ABUSE TRACKER

CALIFORNIA
Christian Post

BY MORGAN LEE , CP CONTRIBUTOR
September 22, 2013

An associate pastor in California has been arrested and accused of molesting as many as 20 female church members in the past eight years.

Jorge Juan Castro, 54, worked as an associate pastor and counselor at Las Buenas Nuevas Church in Norwalk, Ca. In April, he was placed on leave after 20 women reported sexual abuse to a church official, who in turn reported it to police.

Castro allegedly told the women who questioned his actions that they were part of a faith-healing process, said police.

“He claimed to have healing hands and ulitized that process to eventually sexually assault them,” Esson said. “He preyed upon them from a trust position. He warned them they’d be the subject of ridicule in the church if they told others,” L.A. County Sheriff’s Capt. Robert Esson told The Los Angeles Times.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

An inquiry into abuse by NSW priests has heard claims of a “gross, grubby and black conspiracy” by a whistleblower to hinder police are baseless.

Source AAP

Two pedophile priests were able to get away with years of abusing children in the NSW Hunter Valley because “a lot of good men did nothing”, an inquiry has been told.

A special commission is examining how Catholic church officials and police handled child sex abuse allegations involving priests James Fletcher and Denis McAlinden.

In his final public submission on behalf of whistleblower policeman Peter Fox, lawyer Mark Cohen said on Monday many people had failed to act to protect the child victims.

“A lot of good men have done nothing, and this has allowed the ilk of James Fletcher and Denis McAlinden to do what they did,” he said.

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Haredi Rabbis Who Cover Up Child Sex Abuse To Have Complete Control Over Leiby Kletzky Security Camera Footage

After almost 2 years of secrecy (and, many say, deception) by NY State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Agudath Israel of America and State Senator Dean Skelos (who funded the $1 million grant with Hikind), 100 security cameras are reportedly about to be installed in Borough Park – under the complete control of the very haredi rabbis who have spent decades covering up child sex abuse and other crimes in the haredi community.

Remember that $1 million dollar New York State grant for security cameras from New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind and State Senator Dean Skelos to Agudath Israel of America after the Leiby Kletzky murder two years ago?

After more than one year of secrecy (and, many say, deception) by Hikind, Agudah and Skelos, 100 security cameras are reportedly about to be installed in Borough Park – under the complete control of Agudath Israel of America.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date:Sunday, September 22, 2013
Source:Jim Accurso

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced today that an accusation has recently been made against Fr. Mark Huberty by a woman alleging inappropriate touching. Fr. Huberty denies the allegations.

Huberty is a priest of the archdiocese and pastor of the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood, Minnesota.

The allegation has been reported to the police, and the police and the Archdiocese have opened an investigation, which is ongoing. The Archdiocese is cooperating fully with all civil authorities.

As a result, Fr. Huberty is taking a temporary leave of absence until the matter is resolved. He is not being removed as pastor or being suspended; however, he will not be living at the Presentation rectory or exercising parish ministry during this time.

In the interim, the archdiocese is appointing an administrator to oversee pastoral responsibilities for the parish and arranging for priests to celebrate Masses and attend to all other sacramental needs of the community.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
September 22, 2013

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — A Maplewood priest told parishioners at the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sunday that he’s taking a leave of absence after an allegation surfaced that he had inappropriate contact with a woman.

During Sunday mass, the Rev. Mark Huberty, pastor of the chuch, characterized the situation as a “serious concern.”

“An accusation was recently made against me by a woman who alleges inappropriate touching, which I deny,” Huberty said.

Several parishioners appeared surprised by the news. Some were seen crying after Huberty made the announcement.

Huberty said he’s cooperating fully with investigations being conducted by police and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. In a statement, the archdiocese said Huberty is not being removed as pastor or being suspended. The statement also said Huberty will not be living at the parish during the investigation.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

EDITORIAL: For the sake of our children, truth must emerge from Royal Comission into institutional child sex abuse

IT’S now almost 11 months since former prime minister Julia Gillard announced a far-reaching Royal Commission into institutional child sex abuse.

In that time the Commission has heard hundreds of stories, both horrifying and heartbreaking.

More than a thousand survivors are yet to give their own evidence.

As Commissioner Peter McClellan recently said, the personal accounts confirm the devastating effects of abuse, and prove any exploitation has “catastrophic consequences” for survivors who are then likely to lead “a life which is seriously compromised from what it might otherwise have been”.

Tragically, abuse robs not just the child but also the woman or man who grows from that point.

Allegations of child abuse in institutional settings have long plagued organisations, some with proud histories.

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BRIDGEPORT (CT)
The Hartford Courant

By BERNARD T. DAVIDOW, bdavidow@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
10:28 a.m. EDT, September 22, 2013

New Bridgeport Bishop Frank J. Caggiano, who has promised to reach out to those Catholics who feel disenfranchised, has offered to meet with the local chapter of the Voice of the Faithful — a meeting the group says it was never able to arrange with his predecessor.

“He has a real chance to put his mark on the diocese, and we’re very excited about it,” said Jamie Dance, chairwoman of the group, which was formed after the priest sex abuse scandal broke more than 10 years ago.

The group’s relationship with former Bishop William Lori — now archbishop in Baltimore — was not a good one. They say he never accepted an offer to meet despite repeated requests.

After the pope selected Caggiano in late July, the group sent the incoming bishop a welcoming note. He wrote back and offered to meet. Caggiano was installed as the new bishop on Thursday.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

THE NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into child sex abuse allegations in the Hunter will return to Newcastle Supreme Court today.

Representatives for whistleblower Detective Chief Inspector Fox, Newcastle Herald journalist Joanne McCarthy, NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and several Catholic Church clergy members are expected to read submissions during the final three hearing days.

NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell established the commission of inquiry, the first of its kind in Australia, after Mr Fox’s open letter to the Premier was published in the Herald in November last year and after he appeared on the ABC’s Lateline.

The inquiry, which ran between May and August this year, has considered police investigations of the late Hunter paedophile priests Denis McAlinden and Jim Fletcher and examined the Church’s handling of allegations involving the priests.

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ARGENTINA
Ambito

[Summary: Priest Julio Cesar Grassi, sentenced to 15 years in jail for aggravated sexual assault and corruption of minors, said the penalty is “unacceptable.” He will continue to try and prove his innocence.]

El cura Julio César Grassi, condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual agravado y corrupción de menores, consideró “inaceptable” la pena que le impuso la Justicia y aseguró que seguirá tratando de “demostrar su inocencia”.

El Obispado de Morón, al que pertenece Grassi, informó que el párroco se comunicó con esa Diócesis y ratificó su inocencia en los casos por los cuales fue condenado. La sentencia fue confirmada por la Sala II de Casación y la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la provincia de Buenos Aires. El jueves pasado, la Cámara de Casación ordenó la detención de Grassi “al no cumplir los términos de la libertad provisional otorgada como alternativa al asistir a un programa televisivo”.

“El Obispado de Morón toma conocimiento del resultado del proceso judicial, mediante el cual la Suprema Corte de la Provincia de Buenos Aires ratifica lo actuado por los jueces inferiores. El padre Julio César Grassi es nuevamente absuelto en quince casos y condenado en dos”, dice el comunicado.

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ARGENTINA
La Nacion

Uno de los abogados querellantes en el caso que condenó al sacerdote Julio César Grassi a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual agravado y corrupción de menores, consideró hoy que el Tribunal de Morón que lleva la causa “nunca va a dictar de oficio la detención” y cuestionó “influencias” de la defensa en la Justicia local.

Se trata del abogado Sergio Piris, representante de un adolescente que acusó a Grassi por abuso. El letrado también confirmó que mañana a las 13 se realizará una audiencia en los tribunales de Morón respecto de la causa sobre la violación de las condiciones de prisión domiciliaria.

Piris cuestionó que el imputado no cumpla su condena en prisión tras conocerse el fallo de la Corte bonaerense que ratificó la condena y aseguró que esa es una “respuesta que tienen que dar los jueces del Tribunal 1 de Morón”.

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UNITED STATES
Telegraph-Herald

Associated Press
NEW YORK — In recent years, many American bishops have drawn a harder line with parishioners on what could be considered truly Roman Catholic, adopting a more aggressive style of correction and telling abortion rights supporters to stay away from the sacrament of Communion.

Liberal-minded Catholics derided the approach as tone-deaf. Church leaders said they had no choice given what was happening around them: growing secularism, increasing acceptance of gay marriage, and a culture they considered more and more hostile to Christianity. They felt they were following the lead of the pontiffs who elevated them.

But in blunt terms, in an interview published Thursday in 16 Jesuit journals worldwide, the new pope, Francis called the church’s focus on abortion, marriage and contraception narrow and said it was driving people away. Now, the U.S. bishops face a challenge to rethink a strategy many considered essential for preserving the faith.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Express

KREFELD –
Die Staatsanwaltschaft Krefeld will die Auslieferung des in Südafrika lebenden Krefelder Priesters K. wegen Verdachts des sexuellen Missbrauchs an Kindern und Jugendlichen erreichen.

Sie hat jetzt einen entsprechenden Antrag gestellt. Der Mann sei in Auslieferungshaft gewesen, aber gegen Auflagen wieder auf freiem Fuß.

Dem Priester wird sexueller Missbrauch von Kindern und Jugendlichen in 37 Fällen vorgeworfen. Nach Angaben des Bistums Aachen steht der suspendierte Priester auch in Südafrika wegen Missbrauchs vor Gericht.

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UNITED STATES
The Freethinker

BY BARRY DUKE – SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

A CATHOLIC priest, found in a car on a college campus in Pennsylvania with a boy aged 15 who was not wearing pants, has been charged with one felony count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and one felony count of unlawful contact with a minor.

The Rev W Jeffrey Paulish’s arrest comes days after a 53-year-old associate pastor at a Riverside County Church was arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials and charged with six felony counts of rape, oral copulation and penetration with a foreign object.

Police nabbed Paulish, 56, was nabbed at the Worthington Scranton campus of Penn State. He is also charged with three misdemeanor counts ­– indecent contact with a person under 16, indecent exposure, and corruption of a minor. He is being held at the Lackawanna County jail on $50,000 bail.

Paulish allegedly told police he was at the campus working on his homily when he met the teen, who he said was in emotional distress, and began “counselling him”.

According to the affidavit, he later admitted to police that he had arranged the meeting with the teen through the “casual encounters” section of Craigslist. Paulish told investigators that he had asked the boy three times if he was over the age of 18, the affidavit said.

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ARGENTINA
Online-911

{Summary: “Gabriel”, one of three men who accused priest Julio Cesar Grassi of abuse when they were minors, said it is hard to put into words the horror he suffered and continues to suffer because of the abuse. He said he had received death threats and was told he would not arrive alive for the trial. Grassi called him a liar and a criminal. “Gabriel” said that while Grassi remains free he remains a prisoner for life.]

11:10 : “Gabriel”, uno de los tres denunciantes que acusaron al padre Julio Cesar Grassi de abuso se refirió al calvario que vive en torno al proceso judicial contra el cura.

