ABUSE TRACKER

CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

By Gustavo Arellano
Tue., Mar. 5 2013

Joelle Casteix has long been a pal of the Weekly, and not just because she’s a hilarious, multitalented gal. She’s been one of the most prominent Catholic Church sex-abuse survivors in Orange County, molested by some pig who’s now a–I kid you not–choir director at some no-name college in the Midwest. She’s been a constant companion to other sex-abuse survivors who need a shoulder, who need someone to face off against pedophile apologists, who needs someone to contact the media.

And now Casteix is taking her story to a national level by serving as one of the faces for a national campaign to help pass something called the Child Victims Act.

Being pursued for the moment on a state-by-state level, the proposed legislation would take away the statute of limitations currently imposed on sex-abuse survivors regarding civil lawsuits that has long hindered complete judgement on pedophiles, especially of the Catholic Church variety. In California, it’s currently in the State Senate.

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DEUTSCHLAND
General-Anzeiger

Von Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu
BONN. Kurz vor Veröffentlichung des zweiten von Professor Arnfried Bintig erstellten Aufklärungsberichts zu Missbrauch in Aloisiuskolleg (Ako) und Ako-pro-Seminar Mitte März hat sich der Ton im Dialog zwischen der Opfergruppe Eckiger Tisch und Jesuitenprovinzial Stefan Kiechle verschärft.Dem GA liegen drei Schreiben vor: 100 Fragen der Gruppe an den obersten Jesuiten, seine Antworten und die gestrige Rückantwort von Heiko Schnitzler, Matthias Katsch und Rudolf Jekel. Im Fokus steht die Frage nach der Verantwortung, die nach Opfermeinung der 2010 bei Bekanntwerden des Skandals zurückgetretene Rektor Pater Theo Schneider zu tragen habe.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As the world’s cardinals meet before the conclave to discuss some of the challenges facing the church, U.S. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said he hoped to offer them some of the lessons learned from the sex abuse crisis.

The retired archbishop of Los Angeles said the biggest mistake was not understanding the true nature of the crime by believing the problem of adults abusing children was merely a moral problem.

“Many of us in the church saw this calamity, through the lens of the church, as a sin and a moral weakness,” he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera March 5. The interview was published in Italian.

While abuse is both, he said the church confused its moral view “with what was necessary to solve the problem.”

“I had not understood the true nature of the problem and that those who abuse — not just in the church — continue to perpetrate their crimes,” he said.

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ROME
Cardinal Roger Mahony Blogs LA

In the monthly prayer and Mass booklet, Magnificat, the Lenten Gospel for March 5 is according to Matthew: chapter 18, verses 21–35. One of Jesus’ more powerful parables on forgiveness awaits you.

But it’s the Meditation of the Day which is striking. Written by the late Monsignor Romano Guardini, a famous theologian and liturgist, it is well worth reflection:

Forgiveness should be no occasion, but our habitual attitude towards others….If you wish to obey Christ, you must first free yourself of all “righteous” indignation. Only if you forgive entirely, can you contact the true self of the other, whom his own rebelliousness is holding back. If you can reach this better self, you have a good chance of being heard, and of winning your brother. This then is the great doctrine of forgiveness on which Jesus insists as one of the fundamentals of his message. If we wish to get to its root, we must dig our way there question by question.

What must we overcome in ourselves to be capable of genuine forgiveness?…

Deep in the domain of the purely natural, the sentiment of having to do with an enemy. This sense of the hostile is something animals have, and it reaches as far as their vulnerability. Creatures are so ordered that the preservation of the one depends on the destruction of the other.

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VATICAN CITY
Los Angeles Times

By Tom Kington
March 5, 2013

VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles staunchly defended his record on dealing with sexual abuse in the church in an interview published by an Italian newspaper Tuesday.

Mahony, who has been criticized for moving predator priests from posting to posting, told Corriere della Sera that “after 20 years, people are talking about abuse as if we had not done anything. However, since 2002, we have had our program Protecting the Children, in which we illustrate procedures and the guidelines of our zero-tolerance policy that allows no possibility, for example, of anyone found guilty of abuse of minors working for the diocese.”

Mahony, who in recent months has refused requests for interviews with the Los Angeles Times, was publicly rebuked in February by current Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez in connection with his handling of sexual abuse cases.

The cardinal, who is in Rome ahead of the conclave to elect the successor to former Pope Benedict XVI, described to the Italian paper his approach to abuse in earlier years, saying: “I had not understood the real nature of the problem, that people who commit abuse — not only in the church — continue to commit their crimes. These things were not so well understood then as they are now.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

The Vatican Cardinals, led by Cardinal Sodano, who has dominated them for over two decades, appear to be dominating the entire Conclave. So far reportedly the Conclave preliminary meetings have focused mainly on taking secrecy oaths and avoiding full disclosure to all Cardinals of the secret dossier on the Vatican Cardinal clique’s reported mismanagement of widespread financial corruption and sexual misconduct. Why is Sodano so concerned to keep the lid on the ongoing Vatican scandals? Why are so many other Cardinals, who do not have his Vatican immunity protection, accepting this?

Prior to the 1870 fall of the Papal States, more powerful European leaders decided to let Pope Pius IX lose his kingdom by not intervening to stop the invasion of Rome by Italian nationalist forces. These leaders had determined apparently that by 1870 the corrupt and inept Papacy had forfeited it right to rule a kingdom and had become a destabilizing force in Europe.

The shrewd Vatican clique of petty Italian princes at the time then apparently fabricated the seeming myth of papal infallibilty and retreated with their “Infallible Pope” to Vatican City for a half century until all other European monarchical threats had been eliminated by World War I.
The petty Vatican princes then re-emerged trying to regain power by wheeling and dealing with Fascists like Mussolini, Hitler and Franco. In the 1980′s, this geo-political strategy was extended to President Reagan who wanted the Polish Pope’s help in bringing down the Soviet Empire.

This is all now ancient history and the papal charade of being a serious player in international politics is finished, with one big negative exception. The exception involves preserving world order, especially between two purportedly universalistic faiths, Christianity and Islam. Both faiths have much to offer the world in their core message and many overlapping virtues, assuming their competition is peaceful and tolerant.

It has not been peaceful or tolerant. The horrors of extremist militant Islamicists is reported daily. Moreover, the Vatican clique has stymied Christian unity, which needs to be able to act as a unified and constructive force for peace along with a moderate Islam.. The ex-Pope began his Papacy by insulting Islam gratuitously and consciously at Regensburg. At least one of the reported papal candidates, Cardinal Turkson, featured an anti-Islamic video at the recent Rome Synod, apparently with the Vatican’s approval. Cardinal Maradiago, according to Harvard Law’s Alan Dershowitz and others, has taken ant-Semitic positions, including by blaming the “Jewish media” for overstating the priest abuse scandal.

World order, especially in Africa, the Middle East and even Europe, cannot afford to let petty Vatican princes’ medieval pursuit of power, money and sex, jeopardize world peace, not to mention their perpetuation of evils perpetrated on children, women and others by the Vatican clique’s power driven theology.

European monarchs in 1870 let Italian nationalists invade Rome. Now, major powers, especially the USA and Germany, must let world prosecutors impose the rule of law on the Vatican, if the Conclave fails now to implement a major reform process that makes the Catholic hierarchy accountable, as it was in the Church that Jesus and his early followers left behind. Is it still possible for Cardinals to do this on their own? It is, but they must act prudently, purposefully and shrewdly, given the Vatican Cardinals’ home court advantage.

A shrewd Roman lawyer, Cicero, much valued by the ex-Pope’s favorite, St. Augustine, often analyzed actions by asking, Cui Bono? Who benefits from the actions? In every negotiation, time favors one side, a famous executive management consultant once told me. If one side is in a rush, the other side can then gain strength in negotiations by delay.

Who benefits at the Conclave by rushing to elect a new Pope? Clearly, the Vatican clique and Joseph Ratzinger, the Shadow Pope, benefit by rushing the Conclave. The Vatican clique appears understandably to be in a hurry to get their man to re-appoint them to their positions that expired last Thursday with the Shadow Pope’s departure. If Cardinals want more of the same, they should accept being stampeded. If not, they must resist and fix the Church sensibly, which cannot be rushed. Whatever loyalty a Cardinal thought he owed the Pope who appointed him, these Popes are history now and a Cardinal neither owes them loyalty or obedience. It is that simple.

With a one-third voting bloc, Cardinals can take their time and enjoy St. Peter’s at Easter. They can run their dioceses well enough remotely, while they address the more important issues. Eventually, the Vatican clique will fold. If Cardinals do not stand firm, they will find themsleves at the mercy of the Vatican clique. Look at UK Cardinal O’Brien’s sacking and Cardinal Mahony’s shaming. Is each Cardinal comfortable that the skirt of his red dress is cleaner than these two disposable Cardinals’ skirts have been?

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

March 5, 2013

We find it interesting that Cardinal Francis George of Chicago seems to know how to discuss sexual abuse before a conclave but he quickly loses an interest for the topic after one.

Our readers may recall that before the 2005 conclave Cardinal George made sure the world knew that he had taken up the subject with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and had extracted a promise from the Cardinal-contender that he would do something about it if he emerged from the conclave a pope.

As the Cardinals gathered Monday for their first official meeting before the conclave Cardinal George was at it again.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Vincent Warren

While critics of the Vatican’s handling of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal have breathed a sigh of relief at the news of Pope Benedict’s resignation and many hope that a changing of the guard will mean a change in the handling of current and past sex crimes, we must stop to consider who exactly will be selecting the next pope. As Mary Caplan, a leader in the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), noted, “We’d all like to think there could be a transformation in the church now, but we have to face the reality that the same men responsible for protecting our abusers are going to be the ones casting the ballots.”

First, there is Cardinal Angelo Sodano. Sodano famously described allegations of sexual abuse within the church as “petty gossip” and has been accused of intervening to halt investigations of two of the more notorious sex abuse cases involving his close associates. Although he is ineligible to vote due to his age, Sodano is responsible for convening the process through which the next Pope will be selected and he wields considerable influence and power in that process.

Next, there is Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who served under Joseph Ratzinger before he was pope at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the entity tasked with handling allegations of rape and sexual violence by priests. Together, according to New York Times reporting, Bertone and Benedict decided to halt proceedings in the case of Father Lawrence Murphy, who had been accused of sexually assaulting over 200 deaf students at a Wisconsin school for the deaf, a story told in the new documentary “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.” Bertone has also expressed the view that bishops should not be required to report priests they know to be committing acts of rape and sexual assault. Like Sodano, Bertone is a highly influential figure in the conclave that will be voting on the next pope; unlike Sodano, Bertone gets to cast his own vote.

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VATICAN CITY
FindLaw

By NICOLE WINFIELD

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Sistine Chapel closed to visitors on Tuesday and construction work got under way to prepare it for the conclave, where cardinals from around the world will gather to elect the new pope after Benedict XVI’s resignation last month.

The Vatican said that it was waiting for five more cardinals to arrive before setting the date for the election.

Michelangelo’s frescoed masterpiece closed at 1 p.m. to visitors, one of the first visible signs that the election was nearing. Construction work involves installing a false floor to cover the anti-bugging devices and even it out, as well as installing the stove where the ballots will be burned.

A total of 110 of the 115 voting-age cardinals attended the second day of preparatory meetings Tuesday to organize the conclave, discuss the problems of the church and get to know one another, the Vatican said.

Those still making their way to Rome included: Egyptian Patriarch Antonios Naguib, and Cardinals Karl Lehmann of Germany, Jean-Baptiste Pham of Vietnam, Kazimierz Nycz of Poland and John Tong Hon of Hong Kong, the Vatican said.

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ITALIA
Fanpage

Un incontro segreto, tenuto nascosto anche ai collaboratori più fedeli. Solo un’ora dopo le dimissioni di Papa Benedetto XVI i porporati italiani si sono incontrati nella dimora del cardinale Angelo Sodano per fare “quadrato” intorno ad un nome italiano da sostenere nella corsa verso lo scranno di San Pietro.

La scelta sarebbe ricaduta su un altro “Angelo”, Bagnasco, già cardinale di Genvoa e sostenitore della linea di Giovanni Paolo II. Quella linea che prevedeva una “tolleranza” verso l’omossessualità interna alla Chiesa e che ha tenuto nascosti i casi di preti accusati di pedofilia.

