ABUSE TRACKER

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Monday, March 10, 2014

Two of the four Orders which ran the Magdalene laundries have reaffirmed their refusal to offer any financial contribution to the compensation fund for survivors.

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

More than a year after Taoiseach Enda Kenny offered a State apology to women incarcerated in Magdalene laundries, Justice Minister Alan Shatter wrote to the Orders a number of weeks ago for the fourth time about contributing to the redress scheme and confirmed that two of the Orders had responded stating they would not contribute any money towards compensating the women.

The redress scheme is expected to cost between €34m and €58m.

“I wrote to the religious congregations again on this matter several weeks ago following a statement made by the Holy See to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in relation to the Magdalen laundries,” said Mr Shatter.

“I have received responses from two of the congregations advising that their position is unchanged and I am awaiting a response from the other two congregations.”

The Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge, the Good Shepherd Sisters, and the Sisters of Charity have all stated their refusal to contribute financially to the redress scheme on previous occasions.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MACDONALD – UPDATED 10 MARCH 2014

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin says he is “very concerned” about fresh claims by the former CEO of the Catholic Church watchdog, Ian Elliot, on safeguarding children.

The Catholic Church’s most outspoken bishop on clerical abuse said: “If there is wrong on any side, it should be admitted.”

He told the Irish Independent that it would be “disastrous” if trust was lost in the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCCI).

Mr Elliott has told the Government that serious concerns he had about the handling of an abuse case were omitted from a later report.

He alleges the Diocese of Down and Connor blocked the release of information it held about the handling of the case of ex-priest Jim Donaghy, who was jailed for 10 years in 2012 for abusing two altar boys and a trainee priest.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

Pope Francis has named the 15 members of the Council for the Economy, a new body whose creation he announced in his recent motu proprio Fidelis et Dispensator Prudens.

The Council for the Economy, according to the document, is entrusted with the task of “supervising economic management and supervising the structures and the administrative and financial activities of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, of the institutions connected to the Holy See, and of Vatican City State.”

Pope Francis has named Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising as the coordinator of the Council. Cardinal Marx is among the eight prelates who serve on the Council of Cardinals, which assists the Pope in the governance of the universal Church and in the reform of the Roman Curia.

Other prelates who will serve on the Council for the Economy are Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston; Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier of Durban, South Africa; Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City; Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne of Lima; Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, France; Cardinal John Tong Hon of Hong Kong; and Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of Rome. The latter six prelates served on the 15-member Council of Cardinals for the Study of Economic and Administrative Problems of the Holy See, which no longer exists.

Pope Francis also appointed seven lay members of the new Council for the Economy:

Joseph F.X. Zahra, former director of the Central Bank of Malta

Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, former president of the European Fund and Asset Management Association

John F. Kyle, retired vice president of Imperial Oil Limited in Canada

Enrique Llano Cueto, an economist from the University of Madrid

Jochen Messemer, former partner of McKinsey & Company and board chairman of Ergo International Ltd.
Francesco Vermiglio, professor of business administration at the University of Messina

George Yeo, who has served as Singapore’s Minister of State for Finance

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UNITED STATES
Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk | Mar 10, 2014

Rome, we’ve got a problem.

Pope Francis, politically the surest-footed pontiff in many a long century, stumbled pretty badly last week in discussing the crisis that has engulfed Roman Catholicism these past dozen years.

First, in a long interview in an Italian newspaper marking the first anniversary of his papacy, he displayed an ill-informed defensiveness about the church’s response to the revelations of sexual abuse. ”The Catholic church is maybe the only public institution to have moved with transparency and responsibility,” he said. “No one else has done more. Yet the church is the only one to be attacked.” Then, in a talk to some Italian priests, it seems he made a comment expressing sympathy for those “falsely accused” of abuse that the Vatican press office felt obliged to suppress.

Let us note 1) that the Catholic church has had a lot more to do in the sexual abuse department than other institutions; and 2) that other institutions have been a good deal more transparent, and have actually held responsible those guilty of covering up abuse. Moreover, as the folks in State College, Pa. (to give one example) know only too well, the church has hardly been the only institution to be (and this was hardly le mot juste) “attacked.” As for falsely accused priests, there haven’t been many of them.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

[with video]

The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney under then-Archbishop George Pell showed no concern for the well-being of sex abuse victim John Ellis as church solicitors fought him in court, a hearing has been told.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining the experiences of abuse survivor John Ellis when he went through the church’s internal process Towards Healing and then civil litigation.

Mr Ellis was sexually abused between 1974 and 1979 when he was aged between 13 and 17 by Aidan Duggan, who was a Catholic priest at Bass Hill in Sydney.

The case of Mr Ellis, who failed in his attempts to sue Cardinal Pell and the trustees of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, has entered legal history.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Gaston Gazette

By Diane Turbyfill

Published: Sunday, March 9, 2014

A former church pastor is in jail on allegations that he committed sex crimes against children.

Cory Dean Moses is being held in the York County Jail without bond.

Warrants were issued for Moses’ arrest earlier this week. He turned himself in Saturday.

Moses, 38, of 2518 Liberton Court, is accused of sexually abusing a teenage church member.

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MINNESOTA
Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant
March 9, 2014

This past week, the Crosier’s released a list of Crosiers with one or more credible claims of sexual abuse of minors. On that list were the names of six who worked in the St Cloud area:

———

Neil Emon, osc
Date of birth: 11/20/1940
Date of ordination: 06/03/1967
Weekend priest/spiritual director, Central Minnesota TEC Program, 1978–88
Pastor, St. Peter, St. Cloud, Minn., 1980–89
Date removed from ecclesiastical ministry: 5/28/2002
Current location: Phoenix, living under safety plan
Current status: Retired; no priestly faculties
—————-
Gerald Funcheon
Date of birth: 07/22/1938
Date of ordination: 05/22/1965
Teacher/Spiritual Director, Cathedral High School, St. Cloud, Minn., 1980–82Date removed from ecclesiastical ministry: 4/1/1993
Status: Dispensed from vows on 6/25/1987; incardinated into Diocese of Lafayette-
in-Indiana on 7/31/1987
Current location: Missouri
Current status: No priestly faculties
—————
James Moeglein, osc
Date of birth: 01/05/1943
Date of ordination: 05/31/1970
Deacon, St. Mary’s, St. Cloud, Minn., Summer 1969–70
Weekend priest/spiritual director, Central Minnesota TEC Program, 1978-–88
Date removed from ecclesiastical ministry: 6/1/2002
Current location: Onamia, living under safety plan
Current status: No priestly faculties

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UNITED STATES
NBC News – Meet the Press

BY DAVID GREGORY
March 9, 2014

DAVID GREGORY:

And good Sunday morning. Such a difficult way to begin the program this morning. More on the investigation into the mysterious disappearance of that plane and the questions about foul play, given that two passengers were traveling on stolen passports, a pretty rare occurrence. And the new reports that the plane may have tried to turn around. …

DAVID GREGORY:

Welcome back. What a year it has been for Pope Francis, as he approaches his one-year anniversary as leader of the Catholic Church. The pope created some controversy a few days ago when he said no one has done more than the Vatican to address the abuse scandals that have plagued the Church for years. He also said the portrayal of him as some sort of superman, a star, is offensive. I sat down with the archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan. In his revealing interview, he spoke his mind about the pope, the abuse scandals and same-sex marriage

DAVID GREGORY:

Your eminence, thank you for having us to your home.

CARDINAL DOLAN:

David, you’re always welcome here. Thanks for–

DAVID GREGORY:

Thank you–

CARDINAL DOLAN:

–thanks for– taking me seriously when I said, “Come on in.” (LAUGH)

DAVID GREGORY:

We’re here. And what a year it’s been for the Catholic church and Pope Francis. What a reception. One year later, Pope Francis giving an interview this week saying, “Look, it’s been a great reception (LAUGH), but I’m not superman.” He almost found it offensive. Yet, at the same time, that reception is certainly something he’d like to use for the benefit of the church, wouldn’t he?

CARDINAL DOLAN:

Oh, he’s a good teacher, so you’re right. He knows the power symbol. He knows the power of audio-visual aids, as any good teacher does. So I think he’s shrugging’ and saying’, “Look, I’m no better than anybody else. And don’t make me a superman. But if this attention is comin’ my way, I’m gonna use it and turn the attention to Jesus and his church.” And I think he’s doing’ a splendid job of it.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Joanna Woodburn, staff

Cardinal George Pell believes the Catholic Church should be able to be sued in cases of child sexual abuse, a royal commission has heard.

His position foreshadows a major shift in policy that could pave the way for abuse victims to sue the Church.

A public hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse involving the Catholic Church has opened in Sydney and is examining allegations made by John Ellis, who failed in his attempt to sue the Church.

He was abused by Father Aidan Duggan in Sydney between 1974 and 1979.

In 2007 the New South Wales Appeals Court found the Church could not be held liable for the conduct of its priests, nor could it be sued, because it does not exist as a legal entity.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

Lawyers acting for Church run up $1.5m bill against victim who wanted to settle for just $100,000

MATTHEW BENNS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH MARCH 10, 2014

LAWYERS representing Cardinal George Pell and the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney helped run up bills of $1.5 million against a victim of sexual abuse who had originally been happy to settle for just $100,000.

The Royal Commission into child sex abuse heard how the lawyers — acting on the church’s instructions — “vigorously” fought John Ellis through the courts despite his second wife Nicola writing to the church to warn of his “fragile psychological state”.

The NSW Court of Appeal ruling eventually gave the Catholic Church its notorious “Ellis Defence” — that it could not be sued as a legal entity and could not be held liable for abuse committed by a priest.

Cardinal Pell gave the legal action the green light at the time. But in a part of his statement read today he back flipped and said: “My own view is that the Church in Australia should be able to be sued in cases of this kind.”

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

BY ANNETTE BLACKWELL AAP MARCH 10, 2014

AUSTRALIA’S most senior Catholic Cardinal George Pell believes victims of child sex abuse should be able to sue the church.

Revealed at a hearing of the federal Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney on Monday, Cardinal Pell’s position represents a major policy change from the church.

The commission is examining the experiences of victim John Ellis who unsuccessfully pursued civil litigation against the church and Cardinal Pell for the abuse he suffered while an altar boy.

It’s been told the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney spent $1.5 million to defeat Mr Ellis’ $100,000 claim stemming from the hurt and distress he suffered at the hands of Father Aidan Duggan at Christ the King’s Church in Bass Hill, Sydney from 1974 to 1979.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

The Catholic Church has indicated a major shift in its attitude towards civil court claims over child abuse.

Francis Sullivan from the Church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council says all religious leaders need to ensure there is a legal entity that is appropriately insured to allow individuals to brings claim of damages for cases of child abuse.

“The controversy over whether the Church can be sued or not needs to be clarified once and for all,” Mr Sullivan told the ABC. “And we are saying that all bishops and all religious leaders need to make available a legal entity, appropriately covered with insurance and wealth, so that individuals can bring a claim of damages against it for matters of child sex abuse.”

“We’re being emphatic about it and we are being clear because we believe it’s in the interests of the community.”

Meanwhile, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney under then-Archbishop George Pell showed no concern for the well-being of sex abuse victim John Ellis as church solicitors fought him in court, a hearing has been told.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)

Australian Associated Press
theguardian.com, Monday 10 March 2014

The Catholic archdiocese of Sydney under then-archbishop George Pell showed no concern for the wellbeing of sex abuse victim John Ellis as church solicitors fought him in court, a hearing has been told.

The royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse is examining the experiences of abuse survivor John Ellis when he went through the church’s internal process Towards Healing and then civil litigation.

