ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Catholic Register

BY CINDY WOODEN, CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
May 29, 2017

VATICAN CITY – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he asked Pope Francis to help Canadians “move forward on a real reconciliation” with the country’s indigenous people “by issuing an apology” on behalf of the Catholic Church for its role in harming their communities.

The Prime Minister spoke to a handful of reporters in Rome’s Villa Borghese Park May 29 following a 36-minute private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

“He reminded me that his entire life has been dedicated to supporting marginalized people in the world, fighting for them,” the Prime Minister said, adding the Pope said that “he looked forward to working with me and with the Canadian bishops to figure out a path forward together.”

The 2015 report of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which focused on past treatment of the Indigenous communities and concrete steps for a future of greater inclusion, included a recommendation that the Pope come to Canada to apologize on behalf of the Catholic Church for its participation in the residential schools for indigenous children.

Pope Benedict formally apologized in 2009 for the Church’s complicity in residential schools in a meeting with Phil Fontaine, then National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, and other Native leaders, who met with the Pope in the Vatican.

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VATICAN CITY
Sudbury.com

VATICAN CITY — Justin Trudeau says he told Pope Francis it’s important for all Canadians to move forward with reconciliation, and that the pontiff could help by issuing an apology for the role of the Catholic Church played in residential schools.

The prime minister says the Pope appeared to be open to it, noting that his entire life has been dedicated to supporting marginalized people in the world.

Following his visit to Vatican City, Trudeau says Pope Francis looked forward to working with the prime minister and the Canadian bishops on finding a way forward.

Trudeau says he also invited Pope Francis to visit Canada in the coming years.

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VATICAN CITY
eOntarioNow

May 29, 2017 by Beth Owens

Pope Francis received Monday in a seemingly relaxed atmosphere the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, come to speak to him about the aboriginal people of Canada victims of the policies of assimilation in which the Catholic Church has actively participated.

Trudeau was to ask the Pope to come to Canada to apologize to the aboriginal people, who had been victims of more than a century of abuse in residential schools governed mainly by the Church.

This was one of the end-2015 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which heard testimony from nearly 7,000 alumni over six years.

Visibly relaxed during the public minutes of the audience, the Pope and Mr. Trudeau exchanged smiles and jokes without mentioning their 36 minutes of private conversation.

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NEW YORK
Catholic Whistleblowers

From the Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee

May 22, 2017

The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
New York State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
Re.: Child Victims Act
Dear Governor Cuomo,

If you had been sexually abused when you were a child, what would you be doing today? Or if such sexual abuse had happened to a member of your family, what would be your response?

Sexual abuse of children is a reality in New York State just as it is throughout the United States and around the world. And the voice of each of these victims must be heard whenever the voice speaks out – no matter how long it takes for the victim’s voice to come forth.

For the good of the society, when sexual abuse of a child becomes known, the victim needs access to justice and the society needs to know the name of the culprit so as to protect other children.

Thus, looking forward New York State needs to remove all statutes of limitations in both criminal and civil cases of child sexual abuse, as well as adding clergy to the list of mandated reporters and requiring criminal background checks for all employees and volunteers who work with children in either public or private settings.

Moreover, to render justice in civil cases where the current statute of limitations bars victims from speaking up in a court of law, a ‘lookback window’ of at least one year is necessary so as to provide the victims of child sexual abuse an open door to justice. Of course, guilt and responsibility would need to be established in the court, but with a ‘lookback window’ the victims at least would have the chance to prove their allegation.

Actually, by his actions, Cardinal Timothy Dolan supports a ‘lookback window’ in that the Archdiocese of New York’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, imperfect as the program is, appropriately pays out millions of dollars to clergy sexual abuse victims whose claims exceed the New York State statute of limitations. In short, no matter when the sexual abuse occurred, Cardinal Dolan is willing to financially compensate the victim.

However, Cardinal Dolan’s plan limps severely in that it excludes compensation for victims of child sexual abuse perpetrated within the context of the Catholic Church by priests, sisters, and brothers who are members of religious orders, as well as for victims of abuse committed by lay employees or volunteers. His plan also does not provide for the public naming of priests against whom there is a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor as he did in 2004 while he was the Archbishop of Milwaukee.

In addition, even while doing right by a limited number of victim/survivors, Cardinal Dolan, using the expertise of lobbyists representing the New York State Catholic Conference, appears to spare no expense in opposing any proposed legislation that includes opening a civil ‘lookback window’ which would give those victim/survivors of childhood sexual abuse, by anyone, access to the justice they have been denied for so long.

Finally, it is disingenuous for the Catholic bishops in the United States to purport adherence to a zero tolerance policy for anyone credibly accused of sexually abusing a child. Their claim is off point. As a single yet very important example, the bishops prohibit their independent ‘Charter’ auditors (StoneBridge Business Partners located in Rochester, New York) to review the sexual abuse allegation files in the diocesan offices throughout the country to verity that each diocese is in compliance with the related civil and church laws. In short, no independent source verifies that the Catholic bishops actually handle allegations of clergy sexual abuse according to procedures required by civil and church laws.

Therefore, we members of the Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee urge you to do all in your power to bring about the enactment of the Child Victims Act.

Respectfully submitted,

Members of the Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee who submit this Open Letter are:
Sr. Sally Butler, OP (Brooklyn, NY); Sr. Claire Smith, OSU (Bronx, NY); Rev. Ronald D. Lemmert (Peekskill, NY); Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., (West Orange, NJ); Sr. Maureen Paul Turlish, SNDdeN (New Castle, DE); Rev. Bruce Teague (Sheffield, MA); Rev. Patrick Winchester Collins, Ph.D. (Douglas, MI); Rev. Thomas Doyle, OP, J.C.D. (Vienna, VA); Rev. James E. Connell, J.C.D. (Milwaukee, WI)

Contacts: Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., (West Orange, NJ) 862-368-2800 roberthoatson@gmail.com
Sr. Maureen Paul Turlish, SNDdeN (New Castle, DE) 610-212-2770 maturlishmdsnd@yahoo.com
Rev. James E. Connell, J.C.D. (Milwaukee, WI) 414-940-8054 connell.james951@gmail.com

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VATICAN CITY
CBC News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived at the Vatican on Monday with plans to raise reconciliation with indigenous peoples, the global fight against climate change and the importance of religious and cultural diversity during a meeting with Pope Francis.

He will also ask the pontiff to issue a formal apology in Canada for the role of the Catholic Church in the residential school system.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission included the demand for a papal apology — to survivors, their families and communities — among the 94 recommendations in its report on the dark history and legacy of residential schools.

The Liberal government has promised to act on all of them.

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UNITED STATES
Variety

Sonia Saraiya
TV Critic
@soniasaraiya

The Netflix docuseries should be a model for others — it avoids the mistakes that “Serial,” “Making A Murderer,” and “The Jinx” made

One of the most distinctive characteristics of Netflix’s “The Keepers,” a seven-part docuseries that premiered May 19, is that nearly every speaking character is a middle-aged woman. This is rare enough that it begins to be surprising, and soon after that, it becomes one of the defining elements of the show — following an interviewee into her living room as she is accompanied by her five small dogs, or reminiscing with another about her loving husband, now deceased. The B-roll notices things like the decorations on the walls, the family photos on the mantle, and the niceties of small talk. These are no Hollywood-friendly million-dollar kitchens, or carefully composed sitcom living rooms. The subjects of “The Keepers” keep cozy homes, in an unassuming, uncontrived way that indicates much about them. In this largely Catholic, working-to-middle class community of Baltimore, “The Keepers” manages to convey a mindset and shared, accepted values by just following the interviewees home.

“The Keepers” tells the true story of the unsolved murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik, a young nun and high school teacher who disappeared in late 1969 only to be found dead two months later. Her disappearance was followed a few days later by another murder of another young woman named Joyce Malecki. Both cases remain unsolved. But Cesnik and Malecki had in common a connection to a powerful local priest, Father Joseph Maskell. As Cesnik’s former students started to ask questions about what happened, they began to uncover a shocking legacy of sexual abuse and coercion around Maskell and the high school he and Cesnik worked at: Archbishop Keough High School, an all-girls school with a primarily Catholic student body. Two former students of Sister Cathy’s, Abbie Schaub and Gemma Hoskins, started a Facebook page and a tip line. A third, who remained anonymous for years to protect her reputation, comes forward in “The Keepers” to identify herself as Jean Wehner, one of Maskell’s most-abused victims who had repressed much of what happened to her. Schaub, Hoskins, and Wehner work together to compile information, pursue leads, and corroborate Wehner’s own disturbing memories.

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IRELAND/SCOTLAND
Belfast Telegraph

May 29 2017

A victim of historic child abuse at a Catholic Church children’s home is to make an emotional return to her hometown in a bid to trace her long lost family.

Kate Walmsley, 60, was seven years old when she was taken from her home in Glasgow and placed in the care of the Sisters of Nazareth in Londonderry, following the break-up of her parents’ marriage.

While there she was regularly sexually assaulted by a priest and beaten by the nuns.

After more than five decades away from home Ms Walmsley is to make her first trip back to Scotland on Wednesday where she hopes to trace some family members.

“I have always wanted to go back to the place where I remember being happy, before all the abuse. I finally feel it is time,” said Ms Walmsley.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Los Angeles

LAKE FOREST (CBSLA.com) – A youth volunteer at an Orange County megachurch has been arrested on suspicion of having inappropriate relations with at least two boys.

Ruven Meulenberg, who volunteers as a junior high youth mentor with Saddleback Church, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts with a child following a parent’s report, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

He was booked into Orange County Jail and is now being held on $100,000 bail.

Today was the first time Sunday services were held since the arrest.

CBS 2’s Greg Mills spoke to congregants who, suffice to say, were not happy hearing the news.

“It’s not acceptable,” said Lennard Cowans.

Many, like Cowans were hearing the news for the first time.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Margaret Madden
May 29 2017

Fiction: The American Girl
Rachael English, Hachette Ireland, €18.40

Boston-Irish Rose Moroney shocks her family when she finds herself pregnant at 17. It is 1968 and while Rose insists she will marry her boyfriend, her mother is having none of it. “There are ways of handling these things.”

The family’s hard-earned reputation is everything to them and Rose is dispatched to Ireland, where she can conceal her condition and place her baby up for adoption.

Young Rose is met by her aunt, a nun in Carrickbrack Mother and Baby Home, and is soon swallowed whole by the religious institution.

The girls are treated abysmally and their babies seen as commodities; sold with no emotional involvement.

