ABUSE TRACKER

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By AMY FORLITI Associated Press JUNE 15, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS — John Nienstedt’s term as leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was rocky almost from the start.

His conservative views became well-known when he launched an expensive and unapologetic fight against gay marriage. In the last two years, he was besieged by a clergy sex-abuse scandal that included numerous lawsuits from victims and led to bankruptcy. Earlier this month, the archdiocese was criminally charged for failing to protect children.

On Monday, Nienstedt stepped down, saying he wanted to give the archdiocese a fresh start after his leadership had “drawn attention away from” the church’s good works and “those who perform them.”

Nienstedt took over the St. Paul archdiocese in 2007, replacing moderate Archbishop Harry Flynn, and his conservative reputation preceded him. As bishop in the nearby New Ulm Diocese, Nienstedt had criticized his predecessor’s call for dialogue on opening the priesthood to women. He also chided a priest in the small town of St. Peter for worshipping with Lutherans on several occasions after a tornado destroyed the town’s Catholic church in 1998.

And he led a drive to pressure legislators for a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman, a cause he would take up again in St. Paul.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Pichè of St Paul’s-Minneapolis after Prosecutors charged the archdiocese for failing to protect minors from a predator priest

GERARD O’CONNELL

In a surprise but highly significant decision regarding bishop accountability, Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt of St Paul’s and Minneapolis and also that of the archdiocese’s auxiliary bishop, Lee Anthony Piché.

The Vatican broke the news at midday on Monday, June 15, and said that Francis took the decision in conformity with Canon 401 #2 of the Church’s Code of Canon Law. Article 2 of that canon states: “A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill-health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.”

The “grave reason” for which the archbishop and auxiliary bishop handed in – or were asked to hand in – their resignation existed when Prosecutors, on June 5, charged the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over its handling of clergy abuse claims. They charged that the archdiocese – and by implication its leaders – had failed to protect children from harm and had “turned a blind eye” to repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by one of its priests who was later convicted of molesting boys.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi charged the archdiocese with six counts of “gross demeanor”. Announcing this, he said there was ‘not yet’ enough evidence to charge any individual. The charges relate to the archdiocese’s handing of the case of the former priest, Curtis Wehmeyer, who is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for molesting two boys and faces further prosecution involving a third boy in Wisconsin.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

Jennifer Haselberger

The priests of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis received this message via email early this morning.

Subject:

Message from Archbishop John C. Nienstedt

My dear brothers in Christ, I would have preferred to share this with you in person, but the desire of the Holy See to announce this made it impossible to wait until the Presbyterial Assembly in Rochester to tell you. In order to give the Archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face, I have submitted my resignation as Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and I have just received word that he has accepted it.

The Catholic Church is not our Church, but Christ’s Church, and we are merely stewards for a time. My leadership has unfortunately drawn attention away from the good works of His Church and those who perform them. Thus, my decision to step down. In addition, Bishop Lee Piché submitted his resignation to our Holy Father and it too was accepted. Our Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, to serve as the Apostolic Administrator for our Archdiocese until another Archbishop is appointed.

Bishop Piché’s statement to the media, and Archbishop Hebda’s bio and open letter to the
faithful are attached. This evening in Rochester, Bishop Andrew Cozzens will have an opportunity to address all the priests about this. It has been my privilege the last seven years to serve the local Church. I have come to appreciate deeply the vitality of the 187 parishes that make up the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. I am grateful for the support I have received from you, religious men and women and lay leaders, especially those who have collaborated with me in the oversight of this local Church. I leave with a clear conscience knowing that my team and I have put in plaace solid protocols to ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults. I ask for continued prayers for the well-being of this Archdiocese and its future leaders. I also ask for your continued prayers for me.

Fraternally Yours in Christ,
Archbishop John C. Niensted

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent June 15, 2015

ROME — A Vatican prosecutor has ordered a defrocked Polish archbishop to stand trial for allegedly paying for sex with children while serving as a papal ambassador in the Dominican Republic.

A Vatican spokesman said Wednesday that ex-Archbishop Józef Wesolowski has been charged with two counts — sexual abuse of minors and possession of child pornography — and will stand trial July 11.

It will be the first criminal trial of a sexual abuse case conducted by the Vatican. The Vatican’s criminal courts have jurisdiction over Wesolowski because he is a papal diplomat and citizen of the Vatican City State.

The case has been highly sensitive, given that Wesolowski was an ambassador of the Holy See — a direct representative of the pope and not just one of the world’s 440,000 priests — and had been ordained both a priest and a bishop by St. John Paul II.

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UNITED STATES
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor June 15, 2015

On Monday, two more American bishops lost their jobs while facing charges of failing to respond appropriately to accusations of child abuse lodged against personnel under their supervision.

More colloquially, they stepped down amid controversy related not to the crime, but the cover-up.

The resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche of St. Paul-Minneapolis come less than two months after the exit under similar circumstances of Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri.

In 2012, Finn had become the lone American bishop to be criminally convicted on a misdemeanor charge of delaying to report an allegation of child abuse. Last month, prosecutors charged the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese under Nienstedt as a corporation for having ignored repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys.

According to an American clearinghouse on the abuse scandals called BishopAccountability.org, Nienstedt and Piche become the 17th and 18th bishops to resign after being publicly criticized for covering up child abuse.

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MINNESOTA
Aljazeera America

Prosecutors earlier this month charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with ignoring reports of abuse

June 15, 2015

The archbishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, and a deputy bishop resigned Monday after prosecutors there charged the archdiocese with having failed to protect children from unspeakable harm from a pedophile priest.

The Vatican said Pope Francis accepted the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche. They resigned under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other “grave” reason that makes them unfit for office.

Earlier this month, prosecutors charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a corporation of having “turned a blind eye” to repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys. No individual was named in the complaint.

Prosecutors said in March that no charges would be brought against Nienstedt, who had been accused by a boy of inappropriately touching his buttocks during a group photo session. The prosecutors said there was “insufficient evidence” to charge the archbishop, and Nienstedt denied any inappropriate contact.

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NEW JERSEY/MINNESOTA
NJ.com

By Craig McCarthy | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on June 15, 2015

In the midst of a sex abuse scandal in Minnesota, an archbishop and another top bishop have resigned and the pope has appointed a New Jersey Catholic official the interim head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, according to reports.

Archbishop John Nienstedt said in a statement he is leaving the archdiocese “with a clear conscience.”

Although not charged individually, Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché announced Monday the pope had accepted their resignations, according to The Washington Post.

“In order to give the Archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face, I have submitted my resignation as Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and I have just received word that he has accepted it,” Nienstedt said.

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UNITED STATES
Hamilton and Grffin on Rights

Jun 15, 2015 | Terry McKiernan

In the children’s rights community, and especially among Catholics, the big news this past week was the decision by Pope Francis to create a new tribunal in Rome, which will try bishops who have covered up child abuse or have enabled the perpetrators. The Pope’s fast action on a recommendation from his Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors – instantaneous by Vatican standards – was a vindication for the Commission, its leaders Cardinal Seán O’Malley and Rev. Robert W. Oliver, and the two highly respected survivors who serve on it, Marie Collins and Peter Saunders.

Pope Francis must now get his new tribunal up to speed very quickly, if it is to cope with the situation in Australia (where a powerful Royal Commission is investigating the role of Pope Francis’s financial czar, Cardinal George Pell, in several abuse cases). The Pope’s speedy removal of Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee A. Piché is yet another sign that he considers the tribunal’s work of the utmost importance.

Those actions by civil authorities are a reminder that change has been forced on the Catholic church by survivors willing to come forward, by prosecutors and inquiries able to investigate, and by civil suits that have made public many thousands of pages of evidence. Courage and persistence have now compelled the creation of the new Vatican tribunal, and we will see whether it brings the necessary zeal and transparency to its own work.

In a crucial development, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, the leader of the Catholic church in Ireland, told reporters after a meeting of the Irish bishops that “justice is indeed retrospective” and that he supports the tribunal’s working on past as well as present and future cases [see transcript with video]. Marie Collins, one of the survivors on the Pontifical Commission, subsequently confirmed that this was the case, raising the possibility that Cardinal Seán Brady, Cardinal Bernard Law, and Cardinal Roger Mahony could soon be experiencing the tender mercies of the tribunal.

While all of this has been unfolding, I’ve been reading the new biography of Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen of Seattle, A Still and Quiet Conscience: The Archbishop Who Challenged a Pope, a President, and a Church, by John A. McCoy (Orbis Books, 2015). As a reporter, McCoy covered the archdiocese, and then he worked as Hunthausen’s PR person during the final years in Seattle. The Hunthausen story as McCoy tells it is quite relevant to the tribunal’s retrospective task.

Hunthausen is the last surviving American bishop to have participated in the Second Vatican Council. He was the bishop of Helena MT for thirteen years (1962–1975) and archbishop of Seattle for sixteen years (1975–1991), retiring early at age 70 after an epic battle with Pope John Paul II, who was unhappy about Hunthausen’s anti-nuclear activism, his tax protest, his advocating for Vatican II–inspired reform, or his support of gay Catholics, or perhaps all of the above.

Conspicuous by its absence from that list of causes championed by Hunthausen is child safety. Yet in Helena and Seattle, many of Hunthausen’s priests were molesting children, and a good amount of his time was spent managing those cases.

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Resignation of Archbishop Nienstedt: A step in the right direction and a time for reckoning

(St. Paul, MN) – The resignations of Archbishop Nienstedt and Bishop Piché and acceptance of them by the Vatican signals an important step in the necessary reckoning in the child abuse crisis. It is equally important to note that the resignation of one or two men from high positions does not in any way signal the end to the crisis or deal with the scope of the problem. It does signal that finally there is a small measure of reckoning under pressure. That pressure has been brought because of the courage of the survivors and the Minnesota Legislature. It is the opening of the courthouse doors by the legislature and courageous survivors bringing scores of lawsuits that led to the body of evidence—documents, secret files, depositions (see www.andersonadvocates.com) that created the pressure and exposure.

The resignations come as no surprise. The volume of documents and disclosures that have been disgorged through litigation, testimony given by the top officials and the body of evidence that has been developed by the civil suits and the investigation done by Ramsey County Attorney’s office foreshadowed the resignations, but still falls short of full accountability. It falls short of full accountability because this whole problem is not about one man or two bishops. It is about the system that’s entrenched in the old ways and adhering to secrecy and self-governance operating above the law.

The journey is far from over, the struggle remains to cause and create full accountability and reckoning for those who are complicit in the crimes and the reckless handling of so many priests. But there is power in symbolism and this is a symbolic gesture of a time for reckoning. To the survivors who have broken the silence and on whose shoulders we stand every day in this journey, we express gratitude. Reckoning and transparency is truth—truth grows hope.

Contact: Jeff Anderson: Office/651.964.3523 Cell/612.817.8665
Mike Finnegan: Office/651.964.3523 Cell/612.205.5531

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MINNESOTA
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Associated Press

9:15 a.m. (CDT)

A Minnesota attorney who has filed countless lawsuits against the Catholic Church over alleged clergy abuse says he’s not surprised by the resignation of the archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Archbishop John Nienstedt announced his resignation Monday, along with that of Bishop Lee Piche (PEE-‘shay). Their departure comes less than two weeks after the archdiocese was charged with failing to protect children.

Attorney Jeff Anderson says it’s clear to him that the two were forced out. He says their resignations are part of an “important reckoning” for the failure of top officials to respond appropriately when priests were accused of abusing children.

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MINNESOTA
Houston Chronicle

By The Associated Press | June 15, 2015

Parishioners leaving morning mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul have mixed feelings about the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Bishop Lee Anthony Piche.

The clerics’ departures come less than two weeks after the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was charged with failing to protect children from clergy abuse.

Parishioner Leslie Ahlers, of Eagan, said Monday she considers Nienstedt a dedicated and thoughtful church leader, but that his resignation heralds a new chapter for the archdiocese.

