ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

TESS LIVINGSTONE THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 25, 2014

POPE Francis has appointed Australia’s Cardinal George Pell to one of the church’s most senior jobs in Rome.

Cardinal Pell’s new position, as Prefect for the Economy for the Holy See and the Vatican, ranks on a par with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, an Italian, second behind the Pope in the church’s hierarchy.

Cardinal Pell, who has been spending increasing amounts of time in Rome, will relocate there before the end of next month. All sections of the Vatican curia will be answerable to him for financial and administrative matters, regardless of which other cardinal prefects they report to on other matters.

No Australian cardinal has been appointed to such a senior Vatican role before. Cardinal Pell’s departure will leave a vast gap in Australian public life, to which he has been a major contributor for decades and for which he was made a Companion in the Order of Australia in 2005.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Feb. 24, 2014

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis has approved a set of sweeping moves to reorganize the financial and administrative structures of the Catholic church’s central bureaucracy, creating a new central office with wide control particularly of economic issues, the Vatican announced Monday.

Sydney Cardinal George Pell will head the new office, known as the Secretariat for the Economy. Announcing the news in a statement, the Vatican said Pell would have “authority of all the economic and administrative activity within the Holy See and the Vatican City State.”

Francis’ decision to reorganize the Vatican’s economic and administrative structures comes after criticism in recent years that its operations, especially in financial matters, occur in secret and with little public accountability.

Last week, Francis and the Council of Cardinals met with three separate groups appointed by Francis to investigate the Vatican’s various financial operations.

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IRELAND
Kildare Nationalist

An 85-year-old former Catholic priest from Dublin today admitted sexually assaulting seven children, including altar boys, after spending more than 20 years on the run in Spain.

Francis Paul Cullen was extradited back to the UK last year to face the charges after being traced to Tenerife.

The Catholic Church and its safeguarding board helped police to trace Cullen who was found to have attended mass at a church in Playa de las Americas every Sunday.

Today Dublin-born Cullen, looking frail in the dock, pleaded guilty to 21 charges at Derby Crown Court committed between 1957 and 1991.

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TENNESSEE
Chattanooga Times Free Press

by Todd South

A former Shelbyville, Tenn., youth minister has admitted in a plea agreement to possessing “violent” and “sadistic” child pornography on his cellphone.

Former North Fork Baptist Church youth minister Joseph Todd Neill, 37, agreed to plead guilty to a charge of possession of child pornography on Feb. 13. The plea agreement was filed Thursday.

Neill faces up to 20 years in prison. There has not yet been a plea hearing scheduled.

The child porn images were discovered when Shelbyville police began investigating charges that Neill had seduced and had sexual contact at least twice with a 17-year-old female church member

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TENNESSEE
Shelbyville Times-Gazette

Sunday, February 23, 2014
By BRIAN MOSELY ~ bmosely@t-g.com

A former Bedford County youth minister has admitted in federal court to possessing child pornography described as “sadistic” and “violent.”

Joseph Todd Neill, 37, made a plea agreement on charges of possession of the images found on his cell phone last year. He could face up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

No plea hearing has been set in the federal case. A court date of April 3 is set in Bedford County.

According to the federal plea deal, Neill admitted to initiating a sexual relationship on more than two occasions with a minor who was a member of the church.

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TENNESSEE
Deep Thoughts

Former Baptist youth pastor Joseph Todd Neill, of North Fork Baptist Church in Shelbyville, admitted to possessing violent and sadistic images of child pornography in a plea deal. He faces 20 years in prison. Neil still faces trail for the sexual exploitation of a minor and statuary rape by an authority figure.

Former North Fork Baptist Church youth minister Joseph Todd Neill, 37, agreed to plead guilty to a charge of possession of child pornography on Feb. 13. The plea agreement was filed Thursday.

Neill faces up to 20 years in prison. There has not yet been a plea hearing scheduled.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

24 FEBRUARY 2014

Northern Ireland’s First and Deputy First Ministers have said a forum should be established to acknowledge alleged mistreatment of young women at Catholic-run Magdalene workhouses.

Victims have been campaigning for an inquiry after investigations in the Republic of Ireland uncovered evidence of harsh conditions and callous treatment.

The laundries – institutions for single mothers detained through the courts or often moved in by their family or clergy for being sexually active – were run by Catholic religious orders.

A statement from OFMDFM said: “We recognise that there are women who were over the age of 18 when they entered the Magdalene laundry-type institutions and there is a need to provide them with a forum where their issues can be addressed and their experiences acknowledged.”

The Good Shepherd Sisters ran a laundry and home in Belfast from the late 19th century until 1977 and 1990 respectively. Thousands of girls and women passed through its doors. The same order of nuns ran two other laundries, one in Newry in Co Down which operated into the 1980s, and another in Derry.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier-Mail

Toowoomba child protection officer’s words at sex abuse royal commission speak volumes

KAREN BROOKS THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 25, 2014

OUT of all the evidence so far given to the child sexual abuse royal commission by senior staff at a Toowoomba Catholic primary school, I was struck by the words of the school’s child protection officer.

In giving her evidence to the commission in Brisbane last week, Catherine Long wondered why more of the children didn’t have the courage to come forward.

Let me explain this apparent “lack” by offering a first-hand account of what it’s like to be the target of a pedophile.

It’s my hope this helps shed understanding on why kids don’t come forward or why, when they do, it’s important the immediate default position is to believe them and act – which then takes courage of a different kind.

My abuse began when I was eight years old and continued for three long years.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier-Mail

Former Bishop William Morris tells child sex abuse inquiry the Catholic church had a culture of denial

MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 25, 2014

FORMER Toowoomba bishop William Morris has declared the Catholic Church was plagued by a culture of believing child sex abuse victims were “just making it up”.

Bishop Morris has also told the royal commission into sexual abuse he was personally sacked by Pope Benedict in 2011.

The bishop was the first person to apologise over the sexual abuse of 13 schoolgirls at the hands of former teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes, meeting with the victims and opening the way for them to be paid compensation.

The commission heard after Byrnes was arrested, Bishop Morris sacked a principal and two education officers, who knew about the allegations but did not tell police.

Yesterday he called for the Church to set up a national body to oversee its handling of sex abuse complaints

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The fugitive paedophile priest Paul Cullen evaded capture by the police for more than 20 years living on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

But the 85-year-old was not living under an alias – he was using his own name in the resort of Los Cristianos.

Cullen has admitted dozens of charges of historical sex abuse against seven children in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, dating back to 1957.

He is due to be sentenced at the same court next month.

Cullen’s victims, were all children, some of them only six-years-old.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Nottingham Post

By PMBlackburn | Posted: February 24, 2014

A FORMER Catholic priest who was on the run for 20 years has admitted sexually abusing seven children – one of them in Notts.

Francis Paul Cullen, who spent three years working at the Parish Priest of St Mary in Hyson Green from 1988 to 1991, this morning pleaded guilty to 21 charges of abuse against children as young as six, including altar boys, between the 1950s and 1990s.

He appeared at Derby Crown Court this morning.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WPVI

PHILADELPHIA – February 23, 2014 (WPVI) — The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has removed two priests from ministry after an investigation into allegations that they sexually abused minors over 40 years ago.

Archbishop Charles Chaput announced Sunday that separate investigations found that Reverend James J. Collins and Reverend John P. Paul are unsuitable for ministry.

Reverend Collins last served at Holy Family University and Reverend Paul served at Our Lady of Calvary for 13 years before being placed on administrative leave.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

WILLIAM BENDER, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER BENDERW@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-5255

POSTED: Monday, February 24, 2014

WHEN THE REV. John P. Paul resigned as pastor of Our Lady of Calvary Parish in November, the 67-year-old priest told his congregation that he was considering a serious road trip for “renewal” purposes.

“If possible, I would like to study spirituality at Bellarmine University, in Louisville, KY . . . make a retreat in Assisi, Italy, and work with Fr. Mike in Malawi, Africa,” Paul wrote in the church bulletin.

He might have more time on his hands than he’d first anticipated.

Yesterday, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced that Archbishop Charles Chaput has found Paul unsuitable for ministry because of at least one substantiated allegation that he sexually abused a 17-year-old more than 40 years ago.

The Rev. James J. Collins also was deemed unsuitable for ministry based on a similar substantiated allegation. Collins, 75, a faculty member at Holy Family University from 1976 until last year, was placed on administrative leave in May.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Catholic Culture

Cardinal Roger Mahony, who served as archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011, has admitted mishandling the case of Father Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera.

In a deposition that was recently unsealed, the prelate admitting directing his vicar of clergy not to give police a list of altar boys who worked with priest following abuse accusations.

The visiting priest returned to Mexico in 1988 after Father Thomas Curry, then vicar for clergy and now an auxiliary bishop, informed him of impending charges. The priest remains at large.

“It was in early 1988– some 26 years ago– that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles became aware of the terrible sexual abuse which the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera had been inflicting upon young people in Los Angeles,” Cardinal Mahony wrote on his blog following the release of the deposition. “This case highlighted errors made by us in the Archdiocese in those early years, and for those errors I apologize once again. But this case also led to several major changes in procedures used by the Archdiocese, and these were improved upon over the years.”

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

A former Catholic priest has been found guilty of sexually assaulting boys while he was their dorm master at a Victorian boarding school.

A jury on Monday found James Patrick Jennings, 80, guilty of indecently assaulting three boys at St Vincent’s College in Bendigo in the 1960s.

The victims were students in their early teens at the time.

The Victorian County Court jury found Jennings guilty of five counts of indecent assault.

He was cleared of a sixth indecent assault charge.

Jennings had pleaded not guilty to all six charges.

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SCOTLAND
Edinburgh Evening News

CARDINAL Keith O’Brien could face a “trial” by the Vatican after three priests asked the new Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Leo Cushley to pass on their complaints branding the disgraced churchman as a “sexual predator” who used his authority to compel them into “coercive” and “abusive” sexual relationships.

If the complaints are upheld by the Vatican investigation, he could lose his red hat.

Last year, Pope Francis ordered Cardinal O’Brien to remain in a religious house in England for three months of “prayer and penance”. He is still based at the house, but has returned to Scotland several times to visit friends.

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SCOTLAND
Express

Cardinal O’Brien faces Vatican ‘trial’ over sex claims

By: Rod MillsPublished: Mon, February 24, 2014

The new investigation under canon law could lead to the former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh losing his Biretta, the red hat that is the symbol of a cardinal.

Three priests in his former diocese have asked Leo Cushley, the new archbishop, to pass on their written complaints to officials in Rome.

The allegations characterise O’Brien as a “sexual predator” who used his authority to compel them into “coercive” and “abusive” sexual relationships.

The priests, whose accusations led to the cardinal’s enforced retirement and disgrace last February, appear determined to force Pope Francis to make a final judgment.

It is now understood that O’Brien’s sexual relationships continued until at least 2009, six years after he was made a cardinal.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

Feb 24, 2014
By Jack Mathieson

THE Catholic Church are probing allegations that O’Brien, who now lives at a retreat in Cumbria, made unwanted sexual advances towards young priests.

DISGRACED cardinal Keith O’Brien may face a trial under internal Catholic Church law which could see him stripped of his red hat.

The church hierarchy are probing allegations O’Brien – now living at a retreat in Cumbria – made unwanted sexual advances towards young priests.

Three priests whose accusations forced O’Brien to stand down from his role a year ago have held talks with Archbishop Leo Cushley, the new head of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

They have asked him to pass on written complaints characterising O’Brien as a “sexual predator” to Rome.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

The Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (FIA) has signed a working agreement with its Austrian and Cypriot counterparts, establishing formal procedures for cooperation in efforts to fight money-laundering and the financing of terrorist organizations.

