ABUSE TRACKER

ROME
Catholic News Agency

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) — Acting in his capacity as bishop of Rome, Pope Francis offered words of encouragement to his diocesan priests, assuring them that recent and current scandals cannot overcome the church’s holiness and urging them to keep their vocations alive through love of God.

The pope made his remarks Sept. 16 at a meeting with diocesan clergy in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome.

Pope Francis devoted the first part of the meeting, which lasted more than two hours, to answering a letter he had received a few days earlier from an elderly parish priest, writing of his struggles as a pastor.

“The letter is beautiful, I was moved,” the pope said, speaking without a text. “The letter is simple. The priest is mature and he shared with me one of his feelings: fatigue.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Raw Story

By Agence France-Presse
Monday, September 16, 2013

An Australian inquiry into church and institutional child abuse began public hearings Monday, with warnings that widespread and “shocking” allegations would be heard against places of worship, orphanages, community groups and schools.

Justice Peter McClellan opened the hearings in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, announced by the government last November, saying that thousands of people had so far come forward.

“It is now well known that the sexual abuse of children has been widespread in the Australian community, however the full range of institutions in which it has occurred is not generally understood,” McClellan said in an address.

“Many of the stories we are hearing will shock many people.”

The inquiry was established by former prime minister Julia Gillard in response to a series of child sex abuse scandals involving paedophile priests, though she insisted the probe would be much broader than the Catholic Church.

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

VATICAN CITY
Chicago Tribune

Philip Pullella
Reuters
September 16, 2013

ROME (Reuters) – The Vatican department in charge of paying salaries and managing real estate acted improperly as a parallel bank, providing accounts to outsiders, an arrested prelate who worked there for 22 years has told Italian prosecutors.

The latest allegations of misdoings come as Pope Francis struggles to tackle years of financial scandals involving the Vatican bank, which has long been in the spotlight for failing to meet international standards against tax evasion and the disguising of illegal sources of income.

The allegations concerning the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, known as APSA, will present another headache for the pope, who has appointed two commissions to advise him on how to clean up Vatican finances.

A key suspect in a widening investigation by Italian magistrates looking into alleged money laundering through the Vatican bank told them that officials at APSA allowed the office to be used by outsiders even though it was against its regulations, according to a transcript of his questioning.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
General-Anzeiger

Von Kai Pfundt/dpa

KÖNIGSTEIN/KÖLN. Mit einem freundlichen Lächeln zeigt sich der päpstliche Gesandte Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo an diesem Sonntag dem Limburger Kirchenvolk. Fast eine Woche hat er sich hinter verschlossenen Türen ein Bild vom Streit um die Amtsführung von Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst gemacht.

Nun spricht er bei einem Freiluft-Gottesdienst in Königstein im Taunus zu mehreren hundert Gläubigen. Seine Worte im Namen von Papst Franziskus ernten Applaus – enttäuschen manche aber auch.

Der Kardinal mahnt in seiner Predigt mit Bibelzitaten zur Versöhnung und spricht von Frieden. Den Bezug zum aufgewühlten katholischen Bistum muss man sich hinzudenken – ganz konkret geht er darauf nur bei seiner Ansprache zu Beginn der Messe ein. Indem ihn Papst Franziskus geschickt habe, habe dieser auch “seiner Erwartung Ausdruck gegeben, dass durch diesen Besuch Sie alle einen neuen Weg alle zusammen in gegenseitiger Liebe und Verständnis” beginnen können. Lajolo betont dabei die Passage “alle zusammen”.

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

SCOTLAND
Catholic Culture

By Phil Lawler | September 16, 2013

This is unprecedented—a giant step forward in the Church’s response to the sex-abuse crisis!

For more than a decade we’ve been learning about the failings of Catholic bishops. In some cases the prelates were guilty of personal misconduct; in other case they were only guilty of covering up the misconduct of others. (But a cover-up is a form of misconduct, too; isn’t it?) How many bishops have resigned in disgrace? I’ve lost count.

But until now, I have never heard an incoming bishop say anything critical about the man he replaced. Even when the outgoing prelate’s misconduct was a matter of public record, his newly appointed replacement has typically made a point of saying something kind about his predecessor’s ministry—or, at worst, saying nothing at all. So the polite fiction has been maintained that sexual abuse is something that “just happened,” and the bishops who presided over a pastoral catastrophe have escaped accountability.

Now at last, an archbishop-elect in Scotland has frankly acknowledged the truth: that his predecessor’s leadership harmed the Church. Archbishop-elect Leo Cushley did not elaborate on the problems caused by Cardinal Keith O’Brien, which are already well documented. But he did say that the cardinal’s presence in Scotland would not be helpful to the Church. The incoming archbishop recognizing that his predecessor was, and is, a problem. Recognizing the nature of the problem is a key step toward a solution.

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

NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

BEN HEATHER
17/09/2013

The Catholic Church has accepted five fresh claims of child abuse, including allegations against a former priest already convicted of violating children.

It comes amid warnings that a child abuse inquiry that began in Australia yesterday is likely to reveal further allegations of abuse involving New Zealand priests.

Bill Kilgallon, who heads the Catholic Church’s national office handling complaints of abuse in New Zealand, said that since late June the church had accepted five additional claims of abuse as genuine.

It had also investigated two new allegations from people who say they were sexually abused by priests as children.

One accusation is levelled against a former priest who is still alive and has already been convicted of sexually abusing another child.

The complainant had not yet gone to police, and Mr Kilgallon declined to provide further details. “If he [the complainant] does go to the police, we are better off with an element of surprise,” he said.

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

LYNN (MA)
The Daily Item

By Cyrus Moulton / The Daily Item
Posted on September 16, 2013

LYNN — The Office of Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said it is not charging The Rev. James Gaudreau, longtime pastor at St. Joseph’s Parish, after a year-long investigation into a child sexual abuse allegation.

“I thank God and His Blessed Mother for this day of deliverance, and I thank all those parishioners of St. Joseph’s Parish and others who stood by me and prayed for me during this long ordeal,” Gaudreau said Sunday in a statement through his attorney.

Gaudreau has been at St. Joseph’s Parish since 1984 and its pastor since 1993. He was placed on administrative leave in September 2012 after the Archdiocese of Boston received an allegation that Gaudreau had sexually abused a teenager in 2006.

Several parishioners said they were shocked at the allegation and believed that it was motivated by revenge or greed against the longtime pastor, who parishioners said could be stern and sometimes confrontational.

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

ITALY
The Local

A 32-year-old woman has been arrested in Turin for allegedly blackmailing an elderly priest out of €350,000, after he put an end to their affair.

She was arrested after the retired priest went to the police out of desperation, saying that she had taken all of his money, La Repubblica said on Monday.

The pair reportedly started a relationship in 2009, although after two years the priest put an end to the affair. She then began threatening the priest, telling him that she would expose him with photographs and video footage of their liaisons, the newspaper said.

She was in fact bluffing, yet the fearful priest handed over €350,000 in bank transfers and cash.

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

MASSACHUSETTS
CW 56

BOSTON (AP) — An attorney for a Lynn priest says prosecutors won’t file charges against the clergyman, who was accused a year ago of sexually abusing a child.

The Boston Globe reported that a spokeswoman for the Essex district attorney confirmed no charges have been filed against the Rev. James Gaudreau. She wouldn’t comment further, including on whether the investigation was complete.

Gaudreau was accused last September of abusing a child in 2006. He’s been on leave since.
A spokesman for the Boston Archdiocese said the investigation isn’t complete and Gaudreau will remain on leave and barred from public ministry until it is.

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

NORTH CAROLINA
Greenville Online

Written by
Ryan Ferguson
Guest Columnist

This weekend within a 10-mile radius of Greenville over 900 churches will gather together for their worship. Census data reveals that nearly 58 percent of Greenville County citizens will meet in churches. The respective clergy from these congregations will see over 250,000 people.

One certainty transcends differences between these churches. One stark reality should cause the eyes of Greenville’s ministers to see their people with greater compassion. In every one of these congregations, ministry leaders stand in front of survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Unfortunately the church is not necessarily known as a safe place for those who have been hurt by this crime. Rather than leading the charge the church is scandalized by reports of abuse within her ranks. Instead of seeking justice and providing safe, healing environments for survivors and their families, the church has become known for its cover ups and lack of competence and compassion when caring for those hurt by sexual abuse.

This must change. Church leaders must open their eyes to this issue and begin to address it. For many, addressing childhood sexual abuse will start with an admission that they need help because they don’t know what to do. For others, simple dialogue will be the first step. Talking about the issue of childhood sexual abuse will not only serve those who have already been hurt but will begin a process for future prevention and protection of children.

Church leaders must act in concert with others rather than in isolation when sexual abuse occurs. Church leaders must not isolate themselves from law enforcement or other organizations that can assist them with a proper response. In an effort to begin the dialogue in the greater Greenville region, North Hills Community Church will be hosting a conference on Sept. 20 and 21 called Open Your Eyes.

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

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

For immediate release: Monday, Sept. 16, 2013

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

Files released on two predator priests
Each abused in CA but spent time in MO
They’re with a St. Louis-based religious order
Victims blast MO Catholic officials for “continued secrecy”
SNAP to prelates: “Reach out to others who may be in pain”

More than 200 pages of records about two predator priests who worked in Missouri have just been released. In response, a support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging three Missouri bishops to “reach out” to others who may have been molested by them.

One priest worked primarily in eastern Missouri, most recently in the 1980s at St. Gabriel’s in St. Louis city. The other priest worked at a college and a parish in Cape Girardeau (then a part of the St. Louis archdiocese).

Both Fr. John Edward Ruhl and Fr. John V. “Jack” Farris belonged to the St. Louis-based western region of the Vincentians but spent much of their careers in California, where child sex abuse suits were filed against them. Both also spent time at the now-closed St. Mary’s seminary in Perryville in the 1960s. More than 120 pages of records about both men were disclosed last week and are posted here: http://www.lorpb.com/September-Release.aspx

Fr. Farris is a Kansas City native who went to St. John’s seminary in Kansas City and was ordained in 1949 by then St. Louis Auxiliary Bishop Charles Helmsing. Fr. Farris was primarily assigned to eight or nine St. Louis area church facilities from 1958-1999, with one year at the Evangelical Center in Cape Girardeau in 1985-1986. (See page 44 of the records for more details.)

