordered an immediate autopsy and that Pope Francis had been informed.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Bolletino

Testo in lingua italiana

Alle prime ore di questa mattina è stato trovato defunto nella sua abitazione in Vaticano S.E. Mons. Józef Wesołowski, già Nunzio Apostolico.

È subito intervenuta l’autorità vaticana per i primi accertamenti, i quali indicano che la morte è dovuta a cause naturali. Il Promotore di Giustizia ha ordinato un’autopsia, che sarà effettuata oggi stesso e i cui risultati saranno comunicati appena possibile. Il Santo Padre è stato doverosamente informato di tutto.

[01375-IT.01]

Traduzione in lingua spagnola

En las primeras horas de esta mañana ha sido encontrado muerto en su habitación en el Vaticano S.E. Mons. Józef Wesołowski, ex Nuncio Apostólico.

Inmediatamente, ha intervenido la autoridad vaticana para llevar a cabo las primeras verificaciones, las cuales indican que la muerte se debió a causas naturales. El Promotor de Justicia ha ordenado la autopsia, que será efectuada hoy mismo y cuyos resultados serán comunicados apenas sea posible. El Santo Padre ha sido oportunamente informado de todo.

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VATICAN CITY
GlobalPost

Agence France-Presse on Aug 28, 2015

Josef Wesolowski, a former Polish archbishop who had been due to be first cleric tried in the Vatican for child sex abuse, was found dead on Friday.

Wesolowski, 67, was found at dawn at his residence in the city state, a Vatican statement said.

The first indications were that he died of natural causes but an autopsy was to be carried out during the day and the results published as soon as possible, it said, adding that Pope Francis was being kept fully informed.

Wesolowski’s death came six weeks after his landmark trial was suspended after only seven minutes because of an undisclosed illness which resulted in the accused being hospitalised on the eve of its start.

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VATICAN CITY
Wall Street Journal

By LIAM MOLONEY
Aug. 28, 2015

VATICAN CITY—The former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, who was under house arrest on charges of child abuse and possession of child pornography, died early Friday, according to the Vatican.

The Vatican said in a statement initial indications were that Jozef Wesolowski, the Polish born-priest who had been the most senior Vatican official arrested on allegations of child sex abuse so far, had died of natural causes.

He was found dead in front of the television in the early hours of Friday, said Rev. Ciro Benedettini, deputy head of the Vatican press office. The Vatican said that an autopsy has been ordered and will be carried out Friday. The results of the autopsy will be made public “as soon as possible.”

Mr. Wesolowski, 67, was recalled as ambassador to the Caribbean country in 2013, after a five-year posting, in the wake of reports of sexual misconduct.

He was defrocked as archbishop by a Vatican tribunal last year for sexual abuse of minors in the Dominican Republic. In June, after the pope gave his permission, a Vatican criminal court indicted him on charges of sexually abusing boys in the Dominican Republic and of possessing child pornography. He had been under house arrest inside the Vatican awaiting the start of his trial.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
8.28.2015

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Vatican official has ordered an autopsy on the body of former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who was found dead Aug. 28 in the Vatican residence where he was awaiting trial on charges of child sexual abuse and possession of child pornography.

Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, Vatican spokesman, said Wesolowski’s body was found at 5 a.m. by a priest who also lives in the building, which houses the Franciscans who hear confessions in St. Peter’s Basilica and offices of the Vatican police force. Wesolowski was in front of a television, which was on, the spokesman said.

Officials from the Vatican police, medical service and court arrived quickly, he said, for an “initial verification, which indicated the death was from natural causes.”

“The promoter of justice ordered an autopsy, which will be carried out today,” the spokesman said. “The results will be communicated as soon as possible.”

