ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Gazzetta del Sud

Rome, October 1 – The Vatican bank’s chief said on Tuesday that the financial institution is engaged in deep house-cleaning in a note accompanying its first ever annual report. Reforms include anti-money laundering measures and shutting client accounts that aren’t consistent with the bank’s religious mission, said Ernst von Freyberg, president of the Vatican bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR). “The IOR is engaged in a process of comprehensive reform, to foster the most rigorous professional and compliance standards. These efforts are based on the legal framework set forth by the Vatican, in cooperation with international bodies,” wrote von Freyberg. “This includes implementing strict anti-money laundering processes and improving our internal structures,” von Freyberg continued.

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VATICAN CITY
euronews

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis began landmark meetings on Tuesday to reform the Vatican, promising to do all he could to change the mentality of an institution he said was too focused on its own interests.

Francis and eight cardinals from around the world are holding three days of closed-door meetings to discuss the Vatican’s troubled administration and to map out possible changes in the worldwide Church.

As the talks began, left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper published a long interview conducted by its atheist editor last week in which the Argentine pope spoke frankly about the problems facing the Vatican administration, known as the Curia.

He said too many previous popes in the Church’s long history had been “narcissists” who let themselves be flattered by “courtier” aides in the Curia instead of concentrating on the wider mission of the universal Church.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 1 October 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father: …

– accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Rockhampton, Australia, presented by Bishop Brian Heenan, upon having reached the age limit.

– accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Waterford and Lismore, Ireland, presented by Bishop William Lee, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

[Vatican Bank annual report]

Vatican City, 1 October 2013 (VIS) – The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) today published its annual report for 2012 on its website, www.ior.va. It is the first report to be made public. The document, over a hundred pages long, reveals that in 2012 the IOR recorded a net profit of 86.6 million euros, a figure which enabled the Institute to make a contribution of 54.7 million euros to the budget of the Holy See. The report in itself is not a novelty, but rather the fact of its publication is; this constitutes a response to the demand for greater transparency in the Institute’s activities, according to the president of the IOR, Ernst Von Freyberg, in an interview published today by Vatican Radio.

Von Freyberg explains that it is the first annual report published in the 125-year history of the IOR, and contains a description of its work, a summary of 2013 and the first eight months of 2013, statements from the supervisory board, from the commission of cardinals and from the prelate, and over sixty pages of detailed financial statements with a full audit statement from KPMG. “You do not have to be an accountant to understand these pages; if you read the introductory letter and the description of our business of 2012 and 2013 you will get a good idea of what the Institute for Religious Works is about’”.

With regard to the question of external auditing, included in the process of preparing the document, Von Freyberg reiterates that the IOR accounts have been audited for a long time by reputable international accounting firms, such as KPMG in 2013, and insists that this is not unusual; the novelty resides in the publication of the report. “The most surprising thing is how unsurprising it is. You see a rather conservatively managed financial institution safeguarding assets, investing in very conservative investments like government bonds and bank deposits. And you will see a highly capitalised institution. At the end of last year our equity ratio was 15% which is way above what comparable financial institutions would have”.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Poor Fr. Lombardi, the Vatican’s Jesuit “spin doctor”. After loyally spinning for years for the sly academic ex-Pope, Benedict, who rarely even talked to him directly, he now must spin for a politically clever Jesuit Pope, Francis. Benedict had disdain for most journalists, as was evident in his televised “Wehrmacht style” slap of an ABC-TV journalist who dared to ask him about the decades’ old Maciel case. Francis is much smoother. Time will tell if he ”shoots any straighter”, though.

Increasingly, Francis is employing classic political tactics well described as ”bait and switch” and “hurry up and wait”. This is vividly shown with the Council of Cardinals.

For six months the Council was touted by papal propagandists and wishful thinking Catholics — the “bait”– as almost the upcoming equivalent of the Council of Trent. It gave Francis cover on reform questions. Now that the Council is here, Fr. Lombardi indicates to us that it will be purely advisory, likely undecisive and mostly secret–the “switch”. Yes indeed! Hurry up and wait!

Meanwhile, Francis still makes his decisions like an absolute monarch. For example, almost no input from the laity, and of course, no women’s input, on appointing new bishops, a key matter.

On dealing with the sexual abuse scandal, there has been no real change from Benedict either. Convicted Bishop Finn remains in office and no other bad bishop has been publicly chastised for protecting sexual predators

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Barry Roche

Tue, Oct 1, 2013

Bishop of Waterford and Lismore Dr William Lee (71) has confirmed he is stepping down from his ministry due to ill-health following the acceptance of his resignation by Pope Francis.

Bishop Lee confirmed in a statement today he had been diagnosed with a serious illness and under medical care since July 2011, which has impacted greatly on his health and his ministry. Recently he had been advised by his doctors to retire from office.

“Even though I found the time since diagnosis quite demanding, I had hoped that I would be able to continue in office and looked forward to doing so. Now, my doctors have advised otherwise,” he said in a statement.

“Accordingly, I have in the past few weeks submitted my letter of resignation as Bishop of Waterford and Lismore to Pope Francis. The Holy Father has considered my request and graciously accepted my resignation.”

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

What on earth is wrong with our bishops?

As bad as I thought Bishop Finn handled the Fr. Ratigan case, I had no idea that he ignored the red flags described in this letter alone. The letter was written in 2010 by Julie Hess, the principal of the Catholic school at the parish where Fr. Ratigan was pastor, and delivered to Finn’s Vicar General, his second-in-command.

All you need to keep in mind while reading it is that Fr. Ratigan was later discovered to have been busy taking pornographic photographs of the little girls of his parish (one as young as age two), was molesting them, and has since been sentenced to 50 years in Federal prison without the possibility of parole.

How did Fr. Ratigan’s ordinary react to this letter and to the unfolding of this horrific case?

Bishop Finn utterly and totally ignored this letter. As far as I know, he never even acknowledged receiving it until more than a year later, after the story broke, when he claimed he finally “read it for the first time.” Even if this is true (and I doubt it), how can the Vicar General receive a letter like this and not insist that the bishop read it immediately and act on it?
Bishop Finn failed to report the abuse of these children to the police once it became known to him.
Bishop Finn refused to let the parishioners know their children were victimized by Fr. Ratigan.

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

OK, there’s an obvious connection between my last two posts –

between the rejection of the Cross and the full message of Christ in the vast majority of Catholic parishes in this country, as described by Rod Dreher

and monstrously bad bishops enabling child molesters and deliberately and carefully covering up for them.

The connection drove Dreher from the Church, and the connection is simple, but you can’t say it as a Catholic, for a kind of bizarre clericalism reigns in the so-called conservative circles of the Catholic Church, a bizarre clericalism that overlooks the obvious connection.

And that obvious connection is this.

Most of our bishops apparently don’t believe a damn thing they preach. They don’t live it. They live in ways that flagrantly contradict it. They are so morally corrupt that they don’t even have the common decency of normal secular men, who at least have enough natural goodness in them to protect children from harm. They lie, they bully, they enable very sick men to do very sick things.

I know that people will criticize me for saying this. They’ll tell me I’m extreme, over-reacting, hateful. They’ll tell me there are many good bishops; they’ll tell me there are many good priests; they’ll tell me I’m judgmental and I need to go to confession and they’ll pray for me. They’ll tell me I think I’m the perfect Catholic and how dare I criticize the successors to the apostles. They’ll tell me I’m a miserable sinner. And much of this is very true.

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CALIFORNIA
Ms. Magazine

by Melissa McGlensey

California Senate Bill 131, otherwise known as the The Child Victims Act, was passed by the state Legislature earlier this year–but it’s still sitting on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. He has until October 13 to sign the bill, veto it or let it pass into law without signing.

The governor, a former Jesuit seminarian, is under pressure to veto the bill from Catholic dioceses and other Church officials, as well as from organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America and USA Swimming–all entities that could face lawsuits if the bill is passed into law.

The Child Victims Act would expand the statute of limitations for victims of sexual abuse to seek monetary damages in civil courts. If the bill becomes law, victims would be able to sue institutions that failed to adequately protect them from sexual predators.

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PERU
La Republica

[Summary: Bishop Luis Bambaren denied he ever said Bishop Gabino Miranda was accused of pedophilia.]

El proceso seguido por el Vaticano contra el ex obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho Gabino Miranda Melgarejo fue reservado; por lo tanto, se desconocen las motivaciones de la expulsión, señaló el ex presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal del Perú (CEP), monseñor Luis Bambarén.

“Yo no mencioné a Gabino Miranda, tampoco afirmé que había sido sancionado por pedofilia como se ha difundido erróneamente”, apuntó Bambarén.

El ex titular de la CEP recordó que el periodista Augusto Álvarez Rodrich le preguntó sobre el tema en el programa ‘Buenas Noches’ del jueves 19 de setiembre, y respondió textualmente a la pregunta respecto a un sacerdote expulsado.

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PERU
La Republica

[Summary: Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, the highest authority of the Catholic Church in Peru, said the case of former Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Miranda of Ayacucho is not clear. He does not know how the situation will end. He added that all people should have their dignity respected.]

La máxima autoridad de la Iglesia Católica en el Perú, el cardenal Juan Luis Cipriani, dijo que el caso del ex obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho Gabino Miranda, cesado en su funciones por el propio Vaticano, no está claro aún como para conocer cuál será su desenlace. “No sé en qué va a acabar todo esto, pero definitivamente tiene que aclararse por todos los motivos, porque también tiene derecho la persona a que su dignidad se respete, tanto la de él como la de los jóvenes y niños. Pero no está muy claro, desde aquí no veo muy claro el panorama”, expresó el cardenal en un nuevo comentario sobre el polémico caso.

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PERU
Expreso

Desde la ciudad de Roma, el Arzobispo de Lima, Juan Luis Cipriani, pidió paciencia y no seguir especulando sobre el caso del obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, sobre quien pesa una acusación de pedofilia, que ha hecho que la Santa Sede lo separe de sus funciones.

“Desde Roma me parece temerario lanzarme a esa piscina que veo está un poco alborotada, esperaré llegar a Lima para estar un poco al tanto, pero realmente se tiene que aclarar hasta el final (…) También tiene derecho la persona a que su honra y su dignidad se respeten, tanto la de él como de los jóvenes o niños”, dijo.

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CALIFORNIA
U-T San Diego

By U-T San Diego Editorial Board

A flawed bill giving some victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to file lawsuits found its way through the state Legislature, but we hope Gov. Brown has the common sense to see SB 131 as the sham that it is and veto it.

The bill would open a one-year window to eliminate the statute of limitations for civil sex-abuse cases brought against private employers — essentially just private schools. In sex-abuse cases involving public schools, lawsuits can only be filed against the abuser, not the school or district. That doesn’t make any sense. Is the pain and suffering caused by sexual abuse any worse if it happens in a private school rather than a public school? Some 90 percent of the state’s children are in public schools.

The state enacted a similar law in 2002 that resulted in the Catholic Church settling more than 1,000 cases in California and shelling out more than $1.2 billion in restitution, most of which went to lawyers.

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ISRAEL
Failed Messiah

Gur Rebbe Forbids Men To Dance On Simchat Torah With Their Little Children On Their Shoulders, Allegedly Because It May Be Sexually Arousing For The Men

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

On the day before Simchat Torah, Gur (also known as Ger or Gerrer) hasidim were told that adults would no longer be allowed to dance with little children on their shoulders – even their own little children – to avoid awakening the evil inclination, Ha’aretz reported.

The order was reportedly issued in the name of the Gerrer Rebbe Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter.

Dancing with Torah scrolls is part of the celebration of Simchat Torah in synagogues from all Jewish denomination and sub-sects worldwide, and it is common practice for adults not carrying a Torah scroll to put young children on their shoulders during the dancing to help the children participate without being trampled by adults who have often been drinking and who might not see small children in front of them until it is too late.

Gur rabbis reportedly told haredi blogger Haim Shaulson the new decree was meant as a safety issue to prevent the children from falling or being dropped during the wild dancing.

However, an unofficial Gur source said the decree was really meant to prevent child sexual abuse because placing small children on one’s shoulders could lead to the adult male becoming sexually aroused.

