ABUSE TRACKER

CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel

By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel Staff Writer

This week’s $1.75 million settlement with a former parishioner who says he was sexually abused by defrocked priest Oliver O’Grady has Stockton Diocese officials seriously considering bankruptcy.

“No decision has been made,” Sister Terry Davis said on Thursday. “But our reserve funds have been virtually depleted, and we have four more cases coming at us.”

It will be three to five months before Bishop Stephen Blaire and other diocese leaders decide whether to file for bankruptcy, Davis said. The diocese’s reserves are now less than $1 million, she added.

The diocese and a man who was reportedly sexually abused by O’Grady in the 1980s agreed to the settlement on Monday, according to a press release from the diocese. The diocese will pay the victim $875,000 of the settlement amount, with the remainder to come from the diocese’s insurance, Davis said.

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CALIFORNIA
KCRA via YouTube

Published on Jun 6, 2013
Leaders of the Catholic Diocese of Stockton said they may have to file for bankruptcy, due to years of lawsuits and multimillion-dollar settlements with sexual-abuse victims — which are depleting the diocese’s reserves.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Beauftragler

Rörig: „Bei der strafrechtlichen Verjährung ist das neue Opferschutzgesetz (StORMG) keine Antwort auf berechtigte Opferinteressen. Betroffene sind oft erst in ihrer Lebensmitte in der Lage, strafrechtlich gegen die Täter vorzugehen.“ Forschungsergebnisse der Humboldt Universität Berlin bestätigen dringenden Reformbedarf im Strafrecht.

Berlin, 6. Juni 2013. Das vierte und vorerst letzte Hearing der Veranstaltungsreihe „Dialog Kindesmissbrauch“, das heute in Berlin zum Thema „Verlängerung der strafrechtlichen Verfolgbarkeit – Erwartungen und Risiken“ stattfindet, bietet Betroffenen, Fachwelt und Politik erstmals eine öffentliche Plattform, über ihre Positionen zu einer Veränderung der strafrechtlichen Verjährungsfristen zu diskutieren.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Badische Zeitung

Freiburger Hochschule hat frühere Zustände in kirchlichen Behinderteneinrichtungen untersucht.

FREIBURG (epd). Sie wohnten in kasernenartigen Gebäuden, schliefen in riesigen, abgeschlossenen Gruppenräumen, die medizinische und personelle Betreuung und Versorgung war schlecht: Heimbewohner von Behinderteneinrichtungen wie etwa der Johannes-Diakonie in Mosbach lebten in den 1950er und 1960er Jahren in heute kaum mehr vorstellbaren Verhältnissen. Dass es dabei auch zu Gewalt, Übergriffen und Exzessen kam, hat nun eine Untersuchung des Sozialwissenschaftlichen Frauen-Forschungsinstitutes an der Evangelischen Hochschule Freiburg ergeben.

Das Ausmaß sei “sehr üppig” gewesen, sagt Professorin Cornelia Helfferich. “Körperliche, psychische und sexuelle Gewalt gab es ebenso wie Fixierung oder die Verabreichung von Psychopharmaka”, sagt Helfferich. Ursächlich dafür seien unter anderem die geringe Zahl und mangelnde Ausbildung der Mitarbeitenden gewesen. Außerdem seien in der Nachkriegszeit viele “Sozialwaisen” aufgenommen worden, die keine oder nur eine geringe Behinderung aufwiesen. Die Zahl der betreuten Menschen stieg so von ursprünglich 42 Behinderten im Jahr 1949 auf mehr als 700 im Jahr 1964. Dies habe zu einem System “von Macht, Hierarchien und rigiden Regeln” geführt.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Evangelisch

Der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Bundesregierung, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, setzt sich bei der strafrechtlichen Verfolgung von Missbrauchstaten für längere Verjährungsfristen ein.

06.06.2013 | EPD

Rörig forderte am Donnerstag in Berlin, die Verjährungsfrist solle nicht vor dem 30. Lebensjahr beginnen. Betroffene seien oft erst in ihrer Lebensmitte in der Lage, strafrechtlich gegen die Täter vorzugehen, sagte er bei einem Experten-Hearing, auf dem über Chancen und Risiken verlängerter Strafverfolgungsmöglichkeiten debattiert wurde.

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DEUTSCHLAND
General-Anzeiger

BONN. Das Collegium Josephinum Bonn (CoJoBo) verliert einen langjährigen Seelsorger. Der Pater, der wegen des umstrittenen Einsatzes von Zäpfchen bei erkrankten Schülern in die Schlagzeilen geraten war, kehrt nicht mehr an das Jungen-Gymnasium zurück.

Das teilte Johannes Römelt mit, der Provinzial des katholischen Redemptoristenordens, der Schulträger ist. In einem Brief an die Schulgemeinde betont Römelt, dass der Pater durch die mittlerweile eingestellten Ermittlungen der Staatsanwaltschaft vollständig rehabilitiert sei.

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MISSOURI
Courthouse News Service

By JOE HARRIS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CN) – Two years after state prosecutors dropped lurid charges against a woman’s ex-husband and family, she claims in court that the Mormon church covered up clerical sexual abuse of children and shamed the victims.

Jane Doe and her present husband sued the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its Bishops Paul Tonga and Grant Bench, Stake President Gordon Goodman, Minister and Elder Burrell Edward Mohler Jr. (Jane Doe’s ex-husband), Mohler’s father Burrell E. Mohler Sr. (a pastor in the RLDS/COC Church), and the Community of Christ Church (RLDS/COC).

Doe claims in Jackson County Court that she and her children were sexually abused by the Mohlers.

The Mohlers were arrested in November 2009 on charges of sexual abuse and child endangerment. Prosecutors dropped the charges in 2011, according to the Kansas City Star.

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TROY (MI)
Click on Detroit

[with video]

Author: Bisi Onile-Ere, Local 4 Reporter

TROY, Mich. –
Spokesmen for a church in Troy have spoken out on an investigation into a possible sexual assault of a child at the church’s preschool program.

Two weeks ago, a parent filed a report with police alleging their child was abused at the St. Augustine’s Lutheran Church preschool in Troy.

On Thursday, church spokesmen confirmed the person accused was a volunteer.

Church spokesman Richard Gady said the allegations stemmed from an incident several years ago.

“It’s important to get the message out that we are protecting the children involved, the parents involved in our preschool, and we are using this opportunity to disclose this to you with whatever information we can honestly give you,” Gady said.

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TROY (MI)
Detroit Free Press

By Ann Zaniewski
Detroit Free Press Staff

Leaders at St. Augustine Lutheran Church in Troy have identified a former volunteer as the subject of an ongoing child sexual assault investigation.

The allegation involves a child who attended the church’s preschool. Police launched an investigation after being contacted by a parent May 22, said Troy Police Capt. Robert Redmond.

At a news conference Thursday outside the church on Livernois, Richard Gady, a member of the preschool’s board of directors, said the person named as the suspect is no longer involved with the school. Church officials identified the person as a volunteer, not an employee.

“We ended the person’s involvement immediately upon hearing of this complaint,” Gady said.

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MINNESOTA
Isanti County News

By Rachel Kytonen on June 6, 2013

“The side effects of what Ryan did have great impact on me, my family, my former place of employment and my close community. On a personal level, as a result of the abuse, I have struggled with not being able to look at my body and have felt great detachment, and at times, shame and hate for my body. The pain and anger of being used and abused at such an intimate and personal level through spiritual means have been quite overwhelming to try to deal with emotionally.”

Those words were read by Isanti County Victim Services advocate Cheryl Terhaar during the June 5 sentencing for former pastor Ryan Jay Muehlhauser.

Muehlhauser, 55, of Cambridge, had been an Isanti County pastor serving the community for more than 20 years when he was charged in November 2012 with eight counts of felony, fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with two adult males seeking spiritual counsel.

Muehlhauser pleaded guilty to two of those counts Feb. 28. Under the plea agreement, Muehlhauser will serve 160 days in Isanti County Jail, remain on supervised probation for 10 years and register as a predatory offender. The other six counts were dismissed. Under state sentencing guidelines, a prison sentence can’t be ordered for fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Northern Echo

Abuse victims move a step closer to compensation payments from the Middlesbrough Catholic diocese

By Graeme Hetherington

VICTIMS awaiting compensation for abuse suffered at a Catholic children’s home have moved a step closer to reaching resolution.

In one of the largest abuse cases the country has seen, more than 170 men are seeking compensation following claims of physical and sexual abuse at St William’s Children’s Home in Market Weighton, East Yorkshire, between 1958 and 1992.

As part of an investigation into the claims, James Carragher, former principal of St William’s, was jailed in 2004 for 14 years for a series of sex crimes against young boys.

St William’s – a home for boys aged ten to 16 with behavioural issues – was owned by the Roman Catholic diocese of Middlesbrough but employed a number staff from the De La Salle Brotherhood, including Carragher.

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CALIFORNIA
News 10

The Diocese of Stockton has reached a $1.75 million settlement with a man who said he was sexually abused by a priest who spoke openly in a 2006 documentary about molesting children

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IRELAND
Newstalk

A former priest who received a 16 year prison sentence for the sexual abuse of 9 boys in the 70s and 80s has admitted abusing 2 other boys.

Tony Walsh, formerly of North Circular Road will be sentenced for those offences today.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard how Walsh, who was known as the ‘Singing Priest’, featured in the 2009 Murphy report into clerical sex abuse.

He pleaded guilty to 2 counts of indecent assault on January 1st and April 4th 1979.

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CALIFORNIA
Manteca Bulletin

By Rose Albano-Risso
City Editor ralbanorisso@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3536
POSTED June 7, 2013 .

STOCKTON – The Diocese of Stockton has reached a negotiated settlement with attorneys for a man who was a victim of sexual abuse in the 1980s by defrocked Catholic priest Oliver O’Grady.

The announcement was made on Monday by Sr. Terry Davis, director of communications for the diocese.

Under the agreement, the victim who was not named will receive $1.75 million. The case will be dismissed. The Diocese is to pay $875,000 of the settlement amount, with the remaining portion to be paid through insurance proceeds.

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, in a statement issued along with the announcement of the settlement, stated, “It is our hope that this settlement will help the victim continue to find healing for the suffering he endured. We have tried to find resolutions to these cases that will provide some measure of solace for victims. We continue to follow strict measures to ensure that we are protecting the young and the vulnerable.”

