ABUSE TRACKER

ROME
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Dec. 6, 2013

ROME Pope Francis told a group of Dutch bishops this week that the Vatican must continue reforms undertaken by the Catholic church in the 1960s and ‘70s, according to one of the participants in the meeting.

Bishop Jan Hendricks, who attended the meeting Monday, later recounted that the pope said implementation of the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council is only half complete.

“We have been implementing the council only half-way,” Hendriks recalled from the pope’s words. “Half of the work has still to be done.”

Hendriks, the auxiliary bishop of the Haarlem-Amsterdam diocese, was one of 13 Dutch bishops to take part in the meeting with the pope. They are in Rome for their ad limina, a formal visit bishops around the world are required to make to report to the pope on their individual dioceses.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

07 DECEMBER 2013

FORMER attorney general Peter Sutherland was called in to advise the Vatican on how to reform its financial affairs, it has emerged.

Mr Sutherland, who is chairman of Goldman Sachs International, addressed the Council of Cardinals – the most senior advisors to the Pope – during the summer on how the Vatican should deal with the financial scandals that were embracing St Peters.

Mr Sutherland, who is believed to act as an unpaid sounding board for the Vatican on financial matters, told the cardinals that the Holy See had to change its ways and embrace openness, especially in its business dealings. “Transparency is important and necessary,” he is reported as saying.

Mr Sutherland has long been one of the most influential Irish people on the planet when it comes to business and politics.

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MINNESOTA
Le Center Leader

By JESSICA BIES jbies@stpeterherald.com
Posted on December 6, 2013

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Thursday published a list of 34 priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors.

Several of those included on the list once served in the Minnesota River Valley and in the Diocese of New Ulm, which contains the Church of St. Peter.

One of the men on the list, John Brown, served as an associate priest/administrator at St. Mary from 1958-1960.

Fr. Chris Shorner, who currently serves as pastor at St. Mary in Le Center, saw the list Thursday and shared his initial reaction.

“I’m saddened of course,” Shorner said. “It’s a time to pray for the victims and a time to pray for those who might be inclined towards perpetrating such acts, because we want a society, a church, where everyone is healthy and safe and secure.”

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MINNESOTA
Hastings Star Gazette

By Chad Richardson on Dec 5, 2013

Four former priests who served in Hastings were among those named by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as having credible claims of sexual abuse of a minor against them.

Their names were released on Thursday. The four are among 32 who were named. The 32 people named have had civil and/or criminal lawsuits brought against them.

The four are:

• Francis Hoefgen, who was the associate priest at St. Boniface in Hastings from 1985 to 1992.
He was permanently removed from ministry in 2002 and is living in Columbia Heights.

• Thomas Stitts, who served as an associate priest at Guardian Angels from 1966 to 1970.
He died in 1985.

• Clarence Vavra, who served as associate priest at Guardian Angels from 1971 to 1972.
He was removed from the ministry in 2003 and is living in New Prague.

• Patrick Ryan, who was the pastor at Guardian Angels from 1943 to 1965. He died in 1965.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Rochdale Online

Detectives are investigating reports of historic sexual abuse.

The investigation relates to the indecent assault and sexual abuse of three women during their time as schoolgirls at St Vincent’s Primary School in Norden, Rochdale.

Police are investigating complaints from three women, now aged 41, 35 and 21, but who were aged between 8 and 10, when the offences happened between 1980 and 2000.

The offences did not occur within the school but at an adjacent presbytery.

As part of the investigation an 82-year-old man has been interviewed under caution in relation to these matters.

Detective Constable Christian Chivers, from Greater Manchester Police’s Public Protection Investigation Unit, said: “I want to reassure local residents, and more importantly parents of children currently at St Vincent’s, that these are historical incidents.

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MINNESOTA
Marshall Independent

A former victim of clerical sexual abuse said the recent disclosure of a list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse is not enough.

December 7, 2013
By Steve Browne , Marshall Independent

MARSHALL – The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Thursday released the names of 30 ordained ministers of the Catholic Church who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor and four whom the diocese said had accusations not substantiated against them.

The disclosure came in response to a court order after a case was filed by the St. Paul legal firm of Jeff Anderson and Associates.

Childhood sexual abuse survivor Bob Schwiderski said it’s a good start but still not enough.

“It’s been good for Minnesota,” Schwiderski said, “the fact that society has seen so much abut childhood abuse, it can do nothing but help us move forward.”
stees in 1962, Marks was transferred to St. Clotilde in Green Valley and to St. Dionysius in Tyler.

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CALIFORNIA
10 News

Michael Chen

SANTEE, Calif. – The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego is under fire after the name of a retired priest surfaced on a list of priests accused of sexual abuse against children.

Abuse survivors want to know why Paul Palmitessa’s name wasn’t released on earlier lists and why he was allowed to work in San Diego County as a priest — even as the national abuse scandal was playing out.

“My heart drops. My stomach turns,” said Paul Livingston, who heads the San Diego chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

That was Livingston’s reaction after learning Palmitessa’s name emerged in a court-ordered release of 34 credible cases of child sex abuse accusations in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“My question is how many more names do we have coming up?” said Livingston.

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MINNESOTA
Albert Lea Tribune

By Albert Lea Tribune and Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Thursday disclosed the names of 34 priests who have been accused of sexually abusing minors, following months of criticism that church leaders mishandled such allegations.

The list includes a former priest who served a stint at St. Theodore Catholic Church in Albert Lea in the 1960s who faces a civil lawsuit in Ramsey County over allegations of sexual abuse.

Thomas Adamson, now 80, served in the Albert Lea parish in 1967 and 1968, at which time he was also chaplain of Lea College, an institution of higher learning on the west side of Albert Lea that shut down in 1973. He was removed from the ministry in 1985 and lives in Rochester.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News

A Catholic priest is being investigated over alleged sexual abuse of children over a 20 year period.

Canon Mortimer Stanley, 82, who retired in 2002 from St Vincent de Paul RC Church in Norden, Rochdale , has been interviewed by police under caution.

Three women have claimed they were indecently assaulted and sexually abused while pupils at nearby St Vincent’s Primary School.

The women were aged under 11 when its is alleged the offences happened between 1980 and 2000.

It is claimed the abuse was committed in a presbytery next to the school.

Canon Stanley, who joined the church as parish priest in 1972, retired to his native Ireland in 2002.

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IRELAND
Irish MIrror

An Irish priest is being investigated by British police over alleged sexual abuse of children over a 20 year period.

Canon Mortimer Stanley, 82, who retired to Ballybunion, Co Kerry, in 2002 was recently interviewed by Manchester cops in Ireland under caution.

It comes after three women have claimed they were indecently assaulted by him when he was parish priest at St Vincent de Paul RC Church in Norden, Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

The women were aged under 11 when its is alleged the offences happened between 1980 and 2000 while they were pupils at nearby St Vincent’s Primary School.

It is claimed the abuse was committed in a presbytery next to the school.

Canon Stanley, who joined the church as parish priest in 1972, retired to his native Ireland in 2002.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

An 82-year-old parish priest has been questioned under caution over alleged child sex abuse that spanned two decades in Greater Manchester.

The alleged indecent assault and sexual abuse occurred in the presbytery next door to St Vincent’s RC Primary School in Norden, Rochdale, police said.

Investigations began after three women complained to police.

The women were pupils at the school between 1980 and 2000 and police have appealed for more information.

The parish priest, who has not been formally arrested, was serving at St Vincent de Paul RC Church at the time of the alleged offences.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com

Richard Jeub called what happened at Our Lady of Grace church in Edina “stupid stuff done when I was young.”

Jeub was among 34 priests the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis deemed “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children, according to a list released by the church Thursday.

Ten of the priests have since died. Another is believed dead. One, Curtis Wehmeyer, is in prison for sexually abusing two boys.

All the priests are out of the ministry, the archdiocese said.

The Pioneer Press tried to contact each living priest on the list. Of those for whom phone numbers were found, three were reached.

Jeub, 73, was one. Another was Dennis Kampa of Virginia, Minn., who said he never understood the charge against him. The third priest, 93-year-old John Thomas Brown, was hard of hearing and unable to understand a reporter.

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COLORADO
Daily Camera

By Mitchell Byars, Camera Staff Writer
POSTED: 12/06/2013

The arraignment hearing for a youth pastor accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a teenage church member over several years has been continued until February.

Jason Allen Roberson, 35, is facing sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and invasion of privacy.

Roberson appeared for his scheduled arraignment today before Boulder District Judge Thomas Mulvahill, but prosecutor Adrian Van Nice and Roberson’s attorney David Miller indicated the two sides needed more time to discuss any possible plea agreement.

Mulvahill continued the hearing to Feb. 7.

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TEXAS
KLTV

By Melissa Greene

UPSHUR COUNTY, TX (KLTV) –
The wife of a Gilmer former pastor serving six life sentences in prison for the sexual assault of a child was sentenced today for failing to prevent the abuse.

Rosie Evans Fluellen of Gilmer pled guilty in Upshur County Court this morning this morning to a charge of criminal responsibility to aggravated assault of a child, according to Prosecutor Natalie Miller.

Fluellen’s husband, Hugo Fluellen, was sentenced in October to six consecutive life sentences after a jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting a child for more than a decade.

Evidence presented in Hugo Fluellen’s trial showed he began molesting his victim when she was in second grade. Witnesses testified Fluellen would often molest his victim on the way home from church after she had attended Sunday School and sang in the choir.

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ROME
Headlines from the Catholic World

Rome, Italy, Dec 5, 2013 / 05:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The acting general director of the Legion of Christ has shared the steps the order has taken to prevent sexual abuse and to respond to its allegations, focusing on the gravity of abuse and its victims’ suffering.

“When we confront the reality of sexual abuse, it is helpful to keep certain complementary values in mind: compassion and solidarity with the victims, the responsibility to protect people who are under our pastoral care, the right of the accused to a due process, the promotion and defense of justice, and – keeping in mind that sexual abuse is a behavior that will never be tolerated – mercy and support of our brothers who are guilty of this crime,” wrote Fr. Sylvester Heereman in a Dec. 5 letter.

“Finally, we should see this from the point of view of Christ, who is capable of making all things new. The last word belongs, not to evil, but to him.”

The letter was sent to all members of the Legion of Christ shortly before its general chapter, which will establish a new constitution and elect new leadership.

Fr. Heerman outlined what the Legion has done to deal with sex abuse, as well as “the principles that guide the actions of the Legion in the prevention of sexual abuse and in responding to allegations made against any of our brothers.”

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ROME
Legion of Christ

ROME (Dec. 5) – The Legion of Christ is committed to openly and aggressively addressing allegations of sexual abuse.

This was the primary message in a letter sent today by Fr. Sylvester Heereman LC, the Legion’s acting general director, to all members of the congregation. He said that the Legion has created an environment that will not tolerate abuse and that in the event of an allegation the response will be thorough. And anyone found guilty will face legal and ecclesial consequences.

The letter includes a report on the Legion’s handling of past and current abuse cases, whether by the Legion’s founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel, or other members of the congregation. This is the most thorough report the Legion has issued on its past abuse cases.

“When we confront the reality of sexual abuse, it is helpful to keep certain complementary values in mind: compassion and solidarity with the victims, the responsibility to protect people who are under our pastoral care, the right of the accused to a due process, the promotion and defense of justice, and – keeping in mind that sexual abuse is a behavior that will never be tolerated – mercy and support of our brothers who are guilty of this crime,” Fr. Heereman said.

