ABUSE TRACKER

NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Mark Mueller/The Star-Ledger
on May 05, 2013

COLTS NECK — The pastor and two youth ministers at the Monmouth County church where a visiting priest violated a lifetime ban on ministry to children have stepped down from their posts, the latest fallout in an escalating scandal enveloping Newark Archbishop John J. Myers.

The Rev. Thomas Triggs, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Colts Neck, announced his resignation from the pulpit during Mass on Saturday evening, parishioners said. Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell confirmed the development in an email to priests of his diocese, said the Rev. John Bambrick, a diocesan priest who received the message.

The email said the youth ministers, Michael and Amy Lenehan, no longer held those positions. It was not immediately clear if they voluntarily resigned or were forced out.

O’Connell met with Triggs at the church Saturday morning to discuss the controversy, Bambrick said. Based on the email, it did not appear as if the bishop demanded Triggs’ resignation, the priest said.

“Bishop O’Connell said Father Triggs offered to resign and that he accepted,” Bambrick said.

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

NEW JERSEY
Newsday

Updated: May 5, 2013
By The Associated Press
COLTS NECK, N.J. – (AP) — The pastor and two youth ministers at a central New Jersey church have left their posts amid criticism that a priest once accused of child molestation was allowed to work with young parish members.

The Star-Ledger of Newark (http://bit.ly/12FwUnN) reported that the Rev. Thomas Triggs announced his resignation from the pulpit during a service Saturday night at St. Mary’s Parish in Colts Neck. The newspaper also said youth ministers Michael and Amy Lenehan no longer held those positions, though it was not clear if they resigned or were forced out.

The shakeup comes just days after the resignation of the Rev. Michael Fugee, a priest in the Archdiocese of Newark. Parishioners say Fugee, who is longtime friends with the Lenehans, had been involved with the parish youth group in defiance of an agreement with Bergen County prosecutors that he not to work with children.

Fugee was convicted in 2003 of criminal sexual contact involving a boy. It was overturned by an appeals court and the priest eventually entered a pretrial intervention program.

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

IRELAND
Irish Times

MARY MINIHAN

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he has told the Catholic Church’s most senior representative in Ireland Cardinal Sean Brady that politicians have a duty and responsibility to legislate for limited abortion.

“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion here but as explained to the Cardinal and members of the church my book is the constitution and the constitution is determined by the people. That’s the people’s book. We live in a Republic and I have a duty and responsibility as head of Government to legislate in respect of what the people’s wishes are,” Mr Kenny said.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

BRIAN MCDONALD – 05 MAY 2013

The Catholic Church has left the threat of excommunication hanging over the heads of Catholic members of the Dail who vote for the abortion legislation in its current format.

Cardinal Sean Brady yesterday refused to be drawn on the consequences for either Catholic ministers who introduce the legislation or those TDs who vote for it as it stands.

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

IRELAND
The Journal

The Catholic Church teaching on abortion still holds – but the bishops are opposing the proposed legislation the wrong way, writes Fr Tony Flannery.

THE IRISH BISHOPS have made a very strong statement condemning the Heads of Bill presented by the Government under the title Protection of Life during Pregnancy. I asked a friend of mine today, a solid, intelligent older man who is a regular church goer what he thought. “It is just what I expected them to say”, he replied in a weary voice. He was clearly not impressed.

In the unlikely event that they might ask me for advice I would suggest the following:

Firstly, it is still about fourteen weeks before the final vote on this bill in the Dail. There are a number of stages to go through, and plenty of opportunity for discussion and change in the proposed bill. By coming out so strongly, in such an aggressive and black-and-white way, they have effectively ruled themselves out of any real engagement in the process from now on. They will condemn, and they will lobby individual legislators, but their public position is now fixed and unbending. This is not the way to go about influencing a democratic process.

Secondly, the choice of Cardinal Sean Brady as spokesperson for the campaign is a big mistake. Cardinal Brady is a lovely man, warm and friendly to meet at a personal level. But in the media he comes across as stiff and authoritarian. Also, whether we like it or not, he is massively damaged by his involvement in investigating a case of clerical sexual abuse in his early life. This has left him permanently ‘holed beneath the water line’, and as such, he is no longer the proper person to lead such a campaign. Apart from the Cardinal’s credibility difficulties, it appears as if the Catholic hierarchy have not yet recognized that they no longer hold a significant position of influence in Irish society—for two reasons: (a) their reluctance to tackle the clerical child sexual abuse issue and (b) their failure to revoke the church’s teaching on contraception as outlined in Humanae Vitae which is so out of tune with this generation that it makes the Church’s teaching on any sexual matter appear ridiculous.

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

NEW JERSEY
The Record

SUNDAY MAY 5, 2013, 9:52 AM
THE RECORD

Editorial

[RELATED DOCUMENTS via The Star-Ledger
• Read the Rev. Michael Fugee’s agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office

• Read the Rev. Michael Fugee’s confession to police

• Read Archbishop John J. Myers’ February letter to priests about the Rev. Michael Fugee]

THE REV. Michael Fugee’s resignation from ministry last week closes one chapter, not the book on why this priest was ever returned to ministry after being charged with groping a 13-year-old boy.

Fugee was convicted in 2003 on a charge of aggravated criminal sexual contact, but that verdict was overturned on appeal because jurors hadn’t been given a full explanation of the charge. Rather than face a new trial, Fugee cut a deal with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office that prohibited him from any unsupervised contact with children and ministering or working with children.

But in the ensuing years, Fugee had unsupervised contact with children and ministered to children. He also held two positions within the Archdiocese of Newark. Those are the positions from which Fugee resigned. He is no longer a priest in good standing in the archdiocese, which means he cannot celebrate Mass or perform sacramental work. But he remains a priest. It would take Vatican action to defrock Fugee.

Throughout, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers has held firm to the position that the archdiocese did not violate the agreement Fugee made with prosecutors. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office has said it continues to investigate. What is most troubling is that the archdiocese continues to hew to a course bound by a faulty reading of criminal law rather than follow the moral high road that is not ambiguous at all. Fugee should have been barred from all ministry after he entered a probation program for first-time offenders and signed the agreement restricting his access to children.

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

VATICAN CITY
Newsmax

Sunday, 05 May 2013

Pope Francis is calling for courageous defense of children to protect them from abuse.

Francis made no mention of the church scandals in many countries in which clergy abused children and hierarchy covered up for them. At a Mass he celebrated Sunday in crowded St. Peter’s Square, Francis said abuse victims are in his prayers.

He stressed that all must work with courage so that children, who are among the most vulnerable people, be always defended and protected.

Ignoring sometimes heavy rain, Francis toured the square in a popemobile, but left the vehicle to embrace disabled adults and children along his route.

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

VATICAN CITY
DFW Catholic

Vatican City, May 5, 2013 / 06:57 am (CNA/EWTN News).- At the end of Mass, Pope Francis noted that the Day of Child Victims of Violence is observed today and assured all those who “have suffered and are suffering because of abuse” that they “are present in my prayers.”

“I would also say emphatically that we must all commit ourselves with clarity and courage to every human person, especially children, who are among the most vulnerable,” the Pope told the crowd of thousands on May 5, before reciting the Regina Caeli prayer.

He also spoke to the groups from throughout Europe who are devoted to particular saints and were present at the Mass.

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

VATICAN CITY
Ottawa Citizen

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MAY 5, 2013

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is calling for courageous defence of children to protect them from abuse.

Francis made no mention of the church scandals in many countries in which clergy abused children and hierarchy covered up for them. At a Mass he celebrated Sunday in crowded St. Peter’s Square, Francis said abuse victims are in his prayers.

He stressed that all must work with courage so that children, who are among the most vulnerable people, be always defended and protected.

Ignoring sometimes heavy rain, Francis toured the square in a popemobile, but left the vehicle to embrace disabled adults and children along his route.

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

NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

[RELATED DOCUMENTS via The Star-Ledger
• Read the Rev. Michael Fugee’s agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office

• Read the Rev. Michael Fugee’s confession to police

• Read Archbishop John J. Myers’ February letter to priests about the Rev. Michael Fugee]

By Steve Adubato
on May 05, 2013

Sometimes people play games with words. I call it “the communication game.” Often the game doesn’t matter very much, but sometimes the stakes can be very high. Do you remember when former President Bill Clinton argued the definition of the word “is” and boldly said on camera, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”? Corporate executives often play the communication game when trying to avoid responsibility.

Often our children play communication games with words. If you don’t ask exactly the right question, even if they know the intent behind the question, they will parse your words and give you an answer that gets them out of a jam or shades the truth.

Now consider the case involving the Rev. Michael Fugee who, according to an April 28 Star-Ledger editorial, was convicted, “after he confessed to fondling a 14-year-old boy …”

Fugee’s conviction was later overturned on a technicality, and prosecutors decided they would not try the priest again, but rather allow him to evade going to jail by entering a program for first-time offenders. According to The Star-Ledger editorial, part of the deal was an agreement that Fugee signed along with the Archdiocese of Newark, in which all parties committed to keeping Fugee away from minors. Specifically, “he would have no affiliation with youth groups. He would not attend youth retreats. He would not hear the confessions of minors.”

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By court reporter Jamelle Wells

Some of the most senior police in New South Wales will give evidence at a public inquiry into child sex abuse and the Catholic Church.

NSW deputy crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen is overseeing the inquiry, which begins tomorrow.

It will look at how the church handled complaints about former priests Denis McAlinden and Jim Fletcher in the Hunter area.

The men have since died but when giving an overview of the inquiry in February, Ms Cunneen said they “victimised” children and it appears that “collective responsibility” to take action against them was ignored.

NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell set up the inquiry after Hunter Chief Inspector Peter Fox appeared on the ABC’s Lateline program.

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

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

May 5, 2013

The man who helped bring about a NSW public inquiry into alleged Catholic Church cover-ups of child sex abuse will give evidence on its first two days.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox will be the first of a long list of senior police who will be in the witness box when the inquiry begins in the Newcastle Supreme Court on Monday.

The special commission of inquiry was announced by NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell in November, following explosive allegations made to the media by Insp Fox.

He alleged the Catholic church had covered up evidence about pedophile priests in the diocese of Maitland-Newcastle in the Hunter region of NSW.

The inquiry will look at how the church handled complaints about former priests Denis McAlinden and Jim Fletcher, both now dead.

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

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By SAM RIGNEY May 5, 2013

AUSTRALIA’S first commission of inquiry into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church will begin today in Newcastle Supreme Court.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, who helped bring about the NSW public inquiry, is scheduled to give evidence during the first two days.

A long list of senior NSW police will follow Chief Inspector Fox into the witness box during the first two weeks of the inquiry, which precedes and runs separately from the broader federal royal commission into sex abuse.

Commissioner Margaret Cunneen SC will rule on hearing in-camera testimony from some witnesses to avoid prejudicing potential future criminal proceedings.

The NSW commission of inquiry will consider police investigations of the late Hunter paedophile priests Denis McAlinden and Jim Fletcher over the next two weeks. It will later examine Church handling of allegations involving the priests, from June 24 to July 12.

