ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
Western Advocate

9 Dec 2016

THE case against a former St Stanislaus’ College priest accused of historic indecent and sexual assaults on students at the school is due to return to court next week.

Charges against Glenn Michael Humphreys were mentioned briefly in Bathurst Local Court on Monday, November 28 when magistrate Michael Allen adjourned the matter until Monday, December 12 for further mention.

Humphreys, 63, was arrested in Western Australia in August following his release from jail serving a two-year sentence there.

Humphreys was immediately subsequently extradited to NSW to face further charges.

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ARKANSAS
The Daily Beast

Kate Briquelet

He promised spiritual counseling and a shot at parole. But for years, Kenneth Dewitt, the aging chaplain at an Arkansas lockup, called female prisoners to his office for “special training” and raped them instead.

Dewitt was sentenced to five years for assaulting three women at the McPherson Unit in Newport from 2013 to 2014. He originally faced 50 counts of sexual assault, each carrying 10 years behind bars, but took a plea deal this summer.

Now the crooked clergyman is named in a lawsuit from one of his victims, Leticia Villarreal, a single mother from Mexico. Villarreal claims Dewitt sexually assaulted her 72 times, or every Monday for about a year and a half.

Dewitt, 68, degraded Villarreal while he assaulted her, calling her his “Mexican whore” and “my Mexican,” the lawsuit states. “You are a criminal from Mexico. No one will help you here but me, so you better do as you are told,” Dewitt allegedly told her.

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CANADA
CBC News

By Jason Warick, CBC News

Wanuskewin Heritage Park could soon play host to one of the biggest events in Saskatchewan history.

CBC News has learned of extensive efforts to bring Pope Francis to the area in 2018 or 2019.

The centrepiece of the visit would be a long-awaited residential school apology at Wanuskewin, located just north of Saskatoon.

The initial goal was to host the event next year in conjunction with a papal visit to Montreal. Earlier this month, the Vatican said Francis would not be available in 2017.

That hasn’t stopped the efforts of organizers such as Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Felix Thomas or Regina Archbishop Don Bolen, who served until recently as Bishop of the Saskatoon diocese. They’ve extended the invitation to 2018 or 2019.

“If it was up to us, it would have happened yesterday. We’d like to think it’ll happen sooner rather than later,” Thomas said.

“We need to heal and move on.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

REBEKAH ISONAustralian Associated PressDecember 9, 2016

A man who was sexually abused by four teachers at his Newcastle Marist Brother’s high school in the 70s has described his anger upon finding out one of the abusers had been appointed principal at his child’s soon-to-be school.

The man, known as CQP, was himself a deputy principal in 1996 when he read Brother Dominic, whose real name is Darcy O’Sullivan, was set to become the leader of his former school the following year.

“I remember being really angry and telling my wife, ‘This can’t happen’,” the man told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Friday.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Friday, December 09, 2016

Ann O’Loughlin

A woman who claims she was sexually abused by her school chaplain when she was a secondary school student yesterday told the High Court that the first time he performed oral sex on her they were both naked in bed in his house.

The woman, now aged 28, said they chatted and had tea before moving to the bedroom. She said she was shocked afterwards and felt guilty.

On the fifth day of the case yesterday — where the woman is claiming damages against the former priest — she also alleged that, when she was drunk on a youth trip to Cologne, Germany, to see the pope, the then school chaplain performed oral sex on her in a house where other students were also staying.

The woman has sued alleging that, between 2004 and 2007, she was repeatedly and wrongfully physically and sexually assaulted, falsely imprisoned and sexually abused, and subjected to sexualised behaviour by the then Catholic chaplain and teacher in her secondary school in the South East.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By Tom Olsen

A year into bankruptcy, legal bills are continuing to mount for the Diocese of Duluth.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel on Thursday approved the spending of another $750,000 in attorneys’ fees and expenses — swelling the total cost of the process to $1.28 million and counting.

The biggest chunk of the money has gone to four law firms representing the diocese, but more than $183,000 also has been paid out to attorneys for a creditors’ committee, which represents people who have filed child sexual abuse claims against the diocese.

While in bankruptcy protection, the diocese’s expenses must be submitted to and approved by a judge. The order issued Thursday covers attorney compensation through October.

The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 7, 2015, in wake of a $4.9 million verdict in the first case to go to trial under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for victims of decades-old abuse cases to file suit.

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December 8th 2016

By Connie Leonard, Anchor/Reporter
KENTUCKY
WAVE

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – A week after a now suspended Louisville priest and former Trinity High School teacher is found guilty of inappropriately touching a child, S.N.A.P., Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is asking the Archdiocese of Louisville not to push for a light sentence for Father Joseph Hemmerle.

S.N.A.P. took their written concerns to the Office of the Archdiocese on Thursday. While S.N.A.P. representatives feel the archdiocese has improved education about abuse when it comes to adults around children in churches and schools, they still believe when it comes to priests, there’s an instinct to protect at all costs.

“Here in Louisville, we’ve had over 30 some-odd priests who have been credibly accused, we’ve got around four in jail at this time,” said S.N.A.P. member Cal Pfeiffer.

Now, that Father Joseph Hemmerle has been convicted, they want the Archdiocese to be proactive and find out if other victims could be out there.

“Very seldom does an abusive priest only abuse one or two children,” Pfeiffer said. “There were hundreds and hundreds of children at Camp Tall Trees.”

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

Vanessa Brown
news.com.au
@vanessajbrown

TARA refuses to keep Milo in her house.

Because for her, the green tin resembles the night she lost her innocence; and a moment of horror that still keeps her awake at night 26 years on.

When Tara was just four years old, her parents made the decision to join the Jehovah’s Witness organisation, which is currently at the centre of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The Jehovah’s Witness organisation relied on outdated policies and practices, including a 2000-year-old two-witness rule, the royal commission found.

Tara’s abuse is an example of no-one believing the then eight-year-old because she was the only witness to the ordeal.

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NEW JERSEY
Newsworks

PHIL GREGORY

One of the Democrats who wants to be New Jersey’s next governor has an unusual background for a political candidate.

West Orange resident Bob Hoatson is a former Catholic priest and co-founder of a nonprofit organization that helps victims of sexual abuse.

“I just keep fighting for justice and fighting for the rights of people who have been harmed,” said Hoatson. “I did a doctoral degree in leadership, and I’ve been a high school and college administrator, an elementary school administrator.

“I’ve run a lot of organizations. I have run some fairly large budgets. I think that qualifies me.”

Hoatson said he has he leadership skills to make needed change.

“I think New Jersey is severely broken, and I’ve had a history of looking at broken institutions and corrupt organizations and trying to reform and do something about it,” he said. “I think the people have been shortchanged by the leadership.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Nicole Sotelo | Dec. 8, 2016

Have you heard of “Battlefield Hardline”? It is a video game in which players pretend to be police who shoot people in urban areas. Common Sense Media named it among the top 10 most violent video games of 2015, the same year in which public awareness was rising about police brutality. It is also the same year that the video game’s maker showed up as a top stock holding in a new Knights of Columbus mutual fund; a fund that is now being offered to employees of multiple Catholic institutions across the United States.

In March 2015, Knights officials announced the creation of a new subsidiary called the Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors. This new firm offers investment strategies tailored to Catholic institutions. As of the most recent annual report, there were 50 such clients ranging from dioceses to religious orders. In turn, these institutions may then offer Knights mutual funds to their employees as part of a retirement plan. In my own Chicago archdiocese, Catholic employees were given the option to invest in three Knights mutual funds with combined investments totaling more than $83 million as of April 2016.

While church workers may think they are investing in their own retirement, they may be investing against their best interest. There are three things church workers should know before they invest with the Knights of Columbus.

Knights and women

The Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors’ website notes that the profits go back to the Knights organization, “a portion of which further funds Catholic initiatives.” After repeated attempts to talk to the Knights Communications Department about where the profits went and what initiatives were being funded, no response was given by the deadline. Church workers deserve to know that Knights officials have repeatedly used the organization’s resources to back political causes that go against church worker interests, including those of women working for Catholic institutions.

In recent years the organization has donated significant financial backing out of its “charitable contributions” to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C., law firm that has been arguing the case against equal access to contraception for women who work at Catholic institutions such as hospitals and universities. The Knights have also demonstrated that they agree with denying women church workers equal access, something that was a guarantee for other women under the Affordable Care Act. Knights officials also submitted an amicus brief that sided against women’s fair access to contraception. With 80 percent of Catholic lay ministers being women, they deserve to know that the profits being made off their retirement investments may go toward political causes that don’t support women’s health.

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NEW YORK
NewYorkUpstate

By Elizabeth Doran | edoran@syracuse.com

ROME, NY – A priest in Rome, NY has been placed on leave while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse looks into an allegation that dates back 27 years, diocese officials said Thursday.

The Rev. Paul F. Angelicchio, pastor of St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration parish in Rome, has been placed on administrative leave while the allegation dating back 27 years involving abuse of a minor is being investigated, said Danielle Cummings, speaking for the diocese.

“The allegation was first made to the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office who forwarded it to the diocese after their review,” the diocese said in a statement. “Please note that the allegation has not been substantiated.”

The diocese said its practice is to prohibit Angelicchio from functioning publicly as a priest until the matter is resolved.

The allegation will be reviewed by professionals and the Diocesan Review Board, the statement said.

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NORTH CAROLINA
ABC 11

Thursday, December 08, 2016

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WTVD) — Court records indicate a Florida woman who found nude photos of an adult male on her son’s cellphone was able to trace the sender’s telephone number back to a New Hanover County youth pastor.

The StarNews of Wilmington reports that, according to an affidavit, the mother had a parental control option on her 11-year-old son’s cellphone. She was notified by Verizon that an unknown number was contacting her child. When she searched the number on Facebook, she found it was linked to the page of Tyler Simkus Smither.

WWAY-TV reports that according to his Facebook page, Smither is from Raleigh, where he also served as an intern and youth leader at a church.

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KENTUCKY
Courier-Journal

Chris Kenning , @ckenning_cj December 8, 2016

In the wake of a Louisville priest’s conviction for molesting a child, a victim’s advocacy group on Thursday called on the Archdiocese of Louisville to better publicize clergy convictions among parishioners and do more to urge other possible victims to come forward.

Several members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, visited archdiocese headquarters Thursday to deliver that message after former Trinity High teacher Father Joseph Hemmerle was convicted on Nov. 30 in Meade County of molesting a boy at a Catholic summer camp in the 1970s. A second accuser’s trial is slated for next year.

The group asked through a letter that Louisville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz “put on their diocesan websites the names of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics” and that the Archdiocese use parish bulletins, church websites, pulpit announcements and personal visits to “seek out those with knowledge or suspicions about Father Hemmerle’s crimes and beg them to call law enforcement.”

“Rarely is it just one or two. So many kids went through that camp. There is a good chance others are out there,” said Cal Pfeiffer, a member of SNAP in Louisville. “They need to reach out and urge (any potential victims) to come forward.”

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NORTH CAROLINA
Star News

After determining the man in the nude photo looked like the man on Facebook, the woman called Harbor United Methodist Church in Masonboro and spoke with the Rev. Russ Nanney. At the time Tyler Smither’s cellphone number was listed as his contact information on the church’s website.

By F.T. Norton StarNews Staff

NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A savvy Florida mother who found nude photos of an adult male on her preteen son’s cellphone, traced the sender’s phone number back to New Hanover County youth pastor Tyler Simkus Smither, court documents revealed Wednesday.

An affidavit seeking a search warrant filed Tuesday in New Hanover County Superior Court state’s the mother, who had a parental control option on her 11-year-old son’s cellphone, was notified by Verizon that an unknown number was contacting her child. When the mother searched the phone number on Facebook, she found it was linked to Smither’s page, according to the document.

After determining the man in the nude photo looked like the man on Facebook, the woman called Harbor United Methodist Church in Masonboro and spoke with the Rev. Russ Nanney. At the time Smither’s cellphone number was listed as his contact information on the church’s website.

Nanney then called the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.

Smither, 30, is charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a child. He was arrested Dec. 2 and posted a $100,000 bond the same day, according to New Hanover County jail records.

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UNITED STATES
Mennonite World Review

Dec 5, 2016 by Mennonite World Review staff

Eastern Mennonite University announced on Nov. 28 that an external investigation of its response to allegations of sexual misconduct by a former vice president of enrollment found no evidence that administrators had reason to dismiss Luke Hartman prior to his January resignation.