Sister Agnes justifies the adoptions in the typical Catholic way: “Unfortunately, many modern girls have peculiar ideas. They think they can do whatever they like without considering the consequences. And, of course, they never pause to consider the pain and shame they’re visiting on their families.”

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IRELAND
Irish Mirror

BY ANITA MCSORLEY
29 MAY 2017

Religious order Sister of Charity will have no involvement with the new National Maternity Hospital.

The order confirmed the news this morning as they announced they will part ways with the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG).

Sisters of Charity, which helped run the depraved Magdalene laundries, are stakeholders in SVHG, which incorporates St Vincent’s University Hospital, St Vincent’s Private and St Michael’s in Dublin.

The new €300m National Maternity Hospital is set to be built on the St Vincent’s University Hospital campus.

By relinquishing their ownership, the nuns will no longer be able to appoint directors to the board of the group.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Monday, May 29, 2017

Update 11.21pm: The Sisters of Charity said they had spent the last two years trying to find the best way to give up their ownership of the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG).

“Just as our Founder Mary Aikenhead saw the need in 1834 to establish a hospital to meet the needs of the sick and poor, we believe that it is in the best interests of the patients and children born in the National Maternity Hospital today that they be provided with modern maternity and neonatal services that are women and infant centred and integrated within the Elm Park campus,” Sr Mary Christian, the leader of the order said.

“It is now time for us to relinquish completely our involvement in SVHG.

“We are confident that the board, management and staff of SVHG will continue to maintain a steadfast dedication to providing the best possible acute healthcare to patients and their families in line with the values espoused by Mary Aikenhead.”

The potential involvement of nuns in the running and governance of a maternity hospital had caused deep unease in some medical circles and among the public.

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IRELAND
RTE News

The Religious Sisters of Charity are to relinquish ownership of three hospitals they are involved with, St Vincent’s University Hospital, St Vincent’s Private and St Michael’s.

A new company with charitable status is to be formed, called St Vincent’s.

It is to replace the Sisters of Charity as the shareholders in the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group.

The sisters will no longer have the right to appoint directors to the board of the group.

The moves follows controversy over the proposed ownership of the planned new National Maternity Hospital on the St Vincent’s Hospital campus.

The current requirement of the healthcare group to conduct and maintain SVHG facilities in accordance with the Catholic code will be amended, to reflect compliance with national and international best practice guidelines on medical ethics and the laws of the Republic of Ireland.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Cormac McQuinn
May 29 2017

THE Religious Sisters of Charity has said they will end their involvement in the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group and won’t be involved in the ownership of the planned new National Maternity Hospital.

It comes after a row erupted over the plan to move the maternity hospital from Holles Street to the St Vincent’s campus, which is owned by the religious order.

Now they have confirmed that they “will not be involved in the ownership or management of the new National Maternity Hospital”.

There was concern that procedures to be carried out at the planned hospital, including fertility treatments like IVF, are against Catholic teachings and would not be allowed at the new site.
Health Minister Simon Harris said he wanted until the end of May to address the issue issue of ownership of the hospital.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Paul Cullen

The Sisters of Charity are to end their involvement in St Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG) and will have no involvement in the new national maternity hospital on its campus, the Catholic religious order has said.

Ownership of the St Vincent’s group is to be transferred to a newly-formed company with charitable status to be called “St Vincent’s”, according to a statement from the order.

It said the Sisters of Charity would have no involvement with this new company.

Existing codes governing medical ethics at the St Vincent’s would be amended and replaced to reflect compliance with national and international best practice guidelines and the laws of Ireland, the order continued.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, May 29, 2017

ALBANY — The Boy Scouts of America has hired a former state senator to lobby against legislation that would make it easier for child sex abuse victims to seek justice as adults.

The Boy Scouts this year are paying Dentons US $12,500 a month to lobby on three bills, including against the Child Victims Act.

Former Sen. Craig Johnson, a Long Island Democrat, is a principal for Dentons’ public policy and regulatory practice and one of two people from the firm registered since February to represent the Boy Scouts in Albany, according to filings with the state ethics commission.

Johnson referred questions to the Boy Scouts.

In an email, a spokesman for the organization confirmed Johnson was hired to work “on a variety of legislative matters in New York that impact youth-serving organizations” — including the Child Victims Act.

The spokesman did not respond to a followup email asking why the scouts are fighting the legislation. The organization is said to oppose for financial reasons the push to create a one-year window to revive old sex abuse cases that can’t be pursued under current law.

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CANADA
CBC News

Inuit are opposed to the federal government’s position in the Supreme Court case which will decide whether to preserve or destroy “highly personal” accounts of residential school survivors.

The Government of Canada is arguing that the Federal Access and Privacy legislation mandates these records be preserved in national archives.

Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, which speaks for Inuit in Canada, says all Independent Assessment Process records should be destroyed, unless an individual survivor opts for theirs to be kept.

The Supreme Court started hearing arguments in the case on Thursday.

“The main issue is whether the 30,000 highly personal and descriptive, psychological, physical, and sexual abuse records by residential school survivors will be destroyed or not,” NTI’s Bruce Oviluk said.

He says the nature of small Northern communities means, even if names were redacted, making these stories public could expose Inuit residential school survivors.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com May 29, 2017

Guam is a great example of how changing the law can provide enormous but long-delayed benefits to clergy sex abuse victims, according to the publisher of one of the most comprehensive databases on Catholic clergy sex abuse of minors worldwide.

G.R. Pafumi, publisher of Victims Speak Database or VictimsSpeakDB.org, said Guam alone has 75 Catholic clergy sex abuse cases involving 70 unique victims and 15 clergy.

The bulk of the alleged abuses are contained in 69 clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed so far in local and federal courts since Guam lifted on Sept. 23, 2016 the statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse.

The law allows victims of child sex abuse to sue their abusers, and the institutions with which they are associated, at any time.

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UNITED STATES
Elle (UK)

BY LOUISE DONOVAN
MAY 29, 2017

Sick of the binge-watching shamers? If someone ever tries to discredit you inhaling several hundred hours of TV, simply roll out this titbit of news: after Netflix’s new true-crime series The Keepers premiered last Friday, the Baltimore police created an online form for those who want to report abuse related to the documentary.

The show delves into the unsolved murder of 26-year-old Baltimore nun and teacher Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik (aka Sister Cathy) who went missing in 1969.

Two months after she disappeared, her decomposing body was found in a field. The show suggests she was murdered after she was about to expose serious levels of sexual assault happening in the Archbishop Keough High School, an all-girls Catholic high school where Cesnik taught.

In the Netflix original documentary, six people claim they were repeatedly sexually abused by Father A. Joseph Maskell, a priest who worked at the school as a chaplain/guidance counselor throughout the 1960s and ’70s.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com Published May 29, 2017

Former island priest Louis Brouillard allegedly raped and sexually molested a former boy scout every night during the Boy Scouts of America’s summer jamborees around 1974 and 1975, a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Guam Monday afternoon says.

The complaint, filed by a man identified in court documents only as A.N.D., also alleged that two older scout leaders took turns raping the boy in the 1975 summer jamboree.

That was after A.N.D. allegedly told Brouillard he was going to report what the priest was doing to him, the lawsuit says.

“During the period in which he was a boy scout, A.N.D. was sexually molested and raped by Brouillard,” the complaint says. “Brouillard was a Catholic priest for the Agana Archdiocese, and was also an employee, volunteer and/or agent of the Boy Scouts of America, who worked as a scoutmaster and performed duties for the Aloha Council.”

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ROME
The Globe and Mail

ROBERT FIFE – OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
ROME — The Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, May 28, 2017

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hopeful Pope Francis will heed a personal call to make a formal apology to aboriginal survivors of sexual and physical abuse at Catholic-run residential schools during a private audience with his holiness at the Vatican on Monday.

Mr. Trudeau will use the one-on-one meeting in the Apostolic Palace to request a papal apology and an “open invitation” for the Pontiff to visit Canada to address victims of the residential school system.

“The Prime Minister is using this opportunity to talk to the Pope about Indigenous issues and reconciliation and one of the things aboriginal communities want is an apology,” a government official said.

Canadian and Vatican officials have been working behind the scenes to arrange the meeting, which officials say is an opportunity for Pope Francis to make amends for a dark chapter in the Catholic Church’s attempt to “Christianize” Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Metis people.

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ROME
Metro

By: Joanna Smith The Canadian Press Published on Sun May 28 2017

ROME — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to raise reconciliation with indigenous peoples, the global fight against climate change and the importance of religious and cultural diversity when he meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday.

There, he will also ask the pontiff to issue a formal apology in Canada for the role of the Catholic Church in the residential school system.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission included the demand for a papal apology — to survivors, their families and communities — among the 94 recommendations in its report on the dark history and legacy of residential schools.

The Liberal government has promised to act on all of them.

Trudeau, who is religious, is also expected to discuss the Catholic community in Canada.

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GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon | For The Guam Daily Post

A former altar boy who was allegedly sexually abused when he was 9 years old said he reported the abuse decades later to Catholic Church officials.

G.J., who used his initials to protect his identity, filed a civil complaint in the District Court of Guam yesterday against the Archdiocese of Agana and former priest Andrew Mannetta.

The lawsuit states G.J. became an altar boy at the Mangilao parish in 1985 to learn about priesthood and considered the Mangilao church his “second home.”

Attorney David Lujan, who represents G.J., accuses Mannetta of developing an “evil campaign” to induce altar boys to spend the night at the rectory so they wouldn’t be late to serve at early morning Mass.

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NORTH DAKOTA
KFGO

Saturday, May 27, 2017 by Jim Monk

FARGO (KFGO) – The pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Wyndmere and St. Arnold’s Catholic Church in Milnor has been placed on administrative leave for what the Diocese of Fargo calls “alleged conduct” involving his interaction with youth.

The Diocese says Father Thomas Feltman has been removed from his duties and will not be residing at the parish pending the outcome of an investigation.

Bishop John Folda says the report is being taken seriously and says “appropriate civil authorities” have been contacted.

Statement from Bishop Folda:

The Diocese of Fargo has placed Father Thomas Feltman, Pastor of St. John the Baptist’s Catholic Church in Wyndmere and St. Arnold’s Catholic Church in Milnor, on administrative leave from his priestly duties pending the outcome of an investigation into his alleged conduct at the Parish.

In a statement, Bishop John Folda of the Diocese of Fargo told parishioners of the two parishes: “Late last week, Father Thomas Feltman came to the Diocese to inform us of concerns that had been brought to him regarding his interaction with youth. We take any such concerns very seriously. We have reported the concerns to appropriate civil authorities at Richland County Social Services for them to review and investigate as they deem appropriate; we have placed Father Feltman on administrative leave and have removed him from his priestly duties pending a complete investigation of this matter. Father Feltman will not be residing at the Parish during the period of this investigation.