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ISRAEL
Haaretz

By Yair Ettinger

Gur Hasidic sect followers were told the day before Simhat Torah that adults would no longer be allowed to dance with children on their shoulders, including their own children, to avoid awakening “the evil inclination.”

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CANADA
CTV News

[with video]

The Canadian Press
Published Monday, September 30, 2013

TORONTO — Toronto police say a Romanian Orthodox priest is facing seven more sexual assault charges in addition to one laid earlier this month.

Ioan Pop, 54, of Toronto was arrested in early September and charged with one count of sexual assault after a woman was allegedly assaulted at All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church in the city’s east end.

Det. Teresa Curtis of the sex crimes unit says several more women have since come forward with allegations against Pop, who is now charged with eight counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis made his international advisory panel on church governance a permanent council of cardinals, thereby emphasizing the importance and open-endedness of its work among his pontificate’s various efforts at reform.

The Vatican made the announcement Sept. 30, a day before Pope Francis was scheduled to meet for the first time with the panel, which has been informally dubbed the “Group of Eight” or “G-8.”

The new Council of Cardinals will have the “task of assisting me in the governance of the universal church and drawing up a project for the revision of the apostolic constitution ‘Pastor Bonus’ on the Roman Curia,” Pope Francis wrote in his decree, dated Sept. 28.

“Pastor Bonus,” published in 1988, was the last major set of changes in the Roman Curia, the church’s central administration at the Vatican.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

September 30, 2013

Terry Fewtrell

It’s a simple proposition. There is no place in the list of Catholic saints for someone who gave succour to paedophiles. But that is what the Catholic Church seems determined to do with the mooted canonisation of former pope John Paul II.

It is not suggested that John Paul was a paedophile. Sadly, though, there is evidence that he harboured and effectively protected a serial offender. There is also good reason to claim that it was during his time as pontiff that paedophilia prospered, with accountability and management structures not only failing to act, but seemingly putting their main energies into protecting the institution and covering up the problems.

For a pope these amounted to monumental failures of duty, the cost of which is directly borne by the victims. They resulted in a perversion of the church’s role, a total negation of its mission and message. Apart from direct involvement in child abuse, which has not and is not here suggested, it is difficult to imagine a more grievous distortion or failure. On a purely organisational level it is likely that the church will struggle for generations to gain the faith and confidence of what is otherwise known as ”the faithful”.

The accusations against John Paul fall into two categories. The first relates to the notorious case of Father Marcial Maciel, the founder and promoter of a traditionalist order known as the Legionaries of Christ. For many years John Paul refused to listen to, or accept as worthy of investigation, repeated accusations against Maciel that he molested young men at his seminaries. John Paul not only turned his back on these allegations, but he also made Maciel an honoured person in the Vatican. He was a sort of protected species, untouchable.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Paul Vallely
The Guardian, Sunday 29 September 2013

The date for the arrival of two more saints within the Catholic church will be announced on 30 September. So what’s two more, given the recent deluge from the Vatican? After all, Pope John Paul II, all by himself, created more saints than all the previous popes put together. But this time John Paul II is to be one of them, along with a predecessor pope, John XXIII. This is a bad idea.

For the first half of Christianity’s 2,000-year history, saints were created by the acclamation of ordinary believers. It often took centuries for the church authorities to then give official endorsement to this demotic sanctification. But John Paul II’s elevation to sainthood must be the fastest in history. His successor, Benedict XVI, even dispensed with the requirement that the dead pope had to wait a minimum of five years before the sainting process could begin.

There was a point to institutionalising delay in the procedure. A saint is an individual whose “heroic virtue” is an exemplar for others. The passing of the years allowed any personal failings the future saint may have had to be eclipsed by that virtue in popular memory. …

The Polish pope’s supporters are clear about the case for his greatness. The globetrotting rock-stadium-star pontiff was the most popular pope in modern times; some 17 million people travelled to Rome to see him in his time as history’s second longest-serving pope. He played a key role in the fall of Soviet-bloc communism. He was the first pope to visit a synagogue and a mosque. He went to Auschwitz and Jerusalem’s Western Wall and repeatedly begged forgiveness for centuries of Christian slander of the Jews. He apologised, finally, for the Crusades and the persecution of Galileo. And he gave dignity to the dying by his own protracted public illness.

But if the first half of his papacy was good for the world, the second was bad for the church. He suppressed debate, silenced theologians and outlawed discussion on women priests. He applied his condemnations of the “dictatorship of relativism” to pluralistic societies without qualification. The Vatican II doctrine of collegiality was changed to mean that bishops were being collegial if they agreed with him – and he appointed bishops who did that. Most grievously, for decades he ignored the mounting evidence of priestly sex abuse which devastated thousands of lives. And he refused to take action against the serial abuser Father Marcial Maciel, the founder of the conservative Legionaries of Christ later suspended by Pope Benedict.

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VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

[with video]

September 29, 2013. (Romereports.com) Six months after Pope Francis’ election, his approach and the focus of his pontificate are becoming clearer. One of the most significant events will be the first meeting between the Pope and the eight Cardinals that will advise him on changes to the governance of the Church and the Roman Curia.

In the past few months leading to this meeting, each Cardinal has been gathering information from the bishops in their region. Between October 1st and 3rd, they will meet inside the Vatican. And on October 4th, the Cardinals will travel with Pope Francis for his firs visit to Assisi.

But who are these eight Cardinals?

Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is the group’s coordinator. He speaks various languages and has worked numerous times with Pope Francis, most tellingly, when they drafted the Aparecida Document in 2007.

The same goes for Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, from Chile. He just turned 80 years old, and has extensive experience leading the Church in Latin America.

Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias will represent Catholics in Asia. He is 68 years old and serves as the Archbishop of Bombay.

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VATICAN CITY
Fox News

Eight cardinals appointed by Pope Francis are set to meet at the Vatican this week to revise the church’s constitution, with one declaring that “we need to write something different.”

Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga of Honduras says the group has received suggestions on Vatican reform from around the world, The Telegraph reports.

The current church constitution was drawn up in 1988 by Pope John Paul II, who will be declared a saint in April.

Francis and the cardinals will meet from Oct. 1-3. After the meetings, Francis will review proposals for changes to the constitution, according to Rome Reports.

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VATICAN CITY
AFP

Vatican City — Pope Francis outlined plans for reform of the Church to make it less “Vatican-centric” on Tuesday as he met with top cardinals tasked with helping him overhaul the 2,000-year-old institution.

In his strongest censure of the intrigue-filled Vatican world yet, the Argentine pontiff condemned “leprosy” in the Vatican and called for a less hierarchical Church structured “horizontally”.

“Leaders of the Church have often been Narcissuses, gratified and sickeningly excited by their courtiers. The court is the leprosy of the papacy,” Francis said in an interview with Italian left-wing daily La Repubblica.

The comments came as the pope, who has become known for his humble style, met with a group of eight cardinals he has called to advise him on reforming the Vatican administration and bettering communication with local churches.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Paddy Agnew

Tue, Oct 1, 2013

Giving his second interview in a month, Pope Francis has this morning said the Holy See was often too “Vatican-centred”, adding that he promised to “do my best” to change the Catholic Church.

In an interview with Italian daily “La Repubblica”, the pope conceded that in the past popes had been “narcissistic” as well as “flattered, and badly egged on by their courtiers”, adding: “The court is the leprosy in the Vatican. ”

Asked whether by the term “court”, he was referring to the Roman Curia, Francis replied: “No, in the Curia we sometimes have courtiers, but overall the Curia is a different thing… However, it does have a serious defect, in that it is very Vatican-centred. It sees and looks after the interests of the Vatican, which are still, in great part, temporal matters…

“This Vatican-centred vision tends to ignore the world all around us. I don’t agree with this vision and I will do my best to change it. The church is, or it has to once again become, a community for the people of God – and the priests, the bishops in caring for souls, are at the service of the people of God…”

Asked what he sees as the most urgent priorities facing the church, Francis replies: “The most serious problems afflicting the world at the moment are the unemployment of youth and the loneliness of the old. The elderly need care and company; the young need work and hope but they don’t have either, and what is worse, they don’t even look for them any more. They have been overwhelmed by the present…”

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VATICAN CITY
RTE News

Pope Francis has promised to do everything in his power to change the Vatican’s mentality, saying in an interview published today that it was too focused on its own interests.

He also revealed that he had briefly considered not accepting his election as the first non-European pope in 1,300 years when his fellow cardinals chose him in March.

In the long interview with the atheist editor of the left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper, he said too many previous popes in the church’s long history had been “narcissists” who let themselves be flattered by their “courtier” aides.

“The [papal] court is the leprosy of the papacy,” Pope Francis said.

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VATICAN CITY
NBC News

Pope Francis has vowed to change the mindset of the Roman Catholic church, saying that the institution “must return to being a community of the people of God” and rethink the relationship between its leaders and the laity.

“Leaders of the Church have often been Narcissus, flattered and sickeningly excited by their courtiers. The court is the leprosy of the papacy,” the pope said in the interview published Tuesday in Italy’s La Republicca newspaper. He also disclosed some of his own fears before being elected to the position by a conclave of cardinals in March

“Sometimes when I meet a cleric, I suddenly become anti-clerical,” the pontiff said, according to the paper. “Clericalism shouldn’t have anything to do with Christianity.”

The interview was conducted last week in the Vatican guest house where Francis, who has been praised for what is seen as a simpler and less ostentatious approach to the papacy, lives in a low-key residence.

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VATICAN CITY
La Repubblica

Dialogue between Francis and Repubblica’s founder, Eugenio Scalfari: “Starting from the Second Vatican Council, open to modern culture”. The conversation in the Vatican after the Pope’s letter to La Repubblica: “Convert you? Proselytism is solemn nonsense. You have to meet people and listen to

by EUGENIO SCALFARI

Pope Francis told me: “The most serious of the evils that afflict the world these days are youth unemployment and the loneliness of the old. The old need care and companionship; the young need work and hope but have neither one nor the other, and the problem is they don’t even look for them any more. They have been crushed by the present. You tell me: can you live crashed under the weight of the present? Without a memory of the past and without the desire to look ahead to the future by building something, a future, a family? Can you go on like this? This, to me, is the most urgent problem that the Church is facing.”

Your Holiness, I say, it is a largely a political and economic problem for states, governments, political parties, trade unions.

“Yes, you are right, but it also concerns the Church, in fact, particularly the Church because this situation does not hurt only bodies but also souls. The Church must feel responsible for both souls and bodies.”

Your Holiness, you say that the Church must feel responsible. Should I conclude that the Church is not aware of this problem and that you will steer it in this direction?

“To a large extent that awareness is there, but not sufficiently. I want it to be more so. It is not the only problem that we face, but it is the most urgent and the most dramatic.”

The meeting with Pope Francis took place last Tuesday at his home in Santa Marta, in a small bare room with a table and five or six chairs and a painting on the wall. It had been preceded by a phone call I will never forget as long as I live.

It was half past two in the afternoon. My phone rang and in a somewhat shaky voice my secretary tells me: “I have the Pope on the line. I’ll put him through immediately.”

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
La Repubblica

[English version]

ESCLUSIVO Su Repubblica il dialogo con Francesco: “Ripartire dal Concilio, aprire alla cultura moderna”. Il colloquio in Vaticano dopo la lettera di Bergoglio a Repubblica: “Convertirla? Il proselitismo è una solenne sciocchezza. Bisogna conoscersi e ascoltarsi”. “La Santa Sede è troppo vaticano-centrica. Basta cortigiani”

di EUGENIO SCALFARI

Il Papa a Scalfari: così cambierò la Chiesa “Giovani senza lavoro, uno dei mali del mondo”MI DICE papa Francesco: “I più gravi dei mali che affliggono il mondo in questi anni sono la disoccupazione dei giovani e la solitudine in cui vengono lasciati i vecchi. I vecchi hanno bisogno di cure e di compagnia; i giovani di lavoro e di speranza, ma non hanno né l’uno né l’altra, e il guaio è che non li cercano più. Sono stati schiacciati sul presente. Mi dica lei: si può vivere schiacciati sul presente? Senza memoria del passato e senza il desiderio di proiettarsi nel futuro costruendo un progetto, un avvenire, una famiglia? È possibile continuare così? Questo, secondo me, è il problema più urgente che la Chiesa ha di fronte a sé”.