Principles that guide the actions of Legion authorities in responding to allegations
Fr. Heereman outlined the principles that guide the Legion in addressing abuse:

1. Each of the congregation’s territories is responsible for the prevention and handling of abuse in its area of jurisdiction, strictly aligned with civil and ecclesial authorities.
2. Each territory will implement a code of conduct, carefully select those who enter the order and provide proper training.
3. Each territory will have clear procedures in place for dealing with allegations, respecting the needs of the victim and the accused.
4. Our highest priority will be for the welfare of the victim and prevention of future crimes.
5. The person accused shall have the presumption of innocence until proven guilty – but we will not compromise.
6. If a Legionary still in formation is found to have engaged in abuse, he will not go forward to ordination – in addition to the legal penalties. If a priest is found guilty, civil and ecclesial penalties will apply. If not laicized, he will be excluded from any access to minors and, where appropriate, excluded from all public ministry.

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VATICAN CITY
Rappler

BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
POSTED ON 12/07/2013

VATICAN CITY – The Legion of Christ, a Catholic congregation, said on Friday, December 6, it had found 9 of its priests guilty of sexual abuse of minors including its disgraced founder and one who assaulted a novice in the United States.

The Legion’s reputation was already clouded by earlier revelations about Marcial Maciel, who set up the group in Mexico in 1941 and was accused of abusing 8 young seminarians as well as fathering a child.

Father Sylvester Heereman, the group’s acting general director, said the investigations had shown up a “painful and horrifying reality” and emphasized his commitment to tackling abuse in the conservative group.

It said two of the priests had been defrocked and 7 had “sanctions imposed on their life and ministry.”

Legion officials were unable to say whether any of these cases were being investigated by civil authorities, although some date back decades and the crimes may have expired under statutes of limitations.

A total of 35 priests were accused in the investigation, which was conducted under Canon Law.

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UNITED STATES
Pew Research Center

BY MICHAEL LIPKA

Pope Francis is creating a new commission to advise the Vatican on how to deal with the ongoing clergy sex abuse scandal, which continues to make headlines in the U.S.

Effects from the scandal continue to ripple across the U.S. Catholic landscape. On Thursday, the same day Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley announced the commission’s formation, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released a list of more than 30 priests it says have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors.

The Vatican’s announcement comes after some recent criticism of the pope for not moving more forcefully to confront the problem.

Most Catholics in the U.S. say the sex abuse scandal is one priority they want Francis to address. After the new pope was elected in March, 70% of U.S. Catholics said that addressing the abuse scandal should be “a top priority” for him – more than any other potential priority listed in a Pew Research survey.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

By: Scott Theisen
Advocates for victims of sexual abuse by clergy members say they will continue to push for more information about priests who have been accused of molesting children.

A day after the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis published a list of 34 priests who have been credibly accused of abuse, victims’ advocates say the list is incomplete. They say there are known abusers who aren’t on the list, and some of the priests’ assignment histories leave out some stops.

Meanwhile, additional victims have come forward – and more lawsuits are expected. The new victims include some who are wondering why their abuser isn’t listed.

The archdiocese has said Thursday’s disclosures aren’t final.

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UNITED STATES
America Blog

by John Aravosis

Conservative anti-gay Catholics are upset with writer, advice columnist, and gay rights advocate Dan Savage for disparaging pedophile priests the other day on the Bill Maher show.

Dan referred to the child rapists as “kiddie f—ing priests,” which caused Catholic League head Bill Donohue to demand that Maher’s show be canceled.

Because, you know, who in their right mind would criticize grown men who rape 5 year olds?

Maher was asking Dan about a Catholic bishop in Hawaii who claimed, absurdly, that children of gay parents will end up killing themselves.

Honolulu bishop Larry Silva wrote in a letter that “children will be the greatest casualties [if same-sex marriage were legalized in Hawaii – and it was, the marriages began this morning at midnight Hawaii time, 5am Eastern], in that they will be deprived of being raised in a loving home by a mother and a father who loves them and whose love cooperated with God’s plan in creating them.”

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NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013, 4:33 PM
BY JEFF FRANKEL
STAFF WRITER
BLOOMFIELD LIFE

A former New Jersey priest convicted in the early 1980s of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy is facing additional charges in Missouri.

Gerry Howard, who legally changed his name from Carmine Sita after that incident, is requesting a trial in front of only a judge, according to a Nov. 25 report in connectmidmissouri.com.

He was arrested at his Broad Street apartment in Bloomfield in 2010 and extradited to Missouri, according to Missouri court records. Prosecutors in Cooper County charged Howard with eight felony counts, including sodomy and kidnapping. The accused sexual abuse happened between 1984 and 1987, according to the report.

David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Abusive Priests, told Bloomfield Life the organization is “grateful that Howard has been locked up and kept away from kids.”

“Very few victims have the strength and opportunity to seek justice,” said Clohessy, who group is not directly involved with the case.

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CANADA
CBC News

The third week of the trial of Roman Catholic priest Eric Dejaeger wrapped up today with testimony from Father Robert Lechat, who worked with Dejaeger decades ago in Igloolik.

Dejaeger, 66, faces dozens of charges related to sexual abuse against children.

The incidents are alleged to have occurred between 1978 and 1982 in Igloolik.

Father Robert Lechat is now 93 and living in Ottawa, but he lived and worked in Igloolik off and on between 1972 and 1986.

In court this morning, Lechat said he was surprised when he learned Dejaeger was convicted of sex-related crimes against children in Baker Lake.

That was in the 1990s and Dejaeger subsequently was sentenced to five years in prison.

Lechat said there were always a lot of children at the mission in Igloolik. Religion courses were held after school and he said the children would go home afterwards.

Lechat said there were strict rules at the Catholic Church and kids were not allowed upstairs, but the doors of the church were never locked.

During his testimony, Lechat referred often to a journal he kept at the time. It documented the comings and goings of many people.

Lechat said he was often away from the church for meetings and parish visits. He said he left Dejaeger in the community so he could get know the people there better.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

A lowly US county judge did more yesterday to protect kids than the most powerful prelate on the planet. Yesterday, Judge John Van de North forced the Catholic archbishop of St. Paul/Minneapolis to disclose the names, whereabouts, statues and work histories of about 30 credibly accused child molesting clerics.

[Minnesota Public Radio]

Yesterday, as he’s done for eight months, Pope Francis refused to disclose a single predator’s name. Nor, as best we can tell, did a single one of the planets 5,000 Catholic bishops disclose a single predator’s name.

The pontiff is at least consistent: In 15 years as head of Argentina’s largest archdiocese, he also did not disclose a single predator’s name. (In fairness to the pope, however, none of his predecessors as pope or as archbishop – ever revealed a single predator’s name.)

Yesterday, Pope Francis did, however, announce he’ll appoint a new church panel to look at abuse.

[Mercury News]

So yesterday, the earth’s most powerful religious figure promised to study clergy child sex crimes.

And yesterday, a lowly US judge actually prevented clergy child sex crimes.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

The Vatican announced yesterday that Pope Francis has set up a papal commission to advise him about dealing with the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic church. As Elisabetta Povoledo, Alan Cowell, and Rick Gladstone report for New York Times, this is the first concrete step Pope Francis has taken to address the abuse crisis, and the announcement comes two days after a United Nations panel resoundingly criticized the Catholic church for its mishandling of abuse cases.

For National Catholic Reporter, Joshua McElwee notes that the U.N. panel specifically objected to the Vatican’s refusal to provide the panel with information about how the church deals with abuse cases. McElwee also indicates that in making the announcement about the new papal advisory commission, Cardinal Sean O’Malley stated that the panel will stress the need for pastoral engagement of those abused by priests as minors.

Responses to the announcement from survivors of abuse and groups supporting abuse survivors:

For Bishop Accountability, Anne Barrett Doyle writes,

BishopAccountability.org cautiously welcomes Cardinal O’Malley’s announcement in Rome today that the Vatican will form an advisory commission on the sex abuse of minors in the Church. It’s good that the Vatican will be giving this terrible problem focused attention. But we are concerned that the commission will be toothless and off-target. Cardinal O’Malley’s list of its possible “lines of action” has two crucial omissions. There is no indication that the commission will study either the Vatican’s culpability or the crucial need to discipline bishops, religious superiors and other church supervisors who enable child rape and molestation.

For Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, Barbara Blaine states that though Francis has been a breath of fresh air to many people, he remains a breath of stale air to wounded victims, vulnerable children, and betrayed Catholics–and:

What’s needed is the ending of talk and the beginning of action. What helps kids is action, not information, especially when the Catholic hierarchy already has massive amounts of information on who in its ranks has committed and who is concealing heinous sexual violence across the globe.

For National Survivor Advocates Coalition, Kris Ward asks some blunt questions about image and substance:

Why announce a commission without details, membership, timetable if getting out the news that yet another public relations attempt isn’t the crux of the activity?
Headline puffery or solid rock honest to God reform through responsibility? It’s up to the Vatican.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

December 5
BY TONY RIZZO
The Kansas City Star

A former Catholic monk whose alleged sexual abuse of students led to lawsuits filed against a northwest Missouri abbey has died.

Funeral services for Bede Parry are scheduled for Tuesday in Las Vegas, according to the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada.

Parry died Nov. 27, according to a post on his lawyer’s Facebook page.

He was choir director at the Conception Abbey in the 1980s, and two lawsuits were filed against the abbey in 2011 by men who said they were molested by Parry as teens.

Both suits against the abbey are pending in Nodaway County, Mo.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The submission from the New South Wales Ombudsman to the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse is somewhat disappointing. It says more positive things about the Catholic Church’s “Towards Healing” process (to deal with allegations of abuse), than negative things. Where it is negative, it is only mildly so.

This is shown in the following passage from the submission: “We are also of the view that the very strong emphasis in the document on responding to abuse via formal complaints could potentially divert attention from the need for the Catholic Church to also take proactive steps in identifying, and responding to, abuse. In this regard, the Church should seek to promote a culture where not only victims and their representatives are encouraged to raise concerns about abuse, but also that Church leaders – and the broader Church community – understand the importance of vigilance in relation to this issue.”

It continues with the sideline focus of using the process to improve systems when it says that “nowhere in the somewhat detailed description of the complaint processes does the policy emphasise the importance of utilizing the complaints system…to proactively identify where risks of possible abuse may exist.”

All of this may be important to an Ombudsman, but it is not what the hearings about “Towards Healing” are meant to cover. It is its failure, for current victims, which is of most concern to most people – a point the Ombudsman’s submission fails to address adequately.

One of the most serious faults of “Towards Healing” pertains to its use of the advantages, under the existing law, for civil litigation (see previous postings e.g. “Ellis Defence”). Here, the submission is very weak in its apparent criticisms. It states that “we believe that the Catholic Church would benefit from clearly articulated policy relating to how they will conduct themselves in relation to civil claims.”

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CANADA
CBC News

The third week of testimony wraps up today in the trial of Roman Catholic priest Eric Dejaeger.

The 66-year-old faces dozens of charges related to sexual abuse against children.

The incidents are alleged to have occurred between 1978 and 1982 in Igloolik.

So far the court has heard disturbing testimony about alleged sexual acts involving young girls, boys and even dogs.

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Church officials “outed” him yesterday
A judge ordered that his name be released
Cleric is “credibly accused” of child sex abuse
Victims want San Diego bishop to do outreach
As recently as last year, alleged abuser was still on the job

A Catholic priest who was revealed as a “credibly accused” child molester yesterday now lives in the San Diego area.

He is Fr. Paul Palmitessa.

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims wants San Diego Catholic bishop Cirilo Flores to “aggressively reach out to anyone who this priest may have hurt while he’s been in California.”

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are asking Bishop Flores to personally visit each parish where predator priest worked and beg victims, witnesses and witnesses to call police.

“When a case of a child abuse is reported, often this is not only the instance of abuse ” said David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP’s director. “We need to make sure that anyone else who has been hurt by Palmitessa will feel encouraged to report what they have suspected, witnessed, or experienced to prevent future abuse, and begin to heal .”

“It’s always tempting to stay silent if you’ve been hurt or betrayed,” said Joelle Casteix of Orange County CA, SNAP’s western regional director. “That silence is what predators count on. And that temptation must be overcome if future clergy sex crimes and misdeeds are to be prevented.”

