ABUSE TRACKER

MINNESOTA
Grand Forks Herald

By: Associated Press,

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Rochester man who alleges he was molested by a Boy Scout leader in the 1970s is suing the Scouts.

It’s the third lawsuit involving the former scoutmaster, Richard Hokanson, since Minnesota temporarily lifted its statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases. He pleaded guilty in 1982 to molesting three Scouts in a troop sponsored by St. Pius X Church in Rochester.

At a news conference in St. Paul on Wednesday, Scott Hart said he decided to go public to seek justice on behalf of all children abused by Hokanson.

The lawsuit names the Boy Scouts of America, the Gamehaven Council, the church and Hokanson.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
El Nuevo Dia

BY POR EZEQUIEL ABIU LOPEZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANTO DOMINGO, República Dominicana — El cardenal dominicano Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez reveló que el recién destituido nuncio apostólico, Józef Wesolowski, será juzgado por el tribunal de la Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe del Vaticano por las denuncias de supuesto abuso sexual de menores.

“Es un asunto sumamente grave, muy grave, lo más grave que le puede pasar a la diplomacia de la Santa Sede”, dijo el prelado a periodistas la noche del martes, luego de participar en una actividad académica.

López, también presidente del Episcopado Dominicano, detalló que él personalmente había viajado al Vaticano para informar al papa Francisco sobre los rumores que vinculan a Wesolowski con abuso sexual de infantes.

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FLORIDA
NBC Miami

[with video]

By Keith Jones | Wednesday, Sep 11, 2013

Father Alberto Cutié, who left the Catholic Church after a scandal stemming from a photo of him on Miami Beach in an embrace with his girlfriend, said he doesn’t believe the notion of priesthood celibacy will be taken up by the church anytime soon.

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski echoed the sentiment on Wednesday too, and said that like marriage, celibacy takes discipline, prayer and dedication.

“In the life of the church celibacy an marriage compliment each other and are not in any way competing with each other,” Wenski said.

Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state of the Vatican, said the church is open to discussion about the idea of priesthood celibacy being revisited. Pope Francis just last year said he was in favor of maintaining the tradition “for the moment.”

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
UALR Public Radio

By JACOB KAUFFMAN

A former volleyball coach and a former athletic director from Mount Saint Mary Academy are headed to trial next week over allegations of sexual abuse. Kelly O’Rourke previously admitted to molesting a student in 2012 and will face charges over violating parole by attempting to contact the girl she molested. Kathy Griffin, the athletic director and a counselor for 9th grade girls, will face charges for having knowledge of child abuse but failing to report it.

The national group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, sent a representative, Barbarra Dorris, to Little Rock Wednesday. She visited the Pulaski County Courthouse where the two trials are set.

“The school has done very little. They issued a statement that is extremely vague. You don’t know whether the teacher committed murder, stole school supplies, or molested a child. Parents needed that information to go home and talk to their kids to find out what happened,” said Dorris.

Dorris also offered critical words for Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Diocese of Little Rock, calling on him to use his “bully-pulpit” to visit the school and create a supportive atmosphere so any other potential victims could come forward. She said school and church officials’ response mirrors what is seen elsewhere.

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MISSOURI
Berger’s Beat

[Fr. John Valentine Farris documents]

[Fr. John Edward Ruhl documents]

. . .Hundreds of Catholic church records about predator priests were just released by plaintiff’s lawyers in California. Two of them are Vincentians who studied at a seminary in Perryville. One, Fr. John Valentine Farris, worked at least nine places in the St.Louis archdiocese (most recently, in the 1980s, at St. Gabriel’s in St. Louis Hills). The other is Fr. John Edward Ruhl, who worked in Cape Girardeau (then a part of the St. Louis archdiocese). The files – 130 pages about Farris and 150 pages about Ruhl – are included. .

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

Fr Tony Flannery has sent a quick reminder that the launch of his book, A Question of Conscience, will take place at the Royal Hibernian Academy tomorrow, Thursday, at 6.30pm. Tony adds:

“I am hoping for a big gathering, as a show of solidarity for the cause of renewal in the Church.”

And seemingly Veritas have at last made their decision that they will not stock the book. A man, who called in there today, sent me the following:

I went to Veritas today to get your book but was told that they will not be stocking it – a ‘Senior Management’ decision. When I said I would like to speak to the ‘Senior Management’ who made the decision my request was met with a smile and a shrug.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Prensa Latina

Santo Domingo, Sep 11 (Prensa Latina) Dominican organizations are planning to ask for former papal nuncio Josef Wesolowski and two priests accused of alleged child rape to be brought to justice.

The demand will occur at a central intersection in the capital, in front of the Papal Nunciature, said two of the organizations, Colectiva Mujer y Salud and La Multitud.

“We will demand that Dominican justice intervene so that these cases do not go unpunished and the victims can be compensated through criminal and civil actions against the defendants,” reads the call.

At least seven children between the ages of 13 and 18 were identified as victims of sexual abuse by Wesolowsk, said Deputy Attorney Bolivar Sanchez yesterday. Sanchez is in charge of the criminal investigation which began last week.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on September 11, 2013
Msgr. John Urell is back in the headlines again, this time featured in the latest document dump by religious orders in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

From Gustavo Arellano at the OC Weekly:

At the end of the 121-page report is the memo, detailing a conversation that a Vicentian Fathers and Brothers investigator had with Urell after a former prospective seminarian had come forward to claim that Ruhl had made him kneel down, naked, then shoved his face into Ruhl’s crotch “for his penance.”

Urell reassured the Vicentian investigator that Ruhl “was on ‘inactive leave’ and that there were no expectations that he would ever return to active ministry.” Reason? Ruhl “had been confronted with another case of similar inappropriate behaviour and that a lie-detector test had indicated that there was reason to suspect that there had possibly been other inappropriate behaviours.”

Did Urell and the Orange diocese ever report Ruhl to the police? Nope. Did Urell ever tell parents at St. Joseph that they lied to them when announcing Ruhl had gone on leave to care for a mythical sick relative? Nope.

And Urell still has a job as the pastor at St. Timothy’s parish. There is even a nifty photo of him on the website.

Which leads me to my point: It’s way past time for John Urell to go. How many more crimes—facilitating child sex abuse and covering up for offenders—does he need to commit?

But I can hear the Urell defenders now … It’s back to the ol’ “Forgiveness vs. Accountability” argument.

“Oh, Joelle,” they say. “Quit being so angry and forgive him. He is such a nice guy and has done so much good for so many people. He was so kind when my mother died/we got married/my child was ill/I needed someone to listen to me.”

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While a military-backed dictatorship in Argentina was conducting a clandestine war on suspected dissidents, then-Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the future pope, masterminded a secret strategy to save those being targeted, according to a new book.

Titled “Bergoglio’s List: Those Saved by Pope Francis; Stories Never Told,” also includes the transcript of the then-cardinal’s testimony during a nearly four-hour court interrogation in 2010. A panel of judges was investigating suspected human rights violations committed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.

The future pope was head of the Jesuit province in the country from 1973 to 1979, the height of the clandestine war, which saw as many as 30,000 Argentines kidnapped, tortured, murdered or disappeared, never to be seen again.

The book, currently only in Italian, was to be released Oct. 1, while excerpts were published in the Italian Catholic daily, Avvenire, Sept. 6.

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ST. PAUL (MN)
Jeff Anderson & Associates

press conference video
lawsuit
John Doe photo
Richard Hokanson file
Richard Hokanson mug shot

September 11, 2013

(Rochester, MN) – At a news conference on Wednesday in St. Paul, prominent Minnesota sexual abuse attorney Jeff Anderson announced the filing of a civil lawsuit on behalf of a Rochester man who alleges he was sexually abused by a Boy Scout Leader in the 1970’s.

The former scout, Scott Hart, who spoke at today’s news conference, is identified in the complaint as Doe 17 and was abused by Hokanson from the age of 11-16 when Hokanson was the scout leader of St. Pius X sponsored Troop 210 in Rochester. “I have decided to come forward today to seek justice on behalf of myself and all of the other kids who were abused by Hokanson” said Hart. “I would like to also extend support to John Doe 180 in his quest for accountability and transparency. The organization that teaches children the oath of the Boy Scout laws and the motto to be honest and have integrity to do the right thing couldn’t practice what they preached.”

“The Boy Scouts failed to warn, inform and train volunteers and scouts about pedophiles in scouting,” said attorney Jeff Anderson, “had the Boy Scouts been transparent and if they would’ve told the truth about the seriousness of the danger of pedophiles in scouting, the abuse of this Scout, now an adult, could have been prevented. We are proud to support Scott in this courageous action and encourage others to come forward who are still suffering in shame and silence.”

A law enforcement investigation in 1982 found that in January 1980, a mother of a troop member told an assistant scout leader that five troop members had reported to her that “Hokanson was gay and he plays with the boys while showing them first aid.” The Assistant Scout Leader refused to report Hokanson, took no steps to talk with the troop members who reported the abuse, failed to initiate an investigation of Hokanson and suggested the mother discuss her concerns directly with the offender, Hokanson.

In another interview with police during the 1982 investigation, a priest assigned to the troop’s sponsor, St. Pius X, acknowledged that he had heard of “homosexual activities” of Hokanson, but neither he, nor anyone else at St. Pius, reported the allegations to law enforcement.

In 1982, Hokanson disclosed to law enforcement officials that he had sexual contact with 2I children who were participating in scouting, was criminally charged for the abuse of just three scouts, and in 1982, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 42 months in state prison, stayed, on condition that he undergo treatment in the intensive sexual abuse program at St. Peter. Hart was involved in the criminal prosecution in 1982 and was also called to testify in Hokanson’s 1994 criminal case in Hennepin County.

In October 2012, as part of an Oregon lawsuit, the Boy Scouts of America released approximately 1,200 “Perversion Files” documenting reports of sexual abuse by Scoutmasters and adult leaders from 1965-1985 including Hokanson and 22 other scout leaders from Minnesota.

As part of John Doe 180’s civil suit, the Perversion Files from 1999-2008 were set to be used in a cancelled trial this week in Ramsey County.

The lawsuit, filed under the Child Victims Act, the new Minnesota law eliminating the civil statute of limitations for children who are sexually abused and allowing a 3-year window for past victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits, name the Boy Scouts of America, Gamehaven Council, Inc., St. Pius X Catholic Church (the sponsor of the troop) and former troop leader and convicted child molester Richard Hokanson, as defendants.

It is estimated that Hokanson spent at least 22 years as a Boy Scout leader and held other positions in the Rochester area involving youth activities. It is believed that Hokanson currently resides in Faribault, Minnesota.

Note: Copies of the complaint and Hokanson’s IV file are available at: www.AndersonAdvocates.com under “Case Resources” and a video of the press conference will be available on our YouTube channel shortly.

Attorney Jeff Anderson is a St. Paul, Minnesota-based, internationally known trial lawyer widely recognized as a pioneer in sexual abuse litigation. Anderson has represented thousands of survivors of sexual abuse by authority figures and clergy.

Office/651.227.9990 Mobile/612.817.8665

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UNITED KINGDOM
Huffington Post

Religion News Service | By Trevor Grundy
Posted: 09/09/2013

CANTERBURY, England (RNS) Richard Dawkins, one of the world’s best-known and outspoken atheists, has provoked outrage among child protection agencies and experts after suggesting that recent child abuse scandals have been overblown.

In an interview in The Times magazine on Saturday (Sept. 7), Dawkins, 72, he said he was unable to condemn what he called “the mild pedophilia” he experienced at an English school when he was a child in the 1950s.

Referring to his early days at a boarding school in Salisbury, he recalled how one of the (unnamed) masters “pulled me on his knee and put his hand inside my shorts.”