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UNTIED STATES
Road to Recovery

REGARDING THE RESIGNATION OF ARCHBISHOP JOHN NIENSTEDT OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS AND THE APPOINTMENT OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY CO-ADJUTOR ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA AS TEMPORARY ADMINISTRATOR

Monday, June 15, 2015

It appears that the re-arrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic continues in the Catholic Church with no indication that the Titanic is essentially being righted so the ship can sail in calm waters. Of course, the resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt is welcome news. Archbishop Nienstedt did nothing but add to the pain and distress of sexual abuse victims and their advocates. With his background as an alleged sexual abuser in such places as a Detroit seminary and his less than ethical character as a member of the Church’s hierarchy, Archbishop Nienstedt never should have been appointed to the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis. His tenure was nothing but disgraceful. But that could be said for hundreds of other bishops, and the ship continues to sink while the chairs are being re-arranged.

The Vatican has chosen to take one of the Titanic “chairs” from the Newark Archdiocese to be the temporary administrator of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese. Co-adjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who was scheduled to succeed the disgraced Newark Archbishop John Myers when he submits his retirement letter in 2016, is now headed to Minnesota to occupy that Archdiocese’s seat, at least temporarily. In much the same way that Bishop Joseph Galante (Camden, New Jersey) asked out of the Diocese of Dallas, TX when he was co-adjutor bishop because he couldn’t get along with former Dallas Bishop Charles Grahmann, it is clear that Archbishop Bernard Hebda had had it with Archbishop John Myers and his lack of leadership in the Archdiocese of Newark. It was a perfect pretext to re-arrange the chairs in two sinking ships. We don’t foresee Archbishop Hebda ever becoming the Archbishop of Newark and believe he will stay in the Midwest.

What does all this mean? It means that Pope Francis is trying, but it might be too late. The Church continues to sink under the weight of its own corruption and mismanagement, and nothing but a full-scale abandonment of structures and policies and that created this mess will change things. The hierarchy of the Church has to go, with a more democratic and people-centered organization taking its place.

Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D.
Road to Recovery, Inc.
P.O. Box 279
Livingston, NJ 07039
862-368-2800

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MINNESOTA/MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, June 15

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

A Minnesota Catholic archbishop whose archdiocese faces criminal charges for endangering kids has resigned. But this should be just the beginning of a long process of exposing and punishing clerics who put kids in harm’s way.

Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt spent almost 50 years in Detroit. He also faces allegations of sexual misconduct with ten seminarians. At least some of the reported misdeeds happened in Detroit, where Nienstedt for six years was President of Sacred Heart Major Seminary. In 1996, he was named an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Detroit’s current archbishop must help Minnesota prosecutors and Michigan Catholics, by aggressively reaching out to anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered sexual misdeeds by his colleague.

[Star Tribune]

For the safety of parishioners and the public, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron must act. We beg him to use his vast resources – parish websites, church bulletins and pulpit announcements – to seek out anyone else who may have been hurt by Nienstedt. This is the very least Vigneron should do.

When allegations of sex crimes or misdeeds against clergy arise, Catholic officials almost always do the absolute bare minimum. Rarely, if ever, do they act responsibly and decisively, by helping the investigations. And by their silence and inaction, Catholic officials make such investigations harder and less successful.

Catholic officials can’t have their cake and eat it too, by insisting on internal investigations into sexual misconduct but doing little or nothing to help with these investigations.

For centuries, sexual misconduct has been carefully and effectively hidden by a rigid, secretive, all-male monarchy in the Catholic church. Despite promises of reform, such misconduct remains largely hidden. Vigneron can become part of the solution, by taking decisive action now. Or he can keep being part of the problem, by passively sitting back and refusing to extend a helping hand to Minnesota investigators and to perhaps even more suffering Detroit Catholics, some of whom might be his own priests.

(One of Nienstedt’s accusers, a former priest named Joel Cycenas, has spoken publicly in the Star Tribune.

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MINNESOTA
Religion News Service

David Gibson | June 15, 2015

(RNS) The Vatican on Monday (June 15) launched a major housecleaning of the scandal-plagued Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, accepting the resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt along with that of a top Nienstedt aide, Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche.

The moves come a little over a week after authorities charged the archdiocese for failing to protect children from an abusive priest and days after Pope Francis unveiled the first-ever system for disciplining bishops who do not act against predator clerics.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters he did not know whether Nienstedt and Piche would be subject to further canonical investigation under the new process but added: “It is a valid question.”

In April, Bishop Robert Finn of Missouri, who three years earlier became the first bishop convicted of failing to report a priest suspected of child abuse, was forced to resign, effectively the first bishop in the decades-long crisis that the Vatican pushed out for covering up for an abuser.

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VATIKAN
Die Welt

[Pope Francis makes the goat the gardener.]

Der Papst macht also Nägel mit Köpfen: Franziskus hat verkünden lassen, dass er einen Gerichtshof im Vatikan einrichten will, der sexuellen Missbrauch in der Kirche aburteilen soll. Das Besondere: Nicht die Täter sollen vor den Kirchenrichtern stehen, sondern jene Oberhirten, die Fälle von sexuellem Missbrauch durch Priester oder kirchliche Mitarbeiter in ihrem Bistum vertuscht haben, statt sie aufzuklären.

Doch schon bevor der Gerichtshof überhaupt eingerichtet ist, gibt es Zweifel gerade unter Opfern, ob es dem Papst wirklich ernst ist mit der Aufklärung. Grund: Der Gerichtshof wird in der Glaubenskongregation angesiedelt, wo mit Gerhard Ludwig Kardinal Müller ein Kirchenfürst sitzt, der einst selbst als Bischof Erfahrung mit dem Vertuschen eines Missbrauchsfalls gemacht hat. Das zumindest bestätigten deutsche Gerichte.

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VATIKAN
N-TV

So etwas gab es im Vatikan noch nicht: Schon im vergangenen Jahr wurde der hochrangige, polnische Geistliche festgenommen, weil er Kinder sexuell missbraucht haben soll. Nun drohen dem 66-Jährigen bis zu zwölf Jahre Haft.

Der frühere Papstbotschafter Josef Wesolowski wird wegen des Verdachts auf sexuellen Missbrauch von Kindern im Vatikan vor Gericht gestellt. Der Prozess soll am 11. Juli beginnen, wie der Kirchenstaat mitteilte.

Dem ehemaligen polnischen Erzbischof werden unter anderem sexueller Missbrauch von Kindern und der Besitz von kinderpornografischem Material vorgeworfen. Es ist das erste Mal, dass im Vatikan ein hochrangiger katholischer Geistlicher wegen Vorwürfen des sexuellen Missbrauchs vor Gericht gestellt wird. Wesolowski droht nun eine Haftstrafe bis zu zwölf Jahren.

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VATIKAN
BZ Basel (Schweiz)

Der frühere Papstbotschafter Josef Wesolowski wird wegen des Verdachts auf sexuellen Missbrauch von Kindern im Vatikan vor Gericht gestellt. Der Prozess gegen den 66-Jährigen soll am 11. Juli beginnen, wie der Kirchenstaat am Montag mitteilte.

Bis 2013 war Josef Wesolowski Botschafter des Papstes. Ab Juli steht er vor Gericht. Dem früheren polnischen Erzbischof werden unter anderem sexueller Missbrauch von Kindern und der Besitz von kinderpornografischem Material vorgeworfen. Es ist das erste Mal, dass im Vatikan ein hochrangiger katholischer Geistlicher wegen Vorwürfen des sexuellen Missbrauchs vor Gericht gestellt wird.

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NEW JERSEY/MINNESOTA
Survivors Networkof Those Abused by Priests

Statement by Mark Crawford, New Jersey SNAP leader, 732-632-7687, mecrawf@comcast.net

The new head of the Twin Cities archdiocese defended a controversial colleague who spent extravagantly on an opulent home for himself.

In an op ed last year, Bishop Bernard Hebda defended the residence that Archbishop John Myers is building for himself.

[NorthJersey.com]

We feel sorry for Newark Catholics and now Twin Cities Catholics who had assumed or now assume that Bishop Hebda would be different from and better than Myers or Neinstedt. In Newark, Hebda has no doubt dashed their hopes. In St. Paul, we suspect that he will.

And we’re sad too that Hebda displays a greater loyalty to his selfish colleague than to parishioners.

Pope Francis urges us to show mercy to the poor. Hebda, however, urges us to show mercy to an imperial and imperious monarch, a man who has shown, time and time again over a long clerical career, that he values his power and reputation more than victims and parishioners.

It’s striking that Hebda can’t even bring himself to use the phrase “Myers’ personal home.” Instead, he euphemistically calls it a “construction project.”

When Pope Francis sent Hebda to New Jersey, he again missed a clear opportunity to discipline, demote, denounce or even defrock a blatantly reckless, callous and deceitful prelate and send a powerful signal that cover ups will no longer be tolerated. Now, sending Hebda to Minnesota, Francis again refuses to be honest about the troubling crisis there and about his motives.

It will be tempting for many to read more into this appointment than they should. Because Vatican officials usually refuse to disclose the rationale for their actions – or are notoriously vague when they do so – no one can really be certain whether this move is in any way connected to Neinstedt’s repeatedly irresponsible actions with predator priests.

But many Catholics will assume this. We caution them against leaping to conclusions. No one person caused the horrific scandal in Newark. No one person can fix it. The real solution isn’t juggling secretive church officials. The real solution requires every single current and former Catholic Church employee and member to call law enforcement with any knowledge or suspicions of clergy sex crimes and cover ups, no matter how old, small, vague or seemingly insignificant that knowledge or those suspicions might be. That’s what protects kids – the courage of many adults, not the shuffling of two officials.

Finally, Bishop Hebda is a lawyer, a fact that worries us. Most bishops approach clergy sex abuse and cover up cases like lawyers, instead of shepherds.

And he’s worked in two states with particularly archaic, predator-friendly child sex abuse laws, which means it’s hard to really assess how he’s handled clergy sex crimes and cover ups.

Neither of those dioceses has posted names of predator priests on their websites, as roughly 30 US bishops have. And Hebda has done nothing in Gaylord or Newark that indicates to us that he’ll be any different or better than the overwhelming majority of his clerical colleagues who continue to conceal clergy sex crimes.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Jun. 15, 2015

VATICAN CITY

The former papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic who left his post in 2013 after being accused of sexual misconduct with minors will stand trial next month at the Vatican with possible “international legal cooperation.”

Former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, a Polish-born prelate who served in the Latin American country from 2008-August 2013, will stand trial beginning July 11, the Vatican announced Monday.

Wesolowski was recalled to Rome nearly two years ago after allegations of abusing young boys and possessing child pornography. While originally free to roam the city upon his arrival, he has been living at the Vatican under a form of house arrest since being arrested by Vatican officials in September 2014

Monday’s statement said that the president of the Vatican city-state’s tribunal “has ordered the trial” of the former nuncio, for offenses from his time in the Dominican Republic and while living at the Vatican since 2013.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Herald (UK)

by Carol Glatz
posted Monday, 15 Jun 2015

Jozef Wesolowski accused of carrying out ‘a number of offences’ in the Dominican Republic

A former Vatican nuncio will stand trial in a Vatican court on charges of the sexual abuse of minors and possession of child pornography.

Jozef Wesolowski, the laicised former nuncio to the Dominican Republic, is accused of “a number of offences” committed between 2008 and the date of his arrest in September 2014.

Giuseppe Dalla Torre, president of the tribunal of Vatican City State, ordered the trial, the Vatican announced today. The first hearing will be held on July 11.

“The serious allegations will be scrutinised” by the Vatican City State’s judicial system, “which will be assisted by both technical appraisals of the IT systems used by the defendant and, if necessary, international legal co-operation for the evaluation of testimonial evidence from the competent authorities in Santo Domingo,” the Vatican’s written statement said.

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VATICAN CITY
Sky News

The Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic is to stand trial for child sexual abuse.

Jozef Wesolowski was arrested and defrocked by the Roman Catholic Church last year, after allegations emerged that he had been paying young Dominican boys for sex.

The former archbishop is also accused of keeping child abuse material on his computer.

In a statement, the Vatican said its prosecutor had cooperated with authorities from the Dominican Republic as part of its investigation.