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VATICAN CITY
Bradenton Herald

By NICOLE WINFIELD — Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis says he wants a missionary church with a modern spirit that gives hope to the poor, young and elderly, speaking as key meetings begin on church reform.

Francis gave a lengthy interview to the editor of Rome daily La Repubblica that was published Tuesday as Francis began meeting with his parallel cabinet of eight cardinals tapped to advise him on reforming the church.

In the interview, Francis denounces the “Vatican-centric” nature of the Holy See, explains his affinity for his namesake St. Francis and describes how he was “invaded by anxiety” after he was elected, but then excused himself from the Sistine Chapel, closed his eyes and was filled with a light that enabled him to accept the job.

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VATICAN CITY
Deutche Welle

The Vatican’s bank has published its first-ever annual report as part of Pope Francis’ reform drive. He is also due to convene talks with eight cardinals to map out administrative reforms in the church worldwide.

The Vatican bank published its accounts for the first time on Tuesday, showing that its earnings in 2012 were 86.6 million euros ($117 million), four times higher than in 2011.

The bank’s new president Ernst von Freyberg said the bank, known internally as the Institute for Works of Religion [IOR, using the Italian-language acronym], was “working hard” to improve its transparency, compliance and organization.

More than 50 million euros of the 2012 profit was given to the papal chair for charitable works, said the report. The bank, founded in 1942, runs the Vatican pension system and oversees 6.3 billion euros in customer assets.

Its clients include religious orders, Vatican embassies, individual cardinals and foreign embassies accredited to the Vatican.

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VATICAN CITY
Zee News

Vatican City: The Vatican bank today published its accounts for the first time in a new drive for transparency aimed at overcoming a series of scandals as Pope Francis plans a major overhaul.

The Institute for Works of Religion, also known as IOR under its Italian acronym, said its earnings for 2012 were USD 117 million, more than four times higher than in 2011.

“At the IOR, we are working hard on our part of the reform process: improving organisation, compliance and transparency,” said Ernst von Freyberg, the bank’s president who was appointed this year.

He said the earnings for 2013 would be impacted by spending linked to reforms at the bank, which is also due to complete an audit on compliance with money-laundering rules by the end of the year.

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VATICAN CITY
Bloomberg Businessweek

By Sonia Sirletti and Chiara Vasarri October 01, 2013

The Vatican bank disclosed its annual report for the first time in the institute’s history as it seeks to improve financial transparency after several corruption scandals.

The bank, formally called the Institute for Works of Religion, or IOR, expects 2013 to be marked by extraordinary expenses “for the ongoing reform and remediation process”and the effects of rising interest rates, according to a statement. The bank earlier this year reported that 2012 profit more than quadrupled to 86.6 million euros ($117 million).

A review of all customer relationships and procedures to prevent money-laundering is under way, the bank said in the statement posted on its website. IOR will shut down about 900 accounts, including all of those held by foreign embassies, Corriere della Sera reported today without saying how it got the information. The decision was taken after viewing large cash transactions by diplomatic missions of Iran, Iraq and Indonesia, according to the newspaper.

“The remediation efforts and the introduction of appropriate regulation in the institute apply independently of the nature of the clients,” Max Hohenberg, a spokesman for the IOR, said by phone. “It doesn’t matter whether they are employees, cardinals or ambassadors.”

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NEW YORK
The Journal News

Written by
Marcela Rojas

CROTON-ON-HUDSON — The pain of leaving the Church of the Holy Name of Mary some 10 years ago came rushing back to Georgianna Grant after learning Monday that a deacon there had been dismissed following allegations of sexual abuse of minors years ago.

Grant had been a member of the parish for 50 years. Holy Name, she said, was where her husband was baptized, they married and christened their eight children. But she left in 2003 after two Holy Name pastors were defrocked for similar allegations.

“I miss dreadfully the heritage, the Gregorian chant, the candles. But I can’t support the hypocrisy,” Grant said. “I just couldn’t take it any longer. This newest situation doesn’t raise my comfort level.”

Parishioners were told during Sunday Masses through a letter read to them by Cardinal Timothy Dolan that Albert Mazza was accused of engaging in immoral and illegal conduct with minors prior to becoming a deacon in 1996. Authorities could not bring charges against Mazza because the statute of limitations had expired.

On Monday, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, a national group that supports people victimized by clergy, issued a statement criticizing Dolan for keeping the allegations from the community in the months following Mazza’s leave.

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UNITED STATES
Charisma News

9/30/2013 SHAWN A. AKERS

Apparently, the Catholic Church isn’t the only religious entity forced to deal with sexual abuse of youth. Evangelicals are just as guilty, if not more so, says Boz Tchividjian, Billy Graham’s grandson and a law professor at Liberty University.

Tchividjian, who investigates such abuses, told a room of journalists last week that evangelicals have no room to chastise Catholics when it comes to sexual abuse in the church.

“Protestants can be very arrogant when pointing to Catholics,” Tchividjian, executive director of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), told Religion News Service (RNS). Tchividjian said too many evangelicals have “sacrificed the souls” of young victims in order to protect the reputation of their churches.

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NEW JERSEY
AZCentral

By Amanda Oglesby
Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

Mon Sep 30, 2013

JACKSON, N.J. — A Catholic priest who once ministered to a congregation here has taken a leave of absence following a sexting scandal with a man he reportedly thought was a 16-year-old boy.

The Rev. Matthew Riedlinger preached at St. Aloysius Church until August 2012, when he entered counseling following complaints of inappropriate cellphone text conversations with other adults, according to church leadership.

While in out-patient treatment, Riedlinger continued having sexual conversations, prompting the Diocese of Trenton to remove him from his parish. Last week, the diocese announced that Riedlinger had taken a leave of absence from the priesthood.

The Rev. John Bambrick, St. Aloysius’ administrator, said perpetrators as well as victims of sexual crimes need treatment to stop the cycle of abuse.

“This is a compulsive behavior,” said Bambrick, who was a victim of a priest’s sexual abuse when he was a teenager.

Bambrick serves on various organizations to help halt sexual abuse. He is a member of the Catholic Whistleblower Network; Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and formerly served on the board of New Jersey’s Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Does Pope Francis Understand What “Reform” Means ?

Jerry Slevin

The optimistic hopes of many Catholics about the upcoming meetings next week of Pope Francis and his eight man Cardinals’ reform committee are beginning to fade. Various new Vatican reports, leaks, etc., are playing down the meetings as very preliminary, only advisory and mostly secret. So what else is new?

Pope Francis has little time left to reform the Catholic Church. He cannot afford to procrastinate, in my considered view as an international lawyer. If he fails now , he also will likely be compelled to resign like his predecessor, ex-Pope Benedict, ignominousily had to. The Vatican’s “house of cards”, as Francis realistically described it, will then probably collapse. If that happens, Cardinal Rigali’s Secretary, Monsignor Lynn, may have some hierarchical company in prison before his sentence is completed. It’s that bad. Some hierarchs from outside Pennsylvania will likely find accomodations at their local jails.

Francis must promptly make the Church’s leaders accountable to the faithful, the Gospels and civil law, especially with respect to protecting defenseless children. He must initiate and enforce specific and effective policies to do this, before government prosecutors from Australia, Ireland, the Dominican Republic, the USA, Peru, Chile, Argentina, the Phillipines, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, or from dozens of other countries, do so for him.

Prosecutors dictated to Kansas City’s criminal, but continuing, Bishop Finn the specific policies he must follow, as nearby Federal prosecutors buried Finn’s protected pedophile priest with a 50 year prison term. Prosecutors eventually can be expected to dictate to other bishops and even to Francis himself, no matter what Francis may be advised otherwise. Government regulators are already dictating to Francis how he must manage the hierarchy’s finances. Government lawyers can, and I expect soon will, dictate to him how he must manage the hierarchy’s approach to predatory priests, if Francis fails to get effective control of the bishops’ flawed approach first. Priests may not be the pope’s “employees”; but bishops are another story.

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TRENTON (NJ)
Road to Recovery

Road to Recovery, Inc.
P.O. Box 279
Livingston, NJ 07039
roberthoatson@gmail.com

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Trenton, New Jersey, Bishop Had Information for a Year Regarding a Sexting Priest and Did Not Inform Unsuspecting Parish and Public
Trenton Bishop Kept Minors at Risk of Sexual Abuse Due to His Negligence
Trenton Bishop Must Resign or be Removed

What: A demonstration and leafleting calling for the resignation or removal of Trenton,
New Jersey, Bishop David O’Connell.

When: Tuesday, October 1, 2013 from 10:00 AM until Noon.

Where: On the sidewalk outside the headquarters of the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey,
701 Lawrenceville Road, Trenton, NJ 08648

Who: Survivors of clergy sexual abuse, including the co-founder and President of Road
to Recovery, Inc., a New Jersey-based non-profit charity that assists victims of sexual abuse, and supporters.

Why: Bishop David O’Connell proved recently that he is not fit to be the bishop of the
Diocese of Trenton and must resign or be removed. Since 2011, Bishop O’Connell had information that Fr. Matthew Riedlinger of St. Aloysius Church, Jackson, NJ, had been sexually inappropriate with young males over the internet. In addition, O’Connell removed Riedlinger from ministry in 2012, drove him to a facility for treatment, but never informed the parish or the public about the allegations against Fr. Riedlinger. It wasn’t until September, 2013, that Bishop O’Connell had a letter read to the parishioners of St. Aloysius Parish regarding Fr. Riedlinger. However, the letter never referenced the fact that Fr. Riedlinger had sent sex messages to someone whom he believed to be 16 years of age. O’Connell’s actions were outrageous, dangerous, and in violation of the promise of the United States Catholic Bishops to be honest and transparent about all cases of sexual abuse by priests. Bishop O’Connell must resign or be removed for covering up Fr. Riedlinger’s actions and making the Trenton unsafe for children, teenagers, and vulnerable adults.

Contacts: Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800

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VATICAN CITY
First Post

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Eight cardinals will begin closed-door meetings with Pope Francis on Tuesday to help him reform the Vatican’s troubled administration and map out possible changes in the worldwide Church.

Francis, who has brought a new style of openness, simplicity and a conciliatory tone to the papacy, wants to consult more with Church officials around the world before making decisions affecting the life of the 1.2-billion-member Church.

Some of the topics expected to be discussed are how to give women a greater role in the Church short of the priesthood, financial reform, the position of divorced Catholics, and the continued fallout from the worldwide sexual abuse crisis.

Francis announced the papal advisory board of cardinals, revolutionary for a Church steeped in hierarchical tradition, a month after his election as the first non-European pope in 1,300 years and the first from Latin America.

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NEW JERSEY
Ocean Signal

JACKSON-Last week, the Diocese of Trenton issued a statement regarding complaints lodged against Father Matthew Riedlinger, a priest formerly serving at the St. Aloysius Church here.

Riedlinger was ordained a priest in the diocese on June 5, 2010. He was a student at St. Peter Parish in Sandusky, Ohio before attending the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he studied philosophy.

Prior to his time at St. Aloysius, he served seminarian assignments at St. Margaret in Spring Lake and St. Barnabas in Bayville.

Questions have recently been asked of the Diocese concerning the status of Father Matthew Riedlinger and his ministry as a priest. Father Riedlinger had been the subject of two complaints to the Diocese over the past few years regarding his participation in inappropriate cell phone text communication over a period of some years with adults. There was no sexual contact, assault or abuse referenced in the complaints.

Upon receiving these complaints, the Diocese immediately turned the information over to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. In both cases, law enforcement investigated and advised that no minors were involved and no criminal acts were committed.

From first being made aware of these charges, the Diocese addressed the misconduct with Father Riedlinger, arranging for him to receive outpatient counseling. When we learned that the conduct had persisted, he was immediately removed from his parish assignment and placed in a residential, in-patient treatment program.

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CANADA
insideToronto

Scarborough Mirror
By Andrew Palamarchuk

A Scarborough priest who was charged with sexual assault on Sept. 11 now faces more charges.

On Sept. 3, a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted at All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church at 545 Danforth Rd.

A couple who entered the church interrupted the assault, police alleged.

Police arrested and charged Rev. Ioan Pop, 54, on Sept. 11.

Det. Const. Teresa Curtis of the sex crimes unit said “several complainants” came forward with allegations after police issued a news release Sept. 13.

