ABUSE TRACKER

MINNESOTA
Fox 47

[with video]

BLUE EARTH, Minn. (FOX 47) — A Blue Earth priest accused of having sexual contact with a young girl made his first court appearance Monday afternoon.

Fr. Leo Koppala, 47, a priest at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, is charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Koppala was arrested at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

According to the criminal complaint, Koppala is accused of touching the victim on her lower back and breasts on Friday evening while he was at the family’s home for dinner. The victim also told investigators he kissed her on the cheeks and mouth. He told her he loved her and wanted to be together after she was done with school.

The county attorney says the female victim is under the age of 13 and the crime was committed at the girl’s grandmother’s house.

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CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel

By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel Staff Writer

A priest who served on a temporary basis in Lodi is due to appear in court for a preliminary hearing June 27 on charges including false imprisonment and molesting a minor.

Father Julio Cesar Guarin-Sosa, 43, was arrested on March 10 after a 16-year-old girl in Yuba City told authorities that Guarin-Sosa sexually abused her while he visited her family at their residence.

Guarin-Sosa is charged with a felony count of false imprisonment and misdemeanor counts of annoying or molesting a minor and sexual battery involving the 16-year-old girl.

A preliminary-pretrial conference is set for 1:30 p.m. June 19 and the preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. June 27 at Sutter County Superior Court in Yuba City, court records show.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona

A Statement from Most Rev. John M. Quinn, Bishop of Winona

WINONA, MN – June 10, 2013 – Bishop John Quinn placed Rev. Leo Charles Koppala, a priest of the Nellore Diocese in South India, on administrative leave in accordance with the diocesan policy for the protection of minors. Rev. Koppala has been charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct in the Second Degree involving a minor.

While on administrative leave, he is not permitted to exercise his public ministry or live on any parish property in the Diocese of Winona pending the outcome of the investigation.

A representative of the Diocese of Winona indicated that no other allegation of this nature involving Rev. Koppala has been received by the Diocese.

The Diocese of Winona is committed to the protection of children and the safe environment of our parishes and schools. The Diocese of Winona has fully adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (“the Charter”), as promulgated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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AUSTRALIA
News Mail

APN Newsdesk 11th Jun 2013

VICTIMS of child sexual abuse have started sharing their stories during face-to-face private sessions in Brisbane.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse expects to conduct the private sessions for at least the next month.

Private sessions, which are conducted in an informal setting in the presence of one or two commissioners, have been running in Sydney for the past four weeks.

Royal Commission CEO Janette Dines said a large number of people were talking about their experiences for the first time and had different reasons for coming forward.

“Many people have said that after years of keeping silent, they feel safe to speak out,” Ms Dines said.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Federal Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is considering holding sessions in Canberra.

Commissioners are holding private sessions around Australia with people who experienced child sexual abuse while in institutional care.

Sessions will be set up in Canberra if there is demand.

Liberal Senator Gary Humphries says the abuse may not have happened in Canberra but people who experienced it now live here.

“Their stories are best heard where they are now, rather than where they originally were,” he said.

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MAINE
Bangor Daily News

By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
Posted June 10, 2013

BANGOR, Maine — Justices with the state’s highest court will consider whether a Portland man convicted of manslaughter was tricked into waiving his Miranda rights and whether a Kennebec County man’s lawsuit against the Catholic Church over alleged clergy abuse may go forward.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court will hear appeals in those cases and 10 others Tuesday and Wednesday when it convenes at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor. …

On Tuesday, justices will consider for a second time an Augusta man’s lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

William Picher, 39, claims that the Rev. Raymond Melville, who left the ministry in 1997, sexually assaulted him between 1986 and 1988 when Picher was a student St. Mary Catholic School in Augusta. Picher (pronounced pee-SHAY) also alleges that Melville’s supervisors at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland knew the priest had sexually abused children previously but hid allegations from parishioners.

The state’s high court four years ago affirmed 5-2 that under Maine law charitable groups such as churches, museums and sports organizations are immune from claims for negligent actions, but it said they are not immune from intentional ones.

Picher’s Augusta attorneys Sumner Lipman and Benjamin Tucker claim the diocese knew Melville had a history of sexually abusing minors when in 1985 he was assigned to St. Mary’s Church and School in Augusta. The diocese has denied the claim, arguing that it did not receive its first complaint about Melville until 1990.

In the latest appeal, Picher’s attorneys argued that Superior Court Justice Donald Marden erred in granting summary judgment to the diocese and abused his discretion by refusing to permit Picher and his lawyers access to Diocese records containing the names of clergy accused of sexual misconduct and the names of their accusers.

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CANADA
Updated News

Mon, Jun 10th, 2013

The trial of Canada’s highest-ranking Orthodox Church cleric, accused of sexually abusing boys over two decades ago, is set to begin today in Winnipeg.

Archbishop Kenneth William (Seraphim) Storheim is accused of assaulting two pre-teen boys who were both members of the church more than 25 years ago, when he worked at a parish in Winnipeg’s North End. …

The Orthodox Church of America has launched an internal investigation into the matter.

“It’s been a sad and stressful time for everyone. The church has been praying for everybody involved just that God’s will would be done,” said Matthew Estabrooks, the lawyer representing the church’s Archdiocese of Canada.

Melanie Sakoda of a Chicago-based victims’ organization called SNAP — Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests — said the group pushed for years for an investigation into complaints involving Storheim.

“It’s certainly been a long time coming, but I’m really grateful that those men will have the opportunity to tell their truth. In the U.S., a lot of people don’t have that opportunity because of the statute of limitations we have down here,” Sakoda said.

“I hope justice will be done in the trial. But I think no matter the outcome of the trial, those two men are winners for speaking up and coming forward.”

Sakoda said she hopes the case will encourage more sexual-abuse survivors to come forward.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By MICHELLE HARRIS June 11, 2013

COMMISSIONER Margaret Cunneen SC has decided not to refer a tweet from detective chief inspector Peter Fox for possible contempt of the Special Commission of inquiry into child sex abuse cover-ups in the Hunter Valley.

Ms Cunneen said on Tuesday morning she had the power to refer such matters to the registrar of the Supreme Court, to consider pursuing possible contempt proceedings.

It followed a tweet Mr Fox made in relation to the evidence of a police officer given during a previous hearing of the inquiry in May.

Legal representatives of some police officers who are involved in the inquiry said the tweet was inconsistent with earlier evidence given to the inquiry.

However, in a brief directions hearing in Sydney Tuesday morning, Ms Cunneen said she was not persuaded such a referral for contempt action was warranted over the tweet.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

By Sophie Tarr, AAP
Updated June 11, 2013

Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson will be among witnesses grilled behind closed doors as an inquiry into the handling of allegations of child sex abuse by Hunter Valley priests enters its second phase.

The special commission of inquiry began in Newcastle last month and is focusing on how police and church officials handled sex abuse allegations, particularly those involving serial sex offender Father Denis McAlinden and convicted pedophile Father James Fletcher, who are both dead.

The first stage of the inquiry, which examined whether local Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox had been asked to stop investigating abuse, is expected to wrap up with a final week of public hearings later this month.

Witnesses for the second phase of the inquiry, examining whether Catholic Church officials helped or hindered police investigations, were unveiled on Tuesday.

Public hearings into this second term of reference are slated to begin on July 1.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By court reporter Jamelle Wells

A New South Wales detective who triggered an inquiry into the handling of allegations of church child sex abuse will not face a contempt charge for tweeting from the hearing room.

The inquiry is focusing on the handling of allegations involving priests in the Catholic diocese of Maitland and Newcastle and allegations Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox was stopped from investigating the matters.

In May, Patrick Saidi, a barrister for several high-ranking police officers, told Special Commissioner Margaret Cunneen that Inspector Fox had tweeted a message from the hearing room that was inconsistent with evidence.

Mr Saidi asked Ms Cunneen to ban tweeting while sessions were sitting and to refer the matter to the Crown Solicitor’s office to consider a contempt charge against Inspector Fox.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

AAP

A detective won’t face a contempt charge over a tweet he sent during a court hearing into claims the Catholic Church covered up child sex abuse.

Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson will be among witnesses grilled behind closed doors as an inquiry into the handling of allegations of child sex abuse by Hunter Valley priests enters its second phase.

The special commission of inquiry began in Newcastle last month and is focusing on how police and church officials handled sex abuse allegations, particularly those involving serial sex offender Father Denis McAlinden and convicted pedophile Father James Fletcher, who are both dead.

The first stage of the inquiry, which examined whether local Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox had been asked to stop investigating abuse, is expected to wrap up with a final week of public hearings later this month.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By New Zealand correspondent Dominique Schwartz

A judge has ruled that a former Catholic brother wanted in Australia on 252 charges of child sexual abuse can be extradited from New Zealand.

The extradition order was made in the Christchurch District Court for 66-year-old Bernard Kevin McGrath.

He has 15 days in which to appeal or voluntarily return to Australia, otherwise he will be arrested and extradited.

New South Wales police say the alleged offending involved 35 boys from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

AAP

Former Catholic brother Bernard McGrath will be extradited to Australia from New Zealand to face child sex charges barring a successful appeal.

Judge Jane Farish ruled in Christchurch District Court that it would not be unjust or oppressive to McGrath, 65, for him to face charges that he repeatedly raped, molested and abused dozens of young boys at institutions in NSW during the late 1970s and 1980s.

He faces 252 charges, which follow allegations by 35 complainants.

McGrath now has 15 days to appeal the decision, or he can voluntarily return to Australia.

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NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand Herald

By Kurt Bayer @KurtBayerAPNZ
5:18 PM Tuesday Jun 11, 2013

A former Catholic brother will be extradited to Australia to face 252 sexual abuse charges alleged to have been made against 35 complainants, a judge ruled today.

Bernard Kevin McGrath, 65, has 15 days to appeal against the decision, made at the Christchurch District Court, or he’ll be extradited to stand trial.

The Commonwealth of Australia want him extradited from New Zealand to face allegations he raped, molested and abused dozens of young boys at church-run institutions in New South Wales over several decades.

A hearing to discuss whether he should be extradited was heard before Judge Farish at Christchurch District Court earlier this year.

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

A judge has granted the extradition of former Catholic brother Bernard McGrath to Australia to face hundreds of sex-abuse charges.

The Australian Government’s application for extradition was granted by Judge Jane Farish in the Christchurch District Court today.

In Australia, charges have been laid against McGrath, 65, alleging that he raped, molested and abused dozens of young boys at church-run institutions over several decades.

