ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent April 20, 2015

ROME — Although Pope Francis doesn’t arrive in Washington, DC for his US debut until late September, a Vatican spokesman said Monday the trip will actually begin more than four months earlier when the pontiff visits Rome’s main American seminary May 2.

Francis is heading to the Pontifical North American College (NAC) for a Mass in honor of Junipero Serra, an 18th-century Spanish Franciscan celebrated as the founder of the Church on the West Coast of the United States, but also derided by critics as the “Columbus of California” for his role in decimating the native population.

Francis will formally declare Serra a saint during his American trip, which will take him to DC, New York, and Philadelphia for a Vatican-sponsored meeting of families Sept 23-27. …

It may also be a preview of controversy likely to swirl when Francis canonizes Serra, a Franciscan priest who founded nine missions from San Diego to San Francisco during the 18th century. Native Americans and others claim that he imposed Christianity on the region, wiped out native populations, and enslaved converts to the faith.

During a press conference in Rome Monday, Church officials defined Serra as a man who made mistakes, but also a historical figure who defended natives from Spanish colonizers like no one else.

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CONNECTICUT
Crux

By Michael O’Loughlin
National reporter April 20, 2015

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Vatican’s special commission on clergy sexual abuse has given Pope Francis a proposal on how to punish bishops who failed to protect minors from sexual abuse by clergy under their oversight.

Marie Collins, a member of the panel — formally known as the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — and herself a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, said she couldn’t reveal details of the proposal, but that personally, she believes some bishops must be removed from office. Among those she cited was Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, convicted in 2012 of failing to report suspected child abuse to civil authorities.

“I cannot understand how Bishop Finn is still in position, when anyone else with a conviction that he has could not run a Sunday school in a parish. He wouldn’t pass a background check,” she said in an interview with Crux. “I don’t know how anybody like that could be left in charge of a diocese.”

Collins said her working group has discussed Finn’s case, as well as that of the newly installed Bishop Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid of Osorno, Chile, who is tied to one of that country’s most notorious abusers.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

APRIL 21, 2015

Sarah Elks
Reporter

The retired Catholic bishop of Rockhampton has told victims of child sexual abuse at a church ­orphanage that he feels “a terrible sense of shame and disgrace over what happened to you”.

Brian Heenan yesterday ­directly addressed the now adult survivors of abuse at Neerkol, the notorious orphanage run by the Sisters of Mercy nuns for decades until 1975.

“(I have realised) how dreadful it must have been for (you),” Bishop Heenan told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

“I just want to say to (the survivors) again, my heart goes out to you and it’s been reinforced this week because of what you shared with us.

“I feel a terrible sense of shame and disgrace over what happened to you at Neerkol.”

The royal commission has been sitting in Rockhampton, in central Queensland, for a week, and has been told of horrific sexual abuse by priests and physical abuse by nuns at the orphanage.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Allentown Catholic Diocese begins process to defrock priest accused of fathering child.

August 31, 2010
By Devon Lash, OF THE MORNING CALL

When Mark Rozzi learned a young woman in his own Berks County neighborhood was allegedly involved in a sexual relationship with a priest, it seemed he was 13 again.

At that age, Rozzi said, he was sexually abused by his teacher and priest at Holy Guardian Angels outside Reading. It took decades for him to talk about the abuse. On Monday, joining a small group of protesters outside the Allentown Catholic Diocese headquarters in South Whitehall Township, he encouraged others like him not to wait so long.

“Bad stuff happens to good people,” said Rozzi, now 39 and living in Muhlenberg Township. “But you have to keep coming forward, because there are so many victims that are afraid to talk about this.”

The group, the Lehigh Valley chapter of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, urged diocesan leaders to seek out victims of abuse and, as recommended by the sign one woman hoisted, “do everything possible.”

The four demonstrators gathered in response to a lawsuit filed last week that claims a Reading priest, the Rev. Luis A. Bonilla Margarito, started a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student that led to her pregnancy.

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SCOTLAND
Christian Today

Mark Woods CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 20 April 2015

A Roman Catholic priest in Scotland who alleged there was a culture of sexual bullying in seminaries stretching back decades has been found guilty by a Church tribunal of injuring the reputation of the Church and its clergy.

The church of St John Ogilvie in High Blantyre, where Fr Matthew Despard was priest.
Father Matthew Despard, who was suspended from his parish at St John Ogilvie in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, made the claims in a self-published book entitled ‘Priesthood in Crisis’.

The e-book has been removed from sale on Amazon’s Kindle service following legal threats by priests who said they had been defamed, but its description says that it is “a story of one priest’s experience in the priesthood and his efforts to live out his vocation honourably despite his awareness of corruption in parts of the Church that he loves”.

Fr Despard alleged that a “powerful gay Mafia” was at work. He said that as a trainee priest he was approached inappropriately and that other seminarians who spurned the advances of others were bullied.

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ALABAMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Decision reached on indictment of predator priest
Mother of alleged victim is told charges will be filed
Records are sealed, however, so outcome is unclear
Victims call on church & court officials to disclose ruling
SNAP: “Catholic bishop should aggressively seek out others who have been hurt”
Support group also releases list of 14 other “credibly accused AL child molesting clerics”

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

– discuss a grand jury’s decision about possibly indicting an accused predator priest,
– beg church and court officials, for the safety of children, to disclose that recent decision,
– prod others who were similarly abused to step forward so they can begin to heal, and
– urge Birmingham’s bishop head to disclose the identity and whereabouts of other credibly accused clerics who have lived or worked in the area

WHEN
Monday, April 20 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the Cathedral of St Paul, 2120 3rd Avenue, North (corner of 22nd Street N ) in Birmingham, AL

WHO
Two members of a self-help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director

WHY
A grand jury has reached a decision about indicting a Birmingham Catholic on child sex abuse charges. That decision is sealed but last week, the mother of the alleged victim was told by prosecutors that the grand jury has issued a “true bill” and the criminal case will proceed.

Almost 1.5 years ago, Fr. David Lawrence Stone (205-767-8384) was arrested in Jefferson County and accused of molesting a child younger than 12 years old. (Fr. Stone also goes by the name “Francis Mary Stone.”) The alleged victim is Fr. Stone’s child.

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VIRGINIA
The Virginian-Pilot

By Bill Bartel
The Virginian-Pilot
April 20, 2015

A victims advocacy group said last week it will again request that Roman Catholic leaders in southeast Virginia ask parishioners whether they were molested by a friar, once based in Norfolk, who had been linked to dozens of child assaults in other states.

The new request is triggered by media reports last week that three more victims of Brother Stephen Baker reached financial settlements with church-related groups. The three said Baker abused them in the 1990s while they were teenagers at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pa.

Baker, who committed suicide in 2013, was on the faculty of a now-closed Norfolk parochial school in the 1970s. His death sparked the advocacy group’s initial request for assistance by the Richmond diocese, which includes Hampton Roads.

Becky Ianni, the Virginia director for the national organization SNAP, Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests, said she hopes that enough time has passed that anyone who might have been victimized by Baker will seek counseling.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Justice4PAKids

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!
PRESS CONTACT: Maureen Cislo, 484-325-4092 info@justice4pakids.org

Justice4pakids is the only organization in the state of Pennsylvania to host a 5k/fun run for survivors of child sexual abuse. Slated for Saturday May 2 on the Chester Valley Trail in Exton, the family friendly event features an easy flat course for all runners or walkers.

“This is a day of hope, a day of empowerment, a day to be free—walking away from your predator and walking into a new future,” says Maureen Cislo, President of Justice4pakids.
This is more than a run against child sexual abuse- this is a day to honor survivors of child sexual abuse while bringing greater awareness to this health crises.

“1 in 4 girls and 1 in 5 boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. In 90% of reported cases, the child knows their perpetrator,” says Robert Nelson, a survivor and Chair of the Justice4pakids Board of Directors.

Many survivors will be coming out to participate and will receive a special certificate for completing the walk/run. DJ Danny Madonna’s Superior Sound will spin some fun tunes and a meaningful song will be played and dedicated towards survivors. Runners and walkers will also be able to write a message on their back of their T-shirt such as: “I am walking to support CSA survivor Joan.”

As one survivor who is signed up to walk sums it up: “This is amazing! You are providing a safe place to come together and have a positive impact in a bad situation. It has given me a place to have positive thoughts and be hopeful. This is not always easy – even after 35+ years. My story has always been so personal and I have kept it very much to myself and shared only when necessary. I feel much more empowered now and accepted. In this group, I am looked at as a survivor NOT a victim. This is very important.”

Join in the 3nd Annual 5K Run and 1Mile Walk on Saturday, May 2, at Chester Valley Trail Entrance, 140 Church Farm Lane, Exton. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. Timed race starts at 8 a.m. sharp. $25 fee on race day. Prizes for First, Second & Third Place! “Keep Your Body Safe” coloring books will be handed out to all children for free.

Justice4pakids is a 501 c-3 whose mission is to stop child sexual abuse by raising awareness through its education and prevention programs. Find out more at: www.justice4pakids.org

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Rich Calder
April 20, 2015

He lost a lawsuit against Yeshiva University’s prestigious all-boys school involving alleged decades-long sex abuse — so his parents are now trying to make an end-run at justice.

In what their lawyer calls a first-of-its-kind move in the state, Israel and Chaya Gutman are set to file a lawsuit Monday claiming that the embattled Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy in Manhattan is guilty of deceptive advertising by touting the high school as a safe place to send youths.

“This is the first case in which a parent has sued a school for deceptive practices based upon the school’s retention of known sexual predators,” said the Florida couple’s lawyer, Kevin Mulhearn, to The Post.

“This is a lawsuit brought by parents who suffered every person’s worst nightmare.”

According to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit, “Most savvy Jewish educational consumers… would have never imagined that [the school], despite its glowing and positive impressions, would have permitted their son to endure an educational experience… that was consistently threatened, and often stained, by known sexual predators in high positions of authority.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

by Rachel Millard, Reporter

An inquiry into abuse at a boys’ home may provide clues to crack a 35-year-old unsolved murder, the man originally convicted of the killing has said.

Colin Wallace, who spent nearly six years in prison following the death of Brighton antiques dealer Jonathan Lewis, told The Argus questions remain unanswered over the 1980 mystery.

The now 72-year-old, who was cleared on appeal in 1996, was an Army intelligence office working in Northern Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s.

As well as working on secretive black propaganda missions at the height of the Troubles, Mr Wallace also blew the whistle on abuse at the notorious Kincora boys’ home in Belfast. Following his release from prison, investigative journalist Paul Foot suggested he may have been framed over the death in order to keep him quiet over his top secret work in Northern Ireland and what he knew about Kincora. An inquiry into abuse at the home is ongoing in Northern Ireland, and, speaking to The Argus from his home in Arundel, Mr Wallace said it may yet spark revelations about the Lewis case.

He said: “The whole thing, in my own mind, I link the two up but in reality I have to keep the two separate. The danger is I cannot prove anything.

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FIJI
Fiji Times

Luke Rawalai
Monday, April 20, 2015

VICTIMS of abuses are never responsible for what happens to them as such unspeakable acts are the fault of the perpetrator, says Australian author and social worker Doctor Marian Zaunbrecher.

Dr Zaunbrecher, who is also a reverend, said victims of any form of abuse had the right to be angry at their perpetrators.

She said for abuse to stop, women, children and men needed to be educated and told that they had a right to their own body.

“Also, they have the right to say no and not feel responsible for the abuse that they face because it is the problem of the perpetrator,” she said.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

April 20, 2015

Miranda Forster

A retired Catholic bishop who was slow to act on child sexual abuse allegations against members of his clergy says he feels shamed by what happened to abuse victims.

Bishop Brian Heenan told a royal commission on Monday he felt a “terrible sense of shame and disgrace” over what happened to former residents of the Neerkol orphanage, near Rockhampton.

Former orphanage residents last week told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse of the physical, sexual and psychological abuse they suffered at the hands of nuns and priests before the orphanage closed in 1978.

Bishop Heenan was the head of the local Catholic diocese in the 1990s when abuse victims came forward.

He publicly dismissed the allegations as “scurrilous” and allowed the priest at the centre of the claims to continue working in the church, including alongside children, for several years.