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VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (UK)

Lizzy Davies in Vatican City
The Guardian, Monday 30 September 2013

The eight cardinals picked by Pope Francis to advise him on reform of the Roman curia and the governance of the Catholic church are preparing to meet the pontiff for the first time on Tuesday, in an unprecedented three-day meeting likened to a “papal G8”.

In a move already billed as a potentially critical moment for Francis’s six-month-old papacy, the multinational group of “outsider” cardinals is flying in to Rome from all corners of the globe to present him with ideas for how to reform the Vatican and the church worldwide.

The panel – officially named the Council of Cardinals – was hailed as a revolutionary move when it was formed in April shortly after Francis’s election. One observer said that, in its apparent embrace of a more collegial style of church governance, it was the “most important step in the history of the church for the past 10 centuries”.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Sep. 30, 2013 NCR Today

The International We are Church reform organization, which counts chapters in 20 countries, released the following statement this morning

Not all the People of God agree about canonisation of J.P. II .
The opinion of the International Movement We Are Church

Today Pope Francis has announced in Concistoro the day of canonisation of Pope John Paul II on April 27, 2014 – together with John Pope XXIII.

The decision concerning Pope John Paul II is not agreed from all in the Catholic Church. The International Movement We Are Church has expressed its opinion already in a press release on 16 January 2011.

Pope John Paul II was a pope of great contradiction. His tragedy lies in the discrepancy between his commitment to reform and dialogue in the world and his return to authoritarianism within the church.

It was his penchant for spiritual authoritarianism that contributed to the greatest tragedy of his tenure as pope: the sexual abuse of thousands of children globally. By holding church hierarchy paramount above the needs of the people, John Paul II perpetuated a toxic environment in which priests were permitted, often repeatedly, to sexually abuse children as long as the criminal behaviour was kept secret, preserving the public image of untarnished leadership.

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UNITED STATES
Peter Borre

‘Everything’s up to date in Vatican City
they gone about as fer as they can go’

(apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein)

[9.30.2013]

Foreword

Remember when your mom took you to the dentist who said, this is not going to hurt?

And then it hurt a lot, but when you squawked the dentist said, it’s necessary!

This blogpost is about the Vatican’s financial institutions, and ‘it’s not going to hurt’. But it’s essential for an understanding of what will be happening this week in Rome when recommendations come to Papa Francesco from the Gang of Eight Cardinals; and later this fall from two ad hoc commissions tasked to review the bank (IOR) and the Vatican’s accounting practices – bringing onto center stage the financial institutions of the Vatican.

Overview

“If you cannot be trusted in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (Luke, Chapter 16 Verse 11)

Today’s Italian media report that the financial results of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR) will be released for the first time ever, tomorrow. As a teaser, it is mentioned that a profit of €87 million (almost $120 million) will have been realized for the 12 months ending on July 31, 2013.

That is warp speed for reporting financial results, two months after the books closed. For context, the Archdiocese of Boston releases its audited financials 7-9 months after the fact, usually on a quiet Friday afternoon.

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COLOMBIA
Semana

Por Daniel Coronell

OPINIÓNUno de los anuncios del padre Jaime, cuando asumió su curul, fue que tramitaría una ley para castigar con 25 años a los curas pederastas. Tres años después no ha presentado el proyecto.

En medio de la pobreza se las arreglaba para ser feliz. Cuenta Francisco que sus problemas arrancaron cuando ya había cumplido 13 años. Su mamá, acosada por las necesidades, fue a pedir ayuda a una institución de la Iglesia en San José del Guaviare. El director de la Pastoral Social en el pueblo era un amable sacerdote llamado Jaime Alonso Vásquez Bustamante.

Según Francisco, el padre Jaime y su hermano, el también cura Carlos Fernando Vásquez Bustamante, han abusado de él por 16 años.

Todo empezó cuando el padre Jaime convenció a la mamá de Francisco para que el niño fuera a ayudarle en la oficina en las tardes, después de las clases. Pronto se integró a un grupo de acólitos que trabajaba para el religioso en la iglesia del Divino Niño.

Una de esas tardes, de acuerdo con la narración de Francisco, el padre Jaime le pidió que le ayudara a mover unas cajas de una habitación. Antes le ofreció un jugo que lo hizo sentir mareado. En la habitación no había cajas. El padre Jaime le dijo a Francisco que quería confesarlo. No hace falta entrar en detalles. Según Francisco, ese día el padre lo violó por primera vez.

El niño llegó llorando a su casa. Sangrando. No sabía si él era la víctima o el culpable. Si ese adulto, amable hasta hace unas horas, cumplía la voluntad de Dios o se aprovechaba de su inocencia. Incapaz de contar la verdad y ocultando la sangre, le dijo a su mamá que se había peleado con otros niños y que el padre Jaime lo había regañado.

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COLOMBIA
Semana

El sacerdote y congresista Jaime Alonso Vásquez Bustamante está en la boca del lobo. En su última columna, Daniel Coronell narra la historia de un joven que asegura que ha sido violado durante 16 años por dos sacerdotes de San José del Guaviare, uno de los cuales es el representante a la Cámara y el otro es su hermano Carlos Fernando.

Francisco Javier Bohórquez Franco, el joven que ahora tiene 29 años, asegura que denunció al sacerdote ante la Fiscalía y entregó pruebas de las presuntas relaciones sexuales no consensuadas, que se realizaban desde que él tenía 13 años, como le explicó a Coronell.

Este lunes, el representante dio la cara. En una extensa entrevista en BluRadio, el congresista Vásquez indicó él es simplemente un amigo al que acude Francisco Javier cuando este tiene necesidades.

“Ha habido una amistad que cuando nos llama se le ha escuchado. Muchas veces no lo he atendido, pero él es muy insistente. Ha llegado como adulto, entonces que no diga nada como menor de edad. Estoy seguro de que él no tiene ninguna prueba de abuso sexual y de violación”, afirmó el religioso.

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COLOMBIA
El Pais

Durante la inuguración del VI Congreso Nacional de Reconciliación, organizado por la Iglesia Católica de Colombia, el arzobispo de Bogotá, monseñor Rubén Salazar se refirió a las denuncias presentadas en contra del representante a la Cámara por Guaviare y sacerdote católico, Jaime Alonso Vásquez Bustamante por supuesto abuso sexual contra un menor residente en la capital de ese departamento.

La denuncia fue presentada ente la Fiscalía por Francisco Javier Bohórquez, de 29 años de edad, quien afirma que, desde que tenía trece años, había sido abusado por el entonces sacerdote Jaime Alonso Vásquez y su hermano, el también sacerdote, Carlos Fernando Vázquez Bustamante.

Según la víctima, la razón por la que no denunciaba nada ante su familia fueron las amenazas que el representante Vázquez le hacía, para que guardara silencio.

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COLOMBIA
El Nuevo Herald

BY BY CESAR GARCIA
ASSOCIATED PRESS

[Summary: Gardinal Ruben Salazar, president of the Columbia Episcopal Conference, said Monday that the Catholic Church has a zero tolerance policy for child abuse. In cases of clergy sexual abuse, the church has intervened immediately to punish the guilty, he said. Neither the cardinal nor the CEC keeps track of how many of the 8,000 Colombian priests have been the subject of abuse complaints.

His latest remarks came as legislator Jaime Alonso Vazquez, who was a priest, has been accused of child sexual abuse. Vasquez is now a legislator. According to journalist Daniel Coronell in the latest edition of Semana magazine, Vazquez before coming to Congress in 2010 is alleged to have molested a child under age 13 when he was a priest in the late 1990s in San Jose de Guaviare. The community is in the south of Colombia. He has denied the allegation. The alleged victim, now 29, recently went to the attorney general with the allegation.]

BY POR CESAR GARCIA
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOGOTA, Colombia — La Iglesia Católica colombiana tiene tolerancia cero con la pederastia, destacó el lunes el cardenal Rubén Salazar, presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal Colombiana, al conocerse una nueva denuncia sobre un presunto abuso sexual.

“La posición de la Iglesia es perfectamente clara: es tolerancia cero y por lo tanto en casos concretos de abusos sexuales de parte de sacerdotes, la Iglesia inmediatamente ha intervenido para iniciar procesos que lleguen al castigo del culpable”, dijo el cardenal a la prensa durante un foro multisectorial sobre reconciliación nacional.

Ni el cardenal ni la CEC llevan un registro de cuántos de los 8.000 curas colombianos han sido objeto de denuncias de abusos.

El más reciente señalamiento surgió en contra del legislador Jaime Alonso Vásquez, quien fue sacerdote y está suspendido debido a su participación en política.

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UNITED STATES
Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Earlier this year I wrote that the credibly of the new Pope may depend on how he lives up to his claim of having a zero tolerance policy regarding child sex abuse

What measure of tolerance shall we say that the Pope is giving to Bishop Robert Finn, who was convicted over a year ago of failing to report suspected child abuse by a priest under his authority and still leads the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri? A federal judge deemed the child porn charges of which pedophile priest Fr. Shawn Ratigan was convicted to be so serious that he sentenced Ratigan to 50 years in prison.

I am one of those Catholics who has been cheered by the new pope’s refreshing tone and his embracing of tolerance and humility. Indeed, his recent comments about the Church’s recent obsession with culture war issues may have pulled the rug out from under the Republican Party Auxiliary we generally call the Catholic Right. His recent statements clearly indicate that he may lead the Church to an approach to economic and social justice that transcends Roman Catholicism and embraces the entire world.

But the longer he waits to act on the problem of sex abuse in the Church, the greater the risk that the good will he had earned, and the hope he has given to many millions of Catholics (and non-Catholics) will be lost.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

September 30, 2013

Dear Archbishop Nienstedt:

You and your top staff have acted recklessly, callously, deceptively and secretively in the case of Fr. Curtis Wehmeyer. These hurtful acts cannot be “un-done.” But you can – and should – act now to prevent more irresponsible and harmful behavior by your staff in the future, by

—disciplining at least three church employees over how they handled Fr. Wehmeyer and

—holding an open meeting to answer questions from parishioners and the public about this case.

In your heart of hearts, Archbishop, we believe you know that Fr. Kevin McDonough, Deacon John Vomastek and Greta Sawyer have all acted in ways that protect Fr. Wehmeyer, themselves and you, ways that were and are at best in appropriate and at worst very damaging to innocent children, wounded victims and trusting parishioners.

Fr. McDonough knew of Fr. Wehmeyer’s sexual misdeeds in 2004. Yet in 2011, he urged that the allegations against Fr. Wehmeyer be kept secret (despite years of bishops’ pledges to be “open” in clergy sex cases). And in 2012, when police knew about the accusations, before they arrived, McDonough – along with Deacon John Vomastek – took one of Fr. Wehmeyer’s computers.

We believe this could amount to tampering with evidence. But regardless of whether either man is criminally charged, you know it’s wrong for church staff to take evidence in a criminal case.

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UNITED STATES
Stop Baptist Predators

Speaking to a room full of journalists yesterday in Austin, Texas, Liberty University law professor Boz Tchividjian said evangelicals are “worse” than Catholics when it comes to responding to clergy sex abuse.

Frowning on transparency and accountability, too many evangelicals have “sacrificed the souls” of young victims, said Tchividjian, who is the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham.

Now before some of you Southern Baptist readers start mentally dismissing this guy because he’s currently a university professor – as in “aren’t they all a bunch of liberals?” – let me just point out that Liberty University was founded by Jerry Falwell and has been ranked as one of the top ten most conservative colleges in the country. With over 100,000 residential and online students, it is the largest private evangelical university in the world.

Moreover, Tchividjian previously worked as a sex crimes prosecutor in Florida, and he is the founder of a firm called G.R.A.C.E. (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), which conducts independent investigations of clergy abuse allegations.

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MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

A Detroit predator priest was recently ousted. Archbishop Allen Vigneron made a formal announcement. It implied this was the first allegation against the priest.

But it wasn’t.

Each time this happens, we are outraged that so-called “men of God” deceive parents, parishioners and the public. Each time this happens, we seek out ways in which to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Each time this happens, we try our best to get our message out to new ears and eyes, hoping that the awareness will prevent a repeat of this complicity. Each time this happens, we remind people of the pledge America’s bishops have repeatedly made: to be “open and transparent” in clergy child sex abuse cases.

