ABUSE TRACKER

LOUISIANA
Daily Comet

By Katie Urbaszewski
Staff Writer

A lawsuit that accuses a former Houma priest of molesting a child and the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux of protecting him has been settled, the accuser’s attorney said.

The now-retired Rev. Etienne LeBlanc was interviewed by attorneys last month, and both sides began to work toward a settlement after the interviews were completed, said the accuser’s attorney Roger Stetter.

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FLORIDA
WSVN

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) — A Catholic priest has been placed on leave after allege sexual allegations.

The Archdiocese of Miami has placed Father Rolando Garcia on administrative leave on Wednesday.

Garcia is the pastor at Saint Agatha Catholic Church’ in Southwest Miami-Dade.

The Archdiocese made the move just a day after a man came forward, filing suit claiming he was sexually abused by Father Garcia as a child.

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PHOENIX (AZ)
KPHO

By Breann Bierman

PHOENIX (CBS5) –
A convicted sex offender has been arrested for allegedly performing fake medical examinations on a boy at a Phoenix church.

Phoenix police said on Oct. 6, the 15-year-old victim told his mother that Eduardo De Los Reyes had been touching him inappropriately in the medical room at the construction site for their church on West Grand Avenue.

When the mother approached Reyes, he told her not to call police and “to think of his family,” according to the police report.

The woman called police and Reyes was arrested. He told police he volunteered at the church and had been attending nursing school but didn’t finish school because he was arrested for exposing himself to a juvenile in 2010. At the time of the arrest, Reyes was also in violation of his sex offender registration because he wasn’t living in the home where he was registered, police said.

Reyes also has an indecent exposure conviction from 1998 in Bakersfield, CA.

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AUSTRALIA
CathNews

The Archbishop of Perth says the Church’s “shameful” history of sexual abuse has resulted in it no longer being “heard or respected” in public debate, reports The West Australian.

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, writing in The Record, said there was a growing gap between Catholic values and those accepted in society, with the Church “sidelined, attacked and ridiculed” for expressing its views on everything from abortion and marriage to the treatment of asylum seekers.

Archbishop Costelloe suggested the Church must shoulder some blame for its loss of community standing.

His comments come amid renewed criticism of the Church’s methods for dealing with abuse allegations, which have been aired at Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into child sexual abuse.

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PHOENIX (AZ)
azfamily.com

by Jennifer Thomas
azfamily.com

Posted on October 24, 2012

PHOENIX — A registered sex offender was arrested Monday for allegedly sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy in Phoenix.

Eduardo De Los Reyes, 46, was booked into jail for sexual conduct with a minor, sexual abuse and sexually motivated kidnapping.

The victim recently told his mother that he was inappropriately touched by a member of the church they attend, according to Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Steve Martos.

The boy’s mother arranged to meet De Los Reyes and also called police. During initial questioning of the suspect, he denied having any involvement in this crime.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Marquette Tribune

October 25, 2012

By Seamus Doyle

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 4, 2011, failed last week to reach an out-of-court settlement with those to whom it owed money, namely victims of sexual abuse.

With mediation over, the archdiocese must now return to costly bankruptcy court proceedings to come to an agreement with those filing suit against it.

“The archdiocese had spent about $7.2 million as of Aug. 1 for attorneys and consultants on both sides, and more than $300,000 in fees has been added since then, according to court records,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Oct. 15.

Unlike many other court proceedings, in bankruptcy court, the debtor (in this case the archdiocese) has to pay legal and court fees for both sides.

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FLORIDA
Miami Herald

The archdiocese changed course Wednesday and suspended the Rev. Rolando Garcia, pastor of St. Agatha Church, after an Iraq veteran accused him of abuse in the 1990s in Hollywood.

BY JAY WEAVER
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com

When an Iraqi war veteran publicly accused the pastor of St. Agatha Catholic Church of sexually abusing him in the 1990s, the Archdiocese of Miami issued a statement admonishing the news media for not asking tougher questions of his lawyer about the molestation claims.

The archdiocese immediately countered Tuesday that the attorney had filed “several lawsuits” in the past against the archdiocese in which he accused St. Agatha’s Rolando Garcia of abusing boys. “And yet to date, none have been proven credible,” the archdiocese declared.

But late Wednesday, the archdiocese dramatically changed course, saying Garcia “was placed on administrative leave” because of the lawsuit brought by the war veteran, Tony Simmons.

The previous day, Simmons stood with his lawyer in front of St. Agatha in West Miami-Dade to announce he was a 16-year-old runaway when he met Garcia at the Church of the Little Flower in Hollywood in 1994.

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FLORIDA
CBS Miami

[with video]

MIAMI (CBS4) – The Archdiocese of Miami has placed Father Rolando Garcia on administrative leave for the second time this year after a new lawsuit alleging sexual improprieties is filed against him and the church.

In August, an Archdiocese investigation into allegations the father abused a young man years ago resulted in the church closing its case and ruling the allegations were not credible. Still, that young man and his attorney proceeded to file suit.

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FLORIDA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami

Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Communications Department – Archdiocese of Miami
Archdiocese of Miami statement regarding new allegation against Fr. Rolando Garcia
Tuesday, October 23, 2012

MIAMI| The Archdiocese of Miami has learned of a lawsuit filed by attorney Jeffrey Herman alleging sexual abuse by Father Rolando Garcia, pastor of St. Agatha Catholic Church.

Mr. Herman has filed several lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Miami involving Fr. Garcia, and yet to date, none have been proven credible.

This is how the Archdiocese of Miami handles any allegation of sexual abuse: Our policy “Protecting God’s Children” is very clear; once an allegation is received:

It is reported to the county-appropriate State Attorney’s office.

Counseling is offered to the alleged victim and accused.

An internal investigation is conducted by canon and civil lawyers to determine credibility.
The findings of the internal investigation are brought to the Archdiocesan Review Board which consists of an attorney, two doctors, including a psychiatrist, a community leader, and a member of the clergy.

Upon the conclusion of this meeting, the findings are reported to Archbishop Thomas Wenski.

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FLORIDA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Communications Department – Archdiocese of Miami
Statement of Archdiocese of Miami
Regarding Fr. Rolando Garcia
Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The Archdiocese of Miami has announced that Fr. Roland Garcia, pastor of St. Agatha Catholic Church, was placed on administrative leave today due to an allegation brought forth against him by Mr. Tony Simmons yesterday, October 22, 2012.

The Archdiocese had no prior notice of this allegation before yesterday’s press conference announcing this latest lawsuit against Fr. Rolando Garcia and the Archdiocese of Miami.

Upon learning of this allegation, the Archdiocese, in addition to having placed Father Garcia on administrative leave, the Archdiocese will offer counseling to the alleged victim and conduct an investigation following procedures outlined in Protecting God’s Children.

This past August, when an allegation was made against Fr. Garcia, the Archdiocese contacted him while Father was on vacation in Cuba. At that time, Archbishop Wenski placed Father Garcia on administrative leave and instructed that he not return to St. Agatha’s until an investigation had been complete. Fr. Garcia was extremely cooperative and voluntarily took a lie detector test that supported his denial of having abused anyone at any time. At that time, the Archdiocese also interviewed the alleged victim.

With the investigation completed and upon the recommendation of the Archdiocesan Review Board, it was determined that the allegation was not credible. Archbishop Wenski returned Fr. Garcia to his parish following his ten-day leave. Upon his return, Fr. Garcia read his statement at every Mass on the August 24-25, 2012, providing full disclosure of the allegation and the outcome of the investigation. Subsequent to these events, lawsuit was filed against Fr. Garcia and the Archdiocese of Miami.

In that case and in the present one, the Archdiocese of Miami has followed its policy Protecting God’s Children on the procedures to follow when any allegation of sexual abuse is made.

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MONTANA
San Francisco Chronicle

MATT VOLZ, Associated Press

Updated 3:16 p.m., Wednesday, October 24, 2012

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena and 319 people who say priests and nuns sexually abused them as children are making progress toward a mediated settlement, attorneys representing the sides said Wednesday.

The two combined lawsuits allege decades of clergy sexual abuse in missions, schools and homes in western Montana going back to the 1940s. The plaintiffs, many of them Native Americans, say the diocese knew or should have known about the abuse, but covered it up instead of stopping it.

Earlier this year, the diocese pledged to cooperate with the plaintiffs’ attorneys in identifying victims and working toward a mediated settlement. Diocese attorney Mike Patterson called this approach a different template from past sex abuse lawsuits across the nation in which a diocese would declare bankruptcy and let those involved deal with the aftermath.

On Wednesday, the sides appeared before District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock in Helena to update the case.

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FLORIDA
NBC 6

St. Agatha Catholic Church Pastor Placed on Administrative Leave After Latest Sexual Abuse Allegations: Archdiocese

By Edward B. Colby

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012

The Archdiocese of Miami announced Wednesday that it has placed Father Rolando Garcia on administrative leave because of the newest sexual abuse allegations brought against him.

The Archdiocese said in a statement that it did not know about the allegations from Tony Simmons before he made them public in a news conference Tuesday.

After learning about them, the Archdiocese put Garcia, who is the pastor of St. Agatha Catholic Church, on administrative leave on Wednesday. The Archdiocese also said it will offer counseling to Simmons and investigate the matter following procedures in its “Protecting God’s Children” policy.

Simmons said he was a 16-year-old runaway when he met Garcia at Church of the Little Flower in Hollywood in 1994. A lawsuit filed Tuesday says that Garcia initially gave him assistance and counseling, but began sexually abusing Simmons after they went to a movie one night.

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UNITED STATES
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

A Christian radio host says it’s time for evangelical churches to wake up to an “epidemic” of sexual abuse of children going on in their midst.

Janet Mefferd“I don’t know how long evangelicalism can ignore this problem,” host Janet Mefferd said Oct. 18 on her syndicated radio show from Dallas, heard daily on over 100 stations across the nation. “I really don’t.”

The segment included an interview with Susan Burke, the attorney representing three anonymous women in a lawsuit alleging a cover-up of sexual abuse by Sovereign Grace Ministries, a Calvinist church-planting network with close ties to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

Mefferd said she wasn’t talking just about the Sovereign Grace lawsuit, because those allegations are unproven, but about the “appalling” number of hits that can be generated any day by typing terms like “sexual abuse” or “sexual assault” along with “pastor,” “minister” or “church.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Catholic World Reort

October 24, 2012

By Mark Brumley

You might expect such a headline, given the seemingly disportionate attention the Catholic Church has received for clergy sexual abuse. Mind you, CWR covered clergy sexual abuse from the outset and criticized folks high and low. It’s not exactly as if we simply wanted to change the subject. At the same time, it seems that other institutions involved with cover ups of child sexual abuse have often gotten, if not a pass, at least disproportionately less attention.

That situation is starting to change. A recent case in point: the BBC. Yes, you read correctly. The BBC is being accused of sexual abuse and cover up. According to an AP story:

“A sexual abuse scandal shaking the BBC broadened Tuesday, with the broadcaster saying that it is investigating claims of sexual abuse and harassment against nine staff members and contributors, in addition to the late disgraced children’s TV host Jimmy Savile.

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CANADA
The Observer

Former Catholic priest, Gabriele DelBianco, who is charged with sexual offences involving teenage girls, will face a Superior Court trial on all charges.