He said other children in his school peer group had been molested by the same teacher but concluded: “I don’t think he did any of us lasting harm.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Focus

Kardinal Reinhard Marx hat starke Kritik an der Vatikanbank geäußert. Ob diese überhaupt benötigt werde, findet er „umstritten“. Auch allgemein hält er eine Reform der römischen Kurie für nötig, hin zu „mehr Transparenz, Aufsicht und Verantwortung“.

Der Münchner Erzbischof und Kardinal Reinhard Marx hat sich für eine Reform der römischen Kurie ausgesprochen. „Wir brauchen mehr Transparenz, Aufsicht und Verantwortlichkeit“, sagte der 59-Jährige der Wochenzeitung „Die Zeit“. „Eine Institution, die nicht mehr dient, sondern sich lediglich selber stark und fett macht, schadet am Ende allen.“ Marx gehört der neuen Kommission von acht Kardinälen an, die Papst Franziskus bei der Leitung der Weltkirche beraten sollen. Das Gremium kommt Anfang Oktober erstmals in Rom zusammen.

Kritisch sieht Marx die in Verruf geratene Vatikanbank. „Ob der Vatikan überhaupt eine solche Bank benötigt, ist umstritten“, sagte der Kardinal. „Mich empört jedenfalls, dass eine Einrichtung über Jahrzehnte derart den Ruf der Kirche in der Öffentlichkeit und bei den Gläubigen geschädigt hat.“

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Rundschau

Der Münchener Kardinal Reinhard Marx sieht den Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst nicht als Opfer einer Medienkampagne. “Medienkampagnen laufen ins Leere, wenn da nichts ist”, sagt er und verweist darauf, dass die Gebote von Transparenz und Wahrhaftigkeit auch für Bischöfe gelten.

Im Konflikt um den Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst hat der Münchener Kardinal Reinhard Marx Offenheit angemahnt. Er widersprach zudem im Interview mit der Wochenzeitung “Die Zeit” (Donnerstag) Einschätzungen, erst die Medien hätten den Bischof in Bedrängnis gebracht. “Medienkampagnen laufen ins Leere, wenn da nichts ist”, sagte er demnach. Deshalb seien Aufklärung und Offenheit so wichtig. “Im übrigen gelten auch für Bischöfe wie für alle Gläubigen die Gebote von Transparenz und Wahrhaftigkeit”, wird der katholische Erzbischof von München und Freising weiter zitiert.

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IRELAND
RTE News

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has given additional responsibilities to Auxiliary Bishop Eamonn Walsh, who he criticised in the wake of the Murphy Report four years ago.

Bishop Walsh, whose resignation was rejected by Pope Benedict following the Government-commissioned report, has been made head of the newly-established Office for Clergy in the Dublin Archdiocese.

The additional duties will see him co-ordinating all aspects of the theological and pastoral formation and pastoral care of the archdiocese’s 413 priests.

The 69-year old has served as an auxiliary bishop of Dublin for 23 years.

Between 2002 and 2006, he also administered the diocese of Ferns following the resignation of Bishop Brendan Comiskey over his attempted cover-ups of child sexual abuse scandals.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Province (Canada)

BY EZEQUIEL ABIU LOPEZ, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – The Dominican Republic’s Catholic archbishop has confirmed that the Vatican will investigate the country’s recently removed papal envoy over allegations of child sex abuse.

Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez told reporters late Tuesday that Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski will be investigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office that deals with abuse allegations.

“This is an extremely serious issue, very serious, the most serious of its kind for the Holy See,” Lopez said.

It is believed to be the first known sex abuse investigation against a high-ranking Vatican official in recent times, though former Vatican officials have also been accused after they left Rome.

Lopez said he personally travelled to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis to talk about the allegations involving the 65-year-old Wesolowski. …

Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito said if the government finds any concrete evidence against Wesolowski, it would seek his extradition. He noted, however, that the Dominican Republic has no extradition agreement with the Vatican.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Bravehearts Inc. is a child protection awareness organisation founded and led by Hetty Johnson in 1996. Hetty was motivated by the revelation of abuse of her daughter by a family member. Her organisation employs over 50 people, and is the organisation of choice for media outlets seeking comment on the issue of child sexual abuse.

During the national child protection week, her group runs “White Balloon Day”. This year the main function was attended by Royal Commission chairman, Peter Mc.Clellan, who was the guest speaker and praised the organisation highly.

Johnston has published a book detailing her beliefs called “In the Best Interests of the Child.” In 2004, Hetty Johnston unsuccessfully stood for the Senate, with sponsorship from a television network.

In 2010, Bravehearts invited the Catholic Church to officially participate in her White Balloon Day activities. In a joint press release, Sr. Angela Ryan of the Catholic Church National Committee for Professional Standards (which handles its child abuse complaints), said that “We are happy to accept the invitation from Bravehearts to
participate in this national campaign by flying white balloons outside our Churches and Schools during Child Protection Week.”

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

[Fr. John Ruhl documents]

By Gustavo Arellano Wed., Sep. 11 2013

In the spring 1992, a huge controversy emerged at St. Joseph Elementary School in Placentia, as parents and teachers were up in arms against the Diocese of Orange and principal John Ruhl. The former Vicentian was apparently a Grade-A douchebag, physically and verbally assaulting female teachers, and parents wanted him gone. Monsignor John Urell, secretary to then-Bishop Norman McFarland, told the media not to worry: Ruhl had “taken a leave of absence to care for an ailing family member,” and Urell didn’t know when he’d return.

It would be never, because Urell was hiding an inconvenient secret: Ruhl was a pedo-priest. That revelation wouldn’t happen until this week, when personnel files released by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles revealed that Urell and the Orange diocese knew Ruhl was a pedo-priest, but never alerted the public or authorities about it.

Ruhl’s story is already somewhat known; in 2005, his Orange diocese personnel file was inadvertently leaked to the Orange County Register, who–breaking news in the pedo-priest scandal for the first time ever (and taking three reporters to do it)–reported that the priest admitted to diocesan officials that he once duct-taped a student’s penis to stop the teen from masturbating. McFarland, to his credit, had Ruhl removed from active ministry and paid to hook up Ruhl to a lie-detector machine, “results…not included in the portion of his file,” wrote the Reg back in 2005.

The results appeared in a June 16, 1993 memo included in Ruhl’s LA archdiocese files. At the end of the 121-page report is the memo, detailing a conversation that a Vicentian Fathers and Brothers investigator had with Urell after a former prospective seminarian had come forward to claim that Ruhl had made him kneel down, naked, then shoved his face into Ruhl’s crotch “for his penance.”

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ALABAMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday September 11, 2013

Statement by Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director, 314-862-7688 SNAPdorris@gmail.com

An Alabama church employee who pled guilty to sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl won’t be going to prison.

Instead, Blake Jerrod Earl will be serving a year of unsupervised probation and counseling leaving him on the streets, free to harm children again.

We urge officials at Solid Rock Christian Center in Huntsville to encourage anyone who witnessed, suspected or experienced abuse to come forward and inform the authorities. As victims, we sincerely hope that any additional information presented will be used to keep Earl away from children.

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ROME
Vatican Insider

Cuban artist Erik Ravelo’s photo project “Los Intocables”, depicting violence against children in various contexts,including the Catholic Church, is raising a storm

MEROPE IPPIOTIS
ROME

The paedophilia scandal continues to haunt the Catholic Church, this time through the realm of art – though some may disagree about how appropriate the use of the term “art” is in the case of Cuban artist Erik Ravelo’s project “Los Intocables” (The Untouchables).

Ravelo recently published a controversial photo collection, featuring images of children “crucified” to the backs of a number of symbolic figures representing different contexts in which violence is notoriously inflicted on children. “The images refer to paedophilia in the Vatican, child sex tourism in Thailand, the war in Syria, the trafficking of black market organs “donated” by children in the third world and obesity,” Australian website news.con.au reports. “Erik Ravelo took a series of photos of children hung like Jesus from a cross, but in the place of the cross were soldiers, surgeons, priests and Ronald McDonald,” the website explains.

The images which points the finger at the Catholic Church, depicts a young boy in nothing but his underwear, pinned to the back of a Catholic cardinal is a painful reminder of the sex abuse scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church in recent years.

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NEW YORK
Huffington Post

By Julie Shapiro

BROOKLYN — In a surprise rejection of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ nearly 24 years on the job, challenger Kenneth Thompson won a sweeping victory over the longtime incumbent in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

Thompson, an attorney best known for representing a hotel worker who claimed she was sexually assaulted by French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, drew 55 percent of the vote, compared with Hynes’ 45 percent, with 96 percent of precincts reporting.

Thompson’s victory dealt a major blow to Hynnes, whose name will still appear on the Nov. 5 ballot as a Republican candidate, after securing that party’s nomination earlier. …

Hynes, the first Brooklyn D.A. to be voted out of office in more than a century, has faced criticism for allegedly not pursuing sexual assault and pedophilia cases in the Orthodox Jewish community as well as concerns over the conduct of one of his subordinates — weaknesses Thompson exploited in his run against the well-known Brooklyn prosecutor.

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

New York Election Law § 17-142 states that any person who “offers or promises to pay, lend or contribute any money or other valuable consideration to induce such voter or other person to vote or refrain from voting at any election” is guilty of a felony. That being said, South Williamsburg voters at IS 71 can get a chance to win $250 cash prizes and gift certificates—all they have to do is cast a ballot.

A 16-year-old who said he was being paid $350 to man a booth a little more than 100 feet from the polling station at IS 71 told us that families of area yeshiva students received this card in the mail before the election. The card promises entry into a raffle boasting $250 cash prizes and gift certificates when presented to a worker after voting. You could also pick up one of the special cards from a van sitting outside the polling station.

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

What appears to be an orchestrated pattern of voter fraud is being reported at a pivotal precinct in South Williamsburg. According to a Board of Elections poll worker and another poll watcher, groups of young Hasidic men attempted to enter the polling station at IS 71 and vote under the names of other citizens who have yet to vote. “They’re signing signatures, but the ID they show doesn’t match the signature on the forms. Yes, there’s been some illegal stuff going on,” BOE poll worker Antoinette Reaves said.

An NYPD officer standing outside IS 71 told us he had witnessed four men attempting to vote under the wrong name in the two hours he had been posted there.

While some of the attempts were made by men who looked to be of voting age, others struck poll workers as obviously fraudulent. “They’re fourteen, fifteen years old, walking in here with a crowd of people. We stopped them and asked for ID—we know they’re too young to go in there. They’ve been trying it all day,” Reaves said. “The same faces are appearing.”

While Reaves could not say whether or not any of them have been successful, David Greenberg, a poll watcher for city council candidate Stephen Pierson, said the sheer number of attempts suggested that the problem was more widespread.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
al Momento

Por ALI NUÑEZ

Cardenal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez.

SANTO DOMINGO.- El arzobispo de Santo Domingo, Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez, dijo la noche de este martes que había informado al Vaticano sobre las alegadas malas prácticas del exnuncio Jósef Wesolowski, acusado en República Dominicana de prácticas de pederastia.

“Yo recogí algunas informaciones y se las comuniqué directamente al Papa. Fue solamente eso”, explicó.

Aclaró que tenía algunas informaciones confidenciales, pero no pruebas de las mismas.

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VATICAN CITY
John Thavis

As Pope Francis presided over a meeting of Roman Curia department heads today, his new pick for Secretary of State was making news on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Archbishop Pietro Parolin, in an interview with the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, said among other things that the church’s tradition of priestly celibacy was not dogma and was therefore open to discussion. And he said that while the church was not a democracy, it needs to reflect the democratic spirit of the times and adopt a collegial way of governing.