Ellis was sexually abused between 1974 and 1979 when he was aged between 13 and 17 by Aidan Duggan, who was a Catholic priest at Bass Hill in Sydney.

The case of Ellis, who failed in his attempts to sue Cardinal Pell and the trustees of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, has entered legal history.

In 2005 it was found he could sue neither, and this has been interpreted by some as creating church immunity from prosecution over abuse.

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IRELAND
Tony Flannery

I see I have drawn the ire of certain spokespersons for the victims of clerical sexual abuse by the report on the ACP website of our meeting with the NBSCCC. (The report can be found in its category on the ACP website) I was trying to highlight an issue that I regard as needing some open discussion in this whole sorry saga of clerical child sexual abuse. Priests who, having come out of the seminary with the emotional and sexual maturity of a teenager, due to the terribly restrictive nature of the recruitment and training, got involved in some form of relationship with a teenage girl. Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, in a recent talk, suggested that as a result of the training this was something that was a real possibility. These types of relationships, I presume, varied greatly; sometime doing a great deal of harm, and other times causing lesser damage. I suggested that a priest, who managed to put that period of his life behind him, and who had no further allegations of any nature against him, maybe should not now be publicly shamed and removed from his ministry – often forty years or more later. This is not to diminish the pain that the person making the allegation may have suffered because they may not have been able to put the experience behind them. However I think that it is necessary to distinguish between justice and retribution.

Some of my friends tell me I am a fool to engage in this type of debate. They say that there is one dominant narrative on this topic, and it is impossible to challenge it even in the slightest. They are probably right, and I find myself comparing it in some way to my experience with the Vatican, who also had one way of looking at things and insisted that this way could not be challenged.

But since I myself experienced sexual abuse as a young boy over a period of time, I believe that maybe I have some right to have my say on the topic.

A couple of things I have learned from this whole experience.

It is impossible to measure fully what effect sexual abuse in your early year has had on you. I have no doubt that it influenced my life, and probably was an underlying factor in some of the major decisions I have made.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Mon, Mar 10, 2014

Fr Tony Flannery, the founder member of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) who has been facing criticism over a call to allow priests re-enter ministry after offending, has disclosed he “experienced sexual abuse as a young boy over a period of time”.

His abuser was “long dead. I hope he is at peace” but it was why “I believe that maybe I have some right to have my say on the topic”.

Writing on his www.tonyflannery.com website, he was responding to those who criticised his report on a meeting he and Fr Seán McDonagh, both representing the ACP, had with the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) in Maynooth last Wednesday.

In it, he said they “raised the difficulties around historical allegations, and the fact that many older priests are excluded from ministry because of a mistake or mistakes they made in their earlier life, and where there was no pattern of re-offending”.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Royal commission: Cardinal George Pell says child abuse victims should be able to sue Catholic Church

March 10, 2014

Catherine Armitage
Senior Writer

For the first time Cardinal George Pell has acknowledged that the Catholic Church should be able to be sued over abuse by a priest.

The turnaround in the church’s approach to litigation by victims was revealed by senior counsel assisting the royal commission into institutional child sex abuse, Gail Furness, as it heard from witness John Ellis about his treatment by the Diocese of Sydney.

“In his statement to the royal commission, the Cardinal says, ‘Whatever position was taken by the lawyers during the litigation, or by lawyers or individuals within the Archdiocese following the litigation, my own view is that the Church in Australia should be able to be sued in cases of this kind’,” Ms Furness said. Cardinal Pell is due to give evidence in person to the commission early next week.

But Cardinal Pell’s views do not yet open the floodgates for victims to sue, according to legal experts.
A major restructure of the church in Australia to make it a ”suable entity” as well as legislative change in each state would be required to give Cardinal Pell’s words practical effect, Patrick Parkinson, a Sydney University law professor specialising in child sex abuse issues said. ”This is not going to happen overnight,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)

Helen Davidson
theguardian.com, Monday 10 March 2014

The royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse has begun its eighth public hearing with a startling statement from Cardinal George Pell that he believes victims should be able to sue the church in Australia, and an indication from the church that mechanisms for this would be in place by the hearing’s end.

The public hearing, which began in Sydney on Monday, is the second chapter of the commission’s examination of the Catholic church, this time focusing on the response by the Sydney diocese and the church’s professional standards office (NSW/ACT) to the complaint of John Ellis.

Monday heard the opening statement from senior counsel assisting Gail Furness, and testimony from Ellis, the sole victim to take the stand during this hearing.

Furness outlined the case ahead, which is predicted to stretch over two weeks. Among her opening remarks, Furness read excerpts from a statement given to the royal commission by Pell, which said in hindsight the Ellis litigation had caused him some concern.

“Whatever position was taken by the lawyers during the litigation, or by lawyers or individuals within the archdiocese following the litigation, my own view is that the church in Australia should be able to be sued in cases of this kind,” wrote Pell.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

A victim of sex abuse says Archbishop George Pell ‘slammed a door in his face’ when he tried to pursue a claim against the church.

An inquiry in Sydney has been told in the initial stages of a complaint against the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney by abuse survivor John Ellis, Cardinal Pell wrote to him saying the case could not be resolved because the priest concerned was in no state to respond.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining Mr Ellis’ experiences when he went through the church’s internal process Towards Healing and then civil litigation.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – AM

CHRIS ULHMANN: It’s been labelled the ‘Ellis defence’ and the Catholic Church has relied on it for years to avoid making payments to survivors of sexual abuse.

When John Ellis tried to sue the church over the abuse he suffered when he was an altar boy in the 1970s, the courts rejected the claim, ruling the Church was not a legal entity, nor was it liable for abuse committed by a priest.

But ahead of this week’s hearing into John Ellis’ case by the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse, the Church leadership is signalling a major shift that would expose the Church to civil action.

Emily Bourke reports.

EMILY BOURKE: The Catholic Church offered John Ellis $30,000 in compensation for the abuse he suffered as a teenager, and the subsequent trauma that destroyed his marriage and his career in a prominent Sydney law firm.

He rejected the offer and took his case to court, but he lost in the NSW Court of Appeal in 2007.

Over the next week, the Royal Commission will hear how the Church, and Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric, George Pell handled the case.

Andrew Morrison SC, who represented John Ellis, says the ruling continues to have repercussions.

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UNITED STATES
City of Angels

Kay Ebeling

“Terrence McKiernan of BishopAccountability.org said it was ‘breathtaking’ that Francis had made the church the victim of the scandal, rather than express sorrow to the hundreds of thousands of victims or acknowledge the complicity of bishops in covering up the crimes. ‘It is astonishing, at this late date, that Pope Francis would recycle such tired and defensive rhetoric,’ McKiernan said in a statement.” Continue Reading Here in Washington Post today.

Me: Problem with Pope calling Church victim and those of us molested by priests the problem is the Pope’s words are what parishioners will hear, and that is the only thing parishioners will hear. The church set it up to end up this way from the start, they insulate the congregations against any true information about these crimes by setting the accusers up as bad guys. Great PR on the part of the church, lousy pastoral care but hey, they aren’t genuine Christians, so what do you expect. They just developed a 2-century long corporation around Christianity and billions of earthlings buy into it daily. And they allowed hundreds of thousands of kids to be raped all over the world last century in order to protect their assets. That’s a church?

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CANADA
Global News

EDMONTON – A 59-year-old man from Manning, Alberta has been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference in relation to alleged assaults involving a minor.

Manning RCMP say Abraham Azhakathu was a practicing Catholic priest when the alleged incidents occurred in 2013. It is not known where Azhakathu was praticing at the time.

The charges come after a minor, whose age and identity will not be released, reported the assaults to the RCMP.

Officers say it is not known if there are any other victims; the investigation is ongoing. However, they are encouraging any other possible victims to contact Manning RCMP at 780-836-3769 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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CANADA
Metro

RCMP have a charged a Catholic priest in the Alberta community of Manning with sexual assault against a minor.

Abraham Azhakathu, 59 was arrested on Friday and charged with sexual assault and sexual interference. He was released on Saturday, with conditions that he not be alone with anyone under the age of 16 and that he reside outside the community of Manning, but not leave the province.

A minor came forward to report assaults that police believe occurred during 2013. The police were releasing few details to protect the minor’s identity, but confirmed Azhakathu was working as priest in Manning at the time.

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CANADA
CTV

The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, March 9, 2014

MANNING, Alta. — A Catholic priest in northwestern Alberta has been charged in the sexual assault of a minor.

RCMP say Abraham Azhakathu, 59, of Manning, Alberta, was arrested Friday and faces charges of sexual assault and sexual interference.

Police say the alleged assaults occurred in 2013 and were reported by the minor to RCMP in Manning.
They say Azhakathu was a priest practising in the Manning area during that time.

Police are not releasing the alleged victim’s age or sex in order to protect the person’s identity.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Business Management

iThe Philadelphia Catholic Arch­­diocese has frozen a defined-benefit pension plan for its 8,500 parochial school teachers and support staff. The move comes as the archdiocese wrestles with a $150 million pension deficit.

The freeze means current participants will accrue no additional benefits. Those workers will be moved to defined-contribution plans to supplement retirement.

Without the weight of those accruing benefits, the archdiocese hopes to close the deficit over time by continuing to contribute 4.5% of each employee’s paycheck. Before the freeze, the archdiocese contributed 7.5% of payroll. Had the pension continued to pay the same benefits, even a 10% contribution would have left the plan with a $100 million shortfall in 30 years, according to the archdiocese’s chief financial officer.

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WASHINGTON
KOMO

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) – A federal judge in Yakima is scheduled on Monday hear a case involving a man who sued the Catholic Diocese of Yakima over alleged clergy sexual abuse when he was a teenager.

The man, known in court documents as John Doe, has sued for more than $3 million, alleging that when he was 17 a deacon in the Yakima Diocese repeatedly raped him one night in 1999, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported.

Police later learned the deacon had left his Zillah church the day after the alleged incident and eventually fled to Mexico. Authorities believe Aaron Ramirez has never returned to the U.S.

Doe’s attorneys argue that the deacon was under the Yakima Diocese’s supervision and used his position and authority to molest the teenager. They say the deacon wasn’t properly supervised and that church leaders did nothing to bring Ramírez back to be questioned by authorities.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Child sexual abuse royal commission: Cardinal George Pell to appear before second hearing into Catholic Church, Ellis defence under examination

By Justine Parker

The national Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will today open its second hearing into the Catholic Church’s handling of abuse claims.

The commission’s eighth public hearing will examine a landmark case that established what is known as the “Ellis defence”, which suggests the Church is not liable for the criminal conduct of clergy.

The two-week hearing in Sydney will examine the case of John Ellis, a former altar boy whose claim of sexual abuse by Father Aidan Duggan in the 1970s was initially dealt with under the church’s Towards Healing process established in 1996.

It will also examine the outcome of his subsequent lawsuit against the church.

Former Sydney Archbishop Cardinal George Pell will appear as a witness before moving to Rome at the end of the month to take up a new role overhauling the Vatican’s finances, leading the newly created Secretariat for the Economy.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The Bishop of Dover has met Jersey clergy and States members for the first time during a two-day visit.

The Right Reverend Trevor Willmott has taken over care of the Anglican Church in the Channel Islands.

It followed the Channel Islands split with the Diocese of Winchester in January.

Relations between Bishop Tim Dakin of Winchester and Jersey’s Dean, the Very Reverend Bob Key, broke down over the handling of alleged abuse.

The Church has launched an investigation into mishandling of the claims made by a woman against a church warden.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on March 9, 2014

If someone had told me two years ago that a man like Pope Francis would be elected in 2013, I would have been skeptical. After almost 10 years of Benedict—a man with the public persona of a porcupine and pastoral nature of a curmudgeon on a bad day—who could believe that a new pope could so quickly throw off the shackles of academia and theology and become a man of the people?