Una scelta che, de facto, mira a sconfessare le scelte fatte da Benedetto XVI. Questi – come scritto da Fanpage poche ore dopo le dimissioni- appena insediato inviò una lettera a tutti i Seminari sparsi per il mondo in cui si intimava l‘allontanamento di tutti coloro i quali fossero anche solo sospettati di omossessualità. Un dogma, quest’ultimo, applicato anche alla lotta alla pedofilia e alla commistione chiesa-criminalità. Un dogma che i vertici ecclesiastici italiani hanno sempre mal digerito: a partire proprio dal Cardinale Sodano.

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VATICAN CITY
The Observer (Canada)

Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and potential successor to Pope Benedict XVI, played a role in the resignation of Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who admitted Sunday of having engaged in inappropriate sexual behaviour.

According to reports from the Telegraph, the Vatican knew for over five months that four men, three priests and a former priest had accused Keith O’Brien for having made sexual advances. A fifth man, a priest, would later join them, making similar allegations against the former Primate of Scotland.

O’Brien announced in late-February that he resigned as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh and made his mea culpa Sunday, admitting that his “sexual conduct” was well below the expected standards of a priest.

According to the report from the Telegraph, The Vatican has said O’Brien had tendered his resignation around November last year, adding that it suggests that the Vatican has entered into an agreement months ago with the cardinal to resign quietly so as not to embarrass the Church.

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VATICAN CITY
Daily Mail (UK)

Sistine Chapel closes to tourists: Vatican sends signal that cardinals are ready to elect new pope as it shuts doors to Michaelangelo masterpiece

By Sara Malm and Nick Pisa

Sistine Chapel closes: Master of Liturgical Celebrations Archbishop Piero Marini closes the door of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, after proclaiming those not taking part in the conclave must leave the chapel

The Vatican today sent the clearest sign yet that a papal election is nearing with the Sistine Chapel announcing it is closing to visitors.

As of this afternoon, Michelangelo’s frescoed masterpiece will be sealed to tourists as Vatican workers put it into shape for the conclave.

In 2005, the last time the College of Cardinals elected a pope, those preparations included installing a false floor to hide anti-bugging devices and attaching the stove, where the ballots are burned, to the Sistine Chapel’s chimney.

Today the gathered cardinals began a second round of pre-conclave meetings to organize the election process and get to know one another. With a handful of cardinals still travelling to Rome, no date has yet been set.

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INDIANA
Indianapolis Star

Written by
Dan McFeely

A Fishers parish is taking the unusual step of going public to confront decades-old allegations against its pastor.

A spokesman for the Lafayette Diocese confirmed Thursday that the decision — which includes a rare visit by the bishop for a pair of public “conversations” with parishioners at St. Louis de Montfort Catholic Church — came as a result of an anonymous letter to the parish.

The letter raises allegations of sexual abuse made against the Rev. Patrick R. Click, based on an alleged incident 40-plus years ago in New Orleans that diocese officials say was investigated and determined to be unfounded.

The anonymous letter writer threatened to make the allegations public unless Click was fired from his position at the parish, where he has been stationed since 2005.

In response to the threat, the parish decided to go public, sending letters to parishioners this week recounting the allegations, the subsequent investigation conducted in 2002 and a plan to have Bishop Timothy Doherty of the Lafayette Diocese on hand this weekend to address concerns.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Catholic Insider

In case you have been wondering how and why Cardinal Sean O’Malley is getting so much press in and around the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope, now we know why. The Boston Archdiocesean PR machine is in high gear drumming up stories, as exemplified by the email below from Cardinal O’Malley’s cabinet secretary for communications. A rational person seeing their press activity might wonder why the Cardinal and his PR team have embarked on such an active campaign in the days before the conclave starts.

Here at BCI, we would like to do our part to assist, and we invite our readers to help as well.

1) We suggest that Cardinal O’Malley revisit the list of publications he reads for input and those with whom he spends time interviewing. In this interview with the National Catholic Reporter, published March 3, here are his answers to several questions:

How are you preparing yourself?

Spiritually, I’m trying to focus on the seriousness of this, asking for God’s help in prayer. I’m also trying to learn as much as I can about my brother cardinals.

How are you doing that?

I downloaded Mr. Miranda’s material, because he has a page of just the cardinals who are going to be at the conclave. [Note: Salvador Miranda of Florida International University maintains a web page on the cardinals.] I had my secretary go through and take out the biography of each one. A lot of them, of course, I knew, but this was one way of putting names to the faces of those I don’t know. That’s especially true of the Eastern Europeans and a couple of the Africans. I’m trying to read articles, to become acquainted with some of these issues in the past faced by conclaves. Your articles are all very interesting too.

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TEXAS
KLTV

By Marshall Stephens
By Lexie Cook

KILGORE, TX (KLTV) –
On Monday, Kilgore Police Officers responded to the 100 block of Woodlawn Street in Kilgore and arrested Glenn Douglas Barton, 62 , of Kilgore. Barton was charged with an outstanding Rusk County warrant of arrest for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child, a felony grade offense.

Barton stood before a Kilgore judge Monday night and took one last look into the crowd before being taken to the Rusk County Jail.

According to the Kilgore Police Department, Barton is a minister at Calvary Way Pentecostal Church in Kilgore.

People in Kilgore say they can’t believe the news of his arrest.

“People are going to be shocked, it’s horrible. Being a mother, I can’t even imagine going through that,” says Kyla Trich, a Kilgore community member.

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TEXAS
TylerPaper.com

A Kilgore man was arrested for aggravated sexual assault of a child Monday after an investigation by the Kilgore Police Department.

The agency received a report two weeks ago that Glenn Douglas Barton, 62, had allegedly sexually assaulted a child between 2009 and 2013, according to a news release from the department.

After the investigation, a warrant was issued for Barton, and he was arrested in the 100 block of Woodlawn Street in Kilgore, the release states.

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TEXAS
News-Journal

From Staff Reports

A Kilgore pastor was being held late Monday in the Rusk County Jail, accused by police of sexually assaulting a child over a period of years.

Glenn Douglas Barton, 62, was arrested about 3:30 p.m. Monday at a residence on the grounds of the Calvary Way Church and charged with an outstanding Rusk County warrant of arrest for aggravated sexual assault of a child, a felony grade offense.

He was being held under a $50,000 bond after being arraigned Monday evening in Kilgore Municipal Court.

The arrest and warrant stem from a continuing investigation being conducted by the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Kilgore Police Department, according to a statement issued by the department after the arrest.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Michael Sean Winters | Mar. 5, 2013

Ever since 2004, when then-Archbishop Raymond Burke warned that he would deny communion to Sen. John Kerry because of the senator’s pro-choice stance, many of us have argued that Burke’s interpretation of Canon 915 was mistaken, that it is not the place of the minister of communion to decide whether or not a person should receive communion, but that it is up to the communicant to make the decision whether or not to present herself for communion. Most American bishops, and the Bishop of Rome, have never followed Burke’s advice. One Latin American cardinal said denying communion to someone for such a reason would be a scandal. Burke’s position is the minority position and it deserves to be such.

So, it is more than a little curious to see many of the same people who argued against Burke now insisting that Cardinal Roger Mahony absent himself from the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. The release of thousands of pages of documents in sex abuse cases in Los Angeles demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that Cardinal Mahony took great pains to shield pedophile priests from the law. That such shielding was a sin, there is little doubt. But, if the conclave was only to admit non-sinners, the Sistine Chapel would be very empty.

I was especially alarmed by a press release from the increasingly obnoxious group Catholics United. I had thought that this group was concerned about promoting the Church’s teachings about social justice in the public square. Now, they seem intent on promoting internal Church reform. They have a petition drive to encourage Cardinal Mahony to absent himself from the conclave, which is a rather juvenile way to promote change within the Church. I suspect, of course, that their ambition is to get more hits on their website and more contributions in the coffers. We all have to make a living I suppose but the specter of this group applying Scarlet Letters all around the College of Cardinals has nothing to do with promoting social justice, nor for that matter, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Mike Wade

March 5 2013

Catholic critics of the Church in Scotland have urged that a Vatican inquiry into the scandal surrounding Cardinal Keith O’Brien examine an alleged “culture of cronyism” in his archdiocese that lasted for years.

Following the cardinal’s weekend confession of impropriety, he faced further accusations yesterday from lay and clerical figures that his sexual escapades might have compromised his role as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, a post he was appointed to in 1985.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Gerry Braiden
Local Government Correspondent

THE Catholic Church is guilty of double standards for denouncing homosexuality as a disorder while knowing many of its priests and trainees at its seminaries were gay, a Scots-based Vatican adviser has warned.

John Haldane, a professor of philosophy at St Andrews University and a leading commentator on Scottish Catholic affairs, said the Cardinal Keith O’Brien scandal was a challenge for the church to reform. The process, he added, should include cutting the number of dioceses north of the Border by 50%.

Mr Haldane also suggested a committee of about six lay advisers be formed to see it through the transformation.

Currently five of the eight dioceses are without bishops, numerous parishes are struggling to find priests and finances are also dire in many areas.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Colette Douglas Home

SO a veil has been stripped from the life of Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

He stands exposed and humiliated: his work of a lifetime overtaken by scandal. Instead of righteousness, all that is left to see is hypocrisy and, I’m sorry to say, dishonesty.

He is accused of making sexual advances to young priests when he was in a position of power over them. He compounded his actions latterly with his intemperate Old Testament-style attack on gay marriage.

Yet, oddly, I would be more inclined to listen to his opinions now than ever before. If it were possible I might even support his reinstatement. And it’s not because I’m impressed by his apology, which begs more questions than it answers.

In it he admits to times when his sexual behaviour fell below the standards expected of a priest, archbishop and cardinal. Isn’t all sexual behaviour denied to Roman Catholic clergy? Further, why does he include his time as a cardinal when the most recent accusation of which we are aware dates back to 2001? He was an archbishop then. Does the statement hint at the possibility of other revelations to come? It’s a mighty mess.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien facing possible police investigation as it emerges church officials have ‘told him to live as a hermit’

By Steve Doughty and Graham Grant

Shamed Cardinal Keith O’Brien was facing a possible police investigation last night into the sex scandal that has engulfed the church.

Police received a formal complaint yesterday against the disgraced cardinal, who on Sunday night admitted he had been guilty of sexual misconduct.

Last night, it emerged that lawyer Nick Freeman, well-known for representing a string of celebrities, has called on police to investigate.

The latest development comes after it emerged Cardinal O’Brien – until last week the most senior Roman Catholic in Britain – has been told he must live the life of a ‘hermit’ following his confession.

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SCOTLAND
Telegraph

THE credibility and moral authority of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland has been damaged by Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s admission of sexual misconduct, according to the man who has replaced him.

By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent
8:22AM GMT 05 Mar 2013

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, who was named temporary administrator of the Archdiocese of Edinburgh and St Andrews after the cardinal’s resignation last week, said it was a sad moment for the church.

The cardinal stunned Scottish Catholics on Sunday when he admitted that his sexual conduct had fallen below the standard expected of a “priest, archbishop and cardinal”.

He apologised to those he offended and announced that he was retiring from public life.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

THE ex-leader of the country’s Catholics will face a probe by Vatican officials into allegations dating back more than 30 years.

SHAMED cardinal Keith O’Brien is set to face a Vatican inquiry after yesterday admitting to sexual misconduct.

Today, it was confirmed that complaints over O’Brien’s conduct had been made to the Vatican.

A Scottish Catholic Media Office spokesman said: “We expect that they will be investigated and a conclusion drawn.”

The inquiry is not likely to begin until after a new pope is chosen. It is understood the cardinal, who will not attend the conclave, is currently out of the country.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s ‘sexual conduct’ has rightly left many gay men and women feeling furious and damaged. Ironically it is his hypocritical intolerance for homosexuality that has ended up harming his “physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing”, writes Alice Arnold.

By Alice Arnold
10:57AM GMT 05 Mar 2013

Homosexuality is “harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of those involved”. So says Cardinal Keith O’Brien. I will be the first to admit that in his case this has been absolutely true. Of course while the Cardinal, or rather ex Cardinal, suffers with his conscience the topic of homosexuality in the Catholic Church comes to the fore once again.