In July, the EMU board of trustees engaged D. Stafford & Associates, a Delaware-based consulting firm that investigates campus safety and law enforcement issues, including compliance with federal regulations.

The external investigation was done in response to allegations of sexual misconduct by Hartman, who resigned days after a Jan. 8 arrest for solicitation of prostitution — a charge that was ultimately dismissed by a judge.

On March 20, Lindale Mennonite Church pastors and elders acknowledged in a congregational letter that an alleged “abusive relationship” involving member Hartman was brought to staff attention in August 2014.

EMU’s release states that DSA found no evidence that EMU administrators had prior information that would have been reason not to hire Hartman. DSA also found administrators did not have information that would have been reason to dismiss Hartman prior to his January resignation.
In performing its inquiry into what EMU knew, D. Stafford & Associates accepted as credible Lauren Shifflett’s April 12 blog posting, which included a recounting of her relationship with Hartman. The DSA report indicates Hartman and Lindale Pastor Duane Yoder met with EMU President Loren Swartzendruber on Sept. 2, 2014. The two men described the relationship as a consensual affair with a 19- to 20-year-old woman from the congregation — diverging from Shifflett’s descriptions of verbal abuse and threats of physical violence.

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AUSTRALIA
Chinchilla News

Chris Calcino | 9th Dec 2016

A FORMER Anglican priest who sexually preyed on two young boys before moving to the Diocese of Grafton has been jailed for at least one year and 10 months.

Lindsay Thomas McLoughlin, 65, pleaded guilty to performing oral sex, fondling and attempting to have anal intercourse with a young teen, and exposing himself while approaching another child in the 1980s.

McLoughlin was linked to former senior priest Peter Rushton, whom a royal commission has heard ran a child sex ring from the Hunter region of New South Wales.

Rushton died in 2007 without ever being charged.

McLoughlin carried out the sexual attacks while employed in the Diocese of Newcastle.

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VATICAN CITY
Deutsche Welle

The Vatican has released a new set of guidelines for seminaries, including measures to protect minors from sexual abuse. Women are also set to take part in seminars as the future clergy must be able to work with women.

Catholic priests-in-training will soon be required to take part in classes on protecting minors from sexual abuse, according to the Vatican’s new seminary guidelines published Thursday.
“The programs include specific lessons, seminars or courses about the protection of youths,” the new priest training regulations said, as published by the Vatican newspaper “Osservatore Romano.”

When evaluating candidates for priesthood, instructors would have to ensure that potential priests have “not been involved in a crime or problematic behavior in this area.”

In the document, the Vatican urges bishops to be “very cautious” when assessing priesthood candidates previously dismissed from other seminaries attempting to enter another theological school.

A greater role for women

Women are also set to play a larger role in the training of priests in the future. The guidelines recommend that women also take part in seminars and university classes with priests as the future male clergy will need to be able to work with women.

The Vatican even recommended that a candidate’s ability to interact with and work alongside women should be taken into account when when being considered for the priestly ordination.

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NEW YORK
Rome Sentinel

A Rome clergyman is on a leave of absence while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse investigates details of an allegation of abuse of a minor 27 years ago.

The Rev. Paul F. Angelicchio, pastor of St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration parish, wrote and read a statement to parishioners on the weekend of of Nov. 19-20 stating he would be taking a leave of absence.

On Wednesday, the diocese issued a statement offering more details:

“Father Paul Angelicchio has been temporarily placed on administrative leave due to an allegation of abuse of a minor. The alleged incident would have taken place 27 years ago,” the diocese said. “The allegation was first made to the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office who forwarded it to the diocese after their review.”

“Please note that the allegation has not been substantiated,” the diocese’s statement continued, “But in keeping with the policy and practice of the diocese, and in conformity with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Father Angelicchio is not permitted to publicly function as a priest until the matter is resolved. The diocese will follow its policy in regards to allegations of abuse including having the entire matter reviewed by professionals and the Diocesan Review Board.”

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INDIA
Deccan Herald

A 41-year-old Catholic priest was on Thursday sentenced to double life imprisonment after he was convicted for raping a minor girl. A special court in Ernakulam also ruled that Fr Edwin Figarez, who was vicar at the Lourdes Matha Church in Puthenvelikkara in Ernakulam district, will have to pay a fine of Rs 2.15 lakh. He will serve the two life terms concurrently.

The priest was booked in April last year based on a complaint filed by the mother of the 14-year-old victim. The prosecution’s case is that Figarez repeatedly sexually abused the girl between January and March 2015, after taking her to his parsonage. The priest’s brother, Sylvester Figarez, was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment for helping the accused evade the police.

Following the revelation of the victim, then a Class IX student, her mother had taken her to a local primary health centre in March last year. Dr Ajitha, however, did not report the matter to the police, and so was named one of the accused in the case. Though the court found the doctor guilty, she was let off under provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

A 12th complainant claiming child sexual abuse against Archdiocese of Agana clergy filed litigation for damages in the Superior Court of Guam yesterday.

Documents filed by plaintiff attorney David Lujan name Robert Aguon Perez as the 12th claimant in a series of suits filed on behalf of child sexual abuse survivors against various named and unnamed parties with in the Archdiocese of Agana including Archbishop Anthony Apuron, former Guam priest Rev. Louis Brouillard and deceased Guam priest Rev. Antonio Cruz.

Perez’s complaint adds yet another name to the growing list of named archdiocesan clergymen who have been accused of child sexual abuse by former altar boys.

According to court documents, Perez was abused at the St. Jude Rectory between the years 1982 and 1985 by former Guam priest Rev. David Anderson, who served as a priest at the Sinajana Parish at the time. Documents further add that the abuse continued throughout 1985 to 1986 at the Father Duenas Memorial School, where Anderson taught theology and where Perez attended when he was around 14 or 15 years old.

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Dec. 6, 2016

For more information: David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell,bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)

Accused priest quietly moves to SD
After “counseling,” he sexually harassed a 22 year old
He allegedly “coerced” her & later fired her from her job
A civil lawsuit against him and his Michigan bishop is pending
Group urges SD Catholic officials to “warn parishioners & the public about him”

A priest who was found to have sexually harassed a college student and who faces a pending civil abuse lawsuit has quietly moved to San Diego where he works for a lawyer. A victims group want bishops in California and Michigan to warn parishioners and the public about him.

[Linked-In]

Six months ago, officials at Central Michigan University ruled that Father Denis Heames sexually harassed then-22 year old Megan Winans. Saginaw Bishop Joseph Cistone ousted the priest, and Winans is now suing both clerics.

[BishopAccountability.org]

Fr. Heames is now a paralegal for attorney Richard McEntyre (619-221-0279) and claims, on his Linked In page, that he moved to California for “family” reasons, making no mention of the lawsuit against him. He also attended San Diego State University.

According to a Michigan newspaper, the lawsuit accuses Fr. Heames, McCaffery, the Saginaw diocese and a Saginaw parish of “battery, defamation, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligent supervision and vicarious liability” because Fr. Heames allegedly “abused his authority when he entered into a sexual relationship with (Winans) when he began acting as her spiritual counselor.”

Another defendant in the suit, Trudy McCaffrey, has also moved out of Michigan. She now works for the church in Irene, South Dakota where she’s a “spiritual director” for Broom Tree Retreat, cultivating new priests. (The lawsuit accuses McCaffery of claiming that Winans seduced Heames and had “the spirit of Jezebel.)

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016

Statement by Judy Jones of St. Louis, SNAP Associate Midwest Director (+1 636-433-2511 home, SNAPjudy@gmail.com)

In a new document, the Vatican says bishops should be careful about accepting seminarians who’ve been rejected by other bishops, seminaries and dioceses. We’re glad for the new language. But given the tremendous and persistent priest shortage, we doubt a sentence or two in some new “guidelines” will make any difference at all.

[Catholic Courier]

There is, however, a more effective approach. It’s called discipline.

Consider Joel A. Wright. He was rejected by 40 seminaries (according to his mom and one news account). He locked up now for 16 years. Why? Because he was caught trying to buy babies or toddlers to abuse.

[10TV]

Imagine the shock that would roil the church hierarchy if Francis were to demote or discipline the bishop who sponsored Wright (Steubenville Ohio’s Jeffrey Montforton) or the 41st seminary director (Josephinum President Monsignor Christopher Schreck) who finally accepted him?

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OHIO
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Thomas R. Hopp was ordained for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1966. He was transferred often among archdiocesan parishes until 1983, when he began a twelve-year stint as pastor of a Dayton parish, followed by seven years at another. Early on he taught at Alter High School in Kettering, and he was an Academic Dean at St. Gregory’s Seminary for a year in the mid-1970s.

In 1997 the archdiocese received an anonymous complaint that Hopp had displayed “odd” behavior toward a child; Hopp was put “on notice” – he was not to be alone with children except during confession. In April 2002 Hopp was placed on administrative leave after a man reported to the archdiocese that Hopp had sexually abused him when he was a 12-year-old altar boy in 1980. Hopp was temporary administrator of St. Michael’s in Ft. Laramie at the time. He admitted to the abuse. Another man filed suit in 2004, claiming sexual abuse as a 12 to 14-year-old by Hopp in the early 1980s at St. Denis in Versailles. A third man claimed in a lawsuit that Hopp sexually abused him when he was a 12 to 15-year-old St. Michael’s altar boy in the early 1980s. The suit was dismissed in 2006 by the Ohio Supreme Court, which cited the statute of limitations.

Hopp was permanently removed from ministry by the Vatican in 2005, and given a “life of prayer and penance.” He died December 21, 2014.

Ordained: 1966
Died: December 21, 2014

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ISRAEL
YNet News

Roi Yanovsky|Published: 08.12.16

David Harrison, a former rabbi at a religious girls’ high school, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of raping one of his students when she was 14-years old.

The student, who is 20 today, arrived at a police station in Jerusalem a few days ago and filed a complaint against the educator.

Harrison, aged 58 from Jerusalem, worked at Ulpanat Beit Shlomit between the years 2007-2010. He is suspected of committing serious sexual offenses against the teenage girl—including rape—while he was working at the school that the girl attended.

Upon receiving the complaint, police launched an investigation, gathering testimonies from Harrison’s family members and officials at the school, among others. The police said the testimonies support the girl’s version.

According to a police official, the alleged offenses were committed both inside and outside the school. Harrison allegedly raped the girl several times, and allegedly hit her when she tried to resist him.

Harrison was fired from the school a year after the alleged offenses were committed, but school officials said the dismissal was unrelated to the suspicions, which they were not aware of at the time.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on December 08, 2016

TRENTON — Bob Hoatson has an unconventional resume for a budding gubernatorial candidate.

The 64-year-old West Orange resident is a one-time Catholic priest who changed course and became a vocal advocate for sexual abuse victims. He’s never been elected to public office.

But now, Hoatson is one of the many contenders seeking the 2017 Democratic nomination to succeed Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican.

And he’s hoping the recent rise of non-politicians like Donald Trump, a businessman with no government experience who was elected America’s 45th president last month, makes his chances of becoming New Jersey’s chief executive less of a long shot.

“My real passion is real leadership,” Hoatson, who launched his bid last month, told NJ Advance Media in an interview Wednesday. “New Jersey is in such bad shape right now. We need leadership.”

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UNITED STATES
Warren Throckmorton

December 8, 2016 by Warren Throckmorton

Godly Response to Abuse in Church Environments (GRACE) is an organization which exists to combat child abuse in the church. In a strongly worded statement, GRACE has taken a position in relation to the scandal swirling around Tullian Tchividjian. The statement is as follows:
Statement from the GRACE Board of Directors

The GRACE board is deeply disturbed about the revelations of sexual misconduct by Tullian Tchividjian. As an organization that deals with the abuse of God’s lambs and the damage silence causes we feel compelled to speak. We believe that no material institution is more sacred to God than His lambs – be it church or mission or family. Institutions ordained by God were destroyed at His hand when they became corrupt. Given that we must be what He calls His people to be or we too will have chosen silence and darkness over truth and light.