DelBianco was the subject of three-day preliminary hearing that ended Wednesday in Sarnia court.

He was charged in 2011 with offences involving four girls that allegedly occurred between 1981 and 1987.

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

A joint event, involving the AGM of the ACP and an open meeting of the new lay group, the Association of Catholics of Ireland, will take place at the Regency Hotel, Dublin on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th November.

Programme:
◦Friday evening, Nov. 9th: Open session: Talk by Peter McVerry on “Justice in the Church and in Society”, followed by open discussion.
◦Saturday Morning: 9.15 to 10.30am: Business meeting of ACP (Clergy only). This meeting will look at a proposed new constitution for the association: there will be a financial report, and time for any other business.
◦Saturday morning: 11.00 to 1.00: Open meeting of the ACI to approve of their aims and objectives, and chart the way forward. Everyone welcome to that, including clergy members of the ACP

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UNITED STATES
Americans United for Separation of Church and State

[Click here to read the story]

Oct 24, 2012

When the federal government lets a church group impose religious doctrine on a publicly funded program, taxpayers have the right to take the matter to court.

That’s the viewpoint put forward by Americans United for Separation of Church and State in a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today.

The appeals court is considering a case in which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2006 gave the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops control over a program that helps sex-trafficking victims. The bishops’ conference then denied funding to other social service agencies unless they promised not to use the public dollars for abortion or contraceptive services.

The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the arrangement, saying it violated church-state separation and denied essential services to trafficking victims.

A federal district court ruled in the ACLU’s favor, but now the bishops’ conference and HHS are claiming that the case should be thrown out because taxpayers have no “standing” to bring matters like this into court.

Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, “It is an outrage that the federal government allowed a church group to deny essential public services to hurting people on religious grounds. It would compound that outrage if concerned citizens were not allowed to bring this violation into court.”

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AUSTRALIA
Eureka Street

ANDREW HAMILTON October 24, 2012

Being a Catholic priest during public enquiries into sexual abuse within the Church is a bracing experience. Infinitely less hurtful than being the victim of abuse, of course. But it prompts musing about the ways in which evil actions work out in a group and affect the individual members of the group and its perception by others.

In many cultures these questions run so deep they can be caught only through symbol. In Greek myths and tragedies they are explored through what happens in a family, or house, in which monstrous deeds are fated. They taint the house and work their way destructively through later generations. In the stories connected with Oedipus, for example, the consequences are fated and individuals are passive before them. Their best efforts to escape only create the circumstances of the doom that awaits them and those associated with them.

The proper response to such events when embodied in drama is one of terror and pity. This is how we would respond to a natural disaster when allowed to enter the human experience of those caught in it.

The Christian teaching about original sin can helpfully be seen through the lens of this myth. It understands the whole of humanity to be affected by a taint which goes back to Adam’s sin. Its consequences are death. The curse that in the Greek tragedies affected particular families or groups is now universal.

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ILLINOIS
Pantagraph

Former Lincoln priest, a convicted sex offender, ordered to stop practicing psychology

By Kurt Erickson | kurt.erickson@lee.net

SPRINGFIELD -State regulators have ordered a former Catholic priest and convicted sex offender in Lincoln to stop the unlicensed practice of clinical psychology.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation found Francis A. Benham had been claiming he was a doctor who provides psychotherapy services when he had neither a doctorate degree nor a state license to practice as a clinical psychologist.

Records show Benham had business cards identifying him as a doctor and advertised himself in a local phone directory as a “psychotherapist.”

The new citation, signed by agency director Jay Stewart, is the latest in a series of legal problems the 74-year-old has faced. Benham was arrested in Lincoln in July 2004 on sex charges and was extradited to Maryland where he was convicted of having sex with minors between 1977 and 1979 while serving as a priest in Prince Georges County.

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FLORIDA
News-Press

Written by
Christina Cepero

The former pastor of St. Leo Catholic Church in Bonita Springs is no longer a priest, according to a decision from a three-judge panel of priests from outside the Diocese of Venice.

Bishop Frank Dewane issued a letter to parishioners explaining the outcome of the canonical trial.

“By collegial decision, the judges discerned a pattern which demonstrated that Stanislaw Strycharz violated his fiduciary responsibilities to the Parish, his priestly promise to celibacy, and his promise of obedience to his Ordinary,” Dewane wrote. “They declared that Mr. Strycharz no longer has the ‘power, office, function, right, privilege, faculty, favor, title or insignia’ of the ministerial priesthood. This means that he is unable to function anywhere as a priest.”

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L. Allen Jr. | Oct. 24, 2012 NCR Today

Rome —
During a Synod of Bishops that has been somewhat short of banner headlines, Pope Benedict XVI made some news today, announcing a consistory for the creation of six new cardinals Nov. 24.

One veteran American made the cut, as did a couple of prelates from the developing world considered possible papal contenders in some circles.

The new cardinals are:
• James Harvey, American, the longtime head of the Papal Household under John Paul II and Benedict XVI. The pope said he intends to nominate as Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
• His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Raï, patriarch of the Maronite Church in Lebanon.
• His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, head of the Syro-Mankar Church in India.
• Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, long considered one of the leading voices of Catholicism in Africa.
• Archbishop Rubén Salazar Gómez of Bogota, Colombia.
• Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila in the Philippines, considered one of the brightest theological minds among the Asia bishops and also one of their best communicators.

Tagle, 55, and Onayiekan, 68, both could draw consideration as possible successors to Benedict XVI if the mood at the time of the next conclave is to look for leadership to the booming church in the global south.

Tagle has turned heads during the current Synod of Bishops on new evangelization for his emphasis on a humbler, simpler church with a greater capacity for silence while Onayiekan has won praise for his balanced view on Islam — insisting that despite the violence of the “Boko Haram” movement, “Christians in Nigeria do not see themselves as being under any massive persecution by Muslims.”

Harvey, 63, a Milwaukee native, has served as prefect of the Papal Household since 1988. There was some speculation that when his Vatican service ended he might return to the States to head an American diocese, though today’s announcement suggests he’ll be staying in Rome, at least for the time being.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, (VIS) – At the end of his general audience today, the Pope announced that he has called a consistory to take place on 24 November, during which he will appoint six new cardinals.

“It is with great joy”, he said, “that I announce my intention to hold a consistory on 24 November, in which I will appoint six new members of the College of Cardinals. Cardinals have the task of helping Peter’s Successor carry out his mission to confirm people in the faith and to be the source and foundation of the Church’s unity and communion”.

The Holy Father then read out the names of the new cardinals. They are:

– Archbishop James Michael Harvey, prefect of the Pontifical Household who, Benedict XVI said, “I intend to appoint as archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul’s Outside-the-Walls”.

– His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai, patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, Lebanon.

– His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, major archbishop of Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankars, India.

– Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria.

– Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota, Colombia.

– Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle of Manila, Philippines.

“As you have heard”, the Pope concluded, “the new cardinals carry out their ministry at the service of the Holy See or as fathers and pastors of particular Churches in various parts of the world. I invite everyone to pray for them, asking for the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin May that they may always love Christ and His Church with courage and commitment”.

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TULSA (OK)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on October 24, 2012

Embattled officials with Victory Christ Church in Tulsa, OK have hired one of Oklahoma’s largest public relations firm to help it manage allegations that it covered up the rape of a 13-year-old girl on its campus.

Five church officials are facing charges for delaying as long as two weeks to report the girl’s suspected rape.

[Read the story here.]

The firm is the Tulsa-based Schnake Turnbo Franke PR. The account executive who is handling the Victory case is Jarrod Kopp. On the firm’s website, Kopp’s biography says “there’s no telling what he’ll pull from his bag of tricks.” Kopp can be reached at 918-277-1189 or 918-430-3011.

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RHODE ISLAND
National Catholic Reporter

by Jason Berry | Oct. 23, 2012

The Legion of Christ drew $2.19 million last year from a $28 million charitable trust that it controls, thanks to Gabrielle Mee, a wealthy widow who spent her final years as a consecrated woman in Regnum Christi, the order’s lay wing. An orthodox Catholic, she was unaware that Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the Legion, had out-of-wedlock children or that the Vatican had banished him from ministry.

The Timothy J. Mee Charitable Trust — established by the late husband of Gabrielle Mee, who died in 2008 — paid the scandal-battered Legion $2.19 million in contributions, gifts and grants last year, according to the trust’s 990 form, a public record that private foundations file with the IRS.

The Timothy Mee trust’s $28.27 million net value is slightly less than half of the $60 million at issue in a lawsuit filed by Gabrielle Mee’s niece against the Legion, Fr. Anthony Bannon and Bank of America, which manages the Timothy Mee trust with the Legion.

The niece, Mary Lou Dauray, sought to revoke the will and retrieve the assets, on grounds that her late aunt was deceived.

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UNITED STATES
Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant October 24, 2012

Writing the here at the Legal Examiner often comes with anonymous comments that come from people with their own agenda. The hide behind initials and rant about this or that. Funny, when they attack they gloss over the fact that each of us put our name and contact information on everything that we do. So even if it is an incorrect opinion, each of us are standing behind it.

There is the usual stalking that takes place on each malpractice piece. That is always good to drive up the comment numbers.

However, one I got recently was with contact information and a link to a piece that especially raised my interest..

Are the Catholic Church Leaders’ Reactions Really About the Big Money?, Mike Bryant | October 01, 2012 9:13 AM

Now to be fair, the posted comment originally came as a email, so maybe the writer didn’t want to be out in the open, but I figure if you take the time to send some feedback, let’s talk about it.

The link took me to this page:

http://www.themediareport.com/fast-facts/

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LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune

By James Gill, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on October 24, 2012

After Catholic priest Gilbert Gauthe was found to be a child molester in 1974, then-Lafayette Bishop Gerard Frey decided a change was in order. So the next year, Gauthe was assigned extra duties. He became chaplain of the diocesan Boy Scouts. Any pedophile would have whooped, and Gauthe took full advantage.

The Scouts, as their just-released “perversion files” prove, shared the Catholic Church’s determination to shield criminals, sacrificing the innocence of young charges in a doomed attempt to maintain a wholesome public image.

Louisiana always figured prominently in the scandals that engulfed both institutions nationwide. Gauthe was the first to be unmasked in the endless succession of predatory priests who enjoyed years of episcopal protection. After Gauthe pleaded guilty in 1985, and was sentenced to 20 years in the state pen, Rev. Kenneth Doyle, spokesman for the U.S. Catholic Conference in Washington, said: “We don’t want to give the impression that it’s a rampant problem for the church, because it’s not.”

Then, New Orleans journalist Jason Berry, who covered the case, wrote a book predicting years of turmoil and multimillion-dollar court judgments against the church. You know who got that one right. The buggers were rampant for sure.

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VATICAN CITY
Straits Times

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Six non-European Catholic prelates will join the Vatican’s College of Cardinals in a move which may influence the election of the future pope, amid uncertainty over Pope Benedict XVI’s health.

The 85-year-old Benedict, who has been looking increasingly tired and worn, said on Wednesday he will appoint cardinals from Colombia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines and the United States in a surprise consistory in November.