Neither statement is exactly groundbreaking, but the fact that the new secretary of state feels free to make them says a lot about the current atmosphere in the Vatican.

Parolin said that priestly celibacy, which remains the norm in the Western church, is a tradition that goes back to early Christian times and that has been strengthened through the centuries.

“The effort made by the church to institute ecclesial celibacy must be taken into consideration. One cannot simply say that it belongs to the past,” he said.

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CANADA
Sooke News Mirror

Published: September 11, 2013

Father Philip Jacobs, a parish 63-year-old priest who once served at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Sooke, was sentenced on September 4 to two years probation along with a five-month conditional sentence. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Gropper found the priest guilty in March and imposed the sentence while stating it was clear Jacobs acted deliberately.

Jacobs was found guilty in March for sexually touching a teenager while ministering at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic School in Saanich between 2000 and 2001. The victim was an alter server at the time and stated Jacobs molested him more than once and “less than 12” times. Jacobs was arrested in 2010, released on $25,000 bail and has essentially been under house arrest since then. Jacobs has been known to live along West Coast Road.

Jacobs was acquited on three other charges that include one count of sexual assault and two of sexually touching a person under 14.

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NEW YORK
Brooklyn Daily

Brooklyn primary voters rendered a stunning verdict on six-term District Attorney Charles “Joe” Hynes — and sentenced him to retirement.

Former federal prosecutor Ken Thompson scored an historic upset against Hynes in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary — bringing the incumbent’s 23-year tenure as Brooklyn’s top lawman to a startling close. Thompson is the first challenger to unseat an incumbent district attorney in more than a century, and will become the first African-American to hold the office.

Hynes — who had already secured the Republican and Conservative lines on the November ballot — chose to bow out of his position. The defeated DA said he would spend the following months working with Thompson to transfer the reins of power. …

Hynes also suffered from bad press over his office’s weak response to sex abuse cases in the Orthodox Jewish community — a powerful voting block that long backed him.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM AND GLENN BLAIN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ 23-year run as the borough’s top prosecutor has come to an end following his stunning defeat in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

Hynes was the city’s first sitting district attorney to be voted from office since 1955 after he was defeated by former prosecutor Kenneth Thompson 55% to 44%, according to unofficial results.

A Brooklyn District Attorney had not been voted out of office since 1911.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- of Santo Domingo Archbishop cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez Tuesday night confirmed that it was he who informed the Vatican about the alleged wrongdoing by former envoy Jósef Wesolowski, accused of sexually molesting several minors.

“I gathered some information and reported directly to the Pope, it was only that, I spent three days in the Vatican,” he said, and confirms reports in that regard.

He said he’s unaware of the ex nuncio’s whereabouts.

Lopez revealed having some confidential information, but no evidence on Wesolowski, who he affirms will be processed in a Vatican court which deals with child abuse cases.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Sun Daily

SANTO DOMINGO (Sept 11, 2013): Parents of several children in the Dominican Republic have accused the Vatican’s now-sacked envoy to the Caribbean nation of paedophilia, authorities said Tuesday.

“There are a number of parents who have filed reports” against Josef Wesolowski, deputy prosecutor Bolivar Sanchez told reporters.

Sanchez was tapped by Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito to lead the investigation into the case.

“So far, we have interviewed three (boys) here; in another location we interviewed four more boys,” said Sanchez.

“They are all from 13 to 18 years old and mainly from very poor neighbourhoods,” he said.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Hong Kong Standard

Parents of several children in the Dominican Republic have accused the Vatican’s sacked envoy to the Caribbean nation of pedophilia, authorities said.

“There are a number of parents who have filed reports” against Polish national Josef Wesolowski, deputy prosecutor Bolivar Sanchez said.

Sanchez was tapped by Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito to lead the investigation, AFP reports.

“So far, we have interviewed three [boys] here; in another location we interviewed four more boys,” said Sanchez. “They are all from 13 to 18 years old and mainly from very poor neighborhoods.’’

He added there were “some very painful situations.’’

On August 21 Monsignor Wesolowski, the papal nuncio in Santo Domingo, was sacked. The Vatican did not share the news with the public.

Last week, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told the I.Media news agency on Vatican affairs that an investigation was underway in Rome into allegations of child sex abuse against Wesolowski.

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, the president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia, has sent a special sermon on sexual misconduct to rabbis in Australia and New Zealand to be delivered on Yom Kippur.

The text of his letter:

“I am writing to you on the Eve of Yom Kippur with the intention that this letter be read and contemplated in the break between Musaph and Mincha on Yom Kippur. Our Sages teach that notwithstanding the extraordinary holiness of the day, the reading of the Torah at Mincha on Yom Kippur recounts the laws of sexual misconduct, because of their
unfortunate prevalence and the need to seek atonement.

Furthermore we are instructed, that until we make amends with our fellow man, we cannot find atonement with Hashem.

In that spirit I wish to address the issue of child sexual abuse. Over the last few years it has become clear that our community has been affected by this scourge no differently than any other community. It has also become clear that we have not handled this issue in an appropriate manner.

I wish to be frank. For whatever reason a culture of cover up, often couched in religious terms, pervaded our thinking and actions. It may even have been well intentioned, but it was simply wrong. An issue of child sexual abuse must be reported to the police immediately and perpetrators must be brought to justice. It makes no difference whether the crime took place ten years ago or ten days ago. There can be no exceptions and no excuses.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

September 11, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

Australia’s most senior Orthodox rabbi has apologised for years of mishandling and cover-up of child sexual abuse within the Jewish community and urged abusers to hand themselves in to police.

“For whatever reason a culture of cover-up, often couched in religious terms pervaded our thinking and actions. It may even have been well-intentioned, but it was simply wrong,” said Moshe Gutnick, the president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australia, on Wednesday.

Ahead of the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement, Rabbi Gutnick told victims no one could know their pain and what they had been through.

“And the pain has only been magnified by our inaction. On this holiest of days, I sincerely beg your forgiveness on behalf of all of us who did not hear your voice.

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NEW YORK
NBC New York

Kenneth Thompson, a lawyer best known for representing the maid in the sex assault scandal involving former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn, won the Democratic nomination for Brooklyn district attorney Tuesday, unseating longtime prosecutor Charles Hynes.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Thompson was leading with 55 percent of the vote.

Hynes has the support of the GOP but says he won’t run as a Republican. There are no other major party candidates in the general election. …

Charles “Joe” Hynes, 78, held the job more than 20 years — a ubiquitous figure with a tough-on-crime persona won him diverse fans — and critics — throughout the borough.

He was blasted by some for being soft on crime in the borough’s large but insular Orthodox Jewish community. He was accused of catering to powerful rabbis who did not want criminal cases, especially sex abuse cases, handled by secular authorities. Hynes denied the allegations.

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ISRAEL
Religion News Blog

ReligionNewsBlog.com — The sadistic leader of a cult that was based in Jerusalem and the Tiberias region of Israel has been found guilty of a range of crimes, including physically-, mentally-, and sexually abusing six women and dozens of children.

The cult was busted in August 2011, based on report from a young woman who, in May that year, busted in August 2011, based on the report of a woman who called the Israel Center for Cult Victims [Hebrew-language website. English version via Google Translate].

YNetNews says

A gag order has been placed on the full indictment in a bid to prevent the identification of the dozens of young children and their mothers. […]

According to the indictment, D. saw himself as the successor of a well-known figure from his Hasidic movement and the person chosen to distribute his doctrine in the world. He got more and more women to join his cult by convincing them of his “powers.”

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

Victims Write Parents & Judge about Teachers
Both will be in court in Little Rock next week
One of them pled guilty to molesting a student
Another didn’t report the crimes as required by law
Group wants families & school officials to help prosecutors
And it tells Little Rock’s bishop “Do aggressive outreach now”
Parents should “ask their kids if they saw or suspected wrongdoing,” victims
say

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will urge local school officials and church officials to “actively seek out” people who “saw, suspected or suffered” crimes by two teachers who will be in court next week.

They will also disclose that they are writing to

— nearly 400 parents of students at the school where both of the accused worked, and
—the judge in the cases, urging harsh sentences if/when the teachers are found guilty of child sex crimes and/or cover ups.

WHEN
Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the Pulaski County Court house, 401 W. Markham in downtown Little Rock (near S Spring Street)

WHO
Two members of a support group for clergy sex abuse victims called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director.

WHY
A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging officials with a Little Rock school and the Little Rock Catholic diocese to “aggressively seek out” others who may have “seen, suspected or suffered crimes” by two former Catholic school teachers who will be in court next week on child sex charges. The group is also writing to families who attend the school prodding those with information or suspicions about the crimes to contact law enforcement.

One of the teachers, Kelly Ann O’Rourke, admitted molesting a student. The other, Kathy Gene Griffin, allegedly concealed O’Rourke’s crimes.

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ALABAMA
WHNT

MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – A local church musician pleads guilty to harassment.

Blake Jerrod Earl was arrested in 2012, and was initially charged with sexual abuse. Police say Earl sexually abused a 17-year-old girl while on a church trip in Enterprise, Alabama.

Earl pleaded guilty to harassment, a lesser charge, on August 22, 2013 in Coffee County. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, but that was suspended, and now must serve one year of unsupervised probation. Earl also must also attend counseling as part of his plea agreement.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Australia’s most senior orthodox rabbi, Moshe Gutnick, has formally apologised for child sexual abuse within the Jewish community.

In a written apology on the eve of Yom Kippur, he said the issue has been handled inappropriately with a culture of covering up abuse.

Rabbi Gutnick asked victims of abuse for forgiveness and urged them to come forward to ensure police can prosecute the perpetrators.

“We need to empower ourselves and victims to help to bring this scourge to an end,” he said.

Talking to reporters, the rabbi addressed what he called a “cultural cover-up” with those inside the church refusing to contact the proper authorities in the belief sexual assault was a church issue, not a criminal one.

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TEXAS
Kilgore News Herald

By JAMES DRAPER
news1@kilgorenewsherald.com

A Rusk County Grand Jury reindicted Glenn Douglas Barton for aggravated sexual assault of a child last week following an analysis of DNA evidence collected by local investigators.

Awaiting the forensic report, Rusk County District Attorney Micheal Jimerson dismissed the original indictment against Barton after his March 4 arrest stemming from KPD’s investigation into allegations he sexually abused a young family member for several years.

At the time of his first arrest Barton was senior pastor of Calvary Way Church in Kilgore, taken into custody at his residence on the grounds of the West Woodlawn ministry.

Facing the new first degree felony, on Friday the 62-year-old turned himself in to the Rusk County Jail and was later released on $50,000 bond. His defense attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

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CALIFORNIA
DFW Catholic

Sacramento, Calif., Sep 11, 2013 / 02:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- California Gov. Jerry Brown should veto an abuse lawsuit bill that is “flagrantly discriminatory” and “targeted at the Catholic Church,” says Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

“Going after the Catholic schools today for cases of abuse that took place decades ago, while exempting the public schools – at a time when there is a serious problem with the sexual molestation of minors in the public schools – is irrational, discriminatory and grossly unjust,” the Catholic League president said in a Sept. 10 letter to Gov. Brown.

His comments come in response to S.B. 131, a bill now headed to the governor’s desk that would lift the statute of limitations on abuse lawsuits only for private institutions, but not for public schools.

Donohue said the bill is “indefensible” because under its provisions “no one who was abused in public schools before 2009 can sue the teacher, the school, or the school district, but if someone was abused in a Catholic school when JFK was president, he can sue the teacher (if he is alive), the school, and the diocese.”

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Hoy

[Summary: The prosecutor is attempting to determine the whereabouts of former apostolic nuncio Josef Wesolowski who has left the Dominican Republic.]