But Francis did just that. And by doing so, he has enlivened the faithful and captured the attention of an adoring world.

He inspired the Catholic faithful, who have yearned for an approachable man who understands the plight of the poor and the trials of the common man.

He’s utilized great PR, capitalizing on well-managed social media and engineering photo-ops that go viral instantly.

He’s attempted to tone down some of the divisive (and sometimes hateful rhetoric) of many bishops who solely focus on gay issues and abortion.

He’s even changed the tunes of many of the bishops and cardinals, who considered their offices a “no-limit credit card” for luxury goods, fine homes and travel. (Newark Bishop Myers didn’t get the memo, apparently).

But we have also learned something else: An institutional reformer will only go so far.

When it comes to the sex abuse crisis—the crisis that has become a thematic undercurrent behind every action and reaction within Vatican walls, the pope has become absorbed into the institutional church.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 10, 2014

Catherine Armitage
Senior Writer

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will this week host the next bout of a 12-year battle over whether the Catholic Church can be sued for damages under common law, with lawyer and victim John Ellis once again facing off against Cardinal George Pell.

In 2002, Cardinal Pell, as Archbishop of Sydney, wrote to Mr Ellis telling him the aged priest who had abused him for years was too old to deal with his complaint.

The Ellis case, which went to the High Court in 2007, has been a curse for victims seeking to sue the Catholic Church because it established in case law, in effect, that the trustees that hold the assets of a church diocese cannot be sued because they are not responsible for the diocese’s activities.
Scheduled witness appearance: Cardinal George Pell.

Some of the most senior Catholics in Australia have been called to give evidence, starting this week, at the royal commission. Cardinal Pell is scheduled to appear last, which would likely put him in the witness stand on Monday week.

Even before the royal commission’s senior counsel, Gail Furness, begins her opening address on Monday, the battle lines are clear. They are laid out in a statement on the Sydney archdiocese’s website that has incensed Mr Ellis.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY March 9, 2014

MAITLAND-NEWCASTLE Catholic Diocese is in damage control after calls for the removal of a priest following his evidence to the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry.

The diocese will meet with Catholic school principals and representatives in the Taree area in the next week after complaints about Taree priest Des Harrigan’s evidence to the inquiry and alleged behaviour at the parish.

The priest told the inquiry he bought pornography in London in 2000 depicting adult males, which he left at Lochinvar presbytery after moving to Raymond Terrace.

The two pornographic magazines were later destroyed by an unidentified person.

Father Harrigan said it was ‘‘pure stupidity’’ on his part to leave the magazines at Lochinvar but he denied claiming ownership of the material to protect fellow priest James Fletcher, who had been charged with offences against male teenagers.

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CANADA
The Telegram

Published on March 09, 2014

More allegations of wrongdoing have been made in connection to activities within a St. John’s Catholic parish.

On Saturday, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s announced in a news release that Father Wayne Dohey has been removed from his duties as a parish priest for St. Patrick’s Parish. Archbishop Martin Currie also suspended Dohey from all ministerial duties pending the outcome of an investigation.

The archdiocese did not specify the nature of the investigation, but it did state the complaint made against Dohey is unrelated to charges recently laid in court for alleged embezzlement activity at St. Patrick’s Parish.

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CANADA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s

Following receipt of a complaint with respect to Father Wayne Dohey, Archbishop Martin Currie has removed him from his position as parish priest of St. Patrick’s Parish, St. John’s, and suspended him from all ministerial duties pending an investigation. This complaint is not related to the recent charges laid in court in connection with an alleged embezzlement of funds from St. Patrick’s Parish.

March 7, 2014

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CANADA
CBC News

A Roman Catholic priest has been suspended from his position at a St. John’s church.

Archbishop Martin Currie has removed Father Wayne Dohey as parish priest for St. Patrick’s Parish, pending an investigation into a complaint.

Archbishop Currie’s decision to suspended Dohey from all ministerial duties was made public in a statement issued on March 7 by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s.

The statement did not identify the nature of the complaint, but confirmed there is no connection to recent charges that relate to an alleged embezzlement of funds at the same parish.

In 2007, Dohey was charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation. However, those charges were dismissed.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 10, 2014
Bernadette Tobin

In 1996, just three months after he was installed as archbishop of Melbourne, George Pell established a humane, just, thorough and independent process to respond to the crime of sexual abuse of children by clergy and others: it has become known as the Melbourne Response.

Some months later, the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference established a similar process, called Towards Healing. The Melbourne Response was (to the best of my knowledge) the first institutional response to the crime of sexual abuse of children established by a diocese anywhere in the world.

There is debate as to the relative merits of the Melbourne Response and Towards Healing. No doubt each has its strengths and weaknesses. No doubt things can always be done better.

But one thing is clear. The rapidity with which he acted once he had the requisite authority reveals Pell’s sense of the utter inadequacy of the Catholic Church’s earlier responses as well as his sense of the urgency of the need to respond to the victims of abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
ABS-CBN (Philippines)

Reuters
Posted at 03/09/2014

ROME – Pope Francis named top laymen from the worlds of finance and economics on Saturday to a new Vatican Council for the Economy, intended to improve scrutiny of the Holy See’s scandal-plagued accounts.

The creation of the 15-member council is a major step in bringing lay people into the Vatican, and reflects a drive by Francis to make changes to an establishment often seen as murky and secretive.

The seven non-religious figures in the council include Maltese economist Joseph Zahra, former director of the Central Bank of Malta, and France’s Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, chairman of mergers and acquisitions advisory firm INCIPIT and former head of the European Fund and Asset Management Association.

Spanish University of Madrid economist Enrique Llano Cueto, German former McKinsey & Company partner Jochen Messemer, and Italian University of Messina Business Administration professor Francesco Vermiglio were also named members.

George Yeo, a former Singapore Finance Minister, was named alongside retired oil executive John Kyle.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Observer

Julian Coman
The Observer, Saturday 8 March 2014

On St Valentine’s Day last month, after days of rain, Rome suddenly found itself bathed in warm sunshine. The canopy of cloudless blue materialised just in time, because in St Peter’s Square around 10,000 engaged couples, from 40 countries, were gathering to receive papal blessings.

As with any event that involves Pope Francis, the level of interest outstripped all expectations. This, after all, is a pope enjoying his own extended honeymoon period. Intended for the cavernous Pope Paul VI auditorium, the first-ever festa dei fidanzati, or lovers’ party, had to be transferred to the biggest Catholic stage of all.

There might have been a downpour, but of course there wasn’t. As usual, in the first 12 months of what is turning out to be a game-changing papacy, things worked out brilliantly. “It was so great for us to be here,” said Lucia Huang, who will marry her fiancé, Antony Lai, this December. The couple had travelled 6,000 miles from Taipei to be there. “In Taiwan this pope is a hero,” added Lucia. “We know all about his small car and the way he lives.” …

What on earth is going on? A year ago the Catholic church was arguably at its lowest ebb since the Reformation. The shy, intellectual and conservative Benedict XVI had just astonished the world by retiring in exhaustion, the first pope to retire since Gregory XII in 1415. There was outrage at ongoing sex abuse scandals and associated cover-ups – Cardinal Keith O’Brien had just resigned his position after an Observer exposé of his sexual misconduct. Benedict’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, had leaked private documents from Benedict’s personal desk in an attempt to expose corruption within the Roman Curia. The Vatican bank was under investigation over money laundering. Amid the chaos, pews in Europe and the United States were emptying as parishioners, appalled at revelations of paedophile priests, joined those alienated by an aloof church’s obsession with issues of sexual morality.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Gary Buiso
March 9, 2014

Some of the city’s most beloved and senior pastors will be forced to leave their flocks under two little-known rules being enforced by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, The Post has learned.

The first edict, taking effect this June, forces priests over age 80 who are administrating parishes to retire, leave their churches and find new digs.

“In order to take on the burdens of being a pastor, which is a very demanding job, we believe that a younger man should take that, and we should not be burdening our senior priests with this kind of responsibility,” New York Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling told The Post.

Pastors such as Monsignor Robert O’Connor, of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament on the Upper West Side, will have to hit the bricks.

“I’ve been here 29 years, which is a long time, and it becomes like a family,” O’Connor said. “In an ideal world, it would be great to be able to stay here.”

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

Cardinal Pell will be called this week to give evidence at royal commission into child sex abuse

JANET FIFE-YEOMANS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH MARCH 10, 2014

* Pell will be asked about ‘legal brick wall’ church use to protect itself against victims’ claims

THE nation’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, will be called this week to give evidence at the royal commission into child sex abuse about the legal brick wall the church used to protect itself against victims’ claims.

The Catholic Church is notorious for hiding behind what is known as the “Ellis defence’’, a NSW Court of Appeal ruling that means the church does not exist as a legal entity that is capable of being sued.

It is understood there has not been a single court judgment against the Catholic Church anywhere in Australia, although numerous cases have been settled out of court. The commission, sitting in Sydney, will investigate the case of ­former altar boy John Ellis who was sexually abused from the age of 14 by a priest in the Bass Hill parish in western Sydney in the 1970s.

Mr Ellis, now a solicitor, lost his case to sue Cardinal Pell, the former Archbishop of Sydney, and the Archdiocese of Sydney in the landmark ruling. The court ruled church trustees were liable for land and buildings but not for the behaviour of bishops they appointed.

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014
BY LESLIE BRODY
STAFF WRITER

Reports that Archbishop John J. Myers was enhancing his retirement home at the expense of the archdiocese has outraged some parents who were already fuming about his plan to take over the financial operations of Catholic elementary schools.

The details of Myers’ half-million-dollar expansion showed that church leadership “was not a trustworthy steward of our hard-earned treasure,” said one mother whose children attend a parochial school in Bergen County.

The archdiocese has been pushing a campaign called Lighting the Way to exert more authority over roughly 70 parish schools in Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Union counties, starting in July.

Pastors whose parishes have elementary schools were urged to sign contracts in recent months that would give the archdiocese much more control over school budgets, hiring and curriculum than it had in the past.

Indeed, the central office in Newark will start to process bills for the schools using their tuition accounts.

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

SATURDAY MARCH 8, 2014
BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

The $500,000 expansion of Newark Archbishop John J. Myers’ already substantial rural retirement house has drawn the attention of Catholics across the region as much for its lavish details as for its timing, as Myers asks parishioners to contribute to his annual appeal and to a $100 million capital fundraising drive.

Almost no notice has been paid to the living quarters of the Most Rev. Bernard Hebda, whom Pope Francis named last year as Myers’ prime assistant and likely successor in what many Catholic Church observers say was the new pope’s most significant early appointment. Hebda was seen as a prelate who personified the pope’s desire for a humbler clergy that shuns the ostentation that has sometimes marked the church hierarchy.

Hebda lives in a dormitory room on the campus of Seton Hall University. The contrast between the two residences may serve as a marker in a church at a crossroads.

In all its glory, Hebda’s quarters in Xavier Hall includes a living room, a bedroom and a study, he said in a recent interview.

“I thought it would be a good idea to live close to the seminary — give me a chance to meet future priests. Also, I enjoy being around college students,” said Hebda, who did not comment directly about the expansion of Myers’ retirement home.

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WASHINGTON
Seattle Times

By Lornet Turnbull
Seattle Times staff reporter

In November, the priest at Assumption Catholic Church in North Seattle mailed a letter of welcome to parishioners, including members long dormant — those divorced and remarried, gay, tired or simply disillusioned.

“We are living in exciting times,” Father Oliver Duggan told them. “Our church, which so many had written off as not relevant in this time and age, has suddenly come to life.”