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NORTH DAKOTA
KVRR

Nick Broadway

RICHLAND COUNTY, N.D. — A Richland County pastor was placed on administrative leave for alleged conduct with youth.

Officials with the Diocese of Fargo said Father Thomas Feltman is being investigated.

He was a pastor for churches in Wyndmere and Milnor.

They said Feltman told the Diocese last week about concerns regarding his interactions with youth.

Andrew Jasinski was chosen to be the Temporary Administrator of the parishes.

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NORTH DAKOTA
Valley News Live

Parishioners head back to church this morning a day after the Fargo diocese dropped a Memorial weekend bombshell that one one of their own was being investigated for his interactions with children.

Father Thomas Feltman, pastor of the St. John the Baptist’s Catholic Church in Wyndmere and St. Arnold’s Catholic Church in Milnor is on administrative leave after concerns were brought to his attention regarding his interaction with children.

The Fargo Diocese says that Father Feltman approached the organization saying that there were “concerns that had been brought to him about regarding his interaction with youth.”

The Diocese then placed Father Feltman on administrative leave and reported the issue to investigators. He also won’t be living in the parish until the end of the investigation.

A Saturday evening press conference to address the media brought forward little new information. When asked about the nature of the accusations against Father Feltman, a Fargo Diocese spokesperson said that any of those questions would have to be directed towards the Richland County Sheriff’s office. The spokesperson also couldn’t say if there were similar claims made at Father Feltman’s previous parishes.

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NORTH DAKOTA
WDAY

[with video]

FARGO — A local pastor has been placed on administrative leave after possible inappropriate interactions with children.

According to the Diocese of Fargo, concerns were made against Father Thomas Feltman, Pastor of St. John and the Baptist’s Catholic Church in Wyndmere and St. Arnold’s Catholic Church in Milnor.

The incident has been reported Richland County Social Services for a review and investigation.

Father Feltman has been removed from all priestly duties and will not be residing at the Parish during the investigation.

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NORTH DAKOTA
Valley News Live

May 27, 2017

UPDATE: A press conference to address the media was held tonight, but little new information came from the meeting.

When asked about the nature of the accusations against Father Feltman, a Fargo Diocese spokesperson said that any of those questions would have to be directed towards the Richland County Sheriff’s office.

The spokesperson also couldn’t say if there were similar claims made at Father Feltman’s previous parishes.

Currently, the Richland County Sheriff’s Office detective assigned to the case is out of the office.

ORIGINAL STORY: Father Thomas Feltman, pastor of the St. John the Baptist’s Catholic Church in Wyndmere and St. Arnold’s Catholic Church in Milnor is on administrative leave after concerns were brought to his attention regarding his interaction with children.

The Fargo Diocese says that Father Feltman approached the organization saying that there were “concerns that had been brought to him about regarding his interaction with youth.”

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CANADA
CBC News

An artist who’s the son of a residential school survivor is urging the Supreme Court of Canada to rule to preserve the stories of more than 35,000 people like his father so future generations can learn from the tragic chapter in the country’s history.

Carey Newman founded the group Coalition to Preserve the Truth to save the testimony delivered to adjudicators as part of the Independent Assessment Process (IAP), which was set up to determine individual compensation for survivors who suffered as a result of being forced into residential schools.

But some, like the Assembly of First Nations, want those records destroyed to protect the privacy of survivors. The documents are now in the hands of the Supreme Court, which will decide their fate.

“I think that future generations do have some right to those stories, because we are also impacted,” said Newman, who came to Ottawa Thursday to argue his case to the Supreme Court.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Attention surrounding the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown child sexual abuse scandal has not only affected the victims themselves, but also other individuals who have been assaulted at some point during their lives.

The issue has been prominently discussed from 2013, when allegations were first made that Brother Stephen Baker molested students at Bishop McCort High School, through the release of a grand jury report last year in which the diocese was accused of perpetrating a coverup to protect predator priests, until today.

Victim Services staff members believe it has played a role in the number of people coming to their organization for help.

When making a July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017, fiscal year budget, Victim Services anticipated seeing about 800 sexual assault clients throughout Cambria and Somerset counties. That expected total was already surpassed by the end of February.

“I think that, especially with the media attention that this particular scandal has gotten, this particular issue, we have seen a lot of survivors who aren’t even related to this issue who are struggling a lot more because it’s constantly brought up and they’re constantly being triggered,” said Erika Brosig, Victim Services clinical supervisor.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Tribune-Democrat

By Marcia Moore
CNHI News Reports

Health officials around Pennsylvania are sounding the alarm on child protection.

Pat Bruno, director of the Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital Child Advocacy Center in Sunbury said the public needs to understand how adverse childhood experiences affect adults later in life.

“What we need now is a movement,” Bruno said. “We need to make people aware that we’re dealing with a public health crisis.”

Researchers of the Adverse Childhood Experience Study found traumatic childhood experiences can lead decades later to physical and mental health problems.

“We know the more adverse childhood experiences you have, the more likely in the long term you’ll have physical problems, behavioral problems, psychological problems as an adult,” Bruno said. “We know your life expectancy will be decreased by as many as 20 years.”

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UNITED STATES
Popesugar

May 27, 2017 by MAGGIE PEHANICK

There are things in The Keepers that you can never un-hear. Netflix’s latest true crime series explores the unsolved 1969 murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, and it’s not long until the story takes a horrific turn. The seven-part series delves into allegations of unthinkable sexual assault, perpetrated by a trusted Father at the all-girls Catholic High School where Cesnik worked. Hearing from the victims is traumatizing enough, but the way the show concludes is both frustrating and depressing. That said, the story isn’t over. Here’s every bit of news that has come out since The Keepers wrapped production.

1. Maskell’s DNA Was Tested Against DNA Found Near the Crime Scene

In February, Father Joseph Maskell’s body was exhumed. His remains were tested by a forensics lab, and his DNA did not match a sample that was taken from the Cesnik crime scene. “For now, we’ve pretty well reached the end of the road when it comes to forensic evidence,” said a spokesperson for the Baltimore County Police Department. “Our best hope for solving this case at this point lies with the people who are still alive. And we hope that someone will be able to come forward with conclusive information about the murder.

2. Maryland’s Statute of Limitations on Sex Abuse Reports Has Been Extended

In April, C.T. Wilson, the delegate who was featured in The Keepers, was finally able to pass his bill. Beginning on July 1, survivors of sexual abuse will have until age 38 to sue their abusers.

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GUAM
KUAM

May 28, 2017
By Krystal Paco

Another $5 million lawsuit is lodged against the church. 41-year-old G.J. alleges he was sexually molested and raped by Father Andrew Mannetta while he was an altar boy at the Catholic Church in Mangilao in the mid-1980s. During sleepovers at the rectory, the priest allegedly let the altar boys watch “softporn.”

On one such sleepover, Mannetta allegedly called G.J. to the bedroom where the boy was instructed to massage and masturbate the priest before he was raped. The incident was life changing and prompted G.J. to quit as an altar boy as well as give up on his dream of becoming a priest. In 2009 or 2010, the civil complaint states G.J. reached out to the church.

Deacon Jeff Barcinas and Deacon Steve Martinez were able to determine G.J.’s allegations were true. He marks the 70th plaintiff to file suit.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

AAP, Herald Sun
May 28, 2017

THE FAMILY of Anthony Foster has accepted the Victorian government’s offer of a state funeral, which Premier Daniel Andrews says was to honour a man who “quietly and profoundly changed Australian history.”

Mr Foster, 64, died this week, reportedly after a major stroke.

Mr Andrews said in a statement today:

“History will record that a man named Anthony Foster quietly and profoundly changed Australian history.

“This afternoon, I offered his family a State Funeral in his honour.

“His wife, Chrissie, has accepted.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By Jacob Polychronis For Daily Mail Australia and Australian Associated Press

A high-profile advocate for child sex abuse victims, whose daughters were repeatedly raped by a Melbourne priest, has died after suffering a major stroke.

Anthony Foster, 64, became a relentless campaigner after his daughters Emma and Katie were sexually abused by priest Kevin O’Donnell at their Melbourne primary school between 1988 and 1993.

He is believed to have died on Friday evening after falling and hitting his head.

Mr Foster rose to prominence after engaging in a decade-long battle with the Catholic church for a compensation payout.

The Fosters were offered a $50,000 payout from the church which they rejected – later taking them to court.

The church settled the Fosters in 2006 for $750,000.

Mr Foster publicly accused Cardinal George Pell – who was archbishop of Melbourne at the time – for stalling their compensation claim.

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UNITED STATES
Salon

ERIN KEANE

Note: This story contains spoilers for the Netflix series “The Keepers.”

True crime fans cleared their schedules for a Netflix binge last weekend when the streaming service dropped the nonfiction cold case investigation “The Keepers,” a seven-part series about the 1969 disappearance and murder of a young nun in Baltimore. Comparisons to Netflix’s 2015 sensation “Making a Murderer” were unavoidable — another fascinatingly ambiguous criminal case for fans to get lost in, debate with fellow fans, and maybe even engage in some amateur sleuthing of their own.

Once upon a time — as recent as two years ago, a lifetime in Peak TV years — new seasons of fictional prestige dramas like “House of Cards” were awaited breathlessly. True crime was more the domain of documentary features and magazine shows like “Dateline” or “The First 48,” those nonfiction procedural counterparts to the “CSI” and “Law & Order” franchises. But three influential shows paved the way for true crime stories to claim a solid berth in the prestige tier of mass entertainment. Of course networks are now looking for the next story that could stretch into a multi-part binge-worthy series rather than a one-and-done feature film.

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IRELAND
The Times (UK)

Toby Harnden, Washington
May 28 2017
The Sunday Times

A potential Irish victim of Joseph Maskell, an American priest who fled to Co Wexford in the 1990s following allegations of sexual abuse in Baltimore, Maryland, has come forward after a Netflix documentary revealed his possible involvement in murder.

Maskell fled to Ireland in 1995 after US police uncovered a trove of incriminating documents, including psychological profiles of his victims, that he had buried in a Baltimore graveyard the previous year. While in Ireland he worked as a psychologist in private practice and with the local area health board.

One potential victim has come forward in Ireland, where Maskell said mass despite being defrocked. “One of the attorneys in my office took a call concerning a potential victim of sex abuse in Ireland by Maskell,” said Joanne Suder, a Baltimore lawyer who represents many of the victims.