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on December 6, 2013

Everybody has a crush on Pope Francis. He drives a car! He eats with the priests! He cold calls Catholics who write him letters!

But wait, there’s more! He used to be a bouncer at a bar! He reportedly sneaks out at night to feed the poor! He speaks out against those nasty capitalists (whose donated money is the principal funding source for Vatican City, BTW).

Wow, with all of this action, he would have to take decisive action on the clergy abuse crisis, the first and foremost problem in his own nest, right? Eh, not so much.

Instead, he formed a committee! (Insert sad trombone here) Not only that, but he refused to answer the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s questions about child sexual sexual abuse. Apparently, Francis only takes action when solving OTHER people’s problems.

C’mon Francis! You blew it. This was low-hanging fruit! You could have been on the fast track to sainthood. All you need to do are a few simple things:

You can start by the easy, symbolic actions. First, you strip Roger Mahony of any titles, power or significance. After that, you fire Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn (I mean, really, he’s CONVICTED of child endangerment).

This is easy stuff. Send them both to the villages of Western Alaska, where they can live in abject poverty and devote the rest of their lives to the victims of Jesuit priests there.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

[Press conference video via Jeff Anderson & Associates]

[(St. Paul, MN) – Jeff Anderson and Associates sincerely apologizes for the incorrect depiction of Father Patrick J. Ryan at its Press Conference on December 5, 2013. At the conference and included in the media kit, our firm depicted Father Patrick J. Ryan on “The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ List of 34.” The image of Father Patrick J. Ryan was mistakenly confirmed as the Father Patrick Joseph Ryan contained on the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ List. There are no known allegations of sexual abuse against the Father Patrick J. Ryan pictured on December 5, 2013. When told of the potential mistake, we immediately alerted all media personnel present at the press conference.]

By Beth Hawkins

If church leaders had taken action in the wake of Father Thomas Adamson’s first admission that he sexually abused a young boy, Jim Keenan would likely never have met him, much less ended up one of the priest’s dozens of victims.

“There is no reason our paths would have to cross in a ministerial way,” a tearful Keenan said Thursday at a press conference held hours after the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was compelled to release a list of priests “credibly accused” of abusing minors.

According to court filings, Adamson’s first documented transgression took place in 1964. Keenan was born in 1967. Before Keenan was molested at the age of 13, the priest had confessed to perhaps dozens of inappropriate sexual encounters with boys.

Adamson’s is the very first name on the alphabetized list, which Keenan and his attorneys, Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan, have been seeking for a decade. Five years ago, the Savage man turned down a financial settlement, saying he wouldn’t accept any agreement that did not include the list’s release.

“It’s the right step, but it’s a tiny step,” Keenan said. “They have to follow the rules like you and I.”

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Dec. 6, 2013

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

What next in the Twin Cities Catholic abuse and cover up scandal? Here are some predictions and hopes.

We predict that more victims across Minnesota will:

–step forward asking “Why isn’t the cleric who hurt me on the newly-disclosed list?” and
–push for more disclosure and other prevention steps as part of their civil settlements.

We predict that more judges – across Minnesota and the country – will be willing, for the safety of children, force other bishops to disclose names of other predators. (This is the first time a court has ordered a bishop to make predators’ names public.)

We hope that law enforcement officials will use their “bully pulpits” to prod victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to contact secular officials, not church officials, with information or suspicions about clergy sex crimes, especially by the seven or eight credibly accused clerics who were “outed” yesterday.

We predict that Archbishop John Nienstedt will:

–continue to write about this disclosure as if it were a voluntary move on his part, instead of making it clear that he was forced to do this, and
–continue distancing himself from his predator priests. (Most of the clerics listed yesterday are still priests. But Nienstedt listed them with no titles, as if to suggest that they no longer are.)

We hope, but do not expect, that Nienstedt will:

–explain why he kept the names of six or seven credibly accused child molesting clerics for years and years,
–turn over every scrap of information he has about all current and former Twin Cities predator priests, nuns, seminarians, brothers and lay employees to law enforcement immediately,
–personally visit each parish where predator priests worked – starting with the seven or eight new names – and beg victims, witnesses and witnesses to call police, and

–give all Twin Cities child molesting clerics an ultimatum: “Move to a remote, secure treatment facility in 30 days or we’ll cut off your salary, health care and other benefits.”

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PORTUGAL
TVI 24

A Diocese de Santarém iniciou um «processo canónico de averiguações a propósito de suspeitas» sobre o pároco das paróquias de Golegã, Azinhaga e Pombalinho, segundo um comunicado divulgado pelo vigário geral da diocese na Internet.

«É a preocupação pelo bem de todas as pessoas que preside a este processo», afirma o padre Aníbal Manuel Vieira, adiantando que «estão a ser cumpridas todas as normas canónicas que dizem respeito a estes casos».

Contactado pela Lusa, o vigário geral apenas adiantou que o processo ao padre das paróquias de Golegã, Azinhaga e Pombalinho «faz parte dos procedimentos normais quando há rumores», não tendo havido qualquer queixa formal junto da diocese.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Now that Pope Francis has set up a commission to study priestly sexual abuse, Bill Donohue urges reporters to get their facts straight:

Myth: Children have been the main victims of priestly sexual abuse.

Fact: Since more than 95 percent of all the victims of priestly sexual abuse, as reported by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, are not prepubescent, that means that adolescents have been the primary victims.

Myth: Pedophile priests have been the problem.

Fact: Homosexual priests have been the problem. Proof: 81 percent of the victims have been male, and more than 95 percent have been postpubescent. When males have sex with postpubescent males, it is called homosexuality.

Myth: The problem is on-going.

Fact: The homosexual scandal took place mostly between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s. In the last ten years, the average number of credible accusations made against 40,000 priests is in the single digits.

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VATICAN CITY
Kansas City Star

December 5
BY NICOLE WINFIELD
The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — In a story Dec. 5 about the wedding of a former Legion of Christ priest, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the Legion said less than 4 percent of Legion priests had been abused. Less than 4 percent have been accused of sexual abuse, according to the Legion.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Disgraced priest to wed pope adviser’s daughter

Legion priest who resigned after fathering child to marry daughter of top Vatican adviser

By NICOLE WINFIELD

Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Thomas Williams, the onetime public face of the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order who left the priesthood after admitting he fathered a child, is getting married this weekend to the child’s mother, The Associated Press has learned. The bride is the daughter of former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Mary Ann Glendon, one of Pope Francis’ top advisers.

Glendon, a Harvard University law professor, is one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican as president of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences. She is also one of five people on Francis’ commission to reform the scandal-marred Vatican bank. Her daughter, Elizabeth Lev, is a Rome-based art historian and columnist for the Legion-run Zenit news agency, which Williams published for over a decade while he was in the order.

Williams, a moral theologian, author, lecturer and U.S. television personality, admitted last year that he had fathered a child several years earlier.

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CONNECTICUT
The Raw Story

By Agence France-Presse
Friday, December 6, 2013

The Legion of Christ, an influential Catholic congregation already at the centre of an abuse scandal involving its founder, on Friday said one of its priests had sexually abused a novice in the United States.

“William Izquierdo, former instructor of novices at the Legion’s novitiate in Cheshire, Connecticut from 1982 to 1994 sexually abused a novice under his care,” the community said in a statement on its website.

The conservative community did not say whether Izquierdo would be punished but pointed out he is now 85 and in “an advanced state of dementia” and in any case has not exercised his ministry since 2008.

Izquierdo will be moved “to an assisted living facility where he will receive proper treatment,” it said.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Nicole Sotelo | Dec. 6, 2013 Young Voices

Author’s note: This week, the Vatican refused to provide information to the U.N. regarding sexual abuse by church officials despite its ratification of the 1990 Convention of the Rights of the Child. On Thursday, as this column was going to be published, the Vatican announced it would begin its own commission to address sexual abuse. Similar commissions have been set up by bishops’ conferences in various countries but currently, no mechanisms are in place to discipline bishops who refuse to cooperate with their own policies or continue to cover up sexual abuse cases.

It’s a love story, really. Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” that the Vatican released last week reads like a love letter meant to add spark again to a church relationship that has been sorely wounded.

The document addresses some of the reasons why Catholics have turned away from the church. It shares ideas for how the church can reform itself in order to support a renewed relationship of joy and mission. It reads like a personal invitation to a marriage encounter weekend after a relationship has been through tough times. Pope Francis asks us to remember the good and rekindle the flames of faith.

I’m signed up. My bags are packed. I’m ready to write my own love letter in return. This is what I have wanted for our relationship, too!

However, if you read between the lines of the document, you’ll remember what caused perhaps the greatest collective rupture in the church relationship for U.S. Catholics of the last decade: the sexual abuse of children and its cover-up by church officials.

Earlier this year, a Pew Research Center survey found that 70 percent of Catholics in the United States said addressing the sexual abuse crisis should be a top priority for the new pope, topping the list of issues Catholics believed the Vatican should address.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

December 7, 2013

Catherine Armitage
Senior Writer

The Pope’s decision to set up a council of experts and lay people to advise him how to stop the scourge of child sex abuse is based on Australia’s approach, leading Catholics say.

Cardinal George Pell “had a big influence on this, because the announcements from Rome certainly seem to replicate the approach we have taken here”, believes Francis Sullivan, head of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, established last year to lead the Australian Catholic church’s response to the child sex abuse Royal Commission.

Pope Francis took up the suggestion from his council of eight cardinals which includes George Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney. After they met in Rome this week, US Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, said at a Vatican media conference the new committee would look at how better to protect children in the church including screening checks for would-be priests, codes of professional conduct and co-operatiing with civil authorities to report crimes. The committee would work on pastoral aid for victims, their families and affected communities, including “mental health help”, Cardinal O’Malley said.

Mr Sullivan said the idea “echoed” the Truth, Justice and Healing Council’s use of experts who “give strong independent advice to place victims first and make it clear that the church can’t approach clerical sex abuse from a protective-defensive stance”.

“As a Catholic, it is shaming to hear that this went on,” said Melbourne military analyst Paul Sheehan, 36, a volunteer for Catholic Voices Australia. He said nothing could bring “true justice” to sex abuse victims who “still need as much help as we can give them” but “this is a step forward at the highest level”.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Archdiocese’s list shows it kept secret seven priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis acknowledged Thursday that it had kept secret for decades the names of at least seven Catholic priests it considers credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

Archbishop John Nienstedt revealed the names on a list of 34 priests posted to an archdiocese website. The names are from a list the archdiocese created in 2009 of priests accused of child sexual abuse. However, Nienstedt now says four of the priests should not have been included.

Three-fourths of the priests on the list are already known to the public through lawsuits and media reports. The 34 priests served in nearly half of the archdiocese’s parishes.

“These disclosures being made now, and the changes in our disclosure practices generally, are part of a comprehensive and cohesive set of actions we have been taking here in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis this fall to address the issues associated with clergy sexual misconduct,” Nienstedt said in a statement.

The disclosure came three days after an unexpected ruling by Ramsey County Judge John Van de North in a case filed by a victim of clergy sexual abuse. Van de North ordered the archdiocese to release the names of 33 priests included on a 2009 list, as well as the names of other priests accused since then.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

By Sasha Aslanian, Madeleine Baran, Molly Bloom, Mike Cronin, Meg Martin, Eric Ringham, Tom Scheck and Laura Yuen, Minnesota Public Radio

Dec. 5, 2013

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has released the names of 30 priests it believes sexually abused children between 1950 and 2013.

• Related: Archdiocese’s list shows it kept secret seven priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children

The archdiocese also released the names of four other priests who had been included on an earlier list, but church officials now say those four should not have been included. A Ramsey County judge ordered the archdiocese Monday to release a list of 33 priests that had been sealed since 2009.

Seven of the priests named were not previously known to the public as accused abusers. Five of those seven are still living. About one-third of the priests on the list are dead.

The accused priests have served at nearly half — 92, in total — of the 188 parishes in the archdiocese, according to an email sent to priests by vicar general Rev. Charles Lachowitzer, the archbishop’s top deputy.

