ABUSE TRACKER

CHILE
La Tercera

por Angélica Baeza Palavecino – 09/09/2013

Luego de leer la declaración de la Iglesia por los 40 años del Golpe de Estado, el arzobispo de Santiago Ricardo Ezzati, aseguró que las acusaciones que hiciera una de las víctimas de Fernando Karadima, James Hamilton, “son fruto de la fantasía”.

“La Iglesia ha colaborado con la Justicia, yo lo escuché anoche (a James Hamilton) me dio mucha pena por él, por lo que dijo y quiero decir que muchas cosas que dijo son fruto de la fantasía que no corresponde a la verdad”.

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

GERMANY
Zee News (India)

Paris: The Vatican launched a rare review of a German Catholic diocese on Monday following accusations its bishop spent lavishly on a new residence, putting him out of step with the new “church of the poor” promoted by Pope Francis.

The inquiry is officially called a “fraternal visit” to Limburg diocese by Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, the former Vatican nuncio (ambassador) in Berlin, and Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst said in a statement he was looking forward to it.

Limburg diocese, which includes Germany’s financial capital Frankfurt, has been in turmoil for months as reports of high cost overruns put pressure on Tebartz-van Elst, 53.

A growing number of critics had already accused him of staging pompous church services and communicating poorly.

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

NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

The now 18-year-old child sex abuse victim of Satmar community big wig Nechemya Weberman was harassed in her family’s synagogue on Rosh Hashana, the New York Post reported.

“Moser, out of the shul!” a hasid screamed when he saw her come into the Kapish Synagogue in Williamsburg to hear the shofar be blown on Thursday, the first day of Rosh Hashana.

Prayers were reportedly stopped and the shofar was not blown until the victim left.

Her husband wrote about the synagogue harasment on his Facebook page. (Please see below.)

The victim and her family have faced nearly constant harassment and shunning since she went to police with her complaints against Weberman more than one year ago.

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

STOCKTON (CA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Sept. 8

For more information: David Clohessy 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Sex Abuse Victims Urge Bankruptcy Delay
They Ask Bishop to “Listen To Flock” Before “Making Radical Moves”
Group Wants Open Meetings in Each Deanery Before Decision is Made
They Fear Protracted Legal Process Will Mean “Wounds Will Keep Festering”

A group of clergy sex abuse victims is publicly begging a California Catholic bishop to open his financial records and hold open meetings throughout his diocese before deciding whether to seek bankruptcy protection.

Leaders with the Chicago-based SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests are writing Stockton’s Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, urging caution before taking “a radical, risky step that may prolong the pain so many Catholics and victims still feel, and delay the healing so many Catholics and victims deeply deserve.”

They want Blaire to allow “independent auditors to examine the diocese’s checking accounts, savings accounts, stocks, bonds, property and insurance policies” so “there can be an objective determination about whether church officials have sufficient resources to help victims.”

“Until you take this simple step toward being open and building trust, reasonable people will doubt your claims of ‘poverty,’” said the letter.

The group also wants Blaire to hold open meetings in all of the diocese’s ‘deaneries,’ or regions, before making a decision about a possible bankruptcy.

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

INDIA
Daily Bhaskar

Ranchi: In a deplorable act, a temple priest was on Monday arrested for allegedly having ‘unnatural sex’ with a 14-year old boy in Ramgarh district near state capital of Ranchi. The act is said to have taken place on Sunday night.

“Based on a complaint filed by accused’s neighbour, we have arrested priest of Shiv Mandir Ramdhar Dwivedi which lies in factory complex of Gautam Ferro Alloy for sexually abusing and sodomising the minor boy who lived with him,” Station Incharge Dillu Lohar conformed the development.

He further told that tainted priest, who hails from Patna, had adopted the boy from one Chakradhar Tewari of Bihiya village in Ara district. Ramdhar had reportedly assured the victim’s indigent father that he would take care of boy’s educational and other needs.

In his complaint which was filed by a neighbour in who the victim confided after the incident, the minor has reportedly mentioned that Ramdhar had made him dress in attire of a woman with facial embellishments including lipstick before committing the heinous act.

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

NEW YORK
New York Post

By Josh Saul September 9, 2013

The brave Orthodox Jewish teen whose testimony helped convict the prominent Brooklyn counselor who had sexually abused her was driven out of her own synagogue on Rosh Hashana last week.

The married, 18-year-old victim was in the Williamsburg synagogue where her family has prayed for the past decade when a man yelled, “Moser, out of the shul!” the woman’s husband told The Post on Sunday.

The word “moser” refers to a Jew who informs on another Jew to secular authorities.

“They stopped the praying until she left,” said her husband, Boorey Deutsch, 26. “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.”

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

VERMONT/NEW YORK
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 )

A clergy sex abuse and cover up case involving an Albany Catholic priest will proceed, despite a pathetic effort by Albany’s bishop to exploit legal technicalities to keep the cover up covered up.

[Albany Times Union]

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 out resolve this case.

It’s clear he’s dreadfully afraid that long-secret church records about Fr. Mercure will surface. Hubbard also fears that he’ll have to face tough questions under oath in open court about what he and his top staff did to ignore, conceal or enable Fr. Mercure’s crimes.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A man who was sexually abused as a child by a Church of England priest has confronted his past and says he can finally move forward with his life.

Brian Bond, 49, was born in Birmingham but placed into foster care in Eastbourne, East Sussex, as a baby in 1965 by his single mother.

However, he said his formative years were far from happy, with mistreatment from his foster mother leaving him psychologically and physically abused.

At the age of eight, Mr Bond came into contact with the Reverend Roy Cotton, a Church of England priest who he met through a church connected to his primary school.

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

ITALY
The Local

A church community in Messina, Sicily, is in shock following the arrest of a priest for allegedly stealing gold jewellery worth more than €40,000 from the parish.

Father David Ingodi Olusi, a Kenyan priest who was exposed in a blog by Father Salvatore Danzi, the archpriest of San Nicola di Bari church in Gioiosa Marea, is alleged to have sold the jewellery and then sent the money to his family in Kenya.

The jewellery, which had been donated to the church, was taken from statues of the Virgin Mary and St Nicholas, the patron saint of Gioiosa Marea.

Father David was arrested at Rome’s Fiumicino airport after being caught stealing the items on a camera set up by Father Salvatore.

In a message on a blog, Father Salvatore said the theft has “deeply shocked and hurt the community”, which has “inevitably risen in indignation and dismay”.

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

AUSTRALIA
7 News

ABC

The special inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Newcastle Hunter region has wrapped up its public hearings with testimony from two senior Catholic Church leaders.

The chancellor of the archdiocese of Sydney, Monsignor John Usher, appeared for the first time, and Father Brian Lucas was recalled to provide further evidence to the commission.

Monsignor Usher told the commission he never met the notorious paedophile priest Denis McAlinden, who died in 2002, nor did he have any records of the case.

This was at odds with evidence given by Father Lucas.

During the Newcastle inquiry in July, Father Lucas said he met with a victim of McAlinden and Monsignor Usher was at that meeting.

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

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

NSW church child abuse inquiry winds up public hearings – Catholic church thought they could ‘cure’ abusers

AUSTRALIA’S Catholic bishops could not believe that a “man of God” could be a pedophile, the NSW church child abuse inquiry was told yesterday.

When allegations of sexual abuse by priests and clergy began to flood out with mandatory reporting laws in the late 1980s, Father John Usher said the church hierarchy still thought that pedophiles could be “cured” with therapy.

He said the bishops took some convincing that even if a pedophile priest or religious brother said he was sorry, he was likely to do it again.

“We had to convince church leaders that they had to come to terms with this,” Father John Usher said.

He said it had been a steep learning curve to understand the way pedophiles operated.

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

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

As a new work week begins, I’d like to take note of something happening in my own backyard this week: as this recent press statement from Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) states, SNAP is calling on the Catholic bishop of Little Rock, Anthony Taylor, to make a public notice of two impending court hearings involving employees of a Catholic school in Little Rock, Mount St. Mary high school, which is sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy.

A former teacher at Mount St. Mary, Kelly Ann O’Rourke, has admitted having sexually molested a student at the school, and on 16 September, she’s to appear in court on charges that she has repeatedly violated the terms of her parole by contacting the minor she molested. The following day, another former teacher at the school, Kathy Gene Griffin, is also to appear on court on charges she helped O’Rourke conceal her crimes.

SNAP is calling on Bishop Taylor to publicize the cases because there may be people who have more information about these two cases or other cases in which the sexual abuse of minors in local Catholic institutions has been covered up, and those folks need to be prodded to come forward. As David Clohessy of SNAP states, such public disclosure of information about cases of sexual abuse of minors in Catholic institutions is vitally necessary:

This is especially crucial in Catholic institutions for three reasons. First, because bishops have long ignored and concealed child sex crimes by Catholic employees. Second, because bishops have repeatedly promised to change their ways in child sex cases. And third, because child sex cases are especially difficult for police and prosecutors to pursue, because predators – and those who help them – are usually very shrewd, while their victims are often frightened or confused.

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

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

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has announced it will hold a confidential supporting meeting next Wednesday at the downtown library. You can find more details here. The group emphasizes that, though the group name mentions priests, it is open to anyone harmed by a predator in an institutional setting.

The meeting precedes by less than a week Little Rock court dates in which SNAP has announced…

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

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Freethinker (United Kingdom)

BY BARRY DUKE – SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

AMIDST “rumours” that Archbishop Josef Wesolowski has been kiddie-fiddling, the Catholic Church has speedily removed their nuncio from the Dominican Republic, and Vatican spokesman, the Rev Federico Lombardi, confirmed that that Church is conducting an investigation.

But he declined to provide any details about the accusations against the Polish-born prelate.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic say they will investigate allegations of child sex abuse against the papal envoy to the Caribbean country.

Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito was careful to note that his office is aware only of “rumours” about the papal nuncio and has not received any accusations.

A nuncio is the pope’s ambassador to a country and such an abrupt removal is rare.

Dominguez told reporters at a news conference that the investigation was in its initial stages and largely in response to media reports of allegations of sexual misconduct by Wesolowski as well as a friend and fellow priest. He said that he had designated a senior official to lead the investigation and coordinate with the Vatican.

We will not allow anyone to use the Catholic Church or other religious institutions as a shield to commit illegal acts, especially against children.