“Me costó mucho poder ponerle palabras al horror. Sufrí y sigo sufriendo por lo que me hizo el cura Grassi en el lugar en que creí y sentí que iba a recibir amparo”, dijo a través de una carte enviada al Diario Perfil.

Luego, detalló el proceso vivido desde que se animó a denunciar: “Fue una liberación poder decirlo. Pero nunca imaginé, más de diez años después, todo lo que se me vino encima y que aún no logro procesar. En la calle, desde la televisión y en donde estuviera me llegaban los mensajes y hasta una bala. Me dijeron que no podía llegar vivo al juicio”.

“Concurrí a todas las citaciones y me sometí a pericias. Grassi se negaba a todo. Me trataba de mentiroso y de delincuente, repetía mi nombre y distribuía mi imagen. Llegó el juicio oral. Una vez más, ante su mirada amenazante, sostuve mi verdad”, remarcó.

Respecto a la situación actual del cura, quien se encuentra en libertad a pesar de estar agotadas todas las instancias judiciales provinciales, dijo: “Escuchar la condena me reparó una parte de tanto daño. Pero cuatro años después, Grassi sigue libre. Y yo, preso en la vida sin poder recomenzar, por esta situación que nunca termina. Escuchando incluso esta última semana en televisión cómo la persona más allegada a Grassi disfrutaba y se ensañaba repitiendo una y otra vez mi nombre –lo único que tengo–, insultándome y humillándome”.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX
From: The Australian
September 23, 2013

ONE of Australia’s worst pedophile priests was brought from Ireland at the request of his former Catholic order, which warned he was difficult, bad-tempered and should be kept away from other people.

Documents tendered to the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into church child abuse, which begins hearing closing submissions today, also reveal Denis McAlinden went on to commit dozens of sexual crimes against adults and children over several decades.

In 1949, the then Redemptorist provincial in Limerick, John Treacy, wrote to the Bishop of Maitland in the NSW Hunter Valley asking if “there be any possibility of taking one of our students”.

“You will very justly say then: ‘What is wrong with him, so why do you not wish to retain him? Well, his difficulty is community life . . . he is a bit hard to get on with in ordinary life. His temper is difficult,” the letter states.

While he did not specifically mention sexual crimes, the late Father Treacy recommended McAlinden “for the secular priesthood, in which he will have to live in that close association (as) we have to live with one another”.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Sept. 22, 2013

AN ‘‘organised ring’’ of paedophiles, believed to include Anglican and Catholic clergy, used a Sunday afternoon ‘‘children’s Christian program’’ in the 1970s to sexually abuse boys at a church-run boys home in Wallsend.

‘‘These men just came, got the boys, used them, and put them back,’’ said a Hunter woman whose husband has told a private hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse that he was sexually assaulted by multiple offenders at Woodlands boys home.

The United Protestant Association has issued an unreserved apology for the ‘‘tragedy’’ of what occurred to child sex victims at Woodlands, where some of the smallest and youngest boys were targeted by the Sunday group.

‘‘From what the victims have told us, these men changed from week to week, suggesting a larger, organised ring,’’ UPA general manager Steve Walkerden and after-care support worker Graham Hercus said in a joint statement on Friday in response to Newcastle Herald questions.

‘‘We are aware of a group of men who did come to the home in the 1970s for a number of years on a Sunday afternoon, ostensibly to conduct a children’s Christian program, but who routinely took smaller boys into downstairs rooms in the building and abused them.’’

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Royal Commission last week spent a lot of time on the failures of the “working with children” checks concerning Steven Larkins during his time with the Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services organisation. It did not touch on the issue with regards to his other employers, namely the Education department, the Lutheran Church and the Catholic Church.

In a July 2013 report by the NSW Children’s Guardian, 700 religious organisations were surveyed concerning these checks, which have been compulsory for the past 15 years. Almost half of these organisations had not registered for the checks. Given that only 700 of the 4,000 such organisations were surveyed, the problem of non-compliance with the law is probably extreme.

The report stated that “appropriate governance arrangements were either not in place or given little attention.” It attributed the reason for this to “a lack of resources as well as an expectation or perception that someone else did it.” This is not a reason, it is an excuse. The Children’s Guardian has not said what steps have been taken to ensure compliance now.

Critically, it was found that religious organisations, especially the Baptist and Catholic Churches, were the main offenders, so it is even more unusual that the enquiry’s attention, in the first week, was exclusively on non-religious organisations concerning the “working with children” checks.

Many will be watching with interest to see if the commissioners touch on the religious organisations during next week’s proceedings.

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PERU
La Republic

Editorial

Aciertos y omisiones en el caso del obispo Miranda

Fiscalía de Ayacucho abrió investigación por pedofilia contra el ex obispo auxiliar de esa diócesis Gabino Miranda Melgarejo. Esta decisión fue adoptada de oficio luego de que un columnista de nuestro diario diese la alarma. Miranda fue destituido hace más de 40 días.

Según revela el corresponsal de La República en Ayacucho, el obispo de esa jurisdicción comunicó el 15 de agosto a la Iglesia la destitución de Miranda y su expulsión del estado clerical.

El fulminante proceso contra el obispo se realizó en mérito a las nuevas reglas canónicas. El año 2010 se reformó el documento De Delicta Graviora endureciendo la lucha contra la pederastia en la iglesia, ampliando el plazo para la denuncia, introduciendo el delito de adquisición y difusión de pornografía infantil y estableciendo que los casos graves sean presentados directamente al Papa. …

Translation:

The Ayacucho prosecutor opened an investigation into charges of pedophilia against former auxiliary bishop of that diocese, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo. This decision was officially adopted after a columnist for our paper give the alarm. Miranda was removed more than 40 days ago.

As revealed by the correspondent of the Republic in Ayacucho, the bishop of that jurisdiction announced on August 15 the Church Miranda’s dismissal and expulsion from the clerical state.

The withering process against the bishop was made in recognition of the new canonical rules. Vatican rules were reformed in 2010 to fight pedophilia in the church. The deadline for reporting was extended, the crime of acquisition and dissemination of child pornography was added and it established that serious cases are presented directly to the pope.

By intervening in this case based on canon law, the Church collected evidence and testimony of (the) victim (s) and their families. This information has not been referred to the civil authorities. For this reason, the prosecution questioned why having heard the case the national church hierarchy had not contacted the prosecutor.

In May 2011, American Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ordered bishops to denounce clergy suspected of pedophilia to civil justice saying that child sexual abuse is not just a canonical delict but it also a crime to be prosecuted by the civil authorities. These efforts are aimed at no longer keeping these crimes in secrecy and asked the episcopal conferences to develop prevention programs and listen to and compensate the victims.

Contradictory to the spirit of the Universal Church are the words of the Cardinal Primate of the Peruvian church, Juan Luis Cipriani, who has criticized the public denunciation by the renowned Bishop of Chimbote, Luis Bambaren. We can say the same about the release from Opus Dei in Peru focused on explaining that Miranda does not belong to this prelature, a half truth, and instead of having solidarity with the victims states that Miranda denied any wrongdoing with minors.

It is also unfortunate that the President of the Episcopal Conference postponed explaining the facts until his return home. This attitude is far from adopting what other episcopal conferences in the region have done. For example, in April 2010 the Chilean church apologized for child abuse cases reported and urged victims to report these crimes.

This is an opportunity to bring change to the Peruvian church hierarch. New cases are added every yea. In February 2011, Sodality of Christian Life canceled the process of beatification of their leader Germán Doig due to serious accusations without revealing whether the facts have been judged by the law. In May of that year it was discovered that in Moquegua a Belgian priest served when a case file was reopened showing three alleged cases of child sexual abuse.The priest was suspended but the bishop of that diocese has refused to report on the outcome of the case. Then, other cases have been reported in Pucusana and Vitarte, in Lima, without further information from the authorities of the diocese.

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PERU
La Republica

[Summary: Juan Luis Cipriani, archbishop of Lima, minimized the pedophile charges against former Bishop Gabino Miranda, who was removed by the Vatican, and he blamed the scandal on the media. He asked for mercy. MIranda is being investigated by prosecutor for alleged abuse of minors.]

Excesos. Arzobispo de Lima minimizó caso de pedofilia del ex obispo Gabino Miranda pese a que el Vaticano lo destituyó. Además, culpó del escándalo a la prensa y pidió misericordia.

A pesar de que se ha confirmado que el ex obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho Gabino Miranda ha sido expulsado de la Iglesia Católica y ya es investigado por la Fiscalía por presunto delito de pedofilia, el Arzobispo de Lima Juan Luis Cipriani trató de minimizar el caso e incluso pidió tener misericordia con el sancionado sacerdote.

“En estos temas de cualquier situación de pedofilia, la Iglesia exige una claridad y transparencia y justicia muy grande. No sé qué tendrá que decir el propio interesado al respecto. Es muy dolorosa, si es como menciona, una situación de este estilo, pero las personas tienen derecho a defenderse y a saber qué ha pasado”, expresó.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

ELAINE KEOGH – 22 SEPTEMBER 2013

A COMPLAINT that Fr Iggy O’Donovan, the Drogheda-based rebel Augustinian priest, allowed godparents to pour water on a baby’s head during a baptism was used as the basis of a complaint about him to Rome that contributed to him being removed from his parish.

The complaint was made without the knowledge of the parents, who have told the Sunday Independent they fully support Fr O’Donovan.

It was initially made to Cardinal Sean Brady and subsequently forwarded to Rome.

As a result, another priest in the diocese approached the parents and told them the baby would have to be baptised again – and not by Fr Iggy, who leaves Drogheda this weekend for a year-long sabbatical in Limerick.

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PERU
Volkskrant (Nederland)

Een rooms-katholieke bisschop uit Peru is door het Vaticaan uit zijn ambt ontheven omdat hij wordt verdacht van seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen. Het openbaar ministerie in het Zuid-Amerikaanse land erkent dat een justitieel onderzoek naar de bisschop is ingesteld, maar wil niet aangeven waarover.

Het gaat om de 53-jarige Gabino Miranda. Hij was voorzitter van de jeugdcommissie van de rooms-katholieke kerk in Peru en stond in nauw contact met aartsbisschop Juan Cipriani. Zijn vertrek werd zaterdag bevestigd door een woordvoerder van de kerk.

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ARGENTINA
Rio Negro

[Summary: The president of the children and adolescents council, Patricia Baeza, said Bishop Marcilo Cuenca must make a quick explanation about why he and others in the church believe Julio Cesar Grassi is totally innocent of charges of abusing minors. The council is alarmed by these statements.]

ROCA (AR).- La presidenta del Consejo de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes (CONyA), Patricia Baeza, aseguró ayer que las declaraciones efectuadas por el obispo Marcelo Cuenca “rayan la perversión” y reclamó una rápida explicación de la Iglesia Católica sobre los dichos del religioso, quien aseguró que Julio César Grassi “es totalmente inocente”.

“Como institución nos alarman y nos preocupan sus declaraciones. No alcanza sólo con repudiar”, dijo la trabajadora social.

Aclaró que las personas que trabajan con niños o adultos que han sido víctimas de un abuso saben perfectamente lo que implica la condena como una reparación del daño que han efectuado. “Pero también nos preocupa que no haya voces disidentes, por lo menos hasta ahora no las hemos escuchado. La Iglesia no se expidió”, dijo.