The disclosure comes three days after Ramsey County Judge John Van de North ordered the archdiocese to release the names of all the priests on a sealed list of clergy with credible allegations of child sexual abuse against them. The 33 names had been disclosed to attorneys in a 2009 clergy sexual abuse lawsuit, but a judge ordered they remain private.

The number of names on the original list — 33 in total — originated in 2004 when the Rev. Kevin McDonough, then second in command at the archdiocese, told researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice that 33 priests in the archdiocese were “known to have credible allegations of the abuse of minors.” The John Jay group had been commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to study clergy sexual abuse in the United States.

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CANADA
The StarPhoenix

BY HANNAH SPRAY, THE STARPHOENIX DECEMBER 6, 2013

Paul Leroux remains unrepentant for molesting eight boys he was supposed to be caring for and protecting, and that makes it very hard to forgive him, says one of his victims.

“He has lived in denial.

Forgiveness for me is something that has to be reciprocal. And if he’s not willing to do that, I cannot give him that, because he still denies what he’s done, so I cannot in any way give him that,” the 59-year-old man said outside Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench on Thursday. His name cannot be published due a publication ban on the victims’ identities.

Leroux, 73, was convicted last month of the string of crimes at the Beauval Indian Residential School in the 1960s, but on Thursday during sentencing arguments he still maintained his innocence, saying he intended to appeal.

Nevertheless, he said the sentence for fondling and raping the teenage boys should be three years, noting he already received a 10-year sentence in 1998 for similar crimes in Inuvik in the late 1960s and 1970s.

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CANADA
CTV

One of Paul Leroux’s sex abuse victims says he won’t ever forgive the former residential school supervisor.

The man, who was a student at the Beauval Indian Residential School in northern Saskatchewan during the 1960s, was one of several students Leroux was found guilty of sexually abusing.

At Leroux’s sentencing hearing Thursday in Battleford, the man said he can’t forgive Leroux, now 73, because he still denies what he’s done.

The Crown argued for an 11-year-sentence, but Leroux, who acted as his own lawyer, said that was too harsh for crimes that happened so long ago.

Last month, a judge convicted Leroux on 10 of 17 charges involving boys at the school — eight counts of indecent assault and two counts of gross indecency

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CANADA
CBC News

Posted: Dec 05, 2013

A former residential school worker in northern Saskatchewan was in court for his sentencing hearing today after being found guilty last month of indecently assaulting young boys nearly five decades ago.

Paul Leroux, 73, a former dormitory supervisor at the Beauval Residential School in the 1950s and 60s, is guilty on 10 counts of indecent assault.

The sentencing hearing was held this morning at the Battleford courthouse, which was packed with victims, family and media.

There were 17 charges altogether, including indecent assault and gross indecency. The allegations included sexual touching, oral and anal sex, and bringing boys to his room where they were given alcohol and shown pornography.

The Crown is asking for an 11 year sentence. The charges added up as consecutive sentences would equal 25.5 years, but Prosecutor Mitch Piche said a number of factors need to be considered, including how much time has passed, that Leroux was back in society and is a low risk to re-offend.

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UNITED STATES
Perspective

Coming right after the Vatican rebuffed UN inquiries about clergy sex abuse, the Pope [is] Setting Up Commission on Clerical Child Abuse.

There’s a lot about this in the Catholic press … at NCR, Vatican announces new papal advisory commission on sex abuse … at US Catholic, Pope Francis launches commission to tackle sex abuse … at dotCommonweal, Pope Francis to create commission on protection of minors. From David Gibson’s post at US Catholic …

[…] O’Malley acknowledged that Catholics were most keen to hear how and whether the pope and the new commission would tackle the question of disciplining bishops who have shielded abusive priests …. Several current cases in the U.S. have rekindled anger over the abuse crisis: last year in Missouri, Bishop Robert Finn was convicted in court of failing to report an abusive priest to authorities, and in Minnesota it was recently revealed that Archbishop John Nienstedt did not report priests suspected of abuse to authorities. Archbishop John Myers of Newark, N.J., has faced similar criticism for his handling of abusers. All three men are outspoken conservatives, and all three remain in office [not to mention Mahony] ….

I think Francis has good intentions but I don’t hope for much from this new commission … it won’t address the accountability of church leaders for covering up abuse, and also it doesn’t appear that the actual causes of clergy sex abuse will even be addressed.

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UNITED STATES
Notes to Ponder

The Vatican has announced formation of a commission to protect young people from Catholic priests. To be fair; not all priests, just those with a fondness for “choir boys”. Spokesman, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston broke the news today; reportably a recommendation coming out of the Council of Cardinals meeting in Rome this week. Pope Francis, acting on the advise of his advisory council, gave the green light to “draft guidelines for prevention of abuse, developing training programs, advising on co-operation with law enforcement officials, and promoting care of victims of abuse”.

The as yet to be appointed commission members will be experts on sexual abuse and prevention. Up until now, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith have been handling discipline for naughty priests. Cardinal O’Malley didn’t know if the commission would have authority over Bishops who cover up allegations of abuse by priests. The announcement comes on the heals of the church refusing a United Nations request to provide information on how it dealt with abusive clergy.

Call me cynical but something smells fishy. I’ve pondered Pope Francis long and hard – my conclusion being, he might be a man willing to make some changes. On the surface this announcement reads like a step in the right direction. Peel back a few layers and I’m still astounded. The very fact that a commission needs to be formed in order to “educate” and “counsel” clergy leaves me speechless.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has today announced the first public hearing for 2014.

The hearing, which will commence on 28 January, will inquire into the responses of The Salvation Army (Eastern Territory) to child sexual abuse within its children’s homes at:

* Alkira Salvation Army Home for Boys, Indooroopilly, QLD
* Riverview Training Farm (also known as Endeavour Training Farm), Riverview, QLD
* Bexley Boys’ Home, Bexley, NSW
* Gill Memorial Home, Goulburn, NSW

The hearing will also examine The Salvation Army’s processes in investigating, disciplining, removing and/or transferring anyone accused of, or found to have engaged in, child sexual abuse in these homes.

Royal Commission CEO Janette Dines is urging anyone who suffered sexual abuse as a child within these homes to contact the Royal Commission.

“We are in the process of gathering information relevant to this matter and would like to hear from as many people as possible.

“People’s experiences will help to inform the Royal Commission as to how The Salvation Army responded to allegations of child sexual abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The ‘roadmap’ and Issues Paper 5 are both available on the Royal Commission website at www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse today released a paper outlining its approach to examining the scope of justice for victims, ‘Justice for Victims: Addressing or Alleviating the Impact of Child Sexual Abuse in Institutions’.

The Royal Commission’s examination of the scope of justice for victims will cover:

• civil litigation and redress/compensation schemes
• the criminal justice system
• past inquiries, the regulatory system and advocacy bodies

Along with this paper, the Royal Commission has also released Issues Paper 5 on Civil Litigation and is inviting members of the public to contribute ideas and expertise on the best ways to ensure justice for victims through redress.

Royal Commission CEO Janette Dines said civil litigation is one of the ways in which victims may bring a claim for damages against the institution where they were abused.

“Through our private sessions, we have already heard from many people about the impact of the sexual abuse they suffered as children, and their difficult experiences throughout the civil litigation process.

“Our Terms of Reference require us to inquire into what institutions and governments should do to address or alleviate the impact of child sexual abuse, particularly through the provision of redress.

“We invite interested individuals, government and non-government organisations to tell us their views on the effectiveness of civil litigation as a mechanism for providing redress or compensation.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (updated 6 December 2013)

Australia’s national Royal Commission on child-abuse is holding two weeks of public hearings (in Sydney, beginning on 9 December 2013) to investigate how the Catholic Church’s “Towards Healing” system has handled (or mis-handled) the church’s sex-abuse victims. The December hearings will focus on the experiences of several victims who came through that system.

“Towards Healing” is the church’s own damage-control system (devised by the church’s lawyers and public relations consultants), under which the church is allowed to “investigate” itself.

“Towards Healing” is financed by the church’s in-house insurance company, Catholic Church Insurances Limited. Many victims have contacted the Royal Commission, complaining that the purpose of “Towards Healing” is primarily to help the church (and to protect its assets), rather than to help the victims. These victims say that, after going through “Towards Healing”, they feel re-victimised.

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CANADA
Sylvia’s Site

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Sylvia

No court today in the Father Eric Dejaeger sex abuse trial in Iqaluit, Nunavut. There was a possibility of something in the afternoon regarding having a video entered into evidence as testimony of a deceased victim/complainant who died of cancer. We arrived at the courtroom – nothing today.

Tomorrow Father Robert Lechat omi will testify. According to an Oblate directory Father Lechat, a 93-year-old French-born Oblate priest, served in Igloolik from 1972-1986, and was back for one year in 1988. Father Lechat served in Igloolik while Father Dejaeger was there. Most witnesses testifying to date recall Father Lechat as a priest who was at the Igloolik mission while Father Dejaeger was there.

My friend and I fly out tomorrow afternoon – will be able to catch the morning court session and then head for the airport when court recesses for lunch.

With no court, today turned into a day of sight-seeing and picture taking. We were squired around town and beyond. Such a breath-takingly beautiful part of this beautiful country. I took lots of pictures – will share a few after I get home.

Met wonderful people who have been so very gracious, hospitable and kind. It’s been a wonderful whirl which started last Friday evening . Silver linings. So very many silver linings.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The formal submission by Judy Courtin (see previous posting), a Monash University researcher, to the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, is based on interviews with many victims, lawyers and victims’ relatives and support persons. It is both interesting and informative, and represents one of the few studies anywhere on the theme of “Sexual Assaults and the Catholic Church: Are Victims Finding Justice?” (That is her doctoral thesis’ title).

Her submission complements and supports the general thrust of that of John and Nicola Ellis (see previous posting), on the “Towards Healing” process of the Catholic Church for dealing with allegations of abuse throughout Australia, except for Melbourne which has its own protocol, termed the “Melbourne Response”, which was established by Cardinal George Pell (of Domus Australia fame – see previous posting).

Details of the interviews contained in Ms. Courtin’s submission are not given here, but are available from her submission at http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/14-Judy-Courtin1.pdf (Only the general findings will be discussed here.)

One may as well get across early on just how she views the “Towards Healing” process by giving a few quotes from the submission. “It’s not ‘Towards Healing’; it actually takes you towards madness.” “The Towards Healing process needs to be dismantled.” “Towards Healing has failed.”

“The Towards Healing process is flawed. It is a Kangaroo court giving it the ‘opportunity to mislead and lie’. It is a sham and a con and an incredibly unsatisfactory process. It is difficult, inappropriate and insensitive. It is deficient, condescending, depersonalizing, demeaning and obscene.”

By the conclusion of the up-coming hearings, many people will surely share this perspective.

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MINNESOTA
Fox 9

[with video]

video report by Iris Perez

On Thursday, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis revealed that 7 of the men church leaders believe have been credibly accused of child sex abuse spent at least a year leading congregations in Faribault, Minn.

Attorney Jeff Anderson’s office reports at least 15 victims are connected to the following men:

– Dennis Kampa
– Lee Krautkremer
– Gilbert DeSutter
– John Brown
– Richard Jeub
– Patrick Ryan
– Albert Longley

All of the priests led churches in Faribault for between a year and a decade between the years of 1922 and 2000, but some stayed even longer. Anderson believes that’s because the church had a habit of purposely moving accused clergy to serve in the quiet, rural city, away from victims who had reported them.

“Sometimes they would place known offenders in rural parishes, where they’re less likely to be known to the victims that reported the crimes,” Anderson said.

While all those listed have been permanently removed from ministry or no longer serve, the list shows allegations against Longley and six others have been kept secret for decades. In fact, allegations against Ryan and Longley were revealed for the first time Thursday.