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AUSTRALIA
Radio Australia

Child sex abuse inquiry: Retired Bishop sorry for sexual abuse of children at Queensland orphanage

By Marlina Whop and William Rollo

Retired Rockhampton Bishop Brian Heenan apologises for the sexual abuse of children at St Joseph’s Orphanage at Neerkol in central Queensland and for failing victims when they came forward.

Retired Rockhampton Bishop Brian Heenan has apologised for the sexual abuse of children at St Joseph’s Orphanage at Neerkol in central Queensland and for failing victims when they came forward.

“I apologise again for the harm and suffering of former [residents] at Joseph orphanage residents at the hands of the Catholic Church, priests and sisters and staff,” he said outside the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

“I also apologise for the way in which I responded to these victims. I failed them and for that I’ll be forever sorry.”

Bishop Heenan was cross examined for the second day at the Rockhampton hearings over the church’s responses to the abuse allegations at the Neerkol orphanage from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Father Reg Durham, who was the administrator for the parish of Neerkol and had resided in the presbytery, was charged in 1997 with 40 sexual offences against five former residents and pleaded guilty to six counts of indecently dealing with a child.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier-Mail

Retired Queensland Bishop Brian Heenan ashamed of child abuse in Catholic Church, Royal Commission hears

MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL APRIL 20, 2015

A RETIRED Queensland Bishop has expressed deep sorrow about child sexual abuse inside the Catholic Church, and spoken of his own “terrible sense of shame and disgrace”.

Bishop Brian Heenan, appearing at the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse at Rockhampton, said listening to a week of evidence from victims had moved him deeply.

“I realised all over again how dreadful it must have been for them,” Bishop Heenan, appointed in 1991 and now retired, said.

“I just want to say, my heart goes out to you, and that has been reinforced this week because of what you have shared with us.”

The Royal Commission has heard evidence from victims of child sexual abuse in Rockhampton, including former residents of Neerkol Orphanage, west of the city.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Roman Catholic religious brother who worked for years in Pittsburgh is scheduled to go on trial today in Australia on charges of sexually abusing children there.

Brother Bernard Hartman of the Marianist religious order returned to Australia in 2013 to face 18 charges of sexually assaulting two girls and two boys in the 1970s and early 1980s, when he was assigned to a Catholic school in Melbourne.

Details about the trial are limited because the presiding judge has issued a “suppression order,” according to the Office of Public Prosecutions in the Australian state of Victoria.

Under Australian law, a judge can partially or entirely forbid the release or publication of details about a court case under certain circumstances, including those that might distress or embarrass alleged victims of sexual offenses, according to a Melbourne Law School study.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

A retired Catholic bishop says he’ll be “forever sorry” for the way he responded to former residents of an infamous central Queensland orphanage whose shocking stories of abuse were laid bare at a royal commission.

Retired Rockhampton bishop Brian Heenan told the sex abuse royal commission he felt “a terrible sense of shame and disgrace” at what happened to children at the St Joseph’s Neerkol orphanage, near Rockhampton.

Former orphanage residents told a public hearing last week of suffering regular sexual abuse by priests, and of frequent sadistic beatings and other punishments meted out by nuns.

Bishop Heenan conceded before the commission on Friday that he failed to adequately respond to victims’ allegations when they first emerged in the 1990s.

On Monday he addressed the victims directly in a statement outside the Rockhampton court house, where the public hearing is being held.

“I want to apologise again for the harm and the suffering of former St Joseph’s Orphanage residents at the hands of the Catholic Church, priests and sisters and staff,” he said.

“I also apologise for the way in which I responded to these victims.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Monday 20 April 2015

A retired Catholic bishop who was slow to act on child sexual abuse allegations against members of his clergy says he feels shamed by what happened to victims.

Bishop Brian Heenan told a royal commission on Monday he felt a “terrible sense of shame and disgrace” over what happened to former residents of the Neerkol orphanage, near Rockhampton.

Former orphanage residents last week told the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse of the physical, sexual and psychological abuse they suffered at the hands of nuns and priests before the orphanage closed in 1978.

Heenan was the head of the local Catholic diocese in the 1990s when abuse victims came forward. He publicly dismissed the allegations as “scurrilous” and allowed the priest at the centre of the claims to continue working in the church, including alongside children, for several years.

Heenan later formally apologised to victims. He told the commission that hearing the former residents’ stories again had reinforced to him their “dreadful” experience.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lancaster Online

The LNP Editorial Board

THE ISSUE

State legislators and advocates for sexual assault victims lobbied last week for reforms to Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations law. Adult victims of childhood sexual abuse only have until they’re 30 to bring civil action against their abusers. Bills in the state House and Senate would raise that to age 50. That would bring the civil statute in line with the criminal statute of limitations. The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the public affairs arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, and the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania have lobbied against statute of limitation reform.

Pennsylvania should be on the side of making sure the perpetrators of sexual abuse are held accountable. Pennsylvania should be on the side of making sure victims of sexual abuse who want their day in court get it.

Anything that doesn’t meet that standard is not good enough, no matter how the counterargument is cloaked or framed.

State Rep. Mark Rozzi is among those leading the charge to do what is right. He tells of being raped by his parish priest when he was 13. He tells the story of two of his childhood friends — sexually abused by the same priest — committing suicide.

It often takes years, even decades, for victims to report childhood sexual abuse. Rozzi says he was in his late 30s when he decided he “couldn’t take it anymore. I was done suffering in silence.”

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By The Associated Press
on April 19, 2015

SPOKANE — The former director of Morning Star Boys’ Ranch was reinstated as a Catholic priest last week after an internal review found sex abuse claims could not be substantiated.

The Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, now 82, was removed from the ministry in 2006 amid a growing number of reports from people who said they were abused sexually or physically by him or his ranch staff.

As part of a broader process by the Diocese of Spokane, retired federal judge Michael Hogan investigated or reviewed charges against Weitensteiner, The Spokesman-Review reported. Last month, Hogan rejected the last four claims of sex abuse.

“One by one, each of those claims were denied or declared noncredible” by Hogan, according to the diocese.

A review of Hogan’s rulings by two diocesan advisory groups — the Diocesan Review Board, a group of mostly laypeople who are not employed by the church, and a panel of priests called the College of Consultors — led to the recommendation that Weitensteiner be reinstated.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Marlina Whop and William Rollo

Retired Rockhampton Bishop Brian Heenan has returned today to continue giving evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in the central Queensland city.

The inquiry has been told that for more than three decades, children at St Joseph’s Orphanage at Neerkol, west of Rockhampton, were raped, molested and beaten.

Today’s hearing was due to begin at 10:30am but delayed because of webcast problems.

Bishop Heenan has been explaining the Catholic church’s response to abuse allegations at the orphanage from the 1940s to the 1970s, which was run by the Sisters of Mercy.

He allowed one of the main offenders, Father Reg Durham, to continue working for the Catholic Church for three years despite a woman alleging in 1994 he sexually abused her since she was a child.

It took Bishop Heenan three years to restrict Father Durham’s contact with children, and in 1999 he gave him a character a reference.

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AUSTRALIA
The Morning Bulletin

UPDATE 11.10AM: The Royal Commission has heard the Diocese of Rockhampton would have been prepared to pay for Fr Reginald Durham’s headstone after he died.

It’s not known if the church played any part in commissioning the headstone.

The solicitor for witness AYB submitted two photographs of Fr Durham’s headstone. One inscription on it reads “made up a royal priesthood to serve God”.

10AM: DAY FIVE of the Royal Commission hearing into child sex abuse at Neerkol Orphanage gets underway today with ex-bishop Brian Heenan continuing his evidence.

The commission last week heard how Fr Heenan wrote a positive character reference for his former priest Reginald Durham (deceased), when he was convicted of child sexual abuse offences.

We will update you with more information as it comes to hand.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Monday 20 April 2015

Jody Harrison
Reporter

A PRIEST who alleged that a “powerful gay Mafia” was behind sexual bullying in the Scottish catholic Church has been found guilty of defaming churchmen and parishioners.

Father Matthew Despard, of St John Ogilvie in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, made the claims in a self-published book titled “priesthood in crisis”, claiming that sexual misconduct had been widespread in junior seminaries for decades.

He also said he had alerted church authorities, but that nothing had been done.

Father Despard will now be removed from his parish and will spend three months in penance after a church tribunal found him guilty of injuring the reputation of the church and its clergy.

In a letter to the priest, the Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Toal, said: “The judges determined that of the 21 of the 26 charges brought against Father Despard, five were not proven.

“In the majority of cases, the tribunal ruled that Father Despard had injured the good reputation of a number of people, both lay and clergy.”

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Marie Collins, the tenacious Irish survivor of priest sexual abuse as a teenage hospital patient, and a charter member of Pope Francis’ sex abuse advisory commission, explained inspiringly and bravely on 4/18/15 to a Hartford (USA) group of Catholic reformers, including me, her sober strategy and modest expectations, especially in light of the commission’s limited mandate and inadequate funding. She spoke in detail of her commission experiences and concerns and hope at the national meeting of the Voice of the Faithful (VOTF). A senior VOTF representative indicated to me that Marie Collins’ very important address will be posted on its website here,

[VOTF]

She had just returned from her “non-meeting” with the pope. She wanted to discuss with Pope Francis his outrageous choice to make Juan Barros, who has been accused of helping shield a fellow priest abusing youths (including Juan Carlos Cruz), as the new bishop of Osorno, Chile. Barros’ bishop installion ceremony triggered unprecedented violent protests of thousands in majority Catholic Chile (see here, here, and here).

These protests are the beginning of the Catholic Revolution likely to erupt again soon in Philadelphia, or Philly, where Cruz, a top US communications executive and former journalist now lives. Philly was a key locale for the American Revolution that led to the downfall of many medieval monarchies. The papal monarchy will likely be the next and last to fall. Shocking disclosures from Philly criminal proceedings, of a top priest personnel aide to former Philly Cardinals Rigali and Bevilacqua, have already earned Philly a fair claim to be the USA’s Pedophile Priest Paradise over many decades, even though Bevilacqua’s video deposition remains hidden so far. The pope seems to think his media magic dust can cover over these disturbing facts. See my “… the Philadelphia Inquirer: A Time of Truth About Child Abuse”, here,

[Bilgrimage]

Marie Collins’ tenacity points to serious trouble after the Chile revolt for the pope’s upcoming visit to Philly, a key part of his evident and unfolding strategy to elect next year a “Vatican/US bishop friendly” right wing US president, with Jeb Bush the pope’s evident top choice. If the pope fails on curtailing child abuse, he becomes a US political liability. See my “Why Is Pope For A New US War That Aids Bush Neocons & BigOil Mainly?” here,

[Christian Catholicism]

Marie Collins has prudently decided, like Eleanor Roosevelt with her key role in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to “light a candle, rather than to curse the darkness. Marie Collins has extensive experience in Ireland dealing with senior Catholic Church bureaucrats and government officials, on getting “blood out of a stone”!

Marie Collins understands fully the limited agenda, the slow pace and the limited funding that the pope has so far embedded in his “go slow” abuse commission. But she is bravely determined, it seems clear, to seize the narrow opportunity afforded her as a member to press forward, inch by inch, to make sure children are saved from the horrors she encountered.

Marie Collins acknowledges the pope’s commission has serious limitations, but also some potential opportunities as well that she hopes to pursue without illusion. She has already made clear that she will quit if she thinks insufficient progress is being made and that she will presss the pope whenever necessary. She pointed in he USA talk to the commission’s inadequate funding and staffing, pradoxically as the pope’s Vatican Bank’s financial consultants began with a reported $1 million front end retainer, and US bishops just announced they spent $150 million last year on containing the US abuse scandal and protecting bishops mainly. The pope needs to “put his money where his mouth is” on curtailing the abuse scandal.

The pope seems poised to distract further from the abuse scandal with an encyclical on climate change, often denied by Big Oil interests. The pope’s top financial advisor was reportedly for a dozen years Chairman of BP until the end of 2009. BP is enduring a regrettable 5th anniversary now. On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and caused 200 million gallons of sticky black crude oil to spew into the ocean, setting off a devastating environmental disaster. Will Francis in his encyclical take on his Big Oil backers? Unlikely. Indeed, Francis has actively promoted population expansion, a key contributor to environmental degradation. Judging by the pope’s avoidance of the child abuse scandal, his environental encyclical is likely to be more of his mixed messaging and pious platitudes. See on the 2010 BP disaster Reuters’ new video, here,

[Reuters]

Pope Francis has evidently carefully avoided the Barros subject publicly, even though he reportedly was involved in Barros’ appointment and likely knows him. Please see the superb and relevant analysis, “Vatican Defends the Chilean Appointment” here, BishopAccountability.org .