“These serious allegations will be scrutinised by the competent judicial body which will be assisted by both technical appraisals of the IT systems used by the defendant and, if necessary, international legal cooperation for the evaluation of testimonial evidence from the competent authorities in Santo Domingo,” the statement said.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Madeleine Baran Jun 15, 2015

Nearly two years into a clergy sex abuse scandal, Archbishop John Nienstedt has resigned as head of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

The Vatican said Pope Francis accepted the resignations of Nienstedt, 68, and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche, 57. They resigned under the church law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other “grave” reason that makes them unfit for office.

• Nienstedt’s departure makes him only the second American bishop in the Catholic Church to resign as the result of a clergy sex abuse scandal.

• The Rev. Bernard Hebda, coadjutor archbishop of Newark, N.J., has been named temporary administrator of the archdiocese.

When Nienstedt arrived in the Twin Cities in 2007, he said his motto as archbishop would be unity, as he explained in a 2010 interview.

“I wanted to spend my time as being a bishop building up the unity of the church, building unity between churches, and then building a sense of harmony in the world,” he said.

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MINNESOTA
Gawker

Allie Jones

Pope Francis accepted the resignations of two U.S. Catholic bishops today in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal in St. Paul, Minnesota. Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and Auxillary Bishop Lee A. Piché have quit their posts after Minnesota prosecutors charged the archdiocese with the “mishandling of repeated complaints of sexual misconduct against a priest,” per The New York Times.

The charges concern the 2012 jailing of Minnesota priest Curtis Wehmeyer, who is currently serving time for sexually abusing minors and possession of child pornography. Three male victims accused Wehmeyer of preying on them during camping trips between 2008 and 2010, plying them with alcohol and drugs before sexually abusing them.

According to the AFP, Minnesota prosecutors now say they have “substantial evidence that senior Church officials failed to act on repeated warnings from parents and others that the priest was a danger to children.” While Nienstedt and Piché have not been charged, they are named in the complaint as leaders who failed to take the warnings about Wehmeyer seriously.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Maureen McCarthy Star Tribune JUNE 15, 2015

Archbishop John Nienstedt stepped down as head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Monday morning, saying, “My leadership has unfortunately drawn attention away from the good works [of the church].”

In a statement released early Monday, Nienstedt said he had submitted his resignation to Pope Francis in Rome, “and I have just received word that he has accepted it.”

Named to head the archdiocese in 2007, Nienstedt has presided over a tumultuous period for the church, most notably the still-unfolding clergy sex abuse scandal.

On June 5, the Ramsey County attorney’s office filed criminal charges against the archdiocese for “failing to protect children” from an abusive priest, marking the first time that a U.S. archdiocese has been criminally charged for such offenses. The now-former priest, Curtis Wehmeyer, is serving a prison term for abusing two boys in 2010 while he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in St. Paul.

From Vatican City, the Associated Press reported Monday that Pope Francis accepted the resignations of Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piché. “They resigned under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other ‘grave’ reason that makes them unfit for office.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

JUNE 15, 2015

Recent events that led to Archbishop John Nienstedt’s resignation Monday:

• June 5: Ramsey County attorney’s office files criminal charges against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for “failing to protect children.” The charges stem from the archdiocese’s oversight failures regarding former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, who is now serving a prison term. It’s the first time a U.S. archdiocese has been criminally charged for such offenses.

• June 10: Pope Francis takes biggest step yet to crack down on bishops who cover up for priests who rape and molest children. He created a new tribunal section inside the Vatican to hear cases of bishops accused of failing to protect their flock.

• June 13: In an open letter to Nienstedt published in the Star Tribune, Hank Shea calls for the archbishop to resign, saying the archdiocese more than ever needs new leadership to put its legal troubles behind it and, more important, to allow genuine healing to begin, including for the victims of clergy abuse.” Shea is a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota and serves as a senior distinguished fellow at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

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MINNESOTA
ABC News

Jun 15, 2015

By The Associated Press

A Minnesota organization supporting victims of clergy abuse says the resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis should lead to vigilance, not complacency.

The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Francis has accepted Nienstedt’s resignation. The archdiocese was recently charged with ignoring reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys

Frank Meuers, the southern Minnesota leader for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, says the pope must start defrocking clerics who cover up crimes, not just priests who commit them.

Meuers says until that happens, little will change.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release Monday, June 15

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

With this recent flurry of movement on clergy sex abuse, we suspect that Francis’ public relations advisors are trying hard to burnish his imagine prior to his US trip. But over the course of a long clerical career, Francis has ignored and concealed heinous crimes against kids and promoted or tolerated other clerics who are doing the same. One or two or three small steps doesn’t erase decades of complicity.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Jun. 15, 2015

VATICAN CITY
U.S. Archbishop John Nienstedt, a Catholic prelate in the American Midwest whose mismanagement of clergy sexual abuse cases led to his chancellor reporting the archdiocese to authorities more than two years ago, has resigned.

The move comes 10 days after prosecutors in his archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis brought criminal charges against the archdiocese “for its failure to protect children.”

The Vatican also announced Monday that Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché, who was tasked last year with investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against Nienstedt himself, would resign in a rare double move.

The Vatican announced the two resignations in a note in its daily news bulletin Monday.

Pope Francis has appointed Newark, N.J., Coadjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda to serve as the apostolic administrator of the Minnesota archdiocese until appointment of a new residential archbishop. Hebda, a canon and civil lawyer, had served as the bishop of a diocese in Michigan.

In a statement released by the Minnesota archdiocese Monday, Nienstedt said he had resigned his post “in order to give the Archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face.”

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent June 15, 2015

ROME — Archbishop John Nienstedt and one of his top deputies have resigned their offices amid criminal charges against the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the Vatican announced Monday.

Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche resigned under the code of Church law that allows bishops to resign before they retire, either because of illness or some other “grave reason” that makes them unfit for office.

Earlier this month, prosecutors charged the archdiocese as a corporation for having ignored repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys.

The charges were filed against the archdiocese and no individual was named in the indictment.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.– The Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic has been indicted on charges he sexually abused young boys in the country and will stand trial next month in a Vatican court.

In a statement, the Holy See said Jozef Wesolowski will have his first hearing July 11, the first case of its kind to be brought before a Vatican court.

The Polish cleric is accused of possession of child pornography in Rome in 2013-14 and the sexual abuse of minors during his 2008-13 spell as the Church’s representative in the Dominican Republic.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

Rosie Scammell | June 15, 2015

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican on Monday (June 15) announced its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, would stand trial on charges he paid for sex with children as part of a landmark trial.

Wesolowski, who had the title archbishop during his five-year post in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic capital, was recalled to the Vatican in 2013. He was later first person to be arrested inside the Vatican on child abuse charges.

He also faces charges of possessing child pornography during his stay at the Holy See and ahead of his arrest in September 2014, the Vatican said in a statement.

The decision to put Wesolowski on trial was announced on Monday (June 15), nine days after a Vatican prosecutor requested the ex-archbishop be indicted. The first hearing is scheduled to take place within the Vatican walls on July 11.

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VATICAN CITY
CNN

By Delia Gallagher

(CNN)The Pope’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, is accused of offenses related to child abuse and will be tried at the Vatican beginning on July 11, the Vatican said Monday.

Wesolowski, 66, is the highest-ranking former Vatican official to be arrested for allegations related to the sexual abuse of minors and the first to be tried on such charges at the Vatican.

Wesolowski is accused of possession of child pornography as well as offenses related to the sexual abuse of minors during his time as papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic.

Before arriving in the Dominican Republic in 2008, Wesolowski was nuncio to Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. He began his career as a priest in Krakow, Poland, in 1972.

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VATICAN CITY
NPR

JUNE 15, 2015

EYDER PERALTA

A Vatican prosecutor has indicted the Holy See’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic on charges that he sexually abused minors.

Jozef Wesolowski is the first to face such charges. NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli reports the trial will begin July 11 at a Vatican court. She filed this report for our Newscast unit:

“Wesolowski was called back to the Vatican in 2013 after reports circulated in Santo Domingo that he had allegedly paid shoeshine boys to masturbate.

“Wesolowski, who was ordained a bishop in 2000, has since been defrocked and put under house arrest inside Vatican City — becoming the first person arrested in the vatican on charges of pedophilia. A Vatican statement said the alleged crimes committed in the Dominican Republic were based on a police investigation there.

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VATICAN CITY
ABC News (Australia)

A former papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic will be tried for paedophilia next month in the first case of its kind to be brought before a Vatican court.

The Vatican announced on Monday, the first hearing in the trial of Jozef Wesolowski had been scheduled for July 11 this year.

The Polish cleric is accused of possession of child pornography in Rome in 2013-14 and the sexual abuse of minors during his 2008-13 spell as the church’s representative in the Dominican Republic.

The Vatican said allegations of crimes committed in the Dominican Republic were based on an investigation by police there.

The others were based on a Vatican investigation that found child pornography on his computer after he was arrested last September.

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VATICAN CITY
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
JUNE 15, 2015

The Vatican announced on Monday that in July it would open a trial of its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic on charges of sexually abusing boys while serving in the Caribbean and of possessing child pornography after he was sent back to Rome in 2013.

The case of the former archbishop, Jozef Wesolowski, caused an international scandal when it was learned that the Vatican had secretly recalled him from Santo Domingo to Rome before Dominican officials could investigate, saying that he could not be tried in the Dominican Republic because he had diplomatic immunity.

Mr. Wesolowski came to the attention of the Dominican authorities after a television journalist aired an investigation reporting that the ambassador had a habit of picking up shoeshine boys along the waterfront and taking them to secluded spots. Some boys said he gave them money to molest them.

The former ambassador was defrocked by the Vatican in June 2014 and has been awaiting a criminal trial by the Vatican since then. It will be the first trial on sexual abuse charges held under new rules for criminal procedures put in place by Pope Francis. It was not known until Monday that the Vatican would also bring child pornography charges against the former ambassador.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Teinteresa

EUROPA PRESS, ROMA

El Papa ha forzado la dimisión anticipada del arzobispo de la ciudad norteamericana de Saint Paul y Minneapolis, John Clayton Nienstedt, así como de su obispo auxiliar, Lee Anthony Piché. Ambos habrían supuestamente encubierto a un sacerdote que cometió abusos sexuales que abusaba de menores entre 2010 y 2011 y ahora está cumpliendo una condena de cinco años de cárcel.

Ambos han dimitido diez días después de que el fiscal del condado de Ramsey, John Choi, imputara a la diócesis negligencia grave en protección de menores. Francisco ha designado como administrador de la diócesis al obispo coadjutor de Newark, según ha informado el Vaticano.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:

– accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, U.S.A., presented by Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law. He has appointed Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, coadjutor of Newark, U.S.A., as apostolic administrator “sede vacante” of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release Monday, June 15

Statement by Frank Meuers, Southern Minnesota SNAP Leader, ( frankameuers@gmail.com 952-334-5180 )

Finally, more than a year and a half after the breaking of the story of widespread abuse and cover up in the St. Paul/Minneapolis Diocese, Archbishop John Neinstedt has finally resigned. This is a tiny but belated step forward.

After centuries of abuse and cover up done in secrecy, and decades of abuse and cover up done somewhat in public, evidently one pope has finally seen fit to oust one archbishop for complicity in clergy sex crimes. That’s encouraging. But it’s only a very tiny drop of reform in an enormous bucket of horror.

Neinstedt’s departure will, in the short term, make some adults happier. By itself, it won’t, in the long term, make many kids safer.

Keep in mind that dozens of St. Paul/Minneapolis Archdiocese Catholic employees are concealing or have concealed clergy sex crimes. So it’s irresponsible for anyone to get complacent. Protecting predators and endangering kids is a deeply-rooted and long-standing pattern in the Catholic hierarchy. It didn’t start with one man and won’t stop with one man. There were dozens of church staff who could and should have stopped many of these abusers’ crimes by simply calling 911. But they protected themselves and their jobs by staying silent. They too should be ousted by the Vatican.

Virtually no St. Paul/Minneapolis Catholic employee spoke up on behalf of brave whistleblowers like Jennifer Hasselberger or joined us to challenge Neinstedt for keeping Fr. Keating, Fr. Wehmeyer, and others in ministry.