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

WISCONSIN
Wisconsin State Journal

DOUG ERICKSON | Wisconsin State Journal | derickson@madison.com | 608-252-6149

Bishop Robert Morlino is continuing to put more distance between the Madison Catholic Diocese and Holy Wisdom Monastery, a former Catholic monastery on the outskirts of Madison that is now a non-Catholic ecumenical retreat center.

In the latest development, Morlino is now prohibiting priests in the diocese from “attendance or participation at all events held at Holy Wisdom Monastery and all events sponsored or co-sponsored by Holy Wisdom Monastery or the Benedictine Women of Madison,” according to a March 7 letter to priests leaked to the State Journal.

A February visit to the monastery by Sister Simone Campbell, an outspoken, progressive Catholic nun, appeared to be the final straw for Morlino.

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

NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on May 05, 2013

After denying the charge for several days, Archbishop John J. Myers reversed himself Thursday and acknowledged that a pedophile priest under his supervision, the Rev. Michael Fugee, repeatedly violated a binding legal agreement to stay away from children.

That will have to count for progress. But this goes well beyond the behavior of Fugee, who resigned his ministry that day. Myers was a party to that legal agreement, with a responsibility to protect children by ensuring that Fugee would keep his distance.

Given his failure in this case, and his long history of irresponsible stewardship over pedophile priests, it is clear that the archdiocese cannot be trusted to handle these cases on its own, at least while Myers continues to resist growing calls for his resignation.

The next move is up to Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli, who struck the agreement with Myers and Fugee in the first place.

Fugee was convicted in 2003 on a charge of aggravated criminal sexual contact after admitting that he fondled a teenage boy and derived sexual pleasure from the act. That crime draws a maximum penalty of five years in prison, but Fugee, like most first-time offenders, was sentenced to five years’ probation. He was also required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

MAEVE SHEEHAN AND SHANE HICKEY – 05 MAY 2013

He was known for decades as the foul-mouthed, flashy priest whose abusive friendships with vulnerable children forced him out of the church.

But a subdued Bill Carney appeared before the London court that last Friday ordered his extradition to Ireland to face 34 charges of indecent assault on eight males and two females.

Now 73 and still imposing at 6ft 4in, a green jumper covered his large gut. He stared around the courtroom, only speaking to confirm his name and age. His solicitor mentioned his heart condition and listed his many medications. Afterwards, he was sent back to Holloway prison, where he remains this weekend.

When his shocking past as child abuser was first exposed by the Commission of Investigation into clerical abuse in 2009, Carney had reinvented himself as a respectable married man and owner of a guest house in the Scottish golfing town of St Andrews, where he passed his days perfecting his swing. Since then, his marriage has collapsed but he continued to live freely in the UK, pursued occasionally by the media and blaming his past on his drinking.

On April 25, Carney was arrested in the leafy village of Bidford in Warrickshire, where he has been living in recent months.

The latest alleged offences occurred during the late Seventies and Eighties when Bill Carney was at his most “crude and loutish” as a priest in various Dublin parishes. One former resident of a children’s home in south Dublin recalled how, as a young seminarian at Clonliffe College, Bill Carney, inveigled his way in as chaplain, delighting the nuns and making himself “the children’s favourite”.

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

NEW JERSEY
Herald News

[RELATED DOCUMENTS via the Star-Ledger
• Read the Rev. Michael Fugee’s agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office

• Read the Rev. Michael Fugee’s confession to police

• Read Archbishop John J. Myers’ February letter to priests about the Rev. Michael Fugee]

SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2013
HERALD NEWS

THE REV. Michael Fugee’s resignation from ministry last week closes one chapter, not the book on why this priest was ever returned to ministry after being charged with groping a 13-year-old boy.

Fugee was convicted in 2003 on a charge of aggravated criminal sexual contact, but that verdict was overturned on appeal because jurors hadn’t been given a full explanation of the charge. Rather than face a new trial, Fugee cut a deal with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office that prohibited him from any unsupervised contact with children and ministering or working with children.

But in the ensuing years, Fugee had unsupervised contact with children and ministered to children. He also held two positions within the Archdiocese of Newark. Those are the positions from which Fugee resigned. He is no longer a priest in good standing in the archdiocese, which means he cannot celebrate Mass or perform sacramental work. But he remains a priest. It would take Vatican action to defrock Fugee.

Throughout, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers has held firm to the position that the archdiocese did not violate the agreement Fugee made with prosecutors. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office has said it continues to investigate. What is most troubling is that the archdiocese continues to hew to a course bound by a faulty reading of criminal law rather than follow the moral high road that is not ambiguous at all. Fugee should have been barred from all ministry after he entered a probation program for first-time offenders and signed the agreement restricting his access to children.

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

UNITED STATES
Lez Get Real

Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on May 4, 2013.

Cardinal O’Brien was set to retire to a little cottage in Dunbar, Scotland, but he has, apparently, been told by the Vatican to pack his bags and head to Coventry. This has upset the parish priest in Dunbar, one Canon John Creanor, who apparently expressed his upset over the decision by the Vatican to move against his “dear friend.”

It appears that the Vatican moved against O’Brien after Archbishop of Glasgow Philip Tartaglia appealed to the Holy See to take action after O’Brien reemerged in Scotland earlier this week. O’Brien admitted to having consensual sexual relationships with other priests, and been accused of assaulting a seminary student.

One anonymous supporter of O’Brien told the Scotland Herald that:

“The cardinal has been advised not to relocate to the parish in Dunbar and has been told he should leave the country. That’s extremely disappointing and not a Christian way to treat someone. There’s clearly pressure from within and outwith the Church and no show of unity.

“People expect some sort of jail sentence for Keith O’Brien or at least a desire to see him retired to monastic life. It would certainly be convenient for them. Personally, I find it an atrocious way to treat someone who has been facing up to their responsibilities.”

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

NEW JERSEY
Asbury Park Press

Written by
Kathleen Hopkins
@Khopkinsapp

TOMS RIVER — In a tight-knit community of people accustomed to handling problems among themselves, one young boy bucked the trend.

He accused a Yeshiva teacher and camp counselor of molesting him, and when a religious council of Orthodox Jews failed to take action against the man, the boy and his family went to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office for help.

Because they skirted religious protocols, the boy and his family were ostracized by their community. Some in the community even embarked on a campaign to get the boy and his father to drop the criminal charges.

And, a flier was circulated in Lakewood saying the boy’s father made a “mockery” of the Torah and committed a “terrible deed” by going to the secular authorities.

But the family stood its ground. Now, six years after the alleged abuse occurred, the man accused of molesting the boy is set to go on trial in a case that likely is to be closely watched by Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish community.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Frankenpost

«Wir müssen in Deutschland eingestehen – in Ost wie West: Es gab solche Fälle tausendfach – es gab tausendfach den unwiederbringlichen Verlust von Vertrauen», sagte Gauck am Freitag bei der 60-Jahr-Feier des Deutschen Kinderschutzbunds in München. Die Enttäuschung über die Aufarbeitung dürfe nicht zur Entmutigung werden. «Die gesellschaftliche Verständigung muss weitergehen», sagte Gauck. Die Opfer hätten ein Recht auf Unterstützung durch die Gesellschaft. «Genauso wie wir heute alles daran setzen müssen, Missbrauch keinen Raum zu geben, genauso entschlossen müssen wir auch die Untaten der Vergangenheit zum Thema unserer Gegenwart machen.»

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

DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Er mag es, wenn man um Hilfe schreit

Bischof räumt Fehler in Missbrauchsfall ein
Bischof Ackermann: “Sie glauben mir hoffentlich”
Trierer Bischof gesteht Fehler im Umgang mit Missbrauchsfällen ein
Bischof Ackermann: “Es gab gravierende Fehler – wir haben die Vorgaben nicht konsequent umgesetzt”

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

NIEDELANDE
kathweb

Utrecht, 04.05.2013 (KAP) Die Missbrauchsmeldestelle der katholischen Kirche in den Niederlanden verzeichnet einen Zuwachs von Berichten über Misshandlungen, wie die deutsche Katholische Nachrichtenagentur KNA berichtet. Im Februar und März seien Dutzende neuer Meldungen eingegangen, die sich zu etwa 40 Prozent auf körperliche und psychische Gewalt bezögen, so niederländische Medien am Freitag unter Berufung auf die Meldestelle in Utrecht. Anfang März hatte die von den niederländischen Bischöfen eingesetzte sogenannte Deetman-Kommission einen Bericht zu sexuellem Missbrauch von Mädchen in kirchlichen Einrichtungen veröffentlicht.

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

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Alan Howe From: Herald Sun May 05, 2013

LAST week, the Catholic Church came clean. Sort of.

A retired bishop admitted things the rest of us had known for years – that his church realised long ago it had serious criminals within its ranks and that these men raped children.

The church also admitted it had destroyed documents detailing incidents of paedophilia and that it had listened to lawyers and insurers at the expense of its devastated victims. So far so bad.

In any case, it was much too little, far too late, and lacking still was a sense the church understood the depths of its employees’ depravity, and the extended tragedy of ruined lives, traumatised parents and countless suicides.

Finally, the Catholic Church aired much of its dirty linen, the pungent stench of which will forever occupy our nostrils.

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

NEW JERSEY/ILLINOIS
The Record

SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2013
BY LISA ARTHUR
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

While the leader of the Archdiocese of Newark is under intense scrutiny for his handling of a Wyckoff priest-abuse case, Archbishop John J. Myers is also being faulted by those bringing a civil lawsuit in Illinois, claiming that the diocese he led there as a bishop failed to keep an alleged pedophile priest away from children.

The suit, filed in 2008 against the Diocese of Peoria, and Monsignor Thomas Maloney, claims that the plaintiff Andrew Ward was molested by Maloney in 1995 and 1996, when he was about 8 years old. The alleged abuse of the boy began a year after a woman had alleged to the diocese that she had been molested by Maloney in her childhood, according to the suit.

“The diocese did not further investigate the report … did not do a follow-up interview with the woman, did not ask Maloney’s fellow co-workers about his activities and didn’t contact law enforcement with the information,” the suit alleges.

News of the Illinois litigation comes amid questions about how the Newark Archdiocese managed the Rev. Michael Fugee, a former assistant pastor at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Wyckoff who was convicted in 2003 of aggravated criminal sexual contact on allegations he repeatedly groped a 13-year-old boy.

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

NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

[RELATED DOCUMENTS
• Read the Rev. Michael Fugee’s agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office

• Read the Rev. Michael Fugee’s confession to police

• Read Archbishop John J. Myers’ February letter to priests about the Rev. Michael Fugee]

By Mark Mueller/The Star-Ledger
on May 05, 2013

At Holy Family Church in Nutley, the Rev. Michael Fugee was a familiar face.

He sometimes said Mass. He visited his close friend, the Rev. Paul Bochicchio. And he gave occasional talks to the parish youth group on the Bible’s meaning.

“One thing I can tell you is that his greatest fans are teenagers,” said Bochicchio, a monsignor and Holy Family’s pastor.