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sudwest Presse

[Abuse allegations have been made against the Protestant Brethren Korntal involving 200 children. They are seeking 12 million euros in compensation.]

Die Betroffenen werfen der Brüdergemeinde vor, in den 50er bis 80er Jahren in den zwei Kinderheimen der Gemeinde sexuell missbraucht und gedemütigt worden zu sein. Die Brüdergemeinde schließt nach Angaben von Freitag jegliche Zahlungen aus. Der SWR hatte zuerst über die Forderung berichtet.

Die Brüdergemeinde ist nach Angaben eines Sprechers noch mit der Aufarbeitung der Ereignisse beschäftigt. Bei dem Gespräch, das den Betroffenen bei der Überwindung des Leids helfen soll, seien die Vertreter der Heimkinder beteiligt.

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ITALIA
Il Fatto Quotidiano

[ Don Giovanni Desio, the 53 year old native of Milan and former pastor at Casalborsetti, who was arrested April 5, 2014 on charges of sexual acts on four children who were entrusted to him, has apologized with a letter and offered 100 thousand euro in total compensation to the families of the victims.]

È di 9 anni di reclusione la richiesta avanzata dal pm alla seconda udienza del rito abbreviato contro don Giovanni Desio, 53enne originario di Milano ed ex parroco di Casalborsetti, arrestato il 5 aprile 2014 con l’accusa di atti sessuali su quattro minori che gli erano stati affidati. L’udienza, avvenuta al Palazzo di Giustizia di Ravenna di fronte al gup Antonella Guidomei, segue quella del 9 marzo scorso, in cui si erano costituite quattro parti civili: due minorenni con i genitori, la Diocesi di Ravenna-Cervia e l’associazione ‘Dalla parte dei minori’, attiva sul territorio dal 2003. Non si erano costituiti, invece, il Comune di Ravenna e altri due ragazzini molestati.

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NORTH CAROLINA
WCNC

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — A former youth pastor at a church in Kannapolis is behind bars on charges of statutory rape and indecent liberties.

Benjamin Hollifield, 25, is being held on a $ 1 million bond.

Hollifield was fired from his position as youth pastor at Piedmont Baptist Church following the arrest.

The Pastor there released a statement saying Hollifield was “terminated for abusing a child and violating the church’s trust and policies.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
9 News

A retired Catholic bishop who admitted to putting the church’s reputation before child sexual abuse victims is due to face more questions at a royal commission.

Bishop Brian Heenan is expected to return to the witness box when the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse resumes in central Queensland on Monday.

Bishop Heenan was the head of the Catholic diocese in Rockhampton in the 1990s when former residents of the Neerkol orphanage came forward with historical child sexual abuse allegations.

The religious leader came under fire for initially dismissing the allegations as “scurrilous” and for failing to take action against the priest at the centre of the claims.

At the royal commission on Friday, Bishop Heenan conceded he had been more concerned with protecting the reputation of the Catholic church than with supporting abuse victims.

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UNITED STATES
The Raw Story

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
18 APR 2015

The Catholic Church in the US forked out $120 million to victims of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy and $30 million on pedophile prevention programs over 12 months, according to an annual report.

The bulk of the $150 million between June of 2013 and 2014 was spent on compensation, therapy and legal fees for victims, the report said, and the rest went to preventing the abuse from occurring, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said.

The US bishops conduct an annual study of sexual abuse allegations following a church scandal over pedophile priests came under the spotlight in 2002. In the fallout senior church officials acknowledged they had protected priests responsible for the sexual abuse of children.

The report said there were 657 allegations of underage sexual abuse by priests, of which 130 have been recognized and 243 are still under investigation and the rest unproven. Most allegations relate to events that took place years earlier.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mail on Sunday

By Martin Beckford and Paul Cahalan for The Mail on Sunday

The Director of Public Prosecutions was under growing pressure to stand down last night over her failure to put Lord Janner on trial for serious child abuse offences.

Alison Saunders’s position as the country’s top prosecutor looked bleak as she faced unprecedented criticism from the Home Secretary, police chiefs, crime tsars, prominent MPs – and even one of her predecessors.

Mrs Saunders said her job as head of the Crown Prosecution Service was to make the correct legal decisions in difficult cases, not the most popular ones. But she was accused of ignoring the rights of victims and of perpetrating Establishment cover-ups by deciding that Labour peer Lord Janner should not be charged – despite evidence of 22 offences against nine victims dating back to the 1960s.

Theresa May became the first Cabinet Minister to question the DPP’s judgment in ruling that the 86-year-old should not be prosecuted on the grounds that his dementia is now too advanced for him to have a fair trial.

The Home Secretary told the BBC: ‘I was very concerned when I heard about this decision. I have been very clear in everything I have said so far about the child sexual abuse issue… I expect to see justice done.’

Former DPP Lord Macdonald of River Glaven said it would have been better if Lord Janner had undergone a procedure whereby a jury can decide on the facts of a case without apportioning guilt and without a sentence being passed, if a suspect is unfit to plead.

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UNITED STATES
The Atlantic

ROSS DOUTHAT
APR 18 2015

In 1979, almost a year into the papacy of John Paul II, a novel called The Vicar of Christ spent 13 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. The work of a Princeton legal scholar, Walter F. Murphy, it featured an unlikely papal candidate named Declan Walsh—first a war hero, then a United States Supreme Court justice, and then (after an affair and his wife’s untimely death) a monk—who is summoned to the throne of Saint Peter by a deadlocked, desperate conclave.

Once elevated, Walsh takes the name Francesco—that is, Francis—and sets about using the office in extraordinary ways. He launches a global crusade against hunger, staffed by Catholic youth and funded by the sale of Vatican treasures. He intervenes repeatedly in world conflicts, at one point flying into Tel Aviv during an Arab bombing campaign. He lays plans to gradually reverse the Church’s teachings on contraception and clerical celibacy, and banishes conservative cardinals to monastic life when they plot against him. He flirts with the Arian heresy, which doubted Jesus’s full divinity, and he embraces Quaker-style religious pacifism, arguing that just-war theory is out of date in an age of nuclear arms and total war. (This last move eventually gets him assassinated, probably by one of the governments threatened by his quest for peace.)

Murphy’s book is mostly forgotten, but his hook, the idea of a progressive pope who sets out to bring sweeping change to Catholicism, has endured in the cultural imagination. The priest-novelist Andrew M. Greeley’s 1996 potboiler White Smoke, for instance, culminates in the election of a modernizing Spanish cardinal, whose conservative opponents are undone by the wily politicking of two Irish American prelates. Two years ago, Showtime shot a pilot for a series called The Vatican, in which Kyle Chandler (a k a Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights) played a rising-star New York cardinal with progressive views—only to spike the show, perhaps feeling overtaken by events, 10 months after Pope Benedict XVI unexpectedly resigned.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

Seven years ago, Cardinal Francis George testified about “the one egregious time” he said the Archdiocese of Chicago’s efforts to protect children under his leadership “failed to our great shame.”

He was talking about former priest Daniel McCormack.

McCormack sexually abused children on George’s watch while assigned to St. Agatha Parish on Chicago’s West Side. Arrested in January 2006, McCormack wasn’t removed from the priesthood until November 2007. He pleaded guilty that year.

“I had thought he was being supervised,” George said in a 2008 deposition. “And it wasn’t adequate.”

The cardinal’s handling of sex abuse allegations against McCormack and other priests in the archdiocese mar his legacy in the eyes of some.

“We would never wish anyone the kind of pain that we understand that he had to endure with his cancer,” Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said after George’s death Friday.

Still, she said the cardinal, who died Friday after years battling cancer, was “reckless” when it came to dealing with abusive priests.

“He left children at risk,” Blaine said, “even after he promised he wouldn’t do that.”

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CALIFORNIA
SFGate

By Kevin Fagan
April 18, 2015

All those praying that Pope Francis will take notice of their pleas and bounce Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone from his post in San Francisco had better settle in for a lot of time on their figurative knees.

Just about the last thing the Vatican ever does, experts say, is strip a bishop of his job because of political trouble in the pews — such as that being caused by a group of more than 100 local Catholics so upset about Cordileone’s conservative policies that they took out a full-page open letter in The Chronicle last week asking the pope to replace him.

“It’s so unusual for a bishop to be removed from office by the pope that there is a Latin term for it,” said the Rev. James Bretzke, professor of moral theology at Boston College. “It’s promoveatur ut amoveatur, which means, ‘Let him be promoted so that he can be removed.’

“That’s the way it’s been for centuries. And that’s the way it is now.”

Church watchers say that’s how St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke wound up being “promoted” to a legal post in the Vatican in 2008, four years after declaring that he would refuse communion to pro-abortion-rights presidential candidate John Kerry, among other provocations. And it’s reportedly how Bishop Joseph Martino was allowed in 2009 to gracefully retire at 63 — 12 years before the usual retirement age for bishops — after alienating his flock in Scranton, Pa., by espousing authoritarian views and closing nearly half the schools and parishes in his diocese.

“People are free to complain to the Vatican about bishops, but there is no formal process for removing them,” said Patricia Miller, an author who writes nationally on Catholic issues. “You can lobby it, and if you have the Vatican’s ear because you are a big donor or someone with big influence, you might get heard some. But the Vatican is not a democracy. It is literally a feudal court, a monarchy.

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ILLINOIS
My Suburban Life

By BOB OKON – bokon@shawmedia.com

Note to readers: The following story contains graphic descriptions of allegations of abuse by priests and may be offensive to some readers.

Steven Janik said he was an altar boy in the early 1980s being urged to consider the priesthood when the abuse began.

Janik was 13 or 14 at the time and was being interviewed by a priest who would determine whether he would be recommended for the seminary.

“When I was doing my one-on-one interview with him, one of the first questions he asked was, did I know what testicles were,” Janik said.

The next question was even stranger.

“He asked me if I knew what masturbation was. I did not. He took out a book and showed me,” Janik said.

Janik, who now lives in Wheaton, was among 14 men whose claims of sexual abuse against five priests in the Diocese of Joliet have been settled since July. Two law firms representing the men announced the settlements totaling $4.14 million last week.

Lawsuits filed on behalf of four of the plaintiffs tell similar stories of priests taking advantage of teenagers who were altar boys or interested in the priesthood.

One lawsuit alleges the abuse took place at the former St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Romeoville, a high school for boys interested in the priesthood.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

April 19, 2015

Cathy Kezelman

Another week and another school is under investigation for historical child sexual abuse.

Last Monday, Newington College, a private boys’ school in Sydney, was the latest school rocked by historic child sexual abuse allegations. The reports indicated that the school sent an email out to the parents of current and former students notifying them of an anticipated court case involving allegations of prior abuse at the school.

Two weeks earlier, another one of Sydney’s most prestigious private schools, St Ignatius College, Riverview, was forced to send a letter to parents informing them about child sexual abuse allegations made by a former student.

Both cases follow the chilling public inquiry into yet another prestigious private boys’ school, Knox Grammar, which was the focus of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse earlier this year. This particular case shocked the community – not only in relation to the reality of the three-decade history of child sexual abuse at the school, and the currency of the case up till 2012, but by the numbers of teachers charged.

The conduct of the school was especially disturbing. With the loss of records, and the former headmaster reportedly contradicting evidence that he gave earlier in the investigation, we saw evidence which suggested ongoing cover-ups, as well as the compounding impacts on victims. This public hearing is to recommence its inquiry, in late April.

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NORTH CAROLINA
WSOC

ROWAN CO., N.C. — A man was arrested Friday night and accused of sex crimes involving children, Rowan County officials said.

Benjamin Ross Hollifield, 25, is being held on a $1 million bond at the Rowan County Detention Center.

Hollifield is charged with indecent liberties with children and statutory rape/sex offense with a person aged 13, 14, or 15 by a person at least six years older.

