ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED KINGDOM
International Business Times

By Hannah Osborne

December 21, 2012

A former vicar has been jailed for 12 years for abusing a teenage boy more than 20 years ago.

David Roberts, who served as a vicar in Taunton, was arrested in March after a man made allegations against him relating to an offences committed in the 1980s.

At the time of the offence, the victim was 13 years old. Roberts, 68, admitted two charges of indecent assault and three more serious sex offences.

He had served as the vicar at St John the Evangelist Church.

The attacks took place between 1985 and 1988. After the sentencing, DC Andrew Daw said: “This was an extremely sensitive investigation that has resulted in Roberts being jailed for a significant amount of time.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Wales Online

A vicar who carried out a string of sexual abuse offences on a teenage boy has been jailed.

David Roberts, of Taunton, committed the offences in the mid-1980s when he was the chaplain at a school in Somerset.

Taunton Crown Court heard how he befriended one teenage boy, allowing the victim to smoke and drink alcohol in his office, before paying the boy money to carry out sex acts.

Roberts, former vicar at a church in the area, admitted five counts of sexual offences, including indecent assault.

Judge Graham Hume Jones jailed Roberts for 12 years, telling him: “You were in a position of trust… you abused that trust.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A former vicar has been jailed for sexually abusing a teenage boy in the 1980s.

David Roberts, 68, of Taunton, pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual offences, including indecent assault.

Taunton Crown Court heard the abuse occurred when he was the chaplain at a school in Somerset.

Sentencing Roberts, former vicar of St John’s Church in the town, to 12 years in prison, the judge said it was a “gross abuse of trust”.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KTVI

KANSAS CITY, MO (KTVI) – A Webster Groves priest and attorney has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for his part in a 10-year Ponzi scheme. The U.S. Attorney says Martin T. Sigillito, 63, scammed more than 140 investors out of over $50 million.

The Ponzi scheme was known as the British Lending Program (BLP) and victims thought they were loaning money for legitimate real estate development projects in England but authorities say Sigillito and his partner, James Scott Brown, kept their money. The scam ran between 2000 and 2010.

Sigillito was an ordained priest and bishop in the church of the American Angelican Convocation and maintained an office in Clayton, Missouri for his business, Martin T. Sigillito and Associates, Ltd. but he didn’t have any staff working for him and did not have very many, if any, causes.

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NEW YORK
Times of Israel

Ronn Torossian

One would think that Torah education 101 would educate one that in order to be a good person, one would never turn a blind eye to child abuse.

Yeshiva University has a rich history as a leading institution teaching young Jews Torah and education – but they now are at a crossroads which could very well define the institution for many years to come. As the head of a crisis PR agency, I know well that The Forward’s ongoing investigation into sexual abuse allegations against two former staff members at a high school for boys run by Yeshiva University will not go away and needs to be addressed.

While YU has claimed they will investigate the matter, a new article was published Thursday which states that 14 men claim a teacher abused them. Undoubtedly, if so many accusations have only now been revealed, that many made the accusations so many years later, there are many more who don’t wish to come forward to be interviewed. This is a real issue which will not be swept under the carpet, as many in the religious community would prefer.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Paul Berger
Edited By Jane Eisner

Published December 20, 2012, issue of December 28, 2012.

After the Forward published an investigation into sexual abuse allegations against two former staff members at a high school for boys run by Yeshiva University, Y.U. issued an immediate statement and said that it would investigate. Later that day, Modern Orthodoxy’s official rabbinic association, the Rabbinical Council of America, said it was “deeply troubled” by the report and confident that the university was “equal to the task” of confronting “improprieties.”

But interviews with current and former staff members of Y.U. and with high-ranking RCA officials, as well as with several former high school students who say they were abused, indicate that Y.U. and the RCA have known about some of the allegations against at least one of the alleged abusers, Rabbi George Finkelstein, for a decade or longer.

The Forward has spoken to 14 men who say that Finkelstein abused them while he was employed at Yeshiva University High School for Boys, in Manhattan, from 1968 to 1995.

From the mid 1980s until today, however, Y.U. officials and RCA rabbis have dismissed claims or kept them quiet. Some of these officials allowed Finkelstein to leave the Y.U. system and find a new position as dean of a Florida day school without disclosing the abuse allegations. Later, an RCA rabbi and a Y.U. rabbi warned the Florida school that Finkelstein could be a threat. And when Finkelstein’s next employer, the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, asked whether the allegations that dogged him were true, Y.U. assured the synagogue that there was nothing to worry about.

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FLORIDA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on December 21, 2012

After reading details of this case, we are bracing for more victim-blaming and accusations that the two victims in this case had made up or exaggerated their claims against Darrel Vincent Moore. We urge those who want to support Rev. Moore to do so in private and avoid public displays of support that will only serve to intimidate victims and other potential witnesses.

Especially given the fact that others have claimed they were threatened with violence after speaking out against Moore, we hope that the judge in this case will err on the side of caution and rule in favor of protecting kids, not predators.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohesssy on December 21, 2012

A music teacher in Brooklyn has been arrested on charges he pressured a member of his teen choir into a sexual relationship.

We are glad that police have apprehended Vaughn McKinney. The fact that he would force a teenage girl into sex after she came to him for help with financial difficulties is extremely disturbing. We can only wonder how many other children at IS 59 Mr. McKinney abused.

Any sort of teacher-student “relationship” has an inherent power imbalance that makes it unhealthy. It’s always the teacher’s job to maintain appropriate boundaries. We hope that officials at IS 59 will look into other inappropriate behaviors by Mr. McKinney or any other school official.

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MICHIGAN
WXYZ

Feds say they arrested a former priest after he admitted to having child pornography on his computer

By: Tara Edwards

NOVI (WXYZ) – Federal agents said they have arrested a Novi man after he admitted to having hundreds of images of child pornography on his computer.

According to investigators, he was also distributing the material and it is believed the suspect is a former priest.

A lot evidence was seized from Timothy Murray’s Novi condominium Wednesday by Homeland Security Investigations agents right after a search warrant was obtained.

The 62-year-old went to the Novi Police Department to be interviewed, according to investigators.

Records state Murray admitted to having about 500 child pornography pictures and videos on his computer. According to police reports, Murray told investigators he prefers 13-year-old boys.
CXR

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CANADA
Times Colonist

Louise Dickson , Times Colonist December 20, 2012

Warning: This story contains graphic details.

Father Phil Jacobs’s trial for sexual offences against youths from the St. Joseph the Worker parish in Saanich has been adjourned until January.

Final submissions will be made Jan. 8 and 9 at his judge-alone trial in B.C. Supreme Court.

Jacobs, 63, who was parish priest at St. Joseph’s from 1997 to 2002, is charged with four offences against three youths. The offences include sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference with a person under 14 and sexual touching. The incidents are alleged to have occurred between September 1996 and June 30, 2001.

On the stand this week, Jacobs denied the charges against him. During cross-examination Wednesday, he conceded that his behaviour with two of the youths was not appropriate.

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WISCONSIN
National Catholic Reporter

by Marie Rohde | Dec. 21, 2012

ASHIPPUN, WIS. — Fr. David Verhasselt, then pastor of St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish in Oconomowoc, Wis., was apprehensive when the Milwaukee archdiocese’s vicar for clergy, Fr. Patrick Heppe, called in April 2010 to set up a meeting at the parish office.

“He would not tell me what it was about at all,” Verhasselt said, speaking publicly on the matter for the first time. “I had never had such a visit before and it was mysterious.”

Heppe, accompanied by Fr. Paul Hartmann, the archdiocese’s judicial vicar, told Verhasselt that he had been accused of breaking the seal of confession. In a scene similar to firings in corporate America, Verhasselt was told to collect his private belongings, leave the parish and not return. As he was walked from the building, he was told to have no contact with parishioners. Placed “on leave,” Verhasselt could not perform any of the functions of a priest.

“I was in shock,” Verhasselt recalled. “I told them I had never done such a thing.”

Deacon David Zimprich announced Verhasselt’s removal to stunned parishioners at a Saturday evening Mass a day later, on April 17, 2010. Others learned of it from a television newscast.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By YOAV GONEN, Education Reporter
Last Updated: 5:22 AM, December 21, 2012

This time he played the wrong tune.

A Brooklyn middle school music teacher and trumpet player bedded a teenage member of his wife’s youth choir — and even had sex with the girl while his wife was at church, officials said.

Vaughn McKinney, a teacher at IS 59 in Queens, was arrested Thursday morning on charges of rape and sexual misconduct, cops said.

The music teacher allegedly pressured the then- 16-year-old girl into a sexual relationship after she complained about needing a job because she didn’t have enough money to buy a phone.

McKinney not only bought the girl a cell phone and paid the monthly bills, according to city investigators, he also gave her an iPod, shoes from a SoHo boutique and cash — but with sleazy strings attached.

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NEW YORK
NY1

A Queens middle school teacher has been placed under arrest after allegations surfaced he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old.

In a report, the New York City’s Special Commissioner of Investigation says Vaughn McKinney, 58, met the girl through his wife’s church choir.

The report says McKinney bought cell phones for the girl, which he used to communicate with her, and also gave her money.

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NEW YORK
NBC New York

By Pei-Sze Cheng

Thursday, Dec 20, 2012

Parents and students at I.S. 59 in Jamaica, Queens were shocked to learn that longtime music teacher Vaughn McKinney was arrested for having a sexual relationship with an underage girl.

Investigators say McKinney met the girl through his wife who directs the East Flatbush Ecumenical Choir and that his victim was not a student of his.

According to a report by the Special Commissioner of Investigation, McKinney began having sex with the girl when she was 16. Investigators allege that McKinney had sex with the girl over a dozen times in 2011 and that the first encounter was in March of that year, when McKinney’s wife traveled out of town for a religious retreat.