Bochicchio makes no secret of Fugee’s interactions with young people. Indeed, there was nothing furtive about it. Photos on Facebook show the two priests celebrating Mass together and joining in a prayer circle with teens on an annual pilgrimage to a Canadian shrine.

A week after The Star-Ledger disclosed that Fugee had violated a lifetime ban on ministry to children by working with a Monmouth County youth group, what’s become clear is that the purported supervision of the priest by the Archdiocese of Newark amounted to little or no supervision at all.

Fugee, who admitted to police in 2001 that he fondled a teenage boy, went where he wanted to go, whether it was to youth retreats outside the archdiocese or to give talks to the teens at Holy Family in Nutley. If officials in the archdiocese were watching, no one raised a flag.

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

UGANDA
Los Angeles Times

By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times
May 4, 2013

KAMPALA, Uganda — He is a celebrity across eastern and central Africa, a gospel music star known to many as the “Dancing Priest.” But for years he also was a keeper of painful secrets — his own and many others’.

In going public, Anthony Musaala has forced the Roman Catholic Church in Uganda to confront a problem it had insisted didn’t exist. And he may stir a debate far beyond Africa’s most Catholic of countries.

The Ugandan priest has been suspended indefinitely by the archbishop of Kampala for exposing what he calls an open secret: Sex abuse in the Catholic Church is a problem in Africa as well as in Western Europe and North America.

The African Catholic Church is fast-growing, pious and traditional. As the church elsewhere forks out billions of dollars to compensate the child sex abuse victims of priests, few African Catholics have questioned the assumption, voiced recently by Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, that the African church is purer than its counterpart in the West, which is regarded as secular and permissive.

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

SCOTLAND
The Sunday Times

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who retired after admitting inappropriate sexual conduct with priests, has reportedly been told by the Vatican to leave Scotland. O’Brien had intended to move to East Lothian but is understood to have been told that his continued presence in Scotland could further damage the Catholic church.

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

SCOTLAND
Scotsman

By SHÂN ROSS
Published on 05/05/20

CARDINAL Keith O’Brien has been told to leave the UK amid fears that his continuing presence could lead to further criticism of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

Friends of the cardinal, still Scotland’s most senior Catholic, have been reported as saying officials in Rome have told him to abandon his plans to retire to a small church-owned property in Dunbar, East Lothian.

It is understood the cleric was contacted on Friday afternoon, days after he was photographed carrying cardboard boxes of his belongings from his official residence in Edinburgh.

The former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, aged 75, had been forced by Pope Benedict XVI to retire after admitting “inappropriate behaviour” with four priests and a seminarian.

Philip Tartaglia, Archbishop of Glasgow, acting as president of the Bishop’s Conference of Scotland, was behind an appeal to the Vatican. He wrote to the Papal Nuncio in London informing him of the cardinal’s return and the subsequent publicity.

A source close to the cardinal said: “The cardinal has been advised not to relocate to the parish in Dunbar and has been told he should leave the country. That’s extremely disappointing and not a Christian way to treat someone. There’s clearly pressure from within and outwith the Church and no show of unity.

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

UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Updated May 4, 2013

Paris Arrow

A 47-year-old priest in Brazil, who studied theology in Germany, who is popular in the southeastern city of Bauru, where he has been a priest since 2001, was excommunicated for supporting gay rights. But way across the othe side of the globe, the Vatican has closed its investigation on active gay Cardinal Keith O’Brien and is allowing him to retain his title as Cardinal – after he admitted in public that he has had many gay relations – as a priest , as a Bishop and as a Cardinal, that’s about 50 years of his life until his sudden retirement before the papal conclave. O’Brien in now retiring in Scotland , see news updates below. Vatican hypocrisy is at its all time high and Catholics in the world should be appalled at the Vatican Titanic ruling the 1.2 billion Catholics with double standards of morality.

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

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

. . .Meanwhile, students at Rosati-Kain High were surprised to be let out early the other day. Staff calls to parents blamed “unforeseen circumstances.” In truth, administrators apparently wanted the place evacuated before a SNAP sidewalk news conference outside the school. The support group announced a wrongful death suit against the archdiocese and now-defrocked priest, Bryan Michael Kuchar, who worked at the school.. …

. .N.Y. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, prez of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has hired a spokesman to help recast the hierchy’s image which some feared was started to become unfriendly to women based upon Pres. Obama’s contraception mandate.

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

OHIO
NBC4i

By: Denise Alex

COLUMBUS, Ohio –
Supporters of a teacher fired because of her relationship with another woman violates the teachings of the Catholic Church took their message to the Catholic Diocese of Columbus.

“I think that she realizes what we’re doing here is bigger than any of us as individuals. What we’re doing here today (Friday) has the potential to impact policy,” says Amanda Finelli, creator of HaleStorm Ohio.

Dozens rallied in front of the building on Gay Street, wanting Carla Hale to get her job back.

The 57-year-old lost her job when a parent of a Bishop Watterson student alerted the church to an obituary which named Hale’s partner.

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

ROME
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | May. 4, 2013

ROME “Serious misunderstandings” exist between Vatican officials and Catholic sisters, the head of the U.S. sisters’ group that was ordered to place itself under the review of bishops told some 800 of her global peers Saturday.

Franciscan Sr. Florence Deacon, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), addressed the sisters during the plenary assembly of the International Union of Superiors General, a group of nearly 2,000 leaders of women religious throughout the world.

Deacon’s remarks constituted LCWR’s most public narrative of their relations with the Vatican. Citing a need to continue dialog with the Vatican, the group has kept a tight lip on their discussions.

In a detailed, 20-minute address, Deacon outlined for her peers how her group, which represents about 80 percent of the some 57,000 U.S. sisters, had been ordered to revise itself last April by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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

SCOTLAND
Helensburgh Advertiser

Published 19 Apr 2013

A visitor to the pilgrimage trail at Luss has called on the church to remove a picture of disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien from site.

The picture of the cardinal is included on a plaque beside a tree which he planted during a visit in 2010.

However, a Roman Catholic visitor to the glebe has emailed Rev Dane Sherrard calling for the image to be removed as they found it “disturbing”.

The email, included in Mr Sherrard’s daily blog, says: “I came across the peaceful and delightful pilgrimage centre and found it thought provoking and helpful. I was however taken aback by the picture of Keith O’Brien – I found it disturbing to see his image here and that it impacted on my thoughts and feelings in a negative way.

“I think it time that image was removed, especially in light of further revelations in today’s press and his admission of terrible hypocrisy. As a Catholic I find this increasingly disturbing.”

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

NEW JERSEY
ABC News

By KATIE ZEZIMA Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. May 4, 2013 (AP)

The agreement with prosecutors, reached after a priest’s conviction on charges that he fondled a teenage boy were thrown out, was unequivocal.

The Rev. Michael Fugee could return to ministry in the Archdiocese of Newark, but was barred from having unsupervised contact with minors or a job that requires him to oversee or minister to children under the age of 18.

But despite the legally binding agreement, Fugee was a presence at a church youth group, traveling with teenagers to Canada on a mission to help disabled Catholics, hearing confessions from teenagers and participating in retreat trips.

This week’s disclosure that Fugee continued to work with children has roiled the faithful in New Jersey, opening up wounds from the church abuse scandal that started in Boston more than 10 years ago and raising questions about how closely the archdiocese monitored Fugee’s activities.

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

SCOTLAND
The Guardian

Conal Urquhart
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 4 May 2013

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s most senior priest, has been ordered by the Vatican to leave Scotland, it has been reported.

The cardinal, who retired from the leadership of the church in Scotland after admitting inappropriate sexual conduct with priests, has been advised against going ahead with his plan to move to a house in Dunbar in East Lothian after vacating his official residence in Edinburgh, according to the Herald.

The archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia, wrote to the pope’s envoy in London to warn of the possibility of damage to the Catholic church if O’Brien maintained a public profile in Scotland, the paper reported.

“The cardinal has been advised not to relocate to the parish in Dunbar and has been told he should leave the country,” an anonymous source told the paper. “That’s extremely disappointing and not a Christian way to treat someone. There’s clearly pressure from within and outwith the Church and no show of unity.”

Canon John Creanor, of the Our Lady of the Waves in Dunbar, said he had no knowledge of any instructions from the Vatican to O’Brien to leave the country.

“If that was the case, I would be horrified. The people of Dunbar are keenly awaiting his arrival,” he said.

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

SCOTLAND
Telegraph

Damian Thompson

Gerry Braiden of the Glasgow Herald is reporting today that Cardinal Keith O’Brien, former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, has been ordered to leave Britain by the Vatican following his admission that he made sexual advances to priests during his time as Primate of Scotland. It’s a terrible end to the career of a flawed but likeable man who, clearly, should never have accepted a cardinal’s hat in the first place. Writes Braiden:

Friends of the cleric have said he has been told by Rome to shelve his plans to retire to a church-owned cottage in East Lothian and instead leave the country.

The Herald understands Cardinal O’Brien was given the news yesterday afternoon, three days after being photographed moving his personal belongings from his official residence in Edinburgh to the residence in Dunbar where he had been spending regular weekends over the past few years.

The parish priest in Dunbar, Canon John Creanor, is understood to have voiced upset at the Vatican’s move against his “dear friend”.

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

NEW JERSEY
The Record

FRIDAY MAY 3, 2013

BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Ron Fraioli said he went to his pastor at St. Elizabeth’s of Hungary Church in Wyckoff in 2000 with a stunning allegation: An assistant pastor, the Rev. Michael Fugee, was repeatedly groping a 13-year-old boy in mock wrestling sessions when he visited the home of the boy’s mother.

The pastor, Monsignor Thomas O’Leary, wrote a letter making a strong case for an investigation of Fugee to his superiors at the Archdiocese of Newark, Fraioli said. Months passed with no reply.

Fraioli, a lawyer who has kept a large file of exacting notes of conversations and correspondence related to the alleged sexual abuse, said he sought a direct response from the archdiocese and was told by a lawyer there that the allegations were based on third-hand information and that he could not report them to authorities.

Five months had elapsed, he said, since the pastor wrote his letter. Fraioli and parishioner Janice Thomas, both devout Catholics who said they sought action first from their church, went to state child protection services, which referred them to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, they said in interviews this week.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

By Kate Wilcox

Published: Saturday, May 4, 2013

Two parishes in the Greensburg Catholic Diocese will close, several others will merge and the fate of three diocesan elementary schools is in question, Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt announced Friday.

Citing an ever-declining population and funds, as well as a shortage of priests, Brandt said the diocese has been slowly closing and merging schools and parishes since a strategic plan was put in place in 2006.

All parish closings and reorganizations will be effective Tuesday, June 25, 2013.

• St. Hedwig in Smock, Fayette County, and St. Boniface in Latrobe will close. There are other parishes within five to seven miles of the two churches that parishioners can attend, Brandt said.
St. Hedwig has 192 families and St. Boniface has 141 families.

• Merging into one: Madonna of Czestochowa, Cardale; St. Thomas, Footedale; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Leckrone; All Saints, Masontown; St. Procopius, New Salem; and Holy Rosary, Republic. The new parish will be named St. Francis of Assisi with worship sites in Footedale and Masontown.

