ABUSE TRACKER

ESPANA
Ideal

ANDER AZPIROZ | MADRID

La religiosa María Gómez Valbuena no se ha presentado esta mañana en los madrileños juzgados de Plaza de Castilla, donde estaba citada como imputada por el supuesto robo en 1981 de dos gemelas recién nacidas. En su lugar, su abogado, José María Calero, ha registrado dos certificados médicos para solicitar el aplazamiento de la declaración de Sor María. Ahora, el magistrado del caso deberá decidir si acude al domicilio de la religiosa para tomarle declaración o bien la cita para otro día.

Quien sí ha acudido a los juzgados fue Purificación Betegón, la madre de las dos gemelas. Visiblemente emocionada y con voz entrecortada, la denunciante ha pedido que se aclare qué fue lo que ocurrió con sus hijas y saber dónde se encuentran ahora. También ha tachado de “tomadura de pelo la incomparecencia de Sor María”, porque, según ha explicado, una persona no se pone tan enferma de la noche a la mañana. En cualquier caso, Betegón se ha mostrado convencida de que la religiosa no la ayudará a dar a con hijas: “Llevo 32 años buscando a mis hijas y sé que ella no me va a dar ninguna pista para encontrarlas”. Según explicó a las puertas de los juzgados, cuando nacieron sus hijas Sor María intentó convencerla con insistencia para que diera a las niñas en adopción dada su condición de madre soltera y con un hijo anterior.

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ESPANA
Diario Cordoba

EUROPA PRESS 18/01/2013

La mujer que acusa a la monja María Gómez Valbuena, conocida como ‘Sor María’, de robarle a sus dos gemelas justo después de nacer hace 32 años, Purificación Betegón, ha afirmado este viernes que la incomparecencia de la religiosa por causas médicas es una “tomadura de pelo” porque “una persona no se pone enferma de la noche a la mañana”. Betegón, que este mediodía se ha acercado a los juzgados de Plaza de Castilla para seguir la comparecencia prevista de Sor María por este caso, ha afirmado que no le sorprende que la monja se acoja “a la quita enmienda” y no haya acudido a declarar.

“Si no ha reconocido que ha robado a mis hijas desde hace más de 30 años no lo va a hacer ahora. Me lo esperaba. Llevo 32 años buscando a mis hijas y sé que ella no me va a dar ninguna pista para encontrarlas”, ha añadido.

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SPAIN
IOL

January 18 2013
By SAPA

Madrid, Spain – Spanish judges have launched a fresh investigation of a nun accused of stealing newborns in the 1980s, a suspected widespread practice dating from the Franco dictatorship, a lawyer said Friday.

Sister Maria Gomez Valbuena, 87, in April last year was the first person to go before a judge over the “stolen babies” scandal, in which the regime allowed children to be taken from their parents on moral or ideological grounds.

In that case she was questioned by a judge investigating her role in the kidnapping of a newborn girl from a Madrid hospital three decades ago.

Now she is accused by another mother, Purificacion Betegon, of taking away her twins in 1981, said the plaintiff’s lawyer, Alipio Barbero.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on January 18, 2013

For the first time in history, a US Catholic diocese is headed by a convicted criminal. So what’s next for Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn?

He’ll declare bankruptcy in the months ahead. That’s my prediction.

It’s always risky to claim to know what the future holds. But look at the situation in KC.

–More than two dozen civil child sex abuse and cover up lawsuits are pending.
–So too is a suit by almost 50 victims who say Finn broke a 2008 contract with them – in a variety of ways – by continuing to protect predators and endanger kids.
— Some of the pending cases involve recent crimes and other misdeeds regarding Fr. Shawn Ratigan.

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

[UPDATED with Cross Dressing, Sex Shop:] Chad McCluskey and Kristen Laschober, Typical OC Couple, Tied with Priest to Meth Ring: Feds

By Matt Coker
Fri., Jan. 18 2013

See the update at the end of this post about new revelations about the Orange County couple and apparently kinky Connecticut priest.

ORIGINAL POST, JAN. 18, 8:08 A.M.: It’s not difficult to find San Clemente’s Chad McCluskey online. His Facebook, Twitter and online photo sharing pages–open to all, just Google him–show a 43-year-old who loves family, his girlfriend and snapping pictures on vacation, at pop concerts and of his remodeling projects. He just seems to be the average Orange County dude, one you’d never expect to be held in federal lockup in Connecticut on charges of being part of a meth-sales ring that includes his lover and a Roman Catholic monsignor.

The good news here is we finally have a story here involving a priest and a refreshingly different kind of pipe smoking. The bad news for Father Kevin Wallin, who formerly served at St. Augustine’s Cathedral parish in Bridgeport, Conn., as well as McCluskey, his girlfriend Kristen Laschober, 47, of Laguna Niguel, and two other Connecticut men is they are all charged under a federal indictment with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Kristen Laschober and Chad McCluskey on vacation in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says sentencing guidelines for the federal conspiracy counts range from 10 years to life in prison and fines up to $10 million.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Pottstown Mercury

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jurors are breaking for the weekend after a bombshell claim in a priest-abuse trial in Philadelphia.

The long weekend comes after imprisoned former priest Edward Avery denied abusing a policeman’s son in 1999 — despite his plea to the contrary.

The 70-year-old Avery says he took a plea deal for sexual assault and conspiracy rather than risk more prison time if convicted at trial. He’s serving 2 1/2 to five years.

The 24-year-old accuser, after a long struggle with heroin addiction, says he was raped by Avery, the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and ex-teacher Bernard Shero.

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CONNECTICUT
NBC Connecticut

By LeAnne Gendreau
Friday, Jan 18, 2013

The criminal complaint for a former Bridgeport priest charged in a federal crystal meth case gives a more in-depth look at what he is accused of.

According to court documents, Msg. Kevin Wallin, 61, had a crystal meth addiction and sold the drug out of his Waterbury apartment as well as the parking lot of Land of Oz in North Haven, an adult specialty store and smoke shop, which he bought in the fall.

Investigators believe that Wallin bought the store with drug proceeds and might have intended to use it to launder drug money, according to the complaint.

Drug Enforcement Agents in New Haven started investigating in July 2012 after New York drug investigators contacted them to look into a Connecticut-based drug trafficker distributing crystal meth in the Tri-state are.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has congratulated Monsignor Eamon Martin on his appointment as coadjutor bishop in the Archdiocese of Armagh.

Mr McGuinness said he has known Monsignor Martin for many years.

He described him as a progressive thinker who has demonstrated an ability to connect with ordinary Catholics.

“This move provides an opportunity for renewal within the Irish Catholic Church so badly damaged by the handling of the criminal abuse of children.”

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

The Taoiseach says the appointment of a successor to Cardinal Seán Brady with someone who has a child protection background is “very welcome”.

Monsignor Eamon Martin is to take on the role of Coadjudtor Bishop of Armagh – meaning he’ll take over eventually from Cardinal Brady.

Enda Kenny will meet with Cardinal Brady and a number of bishops this afternoon, where the plans to introduce abortion legislation are expected to dominate the agenda.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

THE Taoiseach Enda Kenny today welcomed the announcement of the appointment of Monsignor Eamon Martin as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh and successor to Catholic primate Cardinal Sean Brady when he retires.

“It’s a matter entirely for the Catholic Church but I think the fact that the new appointment has some experience of the area of children protection and security obviously is very welcome,” he said.

The Taoiseach said that he had “very good relations with the Catholic Church”, adding that he was due to meet Cardinal Brady this afternoon to talk about what he described as “a very long agenda as part of the structure dialogue that I have with the churches. I’m very happy to engage with the [Catholic] church. We have lots to talk about”.

However, relations have been strained between the Catholic hierarchy and the government due to a number of issues, including the closure of Ireland’s Vatican embassy, the Taoiseach’s post-Cloyne Report criticism of the Holy See’s handling of child abuse scandals, and the coalition’s decision last month to proceed with legislation on the Supreme Court abortion ruling.

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IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, is to retire by 2015 at the earliest.

Monsignor Eamon Martin, administrator of the Diocese of Derry and a former teacher, has been named his successor and appointed assistant in the Archdiocese of Armagh during the transition.

One of his first roles will be to lobby for the church’s anti-abortion stance as the Irish Government legislates to allow terminations on strict medical grounds.

After a wide-ranging address to parishioners in Armagh following the announcement, the 52-year-old said the church had to have the courage to speak out on issues.

“Sometimes it is a voice that people would prefer not to hear, particularly on the issue of abortion,” Monsignor Martin said.

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IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Friday, 18 January 2013

The appointment of an assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Armagh marks the beginning of the end of Cardinal Sean Brady’s 48 years in the Catholic Church.

Well regarded as a teacher and from his time at the Irish College Rome, the religious leader is broadly considered a decent man.

But his clerical career will be forever clouded by his mishandling of a probe into predatory paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

Cardinal Brady has faced a clamour of calls for his resignation over the scandal after it emerged he failed to share allegations of child sex abuse from the 1970s with police and the victims’ parents.

He personally swore 14-year-old Brendan Boland to secrecy after interviewing him in the 1975 inquiry into the charges against Smyth. The teenager’s accusations, including names and addresses of other potential victims, were kept under wraps.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY | Fri Jan 18, 2013

(Reuters) – Pope Benedict on Friday appointed the new head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland to succeed Cardinal Sean Brady, whose tenure has been plagued by scandal over the sexual abuse of children on the predominantly Roman Catholic island.

The Vatican said Monsignor Eamon Martin, 51, had been named “coadjutor” archbishop of Armagh, meaning he will automatically succeed Brady when he retires next year.

Brady, who will remain primate until his retirement, has resisted calls by three of the four main parties in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister to resign over the sexual abuse scandal.

The Vatican’s move was seen as an attempt to give him a soft exit. While it spared him the embarrassment of stepping down before his scheduled retirement, he will effectively be sidestepped as Martin takes over the running of the diocese.

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CONNECTICUT
Fox News

The Catholic priest indicted by a federal grand jury in an alleged nationwide methamphetamine ring was reportedly suspended after Connecticut church officials discovered he was a cross-dresser who was having sex in the rectory at Bridgeport’s St. Augustine Cathedral.

The Connecticut Post reports that Monsignor Kevin Wallin was relieved of his duties in May, but the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport continued to pay the 61-year-old man a stipend until his Jan. 3 arrest. Wallin had planned to fly to London that day, the newspaper reports.

At one point, Wallin, who is now dubbed “Msgr. Meth” by some, was selling upwards of $9,000 of meth a week, including shipments from Connecticut to California, according to his indictment.