The agreements with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) and Cyprus’s Unit for Combating Money Laundering (MOKAS), cover issues of exchanging information, preserving confidentiality, and reciprocity. It is based on a model agreement drafted by the Egmont Group, an international body for national financial authorities.

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UNITED STATES
The American Conservative

By JOHN ZMIRAK • February 24, 2014

The healthy human reaction whenever the United Nations says something is to ignore it, and hope that, like a singing drunk outside your window, it will simply go away. The normal Catholic’s reaction to a UN attack on the Church ought to be to rally ’round, to refute the thing point by point, and to lobby Congress to cut off U.S. funding. But after reading the UN’s recent report on the Church and the protection of children’s rights, I simply can’t do that. Not on this topic.

Yes, it’s true that the UN report on the Holy See is an instance of an unaccountable global bureaucracy trying to impose its own views on the free institutions of civil society, using the coercive power of government(s). Inside the velvet glove of happy talk about human dignity and children’s rights is the steel fist of radical feminism and homosexual activism, whose central tenets reject the traditional family, religious freedom, and other goods that reason tells us are essential for man to flourish. The report demands that the Church reach in and revise its Canon Law, its schools, and even its doctrine, wherever the UN sees those things as conflicting with its goals of “gender equality” and the sexual “freedom” of children. This use of the UN’s “soft power” can lead to the use of “hard power,” providing governments the pretext for penalizing the Church and its institutions, as the Obama administration is already doing through the HHS mandate.

The totalitarian implications of a world-wide body imposing its norms across the planet are precisely what worried those of us who criticized Pope Benedict XVI’s call for an international legislative authority that would supervene all national governments on earth—and from which there could be no escape.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Thirteen young Catholic girls were raped and molested by their teacher because five adults remained silent to protect the Church.

But the bishop they were trying to protect says he finds it “stunning” they didn’t report the claims.

Principal Terry Hayes, assistant principal Megan Wagstaff, student protection officer Catherine Long and senior Catholic Education Office staff Chris Fry and Ian Hunter first heard pedophilia allegations against a Toowoomba primary school teacher Gerry Byrnes in September 2007.

None of them ever told police or parents.

The former bishop of Toowoomba, Bill Morris, who didn’t hear about the abuse until after Byrnes’ 2008 arrest, can’t understand why all five failed to report him.

“It’s stunning, I know. I can’t get my head around it. Like I said to someone – well, we spoke about it recently. It’s not rocket science,” the bishop told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Monday.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

[with audio]

MARK COLVIN: The former bishop of Toowoomba says he’s still stunned by the failure of senior Catholic Education staff to report allegations that a teacher was sexually abusing his students.

Emeritus Bishop William Morris was the head of the Toowoomba Archdiocese when Gerard Byrnes sexually abused 13 girls at a primary school in 2007 and 2008.

Today he told the child abuse royal commission that a culture of doubting allegations needs to be stamped out and a national approach was needed to make that happen.

Stephanie Smail reports.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: The child abuse royal commission has been investigating how staff and Catholic Church officials dealt with allegations of sexual offences against veteran teacher Gerard Byrnes.

The former bishop of Toowoomba, William Morris, told the inquiry he was unaware of complaints against Byrnes until his arrest in late 2008.

Bishop Morris was asked by counsel assisting the inquiry, Gail Furness, about the string of failures that allowed Byrnes to keep teaching.

GAIL FURNESS: Byrnes was not removed as a student protection officer, notwithstanding the allegations made?

WILLIAM MORRIS: Failure.

GAIL FURNESS: Nor was he adequately monitored following the allegations in September 2007?

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

A culture of not believing child sex abuse victims has existed in the Catholic Church, based on suspicions “they were just making it up”, a bishop says.

Bishop Bill Morris, former bishop of Toowoomba, gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane on Monday.

He said he also considered Catholic education officials’ failure to report abuse to police to be a systemic failure.

Bishop Morris described as “stunning” the dithering over allegations about girls being touched inside their pants and shirts, saying such determination “is not rocket science”.

The hearing is looking into the case of former teacher Gerry Byrnes, who sexually abused school girls in his classroom in 2007 and 2008.

After Byrnes was arrested in 2008, Bishop Morris sacked a principal and two education officers, who knew about the allegations against him in September 2007 but did not tell police.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Former Catholic priest James Jennings, 80, jailed for sustained sex attacks at Bendigo in the 1960s

SHANNON DEERY, PADRAIC MURPHY HERALD SUN FEBRUARY 24, 2014

A FORMER Catholic priest has been jailed for the sustained sexual abuse of teen boarders at a regional Victorian college.

James Jennings, 80, was today found guilty by a jury of five counts of assault for the attacks on three young boarders in the mid 1960s.

He was found not guilty of one count of assault.

The attacks, on the boys aged 12 and 13, started shortly after Jennings was appointed to teach at St Vincent’s College, Bendigo in 1963.

The students were all in Year 7 or 8 when they were abused in similar ways between 1964 and 1968.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

Former Toowoomba Catholic bishop William Morris spoke with Pope Benedict in attempt to keep job

MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 24, 2014

THE Catholic Church has tried to silence a Toowoomba bishop who has revealed intimate details of his battle with the Vatican to keep his job after a pedophilia crisis erupted in one of his schools.

Former bishop William Martin Morris, describing himself as Emeritus Bishop of Toowoomba, has revealed details of a meeting with Pope Benedict in 2009 as he tried to hold on to the office he had occupied for nearly two decades.

Bishop Morris has not alleged his sacking was connected with the pedophilia case involving Gerard Vincent Byrnes, who raped and abused 13 girls at a Toowoomba Catholic primary school.

But Brisbane’s Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been told of speculation that Rome wanted to get rid of Bishop Morris because of his response to the Byrnes matter.

That response included admissions of responsibility and a subsequent $3 million payout to some of the victims in the civil courts.

Jane Needham, SC, for the Church, tried to stop Bishop Morris detailed exposure of how the Church went about removing him because of his liberal views on women’s ordination, and allowing confessions without direct contact with priests for sexual abuse victims.

“This is fascinating, but I have to query the relevance that it has to the subject matter that is before the royal commission as to the relevance of the conduct of Mr Byrnes,’’ Ms Needham said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

SARAH ELKS THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 24, 2014

THE Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba says he was forced into early retirement by Pope Benedict and the Vatican, denying his request for more time to support child sex abuse victims.

Former Toowoomba Bishop Bill Morris has today frankly described to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse his battle with the Vatican between 2006 and 2011.

Bishop Morris was at the helm of the southern Queensland diocese when pedophile teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes abused and raped 13 eight to ten-year-old girls at a Toowoomba primary school in 2007 and 2008.

The Royal Commission is investigating the “catastrophic” abuse at the school, most of which occurred after principal Terence Hayes failed to report an initial sexual abuse complaint against Byrnes to the police in September 2007.

Bishop Morris said his dispute with the Vatican and the Pope had earlier roots and was unrelated to the child sex abuse scandal. He said he drew ire in November 2006 when he wrote an open letter about priest shortages, discussing the possibility of the ordination of women and married or widowed men — practices that are not allowed under Catholic canon law.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Ordained a priest of the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus in 1952, Hatrel taught high school in Louisiana and, for many years, in Tampa, Florida. In 1979 he was transferred to Alaska, where he taught math in a parish grade school in Fairbanks, then pastored a parish in Alakanuk. He died in 1988. In a 2007 lawsuit Hatrel was accused of engaging in abuse during his time in Alakanuk.

Ordained: 1952
Died: May 7, 1988

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ESTADOS UNIDOS
El Pais

[Summary: For Mark Crawford the nightmare began 37 years ago during an overnight train journey to Colorado. He was 13 when Father Kenneth Martin, parish priest in Bayonne, N.J., and a close friend of the family, abused him. The abuse continued several days a week for seven years.]

Para Mark Crawford la pesadilla comenzó hace 37 años en el vagón de un tren nocturno camino a Colorado. Tenía 13 años cuando el padre Kenneth Martin, sacerdote de la parroquia de San Andrés en Bayonne, Nueva Jersey, y amigo íntimo de la familia, abusó de él. Desde entonces, y durante siete años, el cura repitió sus prácticas incesantemente varios días a la semana.

El calvario de acusaciones, silencios, connivencias y frustraciones en el que se tornó su vida desde entonces es un calco de las denuncias que contiene el informe sobre abusos a menores en el seno de la Iglesia católica que Naciones Unidas dio a conocer a comienzos de este mes. “Un día le confesé todo al diácono de mi parroquia, quien me dirigió al obispo que debería haber informado a la policía, como le obligaba la ley. En lugar de eso, me dijo que fuera a un psicoterapeuta, que, en realidad, era el responsable de los sacerdotes de la diócesis. A quien abusó de mí lo ascendieron a secretario personal del obispo Theodor McCarrick, a pesar de saber lo que me había hecho”, relata Crawford en conversación telefónica desde Newark.

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MINNESOTA
The Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant
February 23, 2014

The John Doe 1 case in Ramsey county continues to garner headlines as it seems like there is a new fight every week. Recently, it was reported by the Pioneer Press that Archbishop John Nienstedt and (Rev.) Kevin McDonough asked Judge Van de North to block the taking of their depositions. Deposition are court proceedings where people are questioned under oath and in front of a court reporter. The claim is :

argued that Nienstedt and McDonough should not have to be deposed. Neither should Rev. John T. Brown, who is accused of abuse in a separate lawsuit, the archdiocese said.

None of them “had any involvement with Father Adamson, St. Thomas Aquinas, the alleged abuse of plaintiff in 1976 or 1977, the archdiocese’s involvement in the transfer of Father Adamson from the (Winona) diocese, or the archdiocese’s retention of supervision of Father Adamson during this time period,” attorney Daniel Haws wrote in a Tuesday motion filed with the court.

I have seen very few situations where it has ever been questioned about the right to conduct discovery. My situations were motions to quash (stop) the deposition because of unavailability or witnesses trying to get paid as experts. Here the issue seems to be that the witnesses claim to know nothing about the cases.

It seems if that is really the case, it should be a very short and easy deposition. Of interest, the list that was released by The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis did include Adamson. And right before the list came out Nienstedt was in the forefront talking about how the list was put together and all the parishes that would be named. Sounds like he knows something.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[with audio]

Guests

Madeleine Baran: Reporter, MPR News
Patrick Wall: Advocate, Jeff Anderson and Associates law firm

MPR News published a list Wednesday of 70 Catholic clergy in the Twin Cities archdiocese who have been accused or suspected of sexually abusing children. The list contains more names than the archdiocese had revealed publicly.

The material published Wednesday was the latest installment in a months-long investigation by MPR News, led by reporter Madeleine Baran.

Scroll down to read a response from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Baran and Patrick Wall, a victims’ advocate working on sexual abuse cases, joined The Daily Circuit Thursday to talk about the MPR series and the issues it raises. Highlights of their conversation:

Madeleine Baran, reporter, on the goal of her series:

“We’re not trying to say whether or not a priest is guilty. It’s not our job to say whether a crime has been committed. But what we did want to do is look at where there was information that there were allegations, that they were investigated by either the police or the archdiocese, or found in a court record or court exhibits – those were the cases we were interested in. … There are cases, a couple we report on, where the investigation by the archdiocese is fascinating in terms of the parameters they’re using. They’re basically looking at, ‘Can we substantiate this or not?’ In a lot of cases of child sexual abuse, whether it’s within the church or elsewhere, if someone comes forward decades later, there is not often direct evidence of that. It’s not like there’s a crime scene, video, or DNA, or fingerprints. So it’s a very difficult standard for these victims to meet when they come forward. What I found at least in the last 10 years is the archdiocese will say, ‘Go to the police.’ That’s their policy. And if the police determine that they can’t charge it, then that’s very important to the archdiocese. But it doesn’t really address this issue of whether or not the archdiocese should be concerned.”