Escrito por: CRISTAL ACEVEDO (c.acevedo@hoy.com.do)

El procurador general de la República, Francisco Domínguez Brito, dijo hoy que en estos momentos investiga el paradero del exnuncio apostólico, Józef Wesolowski, quien está acusado de abuso sexual a menores de edad.

Domínguez Brito agregó que aunque las autoridades se mantienen investigando acerca de dónde se encuentra albergado el exnuncio, tienen como prioridad investigar sobre las presuntas víctimas para poder establecer responsabilidades.

Entrevistado en un programa radial, Domínguez Brito manifestó que la Iglesia Católica ha colaborado con las investigaciones que realizan las autoridades.

Con relación al proceso legal contra Wesolowski, precisó que existen dos posibilidades: que sea procesado en el país o en su defecto que sea el Vaticano quien le conozca causa.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Listin Diario

Rafael Castro
Las Américas

El exnuncio apostólico, Józef Wesolowski, acusado en el país de pederastia, viajó a la ciudad del Vaticano el día 4 de agosto por el aeropuerto Las Américas, según reportes del área protocolar de la terminal aeroportuaria.

Según el informe, Wesolowski salió pasada las 7:00 de la noche en el vuelo 088 de la línea aérea Air Europa con destino a Madrid, España y desde esa ciudad realizó una conexión con otro vuelo que lo llevó a su destino final, la ciudad del Vaticano.

El exnuncio se ha visto envuelto en un escándalo por alegados actos sexuales con menores en el país, caso que está siendo investigado por la fiscalía del Distrito Nacional.

De acuerdo con el informe, Wesolowski fue despedido en el Salón de Embajadores de Las Américas, tras abordar el vuelo de Air Europa que lo llevaría primero a España y luego al Vaticano, según se registra en el libro de record del área protocolar de la terminal.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Terra

[Summary: The Dominican prosecutor has received several formal complaints against deposed apostolic nuncio Joseph Wesolowski. Extradition may be requested. Several parents have filed complaints, according to Bolivar Sanchez, chief investigator appointed by the attorney general for the Dominican Republic.]

Fiscalía dominicana recibe denuncias contra ex nuncio por abuso de menores

La Fiscalía dominicana recibió varias denuncias formales contra el destituido nuncio apostólico en ese país, Josef Wesolowski, por supuesto abuso sexual a menores, caso por el que entrevistó a siete niños y adolescentes y por el que podría pedirse la extradición.

“Hay varios padres que ya han puesto la denuncia”, declaró este martes a la prensa el procurador adjunto Bolívar Sánchez, designado jefe de la investigación por el procurador general de la República, Francisco Domínguez Brito, y quien no descartó que República Dominicana solicite la extradición del funcionario católico.

“Se está contemplando eso también (la extradición)”, respondió Sánchez a una pregunta de la prensa. Pero “eso conlleva un proceso que no es el mismo que si se tratara de un ciudadano que no estuviera revestido de la investidura de un diplomático”, agregó de inmediato.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Noticias SIN

SANTO DOMINGO, República Dominicana.- Organizaciones como la Colectiva Mujer y Salud y La Multitud protestarán mañana, miércoles, frente a la Nunciatura ante las denuncias de presunto abuso sexual a menores y mujeres por parte de sacerdote y el destituido nuncio apostólico en el país, Jósef Wesolowski.

La actividad está convocada para las 5 de la tarde frente a la Nunciatura Papal, en la Máximo Gómez esquina César Nicolás Penson.

Sus organizadores protestarán para reclamar “que los crímenes sexuales contra niños, niñas y adolescentes cometidos por exnuncio y los otros curas no queden impunes”.

Asimismo, para pedir “que se ofrezca protección a víctimas que no se atreven a denunciar por temor a represalias”.

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NEDERLAND
Eindrapport van de Commissie Archiefonderzoek handelen Openbaar Ministerie bij seksueel misbruik Rooms-Katholieke Kerk

Voorwoord

In december 2011 verscheen het rapport van de commissie-Deetman over seksueel misbruik in de
Rooms-Katholieke Kerk (RKK).1

Het rapport leidde tot een uitgebreid debat in de Tweede Kamer.

Een van de discussiepunten was het optreden van het Openbaar Ministerie (OM) in zaken van
seksueel misbruik door rooms-katholieke geestelijken.2

Naar aanleiding daarvan heeft de vaste commissie voor Veiligheid en Justitie de minister gevraagd om de archieven van het OM te laten onderzoeken. Het onderzoek zou meer inzicht moeten geven ‘in de wijze waarop het OM in het verleden is omgegaan met misbruikzaken binnen de Rooms Katholieke kerk.’3

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Sep. 10, 2013 Distinctly Catholic

My colleague Brian Roewe reported yesterday on an interview given by Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois. There is much that is – how to put this as kindly as possible – jarring about the bishop’s comments. His comparison of the situation of the Church today in America to that of the early Christians in imperial Rome was histrionic to say the least: Whatever one thinks of Obama, he is not Nero or Diocletian. Paprocki’s comments on homosexuality exhibited a fifth grade understanding of the issue. But, what was most alarming were the bishop’s remarks about the sex abuse crisis. Those who criticized the Church’s handling of the issue are dismissed as anti-Catholic bigots. Many bishops have forthrightly confronted the issue of clergy sex abuse, to be sure. Others, not so much. And the Holy See has so far failed to establish a procedure for removing bishops who do not enforce the canonical norms that have governed the Church’s response since 2002. Bishop Robert Finn is still the Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Archbishop John Myers is still the Archbishop of Newark. By refusing to admit any wrong-doing, but sweeping everything under the proverbial rug, by blaming the media for its coverage, Paprocki looks like no one so much as the tobacco executives who once insisted that smoking cigarettes had nothing to do with causing cancer.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Capital Public Radio

[with audio]

By Rich Ibarra

(Sacramento, CA)
Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Sexual abuse lawsuits have cost the Stockton Catholic Diocese almost 20 million dollars over the last decade. The church is preparing for bankruptcy as more victims may come forward.

Stockton Bishop Stephen Blaire oversees 250,000 Catholics in 6 counties.

He has written in an open letter that he is ready to have the diocese declare bankruptcy because of pending lawsuits, and future claims by victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests.

David Clohessey of the Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests is urging the bishop to reconsider.

He says bankruptcy would prolong the suffering of victims who are still coming forward.

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CANADA
The Province

VANCOUVER — The Roman Catholic diocese that ran a school where former Vancouver Olympic CEO John Furlong once taught is denying allegations of abuse in a lawsuit filed by two women, questioning in a statement of defence whether one of the students even attended the school.

A cloud has hung over Furlong since last fall, when the Georgia Straight, a weekly newspaper based in Vancouver, published a story alleging Furlong physically and verbally abused students while teaching in Burns Lake, B.C., and Prince George, B.C., in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Furlong subsequently launched a libel lawsuit against the Georgia Straight newspaper and the reporter who wrote the piece, condemning the article as a hatchet job and denying he ever abused anyone.

Those allegations were amplified this past July, when Grace West and Beverly Abraham, who identified themselves as former students of Immaculata Elementary School in Burns Lake, filed separate lawsuits against Furlong alleging physical and sexual abuse while they attended the school.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Descents from Darkness

SNAP (the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests) is a national organization focused on preventing and drawing attention to clergy sexual abuse and the recovery of those abused by clergy. On Wednesday, September 11, 2013, they will hold a confidential support meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas. Please see the link below for more information.

Information on SNAP Support Meeting

I’ve had contact with several members and staff of SNAP over the last few years, including their chapter focused on abuse within the Southern Baptist community (found here). They have been nothing but supportive and understanding.

If you are in the Central Arkansas area and have personally struggled with, or watched family members or close friends struggle with clergy abuse issues, you should seriously think about attending.

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ST. PAUL (MN)
Jeff Anderson & Associates

MEDIA ADVISORY: FORMER BOY SCOUT TO SPEAK ABOUT SEXUAL ABUSE BY SCOUTMASTER RICHARD HOKANSON IN ROCHESTER

Media Advisory
September 10, 2013
St. Paul News Conference Wednesday

Former Boy Scout to Speak About Sexual Abuse by
Scoutmaster Richard Hokanson in Rochester

Attorney to discuss “Perversion Files” from 1999-2008
and the BSA’s failure to warn about pedophiles in scouting

WHAT: At a news conference on Wednesday in St. Paul, prominent sexual abuse attorney Jeff Anderson will:
• Announce the filing of a lawsuit involving the National Boy Scouts of America Foundation d/b/a The Boys Scouts of America (BSA) filed under the new Minnesota Child Victims Act. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a former Boy Scout Doe 17, names the Boy Scouts of America, Gamehaven Council, Inc., St. Pius X Catholic Church, troop sponsor, and former troop leader and convicted child molester Richard Hokanson, as defendants.
• Introduce survivor, Doe 17, who has courageously decided to speak publicly about the abuse he suffered by Hokanson from the age of 11-16 while a member of Troop 210 in Rochester, Minnesota.
• Two sets of IV Perversion Files, one already made public in an Oregon sexual abuse case, and the second, not yet able to be publicly released but intended to be used at a cancelled trial in Ramsey County this week, will be in boxes at the news conference.
• Alert the community and other sexual abuse survivors in Minnesota about the Child Victims Act and encourage them to come forward and tell others about the new legislation.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 11th at 11:00 AM

WHERE: Offices of Jeff Anderson & Associates
366 Jackson Street, Suite 100
St. Paul, MN 55101

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
El Nacional

Escrito por: Alberto Caminero y Diogenes Tejada

Josef Wesolowski, ex nuncio en República Dominicana y quien enfrenta un escándalo internacional por alegados actos sexuales con menores en el país, salió el 4 de agosto por el aeropuerto de Las Américas con destino a Madrid, según se confirmó de manera extraoficial. Wesolowski fue despedido en el Salón de Embajadores y abordó el vuelo 088 de Air Europa que lo llevaría primero a España y luego al Vaticano, según se registra en el Aeropuerto. Cuando estalló el escándalo de pederastia atribuida a Wesolowski el 26 de agosto pasado, ya el ex nuncio apostólico había salido de República Dominicana.

El Nacional publicó la semana pasada la especie de que el ex nuncio apostólico podría estar escondido en algún lugar del país, ya que la Dirección General de Migración no tiene registro de su salida de República Dominicana tras su destitución como embajador del Vaticano el pasado 26 de agosto.

Tras una minuciosa verificación esta mañana, su nombre no aparece registrado en la lista de salidas de pasajeros por los puertos y aeropuertos del país desde el 26 de enero hasta la fecha.

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REPUBLIC DOMINICANA
El Nuevo Diario

[Summary: Unofficial sources said Joseph Wesolowski, former apostolic nuncio in the Dominican Republic, who faces an international scandal for alleged sexual acts with minors in that country, on Aug. 4 passed through the international airport in the Dominican Republic en route to Madrid, Spain. El Nacional newspaper reported that he boarded Air Europa flight 088 that would take him first to Spain and then on to the Vatican. The scandal broke Aug. 26 and the nuncio had already left the country.

On Saturday, journalist Nuria Piera interviewed a 13-year-old boy who said he was approached several times by the former nuncio and was paid 500 pesos to masturbate in front of him while filming him with his phone. Wesolowski is also said to have contacted other children in the Montesinos area and brought them to a house in Boca Chica. The boy was asked by Ms. Piera how he explained the money when he got home. He said he worked shining shoes in a tourist area.]

SANTO DOMINGO, RD.- Fuentes no oficiales aseguran que el ex nuncio apostólico en República Dominicana, Jósef Wesolowski, quien enfrenta un escándalo internacional por alegados actos sexuales con menores en el país, salió el 4 de agosto por el Aeropuerto Internacional de Las Américas con destino a Madrid, España.