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ARGENTINA
Perfil

Por Cecilia Di Lodovico | 22/09/2013

Pasaron 11 años desde que se atrevió a denunciar al cura Julio César Grassi. Desde entonces, “Gabriel” crece a la sombra del hombre condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual agravado y corrupción de menores.

Hoy, tiene 30 años y vive de changas, en el rubro de la construcción, porque no consigue un trabajo fijo, aunque finalizó un curso de computación para poder avanzar. El miércoles, un llamado a su celular lo alertó sobre la decisión de la Corte Suprema de Justicia bonaerense que, al igual que la Cámara de Casación, confirmó la sentencia condenatoria del Tribunal Oral Nº1 de Morón del 10 de junio de 2009. Sin embargo, el sacerdote continúa en libertad. Y Gabriel –la víctima– lo sufre. En una carta que envió a PERFIL les implora a los jueces que detengan al cura y relata su padecimiento.

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VATICAN CITY
DFW Catholic

Vatican City, Sep 21, 2013 / 11:53 am (CNA/EWTN News).-
Pope Francis made several key decisions in establishing his Curia today, appointing new officials and confirming others in their positions in the Vatican.

The series of announcements includes the confirmation of top officials in key departments and the return of an American to the upper ranks of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

It has been over six months since Pope Francis announced he was temporarily confirming Vatican officials in their positions, taking “some time for reflection, prayer and dialogue, before any definitive nominations or confirmations.”

On Sept. 21, some of those major decisions were made.

Most notably, Pope Francis has confirmed confidence in German Archbishop Gerhard Mueller as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, and titular Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer as the department’s secretary.

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ARGENTINA
El Debate

El Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 de Morón citó a todas las partes para el próximo lunes a las 13, con el objetivo de analizar la solicitud hecha ayer por la Fiscalía. El abogado defensor dijo que su cliente apelará a la Corte Suprema para seguir libre

El kirchnerismo no tratará la baja en la edad de imputabilidad hasta después de las elecciones
DyNAyer, los fiscales de Morón Alejandro Varela y Carolina María Rodríguez pidieron al Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 (TOC) de esa localidad la “inmediata detención” del cura Julio César Grassi, cuya condena de 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual fue confirmada por la Suprema Corte Bonaerense.Según supo Infobae, la solicitud fue hecha, ya que consideraron existe peligro de fuga. Asimismo, también realizaron el mismo pedido los querellantes Juan Pablo Gallego y Sergio Piris, representantes de chicos presuntamente abusados por el sacerdote.

Ante esta situación, el TOC citó para este a lunes a las 13 a todas las partes y así analizar el pedido hecho por la Fiscalía. “Esperemos que de acá al lunes se pueda cumplir esta situación dado el peligro de fuga”, afirmó Gallego.

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PERU
First Post

LIMA (Reuters) – The Vatican, under Pope Francis’ “zero-tolerance” policy for pedophile priests, removed an auxiliary bishop from his post in a Peruvian province because of allegations he sexually abused children, a bishop said on Friday.

Luis Bambaren, the former president of Peru’s bishops’ conference and bishop emeritus of Chimbote, told local media that Gabino Miranda was dismissed as auxiliary bishop in the dioceses of Ayacucho, a poor Andean region in southern Peru, after he was accused of having sexual relations with minors. …

Reuters was not able to reach Miranda for comment, but conservative Catholic group Opus Dei said that Miranda has denied the abuse allegations. “He denies any crime related to minors,” Opus Dei in Peru said in a statement on Friday.

The group said that while Miranda had received “spiritual assistance” from an organization closely linked to Opus Dei – the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross – Miranda is not a member of Opus Dei. “Gabino Miranda has never been incardinated in the clergy of Prelature of Opus Dei,” the statement said.

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PERU
The Kansas City Star

September 21
The Associated Press

LIMA, Peru — A Catholic official says the Vatican has removed a bishop in Peru amid allegations that he sexually abused minors.

Bishop Luis Bambaren told reporters Friday that 53-year-old Gabino Miranda had been removed as part of Pope Francis’ “zero tolerance” policy against abuse.

Peruvian authorities said in a statement they are investigating the charges against Miranda, who is the second known bishop to be removed recently by the Vatican amid abuse allegations.

The Rev. Percy Quispe of the archdiocese of Ayacucho in Peru told The Associated Press Saturday that Miranda has not belonged to the Catholic Church since July but did not specify why he had left. Quispe said Miranda had departed Ayacucho that month.

Miranda had led the local episcopal youth commission.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse has been much-anticipated. After almost a year, it finally began public hearings at the beginning of last week. To the surprise of many, it did not begin with matters relating to religious organisations, instead focusing on an old case where Steven Larkins was jailed for forging his “Working with children “ documents, and being in possession of child pornography. Associated charges of abuse of boys in his Scouts group attracted a suspended sentence.

Larkins was arrested when he was head of the Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services organization, which receives funding from the New South Wales State government. His association with the Scouts was as a volunteer, but he was employed during that time, sequentially, by the New South Wales education department, the Lutheran Church and the St. John of God Catholic Church religious order. This order has had serious cases of abuse in Australia.

The enquiry heard evidence from Scouts, the Hunter organisation, the New South Wales government and local police. It did not hear evidence from his other employers.

At the beginning of the week, the hearings attracted widespread media attention, even though it only went back over matters revealed during Larkins’ court case. By the middle of the week, reporting fell off dramatically, so that, basically, only the public broadcaster, the ABC, carried the story at all. By the end of the week, even the ABC dropped coverage.

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SCOTLAND
Edinburgh Evening News

The Catholic Church in Scotland has welcomed a new archbishop with the ordination of Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s successor.

Monsignor Leo Cushley officially became Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh at a ceremony in the Capital.

It was announced in July that he was replacing Cardinal O’Brien who left the post because of inappropriate sexual conduct during his religious career. …

Cardinal O’Brien stepped down after 27 years at the end of February when three priests and a former priest made allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him.

He later issued an apology, saying that ‘’there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me’’.

Archbishop Cushley said he was ‘’humbled’’ by his appointment on July 24.

‘’I know it’s a delicate moment and that there is a lot to be done but with God’s grace and the kind support of the clergy and people of Edinburgh, I will work cheerfully and willingly with all the energy I can muster,’’ he said.

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VATICAN CITY
USA Today

Pope Francis removed conservative Italian Cardinal Mauro Piacenza from position, but kept Archibishop Gerhard Mueller as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis, on Saturday, effectively demoted a highly conservative Italian cardinal who led the Vatican’s department on clergy, while keeping in place a German prelate who wages the Catholic church’s crackdown on liberal U.S. nuns and helps craft its sex-abuse response.

After six months on the job to study the workings of the Vatican’s curia, or bureaucracy, Francis has now put his imprint on several key positions, which help administer the Roman Catholic church’s worldwide flock. His management picks will likely both please and disappoint both conservatives and liberals alike, perhaps in line with his fledgling papacy, which has often defied labels in either camp.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 21, 2013

SCRANTON, Pennsylvania — A Catholic priest whose ministry included counseling troubled youths is facing charges in northeastern Pennsylvania after police say he admitted to sex acts with a 15-year-old boy.

The Rev. William Paulish was in Lackawanna County prison, unable to post $50,000 bail Friday.

The charges involve sexual contact with a minor. Court records didn’t list a lawyer for Paulish.

The Times-Tribune of Scranton reports (http://bit.ly/1dywtU3 ) that the 56-year-old Paulish has been reassigned 15 times by the Diocese of Scranton after being ordained in 1988 and has had three separate leaves of absence.

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SCOTLAND
The Tablet

Christopher Lamb in Edinburgh – 21 September 2013

The new Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh said today he will seek to bring mercy and forgiveness to his new archdiocese, which is still reeling from allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against its former leader.

Archbishop Leo Cushley was ordained today in a ceremony lasting over two hours at St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh.

He succeeds Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him by five men, four of them priests. The cardinal later admitted that his sexual conduct had fallen below the standards expected of a priest, archbishop and cardinal.

The archbishop, a papal diplomat who was previously working in the Vatican, said that Pope Francis had urged him during a recent meeting to be merciful in his new ministry.

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PERU
RPP

[Summary: Parishioners in Ayacucho expressed disbelief and shock at removal of the region’s auxiliary bishop who has been accused of abusing minors. Since appointment as auxiliary in Ayaucho in 2004, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo has toured many rural communities. He traveled to Spain for World Youth Day in 2011.]

Incredulidad y conmoción son los sentimientos entre los feligreses de Ayacucho por la destitución del obispo auxiliar de esa región, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, acusado de pedofilia.

Como se recuerda, desde su designación como segunda máxima autoridad del Arzobispado Metropolitano de Ayacucho en el 2004, Miranda Melgarejo recorrió muchas comunidades campesinas, evangelizando y pacificando la comunicación con la práctica del “runa simi” o practica del quechua.

También fue presidente de la Comisión Apiscopal de Juventud, trabajó de cerca con la pastoral de jóvenes y viajó a España a la Jornada Mundial de la Juventud el 2011.

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PERU
Peru 21

Tras la acusación fiscal, destitución y expulsión de la Iglesia del obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, por el delito de pedofilia, el cardenal Juan Luis Cipriani habló desde Roma y dijo que no estaba enterado del escandaloso caso, aunque pidió “no hacer leña del árbol caído” y apeló al derecho de defensa del involucrado.

“Estando en Roma no me resulta fácil interpretar los datos tan delicados que me están anunciando. Es una noticia de la que recién tomo conocimiento. Yo diría que en estos temas de pedofilia la iglesia exige una transparencia muy grande y una justicia muy grande. No sé qué tendrá que decir el interesado. Es muy dolorosa una situación de este tipo, pero por otro lado creo que las personas tienen derecho a defenderse”, dijo en Diálogos de Fe.

Asimismo, Cipriani, quien fue arzobispo de Ayacucho durante los años 90, indicó que si bien Miranda tenía una “cercanía espiritual” al Opus Dei, no era un sacerdote incardinado en dicha congregación, por lo que consideró “de muy mal gusto” que se quiera maltratar a la institución con este lamentable caso de abuso de menores.

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PERU
La Republica

A propósito del caso del ex obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, destituido de su cargo por la acusación de abuso sexual a menores de edad (e investigado por la Fiscalía); el cardenal Juan Luis Cipriani fue consultado en su programa radial.

“Estando en Roma no me resulta fácil interpretar los datos tan delicados que me estás mencionando, la verdad”, declaró a RPP Noticias.

-O sea usted lo ha conocido posteriormente a esta anunciación, le dijo el entrevistador, Miguel Humberto Aguirre.

“Sí, bueno, esto que me están diciendo es una noticia que ahora tomo conocimiento, yo lo que diría desde aquí por un lado es que estos temas de cualquier situación de pedofilia la Iglesia exige claridad y transparencia muy grandes y al mismo tiempo una justicia muy grande. No sé que tendrá que decir el propio interesado al respecto, entonces creo yo que es muy doloroso”, dijo.