The college, the elite body that advises the pontiff and elects his successor upon his death, is currently heavily weighted in favour of Europe. Religious watchers had not expected there to be another consistory until next year and the surprise announcement sparked concern among Vatican watchers that the elderly pontiff’s health may be worse than thought.

Religious observers note that the pope appears to have been particularly hard hit by the child abuse scandals rocking the Church and the betrayal of his personal butler, who was found guilty this month of stealing private memos.

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FLORIDA
Naples Daily News

By TRACY X. MIGUEL

Posted October 24, 2012

BONITA SPRINGS — A once-popular priest at St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Bonita Springs has been removed from the priesthood.

Bishop Frank Dewane, of the Catholic Diocese of Venice Florida, told parishioners the news in a letter inserted in the Saturday evening and Sunday bulletins.

The statement announced that the canonical trial for 47-year-old former Bonita Springs priest Stan Strycharz concluded that he had “violated his fiduciary responsibilities to the Parish, his priestly promise to celibacy, and his promise of obedience to his Ordinary.”

“Having considered both mitigating and aggravating circumstances, we hereby declare that the accused is herewith dismissed from clerical state,” the judges stated about their decision in a letter issued by Dewane. The nonpublic, canonical trial consisted of a three-judge panel of priests who were all experienced canonical experts from outside the Diocese of Venice.

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IOWA
WCF Courier

By DENNIS MAGEE, dennis.magee@wcfcourier.com

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa — The trustee handling Ryan St. Anne Scott’s personal bankruptcy case in Iowa wants to hold onto the possibility the alleged monk may receive settlement money from the Roman Catholic Church.

The funds may be available as part of a bankruptcy case involving the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which filed a Chapter 11 voluntary petition in January 2011.

Scott, also known as Ryan Patrich Scott Gevelinger and Randell Stocks, previously led a group of followers in the former Buchanan County home. Scott. however, abandoned the property in January just ahead of eviction forced by the county attorney’s office.

In separate legal action, authorities in Knox County in Illinois charged Scott with three counts of financial abuse of an elderly person, three counts of theft and one count of deceptive practices. Each charge is a felony. Scott is free on bond but scheduled to face trial in November.

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UNITED STATES
Fr. Ted’s Blog

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Fr. Ted

Stories of how the Boy Scouts organization dealt with sexual abuse through the past decades are now surfacing as their secret files have been made public. While there are many stories being published, this blog is going to quote from a story that appeared in my local paper, The DAYTON DAILY NEWS.

My interest in the story is not so much about the Boy Scouts and that institution but more the implications, if any, for how the Church deals with sexual misconduct. What we see in the news about the BSA, as in the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky case, sexual abuse can occur wherever there are kids present. it is not religious institutions which have a penchant for child sex abuse but rather predators find their way to organizations where they can have access to children. The temptation and tendency by institutional leaders to protect the institution and downplay the problems is prevalent in church and non-church institutions.

I am quoting from the Dayton Daily News story, Boy Scout Files Reveal Local Abuse. (I have added the red highlight in the text to emphasize the part of the quote that I thought has implications for the Church’s handling of sexual misconduct).

“The files reveal that some alleged pedophiles across the country and locally continued in scouting even after allegations were leveled against them. In several cases, community leaders such as judges and pastors helped keep the name of scouting out of the courts or the media, according to an Associated Press review of the files.

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BOSTON (MA)
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

The Hollywood industry newspaper Variety is reporting that a director has been assigned to command a movie about the Boston Globe’s relentless reporting in 2002 about the Catholic Church abuse scandals.

Yet again we see that the media is always looking for another angle to rehash decades-old sex abuse in the Catholic Church. According to Variety:

“Due to the sensitivity of the subject matter, [Director Tom] McCarthy has been working in secret for more than a year on the project that chronicles the worldwide scandal …

“Producers have secured life rights of the Globe reporters responsible, including Spotlight Team members Michael Rezendes, Sacha Pfeiffer and Matt Carroll, Spotlight Team editor Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson, special projects editor Ben Bradlee Jr. and Globe editor Marty Baron.”

“Groundbreaking” work?

The proposed film is described as being in the vein of the 1976 hit film All the President’s Men, which was about the efforts of the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to investigate the alleged Watergate scandal.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Southeast Missourian

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An electronic billboard in Kansas City calls for the resignation of the highest-ranking U.S. church official to be convicted of a crime related to the child sexual abuse scandal.

The Kansas City Star reports that the sign, located along Interstate 35, directs passers-by to an online petition that urges Bishop Robert Finn to step down. So far, more than 100,000 people have added their names.

Large letters read: “For the good of the people Bishop Finn must RESIGN!”

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VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

[with video]

October 24, 2012. (Romereports.com) (-ONLY VIDEO-) During the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope announced that he will hold a consistory on November 24th to appoint six new cardinals. READ TEXT:

“And now, with great pleasure, I announce that on November 24th, I will hold a Consistory in which I will appoint six new members of the College of Cardinals. The Cardinals have the task of helping the Successor of Peter in the performance of his ministry of confirming the brethren in the faith, and the principle and foundation of unity and communion of the Church.

Here are the names of the new cardinals:

Msgr. JAMES MICHAEL HARVEY, Prefect of the Prefecture of the Papal Household.

Beatitude BÉCHARA BOUTROS RAÏ, Maronite Patriarch, (Lebanon).

Beatitude BASELIOS CLEEMIS THOTTUNKAL, major Archbishop of the Trivandrum of the Siro-Malankaresi in India.

Msgr. JOHN OLORUNFEMI ONAIYEKAN, Archbishop of di Abuj (Nigeria)

Msgr. RUBÉN SALAZAR GÓMEZ, Archbishop of Bogotá (Colombia)

Msgr. LUIS ANTONIO TAGLE, Archbishop of Manila (Philippines).

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

by Edward Pentin Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A long-serving Curial archbishop from the United States is to be elevated to the College of Cardinals and become archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, Pope Benedict XVI announced today.

Milwaukee-native Archbishop James Harvey, prefect of the Papal Household, was one of six new members nominated in a surprise announcement by the Pope at the end of his weekly general audience.

The full list of the new cardinals, whom the Holy Father will appoint at a consistory on Nov. 24th, the eve of the Feast of Christ the King, are:

• Archbishop James Harvey, Prefect of the Papal Household whom the Pope plans to appoint archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls;
• Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, His Beatitude Béchara Boutros Raï;
• Archbishop Baselios Cleemis (Isaac) Thottunkal, Major Archbishop of Trivandrum (Syro-Malankarese rite), India;
• Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria;
• Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez, Archbishop of Bogotá, Colombia;
• Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, Philippines.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI surprised pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 24 by announcing he would create six new cardinals, including 63-year-old U.S. Archbishop James M. Harvey, prefect of the papal household, in late November.

The pope said the consistory to create the new cardinals, who come from six countries, would take place Nov. 24, the feast of Christ the King.

It will be the smallest group of cardinals created since the 1977 consistory when Pope Benedict, the then-Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, received his red hat from Pope Paul VI along with three other churchmen.

The new cardinals also will include: Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, 72; Archbishop Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, 53, head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church; Nigerian Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, 68; Colombian Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota, 70; and Philippine Archbishop Luis Tagle of Manila, 55.

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VATICAN CITY
swissinfo

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict, putting his stamp on the future of the Roman Catholic Church, on Wednesday named six new cardinals from around the world to join the elite group of prelates who will one day choose his successor.

The six are from the United States, Lebanon, India, Nigeria, Colombia, and the Philippines. The ceremony, known as a consistory, will be held on November 24, the pope said in a surprise announcement at his weekly general audience.

Among those named to join the group known as the “princes” of the Catholic Church are Archbishop James Michael Harvey, an American who runs the pontifical household, Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai, patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church in Lebanon, and Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, the major archbishop of the Syro-Malankara rite in India.

They also included Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota, Colombia, and Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila in the Philippines.

All of the six new cardinals are under 80 years old and thus eligible under Church law to enter a conclave to elect a new pope. The elite group is known as “cardinal electors”.

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VATICAN CITY
The Kansas City Star

The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has named six new cardinals, adding prelates from Lebanon, the Philippines, Nigeria, Colombia, India and the United States to the ranks of cardinals who will elect his successor.

Benedict made the surprise announcement during his weekly general audience Wednesday and said they would be elevated at a consistory Nov. 24. The nominations help even out the geographic distribution of cardinals, which had tilted heavily toward Italy.

The new cardinals are: Monsignor James Harvey, the American prefect of the pope’s household; Archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan; Archbishop of Bogota, Colombia, Ruben Salazar Gomez; Archbishop of Manila, Philippines, Luis Antonio Tagle; Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in Lebanon, Bechara Boutros Rai; and the major Archbishop of the Trivandrum of the Siro-Malankaresi in India, Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal.

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VATICAN CITY
Inquirer (Philippines)

VATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict XVI has named Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle and five other prelates from Lebanon, Nigeria, Colombia, India and the United States as new cardinals.

Benedict made the surprise announcement during his weekly general audience Wednesday and said they would be elevated at a consistory November 24. The nominations help even out the geographic distribution of cardinals, which had tilted heavily toward Italy.

At 55, Tagle is currently the world’s youngest cardinal.

The pontiff elevated Tagle, head of the Philippines’ largest archdiocese, to the College of Cardinals together with Monsignor James Harvey, the American prefect of the pope’s household; Archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan; Archbishop of Bogota, Colombia, Ruben Salazar Gomez; Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in Lebanon, Bechara Boutros Rai; and the major Archbishop of the Trivandrum of the Siro-Malankaresi in India, Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal.

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MEXICO
Sky News (Australia)

A Mexico state judicial official says the alleged son of the late Reverend Marcial Maciel, founder of the Catholic order Legions of Christ, is in custody on attempted extortion charges.

The official says Jose Raul Gonzalez Lara was detained on Tuesday.

Legion spokesman Javier Bravo confirmed that the order had filed a criminal complaint against Gonzalez.

A Mexican woman divulged in 2010 that Maciel, a Catholic priest, had fathered two of her children, including Gonzalez, and accused him of molesting both.

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
Fox News

Published October 23, 2012

Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – News organizations including The Associated Press are asking a Rhode Island judge to unseal documents from a lawsuit contesting the will of a woman who left $60 million to the Legion of Christ, a disgraced Roman Catholic religious order.

The New York Times, The Providence Journal, the National Catholic Reporter and the AP filed papers Tuesday arguing the public has a right to the documents despite the Legion’s claim that they could taint prospective jurors.

The Vatican took over the Legion in 2010 after determining that its founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, molested seminarians and fathered three children.

Gabrielle Mee left her fortune to the Legion, but her niece challenged the will, saying the Legion defrauded her aunt. A judge dismissed the challenge after determining that the niece lacked standing. Her attorney plans to appeal.

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PROVIDENCE (RI)
Associated Press

By DAVID KLEPPER, Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Associated Press and three other news organizations Tuesday filed legal papers asking a Rhode Island judge to unseal documents in a lawsuit contesting the will of an elderly widow who gave some $60 million to the Legion of Christ, a disgraced Roman Catholic religious order.

The New York Times, The Providence Journal and the National Catholic Reporter joined the AP in submitting a legal filing arguing that the public has a right to access the documents and rejecting the Legion’s argument that press coverage of them could taint prospective jurors. Pope Benedict XVI took over the Legion in 2010 after a Vatican investigation determined its founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, had sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children by two women.