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NORTH CAROLINA
WBTV

[with video]

By David Whisenant

SALISBURY, NC (WBTV) – A former Rowan County youth pastor is being held under a bond of $1 million, accused of sex crimes involving a child that attended his church. Sources tell WBTV that Hollifield was the youth pastor and outreach pastor at Piedmont Baptist Church in Kannapolis, NC.

Benjamin Ross Hollifield, 25, was arrested on Friday night and booked into the Rowan County Detention Center just after 10 p.m. on charges of taking indecent liberties with children and statutory rape/sex offense with a person aged 13, 14, or 15 by a person at least six years older.

Piedmont Baptist Church in Kannapolis released a statement Saturday on their website saying Hollifield was fired and that “The one known victim and their family are valued members of our church, and we are praying for and ministering to them during this difficult time. We would ask that you please respect their privacy.”

PBC went on to say that they screen anyone who works with children and “Piedmont Baptist Church reports all matters of potential child abuse to the authorities, as was done in this case by our senior pastor.”

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NORTH CAROLINA
Salisbury Post

By Jeanie Groh

A Kannapolis youth pastor has been charged with felony sex offenses with a 13-year-old church member.

Benjamin Ross Hollifield, 25, of the 1000 block of Buck Board Lane in Salisbury, has been charged with four counts of felony indecent liberties with a child and 10 counts of felony statutory rape or sex offense with a minor six or more years younger than himself.

The incidents took place between Feb. 15 and March 8.

Hollifield was the youth and outreach pastor at Piedmont Baptist Church, and has since been terminated from his position.

A statement on the church’s website said “Piedmont Baptist Church reports all matters of potential child abuse to the authorities, as was done in this case by our senior pastor.”

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NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte Observer

BY JOE MARUSAKJMARUSAK@CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
04/18/2015

A Kannapolis youth pastor has been arrested and charged with sex offenses against a 13-year-old church member.

Benjamin Ross Hollifield, 25, of Salisbury, is in the Rowan County Detention Center on $1 million bail on charges of felony indecent liberties with a child and felony statutory rape or sex offense with a minor six or more years younger than himself, jail records show. He was placed in jail on Friday, records show.

The Salisbury Post reported the victim is 13. Hollifield was youth and outreach pastor at Piedmont Baptist Church, multiple media outlets reported.

In a statement on its website, the church said one of its employees was fired “for abusing a child and violating the church’s trust and policies.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Lexology

Bolt Burdon Kemp
Dino Nocivelli

United Kingdom
April 15 2015

Survivors of childhood abuse often feel that their lives were changed beyond recognition the first time their abuser started to groom and abuse them.

As the vast majority of child abuse survivors do not disclose their abuse for a number of years after the actual assaults, this causes a period of time where they often struggle to manage the emotional impact of the abuse and this then affects their relationships with family members, partners and friends. Often survivors will become disruptive in school and at home while it is also very common to see them start to drink excessively, take illegal drugs or self-harm in an effort to erase their feelings and memories of the abuse.

Below I have noted extracts from some of my current clients (their names have been anonymised for confidentiality, as have their abusers) who have had a number of different relationships affected due to childhood sexual abuse:

Parents

Peter’s family were practicising Roman Catholics and were parishioners in their local church. Their local priest, Father Steven, presented himself as a good standing member of society and therefore my client’s mother had no issue when Father Steven first asked her if Peter, who was still a child at this time, wanted to become an altar server and later on if he wanted to help out at the church. Peter was sexually abused by Father Steven at the church while he was carrying out these roles.

Peter’s mother noticed that he had started to misbehave at home and school while his school teachers had told her that he seemed unable to focus on his studies and his effort had decreased substantially. At the same time, Peter’s family continued to go to mass every Sunday and his mother even confided in Father Steven about the change in Peter’s behaviour as she was struggling to control him and she was becoming increasingly concerned.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic World Report

April 18, 2015
Ann Carey

A French journalist I know called me for help on an article she was writing about the reform plan for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) accepted April 16 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

She said she was confused by all the articles on the topic in the U.S. press and wanted to ask me “Who really won? The sisters or the Vatican?”

At first I was stunned by this win-lose terminology, and I wondered why she would have considered the doctrinal reform of a canonically-erected entity to be a conflict of some kind, with the outcome producing a winner and a loser.

My own impression of the outcome was that everyone won because the CDF had helped the LCWR to be a better organization for sisters by refocusing its role to be “centered on Jesus Christ and faithful to the teachings of the Church,” according to the final report.

Then I took time to read several media stories on the topic and discovered that some of the articles made it sound as if the CDF’s reform of the LCWR indeed was adversarial, akin to “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” or a new “Star Wars” sequel.

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ROME
National Catholic Register

by RICCARDO CASCIOLI 04/17/2015

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, 66, is troubled by the negative campaign that has been waged against him. Ordained a bishop by Pope John Paul II in 1995, the respected expert in canon law was called to Rome by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 as prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura before being appointed cardinal in 2010.

In recent months, critics have described him as an “ultraconservative fanatic,” “anti-Conciliar,” “in conspiracy against the Pope” and even ready for a schism should the upcoming family synod open up unwelcome changes.

The criticism has been so defamatory that in Italy several bishops have even refused to host his lectures in their dioceses. Where he has been allowed to give a conference — as recently in some cities in the north of Italy — there are invariably priests who oppose him and accuse him of spreading propaganda against the Pope.

“It’s total nonsense, I don’t understand this attitude. I have never said a single word against the Pope; I strive only to serve the truth, a task that we all have. I have always seen my talks and my activities as a support to the Petrine ministry. The people who know me well can witness to the fact I am not anti-papal. On the contrary, I have always been extremely loyal and wanted to serve the Holy Father, as I am doing now.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

by Rachel Millard, Crime reporter

The man who blew the lid on abuse at a notorious boys’ home said a flawed Sussex Police report led to others being let off the hook.

Former Army intelligence officer Colin Wallace tipped-off reporters about abuse at Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast, seven years before three members of staff were prosecuted in 1980.

Sussex Police officers were brought in two years later to investigate how the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) conducted its inquiries. A report, from the then chief constable of Sussex Police Sir George Terry, followed in 1983.

The report, Mr Wallace argues, was flawed and led to others not being investigated. He also claims an inquiry, which is currently being held into the abuse, has been weakened as a result of the report more than 30 years before.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

Strangolato e riverso a terra in una pozza di sangue. Padre Lanfranco Rossi, 55 anni, teologo e autore di numerose pubblicazioni, è stato ammazzato all’interno della comunità religiosa di San Feliciano “I ricostruttori della preghiera” a Zagarolo.

IL RITROVAMENTO – Il ritrovamento è avvenuto nei giorni scorsi in un bosco. Ora sul caso indagano i carabinieri di Palestrina in collaborazione con i Ris di Roma che hanno disposto gli esami del caso. Per il momento si parla di una lite finita male. Pare esclusa, per ora, la pista della rapina finita male visto le condizioni di povertà in cui viveva il religioso.

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MARYLAND
CBS Baltimore

Christie Ileto

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. (WJZ) — Police call it one of the most serious child pornography cases they have ever seen. A Cockeysville man, who comes in constant contact with children, is found with 250,000 illegal images.

Christie Ileto stays on the investigation.

Police say during interviews, Gibson admitted to downloading and sharing child pornography. Some 250,000 images were found on his computer, and police fear there could be more.

Once a trusted church youth leader, now police say Gregory Gibson is behind one of Baltimore County’s worst child porn cases.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MARYLAND
WBAL

[with video]

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. —A 63-year-old Cockeysville man who is a youth group leader at a local church has been charged with possession and distribution of hundreds of thousands of pornographic images of extremely young children.

Gregory W. Gibson is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $750,000 bail. He was arrested Thursday at his home.

Detectives in BCoPD’s Crimes Against Children Unit said it is one of the most serious child pornography cases they have ever seen.

“Our detectives say is one of the worst child porn cases they’ve ever seen,” Baltimore County police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said.

Police said so far they have discovered about 250,000 pornographic images of extremely young, prepubescent children — mostly girls — on Gibson’s computers and hard drives.

The images depict child sexual abuse and explicit sex acts and erotica involving children, police said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Alison Knezevich
The Baltimore Sun

A youth group leader for the Chinese Christian Church of Baltimore in Parkville has been arrested in what Baltimore County police say is one of the most serious child pornography cases they have ever seen.

Gregory W. Gibson, 63, of Cockeysville was charged Friday with possession and distribution of child pornography. County police said they have seized computers and hard drives containing a “massive” amount of images — about 250,000 so far.

The images depict extremely young children, mostly girls, being sexually abused, police said.

Police said they don’t have evidence that Gibson sexually abused the children or that he knows any of the children depicted in the pornography.

He was arrested Thursday at his home on the 10300 block of Malcolm Circle and is being held at the county detention center on $750,000 bail.

Police said that during interviews with detectives, Gibson admitted to downloading and sharing child pornography.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEDERLAND
CIP

[An allegation has been made that the Catholic Church in the Netherlands is ignoring reports of sexual abuse and is transferring erring priests to developing countries.]

PvdA en D66 willen een verklaring van minister van Veiligheid en Justitie Ard van der Steur over de situatie omtrent het misbruik in de katholieke kerk. De katholieke kerk negeert meldingen van seksueel misbruik en verdachte geestelijken worden vaak overgeplaatst naar ontwikkelingslanden. Marith Rebel, PvdA-Kamerlid, wil dat het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik RKK niet sluit op 1 mei.

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UNITED STATES
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

April 17, 2015

WASHINGTON—The Catholic Church in the United States spent a total of $150,747,387 in costs related to child protection efforts and to allegations of clergy sexual abuse of minors in dioceses and religious orders between July 2013 and June 2014, according to an annual survey conducted by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) included in the annual audit report on the response of the Catholic Church in the United States to clergy sexual abuse.

The Church spent a total of $31, 667,740 on safe environment training programs, background checks, and other protective efforts, and $119,029,647 on settlements paid to victims, therapy for victims, attorneys’ fees and other costs related to allegations.

Over 80 percent of credible allegations of abuse reported between July 2013 and June 2014 date back over 25 years, with the majority occurring from the 1960s-80s. According to responses gathered by CARA from all but one of the 195 dioceses and eparchies in the United States, two of the 294 credible allegations of clergy sexual abuse of minors made during this time occurred in 2014. The remaining credible allegations date back as early as the 1920s. According to the audit, all new cases were reported to civil authorities.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the report clearly shows the need to remain vigilant in the protection of children.

“Though our promise to protect and heal made in 2002 remains strong, we must not become complacent with what has been accomplished. It is my hope and prayer that as we continue to ful¬fill our promise, the Church will help model ways of addressing and bringing to light the darkness and evil of abuse wherever it exists,” said Archbishop Kurtz.

The full audit report is available online: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/index.cfm

The full audit showed that all participating dioceses and eparchies were in compliance with the requirement of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, adopted by the U.S. bishops in 2002, to provide safe environment training to children, priests, deacons, candidates for ordination, educators, employees and volunteers. A total of 4,484,609 children (92 percent) were trained in 2014, along with 99 percent of priests (35,319), deacons (16,089) and educators (160,757) and 98 percent of volunteers (1,931,187) and candidate for ordination (6,503) and 97 percent (250,087) of other employees.

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USA
ORF.at

[The Catholic Church in the United States has paid last within a year about 120 million dollars (nearly 111 million euros) to victims of sexual abuse.]

Die katholische Kirche in den USA hat zuletzt binnen eines Jahres rund 120 Millionen Dollar (fast 111 Mio. Euro) an Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs ausgezahlt. Die Zahl bezieht sich auf den Zeitraum von Mitte 2013 bis Mitte 2014 und geht aus einem gestern von der Bischofskonferenz des Landes vorgelegten Jahresbericht hervor. Sie umfasst etwa Entschädigungen und Therapiekosten.

Zudem wurden demnach 30 Millionen Dollar für Programme zur Bekämpfung von Pädophilie ausgegeben. Wie in zahlreichen anderen Ländern der Welt hatten auch in den USA Missbrauchsskandale die katholische Kirche schwer erschüttert.

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UNITED STATES
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

MARCH 2015

Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People

PROGRESS

In every diocese/eparchy audited, individuals coming forward with allegations are treated with respect
and offered assistance in their healing process.

