ABUSE TRACKER

LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Associated Press

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Confidential files of dozens of priests accused of sex abuse must be turned over by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to a judge by the end of the month.

The order issued Monday doesn’t mean the files will be made public immediately, however.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias will hold another hearing on Jan. 7 to hear objections from individual priests and to decide a dispute over redactions made to the documents.

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NEW YORK
NY1

[with video]

An Orthodox Rabbi who served as a religious counselor was convicted Monday of sexual abuse.

Nechemya Weberman was found guilty in Brooklyn court of sustained abuse of a child and endangering the welfare of a child.

His accuser, now 18, told investigators Weberman repeatedly abused her for a period of three years beginning when she was 12 years old.

The 54-year-old was not a licensed counselor, but worked as such within his Brooklyn community.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By JOSH SAUL
Last Updated: 4:11 PM, December 10, 2012

A once-revered ultra-orthodox Jewish leader was convicted in Brooklyn today of sexually abusing a young girl in his care from the time she was just 12 years old.

Jurors found Satmar Hasidic leader Nechemya Weberman guilty on all 59 counts against him, including the top charge of prolonged sexual conduct against a child.

Weberman, who was immediately cuffed after the verdict, faces up to 25 years behind bars on the top count alone.

Other counts included sexual abuse and child endangerment.

Weberman sat stoically as the guilty verdicts were read out loud.

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

A Hasidic leader and counselor was found guilty on 59 counts of sexual abuse by a Brooklyn jury. Nechemya Weberman, 54, a powerful figure in the Satmar community, was remanded into custody.

The graphic accusations against Weberman were brought forth by a 17-year-old who said the abuse started when she was 12 years old. She said that he forced her to perform oral sex and inappropriately touched her between March 2007 and March 2010. The teenager was ostracized by her community because she asked questions about God’s existence and wore thin tights: “You had to wear tights that are very thick so there’s no way anybody can see your legs,” she said. “I was sent to the principal’s office every day because my tights weren’t thick enough.”

Her school made her see Weberman, who is not a licensed therapist, for counseling. Weberman had insisted he never touched the girl, insisted she was rude (he says she told him “Why should I trust you? Why should I talk to you? You look like a Hasidic f–k. You look like my father”), adding that “There are people who are better than her.”

Weberman’s lawyer compared the trial to the Salem witch trials, and a dismissed juror told the Post that she’d acquit, “I didn’t have enough evidence to nail the person. No video, no DNA. There wasn’t enough evidence for me. Both sides were a little shady.”

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By Simone Weichselbaum / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, December 10, 2012

Embarrassed by the sex abuse trial of a Hasidic counselor, leaders of Williamsburg’s pious Satmar sect are considering a different way to deal with rebellious teens: shipping them out of the country for treatment.

The idea comes as the jury weighs charges against the counselor, Nechemya Weberman, who prosecutors said molested a then-12-year-old girl referred to him because she wore supposedly indecent clothing, read People magazine and questioned God’s authority in a religious school class.

Without addressing the allegations against Weberman, a Satmar official told the Daily News that leaders are considering ways to avoid similar accusations by victims.

“This was a wakeup call; nobody denies that,” said Gary Schlesinger, who heads a nonprofit tied to Satmar leader Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum.

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NEW YORK
The Wall Street Journal

By Pervaiz Shallwani

A prominent ultra-Orthodox Jewish counselor was found guilty Monday of sexually abusing a teenage girl over a three-year span — a rare win for prosecutors in an insular Brooklyn community they have long accused of keeping members quiet.

In a packed courtroom, the jury of four men and eight women found Nechemya Weberman, 54 years old, guilty on 59 counts of sexual abuse and child endangerment — the most serious that he sexually assaulted the young woman over a sustained period of time from when she was 12 to 15 years old.

Weberman faces up to the 25 years in prison on the most serious charges. His lawyers have said they plan to appeal the decision.

He was sent to prison awaiting sentencing on Jan. 9.

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NEW YORK
CBS News

It took the jury about one day of deliberations to issue its verdict in the sexual abuse case of a prominent Brooklyn ultra Orthodox Jewish leader, CBS New York reports.

Nechemya Weberman, 54, was found guilty on all 60 charges against him for allegedly molesting a girl he was counseling over a three-year span beginning when the girl was 12, WCBS 880?s Irene Cornell reported.

The charges include sexual conduct with a child and criminal sexual acts, CBS 2’s Tony Aiello reported.

Weberman showed no emotion as the verdict was read, Cornell reported. He was handcuffed and taken into police custody after the verdict was read, where he will remain until sentencing.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

By SHARON OTTERMAN

Published: December 10, 2012

Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed ultra-Orthodox Jewish counselor in Brooklyn’s tight-knit Satmar Hasidic community, was convicted on Monday of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl in his care.

A State Supreme Court jury found Mr. Weberman guilty on multiple counts — all the charges he was facing after a judge had consolidated the 88 charges brought by Mr. Hynes’s office. He faces at least 25 years in prison, according to The Associated Press.

The verdict was a significant victory for Charles J. Hynes, the Brooklyn district attorney, whose office has been criticized for not acting aggressively enough against sexual abusers in the borough’s large and politically connected Hasidic community. The case was a difficult one, because there was no physical evidence; the trial hinged on the credibility of Mr. Weberman and his accuser.

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NEW YORK
The Awareness Center

Nechemya Weberman was convicted of 60 counts, including sustained sex abuse of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and other counts. He faces 25 years in prison on the top charge and two to seven years on the lesser charges.

The Awareness Center wants to thank the teenage survivor for her courage to come forward and speak the truth and her family for not caving into the political pressures that surrounded this case. Both the survivor and her family members should be seen as heroes. When ever they walk into a room everyone should stand up and applaud them for their heroic efforts. Fund also need to be raised to assist the survivor and her family members heal.

The Awareness Center also wants to thank the hundreds of people who supported this young brave woman during this important time of her life.

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NEW YORK
The Daily Beast

For one man it is not a happy Chanukah. A religious counselor in New York’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community was found guilty Monday of “sustained sexual abuse” of a girl who initially approached him with questions about her faith. Nechemya Weberman, 54, looked down silently as the guilty verdict convicting him on 59 counts of sexual abuse of a child and endangering the welfare of a child was read. Weberman faces 25 years in prison.

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NEW YORK
The Vancouver Sun

By Colleen Long, The Associated Press
December 10, 2012

NEW YORK, N.Y. – A religious counsellor in New York’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community was convicted Monday of the sustained sexual abuse of a girl who came to him with questions about her faith.

The courtroom was silent as Nechemya Weberman was convicted of 59 counts, including sustained sex abuse of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and other counts. He faces 25 years in prison on the top charge and two to seven years on the lesser charges.

The 54-year-old defendant and his relatives stared down at the ground as the verdict was pronounced. Some of the accusers’ supporters smiled quietly.

The accuser, now 18, told authorities Weberman abused her repeatedly from the time she was 12 until she was 15.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By Oren Yaniv / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, December 10, 2012, 3:06 PM

Guilty 59 times over.

A Brooklyn jury found Nechemya Weberman – a prominent figure in the Satmar Hasidic community – guilty Monday of sexually abusing a rebellious young girl he was paid to counsel.

The verdict came after an explosive two-week trial, where customs of the strict Williamsburg-based sect were aired in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

He is facing a maximum of 25 years on prison of the top count alone, prolonged sexual conduct against a child.

The main evidence against the 54-year-old counselor was testimony from the victim, who turned 18 last week. During four brutal days of testimony and cross-examination, the striking young woman recounted how she was forced to perform oral sex and reenact porn scenes during closed-door counseling sessions that started in 2007, when she was 12.

Her yeshiva referred her to Weberman because she flouted her sect’s strict modesty rules and asked probing questions about the existence of God.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

After years of delays and legal wrangling, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is set to make public the confidential personnel records of all priests accused of molesting children. Victims said the files would provide accountability for church leaders who let pedophiles remain in the ministry, but the documents have been scrubbed of those identities, which many regard as the most important information.

Below are examples of what will be removed before the documents’ public release if the court upholds the current plan to redact church officials’ names.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

December 10, 2012 | 12:01pm

A Los Angeles County judge is set to meet today with lawyers for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and victims of clergy sex abuse.

The hearing before Superior Court Judge Emilie H. Elias comes three days after the L.A. Times filed a motion opposing the redaction of the names of high-ranking church officials in confidential church files set to be made public in coming weeks. The records, all pertaining to priests accused of sexual abuse, are being released as part of a 2007 settlement with more than 500 alleged victims.

“The public is entitled to know which members of the hierarchy had information about the widespread molestation of children and what they did about it,” lawyers for the newspaper wrote. “Without this information, the public will not be able to assess the extent of institutional or individual knowledge of the abuse.”

DOCUMENTS: What the Catholic Church wants to redact

A retired judge tasked with overseeing the file release ordered church lawyers last year to black out the names of all employees of the archdiocese. The judge, Dickran Tevrizian, said he was impressed with the church’s reforms and feared the files would result in “guilt by association” against church officials who had contact with abuser priests.

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CHILE
Catholic News Agency

Santiago, Chile, Dec 10, 2012 / 12:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has found Chilean priest Father Cristian Precht guilty of abusive conduct and has suspended him from all priestly functions for a period of five years.

According to a statement by the Vicar General of Santiago, Msgr. Cristian Contreras Villarroel, the abuse took place over 20 years ago.

Fr. Precht is known in Chile for his defense of human rights during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. He was one of the founders of the Vicariate of Solidarity, an institution created to help victims of the regime.

In response to the confirmation of the accusations against the priest, Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati decided to issue a decree prohibiting Fr. Precht from “exercising priestly public ministry for a period of five years, leaving to the bishop to power to extend the indicated period for the time he considers appropriate.”

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PHILIPPINES/UNITED STATES
Inquirer

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer Visayas
1:54 am | Tuesday, December 11th, 2012

ILOILO CITY, Philippines—A Filipino Catholic priest wanted in the United States for theft and possession of child pornography has surrendered to Philippine authorities after more than a year as a fugitive.