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

NEW JERSEY
Asbury Park Press

Written by
Kevin Pentón
@kevinpentonAPP

COLTS NECK — With hugs, tears and wistful smiles, hundreds of parishioners gathered at St. Mary’s Church on Friday to share their emotions and their concerns about the presence of the Rev. Michael Fugee amidst their congregation.

As they spoke with each other outside the community meeting, held a day after Fugee submitted his letter of resignation, some parishioners questioned the actions of St. Mary’s leaders in allowing Fugee to be part of a youth group at the church. Several wiped tears.

An agreement with prosecutors, reached after Fugee’s conviction on charges that he fondled a teenage boy were thrown out, had been unequivocal.

Fugee could return to ministry in the Archdiocese of Newark, but was barred from having unsupervised contact with minors or a job that requires him to oversee or minister to children under the age of 18.

But despite the legally binding agreement, Fugee was a presence at St. Mary’s, traveling with teenagers to Canada on a mission to help disabled Catholics, hearing confessions from teenagers and participating in retreat trips.

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

OAKLAND (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle

Matthai Kuruvila

Pope Francis named a Boston priest with longtime ties to the Bay Area as the bishop of Oakland, where the future bishop emphasized that he would lead a path more pastoral than political.

Until now, Rev. Michael Barber had been the director of spiritual formation at a Boston seminary. In his first comments to diocesan staff in Oakland on Friday, Barber spoke of spending time in soup kitchens serving food, washing dishes, visiting jails and otherwise “getting my hands dirty.”

Barber, 58, is the first Jesuit bishop named by Francis, the first Jesuit pope. Oakland’s bishop-elect said it was Francis’ example he sought to follow, “to show, symbolically, that the church is there to serve the poor and the marginalized.”

The message is a notable contrast to that of his predecessor in Oakland, Salvatore Cordileone, the current San Francisco Archbishop. Cordileone has made the politics of marriage a central part of his leadership stretching back to his advocacy of Proposition 8, banned same-sex marriage in California.

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

NORTH DAKOTA
The Dickinson Press

By: Bryan Horwath, The Dickinson Press

A civil suit brought against the Diocese of Bismarck by a man who claimed a priest with North Dakota ties sexually abused him has been settled.

Both parties involved in civil case John Doe No. 87 vs. the Diocese of Bismarck filed in U.S. District Court in Hawaii agreed to settlement terms last month, triggering a court-ordered dismissal of the case Friday. The case had been scheduled to go to trial in July.

Colorado resident Steven Crochet, 46, who agreed to waive his anonymity as the plaintiff in the suit during an interview with The Press in January, accused Rev. Maurice G. McNeely of forcing Crochet — then a pre-teen — to perform oral sex on him at a U.S. Army base in Hawaii in the mid-1970s.

Both Crochet’s attorney, Florida-based Adam Horowitz and diocese spokesman Matthew Kurtz declined to disclose the terms of the financial settlement when contacted Friday.

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

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Saturday 4 May 2013

Gerry Braiden
Senior reporter

CARDINAL Keith O’Brien has been told by the Vatican to leave the UK amid concerns of wreaking further damage on the Catholic Church in Scotland.

Friends of the cleric have said he has been told by Rome to shelve his plans to retire to a church-owned cottage in East Lothian and instead leave the country.

The Herald understands Cardinal O’Brien was given the news yesterday afternoon, three days after being photographed moving his personal belongings from his official residence in Edinburgh to the residence in Dunbar where he had been spending regular weekends over the past few years.

The parish priest in Dunbar, Canon John Creanor, is understood to have voiced upset at the Vatican’s move against his “dear friend”.

It is the clearest indication yet of the Vatican’s unwillingness to let the matter drift and concern that the Cardinal’s admission of gay activity over decades and allegations of abuse towards trainee priests continues to damage the Church.

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

SCOTLAND
Gay Star News

04 MAY 2013 | BY DAN LITTAUER

Friends of the disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien say he’s been ordered by the Vatican into exile and ditch his plans for retirement in Scotland.

The Herald commented that: ‘It is the clearest indication yet of the Vatican’s unwillingness to let the matter drift’ of the Cardinal’s sexual assault on male priests when he run seminaries in the 1980s and during a drinks party in Rome.

According to the The Herald, O’Brien was given the news yesterday (3 May) after starting to move his belongings from his Edinburgh residence to his retirement home in Dunbar, East Lothain, three days ago.

The Herald revealed on Thursday that Philip Tartaglia Archbishop of Glasgow and likely to become O’Brien’s successor, was behind an appeal to the Vatican to intervene after Cardinal O’Brien’s re-emergence in Scotland this week.

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

CANADA
Hindustan Times

A priest at an Abbotsford Hindu temple has been found guilty of three counts of sexual interference with two young women in his congregation. Karam Vir, 33, was charged in November 2010 with two counts of touching a young person for a sexual purpose, and one count of sexual
assault.

While delivering the verdict BC Supreme Court Justice Neill Brown remanded Vir to custody until his sentence is pronounced in August.

Brown, in reviewing the evidence, painted a picture of long-term friendships that had developed between Vir and the two teenagers over months (girls identities protected due to a publication ban).

These relationships of trust were breached when Vir made sexual advances, sexually exploiting the girls, then 17.

“I believe their testimony in the way that Vir exploited their trust,” Brown said. “I find credible the complainants’ evidence that Vir sexually touched them . . . I find both complainants were fearful.”

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

NEW JERSEY
The Jersey Journal

By Ron Zeitlinger/The Jersey Journal
on May 04, 2013

The Rev. Michael Fugee may have resigned from publicly working as a Roman catholic priest, but there is no way he’s escaping the public limelight. As as far as critics are concerned, John J. Myers, the archbishop of the Newark diocese, should be stepping down, too

“Father Fugee should have been fired and removed from ministry by Archbishop (John J.) Myers years ago, not simply allowed to resign today,” said Mark Crawford, New Jersey director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a national advocacy and support group. “There must be consequences for those that enabled his continued access to children.”

Under mounting public pressure, Fugee stepped down from ministering publicly as a priest. The Star-Ledger reported earlier this week that Fugee attended youth retreats and heard confessions from minors in defiance of a lifetime ban on such behavior.

In a statement Thursday, Fugee says he violated a court order on his own, and without the consent of the archbishop. But critics aren’t buying it.

“If the Archbishop went to such great lengths to protect Father Fugee, then it’s likely he may be protecting others,” Crawford said. “He has failed to be transparent, open and honest, and for that Archbishop Myers must step down.”

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

FLORIDA
Fox 19

Rachel Leigh, Content Manager

WEST PALM BEACH, FL (WFLX) – Former Rosarian Academy teacher Stephen Budd, who is accused of sexual activity with two young girls, made court appearance Friday morning.

According to the West Palm Beach Police chief, in 2006, Budd allegedly had sexual encounters with two 4th graders. Budd reportedly would use “Budd Bucks” to reward the girls with candy in return for sexual acts.

One alleged victim told police Budd recently tried to get in touch with her through Facebook. That’s when she told her parents, who contacted police.

After leaving Rosarian Academy in 2007, Budd took a job at South Tech Academy charter school in Boynton Beach. Administrators there quickly placed Budd on leave pending the outcome of his case.

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

IRELAND
Irish Times

Mark Hennessy

A former Catholic priest who was described as “a serial abuser of children” by an investigation into clerical child abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin, is to be extradited from Britain to Ireland to face charges of indecently assaulting children.

Mr Bill Carney, aged 73, was arrested in Warwickshire last week under a European arrest warrant. It was issued by the Irish authorities on foot of complaints made by eight men and two women about abuse they allegedly suffered as children at his hands between 1977 and 1989.

Ordained in 1974, he served in a number of Dublin parishes, including Ayrfield, until 1989. He was suspended from, or restricted in, his ministry for some of that time on foot of allegations made, and he was dismissed from the clerical state in 1992.

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

UNITED STATES
Patch

Columnist Mike Moran argues that sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is no more prevalent than in other large institutions.

Note to pedophiles everywhere: if you have pornographic images of children saved on your computer, the employee you paid to fix your computer problems may not put his disdain of child exploitation over his chipper “customer is always right” work ethic. You may want to save that stuff somewhere else or (preferably) make getting psychological help a priority over your tech support.

Earlier this year, local deacon, William Steven Albaugh of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on Belair Road, was reportedly snitched on by a Baltimore County Verizon employee who had access to Albaugh’s computer. Police searched his home in March and he was charged with having more illegal images, though no children were reported to have been harmed. Albaugh is currently out on bail, presumably thanking God for not being a suspected pedophile awaiting trial within the general prison population.

While a news story about a Catholic Church official being accused of pedophilia is not at all uncommon, this current, local investigation is a good opportunity to ask the question: Why are news stories about Catholic Church officials being accused of pedophilia, not at all uncommon?

Is the Catholic Church some kind of pedophile magnet?

Do the strict sexual sanctions imposed upon Church officials drive them into pedophilia?

Or, is the existence of a higher correlation between Catholic Church officials and pedophilia merely a media-fueled mass panic, unfairly targeting the Church?

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

TEXAS
Colony Courier Leader

By Tim Glaze, tglaze@starlocalnews.com

Published: Friday, May 3, 2013

A Corinth clergyman has been arrested after he barricaded a young girl in his office and “begged” her to remove her clothes for almost two hours.

According to an affidavit released by the Corinth Police Department, Pastor Jeffery Dale Williams of The Church of Corinth was identified on five different audio recordings asking the female to take off her clothes so he could see “eye candy” on March 30, 2013. Corinth police arrested Williams on Wednesday, May 1 and charged him with attempted sexual performance on a child – a third degree felony.

Williams bonded out of jail Wednesday night after bail was set at $10,000.

Corinth Lieutenant Jimmie Gregg said the department has been investigating Williams since early April after Child Protective Services sent the CPD two separate reports of sexual abuse allegations against the pastor.

“Someone reported something to CPS,” Gregg said. “Since then, we’ve been investigating this guy. We’ve been on it since April. I can’t release too many details at this point, but we have proof that it is [Williams] on five different audio recordings asking this girl to remove her clothing.”

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

CANADA
Vancouver Sun

By Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun May 4, 2013

A woman who claims she was sexually abused by her now-deceased adoptive father throughout her childhood is suing her mother, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and two of its schools, alleging they knew about the abuse but failed to protect her.

Alicia Koback, who was adopted shortly after her birth in 1964 by Bob and Constance Heitsman of Aldergrove, says in a statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court that the abuse began when she was a toddler and continued until she left home at 16, pregnant and traumatized. Her mother, church officials and teachers at two schools – Fraser Valley Adventist Academy in Alder-grove and Cariboo Adventist Academy in Williams Lake – knew about the abuse but did not try to stop it or report it to authorities, she claims.

The statement was filed Friday by lawyer Jim Poyner, but the allegations have not been proven in court and the four parties named in the lawsuit have yet to file a statement of defence. Contacted by The Vancouver Sun at her Aldergrove home on Friday, Connie Heits-man reacted with surprise but declined to comment.