“My name is Finnegan. Once it got misspelled with an S — Sinnigan. That’s so true; we all sin,” Father Kevin Finnegan told Fox 9 News.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

In today’s world, headlines can masquerade as substance.

Because of the general goodwill Pope Francis has created for the Vatican worldwide, NSAC raises an alarm bell today that the headlines about a sexual abuse commission not be welcomed without examination.

NSAC asks how independent will the Vatican’s commission on sexual abuse be?

If the proof’s in the pudding and the pudding is not made by a truly balanced commission designed to go where the truth is, find it, expose it and deal with it, the result will only be a soggy, tart, and unsatisfying whitewash. More’s the pity, the sin and the crime if that is the outcome.

A bedrock question here is: who will be on the commission, how balanced will the representation be, what’s the timetable, and what’s the endgame: report or action?

By balanced, NSAC means real representation from those who know this problem: the survivors themselves, critics of the why the crisis has been covered up and handled with public relations, the whistleblowers, professionals in law enforcement, psychology, sociology, mental health and finance – for indeed the survivors regardless of how the Church has portrayed it have been on the short end of the financial stick given the depth and breath of this lifelong problem for survivors and their families.

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MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Dec. 5, 2013

1:56 p.m., CST: This post has been updated with comments from BishopAccountability.org President Terrance McKiernan.

Following through on a vow made a month ago, the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese released Thursday the names of 30 former priests with substantiated claims of sexual abuse of minors.

The priests named relate primarily to reported incidents that occurred between the mid-1950s and 1980s. All but one of those with substantiated claims were listed in a 2004 report by the archdiocese as part of a nationwide survey of credibly accused clergy.

The 30th priest is Curtis Wehmeyer, currently serving five years in prison, whose name appeared among others in news reports by Minnesota Public Radio — based on documents and information supplied by former archdiocesan canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger — detailing negligence and lack of adherence to abuse-related archdiocesan policies.

All 30 have been removed from ministry. Two have been laicized, and one was dismissed from his order and dispensed from vows. …

Six of the 30 names became public for the first time, according to Terrance McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org. They are Frs. Alfred Longley (deceased), Timothy McCarthy, Paul Palmitessa, Joseph Pinkosh, Richard Skluzacek (deceased) and Raymond Walter.

Saying the release of names will allow for further investigation and greater protection of children in the case of those priests accused still living, McKiernan expressed gratitude to Nienstedt for posting the list, but also for the work of victims in achieving the end.

“They have found a way of transforming the numbers … into names. And of course names have stories, and names unfortunately have victims. And it’s a really, really crucial achievement,” he told NCR.

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VATICANO
El Nuevo Herald

ASSOCIATED PRESS
VATICANO — El papa Francisco respondió a las acusaciones de que ha pasado por alto las quejas por los abusos sexuales por parte de sacerdotes y creó una comisión de expertos que asesore al Vaticano para proteger a los niños de los sacerdotes pedófilos y ayudar a las víctimas.

Sin embargo, se desconoce si los integrantes de la comisión asumirán uno de los problemas medulares detrás del escándalo de abuso sexual en la Iglesia Católica: la rendición de cuentas de los obispos que protegieron a sacerdotes pedófilos.

El cardenal Sean O’Malley, arzobispo de Boston, anunció el jueves la creación del panel al término de la reunión de Francisco con los ocho cardenales que lo asesoran sobre el gobierno de la Iglesia y la reforma de la burocracia vaticana.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Channel Online

The Bishop of Dover and Bishop of Basingstoke are in Jersey today to get a better understanding of complaint procedures.

Both are on a pastoral visit organised by the Bishop of Winchester. The Bishops will stay at Government House and meet with local church leaders and island authorities from both Deaneries.

They plan to ease tensions within the church following months of disruption among church-goers.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Channel Online

Later today (Fri), the Jersey’s recently ‘exonerated’ Dean, will meet with the Bishops of Dover and Basingstoke.

The two Bishops are in Jersey to get a better understanding of the complaint procedures.

The trip was initiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Today they will meet with Jersey’s Chief Minister, Ian Gorst.

Both are on a pastoral visit organised by the Bishop of Winchester. The Bishops are staying at the Government House.

Their plan is to ease tensions within the church following months of disruption among church-goers.

The visit follows the suspension of Jersey’s Dean earlier this year, for failing to properly handle an allegation of abuse.

The Bishops’ visit was first outlined in a statement by the Bishop of Winchester on 22 November, in which he also said he would not be taking disciplinary action against any member of the clergy in Jersey. He also said he would not be publishing the Steel report.

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NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte Observer

By Michael Gordon
mgordon@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Thursday, Dec. 05, 2013

A Mecklenburg County judge Thursday dismissed the claims of a former Charlotte official of the United House of Prayer who accused the top leaders of the congregation of wrecking his marriage.

In his lawsuit, the Rev. Ronald Belton described a church atmosphere of rigged national elections, political infighting and millions of dollars raised by House of Prayer congregations that is sent to post office boxes in Charlotte, long a center of activities for the Washington, D.C., based church.

Whether a jury hears any of those accusations is now in question. Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin threw out Belton’s remaining claims against the House of Prayer’s presiding Bishop C.M. Bailey and its former first lady, Deloris Beal “St. Lady” Madison.

Church attorney Robert Dortch argued that Belton and his attorney failed to prove that a North Carolina court could hear the case against Bailey because he lives in Maryland and doesn’t own property in Charlotte or the state.

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NORTH CAROLINE
Charlotte Observer

By Michael Gordon
mgordon@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Dec. 04, 2013

A lawsuit in court Thursday casts unflattering light onto what it describes as the political infighting and private financial dealings of a secretive church with deep spiritual and economic ties to Charlotte.

The United House of Prayer for All People is known nationwide for the exuberant worship style of its congregations, along with its shout bands, mass baptisms with fire hoses, and the stone lions guarding the front doors of its sanctuaries.

But the lawsuit by Ronald Belton, a longtime House of Prayer evangelist who lives in Charlotte, focuses on what his attorney describes as the “absolute power” of the church’s top leaders, namely the presiding bishop and the widow of the former one.

Believers hold their leaders as intermediaries with God.

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ILLINOIS
Daily Herald

By Lee Filas
A former monk accused of trying to lure teenage girls into his car in Antioch pleaded guilty to a single count of child abduction in Lake County court Thursday.

Thomas Chmura, 57, who had been associated with the St. Benedict’s Abbey in Benet Lake, Wis., will spend 24 months on probation. He also has been ordered to undergo sex offender treatment, and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Victor O’Block said following the plea deal.

Chmura was also sentenced to a six-month periodic imprisonment in Lake County. However, that was delayed by Lake County Judge James Booras and could be dropped if Chmura meets all the requirements of his probation.

Booras also allowed Chmura to move to Jefferson County, MO, where he will receive treatment at the Vianney Renewal Center, O’Block said.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

By Susan Berger
Special to the Tribune
2:41 p.m. CST, December 5, 2013

A monk accused of trying to lure girls into his car pled guilty today to child abduction, officials said.

Thomas Chmura, a Benedictine monk who lived at an a abbey in Benet Lake, Wis., was given two years probation and must register as a sex offender and receive counseling as part of the plea, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office.

Chmura was arrested last April after authorities said he pulled up alongside a 14-year-old girl who was on foot in Antioch, told her she was beautiful and asked her to let him drive her home.

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ILLINOIS
San Francisco Chronicle

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — A Wisconsin monk has pleaded guilty to a child abduction count after being accused of trying to abduct four girls in Illinois earlier this year.

Thomas Chmura (shah-MOO’-rah) agreed to a negotiated plea deal on Thursday in Lake County court. Chmura is a former monk at the St. Benedict’s Abbey in Benet Lake, Wis.

The 57-year-old was sentenced to two years of probation. He also must undergo sex offender treatment and register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. The judge has allowed Chmura to move to Jefferson County in Missouri where he can receive treatment.

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ILLINOIS
WLS

Sun-Times Media Wire

December 5, 2013 (WAUKEGAN, Ill.) — A judge accepted a plea deal Thursday in the case of a former Benedictine monk accused of child abduction attempts earlier this year in the north suburbs, sentencing him to probation and periodic jail time.

Thomas Chmura, 57, was charged with four counts of child abduction and could have faced up to three years in prison after authorities alleged he offered rides to a number of girls ages 11 to 14 in April in the Antioch area.

On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to one count of child abduction and was sentenced to six months of periodic imprisonment, plus 24 months of felony probation, the News-Sun is reporting. He must register as a sex offender for life and undergo sex offender treatment.

Chmura never actually abducted any of the victims he tried to lure into his car, but under state statute, his behavior qualified for the abduction charge, according to assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Victor O’Block.

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VATICAN CITY
NBC News

By Claudio Lavanga, NBC News Correspondent

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican is to set up a special committee to improve measures to protect children against sexual abuse within the Church, the archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, said on Thursday.

“Up until now there has been so much focus on the judicial parts of this but the pastoral part is very, very important. The Holy Father is concerned about that,” O’Malley told reporters, referring to Pope Francis.
The commission of experts would “study these issues and bring concrete recommendations” for the Pope and the Vatican, he said.

“Continuing decisively along the lines undertaken by Pope Benedict XVI, and accepting a proposal presented by the Council of Cardinals, the Holy Father has decided to establish a specific Commission for the protection of minors, with the aim of advising Pope Francis on the Holy See’s commitment to the protection of children and in pastoral care for victims of abuse,” O’Malley said in a statement.

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COLORADO
Christian Post

BY MORGAN LEE , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
December 5, 2013

Boulder police have accused a Colorado senior pastor of covering up information about a youth pastor who allegedly sexually assaulted a female church attendee starting when she was 15.

Walt Roberson was out of the country when police first announced charges for four members of Vinelife Church’s pastoral and elder teams. Jason Allen Roberson, 35, Vinelife Church’s youth pastor and the son of Walt, was arrested in September on charges that he sexually abused a former church member and emplyoyee who was underage when the abuse began.

Walt is due on court on Dec. 9 and the church’s executive pastor Robert Phillip “Bob” Young must report later this month, according to The Daily Camera. Church elder Warren Lloyd Williams is set to appear on Jan. 6 while pastors Luke Humbrecht and Edward Bennell have no court dates set yet.

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MINNESOTA
KVSC

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has disclosed the names of 34 priests who have been accused of sexually abusing minors.The names of the priests were made public Thursday following months of criticism that church leaders mishandled allegations of abuse. Archbishop John Nienstedt says he hopes the move will restore trust.

The archdiocese says it has substantiated claims against 30 priests on the list. The remaining four have claims against them that could not be substantiated, but the archdiocese released them after a court order.

The information includes the clerics’ names, parishes where they served, and other details. It does not include details of the allegations.

Of the 34 names, three of them, Father Cosmas Dahlheimer, Francis Hoefgen, and Brennan Maiers, have had ties with the St. Cloud Diocese.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley unveils Vatican effort to prevent abuse

By Lisa Wangsness | GLOBE STAFF DECEMBER 06, 2013

Almost 12 years after the clergy sexual abuse crisis exploded in Boston, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley announced Thursday the creation of a Vatican commission on protecting children from abuse, marking the Catholic Church’s first comprehensive effort to address the crisis globally.

O’Malley, speaking in Rome after a meeting of the eight-cardinal council that advises Pope Francis on church governance reform, said the new commission would advise the pope about the protection of children and the pastoral care of victims of abuse.

The new panel represents Pope Francis’s first substantive attempt to confront the central issue facing the church in recent years. Its establishment also came days after the church refused a UN committee’s request for detailed information about sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and religious orders.

Some church observers praised the new commission, calling it long overdue.