“I am so sorry. I want to apologize to all the people… for the damage I have done to you all, to the Church and to myself,” Fr. Lowe Dongor said in an interview in Iloilo.

A native of Barotac Nuevo town in Iloilo, Dongor was flown to the US Monday evening, more than a month after he surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Western Visayas office on Nov. 2.

Dongor, 36, was accompanied by NBI investigating agent Arnold Diaz and will be turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to face various charges including unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Dongor agreed to the interview on condition that the news report would be released after he had left the country.

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GERMANY
Worldcrunch

DIE WELT (Germany)

BERLIN – A forensic analysis of the psychiatric and psychological profiles of 78 German Catholic priests accused of child abuse between 2000 and 2010 shows that only nine were pedophiles. Four showed homosexual tendencies towards adolescent boys. Of the remaining 65, 54% were heterosexuals, 37% were homosexual, and nine were bisexual.

Bishop Stephan Ackermann told Die Welt that it was hoped the study, which was mandated by the Catholic Church, would help the Church to better understand and deal with priests accused of child abuse, and that it would constitute a further step towards transparency.

Norbert Denef, the founder and head of netzwerkB, a German network for victims of “sexualized violence,” called for an independent commission to investigate the sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church. This was the only way to ensure justice for victims, he said. “You wouldn’t ask the Mafia to investigate their own crimes,” he said.

Reporting abuse to authorities should be mandatory, and there should be no statute of limitations in child abuse cases because it sometimes took decades for victims to come to terms with the events and speak out, Denef said.

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UNITED STATES
Riverfront Times

By Chad Garrison
Mon., Dec. 10 2012

Ten year’s ago this month David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), was named one of the world’s “25 Most Intriguing” by People magazine.

Included in that 2002 class were actors and performers such as George Clooney and Britney Spears, world leaders the likes of Saddam Hussein and Jimmy Carter, athletes Serena Williams and Pat Tillman (the football player who’d recently left the NFL to serve in the Army but had yet to die of friendly fire) and a few Regular Joes such as Clohessy.

Last week Daily RFT caught up with Clohessy, to discuss what the People magazine designation meant at the time, what SNAP has accomplished since then, and what challenges still lie ahead for the St. Louis-based organization that continues to garner international headlines for exposing child sex abuse.

Daily RFT: SNAP has been around since 1988. But what changed in 2002 that even a celebrity magazine such as People had to write about you?

David Clohessy: 2002 was a crazy, crazy year. The Boston Globe had done this huge investigative series — literally hundreds of stories — about child sex abuse within the Catholic Church. And all of the sudden the topic became the burning, Page One story in newspaper after newspaper after newspaper all across the county. And that is only reason why someone from SNAP was in People magazine.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Bishop of Phoenix, Olmsted, will soon be officially announced as the new Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life

Marco Tosatti
Rome

The official announcement of the appointment of the Bishop of Phoenix (Arizona) Thomas J. Olmsted, as Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life is expected any day now. Olmsted should replace fellow American, Tobin, who occupied this delicate position for a very short period. Tobin heads the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Olmsted’s approach in the Congregation is expected to be far closer to the sensibilities of American bishops with regard to issue of the LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious)’s rebellious stance towards Catholic bishops and the Holy See. The number of nuns in the United States dropped by over two thousand members in just one year, from 57.113 to 55.045.

Olmsted’s arrival will further strengthen the U.S.’s growing influence within the Catholic Church’s central government, the Assessor to the Secretariat of State, Peter Brian Wells, being the U.S.’ foremost point of reference.

This had been James Harvey’s role up until about a week ago when he was still Prefect of the Papal Household. Harvey was recently created cardinal and appointed archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. So a promotion and the biretta. But this removal from the Apostolic Palace may have been directly or indirectly linked to the case involving the Pope’s disloyal former butler.

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NEDERLAND
Trouw

De Maastrichtse pastoor Jan Schafraad mag vanaf maandag de mis weer opdragen. Bisschop Frans Wiertz van Roermond schorste Schafraad enkele maanden geleden omdat hij werd beschuldigd van seksueel misbruik van kinderen. Wiertz liet Schafraad donderdagmiddag tijdens een gesprek weten dat hij weer terug mag zolang er geen nieuwe klachten tegen hem komen. Dat maakte het bisdom Roermond bekend. .

Het misbruik zou hebben plaatsgevonden toen Schafraad nog als broeder werkte op jongensinternaat Bleijerheide in Kerkrade. De klachtencommissie voor seksueel misbruik in de RK Kerk wees klachten tegen hem echter af. Wel zijn twee klagers nog in hoger beroep, maar in afwachting daarvan mag Schafraad terug de kansel op.

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SYRACUSE (NY)
The Post-Standard

By Jim O’Hara, The Post-Standard
on December 10, 2012

Syracuse, NY – A lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse – involving allegations four young boys from Montgomery County were sexually abused by a priest – can go forward in its abbreviated fashion, a state appeals court has ruled.

The state Supreme Court Appellate Division in Rochester recently upheld rulings Syracuse Justice Brian DeJoseph made last year in the case of the Rev. John Broderick.

DeJoseph dismissed part of the lawsuit seeking to hold the diocese responsible as Broderick’s employer, noting the courts in New York have clearly concluded sex abuse is not within the scope of a priest’s employment to hold any employer liable.

DeJoseph also had ruled the diocese had no fiduciary relationship with the victims’ family and that the victims’ father had shown no specific harm to him to justify his personal claims in the lawsuit.

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CHILE
El Observatodo

DECLARACIÓN DEL OBISPO VICARIO GENERAL DE SANTIAGO

Santiago de Chile, jueves 6 de diciembre de 2012

Por especial encargo de monseñor Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, actualmente en viaje a Roma para participar de un encuentro convocado por el Papa Benedicto XVI, con ocasión de 15º aniversario de la Exhortación Apostólica “La Iglesia en América”, me es un deber comunicar lo siguiente:

1. El pasado 28 de junio de 2012, el Arzobispo de Santiago, monseñor Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, comunicó el resultado del proceso administrativo penal contra el presbítero Cristián Precht Bañados.

2. En dicho proceso se constataron noticias verosímiles de conductas abusivas con mayores y menores de edad. Esto exigía enviar las actas del proceso a la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, única entidad competente para examinar los “delitos más graves”, incluso cuando están prescritos para la legislación canónica al haber transcurrido 20 años desde que las eventuales víctimas cumplieron 18 años de edad (cfr. Declaración Arzobispo de Santiago, 28 de junio de 2012).

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CHILE
BBC Mundo

Rodrigo Bustamante
Chile, para BBC Mundo

Existe pesar en el mundo ligado a la defensa de los derechos humanos en Chile luego que el Vaticano apartara del sacerdocio a Cristián Precht, quien fue uno de los íconos de la oposición al régimen de facto de Augusto Pinochet.

La Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe comprobó la acusación de “conductas abusivas con mayores y menores de edad” contra el religioso, y le prohibió por cinco años el ejercicio público del ministerio sacerdotal y la potestad de confesar y dirigir espiritualmente a jóvenes y menores.

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CHILE
Terra

El obispo auxiliar de Santiago, Monseñor Cristián Contreras, lamentó los últimos hechos corroborados por el Vaticano contra personeros de la Iglesia en Chile por casos de abuso sexual y manifestó las intenciones de acompañar a las víctimas en estos procesos.

Recordar que la Santa Sede confirmó los casos de abuso sexual en contra del sacerdote Cristián Precht, lo que provocó que el Arzobispado de Santiago alejara de sus funciones al párroco, informó Cooperativa.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Washington Post

Secret files on Los Angeles archdiocese priests accused of sex abuse could soon become public

By Associated Press

Updated: Monday, December 10

LOS ANGELES — Secret files kept for decades by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles on priests accused of sexually abusing children could soon become public as a five-year legal battle over their release reaches its endgame.

A judge will hear final objections Monday from accused priests and is also expected to begin hashing out a timeline for the release of thousands of pages of top-secret church documents on abusive clerics. Plaintiff attorneys have been trying to gain access to the files since a $660 million settlement in 2007 called for their disclosure.

Earlier this year, the California Supreme Court declined to intervene after a lower court ordered the release of some of the files, setting the stage for a larger disclosure.

Both attorneys for the church and the plaintiffs said they expected the documents would be made public within a month and no later than February after Monday’s critical hearing. Private files on Franciscan friars accused of abuse were released earlier this year after a similar legal fight.

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IRELAND/UNITED STATES
Irish Central

By
ANTOINETTE KELLY,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Sunday, December 9

A new Irish documentary has just made the 2013 Oscars shortlist. ‘Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God’ has been shortlisted in the Best Documentary Feature lineup.

An Irish/American co-production, Oscar winning director Alex Gibney helmed the documentary, which was shot all over Ireland, the US and part of Italy.

The film revisits the abuse scandal in the Irish Catholic Church, with first-hand accounts from victims. It has also reportedly uncovered a number of scandals that went beyond the abuse, including cover ups in the Church and the Vatican.

According to the Irish Film and Television Network, Northern Irish production company Below the Radar co-produced with Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions and Wider Film Projects

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IRELAND/UNITED STATES
Irish Film and Television Network

By Eva Hall

Another Irish production has made the Oscars shortlist for 2013, with documentary ‘Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God’ being shortlisted in the Best Documentary Feature documentary.

The Irish/American co-production joins short animation ‘Head Over Heels’, which was produced by Irish woman Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, and made the shortlist last month.

Oscar winning director Alex Gibney helmed ‘Silence in the House of God’, which was shot all over Ireland, the US and part of Italy. The feature documentary revisits the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, with first-hand accounts from victims.

The documentary uncovered a number of scandals that went beyond the abuse, to cover ups in the Irish Catholic Church to the Vatican.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Victorian Government’s inquiry into sexual abuse by religious and other organisations has been told a financial assistance scheme is needed for abuse victims.

The inquiry held a hearing in Ballarat on Friday.

Peter Blinkiron is a survivor of clergy sexual abuse and told the inquiry a scheme similar to that for injured soldiers should be set up.