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PERU
Andina

Lima, set. 21 (ANDINA). En los casos de pedofilia, la iglesia católica exige claridad y transparencia, pero también una justicia muy grande, afirmó hoy el cardenal Juan Luis Cipriani al ser consultado por el caso del exobispo auxiliar de Ayacucho, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo.

Desde Roma, hasta donde viajó para reunirse este lunes 23 con el Papa Francisco, Cipriani sostuvo que recién se enteraba del caso de Miranda Melgarejo, contra quien la Fiscalía de Ayacucho abrió investigación por el supuesto delito de pedofilia, motivo por el cual el Vaticano lo retiró de sus funciones.

Cipriani indicó que “es muy doloroso” conocer esta denuncia, pero también expresó que las personas tienen derecho a defenderse y a saber qué pasó. “Desde aquí no puedo tomarle una medida a una situación tan delicada, cuando retorne a Lima tendré más datos para responder”, comentó en RPP.

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PERU
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Sep. 21, 2013 NCR Today

An auxiliary bishop in Peru has been quietly removed from office because of allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

In a move resembling the case of a papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic, who also was quietly remove from office for abuse allegations, neither the Vatican nor the local bishops’ conference announced the dismissal of Gabino Miranda, auxiliary bishop in the dioceses of Ayacucho, a poor Andean region in southern Peru.

In Peru, local media learned of Miranda’s dismissal and asked church officials for comments Sept. 20. The officials confirmed the dismissal but would not say when it happened or why. Later local prosecutors said they were investigating Miranda.

A retired bishop, Luis Bambaren, a former president of Peru’s bishops’ conference, final revealed to local media that Miranda’s dismissal was because of sex abuse of minors.

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ARGENTINA
El Intransigente

BUENOS AIRES.- Luego de que la Corte Suprema de la provincia de Buenos Aires ratificara la condena de 15 años a Julio César Grassi por abuso sexual y corrupción a menores, llegaron tres pedidos de detención.

El Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal 1 de Morón fijó una audiencia para el lunes por la situación de Grassi, según confirmó el abogado querellante, Juan Pablo Gallego.

La audiencia, que se realizará a las 13, “está dirigida a todas las partes y al propio acusado. Esperemos que de acá al lunes se pueda cumplir esta situación dado el peligro de fuga”, agregó Gallego.

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ARGENTINA
El Intransigente

[Summary: The Moron Diocese in a statement said priest Julio Cesar Grassi will continue with legal action to prove his innocence of charges of abusing minors. The district supreme court recently upheld his 15-year sentence. The diocese said he was acquitted of 15 charges and was convicted of two.The diocese said the sentence is unacceptable.]

“El fallo es inaceptable”, dijo Grassi al Obispado de Morón, la Diócesis confía en que demostrará su inocencia

ARGENTINA En un comunicado, la Diócesis de Morón reveló que el sacerdote condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso agravado y corrupción de menores “seguirá con las acciones legales tendientes a demostrar su inocencia”. Además, destaca que el cura fue nuevamente absuelto por quince casos.

El Obispado de Morón se pronunció acerca del proceso contra el padre Julio César Grassi, e informó que el sacerdote condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual agravado y corrupción de menores entendió que la condena es “inaceptable”.

En un comunicado -al que tuvo acceso Online-911- se informó que el Obispado está al tanto de todas las acciones judiciales contra el cura y revela que Grassi informó su situación y dijo que “demostrará su inocencia”.

“Luego de este revés judicial, el Padre Grassi se comunicó a este Obispado, manifestando que seguirá con las acciones legales tendientes a demostrar su inocencia, ya que considera que los hechos que motivan su condena son inaceptables”, informó el Obispado de Morón.

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ARGENTINA
Online-911

12:22 : El Obispado de Morón se pronunció acerca del proceso contra el padre Julio César Grassi, e informó que el sacerdote condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual agravado y corrupción de menores entendió que la condena es “inaceptable”.

En un comunicado -al que tuvo acceso Online-911- se informó que el Obispado está al tanto de todas las acciones judiciales contra el cura y revela que Grassi informó su situación y dijo que “demostrará su inocencia”.

“Luego de este revés judicial, el Padre Grassi se comunicó a este Obispado, manifestando que seguirá con las acciones legales tendientes a demostrar su inocencia, ya que considera que los hechos que motivan su condena son inaceptables”, informó el Obispado de Morón.

La Diocésis destacada que Grassi fue “nuevamente absuelto en quince casos y condenado en dos”, e informa que se recurrirá el último fallo dictado por la Suprema Corte bonaerense

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VATICAN CITY
Buenos Aires Herald

Pope Francis’ campaign to set out a new vision of the Catholic Church has now reached key new appointments in the Roman Curia positions.

Prefect Archbishop Beniamino Stella has been announced as the new head of the Congregation for the Clergy in chare of matters regarding priests and deacons.

72-year old Stella was until now President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. He served as Apostolic Nuncio to Cuba and Colombia and will be now succeeding Cardinal Mauro Piacenza.

Piacenza, of 69 years old, has been appointed as Major Penitentiary, a role that will find him responsible for indulgences.

Piacenza is considered in the Vatican to have close links with State Secretary Tarcisio Bertone, who will be leaving his post in October.

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AUSTRALIA
WA Today

September 21, 2013

Martin Flanagan
Sports Writer for The Age

We were warned this week that the royal commission on child sexual abuse will unleash a ”tsunami of trauma”. I suspect this is correct. Indeed, I suspect we’ll be a different country in one year in the way Britain is a different society one year after the Jimmy Savile case came to light.

I have stated previously in this column that I gave evidence that helped convict a priest in a sexual assault case and resulted in him going to jail.

I was aged 16, in a boarding school. I witnessed the aftermath of the assault, saw physical evidence of what had occurred and the trauma of the victim, a boy of 12. Thirty-one years later, I was rung by a policeman and asked if I wanted to make a statement.

Over the years, I had thought of trying to locate the boy – by then a man – and assure him of my support. But I didn’t.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Holy Father has implemented the following changes in the organisation of the Roman Curia.

– He has accepted the resignation from the role of Major Penitentiary of Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro, who has reached the age of retirement. He has confirmed as successor in the same role Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who until now was Prefect for the Congregation of the Clergy.

– In the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he has confirmed as Prefect Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, and as Secretary Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer. He has appointed as Adjunct Secretary Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, who until now was Vice President of the Pontifical Council “Ecclesia Dei”. He has furthermore confirmed the Members and Consultants, and has appointed as Consultant Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, Adjunct Secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

– In the Congregation for the Evangelisation of the People, he has confirmed as Prefect Cardinal Fernando Filoni, as Secretary Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, and as Adjunct Secretary Archbishop Protase Rugambwa. He has furthermore confirmed the Members and Consultants.

– In the Congregation for the Clergy, he has appointed as Prefect Archbishop Beniamino Stella, who until now was President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. He has confirmed as Secretary Archbishop Celso Morga Iruzubieta. He has appointed as Secretary for the Seminaries Jorge Carlos Patrón Wong, who until now was Bishop of Paplanta, elevating him at the same time to the dignity of Archbishop.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

The Vatican announced a series of key appointments in the Roman Curia on September 21, as Pope Francis began assembling his own Vatican leadership team.

The Pope confirmed the prefects of two Vatican congregations: Archbishop Gerhard Müller at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Cardinal Fernando Filoni at the Congregation for Evangelization. Shortly after his election the Pope had announced that the leaders of the Roman Curia should remain at their posts donec aliter provideatur–until other provisions are made. The appointments of these two prefects are no longer provisional.

The Pope transferred Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who had been the prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, to a new role as head of the Apostolic Penitentiary. This appointment could raise some eyebrows, since the prefect of a major congregation has considerably more influence over everyday Vatican policies than the Major Penitentiary. The Apostolic Penitentiary is the Vatican tribunal with jurisdiction over matters involving the “internal forum”–the relationships involving matters of conscience between a penitent and confessor, or an individual and his spiritual director. Cardinal Piacenza replaces Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro, who is retiring at the age of 75.

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VATICAN CITY
Courier Mail (Australia)

AAP

POPE Francis is keeping in place the German prelate who leads the crackdown on US nuns and who also helps craft the Catholic Church’s sex-abuse response.

After six months in the job, Francis made several key appointments Saturday in the Vatican’s curia, or bureaucracy.

Francis renewed Archbishop Gerhard Mueller in the powerful role of prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Mueller, originally appointed by Benedict XVI, directs the Holy See’s crackdown on nuns suspected of undermining Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality.

His office also shapes policy dealing with clergy who sexually abuse minors.

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Vatican Information Service – Bolletino

RINUNCE E NOMINE

RINUNCIA DEL PENITENZIERE MAGGIORE E NOMINA DEL SUCCESSORE
NOMINE NELLA CONGREGAZIONE PER LA DOTTRINA DELLA FEDE
NOMINE NELLA CONGREGAZIONE PER L’EVANGELIZZAZIONE DEI POPOLI
NOMINE NELLA CONGREGAZIONE PER IL CLERO
NOMINA DEL SEGRETARIO GENERALE DEL SINODO DEI VESCOVI
NOMINA DI NUNZIO APOSTOLICO E PRESIDENTE DELLA PONTIFICIA ACCADEMIA ECCLESIASTICA
NOMINA DEL NUNZIO APOSTOLICO IN GERMANIA
NOMINA DEL NUNZIO APOSTOLICO IN SIERRA LEONE
NOMINA DEL DELEGATO DELLA SEZIONE ORDINARIA DELL’AMMINISTRAZIONE DEL PATRIMONIO DELLA SEDE APOSTOLICA
RINUNCIA DEL PENITENZIERE MAGGIORE E NOMINA DEL SUCCESSORE
Il Santo Padre Francesco ha accolto la rinuncia presentata, per raggiunti limiti di età, dall’Em.mo Card. Manuel Monteiro de Castro all’incarico di Penitenziere Maggiore ed ha chiamato a succedergli nel medesimo incarico l’Em.mo Card. Mauro Piacenza, finora Prefetto della Congregazione per il Clero.

[01323-01.01]

NOMINE NELLA CONGREGAZIONE PER LA DOTTRINA DELLA FEDE
Nella Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, il Papa ha confermato Prefetto S.E. Mons. Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Arcivescovo-Vescovo emerito di Regensburg; Segretario S.E. Mons, Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, Arcivescovo titolare di Tibica; ha nominato Segretario Aggiunto S.E. Mons. Joseph Augustine Di Noia, Arcivescovo titolare di Oregon City, finora Vice Presidente della Pontificia Commissione “Ecclesia Dei”; ha inoltre confermato i Membri ed i Consultori, ed ha nominato Consultore S.E. Mons. Giuseppe Sciacca, Vescovo titolare di Fondi, Segretario Aggiunto del Supremo Tribunale della Segnatura Apostolica.

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ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Herald

Even when Buenos Aires province Morón district prosecutors Alejandro Varela and Carolina María Rodríguez demanded the “immediate detention” of Catholic priest Julio César Grassi for the sexual abuse of minors, a court in the same BA district summoned Grassi to report himself in court on Monday.

Both Varela and Rodríguez said that they believe that the convicted priest could try to escape. “He has a huge amount of money at his disposal to get away together with ruthless individuals ready to assist him at every time,” the prosecutors said.

