ABUSE TRACKER

CHILE
Terra

El abogado de las familias denunciantes de los casos de abusos sexuales en el colegio Cumbres, Ciro Colombara, dijo que la única sanción que cabe hacia el establecimiento es la cancelación de su autorización de funcionamiento. Esto luego que elestablecimiento perteneciente a la congregación de los Legionarios de Cristo, que suspendió al sacerdote John O’Reilly por denuncias de abusos sexuales, recibió una multa de 36 millones de pesos por parte del Ministerio de Educación a causa de una serie de irregularidades entre las que destacó la ausencia de privacidad en los baños, lo que afecta la dignidad de alumnos y alumnas.

Ante tal situación,menciona Cooperativa, Colombara afirmó que “en su momento se habló de que las sanciones podían llegar incluso a la cancelación de la autorización de funcionamiento. La gravedad de los hechos que todos conocemos hace suponer que obviamente esa debería ser la sanción”.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Tribune-Democrat

— Another sad and shocking news report about child sexual abuse made its way onto one of our front pages last weekend.

Like us, our readers, too, must be asking, what is going on? These senseless, sick criminal acts are happening all too frequently across our region.

And the case to which we now refer involves a longtime spiritual leader, a priest in the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese.

The priest, the Rev. George Koharchik, 63, has been relieved by the diocese of his duties at a Huntingdon County parish. It has been alleged that he sexually molested “young boys” at a parish in Cambria County more than 30 years ago.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

[with video]

By Maria Miller

CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. —

It was last Friday that Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese told prosecutors in Cambria County that he had received allegations involving one of their priests. He said George Koharchik may have abused a number of children possibly as far back as 30 years ago.

Barchak removed Koharchik from his position at St. Catherine of Siena in Mount Union. He is not facing charges because there haven’t been any alleged victims that have come forward. 6 News reporter Maria Miller talked with prosecutors on Tuesday to find out why they’re not actively seeking the alleged victims.

The diocese said the allegations come from a time when Koharchik was in Cambria County, but said it does not plan to release the names of any churches where the abuse may have occurred.

“The alleged abuse happened so long ago that we are trying to be very mindful that this is a tough situation for all involved,” said Tony DeGol, secretary for communications for the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. “We certainly don’t want to put that parish community in the spotlight unnecessarily.”

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NEW YORK
Huffington Post

Michele Somerville

I wasn’t surprised to read this morning that the conduct of Democratic power broker Assemblyman Vito Lopez has finally landed him in hot water. I have been paying careful attention to Lopez, mostly in the context of his alliance with the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens. (I write opinion pieces about the Church and I worship in DiMarzio’s diocese. See “Bishop DiMarzio May Not Want Your Lunch Money…” on Huffington Post. ) Nicholas DiMarzio and Vito Lopez have long been (to put it aptly) “thick as thieves.” So tight are Lopez and DiMarzio that in 2009, the latter was willing to play fast and loose with the tax law that prohibits tax-exempt churches from electioneering. DiMarzio recorded endorsements of Lopez and these were transmitted throughout Lopez’s election district as “robocalls” just before Election Day in November of 2009. (See “Heaven-Sent Robocalls…” in the November, 2009 NY Post.)

Vito Lopez has lobbied at DiMarzio’s behest, to block the passing of A5488, Assemblywoman Marge Markey’s Child Victims Act, which DiMarzio opposes on the grounds that it would bankrupt Roman Catholic dioceses. (The Child Victims Act will expand, slightly, the statute of limitations for reporting incidents of sexual assault perpetuated by adults against children.) Lopez et al have been successful in preventing the passage of A5488, and Bishop DiMarzio has expressed his appreciation by campaigning for Lopez’s political protégés within his diocese.

Maybe now that the bishop’s man in Albany is out of commission, A5488 will become law, allowing victims of juvenile sexual assault to be better able to seek just outcomes.

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BELGIE
Trouw

Belgische seminaristen, aspirant-priesters, gaan tijdens hun priesteropleiding leren hoe ze seksueel misbruik tegen moeten gaan. Ook een cursus ‘omgaan met kinderen’ staat op het programma. .

Dat meldt de Belgische bisschoppenconferentie in het Vlaamse dagblad Het Laatste Nieuws. Een groep psychiaters, bisschoppen en vertegenwoordigers van katholiek onderwijs onderzoekt momenteel op welke manier de bestrijding van seksueel misbruik het beste in het curriculum opgenomen kan worden.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on August 28, 2012

In a ruling yesterday, the California Court of Appeal ruled that if a victim of child sexual abuse received counseling from the Catholic Church during the time that victim had an active statute (2003, or earlier, depending on the case), that victim may have new civil rights to seek justice, expose their perpetrator, and get accountability in the courts.

It’s complicated to explain, but this ruling opens the doors for victims who received counseling in 2003 (when California had a civil window for older cases of abuse), but didn’t file a case, because they didn’t know about the law, were confused, or thought that church officials had their best interests at heart. In some cases, the church cut off victims’ counseling completely as soon as the window closed.

Many victims thought that the church was really trying to help them, when instead, officials were just trying to keep them placated until their civil rights ran out. Because of that, predators were able to escape justice, and valuable evidence about sex abuse and cover-up was hidden from public view.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By SHARON OTTERMAN

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York has accepted an invitation to deliver the closing prayer at next week’s Democratic National Convention, following through on a promise that he made when accepting the same role at the Republican convention.

His appearance before the Democrats in Charlotte, N.C., which was announced Tuesday by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, may lead to one of the most intriguing tableaus of this convention season. Cardinal Dolan, an opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage who is among the Catholic bishops suing the Obama administration over its contraception health care mandates, will bless a gathering of thousands of delegates who passionately disagree with him.

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NEDERLAND
de Gelderlander

ZEVENAAR – In het Juvenaat in Zevenaar heeft zich aan het eind van de jaren vijftig seksueel misbruik voorgedaan. Dat zegt een nu 67-jarige inwoner van Portugal, die destijds als jongetje aan de zorg van de Broeders van Maastricht in Zevenaar toebedeeld was.

De man heeft aan de landelijk opererende stichting Klokk laten weten nog steeds traumatische ervaringen te ondervinden van het misbruik. Klokk komt op voor slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de katholieke kerk. De organisatie heeft dit weekend op haar site een oproep geplaatst aan lotgenoten om zich te melden.

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HAWAII
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on August 28, 2012

‘Ohana can come from the most unlikely of places.

I went to Hilo, Hawaii last week for a single reason: Expose priest George DeCosta, who has been accused of abuse by two youth and former students at Honolulu’s Damien Memorial School. De Costa is now living in Volcano, a town about 20 miles outside of Hilo, where he went after Honolulu Bishop Francis DiLorenzo forced him to retire in 2002.

DeCosta spent 30 years as pastor at St. Mary Gate of Heaven – now Malia Puka’O Kalani – parish. When he was forced out – in the midst of a massive priest shortage – the parish was left without a permanent priest. He was also forced to retire the same year, 2002, that Catholic clergy sex abuse “reforms” forced bishops across the country to remove child-molesting clerics.

Now, DeCosta is the pastor of a religious “community” in Volcano and travels the country with a national group called Music Ministry Alive. Within the past week, DeCosta’s photo and bio have been taken off of the website.

I went to the small Malia Puka’O Kalani Parish not quite knowing what to expect.

I stood outside for less than 5 minutes before a man came up to me and said, “Are you the whole rally?”

“Yeah,” I told him. “It’s just me. Hope it’s not disappointing”

“We’ve been waiting to talk to you. Please, come back and sit.”

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LOUISIANA
San Antonio Express-News

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — A former Lake Charles Catholic priest has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of child sex abuse.

The American Press reports (http://bit.ly/cseYHv ) 56-year-old Mark Broussard didn’t speak during a short hearing on Monday in which he was arraigned on two counts of aggravated rape; three counts of molestation of a juvenile; two counts of aggravated oral sexual battery; two counts of aggravated sexual battery; and one count of sexual battery.

His attorney, Tom Lorenzi, entered the plea on his behalf. Broussard is set to go to trial Feb. 4.

Broussard served at Our Lady Queen of Heaven from 1986 to 1988 and at St. Henry from 1988 to 1992. The abuse is alleged to have occurred at both churches. Broussard is accused of abusing three boys between 9 and 13 years old between 1986 and 1991.

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TEXAS
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

A Texas Baptist pastor urged his congregation to shine a light on sexual abuse, which he says occurs much more frequently than most people believe, even in churches.

Gary Morgan, pastor of Cowboy Church of Ellis County in Waxahachie, Texas, said in a recent sermon that sexual abuse carries damage beyond the physical and emotional.

“It makes a hole in the soul that can’t be fixed, and I didn’t understand this until just lately,” he said. “Over the last couple of months, maybe the last three or four months, we have just had a run on people who have been either sexually abused or raped, all kind of things like that, and it’s been an eye-opener to me.”

Morgan said in his July 29 sermon that statistics say that one out of every three girls is abused at some point in her lifetime. “Based on my experience, I think for this church, that’s a very optimistic figure,” he said. “I think the numbers are quite a bit higher among us.”

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Steven A. Krueger.
President, Catholic Democrats

When John F. Kennedy was asked during the 1960 presidential campaign whether he wanted to either meet with a group of nuns or bishops on a tightly scheduled day, he was said to have replied, “The nuns I’ll see. But not the bishops, they all vote Republican.”

In retrospect, those seem like the good ole days of the Church.

Today, at a time when a divided Catholic Church is still in need of healing, particularly as a result of the clergy sexual abuse crisis, a new predicament has emerged: the bishop Republicanization crisis, most recently characterized by the U.S. bishops focus on the contrived issue of religious liberty at the expense of their advocacy for the record numbers of people living in poverty. This crisis is defined by the degree to which many of the U.S. bishops have allowed their political affiliation with the Republican Party to effect their pastoral responsibilities. In the last week, it has been thrust onto the national stage again with efforts by Cardinal Timothy Dolan to insinuate himself into both parties’ political conventions.

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IRELAND
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

Very few priests speak publicly about their horrifying ordeals of being falsely accused of child sex abuse, but Rev. Eugene Boland is doing so after a jury in Derry, Ireland, unanimously found him not guilty in June of the flimsy claim that he had somehow “inappropriately touched” a girl over two decades earlier.

The verdict brought an end to what the priest now calls “the darkest two years of my life.”

From “a priest’s worst nightmare” to victory

On March 31, 2010, Fr. Boland received the phone call that every priest fears. His bishop was on the line, and he told him to contact the diocese’s child safeguarding leader the next day.

“That was a bleak day,” Boland told the Irish Independent. “It just came out of the blue … I was shell-shocked. I’m sitting in my home on my own. I didn’t know what the allegation was, or who was making it.”

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the news that Timothy Cardinal Dolan will give benediction at the Democratic National Convention (DNC):

Over the past week, Cardinal Dolan has been hammered by liberals for accepting an invitation to give benediction at the Republican National Convention (RNC). Now that he will close both conventions, they look even more foolish. Here’s a sample of what Dolan’s critics have said.