He says many abuse victims are struggling to survive.

Mr Blinkiron says the Catholic Church could afford to fund the scheme.

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GERMANY
U.S. Catholic

By Bryan Cones

News that psychological profiles of German priests who abused young people are by and large “psychologically normal” is raising eyebrows overseas. While 12 percent of abusive priests could be classified as pedophiles (compulsively sexually attracted to prepubescent children) and 5 percent as ephebophiles (attracted to teenagers), more than 80 percent showed no signs of a psychological disorder. (If you are wondering, 54 percent identified as heterosexual, 37 as homosexual, and 9 as bisexual.) Victims advocate Norbert Denef of Netzwerk B blamed the results on the fact that the German bishops provided the statistics. “You wouldn’t ask the mafia to investigate its own crimes,” he said, according to Reuters.

The German church will doubtless have failed in many ways when the truth is fully revealed, but a piece of me isn’t surprised that most of the priests turned out to be “normal”–normal, that is, because the sexual abuse of young people is still fairly commonplace, and perpetrators are not likely to all be suffering some diagnosable psychological disorder. The problem with “normal” is that some adults, many of them men, think it is “normal” to have sex with someone underage when given the right place and time. In fact, it is so “normal” that as many as 1 in 4 woman and 1 in 7 or 8 men in the U.S. experience some form of inappropriate sexual contact before they are 18.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

For 40 years many boys placed in institutions run by the order of St John of God were molested, raped and physically assaulted by some of the men who were supposed to care for them. Now a former nun who worked for the order speaks out about what she says is a culture of collusion within its ranks.

Lisa Whitehead

Transcript

EDITOR’S NOTE: There is an issue with the video for this story that will be rectified on Monday 10 December, apologies for any inconvenience.

CHRIS UHLMANN, PRESENTER: Among the litany of accusations that led to the recent announcement of a Royal commission into the institutional child sex abuse, none have been more shocking than those surrounding the Catholic order St John of God. For 40 years boys placed in the order’s care were molested, raped and physically assaulted. The story has hit the headlines this week with the arrest in New Zealand of a former brother accused of molesting 35 children in a home for intellectually disabled boys. Tonight a former nun who worked for the order speaks out about what she says is a culture of collusion within its ranks. In a moment I’ll be joined by the head of the order, Brother Timothy Graham, but first this report by Lisa Whitehead.

LISA WHITEHEAD, REPORTER: This is former Catholic Brother Bernard McGrath. He’s now facing possible extradition to Australia on 252 sex abuse charges. He’s accused of abusing 35 children.

The alleged offences occurred at the Kendall Grange boys’ home in Morisset, south of Newcastle. It belonged to St John of God, an order of the Church that’s accused of covering up decades of allegations of abuse of vulnerable children in its care.

WAYNE CHAMLEY, BROKEN RITES: It’s behaviour that’s endemic within the order and it’s been allowed to go on for decades.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

December 11, 2012

Barney Zwartz

TWO paedophiles – one reportedly the youngest person ever put on the Victorian Sex Offenders Register – were ”roaming the Jewish community” with most members utterly unaware, the state inquiry into how religious groups handled child sex abuse was told on Monday.

Community leader and abuse whistleblower Manny Waks said there was overwhelming evidence that child sexual abuse was endemic in the Jewish community and ”the appalling way in which it has been mishandled”, including credible claims of continuing cover-ups.

He said that in the few months since his written submission there had been more serious allegations of child sexual abuse. ”Worse, in all of these new cases, those in positions of authority attempted to cover up these crimes.”

Mr Waks, a former vice-president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, last year became the first Jewish victim to publicly tell the story of his abuse, at Yeshivah College in Melbourne more than 20 years ago. He gave evidence with his father, Zephaniah Waks, but Family and Community Development committee chairwoman Georgie Crozier suppressed Mr Waks senior’s testimony.

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GERMANY
Irish Times

DEREK SCALLY

Germany’s Catholic Church has presented a report saying that only 12 per cent of priests who abused minors could be classified as paedophiles.

The report, commissioned in 2010 after a wave of abuse revelations, examined 78 abuse cases dating back to the 1960s. “There are no significant differences to results found in the general population in Germany,” said Dr Norbert Leygraf, one of the experts asked to review study results.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Catholic Insider

The Gospel today is a favorite of BCI and also has particular applicability to the Boston Archdiocese. This passage from Luke 3: 1-6 is the one that has always been powerful for BCI.

A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

During this season of Advent, in what ways in our own lives do we prepare the way of the Lord and make straight His paths? What things in our lives need to be straightened out? What mountains and hills should be lowered? What “winding roads” should be made straight? What rough ways made smooth?

Then there is the Boston Archdiocese. As discussed in “Is Boston Archdiocese Violating ‘Motu Proprio’ on Charity?” as of Monday, December 10, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, archbishop of Boston, will be in violation of the new Motu Proprio issued by Pope Benedict XVI for paying salaries to 17 lay executives which are nowhere near “in due proportion to analogous expenses of his diocesan Curia.” As we know from “Bloated Payroll” and numerous other posts, seventeen people at the Pastoral Center are paid salaries ranging from $150K to $325K today–about 4X-8X more per person than clergy are paid. In aggregate, they are paid somewhere close to $3.5M a year in salaries alone. This is about 6 times more than was paid in 2006 in $150K+ salaries.

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ORANGE COUNTY (CA)
The Worthy Adversary

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

As the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Orange, Bishop Kevin William Vann will preside over a transparent cathedral. It is now time for him to create a transparent church as well.

Bishop Vann steps into a legacy fraught with sex abuse and cover-up. While Catholic leaders will boast about former Bishop Tod Brown’s purchase of the Crystal Cathedral, we must also remember and reflect upon the other “accomplishments” of Brown’s tenure in Orange County.

After he nailed his “Covenant of the Faithful” on the front door of Holy Family Cathedral in 2004, Tod Brown has:
•Posted only a partial list of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics on his website
•Refused to keep the list up permanently or put in in parish bulletins
•Concealed his own sex abuse allegation, saying it was “embarrassing,”
•Sent a high-ranking church official to Canada to avoid a deposition, and
•Was held in contempt of court in 2007.

This is a legacy that must end. Bishop Vann has the opportunity and the mandate to enforce real change to protect children in the Diocese of Orange. In order to restore faith in the diocese’s claims of child safety, Bishop Vann must, immediately:

•Remove all priests accused of abuse, such as Fr. Timothy Raemakers, from positions where they will encounter children,
•Remove all priests who actively enabled sex abusers to remain in ministry and fostered continued abuse, like Msgr. John Urell,

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PENNSYLVANIA
Radio Times

The Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Protection has been meeting for 10 months with experts in all facets of child care and protection, tasked with reviewing the commonwealth’s laws and procedures protecting children, and where and why they fail. Formed in response to the crime spree of child sexual abuse perpetrated by Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and what’s been called the “conspiracy of silence” by other Penn State administrators, the panel is recommending (link to pdf) that Pennsylvania create and fund a children’s advocacy center within a two-hour drive of every child in the state, among other reforms. Joining us to discuss the task force and its findings are its governor-appointed chairman, Bucks County District Attorney DAVID HECKLER and Dr. CINDY W. CHRISTIAN, director of the “Safe Place” program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and another appointee to the task force of Governor Tom Corbett. Plus, we’ll hear from DAVID CLOHESSY, executive director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, about what he feels the Task Force left out of their recommendations.

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PHILIPPINES
Preda

by Fr. Shay Cullen
Email: shaycullen@preda.org

(Fr. Shay’s columns are published in The Manila Times,in publications in Ireland, the UK, Hong Kong, and on-line.)

It’s great to have the good news of the rescue of children from sexual exploitation. The rescue this week of six trafficked and commercially exploited children by police of the Criminal Investigative Detection Group(CIDG) from a sex bar in Isabela, Quirino, a remote town in the Philippines, just shows that police can make a difference.

It also shows just how widespread the sexual exploitation of children is. Not only in the red-light districts of many cities but in small towns and beach resorts, it is a money-making business. The trafficking of children and women is a multi-billion dollar business world-wide. Over two million are trafficked each year and most never get back home, they are lost forever.

Good that CIDG Director Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr. and his team are serious minded about saving children from this horrific, life destroying experience. The rape and murder of a 7 year old child in Laguna this week is like that of 7 year-old Mykie Prado, raped and murdered in Aklan over two years ago and whose suspected murderer is still at large ought to cause public outrage. But it does not.

These heinous crimes are becoming more frequent due to the depravity of the abusers influenced by child pornography, the laxity of enforcement, the influx of big paying sex tourists and the bad influence it has on local communities. If the foreigners can do it without being arrested local men may say, then it’s OK for us. Government must review the permissiveness of local authorities that give permits and licences to dens of prostitution and the havens of child traffickers. It’s a blight and a shame on the dignity and respect of our nation.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Radio Vatikan

Katholische Priester, die Minderjährige missbrauchen, sind in den seltensten Fällen in klinischem Sinne pädophil. Das geht aus dem Abschlussbericht der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz zur Analyse forensisch-psychiatrischer Gutachten hervor. Der Bericht wurde an diesem Freitag der Presse vorgestellt. Darin wurden die Fälle von 78 Priestern untersucht, die durch sexuelle Übergriffe auf Minderjährige aufgefallen waren. Ein weiteres wichtiges Ergebnis der Studie: Die Beweggründe für sexuelle Übergriffe ließen sich überwiegend dem „normalpsychologischen Bereich“ zuordnen – genau wie bei nicht-geistlichen Tätern. Der Beauftragte der DBK zu den Missbrauchsfällen, der Trierer Bischof Stephan Ackermann, erläutert, welche Aufgabe die forensischen Gutachten haben, die in der Studie untersucht wurden:

„Die Gutachten sollen den Entscheidungsträgern, d.h. in diesem Fall den Bischöfen, helfen, eine Entscheidung darüber treffen zu können, wo kann – wenn überhaupt – jemand, der sich des sexuellen Missbrauchs schuldig gemacht hat, in der Seelsorge noch eingesetzt werden. Natürlich ist das nur ein Aspekt. Es geht doch aber um die Frage der Gefährlichkeitsprognose.“

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

Geistliche, die Kinder missbrauchen, sind nicht zwingend pädophil. Zu diesem Schluss kommt ein Gutachten im Auftrag der katholischen Kirche. Betroffene forderten eine kirchenunabhängige Aufarbeitung. Von Gernot Facius

Die Welle der im Jahr 2010 bekanntgewordenen sexuellen Missbrauchsfälle hat die katholische Kirche in Deutschland in ihre schwerste Krise seit dem zweiten Weltkrieg gestürzt. Eine jetzt von der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz in Trier vorgestellte Analyse forensischer Gutachten kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass Priester, die Minderjährige missbrauchen, in den seltensten Fällen im klinischen Sinn pädophil sind.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

Die Katholische Kirche hat die bekannten Fälle sexuellen Missbrauchs untersuchen lassen. Hauptergebnis: Die Geistlichen sind nicht anfälliger als der Bevölkerungsschnitt.