Según publica el periódico El Nacional, Wesolowski fue despedido en el salón de Embajadores y abordó el vuelo 088 de Air Europa que lo llevaría primero a España y luego al Vaticano, según se registra en el Aeropuerto, por lo que cuando estalló el escándalo de pederastia atribuida a Wesolowski el 26 de agosto pasado, ya el ex nuncio apostólico había salido del país.

Sin embargo, la Dirección General de Migración no tiene registro de su salida de República Dominicana tras su destitución como embajador del Vaticano el pasado 26 de agosto.

De acuerdo a las autoridades, el representante del Vaticano, está siendo objeto de una investigación por denuncias de alegada pederastia, empero, en los registros de Migración no figura ningún tipo de impedimento de salida impuesto por las autoridades.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
El Nuevo Dia

Por Agencia EFE

Santo Domingo – El Ministerio Público de la República Dominicana identificó y entrevistó a siete menores de edad presuntamente abusados sexualmente por el destituido nuncio en el país, Jósef Wesolowski, informó hoy el encargado de investigar el caso, el procurador adjunto, Bolívar Sánchez.

Las declaraciones ofrecidas por las supuestas víctimas son “coherentes y contundentes”, dijo a la prensa Sánchez, quien, sin embargo, se abstuvo de ofrecer mayores detalles para no entorpecer las investigaciones.

Los menores narraron a las autoridades que sostenían relaciones sexuales con el exnuncio a cambio de dinero, según adelantó Sánchez.

Asimismo, el procurador adjunto informó que los padres de los menores ya han sido entrevistados, y que en este caso hay situaciones “bastante dolorosas”.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICA
Acento

SANTO DOMINGO, República Dominicana.- Moradores de la zona del Monumento a Montesinos confirmaron que el nuncio Joséf Wesolowski visitaba todos los días el lugar, aproximadamente a las 3:30 de la tarde y permanecía máximo durante una hora.

“El viejo venia todos los días, nosotros sabíamos quién era él, uno sospechaba, uno e´ tiguere, uno sabe, inclusive uno que es de por aquí, (refiriéndose a un amigo) yo lo estaba confundiendo y él me dijo que sí, que era él”, explicó un vecino del lugar que no quiso revelar su identidad.

Explicó que su amigo trabajaba en la Iglesia Católica y le confimó en una ocasión que se trataba del nuncio del Vaticano.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Prensa Latina

[Summary: At least seven minors in the Dominican Republic have been identified as victims of sexual abuse by former apostolic nuncio Josef Wesolowski, according to official sources. Deputy Attorney Bolivar Sanchez, who heads the investigation that began last week, said victims range in age from 13-18. The testimonials are harrowing, compelling and delicate, he said.]

Santo Domingo, 10 sep (PL) Al menos siete dominicanos menores de edad fueron identificados como víctimas de abuso sexual del ex nuncio apostólico Joséf Wesolowski, revelaron hoy aquí fuentes oficiales.

De acuerdo con el procurador adjunto Bolívar Sánchez, encargado de la investigación abierta la semana pasada, las edades de los afectados van de 13 a 18 años.

Los testimonios son desgarradores, contundentes y delicados afirmó Sánchez, quien precisó que el religioso llevaba un lustro en esa práctica.

Explicó, citado por el sitio digital acento.com.do, que las víctimas tenían relaciones sexuales con Wesolowski, de origen polaco, a cambio de dinero, y sus padres fueron entrevistados también.

El Ministerio Público desconoce el paradero del ex nuncio apostólico, destituido del cargo a finales del mes anterior.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santiago, Dominican Republic.- The Santiago Appellate Court’s Criminal Chamber declared Polish priest Wojciech Gil (Alberto) in contempt , at the request of the Office of the Prosecutor, on charges he sexually molested several minors in the village of Juncalito, Janico township (central).

The Justice Ministry’s Domestic Violence Unit filed the charges against Gil, 36, at the Children and Adolescents Court.

Although there’s no precise figure as to how many minors figure in the complaint, initial reports place the number at 14. The priest worked with 180 vulnerable children.

The authorities reportedly found videos and other unspecified “incriminating belongings” at Wojciech’s residence.

The prelate allegedly went on vacation amid the complaints, prompting the authorities to search his residence, where they found compromising items such as “tailless” panties and porno films, among other belongings. His whereabouts are unknown.

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UNITED STATES
Failed Messiah

We ask our Rabbonim: Please issue a statement supporting Nechemia Weberman’s victims and condemning the harassment they continue to suffer.

Petition by
Miriam Pearlmutter
Cleveland Heights, OH

Despite Nechemia Weberman’s conviction, Mrs. Deutsch and her family continue to be harassed and intimidated by members of the religious community. In the most recent display of baseless hatred, she and her family were shamed during Rosh Hashanah davening and made to leave their shul. This event was chronicled in secular newspapers, such as the New York Post.

We, as the Orthodox community, cannot allow this Chillul Hashem to go unaddressed. This is not who we are, and we must publically condemn the shaming and bullying that many sexual-abuse victims experience following their ordeals. Victims of these horrific crimes are entitled to our communities’ support and encouragement. In the alternative, victims will fear speaking out and we will be complicit in their suffering.

The specific Rabbonim asked to issue a statement are: the Agudas Yisroel (Chaim Dovid Zweibel,Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, Rabbi Shlomo Gertzulin,Rabbi Labish Becker); the Orthodox Union (Rabbi Simcha Katz,Rabbi Steven Weil); the Rabbinical Council of America (Rabbi Leonard Matanky, Rabbi Mark Dratch, Rabbi Basil Herring, Rabbi Barry Kornblau); National Council of Young Israel (Rabbi Perry Tirschwell, Rabbi Chaim Leibtag); Chabad- Lubavitch (Rabbi Osdoba, Rabbi Schwei, Rabbi Braun, Rabbi Heller); Satmar (Rabbis Aaron and Zalman Teitelbaum); and the Beis Din of America (Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz; Rabbi Mordechai Willig,Rabbi Yona Reiss,Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann).

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HAWAII
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on September 10, 2013

According to the Honolulu Civil Beat: Deputy Attorney General Randall Nishiyama’s memo, dated Sept. 3, 2013, notifies Mercado Kim that the grant for Kalihi’s Damien Memorial School violates a provision in Hawaii’s constitution prohibiting the state from contributing public money to private schools.

A spokeswoman for the AG’s office told Civil Beat that means the state won’t end up releasing the grant money, which would’ve subsidized a $12 million construction project that includes a new athletic complex, library and student services building, among other renovations.

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UNITED STATES
Patrick J. Wall

S/he has served his or her time. Now what?

For victims, it can be sheer horror

There is both relief and joy for a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and their families when a convicted perpetrator goes to jail. The perpetrator can no longer gain access to a child. But that relief can be short-lived.

The typical felony child abuse sentence is a 2-3 years, unless there are special circumstances.Why? The economics of prison overcrowding and state constitutional rules regarding civil commitment.

The situation of Oblate priest James Rapp OSFS is different. Rapp is a Roman Catholic priest convicted to 40 years for child abuse, reduced to 16 years. He will be free in 2015. But his case is the exception, not the norm.

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VATICANO
ACI Prensa

VATICANO, 10 Sep. 13 / 11:01 am (ACI).- El director de la Sala de Prensa de la Santa Sede, el Padre Federico Lombardi, reiteró el compromiso del Vaticano para proseguir con las investigaciones en el caso del ex Nuncio en Rep. Dominicana, el Arzobispo Joseph Wesolowski.

El sacerdote hizo estas declaraciones luego de que se difundiera el fin de semana un reportaje en el que un adolescente narró una serie de detalles de los abusos que él y otros muchachos habrían sufrido con el Arzobispo Wesolowski.

En declaraciones hoy a ACI Prensa sobre lo revelado en el reportaje transmitido el sábado y ayer en los medios locales de República Dominicana, el Padre Lombardi explicó hoy que “la Santa Sede se puso en contacto con el Nuncio (Wesolowski) que fue apartado de su cargo y actualmente las investigaciones siguen su curso. No tengo nada más que decir”.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Dominguez Brito on Monday said he doesn’t know the whereabouts of ousted Vatican nuncio Josef Wesolowski, accused of pedophilia, a case reminiscent of Dominican Republic’s most shameful episode of the abuse of a minor, also linked to foreign diplomats.

He said although an investigation into the Pope’s former representative has been launched based on media reports, allegations and statements by Catholic Church dignitaries, Wesolowski has yet to be formally charged.

He said international law provides for prosecution of Polish bishop Wesolowski at the Vatican, but based on evidence gathered locally.

Dominguez cited precedents of diplomats charged in a host country and tried, convicted, sentenced and serving time in theirs.

The official affirmed that Catholic Church representatives maintain communication and collaborate in the case.

As to the related case of the Polish priest Wojciecj Gil (Alberto), also accused of pedophilia, Dominguez said in a hearing today Tuesday, the prosecution will ask he be declared a fugitive, prior to issuing an international arrest warrant.

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FRAMINGHAM (MA)
Boston.com

By John Swinconeck, Town Correspondent

Framingham State University will kick off its 2013-2014 lecture series with a performance by Michael Mack, based on his experience during the Boston clergy sex abuse scandal.

Mack will perform his one-man show “Conversations with My Molester: A Journey of Faith” on Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Mack will recount how his dream to become a priest in the 1960s came to an end after he was abused, how he wrestled with sexuality, spirituality, and his confrontation with the abuser. Directed by Daniel Gidron, Mack’s monologue premiered at the 10-year anniversary of Boston’s clergy sexual abuse crisis, according to Framingham State.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the new Secretary of State of the Vatican, made some surprisingly frank remarks about priestly celibacy that may indicate a new openness to “the democratic spirit of the times.” Pope Francis’ plans to reform the Vatican and “shake up the church” have received a lot of attention, but he has not yet publicly addressed the issue of mandatory celibacy for priests.

Parolin said in an interview with Venezuelan newspaper El Universal that the tradition of priestly celibacy is not dogma, or a law of divine origin, and is therefore open to discussion. He went on to note that while the church is not a democratic institution, it needs to “reflect the democratic spirit of the times and adopt a collegial way of governing.”

While previous popes have declared some topics closed off from discussion, Parolin’s remarks may be indicative of the possibility of a greater conversation about an ancient Church tradition.

Though it’s not clear exactly when celibacy became mandatory for priests, the first written mandate for chastity dates back to 304 C.E., when Canon 33 of the Council of Elvira stated that all “bishops, presbyters, and deacons and all other clerics” should “abstain completely from their wives and not to have children.” A definitive ruling was handed down at the Second Lateran Council of 1139, which ruled that priests were forbidden to marry.

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CANADA
Sylvia’s Site

Some court updates:

(1) Father Jacques Faucher

Father Jacques Faucher had a court date this morning, 10 September 2013, in Ottawa:

10 September 2013: 08:30 am, courtroom #5, “to be spoken to,” Ottawa Ontario courthouse (161 Elgin St.)

I will find out tomorrow when the next courtdate is.

As always, keep the complainants in your prayers.

If anyone attended court this morning and has news of what transpired please post a comment or send me an email.

(2) Father Damian Cooper

The diocese has to disclose most of the files etc which were requested by the plaintiff. I understand that about 95% of the materials requested must be disclosed.

That’s good news.

Meanwhile the Archdiocese and Father Dmain Cooper are now pushing for disclosure of material which the plaintiff considers privileged. They will all be back in court for that battle next Wednesday.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

In a surprise move, the NSW government enquiry into clerical child sexual abuse in the Newcastle region has reconvened in Sydney to hear more detail on the previous evidence of Paul Lucas, the Secretary of the Australian (Catholic) Bishops’ Conference.