I have made no bones about the fact that I am not a religious person and normally I would leave the Church to its own devices. However, the Catholic Church is such a huge institution influencing opinion over great swathes of the earth; it would be churlish to ignore it.

Do we feel sorry for Keith? That’s the question on which listeners were asked to give their opinion on BBC 5 Live yesterday morning. Well personally, yes I suppose I do, in the way that I feel sorry for anyone who is clearly going through turmoil and sees his life’s work reduced to hypocritical rantings.

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UNITED KINGDOM
DNA (India)

The Vatican was accused on Monday of orchestrating a cover-up over the disgraced Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien amid claims that it knew of allegations against him for five months but kept them secret.

Revelations that the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in Britain had a secret sex life cast a shadow over the first day of a meeting of the Church’s cardinals as they gathered to choose a successor to Benedict XVI, now Pope Emeritus.

The 142 “princes of the church” met in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican to discuss the Church’s problems and the sort of qualities required of the new pope to deal with them.

But officials in Rome and the Vatican’s representative to Britain flatly refused to discuss how long Benedict XVI had known about the accusations against Cardinal O’Brien or how many accusers there are.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

[with video]

A Scotland-based Vatican adviser and the journalist who broke the story about the sexual conduct of Cardinal Keith O’Brien have argued about when the Roman Catholic church first knew details of the story.

Prof John Haldane, who is a professor of philosophy at St Andrews University and papal adviser to the Vatican, told a special Newsnight Scotland debating panel that the church only learned of the allegations nine days ago.

Catherine Deveney wrote The Observer piece in which three serving priests and one former priest accused the cardinal, who has now stepped down from public office, of “inappropriate behaviour” towards them.

She told the debate: “It is not quite accurate to say the Scottish Catholic Church did not know what was going on because there was an intermediary within the Catholic Church who took the complaints to the Papal Nuncio.”

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ROME
Chiesa

Name by name, nation by nation, role by role, all of the cardinals who will enter into conclave. An indispensable guide for the event

VATICAN CITY, March 5, 2013 – Subtracting the two who have declined to take part in the conclave, the Scottish Keith Michael Patrick O’Brian and the Indonesian Jesuit Julius Darmaatmadja, the cardinals who will enter the Sistine Chapel to elect the successor of Benedict XVI at the moment number 115.

Below they are listed by continent and by nation, with the place of activity of each one, the abbreviation of any religious order of membership, the date of birth and the indication of the pope who conferred the scarlet on them, John Paul II (JP-II) or Benedict XVI (B-XVI).

Followed by further documentation of their roles and backgrounds.
*
EUROPE – 60 cardinals (37 B-XVI and 23 JP-II)

Italy – 28 (20 B-XVI and 8 JP-II)

AMATO Angelo S.D.B, curia, 1938 (B-XVI)
ANTONELLI Ennio, ex curia, 1936 (JP-II)
BAGNASCO Angelo, abp. Genova, 1943 (B-XVI)
BERTELLO Giuseppe, curia, 1942 (B-XVI)
BERTONE Tarcisio S.D.B, curia, 1934 (JP-II)
BETORI Giuseppe, abp. Firenze, 1947 (B-XVI)
CAFFARRA Carlo, abp. Bologna, 1938 (B-XVI)
CALCAGNO Domenico, curia, 1943 (B-XVI)
COCCOPALMERIO Francesco, curia, 1938 (B-XVI)
COMASTRI Angelo, curia, 1943 (B-XVI)

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ROM
kathweb

Kardinal George: Neuer Papst muss bei Missbrauch von Minderjährigen universalen Kodex der Kirche mit Nulltoleranz um- und durchsetzen

05.03.2013

Rom, 05.03.2013 (KAP) Der nächste Papst muss die Nulltoleranz-Politik gegenüber sexuellem Missbrauch durchsetzen und deren Prävention in der Kirche weiterführen, sagte der US-amerikanische Kardinal Francis George am Montag zwischen den Zusammenkünften der ersten Generalkongregation zur Vorbereitung des Konklaves. George – er ist Erzbischof von Chicago und war bis 2010 Präsident der US-amerikanischen Bischofskonferenz – wies auch auf das Problem der sexuellen Verfehlungen einzelner Kirchenmänner hin, die juridisch außerhalb des Missbrauchs angesiedelt sind. In jedem Fall handle es sich um “schreckliche Wunden am Leib der Kirche”.

“Wer auch immer zum Papst gewählt werden wird – es ist evident, dass er den universalen Kodex der Kirche mit einer Nulltoleranz dem Missbrauch von Minderjährigen gegenüber umzusetzen und durchzusetzen hat”, betonte der 76-jährige Erzbischof von Chicago gegenüber der Nachrichtenagentur “Catholic News Service” (CNS) in Rom. Er sehen jedoch zugleich eine “fest verwurzelte Überzeugung”, mit Entschlossenheit dagegen vorzugehen. Die US-Bischöfe hätten sich für eine eigene Nulltoleranz-Politik eingesetzt und auch Überzeugungsarbeit gegenüber Kirchenvertretern in anderen Ländern wie etwa Indien geleistet, um ähnliche Normen und Regeln zu adaptieren.

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ROME
Chicagoist

Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George says the next pope must have “zero tolerance” for the sexual abuse of minors. While most of us would just say “Duh!” George’s statement is actually a rare public acknowledgement of the priesthood’s many abuse crimes in the context of choosing a new pope.

In a press conference, Cardinal George was asked what traits he wants to see in the next leader of the Catholic Church. The New York Times writes:

“He obviously has to accept the universal code of the church now, which is zero tolerance for anyone who has abused a child,” Cardinal George said in answer to a question at a news conference.

“There’s a deep-seated conviction, certainly on the part of anyone who has been a pastor,” he said, “that this has to be continually addressed.”

The cardinal asserted that efforts by American churchmen had led to a sharp reduction in reported abuse cases. “But there’s still the victims,” he continued. “The wound is still deep in their hearts, and as long as it’s with them it will be with us. The pope has to keep this in mind.”

David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) told the New York Times that George’s statement is encouraging. “It should be a topic and we are glad that Cardinal George said it will be and must be, but the focus has got to be on safeguarding kids first, healing victims second.”

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HAWAII
West Hawaii Today

By TOM CALLIS

Tribune-Herald staff writer
tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com

Attorneys have filed a lawsuit on behalf of two men accusing Father George DeCosta, a revered Big Island priest, of sexually abusing two boys while he worked as a chaplain at a Catholic school on Oahu.

The alleged abuse occurred during the late 1960s at Damien Memorial High School, according to the suit filed Friday in Hawaii First District Court.

DeCosta worked as the parish priest at Malia Puka O Kalani Catholic Church in Keaukaha for three decades before retiring in 2002. He now lives in Volcano.

The allegations of abuse were first made last August when the plaintiffs filed a claim for damages against the Christian Brothers of Ireland, which operates the school, in federal bankruptcy court.

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ITALIA
Il Fatto Quotidiano

Secondo quanto riportato dal quotidiano genovese ‘Il Secolo XIX’ e come ricostruito dal programma tv ‘Le Iene’ l’allora vescovo di Savona Domenico Calcagno scrisse al futuro Papa Benedetto XVI (al tempo prefetto per la congregazione della fede) per segnalare il caso di un prete pedofilo, don Nello Giraudo: “Se posso lo tengo lontano dai bambini”. La lettera però non ebbe alcun seguito

di Redazione Il Fatto Quotidiano | 4 marzo 2013

Nei giorni in cui la Chiesa deve fare i conti con il caso O’Brien, il cardinale autoesclusosi dal Conclave per “condotta sessuale inaccettabile”, nuove ombre si allungano sul Papa ormai emerito Joseph Ratzinger. Secondo quanto rivela Il Secolo XIX, l’ex Papa era a conoscenza di fatti di pedofilia avvenuti nella diocesi di Savona nel 2003 ma, nonostante fosse stato informato ufficialmente di quanto accaduto nella sua veste di prefetto per la congregazione della fede (l’organo deputato a vigilare sulla correttezza della dottrina cattolica, ndr), non lo denunciò. Il quotidiano di Genova pubblica una lettera inviata dall’ex vescovo di Savona, il cardinal Domenico Calcagno – uno dei partecipanti al Conclave di questi giorni – a Joseph Ratzinger. “Chiedo la cortesia di un consiglio circa l’atteggiamento da tenere , intendendo il sacerdote continuare con un impegno pastorale – scrive Calcagno a Ratzinger – Per quanto possibile intendo evitare che abbia comunque responsabilità che lo mettano a contatto con bambini o adolescenti”. Una richiesta che però rimane inascoltata.

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ITALIA
Il Seccolo XIX

Savona – «Chiediamo che il cardinale Domenico Calcagno non partecipi al conclave»: la petizione è stata lanciata online, nella giornata di ieri, dalla Rete L’abuso – noi vittime di preti pedofili coordinata da Francesco Zanardi, grande accusatore dell’omertà nei confronti della pedofilia della diocesi savonese, dove Monsignor Calcagno è stato vescovo sino al 2007.

Nel 2003, in una missiva inviata all’allora prefetto della Congregazione per la dottrina della fede Joseph Ratzinger, Calcagno chiedeva consigli sul comportamento da tenere con Don Nello Giraudo, il sacerdote pedofilo condannato nel 2012 a un anno di carcere patteggiato per l’ultimo dei numerosi abusi, risalente al 2005 e unico tra i numerosi non caduto in prescrizione.

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ITALIA
Il Seccolo XIX

Alla festa della Madonna di Savona anche Le Iene, impegnate nell’inchiesta sui casi di pedofilia legati alla Chiesa

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ROME
CBS Los Angeles

[with video]

ROME (CBSLA.com) — A woman who claims she was sexually abused by her parish priest as a child traveled to Rome to protest retired Cardinal Roger Mahony’s participation in the papal conclave.

Barbara Dorris, 65, said she is outraged that Mahony, who led the Los Angeles Archdiocese for 25 years until 2011, is one of 115 cardinals who will select a new pope in the wake of allegations he helped conceal child sex abuse involving hundreds of priests.

“Cardinal Mahony…this man has been complicit in the cover-up all over in Los Angeles, yet he’ll be here and have a vote,” Dorris told KCAL9’s Suraya Fadel.

Dorris continued, “There are letters, there are documents, that said he made some very bad… if not criminal…choices. We feel he should have had the decency to stay home. He has been implicated in so many cover-ups. How could you then come and say, ‘I’m the best person to help elect a spiritual leader. A person who will clean up this mess and help restore the church’s reputation?’”

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Mar. 5, 2013

Rome

In any walk of life, campaign season always brings people out of the woodwork with a point to make or an axe to grind, and Rome in the run-up to the looming conclave is certainly no exception.

Over the last few days, people from a bewildering variety of backgrounds and perspectives have been trying to make themselves heard above the din, some quite effectively, others coming off as just downright wierd.

Among the former, the Survivors’ Network of Those Abused by Priests, the main advocacy group for victims of clerical abuse in the United States, has been holding regular press conferences at Rome’s Orange Hotel and issuing statements on issues as they emerge, such as the resignation of Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien of Scotland. SNAP runs a smart, fast press operation, and has emerged as the most important critical voice on the sex abuse crisis in the pre-conclave period.

More brazen was a twenty-something Italian activist who showed up last Thursday in front of a large TV platform at the end of the Via della Conciliazione, the broad street that leads to St. Peter’s Square, just before the pope was due to lift off in his helicopter and head for Castel Gandolfo.

At that moment, the platform was full of anchors and guests for various global networks, all commenting on the pope’s departure. They got a surprise when the young man stripped down to his boxer shorts, despite chilly temperatures, hoisted a bullhorn, and began shouting that “Ratzinger covers up for pedophiles!”

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UNITED STATES
Stop Baptist Predators

Last month, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention wrote a letter to President Obama.

Whew. That’s a mouthful, isn’t it? But that’s what it says on the letterhead: “Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

The Commission maintains offices at Southern Baptist Convention headquarters in Nashville and also on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.

Richard Land, who is the head of this lofty-sounding commission was writing to the President to tell him that “we would like to take this opportunity to add our voice to the discussions” on gun control.

He used that word “we” quite a lot. So who exactly is the “we” and by what authority does Land speak for the “we”?