Andrew Sullivan called Dolan “The Republican Party Cardinal.” The Boston Herald’s Margery Eagan called him an “opportunist.” Mike D’Antonio at the Huffington Post accused Dolan of “leading the bishops in a partisan direction.” John Gehring of Faith & Public Life said he was “baptizing the Republican nominee.” Mike O’Loughlin at America accused him of “being a shill for the GOP.” The National Catholic Reporter said Dolan was “playing a dangerous game.” Sarah Posner at Salon said Dolan’s acceptance “solidifies a partisan partnership between the GOP and the Bishops.” Niall O’Dowd at the Irish Voice said his presence “is a dog whistle to all Catholics out there to support the GOP candidates.” And the Los Angeles Times editorialized that Dolan has “placed his imprimatur” on the Republican strategy.

The fundamental difference between Cardinal Dolan and these critics comes down to one thing: he is a man of principle and they don’t know how to spell the word. He invited President Obama to the Al Smith Dinner, knowing he would receive flak from some on the right. Then he agreed to speak at the RNC, knowing he would be blasted by some on the left. Now he has accepted an invitation to speak at the DNC and none of his critics—on both the left and the right—can figure him out.

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CALIFORNIA
NBC Bay Area

By Chris Roberts
Tuesday, Aug 28, 2012

This is no China Camp of Eden.

A Marin priest is in trouble with the law, after allegedly exposing himself to undercover officers at China Camp State Park, according to the Marin Independent Journal.

Rev. Feliciano Torres Mofan, 58, is charged with lewd conduct in public and being nude in a state park, the newspaper reported.

Mofan is a “priest in residence” at the Church of St. Isabella in Terra Linda. He’s a retired priest, and recites Masses — but doesn’t teach in the parish schools, church officials were quick to point out.

On Thursday, Mofan was caught up in a “sting targeting lewd conduct at China Camp,” where more and more members of the public have complained about “sexual activity in public, found Internet postings seeking sexual meetups in the park” as well as “cleaned up condoms,” according to the newspaper.

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CALIFORNIA
Metropolitan News-Enterprise

By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer

An alleged victim of childhood sex abuse victim who received assistance from the defendant’s insurer years ago may claim the benefit of an Insurance Code provision that tolls the statute of limitations, the Court of Appeal for this district ruled yesterday

Div. Eight revived an action brought against official of the Roman Catholic Church by a man who claims he was abused by a parish priest in 1987 and 1988 when he was 12 or 13 years old. He retained counsel in 2008, he alleged, the same year he discovered that the molestation had caused adult-onset psychological injuries.

The plaintiff, identified as John Me Doe, further alleged tolling of the statute of limitations under Insurance Code Sec. 11583. The statute provides that an advance or partial payment of damages by an insurer is not an admission of liability, but that if the injured party is not represented by counsel, the insurer must advise that party in writing of the statute of limitations.

Failure to do so, the law says, tolls the statute until notice is given.

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MISSISSIPPI
The Dispatch

August 28, 2012

Last week, a Lowndes County jury found Columbus businessman Benny Shelton guilty of sexual assault of a minor. The details of the case are — quite naturally — disturbing. And so was the conduct of Junior Eads, pastor of Eastview Baptist Church.

The crime happened during the church’s summer retreat. A few hours after the early-morning assault, the victim told Eads what had happened, identifying Shelton as his molester. Shelton, a Sunday School teacher and camp volunteer, wasn’t approached by Eads until the following afternoon when Eads told Shelton to talk to the victim’s family about the “rumors” the boy was spreading about Shelton.

This event happened in 2008, more than three years before the Jerry Sandusky/Penn State scandal that rocked the university and forever sullied the reputation of its revered football coach, Joe Paterno. Paterno was told that Sandusky had had assaulted a boy in the showers on the Penn State campus. It took 10 more years before law enforcement was able to put an end to Sandusky’s campaign of sexual terror. It was clear that Paterno’s actions, along with those of the school’s athletic director and president, should have been more forceful when that first allegation was made. Their timid response permitted Sandusky to victimize many more children over a 10-year period.

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VEREINIGTE STAATEN
Diesseits

Die britische Wochenzeitung “The Economist” widmet sich in der aktuellen Ausgabe dem „unheiligen“ Finanzgebaren der katholischen Kirche in den USA. Dies sei derart undurchsichtig, dass die Autoren nicht ausschließen wollen, dass eines Tages amerikanische Steuerzahler für die Entschädigungen der Missbrauchsopfer der katholischen Kirche aufkommen.

Thomas Hummitzsch
Dienstag, 21. August 2012

Fakten über die Finanzlage der katholischen Kirche in den USA sind insofern spannend, als dass wenig bekannt ist über den „weltlichen Konzern” der amerikanischen katholischen Kirche. Die Journalisten des britischen Wirtschaftsfachblattes The Economist liefern nun einige Zahlen und stellen diese in Zusammenhang mit den aktuellen Schwierigkeiten der Kirche. Man erhält in dem Beitrag einen Eindruck, wie es um die katholische Kirche in den USA steht.

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BELGIEN
Kathweb

Kirche kündigt weiteren Schritt in Missbrauchs-Prävention an

27.08.2012

Brüssel, 27.08.2012 (KAP) In Belgien sollen Priesteramtskandidaten künftig Kinderschutz-Kurse besuchen. Wie belgische Medien am Montag berichten, sollen Psychiater die zukünftigen Priester für problematische Situationen sensibilisieren.

Der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Belgischen Bischofskonferenz, Bischof Guy Harpigny von Tournai, erklärte den Berichten zufolge, Ziel der Kurse sei die Prävention und der Schutz von Kindern und Jugendlichen. Die Kirche wolle aus der Vergangenheit lernen. Genauer Inhalt und Aufbau der Kurse stehe noch nicht fest.

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das dokumentartheater berlin

das dokumentartheater berlin positioniert sich.
DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Mit den Opfern der von den Jesuiten am Bonner Aloisiuskolleg jahrzehntelang verübten Sexualverbrechen. das dokumentartheater berlin wird die Opfer auf dem Weg ihrer Klage im Rahmen seiner künstlerischen Aktion begleiten.

Presseerklärung

Sieben mutige Menschen, sieben Kläger, der jüngste 27, der älteste 72. Alle von derselben Tätereinrichtung vergewaltigt. Sechs Jahrzehnte lang. Von den Jesuiten am Aloisiuskolleg….Am 26. September 2012 fordern sie ihr Recht ein.

Klage vor dem Verwaltungsgericht Köln, 10 K 1582/12

Erstmals gehen Opfer sexueller Verbrechen gegen eine deutsche Schulaufsicht vor.

Sieben Kläger des Jesuitenkollegs in Bonn klagen die Bezirksregierung Köln an.

Termin: 26. September 2012, 11.45 h, Zi. 33, EG, Apellhofplatz (WDR)

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VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

[with video]

August 28, 2012. (Romereports.com) The director of the Vatican press office, who serves as spokesperson for the pope, turns 70 years old on August 29. Few know that besides being a theologian and philosopher, this Jesuit priest is also a mathematician. He has worked in the media now for more than 30 years.

This was his first meeting with reporters, just hours after the pope appointed him as the Vatican spokesman.

Fr. Federico Lombardi
Director, Vatican Press Office
“I worked first in the press, with the magazine ‘Civilta Cattolica’, then in radio and the Vatican Television Center. I’ve learned the different areas of communication. Now, at the age of 65, I have been asked to be the spokesman. I will try to also learn this new office.”

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
National Catholic Reporter

by Michael Sean Winters on Aug. 28, 2012 Distinctly Catholic

I am sure that some people are tempted to indulge a little schadenfreude over the news that the oh, so censorious Archbishop-elect of San Francisco has been charged with a DUI. I hope that the incident will invite Archbishop-elect Cordileone to think with greater compassion about the complicated lives we all lead today. Just as his arrest does not tell us all there is to know about him, so too, does the fact that a couple uses contraception, or that a given man or woman is gay, exhaust all there is to know about them.

I will also point out that, by definition, drinking while under the influence is not an intrinsic evil, but Cordileone better hope his case is settled soon because his colleague, Bishop Morlino in Madison, seems intent on expanding the category of intrinsic evil to include just about anything that does not cohere with the Republican Party platform. Even the GOP, I suspect, is not about to propose overturning drunk driving laws.

Finally, issuing a brief statement about the incident is insufficient. Here, the case is very different from that of Archbishop Roach of St. Paul in the 1980s. Archbishop Roach was already a much-beloved pastor. Archbishop-elect Cordileone is in the process of introducing himself to his new flock in San Francisco. He should have gotten out front of this story from the beginning, and not waited for it to break from others. Then, he should have held a press conference to answer all questions, and hopefully begin putting the episode behind him. Now, he has guaranteed the story will continue to play out as people, quite rightly, want to know the answers to basic questions such as how much over the legal limit he was at the time of his arrest. I think most people sympathize with the circumstance of having one sip too many and being slightly over the limit. Being way over the limit is a different story.

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CONNECTICUT
News Times

Libor Jany

Updated 9:56 a.m., Tuesday, August 28, 2012

NEW MILFORD — A Greek Orthodox priest was arrested last week for striking his wife’s live-in aide because he was put off by the smell of her cooking, police said.

The Rev. Eleftherios Stavrakis, of Littlefield Road, was charged with disorderly conduct and domestic violence, according to New Milford police spokesman Lt. Larry Ash. Under state law, a person is guilty of domestic violence if it is determined that he or she physically abused a “family or household member or person in dating relationship.”

Stavrakis was released on $10,000 bond and arraigned Monday in Bantam Superior Court.

The incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. on Friday, police said.

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UNITED STATES
Vatican Insider

Salvatore Cordileone, has admitted his blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit when police arrested him, and has publicly apologized for “the disgrace” he has brought on the Church.

Gerard O’Connell
Rome

The Archbishop-elect of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, was jailed for 11 hours last Saturday, August 25, on suspicion of driving under the influence of drink, after failing a sobriety test administered by the police who stopped him.

In a statement issued by his diocese, Cordileone, a native of San Diego and currently bishop of Oakland, acknowledged that his blood-alcohol level was found to be over the legal limit. He apologized for his “error in judgment”, and said he felt “shame for the disgrace I have brought upon the Church and myself.”

He explained that he had dined earlier that evening with friends and another priest and was driving his mother home from the gathering when he was arrested.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Lauren Farrow

A former NSW police officer and church youth worker told detectives that turning photographs of underage girls into pornographic images was “an artist thing”, a Sydney court has been told.

Wayne Paul Mason, 42, allegedly kissed a 15-year-old girl during a church sleepover and groomed a 13-year-old for sex while he headed a youth group at a Sydney Baptist church, his trial has heard.

Mason has pleaded not guilty to 37 counts of sexually assaulting four girls between 1996 and 2005 and 14 counts of producing and disseminating child pornography.

