ABUSE TRACKER

MALTA
Times of Malta

About 18 months ago, the government’s announcement of legislation to introduce a Child Offenders’ Register was hailed as a significant step forward. Coincidentally, the news came the day after the Church’s Response Team had concluded that there was enough evidence for the long-standing case of victims of clerical abuse at St Joseph’s Home to be sent to the Holy See in Rome for adjudication.

Whether by coincidence or not, the decision to introduce a Bill to set up a Child Offenders’ Register of course went far wider than simply dealing with clerical abuse, although this most heinous of crimes had stirred public revulsion. The idea of having a paedophile register had in fact surfaced about four years earlier in the wake of another nasty controversy involving the Malta Football Association. The MFA had kept a 79-year-old convicted paedophile as a groundsman at a football ground that doubled up as a playing field for a nearby school.

Over the last five or six years, the legislative wheels have ground slowly forward to the point when, on January 20 this year, the Protection of Minors Act finally came into force.

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LOUISIANA
KPLC

The following is a Press Release from the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office:

On June 27, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office re-arrested former priest Mark A. Broussard, 56, of Duson, who is currently incarcerated at the Calcasieu Correctional Center, and charged him 24 counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile and six additional counts of sexual battery after further investigation revealed Broussard had inappropriate sexual contact with an 8-year-old victim between approximately 1986 and 1987 while he and his family were attending Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church in Lake Charles.

Judge Clayton Davis set his bond at $400,000, bringing his total bond to $3,420,000.

Broussard was first arrested on March 22 and charged with two counts of aggravated battery and 52 counts of sexual battery after an investigation revealed he had sexually inappropriate contact with an 8 year old boy between 1986 and 1989 while the victim and his family was attending St. Henry Catholic Church. Documents were located in the priest’s personnel file where the priest indicated sexual contact with at least four other male children. These incidents were not reported to law enforcement.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Riverfront Times

By Paul Friswold
Fri., Jun. 29 2012

Reverend Xiuhui “Joseph” Jiang, 29, has been charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly fondling a girl younger than 17. Jiang is the associate pastor at the Cathedral Basilica, but none of the inappropriate sexual contact occurred on church property.

According to the girl, she was fondled on four separate occasions, each incident taking place in Old Monroe in Lincoln County. Jiang has been placed on administrative leave since the charges were leveled, according to the official statement made by Monsignor Richard E. Hanneke, Vicar for Priests.

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LOUISIANA
KATC

A former priest from Duson has been re-arrested in Calcasieu Parish. 56-year old Mark Broussard is in the Calcasieu Correctional Center, currently charged with 24 counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile and 6 additional counts of sexual battery. Deputies say the extra charges came from further investigating Broussard. They say he had inappropriate sexual contact with an 8 year old victim between approximately 1986 and 1987 while he and his family were attending Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church in Lake Charles.

Judge Clayton Davis set his bond at $400,000, bringing his total bond to $3,420,000.

Broussard was first arrested on March 22 and charged with 2 counts of aggravated battery and 52 counts of sexual battery. In that investigation, deputies say Broussard had sexually inappropriate contact with an 8 year old boy between 1986 and 1989 while the victim and his family was attending St. Henry Catholic Church. Documents were allegedly found in the priest’s personnel file where the priest indicated sexual contact with at least four other male children. These incidents were not reported to law enforcement.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Huffington Post UK

A former City lawyer who claims he made a mess of his life because he was sexually abused at a Jesuit-run school has taken the latest step in his claim for £5m damages.

Patrick Raggett was subjected to years of insidious abuse by Father Michael Spencer, a teacher at Preston Catholic College in Lancashire, who died in 2000 aged 76.

Between 1970 and 1974, the priest, who was his form teacher and coach of the football team he captained, observed him naked, filmed him, photographed him and touched him inappropriately.

The abuse, which began when he was 11, was not penetrative and resulted in no physical injury but Mr Raggett, who has waived anonymity, says it left him feeling “violation, dread, isolation, shame and humiliation”.

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IRELAND
Herald

By Niall O’Connor

Friday June 29 2012

FORMER RTE reporter Aoife Kavanagh was given a five figure golden handshake when she quit the scandal-hit station.

The national broadcaster has confirmed that Ms Kavanagh received a significant sum — believed to be in the region of €25,000 — following her resignation in the wake of the libellous Mission To Prey programme.

The Wexford woman was given a severance package equalling six weeks pay per every year she worked at the station.

The significant lump sum — partly funded by the licence fee — has never been mentioned by Montrose bosses.

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IRELAND
Donegal Democrat

Published on Friday 29 June 2012

A Moville born parish priest cleared of indecently assaulting a teenage girl in Derry two decades ago has spoken of his relief to end “the darkest two years” of his life.

On Wednesday a jury at Derry Crown Court found Fr Eugene Boland (66), of Parochial House, Killyclogher Road, Omagh not guilty by majority verdict on all five charges against him of indecent assault on a girl aged around 14 years-old. The charges related to alleged incidents in the parochial house of St Joseph’s Church, Galliagh between June 28, 1990 and June 30, 1992 where she worked as a volunteer.

There were cheers from supporters of Fr Boland as the verdict was delivered following an eight day trial and several hours of deliberation by the jury of four men and eight women.

Fr Boland said it was “the first day of the rest of my life”.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
NECN

ST. LOUIS (AP) — An associate pastor at St. Louis’ Cathedral Basilica is on administrative leave after being accused of fondling a teenage girl.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/LHfdlB) reports the Rev. Xiuhui “Joseph” Jiang is charged with first-degree child endangerment.

Court documents allege that Jiang repeatedly had sexual contact with a girl younger than 17.

The girl told police he fondled her as a priest and family friend on four different occasions this year in Old Monroe.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis says Jiang is on administrative leave because of the allegations.

Jiang is from Shandong, China.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis

For more information contact:
Angie Shelton
Community Relations Specialist
Phone: 314-792-7101

St. Louis —The Archdiocese of St. Louis has placed Fr. Joseph Jiang, who is the Associate Pastor at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, on administrative leave following a report involving alleged inappropriate contact with a high school aged minor. None of the conduct is alleged to have occurred at the Cathedral or on any archdiocesan property.

The Archdiocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection notified Missouri Division of Family Services immediately upon learning of the allegations and this matter is under investigation. The archdiocese is fully cooperating with this investigation.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis encourages all persons with reports of misconduct with a minor involving a member of the clergy or other church personnel to contact Phil Hengen, the Director of the Office for Child and Youth Protection at (314) 792-7704 or the civil authorities.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Review

Submitted on June 29, 2012

Father Joseph Jiang, associate pastor of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis Parish, was charged in Lincoln County June 28 with a felony count of endangering the welfare of a child, a first-degree offense involving sexual conduct.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis had placed Father Jiang on administrative leave following a report involving alleged inappropriate contact with a high school aged minor. The Archdiocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection notified Missouri Division of Family Services immediately upon learning of the allegations.

According to a statement from Msgr. Richard Hanneke, the archdiocese’s vicar for priests, the archdiocese is fully cooperating with the investigation.

Bond set at $25,000.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

By RAY RIVERA

Published: June 28, 2012

For years, Avrohom Mondrowitz counseled children out of his home in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. He was host of a call-in radio show popular among ultra-Orthodox Jewish listeners, claiming to be a rabbi and psychologist. But law enforcement officials say Mr. Mondrowitz, who fled to Israel in 1984 to avoid arrest, was also something else: “a compulsive pedophile.”

The Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, has repeatedly said that since taking office in 1990, he has vigorously tried to extradite Mr. Mondrowitz. Mr. Hynes has said his office was instrumental in bringing about a change in a treaty between the United States and Israel in 2007 that had thwarted early extradition efforts.

But newly disclosed documents from Mr. Hynes’s office cast doubts on his accounts of his role in the case, suggesting that for many years, the office paid little attention to it.

Michael Lesher, a writer and lawyer who represents several of Mr. Mondrowitz’s accusers, obtained 103 pages of files on the case from the district attorney’s office after a protracted court battle to secure them under the state’s Freedom of Information Law.

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ARLINGTON (VA)
WLS

ARLINGTON, Va. (WLS) – A Virginia woman came to a priest to be purged of her “evil spirits” in 2008 but claims the priest repeatedly molested her during the two-year exorcism that followed.

The woman — known only as Jane Doe — filed a lawsuit on June 19 in Arlington County Circuit Court against Human Life International, the Catholic Diocese of Arlington and one of its bishops, alleging they failed to stop the abusive sexual encounters. She seeks more than $5.3 million in damages.

The woman had already reached a private settlement with the exorcist, Rev. Thomas Euteneuer, who was the president of anti-abortion rights group Human Life International during the time of the exorcism, according to her lawyer.

In the lawsuit filed last week, she claims Euteneuer abused her in the Human Life International offices during working hours, and the employees knew the exorcism sessions were going on there. In addition, the suit claims the Diocese of Arlington should have been responsible for Euteneuer’s conduct because he was working within its jurisdiction.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Derry Journal

Published on Friday 29 June 2012

A parish priest cleared of indecently assaulting a teenage girl in Derry two decades ago has spoken of his relief to end “the darkest two years” of his life.

On Wednesday a jury at Derry Crown Court found Fr Eugene Boland (66), of Parochial House, Killyclogher Road, Omagh not guilty by majority verdict on all five charges against him of indecent assault on a girl aged around 14 years-old. The charges related to alleged incidents in the parochial house of St Joseph’s Church, Galliagh between June 28, 1990 and June 30, 1992 where she worked as a volunteer.

There were cheers from supporters of Fr Boland as the verdict was delivered following an eight day trial and several hours of deliberation by the jury of four men and eight women.

Speaking to the ‘Journal’ yesterday, Fr Boland said it was “the first day of the rest of my life”.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

As the Catholic hierarchy calls its faithful followers in the United States to get down on their collective knees in prayer for the preservation of religious liberty, we believe the hierarchy owes its adherents a clear explanation as to why it allows convicted felons to retain the ranking of priest.