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

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Riverfront Times

[documents]

By Sam Levin Mon., Sep. 16 2013

In July, a local family filed a lawsuit agains the Archdiocese of St. Louis, alleging that Archbishop Robert Carlson attempted to cover up a priest’s sex abuse and tamper with evidence in the process. This suit, surrounding Father Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang, was filed after Carlson was subpoenaed in the criminal investigation of Jiang (who is accused of repeatedly molesting a teenage girl in her home). As the case moves forward this month, victims’ rights groups are arguing that Carlson’s inadequate response reflects a long history of mishandling abuse allegations.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), an advocacy group based in St. Louis, has provided Daily RFT with newly released documents from 1984 relating to a case at the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, involving then bishop Carlson. The letters, the group argues, shed light on his decades of direct experience with these kinds of cases and repeated efforts to downplay abuse.

“It’s the antithesis of what a caring shepherd should do,” says David Clohessy, SNAP executive director.

The files are noteworthy because they offer a rare glimpse into a top church official’s direct statements and response on sex abuse allegations and they also highlight just how long Carlson has dealt with these kinds of controversies — a history which, Clohessy says, should better inform his efforts today. …

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of St. Louis sends Daily RFT this lengthy rebuttal from SNAP, which we’ve printed here in full:

In the last two decades Archbishop Robert J. Carlson has become a voice for transparency in clergy sex abuse cases. The experiences he had with reporting clergy misconduct to church leadership in the Archdiocese of St. Paul – Minneapolis in the early 1980’s have influenced the way he handles these cases today as an archbishop. By the time clergy sex abuse unfolded on a national scale in 2002, then Bishop Carlson led the way in South Dakota where he worked with the state’s attorney and offered to open up the church’s files. Bishop Carlson also required local, state, and national background checks for priests who came in from other dioceses along with other diocesan workers.
Fr. Kevin McDonough, Director of Safe Environment for the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, previously stated, “As frequently as possible in public forums, I credit Archbishop Carlson for taking steps in the 1980’s to break the culture of clerical secrecy in our Archdiocese. The work of Bishop Carlson as early as the first half of the 1980’s in St. Paul-Minneapolis is still a model of responsible citizenship of honest, open cooperation with public officials and especially concern for the safety of children thirty years later.”

In June of 2002 the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) established the Dallas Charter, a comprehensive set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the requirements of the Dallas Charter are fulfilled by our Safe Environment Office and the Office of Child and Youth Protection. Since 2002, one-hundred thousand people have completed this program. Any adult who is employed by or volunteers in our parishes and institutions who works with minors is required to complete the “Protecting God’s Children” program, which teaches how to recognize questionable behavior, to implement practices for the safety of children, and to take necessary steps to address even the suspicion that a cleric or Church worker has done something inappropriate.

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

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Monday, September 16, 2013

An outspoken priest has hit out at intolerant and extreme right-wingers in the Church and questioned why priests like Fr Tony Flannery were being “persecuted with a zeal that is as pathological as the paranoia that feeds it”.

By Elaine Keogh

Fr Iggy O’Donovan was paying tribute to Fr Flannery, a Redemptorist priest who was silenced by the Catholic hierarchy in Rome last year after airing his views over women priests, contraception, and clerical celibacy, at his own final Mass before he begins a “sabbatical”.

Close to 1,500 people, including members of the Muslim and Baha’i faiths, attended the service at the Augustinian Church in Drogheda yesterday where they also heard town mayor Richie Culhane claim that “ultra-conservative” elements had forced the Augustinians to “push” Fr Iggy out of Drogheda.

While Fr Iggy has denied reports he had been silenced by the Church, many see the decision to move him from Drogheda to Limerick, where he will be on sabbatical, as a response to complaints about his liturgy.

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

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

By Matt Rocheleau | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

Prosecutors will not file charges against a Catholic priest from Lynn who was accused one year ago of sexually abusing a child, according to the priest’s lawyer. But the Archdiocese of Boston said it will continue its own investigation. The Rev. James E. Gaudreau said he hopes the archdiocese will soon allow him to return to his duties as pastor of Saint Joseph Parish.

“My conscience was always clear,” said a statement from Gaudreau, who has been on leave since the investigation began. “I knew that I was innocent of any wrongdoing. I was also confident that, in time, I would be thoroughly exonerated.”

“Now that the cloud of suspicion has been lifted by civil authorities, I look forward to a prompt and equally just vindication by the canonical authorities of the Archdiocese of Boston,” he added.

Gaudreau will remain on leave and restricted from public ministry until the archdiocese investigation is complete, said a statement from Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for the archdiocese. He did not comment on how long that process could take.

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

IRELAND
Irish Central

An Augustinian priest has delivered a stinging rebuke to ‘right-wing Catholics’ and ‘career-orientated Catholics’ who are trying to silence those clerics calling for change within the church.

Fr Iggy O’Donovan made the remarks in his final homily at St Augustines in Drogheda before he takes an enforced sabbatical.

He also spoke out in favour of the controversial Redemptorist priest Fr Tony Flannery, subject of a silencing bid by the Vatican for his outspoken views on church reform in the wake of clerical sex scandals.

In an unprecedented move the Mayor of Drogheda Richard Culhane spoke at the mass and asked for fair treatment for Father O’Donovan who he described as a hugely popular figure.

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

MINNESOTA
West Central Tribune

ST. PAUL — A St. Paul law firm has scheduled a news conference this afternoon regarding sexual abuse allegations against a Catholic priest who once served in Willmar.

Two women are scheduled to speak out about the abuse committed by the late Rev. David A. Roney, according to a release from Anderson and Associates in St. Paul.

Roney served at St. Mary’s Church in Willmar in the 1960s and 1970s.

According to the news release, the law firm will be filing two lawsuits on behalf of three women. The suits claim that the New Ulm Diocese was negligent in allowing Roney to have continued access to children even after receiving reports of inappropriate behavior with girls. – See more at: http://www.wctrib.com/content/retired-priest-willmar-ties-faces-sex-abuse-lawsuits#sthash.FCJoAuNF.dpuf

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has announced the matters to be investigated in the three remaining public hearings in 2013. The announcement was made today at the opening of the first public hearing in Sydney.

Counsel Assisting Ms Gail Furness SC, advised that the YMCA, the Anglican Diocese of Grafton and the Towards Healing process by the Catholic Church would be examined in public hearings two, three and four respectively before the end of the year.

Ms Furness said that:

* The second public hearing in October would examine the responses of YMCA and the Police to allegations made in 2011 that Jonathan Lord sexually abused children in the care of YMCA;
* The third public hearing in November is to examine the handling of complaints and civil litigation concerning child sexual abuse in the North Coast Children’s Home by the Anglican Diocese of Grafton in 2006 and 2007; while
*The final public hearing for 2013, in December, would hear evidence about the establishment, operation and review of the Towards Healing process by the Catholic Church. In addition, it will explore how that process works in practice with evidence from a number of people who have participated in it.

Ms Furness also indicated that investigations were already well underway for public hearings in 2014.

“I can say at this stage that next year, an orphanage will be the subject of an early public hearing as will one or more institutions within the Catholic Church and the Salvation Army,” Ms Furness told the hearing.

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

UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: A priest of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Cahill was ordained in 1946. In the first two decades of his career, Cahill taught in high schools in Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts. The following two decades Cahill worked as as an assistant hospital chaplain, in Michigan and in Massachusetts. He died in 1986. In early 2002 several men came forward with accusations that Cahill sexually abused boys at Cheverus High School in Portland, ME in the 1950s.

Ordained: 1946
Died: Feb. 5, 1986

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

CANADA
CTV

[with video]

Disgraced politician Donnie Snook was before the television cameras today for the first time since his arrest on dozens of sex charges involving children, in Saint John last winter.

Snook’s appearance this morning was relatively brief.

The former councillor and youth worker in Saint John did not have a lawyer representing him in Newfoundland court, so the case was postponed.

He is accused of molesting a boy who was under the age of 14.

The assaults allegedly occurred when Snook was a Salvation Army minister, working in Mount Moriah,

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

CANADA
CBC News

A former pastor was in a Corner Brook courtroom this morning to face child sex-related charges, but he didn’t enter a plea.

Donnie Snook’s appearance was short, and his case was postponed until Oct. 29, because Snook’s lawyer, Dennis Boyle, was unable to attend.

Snook, 41, told the court he and his lawyer are waiting for disclosure evidence from the Crown before entering a plea.

Snook is accused of assaulting a boy while he was a pastor with the Salvation Army in Mount Moriah in the mid 1990s.

Snook now faces two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference involving a boy who was under the age of 14 at the time of the alleged offences in 1995-96.

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

OHIO
Seattle PI

CINCINNATI (AP) — An Ohio priest accused of taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex more than two decades ago faces federal trial in Cincinnati.

Robert Poandl (POHN’-duhl) of the Cincinnati-based Glenmary Home Missioners has pleaded not guilty. His trial was scheduled to begin Monday, after U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett rejected a defense motion to dismiss the case on statute of limitations grounds. The charges were filed 21 years after the alleged abuse while the two visited a church in Spencer, West Va., in 1991.

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

OHIO
Cincinnati Inquirer

Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in a case against a longtime Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a boy two decades ago.

Federal prosecutors plan to allege the Rev. Robert F. Poandl had a history of molesting children before he allegedly attacked the boy on Aug. 3, 1991, according to a motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court.

They say he molested two young boys over a three-year period beginning in May 1981.

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

CHILE
Correo

SANTIAGO.- El cardenal chileno Francisco Javier Errázuriz rechazó la millonaria indemnización que exigieron al Arzobispado de Santiago tres víctimas de abusos sexuales por parte de un influyente sacerdote capitalino.

En entrevista con el diario La Tercera, publicada este domingo, el prelado dijo que puede entender “el gravísimo daño sufrido” por las víctimas del presbítero Fernando Karadima, pero se preguntó “por qué razón no le pidieron la indemnización a él”.

