ABUSE TRACKER

SCOTLAND
Press and Journal

Jon Hebditch

May 2, 2018

Abuse of children at Aberdeen’s Nazareth House was once an “open secret”, a local councillor has claimed.

Martin Greig said the city’s people knew of the brutality faced by children at the home but failed to act because such actions were “considered normal”.

Mr Greig said that while it was “horrific to acknowledge” it was nonetheless true and called upon current and future generations to learn lessons from what took place.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is investigating allegations against the Catholic Sisters of Nazareth order who are accused of a litany of historical child abuse allegations.

Police revealed that officers had received 308 complaints about 194 people associated with institutions run by the order between 1934 and 1984.

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NEW YORK
WHEC

May 02, 2018

Should victims of child sex abuse be able to sue their abusers decades later?

The New York State Legislature is considering extending the statute of limitations on child sex crimes but there are some big organizations spending thousands of dollars to fight it.

Currently, someone who is sexually abused as a child has until the age of 23 to press criminal charges against his or her abuser. Under the proposed legislation, a victim would have until his 28th birthday to file criminal charges and his 50th birthday to file civil charges.

At the age of 13, a family member shattered Melanie Blow’s trust, “one day he pulled me aside, he sexually assaulted me and I mean… inside my world changed, outside, I didn’t dare tell anybody,” she recalled.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

GLENN BLAIN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

May 1, 2018

ALBANY — The state Assembly approved a bill Tuesday to make it easier for child sex abuse survivors to seek justice as adults — and put pressure on the Senate to do the same.

Voting 124-9, the Assembly approved the Child Victims Act, marking the second consecutive year the Democrat-controlled chamber approved the bill. The measure, however, remains stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate.

“The CVA will ensure that adults who were sexually abused as children have a path to justice, and it will help make every New Yorker safer,” said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), who sponsored the bill.

Senate Republicans have said they will discuss the bill, but have not committed to passing it. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk County) did not respond to a request for comment.

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NEW YORK
Buffalo News

By News Editorial Board

May 1, 2018

It’s not just priests.

It’s also teachers, Scout leaders, Little League coaches and more. Pedophiles know their prey: who the most vulnerable are; where to find them; how to approach them and, critically, how to silence them.

Too often, they move from place to place, finding new targets while the public is left in an ignorance that, in some instances, has been deliberately imposed by institutional leaders. It needs to change.

The point, already well enough known, was made plain in stories appearing in the weekend’s editions of The Buffalo News. On Saturday, leaders of the Park School announced that four former educators may have engaged inappropriately and sexually with students there in the 1970s and 80s.

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INDIA
Indian Express

by Sadaf Modak | Mumbai |

May 2, 2018

AS THE Union Cabinet approved an Ordinance to allow courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children up to 12 years, stakeholders said the focus should have been on strengthening the existing Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The Act was introduced in 2012 to address sexual assault against children to ensure that provisions are made specifically to address the needs of child victims, including introduction of child-friendly courtrooms, changes in the way victims’ statements are recorded by the police, courts, as well as rehabilitation of victims. Stakeholders say many of the special provisions formulated for children remain unimplemented with the Act becoming part of the mainstream criminal justice system.

“Rights of the victims in the criminal justice system are often neglected. Even in the POCSO Act, the focus was to have child-friendly courts where child victims could come to depose but the victims continue to depose before the usual courts, part of the adult criminal justice system. While there are provisions for stringent punishment, aspects of victim rehabiliation, like compensation, psychological and other assistance to victims, is not usually provided for,” said Pravin Khandpasole, director of Disha, an organisation based in Amravati district that works on creating a legal, social and policy framework for victims.

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NEW YORK
Bristol Herald Courier

May 2, 2018

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Legislation to make it easier for molestation victims to seek criminal charges or file lawsuits against their abusers has once again passed the New York state Assembly.

The measure known as the Child Victims Act was endorsed by the Democrat-led Assembly on Tuesday. Prospects in the Republican-controlled state Senate, however, remain dim.

Current law gives victims until age 23 to file civil cases or seek criminal charges. Under the act, victims could file civil suits until age 50 and seek criminal charges until age 28. The bill would also create a one-year window allowing victims to file civil lawsuits for alleged abuse now barred by the existing statute of limitations.

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UNITED STATES
The Catholic Spirit

Maria Wiering | May 1, 2018

The woman in the film said she was 12 when a priest began to abuse her, which was complicated by feelings of being in love with him.

Confused about the situation, she eventually reached out to a religious sister at her school and then met with her parish pastor. That pastor, who was not the perpetrator, told her that, although she was young, she was “old enough to seduce a priest.” Then her parents found love-letters the priest had written. Her father accused her of sexual immorality and her mother asked, “How could you do this to us?”

Identified only as Mary, the now middle-aged woman said she lived for decades feeling the abuse was her fault, even when a therapist she visited in her 40s insisted it wasn’t. She shared her story as part of a 2016 healing circle in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, documented by its leader, Janine Geske, a law professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, and founder and former director of Marquette’s Restorative Justice Initiative.

Geske, who also sat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1993-1998, showed the documentary April 29 at St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove and Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis. Both two-hour events included brief remarks from Geske, “The Healing Circle” video and then the opportunity for attendees to participate with small groups in the healing circle process.

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AUSTRALIA
Lawyer’s Weekly

02 MAY 2018

By: Jerome Doraisamy

The Australian cardinal is set to become the highest-ranking figure in the history of the Catholic Church to ever stand trial on criminal charges for historical child sexual abuse.

Earlier Tuesday morning, Victorian magistrate Belinda Wallington committed Cardinal George Pell to stand trial for at least two alleged offences, one of which supposedly occurred in a swimming pool in Ballarat in the 1970s, having determined there was sufficient evidence for a jury to consider.

Ms Wallington also found there was insufficient evidence to charge the Cardinal on multiple separate charges, one of which pertained to allegations of abuse in a cinema, also in Ballarat, and had those charges struck out.

Cardinal Pell was in court for the ruling, as he has been for the committal hearing in preceding months, having returned home to Australia from his post as treasurer for the Vatican.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart declined to make any substantive comment in relation to the court’s decision, but “expressed his confidence in the judicial system in Australia and said that justice must now take its course”, in an online statement published by Melbourne Catholic Magazine.

Dr Judy Courtin, who represents victims of institutional sexual abuse and completed a PhD at Monash University examining the appellate journey for child sexual assault convictions in Victoria, said the committal to trial would be hugely encouraging for victims and their families.

“Survivors, victims and families have been fighting to be heard for so long, and with the recent Royal Commission and Victorian inquiry, slowly but surely victims are beginning to be heard and believed,” she said.

“What this means — not just for people in Australia, but around the world — is that it’s worth stopping the silence. It’s worth speaking up and coming forward, because claims are now being taken seriously and believed by authorities.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – AM

May 2, 2018

By Steve Cannane

The Vatican has stated that Cardinal George Pell will not be forced to quit his role in the church hierarchy, following the decision he would stand trial on multiple historical sexual offences.

Pope Francis has said he would not comment on the case until it was over.

The 76-year old is pleading not guilty to the charges and strenuously denies all allegations.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

By Nick Miller

2 May 2018

London: Cardinal George Pell is likely to be replaced as head of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy now that he has been committed to stand trial on sexual assault charges, an experienced Vatican observer says.

“The great likelihood is that he’s never going back to Rome, at least as head of the Secretariat,” said John Allen jnr, editor at Crux and a long-time reporter and author on Catholicism and the Vatican.

Before charges were laid and Pell left for Australia last year, he was one of the most powerful men in the Vatican.

He led the Secretariat, tasked with cleaning up the Vatican’s finances, rooting out corruption and embezzlement, and auditing the corners of the Holy See where money has been secreted with minimal accountability or transparency.

But that body is now on “autopilot”, Allen said.

Since Pell’s absence, it has been run by his second in command, who is not a cardinal. And it could be another 18 months before Pell is free to return, whether or not he is found guilty at trial.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

May 2, 2018

Cardinal George Pell has taken the next step in fighting historical sexual offence charges after being committed to stand trial.

The 76-year-old on Wednesday faced Victoria’s County Court where he will stand trial on multiple charges, the details of which cannot be revealed for legal reasons.

During a brief hearing, Judge Sue Pullen adjourned the matter to May 16 for a further mention.

Pell flew back into Sydney on Wednesday afternoon and was quizzed about whether he’d give evidence.

“Of course,” he told the Seven Network at Sydney Airport.

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AUSTRALIA
Yahoo!

May 1, 2018

MELBOURNE, May 2 (Reuters) – The trial of Vatican treasurer George Pell, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of historical sexual offences, is expected to last 10 weeks, an Australian court heard on Wednesday.

The County Court of Victoria state will hold a second hearing on May 16 to plan the trial, where a judge will consider the prosecution and defence’s request to go ahead with two separate trials that will last about 10 weeks in total.

Pell, 76, was ordered to face trial on historical sexual offences involving multiple accusers following a month-long pre-trial hearing. He reiterated his not guilty plea after a magistrate ordered the trial on Tuesday. No date been set yet.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

By Adam Cooper

2 May 2018

George Pell is likely to face two trials and two juries, with his sexual assault charges set to be heard separately, but a date for his first trial is yet to be set.

Less than 24 hours after being committed to stand trial on half the historic sexual assault charges he faced, Cardinal Pell on Wednesday returned to court, but this time to appear before a County Court judge instead of a magistrate.

The 76-year-old moved slowly both as he arrived and left, despite the buzz of media around him, surrounded by police officers during his walks to and from a waiting car.

In court, he sat still and quietly during the short administrative hearing.

At one point after the hearing, outside the building, he turned his head towards a reporter who asked a question, but didn’t say a word.

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AUSTRALIA
Crux

May 2, 2018

AP

MELBOURNE, Australia – The first details of Cardinal George Pell’s upcoming trials on sexual abuse charges emerged Wednesday when he made an administrative appearance in court.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed the charges would likely be split into two separate trials which would take a total of between eight and 10 weeks to be heard.

Pell’s lawyer Robert Richter asked the judge to start the trials as soon as possible, due in part to the cardinal’s advanced age of 76. Prosecutor Mark Gibson asked for up to three months to prepare the case.

Judge Sue Pullen said she thought three months was a “little excessive.”

Pell left the court on bail ahead of his next hearing on May 16. Pullen rejected Richter’s application for Pell to be excused from attending court that day.

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AUSTRALIA
NPR

May 2, 2018

Attorneys for Cardinal George Pell, the former archbishop of Sydney, were granted a request that the allegations of child sex abuse against him that date back decades be handled in two separate trials.

Pell, the highest-ranking Vatican official to stand trial on such charges, appeared in court on Wednesday for the second day after pleading not guilty to multiple charges involving alleged sexual offenses dating from the 1970s and 1990s when he was a priest in the Melbourne area and later archbishop of the southern Australian city.

The 76-year-old Pell’s lawyer, Robert Richter, argued before Judge Sue Pullen that the charges from the 70s and those from the 90s were “of a completely different nature” and “separated by 20 years” and therefore should be handled discretely.

Last year, Pell publicly proclaimed his innocence, saying the allegations were all “false” and that “The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me.”

