ABUSE TRACKER

ITALY
The Guardian (UK)

John Hooper and Lizzy Davies in Vatican City
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 12 March 2013

Roman Catholic cardinals have been urged to overcome divisions at a special mass ahead of the papal conclave, just hours after anti-mafia investigators carried out a string of raids in the diocese of the leading candidate.

In a homily before thousands of pilgrims and the most senior figures in the church, Angelo Sodano, the dean of the college of cardinals, made a last-ditch attempt to banish infighting, as he extolled the virtues of unity amid diversity.

But even as preparations for the mass were being made, Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan – and reportedly the hot favourite to be the next pope – suffered a blow.

Anti-mafia detectives swooped on homes, offices, clinics and hospitals in Lombardy, the region around Milan, and elsewhere. A statement said the dawn raids were part of an investigation into “corruption linked to tenders by, and supplies to, hospitals”.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Week

03/13/13

Adam Dickter
Assistant Managing Editor

In the four years since he was easily re-elected to his fourth term, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes has seen his political fortunes, and the landscape around him, dramatically change.

He’s garnered harsh criticism both from inside and outside the Jewish community on a range of issues, including his office’s prosecution of child sexual abuse cases in the fervently Orthodox community. In addition, the case of Jabbar Collins, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering a rabbi and is now seeking $150 million for the 15 years he spent in prison, has dogged Hynes.

And he now faces two well-financed challengers, former Manhattan prosecutor Abe George and former Brooklyn federal prosecutor Kenneth Thompson, seeking to wrest the Democratic nomination (tantamount to victory) from him in September. Together they have raised more than $500,000 in the past six months, far outpacing the incumbent, suggesting that donors see Hynes as vulnerable.

So this race may turn out to be even tougher for Hynes than the 2005 battle in which more than half of primary voters didn’t support him. He won 41 percent of the vote while State Sen. John Sampson won 37 percent; Mark Peters got 15 percent, and Arnold Kriss, a former assistant district attorney in Brooklyn and a former deputy police commissioner, received 7 percent.

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DEUTSCHLAND
kathweb

Deutsche Bischofskonferenz wirft Studienautor Pfeiffer am Dienstag vor, den gerichtlichen Vergleich fälschlicherweise einseitig als Erfolg darzustellen

12.03.2013

Bonn, 12.03.2013 (KAP) Im Streit um die kirchliche Missbrauchsstudie haben der Kriminologe Christian Pfeiffer und die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz (DBK) einen Vergleichsvorschlag des Landgerichts Hannover akzeptiert. Danach muss die Bischofskonferenz auf ihrer Themenseite zum Thema Missbrauch (www.dbk.de/themen/thema-sexueller-missbrauch) die Darstellung des Konflikts an zwei Stellen ändern, wie beide Seiten am Dienstag in Hannover und Bonn mitteilten. Das berichtet die deutsche katholische Nachrichtenagentur KNA.

Zuvor hatte Pfeiffer eine einstweilige Verfügung beantragt, dass die Bischofskonferenz bestimmte Behauptungen unterlässt. Gegenstand des Streits ist unter anderem die Behauptung Pfeiffers, die Bischöfe hätten die Erstveröffentlichung von Forschungsergebnissen verhindern oder zensieren wollen.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Spiegel

Kardinal Mahony sitzt im Konklave in Rom, doch die Vergangenheit holt ihn ein: Er selbst, die Erzdiözese von Los Angeles und ein früherer Priester zahlen insgesamt zehn Millionen Dollar – im Gegenzug werden Vorwürfe in einer Missbrauchsaffäre nicht weiter verfolgt.

Los Angeles/Rom – In einem spektakulären Missbrauchsfall haben sich die Opferfamilien und die katholische Kirche geeinigt. Die Erzdiözese von Los Angeles, Kardinal Roger Mahony und ein ehemaliger Priester zahlen insgesamt zehn Millionen Dollar – im Gegenzug werden die Vorwürfe in der Affäre nicht weiter verfolgt. Dies teilten die Anwälte der Opfer am Dienstagabend mit. In dem Fall ging es um Missbrauch an vier Kindern.

Der Vereinbarung zufolge soll die Zahlung der zehn Millionen Dollar nicht als ein Schuldeingeständnis gewertet werden. Ein Anwalt der Opferfamilien betonte hingegen, die Zahlung komme sehr wohl einem Schuldeingeständnis “sehr nahe”.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Frankfurter Rundschau

Die Erzdiözese Los Angeles zahlt Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs knapp zehn Millionen Dollar Entschädigung. Der Fall wirft seine Schatten bis nach Rom. Denn der frühere Erzbischof von L.A., der den Skandal jahrelang vertuscht haben soll, gehört dem Konklave an.

Vier Männer hatten den früheren Priester Michael B. beschuldigt, sie sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Nun hat die Erzdiözese offenbar einem Vergleich zugestimmt, um weitere Ermittlungen gegen B. abzuwenden. Sie zahle 9,9 Millionen Dollar (7,7 Millionen Euro) Entschädigung an die Männer, damit diese ihre Klage zurückzögen, berichtet die L.A. Times unter Berufung auf Anwälte der Kläger.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Die Welt

Los Angeles – Das Erzbistum Los Angeles wird Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs durch einen pädophilen Priester 9,9 Millionen Dollar (rund 7,6 Millionen Euro) Entschädigung zahlen. Dies berichtete die «Los Angeles Times» unter Berufung auf einen Anwalt der Opfer.

Der Priester soll schon 1986 dem inzwischen emeritierten Erzbischof von Los Angeles, Roger Mahony, Missbrauch an Jungen gestanden haben. Kardinal Mahony, der wiederholt eigene Fehler bei der Verfolgung von Missbrauchsdelikten eingeräumt hatte, hält sich derzeit als Teilnehmer des Konklaves zur Papstwahl in Rom auf.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Jason Horowitz and Anthony Faiola,
Updated: Wednesday, March 13, 7:32 AM

VATICAN CITY — The men who will elect the next leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics did not come to agreement during two rounds of balloting on a rainy Wednesday morning, but will return to the Sistine Chapel after a lunch break to try again.

Unlike the first vote on Tuesday evening, which is traditionally a sort of test case to measure support and float favorite candidates, Wednesday’s balloting was expected to provide an opportunity for alliances to begin to take shape.

Black smoke poured from the Vatican chimney at 11:40 a.m. local time (6:40 a.m. Eastern) signaling that neither of the two morning votes had produced a winner.

No one bloc of cardinals, either organized around passport or priorities, has enough votes to push a candidate through. To win, one of the candidates (reported front-runners have included Cardinals Angelo Scola of Italy, Marc Ouellet of Canada, and Odilo Pedro Scherer of Brazil) will need to consolidate support from a diverse cross-section of the 115 voting cardinals.

And if consensus remains elusive, the cardinals could look to the less familiar names in their college, which is what happened when John Paul II was chosen in 1978.

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VATICAN CITY
CNN

[with video]

Will the Roman Catholic Church’s cardinals elect a pope today, the first full day of their conclave? If so, they’ll have to make it happen in their afternoon session.

Black smoke rose from the chimney fixed to the roof of the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday morning, indicating that the cardinals’ first two votes of the day were inconclusive. The cardinals also didn’t come to a conclusion on Tuesday evening, which was their first vote.

They will have two more opportunities to vote on Wednesday afternoon, after they have lunch.

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VATICAN CITY
The Lowell Sun

Updated: 03/13/2013 07:21:

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Black smoke again billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday, meaning that Catholic cardinals hadn’t elected a pope on their second or third rounds of balloting.

Cardinals voted twice Wednesday morning in the Vatican’s famed frescoed chapel following their inaugural vote Tuesday to elect a successor to Benedict XVI, who stunned the Catholic world last month by becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign.

The cardinals break for lunch at the Vatican hotel and return for another two rounds of voting Wednesday afternoon.

The drama — with stage sets by Michelangelo and an outcome that is anyone’s guess — is playing out against the backdrop of the turmoil unleashed by Benedict’s surprise retirement and the exposure of deep divisions among cardinals that ensued. They must find a pope who can both clean up a corrupt Vatican bureaucracy as well as a pastor who can revive Catholicism in a time of growing secularism.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

More alleged victims have come forward in the case of a retired Hunter Valley Catholic priest facing indecent assault charges.

82-year-old Francis William Cable was not present in Newcastle Local Court today, when prosecutors asked for the case to be adjourned for six weeks to compile evidence, saying more victims have recently come forward.

Cable is facing more than 20 charges relating to alleged incidents in the 1960s and 1970s.

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CALIFORNIA
The Record

By Keith Reid
Record Staff Writer

March 13, 2013

LODI – A visiting priest at St. Anne’s Parish in Lodi has been arrested in connection with a Yuba City child molestation case, authorities said.

Julio Guarin-Sosa, 43, who is visiting the United States from Colombia, was arrested at St. Anne’s in Lodi by Yuba City police Sunday. He was transported to Sutter County Jail, where he is being held on $250,000 bail, according to the Sutter County Sheriff’s Department website.

The Diocese of Stockton required a letter of good standing for Guardin-Sosa before he was allowed to work in Lodi, according to a written statement from Bishop Stephen Blaire. Upon his arrest, his permission to work in the Diocese of Stockton was revoked.

Yuba City police Operations Manager Shawna Pavey said Gaurin-Sosa was in Yuba City on Friday for a private Mass inside a residence. He allegedly had sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl inside the home, Pavey said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph & Argus

By Claire Armstrong, T&A Reporter.

A teenage girl has denied “coming on to” a Roman Catholic priest who is accused of sexually assaulting her. William Finnegan, 59, is standing trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of taking hold of the girl and forcefully kissing her when she was 17.

Finnegan, now of Acacia Close, Castleford, denies the charge.

The alleged assault happened on Easter Sunday last year, while Finnegan was parish priest at St Clare’s RC Church in Fagley, Bradford.