In a recording of a police interview shown at his trial on Tuesday, Mason is shown a series of photographs, of which he said some had the “real” faces of underage girls, but “fake” bodies.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle

Kevin Fagan

Updated 11:04 p.m., Monday, August 27, 2012

The man set to become the next archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco was arrested Saturday in San Diego on suspicion of drunken driving as he was taking his elderly mother home after having dinner with friends.

Oakland Diocese Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, 56, was headed along San Diego State University’s southern edge when he encountered a sobriety checkpoint, said Officer Mark McCullough. Cordileone was amiable but appeared intoxicated and was arrested at 12:26 a.m., McCullough said.

The bishop was released from jail shortly before noon after posting $2,500 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the misdemeanor charge on Oct. 9.

Cordileone issued a contrite statement Monday, saying he “was found to be over the California legal blood alcohol level.”

“I apologize for my error in judgment and feel shame for the disgrace I have brought upon the Church and myself,” the bishop said. “I will repay my debt to society and I ask forgiveness from my family and my friends and co-workers at the Diocese of Oakland and the Archdiocese of San Francisco.”

Visiting friends

Cordileone said he had been visiting friends with his 88-year-old mother and was driving her to her residence near the university after a meal together.

“I pray that God, in His inscrutable wisdom, will bring some good out of this,” he wrote.

The area where he was arrested has a large number of fraternity and sorority houses, and police routinely run checkpoints on weekends. McCullough said 10 others were arrested at the same checkpoint that night.

“He was very calm, somewhat apologetic at the time,” said the officer, who ran the checkpoint that morning. “He said he’d been drinking. But he wasn’t a stumbling, falling-down drunk.”

The archbishop-designee’s driving record is clean except for one ticket he got on Dec. 23 for failure to stop at a stop sign, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. If convicted of this latest offense, he could be sentenced to three years’ probation, a fine of $1,800, two days in jail and sobriety counseling.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Louise Hall
Court Reporter

A former police officer who has admitted doctoring photos of teenage girls he met through a church youth group and posted them on a pornographic website says he likes to think of himself as an “artist”.

Wayne Paul Mason, 42, is charged with more than 50 child sex and pornography charges after one of his alleged victims found on a website explicit photos of herself and other girls taken by him nearly a decade earlier.

Mr Mason, who was an officer with the NSW Police between 1997 and 2003, has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution claims Mr Mason had sexual relationships with at least two 14- and 15-year-old girls he met through his role as a youth group leader and karate teacher at a Baptist Church in Sydney’s south-west.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
Toronto Star

Elliot Spagat and Lisa Leff
The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO—The Roman Catholic archbishop-elect of San Francisco has apologized for his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving, behaviour that he said brought “shame” and “disgrace” on himself and the church, though legal experts said was unlikely to derail his promotion.

The Rev. Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement issued Monday by his office that he was driving home from a dinner with friends in San Diego with his mother and a visiting priest friend early Saturday when he was pulled over at a checkpoint near San Diego State University.

The statement said a sobriety test showed his blood-alcohol level to be above the legal limit, although Cordileone did not reveal by how much.

“I apologize for my error in judgment and feel shame for the disgrace I have brought upon the Church and myself,” he said. “I pray that God, in His inscrutable wisdom, will bring some good out of this.” …

Cordileone took a breath test that confirmed his blood alcohol content exceeded California’s legal limit of 0.08 per cent, said Officer Mark McCullough, who declined to say by how much.

Cordileone, one of 11 people arrested at the checkpoint that night, identified himself as a priest, said McCullough. An officer did an Internet search and learned he was archbishop-elect.

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KENTUCKY
Cincinnati.com

Written by
Jim Hannah

A Northern Kentucky lawyer and past president of the Kentucky Bar Association has lost her battle to share in the about $18.5 million in fees famed Cincinnati attorney Stan Chesley received from the Diocese of Covington sex-abuse settlement.

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Barbara Bonar, who has a law office in Covington, was not entitled to a portion of the attorney’s fees in the class-action settlement.

An attorney for Chesley, James Gary of Louisville, said he was pleased with the decision but declined further comment.

Bonar sued Chesley, his firm and another lawyer in the firm, Robert Steinberg, five years ago in Boone Circuit Court. She claimed Chesley forced her out of the sex-abuse litigation and refused to pay her for critical work that brought about the class-action settlement. The roughly $84 million settlement was distributed among about 200 people, with the amount each received determined by the severity of the abuse.

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OREGON
Miami Herald

The Associated Press

REEDSPORT, Ore. — The archbishop of Portland issued an apology that was read at Sunday Mass to a woman who settled a lawsuit claiming she was sexually abused by a priest in the 1980s.

Carolee Horning, 41, was at St. John the Apostle Parish in Reedsport when the letter from Archbishop John Vlazny was read, the Eugene Register-Guard (bit.ly/Nxzh51) reported.

The priest, the Rev. Edward Altstock, was a family friend when he headed the parish from 1984 to 1986, and Horning was a teenager who had been an altar girl.

She said she was flattered by gifts and attention from such a figure of authority, and he pursued her for years, even visiting her in Corvallis when she was a student at Oregon State University.

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CALIFORNIA
The Modesto Bee

By Sue Nowicki
snowicki@modbee.com

A Stanislaus County Superior Court judge will hear arguments this morning as to whether the only Oliver O’Grady lawsuit ever filed in this county should continue.

The lawsuit names Sacred Heart Parish in Turlock, contending that the Catholic parish — as well as the Stockton Diocese, also named as a defendant — should have known that O’Grady was a pedophile, one who later admitted sexually assaulting more than 23 children of both sexes and sleeping with two mothers to get access to their children.

The lawsuit contends that if one of the world’s most notorious pedophiles had been removed from the priesthood in Turlock instead of shuffled from parish to parish, the alleged victim never would have been molested years later at Stockton’s Church of the Presentation, said Vince Finaldi, an attorney with Manly and Stewart in Southern California, who filed the action.

The victim in the case is a 40-year-old man “who was 11 or 12” when the abuse occurred, Finaldi said. He has two younger siblings — a sister and brother — who filed similar lawsuits in 2005 and 2008; those were settled in 2011 for a combined $2 million in damages. The current lawsuit was filed in 2009.

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DARIEN (CT)
Patch

Roman Catholic officials say they have never received specific allegations about the behavior of the Rev. Robert Post, a priest at the St. Thomas More Church in Darien, and the lawyer for three men accusing him won’t make their accusations public.

By David Gurliacci

The Rev. Robert Post has been accused publicly of having sexually abused three teenagers when he was a member of the Irish Christian Brothers in New York state, before he became a priest 30 years ago.

But specific, detailed allegations, the credibility of which might be judged, have not been made public. Nor has Post, a priest at St. Thomas More Church, been arrested or prosecuted.

Instead, Robert M. Hoatson, a former Catholic priest who now runs Road to Recovery, an organization that describes itself as offering “compassionate counseling and referral services to survivors of clergy sexual abuse,” made himself one half of a two-man demonstration Saturday in front of St. Thomas More as parishioners entered and then left the church for Saturday afternoon Mass.

The two held a news conference afterward where they said they wanted the Bridgeport Diocese to remove Post from his position as it investigates the priest’s past.

“[T]hree men have come forward to claim that they were abused by Br. Robert Post,” the organization said in a news release. “Not one, not two, THREE.”

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CALIFORNIA
Marin Independent Journal

By Mark Prado
Marin Independent Journal
marinij.com

San Rafael priest jailed in lewdness case after sting at China CampA San Rafael priest pleaded innocent Monday to two misdemeanor charges in connection with allegations he exposed himself to an undercover investigator during a crackdown on lewd behavior at China Camp State Park.

The Rev. Feliciano Torres Mofan, 58, appeared in Marin Superior Court on charges of lewd conduct in public and being nude in a state park, according to the Marin district attorney’s office. If convicted, Mofan faces up to six months in Marin County Jail.

Mofan was held in custody over the weekend and was released on his own recognizance after the hearing. He is due back in court next Tuesday.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Chicago Tribune

By Ronnie Cohen

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 27 (Reuters) – The Roman Catholic bishop newly chosen by the Vatican to lead the archdiocese of San Francisco and two other Bay Area counties publicly apologized on Monday after he was arrested and held behind bars over the weekend on suspicion of drunken driving.

Salvatore Cordileone, 56, appointed in July by Pope Benedict XVI to preside over more than 500,000 Catholics as metropolitan archbishop of San Francisco, was taken into custody on Saturday near San Diego State University, according to the San Diego Police Department.

He was jailed on suspicion of driving under the influence after he was stopped at a police checkpoint and failed a field sobriety test, police spokesman Detective Gary Hassen said. The bishop was released on $2,500 bail, about 11 hours after his arrest, he said.

Cordileone, a San Diego native who currently is bishop of Oakland, had dined earlier that evening with friends and another priest and was driving his mother home from the gathering when he was arrested, he said in a statement released by his diocese.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
San Diego 6

By Lindsay Hood

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – A San Diego native recently appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in his hometown over the weekend, authorities confirmed Monday.

Salvatore Joseph Cordileone, 55, of Oakland was arrested on suspicion of DUI about 12:30 a.m. Saturday at a checkpoint in the 5100 block of College Avenue near the San Diego State University campus, according to San Diego police Officer Mark McCullough.

Cordileone — one of 11 arrested at the checkpoint — failed a field sobriety test, then consented to an optional preliminary alcohol screening device which measured a blood-alcohol level higher than the legal limit of .08 percent, McCullough said.

Cordileone was then placed under arrest and given the option of an official blood or breath test at the checkpoint. He chose a breath test that confirmed a blood-alcohol level higher than the legal limit, McCullough said.

Cordileone’s mother, who was a passenger, was allowed to drive the mid-size black car home following her son’s arrest after officers made sure she had not been drinking and had a valid license, McCullough said.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle

Kevin Fagan

Updated 3:34 p.m., Monday, August 27, 2012

(08-27) 14:47 PDT SAN DIEGO — The bishop who is due to take the reins of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco was arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of drunken driving, according to the San Diego Police Department.

Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, 56, was driving along the edge of San Diego State University when he encountered a sobriety checkpoint, said Detective Gary Hassen. Cordileone appeared drunk and was arrested at 12:26 a.m., Hassen said.

The bishop was released from jail shortly before noon after posting $2,500 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the misdemeanor charge on Oct. 9.

“He’s probably our highest profile DUI arrest in awhile,” Hassen said.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
National Catholic Register

by CNA/EWTN NEWS08/27/2012

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Police Department verified the weekend arrest of Archbishop-designate Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco for driving under the influence of alcohol.

San Diego police spokesman Detective Gary Hassen confirmed Aug. 26 that Archbishop-designate Cordileone was arrested just after midnight on Aug. 25 and held in county jail.

After passing through a DUI checkpoint near the San Diego State University, the former bishop of Oakland, Calif., was further evaluated by the police and then taken into custody.

Just before noon that same day, he was released on bail, Hassen said. The legal blood-alcohol-content limit for California is 0.08%.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
New York Daily News

By Christine Roberts / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, August 27, 2012

The newly-appointed Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco was arrested this weekend on suspicion of drunk driving, San Diego police said.

