ABUSE TRACKER

VATIKAN
Katholisches

(Washington) Gestern empfing Kurienerzbischof Gerhard Ludwig Müller in Rom den Vorstand der rebellischen Ordensschwestern der US-amerikanischen Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). Der Vatikan versucht noch einmal einen Dialog mit jenen ungehorsamen Schwestern, die den katholischen Glauben in Frage stellen, schwerwiegende Verfehlungen gegen die kirchliche Ordnung begangen und häretische Positionen eingenommen haben. Der Konflikt zwischen Rom und den in der LCWR zusammengeschlossenen Ordensfrauen spitzte sich 2012 zu und erreichte im Sommer einen Höhepunkt.

Die Delegiertenversammlung der LCWR, in der fast 80 Prozent der amerikanischen Frauenkonvente zusammengeschlossen sind, mußte im August 2012 entscheiden, ob sie mit den drei vom Vatikan ernannten Bischöfen zusammenarbeiten oder ein offenes Schisma vollziehen wollte. Papst Benedikt XVI. hatte den LCWR-Vorstand entmachtet und unter kommissarische Verwaltung gestellt. Schließlich fand sich eine Mehrheit, die den Eingriff akzeptierte und an der Einheit mit der katholischen Kirche festhielt.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Augsburger Allgemeine

Im Augsburger Internat St. Joseph waren körperlicher Züchtigung und sexueller Missbrauch offenbar gängige Praxis. Weitere Betroffene bekräftigen die jüngsten Vorwürfe. Von Rüdiger Heinze

Nach den schweren Vorwürfen , die der Komponist Wilfried Hiller vor kurzem in unserer Redaktion gegen zwei mittlerweile verstorbene Benediktiner-Patres des Augsburger Internats St. Joseph erhoben hatte, haben ihn und unsere Redaktion mehrere Reaktionen erreicht. Der in München lebende Hiller hatte von persönlich erfahrenem mehrfachen sexuellen Missbrauch sowie von persönlich erlittener schwerer körperlicher Züchtigung während seiner Schulzeit in den 50er-Jahren berichtet.

Vorwürfe belasten ehemaligen Seminardirektor

Dies bestätigen hinsichtlich der schweren körperlichen Züchtigung die uns erreichten Zuschriften und Telefonanrufe auch für die 60er- und 70er-Jahre in St. Joseph. Und sie spitzen sich, ohne dass unsere Redaktion die Namen der von Wilfried Hiller Beschuldigten genannt hat, auf den damals amtierenden Seminardirektor zu. Der jetzige Abt des Klosters St. Stephan, Theodor Hausmann, hatte nach Hillers Vorwürfen auch umgehend eingeräumt, dass er selbst zuvor schon zwei Beschuldigungen dieses ehemaligen Seminardirektors erhielt. Eine davon habe laut Richtlinien der Bischofskonferenz die freiwillige Entschädigungssumme von 5000 Euro nach sich gezogen.

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OSTERREICH
Nachrichten

KREMSMÜNSTER / STEYR. Der Verteidiger des ehemaligen Kremsmünsterer Paters, der von der Staatsanwaltschaft Steyr wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs sowie anderer Sexual- und Gewaltdelikte angeklagt wird, ergreift dagegen Rechtsmittel.

Konkret gehe es um die Frage, ob der illegale Waffenbesitz, der dem 79-jährigen Ex-Geistlichen ebenfalls vorgeworfen wird, die Verjährung hemmen kann oder nicht, so Anwalt Oliver Plöckinger. Wie lange eine Entscheidung des Oberlandesgerichts dauern wird, ist offen. Weil der Einspruch aber nur einen Teil der Anklage betrifft, wird der Prozess dadurch wohl nur verzögert und nicht verhindert.

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POLAND
Interfax

Kaliningrad, April 15, Interfax – A group of citizens, victims of priests-pedophiles, wants to establish a fund in Poland, which will pursue the phenomenon in the Church, the Polish cultural center in Kaliningrad said citing Polish mass media outlets.

The center said that this would be the first organization of this kind in Poland.

People who were sexually abused by priests as children intend to make such cases public and help other victims and their families.

The idea to create such a fund emerged as a result of the discussion of the issue on online forums, during which people talked about what had happened to them in the past. The group comprises both genders. Most of them are over 40 years old but there are those who are just over 20.

The fund’s base was formed in 2011 when three victims had joined, one of the fund’s founders said. “The legal form will allow us to be partners during talks with the Church because when we reach it as private citizens, this establishment is not taking that very seriously,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Global Mail

By Stephen Crittenden
April 17, 2013

The role of record-keeping is close to the centre of what the royal commission into abuse is all about: the battle between the Closed and the Open Society. But — at least in some cases — documents have been subpoenaed only as far back as 1970.

——————

In Belgium in 2010, such was the level of paranoia surrounding the investigation of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church that police broke into the cathedral tombs of cardinals, drilling holes and poking cameras down in search of hidden cachès of documents – which they didn’t find.

Australia’s national Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse doesn’t seem to be provoking anything like those levels of lurid sensationalism, at least not so far.

In his address opening the royal commission this month the chairman, Justice Peter McClellan, welcomed the Catholic Church’s repeated assurances that it wants to co-operate fully with the royal commission, and said he understood that the “enormous task” of collecting and organising documents held by the Church had already begun.

Justice McClellan conceded that most of the organisations whose activities are likely to be of interest to the commission are not yet in a position to provide documentation about their internal management practices or the way they have dealt with complaints of child sexual abuse.

But he also revealed that the commission has already served notice for production of documents on “particular bodies within the Catholic Church in Australia, its insurer, the Salvation Army and the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions.”

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ORANGEVALE (CA)
Divine Savior Parish via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

FINAL
April 12, 2013

(Please attribute to Fr. Roman Mueller, SDS, Pastor at Divine Savior Parish)

To be read at all Masses (Weekend of April 13-­‐14),

We have received notice that Fr. Robert Marsicek, a Salvatorian priest and former Pastor of this
Parish, has been accused of sexually abusing minors and has been removed from ministry by the
Salvatorian Provincial.

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WISCONSIN/CALIFORNIA
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

April 17, 2013

Catholic Church officials in Milwaukee had known for 10 months that Father Robert Marsicek was under investigation on suspicion of molesting two children in California, according to the Sacramento diocese.

But they did not move to suspend him from his duties at two local parishes and schools until a new allegation surfaced at a Wauwatosa school last month.

Kevin Eckery, a spokesman for the Diocese of Sacramento, said officials there notified the Archdiocese of Milwaukee; Marsicek’s Milwaukee-based religious order, the Society of the Divine Savior; and attorneys for both of the organizations about the California allegations in May 2012.

Marsicek is accused of sexually abusing two children in one family while he served at Divine Savior Parish in Orangevale, according to an announcement read at the California parish last weekend.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Fox 8

[with video]

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown says they are conducting an internal investigation of abuse allegations. Diocese spokesman Tony Degol says the investigation started very recently. This just months after dozens of former Bishop McCort High School students came forward with abuse allegations against Friar Stephne Baker who worked as a trainer at the school. Baker committed suicide in January. Since then Principal Ken Salem was put on Administrative leave.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

A priest has been cleared of rape after a court heard the woman made up the allegation based on the violent books of a popular crime writer.

By Telegraph reporters
1:17PM BST 16 Apr 2013

Father John Taylor, 49, found himself accused of raping the woman after meeting his accuser on Facebook and going on a dinner date which ended in sex.

The woman reported him for rape and he lost his job, found himself shunned by parishioners and had his car vandalised three times.

He was also banned from seeing his two young children who live with his ex wife Zsanett, 34, in her native Hungary because of the allegation.

Father Taylor was due to stand trial for rape on Monday but the case collapsed minutes before it was due to start.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that the woman, in her late 20s, told police she identified with the characters in the novels by Martina Cole which feature violent rape.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Mark Abrams

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A prominent nun active in supporting survivors of clergy sex abuse in Philadelphia says she is surprised the new pope is backing the crackdown on a group representing religious women in the Roman Catholic Church here in the US.

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish belongs to the Sisters of Notre Dame and is active in the Philadelphia chapter of Voices of the Faithful, a national organization which represents nuns in the US.

Turlish had hopes that Pope Francis would distance himself from the actions of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who, while pope, directed the organization to change its ways because of what he called “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith,” an apparent reference to the group’s exploration of church stance on sensitive topics including birth control, abortion, church governance, and the ordination of women.

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VATICAN CITY
Alaska Dispatch

Jason Berry|GlobalPost.com|

April 15, 2013

The Vatican announced that Pope Francis supports a controversial plan approved one year ago by Pope Benedict which calls for leaders of the organization representing the majority of American nuns to function under a Vatican-appointed overseer. The pope’s decision lets stand an investigation critics say is of dubious research, and which has been likened to a modern ‘inquisition.’

Upholding the “supervision” of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) signals that despite his conciliatory words on working with women that drew favorable attention in his first days as pope, Francis has taken a traditionalist stance toward progressive American nuns.

A Doctrinal Assessment issued last April by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) empowered Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain as delegate, or effective overseer of LCWR, which represents the superiors of 80 percent of American nuns.

A Vatican Press Office communiqué today said that LCWR officials met in Rome at CDF, the office that enforces doctrinal conformity among theologians and religious groups. The CDF also has responsibility for defrocking priests found guilty of abusing children.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Maureen Fiedler | Apr. 16, 2013

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious has posted a statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in which Archbishop Gerhard Müller of the doctrinal congregation said he talked to Pope Francis about the LCWR mandate and claims the pope affirmed it.