There have been no previous reports of allegations against Maskell in Ireland, which Suder said had in the past protected paedophiles. “Historically, Ireland has not been receptive to sending priests back. It’s been a safe haven for priests and it doesn’t make Ireland safer,” she said.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
28 May 2017

ANTHONY Foster was integrity personified.

His death on Saturday, aged 64, after he collapsed on Wednesday, has shattered everyone who knew him.

His death has added to the merciless toll that’s a consequence of the Catholic Church’s history of child sexual abuse.

Anthony and wife Chrissie’s two eldest daughters, Emma and Katie, were sexually assaulted by Catholic priest Kevin O’Donnell when they were barely five and six years old, and O’Donnell was in his 70s. Emma died of a medication overdose in 2007, aged 25. Katie was struck by a car in 1999, aged 16, after periods of binge drinking. She survived, but with profound disabilities.

Since the 1990s Anthony and Chrissie Foster have fought the church on behalf of their daughters, but increasingly on behalf of all survivors.

On my desk I have the book Chrissie wrote in 2010, Hell on the Way to Heaven, about that fight, including their attempt to meet Pope Benedict in Sydney during World Youth Day events in 2008, and the church’s shocking response – that some people were “dwelling crankily on old wounds”.

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AUSTRALIA
The New Daily

Kaitlyn Offer

High-profile child sex abuse victims advocate Anthony Foster will be honoured with a state funeral.

Mr Foster’s wife, Chrissie, was on Sunday offered the service to commemorate a man who “quietly and profoundly changed Australian history” and she accepted, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said in a statement.

Mr Foster, 64, died on Friday, reportedly after a major stroke.

Anthony Foster and wife Chrissie spent years battling for justice for their abused daughters.He became a relentless advocate after his daughters, Emma and Katie, were raped by notorious abuser and pedophile Father Kevin O’Donnell at their Melbourne primary school in the suburb of Oakleigh between 1988 and 1993.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The family of long-time advocate for child sex abuse victims, Anthony Foster, has accepted an offer from the Victorian Government for a state funeral.

Mr Foster, who died in a Melbourne hospital on Friday, aged 64, after a fall last week, was yesterday hailed as “brave and gracious” and a “hero” for his campaigning for victims.

He dedicated his life to seeking justice for child sex abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church after two of his daughters were repeatedly raped by a priest in the 1980s.

“History will record that a man named Anthony Foster quietly and profoundly changed Australian history,” Premier Daniel Andrews said in a statement.

“This afternoon, I offered his family a state funeral in his honour.

“His wife, Chrissie, has accepted.”

In a two decade-long quest to hold the Catholic Church accountable for crimes against children, Mr Foster and his wife Chrissie told the harrowing story of their family’s treatment at the hands of the church to the media and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Josh Gordon

Anthony Foster, the tireless advocate for victims of child sexual abuse, is to receive a state funeral.

Mr Foster, who ran a high-profile campaign accusing the Catholic Church of covering up abuse, died on Friday evening at the age of 64 after suffering a stroke.

Premier Daniel Andrews said he offered Mr Foster’s family a state funeral on Sunday afternoon, and his wife Chrissie had accepted.

Mr Andrews said Mr Foster would be remembered as a man who “quietly and profoundly changed Australian history”, after campaigning for justice from the Catholic Church.

“He fought evil acts that were shamefully denied and covered up,” Mr Andrews said in a statement. “He and Chrissie lost so much, but never their dignity, grace and strength. Anthony won’t be forgotten, and the fight for justice goes on.”

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

Kaitlyn Offer – AAP on May 28, 2017

High-profile child sex abuse victims advocate Anthony Foster will be honoured with a state funeral.

Mr Foster’s wife Chrissie was on Sunday offered the service to commemorate a man who “quietly and profoundly changed Australian history” and she accepted, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said in a statement.

Mr Foster, 64, died on Friday, reportedly after a major stroke.

He became a relentless advocate after his daughters, Emma and Katie, were raped by notorious abuser and pedophile Father Kevin O’Donnell at their Melbourne primary school between 1988 and 1993.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com May 28, 2017

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes met in private for the first time with a family who says their life has been broken by Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron. Forty years ago, he allegedly raped the now deceased, former altar boy Joseph “Sonny” Quinata.

But the family said it is now putting the broken pieces together so they can all heal.

“The actions of one man have affected a whole generation of my family…I lost a brother and my children lost a father. This man affected my brother and myself,” John Michael “Champ” Quinata, 47, told Pacific Daily News.

Champ Quinata publicly accused Apuron of repeatedly raping his older brother Sonny when Sonny was 9 years old, in 1977.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com May 28, 2017

The Archdiocese of Agana investigated and found to be true, in 2009 or 2010, an allegation that former Guam priest Andrew Mannetta sexually abused a former altar boy in 1985, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Guam.

The man, identified in court documents only as G.J., alleged that Mannetta sexually molested and abused him when he was 9 or 10 years old and serving as an altar boy at the Santa Teresita Catholic Church in Mangilao.

“After the sexual abuse, G.J. began to fail in school and lost interest in the priesthood,” the lawsuit says. “Eventually, G.J. ceased being an altar boy and gave up on his dreams of becoming a priest.”

The lawsuit says around 2009 or 2010, at a stage in G.J.’s life where he continued to suffer deep trauma from his childhood abuse at the hands of Mannetta, the former altar boy reached out to the church.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Islington Gazette

26 May 2017 Sam Gelder

A Catholic priest who repeatedly raped and assaulted boys is facing jail.

Father Eugene Fitzpatrick, 68, was found guilty of the horrific attacks at Blackfriars Crown Court yesterday after he denied all charges.

He raped one boy multiple times between 1986 and 1992 while working at Our Lady and Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Balls Pond Road, Islington.

Fitzpatrick also indecently assaulted another boy throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The first offence took place in Tufnell Park in 1965 when he was just 17 and the boy aged under eight.

Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Mubeena Cockar-Khan said: “Eugene Fitzpatrick repeatedly indecently assaulted one boy and raped another for his own gratification.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

Dan Rodricks
The Baltimore Sun

Richard Sipe, the former priest who spent 25 years studying the sexual behavior of the Catholic clergy, appears in “The Keepers,” the Netflix documentary series about the unsolved murder of Sister Catherine Cesnick and the monstrous abuse of some of her students by the chaplain of a Baltimore high school in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Sipe is the bearded fellow with the cool eyeglasses in Episode 4.

A Benedictine monk and priest for 18 years, Sipe came to Baltimore to study counseling at the old Seton Psychiatric Institute. He left the priesthood at 38 and married a former Maryknoll sister. He practiced psychotherapy in Maryland before moving to California with his wife in the late 1990s. He has written six books and contributed to numerous documentaries on the celibate priesthood and sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. He estimates that he has reviewed more than 1,500 cases and provided expert testimony in 230.

Sipe famously helped the Boston Globe reporters who broke the story of widespread abuse by priests in Massachusetts. In “Spotlight,” the Oscar-winning film about the Globe’s investigation, the actor Richard Jenkins plays Sipe – or at least his voice, by phone – telling reporters that his lengthy study of priests found that six percent of them had had sex with children. Sipe provided the Globe Spotlight team with guidance throughout its lengthy investigation.

So he’s an old hand at this. He’s heard a lot of stories and told many.

But even Sipe felt physically ill – “I got sick,” he says – when he heard the descriptions of sexual abuse by the victims of the late A. Joseph Maskell, the former priest who served as chaplain at Archbishop Keough High School more than four decades ago.

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IRELAND
Wexford People

By Maria Pepper
May 27 2017

A new Netflix documentary series ‘The Keepers’ which was released last weekend, has broadcast harrowing descriptions of sex abuse allegedly carried out by the deceased American priest, Fr. Joseph Maskell who spent over three years living in Wexford where he worked as a psychologist for the former South Eastern Health Board.

During his time in Wexford from approximately late 1994 to 1998, Fr. Maskell lived in Castlebridge and worked for about eight months as a clinical psychologist for the SEHB (now the Health Service Executive) which referred children to him for assessment. He later spent about three years in private practice at an office in Common Quay Street.

During his stay, the Diocese of Ferns became aware of his activities and contacted the Archdiocese of Baltimore for information, subsequently notifying the SEHB and the gardai about the risks of him having access to children.

The HSE has refused to release any information about Fr. Maskell due to a data protection policy relating to current and former employees although at the time, it informed the Diocese that Fr. Maskell had given an assurance not to work with anyone under the age of 18.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly.com

by David Gambacorta & Maria Panaritis – Staff Writers

One name stands out on an otherwise innocuous list of upcoming clerical assignments issued this month by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia: the Rev. Louis Kolenkiewicz.

He’s scheduled to return from a leave of absence on June 19, and become a parochial vicar at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, around the corner from the archdiocese’s administrative offices. What’s left unsaid in the announcement is the reason why Kolenkiewicz has been on leave since 2015.

Bucks County prosecutors investigated the priest in 2011 for more than 12,000 pornographic images found on a computer he used at St. Bede the Venerable Parish in Holland, Bucks County, where he had been assigned. And while they did not file charges, they said they remained so concerned about the priest returning to active ministry that they helped provoke his suspension two years ago.

District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub described the news of Kolenkiewicz’s reinstatement as a surprising development after a frustrating investigation he said was hobbled by the church’s failure to preserve evidence found a decade ago and leaving local law enforcement in the dark.

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CANADA
BBC News

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected next week to ask Pope Francis for a formal apology over the Catholic Church’s role in the country’s residential school system.

The request stems from a report into Canada’s history of taking indigenous children from their parents and sending them to residential schools.

Many children experienced neglect and abuse while far from their families.

Mr Trudeau meets with the Pope on Monday.

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SCOTLAND
The Courier

Michael Alexander
May 27 2017

A man who claims he was trafficked to Ireland and drugged and raped by multiple men whilst in the care of a former residential home in Fife is to hold a vigil in Edinburgh on the opening day of the Scottish child abuse inquiry.

Dave Sharp, 58, who says he was abused whilst in the care of the Christian Brothers running the former St Ninian’s School in Falkland, intends to hold the vigil outside of Rosebury House on Wednesday May 31 to remember “all victims of abuse”.

Mr Sharp, who was awarded a £15,000 pay out from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in 2015, said: “As far as the programme goes the plan is for the vigil to be from 9am till 5pm.