Koback, 49, said her parents were deacons of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and she was raised in a devout household with two brothers, also adopted, and a younger sister who was the Heitsmans’ only biological child. Family and religious rules were plentiful and included obeying elders, not questioning authority and distrusting non-believers.

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

VIRGINIA
WWBT

By Laura Geller

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) –
The Richmond Police Department is speaking out about a cloud of speculation surrounding a pastor involved in its faith based program.

Despite the allegations that became so public this week against Pastor Geronimo Aguilar of The ROC church in Richmond, police confirmed Wednesday they don’t have an active complaint or investigation against the pastor. They want to make it clear they don’t investigate based on speculation.

Protestors set up shop outside The ROC or Richmond Outreach Center this week. They were trying to send a message about Pastor Aguilar or Pastor G, as he’s known throughout the community. The signs they displayed detail accusations of sex with underage girls, adultery and embezzlement.

The popular leader of the church is well-known on the streets of Richmond. He is a pillar in the program that partners faith-based organizations and the police department. It reaches populations of Richmonders, which the men and women in uniform can’t necessarily affect.

NBC12 interviewed him about the program back in November at a community event.

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

VIRGINIA
WRIC

[with video]

RICHMOND, VA-Following an 8News Investigation exposing accusations of sexual misconduct against the pastor of a large, well-known church in Richmond, Virginia, officials in Texas confirm they are investigating the pastor on allegations of child molestation and lewd acts with two children.

Texas Police confirm they are investigating Geronimo Aguilar, the pastor of The ROC church in Richmond, for accusations of sexual misconduct.

A group of Richmond faith leaders held a protest Monday, calling for Aguilar’s resignation. On multiple websites, Aguilar has been accused of sexual misconduct. 8News also discovered a Facebook page called “Richmond Outreach Center Recovery Group.” It has been set up for those who allege to be victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Aguilar.

8News has confirmed Aguilar was under investigation in California and Texas; a police report shows that he was alleged to have committed lewd acts on two children. Texas police are now actively investigating Aguilar.

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

VIRGINIA
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Posted: Saturday, May 4, 2013

BY LOUIS LLOVIO Richmond Times-Dispatch

Police in Fort Worth, Texas, are investigating Geronimo Aguilar, pastor of the Richmond Outreach Center in South Richmond, on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Fort Worth Police Detective Deion Nash said Friday that the department has an active investigation into the allegations. He said the charge of aggravated sexual assault indicates that a victim is under age 14.
Aguilar, 43, has not been charged in the case.

Nash said Friday that the aggravated sexual assault of a minor is a first-degree felony. In Texas, first-degree felonies carry prison sentences ranging from five years to 99 years and fines of up to $10,000.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

SHANE HICKEY LONDON – 04 MAY 2013

A FORMER priest, who was exposed in the Murphy Report as a serial sex abuser, is expected to be extradited from the UK to Ireland to face a raft of indecent-assault charges.

A judge in London yesterday ordered that Bill Carney be sent back to Ireland, where he is expected to be charged with 34 offences.

The 73-year-old was described in the 2009 Murphy report into clerical abuse as “a serial sexual abuser of children, male and female”.

He pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting two altar boys and was given the Probation Act in 1983. He was defrocked in 1992. Since then he has been living in England and Spain.

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

NEW JERSEY
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark

May 3, 2013

Jim Goodness
(973) 497-4186
(973) 202-2317 (Cell)
goodneja@rcan.org

For Release :
May 3, 2013

On Thursday, May 2, Fr. Michael Fugee, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, wrote the following to The Most Reverend John J. Myers, Archbishop of Newark:

“For the good of the Church and for my peace, I have requested permission to leave public exercise of my priestly ministry.

“In conscience, I feel it necessary to make clear to all that my actions described in recent news stories were outside of my assigned ministry within the Archdiocese. The leadership of the Archdiocese of Newark, especially Archbishop John Myers, did not know or approve of my actions. My failure to request the required permissions to engage in those ministry activities is my fault, my fault alone.

“I am sorry that my actions have caused pain to my Church and to her people.”

Archbishop Myers granted this request on May 2.

Fr. Fugee remains a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, but he no longer has faculties to minister publicly as a priest. He cannot present himself as a priest, cannot wear clerical clothing, and cannot perform publicly the duties or activities of a priest.

Following the Memorandum of Understanding, the Archdiocese did not assign Fr. Fugee to any post involving ministry with minors. His assignments were supervised administrative positions located at the Archdiocesan Center in Newark. Fr. Fugee was under continual supervision during the exercise of these ministerial duties.

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

By Mark Mueller/The Star-Ledger
on May 03, 2013

The Newark Archdiocese has released a statement citing the resignation letter of the Rev. Michael Fugee, the priest who interacted with minors despite an agreement with law enforcement barring him from doing so.

Fugee’s actions, disclosed by The Star-Ledger last week, have created an enormous controversy for Archbishop John J. Myers, who, through a spokesman, had argued Fugee’s interactions did not violate the agreement because he was under supervision. The archdiocese reversed course Thursday night, announcing the priest’s resignation.

Below is the text of the release by James Goodness:

On Thursday, May 2, Fr. Michael Fugee, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, wrote the following to The Most Reverend John J. Myers, Archbishop of Newark:

“For the good of the Church and for my peace, I have requested permission to leave public exercise of my priestly ministry.

“In conscience, I feel it necessary to make clear to all that my actions described in recent news stories were outside of my assigned ministry within the Archdiocese. The leadership of the Archdiocese of Newark, especially Archbishop John Myers, did not know or approve of my actions. My failure to request the required permissions to engage in those ministry activities is my fault, my fault alone.

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

NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON MAY 03, 2013

Now, Fr. Fugee says it’s all his fault.

We don’t believe him. If he’ll lie to protect himself, he’ll also lie to protect Archbishop Myers who has so long protected him.

Ministry and retreats and church trips are group efforts. Other priests, parishioners and church employees helped Fr. Fugee get access to kids. Fr. Fugee’s seemingly noble claim that all of this is his fault “alone” just doesn’t hold water.

Today, Archbishop Myers’ spokesman claims that after the deal with the prosecutor, “the Archdiocese did not assign Fr. Fugee to any post involving ministry with minors.” This is simply not true. Myers quietly put Fr. Fugee in a hospital chaplaincy, and informed no one at the hospital about Fr. Fugee’s past. Kids, of course, come and go and stay in hospitals.

“His assignments were supervised administrative positions located at the Archdiocesan Center,” says Myers’ spokesman. Again, not true. He deliberately ignores the hospital chaplaincy, which only ended when it was disclosed by the Newark Star Ledger.

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

NEW JERSEY
U.S. Catholic

By Nicholas Cafardi
Guest blog

It is difficult to understand what is going on in the Archdiocese of Newark these days. A priest of that archdiocese, Father Michael Fugee, was charged with sexual assault on a minor in 2001. He confessed to the police that he had grabbed the young boy’s crotch while wrestling with him on two occasions. At his first trial, he was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual contact. That conviction was overturned by an appeals court on the grounds of improper jury instructions. Rather than retry Father Fugee, in 2007, the public prosecutor entered into an agreement with him and the Newark archdiocese which says, among other things, that:

“It is agreed and understood that Michael Fugee shall not accept any position with the Archdiocese of Newark or any Archdiocese under which he is assigned and/or placed that allows him to have any unsupervised contact with or to supervise or minister to any child/minor under the age of 18 or work in any position in which children are involved. This includes but is not limited to, presiding over a parish, involvement with a youth group, religious education/parochial school, CCD, confessions of children, youth choir, youth retreats and daycare.”

Imagine, then, the surprise of the folks in the Newark archdiocese when they found out that Father Fugee had been going on youth retreats and pilgrimages and was back to hearing the confessions of minors, in private, as all confessions must be.

That sure sounds like a violation of what the archdiocese and Father Fugee agreed to in 2007. The archbishop of Newark does not see it that way. He has written a letter to the faithful claiming that Father Fugee is back in ministry under the terms of the Dallas Charter which requires diocese to restore the reputation of priests in situations where there is a “not guilty” verdict or a dismissal of charges and the diocese’s own review board has found that no sexual abuse has occurred.

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

OAKLAND (CA)
Mercury News

By Angela Woodall
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 05/03/2013 1

Father Michael Barber will become bishop of Oakland, ending a 7-month stretch without a permanent diocese leader.

Barber, whose family has roots in the Bay Area, will be ordained May 25, taking the reigns of an ethnically and politically diverse diocese that stretches from Oakland to Danville.

“I am humbled to be the first Jesuit priest to be appointed bishop by a Jesuit pope,” Barber said just hours after the announcement became public Friday.

“It’s about time the appointment was made,” said Archbishop Alex Brunett, who has served as administrator for the diocese since the departure in July of Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, who became archbishop of the San Francisco archdiocese.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Archbishop of Canterbury

[final report]

Friday 3rd May 2013

The final report for the enquiry into the operation of the diocesan child protection policies in the Diocese of Chichester has today been published.

The report was written by Bishop John Gladwin and Chancellor Rupert Bursell QC who were appointed in 2011 as the former Archbishop of Canterbury’s commissaries to carry out the enquiry.

In responding to the final report, Archbishop Justin has made the following statement:

“I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to not only the Commissaries for their care and concern in the course of carrying out this Visitation, but also to the survivors of abuse who have been able to share their experiences. The hurt and damage that has been done to them is something the Church can never ignore and I can only repeat what I have said before – that they should never have been let down by the people who ought to have been a source of trust and comfort and I want to apologise on behalf of the Church for pain and hurt they have suffered. I remain deeply grateful for their cooperation in the work of the Visitation.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Anglican Diocese of Chichester

“We welcome the Final Report that brings the Archbishop’s Visitation to a formal conclusion. This is the moment for us to record our profound thanks to Dr Rowan Williams, who instituted the visitation while he was Archbishop, to the present Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev’d and Rt Hon Justin Welby, and to the Commissaries themselves, the Rt Rev’d John Gladwin and His Honour Judge Rupert Bursell QC.

“The Visitation has enabled us to comprehend the damage done to so many people’s lives. I hope that all victims and those affected recognise in the words of the Interim and Final Reports that their concerns have begun to be heard, their determination recognised, and their extraordinary courage honoured.

“We believe that there may be many more victims of abuse who have never come forward to report their experiences. We wish to reassure them that we will listen to and respond in any ways that are appropriate to a report of abuse by priests or Church workers.

“Finally, we welcome the attention drawn in the Interim and Final Reports to the scope of the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003. It is vital that our procedures engender trust and confidence among our partner agencies, among survivors and their families.”

Link to the Final Report

Link to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement

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

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The crimes of some clergy who abused children in the Diocese of Chichester may have gone unrecognised, a report has revealed.

The document adds that some survivors of known abusers may still feel unable to come forward.

The report’s findings have prompted the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, to renew his apology to victims of clerical abuse.

He said the Anglican church could never ignore the “hurt and damage” committed.

Bishop John Gladwin and Rupert Bursell QC, the report’s authors, said the diocese had “moved forward a very long way” in recent months.