I am frankly very skeptical of that information. First, I doubt this issue is on the top of the new pope’s agenda or that he had much knowledge of this when he was an archbishop in Argentina.

And what does “affirm” mean? Affirm what? Some general, vague report? Did Müller give him a full explanation, talk about the opposition to it among U.S. Catholics or give him an outline of the actions proposed? Did he talk about the accusation that says U.S. women religious spend too much time on social justice and not enough on other issues? I frankly doubt the new pope would “affirm” that.

Did he even mention the questions raised by LCWR at the meeting several months ago? I doubt he gave both sides.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A former choirboy who suffered years of abuse in the 1970s by a priest has been awarded compensation of £200,000.

The payout comes two years after Father Maxwell Halahan who worked at St Faith’s Church in Cowes, Isle Of Wight was jailed for three years.

Halahan, a Church of England priest, was found guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court in September 2011, of four counts of indecent assault.

His victim said the abuse, which went on for five years, “ruined his life”.

The payout has been agreed by the Bishop of Portsmouth and will cover the cost of psychological treatment and loss of earnings.

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WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

April 16, 2013

The Wauwatosa Catholic priest suspended from ministry over inappropriate contact with a child is the subject of a similar investigation in California, a spokesman for the Sacramento diocese said Tuesday.

Father Robert Marsicek, 71, was removed from ministry at Pius X Catholic Church in Wauwatosa, Wauwatosa Catholic School and Mother of Good Counsel parish and school in Milwaukee, on March 28, after a teacher reported what she considered inappropriate contact with a child.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department has been investigating an allegation, reported last year, that Marsicek molested two boys while serving at Divine Savior Parish there in the 1990s, said diocese spokesman Kevin Eckery.

The Milwaukee County district attorney’s office declined to charge Marsicek, saying it could not prove the elements of a crime.

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WISCONSIN
Patch

By Jim Price and Viviana Buzo

A popular Wauwatosa priest suspended from his duties during an investigation of possible inappropriate behavior with a child is also under investigation in his former California parish and diocese on allegations that he sexually abused two boys when he was pastor there.

Father Robert Marsicek, 71, was suspended from his duties at St. Pius X Church in Wauwatosa last month for allegations of inappropriate contact with a student. No charges have yet been filed in that investigation.

A congregational letter signed by the pastor of his former parish in Orangevale, CA, announces the investigation there and also sheds more light on the allegations against Father Robert Marsicek in Milwaukee.

The letter, approved by the Diocese of Sacramento and signed by Father Roman Mueller, pastor at Divine Savior Parish in Orangevale, says that Marsicek is under investigation by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department and has been accused of sexually abusing minors.

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UNITED STATES
Legal Examiner

Eric Chaffin
Attorney

In February 2012, a Connecticut jury awarded a $1 million verdict to a boy who was sexually abused by a priest 30 years ago. The plaintiff brought claims against the Archdiocese of Hartford, arguing it was negligent and reckless when appointing the priest, who had a history of child abuse.

Though trying a child sexual abuse case against an institution can be more challenging than trying one against the perpetrator, it can also result in more substantial compensation for the plaintiff. Understanding the steps necessary to prove such a case can help increase the odds of securing a result the client deserves.

Negligent Hiring and Negligent Supervision

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about one in six boys and one in four girls are sexually abused before the age of 18. The American Psychological Association (APA) adds that other research indicates about 300,000 children are abused every year in the U.S., though the problem is likely underreported.

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NEW YORK
National Catholic Reporter

by Ben Feuerherd | Apr. 16, 2013

New York —
Victims of clergy sex abuse are tired of the meager steps taken by the church to prevent these crimes. These victims want the Vatican to acknowledge them and want their suggestions taken into account. Above all, they want bishops and priests who do not report these crimes to be held accountable. These were among the issues raised Thursday at a Manhattan fundraiser for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP.

“Bishop after bishop will say to me, ‘The media have caused this problem,’ ” said retired Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton at the event. “They are the ones the bishops blame on a regular basis, as well as blaming the victims themselves. They want to keep it all quiet.”

Three Catholic organizations sponsored the event — Call To Action – Metropolitan New York; Voice of the Faithful, New York; and Dignity/NY — and was endorsed by the Center for Constitutional Rights. About 50 people attended.

For Gumbleton and the other speakers at the fundraiser, the sex abuse crisis is an institutional problem. Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney showed a clip from his recent HBO documentary, “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God,” to prove this point. The clip showed Laurie Goodstein of The New York Times speaking about her investigation of clergy sex abuse at a church-run school for the deaf in Wisconsin. The documentary says documents Goodstein unearthed implicated Pope Benedict XVI in an attempt to keep the abuse quiet.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

by Edward Pentin Monday, April 15, 2013

For the third time in as many weeks, Pope Francis has warned not to speak ill of others, and again mentioned the devil in another striking homily this morning in the chapel of the Vatican’s Santa Martha residence.

Calumny, he said, is worse than sin and is the direct expression of Satan. “We are all sinners; all of us. We all commit sins. But calumny is something else. It is of course a sin, too, but it is something more,” he said, according to a Vatican Radio report.

“Calumny aims to destroy the work of God, and calumny comes from a very evil thing: it is born of hatred. And hate is the work of Satan. Calumny destroys the work of God in people, in their souls. Calumny uses lies to get ahead.” Be in no doubt, he said: “Where there is calumny, there is Satan himself.”

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Quotidiano

Roma, 15 aprile 2013 – “La calunnia distrugge l’opera di Dio nelle persone”, “è peggio di un peccato: la calunnia è un’espressione diretta di Satana”. Questo è il monito lanciato da Papa Francesco nella consueta omelia mattutina, durante la messa presieduta nella cappella della Domus Santa Marta. Il Pontefice ha inoltre invitato a pregare, come aveva già fatto ieri, per i tanti martiri che anche oggi sono falsamente accusati, perseguitati e uccisi in odio alla fede. Tra essi, il Santo Padre, ha ricordato il primo martire della Chiesa, Stefano, che è stato vittima della calunnia. “Stefano viene trascinato davanti al sinedrio per via della sua testimonianza al Vangelo. Qui lo accusano dei falsi testimoni”. Così, ha sottolineato il Pontefice, i nemici hanno intrapreso “la strada della lotta sporca: la calunnia”.

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Vatican Insider

La homilía de Bergoglio en la misa con el personal de los Servicios telefónicos vaticanos y de la Oficina de Internet del Vaticano

Redacción
Roma

«La calumnia destruye la obra de Dios en las personas». Lo afirmó el Papa en la misa de hoy en Santa Marta en la que participaron, entre otros, el personal de los Servicios telefónicos vaticanos y de la Oficina de Internet del Vaticano. Una síntesis de la homilía fue publicada por la radio Vaticana.

El Papa Bergoglio invitó a rezar por todos los mártires que todavía hoy siguen siendo injustamente acusados, perseguidos y asesinados por su fe. «Esteban, el primer mártir de la Iglesia –observó– es una víctima de la calumnia». Y la calumnia, indicó el nuevo Pontífice, «es peor que un pecado: la calumnia es una expresión directa de Satanás». Los enemigos de Esteban, explicó el Papa, «tomaron la vía de la lucha sucia: la calumnia».

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Vatican Insider

L’omelia di Bergoglio al personale il personale dei Servizi telefonici vaticani e dell’Ufficio Internet vaticano

Redazione
Roma

«La calunnia distrugge l’opera di Dio nelle persone». Lo ha affermato il Papa nella messa a Santa Marta, cui oggi ha partecipato, tra gli altri, il personale dei Servizi telefonici vaticani e dell’Ufficio Internet vaticano. Una sintesi dell’omelia del Pontefice è pubblicata dalla Radiovaticana.

Papa Bergoglio ha invitato a pregare per i tanti martiri che anche oggi sono falsamente accusati, perseguitati e uccisi in odio alla fede. «Stefano, il primo martire della Chiesa, – ha osservato il Papa – è una vittima della calunnia.

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VATICAN CITY
Zenit

Vatican City, April 15, 2013 (Zenit.org) Staff

Drawing from the First Reading account of Stephen, the first martyr, being dragged before the Sanhedrin, Pope Francis today strongly condemned the sin of calumny.

At his customary morning Mass in Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Holy Father noted that Stephen was accused of “false witness,” and that his enemies chose “the path of calumny.”

Vatican Radio reported on the Holy Father’s homily, noting that Francis described calumny as worse than sin and a direct expression of Satan.

“We are all sinners; all of us. We all commit sins. But calumny is something else. It is of course a sin, too, but it is something more. Calumny aims to destroy the work of God, and calumny comes from a very evil thing: it is born of hatred. And hate is the work of Satan. Calumny destroys the work of God in people, in their souls. Calumny uses lies to get ahead. And let us be in no doubt, eh?: Where there is calumny, there is Satan himself,” he said.

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CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague Daily Monitor

ČTK |

15 April 2013

Olomouc, North Moravia, April 12 (CTK) – The Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church Metropolitan Krystof stepped down Friday amid his critics’ allegations that he has breached his oath as a monk and had sex with women, a church dignitary said, adding that Krystof has resigned on his own for the sake of the church’s unity.

Krystof (Christopher of Prague), 59, previously dismissed the accusations and said he would take legal steps to clean his name.

TV Nova reported last week that Krystof, who headed the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia from 2006, had several girlfriends with whom he has children. It said the urged Primate Krystof to refute the accusations by mid-May.