Patrick Wall, former monk, on secret church records:

“The directives from Rome are very clear, both through motu proprio from the holy father and the code of canon law, that these documents are to be kept in perpetuity, especially the most important files, the files on the priests. And the idea behind that is that the next bishop who comes into office, the next vicar general who comes into office, can get a quick read as to what that priest was all about, and so they can have access to what that bishop at the time knew and what they decided to do on that particular issue. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Archdiocese of St. Paul, or Bogota, or Buenos Aires, it’s the same standard of how they keep records around the world. This is a management technique that Rome has developed over a couple of thousand years. … This is never to be accessible to the public. The code is very clear. That’s why they call this a secret archive. Only the bishop and the chancellor have access to this …. Under no circumstances ever are bishops to turn over documents to prosecutors and/or lawyers.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Queensland Times

THE Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane has spent a full week probing deeply into what went so terribly wrong at a Catholic primary school in Toowoomba.

Convicted pedophile Gerard Byrnes is serving 10 years in jail for the sexual abuse and rape of 13 young girls.

Readers of the Chronicle will have been horrified to see how these 13 young girls were failed by the system and those people who were charged with protecting them.

The commission will most likely come back with several recommendations in about a month.

This is not the place to pre-empt what those recommendations may be.

But this inquiry must be successful in one most important area.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

By Patti Mengers, Delaware County Daily Times

POSTED: 02/23/14

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput announced Sunday a priest who once taught at the former St. James Catholic High School for Boys in Chester is unsuitable for ministry because of a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

The Rev. John P. Paul, who taught at St. James and was on staff at the old St. Robert’s parish in Chester from 1986 to 1990, was removed from ministry because of a substantiated allegation that he sexually abused a 17-year old more than 40 years when he was a seminarian, according to a press release from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He was ordained in 1972.

Archdiocesan officials said that they had referred the 67-year old priest’s case to law enforcement authorities who, after a lengthy investigation, declined to prosecute. However, last Nov. 6, Paul was placed on administrative leave after he voluntarily resigned as pastor of Our Lady of Calvary Church in Philadelphia where he had served since 2000.

Last November in a press release archdiocesan officials said that subsequent to Paul’s suspension “the archdiocese received multiple, new allegations that Father Paul had sexually abused minors over 30 years ago. These allegations were reported to the appropriate district attorney’s office.”

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

MINNESOTA
The Raw Story

Priest on disability for his pedophilia still supported financially by MN archdiocese

By Scott Kaufman
Sunday, February 23, 2014

According to an article in the Star Tribune, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis continued to pay the salary and health insurance premiums — as well as provide living expenses — for a pedophile priest who was convicted on child sex abuse charges over 30 years ago.

In 1983, the Reverend Gil Gustafson admitted to a Ramsey County District Court that he molested Brian Herrity for five years, beginning when the boy was 10 years old. He was fined $40 and sentenced to six months in jail and 10 years on probation. The vicar general in charge of clergy abuse cases, Rev. Kevin McDonough, believes that Gustafson abused between four and fifteen victims, including Herrity.

After four-and-a-half months in jail, he was released into the care of the Church, and the archbishop at the time, John Roach, lobbied to have Gustafson reinstated.

“I want him back in a parish,” Roach wrote in 1990. “He has received and complied with far more treatment than anyone else, and it seems to me he has done it well.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Sunshine Coast Daily

Adam Davies 24th Feb 2014

WHAT will Bill reveal?

That is the question on everyone’s lips.

The answer will come today when former Toowoomba Bishop William Morris gives his highly-anticipated evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane.

Bishop Morris oversaw the Toowoomba Catholic Dioceses at the height of the child sexual abuse scandal at a primary school in the city.

The arrest of paedophile teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes sent shockwaves across the nation.

Byrnes was convicted of 44 child sexual abuse charges, including rape, over his actions towards 13 young girls in his class between 2007 and 2008.

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

VATICAN CITY
Australia Network News

Pope Francis, who has made simplicity and serving the poor the distinguishing characteristics of his papacy, has told the 19 newly appointed cardinals to shun intrigue, gossip and cronyism.

“A Cardinal… enters the Church of Rome, my brothers, not a royal court,” the Pope said during a mass attended by the cardinals named.

“May all of us avoid, and help others to avoid, habits and ways of acting typical of a court: intrigue, gossip, cliques, favouritism and partiality.”

The admonition came as the Pope is seeking to refashion the image of the Roman Catholic Church, plagued by financial scandals and accusations of covering up child abuse by priests.

A council of cardinals, set up by the Pope to advise him on Vatican reforms, heard a report to reform the Vatican bank and it discussed organisational and economic programs earlier in the week.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has removed two priests from ministry after an investigation into allegations that they sexually abused minors over 40 years ago.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput says in a Sunday release that separate investigations found that Reverend James J. Collins and Reverend John P. Paul are unsuitable for the ministry.

The Archdiocese says that the cases were referred to the district attorney’s office, which declined to press charges.

Both men can appeal the verdicts to the Vatican. If they choose not to appeal they could be removed from the church or live a life of prayer and penance.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

February 23, 2014

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. has found Reverend James J. Collins not suitable for ministry following a substantiated allegation that he sexually abused a 17-year old minor over 40 years ago.

Archbishop Chaput has also found Reverend John P. Paul unsuitable for ministry following a substantiated allegation that he sexually abused a 17-year old minor over 40 years ago.

Today’s announcements are neither connected to one another nor to the cases of priests placed on administrative leave following the February 2011 Grand Jury Report.

Following Archbishop Chaput’s determinations of their unsuitability for ministry, neither Father Collins nor Father Paul will have public ministry in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. They have the right to appeal the decions to the Holy See. If they do not appeal, or if an appeal is unsuccessful, they could be laicized (removed from the clerical state) or live a life of prayer and penance.

Announcements were previously made at the parishes where these priests last served when they were placed on administrative leave. Follow up announcements were made at those parishes this weekend regarding the final decisions in their cases. Counselors were made available for parishioners.

Consistent with the Archdiocesan Policy for the Protection of Children and Young People, promulgated in October of 2012, the allegations against Fathers Collins and Paul first were reported to the appropriate local district attorney’s office so that law enforcement could investigate these matters and review them for possible criminal charges. Upon declination of criminal charges by the district attorney, the Archdiocesan Office of Investigations began its investigation in each case. The results of this process were submitted to the Archdiocesan Professional Responsibility Review Board (APRRB). The APRRB is comprised of twelve men and women, both Catholic and non-Catholic, with extensive professional backgrounds in the investigation and treatment of child sexual abuse. It functions as a confidential advisory committee to the Archbishop, which assesses allegations of sexual abuse as well as allegations of violations of The Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries. This body provided a recommendation regarding suitability for ministry to the Archbishop, who made the final decisions.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Chronicle

Chris Calcino 22nd Feb 2014

“SHE still has dreams. We hear her calling out, ‘stop it, leave me alone,’ in her sleep.”

The father of a girl who was repeatedly molested by pedophile teacher Gerard Byrnes has spoken about the culture of lies he blames for the cruelty endured by his young daughter.

The girl, who can only be referred to as KF, was in Grade 4 when Byrnes first began sexually abusing her in the classroom.

Her father, referred to here as Michael (not his real name), said the abuse continued when Byrnes was rehired after a month-long resignation in 2008.

“When it all came out, she told us that when he was re-employed as a substitute teacher he started molesting her again on his first day back,” he said.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MICHAEL MCKENNA THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 24, 2014

PARENTS of victims of a pedophile teacher at a Toowoomba Catholic primary school are calling for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse to widen its probe to local police officers involved in the initial investigation.

At least three police officers who took statements in the 2008 investigation of the teacher later jailed for the rape and molestation of 13 girls had children who were students and either served on the Parents and Friends Association or whose spouses were senior staff at the school.

Several parents complained to the Queensland Police Service and then-police commissioner Bob Atkinson at the time about the potential for a conflict of interest and the actions of an officer who was organising private meetings between families and school principal Terry Hayes after the teacher was arrested. Mr Atkinson is now one of the six commissioners overseeing the inquiry.

The inquiry will resume public hearings today into the scandal, which centres on the failure of Mr Hayes and Catholic education officials to report to police a complaint they received from a nine-year-old girl about her abuse in 2007. The teacher, Gerard Vincent Byrnes, denied the allegations to Mr Hayes and went on to rape and molest 12 other girls before his last victim complained directly to police.

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

NEW JERSEY
Wonkette

Hey, remember the story about the German “Bling Bishop” who got suspended after everybody was outraged by the $55 million cost of renovating his personal residence? Right here in U.S. America, we seem to have our own version of an archbishop who’s a little like that, too, though on a smaller scale. Take a look at this New York Times story about John J. Myers, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, who’s also getting some home improvements done. Now, it’s not exactly on the scale of the German bishop’s palace — it’s a 3000-square-foot addition to a vacation home that Myers will retire to in two years, not a restoration of an 800-year-old building, and there’s definitely nothing to compare to the German place’s $20,000 bathtub. In fact, it’s almost a bargain at only half a million dollars, which would barely cover the cost of the German residence’s solid gold hamster cages (don’t ask).

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

AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Parents of victims of Toowoomba school sex predator attack Catholic Church for protecting staff

PARENTS of some of the 13 girls abused by pedophile ­Gerard Byrnes have attacked the Catholic Church for continuing to employ staff who have admitted failing to protect students.

As a royal commission prepares to hear evidence from former Toowoomba Bishop William Morris tomorrow, parents say the church should not employ staff who admit they did not follow correct ­procedures when dealing with Byrnes.

“We can’t understand how they could all knowingly allow the sexual abuse to continue.’’

Byrnes pleaded guilty in the Toowoomba District Court in 2010 to 33 counts of indecent dealing with a child under 12, 10 counts of rape and one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child under 12.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse has already heard key figures in Catholic Education failed to pursue serious allegations against Byrne made more than one year before his arrest.

Former school principal Terence Hayes, still employed by the Church as a primary teacher, dismissed allegations Byrnes put his hand up girls’ skirts as gossip, failing to include it in critical internal communications.

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

INDIA
India Today

J Binduraj Kochi, February 23, 2014

Gail Tredwell, the author of ‘Holy Hell:A Memoir of Faith, Devotion and Pure Madness’, who alleged in her book that she was raped repeatedly by the chief priest of the Mutt Balu in mid-eighties and physically tortured by the God woman Amrithanandamayi during her stay in the ashramam, told India Today on Sunday that she will standby her allegations and have no intention of withdrawing anything.

“I stand behind everything that is written in my book and have no intention of withdrawing anything. I have told the truth, without any malicious motives, and therefore they don’t have a valid case against me,” Gail Tredwell said in her e-mail sent to India Today.

On why she hesitated to file a legal complaint in the issue, she said that she believes in higher forms of justice and do not wish to spend years dealing with legal proceedings. “I do not intend to file any legal complaint. I have already spent twenty years of my life with this organization and do not wish to spend several more years dealing with legal proceedings. Filing a case does not necessarily guarantee justice. I believe in higher forms of justice,” Gail Tredwell wrote to this correspondent.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

By David Chang | Sunday, Feb 23, 2014

Two priests have been removed from the Philadelphia Archdiocese following allegations of child sexual abuse.

Reverend James J. Collins, 75, and the Reverend John P. Paul, 67, are both accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old over 40 years ago. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput determined that both priests are not suitable for ministry due to the substantiated allegations, according to an Archdiocese spokesperson.