Rev. Salvatore Cordileone, 56, was arrested early Saturday morning after he was stopped by cops at a checkpoint near the San Diego State University campus, police spokesman Detective Gary Hassen said.

Hassen did not say whether the San Diego native took a sobriety test.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
U-T San Diego

Written by
Debbi Baker

SAN DIEGO — The archbishop-elect of San Francisco for the Roman Catholic Church was arrested and jailed over the weekend in San Diego on suspicion of drunken driving, police said.

Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, 56, who was appointed archbishop in July, was taken into custody Saturday at 12:26 a.m. after being stopped on College Avenue near Montezuma Road, police said.

Cordileone, who is a San Diego native, was booked into county jail on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence and later posted bail.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
SF Weekly

By Albert Samaha
Mon., Aug. 27 2012

Salvatore Cordileone, who was named the new Archbishop in late July, allegedly took one too many sips of the Blood of Christ before getting behind the wheel this weekend.

The newly minted leader was reportedly arrested for a driving under the influence in San Diego at 12:26 a.m. Saturday, the San Diego Union-Tribune first reported.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle

Kevin Fagan

Published 12:52 p.m., Monday, August 27, 2012

(08-27) 12:49 PDT SAN DIEGO — The bishop who is due to take the reins of the Archdiocese of San Francisco next month was arrested Saturday in San Diego on suspicion of drunken driving, according to officials at the San Diego Police Department.

Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, 56, has been bishop of Oakland since 2009 and was named in July by the Vatican to become the new archbishop in San Francisco on Oct. 4.

The bishop has longtime roots in San Diego. He was born there, studied at the St. Francis Seminary there and serve as an official for many years in its diocese. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of San Diego in 2002, was ordained a bishop later that year, and then was appointed bishop of Oakland on March 23, 2009.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
KGO

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The newly appointed archbishop of San Francisco was arrested for DUI over the weekend.

Police in San Diego say Bishop Salvatore Cordileone was arrested over the weekend for driving under the influence. Police say it happened in San Diego’s College District just before 12:30 Saturday morning.

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OREGON
Catholic Sentinel

REEDSPORT — Msgr. Dennis O’Donovan, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Portland, traveled to St. John the Apostle Church here to deliver a dramatic apology from Archbishop John Vlazny.

The expression of regret was made from the pulpit at Sunday Mass. It was in response to an incident of sexual abuse that happened in the mid-1980s at the parish here by the parish priest at the time, Father Edward Altstock.

The victim, 41-year-old Carolee Horning, was abused in the mid-1980s by Father Altstock. Horning now lives in Eugene, but her family still belongs to St. John the Apostle, a small church set in the woods off Highway 101.

Father Altstock became a family friend and Horning was an altar girl. Horning told the Register Guard newspaper that her life has been harmed by the encounters with the priest, now 79, and living in Beaverton.

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SAGINAW (MI)
MLive

Monday, August 27, 2012, 11:20 AM

By Justin Engel | jengel1@mlive.com

SAGINAW, MI — Attorneys plan to name the leader of the Diocese of Saginaw in a lawsuit surrounding clergy sex abuse allegations at his former assignment in Philadelphia, media reports indicate.

Bishop Joseph Cistone earlier this year was not named in any criminal indictments, but lawyers say Cistone and others will be named in a civil case brought on by a former Philadelphia altar boy who claimed sexual abuse in 1992, CBS Philly reports.

“My best description of them is that they were the kingpins,” Slade McLaughlin, a Philadelphia attorney, told the news station when describing Cistone and another former Catholic administrator in Philadelphia.

Attorneys during a criminal trial this year claimed Archdiocese of Philadelphia administrators shredded documents naming priests accused of sexual abuse while allowing one priest to remain in active ministry with the Northeast Philadelphia parish, where the 10-year-old altar boy was abused, media reports indicate.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Michael D’Antonio

Long a bouquet of shy wallflowers compared with evangelicals, Catholic bishops are at last joining the dance at the Republican party. The big step forward will be made as New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan says the closing benediction at the GOP convention this week. His appearance marks the first time in 40 years that an American cardinal has traveled cross-country for this purpose, and it comes as the churchmen reveal themselves to be more like politicians — in style and substance — than ever before.

The Republicans have danced to this song many times before. Since 1980, the party has used evangelicals to win elections but denied them most of what they want in policy from restoration of school prayer to a nationwide ban on abortion. With Mitt Romney’s selection of the fiercely anti-abortion Paul Ryan, he signaled the party is now taking conservative Catholics for a whirl. However, everything in Romney’s flip-flopping character suggests that once again, religiously motivated voters will give up their votes and get little in return.

For their part, the Catholic hierarchs are abandoning the restraint that once made them credible as moral leaders above the partisan fray. The danger in this choice is evident when you consider that a majority of Catholics disagree with their leaders. They use contraception and oppose the GOP’s “no exceptions” abortion stand. Polls also show Catholics support gay rights and marriage at about the same rate as the general population. These Catholics are not pleased to see their bishops lining up with party hacks or with an evangelical movement that includes a significant number of anti-Catholic bigots.

The fact that Timothy Dolan is leading the bishops in a partisan direction is not a surprise. Take away the clerical clothes and the cardinal is the central casting version of an old pol, glad-handing and joking in one minute and deflecting and deceiving in the next. As Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times reported in May, the cardinal lied about money paid to Wisconsin priests who had been accused of sexual abuse when he was their bishop. He described the money as “charity” when it was intended to induce them to leave the priesthood as quickly as possible. When documents surfaced contradicting Dolan, local Church officials admitted as much. New York’s prelate chose to attack the suggestion that something was amiss as “false, preposterous and unjust.”

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

By R. Scott Moxley
Mon., Aug. 27 2012

A onetime prominent priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County finally will pay for repeatedly molesting a seven-year-old boy inside a parish rectory and church sacristy in the 1990s.

According to prosecutors, Denis Lyons pleaded guilty in March and last week received his punishment: one year in jail, five years of formal probation and 400 hours of community service.

The 78-year-old serial molester must also register for the rest of his life as a sex offender and won’t be allowed to visit places where children congregate.

In 2008, the victim filed a complaint with the Costa Mesa Police Department and officials arrested Lyons the following year at Leisure World in Seal Beach.

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BELGIUM
RT

Psychiatrists will be helping trainee priests in Belgium to avoid potentially dangerous situations at work. Special “anti-pedophile” training is the new measure to help prevent child abuse by priests.

­According to Belgium’s RTL online, psychiatrists will teach aspiring priests “the correct attitude in the presence of a child”.

“The goal of the training? Not to repeat the errors of the past,” Guy Harpigny, Bishop of Tournai told Belgium’s SudInfo daily.

“The challenge is simple: prevention and protection of our young ones,” he added.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

Bewerkt door: Steven Alen − 23/08/12

Voor de beveiliging van het klooster van Malonne, dat Michelle Martin zal opvangen als ze voorwaardelijk wordt vrijgelaten, zullen dertig voltijdse agenten van de federale politie gemobiliseerd moeten worden, meldt de vakbond VSOA-politie. Volgens de bond is dit “geen redelijke oplossing” wegens de hoge maatschappelijke kosten. .

“Iedereen is het ermee eens dat de geïntegreerde politie lijdt onder een groot personeelstekort. Ook gaat iedereen ermee akkoord dat de federale politie dit personeelstekort het meeste voelt. Maar op vraag van de politiezone Namen zal de federale politie 30 ‘full times’ ter beschikking stellen gedurende onbekende tijd om het klooster van Malonne te beveiligen. De logica is ver te zoeken”, klaagt de politievakbond.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

De federale regering zal snel stappen ondernemen om de voorwaarden voor voorwaardelijke invrijheidstelling in bepaalde gevallen te verstrengen en om de gevallen waarin een zwaardere straf wordt toegekend omwille van recidive uit te breiden. Dat meldt premier Elio Di Rupo na een onderhoud met Jean-Denis Lejeune en Paul Marchal, waarbij ook de procureur-generaal van Bergen, Claude Michaux, aanwezig was. .

Het gesprek met de vaders van Julie Lejeune en An Marchal, beiden slachtoffers van Marc Dutroux, kwam er naar aanleiding van de mogelijke voorwaardelijke vrijlating van Michelle Martin, de ex-vrouw van Dutroux. De premier, die het over een “zeer constructief en openhartig” gesprek heeft, zegt de emoties van de familie en de bevolking te begrijpen. “De verschrikkelijke daden waarover het gaat, zijn nog steeds zeer aanwezig in onze herinneringen en het leed van de families blijft ons allemaal raken”, aldus Di Rupo.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

Bewerkt door: Steven Peeters − 27/08/12

In Namen zijn de lokale autoriteiten klaar voor de komst van Michelle Martin, de ex-vrouw van Marc Dutroux, naar het klooster van de Arme Klaren in Malonne. Het Hof van Cassatie spreekt zich morgen uit over het beroep dat de burgerlijke partijen en de procureur-generaal van Bergen hebben aangetekend tegen de voorwaardelijke vrijlating van Martin, maar algemeen wordt aangenomen dat ze morgen vrijkomt. .

“Om veiligheidsredenen kunnen we geen details kwijt over de inzet van de politie”, zei burgemeester van Namen Maxime Prévot. “Ik kan wel zeggen dat deze agenten niet enkel zullen instaan voor de bescherming van mevrouw Martin, maar voor de openbare orde.”

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

CWN – August 27, 2012

Vatican investigators could investigate 20 more people in the connection with the leaks of confidential papal documents, the Italian news service ANSA reports.

Citing “well-placed Vatican sources,” ANSA said that after indicting two people—Paolo Gabriele, the Pope’s former valet, and Claudio Sciarpelleti, a computer technician in the Secretariat of State—investigators are preparing a new phase of their investigation, in which at least 20 people will be examined.

The Vatican has not commented on the ANSA report.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

by Mark Shea Sunday, August 26, 2012

A reader writes:

Read some of your blog. I know their are some good people that are Catholics. Just don’t understand why organized religion becomes perverted and the leadership condones the behavior. Wait, I do understand, it’s all about “power over.” The culture of the church is corrupt and sanctions this aberrant behavior. Puts all the good people in such a bad place, don’t you think? The church has had a “power over” relationship with the people for centuries. Watched this in action during Semana Santa in Sevilla about 30 years back. It was a disgusting display of “power over” and yet apologists for the church condone and encourage this behavior.

First, thank you for the acknowledgement that “some” good people are Catholics. I would even go so far as to say most Catholics are good people. That is, we are average schlubs trying to get by in life. As you may recall, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is engaged in a great struggle.” It turns out Catholics are remarkably like human beings and are not more prone to evil than the general population, nor do their IQ levels deviate from the norm for the general population.

Why then, do they remain Catholic when members of their communion do great evil?