Those making allegations are not required to sign condentiality agreements. Reports of child sexual abuse are reported to civil authorities and priests who were found to have committed sexual abuse of minors are removed from ministry. Dioceses/eparchies are being open and transparent with the faithful, informing communities affected by abuse.

Adults who work around children are being trained to create safe environments and to be attentive to the behavior of others; this includes clergy, employees, and volunteers—even children are being taught to be aware of signs of grooming and to report it.

NUMBERS

The Secretariat receives two sets of numbers each year. One set is from the auditors. These numbers include all the information from both onsite and data collection audits. The numbers from the audit include all allegations reported from a diocese/eparchy during the audit year, not just the allegations that could be substantiated. For the audit, the following denitions are used:

• Substantiated: enough evidence exists to prove the abuse occurred
• Unsubstantiated: enough evidence exists to prove the abuse did not occur
• Unable to be proven: there is not enough evidence to determine whether or not the abuse occurred (generally used when the cleric is deceased or his status or location is unknown)
• Investigation ongoing: still under investigation
• Other: investigation not yet begun or referred to another diocese/eparchy for investigation

During the 2014 audit year (July 1, 2013–June 30, 2014), 620 survivors of child sexual abuse by clergy came forward to make 657 allegations for the first time: 130 cases were substantiated; 62 were unsubstantiated; 243 were still under investigation; 210 were unable to be proven or disproven; and 12 were of Lincoln declining to participate. There was a 75 percent response rate from religious orders.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Gregory D. Perez

In the latest incident involving a sexual abuse scandal to hit the Catholic Church in Guam, there seems to be a lack of transparency with the leadership of the Church in accepting its responsibility and role in the incident. Once again, our confidence and trust is being shaken and tested.

Archbishop Apuron is the head of the Catholic Church in Guam. It is under his watch that all these problems are cropping up. It is his responsibility to show leadership and “clean up his house” of all these problems — from the lack of financial transparency to its handling of clergy sex abuse. And in this latter case, a mishandling of it could be financially disastrous to our archdiocese.

In the United States alone, billions of dollars in claims have been paid out over the past 50 years in Boston, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, New Orleans, New York and elsewhere because of their denying, running, hiding, lying, concealing, manipulating, deceiving and pretending that all is well and not to worry. Should we wait until lawsuits are brought against the Archdiocese of Agana before any action is taken to clean house?

In the case of Fr. Luis Camacho, we see absence of proper training by the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, or RMS, of its young men to be ordained as priests and sent out into parishes as pastors. We seriously ask: Are the seminary’s “formators” screening these seminarians for the difficult task of being pastors in our parishes — before they are ordained as priests?

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WEST VIRGINIA
Addicting Info

WENDY GITTLESON APRIL 17, 2015

The Mormon Church, much like the Catholic Church, has been embroiled in sex scandals and the church’s coverup. In West Virginia, a judge presiding over one case ordered that the families of victims pay half the legal costs of the convicted abuser.

21-year-old Christopher Michael Jensen was found guilty in 2013 of one count of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of child abuse. The victims were three and four years old in 2007, when the abuse occurred.

Jensen, who is currently serving up to 75 years in prison, is the son of two local Mormon leaders. Since the trial, 12 children and their families have come forward and filed a lawsuit against Jensen’s parents.

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UNITED STATES
The Republican

At Vatican, Cardinal O’Malley raises issue of bishop accountability in reporting sexual abuse, though Chilean bishop remains

By Anne-Gerard Flynn | aflynn@repub.com
on April 18, 2015

This article is a follow on Clergy sexual abuse survivor Marie Collins heads to Rome in protest over bishop’s appointment before Hartford talk.

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston has reportedly made known to Pope Francis, in the guise of bishop accountability, the concerns of members of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors over the pope’s appointment of a Chilean bishop who has been accused of covering up abuse.

Clergy sexual abuse survivor Marie Collins, who will be the keynote speaker at the 2015 National Assembly of the Voice of the Faithful in Hartford on April 18, was one of three members who flew to Rome over the weekend to meet with O’Malley. O’Malley heads the Vatican commission and was in Rome for a meeting of the Council of Cardinals that advises the pope on reforming the Vatican bureaucracy.

According to the Catholic news website CruxNow, O’Malley spoke with both Francis and the council on the accountability of bishops who fail to report sexual abuse.

Francis met with six survivors of church sexual abuse last summer, asking their forgiveness for the actions of pedophile priests, and saying in a homily that “all bishops must carry out their pastoral ministry with the utmost care in order to help foster the protection of minors, and they will be held accountable.”

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ROME
Vatican Radio

Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the Pontifical North American College on May 2 to celebrate Mass during a Day of Reflection with the title “Fra Junípero Serra: Apostle of California, and Witness to Sanctity.”

Pope Francis has announced he intends to canonize Blessed Junípero Serra during his visit to the United States in September.

The Pontifical North American College is the national seminary for the United States, and is located on the Janiculum Hill, which overlooks St. Peter’s Basilica.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release April 17, 2015

Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, SNAP President and Founder – bblaine@snapnetwork.org; 312-455-1499 (office), 312-399-4747 (cell)

We extend our heartfelt sympathy to Chicago’s Catholics and everyone grieving the loss of Cardinal George, including the many members and supporters of SNAP who are faithful Catholics who relied on George for guidance and prayer.

[ABC7]

We do not know how many children would not have had their innocence shattered by Fr Dan McCormick – and other predator priests- if George had done the right thing. Their preventable pain and suffering will, no doubt, haunt them for years to come.

We hope the lessons learned will be passed to George’s successors. During these difficult days for Chicagoland parishioners, we hope the faith that sustained George will provide consolation and peace to the Catholic community of Chicago.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

Cardinal Francis George will be buried in the George family plot at All Saints Cemetery & Mausoleum in suburban Des Plaines, where his parents, Francis J. and Julia R. George, were laid to rest.

His funeral arrangements include a public visitation beginning at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Holy Name Cathedral, and a funeral at noon Thursday, which will require a ticket to attend, the archdiocese said.

A modest, light gray gravestone marks the burial site of George’s parents and a third relative. Julia George died in 1983, her husband a year later.

All Saints, which was consecrated in 1923, lies west of the Des Plaines River and is divided by River Road south of Central Road. Cardinal George dedicated the cemetery’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Garden Mausoleum on July 30, 2001.

According to the catholiccemeterieschicago.org, the oldest part of the cemetery, All Saints East, opened in 1923. All Saints West was opened in 1954, and in 1961 it became the site of the first interment chapel building in archdiocesan cemeteries. In July, a 30-foot-tall shrine honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe will be dedicated at the cemetery.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago

Tuesday, April 21

1 p.m. Holy Name Cathedral Doors Open
2 p.m. Rite of Reception (Open to the Public)
2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Visitation (Open to the Public)
7:30 p.m. Prayer Vigil for Priests and Seminarians (Attendance by Ticket Only)
9 to 11 p.m. Visitation (Open to the Public)
11 p.m. Holy Name Cathedral Doors Close

Wednesday, April 22

7 to 9:30 a.m. Visitation (Open to the Public)
10:30 a.m. Interfaith Service (Open to the Public)
11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Visitation (Open to the Public)
7:30 p.m. Prayer Vigil for Women and Men Religious, Deacons and their Wives (Attendance by Ticket Only)
9 p.m. Wednesday, April 22 until 7:30 a.m. Thursday, April 23

Visitation and All Night Vigil Conducted by Lay Ecclesial Movements
(Open to the Public)

Thursday, April 23

7:30 a.m. Prayer Service (Open to the Public)
8 a.m. Holy Name Cathedral Closed for Funeral Mass Preparation
11 a.m. Holy Name Cathedral Doors Open for Funeral Mass (Attendance by Ticket Only)
12 p.m. Funeral Mass (Attendance by Ticket Only)

Immediately following the Funeral Mass, the Committal Service will take place at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines. Per the Cardinal’s wishes, he will be buried in the George family plot. (Open to the Public)

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Cardinal’s favorite charities will be appreciated – Priests Retirement and Mutual Aid Association (PRMAA) or To Teach Who Christ Is, a campaign to support scholarships for students in Catholic Schools.

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBS Chicago

(CBS) – Grief at the passing of Chicago’s Francis Cardinal George should not completely overshadow sex abuse that occurred on his watch as archbishop, a frequent adversary said Friday.

George passed away Friday morning after a long struggle with cancer.

Barbara Blaine, president and founder of SNAP, a survivors network of those abused by priests, said she’s sorry about the physical pain the former archbishop endured.

“We feel sadness, not only for his passing but also for the suffering that we know he endured during these last months. We wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” Blaine said. “We are also concerned and want to offer sympathy to the children who were sexually violated by priests and their family members — the children’s whose innocence was needlessly shattered because of Cardinal George’s recklessness.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
Seattle PI

CHICAGO (AP) — Funeral services for Cardinal Francis George will be held Thursday at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral.

George, who retired as Chicago archbishop in the fall of 2014, died Friday after a long battle with cancer.

The Chicago archdiocese announced that the funeral arrangements will include a public visitation that begins Tuesday. Interspersed with visitation will be an invitation-only prayer vigil for priests and seminarians on Tuesday, an interfaith service on Wednesday morning and an invitation-only prayer vigil for women and men religious, deacons and their wives.

The funeral service at noon Thursday will require a ticket to attend.

George will be buried in his family’s plot at All Saints Cemetery & Mausoleum in the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines.

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GEORGIA
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to recognize how important it is for communities and families to work together to prevent all types of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, psychological abuse and sexual abuse.

Research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control estimates that one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. Only one in 10 children ever tell anyone, and of those who do, over half, 58 percent, delay disclosure for five years or more.

In fact, according to Angela Williams, a Marietta mother of two, and founder of Voice Today, which advocates for victims of childhood sexual abuse, the median age for a victim to disclose childhood sexual abuse is 40.

And so, Williams, an ordinary east Cobb mom, has been on an extraordinary mission to help bring a voice and justice to victims and survivors who are silenced by a legal system that has imposed arbitrary deadlines of inadequately short civil statutes of limitations.

Currently, a victim of child sexual abuse has only five years after they’ve turned 18 to pursue civil legal remedies for the justice they seek. This means that after age 23, survivors of childhood sexual abuse are victimized again by a system that prohibits them from seeking legal recourse against their abusers, and allows these child sexual predators to live freely among us.

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MICHIGAN
WZZM

MUSKEGON, Mich. (WZZM) — Grown men who say they were abused by a former church volunteer decades ago hoped to publicly confront the man during his sentencing Friday.

Randall Doctor was convicted on drug and gun charges and while the men were not allowed to speak, the abuse he has admitted to was taken into consideration.

“I think we are all just feeling relief,” said Brad White of North Muskegon. Last year, he and seven other men told police Doctor sexually abused them when they were teenagers. “I do not ever want anybody to live what we went through,” he said.

The sex crimes could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired, but the investigation into the abuse turned up drugs and guns at Doctor’s home.

“For all of those years we lived with thinking we were bad people, that there was something wrong with us,” White explained. “Guys do not talk about this.”

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MARYLAND
Patch

By ELIZABETH JANNEY (Patch Staff)
April 17, 2015

A Cockeysville man who has led youth activities at a church off Cromwell Bridge Road and whose wife runs an unlicensed day care is charged in what Baltimore County police say is “one of the most serious child pornography cases“ its detectives have ever seen.

Gregory W. Gibson, 63, was arrested Thursday at his home in the 10300 block of Malcolm Circle in Cockeysville, the Baltimore County Police Department reported. He is charged with two counts of promoting or distributing child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, online court records show.

Gibson leads a youth group at the Chinese Christian Church of Baltimore, on Cromwell Bridge Road, with participants ranging from 9 years old through college students, police said.

In addition, his wife has been operating a daycare from their home without a license, according to police, who said Friday that the proper authorities have been notified of the illegal operation.

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By Rick Bella | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on April 17, 2015

The state nearly wrapped up its case Friday against Pastor Mike Sperou, presenting seven women who testified that he sexually abused them when they were young girls growing up in his Happy Valley church.

After a Multnomah County jury hears from two more prosecution witnesses, Sperou and his attorney, Steven J. Sherlag, are expected to start putting on their defense Monday afternoon.