After all, this is a denomination that claims it cannot possibly create a commission to consider clergy sex abuse allegations – as numerous other denominations have done — because the Southern Baptist Convention has no authority to tell local churches about their ministers. Or so they say. They claim that Baptists’ professed belief in local church autonomy precludes such a thing.

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UNITED STATES
Friendly Atheist

March 3, 2013 By Sara Lin Wilde

For a conservative Catholic who meticulously adheres and assents to every word of the Church’s teaching, these are difficult days, filled to the brim with cognitive dissonance. It’s hard to accept the Pope as Jesus Christ’s chosen representative on Earth while groups of abuse victims call on him to stand trial for crimes against humanity.

And as if that’s not enough, the Vatileaks documents revealed (among other things) a gay “faction” within Vatican power circles, allegedly subject to blackmail because of their forbidden sexual orientation or involvement in forbidden relationships. Now, in the face of Benedict’s sudden resignation, people are wondering if the gay scandal has played a role in the pontiff’s decision or his loss of credibility.

The Catholic Church is on the defensive… except for one priest.

Father Dariusz Oko, a Polish priest who studies “homoideology and homopropaganda” from a critical perspective (really!) has tied together these two scandalous moments in recent Catholic history by way of his recently-translated 2012 article, “Standing with the Pope against homoheresy.” In it, he defends Pope Benedict’s record on childhood sexual abuse by priests, arguing that, in fact, it’s not the Pope thwarting Catholic families whose children get abused.

It’s the gay faction.

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MARYLAND
Baltimore Sun

March 04, 2013|By Jessica Anderson, The Baltimore Sun

A longtime deacon at a Fullerton church was charged Friday with possessing “numerous files of child pornography,” Baltimore County police said.

William Steven Albaugh, 67, a deacon at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on Belair Road, was arrested at his Nottingham home at 7:45 a.m. Police had searched Albaugh’s Treadway Court home and said they found images of children on his Verizon Online account and on thumb drives.

Police do not believe that children at St. Joseph’s were victims.

Albaugh declined to comment when reached by phone Friday.

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VATICAN CITY
Denver Post

By Daniel J.Wakin
The New York Times denverpost.com

VATICAN CITY — The next pope must commit himself to “zero tolerance” of the sexual abuse of minors by clergymen, a senior U.S. cardinal said Monday, the first day of deliberations by the princes of the Catholic Church ahead of the papal election.

The statement by Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, was a rare mention of the scandal in the context of discussing “papability” — the qualities and attributes desired by the cardinals in the man who will succeed the pope emeritus, Benedict XVI, who relinquished the position Thursday.

“He obviously has to accept the universal code of the church now, which is zero tolerance for anyone who has abused a child,” George said in answer to a question at a news conference. “There’s a deep-seated conviction, certainly on the part of anyone who has been a pastor, that this has to be continually addressed.”

The cardinal asserted that efforts by American churchmen had led to a sharp reduction in reported abuse cases.

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CANADA
Vancouver Sun

By SARAH SACHELI and Jason Warick, Postmedia News and The StarPhoenix

WINDSOR, Ont. — Retired priest William Hodgson Marshall stood on legs weakened with age and admitted to sexually abusing two boys in Saskatchewan more than 50 years ago.

“I admit the hideousness,” Marshall, 90, said Monday, his voice trailing off. But he said he didn’t know he was hurting anyone.

“I don’t think I was a monster.”

Marshall was sentenced in a Windsor courtroom Monday to six months of house arrest.

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ROME
The Globe and Mail

TU THANH HA
The Globe and Mail

Published Monday, Mar. 04 2013

The Roman Catholic Church could do more to help victims of abusive priests reconcile themselves with their faith, says Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, one of the front-runners to become the next pontiff.

As cardinals from around the world gather in Rome for closed-door meetings before choosing a successor to Benedict XVI, Cardinal Ouellet recalled in an interview with the CBC how he met with victims of clerical child abuse during a visit to Ireland.

Cardinal Ouellet had asked for forgiveness from the victims during a pilgrimage last year to St. Patrick’s Purgatory in Lough Derg.

“I remember one telling me, ‘You’ve not done everything; you have to do something more for us, because you know these facts happen in pastoral contexts with Catholic people,’” Cardinal Ouellet said in an interview with CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge which aired Monday night.

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SCOTLAND
The Scottish Sun

By SAM WALKER, DAVID WYNN and PAUL THORNTON

A CELEBRITY lawyer last night insisted “justice must be seen to be done” as he urged cops to probe shamed Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

Top brief Nick Freeman told how he made a complaint to Lothian and Borders Police after the axed Scots Catholic leader sensationally admitted sexual misconduct with priests.

Mr Freeman accused the Catholic Church of attempting a cover-up by insisting on an internal investigation.

And he said: “Justice needs to be seen to be done. The Church has a moral and legal obligation to co-operate with police.

“There should be a full criminal investigation. We don’t know who else was involved — or who decided to cover it up. They are just as culpable as the cardinal.”

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Patricia McGuire

As the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church gather in Rome this week for their “congregations” that precede the papal election conclave, they’re getting plenty of advice from people of all persuasions about what kind of pope the Church and the world expect at this moment in human history.

As the lay leader of one of the Church’s ministries in higher education, Trinity Washington University, I share the concern and hope for the new leader’s governance abilities, broad world view and pastoral personality.

As a lifelong Catholic woman who has witnessed the real life of the U.S. Church “on the ground” with families and friends, parishioners and Catholic school teachers, deeply devoted nuns and priests and laity collaborating across the generations to advance the pragmatic work of our faith, I have a stubborn optimism that this moment is less a “crisis” in the faith, as some commentators insist, but rather, a time of real transformation for the organization of the Catholic Church as it struggles to bring its structures, policies and processes into the modern age. …

1. Atone the Child Sex Abuse Scandal: Nothing has done more to damage the Church’s credibility with faithful mainstream Catholics “in the pews” than the child sex abuse scandal. Dismissing the ongoing concerns as figments of some lefty political agenda is naïve. The ladies in the front pews with their rosaries — the pillars of the parishes, the mothers of the altar boys for generations like my sainted mother (God rest her soul) who could not escape the lingering fear that perhaps something bad had happened to one of her sons — this is the place where the scandal has wreaked permanent damage with the Church’s credibility among the faithful. Lose the mothers, lose the teachers.

Mere atonement is not enough; paying out settlements is hardly adequate. The pope and bishops must agree to a significant, permanent symbol of penance for these most grievous sins — not only the horror of the abuse, but the malignant corruption of the cover-ups — along with pervasive change in Church policies and practices universally to ensure that such horrors never happen again. The latter cannot be up to individual bishops; the pope has the power to order canonical change globally, and he should do so immediately.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Express

By: Paul Jeeves
Published: Tue, March 5, 2013

Nick Freeman, known as Mr Loophole for successfully getting celebrities off driving convictions, has written to the Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police David Strang demanding action.

He acted after hearing the Church plans to launch its own internal investigation after the 74-year-old cardinal admitted there were times his “ sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal”.

Britain’s most senior Catholic cleric stepped down from his post as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh last week.

I was shocked to hear there is to be an internal investigation only. This will be heard behind closed doors and the full findings would not be published.

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VATICAN CITY
Macleans (Canada)

VATICAN CITY – The Canadian cardinal considered one of the top choices for the papacy says he thinks the Catholic church’s handling of its sex abuse scandals can be held up as a positive example.

In an interview with CBC television Marc Cardinal Ouellet defended the church, saying it had to bear a great deal of public scrutiny when stories of abuse came to light.

“But it is not a Catholic problem; it is a human problem,” he said.

“Most of the abuse occurred in families in very general in society, and my hope is what was done by the Catholic Church, which is not yet perfect, but could be also of example for others in society. And I hope it will create an atmosphere in the whole society for respect of youth, for creating, you know, a safe environment everywhere you know in sports environments and others.”

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POLAND
NBC News

By Donald Snyder, Special Correspondent, NBC News

Polish Catholics are hoping for a new pope with fresh vision.

In Poland, widely considered the most Catholic country in Europe, the church has been plagued by dwindling attendance, surging secularism and increasing alienation among young people.

“Well-educated young people from the cities are leaving the church,” said Marej Zajac, a writer for the Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine Tygodnik Powszechny.

According to Poland’s Statistical Institute of the Catholic Church, weekly church attendance has dropped from 53 percent of the population in 1987 to less than 40 percent in 2011. It’s the lowest number ever recorded, said Bruce Porter-Szucs, a history professor at the University of Michigan who writes extensively about Poland.

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UNITED STATES
Jackson Sun

by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

Any day now the cardinals of the Catholic church will huddle in the Sistine Chapel to choose the next pope.

Who is the holy, humble, super human who can lead the modern Catholic world of more than a billion believers? Who can preach eternal truth while confronting contemporary spiritual, social, economic and political challenges?

Americans are only 6% of the global church and the issues that loom large here — the clergy abuse crisis, contraception or whether priests can marry or women be ordained — may not be top-of-mind elsewhere.

“The great populations of Africa, Latin America and Asia are not thinking about those things,” says Rev. Patrick Ryan, professor of religion and society at Fordham University in New York who has spent 26 years in Africa.

“When I read that The New York Times suggested one of the major problems Benedict faced was same-sex marriage, I burst out laughing,” Ryan says.

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VATICAN CITY
KSAT

Author: By Laura Smith-Spark and Richard Allen Greene CNN
Published On: Mar 05 2013

ROME (CNN) –
Catholic cardinals are meeting for a second day Tuesday at the Vatican, as they prepare to set a timetable for selecting a new pope.

More cardinals are arriving Tuesday morning so there should be fewer than eight cardinal-electors still to come, according to Vatican spokesman the Rev. Thomas Rosica.

The cardinal-electors, those aged under 80 who are eligible to vote for the new pontiff, are thought to number 115 in total.

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CANADA
NPR

by The Associated Press
March 05, 2013

TORONTO (AP) — Cardinal Marc Ouellet once said that being pope “would be a nightmare.” He would know, having enjoyed the confidence of two popes as a top-ranked Vatican insider.

His high-profile position as head of the Vatican’s office for bishops, his conservative leanings, his years in Latin America and his work in Rome as president of a key commission for Latin America all make him a favorite to become the first pontiff from the Americas.

But the qualities that make him popular in Latin America — home to the world’s biggest Catholic population — and among the cardinals who elect the pope have contributed to his poor image in his native Quebec, where ironically he was perceived during his tenure as archbishop as an outsider parachuted in from Rome to reorder his liberal province along conservative lines.
___

EDITOR’S NOTE: As the Roman Catholic Church prepares to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, The Associated Press is profiling key cardinals seen as “papabili” — contenders to the throne. In the secretive world of the Vatican, there is no way to know who is in the running, and history has yielded plenty of surprises. But these are the names that have come up time and again in speculation. Today: Marc Ouellet.
___

By many accounts, Ouellet is not beloved in Quebec, where friends say he struggled following his appointment as archbishop in 2002. His comments condemning abortion even in the case of rape were attacked by politicians and commentators — sometimes viciously.

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VATICAN CITY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on March 04, 2013

To understand why so many Catholics and victims are disillusioned with the church hierarchy, consider what happened in Rome yesterday.

— The first action by the College of Cardinals was to draft a thank you message to Pope Benedict. Not a letter to the Magdalene laundry victims in Ireland. Not a letter to the parents in Spain whose babies were sold by nuns. Not to the victims of Cardinal O’Brien in the UK. Not to the African nuns who, years ago, reported being assaulted by priests. Not to family members who lost abused loved ones to suicide. Not to any of the hundreds of thousands who have been victimized as innocent children or vulnerable adults by priests, nuns, bishops, seminarians or other church staff (and often later betrayed by prelates).

— Cardinals heard a talk by the long-time “papal preacher” Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa. According to the Associated Press, in a Roman church in 2010, Cantalamessa “likened accusations against the pope and the Catholic church in the sex abuse scandal to ‘collective violence’ suffered by the Jews.”

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

In other cardinals-in-the-news news: as Francis X. Rocca reports in National Catholic Reporter, Cardinal Roger Mahony told Catholic News Service last week that he has been amazed at calls for him not to attend the papal conclave because of what the public now knows about his track record in dealing with priests abusing minors in the Los Angeles archdiocese. Mahony states that the Vatican, through its ambassador to the U.S., instructed him to attend the conclave–despite the pressure from lay Catholics for him to stay at home.