Answer: Because Catholic faith does not stand or fall with the moral quality of our bishops. It stands on Jesus Christ. I’m a Catholic because I believe Jesus is the Son of God and that he established a Church as the sacrament of salvation–a Church composed entirely of sinful people–especially me. I don’t place my faith in the personal sanctity of any bishop (though some are very good people and others are, in my view, scoundrels). I place it in Jesus to guide his Church because he is gracious to dunderheads and sinners. There is no option of escaping grave sin in this world. You meet it everywhere, including the mirror. The only option is to stick with Jesus–or not. Some people imagine you can stick with Jesus but ditch the Church. Not possible. Christ is the head and the Church is his body.

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VATICAN CITY
Chiesa

VATICAN CITY, August 27, 2012 – “The activity of the Holy See” is the title of a weighty volume that year after year offers the account of the actions undertaken by the pope, the Roman curia, and other Vatican offices. It is an “unofficial publication,” as specified on the frontispiece, but – compiled by the secretariat of state – contains a substantial amount of information and not a few curiosities, often unpublished elsewhere.

The latest edition, concerning the activities of 2011, was published at the end of July by Libreria Editrice Vaticana. It is 1,366 pages long, and costs 80 euro.

In it we learn, for example:

– that among the activities of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith must also be included the republication in the November 30, 2011 issue of “L’Osservatore Romano” of the text by then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger published in 1998 in a volume “On the pastoral care of the divorced and remarried.” This republication – it is explained – was intended to “draw the attention of pastors” to that volume, “unfortunately little known,” which reiterates the traditional Catholic position on the argument and in which, among other things, it is confirmed that the practice of the Orthodox Churches of admitting under certain conditions a second and third marriage after the failure of the first remains “unacceptable for doctrinal reasons.”

– that last year, the disciplinary office of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith opened 599 new procedures, 440 of them concerning “delicta graviora,” and that the most numerous of these, 404 to be exact, are cases of abuse perpetrated by clergy against minors. With regard to this, the volume points out that “in the year 2011, with respect to the year 2010, the disciplinary office received fewer notifications,” but that nonetheless “with respect to previous years (for example, the period of 2005–2009) the number of cases has risen considerably.” Also in this area, moreover, the congregation for the doctrine of the faith submitted to the pope a request for the removal “ex officio” from the clerical state of 125 subjects, and for another 135 a request for dispensation from priestly obligations.

– that during the same period, the congregation for the clergy – for reasons other than “delicta graviora” – issued 540 certifications of dispensation from priestly obligations for 49 diocesan deacons, 26 religious deacons, 280 secular priests, and 185 religious.

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PHILIPPINES
Manila Standard Today

By Ferdinand Fabella | Posted on August 27, 2012

A laity group in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Parañaque criticized Bishop Jesse Mercado for snubbing a public forum on Monday where he was invited to explain the disposition of more than P3 million in diocesan funds that were meant to be given to disaster victims, but purportedly did not reach the beneficiaries.

Dr. Erwin Carabeo, a leader of the Lay Initiative for Transparency and Accountability, expressed disappointment at the bishop’s apparent refusal to face the public and clarify the allegations hurled against him.

“We want to hear it directly from the bishop. These people, the ordinary parishioners and the faithful, have questions that we church workers also could not answer,” said Carabeo, a former president of the pastoral council of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, the seat of the Parañaque diocese.

Carabeo told Manila Standard Today at the forum held at the Elorde Sports Complex on Sucat Road in Parañaque that he resigned as council president when the alleged irregularity broke out because the bishop has done nothing to explain the matter but issue “blanket denials.”

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UNITED STATES
History News Network – George Mason University

By Bruce Chadwick
8-27-12

Bruce Chadwick lectures on history and film at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He also teaches writing at New Jersey City University. He holds his PhD from Rutgers and was a former editor for the New York Daily News. Mr. Chadwick can be reached at bchadwick@njcu.edu.

Magdalen

New York International Fringe Festival
Gene Frankel Theater
24 Bond Street
New York, N.Y.

From 1765 through 1996, the Catholic Church in Ireland ran a chain of large laundries supervised by nuns called the Magdalene laundries. The workers, over 30,000 of them over the centuries, were all prostitutes, rape victims, sexually abused girls, troubled girls and, in later years, the mentally challenged. They were sent to the laundries by their families and the courts in the belief that hard work cleanses the soul and that the good sisters would rehabilitate the women.

They did not. Revelations in the 1990s finally illustrated that the women worked like dogs and lived like prisoners in workhouses attached to the laundries. Many spent years there and some their entire lives. The nuns were overly harsh in their treatment of the girls and many of the girls were physically, sexually and psychologically abused. The centuries of abuse came to light in 1993 when contractors who dug up a convent courtyard discovered 155 skeletons belonging to the girls at the laundries. Following that discovery, many of the girls finally went public and told their sordid stories. A national scandal followed. Several years later, another church sex scandal ensued when it was revealed that many young Irish boys were molested by priests.

The story of the girls, and the nuns, is told in a scorching new play, Magdalen, at the New York International Film Festival, that opened last week. The star of the one-woman play is Erin Layton, who delivers a heartwrenching and thunderous performance that both shocks brings tears. The theme of her electric show is how on earth could the nuns and priests get away with this for over two centuries. Minute after minute, like a slowly lit fuse, the play heats up, hotter and hotter, until it explodes like a criminal and sexual volcano at the end.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Cambria County priest has been placed on leave amid allegations of sexual abuse involving children several decades ago.

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown said Friday that the Rev. George Koharchik, pastor of Saint Catherine of Siena Parish in Mount Union, will not be permitted to function as a priest and won’t have contact with children while he is on leave.

Diocese spokesman Tony DeGol said the alleged sexual misconduct allegedly took place in the late 1970s. The alleged victims brought it to the attention of the church recently.

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OREGON
The Register-Guard

By Bob Keefer
The Register-Guard

[with copy of a letter from Bishop John G. Vlasny]

Published: August 27, 2012

REEDSPORT — What Carolee Horning wanted most was for her former church to say it was sorry. On Sunday, when she came to Mass, she got not only an extraordinary apology but also found, amid her taut nerves and copious tears, a sense of homecoming and liberation.

Horning, 41, has lived in Eugene for a decade. She was even born here. But a quarter-century ago, when she was a girl growing up in Reedsport, she was molested by a Catholic priest at St. John the Apostle Parish, where her family was and still is part of the congregation.

Father Edward Altstock became a trusted family friend when he headed the parish from 1984 to 1986. Horning, then a young teenager who had been an altar girl, came under his sway, flattered by gifts and attention from such a figure of authority. He pursued her sexually for years, even visiting her in Corvallis when she was a student at Oregon State University.

Decades after the abuse started, she says, her romantic life remains wrecked by what happened with Altstock, who is retired and living near Portland. Because of the statute of limitations, he never was charged with a crime.

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

IOWA
Quad-City Times

Brian Wellner

An Iowa woman contemplating a return to the Roman Catholic Church last year agreed to meet with a priest on one condition — he remove his collar.

“Roman collars still frighten me,” Kathleen Bowman, 47, told the priest.

She then emerged from four decades of silence, having only ever shared with a therapist her story of alleged abuse as a child by three priests because the memories were making her suicidal.

“I didn’t know I could report,” Bowman told the Quad-City Times, her first time speaking publicly about the alleged abuse. “It was taking everything just to maintain life.”

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MASSACHUSETTS
Western Massachusetts Catholics

a. What Is The Petition?
b. Why Is This Petition Important?
c. How Can I Help?
a. What Is The Petition?

The owners of the Western Mass Catholics blog (Robert Kelly and Brody Hale) started a petition on Change.Org.

You can sign the petition here.

The petition asks Massachusetts Secretary of State William Francis Galvin to reinstitute a requirement that the Corporation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts provide annual financial statements to state officials.

It is critical to understand two things:

1. this petition is NOT directed at religious organizations in general; it is directed at the Corporation of the Springfield Diocese.

2. this corporation is NOT a religious entity.

Corporate sole gives the diocese civil standing. Through corporate sole, diocesan officials buy and sell property, file lawsuits (see links below for five recent lawsuits), lobby the state legislature, and donate to political parties and special interest groups. Deed restrictions on real property are especially important in the Springfield Diocese because they are by far the most restrictive in the state. If the requirement for “annual returns” were reintroduced, citizens would learn about:

– source and list of diocesan money and assets.
– what the money and assets are used for.
– how much money is used for civil suits and political donations.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

John Ferguson, Victorian political editor
From:The Australian
August 25, 2012

THE nation’s most powerful Catholic, Sydney archbishop George Pell, is embroiled in a damaging controversy over the handling of church-related child sex assaults in Victoria, with demands that he appear before a new inquiry to explain what he knew and when about some of the worst abuses committed anywhere in the world.

Under the powers afforded the state parliamentary inquiry, Cardinal Pell and other senior members of the church can be compelled to appear before the committee as it is set to investigate the systematic abuse of probably hundreds of children in the Catholic diocese of Ballarat, where Cardinal Pell began his career.

The Weekend Australian can reveal that the inquiry is poised to undertake regional sittings, with victims from Ballarat preparing submissions and inquiry members describing as inevitable that the committee will sit in the regional city, 110km west of Melbourne.

A senior state Labor MP, Ann Barker, who has studied the church’s Irish response, told The Weekend Australian that Cardinal Pell should appear before the inquiry in his role overseeing the church’s initial response to Catholic abuse in Melbourne but that incumbent Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart also should give evidence.

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

MASSACHUSETTS
Change.org

by Robert M. Kelly

The people of Massachusetts deserve to know how corporations licensed and regulated by the state spend money, especially when they influence elections, advocate social change, and conduct civil lawsuits. It is past time to broaden this right-to-know to the spending habits of religious corporations.

Petition Letter
Dear Secretary of State Galvin,

I just signed a petition asking you to require the Corporation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts to file annual financial reports with the state. Here’s why:

– the civil corporation started in 1898 and was required to file annual reports, but the requirement lapsed under the assumption that religious groups did not need oversight. Today, most citizens agree that corporations have too much influence on politics and social change; that the laws governing religious corporations are outmoded; and that self-policing simply does not work.

– the diocese has made contributions to PAC’s, special-interest, and other advocacy groups for political (not religious) reasons; yet there are no laws requiring public disclosure of these funds.

– the diocese regularly files lawsuits which seek to enforce its worldview in civil courts, yet the lawsuits are not religious in nature, and are often not supported by parishioners. Instead, diocesan lawsuits are aimed at corporate property rights, corporate damage and settlement awards for third-party insurance claims, or corporate privacy rights.

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NEDERLAND
RKnieuws

MAASTRICHT (RKnieuws.net) – Stichting Mea Culpa sleept drie voormalige broeders van het voormalige jongenspensionaat in Bleijerheide voor de rechter.

De vereniging van slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik binnen de katholieke kerk zegt dat de drie geestelijken die nog in leven zijn snel door de politie gehoord moeten worden. Volgens de stichting houden ze informatie achter over seksueel misbruik op het jongenspensionaat in de jaren zestig.
Mea Culpa heeft ook aangifte gedaan tegen de congregatie die de scepter zwaaide in het pensionaat. De stichting wil inzage in de archieven om informatie te krijgen over andere broeders die in Bleijerheide werkten.