The teenager, now 18 and who cannot be identified, appeared in the witness box yesterday. Her evidence was given through a video interview with police, and she was then asked further questions by barristers in court.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Times (UK)

Jenny Booth

Lawyers for one of the cardinals involved in electing the next Pope have agreed to pay out to settle four child sex abuse claims.

Cardinal Roger Mahony was sued along with Michael Baker, a paedophile ex-priest whom he is accused of shielding, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which Cardinal Mahony then led.

The total value of the settlement is $10 million. Part of the deal is that none of the three defendants admits wrongdoing.

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CALIFORNIA
The Reporter

By Ryan Chalk/ RChalk@TheReporter.comthereporter.com
Posted: 03/12/2013

Clutching a handwritten apology, a former Fairfield pastor asked for forgiveness in front of a packed courtroom just before being sentenced to 18 years in state prison for the molestation of children at his parish.

Robert E. Ruark, 65, of Suisun City, a former reverend at St. Timothy Orthodox Church, received the sentence in Solano County Superior Court after pleading guilty in January to 19 felony counts related to committing lewd acts on children. The molestation allegations spanned as far back as 1994.

Known by parishioners as “Father Silas,” Ruark was arrested in June by Fairfield police and charged by Solano County prosecutors with more than 30 counts of committing lewd acts on children as young as 13 and, in some instances, photographing them while naked, according to police. The victims told detectives the majority of the molestations took place both at the church on Central Way in Cordelia when they were left alone with Ruark and at his home, according to Fairfield Lt. Greg Hurlbut.

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JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Clifford Ward, Special to the Tribune
8:53 p.m. CDT, March 12, 2013

A settlement reached between the Joliet Diocese and a man who accused one of its priests of molesting him as a boy will result in the release of personnel files and documents related to 15 priests considered sex offenders, it was announced Tuesday.

In announcing the settlement, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon said the diocese would comply with a Will County judge’s ruling that lifts a protective order of specific files and documents of the “priest-offenders.”

Attorneys for plaintiff David Rudofski said there are 7,000 pages of internal diocesan documents dating back decades that detailed abuse allegedly committed by priests. The settlement allows the documents to be released voluntarily by the plaintiff. Three pages were released Tuesday.

Rudofski filed suit in 2007 alleging he was abused as an 8-year-old by the Rev. James Burnett while making his first confession in the early 1980s at St. Mary Catholic Church in Mokena, according to Rudofski’s attorney, Terry Johnson.

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IOWA
KWWL

Written by Becca Habegger, Multimedia Journalist
Updated by Ron Steele, Anchor

DUBUQUE (KWWL) –
A Dubuque man is accused of inappropriate behavior with a minor he met doing mission work for a Dubuque Catholic church.

49-year-old Robert Buss appeared in court Tuesday morning on a charge of Dissemination of Obscene Material to a Minor.

Buss allegedly sent nude photos of himself to a young Haitian man and may have engaged in sex acts with him while on a mission trip to Haiti.

Buss led several mission trips there through St. Anthony Catholic Church in Dubuque.

The Dubuque Archdiocese released a statement Tuesday in response to the morning’s proceedings, saying it has no reason to believe Buss was inappropriately involved with any of St. Anthony’s students. Anybody with information contrary to that belief is urged to contact Dubuque law enforcement officials.

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VATICAN CITY
CTV (Canada)

The second round of voting at the Sistine Chapel Wednesday is now complete, the black smoke seen billowing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, an indication cardinals have yet to choose a new pope.

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IRELAND
Galway Independent

Posted on 13/03/2013

by Conor Harrington
@galwayindo

The Vatican Conclave is a “crazy” way of selecting the new Pope, according to outspoken Esker Redemptorist priest, Fr Tony Flannery.

The renegade priest, who famously clashed with the Vatican hierarchy last year over his views on women priests, said it was “a total anomaly” that no women were involved in the election of the next Pope and described the Conclave as “a crazy way of doing things”.

“Really what we’re dealing with here is a relic of the middle ages, in fact a relic of even earlier than that, a relic of the old Roman Empire,” he said.

Fr Flannery said reform of the Vatican Curia, the central government of the Catholic Church, is the big challenge facing the next Pontiff, and will also define his own future within the Church.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

By Harriet Ryan and Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times
March 12, 2013

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to four men who say they were molested by one of the region’s most notorious pedophile priests.

The agreement brings to an end four lawsuits against the archdiocese involving Michael Baker, a charismatic parish priest accused of molesting at least 23 boys over three decades.

The church has settled numerous cases brought by Baker’s alleged victims in the past, but the $9.9-million settlement announced Tuesday is the first settlement since the January release of 12,000 pages of internal archdiocese records about abuse. Many of those documents detailed Cardinal Roger Mahony’s dealings with Baker.

The priest admitted his abuse of two boys to the then-archbishop during a 1986 retreat. Mahony sent Baker to a New Mexico treatment center but later returned him to the ministry, and Baker molested again. In 2007, he was convicted of abusing two boys and sent to prison.

Two of the civil cases settled were set for trial next month. Vince Finaldi, a lawyer for the alleged victims, said he believed the file release “played heavily” into the archdiocese’s decision to settle the cases.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
euronews

Top US Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony, who is currently in the Sistine Chapel voting for the next Pope, has agreed to pay a total of nearly $10 million (7.7 million euros) to settle four child sex abuse cases brought against his former archdiocese in Los Angeles, lawyers for the victims said on Tuesday.

Mahony, who retired in 2011 as head of the largest US archdiocese and is now part of the Papal conclave, was accused of helping a confessed paedophile priest evade law enforcement by sending him to an out-of-state Church-run treatment centre, before placing the priest back in the Los Angeles ministry.

The former priest named in all four cases is Michael Baker, imprisoned in 2007 on 12 criminal counts of oral copulation with a minor involving two boys, who had both reached a previous settlement with the Church. The latest agreement comes four weeks before the start of civil suits brought by two men, now in their 20s, who claimed they were molested as 12-year-olds in the late 1990s.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Guardian (UK)

Staff and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 March 2013

Two child abuse cases involving a cover-up by one of the cardinals electing the next pope have been settled as part of a $10m (£6.6m) out-of-court deal in Los Angeles.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will make the payouts to victims of a now-defrocked priest who told Cardinal Roger Mahony nearly 30 years ago that he had molested children.

The cases involving ex-priest Michael Baker span 26 years, from 1974 to 2000. Two were set for trial next month. The cases were settled this week.

Two of the claims alleged Mahony didn’t do enough to stop Baker from abusing children, said the plaintiffs’ attorney John Manly.

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UNITED STATES
Fog City Journal

By Ralph E. Stone

March 12, 2013

With the surprise announcement of Pope Benedict’s resignation and the present selection of a new pope, it is equally surprising that the mainstream media has not included a discussion of the widespread allegations of sexual child abuse by Catholic clergy or the coverup by church officials.

A study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that 10,669 allegations of child sexual abuse were reported to church officials in the U.S. alone between 1950 and 2002.

Similar crimes have occurred in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and elsewhere. And according to a complaint filed by The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) before the International Criminal Court, between 1981 and 2005, there are more than 100,000 sexual abuse victims.

The CCR complaint alleges that Vatican officials, including then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, ignored information that subordinates were committing these crimes and engaged in a widespread coverup of such abuse. The complaint alleges that since 1981, when then Cardinal Ratzinger headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he had primary responsibility for dealing with the clergy sex crimes. His refusal to decisively address the epidemic – and discipline Church officials who protected predator priests – was exacerbated when he became Pope.

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CANADA
Toronto Star

By:Jesse McLean Investigative News reporter, Published on Tue Mar 12 2013

LA MOTTE, QUE.—Inside Épicerie Chez Flo, the convenience store in the heart of this village of 440 people, the topic of conversation has been steady for weeks.

“The pope. The pope. Then the temperature, maybe. Then the pope,” one of the store’s owners, Lise Breault, said.

But as residents proudly talk of their native son, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, few mention his younger brother Paul.

“I don’t think the family will want to discuss that,” Lise’s husband, Florian, warned a journalist.

In 2009, Paul Ouellet was convicted of sexual abuse of two underage girls during the 1980s. He pleaded guilty to having improper sexual relationships with the girls when they were reportedly as young as 13 and 14. He was in his late 30s and early 40s. He was sentenced to 15 months of community detention.

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AUSTRALIA
Lawyers Weekly

13 March, 2013 Leanne Mezrani

Australian human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC has renewed calls to strip the Vatican of its status as a state and to indict former Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) for his role in the alleged cover-up of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

At a screening of the documentary Silence in the House of God: Mea Maxima Culpa last night (12 March) – the same day 115 cardinal electors moved to a residence inside the Vatican to elect a new pope – Robertson discussed his involvement in bringing the former pontiff to book for allegedly protecting paedophile priests from exposure.

Robertson, who appeared in the documentary by Alex Gibney, recently gave evidence to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. He argued that the former pope acted negligently in what Robertson estimates to be 100,000 cases of sex abuse by priests since 1981, when Ratzinger became head of the Vatican office known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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NEW YORK
Anglican Communion

At a time of widespread scandals over clergy sex abuse, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) have called for professional standards of clergy accountability at an international forum on violence against women.

In a lively event with more than 50 participants in New York City last week, the issue of abuse of women by members of the clergy was highlighted at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 57th session on the elimination of violence against women. The current session of the CSW will conclude on 15 March.

Presentations centred on a new WCC and WSCF book titled When Pastors Prey, edited by Valli Boobal Batchelor. It is among the few books currently on the market to examine the issue in its personal, ecclesial, legal and theological dimensions and to offer specific guidelines for dealing with clergy “sextortion.”

Dr Fulata Mbano-Moyo, WCC programme executive for Women in Church and Society, and WSCF general secretary Christine Housel joined Batchelor to express hope of ending such violence, especially through joint projects and advocacy.

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JOLIET (IL)
NBC Chicago

The Catholic Diocese of Joliet said Tuesday lifted the veil on internal documents that reportedly detail sexual abuse committed by priests going back to the 1960s.