James Hamilton, Juan Carlos Cruz y José Andrés Murillo, víctimas de abuso sexual por parte de Karadima, presentaron esta semana una demanda para exigir una indemnización de 900 mil dólares contra el Arzobispado, ya que a su juicio hubo “negligencias sistemáticas” de la institución.

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

SCOTLAND
Catholic Herald

By FR ALEXANDER LUCIE-SMITH on Monday, 16 September 2013

What do you do when your time as a prelate ends not in honourable retirement but in disgrace? This question came to mind after reading what Mgr Leo Cushley had to say on Radio 4 yesterday about Cardinal Keith O’Brien, whose current whereabouts are unknown:

“He is a free man in a free country so he can come back [to Scotland] if he wants. But the Holy See will be the ones to ask him to do whatever it is they intend. We all have our own opinions about that and what would be best for him, what would be best for those affected his actions, what would be better for the local Church. What can I say? I think it’s not impossible for Cardinal O’Brien to come back to Scotland, of course it’s not impossible, but personally speaking I think it’s somewhat unlikely that he would return to Scotland. There would be a number of reasons for that, and looking around myself I think it would probably be wiser and more helpful for the future of the Church here if he were not to be back in the country.”

These comments speak for themselves. But the question remains: what is someone in Cardinal O’Brien’s position to do with himself?

There are precedents which might point the way. One is provided by Bishop Eamon Casey, an outline of whose career is found here. After being engulfed in scandal in his home country, the bishop grew a beard and went to work as a missionary in Ecuador. After a few years there he worked in a parish in England. During his time in England Fr Eamon, as he was called, became well known to the people of God locally, and very much loved and respected. He devoted himself to visiting the sick in the local hospital and in their homes. Working in the same hospital myself a few years after he had finally retired to Ireland because of ill health, I was constantly stopped by people in corridors who told me just how much they had appreciated his ministry and how deeply touched they had been by his tireless devotion to the sick. Incidentally, all these people knew of his previous history.

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

SCOTLAND
Scotland on Sunday

by CRAIG BROWN
Published on the 16 September 2013

THE prospect of disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien being forced to remain in exile outside of Scotland is tantamount to “ongoing punishment” by the Catholic Church, independent MSP Margo MacDonald has said.

Her comments follow an interview with the former archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh’s successor, Monsignor Leo Cushley, in which he said that it was “unlikely” that Cardinal O’Brien would return to Scotland.

The veteran Vatican diplomat, who will be installed as archbishop later this week, said: “For the sake of the peace, it would probably be better form not to come back to Scotland.”

He said that whilst “it was not impossible” for the cardinal to return, he thought it “somewhat unlikely”, adding: “There would be a number of reasons for that, and looking around myself, I think it would probably be wiser and more helpful for the future of the Church here if he were not to be back in the country.”

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

AUSTRALIA
SBS

By Chiara Pazzano

Today, the first public hearings of the Royal Commission into institutional child sexual abuse have begun in Sydney.

President of Adults Surviving Child Abuse Dr Cathy Kezelman says the inquiry is a great start.

“What we have for the first time is the possibility for people to be heard in private sessions and also for forensic inquiries into the impediments and blocks in institutions,” she says.

“And that is formal, in terms of proceedings and informal in terms of culture. That has meant that children have not been protected, have been harmed, and that has meant that institutions have been protected and not children”.

She says the inquiry is limited though, as it’s only looking at child sexual abuse in institutions.

“It’s not looking at other forms of abuse and it’s not looking at abuse and trauma in childhood that occurs outside of institutions, in the family, in the home, in the community – external to institutions”.

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

AUSTRALIA
SBS

[with video]

By Christine Heard, Nancia Guivarra

“Many of the stories we are hearing will shock people,” says Justice Peter McClellan, who is overseeing the team of six commissioners of the Royal Commission.

Justice McClellan says those documenting the allegations of systemic institutional abuse have found it harrowing.

“I didn’t adequately appreciate, the devestating and long lasting affects which sexual abuse, however inflicted can have on an individuals life.”

The first institution examined was Scouts New South Wales… and the activities of former scout leader and convicted pedophile Steven Larkins … who is now in jail.

The commission heard that Larkins sexually assaulted two boys.

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

AUSTRALIA
Sky News

Victims have staked out the first public hearing of the Royal Commission into child sex abuse, demanding the institutions involved be made to pay compensation.

Leonie Sheedy of Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) says a fund needs to be set up now.

‘Our people are dying,’ she told AAP on Monday.

Ms Sheedy, standing in front of a line of signs held by CLAN members calling for churches and charities to be made accountable, said they were waiting to see what the commission would recommend but she feared it would come too late.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney is looking at how organisations dealt with complaints about convicted pedophile Steve ‘Skip’ Larkins.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

[with video]

Dan Box
From: The Australian
September 16, 2013

A WITNESS has told the royal commission into child sex abuse how he felt “dirty, belittled and confused” when as a 12-year-old he was sexually assaulted by then Scouts leader Steve “Skip” Larkins.

He is one of three unnamed victims giving evidence at the first public hearing in Sydney today of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse. The commission is considering the “case study” of Larkins, a former Scouts leader from the NSW Hunter Valley who was recently convicted of child abuse.

Known as AA, the victim told of the ongoing impact of the experience, which he did not speak about until he was 20.

“I would burst into tears for no reason. Once I was in a car with my mum talking about TAFE and I just started crying.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

September 16, 2013

Paul Bibby
Court Reporter

Senior figures within NSW Scouts were told about inappropriate behaviour by Hunter region Scout leader Steven Larkins years before he was arrested by police for abusing children but refused to kick him out on the grounds that it would “look bad for scouts” to kick out a member who was part Aboriginal.

The explosive allegations came from a former Scout group leader, who was giving evidence on the opening day of Sydney hearings of the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

It was all about protecting Scouts, not about protecting children.

Armand Hoitink told the commission that Larkins, who was jailed last year for aggravated indecent assault, possessing child pornography and forging documents, was involved in a number of disturbing incidents in the mid to late 1990s that were well known to many senior office holders.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

By court reporter Jamelle Wells and staff

The royal commission’s first public hearing will examine how a paedophile was given trusted roles involving children.

Steven Larkins was jailed last year for possessing child porn, and has pleaded guilty to committing indecent acts against two children.

But until he faced court last year, Larkins had been one of the nation’s most senior leaders in the area of child protection.

The royal commission into child abuse has been told a paedophile scout leader was not stood down because it would look bad to sack someone who was part Aboriginal.

The allegation was made on the opening day of the commission’s first public hearing in Sydney.

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

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

BY ANNETTE BLACKWELL AAP SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

A SCOUT leader who had supposedly been “stepped down” from contact with minors, turned up at a Gold Coast theme park with around 10 children in tow, all wearing Scouts uniform, a child abuse royal commission has heard.

It was for this reason, former Scout leader Armand Hoitink said he resigned from Scouts Australia.

Steve ‘Skip’ Larkins was jailed in 2012 for possessing child pornography, forging documents and indecent assault.

On Monday the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began public hearings in Sydney into how Larkins ended up having parental responsibility for 19 Aboriginal children in a Hunter foster care service, despite earlier complaints being made against him.

Mr Hoitink told the commission he had been reporting complaints about Larkins to senior Scouts leaders since the early 1990s.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Support services are being boosted in Tasmania to help victims of child sexual abuse who take part in the royal commission.

The Sexual Assault Support Service (SASS), Laurel House and Relationships Australia have been jointly allocated almost $2 million in federal funding over three years.

The funding announcement coincides with the royal commission’s first public hearings in Sydney.

The money is being used to support Tasmanian survivors of child sexual abuse who give evidence to the commissioners.

The chief executive of SASS, Liz Little, says up to eight people are being hired throughout Tasmania.

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

NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand Herald

By Lincoln Tan
Monday Sep 16, 2013

The woman at the centre of a sexual misconduct complaint against a Korean Presbyterian pastor is standing by her claims and is backing a church investigation which found him guilty after a criminal court cleared him of any wrongdoing.

David Ock-Youn Jang, a senior pastor of the Korean Presbyterian Church of Auckland, stood trial in 2007 on four counts of indecent assault, five counts of rape and one count of assault with intent to commit sexual violation, but was found not guilty on all charges.

However, the church’s complaints hearing committee conducted its own investigation and upheld a number of charges of sexual impropriety and physical, verbal and emotional abuse, and deposed Mr Jang as a minister of the church.

“What I have spoken is the truth, but I have been labelled mentally unstable, a prostitute, a demon and all sorts of other names by some church members who don’t know anything about the matter,” said the complainant.

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

AUSTRALIA
SBS

[with video]

Source AAP

The first public hearings of the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse began today in Sydney.

WHY IS IT HAPPENING?

The main aim of the royal commission is to investigate systemic failures within church and state-run institutions relating to child sexual abuse and related matters.

Earlier this year Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the terms of a Royal Commission into institutional child sexual abuse.

A joint statement from Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Mr Dreyfus and Families and Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin said the commission hearings would “mark the start of a healing process for survivors and their families”.

“The royal commission will enable thousands of Australians who suffered as children to recount their experiences and express feelings that many carry to this day as a result of the harm caused to them,” they said in the statement.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Journal (Ireland)

AN AUSTRALIAN INQUIRY into church and institutional child abuse began public hearings earlier today with warnings that widespread and “shocking” allegations would be heard against places of worship, orphanages, community groups and schools.

Justice Peter McClellan opened the hearings in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, announced by the government last November, saying that thousands of people had so far come forward.

“It is now well known that the sexual abuse of children has been widespread in the Australian community, however the full range of institutions in which it has occurred is not generally understood,” McClellan said in an address.

“Many of the stories we are hearing will shock many people.”

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

AUSTRALIA
NZWeek

By Joseph A. Cambra Updated 16/09/2013

A national inquiry conducted by Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse opened its first public hearing Monday in Sydney for a long-time issue of church and institutional child sexual abuse cases, a media release from the commission said Monday.

The inquiry was commissioned by the federal government to investigate allegations of systemic abuse within religious and state-run institutions, local media ABC News said.