Monsignor William Lynn was convicted last Friday in Philadelphia on the felony charge of endangering children.

Father Gerald Robinson was convicted in Toledo, Ohio in 2006 of the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pal.

It was left to the survivors once again to raise the issue of justice, of a seamless garment of words matching actions, of simple reason.

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UGANDA
Red Pepper

A priest attached to Pakwach catholic parish in Nebbi Diocese has been locked up for 10 years for infecting a 15-year-old girl with HIV.

High court Judge Justice Yasin Nyanzi, on Thursday jailed Rev. Fr. Santos Constatino Wapokura , 47, for feeding his venomous whopper to the poor girl.

Court heard that Wapokura would lure the poor girl who was a maid at Pakwach catholic mission in his quarters and feast on her like a sex beast.

The girl said she told one of her friends about her nightmare and she encouraged her to report to her parents.

This according to court prompted her father Santo Onyai to report the matter to police leading to Wapokura’s arrest. Wapokura had been on remand since May 5, 2010.

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

BY SUSAN WEICH • sweich@post-dispatch.com > 636-255-7207 | Posted: Friday, June 29, 2012

The associate pastor at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis is accused of fondling a teenage girl in Lincoln County.

The Rev. Xiuhui “Joseph” Jiang, 29, was charged Thursday with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. He is accused of repeated sexual contact with a girl under 17, according to court documents.

The girl told police he fondled her on four different occasions this year. She said that Jiang was her priest and a family friend. The incidents happened in Old Monroe, Mo., according to police, who began their investigation Saturday.

Jiang was placed on administrative leave after officials learned about the allegations, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

None of the conduct is alleged to have occurred on any archdiocesan property, the statement said. The archdiocese would not comment beyond the written statement, a spokeswoman said.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOV

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) – A priest assigned to the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica parish has been charged with fondling a teenage girl.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Father Joseph Jiang is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. The girl told police Jiang fondled her on four separate occasions in Old Monroe, Missouri.

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ARLINGTON (VA)
Catholic News Agency

By Benjamin Mann

Arlington, Va., Jun 29, 2012 / 02:11 am (CNA).- Former Human Life International President Father Thomas Euteneuer is accused of abusing a woman employed by the organization, in a lawsuit seeking damages from HLI and its local bishop.

In a statement provided to CNA, Human Life International spokesman Stephen Phelan said that the organization, from which Fr. Euteneuer resigned in August 2010, would “vigorously defend itself” against the “false accusations” of complicity in alleged abuse by its former president.

“To the extent Father Euteneuer has already admitted to engaging in highly inappropriate and gravely sinful conduct with a young adult woman, we can only emphasize that such behavior was never within the scope of his employment with HLI,” Phelan said.

The alleged victim worked for Human Life International for two years, during which time she says the priest repeatedly violated physical boundaries.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

By Harry Hairston and David Chang

Thursday, Jun 28, 2012

Less than a week since a hung jury let him go free in the priest child sex abuse case, Father James Brennan is speaking out and telling his story to NBC10.

Brennan faced more than 20 years in prison after prosecutors charged and tried him for the attempted rape of a 13-year-old boy.

Last Friday however, a hung jury left Brennan walking out of court a free man. Monsignor William Lynn was found guilty of endangering the welfare of the child and faces up to seven years in prison.
Brennan described how he reacted when he heard the verdict.

“I sat down at the table,” said Brennan. “That was the first time I cried.”

The verdict was far from an acquittal however and has done much to tarnish his reputation.

“I don’t think that will ever go away,” said Brennan. “I would like to have it go away but I don’t think it will ever go away.”

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HOLYOKE (MA)
WGGB

By Neil Carroll

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB) — For months there were wooden planks and metal beams that stood outside the Mater Dolorosa church because the Catholic Diocese of Springfield said the church was unsafe.

Now the scaffolding is gone and for the parish, that says it all.

“The diocese was claiming that the steeple was gonna fall down,” said Victor Anop, attorney for the Friends of the Mater Dolorosa. “As you can see today nothing is falling down here.”

Anop hired a private engineer to look into the safety concerns inside the church and it’s steeple and then present them to the city of Holyoke.

“So that showed that the scaffolding was up under false pretenses,” said Anop. ”There was no danger immediate or otherwise to the public or those who were in the church.”

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JAMAICA
Tribune 242

By KHRISNA VIRGIL
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

THE Catholic Archdiocese of Nassau yesterday said no Benedictine monks serving in the Bahamas are under investigation over sexual abuse allegations.

Archbishop Patrick Pinder was responding to growing speculation over the departure of a monk from the Bahamas.

The Benedictines, the Archbishop said, have a long-standing and distinguished relationship with the Bahamas which has lasted for the past 120 years.

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NETHERLANDS
The Republic

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Thirty-seven boys who died in the early 1950s in a Dutch psychiatric hospital run by the Catholic Church were probably killed by a monk in charge of their care, prosecutors said on Thursday.

It was the latest in a string of scandals to hit the church in the Netherlands, where an independent commission found last year up to 20,000 minors were sexually abused in Catholic orphanages, boarding schools and seminaries between 1945 and 1981.

In a report released on Thursday, prosecutors said the boys who died between 1952 and 1954 in St Joseph’s psychiatric hospital in the southeastern town of Heel had likely been given morphine overdoses by Brother Andreas.

Prosecutors said Brother Andreas had died and there were no known living suspects. If he had been alive there was enough proof to launch a criminal investigation.

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CANADA
CBC News

A pastor at a Glace Bay church denies any wrongdoing, after police charged him with three counts of sexual interference.

Robert Lawther, 59, is accused of sex crimes against three children under the age of 16.

Lawther, pastor at Bethel Family Church, was arrested on Wednesday. He appeared in court in Sydney and was released under strict conditions.

“One of the main ones was that he not attend any area at schools, playgrounds, recreation areas, etc. where children under 16 would normally attend,” said Staff Sgt. Mike Kennedy, spokesman for Cape Breton Regional Police.

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IOWA
WCF Courier

WAVERLY, Iowa — A pastor accused of illegal contact with a 15-year-old boy this week admitted committing third-degree sexual abuse.

Dennis Brown, 67, of Eldora, will face sentencing at 10 a.m. Aug. 10 in Bremer County District Court.

According to court documents, the boy and Brown became acquainted online and met in Waverly. The teenager’s family learned of the encounter, however, and contacted authorities.

Brown’s attorney, Kevin Engels of Cedar Falls, had argued unsuccessfully that some potential evidence should be suppressed. The material included statements Brown allegedly made to investigators and his personal computer.

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NETHERLANDS
Boston Globe

June 28, 2012|Associated Press

A brother at a Catholic institute for disabled boys may have been involved in the suspicious deaths of 37 patients in the 1950s, Dutch prosecutors announced Thursday.

However, the prosecutors said they will not further investigate the deaths because the suspect, identified as Brother Andreas, has died and any alleged crimes happened too long ago to be prosecuted.

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JOLIET (IL)
The Herald-News

Updated: June 29, 2012

JOLIET — New allegations of sexual abuse are the latest in a series of claims regarding priests from the Diocese of Joliet.

In 2006, the diocese had 15 abuse lawsuits pending in Will and DuPage counties.

The latest allegations are being leveled at a former priest from the diocese already accused of molesting several young boys in the 1970s.

A spokesman said the diocese had no comment on the latest accusations against Lawrence Gibbs.

In Will County Circuit Court this week, Terence Breen sued Gibbs and the diocese. He claims Gibbs gave several young boys alcohol and pornography during a retreat at a Wisconsin cabin in 1977 and had them play games, swim and perform other activities naked.

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UNITED STATES
The Palm Beach Post

By Lona O’Connor
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

A woman who claimed she was sexually molested by an exorcist priest has filed a lawsuit against the priest’s former employer and church officials in Virginia, where the alleged molestation occurred.

Thomas Euteneuer, 50, was officially supervised by the Diocese of Palm Beach during the time the incidents are alleged to have occurred. The Palm Beach Diocese settled with the woman known as “Jane Doe” for an undisclosed amount. A spokeswoman referred questions about his whereabouts to his attorney, who did not respond to a request for an interview.

The Diocese of Arlington, Va., and Human Life International, the anti-abortion group that Euteneuer headed for 10 years, should have known that Euteneuer was abusing his position because some of the incidents occurred at HLI headquarters during working hours, said Demetry Pikrallidas, the woman’s attorney. Pikrallidas said Wednesday that he was “very concerned” about the woman’s current state of mind.

According to an assistant of Euteneuer who was present for Euteneuer’s earlier exorcisms, the woman experienced classic symptoms of demonic possession. The witness claimed the woman had been speaking in different voices and languages and cursing religious objects. She said the woman’s body contorted into unnatural positions and her eyes rolled back in her head.

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VIRGINIA
Northern Virginia Daily

By Sally Voth — svoth@nvdaily.com

It wasn’t until six months after forcing out its president for sexual misconduct that a Front Royal-based pro-life organization began to shed some light on the real reason for his departure.

In its initial statement in August 2010, Human Life International praised the tenure of the Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, who headed the international charity for about a decade.

The Catholic News Agency at the time reported HLI’s Board of Directors issued a news release stating “after nearly 10 years of meritorious service to HLI as president, Reverend Thomas J. Euteneuer has stepped down from his position after being asked by his bishop to return to his Diocese in Palm Beach, Florida.”

The release also stated Euteneuer’s leadership and his role in the “pro-life movement around the world will be greatly missed.”

At the time, the Daily quoted HLI chaplain the Rev. Frank Papa as saying Euteneuer was a “marvelous” boss with “amazing gifts.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KCUR

[with audio]

By Dan Verbeck

Documents considered so sensitive they may not be photocopied must be turned over to a prosecutor by the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese.

The files deal with former cases alleging abuse by priests.

The Catholic Diocese had been reluctant to turn over data from its own investigations until ordered this week by Jackson County Circuit Judge John Torrence.