“At 1pm we will all stop for a minute’s silence to remember all the children (across the country) whose lives were lost or taken because of child abuse and also to remember all the survivors who died without ever seeing justice.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

A former priest has been found guilty of assault to injury of a pupil at a former Catholic boarding school at Fort Augustus in the 1970s and 1980s.

The jury in Father Benedict Seed’s trial found five other charges not proven by a majority.

The 83-year-old, who appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court under the name Thomas Michael Seed, belted Paul Curran on the wrists until he bled.

Seed, of Brora, denied all the charges against him. He has been fined £1,000.

Mr Curran, now a 50-year-old businessman living in Hong Kong, told the jury at Inverness Sheriff Court that he had dreams of being “hunted” by Seed for the five years he attended the now closed Fort Augustus Abbey school in the Highlands.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

Joseph Serna

A youth mentor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest has been accused of lewd acts involving two teenage boys while he volunteered there, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

Ruven Meulenberg, 32, was arrested Thursday and booked on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts on a child and is being held on $100,000 bail, authorities said. Jail records show he is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in a Santa Ana courtroom.

Detectives were alerted after a 14-year-old boy told his parents that Meulenberg had molested him, Lt. Lane Lagaret said. The parents told the church’s youth pastor, who called the Sheriff’s Department, Lagaret said.

Another 14-year-old boy turned up during the detectives’ investigation, Lagaret said.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

27 May, 2017

Chair of the Royal Commission Justice Peter McClellan said the Commissioners and staff of the Royal Commission are deeply saddened by the death of Anthony Foster. We extend our condolences to Chrissie Foster and her family.

Anthony and Chrissie dedicated many years of their lives to bringing about justice for survivors of child sexual abuse.

Their tireless advocacy helped bring about this Royal Commission.

They attended hundreds of days of public hearings and participated in many of our policy roundtables.

With a dignity and grace, Anthony and Chrissie generously supported countless survivors and their families whilst also managing their own grief.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

27 May 2017

IT took the NSW Upper House seven months to debate Newcastle Animal Justice Party Upper House MP Mark Pearson’s motion to condemn the Catholic Church for its history of child sexual abuse in Australia.

He first raised it in October, 2016, in a powerful speech in Parliament after a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse public hearing in Newcastle about abuse in the Hunter Catholic Church over decades.

He was supported by barrister and NSW Greens Justice spokesman David Shoebridge, who has been a champion for survivors of child sexual abuse in Australia for many years.

It was not until Thursday that the major parties responded, and survivors and survivor groups experienced a chill about the future – after the royal commission has delivered its final report in December and politicians are responsible for how governments address its recommendations.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Bournemouth Echo

Alex Winter / Winter_Alex

A FORMER Boys’ Brigade leader and charity founder who sexually abused four children has been jailed.

One of David Wall’s victims were driven to attempt suicide as a result of the attacks, which took place between 1981 and 2001.

Wall, a married church-goer, abused his power in the Christian organisation to indecently assault three boys in his care.

The father-of-two, now 53, went on to abuse a fourth child, who was not a member of the Boys’ Brigade. Wall later founded Hampshire-based Christian charity Acts 4 Sharing.

He was finally brought to justice around two decades after the last offence he committed.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

The national child sexual abuse inquiry is to hold its preliminary hearing into allegations relating to a leading North Yorkshire independent school early next month.

The preliminary hearing relating to Ampleforth College will be held in London on June 6 to examine procedural issues ahead of the full inquiry which is due to start in December.

Now Ampleforth faces charity probe linked to sex abuse claims It is part of an investigation into “the extent of any institutional failures to protect children from sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church”, which is one of 13 separate areas of investigation being looked into as part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

The first case study in the Catholic church investigation is into the English Benedictine Congregation, a Catholic religious order whose affiliated monasteries run or have run a number of prestigious private boarding schools around the country, including Ampleforth. Professor Alexis Jay, chair of the national inquiry, told a conference in York that the inquiry has set out a work programme.

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TEXAS
Christian Post

BY LEONARDO BLAIR , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
May 26, 2017

A third woman and former member of the now defunct Renew Ministries in New Braunfels, Texas, has alleged in a new lawsuit that former Pastor Terry Knighten took advantage of his position as spiritual leader and counselor to have sex with her, and is now seeking $1 million in damages.

The woman, Kristi, and her husband, Samuel Guerrero, who were wed by Knighten in 2011, accuse him in the lawsuit of conducting “a scheme of sexual exploitation” that caused repeated sexual contact between the disgraced pastor and Kristi Guerrero.

The lawsuit filed April 28 called Knighten “a sexual predator,” who groomed Kristi Guerrero before forcing her into “unreciprocated sexual intercourse” in May 2015 at his New Braunfels home which she was paid to clean, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

It charges that officials at Renew Ministries, formerly known as Celebrate Life Church, did not act when they became aware of Knighten’s alleged misconduct.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

AAP

The chair of Australia’s child sex abuse royal commission has said he is “deeply saddened” by the death of tireless victims advocate Anthony Foster.

Foster, who became a relentless advocate after his daughters were raped by a priest, was reported to have died on Friday evening from a major stroke.

Foster and his wife, Chrissie, shared their torment to the media and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Justice Peter McClellan extended his condolences to the Foster family and praised their dedication to achieving justice for survivors of child sexual abuse.

“They attended hundreds of days of public hearings and participated in many of our policy roundtables,” McClellan said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

May 27, 2017

JOHN FERGUSON
Victorian EditorMelbourne
@fergusonjw

Anthony Foster, the relentless and deeply respected advocate for Catholic abuse victims, has died, sparking tributes from across the community.

Mr Foster, aged in his early 60s, died after complications relating to an apparent brain injury incurred this week.

Child sex abuse royal commission chairman Peter McClellan today described Mr Foster’s work as having been key to the formation of the national inquiry.

Mr McClellan offered the commission’s condolences to his wife Chrissie, with the pair having campaigned for abuse survivors as recently as last weekend in Ballarat.

“Anthony and Chrissie dedicated many years of their lives to bringing about justice for survivors of child sexual abuse,’’ he said.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

Tributes have poured in for Anthony Foster, who dedicated his life to seeking justice for victims of child sex abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church.

He is believed to have died from a major stroke after falling and hitting his head on Friday night. He was 64.

Mr Foster became a relentless advocate after his daughters, Emma and Katie, were raped by notorious abuser and pedophile Father Kevin O’Donnell at their Melbourne primary school between 1988 and 1993.

Mr Foster and his wife, Chrissie, shared their torment to the media and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Their daughter Emma took an fatal overdose of medication in 2008, and Katie was hit by a car after binge drinking in 1999, leaving her brain-damaged and in need of 24-hour care.

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SOUTH AFRICA
AllAfrica

By Pontsho Pilane, Carl Collison

A test lawsuit will determine whether the time limit on reporting sexual assault will be lifted.

It took more than three decades for Gavin Hendricks to come to terms with the sexual abuse he suffered during his teenage years and lay charges against the priest he accuses of abusing him.

“It took a lot of courage to lay that charge. I was very intimidated and kind of reluctant, but I knew it was something I had to do,” says 51-year-old Hendricks, who chose to use a pseudonym. For years, he was sexually abused by the priest – “a trusted family friend” – in the Cape Flats township of Bonteheuwel.

After opening a case at the Bishop Lavis police station last year, Hendricks was told that, because the abuse had taken place more than 20 years ago, the matter could not go to court. The man he accuses of abusing him would never face his day in court.

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AUSTRALIA
The Weekend Australian

May 27, 2017

REBECCA URBAN
JournalistMelbourne
@RurbsOz

The former prosecutor who put gangland killer Carl Williams behind bars has suggested charges against George Pell are a distinct possibility but warned that he had concerns about whether he could get a fair trial.

Retired Victorian senior crown prosecutor Geoffrey Horgan­ QC told The Weekend Australian there were unique pressures when weighing up cases. “It seems to me it’s going to take a tough-minded police … to say ‘we will not try this case’,” Mr Horgan said. “It’s much harder to decide to not prosecute than to prosecute. The public backlash would be enormous.”

Mr Horgan’s comments come as Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton confirmed this week that police were reviewing final advice from the state’s ­Office of Public Prosecutions on allegations of child sexual­ abuse against Cardinal Pell and a decision on charges was ­“imminent”.

Mr Horgan, who successfully prosecuted serial killer Peter Dupas during almost two decades with the OPP, has backed concerns about whether the Ballarat-born clergyman could receive a fair trial.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

Simone Ziaziaris – AAP on May 27, 2017

High-profile advocate for child sexual abuse victims, Anthony Foster, has reportedly died after suffering a major stroke.

Mr Foster, who became a tireless advocate after his daughters were raped by a priest, is believed to have died on Friday evening after falling and hitting his head, media are reporting.

Mr Foster and his wife Chrissie shared their torment to the media and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

His daughters, Emma and Katie, were traumatised by the sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of pedophile priest Kevin O’Donnell at their Melbourne school between 1988 and 1993.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Anthony Foster, who dedicated his life to seeking justice for victims of child sex abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church after two of his daughters were repeatedly raped by a priest, has died in a Melbourne hospital, aged 64.

In a two decade-long quest to hold the Catholic Church accountable for crimes against children, Mr Foster and his wife Chrissie told the harrowing story of their family’s treatment at the hands of the church to the media and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The couple’s daughters Emma and Katie were raped by Melbourne paedophile priest Father Kevin O’Donnell when they were in primary school in the 1980s.

Emma suffered from eating disorders, drug addiction and self harm. In 2008 she overdosed on medication and died at the age of 26.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Melissa Cunningham

Tributes are pouring in for Anthony Foster who became a tireless and high-profile advocate for child sexual abuse victims after his daughters were raped by a priest.

Mr Foster died after suffering a stroke on Friday evening.

He rose to national prominence after he publicly accused Cardinal George Pell of stalling the family’s compensation claim against the Catholic Church when he was archbishop of Melbourne.

It is believed Mr Foster fell and hit his head before suffering a major stroke. He died with his wife Chrissie by his side.

Two of the Fosters’ daughters, Emma and Katie, were repeatedly raped by disgraced Melbourne priest Kevin O’Donnell while pupils at a primary school in Melbourne’s Oakleigh parish.

After years of turmoil and a decade-long court battle, Emma died by suicide at the age of 26.

Her sister Katie drank heavily before being left severely disabled when hit by a drunk driver in 1999.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

May 27, 2017

JOHN FERGUSON
Victorian EditorMelbourne
@fergusonjw

Anthony Foster, a relentless and high-profile advocate for Catholic abuse victims, is gravely ill after suffering what is believed to have been a major stroke.