According to Nova, the church has accused Krystof of having sex with church synod discussed the issue at an extraordinary meeting and the wife of one of the priests for seven years. In addition, she is not the only woman with whom Krystof committed a sin. He has even children with others, maybe up to ten of them, Nova said.

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CZECH REPUBLIC
Columbus Dispatch

PRAGUE — The head of the Orthodox Church in the Czech Republic and Slovakia resigned yesterday, amid allegations of affairs with women and fathering illegitimate children.

Having already denied the charges, Metropolitan Krystof, 59, opted to resign to help maintain the unity of the church, a church spokesman said.

TV Nova cited church documents suggesting the metropolitan had an affair with a priest’s wife. It is also alleged that he had fathered several illegitimate children.

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PENNSYLVANIA
San Francisco Chronicle

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown in central Pennsylvania says it is investigating claims that a Franciscan friar who committed suicide in January molested Catholic high school students when he helped at the school from 1992 to 2001.

More than 50 former students at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown have hired attorneys and say they intend to sue church and school officials they believe are responsible for their alleged abuse by Brother Stephen Baker.

Baker committed suicide Jan. 26 at a monastery in Newry more than a week after the Youngstown, Ohio diocese disclosed financial settlements involving 11 students who claimed Baker abused them at a northeastern Ohio school in the late 1980s.

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MEXIQUE
Lavenir

Le procès de l’abbé Ernesto Rueda-Moreno a commencé. En l’absence de l’ancien curé de Tarcienne, retourné au Mexique.

L’abbé Ernesto Rueda-Moreno, de nationalité mexicaine, a exercé durant 3 ans comme curé de la paroisse Saint-Martin, à Tarcienne (Walcourt). Ce mardi, il était cité à comparaître devant le tribunal correctionnel de Dinant, pour des faits de moeurs, que l’on pourrait qualifier d’une gravité relative. On peut même écrire que si le prévenu n’avait pas d’ascendant moral sur sa victime mineure, il n’aurait pas eu à se défendre dans les prétoires.

Que lui reproche-t-on? D’avoir embrassé et enlacé une jeune paroissienne, issue d’une famille très croyante au sein de laquelle il était régulièrement accueilli.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

Published – 15 April 2013

A group representing victims of child abuse has revealed that several survivors have received death threats, warning them against giving evidence to the Royal Commission. The group says the threats have come from individuals inside the Catholic Church, and are yet another barrier to survivors coming forward.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Randy Griffith rgriffith@tribdem.com

ALTOONA — Facing several lawsuits, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is conducting its own investigation into events surrounding allegations that a Franciscan friar sexually abused some Bishop McCort students in the 1990s and early 2000s.

“I can confirm that the diocese is conducting an investigation,” spokesman Tony DeGol said in an emailed statement.

“As for the status, I can tell you that it is ongoing.”

Baker died in late January of a self-inflicted stab wound to the heart at his residence in St. Bernardine Monastery near Hollidaysburg. He was 62.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Radio Vatikan

Die Anwälte von Missbrauchsopfern im kirchlichen Bereich wollen vertrauliche Unterlagen einsehen. Sie fordern von Ordensgemeinschaften Einsicht in deren Aufzeichnungen über Priester, die des Missbrauchs beschuldigt werden. An diesem Dienstag soll bei einer gerichtlichen Anhörung entschieden werden, ob und wie die Dokumentationen der Orden, darunter Jesuiten und Salesianer, öffentlich gemacht werden.

Der juristische Kampf ist in Gang gekommen, nachdem die Erzdiözese Los Angeles Dokumente über 120 ihrer Priester veröffentlichte, die wegen sexuellen Missbrauch zivilrechtlich angeklagt wurden. Bis zu einem Drittel der betroffenen Priester gehören einem Orden an; diese Orden haben allerdings jeweils eigene Hierarchien, Strukturen und Disziplinarverfahren.

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CALIFORNIA
Fox 40

by Sam Cohen
Executive Producer of Digital Content

ORANGEVALE-

A Catholic priest was removed from the ministry after accusations of abuse during a period of time he was pastor at an Orangevale church.

Father Robert Marsicek was formerly the pastor at Divine Savior Parish along Greenback Lane. More recently, he was pastor for two parishes in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Marsicek faces allegations of sexual abuse of minors from two people who were parishioners at Divine Savior in the 1980s and 90s, and also more recent allegations from two people in Wisconsin.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Associated Press

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Less than three months after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles released the files of priests accused of sex abuse, attorneys for alleged victims are back in court seeking similar records kept by more than a dozen religious orders.

A hearing Tuesday will begin the process of determining if — and in what form — the records kept by religious orders such as the Jesuits, Vincentians, Salesians and Dominicans, among others, will be made public.

The continued legal battle comes after the Los Angeles archdiocese unsealed under court order the files it kept over the years on 120 of its priests who have been accused of sex abuse in civil lawsuits. The church agreed as part of a $660 million settlement to release the documents, but attorneys for individual priests fought for five years to keep them under wraps, citing privacy issues.

A number of religious orders signed off on the settlement agreement and contributed significant amounts to it because up to one-third of the accused priests belonged to religious orders, said J. Michael Hennigan, an archdiocese attorney representing the interests of the orders at the hearing.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

AAP
April 16, 2013

A NSW priest who sexually abused underage girls says evidence about how hypnosis could have distorted the memories of witnesses should have been allowed into his trial.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is appealing his sentence and conviction after he was found guilty in 2010 of nine counts of indecently assaulting two underage girls and a 16-year-old girl.

Describing the assaults as “predatory and planned”, Judge Michael Finnane sentenced him in 2012 to a minimum of five years in prison, with his earliest date of parole set for November 2015.

But in a hearing before the Court of Criminal Appeal on Tuesday, his solicitor Greg Walsh said justice had been miscarried on a number of fronts.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Washington Post

By Associated Press

Updated: Monday, April 15

LOS ANGELES — In an April 14 story about confidential personnel files on Roman Catholic religious order priests, The Associated Press reported erroneously that such clergy were loaned out to the Los Angeles Archdiocese to relieve priest shortages. Religious order priests were assigned to work in the archdiocese in many capacities.

A corrected version of the story is below:

LA priest ministered despite abuse conviction

Attorneys seek religious order files on accused priests, including 1 who served after jail

By GILLIAN FLACCUS

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — When the Rev. John Anthony Salazar arrived in Tulia, Texas, in 1991, he was warmly welcomed by the Roman Catholic community tucked in the Texas Panhandle. What his new parishioners didn’t know was he’d been hired out of a treatment program for pedophile priests — and that he’d been convicted for child molestation and banned from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for life.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on April 15, 2013

A leading advocacy organization will this weekend (April 19-21) hold a conference that will address the prevention and awareness of the past and present abuse of missionary children.

Missionary Kids Safety Net (MK Safety Net) has been raising the issue of abuse of missionary children by evangelical missionaries for the past 20 years. This weekend, they will hold their first national conference in Rolling Meadows to address the state of the crisis and focus on solutions. Speakers include William Paul Young (author of the best-selling novel The Shack), David Clohessy (Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), and Dr. Andrew Schmutzer (Professor of Bible at Moody Bible Institute).

“This is a current, cutting edge issue in the North American evangelical mission community,” said Rev. Rich Darr, a Board Member of MK Safety Net and Lead Pastor at First UMC in Park Ridge, IL.

The conference will take place at the Holiday Inn Rolling Meadows-Schaumburg at 3405 Algonquin Rd in Rolling Meadows, IL (847-259-6600), and will run from noon on Friday, April 19 to noon on Sunday, April 21. Beyond the plenary speakers, items on the agenda include sessions on topics like how to report abuse to authorities, and screenings of documentary films like “All God’s Children.”

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BOSTON (MA)
Daily Mail (UK)

By Daily Mail Reporter

The head of the Roman Catholic church in Boston is among eight cardinals named by Pope Francis to advise him on running the church and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley, known for imposing a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on clerical sex abuse in his archdiocese of Boston, was given the honor by the Vatican on Saturday.

The group includes only one current Vatican official, with the rest being cardinals from Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia. They will hold their first meeting Oct. 1-3, though the group are reportedly already in communication with the Pope.

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VATIKAN
Spiegel

Wie weit geht der Reformwille von Papst Franziskus? Gerade bestätigte der neue Pontifex einen Bericht, in dem allzu liberal gesinnte US-Nonnen abgemahnt wurden. Sie hätten radikal-feministische Thesen vertreten, hieß es. Der Argentinier fordert Gehorsam.

Rom – Er will die Kurie reformieren, hat eigens einen Arbeitskreis zusammengerufen, in dem acht Kardinäle aus fünf Kontinenten sitzen. Mit seinen ersten Schritten im Amt verbreitet Papst Franziskus allerorts Hoffnung auf Bewegung, Veränderung und Reformen in der katholischen Kirche. Jetzt bestätigen Berichte von US-Medien, dass der Pontifex liberalen Strömungen offenbar weniger zugetan ist als vermutet.

Der Vatikan hatte im vergangenen Jahr auf eine Reform der US-Vereinigung katholischer Nonnen gedrängt. Die hatten sich mit allzu progressiven Ideen in Sachen Empfängnisverhütung, Abtreibung und der Homosexualität innerkirchliche Feinde gemacht. Man warf der Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) vor, “radikal-feministische Thesen” zu vertreten. Die Organisation ist in Maryland ansässig und hat etwa 1500 katholische Frauen in führenden Positionen als Mitglieder.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

The Pope has approved a report criticising the leadership of the largest group of American nuns.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is accused by the Vatican of “radical feminism” and of failing to obey church teaching on such matters as the possible ordination of women as priests.