The Jackson County Prosecutor will take the information that is so touchy only a limited number of people may see it.

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NEDERLAND
KNR

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH – De Commissie Deetman heeft vanaf het voorjaar van 2010 in opdracht van de Bisschoppenconferentie en de Konferentie Nederlandse Religieuzen (KNR) onderzoek verricht naar seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen binnen de RK kerk.

Bij dat onderzoek is de Commissie gestuit op een aantal als “verdacht” aan te merken sterfgevallen in een katholieke instelling in de gemeente Heel. Daarop heeft de Commissie besloten om het betreffende dossier voor nader onderzoek over te dragen aan het Openbaar Ministerie in Roermond.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is holding a fire sale after running up $11.6 million in legal bills in the fiscal year prior to the priest abuse trial. Facing a $17 million operating deficit, the archdiocese is now selling off the cardinal’s mansion on City Line Avenue, and closing down the 117-year-old archdiocese newspaper, The Catholic Standard & Times.

The latest victim of the church’s austerity campaign is Villa St. Joseph-by-the-Sea. The grand summer vacation home where Cardinals Krol and Bevilacqua once entertained wealthy donors will soon be up for sale. It’s a three-story brick and stucco oceanfront mansion that covers an entire city block along the boardwalk in Ventnor, N.J., and is assessed at $6.2 million.

The impending sale of the cardinal’s seaside villa is not only a sign of the archdiocese’s changing fortunes, but it also exposes a fraudulent story told by the cardinal’s PR guys 19 years ago to get His Eminence out of a public relations jam over the villa. It’s an amusing saga.

It should surprise nobody that a cardinal who in 1994 would order the shredding of a list of 35 abuser priests then in ministry a year earlier would launch an elaborate and untruthful cover-up of his own lavish spending habits.

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UNITED STATES
Big Think

Adam Lee on June 27, 2012

Over the last few years, it’s become increasingly clear that there’s no longer any place in Roman Catholicism for any but the most conservative and doctrinaire members. The signs of a top-down ideological cleansing are too obvious to ignore, including the Vatican hierarchy’s using the Eucharist as a bludgeon against politicians who show too much independence and cracking down on nuns for being suspiciously feminist. People, especially young people, are leaving in droves, and the FFRF has been helping them along with billboards and ads urging progressive Catholics to quit the church (I can’t tell you how much I love “Put Women’s Rights Over Bishops’ Wrongs”). Even the executive editor of the New York Times, hardly a voice of radicalism, is in agreement that liberals can do more good outside the church than in. And liberal Catholics who aren’t leaving feel compelled to articulate why not, a clear sign that they’re feeling the pressure as well.

But you can never have too many reasons on offer to quit the Catholic church. Today, I’d like to toss four more on the pile. Some of these are older stories I meant to write about earlier, but others are brand-new (the Catholic church being a veritable wellspring of self-embarrassment these past few years).

First: You’ve probably heard that the church has been offering generous severance packages – as much as $20,000 – to known pedophile priests, despite a specific earlier denial that they were doing this. The Vatican’s lame and belated excuse has been that laicizing a priest is an unavoidably slow and bureaucratic process, especially if the priest resists; that the church is bound to provide for the priest’s needs in the meantime; and that offering lump-sum payouts to the pedophiles so that they’d go quietly was the easiest way to get the process over with. This explanation is thrown into doubt by the case of a rogue archbishop, Emmanuel Milingo, who ordained married men as priests in a public show of defiance and was officially laicized all of six days later.

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NEDERLAND
Reformatorisch Dagblad

DEN BOSCH (ANP) – De KNR, de koepel van onder meer religieuze ordes en congregaties, en de congregatie van de Broeders van de H. Joseph zijn geschokt door de conclusies over de dood van 37 jongens in het katholieke internaat Sint Joseph in Heel (Limburg). Dat liet de KNR donderdag weten. Het Openbaar Ministerie publiceerde donderdag het strafrechtelijk onderzoek naar hun dood. Daaruit blijkt dat de 37 jongens die tussen 1952 en 1954 onder verdachte omstandigheden overleden in het internaat vermoedelijk het slachtoffer van een misdrijf zijn en dat het bisdom Roermond vanaf begin 1959 van de verdachte sterfgevallen wist, maar niets deed.

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ARLINGTON (VA)
Chicago Tribune

Ian Simpson
Reuters

4:15 p.m. CDT, June 28, 2012

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Virginia woman who claims a priest sexually abused her while performing an exorcism is suing a Catholic diocese and an anti-abortion group for $5.3 million in damages.

The woman claims the Rev. Thomas Euteneuer abused her between April 2008 and September 2010, according to the suit filed in Virginia’s Arlington County Circuit Court.

The suit names as defendants the Catholic Diocese of Arlington and its bishop, Paul Loverde, as well as the anti-abortion group Human Life International and HLI Endowment Inc.

Euteneuer had been transferred from the Diocese of Palm Beach, Florida, to serve as president of Human Life International and HLI Endowment in 2000. He resigned in August 2010.

The woman, identified in the suit as Jane Doe, said she signed an “agreement for spiritual help” with Euteneuer in February 2008 because “she believed she was in desperate need of the rite of exorcism,” the suit said.

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UNITED STATES
Religion Dispatches

Post by Sarah Morice-Brubaker

Annie Gowen at the Washington Post has written a lucid and troubling article about a lawsuit filed in Arlington this week against Human Life International. The lawsuit alleges that Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, a Catholic priest and former president of HLI, sexually abused a woman who had turned to him for counseling—and that he did so under the guise of performing an exorcism. (According to diocesan officials, Euteneuer was not authorized to perform exorcisms.) The lawsuit does not name Euteneuer as a defendant, but instead seeks damages from HLI which, according to the woman’s attorneys, knew about and permitted the exorcism. Euteneuer stepped down from his position as president of HLI in 2010.

Currently HLI is promoting a “One Million Rosary Challenge” as a tie-in with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Fortnight for Freedom, a campaign calling upon Catholics to support religious liberty and freedom, which have become battle cries in the fight over the contraception coverage mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

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CANADA
Sooke News Mirror

By Staff Writer – Saanich News
Published: June 28, 2012

The case against a former Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing minors in Saanich will head to a voir dire phase of court proceedings in July.

Philip Jacobs served as a parish priest at St. Joseph the Worker on Burnside Road West from 1998 to 2002. A pretrial conference this week in Victoria Supreme Court set a date for the voir dire – a hearing to examine evidence or witness competency – for July 23.

In July 2010, Jacobs was charged with sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference of a person under 14 and touching a young person for a sexual purpose.

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SPANIEN
Tages Anzeiger

Von Denise Jeitziner. Aktualisiert um 12:27

300’000 Neugeborene wurden in Spanien geraubt und heimlich verkauft – bis in die 90er-Jahre. Sowohl «Reporter» als auch «DOK» behandelt das Thema. Denn auch Schweizer sind betroffen.

Tausende von Müttern haben in Spanien den vermeintlichen Tod ihres neugeborenen Babys beweint. Es sei kurz nach der Geburt gestorben, haben ihnen die Krankenschwestern gesagt, meist waren es katholische Nonnen.

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OREGON
The Garden of Roses: Stories of Abuse and Healing

Clergy Abuse? Is it Over? No! Become a Part of Healing

Clergy abuse? Is it over? No!!!!!!!
Many clergy abuse survivors still in the Church remain silent.
Many survivors remain estranged from the Church.
The Bishops requested 20 plus years of e-mails from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests costing them huge sums of money to protect the confidentiality of survivors.
Despite the 2002 Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Young People, survivors abused in the last 10 years continue to come forward.

The whole community is wounded and the whole community needs to be involved in the healing process.

Come to Ascension Catholic Church to be a part of the healing process.
July 14, 2012
11 AM to Noon
743 SE 76th Avenue
Portland, OR 97215
St. Francis Room

Cost: free, but registration required
Contact: Virginia Jones at
ph# 503-866-6163 or
E-mail compassion500@gmail.com

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ILLINOIS
cuIstanbul

June 27, 2012

CHICAGO (Reuters) – The state of Illinois on Wednesday added sports coaches and university employees to the list of people required to report suspected child sexual abuse, a move aimed at stopping cases like the one that involved convicted former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

“Young people place their trust in coaches and university officials, and it is their responsibility to report any suspected abuse,” Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, said in a statement announcing that he signed legislation passed unanimously by the state’s General Assembly.

All U.S. states have laws mandating who is required to report child abuse or maltreatment.

In Illinois, the list already included social workers, teachers and other school employees, doctors and healthcare workers, members of the clergy, police, mental health professionals, child care providers, foster parents, funeral home directors and commercial film processors.

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ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on June 27, 2012

We’re grateful almost any time lawmakers take steps to better protect kids. But this law won’t make much difference.

Mandatory reporter laws – no matter how many occupations are covered – are rarely used. And the penalties for breaking them are usually paltry.

It’s far more effective to eliminate or extend the criminal or civil statues of limitations on child sex crimes. The best approach to expose, remove, prosecute, convict and imprison child molesters is to let their victims take them to court, instead of being left out in the cold due to arbitrary, archaic, predator-friendly deadlines.

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

Posted by Judy Jones on June 28, 2012

We are glad that Bishop Finn has lost his bid for more secrecy. We are glad that he must turn over relevant documents to prosecutors. This information can only help shed light on how Catholic officials handle abuse reports and predator priests in secrecy.

As this trial nears, we are grateful that Bishop Finn will likely have to face tough questions under oath in open court. During trials, more secrets are exposed showing who conceals child sex crimes. And when corruption surfaces, it spur others with facts and suspicions to come forward, protect kids, help police and uncover truth.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

In a letter to Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, the hysterical anti-Catholic group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) is now demanding that 61-year-old Msgr. William Lynn, recently acquitted of three criminal charges but found guilty of a single third-degree child endangerment charge from actions nearly two decades ago, be “defrocked” from the priesthood.

SNAP claims, “This (request) is not about being vindictive,” yet common sense suggests otherwise.