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DARIEN (CT)
Patch

By Patrick Barnard

A small group of protestors reportedly gathered on Saturday at St. Thomas More church in Darien to call for the removal the church’s parochial vicar, the Rev. Robert Post, on allegations of past clergy abuse.

According to a report in the Stamford Advocate, Robert M. Hoatson, a former priest who now heads Road to Recovery, a group that assists victims of clergy abuse, along with Kevin Waldrip, who claims to be a victim of past clergy abuse by another priest while in New Jersey, handed out flyers and wore placards calling for the Rev. Post’s removal.

Hoatson is a former priest with the Irish Christian Brothers and Waldrip is a former student at one of the Christian Brothers’ high schools, according to the report. They are reportedly calling for the Rev. Post’s removal in light of a federal bankruptcy suit pending in White Plains, N.Y., that contains some 462 allegations of abuse allegedly committed by members of the Irish Christian Brothers. According to the report, three of those allegations are against the Rev. Post, with those incidents allegedly occurring some 30 years ago.

In an earlier report in The Darien Times, Brian Wallace, spokesman for The Diocese of Bridgeport, said Hoatson’s accusations are “baseless and misleading.”

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

HAWAII
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on August 26, 2012

Fr. J. Michael Henry has a hall in his honor. And the number of his alleged victims just keeps growing.

Fr. Joseph Michael Henry (also known as J. Michael Henry and Mike Henry), was a longtime priest in the Diocese of Honolulu. Most of his time was spent at St. Anthony’s Parish in Kailua on Oahu’s Windward Coast—a small-town parish with a school, preschool and active charity league.

Fr. Henry was first exposed as a predator in 1991 lawsuit by a Kailua boy named David Figueroa. In addition, Figueroa charged that after Henry abused him, another priest at the parish, Joseph Ferrario, took advantage of the vulnerable boy and began to abuse him as well. Fr. Joseph Ferrario became Bishop of Honolulu in 1978. Henry died in 1974. Ferrario died in 2003.

Soon after Figueroa came forward, another Kailua boy stepped forward to say that he, too, had been molested by both priests. The initial reason Mark Pinkosh came forward was to support David. Later, he realized that it was vital for his own healing and keeping other kids safe. David’s case was thrown out on the statute of limitations, NOT the merits of the case.

Fortunately for Mark and other victims of child sexual abuse in Hawaii, a new civil law, sponsored by Senator Maile Shimabukuro, gives Mark a chance to use the courts to seek justice, truth and accountability. While both Ferrario and Henry are dead, the people who covered up for them are not. Neither is the legacy of pain they caused.

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

OSTERREICH
Der Standard

23. August 2012

Die Opferschutzstellen der Bundesländer arbeiten unterschiedlich – Generelle Richtlinien fehlen, da es sich um freiwillige Einrichtungen der Länder handelt

Bregenz/Innsbruck/Linz/Wien – Opfer von Gewalt in staatlichen und kirchlichen Einrichtungen können sich seit 2010 in allen Bundesländern an Opferschutzkommissionen wenden. Eingerichtet wurden die mit Experten besetzten Kommissionen von den Ländern, einheitliche Richtlinien für die Arbeit der Kommissionen gibt es nicht.

Zur Festlegung der Entschädigungen habe man sich zwar die Richtlinien der Unabhängigen Opferschutzanwaltschaft, besser bekannt als “Klasnic-Kommission”, zum Vorbild genommen, sagt Herwig Hösele, Sprecher der Anwaltschaft, “ansonsten arbeiten sie aber autonom”. Da die Kommissionen freiwillige Einrichtungen der Länder seien, gebe es auch keinen Instanzenzug.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Kreiszeitung

Verden · Ein Jugendwart der Freiwilligen Feuerwehr Verden soll mehrere Jungen missbraucht und ein Kreisjugenddiakon der evangelischen Kirche in Verden kinderpornografische Bilder besessen haben. In beiden Verfahren haben die Staatsanwaltschaften Verden und Hannover lange ermittelt.

Nun sind die Ermittlungen abgeschlossen. Im Fall des Jugendwartes wurde bereits Anklage erhoben. Es sind zwei völlig getrennt voneinander laufende Verfahren, die aber beide im März 2011 publik geworden sind. Der Kreisjugenddiakon war durch ein Ermittlungsverfahren in einem anderen Bundesland ins Visier der Ermittler geraten. Durch Gesprächsinhalte in einem Internet-Chat hatten sich konkrete Verdachtsmomente gegen den Diakon ergeben. Am 10. März 2011 waren dann die Privaträume des Verdeners und seine Diensträume in der St. Nikolai-Gemeinde durchsucht und Beweismaterial sichergestellt worden.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

[Reforming the Statute of Limitations for Child Sex Abuse: New York’s Child Victims Act Shouldn’t Be Political, But It Is Findlaw – Marcia A. Hamilton

Excerpt from this 2010 story: In the Codes Committee, three Democrats joined the Republicans in voting against letting the bill go to the floor, though none appeared at the Committee meeting, voting only in absentia. Sen. Shirley Huntley, whose website claims she has been a strong advocate for children, was a particular disappointment.]

By THOMAS KAPLAN and RANDY LEONARD

Published: August 25, 2012

Adding to the long list of Albany lawmakers accused of misusing their offices, a Democratic state senator from Queens said on Saturday that she expected to be arrested as part of an ongoing corruption investigation.

The senator, Shirley L. Huntley, said she would surrender to the authorities on Monday. She said she did not know the charges, but her announcement came months after one of her aides and three others were charged with stealing taxpayer money that had been directed to a nonprofit group that Ms. Huntley founded.

Ms. Huntley spoke to reporters on the street in front of her home in Jamaica, Queens, surrounded by several dozen supporters, some of them holding campaign signs. The senator’s spokeswoman had e-mailed reporters late Friday, urging them to attend “an emergency news conference.”

“I want my day in court,” Ms. Huntley said. “I don’t know the charges. I have no idea what this is about.”

Ms. Huntley’s announcement, which comes after the censure of Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez on Friday because of allegations of sexual harassment, suggests that Albany’s string of corruption and ethics scandals has not ended.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

There are few crimes more revolting than the abuse of a child.

Naturally, an allegation of child abuse provokes public outrage and anger. So it’s hard to imagine just how devastating it must be to be wrongly accused of abuse.

A priest who hits the headlines when he is accused of abuse can justifiably feel aggrieved when little or no attention is paid if he is declared innocent or found to have no case to answer.

As has been demonstrated in numerous reports, the Catholic Church, when confronted with allegations of abuse against clerics over many decades, failed to act.

The devastated lives are a constant reminder of this cowardly reaction.

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

OREGON
The Garden of Roses: Stories of Abuse and Healing

Virginia Jones

I was in Eastern and Southern Oregon walking through small, rural towns and on scenic trails to raise awareness about abuse when the news came about an abusive priest, Fr. Angel Armando Perez, in Woodburn, Oregon. The abuse was very recent and the child reported it, and his family supported him, and the police supported him, and the priest was arrested.

The family support and the arrest frequently did not happen in the past.

We’ve made progress, real progress. The abuse happened, but at least most of the response to the abuse was appropriate.

I could not comment on what had happened when I was walking through towns and on trails in the distant parts of Oregon. My internet access was intermittent, and I had my two teenagers to care for and a schedule to keep, and the two teenagers didn’t want to share the computer with me.

When I returned home to Portland, I read Abuse Tracker and saw Randy Ellison’s blog on the case. Randy is the Board President of the child sex abuse survivor advocacy group, Oregon Abuse Advocates and Survivors in Service (OAASIS). Randy reported in his blog that a group of parishioners showed up to support the priest in court

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

DARIEN (CT)
CT Post

By Michael P. Mayko

DARIEN — Handing out fliers and wearing placards, a former Catholic priest and an abuse victim stood at the entrance of St. Thomas More church Saturday, demanding the Diocese of Bridgeport remove an elderly priest for allegedly abusing three high school students some 30 years ago.

The demonstration was directed at the Rev. Robert Post, who is assigned St. Thomas More as the parochial vicar and serves as the chaplain of the Stamford Fire and Rescue Department. Demanding his removal were Robert M. Hoatson, who served with the Rev. Post in the Irish Christian Brothers, but now heads Road to Recovery, which assists victims of clergy abuse. Handing out leaflets with Hoatson was Kevin Waldrip, who said he was abused on his 13th birthday by the late Rev. Richard Galdon, who was convicted and sentenced to prison for abusing children in New Jersey. Waldrip’s abuse is not linked to Rev. Post.

The three complaints against the Rev. Post are part of a federal bankruptcy suit pending in White Plains, N.Y., against the Irish Christian Brothers. That suit contains some 462 allegations of abuse allegedly committed by numerous members of the Irish Christian Brothers across North America.

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

MASSACHUSETTS
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Dianne Williamson
dwilliamson@telegram.com

Andrew J. Myers, 34, sat passively at the defense table during a brief hearing at U.S. District Court. Short, bespectacled and unassuming, he glanced behind him just once, apparently searching for his parents. As he left the courtroom, he mouthed “I love you,” to his mom, who covered her face and broke down in tears.

The scene was heart-wrenching. Within days, Myers’ mother has witnessed the public transformation of her son from likable local lawyer and Boy Scout leader to one of the most despised members of society — a suspected pedophile.

The Northbridge man is just the latest suspect to catch everyone by surprise, even though we’ve grown somewhat accustomed to revelations that otherwise “normal” adults are harboring a dark, secret sex life. In Meyers’ case, the U.S. Department of Justice alleges he communicated with minors by email and offered to perform sex acts. He also received emails containing pictures of prepubescent boys exposing their genitals.

“I don’t know what to think,” his mother said softly, before her son was led into court.

Neither do the experts. Recently, though, some fascinating studies are debunking some long-held views about pedophilia.

For years, we’ve been told that pedophilia is an addiction or a horrible illness or a manifestation of an abusive adult seeking power and control. It’s a failure of character, an evil predilection. Of course, we’ve learned long ago that pedophiles tend not to be monsters lurking in bushes but more often our fathers, our priests, our police, our teachers. Frequently, they’re upstanding members of the community, well-regarded and respected.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Greg Harkin

Saturday August 25 2012

A brisk wind batters Fr Eugene Boland’s face as he walks along the shoreline on Co Donegal’s remote Inishowen peninsula. But the breeze doesn’t bother him.

He is just glad to be breathing the sea air and enjoying the stunning views offered by Ballyliffin beach after enduring his own very personal storm over the past two years.

For most of that time, the Catholic priest has been forced to live under a cloud after being accused of sexually assaulting a teenager.

It was a devastating period for him — one that ended only when a jury found him innocent following an eight-day trial in June.

He was forced to step aside from his parish work while police investigated claims made by a now 37-year-old woman that he had indecently assaulted her over two decades earlier when she was just 14.

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UNITED STATES
Philadelphia Inquirer

Render Unto Rome
The Secret Life of Money
in the Catholic Church

By Jason Berry
Broadway Paperback. 420 pp. $16

Reviewed by Kenneth A. Briggs

While some Catholic bishops and lay people have been waging a campaign to convince the public that their religious freedom is being threatened, Jason Berry’s book stands as a formidable reminder of how much the church needs to learn from the “secular” realm that it often scorns.