Sperou, who leads the North Clackamas Bible Community, has been charged with three counts of first-degree sexual penetration. If convicted on all counts, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of eight years, four months in prison.

The Oregonian/OregonLive generally does not disclose the names of possible sexual abuse victims. But the seven women connected with the case have come forward, asking that their stories be told.

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CALIFORNIA
Seasons of Grace

April 17, 2015 by Kathy Schiffer

When Fr. Joseph Illo, the pastor at San Francisco’s Star of the Sea Catholic Church, announced his decision to train only boys to be altar servers, some parishioners and others protested. Amidst the hullabaloo, the media jumped at the chance to criticize both Fr. Illo and his beleaguered bishop, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. …

Some of the outrage directed toward Fr. Illo and Archbishop Cordileone is a straw man argument, intended to discredit the archbishop for his defense of marriage as between one man and one woman. I reported yesterday about an open letter to Pope Francis, demanding Archbishop Cordileone’s replacement as archbishop.

Here’s the thing: One may argue whether Father Illo’s reasoning is correct. One cannot, however, dispute that he is within his rights as pastor to make that decision for the good of his flock. His archbishop approved his decision. Cardinal Burke has expressed the same concern–that the feminization of the Church has been harmful to efforts to attract young men to the priesthood.

But while the San Francisco Chronicle may believe that the 100 signatories on the open letter represent the Catholic population in the city by the Bay, I do not.

And next weekend, we’ll see who’s right. The OTHER Catholics in the San Francisco area–those who are faithful to the Magisterial teaching of the Church–have organized a Mass Mob at Star of the Sea, Fr. Illo’s parish. They are inviting area Catholics to attend the 4:30 p.m. Vigil Mass on Saturday, April 25, and to sign a Spiritual Bouquet, offering prayers for Fathers Illo and Driscoll. The Spiritual Bouquet will be presented after Mass on that day.

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CHICAGO (IL)
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
APRIL 17, 2015

Cardinal Francis E. George, who was the Roman Catholic archbishop of Chicago for 17 years and helped shape the American Catholic bishops’ response to the child sexual abuse scandal and their resistance to the Obama health plan’s contraception coverage, died on Friday at his residence in Chicago. He was 78.

The cause was cancer, the archdiocese said. Discovered in 2006, the cancer originated in his bladder and spread. But Cardinal George continued to work until November, when he stepped down. In December he announced that experimental treatments he had received had failed.

A quiet, cerebral man, Cardinal George was appointed to lead the Chicago archdiocese by Pope John Paul II. He was the first Chicago native to hold the seat.

It was his prominent role in responding to the sexual abuse scandal in 2002 that first made Cardinal George a national figure. Although it would be five years before he was named president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he helped persuade his brother bishops to adopt a “zero tolerance” policy, barring priests who had been credibly accused of abuse from serving in ministry.

He was credited with then shepherding the policy change through an initially resistant Vatican.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

By Sally Hind

DONALD MacNeil walked free from court last year after lawyers said he was too sick to stand trial on sex abuse allegations dating back 40 years – but alleged victims had hoped proceedings might be re-raised.

THE dad of a sex-shame priest has died before facing trial over the alleged abuse of 13 girls.

Cancer-hit Donald MacNeil, 82, walked free from court last year after lawyers said he was too sick to stand trial on allegations dating back 40 years.

Proceedings could have been re-raised against the alleged child rapist at any time but he died in hospital on Wednesday.

Yesterday, a woman who says she was abused by MacNeil from the age of nine said she was devastated she and other women will “never get justice”.

Another of MacNeil’s alleged victims is understood to have confronted the OAP on his deathbed hours before he died.

MacNeil’s son Roddy was dubbed Father Flash after fathering a child with his married cousin and bedding another lover half his age.

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WASHINGTON
KREM

SPOKANE, Wash. – The man known as Father Joe is back at being a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Spokane.

Spokane’s acting Head of the Diocese said Father Joe Weitensteiner is being reinstated in the church.

Father Joe was the former Director of Morning Star Boys Ranch. He was previously suspended and accused several times of sexually abusing young boys.

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CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7

By Chuck Goudie

CHICAGO (WLS) — Cardinal George has a long legacy in the Chicago area.

But as with anyone in a high profile position, the legacy question depends on who you ask.

By virtue of the very issues that Cardinal George focused on, he put himself in the eye of controversy, primarily with gay rights and abortion.

And then there was the issue that dogs Catholic bishops everywhere: sexual abuse by priests. In many cities, Chicago included, how bishops respond to those cases defines a bishop’s legacy.

When Cardinal George struggled into his last Mass as Chicago archbishop, his illness and the years of juggling church conflicts were apparent.

When he was appointed by Pope John Paul II nearly 18 years ago, the church sex abuse scandal was already in full bloom.

Cardinal George vowed transparency in the Chicago Archdiocese and zero tolerance for priest offenders.

Now his sharpest critics look back, including Barbara Blaine from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

“I think it’s very important that we recognize that Cardinal George’s legacy was one of commitments to protecting children and then failing to protect the children, and he admitted that he failed and yet it didn’t seem to us that he was learning from the mistakes he made,” Blaine said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Morning Bulletin

Austin King | 18th Apr 2015

WHEN pedophile priest Father Reginald Durham was charged with sexually abusing children, his leader Bishop Brian Heenan wrote him a glowing character reference.

The former Catholic Bishop of Rockhampton (Fr Heenan) believed it was his role at the time to support his priest, knowing full-well there were child sex abuse allegations against Fr Durham.

In yesterday’s Royal Commission hearing into child sexual abuse at Neerkol Orphanage, it emerged that Fr Heenan wrote the letter of reference to support his priest’s “good” side.

The commission heard Fr Heenan was trying to weigh-up the “incredible amount of good he (Fr Durham) has done against the failings that have also been part of his life”.

In his reference letter, he wrote: “Fr Durham has had a unique life as a citizen of this district, priest to many parish communities, chaplain to service personnel and inspiring friend to young and old alike.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Apr. 17, 2015 Distinctly Catholic

“Pride of being first leads you to want to kill others; humility, even humiliation, leads you to become like Jesus. And this is one thing that we don’t think. In this moment in which so many of our brothers and sisters are being martyred for the sake of Jesus’ Name, they are in this state, they have, in this moment, the joy of having suffered dishonour, and even death, for the Name of Jesus. To fly from the pride of being first, there is only the path of opening the heart to humility, to humility that never arrives without humiliation. This is one thing that is not naturally understood. It is a grace we must ask for.”
Pope Francis spoke those words this morning, and they give every journalist pause. “Pride of being first” is part of our DNA. It is our job to break news. But, the verb “break” has a double meaning, and when that news can “break” the unity of the Church, how do the obligations we have as Christians reconcile themselves with the obligations we have as journalists?

Here at NCR, there is nothing theoretical about such questions. We were pilloried for breaking stories about the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy. People said we were assaulting the Church’s hierarchy, violating the Christian call to unity, airing our Catholic family’s dirty laundry. All those charges were true – and thanks be to God, Tom Fox and others had the courage to run those stories anyway. Can anyone doubt that the cover-up of the sex abuse would have continued had we not shown the light of day, which is often the light of justice, on the situation?

Yesterday I wrote about the mess in San Francisco. It is hard not to lay the divisiveness in that archdiocese at the feet of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. This open fighting on the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle and Twitter did not occur during the tenures of the previous archbishops, one of whom, now-Cardinal William Levada. is not anyone’s idea of a doctrinal patsy. A bishop has a special responsibility to build up the unity of the flock, and in this case, it appears that Archbishop Cordileone has placed other objectives first. In the case of NCR and reporting on clergy sex abuse, the demands of truth and justice trumped the potential harm to unity. I do not perceive in +Cordileone’s statements anything that warrants inviting the kind of divisiveness his leadership has occasioned. The polarization that now characterizes the Church in San Francisco is a thing to be regretted, and it is far from clear how it will be healed. Having the chancery denounce concerned Catholics is hardly the solution.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk | Apr 17, 2015 |

“Yes, it looks like they backed down,” said a learned nun I know. “But some of us had better not be caught saying so!” So much for the huffing and puffing the Vatican has directed at her and her sisters over the past few years.

In December, an “apostolic visitation” of 350 communities of religious women, undertaken amid charges that they were beset by secularism and feminism, ended with a buss on the cheek for a job well done. And yesterday, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) gave its approval to an anodyne “Joint Final Report on the Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religion (LCWR).

The LCWR, the nuns’ main umbrella body, had come under repeated attack for embracing ideas at odds with fundamentals of the faith. After the roll-out of the “Joint Final Report,” a four-woman delegation from the LCWR spent fifty minutes chatting with Pope Francis.

Over at the Boston Globe‘s Crux, John Allen characteristically minimized the widespread sense that all this was a big deal. “Both the more sweeping investigation of women’s orders and the LCWR investigation were orphans almost as soon as they were born,” he wrote. They’d been pushed “by a handful of well-placed American cardinals in Rome coming to the end of their careers” who “persuaded friends in the right Vatican departments to set the wheels in motion.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
San Francisco Chronicle

CHICAGO (AP) — Cardinal Francis George is being remembered for his role in the clergy sex abuse scandal among other parts of his legacy.

George died Friday at the age of 78 after a long battle with cancer.

Archbishop Blase Cupich praised him for leading a group of U.S. bishops to urge the Vatican to move more quickly to oust guilty priests. The policy was at the core of church reforms on the issue.

But George came under harsh criticism for allowing a local priest to remain in a parish for months despite allegations that he’d molested children. The priest ultimately pleaded guilty and George apologized.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests on Friday said that George could have prevented some of the abuse had he ‘done the right thing.”

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CALIFORNIA
SFGate

By Lois Kazakoff on April 17, 2015

With the publication of a full-page ad in The Chronicle, 100 prominent Roman Catholics launched a full-on campaign to have Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone removed from the San Francisco Archdiocese. The archbishop’s two-year tenure has been rocky from the start but became more turbulent when the archbishop insisted teachers at parochial schools in the archdiocese sign a morality clause that characterizes sex outside marriage and homosexual relations as “gravely evil.”

The request to Pope Francis for a new church leader in San Francisco is unprecedented.

A church leader out of step with the congregation he leads or a pastoral shepherd working to uphold the traditional values of the Catholic faith? What do you think? Weigh in by taking our weekly poll.

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CALIFORNIA
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the latest attacks on San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone:

A motley group of malcontents, dissidents, and outsiders are waging war on Archbishop Cordileone.

Their latest salvo was an ad in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle asking the pope to remove the archbishop. They opened fire on him precisely because they were blown off by Vatican officials in their feeble attempt to censure the archbishop.

Those who think that Archbishop Cordileone’s supporters are going to take this lying down are sadly mistaken. Watch what happens next week.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

Discussions That Should Be Placed Side by Side: Abuse Survivors Want Juan Barros Removed as Bishop of Osorno, San Francisco Catholics Want Salvatore Cordileone Removed as Archbishop of San Francisco

William D. Lindsey

Two items I’ve read this morning strike me as a revealing synchronistic fit for one another. The first is Kristine Ward’s editorial in today’s edition of NSAC (National Survivor Advocates Coalition) News.*Kristi is commenting on the recent meeting of Marie Collins, Peter Saunders, and other members of the pope’s abuse advisory commission with Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the pope’s “fixer.” She notes that NSAC members “are appalled that they [the lay members of the abuse advisory commission] are the people who had to initiate the action to speak with the commission chair, Cardinal Sean O’Malley and through him seek to get the attention of Pope Francis.”

The members of the abuse advisory commission wanted to discuss with Pope Francis, of course, his choice to make Juan Barros (and here, here, and here), who has been accused of helping shield a fellow priest abusing minors, in bishop of Osorno, Chile. As Kristi’s editorial notes, it’s obvious that, despite widespread outrage at this appointment both in the diocese itself and in many quarters of the Catholic church, notably among survivors, “it borders on the near impossible that Bishop Barros’ appointment will be rescinded.”

This is true in part, she suggests, because the involvement of the influential and powerful Cardinal Angelo Sodano in the story of Barros’s appointment cannot be discounted. As she points out, Cardinal O’Malley knows this perfectly well.