As Rocca notes, Mahony was also “amazed” at the public furor over what was contained in the church files opened to the public regarding abuse cases in his archdiocese. Mahony arrived in Rome a day after Cardinal O’Brien said he wouldn’t attend the papal conclave after allegations of his “inappropriate conduct” with several priests and a former priest became public.

I think it’s instructive to read Rocca’s story about Mahony and his “amazement” (and his determination to attend the papal conclave–or is that the Vatican’s determination to have him attend despite what many Catholics want?) side by side with Father Tom Doyle’s recent NCR article asking who paid for Mahony’s red hat. Doyle says that in 2004, a lawyer representing victims in the costly, years’-long battle to obtain a hearing in abuse cases in Los Angeles told him, “By the time this is over we are going to find out just how much Roger Mahony’s cardinal hat is worth.”

And what the attorney meant by this observation, Doyle explains, is that reaching the point at which many files were opened to public scrutiny in the Los Angeles archdiocese has taken a “massive toll” on many people. Doyle states,

The media could not possibly recount the massive toll this took on so many people. The price of Mahony’s red hat is certainly steep in dollars. He retained an army of expensive lawyers to defend his intentional mishandling of reports of sexual abuse, and then to create legal roadblocks to the disclosure of the culprits’ files. The real cost of his hat was in people.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

By STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on Tuesday 5 March 2013

CARDINAL Keith O’Brien threatened to report a victim of clerical sexual abuse to the police as a “blackmailer”, according to the man who had been abused.

“Michael X”, who received £42,000 granted by the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in 1990 following his traumatic experiences, said yesterday that when he insisted Father Desmond Lynagh, who had abused him while he was a 14-year-old junior seminarian at Blairs in Aberdeen in the 1970s, should be sent away for counselling and no longer minister to children and young people, the archbishop had threatened him with the police.

In an exclusive interview with The Scotsman, Mr X said: “He then stood up. I remember he was wearing a black soutane with his pectoral cross and he said, ‘Do you know who I am? Nobody tells me what to do. If you go to the police then I will tell then that you are trying to blackmail me’.”

He went on: “I said that if I went to the police then I’d be frightened, but I would tell them that I was trying to force him to keep a sex offender out of circulation. I would tell them what I was doing and I would be ready to go to prison if I had to.”

At the end of the meeting, when Mr X repeated his threat to report Lynagh to the authorities unless he was sent for counselling, he recalled the archbishop “leaned forward towards me and I could feel his breath on my collar and he said, ‘You are just another abused child. No-one will believe you’. I have no reason to exaggerate. That is what he told me”.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

A shrewd Roman lawyer, Cicero, much valued by the ex-Pope’s favorite, St. Augustine, often analyzed actions by asking, Cui Bono? Who benefits from the actions? In every negotiation, time favors one side, a famous executive management consultant once told me. The other side can then gain strength in negotiations by delay.

Who benefits at the Conclave by rushing to elect a new Pope? Clearly, the Vatican clique and Joseph Ratzinger, the Shadow Pope, benefit by rushing the Conclave. The Vatican clique appears understandably to be in a hurry to get their man to re-appoint them to their positions that expired last Thursday with the Shadow Pope’s departure. If Cardinals want more of the same, they should accept being stampeded. If not, they must resist and fix the Church sensibly, which cannot be rushed.

With a one-third voting bloc, Cardinals can take their time and enjoy St. Peter’s at Easter. They can run their dioceses well enough remotely, while they address the more important issues. Eventually, the Vatican clique will fold. If Cardinals do not stand firm, they will find themsleves at the mercy of the Vatican clique. Look at UK Cardinal O’Brien’s sacking and Cardinal Mahony’s shaming. Is each Cardinal comfortable that the skirts of their red dress is cleaner than these two disposable Cardinals?

In the last decade, the Catholic Church managed well enough with a severely disabled Pope and a part-time octogenerian Pope who preferred writing books and listening to Mozart to managing serious problems, as he should have. The Church will not go to Hell now if Cardinals take the required time given by this unique opportunity to fix the Church. It may go to Hell if they fail now to fix it properly.

At least some of the Vatican clique have known the election was coming for some time, and have had time already to enhance the election prospects of their desired candidate. Most of them also already know what the secret dossier on Vatican mismanagement and corruption describes, and some of them have even read it and/or are featured in it.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC

The biggest challenge facing the Royal Commission into the Catholic Church response to sex abuse will be confronting the Vatican’s time-honoured secrecy and obstinate bureaucracy, writes Alex Mitchell. Will they gain access to the church’s documentation or not?

Justice Peter McClellan, the judicial pre-eminence in charge of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, will have his legal and diplomatic skills tested many times in the course of his three-year assignment.

His most engrossing challenge will be confronting the Vatican’s time-honoured secrecy and obstinate bureaucracy.

Many of the documents critical to the commission’s investigation – legal opinions and instructions, case settlements, first-hand testimony and letters of despair – are in files held in the archives of the Eternal City. Another treasure trove is located across Australian dioceses under the control of the Vatican and its representatives.

Will McClellan and his five-member panel, armed with all the powers of a Commonwealth royal commission, gain access to the church’s documentation or not?

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

SNAP FACT SHEET ON COMPLICIT NON-VOTING CARDINALS

Posted by Barbara Dorris on March 04, 2013

We urge Catholic officials to make real – not symbolic – reforms that protect children and expose wrongdoing. At the same time, however, sometimes even a small gesture can bring some healing to suffering victims and betrayed Catholics. And sometimes, when wrongdoers experience even slight consequences, it can help deter future wrongdoing

In that light, many have questioned whether clearly complicit church officials like Cardinal Brady and Cardinal Mahony should be asked to stay home or voluntarily stay home. (We are grateful that Cardinal O’Brien has opted to recuse himself from the conclave.)

But there’s another set of prelates who are also in Rome this week. They won’t vote in the conclave. But they will take part in the secret General Congregation of Cardinals meetings. Thus they too will play a decision-making role in picking the next pope.

They are the roughly 90 Cardinals who are over the age of 80. Some of them, we strongly believe, are also compromised because they too have protected predators, endangered kids, and enabled abuse.

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on March 04, 2013

Cardinal George suggests that few priests s molest kids these days. That’s simply not true. Bishops in a tiny percentage of western nations have in recent years pledged ”zero tolerance.” That promise is often broken.

But in the vast majority of countries, bishops don’t even claim to practice “zero tolerance.” It’s wrong for George to claim that this is the universal policy of the church. It’s not.

Regardless of what’s said or written in church procedures, the simple truth is that many clerics are still sexually assaulting kids. To imply otherwise is irresponsible.

So the new pope’s focus must first be on safeguarding the vulnerable, not healing the wounded. If need be, suffering adults can recover without Vatican help. But at-risk children cannot protect themselves without Vatican help.

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on March 04, 2013

We believe that the Cardinals should not just be briefed on this dossier, but should get to read the entire thing. We also believe that the dossier should be made public. Transparency is always the best policy.

There will be pressures on Vatican officials to oust these allegedly financially corrupt individuals and active gay clerics. But even more obvious and egregious wrongdoers should be ousted first: every church employee – from custodian to Cardinal – who is enabling or has enabled heinous child sex crimes by ignoring or protecting child molesting clerics.

Only by releasing this report to the public can concerned Catholics and other citizens get the best information as to who knew what, when, and will have more incentive to push the next Pope to act with speed and courage in deterring future child sex crimes and other scandals.

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CANADA
Windsor Star

Brenda Brunelle, leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) organization, speaks in front of the Ontario Court of Justice, Monday, March 4, 2013 in Windsor, Ont. They assembled for the sentencing of retired priest William Hodgson Marshall.

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CANADA
CBC News

An Ontario Court Justice ruled William Marshall will serve six months house arrest in relation to two new sexual assault charges.

Marshall is a retired priest and teacher who was sentenced to 2 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing 16 boys and one girl at schools in Toronto, Sudbury and Windsor.

He plead guilty to two additional counts of indecent assault stemming from groping incidents with two boys in Saskatoon in 1959 and 1961.

He was released from his previous conviction last October, having served two-thirds of his sentence.

Several demonstrators, including two victims of Marshall, protested outside the Windsor courthouse this morning demanding stiffer sentences for priests who abuse children.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
National Catholic Reporter

by Eugene Cullen Kennedy | Mar. 4, 2013
Bulletins from the Human Side

A major eastern newspaper says Cardinal Roger Mahony, retired archbishop of Los Angeles, is lucky not to be in jail after recently released archdiocesan documents were cited as evidence that he covered up many priests accused of sexually abusing those in their care, avoided reporting them to the police, and allowed them, after treatment and admonishment, to return quasi-purified to work as priests again.

Many victims with unhealed wounds from sexual abuse by priests feel that, if these allegations are true, Mahony should be barred from the forthcoming conclave to elect a new pope. Rome-based Cardinal Velasio de Paolis tells La Repubblica, in the tones of a godfather ordering a hit, that “persuasion” should be used on Mahony by “someone with great authority” in a “private interview” to convince him that “he should not take part” in the forthcoming election.

Mahony’s successor, Archbishop Jose Gomez, claims he just learned from the recently released records — oh, the horrors of it all — that clerical sex abuse occurred when Mahony presided in Los Angeles. With theatrical self-righteousness, he has forbidden Mahony — sending a “What a good boy am I” message to Rome — to perform any sacramental functions publicly.

Worse than Gomez’s apparent amnesia about the clerical sex abuse in San Antonio when he was its archbishop and his now doing everything but sending his hat size to Rome for the red one he ambitions by condemning Mahony, whom he previously termed a “mentor,” was its being played against a cruelly ironic backstory. This was the swell of sympathy that rolled like a cleansing tide over mass-murderer Christopher Dorner while he was still on the run. Are we surprised that some celebrities joined the ever-pious do-gooders in a desperate effort to discover Dorner’s latent nobility and to reopen the case against the Los Angeles Police Department, whose loss Dorner sought to avenge through killing cops and their relatives? None of these do-gooders, referred to in Chicago politics as “goo goos” because of the lint-covered lollipops of their ill-placed interventions, evinced any such interest in trying to understand or defend Mahony.

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UNITED KINGDOM
This is Bristol

Geoff Bennett

A “WICKED” priest who filmed a naked woman and children faces being defrocked after avoiding jail.

Richard Lee spied on his victims while he was the vicar of St Augustine’s Church in Locking and St Mary’s Church in Hutton, near Weston-super-Mare, as well as during an earlier placement.

When one of his victims raised the alarm police found he had some 454 indecent images of children.

Lee, 49, pleaded guilty to eight charges of voyeurism and 18 charges of making indecent photographs of a child last month.

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VATICAN CITY
Telegraph (UK)

The Vatican has been accused of orchestrating a cover-up over the disgraced Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien amid claims that it knew of allegations against him for five months but kept them secret.

By Nick Squires, Vatican City and John Bingham
8:19PM GMT 04 Mar 2013

Revelations that the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in Britain had a secret sex life cast a shadow over the first day of a meeting of the Church’s cardinals as they gathered to choose a successor to Benedict XVI, now Pope Emeritus.

The 142 “princes of the church” met in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican to discuss the Church’s problems and the sort of qualities required of the new pope to deal with them.

But officials in Rome and the Vatican’s representative to Britain flatly refused to discuss how long Benedict XVI had known about the accusations against Cardinal O’Brien or how many accusers there are.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

by Pam Cohen | Mar. 4, 2013

Over the last few weeks, John L. Allen Jr. has been profiling cardinals who are frequently touted as papabile, or men who could be pope. These are the names drawing the most buzz in the lead-up to the conclave. Below are links, sorted by the cardinals’ last name, to all of his papabili profiles. We will update this list as John writes more features, and don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @JohnLAllenJr.

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio
Cardinal Péter Erdõ
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga
Cardinal Marc Ouellet
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri
Cardinal Robert Sarah
Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
Cardinal Angelo Scola
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran
Cardinal Peter Turkson

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VATICAN CITY
Los Angeles Times

By Tom Kington
March 4, 2013

VATICAN CITY — Roman Catholic cardinals opened talks Monday at the Vatican on choosing a successor to Pope Benedict XVI but made no headway on deciding when they will shut themselves into the Sistine Chapel to start voting for the new pontiff.