The scandal in Minnesota goes far beyond a local crisis. It’s crucial to remember that basically no Catholic supervisors have been punished, worldwide, for enabling and hiding horrific clergy sex crimes. The Pope must start defrocking clerics who cover up sex crimes (like Nienstedt), not just clerics who commit them (like Wehmeyer). Until that happens, little will change.

So to us it’s clear: despite new promises, pledges, panels, protocols and procedures – and new scandals – in the Minnesota dioceses, virtually no one in the church hierarchy is really reforming.

There are now, according to BishopAccountability.org, fifty-five publicly accused Twin Cities area child molesting clerics/staff. That’s a fraction of the real total. Neinstedt alone did not enable, ignore and conceal their crimes. Sadly, he has had and still has plenty of help continuing the cover ups.

So vigilance, not complacency, is needed now. It’s crucial that those who see, suspect or suffer clergy sex crimes and cover ups in the Twin Cities, or anywhere, keep finding the strength to get help, protect kids, call police, expose wrongdoers, deter wrongdoing, and start healing.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release Monday, June 15

Statement by Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Though he has resigned, we still believe Neinstedt should be punished for enabling a predator to hurt kids.

We hope these Vatican panels will quickly take up the Neinstedt case so that cover-ups will be deterred and kids will be safer.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Bob Collins June 15, 2015

I’ll be honest with you: As good and thorough as the MPR investigation was into clergy abuse at the now-bankrupt Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the coverup therein, I never thought Archbishop John Nienstedt would fall. The church has been too determined not to be taken down for its misdeeds.

That, of course, changed today when Nienstedt resigned, we suspect under pressure from a pope who has shown determination to address the scandals in his church.

“The Catholic Church is not our Church, but Christ’s Church, and we are merely stewards for a time,” Nienstedt said. “My leadership has unfortunately drawn attention away from the good works of His Church and those who perform them. Thus, my decision to step down.”

The resignation comes just a few days after Pope Francis issued new standards of accountability for bishops.

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MINNESOTA
Towleroad

John Nienstedt, the Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has resigned after prosecutors filed criminal charges against the Twin Cities’ archdiocese this month for its role in “failing to protect children” from predatory priests.

Nienstedt, who spearheaded an anti-gay DVD mailer campaign in 2010, told the mother of a gay son that she must reject him or risk burning in hell, and claimed Satan is behind same-sex marriage, was himself accused of inappropriately touching an underage male back in 2013.

The Guardian reports:

The Vatican said on Monday that Pope Francis accepted the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and auxiliary bishop Lee Anthony Piche. They resigned under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other “grave” reason that makes them unfit for office.

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MINNESOTA
International Business Times

By Sneha Shankar

Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota resigned their posts Monday after the archdiocese was charged by prosecutors of not being able to protect children from pedophile acts by priests.

Both officials resigned under the canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire due to a “grave” reason or an illness that would make them unfit to work, the Associated Press reported. The archdiocese was charged earlier this month for mishandling repeated complaints about sex abuse by clergy but the two bishops were not charged individually.

The resignations come just days after Pope Francis approved a new high-level body at the Vatican that will hold accountable those bishops who were unable to deal with abusers. While advocates for the victims say that it is a big step by the Vatican, very few bishops have left their posts, according to the Washington Post.

“In order to give the Archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face, I have submitted my resignation as Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and I have just received word that he has accepted it,” Nienstedt said, in a statement, according to the Post, adding: “My leadership has unfortunately drawn attention away from the good works of His Church and those who perform them.”

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MINNESOTA
CNN

By Michael Pearson, CNN

(CNN)Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and his top deputy resigned Monday as the top Catholic officials in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the wake of criminal sex abuse charges against the archdiocese.

In a statement, Nienstedt said he was resigning “to give the Archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face.”

Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche also resigned.

“The people of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis need healing and hope. I was getting in the way of that, and so I had to resign,” Piche said in a statement.

On June 5, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi filed six criminal charges against the archdiocese accusing it of encouraging, causing or contributing to the sexual abuse of three victims by a priest in 2010 and 2011.

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VATICAN CITY
Seattle PI

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The embattled archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis and a deputy bishop resigned Monday after prosecutors there charged the archdiocese with having failed to protect children from unspeakable harm from a pedophile priest.

The Vatican said Pope Francis accepted the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche. They resigned under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other “grave” reason that makes them unfit for office.

Earlier this month, prosecutors charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a corporation of having “turned a blind eye” to repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys. No individual was named in the complaint.

The resignations came on the same day that the Vatican announced it was putting its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, on trial in a Vatican court on charges he sexually abused boys in the Caribbean country and possessed child pornography. Wesolowski, who has already been defrocked after being convicted in a canon law court, now faces possible jail time if convicted by the criminal tribunal of the Vatican City State.

The charges against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis came after a diocesan canon lawyer-turned-whistleblower alleged widespread cover-up of clergy sex misconduct in the archdiocese, saying archbishops and their top staff lied to the public and ignored the U.S. bishops’ pledge to have no tolerance of priests who abuse.

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MINNESOTA
New Zealand Herald

A critic of Archbishop John Nienstedt says his resignation from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was necessary because the sex abuse scandal there has become overwhelming.

The Rev. Michael Tegeder of St. Francis Cabrini Church in Minneapolis has been calling for Nienstedt’s resignation for two years. The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis has accepted Nienstedt’s resignation along with that of Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche.

The archdiocese was recently charged with ignoring reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys.

Tegeder says Nienstedt has undermined the archdiocese and the safety of its children.

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MINNESOTA
Washington Times

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A longtime critic of Archbishop John Nienstedt says he hopes parishioners in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will see the archbishop’s resignation as a sign of hope that change is possible.

The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis has accepted Nienstedt’s resignation along with that of Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche (pish-AY’). The archdiocese was recently charged with ignoring reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys.

For the past two years, Rev. Michael Tegeder, of St. Francis Cabrini Church in Minneapolis, has called for Nienstedt to step down at various meetings with archdiocesan priests. Tegeder says it’s time to pick up the pieces, find a new direction and begin to rebuild credibility.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

The Vatican is to put its former envoy to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, on trial on child sex abuse and child pornography charges.

Pope Francis has also accepted the resignations of a US archbishop and his deputy, accused in Minnesota of having ignored a priest’s child abuse.

Jozef Wesolowski is accused of having sexually abused children in the Dominican Republic in 2008-2013. He is under house arrest in the Vatican.

The trial is to begin on 11 July.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A Vatican prosecutor on Monday ordered a former Roman Catholic archbishop accused of paying for sex with children when he was a papal ambassador in the Dominican Republic and of possessing child pornographic material to stand trial.

Jozef Wesolowski, a Pole who had been defrocked, last year became the first person to be arrested inside the Vatican on paedophilia charges.

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VATICAN CITY
Bolletino

Communiqué: former nuncio Józef Wesołowski committed to trial

The President of the Tribunal of Vatican City State, Professor Giuseppe Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, by decree of 6 June 2015 in response to the request submitted by the Office of the Promoter of Justice, has ordered the trial of the former apostolic nuncio to Dominican Republic, Józef Wesołowski. The first hearing of the trial is scheduled for 11 July 2015. The ex-prelate is accused of a number of offences committed both during his stay in Rome from August 2013 until the moment of his arrest (on 22 September 2014) and in the period he spent in the Dominican Republic, during the five years in which he held the office of apostolic nuncio (he was appointed as nuncio to the Dominican Republic on 24 January 2008 and apostolic delegate to Puerto Rico, offices from which he resigned on 21 August 2013).

With regard to the period spent in Rome, the nuncio is charged with the offence of possession of child pornography under Law VIII of 2013 introduced by Pope Francis. The allegations referring to the preceding period are based on evidence transmitted by the judicial authorities of Santo Domingo in relation to the sexual abuse of minors.

These serious allegations will be scrutinised by the competent judicial body which will be assisted by both technical appraisals of the IT systems used by the defendant and, if necessary, international legal cooperation for the evaluation of testimonial evidence from the competent authorities in Santo Domingo. This will be a delicate and detailed procedure, requiring the most careful observations and insights from all parties involved in the trial.

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VATICAN CITY
Straits Times

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – A former papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic will be tried for paedophilia next month, in the first case of its kind to be brought before a Vatican court.

The first hearing in the trial of Jozef Wesolowski has been scheduled for July 11, 2015, the Vatican announced on Monday. The Polish cleric is accused of possession of child pornography in Rome in 2013-2914 and the sexual abuse of minors during his 2008-2013 spell as the Church’s representative in the Dominican Republic.

Separately, Pope Francis accepted the resignations of two United States bishops accused of failing to respond appropriately to allegations of sex abuse against a priest in the diocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the Vatican announced on Monday.

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VATICAN CITY
Seattle PI

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic has been charged with sexually abusing young boys in the Caribbean country and having child pornography on his computer and will stand trial next month in a Vatican court.

In a statement, the Holy See said Jozef Wesolowski will have his first hearing July 11.

The Holy See recalled Wesolowski in 2013 after rumors surfaced in Santo Domingo that he allegedly paid shoeshine boys to masturbate. Wesolowski has since been defrocked and placed under modified house arrest inside Vatican City pending a decision by the Vatican criminal court on whether to indict him.

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MINNESOTA
WDAZ

By KSTP Today at 5:46 a.m.

Archbishop John Nienstedt has resigned from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Nienstedt says he submitted his resignation as archbishop to Pope Francis and has received word that he has accepted it.

Nienstedt has faced growing calls to step down in the wake of recent sexual abuse cases. Criminal charges were announced against the archdiocese earlier this month.

“I leave with a clear conscience knowing that my team and I have put in place solid protocols to ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults,” Nienstedt said in a statement. “I ask for continued prayers for the well-being of this Archdiocese and its future leaders. I also ask for your continued prayers for me.”

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MINNESOTA
USA Today

Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this story misstated the archdiocese of Archbishop John Nienstedt. The erroneous information was provided by the Associated Press.

The archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis and a deputy bishop have resigned after the archdiocese was charged with with having failed to protect children from a pedophile priest.

The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis accepted the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche.

The two resigned under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other “grave” reason that makes them unfit for office.

Earlier this month, prosecutors charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a corporation of having “turned a blind eye” to repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys.

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MINNESOTA
Herald Sun (Australia)

AAP

THE archbishop of St Paul, Minnesota, and a deputy bishop have resigned after prosecutors there charged the archdiocese with having failed to protect children from unspeakable harm from a pedophile priest.

THE Vatican said on Monday that Pope Francis had accepted the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche.

They resigned under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other “grave” reason that makes them unfit for office.

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MINNESOTA
Daily Mail (UK)

Breaking news: Archbishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, resigns amid sex abuse cover-up claims against Archdiocese

By KATE PICKLES FOR MAILONLINE

The Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota has resigned following claims of a sex-abuse cover-up.

Archbishop John Nienstedt and deputy bishop Lee Anthony Piche submitted their resignations to Pope Francis today, a release said.

They resigned under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other ‘grave’ reason that makes them unfit for office.

Earlier this month, prosecutors charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a corporation of having ‘turned a blind eye’ to repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys. No individual was named in the indictment.

In his letter to Pope Francis, the Archbishop says his leadership became a distraction from the good works of the church following investigations into alleged priest sex abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Abby Ohlheiser and Michelle Boorstein June 15

Just days after his archdiocese was charged by prosecutors over its handling of sexual abuse claims against a priest, Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis John C. Nienstedt resigned on Monday.

“In order to give the Archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face, I have submitted my resignation as Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and I have just received word that he has accepted it,” Nienstedt said in a statement posted to the archdiocese’s website. “My leadership has unfortunately drawn attention away from the good works of His Church and those who perform them. Thus, my decision to step down.”

He added: “I leave with a clear conscience knowing that my team and I have put in place solid protocols to ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults.”

Bishop Lee A. Piché, Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, also resigned on Monday. The Most Rev. Bernard A. Hebda will serve as Apostolic Administrator of the archdiocese until Pope Francis appoints a new Archbishop.