Im Kampf gegen sexuellen Missbrauch durch katholische Priester hat die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz die Fälle von 78 als Tätern beschuldigten Geistlichen wissenschaftlich aufarbeiten lassen. Die Katholische Kirche ließ untersuchen, welche Täter homo- oder bisexuell waren: insgesamt 30. Neun der Täter waren pädophil und vier hatten eine Neigung zu pubertären Jungen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Focus

Drei Unis untersuchten 78 Priester, die sich hundertfach an Kindern vergangen haben auf pädophile Neigungen. Das Ergebnis ist beruhigend wie verstörend: Die Täter seien zumeist nicht psychisch krank – ungewöhnlich sei oft nur die sexuelle Neigung. Die Kirche verteidigt die Studie.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Augsburger Allgemeine

Trier Im Kampf gegen sexuellen Missbrauch durch katholische Priester hat die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz die Fälle von 78 als Tätern beschuldigten Geistlichen untersuchen lassen. Demnach waren 30 der Geistlichen homo- oder bisexuell. Neun waren pädophil und vier hatten eine Neigung zu pubertären Jungen. Die Beweggründe seien nur in wenigen Fällen Folge einer psychischen Erkrankung, sagte der Leiter der an externe Sachverständige in Auftrag gegebenen Studie, Norbert Leygraf. Es gebe „keine bedeutsamen Unterschiede“ zur übrigen Bevölkerung, sagte der Professor für Gerichtspsychologie.

In der Untersuchung wurden Täterprofile erstellt. Dabei wurden Daten aus den Personalakten über die Persönlichkeit der Beschuldigten und deren Taten mit allgemein bei sexuellem Missbrauch bekannten Befunden abgeglichen. Bei etwa der Hälfte der begutachteten Geistlichen sieht die Studie keine Bedenken gegen einen erneuten oder weiteren Einsatz in der Gemeinde. Des Missbrauchs verdächtigte Geistliche, die weiter in der Kirche blieben, könnten durch ein soziales Kontrollnetzwerk vor Rückfällen geschützt werden, sagte Leygraf, der das Institut für Forensische Psychiatrie der Universität Duisburg-Essen leitet. Unklar sei aber das Rückfallrisiko ohne Therapie.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Psychologie-Actuell

Die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz und das Institut für Forensische Psychiatrie der Universität Duisburg-Essen haben heute in Trier die Ergebnisse der Studie „Sexuelle Übergriffe durch katholische Geistliche in Deutschland – Eine Analyse forensischer Gutachten 2000-2010“ vorgestellt.

Bereits im Jahr 2002 gab die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz für alle Diözesen verbindliche Leitlinien zum Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch innerhalb der katholischen Kirche heraus und beauftragte seitdem auch kontinuierlich forensisch-psychiatrische Gutachten. Die Institute für Forensische Psychiatrie der Universität Duisburg-Essen unter Leitung von Professor Dr. med. Norbert Leygraf, der Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin mit dem Leiter Professor Dr. med. Hans Ludwig Kröber und der Sektion Forensische Psychotherapie der Universität Ulm unter Leitung von Professor Dr. med. Friedemann Pfäfflin erstellten den Großteil dieser Gutachten. Unter Mitarbeit von Dr. Andrej König von der Fachhochschule Dortmund, Fachbereich Angewandte Sozialwissenschaften, Methodenlehre und Forensische Psychologie, begann im April 2011 die Erarbeitung der Studie zu sexuellen Übergriffen in der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland, in der Gutachten im Zeitraum 2000 bis 2010 ausgewertet wurden, und deren Ergebnisse jetzt vorliegen.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Forbes has lost its mind when it just published (the biggest joke of the year 2012) that Benedict XVI is the 5th Most Powerful Person in the World (after Obama, Merkel, Putin, Bill Gates) and he’s more powerful than Saudi Arabia King and China’s Secretary General of its communist party and all other world leaders and CEO – while he lives in a one-building ancient medieval museum with 800 people as his population – compared to millions of people in Saudi and hundreds of millions in China. Ironically Forbes does not mention Benedict in its main article and explanation (see in full with highlights below) but it does end with this question: “What did we get wrong?”

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CHILE
Radio Universidad de Chile

El defensor eclesiástico del presbitero Cristián Precht, acusado de cometer “conductas abusivas” en contra de adultos y menores presentará en los próximos días una apelación a la determinación de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe del Vaticano que acogió como verdaderas las imputaciones que pesan sobre quien fuera el fundador de la Vicaría de la Solidaridad.

Luego de conocerse la decisión de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe del Vaticano que confirmó que el sacerdote Cristián Precht cometió “conductas abusivas” contra adultos y menores, el defensor eclesiástico de Precht, el también hombre de Iglesia Raúl Hasbún, ya estaría trabajando en la apelación.

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CHILE
Cooperativa

Hernán Prech, hermano del sacerdote Cristián Precht, afirmó que el presbítero desea defenderse de las acusaciones que se le imputan por “conducta abusiva” contra adultos y menores, que le significaron un castigo por parte del Arzobispado de Santiago, pero que para eso necesita tener claro quiénes y cuántos lo acusan.

Este jueves se conoció la sanción eclesiástica contra Precht luego de que la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe confirmara que cometió abusos, por los que fue suspendido por cinco años del ejercicio sacerdotal y se le prohibió administrar la confesión a jóvenes y menores de edad.

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CHILE
Terra

MARCOS FUENTES T

El sacerdote Alfonso Baeza, al enterarse de la resolución del vaticano que confirma la existencia de abusos a menores por parte del religioso Cristián Precht, manifestó que “en nada disminuye” su admiración por él.

La resolución del Vaticano fue a dada a conocer el jueves 6 de diciembre y en virtud de ella el arzobispado de Santiago suspendió a Precht durante cinco años el ejercicio de su ministerio sacerdotal. A través de un comunicado público, el cura anunció que apelará para demostrar su inocencia.

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CALIFORNIA
The Orange County Register

By JIM HINCH / FOR THE REGISTER

Incoming Orange County Catholic Bishop Kevin Vann will do just about anything to pastor his people.

Last August, Vann paid a visit to a burgeoning parish in a suburb of Fort Worth, Texas, where he has been bishop for the past seven years. Vann was there to consecrate a newly built chapel, including a 100-foot bell tower.

Brushing aside the trepidations of parishioners, Vann insisted on riding a hydraulic lift to the top of the tower so he could sprinkle holy water directly on the bells.

“Are you willing to do this?” parish pastor Richard Eldredge recalled asking Vann.

“Yes!” Vann declared. …

During his time in Fort Worth the diocese nearly doubled in size to 710,000 Catholics. Vann presided over $135 million in building projects, including renovation of the diocese’s 120-year-old downtown cathedral and consecration of the nation’s largest Vietnamese parish church in Arlington.

He made public the names of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse and called the diocese’s prior handling of abuse cases “a huge moral failure.”

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UTAH
God Discussion

By D. Beeksma
On December 7, 2012

CNN’s Gary Tuchman reports that he received a tip that convicted polygamist Warren Jeffs is having children pick pecans at a private ranch instead of attending school.

Tuchman and his team set out to investigate the lead and found that it was true. Hundreds of children, many of them small, were working at the Hurricane, Utah ranch. They were accompanied by a few mothers and some men.

When CNN’s camera crew was spotted, the children and the adults ran away. “The paranoia among FLDS leaders is intense,” Tuchman says. “That’s because they know we are here to ask questions, like why is it okay to pull all their children out of school so that they can toil as free laborers and what’s happening with all the money they’re making.”

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HAWAII
The Maui News

December 9, 2012

By LILA FUJIMOTO – Staff Writer (lfujimoto@mauinews.com) , The Maui News

A Maui man is suing the Roman Catholic Church in Hawaii and the religious order that runs Damien Memorial School on Oahu, under a new state law providing a two-year window for child sexual abuse victims to file civil actions, no matter how long ago the abuse occurred in Hawaii.

The man, referred to as John Roe No. 5 to protect his privacy, was 14 or 15 years old, after entering Damien as a freshman in 1986, when the sexual abuse began, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in 1st Circuit Court on Oahu.

The lawsuit identifies his abuser as Brother John Paul Medvit, who was a teacher at Damien during periods in the 1980s and 1990s. He died in August.

The lawsuit alleges negligence and fraud by the Congregation of Christian Brothers of Hawaii and the Roman Catholic Church in Hawaii. School and church officials didn’t tell students or parents “that they had or should have had information that Medvit had a pattern of grooming and molesting boys,” according to the lawsuit.

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UNITED STATES
The Pueblo Chieftain

Posted: Sunday, December 9, 2012 .

By DR. CHRISTINE NEVIN-WOODS

Sexual abuse has been in the news and on the public’s mind since the Jerry Sandusky, Catholic Church and Boy Scout scandals.

According to research, at least 20 percent of American women and 5 percent to 10 percent of men experience some form of sexual abuse as children.

But fewer than half of abused children disclose their abuse before adulthood. Why does this occur? Abuse usually occurs in private, threats are common, and children are ideal victims and often feel guilty and believe they did something to cause the abuse.