New South Wales (NSW) state’s Supreme Court judge Peter McClellan has been appointed to lead the royal commission into national child sexual abuse cases earlier this year, with the support from five other commissioners.

According to the chief executive of the commission, Janette Dines, many stories hearing during the inquiry will shock people.

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

AUSTRALIA
Jacaranda FM

16 September 2013

More than 500 victims of child sexual abuse in Australian institutions will tell their stories to a public inquiry which began in Sydney today.

The chairman of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Justice Peter McClellan, warned that many testimonies would shock people.

McClellan had already heard 400 adult witnesses give their evidence behind closed doors, and the commission will now hear from 500 child abuse victims in open hearings.

“It is reported to us that when it occurs in residential institutions, sexual abuse is almost always accompanied by almost unbelievable levels of physical violence inflicted on the children by the adults who have responsibility for their welfare,” McClellan said at the start of the public hearings.

“Many have thought of suicide and some have attempted it,” he said.

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

AUSTRALIA
Advocate

By JOANNE McCARTHY Sept. 15, 2013

HE buried a son in August last year and became the dignified grieving father who called for a royal commission.

One year later retired Newcastle solicitor Louis Pirona still grieves, but the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse holding its first public hearings in Sydney on Monday acknowledges his son’s life and death mattered.

‘‘It honours people like John who are part of that tragic cohort of victims of child sexual abuse, where so many have taken their lives,’’ Mr Pirona said.

‘‘If John was here he would be pleased to know he played a significant part in it coming to pass.’’

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

MASSACHUSETTS
NECN

[with video]

(NECN) – A survivor of abuse at the hands of a church choir director is speaking out after receiving a settlement from the Archdiocese of Boston.

Hervay Gerard says the director, Emmett O’Brien, began abusing him back in the 1960s when he was 10 years old, and the abuse continued for years.

He says he hopes talking about this case will give courage to other victims of sexual abuse.

“It’s time for the church to stop condoning criminal activity by keeping quiet about it. It’s time to let the victims heal by acknowledging that they have responsibility for what happened 40 years ago,” Gerard says.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

JOHN MEAGHER – 14 SEPTEMBER 2013

In the middle years of the 1950s, my father earned a few pennies by tending to the gardens of Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Run by Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, it was a place where so-called “fallen women” were kept and to this day, he recalls the unmistakable sound of sobbing that could be discerned behind the grey stone walls.

There is a chance that one of the women he heard crying was Philomena Lee. Originally from Limerick, she became pregnant in 1952 and, on telling her appalled family, she was placed in the care of the nuns at Sean Ross.

Philomena was just 18 and like many unmarried expectant mothers at the time she was considered a moral degenerate in an Irish society that was ruled with an iron fist by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid.

Sean Ross was one of numerous church-run institutions set up to keep unmarried mothers out of sight and mind, and Philomena would spend three arduous years there in what, effectively, amounted to incarceration.

But that was nothing compared with the heartache she would suffer when, in 1955, her son Anthony was removed from her care by the nuns, and put up for adoption. She was not allowed to say goodbye to him, but managed to catch a glimpse of him being bundled into a black car and driven away.

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

INDIA
Times of India

JAIPUR: A woman has filed an FIR alleging she was molested by a priest who runs a popular ashram in Jhunjhunu district’s Bagad area.

She said the priest had lured her into a room at the Pabudham ashram in Bagad on the pretext of performing special prayers. Police said the woman belongs to Mahendragarh in Haryana.

“The ashram is very popular in the area,” said a police officer. “In her complaint lodged on Saturday, the woman alleged she had been frequenting the ashram for the past seven to eight years. When she went there last week, ashram priest Mal Singh asked her to come into a room there and molested her.”

The officer said the accused tore the woman’s clothes and tried to strip her. “She says she escaped from the room,” he said. “When she was leaving, he threatened to cast black magic on her.”

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Star

By Ciaran Hannah/Published 15th September 2013

Guy Marsden, 59, is writing a book with broadcaster and author Tony Horne about his disgraced uncle.

Now Savile’s circle of celebrity pals are living in fear of being named in the book.

Guy will reveal fresh details of the secret paedophile parties the BBC star hosted, some attended by his showbiz friends.

He will claim that Savile had influential members of the British legal system in his back pocket to allow him to act without fear of prosecution.

And he will also expose Savile’s secret links with members of foreign royal families – suggesting he could have abused countless victims from overseas.

Roofer Guy from Leeds, West Yorks, ­decided to write the book after staying silent for years over the Jim’ll Fix It star’s ­ shameful secret life.

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

AUSTRALIA
9 News

The head of NSW community services and both former and current executives of Scouts Australia are to be called as witnesses at the royal commission into child sexual abuse sitting in Sydney.

The first public hearings open on Monday morning with all six commissioners hearing evidence from victims and organisations in relation to convicted pedophile and former Scouts master Steve “Skip” Larkins who is in jail for child pornography offences.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is looking at how organisations dealt with complaints about Larkins, who was head of a foster care service for Aboriginal children up to 2011 even though the Scouts had received complaints about him in the 1990s.

A witness list published by the commission includes former Scout commissioner Bill Metcalfe and former Scout leader and whistleblower Armand Hoitink, as well as other Scout notables including Alan Currie.

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

IRELAND
Newstalk

Richard Chambers
Sunday 15 September 2013

Enda Kenny says reforms are underway

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told a major European conference on child abuse and neglect that Ireland still has a problem with the abuse of children.

He says that although over a dozen reports have shone a light on the failings of the past, such abuse doesn’t go away entirely.

Mr Kenny said: “It is the lingering dark stain on the rich fabric of our humanity. It is an evil which persists. Child abuse is pervasive – it is a devastating fact that children all over the world are subject to physical, sexual or emotional ill-treatment or neglect.”

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

15 SEPTEMBER 2013

The number of referrals to child protection services in Ireland increased by nearly a quarter last year, it was revealed.

The rise has put a huge strain on services already under pressure, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny added.

It follows a series of critical reports which chronicled decades of abuse by the religious orders.

The Taoiseach said: “Child abuse hasn’t gone away. It doesn’t go away.

“It is the lingering dark stain on the rich fabric of our humanity.

“It is an evil which persists.”

Already increased awareness has resulted in a substantial increase in referrals to the child protection
services, up by nearly a quarter in 2012 alone.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

FIVE men are taking legal action against a Sydney-based Catholic order alleging they were abused as schoolboys by a priest who remains with the organisation despite church leaders having known for decades about similar allegations against him.

The alleged victims of the priest, who has not been convicted of any offence, say they are concerned about his role managing the order’s archives and that he may have access to children.

The national royal commission into child abuse, which begins hearing public evidence today, will rely heavily on documents supplied by the Catholic Church, having issued it with about 40 separate notices to produce such files.

Many of the former schoolboys said they had confidence to begin legal proceedings only after the royal commission was announced and hoped it would help end a culture of silence.

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

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Sept. 15, 2013

DETECTIVE Chief Inspector Peter Fox has no regrets.

‘‘Someone’s got to be the sacrifice,’’ he said on the anniversary of the day he told a public meeting in Newcastle that NSW Police alone could not achieve justice for the victims of historic child sexual abuse.

An open letter to Premier Barry O’Farrell in the Newcastle Herald on November 8 last year led to an appearance on the ABC’s Lateline, the announcement of a NSW commission of inquiry on November 9, and a federal royal commission on November 12.

‘‘It’s taken a huge toll on me and my family,’’ Inspector Fox said of his 13 days of evidence at the NSW inquiry and strong criticism from some of the serving police officers.

His police career is finished, but he takes comfort from the support he has received from victims, their families and the public.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By FIONA HENDERSON Sept. 15, 2013

WHEN Gary walks into the Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault, he feels like he leaves an alien world behind.

“I feel like I’m in a trusted environment. I don’t have to watch my back all the time,” Gary said.

Gary, who didn’t want his last name used, was a victim of clergy sexual abuse and spent many years in his shell.

But when he heard a news bulletin announcing the perpetrator had been sentenced to 14 years’ jail, he was literally shocked into action.

“I nearly had a heart attack. I got the shock of my life.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

ELAINE KEOGH – 15 SEPTEMBER 2013

A PRIEST has hit out at what he called, “the murkiness of the devious world of ecclesiastical politics,” at his final mass before he begins a ‘sabbatical.’

Close to 1,500 people, including members of the Muslim and Bahai faiths, attended Fr Iggy O’Donovan’s final mass at the Augustinian Church in Drogheda today, and heard the Mayor claim that “ultra conservative” elements have forced the Augustinian’s to “push” Fr Iggy out of Drogheda.

While Fr Iggy has denied reports he has been silenced by the Church hierarchy in Rome, many see the decision to move him from Drogheda to Limerick, where he will be on sabbatical, as a move taken in response to complaints about his liturgy.

Fr Iggy, who is known for encouraging young people and other members of the community to take part in the mass, made international headlines in 2006 when he concelebrated Easter Sunday mass with the Church of Ireland clergyman the Reverend Michael Graham.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

15.09.2013 · Der Limburger Bischof Tebartz-van Elst hat sich dazu bereit erklärt, alle Kosten für die umstrittenen Baumaßnahmen auf dem Domberg offenzulegen und überprüfen zu lassen. Darauf haben sich Bischof und Domkapitel zum Abschluss des Besuchs von Kardinal Lajolo geeinigt.
Von DANIEL DECKERS

Der Limburger Bischofs Franz-Peter Tebartz van Elst muss sein Finanzgebaren im Zusammenhang mit dem Bau seines Bischofshauses lückenlos und überprüfbar offenlegen. In einer gemeinsamen Erklärung von Bischof und Domkapitel, die am Samstag unter Vermittlung von Kurienkardinal Giovanni Lajolo beschlossen wurde, sichert der Bischof zu, „dass er alle Kosten für die Baumaßnahme auf dem Domberg umgehend im Bischöflichen Ordinariat feststellen lassen und der Sonderprüfung einer Kommission zugänglich machen wird, die er beim Vorsitzenden der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz erbeten hat“. Der Abschlussbericht der Kommission, der alle Kosten, die Finanzierung und die eingeschlagenen Verfahrenswege überprüft und erfasst, werde offengelegt.