Ten days ago, Minnesota prosecutors charged the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over its handling of clergy abuse claims, saying church leaders failed to protect children from unspeakable harm and “turned a blind eye” to repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys, the Associated Press reported. …

Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.org, which tracks abuse cases, said Monday that the Minneapolis clerics were “low-hanging fruit” and that Pope Francis must clarify why they left office.

“The last three popes have removed bishops for this,” she said. “But no one has made an explicit statement saying this is the reason. That kind of confirmation in light of last week’s [announcement about the new tribunal] is really important. We can’t continue to have popes staying mum when bishops are removed.”

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MINNESOTA
The New York Times

The archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis and a deputy bishop resigned Monday after prosecutors recently charged the archdiocese with having failed to protect youths from the abuse at the hands of pedophile priests.

In statements released Monday morning, the archbishop, John C. Nienstedt, and the auxiliary bishop, Lee A Piché, said they were resigning to help the archdiocese heal.

“My leadership has unfortunately drawn attention away from the good works of His Church and those who perform them,” Archbishop Nienstedt said. “Thus, my decision to step down.”

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Monday, June 15, 2015

Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

From Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

In order to give the Archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face, I have submitted my resignation as Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and I have just received word that he has accepted it. The Catholic Church is not our Church, but Christ’s Church, and we are merely stewards for a time. My leadership has unfortunately drawn attention away from the good works of His Church and those who perform them. Thus, my decision to step down.

It has been my privilege the last seven years to serve this local Church. I have come to appreciate deeply the vitality of the 187 parishes that make up the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. I am grateful for the support I have received from priests, deacons, religious men and women and lay leaders, especially those who have collaborated with me in the oversight of this local Church.

I leave with a clear conscience knowing that my team and I have put in place solid protocols to ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults.

I ask for continued prayers for the well-being of this Archdiocese and its future leaders. I also ask for your continued prayers for me.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Monday, June 15, 2015

Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

From Bishop Lee A. Piché, Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

The people of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis need healing and hope. I was getting in the way of that, and so I had to resign.

I submitted my resignation willingly, after consultation with others in and outside the Archdiocese.

It has been a privilege to serve this local Church and I will continue to hold everyone in the Archdiocese in my prayers.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Monday, June 15, 2015

Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

From Most Rev. Bernard A. Hebda, Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am humbled by Pope Francis’ decision to appoint me to serve as Apostolic Administrator for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. I am grateful for his confidence and I look forward to working with Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens and the leadership of the Archdiocese. I pray that I will be able to be of some service to you, the priests and faithful of the Archdiocese, as you prepare for the appointment of a new Archbishop.

Fondly recalling my years as a Bishop in Northern Michigan, where I first came to know the vibrancy of the faith shared by Catholics of the upper Midwest, I am hopeful that there will be opportunities to meet many of you in the weeks ahead. Mindful of Pope Francis’ challenge to bishops to be true shepherds who walk in the midst of the flock to the point of developing “ears open to listening to the voice of the sheep entrusted to their care”, it is my intention to be as available as possible, while still fulfilling my responsibilities as the Coadjutor Archbishop of Newark. As the Universal Church prepares to embark on a Year of Mercy, I look forward to getting to know this local Church and experiencing in a new context the marvelous ways in which the Lord works through His people to make His grace and healing presence known and felt, even in the most challenging of times.

Our loving God frequently finds ways to remind us that even those who exercise leadership in the Church do so as laborers and not as the Master Builder: the Church is not ours but Christ’s. While it is always true that we are merely stewards for a time in a vineyard that is not our own, the role of an Apostolic Administrator is particularly temporary. The law of the Church reminds us that an Administrator is not to introduce change, but rather to facilitate the smooth continuation of the ordinary and essential activities of the Church, while advancing those positive initiatives to which the Archdiocese is already committed. It is my hope that I might be able to be faithful to that vision so that whenever a new Archbishop is appointed, he will find in this local Church a vibrant community of missionary disciples that is growing in its knowledge of the love of Jesus and in its shared commitment to the Gospel.

For this to happen, I realize that I will need the prayers and support of you, the priests, deacons, religious, and laity of the Archdiocese. In this time of transition, please join me in asking for the intercession of Our Lady of Mercy. May she not only seek God’s blessings for those who have given themselves to the service of this local Church in the past, but also draw us ever closer to the Heart of her Son so that we might more perfectly radiate His healing love in the days to come.
Sincerely in Christ,

Most Rev. Bernard A. Hebda
Apostolic Administrator
Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt is stepping down.

In a statement, posted to the Archdiocese’s website, Nienstedt said he has submitted his resignation in order to give the Archdiocese a “new beginning amidst the many challenges we face.”

He goes on to say that his leadership has drawn attention away from the church.

As WCCO has been following for the past three years, dozens of clergy members have been accused of sexual abuse.

Nienstedt himself had even been accused of having inappropriate contact with a boy. He was cleared.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Star (Lebanon)

Agence France Presse

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of two US bishops accused of failing to respond appropriately to allegations of sex abuse against a priest in the diocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the Vatican announced on Monday.

Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche resigned after the diocese was charged by U.S. authorities of failing to protect minors in relation to a parish priest who was jailed for child abuse.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Bolletino

Il Santo Padre ha accettato la rinuncia al governo pastorale dell’arcidiocesi di Saint Paul and Minneapolis (U.S.A.), presentata da S.E. Mons. John Clayton Nienstedt, in conformità al canone 401 §2 del Codice di Diritto Canonico.

Il Papa ha nominato Amministratore Apostolico “sede vacante” dell’arcidiocesi di Saint Paul and Minneapolis S.E. Mons. Bernard Anthony Hebda, Arcivescovo Coadiutore di Newark.

[01027-IT.02]

Rinuncia di Ausiliare dell’Arcidiocesi di Saint Paul and Minneapolis (U.S.A.)

Il Santo Padre ha accettato la rinuncia all’ufficio di Ausiliare dell’arcidiocesi di Saint Paul and Minneapolis (U.S.A.), presentata da S.E. Mons. Lee Anthony Piché, in conformità ai canoni 411 e 401 §2 del Codice di Diritto Canonico.

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VATICAN CITY
ABC News

VATICAN CITY — Jun 15, 2015
By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press

The archbishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, and a deputy bishop resigned Monday after prosecutors there charged the archdiocese with having failed to protect children from unspeakable harm from a pedophile priest.

The Vatican said Pope Francis accepted the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Anthony Piche. They resigned under the code of canon law that allows bishops to resign before they retire because of illness or some other “grave” reason that makes them unfit for office.

Earlier this month, prosecutors charged the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a corporation of having “turned a blind eye” to repeated reports of inappropriate behavior by a priest who was later convicted of molesting two boys. No individual was named in the indictment.

The resignations came just days after Pope Francis approved the creation of a new tribunal inside the Vatican to hear cases of bishops who failed to protect children from sexually abusive priests. Francis’ decision followed years of criticism that the Vatican had never held bishops accountable for having ignored warnings about abusive priests and simply moved them from parish to parish rather than report them to police or remove them from ministry.

In April, Francis accepted the resignation of U.S. bishop Robert Finn, who had been convicted in a U.S. court of failing to report a suspected child abuser.

The criminal charges against the archdiocese stem from its handling of Curtis Wehmeyer, a former priest at Church of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for molesting two boys and faces prosecution involving a third boy in Wisconsin.

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UNITED KINGDOM
David Hencke

The extraordinary disclosure reported on the Exaro website and in The Sunday Times today that the Goddard Judicial inquiry into child sexual abuse will recruit a record number of in-house QCs and lawyers raises more than just a few eyebrows.

It appears that Ben Emmerson, the QC who survived the cull that abolished the independent panel, will be interviewing for 20 more barristers – ten of them QC’s – this month This far outstrips the number employed for the Leveson inquiry into the press or the very long running Saville Inquiry into the Northern Ireland ” Bloody Sunday ” atrocity.

It is not surprising that survivors – already excluded from the panel and any meaningful input into the proceedings – have reacted with fury. If you also take into account that every organisation from the police to local government, the security services to Whitehall and ministers, would want to bring along their own QC at public expense, you can see where the phrase ” lawyer fest” comes from.

And you have to add that most of the remaining shrunk panel are also lawyers or connected to the law. The remaining people are Alexis Jay, author of the report last year on CSA in Rotherham; Drusilla Sharpling, barrister and former senior prosecutor; Malcolm Evans, professor of public international law; and Ivor Frank, barrister and advisor to the Home Office..Only Alexis Jay is not connected to the law.

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CANADA
CBC News

By Jason Proctor, CBC News

Nearly three years after reporter Laura Robinson published allegations that former Vancouver Olympics CEO John Furlong had abused students at a Burns Lake, B.C., Catholic school in the late ’60s, the two are set to face off in court this week.

It’s one of the most hotly anticipated civil trials in British Columbia.

But it’s Robinson suing Furlong for defamation — not the other way around.

“It is relatively rare for a journalist to sue someone for an attack on their reputation,” says David Crerar, a defamation expert with Borden, Ladner, Gervais who is not involved with the case.

“So that in itself is interesting: the fact a journalist is a claimant rather than a defendant in a lawsuit.”

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IRELAND
The Guardian

When Catherine Corless walked through a housing estate in Tuam, County Galway, with Judge Yvonne Murphy, head of the government Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, she pointed to the playground.

This,” said Corless, “is where I think some bodies are buried.”

It is a year since the story of what took place here broke. What became the Tuam Babies scandal, when the headline of “800 Children Dumped in Septic Tank” went around the world. It was Corless who told the media. She was later upset by inaccuracies – she never suggested all the bodies were in a septic tank or that any had been dumped. Researching the St Mary’s Home for unmarried mothers for a local history annual, Corless obtained death certificates for 796 children who died at the Tuam home, run by the Bon Secours Sisters on behalf of Galway County Council from 1925 to 1961. But there were only official burial records for two children.

A fiercely debated, long-delayed investigation into Ireland’s Catholic-run institutions said priests and nuns terrorised thousands of boys and girls in workhouse-style schools for decades – a 2,600-page report in 2009 cited reports of abuse from former students sent to more than 250 church-run, mostly residential institutions.

Corless discovered that in 1975 two boys, playing in wasteland at the former home site, fell into a tank containing children’s skeletons – no one knows how many. Local residents erected a little grotto. “Most of the deceased were newborns up to two years old,” says Corless. Were these some of the missing 794 children? Not all would have fit into a septic tank. She interviewed elderly residents who had witnessed night time burials from their upstairs windows in houses that overlooked the home’s eight foot walls. “I only go by maps and records,” says Corless, “that’s why I think the playground is where the bodies are most likely to be.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mail on Sunday

The paedophile school inspector: Predator facing jail after downloading dozens of child abuse videos and grooming teenage boy online

By Simon Walters and Martin Beckford for The Mail on Sunday

A top schools inspector is facing jail for downloading dozens of child-abuse videos and grooming a teenage boy online, it can be revealed.

Adam Higgins was caught by police with almost 100 sick images of assaults on children on his home computer. They discovered he had also propositioned an under-15-year-old using a webcam.

After the 48-year-old pleaded guilty in court last week, education watchdog Ofsted contacted dozens of horrified headteachers to admit that a paedophile had visited their schools.

Among the schools he inspected was a £14,000-a-year prep school once attended by Prince Charles….

He had taught in schools for decades before becoming an inspector. In 2000 he was headmaster of St Paulinus Church of England primary school in Crayford, South-East London, then in charge of Lessness Heath primary school in Belvedere in Kent until 2007.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic World Report

June 14, 2015

Dr. Adam A. J. DeVille

The news that Pope Francis is establishing a new tribunal within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to discipline bishops over their handling of sexual offenses is very welcome news indeed. This, I happily confess, is one of several reforms to ecclesial structures I did not expect to see under this pope. I mistakenly pegged Francis early on as having little or no interest in ecclesiology.

Like many academics, I assumed that those who have not written some learned treatise about a particular topic are unlikely to take action on it. Francis has—as far as I know—never written anything about ecclesiology. Rather, it was Pope Benedict XVI who had been writing extensively on changes to Catholic ecclesial structures for forty years at the time of his election, and I fully expected to see many of those changes implemented by him as pope. But apart from the abortive decision in 2006 to abandon the title “Patriarch of the West,” very little happened. When he retired in 2013, I despaired that we had lost our best chance for this and other important reforms.