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CHILE
El Mostrador

Cristián Riego
Profesor de Derecho U. Diego Portales

El proceso que la iglesia católica ha llevado contra Cristian Precht carece de las condiciones básicas que hoy se exigen universalmente para condenar a cualquier persona, aún aquellas que han sido acusadas de los delitos más aberrantes. Estas condiciones son las que permiten otorgar confiabilidad a las decisiones judiciales de condena, las que de otro modo son simples ejercicios arbitrarios del poder.

La información disponible es muy limitada y fragmentaria. De lo poco que es posible saber, parece claro que han existido restricciones importantes en el acceso a información mínima para ejercer su defensa; han existido fuertes limitaciones para conocer la identidad de sus acusadores y, consiguientemente, la especificidad de los cargos y los fundamentos detallados de la condena.

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VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

[with video]

December 20, 2012. (Romereports.com) The Vatican said it will also be tightening its belt to face the current economic crisis. The department tasked wit overseeing money matters within the Vatican, the Prefecture of Economic Affairs, announced new guidelines to help manage costs.

CARD. GIUSEPE VERSALDI
President, Prefecture of Economic Affairs
“With these guidelines, we are giving back, on behalf of the superior authority, the original role for the Prefecture of Economic Affairs, as was the will of Pope Paul VI.”

The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, signed the 34 point guidelines, which will go into effect right away. The measures aim to reduce costs in a gradual and effective manner. It also redefines the role of the Prefecture of Economic Affairs, in relation to other departments within the Vatican. Effective immediately, any of the prefecture’s caps on oversight and control are capped, and granted powers to administer costs.

MSGR. LUCIO ANGEL VALLEJO
Secretary, Prefecture of Economic Affairs
“We wanted to be clear, to have a truthful picture of the Holy See. To have not just two account balances, but four. They remain the same, the account balances for Vatican City, and the Curia. And we have two other realities that if we did not include in the account balances it wouldn’t show a truthful picture of the Church. Because it would appear that we don’t do any pastoral work, or any charity work. And that is not the case. The biggest account balance for the Holy See is its charity work. Its the money that the faithful send the Pope and that he distributes.”

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NEW YORK
CBS New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A Queens middle school teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl was arrested Thursday.

Vaughn McKinney, 58, met the alleged victim through a Brooklyn church choir his wife ran, officials said.

McKinney, who taught at IS 59, bought cell phones for the girl – which he used to communicate with her – and also gave her money, officials said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

LAUREN WILSON
From:The Australian
December 21, 2012

THE terms of reference for Labor’s royal commission into child sexual abuse are now unlikely to be finalised until early next year, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has conceded.

Julia Gillard had wanted the inquiry into how child sex abuse allegations have been handled by religious, community and state institutions established by the end of this year, so it could begin work in early 2013.

However discussions with the states and territories are understood to have delayed finalisation of the commission’s terms of reference.

“I think it’s more likely that in the very early New Year, we’ll be in a position to announce the final terms of reference and the commissioners,” Ms Roxon said today.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Federal Government says it will not finalise the terms of reference for the royal commission into child abuse until early next year.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has previously said the Government would release the terms of reference and announce the commissioners by the end of this year.

Ms Roxon now says the terms of reference will be settled in January.

She says the Government has decided there will be between three and five commissioners and a short list of candidates has been compiled.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

A leading child protection advocate group isn’t worried the federal government has delayed settlement of the terms of reference for a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse until next year.

The Labor government on Friday said while work was continuing to establish the commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, the terms of reference now won’t be available until January, instead of this month.

Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston told AAP while it would have been nice to have the terms of reference finalised before Christmas, the delay wasn’t an issue as long as the government got it right.

“There’s so much resting on this, we shouldn’t be rushing it,” she said.

“If they’re not happy, I’d rather it be delayed than to get it wrong.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

A DECISION on the terms of reference for the child sex abuse Royal Commission has been delayed until next year.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon yesterday said the terms, expected this month, would not be ready until January as consultation with states and territories following the December COAG meeting continued.

The government is still conducting due diligence on a short list for the three to five commissioner roles and expects to announce the appointments in the new year.

“More than 800 individuals and organisations have provided input into the Terms of Reference so far and I would like to thank everyone for their valuable contributions,” Ms Roxon said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Daily Examiner

MORE than 800 individuals and groups have made submissions as the Federal Government continues work on the make-up and terms of reference for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said the terms of reference for the royal commission, which was announced in November, would be settled in January.

Ms Roxon said the royal commission would issue its first report within 18 months of beginning its work.

The report may include early recommendations, as well as the commission’s recommendation for when the final report should be issued.

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FLORIDA
Florida Times-Union

The victims of his extremely intimate hugs, now 18 and 24, want Darrell Vincent Moore to spend the maximum 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious conduct on them when they were little girls.

But their family and leading members of the Jacksonville church the girls grew up in took Moore’s side Wednesday and asked Circuit Judge Adrian G. Soud to limit the 47-year-old defendant’s punishment to time served and probation.

The younger victim told the judge that the first “forced body contact” occurred in church when she was 12. The next time happened a month later when he hugged her to his lap.

“This defendant has taken my virtue and that of other little girls with no apology or expression of regret,” the 18-year-old woman read in a letter. “… Sitting in his lap was extremely wrong because I could feel his hands starting to roam to places of my body that nobody should be touching.”

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Three former players file lawsuit against Riverside Church for failing to protect them from alleged sexual predator Ernest Lorch

By Michael O’Keeffe / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, December 20, 2012

Ernest Lorch may be dead, but the legal battles sparked by allegations that he sexually abused his players live on.

Riverside Church officials knew or should have known that the founder of its prestigious basketball program was a sexual predator who abused children, a lawsuit filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court claims.

The suit, filed by three former players who say Lorch assaulted them on the church’s Morningside Heights campus and during team trips, alleges that church officials failed to properly supervise the Riverside Hawks founder, who died in May.

Lorch’s estate is also named as a defendant in the case.

The suit, filed by Byron Walker, Michael McDuffen and Sean McCray, says Riverside officials violated Title IX, the 1972 federal law best known for enforcing equality for women in collegiate sports. Title IX prohibits education programs that receive federal aid from engaging in sexual abuse and harassment. The suit, which also claims Lorch and the church violated the men’s civil rights, seeks unspecified damages.

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

A Brooklyn music teacher is accused of carrying on a two year sexual relationship with a teenage girl he met through his wife’s work as a youth choir leader at the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church. According to the Special Commissioner of Investigation, 57-year-old Vaughn McKinney started having sex with the unidentified victim when she was 16, luring her into bed with the promise of money and an iPhone. “If I get you the cell phone, you know what you have to do for it,” he allegedly told the girl.

In an ironic twist, the allegations of sexual abuse came to light only after a pastor at the church blew the whistle. Pastor Brian Pettrey went to the police, of course; according to the SCI report, the victim confided in the pastor about her relationship with McKinney, and the pastor then told her mother. He also called McKinney to warn him to stay away from the victim, and confiscated the cell phone. When the girl’s mother confronted her daughter about the relationship, she admitted to having sex with McKinney starting when she was 16 years old—often on the couch in McKinney’s basement while his wife was at church.

Also troubling is that the girl’s mother says she already knew about the relationship but didn’t do anything about it until others, like the pastor, caught on. According to the SCI report (below), “approximately two or three weeks earlier,” the mother had been contacted by McKinney’s wife Patricia McKinney, who requested an urgent meeting. They met at a restaurant, where Patricia McKinney showed the mother a phone invoice she’d found in her husband’s belongings with the daughter’s name on it, and demanded to know why her husband had the bill. It gets worse:

Several days after the first meeting, the mother contacted Patricia McKinney and arranged a second meeting; on that occasion, the mother informed Patricia McKinney about the sexual relationship her husband was having with Student A. Patricia McKinney left the restaurant, went to her car, and started to cry.

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NEW YORK
The Post-Standard

Investigation of priest’s nonprofit focuses on possible theft of funds and hiring of former state legislator who arranged grants

By James T. Mulder, The Post-Standard
on December 20, 2012

Syracuse, N.Y. — State and federal officials are investigating an alcohol and substance abuse nonprofit agency run by a Catholic priest that operates in Syracuse and other locations throughout the state.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today the former chief operating officer of 820 River Street, an arm of Peter Young Housing, Industry and Treatment, has been arrested and charged in Rensselaer County Court with embezzling at least $200,000 from the nonprofit over a four-year period.

Dennis Bassat, 53, of Middle Grove in Saratoga County, was charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of a forged instrument and falsifying business records. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment today.

Peter Young Housing, Industry and Treatment, PYHIT for short, was founded more than 50 years ago in Albany by Rev. Peter Young. The nonprofit has owned the LeMoyne Manor in Liverpool since 1998. It operates a jobs training school there for recovering alcoholics, drug addicts and other individuals. It also operates a residential program for people in recovery at 420 Gifford St. in Syracuse.

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MICHIGAN
The Detroit News

By Oralandar Brand-Williams
The Detroit News

Detroit — A former local Catholic priest has been arrested and charged with downloading child pornography.

Timothy Murray, a 62-year-old Novi resident and former pastor of St. Edith Parish in Livonia, appeared in federal court Thursday on the charges and was temporarily detained.

A detention hearing for Murray is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelson.

According to the federal charges against Murray, he was detected by undercover U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigators downloading pornographic pictures of naked young children engaged in sexual poses on his personal computer beginning in May and continuing through November. …

In 2004, Murray was removed from public ministry for the Archdiocese of Detroit on allegations that he was having sex with a minor. The allegations stemmed from an alleged incident that occurred more than 30 years ago.

Civil authorities chose not to investigate further because too much time had elapsed.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by Cindy Wooden,Catholic News Service | Dec. 20, 2012

Vatican City —
The Vatican’s new internal financial oversight procedures recognize that human beings can make mistakes, but that the Catholic church as a whole has an obligation to handle the money it receives with honesty and great care, said the head of the Vatican budget office.

Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, head of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, told reporters Thursday that the new regulations for his office and its oversight of the budgets of all Vatican offices were designed to ensure “the correct and transparent use of the temporal goods of the church.”

“It’s not that we don’t trust people,” he said, “but because as Catholics we recognize the existence of original sin,” so structures must be in place to correct errors “with charity in truth.”

The prefecture, established by Pope Paul VI in 1967, functioned mainly as the Vatican’s central accounting office, consolidating the budget forecasts and the year-end budget reports of Vatican offices.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Catholic Free Press

By William T. Clew

Father Lowe B. Dongor, 36, wanted on a charge of being a fugitive from justice, has been returned to the United States from the Philippines, where he had fled in October 2011 after being charged with possessing child pornography and larceny of more than $250 from St. Joseph Parish in Fitchburg.

He had turned himself in to authorities in the Philippines.

He was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department on the fugitive charge, according to Timothy Connelly, spokesman for the office of District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

Father Dongor waived his right to fight rendition and will be returned to Worcester soon, Mr. Connelly said. Father Dongor will face charges in Worcester Superior Court of possessing child pornography and larceny of more than $250.

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OHIO
Canton Rep

YOUNGSTOWN —

Starting Jan. 5, SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, will offer monthly confidential group support meetings in Northeast Ohio.

SNAP is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy-abuse victims. Founded in 1988, it has more than 12,000 members.

Victims of abuse and their family members are welcome to attend. For time and location, contact Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest associate director at 636-433-2511.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Washingtonian

Escalating tensions between an embassy official and long-time protestor lead to a police inquiry.

By Ariel Sabar

Published December 19, 2012

Last week marked a milestone of sorts for John Wojnowski, the longtime protestor outside the Vatican’s US embassy, who was the subject of a lengthy profile in the July issue of The Washingtonian. For the first time in his life, he complained to law enforcement about the conduct of a priest. Not the village rector in northern Italy who he says molested him in the summer of 1958, when he was 15 years old—but a balding, bespectacled clergyman at the Vatican embassy, who, Wojnowski says, trampled his sign in August and then spit in his face last week after Wojnowski asked his name.

A spokesman for the US Secret Service confirmed that the agency was investigating the complaint but said no more, citing the ongoing inquiry. The Apostolic Nunciature, as the embassy is officially known, did not respond to several requests for comment.

Over Wojnowski’s 15 years of nearly daily picketing outside the nunciature, relations between the retired ironworker and the inhabitants of the boxy stone building on Embassy Row have tended toward a kind of strained disregard. While Wojnowski occasionally calls out “Eccellenza”—or “Your Excellency”—at the sight of the Vatican ambassador, the better part of his hours are spent standing beside traffic on Massachusetts Avenue with signs critical of the Catholic Church, particularly its handling of cases of clergy child abuse.

In recent years, however, Vatican officials have shown growing pique over his use of their lawn to assemble and disassemble his sign, an 8-by-3-foot banner that reads “Catholics Cowards” and hangs from jerry-rigged mop handles that come apart to fit in his rucksack. A video taken on Wojnowski’s camera phone and uploaded to YouTube in 2011 depicts the late ambassador, or apostolic nuncio, Pietro Sambi, warning Wojnowski to keep his belongings off embassy grass. “Otherwise it will disappear,” Sambi warns in the video.

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CANADA
CBC News

The public inquiry into Indian residential schools is in court in Toronto today hoping to force the federal government to provide the records it wants.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission says the government has been dragging its feet, making it impossible for it to do its job.

The government says it has done its best to co-operate, providing one million documents already.

However, there appear to be as many as five million others.

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SCHWEIZ
Kipa

Sursee LU, 3.12.12 (Kipa) Die Initianten der Pfarrei-Initiative Schweiz haben sich am Freitag in Einsiedeln mit Abt Martin Werlen getroffen. Dankbar nehme man die von Werlen verfasste Schrift “Miteinander die Glut unter der Asche entdecken” zur Kenntnis, teilte die Sprechergruppe der Pfarrei-Initiative am Montag mit. Die Broschüre des Abtes, der die katholische Kirche der Schweiz derzeit in einer “dramatischen” Situation sieht, hatte im November für viel Aufsehen gesorgt.

In Titel und Text der Schrift habe man viele verwandte Anliegen gefunden, schreibt die Sprechergruppe weiter. So habe man den “Wunsch nach dem Feuer”, die Sorge um die Glaubwürdigkeit der Kirche und die Achtsamkeit für die Herausforderungen der Gegenwart als gemeinsame Anliegen in den Thesen der Pfarrei-Initiative und der Schrift des Abtes erkannt.

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SCHWEIZ
Kipa

Von Josef Bossart / Kipa

Zürich, 11.12.12 (Kipa) Die österreichische Internetzeitung kath.net wollte mit Abt Martin Werlen ein “sachbezogen-kritisches Interview” führen über dessen viel beachtete Publikation “Miteinander die Glut unter der Asche entdecken”, die Anfang November erschienen ist. Doch daraus wurde nichts. Kürzlich hat kath.net deshalb bloss die Fragen veröffentlicht – mit dem Hinweis, der Abt habe die schriftlich abgegebene Interview-Zusage nicht eingehalten. – Ausgewählte Auszüge aus dem diesbezüglichen Mailverkehr zwischen Werlen und kath.net.

In der Redaktion von kath.net hätten sich drei ausgebildete Fachtheologen mit Werlens Schrift befasst und während mehreren Stunden “genau durchstudiert”, liess Chefredaktor Roland Noé Abt Martin Werlen am 28. November per E-Mail wissen. Auch habe man “einigen anderen Theologen und Professoren das Schreiben vorgelegt, die unsere Einschätzung, auch bei den Fragen, teilen”.

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SWITZERLAND
National Catholic Reporter

by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt | Dec. 20, 2012

Vienna —
A fiery appeal for church reform by an influential Swiss abbot has attracted widespread attention throughout Europe, and has, moreover, been welcomed by the future president of the Swiss bishops’ conference.

Fifty-year-old Abbot Martin Werlen, leader of the Abbey of Einsiedeln and himself a member of the Swiss bishops’ conference, first voiced his appeal in a sermon on the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council in October. The sermon was later published in a 39-page brochure that sold out within three days and is now in its third edition.

Titled “Discovering the Embers Under the Ashes,” it echoes remarks by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini in his last interview before his death Aug. 31. Referring to the state of the church today, Martini spoke of his sense of powerlessness and how Catholicism’s “embers” were “hidden under the ashes.”

Werlen said he is alarmed by the present state of the church. “The situation of the church is dramatic, not only in the German-speaking countries,” he said. “It is dramatic not only because of the rapidly decreasing number of priests and religious or because of plummeting church attendance. The real problem is not a problem of numbers. What is missing is the fire! We must face the situation and find out what is behind it.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Talk to Action

Frank Cocozzelli

Sun Dec 09, 2012

The well-connected conservative culture warrior, Robert W. Finn, still leads the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri more than three months after being convicted of failing to report suspected child abuse. This has led to a growing unease inside and outside of the Church that the problems that led to shocking child sex abuse scandals and high level coverups, are far from over.

The New York Times recently reported:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In the three months since Bishop Robert W. Finn became the first American prelate convicted of failing to report a pedophile priest, lay people and victims’ advocates have repeatedly called for his resignation.

Now, recent interviews and a private survey by a company working for the Roman Catholic diocese here show for the first time that a significant number of the bishop’s own priests have lost confidence in him.

But of course Finn still has his defenders, including one conservative priest who said, “Yes, there is a divide in the presbyterate, but in my opinion it’s the same old tired divide that has existed from the day he arrived.” He added, “In a word, some of the priests wish that we had a more liberal bishop, and they are willing to use any means to achieve that end.”

And then of course, there is the ever-full-of-bluster, Catholic League president, William Donohue.

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DELAWARE
WDEL

By Associated Press

A federal judge has ruled that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington can make pension or charitable payments to priests who’ve committed sexual abuse.

The News Journal reports that U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson has struck down a provision of the settlement between the diocese and abuse survivors that prevented such payments. That means the diocese can pay the pensions of abuser priests if it chooses.

The ruling was made in an appeal brought by former priest Kenneth Martin. The diocese filed legal arguments opposing Martin’s appeal.

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UNITED KINGDOM
AO Advocates

Posted by: A.Dean on Dec 20 2012

On 14 December, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) announced a new advertising campaign that will seek to prevent sexual abuse of children by encouraging people to report child abuse to the NSPCC, even if people are only suspicious or concerned for a child’s welfare without being completely certain that sexual abuse is occurring. The campaign takes a welcome focus on correcting the misconception that child sexual abuse is a scourge of the past, rather than an ongoing and sadly consistent part of our society.

The timing of the NSPCC’s new push to raise awareness of child sexual abuse as a current problem is apt, given how prominent historic child abuse has been in recent months and weeks. Last week Commander Peter Spindler, the senior police officer in charge of handling the investigation into the sexual assaults committed by Jimmy Savile, discussed the huge scale now uncovered of Savile’s alleged activities, once again grabbing headlines and turning stomachs. Savile stands accused of committing 31 rapes against people, the vast majority of them children, in various places across the country. 450 people in total have levelled allegations against him. And by pulling on the Savile thread, the police have unravelled a sordid network of people who, in one form or another, were tied into abuses, either as enablers or perpetrators themselves.

But recent news of historic abuse does not stop there. Another breaking story since early December has been the case of serial sexual abuse of young boys at St Ambrose College in Hale Barns, a top Catholic boys’ school. On 5 December, the Manchester Evening News revealed that police were investigating allegations from five boys who claimed they were molested by teachers at the school. The allegations covered a period of some 30 years, from the 1960s to the 1980s. Police began to ask for other victims to come forward; as of last week an additional 20 people, all “Old Boys” of St Ambrose College who are also possible victims and witnesses, have stepped forward. The ring of alleged abusers has further widened as a result.

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CANADA
Times Colonist

Jeff Bell, Times Colonist
December 19, 2012

Warning: This story contains graphic details.

