ABUSE TRACKER

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writer

For the last four nights, William J. Lynn has been known as No. 1102886 – one of 2,883 men living at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, the largest of the city’s prisons, in Northeast Philadelphia.

On Tuesday, Lynn’s lawyers hope they can persuade a Philadelphia judge to grant Lynn bail, allowing him to resume his role as a monsignor of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and, at least temporarily, live at a relative’s home instead of solitary confinement.

Lynn, 61, was found guilty Friday by a Common Pleas Court jury of a count of child endangerment, the first Catholic Church official criminally charged for his administrative duties as part of the ongoing sex-abuse scandal.

From 1992 to 2004, Lynn was archdiocesan secretary for clergy, responsible for investigating allegations of sexual abuse against priests.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MASSACHUSETTS
Brockton Enterprise

By Erik Potter
Enterprise Staff Writer

Posted Jun 26, 2012

EASTON —

“I want people to know that they are safe from Paul Hawksley.”

The child that Hawksley repeatedly and forcibly raped eight years ago has been waiting years to be able to say that.

After coming forward in 2010 with his story of sexual abuse at the hands of an Easton church youth leader, the young man, whose name is not being published because he is the victim of a sex crime, has watched the criminal case against Hawksley wend slowly through the justice system.

When he heard the verdict on Monday – guilty on all counts – he cried.

“I was in tears. I was overjoyed,” he said in a phone interview with The Enterprise. “I’m working on putting back the pieces and getting my life back together. This gets me a lot closer. Closure is what I’m feeling now.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Patch

By Penelope Ettinger, Executive Director of PEI Kids

When are we going to create a safe community to protect our children from sexual abuse? Jerry Sandusky has been convicted of 45 out of 48 counts of child sexual abuse. Monsignor William Lynn of Philadelphia, in a landmark clergy-abuse trial, was convicted of child endangerment for covering up abuse claims. In the past year, coverage of child sexual abuse has increased with more than 1,800 stories in the news. Yet, in our communities we do little to create a safe environment for our children.

The alarming statistics of child sexual abuse are well substantiated – 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused by their 18th birthday. Ninety percent of child sexual abuse is committed by someone the child (and the family) knows, trusts and in many cases loves. Thirty percent of these cases are committed by a family member. And most sexual abuse is never reported. The grim reality is child sexual abuse happens in every community. If the child doesn’t receive treatment, the adverse emotional and social impact on the child victim is life-long. The long-term economic costs to business and community are great.

Still, there is a solution. It is our primal moral responsibility to educate ourselves and our children about these potential dangers in our communities. Recently the Greater Mercer Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse was formed to do exactly this –educate every adult who lives and/or works in the greater Mercer area on how to keep children safe, how to recognize signs of abuse and how to respond with compassion to any child who tells of abuse. The Coalition, which is part of a statewide effort, comprises a growing group of community leaders from business, the faith-based community, health care, , the media, youth and social service organizations, government and education to address this issue within their own disciplines and to get the message out to constituents—and where appropriate—adopting appropriate child safety policies.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Sports Illustrated

John Wertheim

Last Friday, a 12-member Pennsylvania jury issued a groundbreaking decision that will change the way we prosecute and perceive sex crimes against children. The guilty verdict will have far-reaching consequences for how authority figures and institutions can be held criminally liable when committing and covering up sexual abuse.

Yet when Monsignor William J. Lynn, a former cardinal’s aide with the archdiocese of Philadelphia, was found guilty of endangering children — and now faces jail time for concealing evidence about predatory priests, transferring them to other parishes instead of confronting allegations about their abuse — a nation hardly stopped its business. Twitter wasn’t atwitter, networks didn’t break from regularly scheduled programming to announce the verdict, and reporters on the ground didn’t file reports over the whir of circling news helicopters.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CALIFORNIA
NBC Bay Area

By Breena Kerr

Monday, Jun 25, 2012

Lindner testified last week in the trial, in which defendant William Lynch, 44, has been charged with felony assault and elder abuse for allegedly attacking Lindner at a Los Gatos retirement home in May 2010.

A Jesuit priest who was allegedly assaulted in 2010 by a man who claims the priest molested him several decades ago is refusing to testify further in his accused attacker’s San Jose trial.

The Rev. Jerold Lindner told Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge David Cena Monday morning that, under the advice of his attorney, he is invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and is declining to give additional testimony.

Cena is taking the matter under consideration and has recessed the case until 1:30 p.m. Monday.

Lindner testified last week in the trial, in which defendant William Lynch, 44, has been charged with felony assault and elder abuse for allegedly attacking Lindner at a Los Gatos retirement home in May 2010.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

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

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

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

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

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat and Chronicle

Written by
SEAN DOBBIN
Staff writer

A momentous undertaking, the Diocese of Rochester’s three-day synod in October 1993 centered on the recommendations of more than 30,000 parishioners, who over several years had submitted countless suggestions regarding the future of the diocese and how it tied in to their faith, their values and their dreams.

But while the synod itself ranks highly among his favorite moments in Rochester, engaging with the parishioners beforehand and drawing on their strength, joy, and goodwill, is among Bishop Matthew H. Clark’s most cherished memories of his time here.

“The experience of doing it that way has had its good fruit for all the years since,” said Clark. “The realization that yes, what we do is extremely important, and the decisions we make are crucial, but no less important are the ways we come to it.”

In July, Clark will reach the age of 75, whereupon he will submit his resignation to the Vatican as is mandated by Canon Law. On Monday, he spoke to members of the media and reflected on his 33 years as bishop, saying that interacting with his parishioners was the best part of the position. …

But most painful of all was the national sex abuse scandal which saw thousands of priests nationwide removed from the priesthood; earlier this month, the Diocese of Rochester published the names of 23 such priests it had removed from the ministry over the past 10 years.

“It’s the worst thing that has ever happened in my lifetime to the church,” said Clark. “The core damage done to the young people victimized by priests, of whom had every right to expect the highest level of trust and care, that is a terrible black mark and stain on our recent history.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

Lost in all the hoopla over the “historic” conviction of Msgr. William J. Lynn was the jury’s repudiation of the prosecution’s central allegation in the priest abuse case: that Lynn had somehow conspired with predator priests to keep them in ministry, so they could abuse new victims.

The prosecution’s conspiracy theory was that Lynn got up every day and said in effect, what can I do to keep pedophile priests in ministry, so they can continue to rape, molest and abuse more innocent children.

On Monday, the jury foreman in the case went on Fox 29 and said that not only did he and other jurors not believe the prosecutors’ theory, but also that they didn’t understand it. It would be comical, except that the Commonwealth just spent millions of dollars and eight weeks of trial trying to convince the jury that Bill Lynn the quintessential company man was the alleged mastermind of the conspiracy down at the archdiocese to endanger children.