The document said the diocese had put “excellent” safeguarding practices in place, and was “committed” to preventing any further abuse and to responding effectively to the ongoing trauma of victims.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

By Ben James

Further cases of child abuse involving the Church of England may yet to be uncovered, a report has found.

Research into the scandal-hit Diocese of Chichester has suggested that many victims may still feel unable to come forward and report their suffering.

The study was commissioned two years ago by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

It followed various child abuse incidents in the diocese.

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

FLORIDA
Sun Sentinel

By Marc Freeman, Sun Sentinel
4:02 p.m. EDT, May 3, 2013

A former West Palm Beach private school teacher accused of sexually assaulting two 9-year-old students during the 2006-07 school year will stand trial Sept. 23, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Stephen Rapp ordered Friday.

Stephen Jerome Budd, 51, will stay in Palm Beach County Jail until the trial, unless the court receives a new request for bail for the former fourth-grade teacher at Rosarian Academy.

Defense attorney Jason Weiss withdrew his motion seeking bond at a hearing Friday, after conferring with his client and Assistant State Attorney Jessica Kahn. Weiss said he had just received more information concerning the charges and needed to examine it.

Rapp also alerted the attorneys that family members, including nieces, were former or current students at the school but he wasn’t aware of any connection with the case.

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

LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on May 3, 2013

Disgraced Cardinal Roger Mahony will be officiating confirmations this evening at a local Los Angeles parish, despite promises from the new Los Angeles archbishop that Mahony and another bishop involved in sex abuse and cover-up would be relieved from public duties.

We are so disappointed

Documents released in January showed that Mahony, who retired in 2011, personally managed the careers of dozens of child-molesting clerics in Los Angeles. They also showed that Mahony and other church officials covered up abuse, moved abusers from parish to parish, and thwarted efforts by law enforcement to investigate crimes and punish offenders.

In response the the exposure of the damning documents, Archbishop Jose Gomez said in a statement that Mahony would have no public duties in the Archdiocese. Days later, a church spokesperson said that Mahony was a Cardinal “in good standing.” …

Mahony is scheduled to perform the confirmations at SS Peter and Paul Church in Wilmington tonight at 7 pm.

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

NEW JERSEY
dotCommonweal

May 3, 2013
Posted by Mollie Wilson O’Reilly

When being constantly outraged and on the attack is how you make your living, you’re bound to get a little sloppy with the details now and then. We’ve seen before what happens when the Catholic League’s William A. Donohue, PhD, starts out with a complaint and then has trouble backing it up with actual evidence, and it isn’t pretty.

When it comes to the church’s sex-abuse crisis, Donohue’s got his reactions all set, regardless of the facts. Is a bishop being criticized for mishandling accusations against an abusive priest? The bishop must be defended; he’s done nothing wrong; the media (and/or leftist Catholics) are plainly out to get him.

Sometimes, though, the facts just don’t line up with Donohue’s interpretation. The recent case of Newark’s Archbishop John J. Myers and Fr. Michael Fugee was a tough one; to maintain that Myers was a good guy getting an unfair rap, Donohue was forced to play lawyer — a lawyer who doesn’t know what the word “or” means. Thus, as Mark Silk explained yesterday, Donohue resorted to insisting that the New Jersey Star-Ledger had smeared Myers by calling for his resignation “because he allegedly did not hold Fugee to the terms of the agreement. As will soon be disclosed,” Donohue said, “this accusation is patently false.” And therefore “the entire editorial board of the newspaper should resign immediately.”

But Donohue’s argument that the accusation was false rests on an obviously erroneous reading of the archdiocese’s court agreement to keep Fugee away from minors. Donohue insists that “the court agreement expressly allowed Father Fugee to have contact with minors, provided he was supervised.” Here’s what the court order actually says:

It is agreed and understood that the Archdiocese shall not assign or otherwise place Michael Fugee in any position within the Archdiocese that allows him to have any unsupervised contact with or to supervise or minister to any minor/child under the age of 18 or work in any position in which children are involved. This includes, but is not limited to, presiding over a parish, involvement with a youth group, religious education/parochial school, CCD, confessions of children, youth choir, youth retreats and day care.

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

WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A former pastor has been found not guilty of failing to report sexual assaults between young boys, clearing the Walworth County man of the final charges he faced, according to GazetteXtra.com.

Joseph Fultz resigned his position as pastor of the Grace Evangelical Free Church in Walworth when he was charged with five misdemeanor counts of not reporting child abuse in June 2011, according to the website of the Janesville Gazette.

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

CANADA
Global News

MONCTON, N.B. – The archbishop of a Roman Catholic diocese in New Brunswick says it wants fair market value for properties it’s selling to help cover the costs of a five million dollar compensation package for people who allege they were sexually abused by priests.

The number of employees within the Moncton Catholic diocese will also be cut to 14 from 20.

Archbishop Valery Vienneau says the diocese will sell its office and a vacant piece of land.

Both are in Dieppe.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
kath-kommentar

Die sog. Sexuelle Revolution hat den Sex mit Minderjährigen befördert, auch in der katholischen Kirche. Als Daniel Cohn Bendit für den Theodor-Heuss-Preis ausersehen wurde, kam bisher verborgenes Urgestein der grünen Bewegung an die Oberfläche: Der Deckel bleibt zu. Die Akten im Archiv der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung der Grünen bleiben bis 2022 unter Verschluss. Nicht so deutlich wie die Grünen insgesamt hat sich Cohn Bendit von der Idee losgesagt, dass frühe sexuelle Erfahrungen für Minderjährige und auch Kinder förderlich seien. Eine „einvernehmliche sexuelle Beziehung zwischen Erwachsenen und jungen Menschen“ sollte straffrei bleiben und damit die einschlägigen Paragrafen 174 und 176 des Strafrechts geändert werden.

Die sexuelle Revolution war offensichtlich ein Kanal für solche Gruppierungen gewesen, über die Grüne Partei den Kindesmissbrauch hoffähig zu machen. Zumindest konnte es diese Forderung bis ins Wahlprogramm der Grünen in NRW schaffen. Es waren also nicht einzelne, sondern eine größere Gruppe von Delegierten, die Erwachsenen den ungehinderten Zugang zum sexuellen Verkehr mit Kindern eröffnen wollten. Auch die vom Direktor der Odenwaldschule eingeleitete Sexualisierung fällt in diese Zeit. Da die Bildungsreformen wesentlich im Geist der Odenwaldschule geprägt waren, muss heute konstatiert werden, dass das, was heute als Missbrauch von Kindern angeprangert wird, eine einflussreiche Strömung in der Bundesrepublik war.

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

SCOTLAND
The Independent

KEVIN RAWLINSON FRIDAY 03 MAY 2013

The disgraced former leader of the Catholic church in Britain, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, has broken his silence to speak of the “difficult time” he has faced since his “humbling” admission of inappropriate behaviour with four priests and a seminarian.

Cardinal O’Brien, who has now returned to his homeland of Scotland after some time away from the media spotlight in Ireland, said he has received plenty of support and “forgiveness” from within the community after it emerged that he had been in a longstanding relationship with a man despite being an outspoken critic of homosexuality.

Not everyone has been able to forgive him, however, with one of his alleged victims saying he needs to do more to deal with his concerns before indulging in his “nice little retirement plan”.

The man who still technically remains Britain’s most senior Catholic was forced to retire by Pope Benedict XVI earlier this year after admitting he was guilty of sexual misconduct.

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

NEW JERSEY
Public Catholic

May 3, 2013 By Rebecca Hamilton

Frank Weathers, who blogs at Why I am Catholic, has the story.

Father Fugee, the convicted child molester, has resigned. Archbishop Myers, who put him back with kids after his conviction, has accepted his resignation.

Tra-la-la-la.

Rather than go through another trial, prosecutors required Father Fugee to undergo counseling – which I assume they thought would make him all better – then they required him to sign a document promising he wouldn’t be around children anymore.

You may remember Father Fugee. He’s the New Jersey priest who pled guilty to child sexual abuse and whose conviction was subsequently vacated on a technicality by an appellate court.
Archbishop Myers is the New Jersey archbishop who also signed the document promising that Father Fugee wouldn’t be around children. It sounds like the prosecutors tossed this child molestor back into the same place where he had committed his original crimes on the basis that he had promised them he wouldn’t do it again.

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

NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON MAY 03, 2013

Suddenly, Archbishop Myers’ PR man does an abrupt 180, twice. He now claims Fr. Fugee was around kids without Myers’ permission. And he now admits an agreement with prosecutors has been broken.

It’s both odd and disconcerting that these radically different claims surface a week into this controversy. That alone makes us highly skeptical. Frankly, we don’t believe Fr. Fugee somehow “went rogue” and began acting like a “free agent,” ignoring his archbishop and going on trips with kids and hearing their confessions without permission.

Today’s Star Ledger reports that “Since the disclosure, (Myers’ PR man) Goodness has argued that Fugee did not violate the agreement (with prosecutors).” But last night, he said Fr. Fugee engaged in activities” that “are in conflict with (that agreement).”

More troubling is that Myers’ PR man now claims Fr. Fugee “did not seek permission from the archdiocese before participating in youth activities.” Again, we just don’t believe this. If this were the case, why didn’t Myers claim this right away. Why isn’t he firing church employees who helped Fr. Fugee gain access to more kids?

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

A Roman Catholic order has admitted it hired a private investigator to tail a victim of the notorious paedophile, Brother Robert Best. The Christian Brothers order has detailed to Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into child abuse just how far it went to support its members who stood accused of child sex assaults. It spent nearly $1 million defending Best, one of Australia’s most prolific paedophiles, and hundreds of thousands more defending other brothers charged with abuse.

Transcript

TIM PALMER: A Roman Catholic order has admitted it hired a private investigator to tail a victim of the notorious paedophile, Brother Robert Best.

The Christian Brothers order has detailed to Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into child abuse just how far it went to support its members who stood accused of child sex assaults. It spent nearly a million dollars defending Best, one of Australia’s most prolific paedophiles and it spent hundreds of thousands more defending other brothers similarly charged with abuse.

At times the evidence prompted incredulous laughter and derision from the public gallery and there were also tears, as Madeleine Morris reports.

JULIAN MCDONALD: On behalf of all Christian Brothers in this country I want to acknowledge that children entrusted to our care have indeed been abused in some cases even brutalised by some of our number.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

The Christian Brothers have told Victoria’s child abuse inquiry the extraordinary level of child sexual abuse in Ballarat in the early 1970s was an accident of history but the Catholic order apologised unreservedly for what it described as ‘the crimes of a few’.

Transcript

EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: The Christian Brothers have told Victoria’s child abuse inquiry that the extraordinary level of sexual abuse, child sexual abuse perpetuated by members of their order in Ballarat in the 1970s was an quote and “accident of history”. After admitting they once hired a private investigator to spy on a victim of abuse, the Catholic order apologised unreservedly for what it described the crimes of a few.

Hamish Fitzsimmons reports.

HAMISH FITZSIMMONS, REPORTER: It was a statement many in the gallery needed to hear.

JULIAN MCDONALD, PROVINCE LEADER, CHRISTIAN BROTHERS: It is true that there was some mistakes made and they’ve had devastating consequences on victims. I cannot defend the and I will not try to defend the indefensible.

HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: The leaders of the Christian Brothers in the region faced pointed questioning from the members of the parliamentary inquiry about how the rape children by a number of clergy in Ballarat in the 1970s when unchecked.

GEORGIE CROZIER MP, CHAIRWOMAN, VIC PARLIAMENT INQUIRY: Could you explain to the committee why this extraordinary state of affairs was allowed to occur?

JULIAN MCDONALD: I have no adequate explanation for that madam chair. It is certainly an accident of history. It was a terrible, terrible situation. The lives of young people were devastated by those who offended at St Alipius’s school in Ballarat. That’s of great shame to us and a terrible, terrible thing to happen to the victims.

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

AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

The Christian Brothers Catholic order spent more than $1 million defending serial paedophile Robert Best, the order has told a Victorian inquiry into how churches handled child sexual abuse.

The order also paid $10,000 to a private investigator to spy on a victim of abuser Ted Dowlan. It paid for legal advice to protect Dowlan’s assets in civil lawsuits and gave him $125,000 when he left the order.

Any institution is as sick as its secrets, and there was a culture that kept things secret.

But brothers appearing on behalf of the order denied there were cultural problems within it.

The order apologised for the ”repulsive” and ”inexcusable” betrayal by the abusers and said most of the offenders had themselves been abused earlier.

”I cannot defend and will not try to defend the indefensible,” said Brother Julian McDonald, deputy leader of the order in Australia and the region.

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

NEW JERSEY
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Friday, May 3, 2013

One of the ways I don’t-make-money is as a freelance writer (eg., this blog). So I’ve taken it upon myself to write a speech for Bishop Myers on the scandal involving Father Fugee. Heck, I’d even give it to him for free. Here goes. Archbishop Myers stands at a podium and says …

Fellow Catholics and all others who have been following this story –

I am going to do what Jesus Christ wants me to do and what the saints and those aspiring to sanctity have always done. I am going to repent. And I am going to do so publicly, both as a way of bringing humility into my life, and also as a lesson to all of you. “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ,” as St. Paul said (1 Cor. 11:1). As a bishop, that is my primary role, in fact my only role: I am to imitate Christ for your sakes.

It is a job I have not been very good at. I’m afraid almost every single one of my brother bishops can say that; indeed almost every single one of you, my listeners, can say that. So since we’re all steeped in sin, and since we all have such a desperate need of a savior, let me begin.

Over ten years ago, one of the priests of this diocese got in legal trouble for doing something that caused a lot of damage. This priest had some psychological problems, as all abusers do. For one thing, he freely admitted that he had homosexual desires – and while it’s not politically correct in this day and age to call these desires what they are (perversions), and while the Church has always recognized that every sinner is perverse and corrupt in his heart (not just those who commit sodomy), it is nevertheless a disorder of love and affect to seek sexual fulfillment in any way other than through marriage and a family. My Church is the only institution that will continue to be bold enough to say that, even in the face of the coming and present persecution. So we begin with the fact that this priest has a problem, and it’s one that many people wrestle with.

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

NEW JERSEY
CBS New York

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) – The New Jersey priest who attended youth retreats and heard confessions from youngsters in defiance of a lifetime ban has resigned.

The Rev. Michael Fugee submitted his request and it was promptly accepted by Newark Archbishop John Myers on Thursday evening.

Fugee remains a priest but no longer can say Mass, perform sacramental work or represent himself as an active member of the clergy, archdiocese spokesman Jim Goodness told The Star-Ledger of Newark.

The 52-year-old was convicted in 2003 of fondling a teenage boy, however, that verdict was vacated because of judicial error.

Fugee entered into an agreement with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office to avoid retrial on the abuse conviction after the groping incident six years ago. The agreement required Fugee never again to have unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.

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

NEW JERSEY
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | May. 3, 2013

The Newark, N.J., priest accused of violating negotiated agreement to stay away from children has decided to leave his archdiocesan positions and active ministry.

Fr. Michael Fugee submitted his resignation to Archbishop John J. Myers Thursday afternoon, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. The newspaper reported he will relinquish authority to say Mass, perform sacraments and represent himself as a priest. It is unclear whether Myers will seek laicization of the priest through the Vatican.

The scandal around Fugee emerged over the weekend, when the Star-Ledger first reported that he had attended youth events, such as retreats and weekend trips, and heard confessions for minors, a seeming violation of the memorandum of understanding he signed in order to avoid a retrial on charges of aggravated criminal sexual assault.

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

SCOTLAND
Scottish Catholic Observer

This week’s editorial

Speculation in the secular media this week about the timing of much-needed, and long awaited, Vatican appointments to the Scottish hierarchy falls into the ‘smoke’ and ‘fire’ category—if enough hot air is blown as smoke then there must be a fire somewhere, correct? Not quite.

The facts are these: Two Scottish dioceses (Dunkeld and Paisley) were without bishops prior to Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s resignation as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in February, and another two bishops reached the retirement age of 75 in the last 12 months. In the second half of the 20th century Scotland had one of the youngest Episcopal hierarchies in Europe, and, until the most recent appointments, we had one of the oldest and most experienced.

Five of Scotland’s eight dioceses are now without permanent Vatican-appointed leaders and we pray Pope Francis will make Scotland—‘special daughter of the see of Rome’ (Clement III, 1188)—an urgent priority. However, getting the appointments ‘right’ must be the overriding factor.

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

NEDERLAND
Katholiek Nieuwsblad

Bij het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik RKK zijn in de eerste drie maanden van dit jaar beduidend meer meldingen binnengekomen dan de voorgaande twee jaren.

Dat blijkt uit cijfers die het Meldpunt vrijdag heeft gepubliceerd.
In totaal zijn er in 120 meldingen binnengekomen, met name in februari en maart, rond de publicatie van vervolgonderzoek door Wim Deetman en het daarop volgende zitting van de Kamercommissie.
Na het piekjaar 2010, toen in totaal bijna 2700 meldingen binnenkwamen, kwam het aantal meldingen in 2011 uit op 330 en in 2012 op 304.

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

ROME
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | May. 3, 2013

ROME Pope Francis is scheduled to have a private audience next week with the leadership group representing international women’s congregations meeting in Rome for their triennial assembly, the group announced Friday.

About 800 of nearly 2,000 members of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) are meeting in Rome through Wednesday. They will meet privately with Pope Francis before his regular Wednesday general audience.

Leaders of the sisters’ group, which announced the meeting with the pope at a pre-assembly meeting Friday, could not recall the last time a pope had met with their general membership.

Pope Benedict XVI canceled an audience scheduled for the group during their last assembly, held in Rome in May 2010, because of preparations for his visit to Portugal the same month.

Pope Francis’ decision to meet with the group is “a sign of hope, of interest for women religious,” said Sr. Maria Theresa Hoernemann, a native German who serves on the sisters’ group’s executive board.

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

IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

A member of the organising team of the ‘Support Group for Priests and Religious Out of Ministry’ sent this update (as of April 2013):

“We would like to assure you that the Support Group is alive, well and thriving.

We have met six times so far. The average attendance has been nine per meeting and altogether 13 people have attended since the first meeting. The format is relaxed and unstructured. Each participant in the meetings takes responsiblity for shaping a helpful process.

The final format of the meetings will emerge as we live the process. We find the meetings very helpful and supportive. Some, who have felt quite isolated, find an anchor and life in the meetings.

The Support Group itself is supervised and supported by an Advisory Board made up of high-profile and professional people involved in child protection and counselling. The Advisory Board has provided a facilitator for the first three meetings of the Support Group. A member of the Support Group attends the Advisory Board meetings to report back to the Board and get advice and support on any issues around the well-being of the Support Group. The Advisory Board has written to each Bishop, to CORI, the ACP and the IMU outlining the existence and purpose of the Support Group. They maintain a dialogue with the Church leadership on any issue or concern around the Support Group.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON MAY 02, 2013

The 65-year-old bishop of Harrisburg, Joseph McFadden died unexpectedly this morning. Our sympathies are with his family and his loved ones. Although we do not rejoice in the death of anyone, we hope the Pope takes this opportunity to appoint a new bishop who will prove to take a tough stand against clergy sex abuse.

We also hope the next bishop will post the names of credibly accused predators on the diocese website. Anyone who saw, suspects, or was abused is encouraged to come forward, tell police and start healing.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Fox 43

[with video]

It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the death of Bishop Joseph P. McFadden. He died unexpectedly while attending a meeting of the Catholic Bishops of Pennsylvania being held in Philadelphia.

While staying at a rectory he awoke feeling ill and was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at approximately 7:40 a.m. A cause of death has not yet been announced.

The governance of the Diocese of Harrisburg passed to the College of Consultors upon his death. They will have eight days to elect an Administrator who will be in charge of the day to day operation of the Diocese until a new Bishop is appointed by the Holy Father.

Bishop McFadden was the tenth Bishop of Harrisburg. He was appointed on June 22, 2010 by then Pope Benedict XVI. He was installed as Bishop of Harrisburg on August 18, 2010 in St. Patrick Cathedral, Harrisburg.

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

MISSOURI
Westport News

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A new lawsuit blames a St. Louis man’s suicide on sexual and emotional abuse by a Roman Catholic priest at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in suburban St. Louis.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/157nF6E ) reports that the parents of a man from Florissant who committed suicide in 2009 filed the suit Thursday against the St. Louis Archdiocese. A spokeswoman for the archdiocese declined comment.

The suit claims that Bryan Kuchar molested the plaintiffs’ son when the boy was 12 to 14 years old, between 1999 and 2002. Kuchar was suspended by the archdiocese in 2002 and defrocked in 2006. In 2003, Kuchar was found guilty of molesting a 14-year-old boy eight years earlier, and sentenced to three years in jail.

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

NEW JERSEY
WABC

NEWARK — The New Jersey priest who attended youth retreats and heard confessions from youngsters in defiance of a lifetime ban has resigned.

The Rev. Michael Fugee submitted his request and it was promptly accepted by Newark Archbishop John Myers on Thursday evening.

Archdiocese spokesman Jim Goodness tells The Star-Ledger of Newark Fugee remains a priest but no longer can say Mass, perform sacramental work or represent himself as an active member of the clergy.

The 52-year-old was convicted in 2003 of fondling a teenage boy. However, that verdict was vacated because of judicial error.

Fugee entered a program to avoid retrial and agreed to never again work with children.

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

IRELAND
Pink News

by Joseph Patrick McCormick
3 May 2013

Parishioners at the new parish of a priest who projected gay porn during a meeting with parents at a Northern Ireland school, are “wary” over his upcoming arrival.

Back in 2012, Very Reverend Martin McVeigh was due to project a powerpoint presentation to a group of parents at St Mary’s Primary School. Instead of instructions for their child’s first Holy Communion, however, parents were confronted with 16 images of gay porn.

Father McVeigh is to cross the border to Ireland, and take up the new post post in County Louth, following last year’s controversy. The former Priest of Pomeroy in County Tyrone, announced his decision, after official investigations into the incident proved inconclusive.