However, the Morón court summoned him for a hearing of all the parties involved. The Supreme Court of Buenos Aires province upheld Grassi’s conviction for two cases of aggravated sexual abuse and a third for corruption of minors on Wednesday.

Grassi’s legal advisers announced that they will appeal the 15-year prison sentence before the National Supreme Court .

“To keep the priest free in a social context where citizens are demanding efficiency by the courts is not a minor issue,” argued complainant lawyer Juan Pablo Gallego on behalf of Grassi’s victim.

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SCOTLAND
Perthshire Advertiser

Sep 21 2013

The Catholic Church in Scotland will welcome a new archbishop today with the ordination of Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s successor.

Monsignor Leo Cushley becomes Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh at a ceremony in the capital.

It was announced in July that Mgr Cushley is replacing Cardinal O’Brien who left the post because of inappropriate sexual conduct during his religious career.

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DEUTCHLAND/SUDAFRIKA
Katholisch

Die Auslieferung eines in Südafrika lebenden deutschen Priester wegen Verdachts des sexuellen Missbrauchs an Kindern und Jugendlichen will die Staatsanwaltschaft Krefeld erreichen. Die Behörde stellte nach eigenen Angaben einen entsprechenden Antrag.

Der Mann sei in Auslieferungshaft gewesen, aber nach inoffiziellen Informationen gegen Auflagen wieder auf freiem Fuß, sagte eine Behördensprecherin am Freitag. Dem Mann werde sexueller Missbrauch von Kindern und Jugendlichen in 37 Fällen vorgeworfen. Nach Angaben des Bistums Aachen steht der suspendierte Priester auch in Südafrika wegen Missbrauchs vor Gericht. (dpa)

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DEUTSCHLAND/SUDAFRIKA
Die Welt

Weil ein Priester aus NRW, der in Südafrika lebt, Kinder und Jugendliche sexuell missbraucht haben soll, fordert die Staatsanwaltschaft seine Auslieferung. Doch er steht auch in Südafrika vor Gericht.

Die Staatsanwaltschaft Krefeld will die Auslieferung eines in Südafrika lebenden deutschen Priesters wegen Verdachts des sexuellen Missbrauchs an Kindern und Jugendlichen erreichen. Die Behörde stellte nach eigenen Angaben einen entsprechenden Antrag.

Der Mann sei schon in Auslieferungshaft gewesen, aber nach inoffiziellen Informationen gegen Auflagen wieder auf freiem Fuß, sagte eine Behördensprecherin am Freitag. Dem Mann werde in Deutschland sexueller Missbrauch von Kindern und Jugendlichen in 37 Fällen vorgeworfen.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MACDONALD – 21 SEPTEMBER 2013

ARCHBISHOP Diarmuid Martin has said the spate of censures of five Irish priests by the Vatican should have been dealt with by the Irish church instead of Rome.

He was speaking on RTE Radio about the publication of an in-depth interview with Pope Francis by the Italian Jesuit journal ‘La Civiltà Cattolica’, in which the Pontiff criticised the excessive number of denunciations sent to Rome about priests and theologians complaining of their lack of orthodoxy.

In the interview, the Pope said these conflicts over orthodoxy should be handled by local bishops’ conferences rather than the Curia.

Responding, Dr Martin said he hoped that the problems and the tensions within the Irish church would be eased “so that we get away from a climate of bickering into one in which we all work together.”

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IRELAND
Irish Central

By PATRICK COUNIHAN, IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Saturday, September 21, 2013

The Archbishop of Dublin has stated that the Irish church and not Rome should have dealt with the censure of five liberal priests in his jurisdiction.

Dr Martin made the remarks in response to an interview with Pope Francis by the Italian Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica.

In the interview the Pontiff criticised the excessive number of denunciations sent to Rome about priests and theologians complaining of their lack of orthodoxy.

Now Dr Martin has said the spate of censures of five Irish priests by the Vatican should have been dealt with by the Irish church instead of Rome.

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TEXAS
WTVR

[with video]

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas (WTVR) — A former pastor of a Richmond mega church was indicted for sex crimes against a child by a Texas grand jury Friday.

Officials with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office told CBS 6 News that Geronimo Aguilar was indicted on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14. The first-degree felony carries a maximum punishment of life in prison.

“These are really serious charges. This is a first-degree felony in Texas, which is the same as a first-degree murder in Virgina,” said CBS 6 Legal Analyst Todd Stone.

He was also indicted on two counts of indecency with a child, which is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The indictment obtained by CBS 6 alleges that in December of 1995 in Tarrant County, Aguilar intentionally or knowingly caused the penetration of the sexual organ of a child younger than 14. It goes on to say Aguilar inserted his finger into her sexual organ. [RELATED: Click here to read the complete indictment]

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ARGENTINA
El Diario 24

Uno de los abogados del padre Julio César Grassi, Carlos Irisarri, afirmó este viernes que la defensa apelará a la Corte Suprema presentando un recurso extraordinario, con el fin de que el cura siga en libertad.

“Yo soy abogado del recurso de Grassi que se interpone ante el fallo de la Corte bonaerense y soy abogado del recurso extraordinario federal que se va a interponer en el plazo de 10 días hábiles a la Corte Suprema de la Nación”, sostuvo en diálogo con Radio 10, adelantando su estrategia judicial.

Y opinó: “Hasta que no esté firme la sentencia de la Corte provincial, que puede ser ya sea porque no se recurre, o no se concede el recurso, no es plausible la detención”.

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ARGENTINA
La Nacion

El fiscal de Morón Alejandro Varela pidió hoy la “inmediata detención” del sacerdote Julio César Grassi, condenado por abuso y corrupción de menores, ante el Tribunal Oral Criminal (TOC) al haberse agotado todas las instancias de apelación en la provincia de Buenos Aires tras el fallo de la Suprema Corte.

“Hay una sentencia de la Corte bonaerense y eso ya alcanza para detenerlo”, dijo Varela a Télam, aunque aclaró que eso no se concretaría “hasta la próxima semana”, ya que el Tribunal evaluaría su pedido a partir del lunes. Además, el fiscal opinó que teme que Grassi “se fugue”.

También el abogado querellante Juan Pablo Gallego presentó un escrito ante el Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 de Morón para pedir su detención, tras el fallo de la Suprema Corte de Justicia bonaerense, que anteayer ratificó la condena contra el sacerdote Julio César Grassi, sentenciado a 15 años de prisión por los delitos de abuso sexual agravado y corrupción de menores.

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PERU
GlobalPost

AFP

A Peruvian bishop has been defrocked over allegations of pedophilia, a former colleague said Friday.

The alleged offender is Gabino Miranda, until now the auxiliary bishop of Ayacucho in southeastern Peru.

This is the first time a bishop has been accused of abusing children in Peru, said Bishop Luis Bambaren.

“He has not only been fired but also reduced to a layman. He is no longer even a priest,” Bambaren told reporters.

The name of Miranda, who belongs to the ultra-conservative Catholic group Opus Dei, has been removed from the website of the archbishop’s office in Ayacucho.

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AUSTRALIA
North Queensland Register

DAVID MARR

George Pell’s parish was the big end of town. He let Melbourne know the church was not afraid of power. He exercised his own with a freedom unimaginable to a politician. He didn’t need to win hearts or votes. He had no board to please or party to keep onside. He answered only to Rome. He was the prince of Catholic Melbourne.

Despite protests from historians, he shifted a century-old statue of Daniel O’Connell from the forecourt of St Patrick’s Cathedral and put in its place an immense bronze of Daniel Mannix. Cost: $100,000. He built a mini-Vatican around the cathedral to house new church offices, a seminary, a campus for the Australian Catholic University and the headquarters of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family. Cost: $30 million. He was always a big spender. Pell brought a climate of fear to Melbourne. As books were banned, jobs lost and careers blocked, his critics became cautious. More and more they spoke to the press off the record. Pell could swat such anonymous criticism away effortlessly. He had an agenda and he got his way. If he didn’t, he could become incandescent with rage.

Pell has a fundamental faith that sexuality is malleable, that spiritual exercises can stop sex in its tracks or even change its direction. This is the ground on which he has built his commitment to celibacy, his intolerance of homosexuality, his insistence that the sex rules of Rome be obeyed and his belief (certainly at that time) that even paedophiles can be redeemed by grace and with skilled psychological assistance.

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TEXAS/VIRGINIA
Richmond Times-Dispatch

BY LOUIS LLOVIO
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Geronimo Aguilar, the disgraced founder and former senior pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center, has been indicted by a Texas grand jury on two counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child younger than 14 and on two counts of indecency with a child.

If convicted on the two aggravated sexual assault charges, which are first-degree felonies, Aguilar, who once led raucous church services packed with throngs of loyal followers, could spend the rest of his life in a Texas prison.

The indecency charges are second-degree felonies that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.

Aguilar and his attorney did not respond to a request for comment Friday evening.

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ALASKA
News-Miner

Weston Morrow /wmorrow@newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS—The Catholic Church announced Friday that Pope Francis had appointed Fairbanks Bishop Donald J. Kettler to lead the diocese of St. Cloud, Minn.

The announcement came 15 months after St. Cloud Bishop John Kinney submitted a letter of retirement to the Vatican. Catholic law requires bishops retirement at age 75.

Kettler has been bishop of the diocese of Fairbanks for 11 years, first arriving in 2002, two years after the death of the prior bishop, Rev. Michael J. Kaniecki. Kaniecki had held the post since 1984.

Kettler presided over the diocese when more than a dozen men sued the Fairbanks branch of the Catholic church, accusing one of its priests of sexual abuse. The diocese’s own announcement Friday about Kettler’s departure noted he “oversaw the darkest period in the diocese’s history.”

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OHIO
Dayton Daily News

By News Staff

CINCINNATI — A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy 22 years ago was found guilty of sex charges in federal court Friday.

Rev. Robert Poandl, of Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners, was found guilty of one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex, a charge that carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

No bond was set on Poandl. He was ordered to have no contact with minors and will be fitted with a global tracking device.

Poandl, 72, took the boy to Spencer, W.Va., on Aug. 3, 1991, and raped him while visiting a church there, prosecutors said. Poandl’s attorney, Stephen Wenke, told jurors the allegations were false and denied the boy was even on the trip.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Australian

US catholic priest caught in school carpark with pantless 15-year-old boy in Pennsylvania

A CATHOLIC priest has been caught in a car with a pantless 15-year-old boy.

Reverand W. Jeffrey Paulish was charged by police in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, with one count of “involuntary deviate sexual intercourse” and one count of “unlawful contact with a minor” after the pair were spotted in a car on a college campus.

The priest is being held in the county jail on $50,000 bail.

Police say they found Rev Paulish with the boy after responding to a call from the Worthington Scranton campus of Penn State University.

The priest told the police he was “counseling” the teen after being approached by the boy who was in “emotional distress”.

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OHIO
Local 12

[with video]

CINCINNATI (Adam Clements) — “I can honestly say I have been to hell and back in these last four and a half years.”

They’re the words of a mother, relieved after hearing one word – Guilty.

A jury found Father Robert Poandl guilty of federal sex abuse charges.