A total of 252 charges have been laid.

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CANADA
Digital Journal

By Marcus Hondro
Jun 11, 2013

The sex trial of Archbishop Kenneth William (Seraphim) Storheim, highest-ranking cleric in the Canadian diocese of the Orthodox Church in America, began in Winnipeg Monday. The archbishop is accused of sexual assault on two brothers in the mid-eighties.

The first of the brothers, pre-teens when the alleged abuses occurred, took the stand on the first day of the trial and spoke of being an altar boy at the parish Storheim then administered to in the north end of Winnipeg in 1985.

Former altar boy: “I was disgusted”

The man, now 39, had a room in the same house as Storheim and testified he was hugged at night and subjected to a nude Storheim wandering about the house, inviting him to look at and to touch his penis. He said that he saw Storheim take boys that the church was feeding into his room.

The man, who now experiences problems with his mental health, said he would call his mother back in Ontario crying and asking to go home. His mother didn’t believe there was anything untoward going on, he said, telling the court that his mother thought he was “lying because I just want to come home and see my friends.”

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CANADA
Winnipeg Free Press

By: Aldo Santin

A man says a priest in the Orthodox Church of America offered him money to sleep with him when he was a young boy during the summer of 1985.

The man was testifying on the opening day of the trial of Seraphim Storheim, a priest in Winnipeg in 1985 and now an archbishop of his church.

Storheim is charged with two counts of sexual assault. The alleged victims are brothers. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday.

A publication ban prohibits the disclosure of any information that could identify the victims.
Storheim was suspended as archbishop in November 2011 after Winnipeg police charged him after a lengthy investigation.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

June 11, 2013

Peter Jean
Chief Assembly Reporter for The Canberra Times.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is being urged to hold hearings in Canberra to encourage local victims to tell their stories.

ACT Liberal Senator Gary Humphries said many child abuse victims had shown the courage to speak up publicly and in the courts in recent years and they deserved to be heard.

“I know there’s been at least 150 cases that have been raised in the ACT – it could be closer to 200 cases,” Senator Humphries said.

“And in those circumstances I think there’s ample basis for the commission to come to Canberra.”

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CANADA
The B.C. Catholic

‘Protecting God’s Children’ screening process keeps offenders out of Church ministries

By Agnieszka Krawczynski
The B.C. Catholic

The Catholic Church in Canada is ahead of its neighbours to the south when it comes to addressing sexual abuse by clergy, according to Father George Mulligan, CSC.

The New York priest spoke at a workshop for clergy at St. Patrick’s Church in Vancouver May 2.

“I say this with humility and embarrassment: the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) did more than U.S. bishops did prior to the crisis,” Father Mulligan began.

He praised the Church in Canada for treating the issue with appropriate seriousness and transparency.

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AUSTRALIA
Peninsula Weekly

Victims of child sexual abuse in government and church institutions have finally been given the chance to tell their stories at two major inquiries. LEE OPITZ looks at two men’s experiences at a Mt Eliza boys’ home in the 1960s.

MORE than 5000 victims of child sexual abuse in institutions, or those who bore witness or knew of cover-ups of abuse in institutions, are expected to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse over the next year.

While an interim report is expected in June next year, it will be years before the inquiry is complete. But no matter how long it takes, victims say it is time that those who abused them, and through their silence those who abandoned them, are brought to justice.

“There is a quote that I heard somewhere: ‘Go forth, speak the truth, and fear nobody’. And that’s what I have to do,” says Len, a victim of institutional abuse in the 1960s and ’70s.

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CALIFORNIA
Manteca Bulletin

By ROSE ALBANO RISSO
The Bulletin

News about the most recent sex-abuse settlement involving the Catholic Diocese of Stockton raised widespread speculation on whether the church will seek bankruptcy protection.

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire addressed these speculations in his open letter to all the faithful in the diocese which was read during all the Masses over the weekend.

“At this point, no decision has been made about how we will go forward and how we will meet our obligations,” he stated in his pastoral letter.

The bishop added that “it is too early to tell” exactly what type of protection the diocese will seek in court. However, he emphasized that any decision made will “not impact the solvency or operations of the parishes.”

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UNITED STATES
Associated Baptist Press

A Georgia pastor says SBC leaders who are coddling a minister accused of covering up sexual abuse send the public a message that all Southern Baptists are soft on clergy predators.

By Jeff Brumley

The Georgia preacher who proposed a resolution urging the Southern Baptist Convention to get tough on predators says Baptist leaders’ public support of an evangelical preacher accused in a lawsuit of covering up child sex abuse has tarnished all Southern Baptists.

What’s more, said Peter Lumpkins, pastor of Corner Stone Baptist Church in Waco, Ga., a show of support by Albert Mohler and Mark Dever for C.J. Mahaney of Sovereign Grace Ministries sends a painful message to those who have been abused: that alleged perpetrators are valued over victims.

“Mohler and Dever make these victims appear that they don’t count,” Lumpkins said Monday in Houston, where he will be a messenger at the SBC’s annual convention Tuesday and Wednesday. “And because they are such high-profile leaders, they make Southern Baptists look like that, too.”

Should it make it out of committee and be approved by messengers, Lumpkins’ resolution would urge convention entities to enact more stringent and uniform anti-abuse policies, implore ministers and churches to more readily notify authorities anytime abuse is reported, and push convention officials and agencies to break ties with outside groups involved in abuse cases.

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NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand

A former Catholic brother is to be extradited to Australia to face hundreds of sex offence charges.

Bernard Kevin McGrath, who is in his 60s, was told he has 15 days to appeal against the extradition decision.

Mr McGrath is wanted in Australia in connection with 252 charges of sexual abuse, including allegations that he raped, molested and abused dozens of boys at church-run institutions in New South Wales in the 1970s and 80s.

At the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday afternoon, Judge Jane Farish granted the Australian government’s application for Mr McGrath’s extradition, saying she did not think the decision would be unjust or oppressive to him.

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PHILIPPINES
Rappler

BY ARIES C. RUFO
POSTED ON 06/04/201

MANILA, Philippines – This is the first in a series of excerpts from the upcoming book Altar of Secrets: Sex, Money, and Politics in the Philippine Catholic Church by veteran journalist Aries C. Rufo that Rappler is running this week. The book will be launched on Friday, June 7, at The Forum, FullyBooked at The Fort, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila. Launch price is at P400; regular price at P450.

THE MEETING was called to order and, as in previous ones, Jaime Cardinal Sin, the patriarch of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM), sat at the head of a long table. It was January 1987 and the board of directors of the archdiocese met for the first time that year.

Sin, as the sole administrator of the properties and businesses of the RCAM, presided over the meeting. They were to discuss some financial matters and, of course, the forthcoming anniversary of the EDSA 1 “people power” revolution where Sin played a pivotal role.

After being apprised of the status of the RCAM businesses and properties, Sin was in high spirits. Clearly, he was satisfied with the financial reports. But he was more excited with the preparations for the EDSA 1 anniversary.

But one board member had something on his mind. He knew that one important item was never raised in the board meeting and the cardinal appeared to have forgotten about it. He waited for another board member to raise it during the meeting, but it never cropped up.

There had been talks within RCAM about huge donations received by the archdiocese for the repair and restoration of Radio Veritas, the Church-run radio station which had been instrumental in the downfall of dictator President Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986.

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PHILIPPINES
Rappler

BY ARIES RUFO
POSTED ON 06/06/2013

MANILA, Philippines – This is the second in a series of excerpts from the upcoming book Altar of Secrets: Sex, Money, and Politics in the Philippine Catholic Church by veteran journalist Aries C. Rufo that Rappler is running this week. The book will be launched on Friday, June 7, at The Forum, FullyBooked at The Fort, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila. Launch price is at P400; regular price at P450.

* * *
They had many things in common: both were protégés of Manila Cardinal Jaime Sin; both were former auxiliary bishops of Manila; both at one time worked and taught at the San Carlos Seminary — Bishop Teodoro Bacani as former dean and professor of theology and Bishop Crisostomo Yalung as former rector.

Both were also forced to resign after committing indiscretions involving the opposite sex.

Bacani and Yalung were both promising prelates before their fall from grace. The former was a most-sought-after inspirational speaker, a media personality in his own right, and a public figure largely active in political affairs.

Yalung, for his part, was very popular among parishioners but most feared by young priests and seminarians. A rising star in Church circles, he was nurtured by Sin as a potential Church leader, appointing him as treasurer of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM) when it was hit with financial scandals. Among his contemporaries, his only rival to Sin’s attention and favor was Socrates Villegas, who would become archbishop a few years later. (Sin had prophesied that Villegas would one day become the Archbishop of Manila.)

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CANADA
Brandon Sun

By: Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
Monday, Jun. 10, 2013

WINNIPEG – A man who was an altar boy years ago testified Monday that a cleric in the Orthodox Church in America exposed himself and asked to be touched sexually in the small house attached to his church.

“I just started feeling really uncomfortable … disgusted,” the man, who cannot be identified under a court-ordered publication ban, said on the first day of Seraphim Storheim’s trial.

“To this day, it really, really bothers me.”

Storheim, who became the church’s Canadian archbishop, pleaded not guilty to two charges of repeated sexual assaults against the man and his brother when they were pre-teens in the summer of 1985.

The boys were from another province and had been sent by their single mother to live and work with Storheim, court was told.

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LOUISIANA
KATC

Posted: Jun 10, 2013 5:23 PM by Ian Auzenne

A priest whose body was found in an Alexandria hotel was facing legal trouble at the time of his death. KALB reports Father Jamie Medina-Cruz had been arrested and charged with indecent behavior with a juvenile in Avoyelles Parish after a grand jury indicted him on those charges. The Diocese of Alexandria placed him on administrative leave afterward.

The cause of death is pending an autopsy and toxicology reports. Police say they found no signs of foul play.

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MINNESOTA
Mankato Free Press

By Dan Linehan
Free Press Staff Writer

BLUE EARTH — A Blue Earth priest has been charged with molesting an 11-year-old girl.

Leo Charles Koppala, 47, was having dinner with the girl and her family member on Friday night. At one point, the girl went downstairs to watch television.

According to the criminal complaint, Koppala came downstairs, pulled her up from where she was sitting and kissed her on the cheeks and lips. He then put one hand on her lower back and the other on her chest, according to the complaint.

The girl said Koppala “moved his hand around on her chest touching her breasts,” according to the complaint. All of the touching was done over her clothes.