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IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests

The Association of Catholic Priests is delighted that Fr. Liam O’Brien’s name has been cleared, and that his long nightmare is over.

We wish to sincerely thank the great work done by solicitor, Robert Dore, and our legal team, in this case.

For us in the ACP this case hightlights two matters of great concern.

1. The reality of false allegations against priests. We have known of this for some time. Priests are now an easy target, and there are a considerable number of false allegations being made against individuals.

2. The absence, in most cases including this one, of any real support from Church authorities for a priest who find himself in this terrible situation.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Clearing of name of Kerry priest falsely accused raises ‘matters of great concern’

Patsy McGarry

Fri, Jun 7, 2013

The clearing of the name of Kerry priest Fr Liam O’Brien who was falsely accused by a woman of abuse, has highlighted “two matters of great concern,” the leadership of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has said.

The association said there are a considerable number of false allegations being made against individuals.

“We have known of this for some time. Priests are now an easy target, and there are a considerable number of false allegations being made against individuals,” they said.

And there was “the absence, in most cases including this one, of any real support from church authorities for a priest who finds himself in this terrible situation.”

Apology

On Wednesday, Eileen Culloty apologised at the High Court in Dublin to Fr O’Brien whom she had falsely accused of abusing her.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
Posted: 06/06/2013

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday took up the question of whether a St. Paul priest’s criminal-sexual-conduct conviction was based on “excessive religious evidence,” and should thus be overturned, as a lower court had ruled.

Christopher Wenthe became sexually involved with a 21-year-old penitent while he served at Nativity of Our Lord parish in St. Paul. The relationship lasted from November 2003, when he was 39, until February 2005, according to testimony at his Ramsey County trial.

The woman testified that she told Wenthe about her struggles with an eating disorder and prior sexual abuse. He agreed to serve as her confessor. She said Wenthe exploited her vulnerability and her trust in him as a priest.

Wenthe’s attorney countered at trial that the relationship was a “mutual affection that went awry” and that the woman was a willing participant.

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

THURSDAY JUNE 6, 2013
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF
STAFF WRITER

The Most Rev. Edgar M. da Cunha was named the new vicar general of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark on Thursday, less than two weeks after his predecessor stepped down over his oversight of a former Wyckoff priest who allegedly violated an agreement with law enforcement by working with children.

Archbishop John J. Myers said in a letter made public on May 24 that Monsignor John E. Doran resigned from the position after an independent law firm’s investigation found certain protocols had been followed in the oversight of the Rev. Michael Fugee. The vicar general is second in command in the archdiocese.

Fugee, who confessed to groping a 13-year-old boy, was arrested last month for allegedly violating a memorandum of understanding with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office that barred him from ever working with children. Authorities said he heard confession from children on at least seven occasions, twice in Rochelle Park and once in Paramus. Doran had signed the agreement on behalf of the archdiocese.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

June 7, 2013

Christopher Knaus
Police reporter for The Canberra Times.

A Canberra Catholic priest has denied allegations he committed historical acts of indecency on a child in the 1990s.

Father Edward Evans, 83, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court for the first time on Friday, and was charged with three acts of indecency stretching between 1994 and 1997.

The elderly priest, who worked as a chaplain for the German community, is accused of indecently touching a girl three times, twice when she was between 11 and 12, and a third time when she was 13.

Father Evans pleaded not guilty to all charges in a brief court appearance before Magistrate Bernadette Boss.

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CALIFORNIA
NBC Bay Area

By Chris Roberts | Thursday, Jun 6, 2013

Will Lynch admits he punched the priest he accused of molesting him as a child decades ago. And now he’s launching another campaign against child molesters.

A political campaign.

Lynch claims that he and his younger brother were abused by Rev. Jerold Lindner on a “religious camping trip” 35 years ago, when the pair were 7 and 4 years old, respectively, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

He filed suit claiming that Lindner raped him and made him have oral sex with his brother — and decades later, as an adult, was acquitted of assault after he punched Lindner — and now wants to have the state eliminate the statute of limitations for filing charges against alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse, the newspaper reported.

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ILLINOIS
NBC Chicago

A Diocese of Joliet priest who sexually abused a boy for five years was released on parole Thursday.

Alejandro Flores, 40, served around 80 percent of the 4-year sentence he agreed to in a 2010 plea deal.

Flores must now register as a sex offender, according to the Joliet Herald-News.
The priest had befriended the boy’s family while assigned to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in West Chicago.

Flores was ordained in 2009. In January, when the boy’s mother alerted the Joliet archdiocese to the alleged abuse, Flores was removed from the parish. Two days later, he leaped from the balcony of a Joliet church in a suicide attempt, according to church officials.

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TEXAS
Statesman

By Cyndi Wright
Austin Community Newspapers Staff

According to the Catholic Diocese of Austin, Ascension Catholic Church pastor Rafael Padilla-Valdes will not celebrate Mass this weekend after an incident in San Antonio on May 29.

Padilla-Valdes, 42, was allegedly the victim of an assault after he was found in a motel on Roosevelt Avenue near I-10 and I-37 by an officer who responded to a 911 call, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

In the police report, the responding officer noted that Padilla-Valdes was standing in his room with the door open, wearing only underwear, with what appeared to be swelling and abrasions to his face and arms. The officer also noted in the report that he saw condoms and beer in the room and that Padilla-Valdes appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

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ILLINOIS
Greenwich Times

PONTIAC, Ill. (AP) — A Chicago-area Roman Catholic priest who was sentenced to prison for abusing a boy has been released on parole.

The Herald-News in Joliet reports (http://bit.ly/1883wig) that 40-year-old Alejandro Flores was released on Thursday. Flores pleaded guilty in 2010 to felony criminal sexual abuse. He served about 80 percent of his four-year prison sentence. Flores now must register as a sex offender.

Prosecutors say the priest abused the 12 or 13-year-old boy while working at St. Mary’s Church in West Chicago.

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NEW JERSEY
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Jun. 6, 2013

The archbishop of Newark, N.J., named a new vicar general Thursday, filling a position made vacant in the wake of the Fr. Michael Fugee scandal.

Archbishop John J. Myers appointed Auxiliary Bishop Edgar da Cunha to the post, according to an archdiocesan press release.

“Bishop da Cunha’s long history with the Archdiocese of Newark, both as a priest and pastor serving in urban parishes, and with his work in the fields of Evangelization and the New Energies Parish Transition Project, have given him a full understanding of the breadth and depth of the Archdiocese, its clergy and its people,” Myers said in the release.

“Since his ordination as an Auxiliary Bishop in 2003, I have benefited from his expertise and counsel over the years, and look forward to his serving as my Vicar General,” he said.

Da Cunha replaces Msgr. John Doran, who resigned May 24 as part of a number of administrative changes in the archdiocese since the re-emergence of the case of Fr. Michael Fugee, who was alleged to have violated a court order banning him from ministry with children, in late April.

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VIRGINIA
CBS 6

[with video]

June 5, 2013, by Nick Dutton and Sandra Jones

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – A community leader is worried that a Richmond mega church that has lost four of its five pastors may not be able to continue its mission.

Jeff Davis Neighborhood Civic Association’s Charles Willis, who has worked closely with the church and Pastor Geronimo Aguilar, fears the Richmond Outreach Center’s mission of serving the needy may be too difficult.

This after Aguilar, known as Pastor G, is accused of sexually abusing two young sisters in the mid 1990s in Texas prior to founding the ROC in 2003.

“It’s a sad day in Richmond,” said Willis. “The ROC has been a ROC within the Richmond community and that ROC has been shattered.”

As civic association president, Willis worked closely with Aguilar on prayer vigils and programs involving Citizens Against Crime.

Willis calls him a spiritual leader who looked out for underprivileged and troubled kids.

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VIRGINIA/TEXAS
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

BY BILL MILLER
wmiller@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — The Richmond, Va., minister accused of sexually assaulting two girls in the 1990s in Fort Worth has resigned as senior pastor along with three members of his staff, church officials said Wednesday.

The Rev. Geronimo Aguilar, 43, who was senior pastor of Richmond Outreach Center, or ROC, is free on $200,000 bail. He was briefly jailed last week in Tarrant County.

Wednesday evening, the ROC board of directors issued a statement announcing that they had accepted Aguilar’s resignation “upon mutually agreeable terms.”

Other resignations were accepted from Jason Helmlinger, executive pastor; Andrew Delgado, children’s pastor; and Matthew Aguilar, assistant pastor and brother of Geronimo Aguilar.

“We wish the best for the pastors and their families,” the board said in its statement. “The Richmond Outreach Center remains focused on serving those in need and we will never stray from this mission.”

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Outreach Center

June 06, 2013
To the Greatest Church in the Whole World,

The past twelve years at The ROC have been an amazing journey. God took an unlikely crew from the West Coast, planted us in a warehouse that was a little larger than our current lobby, and grew us into one of the fastest-growing churches in America. In the last twelve years, we have:

* Helped hundreds of men and women overcome drug and alcohol addictions and become productive, hard-working citizens through our Discipleship Homes,
* Shared the life-changing love of Jesus Christ with thousands of children ages 5-12 through our weekly Kids Service, giving more than 351,150 rides to Kids Service through our Whosoever Kids Bus Ministry, and
* Won more than 150,000 souls to the Lord.

My heart’s desire was to establish a soulwinning church that embraced the principles of love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness; and that’s what we have been able to do. And this unorthodox church, which was founded on what many thought to be an impossible and unrealistic vision, has positively impacted Richmond more than any other church in our city’s history. God has used The ROC to transform our city. And through all of this, never has a pastor been loved as much as your pastor.

As you all know, my family and I have been facing difficult trials and persecution. This has taken a toll on me and my family, as well as those close to me. Unfortunately, during this difficult season, the focus has been taken off of Jesus and put on me, and that is not what The ROC is all about.

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VIRGINIA
CBS 6

[with video]

June 6, 2013, by Scott Wise and Jake Burns

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – One day after the Richmond Outreach Center (ROC) announced the resignation of Pastor Geronimo Aguilar and three other pastors, Aguilar posted a statement on the church’s website.