If SNAP really wanted to see discipline for those who have failed to report cases of suspected abusive priests, it should start by looking into disturbing episodes from within its own organization. As we have reported before:
■SNAP National Director David Clohessy fully knew in the early 1990’s of allegations that his brother, Kevin – a Catholic priest – was sexually abusing innocent boys.
For two decades, David Clohessy has been railing against Church leaders for allegedly not calling authorities when becoming aware of suspected abuse by priests. Meanwhile, Clohessy himself did not report his own brother to authorities, and he may very well have jeopardized the safety of numerous innocent children by his admitted inaction … [Read more]

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CANADA
The Chronicle-Herald

June 28, 2012

A pastor from Glace Bay is facing sex charges related to three minors.

Pastor Robert Lawther, 59, of Bethel Family Church was arrested Wednesday and charged with three counts of sexual interference.

The charges involve three different children, all younger than 16, and stem from incidents that occurred over the last five years in Glace Bay.

Lawther appeared in Nova Scotia provincial court in Sydney on Wednesday and was released on a recognizance with several strict conditions. He will return to court on Aug. 22 for plea.

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CANADA
CBC News

A pastor at a Glace Bay church denies any wrongdoing, after police charged him with three counts of sexual interference.

Robert Lawther, 59, is accused of sex crimes against three children under the age of 16.

Lawther, pastor at Bethel Family Church, was arrested on Wednesday. He appeared in court in Sydney and was released under strict conditions.

“One of the main ones was that he not attend any area at schools, playgrounds, recreation areas, etc. where children under 16 would normally attend,” said Staff Sgt. Mike Kennedy, spokesman for Cape Breton Regional Police.

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CANADA
Sun News

QMI AGENCY

A Nova Scotia pastor was arrested Wednesday for sexual offences involving three children.

Robert Lawther, 59, of the Bethel Family Church in Glace Bay, is charged with three counts of sexual interference,Cape Breton police said.

The abuse is alleged to have occurred over the past five years, involving three girls all under the age of 16.

Lawther appeared in court and was released under strict conditions, which include avoiding all contact with the alleged victims and staying away from areas where children might be, such as parks, playgrounds and schools.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
San Francisco Chronicle

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has to provide prosecutors with information about the diocese’s investigation into past reports of priests accused of abusing children, a Jackson County judge has ruled.

Jackson County Circuit Judge John M. Torrence, who is overseeing a case against Bishop Robert Finn and the diocese, also said in a ruling Wednesday that the diocese must turn over documents from the independent investigation into the case of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan that the diocese commissioned.

Ratigan has pleaded not guilty to state and federal child pornography charges and remains jailed.

Finn and the diocese are charged with misdemeanor failure to report suspected abuse to the state after learning of suspected child pornography on Ratigan’s computer. Finn has acknowledged learning about the photos in December 2010, six months before Ratigan was arrested. The trial is scheduled for September.

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VIRGINIA
The Palm Beach Post

By LARRY O’DELL
The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. —

A woman who claims a priest repeatedly molested her during a more than two-year exorcism has filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, its bishop and an anti-abortion ministry that employed the exorcist.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Arlington County Circuit Court, seeks more than $5.3 million in damages.

According to the complaint, the Warren County woman went to the Rev. Thomas Euteneuer, then president of Front Royal-based Human Life International Inc., for spiritual help in February 2008. The lawsuit says Euteneuer knew that the woman, identified in court papers by the pseudonym Jane Doe, believed she needed exorcism. He told her that her case was “severe” and had her sign an agreement promising full cooperation, the complaint says.

The plaintiff alleges that Euteneuer’s sessions with her frequently involved inappropriate touching and directing her to undress. The complaint says Euteneur explained passionate kisses as “blowing the Holy Spirit” into her.

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NETHERLANDS
Radio Netherlands

A Roman Catholic brother administered a deadly overdose of medication to 37 severely handicapped boys at a home for the disabled in the Netherlands 60 years ago, the Dutch public prosecution office has confirmed. On the heels of a castration scandal in the church this spring, a deeply macabre cold case has been solved.

Murder, manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. Thirty-seven counts. Those are the charges that would have been brought against Brother Andreas if he were still alive and if the statue of limitations had not expired.

The public prosecutor in the Dutch city of Roermond reports that Andreas, who belonged to a congregation called the Brothers of the Holy Joseph, put the permanently bedridden boys to death one by one, shortly after they arrived at the home between 1952 and 1954.

No regrets
The public prosecutor’s report, released this morning finally clarifies a sharp spike in deaths during that period at the Saint Joseph’s home in the tiny southern hamlet of Heel.

Brother Andreas himself wrote in his memoirs that he had acted with the permission of his brother superior at Saint Joseph’s, and in his writings he never expressed any regrets, according to the prosecutor’s report.

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VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (United Kingdom)

John Hooper in Vatican City
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 June 2012

On the ceiling of the conference room in the Vatican bank, there is a big, round allegorical painting.

There is the Virgin Mary somewhat improbably wearing a papal tiara and holding a model of a church. There is another holy lady offering the mother of Jesus a gold plate laden with crowns, a gold chain and an honorific decoration. In the background, Neptune is emerging from the sea on a chariot, while in the foreground there is snake winding its way through a patch of mushrooms.

Baffled? Well, what did you expect? This is the heart of what, until Thursday, was the most secret building in the “city of secrets” – the premises of an institution that has attracted more speculation, suspicion and sinister insinuation than almost any on earth.

Addressing a restricted number of correspondents on the first-ever press visit to the Vatican bank, its managing director, Paolo Cipriani, could scarcely be expected to recall its involvement with Banco Ambrosiano – whose boss, Roberto Calvi, was found lifeless and dangling by the neck under Blackfriars Bridge in 1982 – or the claim by Holocaust survivors that the bank took in gold looted by wartime Croatian fascists. He merely alluded briskly to “that veil, that shadow that comes from the past”, and then plunged back into an account of the bank’s efforts to satisfy international requirements on transparency.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

The Vatican Bank has opened up to the media in an effort to appear more transparent, amid a scandal surrounding the Vatican’s financial affairs.

In a briefing to journalists, director Paolo Cipriani said the bank wanted to dispel “myths”, including that it runs secret bank accounts.

In May, the bank sacked its president, who said he was being punished for seeking greater transparency.

Earlier this year, leaks hinted at Vatican rifts about the bank’s running.

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VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican bank, one of the most secretive institutions in the secrecy-obsessed Vatican, opened itself up to a little external scrutiny Thursday in a bid to show it’s serious about fighting money-laundering and being more financially transparent.

During a nearly three-hour power-point presentation to a few dozen journalists, the bank’s director, Paolo Cipriani, highlighted the peculiar nature of the Institute for Religious Works, the institute’s official name, and stressed its internal and external financial controls.

But more importantly, he sought to refute media allegations that the institution has been less than cooperative with requests for financial information from banks such as JPMorgan and Italian authorities.

At one point, Cipriani displayed a letter from Italy’s financial police thanking him for his “timely and exhaustive response” in signaling a suspect transaction to them even before the Vatican’s new anti-money laundering law went into effect last year. And he described in detail the exhaustive checks carried out by the institute to ensure that the money that comes into and out of its accounts is clean.

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PORTUGAL
DN Portugal

[Summary: A pastor has expressed shock and hurt that a catechist in his parish is accused of abusing children.]

O pároco da igreja de Aveiras de Cima, na Azambuja, mostrou-se hoje “surpreendido, chocado e magoado” pela detenção de um catequista daquela paróquia, suspeito de abusar sexualmente de crianças.

O tribunal do Cartaxo ordenou hoje a prisão preventiva de homem suspeito de abusar sexualmente de crianças a quem ministrava catequese na capela de Casais de Lagoa, na paróquia de Aveiras de Baixo.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Jun. 28, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first Catholic bishop criminally charged in the decades-long clergy sex abuse crisis will have to grant prosecutors access to a range of files regarding his diocese’s response to previous accusations of clergy abuse, a county judge ordered Thursday.

According to the decision, Bishop Robert Finn and his Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese will have to turn over notes and other documents from a diocesan investigation into their handling of the case of diocesan priest Fr. Shawn Ratigan, who was arrested last year for possession of child pornography.

They will also have to grant prosecutors access to diocesan files regarding its handling of five other priests who had previously been accused of abuse.

Both Finn and the diocese face trial this September in Jackson County, Mo., over separate criminal misdemeanor charges of failure to report suspected child abuse concerning their actions in the Ratigan case.

News of the latest order from County Judge John Torrence comes almost a week after the first conviction of a diocesan administrator on a charge of child endangerment for his role in reassigning clergy accused of abuse in his archdiocese.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By TONY RIZZO
The Kansas City Star

Local Catholic officials must hand over information about past priest abuse investigations to Jackson County prosecutors, according to a judge overseeing the current case against Bishop Robert Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

The diocese also must turn over its notes and other documents from an independent investigation it commissioned former U.S. attorney Todd Graves to conduct into the case of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, the judge ruled. Ratigan is facing child pornography charges in state and federal court.

Finn and the diocese are nearing trial on misdemeanor charges related to the handling of allegations against Ratigan.

In his ruling released Wednesday, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Torrence said that information about the diocesan investigations into alleged misconduct regarding five other priests was “relevant and material” to the state’s pending case. Because sensitive and confidential information likely is contained in that information, the judge said he would impose a protective order to limit access to those files to attorneys and staff directly involved in the case.

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SAN JOSE (CA)
San Jose Inside

Posted by Christopher Schumb on Thursday, June 28, 2012

San Jose attorney Christopher Schumb will write a bi-weekly column for San Jose Inside focusing on the biggest cases and legal disputes in Santa Clara County. This is his first column.—Editor

If you have seen all the media vans parked in front of the Criminal Courthouse on Hedding Street, it’s not for a location shoot of Law and Order. The media is there for the courtroom drama unfolding in the trial of William Lynch. Mr. Lynch alleges that he was a victim of horrific child abuse by a Catholic priest, Father Jerold Lindner, in 1975.