Lucas was the one who, in six years of interviewing suspected paedophile priests, with a view to convincing them to retire discreetly without police being involved, decided to keep no notes of his activities. In the absence of notes, poor Lucas was unable to remember anything about his activities in this regard, which ran from 1990 to 1996.

Suggestions have been raised at earlier hearings of the enquiry that this was so that there would be no “paper trail” which would be available to police and victims lawyers. It was raised again at this new hearing, which suggests it may be a serious focus of the enquiry report, possibly leading to accusations of misprision of a felony offence (covering up a crime), or perjury to the enquiry.

Lucas briefly attended the hearing and told TV news that he had no comment because his lawyers had advised him to hold his tongue until the final enquiry report is released. Lucas himself is a lawyer as well as a priest.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Rundschau

Ein Papstgesandter greift in den Streit um Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst ein: Der als vatikanischer Vermittler ins Bistum Limburg entsandte Kurienkardinal Giovanni Lajolo (78) ist am Montag in Deutschland eingetroffen. Trotzdem hegt der Papst “volles Vetrauen” in die Amtsführung.

Der als vatikanischer Vermittler ins Bistum Limburg entsandte Kurienkardinal Giovanni Lajolo (78) ist am Montag in Deutschland eingetroffen. Das bestätigte die Limburger Bischöfliche Pressestelle am frühen Montagabend auf Anfrage. In einem am Wochenende von dem Bistum veröffentlichten Schreiben an den wegen seiner Amtsführung in die Kritik geratenen Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst (53) hatte der Präfekt der vatikanischen Bischofskongregation, Kardinal Marc Ouellet, einen „brüderlichen Besuch“ des Vatikandiplomaten angekündigt. In seinem Schreiben betonte Ouellet ausdrücklich, bei dem Besuch Lajolos handele es sich nicht um eine „Apostolische Visitation“. Der Heilige Stuhl sehe dazu keinen Anlass und hege „volles Vertrauen“ in die Amtsführung des Limburger Bischofs.

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NEW YORK
Jewish Daily Forward

By Anne Cohen
Published September 09, 2013.

The young Orthodox woman whose testimony of sexual abuse was the basis for the arrest and conviction of counselor Nechemya Weberman was booed out of synagogue on Rosh Hashana, the New York Post reported Monday.

The 18-year-old victim was praying in a Williamsburg synagogue during the holiday when a man reportedly yelled out: “*Moser *, out of the shul!” — a shaming term for a Jew who betrays their community to secular authorities.

“They stopped the praying until she left,” the victim’s husband, Boorey Deutsch, 26, told the Post. “Some woman tried telling my wife to stay there and not leave. She shouldn’t care what they say. But my wife ended up leaving.”

“She felt horrible and mistreated. They treat survivors as if they are the abusers,” Deutsch added.
Deutsch said that he and his wife have been under constant pressure from the community ever since she first came forward about her abuse at the hands of Weberman, an ultra-Orthodox community counselor in Williamsburg.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Sep. 9, 2013 NCR Today

Pope Francis has summoned heads of the Vatican’s various congregations and pontifical councils, meaning the cardinals and archbishops who run the place, for a rare joint meeting Tuesday.

The idea may be to take stock of the new papacy at its six-month mark, though the unknowns about the encounter outnumber the certainties. At this stage, it’s not clear what topics may come up, who’s going to speak or in what order, and whether the pope may use the occasion to announce further personnel moves or structural changes.

The gathering is sandwiched between two key developments — the Aug. 31 announcement of Italian Archbishop Pietro Parolin as the Vatican’s new Secretary of State and the looming Oct. 1-3 meeting of the council of eight cardinals created by Francis to advise him on church governance. As a result, it may be a chance for the pope to solicit feedback on decisions already made and to talk about what’s still ahead.

Watch the NCR Today blog for news about the meeting as it develops.

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CALIFORNIA
Catholic League

On September 6, the California Senate passed SB 131, the bill that makes it easier for alleged victims of sexual abuse to sue if the molestation happened when they were a minor. But it does not apply to the public sector, just to institutions such as the Catholic Church.

Bill Donohue wrote a letter today to California Governor Jerry Brown about the bill. He will decide its fate; he has until October 13. To read the letter, click here.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

Pope Francis has called the leaders of the Roman Curia to a meeting on Tuesday, September 10.

Although the Vatican has not disclosed the purpose of the meeting, the Pope is likely to discuss plans for internal reforms at the Vatican. The meeting of dicastery officials comes nearly a month before the first official meeting of the council of 8 cardinals appointed to advice the Pope on Vatican reforms.

Pope Francis has already made the first critical appointment of his pontificate, choosing Archbishop Pietro Parolin to become Secretary of State. He has made several other important appointments to the Roman Curia, and created panels to scrutinize the financial dealings of the Vatican. But to date he has made no major changes in the structure of the Roman Curia.

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MONTANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, September 10, 2013

More than 30 pages of long-secret Catholic church records about a predator priest who worked in four Montana parishes have been made public as part of a 2007 settlement.

He is Fr. John Kohnke. He worked in Hingham, Sunburst, Chester and Shelby.

Here are the files: http://www.lorpb.com/documents/Clergy-September/Norbertines-(Kohnke).PDF

http://www.lorpb.com/September-Release.aspx

Here’s an article about the release of the files:

http://www.sunherald.com/2013/09/09/4937123/priest-recalls-la-flight-after.html

Here’s what we think should happen now:

Both Montana bishops should publicly

–announce the release of these files, and

–post the names and files of each of these predators on their diocesan websites, so that more victims, witnesses and whistleblowers might come forward, the criminals will be prosecuted and jailed, and kids will be safer and victims will get help. (NOTE: Fr. Kohnke is deceased, so he can’t be prosecuted. But we suspect that other current and former Catholic employees who may have concealed his crimes might still be prosecuted.)

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NEBRASKA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Records released on predator priest
He worked in Nebraska but abused in California
Support group urges Omaha Catholic officials to “do outreach”
SNAP: “Some of victims may still be suffering in silence, shame and self-blame”

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging Omaha’s Catholic archbishop to reach out to anyone who may have been hurt by an abusive priest who is now in the limelight because his records have just been made public.

Father Gabriel Salinas is one of five clerics who were sued in California for alleged child sex crimes. Those suits settled in 2007. But 11 pages of long-secret records about Salinas, who is now deceased, were released yesterday and posted on line as part of a settlement of hundreds of civil abuse lawsuits.

http://www.lorpb.com/documents/Clergy-September/Augustinians-(Salinas).PDF

http://www.lorpb.com/

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are asking Archbishop George Lucas to “let Nebraska Catholics know about” the credible child sex abuse allegations against Salinas.

“This predator spent more than 30 years in Nebraska, so it’s silly to think that he assaulted kids in California but never in Omaha,” said SNAP Director David Clohessy. “Archbishop Lucas can be irresponsible and do nothing. Or he can show courage and compassion by using his archdiocesan website and parish bulletins to reach out to others who were wounded by this child molesting cleric.”

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By I. Michael Bellafiore, Published: September 10

Reform is afoot in the Vatican. Pope Francis has tightened the reins on the Vatican bank, worked through a grueling visit to Brazil, named a new secretary of state, and is now busy preparing for the October meeting of cardinals who will advise him on how to breathe new life into the Catholic Church.
The new pope’s agenda is simple: spread the good news of Jesus Christ in a freer and more convincing way. Christ stated the church’s mission very plainly: “Go out and make disciples of all the nations.”

Here in America, Catholic parishes need to take measures to better carry out this mission:

1. Parishioners and clergy must take responsibility for evangelization. The church is not a spiritual McDonald’s whose success largely depends on its managers, the clergy. Paraphrasing President John Kennedy’s call to service, “Ask not what the church can do for you, but what you can do for the church.” Evangelicals and Pentecostals have much to teach Catholics in this regard. Polls show Catholics stayed away from church because they were ignored, slighted, or scandalized. Sometimes they misunderstand church teaching. They need to know that they are missed and that the door is open for them.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 10 September 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Sala Bolonia in the Apostolic Palace the Holy Father presided over a meeting of all the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the president of the Governorate and the cardinal vicar general of Rome.

The Pope has met personally with all the heads of the dicasteries during recent months and has spoken at length with each of them. He will now preside over a joint meeting of all the heads, as he completes the sixth month of his pontificate.

A meeting in order to listen to the considerations and advice offered by the highest-ranking figures in the Roman Curia and the Pope’s main collaborators in Rome fits naturally within the context of the implementation of suggestions presented by the cardinals to the congregations in preparation for the Conclave and the Holy Father’s reflections on the government of the Church. Another key event on this theme will be the forthcoming meeting of the Group of Eight cardinals in early October.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Fr Tony Flannery

People regularly ask me how I am? The answer to that is complex, and I do not usually burden or bore my questioner by going into details about it. It is more than a year since I was forbidden to minister as a priest.

I miss being able to celebrate the Eucharist and I miss being able to preach. I know I can say Mass privately, but I seldom do, since I regard it as a community exercise. I mostly attend Mass with the people.

Having been out of ministry and in conflict with church authorities for an extended period of time has had a significant impact on my perspective on the church, but more fundamentally on my faith and my life.

Decision making

I have come to know a great deal about how the church operates, particularly in its management structures and methods of decision making, that I would probably be better off not knowing.

Sadly I have found it to be true that the closer you get to the Vatican system, with all its power struggles and careerism, the more disillusioned you can become. I know that faith in Jesus Christ is more important than any of this, but while I can accept that totally at an intellectual level, it is much more difficult to deal with my emotional responses to it. The church introduced me to Christ, and for my whole life my faith has been lived out within the church, most of it within religious life. So I suppose I am now experiencing something of a crisis of faith.

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STOCKTON (CA)
California Catholic Daily

The following comes from a September 4 letter issued by the diocese of Stockton.

An update on our financial situation from Bishop Stephen Blaire

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In my letter to you in June, I shared with you some difficult news about the financial situation of the Diocese — the funds we have used to settle sexual abuse lawsuits have been almost depleted, and we have no apparent way to meet the expenses of pending lawsuits and possible future claims.

I promised you we would examine the options available to us, and that I would keep you updated on any developments. This is the reason for my letter to you today.

We continue to investigate our options, and no final decisions have been reached. I feel, however, that it is important to tell you that options other than filing for bankruptcy protection have not emerged. It appears likely to me that the Diocese will need to re-organize financially under the protection of the Bankruptcy Court. I want to keep you and the wider community informed as best I can in this process. That is why I am meeting in the days and weeks ahead with your pastors and with others who may be affected by a bankruptcy filing by the Diocese.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Yeshiva sex abuse trial: Ex-administrator Norman Lamm, suffering from senility, should not testify, say defense lawyers

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Defense lawyers in the sex abuse lawsuit against Yeshiva University say longtime administrator Norman Lamm, who retired in July amid allegations of a coverup, should not be questioned because he suffers from dementia.

They claim his testimony would be unreliable due to his condition, citing reports by his doctors.

But the plaintiffs, former students who allege they were preyed upon by staff, want to grill Lamm no matter what. They also want him deposed right away, before his purported condition worsens.

“Months matter,” Kevin Mulhearn, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said Monday in Manhattan federal court.

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
Opposing Views

By Amanda Schallert, Sat, September 07, 2013

An Illinois Catholic bishop said he thinks the Catholic Church has handled its multiple sexual abuse scandals better than any other institution in the world would have, and that a hostility against Catholics is rising in the U.S.