Desweiteren heißt es in der Erklärung, der Bischof habe „erneut seinen festen Willen zum Ausdruck gebracht, bei der Leitung der Diözese von den Beratungsorganen regelmäßigen und verlässlichen Gebrauch zu machen, die dafür im allgemeinen und partikularen Kirchenrecht vorgesehen sind. Das Domkapitel – eines jener Beratungsorgane – werde dem Wunsch von Papst Franziskus entsprechen und „diesen Weg des Bischofs aufmerksam und loyal begleiten“. Im Übrigen vertraue der Bischof darauf, dass die Konferenzen und Räte auf diesem Weg dazu beitrügen, „die anstehenden Probleme im Geist der Offenheit und der Geschwisterlichkeit zu lösen“.

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

GERMANY
GlobalPost

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

PARIS (Reuters) – A German Catholic bishop accused by critics of being an autocrat and lavish spender has agreed to let an outside commission audit his finances after a rare week-long visit by a Vatican monitor.

Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, whose costly new residence is out of step with Pope Francis’s stress on simplicity and poverty, also pledged to work more closely with his diocesan advisors.

Tebartz-van Elst and Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, a Vatican diplomat examining the diocese that includes Germany’s financial capital Frankfurt, celebrated Mass together on Sunday before the Italian prelate was to return to Rome and report to the pope.

“The final report of the commission, which will examine and include all costs, finances and procedures involved, will be disclosed publicly,” Tebartz-van Elst pledged in a joint statement with his cathedral chapter of close advisors.

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

CHILE
Criterio

El cardenal chileno Francisco Javier Errázuriz rechazó la millonaria indemnización que exigieron al Arzobispado de Santiago tres víctimas de abusos sexuales por parte de un influyente sacerdote capitalino

domingo, 15 de septiembre de 2013

El cardenal chileno Francisco Javier Errázuriz rechazó la millonaria indemnización que exigieron al Arzobispado de Santiago tres víctimas de abusos sexuales por parte de un influyente sacerdote capitalino.

En entrevista con el diario La Tercera, publicada este domingo, el prelado dijo que puede entender “el gravísimo daño sufrido” por las víctimas del presbítero Fernando Karadima, pero se preguntó “por qué razón no le pidieron la indemnización a él”.

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

CHILE
Cooperativa

Errázuriz se pregunta por qué denunciantes no pidieron indemnización a Karadima

El arzobispo emérito de Santiago, Francisco Javier Errázuriz, se refirió a la indemnización que solicitaron las víctimas de Fernando Karadima al Arzobispado de Santiago y expresó que puede entender “el gravísimo daño sufrido” pero que no sabe “por qué razón no le pidieron la indemnización al sacerdote Karadima”.

A pocos días de partir a Roma a integrar el grupo de los ocho cardenales que el papa Francisco nombró para modificar la Curia, el religioso señaló: “Puedo entender que estas tres víctimas busquen obtener una indemnización por el gravísimo daño sufrido, porque, efectivamente, al escuchar sus testimonios se siente su tremendo dolor”.

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

IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Sun, Sep 15, 2013

In a homily delivered in Drogheda this morning Augustinian priest Fr Iggy O’Donovan criticised the role of right-wing Catholics and career-oriented clergy in persecuting Irish priests recently silenced by the Vatican.

The Drogheda-based priest who has been offered a sabbatical by his superiors offered his support to Redemptorist priest Fr Tony Flannery during his final homily at St Augustines in Drogheda.

“I cannot leave here today without making some reference to a distinguished colleague of mine in the priesthood. I speak of Fr Tony Flannery. If I had not been made aware first hand of the details of this case I could not have given it credance,” he said.

“Even hardened veterans are shaken by the murkiness of the devious world of ecclesiastical politics. How has it come to this, that a great and good priest like Tony, who has dedicated his life to the preaching of the Gospel, is persecuted with a zeal that is as pathological as the paranoia that feeds it?”

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

SCOTLAND
Stirling Observer

Sep 15 2013

Disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien should stay away from Scotland for the good of the Catholic Church, according to his successor.

Monsignor Leo Cushley, who is taking over as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, said that although he is a free man, it would be “wiser” for him not to return.

Cardinal O’Brien stepped down in February after three priests and a former priest made allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him.

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

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Public Hearing – Case Study 1

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will hold a public hearing in Sydney on Monday 16 September 2013.

The webcast will be made available here from Monday 16 September

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

AUSTRALIA
WA Today

Child abuse survivor Tony Nolan explains why he believes it’s important to speak up, as the Royal Commission on Child abuse prepares to hold its first hearings in Sydney.

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

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Sept. 15, 2013

HE buried a son in August last year and became the dignified grieving father who called for a royal commission.

One year later retired Newcastle solicitor Louis Pirona still grieves, but the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse holding its first public hearings in Sydney on Monday acknowledges his son’s life and death mattered.

‘‘It honours people like John who are part of that tragic cohort of victims of child sexual abuse, where so many have taken their lives,’’ Mr Pirona said.

‘‘If John was here he would be pleased to know he played a significant part in it coming to pass.’’

John Pirona, 43, father of two and NSW Fire Brigade officer, committed suicide in July last year after ‘‘Too much pain’’ from sexual abuse by notorious paedophile priest John Denham.

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

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Sept. 15, 2013

View the Royal Commission webcast here

TWO men preyed on vulnerable Hunter children for decades despite allegations to government departments, but only one case is before the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse starting on Monday.

The case of jailed former Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services chief executive Steven Larkins will open the first public hearings of the Royal Commission in Sydney.

The case of the second jailed man, self-appointed ‘‘volunteer carer’’ Robert Holland, ended in 2009 when he died after a court heard authorities failed to act on allegations he was sexually abusing children in his care, including Aboriginal children.

Now two female victims of Holland are accusing the NSW government of further betrayal over compensation.

The women were repeatedly sexually abused by Holland in the 1980s while he received government funding for being their ‘‘carer’’.

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

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Sept. 15, 2013

ONE year ago exactly, on September 16, hundreds of people gathered in Newcastle and called for a royal commission into child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and other institutions.

They stood outside Panthers up to an hour before the meeting started. They carried in extra chairs to cope with the numbers.

They supported the family of John Pirona, whose suicide in July last year after “too much pain” from being sexually abused as a child by Hunter priest John Denham was the catalyst for the Newcastle Herald’s Shine the Light campaign for a royal commission.

They cried as Mr Pirona’s widow Tracey and father Lou laid bare their grief. They cheered as Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox sent a message to NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell – that police alone could not achieve justice for Australian victims of historic child sexual abuse.

And two months later the hundreds at Panthers on that day, the thousands more who supported the Herald’s campaign, and the tens of thousands across the country who echoed the Hunter’s rallying cry, achieved that goal.

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

At almost 12 months since the Royal Commission was announced by former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, public hearings will commence tomorrow. The battle will begin.

As churches sharpen their financial swords, others sharpen their pens. There will be much comment, especially on the style of the hearings format. Will it be officious? Will it state a point of view in the wake of six months of hearing evidence from the small group of selected victims? Will it explain why it has chosen to begin with the Larkins case (see previous posting)?

Expect some crowing from the churches that it is not only them that have problems with covering up child sexual abuse. Expect some damage control statements from the NSW government concerning revelations about the handing of the Larkins case by its Department of Community Services, especially since the Minister is currently under siege for other matters.

Will the full complement of six commissioners fill the bench? Will there be one or more selected commissioners? Some insight will be given to how the work is being distributed among the six commissioners.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

A Question of Conscience Tony Flannery Foreword by Mary McAleese Londubh Books, €14.99, pbk, 160 pages

DERMOT KEOGH – 14 SEPTEMBER 2013

Available with free P&P on www.kennys.ie or by calling 091 709350

Written by the well known Redemptorist priest Tony Flannery, this book ought to be his reflections on more than 40 years’ service to the Gospel and to the Catholic community in Ireland.

During that time, Fr Flannery preached tirelessly at parish and school retreats around the country, holding novenas in towns and cities that frequently attracted large congregations to usually empty churches. In the process he became one of the best known and most valued spiritual leaders in the country among ordinary Catholics.

That’s what this book should have been about – his service to the Catholic community in Ireland and what that has taught him.

Instead, this slim volume, with a foreword by former President Mary McAleese, chronicles Fr Flannery’s painful journey since February 2012 when he was ‘silenced’ by the Vatican. Being ‘silenced’ means he was forbidden from saying Mass, hearing confessions, conducting retreats, leading novenas or otherwise practising his ministry as a priest.

So one of the best-known and most-valued priests in Ireland, a man regarded with respect and affection by so many Catholics here, has been stopped in his tracks – his life’s mission brought to an abrupt halt.

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

SCOTLAND
Scotland on Sunday

by STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on the 15 September 2013

THE Catholic Church in Scotland will slowly rebuild its reputation which has been shattered by recent scandals according to Monsignor Leo Cushley, who this week will become the new Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

However, the veteran Vatican diplomat who has been sent to Scotland following the resignation in disgrace of Cardinal Keith O’Brien said there will be no “quick fix”.

In an exclusive interview with Scotland on Sunday ahead of his installation at St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh on Saturday, the archbishop elect insisted the Catholic laity and the wider Scottish public can separate the crimes of paedophile monks and priests and the sins of the cardinal from the many priests who diligently serve their communities.

“I think quick solutions are not our style and I don’t think they usually fix very much anyway,” he said. “My own way will be to do it the way I have been made. I will do it quietly and patiently by building and rebuilding relationships with individuals, which will take a while. Apart from some things where we need to do some housekeeping, and housekeeping is a different matter, I think it will come through the best of what we have.

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

SCOTLAND
Huffington Post

Disgraced Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien should stay away from Scotland, his sucessor has warned, after allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

He stepped down in February after three priests and a former priest made allegations against him, and has since left the country at the request of the Vatican for a period of ”spiritual renewal and reflection”. He issued an apology, saying ”there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me”.

Monsignor Leo Cushley, who is taking over as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, said that although he is a free man, it would be “wiser” for him not to return.