Dear victims – and you are indeed victims. You have suffered and we do not want to add our silence to that suffering. Once again, one of God’s shepherds used his position of authority, his gift of words, his intellect and personality to draw you in when you were vulnerable and in need of care. All power belongs to Christ. Any power we have is derivative and sacred and to be used only for His glory and the good of His people. Anything less is an abuse of that power. You have been victims of the gross misuse of power God intended for your good. We grieve with you. We stand with you in the light. You have with courage exposed the deeds of darkness. Thank you, for we as the Body of Christ need your voices but now that the light shines a failure to respond on our part means we have turned from the light you turned on. We pray for you, knowing full well that each and every one of you has a hard road ahead as you seek newness of life, healing and a restoring of your souls. We pray that the failure of a shepherd will not lead you to forsake the Good and Great Shepherd who turns tables over and cracks whips when those in His church rob His sheep and distort the truth of who God is. We also pray that God will multiply the fruit of your hard labor to step into light to cause the greater body to examine itself regarding the many silenced victims that live in its midst.

Dear church of Jesus Christ, our God feeds and folds His sheep. He speaks truth and does not deceive. He protects us from wolves both inside and outside the fold. He does so by laying His own down at the gate. We fear that we have often helped wolves deceive others and hide themselves in sheep’s clothing for our own gain and comfort. In doing so we have not loved those who prey on God’s sheep for we have left them in their darkness and bondage. There are many untended, discarded victims in our midst. We are called by God to stand in the light they have brought, tend their wounds, lift the fallen and tenderly carry those who cannot stand. We are nothing like our Lord if we fail to do so. May the fruit of this grievous sin bring a sweeping of God’s refining fire through the lives of His people across the globe. At a minimum, God’s “refining fire” requires the Christian community to put in place long overdue reforms that will limit the possibility of continuing transgressions against the vulnerable.

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ISRAEL
Jerusalem Post

By ALON HOCHMON/MAARIV \ 12/08/2016

Police have arrested a man who served as a rabbi at a girls’ seminary in Jerusalem, on the suspicion that he sexually abused a former student, it was announced Thursday.

A 20-year-old Israeli woman filed a complaint to the police several days ago, exposing in detail the brutal acts of sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of the suspect when she was 14.

The police then opened a confidential investigation, and after gathering substantial evidence, the suspect in question was arrested.

According to the woman’s complaint, the suspect was an educational authority at an elite and well-known religious girls’ high school she attended in Jerusalem.

She claims that he regularly assaulted her at the institution without anyone ever suspecting his brutal actions.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Domradio

[The bishopric of Hildesheim defended its dealings with a further allegation of abuse against former Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen.]

Das Bistum Hildesheim hat seinen Umgang mit einem weiteren Missbrauchsvorwurf gegen den früheren Bischof Heinrich Maria Janssen verteidigt. Aktuell wendet sich das Bistum gegen die Darstellung eines von “Focus online” veröffentlichten Falles.

In dem Fall einer heute 61-jährigen Frau könne nicht von einer Plausibilität der Schilderungen ausgegangen werden, sagte der Hildesheimer Domkapitular Martin Wilk der Katholischen Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA). Der Beraterstab des Bistums habe den Antrag der Frau deshalb abgelehnt. Sie hatte angegeben, als Zweijährige vergewaltigt worden zu sein. Allerdings wird dieser Fall genau wie andere Vorwürfe gegen den ehemaligen Bischof von unabhängigen Gutachtern weiter untersucht.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Focus

[An allegation of sexual abuse has been made against Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen.]

Ein Flüchtlingslager im niedersächsischen Friedland. Hunderte Familien haben hier Unterschlupf gefunden. An einem Tag im Juli begrüßt die Lagerleitung wieder Neuankömmlinge, die vielen Kinder werden in eine Spielgruppe gebracht. Ein zweijähriges Mädchen wird in ein Hinterzimmer gezerrt. Dort wird sie von einem Bischof mutmaßlich vergewaltigt.

Danach wird das Mädchen zurück in den Hort gebracht. Dort nimmt die Mutter ihr völlig verstörtes und schreiendes Kind wieder in Empfang.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Dec. 8, 2016

Groups that advocate for LGBT persons in the Catholic church are expressing frustration with a new Vatican document that reaffirms a 2005 instruction banning gay men from entering the priesthood.

The document, released by the Congregation for Clergy on Monday and given the title “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation,” is a detailed set of norms and guidelines for priestly formation.

The document draws heavily on Pope John Paul II’s 1992 apostolic exhortation on priestly formation, as well as on the teaching of and norms issued by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis and by Vatican offices over the past three decades.

It reaffirms an instruction approved by Benedict in 2005, which said, “the church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture.'” …

Following are excerpts of the responses to the new document from three U.S.-based groups:
From Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests director David Clohessy:

“Vatican officials are re-affirming their so-called ban on gay priests. Scapegoating some adults protects no children. Behavior, not orientation, is what matters.

“Half of our 20,000 plus members are women who were sexually assaulted as kids by priests, nuns, bishops and seminarians. It’s just wrong to assume or claim that most victims of child molesting clerics are boys.

“This will almost certainly have no impact whatsoever on the church’s continuing child sex abuse and cover up crisis. Those who hope this will make kids safer will be disappointed.”

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FLORIDA
WUWF

[with audio]

By DAVE DUNWOODY

Bishop Gregory Parkes, who has led the Pensacola-Tallahassee Catholic Diocese since 2012, will be installed January 4 as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

Appointed by Pope Benedict the XVI, Parkes became the fifth bishop of the Pensacola-Tallahassee Catholic Diocese. He succeeded Bishop John Ricard, who retired due to health reasons. The decision by Pope Francis to place him downstate, Parkes says, was unexpected. …

“We’ve seen nothing about Bishop Parkes’ record that gives us much hope when it comes to protecting kids, exposing predators, and deterring cover-ups,” said David Clohessy, the Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. In 2013 Bishop Parkes removed Monsignor Michael Cherup as pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Fort Walton Beach, over the alleged abuse in 1993 of a 15-year-old while Cherup was at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Pensacola.

“Bishop Parkes waited months before suspending [Cherup] after the first allegation came in, then let the accused predator-priest claim innocence in a parish bulletin,” Clohessy said. “Which may not sound like a great deal, but what it does, is discourage [sic] other victims, witnesses and whistle-blowers from coming forward.

“The bishops of the United States have made a solid commitment to protect all of our vulnerable populations,” Parkes responded. “Whether they be children our young people; the handicapped, the elderly.”

The question of what would be next in dealing with the scandal hung over the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI earlier that year. At that time, Parkes had been overseeing Pensacola-Tallahassee and its 57 parishes for just over a year.

“I have dealt with it, according to the guidelines of the Charter,” said Parkes. “Whether it was in a manner that was as timely as others would like it, that’s something I can’t answer for.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

MARK COLVIN: In what’s believed to be an Australian first, the Catholic Church has defrocked a priest for having a “long term inappropriate sexual relationship” with a woman.

The Church has also publicly apologised to the woman involved.

The apology is the culmination of a seven-year legal battle that Jennifer Herrick, a parishioner, has waged against the Church over her “toxic” relationship with Father Thomas Knowles.

Her civil damages claim against the Church will be formally settled in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.

And Ms Herrick hopes that her victory will inspire other women who have been exploited by priests to come forward.

Lorna Knowles reports.

LORNA KNOWLES: Jennifer Herrick was a shy 19 year old with hip dysplasia which caused her to walk with an abnormal gait when she first met her local priest, Father Thomas Knowles.

A few years later, he instigated a sexual relationship with her.

JENNIFER HERRICK: I wouldn’t want it to be interpreted in the sense of two people of equal standing in a mature heterosexual relationship because that’s not what it was.

LORNA KNOWLES: Miss Herrick says for 14 years Father Knowles repeatedly exploited her vulnerability as a disabled and sexually naive parishioner.

She says the sex was hurried and humiliating, often in public places or in his car.

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WISCONSIN
WTMJ

[with video]

Coreen Zell

HALES CORNERS — A Hales Corners pastor has been charged with multiple counts of child molestation and aggravated assault.

Tom Chantry has been placed on a leave of absence from Christ Reformed Baptist Church, where he’s been the pastor for the past 10 years.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is asking church members to take a stand.

“This is a crisis of faith for them right now, the congregation. And we’re concerned about how they’re responding to it,” explained Peter Isely, SNAP.

In a statement, church leadership says: “Mr. Chantry is currently on a leave of absence from our church. Our church is strong, and our prayers and confidence are in Christ. We have nothing further to share about this matter.”

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UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Betty Clermont

At least 22 children were sexually abused by two priests at a school for youths with hearing disabilities in Argentina, an investigating prosecutor said Monday.

Police arrested 82-year old priest Nicola Corradi, 55-year-old priest Horacio Corbacho, and three other men last week. They are accused of sexual and physical child abuse at the Antonio Provolo Institute in northwestern Mendoza province ….

Corradi earlier had been accused in Italy of sexually abusing students at the Provolo Institute in Verona, a notorious school for the deaf where hundreds of children are believed to have been sexually assaulted over the years by two dozen priests and religious brothers ….

The association of Provolo victims in Italy wrote to Pope Francis on December 31, 2013, asking for assistance for the victims there, saying they still received no form of solidarity or support, even after the Vatican concluded they had been abused in 2012 ….

Members of the Provolo association met with the pope last year and asked for an independent commission to investigate. The Provolo group provided the AP with the letter from the Vatican dated February 5, 2016, in which the Vatican said it had forwarded the request to the Italian bishops’ conference, saying it was up to them to investigate.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Antonia Blumberg
Associate Religion Editor, The Huffington Post

The Vatican has reaffirmed its position that gay men are barred from entering Catholic seminaries.

In a document entitled “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation,” published online Wednesday, the church outlined a wide range of guidelines for priestly formation. One section addressed “persons with homosexual tendencies,” who it said cannot be admitted to seminaries or to the priesthood.

“The Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture,’” the document stated. …

The rhetoric surrounding gay people and the priesthood emerged shortly after the clergy sexual abuse scandal broke in the early 2000s, noted America Magazine. Prominent Jesuit priest Rev. James Martin argued in a 2010 HuffPost blog that such language may have been an effort by church leaders to blame the scandal on gay priests.

Martin noted that he knows “scores” of priests who are gay, and who lead pious, chaste lives like their straight peers. Since the release of the 2005 document, he said, many gay priests and seminarians have chosen to keep their sexual orientation to themselves ― and some seminaries simply operate on a “don’t ask, don’t tell” basis.

Even Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, said after the document’s release that a gay man with a strong vocation to become a priest “shouldn’t be discouraged.”

Wednesday’s document, however, acts to further strengthen the church’s attitude toward prospective priests who happen to be gay. But Francis DeBernardo, executive director of LGBT Catholic organization New Ways Ministry, said in a statement that it isn’t too late for the Vatican to change course.

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FLORIDA
ClickonOrlando

By Adrienne Cutway – Web Editor

DELTONA, Fla. – Deputies fear there could be more victims after a Deltona youth counselor was accused of molesting a boy he mentored through church, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

Nathan Gorzelanczyk had been working with youth at The Journey church in Orange City as a counselor before his arrest on Monday. He was recently fired from the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home, but deputies said he didn’t tell them why. The Florida United Methodist Children’s Home wouldn’t comment to News 6 about the allegations.

A 12-year-old boy recently told his therapist that Gorzelanczyk had molested him multiple times during the past year, deputies said. Gorzelanczyk, 31, had been mentoring the boy and often took him to church activities, to play tennis and to Gorzelanczyk’s home.

Deputies said Gorzelanczyk molested the boy multiple times at his home and showed him pornography involving young boys.

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INDIA
Indian Express

Written by Shaju Philip | Thiruvananthapuram | Updated: December 8, 2016

A special court in Ernakulam on Thursday sentenced a young Kerala Catholic priest to undergo double life imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping a minor girl from the community. This is the first time in Kerala that a Catholic priest is punished under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The convicted Fr Edwin Figarez, 41, belongs to Kottappauram Catholic diocese. Besides undergoing jail term, he has to pay a fine of Rs 2.15 lakh. The double jail term would run concurrently.

His brother was sentenced to one year imprisonment on charges of helping the priest go into hiding after the police registered the case in April this year. Besides, a government doctor named Ajitha, who had worked a state-run primary health center, was also found guilty on charges of her failure to report the sexual abuse after she examined the victim.

According to prosecution, Fr Figarez, parish priest at Lourd Matha Church, Puthenvelikkara in Ernakulam district, had subjected the girl to sexual abuse several times since January 2016. The last incident was on March 28.