And so enter O’Malley “the fixer,” through whom members of the papal abuse advisory commission have had to go to approach the pope himself: the NSAC News editorial sums O’Malley and his role vis-a-vis the abuse commission members’ concerns in the following way:

He has finely honed the skill of the appearance of action and empathy.

If you enjoy theater, Cardinal O’Malley’s performance that builds yet another protective tent for hierarchs while continuing to disguise him as a champion of reform is stellar.

Kristi explains what she means with these remarks suggesting that O’Malley has been disguised in a theatrical way as the champion of reform while he’s actually helping to build a protective tent for hierarchs, by noting that the outcome of O’Malley’s meeting with Pope Francis to relay to him the concerns of abuse survivors about Barros’s appointment was the following: Vatican press spokesman Father Federico Lombardi then announced that a “precise and reliable legal text” will be assessed, detailing the duties and responsibilities of bishops and religious superiors vis-a-vis priests abusing minors— something that, as she notes, O’Malley had already discussed at a recent meeting of the pope’s kitchen cabinet, the Council of Nine.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

The day after Cardinal Francis George stepped down as leader of Chicago’s 2.3 million Catholics was a Sunday and Eleanor Franczak, a parishioner at St. Michael’s Church in Orland Park, summed the cardinal’s tenure this way: “He was one of us. He wasn’t any better or worse, just a normal person.”

It was an assessment that Cardinal George, who died Friday morning at home after a nine-year struggle with cancer, would have wholeheartedly endorsed. When he learned that Pope John Paul II had named him as the successor to Chicago’s popular Cardinal Bernardin, the unassuming priest asked in surprise, “Are you sure the Holy Father has considered all the options?”

But that modesty concealed a man who was an accomplished scholar, a skilled writer, and an unyielding defender of the faith. …

George presided over the archdiocese during a difficult period for the church, marked by church closings and the never-ending sex abuse scandal, leading with dignity and efficiency and an emphasis on core Catholic values.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Dan StockmanDawn Cherie Araujo

Catholic women religious and observers reacted with notable – but muted – relief to Thursday’s news that Vatican oversight of their largest leadership group had ended two years earlier than expected.

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has accepted a final report of the doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), officials said, ending the controversial investigation of the group that represents 80 percent of the roughly 50,000 women religious in the United States.

The Vatican congregation asked its own officials and LCWR not to speak to the media on the topic for 30 days, leaving much of the response to outside observers.

Former LCWR president Benedictine Sr. Joan Chittister was one of the few who would speak on the record. She called the agreement very civil.

“The document on the LCWR seems to me to be pretty even-handed. It’s not attacking anybody. It’s not contentious, and it’s civil,” said Chittister, who is a best-selling author and well-known international lecturer on topics of justice, peace, human rights, women’s issues and contemporary spirituality in the church and in society. (She is also a contributor to National Catholic Reporter and GSR.)

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) — After fighting a long battle with cancer, Francis Cardinal George has died, multiple sources reported on Friday afternoon.

Archbishop Blase Cupich, George’s successor, confirmed the cardinal died at 10:45 a.m. Friday at his official residence.

“A man of peace, tenacity and courage has been called home to the Lord,” Cupich said Friday afternoon.

George had battled three bouts with cancer, his most recent diagnosis coming last year.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago

[Espanol]

[Polski]

[biography]

[videos]

A man of peace, tenacity and courage has been called home to the Lord. Our beloved Cardinal George passed away today at 10:45 a.m. at the Residence.

Cardinal George’s life’s journey began and ended in Chicago. He was a man of great courage who overcame many obstacles to become a priest. When he joined the priesthood he did not seek a comfortable position, instead he joined a missionary order, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and served the people of God in challenging circumstances – in Africa, Asia and all around the world.

A proud Chicagoan, he became a leader of his order and again traveled far from home, not letting his physical limitations moderate his zeal for bringing the promise of Christ’s love where it was needed most. When he was ordained a bishop, he served faithfully, first in Yakima, where he learned Spanish to be closer to his people. He then served in Portland, where he asked the people to continue to teach him how to be a good bishop. In return, he promised to help them become good missionaries.

Cardinal George was a respected leader among the bishops of the United States. When, for example, the church struggled with the grave sin of clerical sexual abuse, he stood strong among his fellow bishops and insisted that zero tolerance was the only course consistent with our beliefs

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CHICAGO (IL)
National Catholic Reporter

Catholic News Service | Apr. 17, 2015

CHICAGO Cardinal Francis E. George, the retired archbishop of Chicago who was the first native Chicagoan to head the archdiocese, died Friday at his residence after nearly 10 years battling cancer. He was 78.

His successor in Chicago, Archbishop Blase Cupich, called George “a man of peace, tenacity and courage” in a statement he read at a news conference held outside Holy Name Cathedral to announce the death.

Cupich singled out George for overcoming many obstacles to become a priest and “not letting his physical limitations moderate his zeal for bringing the promise of Christ’s love where it was needed most.”

A childhood bout with polio had left the prelate with a weakened leg and a pronounced limp throughout his life. …

Cupich in his statement also noted that when the U.S. church “struggled with the grave sin of clerical sexual abuse, [George] stood strong among his fellow bishops and insisted that zero tolerance was the only course consistent with our beliefs.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Manya Brachear Pashman
Chicago Tribune

Cardinal Francis George, the first Chicago native to serve as the local archbishop and a man who during that 17-year tenure became the intellectual leader of the American church, died Friday morning at his home after a years long struggle with cancer. He was 78.

“A man of peace, tenacity and courage has been called home to the Lord,” George’s successor, Archbishop Blase Cupich, said during a brief announcement Friday afternoon.

He said George died at 10:45 a.m. at his home.

Cupich remembered George as “always choosing the church over his own comfort, and the people over his own needs. …

He also became a point person between the U.S. and the Vatican on the abuse scandal and matters such as liturgy of the Mass, playing a key role in revisions that brought the English translation closer to the original Latin.

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CHICAGO (IL)
WLS

CHICAGO (WLS) — Francis Eugene Cardinal George, Archbishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, died at his residence at 10:45 a.m. Friday after a long battle with cancer. He was 78.

“A man of peace, tenacity, and courage has been called home,” said Archbishop Blase Cupich at Holy Name Cathedral in the Gold Coast Friday afternoon. “Let us heed his example and be a little more brave, a little more steadfast and a lot more loving. This is the surest way to honor his life and celebrate his return to the presence of God.”

Priests were first informed of his death by the Chicago Archdiocese.

“Today we mourn the loss of an incredible leader, guiding spirit and loyal friend. Cardinal George had compassion for all,” Monsignor Boland, Catholic Charities CEO, said in a statement. “You saw this compassion in his eyes as he visited with the poor and most vulnerable in our communities.” …

Yet, even as his successor was taking the helm of the Chicago Archdiocese, Archbishop Blase Cupich made sure the Cardinal Received credit for laying the foundation against clerical sexual abuse.

“We would not have had zero tolerance when it comes to child protection, if it were not for this man here,” said Archbishop Cupich at his appointment announcement, referring to Cardinal George. “He was the one who made it happen,” he continued.

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CHICAGO (IL)
WBEZ

April 17, 2015
By: Lynette Kalsnes

Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George, who stepped down from his post last year to fight cancer for the third time, died on Friday. He was 78.

George was the leader of 2.2 million Roman Catholics in Lake and Cook Counties for more than 17 years. He retired in November 2014 due to his health.

When asked at the time about his legacy, George told WBEZ:

“I just hope people remember I tried to be a good bishop. It is administrative. You have to take care of the institutions that protect the mission. What I discover now in many letters is truly touching because people write and tell me, ‘You don’t remember me, but 10 years ago or five years ago, I was transformed (or helped anyway spiritually) by something you said or you did.’ And when I hear that, I realize the Holy Spirit is making use of me to make his people holy. And that’s all the legacy I want. It’s an unknown legacy. It has to be because it’s invisible. But if you touch people, your work lasts forever.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
WHTC

By Mary Wisniewski

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago from 1997 until 2014, has died at the age of 78 after a long battle with cancer, the Chicago Tribune and other media reported on Friday.

Known for his intellectualism and strong defense of church dogma – including sometimes controversial statements against gay marriage – George halted his treatment for bladder cancer early in 2015 and was hospitalized for tests in March.

Pope Francis accepted his resignation in September 2014 and appointed then-Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Spokane, Washington, to succeed him as head of the nation’s third-largest archdiocese.

The Archdiocese of Chicago did not immediately confirm the reports that Cardinal George had died, but Archbishop Cupich was scheduled to give a news conference at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. EDT).

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CHICAGO (IL)
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor April 17, 2015

During an era under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, when Catholicism was trying to swim against an increasingly secular tide in the Western world, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago was the American prelate trusted by those two popes, almost above all others, to spearhead that project in the United States.

George, who stepped down in November 2014, died at 10:45 a.m. Friday at his residence in Chicago of a cancer that originated in his bladder but spread to other parts of his body, rendering treatment ineffective. He was 78.

He had been on home care since April 3 after being hospitalized for hydration and pain management issues, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Widely acknowledged as the most intellectually gifted senior US prelate of his generation, George was once dubbed the “American Ratzinger.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier-Mail

MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL APRIL 18, 2015

IT WAS Sister Emile who would clean him up and ensure he had a nappy for the bleeding after he would return, yet again, from being raped by the priest after the evening Mass.

The spirit of Sister Emile, whoever she was, flared briefly this week in the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse at Rockhampton.

It was the one point of light amid the medieval darkness that appears to have enveloped St Joseph’s Orphanage at Neerkol for much of the 20th century.

“Sister Regis” and “Sister Marcia’’ were given credence for being “nice’’ to children who were allegedly routinely slapped, flogged, starved, sodomised and ridiculed by nuns who would place dunce caps on their heads in this Christian refuge for orphans west of Rockhampton, now looming in the public mind as a charnel house of depravity.

But it was Sister Emile alone who honoured her vows of service to the poor and vulnerable, even if she wasn’t brave enough to stick her neck out and end the serial rape of young David Owen.

Millions of women have taken those solemn vows since Catherine McAuley, still on the Vatican’s slow track to sainthood, established the holy order of the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin in 1831.

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WASHINGTON
The Spokesman-Review

John Stucke The Spokesman-Review

The Rev. Joseph Weitensteiner, the former director of the Morning Star Boys Ranch, has been reinstated into the active Catholic ministry after sex abuse claims against him were denied by a retired federal judge hired to rule on the credibility of the cases.

Referred to as Father Joe by a Catholic community that admired his decades-long service to troubled boys, the allegations against him were shocking. However, Weitensteiner never wavered in his insistence that while he may have been a tough disciplinarian, he never molested boys entrusted to his care.

As the number of people who said they were abused by Weitensteiner or his staff at the boys ranch grew, former Spokane Bishop William Skylstad removed him from ministry in 2006.

The Morning Star allegations were made in lawsuits that paralleled the bankruptcy of the Spokane Catholic Diocese. The Diocese case included more than two dozen clergy, 180 potential victims and ultimately cost more than $50 million to resolve.

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INDIA
Kaumudi

KOCHI: Kerala High Court has sought the stand of the government on the anticipatory bail submitted by Fr Edwin Figarez in connection with a case in which a 16-year-old girl was sexually abused by the church priest.

The complaint regarding the incident was lodged on April 1 by the mother of the ninth standard student. The complaint was filed against Lourde Matha Latin Catholics priest under Kottapuram Catholics church. After the complaint was lodged, the priest had gone into hiding and he later moved a plea for anticipatory bail even as the probe was going on against him.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

Editorial

The National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC) applauds the efforts of the two survivors on the papal commission regarding sexual abuse, Marie Collins of Ireland and Peter Saunders of the United Kingdom along with the two other commission members who supported their efforts to raise the issue at the Vatican of the unacceptability — to put it mildly — of Bishop Barros’ appointment and installation as the head of the Diocese of Osorno, Chile.

Survivors in Chile accuse Bishop Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid of covering up for the Rev. Fernando Karadima whom the Vatican convicted of abuse in 20011. Three Chilean survivors accuse Barros of witnessing their abuse by Karadima

While we applaud the actions of the commission members, we are appalled that they are the people who had to initiate the action to speak with the commission chair, Cardinal Sean O’Malley and through him seek to get the attention of Pope Francis.