Like common-law justice for sex abusers.

And certified public accounting of obscure church finances.

Combining superior investigative skills and adroit analysis, Berry links clergy sexual abuse of children – a subject he helped push onto a national stage in an earlier book – with the tactics designed to cover legal and psychiatric damages resulting from it in a crisis that has cost the church more than $3 billion in settlements, according to the advocacy group BishopAccountability. The chief cause he identifies is appalling moral failure by top church officials, including Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Abuse and its cover-up, widespread and hidden, became a nightmare when Berry in Louisiana and a blockbuster series later in the Boston Globe exposed the scope and horror of the scandal. Expenditures on legal fees and suits quickly became astronomical. Strapped for funds, bishops resorted to various schemes.

The reflexive response in settings like Boston, Cleveland, and Los Angeles, was to sell off church property. That often meant killing a parish that was the cherished spiritual home to neighborhood Catholics. Asking them, in effect, to pay for clergy abuse sparked protest.

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

OREGON/CALIFORNIA
The Oregonian

By Kimberly A.C. Wilson, The Oregonian

For most of their lives, the paths of Angel Perez and Uriel Ojeda ran along parallel lines, from devout boyhoods in Western Mexico, through years of prayer and education at Oregon’s Mount Angel Seminary and, finally, onto the pulpits of their own Catholic churches outside Portland and Sacramento.

They became the best of friends.

Now both priests are accused of crimes 500 miles apart that could ultimately send them to prison and jeopardize the collars that once told the world they were brothers.

The tales of Father Angel and Father Uriel, as their parishioners know them, offer windows into how two neighboring dioceses are addressing a relatively new phenomenon for the Roman Catholic Church: a real-time criminal investigation into alleged child sexual abuse by a priest.

Charges against Perez, 46, and Ojeda, 33 — acclaimed in both the Archdiocese of Portland and Diocese of Sacramento as dynamic, committed, Spanish-speaking pastors beloved by their immigrant congregations — have added fresh woes to a church made hyper-vigilant after settling hundreds of priest sex abuse lawsuits.

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

HAWAII
The Worthy Adversary

Honolulu Star-Adveriser

Damien Memorial School and St. Anthony are hit with accusations of molestation

By Rob Perez
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Aug 24, 2012

Twelve former students at Damien high school on Oahu have filed claims in a New York bankruptcy court alleging that they were sexually abused by clergy who were working at the private Catholic school in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.

The allegations were disclosed Thursday by a California attorney who is representing the alleged victims in their claims against the North American branch of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, which runs Catholic schools around the country and supplies some staff to what is now called Damien Memorial School.

Michael Reck of the law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates said officials overseeing the school during that period were aware of the abuse problem but covered it up for years.”It’s really a conspiracy of silence and abuse that’s most troubling,” Reck said.

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

HAWAII
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on August 25, 2012

Last spring, I met a man named Mark Pinkosh. Yesterday, he became a hero.

Mark charges that he was sexually abused by Hawaii priest J. Michael Henry (Also known as Joseph Henry) when Mark was just a boy attending Kailua’s St. Anthony’s church. When Mark reached out to other adults, trying to get someone to help him, another priest befriended the boy. That priest, Joseph Ferrario, then began to abuse the boy himself. Joseph Ferrario later became the Bishop of Honolulu.

Mark’s accusations were not the first against both men. Another boy, David Figueroa, came forward in 1991 and filed a lawsuit against both priests. The suit was dismissed because of an archaic statute of limitations, NOT the merits of the case. Mark came forward then to help David, but in the end, both boys were shunned in their communities for coming forward and speaking out about what had happened to them. Mark was eventually chased out of Hawaii, his home. David passed away, never able to get justice for the boy who was abused.

Earlier this year, the law changed. Victims of child sexual abuse now have the next two years to come forward and use the civil courts to expose their abusers, punish those who covered up abuse, and get justice and accountability. Thanks to Senator Maile Shimabukuro, victims can get justice and children are safer from abuse. Mark filed a lawsuit to get to the truth of what the Diocese of Honolulu knew about abusers, when they knew it, how they covered it up.

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

CALIFORNIA
Inside Bay Area

San Rafael priest jailed in lewdness case after sting at China Camp

By Gary Klien, Marin Independent Journal
contracostatimes.com
Posted: 08/24/2012

A San Rafael priest was arrested on allegations he exposed himself to an undercover investigator during a crackdown on lewd behavior at China Camp State Park, a state parks ranger said Friday.

The Rev. Feliciano Torres Mofan, 58, was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of indecent exposure, soliciting a lewd act and nudity in a state park. He remained in custody Friday night in lieu of $2,500 bail.

The arrest occurred during a sting operation targeting lewd conduct in the park, said Supervising Ranger Ryen Goering. He said rangers have recently received a spike of reports about sexual activity in public, found Internet postings seeking sexual meetups in the park and cleaned up condoms, clothes and waste left on the grounds.

On Thursday evening, a plainclothes ranger was walking at Chicken Coop Hill, in the shoreline area off North San Pedro Road, when a man approached and propositioned him for sex, Goering said. Then the man allegedly exposed himself to the ranger.

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

CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee

The Associated Press

CHINA CAMP STATE PARK, Calif. — A priest has been arrested after authorities say he exposed himself to an undercover agent at China Camp State Park.

The Marin Independent Journal reports (http://bit.ly/QAUbk9) that 58-year-old Rev. Feliciano Mofan was being held in jail on Friday in lieu of $2,500 bail.

Supervising Ranger Ryen Goering said Mofan’s arrest happened during a sting caused by an increase in reports of sexual activity.

Goering said Mofan propositioned the undercover ranger and exposed himself.

Mofan is a “priest in residence” at the Church of St. Isabella, part of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

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

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

By Stuart Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times

August 25, 2012
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles suspended a priest Friday amid allegations that he stole nearly $300,000 from an elderly widow who was a member of his parish.

Michalena Jones, 79, filed a lawsuit this week that accused Father Peter Valdez of befriending her after her husband’s death and using his influence to steal $284,000 over a seven-year period.

The archdiocese placed Valdez on administrative leave, “pending the resolution of this matter,” said Tod Tamberg, an archdiocese spokesman.

Jones said she met Valdez at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Palmdale after her husband died in 2003. The priest persuaded Jones to give him $150,000 to buy a home in Downey and added his name to her checking account, which he used to make mortgage payments, the lawsuit said.

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

WEST JAVA
Jakarta Globe

Bogor, West Java. Police have arrested a Koran recitation teacher in the Wanaherang village in Gunung Putri, Bogor, after he admitted to having sexually molested 13 of his students over the course of two years.

The case was revealed after the parents of one of the kids, nine-year-old Bunga (who has chosen to go by an alias), reported the teacher, Nana Suryana, 47, to police. Bunga’s mother, Suwarti (also going by an alias) said she had learned about the alleged molestation from Bunga’s younger sister.

“Suwarti first heard about it from [Bunga’s sister], and then she asked Bunga for confirmation, after which she reported Nana to the police,” the head of Bogor Police’s child protection unit, First Insp. F. X. Suyadi, said in Bogor on Saturday.

“[Nana] admitted to molesting 13 children during the past two years, with the ages of the victims ranging from five to nine years old,” he added.

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on August 24, 2012

For the devastation he’s caused, a year in jail is a paltry sentence for Fr. Lyons. Still, we’re grateful he’ll be locked up and for years afterwards will be on probation.

We hope that Fr. Denis Lyons is given the maximum sentence. Harshly sentencing Lyons sends a powerful message. It warns other would be predators that if you harm children, you will be punished. It offers victims and their loved ones a sense of justice. And it keeps a dangerous predator from harming more kids.

Kids are safest when pedophiles are behind bars. And kids are even safer when every single person who saw, suspected or suffered a predator’s crimes comes forward. We are grateful to the brave victims of Fr. Lyons who came forward.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

[with video]

By Pat Ciarrocchi
PHILADELPHIA (CBS)

– With the second clergy sex abuse trial in Philadelphia set to begin in early September, lawyers for the abuse victim in that case are preparing civil litigation.

This week the attorneys told the court they intend to amend their lawsuit and also go after two bishops with Philadelphia ties.

“This won’t be the last of it. This is groundbreaking,” said Philadelphia Attorney Slade McLaughlin.
McLaughlin, of McLaughlin & Lauricella, P.C., intends to name Bishop Joseph Cistone, the current Bishop of Saginaw, Michigan and Bishop Edward Cullen, the former Bishop of Allentown, as he proceeds in a civil case, on behalf of a former altar boy who was sexually abused in 1992.

“My best description of them is that they were the kingpins,” said McLaughlin in an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News.

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UNITED STATES
John Paul II Millstone

Updated August 24, 2012

Paris Arrow

New sex abuse allegations are coming out against retired Bishop Roger Vangheluwe who bragged on television (read related articles below) to sexually abusing his own young nephews and who was the longest reigning Bishop of Belgium for over 25 years. Another clone of John Paul II (who was the longest reigning pope for over 25 years) Bishop Roger Vangheluwe is one of the highest ranking pedophile in the JP2 Army-John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army . This capacity to be priests no matter how heinous the crimes one has commited prove that the Eucharist makes amoral the consciences of men claiming to represent and re-incarnating Christ’s flesh. That is why the Vatican proved itself amoral for over half a century as it covered-up thousands of pedophile priests.

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COLORADO
San Francisco Chronicle

DENVER (AP) — A former interim pastor at a church in Greeley is scheduled for a status conference in September on child pornography charges.

A federal grand jury indicted 68-year-old Richard Howard Craft, of Thornton, this week on charges alleging he distributed, received and possessed child pornography during a period between July 2007 and December 2009.

Craft is a former interim pastor of Family of Christ Presbyterian Church of Greeley.

An affidavit for a search warrant says an undercover FBI special agent saw numerous child pornography files via a publicly available online file-sharing program that were tracked to Craft’s home computer.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

August 25, 2012 by Susan Matthews

I’ve often wondered why the Grand Jury Reports didn’t result in massive archdiocesan employee resignations. However, it never dawned on me that the cover up of clergy child sex abuse might lead to embezzlement. With Guzzardi’s line of reasoning, Catholics should be mugging Bishops and raiding the collection baskets. What a load of …. Quit the institution. Give your money elsewhere. Don’t become what you purport to hate – a liar and a thief.

I am, however, struck by the fact her sentence is more harsh than many child abusers face. Our society values money more than children.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

August 24, 2012|By Joseph A. Slobodzian, Inquirer Staff Writer

Amid the cries and sobs of relatives who packed the courtroom, the former chief financial officer for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was sentenced this morning to 2 to 7 years in prison for her admitted embezzlement of more than $906,000 from the church treasury.

Anita Guzzardi turned and looked at her husband Angelo and mouthed the words “I’m sorry” as Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler imposed the sentence.

Guzzardi, 42, of Barrington in Camden County, pleaded guilty in July to stealing more than $906,000 during a seven-year period from 2004 until she was caught last year.