Mr. Lynch settled a civil suit he filed against Father Lindner and the church over a decade ago. In 2010, Mr. Lynch allegedly went to Father Lindner’s retirement home, and attacked the 67-year-old retired priest. From the outset, it was clear that Mr. Lynch’s agenda was to publicize the alleged abuse he, his brother and several other boys allegedly suffered at the hands of Father Lindner.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed felony assault and elder abuse charges against Mr. Lynch. The trial has not gone smoothly. Before the trial began, Judge David Cena ruled that allegations of child abuse would be admissible to attack Father Lindner’s credibility. However, the scope of his exam on this issue must be brief so as not to consume an undue amount of time, because it was a peripheral issue. Deputy District Attorney Vickie Gemetti, who is very well respected by criminal attorneys—both prosecutors and defense—made a tactical decision to defuse the abuse allegations by playing, as part of her opening statement, a tape recording of an interview in which Lynch detailed the alleged sexual abuse. The jury was in tears after hearing the tape, and the defense attorneys asked that Judge Cena modify his previous ruling limiting the scope of the questioning about the alleged sexual abuse because Ms. Gemetti had “opened the door” by playing the tape. Judge Cena agreed, and the defense was then allowed to extensively cross-exam Father Lindner about the abuse allegations.

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VATICAN CITY
Bloomberg Businessweek

By Flavia Rotondi and Chiara Vasarri on June 28, 2012

The Vatican Bank has increased efforts to comply with international rules to control money laundering and is committed to transparency, Paolo Cipriani, director general of the Institute for the Works of Religion, said today in Rome.

“We have stepped up anti-money laundering controls to protect the reputation of the Holy See, remove the veil and shadow of the past” when the IOR was known as one of the world’s most secretive banks, Cipriani said today at the first- ever briefing with reporters inside the bank in Vatican city. “There are no secret numbered accounts here,” Cipriani said.

The Vatican bank has 33,000 accounts with assets of around 6 billion euros ($7.5 billion), Cipriani said today. The bank’s cash machines allow users to operate in Latin.

Set up in 1942 by Pope Pius XII to manage the Vatican’s finances, the bank, known as the IOR from its Italian initials, is controlled by the pontiff and has recently been at the center of several financial scandals. Cipriani and his former boss, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, were placed under investigation by Italian prosecutors in a probe in 2010 for allegedly omitting data from some wire transfers from an Italian account.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, June 28 (Reuters) – The Vatican bank, attempting to project a new image of transparency ahead of a decision by EU financial authorities next month, lifted its veil of secrecy on Thursday by allowing journalists to visit the institution for the first time.

The tour came one month after the bank’s president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was ousted by the board of the bank, in a move he said was aimed at stopping his efforts to make the bank more transparent. The Vatican said he was just a bad manager.

It also followed allegations by Italian magistrates that the bank may have been involved in money laundering, which the Vatican denies.

“We have nothing to hide,” said Paolo Cipriani, director-general of the bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).

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VIRGINIA
USA Today

By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY

A‏ Virginia woman claims in a $5.3 million lawsuit that a priest repeatedly molested her over a two-year period during what was supposed to be an exorcism.

The plaintiff, identified in court paper only as Jane Doe, filed the suit earlier this month against the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Va., its bishop and an anti-abortion ministry that employed the exorcist.

She is seeking $5.3 million in damages, the Associated Press reports.

The complaint alleges that she went to Rev. Thomas Euteneuer in 2008 to seek spiritual help and that he called her case “severe.”

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TEXAS
Catholic Culture

By Phil Lawler

The “victory” of Father Frank Pavone in his appeal to Rome illustrates something seriously wrong with the ordinary application of canon law.

The word “victory” belongs in quotation marks above because we don’t know whether the Congregation for Clergy accepted all, or even most, of Father Pavone’s canonical argument. The text of the Vatican decision has not been released. Therein lies the problem.

Priests for Life has claimed vindication for the group’s president, happily announcing that “Father Pavone is not now nor has ever been suspended.” But that is the answer to a question no one was asking. The Diocese of Amarillo put things in a different perspective, issuing a brief statement from Bishop Patrick Zurek, which can be quoted in full:

In its decree of May 18, 2012, the Congregation for the Clergy has sustained Father Frank A. Pavone’s appeal of his suspension from ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo and his appointment from me on October 4, 2011 as Chaplain of the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in Channing, Texas. Father Pavone is to continue his ministry as chaplain until further notice. As a gesture of good will, I will grant permission to him in individual cases, based upon their merits, to participate in pro-life events with the provision that he and I must be in agreement beforehand as to his role and function.
All other matters are outside the purview of this statement.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Echo

A retired Church of England priest has been charged with sex attacks on 18 girls and boys dating back 50 years, including Hampshire.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, is accused of committing 38 offences over an 11-year period between 1962 and 1973.

The charges follow a nine-month inquiry by detectives into allegations of child sex abuse in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Rideout, of Filching Close, Wannock, Polegate, East Sussex, will appear on bail at Mid Sussex Magistrates’ Court on July 16.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: A native of Ecuador, Arzube was ordained in Los Angeles, California, at age 36. He was known throughout his career to be an advocate for Mexican Americans in Los Angeles. He was elevated to Auxilliary Bishop of the Los Angeles archdiocese in 1971. In 2003 Arzube was accused of having molested an 11 year-old boy in 1975 and 1976. He admitted in a 2006 deposition to training altar boys in his bedroom, but denied molesting anyone. A civil lawsuit against the archdiocese related to the accusation against him was part of a massive settlement in the summer of 2007. Arzube died in December, 2007.

Ordained: 1954
Incardinated: Los Angeles
Ordained Bishop: March 25, 1971
Retired: June 1, 1993
Died: Dec. 25, 2007

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NEDERLAND
NRC Handelsblad

[met video]

door Peter Zantingh

De rechtbank heeft vandaag bepaald dat pedofielenvereniging Martijn verboden moet worden. Het OM had gevraagd om een verbod en een ontbinding omdat de vereniging ‘in strijd is met de openbare orde en goede zeden’.

Het verbod geldt per direct; mocht Martijn in beroep gaan, dan betekent dat niet dat de vereniging zijn bestaan daarmee nog kan oprekken. Het is volgens de rechtbank in Assen niet toe te staan dat Martijn seksuele relaties tussen volwassenen en kinderen verheerlijkt. Dat is een inbreuk op de rechten van het kind. De Tweede Kamer maakte zich al langere tijd sterk voor een verbod.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Bilgrimage

Drawing on his wide legal expertise, Jerry Slevin has sent another critically important statement about the recent Philadelphia trial and what remains still to be done. What follows is Jerry’s statement:

APOLOGISTS’ RECENT “SPIN EFFORTS”:

Almost a year and a half ago, Philly’s Cardinal Rigali suddenly suspended three dozen priests of the Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese (Philly AD) on perceived suspicion of sexual misconduct with children. Over half of these priests’ cases were “news” to Rigali’s lay child protection review board chairwoman. Over a dozen of these cases still remain open under Archbishop Chaput at the Philly AD. These remaining suspected priests are apparently still generally unmonitored and may yet be possible risks for defenseless Philly children. Yet, the Philly AD’s newly convicted felon, Monsignor Lynn, had barely broken in his new prison mattress when the Catholic bishops’ spin-machine went into over-drive to try to whitewash Lynn’s criminal trial’s findings and almost to suggest that an “abuse free” Philly AD had arrived.

The U. S. Catholic bishops’ occasionally unofficial mouthpiece, Bill Donohue, exclaimed here that the alleged “witch-hunt” against the Philly AD had failed with Msgr. Lynn’s conviction. According to Bill Donohue, the “witch-hunt” against the Philly AD was initiated in 2001 by former Philly District Attorney (DA), Lynne Abraham, who is of the Jewish faith, with her purportedly biased pursuit of Philly Catholic clergy. Bill Donohue claimed pointedly, gratuitously and irrelevantly that DA Abraham investigated priests, but not rabbis and others. Bill has previously made similar seemingly anti-Semitic diversionary allusions to her alleged religious bias against Catholic clergy as a factor in her investigation of Philly predatory priests.

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TEXAS
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Posted: June 28, 2012

By KAREN SMITH WELCH
MORRIS NEWS SERVICE

AMARILLO ­— A Vatican ruling allows anti-abortion activist the Rev. Frank Pavone to perform religious services outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Amarillo, but he must have permission to participate in pro-life activities, his bishop said Wednesday.

Priests for Life, the New York nonprofit led by Pavone, declared Wednesday the Vatican’s Congregation of the Clergy upheld Pavone’s appeal of restrictions placed on him last September by Amarillo Bishop Patrick J. Zurek.

But the organization shed no light on the details of the ruling.

Zurek said the ruling “makes it clear I am free to restore him to full religious ministry, if I wish. … But he must have my permission for anything in regard to work in pro-life, and in particular Priests for Life, because that is where the issue arose to begin with.”

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NIEDERLANDE
News4Press

Ein Verein, der sich in den Niederlanden für sexuelle Beziehungen zwischen Kinder und Erwachsenen einsetzte, ist verboten worden. Die Organisation wurde 1982 gegründet und hatte rund 60 Mitglieder. Martijn-Präsident Marthijn Uittenbogaard Foto bei einer Pressekonferenz im März 2012 macht den Eindruck eines netten Nachbarn von nebenan. Dieser Nachbar ist jedoch Pädofilen-Unterstützer der schlimmsten Art. Die Pädophilen-Vereinigung “Martijn” wurde jetzt endlich verboten. Das zuständige Gericht in Assen im Nordosten des Landes ordnete am Mittwoch die Auflösung der rund 60 Mitglieder starken Organisation an. Ob allerdings mit dem Urteil auch die Löschung der Homepage verbunden ist, ist nicht bekannt.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

Die “VatiLeaks”-Affäre erschüttert den Vatikan, nun spricht erstmals ein deutscher Kardinal klare Worte: Rainer Maria Woelki prangert Geldwäsche, Korruption und Vorteilsnahme im Kirchenstaat an. Dass der wiederverheiratete Horst Seehofer vom Papst die Kommunion erhalten hat, verteidigt er.