The conclave has been expected to commence March 11. But 12 of the 115 cardinals eligible to vote had yet to show up when discussions started at 9:30 a.m. Monday, and no date will be set for the conclave until they are all assembled.

“There was no talk about when the conclave will begin,” Cardinal Francis George of Chicago said during a break from discussions, but he added: “We would like to be done by Holy Week so we can have a pope and get back to our dioceses.” Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, March 24.

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VATICAN CITY
Slate

By Abby Ohlheiser

Posted Monday, March 4, 2013

The Catholic church took on teeny tiny baby step towards picking a new pope today as 140-odd Catholic cardinals met at the Vatican for what was essentially the opening ceremonies of the papal election process.

All cardinals, even those over 80 who are therefore too old to vote for the next pope in the conclave, can attend the General Congregations during the period between popes, known as the sede vacante. All but 12 of the participating Cardinal Electors were at today’s meeting, according to the Vatican. The stragglers are expected to arrive, along with 60 or so other cardinals not yet present, either later today or tomorrow. Apparently, in the 45-minute meeting, the cardinals discussed but did not set a date for the beginning of the conclave, the secret meetings in which the electors pick the next pope. That date will likely be set once the electors arrive. And they’ll probably be in a hurry to start the process.

Thanks to a rule change by Benedict XVI, the conclave can begin pretty much once all the electors are present. Previously, the conclave began no sooner than 15 days after the end of the previous pope’s reign. But holy week begins March 24, and the traditional waiting period would have made it nearly impossible for the conclave to elect and install a successor by then.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

NICOLE WINFIELD | March 4, 2013

VATICAN CITY — Cardinals said Monday they want to talk to Vatican managers about allegations of corruption and cronyism within the top levels of the Catholic Church before they elect the next pope, evidence that a scandal over leaked papal documents is setting up one of the most unpredictable papal elections in recent times.

The Vatican said 103 of the 115 voting-age cardinals attended Monday’s inaugural session of the pre-conclave meetings, at which cardinals organize the election process, discuss the problems of the church and get to know one another before voting.

The red-capped “princes” of the church took an oath of secrecy and decided to pen a letter of “greeting and gratitude” to Benedict XVI, whose resignation has thrown the church into turmoil amid a torrent of scandals inside and out of the Vatican.

“I would imagine that as we move along there will be questioning of cardinals involved in the governing of the Curia to see what they think has to be changed, and in that context anything can come up,” said U.S. Cardinal Francis George.

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LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune

By Dave Walker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on March 04,

New Orleans author Jason Berry was scheduled to fly to Rome this past weekend to report for duty Monday (March 4) with ABC News. There, he’ll contribute to the network’s coverage of the papal conclave. His return flight isn’t scheduled until much later in the month, though he said last week that he expects a new pope to be elected sooner than that.

“The rumors I keep hearing are (March 10), but no one knows for sure,” he said.

In addition to consulting and perhaps a few on-camera appearances as an analyst for ABC News, Berry — whose writings include several major entries about the Catholic Church — also will be blogging the events of the next many days for the GlobalPost and National Catholic Reporter.

“You don’t have to be Catholic to be fascinated by the choosing of a pope,” he said. “When Obama won the presidency, people around the world were drawn to it as a global story, because America elected an African-American, much less a guy who is charismatic and brilliant. I think because of the scandals that the church has endured in recent years, many non-Catholics — many Muslims, people in many parts of the world — are going to be following this with unusual interest.”

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Monday 4 March 2013

Scotland’s most senior active Catholic leader tonight admits that the scandal involving Cardinal Keith O’Brien has dealt a serious blow to the credibility and moral authority of the church.

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, Archbishop of Glasgow and apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, makes reference to the Cardinal’s demise as he celebrates mass at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow at a pre-scheduled service.

In his sermon, he says: “This is a sad moment for the Church in our country. The events around Cardinal O’Brien, his resignation, his statement of yesterday, have left us all very sad for everyone involved and for the Church.

“Many reproaches have been aimed at the Church and at individuals over this matter. The most stinging charge which has been levelled against us in this matter is hypocrisy, and for obvious reasons.

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ITALY
Telegraph (UK)

An Italian parish priest has caused uproar after burning a photograph of Benedict XVI during a church service and likening him to the disgraced captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship captain.

By Nick Squires, Rome
6:19PM GMT 04 Mar 2013

Father Andrea Maggi shocked parishioners and was criticised by his local bishop after using a candle to set alight the image of the former pontiff, who last week became the first Pope to step down in nearly 600 years, in protest against his decision to resign the papacy.

The priest likened the Pope Emeritus’s resignation to Captain Francesco Schettino’s alleged abandoning of the Concordia after he steered it into Giglio, an island off the Italian coast a year ago.

“Am I sorry for having burned the photo of the Pope? No. He’s behaved like Schettino, he abandoned his flock,” said Father Maggi, 67, from the hilltop town of Castel Vittorio in the north-western coastal region of Liguria.

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CANADA
Leader-Post

WINDSOR, Ont. – A 90-year-old retired Catholic priest previously convicted of sexually abusing children has pleaded guilty in a Windsor, Ont., courtroom to two more sex crimes.

Father William Hodgson Marshall pleaded guilty today to two counts of indecent assault involving two teenage boys in incidents that took place during the 1950s and ’60s in Saskatchewan.

He’s currently serving a two-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2011 to 17 counts of sexually abusing children while teaching at schools in Windsor, Toronto and Sudbury.

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VATIKAN
Krone

Im Vatikan haben am Montag die sogenannten Generalkongregationen zur Vorbereitung des Konklaves für die Wahl eines neuen Papstes begonnen. Die Kardinäle versammelten sich am Vormittag erstmals im Apostolischen Palast, am Nachmittag einigte man sich dann zunächst auf eine Grußbotschaft an den emeritierten Papst Benedikt XVI.. Im Zentrum des “Vorkonklaves” stehen die Missbrauchsskandale, die Schieflage der Vatikanbank IOR und der “Vatileaks”- Fall.Die Versammlung einigte sich auf eine Botschaft der “Zuneigung und Dankbarkeit” für den emeritierten Papst Benedikt XVI. Wie Lombardi sagte, brachte Kardinaldekan Angelo Sodano den Vorschlag für die Grußbotschaft in die Generalkongregation ein. Der Vorschlag sei einstimmig angenommen worden. Die erste Kongregation sei in einer “ruhigen und konstruktiven Atmosphäre” verlaufen, sagte Lombardi.

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BELGIEN
Radio Vatikan

Die belgische Bevölkerung hat das Vertrauen in die katholische Kirche verloren. Laut einer Studie der Katholischen Universität Leuven zweifeln die Flamen an der Glaubwürdigkeit der Institution -vor allem seit dem Missbrauchsskandal. Sechs von zehn Befragten gaben an, dass die Kirche für ihr persönliches Leben irrelevant geworden sei. Auch der Wunsch, dass die Kirche nicht mehr steuerlich unterstützt wird, steige bei den Befragten. Doch vor allem kritisierten sie, dass die Kirche zu viel unter den Teppich kehre.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

The Vatican Conclave clearly shows before the world media the infinite gap between what Cardinals preach and what they do. Cardinals call publicly for a new pastoral Pope that will be transparent and then attempt to elect him secretly. The process is so secret that the essential secret new dossier on Vatican corruption will be kept secret even in the secret election sessions. Three octogenerians Cardinals reportedly will secretly answer questions about the secret dossier. Those Cardinals who are fully clairvoyant may be able to ask the right questions. Those who are not, might as will give Cardinal Sodano some signed blank ballots, so he can fill in the Vatican clique’s candidate, and then go home. Unbelievable!

The election procedures can, of course, be changed at the drop of a hat. The Shadow Pope, Joseph Ratzinger, did it last week to try to speed up the Conclave, as he had earlier changed the most important provision on minimum required voting percentages. The procedures must be made transparent immediately for the sake of the Gospels the Cardinals just blaphemously swore secrecy on. You cannot elect a transparent Pope secretly; he will always be deeply tainted thereafter. As an earlier Pope tried to get Galileo to accept a change in the laws of physics, the Shadow Pope want to get worldwide Catholics to accept a change in the laws of human behavior.

The Holy Spirit may be guiding the Conclave, although earlier Joseph Ratzinger said he thought otherwise given the large numbers of “bad Popes”. Even so, the Holy Spirit cannot do the impossible, that is, convert secrecy into transparency.

Meanwhile, the other sideshows continue. Cardinal Mahony, the wealthy and savvy non-Opus Dei enemy of Republican plutocrats and Catholic mega-donors in the USA, is singled out for shame for his involvement in the Conclave deliberations, as many other tainted Cardinals are hardly mentioned, despite serious unresolved abuse cover-up related matters, including Cardinals Brady, Burke, Levada, Rigali, Danneels, Dolan, O’Malley, Calcagno, Maradiago, Sodano, George, McCarrick, Egan, Castrillion Hoyos, Desmond, Law, et al. It seems clear that some in the Vatican clique are trying to marginalize Mahony selectively, as Mahony amazingly just keeps on blogging as if he is without sin!

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UNITED STATES
Buzzflash

BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Strategies used by the Church to cover up its worldwide sexual abuse scandal included: the Vatican’s refusal to cooperate with civil authorities; officially sanctioned priest shifting; the destruction of evidence; punishing whistle-blowers and rewarding enablers; and, blaming the victims.

Last week, the eyes of the world were on Pope Benedict XVI – who apparently expects to be known as Pope Emeritus – as he left the Vatican by helicopter to spend the final hours of what many would characterize as his scandal-dogged papacy, at the papal summer retreat. According to The New York Times, “Onlookers in St. Peter’s Square cheered, church bells rang and Romans stood on rooftops to wave flags as he flew by.”

To the thousands of survivors of the Roman Catholic Church’s worldwide sexual abuse scandals, however, there was little to cheer about.

A Philadelphia Grand Jury report put the long-lived scandal in unambiguous terms: By sexual abuse, “We mean rape. Boys who were raped orally, boys who were raped anally, girls who were raped vaginally. But even those victims whose physical abuse did not include actual rape – those who were subjected to fondling, to masturbation, to pornography – suffered psychological abuse that scarred their lives and sapped the faith in which they had been raised.”

Aftershocks from the decades-long sexual abuse scandal continue to reverberate, even as cardinals gather to choose the next pope. As the Times reported, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s senior Roman Catholic cleric, “said he would not participate in the conclave, after having been accused of ‘inappropriate acts’ with several priests, charges that he denies.” Other cardinals, including some from the United States have also come under fire.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Kent Online

A pervert vicar who spied on and filmed a mother and daughter and two teenage girls in his parish escaped jail today.

Reverend Richard Lee, 49, used secret cameras to record his unsuspecting victims and kept the footage on a laptop.

Married father-of-two Lee, who was vicar of two churches in Somerset at the time, was rumbled when the images were discovered.

He was arrested and was today given eight months in prison after previously pleading guilty to eight charges of voyeurism and 18 of making indecent images.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Church of England vicar walks free from court after using secret cameras to spy on three girls and a woman over TEN YEARS

By Simon Tomlinson

A Church of England vicar walked free from court today after admitting using secret cameras to spy on and film intimate pictures of three girls and a woman.

Reverend Richard Lee, 49, was handed an eight-month jail term, suspended for two years, at Bristol Crown Court after admitting eight counts of voyeurism and 18 counts of making indecent images.

The offending took place over a ten-year period, in Weston-super-Mare where he was a priest in the diocese of Bath and Wells, and also in Gillingham, Kent.

Judge Neil Ford, QC, said: ‘I have agonised about my public duty in this case. While sentences of imprisonment must be imposed, they can be suspended.’

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VATICAN CITY
Telegraph

The gathering of cardinals in the Vatican was overshadowed not just by scandal but by farce too, when a German man masquerading as a bishop tried to infiltrate the meeting.

By Nick Squires, Vatican City
5:16PM GMT 04 Mar 2013

Ralph Napierski, a self-appointed bishop from an apparently fictional order called Corpus Dei, managed to get through a checkpoint manned by Swiss Guards but was stopped before entering the Paul VI Hall, where the cardinals were gathering.

Dressed in fake bishop’s vestments, complete with a purple sash, Mr Napierski smiled to photographers as he mixed with more than 140 cardinals from around the world as they filed into the hall to discuss the challenges facing the Church and possible “papabili” or papal candidates.