In a recent interview, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill., warned that the media is at fault for the anti-Christian sentiment in America, according to the Washington Times Communities.

He said he thinks the Catholic Church has been responsible and that people are still attacking it unfairly, according to Wonkette.com.

“I would venture to say that of any institution in the country – perhaps in the world – I don’t think anyone is dealing with (sexual abuse scandals) as responsibly as the Catholic Church has,” Paprocki said. “So public figures like that continue to point their finger at the Catholic Church and say you have a problem with sexual abuse and people are ignoring where most sexual abuse is taking place. It’s occurring in families. It’s occurring in schools.”

He added that he thinks people are trying to label sexual abuse as “a Catholic problem.”

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
DFW Catholic

Springfield, Ill., Sep 10, 2013 / 02:08 am (CNA).- Bishop Thomas J. Papropcki of Springfield, Ill., said that Catholics should be aware of an “unconscious hatred for the faith” as they seek to interact with the modern culture.

In an interview with the Washington Times, published Sept. 3, the bishop reflected that in past generations, “many of the values in our secular world mirrored the values of the religious world.” …

He pointed to an “anti-Catholic bigotry” in the culture, seen in a “Late Night with David Letterman” segment where the host joked about the sexual abuse of altar boys.

He said the joke showed a “profound ignorance” in identifying the Catholic Church and the priesthood with sex abuse.

“Certainly, we have had our unfortunate share of scandals and sin and the church is dealing with that,” the bishop said.

However, he added that the Catholic Church is now one of the most responsible institutions in dealing with sexual abuse, implementing rigorous abuse prevention measures, training requirements and safe environment programs.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Sacramento

[with video]

STOCKTON (CBS13) — Victims of church sex abuse may get more time to sue religious organizations and those who abused them under a bill heading to the governor’s desk.

“It’s very exciting and we are very hopeful.”

Kathleen Conti is pleased the senate passed SB131. The Stockton woman says she was abused by a Jehovah’s Witness leader when she was a teenager, and a family member also became a victim.

“The only way you are going to stop pedophiles is to identify them and warn people—allow us as parents to know who they are within our congregations. Otherwise, how do we know? How can we protect other children.”

Lawmakers say the bill corrects a Supreme Court case that, because the statute of limitations had been reached, denied a narrow group of child sex-abuse victims the right sue religious organizations, private and nonprofit groups that employed their abusers.

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CALIFORNIA
DFW Catholic

Los Angeles, Calif., Sep 10, 2013 / 04:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A California sex abuse bill that has been described as discriminatory against the Catholic Church has passed the legislature and is advancing to the governor’s desk.

Last Friday, the bill passed the State Senate by a vote of 21-8 at the close of the legislative session, and opponents are now asking for a veto from California Governor Jerry Brown.

The legislation would lift the statute of limitations on child sex abuse lawsuits against private schools and private employers who failed to take action against sexual abuse by employees or volunteers. It would allow alleged victims younger than 31 to sue employers of abusers, extending present age limit for alleged victims presently set at 26 years-old.

The bill specifically exempts public schools and other government institutions from lawsuits. It also exempts the actual perpetrators of the abuse from civil action in some cases, while leaving their employers vulnerable.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Daily News

[the documents]

By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News
POSTED: 09/09/13

One priest admitted to fathering a daughter, while another was hustled off to a treatment center after confessing to having sex with a teenage boy.

Yet another reportedly failed a lie-detector test when he was asked about sexual misdeeds with male students.

Those details are among many contained in a new set of confidential personnel files of six more priests who were accused of molesting children while working for their Roman Catholic religion orders — the Vincentians, the Norbertinese and the Augustinians — while assigned to parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The files are the second set to be released this summer and at least a half-dozen more are expected in the coming weeks as religious orders comply with a 2007 settlement with hundreds of clergy abuse victims.

Some of the details were released earlier this year when the archdiocese released thousands of pages on its own priests who were accused of sexual abuse, but the full picture of the problem has remained elusive without records from the religious orders.

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NORTH CAROLINA
Citizen-Times

Written by
Romando Dixson

ASHEVILLE — The parents of a child sex abuse victim reached a settlement of more than $1.5 million with the Diocese of Charlotte to resolve a lawsuit alleging the Catholic Church’s pattern of hiring and protecting sexual predators allowed a former parish music minister to repeatedly molest their daughter.

The child will be awarded $1.2 million and the parents will receive $340,000 based on the settlement, the diocese’s official newspaper reported. The money will be divided between a direct payment and the purchase of an annuity that will benefit the victim.

The settlement closes the latest chapter surrounding a case that began in 2009 when Asheville police charged Paul Lawrence Berrell, a former music minister at St. Eugene Catholic Church, with taking indecent liberties with a child, then 13.

Berrell was sentenced in 2011 to 28 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to production of child pornography.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

Father Tony Flannery, the 66 year old Irish priest and founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland (ACP) who has been threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church for his outspokenness, has claimed this week that there is a link between clerical sex abuse and clerical celibacy.

Flannery said that the celibate lifestyles which priests were forced to live led to struggles over sexuality and could have resulted in children being sexually abused.

Priests faced an inevitable struggle with their sexuality, Flannery said.

‘The Catholic Church in Ireland seems to believe that it has dealt with the problems of clerical sexual abuse by putting structures in place to protect children,’ he said.

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UNITED STATES
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

Outrage at football fan with sign ‘taunting’ girl who killed herself after alleged sexual assault… but he claims he was trying to ‘raise awareness’

A sign held up by a University of Michigan student behind the hosts of ESPN’s College Gameday pregame show that said ‘Hi Lizzy Seeberg’ sparked outrage and appeared to taunt a girl who accused a University of Notre Dame football player of sexual assaulting her Aug 31, 2010 only to have the allegations appear to have been ignored every step of the way.

Ms Seeberg, 19, was a freshman at St Mary’s College, a small women’s only Catholic college literally across the street from the mighty Notre Dame.

Unable to live with the aftermath of the alleged sexual assault and Notre Dame’s refusal to even acknowledge her repeated attempts to engage the school in any manner, Ms Seeberg was found dead nine days later – the devout Catholic had overdosed on antidepressants prescribed to treat her anxiety and depression.

The name of the player was never made public and the prestigious Catholic University appeared to have swept the whole thing under the rug, until addressing it earlier this year.

Having seemingly dissipated into the ether of time, Lizzy Seeberg’s name, and alleged plight, weren’t on the minds of many people Saturday morning until a sign saying ‘Hi Lizzy Seeberg’ appeared behind College Gameday co-host Desmond Howard while discussing the Notre Dame-Michigan game being played later that day on UM’s campus.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

September 8
BY MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star

A disgraced Catholic priest who produced child pornography should be sentenced to 50 years in prison, federal prosecutors say.

Neither Shawn Ratigan’s vow of chastity nor his advanced education stopped him from taking lewd photographs of five little girls over an almost six-year period, Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham argued in a biting sentencing memorandum filed in federal court.

Fincham urged U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner to disregard the report of an expert hired by Ratigan’s defense lawyer to soften the sentence for the 47-year-old cleric.

That expert, Fincham observed, had “wistfully” noted that the word “Ratigan” means “caretakers of the church.”

“This Ratigan photographed Jane Doe #2 without any pants on next to a stained glass window in the choir loft of a church in which Ratigan was the pastor,” Fincham wrote. “The public can do without this kind of caretaker for the rest of his life.”

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NEW YORK/VERMONT
Lez Get Real

Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on September 9, 2013.

The Catholic Church has yet to learn that the lesson coming from the clerical child sexual abuse scandal is that it is not the crime that gets you, it’s the cover up. Federal judge William K. Sessions III has ruled against the Catholic Church and refused to throw out a lawsuit brought by a Warren County man who was taken across state lines from New York to Vermont where he was raped by a priest.

The Albany Roman Catholic Diocese wanted the lawsuit dismissed arguing that it does not have any legal ties to the Burlington diocese. Jerome F. O’Neill, an attorney for the victim, was able to show that priests connected to the Albany Diocese routinely ministered at parishes in Vermont even though they were under the authority of Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, NY.

The Survivors’ Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) stated that “Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard should accept the court’s ruling, stop further delays, and let this brave victim seek justice. Hubbard’s splitting hairs over which court has jurisdiction rather than showing leadership and helping to resolve this case. We’re glad this judge didn’t buy Hubbard’s reasoning.”

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Paul Berger
Published September 09, 2013.

A federal judge has ordered an independent medical examination of the mental health of Rabbi Norman Lamm, Yeshiva University’s former president, in the opening stages of a $380 million sex abuse lawsuit.

Judge John Koeltl ordered a medical evaluation of Lamm as early as next week, during a pretrial hearing in U.S. District Court on September 9.

The order came in response to claims by Lamm’s lawyer, Joel Cohen, that Lamm is unfit to be deposed in the lawsuit because he is suffering from dementia.

Lamm, perhaps the most revered living rabbi in Modern Orthodox Judaism, was president of Y.U. from 1976 to 2003, a period when dozens of students at Y.U.-run schools are alleged to have been abused.

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Judge Orders Mental Health Evaluation Of Rabbi Norman Lamm In Yeshiva University Abuse Case

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

A federal judge has ordered an independent medical examination of the mental health of former Yeshiva University President and Chancellor Rabbi Norman Lamm after Lamm’s lawyer, Joel Cohen, told the court that Lamm should not be deposed in a $380 million dollar sex abuse lawsuit against the university because he is suffering from dementia, the Forward reported today.

Lamm’s alleged dementia was first reported by FailedMessiah.com on July 1 and then again more fully on July 4 based on information from Lamm’s family. FailedMessiah.com’s first report caused the Forward – which had allegedly ambushed the elderly and frail rabbi in his Upper East Side home last December – to deny Lamm was impaired.

In subsequent reporting, the Forward continued to cite its quotes from Lamm gained during that interview but failed to mention the allegation that Lamm’s mental health was compromised – a clear ethics violation that could easily open up the paper and the foundation which funds it to what could be a large civil suit.

Judge John Koeltl ordered an independent medical evaluation of Lamm, the results of which could take place as early as next week.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Anne Cohen
Published September 09, 2013.

Yeshiva University’s resident legal expert on child sexual abuse is condemning her employer’s recent report on the alleged sexual abuse committed by YU staff against high school students under their care.

Marci Hamilton, Paul R. Verkuil Chair of Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a nationally recognized legal expert on child sexual abuse, said the report, released August 26, failed to deliver.

“In my view,” she wrote in a detailed critique of the report, “they did not do the right thing.”

“It [the YU Report] provides a four-paragraph (that is not a misprint) summary of ‘Findings,’” she noted in her September 5th article, posted on the website of Verdict, a website of commentary and opinions on legal issues. “Readers are told that ‘multiple incidents of varying types of sexual and physical abuse took place’” at Yeshiva University High School for Boys and at other schools comprising the University, she noted. The report finds that the abuse took place “in some instances, after members of the administration had been made aware of such conduct” but failed to act.

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CANADA
Global News

By Caroline Plante
Reporter

QUEBEC CITY – “I’m nervous, but we’ll see.” Frank Tremblay, 40, was hoping he would never have to revisit his old dormitory. That’s where he said the abuse took place.

Tremblay and about 50 other men have launched a class action suit against nine Catholic priests, including one already serving time in jail.

On opening day of the trial, Tremblay was asked to accompany the judge and a throng of lawyers inside Séminaire St. Alphonse, in Ste. Anne de Beaupré. Very rarely does a judge travel to a crime scene.

“In this case, there’s an obvious need for this because there are dormitories to visit, allegations children were moved and traveled from one place to another, allegations priests used the cars owned by the congregation to bring the children to cottages on weekends for the children to be further abused,” said Carlo Tarini, director of communications for the Association of victims of priests.