Figarez, a preacher, had been active in the field of Christian devotional songs and had several compositions to his credit. He allegedly lured the girl exploiting her interest in music. Often, he used to take the 14-year-old victim to the parsonage under the pretext of music class.

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INDIA
Scroll

A Kerala-based Catholic priest on Thursday was sentenced to double life imprisonment for raping a minor girl, The Indian Express reported. A special court in Ernakulam also ordered the accused, Fr Edwin Figarez, to pay a fine of Rs 2.15 lakh under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, making it the first time a priest from the community was tried under the law.

Figarez, 41, will serve his sentences concurrently. His brother was ordered to serve one year in prison for helping him hide from the police, who had registered the case in April. Ajitha, a government doctor who had examined the girl, was found guilty for not reporting the crime.

Figarez, who served as the parish priest at Lourd Matha Church, in Ernakulam district’s Puthenvelikkara, had been accused of sexually abusing the girl several times since January 2016. Figarez, associated with the Kottapuram diocese, had been active in the field of Christian devotional songs. He exploited the girl’s interest in music to abuse her.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Tihu Lujan | Post News Staff

“Last week was kind of a whirlwind, but it was a great opportunity to get acclimated in a very quick way. This week has been about listening, meeting the chancery staff and having some of our first meetings, seeing what people do and hearing what their hopes and concerns are.” – Coadjutor Archbishop Michael J. Byrnes

Coadjutor Archbishop Michael J. Byrnes said his first 10 days in office have been a whirlwind, consisting mostly of meetings with different religious groups, organizations, councils and clergymen.

The coadjutor archbishop arrived on Guam on Nov. 26 and met with members of the press yesterday to recount his first 10 days on island, and also gave updates on various church responsibilities.

“Last week was kind of a whirlwind, but it was a great opportunity to get acclimated in a very quick way,” Byrnes said. “This week has been about listening, meeting the chancery staff and having some of our first meetings, seeing what people do and hearing what their hopes and concerns are.”

While Byrnes said that he’s met with a few of the local archdiocesan councils – including the finance council, legal councils and a few priests – the coadjutor archbishop had little to update on, stating that his meetings mostly entertained brief introductions and general overviews of diocesan issues.

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WISCONSIN
WISN

A Baptist minister in Hales Corners has been charged with sexually molesting children in Arizona.

The Rev. Thomas Chantry, 46, served as a pastor at Miller Valley Baptist Church in Prescott, Arizona.

He is accused of molesting the children between 1995 to 2001. One case involves a child under the age of 10.

The case caught the attention of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, including David Clohessy.

“He’s accused of molesting five kids, and common sense would suggest that there’s probably more. So we in SNAP think it’s important for people to spread the word,” Clohessy said.

One of his victims is now in his 30s and came forward with allegations that Chantry began molesting him in an Arizona church office when he was 9 or 10 years old.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

Vatican officials are re-affirming their so-called ban on gay priests.

[America]

Scapegoating some adults protects no children. Behavior, not orientation, is what matters.

Half of our 20,000 plus members are women who were sexually assaulted as kids by priests, nuns, bishops and seminarians. It’s just wrong to assume or claim that most victims of child molesting clerics are boys.

This will almost certainly have no impact whatsoever on the church’s continuing child sex abuse and cover up crisis. Those who hope this will make kids safer will be disappointed.

Priests who commit child sex crimes are still usually not reported to police. Bishops who conceal the crimes are rarely disciplined or demoted. As long as the Vatican tolerates or encourages this recklessness, children will not be safe.

Once again, there’s a vast gulf between a pope’s words and deeds.

In the minds of many in the Catholic hierarchy, the wrong-headed list of alleged “causes” of this crisis is long: salacious journalists, bay priests, vengeful victims, greedy lawyers, ambitious prosecutors, hateful ex-Catholics, loose societal morals, etc. etc. etc. Priests assault kids and bishops tolerate this for one simple reason: because they can. Most predators aren’t caught. Most enablers aren’t punished. So the status quo continues largely unchanged.

No matter what church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches, schools or institutions – especially Catholic ones – to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

A Hale’s Corner minister has been arrested on child sex charges. We are glad that he’s been caught but we’re disappointed in how his supervisors and colleagues are responding. We call on them to work aggressively to help law enforcement prosecute the offender and find – and help – any other victims.

[Daily Courier]

Rev. Thomas Jonathan Chantry of Christ Reformed Baptist Church allegedly molested five kids between 1995 and 2001 in Arizona. But not is not the time for complacency. An arrest is not a conviction. Many times, we see shrewd predators get expensive lawyers and exploit technicalities, escaping convictions or long sentences. Then, sometimes the assault more kids.

So we call on Chantry’s current and former church supervisors, colleagues and members in Wisconsin and Arizona to use pulpit announcements, bulletin notices and church mailings to help law enforcement prosecute Rev. Chantry and seek out – and help – others he may have hurt.

These churches gave Chantry access to kids. So their civic and moral duty doesn’t end with his arrest. They must help put him behind bars and help ameliorate the severe harm he’s caused.

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VATICAN CITY
LifeSite News

Claire Chretien

December 7, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – A new document from the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy released today reiterates that “those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture'” are not to be admitted to seminaries or be ordained Catholic priests.

In a new 90-page document titled The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, the Congregation for Clergy wrote that those who live the homosexual lifestyle, support the “gay culture,” or have “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” “find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women.”

“One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendences,” it continues.

The Gift of the Priestly Vocation directly quotes the Congregation for Catholic Education’s 2005 document Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders. It stresses that it would be “gravely dishonest” for a man to hide his homosexual inclinations for the sake of seeking ordination and that confessors and spiritual directors “have the duty to dissuade” same-sex attracted candidates “in conscience from proceeding towards ordination.”

Lying about one’s sexual attractions demonstrates a “deceitful attitude [that] does not correspond to the spirit of truth, loyalty and openness that must characterize the personality of him who believes he is called to serve Christ and His Church in the minsterial priesthood,” the document reiterates, again quoting the Congregation for Catholic Education’s 2005 Instruction.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

Edward Pentin

The Congregation for Clergy is about to issue a new document on basic norms for priestly formation which aim to move away from “rigidity” in the interests of fostering greater pastoral discernment and accompaniment, according to the Congregation’s cardinal prefect.

In an interview in tomorrow’s L’Osservatore Romano timed to coincide with its release, Cardinal Beniamino Stella explains that the document is a revision of the “Basic Plan for Priestly Formation” issued in 1970 which was later updated in 1985. Those documents were both issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Entitled The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, the guidelines, otherwise known as Ratio Institutionis sacerdotalis, will be promulgated tomorrow, December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Cardinal Stella, a Vatican diplomat and one of the Pope’s most trusted aides, says the decision to issue the new document is in view of “the effect of the rapid evolution the world is subjected to today” as well as changing “historical, socio-cultural and ecclesial contexts in which the priest is called to embody the mission of Christ and of the Church.”

He stresses the document should reflect those realities “without causing significant changes relating to other aspects: the image or vision of the priest, the spiritual needs of God’s people, the challenges of the new evangelization, the languages of communication, and more.”

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

Inés San Martín December 7, 2016
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

ROME- In a new document on the priesthood, the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy has reiterated that men with “deeply rooted homosexual tendencies” shouldn’t be admitted into Catholic seminaries and, therefore, shouldn’t become Catholic priests.

That position was initially stated by the Congregation for Catholic Education in 2005, but it was re-stated in a document released on Wednesday.

The new document, however, is hardly restricted to the question of gay priests. It deals with much more, from the value of indigenous and immigrant vocations to the importance of inoculating future priests against infection by “clericalism.”

The new text, titled The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, was dated Thursday, December 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception, and a public holiday in Italy. The full text can be found here. …

Seventh, the document says that dioceses and religious orders must be on guard not to admit potential sexual abusers to the priesthood.

“The greatest attention must be given to the theme of the protection of minors and vulnerable adults,” it says, “being vigilant lest those who seek admission to a seminary or a house of formation, or who are already petitioning to receive Holy Orders, have not been involved in any way with any crime or problematic behavior in this area.

Eighth and finally, in a vintage Pope Francis touch, the document also insists that future priests be inoculated against infection by “clericalism.”

“Future priests should be educated so that they do not become prey to ‘clericalism,’ nor yield to the temptation of modeling their lives on the search for popular consensus,” it says.

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VATICAN CITY
America

Michael O’Loughlin | Dec 7 2016

The Vatican on Wednesday declared that “persons with homosexual tendencies” cannot be admitted to Catholic seminaries. This reaffirms a 2005 policy now seemingly at odds with Pope Francis’ famous “Who am I to judge?” response when asked about gay priests in 2013.

The document, entitled “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation,” was drafted by the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy, and it is meant to offer wide-ranging guidelines for priestly formation. In addition to several quotes from Pope Francis, the document draws heavily from the writings of St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

Three of the document’s 210 paragraphs are devoted to “persons with homosexual tendencies” who desire to become priests, drawing primarily from a 2005 document that bans candidates with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies.”

Pope Francis approved the document, according to a letter signed by Cardinal Beniamino Stella, who heads the clergy office.

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VATICAN CITY
Congregation for the Clergy

The gift of the priestly vocation, placed by God in the hearts of some men, obliges the Church to propose to them a serious journey of formation. As Pope Francis recalled on the occasion of his address to the Plenary of the Congregation for the Clergy (3 October 2014): “It means guarding and fostering vocations, that they may bear mature fruit. They are ‘uncut diamonds’, to be formed both patiently and carefully, respecting the conscience of the individual, so that they may shine among the People of God”[1].

It was years ago – on 19 March 1985 – that the Congregation for Catholic Education, then competent in this matter, proceeded to amend the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis promulgated on 6 January 1970[2], above all by updating the footnotes in light of the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law (25 January 1983).

Since then there have been numerous contributions on the theme of the formation of future priests, both on the part of the Universal Church and on the part of the Conferences of Bishops and individual particular Churches.

It is necessary above all to recall the Magisterium of the Pontiffs who have guided the Church in this time: Saint John Paul II, to whom we owe the ground-breaking Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (25 March 1992); Benedict XVI, author of the Apostolic Letter ‘motu proprio’ Ministrorum Institutio (16 January 2013); and Francis, whose encouragement and suggestions gave rise to the present document.

Pastores Dabo Vobis, in particular, explicitly sets out an integrated vision of the formation of future clerics, taking equal account of all four dimensions that involve the person of the seminarian: human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral. Ministrorum Institutio seeks to show how the formation of seminarians finds a natural continuation in the ongoing formation of priests, so that the two form one single reality. For this reason, Benedict XVI decided to entrust responsibility for initial formation in the Seminary to the Congregation for the Clergy, which was already competent for the ongoing formation of clergy. He amended, therefore, the relevant articles of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus (28 June 1988), and transferred the Office for Seminaries to the Congregation for the Clergy. During his pontificate, Pope Francis has offered a rich Magisterium and a constant personal example regarding the ministry and life of priests, encouraging and supporting the work that has led to this present document….

[1] Francis, Address to the Plenary of the Congregation for Clergy (3 October 2014): L’Osservatore Romano, 226 (4 October 2014), 8.

[2] Cf. Congregation for Catholic Education, Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis (6 January 1970): AAS 62 (1970), 321-384.

FULLTEXT
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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Courier

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Catholic Church needs holy, healthy and humble priests and that requires prayers for vocations and the careful selection and training of candidates, said the Congregation for Clergy.

Updating 1985 guidelines for preparing men for the Latin-rite priesthood and ensuring their continuing education, training and support, the Congregation for Clergy Dec. 7 released “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation,” a detailed set of guidelines and norms for priestly formation.

The updated document draws heavily on St. John Paul II’s 1992 apostolic exhortation on priestly formation, as well as on the teaching of and norms issued by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis and by Vatican offices over the past three decades.

It reaffirms an instruction approved by Pope Benedict in 2005, which said, “the church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture.'”

The document insists that through courses in pastoral theology, the example of priests and practical experience, candidates for the priesthood learn that priestly ministry involves — as Pope Francis says — being “shepherds ‘with the smell of the sheep,’ who live in their midst to bring the mercy of God to them.” …

Highlighting lessons learned over the past 30 years from the clerical sexual abuse scandal, the new guidelines state, “The greatest attention must be given to the theme of the protection of minors and vulnerable adults, being vigilant lest those who seek admission to a seminary or to a house of formation, or who are already petitioning to receive holy orders have not been involved in any way with any crime or problematic behavior in this area.”