For this he credited Pope Francis for not only inspiring his own pastoral work but for breathing new life into the Roman Catholic Church. While the new pontiff hasn’t changed church teachings, the father wrote, “he has been applying those teachings in a loving and caring way.”

A year after Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio stepped onto the balcony at St. Peter’s Basilica to present himself to the world as Pope Francis, Duggan’s words stand as testament for many — Catholics and non-Catholics — who believe this “people’s pope” has shifted the tone and softened the image of the 1.2 billion-member church. …

“A PR pope”

Yet for all the good feelings Francis’ papacy is generating — from within the halls of the nation’s Catholic schools to Catholic-run charities — some say the pope has failed to fully address some of the deep conflicts within the church.

The new pope, they say, has rarely spoken out about priest sex abuse, and three months after Francis created a commission of experts to study the best ways to protect children, no members have been appointed and no action taken.

In an interview with an Italian daily last week, Francis struck back, insisting that despite its transparency and responsibility, the church has repeatedly been criticized.

While his polling numbers far surpass those of the church he leads, in some cases reaching levels that would make him the envy of politicians, none of it appears to be bringing members back to the pews, according to a recent Pew Research Center report.

Locally, the Archdiocese of Seattle said it had no statistics to “verify a papal bump.”

John Schuster is a former priest who lives in Port Orchard and heads the local chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP); he still meets with victims today.

“He’s pretty much a PR pope,” Schuster said. “His hype and all his nice words are not matching his actions. He’s starting to show cracks in his message … and people are going to hold him accountable.”

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

March 9, 2014 by J-Wire Staff

Child sexual abuse advocacy group Tzedek is one of eleven organisations singled out by the government to receive a share of $4.9 million in funding.

Tzedek is Australia’s only dedicated organisation advocating for and supporting Jewish victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

Founder and CEO Manny Waks said: ”Tzedek, welcomes the Australian Government’s funding for its Royal Commission related activities. The Minister for Social Services, the Hon Kevin Andrews MP, has today announced that the Australian Government is investing $4.9 million in specialist support programs for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. Tzedek can confirm that it is one of these 11 organisations, and that it has recently signed a three-year funding arrangement with the Government, which will expire at the end of June 2016.

“We are delighted with this Australian Government funding and are profoundly grateful for it. It will enable Tzedek to continue in our critical work in support of the Royal Commission.

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CANADA
VOCM

Parishioners of St. Patrick’s Church will be waking up to some startling news this morning. Roman Catholic Archbishop Martin Currie has removed Father Wayne Dohey from his position as parish priest at St. Patrick’s Church in the west end of downtown St. John’s.

Father Dohey has been suspended from all ministerial duties pending an investigation into a complaint received.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By: Raya Zimmerman and Will Ashenmacher, St. Paul Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL — Ten men who worked at Minnesota churches and religious organizations were on a list that an international Roman Catholic community released of members facing child sex abuse allegations.

Crosier Province, which has a community of brothers and priests in Onamia, Minn., voluntarily released the list Friday, according to St. Paul-based law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates.

The list included eight members previously disclosed following a third-party investigation in 2002 and 11 current, former and deceased members who have allegations against them.

Crosiers work in education, chaplain service, pastoral ministry, campus ministry, jail ministry, immigration services and elder care, according to Crosier Province.

Anderson & Associates has won settlements from Catholic archdioceses nationwide for victims of clergy sexual abuse.

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MISSISSIPPI
WRAL

CLINTON, MISS. — A church where a former music minister admitted sexual abuse will host a program for all denominations to learn how to keep their ministries free of child molestation.

The Baptist Children’s Village will hold the sexual abuse awareness and training program April 29 at Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton, The Clarion-Ledger (http://on.thec-l.com/MWDSnx) reported.

That church’s former music minister, John Langworthy, admitted during a service in 2011 that he had molested boys in Texas and the Jackson area. He pleaded guilty last year to five counts of felony gratification of lust between April 1980 and December 1984.

“Reacting to abuse is not enough,” said Chrystelle Thames, director of public relations at the Baptist Children’s Village, which is sponsoring the program with the Christian Action Commission of the Mississippi Baptist Convention.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
Ben Katzner

A new name with ties to the St. Cloud area has surfaced on a list of Crosiers with at least one credible accusation of sexually abusing a minor against them, according to an announcement from the religious order.

The list of 19 men, released Thursday by the Crosier Fathers and Brothers, includes the names of eight Crosiers disclosed in 2002 after a third-party investigation. Newly disclosed were the names of 11 other current, former or deceased Crosiers who have credible allegations against them. One of the men on that list, Gerald Funcheon, formerly served at St. Cloud Cathedral High School.

According to the Crosiers, Funcheon served as a teacher and spiritual director at the school from 1980-1982. St. Cloud was Funcheon’s 10th stop of 14 between 1965 and 1987. He was removed from ecclesiastical ministry in 1993 and now lives in Missouri, according to the Crosiers.

Michael Mullin, president of St. Cloud Cathedral, referred comment to the Diocese of St. Cloud. Representatives from the diocese could not be reached Saturday.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
WCNC

[with video]

by DIANA RUGG / NBC CHARLOTTE
Bio | Email | Follow: @DianaRuggwcnc
Posted on March 8, 2014

YORK, S.C. — A York pastor accused of sex crimes against a minor was denied bond Saturday night and will stay in jail until further notice.

Cory Dean Moses, 38, turned himself in Saturday morning to face five charges against him: two counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, and three counts of first degree assault and battery.

The York Police Department said Moses surrendered at Moss Justice Center. Despite giving himself up, detectives said he refused to talk with investigators.

Police say Moses, a convicted sex offender, is accused of assaulting a teenage girl in his two churches, starting in 2009 when she was 14 years old. Moses was the pastor of New Zion Church in York at the time, but later moved to Redeemed Christian Ministries, where the abuse continued.

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WASHINGTON
Yakima Herald-Republic

By Jane Gargas / Yakima Herald-Republic
jgargas@yakimaherald.com

YAKIMA, Wash. — For the first time, the Catholic Diocese of Yakima is going to trial over a case of alleged clergy sexual abuse.

A man, referred to as John Doe in court documents, is suing for more than $3 million, alleging that when he was 17 he was repeatedly raped one night in 1999 by a man studying to become a priest in the Yakima Diocese.

The teenager subsequently told police, but they were unable to locate the aspiring priest, called a deacon. They learned later he had left his Zillah church the day after the alleged incident and traveled to Wenatchee. A day after that, he fled to Mexico. To the authorities’ knowledge, he has never returned to the United States.

A non-jury trial before Judge Edward Shea is scheduled to start Monday in U.S. District Court in Yakima.

Doe is represented by attorneys with Tamaki Law, a Yakima law firm that has won settlements in a number of lawsuits against the Catholic Church. Earlier this year, the firm reached a proposed $15 million settlement with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, Mont., on behalf of 362 people who claimed they had been sexually abused by clergy members in a series of cases dating to the 1940s.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

High Court judge and the child sex ring: Adviser to Queen was founder of paedophile support group to keep offenders out of jail

By MARTIN BECKFORD
PUBLISHED: 8 March 2014

One of Britain’s most senior judges actively campaigned to support a vile paedophile group that tried to legalise sex with children, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Lord Justice Fulford, named last year as an adviser to the Queen, was a key backer of the notorious Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) which police suspect of abusing children on an ‘industrial scale’.

An investigation by the Mail on Sunday has discovered that Fulford was a founder member of a campaign to defend PIE while it was openly calling for the age of consent to be lowered to just four.

It can also be revealed that the Appeal Court judge and Privy Counsellor:

* Planned demonstrations outside courts where defendants – described by prosecutors as ‘sick’ and a ‘force for evil’ – were on trial.

* Wrote an article claiming PIE, now under investigation in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, was merely a way for paedophiles to ‘make friends and offer each other mutual support’.

* Sought help with the campaign from future Labour Minister Patricia Hewitt, then in charge of a controversial civil rights group.

* Attended meetings to discuss tactics with PIE chairman Tom O’Carroll, who has since been jailed for possessing thousands of pictures of naked children.

* Was praised by the paedophile group for coming to its defence.

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PHILIPPINES
Philippines Daily Inquirer

The healing priest’s rich lifestyle
SMC scuttles land donation to healing priest
Montemaria project in limbo
Another Montemaria shrine rising in Batangas City

By Tina G. Santos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Sunday, March 9th, 2014

(Last of a series)

“I know myself and God knows who I am.”

This is what “healing priest” Fr. Fernando Suarez has to say about criticism of how his Mary Mother of the Poor (MMP) Foundation has been handling its finances and to allegations that he is living a lavish lifestyle.

“I know that all the criticisms and lies that have been published will help me become a better person, a better priest,” Suarez said on Saturday through his spokesperson, Deedee Siytangco, who is a member of MMP’s board of directors and has been his devotee since 2006.

Siytangco said she had known Suarez for more than nine years.

“I’m among those people touched by his ministry. I had a brain tumor before but with the help of a good doctor and Father Suarez’s prayer, I was healed,” she said.

Suarez returned to Manila Friday night after a nine-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Siytangco told the Inquirer by telephone that Suarez was unavailable for an interview, as the priest was on a “perpetual adoration” and had asked her to speak for him.

No need to explain

“Father Suarez feels he doesn’t need to explain anything. He said he had forgiven all of his detractors and he would pray for them. For all these trials, he said he was privileged to have suffered with Jesus at this time when we are commemorating Lent,” she said.

Siytangco said she looked forward to the joint statement that MMP and San Miguel Corp. (SMC) reportedly would release to announce the termination of a deal for the donation of a 33-hectare SMC property in Alfonso town, Cavite province, to Suarez’s foundation.

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TEXAS
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 08, 2014

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese has reached another settlement involving sexual abuse claims against a former priest who died in 1999.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (http://bit.ly/1n5xtHe ) that terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

The leader of the diocese, Bishop Michael Olson, said in a written statement Friday that he was deeply sorry for any sexual abuse and that such actions are “a sin and a crime.”

James Reilly was pastor of St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church in Arlington from 1969 to 1987, when he retired.

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BOSTON (MA)
KSPR

By Daniel Burke CNN
POSTED: 05:34 PM CST Mar 08, 2014

BOSTON (CNN) –
In some ways, the “Pope Francis effect” doesn’t seem very effective at all.

Despite the immense popularity the aged Argentine has won since his election last year, not a jot of doctrine has changed, nor has the Catholic Church swelled with American converts.

But there’s more than one way to measure a pontiff’s influence on his far-flung flock.

Start asking around — here in Boston and beyond, Catholics and atheists alike — and it’s easy to find people eager to share how one man, in just one year, has changed their lives. …

But Boston is also a city scarred by a church sex abuse scandal that harmed hundreds of children, demoralized dozens of innocent priests and broke the bonds of trust between clergy and congregants.

To say that Pope Francis has smiled and salved all those wounds is a stretch longer than the Boston Marathon, people here say. There are plenty of ex-Catholics who’ll never give the church a second look. But there are many others who say they just might.

In other words, this the perfect city to take a measure of the “Francis effect” — to visit churches, classrooms, coffee shops and bars and learn how this Pope is shaping the lives of rank-and-file Catholics.

“He’s sent us an invitation,” says Mark Mullaney, president of Voice of the Faithful, a Boston-based reform group born in the wake of the sex abuse scandal.

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NEW YORK
NY1

[with video]

Cardinal Timothy Dolan believes Pope Francis will meet with sexual abuse victims of the church.

The cardinal taped an interview for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” on NBC.

He said he has personally met some of the victims, as have several bishops and pastors.

He also says he thinks the Pope will probably follow suit.