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UNITED STATES
Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland

WARNINGS:
USCCB- RE: FR. ANTHONY NACHEF

The Eparchy of Newton of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church has advised the Conference of its concerns regarding Fr. Anthony Nachef. Fr. Nachef was previously a priest of the Basilian Salvatorian Order who was removed from the several ministry positions and subsequently was expelled from that Order and incurred excommunication. He was later permitted to return to the priesthood while at the same time operating a private travel agency in Massachusetts, and in 2010 the previous Eparchial Bishop of Newton had agreed that Fr. Nachef was a priest in good standing for certain limited purposes.

However, the current Eparchial Bishop of Newton advises us that he has now revoked all faculties that Fr. Nachef may have had in that Eparchy, following subsequent reports of misconduct, and that the Patriarchal Exarch of the Melkite Eparchy in Mexico has also withdrawn Fr. Nachef’s faculties. The previous Eparchial Bishop of Newton, Archbishop Cyril Bustros, now the Metropolitan of Beirut and Jbeil (Lebanon) has declared that Fr. Nachef is not a member of the clergy of that Archdiocese, either.

As a result, the Eparchial Bishop of Newton advises that Fr. Nachef is not in good standing with the Church and cannot celebrate the liturgy in public, but rather is attempting to promote the business of his “Catholic” travel agency through use of his priesthood. Those needing further information should contact the Office of the Bishop of the Eparchy of Newton at (617) 323-9921.

*

WARNINGS:
USCCB- RE: FR. MANUEL GALLO-ESPINOZA

The Archdiocese of Newark has advised the Conference of its concerns regarding Fr. Manuel Gallo-Espinoza, a priest of the Diocese of Loja (Ecuador) who had previously ministered in the Archdiocese in 2003, but whose faculties were removed following accusations of sexual misconduct with a minor. The Archdiocese relates that it understood that Fr. Gallo-Espinoza had then returned to Ecuador. However, the Archdiocese advises that it now believes Fr. Gallo-Espinoza to be living in Maryland, and that he does not have the permission of his diocesan bishop to be in the United States and does not have faculties from the Diocese of Loja. Those needing further information should contact the Office of the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Newark at (973) 497-4002.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Brian Lee
Telegram & Gazette Staff

Posted Aug. 27, 2015

WORCESTER – The retired Roman Catholic priest who recently pleaded not guilty to federal money laundering charges was allegedly involved in an elaborate scheme to defraud women interested in dating websites, according to an initial detention order from U.S. District Court in Tampa.

A grand jury in Massachusetts recently returned an indictment charging the Rev. Thomas B. Fleming with 12 counts of money laundering. He faces a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment, a federal prosecutor said.

The indictment alleges offenses from January 2013 to April 2014, and the government estimates the losses are around $140,000, presumably much of the money sent to Nigeria, the detention order said.

On July 21, when the government questioned whether the Rev. Fleming had fled to Florida to avoid arrest, a Florida judge ordered him held pending trial.

But when the Rev. Fleming was brought to U.S. District Court in Worcester for his arraignment on Aug. 14, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Grady said it was learned that there had been no avoidance purpose to his trip to Florida.

Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy, who was initially going to hold the Rev. Fleming on $5,000 bond, released him on a $25,000 unsecured bond.

Defense lawyer Miriam Conrad said the priest had been visiting a friend in Florida, and does on a yearly basis.

Ms. Conrad said the Rev. Fleming has no criminal record, is a lifelong resident of Worcester residing in his childhood home and is indigent. She said he is no longer receiving retirement pay.

The indictment alleges that he claimed more than $91,000 in wire transfers from three states, and sent $2,500 to Nigerian accounts during the past two years from what the indictment described as the proceeds of unlawful activity.

In addition to Nigeria, the alleged scheme involves participants in Connecticut, Illinois and California, according to the five-page indictment.

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ILLINOIS
CI news Now

[with video]

August 27, 2015

PEORIA, Ill. — A sex abuse victim says the Catholic priest accused of sexual misconduct should be subject to police investigations, even if it’s beyond the statue of limitations.

That’s the opinion of Jeff Jones, who says that he was also sexually molested as a child.

Peoria Catholic Diocese Bishop Daniel Jenky said Terry Cassidy can no longer serve in the ministry due to sex abuse allegations involving a minor nearly 30 years ago.