“It reflects that Pope Francis is determined to get to the root causes of the clergy sexual abuse scandal and to prevent it from ever happening again,” said Thomas Groome, a theologian and chairman of the department of religious education and pastoral ministry at Boston College. …

Critics were skeptical that the panel would be effective. Terence McKiernan — president of Bishop Accountability, a watchdog on clergy abuse and an online archive of the crisis — said that the commission’s to-do list is too long. But he also said the panel lacks a clear mandate to figure out how the church could hold bishops accountable if they mishandle abuse complaints.

Bishops in Philadelphia and Kansas City failed to enforce US church laws for handling abuse cases in recent years. The Kansas City bishop was convicted in secular court for failing to report suspected child abuse, but he remains in office.

Asked at Thursday’s press conference whether the commission would deal with bishop accountability, O’Malley said that was something that the church needs to address, but he said he was not sure whether the commission or a Vatican department would take it on.

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MINNESOTA
Woodbury Bulletin

By Michael Longaecker on Dec 5, 2013

The identities of 33 Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing minors – including one who was briefly involved with a Woodbury-area church – were released Thursday, prompting a promise of more openness in disclosure from the leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Among the priests accused of sexually abusing minors is Timothy McCarthy, a 67-year-old who was removed from the ministry in 1991. According to the list issued Thursday, McCarthy spent part of 1984 as an associate priest at Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Oakdale – what was formerly Lake Elmo, prior to annexation.

Denny Farrell, church administrator at Guardian Angels, said he and current priest Rodger Bauman were notified Wednesday that a former pastor from the church would be on the list. After learning McCarthy’s name on Thursday, Farrell said he went in search of information about the priest since he was at Guardian Angels less than a year.

“We didn’t know much about him,” Farrell said, adding that a cursory check with older parishioners turned up no answers. “That’s how interim he was.”

McCarthy served a few months in between two permanent Guardian Angels priests, Farrell said.

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WALTHAM (MA)
BishopAccountability.org

Statement by Terence McKiernan

December 5, 2013

We welcome the release of this highly significant list – the first church list to be released by order of the court.

We’re grateful to Jim Keenan (John Doe 73C) and John Doe 1, and to their attorney Jeffrey Anderson, who saw that their cases could help make children safe, and could help other survivors to heal. Their visionary work has transformed the cold numbers of a 2004 press release into the human story of abuse in St. Paul and Minneapolis – and soon Winona as well. Names can do what numbers never can.

We’re also grateful to Archbishop Nienstedt for his belated conversion to the cause of transparency. He clearly chose wisely in posting the entire list, including the so-called unsubstantiated claims (not a correct term for two or three of the four). As Cardinal Keeler wrote when he released the Baltimore list more than a decade ago, “Telling the truth cannot be wrong.”

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Parade

By LINDSAY LOWE

Since he was elected pope this March, Pope Francis has made headlines for his relatively simple lifestyle and his emphasis on helping the poor and embracing people of all faiths.

However, not everyone is a fan. Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, who was raised in a strict Catholic household and once trained for the priesthood, says that despite the Pope’s talk of reform, he will not fundamentally change the Catholic Church.

“Like Barack Obama, a bit like Tony Blair, he’s a figurehead, a CEO—a man who does the bidding of the masters who hide behind him,” Bryne said in an interview with the Michael Des Barres Show today.

He added that while Pope Francis has set a new tone within the Church by performing “Christ-like things” such as bathing prisoners’ feet, these are empty gestures that won’t change the Catholic Church’s “innately conservative” agenda.

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MINNESOTA
KARE

[with video]

Blake McCoy

MINNEAPOLIS – Knocking on the door of a priest accused of molesting children, we were surprised when that door opened.

“I have never abused anybody,” said Father Joseph Wajda. “I deny all these allegations. They are false. They are ridiculous.”

Fr. Wajda’s name is one of 34 released by the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese Thursday as credibly accused of molesting children. Fr. Wajda was removed from the priesthood in 2002.

11 years have passed but Wajda maintains his innocence and admits he is still being compensated by the archdiocese.

“I’m in the process of trying to get reinstated, so that’s it.”

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MINNESOTA
KARE

[with video]

John Croman

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is working to restore trust among Catholics and the public at large, in the wake of the latest clergy sex abuse disclosures.

The archdiocese Thursday complied with a court order to release the names of 34 former priests, 30 of whom were deemed by the church to have substantiated claims of abuse.

Archbishop John Nienstedt, who has come under fire from some advocates, issued a lengthy statement in the online edition of The Catholic Spirit newspaper, detailing efforts to aggressively pursue reports of abuse.

Fr. Nienstedt also pledged to involve law enforcement in the process immediately, and to publish the names of verified offenders in a special section of the Archdiocesan website.

“All clergy feel the shame of the acts of some of their brother priests,” Nienstedt wrote.

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CALIFORNIA
Santa Barbara Independent

by PAUL FERICANO

In 1965 when I was 14 I was sexually abused at St. Anthony’s, a Catholic minor seminary in Santa Barbara operated by the Franciscan religious order. My offender (who died on November 23 at the age of 83) was the school’s prefect of discipline. It’s since been estimated that during his six years of tenure he may have molested more than 250 boys. In 2003, after years of therapy, I chose to forgive him. It was a conscious and willing choice, and a significant change in my way of thinking. I did this without expecting, demanding, or receiving any apology. Even though the evidence against him was overwhelming, he never admitted any crime and insisted he’d done nothing wrong. But I did not allow his denials to prevent me from doing what is necessary to heal.

Deniers of clergy abuse are not limited to those who perpetrated the abuse. They are everywhere. The Franciscan friars currently in charge at Old Mission Santa Barbara (not to be confused with the Parish of St. Barbara) are some of those who still believe they are the victims of this crisis and that survivors are to blame. It’s a deep, dark hole that they’ve dug into the mythology of their lives. Their behavior and actions over the last six years have served to rewound survivors and poison the community. For this reason, I have publicly called for the removal of these friars from any positions of power. I’ve undertaken this without malice, but rather with compassion for those who have been hurt and for those who have done the hurting.

We all dig our holes, some deeper than others. The holes in my life have led me to some encouraging encounters with the church, particularly through my work with SafeNet, a survivor nonprofit I cofounded in 2003 that focuses on the healing process. Though I’m no longer Catholic and have no desire to return to Catholicism, I’ve found good reasons to explore these issues with bishops and cardinals who’ve shown an eagerness to explore them with me. These perceptible shifts in the church indicate a willingness by some to tackle complex questions of peace, reconciliation, and restorative justice.

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UNITED STATES
The New Yorker

POSTED BY ALEXANDER STILLE

From the first day of his papacy, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francesco, changed the mood music around the Vatican by presenting the world with a very different kind of pope. Wearing a simple white cassock, he declined to live in the papal apartment and chose instead to stay in a Vatican guesthouse so that he could continue to live in a community. He scandalized some Church traditionalists, washing the feet of female juvenile delinquents and expressing nonjudgmental compassion for gay priests, and treated everyone—even journalists—with infectious, sunny warmth, simplicity, and disarming candor. Without saying so, he seemed to be casting off a traditional idea of the pope as a solitary, infallible absolute monarch. Pius XII, who reigned from 1939 until 1958, ate alone all but a few times during his nearly twenty-year papacy. Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, had paid close attention to papal vestments, steeped in the liturgical meaning of this or that medieval garment.

The papacy during the last years of Benedict had come to seem an institution in sad decline, closed off behind the Vatican walls, out of touch, on the defensive, fighting a losing cultural war with its own followers, resigned to a smaller Church of “true believers,” in a hostile or indifferent secular world. Francis changed that almost overnight by showing how radically challenging it could be if a world leader tried to put into practice the basic precepts of the Christian gospel—dedicating oneself fully to task of loving and caring for others—and doing so with genuine joy.

Yet the question remained: Would these stylistic changes translate into significant, lasting shifts in the life and doctrine of the Catholic Church and, if so, how? We are beginning to get some concrete answers. Francis’s candid public interviews and his most recent publication, a two-hundred-and-twenty-four-page apostolic exhortation called “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), have attracted the most attention. But he has also made a series of careful management changes that may transform the Church.

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ROME
Daily Mail

Disgraced US cleric to wed daughter of Pope Francis’ highest-ranking female adviser after fathering her child and resigning priesthood

The former public face of the discredited Legion of Christ order who left the priesthood after fathering a love child is getting married this weekend to his son’s mother.

Former clergyman Thomas Williams will walk down the aisle with the daughter of former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Mary Ann Glendon – one of Pope Francis’ top advisers.

Glendon, a Harvard University law professor, is one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican as president of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences.

She is also one of five people on Francis’ commission to reform the scandal-marred Vatican bank.
Her daughter, Elizabeth Lev, is a well-regarded art historian and columnist for the Legion-run Zenit news agency, which Williams published for over a decade while he was in the order.

Williams, a moral theologian, author, lecturer and U.S. television personality, admitted last year that he had fathered a child several years earlier.

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

BY KELLY GLISTA, Kglista@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
7:46 p.m. EST, December 5, 2013

CHESHIRE — The Legionaries of Christ, a religious order plagued in the late 1990s and early 2000s by allegations of sexual abuse against its founder, announced on Thursday that an independent investigation had revealed “significant evidence” of sexual abuse of a minor by a priest who served at the order’s Cheshire seminary.

The allegation against Fr. William Izquierdo surfaced in July 2012, and involved abuse that took place while Izquierdo served as an instructor of novices in the Cheshire seminary, a position he held from 1982 to 1994, according to a letter from the Legion’s North American territorial director Fr. Luis Garza.

The Legion commissioned Praesidium Inc., a firm that specializes in abuse risk management, to do an independent investigation of the allegations, the letter states. That investigation concluded in August and was reviewed by the Legion’s North American review board in October.

“We have no reason to doubt that sexual abuse with a minor actually occurred,” Garza wrote in his letter.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Times

Paddy Agnew

In a surprise move, the Holy See yesterday announced that Pope Francis is to assemble a panel of experts to advise him on the problem of clerical sex abuse. This Vatican Child Protection Commission represents arguably the first concrete proposal to emerge from the so-called “G8” Council of Cardinals who have been meeting with the pope in Rome this week.

Originally appointed in April by Pope Francis to help him both govern and reform the Catholic Church, the G8 council is only now getting down to serious work.

Vatican insiders last night suggested that such a decision, at this early stage in the process of Curia reform, indicates the level of commitment that Pope Francis wants to bring to the sex abuse issue.

As far as the composition of the commission’s panel of experts goes, it seems likely that the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, will be nominated, given his extensive track record in dealing with the problem in the Dublin archdiocese. Another obvious panel member may well be the Maltese bishop Charles Scicluna, the former Promoter of Justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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MINNESOTA
Patch

Posted by Mike Schoemer (Editor) , December 05, 2013
with Chris Steller, James Warden

A priest assigned to northeast Twin Cities churches and now resides in Oakdale appears on the newly released list of clergy deemed “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The archdiocese published a list of 34 priests Thursday in the online edition of The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper that serves the archdiocese.

About half of the parishes in the archdiocese—92 out of 188 parishes—had one of the priests on the list there at some point, according to the archdiocese.

Many of those listed had associations with parishes on the east side of the Twin Cities metro area, with one (see below) having served in Lake Elmo in 1984.

The publication was made in response to ongoing lawsuits against priests and the church arising from childhood sexual abuse cases. The achdiocese and Diocese of Winona originally sought to seal the list—which was created in 2004 and included 33 of the 34 priests named today, according to the Star Tribune.

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MINNESOTA
Shakopee Valley News

By Lori Carlson editor@plamerican.com

Former Catholic priests at churches in Prior Lake, Spring Lake, Cedar Lake, New Prague and Shakopee are among those named on a list of clergy accused of sexually abusing minors.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Thursday released the list of 29 priests with credible claims against them.

The archdiocese and Archbishop John Nienstedt have come under fire in recent months for their handling of sexual misconduct cases. Included in the list are clergy members from other dioceses or religious orders who at one time worked in the archdiocese and were accused of engaging in sexual abuse of minors.

According to the archdiocese, there is “reliable and sufficient information” to substantiate the sexual abuse claims against the men on the list.