Crown prosecutor Clare Jennings peppered Father Phil Jacobs with questions Wednesday, hammering away at his alleged sexual activities.

The 63-year-old Jacobs has been charged with four offences linked to boys, including two counts of sexual interference involving a person under 14, one count of sexual assault and one count of touching a young person for a sexual purpose.

The charges stem from incidents that allegedly occurred from September 1996 to June 2001.

Jacobs served as parish priest at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Saanich from 1997 to 2002.

Since taking the stand Monday afternoon, Jacobs continued to use a firm, confident tone to deny the charges against him.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
scroteau@telegram.com

The Roman Catholic priest wanted by authorities in Worcester for allegedly possessing child pornography and stealing from his Fitchburg parish was taken into custody in Los Angeles recently and will be brought to Worcester, authorities said.

The Rev. Lowe B. Dongor, 36, was brought to Los Angeles from the Philippines, his home country.

Records from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department show Rev. Dongor was arrested Dec. 10 by Los Angeles police. He is being held without bail in a Los Angeles correctional facility. He is to appear in a Los Angeles court Wednesday.Timothy J. Connolly, spokesman for the Worcester district attorney’s office, said Rev. Dongor agreed not to fight rendition, but no time has been set for his return to Worcester.

“Our office is in the process of making arrangements to bring him to Worcester Superior Court,” Mr. Connolly said.

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INDIA
Zee News

Moga (Pb): Police have registered a case against a priest of Duneke village here on charges of attempting to rape a 12-year-old girl of the same village.

Patwinder Singh, who is a Granthi in a village Gurdwara, allegedly tried to rape the minor girl last evening, police said.

Shaminder Singh, the girl’s father in his complaint, alleged that Patwinder had caught the girl outside her home and was stopped before he could commit the crime.

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NEW YORK
Thomson Reuters News & Insight

By Jessica Dye

NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Two insurers are seeking a court order relieving them from paying the legal costs of a Brooklyn prep school accused in a civil lawsuit of covering up allegations of child sex abuse.

The lawsuit, unsealed Tuesday, was filed in Brooklyn federal court against Poly Prep County Day School and current and former administrators.

The lawsuit stems out of another lawsuit initially filed in 2009. The plaintiffs include 10 former students and two men who, while still underage, attended the school’s summer camp. They claimed they had been abused by Philip Foglietta, a football coach at the school from 1966 to 1991. No criminal charges were ever brought against Foglietta, who died in 1998.

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UNITED STATES
Reuters

By Angus MacSwan

London | Thu Dec 20, 2012

(Reuters) – Ray Mouton was a successful young lawyer in Lafayette, Louisiana, respected in the community and blessed with a loving family, when he received a call from a vicar in the Roman Catholic diocese for a lunch meeting on a fateful day in 1984.

The diocese asked him to defend an errant priest, accused of abusing dozens of children in a rural community. Mouton reluctantly agreed to take on the task.

What followed over the next few years was the uncovering of an institution riddled with pedophile priests on a national scale and efforts at high levels in the Catholic Church to hide the problem away.

For Mouton, it meant the end of his law career, health problems, and anger, depression and guilt.

After many years of writing from his self-imposed exile in France, he finally tells his story in the novel “In God’s House”. It is a harrowing read laden with sickening detail, but also for Mouton, a work of atonement.

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FITCHBURG (MA)
Sentinel and Enterprise

By Michael Hartwell, mhartwell@sentinelandenterprise.com
senlandenterprise.com
Posted: 12/20/2012

FITCHBURG — A Fitchburg priest who fled to the Philippines last year after being accused of possessing child pornography and stealing from his parish is expected to be brought back to Massachusetts soon.

Timothy Connolly, spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., said the Rev. Lowe Dongor was caught by authorities in his homeland of the Philippines and was extradited to Los Angeles, where he was arrested on Dec. 10. Dongor was arraigned on charges of child-pornography possession and larceny over $250.

Connolly said details are slim at this time, but Dongor waived his right to contest being sent back to Massachusetts and authorities are currently working out the logistics for his return.

“It’ll be soon,” said Connolly.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WHTM

By Myles Snyder

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) –
An Enola man who was a volunteer youth leader at a Dauphin County church has been charged with additional counts of child sexual abuse.

Joshua Mitchell Markelwitz, 26, is now accused of having a year-long sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, according to court documents.

He initially was arrested November 30 on allegations he sexually abused a 15-year-old girl in her home, in his car, and at the Charlton United Methodist Church where he was a volunteer youth leader.

According to the criminal complaint, Markelwitz had sexual intercourse with the 17-year-old on numerous occasions, used his cell phone to record a sexual act with her, sent her at least one nude photograph of himself, and provided her with alcoholic beverages.

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UTAH
Daily Herald

A former employee of the Mormon church has pleaded guilty to sexual offenses involving two children.

Court records show 43-year-old Timothy Bothell accepted charges of attempted aggravated sexual abuse and lewdness involving a child.

The Centerville man took a plea deal Tuesday in 2nd District Court.

Court records accused Bothell of exposing his genitals to a pair of girls and fondling one of them last year.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Times Herald

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A volunteer church youth leader already accused of having sexual contact with a teen he met through the church is facing additional child sex abuse charges.

Twenty-six-year-old Joshua Markelwitz was already jailed on charges including rape of a child and aggravated indecent assault when authorities in Dauphin County accused him of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and recording a sex act on his cellphone.

WHTM-TV reports Markelwitz was arraigned Friday and held on $100,000 bail on the newest charges.

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ILLINOIS
KSIM

A Southern Illinois pastor charged with having a sexual relationship with a minor will get a new fitness hearing! 74-year-old Billy Vandergraph of Alto Pass was arrested in July 2010. He is charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and two charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Police contend he committed two sexual acts with a 4-year-old girl between January and May 2010. Vandergraph underwent a treatment plan and the judge ruled in April 2011, he is fit to stand trial. Judge Mark Boie in July ordered a new fitness hearing to determine if he is willing or able to cooperate with his lawyer. Vandergraph’s jury trial has been pushed back several times due to questions about his mental competency. A new court hearing will take place February 4th.

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VIRGINIA
WJLA

[with video]

A priest is accused in Fairfax County of sexually abusing a man at the Saint Bernadette Parish in Fairfax County.

The alleged victim reported in November that Father Luis Fernando Franco Henao, 40, sexually assaulted him in February. Henao turned himself in to police Wednesday. He is charged with sexual battery.

After he was processed by police, Franco was released.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington said Franco no longer practices or teaches at Saint Bernadette.

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DELAWARE
The News Journal

WILMINGTON — A U.S. District judge has struck down a provision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court settlement between the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and survivors of priest sexual abuse that prevented the diocese from making any pension or charitable payments to abuser priests.

The ruling by U.S. District Jude Sue L. Robinson, in an appeal brought by former priest Kenneth Martin, clears the way for the diocese to make those payments if it so chooses.

Priest sex abuse survivor John Vai said on Wednesday that he was outraged.

“This is a left hook,” said Vai. “This is unbelievable.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Times Leader

Terrie Morgan-Besecker

Dec 18

SCRANTON – A former Holy Redeemer football coach will serve 25 years in prison under a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors relating to charges he enticed numerous people, including minors, from at least 13 states to engage in sexually explicit behavior over the internet.

Joseph Ostrowski of Wilkes-Barre has agreed to plead guilty to charges of production and attempted production of child pornography, extortion and cyber stalking, according to a plea agreement filed today in federal court.

Ostrowski was arrested in May after authorities said he posed as a female on Facebook to trick a male Wilkes-Barre teenager into emailing nude photos of himself, according to an arrest affidavit. He then used the images to try to extort the teen into sending more photos.

A new complaint filed Tuesday indicates he was taking part in similar conduct over a six year period that involved victims from across the United States.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Sentinel

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — An ex-high school football coach in northeastern Pennsylvania has agreed to plead guilty to charges he produced child pornography.

Federal authorities say that 28-year-old Joseph Ostrowski enticed minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct that he transmitted electronically. A separate criminal complaint from Michigan says he tricked people into sex acts over Skype and then sent the images to others on Facebook.

Federal prosecutors say his victims came from Pennsylvania, Michigan and 12 other states.

Ostrowski agreed Tuesday to plead guilty to producing and attempting to produce child pornography, interstate extortion, and cyber stalking. The agreement calls for a sentence of 25 years in prison. It requires a judge’s approval.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Citizens Voice

By Michael R. Sisak (Staff Writer)

Published: December 19, 2012

Former Holy Redeemer head football coach Joseph J. Ostrowski agreed Tuesday to plead guilty and serve 25 years in federal prison for producing child pornography and engaging in what U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith called the “sextortion” of youths in more than a dozen states.

Ostrowski, 28, of Wilkes-Barre, “persuaded and tricked” computer users into “engaging in sexually explicit acts” that he viewed over Skype, the video chat service, according to one of two indictments returned against him earlier this year.

Ostrowski extorted and attempted to extort nude photographs, images and live transmissions of sexual conduct from those online encounters and transmitted images through hacked Facebook accounts, federal prosecutors said.

The plea agreement Tuesday encompassed that indictment, returned in August in Michigan, and a May indictment in Pennsylvania that charged Ostrowski with threatening extortion and producing and attempting to produce child pornography.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

More Pain From Pennsylvania: Former Coach Engages in Internet Sextortion, Reaching Victims Across the Country

Jeffrey R. Anderson | 2:48 PM
This week, Joseph Ostrowski, the former head football coach at Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, pled guilty to producing child pornography. The U.S. Attorney charged with prosecuting the case said that Ostrowski engaged in “sextortion” of his victims by tricking them into sexual acts that he viewed over video chat. Ostrowski then shared the sexual conduct and pictures via Facebook.