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AUSTRALIA
Telegraph (UK)

2 MAY 2018

Top Pope aide Cardinal George Pell could face two separate trials as he fights to clear his name over historic sexual offence allegations, an Australian court heard Wednesday.

A Melbourne judge on Tuesday ordered the Vatican finance chief, 76, to stand trial on multiple charges, making him the highest-ranked Catholic to face such allegations.

Pell pleaded not guilty, and half of the charges initially filed against him were thrown out.

The exact details and nature of the alleged offenses remain confidential, other than they involve “multiple charges and multiple complainants”, dating from the 1970s and 1990s.

Some of the alleged offences were at a swimming pool in the town of Ballarat in Victoria state where Pell was a priest in the 1970s, and a second set of alleged actions were at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral in the 1990s.

At Wednesday’s brief directions hearing in the Victoria County Court, Pell’s barrister Robert Richter argued that because the charges related to different locations and were 20 years apart, they should be split and heard in two trials.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

By Conor Riordan

1 MAY 2018

Scotland “should be ashamed” for failing to face up to a history of abuse and neglect in the childcare system, a former orphanage resident has said.

The witness, who cannot be named, revealed life at Nazareth House in Aberdeen between 1968 and 1972 consisted of routine beatings, sexual assaults and emotional trauma.

Speaking at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry yesterday, he said his experiences contributed to him serving time in “many prisons” and having a history of “serious” violence.

The man, now in his 50s, said: “Scotland as a country should be ashamed that it’s taken this long for this (inquiry) to happen.

“The 21 years since I reported this, it’s hurt me a lot more than what the care system has.”

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UNITED STATES
Times of Israel

OPINION

BY MICHAEL J. SALAMON

May 1, 2018

With summer on the horizon and talk about camp plans at a feverish pitch, this time of year is one of excitement for many. But it can be stressful for those of us who work with sexual abuse survivors. Just a few years ago I wrote about a man that I was treating who had been sexually abused by a counselor in a sleepaway camp when he was in his early teens. I never mentioned his name nor the name of the camp. But after the piece was published, I was inundated with letters, e-mails and calls from other men — older and younger than he — telling me about their similar experiences.

In all, more than 100 people contacted me. About 30 of them had been to the same camp and were abused by the same counselor who had been promoted over the years to head counselor. It was an open secret that he would select campers to go skinny dipping with him late at night and would abuse them. Still, he was revered by many at the camp.

That abusive man has since passed on. But stories like that do not. There are many similar cases, and while there is a significant effort to prevent abuse through stricter policies and more robust vetting, it is a given that abuse will likely continue to occur.

Last summer I was informed of two situations at sleepaway camps where abuse occurred. Both of those took place at camps that have anti-harassment and abuse policies – an absolute must. What is most often missing, though, is the necessary supervision of camp employees, the need to believe a person who finally feels strong and comfortable enough to report that he or she was abused, and the proper education of children who go off to camp. While it would be a fool’s errand to believe that all abuse can be eradicated, it is these three areas — staff supervision, believing victims and educating children that can provide the most effective buffer against abusers.

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MICHIGAN
MLive

May 1, 2018

By Cole Waterman cwaterma@mlive.com

SAGINAW, MI — A lawsuit alleging the Rev. Robert J. “Father Bob” DeLand Jr. had groomed and molested a teenage boy has moved from the federal courts to the state level.

The lawsuit against DeLand, Bishop Joseph R. Cistone, and the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw was originally filed in the federal courthouse in downtown Bay City on March 12. The suit was filed by attorney Todd J. Weglarz, of Southfield firm Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Harington, on behalf of a minor identified as John Doe and an adult representative.

The lawsuit sought a judgment against the three defendants, jointly and severally, in excess of $75,000.

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NEW YORK
Buffalo News

By Harold McNeil

May 1, 201With two months remaining, the 94th annual Catholic Charities of Buffalo Appeal has reached nearly $8.9 million in cash and pledges, but needs to pick up steam, according to diocese officials.

That’s just shy of 81 percent of its 2018 goal. An additional $2.1 million has to be raised between now and June 30 in order to reach this year’s $11 million goal. Sister Mary McCarrick, diocesan director of Catholic Charities, said the organization has seen strong support, particularly after being featured in a recent segment on the Today Show, but the appeal should be closer to 90 percent of its goal or greater at this point. She said the last time the appeal failed to reach its goal was in 2009, when it was at 88 percent of its final goal at this stage of the campaign.

Funds raised during the appeal help support the 70 programs and services provided by Catholic Charities at 61 sites throughout Western New York, along with a number of ministries that are part of the Bishop’s Fund for the Faith.

“If we don’t reach our goal, we will need to take a serious look at these services to people in need,” McCarrick said in a statement announcing the progress of the campaign. “For example, it costs about $50,000 to fund one food pantry and we currently operate eight pantries; six in Erie County, and one each in Cattaraugus and Allegany County.”

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CANADA
Global News

May 1, 2018

By Amanda Connolly National Online Journalist

The Canadian House of Commons will formally ask Pope Francis to apologize for the role of the Catholic Church in the residential school system.

In a vote that garnered support across party lines on Tuesday, MPs supported a motion presented by NDP MP Charlie Angus for the House of Commons to ask for a formal apology from the Pope to the Indigenous peoples of Canada for the physical, sexual and emotional abuse suffered by the thousands of children forced to attend the schools.

A total of 269 Liberal, Conservative, NDP, Green and other MPs voted in favour of the motion.

Ten Conservative MPs opposed it but the motion has passed.

“I am very, very proud today,” said Angus to reporters ahead of the vote.

“This is a historic day for our country.”

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LATIN AMERICA
The Global Catholic Review

MAY 1, 2018

Co-authored by Dr. Kate Kingsbury* and Dr. Andrew Chesnut

Recent figures reveal that the Catholic Church is losing followers in Latin America at an accelerated rate. Contrary to pundits’ predictions, Pope Francis rather than proving popular and precipitating a proliferation in numbers of the faithful is losing support. What explains the shrinking Latin American flock? And what can the Catholic Church do to conciliate and captivate their congregants in Latin America anew?

Bad Publicity

Many assumed that a Latin American pope would entail more support within his home region and ensure the future of the Catholic Church there, but this presumption has proved erroneous. Phineas T. Barnum, a 19th century showman, enounced there is no such thing as bad publicity’. Unfortunately this adage has not proved a truism when it comes to the Catholic Church. In an era of mass media, technology has been both a friend and a foe for the Church. What in the past were once rumours or could be controverted as calumnies, have with the advent of the internet and hypercommunications come to comprise front page news stories. The inept and often corrupt handling of sex abuse scandals have tarnished the Church’s reputation, especially among Latin American Millennials who are becoming Religious Nones at unprecedented rates.

Many Latin Americans, especially Millennials, have lost faith in the Church, even if their parents and grandparents have not. As Carla, a 29 year old Ecuadorian described, ‘everybody knows that the Catholic Church cannot be trusted and that some of the clergy are guilty of paedophilia. You see it in the news all the time. I still believe in God but I do not go to church anymore as I just cannot respect the priests and pope after everything I have heard and seen. I pray in my house as does my sister and our children.’ Juan, a 23 year old from Venezuela agreed: ‘I will always believe in God as does my family, but the Catholic Church is just an institution to me now, nothing more and nothing less. Even if I don’t dislike the Pope I think he has done too little to address the many problems that plague the Church. Take Bishop Barros in Chile, for example. But my grandmother still goes to Church.’

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CANADA
National Post

May 1, 2018

/the Canadian Press

OTTAWA — MPs have voted overwhelmingly to extend to Pope Francis a formal invitation to apologize in person to Indigenous Peoples for decades of abuse meted out in residential schools across Canada.

New Democrat MPs Charlie Angus and residential school survivor Romeo Saganash introduced the motion, which passed today by a margin of 269-10.

Cheers erupted for both MPs as they voted; Angus held aloft a feather as his vote was acknowledged.

Among the 94 calls to action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to ask for an apology, to be delivered in Canada by the pontiff, for the church’s role in the residential school abuse of First Nations, Inuit and Metis children.

But in March, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said that while the Pope acknowledged the commission’s findings and expressed regret for past wrongs, he “felt he could not personally respond.”

The motion also calls on the Catholic Church to pay money owed to residential school survivors and to turn over relevant documentation regarding the government-sponsored schools.

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UNITED KINGDOM
West Bridgford Wire

May 1, 2018

The Inquiry will come to Trent Bridge Cricket Ground from 1 to 5 October 2018, where the Chair, Professor Alexis Jay OBE, and panel will hear opening statements and evidence from some witnesses.

The Inquiry will spend three weeks looking into the extent of any institutional failures to protect children in the care of Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire Councils from abuse and exploitation.

It will also look at how institutions including those councils and the police responded to any abuse claims.

The remaining two weeks of the hearing will take place at the Inquiry’s hearing centre in London.

Further details will be provided on the Inquiry’s website www.iicsa.org.uk and Twitter feed @InquiryCSA

Children living in care in residential homes and foster families are amongst the most vulnerable children in society. Allegations of widespread sexual abuse and exploitation of children who were in the care of Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire Council require detailed public scrutiny.

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NEW YORK
Friendly Atheist

APRIL 30, 2018

BY TERRY FIRMA

When the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York recently released a list of priests credibly accused of child sex abuse, parishioners in Angola, 20 miles to the south, were in disbelief. Because on that list were four priests who had served their town of just over 2,000 people.

What … set Most Precious Blood [the parish church] apart from other parishes was the span in which one accused priest after another worked in the parish for nearly 30 consecutive years.

The Rev. Fred G. Fingerle was assigned as an associate pastor there from 1967 to 1977, except for one year at another parish in 1970. Fingerle was succeeded by the Rev. John P. Hajduk from 1977 to 1982. And Hajduk was followed by Monsignor J. Grant Higgins, who served as pastor from 1983 until 1997.

I wonder if they traded tips about their victims as they passed the baton.

The fourth accused priest was the Rev. James H. Cotter, assigned to Most Precious Blood from 1955 to 1958.

A true pioneer, that one.

“The sticker shock was the number, not that it had happened,” said longtime member Karen A. Erickson. “The sticker shock of so many in your community was what had people talking.”

Her fellow believers in certain other towns in upper New York state surely feel the same way.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

The Holy See releases a press statement after the Australian court orders Cardinal George Pell to stand trial.

The Holy See on Tuesday released the following statement regarding Cardinal George Pell.

Holy See’s Statement

“The Holy See has taken note of the decision issued by judicial authorities in Australia regarding His Eminence Cardinal George Pell. Last year, the Holy Father granted Cardinal Pell a leave of absence so he could defend himself from the accusations. The leave of absence is still in place.”

Today’s ruling

Cardinal George Pell appeared in an Australian court on Tuesday and entered a not guilty plea to the criminal charges against him. At the conclusion of preliminary hearings, a Melbourne magistrate dismissed some of the charges against Cardinal Pell, but decided that others warrant a jury trial. Trial proceedings will begin on Wednesday in Victoria State County Court.

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ROME
The Daily Beast

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU

05.01.18

ROME—Cardinal George Pell, the 76-year-old head of the Vatican’s Secretariat of the Economy, will stand trial in Melbourne, Australia, for criminal sexual abuse he is alleged to have inflicted on young boys in his home country during the 1970s and ’90s.