Hamburg – Der Berliner Erzbischof Rainer Maria Woelki fordert “einen Prozess der Selbstreinigung” in der katholischen Kirche. Damit hat sich erstmals ein deutscher Kardinal im Zusammenhang mit der “VatiLeaks”-Affäre geäußert. Und er nimmt harte Worte in den Mund: In der “Zeit” spricht Woelki von Geldwäsche, Korruption und Vorteilsnahme im Vatikan. Er bezeichnete es als besonders ärgerlich, wenn “im Raum der Kirche eine Bank schlecht agiert oder sogar Geldwäsche passiert und finanzielle Unregelmäßigkeiten geschehen. Das darf bei uns keinen Ort haben.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

Die katholische Kirche ändert ihre Meinung – was ja nicht so häufig passiert: Weltbild soll nun doch nicht verkauft werden. Der Verlag war wegen des Vertriebs erotischer und esoterischer Titel ins Gerede gekommen und soll jetzt in eine Stiftung umgewandelt werden.

Würzburg/Hamburg – Ach Du lieber Gott! Erotik! Esoterik! Wegen des Vorwurfs, der Weltbild-Verlag führe zu viele Titel aus diesen eher kirchenfernen Themenkreisen im Angebot, hatte die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz beschlossen, das Unternehmen zu verkaufen. Doch der “Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung” zufolge wird die Verlagsgruppe nun doch nicht verkauft, sondern von der katholischen Kirche in eine gemeinnützige Stiftung umgewandelt. Das bestätigte am Mittwoch der Vorsitzende der Geschäftsführung des Verlags, Carel Halff.

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VATIKAN
Frankfurter Allgemeine

25.06.2012 · Im Vatikan weiß niemand, wem er noch vertrauen kann. Der Papst ist das Opfer einer Intrige, weil er der klerikalen Vertuschung den Kampf angesagt hat. Selbst um sein Leben wird gefürchtet.

Von Daniel Deckers

aum eine Institution birgt so viele Mysterien wie die katholische Kirche, kaum ein Gemeinwesen so viele Rätsel wie der Vatikanstaat. Doch das alleine ist nicht der Grund, weshalb die Paläste rings um St. Peter noch heute eine ideale Projektionsfläche für Phantasien jeder Art über Macht, Geld und Sex sind. Denn wie die Vergangenheit bietet auch die Gegenwart Verschwörungstheoretikern, Medienleuten und Romanautoren mehr Stoff als genug. Ausgerechnet jenen Schöngeist auf dem Stuhl Petri, der als Benedikt XVI. der „Entweltlichung“ der Kirche das Wort redet, hat die Weltlichkeit der Kirche nun so brutal eingeholt, dass manche um das Leben des Papstes fürchten.

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VIRGINIA
NBC 12

[with video]

By Sarah Bloom

SPOTSYLVANIA, VA (WWBT) –
61-year-old Edward Zottoli has been charged with five sex related crimes after deputies said he had a naked sleep over with a teen he was supposed to be mentoring from church.

Investigators said a 14-year-old teen and his brother went to Zottoli’s home for an overnight counseling session.

“I think he was just kind of a mentor to the children in the church, the adolescent boys in the church,” said Cpt. Mike Harvey with the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office.

Instead, detectives said Zottoli, known as “Brother Ed” to the kids, assaulted the 14-year-old.

Harvey said while one of the brothers was asleep on the couch, Zottoli asked the 14-year-old to get into bed with him. Harvey said the teen claimed Zottoli was naked at the time, asked the teen for a massage, and that then Zottoli sexually assaulted the teen twice. They say Zottoli also asked the teen to perform sexual acts on him.

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VATICAN CITY
Chiesa

VATICAN CITY, June 28, 2012 – The pope’s “butler,” Paolo Gabriele, remains in custody as the only suspect in the crime. At the moment, it is one of aggravated theft. The investigative commission of cardinals that is working in parallel with the Vatican magistracy is continuing its hearings.

It is not known how long it will take for the two investigations to the reach a conclusion. But this does not mean that the so-called “Vatileaks” case has not already had an impact on the life of that particular organism which is the Roman curia.

Far from it. Some consequences, in fact, can already be identified in the short term, while others can be conjectured in the medium and long term.

OPUS DEI AND THE UNITED STATES

To begin with, in just a few weeks there has been an increase in the curia of the visible role of Opus Dei, which already numbers, in the organizational structure, the secretary of the pontifical council for legislative texts (Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, of the clergy of Obra), the secretary of the congregation for the clergy (Archbishop Celso Morga Iruzubieta, of the priestly fraternity of the Holy Cross, connected to Opus) and the secretary of the prefecture of economic affairs (Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda).

The head of the investigative commission of cardinals, in fact, is Cardinal Julián Herranz, a member of Opus Dei and former president of the same dicastery as Arrieta.

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UNITED STATES
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

Disgraced former priest accused of repeatedly molesting woman during two-year EXORCISM

By Snejana Farberov

A Virginia woman filed a lawsuit claiming that a former priest whom she approached for spiritual help after becoming convinced that she was possessed by the devil repeatedly molested her during a more than two-year exorcism.

The lawsuit filed earlier this month against the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, its bishop and an anti-abortion ministry that employed the exorcist seeks $5.35million in damages.

According to the complaint, the Warren County woman, identified as ‘Jane Doe,’ went to the Reverent Thomas Euteneuer, then president of Front Royal-based Human Life International Inc (HLI) – one of the nation’s biggest anti-abortion groups – for spiritual guidance in February of 2008.

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NEDERLAND
Dagblad De Limburger

Het bisdom Roermond zegt te betreuren dat er in de jaren vijftig geen aangifte is gedaan van de 37 verdachte sterfgevallen in zwakzinnigeninstelling Sint Joseph in Heel. Het bisdom stelt dat in een verklaring die donderdag op internet wordt geplaatst. Justitie noemt de houding van het bisdom in de jaren vijftig ‘onaanvaardbaar’.

Heel
Niki van der Naald, Hans Goossen en Paul Bots

In ieder geval eind jaren vijftig was bij het bisdom bekend dat er in Heel kinderen zijn omgekomen onder verdachte omstandigheden. De zaak werd destijds intern gehouden. Ook de congregatie waar Sint Joseph onder viel, hield de kwestie stil. Beide instellingen kunnen niet vervolgd worden voor het verzwijgen van de kwestie. De zaak is verjaard, en in de jaren vijftig konden instellingen nog niet voor de rechter gedaagd worden.

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NEDERLAND
Dagblad De Limburg

[Justie Rapport]

[met video]

Justitie ziet de in 1997 overleden broeder Andreas als verdachte in de kwestie rond 37 opvallende sterfgevallen onder jongens in de Heelse zwakzinnigeninstelling Sint Joseph. Een groot deel van de jongens stierf in de jaren 1952-1954 in het zogeheten Gerarduspaviljoen dat Andreas onder zijn hoede had.

Heel
Van onze verslaggevers

Als de zaak niet verjaard was, en de broeder niet was overleden, was het strafrechtelijk feitenonderzoek van justitie voldoende aanleiding geweest om een opsporingsonderzoek naar Andreas te starten, concludeert justitie. De broeder zou dan als verdachte worden aangemerkt voor misdrijven die in ernst varieren van moord tot het niet-helpen van patiënten in nood. Justitie gaat er vanuit dat een groot deel van de jongens een onnatuurlijke dood is gestorven, maar kan niet zeggen om hoeveel gevallen het precies gaat. Oorspronkelijk is steeds sprake geweest van 34 verdachte overlijdens bij minderjarige jongens. Justitie telt daar echter drie namen van overleden jongens tussen de 18 en 21 jaar bij op, omdat in de jaren vijftig mensen pas vanaf hun 21e meerderjarig waren.

Niet alleen de broeder wordt door justitie als verdachte gekenmerkt. Ook toenmalig instellingsarts Guus Verstraelen zou in een nader opsporingsonderzoek verdachte zijn geworden als de zaak niet verjaard was, stelt justitie. De arts uitte eind jaren vijftig en eind jaren zestig openlijke twijfels over de door hemzelf afgegeven verklaringen van natuurlijke dood. Onderzoek naar Verstraelen zou zich dan ook richten op het plegen van valsheid in geschrifte.

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NEDERLAND
NRC Handelsblad

door Joep Dohmen

In het katholieke gesticht Sint Joseph in Heel zijn tussen juni 1952 en januari 1954 vermoedelijk 37 gehandicapte minderjarige jongens om het leven gebracht, mogelijk met een overdosis medicijnen. Dat heeft het Openbaar Ministerie in Roermond vanochtend bekendgemaakt. Het zijn de zwaarste feiten die tot nu toe bekend zijn geworden in het twee jaar voortdurende misbruikschandaal in de R.K.-Kerk.

Bij de dood van de jongens zouden de broeder die de kinderen verzorgde, de instellingsarts en de leiding betrokken zijn geweest. De broeder, Andreas, zou zich schuldig gemaakt hebben aan moord, doodslag of dood door schuld. Hij handelde, schreef hij in zijn memoires, met toestemming van zijn oversten en heeft daar “nooit spijt van gehad”. De instellingsarts gaf valse overlijdensverklaringen af waarin stond dat de kinderen een natuurlijke dood waren gestorven. De feiten zijn in 1972 verjaard; de meeste betrokkenen, onder wie broeder en arts, zijn overleden.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A retired Church of England priest from East Sussex has been charged with committing 38 sexual offences against 18 children and young teenagers.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, of Filching Close, Wannock, is alleged to have committed the offences between 1962 and 1973 in Crawley, London and Hampshire.

He was arrested at his home in March following a nine-month investigation and charged on Wednesday night.

He will appear before Mid Sussex magistrates on 16 July.