The jury found Lynn not guilty of conspiring with Father Edward V. Avery, or anyone else, to endanger the welfare of children.

On Monday morning, jury foreman Isa Logan went on Fox 29’s Good Day and told anchors Mike Jerrick and Karen Hepp that he didn’t buy the prosecution’s conspiracy theory, and neither did anyone else on the jury.

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ST. PAUL (MN)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date:
Sunday, June 24, 2012

Source:
Jim Accurso

Archbishop John Nienstedt has removed the pastor of Blessed Sacrament parish in St. Paul, Reverend Curtis Wehmeyer, after learning of allegations that the priest had engaged in misconduct involving a minor. Following archdiocesan policy, the Archdiocese immediately reported the allegations to the police, and an investigation into the allegations was begun. The Archdiocese is cooperating fully with police in their investigation.

Pending the outcome of the investigation, Father Wehmeyer is prohibited from exercising any ministry in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. He is no longer in residence at Blessed Sacrament.

Another priest will be appointed to Blessed Sacrament to provide for parishioners’ sacramental and pastoral needs.

Anyone having knowledge of misconduct within a parish should call the proper authorities and is encouraged to notify the Archdiocese at 651.291.4497.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

ST. PAUL (MN)
Patch

By Hannah Gruber

A St. Paul priest was arrested in Oakdale Friday after he was accused of having sexual contact with a minor.

Curtis Carl Wehmeyer, 47, was arrested Friday and released from Ramsey County jail on Monday, according to the Pioneer Press. He has not been formally charged, but police are investigating the case as a sexual assault.

A juvenile male told police that the abuse occurred for two years, said Howie Padilla, a spokesman of the St. Paul Police Department.

Since the allegations emerged last week, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis removed Wehmeyer from his position as the pastor at the Parish of the Blessed Sacrament at 1801 LaCrosse Avenue in St. Paul, according to the Pioneer Press.

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ST. PAUL (MN)
Pioneer Press

mgottfried@pioneerpress.com
twincities.com
Posted: 06/25/2012

Police arrested a St. Paul priest on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct, and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has removed him as a pastor.

The move came after the archdiocese learned “of allegations that the priest had engaged in misconduct involving a minor,” archdiocese spokesman Jim Accurso said in a Sunday, June 24, statement. “Following archdiocesan policy, the archdiocese immediately reported the allegations to the police, and an investigation into the allegations was begun.”

Police arrested Curtis Carl Wehmeyer, 47, in Oakdale on Friday. He was released from the Ramsey County jail Monday, pending further investigation. He has not been charged.

Police are investigating the case as a sex assault, said Howie Padilla, police spokesman. A juvenile male told police Thursday it happened over a two-year period, he said.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on June 25, 2012

It’s disturbing that Minnesota Catholic officials stayed silent about these serious and credible allegations for days.

Days of delay enable criminals to destroy evidence, intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, discredit whistleblowers, fabricate alibis and even flee the country.

It’s irresponsible for Catholic officials to sit on crucial information that could protect kids while they selfishly wait for a more opportune time to release it.

Let’s hope that every person who saw, suspected or suffered Fr. Wehmeyer’s crimes (or misdeeds by any Catholic employee) will find the strength and courage to step forward, call police, protect kids, expose wrongdoing and start healing.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEDERLAND
Limburgs Dagblad

Binnen Huize Sint Joseph in Heel was in de periode dat tientallen jongens onder verdachte omstandigheden stierven, sprake van een verziekte cultuur.

Door onze verslaggevers
Heel

De leiding van het gesticht in Heel kampte begin jaren vijftig van de vorige eeuw met grote problemen. Binnen de muren van de instelling was sprake van seksueel misbruik van de kinderen, agressie en gedwongen nachtarbeid. Er was een machtsstrijd gaande tussen de verschillende broeders. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van deze krant naar de omstandigheden waaronder tientallen jongens in Heel overleden.

De problemen escaleerden tussen 1950 en 1954. Dat is precies de periode dat tientallen jongens in Huize Sint Joseph stierven. Een groot deel van hen verbleef op de verpleegafdeling van broeder Andreas, die nu verantwoordelijk wordt gehouden voor de sterfgevallen. Deze ‘broeder des doods’ claimde in zijn later geschreven biografie dat hij als onervaren verpleger in Heel volledig aan zijn lot werd overgelaten. Justitie heeft nadrukkelijk naar de rol van de verantwoordelijken in die tijd bij Sint Joseph gekeken, bevestigen bronnen.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WIBW

(CBS/AP) PHILADELPHIA – A Roman Catholic church official convicted of child endangerment will learn Tuesday if he’ll get out of jail to await sentencing.

Monsignor William Lynn was found guilty of child endangerment Friday, making him the first U.S. church official convicted for covering up abuse claims.

A judge revoked his bail, but his lawyers want the 61-year-old priest released on house arrest until his Aug. 13 sentencing. They filed a motion Monday asking to have him released from prison.

“You guys are going to have to look a long, long time to find a 61-year-old defendant convicted of a third-degree felony with no prior record, with community ties who was remanded,” defense lawyer Jeffrey Lindy told CBS Philadelphia station KYW-TV Friday.

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CALIFORNIA
Santa Cruz Sentinel

By Tracey Kaplan
tkaplan@mercurynews.com
mercurynews.com

Posted: 06/25/2012

A Santa Clara County judge has stricken the key testimony of a retired Catholic priest who is the victim in a beating case after he invoked his right against self-incrimination and refused to answer more questions.

Judge David A. Cena also indicated Rev. Jerold Lindner can legally invoke 5th Amendment rights and refuse to continue his testimony.

But Cena indicated he will move forward with the trial against Will Lynch, who is accused of assaulting Lindner at a Catholic retirement center in Los Gatos in 2010.

Lynch’s attorneys said it is unfair to proceed with the case because the jury has already heard 40 minutes of Lindner’s testimony and defense would have no opportunity to cross-examine him. They said the jury heard half the story.

The trial was adjourned in the mid-afternoon and will reconvene at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, at which time the defense is expected to formally put their objections on the record.

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CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times

The Associated Press
Posted: 06/25/2012

SAN JOSE, Calif.—A judge has tossed out a priest’s testimony against a man charged with assaulting him after the reverend invoked his right to avoid self-incrimination as it became clear he may be accused of lying on the stand.

The man accused of attacking the priest in 2010 at a retirement home in San Jose, William Lynch, claims Father Jerold Lindner raped him and his brother decades ago. Lindner has denied the accusations.

The San Jose Mercury News reported (http://bit.ly/KIWRz9) on Monday that Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge David Cena allowed Lindner to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.