“The past twelve years at The ROC have been an amazing journey. God took an unlikely crew from the West Coast, planted us in a warehouse that was a little larger than our current lobby, and grew us into one of the fastest-growing churches in America,” Aguilar wrote. [Click here to read the entire statement]
Aguilar, who is currently out on bond, was recently charged with seven felony charges in Fort Worth, Texas based on allegations that he sexually abused two young girls in the mid-90s.

“As you all know, my family and I have been facing difficult trials and persecution,” Aguilar wrote. “Although we will not be at The ROC, Samantha [his wife] and I are not leaving Richmond, and we hope to continue the many relationships we have built with you all. I would ask that you pray for me and my family, as we don’t know what God has in store for us, next.”

According to a Texas arrest warrant, the parents of Aguilar’s alleged victims followed the pastor from California to Texas to join him at New Beginnings church. The warrant indicated the parents allowed Aguilar to live in their home because “he was their trusted spiritual leader.”

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VIRGINIA
Christianity Today

(UPDATED) Mass resignation after more details emerge on sex abuse allegations against Richmond Outreach Center founder Geronimo Aguilar.

Melissa Steffan

Update (June 6): Local news sources report that four of the five pastors at Richmond Outreach Center (ROC) have resigned from their positions. The resignations came one day after the release of more details regarding the sex abuse case against ROC founding pastor Geronimo Aguilar, which has “shattered” the church.

The church announced the resignations Wednesday evening, stating that Aguilar and the others had been released “upon mutually agreeable terms.” According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Other resignations were accepted from Jason Helmlinger, executive pastor; Andrew Delgado, children’s pastor; and Matthew Aguilar, assistant pastor and brother of Geronimo Aguilar.”

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VIRGINIA
RichmondTimes-Dispatch

BY LOUIS LLOVIO
Richmond Times-Dispatch

RICHMOND — The former senior pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center said he made the decision to leave the church he founded in 2001 because the sexual assault charges he faces in Texas have become a distraction to ROC’s ministry.

Geronimo Aguilar, in his first public statements since being arrested last month for the sexual assault of two young girls in Texas, also said he would remain in Richmond while free on bond.

“As you all know, my family and I have been facing difficult trials and persecution. This has taken a toll on me and my family, as well as those close to me. Unfortunately, during this difficult season, the focus has been taken off of Jesus and put on me, and that is not what The ROC is all about,” Aguilar wrote in a letter to church members posted on the ROC’s website today.

Aguilar, who had been on paid leave, said he made the decision last week “after much prayer and wise counsel from a dear friend.”

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VIRGINIA
Christian Post

By Leonardo Blair , CP Reporter
June 6, 2013

A swirling controversy over the criminal past and alleged sexual proclivities of the founding pastor of Virginia’s Richmond Outreach Center (ROC) megachurch, Geronimo Aguilar, came to a head on Wednesday when the church’s board announced that it had accepted the resignation of four of its five pastors.

“The Richmond Outreach Center held a Board meeting this evening, June 5, 2013. Upon mutually agreeable terms, we hereby announce that we have accepted the resignations of Pastor Geronimo Aguilar, Pastor Jason Helmlinger, Pastor Andrew Delgado and Pastor Matthew Aguilar,” noted the board in a terse statement posted to its website.

“We wish the best for the pastors and their families. The Richmond Outreach Center remains focused on those in need and we will never stray from this mission,” it added.
Pastor Aguilar, affectionately known as “Pastor G” was extradited to Texas late last month where he is currently facing seven felony charges including aggravated sexual assault of two sisters under age 14, according to an ABC 8News report. These assaults are said to have taken place before Pastor G founded the ROC ministry in 2003. If convicted of the charges he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

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FLORIDA
Vatican Crimes

THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013

A prominent South Florida priest has taken a temporary leave of absence as allegations of sexual misconduct against him are investigated, Archdiocese of Miami spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said Monday.

A civil complaint was filed against Father Daniel Kubala of Miami’s St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church and Parish last month. In the complaint, the unnamed plaintiff alleges Kubala made two unwanted sexual advances towards the plaintiff, identified as “John Doe,” back in April.

An adult male worker at the church has made the accusations, Ross Agosta said in a statement.

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ILLINOIS
Naperville Sun

By Brian Stanley bstanley@stmedianetwork.com June 6, 2013

PONTIAC — A Diocese of Joliet priest who sexually abused a boy for five years was released on parole Thursday.

Alejandro Flores, 40, was behind bars for roughly 80-percent of the 4-year sentence he received under a plea deal in 2010. He is now required to register as a sex offender.

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CALIFORNIA
U-T San Diego

By The Associated Press

STOCKTON, Calif. — A Northern California Roman Catholic diocese has reached a $1.75 million settlement with a man who said he was sexually abused by a priest who spoke openly in a 2006 documentary about molesting children.

The Diocese of Stockton disclosed the settlement on Wednesday.

The alleged victim said he was 11 or 12 years old when he was abused by Oliver O’Grady in Stockton in the 1980s.

In his lawsuit filed in 2009, he said his younger brother and sister were also abused by O’Grady. Those cases were settled for $2 million.

O’Grady talked about abusing more than 20 children in the Academy Award-nominated documentary, “Deliver Us From Evil.”

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NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON JUNE 06, 2013

According to trusted Catholic blogger Rocco Palmo (“Whispers in the Loggia”), Newark Archbishop John Myers has named Auxiliary Bishop Edgar da Cunha as the archdiocese’s new vicar general.

For a decade, da Cunha has been Myers’ right hand man. Da Cunha has been silent while Myers has repeatedly endangered kids, broken church policies, deceived parishioners and the public about predator priests.

So how can giving da Cunha more responsibility make any sense or change whatsoever?

Myers could have brought in an untarnished outsider. Instead, he promotes a tarnished insider. This is “circling the wagons,” not solving the crisis.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Tom Doyle’s bibliography

Tom Doyle is a Dominican priest who has been involved in the clergy sex abuse crisis since 1984. He has offered survivors and their families support and has served as an expert witness in criminal and civil cases. He has also done expert and consultant work with grand juries in the U.S., with the three investigative commissions in Ireland and with the Cornwall Commission in Canada.

The Catholic Labyrinth: Power, Apathy, and a Passion for Reform in the American Church, by Peter McDonough (Oxford University Press, USA July 15, 2013) 978-0199751181. Read review

Sexual abuse scandals, declining attendance, a meltdown in the number of priests and nuns, the closing of many parishes and parochial schools–all have shaken American Catholicism. Yet conservatives have increasingly dominated the church hierarchy.

In The Catholic Labyrinth, Peter McDonough tells a tale of multiple struggles that animate various groups–the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Voice of the Faithful, and the Leadership Roundtable chief among them–pushing to modernize the church. One contest pits reformers against those who back age-old standards of sexual behavior and gender roles. Another area of contention, involving efforts to maintain the church’s far-flung operations in education, social services, and healthcare, raises constitutional issues about the separation of church and state. Once a sidebar to this debate, the bishops’ campaign to control the terms of employment and access to contraceptives in church-sponsored ministries has fueled conflict further.

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UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

In all of 2012, there were exactly six credible abuse allegations made against Catholic priests by current minors in all of 2012 (out of some 40,000 active priests), and the “fewest allegations and victims” ever were tabulated since statistics began to be compiled.

In fact, in a body of 77 million people, contemporaneous accusations of abuse against Catholic clergy in the United States are extremely rare, recently averaging 8 allegations merely deemed “credible” each year.

Yet a new group being trumpeted by the New York Times, “Catholic Whistleblowers,” is trying to dupe the public into believing that abuse is somehow still rampant in the Church today.

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UNITED STATES
Gay Soup

The fact that an Ohio jury reached a decision in a civil case against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is likely to have far reaching consequences. In some ways, the consequences could be similar to those that occurred with the various cases involving pedophile priests in that some people who have been fired from their jobs within Catholic Church run organizations for supposedly breaking their contracts may find themselves capable of suing.

The Ohio Jury awarded damaged to Christa Dias. At one time, she was employed by two different Catholic schools to teach only computer sciences, and believed that the contract that she signed while working there did not require her to absolutely follow Catholic Church teachings on certain subjects like homosexuality and artificial insemination.

Dias was fired after she got pregnant through artificial insemination. At the time, the archdiocese thought that she was single. The reality is that she has a partner. Currently, she and her partner are unable to get married in most states including Ohio, and where they live now, Georgia. The two women and their daughter moved to Atlanta following Dias’ firing.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) noted the inconsistencies and hypocrisy in how Dias was treated compared to how clergy who commit not only an egregious breach of their vows, but of the law in most nations, are treated.

According to SNAP, it comes down to “One standard for clergy, another for laity.” Or put another way “do as I say, not as I do.”

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JOHNSTOWN (PA)
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 06, 2013

JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania — The former principal of Bishop McCort Catholic High School says he’s left the Johnstown school.

Ken Salem announced the decision Wednesday, the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat (http://bit.ly/11uwio1 ) reports. He had been on paid leave since March 1 and had been at the school for nearly two decades.

Some area residents who objected when Salem was put on leave without explanation also lamented his departure.

Rob Eckenrod says the resignation is “a sad day” and that school leaders “unjustly” allowed Salem’s reputation to be tarnished by a separate scandal.

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VIRGINIA/TEXAS
NBC 12

By Ray Daudani

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) –
A Richmond pastor facing child sexual abuse charges in Texas is speaking out about his recent resignation from his Southside megachurch.

Geronimo “Pastor G” Aguilar published a statement to his congregation on the Richmond Outreach Center’s website Thursday morning, a day after the ROC’s board of directors accepted his resignation along with that of four others.

In the statement, Aguilar says he decided to step down last week due to the criminal charges “taking the focus off of Jesus” and instead putting it on him. He asks his congregation to pray for him and his family, tells them “no person will ever love you like your pastor has” and thanks the ROC’s staff and leadership team.

The ROC’s Board of Directors announced Wednesday evening the acceptance of the resignations from Aguilar, Pastor Jason Helmlinger, Pastor Andrew Delgado and Pastor Matthew Aguilar.

The board says the terms were “mutually agreeable” and wished “the best for the pastors and their families.”