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OHIO
WKBN

The Youngstown police officer accused of soliciting sex from a 14-year-old is the second law enforcement agent to be charged with inappropriate conduct with minors this year.

Detective Sgt. Robert Lodwick was assigned to investigate a rape involving a 14-year old girl, but he’s now accused of possessing naked photos of her and soliciting sex from her online. Back in February, a probation officer with the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center found himself behind bars as well. …

Judy Jones of SNAP, an organization started to help victims abused by priests, said sexual predators are often people with some kind of power who the victims know and even trust.

“It would be comforting if it was the odd, creepy person sitting in the corner of the party. But that usually isn’t the case. They are usually the ones throwing the party,” Jones said. “They are known to do a lot of good things. They are very well loved by people in the community. They have to be, in order to not get caught.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

JUNE 10, 2013 BY SUSAN MATTHEWS

Sister Maureen Turlish would like everyone to spread the word that the June First Friday Vigil has been rescheduled for Friday, June 14th on the pavement in front of the Philadelphia Archdiocesan offices at 222 N. 17th St. from 12 noon to 1 pm.

The Vigil for July will be held on July 12th because of the 4th of July holiday.

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NEW JERSEY
U.S. Catholic

By Scott Alessi

After the latest chapter in the sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey–which saw a priest who had been ordered by the prosecutor to be kept away from children somehow end up being involved in youth ministry in another diocese–someone had to take the blame. In an editorial last month, Newark, New Jersey’s Star-Ledger called for Archbishop John J. Myers to step down after this latest failing. And in a poll today on NJ.com, as of this writing, 89 percent of respondents agree that Myers should resign. So guess who takes the fall?

If you guessed the archbishop, you haven’t been paying close attention. Instead of admitting fault and stepping aside, Myers denied that he was to blame and instead pointed the finger at his vicar general, Msgr. John Doran, who has resigned as a result.

Of course, we don’t really know how much Myers knew about the actions of Father Michael Fugee, nor do we know how much blame Doran actually deserves for what happened. But Myers has come out and said there are “vulnerabilities in our own systems” and that the failings of the archdiocese need to be addressed. Yet he stops short of admitting these problems–and things like Fugee being given the position of co-director of the office of continuing education and ongoing formation of priests in the Newark archdiocese–happened on his watch. Nor does Myers’ account of the shortcomings of their efforts to protect children include even a hint of an apology.

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 47-year-old Blue Earth man, who is also a Catholic priest, has been charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, according to the Faribault County Attorney’s Office.

Leo Koppala now faces second-degree criminal sexual conduct — a felony — in connection to the June 7 incident.

According to the criminal complaint, on June 8, Blue Earth Police Chief Tom Fletcher received a call that a 12-year-old had been sexually assaulted the evening before.

During an ensuing interview, the victim told police that she was at her grandmother’s residence in Blue Earth spending the weekend when the assault happened.

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LOUISIANA
KSLA

By KSLA Staff

ALEXANDRIA LA (KSLA/KALB) –
Police in Alexandria are investigating the death of a Catholic priest found dead in a local motel on Friday.

Officers were called the Value Place Motel for a welfare concern, and found Father Jamie Medina-Cruz dead in one of the rooms there.

Police say there were no signs of foul play. They say they are not releasing any further details at this time.

Father Medina Cruz, 48, was on administrative leave from Saint Mary’s Assumption Catholic Church in Cottonport, after he was arrested and charged with indecent behavior with a juvenile. A grand jury in Avoyelles Parish had recently indicted him on those charges.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
Posted: 06/10/2013

A Blue Earth priest who organizes support for an orphanage in his native India has been charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct of an 11-year-old girl, according to the Faribault County attorney’s office.

Leo Charles Koppala, 47, of the Catholic Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Blue Earth was taken into custody by Blue Earth city police about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, the Faribault County jail record said.

Koppala had been invited to dinner at the home of a relative of the girl Friday evening, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Faribault County District Court.

The adult relative took a phone call during the evening. Koppala went down in the basement where the girl was watching TV, and told her he was glad to have gotten away from the relative, the complaint said.

He then pulled the girl up from where she had been sitting, “kissed (her) on the cheek and lips … put one hand on her lower back and the other on her chest,” the complaint said. The girl told police Koppala moved his hand around, fondling her breasts, according to the complaint.

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PHILIPPINES
Rappler

[with video]

BY RAPPLER.COM
POSTED ON 06/11/2013

MANILA, Philippines – A veteran journalist launches a book on the abuses of bishops and priests. The book “Altar of Secrets” is the first of its kind in the Philippines.

Paterno Esmaquel reports.

(Watch Rappler’s video report below.)

(The script of the video report follows)

In the Vatican, Pope Francis denounces the hypocrisy of priests, admonishes “intolerant” Catholics, and says prelates should become “shepherds… and not collectors of antiques and novelties.”

In the Philippines, veteran journalist Aries Rufo launches a groundbreaking book called “Altar of Secrets.”

The first of its kind in the Philippines, the book exposes sexual misconduct, political interference, and financial mismanagement by bishops and priests.

These include investigative stories on a high-ranking prelate who fathered a child and later resigned, and on multimillion-peso donations to Radyo Veritas that remain unaccounted for.

ARIES RUFO, AUTHOR, ‘ALTAR OF SECRETS’: That’s a lie, bishop. Who told you that?” Bishop responds nervously: “Office, the office.”

The book also includes some of Rufo’s most heated discussions with Catholic bishops.

RUFO: So if I will ask for all the donations received for all the calamity victims and all the disbursements, will you be able to give these to me?”

BISHOP JESSE MERCADO: I think we have the right to ask also. Why?

RUFO: For publication.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
Posted: 06/10/2013

A Blue Earth priest who organizes support for an orphanage in his native India has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree criminal sexual conduct of a female, according to Faribault County jail records.

Leo Charles Koppala, 47, of the Catholic Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Blue Earth was taken into custody by Blue Earth city police about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, the jail record said.

Additional details were not immediately available.

The Diocese of Winona, in which Koppala serves, said it would issue a written statement about the matter.

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CANADA
Winnipeg Free Press

By: Aldo Santin

The trial of an Archbishop of the Orthodox Church of America for sexually abusing two 11-year-old boys in the summer of 1985 began this morning.

Seraphim Storheim pleaded not guilty this morning to two counts of sexual abuse between June and August of 1985.

The first witness this morning was one of the victims, now 39 years old.

A publication ban was imposed prohibiting the disclosure of the identities of the two victims.
The witness often sounded confused and repeatedly contradicted himself when questioned by Crown prosecutor Breta Passler and defence counsel Jeff Gindin.

The witness said that he suffers from a variety of mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, panic attacks and other mental health issues, and is heavily medicated.

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CANADA
CTV

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
Published Monday, June 10, 2013

WINNIPEG — A man has told a Winnipeg courtroom that when he was an altar boy he was sexually abused by a cleric in the Orthodox Church in America.

The man, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, says Seraphim Storheim exposed himself and asked to be touched sexually.

The man also testified that Storheim, now in his late 60s, got into bed with him on one occasion.
Storheim, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused of repeated sexual assaults on two boys in the mid 1980s.

He later became Canadian archbishop of the church, which is separate from other orthodox churches such as the Greek Orthodox Church and Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

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LOUISIANA
KATC

Alexandria Police say no foul play is expected after an Alexandria priest was found dead in a motel room. Police say on Friday, they got a call about a “welfare concern” at the Value Place Motel in Alexandria. There, they found the body of 48-year-old Reverend Jamie Medina-Cruz. Father Medina-Cruz is a native of Puerto Rico, and his assignments included churches in Natchitoches, Marksville, Ferriday, Alexandria and Cottonport. He was on administrative leave from Saint Mary’s Assumption Catholic Church in Cottonport.

“We are still grieving over this and making our way for all that must be done. Please, let us keep him and so many in our prayers,” says Father S. Scott Chemino, Vicar General of the Diocese of Alexandria.

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LOUISIANA
Westport News

ALEXANDRIA, La. (AP) — A body found last week at an Alexandria motel has been identified as a 48-year-old priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria.

Alexandria police said there was no sign of foul play in the death of Jamie Medina-Cruz (meh-DEE’-nah crooz). The body was found at the Value Place Motel on Friday. Autopsy results were pending.

On its website Monday, the diocese said Medina-Cruz was on administrative leave from St. Mary’s Assumption Catholic Church in Cottonport. The Town Talk reported (http://townta.lk/11D1SAi ) that he was placed on administrative leave at St. Mary’s on March 12, pending an investigation of alleged misconduct with a minor. No charges had been filed.

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LOUISIANA
The Town Talk

Mar. 13, 2013

An Avoyelles Parish priest was placed on administrative leave Tuesday after he was accused of misconduct with a minor, Diocese of Alexandria officials said.

The Rev. Jamie Medina-Cruz, pastor of St. Mary’s Assumption Catholic Church in Cottonport was relieved of his duties by the Rev. Ronald P. Herzog, bishop of the diocese, pending an investigation by the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Office.

No charges against Medina-Cruz had been filed as of Tuesday evening, Avoyelles Parish officials said. Diocese officials said they would have no further comment on the matter while the accusation was under investigation.

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LOUISIANA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria

The Diocese of Alexandria announced today the death of Reverend Jamie Medina-Cruz, S.T.L., on Friday, June 7, 2013. Father died in Alexandria, LA. At this time no further details are being released by the Alexandria Police Department pending autopsy and toxicology reports.

Father Medina-Cruz, a native of Puerto Rico, was ordained on May 29, 1999. His assignments included churches in Natchitoches, Marksville, Ferriday, Alexandria and Cottonport. He was currently on administrative leave from Saint Mary’s Assumption Catholic Church, Cottonport.

Father S. Scott Chemino, Vicar General of the Diocese of Alexandria, said today, “We are still grieving over this and making our way for all that must be done. Please, let us keep him and so many in our prayers.”

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LOUISIANA
The Town Talk

A 48-year-old priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria was found dead Friday in a room at a local hotel, according to the Alexandria Police Department.

Police identified the man as Jamie Medina-Cruz. He was found in the Value Place Motel, 1000 MacArthur Drive.

Police, who were responding to a call about a welfare concern, said there were no signs of a crime at the scene.

Autopsy and toxicology tests will be performed.

Medina-Cruz was a pastor of St. Mary’s Assumption Catholic Church in Cottonport and an assistant pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Marksville.