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UNITED STATES
Legal Examiner

by John McKiggan
June 25, 2012

On Friday, June 22, 2012, Monsignor William Lynn was convicted by a jury on charges of criminal endangerment. The case marks the first time that any official within the Catholic Church has been held criminally responsible for sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

Landmark Decision

I don’t believe the importance of this conviction can be understated. Every province in Canada and every state in the United States have laws that require persons in authority to report suspected cases of child abuse. The website BishopAccountability.org has a database of almost a hundred American priests who have been publicly accused of sexual abuse.

But until last week, not a single catholic official in charge of any of these priests have ever faced charges about their knowledge or complicity in failing to report these priests to civilian authorities.

Civil lawsuits by priest-abuse victims have uncovered, time and time again, evidence that persons in authority within the Church knew about abuse by priests and failed to report the abuse, or worse, moved the priests from parish to parish allowing them to continue their predatory acts.

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CALIFORNIA
KTVU

KTVU And AP Wires

SAN JOSE, Calif. —

A Superior Court judge rejected a mistrial motion Monday filed by a man who is accused of beating a priest who he claims raped him decades ago.

Judge David Cena denied the motion before testimony started for the day Monday.

The attorneys for William Lynch had claimed a prosecutor committed misconduct in handling the priest’s testimony. The defense attorneys accused the prosecutor of knowingly allowing false testimony, known as “suborning perjury.”

Father Jerold Lindner denied under oath on the witness stand Wednesday that he molested Lynch during a 1975 camping trip.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

A mistrial motion filed Friday afternoon citing prosecutorial misconduct and suborned perjury was denied this morning by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge David Cena, who’s presiding over the high-profile Los Gatos priest-beating case.

After attorneys representing William Lynch, accused of beating Father Jerold Lindner at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos in May of 2010, and Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Smith defended his colleague, prosecutor Vicki Gemetti, Cena ruled that the prosecution wouldn’t knowingly use perjured testimony to obtain a conviction on the case.

Cena further ruled that Lindner’s testimony denying the molestation accusations didn’t relate to either of the crimes with which Lynch is being tried for, assault and elder abuse of the priest, the judge said.

Cena also stated that Lindner has never stated that he’s molested anyone and has never been convicted of any molestation charge. He also said the defense had failed to prove that his testimony is 100 percent false when he denied abusing Lynch.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Alessandro Speciale| Religion News Service, Updated: Monday, June 25

VATICAN CITY — The sexual abuse scandal has tarnished the image of the priest and contributed to a crisis of priestly vocations in the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican said Monday (June 25), while also faulting a widespread “secularized mentality” and parents’ ambition for their children, which leaves “little space to the possibility of a call to a special vocation.”

The “Pastoral Guidelines for Fostering Vocations to Priestly Ministry” were prepared over the last seven years by the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education.

The document says candidates to the priesthood shouldn’t be accepted if they show “signs of being profoundly fragile personalities,” and says future priests should learn the “importance” of their future commitments, “in particular with regard to celibacy.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

Bonn (AFP) Nach zweieinhalb Jahren stellt die katholische Kirche ihre Hotline für ehemalige Heimkinder zum Monatsende ein. Seit Januar 2010 wurde das Angebot von 909 Betroffenen genutzt, die zwischen 1945 und 1975 in katholischen Einrichtungen schlechte Erfahrungen gemacht hatten, wie die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz am Montag in Bonn mitteilte. 645 der Nutzer meldeten sich telefonisch, 264 im Zuge einer Online-Beratung. 73 Prozent der Anrufer berichteten demnach von körperlichen Strafen, 48 Prozent von Demütigungen. 243 Anrufer gaben an, sexuellen Missbrauch erfahren zu haben.

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OREGON
The Garden of Roses: Stories of Abuse and Healing

Letter From a Father Struggling for Justice
Dear Friend:

My friend, Nam Hoang. asked me to post this letter. It is about a priest mentioned in a previous article posted to my blog — I Am Greatly Saddened By This Case.

The priest, who is Nam Hoang’s brother, had a credible accusation of abuse against him, but the Archdiocese placed him back into ministry. When Nam came forward in private to Church officials several years ago, he did not receive support from the community. Instead he and his wife, and children were harassed so badly they decided to leave the state of Oregon.

I edited some names but the most important one can be found in the previous blog post.

Peace be with us all. We need it.

Sincerely,
Virginia Jones

Email: paxdeus11@live.com
P.O. Box 11105
Manassas, Va 20113
Washington DC June 22 2012.
TO: Archdiocese of Portland and the Committee Review Board.
CC: Catholics and victims of sexual abuse, Media Outlets, Gov. John Kitzhaber (OR), Gov. Mac Donnell (VA), delegate David Albo (VA), Senator Scott Brown (Mass). Parishioners of Tillamook, Sacred Heart Church.
This letter will also be given to passerby and hand delivered to US congress of America.
Re: 1/Fr JVH erratic behavior and sexual misconducts.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter

by Michael Sean Winters on Jun. 25, 2012 Distinctly Catholic

The jury in the trial of Msgr. William Lynn took 13 days to reach its verdict, and the verdict was clear: Those charged with oversight of clergy and who did not use that charge to protect children will be found guilty of criminal behavior — in this case, child endangerment.

We know something about what took the jury so long. The jurors had sent the judge a note saying they had reached a verdict on one count but were deadlocked on the others. In the end, they concluded they could not break their deadlock regarding Fr. James Brennan, who was charged with molestation, and consequently, they could not convict Lynn on the charge of child endangerment regarding Brennan’s assignments. But they did convict Lynn on the charge of child endangerment as regards his actions towards Fr. Edward Avery, who had previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and sexual assault. In other words, once the underlying crime was proven, the jury had little doubt as to the guilt of Msgr. Lynn, who served as the secretary for the clergy in Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004.

“This trial was not about a specific religion. It was about evil men who did evil things to children they should have protected but people were more concerned about the institution than about those victims or future victims,” Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said after the verdict. Williams is, by all accounts, a loyal Catholic.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Beat

Barbie Latza Nadeau

Mired in scandal, the Vatican poached an American Fox News journalist to handle communications. Greg Burke tells Barbie Latza Nadeau how he’ll bring the Holy See back to good graces.

One week after the Pope’s butler was arrested for allegedly leaking private Vatican documents to the press, Fox News’s Rome correspondent, Greg Burke, got what he refers to as “a curious call” from the Vatican. Burke was in the United States at the time, celebrating his father’s 90th birthday, and had turned off his Italian cellphone. When he turned it back on, he had several messages from the Holy See. “The Pope’s chief of staff would like to see you,” said one.

“I knew it was something important,” Burke, 52, told The Daily Beast. “I figured it wasn’t to talk about the best restaurants in Rome.”

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VATICAN CITY
The Guardian – Greenslade Blog (United Kingdom)

Would you believe it? The Vatican has hired a Fox News journalist to be its senior communications adviser.