Most abuse occurs by someone the child knows: a family member, neighbor, friend, respected adult. The terrible cases of abduction, rape and killing are rare compared to the pedophile who builds a relationship with the child/family or just has easy access. Pedophiles are very good at “grooming” their victims and working or volunteering where they have easy access to children. Children are usually not able to easily get away or understand if the threats are realistic or not.

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CHILE
Terra

El sacerdote que luchó contra Pinochet y hoy es condenado por el Vaticano

Existe pesar en el mundo ligado a la defensa de los derechos humanos en Chile luego que el Vaticano apartara del sacerdocio a Cristián Precht, quien fue uno de los íconos de la oposición al régimen de facto de Augusto Pinochet.

La Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe comprobó la acusación de “conductas abusivas con mayores y menores de edad” contra el religioso, y le prohibió por cinco años el ejercicio público del ministerio sacerdotal y la potestad de confesar y dirigir espiritualmente a jóvenes y menores.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

De Senaat heeft vandaag het wetsontwerp tot verbetering van de aanpak van seksueel misbruik en pedofilie binnen een gezagsrelatie definitief goedgekeurd. Rik Torfs (CD&V) onthield zich omdat de bepalingen over onterecht verkregen stukken volgens hem in strijd zijn met de mensenrechten. Ook Inge Faes (N-VA) onthield zich wegens legistieke redenen. Beiden benadrukten achter de inhoud van het ontwerp te staan.

De tekst vertaalt een aantal aanbevelingen van de bijzondere Kamercommissie Seksueel Misbruik in wetteksten, en werd eerder door de Kamer goedgekeurd. Ook in de Senaatscommissie Justitie kreeg het ontwerp unanieme instemming. Maar Rik Torfs had een aantal bezwaren tegen de tekst waardoor hij de tekst niet kon goedkeuren.

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VATICAN CITY
Sacramento Bee

The Associated Press

Published: Friday, Dec. 7, 2012

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI moved Friday to shore up the papal household in the aftermath of the Vatican’s leaks scandal, naming his trusted secretary to also run the office that organizes his schedule.

German Monsignor Georg Gaenswein replaces American prelate James Harvey, who was recently made a cardinal, as papal household prefect. The prefect arranges the pope’s audiences and other events on his schedule and manages the papal household.

For nearly a decade Gaenswein, 56, was personal secretary to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict, at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He continued in that role after the German became pontiff in 2005. The Vatican said Gaenswein would likely remain on as papal secretary, adding the duties of the household prefect to his existing ones.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

POLICE have launched an investigation into the handling of complaints by a former school principal, who is still a senior teacher, of child sexual abuse for almost three decades.

The investigation comes after concerns were raised with the Victorian Institute of Teaching about Jewish communal leader and former Yeshivah College principal Rabbi Abraham Glick.

While Rabbi Glick is not accused of any sexual misconduct, it has been alleged he failed to handle complaints appropriately.

The former Yeshivah College principal still holds one of the most senior positions at the school despite being publicly accused of failing to report numerous alleged incidents of sexual abuse to authorities while in charge between 1986 and 2007.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Shannon Deery
From: Sunday Herald Sun
December 09, 2012

POLICE have launched an investigation into the handling of complaints by a former school principal, who is still a senior teacher, of child sexual abuse for almost three decades.

The investigation comes after concerns were raised with the Victorian Institute of Teaching about Jewish communal leader and former Yeshivah College principal Rabbi Abraham Glick.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By Tim Townsend ttownsend@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8221

STOVER, MO. • Last Sunday, the Rev. Travis Smith paced First Baptist Church’s sanctuary, decorated for the holidays with poinsettias and a Christmas tree. He addressed his congregation, speaking to them about forgiveness.

Smith read verses from the Gospel of Matthew that follow the Lord’s Prayer:

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,” he said.

Since Smith’s arrest in October on sexual abuse and statutory rape charges, which follow similar allegations from 2010, forgiveness from his congregation has become critical to his survival as its pastor. It is this group of about 100 souls — not a bishop, nor a disciplinary committee nor national church leaders at a faraway headquarters — who will decide Smith’s future in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Unlike members of many denominations — such as Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalian and Presbyterians — Southern Baptists don’t conform to a centralized, hierarchical structure.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By Alan Erwin
Saturday, 8 December 2012

A victim of a paedophile priest has received a five-figure sum to settle a lawsuit taken over the sexual abuse he suffered, his lawyer has revealed.

The man brought a civil claim against Daniel Curran (below) for assaulting him when he was a child more than 20 years ago.

Curran (62) of Bryansford Road, Newcastle, is known to have abused more than a dozen boys over a period of up to 17 years.

The former priest is currently serving a four-year jail term for attacks carried out at his family holiday home near Tyrella, Co Down between 1989 and 1994.

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DEUTSCHLAND
SWR

[Video]

Die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz hat eine Studie zur Aufarbeitung des Missbrauchs-Skandals vorgestellt. Dazu wurden 78 psychiatrische Gutachten über beschuldigte Geistliche ausgewertet. Die Kirche hofft, sich dadurch ein besseres Bild von den Persönlichkeiten der Täter machen zu können.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Mitteldeutsche Zeitung

VON EDGAR BAUER, 07.12.12

KÖLN/MZ. Nur die wenigsten katholischen Priester, die sich sexuell an Minderjährigen vergehen, sind im klinischen Sinn pädophil. Das ist das Ergebnis einer Studie des forensischen Psychiaters Norbert Leygraf (Duisburg) im Auftrag der Bischöfe. Es gebe im Vergleich zwischen Klerus und der männlichen Bevölkerung “keine bedeutsamen Unterschiede”, sagte Leygraf in Trier. Die weitaus meisten sexuellen Übergriffe von Priestern geschähen aus Gründen, die im “normalpsychologischen Bereich” liegen. Der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Bischofskonferenz, der Trierer Bischof Stephan Ackermann, sprach von der Hoffnung auf eine “neue Qualität in der Debatte um den Umgang mit Tätern im kirchlichen Bereich”.

Für die Erhebung wertete Leygraf mit zwei Kollegen 78 psychiatrische Gutachten aus den Jahren 2000 bis 2010 aus. Die sexuellen Übergriffe selbst, derer die Geistlichen beschuldigt waren, lagen meist vor dieser Zeit, die Mehrzahl in den 1960er bis 1990er Jahren. Das Spektrum der Vergehen umfasste zum einen den Besitz und die Nutzung kinderpornografischen Materials (zwölf Fälle). Zum anderen ging es um Vergehen mit und an Minderjährigen – angefangen von Umarmungen bis zum vollzogenen Geschlechtsverkehr. Die Opfer waren überwiegend Jungen im jugendlichen Alter.

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CANADA
St. Catharines Standard

By Tony Ricciuto, Niagara Falls Review

Friday, December 7, 2012

Police in Wyoming have concluded their investigation and no criminal charges are being filed against a former Niagara Falls Roman Catholic priest who was dismissed last month from his chaplain’s post at Wyoming Catholic College.

Lander, Wyo., police Chief Jim Carey told The Review Friday they have closed their investigation involving Rev. Stuart MacDonald.

“From the evidence and statements that we have received, we are not filing any criminal charges due to the fact we do not believe a criminal act was committed, however inappropriate, not criminal,” said Carey.

MacDonald, who was the pastor at St. Thomas More Roman Catholic church on Dorchester Rd., had been given permission in September by Bishop Gerard Bergie to leave the Diocese of St. Catharines to take up the position of chaplain at Wyoming Catholic College.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Western Morning News

The high priest of a witches’ coven in Cornwall has denied sexually abusing children over three decades wearing hooded robes and using daggers.

Peter Petrauske, 72, known as “German Pete” denies attacks on young girls dating back to the 1970s.

Next to him in the dock at Truro Crown Court is Jack Kemp, 69, also accused of taking part in the ritualistic abuse of young girls – he also denies all accusations.

Yesterday Petrauske, gave evidence during which he said he had been a pagan for 55 years taking part in “Sabbath” rituals, had an alter in his bedroom and books on the occult and witchcraft.

Petrauske, of The Beacon, Falmouth, admitted having robes, daggers, eye masks and a whip, insisting they were all for ceremonial purposes only.

Sean Brunton, defending, asked: “Have any of those items been used to frighten or assault children at any stage.”

He replied: “No never.”

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

After two weeks of intense testimonies at Brooklyn Criminal Court, the trial of Nechemya Weberman—the ultra-Orthodox Jewish counselor accused of sexually abusing a teen girl in Brooklyn starting when she was 12—is almost at an end. Lawyers got a chance to present their closing statements yesterday as jurors began deliberating the case today. Defense lawyer Stacey Richman argued that Weberman had been unfairly vilified: “During the Salem witch trials, people would never be given a fair shake. In the 1950s, it took one word from a neighbor to get someone accused of being a Communist,” she said. “What’s the most we can say today? Child sexual abuser. And it is an awful thing. But the wrongful accusation of a child sexual abuser is even worse.”

Although many of the people who testified said Weberman was a leader in the Satmar Hasidic community—despite the fact he admitted to defrauding his own charity on the stand—Richman downplayed that aspect. “If Mr. Weberman’s so powerful, why can’t he keep [her] in school?” she asked. “They want you to believe Mr. Weberman is the Vaad-Father,” she added, referring to Vaad Ha’Tnius, the modesty committee that allegedly enforces the strict Satmar rules and dress codes.

She also attacked the teen who brought the accusations forward: “The only evidence in this case is the word of [the alleged victim.] That’s it,” Richman said, questioning why she didn’t come forward sooner, and why there were no other witnesses or DNA evidence. “Three years of oral sex? That’s a lot of semen!” she quipped, referring to the fact the teen saw Weberman four times a week over a three year period.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By JOSH SAUL
Last Updated: 7:30 PM, December 7, 2012

One of the alternate jurors released today from serving on the explosive sex trial of a prominent Hasidic leader said she would have voted to acquit — and two other dismissed jurors said they would only have voted to convict him on some of the charges.