Medina-Cruz was placed on administrative leave at St. Mary’s on March 12 after being accused of improper conduct with a minor. He was relieved of his duties by the Rev. Ronald P. Herzog, bishop of the diocese, pending an investigation by the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Office. No charges had been filed.

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NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on June 10, 2013

What if, during his recent travels with a couple of Catholic youth groups, the Rev. Michael Fugee had a relapse and groped another child? There’s no evidence that happened, but it’s a legitimate concern. There’s a reason prosecutors made him promise never to work with children again.

Years from now, what if a child says Fugee crossed a line?

As we speak, New Jersey’s Catholic leaders are spending big bucks to make sure the church, its bishops and, most importantly, its bank accounts can’t be held responsible for crimes committed on their watch.

Princeton Public Affairs Group is the most high-powered, high-priced lobbying outfit in Trenton. That’s whom the New Jersey Catholic Conference has hired to fight legislation meant to give victims of childhood sexual abuse the time they need to seek justice.

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ROME
Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) — Members of Regnum Christi, the lay movement associated with the Legionaries of Christ, said they don’t feel they are on a salvage mission, but rather are part of a transformation.

They have been shocked and disillusioned by revelations that their movement’s founder — the late Father Marcial Maciel Degollado — fathered children and sexually abused seminarians, and they recognize that many more have been hurt by Father Maciel’s actions. Yet they are frustrated by widespread doubts about the validity of the movement, which they still strongly believe can improve their own lives and the life of the church.

Brenner LeCompte, 28, entered the Legionaries’ “apostolic school,” a kind of minor seminary, when he was 15, and spent eight years with the Legionaries before deciding he was not called to the priesthood. LeCompte, who lives in Connecticut, told Catholic News Service he has checked out other movements, but “I haven’t connected with anything else.”

Now married with a new baby, he said he believes his involvement with Regnum Christi “is a vocation. I don’t feel at home anywhere else.”

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CANADA
The Province

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS JUNE 10, 2013

WINNIPEG – The archbishop of an orthodox church has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault against two boys in Winnipeg.

Seraphim Storheim is accused of repeated sexual assaults on two boys in the mid-1980s when he worked as a rector for the Orthodox Church in America.

He had served as a priest in Alberta, North Carolina and London, Ont., and later became the head of the church’s Canadian archdiocese.

Storheim, who is in his late 60s, sat quietly as his trial began.

The Crown and defence have been discussing potential evidence in a voir dire, the contents of which cannot be reported.

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CANADA
Global News

By Lorraine Nickel Global News

WINNIPEG – The archbishop of an orthodox church has pleaded not guilty to charges he sexually assaulted two boys in Winnipeg.

Seraphim Storheim, who is on leave from his position at the head of the church in Canada, pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting two teen brothers 30 years ago.

Storheim, who was charged in 2010, is on a leave of absence from his position as the head of the Orthodox Church of America in Canada.

One of the accusers, who is now 39 years old, had a tough time remembering details of his time as an altar boy for the church in many cities, including Winnipeg.

The man said for a few months he lived at the Orthodox Church in Winnipeg, where Storheim also lived.

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UNITED STATES
theological curves

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Amy Jacober

In nearly every class I have taught for the last 15 years two major topics have arisen. One is a conversation around ministry with and to those with disabilities. The second, and all too often not unrelated, is around issues of abuse and violence.

I have no shortage of stories of horrific things that have been done to children and youth. I also have no shortage of youth workers who have been wounded in the process of trying to do right. I have spoken before about the very seminary where I taught being told that there was no place in chapel to have this conversation. As frustrated and angry as that made me, I was simply ignored not told I was a trouble maker for bringing up this very subject.

It is beyond time for leaders, vocational ministers and lay leaders to take a stand. To demand better. To seek justice so that peace may come. To be willing to face consequences and speak truth even when it costs.

Amy Smith has been valiantly speaking up for those who have been abused for years. She has also been a volunteer youth worker for years. It seems that a narrow understanding of what is “good” for our children has distorted the perspective of leadership where she has been. While I do not know her personally, I know her work. I know that what she is experiencing is deeply personal. I also know that being uninvited to the table is not necessarily a sign of being wrong. In fact, it may be that she was a little too right.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
June 10, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Nick Stoneman arrived in 2003 determined to save Shattuck-St. Mary’s. His job was to turn this hockey powerhouse in the small southern Minnesota town of Faribault into an elite prep school.

Shattuck-St. Mary’s was struggling. It had lost about $2 million a year for two years straight. Student enrollment was flat, and the boarding school had been without a permanent head of school for two years.

Yet at the hockey rink, it was hard to imagine anything was wrong. Future superstar Sidney Crosby had just led the school to a national championship. And Shattuck athletes, including current Minnesota Wild player Zach Parise, were eagerly awaiting the NHL draft.

Shattuck-St. Mary had ”nothing short of tremendous potential,” Stoneman wrote in his first piece published in the school magazine.

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IRELAND
Herald

FIONA DILLON – 10 JUNE 2013

A RECONCILIATION forum between survivors of the Magdalene laundries and the religious orders that ran them has been recommended.

A retired High Court judge has recommended a package of measures including mediation and reconciliation.

In February, Mr Justice John Quirke was asked by the Government to report back within three months on proposals to set up a non-adversarial scheme to compensate the women.

Judge Quirke delivered his report to the Justice Minister Alan Shatter last month.

Mr Quirke has proposed setting up a reconciliation forum where the women and former nuns who ran the laundries could opt to meet and discuss their shared experiences.

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ARGENTINA
Truth Out

Thursday, 06 June 2013
By Ricardo Guerra, Truthout | News Analysis

The election of the Argentine Jesuit cardinal Jorge Bergoglio – now mostly referred to as Pope Francis – as the new pontiff came as a big surprise to the whole world. Pope Francis is considered a modest man who, as an archbishop in his own country, declined the luxurious perks of the position; he is also an avid fan of football, tango and Italian literature. He is mostly known to be a theological conservative with a strong social conscience. As a Jesuit had never before been chosen for the illustrious role, and as he was the first from Latin America to be chosen for the position, his election was undoubtedly a watershed moment in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

But not everyone has given the new pontiff a hearty welcome. In Argentina, many consider Bergoglio to be a divisive figure, not simply because of his conservative stance on social issues (e.g., abortion, marriage equality, the definition of family, etc.), but also, more pointedly, due to persisting speculation about his role during the violent military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1976 to 1983.

Argentina was not unique in Latin America for coming under military rule during the 1970s. Leftist movements were gaining significant ground in several different countries in the region, and many within ruling elite circles saw their development as a challenge to their interests. At the same time, in most of those countries, the military structures and forces were ready and prepared to combat “subversive” elements.

However, the role of the Catholic Church within this historical current varied greatly, depending on the country in question. In Argentina, for example – and distinct from other countries – the role played by certain elements within the Catholic Church has baffled and troubled many.

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OSTERREICH
Nachrichten

STEYR. Der wegen des Missbrauchs von früheren Zöglingen des Stiftsgymnasiums Kremsmünster angeklagte Ex-Pater Alfons M. (79) muss sich ab 1. Juli vor einem Schöffensenat des Landesgerichts Steyr verantworten.

Diesen Termin bestätigte der für Medienauskünfte zuständige Richter Christoph Mayer im Gespräch mit nachrichten.at. Insgesamt sind vier Prozesstage anberaumt, sie finden von 1. bis 4. Juli jeweils von 9 Uhr bis 15 Uhr statt. „Bei dem 79-jährigen Angeklagten ist die Dauer der Verhandlung auch abhängig von seiner Belastbarkeit, weswegen wir die Hauptverhandlungstermine jeweils nur bis zum frühen Nachmittag festgelegt haben“, sagt Mayer.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Stadt Zeitung

Der Pfarrer der Pfarrei Maria Hilf in Unterthührheim (Landkreis Dillingen) wurde von seinem Amt abberufen. Ein entsprechender Brief der Diözese wurde nach dem Gottesdienst am Sonntag vorgetragen.

Bistumssprecher Nicolas Schnall erklärt, dass das Bistum Augsburg den Pfarrer mit Wirkung zum 8. Juni beurlaubt habe. Grund für diesen Schritt sei der Vorwurf des sexuellen Missbrauchs.

„Er soll sich Anfang der 1980er Jahre im Ausland zugetragen haben, wo der Betreffende damals als Ordensmann tätig war. Dieser Vorwurf ist dem Bistum erst in jüngster Zeit bekannt geworden“, stellt Schnall klar. Auch die Staatsanwaltschaft sei über den Sachverhalt informiert worden.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Kolnische Rundschau

Die rheinische evangelische Kirche will Opfer sexueller Gewalt in ihren Reihen entschädigen. Zum Teil brauchen Opfer Jahrzehnte, bis sie sich offenbaren. 67 Fälle wurden in zwei Jahren bekannt.

Düsseldorf.
Die Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland entschädigt Opfer sexueller Gewalt in den eigenen Reihen mit bis zu 5000 Euro. Das Geld werde ohne Anerkennung einer Rechtspflicht an Betroffene gezahlt, wenn sie glaubhaft machen könnten, dass sie sexuelle Gewalt durch berufliche Mitarbeiter der rheinischen Kirche erlitten hätten, sagte Vize-Präses Petra Bosse-Huber am Montag in Düsseldorf. Auch an Regelungen in Fällen ehrenamtlicher Mitarbeiter werde gearbeitet.

Für die Entschädigungszahlungen hat die Kirche einen Fonds gebildet. Über die Anträge entscheidet eine unabhängige Kommission. „Es geht niemand leer aus, der Anspruch hat“, sagte Bosse-Huber. Über die Übernahme von Therapie- oder Beratungskosten wird gesondert verhandelt.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON JUNE 10, 2013

Victims: “No response from church officials yet”
Thousands of Baptists will meet this week in Houston
Group has asked to speak to convention about abuse
Abuse survivors deplore “rallying around” alleged predators
It wants Baptist church officials to train their staff and flocks

Baptist officials have not responded yet to clergy sex abuse victims who have asked to speak to this week to thousands of Baptists in Houston. The victims want to discuss how church staff and members respond when allegations of clergy sex crimes and cover ups surface.