But it is another common academic and bureaucratic mistake to assume that writing about something is always the precursor to taking action on it. Francis, in fact, has repeatedly shown that one can act decisively and well without having written much if anything beforehand about matters. There are, so far, several actions he has taken in this short pontificate dealing with reform of ecclesial structures, but the most recent one is, to date, the most significant.

The creation of disciplinary mechanisms for bishops who failed in their duty to deal with sexual abuse is something I have written and lectured about in several places for nearly a decade now. In earlier works I attempted to show both that the synodal structures of the Orthodox Churches may have something to teach Catholics in this regard and, further, that extra-papal processes of election, discipline, and deposition of bad bishops are in fact anchored in centuries of Catholic history—as various historians such as Brian Daley, I.S. Robinson, Eamon Duffy, and Kathleen Cushing have shown.

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VIRGINIA/TEXAS
The Roanoke Times

Geronimo Aguilar, the former South Richmond pastor who once commanded huge audiences with his charismatic sermons, will be in a Texas courtroom this week, fighting to avoid life in prison.

Jury selection is set to start Monday for Aguilar, 45, who is accused in Tarrant County Court in Fort Worth, Texas, of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl and her 13-year-old sister in the 1990s.

Just three years ago, Aguilar was riding high, preaching to packed crowds at the Richmond Outreach Center and leading a house of worship with millions of dollars in assets, including about 10 nonprofit organizations — including a real estate foundation, cafe, thrift store, fitness center, child care center and clothing line, plus a tutoring company in Florida.

The ROC was one of the area’s biggest churches. It catered to former drug users and the alienated but also attracted the well-heeled and the middle class. On Friday, it officially changed its name to Celebration Church and Outreach Ministry and announced the hiring of a minister experienced at turning around troubled churches.

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TEXAS
WRIC

By Emily Satchell
Published: June 15, 2015

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas (WRIC) — The former head of a mega church in Richmond is heading to court in Texas today to face eight charges of sexual assault on two young girls.

More than two years after he was charged, the former head of the ROC Church (now known as the Celebration Church and Outreach Ministry), Pastor Geronimo Aguilar, will have his day in court today. 8News investigator Kerri O’Brien was first to break the allegations of sexual abuse which led to a police investigation and Aguilars’ arrest.

The victims, now in their 30’s, say the abuse started when Aguilar was their youth pastor in Texas back in the 1990’s.

“I was about 12 when we started having sex,” one of the victims involved in the case tells 8News.

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TEXAS
WTVR

BY WEB STAFF AND JOE ST. GEORGE

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — Jury selection is slated to begin Monday in Texas for the trial of Georinmo Aguilar, the former pastor at The Richmond Outreach Center (ROC) church in Richmond who was accused of sexually assaulting two sisters in the 1990s. While hundreds of people are on the witness list for the trial, which could last two weeks, supporters are standing by the man known as “Pastor G.”

For Shawanda Allen, who worshiped at The ROC, the allegations are still hard to believe.

“Pastor G of all people he was like the nicest person I ever met,” Allen said. “It shocked me.”

For the last two years Allen and others have waited for the trial which will see Aguilar tried for 12 counts of sexual abuse. Prosecutors allege Aguilar had sex with an 11 and 13-year-old girl repeatedly — including in church vans — when he was living with them as a minister near Fort Worth in the 1990s.

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Independent (UK)

Parishioners in Massachusetts vow to continue their 11-year sit-in and save their church from closure

DAVID USBORNE SCITUATE Sunday 14 June 2015

It was bad enough that the Archdiocese of Boston had included their church, with its full pews and healthy finances, among the 70 it was eliminating in the name of streamlining. Worse was how, when the moment came, they broke a promise to let the parishioners stay put for just a few extra days. To say goodbye.

“They came in under the cover of darkness, they ransacked the place and then they changed the locks,” parishioner Jon Rogers recalled, pointing to outlines on the brick walls of the main sanctuary where statues used to watch over the congregation. “The Blessed Mother was there, and Joseph over here, both gone.”

It’s hard to believe, even for him, that this was back in October 2004. Had the folk from the Catholic Archdiocese in Boston, 20 miles north of the town, showed just a fraction more forbearance – or locked the doors a bit more securely – they may have spared themselves a whole lot of aggravation. Nearly 11 years of it, in fact.

From that day until now the St Frances Xavier Cabrini church in the picturesque seaside town of Scituate has been under occupation by its own parishioners who refuse to see it closed. And that doesn’t mean their dropping by on and off, or holding the occasional lay Sunday service. No, someone from this most stubborn of flocks has been here every minute since. That’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No breaks, not even in winter blizzards.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Vatican’s announcement on tribunal to hold bishops to account on how they dealt with clerical sex abuse complaints should be broadly welcomed

Mon, Jun 15, 2015

The announcement by the Vatican that it is to set up a tribunal to hold bishops to account where they fail to protect children and vulnerable adults from sexually abusive priests, is to be welcomed.

Based at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but headed by its own secretary, it will examine all cases of bishops accused of abusing their office and failing to report crimes committed by priests in their care. The announcement indicates that Pope Francis is serious about the issue of sexually abusive clergy. It is also important for the credibility of the Commission for the Protection of Minors, which he set up.

As significant was the speed with which the commission’s recommendations about such a tribunal were acted on. They were received by the Council of Cardinals, which advises Pope Francis, last Monday and his decision was announced on Wednesday. A similar body will be set up to hold superiors of religious congregations to account.

Both tribunals will include lay people. Not unnaturally, survivor groups have greeted these developments with caution. They’ve been let down too many times, but indications are positive. It’s been a long journey.

Almost 14 years ago the then head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, wrote to Bishop Pierre Pican of Bayeux-Lisieux in France congratulating him after he received a three-month suspended sentence for not co-operating with civil investigations into an abuser priest. Cardinal Hoyos’s letter was circulated to Catholic bishops’ conferences worldwide.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Stuttgarter Nachrichten

[2010 was a terrible year in the German Catholic Church as cases of sexual abuse of minors ere revealed. Pope Francis is taking steps to battle abuse.]

Markus Brauer, 14.06.2015

Kein noch so hohes Amt soll künftig in der Katholischen Kirche jene schützen, die sexuellen Missbrauch verschleiern und die Täter schützen. Unser Kirchenblog von Redakteur Dr. Markus Brauer.

Stuttgart – 2010 war ein bitteres Jahr für die Katholische Kirche. Vielleicht eines der bittersten in ihrer langen Geschichte. Ein Jahr, in dem ein wahrer Tsunami an Missbrauchsfällen das Vertrauen der Gläubigen in die klerikale Hierarchie – in Papst, Bischöfe und Priester – hinweggeschwemmt hat. Hat die Kirche ihren Lehren daraus gezogen? Sind die Weichen gestellt, dass jetzt und in Zukunft Kinder vor sexuellen Missbrauch durch Geistliche und Kirchenmitarbeiter besser geschützt sind?

Seitdem gibt es einen neuen Papst, der seit seinem Amtsantritt entschlossen gegen Kindesmissbrauch innerhalb der Kirche vorgeht. Die Einrichtung einer neuen juristischen Instanz im Vatikan, wie jetzt beschlossen, ist der nächste und logische Schritt. Papst Franziskus will so härter gegen Bischöfe vorgehen, die tatenlos zusehen, wie Geistliche derartige Verbrechen begehen. Die neue juristische Abteilung soll bei der Kongregation für die Glaubenslehre angesiedelt sein und sich weltweit um Fälle kümmern, in denen Oberhirten ihr Amt missbrauchen und sexuellen Missbrauch vertuschen oder nicht anzeigen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Augsburger Allgemeine

[A large number cases of child sexual abuse have been discovered at a Catholic daycare center in Mainz.]

«Wir sind nicht nur angesichts des Ausmaßes und der Vielzahl der Fälle, sondern auch im Hinblick auf jeden Einzelfall tief betroffen», schrieb der Mainzer Generalvikar, Prälat Dietmar Giebelmann, am Donnerstag den Eltern der Kindertagesstätte in Mainz-Weisenau. Die Mitarbeiter hätten Berichte der Eltern über Übergriffe nicht ernst genommen.

Aufgrund von Elterngesprächen gebe es für die Vorfälle keine andere plausible Erklärung als «schwere und schwerste Aufsichtspflichtverletzungen».

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

WRITTEN BY BARBARA BLAINE POSTED: 06/14/2015

It’s been 30 years since the first pedophile priest case attracted nationwide attention. Since then, we’ve seen literally hundreds of Catholic abuse panels of one stripe or another. So it’s hard for us in SNAP to feel excited about the promise of another one, especially one in which clerics will judge fellow clerics.

Each church committee feels like another move to handle criminal matters quietly and internally. There’s a far better alternative: the time-tested set of independent “tribunals” already in place to deal with those who commit or conceal child sex crimes called the secular justice system. It is where abuse and cover ups in other institutions are handled. But in most cases, church officials fight such legal action vigorously. They always have and still do.

If Vatican officials want to really protect kids and deter cover-ups, they have all the power and policies they need. They can start by insisting that bishops world-wide lobby politicians for stronger child safety laws, and turn over all files about accused predators to police now.

Within weeks of taking office, Pope Francis quickly ousted a German bishop who spent $42 million renovating his house. He could – and should — take similarly decisive action against hundreds of his complicit staff. No new “mechanism” was or is needed.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

Editorial

The Archdiocese of Chicago has made great strides in confronting the scandal of child sexual abuse by clergy.

But the Roman Catholic Church’s failings of the past, here and elsewhere — the way in which bishops looked away for decades — cannot be denied. Only when bishops are held to account as fully as the priests they supervise can there be confidence this scandal will never come roaring back.

On Wednesday, in a major step, Pope Francis approved the creation of a Vatican tribunal for bishops accused of covering up for priests who rape or molest minors. Until now, a bishop could be disciplined only by the pope — and no pope has even once demoted a bishop for failing to take seriously allegations of abuse.

It is an essential reform, 30 years overdue. Now let’s see how effective it will be. The Vatican has yet to work out important details, such as the range of punishments or whether there will be a statute of limitations on old cases.

But there’s no denying the pope’s actions represent a sea change for an institution that for too long did little or nothing as bishops shuffled along abusive priests instead of calling the cops.

The new Vatican tribunal is a potential backstop to the Chicago archdiocese’s own commendable efforts in recent years to address the abuse scandal here. Last year, the archdiocese released thousands of pages of secret documents on 66 abusive priests. More significantly, the archdiocese has created policies and systems designed to safeguard against future abuse — and against looking the other way. Background checks are standard, for example, as well as fingerprinting for school employees. All allegation of abuse must be reported to secular authorities.

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UNITED STATES
Questions from a Ewe

Our dear bishops in the U.S. concluded their semi-annual meeting two days ago and I’m sure we’re all elated that they had the courage to tackle some really challenging topics during that meeting.

Their first vote addressed that vexing problem plaguing so many American Catholics…what to do about the canticles used in the Liturgy of the Hours. Well, friends, sleep peacefully tonight. They voted to use a new English translation of those canticles – “in a style similar to the Revised Grail Psalms, with emphasis on sprung rhythms and faithful translation.” Whew! Glad they got that sorted out! It’s easy to see why they voted on this first, and quite frankly, a bit surprising that they didn’t handle this pressing issue at an earlier date by calling a special meeting or something.

Their second vote pertained to priest formation / seminary training. If you love the “bells and smells,” non-pastoral, uber-orthodoxy with a heaping helping of spiritual and emotional immaturity emerging from seminaries of late, you are in luck because they decided to continue existing priest formation norms without any changes whatsoever for the next five years. As Mass participation plummets and young folks flee the church, at a vote of 179 “yes”, 1 “no” and 1 abstention, they overwhelmingly decided to pat themselves on the back and continue current course and speed. Can we conclude that further reduced Mass participation is their desired outcome since they voted to continue a formation program that seems to contribute significantly to laypeople’s disgust with and departure from the Church?