Exact details of the charges have not been made public due to victim privacy laws, but one of the alleged incidents apparently took place over a 12-month period with a child from St. Joseph’s Boys Home, according to reporters in Australia. Another is purported to have occurred at various times with the same victim in a local swimming pool frequented by a Catholic youth group under Pell’s supervision.

Pell’s alleged behavior has been the focus of a committal hearing in Australia meant to determine if there is enough criminal evidence to support a jury trial. Pell left Vatican City last June to face his accusers, despite initially pleading ill health that would have kept him safe inside the protected Vatican city-state, where he enjoys diplomatic status.

After a month of hearings in which the court heard disturbing details of the alleged abuse from a number of victims, including one event that is said to have occurred during the screening of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Magistrate Belinda Wallington ruled that several of the accusations were to be dismissed due to either lack of or incoherent evidence. Only two of the many allegations against him have enough solid evidence to warrant a trial, she said, though it cannot yet be reported which two those are.

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AUSTRALIA
Newstalk ZB

1 May 2018

A mass of security, media and protestors honed in today for a court appearance of Australia’s Cardinal George Pell.

The 76-year-old pleaded not guilty to historic sex offences dating back to the 1970’s and 1990’s at a Melbourne magistrate’s court.

Pell has maintained his innocence since allegations came to light, and taken leave from his position at the Vatican to fight the complaints.

Australian correspondent Murray Olds told Larry Williams several more charges were on the table but ultimately thrown out.

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AUSTRALIA
Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Latest on Cardinal George Pell (all times local):

3:30 p.m.

Cardinal George Pell has been ordered to appear Wednesday in the Victoria state County Court where he will eventually stand trial.

Under his bail conditions, Pell cannot leave Australia, contact prosecution witnesses and he must give police notice of any change of address.

An Australian magistrate earlier Tuesday ordered the most senior Vatican official to be charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis to stand trial.

He entered a plea of not guilty. Melbourne Magistrate Belinda Wallington dismissed some charges but decided the prosecution’s case on others was strong enough to warrant a trial by jury.

Details have not been disclosed about the crimes alleged to have occurred decades ago.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
JTA

By Josefin Dolsten

April 26, 2018

(JTA) — The jail sentence of Rabbi Barry Freundel, a once-prominent Modern Orthodox rabbi in Washington, D.C. who secretly filmed women in his synagogue’s mikvah, has been shortened by over a year due to good behavior, his lawyer said.

Freundel’s 6 1/2-year sentence also was reduced because he participated as an instructor in a program to educate other inmates, the attorney, Jeffrey Harris, told JTA on Thursday.

A day earlier, the D.C. Department of Corrections had sent an email to Freundel’s victims saying the rabbi would be released on Aug. 21. On Thursday, however, the department sent another email saying that Freundel will be released on Aug. 21, 2020. Director Quincy Booth told JTA in a statement that the original email was sent in error.

“In the case of Mr. Freundal [sic], the email incorrectly calculated his scheduled release date and sent the email to Mr. Freundal’s victims who signed up for the VINE service,” Booth said, referring to the department’s automated notification system. “DOC has corrected the error that caused the incorrect release calculation and email notification.”

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ISRAEL/AUSTRALIA
Times of Israel

May 1, 2918

Shoshana Mael

In my lifetime, I’ve met hundreds of people who’ve been sexually abused. It’s not something I’ll ever get used to, although it doesn’t shock me in the same way that it once did. Still, hearing stories about children being victimized in the Orthodox community is something that will forever shake me to my core. Maybe it’s because I still feel a familial connection to that community, and personal tragedy isn’t something you can inoculate yourself against. Whatever the reason, today I feel compelled to write about Malka Leifer, a former high school principal from Australia, and the three sisters who went public with allegations of sexually abusive behavior and are in the process of fighting for justice.

I want to focus on three elements of this situation that are unique to Orthodox communities, and make this story all the more painful.

1. The sisters were raised by a mercurial and abusive mother. This made them particularly susceptible to the manipulative tactics of Ms. Leifer, as they were desperate for maternal affection and attention. Ms. Leifer preyed on them, knowing that they were keeping their volatile home situation a secret. To them, this secrecy was necessary because should word get out that they came from a dysfunctional family, their shidduch prospects would be negatively affected. While there are many reasons why children don’t disclose parental abuse, fear of not finding a ‘suitable’ husband should never be one of them.

2. Within the Orthodox community, there exists a lack of boundaries that allows abuse and molestation to fester. The sisters relate how Ms. Leifer would invite girls to her house and and spend time alone with them in her office, with the blinds drawn and the door closed. In the closeness of the Orthodox community, questionable boundaries are allowed to exist because the small size of the community is rife with dual relationships. It’s common for your pediatrician to also be your neighbor and also be the person you sit next to in shul. There’s a dangerous and naive sense of trust that all such behavior is innocent. Ms. Leifer was able to exploit this fact and crossed boundaries with the three sisters — in public — and later progressed to significantly worse violations. It is a shame that her behavior was chalked up to ‘taking girls under her wing’ and wasn’t recognized for the grooming behavior that it was.

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UNITED KINGDOM
tes

By Charlotte Santry

01 May 2018

Boarding schools must correct “the wrongs of the past” and create “obstructive obstacles” to deter potential abusers, headteachers have been told today.

Martin Reader, the chair of the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA), is today set to apologise for the abuse suffered by former pupils, on behalf of his organisation’s members.

Addressing the BSA’s annual conference in Brighton today, he will say: “It is to our great shame that there have been those adults at our schools who have used their positions of power to abuse those they were supposed to be looking after, or have failed to use their positions of power to stand up against those abusers, putting school reputations before children.

“We are deeply sorry to the victims and survivors of the abuse that happened in our schools and are thoroughly committed to making our schools as safe as possible.”

His comments follow recent media reports about the scale of abuse at UK boarding schools, including in recent years.

Ampleforth College, in North Yorkshire, is currently subject to three ongoing police investigations into historic allegations of sexual offences.

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AUSTRALIA
Associated Press

By ROD McGUIRK

May 1, 2018

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Vatican official to be charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis, must stand trial on charges alleging he sexually abused multiple victims decades ago, a magistrate ruled Tuesday.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington dismissed around half the charges that had been heard in the four-week preliminary hearing in Melbourne but decided the prosecution’s case was strong enough for the remainder to warrant a trial by jury. The number of charges has not been made public

When she asked Pell how he pleaded, the cardinal said in a firm voice, “Not guilty.” Wallington gave the 76-year-old permission not to stand, which is customary. …

Anne Barrett Doyle, of BishopAccountability.org, a Massachusetts-based online abuse resource, described the magistrate’s decision to make Pell stand trial as “a turning point in the global abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.”

“Whatever its outcome, the judge’s decision marks the victory of accountability over impunity, and of the rule of secular law over the Vatican’s failed strategy of cover-up,” she said.

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ROME
The Guardian (UK)

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome

1 May 2018

A survivors’ rights group has hailed as a “turning point” an Australian magistrate’s ruling that Cardinal George Pell, one of the most senior officials in the Vatican, will stand trial on historical sexual offence charges.

The decision by Belinda Wallington comes as the church in Rome continues to be dogged by accusations that it has failed to do enough to come to grips with a sexual abuse crisis.

For some advocates, the development in Melbourne was a rare victory for secular law, after decades in which the church has handled priests and senior clergy accused of sexual abuse within the Vatican’s own judicial system.

“[The] decision today … marks a turning point in the global abuse crisis in the Catholic church,” said a statement by BishopsAccountability.org, which tracks cases of alleged abuse. “The Australian government has put the Catholic church on equal footing with other institutions, and treated its leaders as fellow citizens.”

In Rome, the question now is whether Pope Francis is prepared to take tougher action against accused priests, as well as the bishops who have been accused of protecting them.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

May 1, 2018

By Ivey DeJesus idejesus@pennlive.com

In the fall of 2016, after a lifetime of torment from painful memories, Todd Frey got an emotional release.

After nearly four decades of living with the pain and confusion of having been sexually molested by his priest, Frey got the chance to talk about it before a panel of men and women who he hopes can help give him the opportunity to seek legal recourse.

Frey in October of that year testified before the 40th Statewide Grand Jury, which is investigating the sexual abuse of children across six dioceses in Pennsylvania.

“Ever since grand jury listened to me that day that I spoke, I felt like I was truly counted,” said Frey, who is nearing his 50th birthday. “It made a difference. It made a big difference.”

Frey, of Lancaster County, is among an untold number of victims who in the past 18 months have testified before the grand jury as the state attorney general’s office wraps up its investigation into the dioceses of Harrisburg, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Erie, Scranton and Greensburg.

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VATICAN CITY
Yahoo!

May 1, 2018

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Cardinal George Pell will remain on a leave of absence from the Vatican after an Australian court ordered him to stand trial on charges of historical sexual offences, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

A statement said the Holy See had “taken note” of the ruling. [L8N1S814C].

It said the leave of absence that Pope Francis had granted Pell, head of the Vatican’s economy ministry, last year so he could defend himself “is still in place”. Pell pleaded not guilty.

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AUSTRALIA
Reuters

May 1, 2018

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Vatican Treasurer George Pell must face trial on charges of historical sexual offences, an Australian court ruled on Tuesday, making him the most senior Catholic official to be tried on such allegations. He pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington handed down her decision that Pell’s case will proceed to trial in a Melbourne court, following a month-long pre-trial hearing.

Pell did not comment when he left the court, surrounded by police and flanked by his legal team.

Pope Francis has said he would not comment on the case involving his economy minister until it was over.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

By Adam Cooper

May 2018

It takes seconds to walk across William Street to get from Melbourne Magistrates Court to Victoria’s County Court.

Usually a magistrate’s decision to refer a criminal case to the higher court is just as straightforward, in some cases a formality from the start of a pre-trial hearing.

But in the case against George Pell, things weren’t so clear.

After a four-week hearing in March, which featured more than 30 witnesses and some rigorous cross-examination by Cardinal Pell’s lawyers, prosecutors and defence lawyers submitted pages of arguments advising magistrate Belinda Wallington what to do: commit Australia’s most senior Catholic to stand trial or strike out the multiple sexual assault charges he faced.

The credibility and believability of witnesses – particularly accusers, who gave evidence in a closed court – was to be considered, as was the passage of time, the influence of media reports and the cardinal’s profile, and timelines and geographic layouts which would help determine whether the allegations were plausible or improbable.

At the start of her ruling on Tuesday, Ms Wallington said it was a magistrate’s job to sort the wheat from the chaff, to comb the evidence and determine whether it was capable of convincing a jury of 12 ordinary folk to find an accused person guilty.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

By Adam Cooper & Tom Cowie

1 May 2018

George Pell will be the most senior Catholic leader to face a jury after being committed to stand trial on multiple historic sexual assault charges.

In a decision that will ring loud through the Vatican and around the religious world, Australia’s most senior Catholic and the man who a year ago oversaw management of the Vatican’s finances was on Tuesday committed to stand trial on half the charges he faced, involving multiple accusers.

However, magistrate Belinda Wallington struck out a series of serious charges at the start of her ruling, finding there was insufficient evidence for him to be convicted by a jury.