Cardinal O’Malley, who not only is president of the papal sexual abuse comission but is a member of the Pope’s kitchen cabinet, formally known as the Council of Nine, gets a newspaper and has access to radio, television, and Internet – and as a blogging Cardinal he certainly knows how to use the technology of communications.

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CANADA
Mississauga News

By Roger Belgrave
PEEL— A U.S.-based advocacy group for survivors of abuse has blasted Peel’s Catholic school board for its limited disclosure or outright silence when staff members are facing allegations of criminal wrongdoing, such as child sexual abuse.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is calling on Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins to discipline top administrators at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board for the ongoing practice.

This condemnation and demand for public admonishment from south of the border comes after it was learned local school board officials kept quiet about the sexual abuse allegations recently lodged against a priest who had worked in administrative offices and schools since 2008.

Accusations against Father James Roth surfaced last January when the victim reported the allegations.

Roth, who worked as a priest-in-residence with the board, was a member of the Oblates of St. Francis De Sales order based in Ohio. He was on assignment with the Archdiocese of Toronto and worked with the local school board as well as parishes in Mississauga.

The 61-year-old was removed from ministry after the allegations were reported to the Oblates and he was recalled to the U.S.

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WEST VIRGINIA
The Raw Story

West Virginia judge orders victims to pay half of sex abuser’s legal fees in Mormon Church cover-up suit

TRAVIS GETTYS
17 APR 2015

West Virginia judge ordered sex abuse victims to pay half the attorney costs for the Mormon Church in a civil suit alleging that church officials covered up previous claims against their abuser.

Naturally, the victims and their families don’t wish to help the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints defend itself against their claims – so they have asked an appeals court to vacate the Berkeley County Circuit Court judge’s order, reported The Journal-News.

Christopher Michael Jensen, of Martinsburg, was convicted in February 2013 of one count of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of sexual abuse by a custodian, and he was sentenced to up to 75 years in prison.

The 23-year-old Jensen, who is the son of two local Mormon leaders, sexually abused two boys who were ages 3 and 4 at the time while babysitting them in 2007.

Twelve children and their families filed a lawsuit in October 2013 against the church and several local officials, including Jensen’s parents – a high priest and relief society president.

The suit claims church leaders continued to recommend Jensen as a babysitter despite the sex abuse claims lodged against him dating back to 2007.

The victims also claim church leaders tried to silence them and witnesses and failed to report the claims against Jensen to authorities, as required by law.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Rhymes with Religion

Boz Tchividjian | Apr 17, 2015

A couple of years ago, I had the distinct honor of meeting an individual who has literally committed his life to serving the abused and exposing the abusers. David Clohessy is the executive director of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) and has been an influential force in confronting the horrors of child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and other faith communities. He recently contacted me about a very disturbing situation coming out of a civil lawsuit in West Virginia involving a convicted sex offender. We all need to take a minute to become informed about this disturbing case so that we can use our collective voices to bring an end to such judicial decisions that further traumatize victims. – Boz
_____________________________________________________________________________

Imagine a courthouse with two exits. One is used by 95% of those who leave the building. The other is reserved for those who say they were sexually violated as children and have filed civil lawsuits.

At the abuse victims’ exit, cashiers collect funds for two court-appointed lawyers, one who decide disputes about discovery, and the other who represents the convicted child molester. Victims must pay half of the fees for both lawyers.

That’s no misprint. That’s no exaggeration.

In one child sexual abuse cover up case in West Virginia, this bizarre, hurtful and blatantly unfair situation is already happening. And it could spread across the state unless a West Virginia appeals court judge sides with vulnerable kids and wounded adults. He will have a chance to do so on April 22nd in Charleston, West Virginia.

Please notice that I’m not using words like “accused” and “accusers.” That’s because the child molester in this case, Christopher Michael Jensen, has been convicted and was sentenced in 2013 to up to 75 years in prison for sexually violating two boys -ages three and four.

That same year, families of 12 children who reported being abused by Jensen filed a civil suit against the Mormon church. It accuses Mormon officials of “sending emissaries from Salt Lake City to West Virginia to instruct witnesses not to talk with attorneys representing the children suing the church”. The suit also alleges these same church officials of trying “to intimidate the families (by) directing fellow church members to try to convince them to abandon their claims ‘lest they run afoul of church teachings regarding forgiveness,’” according to a newspaper story and the suit.

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ARGENTINA
Tucuman Noticias

El Arzobispado de Mendoza deberá indemnizar a un joven quiso sumarse a la vida sacerdotal y que, en pleno cursado del seminario, fue abusado por un sacerdote en San Martín. Así lo definió la Suprema Corte de Justicia de Mendoza al convalidar en un fallo lo decidido el año pasado en la Cámara de Apelaciones, y rechazar un recurso de Casación presentado por la jerarquía católica.

Iván González fue abusado por el sacerdote Jorge Luis Morello en 2001 tras una convivencia formativa que se había iniciado en 1998. No quiso que interviniera la justicia penal. Por ello, sólo lo denunció ante las autoridades de la Iglesia. Pero en lugar de actuar en defensa de la víctima en forma inmediata, se esgrimió el Derecho canónico y se actuó en base a sus procedimientos.

González, “que al momento de ser abusado tenía 19 años y era, por lo tanto, menor de edad” (se consideraba menor de edad a quienes tenían menos de 21 años), fue acompañado por el abogado Carlos Lombardi quien reclamó la inconstitucionalidad del abordaje mediante los códigos internos de la Iglesia. Buscó ayuda en el Arzobispado y buscó interiorizarse del avance de las investigaciones, pero ésta fue mantenida en estricto secreto y no se le otorgó una respuesta, a pesar de haber sido la víctima de un sacerdote. La defensa de González reclamó informes a las autoridades religiosas y lo rechazó sin fundamentos. Fue cuando el abogado de la Iglesia, Luis Horacio Cuervo, presentó una carilla en la que negó que su defendido tenga responsabilidad en el hecho denunciado, negó la existencia de abuso sexual y el daño, y también que la justicia pueda inferir en los procedimientos internos de la Iglesia Católica.

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ARGENTINA
El Sol

[Condemn the Church to silence on a complaint of sexual abuse. The Supreme Court ordered the Archbishop to pay 30,000 pesos for not providing information to a young woman who accused a priest for having humiliated for 4 years.]

Tras varias idas, vueltas y reveses en la Justicia local, el Arzobispado de Mendoza deberá indemnizar a un joven que aseguró haber sido abusado sexualmente por un sacerdote. Si bien en el expediente civil que llegó hasta la Suprema Corte de Justicia no se pudo determinar si se cometieron las vejaciones, si se condenó a la institución religiosa por no investigar los hechos.

Iván Rubén González denunció que durante 1998 y 2001 fue abusado sexualmente en reiteradas ocasiones por el clérigo Jorge Luis Morello en una parroquia ubicada en San Martín. En marzo del último año, presentó un escrito al arzobispo para que inicie una investigación interna y se apliquen las normas “eclesiásticas y canónicas”.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL APRIL 17, 2015

A RETIRED senior Queensland cleric has admitted the Catholic Church failed victims of sexual abuse in the Rockhampton diocese.

Bishop Brian Heenan made significant admissions during a day on the witness stand at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse in Rockhampton.

Bishop Heenan, in charge of the diocese during the ’90s as the scandal erupted, admitted he put the Catholic Church’s reputation before his duty to listen to victims — including those abused at the notorious Neerkol orphanage.

He admitted to Counsel Assisting Sophie David, SC, that he allowed pedophile priest Reg Durham to continue working with children when he knew he had sexually abused a child.

Bishop Heenan also accepted a proposition at the core of the Commission’s terms of reference: that the Church failed to respond adequately to abuse charges.

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AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

April 17, 2015

David Ellery
Reporter for The Canberra Times.

Canberra’s Marist Brothers community is to be disbanded by the middle of the year following the deaths of two members in the past 18 months and the appointment of a third to head a new community in Western Sydney.

Marist Brothers have lived and worked in the ACT since the late 1960s when Marist College Canberra was established.

A spokesman for the order said the decision to close the community would not affect the running of the college which now operates with lay teachers and a lay principal.

“The Marist Brothers stress this decision (to close the community and relocate the remaining brothers) is entirely unrelated to the sad events that were the subject of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse),” the spokesman said.

“This brings to an end nearly half a century of the brothers’ presence in Canberra.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

[Many priests are dissatisfied with celibacy. Depressing result for the Catholic Church: An in-house study shows that many priests would not opt ​​again for a life without a partner.]

Deutsche Priester sind nach einer neuen Studie mit dem ihnen auferlegten Zölibat unzufrieden. Ein Drittel der Priester gab an, dass sich der Zölibat belastend auf ihren Dienst auswirkt. Ein Viertel würde sich, wäre ein Neustart möglich, nicht noch einmal für ein zölibatäres Leben entscheiden. Ein weiteres Viertel ist unentschlossen.

Dies ergab eine innerkirchliche Untersuchung der Wissenschaftler-Gruppe unter Leitung des Jesuiten Eckhard Frick. Die Studie basiert auf den Antworten von 8.600 Seelsorgern, 4.200 von ihnen arbeiteten als Priester. Als besonders belastend empfindet die Mehrheit der männlichen Geistlichen demnach den Verzicht auf Sexualität, Intimität und eigene Kinder.

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VATIKAN
Katholisch

Missbrauch | 16.04.2015 – Vatikanstadt

Der Bostoner Kardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley drängt darauf, Bischöfe stärker zur Verantwortung zu ziehen, die die Aufarbeitung des sexuellen Missbrauchs in der katholischen Kirche blockieren. Wie der britische “Catholic Herold” und das us-amerikanische Internetportal “Crux” übereinstimmend berichten, hat der Vorsitzende der päpstlichen Kinderschutzkommission das Thema im K9-Rat angesprochen.

Das Gremium zur Vorbereitung einer Kurienreform hatte sich von Montag bis Mittwoch zu Beratungen im Vatikan getroffen. O’Malley habe darauf gedrungen, konkrete Prozeduren zu schaffen, um Bischöfe zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen, die ihrer Verantwortung zum Jugendschutz nicht nachkämen. Es müsse klare Kriterien zur Bewertung und Sanktionierung von bischöflichem Amtsmissbrauchs geben. Kardinal O’Malley ist der us-amerikanische Vertreter im K9-Rat.

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VATIKAN
Blick

[The Vatican is preparing stricter rules for dealing with bishops.]

Der Vatikan bereitet strengere Regeln für den Umgang mit Bischöfen vor. Sie sollen Kindesmissbrauch durch Priester nicht mehr vertuschen können.

Sein Vorhaben diskutierte Papst Franziskus gestern mit Kardinälen in seinem Beraterstab. Demnach beanstandeten die Kardinäle, dass die bisherigen Regeln «nicht genügen klar» seien. Dies teilte Vatikansprecher Federico Lombardi am späten Abend bei einer Pressekonferenz mit.

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CALIFORNIA
American Thinker

By Matt C. Abbott

The libertine left’s bullying of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco continues (in fairness, the moral climate there isn’t any worse than here in Chicago).

From Catholic World News:

More than 100 prominent Catholics signed a full-page advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle urging Pope Francis to replace Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.

The paid advertisement charged that Archbishop Cordileone has created ‘an atmosphere of division and intolerance’ in the city, and his policies seem ‘closer to persecution than evangelization.’….

The complaint against Archbishop Cordileone focused on his effort to ensure that Catholic-school teachers do not undermine the teachings of the Church.

The archdiocese’s official response is a good one:

The advertisement is a misrepresentation of Catholic teaching, a misrepresentation of the nature of the teacher contract, and a misrepresentation of the spirit of the archbishop. The greatest misrepresentation of all is that the signers presume to speak for ‘the Catholic Community of San Francisco.’ They do not.

The archdiocese has met with a broad range of stakeholders. Together, we have engaged in a constructive dialogue on all of the issues raised in this ad. We welcome the chance to continue that discussion.

Of course, the left’s idea of dialogue is “Agree with us or else!” Leftists talk about promoting dialogue and tolerance, but we know their true colors by their actions.

An interesting side note:

A priest gave a homily in recent weeks in which he talked about an incident that occurred when he was in San Francisco some time ago. The priest, wearing his clerical garb, was simply walking on the sidewalk when a man starting yelling angrily at him from across the street.

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