They have accused the Vatican of a “flawed” process of investigation.

The report was ordered by Pope Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Alessandro Speciale| Religion News Service,

Updated: Monday, April 15

VATICAN CITY — Nearly a year after the Vatican announced a makeover of the largest umbrella group for American nuns, Pope Francis has directed that the overhaul of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious continue.

The decision, while not entirely unexpected, could nonetheless bring an end to Francis’ honeymoon with the many American Catholics who had viewed the crackdown on nuns as heavy-handed and unnecessary..

Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, who heads the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, met on Monday (April 15) with the LCWR’s leadership for the first time since Francis’ election on March 13.

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UNITED STATES
Slate

By Abby Ohlheiser
Posted Monday, April 15, 2013

New pope, same story—at least when it comes to America’s nuns.

Pope Francis announced Monday morning that he will stick to his predecessor’s hard-line approach to reforming an umbrella group representing about 80 percent of U.S. nuns, an organization that Benedict XVI believed was promoting “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.”

Given Francis’ Jesuit background, some had speculated that he might take a softer approach to dealing with the more liberal wings of the church. But the new pope, like his predecessor, leans theologically conservative, so his commitment to Benedict’s hard line shouldn’t come as a shock. In the case of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), that means the continuation of a five-year plan that Benedict set into motion last year aimed at pushing the group back in line with the Vatican’s positions on social issues like homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, and women in the priesthood.

Leaders of the nun’s group were informed of Francis’ decision at a morning meeting with church officials, according to the Vatican. As part of the ongoing plan, the Vatican has given Archbishop of Seattle Peter Sartain the authority to take the steps he sees as necessary to ensure the group better toes the party line as laid out by the Vatican and echoed by the American contingent of Catholic bishops. Those steps including requiring the nuns to get approval from the archbishop for every speaker they invite to a public event, replace their handbook, and revise their statutes, along with generally ensuring that they don’t publicly “disagree with or challenge positions taken by” American bishops or the Vatican.

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VATICAN CITY
Los Angeles Times

By Tom Kington
April 15, 2013

ROME — Pope Francis has backed the Vatican’s doctrinal crackdown on a major group of American nuns, reasserting the Roman Catholic Church’s conservative approach to various social issues in a move that could cool the warm reception he has received from some liberal Catholics since taking office last month.

In a statement issued Monday, the Vatican said Francis had “reaffirmed” the doctrinal evaluation and criticism of U.S. nuns carried out last year by the Vatican under his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. The assessment accused the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella organization that represents most U.S. female Catholic orders, of promoting “radical feminism” and of ignoring the Vatican’s hard line on same-sex marriage and abortion.

At the time, the Vatican dispatched an archbishop to rewrite the group’s statutes and set up reeducation programs to bring nuns back into line, alleging that leaders of U.S. orders had challenged the church’s teachings on women’s ordination and ministry to homosexuals.

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VATICAN CITY
Toronto Sun

Philip Pullella, REUTERS

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has reaffirmed the Vatican’s criticism of a body that represents U.S. nuns which the Church said was tainted by “radical“ feminism, dashing hopes he might take a softer stand with the sisters.

Francis’s predecessor, Benedict, decreed that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group that represents more than 8% of the 57,000 Catholic nuns in the United States, must change its ways, a ruling which the Vatican said on Monday still applied.

Last year, a Vatican report said the LCWR had “serious doctrinal problems” and promoted “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith”, criticising it for taking a soft line on issues such as birth control and homosexuality.

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AUSTRALIA
Greek Reporter

By Margarita Papantoniou on April 15, 2013

The Greek Orthodox Church in Australia shows zero tolerance for the sexual abuse of minors and has no intention of covering such atrocities. This is what Bishop Iakovos of Militoupolis pointed out on behalf of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, making a statement to the committee that is conducting an official inquiry on child sexual abuse in various institutions.

Bishop Iakovos told the parliamentary committee of Victoria that the Archdiocese’s fixed position is to refer any complaint of such nature to the police. “There has never been any complaint of child sexual abuse”, he added, although he admitted that some may be embarrassed or scared and do not want to report it.

The Bishop of Militoupolis said that the Archdiocese holds a record with accusations against its own clergymen. “There have been two cases that we unfrocked priests, but that was not about sexual abuse of minors”, Bishop Iakovos noted and added that in one of these cases, a priest withheld money from the marriage ceremonies he solemnized.

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UNITED STATES
Leadership Conference of Women Religious

April 15, 2013

On April 15, 2013 Sister Florence Deacon, OSF, LCWR president; Sister Carol Zinn, SSJ, LCWR president-elect; and Sister Janet Mock, CSJ, LCWR executive director; met with Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF); Archbishop Luis Ladaria, secretary of CDF; and other members of the CDF dicastery. Archbishop J. Peter Sartain was also present.

The LCWR officers reviewed the activities of this past year since receiving the report of CDF’s doctrinal assessment of LCWR in April 2012.

In his opening remarks, Archbishop Müller informed the group that he had met with Pope Francis who “reaffirmed the findings of the assessment and the program of reform for this Conference of Major Superiors”.

The conversation was open and frank. We pray that these conversations may bear fruit for the good of the Church.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by Joshua J. McElwee | Apr. 15, 2013

Pope Francis has reaffirmed Pope Benedict XVI’s rebuke of the main leadership group of U.S. Catholic sisters and approved a plan to place the group under the control of three U.S. bishops, according to the Vatican.

Reaffirmation of the move came in a meeting Monday between the leaders of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to a statement from the Vatican.

During the meeting, the Vatican said, Müller told the LCWR leaders that he had “recently discussed” the issue with Pope Francis, “who reaffirmed the findings of the Assessment and the program of reform.”

The meeting was the first between LCWR, which represents about 80 percent of the United States’ approximately 57,000 sisters, and Müller, who became head of the doctrinal congregation in July.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Apr. 14, 2013

A Vatican announcement Saturday that Francis has named eight cardinals to advise him on governance represents the first concrete step toward the reform that was so much in the air during the run-up to the conclave that propelled a Latin American outsider to the papacy.

Twenty-four hours later, five points seem most noteworthy about the “G8” that will likely be the new pope’s most important sounding board.

1. A Cabinet, not a blue-ribbon commission

In some early reporting, the mission of this body has been described as helping Francis to reform the Roman Curia. Yet reading Saturday’s announcement, that’s not what it says. The key line states that Francis has assembled this group “to advise him in the government of the universal church,” and only then “to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, Pastor Bonus.”

In other words, curial reform is only the second task. The first is to advise the pope on decisions about the universal church, meaning there’s almost nothing that falls outside its purview.

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AUSTRALIA
Vice

In 2006, Australia instituted mandatory background checks for those who work with children to ensure they’re not baby touchers or prone to cooking little kids in cauldrons. But apparently, God thinks this law is wrong, at least according to the country’s Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have chosen to follow their savior’s law in lieu of their government’s and refuse to have their members screened. But an 11-year-old schoolboy from Traralgon, Victoria, has had enough. He recently filed a lawsuit against the Witnesses, declaring that this negligence is tantamount to child abuse. To learn more, I spoke with Steven Unthank, an ex-Witness who’s launched a crusade against the sect’s policies toward children and who helped the boy (who can’t be named in the press under Australian law) file the suit.

VICE: What is the rationale behind the Jehovah’s Witnesses refusing these background checks?
Steven Unthank: They believe that anyone high up in the church has been chosen by God, and it’s unreasonable to make them conform to man’s law. It’s like questioning the will of God.

It’s not every day that an 11-year-old sues an international religious organization. How did this boy’s case come about?
When he was eight, he witnessed the rape of another child within the church. He then saw that neither the church nor the police did anything because the person who raped the girl remained in the church.

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CALIFORNIA
KCRA

Claire Doan

ORANGEVALE, Calif. (KCRA) —A former pastor of the Divine Savior Catholic Church now faces accusations of sexual abuse and has been temporarily removed from public ministry in the Milwaukee area.

Father Robert Marsicek, 71, who helped build the Orangevale church and served as pastor there from 1987 until 2001, is now under investigation by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department for possible child abuse, according to Kevin Eckery, a spokesperson for the Sacramento Catholic Diocese.

Marsicek has been temporarily relieved of his duties at two parishes in the Milwaukee area, as the church investigates a possible incident of child molestation before Easter of this year.

Eckery said the Sacramento Catholic Diocese learned that there could be two victims — two boys from one family — who experienced child abuse in the late 80s and 90s, months before the Milwaukee allegations surfaced.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Courthouse News Service

By KEVIN KOENINGER

PHILADELPHIA (CN) – A priest sexually assaulted a woman he asked to see him for “counseling,” then “smeared her menstrual blood on her face,” and when the church found out it sent him to Poland, the woman claims in court.

Jane Doe and her husband sued the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Order of St. Paul the First Hermit, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa and Father Marek Lacki, in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.

The Does claim that while they were volunteering at a church retreat, “defendant Lacki met with plaintiffs at Our Lady of Czestochowa to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Defendant Lacki encouraged plaintiffs to drink alcohol with him and to discuss any marital difficulties they were having. He was very charming and encouraged them to be open with him.

“Plaintiffs trusted defendant Lacki to act in their best interests and shared their marital challenges with defendant Lacki, who was particularly interested in learning about their sex life.