The release is part of a lawsuit settlement involving Fr. James Burnett. Lawyers were beginning the process of reviewing the hundreds of pages of documents and redacting victims’ names before releasing the information to the public.

The diocese said it has substantiated abuse claims against Burnett by three people. The settlement also includes an undisclosed amount of money to one of the victims.

“The tragic history of child abuse in the Diocese of Joliet has unfolded publicly over a long period. No human action, really, can fix the past. My focus is on the future, trying to do everything in my power to assure that the children of this diocese are safe,” Joliet Diocese Bishop Daniel Conlon said in a statement.

Separately, the diocese also added dozens of names to a list of priests with credible allegations against them. The list, published to the diocese website, lists 34 priests, many of whom have already been accused in lawsuits or have been convicted.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
NBC Southern California

[with video]

By Samantha Tata and Kim Baldonado

Tuesday, Mar 12, 2013

As the Catholic Church’s top clergyman select a new pope, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles elected to settle four clergy sex abuse cases involving a defrocked priest who was convicted of molestation in 2007, an attorney for the church announced on Tuesday.

The $9.99 million settlement involves cases of alleged abuse by former priest Michael Baker, according to church attorney J. Michael Hennigan.

Baker was convicted of molesting a boy in 2007. Two of the latest plaintiffs are that boy’s brothers.

Two of the now-settled cases were set to go to trial soon, and a judge had said attorneys for the alleged victims could also pursue punitive damages, considered to be punishment against the defendant.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Aljazeera

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony and a former priest have agreed to pay a total of nearly $10m to settle four child sex abuse cases brought against them.

Lawyers for the victims announced the settlement on Tuesday, while Cardinal Roger Mahony took part in the Conclave to choose a new pope in Rome.

Mahony, who retired in 2011, was accused of helping a confessed paedophile priest evade law enforcement and later placed him back in the ministry.

None of the parties admitted wrongdoing, according to Vince Finaldi, the plaintiff’s lawyer.

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JOLIET (IL)
Southtown Star

BY BOB OKON bokon@stmedianetwork.com March 12, 2013

Documents released by court order will show that Joliet Diocese bishops knew of priests sexually abusing minors as far back as 1958, a victim’s attorney said Tuesday.

Chicago attorney Terrence M. Johnson said the diocese has released thousands of pages of documents and paid $600,000 to his client, who was sexually abused by a former pastor at St. Mary’s Parish in Mokena.

Johnson said bigger news will come in a few weeks when he plans to release documents showing a practice of covering up sexual abuse that went on for decades.

“The story that is really a revelation to members of the diocese of Joliet and the people in the diocese is what the bishops knew. It’s actually stunning what they knew,” he said.

A spokesman for the diocese expressed doubt that the diocese documents will be much of a revelation, saying that “sexual abuse of minors has been going on for decades” in society.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
RTE News

Former leader of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony and a former priest have agreed to pay almost $10m to settle four child sex abuse cases brought against them.

Cardinal Mahony was accused of helping a confessed paedophile priest evade the law by sending him to a church-run treatment centre.

The cardinal put him back into ministry where he is alleged to have abused again.

As part of the settlement, none of the parties admitted any wrongdoing.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Metro (UK)

By Matthew Champion Wednesday 13 Mar 2013

As the world awaits any sign of the white smoke that could signal the election of the next Pope, the Catholic Church in Los Angeles has agreed to pay $10million (£6.69million) to four victims of sexual abuse by a priest.

Unmistakable black smoke billowed out of the Sistine Chapel chimney last night, revealing that cardinals had failed to agree on a successor to Benedict XVI who resigned last month.

One of those 115 scarlet-robed prelates is Cardinal Roger Mahony, whose former archdiocese in Los Angeles has settled four cases involving child abuse dating back to the mid-1970s.

Confidential documents alleged that now-defrocked priest Michael Baker had informed Cardinal Mahony in 1986 he molested children, but that the then archbishop worked behind the scenes to protect the church from scandal.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Malta Today

The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles is to pay out nearly €7.6 million to settle four cases of sexual abuse by a former priest, Father Michael Baker.

Recently released files show Cardinal Roger Mahony knew the priest had abused but put him back into ministry, where he is alleged to have abused again.

The settlement comes as the cardinals of the Catholic Church are meeting to select a new pope following the abdication of Benedict XVI. Cardinal Mahony is at the conclave.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
France 24

AFP – The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to four men who alleged they were molested by a former priest in the 1970s, their lawyers said Tuesday.

Settlements were reached this month between lawyers for the men, the former priest involved, and LA’s Cardinal Roger Mahony, who is taking part in the conclave to choose a new pope despite protests from victims.

The long-delayed release last month of hundreds of files about abuse claims — which came at the same time as Mahony was stripped of his duties for mishandling the scandals — helped precipitate the settlements, a lawyer said.

The priest involved, Reverend Michael Baker, molested the four young victims repeatedly in the 1970s, including on overnight trips to San Diego, according to the legal documents.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Democrat and Chronicle

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay four men almost $10 million to settle allegations of sexual abuse by a former priest who more than a quarter century ago had confessed to molesting children, attorneys said Tuesday.

Two brothers will receive $4 million each, and the other two men will get nearly $1 million apiece, said John Manly, a plaintiff’s attorney.

The settlement is the first since the Catholic Church released thousands of internal records detailing the actions of the defrocked priest, Michael Baker, and how church officials responded. Baker was convicted in 2007 of child molestation and paroled in 2011.

In January, as the files were about to be made public, a California judge ordered the archdiocese to identify all priests and church officials named in the documents.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on March 12, 2013

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, SNAP Western Regional Director

Read the story here.

How many more millions in payouts and hundreds of victims will it take before the Vatican realizes that Cardinal Mahony must be punished?

These four brave men fought long and hard to get justice for the abuse they suffered at the hands of former priest Michael Baker. The tragedy of this situation is that if Cardinal Mahony had called the police when he first learned of Baker’s crimes, these men and many others could have been spared the shame and lifelong pain of childhood sexual abuse.

Cardinal Mahony called Baker his greatest “mistake.” However, we have learned that the Baker case is only one of a long list of child sex abuse cover-ups in the Archdiocese. Mahony’s inaction in the Baker case is nothing less than criminal. He had many years to report Baker’s crimes, but instead, it is only because of brave victims that any sense of justice has been achieved.

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ILLINOIS
WGN

[with video]

by Sean Lewis
Anchor/Reporter

An Illinois court has ordered the release of church documents related to sexual abuse investigations.

The name of 15 more priests, who worked in the Joliet Diocese from the 1930s through 2006 were released today. All of them, according to church documents, had credible accusations of abuse throughout their career. Many of them continued in their pastoral duties after allegations came to light, sometimes being transferred from church to church through the Joliet Diocese.

Of the 15 priests named today, five of them are now dead. The 10 others have been removed from ministry roles.

In his order, Judge Michael Powers said there is a compelling public interest to protect children from being sexually exploited and abused and that any privacy rights of individual priests must yield to the state’s public interest to protect children.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Telegraph (UK)

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has announced it will pay nearly $10 million to settle four clergy sex abuse cases.

Church lawyer J. Michael Hennigan confirmed the $9.9 million settlement for the cases, which alleged abuse by former priest Michael Baker.

Recently released files show Baker met with Cardinal Roger Mahony in 1986 and confessed to molesting two brothers for nearly seven years.

Cardinal Mahony sent Baker for psychological treatment but eventually put him back in ministry, where he molested again.

Despite calls for him to stay away, Cardinal Mahony is now in Rome helping to select a new pope.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
NBC News

By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

Four clergy sex abuse cases will cost the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles nearly $10 million, a law firm representing the alleged victims announced Tuesday.

The cases, in which settlements were reached ranging from $995,000 to $4,000,000, allege that former priest Michael Baker repeatedly molested four victims beginning in the 1970s, and that Cardinal Roger Mahony knew of Baker’s criminal behavior and allowed him to continue as a priest.

“These cases against former priest Michael Baker are symbolic of the sex abuse scandals that rocked the Los Angeles Archdiocese under Cardinal Roger Mahony,” lawyers for the alleged victims said in a statement.

In 2007, Baker was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to 12 counts of molestation against young boys.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Firstpost

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony and a former priest have agreed to pay a total of nearly $10 million to settle four child sex abuse cases brought against them, lawyers for the victims said on Tuesday.

Mahony, who retired in 2011 as head of the largest U.S. archdiocese and is now in Rome taking part in choosing a new pope, was accused of helping a confessed pedophile priest evade law enforcement by sending him out of state to a church-run treatment center, then placing the priest back in the Los Angeles ministry.

As part of the agreement approved by a Los Angeles judge earlier this month, none of the parties admitted wrongdoing, according to a plaintiff’s attorney in the case, Vince Finaldi.

But Finaldi said the settlement, together with the recent release of internal church records documenting the role of Mahony and others in covering up child sexual abuse by the clergy, comes “as close to an admission of guilt as you’re going to get from the archdiocese.”

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
BBC News

The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles is to pay out nearly $10m (£6.7m) to settle four cases of sexual abuse by a former priest, lawyers have said.

Recently released files show Cardinal Roger Mahony knew about the alleged abuse but put the priest back in ministry, where he abused again.

The settlement comes as the cardinals of the Catholic Church are meeting to select a new pope following the abdication of Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Mahony is at the conclave.

Nearly 10,000 US Catholics signed a petition urging him not to go because of the allegations he protected priests accused of child sex abuse.

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JOLIET (IL)
Patch

By Ann C. Piasecki

The Diocese of Joliet Tuesday lifted a protective order on personnel files concerning 15 priest-offenders.

According to Jim Dwyer, diocesan spokesperson, “the diocese’s settlement agreement with plaintiff David Rudofski regarding his allegation against Fr. James Burnett has become final.”

The suit was filed in 2006 by Rudofski against Burnett, the former pastor at St. Mary Parish, Mokena. He previously served at the Cathedral of St. Raymond, Joliet, Ss. Peter and Paul, Naperville and St. Charles Borremeo, Bensenville.