Mgr Cushley, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Programme, said: “He is a free man in a free country so he can come back if we wants but the Holy See will be the ones to ask him to do whatever it is they intend.

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

SCOTLAND
Telegraph

THE new Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh has said he does not believe his disgraced predecessor, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, should return to Scotland.

By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent 15 Sep 2013

The cardinal, who admitted sexual misconduct with priests after resigning earlier this year, was ordered by the Vatican to leave Scotland in May for a period of spiritual renewal and penance.

He stood down following allegations made by three priests and a former priest of “inappropriate” behaviour in the 1980s, and later admitted his sexual conduct had “fallen beneath the standards” expected of him.

Monsignor Leo Cushley, a veteran Vatican diplomat who will be installed as the new archbishop on Saturday, said it was “not impossible” that the cardinal would return to Scotland one day, but he did not believe it was likely or desirable.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme: “He is a free man in a free country so he can come back if we wants. But the Holy See will be the one to ask him to do whatever it is they intend.

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

SCOTLAND
Sunday Mail

DISGRACED Cardinal Keith O’Brien should stay away from Scotland for the good of the Catholic Church, according to his successor.

Monsignor Leo Cushley, who is taking over as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, said that although he is a free man, it would be “wiser” for him not to return.

Cardinal O’Brien stepped down in February after three priests and a former priest made allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him.

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

Following his resignation, he stated that he would play no further part in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland and has since left the country for a period of “spiritual renewal and reflection”.

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

SCOTLAND
BBC News

The new Catholic archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh has said he does not believe his disgraced predecessor should return to Scotland.

Monsignor Leo Cushley will formally replace Cardinal Keith O’Brien in the role on Saturday.

The cardinal resigned in February after admitting sexual misconduct, and was told by the Vatican to leave Scotland.

Mgr Cushley also said he did not believe an independent investigation into Cardinal O’Brien was necessary.

The cardinal stood down following allegations by three priests and a former priest of improper sexual contact in the 1980s.

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

AUSTRALIA
7 News

BY PHILIPPA MCDONALD AND REBECCA ARMITAGE – ABC
September 15, 2013

The actions of one man in particular will be a major focus of the first public hearings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney this week.

The commission is examining how organisations including Scouts Australia, Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services (HACS) and the then Department of Community Services “responded to information and allegations concerning” Steven ‘Skip’ Larkins.

Larkins, the former chief of HACS, is currently in jail. In August 2012 he was convicted of four counts of possessing child pornography.

According to District Court judge Peter Berman, the appeal judge in his matter, Larkins’s thumb drive contained 40 pornographic videos.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Philippa McDonald and Rebecca Armitage

Make no mistake, few institutions caring for children in Australia are likely to be spared the scrutiny of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Public hearings begin in Sydney tomorrow and the commission’s chief Janette Dines says it will look “very broadly at institutions”.

“We’re looking at all sorts of institutions that have responsibility to look after children, and this week there are five institutions whose conduct will be examined,” she said.

They include Scouts Australia, a New South Wales Government department, the Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Service and its former head, Steven Larkins.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

ANNETTE BLACKWELL From: AAP September 15, 2013

THE Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse opens in Sydney on Monday and will focus on how three NSW organisations handled allegations about a convicted pedophile.

Its first public hearing, at the commission offices in Governor Macquarie Tower, will shine the spotlight on branches of Scouts Australia, Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services and the NSW Department of Community Services.

They will be asked what they knew of allegations levelled at convicted pedophile Steve “Skip” Larkins.

The former chief executive of a Newcastle-based foster care agency for Aboriginal children was not revealed as a child sex offender until 2011 when police investigating child pornography claims uncovered sex abuse complaints from the 1990s.

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

AUSTRALIA
SBS

[with video]

By Hannah Belcher

Inside Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney worshippers are at Sunday mass.

Outside, victims of sexual abuse protest in silence, hoping their presence will make passes-by think about the children abused in churches, orphanages, charities and state institutions.

And from Monday, some of Australia’s victims will tell their stories in public for the first time.

‘By having a public hearing you know it has that authority to say “Yes, these things did happen, we must believe them”, says Leonie Sheedy of the Care Leavers Australia Network, an advocacy group for sexually and physically abused orphans.

Sheedy curates a museum filled with memorabilia, donated by victims.

‘Some of them can’t bare to have them in their home because of the memories. It is going to be extremely painful and the nation will be shocked at these stories. But the nation needs to be shocked in order to move forward.’

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

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

[with video]

September 14, 2013

Catherine Armitage
Senior Writer

Questions abound as the royal commission sifts through thousands of cases coming before it.

Brace, brace, brace.

As the royal commission on child sexual abuse starts public hearings, that’s the warning from experts, victims and the commission itself.

The stories to come out at the commission chaired by NSW Judge of Appeal Peter McClellan will shake Australia to its soul.

There will be outrage, disbelief and anger nationwide. There will be lives and reputations broken, household-name institutions brought low, families torn apart, grief and pain in gut-wrenching abundance, apologies galore.

We will learn that what we trusted was not to be trusted. That children who should have been safe were not. That what we thought was an aberration confined to a few sick individuals was – is – widespread.

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

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

By Cindy Cantrell / Globe Correspondent / September 14, 2013

Cambridge poet and playwright Michael Mack was an 11-year-old altar boy in 1968 when his favorite Catholic priest invited him to the rectory to make a costume for a church play.

The sexual abuse he suffered that day haunted him for decades, ultimately leading to the autobiographical play “Conversations With My Molester: A Journey of Faith,” which he will perform free on Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Framingham State University Dwight Performing Arts Center.

In other news, Westborough native and cancer survivor Dave McGrath will lead his third annual Skating for Hope fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge-Worcester beginning at 5 p.m. on Sept. 20 at the College of the Holy Cross Hart Center. More information is available at skatingforhope.org.

Nancy Moorhouse of Natick, an outreach coordinator for the MetroWest region of ReServe Greater Boston, will host a free First Impressions meeting for ages 55 and older seeking meaningful post-retirement positions on Oct. 2, 1:30 to 3 p.m., in Framingham. To learn the location and register, visit reserveinc.org/greaterboston.

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

STOCKTON (CA)
The Record

September 15, 2013

If the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton files for bankruptcy it will not be the first U.S. diocese to do so. Likely, it won’t be the last.

In a letter from Bishop Stephen Blaire, the 250,000 parishioners of the Stockton Diocese were warned that there seems no other path given the $18.7 million already paid out to settle 22 molestation lawsuits and the likelihood of more cases ahead.

“… It is important to tell you that options other than bankruptcy protection have not emerged,” Blaire said in his letter. While no final decision has been made, he said, the need for bankruptcy protection “appears likely.”

To the tens of thousands of the faithful in the diocese, this sobering news is not unexpected.

Child abuse litigation has cost the U.S. Catholic Church $3 billion in settlements since the scandal erupted with a series of cases uncovered in Boston in 1992. In the two decades since, case after case has emerged.

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

CANADA
CBC News

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Moncton has closed its office in the city as it looks for millions of dollars to pay compensation to victims of sexual abuse.

To date, 90 victims have come forward in a confidential compensation process headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Michel Bastarache. There are another 10 or so people who have filed lawsuits against the church and two former priests.

One of the priests accused, Father Camille Leger of Cap Pelé, died 23 years ago. Father Yvon Arsenault was removed from his priestly duties last July.

Archbishop Valery Vienneau said the diocese has managed to cut $400,000 from its annual budget — including $50,000 from closing the diocese in Moncton — but with the pending lawsuits, he said there could be more cutbacks.

“We try to make projections because I know what happened in other dioceses but that’s not necessarily what’s going to happen here. We hope that we will be able to get through this and not go bankrupt,” he said.

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

CANADA
CBC News

The Diocese of Moncton is shedding staff and selling off one church property in order to cover the roughly $5 million in compensation owed to victims of sexual abuse.

The diocese has been forced to deal with a series of sexual abuse controversies in the last year.

Retired Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michel Bastarache was hired to help deal with the sex abuse compensation process. It is estimated the diocese will pay out $5 million to victims of sexual abuse.

Those bills have caused the diocese to cut the number of staff to 14 from 19. As well, the diocese’s office in Dieppe, which was once the home of the bishop, is being sold because it can no longer afford to pay the annual $50,000 in operating costs.

Archbishop Valéry Vienneau said the diocese’s growing deficit and dropping church attendance factored into the decision to cut staff and sell off the property.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

NICKY LARKIN – 15 SEPTEMBER 2013

THEY live their lonely lives in musty old houses, their only contact baptising babies and anointing the dead. This, according to Fr Tony Flannery, leads the Catholic clergy to temptation.

Last week, Fr Flannery – co-founder of the Association of Catholic Priests – said the lonely lives that clergy lead result in an inevitable struggle over sexuality.

Fr Flannery is the first priest to speak openly about the possible link between celibacy and sexual abuse. He questioned whether this has caused some priests to turn to children for sexual outlets. Because of his comments, Fr Flannery has been suspended from duty and is under threat of excommunication from the Vatican.

Over the past decade, fresh cases of clerical sexual abuse have popped up across every parish in the land. This vast cache of dark secrets shook our souls to the core, decimating an already greying Mass-going population.

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Authority derives from legitimacy. Credibility derives from transparency. By these definitions, the Royal Commission has fair authority but lesser credibility, for a few reasons, which should be addressed.

Established, under public pressure, by former Labor Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, the commissioners have the backing of the full force of government authority. There were some legitimacy problems, mostly coming from the rushed nature of the commission’s establishment.

This meant that there was no debate on who should be appointed as commissioners. Government has the authority to merely make the appointments. Legitimacy derived from authority, but this is not a democratic principle when it occurs this way round. Dictatorship has authority but no legitimacy.

Another aspect of the rush to set up the Royal Commission, which caused concern, was that less than a week was given for submissions as to the Terms of Reference. This meant, in reality, that only the large organisations with most to lose from revelations, entered submissions. Public debate on issues such as which categories of abuse were to be considered did not occur. There were many other issues of concern to many people, but time constraints were invoked to limit the enquiry to institutional responses and to child sexual abuse within institutions.