In his post-priesthood life, Wallin, of Waterbury, purchased an adult specialty and video store in North Haven called Land of Oz that sold sex toys and adult videos. Investigators believe the shop helped him launder thousands of dollars in weekly profits, the newspaper reports.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic News Agency

By Michelle Bauman

Washington D.C., Jan 18, 2013 / 04:05 am (CNA).- Amid speculation over the next U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, concerns have been raised about the possibility of appointing individuals known for criticizing the views of the bishops.

“From the steps Obama has taken in the last year, it would seem that he is trying to diminish Church influence,” a Vatican official told CNA.

The official, who requested anonymity, pointed to the administration’s contraception mandate as an example. The controversial mandate, which has been repeatedly criticized by the bishops in the U.S., requires employers to offer insurance plans covering contraception, sterilization and drugs that can cause early abortions. …

Two of the individuals listed by Allen are known for recently criticizing the stance of the U.S. bishops with regard to respect life issues and religious freedom.

One of these men is Stephen F. Schneck, director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America and formerly the chair of the university’s politics department.

Schneck is affiliated with both Democrats for Life of America and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, a social justice advocacy group that has been criticized by numerous bishops for causing confusion about the priority of moral issues by downplaying the significance of fundamental matters like abortion – while giving heavy weight to issues such as the environment. …

Another name listed as a possible contender for ambassador was Nicholas P. Cafardi, the former dean of the Duquesne University School of Law. A canon and civil lawyer, Cafardi was an original member and the second chairman of the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Youth.

He drew criticism with a 2008 article arguing that while he was a “committed Catholic,” he was throwing his support behind Obama for president, despite his stance on abortion.

“I believe that we have lost the abortion battle – permanently,” Cafardi said.

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IRELAND
BBC News

Monsignor Eamon Martin has said he was “shocked” and “humbled” when he found out the Pope had nominated him as Coadjutor (assistant) Archbishop to the Archdiocese of Armagh.

The new role means he will work directly under Cardinal Sean Brady, the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, and is expected to eventually replace the 73-year-old primate.

Monsignor Martin, 52, currently leads the Diocese of Derry, in his caretaker role as diocesan administrator.

‘Trepidation’

He was elected as administrator in November 2011, following the retirement of the Bishop of Derry, Seamus Hegarty, who stepped down on health grounds.

In a statement on Friday, the new coadjutor archbishop said he was “humbled and honoured” by the appointment, but also admitted that he had accepted the role with “considerable nervousness and trepidation”.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Sonya McLean

Friday January 18 2013

A serial child abuser and former priest has received a three-year suspended sentence for molesting a ten-year-old boy 30 years ago.

Patrick Maguire (75) who is currently living under a strict regime with the Columban Fathers in Dalgan Park, in Navan, County Meath, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to indecently assaulting the boy in Dublin on dates between October 1, 1981 and May 1, 1982.

The ex-priest has 15 previous convictions for similar offences of abusing young boys and is a registered sex offender.

Maguire’s defence counsel Shane Costelloe BL told Judge Mary Ellen Ring that there are more charges pending against his client that are currently before the courts and other people have since made complaints to the gardaí.

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CONNECTICUT
Gawker

Cross-Dressing, Show-Tunes-Loving Connecticut Priest Busted for Selling Meth and Laundering Money Through His Sex Shop

Neetzan Zimmerman

Following news that one of their former priests was arrested earlier this month for his alleged involvement in a cross-county meth ring, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, released a statement expressing “shock and concern” for the “gifted, accomplished and compassionate” Monsignor.

But sources tell the Connecticut Post that the Diocese had been aware of Msgr. Kevin Wallin’s “personal problems” since receiving complaints nearly two years ago from rectory personnel at St. Augustine Cathedral that Wallin was “engaging in sex acts” with “odd-looking men” while “sometimes dressed as a woman.”

And then there’s this:

Wallin’s arrest sent shock waves through the Bridgeport and Danbury communities where he was known as a charismatic speaker who was involved in many charitable activities, and who enjoyed Broadway musicals and show tunes. He often attended musicals with his mentor, former N.Y. Cardinal Edward Egan and parishioners.

Wallin, who was St. Augustine’s pastor, was granted a sabbatical in July 2011 to seek a health assessment, but was suspended in May 2012 after failing to show up for follow-up examination.

Still, he continued to receive a stipend from the Diocese up until his January 3rd arrest for possession and distribution of methamphetamine.

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VATICAN CITY/IRELAND
Vatican Insider

Benedict XVI has nominated Eamon Martin as coadjutor (assistant) Archbishop of Armagh: He will succeed Cardinal Brady who was found to have covered up abuse cases

Vatican Insider staff
Rome

Benedict XVI has appointed Mgr. Eamon Martin as new coadjutor (assistant) Archbishop of Armagh, in Northern Ireland. 51-year-old Mgr. Martin became Diocesan Administrator of Derry, after the previous bishop Mgr. Seamus Hegarty resigned in 2011. As the new coadjutor, Martin will become the successor of the current Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Sean Brady, and as such is in line to become the next Primate of the Irish Catholic Church.

The new coadjutor archbishop’s appointment comes after repeated requests were made for Brady’s resignation because he had kept quiet about cases of sex abuse committed by priests against minors. The cardinal himself admitted to the cover-ups.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

A 75 year-old Columban missionary who has a history of sexually abusing children has been given a 3-year suspended sentence for an indecent assault on a boy in the early 1980s.

Fr Patrick Maguire admits fondling the boy who stayed overnight at his house in North Dublin on a date in 1981 or 1982.

He has 15 previous convictions.

His victim feels the abuse has impaired almost every aspect of his life but asked Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to impose a lenient sentence.

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HAWAII
Damon Tucker: Hawaii News and Island Information

Victims of sexual abuse are blasting a Honolulu high school for publicizing a scholarship named after a three-time accused predator priest.

In a letter to the president and board of directors of Maryknoll High School, members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPNetwork.org) say that a scholarship honoring accused predator priest Fr. James A. Jackson “hurts victims and discourages them from speaking up, thus endangering more kids.”

They are urging that the scholarship be dissolved.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

ONE of a family of 12 children, Monsignor Eamon Martin was born in 1961 in Pennyburn in Derry.

His mother, Catherine Crossan, lives in Derry and his father, John James Martin, died in 2006.

A Diocesan Administrator for the Diocese of Derry, he is a regular contributor to the BBC’s Thought for the Day and Sunday Morning Worship, and RTE programmes.

He has a keen interest in gardening and music, particularly in choral, classical music and Gregorian chant.

He has become well-known in the North for his reforms in education and interest in children’s rights.

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IRELAND
Independent Catholic News

Cardinal Seán Brady announced this morning that Pope Benedict has appointed Mgr Eamon Martin, the Diocesan Administrator of Derry, as Coadjutor Bishop of the Archdiocese. Mgr Martin will assist the Cardinal in his work and should succeed Cardinal Brady as Archbishop on his retirement.

Speaking at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, the Cardinal congratulated Monsignor Martin and thanked Pope Benedict for his appointment. “Today, in choosing Mgr Eamon Martin for the office of bishop, he has chosen a man of great gifts and great generosity who knows how to use those talents in the education of people – young and old,” he said.

Mgr Martin said he was shocked by the appointment but looking forward to his new role. “I was shocked some days ago, when I heard Archbishop Brown say that Pope Benedict XVI had nominated me as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh. I am very conscious of the great trust that the Holy Father has placed in me, but in truth I have to admit it was with considerable nervousness and trepidation that I accepted his call,” he said.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 18 January 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father:

– appointed Bishop Heiner Koch as bishop of the diocese of Dresden-Meissen (area 17,000, population 4,271,000, Catholics 139,890, priests 241, permanent deacons 11, religious 208), Germany. Bishop Koch, titular of Ros Cré, was born in 1954 in Dusseldorf, Germany, was ordained to the priesthood in 1980, and received episcopal ordination in 2006. Bishop Koch was previously auxiliary of Köln (Cologne), Germany. …

– appointed Msgr. Eamon Martin as coadjutor archbishop of the metropolitan archdiocese of Armagh (area 2,550, population 333,758, Catholics 227,120, priests 187, religious 391), Ireland. The bishop-elect, previously diocesan administrator of the diocese of Derry since 2010, was born in 1961 in Derry, Ireland, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1987. Msgr. Martin was appointed chaplain to His Holiness in 2011.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Times

By PHIL HERON,
editor@delcotimes.com
@philheron

It’s pretty safe to say this was not what the prosecution had in mind when they put the Rev. Edward Avery on the stand Thursday. Avery was called to testify for the prosecution in the trial of another priest and a Catholic school teacher on charges they raped an altar boy and student at a parish in Northeast Philly back in 1998-199.

But it sure didn’t sound like it. Avery, who had pleaded guilty to similar charges involving this accuser nearly a year ago, had something else he wanted to say. The defrocked priest quickly turned into what is referred in legal circles as a “hostile witness.”

Ya think?

Avery stunned prosecutors by denying he had ever raped the boy, recanting his earlier admission and guilty plea. Furthermore, the 70-year-old ex-cleric said he only pleaded guilty – in the process admitting he raped the boy – because he was afraid that if he went to trial and was convicted, he would have been sent to jai for the rest of his life. As part of his plea deal, Avery is instead serving two and a half to five years in prison.

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CONNECTICUT
God Discussion

Alleged meth dealing priest arrested in Connecticut in drug ring bust; liked sex in rectory according to sources

By Dakota O’Leary
On January 18, 2013

Monsignor Kevin Wallin, a Catholic priest, was arrested in a bust in Connecticut. He allegedly dealt crystal meth, but wasn’t officially relieved of his duties until church officials found out he was a cross-dresser who liked to have sex in the rectory of St.Augustine Cathedral in Bridgeport, CT. CT Post reports:

Now dubbed “Msgr. Meth” by some, Wallin seemed to live a life that easily could have been ripped from the script of “Breaking Bad,” the popular AMC series about a high school chemistry teacher turned crystal methamphetamine producer. At one point, Wallin was selling upwards of $9,000 of meth a week, according to his indictment.

In his post-priesthood, Wallin, 61, bought an adult specialty and video store in North Haven called Land of Oz that sells sex toys and X-rated DVDs. Investigators believe the shop helped him launder thousands of dollars in weekly profits.

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CONNECTICUT
New York Post

By DAN MANGAN
Last Updated: 5:23 AM, January 18, 2013

Walter White has nothing on this man of God.

A Connecticut priest — who once was a top aide to Edward Cardinal Egan — was busted for selling ultra-pure crystal meth shipped to him by California co-conspirators, law-enforcement officials said yesterday.

Monsignor Kevin Wallin, 61, faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted of the drug conspiracy, which echoes the hit AMC show “Breaking Bad,” where mild-mannered science teacher White becomes a drug kingpin.

Wallin was likely slinging meth to help fund his purchase of a shop selling drug paraphernalia, adult movies and toys, authorities said.