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

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON SEPTEMBER 09, 2013

Last week, another child molesting nun was publicly exposed. She’s Sister Agnes Daniels, who worked at St. Mary School in Boston when she reportedly committed the abuse. (Thanks to attorney Mitchell Garabedian for disclosing the accusations.)

[The Republic]

In July, two other abusive nuns were publicly exposed: Sister Agnes Santomassimo and Sister Mary Joseph. Both allegedly molested in California. (Santomassimo also worked in Chicago. Joseph also worked in Idaho, Arizona and Washington state.)

(Thanks to attorney Tony Demarco for disclosing the accusations.)

http://www.lorpb.com/documents/Agnes-File.pdf

(In all three cases, Catholic officials settled cases with victims of these nuns.)

And last month, the umbrella group for most of America’s nuns held its annual meeting. Clergy sex abuse wasn’t on the agenda. No reporters apparently questioned them about clergy sex crimes or cover ups by women religious.

This part of the church’s continuing clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis remains largely unexamined – the nuns who commit and conceal child sex crimes.

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

IOWA
UPI

By VERONICA LINARES, UPI.com

A former youth pastor in Council Bluffs, Iowa claims he had sex with teenage boys because it was his duty “to help [them] with homosexual urges by praying while he had sexual contact with [them].”

Brent Girouex, 31, was arrested on 60 counts of suspicion of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist after authorities found out about his actions.

In February Girouex confessed to Council Bluffs police detectives that he had sexual relations with four young men starting in 2007 to help them gain “sexual purity” in the eyes of God. However, at least eight men have come forward with complaints that the pastor molested them.

Girouex told investigators that the longest relationship he had with any of the victims lasted four years. He said that it started when the boy was 14 years old and that the “mutual” contact took place 25 to 50 times. The victim, who is now an adult, told investigators the real number of times was between 50 and 100 times.

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

MASSACHUSETTS
CathNews New Zealand

A lawyer in the United States this week released the names of five priests, a nun and a choir director linked to clergy sex abuse cases.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian released the names on Wednesday. The lawyer periodically releases new names publicly, and is highly critical of Catholic church officials for what he says is their refusal to consistently do so.

He said the public disclosures are needed to help victims heal and also as a matter of public safety, if the alleged abuser is still alive.

Garabedian said it is also a reminder that, despite decreased media coverage, the clergy sex abuse crisis is ongoing. “I don’t expect it to ever end,” he said.

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

IRELAND
International Business Times

By HANNAH OSBORNE
September 9, 2013

An Irish priest who has been threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church has said there was a link between clerical sex abuse and mandatory celibacy.

Tony Flannery, who has been warned about his outspokenness by the Vatican before, said that the celibate lifestyles that priests were forced to live led to a struggle over sexuality and could, in some cases, result in children being sexually abused.

He was preparing to launch his book, A Question of Conscience, which questions the Vatican watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), in the methods it uses to “stamp out” anything it regards as dissent.

Flannery was a founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland. In February 2012, the CDF became unhappy with some of his writings relating to the Church and he was summoned to Rome, where he was ordered to step down as ACP leader.

Months later, the CDF ordered him to issue a statement saying that he believed women could never be ordained as priests and that he accepted all the moral teachings of the Church. He was suspended from ministry and threatened him with excommunication.

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

IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

Brendan Hoban’s review of Tony Flannery’s book, A Question of Conscience, which will be launched at the Royal Irish Academy next Thursday, 12th, at 6.30pm by Bill O’Herlihy

A Question of Conscience: Brendan Hoban

An important question: what have we learned in the Catholic Church over the last few decades about the way we do our business? One, that dealing with problems behind closed doors can cause more problems than it solves. A cult of secrecy has served the Church very badly. Two, respect is fundamental to the Christian enterprise. Without is we lose our bearings ­ without it the institution becomes more important than the person, sometimes more important than the message.

In church matters, it is unarguable that those two defining principles ­­transparency and respect ­ are fundamental to Christian discourse.Unfortunately, as we know, as a Church we have often failed to practice whatwe preach, to the detriment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the reputation of our Church.

Tony Flannery has written a book ­ A Question of Conscience ­ about his experiences at the hands of the Vatican Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) ­ and it offers compelling evidence as a case study (quite apart from its devastating implications for his life and priesthood) in how not to conduct our business.

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The following list of some of the organisations receiving federal funding related to the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse is given for the purposes of recording the on-going history of the Royal Commission itself.

Relationships Australia is the largest recipient at $11.4 million. This organisation has worked previously with people, following the Forde Enquiry, who were in Children’s Homes. Bravehearts, founded and run by Hettie Johnson, is a general child protection awareness organisation. It received $5.1 million.

The next largest grant went to Anglicare, a general Anglican Church family support services organisation. It received $2,615,000.

Berry St. Victoria received $600,000 while Drummond St. Services Inc. got $1,600,000. These are general child support service providers.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Examiner

By PATRICK BILLINGS Sept. 9, 2013

THE landmark royal commission into child sex abuse will meet Tasmanian victims this month.

It will first hold private hearings with victims.

Royal commission chief executive Janette Dines said there had been a strong response from people wanting to tell their story in a private session.

“More than 326 people have already told their story in private sessions across the country, and we expect to speak to at least 850 more before the end of the year,” she said.

The royal commission will examine how institutions with a responsibility for children managed and responded to allegations and instances of child sexual abuse.

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

AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

September 9, 2013

Annette Blackwell
AAP

Scouts Australia wants a national scheme of pre-employment screening for people applying to work with children.

Scouts Australia and the NSW Department of Community Services (DOCS) will give evidence at the first public hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney next Monday.

Among the matters being investigated by the commission, which is looking at how institutions handle complaints and share information, is if the Working With Children Check (WWCC) needs reform.

The first hearing will deal specifically with how Scouts Australia, Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services and DOCS handled allegations against convicted pedophile Steven ‘Skip’ Larkins, former chief executive of a foster care agency for Aboriginal children.

Advertisement
He was also an adviser to the NSW government on child protection and a Scouts leader.

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

AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

JANET FIFE-YEOMANS
The Daily Telegraph
September 09, 2013

Australia’s Catholic bishops took some convincing that even if a pedophile priest said he was sorry, he was more than likely to offend again, the NSW church child abuse inquiry has been told today.

“We had to convince church leaders that they had to come to terms with this,” Father John Usher said.

He said it had been a steep learning curve to learn about the way pedophiles operated.

Father Usher, a former member of the NSW Child Protection Council and currently Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Sydney, is giving evidence as the inquiry gets to the heart of its investigation.

The commission chaired by Commissioner Margaret Cunneen SC is sitting in Sydney after weeks in Newcastle.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX From: The Australian September 09, 2013

TWO of the most senior clerics in the Catholic church have given conflicting evidence to a NSW state government inquiry into the alleged cover-up of child abuse committed by priests.

The general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Brian Lucas, has previously given evidence saying he and John Usher, the current chancellor of the Archdiocese of Sydney, met around 35 alleged pedophile priests during the early 1990s.

Most of these men were convinced to resign in a “secret and discreet” process that meant potential scandal could be contained, and without the police being informed of the allegations against them, Father Lucas said.

Giving evidence today to the NSW special commission of inquiry, Father Usher said “some of the recollections (Father Lucas) described differ from my own recollections” of what took place.

The two men met only one alleged pedophile priest together, Father Usher told the inquiry, and he did not know what Father Lucas meant by saying they shared a “broad methodology” for dealing with alleged pedophile priests.

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

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Monday 9 September 2013

VICTIMS of alleged physical and sexual abuse by monks at a former Catholic boarding school are to launch a lawsuit for hundreds of thousands of pounds compensation.

The six who attended Fort Augustus Abbey school, in the Highlands, have instructed an English law firm to sue the Benedictine Order, which ran the institution. David Greenwood, a solicitor for Switalskis, said the firm would be seeking between £30,000 to £100,000 per person depending on the abuse and how it had affected their life and ability to secure employment.

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

SCOTLAND
The Times

A legal case involving hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation against the Roman Catholic Church is to be launched by victims of physical and sexual abuse at Fort Augustus Abbey School in the Highlands.

Six former pupils have instructed Switalskis, an English law firm, to sue the Benedictine Order which ran the school until it closed in 1993.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with audio]

Monsignor John Usher has told the special commission of inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Newcastle-Maitland region that he took notes as part of his work with the church’s special issues committee set up to handle complaints and allegations about priests. His record keeping has been scrutinised by the Special Commission of Inquiry led by Margaret Cunneen, SC. His method of note-taking differs from that of his colleague Brian Lucas, who admitted during hearings that he took no notes of his meetings with alleged paedophile priests.

Transcript

ELEANOR HALL: The special inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Newcastle-Hunter region has begun hearing evidence from two witnesses from the Catholic Church.

Father Brian Lucas has been recalled to the commission, and Monsignor John Usher will appear for the first time as the commission investigates the Church’s response to allegations of abuse by two priests who’ve now died.

Today’s hearings come just one week before the national Royal Commission begins its public hearings.

The World Today’s Emily Bourke has been at the hearings in Sydney this morning and she joins us now. Emily, why is the evidence from these two church figures today so significant?

EMILY BOURKE: Well, Eleanor, Brian Lucas and John Usher had key roles. They were part of the special issues committee set up to handle allegations. And both men were really at the forefront of the Church’s response to child sexual abuse allegations in the 1980s and 1990s.

And this pre-dated the protocols towards healing and the Melbourne response – the official processes that the Church set up in the wake of mounting allegations and a need for the Church to really get a handle on how to deal with allegations both within the Church and in a civil sense.

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

CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel

Posted: Sunday, September 8, 2013

By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Stockton Diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire says it’s becoming increasingly likely that the Catholic diocese that serves the Lodi area will file for bankruptcy.

In a letter to parishioners throughout the diocese, Blaire said that it doesn’t look like the diocese has an option, especially to pay off or settle any more clergy abuse lawsuits. No decision has been made by diocese officials, Blaire said.

“I feel, however, that it is important to tell you that options other than filing for bankruptcy protection have not emerged,” Blaire said in his letter, which was inserted in the weekly bulletin at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Lodi.

“It appears likely to me that the diocese will need to reorganize financially under the protection of the bankruptcy court,” Blaire added. “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.”

————————————–

Statement by Stockton Diocese 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 reorganize 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.

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

VERMONT/NEW YORK
Albany Times Union

By Brendan J. Lyons
Published 10:34 pm, Sunday, September 8, 2013

A federal judge in Vermont has rejected a request by the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Warren County man who, as a young altar boy, was taken across state lines and raped by a priest.