Key members of the community rallying against church abuse were told yesterday that Mr Foster faced the battle of his life to survive the illness.

Mr Foster, aged in his early 60s, rose to national prominence during the 2008 visit to Australia by Pope Benedict for World Youth Day, when he publicly chided the pontiff and Cardinal George Pell over the church’s handling of the scandal that engulfe­d his family.

Two of Mr Foster’s daughters were raped by Father Kevin O’Donnell at a primary school in Melbourne’s Oakleigh parish, with one committing suicide in 2007 and another profoundly injured­ after apparently self-medicating and being struck by a car in 1999.

Peter Blenkiron, an abuse survivor from the western Victorian diocese of Ballarat, said Mr Foster was a relentless supporter of victims. “I think we’ve all fought alongside him on the battlefield for truth,’’ he said. “It’s bought so many people together. It just breaks my heart.’’

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SCOTLAND
The Times

David Love
May 27 2017
The Times

A former priest has been found guilty of assault to injury of a pupil at a Catholic boarding school more than 30 years ago.

Thomas Seed, 83, faced another five charges, all of which the jury found not proven by a majority.

Fining Seed £1,000, Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood said: “I am obliged to deal with you by the law that applied when the offence was committed. You were in a position of trust and you abused that.”

Also known as Father Benedict, Seed belted a young private schoolboy until his wrists bled at the Fort Augustus Abbey boarding school on the shores of Loch Ness.

Paul Curran, 50, now a businessman in Hong Kong, told a jury at Inverness sheriff court that he “lived in fear” of the Benedictine monk. Mr Curran said that after being caught swearing by the monk he was belted with a tawse, which left his hands and wrists bleeding, swollen and bruised.

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IRELAND
Dublin Live

BY AENGUS O’HANLON

A father and son are taking on the State to in a bid to stop the Sisters of Charity from taking ownership of the proposed €300million National Maternity Hospital.

Veteran campaigner Dick Spicer, 70, and his son Norman have launched a High Court challenge against the decision, which they claim is unconstitutional.

The Spicers were keen to state that they had no issue with any religious order, or their beliefs, but rather the Government, for what they said was the “inexplicable decision” to build the new hospital at St Vincent’s.

There was a public outcry when it announced last month that the Sisters were to be handed full ownership of the taxpayer-funded facility, which will be built on the St Vincent’s Hospital campus in Dublin 4.

Mr Spicer, a co-founder of the Campaign to Separate Church and State, said: “There is a State-owned site in Tallaght right beside a major hospital with gynaecology.

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ILLINOIS
CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) — Two men are suing Willow Creek Community Church in suburban South Barrington and say they were allegedly sexually abused over several years by a youth minister at the church.

The complaint, filed Thursday under the aliases John Doe and Joe Doe, claims Brian Wongkamalasai, 30, sexually abused them beginning in 2009 when they were 16 and 14 years old and Wongkamalasai was 22.

Wongkamalasai was convicted of sexually abusing a 16-year-old in 2013, and is a registered sex offender currently living in Denver, Colorado, Illinois State Police records show.

According to the suit, John Doe and Joe Doe were sexually abused in more than 300 instances between September 2009 and December 2011. Both said Wongkamalasai masturbated them and performed oral sex on them.

Wongkamalasai was working for Willow Creek Community Church as a counselor, youth minister, youth leader, supervisor, monitor and accountability partner to Joe Doe and John Doe when the abuse occurred, according to the suit. In return for those services on behalf of Willow Creek Community Church, he was allowed to stay in John Doe’s and Joe Doe’s homes.

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ILLINOIS
Christian Today

Leonardo Blair 26 May 2017

Two men who say they were sexually abused as teenagers more than 300 times over several years by a former youth minister at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, are now suing the church, seeking more than $50,000 in damages for pain and suffering.

The men, identified by aliases John and Joe Doe, alleged that former Willow Creek youth minister Brian Wongkamalasai, now 30, started sexually abusing them in 2009. They were just 16 and 14, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The former counselor, who is now a registered sex offender living in Denver, Colorado, was convicted of sexually abusing a 16-year-old in 2013.

His current accusers alleged that between September 2009 and December 2011, Wongkamalasai masturbated them and performed oral sex on them more than 300 times.

During the time of the abuse, Wongkamalasai was allegedly working for Willow Creek as a youth minister, youth leader, supervisor, monitor and accountability partner to the men. He was allowed to stay in the home of the then teenagers in exchange for his work.

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GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon | For The Guam Daily Post

A second victim has filed a civil lawsuit against former St. Anthony Catholic School music and religion teacher Ray Caluag, alleging school officials and police took no action against the teacher, who allegedly sexually abused and raped him as a boy.

Troy Torres, through his attorney, David Lujan, filed a civil complaint in the District Court of Guam against Caluag, St. Anthony Catholic School and the Archdiocese of Agana yesterday accusing Caluag of repeatedly sexually abusing and raping him when he was a student at St. Anthony’s in 1993.

Torres, the governor’s senior policy adviser, was in the 8th grade and was required to take music class.

Caluag was a trusted mentor and friend who manipulated his authority to procure compliance with his sexual demands from his victims and induce the victims to continue to allow the abuse, the lawsuit states.

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MARYLAND
ABC 2

[with video]

“The Keepers” series on Netflix has Anne Arundel County residents asking questions about the 1969 murder of 20-year-old Joyce Malecki.

In response to requests from the public, The Anne Arundel County police released the following statement saying the FBI is investigating her case.

“There is information circulating among on-line blogs and websites that state the Joyce Malecki murder investigation was at some point in time handed over to the Anne Arundel County Police Department by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is not an accurate statement. Because Ms. Malecki’s body was found on Federal property, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the lead investigating agency for this case.”

“The Keepers” suggests that Joyce Malecki’s murder may be linked to the murder of Sister Catherine Cesnik at the Old Archbishop Keough.

Malecki’s body was found near a Fort Meade shooting range and left in a similar manner as Sister Cesnik’s.

Anne Arundel County Police said they’ve been fielding calls from viewers who want to know what is going on with the investigation.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

Kate Coiro

If you’ve watched “The Keepers,” on Netflix, chances are you have some questions about Sister Cathy Cesnik’s unsolved killing and the allegations of sexual assault at Baltimore-based Archbishop Keough High School.

Fortunately, director Ryan White turned to the social networking site Reddit on Thursday for an “AMA” (short for ask me anything), where he answered fans’ questions about Netflix’s new seven-part production.

Here are eight tidbits from White’s AMA.

1. The Archdiocese of Baltimore showed up. A user named ArchBalt, presumably, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, chimed in when White mentioned that he wished the Archdiocese would release their internal records on Rev. Joseph Maskell, who was at the center of the abuse allegations detailed in the show.

“Archdiocesan records related to Maskell are confidential, and Archdiocesan policy and state law would preclude us from disclosing much of the information in them as they include confidential personal information (e.g. names of alleged sexual abuse victims), personnel records, health records, attorney-client communications, personally identifying information (such as social security numbers), etc.,” ArchBalt wrote.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Crown Prosecution Service

25/05/2017

A Catholic priest who repeatedly raped and indecently assaulted boys more than 25 years ago has been convicted of child sex offences.

Father Eugene Fitzpatrick, 68, was found guilty by a jury at Blackfriars Crown Court today [25/05/2017] of raping a boy on multiple occasions between 1986 and 1992.

Fitzpatrick was working in Our Lady & Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Kingsland in the borough of Hackney at the time.

He was also found guilty of 11 counts relating to non-consensual sexual activity with another child in the 1960s and 1970s. The first assault took place in Tufnell Park in 1965 when Fitzpatrick was 17 years old and the boy was under the age of 8.

Mubeena Cockar-Khan, London CPS reviewing lawyer, said: “Eugene Fitzpatrick repeatedly indecently assaulted one boy and raped another for his own gratification.

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IRELAND
Offaly Express

Ruaidhrí Giblin
26 May 2017

The Catholic Church funded legal representation for a retired priest who successfully appealed his conviction for indecently assaulting a schoolboy in the 1970s, according to lawyers for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Earlier this week, Tadhg O’Dalaigh (73), of Woodview, Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, successfully appealed his conviction for indecently assaulting a schoolboy at Colaiste Chroi Naofa in Carrignavar, Co Cork in the 1970s.

He had been found guilty by a jury and was sentenced to five years imprisonment with the final two suspended by Judge Donagh McDonagh on December 18, 2014, a sentence which he had served by the time his appeal was determined.

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SCOTLAND
The Press and Journal

A jury has begun considering its verdict in the case of a former monk accused of excessively punishing six schoolboys with a belt and cane at a Highland school.

Defence counsel John Campbell QC yesterday delivered his closing speech in the trial of 83-year-old Thomas Seed from Brora, known as Father Benedict when he taught at Fort Augustus Abbey boarding school in the 1970 and 1980s.

He told the jury that everyone would find the use of the cane and tawse (leather strap) as “abhorrent” now.

But he added: “We simply cannot judge this by the standards of today. What was reasonable chastisement in the 1970s is not compared to today.

“Teenage boys are hard work and there was a need for discipline and punishment. You have to translocate yourselves back in time and judge this by the standards of that era.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Eilish O’Regan
May 26 2017

A High Court challenge has been lodged to prevent the new National Maternity Hospital being built on land owned by the Order of the Sisters of Charity on the campus of St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin.

The new twist comes as talks between the Department of Health and St Vincent’s Healthcare Group over the future ownership of the €300m State-funded hospital enter a crucial phase today.
Challenge

The legal challenge is to be announced this morning by Dick Spicer (70), co-founder of the Campaign to Separate Church and State, and his son Norman.

He confirmed yesterday he has already lodged the High Court summons against the State, the Health Minister and the Attorney General.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

CHRIS BURN, MULTIMEDIA REPORTER
Friday 26 May 2017

The woman who brought the scale of the horrifying Rotherham scandal to light is now urging other child abuse victims in Yorkshire to come forward.

Chris Burn reports. Professor Alexis Jay is not a woman to sugarcoat the truth in any aspect of her life. An unflinching inquiry by the softly-spoken Scotswoman revealed that 1,400 children in the Yorkshire town of Rotherham had been sexually exploited, largely by men of Pakistani heritage, and failed desperately by police and social services.

Almost three years on, she arrived back in Yorkshire on Thursday as the chair of national Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in a bid to encourage victims and survivors from all walks of life to come forward and share their experiences with her and her team.

Meeting the Yorkshire Post before speaking to a conference in York on the aims of the Truth Project, Professor Jay gives a glimpse of her no-nonsense attitude as a cup of milky tea she is handed fails to meet with her approval.