On closer inspection the sash turned out to be a scarf.

Unlike the elderly cardinals, who wore their distinctive red skull caps, the impostor wore a black fedora-style hat with a rim.

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VATICAN CITY
NBC News

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Catholic cardinals in a closed-door meeting ahead of the election of a new pontiff want to be briefed on a secret report into leaks about alleged corruption and mismanagement in the Vatican, a senior source said on Monday.

More than 140 cardinals began preliminary meetings to sketch a profile for the next pope following the shock abdication of Pope Benedict last month and to ponder who among them might be best to lead a church beset by crises.

The meetings, called “general congregations,” are open to cardinals regardless of age, although only those under 80 will later enter a conclave to elect a pope from among themselves.

The source, a prelate over 80 who was present at Monday’s meetings, said the contents of the report came up during the morning session but declined to say if the requests to be briefed were made in the formal sessions or informal coffee break discussions or both.

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ITALIA
Il Seccolo XIX

Savona – Non avrebbe impedito a un parroco della propria diocesi di commettere abusi sessuali su minori e su almeno altre quattro-cinque vittime. È questa la grave accusa contestata a monsignor Dante Lafranconi, attualmente vescovo di Cremona, ma dal 1991 al 2001 alla guida della curia di Savona e Noli. L’alto prelato secondo la procura savonese avrebbe omesso di segnalare ai suoi diretti superiori le morbose attenzioni di almeno due preti nei confronti di ragazzini di cui avrebbero dovuto occuparsi e che sono stati condannati per pedofilia (don Barbacini) e abusi sessuali (don Giraudo). E come recita il secondo comma dell’articolo 40 del codice penale «non avrebbe impedito un evento, che si ha l’obbligo giuridico di impedire, equivale a cagionarlo».

Trattandosi però di episodi risalente alla fine degli anni ‘90, il procuratore della Repubblica Francantonio Granero e il sostituto Giovanni Battista Ferro hanno avanzato al gip richiesta di archiviazione per prescrizione degli eventuali reati commessi dal Pastore della diocesi savonese.

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ITALIA
Il Seccolo XIX

[con video]

Savona – Anche Joseph Ratzinger, ora papa emerito, all’epoca prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede , era a conoscenza dei casi di pedofilia che si sono verificati all’interno della Diocesi savonese. Ma, come del resto i vertici della curia locale, non ha denunciato alla magistratura i fatti.

A dimostrarlo in modo inconfutabile sono i documenti di cui la redazione de Il Secolo XIX è venuta in possesso, sequestrati dalla Procura della Repubblica di Savona circa un anno fa, nel febbraio 2012, prelevati dalla cassaforte della Curia savonese, nell’ambito dell’indagine sui casi di pedofilia avvenuti nella diocesi ligure. Documenti che dimostrano come il papa emerito Benedetto XVI, due anni prima dell’elezione a pontefice, nel 2003, fosse stato informato dei casi savonesi, proprio quando era appunto Prefetto della Congregazione per la dottrina della Chiesa, l’organo deputato a vigilare sulla correttezza della dottrina cattolica. Una vicenda che acquista un peso significativo nella storia di Ratzinger e in cui compaiono altri personaggi illustri, tra cui il cardinale Domenico Calcagno, al tempo vescovo della diocesi savonese, che sarà membro dell’imminente conclave.

Una drammatica pagina della Chiesa cattolica che è stata ricostruita nei dettagli in un servizio di Pablo Trincia andato in onda ieri, in tarda serata, nel programma tv “Le Iene” con il titolo “Abusi nascosti dalla chiesa”, dove, agli interventi delle vittime, sono stati accostati i documenti sequestrati dalla Procura. A partire dalla lettera all’ormai ex Papa, datata 8 settembre 2003, inviata dall’allora vescovo Domenico Calcagno per informare il Prefetto Ratzinger del caso di un sacerdote pedofilo che opera nel savonese, don Nello Giraudo.

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ITALIEN
Spiegel

[Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was told of abuse of minors by a priest in Italy but chose to do nothing about it, according to Il Seccolo XIX newspaper.]

Mutmaßliche Missbrauchsopfer aus Norditalien beklagen, Joseph Ratzinger habe als Präfekt der Glaubenskongregation von ihrem Leiden gewusst und nichts dagegen unternommen. Ausgerechnet ein Kardinal, der am Konklave teilnehmen wird, soll Ratzinger damals schriftlich informiert haben.

Savona – Benedikt XVI. ist weg vom Fenster des Apostolischen Palasts – dennoch verfolgen ihn die Schatten seiner Amtszeit auch nach seinem Rücktritt.

Wie die Genueser Tageszeitung “Il Secolo XIX” (“Das 19. Jahrhundert”) am Montag berichtet, soll ein Priester im norditalienischen Savona von 1981 bis ins Jahr 2000 Jungen sexuell missbraucht haben. Joseph Ratzinger, damals Präfekt der Glaubenskongregation, soll über die Verdachtsfälle informiert worden sein – und nichts unternommen haben.

“Il Secolo XIX” veröffentlichte einen Brief des ehemaligen Bischofs von Savona, Domenico Calcagno, an Ratzinger. In dem Schreiben vom 8. September 2003 bittet er den Präfekten um einen Rat betreffs des Priesters G., den er im Amt belassen möchte. “Wenn es möglich ist, würde ich gern vermeiden, dass man ihn in Kontakt bringt mit Kindern und Erwachsenen.” Dann fügt er fast beruhigend hinzu: “Bisher ist davon nichts zu den Zeitungen durchgedrungen und es liegen auch keine Anzeigen vor.”

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

Cardinals hold meeting but do not set date for conclave to choose the next pope

By Jason Horowitz
Updated: Monday, March 4

VATICAN CITY — The College of Cardinals held its first general meeting Monday morning since the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, but the cardinals did not choose a start date for the conclave from which the next pope will emerge.

“There was no decision taken for the conclave,” said the Rev. Tom Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, during a news briefing here. “We have no information on the date of the conclave.”

“I think we are just feeling our way right now,” Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, said in a subsequent meeting of American cardinals with reporters.

“We’d like to be done before Holy Week,” said Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago. “I would assume others would be of the same mind.”

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VATICAN CITY
Whispers in the Loggia

The General Congregation having opened at 9.30 this morning, the first daily gathering of all the cardinals – over-80s included – is set to run ’til 1.30. After a break for lunch and riposo, an unusual evening session will start at 5.30.

As of last hearing, an announcement on a Conclave start-date is deemed likely to not emerge today. Under the norms of the 11th-hour motu proprio which now allows the college to ditch the standard 15-day waiting period from the moment a vacancy is triggered, all participating cardinal-electors must be present before the body can debate and eventually set the timetable by a majority vote.

While it’s unclear whether this interregnum will follow the last one in seeing an interview “blackout” agreed to by the cardinals until the election begins, in a first, an official briefing on the morning meeting is expected this afternoon.

(SVILUPPO: At the briefing following the first session, it was disclosed that 12 electors still have yet to arrive, including three of the influential, four-member German delegation. Ergo, as expected, no Conclave date can be decided until tomorrow at the earliest, or whenever all 115 expected voters are duly on-hand.)

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VATICAN CITY
Bloomberg Businessweek

By Andrew Davis on March 04, 2013

The next pope must have zero tolerance for priests who sexually abuse children, a scandal that’s left a “wound on the body of the church,” U.S. Cardinal Francis George said.

Catholic cardinals met at the Vatican today as they prepare to set a date for the secret conclave to choose a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned Feb. 28. The issue of sexual abuse by priests will be on their minds during the conclave, George said at a press conference in Rome today.

“It’s certainly in the minds and hearts of many of us because we have victims now, and they are not just victims of sexual abuse by teachers or politician or fathers or uncles, but they have been abused by Catholic priests, sometimes by Catholic bishops and sometimes the abuse has not been addressed,” said George, the archbishop of Chicago.

U.S. cardinals were instrumental in pushing the church to change its universal code to include zero tolerance for priests who abuse children, he said.

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VATICAN CITY
News 24

2013-03-04

Vatican City – Catholic cardinals on Monday pressed for more information about the “Vatileaks” scandal at the start of a series of Vatican meetings to prepare for a conclave to elect a new pope after Benedict XVI’s sudden resignation.

“If we’re going to make a good decision, I’m sure we’ll have to have some information on that,” South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier told reporters on the sidelines of the meetings.

Asked whether there would have to be a reform of the Roman Curia, the central government of the Catholic Church, Napier said: “That naturally is going to come into the picture as well.”

French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin said: “We want to know what’s going on inside the Vatican, which has been a bit knocked about in recent years.”

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VIRGINIA
The Virginian-Pilot

By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
March 4, 2013

NORFOLK

A Roman Catholic friar who killed himself in Pennsylvania a month ago amid allegations that he molested dozens of schoolboys for decades was on the faculty at a parochial school in Norfolk in the 1970s.

Now an organization of clergy abuse victims wants to know whether he molested students then.

Brother Stephen Baker, 62, stabbed himself in the heart at a monastery in central Pennsylvania on Jan. 26, days after it was disclosed that 11 of his accusers in Ohio received financial settlements. Since that disclosure, attorneys say, more than 50 additional accusers have come forward.

Baker, a member of the Franciscan Friars, Third Order Regular, was on the faculty at James Barry Robinson High School, a Catholic boys boarding school in Norfolk, early in his career. The facility closed as a school in 1977 and is now a treatment center for emotionally disturbed children.

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VATICAN CITY
Oregonian

By The Associated Press
on March 04, 2013

VATICAN CITY — They came, they took an oath of secrecy, and they agreed to send a message to the previous pope, whose resignation has thrown the church into turmoil and unleashed a new wave of scandals.

The cardinals meeting to choose the next pope started work Monday on planning their conclave. Benedict XVI remained holed up at the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo, his temporary retirement home while cardinals pick his successor.

And in a sartorial symbol of the impending transition, a tailor on Monday unveiled three new white papal cassocks — small, medium and large — that will be sent to the Vatican so the new pope has something to wear as soon as he’s elected.

“We need to deliver these three garments before the conclave starts because obviously we cannot enter inside the conclave once it starts,” tailor Lorenzo Gammarelli said Monday.

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VATICAN CITY
Baltimore Sun

Reuters
10:17 a.m. EST, March 4, 2013

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – An Italian consumer group on Monday urged Rome prosecutors to question U.S. cardinal Roger Mahony, who is in the city to attend the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict, over a sexual abuse cover-up scandal in the United States.

The Codacons group said it had asked Rome prosecutors several days ago to investigate sexual abuse Mahony is accused of covering up in the 1980s, and to try to establish whether minors or Italian citizens were among the victims.

“Considering the cardinal is present in the capital, we believe magistrates must summon him before the start of the conclave, or in any case before he returns to the United States, in order to gain useful insight,” the group said in a statement.

As archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985, Mahony worked to send priests known to be abusers out of the state to shield them from law enforcement scrutiny, according to church files unsealed under a U.S. court order in January.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, informed reporters on the proceedings of the first of the General Congregations of the College of Cardinals. The cardinals’ meeting took place this morning at 9:30am in the Synod Hall, which is located above the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican building created by the Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi.

The Congregation was headed by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College, accompanied by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., camerlengo of the Apostolic Camera, and Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary of the Congregation for Bishops. The members of the College took their places following the hierarchical order of precedence: first those belonging to the order of Cardinal-bishops, then the Cardinal-priests, and finally the Cardinal-deacons. Each cardinal has an assigned seat to facilitate the process of voting.

After the opening prayer, “Veni Sancte Spiritus”, followed by the “Adsumus” prayer, Cardinal Sodano greeted those present in Italian, informing them of the procedures related to the Sede Vacante and how the Congregations, regulated by the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis”, will operate. Following that, technical guidance on the use of microphones and the voting apparatuses was given. The proceedings are being simultaneously translated in five languages: Italian, French, German, Spanish, and English.

There were 142 of the total 207 cardinals present this morning; 103 of those present were Cardinal electors. Expected to arrive this afternoon and tomorrow, therefore, are 63 others including the remaining 12 Cardinal electors. This number—115 Cardinal electors—takes into account the two cardinals who have already indicated that they will not be attending: the archbishop emeritus of Jakarta, Indonesia and the archbishop emeritus of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Scotland.