Seminars and courses on the protection of children and vulnerable adults must be part of both seminary education and the continuing education of priests, it says. And bishops must be very cautious about accepting candidates for the priesthood who have been dismissed from other seminaries.

In the end, each bishop is responsible for determining which candidate for priesthood he will ordain, but the guidelines strongly encourage bishops to accept the judgment of seminary rectors and staff who determine a certain candidate is unsuitabl

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic World Report

December 7, 2016

Vatican City, Dec 7, 2016 / 12:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The updated version of the Vatican’s document on priestly formation, released Wednesday, deals with issues of clericalism, homosexuality, and the protection of minors, among other things.

“To be a good priest, in addition to having passed all the exams, a demonstrated human, spiritual and pastoral maturation is necessary,” Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, told L’Osservatore Romano Dec. 7. He was commenting on The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, his department’s new edition of its “fundamentals of priestly formation.”

“I think it is superfluous to add that other minor innovations could be gathered from the text, from the standpoint of approaches to the question, vocabulary used, the formative methodology proposed, and the impulse given by the current Pontifical Magisterium,” Cardinal Stella added.

Media coverage of the document has emphasized that it reaffirms the existing Vatican instruction that homosexuals may not be admitted to seminaries. …

The document then goes on to discuss protection of minors and the accompaniment of victims, saying this must be given “the greatest attention” and that the Church must be vigilant that seminarians “have not been involved in any way with any crime or problematic behaviour in this area” and that “formators must ensure that those who have had painful experience in this area receive special and suitable accompaniment.”

It adds that lessons on the protection of minors are to be included in formation, including how to deal with exploitation and violence such as trafficking of minors, child labor, and sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable adults.

The document also recommends that bishops responsible for seminaries be in dialogue with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, established by Pope Francis in 2013.

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UNITED STATES
Brent Detweiler

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Tom Chantry is a nationally recognized Reformed Baptist pastor and one of the men who has publicly opposed me and attacked me for exposing the conspiracy to commit and cover up the sexual abuse of children in Sovereign Grace Ministries, etc.

The story of his arrest for child molestation broke on November 26 and it was republished yesterday by The Daily Courier in Prescott, Arizona where he used to pastor and committed the alleged crimes. He now pastors at Christ Reformed Baptist Church in Hales Corners, Wisconsin in Milwaukee County. I am not surprised by his arrest based upon my interactions with him.

You can easily access his court case at this link. Do the verification and submit it. Then type in his name, Thomas Chantry and click search. That will take you to another page where you click the case number (J-1303-CF-2016000671). That will take you to his case information.

There you will see five counts for the “molestation of child” and two counts for “aggravated assault – serious physical injury.” He was arrested on July 25 and his bond was set at $100,000. His case information will be constantly updated by the court.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Camila Ruz and Charlotte Pritchard
06 December 2016

Inside the closed world of Hasidic Jews in the UK are stories of mothers who risk everything in order to leave their communities, with their children.

Emily and Ruth are two women who found themselves locked in lopsided battles – facing harassment, intimidation, and crowd-funded lawyers.

Neither of them realised what it would cost them.

A door opens

It was late when Ruth walked up to the front door. She was already nervous and the dark November evening wasn’t helping. Pressing the doorbell, she heard it ring faintly inside. Light shone through the curtains but minutes ticked by and no-one came out. Why weren’t they answering? She’d been invited.

Finally, she heard footsteps and watched as the door opened a crack.

“I thought to myself am I supposed to walk in?” A few anxious seconds later, she turned to leave. But before she had gone more than a few paces, the door opened fully.

A woman stood there silhouetted against the light of the corridor. “I know her and she knows me well but she didn’t look at me, didn’t greet me, instead she just pointed towards the dining room.”

The dining room had a long table stretching away from her, with two men sitting at the far end. These were the men Ruth had come to meet. They knew her family and she says they had offered to help her. Ruth was separating from her husband and the situation had been getting messy.

One man rested his head and arms on the table. He didn’t look up. The other spoke.

We hear that you intend to end your marriage, he said. Ruth would write down their conversation in a diary later. The men had been told that Ruth would be willing to leave her children with their father after their divorce. “No, that’s not the case,” she replied, confused. This was not the conversation she had been expecting.

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GHANA
The Freethinker (UK)

Want a whopping great chopper? Or a larger butt? Well, the man who can provide these and many more ‘divine’ augmentations is Ghanaian preacher Daniel Obinim, above.

How does he deliver the goods?

According to this report, by fondling the genitals and buttocks of his followers.

In some cases, he will keep hold of penises and give them a little shake.

He also offers to massage women’s breasts in order to enlarge them.

In a scene broadcast on his own channel, Obinim TV, the bishop says:
If you do not like the looks of any part of your body, come to me.

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GHANA
Metro

Ashitha Nagesh for Metro.co.uk
Tuesday 6 Dec 2016

A bishop claims to be able to make men’s penises larger by massaging their groins with his hands.

Ghanaian preacher Daniel Obinim has been filmed performing a ritual where he moves around a room full of men, grabbing them each by the crotch.

In some cases, he will keep hold of their penises and give them a little shake.

Graciously, he also offers to massage women’s breasts in order to enlarge them too.

In a scene broadcast on his own channel, Obinim TV, the bishop says: ‘If you do not like the looks of any part of your body, come to me.

‘What do you want that I can’t offer? If you want big buttocks I can do it for you. If you want big breasts, I can help. If you have a small manhood, I can change them all when I come to the spiritual realm.’

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NEW JERSEY
The Freethinker (UK)

Paedophile Catholic priest Fr Kevin Gugliotta, 54, above, is currently languishing in jail, awaiting trial on charges of downloading and sharing images and videos of children involved in sex acts.
Now here’s a thing: according to this report, the Vatican was informed around 13 years ago that Gugliotta was alleged to have molested a 16-year-old boy.

But the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then headed by soon-to-be-Pope Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, decided that he could continue working because the assault took place before he was ordained as a priest.

Prior to his ordination he was a private-sector engineer and Boy Scout leader.

When he became a priest he served for years in various parishes, including a long stint as chaplain to a youth group.

When the allegation first surfaced, Gugliotta was suspended from his ministry in New Jersey and his case was referred to the Vatican for guidance, but he was then brought back into service.

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GUAM
KUAM

[with video]

Updated: Dec 07, 2016

By Krystal Paco

If you haven’t had a chance to meet Guam’s new archbishop, here’s a closer look at the man who was appointed by the Vatican to lead local Catholics into a new chapter of history.

Archbishop Michael Byrnes has been on the job ten days, with most of his visit to the island being committed to listening. “I would hope that the people of Guam understand that I’m here to listen first,” he emphasized. He also said, “Last week was kind of a whirlwind, and I’m kind of coming out on the other side. It’s a great opportunity to get acclimated in a very quick way.” He also quipped, “I think I’m almost over the jetlag, which is good.”

Guam’s new coadjutor was appointed by the Vatican on October 31 and is scheduled to make the permanent move to Guam in mid-January. While he won’t disclose too many details of his meetings with local priests as well as other groups affiliated with the church, Catholics can be confident in his character – which he describes as fair and straightforward.

“When I was vice rector at the seminary, I always wanted the men to know I was fair and I will speak straightforward, but I would be fair. And I think that’s important in relating to such a large diocese that we have here,” Byrnes stated.

Already the archbishop appears to be bringing Catholics together. Over the weekend, dozens of members of the Concerned Catholics of Guam organization and the Laity Forward Movement, who conduct weekly pickets in front the Cathedral-Basilica, put down their signs early enough to attend his Sunday morning mass. Referring to the protest, Byrnes said, “They were saying it’s not against me, which I appreciate. But they have a certain conviction about this and they’re trying to communicate to Rome in this respect, so I get that.”

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com December 7, 2016

As a gesture of good faith and welcome, Catholics who have been picketing weekly in front of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagåtña shortened their picketing this weekend so they could attend Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes’ first Sunday Mass on Dec. 4.

Byrnes arrived on Guam on Nov. 28, or about a month after Pope Francis appointed him on Oct. 31 to succeed Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron should Apuron retire, resign or be removed. Apuron, 71, is undergoing a canonical trial at the Vatican following multiple sex abuse allegations.

“We want to assure you that our picketing is not directed at you and what you have accomplished,” Concerned Catholics of Guam President David J. Sablan and Laity Forward Movement founding President Lou Klitzkie said in a joint letter to Byrnes on Sunday, Dec. 4.

Picketers continue to call for Apuron’s removal as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana and his laicization. Klitzkie and Sablan said they will remain vigilant.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Rachel Browne

The Salvation Army underpaid dozens of people who received financial compensation from the organisation for the alleged physical and sexual abuse they suffered in children’s homes, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told the Salvation Army’s two Australian territories have underpaid abuse victims by thousands of dollars.

A review of almost 200 claims in the eastern territory, which covers NSW, Queensland and the ACT, found more than a quarter were incorrectly assessed according to the Salvation Army’s own formula.

The review of claims from 1997 to 2014 found 134 male victims were paid a total of $5.8 million for alleged abuse in boys’ homes and 52 women received $1.4 million for alleged abuse in girls’ facilities.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

REBEKAH ISONAustralian Associated Press December 7, 2016

A senior figure of The Salvation Army has told a royal commission about harsh conditions in the organisation’s former children’s homes, with residents calling the movement “The Starvation Army”.

The frank appraisal came after the commission heard a further eight retired officers had been dismissed following sex abuse hearings and that the organisation had underpaid survivors.

Retired officer of 30 years’ service David Eldridge on Wednesday said he would be “hard pressed to say that any of the boys’ homes … were warm and loving environments” and that workers felt they had such power over children that they could commit physical and sexual abuse.

Commissioner Andrew Murray asked Mr Eldridge whether he was aware that some former residents used to call the group “The Starvation Army”.

“The food was often bolstered by food that was, in a sense, begged from local grocery stores or fruit shops,” Mr Eldridge, who was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his work for youth and homeless people, told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com December 7, 2016

A former altar boy in Sinajana, who also was a student at Father Duenas Memorial School, has accused a Catholic priest of repeatedly raping and sexually molesting him, from about 1982 to 1986.

Robert Aguon Perez, now 45, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Rev. David Anderson and the Archdiocese of Agana, alleging that Anderson started molesting him when he was an 11-year-old altar boy and then started raping him when he was 12 or 13 years old. The lawsuit states Anderson was a priest in Sinajana and a theology teacher at Father Duenas.

Perez is represented by Attorney David Lujan of the law firm Lujan and Wolff, which has so far filed 12 clergy sex abuse lawsuits against former and current priests on Guam, the Archdiocese of Agana, and as many as 50 unnamed people who may have helped, abetted, concealed or covered up sex abuses.

Lujan’s law firm said on Wednesday it does do not know where Anderson is right now, but that he is not on Guam. This is the first time Anderson’s name has been mentioned in any public allegation or accusation of clergy sex abuse on Guam.

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VATICAN CITY
Times-Picayune

By Religion News Service
on December 06, 2016

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has launched a website as part of its efforts to protect children from clergy sexual abuse and to promote healing and reconciliation. It’s the first time that the Vatican has published resources and documents on the issue.

The site is sponsored by the commission that Pope Francis set up to protect minors. “It is very important for the commission to have a means to communicate,” Marie Collins, an Irish abuse survivor and commission member, said Tuesday (Dec. 6). “I hope eventually people will also use it to communicate with the commission.”

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was established by the pope in 2013. It is headed by Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

The new website includes a template for local churches seeking to protect minors from clerical sex abuse, guidelines on how to handle complaints and options for education and healing. It also provides news and information about the commission and promotes greater sharing of information within the church.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Judge Maria Cenzon of the Superior Court of Guam recused herself from two civil cases filed in her courtroom on Tuesday. According to attorney John C. Terlaje, who represents the Archdiocese of Agana, Cenzon has a familiar relationship with a member on the finance council of the archdiocese. Judge Cenzon filed her recusal order to the court stating the specific details. The cases involves Roy T. Quintanilla and Anthony J. Vegafria, who have accused Archbishop Anthony Apuron of sexual abuse. A new appointment for a presiding judge in the case is expected soon.