Cassidy served at St. Ann Church in Peoria and St. Edward in Chillicothe in the early nineties.

Jones says in many cases involving priests there has been a pattern of sexual abuse over time.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Associated Press AUGUST 27, 2015

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has put a Roseville priest on leave after receiving what it is calling a credible allegation that he sexually abused a minor in the 1980s.

The Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick is pastor at Corpus Christi parish and St. Rose of Lima parish and school.

Interim Archbishop Bernard Hebda announced the decision on Thursday and says police have been notified.

Hebda says Fitzpatrick will not exercise any priestly ministries while the investigation is ongoing.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

[with document]

08/27/2015

Jennifer Haselberger

Priests in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis received the following notice this afternoon from Archbishop Hebda.

Statement Regarding Rev. Robert Fitzpartrick from Archbishop Bernard Hebda

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has received a credible allegation that the Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick, pastor at Corpus Christi parish and St. Rose of Lima parish and school in Roseville, seually abused a minor in the 1980s.

A “credible allegation” is one that is “not manifestly false or frivolous.” It is neither a presumption nor a determination of guilt. The Archdiocese has notifed law enforcement. During the investigation, Father Fitzpatrick will be on a leave of absence and will not exercise priestly ministry.

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MINNESOTA
Northlands News Center

By Ramona Marozas – Biography

Hibbing, MN (NNCNOW.com) — Another charge has been brought against a Hibbing, Minn., priest currently on administrative leave in light of a fourth victim coming forward.

Brian Lederer, 29, now faces six charges of criminal sexual conduct, as well as a charge of possession of child pornography.

Three victims were under 13, and another was under 16.

On Thursday the St. Louis County court approved adding a charge of criminal sexual conduct involving a fourth victim.

Child pornography was allegedly discovered on Lederer’s personal computer, according the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office.

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ITALIA
il Resto del Carlino

[Sexual molestation of a minor results if arrest of a theologian.]

Ancona, 25 agosto 2015 – Molestie sessuali. Accuse infamanti quelle che hanno portato in carcere Solideo Paolini, 45 anni, uno studioso di teologia molto noto negli ambienti nazionali per essere prodondo conoscitore del terzo segreto di Fatima (sul quale ha scritto alcuni libri), presidente del circolo «Cattolici per la tradizione». Secondo la Procura di Ancona che ha chiesto e ottenuto dal gip del tribunale dorico un’ordinanza di custodia cautelare in carcere, Paolini, che abita a Monte San Vito avrebbe ripetutamente approfitatto della minorenne che ha un rapporto di vicinanza con la sua famiglia.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Fuldaer Zeitung

[A priest in Germany must leave his position in the next few months. The Fulda diocese said the priest violence the abuse prevention guidelines adopted by the church. Many people in the community oppose the move.]

.DERMBACH
Patrick Lindner, der seit acht Jahren Pfarrer der Katholiken in Dermbach, Zella und Stadtlengsfeld ist, muss in den nächsten Monaten seine Stelle verlassen. Das Bistum Fulda begründet seine Entscheidung damit, dass der Pfarrer gegen die Präventionsrichtlinien verstoßen habe, die das Bistum nach den Missbrauchsfällen in der katholischen Kirche verabschiedet hat. Das stößt in Teilen der Gemeinde auf Empörung. Dies wurde am Sonntag beim Gottesdienst in Dermbach besonders deutlich.

Von unserem Redaktionsmitglied Hartmut Zimmermann

Die Entscheidung des Bistums setzt einen vorläufigen Schlusspunkt unter eine Auseinandersetzung, die schon fast ein Jahr dauert. Im September vergangenen Jahres hatte das Bistum Pfarrer Lindner „aus gesundheitlichen Gründen“ beurlaubt. Das war, wie Steinert auf Anfrage unserer Zeitung erklärte, eine Formulierung, um den damals bestehenden Verdacht eines sexuellen Übergriffs nicht öffentlich zu machen. Dies sei mit Lindners Anwalt so abgesprochen worden.