The diocese had argued in a fierce court battle that it has no legal ties to the Burlington, Vt., diocese, and therefore could not be sued in that state for the actions of a rogue priest. But Jerome F. O’Neill, an attorney for the victim, used the diocese’s business records, which were turned over under a court order, to show ties between the neighboring dioceses, including documentation that priests from Albany routinely ministered at parishes in Vermont under authorization from Bishop Howard Hubbard.

Barring an appeal, the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions III puts the case on track for trial and exposes the Albany diocese to potentially having to disclose its clergy-abuse records for the first time.

Kenneth Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Albany diocese, said they disagree with the decision.

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

NEW MEXICO
Deseret News

Compiled by Jamshid Ghazi Askar, Deseret News
Published: Sunday, Sept. 8 2013

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, N.M., confirmed this week that it will soon seek bankruptcy protection.

The diocese “plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month to cope with mounting costs of litigation arising from claims of child sexual abuse by members of its clergy,” Reuters reported Tuesday. “… The Gallup Diocese, which includes several Native American reservations, would become the ninth U.S. diocese or archdiocese to file for bankruptcy protection since 2004 in financial fallout from child molestation cases against the church.”

The Catholic New Service wrote, “The strategy, Bishop (James) Wall explained in his letter (to parishioners) will give the diocese the opportunity to present a reorganization plan that provides for a fair and equitable way to compensate those who were sexually abused as children by church workers and ministers as well as anyone who has not yet come forward with allegations of abuse but may do so in the future.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

BY SOPHIE TARR AAP SEPTEMBER 09, 2013

CATHOLIC leaders simply could not accept that ordained priests might commit child sex abuse, a senior church figure has told an inquiry.

And where they did, they believed it was a “one-off”.

Asked whether there was a “cultural disinclination” among senior Catholics to confront claims of abuse in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Monsignor John Usher replied: “It was not so much cultural but spiritual”.

The monsignor on Monday fronted the special commission of inquiry into how church leaders and police handled child sexual abuse allegations against two Hunter Valley priests.

He said that 20 years ago the first response from bishops and other senior Catholics to claims of child sexual abuse by a priest was disbelief.

“(They thought), ‘this couldn’t be true’,” he said.

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

AUSTRALIA
SBS

A senior NSW Catholic has told an inquiry how church leaders believed pedophile priests could be “cured” if they received counselling.

Monsignor John Usher on Monday fronted a Sydney court for the special commission of inquiry into how church leaders and police handled child sexual abuse allegations against two Hunter Valley priests, Denis McAlinden and James Fletcher.

Under questioning from counsel assisting the commission Julia Lonergan, Monsignor Usher recalled a steep “learning curve” faced by senior clergy who were grappling with abuse allegations in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“It’s important to understand that the church, like many other institutions, really believed that if someone committed these offences it was possible for them to go into therapy and to be cured,” Monsignor Usher told the inquiry.

“I’m not saying it was a universally held view but our church is strong on forgiveness and reconciliation and if someone said ‘I’m truly sorry, I’m not going to do it again’, there was a tendency to believe them.”

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MACDONALD – 09 SEPTEMBER 2013

A priest threatened with excommunication has called on the Catholic Church to openly debate whether clerical celibacy has contributed to the number of clerics who abused children.

Fr Tony Flannery – a co-founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, which has more than 1,000 members – said the lonely single lives that priests lead result in an “inevitable” struggle over sexuality.

Fr Flannery has been suspended from ministry and threatened with excommunication by the Vatican over his stand on mandatory clerical celibacy, contraception and women priests. He is one of the first priests to publicly question a possible linkage of celibacy and clerical abuse.

He made his comments in an interview with the Irish Independent ahead of the launch on Thursday of his new book, ‘A Question of Conscience’.

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

UNITED STATES
A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics

September 6, 2013

[with video]

Because of prior association with CMTV and Michael Voris, a lot of what is below consists of things I’ve heard before. But, few others have, so here is the video where Michael describes what happens to an apostolate when they bring up those things certain bishops and bureaucrats find embarrassing:

f you missed the live broadcast Wednesday night, there you go. Michael has spoken in the past of these “whisper campaigns,” and how destructive they can be. Such has been conducted against Saint Michael’s Media/Real Catholic TV/Church Militant TV since shortly after its inception, when it failed to “stay in the middle,” that is, embracing the many progressive shibolleths of the post-conciliar Church. By being openly orthodox, Michael Voris offended against the cherished beliefs, plans, and programs of a very large section of the hierarchy. That’s it – it wasn’t tone, or politics, and certainly wasn’t the proclamation of any real error – it was simply that Michael Voris was giving too orthodox a presentation of the Faith, and that offended the sensibilities of the power that be.

And they be. Oh do they be.

UPDATE: When I first posted the video, I had not watched much of it (is anyone else having trouble getting it to play? One commenter complained). Having watched all of it now, some notes:

Do you think any famous Catholic personalities will accept Voris’ challenge to get together and discuss why they won’t broach any of the forbidden, episcopate-embarrassing topics?

How revealing was it when Archbishop Chaput said he couldn’t believe the massive pile of evidence against CCHD, because to do so would mean that a brother bishop (that would be Bishop Morin) had blatantly misrepresented, even lied, about CCHD and what it does?

Isn’t it interesting that the ONLY bishop in the USA to ever get a criminal indictment over the child sex abuse crisis, when dozens of bishops were blazingly, criminally involved in cover ups and perpetuating the most horrible, soul destroying abuse, was Bishop Finn, and that was an incredibly weak case involving third hand involvement in child porn on a computer that he failed to report quickly enough? Compare that to Cardinal Roger Disciple of Bernadin Mahony, the very definition of an establishment insider, and his decades of what could well be lies under oath and far more egregious acts of deliberately covering up ongoing child rape in LA. He’s never faced even a slight slap on the wrist for his gross dereliction of duty and likely immorality. And isn’t it interesting that Bishop Finn is one of the very few bishops who has ever raised a voice of criticism of his brother bishops, such as, how they agree to be interviewed by the heretical National Schismatic Reporter? Do you see how the system works, now? Any bishop who bucks the progressive dominated system is very exposed, and very alone. It takes great courage to be even moderately orthodox, let alone the Saints we desperately need. And yet, the office has so much Grace……

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

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

The race for Brooklyn district attorney pits a 24-year incumbent finishing a deeply troubled sixth term against a lawyer who has never faced a challenge remotely on the scale of leading New York’s largest prosecution office.

Charles Hynes, 78, is running for a seventh term on a record that includes findings by two federal judges of grievous misconduct by a top aide, an investigation into whether dozens of cases produced wrongful convictions and credible charges of having failed to effectively act on sexual abuse in the politically powerful ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

Hynes’ challenger is Kenneth Thompson. Harlem-born and raised by a single mother who served as an NYPD cop, Thompson, 48, has a legal career that encompasses only five years as a Brooklyn federal prosecutor, three years as a Manhattan law firm associate and 10 years running his own small firm — plus the use of divisive rhetoric in his biggest case. …

Further undermining confidence in the quality of justice, Hynes acknowledged an almost two-decade failure to prosecute sexual abuse in the insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. He has since become more effective but he shields the names of defendants, asserting that the unique abandonment of public disclosure prevents reprisals against accusers.

The double standard leaped to the fore when, at a press conference, Hynes identified four black men as having subjected an ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman to nine years of sexual servitude. Later, Hynes dismissed the indictments because a top aide had concealed that the accuser had recanted her claims.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Age

September 9, 2013

Caroline Zielinski
Police Reporter at The Age

The royal commission on child sex abuse is ”not enough” to compensate abused children, according to a group representing former victims.

Care Leavers Australia Network is demanding the Victorian government, churches and charities acknowledge the full extent of abuse, neglect and slave labour forced on thousands of orphaned children.

The group staged a protest outside St Paul’s Cathedral in the city on Sunday to let people know about the ”abuse the orphans copped, and the abuse children suffer in general”.

The group’s chief executive, Leonie Sheedy, said the government, churches and charities in Victoria should contribute to a redress scheme for people who were abused as children under their care. She said many former victims lived in poverty and on disability pensions and were finding it difficult to move on.

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

WEST ROXBURY (MA)
Patch

Posted by David Ertischek (Editor) , September 08, 2013

A new exhibit at the West Roxbury Library includes a photo collection of several pages of a handcrafted book created in 2008 to acknowledge clerical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston. The exhibit ‘Hope and Inspiration’ features the calligraphy work of West Roxbury’s Jan Boyd.

“I am very pleased that photographs of many of the individual pages I created for a book of names of clerical abuse survivors, presented to Pope Benedict XVI in 2008, are on display in West Roxbury,” said Boyd. “This work, which includes almost 1500 first names of Boston Archdiocese survivors, has never been shown here. It is my hope that the photos might be a healing tool – allowing people to find their name in the artwork and to view a written, artistic representation that the church recognizes their name and their individual struggle. The exhibit will also include many original pieces of my calligraphic art.”

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Chief Commissioner, Peter McClellan (see previous posting), has chosen a $180 a head fund-raising, invitation-only, luncheon for the Bravehearts organisation, to make a few announcements concerning the progress of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The most disturbing revelation concerns the rate at which it is taking complaints from victims. McClellan says the calls are coming in at the rate of 23 per day. However, in six months, the Commissioners have only heard the accounts of 326 child sex abuse victims, a figure which amounts to about two weeks worth of complaints.

Another 423 are waiting in the queue to give evidence, while over 1,000 have yet to be assessed about whether or not they will have a hearing at all. An unknown number have had their requests to give evidence refused.

Given that public hearings begin in less than 2 weeks, the queue is likely to become even longer. Indeed, it is disturbing that there have been reports that some people who have contacted the Commission to either give evidence, or provide a submission, have not received a reply after an extended period of time.

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

SCOTLAND
Scotland on Sunday

by MARTYN McLAUGHLIN
Published on the 08 September 2013

A PRIEST who has campaigned for the Catholic Church’s hierarchy to act against a fellow priest he claims abused him has been dismissed from his diocese and issued with a formal warning for speaking to the press, it has been claimed.

Father Patrick Lawson, who has described the church as a “big mafia” which is seeking to “destroy him,” is understood to have been issued a decree of removal by Bishop John Cunningham last week.

Fr Lawson claims that as a seminarian, he was abused in 1996 by Father Paul Moore, a parish priest, at St Quivox Church in Prestwick. He has also said that the church has failed to deal appropriately with his complaint over the intervening 17 years.