Greg Burke, the News Corp channel’s Rome correspondent, has covered the Vatican for Fox since 2001. He is a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement.

He becomes the Vatican’s first communications expert hired from outside the insular world of the Roman Catholic news media. He is not replacing the current spokesman, Federico Lombardi, but will advise officials on how to shape their message.

Some Vatican observers regard the move as a power play by media-savvy Americans — including Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York and the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops — inside a Vatican hierarchy that is run by Italians.

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VATICAN CITY
The Age (Australia)

Rome
June 26, 2012

A FOX News reporter has been chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to sort out the Vatican’s media strategy amid signs that the 85-year-old pontiff is plotting a radical shake-up at the top of the Roman Catholic church.

Greg Burke, a 52-year-old member of the conservative Opus Dei fellowship, is to take a job in the Vatican’s secretariat of state. He said: ”I feel exactly the way I felt in Lebanon at the start of the 2006 war – nervous and excited at the same time.”

Burke, who is Rome correspondent for Fox television, said he had twice refused a similar offer from the Vatican ”because I had a really great job”.

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VATICAN CITY
NPR

by Bill Chappell

Seeking to modernize and widen its dealings with the media, the Vatican has hired Fox News Channel’s Rome correspondent to advise its press office. The move will put journalist Greg Burke, who is also a member of Opus Dei, into a new role working with Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi.

For NPR’s Newscast desk, Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome:

“Greg Burke, 52, has been with Fox 10 years, and he’ll be the first Vatican communications expert with experience outside the world of Catholic media.

Last week, the pope’s right hand man, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. accused the media of ‘pettiness and lies.'”

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VATICAN CITY
AFP

By Francoise Kadri (AFP)

ROME — A scandal-hit Vatican, struggling to combat years of bad press, has hired American Fox News correspondent Greg Burke to modernise a communications strategy tainted by serious blunders in the past.

Burke told AFP he has been hired “primarily as a strategist” to “simplify the Vatican’s message (and) improve communications,” though Vatican watchers have said his appointment fails to tackle the real issues within the Holy See.

One of his main tasks, Burke says, will be “avoiding too many surprises.”

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CANADA
National Post

Kelly McParland Jun 25, 2012

Embroiled in more scandals than it has commandments, the Catholic Church hierarchy has reacted like governments everywhere do when they’re in trouble: hire a public relations adviser to “craft its message.”

In this case the Church has turned to what must be one of the world’s more questionable sources, if you’re looking for straightforward, unbiased communications: Fox News.

Well, not Fox News exactly, but Greg Burke, a veteran Fox News correspondent in Rome, and a member of Opus Dei.

Gee, how promising — a member of the Church’s most conservative wing, who works for the world’s most right-wing news organization, will now be guiding the Pope in trying to reassure the flock that everything is under control inside the world’s last independent walled city-state.

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CALIFORNIA
Mercury News

By Tracey Kaplan
tkaplan@mercurynews.com
mercurynews.com

Posted: 06/25/2012

A retired Catholic priest has refused to answer more questions in the trial of the man accused of beating him in Los Gatos, a move that could end the case.

When Rev. Jerold Lindner was called back to the stand this morning, he invoked the 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. Lindner is the key witness against San Francisco resident Will Lynch, who is accused of assaulting Lindner in 2010.

Lindner allegedly molested Lynch decades ago when he was a child.

Judge David A. Cena dismissed the jury until this afternoon. He is considering whether Lindner can invoke his right against self-incrimination. The statute of limitations has run out on the alleged molestations, but Lindner’s attorney says the priest could be charged with perjury. He has already in court denied he molested Lynch.

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CALIFORNIA
Ventura County Star

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Attorneys representing a California man charged with assaulting a priest who he claims raped him decades ago have filed a second motion for a mistrial.

William Lynch’s attorneys say prosecutor Vicki Gemetti withheld evidence she obtained from Father Jerold Lindner. Lindner allegedly told Gemetti that he would take the stand and say he did not molest Lynch. But Lynch’s attorneys say Gemetti denied knowing what Lynch would say.

The San Jose Mercury News (http://bit.ly/Q37bl6) obtained the second motion late Sunday.

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INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
Catholic Sentinel

Catholic News Service

INDIANAPOLIS — Noting that the church in Philadelphia is “now my family, an intimate part of my life” a year after being appointed to lead the church there, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput said that the clergy sexual abuse scandal “has caused terrible suffering for victims, demoralized many of our clergy, crippled the witness of the church and humiliated the whole Catholic community” in that region.

He made this assessment June 20, hours after a Philadelphia jury told Judge Teresa Sarmina that they could not agree on four of five charges in a clergy sexual abuse trial. Judge Sarmina instructed the jury, which has been in deliberations for 12 days, to continue to seek a verdict in the case against Father James J. Brennan and Msgr. William Lynn.

Archbishop Chaput made his remarks during a keynote address in the 2012 Catholic Media Conference, sponsored jointly by the Catholic Press Association and the Catholic Academy for Communications Arts Professionals.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on June 25, 2012

We call on Penn State officials to disavow confidentiality or “gag” orders and to agree not to ask victims to sign them before their cases are settled. From a PR perspective, these orders may be tempting, but from a prevention perspective, these orders will only do the public a disservice.

It is important that the facts about this harrowing situation can be made public, so that people may learn where things went wrong, and what can be done to prevent such wrongdoing in the future.

Penn State officials have publicly said they want these suits to be resolved quickly. But in some ways, we hope not all of them will be.

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OSTERREICH
Kaernten@ORF

Seit bekannt wurde, dass es auch in Heimen der evangelischen Diakonie in Treffen Missbrauchsfälle gegeben hat, läuft die Aufarbeitung. Die Diakonie zahlte den Opfern bisher 150.000 Euro Entschädigung. Rektor Hubert Stotter im Interview.

Sexueller Mißbrauch, sexualisierte Gewalt, schwarze Pädagogik, darüber berichteten bisher zehn Opfer, die als Kinder Zöglinge im Heim „de la Tour“ im Treffen waren. Manche wurden zu Hause missbraucht, kamen ins Heim, wurden dort wieder missbraucht. Als sie verhaltensauffällig wurden, kamen sie zu Kinderarzt Franz Wurst, dieser habe sie wieder missbraucht.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on June 25, 2012

Penn State must have something to hide. And it’s bad enough that they’re trying to bamboozle victims into gag orders.

From the Philadelphia Enquirer:

… School president Rodney Erickson said in a statement released just after the 45 guilty verdicts against Sandusky were brought in Friday night, ”The purpose of the program is simple. The university wants to provide a forum where the university can privately, expeditiously, and fairly address the victims’ concerns and compensate them for claims.” (emphasis mine)

Even the US Catholic Bishops have a rule against gag-orders, (Article 3 of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People). They give it the run-around as much as they can, but still.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
ABC News

PHILADELPHIA June 25, 2012 (AP)

Attorneys for a Roman Catholic church official convicted of child endangerment are asking a judge to release him on house arrest.