But the deceit keeps happening, again and again.

About a week ago, we received a private archdiocesan memo showing that Fr. Louis Grandpre, who was ousted last week because of credible child sex abuse allegations, was also accused of sexual harassment 15 years ago.

In a one page memo, dated September of 1997, a high ranking Detroit archdiocesan official writes to two colleagues that “we have lost the mediation process” arising from accusations that Fr. Grandpre sexually harassed an individual. The memo indicates the mediator “recommended (a) settlement of about $160,000.00”

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2013 ·

Audacious is a word I don’t use often. But it leapt to mind this morning when I read that a child molesting cleric at a New York archdiocesan parish is being ousted from ministry.

“Audacious” is the best way I can describe Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s letter to the flock at Church of the Holy Name of Mary parish in Croton-on-Hudson.

Here’s how the dictionary defines “audacious” – “extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless” or “recklessly bold in defiance of convention, propriety, law, or the like; insolent; brazen.”

Both definitions fit Dolan’s actions in the troubling case of Deacon Al Mazza.

In a letter to parishioners, Dolan claims he suspended Mazza months ago. But we see

–no evidence that this was done,

–no evidence that anyone was notified, and

–Mazza’s name in the parish bulletin three times in the last month, and

–Mazza’s name on the parish website even now.

That’s pretty audacious, isn’t it? To claim you ousted a credibly accused child molester without giving any proof it? And in the face of proof that suggests he hasn’t been ousted at all?

Let’s assume that Dolan did, in fact, suspend Mazza months ago. A simple internet search shows that if this happened, it was done with little or no public notice. That’s pretty audacious too: to claim (as Dolan has, time and time again) to be “open and transparent” about clergy sex crimes while suspending a credibly accused cleric very quietly.

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NEW YORK
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York

September 29, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 29, 2013

Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, has written a letter to the parishioners of Holy Name of Mary Parish in Croton-on-Hudson, informing them that Deacon Albert Mazza, a permanent deacon serving in their parish, had been removed from ministry, following allegations that, many years ago, he had abused minors. Father Edward Weber, the director of priest personnel for the Archdiocese of New York, read the letter from the Cardinal at Masses today.

Deacon Mazza had served as a permanent deacon since 1996.

In his letter, the Cardinal noted that the archdiocese had been notified of the allegations by the Westchester district attorney’s office, and had immediately put Deacon Mazza on administrative leave while the matter was investigated. Last week, the archdiocesan review board recommended that Deacon Mazza be permanently removed from ministry, a recommendation that the Cardinal accepted.

The Cardinal told the parishioners of Holy Name of Mary that the archdiocese wanted to be upfront, and transparent with the people, even about bad news. He wrote, “As you know, the Church learned a painful lesson in not communicating the abuse of minors to the faithful as soon as it became aware of it. Now, the Church leads the way with action and transparency, with this sad situation here at this parish serving as an example.”

The full text of the Cardinal’s letter is attached. 

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NEW YORK
The Daily Voice

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — A deacon from Croton-on-Hudson’s Church of the Holy Name of Mary has been dismissed after allegations of sexual abuse of minors from years ago recently came to light, Catholic officials said in a story in The Journal News.

Deacon Al Mazza has been accused of engaging in immoral and illegal conduct with minors prior to becoming a deacon in 1996, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan told parishioners via a letter Sunday, the newspaper reported. The incident is the third time an ordained minister has faced such allegations in the Croton parish, the newspaper reported.

The allegations against Mazza were unrelated to his activities at the church, archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said in The Journal News story.

A deacon is an ordained minister who works with the pastor and parish staff but can have a job outside the church. Mazza could not be reached for commen, the newspaper reported.

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GHANA
Ghana Web

A 50-Year-old fetish priest is languishing in the cells of the Prampram Police for sodomizing a 14-year-old Junior High School (JHS) student at Prampram in the Greater Accra Region.

Nii Martey, the suspect, was apprehended shortly before the Tema Circuit Court ‘A’ sentenced a 32-year pastor, Prince Mark Amoah alias Marvin Brown to 25 years’ imprisonment for sodomizing and infecting a 14-year-old boy with HIV/AIDS.

Narrating what led to the arrest of the fetish priest, a police source told DAILY GUIDE that in May 2013, the victim, a resident of Prampram visited his friend who is a nephew to the fetish priest.

The fetish priest, who saw the victim around his house, invited him and proposed love to him, but the boy turned him down.

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CANADA
Caledon Enterprise

Brampton Guardian
TORONTO – Toronto police say a Romanian Orthodox priest is facing seven more sexual assault charges in addition to one laid earlier this month.

Ioan Pop, 54, of Toronto was arrested in early September and charged with one count of sexual assault after a woman was allegedly assaulted at All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church in the city’s east end.

At the time police released a photograph and said they believed there may be more victims.

Det. Teresa Curtis of the sex crimes unit says several more women have since come forward with allegations against Pop, who is now charged with eight counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.

She says the new charges relate to alleged incidents that happened between 2005 and 2011 and that the additional seven complainants were between 24 and 43 years old at the time of the alleged offences.

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CANADA
Toronto Sun

BY TERRY DAVIDSON
TORONTO SUN

FIRST POSTED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

A Toronto priest, already accused of sexually assaulting a parishioner, is facing new charges.

Rev. Ioan Pop, 54, now faces a total of 8 sexual assault charges after more complainants came forward.

Pop turned himself in to officers at 41 Division that morning early Monday, Toronto Police said.

Pop was first accused of sexually assaulting a female parishioner inside the All Saints Roman Orthodox church at Birchmount and Danforth Aves. on Sept. 3.

Investigators said a married couple walked in during the alleged assault.

Pop, a man police said is influential within the area’s Roman Orthodox community, was arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault.

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CANADA
Toronto Star

By: Jodee Brown Staff Reporter, Published on Mon Sep 30 2013

A Toronto priest charged with sexual assault earlier this month now faces additional charges, police said Monday.

Ioan Pop, 54, was arrested Sept.11 in connection with an assault on a woman in All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church, where he was the parish priest.

On Monday, he was charged with seven more counts of sexual assault and one of forcible confinement.

Police said those incidents allegedly occurred between 2005 and 2011.

Det.-Const. Teresa Curtis said seven additional complainants came forward to police following Pop’s
The assaults are alleged to have taken place inside All Saints church and at residences in Durham Region and Toronto.

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

Pope Francis rebuke of the Curia for its “inappropriate behaviour” in the censuring of priests, his wish that issues of discipline be dealt with at local church level, and his dramatic re-definition of the phrase ‘sentire cum ecclesiae’ have created a new landscape for dealing with people who have been, in various ways, punished for what the CDF has previously considered ‘unorthodox’ views.

It may, or may not, be a coincidence that the six priests whom we know to have felt the ire of the CDF here in Ireland are all members of religious congregations. And the Irish bishops have made it clear to the Association of Catholic Priests that they do not wish to have any involvement in this matter. That does not surprise me, since I do not tend to expect courageous action from our hierarchy.

But religious congregations have traditionally seen themselves as being positioned more to the edge of the Church, with something of a prophetic role. I am suggesting that the particular congregations whose members are included among these ‘censored’ priests have now got a great opportunity to act prophetically.

I don’t think any reasonable person would regard Eoin O’Sullivan, Iggy O’Donovan, Gerry Moloney, Brian D’Arcy or Sean Fagan as remotely heretical or a danger to the faith, and even less a cause of scandal. (I will leave my own case to be judged by others). It surely makes no sense to have censors appointed to monitor the writings of Eoin, Brian and Gerry. And surely it is also time that these ‘censors’ stopped co-operating with oppressive power structures and refused to accept the role.

So I call on the five congregations, the Augustinians, the Capuchins, the Passionists, the Marists and the Redemptorists to come together and to lift all restrictions on the six of us.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Tim O’Brien

Mon, Sep 30, 2013

Efforts by the Catholic church to preach justice and equality are being stymied because of a failure to address these issues internally, more than 100 Catholic groups – including three from Ireland – have told Pope Francis.

In response to the pope’s call for dialogue within the church , the groups who claim to represent four million Catholics around the world, have co-signed a letter to Pope Francis urging widespread reform including shared decision making among all baptised members of the church, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

The Irish groups which are signatories to the letter include the Association of Catholic Priests, the Association of Catholics in Ireland and We are the Church Ireland.

The letter , which was sent in advance of a key meeting of Cardinals tomorrow to examine church governance makes five points.

These are:

That the Roman Catholic Church’s commitment to justice is compromised “and is often viewed as hypocritical” because injustice exists within the church itself.

“That dialogue urged by Pope Francis is incompatible with the censorship or sanctioning of ordained members of the church.

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CANADA
National Post

Diana Hall | 30/09/13

A Toronto Romanian Orthodox priest charged earlier this month with an in-church sexual assault is

Rev. Ioan Pop, 54, turned himself in to 41 Division on Monday. The original charge stemmed from an alleged sexual assault at All Saints, a Romanian Orthodox Church in the Birchmount Road and Danforth Road area, on Sept. 3. That alleged assault was interrupted by a couple entering the church, police say.

Det. Teresa Curtis of the sex crimes unit told a Monday press conference that members of the community came forward with complaints against Rev. Pop after police released his photo.

“I think that people came forward because they felt more comfortable,” Det. Curtis said at a Monday news conference. “There’s no [timeframe] for bringing forward these types of allegations. As you know, sexual assaults are under-reported.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 30 September 2013 (VIS) – The first of three meetings between Pope Francis and the Council of Cardinals, instituted by the Holy Father’s Chirograph of 28 September, will take place tomorrow, 1 October.

The council is composed of Cardinals Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State; Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop emeritus of Santiago de Chile, Chile; Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, India; Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo; Sean Patrick O’Malley O.F.M. Cap., archbishop of Boston, USA; George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia; Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in the role of coordinator; and Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, Italy, in the role of secretary.

During the three days the Council will meet in the private library of the third loggia in the papal apartment, and the working sessions will take place in the morning and in the evening. The Holy Father will participate, except on Wednesday morning during the general audience, explained the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., who went on to clarify that the conversations will be private, so no communication is to be given at the end. He also emphasised that, as stated in the Chirograph published today, the Pope reserves the faculty of configuring the Council in the most suitable form, and may therefore increase the number of members.

He also observed that all the members of the Council, with the exception of the Secretary and Cardinal Bertello (who represents the Curia) are archbishops with large dioceses and in most cases with broad pastoral experience. “The institution of the Council of Cardinals”, he said, “is a further enrichment provided by the Pope to the governance of the Church”, and recalled that during his pontificate Francis has frequently made use of consultation, as is demonstrated by the case of the meeting with the heads of the dicasteries and his interest in reviving the working method of the Synod.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 30 September 2013 (VIS) – We publish below the full text of the Chirograph by by which the Holy Father institutes a Council of Cardinals to assist him in the governance of the universal Church and to draw up a project for the revision of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus on the Roman Curia.

“Among the suggestions that emerged from the General Congregations of Cardinals prior to the Conclave, mention was made of the expediency of instituting a limited group of Members of the Episcopate, from various parts of the world, with whom the Holy Father could consult, individually or collectively, on specific matters. Once elected to the See of Rome, I have had the opportunity to reflect on this issue on a number of occasions, and consider that such an initiative would be of significant use in fulfilling the pastoral ministry of Peter’s Successor entrusted to me by my brother cardinals.

“For this reason, on 13 April I announced the constitution of the aforementioned group, at the same time indicating the names of those who had been called to participate. Now, following reflection, I consider it opportune that such a group, by means of the present Chirograph, be instituted as a ‘Council of Cardinals’, with the task of assisting me in the governance of the universal Church and drawing up a project for the revision of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus on the Roman Curia. It will be composed of the same persons previously nominated, who may be called upon, both in Council and singly, on matters that I will from time to time consider worthy of attention. The aforementioned Council which, with regard to the number of members, I will compose in the most appropriate way, will constitute a further expression of Episcopal communion and of the aid to the munus petrinum that the Episcopate, disseminated throughout the world, may offer”.

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NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, September 30, 2013

Statement by NJ SNAP director Mark Crawford (732-632-7687, mecrawf@comcast.net)

For months, Trenton’s Catholic bishop has kept hidden the fact that one of his priests sent 1,200 inappropriate sexual text messages to what he thought was a teenaged boy and had sexually harassed at least five teenagers and young men, some of whom were seminarians.