The settlement terms include a statement from Bishop R. Daniel Conlon, “acknowledging the allegations of child sexual abuse against Fr. Burnett made by Mr. Rodofski, Mr. Dan Shanahan and a man who did not want his name disclosed are considered substantiated.”

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
ITV (UK)

A legal settlement has been reached in a number of child sex abuse cases against the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony and a former priest, lawyers for the victims told Reuters.

The settlement is reportedly worth nearly $10 million (£6.7 million).

Cardinal Roger Mahony, who is currently at the Vatican in Rome to help elect the next pope, was accused of helping a confessed pedophile priest evade the law by sending him to a church-run treatment centre before reinstating him.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
CNN

By Mike Martinez
updated 6:12 PM EDT, Tue March 12, 2013

Los Angeles (CNN) — Four California men allegedly molested as boys by a priest have settled their lawsuit against the Los Angeles Archdiocese and Cardinal Roger Mahony for almost $10 million, their attorneys said Tuesday.

The priest, no longer in the clergy, abused the boys on several occasions dating back to the 1970s, including during overnight trips to San Diego and Riverside counties, the attorneys said.

The priest pleaded guilty to molesting boys in 2007 and was recently released in 2011 with credit for time served, the attorneys said.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to four men who allege they were molested by a pedophile priest in what Cardinal Roger Mahony has called the most troubling case of his tenure, a lawyer for the men said Tuesday.

The agreement settled four lawsuits against the church concerning Michael Baker, who authorities believe molested 23 boys during three decades as a parish priest and hospital chaplain.

The settlement is the first since the church released 12,000 pages of internal personnel files about its handling of abuse allegations, including scores of documents detailing how Mahony and a top aide dealt with Baker.

The priest admitted his abuse of two boys directly to Mahony during a 1986 retreat. Mahony sent him to New Mexico for treatment, but later returned him to ministry where he molested again. He was convicted in 2007.

Two of the cases were set for trial next month. Vince Finaldi, a lawyer for the alleged victims, said he believed the file release “played heavily” into the archdiocese’s decision to settle the cases. “Once we got the files it confirmed everything we had argued for years and years,” Finaldi said. “Cardinal Mahony’s fingerprints were all over the case.”

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JOLIET (IL)
My Suburban Life

[DIOCESAN PRIESTS WITH A CREDIBLE ALLEGATION(S) OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS MADE AGAINST THEM WHILE SERVING IN THE JOLIET DIOCESE]

By BRIAN HUDSON – bhudson@shawmedia.com
Created: Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Hundreds of pages of documents were released Tuesday by the Diocese of Joliet offering new details on the accusations against 15 priests — some who served in parishes throughout the west suburbs — accused of sexual misconduct with minors.

The accusations themselves are not new, but the personnel files show — for the first time, in many cases — corroborating information and background on the priests, according to the attorneys reviewing the documents.
A Will County court in January ordered the documents be released in an ongoing lawsuit against the diocese — ruling that public interest outweighs the privacy rights of the priest or the diocese.

The documents were made available to plaintiffs on Tuesday, but there will be a slight delay before they will be published, as lawyers comb through to redact the names of victims.

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TEXAS
Valley Central

[with video]

by Veronica Gallegos

A Probable Cause Statement released even more allegations on a Valley priest who was arrested for allegedly causing damage to a vehicle’s tires.

Action 4 News had to file a request to get the statement which gave details on why McAllen police chose to issue a warrant for the arrest of Father Eusebio Martinez.

The statement said Father Eusebio Martinez was stalking Martin Villanueva by sending him text messages telling him where he was at and even installed a GPS tracking system under his wife’s car without their consent.

The statement issued by McAllen police said the criminal mischief happened at “Cine El Rey”.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Grand Forks Herald

[Michael Baker – Los Angeles archdiocese]

By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will pay nearly $10 million to settle four clergy sex abuse cases.

Church attorney J. Michael Hennigan confirmed the $9.9 million settlement Tuesday for the cases, which alleged abuse by former priest Michael Baker.

Two cases were to go to trial soon and a judge had said attorneys for the alleged victims could also pursue punitive damages.

Recently released files show Baker met with Cardinal Roger Mahony in 1986 and confessed to molesting two brothers for nearly seven years.

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VATICAN CITY
CBS DC

VATICAN CITY (CBSDC) — As the cardinals enter the conclave to elect a new pope, the mother of one cardinal hopes he won’t be the new leader of the Vatican.

Eleonore Schoenborn, the 92-year-old mother of Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, told an Austrian newspaper that he won’t be able to handle the rigors of leading over 1 billion Catholics.

“Christoph would not be up to the bitchiness in the Vatican,” she told the paper, according to Reuters. “The intrigues in Vienna are enough for him.”

The 68-year-old Schoenborn has been considered a favorite to succeed former Pope Benedict XVI.

“The whole family is afraid that Christoph will be elected pope,” she said, according to Reuters. “I will not see Christoph ever again because I no longer have the strength to travel to Rome.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

March 12, 2013 by Susan Matthews

Black smoke rose at the Vatican today, but I was thinking about smoke screen here in Philadelphia until the 2011 Grand Jury Report cleared the air.

That report, rather than concern or morality, was what prompted Cardinal Rigali to remove 26 “unsuitable” priests from ministry for investigation. According to court documents the Philadelphia hierarchy was well aware of the risks these men posed long before the report was released. Vigilant oversight seems imperative to the protection of children in this and many dioceses around the world.

The story is far from over here in Philadelphia. What happened to those 26? Last May, Archbishop Chaput announced the permanent removal of five priests. One priest had died and three were restored to ministry. In July, he announced two more would be permanently removed. In September, one who had been restored was removed again for further investigation. The fate of 19 priests is still pending.

The priests who were removed from ministry had three options:

1- Live a life of prayer and penance.
2- Laicization.
3- Appeal to the Vatican.

This past week, I asked the archdiocese for an update on what each of the priests removed from ministry had chosen. These choices have implications that impact the laity.

There are no official updates on those choices, according to Kenneth A. Gavin, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

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NEDERLAND
Onderzoek

Het onafhankelijk onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik van en fysiek en psychisch geweld jegens minderjarige vrouwen in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk van 1945 tot heden onder leiding van drs. W.J. Deetman, is afgerond.

Op deze website treft u het Voorstel voor onderzoek , de Methodologische Verantwoording, de Archiefverantwoording, alsmede Pers- en nieuwsberichten uitgebracht door de onderzoeksorganisatie lopende dit onderzoek.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

March 12, 2013

BY Michael O’Keeffe

Editor’s note: Philip Culhane, one of the 12 men who settled an explosive sexual abuse lawsuit against Poly Prep Country Day School in December, was one of more than a dozen witnesses who spoke in favor of the Child Victims Act at a New York Assembly hearing on Friday. The bill, introduced by Queens Democrat Margaret Markey, would eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations in child sex crimes.

Here is the statement read by Culhane, who traveled from Hong Kong to participate in the hearing:

Good morning. My name is Philip Culhane.

A bit about me. I grew up in New York City, in Brooklyn and Greenwich Village. I attended Poly Prep Country Day School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, beginning as a fifth grader in 1976 and graduating in 1984. I went to college in Massachusetts and then went on to New York University School of Law. I went to work for a large Wall Street law firm, eventually moving to my firm’s Hong Kong office where I have been for the last 15 years. I am married and have two children, a 10-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son.

A story of fulfillment, success, love and driven accomplishment. But there is another narrative.

From 1966 through 1991, Poly prep had on staff a serial sexual abuser. He was the football coach. He was a legend. He was hired the year I was born. At one point while I was Poly, when my friends were on the team, the team was undefeated for three and a half years. He was a legend and also a serial sexual abuser. He repeatedly abused me starting when I was 10 years old.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on stories in Australian newspapers maintaining that Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, will not be named pope because of his tainted record of sexual abuse:

No cardinal should ever have to endure the vicious mudslinging campaign being conducted by an embittered radical ex-priest, dishonest reporters, discredited victims’ groups, and incompetent Catholic journalists. But this is exactly what Cardinal Pell has had to endure this week. Not without reason is he thinking about suing the culprits.

The source of the smear campaign is Dr. Paul Collins, an ex-priest who resigned in 2001 after clashing with the Vatican. Collins has a long record of defending every dissident, in and out of the Catholic Church, on a wide range of subjects. That he would float the idea that Cardinal Pell has “long [been] dogged” by accusations of sexual abuse suggests that the charges against Pell are still unresolved. This is a pernicious lie.

In 2002, Cardinal Pell was completely exonerated of allegations that he abused a teenager in the 1960s. Yet reporter Barney Zwartz, whose story was picked up in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, led readers to believe that Pell’s name was not fully cleared. Amazingly, here is what Zwartz said in 2010, but did not say yesterday: “Cardinal Pell stood down as Archbishop of Sydney in 2002 after he was accused of abusing a teenager at a church camp in the 1960s, but an independent investigation by a retired non-Catholic judge cleared him.”

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VATICAN CITY
Boston Globe

The gregarious leader of the Roman Catholic Church in New York is predicting a successor to Pope Benedict XVI could be chosen by Thursday, according to an ABC News report.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, one of 115 cardinals who will select the new pontiff, wrote to priests in his archdiocese that his “guess” was that a pope would be chosen by Thursday night and installed early next week, ABC reported.

A plume of black smoke rose Tuesday evening above St. Peter’s Square, signaling that no pope had been chosen during the first session of the papal conclave inside the Sistine Chapel.

On Wednesday and each day of the conclave, the cardinals will have breakfast between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. Rome time, celebrate Mass in the Pauline Chapel, and then at 9:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. Boston time) return to the Sistine Chapel to pray and vote. They take a lengthy lunch break from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., then begin a second round of voting before breaking for the night at 7:30 p.m.

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CHILE
La Tercera

El ministro de fuero Juan Manuel Muñoz Pardo, rechazó hoy entregar la sentencia condenatoria de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, que condenó a Karadima por abusos sexuales reiterados.