Dolan also said that he believes Vatican officials need to do more to address abuse allegations, but should not be singled out because child sexual abuse is a societal problem, not just the church’s.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

Boz Tchividjian | Mar 8, 2014

Those were the first words of a short email I receive about a year ago from a person identifying himself as Michael Reagan, and who informed me that it was time for Christians to finally begin acknowledging the existence of child abuse. At first, I had no idea who this man was and why he was writing me. A short Google investigation later led me to discover that this email was from the son of my childhood hero, Ronald Reagan! That correspondence was the beginning of a dear friendship with a man that has deeply moved and inspired me in so many amazing ways.

As a child of two famous actors, Michael Reagan was not immune from the dark and destructive offense of child sexual abuse. As a young boy, Mike was sexually abused for over a year by a perpetrator who owned an exclusive after school care program and whose actions and threats shamed a little boy into silence for decades. As all sexual abuse survivors, my friend Mike has spent a lifetime processing this horrific offense as he walks along this long and difficult journey of healing. He has graciously taught me so much about an issue that I thought I knew so much about. Last week, I had the privilege of introducing Mike to students at Liberty University School of Law and then sat down and listened to him spend the next hour opening up his heart in such a raw and transparent way about this incredibly difficult and personal issue. Though what I heard cannot be adequately described in written words, I want to share just a snapshot of what this brave man taught me during that hour.

My friend Mike taught me that child sexual abuse shames survivors into silence. A shame fueled by one’s own confusion and pain. A shame fueled by a fear of what those around will think and say. A child who is taken to an isolated place and told to take off his clothes as the perpetrator takes pictures, and then later shown those pictures as the perpetrator says, “Wouldn’t you mother like a copy of this?”, will be shamed into silence. A boy who is being victimized by a male perpetrator and sits in church listening to a pastor preach that homosexuals are going to hell, will be shamed into silence. A teenage survivor of sexual abuse who is sent away to boarding school and finds himself wetting his bed each night due to the abuse trauma will be shamed into silently getting up early each morning to discreetly change his sheets before anyone else notices. An abuse survivor who finally gains enough courage to tell his stepmother only to have her initial response be concern about her own reputation, will be shamed into silence. The list could go on and on. Michael Reagan has helped me understand the destructive power of shame and that its source comes from perpetrators, loved ones, friends, and even inside our churches.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Francis the CON Christ.

Updated March 8, 2014

Paris Arrow

Dolan said in an interview with the New York Post today that “the church needs to do more on the issue. But he says child sex abuse is a societal and cultural problem and the church shouldn’t be singled out”. Cardinal Dolan is in the wrong because the Vatican Catholic Church claims to be the single powerhouse for cloning the Son of God, Jesus Christ and they singlehandedly systemically covered-up thousands of pedophile priests worldwide – which no other institution did in such a massive scale – and successfully did so by using the name and image of the Son of God. The higher they are, the harder they fall. The higher Catholic priests are set apart from humanity, the greater are priests’ crimes against humanity.

Today is International Women’s Day http://www.internationalwomensday.com/ . Catholic women, half of the 1.2 billion Catholic population, have the power to STOP donating to the Vatican Mammon Beast and to STOP calling priests as “fathers” out of respect for their husbands or fathers of their children, and to STOP believing in the Eucharistic powers of popes and priests to clone Christ because these ordinary homosexual men cannot clone dogs and therefore they cannot clone the Son of God either. Women should also teach their children the JP2 Army Prayer, see below, to protect them from all kinds of pedophiles, especially pedophile priests.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Francis the CON Christ.

Updated March 8, 2014

Paris Arrow

The biggest problem of Goliath-bully Bill Donohue of Catholic League is his stupid faith in the Eucharist sorcery and in the feel-good Sacrament of Confession – that once the criminal confess his sins, they are forgiven-and-forgotten – not only by the priest representing God – but also by his victims. Donohue got scales on his eyes because this feel-good fiction of forgiven-and-forgotten occurs only between the priest and the criminal in the odious confession box. The feel-good theology of Confession is not the human way the evil effects of the sins of priest-pedophilia work in their victims. Or other crimes, for example, a man rapes a woman and impregnates her – after going to Confession and saying three Hail Mary’s, he is scot-free and he does not even have to take responsibility to pay for the raising-up of his child. Furthermore, the woman is not supposed to have an abortion and she is condemned to remember him and have the burden to raise- up his sperm she never asked for.

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UNITED STATES
Crosier Fathers & Brothers

[assignment histories]

Media Contact: Lisa Cassidy, 602-443-7106

(Phoenix, Ariz.) – As the season of Lent begins, the Crosier Province, headquartered in Phoenix, today released an updated list of names of Crosiers with one or more credible claims of sexual abuse of minors. The comprehensive list includes Crosiers previously disclosed in 2002 following a third-party investigation, as well as current, former and deceased Crosiers who have credible allegations against them. The release of this updated list reflects the commitment of the Crosier Order to be transparent and accountable.

“It is our hope that this will bring healing, peace and comfort to the victims and their families,” stated Crosier Prior Provincial Thomas Enneking, osc. “Even though the last occurrence of abuse took place more than 20 years ago, the stigma remains for all of us. We pray for forgiveness and the opportunity to strengthen our ministry and service to everyone in need.”

We are saddened and ashamed to acknowledge this part of our history. We apologize to all victims, families and communities who have been hurt by the actions of Crosiers who were supposed to be instruments of Christ’s love and healing mercy.

The Crosiers do not tolerate sexual abuse of any kind, and we report all claims to the appropriate authorities. We have stringent policies and practices in place to do what we can to prevent sexual abuse. We are very concerned for the well-being of those who have been hurt because of sexual abuse by a Crosier.

In 2002, the Crosier Province hired an independent firm to conduct an audit of allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Crosiers. The following Crosiers were named publicly. Since then, three have died and one has left the Crosier Order.

•Neil Emon, osc
•Gabriel Guerrero, osc
•Gregory Madigan, osc
•Bruce Maxwell, osc
•James Moeglein, osc
•Thomas O’Brien
•Richard Ohlemacher, osc
•Justin Weger, osc

In addition to those named in 2002, the following are current, former and deceased Crosiers who have one or more credible claims of sexual abuse of a minor against them.

•Timothy Conlon, osc
•Cornelius DeVenster, osc
•Gerald Funcheon
•Eugene Hambrock, osc
•Joseph Lendacky, osc
•Ron Melancon
•Wendell Mohs
•Michael Paquet
•Anton Schik, osc
•Urban Schmitt, osc
•Roger Vaughn

There are two names not being disclosed at this time as the claims are under investigation. If the allegations are substantiated, those names will be added to this list on our website.

This information reflects what we know today. We have worked with our Review Committee to ensure that we are being as clear, accurate and transparent as we can. We share this information to help with the healing of those who have been hurt by the actions of members of the Crosier Order.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly.com

POSTED: SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014

Inside Philadelphia’s Criminal Justice Center, they’ve become as ubiquitous as the sidewalk memorials of flowers and stuffed toys for people killed in shootings and auto accidents. They are T-shirts, usually emblazoned with the photo of a crime victim and slogans urging remembrance of or “justice for.”

Now, apparently worried about the impact the T-shirts could have on criminal juries, some Philadelphia judges have begun banning them from the courtroom.

It happened during the current trial of accused Catholic priest Andrew McCormick. This time, however, it was supporters of the 57-year-old priest who got the warning. On Feb. 27, the first day of McCormick’s trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy in 1997, several of McCormick’s friends came to the 11th-floor courtroom wearing black T-shirts covered with white stylized letters reading “I stand with Father Andy.”

As a court officer began warning spectators about turning off cell phones and not taking photographs he spotted the shirts: “I see T-shirts. Turn them inside out.”

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VATICAN CITY
The Economist

Mar 8th 2014 | VATICAN CITY

IN THE 12 months since he appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s to begin his papacy with a disarmingly unaffected “Good evening” to the crowd below, Pope Francis has won a following far beyond the Roman Catholic church. He has softened the image of an institution that had seemed forbidding during the reign of his predecessor, Benedict, and shown that a pope can hold thoroughly modern views on atheism (“The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience”), homosexuality (“If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?”) and single mothers (he has accused priests who refuse to baptise their children of having a “sick mentality”).

More than anything, Francis has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to communicate his ideas, and those of his faith, purely by gesture. Every recent pope has spoken of the need to treasure human life, even in its most tragic and painful manifestations. But Francis achieved more than any of them when he embraced a sufferer of neurofibromatosis, a disfiguring genetic disease. Though all popes pay lip service to the need for humility and simplicity, Benedict departed from the Apostolic Palace after his unexpected resignation in February 2013 in a Mercedes limousine. Francis drives a 1984 Renault of the sort owned by many French farm labourers.

A poll published by the Pew Research Centre on March 6th found that, in America, two-thirds of Catholics and half of non-Catholics regard the new pope as a change for the better. But whether he is attracting lapsed Catholics to return to regular observance is unclear. In a poll of Italian priests last year, more than half reported increases in church attendance. But Pew found no significant change in how often American Catholics said they went to Mass.

The task ahead is daunting. High birth rates in the developing world mean the number of baptised Catholics, around 1.2 billion, continues to grow. But there is an ever-widening gap between the doctrines of the church with regard to sex and marriage and what Catholics, particularly in the developed world, think and do. Clerical sex-abuse scandals, and the church’s complacent response, have also seen many Catholics in western Europe and North America turn away in disgust. A fear sometimes voiced privately in the Vatican is that Catholicism risks one day becoming a religion largely for Africans and Asians, confined elsewhere to a self-consciously reactionary fringe. Much therefore depends on this frugal, likeable man. …

A misstep in his handling of the long-running scandal of clerical sex abuse poses other, perhaps greater, dangers. On this, critics accuse the pope of moving too slowly. He has set up a special commission for the protection of minors, but its role is merely advisory. Though he suspended Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, a German bishop, for his opulent lifestyle, he has so far done nothing about Robert Finn, an American bishop convicted in 2012 for failing to tell the authorities about a priest suspected of sexually abusing children.

“He has changed the topic from abuse without doing anything about it,” says Anne Barrett Doyle of the American watchdog group bishopaccountability.org. “I would never have predicted that a whole year would go by without the new pope reaching out in a meaningful way to the victims.” In his most recent interview, with Corriere della Sera, Francis appeared to suggest that the church was the true victim: it was “perhaps the only public institution to have acted with transparency and responsibility…And yet the church is the only one to have been attacked.”

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GUAM
Jungle Watch

A friend called tonight. She was distressed. She had just gone to confession to a priest at the Cathedral. For her penance, the priest told her to “go to a talk” in the St. Therese Chapel on Monday night.

My friend did not respond. She knew what the talk was. She had already spent a few years in the Neocatechumenal Way and had left, and not without some pain. She didn’t want to go to the “talk”.

When she didn’t answer, the priest asked her if that was “okay”. Never having been presented with such a “penance” before and fearing that she would not receive absolution if she did not consent, she replied: “I am at your mercy”.

The priest then told her to consider the penance (attending the talk) “a mercy from me to you.” He then absolved her.

My friend called because she was disturbed. She felt that her sins would not be forgiven if she did not go to the talk.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this, and the same scenario was posted elsewhere as a comment on this blog, but it was the first time I heard it first hand from someone I know.

She decided to go to confession tomorrow to another priest, and this time, not a neo.

Aside from the coercion to attend the neocatechumenal meeting, a coercion in the context of a confession, which is already a matter for grave concern, the priest tells her that this penance is a MERCY! And a mercy from him personally.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

Associated Press

New York’s Timothy Cardinal Dolan says he anticipates that Pope Francis will meet with sex-abuse victims.