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Sunday Times

David Hencke Published: 13 June 2015

THE judicial inquiry into child sex abuse is preparing to hire 20 barristers, including 10 QCs, prompting criticism that it is turning into a “gravy train for lawyers”.

The inquiry into historic claims of institutional child sexual exploitation, which is headed by the New Zealand judge Justice Lowell Goddard, is set to employ four times as many lawyers as the Savile inquiry into the Bloody Sunday killings, which cost almost £200m and lasted 12 years.

Exaro, an investigative website, has reported that the judge, who will examine explosive claims of sexual abuse by politicians and celebrities stretching back several decades, has handed the task of hiring 20 lawyers to Ben Emmerson QC, counsel to the inquiry, who is advertising the positions.

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CANADA
Toronto Star

By: Donovan Vincent News reporter, Published on Sat Jun 13 2015

Some of the youngsters were locked up in cells like animals or beaten severely, and everyone had to eat oatmeal, day and night.

But former students of the Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School in Brantford, like Audrey Hill, still want to preserve the building that housed these horrors decades ago.

“At first I was so very ashamed (of the building). I would have been one of the people saying ‘why would you save that?’ Now, I’m completely supportive of saving it,’’ says Hill, 61, a Mohawk who was sent to the now defunct residential school at age 10 by her mother.

Known at the time as the “mush hole” — a nickname given by aboriginal students who were forced to eat mushy oatmeal all day — the building stands for everything that was wrong with Canada’s residential school system: brutal racism, forced assimilation, and utter disdain for indigenous culture, customs and language.

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IRELAND
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin

Speaking notes of Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin Archbishop of Dublin
Holy Cross College, Clonliffe, 12th June 2015

“First of all I would like to thank Andrew Fagan and his team – and those working in our parishes, for the work they have been doing over these years in establishing and embedding effective safeguarding practices right across the Archdiocese.

I have been asked to respond to a threefold question: what have we learned, where are we now, what next? The answer to all three questions is the same: there is no room for complacency.

From the past, we have learned that for many years Church leaders thought they knew how best to deal with child abuse by clergy and they had locked themselves into complacency; it took years then to get norms in place; it took years even to get the information that was in our files into shape; it took years to put into place the action which we knew was necessary; it took years to learn that survivors were not people out to challenge the Church; survivors and their families had simply got things right.

Where are we now? The culture of safeguarding is being imbedded within the Church and great credit is due to the many lay men and women who offer their service willingly and voluntarily, working with their priests, to ensure that this is so and remains so. There is a long way to go. Paradoxically, the good things that have been achieved could become a temptation towards complacency. There is a tendency for people to feel that the child abuse challenge has been addressed and we can let our protective fences down. There is a tendency among some to say that the Church over-reacted, perhaps understandably, but now we can get back to a regime that is somehow less robust. It would be foolish to think that all our structures have fully satisfactory safeguarding procedures in place. There is no room for complacency. We need vigilance.

Where are we going? The future lies in keeping a culture of safeguarding alive in our parishes, among clergy, in our schools and activities and institutions.

That said there are remarkable changes. Who would have thought just a few years ago that in a major radio interview, Marie Collins would be the one challenging Church authorities as one representing the positions of the Pope?

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Chao Xiong Star Tribune JUNE 13, 2015

They’re calling his actions “bold” and “brilliant” now, but it wasn’t so long ago that Ramsey County Attorney John Choi was roundly criticized for not being tough enough on the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

In fact, when Choi announced in late 2014 and early 2015 that his office wouldn’t file charges in nine cases of alleged clergy sex abuse because the statute of limitations had expired, and for lack of evidence and other complications, his critics pounced. One went so far to say that Choi was no “profile in courage.”

So when Choi’s office laid out its dual-pronged strategy June 5 of filing criminal and civil charges against the archdiocese for its handling of child sex abuse cases, critics and supporters, some of whom heralded the effort as “unprecedented” and “transformational,” were stunned. Yet to those who know him best, it was no real surprise. The way it quietly came together was hallmark Choi — subtle, straightforward and by-the-book.

“I just felt really terrible how John endured some criticism, yet, in the end, he found the perfect way to deal with this factious issue,” said Washington County Attorney Pete Orput. “I think it was brilliant and courageous on his part. I think he went back — looked at it in a more macro view.

“This is the John I know.”

Choi, 45, charged the archdiocese with six gross misdemeanors for allegedly “failing to protect children” against former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, now in prison for abusing two boys.

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ARKANSAS
Arkansas Online

By Mike Masterson

Please, we implore you national media types who insist on rehashing and second-guessing the sad plight of the Duggar family–give your sensationalized repetitions a rest.

One aspect of the Duggar deluge that does deserve deeper scrutiny is to discover how the system so bizarrely mishandled it. Washington County Juvenile Court Judge Stacy Zimmerman on May 21 ordered that young Josh Duggar’s police report from a 2006 investigation be destroyed. However, a day earlier, May 20, Springdale Police Chief Kathy O’Kelley had agreed to release redacted copies of the same report, as political reporter Doug Thompson writes.

As folks from Arkansas to Timbuktu must know by now, that report implicated the now 27-year-old Josh Duggar in admittedly fondling five female victims through their clothing in 2002 and 2003. Four of those were his sisters. Fear not, I’m not about to review the entire mess yet again.

Josh Duggar got a “very stern talk” at the time by former Arkansas State Police Cpl. Joseph T. Hutchens (now imprisoned on child pornography offenses) but wasn’t charged with a crime. Last month he resigned as a lobbyist with the D.C.- based conservative Family Research Council. God knows, there’s been plenty of personal and professional hemorrhaging from this debacle and subsequent “official” decisions surrounding it.

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OHIO
Hub-Times

By Briana Barker | News Leader Published: June 14, 2015

Northfield Center — A national group has asked Cleveland Catholic Diocese Bishop Richard Lennon to visit St. Barnabas Catholic Church to evaluate and “punish” the Rev. Ralph Wiatrowski for his support of a man convicted of child pornography related charges.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests stated in a letter to Bishop Lennon it released June 4 that “Wiatrowski must be publicly punished for trying to keep a convicted predator walking free, and for siding with a guilty friend over innocent children.”

The letter called for the discipline of Wiatrowski for the letter he wrote April 13 asking the court for leniency on behalf of former Nordonia Hills School Board President Steve Bittel, who pleaded guilty in March to felony charges related to child pornography and a police standoff he initiated last September. The Rev. Wiatrowski had also appeared in court on Bittel’s behalf.

The Rev. Wiatrowski did not return calls by press time. He told the News Leader in May that he thinks his actions have been misconstrued.

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UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

Papal Tribunal for Bishops: an affront to The Hague, United Nations, International Criminal Court, civil courts of justice, suffering victims; a Vatican Empire PR campaign

*Another Emperor’s New Clothes fairy-pope-tale of the Vatican Roman Catholic Church.
*Another Devil-as-Angel-of-Light PR stunt by Pope Francis!
*Another Opus Dei Beast Deceits Team PR Stunt of the Day!
*Another Jesuits Masters of Deceits strategy to camouflage Vatican Mammon Evil Beast!
*The Vatican Roman Catholic Church’s JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army is the largest religious pedophile ring on the planet earth – thanks to its cooperators of popes, cardinals and bishops who covered it up and its Eucharist modus operandi that makes 1.2 billion Catholics feel-good about it.

The new tribunal set up by Pope Francis to judge and discipline bishops accused of covering up or failing to report pedophile priests –– is an insult to long-suffering countless victims, a farce, a sham and a mockery to The Hague, The United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the Ramsey County Office of the Attorney, and all civil courts of law and justice –– because it will not examine the known decades old past cases – and not try the already guilty cardinals and bishops who admitted guilt in public or who have been found guilty by civil courts of law in cities, counties and countries including the United Nations.

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UNTIED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on June 13, 2015

The Compassionate Response: How to help and empower the adult victim of child sexual abuse is now available in Spanish. Paperback and Kindle editions.

About the book:

One of the hardest things that many adult survivors of child sexual abuse will ever do is come forward and tell someone. Even if the survivor finally discloses decades after the crime, the pain is still fresh and the shame still stings.

But for the person the survivor tells, hearing the news and knowing how to react in a compassionate, safe, and empowering way can be almost as difficult.

This easy-to-use book gives friends, spouses, and loved ones guidelines on compassionate responses and appropriate resources—including services, information on civil and criminal statutes of limitation, and support—that can help adult survivors of child sex begin the path towards healing.

La Respuesta Compasiva: Cómo ayudar y fortalecer a la víctima adulta de abuso sexual infantil.

Una de las situaciones más difíciles que pueden experimentar muchos sobrevivientes adultos de abuso sexual es tomar la decisión de contárselo a alguien. Incluso si el sobreviviente finalmente lo revela muchas décadas después de que el abuso sucedió, el dolor todavía se seguirá sintiendo como algo reciente y la vergüenza todavía lastimará.

No obstante, para la persona a quien el sobreviviente le cuenta el suceso, puede ser casi igual de difícil escuchar la noticia y saber cómo reaccionar de manera compasiva, segura y fortalecedora.

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UNITED STATES
the Daily Review

The Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal has resulted in several legal reforms in Pennsylvania, including expanded and clearer reporting requirements and a pending effort to eliminate the statute of limitations for such crimes.

Those changes are in response not just to the circumstances of Mr. Sandusky’s crimes, but to research that has produced a better understanding of the obstacles faced by surviving victims.

Now, the Sandusky case is one in a series of high-profile cases involving an array of criminally and civilly alleged sex crimes. Most recently, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert pleaded not guilty Tuesday to alleged financial crimes underlying his alleged cover-up of a long-ago incident involving a minor. Allegations of sex crimes also have been made in recent years against Bill Cosby and reality TV personality Josh Duggar.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY June 13, 2015

A MARIST Brother who was jailed in 2001 for sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old boy, but remains a Marist Brother, is selling comic books and school resources for the order through its official Australian schools website.

Brother Terry Gilsenan was jailed for offences against the boy in the 1980s, but has been the order’s contact person for sales of the ‘‘Champagnat Comic Book’’, and ‘‘cards, posters and publications for your school or ministry’’, for an unknown period until this week.

He was a teacher at Hamilton Marist Brothers in 1995-96.

He is identified only as ‘‘Brother Terry’’ on the Marist Schools Australia website, but can be contacted directly on an email address, land line and mobile phone numbers that are available from the website.

Gilsenan’s email address is also listed as contact point for the ‘‘Champagnat Comic Book’’ about Marist Brothers founder, St Marcellin Champagnat, in a Marist Brothers newsletter advertisement in March.

Marist Brothers Provincial Brother Jeffrey Crowe this week defended the order’s decision to place a convicted child sex offender’s direct contact details on a Marist Schools Australia website, but it has outraged victims’ advocate Bob O’Toole and NSW Greens Justice spokesman David Shoebridge.

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CANADA
APTN

Julien Gignac
APTN National News

Notes released by the Vatican recounting a 10-minute meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Pope Francis Thursday failed to mention the topic of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Harper said he reminded the Pope of the letter sent by his Aboriginal Affairs minister regarding the Truth and Reconciliation commission.

The letter, sent last week, notifies the Holy See of the commission.

But in meeting notes released by officials at the Vatican, there is no mention of Harper raising the issue of the TRC.

The TRC released 94 recommendations June 2, one of which asks for an official apology to be made by the Pope in Canada for abuses carried out by the Roman Catholic Church in its residential school system.

The release made by Harper’s office does not specify which recommendation was presented or whether the prime minister personally invited Pope Francis to Canada to apologize.

Many hoped Harper would use the meeting with the Pope to secure an apology for what the TRC calls the “the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children in Catholic-run residential schools.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Natasha Harradine

The Catholic Archbishop of Perth says a new project to protect children from child abuse is his major priority during his time in the role.

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe said the Safeguarding Project, believed to be the first of its kind nationally, has been launched in response to what he described as the “terrible scandal of sexual abuse of children” in the care of the Catholic Church.

The church has been identified during the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as repeatedly failing to act on reports that members and clergy had abused children.