The allegations strike yet another blow to the church’s credibility as it seeks to move on from the scandal surrounding Cardinal Keith O’Brien and decades of abuse in the Catholic boarding school, Fort Augustus Abbey.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Tagesschau

Seit Wochen steht der Limburger Bischof Tebartz-van Elst in der Kritik. Nun reagiert der Vatikan und schickt Kardinal Lajolo nach Hessen. Laut dem Bistum handle es sich aber nicht um eine Apostolische Visitation – also nicht um einen Kontrollbesuch.

Von Tilmann Kleinjung, BR, ARD-Hörfunkstudio Rom

Nun schaltet sich auch der Vatikan in den Konflikt um den Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst ein: Einem Bericht der “Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung” zufolge hat Rom einen Apostolischen Visitator in das Bistum geschickt. Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo soll bereits ab Montag seine Arbeit vor Ort aufnehmen. Vatikankreise bestätigten dem ARD Studio Rom den Besuch des italienischen Kardinals in Limburg.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Rundschau

Die Querelen um den Limburger Oberhirten schlagen so hohe Wellen, dass Papst Franziskus nun einen hochrangigen Diplomaten schickt. Dieser soll das “brüderliche Gespräch” in dem Zwist suchen.

Nun greift Papst Franziskus in die Konflikte im Bistum Limburg ein: Er schickt einen hochrangigen Vatikan-Diplomaten. Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo wird an diesem Montag in der Diözese erwartet. Viele Gläubige werfen dem Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst einen autoritären Führungsstil vor.

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

VATIKAN/DEUTSCHLAND
Handelsblatt

Rom/LimburgDer Vatikan greift in den Konflikt um die umstrittene Amtsführung des Limburger Bischofs ein. An diesem Montag werde Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo in Deutschland erwartet, um sich ein Bild von dem Streit um den Limburger Oberhirten Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst zu machen. Damit bestätigte Bistumssprecher Stephan Schnelle einen Bericht der „Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung“ (FAS). Der Kardinal gilt als hochrangiger Vatikan-Diplomat.

„Das dient aber der Rückenstärkung für den Bischof“, sagte Schnelle der Nachrichtenagentur dpa. „Er plant nicht eine Untersuchung oder Absetzung, sondern der Besuch dient dem brüderlichen Gespräch.“ Es handele sich gerade nicht um eine „Apostolische Visitation“ mit besonderen Befugnissen bei einer tiefgreifenden Untersuchung – dies hatte die Zeitung berichtet.

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

CALIFORNIA
Political Blotter

By Josh Richman
Friday, September 6th, 2013

A bill to re-open a window so certain sexual-abuse victims can sue the organizations that put them at risk is headed for Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.

The state Senate on Friday concurred in Assembly amendments to SB 131 by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, which closes a gap that has prevented certain victims from seeking restitution.

A 2003 law that passed the Legislature with unanimous votes had expanded the statute of limitations for victims to file claims against third parties who knew their employees were a danger to children but still allowed them to work with kids. It gave victims over age 26 the opportunity to sue if they discovered their emotional and physical problems stemmed from the abuse they suffered as children, giving them three years from the time of discovery to file lawsuits. It also opened a one-year window – from 2003 to 2004 – for victims who were previously barred from filing.

But that law didn’t do anything for victims over 26 who made connection between their abuse and their problems after 2004. If signed into law, SB 131 would let those people sue and seek restitution in 2014.

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

NEW JERSEY
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

An attorney for an admitted haredi pedophile has now told a New Jersey court that the pedophile wants to withdraw his guilty plea entered last May, the Associated Press reported.

Rabbi Yosef Kolko pleaded guilty on May 13 in the middle of his trial. He now says he was pressured by his Lakewood haredi community to enter that guilty plea.

The attorney for the former haredi camp counselor filed the motion, apparently on Friday.

Kolko had originally pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault, attempted aggravated sex assault, sexual assault and child endangerment. The victim was 11 when the abuse began in August 2008.

The victim’s family was savagely harassed and ostracized by the Lakewood haredi community after they brought the accusation of sex abuse against Kolko to police after haredi rabbis failed to handle the it internally. The boy’s father, who was a prominent rabbi in the community lost his job and eventually was forced to move his family to Michigan to escape the harassment – much of it endorsed and allegedly orchestrated by Rabbi Yisroel Belsky of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas in Brooklyn.

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

NEW JERSEY
New Jersey 101.5

By Townsquare News Network September 7, 2013

An attorney for a former New Jersey yeshiva camp counselor says his client will seek to withdraw his guilty plea to child sexual assault charges.

Yosef Kolko pleaded guilty in May to abusing the then-11-year-old boy in 2008 and 2009. He had been scheduled to be sentenced last week and faced up to 40 years in prison.

Attorney Alan Zegas has filed a motion to withdraw the guilty plea. Zegas tells The Asbury Park Press that Kolko was under pressure from his community at the time he pleaded guilty.

A judge gave Zegas until the end of the month to file a brief in support of his motion to withdraw the plea. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for October 17.

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

AUSTRALIA
Westender

September 8, 2013
by Kerrod Trott

Show your support adult survivors of childhood trauma and abuse.

Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA) invites community members, churches, religious groups and leaders to organise and host events in support of Blue Knot Day, this October 28th and the week to follow until November 3rd 2013. With the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse well under away, ASCA is calling for people to take action and show their support.

Blue Knot Day is an annual initiative run by ASCA, the national peak body, advancing the needs of Australian adults who have experienced childhood abuse and trauma. In Australia there are an estimated 4-5 million adult survivors of childhood trauma[i].

President of ASCA, Dr Cathy Kezelman, said that the day is important not only for survivors of childhood trauma, but for all Australians.

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

CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

September 06, 2013|By Steve Schmadeke | Tribune reporter

A 71-year-old Chicago man charged with sexually abusing two young girls at a church last month was accused today of previously sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl who was shopping with her mom in Uptown.

Prosecutors say Loreto Gaspar, who is retired and lives with his wife in the 1700 block of West Balmoral Avenue, has a habit of chatting up mothers out in public with their daughters and then touching their children while their mom is distracted.

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

SCOTLAND
Scotsman

by STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on the 08 September 2013

VICTIMS of physical and sexual abuse by monks at a boarding school in the Highlands are to launch a lawsuit for hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation against the Catholic Church.

Six former pupils of Fort Augustus Abbey school, which was run by the Benedictine Order, have instructed Switalskis, an English law firm with a reputation for securing compensation for the victims of child sexual abuse, to sue the Benedictines. Legal proceedings are expected to begin within the next few weeks.

A solicitor for Switalskis, David Greenwood, said the firm would be seeking from £30,000 to more than £100,000 per person depending on the abuse suffered and how it has impacted on each former pupil’s life and ability to secure employment.

However, he criticised the Catholic Church in Scotland and the Benedictine Order in England for failing to offer support to victims.

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

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

PAUL Smyth, who says he was 11 when paedophile Father Paul Moore sexually assaulted him, wants an apology after the clergyman was never brought to trial despite his victims co-operating with police.

THE victim of a paedophile priest who escaped being prosecuted even though he confessed to his crimes has broken his silence over his ordeal and his despair.

Paul Smyth, who says he was just 11 when Father Paul Moore sexually assaulted him, reveals his anger that the priest was never brought to trial, despite his victims co-operating fully with the police.

In the 1990s, Moore admitted to former Bishop Maurice Taylor that he had abused children over several years.

But prosecutors decided not to pursue a criminal case against the pervert priest. Instead, he was sent away to a special centre in Canada for treatment before returning to Ayrshire, where he now lives in a church-owned house.

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

SCOTLAND
The Observer

Catherine Deveney
The Observer, Saturday 7 September 2013

A Scottish Catholic priest, who has fought for 17 years to force the hierarchy to act against a fellow priest who abused him, has been dismissed from the diocese of Galloway while recovering from cancer and issued with a formal warning for talking to the Observer.

Father Patrick Lawson, who spoke out in the Observer in July using the pseudonym “Father Michael”, was sent a decree of removal by Bishop John Cunningham last Wednesday, forcing him to hand over the keys of his parish house within two days. The bishop had consistently refused to accept Father Lawson’s pleas, on the advice of doctors, to drop one of his two parishes – St Paul’s, Hurlford – while convalescing.

The case is a potentially explosive development in an increasingly tense relationship between the Scottish hierarchy and the laity over abuse and cover-up. There is now a standoff in Father Lawson’s other parish – St Sophia’s, Galston – with many parishioners telling the Observer that they will walk out of masses this weekend in protest, cancel their church subscriptions, and refuse to return unless the priest is reinstated.

Parishioner Manuela Kevan says around 200 people have signed a petition backing the popular, hardworking priest. “We know what this is really about.”

Significantly, there are now signs of rebellion among the clergy themselves. The Catholic church insists on silence and obedience from its priests but Father Gerard Magee of St Winin’s in Kilwinning, has written to the papal nuncio in London, backing Father Lawson and criticising the diocese. “What they are doing is underhand, malicious and sinister,” he writes. “They hide behind … canon law and, by doing so, they abuse the same law and make a mockery of it.”

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

NEW JERSEY
Ashbury Park Press

Written by
Kathleen Hopkins
@Khopkinsapp

TOMS RIVER — The lawyer representing a former yeshiva camp counselor in a Lakewood sexual abuse case wants to have his client’s guilty plea nullified, claiming the defendant was pressured by the community into admitting guilt in the case.

Alan L. Zegas, a Chatham attorney representing Yosef Kolko, filed a motion to withdraw his client’s guilty plea.

Kolko, 39, of Geffen Drive in Lakewood, had been scheduled to be sentenced in the child sex-abuse case on Wednesday, but Zegas’ motion prompted its postponement.

When reached by telephone and asked for the reasons why Kolko should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea, Zegas responded, “He was significantly pressured to pleaded (guilty). There are other reasons as well that interfered with his ability to make a voluntary, willing decision.

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

NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

AP

TOMS RIVER — A former yeshiva camp counselor who pleaded guilty in May to sexually abusing a child is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea and claims he was pressured by his Orthodox Jewish community in Lakewood.

The attorney for Yosef Kolko said he has filed a motion to withdraw Kolko’s guilty plea. Kolko pleaded guilty May 13 in the middle of a trial in Superior Court in Toms River to aggravated sexual assault, attempted aggravated sex assault, sexual assault and child endangerment.