[News Archive.

NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Sept. 30, 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)

Cardinal Tim Dolan has apparently kept silent for months about an accused child molesting cleric. And instead of urging people to call police, Dolan is makes the same self-serving but hurtful plea bishops have made for decades – asking those with information about child sex crimes to call church officials, not police or prosecutors.

Shame on him.

[The News Journal]

Deacon Al Mazza has been dismissed from his duties at Church of the Holy Name of Mary Croton-on-Hudson has been “permanently removed from ministry.”

1) Dolan claims he suspended Mazza months ago, but we see no evidence that he made this public in any way. That’s reckless and irresponsible.

Dolan is a media-savvy guy with an efficient public relations team. He knows how to get attention. But he refuses to bring attention quickly on a credibly accused child molesting cleric. Instead, he waits months to warn parents, parishioners and the public about Mazza.

The accusations against Mazza should have been announced – far and wide – when they were made. Or they should have been announced – far and wide – when he was allegedly suspended months ago.

(And if he was allegedly suspended months ago, why is Mazza’s name still on the parish bulletin September 8 and 15 and 22?)

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

St. Louis cleric is accused of molesting a teenage girl

For immediate release: Monday, Sept. 30

For more information: David Clohessy (314) 566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com, Barbara Dorris (314) 862 7688, SNAPdorris@gmail.com

A St. Louis priest who allegedly molested a teenage girl last year is set to go to trial tomorrow.

The accused is Fr. Fr. Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang who was criminally charged with fondling a teenage girl (under 17) on four occasions as recently as last summer. Evidence in the case reportedly includes text messages from the victim’s phone and a recorded voice mail from Fr. Jiang.

He faces of “witness tampering” and “endangering a child.” Both are felonies.

The “tampering” charge is based on an allegation that Fr. Jiang left the girl’s parents a $20,000 check after he reportedly admitted his crimes to the girl’s parents. The following day, according to a civil lawsuit, Archbishop Robert Carlson asked if the parents would give the check to him. But they had already given it to prosecutors.

Fr. Jiang was ordained a priest by at the Cathedral in May 2010. Before that, he was a deacon at the Cathedral. He has a bedroom in the archbishop’s residence.

Fr. Jiang’s trial was originally to take place in Lincoln County last spring but it has since been moved to Bowling Green in Pike County.

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VATICAN CITY
The Baltimore Sun

Lisa Jucca and Philip Pullella
Reuters
12:04 p.m. EDT, September 30, 2013

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican bank is likely to close all accounts held by foreign embassies, following concerns about large cash deposits and withdrawals by the missions of Iran, Iraq and Indonesia, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

The Vatican’s financial watchdog, which examined the transactions in 2011, believed the embassies’ justifications for the transactions were too vague or disproportionate to the amounts — up to 500,000 euros at a time — these people said. In one case, a large cash withdrawal was said to be for “refurbishment”, one person added.

Now the bank and the watchdog want to reduce the possibility that the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), as the bank is called, could be an unwitting vehicle for money laundering and other illicit finances.

Four people with knowledge of the matter said the closure of the accounts was likely to be a key recommendation of a broad review that Pope Francis has ordered of the bank, whose scandal-tainted history has long been an embarrassment for the Holy See.

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UNITED STATES
Association of Religion Data Archives

By David Briggs

For generations, Catholic women have been the foundation of the church, filling the pews, doing much of the volunteer work that keeps parishes running and passing on the faith to future generations.

But the day of reckoning for a church that excludes women from the priesthood and has alienated many with its emphasis on rules governing sexual morality may finally have come.

What once was a large gender gap in church attendance is gone, and the latest research indicates Catholic women may be no less likely than Catholic men to say the church is among the most important parts of their lives or that they would never leave the church.

“It’s troubling,” said Mary Gautier of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. “The difference between men and women is just gone.”

And it may get worse, some researchers say.

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CANADA
CBC News

A major exhibition about residential schools begins today at Laurentian University in Sudbury.

The exhibit features archival photographs and has already been staged at more than a dozen cities across Canada.

The manager of Aboriginal student affairs at Laurentian said the school has more than 1,000 students who identify as First Nations.

The issue of residential schools is one of the most talked about on campus, Denise Gauthier-Frohlick said, because so many survivors are coming forward.

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NEVADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

He’s accused of sexually abusing kids
And he headed two Las Vegas churches
Minister belonged to controversial denomination
Several of its clergy & staff are alleged child molesters

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

— disclose that minister who has headed two Las Vegas churches faces a trial soon on multiple child sex abuse charges, and

— prod officials and members at his church to reach out to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes.

WHEN
TODAY, Monday, Sept. 30 at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Outside the Las Vegas Valley Christian Church, 3140 S. Durango Dr., Las Vegas, NV (702) 644-9435

WHO
Two members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including a Chicago woman who is the organization’s founder and long time president

WHY
In December 2012, Rev. Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Morales of Las Vegas was indicted on four counts of sex abuse and six counts of sex offense. At that time, Morales pastored Las Vegas Valley Christian Church in Las Vegas, according to a police report. He also reportedly headed the Open Door Community Church in Las Vegas.

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POLAND
Warsaw Business Journal

30th September 2013

Representatives of the Episcopal Conference of the Catholic Church in Poland apologized to the victims of child abuse by Catholic priests. “‘We apologize’ is the least we can say,” Bishop Wojciech Polak said at a press conference called in connection with a recently revealed case of Polish priests suspected of pedophilia in the Dominican Republic.

Bishop Polak added that the Church in Poland treats child abuse cases seriously and that it is determined to punish those priests who are guilty of the offense.

Last week, the investigative authorities of the Dominican Republic asked Interpol for assistance in the priests’ pedophilia case. The Polish prosecution has started an investigation of its own, though it has so far not been asked for help by the Dominican Republic’s prosecutors.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Sep. 30, 2013 NCR Today

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis has formalized the structure of the group of cardinals advising him on reforming the Roman Catholic church, organizing them as a kind of royal council asked to give counsel but not make decisions.

The group, now formally known as the “council of cardinals,” will assist in reorganization of the Vatican bureaucracy and will “help me with governance of the universal church,” the pope stated in a formal letter outlining the structure.

The pope signed the letter, officially known as a chirograph, Saturday but announced it at a Vatican press briefing Monday.

During the briefing, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi stated several times that the cardinals’ group was to offer advice, but all decisions would be left to the pope.

“It’s only a council, it’s not a decision-making group,” Lombardi said. “I would not speak of collegial governance in this group. It’s a new form of consultation.”

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

This is an important week for the Catholic church: as Fr. Thomas Reese explains in this recent National Catholic Reporter article, this week the eight cardinals Pope Francis has appointed to advise him about the needs of the church and reform of the Vatican will meet in Rome. As Reese also notes, it’s not clear that the “gang of eight” will actually do anything beyond listening and talking. And this poses a danger, given the pope’s advanced age, the urgent need for reform–the need, precisely, that something be done. Immediately.

Reese envisages a best-case scenario in which the eight cardinals spark what he calls “comprehensive reform” rather than better management of a badly faltering institution in need of more than more adroit management. Reese’s prescription for (part of) such comprehensive reform:

• Stop making Vatican officials bishops or cardinals
• Remove all curial officials from the committees (congregations and councils) that oversee curial offices and replace them with diocesan cardinals and bishops nominated by the synod of bishops and/or bishops’ conferences
• Remove all curial officials from the synod of bishops and have it meet at least once every five years.

As Reese concludes,

On the other hand, his [i.e., the pope’s] attempts to change attitudes need to be supported by structural reforms in the Roman Curia. We have been waiting and preparing for change since Vatican II, where the foundations for change were laid. Will the gang of eight produce a plan? Let’s hope so.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

And group wants archbishop to hold open public meeting
In sharply worded letter, SNAP blasts “recklessness, callousness and deceit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director 314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com, Bob Schwiderski of Wayzata 952-471-3422, skibrs@q.com

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is writing Minnesota’s top Catholic bishop urging him to discipline at least three church employees over how they handled the case of a priest who was convicted for molesting two children. The group also wants church officials to hold an open meeting to answer questions from parishioners and the public about the case.

A lengthy Minnesota Public Radio story details how high-ranking staff of the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese kept Fr. Curtis C. Wehmeyer on the job despite “repeated troubling actions by and allegations against” the priest. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2013/09/clergy-abuse/

Last year, Fr. Wehmeyer pled guilty to 20 charges related to criminal sexual conduct against two St. Paul boys and possession of child pornography.

But years before, top archdiocesan staffers knew that Fr. Wehmeyer had “engaged in troubling sexual encounters — that he had approached young men for sex at a bookstore and cruised nearby parks” where anonymous sexual encounters often took place. In 2009, he was arrested on – and later pled guilty to – charges of drunk driving. Police said he was asking young men, ages 18-21, if they wanted to party with him at a state park,” according to MPR.

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COLOMBIA
Terra

[Summary: Former priest Jaime Alonso Vasques, a current legislator, has denied allegations of sexual abuse.]

El sacerdote y representante a la Cámara por el departamento del Guaviare, Jaime Alonso Vásquez, negó las acusaciones en su contra que lo señalan de haber abusado sexualmente de un joven en los últimos 16 años y aseguró que tras dichos señalamientos hay intereses políticos.

“Es una calumnia total decir que soy un violador…Francisco tiene 29 años y dice que eso fue hace 13 años por qué no acudió en su momento a interponer la denuncia”, dijo el parlamentario sobre el joven que lo acusa.

Así, Vásquez desmintió la versión de Francisco Javier Bohórquez Franco, el joven de 29 años que en los últimos días interpuso una demanda ante la Fiscalía y entregó las supuestas pruebas del más reciente encuentro sexual, que habría ocurrido hace dos semanas.

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NEW JERSEY
USA Today

JACKSON, N.J. — A Catholic priest who once ministered to a congregation here has taken a leave of absence following a sexting scandal with a man he reportedly thought was a 16-year-old boy.

The Rev. Matthew Riedlinger preached at St. Aloysius Church until August 2012, when he entered counseling following complaints of inappropriate cellphone text conversations with other adults, according to church leadership.

While in out-patient treatment, Riedlinger continued having sexual conversations, prompting the Diocese of Trenton to remove him from his parish. Last week, the diocese announced that Riedlinger had taken a leave of absence from the priesthood.

In 2011, Timothy Schmalz, 23, of Washington complained to the diocese in 2011 about Riedlinger’s behavior, saying the priest sexually harassed him, according to The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger. To expose Riedlinger, Schmalz pretended online to be a 16-year-old boy, recorded text message conversations last year between Riedlinger and himself, and later forwarded them onto the diocese, according to the newspaper.

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NEW JERSEY
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

Let me begin by saying that “sexting” (sending lewd comments and naked photos of yourself via text), though sinful, is far from the worst thing one adult can do to another. Sexting someone you think is a 16-year-old boy … well, that’s another story

But which is worse? A priest sexting someone he thinks is a 16-year-old boy, but isn’t – or a pastor refusing to tell parishioners about this and bullying them into not asking questions when the priest is removed from their parish for this very reason?

The priest intended to abuse a minor, but didn’t. The pastor intended to bully his parishioners, and did.

From The Star Ledger (emphasis mine) …

The text messages read as if they’ve been ripped from a pornographic novel.

Matthew Riedlinger quizzed his texting partner about sex videos, pressed for details about intimate liaisons, described sexual acts and encouraged mutual masturbation.

He also repeatedly asked to meet.

“Promise me you will never breath (sic) a word of this to anyone — ok?” he wrote.

Riedlinger had good reason for discretion.

He is a priest of the Diocese of Trenton, and while exchanging more than 1,200 text messages over four weeks last year, he thought was he talking to a 16-year-old boy.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Monday 30 September 2013

THE Catholic cleric appointed in the wake of Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s departure has warned of a “drift” within the Church unless the Vatican moves to address a vacuum within the senior clergy in Scotland.

Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh Leo Cushley said he would be delighted if Pope Francis considered the appointment of new Scottish bishops in the short term to fill a number of vacancies.

Of the eight dioceses in Scotland, currently only four have full-time bishops not waiting to leave – Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Argyll and the Isles.