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CONNECTICUT
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

By Sam Adams

Accused: Msgr Kevin Wallin was allegedly suspended by the Church for having sex in his rectory. He has also been charged by police with distributing crystal meth in a cross-country ring

A Connecticut priest at the centre of a meth drug-dealing gang has been suspended over allegations he had sex in his rectory.

Monsignor Kevin Wallin was relieved of his duties in May last year after complaints were made by staff at his residence in Bridgeport.

The news will embarrass the Church as the priest also faces charges of helping run a cross-country methamphetamine distribution ring.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

Monsignor Eamon Martin, administrator of Derry diocese, has been appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh with the right in canon law to succeed the Catholic primate Cardinal Sean Brady when he retires.

Cardinal Brady would have been due to retire when he reached the age of 75 in August 2014 and he may continue in office until that date.

The Cardinal has been subject to much criticism since it emerged in March 2010 that he had conducted inquiries into allegations of child sex abuse involving Fr Brendan Smyth in 1975 at the conclusion of which he swore two boys to secrecy who he believed were abused by the priest.

Following the then Fr Brady’s investigation, Fr Smyth was prevented from ministering in Cardinal Brady’s native Kilmore diocese until 1984. The civil authorities were not informed of Fr Smyth’s abuse of children and he continued to abuse young people until shortly before his imprisonment by a Belfast court in 1994

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IRELAND
UTV

The Catholic Church have announced the appointment of an assistant bishop, who will eventually succeed Cardinal Sean Brady in the Armagh Archdiocese.

Monsignor Eamon Martin, Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Derry, was named on Friday morning as recipient of the role of Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh.

Speaking at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in the city, the respected cleric said that he had reflected a lot “on this new calling from God in my life” over the last few days.

“I am humbled and honoured to serve as bishop in this historic Archdiocese of Armagh.”

He went on to address the issue of abuse in his speech: “One of the greatest challenges facing our Church is to acknowledge, live with, and learn from the past, including the terrible trauma caused by abuse. I think today of all those who have been abused by clergy, and the hurt and betrayal they have experienced.

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IRELAND
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has appointed as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh, the Right Reverend Mgr Eamon Martin, Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Derry.

Notes for Editors
◦A photograph of Monsignor Martin is available from the Catholic Communications Office, Maynooth.
◦Life and ministry of Very Rev Monsignor Eamon Martin:

Eamon Martin was born on 30 October 1961 in Pennyburn, Derry. His mother Catherine Crossan lives in Derry and his father John James Martin is deceased (RIP June 2006). He comes from a family of twelve children – six boys and six girls.

Eamon Martin was ordained a priest in Saint Eugene’s Cathedral, Derry, by Bishop Edward Daly, Bishop Emeritus of Derry, on 28 June 1987. In September of that year Mgr Martin was appointed Assistant Priest, Parish of Templemore, Derry. He was appointed to the teaching staff of Saint Columb’s College, Derry in September 1990 to teach Mathematics and Religion and became Head of Religious Education in the College in September 1997. Mgr Martin was appointed President of Saint Columb’s College in May 2000.

In June 2008 Mgr Martin was appointed Executive Secretary to the Irish Episcopal Conference in Maynooth, Co Kildare. Two years later in June 2010 he was appointed Vicar General of the Diocese of Derry by Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop Emeritus of Derry. On 18 November 2010 Mgr Martin was appointed Chaplain to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and he was elected Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Derry on 25 November 2011.

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IRELAND
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Statement by Monsignor Eamon Martin on his appointment as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh

A chairde, go raibh maith agaibh as an fháilte gheal a chuir sibh romham. Is onóir é a bheith in bhur measc. Is mór agam bhur bpaidreacha agus na dea-ghuíonna go léir. My brothers and sisters in Christ: I have a whole mixture of feelings as I greet you today. I was shocked some days ago, when I heard Archbishop Brown say that Pope Benedict XVI had nominated me as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh. I am very conscious of the great trust that the Holy Father has placed in me, but in truth I have to admit it was with considerable nervousness and trepidation that I accepted his call. So it means a lot to me that you are here today – thank you for this very warm welcome. Archbishop Brown, I appreciate you taking the time to be with us and all your support. And thank you, Cardinal Brady and Bishop Clifford for welcoming me here to Armagh and for your encouragement in recent days. No doubt today, Cardinal Brady, brings back memories of when you were ordained as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh back in February 1995. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to the Archdiocese over many years. I very much look forward to working with you.

Over the past few days, I have reflected a lot on this new calling from God in my life. I am humbled and honoured to serve as bishop in this historic Archdiocese of Armagh. I feel like the apostles in chapter 5 of Luke’s Gospel, being called by Our Lord to be courageous, to ‘put out into the deep’ (Luke 5:4). And as I come to this wonderful place, Armagh, the Christian heart of Ireland – I find myself like St Patrick praying for:

God’s strength to pilot me, God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me.

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IRELAND
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Cardinal Seán Brady welcomes Appointment of Rt Rev Mgr Eamon Martin as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh

Address by Cardinal Seán Brady, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, on the Appointment of Rt Rev Mgr Eamon Martin as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh

Your Excellency, Archbishop Brown, Bishop Clifford, Mgr Martin,

My brother priests, religious, people of the diocese,

I welcome you all here to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Armagh and I thank you most sincerely for coming.

Last week the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Brown went to Limerick to announce the appointment of a new bishop, Father Brendan Leahy. On that occasion he said that he would, in the near future, be announcing the appointment, by Pope Benedict XVI of more bishops.

Archbishop Brown is a man of his word. It is my pleasure to welcome him again most warmly to Armagh and to inform you that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Mgr Eamon Martin, Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Derry, as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh.

My first reaction is one of great joy and great gratitude. I thank God for the gift of a new Coadjutor Bishop for the Diocese of Armagh. Eighteen years ago I was appointed, by Pope John Paul II, as Coadjutor Bishop to the late Cardinal Daly. In 2010, I asked the present Pope, Pope Benedict XVI to appoint a Coadjutor to assist me. Today my request has been granted and I am so very thankful to the Holy Father for acceding to my request.

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IRELAND
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Statement by Bishop Séamus Hegarty on the appointment of Monsignor Eamon Martin as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh

I warmly congratulate Monsignor Eamon Martin on his appointment as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh.

Monsignor Martin has given generous priestly service over twenty five years in the Diocese of Derry. Of particular note has been his dedicated work in the field of education, both as a teacher and as President of Saint Columb’s College, Derry. In addition to his ministry in Derry, Monsignor Martin made a great contribution to the Irish Episcopal Conference, during his time as Administrative Secretary. Having worked with Monsignor Martin for many years, I know that he will bring great dedication, energy and enthusiasm to Armagh.

I pray that God will bless Monsignor Martin’s Episcopal ministry and the people of the Archdiocese of Armagh, whom he will serve.

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IRELAND
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Statement by Bishop Edward Daly on the appointment of Monsignor Eamon Martin as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh

I wish to offer my sincere congratulations, good wishes and God’s blessing to Monsignor Eamon Martin on his appointment as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh.

Over the last 25 years, Eamon has served both the Derry Diocese and the Irish Episcopal Conference with distinction. He has fulfilled all the various major responsibilities entrusted to him since his ordination with outstanding ability. He will bring many skills and gifts to the Archdiocese of Armagh and, subsequently, to the Irish Church. He is highly intelligent, knowledgeable and articulate, and an excellent communicator of God’s word.

I have known Eamon and his family since he was a child. His mother and family are rightly proud of him. I am pleased that a priest of the Derry Diocese has been entrusted with this daunting responsibility and feel very honoured that I ordained Eamon to the priesthood of this diocese.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Cormac McQuinn

Friday January 18 2013

CARDINAL Sean Brady will be succeeded as Archbishop of Armagh by Monsignor Eamon Martin, the administrator of the Diocese of Derry.

Making the announcement this morning, Cardinal Brady said his first reaction to the appointment of Mgr Martin co-adjudicator Archbishop of Armagh was one of “great joy and great gratitude”.

Cardinal Brady, aged 73, has led the church in Ireland for more than 16 years. A series of investigations during that time exposed damning levels of clerical abuse, and the leading cleric was damaged by revelations about his inaction over notorious paedophile Brendan Smyth in the 1970s.

He explained in today’s address that he asked Pope Benedict XVI to appoint a co-adjudicator to assist him in 2010 and said “I am so very thankful to the Holy Father for acceding to my request.”

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IRELAND
BBC News

The administrator of the Diocese of Derry looks set to be the next leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Monsignor Eamon Martin has been appointed as coadjutor (assistant) Archbishop of Armagh. It was announced by the current leader, Cardinal Sean Brady on Friday.

Msgr Martin said the church must learn from the “terrible trauma” of abuse.

Former Bishop of Derry Edward Daly said he is seen as “a clean pair of hands” after the church’s abuse scandals.

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CITTA DEL VATICANO

Il Santo Padre Benedetto XVI ha nominato Arcivescovo Coadiutore dell’arcidiocesi metropolitana di Armagh (Irlanda) il Rev.do Mons. Eamon Martin, del clero della diocesi di Derry, finora Amministratore diocesano della medesima diocesi.

Rev.do Mons. Eamon Martin
Il Rev.do Mons. Eamon Martin è nato a Derry il 30 ottobre 1961. Dopo l’educazione elementare presso la St. Patrick’s Primary School, Pennyburn, Derry, e quella media presso il St. Columb’s College, Derry, ha compiuto la formazione al sacerdozio nel St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, ottenendo un Baccalaureato in materie scientifiche e in Teologia.

È stato ordinato sacerdote, per la diocesi di Derry, il 28 giugno 1987.

In seguito, è stato dapprima Curato nella Cattedrale di St. Eugene, Derry (1987-1989), poi ha compiuto studi di specializzazione per l’insegnamento presso la Queen’s University di Belfast (1989-1990) e conseguito un Master in Amministrazione Educativa presso l’Università di Cambridge in Inghilterra (1998-1999).

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IRELAND
Derry Journal

Published on Friday 18 January 2013

Derry’s Diocesan Administrator, Monsignor Eamon Martin, will replace Cardinal Seán Brady as Archbishop of Armagh following his appointment as Coadjutor Bishop of the Archdiocese.

Cardinal Brady made the announcement this morning in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh.

“The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Mgr Eamon Martin, Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Derry, as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh,” the Primate said.

Cardinal Brady congratulated Monsignor Martin and thanked Pope Benedict for his appointment. “Today, in choosing Mgr Eamon Martin for the office of bishop, he has chosen a man of great gifts and great generosity who knows how to use those talents in the education of people – young and old,” he said.

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IRELAND
Houston Chronicle

DUBLIN (AP) — The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland says its longtime leader, Cardinal Sean Brady, will be replaced by 2014.