“Sextortion” is loosely defined as “a form of sexual exploitation that employs non-physical forms of coercion to extort sexual favors from the victim.” Like extortion, sextortion is the abuse of power through coercion, but seeks sexual acts from the victim in exchange for some sort of favor. Sextortion is not itself a crime but it is federally prosecuted under statutes for extortion, sexual assault, and child pornography.

The 28-year-old Ostrowski engaged in sextortion and the production of child pornography beginning in 2006. He targeted children and adults in 13 different states including Pennsylvania, New York, California, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, and Minnesota.

Ostrowski was the head football coach at Wilkes-Barre High School, in the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, during the 2011-2012 school year. The Diocese suspended him when he was arrested in the weight room of the school in May 2012. He will likely serve 25 years in prison.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
scroteau@telegram.com

The Roman Catholic priest wanted in Worcester on charges of child pornography possession and stealing from his Fitchburg parish was taken into custody in Los Angeles recently and will be brought to Worcester, authorities said.

Lowe B. Dongor, 36, was brought to Los Angeles from the Philippines, his home country.

Timothy J. Connolly, spokesman for the Worcester District Attorney’s office, said Rev. Dongor agreed not to fight rendition, but no time for his arrival here in Worcester has been set.

“Our office is in the process of making arrangements to bring him to Worcester Superior Court,” Mr. Connolly said.

Mr. Connolly said Los Angeles police picked Rev. Dongor up when he arrived in the United States. He did not know what day the arrest occurred.

According to the Inquirer Visayas newspaper, Rev. Dongor was flown to the United States Monday evening.

”I am so sorry. I want to apologize to all the people … for all the damage I have done to you, to the church, and to myself,” Rev. Dongor told the Inquirer.

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VIRGINIA
CBS DC

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Va. (CBSDC) – A Catholic priest has been charged with the sexual battery of an adult in Springfield on Wednesday.

Police say Father Luis Fernando Henao, 40, is charged with sexual battery of an adult male in an incident that occurred back on Feb. 2, 2012.

On Nov. 30, the victim reported he was sexually assaulted at Saint Bernadette Parish in the 7600 block of Old Keen Mill Road while seeking support and guidance from the suspect, when the same man touched him inappropriately.

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VIRGINIA
Fairfax News

Fairfax County Police have arrested a priest from the Springfield area on a charge of sexual battery.

Police said Father Luis Fernando Franco Henao, 40, was charged in connection with an incident that allegedly occurred on February 2, 2012.

The victim reported on November 30, 2012 that he was sexually assaulted at Saint Bernadette Parish at 7600 Old Keene Mill Road while seeking support and guidance from the suspect, who allegedly touched him inappropriately.

Franco Henao turned himself over to police detectives on Wednesday, December 19, 2012. He was processed and released.

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VIRGINIA
WTOP

WASHINGTON – A Catholic priest has turned himself in to police after allegedly sexually assaulting an adult male at his parish.

Father Luis Fernando Franco Henao, 40, has been charged with sexual battery.

The incident took place on Feb. 2 at Saint Bernadette Parish in Fairfax County, Va. after the victim approached Henao while seeking “support and guidance” from the priest, authorities say. He was touched inappropriately, but didn’t report it to police until Nov. 30.

Henao turned himself in Wednesday.

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VIRGINIA
WUSA

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Va. (WUSA) – A Catholic priest is charged with the February 2, 2012 sexual battery of an adult male, according to police.

The victim reported the incident on Nov. 30. He said that he was sexually assaulted at Saint Bernadette Parish at 7600 Old Keene Mill Road. At the time the victim was seeking support and guidance from the suspect when the suspect allegedly touched him inappropriately.

Franco Henao turned himself over to police detectives on Dec. 19 when he was processed and released.

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UNITED STATES
Catholics for Choice

“ The most unhappily and inappropriately named society on the planet”

INTRODUCTION
The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) claims that its mission is “to help renew and strengthen Catholic identity in Catholic higher education,” but there are many clergy, staff at Catholic universities, students and laypeople who don’t recognize themselves in the organization’s vision of Catholic identity. Some, like the National Catholic Reporter, have pointed out the striking contrast between Cardinal Newman the man and the society that bears his name: “the most unhappily and inappropriately named society on the planet.”

The Cardinal Newman Society devotes its energy to pointing out supposed breaches of dogma within Catholic universities, engineering negative publicity primarily by instigating letter-writing campaigns and posting online petitions. America magazine criticized the society’s “watchdog tactics” for employing a negative rather than positive definition of Catholicism — that is, it aims to prune away perceived deviations from orthodoxy, rather than cultivating a Catholicism that is something more than mere conformism. …

KEY FINDINGS

The Cardinal Newman Society:
• Incorrectly portrays itself as a voice for all Catholics, when its views are substantially to the right of all but the most conservative members of the hierarchy;
• Uses the threat of negative publicity to target schools, calling on them to cancel speakers or dismiss faculty;
• Depicts a Catholic higher educational system that is threatened by heretics in order to justify its narrow worldview and strong-arm tactics;
• Fosters a contentious environment in which instructors and administrators fear they must choose between policing or being policed; and
• Makes judgments on the basis of a short checklist of issues, such as reproductive rights and LGBT rights, rather than encompassing the wealth and depth of Catholic teaching.

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VIRGINIA
Washington Post

By Justin Jouvenal

A Springfield priest was charged with sexually assaulting a man who had come to him for guidance in February, Fairfax County police said.

Father Luis Fernando Franco Henao, 40, of Saint Bernadette Parish, turned himself over to authorities on Wednesday, police said. He is facing a count of sexual battery.

Franco Henao allegedly inappropriately touched a 29-year-old man on the parish grounds on Feb. 2, after the man came to him seeking support, police said.

The victim reported the crime at the end of November. Franco Henao was processed and released on Wednesday. Police declined to release further details about the case.

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ILLINOIS/DELAWARE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on December 19, 2012

It’ll be a merry Christmas for a convicted child molesting Catholic priest. He gets to keep both his secrets and his pay. For the second time this month, a judge has ruled in favor of Fr. Kenneth Martin. First, he was allowed to keep his personnel records private. And yesterday, he was awarded his paycheck.

Both decisions come from a federal court after the Diocese of Wilmington’s bankruptcy plan had been heard in bankruptcy court. Though he worked twice in Chicago (in 2003 and 2008), Fr. Martin is originally from Delaware. In 2001, however, he pled guilty in Maryland to molesting a boy.

Now that the facts won’t come out in court, Chicago Catholics deserve to hear the whole story about this recklessness from the Cardinal himself. Sadly, it’s more likely that he will keep quiet and the full truth will remain hidden.

In February 2003, the Chicago Sun Times disclosed that Martin “has stayed at the cardinal’s mansion on North State Parkway about one week a month since last May.”

In the wake of the controversy, George publicly promised Fr. Martin “won’t be coming back to Chicago.” But in 2008, even after the Vatican barred him from presenting himself as a priest, the Sun Times again found Fr. Martin working for the archdiocese.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Read the story

(by Jerry Slevin, retired Wall Street lawyer)

As the world still mourns deeply for the innocent victims of the Newtown, Connecticut grade school massacre, and as President Obama tried sadly on Sunday to console those directly affected, promising to act decisively to protect children better, President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Jack Lew, later on Sunday reportedly strongly condemned as well, as President Obama did in August, sexual violence against children in organizational settings.

As countless people thankfully are now urging President Obama to act to curtail gun violence especially involving children, please help to urge President Obama also to act decisively now as well to curtail the widespread sexual violence against children in organizational settings.

Please take a moment and click on and sign the White House petition to curtail organizational sexual violence against children accessible at:

http://wh.gov/5aAQ

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CANADA
Saanich News

By Edward Hill – Saanich News
Published: December 19, 2012

Warning: The following story contains graphic testimony of a sexual nature that could be upsetting to some readers.

Phillip Jacobs vigorously denied that he molested male students at St. Joseph the Worker church, but admitted he needs to be mindful of “compulsions” that led to sexually abusing young men in Ohio decades ago, during continued testimony Tuesday in Victoria Supreme Court.

Jacobs, 63, under guidance of defence lawyer Chris Considine, refuted testimony of the three young men who told the court last week that the former parish priest engaged in episodes of molestation and sexual touching at the Saanich church more than a decade ago.

After becoming parish priest of St. Joseph the Worker, Jacobs admitted that “due to my own past history” he opted to limit his interactions with the adjoining Catholic elementary school. “I had the most limited relationship with a school I ever had as a priest because I chose to,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

Thank you to everyone for making 2012 the best year ever for TheMediaReport.com – now in its ninth year! Our readership continues to grow dramatically, thanks to you. We are very grateful!

We figured we would close out the year with a look at our most compelling posts of the past twelve months. It has been an eventful year!

#10 SHOCK STORY: Notorious Church-Suing Lawyer Obtained Clients by Phoning Parishioners and ‘Fishing for Victims’

A number of observers have long looked with skepticism upon California’s high-profile, Church-suing lawyer John Manly. Therefore, it was not surprising to see that Manly openly admitted to Sue Nowicki at The Modesto Bee newspaper that that his office has obtained clients for abuse lawsuits by making unsolicited phone calls to Catholic Church parishioners.

The story was a shocker, indeed.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Catholic Free Press

Father Lowe B. Dongor, 36, wanted on a charge of being a fugitive from justice, has been returned to the United States from the Philippines, where he had fled in October 2011 after being charged with possessing child pornography and larceny of more than $250 from St. Joseph’s Parish in Fitchburg. He had turned himself in to authorities there.

He was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department on the fugitive charge, according to Timothy Connelly, spokesman for the office of District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

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WORCESTER (MA)
NECN

December 19, 2012

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest who was indicted in Massachusetts on child pornography charges is in custody in Los Angeles.

A spokesman for the Worcester District Attorney’s office says Lowe Dongor, who is also accused of stealing from his former parish in Fitchburg, is being held as a fugitive and could be returned to Massachusetts shortly.

A grand jury handed up indictments in March charging the Rev. Lowe Dongor with possession of child pornography and larceny of more than $250.