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VATICAN CITY
Gazzetta del Sud

Vatican City, April 15 – Pope Francis is continuing the Church’s critical position on the majority of American nuns for deviating from official Catholic doctrine, the Vatican said Monday. Gerhard Mueller, prefect of Church orthodoxy watchdog Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, met with directors from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), which represents more than 80% of American nuns. In April last year the LCWR was chided in a Vatican report for allegedly promoting “radical feminist themes” and devoting too much time to social justice while remaining unacceptably quiet on the Church’s opposition to birth control and same-sex marriage.

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VATICAN CITY
NEWS.com.au

[doctrinal assessment]

POPE Francis has backed a doctrinal report drawn up under his predecessor Benedict XVI that accuses the largest group of nuns in the United States of holding “radical feminist” views, the Vatican says.

The new Pope has “reaffirmed the findings of the assessment and the program of reform” for the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), which represents around 45,000 US nuns and is known for its social work, the Vatican said.

The statement said the head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ludwig Mueller, met with representatives of the LCWR in the Vatican on Monday in an attempt to smooth over differences.

Mueller thanked the group for its work in “many schools, hospitals, and institutions of support for the poor” in the US, the statement said.

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VATICAN CITY
DFW Catholic

Vatican City, Apr 15, 2013 / 07:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has reaffirmed the Vatican’s assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which found it had “serious doctrinal problems” and initiated a program for reform.

Archbishop Gerhard L. Müller, the prefect for the Vatican’s doctrine congregation, met in Rome with conference president Sister Florence Deacon on April 15, along with Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle, who was named to carry out the reform of the group.

Archbishop Müller told Sr. Deacon that he “recently discussed the Doctrinal Assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed the findings of the Assessment and the program of reform for this Conference of Major Superiors,” an April 15 statement from the congregation said.

“It is the sincere desire of the Holy See that this meeting may help to promote the integral witness of women Religious,” the communiqué stated, and this requires “a firm foundation of faith and Christian love, so as to preserve and strengthen it for the enrichment of the Church and society for generations to come.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 15 April 2013 (VIS) – “Today, the Superiors of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met with the Presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) of the United States of America. Archbishop James Peter Sartain, archbishop of Seattle, Washington, USA, and the Holy See’s Delegate for the Doctrinal Assessment of the LCWR, also participated in the meeting,” informs a communique from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

“As this was his first opportunity to meet with the Presidency of the LCWR, the Prefect of the Congregation, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, expressed his gratitude for the great contribution of women Religious to the Church in the United States as seen particularly in the many schools, hospitals, and institutions of support for the poor which have been founded and staffed by Religious over the years.”

“The Prefect then highlighted the teaching of the Second Vatican Council regarding the important mission of Religious to promote a vision of ecclesial communion founded on faith in Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Church as faithfully taught through the ages under the guidance of the Magisterium. He also emphasized that a Conference of Major Superiors, such as the LCWR, exists in order to promote common efforts among its member Institutes as well as cooperation with the local Conference of Bishops and with individual Bishops. For this reason, such Conferences are constituted by and remain under the direction of the Holy See.”

“Finally, Archbishop Muller informed the Presidency that he had recently discussed the Doctrinal Assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed the findings of the Assessment and the program of reform for this Conference of Major Superiors.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

15 April 2013

THE case taken by three staff against the Dublin Archdiocese has done much to flesh out the emerging financial crisis facing the Catholic Church in Ireland.

The archdiocese is the largest in the country, covering 198 parishes in Dublin, most of Wicklow, and parts of Kildare, Carlow, Wexford and Laois.

Its fortunes are crucial to the well-being of the church here, and if the details revealed as part of the pay case are anything to go by, the future is not looking bright.

It is well known that clerical abuse claims have taken their toll on the archdiocese’s coffers, with over €13.5m paid out in settlements and legal costs.

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CHILE
Cooperativa

El denunciante de Fernando Karadima, Juan Carlos Cruz, fustigó la respuesta del cardenal Francisco Errázuriz tras las críticas al ser elegido como parte del grupo papal que reformará la curia.

Ante las críticas que recibió por parte de las víctimas de Karadima, Errázuriz respondió que el papa Francisco “pensó distinto” al nombrarlo a él como uno de los ocho religiosos que forman este grupo.

Para Cruz, Errázuriz “nunca ha hecho su deber y montones de chilenos lo saben”.

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WISCONSIN
YouTube

A group called Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, is speaking out after the Green Bay Catholic Diocese reported a retired priest has been accused of abuse of a minor.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The Federal Government has rejected a call for the removal of one of six royal commissioners investigating child sexual abuse.

A victims’ support group is concerned commissioner Robert Fitzgerald may have a conflict of interest because of his 30-year association with the Catholic Church.

The International Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests says some victims are worried they will not be able to speak openly about their experiences in front of Mr Fitzgerald.

The group’s Nicky Davis said the commissioner sat in some very prominent positions in Catholic organisations.

‘It would be best if he resigned from the royal commission and was replaced with someone that does not have close ties to any organisation that’s been involved in large scale child sexual abuse,’ she said.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sueddeutsche

Von Christian Krügel

Der neue Papst will die Kurie reformieren und hat dafür nun acht Kirchenmänner berufen. Unter den Auserwählten ist der Münchner Kardinal Reinhard Marx. Er gilt in der Weltkirche als strukturierter Organisator, als einflussreich – ohne zu den Cliquen der Kurie zu gehören.

Es war ein Immobiliendeal, der viele Münchner Katholiken richtig ärgerte: Für knapp zehn Millionen Euro kaufte sich das Erzbistum 2012 ein eigenes Haus in Rom. Gedacht ist es für Pilger und natürlich auch für die Bistumsleitung. So umstritten der Immobilienkauf war, so weitsichtig war er auch. Denn die Bistumsleitung in Gestalt von Kardinal Reinhard Marx dürfte das neue römische Domizil in Zukunft ziemlich regelmäßig nutzen. Papst Franziskus benannte am Wochenende ein neues Kardinalsgremium, das ihm bei der allseits geforderten Reform der Kurie beraten soll. Nur acht Kirchenmänner sind darin vertreten. Darunter: der Münchner Kardinal Reinhard Marx.

Gemeinsam mit seinen Amtsbrüdern soll er den neuen Papst “bei der Regierung der Kirche beraten” und eine Reform der Kurien-Verfassung erarbeiten, heißt es in der Erklärung des Vatikans. Der Kardinal selbst schwieg am Sonntag zu seiner Berufung.

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POLEN
epd

[Summary: Polish survivors of sexual abuse are starting a foundation to study abuse in the Catholic Church and to offer help and support to the survivors.]

In Polen wollen frühere Pädophilieopfer eine Stiftung zur Aufarbeitung der Missbrauchsfälle in der katholischen Kirche des Landes gründen. Wie der Radiosender TOK FM am Wochenende meldete, soll die Stiftung Betroffenen helfen und in einen Dialog mit der Kirche treten. Zudem will die Organisation die Zahl der Missbrauchsfälle umfassend erheben.

“Die Rechtsform einer Stiftung erlaubt es uns, ein Partner für die katholische Kirche zu sein, denn wenn wir uns einzeln an die Kirche wenden, werden wir nicht ernst genommen”, erklärte einer der 15 Gründer dem Sender. Es gehe nicht darum, einen “Krieg gegen die Kirche” zu führen, unterstrich er.

Die polnische Bischofskonferenz veröffentlicht bislang keine Zahlen über Missbrauchsfälle. Opfer könnten auch nicht mit einer Entschädigung rechnen, hieß es in einer kirchlichen Erklärung vom März.

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IRELAND
Galway Independent

Marie Madden

The former Magdalene Laundry site on Forster Street is to be converted to a refuge for sufferers of domestic violence.

It was announced this morning that the Sisters of Mercy Convent at 47 Forster Street will become the new location for Waterside House, the Domestic Violence Refuge operated and managed by COPE Galway.

Earlier this year, COPE Galway approached the Sisters of Mercy about the site and the Sisters have responded by donating the property to the charity on a 99-year lease for the benefit of women and children in Galway.

Speaking about the announcement, CEO of COPE Galway Jacquie Horan said she could not express how “delighted and relieved” she was about the opportunity.

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IRELAND
Galway Bay FM

The former Magdalene laundry site in the city is to be transformed into a domestic violence refuge.

The Sisters of Mercy today handed the keys to the convent at 47 Forster street, behind the former Anglo Irish building, to Cope Galway.

The existing refuge at Waterside house has been unfit for purpose for many years, as it comprises ‘bedsit’ style accommodation forcing families to live in one large room.

Last year, Waterside House accomodated 100 women and their families but did not have sufficient capacity to accomodate a further 200, who had to be referred elsewhere.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

Alison Caldwell, ABC
Updated April 15, 2013

A support group for victims of child sexual abuse is calling for one of the six people on the royal commission to resign or be removed from the panel.

International Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP, is concerned that commissioner Robert Fitzgerald may have a conflict of interest.

Victims are worried they will not be able to speak openly about their experiences in front of Mr Fitzgerald because of his 30-year association with the Catholic Church.

SNAP’s Nicky Davis says he is too close to the church to be sitting on the royal commission.

“He sits in some very prominent positions in Catholic organisations,” she said.

“I think that this is a serious enough issue and is going to affect so many victims that it would be best if he resigned from the royal commission and was replaced with someone that does not have close ties to any organisation that’s been involved in large scale child sexual abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

AAP
April 15, 2013

The federal government has rejected a call for the removal of one of six royal commissioners investigating child sexual abuse.

A victims’ support group is concerned commissioner Robert Fitzgerald may have a conflict of interest because of his 30-year association with the Catholic Church.