Monsignor William Lynn was found guilty of child endangerment Friday, making him the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up abuse claims.

His lawyers filed a motion Monday asking to have him released from prison pending his sentencing Aug. 13.

Prosecutors say Lynn helped the Archdiocese of Philadelphia keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

[with video]

PHILADELPHIA –
Two big verdicts were handed down by two different juries on Friday, including the conviction of Jerry Sandusky and the conviction of Monsignor William Lynn.

But the jury in the Philadelphia church sex abuse trial could not agree on the charges against Father James Brennan, which resulted in a mistrial.

Joining “Good Day” Monday was Issa Logan, the jury foreman on that case.

The jurors come to agreement on the charges against Brennan, who was accused of trying to rape a teenager, “because the evidence didn’t allow us to actually believe – or all of us to believe – that he actually raped a child,” Logan said.

The accuser testified during the trial, but Logan said some of the jurors had problems with discrepancies in the evidence, adding that “the story didn’t stay as consistent as we needed it to be in order to make a decision.”

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CALIFORNIA
Marin Independent Journal

By Tracey Kaplan
tkaplan@mercurynews.com
mercurynews.com

Posted: 06/25/2012

A Santa Clara County judge this morning rejected the defense’s motions for a mistrial in the priest-beating case.

Judge David A. Cena also said testimony will resume later this morning with Rev. Jerold Lindner back on the stand.

Lindner allegedly molested Will Lynch when he was a child. Decades later, Lynch is accused of beating Lindner at a Los Gatos center for retired priests.

Lynch’s attorneys filed two motions for a mistrial. The first was that prosecutor Vicki Gemetti suborned perjury when Gemetti put Lindner on the stand Wednesday after announcing to the jury in her opening statement that he molested the brothers and would almost certainly lie under oath by denying the alleged molestation or saying he didn’t remember.

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CALIFORNIA
Oakland Tribune

By Tracey Kaplan tkaplan@mercurynews.comcontracostatimes.com
Posted: 06/25/2012

Prosecutors in the San Jose priest-beating trial have said they pursued the case despite the accused man’s understandable motive — retaliating against the cleric he said brutally molested him as a child — because it’s the right thing to do.

No matter how good the motive, they said, victims cannot be allowed to mete out justice in defiance of the rule of law.

But now, lawyers for the priest’s alleged assailant, Will Lynch, are filing a second motion for a mistrial, claiming among other grounds that prosecutor Vicki Gemetti violated the rule of law herself — by withholding evidence and lying about it.

Gemetti told the lawyers and judge she did not know what the victim and star witness — the Rev. Jerold Lindner — would say in court when she asked if he molested Lynch and his then-4-year-old brother on a camping trip in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the mid-1970s. The defense had asked for the information in multiple discovery requests right up until Wednesday, the first day of trial, so the lawyers could prepare to cross-examine him. Gemetti that morning “stated she had not discussed it (with the priest) and that she had no idea what he was going to say,” according to the motion.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 24 June 2012 (VIS) – The American journalist Gregory Burke, who is currently Rome correspondent for Fox News, will shortly take up the post of “communications advisor” to the Secretariat of State, according to an announcement made by Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J.

“This new figure”, Fr. Lombardi explained, “will have the task of dealing with communications issues in the work of the Secretariat of State, and will oversee relations with the Holy See Press Office and other media institutions of the Holy See”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 24 June 2012 (VIS) – Fr. Lombardi has provided journalists with information about meetings the Pope held on Saturday 23 June, first with heads of dicasteries of the Roman Curia, and subsequently with Cardinals George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia; Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue; Camillo Ruini, vicar general emeritus of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome, and Jozef Tomko, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

“In the context of the circumstances that have arisen following the publication of reserved documents, the Holy Father is seeking to deepen his knowledge of the situation through continuous dialogue with those people who share with him the responsibility for governing the Church”, Fr. Lombardi said.

“Last Saturday, as has already been made public, he became more fully informed on the course of the investigations in a meeting with the Commission of Cardinals responsible for conducting them, led by Cardinal Julian Herranz.

“This morning he is participating in the meeting with heads of dicasteries which, as is customary, is focusing on the issue of coordinating the work of the Roman Curia, something which is particularly important and urgent today in order to bear effective witness to the spirit of union which animates it.

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NEDERLAND
RTL News

Eén man zou verantwoordelijk zijn voor de dood van tientallen jongens in de jaren vijftig in een katholieke zwakzinnigeninstelling in Limburg. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van Dagblad de Limburger.

Tussen 1952 en 1954 was het sterftecijfer in de instelling Sint Joseph in het plaatsje Heel opvallend hoog. Volgens De Limburger onthult het Openbaar Ministerie binnenkort een onderzoek naar de zaak, en naar de rol van een zekere broeder Andreas. De krant schrijft dat deze broeder, die inmiddels zelf ook is overleden, verantwoordelijk is voor de dood van de ernstig gehandicapte jongens.

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NEDERLAND
Knack

maandag 25 juni 2012

Westvleteren – De dood van tientallen jongens in het psychiatrisch instituut Sint Joseph in het Nederlands-Limburgse Heel wordt toegeschreven aan één man, broeder Andreas. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van dagblad De Limburger naar een van de grootste misstanden ooit binnen Nederlandse katholieke jeugdinstellingen. De broeder belandde later bij de Trappisten in het Westvleteren.

Tussen 1952 en 1954 vonden tientallen zeer ernstig gehandicapte jongens de dood in de een instelling in Heel. Oorspronkelijk luidde het dat ze een natuurlijke dood waren gestorven. Maar daar is vorig jaar twijfel over ontstaan. Onderzoek van Dagblad De Limburger leerde dat het extreme sterftecijfer te maken had met broeder Andreas. Die werkte in Heel met de groep ernstigst gehandicapte kinderen die niets meer konden dan eten en slapen. Hulp bij de behandeling kreeg hij niet.

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NEDERLAND
de Stentor

Auteur: door Paul Bots, Hans Goossen | maandag 25 juni 2012

HEEL – De dood van tientallen jongens in zwakzinnigeninstelling Sint Joseph in Heel wordt toegeschreven aan één man, broeder Andreas. De doden vielen tussen 1952-1954.

Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van Dagblad De Limburger/Limburgs Dagblad naar een van de grootste misstanden ooit binnen katholieke jeugdinstellingen. Het Openbaar Ministerie presenteert op korte termijn het resultaat van een eigen studie naar het extreme sterftecijfer en de rol van broeder Andreas.