Cenzon is now the second judge of the Superior court of Guam to recuse herself from controversial cases of church sex abuse. Judge Anita Sukola, in a civil case filed by Leo Tudela against former Guam priest Rev. Louis Brouillard and the Archdiocese of Agana, stated that she was “closely related to several members of the Neocatechumenal Way,” an organization within the archdiocese of Agana.

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AUSTRALIA
Radio Australia

7 December 2016

By the National Reporting Team’s Lorna Knowles

The Catholic Church defrocks a priest for having a “long-term inappropriate sexual relationship” with a woman, in what is believed to be an Australian first.

The Catholic Church has defrocked a priest for having a “long-term inappropriate sexual relationship” with a woman, in what is believed to be an Australian first.

The church has also publicly apologised to the female parishioner involved, Jennifer Herrick.

The apology is the culmination of a seven-year legal battle Ms Herrick has waged against the church over the “toxic” relationship she had with Father Thomas Knowles.

On Friday, her civil damages claim against the church will be formally settled in the NSW Supreme Court and Ms Herrick hopes her victory will inspire other women who have been exploited by priests to come forward.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Dec 07, 2016
By Sabrina Salas Matanane

And now there are twelve. KUAM News has learned that another person has come forward, alleging he was abused by a priest when he was a altar boy serving in a local parish.

The latest person to come forward is 45-year-old Los Angeles resident Robert Aguon Perez, who grew up on Guam. He alleges that when he was 11 years old he was an altar boy at the Saint Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church in Sinajana where Father David Anderson would allegedly repeatedly sexually molest him while he would spend the night at the church’s rectory. The alleged sexual abuse didn’t stop there – he alleges it continued when he was 14 and 15 when he was a student at Father Duenas Memorial School where Father Anderson was a theology teacher.

He alleges the Agana archdiocese new about the abuse but did nothing.

It was just last week Wednesday the latest case was filed by Oregon resident 56-year-old Norman J.D. Aguon. He grew up on Guam and served as an altar boy at the San Isidro Church in Malojloj. Aguon is one of the many victims of pedophile priest Father Louis Brouillard that have come forward to allege that he would walk around naked at his home at the Carmelite monastery.

Aguon says he was repeatedly sexually molested by Father Brouillard starting when he was 13 up until he was 17. Other former altar boys that claim they were sexually molested by Father Brouillard are Leo Tudela, Bruce Diaz, Vicente Perez, Vicente San Nicolas and Anthony Vegafria. Former altar boys that have accused Archbishop Anthony Apuron of sexual molestation are Walter Denton, Roland Sondia, Roy Quintanilla, and the Estate of Joseph “Sonny” Quinata.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

Rebekah Ison, Australian Associated Press
December 6, 2016

The Salvation Army has removed the names of eight retired officers from their roll and taken action against a further three who were subject to allegations at the child sex abuse royal commission in 2014.

The dismissals came to light the same day a royal commission heard the organisation had underpaid some survivors of child sexual abuse.

The eight dismissed officers from the organisation’s eastern territory are not allowed to wear the uniform and can only attend The Salvation Army Corps or premises under supervision, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard on Wednesday.

Another officer resigned before he could be dismissed, one died during investigation and a third is being investigated by police, counsel assisting Gail Furness SC said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Christopher Knaus
Tuesday 6 December 2016

Survivors of the Salvation Army’s notoriously cruel children’s homes protested outside the royal commission on Wednesday, calling for states, territories and institutions to sign up to the national redress scheme.

The Salvation Army is before the royal commission for the final time this week, following earlier hearings examining children’s homes in Eden Park, Box Hill, Bayswater and Nedlands between the second world war and 1990; and Gill, Bexley, Riverview and Indooroopilly between 1993 and 2014.

The commission has heard harrowing stories of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse in the homes, and that a culture of fear made children too scared to report or resist their mistreatment.

Some children were threatened with physical harm when they came forward, and the reports of others were simply ignored, the royal commission heard.

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CANADA
Business Vancouver

By Bob Mackin | Dec. 6, 2016

Six Northern British Columbia First Nations members are accusing the federal government and RCMP of racial and ethnic discrimination for bungling their allegations of abuse against Vancouver corporate director John Furlong.

Maurice Joseph, Emma Williams, Dorothy Williams, Richard Perry, Ann Tom and Cathy Woodgate filed a complaint Monday (December 5) with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

“Although the government failed to acknowledge, let alone investigate, our concerns regarding alleged abuse by John Furlong, it has favoured Furlong in ways that have silenced and re-traumatized us,” said the complaint by the ex-Furlong students. “Neither the Public Safety Ministry nor the RCMP provided a service to remedy this situation.

“Instead they treated us in an adverse and differential manner. The denial of a service, and treatment in an adverse and differential manner are both prohibited under the Canadian Human Rights Code.”

The six say they are disappointed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who came to power promising a new relationship with aboriginals, never responded to their November 2015 open letter that sought Furlong’s removal from the chairmanship of Own the Podium, the federally funded organization that supports medal-contending Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Instead, they say the government supported Furlong to become chair last July of a Canadian Olympic Committee task force formed to help Calgary explore a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes spoke at a news briefing that started at 10:30 a.m. today in the St. John Paul the Great Center for Evangelization at the Chancery on San Ramon Hill.

Byrnes, who came from the Archdiocese of Detroit, described his first 10 days on Guam.

Byrnes also discussed the islandwide celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Thursday.

“I’m looking forward to our celebration tomorrow, and I really encourage our faithful to join in,” he said.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

A woman who claims she was sexually abused by a school chaplain has told the High Court he first kissed her after she turned 17. “It was an intimate kiss on the mouth,” she said.

The woman said the kiss happened after the chaplain, who was also a teacher, brought her to his house following a trip to the cinema with other school children. She said the sexual element between them progressed and they had oral sex about 35 times.

In her action, the woman alleges, between 2004 and 2007 she was repeatedly and wrongfully physically and sexually assaulted, falsely imprisoned and sexually abused and subjected to sexualised behaviour by the chaplain.

The now 28-year-old woman has sued the former chaplain, who left the Catholic priesthood some years ago; the school where he was chaplain and the local bishop, who all deny liability.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)

Among other “resources,” the new Vatican abuse website “provides links to statements by Popes John Paul II, Benedict and Francis over the past 15 years on the subject.”

http://www.americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/pope-francis-commission-protection-minors-launches-new-website

Really?

Like the one where Francis, on his one year anniversary in office, claimed “No one else has done more (on abuse) than the church. Yet the church is the only one to be attacked.”

https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/francis-marks-anniversary-interview-family-women-contraception

Or the one where Francis praised the “courage” of US bishops in the crisis:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/23/pope-francis-us-catholic-church-sex-abuse-scandal-bishops

Or the one where Francis said “In my diocese it (clergy sex cases) never happened to me. . .”

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/Argentina/

Or the one where Francis ­­­­defended Chilean Bishop Juan Barros, who reportedly witnessed at least three children being assaulted by Fr. Fernando Karadima, telling Catholics “Don’t let yourselves be led by the noses of all the leftists who have plotted this. . .”

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2015/11/12/prominent-chilean-priest-punished-for-sex-abuse-maintains-his-innocence/

Or the one where Francis’ representative to a United Nations panel said Vatican officials have no responsibility for abusive clerics because “”priests are citizens of their own states, and they fall under the jurisdiction of their own country.”

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UNITED STATES
The Guardian (UK)

Dr A Renee Bergstrom
Saturday 3 December 2016

In 1947, when I was just three years old a doctor removed my clitoris. Female genital mutilation is mostly associated with African cultures, and non-Christian religions, but my FGM happened in white, midwest America. It took place in a church clinic that used a scalpel on girls who masturbated.

I remember the excruciating pain and feeling betrayed. I was told not to talk about it, but keeping the secret meant I was alone with my questions as I grew into puberty: what was missing? What would it be like to be “whole”?

At 15 I consulted a doctor regarding a tugging sensation from my scar tissue. Unknowingly, I went to the same clinic where the clitoridectomy was performed and the doctor shamed me with a booklet entitled The Sin of Self-Pleasuring.

My first child and I could have died – an almost universal impact of FGM is difficulty giving birth. I, like so many women around the world, did not know genital scar tissue does not stretch. I wanted to be fully awake to experience giving birth, but my obstetrician performed an extensive episiotomy under anaesthetic that took months to heal. He was compassionate and shocked to hear the origin of my scar.

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UNITED STATES
Raw Story

ERIN CORBETT
06 DEC 2016

dR. Renée Bergstrom broke the silence about her experience with female genital mutilation as a child. She recounted how when she was just three years old she was taken to the doctor to have her clitoris removed, Bergstrom wrote for the Guardian.

Bergstrom is now 72 years old, but is now breaking the silence about female genital mutilation, which happened in white, Midwest America. She wrote of her Christian mother taking her to a church clinic to have the procedure as a “‘cure’ for masturbation.”

“My mother was concerned that I was masturbating, and my face turned very red,” Bergstrom shared in a video that accompanied her piece. “She took me to a doctor who said, ‘Well I can fix that,’ and cut off my clitoris.”

“As I was growing older, she told me she knew it was a mistake and that I was not supposed to ever talk about it,” she said.

“I remember the excruciating pain and feeling betrayed,” she wrote. “I was told not to talk about it, but keeping the secret meant I was alone with my questions as I grew into puberty: what was missing? What would it be like to be ‘whole’?”

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MASSACHUSETTS
Catholic Free Press

A part-time music and theater arts teacher has been dismissed from two Catholic schools as a result of allegations of sexual abuse that reportedly occurred in the early-1990s, according to a press release from the Diocese of Worcester.

The teacher, Derek P. Sylvester of Worcester, was placed on paid administrative leave Nov. 10 and subsequently dismissed Dec. 2 after an internal investigation and recommendation, according to the diocesan Office of Communications. During the investigation, Mr. Sylvester denied that any sexual abuse had occurred, the release stated.

The allegations against Mr. Sylvester were from a time prior to his employment at St. Mary Elementary School in Shrewsbury and St. Joseph Elementary School in Webster. Neither school had received any complaints about Mr. Sylvester’s behavior.

According to the press release, Judith Audette, the victim’s assistance coordinator for the diocesan Office of Healing and Prevention, received a confidential report Nov. 7, made by the alleged victim, who is now an adult. In keeping with its policies, the Diocese said it reported the allegation to the Worcester District Attorney’s office.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Ulster Star

The Diocese of Down and Connor has confirmed that a priest has been suspended from his ministry pending a PSNI investigation into “an alleged incident of an historical adult nature.”

A spokesperson for the Diocese commented: “The Diocese of Down and Connor has been informed that the Police Service of Northern Ireland has initiated an investigation into an alleged incident of an historical adult nature involving a priest of the Diocese of Down and Connor.

“Bishop Noel Treanor has suspended the cleric’s ministry pending a full and complete investigation.”

It’s understood police officers have interviewed the priest, who hasn’t been named by the Diocese, in connection with an alleged sexual assault.

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SCOTLAND
Premier

Tue 06 Dec 2016

By Aaron James

The Archbishop of Glasgow has welcomed Baroness Helen Liddell as chair of an independent review into the Scottish Catholic Church’s safeguarding practices.

Rt Rev Philip Tartaglia (above) thanked Baroness Liddell, a Labour peer and former Scottish secretary, for helping to ensure the recommendations of a commission into abuse claims within the Church, led by the Very Rev Dr Andrew McLellan, are carried out.

The appointment follows criticism from Dr McLellan that the Church was “appearing to ignore” his recommendations, which included ensuring justice is done for those who have been abused and that its safeguarding practices are rewritten and subject to external scrutiny.

The claim was rejected by the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, which said its commitment to implement the recommendations in full had not diminished.

Announcing Baroness Liddell’s appointment, the Bishops’ Conference said the group would operate separately from the church to review safeguarding standards and carry out independent audits.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

BARONESS Helen Liddell – former Scottish Secretary and former aide to Robert Maxwell – is used to taking on some of the trickier appointments in public life, but she has started her latest one with some tough talking. As chair of the group overseeing the response of the Catholic Church in Scotland to historic sex abuse, Baroness Liddell says there will be no box-ticking. Writing in The Herald, she also promises that, although a Catholic herself, she will be independent and fearless. A light will be shone into every corner of church procedure, she says.