“Baby tea,” she says with a grimace after a sip. “You are obviously not used to northern tea!” That straight-talking approach in even the most minor of matters gives an insight into what has made her an ideal choice as the chair of the independent abuse inquiry, providing it with new focus and impetus after a deeply-troubled beginning which saw the resignations of the three previous chairwomen.

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CANADA
The Globe and Mail

GLORIA GALLOWAY
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, May 25, 2017

The federal government and the centre created to preserve the memory of Canada’s residential schools are asking the Supreme Court to rule that the intimate and heart-wrenching tales of abuse recounted by survivors in closed-door compensation hearings should be preserved in national archives.

They urged the top court on Thursday to overturn the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that documents related to the hearings held under the Independent Assessment Process (IAP) should be maintained for 15 years and then destroyed unless the claimants explicitly agree that the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) in Winnipeg should have them.

Justice Department lawyers argued that federal privacy, access and archive legislation demands the documents be saved.

And a lawyer for the NCTR told the court that reconciliation requires knowledge, not the destruction of the past. The documents of the IAP “provide a unique window into the horrors of the residential schools and Canada’s efforts to come to grips with those horrors,” Joanna Birenbaum said.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

Troy Torres is seeking $5 million in damages.

Guam – Troy Torres, the governor’s senior advisor, has filed a sexual abuse complaint in District Court against his former music Teacher at St. Anthony Catholic School, Ray Caluag.

Torres’ complaint is the first to indicate that the sexual abuse was reported to the Guam Police Department as well.

“However, Caluag was never arrested,” court documents state.

Torres has previously indicated on social media that he was sexually abused as a minor by a former teacher. In his complaint, Torres alleges that he was first raped by Caluag when he was 13 years old and in the 8th grade at the catholic school. Torres says it happened on December 8, 1993, which is when the island usually celebrates the procession for Santa Marian Kamalen. Torres was ordered to report to school for drama practice, but says he was the only student there.

Caluag then took Torres to his home, forced him to perform oral sex on Caluag, the complaints states, and then raped him.

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AUSTRALIA
Illawarra Mercury

John Silvester
26 May 2017

Cardinal George Pell is not someone who attracts public sympathy. He presents as cold and aloof and as someone who at best did not have the capacity to deal with systemic child abuse committed within the Catholic Church.

For an intelligent man he misread the play alarmingly when giving evidence to the child abuse royal commission saying of one case, “It is a sad story and it wasn’t of much interest to me.” (He later desperately sought to clarify his meaning).

But now he is accused of being more than just an arrogant prick with the empathy of a polar bear stalking a seal pup. He is under investigation as a child molester – with police likely to decide whether to charge within weeks.

This began when two men came forward and alleged that when students at St Alipius in 1978 Pell sexually assaulted them at a Ballarat swimming pool.

The Sano Taskforce investigated the allegations, three detectives flew to Rome to interview the Cardinal, a Brief of Evidence was prepared and has bounced around between prosecutors and police ever since. One source in the know described it as “an exercise in arse covering”.

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MARYLAND
Refinery29

MORGAN BAILA
MAY 25, 2017

The Keepers, currently streaming on Netflix, documents the heartbreaking and completely shocking accusations about events happening within the walls of Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore, Maryland during the 1960s and ’70s. The seven-part documentary centers around the death of a 26-year-old nun teaching at the school, Sister Cathy Cesnik. From there, the story widens to include the sexual abuse allegations against one Father Joseph Maskell, now deceased, by “Jane Doe,” later identified as Jean Wehner. The true crime series has been hailed for its ability to focus on the victims (Sister Cathy’s murder is still unsolved, and Wehner patiently waits for justice to be brought to the men she says sexually abused her), instead of merely highlighting the horrific details of the crimes themselves.

Now, nearly a week after its premiere, the series director, Ryan White, hosted a Reddit Ask Me Anything forum (shorthanded as AMA) for invested fans to ask him questions and even potentially spur new leads. And would you believe that the Archdiocese made an appearance to defend the Catholic Church? Because, as E! Online points out, they sure did.

A redditor asked: “Who would you most like to talk to, still living, that you think has information? Either for a follow up interview or a first timer.”

White passionately responded: “The Archdiocese!”

He then expanded as to why: “They have internal records on Maskell. I would love for them to be transparent and show the world what they have. I’m especially interested to see the files on the investigation they supposedly did in the 1990’s after Jane Doe came forward. Jean’s family found dozens of victims just by sending out a letter in the mail, so I’m confused on what this Archdiocese ‘investigation’ involved.”

An hour later, would you guess who came to troll White’s AMA? The Archdiocese themselves, under the very obvious username, “ArchBalt,” a referenced to the Arch(diocese) of Balt(imore). The talking head for the Catholic Church wrote: “Archdiocesan records related to Maskell are confidential, and Archdiocesan policy and state law would preclude us from disclosing much of the information in them as they include confidential personal information (e.g. names of alleged sexual abuse victims), personnel records, health records, attorney-client communications, personally identifying information (such as social security numbers), etc.”

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

Jonathan M. Pitts
The Baltimore Sun

This was already going to be a bittersweet spring at Seton Keough High School. The Archdiocese of Baltimore announced in October that it would be closing the Catholic school for girls at the end of the school year, and the community has spent the final months honoring the school’s history before bidding it farewell.

But the release of the hit Netflix documentary series “The Keepers,” which explores sexual abuse at then-Archbishop Keough High School decades ago and the still unsolved killing of a young teacher, has cast a darker shadow on the last days of the beloved institution.

“The Keepers” debuted last week. The school is to celebrate its final graduation ceremony Friday at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.

Students, staff and alumni voice strong support for the seven-part documentary, which depicts the struggle of six women to bring to light their stories of sexual abuse at the hands of a priest at the school in the 1960s.

Many just wish it weren’t happening right now.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

Dan Rodricks
The Baltimore Sun

Richard Sipe, the former priest who spent 25 years studying the sexual behavior of the Catholic clergy, appears in “The Keepers,” the Netflix documentary series about the unsolved murder of Sister Catherine Cesnick and the monstrous abuse of some of her students by the chaplain of a Baltimore high school in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Sipe is the bearded fellow with the cool eyeglasses in Episode 4.

A Benedictine monk and priest for 18 years, Sipe came to Baltimore to study counseling at the old Seton Psychiatric Institute. He left the priesthood at 38 and married a former Maryknoll sister. He practiced psychotherapy in Maryland before moving to California with his wife in the late 1990s. He has written six books and contributed to numerous documentaries on the celibate priesthood and sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. He estimates that he has reviewed more than 1,500 cases and provided expert testimony in 230.

Sipe famously helped the Boston Globe reporters who broke the story of widespread abuse by priests in Massachusetts. In “Spotlight,” the Oscar-winning film about the Globe’s investigation, the actor Richard Jenkins plays Sipe – or at least his voice, by phone – telling reporters that his lengthy study of priests found that six percent of them had had sex with children. Sipe provided the Globe Spotlight team with guidance throughout its lengthy investigation.

So he’s an old hand at this. He’s heard a lot of stories and told many.

But even Sipe felt physically ill – “I got sick,” he says – when he heard the descriptions of sexual abuse by the victims of the late A. Joseph Maskell, the former priest who served as chaplain at Archbishop Keough High School more than four decades ago.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com Published May 26, 2017

Troy Torres, Gov. Eddie Calvo’s special policy adviser, sued the Archdiocese of Agana on Friday, alleging his former Catholic school music teacher, Ray Caluag, raped and sexually abused him when he was about 13 years old in 1993.

Torres, now 37, named Caluag and Saint Anthony Catholic School among the defendants in his lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Guam. Represented by attorney David Lujan, Torres demands a jury trial and $5 million in minimum damages.

Nearly 70 lawsuits have been filed since late last year, when Guam lifted the statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse civil cases. Torres’ lawsuit is the second that doesn’t accuse a priest.

Torres was required to take music class while attending Saint Anthony Catholic School, the lawsuit states. At the time, Caluag was the school’s music and religion teacher, as well as director of drama productions, the complaint states.

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TEXAS
ValleyCentral.com

by Freddy Vela

Former priest John Feit, who is accused of allegedly killing Irene Garza in April of 1960, was back in court on Wednesday.

Feit’s attorneys motioned to get the trial moved outside of the Rio Grande Valley, claiming the jury has an unfair bias due to pre-trial media coverage of Feit’s case.

The defense presented two witnesses and a pre-trial expert in an attempt to show how much Hidalgo County residents know about the 1960 murder.

The prosecution argued that most cases receive media coverage, and residents are able to separate personal opinions and offer a fair, unbiased judgement during the case. The prosecution also tried to discredit the expert after the expert referenced the 2014 district attorney race and a 48 Hours report.

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CANADA
CBC News

By Stephanie Tobin, CBC News Posted: May 25, 2017

The Crown is planning to appeal a stay of proceedings in sexual assault charges against a former priest who was accused from his time in western Newfoundland.

Gary Gerard Hoskins was charged Nov. 8, 2012, with assaults between Jan. 1, 1984, and Dec. 31, 1986.

Hoskins, who worked in Stephenville when the assaults are alleged to have happened, applied for a stay of proceedings, stating his right to a trial within a reasonable time had been breached.

He applied for the proceedings to be stayed under the new rules out of R. v. Jordan. Corner Brook Supreme Court Justice David Hurley granted the stay.

Hoskins, who now lives in Ontario, has had previous convictions of sexual assault from the late 1980s.

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SWEDEN
The Local

A priest who had created a profile on an online dating website deemed to be ‘pornographic’ has been defrocked by the Church of Sweden.

In his profile on the dating website, which is classified as ‘pornographic’ by the Church of Sweden’s internet policy documents, the priest stated he was seeking a mistress, friend, sex buddy, a relationship, partner, date, or fellow nude swimmers.

It was also clear from his presentation and picture that he was a priest, and the information he had provided could be linked to his name.

The diocese of Strängnäs found that to actively seek sexual relations with several people in the way the priest had done was not compliant with the way of life a priest ought to have, reports Swedish Radio’s local news in Södermanland, where the priest was working.

“He has been defrocked and is no longer allowed to be a priest,” Miriam Arrebäck, press secretary at the diocese, told TT newswire.

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ILLINOIS
CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Cook County judge this fall will determine whether defrocked Chicago priest Daniel McCormack will remain in state custody indefinitely, even after serving prison time for molesting young boys at his West Side parish.