The gathered cardinals swore to keep secret the deliberations for the election of the future Pope, after which the Cardinal dean, Angleo Sodano, read the oath in Latin, everyone present reciting along with him. After that, each cardinal, according to their order of precedence came forward and took the oath before a Crucifix and with their hand on the Gospels. This process occupied a good portion of the meeting’s time.

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ROME
Vatican Insider

From their headquarters on the Janiculum Hill in Rome, American cardinals are preparing for the Conclave with readings, meetings and prayers

Alessandro Speciale
Vatican City

“Someone who is able to teach and communicate well,” Cardinal DiNardo says; a man of “deep faith” who has the capacity “to touch the hearts of young people” and continue the work of the new evangelisation, the Capuchin monk, Sean O’Malley adds.

From their headquarters on the Janiculum Hill, in Rome, not far from the “Bambino Gesù” hospital, American cardinals are busy preparing for the Conclave. If the election of St. Peter’s successor was a team game and the organisation of each team counted, the American Church would definitely win hands down. Not just because their team is second only to Italy in terms of its number of Conclave members (more than a quarter of the Conclave’s members belong to the contentious Italian fleet), but because no other group has brought its Episcopal Conference’s communication team all the way to Rome to assist the platoon of cardinals called to elect the new Pope.

On Thursday evening, after less than an hour had passed since the Pope’s departure for Castel Gandolfo, before the sede vacante period had even started, three American cardinals agreed to answer journalist’s questions on the future Pope’s profile and on how cardinals prepare for the most secret election process in the world.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

When Australia’s Cardinal George Pell goes into the conclave to elect the new Pope he will be looking for a candidate that is a strategist, a decision maker, has good and proven pastoral qualities, and the ability to govern

Gerard O’Connell
Rome

Cardinal George Pell, 71, the Archbishop of Sydney, participated in the 2005 conclave which elected Benedict XVI and is now in Rome again to vote in the conclave to elect his successor.

In this interview at Domus Australia he reflects on the resignation of Benedict XVI and speaks about the major challenges facing the Church today and tells me the qualities he is looking for in the candidate to be next pope.

Were you surprised, shocked by the resignation of Benedict XVI?

I was certainly surprised by the timing. I was aware that he was open to the possibility of retirement if he felt he wasn’t up to it. He had said as much in Seewald’s book. I was aware that he had visited the tomb of Celestine V, and I think he left his pallium there. So all those were signs that resignation was a live option for him, but I certainly didn’t expect it at that time.

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on March 04, 2013

Even a tiny bit of progress beats no progress at all. And any acknowledgement, however slight, that Catholic officials have hurt others can bring a small bit of comfort to the wounded.

In that sense, we’re glad this investigation has been announced. At the same time, however, we believe that every person who may have seen, suspected or suffered Cardinal O’Brien’s misconduct should report first to law enforcement authorities. It may seem, initially, that no criminal charges are likely. But in recent years, secular authorities have slowly begun to be more creative and aggressive in pursuing sexual predators, even those who hurt adults and even years later.

And we recall, with deep sadness and frustration, another Vatican probe of a high profile cleric who was a serial offender – Fr. Marcial Maciel. That investigation took years and years, despite multiple credible accusers, and resulted in a very tepid, belated and oblique ‘admonition,’ which enabled many of Maciel’s backers to continue to believe in his alleged innocence. So announcing a Vatican investigation is easy. Making sure it’s fair, thorough and results (if the evidence warrants it) in a harsh penalty that will deter future wrongdoing by others is apparently hard.

Finally, Catholic officials will often make impressive promises when public pressure is mounting. The real test is how they act once public attention wanes. We welcome the day when the Vatican promptly and voluntarily discloses credible allegations against a prominent church official without external pressure.

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ROME
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on March 04, 2013

Roughly 90 prelates – too old to vote in the conclave – will take part in the General Congregation of Cardinals meetings. SNAP believes that a number of them (Sodano, Connell, Egan, Castrillón Hoyos, Law, McCarrick, and others) are guilty of – or credibly accused of – protecting child molesting clerics. Their peers should push them to stay home, or they should do so voluntarily, the group feels, for the sake of the church and to avoid heaping more pain on wounded victims and betrayed Catholics.

Sodano, Angelo
In 2010, on Easter Sunday 2010, as hundreds of brave victims across Europe were breaking their silence and exposing predator priests and complicit bishops, Sodano called the growing crisis “petty gossip.” He also repeatedly protected the late, now-disgraced Fr. Marciel Maciel-Degollado, founder and leader of the Legion of Christ, delaying an investigation into Maciel’s heinous sexual crimes and abuses for years and disingenuously “clearing” Maciel while the probe was actually still in process.

Egan, Edward M.
“Egan, while serving as bishop of the Bridgeport Diocese, allowed several priests facing multiple accusations of sexual abuse to continue working for years – including one who admitted biting a teenager during oral sex. Egan failed to investigate aggressively some abuse allegations, did not refer complaints to criminal authorities and, during closed testimony in 1999, suggested that a dozen people who made complaints of rape, molestation and beatings against the same priest may have all been lying, the documents show.”

Last year in Connecticut Magazine, Egan claimed “I never had one of these sex abuse cases, either in Bridgeport or here (New York). Not one,” and “I don’t think we did anything wrong” and “I’m very proud of how this thing was handled” and “I believe the sex abuse thing was incredibly good,” and “There really wasn’t much hidden” and “I do think it’s time to get off this subject” and “I don’t think I should be upset about that, or you should be, or anybody else” and “I believe that the cases I had were each handled just exactly as they should have been” and “I did exactly what we were told to do. And as a result, not one of them (the accused priests) did a thing out of line” and “I’m not the slightest bit surprised that, of course, the scandal was going to be fun in the news” and “If you have another bishop in the US who has the record I have, I’d be happy to know who he is.”

While in Bridgeport, Egan tried to evade responsibility for child molesting clerics by claiming, in court, that his priests didn’t really work for him but were instead “independent contractors.”

Hoyos, Castrillion
“Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos. . . . has routinely defended the church’s practice of not reporting abuse to police. At the height of the Vatican’s sex abuse scandal last year, Castrillon Hoyos told a Colombian radio station that no one should be forced to report abuse.” (according to Nicole Winfield of the Associated Press last year)

“In 2002, Rodriguez set off a tempest in the United States by comparing media criticism of the Catholic Church in light of the sex abuse scandals to persecutions under the Roman emperors Nero and Diocletian, as well as Hitler and Stalin. He suggested that the American media was trying to distract attention from the Israel/Palestinian conflict, hinting that it reflected the influence of the Jewish lobby.” (according to John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter this week)

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Andrew Brown
guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 March 2013

The fall of Keith O’Brien is more than just the humiliation of a proud and lonely man – a humiliation certain to be prolonged by the apparent dishonesty of his partial confession. It is also a further suggestion that the discipline of celibacy can’t much longer be maintained for the vast majority of the Catholic priesthood.

I don’t want to suggest that celibacy is impossible or pointless. Clearly it need be neither. I have known some very good, honest, loving and trustworthy people who have taken vows of celibacy and so far as I know they have kept them. I have also known a brilliant alcoholic whose life never really recovered from leaving the Jesuits to marry. The only major religion that places no value on celibacy at all is Judaism – and there are plenty of sex scandals involving rabbis, too. Marriage on its own solves no more problems than celibacy does.

But the Roman Catholic church is the only major denomination that tries to enforce celibacy on all its clergy almost without exception. There are a number of Eastern Catholic churches that contain married parish clergy but celibate bishops drawn from their monastic orders. In the UK, America and Australia, there are a few married former Anglican clergy. No successors are planned for them. The ban has been in place since the 12th century, and more or less enforced since the counter-reformation of the mid-16th century.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Michelangelo Signorile

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s highest ranking Catholic cleric until he resigned last week, now admits he did in fact engage in inappropriate “sexual conduct” with priests, as the Vatican scandals rock on in the wake of Benedict XVI’s resignation. But O’Brien’s story appears to underscore a larger, more pervasive reality about the dangers of the closet in society, and how it can be a corrupting force when combined with power, as I pointed out in a post a few weeks ago about former New York City mayor Ed Koch.

Powerful closeted gay men, driven by an almost pathological fear of being exposed, many times engage in two often destructive activities: 1) speaking out against gays and homosexuality, or courting those who are anti-gay, in a desperate attempt to show they are not gay themselves, and 2) seeking sex through risky channels, feeling they have no choice because they’re unable to freely have sexual encounters via public, every day social situations, like dating or going to bar or public places.

We’ve seen this over and over again: the homophobic hypocrite caught trying to have sex in public restroom stalls or posting nude photos online. Another way the powerful and closeted seek sex, however, is by engaging in workplace sexual harassment and abuse against men who are compromised (sometimes, but not always, closeted and conflicted themselves) and fearful of being fired from their jobs if they rebuff sexual advances.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Cardinal Roger M. Mahony expressed “amazement” at calls that he withdraw from the upcoming papal conclave because of his record on clergy sex abuse and said the Vatican, acting through its ambassador to the United States, had instructed him to take part in the election of the next pope.

“I’m here because the Holy Father appointed me a cardinal in 1991, and the primary job of a cardinal, the No. 1 job, is actually the election of a new pope should a vacancy occur,” the cardinal told Catholic News Service Feb. 28, two days after arriving in Rome.

“Without my even having to inquire, the nuncio in Washington phoned me a week or so ago and said, ‘I have had word from the highest folks in the Vatican: You are to come to Rome and you are to participate in the conclave’,” the cardinal said.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, replied to a request for comment that the cardinal’s statement “can be understood in light of the communique of the Secretariat of State that insisted on the importance of not giving in to external pressures that might limit the freedom of the electors and the conclave.”

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CANADA
The Globe and Mail

TU THANH HA
The Globe and Mail

As cardinals from around the world gather in Rome for closed-door meetings before choosing a successor to Benedict XVI, Canada’s Marc Ouellet is reluctantly acknowledging that he has to be prepared for the possibility that he could become the next pontiff.

In an interview he gave to the CBC, Cardinal Ouellet was asked about the fact that he is considered a front-runner to be the next successor of Saint Peter.

The 68-year-old Quebecker paused and had a long sigh before answering cautiously.

“I have to be ready even if I think that probably others could do it better,” Cardinal Ouellet said. “We have to be, to some extent, prepared.”

He alluded to the old saying that the man who enters the conclave already anointed pope is usually the one who will leave still a cardinal.

“My name is circulating, but I am very careful to go beyond this sort of media expectations.”

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CANADA
Toronto Star

ST-MATHIEU-DE-HARRICANA, QUE.—The possibility of a Canadian Pope is embraced by the hometown of the Quebec cardinal who’s being mentioned as a likely successor to Pope Benedict.

Many residents in Cardinal Marc Ouellet’s hometown of La Motte say it would be an honour to have one of their own become pope.

Leo Paul Larouche says the townsfolk are closely following the news from the Vatican as cardinals prepare to select the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The 68-year-old Ouellet is a popular figure in La Motte, where he was born, raised and ordained as a priest.

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ROME
Worldcrunch

Brazilian Cardinals Want To See ‘Vatileaks’ Findings Before Conclave

FOLHA DE S. PAULO/Worldcrunch

ROME – Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo, one of the five Brazilians set to participate in the conclave to pick the next pope, said that he will request access to the secret report delivered to Benedict XVI with information on scandals within the Church.

Last week, the Holy See said that the findings of so-called “Vatileaks” case, in a report delivered to then Pope Benedict XVI by a trio of over-80 Cardinals, will only be delivered to the new pontiff. The scandal, which was first exposed in early 2012, involved leaked papal documents and an alleged ring of corruption inside the Vatican — and eventually led to the arrest of the Pope’s butler Paolo Gabriele.

Cardinal Agnelo, 79, emeritus archbishop of Sao Salvador da Bahia and primate emeritus of Brazil, wants the report given to the 115 cardinals who are going to vote in the conclave.

“If there was a comission and they reached any conclusion, we will want to know it,” he told Folha.

Citing unnamed sources, the Italian magazine “Panorama” and the Rome daily “La Repubblica” claim the report describes a network of corruption and homosexual prostitution within the Holy See. Some sources say it was part of the reason Benedict decided to resign.

The Vatican has denounced the Italian press’ versions of events.

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