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WORCESTER (MA)
Catholic Free Press

By Tanya Connor

The Catholic Church has led the way in addressing sexual abuse of minors, the incoming chairman of the National Review Board said.

Francesco C. Cesareo, president of Assumption College (in Worcester, Mass.) and a Review Board member for one year, is to succeed Al Notzon III as chairman on Sunday, at the conclusion of the board’s June meeting. Since the board meets four times a year, the first meeting President Cesareo will oversee as chairman will be in September.

His appointment by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, raises the visibility of the college and the Worcester Diocese, he said, and he expressed hope that it would be a positive reflection on both. His three-year term as chairman is a contribution the college is making to the life of the Church, he said.

His plans are to do what the NRB was set up to do. He said the USCCB established this lay board in 2002 to collaborate with the bishops in preventing sexual abuse of minors in the United States by people working for the Church – now and in the future.

The board does this by making sure that the bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People is being implemented, he said.

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FLORIDA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON JUNE 06, 2013

An overseas missionary from the Sanford FL-based New Tribes Mission (NTM) has been arrested on child porn and child sex abuse charges. Now, it’s crucial that NTM uses its vast resources to reach out to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes.

Given NTM’s disturbing track record on children’s safety, church officials must take aggressive steps to help law enforcement convict Warren Scott Kennell.

If they do little or nothing, it will be clear that little or nothing in this troubling organization is changing.

NTM claims 3,300 “missionaries” across the globe, making it the second largest Christian missionary organization in the world. (http://www.ntm.org/)

In the 1980s and 1990s, at a Christian boarding school in Senegal, “child abuse was widespread and routine” and “much of this behavior was criminal.” These are among the stunning conclusions found in a hard-hitting, 68 page investigative report about NTM released 2.5 years ago.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Croydon Guardian

By Hannah Williamson

A catholic priest arrested after being accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy has been re-bailed by police.

Francis Moran of St Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church in Brook Road, Thornton Heath, was questioned and bailed by police last September.

Parishioners were informed of the allegation when they were read a statement during a Sunday Mass.

The parish priest, who joined the church in 2004, has been re-bailed until the end of June.

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IRELAND
Sunday World

A former priest who received a 16-year prison sentence for the sexual abuse of nine boys in the 70s and 80s has admitted abusing two other boys.

Tony Walsh (59) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of indecent assault on January 01 and April 4, 1979. The victims were aged between ten and 11.

Walsh, formerly of North Circular Road, Dublin, was known as the “Singing Priest” and featured in the 2009 Murphy Report. Judge Martin Nolan adjourned sentencing until tomorrow.

Garda John Barrett told Vincent Heneghan BL, prosecuting, that the first victim was aged 11 when Walsh caught him eating sweets outside the church before taking Holy Communion.

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON JUNE 06, 2013

Stockton’s Catholic bishop is threatening to seek bankruptcy protection. Shame on him.

[The Record]

It’s a selfish cop-out when Catholic institutions misuse the Chapter 11 process to protect their secrets and deny child sex abuse victims a chance to expose predators in court. Make no mistake about it: that’s the real motivation here. It’s a lack of courage, not a lack of funds. It’s to protect reputations, not assets.

When bishops seek bankruptcy protection, all lawsuits, depositions, discovery and trials come to a screeching halt. The court plays no role in exposing wrongdoers or preventing wrongdoing. It just divides up money. So Catholics and citizens learn nothing about who is committing and concealing clergy child sex crimes.

This isn’t about protecting church assets. It’s about protecting the power and reputations of powerful church officials who desperately want to keep their complicity in child sex cases under wraps.

We hope every single man, woman and child who is being or has been molested by Stockton Catholic employees – past and present – will step forward, call police and protect others. And we hope every single person who saw or suspected crimes by Stockton Catholic employees will do the same.

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ROME
Catholic News Agency

By Estefania Aguirre

Rome, Italy, Jun 6, 2013 / 06:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An expert on dealing with sexual abuse cases within the Church says prevention guidelines being developed with Vatican oversight should vary from country to country.

“We’ve realized learning habits and how people respond to some questionnaires and comply to rules varies from country to country,” said Father Hans Zollner, a German Jesuit who heads the Gregorian University’s Centre for Child Protection.

“It is most interesting and most inspiring to see this across the different cultures,” Fr. Zollner told CNA June 5.

He explained that some guidelines should apply to all countries equally, since “sexual abuse is sexual abuse, no matter what.”

“But in the Philippines, for example, there is the ‘culture of touch.’”

“It means that if you don’t touch children, hugging and kissing them, there is something wrong and pathological,” Fr. Zollner said.

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VIRGINIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON JUNE 06, 2013

Group asks ROC: “Let us speak”
They want to address congregation
Victim’s organization holds candlelight vigil
SNAP also urges victims to contact prosecutor

A support group for clergy sex abuse is asking to speak at a troubled Richmond church and urging anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by two ministers to contact local prosecutors, especially if they’re reluctant to speak with the police.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are writing the board of the Richmond Outreach Center about Pastor Geronimo Scott Aguilar and Pastor Jason Helmlinger, both of whom recently stepped down from their positions at the ROC.

Aguilar was arrest on May 21 on charges of molesting two girls. Then, days later, Helmlinger was arrested and charged after he made a threatening and obscene phone call to a man who said he’d seen allegedly inappropriate behavior between Aguilar and some church wives.

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JOHNSTOWN (PA)
The Tribune-Democrat

For The Tribune-Democrat

JOHNSTOWN — Editor’s note: The following was submitted to The Tribune-Democrat by the Bishop McCort Catholic High School Board of Trustees by Matt Beynon, a school spokesman. Board members, according to the school’s website, are: Bishop Mark Bartchak, Mark Pasquerilla, Jack Buchan, Mike Price, Lou Mihalko, Nicholas Antonazzo, Paul Helsel, Dan Hummel, Richard Kastelic, Joe Martella, Thomas McAneny, the Rev. David Peles, Linda Thomson and trustee emeritus Msgr. Thomas Mabon.

Until January 2013, the Bishop McCort Catholic High School Board of Trustees guided the school’s leadership team on many positive ventures, with our goal being to ensure that Bishop McCort is one of the area’s best educational facilities and spiritual institutions.

But in January, this board was placed in a totally different situation – making choices none of us ever imagined, with the ultimate goal of saving Bishop McCort.

The stories we have learned of those who may have been violated by Brother Stephen Baker are sickening and heartbreaking. The pain and emotional scars that the victims carry are beyond what many of us can ever imagine. These victims must be embraced by our entire school family and community.

But faced with such horror, some in our community have understandably chosen to deny these acts could have occurred, lashing out at members of this board or, in some sad instances, the victims themselves. The facts the alleged victims, their counsel, and – to a certain extent – this board know may never be revealed to the public at large.

While the unavailability of such information is rare in an age when private matters are splashed over the Internet or the ticker at the bottom of a cable news channel, the unavailability of the information in this case does not mean it does not exist or that it is not true. Such denial and the division that it causes are but one more casualty of the type of abuse perpetrated by Brother Baker and only adds to the pain which the victims and the community suffer. The time has come for the community to accept that it may never know that which it does not know, and begin the healing process. To do any less is to harm those who have already been victimized and undermine the future of Bishop McCort.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph & Argus

A former Bradford vicar has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a teenage boy over a three-year period in the 1990s.

Peter Hedge yesterday admitted eight offences of indecent assault on a male, indecency with a child and a serious sexual offence, all involving one boy when he was aged 13 to 15.

He was remanded in custody at Bradford Crown Court to a date to be fixed.

Hedge, 50, who was vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Queensbury, spent many years working on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

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OHIO
Catholic News Agency

By Kevin J. Jones

Cincinnati, Ohio, Jun 6, 2013 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Although the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has been ordered to pay $171,000 to a school teacher fired for undergoing artificial insemination, a spokesman says it has no intention to end morality requirements.

“For the archdiocese, this case has always been about an employee violating a legally enforceable contract that she signed,” communications director Dan Andriacco said June 5.

“We also believe that we have a First Amendment right to give Catholic school parents what they expect – an environment that reflects Catholic moral teaching,” he added. “Our schools are Catholic schools and the work that our school employees do is an extension of that ministry.”

Andriacco told CNA the archdiocese believes the lawsuit filed by former computer teacher Christa Dias should have fallen under the “ministerial exception” to employment law and “should never have gone to trial.”

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SCHWEIZ
Schwyzer Zeitung

EINSIEDELN In der katholischen Kirche in der Schweiz hat die Zahl der Meldungen zu sexuellen Übergriffen im vergangenen Jahr markant abgenommen. 2012 wurden den Bistümern 9 Opfer und 9 Täter aus der Zeit von 1960 bis 2012 neu gemeldet. Im Vorjahr waren es 23 Opfer und 24 Täter.

Vier der Opfer sind Kinder und Jugendliche zwischen 12 und 16 Jahren, die übrigen Meldungen würden Vergehen gegen Erwachsene betreffen, heisst es in einer Mitteilung der Schweizerischen Bischofskonferenz (SBK) vom Donnerstag.

Nähere Angaben zu den Fällen machte die SBK nicht. Die Statistik wurde von einem Fachgremium der Bischofskonferenz, der Kommission «Sexuelle Übergriffe in der Pastoral», erstellt.

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VATIKAN
Zenit

Vatikanstadt, 6. Juni 2013 (ZENIT.org)

In einem Interview mit Radio Vaticana am vergangenen Dienstag, den 4. Juni 2013, mit dem deutschen Jesuiten Hans Zollner, Vizerektor der Päpstlichen Universität Gregoriana in Rom, berichtete der Leiter der Fakultät für Psychologie von seinem Treffen mit Papst Franziskus, bei dem er den Heiligen Vater über die Präventionsarbeit des Internationalen Zentrums für Kinderschutz der Universität informierte. Der Papst appellierte an die Mitarbeiter, im Kampf gegen sexuellen Missbrauch nicht nachzulassen und „mit Geduld und Beharrlichkeit“ weiterzumachen.