“I didn’t have enough evidence to nail the person. No video, no DNA,” said the juror, a middle-aged black woman. “There wasn’t enough evidence for me. Both sides were a little shady.”

Nechmya Weberman, 54, allegedly forced himself on a 12-year-old Brooklyn girl for three years after she was sent to him for counseling, prosecutors charge.

The 12-person jury who will decide his fate began deliberations today, so the five alternate jurors were released from duty.

Two other alternate jurors said they would have voted to acquit Weberman of some of the 60 counts he faces.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By JOSH SAUL
Last Updated: 4:35 AM, December 8, 2012

The Hasidic leader on trial for molesting a young girl could actually beat the charges if the jurors are as split on his guilt as the alternates released yesterday.

“I didn’t have enough evidence to nail the person. No video, no DNA,” said one of the alternates, who were excused as the jurors began deliberating.

“There wasn’t enough evidence for me. Both sides were a little shady,” said the middle-aged juror, who declined to reveal her name.

Nechmya Weberman, 54, allegedly forced himself on the girl, starting at age 12, for three years while she was being sent to him for counseling, prosecutors charge.

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NEW YORK
The Daily Beast

Dec 8, 2012

Allison Yarrow

The ultra-Orthodox “modesty committee” has allegedly used intimidation, threats, and even “arrests” to uphold strict community standards—but some won’t even admit it exists. Allison Yarrow reports.

Wearing masks, the men broke into her bedroom after dark to confiscate the evidence. They are not the law or the mafia, and she is neither a criminal nor a rat. Baila Gluck was just a 15-year-old girl, and it was just a cell phone, but to the Vaad Hatznius—the self-appointed arbiters of right and wrong in the Satmar Orthodox Jewish community—Baila might as well have been holding a time bomb.

The Satmars, who live in two extremely insular enclaves in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and in upstate New York, know and fear Vaad Hatznius, which means “modesty committee,” but most people have never heard of the group and its practices, which can include intimidation, threats and even “arrests”—for example, of a girl who attends a party with boys, or a religious man who shaves his beard. While its members have no official permission from the state to engage in law enforcement, Jews who live under the Vaad’s law say beatings, harassment and stolen property are all too common.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Alternate jurors excused from the trial say remaining jurors deliberating are ‘split down the middle’ on whether evidence proves Weberman is guilty of sexually assaulting a girl, 12 years old at the time.

By Oren Yaniv / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Friday, December 7, 2012

A dozen jurors deliberating the fate of a prominent Hasidic counselor Friday have a long road ahead of them, judging by the reactions of three excused alternates.

The jurors, sprung from Nechemya Weberman’s two-week trial on Friday, gave wildly divergent opinions on whether he’s guilty of sexually abusing a Brooklyn teen for three years.

“It’s a tough one,” said one former juror who declined to give his name. “I think they’re split down the middle. I was split down the middle as well.”

But the man said he would have convicted Weberman, 54, on at least some of the 60 counts that he’s facing.

A woman, who was also excused from the panel, disagreed.

“I didn’t hear enough evidence to nail the person,” she said. “No video, no DNA.”

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DUITSLAND
De Morgen (Belgie)

dm Studie Het celibaat is niet de oorzaak van het seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen in de Kerk. Dat heeft de Duitse bisschoppenconferentie verklaard na een onderzoek waarin het psychisch profiel werd onderzocht van geestelijken die tot kindermisbruik waren overgegaan. Het onderzoek werd fel bekritiseerd, onder meer omdat het gefinancierd werd door de katholieke Kerk. Dat doet twijfel ontstaan of het onderzoek in alle onafhankelijkheid werd gevoerd. .

Het onderzoek werd in april 2011 opgestart, nadat ook in Duitsland commotie was ontstaan over het seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen in de Kerk.

Wetenschappers hebben daarop het profiel onderzocht van 78 geestelijken, die in totaal 265 kinderen hadden misbruikt. Drie kwart van de slachtoffers waren jongens.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Forbes magazine yesterday listed Benedict XVI as the 5th most powerful man on earth after Bill Gates of Microsoft as the 4th (Obama 1st, Germany’s Merkel 2nd, Russia’s Putin 3rd, Ben Bernake 6th , US chair of Federal Reserve, Abdullah, King of Saudi, 7th , Mario Draghi, President European Central Bank, 8th, Xi Jinping, Gen. Sec. Chinese Communist Party, 9th, David Cameron, Prime Minister of UK, 10th) Forbes measures everything in monetary value and so it must know something about the Vatican Bank which we don’t, because the secret Vatican Billions

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GERMANY
The Nation

By: AFP | December 08, 2012

BERLIN – Germany’s Roman Catholic Church revealed Friday that at least 66 clergy had been accused of sexually abusing children and adults over a 10-year period, with most of the victims male. The findings were part of a scientific study ordered after the Church was thrown into crisis two years ago when hundreds came forward alleging they were abused as minors between the 1950s and 1980s. Based on dozens of expert appraisals of Catholic clergy submitted by 21 of Germany’s 27 dioceses, it said the clergy had been accused of 576 cases of sexual assault between 2000 and 2010. Three-quarters of the 265 alleged targets of abuse were male, the German Bishops’ Conference said.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Deutsche Bischofskonferenz

[07.12.2012: Statement von Bischof Dr. Stephan Ackermann bei der Pressekonferenz zur Vorstellung der Ergebnisse der Analyse forensisch-psychiatrischer Gutachten 2000-2010 PDF (24,92 KB)]

[PDF (24,92 KB) 07.12.2012: Präsentation von Professor Dr. Norbert Leygraf bei der Pressekonferenz zur Vorstellung der Ergebnisse der Analyse forensisch-psychiatrischer Gutachten 2000-2010 PDF (130,90 KB)]

„Vermehrtes Hinzuziehen externer Sachverständiger ist ein wichtiger Schritt in Richtung transparenter Vergangenheitsbewältigung“

Die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz und das Institut für Forensische Psychiatrie der Universität Duisburg-Essen haben heute in Trier die Ergebnisse der Studie „Sexuelle Übergriffe durch katholische Geistliche in Deutschland – Eine Analyse forensischer Gutachten 2000-2010“ vorgestellt.

Bereits im Jahr 2002 gab die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz für alle Diözesen verbindliche Leitlinien zum Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch innerhalb der katholischen Kirche heraus und beauftragte seitdem auch kontinuierlich forensisch-psychiatrische Gutachten. Die Institute für Forensische Psychiatrie der Universität Duisburg-Essen unter Leitung von Professor Dr. med. Norbert Leygraf, der Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin mit dem Leiter Professor Dr. med. Hans Ludwig Kröber und der Sektion Forensische Psychotherapie der Universität Ulm unter Leitung von Professor Dr. med. Friedemann Pfäfflin erstellten den Großteil dieser Gutachten. Unter Mitarbeit von Dr. Andrej König von der Fachhochschule Dortmund, Fachbereich Angewandte Sozialwissenschaften, Methodenlehre und Forensische Psychologie, begann im April 2011 die Erarbeitung der Studie zu sexuellen Übergriffen in der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland, in der Gutachten im Zeitraum 2000 bis 2010 ausgewertet wurden, und deren Ergebnisse jetzt vorliegen.

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GERMANY
Oman Tribune

BERLIN Germany’s Roman Catholic Church revealed on Friday that at least 66 clergy had been accused of sexually abusing children and adults over a 10-year period, with most of the victims male.

The findings were part of a scientific study ordered after the church was thrown into crisis two years ago when hundreds came forward alleging they had been abused as minors between the 1950s and 1980s.

Based on dozens of expert appraisals of Catholic clergy from between 2000 and 2010 submitted by 21 of Germany’s 27 dioceses, it said the clergy had been accused of 576 cases of sexual abuse.

Three-quarters of the 265 alleged targets of abuse were male, the German Bishops’ Conference said, releasing the report drawn up by three forensic centres for research.

Most of the cases took place between the 1960s and 1990s “in a period when a different social awareness and a lower sensitivity to the theme of sexual acts on children and youths still prevailed”, Norbert Leygraf, of the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry at Duisburg-Essen University, said in a statement.

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GERMANY
Press TV (Iran)

More than 60 German clerics have been accused of sexually abusing minors and adults between 2000 and 2010, Germany’s Roman Catholic Church says.

According to a study conducted by three German forensic centers for research, at least 66 priests had been charged with 576 cases of sexual abuse of mostly male victims during the ten-year period.

The German Bishops’ Conference released the report on Friday, saying that nearly three-quarters of the 265 alleged targets of sexual misconduct were male.

The study further revealed that most of the priests found guilty of sexually abusing minors were psychologically normal.

The study was launched in April 2011 after hundreds of victims alleged that they had been sexually harassed as minors between the 1950s and 80s, creating a crisis for the church nearly two years ago.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

Von Barbara Hans

Die meisten Priester, die sich an Jungen oder Mädchen vergangen haben, sind nicht pädophil. Zu diesem Ergebnis kommt eine Studie der deutschen Bischofskonferenz. Die Autoren haben sexuellen Missbrauch in der Kirche systematisch untersucht.

Hamburg – Die Antworten sind beruhigend und verstörend zugleich. Die meisten Geistlichen, die Mädchen und Jungen missbrauchen, sind weder psychisch krank noch pädophil. Zu diesem Schluss kommt die Studie “Sexuelle Übergriffe durch Geistliche in Deutschland”. Die Autoren haben forensische Gutachten aus den Jahren 2000 bis 2010 ausgewertet. Welche Männer werden zu Tätern? Haben sie eine auffällige Biografie, ein auffälliges Sexualverhalten? In welcher Beziehung stehen sie zu den Opfern?

Die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz hat die Untersuchung bei vier Psychiatern in Auftrag gegeben – dem bekannten Essener Gerichtspsychiater Norbert Leygraf und seinen renommierten Kollegen Hans-Ludwig Kröber, Friedemann Pfäfflin und Andrej König. Die Wissenschaftler werteten Gutachten über Priester und Ordensleute aus, die unter dem Verdacht des sexuellen Missbrauchs vor Gericht standen und psychiatrisch untersucht wurden.