Last week, leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, wrote officials with the Southern Baptist Convention hoping for a chance to address their annual convention which begins tomorrow. SNAP leaders say that congregants and clergy often “immediately and publicly rally for an accused child molester instead of keeping an open mind and urging anyone with information to come forward.” Then, SNAP contends, “Victims, witnesses and whistleblowers are frightened or depressed and stay silent. And as a result, all too often, those who commit and conceal child sex crimes walk free, remain hidden, and hurt others.”

The group cites three congregations at which it says church employees or board members publicly rallied or are rallying behind accused wrongdoers: Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas, Sovereign Grace Ministries in Maryland, and The Richmond Outreach Center in Virginia.

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PHILIPPINES
Preda

June 10, 2013 ·

Catholic bishops in the Philippines are covering up “rampant sexual abuse of children by the clergy,” said a missionary priest who has been working with prostituted children for the past four decades.

“We have these bishops who have been covering up so much of this abuse, and we know that it is still going on,” said Fr. Shay Cullen, an Irish priest and founder of the People’s Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance Foundation.

Cullen, a member of the Missionary Society of St Columban who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times, told ucanews.com that the fact that clergy sex abuse cases in the Philippines is not exposed is “a big problem.”

A 2004 report by the non-government group Catholics for Free Choice and Likhaan stated that no priest accused of sexual abuse in the Philippines has been successfully prosecuted.

Most of the clergy accused of sexual abuse settled cases out of court, were acquitted, or moved to other parishes by their bishops. There were also priests with pending court cases who were quietly reinstated to pastoral duties, the report said.

In 2002, the Catholic hierarchy in the Philippines apologized for the reported sexual abuses, including adultery, homosexuality and child abuse by at least 200 priests over the past 20 years.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Lewis Blayse

Cardinal Pell, of Australia, is easy to lampoon. Combine this with his long holiday in the palatial Domus Australia (which was officially opened by the Pope himself), and his penchant for gaudy outfits, and there is automatically derisive humour to be had. The picture (below) of him being served by a young maid needs nothing more than to be shown, to demonstrate a caricature of the quintessentially arrogant man.

Even his attendance at a serious event, a summit on priestly paedophilia (see below) is ludicrous of, and in, itself. He is a natural comic.

However, his flight to Rome today for a three-month holiday (or “pilgrimage” as he prefers to call it – sort of like the politician’s “study tour”) is no laughing matter.

It means several things. Firstly, his role as CEO of the Sydney Catholics must be minimal if he can be away for so long. One could then ask why he has not got more time to meet with victims, counsel clergy to be transparent about abuses, and spend a lot of time apologizing to the public at large for his organization’s crimes.

The timing, also, has deep significance. For a start, he will be safely out of the country when his old house-mate, Ridsdale, comes up for parole. Where are his comments about whether or not he should be released? Melbourne bishop, Denis Hart, has said he has no opinion either way, but surely Pell should come out against Ridsdale’s release? Surely, Pell should be available for media scrutiny about the whole Ridsdale matter?

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

More than 300 lines of inquiry are being pursued by officers investigating alleged child abuse at a London guesthouse during the early 1980s.

Two people have been arrested but no charges have been brought.

The inquiry, Operation Fernbridge, is examining claims a paedophile ring, with links to the then government, abused boys at Elm Guest House, Barnes.

The Met is also looking into links between the guesthouse and the former Grafton Close children’s care home.

Claims resurfaced

A 66-year-old Catholic priest from Norfolk and a 70-year-old man from St Leonards-On-Sea, East Sussex, were arrested earlier this year.

In total seven officers have been assigned and about £25,000 has been spent on the investigation since its launch in January, the Met’s response to a Freedom of Information request by a newspaper revealed.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Lewis Blayse

Melbourne Archdiocese Admits Giving False Information to the Victorian Parliamentary Enquiry (Or: Better Late Than Never – The New Version)

Cardinal “Georgie” Pell and his offsider, Melbourne bishop Denis Hart, have come up with a new way to hide the extent of clerical child sexual abuse within their parishes. Give some rubbery figures to the Victorian Parliamentary enquiry into clerical child sexual abuse, then give the real figures after the enquiry finishes public hearings. This way, the media misses the real picture because it has moved onto other things. Only the old impression remains.

In its submission to the Victorian enquiry, the Catholic Church said it had paid compensation to 618 victims. This was widely reported. Now, due to the equivalent of an accounting error (so Pell and the boys would have us believe), the real figure is 849. This was not widely reported. Even this new figure has all of the credibility of government unemployment and CPI figures. The “real” total is probably in excess of 1,000.

Also, at the time of the enquiry, no data were available on the number of clerics convicted of abuses, so no figure was reported by the media. Again, surprise, surprise, these figures are now available. There have been 269 people from the Catholic Church found guilty of child sexual abuse, 218 of them priests and brothers. This, too, was not widely reported. If it had been released during the enquiry, it would surely have been very widely reported.

Another post-enquiry revelation, which might have attracted more attention if released on time, is that nine nuns have been found guilty of child sexual abuse crimes.

In all cases, the Catholic Church has not yet released details of which schools, parishes, or Orders have been involved. The statistics on this could be quite revealing. Perhaps they will be released when the Royal Commission is finished its deliberations.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

GARETH NAUGHTON – 10 JUNE 2013

A MAGDALENE support group has rejected any attempt to set up a reconciliation forum between survivors and the religious orders.

The forum is believed to be a key plank of Justice John Quirke’s recommendations to the Government on the establishment of a redress scheme for the survivors of the laundries.

However, Stephen O’Riordan, director of Magdalene Survivors Together, said that the women in his group would not be facilitating a reconciliation forum having already spoken about their time in the laundries in the McAleese report and through the media.

“The women would have no interest in participating in that process at all in any way, shape or form. They have already told their stories,” he said.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

Cyril Byrne / The Irish Times
Marie O’Halloran

Mon, Jun 10, 2013

Survivors of the Magdalene laundries have described as “utterly pointless” a reported recommendation that there should be a reconciliation forum between them and the religious orders who ran the institutions.

A reconciliation forum and mediation are among a number of recommendations RTÉ has claimed are in the report prepared by a retired High Court judge, appointed to advise the Government on a redress scheme for women and girls held in the laundries.

The national broadcaster suggested that under the proposed forum survivors and nuns from the four religious orders who ran them could meet and discuss their experience.

But one of the organisations representing some 75 survivors has insisted they will not participate in any such forum which was a repetition of a process their members had been prepared to go through two years ago but which the religious orders refused to participate in.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Monday, June 10, 2013
By Caroline O’Doherty

One of the groups representing survivors of the Magdalene Laundries has said it will not take part in any truth and reconciliation forum the Government might set up as part of a redress scheme.

Magdalene Survivors Together activist Steven O’Riordan said the women had already told their stories and now wanted progress on practical elements of redress, such as compensation, supports, a national monument and a Magdalene museum.

“The women within our group would have no interest in taking part in that kind of process simply because they have been relaying their stories as far back as 2009 when we first met the Department of Justice,” said Mr O’Riordan.

“They’ve told their stories to the cross-party committee and they’ve relayed them again to the McAleese report. They don’t want to keep going back any more. They want to move on.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

NICK LEYS From: The Australian June 10, 2013

THE Catholic Church has revoked an invitation to one of Australia’s leading television producers to deliver the main address at its annual press association conference to avoid her speaking about sexual abuse in the church.

Penny Chapman – the award-winning producer whose credits include Brides of Christ, The Leaving of Liverpool and The Slap – has been told she will no longer deliver the main address at the Australasian Catholic Press Association conference gala dinner in September following a decision by the Melbourne archdiocese to veto the invitation because they feel her speech would not be “positive”.

Chapman’s latest project is a TV series sequel to the seminal Australian film directed by Fred Schepisi, The Devil’s Playground. It will deal with how members of the church handle sexual abuse.

An organiser for the conference, Tim Kroenert, the assistant editor of social affairs magazine Eureka Street, wrote to Chapman’s personal assistant saying he was “embarrassed” but the invite had been “vetoed”.

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CANADA
CBC

The trial of Canada’s highest-ranking Orthodox Church cleric, accused of sexually abusing boys over two decades ago, is set to begin today in Winnipeg.

Archbishop Kenneth (Seraphim) Storheim was suspended by the Orthodox Church of America after two sexual assault charges were laid against him in November 2010. (Archdiocese of Canada)
Archbishop Kenneth William (Seraphim) Storheim is accused of assaulting two pre-teen boys who were both members of the church more than 25 years ago, when he worked at a parish in Winnipeg’s North End.

The jury trial is scheduled to begin on Monday morning.

The allegations surfaced in 2008, when a clergyman filed a written report to the national church.

Storheim turned himself in to Winnipeg police in November 2010, when two charges of sexual assault were laid against him.

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AUSTRALIA
The Standard

By MARY ALEXANDER June 10, 2013

THE Catholic Church is being urged to reveal the full extent of child sexual abuse by its clergy in Victoria.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said the church should provide accurate details of the number of victims to the state parliamentary inquiry

“The Catholic Church confirmed on Friday that it accepted the authenticity of 849 complaints against 269 male and female clergy and lay persons, of whom 114 were Brothers from various unspecified Catholic orders,” ALA spokesman Dr Andrew Morrison said.

“That is far from the complete story because two-thirds of the Victorian diocese were not included in those horrific figures and the church is aware of at least another 90 cases,” Dr Morrison said.

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DOMINICA
Fox News

Published June 09, 2013
Associated Press

ROSEAU, Dominica – Dozens of parishioners have gathered outside a Roman Catholic church in Dominica to support a parish priest who has been accused of molesting a girl nearly two decades ago.

Catholics in Dominica’s Grand Bay gathered Sunday holding placards and chanting their support for Monsignor Reginald Lafleur.

The 59-year-old priest has been put on administrative leave after a woman alleged that he touched her inappropriately on her “bottom and breast” and made “sweet eyes” at her 19 years ago when she was a 12-year-old parishioner. The woman made the accusations against Lafleur in a series of letters to Bishop Gabriel Malzaire, the leader of Dominica’s diocese.

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UNITED STATES
scribd.com

Pam Palmer June 8th, 2013

at 1:12 pmJulie Anne Smith (Spiritual Sounding Board),

Thank you for posting about all of this. The tactics and pressure that Houston’s First Baptist Church exerted on Amy Smith are deplorable. It is never a “conflict of interest” for a concerned Christian to
encourage awareness of child sexual abuse and the cover-up of it, that has gone on in some of our churches.I am planning on standing with Amy Smith and SNAP and linking arms with them at this Awareness Event outside of the SBC meeting. As the mother of one of the SGM survivors/plaintiffs, I want to publicly support Amy and SNAP as they seek to raise awareness about the problems of sex abuse cover-up, which has occurred allegedly within the SBC at Prestonwood Baptist.