Esto luego de la solicitud presentada por las tres víctimas de Fernando Karadima, Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton y José Andrés Murillo.

“Es un documento en poder de un tercero, no obstante, se encuentra agregado a fs. 1196 del expediente criminal tenido a la vista, y está en poder de los solicitantes, según consta de la resolución de fs. 1207 de dichos autos criminales”, indica el dictamen.

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NETHERLANDS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Becky Ianni on March 12, 2013

Our hearts ache for the all of the thousands of girls who victimized by the priests and nuns who were supposed to be caring for them. This is an enormous betrayal of trust, and such crimes have life-long and damaging effects.

We hope that, by reading this report today and knowing at least some of the truth around their victimization is known, they will find some healing.

We are glad that the commission turned over the files on cases that they believe are prosecutable, but we would prefer if they had turned over all files to police and prosecutors. That way, a creative legal mind may have been able to find some way to prosecute some of the offenders (remember, Al Capone was brought down on tax evasion).

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CALIFORNIA
New York Daily News

As cardinals gather in Rome to choose the next Pope, who’ll inherit a scandal-rocked church, another priest stands accused of child molestation: The Rev. Julio Guarin-Sosa was arrested on suspicion of child molestation.

By David Knowles / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The arrest comes as yet another reminder of what is at stake.

As Catholic cardinals begin the secretive process of selecting the next Pope who will have to deal with the legacy of child sex scandals that have rocked the church in recent years, another priest stands accused of child molestation.

The Rev. Julio Guarin-Sosa was arrested on suspicion of child molestation in Yuba City, Calif.

The priest, who is visiting the United States from Colombia, is being held at Sutter County Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. He will also be charged with sexual battery, the Sacramento Bee reported.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 12 March 2013 (VIS) – This evening at 7:42pm, black smoke rose from the chimney installed on the roof of the Sistine Chapel signalling that the Cardinal electors have not elected a new Pope in the first ballot of the Conclave.

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VATICAN CITY
Los Angeles Times

Integrating 21st century technology into a nearly 2,000-year tradition, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger
Mahony took to Twitter and his blog Tuesday to ask for prayers as he and 114 other cardinals begin the selection of the next pope.

“Last tweet before moving to Casa Santa Martha, and Mass to Elect a Pope,” Mahony tweeted from his account @CardinalMahony. “First Conclave meeting late Tuesday afternoon. Prayers needed.”

On his blog, Mahony reposted the prayer he and the rest of the cardinals will take Tuesday morning and recounted what’s to come when the cardinals are sequestered in the Sistine Chapel to select a new pope.

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VATICAN CITY
New York Daily News

By Christina Boyle / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

VATICAN CITY — Black smoke over the Vatican — we do not have a new Pope.

The 115 cardinals who have locked themselves inside the Sistine Chapel revealed to the world that they have failed to select a new pontiff on their first ballot — a widely expected outcome as the papal conclave got underway Tuesday afternoon.

The cardinals will return for two votes Wednesday morning and, if no white smoke billows over the Vatican, two more votes in the afternoon.

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CALIFORNIA
The Record

By The Record

March 12, 2013

STOCKTON – A visiting priest who has worked at St. Anne’s Parish in Lodi has been arrested on suspicion of child molestation, the Diocese of Stockton said.

Julio Guarin-Sosa, 43, who is visiting the United States from Colombia, was arrested Sunday by Yuba City Police. He is being held in Sutter County Jail on $250,000 bail according to the Sutter County Sheriff’s Department website.

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JOLIET (IL)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet

[Click on the headline for the complete list.]

The following list of diocesan priests has been prepared in the hope that it will further facilitate healing and closure for those who have been affected by sexual abuse. It may also encourage others who have been sexually abused to come forward.

Persons wishing to report sexual abuse are asked to call the Victims Assistance Coordinator, Judith Speckman, at 815-263-6467 or to contact DCFS at 1-800-25ABUSE.
PRIESTS WITH CREDIBLE/SUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATIONS

Burnett, James
5/25/1968
Removed from ministry 2006

Buczyna, Andrew
6/6/1987
Removed from ministry 2008

Dedera, Philip
11/1/1972
Removed from ministry 2002

Dugal, William
5/28/1976
Removed from ministry 2002, Deceased 2009

Fischer, Lowell
5/8/1954
Removed from ministry 2002, Deceased 2006

Flores, Alejandro
6/6/2009
Removed from ministry 2010

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JOLIET (IL)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet

[DIOCESAN PRIESTS WITH A CREDIBLE ALLEGATION(S) OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS MADE AGAINST THEM WHILE SERVING IN THE JOLIET DIOCESE]

March 12, 2013

I came to the Diocese of Joliet 19 months ago with the same excitement and optimism that any pastor has when he accepts the care of a new flock. Unfortunately the dark cloud of the history of child abuse in this diocese has imposed itself almost every day. The abuse itself and the way it was handled in many cases have created serious harm to the lives of individuals, parish communities and the whole diocese.

Although I was not present during the unfolding of this history, I feel a deep concern for the victims/survivors of abuse and their families. Their pain does not go away with the changing of bishops. I reiterate my willingness to meet with them and the diocese’s readiness to provide counseling through our Victims’ Assistance Coordinator.

This statement is provided today because the diocese’s settlement agreement with plaintiff David Rudofski regarding his allegation against Fr. James Burnett has become final. The lawsuit was filed several years ago.

The settlement terms include a statement from me acknowledging that allegations of child sexual abuse against Fr. Burnett made by Mr. Rudofski, Mr. Dan Shanahan and a man who did not want his name disclosed are considered substantiated. In addition, there is a payment of financial compensation to Mr. Rudofski.

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JOLIET (IL)
Herald-News

By Bob Okon bokon@stmedianetwork.com March 12, 2013

Updated: March 12, 2013

The Diocese of Joliet has lifted a protective order on personnel files of 15 priests as part of a settlement in a sexual abuse case announced Tuesday.

Bishop R. Daniel Conlon said the settlement involved the Rev. James Burnett and three plaintiffs.
The settlement also included a financial payment to one plaintiff, David Rudofski.

Conlon said the lifting of the protective order has made specific pages of the personnel files of 15 priest offenders available to one of the plaintiffs in the case. The release of the files was in compliance with a court order.

The lawsuit was filed several years ago but the settlement with Rudofski has recently been reached, the diocese said.

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CALIFORNIA
Appeal-Democrat

March 12, 2013

Appeal-Democrat staff report

A priest visiting from Colombia was arrested Sunday on suspicion of sexual battery and molestation of a teenage girl in Yuba City.

Julio Cesar Guarin-Sosa, 43, was taken into custody at the Lodi Police Department and was booked into Sutter County Jail the next day on the two charges, along with an immigration hold. His bail was set at $250,000.

Yuba City police said Guarin-Sosa was in town on Friday for a performance of his duties at a home, when he came in contact with the 16-year-old. It’s alleged that he had inappropriate contact with her during that visit, according to police spokeswoman Shawna Pavey.

The incident was reported to authorities on Saturday.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversry

Posted by Joelle Casteix on March 12, 2013

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, SNAP Western Regional Director

Read the news story here.

Once again, innocent children pay the price because Bishop Stephen Blaire refused to do a simple background check on one of his priests. What is even more tragic about this case is that the arrested priest abused in a parish that–not so long ago–was savaged by the crimes of Oliver O’Grady.

Unfortunately, the case of visiting priest Rev. Julio Guarin-Sosa is not unique. California’s bishops have a habit of accepting foreign priests with little to no investigation of their backgrounds. In Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony accepted two foreign priests–Fernando Lopez Lopez and Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera–with nothing more than a letter of recommendation from their bishops. Had Mahony done any investigation, he would have learned that Lopez Lopez had been convicted of “violent sexual abuse on a minor” in Italy. A few years earlier, Mahony was told that Aguilar Rivera had “homosexual problems” with youths, but accepted him anyway.

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DEUTSCHLAND
kathweb

Deutsche Bischofskonferenz wirft Studienautor Pfeiffer am Dienstag vor, den gerichtlichen Vergleich fälschlicherweise einseitig als Erfolg darzustellen

12.03.2013

Bonn, 12.03.2013 (KAP) Im Streit um die kirchliche Missbrauchsstudie haben der Kriminologe Christian Pfeiffer und die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz (DBK) einen Vergleichsvorschlag des Landgerichts Hannover akzeptiert. Danach muss die Bischofskonferenz auf ihrer Themenseite zum Thema Missbrauch (www.dbk.de/themen/thema-sexueller-missbrauch) die Darstellung des Konflikts an zwei Stellen ändern, wie beide Seiten am Dienstag in Hannover und Bonn mitteilten. Das berichtet die deutsche katholische Nachrichtenagentur KNA.

Zuvor hatte Pfeiffer eine einstweilige Verfügung beantragt, dass die Bischofskonferenz bestimmte Behauptungen unterlässt. Gegenstand des Streits ist unter anderem die Behauptung Pfeiffers, die Bischöfe hätten die Erstveröffentlichung von Forschungsergebnissen verhindern oder zensieren wollen.

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VATICAN CITY
Slate

By Josh Voorhees

Posted Tuesday, March 12, 2013
The conclave today is holding its first of what will likely be several votes this week to select the next pope. By now you probably know the drill: If someone receives support from two-thirds of this year’s voting cardinals (or 77 of the 115), the Catholic church will have a new pope and we’ll see white smoke billow out from the chimney at the Vatican. If no individual garners the necessary support, we’ll see black smoke, and the cardinals will return again tomorrow to try again until they have settled on their man. (Most are predicting we won’t see white smoke until Thursday.)