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NEDERLAND
Tubantia

HEEL – De dood van tientallen jongens in zwakzinnigeninstelling Sint Joseph in Heel wordt toegeschreven aan één man, broeder Andreas. De doden vielen tussen 1952-1954.

Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van Dagblad De Limburger/Limburgs Dagblad naar een van de grootste misstanden ooit binnen katholieke jeugdinstellingen. Het Openbaar Ministerie presenteert op korte termijn het resultaat van een eigen studie naar het extreme sterftecijfer en de rol van broeder Andreas.

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NEDERLAND
PowNed

De dood van tientallen zwakzinnige jongens, tussen 1952 en 1954 in de instelling Sint Joseph in Heel, wordt in zijn geheel toegeschreven aan broeder Andreas. Dit blijkt vandaag uit onderzoek van De Limburger. Het Openbaar Ministerie (OM) zal binnen korte termijn de resultaten van eigen onderzoek openbaren.

De ‘broeder des doods’ was in zijn eentje verantwoordelijk voor de verzorging van de zeer ernstig gehandicapte jongens. De kinderen waren tot niet meer in staat dan eten en slapen. De manier waarop hij de jongens om het leven bracht en de motieven van de broeder blijven onbekend.

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NEDERLAND
ND

HEEL – Het hoge sterftecijfer onder gehandicapte jongens in het rooms-katholieke internaat St. Joseph in Heel is toe te schrijven aan het werk van één broeder, Andreas.

Dat schrijft het regionale dagblad De Limburger op basis van eigen onderzoek dat vandaag is gepubliceerd. Onduidelijk is nog of deze broeder de zwaar gehandicapte kinderen actief om het leven bracht of dat hij ze aan hun lot overliet.De zaak naar de dood van 34 jongens onder de achttien jaar tussen 1952 en …

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NEDERLAND
NRC Handelsblad

door Joep Dohmen

Informatie over de mogelijke moord in de jaren vijftig op 34 zwakzinnige kinderen door een broeder in het katholieke gesticht Sint Joseph in het Limburgse Heel is in 1990 niet naar buiten gebracht.

De twee auteurs van een gedenkboek bij het tachtigjarig bestaan van Sint Joseph waren destijds in het archief van het bisdom Roermond informatie tegengekomen over de mysterieuze dood van de kinderen, waarvoor een broeder verantwoordelijk zou zijn. De door Sint Joseph ingehuurde auteurs hielden de gegevens echter achter omdat ze “niet bewezen” waren, zegt Phil Janssen uit Venlo die het boek schreef met Adri Gorissen, journalist van Dagblad De Limburger. Ze meldden het wel aan de directie van Sint Joseph, aldus Janssen. Die deed er niets mee.

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NEDERLAND
Limburgs Dagblad

[Summary: The death of dozens of boys in the St. Joseph mental institution is attributed to Brother Andreas. The deaths occurred 1952-1954. According to research by Dagblad De Limburger this is one of the great evils committed in a Catholic youth organization. By 1954, his religious order held him responsible for the high mortality rate and he was transferred. He later joined a Trappist order in Belgium.]

De dood van tientallen jongens in zwakzinnigeninstelling Sint Joseph in Heel wordt toegeschreven aan één man, broeder Andreas. De doden vielen tussen 1952-1954.

Heel

Door Paul Bots, Hans Goossen en Niki van der Naald

Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van deze krant naar een van de grootste misstanden ooit binnen katholieke jeugdinstellingen. Het Openbaar Ministerie presenteert op korte termijn het resultaat van een eigen studie naar het extreme sterftecijfer en de rol van broeder Andreas.

Onduidelijk is of de ‘broeder des doods’ de zeer ernstig gehandicapte jongens – al dan niet om hen verder lijden te besparen – actief om het leven bracht of dat hij ze aan hun lot overliet. De in 1917 in Brunssum geboren broeder werkte in Heel met de groep ernstigst gehandicapte kinderen die niet meer konden dan eten en slapen. Hulp bij de behandeling kreeg hij niet.

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CANADA
The StarPhoenix

By Jeremy Warren, The StarPhoenix
June 25, 2012

There are survivors of residential schools and then there are their descendants, who often survived their own abuse and social problems that are the system’s legacy, said several people testifying at the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission event in Saskatoon.

Former residential school students gave public testimonies about their experiences alongside younger generations of aboriginal people who told their own stories of surviving dysfunctional families and social struggles. The “inter-generational effects,” as people called them, have done as much harm as residential schools, the commission heard during the four-day event.

Marcia Mirasty testified at Saturday’s commissioners’ sharing panel with her mother, a residential school survivor. The Flying Dust First Nation health director talked about family violence and neglect, sexual and substance abuse and other health problems that survivors and their families have faced.

“We have a generation of parents who don’t know how to parent,” Mirasty said after her testimony. “A lot of parenting skills were broken.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The 21st Century American Catholic

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Yesterday, a church official was convicted of the crime of endangering children. Msgr. William Lynn, of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, can serve from 3-l/2 to 7 years in prison.

The archdiocese released a statement apologizing to the victims and then saying that from now on they will work to make the church safe for all people. I don’t believe them.

Everything happens in a context. The only reason that the church officials want to make the church “safe” is that they got caught. They got caught covering up priests’ sins and crimes against children. So, what they really mean is that they will do everything possible not to get caught again. The pressure on the church is coming from the outside, from the world that bishops and the pope consider a place of secularism and sin, “the culture of death”–a world that ordinarily they ignore or condemn.

Inside the church, the context is different. Lynn was convicted of obeying his archbishop, Cardinal Bevilacqua. Obedience is built into the church structure. At ordination a priest promises obedience to his bishop, and a bishop promises obedience to the pope. When a Cardinal receives his red hat from the pope, he promises never to publicly express anything that will make the church look bad.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

Christine M. Flowers
Philadelphia Daily News
Email Christine M. Flowers

I’VE BEEN PRAYING a lot of rosaries lately, some for personal reasons and the rest for my church. I finger the beads with reverence, knowing that each prayer brings me closer to a resolution, if not absolution.

In my heart, I love my church with the same accepting reverence of a child. In my mind, I know that sins were committed, crimes concealed, and so the rosary helps me find that inner place of peace. It also helps me face the painful truths that children who accepted, with reverence, that priests were all good men were betrayed.

My task is a private one. Not so for those 12 Philadelphia jurors who sacrificed three months of their lives to sort out the truths hidden among horrific allegations of abuse. They were not obligated to find peace but, rather, justice. And they did a magnificent job Friday, when they rendered a verdict that was both fair and heart-wrenching.