The DA’s spokesman, Tim Connolly, said Dongor was recently brought to Los Angeles from his native Philippines, where authorities believed he had fled. Connolly had no other details on the arrest but said Dongor had agreed to be returned to Massachusetts.

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WASHINGTON
Columbia Basin Herald

By Lynne Lynch,
Herald managing editor

MOSES LAKE – A visiting priest from Mexico, who died in the 1980s, is believed to have abused four boys, ages 7-13, in the Moses Lake Catholic parish in the early 1970s.

The Yakima Diocese is now asking possible victims to come forward and report the abuse by calling the diocese’s confidential abuse hotline at 1-888-276-4490, according to a statement issued Monday by the diocese.

The accused priest is the late Rev. Hilario Ramirez. He stayed with at least two families when visiting Moses Lake in the early 1970s and allegedly abused the four children. Two of those have since died.

Ramirez was originally invited to Our Lady of Fatima parish in Moses Lake by a parishioner who met him in Dilley, Texas. At the time, Ramirez was a guest priest in Texas and the parishioner believed Ramirez’ ministry could be of use in Moses Lake.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
scroteau@telegram.com

The Roman Catholic priest wanted in Worcester on charges of child pornography possession and stealing from his Fitchburg parish was taken into custody in Los Angeles recently and will be brought to Worcester, authorities said.

Lowe B. Dongor, 36, was brought to Los Angeles from the Philippines, a location law enforcement officials suspected he might have fled to because it is his home country.

Timothy J. Connolly, spokesman for the Worcester District Attorney’s office, said Rev. Dongor agreed not to fight rendition, but no time for his arrival here in Worcester has been set.

“Our office is in the process of making arrangements to bring him to Worcester Superior Court,” Mr. Connolly said.

Mr. Connolly said Los Angeles police picked Rev. Dongor up when he arrived in the United States. He did not know what day the arrest occurred.

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VATICAN CITY
GlobalPost

The Vatican is reining in the progressive leadership of American nuns, which has led to a global clash over the future of the Catholic church.

Jason Berry
December 18, 2012

VATICAN CITY — Sister Pat Farrell and three other nuns crossed St. Peter’s Square through the fabled white columns, paused for a security check and entered the rust-colored Palace of the Holy Office.

It was April 18, 2012, and on entering the palazzo, they were aware of its history, that in this same building nearly 400 years earlier Galileo had been condemned as a heretic by the Roman Inquisition for arguing that the earth orbits around the sun.

Today, the palazzo houses the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Vatican office that enforces adherence to church teaching. As president of Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), Sister Farrell and her executive colleagues had an appointment with the prefect, Cardinal William Levada, about a CDF investigation of their group by the forces that control the Vatican, who viewed the nuns as somehow going ‘off the reservation.’

They were walking into what Hans Küng, the internationally renowned theologian who had his own battles in the palazzo, calls “a new Inquisition.”

On the 50th anniversary of the reform-driven Second Vatican Council, the nuns were accused of undermining church moral teaching by promoting “radical, feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.” To many nuns, the CDF action is a turn toward the past, causing a climate of fear and a chill wind reaching into the lives of missionary leaders.

The Vatican wants control of the LCWR, an association of 1,500 superiors, representing 80 percent of American nuns. Most of the sisters, long active in the front lines of social justice, dispensed with their black habits and traditional jobs, like teaching school, after Vatican II.

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GERMANY
GlobalPost

Küng sees the Vatican’s attempt to rein in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious as “medieval.”

Jason Berry
December 18, 2012

TÜBINGEN, Germany — Fifty years ago in this medieval city with its steep hills and the sprawling campus of one of Germany’s great universities, Hans Küng and Joseph Ratzinger were priests and theology department colleagues.

Emerging out of the University of Tübingen, Küng and Ratzinger were the youngest and most influential progressives to advise bishops in Rome at The Second Ecumenical Council, or Vatican II, which began in the fall of 1962.

When Vatican II concluded in 1965 it unleashed an historic movement in the church toward greater engagement in the daily lives of People of God, as the council documents called rank and file believers. A new sensibility for justice and individual rights arose in the church that would grow to 1 billion Catholics worldwide, with missions of activism in many of the poorest countries on earth.

Back in Tübingen, Küng, a native of Switzerland, and Ratzinger, who had grown up in the Nazi darkness of his native Germany, soon found themselves at odds over the sweeping changes in the church, and a theological debate that would echo across Europe and the global church.

Now on the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, Küng, an internationally renowned scholar, and Ratzinger, known as Benedict XVI since his election as pope seven years ago, are even more at odds. Of the many issues that divide them, Küng sees the attempt to rein in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious as a sign of myopia, a failure of vision.

“You cannot deny that Joseph Ratzinger has faith,” says Küng, in a coat and tie, seated in his office, speaking in calm tones in the blue twilight. “But he is absolutely against freedom. He wants obedience.”

“He is against the paradigm of Vatican II.” Küng pauses. “He has a medieval idea of the papacy.” …

Küng sees the clergy abuse crisis and the crackdown on the leadership council of American nuns as symptoms of a pathological power structure. By his lights, the impact on church moral authority, and finances, is a crisis rivaling the Protestant Reformation.

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MISSISSIPPI
Clarion-Ledger

By Ruth Ingram ringram@clarionledger.com

December 19, 2012

A Clinton man who admitted to “sexual indiscretions” with male children in Mississippi and Texas in the 1980s will face trial, and the state’s statute of limitations doesn’t prevent that, a judge ruled.

Circuit Judge Bill McGowan heard arguments Tuesday on John Langworthy’s defense motion that too much time has passed for the former Clinton High choir director and church music minister to face felony gratification of lust charges.

Langworthy was music minister at Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton before his arrest in September 2011. An eight-count indictment charges him with sexually molesting five boys between April 1980 and December 1984, with the alleged abuse occurring at the boys’ Jackson homes, Langworthy’s sister’s home in Jackson, or in Langworthy’s dorm room at Mississippi College.

Clinton police charged him with two counts of gratification of lust; Jackson police charged him with six.

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CANADA
Sooke News Mirror

By Staff Writer – Sooke News Mirror
Published: December 19, 2012

Father Philip Jacobs, 62, now on trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Victoria on charges of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference of a person under 14 and touching a young person for a sexual purpose, was first sent to St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church because it would limit his access to children. Jacobs was assigned to the Sooke church in 1995 and spent two years as the parish priest of the small church along Sooke Road.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria knew of allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” with a young male in Ohio. The admissions show allegations of sexual misconduct were made against Jacobs when he was ministering in the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. No criminal charges were laid or civil suits filed as a result of the Ohio allegations.

The current charges come from incidents alleged to have occurred in Saanich between 1996 and 2001. Jacobs was arrested Aug. 4, 2010 and released on $25,000 bail.

An alleged victim of a former Saanich priest testified Tuesday that Phil Jacobs molested him a number of times more than a decade ago, while attending St. Joseph the Worker Catholic School on Burnside Road West.

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BELGIE
De Standaard

BRUSSEL – De speurders mogen de gegevens die ze op 24 juni 2010 in beslag namen in het aartsbisschoppelijk paleis en de woning van kardinaal Danneels in Mechelen dan toch niet gebruiken.

‘De huiszoekingen van 24 juni hebben de rechten van verdediging op onherstelbare wijze geschonden. De openbare macht werd die dag op willekeurige wijze aangewend én het Europees verdrag voor de Rechten van de Mens werd geschonden. Dat schrijft de KI.’

Volgens Fernand Keuleneer, de advocaat van het bisdom en van kardinaal Danneels, is de Brusselse Kamer van Inbeschuldigingstelling (KI) zeer scherp geweest in zijn arrest over de huiszoekingen bij kardinaal Danneels, algemeen bekend als operatie Kelk.

Operatie Kelk was de codenaam die de federale politie had gegeven aan een reeks huiszoekingen op 24 juni 2010 in het onderzoek naar schuldig verzuim door de kerkelijke autoriteiten bij de behandeling van seksueel misbruik in de kerk. De speurders vielen onder meer binnen in het aartsbisschoppelijk paleis, bij kardinaal Danneels thuis en in de Sint-Romboutskathedraal in Mechelen.

Twee en een half jaar later blijkt dat allemaal voor niets te zijn geweest. De huiszoekingen bij Adriaenssens werden al eerder nietig verklaard. Nu besliste de KI dat geen enkel van de stukken en gegevens die op die dag in beslag werden genomen, gebruikt mogen worden in het onderzoek omdat de speurders hun boekje te buiten zijn gegaan.

Het was al de vierde keer dat een KI in een gewijzigde samenstelling zich over deze zaak moest buigen. ‘Theoretisch kunnen het federaal parket en de advocaten van de slachtoffers ook tegen dit arrest nog cassatieberoep aantekenen. De kans dat daar gronden voor zijn, is echter bijzonder klein.

De beslissing van de KI is een zware klap voor het onderzoek. Maar of het onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik nu helemaal dood en begraven is, zal moeten blijken. Het federaal parket liet in januari vorig jaar een reeks nieuwe huiszoekingen uitvoeren bij de bisdommen. Die blijven geldig, net zoals de verhoren van de bisschoppen.

Er dreigt wel nog ander onheil voor het onderzoek. In februari moet de KI controleren of het dossier onherstelbare schade heeft opgelopen doordat minstens 445 pv’s en andere documenten uit het dossier verdwenen zijn.

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BELGIE
De Standaard

De voorzitter van de kamer van inbeschuldigingsstelling (KI) die zich op 5 februari buigt over de zaak van de verdwenen processen-verbaal uit het onderzoeksdossier Operatie Kelk, het gerechtelijk onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik binnen de katholieke kerk, trekt zich terug uit de zaak.

Walter Van Steenbrugge, advocaat van een aantal slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik binnen de Kerk, vond de magistraat niet objectief en had een verzoek tot wraking ingediend.