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HAWAII
Spiegel

[Drunk driving: Police arrest former Pope’s confidant.]

Kardinal William Joseph Levada war sieben Jahre lang der oberste Sittenwächter der katholischen Kirche. Der 79-jährige US-Amerikaner amtierte von Mai 2005 bis Juni 2012 als Chef der Glaubenskongregation im Vatikan – ein enger Vertrauter von Papst Benedikt XVI. Vor drei Jahren trat Levada in den Ruhestand.

Jetzt ist er mit einem Vorfall in die Schlagzeilen geraten, der mit seiner früheren Rolle nur schwer in Einklang zu bringen ist. Auf Hawaii hat ihn die Polizei verhaftet – weil er betrunken Auto gefahren sein soll. Gegen 500 Dollar Kaution kam Levada zunächst wieder frei. Am 24. September muss er sich vor Gericht verantworten.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Katholisch

[Without education, no reconciliation.]

Geoffrey Robinson, der 78-jährige emeritierte Weihbischof von Sydney und langjährige Missbrauchsbeauftragte der australischen Bischofskonferenz, hat sich dieser Tage zu Wort gemeldet. Es war dem krebskranken Robinson ein großes Anliegen, noch einmal von der zuständigen Kommission in Australien gehört zu werden. Robinson war für mich in den letzten Jahren ein Vorbild, eine Trost- und Hoffnungsfigur.

Kaum einer hat als zuständiger Vertreter der Hierarchie so viel und intensiv mit Opfern von sexualisierter Gewalt in der katholischen Kirche gesprochen, kaum einer hat einen so hohen Preis bezahlt für seine offenen Worte und seine Aufklärungsbemühungen. Seine kritischen Reflexionen über strukturelle Kontexte von Machtmissbrauch in der Kirche waren von einer großen Liebe zur Kirche und zur Theologie getragen, zugleich aber auch sachkompetent, radikal nachdenklich und von reicher Erfahrung geprägt.

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WISCONSIN
Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison

Written by by Brent King, Director of Communications, Diocese of Madison
Thursday, Jul. 16, 2015

MADISON — Diocese of Madison officials were recently notified by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, in Rome, of the publication of the findings of the appellate tribunal court’s hearing of the appeal of Fr. Gerald Vosen, who was placed on administrative leave in 2004 and formally suspended since 2008.

With this release, we inform the faithful of the diocese and the general public of the appellate tribunal’s conclusions.

The appellate tribunal has confirmed the finding of the first-instance tribunal (Diocese of Madison’s — 2007) that Fr. Gerald Vosen is guilty of two offenses against the sixth commandment (sexual misconduct), with minors under the age of 16.

Likewise, the appellate tribunal confirmed the penalty issued by the first-instance tribunal, namely, Father Vosen’s permanent removal from all ecclesiastical ministry with the admonition to lead a life of prayer and penance. No further right to appeal exists.

The confirmation of this penalty means that Father Vosen is not to exercise any public ministry, whatsoever, nor is he to present himself publically as a minister of the Church, including by wearing clerical dress.

Background
• Accusations of sexual misconduct against Father Vosen were brought to the diocese’s attention in 2003. He was immediately placed on temporary leave, pending an investigation and possible trial.

• In February of 2004, the diocesan Sexual Abuse Review Board found at least one accusation credible, and the matter was referred to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which instructed the local tribunal to proceed with a trial. Father Vosen was placed on formal administrative leave, as a matter of policy, while the case was being adjudicated by a local Church tribunal.

• In August of 2007, the local Church tribunal judged that Father Vosen was guilty of two offenses against the sixth commandment and sentenced him to permanent removal from all ecclesiastical ministry. Father Vosen appealed this decision, as was his right.