They were not looking for vengeance, nor were they willing to execute other people’s vendettas. They listened to the law, listened to the facts, heard the cries of alleged victims and watched the faces of alleged perpetrators, and then came to a decision.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

[Trial Narrative and Resources – BishopAccountability.org]

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writer

The guilty verdict against Msgr. William J. Lynn – the first time a Catholic church supervisor has been found criminally liable for child-sex crimes by a priest – concluded one of the most unusual prosecutions in the history of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

It took nine years, two grand juries, and changes in Pennsylvania law.

And it made odd partners of former District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham and successor Seth Williams, whose relationship soured when Williams, a former Abraham prosecutor, challenged her in the 2005 Democratic primary.

Ironically, both prosecutors had to fend off criticism over their religions.

Abraham was criticized because she is Jewish and was investigating the Catholic Church; Williams, campaigning for election in 2009, defended himself against suggestions he would go easy on the church because he is an active Catholic.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New York Times

By ERIK ECKHOLM

Published: June 24, 2012

PHILADELPHIA — “It’s been a rough week” is how the Rev. Charles Zlock, pastor of the St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, started his 10 a.m. homily on Sunday.

It seemed like an obvious reference to the searing trial that ended Friday with the conviction of a senior Philadelphia archdiocese official, Msgr. William J. Lynn, on a charge of endangering children by placing a known pedophile in an unwary parish.

But the 120 worshipers attending St. Mary’s on Sunday, though upset by the case, were mostly heartsick for a different reason: After final services next Sunday, this handsome church in northwest Philadelphia, a center of life for nearby residents since 1849, is scheduled to close.

For the unsettled Roman Catholics in this 1.5 million-member archdiocese, the closing is one more blow in sweeping and bitterly contested cutbacks. Across the city, thousands are already incensed because church leaders have closed 27 cherished schools.

Even as it struggles with the revelations of sexual abuse and the failure of top officials to act, the Philadelphia Archdiocese, long considered an eminent stronghold of Catholic power and tradition, is being battered from several sides.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Verdict

[Trial Narrative and Resources – BishopAccountability.org]

Marci A. Hamilton

Survivors of Sexual Abuse Prevail in Pennsylvania: The Lynn and Sandusky Cases Show Us What Justice Looks Like

Remember this date: June 22, 2012. That was the day that Msgr. William Lynn and Jerry Sandusky were each taken from their separate courtrooms in Pennsylvania and escorted to jail, after each had been convicted by a jury of his peers of committing crimes against children. That is justice. …

Msgr. William Lynn: Convicted on 1 of 3 Counts

On the very same day the Sandusky verdict was read, the beleaguered jury in the trial of Msgr. William Lynn finally emerged—after 11 weeks of testimony and 12 ½ days of deliberations—to convict Lynn on a charge of the endangerment of children.

This was the first time anyone in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church had been criminally convicted for the role he played in the corrupt system that has covered up the sexual abuse of children around the globe. It took ten years—from the convening of the first grand jury to today—for prosecutors to fully examine how the Philadelphia Archdiocese had handled child predators among the clergy, but it was a busy ten years for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Their yeoman’s labors paid off in true justice, with Lynn being taken directly from the courtroom to jail.

The jury struggled with a conspiracy charge, partly because of the confusing instructions they received. There is also good reason to question the jury’s banker’s schedule in this case. The Sandusky jury deliberated for twenty hours in just two days. In contrast, there were weeks when the Lynn jury barely cracked 20 hours of deliberations.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

By Dan Geringer
Daily News Staff Writer

AFTER MONSIGNOR William J. Lynn became the first senior Catholic Church official convicted of covering up the sexual abuse of children by priests under his supervision, people attending Sunday’s evening Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul dealt with the ongoing scandal in different ways.

Rose Boyle, 22, a Temple student living in North Philadelphia, regularly attends Mass at the basilica, on the Ben Franklin Parkway at Logan Square. She said, “If you’re married and if saying, ‘I love you,’ to your wife is part of your marriage, and you hear about a guy who cheats on his wife, that doesn’t mean you stop saying, ‘I love you’ to your wife,” Boyle said.

“The institution of the Catholic Church is the way I express my love for God,” she said. “My relationship with the Catholic Church hasn’t changed because some people in the church did some wrong things. I’m not going to stop going to church and saying, ‘I love God.'”

David Sherrard, 56, of Seattle said, “I’m a confessed Christian. We’re all sinners. All of us need to ask for forgiveness, and to forgive.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

By Sean Carlin
Daily News Staff Writer

AFTER AN 11-week trial, Msgr. William J Lynn was convicted of one count of child endangerment, making him the first Catholic official in the nation to be held criminally liable for priest child-abuse. Lynn, 61, was secretary for clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004.

The jury deadlocked on a child-abuse charge against his co-defendant, Rev. James J. Brennan, 48, who was charged with attempted rape of a 14-year-old boy in 1996.

Some of the highlights of the trial:

March 26: Trial begins with questions aimed at Lynn’s role in covering up sexual abuse in the church. Lynn and Brennan plead not guilty.

April 4: A 30-year-old man testifies that Brennan molested him during an overnight stay in 1996 when he was 14.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Dara McBride
Inquirer Staff Writer

“Abominable,” “shameful” and “sad” were a few of the words the parishioners of St. Joseph Church in Downingtown used Sunday to describe the conviction of their former pastor, Msgr. William J. Lynn, of child endangerment in the landmark clergy sex-abuse trial in Philadelphia.

On Friday, Lynn, 61, became the nation’s first Catholic church supervisor convicted for covering up abuse by a priest. He faces up to seven years in prison.

On the first Sunday after that dramatic outcome, cars packed St. Joseph’s two parking lots as usual. But inside, Masses were different. Some parishioners cried. Others expressed confusion over the verdict as they spoke with clergy afterward.

“He was the lovingest and most supportive man I’ve ever known. He was there in my hour of need, not just for me, but for my family,” Bernadette Louden said after the 10:30 a.m. Mass. Without providing details, she said Lynn had helped her when she became seriously ill.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Editorial
Philadelphia Daily News

GUILTY AS charged (although only on one of three counts): Msgr. William J. Lynn.

Guilty but not charged: Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

In a watershed decision in Philadelphia on Friday, a jury convicted (for the first time ever!) a Catholic Church official of child endangerment for taking part in a cover-up of priest abuse.

In a breathtaking coincidence, eight hours later and a few hundred miles away, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was found guilty of 43 counts of child sexual abuse. The swift decision, which followed a trial that got much more publicity than the Philadelphia proceedings, understandably dominated the rest of the day’s news cycle.

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office managed to prove only one count against Lynn, the former archdiocesan secretary of clergy, to the jury’s satisfaction. Lynn was acquitted of another child-endangerment charge and a charge of conspiracy. (The jury deadlocked on both charges of abuse and conspiracy against the Rev. James J. Brennan.)

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Daily Times

Published: Monday, June 25, 2012

More than 10 painful years after the clerical sexual abuse scandal broke open wide with the child molestation conviction of a Boston priest, a U.S. Catholic church official who protected predator priests has finally been held accountable.