Bei einem Treffen mit dem Präfekten der Kongregation für Glaubenslehre, Gerhard Ludwig Müller, am 6. April, hatte sich Papst Franziskus zum ersten Mal zu dem Thema geäußert, indem er die Kongregation aufforderte, sie solle nach den von Benedikt XVI. gegebenen Vorgaben damit fortfahren, Schritte zum Schutz der Minderjährigen zu ergreifen und sexuellen Missbrauch zu ahnden. So hat die Glaubenskongregation die Bischofskonferenzen weltweit dazu aufgefordert, Regelwerke im Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch zu entwickeln, die den Schutz der Kinder gewährleisten. Wie Zollner Radio Vaticana mitteilte, haben bisher 80% bis 85% weltweit Leitlinien der Glaubenskongregation zugesendet, wo der Prozess noch schleppend voran gehe, bemühe man sich um ein stetiges Vorantreiben.

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DEUTSCHLAND
3sat

Der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der deutschen Bundesregierung, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, hat sich für eine spätere Verjährung bei sexuellem Missbrauch ausgesprochen.

Das Alter, ab dem die Verjährungsfrist läuft, müsse auf mindestens 30 Jahre angehoben werden, forderte Rörig am 6. Juni 2013 in Berlin. Die “Ruhensregelung” müsse entsprechend geändert werden.

Im Gesetz zur Stärkung der Rechte von Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs, das der Bundesrat im April verabschiedet hatte, war diese Frist vom 18. auf das 21. Lebensjahr des Betroffenen verlängert worden. Diese Veränderung sei nur ein erster Schritt in die richtige Richtung, so Rörig weiter. Notwendig sei eine umfassende Verlängerung dieser Frist. Er begründete dies damit, dass die Betroffenen lange bräuchten, bis sie über das an ihnen begangene Unrecht sprechen könnten. Häufig sei das erst in der Lebensmitte der Fall.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Tribune-Democrat

— We’re appalled and shocked at the arrogance of the Bishop McCort Board of Trustees. It is beyond comprehension what the trustees – many of them longtime community leaders – write about the sexual scandal issue involving Brother Stephen Baker.

In a piece appearing in today’s Tribune-Democrat, the board informs our readers and others that “The time has come for the community to accept that it may never know that which it does not know, and begin the healing process. To do any less is to harm those who have already been victimized and undermine the future of Bishop McCort.”

In other words, the board has no intention of coming clean and informing the public, even you who long have supported this school with your hard-earned dollars, about what it knows or has learned about Baker’s alleged assaults on many of McCort’s students.

How insulting.

This would be much like Penn State’s administrators and trustees saying, “Forget what you have heard about Jerry Sandusky. Trust us and move on.”

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UNITED STATES
Joyful Heart Foundation

I spoke recently with a group of college men whose fraternity had been sanctioned for sexually offensive attitudes and behavior. Our discussion was part of a mandated remedy. Not surprisingly, mandated conversations often don’t lead immediately to open dialogue.

Efforts to educate men about sexual violence generally cast them in one of two roles: bystanders, either preventing or supporting sexually aggressive behavior, speech or attitudes; or as perpetrators of violence.

This time, we experimented with introducing a third role to our conversation: the reality that men are also frequently the victims of violence, including the one in six men, who have had unwanted or abusive sexual experiences in childhood.

Make no mistake. Trauma can never be an excuse for hurting others. But I’ve found that acknowledging men’s experiences of trauma can lead to startling insights about violence. And by the end of the session, these men were readily identifying ways that men’s socialized behaviors can cause real harm.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

STUART RINTOUL From: The Australian June 07, 2013

THE Catholic Church has significantly amended the number of victims abused by pedophile clergy and the number of offenders, including priests, brothers and nuns, in a new submission to a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse.

In its original submission to the Victorian child abuse inquiry, the church said it had paid compensation to 620 victims in Victoria. But after analysing documents held by various orders, the church has now admitted that at least 849 children were abused from the 1950s.

In the submission, released to the ABC yesterday before being handed to the Victorian inquiry, the church also included information on the number of offenders within its ranks. It said 269 men and women had been guilty of child sexual abuse. The majority were priests and brothers, but the figure also included nine nuns and 42 lay people.

In the submission, seen by The Australian, the church says that in its Facing the Truth admissions it reported that the Melbourne Response and Towards Healing processes had upheld the complaints of 618 victims of criminal abuse of children that took place in Victoria.

“Towards Healing and the Melbourne Response are the only processes that hold centralised records, and so their statistics were the only ones readily available for inclusion in Facing the Truth,” the church now says.

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FLORIDA
WFTV

SANFORD, Fla. — Federal agents said a local missionary admitted to molesting children and making child pornography.

Warren Scott Kennell, who claims to belong to New Tribes Mission in Sanford, was arrested at Orlando International Airport Friday.

Investigators said they found pictures of him molesting a young girl.

WFTV reporter Jeff Deal spoke with federal agents about the bust.

Investigators said Kennell admitted to molesting four children, all around the age of 12, and took pictures of them.

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FLORIDA
Orlando Sentinel

[with video]

By Amy Pavuk, Orlando Sentinel
1:51 p.m. EDT, June 5, 2013

Federal authorities say a missionary with the Sanford-based New Tribes Mission sexually abused several children and produced pornography of the acts.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations began investigating Warren Scott Kennell after receiving a tip that he posted numerous photographs on a website used extensively by people trading child pornography, a criminal complaint said.

When Kennell arrived at Orlando International Airport on Friday from a flight that originated in Brazil, agents stopped him and found him in possession of three thumb drives and one external hard drive.

Kennell, who said he’s lived in Brazil for several years, initially denied touching a child inappropriately and said there would be no child pornography on his computer-related items.

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UNITED STATES
Atheist Revolution

I don’t imagine most atheists follow the Southern Baptist leadership all that closely. Why would they? But ’round these parts, it pays to know what is going on with the vast Southern Baptist majority. Maybe that’s why this story grabbed my attention.

According to Religion News Service, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) is “the public policy arm for the Southern Baptist Convention.” Since 1988, Richard Land has led the ERLC and has been responsible for their efforts to “rally social conservatives in the nation’s culture wars.” Yes, so we have Land to thank for all the damage that has brought.

The ERLC now has new leadership in the form of Russell Moore, a native of Mississippi.

“I am honored and humbled to be asked to serve Southern Baptists as ERLC president,” said Moore in a statement. “I pray for God’s grace to lead the ERLC to be a catalyst to connect the agenda of the kingdom of Christ to the cultures of local congregations for the sake of the mission of the gospel in the world.”

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VIRGINIA/TEXAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON JUNE 05, 2013

Disturbing court records in Texas have been released about the Pastor Geronimo Aguilar case.

A Richmond TV station reports:

“The documents also state the girl’s parents claim they caught the pastor in the act (of sexually abusing a girl) and that the pastor admitted to it. The arrest warrants detail statements from at least half a dozen witnesses in the case.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Dan Morris-Young | Jun. 6, 2013

SEATTLE Reinstating general absolution in the United States, consultation in the selection process for bishops, studying the ordination of women and married men, and collegial exercise of church authority are among topics of 15 resolutions on the agenda of the second annual assembly of the fledgling Association of U.S. Catholic Priests June 24-27.

To be held at Seattle University, the gathering’s theme — “Lumen Gentium: God’s Pilgrim People” — is based on the Second Vatican Council’s 1964 document, also known as the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.

The association was formed following an Aug. 25, 2011, meeting of 27 self-described “Vatican II priests” from 15 dioceses and 11 states at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois, notes the group’s website (www.uscatholicpriests.org).

The organization’s inaugural assembly last June drew 240 delegates from 55 dioceses to St. Leo University, northeast of Tampa, Fla. Among its actions was approval of a letter of support to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. LCWR remains under controversial Vatican control and directives for reform.

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CHICAGO (IL)
CLTV

[with video]

by Randi Belisomo
Reporter

A funeral mass is taking place Wednesday for a prominent, Catholic priest from Chicago.

Fr. Andrew Greeley is being remembered at Christ the King Church in the city’s Beverly neighborhood. “CK,” as it’s known by parishioners, was Greeley’s first assignment as a young, assistant pastor. Francis Cardinal George is presiding over the service, while some of his former students are in attendance.

“The older you get, the more wisdom you see in his words. He spent his whole life teaching us how to give of ourselves and the last five years, he was teaching us how to receive, and how to ask with humility,” said former student Peggy Roth.

Greeley authored 120 books, and was once called the most influential American Catholic sociologist of the 20th century. He donated his book royalties to charities and to the “Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Kathy Mellott
kmellott@tribdem.com

JOHNSTOWN — Ken Salem, a mainstay at Bishop McCort Catholic High School for nearly two decades who many say was the sacrificial lamb following claims of sexual abuse by a former employee, is no longer with the school.

In what was termed as a “public statement,” issued Wednesday, the former principal said he decided to “voluntarily separate from Bishop McCort.”

The statement was circulated to the media by Matt Beynon, spokesman for the school since the beginning of the year, shortly after claims surfaced by former students that they had been molested by Brother Stephen Baker.

Baker was of the Franciscan order and worked at McCort from the early 1990s through the early 2000s as a religion teacher and in the athletic department, where he worked as a trainer.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WITF

Written by Mary Wilson, Capitol Bureau Chief | Jun 5, 2013

State lawmakers are getting ready to move forward with proposals to expand the legal definition of child abuse in Pennsylvania in an effort to flag more incidents of suspected mistreatment.

The changes come at the suggestion of a task force convened last year to study child protection laws and issues.

Sean McCormack, Chief Deputy District Attorney of Dauphin County, was one of a panel of testifiers at a hearing before the Senate Aging and Youth Committee on proposed changes to the definition. At times, the session took on the feel of an essay workshop, with advocates providing line-by-line feedback on word choice in the bill.

Too often, McCormack said, the state’s definition of child abuse becomes the subject of parsing exercises by well-meaning institutions.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Mediathek rbb

Pater Klaus Mertes war es, der Anfang 2010 als Rektor des Berliner Canisius-Kollegs den Missbrauchsskandal in der katholischen Kirche ins Rollen brachte. Doch der sexuelle Missbrauch ist nur eine monströse Facette des Machtmissbrauchs in der katholischen Kirche, sagt er nun, drei Jahre später. Margarethe Steinhausen spricht mit ihm über sein neues Buch „Verlorenes Vertrauen“ und über eine Kirche der Opfer.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

Michelle Vella, 7News Adelaide, Yahoo!7
June 6, 2013

A Catholic priest named and shamed by Senator Nick Xenophon in Parliament over rape allegations is demanding an apology after being cleared.