A total of 36 of the 38 alleged offences are of indecent assault on girls and boys in their early teens, Sussex Police said.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Independent

By George Jackson and Trevor McBride

Thursday June 28 2012

A Donegal priest said his life had been “devastated” by allegations of indecent assault against a 14-year-old girl, after being cleared of the charges yesterday.

Fr Eugene Boland, originally from Moville in Co Donegal, was found not guilty of five counts of indecent assault at Derry Crown Court.

He had denied claims that he inappropriately touched the teenage girl in the parochial house at St Joseph’s parish in the Galliagh area of Derry between June 1990 and June 1992.

The girl wept in court as the verdicts were read out after almost four hours of jury deliberation over the course of two days.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Derry Journal

Published on Thursday 28 June 2012

Monsignor Eamon Martin has said the acquittal of Fr Eugene Boland brings “ great relief to many people.”

A jury at Derry Crown Court yesterday found Father Eugene Boland (66), not guilty by majority verdict on all five charges of indecent assault on the girl of around 14 years old in the parochial house of St Joseph’s Church, Galliagh between June 28, 1990 and June 30, 1992.

In a statement issued last night Monsignor Martin, Diocesan Administrator for the Diocese of Derry, said: “After a public trial, before a Judge and a Jury, Father Eugene Boland, a priest of the Diocese of Derry, has been acquitted of all charges made against him. Fr. Boland has always denied these charges and, at the start of the investigation, the Diocese of Derry emphasised his entitlement to a presumption of innocence.

“Fr. Boland’s acquittal understandably brings great relief to many people. In different ways the whole process has been very difficult for everyone involved. Through its pastoral and other support systems, the diocese seeks to reach out to anyone who has been affected by this case.

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VIRGINIA
Northern Virginia Daily

By Sally Voth — svoth@nvdaily.com

An international Catholic organization based in Front Royal is being sued by a woman who claims its former president repeatedly sexually molested her while performing exorcisms.

Fairfax attorney Demetrios C. Pikrallidas filed the complaint on behalf of an unidentified woman on June 19 in Arlington County Circuit Court. “Jane Doe” is seeking $5.35 million against the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, its bishop, the Most Rev. Paul S. Loverde, and Human Life International Inc. and Human Life International Endowment Inc., both of 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal.

The complaint accuses HLI’s former president, the Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, of abusing Doe during the course of more than two years. It also says he snuck visits to her on a family vacation to Hawaii, burned her diary and brought her to work at HLI.

Euteneuer worked for HLI from 2000 until August 2010, the organization’s communications director, Stephen Phelan, said Wednesday afternoon. HLI and the Diocese of Arlington on Wednesday distanced themselves from the priest.

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SALINA (KS)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina – The Register

Written by Bishop Edward Weisenburger

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

At the recent U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting, we received good news about the U.S. Church’s efforts to create a safe environment for youth and children. The report was produced by the National Review Board with much of the conclusions drawn from the John Jay School of Criminal Justice report, an extensive study by a non-Catholic legal institute on the origins and extent of sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church. While the study noted that there will always be more to achieve and we must remain ever-vigilant, it concludes that we have done immense good in a very short period of time. Certain points are worth noting:

• The victims of sexual abuse who have come forward reveal that the vast majority of abuse arose in the 1960s, peaked in the 1970s and declined sharply in the 1980s — a period of time mirroring a breakdown of sexual ethics in our culture. Even victims coming forward today are largely voicing allegations from that time period. While it is good news to know that the majority of this illegal and sinful behavior is behind us, we cannot drop our guard. We must remain vigilant. Also, it is important to note that there is still much work to be done to bring healing to the victims from that era.

• Prior to the U.S. bishops’ 2002 Charter for the Protection of Children and Youth, the Church largely responded in a legal manner, which did not help victims. Today the Church’s response is far more pastoral and therapeutic. A wide range of resources are offered victims to assist with their healing.

• Prior to the 2002 charter, approximately 77 dioceses had policies and procedures in place to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct. Today all 195 dioceses in the U.S. have policies and procedures, along with codes of conduct for clergy, employees and volunteers. Each diocese has a review board to advise the bishop on allegations and procedures, and confidential settlements have been abolished except when requested by the victim. Dioceses are required to report allegations of sexual abuse of minors to public authorities and to cooperate with police investigations. The Holy See has made possible procedures to remove offending clergy from the clerical state more quickly, and a “zero-tolerance” policy related to offenders has been implemented.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Jamie Tripp Utitus/Parental Guidance

When Todd Kostrub, of Surf City, LBI, finally came to terms with the years of abuse that he suffered under the hands of a Franciscan Clergyman, he spoke to his family and brother-in-law who was a Seargent in the NJ State Police. He was 31. The police went to clergyman, Brother Munn of Holy Assumption Church in Roebling.

Surprisingly, when Brother Munn was detained, he confessed to everything, even particular instances of abuse that Todd had managed to block out after all these years.Todd was surprised by the confession, to say the least. But something even more surprising happened a few hours after Munn was detained. Munn was released.

According to a N.J. statute, a victim of abuse has to report the incident two years from the day they turn 18. In order to stop this predator, Kostrub would need to have reported the abuse 11 years earlier. That would mean about a day after the abuse stopped and Kostrub left for college, give or take a few hours,he would have needed to march down to the station and file a report.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – Four Corners

[with video]

By Geoff Thompson and Mary Ann Jolley

Updated June 28, 2012

The Catholic Church says its response to cases of child sex abuse should be compassionate, that abusers should be brought to justice and that concealing the truth is unjust to victims.

But does it follow those principles?

Coming up, Four Corners reporter Geoff Thompson investigates a shocking case of abuse involving many children, committed over several years. The abuse in itself is horrifying, the impact on the victims devastating, but perhaps the most alarming revelation is the fact that the Church turned a blind eye to the priest’s crimes. Four Corners asks why, despite clear evidence of abuse, the Church allowed him to move from parish to parish, apparently without alerting the police. The program reveals that even now the Church will not admit the full extent of what it knew about the priest’s activities.

The program also tells the story of the young men and their families, whose lives were devastated by the abuse. And details how the crimes committed led to the early death of several victims.

“It would have been no different if he had taken a gun and shot him, it just took longer.” Relative of an abused child

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UNITED STATES
Sun-Sentinel

There’s been a great deal of sensational news lately concerning pedophiles in the United States. The common denominator is these individuals preyed upon children while religious and educational institutions established upon foundations of trust and morality ignored or covered-up such disgusting and illegal behavior.

The most sensational: the trial of Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State football coach,. He was convicted last week on 45 of 48 counts for sexually abusing several young boys over a number of years while they attended camps sponsored by Sandusky’s Second Mile charitable organization at Penn State.

The riveting testimony at his trial from several victims not only showed that Sandusky, who had worked most of his career under legendary Coach Joe Paterno, and one of the nation’s most lucrative and revered football programs in the county, abused these boys on the Penn State campus, but that university officials failed to act on them when sexual abuse reports were made.

A second child abuse trial that did not receive as much national attention also concluded last week in Philadelphia. A jury on Friday convicted Catholic Monsignor William Lynnhim of felony for refusing to challenge his cardinal and stop the cover-up of child sex abuse by priests.

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VIRGINIA
NBC 12

[with video]

SPOTSYLVANIA, VA (WWBT) –
The pastor at Christian Outreach Tabernacle said his church was shaken after allegations a church member abused one of the teens at the church.

“We are devastated,” responded youth pastor, Mark Gallimore. “Obviously our feelings are devastated.”

Deputies arrested Edward Zottoli, of Spotsylvania, after charging him with five sex related charges. They said Zottoli, who goes by “Brother Ed”, slept naked with a 14-year-old boy from the church, asked for a massage, forced the teen to perform sexual acts on him and sexually assaulted the teen twice.

Deputies believe the abuse was contained to one night.

Pastor Norm Gallimore said he learned about what happened when Zottoli called him, reportedly two days after the incident, but before he reportedly turned himself in to authorities.

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JOLIET (IL)
Naperville Sun

BY JON SEIDEL Sun-Times Media jseidel@suntimes.com June 27, 2012 7:32PM

Updated: June 27, 2012

New allegations of sexual abuse are being leveled at a former priest from the Diocese of Joliet already accused of molesting several young boys in the 1970s.

Terence Breen sued Lawrence Gibbs and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Will County Circuit Court this week. He claims Gibbs gave several young boys alcohol and pornography during a retreat at a Wisconsin cabin in 1977, had them play games, swim and perform other activities naked.

And he said Gibbs took him into a cabin bedroom to molest him in 1978.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Joliet didn’t return a call seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.

Gibbs has already been named as a defendant in three civil lawsuits alleging he sexually abused two boys from Lombard and one from Lockport while serving as a parish priest in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were settled in the late 1990s for undisclosed sums. No criminal charges were filed.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

A retired Church of England priest has been charged with sex attacks on 18 girls and boys dating back 50 years.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, is accused of committing 38 offences over an 11-year period between 1962 and 1973.

The charges follow a nine-month inquiry by Sussex Police detectives into allegations of child sex abuse in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Rideout, of Filching Close, Wannock, Polegate, East Sussex, will appear on bail at Mid Sussex Magistrates’ Court on July 16.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Bexhill-on-Sea Observer

Published on Thursday 28 June 2012

A RETIRED Anglican priest who was once a head of governors at a Bexhill school has been charged with a string of sex offences against children.

Gordon Trevor Rideout, 73, of Filching Close, Wannock, was charged with 38 sexual offences against 18 young girls and boys on Wednesday June 27.

Thirty-six of the alleged offences are of indecent assault on girls and boys in their early teens. Thirty-one are alleged to have been committed at an address in Crawley, and one in Barkingside, Essex, between 1962 and 1968, and four are alleged to have taken place at an address in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, between 1971 and 1973.

The other two alleged offences are of attempted unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl in Crawley between 1962 and 1966.

Rideout, who was chair of governors at St Mary’s special school as well as a governor at Bishop Bell School in Eastbourne, been arrested on March 6.