Brady told a news conference Friday he welcomes the Vatican’s appointment of an aide and eventual successor, Monsignor Eamon Martin.

The 73-year-old Brady has been the Catholic primate of Ireland since 1996. He has been sharply criticized for his handling of child abuse scandals exposed in the Irish church since the mid-1990s.

In 2010 Brady refused calls to resign after he admitted that, in 1975, he took testimony from two boys who had been abused by a pedophile priest, then swore both to secrecy. Brady apologized, but said he was following orders from superiors.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WKBN

[with video]

Five former students at a Johnstown, Pa. Catholic school said in phone interviews on Thursday that Franciscan friar Stephen P. Baker molested them while they were athletes being treated for injuries during their time at the school during the mid-to-late 1990s.

The former students from Bishop McCort High School, who will not be identified because they are alleged victims of sexual abuse, played sports at the school from 1993 through 1999 and said Baker would touch their genitals and often digitally penetrated them while under the guise of treating sports injuries.

The accounts mirrored two of the 11 former students from Warren John F. Kennedy High School in Warren who received high-five figure settlements with the Youngstown Diocese, the T.O.R. Franciscan Order in Pennsylvania and JFK for being allegedly abused by Baker during what was supposed to be treatment for minor sports injuries.

Baker was the sports trainer and religion teacher at Bishop McCort during the 1990s. He also coached the junior varsity baseball team and other youth traveling baseball teams unaffiliated with the school, according to interviews.

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WORCESTER (MA)
GMA News (Philippines)

A Filipino Roman Catholic priest, who returned to the United States to surrender after a year of hiding in the Philippines over child pornography charges, is ordered held for $500,000 cash bail even as church leaders in Massachusetts asked the Vatican to defrock the embattled priest.

Rev. Lowe Dongor, 36, pleaded not guilty on child pornography and larceny charges during his arraignment on Dec. 24 in Worcester Superior Court in Massachusetts.

Dongor was associate pastor at St. Joseph’s Parish in Fitchburg, Mass. when he was initially charged in 2011.

Prosecutors said sexually explicit images of pre-teen girls was found on his laptop computer, and he was also accused of stealing from the church’s weekly collection.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

[with video]

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. —

6 News learned late Thursday afternoon that several former athletes who attended Bishop McCort High School in the late 1990s have reached out to a local attorney after a Franciscan brother was accused of having inappropriate contact with minors in Ohio a decade before.

“One of our concerns in the case and one of the issues with respect to this situation is what was known to Brother Baker before he ended up at the diocese here in Johnstown,” said attorney Michael Parrish.

Brother Stephen Baker has been accused of abusing 11young boys in Ohio. Now grown men, they said they recently reached settlements in civil court.

The Johnstown-Altoona Diocese said late Thursday that it received its first report of local allegations against Baker in November 2011.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Sandra K Reabuck sreabuck@tribdem.com

JOHNSTOWN — A Franciscan friar who had ties to Bishop McCort Catholic High School decades ago has been accused of sexually abusing boys while he was a baseball coach and religious teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio, in the in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Brother Stephen Baker, now living in the Hollidaysburg area, was identified as the abuser by two men who spoke about the abuse at a news conference this week in Ohio. They and nine other men settled claims against the school, the Diocese of Youngstown and the Third Order Regular of the Franciscan Friars in October.

According to published reports, the two men said that the sex abuse took place mostly when they played baseball for the high school, where Baker was the coach and trainer.

Baker, now living at St. Bernardine’s Monastery, also was a religion teacher and a trainer on the baseball and football staffs at Johnstown’s Bishop McCort Catholic High School in the late 1990s and in the 2000s.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WeAreCentralPA

[with video]

By: Aaron Cheslock

Updated: January 17, 2013

HOLLIDAYSBURG, BLAIR COUNTY – A man living in a Blair County Monastery is alleged to have sexually abused boys, dating back to the 1980’s.

A Franciscan brother, now living in Blair County, is accused of sexually abusing 11 students at an Ohio high school in the 1980s.

Those Ohio victims’ attorney says Brother Stephen Baker, recently settled out of court. Baker was never criminally charged.

Brother Stephan baker was a teacher and coach at bishop mccort high school in Johnstown in the late 1990’s… Just a few years after the alleged abuse in Ohio… And there one alleged victim says, he used to manipulate the kids he abused…

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PENNSYLVANIA
WWCP

Brother Stephen Baker acted as an Athletic Trainer at Bishop McCort High School around that same time. Previously, Baker had been accused of sexually abusing young boys in Ohio in the 1980’s. He was never criminally charged but settled out of court with his alleged victims. The Diocese said it’s first reports of local allegations back in November 2011. We spoke to the Attorney for some former Bishop McCort Athletes whoo have been calling saying they are concerned since the report. Bishiop Mark Barchak said in a statement “the abuse of minors at any time and place is wrong and can never be excused.” Brother Baker is now living in the Saint Bernadine Moastery in Blair County.

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PENNSYLVANIA
ABC 23

The Johnstown Altoona Diocese says it received reports that a Franciscan Brother had inappropriate contact with minors in the 1990’s. We spoke to the Attorney for some former Bishop McCort Athletes whoo have been calling saying they are concerned since the report….

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Altoona Mirror

January 18, 2013

By Russ O’Reilly (roreilly@altoonamirror.com) , The Altoona Mirror

HOLLIDAYSBURG – The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown said on Thursday that there were allegations raised in 2011 against a Franciscan friar accused of sexually abusing students of an Ohio high school in the late 1980s.

The local diocese issued a release stating that in November 2011, Bishop Mark L. Bartchak became aware of accusations that Brother Stephen Baker had inappropriate contact with minors in the diocese in the late-1990s.

Baker was an instructor and staff member of Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown during that time.

On Wednesday, it was announced that a settlement has been reached with 11 men who accused Baker of sexually abusing them in Ohio between 1986 and 1990.

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OHIO
Tribune Chronicle

January 18, 2013

By JOE GORMAN – Staff reporter (jgorman@tribtoday.com) , Tribune Chronicle | TribToday.com

A day after it was revealed 11 men who claimed to be molested at John F. Kennedy High School in the mid-1980s reached a settlement, five other men have stepped forward to claim they were abused by the same person.

Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based attorney who represented the 11, said Thursday the five men came forward after news of the settlement was revealed Wednesday and two of the 11 men spoke to the media. Garabedian said another man contacted him after the settlement was revealed.

As with those 12, Garabedian said the five on Thursday claimed to have been abused by Brother Stephen Baker, a Franciscan brother who was baseball coach at the school at the time. The abuse also covered the same time period, from 1986 to 1990, Garabedian said.

He said the men contacted him either by phone or email. The number of people who now claimed to have been abused by Baker is 17.

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OHIO
Tribune Chronicle

January 18, 2013

WARREN – The president of John F. Kennedy High School is reassuring supporters and benefactors of the school that their financial gifts are “used exclusively to support student scholarships and academic, campus ministry, athletic and artistic programs” for current students.

In a letter dated Thursday, Brian Sinchak explained that he wanted to share information related to the recent settlement in allegations of sexual abuse of former students by Stephen P. Baker, a Franciscan brother, who served as a religion teacher, baseball coach and athletic trainer at JFK in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“While there have been reports of financial settlements, please know that these are not from school finances, investments or our operating budget,” Sinchak said. “Your gifts directly benefit our current students in their development as leaders of courage, integrity and dedication.”

“Brother Baker, a member of T.O.R Franciscan Order, is no longer involved with the school community and hasn’t been for over twenty years,” Sinchak wrote.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
TheMediaReport

The conviction of Philadelphia’s Msgr. William J. Lynn last June was historic and widely trumpeted by an overheated media, as Lynn became the first member of the Catholic hierarchy to be found guilty in a criminal court for endangering children.

And the sole reason Lynn sits in jail today is because former priest Edward Avery had pleaded guilty to sexually violating a 10-year-old boy in the late 1990s. Prosecutors claimed that Lynn should not have placed Avery into a ministry assignment because the priest had a prior abuse accusation dating back to the 1970s. Had Lynn kept Avery out of public ministry, prosecutors charged, he would not have been able to abuse the 10-year-old.

But in a truly shocking development, Avery took the witness stand today in a Philadelphia courtroom and recanted under oath his guilty plea.

This remarkable turn-around indicates that Msgr. Lynn may likely be sitting in jail based on a crime that never even happened!

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Catholic World Reort

January 18, 2013

By Carl E. Olson

No, I’m not talking about the hiring of Chip Kelly away from the Oregon Ducks (who play all of ten minutes from my home). Here is the surprising news, as mentioned by David Pierre, Jr., a contributor to CWR, on his MediaReport.com site:

The conviction of Philadelphia’s Msgr. William J. Lynn last June was historic and widely trumpeted by an overheated media, as Lynn became the first member of the Catholic hierarchy to be found guilty in a criminal court for endangering children.

And the sole reason Lynn sits in jail today is because former priest Edward Avery had pleaded guilty to sexually violating a 10-year-old boy in the late 1990s. Prosecutors claimed that Lynn should not have placed Avery into a ministry assignment because the priest had a prior abuse accusation dating back to the 1970s. Had Lynn kept Avery out of public ministry, prosecutors charged, he would not have been able to abuse the 10-year-old.

But in a truly shocking development, Avery took the witness stand today in a Philadelphia courtroom and recanted under oath his guilty plea.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

Priest jailed for child abuse recants guilty plea and claims he didn’t rape the altar boy but was afraid of getting a longer sentence

An imprisoned ex-priest at the center of a landmark Roman Catholic priest-abuse case testified Thursday that he pleaded guilty to a sexual assault he didn’t commit.

Edward Avery, 70, admitted to an earlier abuse complaint, but he said he never had any contact with the accuser in an ongoing criminal trial. He said he took a plea deal in which he admitted assaulting the man because he didn’t want to risk a longer sentence if convicted at trial.

Asked if he raped the 24-year-old policeman’s son, Avery said: ‘I did not. So help me God.’

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

The next pope, expected soon by many, will apparently be the last imperial pope elected. Thereafter, the Catholic hierarchy will likely be compelled to adopt power-sharing reforms under accelerating pressure, including from political leaders in Australia, Ireland, Germany and soon likely the USA, as well. The percentage of voting Cardinals in the Vatican, mostly Italians, has increased considerably during Benedict XVI’s short tenure. This has fortified the Vatican Cardinal clique’s veto grip on the next papal election, which likely will be of an initially younger, longer serving, but similarly imperial, pope.