You can follow along with CBS News’s Vatican Smoke Cam below, or, for those who prefer reading to watching, you can check out the Guardian’s cleverly simple http://www.istherewhitesmoke.com/.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

By Stephen Hough

‘The Church is perfect, the spotless Bride of Christ; it is individual members who sin’, so traditional Catholic theology would tell us. From this viewpoint arises the imperative to protect the Church at all costs, and from this attitude has arisen so much of the scandal in recent years: bishops doing all they could to safeguard the reputation of the Church whilst leaving vulnerable children in danger. When Vatican II used the phrase ‘The People of God’ in the document Lumen Gentium in 1964 – suggesting a community before a structure, a living vineyard before the chateau which gave it its name – it marked an important sea change. People need protection not an institution, even one considered to be of divine origin. And all of this becomes painfully clear when it comes to child abuse: nothing should come before the welfare of the vulnerable individual. But vulnerability is not limited to such an extreme situation.

I wrote a post recently on this blog about ‘The O’Brien Moment’, suggesting that this moment of disgrace and embarrassment for Cardinal Keith O’Brien has the potential for great power. The Cardinal was once a defenceless child, growing up in a Church and a society which regarded homosexuality as sinful at best and criminal at worst. I can’t judge if the Cardinal is actually gay but there have obviously been times in his life when he was flooded with powerful same-sex attractions. The deeply imbedded reflex for human beings to find other human beings sexually attractive is the same for all, whether straight or gay; and such attraction is not unrelated to the desire to give and receive love and protection from another. Used well it is one of the noblest things we can experience. A sordid fumble in the dark is not evil as such (as long as it’s between two consenting adults) but is rather a misplaced reflex of a deep-seated desire to give and receive affection – a branch that needs training not pruning.

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CALFORNIA
Fox 40

by Cecilio Padilla
Web Producer

YUBA CITY—

A priest visiting from Colombia has been arrested in Yuba City on charges of sexual battery and molestation of a minor.

Rev. Julio Cesar Guarin-Sosa, 43, was ministering at St. Anne’s Parish in Lodi. He had provided a letter of good standing from his Colombian diocese.

According to the Sutter County Sheriff’s website, Guarin-Sosa was arrested on Sunday.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Sacramento

YUBA CITY (CBS13) – A visiting priest from Colombia has been arrested on suspicion of sexual battery and molestation of a minor in Yuba City, according to the Diocese of Stockton.

Rev. Julio Guarin-Sosa has been helping out at St. Anne’s Parish in Lodi. The Diocese says Father Guarin had a letter of good standing from his diocese in Colombia before he came to the U.S.

As a result of his arrest and the charges against him, the Diocese of Stockton has revoked Guarin’s permission to provide ministry in their churches. His Diocese in Colombia has also been informed.

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CALIFORNIA
Sacramento Bee

A Catholic priest has been arrested on suspicion of child molestation, according to a press release from the Diocese of Stockton.

The Rev. Julio Guarin-Sosa, a visiting priest from Columbia, was arrested on suspicion of sexual battery and molestation of a minor in Yuba City. He is being held in the Sutter County Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Guarin-Sosa had been helping out at St. Anne’s parish in Lodi. Stockton Bishop Stephen E. Blaire had required, and was provided a letter, attesting to Guarin-Sosa’s good standing prior to the priest’s ministry work at St. Anne’s.

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CALIFORNIA
News 10

Paul Janes

YUBA CITY, Calif. – A priest visiting from Colombia is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday after being arrested in Yuba City on Sunday.

According to the Yuba City Police Department, Rev. Julio Guarin-Sosa was arrested on charges of molestation of a minor, sexual battery and illegal entry while providing ministry at St. Anne’s church.

Bishop Blaire of the Stockton Diocese said Rev. Julio Guarin-Sosa received a letter of good standing from his diocese in Colombia prior to providing ministry at St. Anne’s.

“As a result of the charges, Father Guarin’s permission to exercise ministry in the Diocese of Stockton has been revoked,” said Blaire.

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IRELAND
Herald

Declan Brennan– 12 March 2013

THE victim of a priest’s abuse says he cannot bring himself to forgive the Church and refuses to have his children baptised.

Former priest Patrick McCabe (77) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three counts of indecently assaulting the 13-year-old boy on two locations in Dublin between January 1 and September 31, 1979.

The court heard that the abuse took place in the parochial house of Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral during the Papal visit.

rosary

McCabe, formerly of Alameda, California, USA, has being in custody since being extradited here in 2011.

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ROME
Raw Story

By Eric W. Dolan
Monday, March 11, 2013

An apartment building in Rome currently occupied by Cardinal Ivan Dias is also home to the biggest gay sauna in Europe.

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that Cardinal Ivan Dias is living just one floor above the Europa Multiclub Sauna and Gym, which contains a king Turkish bath, Finnish sauna, giant whirlpool, waterfall whirlpool and other attractions for its gay patrons.

The socially-conservative Cardinal, who previously served as Archbishop of Bombay, has described homosexuality as an “unnatural tendency” and a disease of the soul.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Voice

This week, as the conclave to elect the next Pope of the Roman Catholic Church begins, people from around the globe continue to wonder and ask “Who will be elected as the next Pope”?

As this question has been asked over and over again for the past several weeks, Survivors of clergy abuse from around the world continue to wait, as well.

We are not waiting to find out who will be elected as the next Pope. We are waiting for the world to join us and finally start asking the right questions.

The question of who the next pope will be pales in comparison to the question of what the next pope will do. While former Pope Benedict officially called the sexual abuse by clergy of children a “crime”, he failed to remove those who committed those crimes, and those who harbored those criminals.

In order protect future generations of children from abuse, and in order to repair the damage done to yesterday and today’s generation of clergy abuse survivors from around the world, we need to stop asking “Who will the next Pope?” … we need to begin asking “What will the next Pope do”.?

Will the next Pope, remove from ministry the priests who abused children?

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 12 March 2013 (VIS) – Beginning with the Conclave in 2005, in order to better distinguish the colour of the “fumate” (smoke signalling the election or non-election of a pontiff), a secondary apparatus is used to generate the smoke in addition to the traditional stove in which the Cardinal electors’ ballots are burned. This device stands next to the ballot-burning stove and has a compartment where, according to the results of the vote, different coloured-smoke generating compounds can be mixed. The result is requested by means of an electronic control panel and lasts for several minutes while the ballots are burning in the other stove.

For a black “fumata” the chemical compound is made of potassium perchlorate, anthracene, and sulphur. The white “fumata” is a mixture of potassium chlorate, lactose, and rosin. The rosin is a natural amber resin obtained from conifers. Prior to 2005 the black smoke was obtained by using smoke black or pitch and the white smoke by using wet straw.

The stove-pipes of the stove and the smoke-producing device join up and exit the roof of the Sistine Chapel as one pipe leading to the chimney installed on the ridge of the roof, which is visible from St. Peter’s Square. To improve the airflow the pipe is pre-heated by electrical resistance and it also has a backup fan.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 12 March 2013 (VIS) – This afternoon, 115 cardinals will enter the Conclave to elect Pope emeritus Benedict XVI’s successor. The two Cardinal electors who are not participating are Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja, S.J., archbishop emeritus of Jakarta, Indonesia, for health reasons and Cardinal Keith O’Brien, ex-archbishop of Edinburgh, Scotland, for personal reasons.

Categorizing the cardinals from area of origin, the 60 European cardinals come from: Italy: 28. Germany: 6. Spain: 5. Poland: 4. France: 4. Austria: 1. Belgium: 1. Switzerland: 1. Portugal: 2. Netherlands: 1. Ireland: 1. Czech Republic: 1. Bosnia-Herzegovina: 1. Hungary: 1. Lithuania: 1. Croatia:1. and Slovenia: 1.

The 14 Northern American cardinals come from: the United States: 11. and Canada: 3.

The 19 Latin American cardinals are from: Brazil: 5. Mexico: 3. Argentina: 2. Colombia: 1. Chile: 1. Venezuela: 1. the Dominican Republic: 1. Cuba: 1. Honduras: 1. Peru: 1. Bolivia: 1. and Ecuador: 1.

The 11 African cardinals come from: Nigeria: 2. Tanzania: 1. South Africa: 1. Ghana: 1. Sudan: 1. Kenya: 1. Senegal: 1. Egypt: 1. Guinea: 1. and the Democratic Republic of the Congo: 1

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican information Service

Vatican City, 12 March 2013 (VIS) – This morning little later than usual in the Vatican. At 7:00am the first faithful starting arriving at St. Peter’s on foot. The 115 Cardinal electors were already within the City State’s walls. Each one carried his small suitcase and took the functional but austere room that had been assigned to, not chosen by, them at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The largest one remains vacant. The one they choose as Pope, the 266th successor of Peter, will live and work there until the papal apartments are made ready for him.

In St. Peter’s Square, in front of the Basilica’s facade, an enormous platform has been erected for the world’s major broadcasters. Permanently accredited correspondents work from their desks within the Holy See’s Press Office in Via della Conciliazione. Nearby, another building has been wired for all the media that is arriving for the occasion: the Media Centre, which currently occupies the spacious lobby of the Paul VI Hall. So far, more than 5,600 journalists have been accredited for the occasion. The terrace on the Charlemagne Wing of Bernini’s colonnade around St. Peter’s Square has also been taken over by journalists. On the ground and in the most varied places you will find many who are connected through social networks, the “digital continent”, linking the entire world. They are all focused on the spot that Vatican Television has aimed a fixed camera at: the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel where a black or white puff of smoke will emerge.

Precisely at 10:00am, with St. Peter’s Basilica beautifully lit, the “pro eligendo Romano Pontifice” Mass began. Presided by the Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, the over one hundred cardinals gathered concelebrated, Cardinal electors as well as those over 80, representing all of the populated continents of the globe. The celebration was open to all the faithful who wished to attend as well as members of the diplomatic corps of the 179 countries with which the Holy See maintains ties. Each held the Mass booklet, either collected at the entrance or downloaded from the Vatican website.

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CALIFORNIA
National Catholic Reporter

by Dan Morris-Young | Mar. 11, 2013

The Ides of March has taken on new meaning in the Santa Rosa, Calif., diocese, where teachers and administrators have until March 15 to sign a letter of intent to renew their contracts for the 2013-2014 school year. The contracts now include an addendum requiring they agree they are “a ministerial agent of the bishop” and that they reject “modern errors” that “gravely offend human dignity,” including “but not limited to” contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia.