Dolan told David Gregory in an interview taped Friday for NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he has met with victims, most bishops and pastors have, too, and the pope “probably will” also.

Pope Francis has come under criticism for doing too little after announcing a commission of experts to study ways of protecting children three months ago.

Dolan says in the interview the church needs to do more on the issue. But he says child sex abuse is a societal and cultural problem and the church shouldn’t be singled out.

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NEDERLAND
NRC

door Joep Dohmen

Een nalatenschap bestemd voor de Indiase zustercongregatie van Moeder Theresa is door het armlastige aartsbisdom Utrecht gebruikt om kantoorkosten te betalen voor de afhandeling van klachten van misbruikslachtoffers binnen de Kerk. Dat meldt NRC Handelsblad vandaag. Ook zouden er kerst- en sinterklaasgeschenken voor bisdombestuurders van zijn betaald.

Het geld, 300.000 euro, kwam van de in 1994 overleden Utrechtse weduwe Cornelia Witkamp. Het bedrag werd in 1995 ondergebracht in de Stichting Caritas Moeder Theresa. Bestuurders van de stichting werden toenmalig aartsbisschop Ad Simonis en zijn econoom Jacques Klok. De stichting moest uitvoering geven aan het testament van Witkamp. Zij wilde dat de zusters van Moeder Theresa “de meest verlatenen en uitgestotenen der maatschappij, waaronder drugsverslaafden” in Utrecht konden helpen. De zusters kwamen echter nooit naar Utrecht.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

[Summary: The Saarbrucken newspaper reported on Feb. 17 that Bishop Ackermann issued a severe reprimand to a pastor. The man was accused to four cases of sexual boundary violations against minors. He may not exercise public priestly duties as was fined 3,000 euros. According to canon law, no crime was committed because the victims were older than 16.]

“Die Saarbrücker Zeitung hat in ihrer Ausgabe vom Montag, dem 17. Februar 2014 berichtet, dass Bischof Ackermann einem Pfarrer einen strengen Verweis erteilt hat. Mit diesem ist verbunden, dass der Geistliche ein Jahr lang sein Amt nicht öffentlich ausüben darf und eine Geldbuße von 3.000 Euro an eine Initiative zahlen muss, die sich insbesondere minderjährigen Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs annimmt.

Dem Mann konnten vier Fälle von sexueller Übergriffigkeit und Grenzverletzung gegenüber Jugendlichen nachgewiesen werden, die dieser in den Jahren 1984 bis 1986 in Beaumarais begangen hat. Nach Kirchenrechtlichen Bestimmungen hat es sich damals aber nicht um eine Straftat gehandelt, da die Betroffenen älter als 16 Jahre alt waren. Ein entsprechendes Ermittlungsverfahren der Staatsanwaltschaft wurde wegen Verjährung eingestellt. Die Verfehlungen gegenüber zwei Messdienerinnen von denen die Saarbrücker Zeitung ebenfalls berichtet hat, sind dagegen nicht geschehen. Diese beruhen vielmehr auf einen Fehler der Deutschen-Presseagentur. Die Saarbrücker Zeitung von Freitag, dem 21. Februar eine Korrekturmeldung gedruckt. Über die Vorfälle ist der Pfarrgemeinderat am Donnnerstag, dem 20. Februar2014 in einer Sitzung informiert worden. Der Pfarrgemeinderat bedauert zutiefst, dass in der Pfarrgmeinde jungen Menschen durch einen Geistlichen so großes Unrecht geschehen ist. Ein Betroffener hat in der Sitzung geschildert, was der Pfarrer ihm angetan hat. Darüber waren alle Mitglieder erschüttert. Dennoch hat der Betroffene versichert, dass er durch die Entscheidung des Bischofs seinen Frieden mit der Vergangenheit gefunden hat.

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NEDERLAND
Kathoiek

[Summary: According to a statement from the umbrella organization for Dutch religious, the orders have paid out 9.4 million euros to victims of sexual abuse and operating costs.]

door Eric van den Berg – 7 maart 2014

Volgens opgave van de koepelorganisatie Nederlandse Religieuzen (KNR) hebben de religieuze ordes en congregaties tot nu toe 9,4 miljoen euro betaald aan kosten rond het seksueel misbruik in de rooms-katholieke kerk. De kosten bestaan uit compensatiegelden voor slachtoffers en exploitatiekosten, onder meer voor de diverse commissies.

Tot 31 december 2012 hebben de religieuzen 2,2 miljoen euro uitgekeerd aan compensaties. Deze gelden komen ten laste van de afzonderlijke instituten maar niet van de KNR. De bedragen zijn gebaseerd op de adviezen van de compensatiecommissie. Compensaties aan slachtoffers vanaf 2013 zijn nog niet officieel becijferd.

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CANADA
The Catholic Register

Written by Michael Swan, The Catholic Register
Saturday, 08 March 2014

Twenty-five years on, the case that began the world-wide Catholic sexual abuse scandal is still crawling through the court system and still on the minds of Newfoundland Catholics.

Three years after the Christian Brothers of Ireland filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States, 422 survivors of abuse at schools and orphanages operated by the brothers will begin receiving cheques this month. Included among them will be 90 former Newfoundland victims from the 1950s and ‘60s.

The claimants will each receive a share of $16.5 million left from the sale of Christian Brothers assets in the U.S. The cheques will begin at $5,000 and average around $39,000.

Though that’s the end of the saga in the United States, the Canadian victims — most from Mt. Cashel but about half-a-dozen from Newfoundland day schools the Irish Christian Brothers operated — are pursuing their claims against the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Lutterworth Mail

by Court reporter
newsdesk@harboroughmail.co.uk
Published on the 08 March 2014

A former priest and religious education teacher who used to live in the Harborough district has gone on trial charged with sexually abusing young girls.

David Goodstadt, who used in live in Gartree and now lives in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, denied all allegations against him, including that he raped one of the girls, who was under the age of ten.

Goodstadt, who has worked at John Mansfield School in Peterborough and the Thomas Deacon Academy, also in Peterborough, faces a total of 14 charges, dating back several years.

The alleged victims cannot be named for legal reasons.

The trial started at Peterborough Crown Court on Monday where a jury of four men and eight women were sworn in.

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BOSTON (MA)
WGBH

[Pope softening tone, not stance, O’Malley says – Boston Globe]

FRI FEBRUARY 14, 2014

The marquee item in Sunday’s Boston Globe was a big interview with Cardinal Sean O’Malley on the future of the Catholic Church. But that exclusive came with a price: certain topics that O’Malley didn’t want to address were off limits. Adam Reilly has more.

PANELISTS

Dan Kennedy is a journalism professor at Northeastern University.
Callie Crossley is the host of WGBH News’ Under the Radar.
Adam Reilly is a political reporter for WGBH News.
Joshua Benton is the director of the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Sat, Mar 8, 2014

Ian Elliott, who retired as chief executive of the Catholic Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) last July, has challenged findings of a child protection audit in Down and Connor diocese and is considering a legal action against its bishop.

Published on December 10th, the audit found that the diocese had produced an “excellent result” in fully meeting 46 of the 48 criteria for protecting children, with the two other standards partially met. The audit, attributed to the NBSC, was led by Mr Elliott over four days in the diocese last May.

However, as published, its findings “do not reflect the findings from the fieldwork,” Mr Elliott said yesterday. Such were his concerns at what he found last May that, after the first two days there, he met and reported to Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor and NBSC chairman John Morgan. “I made them directly aware of the findings,” he said yesterday. “I am deeply concerned at attempts by the diocese to attribute that review [audit] to me.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

SHANE PHELAN PUBLIC AFFAIRS EDITOR – UPDATED 08 MARCH 2014

Northern Presbyterian Ian Elliott was the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog for six years when he stepped down from the role in 2013.

Prior to taking the job, he had been the lead adviser on child protection at the North’s Social Services Inspectorate, and also worked as divisional director of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

During his time with the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, Mr Elliott (66) wrote several hard-hitting reports and came into conflict with a number of senior clerics.

The board was set up in 2007 by a number of Catholic organisations to offer advice on best practice in safeguarding children, assist in the development of procedures, and to monitor ongoing safeguarding practices.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

By George Houde
Special to the Tribune
11:35 a.m. CST, March 6, 2014

A former Willow Creek Church volunteer who admitted to sexually abusing a boy at the church was indicted today in a separate alleged child sexual assault.

Robert Sobczak, 20, is accused of criminal sexual assault of a teenage relative who has a development disability, according to court records. Sobczak is accused of forcing the boy to perform a sex act at a home in Schaumburg where the two were attending a birthday party.

The alleged assault occurred in March 2013, the month after an investigation began into Sobczak’s abuse of a boy at the church but before Sobczak was charged in that abuse.

In that case, Sobczak eventually pleaded guilty to criminal sexual abuse of the 8-year-old, who was in a church program for children with special needs. Sobczak was a volunteer in that program. He received two years of probation in that case, but was placed back in custody in lieu of a $500,000 bond when he was rearrested in the Schaumburg case last month.

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LOUISIANA
The Daily Beast

Steven Ward

The Hosanna Church was the heart of a child sex abuse scandal shrouded in reports of devil worship and rituals with cat blood and pentagrams. Is this the case behind ‘True Detective’?
Is there any monster in this world worse than man?

The residents of the small, south Louisiana town of Ponchatoula discovered in 2005 there were monsters committing unspeakable acts to children and animals. The evil was reportedly carried out inside a church.

A splinter cult reportedly formed by leaders and members of the Hosanna Church became the salacious heart of a child sex abuse scandal that rocked and shocked the community following newspaper and broadcast reports of devil worshipping and occult rituals involving animal blood and pentagrams.

Last month, Nic Pizzolatto, the South Louisiana-reared creator of HBO’s critically acclaimed pulp-thriller True Detective, told an Entertainment Weekly reporter that viewers of his show can piece together parts of the plot and forthcoming ending by Googling the words “Satanism,” “preschool,” and “Louisiana.” Pizzolatto then said, “You’ll be surprised at what you get.”

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MISSISSIPPI
Clarion-Ledger

Written by
Ruth Ingram

Mississippi church leaders, employees and volunteers need tools to equip them in preventing sexual abuse of children — and to ensure children’s safety by keeping would-be perpetrators from coming through the church doors in the first place.

Organizers of an April 29 conference open to all religious denominations hope that information will change mindsets, raise awareness and empower pastors to operate ministries free from child molestation.

The host site: Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton, which for years employed as music minister now-convicted child sex offender John Langworthy, who admitted during a service at the church in August 2011 that he molested young boys in Texas and the Jackson area more than 20 years ago.

Langworthy last year pleaded guilty to five felony gratification of lust charges involving five boys ages 10-13 between April 1980 and December 1984. He received no jail time.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Island Packet

BY JONATHAN MCFADDEN
jmcfadden@heraldonline.com
March 7, 2014

YORK — An international support group for people who have been abused by church leaders is demanding that the denominational organization that employed a North Carolina pastor accused of sexually assaulting a girl at two York churches answer “why they allowed a convicted sexual predator to work?”

After issuing a statement Friday afternoon, the executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said the Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas needs to use its resources to “aggressively seek out anybody who might have seen, suspected or suffered this minister’s crimes.”

More, “they need to beg every single witness or victim to contact law enforcement ” and “aggressively reign in anyone who might be tempted to publicly support this minister or attack his accusers.”

Those statements come a day after police issued warrants for Cory Dean Moses, 38, of Charlotte, accusing him of assault, criminal sexual conduct with a minor, and committing or attempting a lewd act. Authorities on Friday were still looking for Moses, York Police Lt. Rich Caddell said. Members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team searched for Moses at his home, but found it empty.