Prosecutors allege the abuse occurred from August 2008 to February 2009 and ranged from fondling to oral sex and stopped when the boy told his father, who confronted Kolko. The boy was 11 when the alleged abuse began. He testified during the trial.

Attorney Alan Zegas told the Asbury Park Press that Kolko, 39, “was significantly pressured” from the community to plead guilty.

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse

Justice Peter McClellan AM
Chair
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Thank you.

I am pleased to be here with you today to help bring public attention to White Balloon Day and mark its significance in National Child Protection Week. Bravehearts and the many other organisations concerned with the welfare of children have played a significant role in raising public awareness of the prevalence and consequences of both the sexual and physical abuse of children in the community. Along with others their efforts resulted in the Australian Government, supported by the Opposition and the governments of each of the States coming together to set up a national Royal Commission to look at the response of institutions to the sexual abuse of children in an institutional context, with the purpose of exposing what has happened in the past and bringing forward recommendations directed to ensuring it does not happen in the future.

It is now well known that the sexual abuse of children has been widespread in the Australian community. However, the full range of institutions in which it has occurred is not generally understood. Furthermore the character and effectiveness of the response to allegations of abuse by institutions in which it has occurred has not generally been exposed. The prosecution of a perpetrator who has abused a child within an institution brings the existence of the abuse to public knowledge but does not, in most cases, tell the community anything about the response of the institution in which the abuse occurred. Furthermore, although many recommendations have been made as to how institutions should be managed to minimise the sexual abuse of children and effectively respond to it when it has occurred, it is readily apparent that many of those issues require a coordinated national response.

I have previously talked about the size of the task facing the Royal Commission. In order to assist its work the Australian Parliament amended the Royal Commissions Act to allow the Commission to hear from victims in private sessions. This followed a similar provision to facilitate the gathering of information in private as part of the Ryan Commission into similar problems in Ireland. It means that the Commission can receive the personal stories of people in private and in circumstances where they feel secure and not threatened by having to confront their alleged abuser. Although the Act provides that information obtained by the Royal Commission in private sessions is not evidence, it may be included in a report if it is “de-identified”, that is, the anonymity of the person is preserved.

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

VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Esther Tanquintic-Misa | September 6, 2013

In what could be a first for his 6-month tenure as chief spiritual leader of the 1.2-billion strong Roman Catholic church, the popularity of Pope Francis has hit a snag following the Vatican’s recall of its envoy to the Dominican Republic amid child abuse allegations.

The US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), in a statement, blasted the half-year reigning pope for covering up the pedophile scandal in Dominican Republic, asserting further that he was in no way different from his immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, and those way before him.

“Like all of his predecessors, Pope Francis is acting belatedly, secretively and recklessly. Catholic officials act only when forced to do so by media pressure,” the group said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Vatican confirmed that Monsignor Josef Wesolowski was indeed sacked from his job. But what irked SNAP and other victims groups was that the Vatican never made the matter public, only when it happened to be leaked. Monsignor Wesolowski had been removed from his post as the papal nuncio in Santo Domingo since Aug 21.

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

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.– The bishops have voiced support for the investigation launched into accusations of sexual misconduct against the former nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski.

The bishops called for a “purification of the Church and for the removal of those who unworthily exercise this ministry and do not deserve to be called priests,” in a letter signed by Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez of Santo Domingo and president of the Dominican bishops’ conference.

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

CALIFORNIA
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated September 7, 2013

21-8. Thank you Senators, for voting YES to SB 131… you’ve given another victory for California children

Please tell Governor Brown you support SB 131. You can write his office directly here http://govnews.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php

Dear Governor Jerry Brown,

With your good moral conscience – and compassionate heart, please sign immediately bill SB 131 – because the people of California have spoken unanimously through their Representatives and Senators – and now it is time for the victims who’ve been waiting for years to have their day in court. The crimes against American children systemically covered-up by (especially by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese) in Los Angeles and throughout California must not be hidden in the dust of history — nor must they be given the chance to be shredded and forgotten forever into oblivion .

As a Catholic and former Jesuit seminarian, for sure you believe in the Patroness of California, Our Lady of Guadalupe. She inspires us to invite you to please take time to gaze at this image where she carries a child and protect children away from the evil serpent.

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

CANADA
CBC

The University of British Columbia has pledged an investigation after its students reportedly sang a chant advocating rape during frosh week.

The incident took place on a bus ride during the Sauder FROSH, a three-day orientation for the Sauder School of Business, organized by the Commerce Undergraduate Society (CUS).

The chant condones non-consensual sex with underage girls saying, “Y-O-U-N-G at UBC, we like ’em young, Y is for your sister, O is for oh so tight, U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is for go to jail.” …

The revelations come only days after student leaders at Nova Scotia’s St. Mary’s University were caught on camera chanting about non-consensual underage sex during frosh week at the Halifax school.

Jared Perry, chair of Students Nova Scotia and president of the student council at St. Mary’s, stepped down from his position in light of the controversy.

St. Mary’s president Colin Dodds is forming a presidential council to investigate the incident and ways to prevent any other situations.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

[Summary: The Vatican is intervening in the dispute between members of the Limburg diocese and Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst. Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo is expected to be in Germany by Monday afternoon. The 78-year-old church diplomat will act as “apostolic visitor” in conversations with bishops and members of the diocese. The cardinal may want to see the files of the diocese and after the visitation will make a comprehensive report to the pope on the situation and will make recommendations where appropriate on how grievances can be resolved.]

Der Vatikan greift in den Konflikt über die Amts- und Lebensführung des Bischofs von Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, ein. Nach Informationen der “Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung” wird Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo am Montagnachmittag in Deutschland erwartet. Der 78 Jahre alte Kirchendiplomat soll sich als sogenannter “Apostolischer Visitator” im Gespräch mit Bischöfen und Mitgliedern der Bistumsleitung ein Bild verschaffen.

Ein Apostolischer Visitator kann mit päpstlicher Vollmacht ausgestattet unter anderem Einblick in alle Akten des Bistums und des Bischöflichen Stuhls verlangen. Nach der Visitation legt er dem Papst einen umfassenden Bericht über die Lage vor und gibt gegebenenfalls Empfehlungen, wie Missstände ausgeräumt werden können.

Der Limburger Bistumssprecher Stephan Schnelle bestätigte, dass Lajolo erwartet werde. “Das dient aber der Rückenstärkung für den Bischof”, sagte Schnelle der dpa. “Er plant nicht eine Untersuchung oder Absetzung, sondern der Besuch dient dem brüderlichen Gespräch.” Hintergrund sei auch, dass Tebartz-van Elst kürzlich in den Vatikan gereist war.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

Der Vatikan greift in den Konflikt über die Amts- und Lebensführung des Bischofs von Limburg ein. Das Bistum bestätigte am Samstag Informationen der F.A.S., dass Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo am Montagnachmittag in Deutschland erwartet wird. Es veröffentlichte zudem ein Schreiben des Vatikans an den Bischof, in dem von einem „brüderlichen Besuch“ die Rede ist.

Der Kardinal werde den brüderlichen Austausch mit dem Bischof und dem Domkapitel sowie weiteren relevanten Personen führen, „um wachen Auges auf die Gegebenheiten Ihrer Ortskirche zu schauen, die Geister zu unterscheiden helfen, gegebenenfalls brüderlich zu ermahnen, vor allem aber um Ihren bischöflichen Dienst zu stützen und zum Frieden und zur Einheit zu ermutigen“, heißt es in dem Brief weiter, der von Kardinal Ouellet unterzeichnet ist. Es handle sich nicht um eine formelle Apostolische Visitation, um die Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst Ende August geben habe. Der Heilige Stuhl hege volles Vertrauen in die Amtsführung des Bischofs, nehme aber die Kritik in Medien und Öffentlichkeit ernst.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

Der Vatikan greift einem Bericht der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung (FAS) zufolge in den Konflikt um die Lebens- und Amtsführung des Limburger Bischofs Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst ein. Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo werde sich am Montag ein Bild von dem Streit machen.

Das Limburger Bistum bestätigte zwar den geplanten Besuch Lajolos, bestritt aber, dass es sich dabei um eine “Apostolische Visitation” handle. “Das dient der Rückenstärkung für den Bischof”, sagte ein Sprecher. Lajolo plane keine Untersuchung oder Absetzung, “sondern der Besuch dient dem brüderlichen Gespräch.” Das Bistum verwies auf ein Unterstützungsschreiben von Kardinal Ouellet.

In dem Brief heißt es, der Heilige Stuhl habe volles Vertrauen in die Amtsführung des Bischofs. Gleichwohl seien der Unfriede in der Diözese ernst zu nehmen und die Reaktionen der Medien nicht zu übersehen.

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

UNITED STATES
Voice from the Desert

A study of the influence of pathological narcissism on the clerical sub-culture of the Roman Catholic Church and its influence on the formation of clerical and lay spirituality.

By
A.W. Richard Sipe
Marianne Benkert, M.D.
Thomas P. Doyle, J.C.D., C.A.D.C.
August 30, 2013

Spirituality and the Culture of Narcissism
Part one, The Clerical Sub-Culture

A.W.Richard Sipe

Abstract: Catholic deacons, priests and bishops live in a unique psychological environment commonly referred to as the “clerical world.” A fundamental characteristic of this sub-culture is narcissism which in some clerics becomes pathological. The narcissistic component of the clerical world has a toxic effect on its spirituality.

Spirituality is an awareness of a personal relationship with a transcendent reality.
Every religious tradition allows for persons of spirituality. Spirituality is independent of doctrine and discipline. The biblical psalms are preeminent examples of this traditional expression. A prominent example of this expression is a prayer of St. Augustine recorded in his Confessions:

Late have I loved you
O Beauty ever ancient ever new.
Late have I loved you!
You were within me, but I was outside.
And it was there that I searched for you.
In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things that you created.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
Created things kept me from you;
Yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all.
You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness.
You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness.
You breathed your fragrance on me.
I drew in breath and now I pant for you.
I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.
You touched me, and I burned for your peace. (J. Ryan, 1960, p. 254)

Two main sources support the development of Roman Catholic spirituality, the cult of saints and personal contact with a Catholic clergy person.

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

CANADA
Huffington Post

[with video]

Toula Foscolos

“SMU boys, we like them young…
Y is for your sister…
O is for oh so tight…
U is for underage…
N is for no consent…
G is for grab that ass..”

Offended, ladies?