The roughly 400-word addendum requires all teachers and administrators — Catholic and non-Catholic — to “agree that it is my duty, to the best of my ability, to believe, teach/administer and live in accord with what the Catholic Church holds and professes.”

Written by Santa Rosa Bishop Robert Vasa and added at his direction, the addendum is titled “Bearing Witness.” In press reports, Vasa and Catholic school superintendent John Collins have described it as expansion and clarification of the standard faith and morals clause of the teacher contract.

“Bearing Witness” states teachers must live their lives “in conformity with the 10 Commandments” and Catholic teachers must “acknowledge” that attending Mass every Sunday and on holy days of obligation is “an especially important form of my duty to give witness to my faith.”

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VATICAN CITY
Cardinal Roger Mahony Blogs LA

We have concluded our tenth and last General Congregation for the Cardinals, and we now await our move to Casa Santa Martha on Tuesday morning.

At 10:00 AM we will concelebrate a special Mass for the Election of the Pope in St. Peter’s Basilica.

May I commend to your daily prayer the Mass Prayer which we will all pray on Tuesday morning:

O God, eternal shepherd,
who govern your flock with unfailing care,
grant in your boundless fatherly love
a Pastor and Successor to Peter for your Church
who will please you by his holiness
and to us show watchful care.
Through Christ our Lord.

On Tuesday evening the Cardinal Electors will enter in solemn Procession the Sistine Chapel, chanting as we go the Litany of the Saints. There will be a spiritual reflection offered, and we will proceed to the necessary oaths. On Tuesday evening we will have our first secret ballot vote for the next Pope.

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VATICAN CITY
John Thavis

People often imagine a conclave as a political convention in red robes, where cardinals may pray to the Holy Spirit but do their real business in back-room maneuvers.

Judging from my conversations with cardinals over the last two weeks, the “campaigning” aspect of a conclave is exaggerated in popular imagination. But that doesn’t mean the cardinals don’t talk, lobby and carefully calculate the chances of their favorite candidate.

From the moment it begins this evening, you could probably divide the conclave into “praying” and “politicking” moments.

The praying takes place in the Sistine Chapel, where the voting procedure is so formal and so solemn that the cardinals don’t even talk to each other. There’s a reason the cardinals will file into the chapel in choir dress – they are, in a sense, participating in a liturgy.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

This afternoon the Master of the Papal Ceremonies, Msgr. Guido Marini will pronounce the “Extra-Omnes” phrase, ordering all cardinals other than the cardinal electors to leave the Sistine Chapel. The first voting session will ensue

Vatican Insider staff
Vatican City

LIVE BROADCAST

As Vatican Radio reports, at 16:15 (CET) the 115 cardinal electors will “gather in the Pauline Chapel for a moment of collection and prayer and from there they will process in order of precedence through the Sala Regia to the Sistine Chapel invoking the Holy Spirit.” The procession will begin at 16:30, with the Cross and the Book of Gospels carried at the front.

After chanting the Veni Creator, cardinals will swear an oath to observe the rules of Conclave which include maintaining fidelity to the election of the Pope, maintaining secrecy and never supporting or favouring interference.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by Dennis Coday,Joshua J. McElwee | Mar. 12, 2013

Rome —
If the 115 cardinal electors were hoping to receive marching orders in the final hours before they enter the conclave and begin to elect a new pope, they must have been disappointed in the homily at Tuesday morning’s Mass.

Following Pope John Paul II’s death in 2005, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s extended homily claiming modern society had allowed a “dictatorship of relativism” was thought to have sealed his case for election as Pope Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the cardinals, had the chance to deliver a similar homily Tuesday as the final advice the church’s cardinals would receive publicly before sealing themselves off from the world Tuesday afternoon, but delivered instead a ferverino to charity and unity.

In a 10-minute address, Sodano did not mention church governance or the scandals among the Roman Curia that have been in the spotlight in the weeks following Pope Benedict’s resignation Feb. 28.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Catholic priest appears in Beenleigh court on child sex charges related to offences at southeast Queensland schools

THE Catholic Church says it is paying retirement benefits to a priest facing 57 charges of sexually abusing more than 10 children in southeast Queensland schools.

The man worked in the schools in the 1970s and ’80s.

The retired priest, who cannot be named, remains in the official directory of the Catholic Church of Australia.

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ROME
GlobalPost

Italian archbishop Angelo Scola is favourite to be the next pope ahead of Ghana’s Peter Turkson and Odilo Scherer of Brazil, bookmakers said Tuesday as cardinals prepared to choose the new pontiff.

Bookmakers were also taking bets on the official name that the successor to Benedict XVI will take, with Leo, Peter and Gregory the favourites.

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power and Britain’s William Hill said Scola’s chances had improved dramatically and both gave the Milan archbishop odds of 9/4 to be the next pope.

The likelihood of a first African pope diminished meanwhile as the once highly favoured Cardinal Turkson dropped down the betting rankings, while Cardinal Scherer leapt up the table.

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VATICAN CITY
CTV (Canada)

The Associated Press
Published Tuesday, Mar. 12, 2013

VATICAN CITY — The conclave to elect a new pope begins Tuesday at the Vatican. The voting process follows a set ritual every day until the Catholic Church has a new leader. Here is an approximate schedule. Local time listed first.

Tuesday
• 10 a.m.-11:45 a.m. (5 a.m.-6:45 a.m. EDT; 0900-1045 GMT): Cardinals attend Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, then return to their Vatican hotel.
• 3:45 p.m. (10:45 a.m. EDT; 1445 GMT): Cardinals travel from their hotel to the Apostolic Palace.
• 4:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. EDT; 1530 GMT): Procession from the Pauline Chapel into the Sistine Chapel.
• 4:45 p.m.-8 p.m. (11:45 a.m.-3 p.m. EDT; 1545-1900 GMT): Each cardinal takes an oath, most likely followed by the first vote. If the vote yields a new pope, white smoke will emerge from the chimney; if not the smoke will be black.
• 8 p.m. (3 p.m. EDT; 1900 GMT): Cardinals pray in the Sistine Chapel.
• 8:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. EDT; 1930 GMT): Cardinals return to their hotel.

Wednesday and onward
• 7:45 a.m. (2:45 a.m. EDT; 0645 GMT): Cardinals travel to the Pauline Chapel.
• 8:15 a.m. (3:15 a.m. EDT; 0715 GMT): Mass in the Pauline Chapel.
• 9:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. EDT; 0830 GMT): Prayer in the Sistine Chapel, voting starts.
• 12:30 p.m. (7:30 a.m. EDT; 1130 GMT): Cardinals retire to their hotel for lunch.
• 4 p.m. (11 a.m. EDT; 1500 GMT): Cardinals return to the Sistine Chapel.
• 4:50 p.m. (11:50 a.m. EDT; 1540 GMT): Voting in the Sistine Chapel.
• 7:15 p.m. (2:15 p.m. EDT; 1815 GMT): Prayer in the Sistine Chapel.
• 7:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. EDT; 1830 GMT): Cardinals return to their hotel.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph & Argus

By Claire Armstrong, T&A Reporter

A Roman Catholic priest in Bradford told a teenage girl he loved her before forcing a kiss on her and touching her bottom, a jury heard.

William Finnegan, 59, is standing trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Richard Walters said: “The defendant grabbed [the girl], pulled her towards him, placed a hand on her bottom and proceeded to kiss her forcefully and passionately with an open mouth.

“Two days later he visited her home address and told her he had sexual feelings towards her.”

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ROME
International Business Times

By Ewan Palmer

March 12, 2013

The Catholic Church is facing further controversy over reports that it has spent €23m (£20m) for a share of an apartment block in Rome that also houses Europe’s biggest gay sauna.

As cardinals gathered for the conclave to select a new pope, the Vatican faced fresh embarrassment after it emerged that it had paid for up to 20 apartments for priests in the building in 2008. It is believed Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Pope Benedict’s former right-hand man, was behind the purchase.

The huge stone building also contains the Europa Multiclub Sauna and Gym, which claims on its website to be “the number one gay sauna in Italy”.

Cardinal Ivan Dias, the head of the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples, stays in a 12-room apartment on the first floor of the building, just above the entrance to the sauna.

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ROME
Daily Mail (UK)

Vatican in a sweat (again): Catholic Church left red-faced as it emerges priests share apartment block with Europe’s largest GAY SAUNA

By Simon Tomlinson
PUBLISHED:05:58 EST, 12 March 2013

It is already reeling from claims Pope Benedict XVI resigned because of a gay cabal in the Vatican.

Now, as the College of Cardinals prepares to elect his successor later today, the scandal-hit Catholic Church has broken into another sweat, this time over news several priests share an apartment block with Europe’s largest homosexual sauna.

The Holy See owns 19 apartments in the block in Rome after buying a £21million share of the building in 2008.

Next-door neighbours: The website of Europe’s largest gay sauna, Europa Multiclub, which is housed in an apartment part-owned by the Holy See

Several of the flats house priests, notably Cardinal Ivan Dias, the so-called ‘prince of the church’ whose 12-room apartment at 2 Via Carducci is located just yards from the Europa Multiclub.

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CANADA
Montreal Gazette

By PRESSE CANADIENNE/THE GAZETTE March 12, 2013

MONTREAL — Father Daniel Moreau was released on bail — with conditions — Monday afternoon by a judge in Sorel-Tracy.

Charged with seven counts of production, possession and distribution of child pornography, the Roman Catholic priest and long-time scouting leader had been jailed since his arrest Thursday morning at his living quarters at Saint-Gabriel-Lalement church, about 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

Moreau, 55, was handcuffed and taken away by the Sûreté du Québec after officers equipped with a search warrant began to examine his computer equipment, at the request of a police force from outside Quebec.

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VATICAN CITY
CBC News

Bursts of pink smoke filled the air in Rome today as Catholic women staged a protest calling for women’s equality in the church, while top Roman Catholic cardinals readied to elect the religion’s next pope.