Collins was placed on administrative leave in May of last year when the allegations first surfaced. He was ordained in 1964 and had served as a faculty member at Holy Family University since 1976. He retired from his position last year.

Paul was placed on administrative leave in December of last year when the allegations were first made against him. He was ordained in 1972 and most recently served at Our Lady of Calvary, Philadelphia before he was placed on leave. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Paul was allowed to work in his parish for nearly a year after the accusations against him first surfaced.

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

UNITED STATES
Enlightened Catholicism

I didn’t intend to go two weeks without posting, but it looks like I certainly managed to do so. For some reason time just seems to be going ultra fast for me lately. I keep track of dates and appointments on a 5 week white board and today marks the end of five weeks. It seems like maybe two weeks since I last changed all the dates. Maybe this is God’s way of packing more life in a short amount of time. I would hope I’m experiencing aging at the same rate. If I age two weeks for every five, I could be around a lot longer than I think. It’s a miracle.

Speaking of miracles, the Vatican has just announced one for Paul VI. It involves the cure of an unspecified problem with a fetus who upon birth did not exhibit the expected birth defect. The Vatican makes no bones about this miracle validating Paul VI’s issuance of Humanae Vitae: “The Postulator of the Pope Paul VI’s cause said this was an extraordinary and supernatural event which took place through the intercession of the late Pope. It was in line with his magisterium and the contents of the “Humanae Vitae” encyclical, i.e. the defence of life, “but also the defence of the family, because that document discusses married love, not just unborn life. This healing is in harmony with Montini’s teaching.”” I certainly hope this blatant politicizing of a miracle and the canonization process of a pope doesn’t portend miracles for every contentious issue promulgated by any pope in the last two hundred years. I anxiously await the next PVI miracle. If there is any justice or honesty, it will be the full cure of AIDS in a gay man.

Pope Francis has aslo been on my radar these past two weeks. I was hoping the latest meeting of the C8 would end with the announcement of the names on the commission on clerical abuse, and maybe more information concerning it’s mandate. There was no such announcement. This commission is still a matter of one sound bite from Cardinal O’Malley and absolutely no walk. The voices for justice, like Betty Clermont’s, in this area are now getting louder and their arguments harder to refute the longer Francis fails to act. It’s been almost a full year and Francis has yet to act in any meaningful way on clerical abuse. He is repeating the sad pattern he had with this issue in Buenos Aires. As Gerry Slevin also points out, so far the priority has been all about putting the Vatican’s money in order rather than giving the victims of the Catholic priesthood some justice.

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

NEW MEXICO
ABQ Journal

By Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board

PUBLISHED: Saturday, February 22, 2014

It’s hard to believe that what became a worldwide scandal involving Roman Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children largely got its start here in New Mexico more than two decades ago. But more than in other places, the issue has been dealt with directly and openly, and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is stronger for it.

Credit that to Archbishop Michael Sheehan, who was placed in charge in 1993 as the scandal was unfolding. Sheehan recently announced he has submitted his letter of resignation. In July he turns 75, the age at which the church requires his offer to step down.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe was fortunate Pope John Paul II selected a strong leader and no-nonsense cleric who dealt firmly with the problem. In a 2003 audit the archdiocese received commendations for transparency and for its programs to prevent such crimes from reoccurring. Sheehan reported then that none of the 44 credibly accused priests or deacons remained in active ministry; the archdiocese had provided counseling to 193 people; and it had paid out $30.8 million in settlements and legal fees and for victim counseling. He raised the money largely by selling church properties.

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

NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Tom Moran/ Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on February 22, 2014

You have to wonder if Newark Archbishop John J. Myers has spent much time with the army of devoted Catholics and others who run the church’s charities.

They are inspiring people, many driven by the conviction that if Jesus were alive today he would be standing with them, running soup kitchens and homeless shelters and workshops for the disabled. They are hunkered down in places like Newark and Irvington, providing one of the few lifelines for neighborhoods that others have deserted.

They volunteer their time or make token salaries. Unlike Myers, they don’t insist on being referred to as “Your Grace” and they don’t wear fancy robes and jewelry. They go by names like Maria and Joseph, and when a single mom or an ex-con knocks on their door they offer help before judgment.

The tragedy is that Myers, already a diminished figure for his failures to protect children from predator priests, has now undermined this charitable work with a garish display of material greed.

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

NEW JERSEY
New York Daily News

BY CAROL KURUVILLA / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2014

Mansions in heaven weren’t good enough for this archbishop.

Newark’s Archbishop John J. Myers is facing criticism for pricey plans to expand his retirement home.

Myers is planning to add a $500,000 addition to a Franklin Township house that the archdiocese purchased in 2002, the Star-Ledger reports.

The New Jersey leader has been using the 4,500-square-foot home as a weekend residence. It already has five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a three-car garage, an outdoor pool and 8.2 wooded acres.

But the 72-year-old archbishop, who insists on being called “Your Grace,” has big changes in mind for his home.

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

CALIFORNIA
Cardinal Roger Mahony Blogs LA

It was in early 1988—some 26 years ago—that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles became aware of the terrible sexual abuse which the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera had been inflicting upon young people in Los Angeles. This case highlighted errors made by us in the Archdiocese in those early years, and for those errors I apologize once again. But this case also led to several major changes in procedures used by the Archdiocese, and these were improved upon over the years.

The evolution of the Archdiocese’s manner of dealing with allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy and others in the Church was recounted ten years ago in The Report to the People of God. This Report can be found at this location: http://www.la-archdiocese.org/org/protecting/reports/Documents/2004-0217_ADLA_CSA_Report.pdf

Everything contained in this blog is available in the release of thousands of pages of clergy files in January of 2013. All of the documents involving Aguilar-Rivera can be found at: http://clergyfiles.la-archdiocese.org/files/Aguilar-Rivera,%20Nicolas.pdf

It is key to understand that the first report about Aguilar-Rivera to one of our Catholic schools and to the Archdiocese took place late on a Friday afternoon, January 8, 1988. That late Friday alert, unfortunately, led to delays which should not have occurred.

The following are the more serious errors which several of us in the Archdiocese made, along with the steps taken to eliminate them in the future:

I. Letters of Recommendation for Priests from Other Dioceses. Aguilar-Rivera arrived in Los Angeles with a letter from his Bishop in Mexico stating that he was coming to Los Angeles for “family and health reasons” [“por motivos familiares y por motivos de salud”] because he had family here. The Bishop asked that we consider giving him a priestly assignment here in the Archdiocese. Based on that positive recommendation, Aguilar-Rivera was given a temporary assignment. Throughout 1987 there were no reports of improper conduct by Aguilar-Rivera. It was not until early 1988 that such reports emerged from families of children abused.

After further investigation, the Bishop in Mexico claimed that he had sent a second letter about Aguilar-Rivera some two months after his original letter. No one in the Archdiocese recalls ever receiving such a letter in which the Bishop refers to unfounded allegations of homosexual problems that led to physical aggression against him in Mexico. Had that letter been received, Aguilar-Rivera’s assignment would have been revoked or suspended pending a full investigation.

Change in Procedures: Because of this case, from this time forward a letter of recommendation from a Bishop on behalf of a visiting priest was insufficient. A new format was developed requiring the sending Bishop, especially from a Diocese outside the USA, to respond to very specific questions about any possible misconduct in the history of the priest. This change in procedure was enhanced over the years and has served to make sure that priest from other places with any misconduct issues is not admitted to this Archdiocese.

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

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated on 22 February 2014)

A former Catholic priest (aged 60), who is charged with sexual offences against children in towns (including Moree and Armidale) in northern New South Wales, appeared in Armidale Local Court again on 19 February 2014 for an administrative procedure. The magistrate expressed frustration at the delays in the case and urged the prosecution to finalise the preparations for a hearing.

This was the eleventh time that the ex-priest’s case has come up for a mention in the Armidale Local Court. The ex-priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, first appeared before this court on 18 October, 2012. On each of these occasions, the case has been adjourned to a future date because preparations for a committal hearing have not been completed.

The case will come up for mention again on 19 March 2014 when, it is hoped, the Director of Public Prosecutions will indicate how the case will proceed.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Catherine Pepinster
The Observer, Saturday 22 February 2014

Some years ago I was in Lisbon with a group of Jewish people. It was the Day of Atonement and their very liberal rabbi organised a service in a hotel meeting room, so I went along. It began with people offering their thoughts. “I hate the Day of Atonement,” said one. “I hate the focus on guilt, and admitting sin and having to atone for it. It’s all so negative.” “It could be worse,” said another. “You could be a Catholic, then you feel guilty all the time.”

John Cornwell’s account of confession reveals a Roman Catholic world suffused with guilt, as he recounts the way in which the ritual, with its roots in the Day of Atonement, developed as a means of enabling believers to seek God’s forgiveness through telling their wrongdoings – their sins – to the intermediary of a priest. They gained absolution so long as they also made clear their desire to make amends and were given penance by the priest – usually a few prayers to say. As Cornwell traces the history of the sacrament – an outward sign of inward grace, as we recited as children – it’s apparent that the Church, whose raison d’être was the saving of souls, developed an obsession with the body. And that meant it was obsessed with sexual sins.

The image of the confessional – the dark box of Cornwell’s title – and the hazy view of the priest behind the grille came to symbolise Catholicism, particularly in movies. Yet it no longer has the hold it once did on Roman Catholics themselves: attendance has been in steep decline for many years, a decline caused at least in part by Catholics’ rejection of teaching on sex, particularly on the sinfulness of contraception. It’s an intriguing decline, given we live in a confessional age of therapy and Facebook.

But Cornwell’s focus is not so much the present as the past and the scars it has left. He makes the case for the connection between confession and the scandal that has profoundly damaged the reputation of the Church – that of the abuse of children by Catholic priests. He links this to pope Pius X decreeing in 1910 that confession should begin at the age of seven, giving priests easy, intimate access to children without anyone else present.

Child abuse inquiries around the world and readers of my own publication, the Tablet, who responded to Cornwell’s request for their stories, reveal that certain priests would use the confessional to solicit children, grooming them for sexual encounters elsewhere or during confession itself.

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

UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on February 22, 2014

*This is the first in a series of posts on Resources for Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse*

Finding a good therapist and getting help can be the best decisions a survivor makes. But the process can also be maddening.

Referrals from Family and Friends

Before launching an online search using the links below, ask around. Getting therapy does not carry the stigma it used to, and you will be amazed at the wonderful recommendations you can get from family and friends. If your brother went to a great therapist, give that therapist a call and ask him/her for a recommendation. (You didn’t want to share your Legos with your brother when you were kids, and you certainly don’t want to share a therapist with him now). Therapists know their colleagues very well, and will be sure to point you to a great clinician who does good work.

Remember: The best therapist in the world may not be the best therapist for you. Before you can benefit from therapy, you need to like how your therapist works, work well with him/her, and—most importantly—feel comfortable.

Take Advantage of Low-Cost Options

Many workplaces offer benefits such as free, confidential, short-term counseling through third-party vendors (EAP, etc.). Talk to your HR department or supervisor to see if they offer the benefit and if you qualify. Your workplace pays for this benefit, so they want you to use it.

States like Hawaii offer low-cost (and sometimes free) counseling through various state-run and nonprofit social services programs. Research your state and county to see if there are services available. If you don’t have access to a computer at home, go to your local library. Research assistants there are experts in finding low-cost services for library patrons.

Finally, many churches help members find counseling or offer services themselves. NOTE: If you were abused in an institutional setting, like a church, it may not be a good idea to get counseling from the same or similar organization. Also, if the institution where you were abused offers you free counseling, be very careful and be sure that your privacy and legal rights are protected. Remember: anyone who offers you free counseling can instantly take that therapy away. So, be sure to protect yourself.