Guzzardi’s attorney, Louis R. Busico, had urged Ceisler to impose probation so Guzzardi could continue working to pay back the Archdiocese. He said she has paid $260,000 since her arrest in March.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

There is no place in the New York State Legislature for a man who committed the gross sexual misconduct ascribed to Brooklyn Assemblyman and Democratic boss Vito Lopez by his colleagues.

Lopez must resign — or immediately prove that he’s innocent of preying on young female aides with the sort of physical contact that demands criminal investigation.

Most grotesquely, as recounted in a letter to Lopez from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, “ You put your hand on her leg, she removed your hand and you put your hand on her upper thighs, putting your hand as far up between her legs as you could go.”

Silver also writes that a staffer who was forced to join Lopez on a trip to Atlantic City reported “that you attempted to kiss her, that she struggled to fend you off before you stopped and that on the drive back . . . you again put your hand between her legs.”

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NEW YORK
Staten Island Advance

By Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Officials on Staten Island and elsewhere called for Assemblyman Vito Lopez to resign as Brooklyn Democratic Party chairman after the Assembly Committee on Ethics and Guidance found Friday that he violated the chamber’s sexual harassment policy, and stripped him of his committee chairmanship and seniority.

“For the good of the party, he should step aside as party chairman,” said state Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn), whose district crosses into Kings County.

The bipartisan eight-member committee unanimously found that Lopez, 71, created a hostile workplace, including verbal and physical sexual abuse, and that his response to the allegations was “not credible.”

Complaints by two staff members included repeated unwelcome comments about their bodies and attire, as well as attempts to kiss and put his hands between the legs of one of them when he required that she travel with him to Atlantic City, N.J., in July.

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

NY State Assemblyman Vito Lopez, Brooklyn’s Democratic Party boss and power broker, has lost his committee chairmanship, enjoined from employing people under 21-years-old or from having interns, and has been censured after the Assembly’s Ethics Committeefound that Lopez had repeatedly sexually harassed two younf female employees in June and July. Lopez blocked passage of the Markey Bill (Child Victims Act) meant to make pedophiles accountable for their crimes, working closely with the Catholic Church and Satmar to ensure the bill’s failure.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

By DANNY HAKIM

Published: August 24, 2012

ALBANY — Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, one of the last powerful Democratic Party bosses in New York City, was abruptly stripped of his committee chairmanship and censured Friday after he was accused of sexually harassing two women who worked in his district office this summer.

Mr. Lopez, 71, is a longtime fixture of Brooklyn politics, and an irascible kingmaker: he has served in the Assembly since 1984, and has headed the Brooklyn Democratic Party since 2005.

But on Friday, he faced what had once been unimaginable: widespread calls for his resignation, after charges that he verbally harassed, groped and kissed the women without their consent.

Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker, who has in the past been criticized for mishandling sexual misconduct claims against lawmakers, surprised the local political world Friday with a sharply worded rebuke of Mr. Lopez, who had been an ally. Mr. Silver not only removed Mr. Lopez as chairman of the Assembly’s Housing Committee, but reduced the size of his staff, barred him from employing interns or anyone under the age of 21 and denied him any perquisites he had accrued based on his seniority.

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UNITED STATES
Baptist Standard

By Ken Camp, Managing Editor

Published: August 24, 2012

Memories so strong they produce heart-stopping nightmares simultaneously remain so repressed and clouded she cannot pinpoint the time when abuse began. But Janice—who prefers to withhold her last name—knows three male relatives conspired to abuse her sexually over an extended time when she was a small child.

“My mother knew and did not protect me. … An aunt told me not to be a tattletale. … It was as if everybody in my little world either molested me or knew I was being molested,” she said.

At an early age, Janice became convinced she was unloved. “I knew I had no value,” she said.

But a Sunday school teacher told her otherwise.

“She said, ‘God loves you.’ She didn’t know how powerful that message was to me. She didn’t know I was being molested,” Janice recalled.

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IOWA
KCCI

ADEL, Iowa —
A jury announced its verdict Friday in the trial of former Pella pastor Patrick Edouard.

The jury found Edouard not guilty of three counts of third-degree sexual abuse.

The jury found him guilty of all four counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor, therapist, school employee or clergy. They also found him guilty of having a pattern, practice or scheme to sexually exploit.

Four women in Edouard’s former congregation at Covenant Reform Church in Pella said he used his influence as a pastor and counselor to draw them into having sexual relations. Three of the women said the first sexual encounter with Edouard was rape.

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IOWA
San Antonio Express-News

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — A former Pella pastor has been convicted by a jury of sexually exploiting women in his congregation.

The Des Moines Register reports (http://dmreg.co/PHrl3k) 42-year-old Patrick Edouard will be sentenced in October on four counts of sexual exploitation and of having a pattern, practice, or scheme to sexually exploit.

The maximum penalty is nine years in prison.

The jury, which returned its verdict on Friday, acquitted Edouard on three counts of third-degree sexual abuse.

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IOWA
Journal Express

By Clint Brown
CNHI

Adel — After deliberating for almost another 6 hours on Friday, the jury in the State of Iowa v. Patrick Edouard presented their verdict.

Edouard had been charged with three counts of third-degree sexual abuse and four counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist. He allegedly had forced sexual contact on at least three women while serving as a minister from 2003-10.

The jury found Edouard not guilty on all three charges of sexual abuse, but found the former pastor guilty on all four of the sexual exploitation charges – including an additional charge of entering into a pattern/scheme/practice to engage in sexual exploitation as a counselor or therapist, a Class D felony. The last charge came as a result of being found guilty of two or more of the original sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist charges in which he violated law banning sex between people who provide “mental health services” and those who come to seek guidance from them.

“We (the State) are very pleased with the outcome,” Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown said following the announcement of the verdict. “In my mind the sexual exploitation charges were the most critical with the pattern he (Edouard) engaged in during that time. It was a successful case, even with the not guilty verdict on the sexual assault charges. We knew those charges would be an uphill battle with the circumstances. It’s been difficult for everyone (the case), but we couldn’t be more pleased.”

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IOWA
Des Moines Register

Written by
Jeff Eckhoff

ADEL, IA. — Former Pella pastor Patrick Edouard illegally exploited his female parishioners for sex, but he never forced sex upon them, a Dallas County jury ruled Friday afternoon.

Edouard, pastor at Pella’s Covenant Reformed Church until his multiple extramarital affairs came to light in December 2010, was convicted Friday of four charges that he violated a law banning sex between people who provide “mental health services” and those who come to seek guidance from them. He was also found guilty of having a pattern or practice of exploitation.

Edouard was acquitted, however, of three more-serious rape charges — apparently because jurors agreed with defense arguments that the women were never physically forced to start the affairs.

Edouard now faces between five and nine years in prison when he’s formally sentenced on Oct. 19. He remains free on $45,000 bond. Neither Edouard nor his victims agreed to comment Friday.

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CANADA
CBC News

The Catholic Diocese of Bathurst has taken out a half-page newspaper ad, defending itself against criticism over a conciliation process offered to 80 sexual abuse victims.

An Ontario lawyer and some of the victims, abused by clerics between the 1950s and 1980s, have argued there wasn’t enough transparency in the process, but in the newspaper statement, the diocese maintains it did everything right.

It hired retired Supreme Court of Canada justice Michel Bastarache a couple of years ago to oversee the process, which included compensation and apologies.

“Eighty out of 86 victims of sexual abuse by Levi Noel, and other clerics of the Bathurst Diocese, participated in the process and accepted awards made, representing a 93 per cent success rate, one of the highest ever achieved in such a process,” the statement, signed by Most Rev. Valery Vienneau, the bishop-administrator of Bathurst states.

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CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times

By City News Service
dailybreeze.com
Posted: 08/24/2012

SANTA ANA – A former Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to molesting an altar boy in the 1990s at St. John the Baptist Church in Costa Mesa, was sentenced today to a year in jail.

Seventy-eight-year-old Denis Lyons — who left the priesthood in April 2004 — also was put on five years of formal probation. Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno, who accepted the plea agreement the defendant reached with prosecutors, also ordered Lyons to complete 400 hours of community service and register for the rest of life as a sex offender.

As a registered sex offender, there is only one nonprofit organization Lyons can do his community service with, so if that falls through then he would pay a fine instead.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By John Crandall

August 24, 2012

Before a judge could sentence him to a year in jail for molesting a second-grader almost 20 years ago, retired priest Denis Lyons of Leisure World had to listen to the anguished words of those he hurt.

“Today is the day I finally have closure. I have spent the last 16 years living in pain, living in shame. He took away my innocence as a child. This man has ruined my life and many others besides me,” his now grownup victim said Friday in a victim’s impact statement. “He has changed my perception of religion, life, and right and wrong. Him pleading guilty not only gives me closure but gives other victims closure as well. He is a bad person, a bad man.”

Those words hung in the air as a judge sentenced Lyons, formerly employed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County to one year in jail, five years of formal probation, 400 hours of community service and lifetime sex offender registration.

The victim’s mother also shared her pain and the depth of betrayal she felt when a man of the cloth abused her son.

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UNITED STATES
Josh Zepps

[with video]

Where does accountability begin and end? I hosted a heated HuffPost Live discussion about that question with Marci Hamilton, a lawyer trying to hold the Vatican accountable for pedophile priests.

This week, the Church won a victory over Hamilton when an Oregon federal court ruled that the Holy See is not the “employer” of molester priests. The case could shield the Church from possible monetary damages, although Hamilton says she’ll appeal.

The Vatican’s responsibility for the actions of priests on the other side the world is not just a legal question. It’s a moral one. Defending the Vatican on HuffPost Live was writer-reporter James Marshall Crotty, who asked: “Is the Pope responsible for every action of anybody who works in a church? … Is the Pope responsible for the part-time guy who helps in a church with the liturgy and does something wrong? Is the Pope responsible for the person who volunteers at a shelter that’s overseen by the Church?”

No. He has a point. The Church can only be held responsible for what it should reasonably have known. The problem for Crotty and the Church’s other defenders is… it knew a lot. The Vatican is not an impartial head office, detached from the daily workings of its dioceses. Nor does it lack moral influence over its global franchise. It is a deeply engaged institution — and it has systematically enabled child rapists to escape justice and freely rape again. When Pope Benedict ran the diocese of Munich and Freising in 1980 as Archbishop Ratzinger, it came to his attention that one of his priests had taken an 11-year-old boy into the mountains, fed him alcohol, locked him up, stripped him naked, and forced the boy to give him a blow job. Ratzinger’s response was to send the priest off for “therapy.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

August 24, 2012

The Associated Press

A Cambria County priest has been placed on leave amid allegations of sexual abuse involving children several decades ago.

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown said today that the Rev. George Koharchik, pastor of Saint Catherine of Siena Parish in Mount Union, will not be permitted to function as a priest and won’t have contact with children while he is on leave.

Diocese spokesman Tony DeGol said the alleged sexual misconduct took place in the late 1970s. The alleged victims brought it to the attention of the church recently.

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