Oh, you shouldn’t be. It was all just “in good fun.” Just a silly chant that, has apparently, been going on for years during frosh week activities at St. Mary’s University in Halifax. What’s that you say? Derogatory to women? Nonsense! Lighten up…

For as long as feminists have been complaining about sexism, they’ve been accused of not having a sense of humour. Of not getting that “it’s just a joke.” It’s the easiest — and frankly, the laziest — way for someone to dismiss an actual concern, because, saying that something wasn’t meant to be “intentionally offensive” doesn’t, of course, prevent it from being so. That’s just wishful thinking.

Listen… I get it. I was a university student once, too. I remember the excitement and newness of it all. Rare is a frosh week that goes by without some sort of controversy and displays of bad taste. Mix young, excitable students with peer pressure, the desperate need to fit in, and loads and loads of alcohol, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for all sorts of unacceptable behaviour, and inevitably some sort of PR fiasco. But there are limits to what one considers acceptable, even during a week specifically designed to cross the line.

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

CANADA
Chronicle-Herald

Editorial

Saint Mary’s University, its administration and student leaders have been harshly criticized after an online video showed a group of students performing an offensive, sexist chant earlier this week at an event attended by some 350 freshmen.

The incident is a prime example of a failure of leadership.

None of the student leaders involved had the wits to veto the chant, a ditty that condones rape and underage sex under the scarcely credible pretext of boosting school spirit.

SMU student Alexandria Bennett, a 2012 frosh week leader, says she complained to a students’ association staffer last year about the chant — and nothing was done.

Although the university had coached this year’s frosh week organizers on appropriate behaviour, including a police talk on sexual assault, it apparently didn’t take.

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

CANADA
Chronicle-Herald

BY GAIL LETHBRIDGE

Let’s call a spade a spade, shall we? Sex with underage girls who don’t consent is rape.

Chanting about rape in a public place and encouraging others to do so is inciting rape.

Rape is a criminal activity.

Ergo, the boys of Saint Mary’s University were promoting crime when they sang their pro-rape songs on campus last weekend.

And from what I could tell, they weren’t just singing. No, they were screaming it at the top of their post-pubescent lungs.

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

CANADA
St. Catharines Standard

[with video]

The same week that a video showing first-year students at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax chanting about non-consensual sex with underage girls surfaced online, students at UBC were singing a variation of the song.

The students at SMU sparked a firestorm of protest for singing, “Y is for your sister, O is for oh so tight, U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is for grab that ass, SMU boys we like them young,” in a video that appeared online Wednesday.

According to The Ubyssey, UBC’s newspaper, students participating in Sauder FROSH, a three-day orientation organized by the Commerce Undergraduate Society, chanted: “Y-O-U-N-G at UBC we like em young Y is for yourrr sister O is for ohh so tight U is for under age N is for noo consent G is for goo to jail.”

FROSH co-chair Jacqueline Chen told The Ubyssey the chants have been going on for many years, and while the CUS had been chastized in the past for the cheers, the undergraduate society now works to make sure the chant stays private.

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

CANADA
St. Mary’s University

6 September, 2013

Two student organizers will face a disciplinary hearing following an orientation week event involving a sexually inappropriate chant at Saint Mary’s University.

A formal complaint was received Friday, September 6. The complaint alleges violations of the Student Code of Conduct for the use of abusive or offensive language or gestures at University sponsored functions.

The code states that non-academic standards of behaviour are as important as academic standards.

Under the code, any member of the University community (i.e. students, faculty, administrators or employees) may lodge a complaint within five days of the complainant having become aware of the misconduct.

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

CANADA
CTV

[with video]

CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Thursday, September 5, 2013

The student union president of Halifax’s Saint Mary’s University says he made the “biggest mistake” of his life after a notorious chant promoting non-consensual sex with underage girls was used to rally first-year students during frosh week.

The chant, which was captured on video during orientation week activities and later posted on Instagram, has sparked outrage both across the country and on the east-coast university campus.

“It’s a mistake. It’s definitely the biggest mistake I’ve made throughout my university career and probably my life,” Jared Perry, president of Saint Mary’s University Student Association, told reporters on Thursday.

A controversial chant was performed by 80 student leaders in front of about 300 of their first-year peers at Saint Mary’s University on Monday.

He was joined by the 80 student leaders who led the chant, which included the phrases: “Y is for your sister,” “U is for underage,” and “N is for no consent.” It was performed on Monday in front of approximately 300 first-year students.

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

CANADA
The Globe and Mail

JANE TABER
Halifax — The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Sep. 06 2013

Saint Mary’s University is calling on an expert in bullying to lead a new task force on preventing sexual violence, following a national controversy over a rape-themed cheer at a frosh week event.

Wayne MacKay, the former chair of a provincial task force on bullying, was appointed by the school after a video surfaced of a chant during frosh week activities at the Halifax university.

“As I watched events unfold at Saint Mary’s University over the last week, I saw that there is clearly more work to be done along the road I have already been travelling in relation to human rights,” Mr. MacKay said in a statement released by Saint Mary’s Friday morning.

Mr. MacKay is a professor at Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law.

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

CANADA
St. Mary’s University

A recent Orientation Week event involving student leaders chanting inappropriate and offensive lyrics is completely inexcusable and violates our University’s commitment to upholding the values of equality and respect.

My colleagues and I were shocked by this incident and are deeply sorry that our students, and now the community at large, were exposed to disturbing sexually charged material. The University regrets that this was allowed to occur and we apologize unreservedly. I am taking measures to ensure it does not happen in the future.

While Orientation Week is a student-led initiative, the Senior Director of Student Services Keith Hotchkiss, and others, including an HRM Community police officer met with the Orientation Week leaders prior to the event and spoke with them specifically about the issue of sexual assault and sexual consent.

However, I accept that I and the University administration have a role to oversee and guide student leaders. We failed in that responsibility.

As immediate steps to address that issue, I have called for a special meeting with the executive and board of the Student Association, asking them to account for their actions.

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

CANADA
Huffington Post

By Tyler Kingkade
Posted: 09/06/2013

A video of student leaders at Saint Mary’s University participating in a chant that endorses sexual assault is causing outrage among college students, officials and local politicians alike.

The chant happened at a Monday event called “Turf Burn” for hundreds of incoming freshmen at the university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, during “Frosh Week.”

In a video originally posted to Instagram — which was later deleted but resurfaced online — both male and female students are heard chanting: “SMU boys, we like them young. Y is for your sister. O is for oh-so-tight. U is for underage. N is for no consent. G is for grab that ass.”

Hundreds of students participated in the chant, including 80 student leaders, the Chronicle Herald reports.

“My colleagues and I were shocked by this incident and are deeply sorry that our students, and now the community at large, were exposed to disturbing sexually charged material,” SMU President Colin Dodd said in a statement.

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

TEXAS
Outlook India

The author of Sex, Lies and Two Hindu Gurus shares her experiences

KAREN JONSON

In 1991, American writer Karen Jonson wasn’t in love and was in a dead-end job when she joined an ashram, the Jagad­guru Kripalu Parishat (JKP) in Austin, Texas, attrac­ted by local guru Prakashanand Sara­swati’s talks “about god and loving god”. The JKP proclaims the divi­nity of Kripaluji Maharaj. In the beginning, she was happy to be among a group of people who had the same feeling and purpose, picking green beans by the moonlight, cooking meals, acting in skits. After living in the ashram for 15 years, she quit in 2008, three years before Prakashanand was found guilty on 20 counts of child sex abuse. Jonson published a tell-all book, Sex, Lies and Two Hindu Gurus, which JKP followers dismiss as a ‘Christian conspiracy’. Here Jonson tells Debarshi Dasgupta how her spiritual quest went awry:

In hindsight, I always had some small doubts about both Kripalu and Prakash. But I had no proof of anything. I was also very religious and wanted to believe what they were telling us, about achieving God realisation and becoming a gopi in divine Vrindavan. All we had to do was ‘surrender’ to them, they said. So I tried really hard to do that, and whenever I stumbled, I believed it was because of my own lack of devotional qualities. So whenever I had doubts, I would push them back into the corners of my mind.

But the major onset of scepticism occurred when Kripalu was arrested in Trinidad for raping a young woman in May 2007. It was while he was on a ‘world tour’ that year for a few months. He had just spent about four weeks in the JKP ashram in Austin where I had lived full-time since April 1993. His plan was to go to Trinidad, then Canada, then come back to Austin.

Some uncomfortable events took place when he was in the Austin ashram, called Barsana Dham at the time (the name was changed to Radha Madhav Dham later, after Prakashanand fled to Mexico on his own cases becoming public). For the first time ever, I was invited to Kripalu’s bedroom to perform a secret ritual they called ‘charan seva’. I had never heard of it before. But I later learned that many of the women in JKP’s ashrams participated in this ritual, which took place several times every day at specific times.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
HNA

Ehemalige, die die Ansprache hörten, werfen ihm eine Relativierung der Hexenverbrennungen und des sexuellen Missbrauchs durch katholische Priester vor. Einige hätten den Raum entrüstet verlassen, berichtet Frauke Gromotka aus Fritzlar. Sie spricht von einer „erbärmlichen Argumentation“.

Schulleiterin Jutta Ramisch hat auf der Internetseite der Schule eine Erklärung veröffentlicht, in der sie im Namen von Schulleitung und Kollegium „die entstandenen Irritationen zutiefst“ bedauert. Den Inhalt der Rede habe sie nicht gekannt, sagte Ramisch.

„Es ist eine unglückliche Geschichte gewesen“, erklärte Pfarrer Maleja auf Anfrage der HNA. Er habe einen zentralen Satz der Ursulinengründerin Angela Merici zugrunde gelegt: „Haltet euch an den alten Weg und lebt ein neues Leben.“

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

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
DFW Catholic

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Sep 6, 2013 / 04:14 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The bishops of the Dominican Republic have voiced support for the investigation launched into accusations of sexual misconduct against the former nuncio to the country, Archbishop Józef Wesolowski.

The bishops called for a “purification of the Church and for the removal of those who unworthily exercise this ministry and do not deserve to be called priests,” in a letter signed by Cardinal Nicolás López Rodríguez of Santo Domingo and president of the Dominican bishops’ conference.

This purification should take place with “the collaboration of authentic priests, who are the majority, and of the church community.”

Archbishop Wesolowski resigned from his post Aug. 21 in the wake of accusations of sexual misconduct that were reported in the media.