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

SCOTLAND
Scotsman

CARDINAL Keith O’Brien is facing a new investigation by the Vatican and may face a “trial” under canon law which could lead to him losing his red hat.

Three priests in the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh have asked Leo Cushley, the new archbishop, to pass on to the Holy See their written complaints which characterise O’Brien as a “sexual predator” who used his authority to compel them into “coercive” and “abusive” sexual relationships.

The priests, whose accusations led to the cardinal’s enforced retirement and disgrace last February, appear determined to force Pope Francis to make a final judgment.

It is now understood that O’Brien’s sexual relationships continued until at least 2009, six years after he was made a cardinal.

Last year, Francis ordered O’Brien to remain in a Catholic religious house in England for three months of “prayer and penance”. However, since this period has now elapsed he has been free to come and go as he pleases but has chosen to remain at the religious house.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Express

By: Ben Borland
Published: Sun, February 23, 2014

An investigation by this newspaper has found there are no burial records for children who lost their lives while in the care of the Sisters of Nazareth, which operated four homes in Scotland and at least 17 south of the Border.

In addition, only two Scottish councils were able to confirm the whereabouts of children who died while in residential care and were buried in common ground.

The De La Salle Brothers, a Catholic order of monks which also operated a number of children’s homes in Scotland, is also thought to have retained no burial records.

Only Quarriers appears to have bucked the trend, as the Scottish charity has a database of all 345 children and young people buried at Mount Zion Cemetery in Quarrier’s Village, Renfrewshire. The church and its grounds have now been turned into luxury flats, although there is a memorial in the cemetery.

The concerns over burial records add to the growing pressure on Scottish ministers to sanction a public inquiry into abuse in Scottish children’s homes.

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FLORIDA
Sun Sentinel

By Marc Freeman, Sun Sentinel
8:15 p.m. EST, February 22, 2014

The attorney for a former West Palm Beach private school teacher accused of sexually assaulting two 9-year-old students argues there are grounds for a judge to stop a jury from seeing potentially incriminating computer evidence.

Stephen Jerome Budd, 52, was arrested in April for crimes that allegedly occurred while he taught a fourth-grade class at Rosarian Academy during the 2006-07 school year. He was charged with two counts of sexual battery on a person less than 12 years old, one count of lewd or lascivious molestation, and two counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition.

Then in August, prosecutors added 59 child pornography charges and Budd pleaded not guilty to all counts. He remains in the Palm Beach County Jail with no bail.

On Feb. 18, defense attorney Jason Weiss filed two motions seeking to prevent prosecutors at Budd’s trial from using his client’s computer hard drive, a computer part called a “mini PCI card,” and all evidence taken from the computer.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

MAEVE SHEEHAN – 23 FEBRUARY 2014

OVER generations, bishops and their clergy helped to shape a society that banished women to Magdalene Laundries, sent troubled and impoverished children to industrial schools and shielded paedophile priests. Babies born out of wedlock were shipped abroad for adoption and unmarried teachers who got pregnant outside of marriage were sacked.

As the novelist LP Hartley wrote, the past is a foreign country. They do things differently there, right?

While the Catholic Church and the organisations within it may have apologised for past sins, in many ways, they are still refusing to share collective responsibility for the failings of the past.

When Judge Yvonne Murphy began her long investigation into child abuse by priests in the Dublin archdiocese, she soon discovered that one of the biggest obstacles to her work was the very organisation she was investigating.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: TONY KENNEDY and JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune staff writers Updated: February 23, 2014

Star Tribune exclusive: Archdiocese gave pedophile salary, disability benefits, expenses and consulting work.

After the Rev. Gil Gustafson was convicted of child sex abuse 30 years ago, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis made sure he was financially secure for decades to come.

The church continued his priestly salary and health insurance, covered his living expenses and psychological treatment and paid for his education and training, according to church records and a former archdiocese accountant. It has given him jobs in the chancery, helped him establish his own consulting business and steered clients his way.

In July 2006, Gustafson was declared “disabled” based on his pedophilia, the church said. This allowed him to collect disability checks on top of his earnings as a leadership consultant.

The archdiocese’s long-standing support of Gustafson, outlined in church documents and interviews, has angered abuse victims and their families. They say it’s another sign that the church cares more about the welfare of abusive priests than the children they assaulted.

“Since when is a crime a disability?” asked Jeff Herrity, the father of a boy whom Gustafson was convicted of abusing from 1977 through 1982. “If that’s the case, everyone in prison should be disabled.”

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

MADONNA KING THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 22, 2014

MADONNA King pens a letter to Brisbane’s Roman Catholic Archbishop Mark Coleridge in the light of this week’s royal commission evidence.

YOUR Grace, I’m Roman Catholic to the boot straps. I’m also the mother of two young girls, both attending cracker Brisbane Catholic schools.

But I’m running out of excuses on how to answer the growing evidence that the Church has snubbed, hid, brushed-off, facilitated – I could go on but you probably get my point – this sexual abuse epidemic.

Up until now, I’ve been saying what the Church says; that many institutions suffered the same shameful problems, but once alerted steps were taken blah blah blah.

That fitted with me. It was a painful episode in history, but it was all over, done and dusted.

But that’s not true, is it? In fact, the royal commission evidence this week shows that answer is a sham.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

[with video]

Gerard Byrnes child sex abuse: Principal backed despite inaction, victim’s family tell of impact

ANTHONY GOUGH THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 22, 2014

A BRISBANE principal insists his colleague “followed the process of the Catholic Education Office”, despite failing to call police and report allegations of sexual abuse.

The principal of St Eugene Catholic College in Burpengary — where former Toowoomba principal Terence Hayes now works as a teacher — has launched a robust defence of his colleague in a letter to parents.

Mr Hayes has faced scrutiny this week in the royal commission into sexual abuse over his failure to report allegations to police made to him when principal at a Toowoomba school.

The royal commission has heard evidence Mr Hayes was required to call police over the allegations, and his decision to simply report to the Catholic Education Office did not meet protocol.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

JEREMY ROEBUCK, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Sunday, February 23, 2014

PHILADELPHIA Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has permanently removed two more priests from ministry for substantiated claims of sexual abuse, including one who was allowed to keep working in his Northeast Philadelphia parish for nearly a year after accusations were first lodged against him.

It was only after several fresh allegations surfaced late last year against the Rev. John P. Paul, formerly of Our Lady of Calvary Parish, that the archdiocese suspended him in December – weeks after he had announced he would voluntarily retire.

In a statement expected to be released to parishes across the region Sunday, church officials said an archdiocesan review board had substantiated at least one claim that Paul, 67, sexually abused a teenager more than 40 years ago.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

MARTY SILK AAP FEBRUARY 23, 2014

THE bishop who sacked three men after a pedophilia scandal at a Catholic primary school in Queensland is set to give evidence at an inquiry on Monday.

Former Toowoomba Bishop William Morris is due to give his version of the events leading up to the jailing of pedophile teacher Gerard Byrnes in 2010.

Byrnes raped, molested and savagely bullied 13 schoolgirls in his Queensland classroom between 2007 and 2008.

A principal and two senior Catholic education officers were first told of sex abuse allegations against Byrnes more than a year before his arrest.

But all three men remained silent, police were never told and Byrnes sexually abused more girls.

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KENTUCKY
Messenger-Inquirer

Posted: Sunday, February 23, 2014

By James Mayse Messenger-Inquirer

The trial of a retired Daviess County priest who was charged with allegedly sexually abusing a minor in the late 1970s has again been delayed.

Louis Francis Piskula, 74, of the 7100 block of Kentucky 815 was indicted in June 2012 on charges of first-degree sodomy, victim under age 12, and first-degree sexual abuse. The charges stem from an incident that allegedly took place between Jan. 1, 1978, and Jan. 1, 1979.

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CINCINNATI (OH)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati

CONTACT:
Dan Andriacco
Director, Office of Communications
513/421-3131 After hours: 421-3144
FAX: 421-6225
E-MAIL: communications@CatholicCincinnati.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 21, 2014

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has acted on the cases of two priests of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati accused of child abuse, removing Daniel Pater from ministry permanently and restoring Rev. David F. Reilly to active ministry.

Pater, who has been on administrative leave since 2003 because of sexual abuse of a minor, has been permanently removed from ministry by the Vatican and directed to “lead a life of prayer and penance.” Although technically he remains a priest under the Vatican decision issued on January 21, 2014, Pater will never again be permitted to celebrate Mass in public, administer the other sacraments, wear clerical garb, or present himself as a priest. Those same prohibitions were in place during his administrative leave.

“I hope that this decision will bring some measure of closure and healing to all those harmed by Daniel Pater’s actions,” said the Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr, Archbishop of Cincinnati. “As Archbishop, I deeply regret that any representative of the local Church has ever harmed a child under our care. One of our most important priorities in the Archdiocese is to provide a safe environment for our children.”

Pater was put on leave after admitting to sexually abusing a teenage girl in the 1980s and 1990s. Under the Archdiocese’s Decree on Child Protection as well as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter and Norms for the Protection of Children and Young People, a priest who is credibly accused of abusing a child, no matter how long ago, must be put on leave while due process continues.

The USCCB norms also require that any cleric known to have offended against minors must be permanently removed from ministry. The Vatican decision found that Pater was guilty of that crime. If a cleric determined to have offended in this way does not himself ask the Vatican to return him to the lay state, the diocese normally can begin a canonical (church law) process that ultimately might involve a church trial. Since Pater was serving the Vatican as a diplomat at that time, however, the Vatican handled the entire process after he was put on leave.

Pater was associate pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Kettering from 1979 to 1982, when he went to Rome for studies. He served in the Vatican diplomatic corps for the rest of his priestly career. In 1993, after one of his victims came forward, he was brought home to the Archdiocese and required to undergo counseling before returning to the Vatican. He was also subjected to restrictions on being in the company of minors.

Fr. Reilly was put on administrative leave in August 2006 after an accusation that he engaged a minor in inappropriate behavior with sexual overtones in the 1970s. He has now been restored to active ministry after a church court ruled that he was not proven guilty of the alleged offenses. None of the judges of the three-member tribunal were priests of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Their decision was affirmed by the CDF. Fr. Reilly is thus free to exercise his priestly ministry.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Ex- Pope Benedict XVI joined Pope Francis at a celebration Saturday creating 19 new cardinals who will elect the papal successor, assuming the College of Cardinals and Papacy survive intact. In watching the images of the celebration, one is reminded of King Louis XVI’s inability to see the French Revolution coming in 1789. Extravagant French kings and their Palace at Versailles also came to mind with the latest video report by CNN’s Anderson Cooper about the current US Bishop of Bling, Newark NJ Archbishop Myers’ “summer palace” shown here

[CNN]

Images of the storming of the Paris Bastille are also conjured up as well by the report that Germany’s Bishop of Bling may have used donations intended for the poor for his palace construction as reported here

[eNCA]

Nevertheless, with all the world’s cardinals gathered, no consideration seemingly was given by Pope Francis to addressing decisively, with the world’s cardinals fully assembled, the worldwide Church scandal of priest child abuse and related lack of bishop accountability. The storm is gathering, notwithstanding the Vatican’s festive celebrations and the episcopal palace obscenities.

The momentum to challenge the Vatican to obey the law continues to build worldwide, as tone deaf Archbishop Myers continues spending donations on his personal summer “Versailles” palace, after eluding prosecutors apparently with support from his reported pal, NJ Gov. Chris Christie. Hello ?