The Safeguarding Project has been welcomed by 720 ABC Perth presenter Eoin Cameron who was abused as a child by a priest and won compensation from the church.

Archbishop Costelloe said while the church would respond to issues raised in the royal commission, it was important to act now.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY June 12, 2015

THE Catholic Education Office provided a record of service statement for a sacked lay teacher and convicted child sex offender in 1979, but did not report him to police, after it was allegedly told he had sexually abused four children.

Former St Patricks Sutherland principal Brother Anthony Whelan, who retired as director of Broken Bay Catholic Schools Office in 2012, told a church investigator in 2010 that he reported ‘‘sexual misconduct’’ by teacher Thomas Keady to the Catholic Education Sydney Office in 1979 and was advised to ‘‘summarily dismiss’’ Keady.

The investigation was terminated by the Christian Brothers before Catholic Education Office records could be obtained or witnesses interviewed.

Brother Whelan did not report the allegations against Keady to police in 1979, and said he advised the 12- and 13-year-old male students to tell their parents.

The 2010 church investigation was launched after Hunter man and Keady victim Rob Roseworne complained to Maitland-Newcastle diocese.

On Wednesday Mr Roseworne lodged a submission with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse about the church’s handling of Keady, and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision in 2013 not to charge Brother Whelan with concealing Keady’s offences because it was ‘‘not in the public interest’’, despite a prima facie case against him.

After Brother Whelan wrote to the Catholic Education Office about whether Keady was entitled to a statement of service, the office responded with a statement noting Keady had been employed as a full-time teacher at the school from 1966 to 1979. It did not say he had been sacked or make any reference to child sex allegations.

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UNITED STATES
The Blaze

Stephen Herreid

This week the Vatican announced the creation of a new tribunal to hold bishops accountable for sex abuse cover-ups. A Vatican spokesman echoed the pleas of many victim advocates when he went beyond the topic of individual predator priests and singled out negligent bishops.

“This is another kind of responsibility and shortcoming, and has to be judged in an appropriate way with appropriate rules,” he said.

While conservatives may have serious qualms with Pope Francis, his handling of sex-abuse cover-ups provides an opportunity to practice humility when seeming ideological allies are implicated. This week’s tribunal announcement should remind us of earlier actions the pope has taken to combat cover-ups. Embarrassingly, not all of us have welcomed his efforts.

Last February, hundreds of priests rustled into the Paul VI Audience Hall for a meeting with Pope Francis. Some of them, dressed in the now-rare black cassocks that were once commonplace before the Second Vatican Council, must have shifted in their seats as the Holy Father delivered his remarks. The word “traditionalist” echoed through the hall several times, and it sounded almost derogatory coming from the progressive pope.

Zenit News reports:

[Pope Francis] referred to the case of some bishops who accepted “traditionalist” seminarians who were kicked out of other dioceses, without finding out information on them, because “they presented themselves very well, very devout.” They were then ordained, but these were later revealed to have “psychological and moral problems.” … It is not a practice, but it “happens often” in these environments, the Pope stressed, and to ordain these types of seminarians is like placing a “mortgage on the Church.”

The Holy Father did not specify which cases he was referring to, but some of the priests in his audience could guess: Recent headlines tell the story of Father Carlos Urrutigoity of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, where Pope Francis recently removed a traditionalist bishop who had accepted and even promoted Urrutigoity, despite the priest’s long and gruesome reputation as a sociopathic homosexual predator.

Carlos Urrutigoity’s “Intimate Acquaintances”

Shortly before landing in Paraguay, Urrutigoity escaped prosecution for molesting a minor in the U.S. (thanks to Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations). “John Doe,” the minor who came forward, was a student at St. Gregory’s Academy in Elmhurst, Pennsylcvania, where Urrutigoity served as a chaplain.

St. Gregory’s Academy was a tiny, experimental school run by Catholics devoted to the traditional Latin Mass, who barred their students from TV, CD’s, and cell phones in an attempt to shield them from the decadence of modern popular culture.

But according to whistleblowers and sworn testimonies, this “experiment in tradition” went horribly wrong: Heavy underage drinking, bed-sharing, and group nudity were standard occurrences among students, and the Academy’s close, unwholesome atmosphere provided an easy playing field for Urrutigoity’s methods of manipulation and seduction, which included plying students with alcohol and tobacco, and convincing them to sleep in his bed as part of their “spiritual direction.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Hank Shea JUNE 12, 2015

The recent criminal charges filed against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis compel me to write to you, via the newspaper. I have hoped and prayed for many months that you would step down as head of the archdiocese. But now I feel both morally and ethically obligated to communicate my views to you and our community before more pain and harm is suffered by the members of the archdiocese, our Catholic Church and you.

You and other persons now stand criminally accused of wrongdoing by the Ramsey County attorney. As you know, the complaint specifically alleges that you participated in criminal conduct. Although only the archdiocese has been actually charged as a criminal defendant, an organization such as the archdiocese, like any corporation, can only commit a criminal offense based on the conduct of persons in that organization, such as you and the others named in the complaint.

The archdiocese (and anyone named in the complaint) is, of course, presumed to be innocent of any criminal offense at this stage of the state’s prosecution. Absent a plea agreement between the county attorney and the archdiocese, the government will have to present evidence to prove its charges in a court of law in one or more hearings and, ultimately, a trial. Based on my 20 years of experience as a former federal prosecutor here in Minnesota, I can tell you that any such hearings and trial will be a disaster for the archdiocese, its members, the church and you. This is true regardless of the outcome of the case.

For some time now, you have ignored calls for you to step down as head of the archdiocese. Whatever the reasons for your remaining in office, this no longer matters. The criminal complaint and its allegations virtually assure that either you will be leaving your position on your own initiative or you will be removed from it. It is time for you to accept that the status quo cannot continue. The archdiocese more than ever needs new leadership to put its legal troubles behind it and, more important, to allow genuine healing to begin, including for the victims of clergy abuse.

There are many reasons for you to step down immediately. Here are just a few of them:

First, it will help stop the bleeding. The entire archdiocese has been suffering spiritual death caused by a thousand cuts due to a failure of leadership. Although the wrongdoing did not begin with you, it continued under your watch and you remained willfully blind to it.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

WRITTEN BY ASHLEE REZIN

A man filed a lawsuit Friday against the Archdiocese of Chicago, claiming he was sexually abused by convicted former Catholic priest Nortbert Maday at a South Side parish from 1979 to 1982.

The plaintiff, listed in the lawsuit as John Doe, was a 10-year-old altar boy at Saint Bede the Venerable Parish, 8200 S. Kostner Ave., when Maday began abusing him in 1979, he claims in the suit, which was filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court.

Maday, who was ordained in 1964, was a priest at Saint Bede from 1977 to 1983, records show.

The suit claims Maday would take the altar boy and other children on various trips to pizza parlors, amusements parks and Maday’s adult friends’ houses.

The boy — the youngest of his parents’ seven children, who all worshiped at the parish — was sexually abused by Maday at various locations, including the church’s sacristy, Maday’s bedroom in the church rectory, other residences and Maday’s car, the suit claims.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Lauren Zumbach
Chicago Tribune

A former Chicago priest is facing new allegations from a man who says the convicted, defrocked priest abused him as a boy, according to court records.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Cook County court, claims Norbert Maday sexually abused the Cook County man, identified only as John Doe, when he was a student at St. Bede the Venerable, starting in 1979 when Doe was a 10-year-old altar boy.

The three-count suit accuses Maday of battery, alleging he “engaged in the intentional, non-consensual, harmful and offensive touching and sexual abuse of Plaintiff on multiple occasions from 1979 to 1981,” in Maday’s bedroom and car and in the church sacristy.

The man also accuses the Catholic Bishop of Chicago and the Archdiocese of Chicago of negligence and willful and wanton misconduct, including failing to properly investigate reports of inappropriate sexual behavior or abuse by priests including Maday.

The suit also faults the archdiocese and Catholic Bishop with failing to report Maday when they knew or should have known about his sexual misconduct, with allowing Maday to have unsupervised contact with minor boys and with not warning Doe and his family about Maday, according to the lawsuit.

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CALIFORNIA
The Record

By Julie Najjar

A History of Loneliness
by John Boyne (Doubleday Canada, 384 pages $24.95 trade paperback)

We have heard much about the shocking allegations of the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests worldwide over the past several decades, so it was with a sense of trepidation that I approached John Boyne’s latest novel.

“A History of Loneliness” tells the achingly sad story of Odran Yates, a Catholic priest in Dublin as he looks back over his life, from the time he was a young boy in the 1970s up to the present day, when he must face the role he, too, may have played in the vast and far-reaching coverup of sexual abuse by the Roman Catholic Church over the past five decades.

Odran tells how his Irish family went from three to five and back to three again when tragedy struck while he was still a young boy. Seeking consolation, his mother becomes involved in the church, and she tells Odran he has a calling — a vocation to become a priest.

Faced with no better options, he enters the seminary at Conliffe at 17, where he and Tom Cardle become “cellmates” and, by default, best friends.

Tom, unlike Odran, is not cut out for the life of a priest, but he has no choice in the matter. This relationship, and Tom’s subsequent actions, form the basis for Odran’s conflicted feelings as he struggles to stay true to his calling in a world where priests have gone from being respected and revered members of the community to being shunned and looked upon with suspicion and even disgust.

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IRELAND
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublinn

Child safeguarding measures increase as level of complaints decrease

An ongoing decline in the number of abuse allegations against priests has allowed the Dublin Diocesan Safeguarding service to significantly increase the level of child protection training it offers to parishes.

Today (Friday 12th June) the SCPS, Child Safeguarding and Protection Service, launched its annual update of statistical information and also highlighted the availability of Towards Peace, a national service aimed at providing spiritual support to victims of abuse.

The Director of Safeguarding for the Dublin Archdiocese, Andrew Fagan, said the number of allegations of abuse processed by the service has dropped significantly over the past five years. This has allowed them to apply more resources in the area of safeguarding and increase the effort around prevention of child abuse.

This includes providing training to child safeguarding representatives in parishes, meeting regularly with parish teams and identifying and improving areas where prevention measures can be improved.

Close to 1,000 people availed of training and information services last year. The number of Dublin Diocesan trainers accredited by the National Board has increased and another 7,000 people including clergy, lay staff and volunteers were Garda vetted.

Mr. Fagan paid tribute to the many external agencies represented that supported them in their work, including members of An Garda Síochána and representatives from Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. He said it was also crucial to the work of the SCPS that they can rely on the support and expertise of the staff of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church and organisations that support those who have experienced sexual crime. He said over the years they have developed very positive working relationships with One in Four, the Rape Crisis Centre and others.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Saturday, June 13, 2015

by Caroline O’Doherty

Allegations of child sex abuse have been made against five more Catholic priests from the country’s largest diocese.

The new claims came as Archbishop Diarmuid Martin admitted he was still not satisfied that all clergy were doing enough to protect children and survivors of abuse.

“The culture of safeguarding is not evenly embedded across the Church and that is a cause of concern,” he said.

Three of the five priests who were reported to the Dublin Archdiocese during 2014 are now dead and the other two are retired.

Archbishop Martin said while this made investigation difficult, it revealed much about the trauma inflicted on those who were abused.

“Survivors are still coming forward which means that for years they have been suffering without feeling able to tell their story and share their grief,” he said.

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TEXAS
El Paso Times

By Aaron Martinez / El Paso Times /
POSTED: 06/12/2015

An El Paso man who claims that he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest in El Paso in the 1970s filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the Catholic Diocese of El Paso claiming negligence on the church’s part, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that the Rev. Denis Tejada, who was serving at St. Patrick Cathedral at the time, allegedly abused the man who was 10-year-old at the time between 1974 and 1975. Tejada is no longer a priest and could not be found for comment.

The alleged victim, who is identified in the lawsuit as John Doe, said he was as an altar server at the church and would help Tejada with church services. In 1974, Tejada asked the victim to help with a Mass early in the morning.

Tejada reportedly asked the victim’s mother if the 10-year-old could stay the night at the St. Patrick Cathedral’s rectory since the Mass was early in the morning, according to the lawsuit.

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