The International Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests says some victims are worried they will not be able to speak openly about their experiences in front of Mr Fitzgerald.

The group’s Nicky Davis said the commissioner sat in some very prominent positions in Catholic organisations.

“It would be best if he resigned from the royal commission and was replaced with someone that does not have close ties to any organisation that’s been involved in large scale child sexual abuse,” she told ABC radio on Monday.

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AUSTRALIA
News-Mail

FEDERAL Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has defended the appointment of Robert Fitzgerald as one of the commissioners investigating child sexual abuse.

Victim support groups have led a chorus of people calling for Mr Fitzgerald, a former Deputy Ombudsman of NSW and Commissioner for Disability, to resign because of his strong links to the Catholic Church.

But Mr Dreyfus rejected calls to remove Mr Fitzgerald, one of six commissioners conducting the inquiry, making the point he was chosen following a “rigorous selection process”.

“I think we have to look at who Mr Fitzgerald is; we have to say that he accepted this role in good faith and in the knowledge that it will be a long, deep and difficult investigation into responses by institutions, including the Catholic Church.

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CALIFORNIA
News 10

Suzanne Phan

ORANGEVALE- Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a former priest at an Orangevale church for alleged child abuse. This comes after other allegations involving the priest surfaced in Wisconsin.

Father Robert Marsicek, a priest at Divine Savior Catholic Church in Orangevale from 1987 until 2001, is now under investigation for allegations of child abuse.

27 year old Catherine Knepshield, who just a child at the time, remembers “Father Bob.”

“He’d have a boat, he’d take all the families out on the lake,” said Catherine.

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CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee

By Robert D. Dávila
rdavila@sacbee.com

A former pastor at Divine Savior Catholic Church in Orangevale is under investigation following allegations that he sexually abused two children who were parishioners in the 1980s and 1990s.

Officials at Divine Savior read a statement at Sunday Masses informing parishioners about the allegations against the Rev. Robert “Bob” Marsicek, who was pastor from 1987 to 2001. The statement said Marsicek is under investigation for a similar complaint in Wisconsin, where he is a pastor in the Milwaukee Archdiocese.

The statement read by the Rev. Roman Mueller, current pastor at Divine Savior, said the allegations against Marsicek involve two children who belonged to the church in the 1980s and 1990s.

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UNITED STATES
Orthodox Church in America

SYOSSET, NY [OCA]

In a pastoral letter dated April 14, 2013, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon addressed the clergy and faithful of the Diocese of the Midwest with regard to recent events concerning His Grace, Bishop Matthias.

The complete text as it appears below also is available in PDF format.

PASTORAL LETTER
April 14, 2013
Sunday of Saint John of the Ladder

To the Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers, Reverend Deacons, Venerable Monastics, Esteemed Members of the Diocesan and Parish Councils and Faithful of the Diocese of the Midwest,

The past eight months have been difficult for the entire Diocese of the Midwest and have seen the clergy and faithful in all of the parishes deeply affected by the matter of the allegations against His Grace, Bishop Matthias. The resolution of this matter has likewise required significant attention and the Holy Synod recognizes the stress that everyone has been under during this time.

Since Archbishop Nathaniel’s letter to the diocese of November 3, 2012, the Holy Synod has been carefully reviewing all aspects of this matter, including the Report of the Response Team that investigated the complaint, the Report of the Institute which offered the week-long evaluation and the discussions held at the Assembly and Diocesan Council of the Diocese of the Midwest.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

BY MITCH DUDEK Staff Reporter/mdudek@suntimes.com April 14, 2013

Bishop Matthias, the Chicago-based head of the Midwest diocese for the Orthodox Church in America, will step down Monday, eight months after email and text messages sent by the bishop to a female parishioner came to light.

A statement posted to the church’s website Sunday read: “The healing of the Diocese and of the complainant, as well as Bishop Matthias’ own healing, would not be possible should he be returned to the Diocese as a ruling hierarch.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune reporter
April 15, 2013

Unable to overcome the disgrace of a sexual misconduct accusation, Bishop Matthias, head of the local diocese for the Orthodox Church of America, has announced he will step down Monday, leaving a vacancy in Chicago just weeks before Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on May 5.

On a leave of absence since allegations of inappropriate communication with a woman surfaced in August, Matthias, 64, would have celebrated his two-year anniversary as leader of the church in Chicago and the Midwest this week.

In a letter to parishioners Sunday, the bishop asked for forgiveness.

“It is my hope that my stepping down will end the ordeal, allowing the diocese to move toward healing,” he said. “I ask for everyone’s forgiveness for my failings, my mistakes and sins. In turn, I assure everyone of my forgiveness.”

The national church asked Matthias to step down last month. In a speech at Chicago’s Holy Trinity Cathedral a week later, he blamed clergy for plotting his ouster in reaction to edicts he issued shortly after his arrival.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Inquisitr

A parish in Chicago has witnessed the resignation of Bishop Matthias (aka David Lawrence Moriak), amid allegations of sexual misconduct, according to a Sunday report from The Chicago Tribune.

The newspaper reported that the head of the diocese faced initial accusations in August 2012 and was placed on leave around that time.

But unlike recent scandals in the Catholic Church where priests were guilty of rampant child sexual abuse, Moriak’s misconduct was more a professional violation than a criminal one.

The bishop allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a woman, who went unnamed in the Tribune report. In a March address to parishioners at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago, Matthias questioned the motives of his detractors.

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VATICAN CITY
The Wall Street Journal

By STACY MEICHTRY

In his first major move as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis on Saturday appointed a panel of cardinals from around the world to advise him in overhauling the Roman Curia, the scandal-plagued administrative body of the Vatican. On Sunday, he followed that up by telling priests to practice what they preach.

The Vatican on Saturday said eight cardinals—ranging from Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston to Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay—will be responsible for drawing up a plan to revise the Curia’s constitution. That document defines the roles and reporting lines within Vatican central administration, determining how the pope governs his 1.2 billion-strong flock in matters including Roman Catholic doctrine, bishop appointments and Vatican finances.

Sunday during a Mass in Rome, Pope Francis said ordinary Catholics need to “see in our actions what they hear from our lips.”

“Inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the church’s credibility,” he said.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Mercury News

[John Salazar – Los Angeles Archdiocese]

By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press
Posted: 04/14/2013

LOS ANGELES—When the Rev. John Anthony Salazar arrived in Tulia, Texas, in 1991, he was warmly welcomed by the Roman Catholic community tucked in the Texas Panhandle. What his new parishioners didn’t know was he’d been hired out of a treatment program for pedophile priests—and that he’d been convicted for child molestation and banned from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for life.

Over the next 11 years, Salazar would be accused of abusing four more children and young men in Texas, including an 18-year-old parishioner who suffered teeth marks on his genitals. Today he awaits trial on one molestation charge, while his accusers and former followers seek a way to move forward.

Many details of Salazar’s past are contained in a confidential personnel file that was among 120 such files the Archdiocese of Los Angeles made public this year after a legal battle with abuse victims. But those records tell only part of the story.

On Tuesday, attorneys return to court to argue over the release of records for about 80 priests, including Salazar, who belonged to Roman Catholic religious orders that kept their own personnel files on accused clergymen. The hearing will address in what form and when those files will be made public, and involves orders such as the Jesuits, Salesians, Vincentians and Dominicans.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Molly Daly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)

– On Saturday, Pope Francis named eight cardinals from around the world, with only one from Europe, to a permanent advisory panel to counsel him on how the church is run, and how to reform the Vatican bureaucracy.

“It’s important because of how immediately following his election he’s impaneled this group.”

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish is on the steering committee of the Philadelphia chapter of Voice of the Faithful, whose motto is “Keep the Faith, Change the Church.”

She says although Francis became pope a little less than four weeks ago, he’s wasting no time in showing his willingness to break with tradition, rejecting many of the trappings of the papacy.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Tess Livingstone
From:The Australian
April 15, 2013

LAYMEN and laywomen with professional expertise could be invited to take on more prominent positions, including leadership roles, in the Vatican bureaucracy, Australia’s cardinal George Pell said yesterday.

“Professional men and women with expertise in areas such as finance, for example, could have a lot to offer in overseeing some Vatican departments, perhaps under the leadership of a cardinal,” he said.

Cardinal Pell, 71, is one of eight cardinals appointed by Pope Francis to a permanent advisory group to help him run the Catholic Church and reform the curia.

The appointment, announced on Saturday, shows that Cardinal Pell, a strong supporter of Pope John Paul II and a friend of Benedict XVI, has been recognised for his talent and energy by the new pontiff. The two have served together on several Vatican bodies.

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VATICAN CITY
Stuff (New Zealand)

NICOLE WINFIELD

Pope Francis has told priests to practice what they preach, saying the church’s credibility is on the line.

During a Mass to formally take possession of one of the Vatican basilicas in Rome, Francis said ordinary Catholics need to “see in our actions what they hear from our lips”.

Francis has made himself an example of a more humble and frugal church by refusing many of the trappings of the papacy, living in the Vatican hotel rather than the Apostolic Palace and wearing a simple white cassock of the papacy rather than fancy vestments and capes for formal occasions that his predecessors wore.

“Inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the church’s credibility,” he said.

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VATICAN CITY
NDTV

Vatican City: Pope Francis on Sunday said clergy and Christians must not betray the word of God with their actions or they undermine the credibility of the Catholic Church.

Francis, elected a month ago, inherited a Church struggling to restore credibility after a series of scandals, including the sexual abuse of children by priests.

The pope spoke at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, where he celebrated Mass. He also greeted pilgrims and local Church members earlier in St. Peter’s square.