The Vatican’s recent response to the UN child protection committee was mainly to the effect that the pope doesn’t control his hierarchy and that the Vatican will be more transparent henceforth. Yet, a few weeks after the UN report is issued, 19 new cardinals on worldwide TV swear their obedience to Pope Francis and pledge to maintain secrecy. Does the Pope think his Bastille is more secure than Louis XVI’ s was? Does the Pope think UN committee members and prosecutors don’t own TV’s. As an international lawyer, I think it is clear that the Pope’s legal position is already very vulnerable. It is only getting weaker with Francis’ benign neglect of the abuse scandal.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

February 21
BY JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

The Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese has settled two more lawsuits totaling $1.8 million involving a priest now serving prison time for producing child pornography.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Jack Grate on Friday approved a $1.275 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by two parents on behalf of their minor daughter against the diocese, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn.

And on Wednesday, Circuit Judge Jim Kanatzar approved a $525,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed last year by two parents and their minor daughter. That suit also named the diocese, Ratigan and Finn as defendants.

In addition, Grate and Kanatzar each entered a $500,000 default judgment against Ratigan, who failed to respond to the lawsuits.

The settlements bring to $3.75 million the total the diocese has paid out so far in cases involving Ratigan.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: February 22, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph has settled two lawsuits involving a pedophile priest for a total of $1.8 million.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Jack Grate approved a $1.275 million settlement Friday in a lawsuit filed by two parents on behalf of their minor daughter against the diocese, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/OmYWoQ) reports two days earlier, Circuit Judge Jim Kanatzar approved a $525,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed last year by two parents and their minor daughter.

The two judges each also entered a $500,000 default judgment against Ratigan, who failed to respond to both lawsuits.

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GEORGIA
Cherokee Tribune

by Joshua Sharpe February 21, 2014

CANTON — Brand new state Rep. Sam Moore (R-Macedonia) is pushing a sweeping law that would allow registered sex offenders to go anywhere they want — even to schools.

Moore, in his first week in office, has turned in a bill that would overturn the crime of loitering and make it so registered sex offenders who aren’t otherwise barred from going to schools or places children gather could go to those places freely.

“I am OK with that,” Moore said Thursday, adding that he meant only those who were off parole and not barred from those places. “The reason I’m OK with that is the assumption is they have done their time. If they’re still a danger to society, they should not be free. … Am I saying it’s not creepy? It’s definitely creepy.”

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PERU
La Republica

Jason Day

Cuando tenía 9 años, a tres días de mi primera comunión, un cura del Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (o Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana), una secta de chicos blancos y “bien” del catolicismo local, me tomó de la mano luego de la primera confesión y me llevó por una escalera detrás del altar de su imponente iglesia en Camacho hacia un cuartito donde guardaban las túnicas, cálices y demás lujosos artilugios. “Aquí es donde nos cambiamos”, me dijo el cura con voz pausada y amable.

¿Qué hacía yo ahí? ¿Era un honor o una condena? Le decía que prefería regresar, que el resto de mi promoción y los profesores me dejarían. Pero él insistía con que no había de qué preocuparse, que quería que yo eligiera la túnica que se pondría para mi primera comunión. “¿Te gusta ésta?”, me preguntó, mostrándome una que llevaba por delante una imagen de la pálida y sufrida virgen María. A mí no me podía importar menos.

Luego me preguntó si sabía jugar gallito ciego. Y no, no sabía. Entonces, con esa paciencia suya que se contrastaba con mi bullente ansiedad por irme –porque uno puede ser un niño de 9 años pero el peligro se reconoce, siempre– me tomó de la mano una vez más ycomenzó a jugar con mis dedos mientras me hacía preguntas sobre mi familia, mis hermanos…

Mi ansiedad se convertía en rabia. Conseguí librarme, no quería estar ahí. Lo siguiente era meterle una patada en los huevos y correr. Pero me dejó salir, con calma, esa calma del que tiene todo bajo control, del que ya recorrió ese camino varias veces y lo volverá a recorrer.

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PERU
Terra

[Summary: Actor Jason Day in his weekly column in La Republica that a priest attempted to seduce him when he was age 9 and was about to receive First Communion. The priest was with the Christian Life sodality. The priest took him by the hand after first Confession and led him down a staircase behind the altar of the imposing church in Camacho to small room where they kept robes, chalices and other items. The priest took his hand and started playing with his fingers while he asked questions about the boys family. His anxiety turned to anger and he was ready to run out but the priest let him leave.]

El actor Jason Day, en su columna semanal en el diario La República, reveló haber sido víctima de intento de abuso sexual de parte de un sacerdote del movimiento católico Christianae Vitae o Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, cuando tenía solo 9 años y se disponía a dar la primera comunión.

“Un cura del Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (…) me tomó de la mano luego de la primera confesión y me llevó por una escalera detrás del altar de su imponente iglesia en Camacho hacia un cuartito donde guardaban las túnicas, cálices y demás lujosos artilugios. “Aquí es donde nos cambiamos”, me dijo”, redactó Day en su columna.

“Me tomó de la mano una vez más y comenzó a jugar con mis dedos mientras me hacía preguntas sobre mi familia, mis hermanos…”, continuó Day, añadiendo que finalmente consiguió liberarse.

“Mi ansiedad se convertía en rabia. Conseguí librarme, no quería estar ahí. Lo siguiente era meterle una patada en los huevos y correr. Pero me dejó salir, con calma, esa calma del que tiene todo bajo control, del que ya recorrió ese camino varias veces y lo volverá a recorrer”, remató en su historia.

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UNITED STATES/GERMANY
Public Catholic

February 17, 2014 By Rebecca Hamilton

Archbishop John J Myers, the New Jersey bishop who allowed a convicted child-molesting priest to return to ministry with children, is retiring.

According to NJ.com, Archbishop Myers is planning to retire to an $800,000 mansion, which he is refurbishing with diocesan dollars to the tune of another $500,000.

That doesn’t compare with the 40-million euros the Bishop of Bling spent, but it’s far beyond what seems needed and necessary for the comfortable retirement of one elderly priest, even in New Jersey’s inflated real estate dollars.

He is adding a 3,000 square foot addition to the already large house. The addition will have an indoor exercise pool, three fireplaces and an elevator. To top it off, the half million to build this thing does not include fees for the architects, cost of furnishings (furnishing this much real estate won’t be cheap) or landscaping.

I think we should also add the inevitable cost of upkeep, cleaning, etc. I rather doubt that Arichbishop Myers plans to do his own vacuuming and dusting.

My own Archbishop lives in a modest ranch-style home. The retired Archbishop of Oklahoma City, who I think of as my spiritual father, also lives modestly.

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GERMANY
eNCA

Monday 17 February 2014

MUNICH – Catholic bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-von Elst came under fire again Monday in connection with allegations of lavish spending on his new residence in Germany.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung citing an internal church report expected to be sent to Pope Francis on Wednesday claimed that “millions of euros” from a charitable church foundation were diverted and funneled into the construction project in Limburg, western Germany.

Costs for the bishop’s residence have come to more than 31 million euros (42 million dollars) -six times the initial estimated cost of construction.

Insiders told Sueddeutsche Zeitung costs could now spiral to up to 40 million euros.

According to the church report, the diverted funds – donations from Catholic workers – were originally earmarked to help poor families.

Tebartz-von Elst and his team reportedly developed an intricate system and put pressure on diocese employees to keep their elaborate plans for the bishop’s residence secret.

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BULGARIA
New York Daily News

BY DAVID HARDING / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2014

A Bulgarian priest has been sacked after a video was posted online allegedly showing him at an orgy with four women.

Bishop Boris headed the second largest monastery in the country.

He was sacked by Bulgarian Orthodox Church bosses for acts “incompatible with his office,” reported the Bulgarian daily, Trud, which also revealed the existence of the sex video.

It is the latest scandal to hit the Bulgarian church.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Feb. 21, 2014

KANSAS CITY, MO.
Waiting may prove the hardest part as a petition seeking a canonical review of Bishop Robert Finn is en route to Rome.

Catholics here received notification Friday from the apostolic nuncio to the U.S. that he had received and forwarded to the Vatican their formal request for a canonical penal process investigating Finn, bishop of the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese.

In his brief, two-sentence letter, dated Feb. 15, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano stated, “I acknowledge receipt of your letter of February 11, 2014 addressed to me. The correspondence which you sent has been forwarded to the Holy See.”

In mid-February, the group, in tandem with Fr. Jim Connell, a retired Milwaukee priest and canon lawyer, made the appeal outlining their case that Finn violated church law by not promptly reporting suspicions of child sexual abuse by Fr. Shawn Ratigan. In such a scenario, it states, canon law gives the pope authority to investigate a prelate and, when necessary, enact a “just penalty.”

Connell, a member of the victims’ advocacy group Catholic Whistleblowers, told NCR Friday he was “delighted” when he found the letter in his mail.

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UNITED STATES
Ms.

February 21, 2014 by Megan Peterson

The first time I spoke publicly about being repeatedly raped by a priest when I was between the ages of 14 and 15 was when we announced the settlement of my case—one week before I went to join advocates filing a complaint against the pope with the International Criminal Court at The Hague. I was 21 and had barely left my small town in Minnesota, let alone the country. If you watch footage from the press conference, I disappear for a while; that was when I stepped out to throw up.

People were whispering about Fr. Joseph Jeyapaul’s inappropriate contact with youths within a month or so after his arrival from India at our church, but no one did anything about it. At the time, I was shy and got teased a lot, and I felt like an outsider. He offered to lend me a book, and I was flattered by the attention. When I went to pick it up, was the first time he raped me. Sometimes he was violent, and sometimes he told me this was the teaching of God; this was how I was getting closer to Him.

I would take the church bulletin every Sunday and look at the telephone number for the diocese victim advocate printed at the bottom. When I finally worked up the courage to make the call and tell someone what was happening, the woman on the other end told me not to make prank calls and hung up on me. Truly. It took another year for me to tell anyone, and that person was a high school counselor who was mandated to report it to the authorities. Jeyapaul had returned to India by then.

The Church had moved him back to oversee dozens of schools in the diocese of Ootacamund (Tamil Nadu), endangering countless other children. He was arrested in India after Interpol issued an alert in March 2012, and prosecutors here are now seeking to have him extradited to face criminal charges.

As far as I know, he is still detained in New Delhi fighting extradition, with his bail denied because he is considered a flight risk. It’s hard to get accurate information, though: At another point we heard he’d been defrocked, but that turned out to be false. At another point we heard the extradition was imminent, but then nothing happened and I haven’t heard anything since.

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UNITED STATES
Commonweal

The Editors

Earlier this month, the United Nations committee that monitors compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child issued a stinging report criticizing the Vatican for its handling of the sexual-abuse crisis. The committee accused the Holy See of “systematically” placing the reputation of the church ahead of the welfare of children, and adopting “policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by, and the impunity of, the perpetrators.” In addition the report made several important recommendations the Holy See would do well to heed. But the UN committee weakened its case by weighing in on doctrinal matters unrelated to abuse. The committee’s scattershot approach has united critics across the ideological spectrum in criticizing the report as counterproductive, if not worse.

The committee’s first mistake is that it treats the Holy See like any other signer of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which contains fifty-four articles covering a range of issues. Wherever the committee sees that a signer is failing to abide by the convention, it makes recommendations to bring them into compliance. For example, the report recommends that the church provide “family planning, reproductive health, as well as adequate counselling and social support, to prevent unplanned pregnancies.” And it asks the church to review canon law “with a view to identifying circumstances under which access to abortion services can be permitted.” Even though the committee refers to the Holy See’s “special nature,” it seems not to grasp that Catholic canon law is not just an administrative tool; it is informed by deeply held religious beliefs. In some cases, changing canon laws would require changing Catholic doctrine, a fact the UN seems not to appreciate.