In a statement on the archdiocese’s website, Nienstedt wrote: “My staff and I are completely committed to combating the problem of sexual abuse and doing all we can to ensure that these horrors are never repeated in the church. To that end, as I have been communicating to you over the last two months, we are evaluating and improving our policies and practices in our concerted effort to protect children and prevent sexual abuse.”

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MINNESOTA
Patch

Posted by James Warden (Editor) , December 05, 2013

A former Lake Minnetonka clergyman is on a list of priests “credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors in the archdiocese (of St. Paul and Minneapolis),” according to the archdiocese’s newspaper.

Thomas Stitts was a pastor at St. George in Long Lake from 1973 until 1980. His careers ran from 1962 to 1985, when he was permanently removed from the ministry. He died that same year.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis published the list of 34 priests Thursday in the online edition of The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper that serves the archdiocese.

About half of the parishes in the archdiocese—92 out of 188 parishes—had one of the priests on the list there at some point, according to the archdiocese.

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MINNESOTA
Fairbault Daily News

Posted on December 5, 2013
by Jaci Smith

From the archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul:

Included in this disclosure are clergy members from other dioceses or religious orders who at one time worked in the archdiocese and were accused of engaging in sexual abuse of minors in our archdiocese, to the extent we have reliable and sufficient information to determine whether the claim was credible and could be substantiated. These disclosures will indicate that the individuals are non-diocesan clergy. We may not be able to report on the present status of such clergy members because the archdiocese does not always have access to such information since they are under the authority of their respective diocese or religious order. We do not have sufficient information to make a disclosure regarding priests from outside our archdiocese who may have served here at some point in time but committed child sexual abuse elsewhere.

Also, please note: Despite our best efforts to provide accurate information, our listings at this time may include some errors or omissions. The archdiocese requests that anyone with additional information or corrections regarding clergy members that are or should be subject to disclosure, to contact Greta Sawyer, the archdiocese’s Victim Assistance Coordinator at 651-291-4497.
With Faribault area ties:

John Brown
Date of birth: 7/2/1920 (Age: 93)
Date of ordination: 1948
Cleric’s prior assignments in archdiocese:
Associate priest, St. Timothy, Maple Lake, 1948-1949;
Associate priest, Sacred Heart, Robbinsdale, 1949-1950;
Associate priest, St. John, St. Paul, 1950-1951;
Associate priest, Hopkins, 1951-1956;
Chaplain, U.S. Army, 1956-1958;

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
David Unze

ST. PAUL — Three former St. John’s Abbey priests are on a list of clergy who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct; the list was released Thursday by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Fran Hoefgen, Cosmas Dahlheimer and Brennan Maiers had previously been publicly named by the abbey as having credible allegations of sexual misconduct against them. They were among 34 priests listed Thursday by the Twin Cities archdiocese after a Ramsey County judge recently ruled that the archdiocese could release the names.

The list released Thursday includes the names of eight men who had not been publicly named before and includes 30 believed to have molested children. Four have claims against them that could not be substantiated.

St. John’s Abbey previously posted lists of monks and priests who faced credible allegations of various types of misconduct. Some involved the abuse of children, while other conduct included viewing Internet pornography or inappropriate behavior with an adult. …

Abbey list

The names of monk or priests from St. John’s Abbey who have had credible allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct made against them:

Brother Andre Bennett
The Rev. Michael Bik
Brother Isaac Connolly
The Rev. Cosmas Dahlheimer
The Rev. Richard Eckroth
The Rev. John Eidenschink
The Rev. Thomas Gillespie
The Rev. Francis Hoefgen
The Rev. James Kelly
Brother John Kelly
Brother Steven Lilly
The Rev. Brennan Maiers
The Rev. Finian McDonald
The Rev. Dunstan Moorse
Brother Jim Phillips
The Rev. Francisco Schulte
The Rev. Allen Tarlton
The Rev. Bruce Wollmering

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WALTHAM (MA)
BishopAccountability.org

Statement by Anne Barrett Doyle

December 5, 2013

BishopAccountability.org cautiously welcomes Cardinal O’Malley’s announcement in Rome today that the Vatican will form an advisory commission on the sex abuse of minors in the Church. It’s good that the Vatican will be giving this terrible problem focused attention. But we are concerned that the commission will be toothless and off-target. Cardinal O’Malley’s list of its possible “lines of action” has two crucial omissions. There is no indication that the commission will study either the Vatican’s culpability or the crucial need to discipline bishops, religious superiors and other church supervisors who enable child rape and molestation.

Judging from Cardinal O’Malley’s list of possible lines of action, it appears he hopes the commission ultimately will recommend the “American solution” to the crisis. This would be good and bad news. The US bishops’ Charter and Norms are by far the strictest child protection rules in the global Catholic Church. But these measures have fatal inadequacies. They omit accountability for church supervisors, and they have a hidden laxness: bishops are allowed to keep accused priests in ministry until their guilt is established according to the church’s own inscrutable criteria. Today in the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, we see the calamitous consequence of both the impunity of bishops and the lenience toward accused priests. As long as these flawed policies persist, children will be unsafe in the US Catholic Church.

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UNITED STATES
The American Conservative

By ROD DREHER • December 5, 2013

Pope Francis today announced the formation of a high-level commission to advise him on how to handle instances of clerical sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. It is a cautious and underwhelming response. From the NYT report:

At the same time, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the leading United States-based support group for clergy abuse victims known by its acronym, SNAP, called the news a disappointment that reflected badly on the new pope. David Clohessy, executive director of the group, said the announcement suggested that the Vatican remained strongly resistant to making sexually abusive members of the clergy and their church protectors accountable to external criminal prosecution.

“A new church panel is the last thing that kids need,” Mr. Clohessy said in a telephone interview from St. Louis. “Church officials have mountains of information about those who have committed and those who are concealing horrible child sex crimes and cover-ups. They just have to give that information to the police.”

More:

Precisely who will serve on the advisory commission and what authority it will have remained unclear. But Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, the only American among the eight cardinals advising the pope, said on Thursday that it would include priests, men and women from religious orders and laypeople with expertise in safeguarding children, and that it would offer advice on pastoral care rather than judicial functions. That seemed to signal that it would not make proposals for exposing or punishing abusive clerics.

The commission will have a broad mandate including the development of “norms, procedures and strategies for the protection of children and the prevention of abuse of minors,” the Vatican said in a statement.

Look, the US Catholic bishops at the national level, and most US dioceses at the local level, have adopted strenuous and detailed norms, procedures, and strategies over the last 10 years. Did those strategies prevent Bishop Finn of Kansas City from criminally shielding a child porn priest in 2010 and 2011, despite the stated policy of the diocese? Did it prevent the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis from engaging in its own cover-ups, including recent offenses, which were only exposed by a disgusted archdiocesan whistleblower this year? The previous archbishop, Harry Flynn, headed the US bishops’ national effort to fight clerical sexual abuse after the historic Dallas meeting in 2002. But in his own diocese, he was covering up. His successor, John Nienstedt, continued the policy until the whistleblower outed him. In the wake of the scandal, Abp Nienstedt has called for — wait for it — a task force to study procedures.

And now, so has the Pope. This, almost 12 years after Boston.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released the list of priests it says have been involved in sexual abuse over the last 60 years. Madeleine Baran and Laura Yuen of MPR say: “The archdiocese also released the names of four other priests who had been included on an earlier list, but church officials now say those four should not have been included. A Ramsey County judge ordered the archdiocese Monday to release a list of 33 priests that had been sealed since 2009. Seven of the priests named today were not previously known to the public as accused abusers. Five of those seven are still living. Others, such as the Rev. Robert Kapoun, are already well known through lawsuits and media coverage. About one-third of the priests on the list are dead. … Attorneys for victims of clergy sexual abuse have argued for years that the public is at risk as long as the names of abusers remain secret. … It’s unclear how law enforcement agencies will respond to the release of the list, if at all.”

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has disclosed the names of 34 priests who it says have been accused of sexually abusing minors.

The names were made public Thursday following months of criticism that church leaders mishandled allegations of abuse. Archbishop John Nienstedt says he hopes the move will restore trust; he made comments in a column in the archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Spirit.

He says the 34 names disclosed in the newspaper are not intended to be a final list. He says a review of clergy files is under way, and the list could be updated. Going forward, new abuse claims that can be substantiated will be disclosed on the archdiocese website.

He also apologized to victims, and says he is committed to combatting sexual abuse and ensuring it is never repeated in the church.

The archdiocese says it has substantiated claims against 30 priests on the list. The remaining four have claims against them that could not be substantiated, but the archdiocese released them after a court order.

The information includes the clerics’ names, parishes where they served, and other details. It does not include details of the allegations.

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VATICAN CITY
Aljazeera

Pope Francis is assembling a panel of experts to advise him on combatting sex abuse in the clergy, it was announced Thursday.

The move would help protect children from pedophiles and better screen would-be priests, according to the Vatican. But it was dismissed as a “public relations stunt” by a leading victim advocacy group, who added that it would do little to shield young people from predatory priests.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, announced the creation of the commission Thursday at the conclusion of a meeting between Francis and his eight cardinal advisers in Vatican City who are helping him govern the church and reform the Vatican bureaucracy. Boston was the epicenter of the 2002 clerical sexual abuse scandal in the U.S.

O’Malley told reporters that the commission, made up of international lay and religious experts on sex abuse, would study current programs to protect children, better screen priests, train church personnel and suggest new initiatives to implement inside the Vatican and around the world.

“The Holy Father has decided to constitute a committee for the protection of children,” O’Malley said at a press conference, adding that the make-up of the new body would be announced “in the near future.”

However, it remains unclear if the experts will take up one of the core issues behind the Roman Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal: how to make bishops who shelter abusive priests accountable.

Just more of the same?

Barbara Blaine, the president and founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said despite the announcement, the move seemed “to be one more time that church officials are basically giving a lot of fluff, but not any substantive action.”

“We believe that actions speak louder than words. What the Vatican is doing continues the same tried responses from previous popes,” Blaine told Al Jazeera.

Blaine said setting up a commission and potentially new policies was “meaningless,” rather, she said, church officials should turn over information and evidence about sex abuse scandals to police if they “really wanted to make a difference.”

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MINNESOTA
ABC Newspapers

By Mandy Moran Froemming
December 5, 2013

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has released a list of priests which it says have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children since 1950, including two who served at area parishes.

Ramsey County District Court ordered the archdiocese to make the list public in a ruling made by Judge John Van de North Monday.

Named was Michael Stevens, 58, who served as an associate priest at Epiphany Church in Coon Rapids from 1982 to 1988.

In 1987 Stevens pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charge in Anoka County District Court. At sentencing in January 1988, Stevens was put on probation for five years, fined $1,000 and ordered to undergo residential treatment in New Mexico, with jail time was stayed.

According to a story that appeared in the Coon Rapids Herald, Feb. 12, 1988, prosecutor Robert D. Goodell, assistant Anoka County attorney, said the charge did involve sexual contact. According to the criminal complaint, Stevens touched a 13-year-old boy while they were at an Anoka County motel the previous July on what was described as a “camping trip”.

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MINNESOTA
Press Pubs

UPDATE: the original version of this story stated that the list was unclear on whether a fourth man, Robert Kapoun, had also served at St. Joseph. The archdiocese has since confirmed that he did not.

LINO LAKES – Three men who served at St. Joseph of the Lakes Catholic Church in the 1980s were named Dec. 5 in a list of priests credibly accused of engaging in sexual abuse of minors, according to information from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. According to church administrator Amy Moore, to current church staff’s knowledge, none of the claims of abuse occurred while the men were serving at St. Joseph of the Lake.

The three men are Lee Krautkremer, 73, of Minneapolis; Timothy McCarthy, 67, of St. Paul or Oakdale; and Robert Zasacki, 67, now deceased.