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

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

September 15, 2013

Rory Callinan
Investigative journalist

The paedophile former scoutmaster at the centre of the first royal commission into child abuse was employed as a housemaster by a notorious order of paedophile brothers, Fairfax Media can reveal.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse begins its hearings on Monday, with the activities of former Newcastle scoutmaster Steven Larkins among those to feature.

Larkins, who is serving a 15-month sentence for fraud and possession of child pornography, was able to become chief executive of the Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services, in charge of vulnerable children, despite being involved in paedophile activity with scouts in the 1990s.

He was sacked from the CEO’s job after being caught with child pornography in 2011. A further investigation led to him being convicted of falsifying documents that enabled him to work with children despite his paedophile background.

The commission’s hearings are expected to examine how Scouts Australia, Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services and the then Community Services Department responded to the allegations and information about Larkins. …

Whistleblower and former scout leader Armand Hotink, who complained to the scouts about Larkins’ suspected paedophile activities in the 1990s, said he had discovered Larkins was working at Kendall Grange, a school for troubled boys run by the St John of God brothers.

He said he had warned police, who told him they were ”keeping an eye” on Larkins.

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

REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Listin Diario

César Medina
lobarnechea1@Hotmail.com

Mientras fue nuncio de su Santidad, Jozef Wesolowski gozaba de inmunidad diplomática por su condición de embajador del Vaticano en el país, protegido por el Tratado de Viena.

No podía ser arrestado aún en el caso de haber sido sorprendido in fraganti en su habitual práctica pedófila. Si ciertamente se marchó del país, pudo haberlo hecho bajo rigurosa protección diplomática.

Y si todavía se encuentra en territorio dominicano, tampoco puede ser arrestado aunque se le formulen acusaciones.

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

REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Diario Digital

[Summary: SANTO DOMINGO Dr. Julio Cury said the former Papal Nuncio Jozef Wesolowski could not be tried in the country for pedophilia under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of April 18, 1961, which established immunity for the diplomatic staff of the 174 member countries, which include the State of Vatican City]

SANTO DOMINGO.-El Dr. Julio Cury declaró que el ex nuncio apostólico Jozef Wesolowski no podría ser juzgado en el país por pederastia en virtud de la Convención de Viena sobre Relaciones Diplomáticas del 18 de abril de 1961, la cual consagra inmunidad a favor del personal diplomático de los 174 países miembros, entre los que figura el Estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano.

Consultado al respecto, el jurista manifestó que según el artículo 31 de la indicada convención, los agentes diplomáticos, incluidos los embajadores y nuncios acreditados ante los Jefes de Estado, gozan en el país receptor de inmunidad penal, civil y administrativa. Aclaró, sin embargo, que esa inmunidad no equivale a impunidad, pues nada impide que sean perseguidos por esos mismos hechos ante los tribunales del país acreditante.

“El artículo 26.2 de la Constitución dispone que la República Dominicana reconoce y aplica los instrumentos internacionales que hubiese ratificado, por lo que de que de conformidad con la Convención de Viena sobre Relaciones Diplomáticas, ratificada por nuestro país el 19 de diciembre de 1963 mediante Resolución No. 101, Wesolowski no pudiera ser imputado ante la jurisdicción represiva nacional por ningún ilícito penal que hubiese cometido aquí desde su acreditación y hasta la fecha que se le comunicó a las autoridades ejecutivas el cese de las funciones del ex nuncio”, sostuvo.

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

FLORIDA
Miami Herald

BY JAY WEAVER
JWEAVER@MIAMIHERALD.COM

At his Catholic high school, he seemed to have everything going for him: decent grades, lots of friends and a real shot at winning the state wrestling championship in his weight class.

But in his senior year at Monsignor Edward Pace High School, he started skipping school and flunking classes. And he quit the wrestling team.

All to avoid one man: Marist Brother Ken Ward, the Miami Gardens school’s dean of students.

“I would drive from Aventura to Pace, but I couldn’t be there because of him, so I would turn around,” said the former student, now 27. “I was so embarrassed inside because I let him touch me.”

Ward, who was in charge of discipline at the Archdiocese of Miami school, would regularly summon him on the P.A. system to his office and instruct him to undress, according to the former Pace student’s lawsuit filed this month against Ward and the archdiocese. As a ruse, he said, the dean would accuse him of using steroids so he could inspect his muscular body, with the office blinds shut so no one else could see.

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

FLORIDA
CBS Miami

MIAMI (CBSMiami/The Miami Herald) – A former Catholic high school wrestler and other former students have accused an ex-dean of sexual abuse.

CBS4 news partner, The Miami Herald, spoke with the former wrestler listed as a victim in the case. He is now 27-years-old and the abuse happened when he was a senior at Monsignor Edward Pace High School.

The man known as “John Doe D” was once a said to be a high school wrestling star with a real shot at winning the state wrestling championships in his weight class.

However, during his senior year, the paper reported he quit the team, began flunking classes and skipping school.

He said he did it to avoid one man: Marist Brother Ken Ward, the Miami Gardens school’s dean of students, the paper reported.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Rundschau

LIMBURG –
Nach mehrtägigen Gesprächen mit Vertretern des Bistums Limburg zum Streit um Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst wird der päpstliche Gesandte Giovanni Lajolo erstmals öffentlich zu den Gläubigen sprechen. Er hält bei einem Festgottesdienst am Sonntag (15. September) in Königstein die Predigt, wie das Bistum mitteilte. In der Taunusstadt feiert die Diözese seit Freitag und noch bis Sonntag ihr traditionelles Kreuzfest. Die Messe wird der Kurienkardinal gemeinsam mit dem Bischof feiern. Mit Spannung wird darauf gewartet, ob Lajolo sich bei dieser Gelegenheit zu seiner Vermittlung und einem eventuellen Ergebnis äußern wird.

Der Kardinal ist seit Montag im Bistum, um sich im Streit um die Amtsführung des Bischofs ein Bild zu machen. Kritiker werfen dem katholischen Kirchenmann einen autoritären Stil und Verschwendung vor. Der Gesandte führte bislang hinter verschlossenen Türen mehrere Gespräche.

Der Frankfurter Stadtdekan Johannes zu Eltz, einer der Kritiker des Bischofs, nannte seine Treffen mit Lajolo in der «Frankfurter Neuen Presse» (Freitag) eine Wohltat. Er habe alle Fragen mit «schonungsloser Offenheit» ansprechen können, sagte er der Zeitung.

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

GEORGIA
Statesboro Herald

From staff and wire reports

A Catholic priest in Ohio who once worked in Glennville, Claxton, and Pembroke will stand trial Monday on charges he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old Cincinnati boy he took to West Virginia in August 1991.

The Rev. Robert Poandl, who worked in seven Georgia towns as part of Glenmary Missions out of Fairfield, Ohio, faces federal child sex charges following a Nov. 14 indictment from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, according to the FBI Cincinnati division website, www.fbi.gov/cincinnati.

FBI agents arrested Poandl, also known as “Father Bob,” at the Glenmary Missions campus, where he lives, the day after his indictment was returned.

The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

According to www.bishop-accountability.org, Poandl pleaded not guilty to the charges Nov. 20 and was released on his own recognizance, placed on house arrest with a GPS monitoring device.

After his arrest, Glenmary Missioners released a statement on their website claiming the charges were related to a June 2009 accusation of sexual misconduct with a minor in 1991 in Spencer, W.Va.

The statement said those charges against Poandl were dismissed by a West Virginia court in August 2010 and his record was expunged.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

September 14, 2013

Sister Janet Mock, a sister of St. Joseph of Baden in Beaver County who is now executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in Silver Spring, Md., is returning to Pittsburgh to speak Monday.

The title of her talk is “Sense of the Faithful: A View from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.”

The Vatican last year ordered an overhaul of the conference, an umbrella group that represents most of the 68,000 Catholic sisters in the United States. The Vatican has accused the group of doctrinal flaws and failures to promote church teaching, and last year Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain was assigned to oversee the group for up to five years.

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

CALIFORNIA
Reuters

By Ronnie Cohen
SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Sep 13, 2013

(Reuters) – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton, California, is contemplating filing for bankruptcy protection after nearly depleting church funds available to settle sex-abuse claims brought against its clergy, the bishop said on Friday.

The diocese, comprising 250,000 parishioners from California’s Central Valley, is in line to become the 10th U.S. Catholic district to file for Chapter 11 reorganization under the weight of child molestation cases against priests.

“We have exhausted our resources,” Bishop Stephen Blaire told Reuters. “We face three lawsuits and a potential fourth. We have really no money at this time to provide any kind of compensation.”

Child sex-abuse litigation has cost the U.S. Catholic Church some $3 billion in settlements since the scandal surfaced in Boston in 1992 and has driven eight dioceses into bankruptcy since 2004. The diocese of Gallup, New Mexico, has said it plans to become the ninth to file for bankruptcy later this month.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle is today meeting to vote on a new bishop, after a previous vote failed to reach consensus.

Five candidates, including a woman, nominated for the last vote in March, to replace the retired bishop Brian Farran.

This time round the Northern Territory bishop Greg Thompson is the only candidate vying for the role.

Assistant bishop of the Newcastle Diocese Peter Stuart says about 300 clergy and lay people from across the diocese will attend the Synod to vote. …

Synod discusses sex abuse

The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle held its ordinary session of Synod yesterday, with topics of discussion including sexual abuse in the church and same sex marriage.

Bishop Peter Stuart told the gathering the reality is abuse by clergy and lay people is part of the Diocesan story.

He said the church needs to accept and come to terms with the reality that trusted people preyed on vulnerable members and the Church failed to see it.

“We have people who were members of our Anglican family telling us how, as children, serious sexual assault was perpetrated against them by respected clergy and/or laity,” he told the Synod.

“Their recollections are profoundly heartbreaking.

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

MINNESOTA
West Central Tribune

ST. PAUL — A St. Paul law firm has scheduled a news conference for Monday afternoon regarding sexual abuse allegations against a Catholic priest who once served in Willmar.

Two women are scheduled to speak out about the abuse committed by the late Rev. David A. Roney, according to a release from Anderson and Associates in St. Paul.