Van Steenbrugge meent dat de magistraat partijdig kan zijn omdat hij al eerder is tussengekomen in het dossier.

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BELGIE
Kerknet

BRUSSEL (KerkNet) – De Kamer van Inbeschuldigingstelling (KI) bij het Hof van Beroep te Brussel heeft zich vandaag opnieuw uitgesproken over Operatie Kelk. In een scherp en heel uitgebreid gemotiveerd arrest beslist de KI (voor de derde keer) dat alles wat op 24 juni 2010 in beslag werd genomen in het aartsbisschoppelijk paleis en in de woning van kardinaal Godfried Danneels te Mechelen, uit het strafdossier verwijderd moet worden. De Kamer van Inbeschuldigingstelling is van oordeel dat de openbare macht op willekeurige wijze werd aangewend en dat de rechten van de verdediging op onherstelbare wijze zijn geschondenn. Onder meer het Europees Verdrag voor de Rechten van de Mens werd hierbij met voeten getreden. Verder omschrijft de KI de operatie op 24 juni als een “fishing expedition”.

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BELGIE
Knack

Alle stukken en voorwerpen die door onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy werden in beslag genomen in het aartsbisschoppelijk paleis en in de kantoren en de privéwoning van kardinaal Danneels in Mechelen, moeten uit het onderzoeksdossier verwijderd worden en neergelegd op de griffie van de Brusselse rechtbank van eerste aanleg. Dat heeft de Brusselse kamer van inbeschuldigingstelling beslist. Meester Fernand Keuleneer, advocaat van het aartsbisdom Mechelen en van kardinaal Danneels, toont zich zeer tevreden met het arrest.

Eerder werd al beslist dat die huiszoekingen onwettig en dus nietig waren. Die huiszoekingen, op 24 juni 2010, kaderden in Operatie Kelk, het gerechtelijk onderzoek dat de Brusselse onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy voerde naar seksueel misbruik van kinderen en een mogelijke doofpotoperatie daarrond binnen de katholieke Kerk. Drie verschillend samengestelde KI’s beslisten achtereenvolgens dat die huiszoekingen onregelmatig waren, vervolgens dat ze perfect wettelijk waren en ten slotte dat
ze toch onregelmatig waren.

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BELGIE
De Standaard

BRUSSEL – Alles wat door onderzoeksrechter De Troy in beslag genomen werd in het aartsbisschoppelijk paleis en in de kantoren en de privéwoning van kardinaal Danneels in Mechelen, moet uit het onderzoeksdossier verwijderd worden en neergelegd op de griffie van de Brusselse rechtbank van eerste aanleg. Dat heeft de Brusselse kamer van inbeschuldigingstelling beslist. Eerder werd al beslist dat die huiszoekingen onwettig en dus nietig waren.

De huiszoekingen vonden plaats op 24 juni 2010 en kaderden binnen ‘Operatie Kelk’. Dat is het gerechtelijk onderzoek dat Brussels onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy voerde naar seksueel misbruik van kinderen en een mogelijke doofpotoperatie daarrond binnen de katholieke Kerk. Drie verschillend samengestelde KI’s beslisten achtereenvolgens dat die huiszoekingen onregelmatig waren, vervolgens dat ze perfect wettelijk waren en ten slotte dat ze toch onregelmatig waren.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

A papal pardon for Paolo Gabriele is near. But the cardinals Herranz, Tomko and De Giorgi have gone on with their full-scale investigations

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

Benedict XVI received their Emminences Cardinals Julian Herranz, Josef Tomko and Salvatore De Giorgi in an audience today. The event as barely given any focus at all in today’s Vatican Press Office Bulletin, squeezed in between the audience with the Italian Olympic committee and with Palestinian leader Abu Mazen. What is the significance then of the Pope’s meeting with the commission of three cardinals set up to investigate the Vatileaks scandal? Readers will recall that the three cardinals presented their first report on the case to the Pope last July. The report contained the results of a number of examinations carried out in utmost secrecy. From these, it emerged that the Pope’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele was responsible for the Vatican document leak – he confessed to and was eventually charged with stealing and distributing confidential documents belonging to Benedict XVI. The examinations also gave a clear picture of the climate in which the Vatileaks scandal developed.

It is not unlikely that one of the issues discussed during the meeting was the potential papal pardon for Paolo Gabriele. Some sources say he could be granted a pardon in time for Christmas, which would allow the Pope’s former butler who is currently being held in a Vatican prison cell, to spend the holidays with his family. The Pope wished to make it clear that a pardon was not a given, particularly as the interested party had not demonstrated complete awareness of the gravity of his offence. The written explanation of how the verdict against Paolo Gabriele was reached, stated that his crime was a “reprehensible” violation of trust that damaged the Pope himself and the rights of the Holy See, the Vatican City state and the entire Catholic Church. At the same time, however, the judges stated they believed he had acted in good faith for the benefit of the Church, not in order to harm it. The same conclusion seems to have been reached by the cardinals as well.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Vatican Secretary of State shares his thoughts at the presentation of the new Regulations governing the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See

Alessandro Speciale
Rome

The Vatican’s financial transparency issue has more to do with the crisis than with the Vatican document leak scandal: the Holy See must proceed in “the gradual, but effective, reduction of costs in the face of a continuing inability to increase revenues,” the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told employees of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See in a speech this morning.

The Regulations – which will be presented officially to the press next Thursday – were in fact promulgated last 22 February and were probably prepared long before that date. In the face of the global crisis, “the Holy See”, must also proceed in “the gradual, but effective, reduction of costs in the face of a continuing inability to increase revenues at least in proportion to the deficits as recently recorded in the consolidated balances,” Bertone said.

In actual fact, the Holy See’s balance sheets have seen fluctuations in recent years but it was only in 2011 that it came dangerously close to being in the red, with a deficit of almost 15 million Euros. It should be stressed, however, that after reaching a peak of 253 million Euros in 2009, the Holy See’s revenues have been gradually decreasing, while last year expenses went through the roof, increasing by 30 million Euros in 2011 alone. As a result, dioceses across the world were asked to make an extra big effort to gather an unlikely five million Euros more than the previous year. Even the Vatican bank, the IOR, had to reduce its contributions from a maximum of 55 million to 49 million Euros.

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AUSTRALIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

[Catholic university approved research into paedophile clergy – The Canberra Times]

Posted by Nicky Davis on December 18, 2012

Once again, evidence surfaces that Catholic officials deliberately hid known and suspected child sex crimes from law enforcement officials. It’s particularly disturbing, however, that academics played a role in this reckless deception.

No one should ever underestimate how shrewd and determined Catholic officials are in keeping a lid on this horror, under a range of often-innocuous sounding pretenses.

We strongly suspect that church officials were- and remain – far more interested in keeping crimes secret than in understanding criminals’ psyches.

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CANADA
Times Colonist

Jeff Bell , Times Colonist December 19, 2012

Warning: This story contains graphic details.

The presentation of evidence in the B.C. Supreme Court trial of Father Phil Jacobs is expected to wrap up today.

Jacobs, who is charged with four sexual offences involving boys while he was working as a Roman Catholic priest, spent all of Tuesday on the stand after beginning his testimony Monday afternoon.

The 63-year-old Jacobs is accused of offences against three boys between September 1996 and June 2001.

He was parish priest at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church from 1997 to 2002.

Much of Jacobs’s testimony in the judge-alone trial has been in response to questioning from defence lawyer Chris Considine.

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INDIA
Albany Tribune

Written by UCAN

December 18, 2012

The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council yesterday dismissed a priest after police filed human trafficking charges against him.

Father Jaison Kollannur, who was secretary of the Kerala bishops’s council youth commission, was charged last month as part of a ring of five people who allegedly tried to traffic 42 young Indians to Houston, Texas, under the pretext of attending a student exchange program which ended in June.

“The accused, including the priest, faked certificates to support that 42 persons were experts working in the education sector,” said Amose Mammen, assistant commissioner of the police Crime Records Bureau in Kochi.

Fr Kollannur will also face an internal probe by the bishops’ council following his dismissal, said Kerala council spokesman Stephen Alathara.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

[with audio]

SALLY SARA: Queensland’s peak child protection body is calling for the Federal Government’s child sexual abuse inquiry to employ multiple commissioners rather than just one.

The Federal Government is finalising the terms of reference for the inquiry by the end of this year.

PeakCare says the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse needs more Commissioners to cope with the scale of the investigation and ensure it doesn’t take longer than necessary.

The organisation’s call to broaden the inquiry’s scope is backed up by South Australia’s Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent, who wants disability issues to be properly investigated and expressly referred to in the terms of reference.

Nance Haxton reports.

NANCE HAXTON: PeakCare represents more than 70 child protection bodies in Queensland.

The not-for-profit group has written a submission to the Federal Government asking that the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse consider having more than one commissioner.

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VATICAN CITY
Chiesa

VATICAN CITY, December 19, 2012 – At the upcoming feast of Epiphany, Benedict XVI will consecrate as bishop, together with other prelates, Monsignor Georg Gänswein, his personal secretary since 2003, recently appointed prefect of the pontifical household.

Gänswein will keep his previous position, and will continue to live in the pontifical apartment. This signifies that, after the tempest of Vatileaks and the conviction of the butler Paolo Gabriele, Benedict XVI – with a gesture that seems to have no precedent – has confirmed, or rather redoubled, his trust toward his closest coworker.

In effect, looking at the latest pontificates, no churchman had ever taken on the positions of personal secretary and prefect of the pontifical household. With John Paul II, in fact, his personal secretary Stanislaw Dziwisz was made only “adjunct” prefect, and appointed bishop in 1998 at the age of 59, to be elevated in 2003 to the dignity of archbishop.

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UTAH
KUTV

By Ladd Egan
(KUTV) Followers of imprisoned polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs have been told to prepare backpacks of necessities as part of a doomsday prophesy for this Sunday.