The woman’s niece, Mary Lou Dauray, had sought to challenge Gabrielle Mee’s will, saying her aunt had been defrauded by the order into leaving it her fortune. Mee died in 2008. Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein last month threw out the challenge because he determined the niece lacked standing. However, in his decision Silverstein noted that Maciel gave Mee financial advice and another priest helped her with estate planning.

“The transfer of millions of dollars worth of assets — through will, trust and gifts — from a steadfastly spiritual elderly woman to her trusted but clandestinely dubious religious leaders raises a red flag to this court,” Silverstein wrote.

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TULSA (OK)
CBS Houston

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Prosecutors told a judge Tuesday that more witnesses or victims could come forward as police examine more deeply allegations of sex crimes at a 17,000-member megachurch deep in the Bible Belt.

Israel Castillo, 23, a former janitor at the Victory Christian Center, attended court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday after being accused of making a lewd proposal to a 15-year-old girl, but Tulsa County Special Judge Clifford Smith postponed proceedings until Nov. 29 after lawyers for the state said new information was forthcoming from at least one person. Castillo’s lawyer and the church said they knew nothing of it.

“I was prepared this morning to announce to the court that my client and I were ready to proceed with the preliminary hearing,” lawyer Hugh Hood wrote in an email. “Mr. Castillo has entered a plea of not guilty. I will continue to demand that his due process rights are protected throughout these proceedings.”

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UNITED STATES
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Last Updated Oct 2012

Of all human groups, the church should be the most comforting for the hurting. After all, we are called by God to be welcoming, caring and nurturing. The turmoil in many congregations and denominations over sexual abuse shows in stark relief the results of trust broken.

In Nashville in 2011, the General Assembly passed Resolution 1122, calling the Church to prevent abuse and minister to the survivors and victims of abuse. For many years the General Commission on Ministry (GCOM) and regional commissions on ministry have been encouraging boundary training and other “safe church” practices, requiring these trainings for pastors to maintain ministerial standing, and for leaders who participate in camp and other youth programming

Each of our congregations has the opportunity and responsibility to create safe space and context for ministry. We are called to 1) assess the safety of our ministries 2) educate and train our leaders, and 3) assure that children, youth, and adults alike are respected and cared for in life-giving ways.

Most of us never think there will be a problem in our congregation, until the unthinkable happens and lives and communities are devastated. The very act of creating safe space and understanding proclaims to those in our congregations and those who yet to be in our congregations that we care about their lives. To be a safe church is to be a community of Christ’s welcome.

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CANADA
Metro

The wife of a former Sunday school teacher charged with sex and weapons-related crimes vows to stick by her man.

Joyce Laframbroise said she is shocked and had no idea anything was amiss until police put her husband Paul, 73, in handcuffs and charged him with offences including sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching, sexual interference, sexual exploitation, uttering threats, and a variety of weapons offences.

“I wasn’t expecting all this. They are trying to get him,” she said, referring to media who had set up outside her home. “My husband is a good man, as far as I’m concerned. He has never hurt me and he never would.”

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PHOENIX (AZ)
ABC 15

[with video]

Detectives say Eduardo De Los Reyes sexually abused boy while volunteering at Phoenix church

•By: Christopher Sign

PHOENIX – A 46-year-old Phoenix man faces several charges after detectives say he sexually abused a boy at a church.

Documents show the convicted sex offender was performing fake medical exams on his victim.

Eduardo De Los Reyes was arrested at his probation officer’s office after a 15-year-old boy came forward with the information.

According to court documents, De Los Reyes was volunteering on a construction project at The Light Of The World La Luz Del Mundo Iglesia Church near downtown Phoenix.

The victim told detectives De Los Reyes had been touching him inappropriately while performing medical examinations on the boy in a medical room at the construction site for the church.

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METHUEN (MA)
The Eagle-Tribune

By Yadira Betances ybetances@eagletribune.com The Eagle-Tribune

METHUEN – Holding a sign that read: “Sexual Abuse of little boys and girls is soul murder,” Bassam George Haddad stood outside St. Basil Seminary yesterday in a public demonstration against a priest he alleges sexually abused him as a teenager.

Haddad, 39, of Methuen, said he was molested by the Rev. Ross S. Frey at St. Joseph Parish in Lawrence between 1986 to 1991.

“It’s been tough. He ruined my life,” said Haddad, who said he was always angry and picked fights for no reason. He kept the abuse secret from his mother and his wife of 11 years until recently.

I couldn’t handle it any longer. When I told my wife, she was upset, then told me she understood why I am the way I am,” her said.

Frey, a member of the Melkite-Greek Catholic church was ordained in 1974. He was accused in the 1990s of sexually abusing at least 11 teenage boys during weekend retreats at the Salvatorian Center on the grounds of St. Basil in Methuen and at St. Joseph’s Parish in Lawrence. Frey was transferred to Lebanon in 1996 and later placed on leave.

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CALIFORNIA
Monterey Herald

By JESSICA M. PASKO
Santa Cruz Sentinel montereyherald.com
Posted: 10/23/2012

SANTA CRUZ — A Santa Barbara-based law firm has filed suits on behalf of three alleged victims of a California priest who did two stints in the Santa Cruz area, including an assignment in Soquel from 2007-09.

The most recent suit against the Rev. Don Flickinger was filed late last month in San Francisco County on behalf of a 25-year-old man who alleges he was abused by the priest in the late 1990s at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in San Jose.

The suit names the Roman Catholic Bishop of San Jose, the St. Frances Cabrini School and Church, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Fresno, the Diocese of Fresno Education Corp. and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, among others.

In their papers, attorneys David Nye and Timothy Hale allege that their client was abused long after the defendants received multiple reports of abuse by Flickinger dating back to the 1970s.

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Huffington Post

Vivian Norris

During the past few years we have finally been hearing more about an epidemic of sexual abuse of children , and thankfully, a few prosecutions.. The perpertrators were priests, well loved sports coaches, boy scout leaders and even celebrities. The recent scandal at the BBC, linking a well known personality, Jimmy Savile and his repeated abuse of underage girls, and his charity work which appeared to be a cover for access to children, had been making headline news. Sadly, foundations related to children have often been used as a way to access the vulnerable to use them for sexual abuse. In the US, Ireland, the Channel Islands, the list seems to go on and on, new sordid stories of child sexual abuse are being investigated, at times, linking to a disturbing hierarchy of silence in institutions whch were considered “sacred”, be it the Catholic Church, the BBC or even Penn State football. All of these institutions have been front page headline makers for the media, and now they are losing trust as they are linked to horrific betrayals of trust. The media has a hugely important role to play in continuing to get the message out not only about sexual abuse of children, but how these children can not only survive, but thrive.

For the adult men who are still suffering from the abuse they suffered as boys, the media headlines stir up feelings of anger, sadness, frustration as they see for example priests who are simply moved, still given access to boys, or die before they are prosecuted, and, luckily, for a few, some relief as they are able to confront the men who harmed them in the courtroom. I am going to focus here on sexual abuse by men in positions of power against boys because, “survey by researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Boston suggests that approximately one in six men is sexually abused before the age of 16 ». The majority of the sexual abuse by Catholic priests takes place with children between the ages of 11 and 14. (Associated Press (2004-06-20). “Hundreds of priests shuffled worldwide, despite abuse allegations”. USA Today.) I have seen this same figure repeated again and again, and knowing that it may be even higher as so many live in silence, suffering in shame, their lives damaged by alchoholism, drug abuse, and the inability to trust people in intimate relationships.

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FLORIDA
WSVN

[with video]

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) — More allegations have come to light against a South Florida priest accused of committing sins against teenage boys.

“People do care,” said Tony Simmons, “and all the tragic things that have happened to them, no it’s not OK, but it is OK to speak out.”

Simmons wants you to see his face even though, in a lawsuit he filed, he claims he was sexually abused by Father Rolando Garcia. Simmons said he is an Iraqi war veteran who was stationed overseas since 2003 and only recently came forward. “We’re the outcast,” said Simmons. “Our families have turned us down, we weren’t credible as far as law enforcement goes, so it was pretty much like a candy store. They come in unquestioned, take us out for the weekend, party, and as long as we were back on time, we were good.”

The lawsuit said Simmons met Garcia when he was 16 after he ran away from home. The lawsuit said they met in a church where Simmons went to pray. “Father Garcia kept this boy under his control,” said Attorney Jeffrey Herman. “When he turned 18, he eventually hired him to work at St. Agatha.”

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FLORIDA
Sun Sentinel

By James D. Davis, Staff writer

6:44 p.m. EDT, October 23, 2012

A 34-year-old man filed suit Tuesday against the Archdiocese of Miami, saying a priest molested him when he was a teenager living in Hollywood.

In the lawsuit, Tony Simmons alleges that the Rev. Rolando Garcia initiated a sexual relationship with him around 1994, when Garcia was at Little Flower Church in Hollywood and Simmons was a 16-year-old runaway. The document names the alleged victim only as John Doe No. 95, but Simmons identified himself as the plaintiff in a phone talk brokered by his attorney, Jeff Herman.

“I’ve got a daughter and a boy that’s coming,” said Simmons, who lives in Charlottesville, Va. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

Garcia is currently pastor at St. Agatha Catholic Church in Miami. The archdiocese’s communication office declined direct comment on the case, instead emailing a brief statement: “Mr. Herman has filed several lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Miami involving Father Garcia, and yet to date, none have been proven credible.”

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Sentence is due to be passed next month on a former priest who has pleaded guilty to 11 charges of indecent assault on boys at various locations in Co Meath, including at two parochial houses. Raymond Brady (77), Baltrasna, Oldcastle, admitted the offences when he appeared before Trim Circuit Court earlier this year.

The crimes were committed at parochial houses in Drumconrath and Kilbeg as well as locations in the Bettystown, Kilmainhamwood and Enfield areas and at a number of unknown locations. Brady assaulted his victims on dates between April 1st, 1968, and June 30th, 1976.

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MEXICO
ABC News

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO Associated Press

MEXICO CITY October 24, 2012 (AP)

A Mexico state judicial official says the alleged son of the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Catholic order Legions of Christ, is in custody on attempted extortion charges.

The official says Jose Raul Gonzalez Lara was detained. She was not authorized to speak to the press.

Legion spokesman Javier Bravo confirmed Tuesday that the order had filed a criminal complaint against Gonzalez.

A Mexican woman divulged in 2010 that Maciel, a Roman Catholic priest, had fathered two of her children, including Gonzalez, and accused him of molesting both.

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NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., Sept. 29, 2012

St. Bonaventure fundraising firm under national scrutiny

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent

THOREAU — Officials at St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School have until Wednesday to turn over an extensive list of documents to the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office.

According to a letter released Thursday by the Attorney General’s Office, the state has launched an inquiry into St. Bonaventure’s tax exempt status and its business relationship with professional fundraising companies, particularly the New York direct-marketing company Quadriga Art.

“It has come to our attention that your client, St. Bonaventure School and Mission, a charitable organization, may be in significant debt to at least one professional fundraiser,” Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Korsmo wrote to Andrew G. Schultz, the mission’s Albuquerque attorney, in a letter dated Sept. 13.