Naturally, it is going to take time to judge whether the Independent Review Group under Baroness Liddell can be as effective she promises it will be, but in laying out an uncompromising manifesto, its first chair is off to a good start. The credibility of the Catholic Church in Scotland rests on it doing everything possible to ensure abuse does not happen again. Baroness Liddell is also right to say solace and support must be provided to survivors.

However, in taking on the job, Baroness Liddell also appears to acknowledge that the process so far has not always been handled as well as it could have been. Last month, Dr Andrew McLellan, chair of the commission which investigated abuse in the Church and recommended the establishment of the review group, said the process was not proceeding as it should. Dr McLellan and six other members of the commission said a lack of action by the bishops was in danger of confirming survivors’ fears that the recommendations for change would be ignored. It was a serious accusation from a respected figure.

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SCOTLAND
The National

SCOTLAND’S bishops have asked former Labour minister Helen Liddell to take charge of making the Catholic Church a “safe place for all”.

Liddell will chair the independent review group responsible for implementing the recommendations of Dr Andrew McLellan’s report into the church’s failures over child protection. The former MP for Airdrie and Shotts promised the group would be “transparent and fearless”.

Back in 2013, the bishops had McLellan, a former Chief Moderator at the Kirk, chair a review and make “recommendations for improvement that will assist the Church in being a safe place for all”.

McLellan’s report, which was published last year, called for the Catholic Church to make an immediate apology to survivors and to rewrite all its safeguarding policies and open itself up to external scrutiny.

Liddell’s appointment comes just weeks after McLellan accused the bishops of ignoring his report.

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SCOTLAND
The Times

Will Humphries
December 6 2016
The Times

A Labour veteran will lead an independent group monitoring the Catholic church’s response to child sexual abuse — 16 months after it was called for by an official report.

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke, a former secretary of state for Scotland, has been appointed by the church after criticism that it was appearing to drag its feet over implementing new safeguards against child sexual abuse scandals, which have plagued it in recent years.

The Bishops’ Conference, the ruling body of the Catholic Church in Scotland, formally announced Baroness Liddell yesterday as the first chairwoman of the Independent Review Group. It will work separately from the church, reviewing new safeguarding standards and carrying out independent audits.

An independent body was called for 16 months ago by Andrew McLellan in his official inquiry report into the child sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church in Scotland.

At the beginning of last month, he criticised the Catholic hierarchy for failing to act on the recommendations of his commission, which called for an independent review body. The church responded on November 2 by saying a “chairman has accepted and the members of the group are being confirmed”.

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SCOTLAND
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The bishops of Scotland are implementing measures in order to further improve the standards of safeguarding the welfare of people involved with the Church.

The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland has recently established an independent Review Group that will consider the Scottish Church’s existing safeguarding policies, with an aim of making any possible improvements.

This week, the appointment of the first chairperson of the Review Group was announced. Baroness Helen Liddell is a veteran member of the UK Labour Party and was a member of former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s cabinet. She will appoint the members of the group and oversee the Church’s efforts to take care of survivors of abuse.

The former Secretary of State for Scotland said the Review Group will include “safeguarding professionals, specialists in the evaluation of organisations, a representative of Police Scotland and a canon lawyer.” Speaking about the work of the group, she added: “Judge us by our actions.”

The announcement comes after members of the McLellan Commission suggested that recommendations from its 2015 report were not being implemented appropriately.

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AUSTRALIA
Jerusalem Post

By TAMARA ZIEVE \ 12/06/2016

Australian Rabbi Shimshon Yurkowicz announced Tuesday that he had resigned as a member of the Orthodox Rabbinic bodies in Australia following damning findings by a royal commission into the responses of two Jewish institutions to allegations of child sexual abuse within their communities.

The two institutions investigated were the Yeshiva Center and the Yeshiva College in Melbourne, Victoria, and the Yeshiva Center and the Yeshiva College in Bondi, Sydney, New South Wales.

“The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has highlighted over the last few years the unfortunate and inexcusable mistakes that were made in the past,” said Yurkowicz, as he announced his resignation from the Rabbinical Council of Victoria and the newly formed Rabbinical Council of Australia and New Zealand.

In a letter to his Chabad Malvern community, he said: “I understand that during the time I was on the committee of management and a trustee of the Yeshiva Center [since 2006], victims of child sexual abuse, and others, have suffered, and I sincerely apologize for that. I no longer have any involvement in the Yeshiva Center, and have been asked to resign my membership from these rabbinic groups because of the position I held at that time.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors [PCPM] is launching a new website to provide information on the Commission and its Mission.

The website –currently in a ‘beta’ format – has resources divided into four categories: “Healing and Care”, “Guidelines”, “Education”, and the “Day of Prayer [for the Victims and Survivors of Sexual Abuse]”.

It also provides news and information about the Commission in an easily accessible format.
Pope Francis formally appointed the first eight Members of the “Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors” on 22 March 2014, upon the suggestion of the Council of Cardinals.

In a ‘Chirograph’ issued the same day, the Holy Father wrote that the Commission’s task is to advise the Roman Pontiff on effective policies for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults and educational programs for all who are involved in this work.

The website – www.protectionofminors.va – is currently available in English, but will be expanded to Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese in the near future.

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VATICAN CITY
Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors

Introduction

Pope Francis, in his letter of 2 February 2015 to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences and Conferences of Major Superiors, wrote that the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors “can be a new, important and effective means for helping me to encourage and advance the commitment of the Church at every level – Episcopal Conferences, Dioceses, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and others – to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults.”

The following Guidelines Template is provided to Episcopal Conferences and Religious Congregations to assist their development and implementation of policies and procedures for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse, for responding to abuse in the Church and for demonstrating integrity in this work.

These Guidelines build on the work already undertaken by many Conferences and on guidance in the Circular Letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of 3 May 2011. The Commission hopes to assist local Churches in establishing and maintaining a comprehensive set of local Guidelines for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults.

GUIDELINES TEMPLATE

1. An introductory statement setting the guidelines in a faith context.
The Commission considers it very important that the safeguarding of minors and vulnerable adults is seen as an integral part of the mission of the church, one that it is firmly rooted in our belief that each individual has a unique worth created in the image and likeness of God. This opening section should make it clear that what follows is gospel based.

2. A statement of commitment to Article 3.1and Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The protection of children recognises their human rights as expressed in this United Nations Convention:

Article 3.1

“In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”

Article 19

“1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from al forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s), or any other person who has the care of the child.

2. Such protective measures should, as appropriate, include effective procedures for the establishment of social programmes to provide necessary support for the child and for those who have care of the child, as well as for other forms of prevention and for identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up of instances of child maltreatment described heretofore, and, as appropriate for judicial involvement.”

The Holy See is a signatory to this Convention.

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VATICAN CITY
America

Gerard O’Connell | Dec 6 2016

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is launching a new website devoted to providing information on the commission and its mission, the Vatican announced on Dec. 6.

The website, www.protectionofminors.va, aims to provide the public with regular updates on the commission’s work in promoting a culture of safeguarding together with local churches as well as the educational programs involving the P.C.P.M. worldwide.

The commission, set up by Pope Francis in March 2014 as an advisory body, is headed by Cardinal Seán O’Malley and has 17 members, including two survivors of clerical sex abuse. Its membership includes eight women and nine men (four of them clerics), from all continents. Its secretary is Msgr. Robert Oliver from Boston.

The commission is engaged in a process of educating bishops and church leadership worldwide, including heads of religious orders, on their respective responsibility and accountability for the protection of children, adolescents and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse and for creating a climate that ensures their protection in all institutions and structures of the Catholic Church.

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VATICAN CITY
KBZK

By Delia Gallagher CNN

ROME (CNN) — The Vatican has launched a new website detailing its efforts to protect children from sexual abuse by clergy.

It’s the first time the Vatican is publishing the documents and resources in one place, including an email and phone number to contact its commission for the protection of minors.

The commission was established in 2013 and is headed by Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

“It is very important to the Commission that we are as transparent as possible,” project coordinator Emer McCarthy told CNN Tuesday. “Our members want people to know that they are doing their level best to carry out the commission of the Holy Father.”

“Much of the work of the Commission is listening, study and reflection, so there will not be day-to-day updates, but the website is the vehicle to let people know that we are here,” she added.

‘Comply with authorities’

The website includes a template for local churches around the world to use in establishing their own norms for protecting minors from clerical sex abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

Inés San MartínDecember 6, 2016
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

ROME – A beta version of a new website featuring resources for the prevention of clerical sexual abuse around world made its debut on Tuesday, launched by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors created by Pope Francis and led by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston.

The site includes a template for anti-abuse guidelines each local church was asked to produce back in 2011, under emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.

The site, conceived as a way to share the knowledge and resources the commission has on safeguarding children and caring for survivors, is currently only available in English, but with other major languages following soon.

Emer McCarthy, project manager of the papal commission, told Crux that Spanish is the next goal, followed by French, and eventually Italian, German and Portuguese.

Although the website has a focus on sharing the commission’s activities, McCarthy underlined that it’s not a PR exercise but a tool that will “hopefully help people.”

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Catholic News Service
12.6.2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has launched a beta version of its website in English and has included its template for local guidelines on preventing sexual abuse, resources for a day of prayer for the victims and survivors as well as a mailing address to contact commission members.

The website — www.protectionofminors.va — eventually will include versions in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French, the commission said in a statement Dec. 6.

Pope Francis’ international Council of Cardinals identified the protection of children and young adults as one of the church’s priority needs and suggested in December 2013 that he create a commission to advise him and assist dioceses and religious orders around the world in drawing up guidelines, handling accusations and ministering to victims and survivors. Pope Francis named the first members three months later and appointed as president Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

by Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Dec 6, 2016 / 06:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors launched a new website Tuesday, which is designed to help inform the public about their work, and includes resources for Church leaders on safeguarding children and caring for survivors.

Announced by the Vatican Dec. 6, and coinciding with the feast of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, the website is considered to be in the “beta” stage and is still undergoing development.

However, the website already includes information on the history, mission and members of the Commission, practical resources and Church documents on the topic of abuse, as well as past and upcoming programs of the commission, and news about their current work.

The commission serves as an advisory body to the Pope, providing recommendations on how the Church can best protect minors and vulnerable adults. It consists of 17 men and women from around the world who work in the field of abuse prevention and recovery, including a few survivors, and is headed by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston.

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MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016

For more information: David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)

Two accused church officials quietly move
One still works for an institution training priests
Victims’ blast “reckless secrecy” of Saginaw’ Catholic bishop
Investigation showed cleric “sexually harassed” a then-22 year old
Lawsuit says church official accused victim of seducing older priest

Two defendants in a civil abuse and cover up lawsuit involving a Saginaw priest have apparently moved out of state. A victims group is blasting the priest’s supervisor for “doing what bishops have done for decades: letting alleged wrongdoers quietly move away after being accused and work again among unsuspecting and vulnerable families.”

One of the accused, Trudy McCaffrey, still works for the church in Irene, South Dakota where she’s a “spiritual director” for Broom Tree Retreat, cultivating new priests. The other defendant, the alleged predator in the case, Father Denis Heames, now works for a San Diego California lawyer.

[Facebook]

[Linked-In]

According to a Michigan newspaper, the lawsuit, filed earlier this year in Isabella County in Chief Judge Paul Chamberlain’s court, accuses Fr. Heames, McCaffery, the Saginaw diocese and St. Mary’s parish of “battery, defamation, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligent supervision and vicarious liability” because Fr. Heames allegedly “abused his authority when he entered into a sexual relationship with a then-22 year old student in the fall of 2012, when he began acting as her spiritual counselor.”

In some states, it’s a crime for a clergy person to have sex with a congregant. Advocates say it’s inherently abusive for “well educated, powerful priests, who have massive power over parishioners, to exploit that power for their sexual gratification, just like doctors can’t have sex with patients and therapists can’t have sex with clients,” according to David Clohessy of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Letting McCaffery and Fr. Heames “quietly” move is “reckless, deceitful and callous” and “endangers vulnerable young church members,” said Clohessy. “These deliberate and irresponsible decision violate, at least in spirit, the US bishops’ abuse policy which supposedly mandates ‘openness and transparency’ in clergy abuse cases. Bishops in San Diego, South Dakota and Michigan are taking big risks here.”