• In 2008, Father Vosen published a book named, Pick a Number: Stories of Faith. In the book, Father Vosen made explicit mention of what occurred during the previous penal trial, knowingly violating the legal proceedings’ protocols, which exist to protect the privacy and reputations of all involved — the accused, as well as witnesses. Father Vosen was formally suspended, and all his priestly faculties were removed.

Father Vosen’s case is officially concluded, with no further right to appeal. He can never again act publically as a priest or obtain any faculties for such ministry.

As always, any allegation of sexual misconduct should be brought to the attention of law enforcement officials. If allegations involve priests, deacons, or other Church personnel, regardless of when they are said to have occurred, they should also be reported to the Diocese of Madison, by way of the Sexual Misconduct Question and Reporting Line, 608-821-3162. The diocesan policies regarding sexual abuse allegations, and instructions for making a report of sexual misconduct, are available on the diocesan website: www.madisondiocese.org

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
CBS News

CONCORD, N.H. — Jurors have begun deliberating whether a graduate of an elite New Hampshire prep school raped a freshman as part of a tradition of sexual conquest called Senior Salute.

The jury got the case Thursday afternoon after closing arguments and instructions from the judge. Nineteen-year-old Owen Labrie, of Tunbridge, Vermont, faces six sexual assault charges, three of them felonies.

Prosecutors say he raped a 15-year-old freshman in a dark, deserted building on May 30, 2014, two days before he graduated last year from St. Paul’s School in Concord.

Labrie contends the two had consensual sexual contact but not intercourse. The girl testified that she “froze” as the events of that night went way beyond what she had envisioned.

Two alternates in the trial were chosen Thursday, leaving a jury of nine.

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UNITED STATES
YouTube

Judy tells her story of how she is dealing with sexual abuse of her relatives by a Steubenville priest. [ http://www.steubenvilletruth.org/ ]

If you wish to connect with this family member, contact: snapsteubenville@gmail.com

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
CNN

[with video]

By Aaron Cooper, Boris Sanchez and Steve Almasy, CNN

Concord, New Hampshire (CNN)Speaking in a calm and assured tone, the graduate of a prestigious New England prep school on trial for rape testified Wednesday that he put on a condom but didn’t have sex with a female fellow student because it “didn’t feel like the right move.”

With his accuser watching in the courtroom, 19-year-old Owen Labrie described the encounter last year with the now-16-year-old girl as consensual.

Labrie said that the two sneaked into an attic room in a St. Paul’s School academic building a few days before graduation and together spread a flannel blanket Labrie brought with him.

Sweatshirts, shirts and later pants were removed, he testified, but all of their underwear stayed on.

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UNITED STATES
YouTube

Steubenville Diocese Survivor: Ben’s Story Concluded

“Ben” begins to tell his story of being sexually abused as a young kid in the early 1940s by Fr. Robert A. Brown. [ http://www.steubenvilletruth.org/ ] If you wish to connect with this survivor, contact: snapsteubenville@gmail.com

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DELAWARE
Delaware Today

BY KEVIN NOONAN

John Baesch and Fran Malooly were typical kids growing up in a middle-class Baltimore neighborhood in the 1940s and 1950s. They lived in modest, one-family homes, went to St. Ursula Catholic grade school, played sports together, went to school dances and did what most kids did in those postwar years. But there was a difference. “Fran was normal as could be. He was just like the rest of us,’’ Baesch says. “At the same time, we all knew that he was better than the rest of us.’’

His friends sensed that W. Francis Malooly had already heard God’s voice calling to him. He was spending a lot of time at St. Ursula, his Parkville parish church—an involvement that would lead him to the priesthood and, eventually, to become the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington. “That’s really where the seed was planted,” Baesch says. “Fran became an altar boy as soon as he was old enough, and he even took a night job working the telephone in the rectory. He got to see how the parish worked in a very intimate way, and he got to see how parish priests operated on a day-to-day basis.”

Malooly remembers how impressed he was by the priests’ devotion and their enthusiasm to their calling. “They just had something special about them and the way they went about their business,’’ he says. “They related to the people of the parish really well, and they had so much energy, and they did so many positive things for people. And what really struck me was how much joy they had in everything they did.’’