“By December 23rd it’s going to have ended,” said former FLDS member Isaac Wyler of the prediction. “Warren was talking about the Yellowstone Nation Park blowing.”

Jeffs, 56, is serving a life sentence in Texas on convictions of sexually assaulting two underage girls. Behind prison bars he still issues edicts and leads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. …

Wyler said he’s heard it all before: “it’s just Warren whipping them up into another frenzy to gather money.”

And when the end doesn’t come? Wyler said Jeffs will still be right and blame his followers for not having enough faith for it to happen.

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NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand

A Kaitaia businessman and foster parent charged with abusing young boys will remain in jail over Christmas.

Daniel Taylor, who was an elder in the Mormon Church and a Child Youth and Family caregiver, is facing 22 charges of sexual assault on boys.

He applied for electronic bail on Wednesday in the Kaitaia District Court, but Judge John McDonald refused it. He says Mr Taylor is facing serious charges involving children, including one who had been in his custody.

He said the police evidence was that Mr Taylor had shown a careful and devious mind in grooming boys for sexual offending by gaining the trust of their families.

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TENNESSEE
The Tennessean

Written by
Bob Smietana
The Tennessean

A judge has dismissed most of the claims in a lawsuit filed against Bishop Joseph Walker III of Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

Former church member Valencia Batson had sued Walker, Mt. Zion and several other ministers earlier this year for alleged sexual abuse.

Church leaders have called the allegations ridiculous in the past.

Walker’s attorneys argued that the statute of limitations had passed for most of Batson’s claims and that some of the other claims in the suit were improperly filed.

Court documents show that the last time Walker and Batson had physical or verbal contact was in January 2005. Any claim of sexual abuse had a one-year statute of limitations.

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AUSTRALIA
Hills News

A report into the Catholic Church’s management of sexual abuse allegations made against a former priest who was connected to the Parramatta and Armidale diocese has been handed to NSW Police.

The church commissioned the report by Anthony Whitlam QC after allegations were made that information about the priest, known as Father F, was not acted on.

The report deals with Father F’s sacking from the ministry in 2005 and what happened during a meeting between Father F and senior Catholic figures in 1992.

The Armidale diocese has denied Father F made admissions when he met Sydney priests Father Lucas and Monsignor Usher Sydney in 1992.

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OHIO
The Columbus Dispatch

By JoAnne Viviano
The Columbus Dispatch
Tuesday December 18, 2012

An advocacy group is asking the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus to step up efforts to reach possible abuse victims after a priest on trial in Canada testified that he engaged in inappropriate sexual activity with boys while working in central Ohio decades ago.

Media outlets in British Columbia report that the Rev. Phillip Jacobs, 63, testified before a judge in Supreme Court in Victoria that he took at least three teen boys on overnight trips in Ohio intending to introduce them to masturbation.

According to the Saanich News, Jacobs told Justice J. Miriam Gropper on Monday that “the goal was for the person to become normal with this physiological act under my direction.”

“I would ask them what they know about their bodies … whether they were curious … eventually, if I could get some sense of curiosity, I would ask, ‘How much do you trust me? Can I explain it?’” he said.

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MISSISSIPPI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Amy Smith on December 18, 2012

We are grateful that the case against Rev. John Langworthy will move forward. Delaying or denying the trial would only have endangered kids and hurt victims.

To better safeguard kids, we urge Mississippi lawmakers to reform or repeal the state’s archaic, predator-friendly statute of limitations so that in future cases, there will be no doubt whatsoever that those who assault kids will face justice, no matter how effectively they may have hidden their crimes or intimidated their victims.

Now, more than ever, anyone who may have seen, suspected, or suffered sex crimes at the hands of Rev. Langworthy should come forward and make a report to police. Children are safer when predators like Langworthy are behind bars.

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SAN ANTONIO (TX)
KSAT

A priest who spent time in the Archdiocese of San Antonio has been accused by at least four boys in Washington state of molestation.

David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he is concerned that the Rev. Hilario Ramirez may have abused victims in Texas as well.

SNAP leaders are calling on San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller to reach out to others who may have been allegedly abused by Ramirez.

“The Archbishop has the most resources available to him to find others in the San Antonio area who may have been hurt by Ramirez. If he’s serious about protecting his flock, he’ll use all of them to reach out to victims,” Clohessy said.

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IRELAND
RTE News

A 79-year-old former priest has been given a four-year suspended sentence for sexually assaulting a pupil at a Co Wexford school in the 1960s.

The former priest pleaded guilty to eight counts of gross indecency against a boy who was 14 at the time the incidents started.

Wexford Circuit Court heard the accused assaulted his victim at night 12 to 14 times over a two-year period.

His victim told the court by way of a victim impact statement that it had taken him decades to go to the authorities.

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DELAWARE
ABC 27

Posted: Dec 18, 2012 7:02 PM

By RANDALL CHASE
Associated Press
DOVER, Del. (AP) – A federal judge has ruled in favor of an ex-priest who challenged a ban on future payments to accused pedophile priests as part of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington’s bankruptcy plan.

Judge Sue Robinson ruled Tuesday that the bankruptcy judge went too far in refusing to confirm the diocese’s reorganization plan unless it prohibited payments to priests publicly identified by the late Bishop Michael Saltarelli as child abusers. 1 of those priests, Kenneth Martin, challenged the ban on benefit payments.

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CHILE
Radio Universidad de Chile

La ministra Gloria Ana Chevesich, conocida por una dedicada investigación en el polémico caso MOP-Gate, asumiría como ministra de fuero en las tres demandas por abusos sexuales en contra del párroco de El Bosque, Fernando Karadima.

Esto surge luego que el magistrado Juan Manuel Muñoz, nominado en primer orden para esta investigación, es uno de los posibles ratificados desde el Senado para asumir en la Corte Suprema, lo que abre la vacante para que Chevesich tome la indagación.

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INDIA
U.S. Catholic

By Catholic News Service

COCHIN, India (CNS) — The Catholic Bishops’ Council of Kerala dismissed the secretary of its youth commission, who has been charged as part of a human trafficking ring.

Father Stephen Alathara, spokesman for the council, also said Nov. 17 it would conduct an investigation into the priest’s activities, reported the Press Trust of India.

In November, police included Syro-Malabar Father Jaison Kollannur as part of a five-person ring that allegedly tried to traffic 42 young Indians to Houston under the pretext of attending a student exchange program.

The Asian church news agency UCA News said the five, including Father Kollannur, faked certificates to say the Indians were experts in education.

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MISSISSIPPI
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

A Mississippi judge ruled Dec. 18 that the state’s statute of limitations does not prevent prosecution of a former Southern Baptist music minister charged with molesting five boys in the early 1980s.

Hinds County Circuit Judge Bill McGowan rejected a motion to dismiss an eight-count indictment against John Langworthy, associate pastor of music and ministries at Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton, Miss., prior to his arrest in September 2011.

After turning down a plea bargain, Langworthy is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 28 on eight counts of gratification of lust, but according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, the impending holidays might necessitate a new date. Originally put on the docket for April 2, the trial has already been postponed three times while Langworthy is out of jail on $700,000 bond.

In August 2011, Langworthy confessed to the Morrison Heights congregation of “sexual indiscretions with younger males” prior to coming to Clinton 22 years earlier. After that, prosecutors say six victims came forward to report they had been molested by Langworthy when they were children.

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

White House Chief Of Staff Condemns Alleged YU Child Sex Abuse Coverups, Says Response To Child Sex Abuse Must “Transcend The Confines Of Religious Teaching”

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Jacob Lew, and Orthodox Jew and the White House chief of staff, received an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University Sunday night at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.

But Yeshiva University was rocked late last week by allegations that it had covered up years of ongoing child sexual abuse at its affiliated high school in Manhattan during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Its former president, Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, who now serves as YU’s chancellor, admitted to allowing accused sexual abusers and faculty who had homosexual affairs to leave quietly and teach elsewhere without notifying the new schools of the abuse or the affairs, and said the allegations of abuse were not as important to him or the university as the university’s then-financial crisis was.

Lamm is accused of personally covering up the abuse of teenage boys.

So is Richard Joel, YU’s current president, who was allegedly asked to undo the coverups by a victim when he was hired about a decade ago. Joel allegedly did nothing then, although he sharply condemned the alleged abuse and apologized for it after the allegations were made public last week.

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SAN ANTONIO (TX)
Express-News

By Abe Levy

Updated 2:29 pm, Tuesday, December 18, 2012

A visiting priest from Mexico — who spent time in the San Antonio archdiocese and is believed to have died in the 1980s — molested four Washington state boys in the early 1970s, Catholic officials there say.

The Diocese of Yakima reported Monday that it received credible evidence that Father Hilario Ramirez molested four boys ages 7 to 13 while staying with two families from Our Lady of Fatima Parish in east-central Washington.

He was there for several weeks as a visiting priest invited by a victim’s family member who had met him in the South Texas town of Dilley, the Yakima diocese said.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church is the only parish in Dilley and is part of the San Antonio archdiocese. A call to that parish seeking comment was not returned Tuesday.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie

THE Australian Catholic University approved a highly sensitive research project to analyse archives detailing child sexual abuse by clergy and to identify common themes in their behaviour.

The project, titled ”Sexual Boundary Violations Among Catholic Religious”, was conducted by staff of Encompass Australasia, which was established by the Catholic Church in 1997 to treat clergy for psycho-sexual disorders. Many of those clergy were never reported to police.

To comply with national laws governing human research, Encompass Australasia was required to get approval from an institution with a human research ethics committee.

Fairfax Media has previously reported how Encompass Australasia was used by senior church figures to harbour paedophile clergy who had been diagnosed with ”mood disorders” in order to be treated at Sydney’s Wesley Private Hospital and meet private health insurance criteria.

It is understood that no clergy treated by Encompass Australasia were ever reported to police, despite some admitting to sexually abusing children and others facing serious accusations. In some cases, known paedophile clergy were sent overseas after being treated by Encompass staff at the Sydney hospital.

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