The director of public prosecution has announced no charges will be laid against Monsignor Ian Dempsey over sex abuse allegations made by Bishop John Hepworth, dating back to the 1960s.

“Humiliating and demeaning experience and I think I’ve mentioned this before, it’s an evil act to do under parliamentary privilege because Xenophon had never talked to me,” Monsignor Dempsey said.

He says his faith guided him, but it seems he is not entirely prepared to turn the other cheek.

“I can never prove I am innocent, that’s the hurtful thing, yes,” he said.

Monsignor Dempsey now wants Nick Xenophon to apologise in parliament for naming him.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

AAP

INDEPENDENT senator Nick Xenophon is unrepentant for naming a Catholic priest linked to rape allegations, even though no criminal charges will be laid.

South Australia’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on Thursday said Adelaide priest Monsignor Ian Dempsey will not face charges over claims made by a fellow seminarian.

John Hepworth, then the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) Archbishop, first aired the allegations of sexual assault in 2007.

Four years later, Senator Xenophon raised the issue in parliament under privilege, where he also named Monsignor Dempsey, saying he had no choice because the church had taken too long to investigate the claims.

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CALIFORNIA
The Record

By Jennie Rodriguez-Moore
Record Staff Writer
June 06, 2013

STOCKTON – The Diocese of Stockton is considering filing for bankruptcy after years of paying millions of dollars to settle child sex abuse lawsuits.

“We pretty much have depleted the resource funds that we have,” said Sister Terry Davis, a spokeswoman for the diocese that oversees Catholic parishes in San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties.

“And at this point, everything is on the table for consideration,” she said.

Talk of bankruptcy surfaced during negotiations of a lawsuit that was settled Monday for $1.75 million involving notorious defrocked priest Oliver O’Grady.

The plaintiff in the case, known as John J.S. Doe, filed suit in 2009 in Stanislaus County Superior Court. He was a victim of O’Grady in the 1980s, according to the diocese.

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MICHIGAN
Click on Detroit

[with video]

Author: Sandra Ali, Local 4 Reporter, Anchor , sali@wdiv.com
Published On: Jun 05 2013

TROY, Mich. –
Two weeks ago, a parent filed a report at the Troy Police Department alleging their child was abused by a daycare worker at St. Augustine Lutheran Church Preschool.

Troy police confirm the department is investigating allegations of criminal sexual conduct at the church-run daycare at Livernois and Wattles roads.

“I can’t comment on the victims. I’m not going to comment on a suspect. I’m just going to comment on that there is an investigation, active investigation, into a child involved sexual assault case,” said Troy Police Cpt. Bob Redmond.

Detectives say they are in the process of talking to several employees dating back several years. The Department of Human Services also notified parents about the ongoing investigation with a letter.

No one at St. Augustine’s commented when Local 4 stopped by on Wednesday.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

COURT REPORTER TESSA AKERMAN ADELAIDENOW JUNE 06, 2013

MONSIGNOR Ian Dempsey says Senator Nick Xenophon would apologise for accusing him of sex crimes if he was a man of integrity – but Mr Xenophon says it is the Catholic Church who should be sorry.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will not pursue Monsignor Dempsey over alleged sex abuse against now-Bishop John Hepworth in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

It said there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

At the time the allegations were raised, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon named Monsignor Dempsey in Federal Parliament.

Today, Monsignor Dempsey told adelaidenow it was a “great joy” to have the matter cleared.

“It’s a humiliating thing to have one’s name so rubbed in the mud and your reputation, especially when it’s done nationally as Senator Xenophon did, and that’s been difficult to cope with,” he said.

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TEXAS
CBS 6

[with video]

June 5, 2013, by Tracy Sears

(WTVR) — A Fort Worth pastor says he was not aware of the sexual misconduct that allegedly took place in his church involving former ROC pastor Geronimo Aguilar.

Aguilar is accused of sexually abusing two young sisters in the mid 1990’s in Texas.

Before founding the Richmond Outreach Center in 2003, Aguilar was an outreach and youth minister for roughly a year at New Beginnings International Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Court documents obtained by the Star-Telegram in Fort Worth say that Aguilar was asked to leave New Beginnings after a church member caught him kissing one of the girls, but the church’s senior pastor says it was a difference in theological beliefs, not sex abuse, that led to Aguilar’s departure.

Pastor Don Couch tells CBS 6, “I had no knowledge of that at all. If I had any knowledge of that, I would have immediately dealt with that situation,” Couch says. “I’m very strict with our leadership and teach very strictly that we are to lead godly lives.”

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RICHMOND (VA)
WRIC

RICHMOND – Founding pastor Geronimo Aguilar has resigned from his position at the Richmond Outreach Center amidst his on-going legal troubles in Texas.

Aguilar, known as “Pastor G,” and three other pastors’ resignations were accepted by the ROC’s board of directors Wednesday, according to a release on the church’s website.

Aguilar is facing multiple felony charges in Texas in two alleged cases of child sex abuse.

Also resigning is executive pastor Jason Helmlinger, who is facing a misdemeanor charge of threatening a former ROC pastor who spoke to 8News about the allegations against Aguilar. Two others also resigned Wednesday: Pastor G’s brother Matthew Aguilar and Pastor Andrew Delgado, neither of whom are facing any charges.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Gazette

By Travis Crum

CHARLESTON, W.Va.– An East Fairmont High School driver’s education teacher was arrested Wednesday, after police say he sexually abused a 17-year-old female student on several occasions.

Michael J. Waller, 29, of Fairmont, was charged with four counts of sexual abuse by a person of trust.

On Tuesday, State Police Sgt. Adam Scott got a call from a pastor in Clarksburg who said the alleged victim spoke of a sexual relationship with a teacher at East Fairmont High School.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Outreach Center

June 05, 2013

Dear ROC Family and Friends,

The Richmond Outreach Center held a Board meeting this evening, June 5, 2013. Upon mutually agreeable terms, we hereby announce that we have accepted the resignations of Pastor Geronimo Aguilar, Pastor Jason Helmlinger, Pastor Andrew Delgado and Pastor Matthew Aguilar. We wish the best for the pastors and their families. The Richmond Outreach Center remains focused on serving those in need and we will never stray from this mission.

Sincerely,

The Richmond Outreach Center Board of Directors

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Posted: Thursday, June 6, 2013

BY LOUIS LLOVIO Richmond Times-Dispatch

Geronimo Aguilar, the embattled senior pastor at the Richmond Outreach Center facing child sex abuse charges in Texas, stepped down along with three other pastors Wednesday evening from the church he founded in 2001.

The resignation, announced by the South Richmond megachurch’s board of directors after a meeting, comes a day after arrest warrants were released alleging Aguilar had sexually abused an 11-year-old girl and her older sister for more than a year while living in their parents’ home in Texas in the 1990s.

“The Richmond Outreach Center remains focused on serving those in need and we will never stray from this mission,” read a letter from the board posted on the church’s website.

It did not address the charges Aguilar is facing, but the board has previously said that it stands by the pastor.

According to the letter, the board met Wednesday evening and accepted Aguilar’s resignation “upon mutually agreeable terms.”

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CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee

By Deke Farrow
jfarrow@modbee.com

STOCKTON — The Diocese of Stockton announced Wednesday afternoon that it has reached a $1.75 million negotiated settlement with attorneys for a man who was a victim of sexual abuse by notorious pedophile priest Oliver O’Grady in the 1980s. The abuse occurred in Stockton, but Sacred Heart Parish in Turlock also was named as a defendant, leading to the filing of the lawsuit in Stanislaus County.

The diocese will pay $875,000 of the settlement amount. The remaining portion will be paid through insurance proceeds. Under the agreement, the case — the only O’Grady lawsuit filed in Stanislaus County — will be dismissed.

“It is our hope that this settlement will help the victim continue to find healing for the suffering he endured,” Bishop Stephen E. Blaire said in a news release. “We have tried to find resolutions to these cases that will provide some measure of solace for victims. We continue to follow strict measures to ensure that we are protecting the young and the vulnerable.”

An attorney for the victim was critical of the diocese’s news release. “The diocese press release is a cheap PR stunt that’s suitable for a company that engaged in securities fraud but not a church that did what it did,” said John Manly of the Irvine law firm Manly & Stewart. He added that his firm and his client had not intended to publicize the settlement.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Tad Vezner
tvezner@pioneerpress.com
Posted: 06/05/2013

A man who claims he was sexually abused by a now-deceased St. Paul priest has sued the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The man, a former Minnesotan who now lives in California and is identified only as “John Doe 100,” alleges that beginning in 1971 he was molested by the Rev. Thomas S. Stitts. Stitts was then serving at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in St. Paul, according to the suit.

A law approved this year by the Minnesota Legislature and signed last month by Gov. Mark Dayton lifts a six-year civil statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse.

The suit, filed Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court, alleges that Stitts previously engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with boys at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Edina and Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Hastings. It alleges the archdiocese knew or should have known of the abuse, was negligent in supervising Stitts and had a pattern of harboring child abusers.

The suit alleges the archdiocese continues to conceal details of sexual assaults committed by priests.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Catholic priest Ian Dempsey said it was a relief to have been cleared by a third investigation of sexual assault allegations.

South Australia’s Director of Public Prosecutions Adam Kimber released a statement saying no charges would be laid over allegations dating back more than four decades.

Traditional Anglican movement bishop John Hepworth alleged Monsignor Dempsey and two other priests sexually abused him at an Adelaide seminary in the 1960s.

Monsignor Dempsey said he was keen to get on with his work as the Brighton and Hallett Cove parish priest in Adelaide.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with audio]

The South Australian DPP says no charges will be laid against a Catholic priest named by Senator Nick Xenophon under parliamentary privilege as an alleged rapist, but the Senator says faced with the same circumstances again, he would take the same action.

Transcript

ELEANOR HALL: To South Australia where a Catholic priest has accused the independent Senator Nick Xenophon of humiliating him and destroying his reputation by accusing him of sexual abuse.

It’s almost two years since the Senator controversially used parliamentary privilege to name the priest, who had been accused of sexual offences.