Citing the New Mexico attorney general’s legal authority and the state’s Charitable Trust Act, Korsmo, who heads the attorney general’s Consumer Division, requested a lengthy list of documents and information concerning St. Bonaventure’s tax exempt status, revenue and expenses, board members and top salaried employees, and contracts with all fundraising companies.

Quadriga investigations

According to a CNN report that aired Tuesday on “Anderson Cooper 360,” the news network alleges that until quite recently St. Bonaventure’s mission owed more than $5 million to Quadriga Art after signing a fundraising contract with the company in 2008. CNN alleges Quadriga Art’s fundraising campaign generated more than $9 million in donations but passed very little of that money on to St. Bonaventure.

In a series of reports on Quadriga Art and its subsidiaries, CNN claims that at least 11 nonprofit organizations have found themselves buried in debt to Quadriga Art for professional fundraising services. It also claims that at least two nonprofits — St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School being one — saw their debt to Quadriga Art forgiven after CNN began investigating their contracts with the company.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, which includes New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman as a member, is also conducting an investigation into Quadriga Art’s business dealings with at least one of its nonprofit clients.

According to a Senate Finance Committee news release dated May 23, the committee opened an investigation “into the potential abuses of tax-exempt nonprofit status by the Disabled Veterans National Foundation” through its fundraising ties to Quadriga Art.

“According to tax records, DVNF raised tens of millions of dollars over a two year period, yet reports indicate very little of the money went to directly help disabled veterans. Instead, DVNF apparently paid large sums to Quadriga Art in 2009 and 2010,” the release states.

“In order to qualify for tax exempt status, section 501(c)(3) organizations … must be operated primarily for charitable purposes and must not engage in transactions that benefit private interests or organizations insiders,” the release states.

New Hampshire address

When contacted Thursday, Quadriga Art public relations official Melissa Schwartz claimed “CNN didn’t deliver an accurate portrayal” of her company’s relationship with St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School. Schwartz refused to answer any questions about its fundraising contract with St. Bonaventure but repeatedly referred questions to St. Bonaventure officials who could “speak to the value” of Quadriga Art fundraising services.

Schwartz also declined to answer questions about Quadriga Art’s use of a New Hampshire post office box direct-mail “caging address” to solicit donations for St. Bonaventure. Several online charity consumer complaints reference unsolicited donation appeals for St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School using a Wilton, N.H. post office box address.

According to its website, Brickmill Marketing Services, a subsidiary of Quadriga Art, has a business location in Wilton, N.H.

In one online obituary, the family of an Oregon woman who died three years ago requested that donations in her memory be made to St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School. However, the family listed the direct-mail marketing address in Wilton, N.H., not the mission’s actual post office box in Thoreau. And on a direct-mail website, St. Bonaventure’s mailing list appears to be marketed for sale to direct-mail marketing companies.

Diocese unaware

Although Schwartz repeatedly referred all questions to officials at St. Bonaventure, repeated phone and email messages left Wednesday and Thursday for the mission’s attorney and its executive director Christopher Halter were not returned.

Navajo Nation Council Delegate Edmund Yazzie is a member of St. Bonaventure’s Board of Trustees. When contacted Thursday, Yazzie said he would contact the mission’s executive director and attorney and ask them to return the calls. They did not.

Although St. Bonaventure’s is located in the Diocese of Gallup, Gallup diocesan attorney James “Jay” Mason said Wednesday the Gallup Diocese was unaware of the situation until about 10 days ago when contacted by CNN.

Mason, the only local official to speak directly to the media, said the diocese was obtaining copies of documents pertaining to St. Bonaventure and fundraising.

“Debt is not owed,” Mason said, adding that St. Bonaventure no longer had a contract with Quadriga Art. He also said that didn’t mean the situation was resolved.

“We’re continuing our investigation,” Mason said.

On Thursday, Gallup Bishop issued an official statement: “The Diocese of Gallup very recently became aware of the details of St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School’s fund raising agreement with Quadriga Art/Brickmill Studios, Inc. The Diocese is not a party to that agreement. The Diocese understands that St. Bonaventure has now terminated its fund raising agreement with Quadriga Art/Brickmill Studios, Inc. The Diocese does not have all of the facts and accordingly, will refrain from further comment pending future developments.”

Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 870-0745 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.

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BOSTON (MA)
Irish Central

By
MICHELLE K SMITH
IrishCentral Intern

Published Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Actor and director Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, one of the writers for “The West Wing,” have joined forces on an untitled drama which will follow the footsteps of the Boston Globe journalists who uncovered the sex abuse coverup in the Catholic Church in that area.

McCarthy has been working on the project for over a year, but has kept his work secret due to the sensitive nature of the film. The project was initially announced in April 2010 and is said to have similarities to “All the President’s Men.”

McCarthy told Boston.com about the film. He said, “This is a story that feels like it has to be told.”

McCarthy, who is a graduate of Boston College and grew up in a large Irish American family, said he felt drawn to the story because of his own connections.

He added, “It’s such a great reminder of how essential investigative journalism is.”

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GALLUP (NM)
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, NM, Oct. 22, 2012

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent

GALLUP — When the Diocese of Phoenix finally posted its list of clergy members accused or convicted of abusing children on its website last week, it bumped up the list from the Diocese of Gallup to 20 known abusers.

The Phoenix Diocese posted the list Tuesday, according to a story in the Arizona Republic Oct. 17. The diocese’s list of 29 abusers is shorter than the list of names the Phoenix newspaper has been compiling since the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted nationally in 2002, but it does include the name of one priest that was new to the newspaper: Harry Morgan.

Church records from the Official Catholic Directory indicate Harry R. Morgan was one of several abusive priests from the Diocese of Gallup that the Diocese of Phoenix inherited when it was founded in 1969.

The directory indicates Morgan became a priest for the Diocese of Gallup in 1954, and like the majority of credibly accused sexual abusers in the Gallup Diocese, Morgan was assigned to Catholic parishes in rural northern Arizona. He was assigned to St. Joseph’s in Winslow, St. John the Baptist in St. Johns, St. Pius X in East Flagstaff, and St. Joseph’s in Williams, Ariz.

Associated Press news reports from 1975, posted online, indicate Morgan, then 60, was arrested Feb. 17, 1975, when he was the pastor at the Church of the Ascension in Fountain Hills, Ariz. Morgan was charged with molesting a 9-year-old boy that January.

In August 1975, Morgan pleaded no contest in Maricopa County Superior Court, and in October 1975 Judge C. Kimball Rose sentenced Morgan to 10 years probation. According to a news report dated Oct. 7, 1975, Morgan’s attorney William P. Mahoney said the Catholic Church was arranging to place Morgan “out of state in a parish without children.”

There is no information to indicate where Morgan was transferred.

Bishop James S. Wall of the Diocese of Gallup has made his own promises to post a similar list of credibly accused clergy on the diocesan website but has yet to do so. When contacted for comment, the Rev. Tim Farrell, the media liaison for the diocese, said because Wall is on pilgrimage in Italy, an official statement on such a listing would have to wait until the bishop returns at the end of the month.

Phoenix attorney Robert Pastor, who represents several clients with abuse allegations against the Diocese of Gallup, told the Arizona Republic he was “hopeful” about Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s decision to post the list.

However, when contacted about the Gallup Diocese, Pastor emailed a critical statement that referred to Wall’s May 12, 2009, news release in which he promised to review more than 400 diocesan personnel files and post a similar list of abusers on the diocese’s website.

“At the time, this promise was a thoughtful gesture by the Bishop of Gallup,” Pastor said. “After waiting three years for the Bishop to make good on his promise, we have to call it what it is: another lie and half truth that is part of a greater effort to cover-up clergy sexual abuse. I have no faith that the Bishop of Gallup will make good on his promise. The Bishop of Gallup either has no intention of being a real leader for his flock or he has too many files of pedophile priests hiding in the archives of the Chancery.”

The Independent has compiled its own list of alleged sexual abusers from the Gallup Diocese based on information from church documents, police reports and court records. The following list includes both diocesan and religious order priests accused of abusing minors: William Allison, Michael J. Aten, John Boland, James M. Burns, Santino “Tony A. Casimano, Charles “Chuck” Cichanowicz, David J. Clark, Laurence Florez, Clement A. Hageman, Julian Hartig, Robert J. Kirsch, Diego Mazon, Bruce MacArthur, Douglas A. McNeill, Harry R. Morgan, Francis “Frank” Murphy, Jose H. Rodriguez, Raul Sanchez, John T. Sullivan and Samuel Wilson.

Gallup clergy who have allegedly sexually assaulted adult victims include James Schlaffer and Alfred A. Tachias.

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IRELAND
Eureka Street (Australia)

Frank O’Shea October 23, 2012

During the time of big Irish families in the pre-pill era, boys might be under less parental control than ought to be possible today when the Irish birth rate, although the highest in Europe, is a modest 2.1. So, it was not unusual for boys to get into trouble and be deemed dangers to society or to property or to apple orchards.

The result was that they might be sent to the large industrial school run by the Christian Brothers in the north Dublin suburb of Artane. A frazzled parent might well threaten their child with such an outcome in an effort to frighten the recalcitrant one into conformity.

In practice, many of those who ended up in Artane were there because they had been abandoned or because it was the opinion of authorities that their families were unable to look after them. It was not a badge of honour for the family or a situation fondly anticipated by the child.

I came across the story of one such boy recently. Danny Ellis was an inner city kid, his father in America for work, his young mother not able or not willing to look after him and his four younger siblings. These were taken away to be cared for by nuns and finally his mother took Danny to Artane, telling him she had to go to hospital and would come back for him at Christmas. He never saw her again.

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MEXICO
El Nuevo Herald

Por E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Associated Press

MEXICO — Autoridades detuvieron a un supuesto hijo del fallecido fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo, Marcial Maciel, por una demanda por extorsión que presentó en su contra la congregación católica.

Una funcionaria del Poder Judicial del Estado de México, no autorizada a ser identificada por políticas internas, dijo a The Associated Press que José Raúl González Lara fue detenido e internado en un penal estatal en las afueras de la capital del país por el delito de tentativa de extorsión.

Una mexicana sacudió a la opinión pública en 2010 cuando aseguro en un programa radial que había procreado dos de sus tres hijos con Maciel, a quien también acusó de abusar sexualmente de dos de ellos. Uno de los hijos que se presentó era José Raúl González Lara.

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MEXICO
notisistema

El Tribunal Superior de Justicia del Estado de México (TSJEM), confirma que hasta las 11:40 de este martes, aún permanece en el Penal de Barrientos, José Raúl González Lara -presunto hijo de Marcial Maciel, fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo-; toda vez que no se ha cubierto el pago de una fianza por 47 mil pesos.

José Raúl González fue detenido este lunes en Cuernavaca, Morelos, por ministeriales mexiquense quienes contaban con una orden de aprehensión girada por el Juez Tercero Penal de Barrientos, bajo la causa penal 710-12, por el delito de tentativa de extorsión.