I am also choosing to stand outside the SBC during its meeting, because of the T4G statement, which some of the top SBC leaders made, who as I understand it, will be in attendance and/or speaking at the SBC meeting — Al Mohler and Mark Dever, specifically. In this T4G statement, they openly honored C.J.Mahaney, and in relation to our lawsuit on the alleged sex abuse cover-up in SGM, declared that “no such accusation of direct wrongdoing was ever made against C.J. Mahaney”. They have since altered this statement surreptitiously and removed this phrase.

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UNITED STATES
New BBC Open Forum

The Southern Baptist Convention is about to convene their 2013 annual meeting in Houston, Texas, and the Pastor’s Conference begins today. In a world where the SBC is becoming more irrelevant by the year, this just might be the headline story from this year’s gathering.

Since I don’t seem to be able to comment on the ABP site, this is what I’d say to Doug Bischoff’s rebuttal to Amy Smith’s allegations:

Bischoff said the Smiths misinterpreted the conversations. “When I spoke with Amy and then with Matt, I expressed that we as a church are not — nor have we ever been — against them personally, their organization or their mission to protect children,” he said. “Houston’s First Baptist Church takes very seriously the safety and well-being of the children who attend our church, and we hope and pray that other churches — of all denominations –are doing the same. We applaud Amy for her dedication to SNAP and the survivors whom they serve.”

Bischoff said he did not ask them to resign from their position as teachers in the student ministry, but they suggested during conversations that he did. “The resignation from ministry was at Amy’s insistence,” he said.

“We hope and pray.” Before I get into the “meat” of this post, I have to get something off my chest. I do believe that “praying!” is one of the most casually thrown about and overused phrases in our lexicon today, and it’s not just Christians who toss it around. I’ve heard news anchors (who may or may not be Christians) use the phrase “our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims” in the case of natural disasters or crimes such as the Sandy Hook shootings. Really? How many times have you seen someone on Facebook write about some illness or problem in their life and seen all the “praying!” responses which often pop up within minutes? Some are likely sincere (I’m not judging who is or who isn’t), but I suspect many never give the person or situation another thought.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

GARETH NAUGHTON – 09 JUNE 2013

THE Government is considering a recommendation that it should establish a reconciliation forum for the survivors of the Magdalene Laundries and the religious orders who ran them, according to reports.

It is believed that Mr Justice John Quirke, a retired High Court judge, has advised the Government to set up the forum to facilitate the healing process for survivors. The forum would be run on a confidential, voluntary and neutral basis and would not assign blame to any party involved.

According to an RTE report, Mr Justice Quirke has also recommended that mediation be included in the dispute resolution mechanism for the proposed compensation scheme.

The Department of Justice is currently considering his proposals and is expected to publish the full report shortly.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

A priest is under investigation over allegations he took advantage of vulnerable patients during his work as a nurse.

Stephen Sheridan, who worked at Stone Cross, near Pevensey, until last summer, is accused of behaving inappropriately with patients between 2002 and 2010 while working for the NHS in Worthing.

The Diocese of Chichester has provided a report to the nursing watchdog, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which is leading the investigation into Mr Sheridan, who is accused of misconduct.

Barnaby Hone, acting on behalf of the NMC, said Mr Sheridan used his position in the church to act in an inappropriate way and that his behaviour was “sexually motivated”.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Arcor

«Ja, wir gewinnen in den vergangenen Jahren, nachdem wir eine schwierige Zeit erlebt haben, neues Vertrauen und neue Glaubwürdigkeit in der Öffentlichkeit», sagte der Vorsitzende der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz in einer Erklärung zum Abschluss des Eucharistischen Kongresses am Sonntag in Köln. Der Kongress selbst habe dazu in besonderer Weise beigetragen. Es sei eine «Rückbesinnung nach Innen» gelungen.

Das eher traditionell ausgerichtete Glaubensfest war vom Kölner Kardinal Joachim Meisner initiiert worden. Nach Angaben der Veranstalter hatten sich 40 000 Besucher angemeldet. Viele Beobachter sahen in dem Kongress eine Gegenveranstaltung zu den diskussionsfreudigen Katholikentagen, was von den Bischöfen aber bestritten wurde.

Meisner sagte in seiner Predigt im Abschlussgottesdienst: «Deutschland ist trotz allem – von Gott her gesehen – nicht gottverlassen. Deutschland ist durch die heilige Eucharistie ein gottverbundenes Land.» In der Eucharistie werden nach katholischer Überzeugung Brot und Wein in Leib und Blut Jesu Christi verwandelt. Kurienkardinal Paul Josef Cordes verlas während der Messe eine Grußbotschaft von Papst Franziskus. Der Papst sagte darin, es sei wichtig, dass die heilige Messe «nicht verkümmert zu flacher Routine».

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UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday

Written by STEVE LOWE

ALLEGATIONS into abuse at a Catholic boys’ home took another twist this week when a former local resident says she saw a priest leaving the home with Jimmy Savile.

Jill Fagg lived in Shefford at the time the priests running St Francis Boys’ Home have been accused of sexual and physical abuse against some of the children.

Many of them are getting together to start a ‘class action’ against the Catholic Church for compensation of the abuse they say they suffered.

The police have also reopened an investigation into the allegations.

Bedfordshire on Sunday has been asking if former boys at the home would be willing to come forward to give evidence and offer support to the action. Now one former resident of Shefford, Jill Fagg, 75, has said she saw Father Johnson, who used to run the home, leave with Jimmy Savile.

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MICHIGAN
The Oakland Press

By CAROL HOPKINS
carol.hopkins@oakpress.com Twitter: @opcarolhopkins

Barbara Peluso of Troy often thinks back about how the Rev. Edward Belczak helped her family.

“He was there for our family when our daughter was hospitalized and visited her several times, bringing a teddy bear with him to cheer her up,” said Peluso, a long-time member of Troy’s St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

Belczak, who has served as the pastor there since 1984, is under investigation for possibly mishandling more than $400,000.

The most significant amount involved was alleged compensation and benefits for an individual best described as a “ghost employee,” who an estimated loss of $240,000 to the parish over the past six years, officials said.

At the end of May, Belczak sued the city of Troy in an effort to have his assets unfrozen.

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IRELAND
RTE News

A reconciliation forum between Magdalene survivors and the four religious orders that ran the institutions has been recommended.

The retired High Court Judge appointed to advise the Government on a redress scheme for the women has recommended a package of measures including mediation and reconciliation.

Mr Justice John Quirke has proposed setting up a reconciliation forum in which the women and former nuns who ran the laundries could opt to meet and discuss their shared experiences.

Mr Justice Quirke is understood to have placed considerable emphasis on mediation as part of a dispute resolution mechanism within the proposed ex gratia scheme.

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UNITED STATES
BrentDetwiler.com

Saturday, June 8, 2013

This morning, I sent the following correspondence to 77 national leaders including Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, and Mark Dever from Together for the Gospel.

From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Saturday, June 08, 2013 9:23 AM
To: Danny Akin; Thabitti Anyabwile; Voddie Baucham; Alistair Begg; John F. Bettler; Jon Bloom; Ian Booth; Jerry Bridges; Mike Bullmore; Robert C. Cannada Jr.; Don Carson; Matt Chandler; Tim Challies; Bryan Chapell; Lane Dennis; Mark Dever; Kevin DeYoung; Mark Driscoll; Iain M. Duguid; Ligon Duncan; Sinclair Ferguson; John F. Frame; Richard B. Gaffin; Mark Galli; W. Robert Godfrey; Wayne Grudem; Michael A. G. Haykin; Dennis Hollinger; Michael S. Horton; Robert Jones; Douglas F. Kelly; Simon J. Kistemaker; Ted Kober; Andreas Johannes Kostenberger; Tim Keller; Edgar Keinath; Timothy S. Lane; John MacArthur; Michael Milton; Albert Mohler; Russell D. Moore; Stephen Nichols; Moss Nplha; Marvin Olasky; Ray Ortlund; Burk Parsons; Paige Patterson; Richard Phillips; John Piper; David Platt; David Powlison; Vern S. Poythress; Guy Richardson; Phil Ryken; Ken Sande; Pete Schemm; Thomas R. Schreiner; Alan Schuster; Scotty Smith; Winston T. Smith; R.C. Sproul; Ed Stetzer; Sam Storms; Justin Taylor; Tullian Tchivdjian; Bryce Thomas; Derek W. H. Thomas; Paul David Tripp; Carl L. Trueman; Gene Edward Veith; Donald S. Whitney; Bruce A. Ware; Stephen J. Wellum; David Wells; Edward T. Welsh; Luder G. Whitlock; John D. Woodbridge
Subject: Changes to T4G Statement / Janet Mefferd – Boz Tchividjian / Conspiracy Surrounding Grace Goe

Janet Mefferd interviewed Boz Tchividjian on Thursday. It was excellent. Here is the link.

[Brent Detwiler]

This statement was put out by the Janet Mefferd Show regarding the changes made by Al, Lig, and Mark.

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UNITED STATES
Stop Baptist Predators

Christa Brown

Jack Graham will be a featured speaker at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual Pastors’ Conference on June 9 in Houston. His topic? Leadership.

So . . . let’s talk a little about the kind of leadership that Jack Graham has shown.

Graham is the senior pastor at the 32,000-member Prestonwood Baptist megachurch in Plano, Texas. It’s a church that has been mired in a clergy child molestation cover-up scandal that just won’t go away – mainly because the church leadership just keeps digging itself deeper.

For example, last March, Prestonwood officials called the cops on a church member who dared to ask questions about the widely-reported cover-up – an act that only made church leadership look like bullies. And Graham himself refused to comment back in 2011 when WFAA-News first reported the scandal – a refusal that only served to raise more questions. Two years later, with the cover-up scandal still in the news, Graham tried to use Jesus to justify his continued silence on the alleged cover-up – a justification that looked like nothing more than an evasive “cop-out.”

So this is the kind of leadership that Jack Graham has shown. It’s the kind of leadership that declines any transparency and that acts as though it’s above accountability. More importantly, it’s the kind of leadership that raises disturbing questions about whether church image and crony protection were given priority over kids’ safety – and about whether church leadership violated the law in failing to report to the police information about suspected child sex abuse.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

By Lauren Crooks

9 Jun 2013

AN angry choir mistress yesterday revealed how a whistle-blowing priest’s controversial book has made her life hell.