Benedict XVI’s evident enhancement of the papal election veto threat by his selection of new voting Cardinals helps explain in retrospect the apparent support of long time Vatican powers, Cardinal Sodano, et al., for the elderly current German pope’s election in 2005. This support had been surprising to some, given the earlier reported disputes between them over investigating Cardinal Groer and Father Maciel, two notorious sexual predators. Groer and Maciel had also been strongly supported by Pope John Paul II. The Vatican clique’s enhanced veto power tends to assure that their next hand-picked pope can be expected to continue to run the Catholic Church dictatorially, mainly to maximize the wealth and power of Vatican Cardinals and their subservient, but well rewarded, Cardinal accomplices worldwide.

Italian Cardinals in 1870 lost to a nationalist army their political control over the lucrative Papal States. But these Cardinals and their carefully chosen Italian successors, including Cardinals Ottaviani and Sodano for much of the last half century, have shrewdly managed to recover and even expand their power and wealth since 1870. The Vatican clique has significantly strengthened its already tight grip on the worldwide Roman Holy Empire, with its considerable wealth and political influence, so far at least. In the process, the clique has also succeeded in helping to undermine the overwhelming approvals of the 1966 papal birth control commission of contraception and of the 2,500+ Vatican II bishops of effective power-sharing among the pope and bishops and also to undercut the strong support for making celibacy optional for priests. Very significantly, however, the Vatican clique also has failed to curtail effectively the massive worldwide scandal of priest sexual assaults on trusting children.

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NEDERLAND
RKnieuws

DEN BOSCH (RKnieuws.net) – Het gerechtshof in Den Bosch heeft gisteren bepaald dat kardinaal A. Simonis niet hoeft te worden vervolgd voor meineed. De klacht van een Bredanaar dat de kardinaal opzettelijk zou hebben gelogen is geseponeerd omdat er volgens het OM geen bewijs is.

De klacht is de afgelopen maanden achter gesloten deuren behandeld door het gerechtshof. Zonder dat Simonis ooit zelf is ondervraagd door het hof werd de klacht dinsdag ongegrond verklaard. De precieze motivatie is nog niet bekend. De volledige uitspraak wordt later gepubliceerd.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

By WJAC Web Staff and The Associated Press

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. —

A Franciscan brother who is accused of sexually abusing 11 students at an Ohio high school in the 1980s previously coached a Johnstown high school baseball team.

6 News has learned that Brother Stephen Baker, who now lives in Blair County, was a trainer with the Bishop McCort High School baseball team in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Prior to his time in Johnstown, Baker was accused of molesting boys at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio, from 1986-90. Baker was also a baseball coach and trainer at the Ohio school. Two of the alleged victims from Warren told an Ohio television station that the sexual abuse would happen after practice in the Warren high school’s training room.

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OHIO
Fox Youngstown

[with video]

Five more people have contacted attorneys claiming they were sexually abused by a Franciscan friar who taught religion, coached baseball and was the athletic trainer at Warren’s John F. Kennedy High School in the late 1980s.

Eleven others have reached settlements with the Franciscan Order based in Pennsylvania, JFK High School and the Youngstown Diocese and another person had contacted Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian before the quintet contacted Garabedian later on Wednesday.

Garabedian said Thursday the five men, all JFK students, contacted him with claims they were abused by the friar, Brother Stephen P. Baker, who taught at the school and was the athletic trainer at JFK from 1986-1991.

Garabedian said a sixth person, a woman, also called and said she was being treated for a sports injury while at JFK when Baker made an odd request.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WYTV

[with video]

Five former students at a Johnstown, Pa. Catholic school said in phone interviews on Thursday that Franciscan friar Stephen P. Baker molested them while they were athletes being treated for injuries during their time at the school during the mid-to-late 1990s.

The former students from Bishop McCort High School, who will not be identified because they are alleged victims of sexual abuse, played sports at the school from 1993 through 1999 and said Baker would touch their genitals and often digitally penetrated them while under the guise of treating sports injuries.

The accounts mirrored two of the 11 former students from Warren John F. Kennedy High School in Warren who received high-five figure settlements with the Youngstown Diocese, the T.O.R. Franciscan Order in Pennsylvania and JFK for being allegedly abused by Baker during what was supposed to be treatment for minor sports injuries.

Baker was the sports trainer and religion teacher at Bishop McCort during the 1990s. He also coached the junior varsity baseball team and other youth traveling baseball teams unaffiliated with the school, according to interviews.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

MENSAH M. DEAN, Daily News Staff Writer deanm@phillynews.com, 215-568-8278

Posted: Friday, January 18, 2013

A DEFROCKED Catholic priest who pleaded guilty last year to sexually assaulting an altar boy recanted his guilty plea on the witness stand Wednesday, dealing a blow to prosecutors making a case against two other men on trial for allegedly molesting the same boy.

Defrocked priest Edward Avery, 70, who is serving a 2 1/2-to-5-year state prison sentence, denied touching or even knowing the victim. Avery had been expected to buttress the prosecution’s case against Rev. Charles Engelhardt, 66, and ex-teacher Bernard Shero, 49, who are being tried in Common Pleas Court for allegedly raping a St. Jerome Parish altar boy in 1998 and 2000, respectively.

Although Avery pleaded guilty to assaulting the boy before his own trial began, and prosecutors have evidence that he assaulted other young men, Avery claimed innocence Thursday.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
UTV

The case of a priest awaiting sentence for sexually abusing a brother and sister was officially closed on Thursday after his death certificate was handed into Belfast Crown Court.

The cases against 71-year-old Fr Joseph Steele, who may not have been mentally fit to plead, was initially listed last November, following his death.

The wheelchair bound paedophile had been living in Dublin, was due to have been sentenced by Belfast Recorder, Judge David McFarland for a total of ten sex offences.

Fr Steele, with an address at Kimmage Manor, Crumlin, Dublin, had admitted five counts of indecent assault and two of gross indecency committed against the male child on dates between January 1967 and January 1971.

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CONNECTICUT
CT Post

Daniel Tepfer

Updated 8:13 pm, Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Catholic priest busted for allegedly dealing crystal meth was suspended after shocked church officials discovered he was a cross-dresser who was having sex in the rectory at Bridgeport’s St. Augustine Cathedral.

Monsignor Kevin Wallin was relieved of his duties in May 2012, but the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport had continued to pay him a stipend until his Jan. 3 arrest — a day he was planning to fly to London on vacation.

Now dubbed “Msgr. Meth” by some, Wallin seemed to live a life that easily could have been ripped from the script of “Breaking Bad,’ the popular AMC series about a high school chemistry teacher turned crystal methamphetamine producer.

In his post-priesthood,Wallin, 61, used his profits to buy an adult specialty and video store in North Haven called Land of Oz that sells sex toys and X-rated DVDs, according to the indictment. Investigators believe the shop helped him launder thousands of dollars in weekly profits. …

The sources said while pastor of St. Augustine’s, he often disappeared for days at a time; rectory personnel became concerned and notified diocese officials when Wallin, sometimes dressed as a woman, would entertain odd-looking men, some who were also dressed in women’s clothing, and engaged in sex acts.

In addition, diocese officials found bizarre sex toys in Wallin’s residence, the sources said.

Diocese officials consulted lawyers about the situation and were assured none of Wallin’s behavior appeared illegal, the sources said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Ralph Cipriano

Ed Avery looked the prosecutor in the eye and said he didn’t do it.

He said he never touched the 10-year-old altar boy known as “Billy Doe.” The defrocked priest today rode a bus from the state prison up in Laurel Highlands, Somerset County, all the way to the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia, at least a four-hour trip, to tell a jury it was all a lie.

Avery said he only pleaded guilty because if convicted at last year’s first Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex abuse trial, he was facing a prison sentence of up to 20 years. And the prosecution was offering him a sweetheart deal — only 2 1/2 to 5 years in jail.

So on March 22, 2012, Avery pleaded guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, and conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child — namely Billy Doe — “to avoid a more lengthy prison term,” Avery said.

“I did not want to die in prison,” the 70-year-old former priest told an angry prosecutor.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Cipolletti was incredulous. “You’re sitting in state prison today because of [Billy Doe’s} allegations,” he said.

“I chose to take the plea,” Avery corrected him.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

January 18, 2013

Richard Willingham
State Political Correspondent for The Age

Victims of abuse who have already given evidence to the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations may be saved the pain of having to go through new hearings for the royal commission.

There has been some concern that abuse survivors may have to give their evidence again, to the royal commission, which could cause unnecessary trauma.

The terms of reference released last week say that commissioners are not required ”to inquire, or to continue to inquire, into a particular matter to the extent that you are satisfied that the matter has been, is being, or will be, sufficiently and appropriately dealt with by another inquiry or investigation or a criminal or civil proceeding”.

On Wednesday, the chairman of the royal commission, Justice Peter McClellan, said: ”The commission is mindful of the work which has been done in various parts of Australia and will seek to draw upon the material which has already been gathered by those inquiries.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Wall Street Journal

By PETER LOFTUS

PHILADELPHIA—A defrocked Roman Catholic priest denied Thursday that he sexually abused a Philadelphia altar boy in the 1990s, despite having pleaded guilty to criminal charges last year, in a recantation that could be used in the appeal of a related case.

Edward Avery, 70 years old, was testifying at the Philadelphia trial of two other men—one priest and one teacher—who are accused of sexually abusing the same boy. Mr. Avery, who is serving a 2½- to 5-year prison sentence, denied abusing the boy, according to Mr. Avery’s defense attorney, John P. Donohue.

In March 2012, Mr. Avery pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child. He hasn’t appealed his conviction, Mr. Donohue said. Mr. Avery said he had agreed to a negotiated guilty plea to avoid a longer prison sentence if his case had gone to trial.

Mr. Donohue said that his client’s guilty plea didn’t require him specifically to admit to abusing the boy but rather that he knowingly and intentionally consented to the entry of a guilty plea.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter

by Brian Roewe | Jan. 17, 2013

In March, former Philadelphia priest Edward Avery pleaded guilty to conspiracy and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy; he was sentences to two-and-a-half to five years in prison.

On Thursday, Avery recanted that guilty plea, a development that could have serious ramifications for the landmark conviction of Philadelphia archdiocesan Msgr. William J. Lynn, the first U.S. church official to serve jail time for his handling of abuse claims.

The revelation came in testimony during in the first week of the trial of Fr. Charles Engelhardt and former Catholic school teacher Bernard Shero, both alleged to have abused the same altar boy Avery had previously admitted to assaulting.

According to multiple reports from the courtroom, Avery took the stand and testified he pleaded guilty only to avoid a longer sentence. The defrocked priest has been in prison since that plea March 22, four days before he was scheduled to stand trial alongside Lynn and Fr. James J. Brennan.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

Vatican officials will meet next week with Italian bank-security experts, with a goal of ending a freeze on bank-card transactions inside Vatican City.