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CANADA
The Province

BY JENNIFER SALTMAN, THE PROVINCE SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

A former Hindu priest who committed sexual offences involving teenage members of his Abbotsford congregation has been sentenced to 21/2 years in prison.

Karam Vir, 33, was convicted in May of two counts of touching a young person for a sexual purpose and one count of sexual assault in connection with incidents that took place in 2009 and 2010 while he was employed at a Hindu temple on Walmsley Avenue.

Sentencing took place Sept. 4 in B.C. Supreme Court in Chilliwack.

Vir made sexual advances toward the two victims, who were 17 years old, after befriending them at the temple. One young woman said Vir kissed her and there was brief sexual intercourse and/or touching three times. The other victim testified that Vir talked about wanting to get sexually involved with her but she resisted his sexual advances.

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CANADA
CBC News

Seventeen men who claim they were sexually abused when they were boys at a seminary near Quebec City are expected to testify in court as part of a lawsuit against priests.

Court proceedings began today at the Quebec City courthouse for the largest sex abuse class-action lawsuit ever launched in Quebec.

Fifty alleged victims are seeking $100,000 each in damages, plus interest.

Though there have been other civil lawsuits against Quebec priests and religious institutions, this class-action lawsuit is the first to make it to court and be heard by a Quebec judge. All of the others were settled out of court.

The day’s proceedings started with a visit to the St-Alphonse Seminary in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, just outside the provincial capital.

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, September 8, 2013

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

Because brave clergy abuse survivors insisted on disclosure, more files about more California child molesting clerics are being released today. We beg California’s bishops to spread the word far and wide about these predators. But we seriously doubt that they will. And we urge the Vincentians to start defrocking Fr. Jerome Herff, “who told (an admitted predator priest) to flee after his 1987 confession and placed him back in ministry the following year” (according to the Associated Press).

Herff’s claims that he told Fr. Carlos Rodriguez to flee because he feared for the priest’s safety ring false. (If this is true, why didn’t he call the police?) And it doesn’t explain why Fr. Herff quickly put Fr. Rodriguez back on the job, even though Fr. Rodriguez admitted molesting kids.

This happened in 1987 when even virtually every adult knew that child sexual abuse was illegal and should be reported to police. But of course church officials – in the Los Angeles Archdiocese and in the Vincentians – did the opposite: they helped an admitted child molester flee the state, get back to work, and sexually assault more children.

So what should happen now? Every California bishop should publicly announce that Fr. Herff will never work in their dioceses. Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez should lead this charge, since Fr. Herff enabled Los Angeles kids to be hurt by Fr. Rodriguez. Every California bishop should post the names and files of each of these predators on their diocesan websites, so that more victims, witnesses and whistleblowers might come forward, the criminals will be prosecuted and jailed, and kids will be safer and victims will get help.

Other files of child molesting clerics released today include Fr. John Kohnke (Norbertines), and Fr. Gabriel F. Salinas, Fr. Jose J. Mendez (Augustinians), and Fr. John V. Farris and Fr. John (Jon) E. Ruhl (Vincentians). http://www.lorpb.com/September-Release.aspx

This happened in 1987 when even virtually every adult knew that child sexual abuse was illegal and should be reported to police. But of course church officials – in the Los Angeles Archdiocese and in the Vincentians – did the opposite: they helped an admitted child molester flee the state, get back to work, and sexually assault more children.

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CALIFORNIA
Law Offices of Raymond Boucher

[Click here for the documents.]

After eleven years of litigation and a six year battle over the release of files, the more than 600 victims of clergy sexual abuse have secured for publication, additional confidential files which reveal a painful history of cover-up and betrayal by the Catholic Church. The confidential files were turned over to the victims as part of global settlement with the Archdiocese by the Vincentians, Augustinians and Norbertines.

“One needs only to compare the just released file from the Vincentian Order on Carlos Rodriguez with the Archdiocese’s prior “full and complete” disclosure of this serial child molesting priest to grasp the extent to which the Catholic Church was involved in a cover-up. The file’s show clearly the Church was more concerned about “scandal” than the safety of minors” said Raymond Boucher.

“These files underscore the churches preoccupation with protecting its image in the face of “scandal”. It shows a church so indoctrinated with the view of protecting itself that they allowed heinous sexual acts to be committed upon the very children whose care they were entrusted with,” Boucher said.

“That’s the irony in all of this. In their vain attempts to protect the image of the church, they’ve tarnished it beyond repair.”

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Sun Herald

[September 2013 Religious Orders Released Files via Raymond Boucher law offices]

By GILLIAN FLACCUS and GREG RISLING — The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The orders the Rev. Carlos Rodriguez got from his religious superiors after he confessed to molesting a 16-year-old boy just hours before were swift and decisive: Leave immediately. Check into a motel. Don’t tell anyone where you are going. Wait for further instructions.

Rodriguez, then 31, picked up cash at a Catholic retreat center and waited by the phone. The next day, the regional leader of his religious order called and told him to book a plane ticket out of state. By the time the victim’s family went to police, he had checked in at a residential treatment center for troubled priests in Maryland.

“I felt like a fugitive. But what else could I do under the circumstances. I had no other choice but to follow orders,” he wrote years later in an essay that was included in his Vatican petition to be defrocked.

The essay was part of a 330-page confidential personnel file on the priest that was released Monday along with files for five other priests who were also accused of molesting children while working for their Roman Catholic religious orders — the Vincentians, the Norbertines and the Augustinians — while assigned to parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholica

The harsh reality
by Dr Gabe Lomas

Of late we’ve been confronted by a succession of horrendous tales about the perpetration and institutional mis-management of pædophilia in the Catholic church. We’ve sat through the revealing Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the handling of child abuse by Religious and other non-governmental organisations, and the equally confronting New South Wales Special Commission of Inquiry into matters relating to the police investigation of certain child sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. And we’re at the beginning of a probing Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Catholic institutions, along with other organisations, are certainly in the Public Eye.

An exposition of the horrifying experiences endured by victims of pædophilia, and the monstrous damage those experiences have wrecked on them, have jolted us into seeing more clearly the consequences of this perverted activity. The pædophile can injure the other person fatally, leaving nothing but bitterness and sourness where once there was innocence and trust, poisoning the other’s mind and life forever. The worst consequences of the whole loathsome process are lasting effects that cloy the abused persons’ existence, continually threatening to overwhelm them — and sometimes succeeding in doing so.

It’s doubtful if there can be an adequate recompense for such injuries, one that restores the balance and brings things back to where they were. This is the heinousness of pædophilia: certain human beings do things that can destroy the lives of others for ever. It’s at this point that our considerations should begin, long before any thought arises about the position of the pædophile or of the institution that’s involved. Only when we are earnestly and properly trying to remedy the effects on the abused can we turn to consider other factors.

How did this horrible state of affairs come about?

Virgin and Child
Image above of The Didache from the Early Christian Writings website which has a page with links to various translations and other scholarly resources on this doument: www.earlychristianwritings.com.

How did this horrible state of affairs come about? Well, slowly. With stealth. Pædophilia got a grip on the church as it developed and evolved. It’s been there from time out of mind, and crops up in some ancient prescriptions. Thus in about 10 CE one of our earliest documents, The Didcache,[2] tells Christians:

2.2 : you must not corrupt young boys
Greek text

And the Synod of Elvira[3] [c 300-309 CE] targeted pædophilia when it compiled its eighty-one canons, saying that:

12. Parents and other Christians who give up their children to sexual abuse are selling others’ bodies, and if they do so [ … ] they shall not receive communion even at death.
and,
Those who sexually abuse boys (stratoribus puerorum) may not commune even when death approaches.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Rundschau

Niemand kann zwei Herren dienen: Gott und dem Mammon. Limburgs Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst hat diesen Spagat dennoch probiert – und zerbricht gerade daran. An der harschen Reichtumskritik, die Jesus in der Bergpredigt formuliert, kommt kein Christ vorbei. Jeder muss sich seinen Reim darauf machen. Die bequemste, zugleich dümmste Formel: Reich sind immer nur die, die mehr haben als ich.

Bischof Tebartz hat bislang einen anderen Weg eingeschlagen. „Zur größeren Ehre Gottes“ darf die Kirche es an nichts fehlen lassen. Was dabei an Extravaganzen für einen bischöflichen Diener Gottes abfällt, ist Ausdruck für die Würde seines Amtes. Es ist kein Zufall, dass Tebartz mit dieser spirituellen Überhöhung des materiellen Luxus gerade jetzt aus der Bahn fliegt. Bis vor einem halben Jahr konnte er sich gegen die Kritik an liturgischem Gepränge und prunkvoller Attitüde auf den „Diener der Diener Christi“ berufen, wie einer der päpstlichen Ehrentitel lautet. In Rom exerzierte Benedikt XVI. vor, was Tebartz in Limburg nachahmte.

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DEUTSCHLAND
AFP

Limburg — Der Vatikan hat sich in die Querelen im Bistum Limburg um den umstrittenen Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst eingeschaltet. Der Papst-Gesandte Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo sollte am Montag in Limburg eintreffen, um sich ein Bild von der Situation zu machen. Ein Bistumssprecher wollte dessen Ankunft aber zunächst nicht bestätigen. Es handelt sich offiziell um einen “brüderlichen Besuch”. Der Limburger Bischof steht seit Wochen wegen seiner Amtsführung und angeblicher Verschwendung in der Kritik.

Zu dem Besuch des Kardinals heißt es in einem am Wochenende vom Bistum veröffentlichten Schreiben aus dem Vatikan, der Heilige Stuhl hege “volles Vertrauen” in die Amtsführung des Bischofs. Gleichwohl seien die genannten Punkte “ernst zu nehmen”. Diese belasteten “die Einheit zwischen Bischof und Volk, trüben die Sendung der Kirche und drohen nicht zuletzt, die Integrität Ihres Amtes wie Ihrer Person öffentlich zu beschädigen”, heißt es in dem Brief an Tebartz-van Elst.

Der Frankfurter Stadtdekan Johannes zu Eltz hofft derweil, dass Kardinal Lajolo auch das Gespräch mit Kritikern des Bischofs sucht. Es sei wichtig, dass Lajolo nicht nur mit dem Bischof sprechen werde, “sondern auch mit jenen, die ihn sehr kritisch sehen”, sagte zu Eltz der “Frankfurter Rundschau”. Er werde ihm dabei “in aller Offenheit sagen, dass ich den Bischof in der Ausübung seines Dienstes behindert sehe, weil sich das Bistum in einer tiefgreifenden, zerstörerischen Vertrauenskrise befindet”.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Focus

Vor dem mit Spannung erwarteten Besuch eines päpstlichen Gesandten geht der umstrittene Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst weiter auf seine Kritiker zu.

Während er allerdings in einer Predigt Dialogbereitschaft zeigte und um Vertrauen warb, legt sein schärfster Widersacher nach.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

Während Bischof Tebartz-van Elst noch versucht, das Vertrauen seiner Gläubigen zurückzugewinnen, geht der Mainzer Kardinal Karl Lehmann bereits davon aus, dass der Konflikt um den Limburger Geistlichen nicht mehr intern zu lösen ist. Ein Papstgesandter soll den Disput schlichten.

Mainz/Limburg – Der Vatikan geht laut Einschätzung des Mainzer Kardinals Karl Lehmann davon aus, dass sich der Streit um den Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst nicht mehr intern beenden lässt.

“Ein Alarmzeichen” sei der Besuch des päpstlichen Gesandten Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo in der Diözese, sagte Lehmann. In Rom sei man der Meinung, “dass sich das offensichtlich nicht mehr alleine innerhalb des Bistums Limburg lösen lässt.”

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