“There are a couple of good lads out there. I thought one of them would get this job. And hopefully that means one of them is now free to go somewhere else,” Archbishop Cushley said.

“I think we all have a fair idea of who these candidates might be but that’s something done in its own way. It may take a while.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Independent

TOM KINGTON IN ROME – 30 SEPTEMBER 2013

A ROMAN Catholic cardinal has said that a group of senior church figures handpicked by the Pope to shake up the Vatican’s murky and autocratic bureaucracy would “rip up and rewrite” the constitution which apportions power at the Holy See.

The eight cardinals, who were appointed by Pope Francis in April, have been briefed to revise the constitution, known as Pastor Bonus and drawn up in 1988 by Pope John Paul, in a bid to give greater voice to bishops around the world.

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the group’s leader, said that at tomorrow’s meeting they would go much further than just change “this and that”.

“No, that constitution is over,” he said in a television interview. “Now, it is something different. We need to write something different,” he added.

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UNITED STATES
Daily Kos

Pope Francis Concealed His Actions Against Two Prelates. Now Both “Whereabouts are Unknown.”

by Betty Clermont

A “dossier” accusing papal nuncio Archbishop Josef Wesolowski of sex abuse of minors was sent to Pope Francis sometime in July by Santo Domingo Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez. The pope found the information credible enough to dismiss Wesolowski, nuncio to both the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, on Aug. 21 via confidential letter N.2706/PR to the bishops of both countries.

Neither the civil authorities nor the public knew about Wesolowski until a local TV program did an expose’ on Aug. 31. The result of a year-long investigation, the broadcast contained testimony from residents of the Zona Colonial in Santo Domingo that Wesolowski paid minors for sex.

Three days after the TV broadcast, a local bishop confirmed that Wesolowski had been recalled for sexually abusing minors.

Wesolowski reportedly had left the country only a few days before. There were accusations that the pope allowed his nuncio to escape and speculation that Wesolowski fled to Haiti where children are even more desperately poor.

On Sept. 23, the Dominican Republic’s Justice Ministry confirmed there was evidence of pedophilia against Wesolowski. A deacon confessed to “pimping” minors for the prelate who allegedly waited in his vehicle nearby. The deacon, Francisco Javier Occi Reyes, who is being held in pretrial prison on pedophilia charges, was arrested when one of Wesolowski’s alleged victims alerted a police officer. The deacon said on that occasion Wesolwski left but said nothing because he thought the Church’s influence would get him out of prison.

The Deputy Procurator and the case’s lead investigator, Bolivar Sanchez, noted that Wesolowski cannot be extradited because of his diplomatic status. He said the minors interviewed admitted to masturbating for, and of taking part in oral sex with the bishop as he filmed them with a cell phone. Another witness affirmed seeing child pornography on Wesoloski’s laptop at the Vatican embassy. Sanchez confirmed that when the local Catholic Church submitted the evidence to the Vatican, the Justice Ministry was unaware of the case but has received full cooperation after the investigation was launched.

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NEW YORK
ABC News

[with video]

Sept. 29, 2013
By GILLIAN MOHNEY

The Archdiocese of New York has removed a deacon from the church over allegations that he abused minors.

Albert Mazza was removed from the Holy Name of Mary Parish in Croton-on-Hudson, NY., after an investigation by police revealed that there was evidence he had allegedly abused minors, according to a statement from church officials.

The announcement was made by Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan in a letter to the parishioners of Mazza’s church. The letter was read during Sunday mass by Father Edward Weber, the director of priest personnel for the Archdiocese of New York.

According to Dolan’s letter, an investigation by the Westchester district attorney found credible evidence of abuse, but prosecutors were “precluded by state law” from bringing charges.

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NEW YORK
PIX 11

FRESH MEADOWS (PIX11) – In a lawsuit claiming negligent supervision, Felicia Mooradian, said the administration at Saint Francis Prep failed to protect her and she wants to make sure they don’t fail others. In a lengthy complaint against St. Francis Prep in Queens a young woman, identified initially as simply Jane Doe, is now stepping out of the shadows. Felicia Mooradian, now in her 20′sj, said she will never forget what happened to her during her time at Saint Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows Queens.

Mooradian said what started out as favoritism and merely extra attention in the spring of 2006 from her high school Spanish teacher, Brother Ben O’Reilly, ended with a scared teenager forced to confront a man she said sexually harassed her .

“He kept inviting me to come back to his classroom during lunch periods and I was really feeling funny about that. Too many lingering glances. Too many shoulder squeezes. Too much with the neck rubbing,” said Mooradian.

And it didn’t just end there. Mooradian alleged Brother Ben, a trusted, fun loving member of the St Francis staff, made a number of inappropriate comments before the young teen had had enough.

“The first comment that really struck me was when he said you can be on a diet but you can still look at the menu. Another time he said to me you know Felicia my goal in life is to give you pleasure,” said Mooradian.

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NEW YORK
CBS News York

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — The deacon of the Holy Name of Mary Parish in Westchester County has been removed from ministry amid allegations of sexual abuse several years ago.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan announced Sunday that he has issued a letter to parishioners of the church, in Croton-on-Hudson, informing them of the dismissal of Deacon Albert Mazza. The Rev. Edward Weber, direct of priest personnel for the New York Archdiocese, read the letter at Sunday masses.

Mazza’s dismissal comes after two other pastors at Holy Name of Mary Parish were also dismissed from the priesthood for sexual abuse allegations.

In the letter, Dolan noted that the Westchester County District Attorney’s office had notified the Archdiocese of the allegations against Mazza, and the deacon was immediately put on leave for an investigation. Last week, the archdiocesan review board recommended that Mazza be removed from the ministry permanently.

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NEW YORK
News 12

WESTCHESTER – A popular religious leader in Croton has been removed from his parish after decades-old sex abuse allegations have come to light.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan sent a letter to Holy Name of Mary Parish this morning stating that their deacon of 17 years, Albert Mazza, was removed due to credible and substantial allegations of the sexual abuse of minors up to 30 years ago.

The Archdiocese says the allegations against Mazza predate his time at the Croton-on-Hudson church. Father Brian Brennan says the deacon did interact with minors during his time at the parish.

The Westchester District Attorney told News 12 that Mazza will not face criminal charges because of the statute of limitations. According to the church, he will go to Rome to plead his case to the Vatican.

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NEW YORK
NorthJersey.com

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (AP) — The Archbishop of New York has permanently removed from ministry the deacon of a suburban New York parish following sexual abuse allegations.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan said in a letter read Sunday in the Holy Name of Mary Parish in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., that Deacon Albert Mazza was removed after law enforcement referred allegations he’d abused minors years ago. Mazza has served as permanent deacon since 1996.

Dolan described the allegations as substantiated and credible.

He said the Westchester County district attorney’s office referred the claims to the archdiocese several months ago but criminal charges were precluded by state law. A spokesman for the district attorney’s office said the statute of limitations had run out.

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AUSTRALIA
Parramatta Sun

Read the letter here

JULIA Gillard revealed on Monday night why she devoted some of her last minutes as prime minister to writing a letter to Newcastle Herald journalist Joanne McCarthy.

Ms McCarthy’s work in chronicling sexual abuse of the Catholic Church as part of the Herald’s Shine The Light campaign has been credited with leading to a state inquiry and a federal royal commission.

Ms Gillard said Ms McCarthy’s efforts in uncovering clergy abuse within the Maitland-Newcastle diocese was on her mind before she announced the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

‘‘Everything that was happening in Newcastle was at the forefront of my thinking as we decided to move to the stage of having a national royal commission,’’ Ms Gillard said.

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NEW YORK
The Journal News

Written by
Hoa Nguyen

CROTON-ON-HUDSON — A deacon has been dismissed from his duties at Church of the Holy Name of Mary after allegations of sexual abuse of minors from years ago recently surfaced, Catholic officials said.

Deacon Al Mazza has been accused of engaging in immoral and illegal conduct with minors prior to becoming a deacon in 1996, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan told parishioners via a letter on Sunday. The incident is the third time an ordained minister has faced such allegations in the Croton parish.

Dolan’s letter, read to parishioners at Sunday Masses, said the action was taken due to “credible and substantiated allegations of the abuse of minors.”

In Mazza’s case, the allegations were unrelated to his activities at the church, archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said.

A deacon is an ordained minister who works with the pastor and parish staff but can have a job outside the church. Mazza owns a construction company. He could not be reached for comment.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

by William Verity

The Catholic Church in Wollongong is facing fresh allegations that it failed to follow up sex abuse crimes by its priests.

Former Catholic school principal Jim Walsh intends to tell the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that he suspects two former priests from the Illawarra, who were never investigated by police or charged.

”It is my belief that there are still some who haven’t been unearthed,” he said.

His testimony will raise the possibility the Church protected priests by moving them away from their parishes to avoid investigation.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santiago.- The hearings to decide on whether to indict catholic priest Juan Manuel de Jesús Mota (Johnny) on sexual assault charges has become a witch-hunt against the accusers, according to the lawyers of the seven victims.

During the first hearing, Constanza prosecutor Juana María Castillo said a mob led by the former mayor Ernesto Joaquín Gómez (Chito) pushed and shoved two of the women who filed complaints.

“What’s happening here is that even I have bee threatened and these poor girls, fans of the cure have been manhandled,” said Castle in a telephone interviews by newspaper El Caribe.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

[Will Pope Francis Be Ready For His Reform Meetings With Cardinals?]

Jerry Slevin

Is Pope Francis in reality like a clone of ex-Pope Benedict, but just a better spiritual salesman? That is an important and unanswered question . Wishful thinking Catholics hope Francis really is different in more than his smoother speech. Many Catholics basically gave Francis a free six month pass, when Francis became new pope. He at the time appointed 8 Cardinals to tell him by October 1 how to reform the Curia. Six months seemed like a reasonable time, at least to come up with a specific vision of a reform agenda. Francis and the Cardinals were then , and still are, quite familar with the Church’s problems.

Of course, the eight Cardinals included some of the “usual suspects” who had been part of the clique that either caused the current mess or looked the other way as the ex-pope fiddled while Rome burned.

The group’s chairman, Cardinal Rodriguez of Honduras, had earlier shamefully suggested that the Jewish owners of the New York Times, parent company of the Boston Globe, were mainly behind the bad press Cardinal Law got in the Boston priest abuse scandals. Rodriguez reportedly supported the ex-pope’s ban on condoms for AIDS victims and excommunication of women who had an abortion. And he just suggested the Holy Spirit is guiding his current efforts to help Francis “reform” the Church. Really? Who guided his seemingly anti-Semitic remarks earlier?

As an international lawyer, it is becoming increasingly simpler to assess all of this now. Francis and his Cardinals’ group must either “put up” real reforms soon or else. The “or else” are government prosecutors. Australian prosecutors are currently breathing down the neck of Cardinal Pell, also one of the eight Cardinals. The ex-pope, or even Pope Francis, could well be next. And prosecutors in many other nations, including in Latin America, are stepping up their pace.

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ARGENTINA
La Plata YA

17 de septiembre de 2013

[Summary: Several alleged victims of priest Richard Gimenez, who was charged and convicted of child abuse, marched through Los Hornos. He was removed 10 days ago as pastor of his parish.]

La marcha fue organizada por varias victimas de Ricardo Gimenez quien esta acusado y condenado por abuso de menores. El mismo fue separado hace 10 días de su cargo como párroco de la Iglesia del Hospital San Juan de dios. El escrache se llevo adelante en 66 y 152 donde vive actual el denunciado.

El cura fue condenado por el abuso de cinco menores en 1996, pero luego la Cámara Penal de Apelaciones le concedió la excarcelación extraordinaria bajo caución juratoria.

Julieta Añazco una de las victimas aseguro a LAPLATAYA.COM que: “Hace 3 meses desperté después de 30 años de no poder hablar y ahora este señor no se va a poder esconder más. Ahora sabemos que seguramente se fue de su casa para no ser mas humillado, pero no lo voy a encontrar hasta abajo de la tierra.”

En sus fundamentos, el dictamen de los jueces Raúl Delbés y Horacio Piombo decía que se concedía al sacerdote el recurso por la “dignidad eclesiástica, la buena conducta y la falta de antecedentes del sacerdote”.