The Vatican, which has worked for months to meet European banking standards for preventing money-laundering, was caught off guard by a January 1 announcement that Italy’s central bank would no longer process bank-card transactions from the Vatican. The Vatican hopes to persuade Italian officials that new internal controls have satified the immediate concerns of security officials, and Deutsche Bank—which had handled bank-card transactions inside the Vatican—should be allowed to resume processing those transactions.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Jan. 17, 2013

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee said Thursday it will allow a Fond du Lac police detective to review the file of a defrocked priest as part of an ongoing sex-abuse investigation there, in response to a motion filed the same day by sex-abuse victims in its bankruptcy case.

That motion accuses the archdiocese of using the bankruptcy’s broad protective order, which is intended to shield victims, to withhold information about the former priest, Jerome Wagner, from a Fond du Lac detective in December.

It asks U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley to make public all records, depositions and other sealed documents involving credibly accused priests and church workers, saying the move is needed to protect children.

Archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski said Friday that it has a long-standing policy of cooperating with civil authorities investigating clergy abuse, and it blamed the lapse on an internal breakdown of communication.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Huffington Post

Michael D’Antonio

Who is more deserving: victims of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests, or dead people moldering their graves?

When he was Archbishop of Milwaukee, Timothy Dolan chose the dead people, placing $55 million into cemetery trust funds and out of the reach of local abuse victims suing the Church. (They want compensation for the suffering caused by childhood sexual trauma.) Dolan left Milwaukee to take the most visible post in Catholic America — cardinal of New York City – but he could not escape his choice. The victims asked a federal bankruptcy judge to reverse him, and on Friday she did. For now the $55 million is available to settle hundreds of well-documented cases in which priests raped and sexually molested children and adolescents.

Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley discussed her decision in court on Friday, explaining that neither First Amendment protections for religion nor federal law protect the archdiocese from her authority. She sided with creditors in the bankruptcy proceedings, who said the main purpose of the 2008 transfer was to place it out of their reach. In fact the archdiocese had managed the task of mowing the grass and otherwise maintaining cemeteries for generations without a $55 million trust generating income for that purpose.

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HAWAII
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Joelle Casteix on January 17, 2013

Victims of sexual abuse are blasting a Honolulu high school for publicizing a scholarship named after a three-time accused predator priest.

In a letter to the president and board of directors of Maryknoll High School, members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPNetwork.org) say that a scholarship honoring accused predator priest Fr. James A. Jackson “hurts victims and discourages them from speaking up, thus endangering more kids.”

They are urging that the scholarship be dissolved.

The endowed scholarship, advertised on the school’s website is named after Fr. Jackson, a Maryknoll missionary priest. The scholarship goes to students who “demonstrat[e] a willingness to contributed to the continued excellence of the Maryknoll family.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Joseph A. Slobodzian and John P. Martin, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2013, 3:23 PM

Former Catholic priest Edward Avery on Thursday recanted under oath his guilty plea to sexually assaulting an altar boy in 1999, potentially undermining the District Attorney’s larger conspiracy case against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

On the witness stand in the trial of the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and former teacher Bernard Shero – who are accused of raping the same 10-year-old altar boy at St. Jerome’s parish in Northeast Philadelphia – Avery testified that he only pleaded guilty to avoid a longer prison term.

He is serving 2 1/2 to 5 years in prison.

Avery pleaded guilty in March 2012, just four days before the landmark clergy sex-abuse trial of Avery’s codefendant, Msgr. William J. Lynn. After hearing the testimony of Avery’s victim, Lynn was convicted in June of child endangerment for placing Avery in position to abuse the St. Jerome’s altar boy.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A former priest who admitted sexually assaulting a 5th-grade boy in the Philadelphia clergy sexual abuse scandal today recanted during the trial of another priest and a former lay teacher charged with sexually assaulting the same boy.

Defrocked priest Edward Avery pleaded guilty last year to sexually assaulting the same boy who has also accused the defendants now on trial: Father Charles Engelhardt and Bernard Shero (see related story).

But Avery, called to the witness stand from prison where he is serving a 2½-5 year sentence, told the jury today that he never assaulted the boy, didn’t even know him, and only took the plea deal to avoid the possibility of a conviction and a sentence that might have kept him in prison for life.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Sun Herald

By MARYCLAIRE DALE — Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — An imprisoned ex-priest at the center of a landmark Roman Catholic priest-abuse case in Philadelphia says he pleaded guilty to a crime he didn’t commit.

Seventy-year-old Edward Avery testified Thursday that he never touched his accuser but feared a long sentence if convicted at trial.

The same accuser says he was raped by Avery, the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and ex-teacher Bernard Shero in about 1999.

Engelhardt and Shero are on trial.

Avery’s testimony could bolster the defense. But prosecutors note that Avery still faces a civil suit and harassment in prison.

A jury last year convicted Monsignor William Lynn of child endangerment for placing Avery in a parish despite an earlier sex-abuse complaint.

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CALIFORNIA
The Orange County Register

By CLAUDIA KOERNER / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Two Orange County residents, a former priest and two other men were indicted Tuesday in connection with trafficking methamphetamine between California and Connecticut.

A grand jury in Bridgeport, Conn., indicted 43-year-old San Clemente resident Chad McCluskey and 47-year-old Kristen Laschober of Laguna Niguel on charges of conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of a substance containing the drug as well as 50 grams of the drug itself. The grand jury also charged Kenneth Devries, 52, of Waterbury, Conn., Michael Nelson, 40, of Manchester, Conn., and 61-year-old Msgr. Kevin Wallin, formerly of the Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut. If convicted of the conspiracy charges, the five face sentences of 10 years to life in prison.

According to a statement from the Bridgeport Diocese, Wallin served as pastor of St. Augustine Parish for nine years before he resigned in June 2011 citing personal and health issues. The church granted him a sabbatical, but officials became concerned when they could not reach him. Parishioners knew him as a “gifted, accomplished and compassionate priest,” according to the statement.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC Philadelphia

An imprisoned ex-priest at the center of a landmark Roman Catholic priest-abuse case in Philadelphia says he pleaded guilty to a crime he didn’t commit.

Seventy-year-old Edward Avery testified Thursday that he never touched his accuser but feared a long sentence if convicted at trial.

The same accuser says he was raped by Avery, the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and ex-teacher Bernard Shero in about 1999.

Engelhardt and Shero are on trial.

Avery’s testimony could bolster the defense. But prosecutors note that Avery still faces a civil suit and harassment in prison.

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HAWAII
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on January 17, 2013

The latest from Hawaii: Why would Honolulu’s Maryknoll School keep a scholarship named after a accused child predator? And what kind of message does that send?

Victims blast local high school
Scholarship named after alleged predator
He’s been accused of abuse by three boys
But school & board still honor his memory
“Honoring predators lets abuse thrive,” SNAP says

Victims of sexual abuse are blasting a Honolulu high school for publicizing a scholarship named after a three-time accused predator priest.

In a letter to the president and board of directors of Maryknoll High School, members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, say that a scholarship honoring accused predator priest Fr. James A. Jackson “hurts victims and discourages them from speaking up, thus endangering more kids.”

They are urging that the scholarship be dissolved.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Jan. 17, 2013

Lawyers for sex-abuse victims in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy are asking the judge to make public all records involving credibly accused priests, depositions and other sealed documents, saying the move is needed to protect children.

They accuse the archdiocese of using the bankruptcy’s broad protective order, which is intended to shield victims, to deny police detectives in an ongoing investigation access to information about a now defrocked priest.

“This is exactly why the public is served by relief of the protective order,” said victims attorney Jeff Anderson, whose firm asked Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley on Friday to modify the order to allow the limited release of information, while still protecting the identities of victims.

Jerry Topczewski, chief of staff for Archbishop Jerome Listecki, said it’s the archdiocese’s policy to cooperate with civil authorities. He attributed its failure to provide information about former priest Jerome Wagner to the Fond du Lac Police Department last fall as a breakdown in internal communication involving its newly hired victims advocate.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

Die Auswertung der katholischen Missbrauchs-Hotline zeigt, wie perfide Sexualstraftäter innerhalb der Kirche vorgingen. Priester sagten ihren Opfern, man sei nun “in der Liebe Christi verbunden”.

Von Matthias Kamann

Es war eine katholische Hotline. Doch obwohl sich die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz damit von März 2010 bis Dezember 2012 eigens für die Erfahrungsberichte von Missbrauchsopfern aus dem kirchlichen Bereich geöffnet hatte, gab es auch zahlreiche Hinweise auf Sexualverbrechen in staatlichen Einrichtungen sowie in Familien.

Von den 1207 Delikten, die den Mitarbeitern der Lebensberatung im Bistum Trier bei dieser bundesweiten Anlaufstelle geschildert wurden, fanden 407 nicht im katholischen Raum statt.

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DEUTSCHLAND
domradio

Deutsche Bischofskonferenz legt Bilanz ihrer “Missbrauchshotline” vor

Von Ludger Fittkau

Mehr als 8000 Anrufer meldeten sich bei der “Missbrauchshotline” der katholischen Kirche. Dabei berichteten sie von sexuellen Übergriffen durch Seelsorger in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten. Besonders im Zusammenhang mit symbolischen Handlungen wie Beichte oder Gebet.

Sie leiden unter Beziehungsproblemen und Depressionen, haben Suizidgedanken oder sind suchtkrank: Die mehreren tausend Menschen, die zwischen März 2010 und Dezember 2012 zum Hörer griffen und die Psychologen an der Trierer “Missbrauchshotline” der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz anriefen. Es sind überwiegend Männer, die innerhalb von Kirchenmauern zu Opfern sexueller Übergriffe wurden, während außerhalb der Kirche vor allem Frauen betroffen sind. Sogar von körperlichen Verletzungen, die sie auch Jahrzehnte nach der Tat plagen, sprachen die Opfer der katholischen Priester am Telefon. Eine weitere, nahezu logische Folge: das Misstrauen in die Kirche sitzt bei vielen tief.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Volksfreund

Sie wollten aufklären: Missbrauchsopfer Claudia Adams ganz persönlich und Christian Pfeiffer, Chef des Kriminologischen Forschungsinstituts Niedersachsen (KFN), bundesweit im Auftrag der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz. Beide sind gescheitert. Mit dem TV sprachen sie über unerwartete Hindernisse.