After eighth grade, Malooly went into the seminary, though his family had reservations about him taking such a big step before he had a chance to experience life. They didn’t need to worry. “Every year, I would come home for the summer and be with my friends and play summer-league basketball and just do all the normal things someone my age would do,’’ Malooly says. “I would also reflect on my life and pray about my vocation, and, over the years, my commitment got stronger. And 12 years later, I was ordained.’’ The ceremony, fittingly enough, took place at St. Ursula, just a long jump shot away from the Malooly family home. …

The Past and the Future

Malooly has had to face several challenges as bishop of Wilmington, including the child-abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church like nothing else in its 2,000-year history. He realizes the victims still suffer.

“You can’t blame them for not being at peace,’’ Malooly says. “These horrible crimes committed against them came at a time in their life before they even had a realization of life. We can never forget those crimes, and we can never think for a moment that we can put this behind us or act like it never happened. Those crimes were done, and many people are not healed, and we can’t pretend it didn’t happen.’’

Judy Miller, who is the Delaware chapter president of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, has found Malooly receptive to her group. He offered to meet with any abuse survivors who wanted to see him, and he gave his parishes permission to publicize the support group. At the same time, Miller believes Malooly and other bishops are sometimes more concerned about the church’s image than the abuse survivors’ well-being.

“He certainly seems sincere, and he always says all of the right things,’’ Miller says. “But he’s also a company man, and he played it by the playbook, just like the other dioceses did.’’ Miller refers to 2009, when the Diocese of Wilmington became the seventh American diocese to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy before making settlements with abuse survivors who had sued the diocese. “They all did the same thing: They brought out the lawyers, just when the survivors thought this was going to end,’’ Miller says. “So he was no different than any other bishop faced with it. He comes across as caring, but how pastoral was he when he turned it over to his lawyers?’’

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston Globe

By Andy Rosen and Peter Schworm GLOBE STAFF AUGUST 27, 2015

CONCORD, N.H. — Owen Labrie’s alleged victim “froze in fear as he carried out his plan,” a prosecutor said Thursday morning in closing arguments in Labrie’s trial on charges of raping a fellow student at the elite St. Paul’s School.

But defense attorney Jay W. Carney Jr. said his client had told the truth when he testified he did not have sexual intercourse with the girl.

“I’m not saying he’s a saint. He’s not a saint. He’s a teenager. But I submit he told the truth,” said Carney.

Closing arguments wrapped up around noon, and the judge began to instruct jurors in advance

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
WCVB

CONCORD, N.H. —A prosecutor who says a recent graduate of an elite New Hampshire prep school raped a 15-year-old freshman has told jurors the defendant didn’t honor the girl’s wishes when she told him “no.”

Prosecutor Joseph Cherniske said in closing arguments Thursday that the girl clung to her undergarments when then-18-year-old Owen Labrie tried to remove them May 30, 2014.

Cherniske tells jurors that the girl’s expectations before the two met just days before Labrie graduated from St. Paul’s don’t matter.

Cherniske asked, “Does that mean she can’t change her mind?”

The prosecutor also stressed that Labrie told police that participants in a school tradition of sexual conquest called Senior Salute took “great pride in taking the virginity of younger students.”

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

[with document]

08/26/2015

According to a recent article in The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the ‘independent’ Catholic Services Appeal Foundation has reached 85% of its yearly goal of $9.3 million. However, the article continues, the money raised has come from even fewer donors than in previous years. Specifically, nearly 7000 former donors did not give to the Appeal this year.

The number of donors has been dropping steadily during the past eight years, beginning with Archbishop Nienstedt’s appointment, continuing through the ill-fated campaign for a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, and then plummeting once the scandal broke in 2013. Still, it is interesting to me that there would be such a significant drop even after the Archdiocese had reassured the faithful (repeatedly) that the healing could begin.