It’s strange enough for a UN committee to make doctrinal recommendations to a religious organization. But it’s even more puzzling that the committee seems to forget that the Vatican has never hidden its objections to certain aspects of the convention. When the Holy See signed the treaty in 1989, it stated its reservations about provisions that don’t conform to Catholic teaching. The Holy See explicitly warned that the only family planning it would promote was natural family planning. Several other signatories registered similar reservations—including Islamic countries that promised to ignore parts of the treaty they deemed contradictory to Sharia law.

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NEW JERSEY
CNN

[with video]

Pope Francis has called on his clerics to follow his example and embrace modesty. One archbishop in New Jersey is raising plenty of eyebrows as construction workers add a $500,000 addition to his already-luxe vacation home. This comes after the archdiocese was forced to close a school and cut back on some charity operations. Randi Kaye has the story.

Anderson discussed this with Charles Zech, Director of Villanova University’s Center for the Management of Church studies. Also, New York Times columnist Michael Powell.

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CROATIA
Fox News

Published February 22, 2014
Associated Press

ZAGREB, CROATIA – The Croatian Catholic Church has found one of its priests guilty of sexually abusing minors, the first such ruling in the staunchly Catholic nation.

The head of Croatia’s Bishops Conference, Archbishop Zelimir Puljic, told Croatian state TV late Friday that the Rev. Nedeljko Ivanov was ordered to apologize to the victims and must donate part of his pension to charity. He is allowed to celebrate Mass only inside his retirement home, but cannot perform any other priestly duty.

The case emerged two years ago when Ivanov was accused by people who as children had been in the priest’s congregation in Bibinje, near Croatia’s Adriatic coast.

Ivanov cannot be tried by Croatia’s judiciary because the alleged abuse occurred in 1980s and 1990s.

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KROATIEN
Tiroler Tageszeitung

[Summary: The Catholic Church in Croatia has sentenced a priest after he faced allegations of sexually abusing children. The priest from Bibinje, Dalmatia, was the first priest to be sentenced under canon law in the country. According to Croatian civil law, the abusive acts were time-barred because they occurred from 1983 to 1991. The case became public two years ago when a victim went on Croatian television.]

Zagreb (APA) – Die katholische Kirche in Kroatien hat einen Priester nach Vorwürfen des sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern verurteilt. Der Priester aus Bibinje in Dalmatien ist der erste Geistliche, der nach dem Kirchenrecht verurteilt wurde, berichteten kroatische Medien. Die Erzdiözese Zadar veröffentlichte in einer Pressekonferenz am Freitag jedoch nicht das Strafausmaß.

Laut dem kroatischen Gesetz sind die Taten des Priesters verjährt, da sie länger als 15 Jahre zurückliegen. Die Anzeigen, die bei der kroatischen Staatsanwaltschaft eintrafen, beziehen sich auf den Zeitraum von 1983 bis 1991. Der Fall wurde vor zwei Jahren publik, als ein Missbrauchsopfer im kroatischen Fernsehen seine Geschichte publik machte. Die Erzdiözese Zadar berichtete von drei Zeugen, die den Missbrauch bei der kirchlichen Stelle angezeigt hatten, worauf man Ermittlungen einleitete.

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

Last year, the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal collected nearly $10 million. Myers’ palace is estimated to cost $500,000, minus architectural costs, furnishings and landscaping. While the money for the mansion is not coming from the appeal, it is hypocritical for the archdiocese to ask parishioners to give generously when it is spending generously on luxuries for Myers.

The theme for the current appeal is: “When I called, you answered.”

Prospective donors should think twice about giving when Myers’ motto should read: “When I called, you paid for my hot tub.”

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

(Reuters) – Pope Francis elevated 19 prelates to the rank of cardinal on Saturday, his first appointments to the elite group of men who are his top aides around the world and who can one day elect his successor if they are under 80.

Sixteen of the new cardinals will have the right to vote to choose a successor. Three were made cardinal emeritus, without voting rights, for their service to the Church.

The following are cardinals with voting rights:

1. Archbishop Pietro Parolin, 59, Italian, Vatican Secretary of State.
2. Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, 73, Italian, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops.
3. Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, 66, German, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
4. Archbishop, Beniamino Stella, 72, Italian, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy.
5. Archbishop Vincent Nichols, 68, British, Archbishop of Westminster.
6. Archbishop Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano, 64, Nicaraguan, Archbishop of Managua.
7. Archbishop Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, 56, Canadian, Archbishop of Quebec.
8. Archbishop Jean-Pierre Kutwa, 68, Ivorian, Archbishop of Abidjan.
9. Archbishop Orani João Tempesta, 63, Brazilian, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro.
10. Archbishop Gualtiero Bassetti, 71, Italian, Archbishop of Perugia.
11. Archbishop Mario Aurelio Poli, 66, Argentine, Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
12. Archbishop Andrew Yeom Soo Jung, 70, Korean, Archbishop of Seoul.
13. Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, 72, Chilean, Archbishop of Santiago.
14. Archbishop Philippe Nakellentuba Ouédraogo, 69, from Burkina Faso, Archbishop of Ouagadougou.
15. Archbishop Orlando B. Quevedo, 74, Filipino, Archbishop of Cotabato.
16. Archbishop Chibly Langlois, 55, Haitian, Archbishop of Les Cayes.

The following are cardinals emeritus, without voting rights:

1. Monsignor Loris Francesco Capovilla, 98, Italian, who was secretary to Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958-1963 and called the Second Vatican Council. He was not able to attend the ceremony for health reasons.
2. Archbishop Fernando Sebastián Aguilar, 84, Spanish, Archbishop emeritus of Pamplona.
3. Monsignor Kelvin Edward Felix, 81, from Saint Lucia, Archbishop emeritus of Castries.

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VATICAN CITY
WOI

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Retired Pope Benedict XVI joined Pope Francis at a ceremony Saturday creating the cardinals who will elect their successor in an unprecedented blending of papacies past, present and future.

Benedict discreetly entered St. Peter’s Basilica from a side entrance surrounded by a small entourage and was greeted with applause and tears from the stunned people in the pews. He smiled, waved and seemed genuinely happy to be there, taking his seat in the front row, off to the side, alongside the red-draped cardinals.

It was the first time Benedict and Francis have appeared together at a public liturgical ceremony since Benedict retired a year ago and became the first pope to step down in more than 600 years.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 22 February 2014 (VIS) – The director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., has issued a press release to report that the final session of the extraordinary consistory took place yesterday, Friday 21 February, from 4.30 to 6.45 p.m.

“Throughout the entire consistory, 69 cardinals spoke on a broad range of themes regarding the family. The assembly took place and concluded in an atmosphere of great serenity and satisfaction on the part of all those present for the breadth and depth of the presentations”.

“The Holy Father made a brief concluding address to thank all the participants and expressing his conviction that the Lord has led the Church to face the theme of the Gospel of the family, and will accompany her on the path she has undertaken with this important step in the Consistory and will continue with the Synod over the course of almost two years. He invited all those present to pray to the Lord for this intention and for him”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 22 February 2014 (VIS) – This morning in the Vatican Basilica, Pope Francis celebrated an Ordinary Public Consistory during which he created nineteen new cardinals, to whom he imposed the biretta, consigned the ring and assigned the title or diaconate church.

The celebration was also attended by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, whom Pope Francis embraced upon entering the basilica and who was also greeted by secretary of State Pietro Parolin in his address. Parolin was the first among the new cardinals and addressed some words of thanks to the Holy Father in the name of all the new cardinals. Bishop Loris Francesco Capovilla was not present, and the biretta will be consigned over the next few days to his residence in Sotto il Monte, in the Italian province of Bergamo.

Today’s ordinary public consistory was the first of Pope Francis’ pontificate; he began his allocution with the phrase from the Gospel of St. Mark, read on this occasion: “And Jesus went before them”.

“At this moment too, Jesus is walking ahead of us”, he said. “He is always before us. He goes ahead of us and leads the way. This is the source of our confidence and our joy: to be his disciples, to remain with him, to walk behind him, to follow him. When we joined with the cardinals to concelebrate the first Mass in the Sistine Chapel, the first word which the Lord proposed to us was to ‘walk’, to journey with him: to journey, and then to build and to profess. Today this same word is repeated, but now as an action, an action of Jesus which is ongoing: ‘Jesus was walking…’.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

David Gibson | Feb 22, 2014

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis created his first batch of new cardinals on Saturday (Feb. 22) and used the ceremony – which featured the first public appearance by Pope Benedict XVI since his retirement last year – to launch a new appeal for peace amid the violence racking so many countries.

In his remarks, Francis focused on the plight of Christians in particular but in an extemporaneous addition to his prepared speech he also called on the church “to fight any discrimination” and “exclusion.”

“The Church needs your compassion, especially at this time of pain and suffering for so many countries throughout the world,” Francis told the 18 new cardinals who were present in St. Peter’s Basilica, along with hundreds of other cardinals and bishops whose colorful vestments and diverse origins offered a grand tableau of global Catholicism.

Adding to the drama of the day, Benedict was a surprise participant at the ceremony, his first public appearance at a Vatican event since he resigned the papacy on Feb. 28 last year — a stunning move that paved the way for the election of Francis two weeks later.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Ginny Stein

The royal commission has rejected Catholic Church concerns about the timing of hearings into sex abuse in an Adelaide special needs school.

Next month the commission will look into how authorities responded to the abuse at St Ann’s school in the early 1990s.

Parents of the victims hope they will finally get answers about the paedophile bus driver who preyed on up to 30 children, most of whom could not speak.

Earlier this year, lawyers for the church’s insurers wrote to the commission, arguing that hearings could influence compensation settlements.

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INDIANA
WDTN

By Jill Drury
Published: Friday, February 21, 2014

CINCINNATI, Ohio (WDTN) – The Vatican took action Friday in the cases of two local priests of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Both were accused of child abuse.

The Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith permanently removed Daniel Prater from the priesthood.

The archdiocese says Pater was put on administrative leave in 2003 after admitting to sexually abusing a teenaged girl in the 1980s and 1990s.

It say although Pater remains a priest, he can never again celebrate a public Mass, administer other sacraments, wear clerical clothes or present himself as a priest. …

The Vatican restored Reverend David Reilly to active ministry. He was accused of inappropriate behavior in the 1970s, but the Church found there was not found guilty of committing any offenses.

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INDIANA
Cincinnati Enquirer

After admitting to sexually abusing a teenaged girl in the 1980s, Daniel Pater has been removed from ministry by the Vatican, according to an announcement from The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

In addition to Pater, CDF announced that Rev. David F. Reilly was restored to active ministry after a church court ruled that he was not guilty of inappropriate behavior with a minor.

Reilly was put on administrative leave from St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Shandon in August of 2006 after he was accused of engaging a minor in behavior with sexual overtones in the 1970s, according to CDF.

Pater, who has been on administrative leave since 2003, has been directed by the CDF to “lead a life of prayer and penance.” Pater will never again be permitted to celebrate Mass in public, administer the other sacraments, wear clerical garb or present himself as a priest.

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TEXAS/NEW JERSEY
Patch

Posted by Jason Koestenblatt (Editor) , February 21, 2014

A retired priest from Morris County has been charged with criminal sexual contact by local authorities but has not been taken into custody as he currently resides in Texas.

Morris County Acting Prosecutor Fredric Knapp announced today Reverend Phillip Briganti, 67, formerly of Randolph, was being charged with the fourth-degree crime for “acts involving an adult male.”