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OREGON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

We are glad that a Baptist youth pastor has been arrested and allegedly admitted child sex crimes. But we’re disappointed in how his supervisors and colleagues are responding and call on them to work aggressively to help law enforcement prosecute the offender and find and help his victims.

[Mail Tribune]

Kenneth Leo Baker, 44, of Ashland, faces six sex charges for allegedly abusing a girl for five years. Pastor Don Baldrica says Baker “revealed what he had done” to him and other church leaders. And Baldrica says he immediately called the law. We hope he’s telling the truth. Regardless, the pastor’s civic and moral duty doesn’t end here. They gave Baker access to kids. So they must help put Baker behind bars and help ameliorate the severe harm he’s caused.

According to a local newspaper, church officials removed all reference to Baker on their website. But pretending he was never there is deceitful and self-serving. Instead, the church should post prominent notices on their website and elsewhere begging anyone who may have information or suspicions about Baker to call law enforcement. They should be writing letters to former staff and members stressing the same message.

Ministers call themselves “shepherds.” A caring shepherd in cases like this admits there are likely other “lost sheep” out there, suffering in silence, shame and self-blame. He or she would use every possible method of reaching out to them – church signs, bulletins, mailings and pulpit announcements. Instead, most ministers do little but focus on protecting themselves from criticism and litigation. We hope this doesn’t happen here.

No matter what courts or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches or institutions – especially in Baptist ones – to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

We are upset that a convicted child molester was beaten to death in an Argentine church. Violence is never the answer.

[Inquirer]

But we’re also upset that Marcelo Fabian Pecollo was working in the church to begin with. We believe it’s reckless and callous for church officials to employ or host convicted child molesters, especially when they’re apt to be up on the altar or in front of congregants – places of prominence that likely rub even more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of victims and their loved ones. Very rarely, it’s also reckless for the safety of the molester himself.

Criminals who have completed their sentences should not go hungry or jobless. But they should not be given positions of respect or power, especially in churches. Too often, predators use positions like this to gain legitimacy and build trust, especially with trusting parents. Then, they often assault innocent kids or vulnerable adults.

No matter what happens in this case, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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ITALIA/ARGENTINA
Rete L’Abuso

[The priest Nicola Bruno Corradi was arrested in Argentina where he was sent in the ’80s after having abused deaf children at an institution in Verona. Among the victims were also some children from Brescia.]

Il sacerdote Nicola Bruno Corradi è stato arrestato in Argentina dove era stato mandato negli anni ’80, dopo aver abusato dei bambini sordomuti di un istituto d’accoglienza di Verona. Tra le vittime anche alcuni bimbi bresciani.

Le manette sono scattate lunedì scorso in Argentina, dopo anni di abusi e violenze sui bambini sordomuti ospiti di alcune strutture d’accoglienza. Sarebbero decine le piccole vittime di Don Nicola Bruno Corradi, sacerdote veronese di 82 anni. Bambini tra i 10 e 12 anni con incapacità uditive e di linguaggio, ospiti dell’istituto Provolo di Mendoza. Si parlerebbe di almeno 60 casi di abusi, avvenuti tra il 2007 e il 2009.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

In riferimento al comunicato diramato ieri dall’ufficio stampa diocesano che ha irritato non poco le decine di persone che nel savonese si sono trovate la vita irreparabilmente distrutta a causa degli atti criminali commessi dai preti pedofili savonesi e coperti per anni dalla diocesi, riteniamo opportuno definire con precisione l’operato del vescovo dimissionario Vittorio Lupi, parecchio differente dal mieloso comunicato diramato ieri.

Vittorio Lupi arrivò a Savona nei primi mesi del 2008 e fu immediatamente informato da don Carlo Rebagliati su quale fosse la drammatica situazione della chiesa savonese, una situazione senza ombra di dubbio ben conosciuta e anche documentata dalla stessa diocesi e dal Vaticano, come dimostrano le decine di carteggi prelevati dagli inquirenti durante le indagini.

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SCHWEIZ
SRF

[The Swiss bishops have announced a compensation plan for victims of abuse. Since 2010, more than 200 victims of sexual assaults by Catholic clergy have been reported and many cases were time-barred.]

* Die Schweizer Bischofskonferenz hat in Sitten eine Gebets- und Bussfeier für die Opfer sexueller Übergriffe im kirchlichen Umfeld durchgeführt.
* Zwischen 2010 und 2015 haben sich 223 Opfer sexueller Übergriffe durch Kirchenmänner der katholischen Kirche in der Schweiz gemeldet.
* Viele Übergriffe sind verjährt. Für viele dieser Opfer sei die Situaion «besonders erdrückend», hiess es von der Bischofskonferenz.

Der Gebets- und Bussfeier in der Basilika von Valeria in Sitten (VS) stand der Präsident der Schweizer Bischofskonferenz, Charles Morerod, vor. Er bekannte in einem Gebet: «Grosse Schuld ist in unserer Zeit in der Kirche und auch in unseren Diözesen und Gemeinschaften offenbar geworden. Es ist dies eine Schuld Einzelner, eine Schuld, die auch durch bestimmte Strukturen sowie Verhaltens- und Denkmuster ermöglicht worden ist.» Die Schuld sei mehrschichtig.

Morerod nannte den Übergriff als solchen, aber auch das gleichgültige Schweigen und die unterlassene Hilfe für das Opfer. «Wir fühlen uns auf verschiedenen Ebenen verantwortlich und verdanken den Opfern, dass sie uns die Augen geöffnet haben», sagte Morerod.

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AUSTRALIA
Manny Waks

6 December 2016

​Following our public statement from earlier today, Rabbi Shimshon Yurkowicz has sent the statement below to his community. We welcome Rabbi Yurkowicz’s public apology, and his public commitment to child protection within his community.

​Dear Chabad Malvern Community,

I am writing to let you know that I have stepped down as a member of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) and the newly formed Rabbinical Council of Australia and New Zealand (RCANZ).

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse over the las t few years, has highlighted the unfortunate and inexcusable mistakes that were made in the past. I understand that during the time I was on the committee of management and a trustee of the Yeshivah Centre (since 2006), victims of child sexual abuse, and others have suffered, and I sincerely apologise for that. I no longer have any involvement in the Yeshivah Centre, and have been asked to resign my membership from these Rabbinic groups because of the position I held at that time.

We at Chabad Malvern have always prioritised child protection at all of our activities. Our crèche, after school programs, camps and Shul all have child protection policies in place which our staff are strongly committed too. Since the Royal Commission, Chabad Malvern and its leadership have enrolled in the Australian Childhood Foundation’s accreditation program, and myself and our staff have furthered our awareness and vigilance and continue to do so.
Over the past 30 years, we at Chabad Malvern have built a wonderful community which you are a part of or have been connected to in some way, and therefore I wanted to personally notify you of my decision.

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VATICAN CITY
Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors

From the beginning of our work, the Commission Members have adopted the principle that the healing and pastoral care of victims/survivors of sexual abuse is of primary importance to our work.

The first way for us all to learn how to protect minors and vulnerable adults is to meet with victims/survivors and to listen to them. Listening is an important part of the healing process for the victims/survivors, but also for their families, communities, and for the entire Church.

Victims/survivors, more than anyone else, can also teach us how to prevent future abuse. One of the specially dedicated “working groups” of the Commission focuses on initiatives and projects aimed at improving pastoral outreach to the victims/survivors, families and faith communities that have been wounded by child clerical sex abuse.

All the Members have emphasized the mission to offer advice to the Holy Father on ways to improve response mechanisms and communication channels with victims and survivors in local Churches.

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ARGENTINA
Inquirer (Philippines)

AFP

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A trumpeter has died after being badly beaten during a concert he was giving in a cathedral near Buenos Aires, attacked by parents from a preschool where he had molested children, a priest said Monday.

Marcelo Fabian Pecollo, a music teacher and trumpeter with the Moron city orchestra, was sentenced in 2010 to 30 years in prison for molesting five preschool children. He was freed in 2014 after a sentence reduction.

The attack took place on October 30 at the cathedral in Moron, a Buenos Aires suburb.

The group of parents barged into the cathedral yelling: “There is a pedophile and a rapist in the church and he is playing in this orchestra.”

Pecollo, 42, tried to get away but the group caught up with him and beat him, including one parent who hit the man with his own trumpet, according to witnesses.

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ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva

David Rosenberg, 05/12/16

A man accused of performing indecent acts on a small boy was indicted Monday morning in a Jerusalem district court.

Shlomo Aryeh Rothman, a 21-year old resident of Beit Shemesh, has been charged with a series of sexual assaults on a 13-year old haredi child, whom he lured into his car from outside of the synagogue in which the boy prayed.

Rothman, who had visited the area of the synagogue several times, selected his victim and offered to give him a ride in his car.

On at least four separate occasions, Rothman met with the child outside of the synagogue, took him in his car, and performed indecent acts on him.

The suspect would on these trips drive the boy around to different sites in the city and, after sexually assaulting him, would offer to buy him candies and presents. He also demanded his victim not reveal the incidents to anyone.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

Genevieve Gannon – AAP on December 6, 2016

A former Catholic school principal convicted of sexually abusing students while giving them “sports massages” in the 1970s has avoided jail for a second time.

Marist Brother Gerard Joseph McNamara, 78, was handed a 16-month suspended sentence by the Victorian County Court on Tuesday after admitting to indecently assaulting two brothers in 1975.

In 2005 McNamara was sentenced to 36 months – also wholly suspended – for seven offences committed in the exact same circumstances.

Most of the assaults happened in the school sports shed after the student sustained an “injury”.

The principal and sports master at St Paul’s Catholic College in Traralgon had a reputation among students, who referred to the abuse as “getting a rub down from Brother Gerard”.

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AUSTRALIA
Esperance Express

Daniel Burdon
5 Dec 2016

A former Catholic headmaster of a Queanbeyan primary school allegedly sexually assaulted a student in his care in the mid-1960s on “numerous occasions”, but died before the case against him was settled last month.

It is understood the allegations against the former headmaster of St Gregory’s Primary School, Marist Brother Charles Giuliani, have not previously been reported publicly.

Documents filed in the ACT Supreme Court on behalf of the plaintiff alleged Brother Giuliani “sexually assaulted the plaintiff on numerous occasions” while the plaintiff was a student in his care between 1962 and 1966.

Originally filed in November 2015, the case was settled last month, without any admission of guilt, between the plaintiff, the Estate of Charles Giuliani and the Trustees of the Marist Brothers.

A spokesman for the Marist Brothers Province of Australia said that where a settlement was reached, it was “not a finding of criminal conduct, however it is recognition that some trauma has been sustained by the claimant involved”.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Melissa Brown and staff

A Melbourne rabbi has resigned from one of the most senior Jewish bodies in Australia in the wake of the child abuse royal commission.

Rabbi Shimshon Yurkowicz was a trustee of Yeshivah Centre, which was strongly criticised by the commission for its failure to stop paedophiles preying on children.

The Rabbinic Council of Australia and New Zealand confirmed Rabbi Yurkowicz’s resignation.

The commission found many of the lead rabbis at Yeshiva Melbourne and Yeshiva Bondi, as well as synagogues and schools in Sydney and Melbourne followed “a pattern of total inaction” that was wholly inadequate.

Commissioners also found a “marked absence of supportive leadership for survivors of abuse” and the incorrect application of Jewish law left those who spoke out criticised and isolated.

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

December 6, 2016 by J-Wire Staff

Rabbi Shimshon Yurkowicz, Rabbi of Melburne’s Chabad Malvern has resigned his membership of the Orthodox Rabbinic bodies in Australia.

Child sexual abuse advocate Manny Waks writes on his blog: “This follows the release last week of damning findings by the Royal Commission into the response of the Yeshivah Centre in Melbourne and Yeshiva Bondi, Sydney to child sexual abuse, which found its leadership responsible for the horrific treatment of victims/survivors and their families.

The Royal Commission found that the Yeshivah leadership ‘did not create an environment conducive to the communication of information about child sexual abuse. If anything, the mixed messages are likely to have produced inaction’.

The Royal Commission was damming of the Yeshivah Cente stating ‘there was an absence of supportive leadership for survivors of child sexual abuse and their families within Yeshivah Melbourne. Halachic [Jewish Law] principles were stridently – even if incorrectly applied. Criticism of those that spoke out was forceful’.

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