Then again, having been fortunate enough to get a glimpse of a recent mailing to former donors, I can understand why the numbers continue to drop. In an attempt to lure them back (meaning securing more contributions), former donors have received invitations to a BBQ (see below). However, it is not these former donors who are the special guests of the evening (as would be appropriate in terms of protocol) or the worthy recipients of the CSA funds (i.e. the poor, a la Pope Francis). No, the special guests in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis remain who they have always been- the bishops. I wonder if Archbishop Nienstedt also plans on putting in an appearance?

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

8/26/2015

Judge Orders Diocese of Duluth to Produce All Records on Child Sexual Abuse by Clergy from 1956-74

Judge Floerke’s Order in Doe 28 Case is Big Step Toward Diocese Accountability, Transparency

Doe 28 Order Compelling Discovery 8-17-2015

(St. Paul, MN) – St. Louis County District Court Shaun R. Floerke has ordered the Diocese of Duluth, the Defendant in the Doe 28 clergy sexual abuse lawsuit, to produce all records pertaining to sexual abuse reported to have been committed by any priest from 1956 to 1974. The secret documents will be produced to Doe 28 under seal as a result of a protective order previously obtained by the Diocese of Duluth in the lawsuit.

The documents will provide a clearer picture of the Diocese of Duluth’s practices regarding abusive priests. The Diocese of Duluth has refused to provide these documents to Doe 28. The Diocese previously released a list of credibly accused priests but has refused to publicly release related documents.

“This is a big step forward in the right direction for transparency and accountability,” said Jeff Anderson, attorney for Doe 28. “The Diocese of Duluth must finally disclose to Plaintiff what it knew about abusive priests, when it knew, and how it responded. We again urge the Diocese to publicly disclose this information. Only then, through full, public disclosure, will there be transparency, justice and healing for survivors.”

Doe 28 was sexually abused as a minor by Father Robert Klein, a Diocese of Duluth priest, while Klein was working at Sacred Heart Church and St. Jean’s School, in Duluth, in approximately 1972-74. Doe 28 met and was abused by Klein in Duluth and Brainerd, Minn. Doe 28 brought his lawsuit under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which gives child sexual abuse victims until May 25, 2016, to file civil lawsuits.

Contact: Jeff Anderson: Office/651.964.3458 Cell/612.817.8665
Mike Finnegan: Office/651.964.3458 Cell/612.205.5531

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Telegram & Gazette

By Dianne Williamson

Posted Aug. 27, 2015

It’s known as the “senior salute,” and a teen on trial for allegedly raping a freshman at the elite St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., had written up a list of potential conquests.

Defendant Owen Labrie testified in his own defense Wednesday and denied that he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl last year in a secluded campus room, just days from his graduation. Labrie was a prefect at the school and had already been accepted to Harvard, where he planned to study theology.

But prosecutors said Labrie was also an eager competitor in the “senior salute,” a ritual in which senior boys try to score with younger girls. According to an affidavit, Labrie told police he was “trying to be No. 1 in the sexual scoring at St. Paul’s School.”

Whether or not Labrie is found guilty of rape, testimony in this high-profile trial in New Hampshire underscores troubling ideas about sex and consent among young people.

The administration at St. Paul’s School, meanwhile, has said little to nothing about a case that cries out for leadership and action. In a statement Monday, it claims that “allegations about our culture are not emblematic of our school or our values, our rules, or the people that represent our student body, alumni, faculty and staff.”

Some would say otherwise. He politely declined to comment when I contacted him yesterday, but Shamus Khan, an alumnus and now associate professor at Columbia University, wrote about the school’s sexual culture in his 2011 book, “Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School.”

He wrote about the annual dance called Screw, where “the sexual desirability of girls is determined by their value on the ‘screw’ marketplace.” He wrote about a ritual in which new female students had to divulge their sexual pasts.