The Women’s Ordination Conference, which has been lobbying the church for more than three decades to ordain women, staged the colourful protest at Piazza Garibaldi in Rome and in five locations across the United States, including Washington and San Francisco.

The organization’s members and allies gathered in the morning carrying signs and canisters filled with pink smoke, which they released into the air.

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ROME
The Moynihan Letters

March 11, 2013 by Robert Moynihan, PhD.

Today started with a bit of sun, then turned rainier toward mid-afternoon. There was even a bit of lightning, and thunder, but nothing like the lightning which struck St. Peter’s Dome one month ago. In the evening, it was cool and drizzly.

It was on February 11 that Pope Benedict announced his renunciation of the papal office — exactly one month ago.

(Left, a photo of the lightning bolt that struck St. Peter’s dome on February 11 at about 6 p.m., about 6 hours and 20 minutes after Benedict announced he would step down from the papal throne)

The time to the opening of the Conclave to elect his successor is now less than 40 hours, just a day and a half…

Most observers now are focused on who will become the next Pope. If I were asked right now who I think the next Pope will be, I would say I simply do not know.

What does seem clear is that there is occurring a very silent, hidden battle to determine how closely the next pontificate follows the line of Ratzinger — the line of transparency — or how much it draws back from that line. That is what is being determined right now.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Anthony Faiola,
Published: March 11

VATICAN CITY — Papal conclaves historically created mystical figures, men transformed by divine authority into heirs of Saint Peter. But as 115 cardinals begin deliberations Tuesday to pick the next pope, observers say any successor to Benedict XVI is set to step into an office demystified by scandal and early retirement.

In other words, the magic might be gone from being pope.

The College of Cardinals held a general meeting Monday morning, but did not set a start date for the conclave that will decide who succeeds Pope Benedict XVI. It will ultimately come down to the 115 Cardinal electors who choose the new pope, so we’re taking a look at the numbers behind the voting in Vatican City.

For the most devout, the figure of the pope spoke with a nearly preternatural voice, vesting him with a transcending influence when, for instance, John Paul II called for the end of communism in the former Eastern bloc. But more than at any other point in recent history, Vatican watchers say the papacy has been brought back down to earth by Benedict’s unprecedented decision to step down and revelations of financial corruption in the Vatican and clergy sexual misconduct.

All of this could lead to a possible transformation for both the office of pope and the Roman Catholic church he leads.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

By
Margery Eagan / Boston Herald

I’m no fan of the Catholic hierarchy. Still, I have to admit, I’ve been swept up in Sean-for-Pope frenzy.

“It’s easy to get giddy about our own cardinal,” said one of Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley’s toughest critics,­ Terry McKiernan. He’s co-founder with Anne Barrett Doyle of BishopAccountability.­org, an encyclopedic website detailing all that bishops and cardinals have not done to fix the abuse crisis.

McKiernan’s admission made me feel less like a sappy hometown pushover.

Besides, of all the prelates entering today’s papal conclave, our own Cardinal Sean, as he calls himself on his not very sprightly blog, may be the least offensive of an offensive, ethically challenged crew, particularly regarding abuse.

And the church, many of us believe, has reached the point when it has to fix the abuse mess or its other­ agendas are doomed. From this perspective, O’Malley has a clear advantage. He’s cleaned up clergy sex abuse in Fall River, Palm Beach, Fla., and Boston. And he’s been thoroughly vetted. No deep dark secrets are likely to emerge later.

“He’s been forced to confront all of this,” McKiernan said. “A sort of accountability has been forced upon him.”

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VATICAN CITY
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Associated Press

VATICAN CITY • The moment Cardinal Albino Luciani learned his colleagues had elected him pope, he responded: “May God forgive you for what you’ve done.” The remark, by the man who became Pope John Paul I, was seen as an expression of humility — but also a commentary on the mammoth task ahead.

There is no job like that of pope. He is the CEO of a global enterprise, head of state, a moral voice in the world and, in the eyes of Roman Catholics, Christ’s representative on Earth. And the man who emerges as pontiff from the conclave starting today has a particularly crushing to-do list. Here are some of the challenges awaiting him:

The next pope will have to restore discipline to the scandal-plagued central administration of the church. Benedict XVI, the former pope, commissioned a report on the Vatican bureaucracy, or Curia, that will be shown only to his successor. Benedict’s butler had leaked the pope’s private papers revealing feuding, corruption and cronyism at the highest levels of administration. The secretive Vatican bank recently ousted a president for incompetence and is under pressure for greater financial transparency. Bishops in several countries say nonresponsive Vatican officials are hampering local churches. The Curia decides everything from bishop appointments and liturgy, to parish closings and discipline for abusive priests.

The Vatican remains under pressure to reveal more about its past role in the church’s failures to protect children worldwide. The issue erupted ahead of the conclave, when victims from the U.S., Chile and Mexico pressured cardinals to recuse themselves because they had shielded priests from prosecution.

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VATICAN CITY
Corvallis Gazette-Times

By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times

VATICAN CITY — The timing said it all.

A smiling Pope Benedict XVI had just wrapped up an official visit to Portugal in May 2010, during which he praised Catholic organizations striving to protect families based on “the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman.”

But barely 72 hours after the pontiff flew home, the president of Portugal declared that he would sign a bill allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed. With Spain having granted such rights five years earlier, the move turned the entire Iberian Peninsula, historically a Catholic stronghold, into an unlikely hitching post for homosexuals.

“That shows the importance of the pope’s views, of the Catholic Church’s views, on same-sex marriage in terms of domestic politics,” Paulo Corte-Real, a gay-rights activist and economics professor, recalled wryly.

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ROME
The Globe and Mail (Canada)

ERIC REGULY
ROME — The Globe and Mail

Africa gives the Vatican bragging rights.

It is the one significant part of the Catholic world that is on the rise, with near explosive growth. The question is whether Africa’s enthusiastic response to the missionary church should be rewarded with the election of an African pope.

The idea certainly resonated with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, in 2004, when he told German TV that “we are ready for a black pope” and called Africa the “spiritual lung of the world.” He said much the same in 2009 when he visited Cameroon and Angola (he went to Benin in 2011).

But the 115 elector cardinals, whose conclave to elect a replacement for Pope Benedict begins Tuesday afternoon, may not be ready for an African pope just yet, given the fact that the Latin American church is much larger. About 40 per cent of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics are Latin Americans – Brazil and Mexico having the biggest Catholic populations.

“It would certainly be encouraging for the [next] pope to be non-European,” said Father Norman Tanner, professor of church history at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, noting the church’s decline in Europe and North America.

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy

Victims blast international movement of predator priests
Group wants Interpol to go after child molesting clerics
SNAP gives list of 32 who have moved to/from 18 nations
Over last 10 years, at least 6 from the US have come to Rome
Group: “Church officials should take accused priests’ passports”
And they must stop letting child molesting clerics change their names, SNAP says

WHAT:
Holding signs and childhood photos at a news conference, US clergy sex abuse victims will
— hand out a list of 32 alleged predator priests who have moved or been sent abroad,
— publicly push Interpol, for the 1st time, to help pursue those who face criminal charges, and
— discuss 6 priests – from Australia and the US – who face abuse allegations and were sent to work/ live in/or near the Vatican over the past decade. (One was reportedly still living in Rome last year.)

The victims will also prod Catholic officials to stop
–sending child molesting clerics to other nations, and
–letting predator priests legally change their names (to avoid being caught), and start
–taking the passports of priests once they are accused so they can’t flee to other countries, and
–aggressively help law enforcement apprehend fugitive predator priests

WHEN:
TODAY, —-Tuesday, March 12 at 1:15 pm

WHERE:
Orange Hotel, 86 Via Crescenzio 00193, Roma +39.06.6868969

WHO:
Two clergy sex abuse victims who are leaders of the US-based international support group SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)

WHY:
A 2004 investigation by the Dallas Morning News found more than 200 priests, accused of sexual abuse, who sought refuge in foreign countries. Nearly 100 cases involved clergy who escaped or were sent elsewhere to elude law enforcement. SNAP suspects this practice will increase in the future.

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Victims name 3 more “problematic papal candidates”
SNAP: “While not as bad as Dirty Dozen, they’re worrisome”
Two are considered “long shots,” but one is leading contender

An international self-help group for clergy sex abuse victims is raising concerns about three more high-ranking Catholic cardinals who have been publicly named as possible “picks” for the new pope.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPNetwork.org) say they’re worried about how three prelates might deal with abuse and cover up if they become the next pontiff: Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer of Brazil, Parisian Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, and Congolese Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya.

“These three don’t seem as problematic as the 12 we criticized last week,” said Barbara Dorris, SNAP’s outreach director. “But what we’ve learned since then really makes us doubt they would be effective at protecting kids. And we feel it’s our obligation to share what we know about these powerful figures so we might just prevent one more child from getting assaulted by one more priest and later feel betrayed one more time by an influential church official.”

“Our goal is to prevent more pain and deter more reckless, callous and deceitful behavior by bishops,” said Clohessy. “If one distraught parent in France, Brazil or the Congo is considering reporting their child’s abuse to these prelates, and sees this list, and decides to report to law enforcement instead, we think everyone will be well served.”

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VATICAN CITY
Voice of America

[with video]

Jerome Socolovsky

March 11, 2013

VATICAN — Roman Catholic cardinals on Tuesday begin a conclave at the Vatican. One of the issues as they cast ballots for the next pope will be the ongoing controversy over clerical sex abuse. Some victims of that abuse say the church has tried to avoid responsibility, and they’re skeptical that the next pope will make major changes.

“This is a picture of me, right before my abuse. I was around eignt or nine when the abuse started,” says Becky Ianni, who remembers herself as a normal, happy child.

Continuing to refer to the photo she said, “and then this is me, during my abuse. And you can see I cut my hair. He used to touch my hair. He basically – he would rape me with his hands. He at one point in the vestry of the church stood behind me and rubbed his hands up and down my school uniform. And I remember after that point I would start wearing a sweater all the time, and that was my protection.”

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