Laura Gaddis, 53, hit out over personal attacks made by Father Matthew Despard in a best-selling book that claimed gay bullies in the priesthood were damaging the Catholic Church.

But the book also contains claims about sex scandals in a choir that have prompted Laura and other women to complain to the Church hierarchy.

Despard, 48, claimed an unnamed woman led a church choir where several married members were having affairs.

He alleged the choir mistress turned a blind eye and even attempted to cover up the scandal.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Sat Jun 8, 2013.

BY LOUIS LLOVIO
Richmond Times-Dispatch

RICHMOND, Va. — Jonathan Falwell will serve as an adviser to the board of directors of the Richmond Outreach Center as it looks to move forward after its founder and senior pastor resigned this week to face child sex abuse charges in Texas, board member Billy Croxton said today.

Croxton, who spoke outside the church’s Youth Center on Warwick Road, said Falwell and an executive pastor would serve as spiritual advisers and offer counsel as the South Richmond megachurch known as the ROC looks for a new pastor.

Falwell is pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg.

Several other local pastors will also assist the church’s board as it looks for someone to replace Geronimo Aguilar, who stepped away from the church Wednesday evening, Croxton said.

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RICHMOND (VA)
CBS 6

[with video]

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – Since the resignation of head pastor Geronimo Aguilar and three others, many have questioned what the future holds for the Richmond Outreach Center.

On Saturday, ROC board member, Billy Croxton spoke for the first time publicly, discussing what is next for the church. He said the church is currently searching for a new pastoral team, but could not give a time frame for the process.

“We’ve never had to do this before, so we’re going to wait and see what God has in store for us,” Croxton said.

After the resignations, the board reached out to Jonathan Falwell, a pastor in Lynchburg, VA. He, along with other local pastors, will be providing guidance and assistance to the ROC during the transition.
The ROC’s attorney, Stephen Lewis, said Aguilar, who is also facing sexual abuse charges in Texas, is still living in the church’s parsonage in South Richmond.

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VATICAN CITY
Boston Globe

By Jacob Soll / June 8, 2013

AS POPE FRANCIS sets the course for his young papacy, one of his first challenges has nothing to do with theology or the behavior of the far-flung priests and bishops he supervises: It is to reform the troubled Vatican Bank. A private and highly secretive institution estimated to control more than $7 billion in capital and more than 33,000 secret accounts, the Institute for the Works of Religion (its official name) has long been dogged by scandals and questions.

Founded in 1942 to “safeguard and administer” the funds of church members, it has become a modern symbol of the hazards of secrecy in finance. It was accused of holding Croatian Nazi funds during World War II and more recently has faced continued suspicions of money laundering for the mafia.

Publicly, at least, the bank is making efforts to push back against this reputation. Ernst von Freyberg, who became the bank’s chief in February, has characterized it as “very, very safe,” and pledged to clean up the scandal-racked institution. He has retained an American law firm to help the bank meet international anti-money-laundering and terrorism finance standards.

But if history is any guide, Francis and von Freyberg face a difficult task. Effectively, the pope is the last absolute monarch in Europe, a single individual with total authority over the city-state’s government—and this extends to its banking arm, which he personally oversees with the help of two boards of advisers. The Vatican is essentially trying to run a modern bank within a monarchy. No matter how sincere reformers of the Vatican Bank are, they are up against an age-old problem: The long history of European banking suggests that secretive, absolute government and long-term successful banking do not coexist well.

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CALIFORNIA
The Record

By Michael Fitzgerald
Record Columnist
June 09, 2013

The Catholic Diocese of Stockton announced this week that it has shelled out so many millions to victims of molester priests that it may have to file for bankruptcy.

The diocese was home to that scourge, Father Oliver O’Grady. As well as to leaders who covered for O’Grady as he molested at least 25 children, and probably more.

So it can be said that the moral bankruptcy of the diocese preceded its financial bankruptcy. It has been said. What I want to know is, when is it time to forgive?

I don’t mean forgive O’Grady. Forgiving the likes of him is above my spiritual pay grade.

But what about the church, the diocese? It is, after all, home not only to the occasional cover-up cardinal but to many humble, spiritual people who sacrifice for others.

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VIRGINIA
Richmond Times-Dispatch

BY LOUIS LLOVIO
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Richmond Outreach Center has turned to Jonathan Falwell to advise the church’s board of directors after its founder and senior pastor, who is facing child sexual-abuse charges in Texas, resigned Wednesday.

It is one of several steps being taken after a scandal-filled month in which the South Richmond megachurch known as the ROC has seen its popular pastor go from the pulpit to a jail cell and then back home as he faces a potential life sentence.

Board member Billy Croxton said Saturday that Falwell, who is pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, and one of his executive pastors would serve as spiritual advisers and offer counsel as the ROC looks for a new leader while continuing to operate the church’s ministries.

“Pastor Falwell continues to support the mission and vision of the ROC,” he said.

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RICHMOND (VA)
NBC 12

[with video]

By Tayleigh Davis

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) –
People and staff close to the former pastor of the ROC Church are speaking with NBC12 following his recent resignation. Geronimo Aguilar faces child sex charges in Fort Worth, Texas.

Police say the man known as “Pastor G” sexually assaulted two young girls under the age of 14 dating back to 1996. Aguilar’s attorney maintains his client’s innocence.

Services will continue as usual and core outreach programs will carry on. Right now, leaders of the ROC are focused on finding a new church leader.

“He was my pastor for 10 years,” said ROC board member Billy Croxton. “He was a good friend and I wish him well but that’s about it. We have to continue with this mission.”

“We don’t want it to go on forever,” said Stephen Lewis, the attorney representing the ROC. “We want to move forward. We feel like we need to move on that quickly.”

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AUSTRALIA
Queensland Times

APN Newsdesk 9th Jun 2013

THE Australian Lawyers Alliance has called on the Catholic Church “to come clean” to the Victorian child sexual abuse inquiry on the number of victims the Church knows about.

In hearings on Friday, the Church confirmed it had accepted the authenticity of 849 complaints against clergy and brothers across the Victorian Church.

ALA spokesman Dr Andrew Morrison SC said the figures were not complete “because two thirds of the Victorian diocese were not included in those horrific figures and the Church is aware of at least another 90 cases”.

“It is not acceptable to wait for the Royal Commission to call for this material and then start the process of producing it,” he said.

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VIRGINIA
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Posted: Sunday, June 9, 2013

BY ROBERT ZULLO ∙ Richmond Times-Dispatch

When it was found three days after Christmas, the small pickup truck was still running, idling in a secluded spot at a shuttered rock-and-sand plant off a lonesome stretch of state Route 5 in Charles City County. • A hose ran from the Mazda’s exhaust pipe through the passenger-side window, where it had been taped in place, according to a report by the Charles City Sheriff’s Office. A wallet and a journal with a 10-page suicide note were clearly visible on the dashboard.

The 62-year-old man lying dead inside was David Primeaux, a Virginia Commonwealth University associate professor respected by his colleagues in the university’s computer science department, where he had taught since 1996, and liked by his students, who offered glowing endorsements of his courses in online reviews.

Primeaux was also well-known for his advocacy of historic preservation in Petersburg, where he and his wife bought and renovated a historic home on West Washington Street nearly 13 years ago and where he served as a chairman and trustee of the Historic Petersburg Foundation. …

Indeed, what few people here could have known was that the story that ended in Charles City began 1,100 miles away in the Cajun country surrounding Lafayette, La., where Primeaux grew up and was ordained in 1975 as a Catholic priest.

Primeaux’s tenure there overlapped with a flood of sexual-abuse litigation against the Diocese of Lafayette that was launched before, during and after the 1985 conviction of the Rev. Gilbert Gauthe, who was at the center of the first of the high-profile sexual-abuse scandals that would engulf the Catholic church in ensuing decades.

Gauthe wasn’t alone. In 2004, the diocese acknowledged that 15 priests from 1950 to 2002 were the subject of substantiated sexual-abuse complaints involving 123 victims. Primeaux was one of them, the diocese says.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

By STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on 09/06/2013 00:00

THE Vatican may parachute in a Scots diplomat as the new Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh with orders to clean up the troubled diocese in the wake of the scandal surrounding Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

Monsignor Leo Cushley, a priest from the Motherwell ­diocese who is currently working in the Vatican with its ­secretariat of state, the Vatican’s foreign office, is believed to be at the top of a three-man shortlist to be submitted to Pope Francis for approval.

Other names are understood to be Monsignor Patrick Burke, another Scot in the Vatican who was close to Benedict XVI, and the current Bishop of Aberdeen, Hugh Gilbert.

However, Cushley is believed to be the favoured candidate on account of his “outsider” status and skills in diplomacy and conflict resolution. He served in troublespots during the civil wars in Burundi and Rwanda in east central Africa.

A source said: “The archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh is in a mess. The Vatican needs someone to clean up the mess and they need someone whom they know and trust implicitly and Leo Cushley fits the bill.”

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UNITED STATES
Christian Post

By Anugrah Kumar , Christian Post Contributor
June 8, 2013

Christian radio host Janet Mefferd talked with Boz Tchividjian, evangelist Billy Graham’s grandson and founder of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, who strongly responded to the silence of evangelical leaders on the Sovereign Grace Ministries lawsuit.

The issue is far from being over, Mefferd said on her show on Thursday, noting that the lawsuit against SGM – filed last November and involving multiple allegations of child abuse as well as conspiracy and cover-up charges – was dismissed due to the expiration of statute of limitations for several of the plaintiffs. But the plaintiffs’ attorneys have now filed a motion for reconsideration.

C.J. Mahaney, president of SGM until recently, was one of several defendants accused of permitting and covering up the sexual abuse of children in churches that formed part of the ministry.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

Bernard Shero can be alone in a room with somebody, but he doesn’t know who’s there until he hears a voice.

“He can’t distinguish faces,” his mother Bonnie says. “He’s done that all his life. He doesn’t know it’s them until they start talking.”

“He has to get this close,” his father, Bob, says. He’s leaning on his wife’s shoulder, peering over her at a menu she’s holding inside a Bucks County diner. If Bernard was walking into the diner today, Bob says, he would have had to tell him, “Watch out, Bern, there’s a step coming.”

Bernard Shero was born with congenital cataracts. Between the ages of six months and seven years, he had 23 eye operations. He’s worn glasses since he was 18 months old. He’s legally blind in his right eye, and can’t drive at night.