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CHILE
Emol

SANTIAGO.- El Vaticano confirmó la existencia de “conductas abusivas” cometidas por el sacerdote Cristián Precht, en el marco de la investigación canónica llevada a cabo sobre el caso.

Así lo confirmó esta tarde un comunicado emitido esta tarde por el arzobispado de Santiago.

Según la determinación, la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe comprobó “las mencionadas conductas abusivas y la conformidad con la petición de derogar la prescripción, en atención a la gravedad de los hechos denunciados”.

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CHILE
La Tercera

Familia que denunció a Cristián Precht: “Esperamos que la Iglesia tome nota y revise su estructura”

por Angélica Baeza Palavecino – 07/12/2012

Luego de conocerse la sentencia de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, que sostiene que Cristián Precht cometió “conductas abusivas” con mayores y menores de edad, la familia de Patricio Vela Montero, que presentó una denuncia en contra del religioso, envío un comunicado de prensa en el que valoran de cierta forma la respuesta desde el Vaticano.

“Hoy, conociendo la sentencia de culpabilidad del presbítero Precht emitida por el Vaticano, tenemos la esperanza de que esto signifique un paso más decidido y claro hacia la protección de las víctimas de abuso sexual y de poder por parte de sacerdotes católicos”, sostienen.

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CHILE
Santiago Times

Written by Charlotte Karrlsson-Willis

The Vatican suspended Chilean priest Cristián Precht, in reaction to sexual abuse charges brought against him.

The suspension was handed down by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the body of the Vatican charged with defending the Church’s doctrine and morals.

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prohibits Cristían Precht from public exercise of the priestly ministry for a period of five years,” the Vatican decreed in a letter to Santiago’s Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello.

Precht was first accused of sexual abuse in 2011, and more than 20 victims have since come forward. Ezzati asked for a judgement from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith “for the sake of people, plaintiffs and the need for justice.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News

A Catholic priest has been quizzed by police over allegations he sexually abused a girl from the age of eleven.

Father Tim Hopkins, 44, was interviewed under caution by detectives investigating allegations a girl was molested on three occasions between 2004 and 2007. It is understood he was not arrested.

He has been suspended from his church duties by the Salford diocese as a ‘neutral act’ while the police probe continues.

His parishioners in Denton were informed Fr Hopkins had been temporarily relieved of his duties just before Sunday services at St John Fisher and St Mary’s churches.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

By Harriet Ryan and Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times
December 7, 2012, 4:45 p.m.

In its landmark $660-million settlement with victims of sexual abuse five years ago, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to make public the confidential personnel records of all priests accused of molesting children.

Victims said the release of the files would provide accountability for church leaders who let pedophiles remain in ministry, and law enforcement officials suggested that the documents could lead to criminal cases against those in charge.

After years of delays and legal wrangling, the files are set to become public in coming weeks.

But the documents have been scrubbed of what many regard as the most important information: the identities of the members of the church hierarchy who reshuffled abusers.

The names of the former cardinal, Roger M. Mahony, and the bishops and vicars who handled molestation complaints for him have been redacted by church lawyers at the direction of a retired federal judge managing the files’ release.

In handing down that decision last year, the judge, Dickran Tevrizian, said that the archdiocese had endured enough criticism and that he wanted to prevent the files from being used to “embarrass or to ridicule the Church.” The documents in question include internal memos, Vatican correspondence and psychiatric reports.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Katholisch

Missbrauch | 07.12.2012 – Trier

Was läuft falsch bei Priestern, die Schutzbefohlene sexuell missbrauchen? Gab es Probleme in der sexuellen Entwicklung? Wurden bei der Ausbildung Fehler gemacht? Oder ist die Nähe zwischen Seelsorger und Schutzbefohlenem problematisch? Schwierige Fragen, denen sich Norbert Leygraf, Direktor des Instituts für Forensische Psychiatrie der Universität Essen-Duisburg, gewidmet hat.

Im Auftrag der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz (DBK) hat er die forensischen Profile von Geistlichen ausgewertet, die sich an Kindern und Jugendlichen vergangen haben. Die Profile wurden in den Jahren zwischen 2000 und 2010 erstellt, die Taten lagen meist viel weiter zurück. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung wurden am Freitag von Leygraf und Bischof Stephan Ackermann, dem Missbrauchsbeauftragten der DBK, in Trier vorgestellt.

Das wichtigste Resultat: Die wenigsten Priester, deren Profile im Rahmen der Studie ausgewertet wurden, sind pädophil. Leygraf und sein Team haben 78 Profile ausgewertet und sind zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass sich auffällig viele Täter in einer Sinnkrise befanden – sowohl beruflich als auch privat. “Da mag Einsamkeit eine Rolle gespielt haben, das Bedürfnis nach Nähe. Auch Unzufriedenheit mit dem Beruf”, kommentierte Leygraf. Auffällig sei zudem, dass die meisten Vorfälle um das siebte und achte Berufsjahr stattgefunden hätten.

Der Zölibat als Schutz?

Bischof Ackermann zieht daraus den Schluss, dass Strukturen geschaffen werden müssen, um die Priester mit ihren Problemen nicht alleine zu lassen: “Einen Ort oder einen festen Ansprechpartner, wo man das Gefühl hat, willkommen zu sein und sich aussprechen zu können.”

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GERMANY
Reuters

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

PARIS | Fri Dec 7, 2012

PARIS (Reuters)- A German Catholic Church study showed most priests found guilty of sexually abusing minors were psychologically normal, according to survey results presented on Friday.

Only 12 percent of those surveyed were diagnosed as paedophiles, said the report released by Trier Bishop Stephan Ackermann, the church’s spokesman on abuse cases.

Psychological tests commissioned by priests’ dioceses around Germany found only five percent could be classified as ephebophiles – attracted to teenagers, it said.

“There are no significant differences to results found in the general population in Germany,” said Dr Norbert Leygraf, one of the experts reviewing reports on predator priests found out in the past decade.

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CALIFORNIA
The Press-Enterprise

Posted on | December 7, 2012

Long Beach police are not saying what a priest accused of sexual misconduct was doing in San Jacinto when he was arrested in July.

The Long Beach Post reported this week that Luis Jose Cuevas pleaded no contest to a felony count of committing a lewd act on a child and two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.

Cuevas was a parish priest at St. Athanasius Catholic Church in Long Beach and lived on the grounds of the church for the last seven years. The incidents occurred in Los Angeles County.

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NEVADA
Reno Gazette-Journal

Written by
Jaclyn O’Malley

A defrocked priest who moved to Reno and briefly ran a halfway house for parolees, could be pleading guilty Monday in federal court in Denver related to masturbating on a commercial air flight while viewing pornography on his lap top.

Daniel Drinan is expected to appear for an arraignment Monday on a misdemeanor charge of crimes aboard an airplane for exposing his genitals to crew members of a Southwest Airlines that left the Baltimore-Washington International Airport headed to Denver on Sept. 8.

The hearing could turn into a guilty plea and subsequent sentencing, court documents show. The maximum punishment is 90 days in jail, and a $5,000 fine.

Drinan could not be reached for comment on Friday.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on December 07, 2012

We’re disturbed by Rev. Stan Archie’s response to allegations that he sexually exploited a church member.

It’s disingenuous to claim that a church investigates its own pastor and that and some other anonymous body allegedly did so too. Why refuse to name the organization that supposedly checked out the accusations? Because Rev. Archie’s denial of sexual misconduct is so vague and is issued through his lawyer, it rings hollow.

It’s also troubling to see a minister attacking his accuser, crying “extortion.” Usually, that’s a sign that a predator is trying to intimidate other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers from stepping forward.

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IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests

A meeting took place of Clogher ACP on Wednesday 28th November 2012. Eleven priests attended, seven sent apologies including our Bishop. Following on from our constant concern about the needs of our clergy, our topic for discussion at this meeting was our need for Pastoral Supervision/Reflection

A presentation was made by Fr. Declan Mulligan, a Down and Connor Priest. He spoke of how formal supervision/peer support was very much a part of the secular world. No comparable professional walk of life leaves the requirement for self-care absolutely to its own personnel; how essential it is then for a priest, who has to react to so many different and often challenging situations, to have this support/supervision, for to be human is to be in relationship with other people.

Declan presented supervision/reflection as a means of being accountable to ourselves, to our vocation, to our God. By connecting with our brother Priests we can share similar problems and experiences and receive support and a listening ear. It would be good to belong to a group that I value and that values me. It is of particular benefit to those who work in isolated situations, and can be very restorative.

There was also acknowledgement of some fears about opting into supervision/reflection, motivation, commitment, taking or getting time off, there is also the possibility that the support could remain on the margins of one’s experience, and so no growth in ministry might occur.

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IRELAND/UNITED STATES
The Association of Catholic Priests

Statement of Support for Fr. Roy Bourgeois

The Association of Catholic Priests (Ireland) is saddened and disappointed by the dismissal of Maryknoll priest Fr. Roy Bourgeois from the priesthood and from his religious congregation, and his excommunication from the Church that he has served for almost half a century. We believe that this type of action, ordered by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and implemented by the Maryknoll Order, is unjust, and ultimately counter-productive. Dismissing people because they have sincerely held views that are contrary to those of the Vatican, but which are widely shared by the Catholic faithful, will not end discussion and debate on these topics. In fact it will only serve to highlight the urgent need to face the problems around ministry in the Church. Participants in a year long ‘listening process’ in the diocese of Killaloe, a mainly rural diocese in Ireland, expressed the opinion that the ordination of women should be openly discussed, particularly in view of the projected shortage of priests in the next few years. Surely this is yet another of many examples of the sensus fidelium calling for change so that, in future, the Eucharist can be available to the Church community.

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IRELAND/UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Dennis Coday | Dec. 7, 2012

The church reform group that represents about a quarter of Ireland’s Catholic priests issued a statement of support Friday for Roy Bourgeois, the U.S. Maryknoll priest that the Vatican laicization and dismissed from his order because of his support of women’s ordination.