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MEXICO
El Universal

Redacción
23 de octubre 2012

Al morir el fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo y el movimiento “Regnum Christi”, Marcial Maciel Degollado, se develaron una serie de acusaciones y escándalos en su contra, desde abusos sexuales por miembros de la congregación y estudiantes, pederastia e hijos secretos, entre ellos José Raúl González Lara, quien hoy enfrenta cargos por extorsión.

González Lara fue detenido ayer en Cuernavaca, Morelos, por ministeriales mexiquense quienes contaban con una orden de aprehensión girada por el Juez Tercero Penal de Barrientos, en el municipio de Tlalnepantla, bajo la causa penal 710-12, por el delito de tentativa de extorsión.

Por ello, EL UNIVERSAL Edomex te da a conocer los escándalos del sacerdote mexicano:

1.- ABUSOS SEXUALES Y PEDERASTÍA

En el año de 1997, ocho ex miembros de la Legión de Cristo acusaron al sacerdote Marcial Maciel de haber cometido abuso sexual en su contra y que además, en su momento, nadie de la congregación o miembros de la jerarquía católica los atendió.

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MEXICO
National Catholic Reporter

by Jason Berry | Oct. 23, 2012

Mexican police arrested Jose Raúl Gonzalez Lara, a biological son of the late Legion of Christ founder Fr. Marcial Maciel, on Monday on charges of attempted extortion against the Legion.

Gonzalez Lara was taken from his home in Cuernavaca and jailed in Penal de Barrientos in Tlalnepantla, a rough industrial suburb in the northern part of sprawling Mexico City. Although he posted bail, he is reportedly still being held in custody.

CNN broadcaster Carmen Aristegui wrote in an email that authorities confirmed the arrest at 5 p.m.

“No one has officially recognized that he was arrested at 7:30 a.m.,” said Aristegui, the author of Marcial Maciel: Historia de un Criminal.

Gonzalez Lara, 33, married with a 1-year-old son, works in a physical fitness center. In 2010, St. Paul, Minn., attorney Jeff Anderson sued the Legionaries in Connecticut, where the order has its American headquarters, stating that Maciel abused Gonzalez Lara in several U.S. locations as he was growing up, and that the order knew the founder had a history of abusing seminarians.

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FLORIDA
NBC Miami

By Diana Gonzalez

Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012

A 34-year-old man came forward Tuesday to make new sexual abuse allegations against an embattled South Florida priest, Father Rolando Garcia.

Tony Simmons said he was a 16-year-old runaway when he met Garcia at Church of the Little Flower in Hollywood in 1994. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Miami-Dade County Court says that Father Garcia initially gave him assistance and counseling, but began sexually abusing Simmons after they went to a movie one night.

Garcia later employed him as a painter at the church from 2001 to 2003 while the abuse continued, Simmons said at a news conference he held with attorney Jeff Herman in front of St. Agatha Catholic Church in southwest Miami-Dade. Garcia is currently the pastor of that church.

Simmons claims the sexual relationship ended when he joined the U.

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MISSOURI
Associated Baptist Church

By Bob Allen

Missouri Baptist Convention officials are watching a member church whose pastor was arrested recently on sexual abuse charges a year after his previous acquittal of child molestation.

Travis SmithTravis Smith, 42, of California, Mo., appeared for arraignment Oct. 16 in Moniteau County court. He faces charges of forcible rape, statutory rape and sexual abuse alleged to have occurred in 1998, statutory rape in 1999 and statutory rape and sodomy in 2005.

Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church in Stover, Mo., since 2006, was found not guilty on Sept. 28, 2011, by a jury in Morgan County of misdemeanor child molestation of a 14-year-old girl in 2009. A separate charge of statutory rape was dropped because that accuser turned out to have been 17, the age of consent in Missouri, rather than 15 as first claimed when their alleged improper relationship began.

The First Baptist Church, Stover, website listed Smith as its pastor as of Oct. 23. Local media reported Oct. 3 that church members were standing by their pastor despite the charges. Community residents countered with a vigil on behalf of his alleged victims, protesting a church fish fry that was described in conflicting media reports as a show of support for Smith and an annual church event that just happened to coincide with news of the arrest.

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MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press

Associated Press

A lawsuit claims officials at a Warren church should have stopped a former pastor from influencing a 15-year-old boy he later sexually assaulted.

The civil suit filed against the Antioch Baptist Church and Academy in Warren also claims Christopher Settlemoir shouldn’t have been hired because officials knew about his pedophilic tendencies.

Settlemoir last year pleaded no contest to charges he sexually assaulted the boy and accosted another. The 29-year-old former Warren resident is serving a seven- to 15-year prison term.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

A billboard on south Interstate 35 just past Armour Road spells out a blunt message:

“For the good of the people Bishop Finn must RESIGN!”

The sign also highlights an online petition that has been circulating for a month, calling for Bishop Robert Finn’s resignation.

The Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese declined to comment on the billboard or the petition. And the man who organized the petition drive said he had nothing to do with the sign.

“I was really surprised, but I have no idea who paid for it,” Jeff Weis said of the message, which is among a series of ads displayed in cycles on the electronic billboard.

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Authority in the Church

[Deutsch]

[Nederlands]

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, we call on all other members of the People of God to assess the situation in our church.

Many of the key insights of Vatican II have not at all, or only partially, been implemented. This has been due to resistance in some quarters, but also to a measure of ambiguity that remained unresolved in certain Council documents.

A principal source of present-day stagnation lies in misunderstanding and abuse affecting the exercise of authority in our Church. Specifically, the following issues require urgent redress:

The role of the papacy needs to be clearly re-defined in line with Christ’s intentions. As supreme pastor, unifier and prime witness to faith, the pope contributes substantially to the health of the universal church. However, his authority may never obscure, diminish or suppress the authentic authority directly given by Christ to all members of the people of God.

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IRELAND
The Mayo News

Fr Kevin Hegarty

The recent 50th anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council has occasioned a plethora of reminiscences and reflections about the most crucial event in the Catholic Church in the last century. For me, the most interesting contribution has come from the Swiss theologian, Hans Kung.

Kung was an adviser at the council along with Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. Both were then in their early thirties and regarded as ‘boy theologians’ by their elderly and venerable colleagues.

Since then their paths have diverged considerably. Kung has ploughed a lonely furrow as an upholder of the reforms of the council while Pope Benedict, frightened by the student protests of the 1960’s, has become a theological reactionary.

When Pope John XXIII was asked what he intended by having a council, he replied by opening a window and saying: “That – to let some fresh air into the Church.” The present incumbent of the papal throne has closed the door. …

In an interview with ‘The Guardian’ on October 5 Kung has been even more forthcoming on the current crisis in Catholicism. He strongly criticised the guidelines governing the choice of bishops: “The rules for choosing bishops are so rigid that as soon as candidates emerge who say, stand up for the pill, or the ordination of women they are struck off the list. The result was a church of ‘yes men’ almost all of whom unquestioningly toe the line. The only way for reform is from the bottom up. The priests and others in positions of responsibility need to stop being so subservient, to organise themselves and say that there are certain things that they will not put up with anymore.”

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TULSA (OK)
Christian Post

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter

October 23, 2012

As Victory Christian Center megachurch in Tulsa, Okla., continues fighting allegations against sexual abuse, a national support group of people abused by priests has accused its ministers of trying to cover-up the abuse and save the church’s reputation rather than provide full support for the victims.

“Again, here we go with these ministers putting their reputations ahead of the safety of the kids,” said Barbara Dorris, the outreach director for the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Jarrod Kopp, Senior Account Executive of Schnake Turnbo Frank, a Public Relations Consultant hired to represent the church, shared with The Christian Post an email statement from his firm regarding the accusations: “We disagree with SNAP’s characterization of this incident at Victory Christian Center. We have previously released a detailed timeline of the events during that time to fully disclose our response.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, (VIS) – Giuseppe Dalla Torre, president of the Tribunal of Vatican City State, has issued a decree ruling that the first hearing in the trial of Claudio Sciarpelletti is to take place at 9 a.m. on 5 November. Sciarpelletti, who is accused of complicity, was sent for trial by the examining magistrate on 13 August, but his trial was separated from that of Paolo Gabriele by a ruling issued during the course of the court hearing of 29 September.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

[SENTENZA DEL TRIBUNALE DELLO STATO DELLA CITTÀ DEL VATICANO NEL PROCEDIMENTO PENALE A CARICO DEL SIGNOR GABRIELE PAOLO]

Vatican City, (VIS) – Made public today was the full text of the sentence issued by the Tribunal of Vatican City State on 6 October, in which Paolo Gabriele was declared guilty of aggravated theft.

On 6 October Paolo Gabriele had been sentenced to imprisonment for a period of three years although, in view of his “lack of a criminal record, his record of service in the period prior to the facts in question, the subjective (though mistaken) belief identified by the accused as the motive for his conduct, as well as his own statement of his awareness of having betrayed the trust of the Holy Father, the Tribunal reduced the sentence to imprisonment for one (1) year and six (6) months, and ordered the guilty party to defray the costs of the trial”.

In a briefing held this morning Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. explained some aspects of the sentence. He began by noting that it focused on the offence of stealing documents, and in particular the originals of documents, and took no account of other objects such as a nugget of gold, a cheque in the Holy Father’s name and a sixteenth-century copy of “The Aeneid”, because there were doubts about the way in which the search during which they were found had been carried out, and Gabriele’s guilt was not proven.

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VATICAN CITY
ADN Kronos

Vatican City, 23 Oct. (AKI) – Pope Benedict XVI could pardon his former butler Paolo Gabriele who was earlier this month jailed for 18 months for stealing private papal correspondence, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

“A papal pardon remains a possibility but we cannot predict if, how and when,” said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi.

He was briefing journaalists on the written explanation issued Tuesday by the the three-judge tribunal of how it reached its 6 October ruling against Gabriele, who was convicted of aggravated theft and sentenced to 18 months in jail, currently being served under house arrest.

The judges’ explanation sharply criticised Gabriele for harming the pope, the Holy See and the entire Catholic Church.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

A computer expert is due to go on trial on 5 November for aiding and abetting the Pope’s former butler to steal papal documents, the Vatican has announced.

Claudio Sciarpelletti is accused of helping Paolo Gabriele while working as a computer technician in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.

Gabriele was given an 18-month prison sentence earlier this month.

He admitted passing documents to a journalist, but said he did it out of love for the church and the Pope.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

VATICAN CITY | Tue Oct 23, 2012

(Reuters) – A Vatican computer expert will go on trial on November 5 for aiding and abetting the pope’s former butler Paolo Gabriele, who was convicted this month of stealing papal documents, a spokesman for the Holy See said on Tuesday.

Claudio Sciarpelletti was not tried with Gabriele, who was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment by a Vatican court but is currently serving the sentence under house arrest in his Vatican apartment.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

By NICOLE WINFIELD 10/23/12

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican tribunal that convicted the pope’s ex-butler of stealing private papal correspondence sharply condemned the theft on Tuesday, saying it harmed the pope, the Holy See and the entire Catholic Church.

The three-judge tribunal issued its written explanation of how it reached its Oct. 6 ruling against Paolo Gabriele, who was convicted of aggravated theft and sentenced to 18 months, currently being served under house arrest.

Gabriele confessed to photocopying papal documents and giving them to an Italian journalist, saying Pope Benedict XVI wasn’t being informed of the “evil and corruption” around him and that he believed exposing the problems publicly would put the church back on the right track.