McCormack has been held at a state Department of Health institution in downstate Rushville, following his release from prison on a five-year sentence for fondling five boys. Cook County Judge Dennis Porter will rule on whether to commit McCormack to custody of the state Department of Human Services after a bench trial set to begin on Sept. 6.

Prosecutors and the state Attorney General’s Office moved to have McCormack ruled a “sexually violent person” in 2010, as his parole date was approaching. Proceedings dragged on as McCormack faced criminal charges as other boys came forward with allegations of abuse, but those cases had largely fallen apart as his accusers refused to testify.

Under the state’s Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, a person can be committed if they have been convicted of a sexually violent offense and suffer from a mental disorder that makes them likely to commit future violent sexual acts. Once committed, offenders can’t be released from custody until another evaluation determines they are fit for less stringent confinement.

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SCOTLAND
The Press and Journal

A priest denied he was “a monster on the loose who exploded with temper” as he punished pupils at a Catholic boarding school.

Thomas Seed, an 83-year-old former monk who taught at Fort Augustus Abbey, was giving evidence during the third day of his trial in which he denies assaulting eight boys in his charge.

A jury was told by five former pupils that Seed, also known as Father Benedict, would cane or belt them until they bled, with one accusing him of using a spiked golf shoe.

The boys, now adults, were aged between 11 and 15 at the time, and claimed Seed was excessive in his use of the cane or tawse. They also accused him of being “in an uncontrollable rage.”

However asked by his defence counsel, John Campbell QC: “You have been characterised as an intemperate, quick to anger, aggressive and disproportionate with your punishment man – a monster on the loose who explodes with temper.

“Does that ring true for you?” Mr Campbell asked.

Seed replied: “No. It is not me. I could have been impatient or mistaken. None of us are perfect all the time.”

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FRANCE
La Croix

Bénévent Tosseri, Lyon
France

Almost a year after the French justice system decided to drop criminal proceedings against Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, and six others for failing to report sexual abuse of boy scouts committed by a priest, the case has been reopened.

The abuses took place between 1978 and 1991.

“If we stop now, who will bring the debate into the public domain?” said François Devaux, the head of La Parole Libérée (“Lift the Burden of Silence”) an organisation of former Saint-Luc Scout Group members, many of whom who were allegedly sexually abused by the priest who led the group, Bernard Preynat.

After a preliminary investigation, it was decided in August 2016 not to pursue a case against Barbarin and the other six.But the priest’s alleged victims have now come together to bring a civil action against that decision.

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TEXAS
KRGV

[with video]

EDINBURG – A former priest accused in a 1960 murder case was back in court on Wednesday. He’s asking the judge for a change of venue.

John Feit is accused in the murder of Irene Garza.

Feit’s attorney said there has been so much publicity about the case there is no way Feit can be tried in Hidalgo County and get a fair, unbiased trial.

“The pretrial publicity in this case was, in fact, prejudicial and prejudiced. But more importantly the pretrial publicity has reached that point where there is no reasonable likelihood we can reach a fair and impartial jury to sit on this case,” Defense attorney Oscar Rene Flores said.

But prosecutors from the district attorney’s office said that’s simply not true and his trial should happen in the community where the crime was committed. The state filed an 84-page objection to Feit’s motions to move his trial out of the Rio Grande Valley.

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TEXAS
The Monitor

NAXIELY LOPEZ-PUENTE | STAFF WRITER

EDINBURG — The judge presiding over the case of a former priest accused of murdering a McAllen beauty queen will wait until next week before ruling on a change of venue petition by the defense — but his ruling could be to delay the decision even further.

State District Judge Luis Singleterry heard arguments Wednesday from both the defense and prosecution regarding the media attention surrounding the Irene Garza case.

The defense for John Feit said the case was too important to the community and had even swayed the last Hidalgo County district attorney election. The emotion surrounding the case makes it difficult for jurors to be impartial, the defense argued.

“That’s just how our brains work,” expert witness Bryan Edelman told the court Wednesday.

Edelman, co-founder and jury consultant at Trial Innovations, travels across the country conducting pre-trial research for various cases, including the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado.

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TEXAS
San Antonio Express-News

By Aaron Nelsen Updated Wednesday, May 24, 2017

EDINBURG — Attorneys for a former priest accused of murdering a beauty queen 57 years ago say pervasive media coverage has made a fair trial virtually impossible in Hidalgo County.

John Feit, 84, was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona, last February and charged in the 1960 slaying of Irene Garza, a 25-year-old elementary school teacher from McAllen.

“The pretrial publicity has reached that point where (Feit) cannot … reasonably receive a fair and impartial jury in this case,” said Attorney O. Rene Flores, who is representing Feit.

A trial consultant testified Wednesday that media coverage of dramatic events are seared into the public conscience and can prejudice jurors. According to a survey conducted by the expert witness, 76 percent of prospective jurors had heard, read about or seen television news reports about the killing.

“Despite the passage of time, this case is really important to this community,” said Bryan Edelman, a trial consultant with the California-based Trial Innovations. “Actually it was an important factor in determining the outcome of the election for district attorney.”

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CANADA
Toronto Star

By TANYA TALAGA
Staff Reporter
Wed., May 24, 2017

Who ultimately controls the stories of 38,000 residential school survivors may finally be decided on May 25 when the question goes before the Supreme Court.

The courts have consistently ruled it is up to the survivors to decide what happens to their own accounts of their experiences, stories that led to Ottawa paying out more than $5 billion in compensation, and that it is the survivors’ wishes that must be upheld and respected. The courts say the 38,000 survivors have 15 years to decide individually if their stories should be preserved in an archive at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) at the University of Manitoba or be destroyed.

But a coalition representing the children and grandchildren of residential school survivors was recently granted intervention status at the hearing. They want to save the 38,000 stories, which they say are the largest firsthand accounts of the residential school system.

“When I ask people if they want their story deleted, I ask them to think about it in the intergenerational perspective,” said Carey Newman, founder of the Coalition to Preserve Truth and the artist behind the Witness Blanket, a massive, art installation — made up of leftover pieces of residential school items, churches and government buildings. The blanket is currently touring the country. Newman is of British, Kwagiulth and Salish descent.

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CANADA
Metro

By: Kristy Kirkup The Canadian Press Published on Thu May 25 2017

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada is set to hold a hearing today on the federal government’s appeal of a decision that allows personal records from survivors of residential schools to be destroyed after 15 years unless individuals decide otherwise.

Ottawa argues it controls the documents and that they are subject to legislation pertaining to access to information, archiving and privacy.

“To ensure that the history of what happened at the residential schools is not forgotten or lost on future generations, the documentary record must be preserved,” the attorney general argued in her factum to the court.

The government also argues that the use of the court’s “inherent jurisdiction” to order the wholesale destruction of the records “fails to respect the intentions”of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, which settled the largest class action in Canadian history.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Press

Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

THE chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse will visit York today to raise awareness of a project giving victims and survivors the chance to share their experiences.

Professor Alexis Jay will meet more than 80 delegates from organisations from across the north-east, including the police, NHS, local authorities and charities, at a meeting being held at the Principal Hotel near York railway station.

She will talk about the ‘Truth Project’, which gives victims and survivors of child sexual abuse the chance to share their experiences and offer suggestions to the inquiry on how to keep the next generation safe.

She will say she wants to collaborate with organisations that have local expertise working with victims and survivors, said a spokeswoman.

“The north east was one of the first regions to open the Truth Project in June 2016,” she said. “So far, over 700 people have now come forward across England and Wales and the inquiry has taken accounts from victims and survivors in the north west, Wales, the south west and London.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

ANALYSIS
By Paul Kennedy

Survivors of child sexual assault and cover-ups are watching with familiar trepidation the making of an unprecedented national redress scheme.

The Government does not yet know how many states or institutions will opt into its proposed model for victims unable to find justice through common law.

The only certainty is a limit on payments.

Attorney-General George Brandis and Social Services Minister Christian Porter have already defied part of an expert recommendation from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

In 2015, the royal commission found negligent institutions should make “modest monetary payments as a tangible means of recognising the wrong survivors have suffered”. It estimated 60,000 survivors would be eligible to make a claim under a $4.3 billion scheme.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

MAY 25, 2017

Australian Associated Press

A decision on whether or not to charge Cardinal George Pell over historical child sexual assault allegations is imminent, Victoria’s police chief says.

Detectives are reviewing final advice from the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions about the allegations, which Cardinal Pell has repeatedly denied.

Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton says a decision is “not too far off”.

“The decision is imminent on that,” Mr Ashton said during a regular appearance on Fairfax Radio on Thursday.

Mr Ashton said the DPP advice was being reviewed by the lead detective and officer in charge of the Sano taskforce, which investigates allegations arising from a Victorian parliamentary inquiry and the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Thursday, May 25, 2017

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

Caranua paid almost €100,000 to a Catholic Church-funded counselling service to provide support to abuse survivors over the last two years.

The revelation is contained in documents sent by Caranua to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), following its appearance before the committee last month. Caranua was established by the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 to oversee the use of cash contributions of up to €110m, pledged by the religious congregations, to support the needs of survivors of institutional child abuse.

In the documents, Caranua outline details of €94,648 it paid to the Towards Healing counselling service in respect of 59 individuals in 2015 and 2016. The bulk of this, €87,263, was paid in 2015, with the remainder paid the following year.

Towards Healing provides a face-to-face and telephone counselling service to people who experienced abuse in institutions managed by religious congregations on behalf of the State, clerical sexual abuse, and to others impacted by such abuse. According to its website, it is funded by way of a €3m budget every year, which comes exclusively from the Catholic Church.

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GEORGIA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

By Christian Boone – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It’s become a familiar narrative: Respected community leader, active in the Boy Scouts, accused of sexual abuse but shielded for decades from prosecution and exposure.

Ernest Boland, whose predatory behavior was detailed in so-called “perversion files” that the Boy Scouts of America maintained for decades to identify volunteers accused of child molestation, was named in a lawsuit filed this week by two former Scouts who say they were among his many victims. Filed in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, the suit comes with a little more than a month remaining on a special provision that extended the statute of limitations in Georgia for childhood victims of sexual abuse seeking damages.

The plaintiffs, whose names are being withheld by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution because they were victims of sexual assault, allege the Boy Scouts of America and its Northeast Georgia Council knew of the accusations against Boland dating back to 1961 — several years before they were abused — but did nothing to stop him.

Two Athens churches named as co-defendants — Green Acres Baptist and Beech Haven Baptist — were also aware of the accusations, the suit alleges, but “undertook no actions to protect minor Scouts from Boland’s sexual predations or provide information to the general public.”

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