Roney served at St. Mary’s Church in Willmar in the 1960s and 1970s.

According to the news release, the law firm will be filing two lawsuits on behalf of three women. The suits claim that the New Ulm Diocese was negligent in allowing Roney to have continued access to children even after receiving reports of inappropriate behavior with girls.

The lawsuits will be the first ones filed regarding Roney under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which was passed by the Legislature this year and became law on Aug. 1.

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

NEW MEXICO
The Daily Times

By Hannah Grover The Daily Times
Updated: 09/13/2013

FARMINGTON — In the 1980s, when a Louisiana family filed a lawsuit against a Catholic diocese for covering up a priest’s sexual abuse, it shocked the nation.

It was the first such lawsuit. Although the family had not initially considered legal action, the diocese’s unresponsiveness pushed them forward.

Thousands more would follow.

Since then, nearly 15,000 victims have come forward, according to BishopAccountability.org, a project focused on collecting data on the sex abuse in the Catholic Church. Between 1984 and 2009, more than 3,000 lawsuits were filed in the United States, and the church has paid more than $3 billion in settlements and awards.

As more cases came to light, John Jay College of Criminal Justice conducted a study to look at priest sex abuse between 1950 and 2002.

The study found that only 4 percent of the all the priests in the priesthood had been accused of abusing a child.

And the Diocese of Gallup, which encompasses the Farmington area, has not gone unscathed. A series of sex abuse lawsuits caused it to declare bankruptcy earlier this month.

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

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
El Nuevo Herald

BY POR NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICANO — El Vaticano informó el jueves que está colaborando con la Procuraduría de República Dominicana, que investiga al nuncio apostólico en el país caribeño por rumores que lo vinculan con abuso sexual de menores, un caso explosivo que la provocado interrogantes jurídicas sobre las responsabilidades de la Santa Sede cuando sacerdotes acusados provienen de sus propias filas.

El vocero vaticano, reverendo Federico Lombardi, negó que la Santa Sede quiera proteger al arzobispo Jozef Wesolowski al convocarlo a Roma y relevarlo de sus funciones antes que la Procuraduría dominicana haya anunciado su investigación

Wesolowski fue convocado el 21 de agosto después que el arzobispo de Santo Domingo, cardenal Nicolás de Jesús López, informó al papa Francisco sobre las denuncias en julio. Semanas atrás la Procuraduría anunció que había iniciado una investigación, en lo fundamental debido a reportes noticiosos de denuncias de conducta sexual indebida de Wesolowski, de 65 años, así como de un amigo y también sacerdote polaco que está fuera del país.

El procurador dominicano Bolívar Sánchez ha dicho que ha entrevistado a siete menores de entre 13 y 18 años como parte de la investigación, agregando que tres de ellos trabajaban en las calles de Santo Domingo, la capital, mientras que los otros cuatro viven en otras localidades. Medios locales de prensa han reportado que algunos de los menores son limpiabotas. Sánchez dijo que algunas de las alegaciones de los adolescentes son coherentes.

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

OHIO
Cincinnati.com

Written by
Amber Hunt

Federal prosecutors plan to allege that a longtime Catholic priest had a history of molesting children before he was accused of taking a Cincinnati boy to West Virginia and assaulting him in 1991, according to a motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court.

In the motion, prosecutors allege that the Rev. Robert F. Poandl molested two young boys over a three-year period beginning in May 1981. Both boys were about 10 years old at the time, according to the filing, and the priest had met the childrens’ parents through Worldwide Marriage Encounters, a program affiliated with the Catholic Church designed to bring husbands and wives closer together.

Jury selection is set to begin Monday in Poandl’s trial, in which he’s accused of transporting another then-10-year-old boy from Cincinnati to Spencer, West Virginia, on Aug. 3, 1991, and assaulting the boy.

The alleged victim is identified only as “D.H.” in the indictment. It’s the policy of The Enquirer not to identify alleged victims of sexual assaults. Poandl couldn’t be reached for comment Friday. He was released on an electronic monitor in November pending trial. He belongs to a Fairfield-based Catholic religious order called the Glenmary Home Missioners and is not associated with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has issued its fourth discussion paper. It concerns procedures to minimize abuse in the out-of-home care sector. This mostly covers children who previously would have been placed in the old Children’s Homes. The paper calls for submissions on how to achieve this, with a deadline of November 8th 2013

The bulk of submissions are likely to come from the care-provider organisations, which are mostly church-based. It would also be expected that the support organisations which have benefited from very generous federal government grants will also prepare submissions. It is much less likely that people who have gone through the system will put in a submission, because of lack of resources, residual trauma or inability to adequately express their opinions.

It would be nice if the commission were to give the latter category of people real assistance in this regard.

Commission chief executive Janette Dines said areas of interest included foster care, relative or kinship care, family group homes, residential care and independent living. Dines is quoted as saying that “The royal commission is interested in strategies that will keep children in care safe from sexual abuse and in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of current models of oversight of out-of-home care practices.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IN what she described as ‘‘the very final moments’’ of her three years and three days as Australia’s 27th prime minister, Julia Gillard drafted a letter to Newcastle Herald journalist Joanne McCarthy.

The letter, published with Ms Gillard’s approval, was in response to a letter Ms McCarthy had sent to Ms Gillard in May, after learning about her tears in parliament over the DisabilityCare legislation.

Ms Gillard describes Ms McCarthy as ‘‘a truly remarkable person’’, a description that all of us at the Herald – and all of the people she has helped over the years – would endorse.

‘‘Thanks in large measure to your persistence and courage, the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry and the federal Royal Commission will bring truth and healing to the victims of horrendous abuse and betrayal,’’ Ms Gillard wrote.

Ms Gillard announced the Royal Commission in November last year, days after Premier Barry O’Farrell announced a more limited inquiry into events in the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese of the Catholic Church.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Age

[with video]

Catherine Armitage
Senior Writer

We are about to learn that what we trusted was not to be trusted. That children who should have been safe were not. That what we thought was an aberration confined to a few sick individuals was – is – widespread.

As the royal commission into child sexual abuse begins public hearings on Monday, experts, victims and the commission warn the stories that will come out will generate disbelief, outrage and anger nationwide.

We will learn that child sexual abuse happens not just in churches but wherever adults come into contact with children – from charities to daycare to sports camps, but especially in residential settings such as boarding schools and hostels. (It most often happens in families, but they are outside the commission’s terms of reference.)

We will hear that it spans fiddling and fondling (common) to violent, penetrative rape, even of little children (rarer). And the “monsters” are seemingly ordinary people. Many of the stories will relate to events long ago. But it is also clear, from victim accounts in private sessions held around the country since May, that “this isn’t as in the past as people might expect”, says commission chief executive Janette Dines.

Patrick Parkinson, a law professor at the University of Sydney, a witness to the commission and author of a book on child sexual abuse in churches, says: “We will face hearing stories which will shock us, which are evil in every sense of the word.”

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

TRENT DALTON From: The Australian September 14, 2013

WHEN doctors warned Keith Grosser that the cancer marching through his liver and bowel meant he might not see another Christmas, the widowed 73-year-old Brisbane retiree made urgent and ruthless cuts to his bucket list.

He refined his “things to do before I die” to a single line: tell the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse about one of the most brutal episodes of child abuse in Australian history.

Last Tuesday, at precisely 3.32pm, Grosser exited the rear right-side passenger seat of a Yellow Cab in the driveway of Brisbane’s Traders Hotel on Roma Street and shuffled gingerly towards the hotel elevator that would take him to the room where he would empty his bucket.

Aware of his health problems, the royal commission, which will spend the next two years laboriously interviewing more than 5000 Australians who registered with the historic commission, fast-tracked Grosser’s interview to ensure details of the sickening sexual abuse he endured in two Anglican Church boys’ homes on the New England Tablelands in northern NSW between 1946 and 1954, would not die with him.

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

AUSTRALIA
Sunraysia Daily

By Kaitlyn Opie Sept. 14, 2013

SACRED Heart Mildura parish priest Michael McKinnon is hoping to eradicate sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

He has called on Sunraysia people to sign a petition that seeks to implement a list of policy changes aimed at preventing sexual abuse, and improving the Church’s response to incidents.

The cause is especially close to Father McKinnon’s heart – three of his siblings were abused growing up.

Father McKinnon, who was ordained as a priest in 1981, said he had no knowledge of the abuse until his siblings opened up about it a few years ago.

“But in hindsight, there were indicators there and so I have a particular interest and sense of justice needing to be done,” he said.

“My sister has experienced anger and hurt and has made it clear to me that that is not directed at me as a Catholic priest.

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

CANADA
Scarborough Mirror

By Andrew Palamarchuk

Members of a Scarborough church are in shock after their priest was charged in connection with a sexual assault.

Police allege a woman went to All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church at 545 Danforth Rd. where she was sexually assaulted Sept. 3.

A couple who entered the church interrupted the assault.

On Wednesday, Sept. 11, police arrested 54-year-old Ioan Pop and charged him with sexual assault.

Magda Popescu, president of the church’s ladies’ auxiliary, said Pop has been the priest at All Saints since he came to Canada about 14 years ago.

“Actually he built this church, of course with the help of the community, but he was always working hard,” she said. “Really, I cannot say anything bad about him.”

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

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Sept. 13, 2013

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee and its insurance companies may be poised to reach a settlement that could fast track a resolution of its nearly 3-year-old bankruptcy, but lawyers for sex abuse victims with claims against the church are objecting, saying any settlement talks must include victim-survivors.

The archdiocese has asked U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa to stay its lawsuit against Stonewall Insurance Co. and others carriers for 60 days so the parties can enter mediation, a move that would presumably also put on hold Randa’s pending decision on whether the insurers are liable for sex abuse claims against the archdiocese.

Attorneys for victims oppose the stay, saying any delay would prejudice those creditors and that a definitive decision from Randa on the insurance question is needed to move the case forward.

“We need a decision on the insurance coverage to guide the parties,” said attorney Michael Finnegan, whose firm represents most of the 570-plus sex abuse victims with claims in the bankruptcy. “And we are concerned about any talks between the insurers and the archdiocese that do not include survivors.”

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