His victim says the priest took him to visit a church in West Virginia in 1991, and molested him. At the time, the victim was just ten years old.

“He has dealt with this for 22 years, until he could finally see justice.” says the victim’s mother.

The victim’s parents are happy with the legal system, but still disappointed in the church.

“In the case of our son,” says the victim’s father, “none of them contacted him. One priest contacted us privately, and that was it. That’s all the help we got from the church.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Times-Leader

September 21. 2013

By Roger DuPuis – rdupuis@civitasmedia.com

SCRANTON — A priest who has served at more than a dozen Northeastern Pennsylvania parishes — including several in Luzerne County — has been suspended from his post in Old Forge after he allegedly was caught in a car on a college campus having sex with a boy.

Security officers at Penn State Worthington Scranton say they discovered the Rev. William Jeffery Paulish, 56, parked in a red Toyota Thursday night with a 15-year-old boy who wasn’t wearing any pants, according to an affidavit.

The priest told investigators he arraigned the liaison via postings on the website Craigslist, Lackawanna County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer McCambridge said Friday night.

Paulish initially told police he was walking around campus working on his homily, according to the affidavit. He said he encountered the boy by chance, learned that the teen was in emotional distress and was counseling the youth, police said. …

——————————————

Parish assignments

The Diocese of Scranton provided a list of The Rev. William Jeffrey Paulish’s assignments since his ordination 25 years ago:
• Sept. 3, 1988 – ordained
• Sept. 9, 1988 – June 19, 1991: assistant pastor, Our Lady of the Snows, Clarks Summit
• June 20, 1991 – Jan. 14, 1992: assistant pastor, Annunciation, Williamsport
• Jan. 15 – June 21, 1992: assistant pastor, St. Cecilia’s, Exeter
• June 22, 1992 – July 6, 1993: assistant pastor, Most Precious Blood, Hazleton
• July 7, 1993 – Jan. 23, 1994: assistant pastor, Sacred Heart, Peckville
• Jan. 24, 1994 – July 4, 2000: chaplain, Little Flower Manor, Wilkes-Barre
• July 5, 2000 – July 5, 2004: pastor at St. Francis Xavier, Friendsville, St. Patrick’s, Middletown, and St. Thomas the Apostle, Little Meadows
• July 6 – Nov. 9, 2004: leave of absence, health reasons
• Nov. 10, 2004 – June 28, 2005: assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s, Minooka, Immaculate Conception and St. John the Baptist, Taylor
• June 29 – Sept. 12, 2005: chaplain, St. Mary’s Villa, Elmhurst
• Sept. 13 – Nov. 8, 2005: assistant pastor, St. Patrick’s, Scranton
• Nov. 9, 2005 – March 24, 2006: leave of absence (no reason listed)
• March 24 – Oct. 11, 2006: residence at St. Cecilia, Exeter
• Oct. 11, 2006 – July 8, 2008: assistant pastor, St. Mary’s, Old Forge
• July 9, 2008 – July 6, 2011: administrator, St. Elizabeth, Bear Creek (and pastor from July 7, 2010 – July 10, 2011)
• July 11, 2011 – Aug. 5, 2012: leave of absence, health reasons
• Aug. 6 – Nov. 14, 2012: assistant pastor, Holy Cross, Olyphant
• Nov. 15, 2012 – July 14, 2013: leave of absence, health reasons
• July 15 – Sept. 20: assistant pastor, Prince of Peace, Old Forge
• Sept. 20: leave of absence pending investigation of alleged sexual misconduct with a minor

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PENNSYLVANIA
Citizens Voice

BY JOSEPH KOHUT (STAFF WRITER)
Published: September 21, 2013

A priest charged with having sex with a 15-year-old boy was reassigned 15 times by the Diocese of Scranton over a 25-year ministry that grew out of a career counseling troubled youths.

The Rev. William Paulish, 56, of Blakely, was appointed as a primary therapist at Lourdesmont, a facility for troubled teen-aged boys and girls in December 1983.

The Rev. Paulish was caught by Penn State Worthington Scranton security in his red 2009 Toyota Venza with a 15-year-old Thursday night. The boy did not have pants on and both later admitted to performing sex acts, police said.

The Rev. Paulish was ordained in the Diocese of Scranton in 1988. His first assignment was as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of Snows in Clarks Summit from Sept. 9, 1988 to June 19, 1991. Previously, he worked at Lourdesmont and at a guidance clinic in Massachusetts. Phone messages to Lourdesmont were not returned.

As a priest, he had five reassignments in his first 5½ years, ending up as chaplain at Little Flower Manor in Wilkes-Barre from Jan. 24, 1994 until July 4, 2000, the most stable period of his career, according to information provided by the diocese.

Over the next 13 years the Rev. Paulish was moved another nine times.

He spent two years and one month on three separate leaves of absence. Two were accounted for by the diocese as health-related. The reason for the other was not specified.

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OHIO
Columbus Dispatch

By Lisa Cornwell
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saturday September 21, 2013

CINCINNATI — A priest charged with taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex more than two decades ago was found guilty yesterday.

Jurors in federal court in Cincinnati found Robert Poandl, 72, guilty of one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex, a charge that carries a possible sentence of 10 years in prison.

Poandl, from the Glenmary Home Missioners in suburban Cincinnati, took the boy to Spencer, W.Va., on Aug. 3, 1991, and raped him while visiting a church there, prosecutors said.

Poandl’s attorney, Stephen Wenke, told jurors that the allegations were false, denying the boy was even on the trip.

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OHIO
WLWT

CINCINNATI —A priest charged with taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex more than two decades ago was found guilty on Friday.

Federal jurors in Cincinnati found Robert Poandl guilty of one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex, a charge that carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Poandl, from the suburban Cincinnati-based Glenmary Home Missioners, took the boy to Spencer, W.Va., on Aug. 3, 1991, and raped him while visiting a church there, prosecutors said. Poandl’s attorney, Stephen Wenke, told jurors the allegations were false and denied the boy was even on the trip.

The accuser, who’s now in his 30s, waited until 2009 before telling law enforcement officials in West Virginia that he’d been abused. Poandl was indicted there on charges accusing him of sexually abusing the boy, but a judge dismissed those charges in 2010.

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OHIO
Fox 19

Posted by Kelly Taylor

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) –
A Cincinnati area priest has been found guilty of sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy he took to West Virginia more than two decades ago.

Federal jurors returned a guilty verdict Friday afternoon for Robert Poandl, 72, of the Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners. According to trial testimony, in August 1991, Poandl transported the boy from Cincinnati to Spencer, West Virginia where he sexually assaulted the child.

The crime was not disclosed until the victim came forward in 2009.

A federal grand jury indicted Poandl, known as ‘Father Bob’, in November 2012. FBI agents arrested him at the Glenmary Missioners. He has been on house arrest with electronic monitoring since his arrest.

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OHIO
WCPO

[with video]

Greg Noble
gregory.noble@wcpo.com

Tom McKee
tom.mckee@wcpo.com

Anna Langlinais, anna.langlinais@wcpo.com

NOTE: Graphic details were discussed during testimony that may be difficult to read or considered inappropriate .

CINCINNATI – A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy 22 years ago showed no emotion when he was found guilty of sex charges in federal court Friday.

Rev. Robert Poandl, of Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners, was convicted of one count of transportation of a minor across state lines for illicit purposes.

Poandl, 72, faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing.

When his verdict was read, Poandl’s face didn’t move. Around him, there were tears and bursts of emotion. Behind him, a man shouted, “Thank God.”

Poandl did not comment after the verdict. He remains free on house arrest with electronic monitoring. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Barrett ordered him to have no contact with minors.

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ARGENTINA
Infobae

Los fiscales de Morón Alejandro Varela y Carolina María Rodríguez pidieron al Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 la “inmediata detención” del cura Grassi, cuya condena de 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual fue confirmada por la Suprema Corte Bonaerense.

Fuentes judiciales informaron a Infobae que así se lo pidieron al Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 de Morón al asegurar que existe peligro de fuga. Asimismo, también realizaron el mismo pedido los querellantes Juan Pablo Gallego y Sergio Piris, representantes de chicos presuntamente abusados por el sacerdote.

“Como ya reiteradamente lo sostuvimos todas las veces que hemos solicitado la detención, el peligro de fuga que consagraría la impunidad absoluta para el imputado, con la sentencia impuesta por la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, ya se hace palpable, ya que no podemos olvidarnos de la conducta del nombrado Grassi a lo largo del proceso, para lo que es menester mencionar a modo ejemplificativo alguna de sus conductas que hacen que podamos afirmar ya con certeza el peligro de fuga existente”, dijeron los fiscales.

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ARGENTINA
TN

Luego de que la Corte Suprema de la provincia de Buenos Aires ratificara la condena de 15 años a Grassi por abuso sexual y corrupción a menores, llegaron tres pedidos de detención. Ayer, lo hizo la Cámara de Casación bonaerense. Hoy, el fiscal de la causa, Alejandro Varela, y Sergio Piris, abogado de una de las víctimas. Pero el sacerdote todavía está libre. ¿Por qué? Todo indica que la historia se terminará de resolver el próximo lunes.

El Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal 1 de Morón fijó una audiencia para el lunes por la situación de Grassi, según confirmó el abogado querellante, Juan Pablo Gallego. La audiencia, que se realizará a las 13, “está dirigida a todas las partes y al propio acusado. Esperemos que de acá al lunes se pueda cumplir esta situación dado el peligro de fuga”, agregó Gallego.

“Amerita la inmediata detención ante el peligro de fuga. Hay peligro de fuga”, había dicho antes el fiscal del caso, Alejandro Varela.

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ARGENTINA
La Nacion

El padre Grassi, sacerdote condenado por abuso sexual y corrupción de menores en perjuicio de tres chicos de la Fundación Felices Los Niños, que conducía, está a punto de ser detenido. En las vísperas, aún en su casa, salió a saludar.

Grassi vive con prisión morigerada en una quinta situada frente a la Fundación Felices los Niños, y donde ocurrieron los hechos por los que fue condenado.

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PERU
RPP

La ministra de la Mujer, Ana Jara Velásquez, felicitó a la Iglesia Católica por la destitución del obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, acusado de pedofilia.

“Yo celebro como ministra de la Mujer y como mujer que esta sanción lo separe de los cargos eclesiástico que él tenía. Espero que esta misma justicia la alcancemos a través de los operadores del derecho en el Perú”, expresó en declaraciones a RPP Noticias.

Jara dijo que si bien su sector no es parte del proceso -como ente rector de la defensa de la niñez y la adolescencia- solicitará que Ministerio Público le alcance la resolución judicial que “aparentemente habría librado de responsabilidades al exobispo”.

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PERU
Andina

Lima, set. 20 (ANDINA). La fiscalía de Ayacucho abrió de oficio una investigación en contra del exobispo auxiliar de la prelatura de Ayacucho Gabino Miranda, a quien se le acusa de pedofilia, motivo por el cual el Vaticano lo retiró de sus funciones.

Según informó el Ministerio Público, a través de sus redes sociales, el caso del exobispo auxiliar de Ayacucho se encuentra en la Segunda Fiscalía Provincial Penal de Huamanga.