The revelations of petty bureaucratic infighting, intrigue and allegations of corruption and homosexual liaisons marked the biggest Vatican security breach in modern times.

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ILLINOIS
The State Journal-Register

By NATHAN WOODSIDE
The State Journal-Register

LINCOLN — A man recently disciplined by the state of Illinois for unlicensed practice of clinical psychology is a former priest who also faces a criminal charge of failure to register as a sex offender.

Francis A. Benham, 74, was released from a Maryland jail in early 2006 after being convicted of sex crimes against children while serving as a priest there in the 1970s.

Benham then moved back to Lincoln, where he had lived from 1987 until 2004, after leaving the priesthood. During that time, Benham worked as a counselor for convicted sex offenders at Tazwood Mental Health Center in Pekin.

He was arrested again in February by Lincoln police on a charge of failure to register as a sex offender.

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UNITED STATES
What They Knew

The Society of Jesus has long been regarded for the intellectual prowess of its priests and educators. In the marketplace of ideas Jesuits have made significant contributions to both the physical and social sciences. But there is evidence that this is starting to slip. Recent cases in California and elsewhere have begged the question, “What has happened to the Jesuit Order? Can they still wave their intellectual wands and make sexual abuse a defensible act?”

We stumbled upon this bit of Jesuit produced research (link to Santa Clara Univ. article) into why Jesuits abuse. Written by Gerdenio Sonny Manuel, S. J., a member of the California Province Sensitive Incidents Team, entitled Living Chastity: Psychosexual Well Being in Jesuit Life An Essay for Studies in Jesuit Spirituality.

The thrust of his intellectual question, with regards to being a Jesuit is “How in the world could you do that to yourself?” Basically sex abuse by Jesuits boils down to lack of self-understanding, loneliness and stress. From the article:

“In addition to coping with the stress related to our lifestyle and ministry, there are the usual varieties of ordinary life events that can burden us: personal illness or misfortune, interpersonal conflicts, family struggles, aging, the death of loved ones. From time to time, friends, family, or the Society will inevitably disappoint and even hurt us. And so, independently or cumulatively we can be stressed by our lifestyle, ministry, and ordinary life traumas and find ourselves in pain and searching for solace. During these times of distress, we need to be especially vigilant that we do not use sex as a way of altering mood or as an escape. Along with other forms of gratification or socially isolating activities like extended television viewing, engaging in sexual fantasies, various forms of internet pornography, and sexually acting out can be ways of coping with sadness by medicating our pain and suffering.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[Submissions to the inquiry – Government of Victoria]

[with video]

A former Catholic priest has told Victoria’s Parliamentary Inquiry into child sexual abuse, the Church might reduce the incidence of paedophilia by allowing clergy to marry.

Des Cahill, a professor at RMIT University, was among those to give evidence on the second day of public hearings.

He said the Catholic Church had failed to deal properly with paedophilia and reassessing celibacy might be one way of limiting abuse.

“A celibate does not have the emotional support of a close community as a majority of people do in a marriage family context, then there’s a greater likelihood of offending,” he said.

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MICHIGAN
Daily Tribune

By Jameson Cook
jamie.cook@macombdaily.com; @jamesoncook

Officials of a Warren church and religious school should have stopped obvious “grooming” of a teenage boy whom the church’s pastor later raped. A lawsuit also claims the pastor never should have been hired because the church knew about his pedophilic tendencies, a lawsuit alleges.

In a civil action replete with disturbing accusations, the unidentified boy says employees and officials of Antioch Baptist Church and Academy failed mightily to detect and prevent the actions of convicted rapist Christopher Settlemoir.

“The rape of a minor child occurred dozens of times while the staff turned to the blind eye crime (sic) being perpetrated against a child within their care,” says the lawsuit filed Friday by “John Doe” in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens. “(Antioch) had a duty to self-report to Child Protective Services and/or law enforcement that plaintiff… was at risk of and actually was being sexually abused.”

Settlemoir in 2011 pleaded no contest each to two counts each of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and accosting a child for immoral purposes for assaults that police said lasted more than a year ending in June 2010. He also was accused of sending explicit text messages to a second boy.

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SAN ANTONIO (TX)
CBS 7

Diocese of San Angelo
Press Release
October 22, 2012

SAN ANGELO — During the month of June 2012, the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo completed an audit of its Safe Environment Programs with auditors from Stonebridge Business Partners of Rochester, New York, an independent firm commissioned by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), to insure compliance with the USCCB Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

In a letter to San Angelo Bishop Michael Pfeifer dated October 12, 2012 from Stonebridge Business Partners, the firm advised that, “The Diocese of San Angelo is in compliance with the data collection requirements for the 2011/2012 Charter audit period.”

The Charter, originally adopted by the USCCB in November 2002, sets forth specific requirements which enable dioceses across the country to establish safe environment programs to protect children and youth from sexual and other kinds of abuse. During this audit, diocesan safe environment policies, safe environment programs for church personnel, parents, and children, as well as procedures for assisting victims of sexual abuse were examined.

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

By Suzanne McLaughlin, The Republican
on October 22, 2012

SPRINGFIELD – Hampden Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney will not allow the Rev. Robert M. Thrasher to be added as a third defendant in a civil lawsuit alleging harm caused by the sexual abuse of Peter J. Caffrey by former priest Richard Lavigne.

Caffrey, 47, is suing Springfield Bishop Emeritus Joseph F. Maguire and former bishop Thomas L. Dupre of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, charging they knew, or should have known that then-Rev. Richard Lavigne had a history of sexual misconduct before he abused him in 1976 or 1977.

Caffrey, who now lives in Michigan, suffered from repressed memory until June 2009, when he remembered that he had been abused at the former St. Francis of Assisi Parish in North Adams, and at Lavigne’s home in Ashfield, his attorney, John J. Stobierski said.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

ELAINE KEOGH

CARDINAL SEÁN Brady should make a full apology to a priest who was removed from his parish in Co Louth after an allegation of abuse made against him was subsequently found to be false.

That’s according to Labour Senator Mary Moran who is part of the parish of Blackrock, Co Louth, which Fr Oliver Brennan was attached to at the time of the allegation in August 2010.

Yesterday Fr Brennan told LMFM radio that being accused of child abuse “is every priest’s nightmare”. The allegation dates back to the early 1970s and was investigated by the PSNI and later by Cardinal Brady. Both enquiries cleared him of any wrongdoing.

He said he had no idea an allegation was being made and the last two years have been “very difficult, quite horrendous really”.

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CANADA
The Observer

Former Roman Catholic priest Gabriele DelBianco appeared in Sarnia court Monday for a preliminary hearing.

He was charged in 2011 with committing sexual offences involving four teenage girls between 1981 and 1987.

The hearing is set to continue Tuesday and Wednesday, and will determine if a Superior Court trial is warranted.

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CANADA
Saaich News

By Staff Writer – Saanich News
Published: October 22, 2012

The trial of a former Saanich priest charged with molesting minors is now expected to start in December.

Philip Jacobs is charged with sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference of a person under 14 and touching a young person for a sexual purpose related to three minors under the age of 14 in alleged incidents spanning September 1996 to June 2001.

Jacobs served as a parish priest at St. Joseph the Worker on Burnside Road West from 1998 to 2002. Prior to that he worked part-time from 1996 to 1998 at St. Rose of Lima in Sooke. In the early 1990s he worked as a priest in Colombus, Ohio.

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ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on October 22, 2012

A former Catholic priest and registered sex offender, now living in the Peoria diocese, has been accused of practicing psychology without a license. He also faces charges that he failed to register as a sex offender, as required by law.

We hope that Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky will use his resources to warn his flock about Benham. It’s clear that he’s still manipulative and dangerous. And we hope anyone who saw, suspected or suffered wrongdoing by Benham will contact law enforcement immediately. That’s the best way to safeguard the vulnerable from this sick and cunning man.

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UNITED STATES
Stop Baptist Predators

Sandusky, the former Penn State coach convicted of molesting children, blasted his accusers as “opportunistic.”

Page, the current chief executive of the Southern Baptist Convention, blasted support groups for clergy molestation victims as “opportunistic.”

One man blasted child molestation victims in an apparent effort to undermine their credibility so as to salvage some shred of his own reputation, despite the overwhelming evidence against him.

The other man blasted child molestation victims in an apparent effort to undermine their credibility so as to preserve the reputation of the Southern Baptist Convention, despite the overwhelming number of Baptist clergy abuse and cover-up cases.

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AUSTRALIA
Victoria Parliament – Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations

Submissions
The Committee developed a Submission Guide to help interested parties in preparing a submission for this Inquiry.

Please click in this link to access the Submission Guide. Submission Guide

Written submissions to the Inquiry closed on 21 September 2012.

The Committee is now in the process of formally accepting submissions.

Given the high level of interest in this Inquiry, submissions will be made available on the website once they have been formally processed. As there have been hundreds of submissions made to this Inquiry, it may take some time to complete the process.

Submissions will be treated as public documents unless confidentiality is requested or the Committee exercises its discretion.

Advisory Committee to South Western Centre Against Sexual Assault (32.23 Kb)

Anglican Diocese of Melbourne (3.40 Mb)

Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta (114.16 Kb)
Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta_Appendix 1 (125.33 Kb)
Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta_Appendix 2 (247.74 Kb)
Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta_Appendix 3 (660.62 Kb)
Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta_Appendix 4 (222.11 Kb)
Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta_Appendix 5 (390.58 Kb)
Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta_Appendix 6 (356.43 Kb)
Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta_Appendix 7 (390.16 Kb)
Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta_Appendix 8 (332.02 Kb)

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

[Des Cahill submission to the Victoria inquiry]

Barney Zwartz October 23, 2012

AT LEAST one in 20 Catholic priests in Melbourne is a child sex abuser, although the real figure is probably one in 15, the state inquiry into the churches’ handling of sex abuse was told yesterday.

RMIT professor Des Cahill said his figures, based on analysing conviction rates of priests ordained from Melbourne’s Corpus Christi College, closely matched a much larger American analysis of 105,000 priests which found that 4362 were child sex offenders.

The intercultural studies professor also told the inquiry that the Catholic Church was incapable of reforming itself because of its internal culture. He said the Church’s Melbourne Response abuse protocol had to go, and the state would have to intervene to achieve it.

In other key testimony, Professor Cahill:
■Called for married priests, as are being allowed now in the Anglican ordinariate within the Catholic Church, as a “circuit-breaker” that would reduce child sex abuse. The state should remove the Equal Opportunity Act exemption letting the church discriminate on grounds of marital status, he said.
■Described the Church as “a holy and unholy mess, except where religious sisters or laypeople are in charge, for example schools and welfare agencies”.

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LINCOLN (IL)
Lincoln Courier

By Nathan Woodside
GateHouse News Service

Posted Oct 22, 2012

LINCOLN —

A former priest and convicted sex offender in Lincoln has been cited for practicing clinical psychology without a license.

According to recently released records, 74-year-old Francis A. Benham was ordered by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to stop the unlicensed practice of clinical psychology after state officials discovered he had business cards printed in which he used the title “Dr.” and claimed to provide “psychotherapy services.”
Even though he lacked a doctorate degree in psychology or a state license as a licensed clinical psychologist, he provided psychotherapy services to a client and advertised in a local telephone directory as a psychotherapist, according to state documents.