Trier. Hat der Pastor noch weitere Opfer missbraucht? Was ist über die Tat dokumentiert? Antworten auf diese Fragen hoffte Claudia Adams in der Personalakte des Priesters zu finden, der sie als Kind missbraucht hatte. Doch dort fand sie kein Wort zum Missbrauch. Daumenbreite Seitenreste deutete sie als herausgeschnittene Unterlagen (der TV berichtete). Sie fragte beim Trierer Bischof und Missbrauchsbeauftragten Stephan Ackermann höchstpersönlich nach, ob die Akte manipuliert worden sei. Die Antwort: Die Akte sei ordnungsgemäß archiviert worden. Was der Bischof nicht sagte: Adams hätte in der Personalakte gar nichts finden können. Denn laut Bistumssprecher André Uzulis werden gemäß Kirchenrecht bei Strafsachen in Sittlichkeitsverfahren sämtliche angefallenen Akten im Geheimarchiv – zu dem nur der Bischof und eine von ihm festgelegte Personengruppe Zugang haben – aufbewahrt. Zudem müssen laut Kirchenrecht bei Sittlichkeitsdelikten jährlich alle Akten, die älter als zehn Jahre sind oder wenn der Angeklagte gestorben ist, vernichtet werden – bis auf einen kurzen Bericht über die Taten und das Urteil.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Paul Berger

Published January 17, 2013.

Seeking to blunt an outpouring of criticism from alumni, Yeshiva University has issued a statement,emphasizing the wide-ranging powers and broad scope of an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against former staff members at its Manhattan high school.

Y.U. launched the investigation in December after the Forward published the testimony of four former students who said they had been abused at Yeshiva University High School for Boys.

Three former students said they had been abused by Rabbi George Finkelstein, who rose to become principal of the school. A fourth student said that he had been abused by a Talmud teacher, Rabbi Macy Gordon.

In the weeks that followed about 20 more students contacted the Forward to say they had been emotionally, physically or sexually abused by one or both of the men, who worked at the school for more than 50 years combined. Gordon left the school in 1984. Finkelstein left the school in 1995. Both men deny the charges.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Vaterland

Neue Erkenntnisse im Missbrauchsskandal der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland: Die Täter haben ihre sexuellen Übergriffe auf Kinder und Jugendliche genau geplant.

Trier. – Das sei eines der «erschütternden Ergebnisse», die die Auswertung der Gespräche bei der Hotline für Missbrauchsopfer erbracht habe, sagte der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz (DBK), Triers Bischof Stephan Ackermann, in Trier. Jene Priester und Diakone hätten «sich das Vertrauen von Kindern erschlichen und diese dann auf schändliche Weise missbraucht» – in der Kirche, in Heimen und in Internaten.

Fast 8500 Gespräche waren bei der Opfer-Hotline der katholischen Kirche geführt worden, die von Ende März 2010 bis Ende 2012 geschaltet war.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

[Google Translate]

17.01.2013 · Priester haben ihre sexuellen Übergriffe auf Minderjährige zumeist vorsätzlich geplant – und sich Opfer sogar gegenseitig zugeschoben. Ser Missbrauchsbeauftragte der katholischen Kirche, Bischof Ackermann, zeigt sich “entsetzt und beschämt”.
Von Daniel Deckers, Trier

Der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland, der Trierer Bischof Stefan Ackermann, hat den Willen bekräftigt, die wissenschaftlichen Bemühungen um Aufarbeitung der sexuellen Gewalt im Raum der Kirche „zeitnah und solide“ fortzusetzen. „Wir werden das Versprechen einlösen, das wir den Opfern gegeben haben“, sagte Ackermann am Donnerstag aus Anlass der Vorstellung des Abschlussberichts der Telefonhotline für Betroffene sexuellen Missbrauchs.

In diesem Bericht, der im Internet unter www.hilfe-missbrauch.de für jedermann zugänglich ist, sind in weltweit einmaliger Weise mehr als 8400 Gespräche mit Opfern oder deren Vertrauenspersonen ausgewertet, die sich zwischen dem Frühjahr 2010 und Ende 2012 das Angebot der Bischöfe genutzt hatten, anonym von ihrem Schicksal zu berichten.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Volksfreund

Der kirchliche Missbrauchsbeauftragte Stephan Ackermann will ungeachtet der Kritik weiter im Amt bleiben. Das sagte der 49-Jährige gestern in Trier. Klar ist aber auch: Die nächsten Monate werden für den obersten katholischen Aufklärer zur Nagelprobe.

Trier. Die Pressekonferenz des kirchlichen Missbrauchsbeauftragten und seines Verantwortlichen für die Ende Dezember abgeschaltete Telefon-Hotline dauert schon knapp eine Stunde, als es im voll besetzten Konferenzsaal des Generalvikariats noch einmal interessant wird. “Wie lange man das noch machen kann, weiß ich nicht”, sagt der ansonsten so gefasste Trierer Bischof, “das ist nicht vergnüglich.” Hat der vor drei Jahren – auf dem Höhepunkt der Krise – von seinen Mitbrüdern zum Missbrauchsbeauftragten ernannte Stephan Ackermann etwa inzwischen die Nase voll von seinem unbefristeten Sonderauftrag? “Ich habe mir die Aufgabe nicht gesucht”, sagt der 49-Jährige, um allerdings gleich hinzuzufügen, dass er Anwalt der Betroffenen bleiben wolle.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Joseph A. Slobodzian, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2013, 1:02 PM

Facing imminent arrest for the alleged sexual assault of a 10-year-old pupil in his English class, parochial school teacher Bernard Shero penned a sad letter apologizing to his parents for the “ridicule and shame,” took an overdose of sleeping pills and waited for death in his Bristol apartment.

Death did not arrive on Feb. 10, 2011 but Philadelphia police Det. Andrew Snyder did and the detective told a Common Pleas Court jury today how lucky timing let him arrest Shero instead of follow him to the morgue.

Shero, 49, and Rev. Charles Engelhardt, 66, are on trial for the sexual assault of the 10-year-old in 1998 and 1999 while he was an altar boy and pupil at St. Jerome’s church and school in the Northeast.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Philly Post

Jurors in Bernard Shero’s case today heard testimony about his attempted suicide in 2011, on the same day he’d been expected to turn himself in on charges that he had sexually molested an altar boy a decade earlier.

There was testimony today that defendant Bernard Shero tried to commit suicide in 2011, on the morning he was supposed to surrender to face charges he sexually assaulted the boy, then 11 years old, in 2000. In a note, Shero had apologized to his parents and told them he didn’t think he had “much of a choice here” and he thinks they know why.

But he went on to say he’d be dragged though the mud whether he is innocent or guilty.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Times Online

Associated Press

The lone priest to plead guilty in the decade-long investigation of sexual abuse within the Philadelphia archdiocese is expected to testify Thursday for the prosecution.

Now-defrocked priest Edward Avery is serving 2-1/2 to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy in 1999. He also admits conspiring with Roman Catholic church officials, one of whom was convicted of child endangerment last year.

Avery did not testify at that trial.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Stern

Das Scheitern der Studie zum Missbrauchsskandal in der Katholischen Kirche hat bei Betroffenen Empörung ausgelöst. “Die Kirche will sich aus der Affäre ziehen”, sagt Alois Reichgruber dem stern. “Das ist wieder die Kirche, die das Problem aussitzen will.”

Reichgruber war als 16-Jähriger mehrfach von seinem Dorfpfarrer in Oberbayern missbraucht worden. Er gehört zu den fünf Missbrauchsopfern, die der Papst während seines Deutschlandbesuchs 2011 zu einem persönlichen Gespräch getroffen hatte. Der Papst habe sich dabei offiziell bei den Betroffenen für das Geschehene entschuldigt, sagt Reichgruber. “Wir hatten insgesamt nur eine Viertelstunde, dann drängten ihn seine Bodyguards zum Aufbruch.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

17.01.2013 · Die katholische Kirche hat sich um die Aufklärung von Fällen sexueller Gewalt bemüht. Aber es ist noch viel zu tun.

Von Daniel Deckers, Trier

Eines muss man den katholischen Bischöfen in Deutschland lassen: Sie haben es versucht. Anders als die Odenwaldschule, anders als der Deutsche Olympische Sportbund, anders als die Kultusministerien der Länder und auch anders als die Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland haben sie vor zwei Jahren ein Forschungsprojekt ins Leben gerufen, um Art und Ausmaß sexueller Gewalt gegen Kinder und Jugendliche in ihrem Verantwortungsbereich auf die Spur zu kommen. Als die Bischöfe im Jahr 2002 erste Leitlinien zum Umgang mit Fällen sexuellen Missbrauchs im Raum der Kirche verabschiedeten, war die katholische Kirche zudem die einzige Institution in Deutschland, die über ein solches Regelwerk verfügte. Daran hat sich bis heute nichts geändert.

Was derzeit den Mitarbeitern und Einrichtungen in den 27 Bistümern unter dem Stichwort „Prävention“ an Führungszeugnissen, Schulungen und Selbstverpflichtungen abverlangt wird, sucht gleichfalls seinesgleichen. Überdies entstehen seit dem vergangenen Jahr im Zusammenwirken kirchlicher und universitärer Einrichtungen in Deutschland und im Vatikan internetbasierte Präventionskonzepte, die an verschiedene Kulturkreise angepasst werden und dann weltweit Schule machen sollen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

Hamburg (dapd-rps). Die katholische Kirche lässt die heftige Kritik des Kriminologen Christian Pfeiffer nicht auf sich sitzen. Nachdem Pfeiffer den Kirchenvertretern Zensur bei der Aufarbeitung von Missbrauchsfällen vorgeworfen hatte, hält die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz ihm “Ressentiments” vor. Pfeiffer habe bei der Erarbeitung einer Studie zum Missbrauch “nach und nach eine bemerkenswerte Antihaltung zur katholischen Kirche” entwickelt, sagte der Sekretär der Bischofskonferenz, Hans Langendörfer, in der ARD-Sendung “Beckmann” (Donnerstag, 22.45 Uhr) laut einer vorab verbreiteten Mitteilung.

Langendörfer und Pfeiffer, der auch im Studio zu Gast war, lieferten sich während der Aufzeichnung der Sendung einen Schlagabtausch. Pfeiffer erneuerte seine Vorhaltungen und erklärte, am 7. Mai einen neuen Vertrag für die Studie erhalten zu haben. “Und da stand plötzlich drin: Wir diskutieren über die Texte im Beirat, aber wenn wir zu keiner Einigung kommen, darf der Text nicht veröffentlicht werden.” Schließlich beendete die Kirche die Zusammenarbeit. Darin sieht Pfeiffer eine Zensur. Langendörfer hielt dagegen: “Sie setzen Dinge in die Welt, die Halb- oder Unwahrheiten sind. Das nenne ich eine wirkliche Enttäuschung.” Die Kirche habe die wissenschaftliche Publikation in keiner Weise behindern wollen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger

Der Streit um die gescheiterte Missbrauchsstudie eskaliert: Die katholischen Deutsche Bischofskonferenz warf dem Kriminologen Christian Pfeiffer Unehrlichkeit vor. Pfeiffer habe eine „bemerkenswerte Antihaltung zur katholischen Kirche“ entwickelt.