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VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (UK)

John Hooper in Rome
The Guardian, Sunday 14 April 2013

Pope Francis presaged a revolution in the running of the Catholic church when, at the weekend, he announced the formation of an eight-strong panel of cardinals from all parts of the world who are to advise him on governance and the reform of the Vatican.

The Italian church historian Alberto Melloni, writing in the Corriere della Sera, called it the “most important step in the history of the church for the past 10 centuries”. For the first time, a pope will be helped by a global panel of advisers who look certain to wrest power from the Roman Curia, the church’s central bureaucracy.

Several of the group’s members will come to the job with a record of vigorous reform and outspoken criticism of the status quo. None has ever served in the Italian-dominated Curia in Rome and only one is an Italian: Giuseppe Bertello, the governor of the Vatican City State.

The panel will be headed by one of the most dynamic figures in the Catholic leadership: Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, the archbishop of Tegucigalpa in Honduras and head of the global charity Caritas Internationalis. A polymath who plays the saxophone and piano, Maradiaga has trained as a pilot and speaks six languages. Like Pope Francis, he has long been a tenacious critic of economic inequality.

In an interview with the Italian television news service Tgcom24, Maradiaga said his group would “certainly” be tackling the ever-controversial Vatican bank.

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KANSAS
Marysville Advocate

Published:
Sunday, April 14,

Officials in the Archdiocese of Kansas City say a priest who formerly served at St. Gregory’s Catholic Church in Marysville faces an allegation of child abuse.

The diocese reported in its newspaper, The Leaven, that Father Anthony Putti, who is now a priest in the diocese of Guntur, India, was named in an April 2 complaint about misconduct with a child. The complaint was made to the Safe Environment Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Kansas City.

Putti denied the allegation, according to The Leaven’s report. The newspaper also stated the diocese had reported the complaint to the Kansas Department of Children and Families (formerly SRS) as well as local law enforcement and a diocesan independent review board.

Church officials said they’d received no prior complaints against Putti of sexual misconduct with a child, according to The Leaven report, which did not specify when the alleged abuse occurred.

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Lettera 43

di Barbara Ciolli

Negli Usa l’hanno ribattezzato International offshore rule (Ior): Regime internazionale offshore. In realtà Ior è Istituto per le opere di religione, la banca del Vaticano, e tra le grandi missioni incompiute che Benedetto XVI ha tramandato a Francesco c’è il suo spinoso risanamento.

Durante il suo pontificato, Joseph Ratzinger aveva avviato un’operazione trasparenza, miseramente fallita con la cacciata dell’ex presidente Ettore Gotti Tedeschi e del cardinale Attilio Nicora dalla Commissione di vigilanza della banca di San Pietro.

«Chi tocca lo Ior muore», è la regola che – più o meno metaforicamente – domina il Torrione Niccolò V, sede dell’istituto, dalla sua apertura nel 1942.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

THURSDAY

Michael D’Antonio • The author discusses “Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime and the Era of Catholic Scandal.” 6:30 p.m. at Left Bank Books Downtown, 321 North 10th Street. Free. 314-367-6731.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

April 15, 2013

Nicky Davis

The inquiry on child abuse must be survivor-driven as the victims relive their pain.

When the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse sat for the first time recently, there were smiles among those who had long campaigned for justice for Australia’s forgotten children.

But for the survivors it was not a day for smiling. We did smile, briefly, when the royal commission was announced. Pure joy as truth won an unwinnable battle against evil and corruption. But we haven’t won the war yet. Not by a long way.

We have dark days ahead, unlike those who struggled with us to get us here. Their job is done and they can leave the task of exposing the truth in the hands of the professionals. And on the shoulders of the survivors.

We must peel away our protective coping strategies and speak the words we have been ordered never to say. Try to find voices that have shrivelled to a croak after a lifetime of being silenced. Risk being overwhelmed by emotions we have buried all our lives. And pick ourselves up again after we open this Pandora’s box of undeserved guilt, shame, worthlessness and betrayal.

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WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director
CONTACT: 414-336-8575

Today the Green Bay diocese issued a statement that one of its senior priests, Fr. Justin Werner, has been restricted from ministry due to a report of sexual abuse of a child or minor while he was at St. Edward in Mackville a few decades ago. Making this statement is a good start. The diocese now has to make sure parishes where Werner has been conducting ministry, especially recently, like St. Bernard’s in Appleton, are asked to help the police with any information on the case.

Child sexual abuse is the most unreported crime in the United States. Fewer than 10 percent of all victims report the crime, and it usually takes years, if not decades to come forward.

Because the alleged crimes took place under the old Wisconsin criminal statute of limitations for child sexual assault it is unlikely Werner will face prosecution.

While it is encouraging the diocese is notifying the public about Werner, why do they continue to be silent about the at least 51 clerics, as of 2004, acknowledged by the diocese to have confirmed, credible, and substantiated acts of sexual assault of a child or minor? 35 of those priests are diocesan and 16 belong to the Norbertine religious order, headquartered in De Pere.

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UNITED STATES
Whispers in the Loggia

To repeat a line once said of Seán O’Malley among his Capuchin confreres, “The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.”

So the more recent story goes, in the days after Pope Francis’ election, the cardinal-archbishop of Boston dispatched his priest secretary to the Domus with a note for the new pontiff, ordering the aide “to give this letter to someone who will put it into the Pope’s hands.”

As it turned out, Fr Jonathan Gaspar didn’t just end up delivering the message – he was received by the Pope.

While we don’t know the contents, they were clearly appreciated – this morning, O’Malley was the lone North American named to Papa Bergoglio’s eight-cardinal “task force” chartered both to advise Francis in his universal role and study the reform of the Roman Curia.

Given the significance of the call, perhaps it’s to be expected that some have wondered why the nod fell to the 68 year-old Capuchin as opposed to others.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Press TV (Iran)

British police are investigating a widespread child abuse cover-up in the Catholic Church in the UK with a bishop under probe, local media reported.

The Metropolitan Police has set up the so-called Operation Fernbridge to look into historical cases of paedophilia in Britain.

The detectives are examining claims that the prelate protected priests who were sexually abusing youngsters, the Sunday People has revealed.

The paper said other areas of the Catholic church are also under investigation to find if there has been a large-scale cover-up of paedophilia.

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WISCONSIN
NBC 26

[with video]

By NBC26 News Team

CREATED Apr. 13, 2013

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Diocese is restricting a retired priest from public ministry following an allegation of child abuse.

The Diocese says it received the allegation against Father Justin Werner. Father Werner denies any wrongdoing, and an investigation is underway. The abuse is alleged to have happened at St. Edward Parish in Mackville in the 1970s.

The Diocese released a statement Saturday saying, “The Diocese is pastorally assisting both the person bringing the allegation and Father Werner. The Diocese asks for prayers for both of them, and for all affected.”

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WISCONSIN
Post-Crescent

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay has restricted a retired priest from performing public ministry after learning of an allegation of abuse against him.

The Rev. Justin N. Werner, 84, denied an accusation that he abused a minor at St. Edward Parish in Mackville during the 1970s, according to a statement from the diocese.

Justine Lodl, spokeswoman for the diocese, said the allegation has been reported to civil authorities, but would not say which law enforcement agency was handling it.

Calls made Saturday by Gannett Wisconsin Media to Brown and Outagamie county law enforcement agencies did not turn up a report. An Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department official said the report could have gone directly to the investigation division, which was not open Saturday.

Lodl said a private investigator also is reviewing the allegation. Werner will be restricted from public ministry pending the outcome of the review. Werner told Post-Crescent Media on Saturday that he did not have a comment and was not aware of the specifics of the allegations.

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CANADA
YouTube

Published on Apr 13, 2013

Bishop Ronald Fabbro apologies to the sexual abuse victims of priests in the Diocese of London and about plans to prevent such abuse in the future.

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KANSAS CITY (KS)
The Leaven

On April 2, the Safe Environment Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas received a report alleging abuse of a minor by Father Anthony Putti, a priest of the Diocese of Guntur, India, where he currently resides.

The archdiocese has never received any other allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor against Father Putti. Father Putti denies the allegation. His bishop has also been informed. He served in the archdiocese before and while pursuing graduate studies in theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Ill.

Upon completing his studies, Father Putti was assigned in July 2008 as pastor of St. Gregory Parish, Marysville, and St. Malachy Parish, Beattie. He was assigned to assist at Prince of Peace Parish, Olathe, from June 2003 until beginning graduate studies in September 2005 and at St. Michael the Archangel Parish, Leawood, in summer 2007.

In September 2010, Father Putti resigned his pastoral duties and was recalled to his home diocese after admitting to sexual relations with an adult who had requested privacy in the matter.

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CHILE
Cooperativa

El cardenal chileno Francisco Javier Errázuriz se mostró contento por haber sido elegido entre los ocho cardenales que ayudarán al papa Francisco a reformar la Curia romana, ante las críticas que esto desató, el clérigo sostuvo que “yo creo claramente que hice mi deber”.

Tras una ceremonia celebrada esta mañana en la Catedral Metropolitana, donde el arzobispo Ricardo Ezzati ordenó a siete nuevos sacerdotes para la arquidiócesis de Santiago, el cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz se refirió a su nombramiento y a las reacciones que esto ha generado en las víctimas de Karadima.

“Parece que el papa pensó distinto, yo creo claramente que hice mi deber y que hay personas que están muy enojadas todavía y jamás he visto que se haga un juicio a un juez por ejemplo, porque al comienzo toma más tiempo llegar a la certidumbre sobre las denuncias presentadas”, señaló Errázuriz.