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OREGON
Wall Street Journal

By KATY STECH

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth L. Perris plans to retire after 30 years on the Oregon bench.

Judge Perris, 62, who is known for mediating disputes in Detroit’s bankruptcy and for other financially struggling cities, plans to retire in January. She’ll use the extra time to continue mediation work, travel and “not [have] to be on 6 a.m. conference calls,” according to a statement from her chambers.

Judge Perris handled the bankruptcy of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in 2004, the first of about a dozen bankruptcies that dioceses around the country have filed to deal with sexual abuse claims.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The former head of a child protection watchdog may sue a Catholic bishop over a report that praised safeguarding practices within the bishop’s diocese.

Ian Elliott, who retired from the National Board of Safeguarding Children (NBSC) last July, is considering legal action against Bishop Noel Treanor.

The bishop leads the Diocese of Down and Connor in Northern Ireland.

Mr Elliott disagrees with the December 2013 report and claims the diocese tried to link his name to its findings.

‘Excellent result’

The NBSC report stated that between 2009 and 2013, Bishop Treanor’s diocese had compiled “fully” with 46 of 48 criteria considered necessary for good child protection practice.

It concluded: “This is an excellent result and indicates the very successful and effective investment of time and resources by the Diocese of Down and Connor in its child safeguarding services over the last five years.”

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Saturday, March 08, 2014

Priests who abused children should be forgiven for past “mistakes” and allowed return to ministries where they have authority over minors, a Catholic Church group has claimed.

By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
Irish Examiner Reporter

The stance, which has sparked a backlash from abuse survivors who said nothing has been learned from recent scandals, was made by the Association of Catholic Priests after child protection watchdog talks. Speaking after meeting with the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) on Wednesday, the association said it is wrong to block priests who have “made a mistake or mistakes in their earlier life” from returning to the altar.

And while the move contradicts basic child protection standards, the group claimed priests who show “no pattern of re-offending” must be given “mercy”.

“Many older priests are excluded because of a mistake or mistakes they made in their earlier life, and where there was no pattern of re-offending. We questioned the justice of this, and the witness from a church, one of whose core teachings is mercy and forgiveness,” wrote the association, which represents 25% of priests.

In the same statement the group’s spokesman, Fr Tony Flannery, suggested audits of child protection standards in dioceses are potentially mistreating priests and bishops — not protecting children from harm.

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TEXAS
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

BY BILL MILLER
wmiller@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — The Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth reached a settlement this week with a person who accused former priest James Reilly of sexual abuse, according to a news release from the diocese on Friday.

Terms of the settlement were confidential and the person asked to remain anonymous, said Pat Svacina, a spokesman for the diocese.

He said he was unaware if similar cases are pending.

Reilly was assigned to St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church in Arlington from 1969 through 1987. He retired in 1987, moved to Philadelphia and died in 1999.

It wasn’t clear Friday night how many cases involving Reilly the diocese has settled. According to previous Star-Telegram reports, one Dallas lawyer said in June 2012 that 26 of her clients had settled claims against the former priest. All her clients were male.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Independent

SHANE PHELAN PUBLIC AFFAIRS EDITOR – PUBLISHED 08 MARCH 2014

The former priest at the centre of the Down and Connor row was described by one of his victims as a “a violent sexual predator”.

Jim Donaghy (55) was jailed for 10 years in 2012 after being convicted of 23 sex abuse charges against a young adult and two teenage altar boys.

The former parish priest for Bangor, Co Down, stepped down in 2004 when a complaint against him was made to the police.

One of his victims, Pat McCafferty, was a student priest when he was first abused by Donaghy in Co Wexford.

Fr McCafferty described the abuse he suffered at the hands of Donaghy as “brutal”, “horrendous”, and worse than the death of his mother.

It started when Donaghy was a deacon and it continued after he was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Down and Connor.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MAC DONALD

Survivors of clerical abuse have lashed out at the Association of Catholic Priests over its description of incidents of abuse by priests as “mistakes”.

Marie Collins told the Irish Independent she was “shocked” by the ACP’s comment.

And a priest, who was himself the victim of clerical abuse, described the ACP’s attitude as “despicable”.

It came after ACP’s Fr Sean McDonagh and Fr Tony Flannery “raised the difficulties around historical allegations” with the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church this week.

On its website, Fr Tony Flannery stated that they had “questioned the justice” of excluding many older priests from ministry “because of a mistake or mistakes they made in their earlier life” where there was “no pattern of re-offending”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Independent

PAUL VALLELY Author Biography Saturday 08 March 2014

No Pope had ever before dared to take the name Francis. And for good reason. St Francis of Assisi was the son of a rich merchant who in the 13th century cast aside his lavish lifestyle, giving away the fine clothes off his back. They called him Il Poverello – the little poor one. But this was more than an embrace of poverty. It was a challenge to what the man who was to become the first Pope Francis has called the “luxury, pride, vanity of the civil and ecclesiastical powers of the time”.

A pope who took the name of the great saint of the poor would be casting down a gauntlet that he, and his church, should be tested against the most demanding of standards. On 13 March, 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio took that name. One year on, how has Pope Francis measured up?

As his attitudes and priorities emerge, it is clear that he wants a church for the poor, that puts mercy before moralising, compassion into action and which embraces rather than excludes. There is still debate about whether the 266th pontiff is doctrinally liberal or conservative. But there is no doubting that he is a radical. It has also become clear that there are three key areas on which he has yet to deliver if he is to fulfil the promise of his chosen name. …

The third challenge is over the institutional church’s complicity in cover-ups of paedophile priests. A recent UN report highlighted tens of thousands of crimes by priestly abusers over several decades in a dozen countries. Francis has an equivocal record on this. In Buenos Aires he took a tough line on abuse, ridiculing the practice in the US, UK and Ireland of simply moving paedophile priests to a new parish. He told fellow bishops in Argentina to remove suspects from active ministry and try them in a church court. But he did not advocate involving the police, which is a key demand of many victims’ groups, and in his time the Argentine bishops missed the Vatican 2010 deadline to create safeguards against new abuse.

In his first year, Pope Francis has not spoken publicly at any length on clerical sex abuse. In private, he has told officials in the CDF to act decisively. He has announced a new Commission on the Protection of Minors. But he has yet to reveal who will sit on it – or what its brief will be. And a papal diplomat recently accused of sexually abusing boys in the Dominican Republic was not reported to the police there; instead, he was recalled to the Vatican for prosecution.

The truth is that the Vatican is split over whether offending priests should be reported to the civil authorities or dealt with by internal Church procedures. But Pope Francis should be in no doubt that the latter will not be enough to satisfy victims, who want to see abusers reported direct to the police. Anything less will see his Church continue to stand in the pillory of public condemnation.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Deep concerns at handling of clerical abuse case were cut out of church report: author

BY SHANE PHELAN – 08 MARCH 2014

The former head of the Catholic Church’s child safety watchdog has revealed that serious concerns he had about the handling of an abuse case in Northern Ireland were omitted from an official report.

Ian Elliott alleges that the Diocese of Down and Connor blocked the release of information it held about its handling of the case of ex-priest Jim Donaghy, who was jailed for 10 years in 2012 for abusing two altar boys and a trainee priest.

Mr Elliott investigated the diocese last May, a month before his retirement from the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.

The report on the diocese that was subsequently published by the safeguarding board last December, did not refer to his concerns, and gave the diocese a clean bill of health.

The Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Noel Treanor, declined to answer questions about the “contents and integrity” of the report, saying it was a matter for the safeguarding board.

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CINNCINNATI (OH)
WLWT

[with video]

CINCINNATI —Catholic school teachers in the Cincinnati Archdiocese will soon see a much more detailed morality clause in their new contracts.

At the top, it reads “Teacher-Minister” and the morals clause has grown from a line or two to an entire paragraph.

The new contract clearly spells out to teachers that they must refrain from any conduct or lifestyle that contradicts Catholic doctrine or morals.

The language reads, “Such conduct or lifestyle that is in contradiction to Catholic doctrine or morals includes, but is not limited to, improper use of social media/communication, public support of or publicly living together outside marriage, public support of or sexual activity out of wedlock, public support of or homosexual lifestyle, public support of or use of abortion, public support of or use of a surrogate mother, public support of or use of in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination, public membership in organizations whose mission and message are incompatible with Catholic doctrine or morals, and/or flagrant deceit or dishonesty.”

Teachers will be required to initial that section to indicate agreement and sign their name or risk possible termination.

The archdiocese said this is meant to clear up any confusion about what’s expected and what Catholic doctrine accepts and rejects.

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CINCINNATI (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer

Michael D. Clark, mclark@enquirer.com March 7, 2014

Teachers in Cincinnati Archdiocese schools could lose their jobs if they violate a new employment contract that clamps down on their personal lives beyond school walls.

The new contract obtained by The Enquirer has doubled in size and is strikingly different from previous Archdiocese teacher employment agreements.

For the first time, it details prohibited practices such as gay “lifestyles,” out-of-wedlock relationships, abortions and fertility methods that go against Catholic teachings.

The contract for the 2014-15 school year explicitly orders teachers to refrain “from any conduct or lifestyle which would reflect discredit on or cause scandal to the school or be in contradiction to Catholic doctrine or morals.” It goes so far as to ban public support of the practices.

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CALIFORNIA
KREM

by ALISON MORROW / KING 5
KREM.com
Posted on March 7, 2014

Ever since Eastside Catholic students began protesting Mark Zmuda’s termination last December, their goal always aimed far outside Sammamish.

“Maybe even more than just theoretically, this case could end up before the United States Supreme Court,” said employment attorney Jeffrey Needle.

Zmuda announced Thursday that he is suing Eastside Catholic and the Seattle Archdiocese for wrongful termination after he lawfully married his male partner.

The crux of Zmuda’s argument, explained in documents he’ll discuss at a news conference on Friday, is that he never served in a religious role.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

The jury in the sex-assault trial of Rev. Andrew McCormick, a Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy at a Northeast Philadelphia church in 1997, finished its first full day of deliberations Friday without a verdict and will resume its deliberations Monday.

Before leaving, the Common Pleas Court jury of nine women and three men asked Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright to again instruct them in the law when they return.

McCormick, 57, is charged in five counts involving sexual assault, child endangerment and corrupting minors in an incident that allegedly occurred when McCormick was a priest at St. John Cantius Church in Bridesburg.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Pottstown Mercury

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia jury has deliberated for more than a day in a Philadelphia priest-abuse case without reaching a verdict.

The jury returns Monday to continue weighing charges against the Rev. Andrew McCormick.
The 26-year-old accuser says he was molested in 1997, after his mother talked to the priest over concerns her 10-year-old son was gay.

McCormick denies the account. The 57-year-old priest has been on trial for about two weeks.
His lawyer notes that no one else has ever accused McCormick of child sexual abuse.

However, McCormick has been suspended from ministry over a complaint about his closeness with another altar boy.

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

When Borough Park resident Sam Kellner went to authorities with allegations that Satmar Rabbi Baruch Lebovits had molested his son, he risked becoming a pariah in his insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Sure enough, Kellner was shunned from his community, was unable to do business with his neighbors, and ultimately had to pawn his silverware to survive. In the most shocking twist of all, however, Kellner was indicted by Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes on dubious charges of trying to extort Lebovits before turning evidence over to the authorities. Today, new Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson finally dropped the charges against Kellner, a case that he referred to on the campaign trail as “botched.”

“After a careful review of the evidence, we have concluded that the charges against Samuel Kellner must be dismissed. We’ve reached this conclusion because we do not believe that we can prove these charges at trial,” said District Attorney Ken Thompson in a statement.