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

CALIFORNIA
Monterey Herald

By JULIA REYNOLDS
Herald Staff Writer
POSTED: 09/06/2013

After several fits and starts, a bill extending the statute of limitations for some childhood sexual abuse victims was approved by the California Legislature on Friday — paving the way for possible lawsuits against Palma High School in Salinas.

Nine people who say they were abused by priests while attending Palma may be among the first to sue if Gov. Jerry Brown doesn’t veto the bill, known as SB 131.

The bill extends the civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims.

Seven of the nine former Palma students say they were sexually assaulted by the Rev. Gerald Funcheon when he was a chaplain at the school from 1984-85. Funcheon, who is still a priest but is housed in a secure “treatment” facility, admitted in sworn testimony last year that he molested one of the men, but denied the others.

The two other alleged victims say they were molested by Brother Marcos Chavira and the late Brother Jerome Heustis.

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

CALIFORNIA
Turlock Journal

By Sabra Stafford
Crime Desk sstafford@turlockjournal.com 209-634-9141, ext. 2002
POSTED September 6, 2013

A series of costly payments to settle multiple claims of sexual abuse has the Diocese of Stockton moving closer to a decision to file for bankruptcy, church officials stated Friday.

The Diocese of Stockton oversees Catholic entities between Lodi and Turlock, including All Saints University Parish, Sacred Heart Church, and Our Lady of the Assumption of the Portuguese Church, all in Turlock, and St. Anthony’s Church in Hughson. It also includes Sacred Heart’s Turlock schools.

“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,” said Bishop Stephen E. Blaire in a released statement.

“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,” Blaire continued. “It appears likely to me that the Diocese will need to re-organize financially under the protection of the Bankruptcy Court.”

Blaire said all the local Catholic entities organized as separate corporations would not be subjected to the bankruptcy filing.

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

STOCKTON (CA)
Fox 40

by Lonnie Wong
Reporter

STOCKTON –

Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton Catholic Diocese didn’t dodge the numbers—the result of up to four lawsuits filed by victims of sexual abuse.

“Over seven million, maybe ten million,” Blaire said.

That’s on top of about 18 million dollars already paid to victims. Some money came at the hands of the notorious Oliver O’Grady and Michael Kelly, both convicted of abusing children.

The relatively small diocese covering six rural counties is making its $5 million budget.

“It’s just that we do not have any funds for these future lawsuits,” Blaire said.

Practicing Catholic Rosa Gaxiola is concerned that so much of her donations are being redirected to abuse victims.
“It does hurt a lot of efforts that the Catholic Church supports in helping the poor,” said Gaxiola.

Elysse Brown doesn’t begrudge victims for getting compensated even though it’s a blow to the diocese.

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

STOCKTON (CA)
The Record

By Joe Goldeen
Record Staff Writer
September 07, 2013

STOCKTON – Churches within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton will distribute a letter this weekend to their 250,000 parishioners from Bishop Stephen Blaire, describing just how close the diocese is to filing for bankruptcy protection.

“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 reorganize financially under the protection of the Bankruptcy Court,” Blaire wrote in an advance statement issued to the media Friday.

“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,” the statement continued.

During an interview Friday afternoon at the six-county diocesan headquarters in downtown Stockton, Blaire explained why he was issuing his statement now.

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

CALIFORNIA
Signal

After several fits and starts, a bill extending the statute of limitations for some childhood sexual abuse victims was approved by the California Legislature on Friday — paving the way for possible lawsuits against Palma High School in Salinas.

Nine people who say they were abused by priests while attending Palma may be among the first to sue if Gov. Jerry Brown doesn’t veto the bill, known as SB 131.

The bill extends the civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims.

Seven of the nine former Palma students say they were sexually assaulted by the Rev. Gerald Funcheon when he was a chaplain at the school from 1984-85. Funcheon, who is still a priest but is housed in a secure “treatment” facility, admitted in sworn testimony last year that he molested one of the men, but denied the others.

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

STOCKTON (CA)
Fox 40

by Ian McDonald
Web Producer

STOCKTON-

The Catholic Diocese of Stockton said Friday that it may file for bankruptcy after sexual abuse lawsuit settlements have “depleted” their funds.

“I feel, however, that it is important to tell you that options other than filing for bankruptcy protection have not emerged,” Bishop Stephen Blaire said in a written statement. “It appears likely to me that the Diocese will need to re-organize [sic] financially under the protection of Bankruptcy Court.”

No final decision has been made, however.

The Diocese serves 250,000 Catholics, it says. Bishop Blaire says he will keep everyone informed once a financial decision has been made.

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

STOCKTON (CA)
Catholic Culture

The Diocese of Stockton, California, could soon become the 10th Catholic diocese in the US to file for bankruptcy in the face of costly legal settlements with sex-abuse victims.

Stockton’s Bishop Stephen Blaire announced that the diocese is exploring every available option for meeting its financial obligations. But he warned that “options other than filing for bankruptcy protection have not emerged.” The bishop said that it “appears likely” the diocese will enter federal bankruptcy court.

The announcement from Stockton comes close on the heels of the news that the Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico will file for bankruptcy protection.

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

WISCONSIN
Fox 6

[with video]

WAUWATOSA (WITI) – A former priest at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa is suspected of stealing money from his congregation. FOX6 has uncovered recently released subpoenas that detail how much money he may have taken, and what he spent it on. The documents suggest Father James Dokos may have spent money that was supposed to be donated to the church on everything from $1,000 worth of flowers, to a racquet club membership.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is investigating Father Dokos, who was the pastor at the Wauwatosa church for over two decades.

In 2011, Father Dokos gave FOX6 News a tour of the church building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Court records show wealthy donors left the church more than $1 million in a trust Father Dokos oversaw.

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

WISCONSIN
WTMJ

[with video]

WAUWATOSA – It’s now up to the district attorney’s office to determine if a crime was committed at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa.

The parish council said tens of thousands of dollars may be missing, and council members think a former priest is to blame.

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

CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on September 6, 2013

SB 131 – the Child Victims’ Act – has become the “little bill that could.” Despite great odds and millions of dollars spent on lobbying to kill the bill (by Roman Catholic and USA Swimming officials), SB 131 passed the senate floor vote 21-8 and is heading to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk.

There is talk that California’s bishops have heavily (and personally) lobbied Brown, a former Jesuit seminarian, to veto the bill.

Brown needs to know that this anti-crime bill—which holds wrong-doers accountable and protects kids RIGHT NOW—is a top priority for California.

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

CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

By Patrick McGreevy
September 6, 2013

SACRAMENTO — The Senate approved a measure Friday that would make it easier for some child abuse victims to sue private or nonprofit employers for failing to protect them from molesters.

The bill, which is opposed by the Catholic Church, squeaked by on a 21-8 vote and now heads to the governor. The bill would allow some child abuse victims more time to file lawsuits against private institutions such as parochial schools, but would not apply to public schools. Some victims for whom the statute of limitations has expired would get a new one-year window during which they could bring a lawsuit.

Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) disclosed during the floor debate that he was a victim of child abuse by a family member. He said the legislation is needed because it sometimes takes decades for people to admit they were molested.

“I was alone trying to understand what happened to me for many years,” Lara said. “I couldn’t go to anyone.”

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

CALIFORNIA
Fresno Bee

By Christopher Cadelago — ccadelago@sacbee.com

A bill to extend the statute of limitations for some sex abuse victims narrowly passed the state Senate on Friday.

The vote was 21-8 in the 40-member house, the minimum required for passage. It now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown.

The bill, which was resurrected after failing last month amid fierce lobbying from the Catholic Church and others, would open a yearlong window for those excluded from a 2003 law that extended the time during which sexual abuse victims can file a civil lawsuit.

Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, punctuated the debate with moving testimony about his own struggles arising from the abuse he suffered from a member of his own family. Lara, who referred to himself as a “high-level survivor,” said he knows many of his legislative colleagues have been pressured by the church not to support the bill.

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Victoria’s chief Anglican, Philip Freier (see previous posting), has fronted the Victorian Parliamentary enquiry into clerical child sexual abuse, but his underling Bishops have not. They do not seem to have much to say on the topic at all, apparently preferring to leave it all to their boss.

The exception is the Bendigo guy, Andrew Curnow, who has previously worked in New York and Virginia. He acknowledges seven cases of “inappropriate behaviour” in the past nine years. These were passed on to his Director of Professional Standards, and believed that only one of them was passed on to police. He claims that “We have no evidence to believe sexual abuse is widespread” in his diocese, although he admits there could be more where victims approached police first.

Archbishop Freier’s bishops seem to be much more concerned with same sex relationships.

The Gippsland guy, John McIntyre, recently appointed an openly gay priest, and supports marriage equality. The Ballarat guy, Barry Weatherill has previously said that same-sex couples should not be discriminated against in any way by the law and should have access to the same superannuation and the like, but was not in favour of marriage equality. Weatherill had been in charge when an openly gay priest quit after complaining about “persecution” for being in a lesbian relationship.

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

UNITED STATES
Wonkette

by SNIPY

We know you people have not approved of our recurring NewPopeNiceTime feature, but we do not care. However, we’ll throw you a bone today and talk about how really super terrible one Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Illinois is on account of how he thinks that we’re gonna close all the churches because of being all pagan now and because the Catholic Church has handled the sexual abuse scandal pretty much better than anyone else would, yep yep.

Let’s kick it off with how since pagans have taken over the world, the First Amendment is barely hanging on and also communism:

“And now I think we are moving in a direction that – not only is it more than secular – it’s a rejection. It’s an outright rejection [of Judeo-Christian values]. It’s a pagan kind of a culture.”

“The reality is that – ironically, it is becoming more like the Church was in the time of John Paul II in Poland under Communism where you [Christians] lived in a very hostile environment. We still have the First Amendment of our Constitution but that is being sorely tested.“

The good folks at the Washington Times go on to explain at us about how communism works but neglect to explain how we are all currently arresting and murdering the Catholics, probably on account of how we are not last time we checked.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Augsburger Allgemeine

Bei den Durchsuchungen bei den Zwölf Stämmen wurden nicht nur Ruten und Stöcke gefunden. Ein Sprecher der Augsburger Staatsanwaltschaft berichtet von speziellen Räumen. Von Ina Kresse und Anika Taiber

Die Kinder der Glaubensgemeinschaft Zwölf Stämme sollen von Erwachsenen immer wieder mit Stöcken und Ruten gezüchtigt, Babys streng gewickelt worden sein. In einem großangelegten Einsatz am frühen Donnerstagmorgen haben Polizisten 28 Kinder im Alter zwischen sieben Monaten und 17 Jahren aus dem Schlaf geholt und von ihren Familien weggebracht.