Hamburg.
Im Streit um die gescheiterte Missbrauchsstudie hat der Sekretär der katholischen Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, Hans Langendörfer, dem Kriminologen Christian Pfeiffer Unseriosität und Unehrlichkeit vorgeworfen. „Sie setzen Dinge in die Welt, die Halb- oder Unwahrheiten sind. Das nenne ich eine wirkliche Enttäuschung“, sagte Langendörfer in der ARD-Sendung „Beckmann“ nach einer am Donnerstag vorab verbreiteten Presseerklärung.

Pfeiffer habe „nach und nach eine bemerkenswerte Antihaltung zur katholischen Kirche“ und „Ressentiments“ entwickelt, fügte Langendörfer hinzu. „Dass Sie, Herr Pfeiffer, permanent zu Protokoll geben, Sie hätten ihre Ergebnisse nicht publizieren können – Sie wissen selbst, dass das die Unwahrheit ist“, erklärte Langendörfer. Die wissenschaftliche Publikation „wäre in keiner Weise ein Hindernis gewesen von der Kirche aus“.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Archdiocese refusing to turn over criminal evidence to police in current child sex abuse case
Former Fond du Lac priest Jerome Wagner under active investigation for child sex
assaults
Group urging action by Wisconsin Attorney General

WHO
Victim/survivors of childhood sexual assault by clergy of the Milwaukee archdiocese who are members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org/SNAPwisconsin.com), will discuss outside the Milwaukee office of the Wisconsin Attorney General, new documents filed in Federal Bankruptcy Court which show that officials of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee are refusing to cooperate with police in a current child abuse investigation in Fond du Lac concerning former priest, Fr. Jerome Wagner. The Archdiocese will not turn over to the police Wagner’s church file, which contains criminal evidence of at least 7 other victims of child sex crimes.

In a brief to the court, at least 350 victims are calling upon Judge Susan Kelley to allow their
attorneys to immediately release Wagner’s file to police and make abuse related files, documents, and depositions public.

Victims, in a letter to the Wisconsin AG, are also urging his involvement to assure the public that
church officials have turned over all abuse related evidence in Wisconsin to local officials and are not obstructing or impeding justice.

Expected to join SNAP members is a victim/survivor of Wagner, who was sexually assaulted by the priest as a youngster attending St. Jerome’s Church in Oconomowoc.

After the press conference SNAP will attempt to hand deliver a letter to the Milwaukee office of the Wisconsin Attorney General.

WHEN Thursday, January 17, 1:30 p.m.

WHERE Lobby of the State Office Building, outside of the Department of Justice, Office of Crime Victim Services (Room 180), 819 N. 6th Street, Milwaukee

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

To: The Honorable J. B. Van Hollen, Attorney General, Wisconsin Department of Justice
From: Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests)
Re: Archdiocese of Milwaukee obstructing active child sex abuse investigation

Dear Attorney General Van Hollen,

We are writing on behalf of childhood victims of rape, sexual assault and abuse by clergy sex offenders from the Milwaukee Archdiocese, our families, and the clergy that support us. Our organization, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org) is the oldest and largest self-help community of survivors of clergy sex crimes in the world, founded in 1989 and with over 12,000 members.

Today 350 victim/survivors filed a brief with supporting documents in Milwaukee Federal Bankruptcy Court that demonstrate that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is refusing to cooperate with law enforcement officials and turn over evidence of sex crimes against children in a current and active investigation of childhood sexual assault (see attachments). Church officials are making the absurd assertion to the Fond du Lac police that the rules of bankruptcy court prohibit such cooperation. This is contrary to the repeated and public claims by Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki that church officials always cooperate with civil investigations of child abuse and that he has already turned over all relevant evidence of sex crimes to district attorneys in the 10 counties in which the archdiocese operates.

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OHIO
WKBN

Five more people have contacted attorneys claiming they were sexually abused by a Franciscan friar who taught religion, coached baseball and was the athletic trainer at Warren’s John F. Kennedy High School in the late 1980s.

Eleven others have reached settlements with the Franciscan Order based in Pennsylvania, JFK High School and the Youngstown Diocese and another person had contacted Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian before the quintet contacted Garabedian later on Wednesday.

Garabedian said Thursday the five men, all JFK students, contacted him with claims they were abused by the friar, Brother Stephen P. Baker, who taught at the school and was the athletic trainer at JFK from 1986-1991.

Garabedian said a sixth person, a woman, also called and said she was being treated for a sports injury while at JFK when Baker made an odd request.

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CONNECTICUT
NBC Connecticut

By Emily Feldman

Thursday, Jan 17, 2013

A federal grand jury has indicted three men from Connecticut, including a priest, and two individuals from California with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorney’s office said on Wednesday.

Msgr. Kevin Wallin, who resigned as pastor of Bridgeport’s St. Augustine Parish in June 2011, was arrested on Jan. 3 and charged with six counts of possession with intent to distribute crystal meth.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Wallin is accused of receiving shipments of crystal meth from a California distributor and selling it to an undercover officer six times between September 2012 and January 2013.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $2 million.

According to the Diocese of Bridgeport, Wallin, 61, resigned from his post after nine years, telling parishioners “that he was struggling with a number of health and personal issues” and he was granted a sabbatical.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Child abuse inquiry says it’s ready to use powers to compel production of evidence

Rick Morton
From:The Australian
January 16, 2013

THE head of the royal commission into child sexual abuse says the inquiry won’t hesitate to exercise its powers to compel people and organisations to give evidence before it.

Justice Peter McClellan said the task before the commission, set up to investigate institutional responses to child sexual abuse, was complex, large and would take time.

Julia Gillard has given the six royal commissioners until December 2015 to complete their inquiry, with an interim report expected by June 2014.

Justice McClellan, speaking publicly for the first time since being appointed to head the royal commission, said there had been considerable public discussion about the powers of the commission to inquire into matters that were the subject of confidentiality agreements.

Some child abuse victims signed such agreements when settling claims against institutions.

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ROME
Vatican Insider

After his conviction in the Vatileaks trial and having been granted a papal pardon, Paolo Gabriele is to start a new job in the “Bambino Gesù” children’s hospital, in Rome

Alessandro Speciale
Vatican City

Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, should shortly begin working in the Vatican children’s hospital, “Bambino Gesù”. The news was reported by a number of international news agencies after Italian daily “Il Messaggero” published an article about it.

After being sentenced to 18 months in prison for the “aggravated theft” of confidential documents, in the famous Vatileaks trial, “Paoletto” as he is known to those close to him, received the Pope’s pardon in time for Christmas. Since then, he has been living with his wife and three children in a small apartment given to them.

In a statement issued upon receipt of the papal pardon last 22 December, the Vatican Secretary of State stressed that “although he could not have his old job back and continue to live in the Vatican,” the Holy See would be granting Gabriele and his family “the possibility to resume their lives peacefully.”

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CONNECTICUT
New York Daily News

Monsignor Kevin Wallin, a former pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport, Conn., has been charged as part of a five-man meth ring the feds busted up earlier this month. Wallin, 61, resigned from his post as pastor in 2011, citing health and personal issues.

By Philip Caulfield / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Published: Thursday, January 17,

He went from pastor to pusher.

A Connecticut priest was part of a cross-country drug ring that smuggled crystal meth from California into the well-heeled hamlets of Fairfield County, federal prosecutors said.

Monsignor Kevin Wallin, a former pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport, sold meth to undercover narcs six times since September 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

The 61-year-old former church leader and four others were indicted by a grand jury on six counts of possession with intent to distribute.

If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison and a $2 million fine.

The Diocese of Bridgeport expressed “shock” at the news, saying many in Fairfield County regarded him as “a gifted, accomplished and compassionate priest,” according to a statement.

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CONNECTICUT
Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport

January 16, 2013

News of Msgr. Kevin Wallin’s arrest comes with a sense of shock and concern on the part of the Diocese and the many people of Fairfield County who have known him as a gifted, accomplished and compassionate priest.

Msgr. Wallin resigned as Pastor of St. Augustine Parish in June 2011, a post he had held for nine years. At the time, he told parishioners and friends that he was struggling with a number of health and personal issues. He was granted a sabbatical in July of 2011.

During his sabbatical, the Diocese became concerned about Msgr. Wallin’s wellbeing and has reached out to him. To date, he has not spoken directly with diocesan officials.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Rundschau

Beim sexuellen Missbrauch von Kindern und Jugendlichen durch katholische Geistliche haben die Täter die moralische Autorität ihres Amtes und den religiösen Kontext planvoll ausgenutzt. Erstmals gibt es zudem Hinweise auf Täternetzwerke, die sich potenzielle Opfer nach Art von Pädophilen-Ringen zugeführt haben.

Von Joachim Frank

Trier –
Dies geht aus einer systematischen Auswertung von fast 9000 Beratungsgesprächen und Internet-Korrespondenzen einer zentralen Hotline hervor, die die katholische Bischofskonferenz von März 2010 bis Ende Dezember 2012 unterhalten hatte. Bei der Präsentation der Ergebnisse sprach der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Bischöfe, der Trierer Oberhirte Stephan Ackermann, von einem Angebot für die Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs, das „weltweit seinesgleichen sucht“. Es sei eingestellt worden, weil sich am Ende lediglich noch ein bis zwei Anrufer pro Mitarbeiterschicht gemeldet hätten. Die Anlaufstellen in den 27 Bistümern blieben aber erhalten.

Nach den Erkenntnissen aus den Hotline-Kontakten nutzten kirchliche Amtsträger ihren spezifischen Vertrauensvorschuss aus, setzten die Strahlkraft religiöser Riten zur Ausschaltung von Schutzmechanismen der Opfer ein und gaben die eigenen Vergehen als „Ausdruck liebender Verbundenheit in Christus oder Auserwählung vor Gott“ aus. Diese „Spiritualisierung des Verbrechens“ sei für ihn das besonders Perfide und Abscheuliche, sagte Ackermann.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

[Bing Translator]

Trier – Katholische Priester haben ihre sexuellen Übergriffe auf Kinder und Jugendliche genau geplant. Das sei eines der «erschütternden Ergebnisse», die die Auswertung der Gespräche bei der Hotline für Missbrauchsopfer erbracht habe.

Das sagte der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz (DBK), Triers Bischof Stephan Ackermann, am in Trier.

Jene Priester und Diakone hätten «sich das Vertrauen von Kindern erschlichen und diese dann auf schändliche Weise missbraucht» – in der Kirche, in Heimen und in Internaten. Fast 8500 Gespräche waren bei der Opfer-Hotline der katholischen Kirche geführt worden, die von Ende März 2010 bis Ende 2012 geschaltet war. Die Bewegung «Wir sind Kirche» bedauerte die Einstellung der Telefon-Hotline.

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