Ms Wallington committed the 76-year-old on charges against multiple complainants, involving alleged sexual offending at a swimming pool in the 1970s in Ballarat, where the accused man was then working as a priest; and at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in 1990s, when he was the then Archbishop of Melbourne.

Asked to enter a plea, Cardinal Pell said in a loud, clear voice: “Not guilty.”

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AUSTRALIA
Telegraph (UK)

Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney

1 MAY 2018

Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s treasurer, has become the most senior Catholic figure to face sexual assault charges after a court in Melbourne committed him to stand trial on historical offences involving multiple victims.

After being asked for a plea, 76-year-old Pell, a trusted aide of Pope Francis, stated firmly and loudly: “Not guilty”.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington dismissed about half the charges because of a lack of evidence or concerns about witness credibility. These included – according to Pell’s lawyer – the more “vile” of the alleged offences.

But Ms Wallington ordered the Cardinal to face a trial by jury for alleged sexual offending at a pool in the 1970s in Ballarat, near Melbourne, and at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in the 1990s when he was the city’s Archbishop. After the magistrate left the court, a group of the Cardinal’s critics broke into applause.

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ALABAMA
WTVY

By Ken Curtis

Apr 30, 2018

Dothan, AL (WTVY)- In a unique request, the attorney for a minister charged with sexual abuse doesn’t want his client to attend a hearing to determine if charges will be dropped.

Williams Wesley “Wes” Williamson, 28, was arrested in March on three felonies involving the alleged molestation of two boys under the age of 12 at a church camp last summer.

On Friday, he has a preliminary hearing scheduled to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the case to a grand jury or if charges will be dismissed.

However, defense attorney Thomas Smith doesn’t want Williamson in the courtroom during the hearing and recently filed a motion asking his appearance to be waived. He didn’t give a reason.

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UNITED STATES
The Mennonite

4.30. 2018

Written By: Indigo Rey Miller

“Let’s talk about sex,” doesn’t mean what it used to. At one time these provocative song lyrics spoke specifically to the act of sex and would never have been spoken openly in many of our church communities. Mennonites, and the majority of Christians, have a long history of shutting down conversations about the body, but the past few years have forced our hand.

Mennonite Church USA got a cold shock when influential Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder’s decades of harassment and sexual abuse of more than 50 women finally came to full light in 2013. The Mennonite Church has had to grapple with what it means to face the reality that leaders—champions of peace and ethics no less—and members of our own congregations are capable of such persistent violent disrespect for the bodies of humans.

Harvey Weinstein, the #MeToo movement and a wave of sexual assault survivors coming forward over the past year should be no surprise to Mennonites. Now the lyrics “Let’s talk about sex,” have a profound relevance in our churches and communities. Now it’s a plea for our faith communities to explore the complexities of our embodied human sexuality, both as a healing response to profound trauma and a hope that we can learn to embrace the embodied existence God has gifted us.

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OREGON
The Bulletin

April 30, 2018

GARRETT ANDREWS
THE BULLETIN
@GarrettGAndrews

Former Gresham pastor James Daniel “Jamie” Worley was sentenced to 12½ years in prison Monday in Deschutes County Circuit Court for sexually abusing a family member when he lived in Bend in the early 2000s, when his victim was between age 5 and 7.

Worley’s recent trial lasted four weeks before a jury returned guilty verdicts on March 14.

The drama on Monday came down to whether Judge Beth M. Bagley would choose to run three 75-month sentences concurrently — as the defense had asked — or consecutively, as the prosecution asked.

Bagley said that despite an expert witness who testified Worley represented a low level of risk to the community, the pain he caused his victim needed to be addressed in her sentence.

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GLOBAL
The Straits Times (Singapore)

May 1, 2018

MELBOURNE (AFP) – Vatican finance chief Cardinal George Pell on Tuesday (May 1) became the highest-ranked Catholic ever to be sent to trial for sex offences, adding to a series of scandals facing the church globally.

Here is a rundown of notable cases:

AUSTRALIA
Cardinal George Pell, the third highest member of the Vatican hierarchy, has been ordered to stand trial on “multiple” historical sex charges, which he denies.

His case coincided with a public enquiry that found that seven percent of priests were presumed to have committed paedophilic acts in Australia between 1950 and 2010.

AUSTRIA
Two scandals forced the Vatican to revoke two high-ranking ultra-conservative clerics, Viennese Archbishop Hans Hermann Groer in 1995 and the bishop of Sankt-Poelten, Kurt Krenn in 2004.

BELGIUM
In 2010, the bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, resigned after acknowledging sex abuse of two nephews. Since 2012 the Catholic Church in Belgium has received hundreds of complaints and paid almost 4.13 million euros in compensation.

CANADA
In the late 1980s, a huge scandal broke out regarding the mistreatment of children at an orphanage in Newfoundland in the 1950s-1960s.

CHILE
Some 80 members of the Chilean clergy have been implicated in a series of sex abuse affairs over the past few years.

Controversy over the bishop Juan Barros, accused of covering for a paedophile priest, marred Pope Francis’ trip to the country in January 2018 when he hugged and defended the bishop.

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NEW YORK
The Daily News

By SCOTT DESMIT
SDESMIT@BATAVIANEWS.COM

MAY 1, 2018

BATAVIA — Another priest who once served in Batavia has been placed on leave after allegations of sexual abuse were made to the Diocese of Buffalo.

The Rev. Samuel J. Venne, who once served at St. Anthony’s Church, was placed on administrative leave after Bishop Richard J. Malone received an abuse complaint,” the diocese announced on its website last week. Venne is believed to have been with St. Anthony’s in the 1970s. He also served as a chaplain and scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts.

The diocese and Malone also placed Rev. Arthur Smith on leave as an investigation continues.

Venne is a retired priest who still serves at St. Stephen’s Parish in Grand Island. Smith serves at Blessed Mother of Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Depew.

“In both cases, please note that this administrative leave is for the purpose of investigation and does not imply any determination as to the truth or falsity of the complaint,” Malone wrote on the website.

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AUSTRALIA
Maine Public Radio

May 1, 2018

By SCOTT NEUMAN

A magistrate in Australia has ordered Cardinal George Pell, one of the Vatican’s senior-most officials, to stand trial on sexual abuse charges involving allegations from multiple individuals dating back decades.

Pell is the highest-ranking Vatican official to be charged in the church’s long-standing sex abuse scandal.

Although Melbourne Magistrate Belinda Wallington dismissed many of the charges against Pell, who was appointed archbishop of Sydney in 2001 and later oversaw the Vatican’s finances under Pope Francis, she said that the prosecution’s case was strong enough to warrant a jury trial on the remaining charges.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Wallington, following a month-long hearing committed the 76-year-old cleric “on charges against multiple complainants, involving alleged sexual offending at a swimming pool in the 1970s in Ballarat [near Melbourne], where the accused man was then working as a priest; and at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in 1990s, when he was the then Archbishop of Melbourne.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Sun (UK)

By Thea Jacobs

1st May 2018

Cardinal George Pell is the most senior member of the Australian clergy who has now come under fire for historic child sexual abuse allegations.

He is the most senior catholic clergy member to face sexual abuse allegations. In light of the allegations we’ve brought together everything you need to know about him.

Who is Cardinal George Pell?

Cardinal George Pell was born in Ballarat, Australia, on June 8 1941 to George Arthur and Margaret Lillian Pell and his mother was a devout catholic.

In his early life he was a keen American Football player, including being signed to Richmond Football Club – however, he says he realised he had an unavoidable calling to become a priest.

In 1960 he started his studies to become a Catholic priest at Corpus Christi College in Werribee and in 1963 he was assigned to continue his studies at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome.

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AUSTRALIA
Newstalk (Ireland)

1 May 2018

The man in charge of the Vatican’s finances is to face sex abuse charges in Australia.

Cardinal George Pell is the most senior Catholic Church official to be charged with such offences, which relate to his time as a priest and bishop in Australia.

Following a month-long pre-trial hearing, magistrate Belinda Wallington ruled that some of the historical allegations against the 76-year-old should be tested in court.

Cardinal Pell has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He will next appear in court on Wednesday in Melbourne. He is facing at least one charge after being accused of sexually abusing multiple victims decades ago.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

May 1, 2018

By court reporter Emma Younger

Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell has pleaded not guilty to multiple historical sexual offence charges after being committed to stand trial.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington committed Cardinal Pell to stand trial on some counts, but she has discharged more than half the original charges, including the most serious allegations.

Cardinal Pell was escorted into the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court under police guard.

He has strenuously denied the accusations.

Today’s ruling follows a month-long committal hearing in March.

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AUSTRALIA
BBC News

Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell will stand trial on historical sexual assault charges, a court has ruled.

Cardinal Pell formally pleaded not guilty to the charges on Tuesday. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

An Australian magistrate ruled on Tuesday that there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to a trial on some charges, but not on others.

Cardinal Pell is Australia’s most senior Catholic and one of the most powerful officials in the Vatican.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington read out her decision on each charge individually in a Melbourne court, following a month-long hearing.

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ARIZONA
AZCentral

Uriel J. Garcia, The Republic | azcentral.com

April 30, 2018

A Scottsdale church has hired a private firm to investigate sexual misconduct allegations levied against a pastor who has resigned from his most recent post last week, according to a statement on the church’s web site.

Les Hughey, 64, who is the founder of the Highlands Community Church in north Scottsdale and has since stepped down as executive pastor, has been accused by women of sexual abuse during his time as youth pastor at Scottsdale Bible Church in the 1980s and ’90s.

Scottsdale Bible Church said in its statement that church leaders hired a firm called Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, also known as GRACE, to conduct an independent investigation.

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AUSTRALIA
New York Times

By DAMIEN CAVE and ADAM BAIDAWI

APRIL 30, 2018

Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third-highest ranking official will stand trial on several charge of sexual abuse from multiple complainants, an Australian court ruled on Tuesday.

The slow-moving case — charges were filed in June — has been a test of both Australia’s justice system and the Vatican’s efforts to hold clerics accountable after decades of abuse scandals.

It is occurring in a country where where defamation law favors plaintiffs, where criminal law protects defendants more than it does in many other countries, and where a number of legal standards restrict reporters’ ability to publish information related to criminal cases.

Here’s a guide to why many of the details of Cardinal Pell’s case may remain obscured, and to what we know about the cardinal and the case so far.

Why can’t the public know more?

Australian criminal law tends to be more favorable to defendants, and its proceedings more secretive, than in the United States.

The country’s contempt standards prohibit reporting — after charges have been filed, and before a verdict has been reached — that might be seen as prejudicial against, or for, a defendant.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

May 1, 2018

AAP

THE most senior Vatican official to be charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis has been ordered to stand trial.

Cardinal George Pell arrived at Australian court on Tuesday surrounded by police and media to learn whether he must stand trial on charges that he sexually abused multiple victims decades ago.

Melbourne magistrate Belinda Wallington found there is evidence of sufficient weight on one of multiple charges against Pope Francis’ closest aide for him to stand trial. Some other charges against 76-year-old Pell were struck out.

Pell arrived by car in front of the downtown court where more than 40 uniformed police officers were waiting to maintain order as media jostled on the crowded sidewalk to videotape and photograph him.