The Quad Community Press did not uncover significant civil or criminal cases involving Krautkremer,

McCarthy or Zasacki. Krautkremer was a pastor at St. Joseph from 1978 to 1984, McCarthy was an associate priest at the parish from 1984 to 1986, and Zasacki served at the parish in 1983 and 1984 (the list did not state in what capacity).

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MINNESOTA
Patch

Posted by James Warden (Editor) , December 05, 2013

A former Shakopee priest is on a list of priests “credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors in the archdiocese (of St. Paul and Minneapolis),” according to the archdiocese’s newspaper.

Rudolph Henrich worked as an associate priest at St. Mark in 1938 as part of a career that ran from 1933 until 1976. He was permanently removed from the ministry in 1976 and died in 1992.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis published the list of 34 priests Thursday in the online edition of The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper that serves the archdiocese.

About half of the parishes in the archdiocese—92 out of 188 parishes—had one of the priests on the list there at some point, according to the archdiocese.

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ROME
Time

By Charlotte Alter @charlottealterDec. 05, 2013

A priest who left the church after fathering a child with the daughter of one of Pope Francis’ closest advisers will marry the mother of his love child this weekend.

The former Rev. Thomas Williams, of the Legion of Christ, admitted last year to fathering a love child several years before with the daughter of Mary Anne Glendon, the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See and one of the most powerful Americans in the church. She is also one of the highest-ranking women in the Vatican.

Rev. Williams took a year off after the revelation and subsequently left the church.

He and Elizabeth Lev are set to be married on Saturday, the Associated Press reports.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, December 5 2013

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

A high profile priest from a corrupt Catholic religious order is marrying the daughter of the former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican.

[Washington Post]

We are grateful that Fr. Williams is taking responsibility for the child he fathered. Most Catholic officials let priests who exploit and impregnate vulnerable parishioners avoid helping to raise their children.

We call on other Catholic officials – in Rome and in the Legion of Christ – to “come clean” about their roles in hiding or denying Fr. Williams’ wrongdoing.

At a minimum, this seems like sexual harassment, since he was an editor and she was a columnist.

A year and a half ago, Vatican officials claimed they were investigating seven Legion priests accused of molesting kids. This should have been resolved months ago. We hope the Vatican will disclose their name and the results soon.

[CBS News]

Finally, let’s be clear on what this is and what this isn’t. This is exploitation. It’s not “a relationship.” It’s manipulation. It’s not “consent.”

An educated, allegedly holy and celibate religious authority figure who holds the exalted title of “reverend” – and professes to be Christ’s representative on earth – cannot ever have truly consensual or healthy sexual contact with a parishioner. It is always morally wrong and emotionally harmful.

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MINNESOTA
Patch

Posted by Andrea Parrott (Editor) , December 05, 2013

Originally written by James Warden

A Former Lakeville priest is on the list of priests credibly accused of “engaging in sexual abuse of minors,” according to the archdiocese’s newspaper.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis published the list of 34 priests Thursday in the online edition of The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper that serves the archdiocese.

About half of the parishes in the archdiocese—92 out of 188 parishes—had one of the priests on the list there at some point, according to the archdiocese.

Timothy McCarthy served as associate priest at All Saints Catholic Church in Lakeville from 1974-77. He was permanently removed from ministry in 1991. McCarthy, 67, is believed to be currently living in Oakdale or St. Paul.

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MINNESOTA
Huffington Post

Reuters | By David Bailey and Mary Wisniewski
Posted: 12/05/2013

CHICAGO, Dec 5 (Reuters) – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Thursday identified 30 priests accused of sexually abusing minors in the archdiocese, which has been under fire for its past handling of clergy abuse cases in its part of Minnesota.

The archdiocese said the 30 priests had “credible claims against them of sexual abuse of a minor.”

The archdiocese said none of the men were still in ministry and most had been identified previously in media reports. The information related mainly to incidents from the mid 1950s to the 1980s, and 11 are deceased, it said.

Child sex abuse litigation has cost the U.S. Catholic Church some $3 billion in settlements in the two decades since the ongoing scandal erupted with a series of molestation cases uncovered in Boston in 1992.

Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents people who claim they were victims of clergy sex abuse, said in a telephone interview that release of the names in Minnesota was “real progress,” but not full disclosure.

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MINNESOTA
Los Angeles Times

By Michael Muskal
December 5, 2013

After months of accusations that it had mishandled the sensitive issue, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Thursday disclosed the names of 34 priests who have been accused of sexually abusing minors, becoming the latest Roman Catholic Church district to release the identities.

The archdiocese, which serves about 825,000 Catholics in the Twin Cities area, was ordered by the courts this week to release a list it had compiled of “credibly accused abusers” by Dec. 17. It joins about two dozens other dioceses or archdioceses that have released such lists under pressure from victims and their families.

“All clergy feel the shame of the acts of some of their brother priests. We deeply regret the pain caused by sexual abuse by members of the clergy, and we remain committed to protecting children and promoting healing for victims,” Archbishop John Nienstedt said in a statement posted on the archdiocese’s website. “I sincerely pray that these efforts will contribute to the healing process for victims and others who have been harmed, and serve to protect God’s children and foster trust in the Church.”

Acknowledging the sexual abuse, Nienstedt apologized to the victims.

“This is a tragedy that has caused insufferable harm to victims, their families, parishioners and the Church. I must say once again to all victims of this abuse: I am so sorry for the pain you have endured. You have been on my mind and in my heart as I offer my daily prayers for you,” he stated.

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CANADA
Oye! Times

A 71-year-old Aldouane, N.B. man has been charged in Moncton Provincial Court on several indecent assault charges dating back to the early 1970’s.

Charges were laid in court on December 5, 2013 against Yvon Arsenault in connection with offences that are alleged to have occurred during the 1970’s and early 1980’s in Shediac, Rosaireville, and Collette, N.B. Arsenault, who was not present in court, has been charged with three counts of indecent assault, four counts of gross indecency and one count of sexual assault. The matter has been adjourned until January 27, 2014 at 9:30 a.m. for election and pleas.

The RCMP started its investigation in December 2012 as the result of a complaint. The victims were four boys under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged offences.

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CANADA
CBC News

A suspended Roman Catholic priest is facing several sex-related charges involving boys dating back to the 1970s.

Yvon Arsenault, 71, of Aldouane, was charged Thursday in Moncton provincial court with four counts of gross indecency, three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault.

Arsenault was not present in court. The matter has been adjourned until Jan. 27 when he is expected to elect how he wants to be tried and to enter pleas.

Meanwhile, RCMP Staff Sgt. Jeff Johnston says the investigation is ongoing and police believe there may have been other incidents.

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ROME
National Catholic Register

by EDWARD PENTIN 12/05/2013

ROME — The Legion of Christ has expressed its “deep sorrow” after internal investigations revealed that a Legionary priest has been found guilty of sexually abusing a minor.

The charges against Legionary Father William Izquierdo involve a novice when Father Izquierdo served as instructor of novices in Cheshire, Conn., between 1982 and 1994.

Legionary Father Luis Garza, North American territorial director of the congregation, was informed of the case in July 2012, the Legion said, and added that a third party and independent investigation of the allegation then took place that concluded in August of this year, ruling that the allegation was true.

In a Dec. 5 statement, Father Garza said the health of 85-year-old Father Izquierdo has “declined greatly,” and he is now “in an advanced state of dementia.” He added that the priest has not exercised his ministry since 2008 and has been unable to respond to questions about the allegations.

“Father Izquierdo is in the process of being moved to an assisted living facility, where he will receive proper treatment,” Father Garza said.

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VATICAN CITY
Telegraph (UK)

By Nick Squires, Rome 7:07PM GMT 05 Dec 2013

Pope Francis set up a special task force to tackle sex abuse by Catholic priests on Thursday — two days after the Vatican rebuffed requests to provide information to the United Nations on how it was addressing the problem.

The Vatican said the Pope had decided to establish a “specific commission for the protection of minors” on the advice of a group of eight cardinals, whom the Jesuit pontiff has given the task of helping him to reform the Catholic Church.

The new commission would “advise Pope Francis on the Holy See’s commitment to the protection of children and in pastoral care for victims of abuse”, but the move was condemned as “meaningless” by victims’ groups.

The initiative — the first concrete action against the scandal of paedophile Catholic priests of Pope Francis’s nine-month-old papacy – was announced by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston and one of the eight members of the council of cardinals.

The sex abuse scandals, which have severely tarnished the image of the Church around the world and shaken the faith of ordinary Catholics in countries from Ireland to Australia, first erupted in Boston more than a decade ago.

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VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (UK)

Lizzy Davies in Rome
The Guardian, Thursday 5 December 2013

Pope Francis has given the go-ahead to a commission of experts that will advise him on new measures to try to fight clerical sex abuse in the Roman Catholic church and boost the provision of pastoral care for victims.

In his first major move on the scandal that clouded his predecessor’s time in office, the pope told his council of cardinalson Thursday that he was approving their proposal for a new panel devoted to the issue, said the archbishop of Boston, cardinal Seán O’Malley.

“Up until now there’s been so much focus on the judicial parts of this but the pastoral response of the church is very important and the holy father is concerned about that,” O’Malley told journalists .

“And so we feel as though having the advantage of a commission of experts that will be able to study some of these issues and bring concrete recommendations for the holy father and for the Holy See will be very important.” …

Snap, the main US victims’ group, dismissed the initiative and said the only thing that would protect children was if the church punished negligent bishops and ordered them to name molesters

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VATICAN CITY
Calgary Herald

BY NICOLE WINFIELD, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DECEMBER 5, 2013

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has responded to complaints that he has largely ignored the clerical sex abuse scandal by assembling a panel of experts to advise the Holy See on protecting children from pedophiles and helping abuse victims heal.

It remains to be seen if the experts will take up one of the core issues behind the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal: how to make bishops who shelter abusive priests accountable.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, announced the creation of the commission Thursday at the conclusion of a meeting between Francis and his eight cardinal advisers who are helping him govern the church and reform the Vatican bureaucracy.

Boston was the epicenter of the 2002 clerical sexual abuse scandal in the U.S.

O’Malley told reporters that the commission, made up of international lay and religious experts on sex abuse, would study current programs to protect children, better screen priests, train church personnel and suggest new initiatives for both the Holy See to implement inside the Vatican City State and for bishops to implement around the world. …

BishopAccountability.org, an online resource for the clergy sex abuse, cautiously welcomed the initiative but said the commission’s scope as presented by O’Malley had two “crucial omissions.”

“There is no indication that the commission will study either the Vatican’s culpability or the crucial need to discipline bishops, religious superiors and other church supervisors who enable child rape and molestation,” said Ann Barret Doyle, the site’s co-director.

SNAP, the main U.S. victim’s group, dismissed the initiative as useless and said the only thing that will protect children is if the church punished negligent bishops and ordered them to publicly disclose the names of molesters.

“This simple step would immediately make kids safer,” said David Clohessy, SNAP director. “But instead, parents and parishioners are being offered yet another toothless church panel.”

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MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Dec. 5, 2013

Following through on a vow made a month ago, the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese released Thursday the names of 30 former priests with substantiated claims of sexual abuse of minors.

The priests named relate primarily to reported incidents that occurred between the mid-1950s and 1980s. All but one of those with substantiated claims were listed in a 2004 report by the archdiocese as part of a nationwide survey of credibly accused clergy.

The 30th priest is Curtis Wehmeyer, currently serving five years in prison, whose name appeared among others in news reports by Minnesota Public Radio — based on documents and information supplied by former archdiocesan canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger — detailing negligence and lack of adherence to abuse-related archdiocesan policies.

All 30 have been removed from ministry. Four have been laicized, and one was dismissed from his order and dispensed from vows.

Along with each priest’s name, the archdiocese included his age, birthday and day of death (when applicable), year of ordination, prior assignments, date of removal from ministry, and current status, including current city and state. It did not disclose the date when a claim was brought against each cleric.

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