Gabino Miranda, de 53 años, fue destituido de su cargo de obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho por el Vaticano debido a acusaciones de pedofilia, confirmó en la víspera Luis Bambarén, obispo emérito de Chimbote, a un medio local.

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PERU
ACI Prensa

LIMA, 20 Sep. 13 / 12:32 pm (ACI/EWTN Noticias).- El Obispo Emérito de Chimbote (Perú), Mons. Luis Bambarén, informó que Monseñor Gabino Miranda, Obispo Auxiliar de Ayacucho, ciudad de la sierra sur del país, ha sido destituido por la Santa Sede debido a acusaciones de pedofilia.

En una entrevista televisiva a un medio local, Mons. Bambarén confirmó la información que había circulado como un rumor entre diversos medios de prensa, pero que aún no ha sido comunicada oficialmente por el Vaticano.

Algunos medios de comunicación indicaron erróneamente que el Obispo es miembro del Opus Dei. La Oficina de Información de esta institución en Perú informó hoy que “Gabino Miranda no ha estado nunca incardinado en el clero de la Prelatura del Opus Dei”.

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PERU
La Republica

Luego de la columna de Diego García Sayán, varios lectores, al igual que él, pidieron al Ministerio Público investigar el caso.

En su columna de hoy, el presidente de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Diego García Sayán, advirtió el caso de un obispo del Arzobispado andino que habría sido destituido por el Vaticano por pedofilia.

“La reciente destitución que habría producido el Papa a un obispo auxiliar en una localidad andina del Perú por acusaciones de pedofilia”, escribió García Sayán, quien apuntó que no existe información oficial del caso.

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PERU
RPP

Mediante un comunicado de prensa, el Arzobispado Metropolitano de Ayacucho informó que una vez que retorne al país el monseñor Salvador Piñeiro García-Calderon, absolverá las consultas referidas a la renuncia del exobispo auxiliar de esa región, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, acusado de pedofilia.

En el comunicado se notifica que el monseñor de Ayacucho se encuentra fuera del país por compromisos pactados con antelación.

En tanto, el Ministerio Público informó este viernes que la Fiscalía de Ayacucho abrió de oficio una investigación en contra del exobispo auxiliar.

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PERU
La Republica

Ministerio Público hizo eco del pedido de diversas autoridades sobre las sospechas que ocasionaron la destitución del religioso.

La Fiscalía de Ayacucho abrió una investigación en contra del destituido obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, por el presunto delito de abuso sexual contra menores de edad, así lo informó el Ministerio Público desde su cuenta oficial en Twitter.

La investigación estará a cargo de la Segunda Fiscalía Provincial Penal de Huamanga.

Como se recuerda, el obispo emérito de Chimbote, monseñor Luis Bambarén, informó que el Vaticano había destituido a Miranda, de 53 años, por las denuncias que existen al respecto.

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PERU
El Comercio

Así lo confirmó monseñor Luis Bambarén, quien espera que la Fiscalía actúe de oficio. El religioso del Opus Dei cumplía funciones en Ayacucho

Gabino Miranda, quien se desempeñaba como obispo auxiliar de la ciudad de Ayacucho, fue destituido por el Vaticano por acusaciones de pedofilia, confirmó el obispo emérito de Chimbote, monseñor Luis Bambarén.

Las declaraciones de Bambarén, dadas en el canal de cable ATV+, se dan horas después de que el caso se diera a conocer en una columna de opinión del presidente de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), Diego García Sayán en el diario “La República”.

Sayán había advertido que el Arzobispado de Ayacucho había retirado de su página web el nombre y la foto del cuestionado obispo auxiliar del Opus Dei sin que existiera un pronunciamiento oficial del caso.

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CALIFORNIA
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated September 20, 2013

Dear Governor Jerry Brown,

Tomorrow there will be a RALLY IN SUPPORT OF SB 131 at the State Capitol. Please do not count the numbers of people who will attend this rally because victims of pedophiles (priests) do not go door to door to explain the heinous crimes they have suffered as children under the hands of holy sacred priests. They do not go to TV talk shows to explain how they were sodomized by sacred priests of the confessionals or rectories of the Roman Catholic Church because the clout of the Vatican and the Pope especially John Paul II were overpowering. In fact, this is probably the most “solitary suffering” of a “living Hell” among all the crimes in the world – that it takes decades into their adulthood – before they can acknowledge and accept that they were unjustly sexually abused by “Representatives and Voices of God” because they are sacred priests who can clone God’s flesh.

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PERU
Reuters

LIMA | Fri Sep 20, 2013

(Reuters) – The Vatican, under Pope Francis’ “zero-tolerance” policy for pedophile priests, removed an auxiliary bishop from his post in a Peruvian province because of allegations he sexually abused children, a bishop said on Friday.

Luis Bambaren, the former president of Peru’s bishops’ conference and bishop emeritus of Chimbote, told local media that Gabino Miranda was dismissed as auxiliary bishop in the dioceses of Ayacucho, a poor Andean region in southern Peru, after he was accused of having sexual relations with minors.

“It is what the Pope said – zero tolerance,” Bambaren said on RPP radio. “Those are very serious crimes, especially when it has to do with a bishop.”

A Church official confirmed to Reuters that Miranda, 53, had resigned from Peru’s bishops’ conference but declined to say why.

The attorney general’s office said on Friday that it was investigating Miranda and would announce actions soon.

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OHIO
WHIO

By News Staff
CINCINNATI — A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy 22 years ago was found guilty of sex charges in federal court Friday.

Rev. Robert Poandl, of Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners, was found guilty of one count of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex, a charge that carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

No bond was set on Poandl. He was ordered to have no contact with minors and will be fitted with a global tracking device.

Poandl, 72, took the boy to Spencer, W.Va., on Aug. 3, 1991, and raped him while visiting a church there, prosecutors said. Poandl’s attorney, Stephen Wenke, told jurors the allegations were false and denied the boy was even on the trip.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

September 21, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

Dissident priest Greg Reynolds has been both defrocked and excommunicated over his support for women priests and gays – the first person ever excommunicated in Melbourne, he believes.

The order comes direct from the Vatican, not at the request of Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart, and apparently follows a secret denunciation in the best traditions of the inquisition, according to Father Reynolds.

The excommunication document – written in Latin and giving no reason – was dated May 31, meaning it comes under the authority of Pope Francis who made headlines on Thursday calling for a less rule-obsessed church.

Father Reynolds, who resigned as a parish priest in 2011 and last year founded Inclusive Catholics, said he had expected to be laicised (defrocked), but not excommunicated. But it would make no difference to his ministry.

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OHIO
7th Space

CINCINNATI—A United States District Court jury has convicted Robert Frank Poandl, 72, of Fairfield, Ohio, of one count of interstate transportation of a minor for illicit purposes, a federal law known as the Mann Act. Carter M Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Kevin R Cornelius, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); William Hayes, Acting Special Agent in Charge of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Ohio and Michigan; and agencies in the Greater Cincinnati Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force announced the verdict reached today following a trial that began September 16 before United States District Judge Michael R Barrett. According to trial testimony, in August 1991, Poandl transported a 10-year-old boy from Cincinnati to West Virginia, where he sexually assaulted the child. The crime was not disclosed until the victim came forward in 2009.

The crime is punishable by a sentence ranging from zero to 10 years in prison. Judge Barrett will set a date for sentencing. “Today’s verdict should give victims courage to come forward, even if the abuse happened years ago,” United States Attorney Stewart said. A federal grand jury indicted Poandl, known as “Father Bob,” in November 2012.

FBI agents arrested him at the Glenmary Missioners in Fairfield, Ohio. He has been on house arrest with electronic monitoring since his arrest. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WNEP

[with video]

OLD FORGE – The Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton said it is unsettling to him personally that yet again a priest is involved in alleged inappropriate, immoral and illegal behavior.

His statement comes after a priest from a church in Old Forge was caught allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Father Jeffery Paulish began serving as an Assistant Pastor at Prince of Peace in July, returning to serve the Roman Catholic Church after taking a leave of absence for health reasons.

Father Paulish walked out of the Dunmore Police Department handcuffed, accused of molesting a teen.
The Old Forge Priest grew up in Blakely. Diane Kwolek lives only a few doors away.

“I`m shocked, I would never ever, ever in my life suspected this,” said Kwolek.

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

By ALFRED P. DOBLIN

Alfred P. Doblin is the editorial page editor of The Record. Contact him at doblin@northjersey.com. Follow AlfredPDoblin on Twitter.

SOMETHING remarkable is happening in Rome. Fifty years ago, Pope John XXIII opened a window in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis has torn off the roof.

In a remarkable interview with a Jesuit journalist, the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, conducted this summer and published this week, the pope does more than tug at the cobwebs or move the furniture; he lays the room bare.

“The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules,” he said. It is a stunning, simplistic assessment of what has hurt the Catholic Church. Francis clearly sees that the institution and the strident tone it has taken on all things small has not been in concert with a mission of mercy for all.

Francis’ comments on gays will be the ones most discussed on cable and the Internet. The media sometimes has locked itself up in small things, as well. The pope has not changed church teachings on homosexuality. He does not question them, dispute them or purport to rewrite them. On homosexuality, the pope is moving away from a conversation based solely on sex.

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SOUTH AFRICA
Expatica

South Africa has released a German Catholic priest, wanted for child abuse by Germany, on bail but will put him on trial in November for committing similar acts in the country, sources said Friday.

The priest, whose identity was not given but who was said to be in his fifties and from Aachen in western Germany, was arrested on September 13 as he left a court in the northern town of Brits where he was standing trial for assault and acts of indecency.

The arrest was based on an international warrant and a German extradition request issued several years ago, sources familiar with the case said.

Bail was set at 5,000 rands (375 euros/$505) and his release was conditional on staying in Kwazulu-Natal province where he is being hosted by the Ishowe diocese.

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OHIO
Newsnet5

By: Greg Noble, WCPO.com
By: Anna Langlinai, WCPO.com

CINCINNATI – A Catholic priest accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy 22 years ago showed no emotion when he was found guilty of sex charges in federal court Friday.

Rev. Robert Poandl, of Fairfield-based Glenmary Home Missioners, was convicted of one count of transportation of a minor across state lines for illicit purposes.

Poandl, 72, faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing.

When his verdict was read, Poandl’s face didn’t move. Around him, there were tears and bursts of emotion. Behind him, a man shouted, “Thank God.”

No bond was set on Poandl. He was ordered to have no contact with minors and a judge said he will be fitted with a global tracking device.

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ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Herald

In the last six months countless thousands, if not millions of words have been written about Pope Francis but this apparently minute scrutiny of the new global superstar seems to be missing at least one detail which is not minor — his opinion of Father Julio César Grassi, whose conviction for child-molesting at a children’s foundation has just been upheld. Or perhaps rather more to the point (since Pope Francis now has a universal Church in his charge), the opinion of Jorge Bergoglio who was the cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aires during all the 11 years which the saga of the Grassi case have lasted so far without any known views on the issue.