Briganti, living in El Paso, Texas, officiated a wedding at St. Paul’s Church in Prospect Park on Nov. 9, 2013, Knapp said. Following the wedding reception, Briganti was riding on a bus with the alleged victim en route to a hotel, Knapp said. It was then Briganti allegedly engaged in unwanted sexual contact with the victim.

The victim notified the Diocese of Paterson, which then alerted authorities in Morris, Passai, and Bergen counties, Knapp said.

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TEXAS/NEW JERSEY
El Diario de El Paso

Julio Antonio Molinet
El Diario de El Paso | 2014-02-21

Un sacerdote retirado de Nueva Jersey y que actualmente vive en la ciudad de El Paso, ha sido acusado de tener contacto sexual ilícito con un hombre tras haber oficiado una boda. El incidente, dado a conocer ayer, ocurrió el pasado nueve de noviembre en el poblado de Prospect Park, del Condado de Passaic.

Los fiscales del Condado de Morris dijeron que el padre Philip Briganti tuvo el supuesto contacto sexual mientras el sacerdote –de 67 años de edad– se encontraba en un autobús que viajaba rumbo a un hotel, después de la recepción de la boda.

Al contactar ayer a la canciller de la Diócesis de El Paso, Patricia Fierro, para una opinión de esa institución, este rotativo recibió un comunicado oficial con la rúbrica del vicario general de la Curia, reverendo Anthony C. Celino.

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CHILE
El Mostrador

[Summary: Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati will become a Cardinal today but amid controversy. Photos have photos emerged showing priest Fernando Karadima officiating at a Mass after the Vatican forbid him to do because of allegations of abuse. A victim of abuse by a Valdivia priest a few days ago filed a complaint against Ezzati allegeing that he obstructed an investigation and withheld information.]

por BERNARDITA GARCÍA JIMÉNEZ

Mientras el arzobispo Ricardo Ezzati se encuentra por estos días en el Vaticano, en Roma, a la espera de la ceremonia que se llevará a cabo este sábado a las 11:00 de la mañana, hora local, y en la que será investido cardenal Consistorio por el Papa Francisco, en Chile el Arzobispado de Santiago se convierte en blanco de críticas a raíz de las recientes eventualidades. El jueves, el periodista Juan Carlos Cruz, una de las víctimas que denunció abusos por parte del ex párroco de El Bosque, Fernando Karadima, divulgó una fotografía en la que figura este oficiando una misa el pasado 4 de diciembre de 2013 en la capilla del convento de las Siervas de Jesús de la Caridad, en el sector del Parque Bustamante de la comuna de Providencia.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

Updated: Friday, February 21 2014

By: Maria Miller JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — There are new developments in the case involving a former Franciscan friar accused of sexually assaulting students at Bishop McCort Catholic High School in the early ’90s.

On Friday, the Bishop McCort board of trusteesannounced its intent to file suit against a Greensburg attorney representing alleged victims in the case, saying she might be withholding vital information to its investigation.

The board said Attorney Susan Williams is making unsubstantiated and even slanderous claims on her website.

The board memberssaid if she really has knowledge of adults at the school, former or current, who knew anything about alleged abuse, they want and need to know in order to protect current students.

The statement on Williams’ website is hard to miss. It’s one of the first things you see on her home page and reads in part, “our office has been contacted by numerous individuals who were affected by the alleged actions of Brother Stephen Baker and the array of adults at Bishop McCort High School.”

The statement has been there since early last year, when she started representing former students. But the Bishop McCort board says her claim is unsubstantiated.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Kathy Mellott
kmellott@tribdem.com

JOHNSTOWN — The board of directors of Bishop McCort Catholic High School is going after a Greensburg attorney who is representing a handful of people who claim they were sexually abused by Brother Stephen Baker.

Documents were filed this week on behalf of the school’s leaders in Westmoreland County court as the first step in a civil lawsuit against Susan Williams regarding assertions made on her Web page.

Additionally, Pittsburgh attorney Kathleen Gallagher, on behalf of Bishop McCort, filed what is termed notice of service of plaintiff’s first set of discovery.

It is seeking a response from Williams as the first step in gaining information from a plaintiff.

The website makes statements by Williams in relation to individuals she claims are still at Bishop McCort and makes reference to their relationships to Baker, the board maintains.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Early this week, Pope Francis met with his select group of cardinals mainly to review matters relating to the Vatican financial scandals. Over 180 cardinals then met in two closed sessions with Pope Francis this week to reconsider the Catholic Church’s rules on marriage and the family and the related sexual morality issues. Only cardinals attended these meetings. Also on Friday, US Cardinal Burke reportedly confirmed in the Vatican newspaper Pope Francis’ continuing opposition to gay marriage and abortion.

No consideration seemingly was given by Pope Francis to addressing with the world’s cardinals fully assembled the worldwide Church scandal of priest child abuse or related lack of bishop accountability.

Meanwhile a prominent US legal expert, Professor Marci Hamilton, called on President Obama to step up and address the epidemic of sexual abuse of children by religious institutions as noted here:

[Verdict]

And, Betty Clermont, the author of “The Neo-Catholics”, also called on President Obama to cancel his March 27 meeting with Pope Francis mainly in light of the recent UN report severely criticizing the Vatican’s policies relating to children and the Vatican’s evasive response to the UN report as noted here:

[Daily Kos]

These calls are in addition to my recent advice as a retired international lawyer to President Obama noted here:

[Christian Catholicism]

After a long presentation to the 180+ cardinals by highly regarded German Cardinal Walter Kasper on the topic of family life on Thursday morning, 43 other cardinals made responsive remarks. Among the key topics reportedly discussed were how to treat Catholics who divorce and remarry and still seek to receive the Catholic sacraments and how to simplify annulment procedures.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
WYFF

GREENVILLE, S.C. —An Upstate pastor is taking Bob Jones University to task for its decision to terminate an investigation into campus sex abuse.

Pastor Ryan Ferguson, of North Hills Community Church in Greenville, uploaded a 20 minute video to YouTube, calling BJU’s termination of the GRACE Investigation “harmful to survivors of abuse.”

“You do not take responsibility in your communication about the past,” Ferguson said in the video. “Stated differently, you do not talk transparently.”

Ferguson told WYFF News 4 Investigates he believes the university has failed to provide a clear explanation of why the investigation was terminated.

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VIRGINIA
The American Conservative

By ROD DREHER • February 21, 2014

Let me be clear that I take no position on the allegations made about sexual assault at Patrick Henry College. I am not in a position to know what did or did not happen, or to do a proper investigation. I do like hearing from people who attend or who did attend PHC, and publishing their perspectives. Keep in mind as you read them that these are the opinions of individuals; they are not necessarily the whole truth.

That said, here is a counter-perspective from a recent PHU alumna who wrote me privately. She gave permission for me to post this, but asked me not to use her name, for fear of professional harm. She sent me information that allowed me to verify her identity, which I did. I can say that she is presently working in a job that gives her strong professional standing. Here is her letter:

I am a graduate of PHC’s class of 2010 and was there when many of the incidents described in Kiera Feldman’s article in the New Republic took place. Since you posted an email from a current sophomore, I wanted to respond.

Looking back on PHC, now that I’m four years older, married, and with professional experience outside the bubble of PHC, I have to say the sophomore has given you the wrong idea. It’s not surprising, as most of PHC’s students come from conservative, typically fundamentalist, Christian backgrounds. Their “normal” is very different from mainstream Christianity, let alone mainstream America. Patriarchal beliefs are “baked into” PHC culture and fundamentalist Christian culture so that what is startling for a liberal reporter from the New Republic is business as usual for current PHC students. Let me provide you with some examples.

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PUERTO RICO
El Nuevo Herald

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Abogados de una diócesis de Puerto Rico que expulsó a seis sacerdotes que enfrentan acusaciones de abuso sexual dijeron que se oponen a una investigación penal debido en parte a que la mayoría de los casos involucraron sexo consensual con las presuntas víctimas.

Los abogados señalaron que los sacerdotes fueron expulsados por violación al derecho canónico, no a leyes del derecho penal.

El argumento fue uno de varios presentados el viernes sin evidencia ante un juez que está revisando una demanda de la Diócesis de Arecibo presentada contra el secretario de Justicia de Puerto Rico. La diócesis asevera que no debería ser obligada a proporcionar a fiscales los nombres de las presuntas víctimas para proteger su confidencialidad.

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PUERTO RICO
El Nuevo Dia

El juez Ángel Pagán Ocasio, del Tribunal de San Juan, aceptó hoy una petición para que una víctima de abuso sexual se una a la demanda incoada por la Diócesis de Arecibo, para que no se obligue a entregar al Departamento de Justicia los nombres de las personas involucradas en los casos de abuso sexual a menores que investigó la institución y que culminó con la expulsión de seis sacerdotes.

Durante una vista esta mañana para atender la petición de sentencia declaratoria de la Diócesis de Arecibo, el magistrado también concedió una moción presentada por los abogados de la Iglesia, Frank Torres Viada y José Andreu Fuentes, para garantizar la confidencialidad de los testigos que presentarán en el proceso.

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PUERTO RICO
12 News

February 21, 2014

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Attorneys for a Puerto Rico diocese that defrocked six priests facing sex abuse accusations say they oppose a criminal investigation in part because the majority of the cases involved consensual sex with the alleged victims.

Diocese attorneys say the priests were defrocked for violating canon law, not criminal laws.

The argument was one of several presented without evidence on Friday to a judge reviewing a lawsuit that the Diocese of Arecibo filed against Puerto Rico’s justice secretary. The diocese contends that it should not be forced to release the names of alleged victims to prosecutors in order to protect their confidentiality.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Examiner

Adam Davies 22nd Feb 2014

THE head of the Catholic Education Office in Toowoomba has admitted there was no process in place requiring his delegates to advise him or his deputy of child sexual abuse allegations in the diocese.

Director John Borserio said there was also nothing in the student protection and risk management kit which required the diocese’s two student protection officers Ian Hunter or Christopher Fry to report any allegations to him either.

The student protection and risk management kit was the primary manual used to protect students at 32 schools across the diocese.

Mr Borserio told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse on Friday it was a deficiency in procedures he now regretted.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Examiner

Adam Davies 22nd Feb 2014

A CATHOLIC school principal has told an inquiry there was a mentality and culture operating in the Toowoomba Diocese that the bishop must be protected at all costs.

Dan McMahon, the current principal of Shalom College in Bundaberg, told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane on Friday that student protection did not come first.

“The phrase not to compromise the bishop was used regularly,” he said.

“It was a justification for diocesan processes on all sorts of things.

“When I, as a principal, would sometimes think or ask why do we have to go through so many hurdles to do something or to make a decision, often the reason was we did not want to compromise the bishop because he is the ultimate employer.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

February 21
BY JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

The Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese has settled two more lawsuits totaling $1.8 million involving a priest now serving prison time for producing child pornography.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Jack Grate approved a $1.275 million settlement on Friday in a lawsuit filed by two parents on behalf of their minor daughter against the diocese, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn.

And on Wednesday, Circuit Judge Jim Kanatzar approved a $525,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed last year by two parents and their minor daughter. That suit also named the diocese, Ratigan and Finn as defendants.

In addition, Grate and Kanatzar each entered a $500,000 default judgment against Ratigan, who failed to respond to the lawsuits.

The settlements bring to $3.75 million the total the diocese has paid out so far in cases involving Ratigan.

“We hope that settlements of this kind will make the diocese place the safety of children first and foremost from here on out,” said Rebecca Randles, the attorney who represented the plaintiffs in both cases.

A diocesan spokesman confirmed the settlements Friday and said they were funded by the diocese’s internal self-insurance fund and its external carrier, National Catholic Risk Retention Group.

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