Pell climbed the stairs to court accompanied by his lawyer Robert Richter about 45 minutes before the hearing was to begin. Some protesters shouted as he arrived.

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AUSTRALIA
CNN

By Lucie Morris-Marr and Ben Westcott, CNN

April 30, 2018

Melbourne, Australia (CNN)Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell will face trial on charges of historical sexual abuse, a Melbourne magistrate announced on Tuesday.

While several of the more serious charges against Pell were dropped, Magistrate Belinda Wallington announced the cardinal would still be committed to trial.

The 76-year-old cardinal was facing multiple charges of historical sex assault offenses from a number of complainants. He has vigorously denied all charges.

The magistrate’s decision is still being read with the possibility of additional charges.

One of the country’s most senior Catholic figures, Pell arrived at Melbourne Magistrate’s Court early Tuesday, accompanied by his lead barrister, Robert Richter QC, as dozens of police sought to keep media and protesters at bay.

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AUSTRALIA
Crux

John L. Allen Jr.
EDITOR

May 1, 2018

Following a four-week committal hearing last month, an Australian magistrate on Tuesday dismissed some of the most serious charges of “historical sexual offenses” against Cardinal George Pell but also ruled that the 76-year-old prelate will stand trial on at least three different complaints.

It’s not clear at this point when that trial will take place, though sources in Australia say that criminal procedures of this sort often can last one year to 18 months. Pell has denied the charges vigorously since police first filed them last summer.

He is expected to face a directions hearing in Melbourne’s County Court in the future, when a trial date will be set.

Pell is currently on a leave of absence from his post as the Vatican’s Secretary for the Economy, and he becomes the most senior Church official ever to face criminal charges of sexual abuse in a civil court of law.

His committal hearing is believed to have been one of the longest ever in the Australian state of Victoria, the capital of which is the city of Melbourne where Pell’s legal proceedings have unfolded. The first 10 days of the hearing were heard in closed session, when Pell’s accusers were questioned.

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AUSTRALIA
New York Times

By ADAM BAIDAWI

APRIL 30, 2018

MELBOURNE, Australia — Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third-highest-ranking official, must stand trial on at least three charges of sexual abuse, an Australian court ruled on Tuesday, promising to prolong a case that has already dragged on for months, and which many see as a moment of reckoning for a church racked by scandal.

Belinda Wallington, a Melbourne magistrate, found there was sufficient evidence for prosecutors to bring the cardinal’s case to trial, ending a two-month pretrial hearing, in which witnesses described abuse they said took place decades ago.

Cardinal Pell, 76, is the most senior Roman Catholic official to be charged with crimes of sexual abuse. As the Vatican’s de facto finance chief, he was granted leave by the pope to return to Australia to conduct his defense.

The cardinal has been accused of “historical sexual offenses,” meaning they took place decades ago, but the details of the criminal complaint, including the identities of his accusers, have not been made public. Such cases are subject to Australia’s strict contempt standards, and other legal restrictions, which prohibit journalists from reporting on details of criminal allegations.

Robert Richter, the cardinal’s lawyer, said last year there was “voluminous” evidence to prove that “what was alleged is impossible.”

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CALIFORNIA
Mercury County Weekly

April 30, 2018

Sara Rubin

Since Pope Benedict XI appointed Richard Garcia as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Monterey in 2006, he has been the spiritual leader of tens of thousands of parishioners at dozens of churches in a region that spans from Santa Cruz to Hollister to San Luis Obispo.

On April 27, the diocese announced Garcia, 71, has been diagnosed with an early stage of Alzheimer’s disease, following several weeks of not feeling well.

“This news is difficult to learn, but Bishop Garcia has great faith and a deep spiritual life to assist him in facing this diagnosis,” a diocese statement says.

“This news has taken some time for bishop to adjust to as it has only been in the last few weeks that signs of this disease have become more pronounced and evident to him.”

According to the statement, no decisions about future leadership have yet been made. …

Garcia also made news when came under scrutiny for failure to take action against a priest accused of sexually abusing boys despite receiving letters from parents alerting him to the abuse. Instead, Fr. Edward Fitz-Henry was moved from parish to parish, and continued to contact with youth, until he was eventually removed from the priesthood.

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NEW YORK
Buffalo Business First

By Tracey Drury – Reporter, Buffalo Business First

With two months until the close of its annual fundraising appeal, Catholic Charities of Buffalo is stressing to potential donors that their dollars will not go toward settlements to abuse victims.

Although the agency is affiliated with the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, it remains an independent 501(c)(3) that serves people of all faiths with a range of human services including emergency assistance, mental health counseling and treatment, help with job training and education and specialized services for older adults.

The Diocese has been in the spotlight for several months regarding a growing number of priests acknowledged to have sexually abused children and teens in past decades. That’s led to the creation of an Independent Reconciliation & Compensation Fund, which the bishop of Buffalo has said will be paid from insurance, self-insurance liability, investment fund reserves and the sale of property – not from the Appeal or the Fund for the Faith, which provides funds to the Diocese at the discretion of the bishop.

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RHODE ISLAND
Curtis J. Holt’s Sons Funeral Home

[Patch]

[Turn to 10]

APRIL 27, 2018

Monsignor John C. Allard, 68, of Lake Washington, Chepachet, a retired priest of the Diocese of Providence, died April 27, 2018, in Landmark Medical Center, surrounded by his family.

Born in Woonsocket, son of the late Normand and Laurette (Chevalier) Allard, he attended Holy Family School, Woonsocket, and Our Lady of Providence Preparatory High School in Providence.

In preparation for the priesthood, he studied at Our Lady of Providence Seminary, Warwick and St. John Seminary, Brighton, Massachusetts. He was ordained to the priesthood on September 19, 1975 at St. Cecilia Church, Pawtucket, by Bishop Louis E. Gelineau.

He served as assistant pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish, Cranston (1975-84); Assistant Director (1984-86) and Director (1986-96) of the Diocesan Office of Youth Ministry; Vicar of the Diocesan Office of Evangelization and Spirituality (1986-2001); pastor of Our Lady of Good Help Parish, Mapleville (1986-96); St. Agatha Parish, Woonsocket (1996-2013); and Precious Blood Parish, Woonsocket (2006-13). Fr. John was appointed Monsignor in 1997, while serving St. Agatha’s Parish.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

By Adam Cooper

30 April 2018

His has been a path no other Australian Catholic has taken, all the way to the powerful inner workings of the Vatican, until he became the church’s most senior leader in modern times to be charged with sexual assault offences.

On Tuesday George Pell will learn if he is to forge even more new ground, and be committed to stand trial in front of a jury on allegations of sexual assault dating back more than 20 years.

In a ruling that will be heard throughout the religious world, magistrate Belinda Wallington will announce whether Cardinal Pell will stand trial on some or all of the charges, or whether they are to be struck out. If committed to trial it will most likely be in the County Court before a judge and 12 jurors.

Three hours have been set aside in Melbourne Magistrates Court for Ms Wallington to deliver her ruling on a number of charges. The hearing will be held in the building’s biggest court room, and Cardinal Pell must attend.

The 76-year-old faces multiple charges of sexual offences involving multiple accusers. Details of the charges have not been revealed.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Nottingham Post

By David Whitfield Digital Content Editor

30 APR 2018

The first five days of a major inquiry into historical child sex abuse in Nottinghamshire will be held at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, it has been confirmed.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) will spend three weeks looking into the extent of the sexual abuse of children in the care of Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County Councils.

It will also look at how institutions including those councils and the police responded to any abuse claims.

The hearing was originally due to take place in Southwark, London, but the Nottinghamshire Child Sexual Abuse Survivors Group has asked for some of the sessions to take place locally.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Apr 30, 2018

by Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — After private meetings with Pope Francis, three survivors of clergy sexual abuse from Chile said they felt they had been heard and were hopeful for changes in the way the Catholic Church handles accusations of abuse.

“I spoke for more than two and a half hours alone with Francis. He listened to me with great respect, affection and closeness, like a father. We talked about many subjects. Today, I have more hope in the future of our church. Even though the task is enormous,” Juan Carlos Cruz tweeted April 29 after meeting with the pope.

Francis had invited Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo to stay at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican residence where he lives, and to meet with him individually April 27-29. The three were to meet with the pope again as a group April 30.

Although the three survivors tweeted after their private meetings, Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office, said Francis “expressly wished” that no official statements would be released by the Vatican regarding his discussions with the survivors.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC

25 Apr 2018

Concluding the story of Dassi Erlich and her two sisters, who are fighting to extradite their former headmistress from Israel to face sexual abuse charges.

After the alleged abuse against the three sisters came to light in 2008, principal Malka Leifer was stood down by the Adass Israel school which facilitated her immediate departure to Israel.

Although Australian authorities have been trying to extradite her for several years Malka Leifer convinced the Israeli courts she was too mentally unwell to face a hearing.

That prompted an undercover operation to prove her mental fitness which recently resulted in Malka Leifer’s return to jail.

For Dassi and her two sisters — Nicole and Elly — justice finally seems closer than ever before.

Related Links
Catch up | Watch ‘The Justice Principle’ part 1 on ABC News Youtube

ABC News article | ‘This is a sham’: The undercover operation to bring alleged paedophile principal to justice

Support information | 1800 Respect National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence counselling service – www.1800respect.org.au 1800 737 732

ABC News feature | Inside the insular Jewish community where school headmistress alleged preyed on girls

Producer profile | A brief bio about the producer of The Justice Principle, Belinda Hawkins

Transcript

INTTRODUCTION,TED BAILLIEU: Hi, I’m Ted Baillieu, former premier of Victoria. Tonight, we continue the dramatic story of Dassi Erlich and her sisters and their long battle to bring their former principal to justice.

For the past decade, Dassi, Nicole and Elly have been seeking extradition for Malka Leifer from Israel to face allegations of abuse. Now, Israeli undercover surveillance has brought them one step closer to their goal. But first, a recap.

LOOK BACK:

DASSI ERLICH: We grew up in Melbourne, in an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, called Adass.

ELLY SAPPER, YOUNGEST SISTER: It’s not like the wider Jewish community. It’s very insulated, very close You don’t have TV. You don’t have internet.

NICOLE MEYER, OLDER SISTER: My sisters and I went to the Adass school/the most religious, strictly orthodox school in Melbourne.

DASSI ERLICH: When I was in year 8 Malka Leifer became the new principal.

SHARON SWIATLO, FORMER ADASS ISRAEL SCHOOL TEACHER: She was a woman who exuded confidence She was well liked. One of the girls was always doing this for Mrs Leifer or that for Mrs Leifer.

ELLY SAPPER: We were all hearing, “This is good for you. What I’m doing is helping you and I’m giving you love.”

DASSI ERLICH: I had no words to describe what was happening or absolutely any understanding of how it wasn’t right.

NICOLE MEYER: In 2008, Dassi somehow let out to a social worker/therapist, that Malka Leifer had abused her.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC

April 18, 2018

Introduced by Ted Baillieu, former Premier of Victoria.

Dassi Erlich and her two sisters are a formidable force.

Their ongoing battle to extradite former headmistress Malka Leifer from Israel to face sexual abuse allegations in Australia has made headlines across the globe.

But despite the public attention, the personal stories of the three sisters have remained largely private.