Bernard Shero has spent a lifetime peering at the world through thick lenses, and getting too close to people. That’s why, Bonnie Shero is convinced, Billy Doe accused her son of rape.

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NEDERLAND
Powervrouwen

Hoe gaan kerken om met slachtoffers en plegers van seksueel misbruik? Wordt het slachtoffer geloofd of komt het buiten de kerkelijke gemeente te staan?

Voor gz-psycholoog Annelies van Luttikhuizen zijn dat geen puur theo­retische vragen. Ooit werd ze namelijk zelf door een ambtsdrager misbruikt.

Nog steeds mist ze bij de kerkelijk verantwoordelijken de bereidheid tot zelfreflectie………

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NEDERLAND
Omroep Brabant

EINDHOVEN – Er hebben zich zestien nieuwe slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik gemeld bij de lotgenotengroep Eikenburg. Dat schrijft het Eindhovens Dagblad. Eikenburg was het voormalig internaat van de congregatie Broeders van Liefde in Eindhoven.

Volgens Dolf van Nijnatten van de lotgenotengroep gaat het bij de nieuwe meldingen met name om zwaar beschadigde mensen. Ze hebben lang geaarzeld over het naar buiten treden met hun verhaal.

Misbruik op Eikenburg
Eikenburg was een internaat voor jongens met een school voor lager onderwijs en een broederopleiding. Nu wonen er alleen gepensioneerde paters. De congregatie Broeders van Liefde kwam twee jaar geleden in opspraak toen NRC Handelsblad onthulde dat daar in het verleden ook leerlingen misbruikt zijn door paters.

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NEDERLAND
Powervrouwen

In haar roman ‘Mantel der liefde’ beschrijft Henrieke Groenwold hoe een vrouw van rond de 30, Hanna, in het reine probeert te komen met de herinneringen aan seksueel misbruik uit haar jeugd.

Als kind werd ze door haar vader gemanipuleerd en misbruikt, terwijl diezelfde vader op zondag in de ouderlingenbank zat en aan het avondmaal ging.

Pas na jaren lukt het haar om over dat verleden te praten………

De verschijning van de eerste roman van Henrieke Groenwold valt vrijwel samen met de afronding van haar studie godsdienst en pastoraal werk in Zwolle.

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FLORIDA
13 News

EUSTIS —
A youth pastor, suspected of sexually abusing a child at a Lake County day care, is now facing more charges.

Investigators said two more children, who went to Pat’s Kids World in Eustis, said Kenneth Hagins made them pull down their pants and touched them inappropriately.

Hagins was arrested last July, after a 4-year-old at the day care told their parents about the abuse.

The new charges were filed after the children reportedly admitted to the abuse.

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NEW JERSEY
CBS New York

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) – The archbishop of Newark has appointed a new top deputy to replace the administrator who stepped down last month in the wake of a scandal involving a former priest.

The Rev. Edgar M. da Cunha was named Thursday to the post of vicar general in the archdiocese, home to 1.3 million Catholics.

Da Cunha is the country’s first Brazilian-born bishop and has served in the archdiocese since the 1980s.

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TEXAS
Deep Thoughts

As an atheist blogger who tracks clergy sexual abuse, I am officially outside the system. A few of us who fight the good fight do so from within the system and at great risk. My dear friend Christa Brown is a good example, and now it seems I can point to Amy of Watch Keep. Amy is the Houston leader for SNAP as well as a member of Houston’s First Baptist Church. Amy has been outed as a “being on the fringe” and “standing outside the SBC” What are her crimes? She tries to protect children. Her story starts below:

A pastor at our church of almost 18 years, Houston’s First Baptist Church, has told me and my husband this week that it’s for the best that we step down from serving there, teaching in the youth ministry, since we don’t see what I’m doing is a problem, like he does: my efforts to shine the light of truth and spread awareness about the horrific problem of child sexual within Southern Baptist churches and the silence from SBC leaders. Up until this blog post, I have never mentioned our church or any of the HFBC pastors on my blog.

I have never talked to this pastor, Doug Bischoff before, not in person, not on the phone, not via email. Last Friday, he left me a message, but I was out of town. Then, Monday, I didn’t get a chance to call him back, being my 18th wedding anniversary, etc…and he left me another message late that afternoon, in a little put-out sounding tone of voice, in my opinion, saying, “trying to reach you, don’t know if you’re out of town or what.”

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CALIFORNIA
KBSW via You Tube

Published on Jun 7, 2013
California’s statute of limitations gives sexual abuse victims a timeline of when they can seek justice, and when it’s too late

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PHILIPPINES
Rappler

BY PATERNO ESMAQUEL II
POSTED ON 06/08/2013

MANILA, Philippines – In Vatican City, the first Latin American pontiff denounces a self-centered Catholic Church. Shaking mindsets about a supposedly unquestionable hierarchy, Pope Francis engages the Church in self-criticism.

In the Philippines, during the papacy of Francis, a veteran investigative journalist does exactly this.

A Catholic who once desired to enter the priesthood, journalist Aries Rufo has launched an unsettling book on the sexual misconduct, political interference, and financial mismanagement by bishops and priests.

The first of its kind in the Philippines, the book Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics, and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church contains groundbreaking exposés on ranking prelates. These include investigative stories on the sexual indiscretions of high-profile bishops and multimillion-peso donations that remain unaccounted for.

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PHILIPPINES
GMA News

Gian C. Geronimo, Rouchelle R. Dinglasan
June 8, 2013

A new book — “Altar of Secrets” — portrays the Catholic Church in the Philippines as an institution filled with secrets and lacking in accountability.

Journalist Aries Rufo’s book “Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics, and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church” shows “tough love” for the Church, with the goal of reforming its ills.

At the launching at Fully Booked bookstore in Taguig City on Friday, Rufo asked, “Are we out to destroy the Church? Of course the answer is no. How can one book destroy a Church that has been in existence for more than two thousand years?”

Rufo dedicated his book to “those who remain steadfast in their faith yet ache for reforms within the Holy Mother Church.”

Rufo hopes the book will engage the Church, ask tough questions, demand accountability, and push for transparency.

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CALIFORNIA
Press-Enterprise

JUNE 7, 2013 BY DAVID OLSON

On Thursday, Pope Francis will complete his third month as head of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

I recently sat down with Bishop Gerald Barnes of the Diocese of San Bernardino – which comprises Riverside and San Bernardino counties – to discuss Francis’ leadership. As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on the constitutionality of California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Barnes also discussed church teaching on homosexuality and marriage. In addition, the bishop talked about immigration, priest sexual abuse and the need for the church to embrace the cultural traditions of its followers.

Here is an edited transcript of the conversation. …

Q: On May 5, the pope asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to act decisively to root out priest sexual abuse. Are there any other actions the pope can take along these lines?

A: I think that one of the actions that needs to be taken, and I’m not in that arena to know what is being done, what are we doing in other countries of the world? We know the abuse of children is worldwide. It’s in all sectors of society. What are we doing to raise that (issue) in other nations and cultures that are not as open to speaking about that? Here in (parts of) the English-speaking world, wherever we are, Australia, New Zealand, America and (part of) Europe, it’s out there, it’s out there in front. And we’re began to see things happening in other parts of Europe: Germany, Belgium, non-English-speaking countries. But we also need to look at where this is happening in Asia and Africa and Latin America, and can the pope help bring that awareness that this a world problem, it’s not an English-speaking problem, it’s not a Catholic Church problem, it is a world problem?

What’s happened to us here – as painful as this has been. And it’s extremely painful, and sad. There’s a profound sadness about this whole thing. We’re beginning, and it’s going to take awhile, but we’re beginning to see and to understand that we, church leaders, need to take a role of eradicating this from all aspects of society. It should never have happened in the church. Never. But it did. It has. We need to as leadership say: It cannot happen in schools either. It cannot happen in team sports, leagues. It cannot happen in homes. My prayer is the pope will take that kind of leadership to keep this awareness alive, that maybe we can begin to address the immensity that is there.

We have to advocate for the victim, wherever the victim is. I think that’s one of the big things for our diocese. It’s become a ministry of outreach. And I think the pope can help that by continuing to raise the issue with bishops of other countries and lend support to those countries where the church is taking some leadership.

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SERBIA
NFTU

June 07, 2013 The troubles of the Serbian Patriarchate continue to afflict the Serbian nation and the souls of individual Serbs. As the previously reported and horrific scandal surrounding Serbian Patriarchate Bishop Vasilije Kacavenda continues, other sources note that the Serbian Patriarchate refused to act despite the evidence (one could also ask Fr. Goran Arsic what happened when he tried to expose the evil). Even the former Deacon of Bp. Vasilije Kacavenda is even writing a book about the matter of sexual abuse in the Serbian Patriarchate. Now it seems that the priest who has been accused of supplying children to Serbian Patriarchate Bishop Vasilije Kacavenda, has also been accused of narcotics trafficking.

Yet, Bp. Vasilije, despite being relieved (and not deposed by the Serbian Patriarchal Synod) continues to maintain his innocence.

It seems, however, that the Serbian Patriarchate is in the worst moral crisis it has ever experienced; bishops being accused for years of immoralities and abuse, the official Serbian Patriarchate intentionally ignoring the accusations, bishops being penalized who simply criticized the Serbian government, priests involved in narcotics trafficking and pimping children to bishops, abbots being relieved of their positions over sexual abuse, and the Serbian Patriarchate deeply involved in ecumenism with its Patriarch publicly celebrating Jewish religious festivals with Roman Catholic and Islamic clergy. What more, one asks, can we expect to be revealed next?

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NEDERLAND
Klokk

OPPERDOES –
Het Noord-Hollandse dorpje Opperdoes is opgeschrikt door een ernstige zedenzaak.
Een oudere dorpsbewoner zou zich hebben vergrepen aan kinderen. Bronnen in Opperdoes beweren dat hij ontucht heeft gepleegd met zowel zijn kinderen als zijn kleinkinderen, meldt het NHD.

De Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk heeft de man uit zijn functie ontheven nadat hij door twee leden van de kerk in verband was gebracht met misbruik in hun kinderjaren. De verdachte was verbonden aan de kerk als bestuurslid.

De kerk vraagt andere leden en niet-leden die mogelijk iets soortgelijks hebben meegemaakt om aangifte te doen. Dat zei een woordvoerder van de plaatselijke kerkenraad vrijdag.

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