Yet however intriguing this question whose answer will also carry some significance for the future of the Church, this issue goes beyond both Father Grassi and Pope Francis. As far as the Grassi case is concerned, there is a need to ask not only about the apparent silence of the man who was Buenos Aires archbishop until early this year but about the Argentine Church on the ground here and now which does not seem to be doing anything to sanction or condemn Father Grassi. Yet the latter is far from being the only or worst case of an errant priest. If the phrase were not so singularly unfortunate in this context, it might almost be said that Father Grassi’s offences are child’s play compared to the crimes against humanity of the former Buenos Aires provincial police chaplain Christian von Wernich, convicted in 2007 on 34 counts of kidnapping, 37 of torture and seven of homicide. The Church has had rather more time to react to this than to Grassi’s conviction which was only upheld this week and yet Von Wernich has never been unfrocked — indeed, as Church spokesmen have admitted, the former police chaplain continues to hold mass at Marcos Paz prison where he is serving out his life sentence along with various others of his partners in crime. Such indulgence contrasts with the sanctions slapped on theological or ideological dissidents or on priests seeking to form a family.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Sep. 20, 2013 The Francis Chronicles

The U.S. Catholic bishop who grabbed headlines when he said he was “disappointed” Pope Francis had not spoken more about abortion now says he is “grateful” to the pope for widening the vision of the church.

Providence, R.I., Bishop Thomas Tobin made his newest remarks in a statement Friday, one day after Jesuit publications around the world published an exclusive interview with the pontiff, who said he felt “reprimanded” by some in the church.

“Being a Catholic does not mean having to choose between doctrine and charity, between truth and love,” Tobin writes in the statement. “It includes both. We are grateful to Pope Francis for reminding us of that vision.”

Earlier, in a Sept. 12 story in his diocesan newspaper, Tobin expressed his disappointment in Francis.

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VATICAN CITY
John Thavis

In a wide-ranging interview with Jesuit publications, Pope Francis said today’s church needs to “heal wounds” by proclaiming the Gospel and moving away from the “small-minded rules” that have sometimes dominated its message.

The interview, published in the United States by America magazine, is well worth reading in its entirely. It gives a more complete picture of the Argentine pope, including his spirituality, his goals as pope and some interesting self-criticism.

Asked what the church needs most today, the pope said it was “the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity.”

“I see the church as a field hospital after battle.It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else,” he said.

“The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all,” he said.

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ARGENTINA
Fort Mills Times

The Associated Press
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina —
In a story Sept. 19 about a priest convicted of sexually abusing a boy, The Associated Press reported erroneously that it was Argentina’s Supreme Court that upheld his 15-year prison sentence. The Supreme Court of Buenos Aires Province confirmed the sentence.

A corrected version of the story is below:

15-year term for Argentine priest sex abuse upheld
Buenos Aires Provincial Supreme Court confirms 15-year sex abuse term for ‘Happy Children’ priest

By ALMUDENA CALATRAVA
Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The Supreme Court of Buenos Aires Province has upheld the 15-year prison sentence of a priest convicted of sexually abusing a boy in his “Happy Children” foundation, prompting the victim’s attorney on Thursday to call for the cleric’s immediate arrest.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on reaction to Pope Francis’ interview published yesterday by America magazine:

Pope Francis is a reformer; he is not a revolutionary. The distinction is important. His style and tone are different, but he shares with John Paul II and Benedict XVI the same doctrinal positions, and the same vision, of the Catholic Church.

Some conservatives are in mourning. They shouldn’t be. Some liberals are popping the cork. They shouldn’t be. Knee-jerk reactions are typically a function of ignorance, and that’s what we are witnessing. It would be so refreshing if people actually read what the pope said.

Already, there are some on the left who are seizing the moment to stifle the speech of loyal sons and daughters of the Church. Chris Cuomo tried that today with me, but it didn’t work. Don’t take my word for it—click here to see what happened.

Left-wing spin doctors, like those at GLAAD, are saying the pope “has recognized the harm that the Roman Catholic hierarchy’s campaigns against LGBT people and families have caused.” But no bishop has ever condemned gays for being gay. GLAAD is playing games: it wants to say that anyone who supports marriage, properly understood, is a bigot. Only ideologues believe such nonsense.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Times-Leader

September 20. 2013

By Roger DuPuis – rdupuis@civitasmedia.com

SCRANTON — A Lackawanna County priest who formerly worked in Luzerne County has been suspended from his post at an Old Forge parish after he allegedly was caught having sex with a boy in a car on a college campus.

The Rev. William Jeffery Paulish, 56, faces charges including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault after campus security said they discovered Paulish in a parked vehicle with the 15-year-old Thursday night.

Paulish has been serving as an assistant pastor at Prince of Peace Parish in Old Forge, but in past years was assigned to posts in Exeter, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre and Bear Creek, according to Diocese of Scranton records.

Diocesan officials pledged to cooperate with investigators.

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ALASKA
Alaska Dispatch

Dermot Cole
September 20, 2013

Fairbanks Bishop Donald Kettler will be leaving Alaska to take over as the Catholic bishop in St. Cloud, Minn., the Fairbanks Diocese announced today.

Kettler, who has been the Fairbanks bishop for 11 years, is to assume his new Minnesota post Nov. 7. An appointed administrator will direct the Alaska diocese until Pope Francis appoints a new bishop.

Kettler oversaw the diocese through the process of dealing with sexual abuse charges and reorganization through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The diocese encompasses a vast territory of about 400,000 square miles.

A press release from the diocese quoted Kettler about his new assignment as saying: “I was deeply touched. While it is sad to leave the people of Alaska, who I have come to love, I have a sense of returning home with this new assignment.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Standard

By EVERARD HIMMELREICH Sept. 21, 2013

THERE has never been a better time for child abuse victims in the south-west to tell their stories because the community is determined to right the wrongs of the past, a leading police officer claims.

That was the message the Victoria Police’s SANO taskforce investigating new and historical allegations of child sexual abuse told a Warrnambool community forum on Thursday night.

Acting Detective Sergeant Tim Kennedy from SANO said he believed the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry and the federal government’s royal commission into child abuse had caused a groundswell change in opinion about the abuse of children in the care of government and non-government organisations.

In a plea to local victims of child abuse, Acting Detective Sergeant Kennedy said the government inquiries had dispelled a lot of doubt in the community about the incidence of child abuse in institutional care.

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OHIO
Cincinnati Enquirer

Written by
Amber Hunt

A longtime Catholic priest who prosecutors say had a history of molesting children was found guilty Friday of taking a Cincinnati boy to West Virginia and assaulting him in 1991.

The Rev. Robert F. Poandl belongs to Fairfield-based Catholic religious order called the Glenmary Home Missioners and is not associated with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The priest, who was relieved of ministerial duties in February 2012, faces up to 10 years in prison for the conviction.

According to testimony at a U.S. District Court trial that began Monday in Cincinnati, Poandl took the boy, with his mother’s permission, on an overnight trip to a rectory in West Virginia. Once there, he awakened the boy in the middle of the night by having sex with him. The victim told authorities that after the act, Poandl said they had just sinned and needed to pray to God for forgiveness.

The victim, who now is in his 30s and testified at the trial, didn’t tell anyone about the assault for 18 years.

Judy Jones, the Midwest associate director for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said that Poandl’s employment history had “big red flags” because he had been transferred about 30 times in 44 years.

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OHIO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Sept. 20

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

We are grateful that Fr. Robert Poandl has been found guilty to sexually abusing a 10 year old boy. However, we are worried that he may receive such a light sentence.

We are especially grateful to this brave victim and his family. Their courage to speak up, their wisdom to seek justice and their patience to endure delays has been heroic. Because of their compassion and determination, this dangerous predator will always be publicly known as a child molester.

We hope Fr. Poandl will be spending a long time behind bars away from innocent children.

It’s crucial that the justice system has accurate information about Fr. Poandl and his crimes so that he can be appropriately sentenced. So it’s important that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered his crimes now come forward to prosecutors.

Church officials transferred Fr. Poandl roughly 30 times in 44 years (sometimes to the same location twice). He could well have victims spread far across the US. So we urge the bishops in every diocese where Fr. Poandl worked to aggressively reach out to others who may have been assaulted and may still be suffering in shame, silence and self-blame. This includes the dioceses of New Orleans LA, Atlanta GA, Tulsa OK, Savannah GA, Jackson, MS, and Harrisburg PA. So should Fr. Poandl’s supervisors and colleagues at the Glenmary Home Missionaries.

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LOWELL (MA)
The Sun

By Lisa Redmond, lredmond@lowellsun.com
UPDATED: 09/20/2013

LOWELL — A high-ranking priest within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston was given six months probation after admitting to sufficient facts after police caught him in his car behind a Lowell cemetery with a prostitute last month.

In Lowell District Court on Friday, Monsignor Arthur Coyle, 62, of Lowell, admitted to sufficient facts to one count of sexual conduct for a fee.

Judge Elizabeth Cremens continued Coyle’s case for six months during which time he is on probation. While on probation, Coyle, a priest for 36 years, must continue counseling and he must stay away from the Highlands section of Lowell.

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OHIO
Fox 11

Reported by: Associated Press
Reported: Friday, September 20, 2013

CINCINNATI
A jury has resumed deliberations in the trial of an Ohio priest charged with taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex more than two decades ago.

Federal jurors in Cincinnati deliberated for a couple of hours Thursday in the case of Robert Poandl and resumed Friday morning. The Roman Catholic priest has pleaded not guilty to a charge of transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent of engaging him in sex.

Prosecutors say the charge carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Francis has started building his team of trusted collaborators. Cardinal Mauro Piacenza is being transferred to the Apostolic Penitentiary

MARCO TOSATTI
ROME

Tomorrow morning the Holy See will announce two important changes in the Curia. The Prefect of the Clergy, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, is leaving the post to which he was appointed by Benedict XVI three years ago. Croatian archbishop Nikola Eterovic, who has been Secretary of the Synod of Bishops for more than nine years, is being replaced by Lorenzo Baldisseri, the Secretary of the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Piacenza will take over as Penitentiary Major of the Apostolic Penitentiary, currently held by Portuguese cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro. The cassocked diplomat Archbishop Beniamino Stella has been appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. He is currently President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the training school of the Holy See’s future Nuncios. Stella has been president of the Academy since 2007. Nikola Eterovic has been appointed as Nuncio to Germany. Mgr. Crociata, who is currently Secretary Generalo f the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), is expected to be appointed Military Ordinary of Italy.

The changes are taking place a short time before Francis’ meeting with the international team of eight cardinals who are supposed to be advising the Pope on the reform of the Church’s structures. The meeting has been scheduled for the beginning of October. This the first big change the Pope has made to the system inherited from Benedict XVI, other than the appointment of Archbishop Pietro Parolin as Vatican Secretary of State, replacing Tarcisio Bertone.

The reasons for these changes are not given, as per protocol. They are a papal prerogative. Mauro Piacenza started working for the Congregation for the Clergy in 1990, before he was nominated President of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and returned to the Congregation for the Clergy as Secretary, when the Brazilian Claudio Hummes was Prefect. Hummes drew in significant support for Francis in the Conclave that elected him Pope. Piacenza took over from Hummes in 2010 when Hummes reached the age limit for his position.

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