In 2008, Kellner’s son told him he was sexually abused by his Rabbi. After searching out other instances of abuse by Lebovits (and after meeting early resistance from DA Hynes), Kellner finally succeeded in providing enough evidence that Lebovits was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 10 ½ to 32 years in prison for a long history of sexual abuse. It was after the trial that Hynes turned his attention on Kellner, in a move that would likely have a chilling effect on anyone else from reporting sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community (which also happened to vote as a bloc for Hynes for decades).

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The State

BY JONATHAN MCFADDEN
jmcfadden@heraldonline.comMarch 7, 2014

YORK — An international support group for survivors of abuse at the hands of the clergy is demanding that the denominational organization that employed a North Carolina pastor accused of sexually assaulting a girl at two York churches answer “why they allowed a convicted sexual predator to work.”

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) on Friday afternoon issued a statement calling for the Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas, headquartered in Greenville, to answer unanswered questions in light of warrants being issued for Cory Dean Moses, 38, of Charlotte.

Police on Thursday said they issued warrants for Moses that will charge him with assault, criminal sexual conduct with a minor and committing or attempting a lewd act.

Over a five-year period, authorities say he sexually assaulted, fondled and molested a girl while he was pastor at New Mount Zion Church on U.S. 321 in York, and then later at Redeemed Christian Ministries on Ross Cannon Street.

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UNITED STATES
Faith Forward

By Reba Riley

If there’s one thing I know the power of, it’s a name.

For the better part of a decade I suffered from a chronic mystery illness that was attacking me from the inside out. Countless doctors and specialists couldn’t diagnose me, couldn’t give me a name for what was happening. They told me it was all in my head — that I could pull myself out of it if I just tried harder.
I believed them.

Debilitating fatigue and pain became a way of life. My physical distress was second only to the mental torture that went like this, “I am doing this to myself. I do not have an actual medical condition. These symptoms are not real. There is nothing wrong with me.”

But there was something wrong with me. After eight years of sickness, a doctor handed me a slip of paper. On the paper was the name of the disease I had been fighting; the disease that had been fighting me.

I wept with joy. (Which confused my poor doctor more than a little bit.)

I had a name. The symptoms were real. I did have a medical condition. I was not doing it to myself.

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NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE
MARCH 7, 2014

Archbishop Myers and his extravagant expenditures make it untenable for him to continue as a church leader
Archbishop Myers must be removed or resign immediately as Archbishop of Newark

What: A leafleting and media event calling for the removal of Archbishop John Myers as
Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey

When: Sunday, March 9, 2014 from 11:30 AM until 1:30 PM. Press conference at 1:00
PM

Where: In front of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, 89 Ridge Street, Newark,
NJ 07104.

Who: The co-founder and President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity that
assists victims of sexual abuse and their families who is a former priest of the Archdiocese of Newark and has consistently called for the removal of Archbishop Myers for at least the past ten years; sexual abuse victims and their families; concerned parishioners of Newark Archdiocesan parishes who have had enough of Archbishop Myers’ extravagant spending.

Why: Since John J. Myers became the Archbishop of Newark, NJ, in 2001, he has used
parishioners’ contributions to: a) air-condition the Cathedral Basilica so he didn’t “sweat” during religious services, and renovate his own quarters at the Cathedral rectory – COST – $2,000,000.00; b) purchase an extravagant home in rural Hunterdon County – COST – approximately $700,000.00; c) build an addition on his Hunterdon County vacation/retirement home to the tune of at least $500,000.00. Myers clearly has no business spending extravagantly, especially since Pope Francis has called on bishops to live simply as a sign of solidarity with those they serve. The Newark, NJ area has some of the poorest Congressional Districts in the United States, yet Archbishop Myers treats himself lavishly, insisting on being called “Your Grace,” and living extravagantly Archbishop John J. Myers must be removed or resign immediately as Archbishop of Newark.

Contacts: Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D. – Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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MISSOURI
Metro Independent

By Roger Starkey / March 7, 2014

A former principal at Collinsville Christian Academy had been charged with two felony counts of attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a male between the ages of 13-18

Robert Allen Lane, 57, of the 1200 block of Antler Drive in Troy, allegedly made two attempts to fondle a male student between the ages of 13-18. Both incidents occurred on school property, during normal business hours, in the fall of 2013.

According to charges filed by the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office, the first incident occurred between Sept. 1, 2013 and Nov. 1, 2013. Lane allegedly touched the leg of the victim, with the intent to arouse the victim sexually, and attempted to fondle him.

The second incident occurred between Nov. 1, 2013 and Nov. 7, 2013. Again Lane allegedly touched the leg and stomach area of the victim, attempting to sexually arouse and fondle him.

Lane was the principal at Collinsville Christian Academy from Aug. 2010 to Dec. 2013. Officials at the school could not be reached for comment.

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MISSOURI
Fox 2

March 7, 2014, by Vera Culley

COLLINSVILLE, IL (KTVI) – The Madison County State’s Attorney has filed criminal sexual abuse charges against a former Collinsville principal.

Robert Allen Lane, 57, was principal at Collinsville Christian Academy until December 2013.

Authorities say a former student made allegations against Lane about incidents that happened on the school campus during school hours.

Now police believe there may be more victims. Lane is charged with two counts of Attempted Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse. He is out on a $10,000 bond.

Anyone who may have been victimized by Lane is asked to contact the Collinsville Police at 618-301-4444.

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MISSOURI
Belleville News-Democrat

BY ELIZABETH DONALD
News-Democrat
March 7, 2014

COLLINSVILLE — The former principal of the Collinsville Christian Academy has been charged with twice trying to sexually abuse a former student.

Robert Allen Lane, 57, of Troy, has been charged by the Madison County state’s attorney’s office with two felony counts of attempted aggravated sexual abuse, a Class 3 felony.

According to Collinsville Police, the investigation involved a boy between the ages of 13 and 18 who was a student at the school. The student alleged two sexual incidents on the school’s campus during normal business hours.

Lt. Todd Link of Collinsville Police confirmed that there was “one victim locally so far,” but said there may be other victims. Lane had previous teaching positions in other places throughout the state, he said.

“We’re still following up on those leads,” Link said.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Former principal at Collinsville Christian Academy charged with sexual abuse

By Kim Bell kbell@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8115

COLLINSVILLE • The former principal at Collinsville Christian Academy has been charged with twice trying to sexually abuse a former student. Both incidents allegedly happened on campus during business hours last year, before he was dismissed by the school board.

The Madison County state’s attorney on Thursday charged Robert Allen Lane with two counts of attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Lane, 57, lives in Troy. He was dismissed by the school board last November or December.

Bail was set at $100,000. With the approval of Judge Richard Tognarelli, Lane posted 10 percent of that and has been released from custody. He could not be reached for comment Friday morning.

The Collinsville Police Department started its investigation after hearing allegations from a former student at the academy.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, March 7, 2014

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com)

A former principal of a Collinsville Christian Academy has been charged with attempted sexual assault. We want school officials to aggressively reach out to any other victims.

[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Robert Allen Lane allegedly tried to sexually assault a student twice on school property. We believe there are more victims. School officials have an obligation to seek out anyone else who many have seen, suspected or suffered abuse.

Church officials who worry about shrinking Christian schools should insist that their officials take real measures, not symbolic ones, to end the long-standing and dangerous church culture of recklessness and deceit in child sex abuse cases. That will no doubt help stem declining enrollment in religious schools.

This case is a reminder that public schools are inherently safer than private schools. There is more openness and more accountability in public schools than private schools. And there’s less incentive to ignore or conceal child sex crimes in public schools than private schools.

First, law enforcement and fiscal authorities can more readily and easily audit and investigate public schools than private schools.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Mar. 7, 2014 NCR Today

The four men — three priests and an ex-priest — whose allegations of sexual misconduct against Scotland’s Cardinal Keith O’Brien forced the cardinal’s resignation a year ago, say local church authorities are stonewalling an investigation of O’Brien. They have made a direct appeal to Pope Francis to “sort this out.”

O’Brien made international headlines last year when the accusations surfaced, just as the cardinal was preparing to travel to Rome for the conclave that would elect Francis pope.

After the allegations were public, O’Brien announced he would not attend the conclave and then he resigned.

The men are seeking a public apology for “the victims of O’Brien and all those affected by abuse throughout the church” and an investigation into governance in the diocese. Specifically, they want to know:

how O’Brien had come to be appointed,
the extent of his predatory behavior
whether those close to him had been maneuvered into positions of power under his leadership and
about potential sacramental abuse by O’Brien.

O’Brien ‘s successor, Archbishop Leo Cushley, insists that only Rome can initiate an inquiry into O’Brien’s sexual behavior.

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UNITED STATES
Charisma

Jennifer LeClaire

I’m so absolutely grieved! So tired of reading about sexual abuse scandals in the church. Beyond all the pedophilia in the Catholic Church, there are plenty of Protestant sexual scandals making headlines. The sexual abuse in the church needs to stop!

The latest allegation comes against Jesus People USA in Chicago. A 90-minute documentary film, No Place to Call Home, puts the allegations on the big screen. The Chicago Tribune reports that Heather Kool, 38, has filed a lawsuit saying she was abused in the 1980s by members of Jesus People USA.

For all the high-profile cases, there are many smaller instances that we never hear about. In February, a man was indicted for sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl in a Mountain View church bathroom in Anchorage, Alaska. Also in February, a Maryland man was charged with sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl when he served as a deacon at Grace Apostolic Church.

Again in February, a Southwestern Illinois man was charged with four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse on a teenager—and five other males have since come forward with similar complaints about the deacon at the First Baptist Church. And would you believe, in February, a Willow Creek Church volunteer in Chicago was charged with aggravated sexual abuse for molesting two boys. Also in February, a South Jersey church organist was charged with sexually abusing five boys in 30 days.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, March 7, 2014

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

We are thrilled but not surprised at a Brooklyn prosecutor’s decision to drop charges against a whistleblower in a clergy sex abuse case.

[New York Times]

Sam Kellner is a hero, not a crook. He deserves praise, not persecution. Every New York parent should be grateful for his courage and his compassion. And Charles J. Hynes and his staff should be ashamed of themselves.

Hundreds of thousands of kids are molested every year because thousands of otherwise-decent but timid adults take the path of least resistance and do nothing when they suspect or learn about child sex crimes. The few who are brave enough to speak up should be rewarded, not attacked.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priestst

For immediate release: Friday, March 7, 2014

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com)

A North Carolina pastor, who was working in South Carolina, has been accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl. He is already listed on the sexual offender registry in North Carolina. We are disturbed that a registered sex offender was allowed to work as the pastor of a church.

[Charlotte Observer]

We want church officials at Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas, an international organization headquartered in Greenville, S.C., which Faith Chapel and New Mount Zion (where Cory Dean Moses allegedly abused a girl) are members, to answer why they allowed a convicted sexual predator to work. As far as we can tell parishioners were given no warning.

We are grateful for this brave victim speaking up and for the York Police Department admitting there are most likely more victims. We urge anyone who suffered, suspects or witnessed abuse to come forward report to police and start healing.

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CANADA
The Telegram

Barb Swee
Published on March 07, 2014

A U.S. group representing victims is denouncing the apology that the Christian Brothers order issued to victims there and in Canada.

“Church abuse apologies are virtually meaningless. Whether long or short, clear or vague, prompt or delayed, they don’t protect a single child, expose a single predator or uncover a single cover up,” said David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

The comments came in a news release issued after The Telegram reported today online that officials of the order in New Jersey had sent apology letters to some 420 victims, including former residents of the Mount Cashel orphanage in St. John’s.

“Apologies like this are smart public relations and legal defense maneuvers. And it’s tragic that they often come only after Catholic institutions are sued and Catholic officials are forced to act,” Clohessy said.

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