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ILLINOIS
Journal Star

Braley Dodson
Journal Star reporter

Posted Aug. 26, 2015

PEORIA — A local Catholic priest is being forced to step down from public ministry following allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Allegations against the Rev. Terry Cassidy, pastor of St. Ann Catholic Church in Peoria, date back nearly 30 years ago, according to a news release from the Catholic Diocese of Peoria on Wednesday. The release does not specify a number of victims, when the misconduct occurred or when the allegations were made.

The decision was made after Bishop Daniel Jenky received unanimous advice of the Diocesan Review Commission, according to the release.

Chancellor Patricia Gibson said the Diocese would have no further comment on the case. A call left on Cassidy’s office phone at St. Ann was not returned.

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MINNESOTA
Northlands News Center

August 26, 2015

Duluth, MN (NNCNOW.com) — The Diocese of Duluth is under court order to produce all records on child sexual abuse by clergy from 1956 to 1974.

St. Louis County District Court Judge Shaun Floerke ordered the secret documents be given under seal to the attorneys of Doe 28.

Doe 28 has brought a civil suit against the diocese claiming sexual abuse of a minor by Father Robert Klein.

A Diocese of Duluth priest at the time of the alleged abuse, Klein worked at Duluth’s Sacred Heart Church and St. Jean’s School.

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ILLINOIS
CI News Now

PEORIA, Ill. — A local Catholic priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor has been removed from public ministry.

63-year-old Terry Cassidy has served at churches in Peoria and elsewhere in the region since 1984.

He was pastor at Saint Ann Church in Peoria since 1999.

The allegations date back nearly 30-years.

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ILLINOIS
The Times

A priest who, was served from 1994 to 1995 at St. Mary Church in Wenona and St. John the Baptist Church in Lostant, was told Wednesday to step down from the priesthood, because of an allegation of sexual misconduct.

Terry Cassidy, last assigned to a church in Peoria, was ordered by Bishop Daniel Jenky to “no longer function in public ministry.” Jenky said an allegation was made Cassidy engaged in misconduct with a minor almost 30 years ago.

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ILLINOIS
Quad-City Times

By Thomas Geyer

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria has removed a priest from public ministry based on allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor dating back about 30 years, the diocese announced Wednesday in a news release.

Bishop Daniel Jenky, upon the unanimous advise of the Diocesan Review Commission, required the Rev. Terry Cassidy, pastor of St. Ann Church, Peoria, to step down from public ministry.

Cassidy can no long function as a Catholic priest in any capacity, nor can he wear clerical garb or the Roman collar. He also is to refrain from using the title reverend or father.

According to the diocese, Cassidy has served at many churches, including Christ the King Church in Moline from 1984-1987, and St. Mary Church, Moline, in 1992. He also has served at St. Catherine Church, Aledo; St. Mary Church, Keithsburg; St. Anthony Church, Matherville; St. Theresa Church, New Boston; St. John Church, Viola, among others.

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ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Aug. 26

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

Statement by Jeff Jones, Peoria SNAP leader (jjones10072gmail.com, 815 985 9441)

We are saddened that Peoria’s bishop says nothing about calling the police about a child sex abuse report against one of his priests.

Bishop Daniel Jenky says that Fr. Terry Cassidy has essentially been suspended because of an abuse report. But in his news release Jenky does not urge victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police. Nor does he say whether or not he has turned over Fr. Cassidy’s personnel files to police.

We hope Jenky gives all of Fr. Cassidy’s records to law enforcement. And we hope every single person who may have seen, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups in the Peoria area – whether by Cassidy, Jenky or any cleric – will call law enforcement expose wrongdoers, protect kids and start healing.

We also hope that Jenky will go to every parish where Fr. Cassidy has worked, begging anyone with information or suspicions about him to call secular authorities. We also hope that Jenky will send this same message through church bulletins, parish websites and pulpit announcements across the diocese.

Jenky and his and-picked panel obviously believe this is a credible allegation. Otherwise, they would not have made this decision and announcement. Only a fool would believe that a credibly accused child molester only molested once. So we call on Jenky to launch an aggressive outreach effort to both find and help other victims of Fr. Cassidy and to help law enforcement potentially prosecute him.

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