In the first program of a two-part special, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper give their first Australian interviews and, together with Dassi, speak candidly about their time at the Adass Israel school in Melbourne.

The program also features extracts from Dassi Erlich’s teenage diary which provide a haunting account of her traumatic childhood.

Related links
Support information | 1800 Respect National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence counselling service – www.1800respect.org.au 1800 737 732

ABC News feature | Inside the insular Jewish community where school headmistress alleged preyed on girls

Overseas viewers | Watch ‘The Justice Principle’ part 1 on ABC News Youtube

Producer profile | A brief bio about the producer of The Justice Principle, Belinda Hawkins

Transcript

INTRODUCTION: Hi, I’m Ted Baillieu, former Premier of Victoria. Tonight’s story is one in which I and others have had a huge interest.

For years, Dassi Erlich and her two sisters harboured a chilling secret about their former principal, Malka Leifer. When they finally exposed her, it would spark a decade long legal battle to bring her back to Australia.

Tonight, Dassi and her sisters reveal the deeply personal story behind their very public campaign.

DASSI ERLICH: If I looked in a looking glass 10 years ago, when I was 20 years old, I would have never in my wildest dreams imagined that this is where I would be today. We really had no interaction with the outside world. And even if I imagined a different life, lobbying for justice was never a part of it.

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AUSTRALIA
YouTube

Part 2

ABC News (Australia)

Published on Apr 23, 2018

Mother-of-eight Malka Leifer looked like the perfect school principal until she was accused of being a sexual predator. This is the Australian Story of three sisters’ battle to bring their alleged abuser to justice amid the Adass Israel community in Melbourne that encouraged silence.

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ISRAEL
Jerusalem Post

BY JEREMY SHARON

APRIL 29, 2018

The Jerusalem District Court has sentenced a haredi man to 17 months imprisonment and levied NIS 900,000 of asset forfeitures against him for defrauding the state of NIS 2.2 million by forging student enrollment in his yeshivas.

Pinchas Zidman pleaded guilty and was convicted on charges of aggravated fraud, false registration of documents and money laundering.

From 2012 to 2015, Zidman established several institutions of Torah learning which were registered as non-profit organizations.

The institutions did indeed exist, but Zidman doubled the amount of students registered there to obtain larger grants from the Education Ministry by falsely registering foreign citizens who did not actually study there.

Having secured these funds, Zidman and his associates sought to hide, disguise and obscure how they used the money, who was making use of the funds and where it was being used.

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NEW ZEALAND
NZ Catholic

April 30, 2018

New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have discussed and reflected upon the issue of children of Catholic priests who have promised celibacy.

In a message to Coping International’s Vincent Doyle sent last month, New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference communications advisor Amanda Gregan noted that the bishops “firmly believe that the rights and sensitivities of the child and the mother should be respected and that being the father of a child carries with it particular responsibilities”.

The bishops also referred to civic guidelines and policies in New Zealand concerning a child’s right to know his or her natural parents, adding they (the bishops) would be guided by this practice.

Mr Doyle, an Irish psychotherapist whose own father was a Catholic priest, had previously worked with Ireland’s Catholic bishops in developing a set of “principles of responsibility” regarding priests who father children while in ministry. Five principles were developed and the second states that “the needs of the child should be given first consideration”.

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NEW YORK
Voz IZ Neias

April 29, 2018

By: Sandy Eller

Brooklyn, NY – A Brooklyn girls’ school has found itself in a difficult position after numerous reports have surfaced alleging that an employee had been interacting with girls inappropriately for several years and that the school’s administration was reportedly aware of the behavior but did nothing to protect students.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind said that he had been contacted by multiple parents whose daughters attend the Bais Sarah school in Borough Park reporting the alleged behavior.

According to Hikind, parents told the school’s owner and principal, Rabbi Nuchem Klein, about the alleged abuse perpetrated by a non-Jewish employee who goes by the nickname Spikey, but no action was taken.

Hikind took to Twitter on Friday morning, asking parents who had knowledge of any abuse taking place at Bais Sarah to contact his office and reached out to Rabbi Klein to discuss the matter.

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VATICAN CITY
First Post

PTI

Apr 30, 2018

Vatican City: Three victims of a Chilean paedophile priest have held private meetings with Pope Francis, as the Vatican tries to quell a sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church in Chile.

File image of Pope Francis. APFile image of Pope Francis. AP
The men, all victims of the paedophile priest Fernando Karadima, were in Vatican City at the personal invitation of the Pope, who in April admitted “grave mistakes” in his handling of the abuse controversy in Chile.

Juan Carlos Cruz said his meeting with Francis on Sunday, which lasted more than two hours, was wide-ranging and gave him “more hope for our Church, even though the task is enormous”. “I am moved, he listened to me with great respect, affection and closeness, like a father,” Cruz said on Twitter.

The Vatican had said last week that Francis would seek to “ask for their forgiveness, share their hurt and the shame they have suffered”. Jose Andres Murillo said he told Francis in his audience late Friday how important it was to understand that sexual abuse was “abuse of power”, and “the need to take responsibility… not just forgiveness”.

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VATICAN CITY
Christian Today

James Macintyre

30 Apr 2018

Several men who were sexually abused by a priest in Chile have described private talks they have held with Pope Francis at the Vatican over the weekend as very helpful and respectful.

James Hamilton, one of three clergy abuse survivors whom the pope invited to Italy, wrote on Twitter that his conversation with Francis, which lasted more than two hours, was ‘enormously constructive’.

A second survivor, Jose Andres Murillo, tweeted that he had stressed the importance of understanding sexual abuse as ‘abuse of power’ during his time with the pope.

The third victim, Juan Carlos Cruz, wrote: ‘I spoke for more than two and a half hours alone with Pope Francis. He listened to me with great respect, affection and closeness, like a father. We talked about many subjects. Today I have more hope in the future of our church… Even though the task is enormous.’

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PENNSYLVANIA
6 ABC

A juror on the Bill Cosby sexual assault retrial case is speaking out exclusively to ABC News.

The juror, Harrison Snyder, revealed that it may have been Cosby’s own words that sealed his fate.

“What was the evidence that made you sure beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty?” ABC News reporter Linsey Davis asked.

“I think it was his deposition, really. Mr. Cosby admitted to giving these Quaaludes to women, young women, in order to have sex with them,” Snyder said.

Snyder, who was juror number 1, says when he first entered the jury room, he was not sure Cosby was guilty.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

April 30, 2018

By Chris O’Brien and Josh Bavas

Queensland will pay $550 million to the national redress scheme for survivors of sexual abuse in government-run institutions.

The state had delayed committing to the scheme, partly because an earlier Queensland scheme existed following the 1999 Forde Inquiry.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said 5,000 Queenslanders were expected to be eligible.

An additional 5,000 people who were abused in privately run institutions could also be eligible, but Ms Palaszczuk said that funding should come from churches and other organisations.

“What you are seeing now is an almost national consensus across the board,” she said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press

30 Apr 2018

Annastacia Palaszczuk

The Queensland government has signed up to the national redress scheme that ensures compensation for the survivors of historical child sexual abuse in state institutions.

The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, on Monday announced her Labor government would provide $550m towards the federally managed fund.

Queensland joins New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory in following the key recommendation of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

“There have been a lot of people who have been on this journey and it took a lot of courage for people to go towards the royal commission and say things that would have been very, very difficult to say,” Palaszczuk said. “It made us as a nation take note of the historical abuse, the appalling abuse that had happened to thousands of people across our nation.”

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com

April 30, 2018

Three new clergy sex abuse lawsuits were filed on Monday in local and federal courts, two of them alleging abuse by former priest Louis Brouillard in the late 1960s, and one alleging abuse by the now deceased former priest Raymond Cepeda in the mid 1980s.

Brouillard, starting around 1968, sexually abused an altar boy at the Malojloj Parish on a regular basis for about four years while also abusing other boys, including taking Polaroids of those who were swimming naked during Boy Scouts outings, states a lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of Guam by a plaintiff identified only as J.C.M.

J.C.M., represented by attorney Michael Berman, said in his $10 million lawsuit that Brouillard sexually abused him on church grounds and at Boy Scouts outings, starting when he was about 11. Brouillard was a scoutmaster for decades.

The lawsuit states Brouillard would hold down J.C.M. when he was alone with the priest in his room at the Malojloj church and abuse him “several times.”

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NEW ZEALAND
Newstalk ZB

30 April 2018

A last-ditch call for the royal inquiry into abuse in state care to be expanded to include churches.

The terms that govern the inquiry haven’t been decided, with public submissions closing at midnight.

Both the Catholic and Anglican churches want to be included in the inquiry, but the Government’s indicated they won’t be.

Victim and survivor John says he was sexually abused when he was 14-years-old at the Catholic school he went to.

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By JACQUELINE WILLIAMS

APRIL 29, 2018

BALLARAT, Australia — Rob Walsh was outside Melbourne Magistrates’ Court recently awaiting a pretrial hearing for Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third-highest-ranking official, when, he said, he unexpectedly walked into the cardinal himself.

The encounter wasn’t their first. They both were raised in the same old mining town, which could be why the cardinal extended his hand, inviting Mr. Walsh to shake it. Mr. Walsh declined — a gesture that signified the lasting impact of a decades-long sexual abuse scandal that has rocked this town, Ballarat, and sent shock waves around the world.

“The ripple is still on the lake and it’s still occurring,” Mr. Walsh said from his home in Ballarat, referring to the lingering effects from that scandal, in which priests preyed on children, including Mr. Walsh, during the 1960s and 1970s.

“It’s gone through families and generations.”

This town, officially a city of about 100,000 people, was once the center of Australia’s gold rush, but is now better known as the epicenter of that pedophile ring, in which Catholic clergy preyed on those who depended on them the most — children from Ballarat’s poor, blue-collar neighborhoods.

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UNITED STATES
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminarh

By Paige Patterson on Apr 29, 2018

For the past several months, my life and the lives of my family have been subjected to rigorous misrepresentation. Even had I done some hideous wrong of which I am accused, my wife, children, and grandchildren have not and do not deserve such mischaracterization.

For the record, I have never been abusive to any woman. I have never counseled or condoned abuse of any kind. I will never be a party to any position other than that of the defense of any weaker party when subjected to the threat of a stronger party. This certainly includes women and children. Any physical or sexual abuse of anyone should be reported immediately to the appropriate authorities, as I have always done.

I have also said that I have never recommended or prescribed divorce. How could I as a minister of the Gospel? The Bible makes clear the way in which God views divorce. I have on more than one occasion counseled and aided women in leaving an abusive husband. So much is this the case that on an occasion during my New Orleans pastorate, my own life was threatened by an abusive husband because I counseled his wife, and assisted her, in departing their home to seek protection. In short, I have no sympathies at all for cowardly acts of abuse toward women.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

Michelle Boorstein

April 29. 2018

The leader of a major Southern Baptist seminary issued a statement Sunday pushing back after a 2000 tape surfaced purporting to quote him saying that abused women should focus on praying and “be submissive in every way that you can” and not seek divorce.

Paige Patterson is president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Fort Worth school whose Web site says it is one of the largest seminaries in the world. About 15 million people are part of Southern Baptist churches, the largest Protestant group in the United States. Patterson is slated to deliver the primary sermon — a high-profile honor — in June at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Dallas.