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ARGENTINA
El Intransigente

[Detailed Summary of Case of Julio César Grassi, Drawn from Media Coverage and Public Reports – BishopAccountability.org]

[Summary: Carlos Irisarri, who represents priest Julio Cesar Grassi, confirmed that they plan an extraordinary appeal before the national supreme court. Grassi has until Wednesday to appeal the to the inter-american human rights group.]

BUENOS AIRES.- Carlos Irisarri, patrocinante de la defensa del sacerdote Julio César Grassi, confirmó hoy que trabajaba “contrarreloj” para elevar un recurso extraordinario ante la Corte Suprema nacional dado que tiene plazo hasta el miércoles para apelar la condena por abuso sexual y corrupción de menores que ratificó el máximo tribunal bonaerense.

“El fallo último de la Corte de la Provincia, que lo dan cuatro jueces sobre siete, creo honestamente que es otra muestra de arbitrariedad. No entran en las cuestiones, es lo que yo le voy a plantear en la Corte de la Nación”, sostuvo el letrado de Julio César Grassi.

En tanto, adelantó que “si nos va mal en la Corte de la Nación, voy a plantearlo en la Interamericana de Derechos Humanos”.

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NEW JERSEY
UPI

Published: Sept. 29, 2013

TRENTON, N.J., Sept. 29 (UPI) — The Roman Catholic diocese in Trenton, N.J., has issued a statement confirming that a priest had been removed from his parish due to lurid text messages.

The statement released last week said the priest, Matthew Riedlinger, had indeed engaged in inappropriate communications with adults and that no sexual contact had taken place.

The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger said Sunday Riedlinger was the subject of complaints to the diocese since 2011, including from one of the young men, who said he and Rieldlinger exchanged some 1,200 graphic texts while Riedlinger was under the impression his text partner was a 16-year-old boy.

The text partner was actually Timothy Schmalz, a 23-year-old college student who said he set up his own sting with Riedlinger because the Jackson, N.J. priest had been sexually harassing him since he was a teenager.

The newspaper said Schmalz was one of five young men Riedlinger allegedly engaged in lurid communications. He was removed from his parish and later granted a leave of absence from the priesthood. No criminal charges have been filed.

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NEW JERSEY
Asbury Park Press

Written by
Amanda Oglesby
@OglesbyAPP

JACKSON — A Catholic priest who once ministered to a congregation in Jackson has taken a leave of absence following a sexting scandal with a man he reportedly thought was a 16-year-old boy.

Father Matthew Riedlinger preached at St. Aloysius Church in Jackson until August of 2012, when he entered counseling following complaints of inappropriate cell phone text conversations with other adults, according to church leadership.

While in out-patient treatment, Riedlinger continued having sexual conversations, prompting the Diocese of Trenton to remove him from St. Aloysius Church.

Timothy Schmalz, 23, of Washington D.C. complained to the Diocese in 2011 about Riedlinger’s behavior, saying the priest sexually harassed him, according to The Star-Ledger. To expose Riedlinger, Schmalz pretended online to be a 16-year-old boy and recorded text message conversations between himself and Riedlinger, and later forwarded them onto the Diocese, according to the newspaper. Schmalz declined an interview with the Asbury Park Press.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

[Summary: The first class air flight by Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz van Elst along with his authoritarian style have caused a large number of people to leave the church in the Limburg diocese. According to information obtained by Spiegel, about 25,000 Catholics have left since he took office in 2008 through the end of last year. The number of church resignations in 2012 was more than twice as high as in 2004 when Tebartz van Elst was not in office.]

Der Protzbau, der Erste-Klasse-Flug, der autoritäre Führungsstil: Viele Katholiken haben genug vom umstrittenen Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst. Nach SPIEGEL-Informationen ist die Zahl der Kirchenaustritte in seinem Bistum erheblich gestiegen.

Einsam, einsamer, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst: Erst distanzierten sich ranghohe Kirchenleute von dem Bischof. Jetzt laufen ihm auch noch seine Schäfchen davon: Nach Informationen des SPIEGEL hat die Zahl der Kirchenaustritte im Bistum Limburg angesichts des anhaltenden Skandals um den Bischof erheblich zugenommen; das zeigen die Zahlen mehrerer Amtsgerichte. Insgesamt haben seit seinem Amtsantritt zum Jahresbeginn 2008 bis Ende vergangenen Jahres rund 25.000 Katholiken die Limburger Kirche verlassen.

So war die Zahl der Austritte beim Amtsgericht Limburg im Jahr 2012 mehr als doppelt so hoch wie 2004, als Tebartz-van Elst noch nicht im Amt war. Eigentlich müssen Katholiken ihren Austritt aus der Kirche nicht begründen und dennoch tun es manche: Sie stören sich demnach am “Protzbau” des Bischofs, an seinem autoritären Führungsstil, an seinem Erste-Klasse-Flug nach Indien.

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LOUISIANA/FRANCE
The Advertiser

[with video]

Written by
Evan Moore

On clear mornings he can see the steeple.

It rises from a little russet-stone Catholic church in the village in southern France where Ray Mouton, former Louisiana lawyer-turned-expatriate-American author, now lives.

The view from Mouton’s terrace focuses squarely on that steeple as it cuts a vertical line through the horizon, reaching heavenward against a backdrop of the Pyrenees Mountains, a symbol of solace, hope and inspiration to man.

But not to Mouton.

Mouton has never been to Mass in that church. He has never heard a sermon there.

Mouton no longer attends church services. Not since the case of Father Gilbert Gauthe, whose horrific crimes against children in the Diocese of Lafayette set off a wave of scandal in 1985 that reached from southern Louisiana throughout the nation. Not since that wave rolled across the ocean to Europe, all the way to the Vatican.

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ARGENTINA
El Siglo

[Summary – In an interview with Radio LT10 of the city of Santa Fe , Marcelo Baridon , lawyer of one of the victims of the priest Justo José Ilarraz , said the priest was confessor and spiritual guide to the father of one victims. Illarraz is accused of more than 50 instances of sexual abuse.]

28/09/2013 11:14 PM | SANTA FE.- En diálogo con la radio LT10 de la ciudad de Santa Fe, Marcelo Baridón, abogado de una de las víctimas del cura Justo José Ilarraz, quien fue acusado por más de 50 casos de abusos sexuales, expresó que “en este delito se produce un caso paradigmático porque los delitos sexuales fueron cometidos en un seminario”.

“Ilarraz oficiaba de confesor, de guía espiritual y hasta de padre de una de las víctimas. Este hombre enjuagaba su práctica sexual en conceptos que los jóvenes no tenían. Ilarraz les hablaba de amistad y confusión”, dijo el letrado.

Además, Marcelo Baridón agregó que “efectivamente, la causa del cura Grassi influyó. La primera denuncia fue casual. La madre estaba mirando televisión y no salía de su asombro ante la causa Grassi y en ese momento su hijo rompe a llorar y le cuenta que lo ocurrió algo similar”.

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UNITED STATES
Whispers in the Loggia

Two years ago, Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga was licking his wounds on the Roman scene.

After a power play orchestrated by the Roman Curia, the Honduran cardinal’s top collaborator at Caritas Internationalis – the charity confederation’s secretary-general, Lesley Anne Knight – had been denied a second term by the Vatican, for reasons that the Caritas board wouldn’t disclose, but greeted with stated “incomprehension.” Widely seen as the most formidable laywoman in a global-level church post, Knight’s allies later portrayed the British-Zimbabwean chief’s black-balling in the context of her gender, lack of orders and outspokenness at high levels in defending her agency’s work.

Yet now, as only a transition of Popes can bring about, it’s suddenly a new world: Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Salesian confrere with whom Rodriguez shared little else in common, is 17 days from retiring… and this week, the Honduran’s restoration to center stage (and then some) completes itself as Don Óscar takes the principal place alongside Pope Francis at the first summit of Bergoglio’s advisory commission of eight cardinals as the group’s designated “coordinator.”

Believed to have been the key driver behind the Latin American bloc that put the Argentine on this Conclave’s map in the first ballot, it’s not a stretch to say that Rodríguez, 70 – a dynamic polyglot with three decades’ experience on the global stage – now enjoys the role of papal “shadow,” and the near-limitless portfolio that comes with it, which in times past had been the province of the Secretary of State. Indeed, unburdened with the minutiae of running a dicastery as he cris-crosses the globe, perhaps it isn’t even too much to cast the first of the “Super-Cardinals” as Francis’ “Vice-Pope”… at least, with one key difference from before: unlike the Benedict-Bertone tag-team, the new Pope has no qualms about being his own linebacker.

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ROME
Rome Reports

[with video]

September 28, 2013. (Romereports.com) Before the start of the conclave earlier this year, when asked where the next Pope would come from, Australian Cardinal George Pell ventured to guess that the most likely probability was Europe.

But then he added:

CARD. GEORGE PELL
Archbishop of Sydney (March 6, 2013)
“We will certainly see a South American Pope in the next 50 to 100 years, perhaps many of them.”

It turns out he didn’t have to wait years, but rather days, to see the the first South American pontiff. His fellow cardinals elected Pope Francis in five rounds of voting.

From the onset it was clear what Cardinal Pell expected from the next Pope, and it seems, so far, he’s getting what he wanted.

CARD. GEORGE PELL
Archbishop of Sydney (March 6, 2013)
“We’ve got to have a Pope who is able to speak to the world, to modern communications and I think this time we’re gonna have a pastoral pope who can encourage the Vatican Curia to lift their game.”

The Archbishop of Sydney will also have an important role in getting the Curia to lift their game. He was one of eight cardinals from around the world Pope Francis appointed to advise him on reform to the Church and Curia.

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ARGENTINA
Contexto National

[Detailed Summary of Case of Julio César Grassi, Drawn from Media Coverage and Public Reports – BishopAccountability.org]

[Summary: The first days in prison are the hardest and the longest. Priest Julio Cesar Grassi, 58, has had to adapt. His first days have included a series of interviews with psychologists and psychiatrists to map out a profile and define a strategy. He was visited the first four days by two of his four brothers and spoke with the chaplain. According to sources, the priest is housed in Unit 41 which currently has about 500 prisoners along with 30 other detainees. Many have been charged with sex crimes. One of his peers is priest Jose Antonio Mercau, sentenced to 14 years in prison for abusing four minors. Mercau, 57, belongs to the San Isidro diocese.]

Los primeros días en prisión son los más difíciles. Los más duros. Y los más largos. El cura Julio César Grassi (59) atraviesa la etapa de adaptación, que incluye una serie de entrevistas con psicólogos y psiquiatras que tienen como objetivo trazar su perfil y definir la estrategia para que el período de iniciación carcelaria no sea tan violento.

Por estas horas, Grassi ocupa parte de su tiempo en cuestiones de rutina. No obstante, en estos primeros cuatro días recibió a dos de sus cuatro hermanos y habló personalmente con el capellán de Campana, quien estará a su lado mientras dure su estadía en prisión.

Según fuentes consultadas, el cura fue alojado en el pabellón seis de la Unidad Penitenciaria N° 41 –que actualmente alberga a cerca de 500 presos– junto a otros treinta detenidos más, muchos de ellos acusados por delitos contra la integridad sexual. El dato es que uno de sus compañeros es otro cura de la Iglesia Católica: el párroco José Antonio Mercau, condenado a catorce años de prisión por abusar de cuatro menores.

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UNITED STATES
Renew America

By Matt C. Abbott

Pope Francis will have his hands full, no doubt; the clergy abuse scandal still isn’t over.

Several cases have made the news in recent days.

Father Curtis Wehmeyer.
Father Robert Poandl.
Father William Paulish.
Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski.
Father Wojciech Gil.
Father Julio Cesar Grassi.
Bishop Gabino Miranda.
Father Louis Grandpre.
Father Robert Brennan.

On a related note, Billy Graham’s grandson is sounding the alarm about abuse among evangelicals.

According to a Sept. 26 story at Religion News Service:

The Christian mission field is a ‘magnet’ for sexual abusers, Boz Tchividjian, a Liberty University law professor who investigates abuse said Thursday (Sept. 26) to a room of journalists.

While comparing evangelicals to Catholics on abuse response, ‘I think we are worse,’ he said at the Religion Newswriters Association conference, saying too many evangelicals had ‘sacrificed the souls’ of young victims….

Click here to read the full article.

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