Ermittlungsverfahren gegen Unbekannt

Wie die Staatsanwaltschaft Augsburg gegenüber unserer Zeitung sagt, wurde ein Ermittlungsverfahren eingeleitet. “Wir ermitteln wegen Misshandlung Schutzbefohlener und gefährlicher Körperverletzung”, sagt Christian Engelsberger, stellvertretender Sprecher der Staatsanwaltschaft. Das Verfahren richte sich derzeit gegen Unbekannt. Man müsse ersteinmal herausfinden, wer die Beschuldigten seien. “Wir können nicht alle Mitglieder unter Generalverdacht stellen.”

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

SPRINGFIELD (IL)
Berger’s Beat

September 6, 2013 1:50 pm | Author: berger

Springfield Illinois Bishop Thomas Paprocki made national headlines in 2007, when he claimed that the main force behind child sex cases was “none other than the devil.” Now, in an interview with the Washington Times, he attacks Letterman for pedophile priest jokes and says that “of an institution in the country – perhaps in the world – I don’t think anyone is dealing with (child sex abuse) as responsibly as the Catholic Church has.” (Ironically, one of Paprocki’s predecessors – former Springfield bishop Daniel Ryan – resigned after abuse lawsuits against him were filed.)

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

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Sept. 7, 2013

Catherine Armitage
Senior Writer

The Catholic Church is pursuing hard-line legal tactics against victims of sex abuse in civil claims despite publicly promising to put victims’ needs first, lawyers say.

The church has promised to ”promote lasting healing” by avoiding litigation and ”putting the needs of victims first” since a national royal commission and two state inquiries into child sex abuse began.

Yet its legal representatives persist with obstructive and combative actions inconsistent with its public statements, says John Ellis, a solicitor with Clinch Long Letherbarrow whose unsuccessful case against the church set a legal precedent and famously led to an apology by Cardinal George Pell for ”legal abuse”.

Mr Ellis said it was difficult to provide specific examples because of client confidentiality, but victims continued to be threatened with court if they didn’t accept settlements.

He said the so-called Ellis defence kept surfacing in negotiations, despite Catholic Church Insurances telling the Victorian parliamentary inquiry it was not used in civil cases.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Satellite

Jessica Grewal 6th Sep 2013

QUEENSLANDERS who experienced childhood sex abuse in an institution will have the chance to tell their stories when the royal commission returns to Brisbane next week.

Royal Commission CEO Janette Dines said there had been a strong response from people interested in attending private sessions.

She said more than 326 people had already given accounts and the commission expected to hear from at least 850 more by the end of the year.

Private sessions have been held Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne and sessions are currently scheduled in Darwin and Tasmania.

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

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

ANNE MATHER MERCURY SEPTEMBER 07, 2013

TASMANIANS who experienced childhood sexual abuse in an institution will have their chance to speak privately before a royal commission next week.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will be holding private sessions in Tasmania from Tuesday.

A Tasmanian advocate for the sexually abused has reassured victims that the royal commission is a compassionate and supportive process.

Beyond Abuse spokesman Steve Fisher said the private sessions being run by the royal commission were a world away from facing a court or church tribunal.

“These are designed to ensure people are not re-traumatised,” he said.

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

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Sept. 6, 2013

A RETIRED Catholic priest who has a family resource centre named in his honour has appeared in Wyong Local Court on child pornography charges.

Father Edward Sedevic, 72, of Lake Haven, successfully requested an order suppressing his personal details when he appeared in the court on Wednesday on three charges of possessing child abuse material and using a service to access child pornography.

He did not enter pleas and the matter returns to court in October.

Wyong Local Court magistrate Susan McIntyre revoked the order yesterday after a media application argued other men on similar charges, including a former police officer, a prominent Sydney dance teacher and a radio personality, had been named in media reports.

Police from the State Crime Command’s sex crimes squad charged Father Sedevic on August 20 with possessing a child pornography film.

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

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Arkansas Times

Posted by Max Brantley on Fri, Sep 6, 2013

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has announced it will hold a confidential supporting meeting next Wednesday at the downtown library. You can find more details here. The group emphasizes that, though the group name mentions priests, it is open to anyone harmed by a predator in an institutional setting.

The meeting precedes by less than a week Little Rock court dates in which SNAP has announced an interest. Kelly Ann O’Rourke, a former Mount St. Mary Academy teacher, is to appear in court Sept. 16 to answer a charge that she violated probation by continuing to attempt to contact a former student she sexually assaulted. Her former supervisor, Kathy Gene Griffin, is to appear in court the next day on a charge that she failed to report the abuse.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

Limburg – Der umstrittene Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst hat von seinen Kritikern einen Protestbrief bekommen, den rund 4400 Gläubige unterzeichnet haben. In dem sogenannten Frankfurter Appell kritisieren Gemeindemitglieder, kirchliche Mitarbeiter und Priester den Führungsstil des Kirchenmannes. “Die Bistumsleitung muss umgehend einen anderen Weg einschlagen”, heißt es in dem Schreiben, das am 25. August am Ende eines Gottesdienstes im Frankfurter Dom verlesen worden war.

Vertreter der katholischen Stadtkirche Frankfurts übergaben dem Bischof die Unterschriftensammlung nun hinter verschlossenen Türen. “Ich denke, es ist ein guter Anfang”, sagte hinterher Christoph Hefter, der Vorsitzende der Stadtversammlung der Frankfurter Katholiken. Wenn es zu Veränderungen im Bistum führe, sei es ein sehr wertvolles Gespräch gewesen.

Tebartz-van Elst äußerte sich nicht persönlich zu dem Treffen. Sein Sprecher sprach von einem “offenen, konstruktiven” Gespräch, bei dem auch kritische Punkte angesprochen worden seien.

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

SPRINGFIELD (IL)
Addicting Info

Catholic Bishop: Ignorance Leads To Blaming Priests For Sex Abuse; Church Has Dealt With Problem ‘Responsibly’

If there are two things I’ve never before put in the same sentence, it’s ‘Catholic sex abuse’ and ‘dealing with it responsibly.’ They just don’t make sense.

However, Bishop Thomas Paprocki feels differently. In an interview with the very conservative Washington Times, the Bishop talked about a number of topics, ranging from what he called “anti-Catholic bigotry” to David Letterman. But by far the most interesting tidbit in Paprocki’s interview came when discussing a joke made by Letterman a few months back. Letterman said:

“I am telling you if there is anything kids can’t get enough of it’s a 76-year old virgin. Come on, world youth day, or as the Vatican calls it, a salute to altar boys.”

Of course, Paprocki feels that this kind of mocking is unfair, given that the Catholic church has dealt so competently with the issue.

“You ask what else could it be other than anti-Catholic bigotry – well, it certainly is that. What else could it be? It certainly is ignorance. Profound ignorance for anyone to make comments like that. For one thing it shows the ignorance of someone who identifies the Catholic Church and, particularly the priesthood, with sexual abuse. Certainly, we have had our unfortunate share of scandals and sin and the church is dealing with that. I would venture to say that of any institution in the country – perhaps in the world – I don’t think anyone is dealing with it as responsibly as the Catholic Church has. 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.” (emphasis added)

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

CANADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, September 6, 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 )

Father Damian Cooper, an accused predator Catholic priest, is expected to be in the Vancouver, BC courthouse (800 Smith Street) today.

[Sylvia’s Site]

An abuse and cover up lawsuit involving him was filed in December 2012 alleging that he sexually abused a teenage girl in the late 1980s to early 1990s. And an application was filed August 8th requesting the BC Supreme Court to order Vancouver Catholic officials to produce documents pertaining to Cooper’s crimes.

[BishopAccountability.org]

[The Inquiry]

No matter how today’s hearing turns out, we hope every single person who saw, suspected or suffered crimes by Cooper or cover ups by Catholic officials will step forward. Staying silent only helps those who commit and conceal child sex crimes.

We also hope they’ll contact the independent professionals in law enforcement, not the biased bureaucrats in church offices.

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

SPRINGFIELD (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, September 6, 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 )

Controversial Springfield Catholic Bishop Thomas Paprocki is at it again. First, he claimed that child sex cases were the work of Satan. Now he claims that “of any institution in the country – perhaps in the world – I don’t think anyone is dealing with (child sex abuse) as responsibly as the Catholic Church has.”

[Washington Times]

How can he ignore the fact that one of his predecessors –Springfield bishop Daniel Ryan – resigned after abuse lawsuits against him were filed?

How can he ignore the fact that one of his peers – Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn – was convicted two years ago for endangering kids and hiding evidence of child sex crimes from police?

How can he ignore the fact that another of his peers – St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson – was accused weeks ago of evidence tampering in a case involving an arrested priest’s child sex crimes from last summer?

How can he ignore the fact that no other institution on the planet has such a long, extensive and well-documented history of ignoring, concealing and enabling sexual violence against girls, boys, teens and vulnerable adults than the Catholic church?

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

ARKANSAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, September 6, 2013

Little Rock clergy abuse victims meet this week
Organization works to “heal the wounded & protect the vulnerable”

A self-help group for men and women who were abused by clergy will hold a confidential support meeting in Little Rock next week.

The organization is SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. It is based in Chicago, claims 13,000 members and has been around since 1988.

“Victims, family members, and supporters are encouraged to attend,” said Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP’s outreach director. “Getting together in a private setting can help to start the healing of anyone who has been abused as a child or exploited as an adult.”

Sometimes, SNAP is perceived as an “activist” group, Dorris said. “But the bulk of what we do is to just listen and offer consolation – quietly and privately – to people who are in pain.”

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

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Virtue Online

by Chris Regnier
KTVI
Sept. 4, 2013

A north St. Louis church that was in a bitter legal fight for years with the St. Louis Archdiocese may be changing its denomination entirely.

St. Stanislaus Church could become part of the Episcopal church. The possible switch to the Episcopal church is laid out in a letter from Bishop Geroge Wayne Smith who leads the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri.

Bishop Smith’s letter to the clergy and church members say Episcopal Diocese of Missouri and St. Stanislaus Kostka are in discussions that could lead to the church “coming into union” with the Episcopal church.

Smith calls the news “exciting.” The letter says that St. Stanislaus could retain its Cherished Polish identity along with its practices and rites, or it could choose any or all of the liturgies in the Episcopal church.

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