Online business listings show his practice located at 314 10th St. in Lincoln – the same address listed for Benham in the state sex offender registry.

Benham was released from a Maryland jail in early 2006 after being convicted of sex crimes against children while serving as a priest there in the 1970s. His original sentence included two 10-year terms, but a judge suspended most of that time.
After his release, Benham moved back to Lincoln, where he had lived after leaving the priesthood from 1987 until 2004.

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

EMPLOYMENT MATTERS – PETER CULLEN

OPINION: Few readers will recognise the name Paolo Gabriele, but they might know him as the Pope’s ex-butler. Gabriele copied the Pope’s private papers and provided them to a journalist who in due course published them.

He claimed he was motivated by a desire to root out “corruption and evil” which he alleged was at the heart of the Catholic Church, but ultimately Gabriele’s actions led to his dismissal.

He has since been convicted of the theft of the documents and sentenced to a modest term in jail.

Gabriele is certainly not the first employee to be guilty of leaking his employer’s confidential information. Nowadays, not only do employees often know a lot more about their employers than was the case previously but the speed at which information can spread has increased significantly.

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GEORGIA
ActionNewsJax

ST. MARYS, Ga. — A Kingsland Deacon has been arrested and accused of molesting a four-year-old and a seven-year-old.

St. Marys Police officers arrested Clinton Jones Rivers, a deacon at a Kingsland church, October 10 at a home on Thoroughbred Road in St. Marys on two counts of sexual exploitation of children.

In July 2012, the St. Marys Police Department received a tip saying two children, ages 4 and 7, were possible victims of child sexual abuse. The St. Marys Police Department Criminal Investigation Division launched an investigation into these allegations and learned from the children involved that Mr. Rivers was touching them inappropriately on their “private areas.”

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GEORGIA
First Coast News

ST. MARYS, Ga. — The St. Marys Police Department arrested a deacon of a local Kingsland church on charges of sexual exploitation of children.

Police arrested Jones Rivers Wednesday, October 10 at 1:30 p.m., according to a news release from the St. Marys Police Department.

Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Rivers after receiving a report in July 2012 from a local mandated reporter who indicated two children, ages 4 and 7, had possible been victims of child sexual abuse.

The investigation by the police department revealed Rivers allegedly touched the two children inappropriately on their “private areas.” The release said Rivers also allegedly exposed the 7-year-old child to pornography on Rivers’ home computer. Originally police arrested Rivers on two charges of child molestation and one charge of furnishing obscene materials to minors.

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

Posted by Barbara Dorris on October 22, 2012

We suspect these cases have settled for the same reasons Catholic officials settle clergy sex abuse cases – because they want to keep their complicity hidden.

We are proud of these two brave whistleblowers. We hope their courage, and this outcome, will encourage other current and former church employees who saw, suspected or suffered wrongdoing to speak up, expose it, and deter it.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After decades of resentment and horror over the abuse of indigenous children, the canonization of St. Kateri Tekakwitha marked a further step toward the reconciliation of the indigenous communities and the Catholic Church.

Phil Fontaine, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Canada, told Canadian church and government officials the canonization “makes it possible, very much possible, to bring our community — the First Nations — very much closer with the Catholic Church. There was a rupture for too long.”

Fontaine headed a 2009 Canadian aboriginal delegation to the Vatican, which received a formal apology from the church for the treatment of native children in Canadian residential schools.

An estimated 100,000 aboriginal children passed through the schools, which were abolished in the 1990s. They were established and paid for by the Canadian government, but were administered by various church organizations, including Roman Catholic dioceses and religious orders. The schools became known for widespread physical and sexual abuse of children and have been blamed for contributing to the disappearance of native languages and cultures.

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CROATIA
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)

A Croatian priest who allegedly went on the run with £1 million and a married woman has been arrested – but the whereabouts of the money and the identity of the woman are unknown.

By Matthew Day, Warsaw
4:14PM BST 22 Oct 2012

Father Sime Nimac was arrested in a Zagreb flat after disappearing from his parish near the coastal town of Split with a huge amount of cash he had got from selling a piece of Church land without the permission of his diocese.

Described by his Franciscan order as a man with “insatiable egotism”, the 34-year-old clergyman has been charged with abuse of office and had his passport confiscated to prevent him fleeing the country.

Croatian media has speculated that Father Nimac may have used the money from the land sale, which was concluded five months ago, to fuel a lavish lifestyle that included fine clothes, cars, a yacht called “Lucky Me” and the attentions of a married woman.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

A former priest from County Antrim is to stand trial accused of child sexual abuse offences which allegedly took place more than 20 years ago.

James Martin Donaghy, 54, from Jersey Avenue in Lisburn, is charged with four counts of indecently assaulting a boy.

The alleged offences were committed in Belfast between January and May 1989.

Mr Donaghy, who left the priesthood a number of years ago, faces a further charge of common assault against the same person.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
NECN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has settled two civil lawsuits.

The Kansas City Star reported Monday that attorneys for the diocese and plaintiffs would not discuss the content of the settlements.

In one lawsuit, Margaret Mata, a former independent contractor, alleged the diocese and Bishop Robert Finn retaliated against her for advocating on behalf of victims of a priest facing child pornography. She said she also pushed the diocese to change its policies to prevent further child sexual abuse.

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COLORADO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on October 20, 2012

A Catholic priest who’s from here and living back here now pled not guilty yesterday to charges that he molested a Colorado boy last year.

Fr. Charles Robert Manning, 77, is accused of molesting the boy while he was working as pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Colorado Springs, where he was assigned in 2007. The alleged crimes took place in June 2011.

According to the Colorado Springs Gazette (see below), “An arrest affidavit alleges the boy came to Manning for advice on becoming a Catholic and the priest began giving him private lessons, during which he gave the boy alcohol and marijuana. Colorado Springs Police also say Manning took the boy to get his nipples pierced, kissed the boy on the lips and engaged in other sexual acts, after which he thanked the boy.”

“Church officials seem to be doing little or nothing to help police and prosecutors pursue these charges,” said Barbara Dorris of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org). “Both bishops – in Colorado Springs and St. Louis – should be beating the bushes looking for more victims, witnesses and whistleblowers who could help resolve this case.”

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UNITED STATES
Feast of Eden

October 22, 2012 By Dawn Eden

Pope Benedict’s canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha yesterday gave the Church a new patroness for those who have suffered physical, emotional, or sexual abuse in childhood— particularly those whose abuse was perpetrated by family members or family friends.

Born in 1656 to a Mohawk father and a Christian Algonquin mother in present-day New York, St. Kateri lost her parents to smallpox when she was four. The disease also struck Kateri herself, leaving her with disfiguring scars and poor vision.

Kateri was raised by her aunt and uncle, who expected to set her up in an arranged marriage. But by the time she reached her late teens, she had decided to dedicate her life to Christ, receiving instruction in the Catholic faith from Jesuit missionaries. Her Christian faith, her modesty, and her decision to remain a virgin caused her entire extended family to turn against her, looking upon her as an embarrassment. According to one of her early biographers, her family would refuse to let her have any food on Sundays because she would not work on the Lord’s day. When she went to the chapel, they would send boys out to throw rocks at her and taunt her (their favorite taunt was “Christian,” which they shouted with disgust, as if it were “dog”).

The uncle particularly resented Kateri’s decision to preserve her virginity, because he was a tribal chief and could benefit politically if he were able to marry her off. So, in a particularly heinous attempt to humiliate his niece, he encouraged his drunken, violent friends to pursue her around the village, attempting to molest her.

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EUROPE
Screen Daily

22 October, 2012 | By Andreas Wiseman

EXCLUSIVE: Italian distributor Feltrinelli takes aim with LFF-winning documentary about paedophilia in the Roman Catholic Church and plans live debates with clergy.

When Italian national newspaper La Repubblica reviewed Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Alex Gibney’s LFF-winning documentary about paedophilia in the Roman Catholic Church, the paper’s critic wrote: “It is difficult to imagine the film will find a theatrical distributor in Italy, and it is even less likely to find one for TV.”

Step forward Italian outfit Feltrinelli, which has taken the bold step of picking up all Italian rights from sales outfit Content Media. The film is believed to be the first on the subject to get a theatrical release in the country.

According to Feltrinelli’s head of documentary distribution Anastasia Plazzotta, the company plans to release the film in spring 2013 in around 30 cities – including Verona, the location of the Church-run Antonio Provolo Institute, which is featured in Gibney’s film and where a number of deaf students have alleged sexual abuse – with live debates after the screenings between clergy, intellectuals and Gibney, schedule permitting.

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AUSTRALIA
The Telegraph

Des Cahill tells state inquiry into child abuse that Catholic Church had created a “holy and unholy mess”

Grant McArthur
Herald Sun
October 23, 2012

MORE than one in 20 Victorian Catholic priests became a child abuser and the church’s senior leaders may have to go to jail for covering up the crimes, a former priest and academic has told a state inquiry.

On the second day of public hearings into churches’ handling of child abuse, RMIT intercultural studies professor Des Cahill said the Catholic Church had created a “holy and unholy mess” it was incapable of taking action to resolve.

A former priest who, when resigning in 1976, accused the Catholic Church of being unable to face up to its problems, Prof Cahill warned the inquiry the State Government needed to intervene.

“It is an unfortunate reality that as a result of this inquiry some senior religious people may end up in jail for dereliction of duty, and they must be treated with compassion and understanding,” Prof Cahill said.

“But children matter.

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UNITED STATES
Bangor Daily News

[national database – Attorney Kelly Clark]

[Geography determines justice for Scout abuse victims – Los Angeles Times]

By Ashley Powers, Los Angeles Times

Ron Morgan and Kerry Lewis grew up in adjoining states — one in Idaho, the other in Oregon.

Both belonged to Boy Scout troops during the 1980s, and decades later, both alleged in lawsuits that the Scouts failed to protect them and other boys against known molesters, citing detailed evidence from the organization’s confidential files.

In 2010, Lewis won a jury verdict of nearly $20 million against the Scouts, the largest such award in the organization’s history. Morgan’s case was never considered on its merits. The Idaho Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that, under state law, it was filed too late.

“Our state … turned us away,” Morgan said. “His didn’t.” …

In a statement, Boy Scouts spokesman Deron Smith said the group, which since 2010 has required members to report suspicions of abuse to law enforcement, was not focused on potential lawsuits, “but rather on continuing to enhance our multitiered policies and procedures to help keep kids safe.”

“As for statute of limitations,” Smith added, “the BSA respects the decisions which are made by lawmakers and the judicial system.”

In general, it’s difficult to bring a lawsuit now based on abuse that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, said Marci Hamilton, a professor at Yeshiva University’s law school. “I am floored at how many strong cases are capable of going nowhere because of a statute,” she said.

In some states, lawyers can argue that normal time limits shouldn’t apply because an institution covered up sexual abuse.

Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson said he recently persuaded a Nevada judge not to dismiss a lawsuit by a man who said a Catholic priest groped him in the 1980s. In court papers, he argued that only in 2008 did the man learn that church officials knew that the priest had previously been accused of sexually assaulting others.

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