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CALIFORNIA
Oakland Tribune

By Tracey Kaplan @mercurynews.comcontracostatimes.com
Posted: 06/27/2012

The receptionist heard the priest call for help and saw someone hit him a couple of times — but she can’t identify the assailant.

The only other eyewitness in the San Jose priest-beating trial said she saw suspected assailant Will Lynch pacing and screaming that the cleric had ”ruined his life” by molesting him and his brother as children. But it’s unclear whether that witness actually saw Lynch hit the priest because she has given three different accounts of the incident — including a new version during her testimony Wednesday.

With the prosecution winding up its case, the outcome of the trial could turn on how the panel regards the testimony of those two former employees at the priest’s retirement center — receptionist Carol Santos and health care coordinator Mary Margaret Eden.

The two women are among the six witnesses prosecutor Vicki Gemetti has called to the stand since the trial started last week — including a wireless expert and three law enforcement officers.

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UNITED STATES
Jersey Journal

Thursday, June 28, 2012

By Rev. Alexander Santora/For the Jersey Journal

When ever I hear or read comments by Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, I am reminded of the boy who yelled “fire” in the crowded movie theater again and again.

Donohue finds a Catholic conspiracy under every rock. But when he defends the Church in the ongoing sex abuse trials and tribulations, I think he’s made the right call. If there were only one case of clergy sexual abuse, it would be tragic. That there were thousands substantiated coupled with the lax oversight by some bishops in the U.S. has damaged the church’s reputation.

For nearly two decades beginning in the early 1980’s, reporting of abuses by clergy began to mushroom and there were some attempts by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to address the problems, but they were not uniform.

Not until Boston’s cases exploded in 2002 did the bishops enact a national policy.

So ten years ago this month, the U.S. Bishops adopted “The Charter for the Protection of Children,” which stipulated that no clergyman with even one credible accusation of sexual abuse of a minor could function publicly, thus the zero tolerance policy.

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IRELAND
The Southern Star

By  EMER CONNOLLY Saturday June 30th, 2012

A FORMER priest has admitted the attempted rape of a young girl and the sexual assault of her brother in West Cork, more than 30 years ago.

John Calnan (73), of the Presbytery, 35 Paul Street, Cork, pleaded guilty to the attempted rape of the girl between January 1st, 1980 and April 30th, 1980 in West Cork. She was aged seven at the time.

Calnan also admitted three counts of sexually assaulting the girl between October 25th, 1976 and October 24th, 1979.

He further admitted one count of sexual assault on the girl’s brother between August 10th, 1975 and October 9th, 1979. The victim was aged between nine and 12 at the time.

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UNITED KINGDOM
London 24

Thursday, June 28, 2012

A retired Church of England priest has been charged with child sex abuse in east London.

A victim was allegedly assaulted in a house in Barkingside between 1962 and 1968.

Canon Gordon Rideout faces 37 other paedophile offences dating back to between 1962 and 1973.

He is charged in total with 36 counts of abusing boys and girls in their early teens.

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UNITED KINGDOM
ITV News

A retired Church of England priest has been charged with sex attacks on 18 girls and boys dating back 50 years.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, is accused of committing 38 offences over an 11-year period between 1962 and 1973.

The charges follow a nine-month inquiry by Sussex Police detectives into allegations of child sex abuse in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Rideout, of Filching Close, Wannock, Polegate, East Sussex, will appear on bail at Mid Sussex Magistrates’ Court on July 16.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Guardian

11:19am Thursday 28th June 2012 in News By Dominic Sutton

A RETIRED priest has been charged with 38 sexual offences against 18 children.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, of Filching Close, Wannock, Polegate, East Sussex has been on bail since his arrest on March 6, but was charged with the offences yesterday (June 27).

A total of 36 of the offences are of indecent assault alleged to have been committed on boys and girls in their early teens between 1962 and 1973.

One of those charges relates to an alleged offence which took place in Barkingside in the 1960s. The other charges relate to addresses in Crawley and Hampshire.

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AUSTRIA
The Irish Times

THE CATHOLIC Church in Austria has laid down the law to its rebel priests by telling them they cannot support a reform manifesto criticised by Pope Benedict and stay in an administrative post.

One priest said he had already stepped down from the post of deacon rather than renounce the Call to Disobedience manifesto, that challenges church teaching on topics such as women’s ordination and offering Communion to non-Catholics.

Another priest had withdrawn his support for the campaign and kept his job, a church spokesman said yesterday, while two or three more had yet to decide.

The manifesto’s demands, which issue from a reform group called Priests’ Initiative, have been echoed by some Catholic groups and clerics in Germany, Ireland, Belgium and the United States.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Irish Times

GEORGE JACKSON

A Catholic priest who is originally from Moville, Co Donegal, has been found not guilty at the crown court in Derry of five charges of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl 20 years ago.

Fr Eugene Boland (66), the parochial house, Killyclogher Road, Omagh, was found not guilty yesterday of the charges by majority verdicts. He had denied claims he had indecently assaulted the girl in the parochial house at St Joseph’s parish in the Galliagh area of Derry between June 1990 and June 1992 when he was the then parish administrator.

The verdicts followed an eight-day trial before Judge Stephen Fowler and almost four hours of deliberation over two days by the jury. Following the verdicts, the complainant wept in court.

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JOLIET (IL)
CBS Chicago

JOLIET, Ill. (STMW) – New allegations of sexual abuse are being leveled at a former priest from the Diocese of Joliet already accused of molesting several young boys in the 1970s.

Terence Breen sued Lawrence Gibbs and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Will County Circuit Court this week. He claims Gibbs gave several young boys alcohol and pornography during a retreat at a Wisconsin cabin in 1977, had them play games, swim and perform other activities naked.

And he said Gibbs took him into a cabin bedroom to molest him in 1978.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Joliet didn’t return a call seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.

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BELGIE
HLN

Het Centrum voor Arbitrage inzake Seksueel Misbruik heeft reeds 238 dossiers ontvangen van slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in een pastorale relatie. Dat bleek in de Opvolgingscommissie Seksueel Misbruik in de Kamer. Verslaggever Renaat Landuyt (sp.a) vermoedt dat nog een 150 slachtoffers zich zullen melden tegen de einddatum eind oktober van dit jaar.

Een dozijn dossiers werden aan de aanvragers overgemaakt voor een reactie op de opmerking van de stichting Dignity, die door de bisschoppen en religieuze oversten opgericht werd om in hun naam op te treden in de procedure. Daarna kan de Permanente Arbitragekamer (PAK) een poging tot verzoening opstarten.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
National Catholic Reporter

Jun. 27, 2012
By Brian Roewe

Full restoration continues to inch closer for 11 shuttered parishes in Cleveland.

Bishop Richard G. Lennon announced Wednesday afternoon the names of pastors and opening dates for five of the 11 parishes that successfully appealed their closure to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy in early March. A 12th parish required restoration in name only.

The new pastors and assignments are:
•Rev. Gary Chmura, St. Adalbert parish in Cleveland, effective July 2;
•Rev. A. Jonathon Zingales, St. John the Baptist parish in Akron, effective July 2;
•Rev. Eric Orzech, St. Casimir parish in Cleveland, effective July 9;
•Rev. Joseph Hilinski, St. Barbara parish in Cleveland, effective July 16;
•Rev. Joseph Workman, St. James parish in Lakewood, effective July 23.

Assignments for the remaining six parishes are forthcoming, according to a diocesan statement. Each priest will determine the date for the opening Mass at their new parish homes, though a source told NCR the first Mass at St. Barbara is expected to be celebrated July 22 at 11 a.m.

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ARLINGTON (VA)
CBS DC

RICHMOND, Va. (CBSDC/AP) — A woman who claims Rev. Thomas Euteneuer repeatedly molested her during a more than two-year exorcism has filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, its bishop and an anti-abortion ministry that employed the exorcist.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Arlington County Circuit Court, seeks more than $5.3 million in damages.

According to the complaint, the Warren County woman went to Euteneuer, then president of Front Royal-based Human Life International Inc., for spiritual help in February 2008. The lawsuit says Euteneuer knew that the woman, identified in court papers by the pseudonym Jane Doe, believed she needed exorcism. He told her that her case was “severe” and had her sign an agreement promising full cooperation, the complaint says.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

A San Francisco man accused of assaulting a priest at the Los Gatos Sacred Heart Jesuit Center more than two years ago yelled at the cleric that he had molested him, a health-care employee who once worked at the facility testified Wednesday.

Defendant William Lynch “seemed agitated,” said retired worker Mary Margaret Eden. He “was still upset with Father [Jerold] Lindner … was still screaming, saying that he molested him.” Eden said Lynch tried to re-enter the parlor area where the alleged attack on the priest took place, but she prevented him from doing so.

Eden said she then told Lynch that receptionist Carol Santos, now retired, was calling 911. Eden then saw Lynch go out the front doors of the center’s main building and down the steps, she testified.

Lynch is standing trial for the alleged May 10, 2010 attack on Lindner. The defendant faces one count of felony assault with intent to cause great bodily injury and one count of elder abuse under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

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CALIFORNIA
The Associated Press

By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The priest accused of molesting children has “pleaded the fifth.” The judge has stricken his testimony and denials of abuse from the trial record. Three of the priest’s alleged victims are no longer allowed to testify. And the man on trial for beating the priest he says raped him will be limited in what he can tell the jury when called to the witness stand.

Still, after several emergency meetings in chambers, traded barbs of professional misconduct, and defense demands for a mistrial stemming from the priest’s alleged false testimony, Judge David Cena for the first time in nearly a week convened trial on time and without legal rancor Wednesday.

William Lynch, 44, is charged with assaulting retired Catholic priest Jerold Lindner on May 10, 2010, at a Los Gatos home for priests accused and convicted of sexual misconduct. Lynch claims Lindner raped him and his brother during a 1975 camping trip in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Lynch was 7 years old, and his brother was three years younger at the time. The brothers earlier settled a lawsuit over the allegations for $625,000.

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