The 62-year-old always denied knowing the origin of the images, and admitted “complicating” the issue by destroying the memory stick the night of the incident. The laptop was also stolen before it could be examined.

He will serve at Clogherhead, just north of Drogheda, a parish neighbouring Termonfeckin, where he served in the 1980s.

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

MISSOURI
Law Enforcement Today

by Jean Reynolds

Sometimes the best weapon against crime is a good police report. In St. Louis, a four-year-old police report may help keep a priest accused of sexual abuse from returning to active ministry.

Father Kevin Hederman was suspended from the priesthood in 2009, when he was sued for allegedly abusing a St. Louis teenager. It now seems that the Vatican has cleared Father Hederman of the charges.

SNAP—Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests—is worried about the Vatican’s decision, and it is asking the archbishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of St. Louis not to overturn Father Hederman’s suspension.

This is a sad case—but it is also a useful reminder of the importance of good police reporting. The police report is objective and thorough. It includes several word-for-word statements from Father Hederman himself that raise warning flags about his sexual impulses.

If you’re looking for a model of an effective report, read this one, which is available online. Still, I can’t resist making one comment about a pet peeve of mine: The persistent misuse of “advise” in this report. In the sentence below (quoted from Father Hederman’s police report), notice that “advise” is used in two ways: to tell (incorrect) and to counsel (correct). (When you mean “tell,” say so!)

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appointed Fr Michael Charles Barber, sj, as the bishop of Oakland, California. Friday’s appointment reduces the vacant sees in the United States from 10 to nine.

Bishop-elect Barber succeeds Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone, who was appointed to San Francisco in July 2012. Archbishop Alex J. Brunett, archbishop-emeritus of Seattle, has been serving as the apostolic administrator since last October.

At the moment of his appointment, Bishop-elect Barber was serving as the director of spiritual formation at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton in the Archdiocese of Boston.

He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on July 13, 1954. He entered the Company of Jesus in 1973, after having attended Saint Pius X Preparatory School at Galt, California.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and history at Gonzaga University in 1978, completed his theological studies at Regis College at the University of Toronto in 1985, and obtained an ecclesiastical licence in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1989.

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

OAKLAND (CA)
Fort Mills Times

NOTE TIME VALUE: Reverend Michael Barber, SJ will be available at a news conference on Friday, May 3, beginning at 10AM at the Cathedral of Christ the Light. Media should enter through the main conference center entrance at 2121 Harrison Street, Oakland.

OAKLAND, Calif. —
Pope Francis has named Reverend Michael Barber, SJ, 58, as the Fifth Bishop of Oakland. Fr. Barber until now has been Director of Spiritual Formation at St. John’s Seminary, Archdiocese of Boston. His installation as Bishop of Oakland will take place at 11:00AM on May 25 at Oakland’s Cathedral of Christ the Light.

On July 27, 2012, Oakland’s Bishop Salvatore Cordileone was appointed Archbishop of San Francisco and was installed in that office on October 4, 2012. At that time Pope Benedict appointed retired Archbishop Alex Brunett to act as Apostolic Administrator in Oakland, to manage day-to-day business of the Diocese until a new bishop was named.

Archbishop Brunett will introduce Fr. Barber at a news conference on Friday, May 3, at 10AM at the Cathedral of Christ the Light. Media should enter through the main conference center entrance at 2121 Harrison Street, Oakland.

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

OAKLAND (CA)
Catholic World Report

May 03, 2013
By Catherine Harmon

This morning the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has appointed Father Michael Barber, SJ the new bishop of Oakland, California. He succeeds Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who took over as head of the Archdiocese of San Francisco last October.

Father Barber currently serves as director of spiritual formation at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts. From Catholic News Agency:

The bishop-designate entered the Jesuits in 1973 and was ordained a priest in 1985.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and history at Gonzaga University in 1978, completed his theological studies at Regis College at the University of Toronto in 1985, and obtained an ecclesiastical license in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1989.

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

FLORIDA
WPBF

Stephen Budd: Teacher accused in candy-for-sex enticement due in court

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —A bond hearing is scheduled Friday for a West Palm Beach teacher accused of sexually assaulting fourth graders.

Stephen Budd was arrested last month.

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

OAKLAND (CA)
Whispers in the Loggia

In an exceedingly rare appointment of its kind, Pope Francis has named Michael Barber SJ, 58 – a California Jesuit currently serving as a spiritual director at Boston’s St John’s Seminary – as bishop of Oakland.

Rare… Francis… Jesuit… Boston… “Super-Cardinal”…

Hmm.

At the helm of the roughly 600,000-member NorCal church, the bishop-elect succeeds Salvatore Cordileone, who was sent across the Bay to lead the more prestigious – yet less populous – archdiocese of San Francisco last July.

For purposes of context, the last time a simple priest was named to a Stateside post of this size came at a similarly early point in the last pontificate, when Msgr Kevin Vann – then a pastor in Springfield, Illinois – was tapped in May 2005 as coadjutor of Fort Worth, then a 400,000-member fold, which nearly doubled in size over the subsequent decade due to migration, birthrates and, well, just being Texas church. Yet while Vann was intended to have a period of apprenticeship under Bishop Joseph Delaney, the long-reigning prelate died the day before his successor’s ordination, suddenly placing the provided ordinary-in-waiting on the cathedra with no prep. (In his last top-tier appointment on the Stateside bench, B16 named Vann to the 1.3 million-member diocese of Orange last September, and Fort Worth remains vacant.)

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 3 May 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father appointed Fr. Michael Charles Barber, S.J., as bishop of Oakland (area 3,798, population 2,589,322, Catholics 555,000, priests 374, permanent deacons 108, religious 944), California, USA. The bishop-elect was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA in 1954 and was ordained a priest in 1985. Since ordination he has served in several missionary, academic, and pastoral roles, most recently as Director of Spiritual Formation at St. John’s Seminary in Boston, Massachusetts.

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

NEW JERSEY
The Record

FRIDAY MAY 3, 2013

BY JOHN REITMEYER, HERB JACKSON AND CHARLES STILE
STAFF WRITERS
THE RECORD

A day after their leading candidate for governor said the Newark archbishop should resign amid a priest child abuse scandal, fellow Democrats remained divided on the issue — with many not saying anything at all.

It’s a marked change from a month ago, when top Democrats clamored in near unison for resignations at Rutgers University following the physical and verbal abuse of basketball players by a coach.

And it could represent the fear of potential backlash from Catholic voters with all 120 seats in the Democratic-controlled Legislature on the November ballot this year, or a sign that state Sen. Barbara Buono — who has clashed with party leaders in the past — does not yet have their full support.

Buono, a Democrat from Middlesex County who is challenging Governor Christie this year, said Newark Archbishop John J. Myers should step down, questioning his ability to lead after word that a priest seemingly broke his legally binding agreement with Bergen County prosecutors to never again be unsupervised with children, minister to children or work with children so long as he remained a priest.

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

SCOTLAND
The Times

Mike Wade

Last updated at 12:01AM, May 3 2013

Cardinal Keith O’Brien was last night compared to Fred Goodwin, the disgraced banker, by Catholic critics after he appeared to shrug off the scandal surrounding him and seek a return to a normal life.

Shock has turned to disbelief and anger within the Church hierarchy after the cardinal confirmed his intention to move to a church property in Dunbar, where he apparently hopes to live out a quiet retirement.

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

MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Parents of man who committed suicide over alleged abuse sue St. Louis Archdiocese

By Tim Townsend ttownsend@post-dispatch.com 314-340-82215

The parents of a man from Florissant who committed suicide in 2009 sued the St. Louis Archdiocese Thursday claiming their son’s death was the result of sexual and emotional abuse by a Roman Catholic priest at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in Shrewsbury.

The lawsuit filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court says Bryan Kuchar, who was suspended by the archdiocese in 2002 and defrocked by the Vatican in 2006, molested the plaintiffs’ son at the seminary’s overnight camp between 1999 and 2002. The boy — known in court documents as John Doe SON — was between 12 and 14 at the time.

In 2003 Kuchar was found guilty of molesting a 14-year-old boy eight years earlier, when the priest was serving at Assumption Catholic Church in south St. Louis County. He was sentenced to three consecutive one-year terms in the St. Louis County Jail.

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese, Angela Shelton, said officials there had “not been served a copy of this lawsuit involving Kuchar, and we do not comment on pending litigation.”

David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said there had been perhaps “a couple dozen” lawsuits across the country over the last decade in which the plaintiffs blamed a loved one’s suicide on clergy sexual abuse.

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

NEW JERSEY
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | May. 3, 2013

MENDHAM, N.J. Calls have come for the resignation of Newark, N.J., Archbishop John J. Myers after a late-April investigative story revealed an archdiocesan priest had violated the terms of a court-ordered agreement to stay away from children.

In the past several years, Fr. Michael Fugee has attended youth group activities, including retreats and overnight trips, and heard confessions of young people, according to an April 28 story in the Newark Star-Ledger. Those actions appear in violation of a memorandum of understanding signed by Fugee and his lawyer, archdiocesan vicar general Msgr. John Doran and the Bergen County prosecutor — restricting the priest from “any unsupervised contact with or to supervise or minister to any child/minor under the age of 18 or work in any position in which children are involved.”

The prosecutor’s office has begun an active investigation into Fugee’s case and has contacted the archdiocese as part of it.

“Things are being looked into, and we’re working with the prosecutor’s office and that’s about all I can say at this point,” James Goodness, director of communications for the archdiocese, told NCR May 1. He also confirmed there has been no change in Fugee’s ministerial state as of press time.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By FIONA HENDERSON May 3, 2013

THE Christian Brothers paid $1 million to defend paedophile Brother Robert Best.

A further $500,000 was spent on legal fees for other shamed brothers, including Edward Dowlan and Stephen Farrell who, along with Best, taught at Ballarat East’s St Alipius school in the 1970s.

The parliamentary inquiry into institutionalised child sex abuse also heard the Christian Brothers paid a private investigator to look into at least one victim’s “bizarre behaviour” to use in Best’s defence.

In front of a packed gallery at Parliament House, Christian Brothers Oceania Province deputy province leader Brother Julian McDonald said Best, who is still a Christian Brother, was often visited in Ararat jail.

“You don’t just add further to the judgement,” Brother McDonald said.

“Family members should visit another family member in jail. He is still a brother.”

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

By Peta Carlyon

The Christian Brothers of the Catholic Church have apologised to victims for what it calls an “indefensible” record on child sexual abuse.

Leaders of the order’s Oceania chapter have given evidence to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse.

Victims and their supporters scoffed and shook their heads as the order ran through its history of dealing with abuse, including several paedophiles at the St Alipius Catholic School in Ballarat in the 1970s.

The order admitted it spent $980,000 on the most recent court case of Brother Robert Best, who remains in the congregation despite more than 20 convictions, while it had spent $1.5 million in total on all offenders.

The order’s Brother Julian McDonald has made an official apology on behalf of the church.

“Far too many Christian Brothers have betrayed the sacred trust placed in them and sunk to the depths of abusing children is a matter of great shame for us,” he said.

“It’s diametrically opposed to all that we proclaim and for which we stand.”

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