Patterson, who declined to comment Sunday, is heard on an audiotape being interviewed in 2000 about what he recommends for women “who are undergoing genuine physical abuse from their husbands, and the husband says they should submit.”

“It depends on the level of abuse, to some degree,” Patterson says. “I have never in my ministry counseled anyone to seek a divorce and that’s always wrong counsel.” Only on an occasion or two in his career, he says, when the level of abuse “was serious enough, dangerous enough, immoral enough,” has he recommended a temporary separation and the seeking of help.

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ARIZONA
AZCentral

Bree Burkitt, The Republic | azcentral.com

April 29, 2018

At least three of the women whose sexual-abuse allegations led to the resignation of a prominent Scottsdale pastor last week have filed reports with police.

Les Hughey stepped down as executive pastor of Highlands Community Church on Wednesday after being accused of victimizing teenage girls at California and Arizona churches from the 1970s through 1990s.

The complaints filed with Scottsdale police last week detail incidents women say occurred during Hughey’s time as a Scottsdale Bible Church youth pastor, from 1985 to 1996, according to Sgt. Ben Hoster.

Two of the women reported that Hughey groped their breasts or genitals during full-body massages, Hoster said. The third reported that Hughey asked her for a massage but did not assault her, he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Associated Press

April 30, 2018

By ROD McGUIRK

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The most senior Vatican official to be charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis will return to an Australian court on Tuesday to learn whether he must stand trial on charges that he sexually abused multiple victims decades ago.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington will rule in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on whether the prosecution’s case against Australian Cardinal George Pell is strong enough to warrant a trial by jury.

Lawyers for Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic argued during a four-week preliminary hearing in March that the accusations were untrue and should be dismissed. Pell has said through his lawyers that he will plead not guilty if the magistrate decides against dismissing the charges.

Pell, Pope Francis’ former finance minister, was charged last June with sexually abusing multiple people in his Australian home state of Victoria. The details of the allegations against the 76-year-old have yet to be released to the public, though police have described the charges as “historical” sexual assault offenses — meaning the crimes allegedly occurred decades ago.

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VATICAN CITY
Yahoo!

April 30, 2018

Vatican City (AFP) – Three victims of a Chilean paedophile priest have held private meetings with Pope Francis, as the Vatican tries to quell a sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church in Chile.

The men, all victims of the paedophile priest Fernando Karadima, were in Vatican City at the personal invitation of the pope, who in April admitted “grave mistakes” in his handling of the abuse controversy in Chile.

Juan Carlos Cruz said his meeting with Francis on Sunday, which lasted more than two hours, was wide-ranging and gave him “more hope for our Church, even though the task is enormous”.

“I am moved, he listened to me with great respect, affection and closeness, like a father,” Cruz said on Twitter.

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CHILE
Ausralo Osorno

[Former seminarian from Osorno suggests that there are more sexual abuse within the Catholic Church
27.04.2018 “It seems to me that there are more people who are abused, that they talk in the most intimate way and that they do not look for the media,” said José Manuel Rozas, from the Community of Christian Faithfuls, who says “manage files”.]

27.04.2018“Me parece que hay más gente abusada, que lo conversa en lo más íntimo y que no busca los medios de prensa”, aseguró José Manuel Rozas, de la Comunidad de Fieles Cristianos, quien dice “manejar archivos”.

En el marco de la expectación por la inédita reunión que sostendrán este fin de semana tresdenunciantesdel caso Karadima con el Papa Francisco en El Vaticano, a propósito de las acusaciones de supuesto encubrimiento de parte del obispo de Osorno, monseñor Juan Barros; diversas voces ligadas a la Iglesia Católica en dicha ciudad salieron a comentar la situación.Uno de ellos es José Manuel Rozas, vocero de la Comunidad de Fieles Cristianos Católicos de Osorno (que buscan desmarcarse de los laicos detractores de Barros), para quien esta cita es una demostración de “la prueba de la blancura por parte de la jerarquía de la iglesia” frente a los casos de abusos, pero donde no se incluye a otros que también sufrieron.Según el ex seminarista (incluso fue secretario de un obispo), “la información que manejo de la mayoría de los obispos de Chile es relevante. Yo manejaba archivos que por amor a la Iglesia no voy a andar revelando. Pero a mi me parece que hay más gente abusada, que lo conversa en lo más íntimo y que no busca los medios de prensa”.Respecto a las acciones que esperan que tome el Papa luego de las reuniones, señaló que “si va a pedir la renuncia a Barros, pídasela y acéptesela”, además solicitó que exista menos “farándula eclesiástica”; según publica este viernesEl Austral, donde puedes leer más reacciones.

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CHILE
El Mostrador

[When will women who are victims of abuse in the Church speak? We have to think about the precariousness in which the ex-religious live when their congregation did not support them and they had to leave because of their attempt to denounce.]

por JUDITH SCHÖNSTEINER Y MARÍA EUGENIA VALDÉS

28 abril, 2018

enemos que pensar en la precariedad en la que viven las ex religiosas cuando su congregación no las apoyó y se tuvieron que salir producto de su intento de denunciar. La precariedad es un factor no despreciable de disuasión a la denuncia, considerando que muchas congregaciones no contemplan un reconocimiento civil a la formación que reciben las religiosas. ¿Hay garantías de libertad de conciencia para decir las cosas por su nombre? La Iglesia tiene que prepararse para escuchar a las mujeres víctimas.

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CHILE
La Tercera

[“It is a very big step for the Church, particularly for the Chilean one, which for some decades has been carrying this serious problem that happened to us, and that the ecclesiastical authorities here were not able to face with truth, honesty, diligence and rigorousness that was needed. ”

Direct. This is how Benito Baranda thinks about the meaning that, in his opinion, has the presence, at this time, of three Karadima victims in the Vatican, invited by Pope Francis himself.]

29 APR 2018

Autor: Sergio Rodríguez

El laico analiza la importancia y alcances que tiene el encuentro, en el Vaticano, del Pontífice con Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton y José Andrés Murillo, víctimas de los abusos de Karadima, a quienes el propio Francisco invitó.

“Es un paso muy grande para la Iglesia, particularmente para la chilena, que desde hace algunas décadas viene cargando con este grave problema que nos sucedió, y que las autoridades eclesiásticas de aquí no fueron capaces de enfrentar con la verdad, honestidad, diligencia y rigurosidad que se necesitaba”.

Directo. Así se plantea Benito Baranda respecto del significado que, a su juicio, tiene la presencia, en estos momentos, de tres víctimas de Karadima en el Vaticano, invitados por el propio Papa Francisco.

Desde el viernes y hasta hoy, Juan Carlos Cruz, José Andrés Murillo y James Hamilton alojan en la residencia vaticana de Santa Marta. Allí están sosteniendo reuniones personales con el Pontífice, en las cuales este les “pedirá perdón por lo que sufrieron” -según explicó el director de prensa de la Santa Sede, Greg Burke-, y escuchará su testimonio respecto del ex párroco de El Bosque y de cómo fueron tratados por el clero local.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Sunday, April 29, 2018

ALBANY — Assembly Democrats this week will vote on a bill to make it easier for child sex abuse survivors to seek justice as a adults — pressuring Senate Republicans who have long blocked the measure.

“We must take action to protect victims of childhood sexual abuse and ensure access to justice for survivors,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) told the Daily News.

“The Assembly majority has long led the way on this important issue and I hope that it can finally become law this year.”

The bill, likely to be voted Tuesday, will let prosecutors bring criminal cases any time up to a victim’s 23rd birthday, and allow civil lawsuits against abusers any time up to a victim’s 50th birthday.

Public institutions would be treated the same as private institutions under the law. Currently, child victims have 90 days from the time of an incident to file notices of claim against school districts and other local or state government entities.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

April 29, 2018

Joelle Casteix

It’s the Sacrament of Confirmation season in the Catholic Church, and that means one thing: trouble.

Why? For the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, it’s time to dust off disgraced, abuse-enabling bishops and force them on innocent Catholic teens, adults and parishes.

I’ve already received numerous complaints from two Los Angeles parishes: St. Timothy’s in West Los Angeles and St. Monica’s in Santa Monica. Both parishes are celebrating confirmations this coming weekend, and both are stuck with Bishop Thomas Curry as the celebrant.

Think of it as having your faith “sealed” by Pennywise the Clown.

The Enabler

Curry’s fall from grace was quick.

In 2013, when thousands of pages of LA Archdiocese sex abuse and cover-up documents were finally made public (after years of legal wrangling), we learned that Curry, as Vicar for Priests, had a direct hand in the cover-up of sex abuse. He felt that the Archdiocese was not legally responsible for its priests. He allowed molesting priests to stay in ministry without alerting authorities or parishes, allegedly interfered with police investigations, and helped some priests evade civil prosecution.

As a result, he resigned from all public duties in January 2013 … almost.

Except for those pesky confirmations.

Every year since 2013, I have received calls from angry parishioners, asking that Curry (and sometimes Cardinal Roger Mahony himself) be removed as confirmation celebrants.

It’s safer for parishioners to call me than to complain internally. When some parishioners and employees have complained to their pastors in the past about Curry, they alleged they were harassed and/or demoted in response.

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NEW YORK
Buffalo News

By Jay Tokasz

April 29, 2018

Members of Most Precious Blood Church in Angola were as stunned as any Catholics – and maybe more so – when the Diocese of Buffalo in March publicly named 42 priests who had been accused of child sex abuse.

The list released by Bishop Richard J. Malone included not just one priest who served in the village parish, but four. Parishioners had no idea.

“The sticker shock was the number, not that it had happened,” said longtime member Karen A. Erickson. “The sticker shock of so many in your community was what had people talking.”

What also set Most Precious Blood apart from other parishes was the span in which one accused priest after another worked in the parish for nearly 30 consecutive years.

The Rev. Fred G. Fingerle was assigned as an associate pastor there from 1967 to 1977, except for one year at another parish in 1970. Fingerle was succeeded by the Rev. John P. Hajduk from 1977 to 1982. And Hajduk was followed by Monsignor J. Grant Higgins, who served as pastor from 1983 until 1997.

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UNITED STATES
The Total CIO | Andy (Avraham) Blumenthal

APRIL 28, 2018

So this part 4 of my posts about the sexual misconduct inflicted on the children in Riverdale.

This is a follow-on to my post of January 10 regarding a message from Salanter Akiba of Riverdale (SAR) Academy about the exploits of one of its former teachers and administrators who “pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree child molestation.”

I agreed to be interviewed by the SAR investigator about my experience as a 7th-grade child who had been lured for a Shabbat to this monsters home.

Rabbi Rosenfeld was never my teacher, and I would have never ended up at his home for Shabbat if not for this person, who invited me there, drove me there, and listened to my cries in the next room.

It was extremely painful to recount in detail the childhood memories of sexual assault as she asked me question after question about every detail, and without malice, but basically forced me to relive the events of so long ago.

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

April 29, 2018

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Men who were sexually abused by a priest in Chile are describing as helpful the private talks they’ve had with Pope Francis.

James Hamilton, one of three men staying at the Vatican hotel as the pope’s guests, tweeted that his more than two hours of conversation with Francis were “enormously constructive.”