It is now clear that the priest will not face any charges in connection with the allegations but Mr Xenophon says the Catholic Church forced his hand with its inaction.

In Adelaide, Rebecca Brice reports.

REBECCA BRICE: Monsignor Ian Dempsey says it’s been a difficult time.

IAN DEMPSEY: I remember Senator Xenophon said he had a few sleepless nights before he made his momentous statement, and he’s caused me about 18 months of sleepless nights I can think since he’s made it.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

By Daniel Morgan, ABC
June 6, 2013

The Catholic Church in Victoria has revised up the number of children it acknowledges were sexually abused by Catholic clergy and staff.

In its original submission to the Victorian child abuse inquiry, the church confirmed it had paid compensation to 620 victims.

But after analysing documents held by various orders of brothers and nuns it now says that since the 1950s at least 849 children have been abused.

In a new submission to the inquiry, the Catholic Church also includes more information on the number of offenders within its ranks.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

[About Lewis Blayse]

Lewis Blayse

St. Vincent’s Orphanage in South Melbourne had serious links to the St. Augustine’s Orphanage in Geelong (see yesterday’s posting). Most people are familiar with the tactic of moving offending clergy from parish to parish when things became too hot for them, but a similar thing happened with offending at orphanages. Brothers have “served” at more than one orphanage.

For example, Brother Wilfred Eastmure’s career in the Christian Brothers included placements at St Augustine’s orphanage, Geelong, in 1944-45 and 1954-62 then at St Vincent’s orphanage, South Melbourne, in the early 1960s. Brother Thomas McGee not only worked at St. Augustine’s and St. Vincent’s, he also worked at the notorious Bindoon orphanage in Western Australia (see previous posting).

One of the worst abusers at St. Vincent’s orphanage was Brother Rex Elmer (pictured above, on right). Elmer was sentenced to five years’ jail, with parole after 40 months, in 1998. Typically, the Christian Brothers look after their own, even if they are convicted criminals. After his release from jail, Brother Elmer continued to be a member of the Christian Brothers and was given a role in the Christian Brothers’ administration.

The Christian Brothers also helped out Elmer by hiring a leading Melbourne Queen’s Counsel to defend Elmer in court and to oppose the victims. This barrister managed to get the case against Elmer scaled down considerably, resulting in a plea bargain, and a lesser sentence.

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TEXAS
San Antonio Express-News

By Michelle Casady, Staff Writer
Updated 6:22 pm, Wednesday, June 5, 2013

A Bastrop priest who was found by police last week standing in the doorway of his Southtown motel wearing only his underwear, the victim of an apparent assault, left authorities with several unanswered questions about why he was there.

Father Rafael Padilla, 42, was unable to tell police who may have caused the swelling, cuts and bruises on his face and arms.

Padilla also couldn’t explain to police why there was a cold, unopened beer, condoms and lubricating jelly inside the motel room or who the items could belong to, according to the police report.

He checked into the Relax Inn in the 500 block of Roosevelt Avenue about 11:30 a.m. on May 29 and hotel staff told police that 30 minutes later Padilla called them asking for an ambulance.

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NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Ben Horowitz/The Star-Ledger
on June 05, 2013 at 8:32 PM

MORRISTOWN — A Superior Court judge refused to lift a gag order today against a man known as “John Doe” who obtained a confidential settlement in 1988 after allegedly being sexually abused by a priest at the Delbarton School and now wants to talk about it publicly.

But the man, now in his 40s and living in California, may still get his day in court.

In a two-part ruling, Judge Stephan Hansbury said neither side had proven its case and he also refused Delbarton’s request to dismiss the lawsuit.

Saying he needs more information on why the man “wants to reveal this information,” Hansbury said he may hold a hearing where John Doe would testify about his motives.

“If he just wants to write a book,” Hansbury said, he would be unlikely to remove the gag order. But if the ruling would allow the man the “cathartic experience” of “counseling,” then he might rule in his favor, Hansbury said.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester

As I stated previously on May 6, I made a terrible error in judgement on May 4, 2013. I have been committed to making amends and accepting the consequences of my actions. I am grateful that the legal process has been concluded. As a result, my license to drive is suspended for 6 months, I paid the fine determined by the court and will provide 10 hours of community service and attend safety class. I continue to ask forgiveness from all the good people I serve, as well as my family and friends in the Diocese of Worcester and the Diocese of Providence. I am both grateful for and humbled by the support I have received from clergy, parishioners, and the community as I continue to serve to the best of my ability as the Bishop of Worcester. June 4, 2013

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WORCESTER (MA)
Catholic News Agency

Worcester, Mass., Jun 5, 2013 / 04:05 pm (CNA).- Bishop Robert J. McManus of Worcester, Mass., has again apologized following an agreement with a Rhode Island court to dismiss a drunk driving charge against him.

“I have been committed to making amends and accepting the consequences of my actions. I am grateful that the legal process has been concluded,” Bishop McManus said June 4. “I continue to ask forgiveness from all the good people I serve, as well as my family and friends in the Diocese of Worcester and the Diocese of Providence.”

On May 4, the 61-year-old bishop was arrested in Narragansett, R.I., after his car collided with another vehicle and he drove from the scene. The other driver followed the bishop to his nearby summer home and called police.

The arresting officer said Bishop McManus was not sure whether he had hit another vehicle. The bishop allegedly failed three different sobriety tests and was cited for refusing to take a chemical breath test, the Boston Globe says. The bishop told the officer he had had two drinks at dinner three and a half hours before his arrest.

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NEW JERSEY
Daily Record

Written by
Peggy Wright
@peggywrightDR

A judge Wednesday said he wants to hear evidence and direct testimony before deciding whether a former Delbarton student who settled lawsuit claims in 1988 of being molested by a priest can be freed from a confidentiality clause so he can discuss the case and settlement sum.

For nearly two hours, attorney Gregory Gianforcaro, who represents the abuse victim referred to as John Doe, argued in Morristown that the man now living on the West Coast should be released from a confidentiality agreement that bars him from talking about the settlement reached 25 years ago with the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey, which runs the private Delbarton School for males in Morris Township.

“Confidentiality should never be tolderated when it deals with a child victim of sexual abuse. We didn’t know it in 1988 but we know it now,” Gianforcaro told Superior Court Judge Stephan Hansbury. The lawyer suggested it would be “cathartic” for the victim to speak publicly about the abuse.

Delbarton attorney Chuck Carella wanted the judge to dismiss Gianforcaro’s complaint, arguing that the settlement is an enforceable contract entered into by the victim when he was an adult, supported by his parents and represented by a lawyer.

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CALIFORNIA
Mercury News

By Tracey Kaplan
tkaplan@mercurynews.com
Posted: 06/05/2013

More determined than ever to punish child molesters, the Bay Area man who admitted punching a priest he claimed sexually abused him as a child — but who was acquitted anyway by a sympathetic Santa Clara County jury — has launched another seemingly quixotic crusade.

Fed up with politicians in the state Legislature, Will Lynch intends to do the very complicated work of putting a measure on the California ballot. His intent is to eliminate the statute of limitations on the criminal prosecution of child molesters. The amount of time prosecutors now have to file charges against molesters depends on when the sexual abuse occurred and how severe it was.
Lynch wants Californians to eliminate the restrictions entirely as eight other states have done. Another 27 states have scratched the deadline for victims of a certain age, or for certain crimes.

“Survivors should be able to come forward when they’re able and get justice,” said Lynch, who claims he and his younger brother were molested by the Rev. Jerold Lindner when they were 7 and 4 on a religious camping trip in the Santa Cruz Mountains more than 35 years ago. Without acknowledging wrongdoing, the Jesuits paid Lynch and his brother about $187,000 each after legal fees to settle a lawsuit they filed claiming that Lindner, in the mid-1970s, raped Lynch and made him have oral sex with his brother.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[the lawsuit – Jeff Anderson and Associates]

[HAZELDEN 1-14-1980]

[Letter 8-29-1972]

[Letter 6-9-1966]

by Conrad Wilson, Minnesota Public Radio
June 5, 2013

WAITE PARK, Minn. — The second lawsuit under the new Child Victims Act was filed Wednesday in Stearns County District Court.

At a news conference announcing the suit, Edward Bramlage alleged he was sexually abused by Father Gilbert Allen Tarlton while attending St. John’s Preparatory Academy in Collegeville, Minn.

“The reason that I decided to step up was because I couldn’t at 14 [years old],” Bramlage said. “In 1977 when I was going to school there, nobody had ever heard of a priest molesting a child, especially men, and I didn’t think anybody would believe me.”

In addition to Tarlton, who’s now in his 80s, the suit names the school, the Order of St. Benedict and St. John’s Abbey.

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TEXAS
News 4

SAN ANTONIO — A priest from Bastrop was assaulted at a San Antonio Motel, and the Austin Archdiocese now wants to know what happened and how the priest ended up at the motel in an area known for drugs and prostitution.

The Austin Diocese has confirmed the priest is Father Rafael Padilla. According to police, officers arrived at the motel in the 500 block of Roosevelt and found the 42-year-old standing inside a room with the door open and wearing only his underwear. Police said Padilla had swelling and cuts to his face and arms. Padilla could not tell officers what happened to him and said he thought he was dreaming and didn’t know what was going on.

Hotel workers told police Padilla checked in at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. By noon, he called for an ambulance because he was hurt. Officers did notice some condoms and beer inside the room. Padilla was taken to the hospital to be treated.

A spokesperson with the Austin diocese says Father Padilla is a priest at Ascension Parish in Bastrop. Bishop Joe S. Vasquez told us Father Padilla is now in good condition.

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UNITED STATES
Voice of the Faithful

Introduction
Many Catholics are unaware of the extensive consequences of the clerical culture in which priests and the hierarchy spend most of their adult lives. From specified educational paths to socialization opportunities, from living conditions to financial remuneration, in working relationships restricted by oaths of obedience and isolation enforced by celibacy, priests typically live aside and apart from the people they should serve—they are culturally and often physically far removed from the realities of the communities that surround them.

Almost every profession has its own special culture, of course, and that culture supports and protects its members, provides them with useful information, and presents relevant educational opportunities. As examples, think of the cultures of police, doctors, and unions.

These cultures have positive benefits for the members within the culture. However, at the same time, to those outside the culture and those who depend on them for services, these specialized cultures can be opaque and sometimes threatening.