The Association of Catholic Priests (Ireland) called on the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith “to cease this type of abuse, to restore Fr. Bourgeois to the full exercise of his ministry and to allow for open and honest discussion on issues that are of crucial importance for the future of the Church.”

“We believe that this type of action, ordered by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and implemented by the Maryknoll Order, is unjust, and ultimately counter-productive,” reads the statement from the association.

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MISSOURI
Missourian

Friday, December 7, 2012

BY The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY — The president-elect of the Missouri State Board of Education is denying allegations that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship years ago with a former member of his Kansas City church.

In the lawsuit, the woman alleges the Rev. Stan Archie, senior pastor at Christian Fellowship Baptist Church, began a sexual relationship with her while he was counseling her. The lawsuit also names the church, saying officials failed to protect her and hid previous reports of impropriety by Archie.

Archie’s attorney, Michael McCausland, said Archie and the church deny the allegations. He calls the lawsuit “an obvious attempt to extort money.”

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By Jessica Bock jbock@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8228

The president-elect of the Missouri State Board of Education is defending himself against a civil lawsuit that accuses him of an inappropriate sexual relationship years ago with a former assistant and member of his Kansas City church.

The Rev. Stan Archie, who has been on the state board since 2006 and currently serves as vice president, is senior pastor at Christian Fellowship Baptist Church.

The woman, whom a judge allowed to hide her identity and proceed as “Jane Doe” in court documents, filed the lawsuit in January in Jackson County Circuit Court. The suit says Archie abused his position in the church to take advantage of the woman, who was vulnerable and depressed, and begin a sexual relationship as he gave her counseling, according to court documents. It also names his church in the suit, saying officials failed to protect her and others at the church by hiding previous reports of impropriety.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Sid Maher
From:The Australian
December 08, 2012

THE states have agreed to give Julia Gillard’s royal commission into child sexual abuse maximum legal powers to conduct their investigations and have set an 18-month timetable for the inquiry to provide an initial report to the governments.

The Prime Minister said the state premiers were “predisposed” to issue letters patent to bolster the legal powers of the royal commission, declaring terms of reference would be announced before the end of the year.

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VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

[with video]

December 7, 2012. (Romereports.com) The Pope’s private secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein has two new titles. He’s been named Prefect of the Papal Household and also archbishop.

The dual appointment was carried out because the Prefect of the Papal Household, must also be an archbishop. Up until now, Gaenswein had not held that rank.

Previously the Prefect of the Papal Household was James Harvey. In November he left that post, when the Pope made him a Cardinal and the archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

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VATICAN CITY
Zee News

Vatican City: Pope Benedict XVI on Friday moved to shore up the papal household in the aftermath of the Vatican’s leaks scandal, naming his trusted secretary to also run the office that organizes his schedule.

German Monsignor Georg Gaenswein replaces American prelate James Harvey, who was recently made a cardinal, as papal household prefect. The prefect arranges the pope’s audiences and other events on his schedule and manages the papal household.

For nearly a decade Gaenswein, 56, was personal secretary to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict, at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He continued in that role after the German became pontiff in 2005. The Vatican said Gaenswein would likely remain on as papal secretary, adding the duties of the household prefect to his existing ones.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, (VIS) – The Holy Father appointed:

– Msgr. Georg Glaswein as prefect of the Pontifical House, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in Waldshutt, Germany in 1956 and was ordained a priest in 1984. He has served in the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he held the role of personal secretary to the prefect. He has served as personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI since his election to the pontificate.

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UNITED KINGDOM
International Business Times

By Dominic Gover

December 3, 2012

Two men in Cornwall have gone on trial accused of a string of child sex offences allegedly carried out during witchcraft rituals in which they dressed in robes and brandished knives.

Peter Petrauske, 72, and Jack Kemp, 69, both deny they abused underage girls during ceremonies over a period of 30 years until 2009. Petrauske, who was said to be high priest of the coven, denies one count of rape.

Truro crown court heard that victims as young as three were plied with alcohol and then stripped naked in front of a group of men who were dressed in robes.

Jason Beal, prosecuting, told the jury that some victims had their hands tied behind their backs during the abuse. Some allegedly had wax poured on to their bodies. Afterwards, they were given sweets in exchange for staying silent.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Western Morning News

An alleged victim of two men charged with sexually abusing her as a child as part of a witches’ coven told a court she did not speak out until recently because she was afraid.

Peter Petrauske, 72, and Jack Kemp, 69, face charges of sexually abusing children during pagan ceremonies from the 1970s onwards.

They are standing trial at Truro Crown Court and deny a series of sexual offences against young girls.

In 2005 a friend of the pair called Stanley Pirie was tried and convicted at the same court of child sex abuse.

One of Pirie’s victims who gave evidence during the trial has since accused Petrauske and Kemp of also sexually abusing her during the same period of her childhood.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Packet

A murdered councillor with links to Budock and the Lizard Peninsula has been accused of child rape in a sensational turn of events at a trial into alleged sex abuse at pagan ceremonies.

Peter Solheim, who was murdered in 2004, was accused of raping the girl during a harrowing video interview, made by an adult woman during the trial of 72-year-old Peter Petrauske and Jack Kemp, 69.

Petrauske, who at the time of his arrest last December was living at The Beacon, Falmouth has denied raping one girl and three charges of assault.

Kemp, of Grenville Road, Falmouth, has denied aiding and abetting attempted rape and 15 charges of assault.

Giving evidence, a witness in the case has detailed the abuse and rape she allegedly suffered at the hands of men involved in a West Cornwall coven of white witches, during their trial at Truro Crown Court.

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UNITED KINGDOM
West Briton

ALLEGED victims of two Falmouth pensioners have told how they were “destroyed” by a witches’ coven where young girls were abused.

Peter “German Pete” Petrauske and Jack Kemp are on trial accused of a string of abhorrent attacks over three decades on girls between the ages of 3 and 15.

The trial at Truro Crown Court, which is expected to last three weeks, has already heard evidence of wife-swapping and claims that:

murder victim Peter Solheim, a Budock councillor, was involved in the rape of one child, aged 10, who has given a harrowing account of her experience decades later;

one of the alleged victims was also attacked by a friend of the pair, convicted paedophile Stanley Pirie;

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UNITED KINGDOM
Western Morning News

A man accused of being part of a witches’ coven that sexually abused young girls more than 30 years ago has denied he was involved.

Father-of-nine Jack Kemp, 69, is charged along with his friend Peter Petrauske, 72, known as “German Pete” of a series of sex attacks on young girls.

The jury at Truro Crown Court has already heard prosecutors argue the abuse involved people in hooded robes, daggers and chanting at various large houses across west Cornwall.

After Petrauske was arrested, police seized long flowing robes with pendants, books on witchcraft, spells, a black leather whip, a gold and china dagger, black and red eye-masks and a black-handled sword from his house.

Petrauske, of The Beacon, and Kemp, of Grenville Road, both in Falmouth, deny all allegations.

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MISSOURI
Catholic News Agency

By Michelle Bauman

Kansas City, Mo., Dec 7, 2012 / 04:08 am (CNA).- Calls for the resignation of Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph that have gained media attention are exaggerated and do not depict the real situation in the diocese, according to local Catholics.

Jack Smith, interim director of communications for the diocese, told CNA that a Dec. 2 article by the New York Times was “inaccurate” in suggesting a widespread lack of support for the bishop.

The New York Times said that it had obtained 32 responses from a survey of priests conducted by a consulting firm hired by the diocese and that “half of them seriously doubted whether the bishop should continue as their leader, and several suggested that he resign.”

Smith explained that for some time, the diocese had been planning a capital campaign to build a new high school. However, after the bishop’s trial, they decided to have a consultant, Church Development, conduct a confidential survey to see if the campaign should be delayed.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

December 8, 2012

Barney Zwartz

BALLARAT Catholic bishop Ronald Mulkearns repeatedly and knowingly moved a paedophile priest around his diocese and overseas, where the predator constantly found new victims, the mother of one victim said yesterday.

Helen Watson’s explosive testimony to the state inquiry into clergy child sex abuse came as the parliamentary committee left Melbourne for the first time and heard from victims in Ballarat, the epicentre of the paedophile plague where up to 50 victims have taken their own lives. One of them was Peter Watson, abused at 15 by Father Paul David Ryan, and dead by his own hand at 24.

Before her evidence, her husband Tim at her side, Mrs Watson told Fairfax: ”For years I was in shock, and I couldn’t be angry at anyone. Now, I have the anger and can be a strong voice for victims. I’ve got fire in my belly this afternoon.”

She told the inquiry that each time his abuse of children in the Ballarat diocese became known, Ryan would be sent to the US, and when allegations surfaced there, he would be sent back to Australia. He was sent to the US seven times, and in 1993 was considered beyond help by a program in Mexico for clergy sex offenders.

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MISSOURI
The New York Times

By ERICA GOODE

Published: December 6, 2012

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They found her, one leg curled under the other, in the back seat of a van at Longview Lake, a white plastic bag over her head, a purple pillow beside her, an empty pill bottle nearby.

Everyone assumed it was a suicide — the note found in the van seemed to indicate as much: “I did it because I wouldn’t be a real person and what is the point of living if it is too late for that?” it said, and, “Maybe Jesus will still forgive me.”

But in the weeks since the body of Bethany Deaton, a registered nurse who had ties to a charismatic Christian sect here that practices round-the-clock worship, was found, the circumstances of her death have become far less clear.

Three days after Ms. Deaton’s funeral, a 23-year-old man, Micah Moore, walked into the Grandview, Mo., Police Department and confessed to suffocating her.

“I killed her,” he told officers, according to court documents, adding that he had placed the bag over her head and “held it there until her body shook.”

Now, the authorities are investigating allegations that Ms. Deaton, 27, was drugged, sexually assaulted and killed on the orders of her husband, Tyler Deaton, 26, a man described by witnesses as a Pied Piper-like leader who gathered a band of young people around him and pressured them to engage in sexual practices under the guise of religious devotion. Mr. Moore has been charged with first-degree murder. Mr. Deaton and others are still under investigation.

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