Jose Andres Murillo tweeted that the importance of understanding sexual abuse as “abuse of power” was stressed during his time with the pope.

The third man, Juan Carlos Cruz, was due to meet with Francis on Sunday.

During a January visit to Chile, Francis discredited the men’s claims that a bishop covered up their abuse. Francis has requested the Holy See not to reveal the content of his talks with them because his priority is listening and asking forgiveness.

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VATICAN CITY
Telesur

28 April 2018

After two hours with the head of the Catholic church, abuse victim Jose Andres Murillo said the pope’s apology was “not enough.”

The much-anticipated meeting with Pope Francis received mixed reviews Saturday from a group of victims who were sexually abused by a Chilean priest.

One of the three victims, James Hamilton, said he was “very satisfied” with the dialogue with the head of the Catholic church, which he described as “sincere, welcoming and enormously constructive.”

Prior to the meeting, Vatican Spokesman Greg Burke said: “Their priority is to listen to the victims, ask their forgiveness and respect the confidentiality of these conversations.”

Another victim, Jose Andres Murillo, wrote on his Twitter account: “I spoke with the Pope for two hours. In a very respectful and frank way, I expressed the importance of understanding abuse as an abuse of power and the need to take responsibility, attention and not just forgiveness.”

However, after two hours with the Catholic leader, Murillo said the pope’s apology was “not enough.”

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UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Betty Clermont

Because Pope Francis is willing to sacrifice the freedom of Chinese and Ukrainians for his own personal ambition, and his support and encouragement of right-wing governments to deny women and LGBTQ persons’ human rights, we have ample reason for concern.

The Vatican’s Secretariat of State is like the State Departments of other countries. It advises the pope and represents the Holy See – i.e. the government of both the Vatican City State and the global Roman Catholic Church – in international affairs and foreign policy issues.

The Holy See has diplomatic relations with 183 sovereign states in which it maintains a nunciature (embassy). It also has official diplomatic relations with countries where there are no resident nuncios (ambassadors) and formal contacts with others without official diplomatic relations.

The Holy See has concordats (treaties) with over 200 countries. A concordat “can set up a theological fiefdom where certain human rights do not apply – and where they can never again be reintroduced without the consent of the Catholic Church. This is why concordats represent a fundamental threat to both democracy and human rights.”

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RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

By Mark Patinkin
Journal Columnist

Posted Apr 28, 2018

Long-retired leader of Providence Diocese sits down to discuss his career, continued religious work, and the Church’s handling of a long-running sexual-abuse scandal.

Retired Bishop Louis Gelineau greeted me with a firm handshake while keeping his other hand on his walker.

I’d learned he turns 90 on Thursday, so I had come to see him at the Villa at St. Antoine in North Smithfield, the assisted-living facility that’s now his home.

I’d covered Gelineau a few times years ago and remembered his proper public persona. But I’d never sat with him and was struck by his openness, even about difficult matters like the church sex-abuse scandal. …

“We had parishes with two or three priests,” Gelineau said. “You don’t see that anymore.”

Then I asked about the impact of the church sex-abuse scandals.

“That was harmful to us, yes,” Gelineau said. “I was in office when that came to us.”

I reminded him the Providence Diocese in 2002 paid $14 million to settle dozens of cases, many from during his years, and lawyers claimed a pattern of covering up abuse.

“That was the whole question against Cardinal Law,” said Gelineau of the Boston bishop who resigned in 2002. “He had a lot going on and didn’t take the steps he should have.”

And Gelineau?

“As soon as I knew — we set up an office for handling that. And it’s still there to reveal the truth.”

Monsignor Frappier headed that committee and he said one of their first actions was hiring a retired Massachusetts state trooper to investigate by the book.

I pressed the bishop, pointing out that lawyers representing three men who sued for abuse claimed that documents show Gelineau transferred one accused priest to a new church where he abused again.

The bishop said the truth wasn’t clear at first.

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NEW YORK
Road to Recovery

Road to Recovery, Inc. – P.O. Box 279, Livingston, New Jersey 07039 – 862-368-2800

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, recently turned over the administration of all Catholic parishes in the City of Port Chester, New York, to the Salesians of Don Bosco religious order despite the Salesians’ documented horrific history of sexual abuse of children worldwide, and the New York Salesians’ refusal to reasonably settle a childhood sexual abuse case against a serial pedophile priest, Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB

The Salesians of Don Bosco, based in Rome, Italy, but with regional headquarters in New Rochelle, New York, were a central focus of concern by Australian government officials who concluded recently that 21.9% of Salesian Priests and Brothers sexually abused children in Australia between the years 1960 and 2010. The Salesians in the United States have sexually abused scores of children as well.

The USA Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco, led by Fr. Timothy Zak, who was a pastor in Port Chester, New York, has failed to reasonably settle a case against Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB, a serial pedophile priest, who sexually abused a child of approximately 10 years of age in a Salesian school in Indiana many years ago

Despite the Salesians’ extensive and sordid history of sexual abuse of children, Cardinal Dolan summarily handed over to the Salesians of Don Bosco the administration of all Catholic parishes in the City of Port Chester, New York, which is populated by scores of immigrant families with young children

What
A press conference demanding that the Salesians of Don Bosco, who recently were given the administration of ALL Catholic parishes in the City of Port Chester, New York, reasonably settle all claims of childhood sexual abuse against Salesian priests and brothers, including a case that they have refused to settle with “John Doe” who was abused as a child by Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB, at a Salesian school in Indiana. The Salesians must settle all cases of childhood sexual abuse against their members so that the victims may heal and gain a degree of closure.

When
Sunday, April 29, 2018 at 11:30 AM

Where
On the public sidewalk outside Our Lady of Mercy Church, 260 Westchester Avenue, Port Chester, New York 10573

Who
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Co-founder and President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families, and advocate for “John Doe”

Why
See above

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800 – roberthoatson@gmail.com
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250 – mgarabedian@garabedianlaw.com
(portrayed in the 2016 Academy Award-winning Best Picture, “Spotlight”)

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MICHIGAN
Church Militant

by Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D. • ChurchMilitant.com • April 28, 2018

SAGINAW, Mich. (ChurchMilitant.com) – The second day of preliminary examinations for accused priest Fr. Robert DeLand brought further emotional testimony from victims.

The 71-year-old Saginaw priest is being accused of sexually assaulting three young men, two of them minors at the time of the alleged abuse. Two victims testified in Wednesday’s hearings, and a third took the stand Friday.

Father DeLand seemed in high spirits as he entered the court room, chatting, smiling and even laughing with friends, who remained in the room throughout the duration of the exams.

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PENNSYLVANIA
MassLive

Apr 27, 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Bill Cosby’s team blasted his sexual-assault trial as a “public lynching” Friday and began looking ahead to an appeal as the judge ordered house arrest for the 80-year-old comedian and said he would be outfitted with a GPS ankle monitoring device.

Cosby’s appeal seems certain to focus on the judge’s decision to let a parade of women testify that they, too, were abused by the former TV star.

Defense allegations of a biased juror and the admission of Cosby’s explosive testimony about drugs and sex are among other possible avenues of appeal as he tries to avoid a sentence that could keep him in prison for the rest of his days.

Cosby remains free on $1 million bail while he awaits sentencing, probably within three months.

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MINNESOTA
Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant

April 28, 2018

I read with interest, and a bit of anger, Professor Hank Shea’s Star Tribune editorial suggesting, “Attorneys for the archdiocese and plaintiffs could waive part of their fees, a major sacrifice that would make more money available for victims.”

Mr. Shea’s seemingly simple solution: Lawyers: Work for less to get the deal done. If each side gives, that will make everything all right.

But like many simple solutions, his ignores the underlying root cause of the problem. Obviously, this scandal started when priests abused children but was made horrible when the church protected the priests and covered it up. The church consistently ignored and denied initial rumors and claims, then quietly moved priests around the country, often without regard to the new crop of children they were sending the tainted priest to. The church lied to parishioners, and pressured them not sue, often with social pressures, often with their very religious beliefs. The survivors suffered through the trauma, and then having to live with these lies. The Church suffered nothing.

Sometimes there were bumps, fits and starts of action. Priests were questioned by prosecutors occasionally, but the church dealt with this by sending perpetrators to so-called “Alcohol treatment.”

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CHILE
Yahoo!

Ana FERNANDEZ

April 28, 2018

Santiago (AFP) – Despite a strong Catholic tradition, Chile is witnessing a growing rift between the people and the church, sharpened by a string of sexual abuse scandals that until recently had been ignored by the pope.

The extent of the rift became clear in January when Pope Francis visited Chile and sparked outrage by hugging Juan Barros, a controversial bishop who has been accused of covering up abuses by another priest in the 1980s and ’90s.

Questioned by journalists, Francis responded abruptly, saying there was “not a single piece of proof” against Barros in remarks that caused widespread anger among those who had been abused by the other priest, Fernando Karadima.

But the pontiff apologized and quickly moved to dispatch the Vatican’s top abuse investigator to collect evidence, later acknowledging he had made “grave mistakes” in his handling of the scandal.

And he also pledged to meet with the victims, inviting three of them to the Vatican to discuss the extent of abuse within the church in Chile.

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SCOTLAND
Evening Express

28/04/2018

Three sisters were beaten until they bled and called derogatory names on their first day at an Aberdeen orphanage, an inquiry has heard.

The claims were made by a woman in her 60s, who cannot be named, who lived at Nazareth House in Claremont Street from 1967.

Speaking at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, she told how nuns at the Catholic-run home put on a pretence of niceness when the sisters were dropped off by a social worker, but this changed as soon as they left.

The witness, who was the eldest and aged 10 at the time, while the youngest was a toddler, said: “We got up to the second floor and it just started, really quite severe.

“Hitting, punching, hitting you on your ears. We were Glasgow tinks, we were whores, we were sluts.”

The witness added that they were “battered” until they were left bleeding all over their bodies.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

27th April, 2018

A WOMAN has revealed how nuns beat her so badly she began “foaming at the mouth” while another was told she would be “dead by midnight”, an inquiry has heard.

The claims were made by a woman in her 60s, who cannot be named, who lived at Nazareth House in Aberdeen from 1967.

Speaking at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, she told how nuns at the Catholic-run home put on a pretence of niceness when the sisters were dropped off by a social worker, but this changed as soon as they left.

The witness, who was the eldest and aged 10 at the time, while the youngest was a toddler, said: “We got up to the second floor and it just started, really quite severe.

“Hitting, punching, hitting you on your ears.

“We were Glasgow tinks, we were whores, we were sluts.”

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NEW YORK
CBS New York

April 27, 2018

NEW YORK (CBS News) — Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw is pushing back against sexual misconduct allegations.

Brokaw, in a note to colleagues on Friday, compared the accusations to a “drive by shooting,” saying he was “ambushed and perp walked.”

“I was groped and assaulted by Tom Brokaw,” said Linda Vester, a former NBC News correspondent.

In interviews with Variety magazine and The Washington Post, Vester described two “unwanted advances” from Tom Brokaw in the mid 1990s, including one in which she says he invited himself into her hotel room.

“He leans over with his index finger and puts it on my mouth to silence me and says, ‘This is our compact,’” Vester said. “And at that point, he took the same hand, reached behind my head and tried to force me to kiss him.”

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