This paper considers the culture of Roman Catholic diocesan clergy in the United States and how that culture often leads to unhappy consequences within the Catholic Church.

Clearly, one of the most disastrous consequences has been the clergy sexual abuse scandal and the cover-up by the hierarchy. But there are other consequences as well, including some that are damaging to the priests isolated within the culture.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Newsworks

June 5, 2013
By Mary Wilson @marywilson

In an effort to flag more incidents of suspected mistreatment, Pennsylvania lawmakers are getting ready to move forward with proposals to expand the state’s definition of child abuse.

The changes come at the suggestion of a task force convened last year to study child-protection laws and issues.

He says the commonwealth’s legal definition of child abuse must be expanded and made clearer, said attorney Jason Kutulakis, a member of the panel.

“It’s not just prosecuting. It’s identifying a child who’s been harmed so they can be provided services – medical services, social services, mental health services where appropriate,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
Voice of the Faithful

[Clerical Culture document (with bibliography) — Clerical Culture Among Roman Catholic Diocesan Clergy]

In 2011 Voice of the Faithful criticized the John Jay Institute’s “Study of the Causes and Context of the Sexual Abuse Crisis” for describing clericalism but not naming it, much less citing it, as a principal cause for clergy sex abuse and the subsequent coverups. “Clericalism,” our report noted, “is an overriding set of beliefs and behaviors in which the clergy view themselves as different, separate, and exempt from the norms, rules and consequences that apply to everyone else in society.”

In these early months of the Pope Francis papacy, some observers see signs that clericalism could be a major target of the reforms this pope might seek. We certainly hope so. Pope Francis’s example of personal simplicity along with some of the changes he is expected to initiate in Church structure could bring about dramatic changes in the clerical culture.

Voice of the Faithful will continue to challenge clericalism as an impediment to the healing and reform essential to the Catholic Church today. As part of this effort, we are posting reports during spring and summer 2013 to help identify key elements of the culture that engender clericalism, to suggest ways we may all work to overcome its failings, and to propose use of a “pastoral provision” that could immediately begin to reduce the impact of clericalism on the faithful.

We urge you to read and reflect on these documents and to find ways to add your voice to those of many others who are calling for reform in the Catholic Church, especially for reform of the clericalism that affects many in the clergy and hierarchy.

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

NEW JERSEY
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 05, 2013

MORRISTOWN, New Jersey — A lawsuit over a confidentiality agreement signed by a victim of sexual abuse at a prestigious New Jersey prep school will proceed.

That’s the ruling issued Wednesday by a state Superior Court judge in the dispute involving the Delbarton School and the unidentified victim.

The victim’s lawyer had sought a ruling to have the 1988 confidentiality order altered or lifted. The school wants it kept in place.

The judge denied both sides’ motions for summary judgment and set the stage for a trial.

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

MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
David Unze

A Sauk Rapids man is suing the Order of St. Benedict, St. John’s Abbey, St. John’s Prep School and a monk who lives at the abbey for sexual abuse he said he suffered in 1977.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday by Troy Bramlage is the direct result of a law passed by the 2013 Legislature that lifted a six-year civil statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse.

The new law gives victims older than 24 three years to sue for past abuse and anyone younger than 18 an unlimited time to file lawsuits regarding childhood sexual abuse. Previous lawsuits of this nature routinely have been dismissed by district courts as being filed too far after the old statute of limitations had expired.

Bramlage is at least the fifth person to sue the Rev. Allen Tarlton, accusing him of sexual abuse. The other lawsuits either were settled or were dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.

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
The Tribune-Democrat

JOHNSTOWN — Former Bishop McCort Catholic HIgh School Principal Ken Salem, who has been on administrative leave from the school since March 1, announced Wednesday that he has ended his affiliation with the Johnstown school.

Bishop McCort has been involved in a scandal involving Franciscan Brother Stephen Baker.

Baker has been accused of molesting numerous students throughout the 1990s when he worked at the school as a trainer. Baker committed suicide on Jan. 26 by stabbing himself in the heart with a knife.

The school made no mention of the ongoing Baker investigation in its decision to place Salem on leave, but he did mention it in his announcement on Wednesday.

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

CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

November 02, 2012|By Joe Mahr, Chicago Tribune reporter

In a grand ceremony in front of the future first lady, veteran Chicago teacher Harold “Jerry” Mash was lauded for tirelessly working to help his students — a stark contrast to how he was labeled in an Ohio courtroom three decades earlier.

On that drizzly day back in 1976, Mash was found guilty of one of the cardinal sins of the classroom: abuse of a child. He lost his job. He said he was leaving teaching.

But by 2005, he had reinvented himself two states and 200 miles away. He was a guest of honor at that Chicago reception held under the skylights in a special atrium atop the Harold Washington Library. Michelle Obama gave the keynote speech. Mash was among six teachers given $5,000 awards. …

It was that high-profile case, Tremp said, that led him and his wife, Julie, to worry whether Mash still had access to children. They discovered a man by the same name as a teacher in Chicago schools and began digging for records. They contacted an advocacy group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which agreed to help even though Mash was never a priest.

The Tremps also contacted the Tribune, which separately sought records across three states — leading to the unearthing of the 1976 case file and its victim.

The advocacy group’s president, Barbara Blaine, said that Mash forfeited any right to be in a classroom after what happened in the 1970s, even if it’s more than three decades later.

“I believe he may have served his sentence,” Blaine said, “and maybe he wouldn’t abuse anyone, but why risk it?”

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

TEXAS
New York Daily News

BY STEPHEN WILLIAMS / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2013

The lifeless body of a beautiful 25-year-old woman was found near a church in McAllen, Texas, more than 50 years ago, but the gruesome homicide and the motive -a Catholic priest was a prime suspect – still confounds the victim’s family.

They are obsessed with bringing Irene Garza’s killer to justice. And Garza’s cousins, as well as investigators who reopened this cold case in 2002, are convinced that Rev. John Fiet, 27 years old and a priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in McAllen at the time of the killing, is the one who raped and then suffocated Garza.

Today, Feit lives in a quiet neighborhood in Phoenix. He has never been formally charged with the crime, nor was he indicted after a grand jury investigation nine years ago.

In a sworn statement to authorities and during an interview with CNN, Feit denied that he killed Garza. Feit told police Garza left the church rectory on the day before Easter, 1960, after he heard her confession and the last time he saw her, she was standing outside the church.

In the investigation following the crime, police said that near Garza’s body they found items that belonged to the church. One item, a metallic Kodak slide photo viewer, belonged to Feit.

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.

RHODE ISLAND
Westerly Sun

By A.J. ALGIER / Sun Staff Writer

WAKEFIELD — Charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident brought against a Roman Catholic bishop were dismissed Tuesday by Narragansett police in 4th Division District Court.

Dismissal of the two misdemeanor charges comes after Robert J. McManus, 61, bishop of the diocese of Worcester, Mass., pleaded guilty in Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal last month to a charge of failure to submit to a test to determine the level of intoxication after his arrest on May 7.

Traffic tribunal Judge William T. Noonan sentenced McManus to a six-month loss of license; ordered him to pay $935 and complete 10 hours of ommunity service — all standard for first-time offenders.

Having pleaded to the RITT charges, his lawyer, William J. Murphy, was successful in having the district court charges dismissed.

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

TIM HEALY – 05 JUNE 2013

A WOMAN has apologised in the High Court to a priest she falsely accused of abusing her.

Eileen Culloty, who lives beside the presbytery in Currow, Killarney, Co Kerry, wrote a letter to the Bishop of Kerry in which she made a series of untrue allegations against Fr Liam O’Brien and which she later repeated to the gardai, HSE and Personal Injury Advisory Board.

She also disrupted a funeral mass the priest was officiating at.

Today, she apologised in a letter read out in court and undertook never to repeat the false allegations.

Robert Dore, solicitor for Fr O’Brien, currently based in Killorglin, Kerry, said the priest has agreed not to further pursue his action for damages for defamation against Ms Culloty on the basis of the apology letter.

Fr O’Brien had also sought orders restraining her from watching, besetting and harassing him over the false allegations which he said were damaging and interfered with his peace, privacy and well-being.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne agreed to a request from Mr Dore to adjourn the matter generally which means it can come back before the court if there are any further incidents.

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Register

Posted by Joelle Casteix on June 5, 2013

From today’s Orange County Register

SCOTT M. REID / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A little-known group calling itself the California Council of Non-Profit Organizations has been working behind the scenes in recent months to defeat a state Senate bill which would extend the time limits in which victims of sexual abuse can file civil lawsuits.

The CCONO spent $75,195 during the first three months of 2013 lobbying against SB131, according to documents filed with the secretary of state. The organization has hired five firms since Jan. 1 to lobby against SB131, which passed out of the Senate last week on a 21-10 vote and now moves to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Charmaine Carnes and two other former gymnasts testified before a state Senate committee in May in support of SB 131, describing childhood sexual abuse by former coaches that has haunted them, altering the course of their lives.
BOB PENNELL, FOR THE REGISTER

Introduced by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, SB131 calls for a one-year window for victims that were previously time-barred by statute to file a civil suit against their actual abuser or the employer of the abuser. This window would be open from 2014-2015. The bill follows a 2011 Orange County Register investigation in which more than dozen female former gymnasts said they were sexually and physically abused by their coaches in the 1970s and 80s.

Beall and SB 131 supporters argue that the accounts of child sexual abuse victims like the former gymnasts demonstrate the necessity of extending the statute of limitations. Nearly half of all victims of child sexual abuse do not tell anyone of the abuse for at least five years, according to multiple studies. In the cases of many victims the memory of the abuse is suppressed for years, even decades.
The California Council of Non-Profit Organizations is not to be confused with the California Association of Non-Profits, a group which counts 1,400 non-profits among its members. The CCONO is not a member of the CANP. The CCONO is also not listed on the Attorney General office’s registry of Charitable Trusts. The CCONO is also not listed on the Internal Revenue Services’ list of tax-exempt organizations that can receive tax-deductible contributions.

The CCONO has no website and it is unclear how many groups actually belong to it. The CCONO was incorporated on August 13, 2012, according to records filed with the Secretary of State’s office.

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.