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CHILE
Bio Bio

Publicado por Denisse Charpentier | La Información es de Juan Carlos Alvarado

Los querellantes del caso Karadima reaccionaron molestos por el nombramiento del cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz por parte del Papa Francisco, como uno de los miembros del equipo que realizará la reforma a la Curia Romana.

El Arzobispo Ricardo Ezzati dijo que los querellantes tienen derecho a no estar de acuerdo, y el mismo Errázuriz afirmó que, al parecer, el Papa tiene una opinión más favorable a él.

Polémica desató la decisión del Papa Francisco de convocar al cardenal Errázuriz, Arzobispo emérito de Santiago, como uno de los 8 cardenales que lo acompañarán en su proceso de reforma a la Curia Romana.

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CHILE
Terra

El cardenal Francisco Javier Errázuriz respondió a los denunciantes del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, quienes criticaron la decisión del Papa Francisco de nombrar al arzobispo emérito de Santiago como parte de un grupo de cardenales para que lo asesore en reformar la Curia romana.Ante las críticas, el cardenal Errázuriz respondió que “parece que el Papa pensó distinto”. “Yo creo claramente que cumplí con mi deber y que hay personas que están muy enojadas todavía”, manifestó.

Añadió que “jamás he visto que se juzgue a un juez porque se tomó más tiempo para llegar a la certidumbre sobre las denuncias presentadas”, informa Emol.

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CANADA
YouTube

Published on Apr 13, 2013

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, set up to heal wounds from residential schools, has embarked on a massive project to document school children’s deaths and find their burial sites. The commission held a forum on residential schools Mar. 1-3 in Vancouver.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Paul Berger

Published April 14, 2013, issue of April 19, 2013

Yeshiva University finds itself immersed this spring in a tale of two honorees. One, a former president of the United States, is accused of anti-Israel bias. The other, a leading Y.U. rabbi, is accused of racism and a disregard for victims of child sex abuse.

Hershel Schachter, the Y.U. rabbi in question, has also been criticized in years past for suggesting that the prime minister of Israel be shot if he compromises with the Palestinians on Jerusalem, and for appearing to compare women to monkeys.

But while an event organized by Y.U.’s rabbinic school to honor Schachter in May has aroused little opposition, the decision by a student-run journal at Y.U.’s law school to honor former president Jimmy Carter on April 10 sparked swift, furious and widespread criticism.

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OSTERREICH
Muenchner Kirchenradio

Das älteste Kloster im deutschsprachigen Raum hat nach einer dreijährigen Übergangszeit wieder einen Erzabt: Korbinian Birnbacher. Er ist vergangene Woche gewählt worden.

Birn­ba­chers Vor­gän­ger, Bruno Be­cker, war wegen Miss­brauchs­vor­wür­fen zu­rück­ge­tre­ten. Die Auf­ar­bei­tung der Fälle sei aber auf einem guten Weg, so Birn­ba­cher im Münch­ner Kir­chen­ra­dio. Er habe sich sehr über die Wahl zum neuen Erz­abt ge­freut. Gleich­zei­tig spricht Birn­ba­cher, der bis­he­ri­ge Prior des Stifts, aber von einer gro­ßen Ver­ant­wor­tung, die er mit sei­nem Amt an­tritt. 2010 war be­kannt ge­wor­den, dass der da­ma­li­ge Erz­abt von St. Peter, Be­cker, einen Min­der­jäh­ri­gen se­xu­ell miss­braucht haben soll. Auch zwei an­de­re Pa­tres sol­len sich meh­re­re Male an Kin­dern ver­gan­gen haben. Laut Birn­ba­cher seien die Fälle bis­lang unter Ein­be­zie­hung von Psy­cho­lo­gen und Ju­ris­ten sehr gut auf­ge­ar­bei­tet wor­den. Er selbst pfle­ge einen engen Kon­takt zu den Op­fern, die das Stift auch fi­nan­zi­ell ent­schä­digt habe. Viele von ihnen hät­ten be­reits an­ge­kün­digt, bei sei­ner Weihe zum Erz­abt am 21. April dabei zu sein.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

vor wenigen Tagen hieß es noch “Papst Franziskus – Armut als neue Leitsatz” … Jetzt wird ausgerechnet der ehemalige Trierer Bischof, Kardinal Marx, Erzbischof von München als “Reformberater” berufen

“Papst Franziskus beruft Beratergremium”

Acht Kardinälen sollen dem Papst dabei helfen, die Kurie zu reformieren. Auch der Erzbischof von München, Kardinal Marx, ist einer der Berater. Er ist fast der einzige Europäer in der Expertengruppe, die die Neuorganisation der Kirchenleitung organisieren soll.

den vollständigen Artikel auf “sueddeutsche.de” lesen

•Marx residiert in millionensaniertem Prunk-Palais
•Fingerfertige Ministranten – Im Fall eines mutmaßlichen Kinderschänders belegen neue Dokumente die Versäumnisse des früheren Erzbischofs Ratzinger und seines Nachfolgers Marx.

•Kardinal Marx: Homosexuelle sind “gescheiterte Menschen”

•Priester drängen Kardinal Marx zu mehr Dialog

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DEUTSCHLAND
NW-News

VON ANNIKA FALK

Paderborn. Auch mehr als drei Jahre nach den ersten Meldungen über sexuellen Missbrauch innerhalb der Katholischen Kirche erreichen den zuständigen Arbeitsstab beim Erzbistum Paderborn immer wieder Anfragen. Ansprechpartner für die Opfer ist Manfred Frigger, ehemaliger Leiter der Eheberatung.

Der Arbeitsstab Sexueller Missbrauch wurde bereits 2002 eingeführt, nachdem erste Missbrauchsfälle in den USA und Irland publik geworden waren. Der Vatikan verordnete damals, dass jedes Erzbistum eine entsprechende Anlaufstelle einrichten soll. “Anfangs wurde die Kommission von einem Prälaten geleitet, man merkte dann aber, dass es schwierig sein könnte, wenn ein hochrangiger Kirchenmann mit den Opfern spricht”, sagt Frigger, der den Stab seit 2003 leitet.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

“Missbrauchs-Opfer wollen gehört werden”

Insgesamt 23 Frauen und 66 Männer haben sich beim Erzbistum Paderborn gemeldet, einige Fälle spielten sich aber in anderen Bistümern oder in der Evangelischen Kirche ab, wurden also weitervermittelt. Innerhalb des hiesigen Erzbistums beschuldigten 16 Frauen und 26 Männer insgesamt 42 Kleriker und andere Mitarbeiter im kirchlichen Dienst. 27 Anträge konntennicht anerkannt werden, weil “nur” körperliche Gewalt vorlag, die Opfer wurden an den “Heimkinderfond” des Landschaftsverbands Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) weiterempfohlen.

Bei den meisten Fällen waren die Beschuldigten nicht mehr am Leben. Die Staatsanwaltschaft wurde in fünf Fällen eingeschaltet. Ein Priester mit knapp 90 Jahren wurde zur Selbstanzeige gedrängt, doch auch sein Fall war – wie die anderen – verjährt. So kam es nie zu einem Prozess.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Lisa Wangsness
| Globe Staff
April 13, 2013

Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley to a panel of nine prelates from around the world who will advise him on reforming governance of the church.

The Vatican’s announcement on Saturday, exactly one month after Francis’s election, sends a strong signal that the new pope hopes to confront the problems within the curia, or Vatican bureaucracy, that distracted and embarrassed his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.

It also suggests he may intend to address bishops’ longstanding complaints that power in the Catholic church has become too centralized in Rome, analysts said.

“The election of Francis was in part a vote to shake things up, and this would be first concrete indication that might actually happen,” said John Allen, the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.

He called the appointment of O’Malley “an early indication that O’Malley may be this pope’s go-to guy in the US.”

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

Sunday, April 14, 2013

By:
Gary J. Remal 
, Christine McConville

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley could emerge as a key player in the Vatican as he assumes a potentially game-changing role on a new committee charged with advising Pope Francis on worldwide Catholic church reforms.

“Potentially this is an earthquake rather than a tremor,” said John L. Allen Jr. of National Catholic Reporter.

“This has the making of the biggest real-world decentralization of the church since the Second Vatican Council,” 
Allen said..

O’Malley was appointed to the elite new eight-cardinal Vatican Advisory Council yesterday.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

The appointment of eight advisers, including the Archbishop of Sydney George Pell, to a new Vatican panel will help revamp the Catholic church, former Australian ambassador to the Holy See Tim Fischer says.

Cardinal Pell is one of seven cardinals and one monsignor – the others are from Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Asia – appointed to the group by Pope Francis.

In its announcement on Saturday, the Vatican said Francis got the idea to form the advisory body from the pre-conclave meetings.

“He has formed a group of cardinals to advise him in the governing of the universal church and to study a revision of the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia,” the statement said.

Mr Fischer welcomed the announcement.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Cardinal George Pell says he would welcome a reduction in Italy’s influence over the Vatican, as he prepares to join a committee appointed by the pope to reform the church’s administrative body.

The Archbishop of Sydney has been selected by Pope Francis to sit on a committee that will look to reform the Curia, the administrative branch of the church.

Cardinal Pell, who is flying to Rome tonight for preliminary meetings, said the committee will lead to greater discipline in the upper echelons of the church, alluding to last year’s leaking of secret papal documents by Emeritus Pope Benedict’s butler.

A cardinal from each continent has been selected to form the committee, a move that Cardinal Pell says is reflective of the church’s changing demographics.

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