By doing nothing when he knew about pedophile priests while he was secretary of clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Rev. Monsignor William Lynn allowed the abuse to continue. That was basically the message sent by a Philadelphia jury Friday when, after a 10-week trial, they found Lynn guilty of one felony count of endangering the welfare of children.

The 61-year-old monsignor, who formerly was parochial vicar at St. Katharine of Siena parish in the Wayne section of Radnor, served as secretary of clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under former Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

During the trial, jurors learned that Lynn had assembled a “secret file” of known or suspected pedophile priests that, in 1994, Bevliacqua — a canon and a civil attorney — ordered to be shredded. Prosecutors got to see the list after a copy of it was found this year in an archdiocesan safe.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CNN

From Susan Candiotti and Sarah Hoye, CNN

updated 5:26 AM EDT, Mon June 25, 2012

(CNN) — Attorneys for Monsignor William Lynn will return to court Monday to argue that the cleric, who was convicted of child endangerment, be put under house arrest rather than jailed until his sentencing in August.

Lynn was found guilty Friday of one count of child endangerment, the first time a U.S. church leader has been convicted of such a charge.

He was found not guilty on a second count of endangerment and on a charge of conspiring to protect a priest accused of abuse.

The jury was unable to bring a verdict against his co-defendant, the Rev. James Brennan, who was charged with the attempted rape of a 14-year-old altar boy and endangering the welfare of a child.

Lynn was taken into custody after the verdict Friday, when the judge revoked his bail. His lawyer, Jeffrey Lindy, criticized the decision not to let his client remain free on bond prior to sentencing, calling it “an unspeakable miscarriage of justice (for) a 61-year-old man with no prior record and long established ties to the community.”

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Keene Sentinel

Posted: Sunday, June 24, 2012

Friday’s conviction of former Penn State athletics coach Jerry Sandusky was about his sexual abuse of 10 young males during a 15-year period.

But by inference the charges against him also concerned the failure of a system under which more than a few people kept mum on suspicions of abuse during that time — a failure underscored by the virtual flood of abuse-reporting legislation across the country since the charges against the 67-year-old Sandusky were filed last fall.

The National Council of State Legislatures says that so far this year more than 100 bills have been filed in 30 states and the District of Columbia to toughen up rules for reporting suspected abuse of children. In 10 states, new laws have been enacted.

New Hampshire is not among those jurisdictions because, to its credit, its mandatory reporting statute has long been broadly inclusive. Whereas some states, such as Pennsylvania, required practitioners of only certain professions to speak up when they sensed something wrong — among them nurses, clergy members, day care workers, but not athletic coaches — the Granite State since 1979 has required any person who suspects child abuse to go to the authorities.

Now, laws are only as good as their enforcement, as in the conviction of a top-level Catholic church official in Pennsylvania, also Friday, of covering-up for pedophile priests over many years.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Marco Tosatti
Rome

Reliable sources inside the Vatican say it is very likely that there will be changes at the top of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith this month. The retirement of the current head of the Congregation, the American William Levada will be announced publicly some time around the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul. Levada has asked the Pope to be relieved from his office, since he wants to go back to the United States.

Gerhard Mueller is a man with a remarkable personality, who exerts a certain influence over Benedict XVI. Although not one of the Pope’s closest friends, he is certainly a significant figure from an academic point of view and this establishes a tie between them. He also played, and still plays, an important role in the creation and work of the German born foundation which is in charge of preparing and publishing Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s literary works.

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SALINA (KS)
The Kansas City Star

By ERIC ADLER and LAURA BAUER
The Kansas City Star

SALINA, Kan. — SALINA, Kan. From the time he was a small boy, Jesse Mactagone dreamed he would become a U.S. Army officer.

His mom had painted the wall behind his bed olive green. His bed sheets depicted fighter jets.

“He never wore anything but camouflage,” said his mother, Jennifer Mactagone. “He knows every tank, every single helicopter.”

So, at age 14, when the time arrived for Jesse to choose a high school, the Auburn, Calif., boy leaped at an offer from his grandfather, a U.S. Navy veteran, to pay $30,000 a year for him to attend St. John’s Military School in Salina.

Website images of spit-and-polish students and a message of “discipline” and “a structured campus life” that promoted “qualities such as personal graces, confidence, respect, high moral character, and leadership” seemed the perfect fit.

“We didn’t send him to St. John’s,” Jesse’s mother said. “He wanted to go.”

But now, as part of a federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the Mactagones stand with a growing number of St. John’s families alleging their sons experienced the opposite of grace and character.

The Mactagones allege that Jesse was so severely physically abused and beaten, not at the hands of faculty, but by other students, that four days after he stepped on campus in August 2011, he needed to be rushed to the hospital. He was unable to walk with two broken legs, including a displaced femur.

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UNITED STATES
YouTube

Published on Jun 23, 2012 by bonnie richard

Child abuse by priest or nun in Louisiana.

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MISSOURI
Berger’s Beat

The Associated Press has confirmed that St. Louis native Greg Burke is leaving his Fox News post to help the Vatican with public relations. He’ll work with Rev. Federico Lombardi, who runs the Holy See’s press office and papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Vallis, who, like Burke, is a member of Opus Dei. . .

With a top Philadelphia Catholic official having been found guilty of endangering children, attention turns to the case against St. Louis native Robert Finn, now bishop of the Kansas City diocese. It’s set for trial in September and revolves around the same basic claim: that known and suspected child sex crimes were hidden by church staff. Finn should be worried, says SNAP’s Barbara Dorris. “The Philly case involved older and more complex evidence, and layers of church bureaucracy,” she explained. “The Finn case involves more recent and clear cut wrongdoing in a smaller diocese with fewer underlings who can be scapegoated”. .

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Levada is to resign from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, leaving Müller in pole position to substitute him. Meanwhile, the Vatican library is getting a new librarian and Bertone’s substitution appears imminent

ANDREA TORNIELLI
Vatican City

Two important (cardinal) appointments are expected in the Vatican before the beginning of the summer holidays. The most significant one is the nomination of Joseph Ratzinger’s second successor as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This is a delicate and crucial role not only because faith is at the heart of Benedict XVI’s pontificate, but also because this is the dicastery that deals with scorching dossiers on cases of sex abuse against minors and it also manages the dialogue process with the Society of St. Pius X. Seventy six year old American cardinal, William Levada, intends to retire to the U.S. After months of deliberation, the Pope is likely to choose the 64 year old Bishop of Regensburg, Gerhard Ludwig Müller, for the post of Prefect of the Congregation. Unless there are any last minute surprises (other candidates considered include an American prelate and a French cardinal) he is expected to take over from Levada in the next few months.

Another expected appointment is that of the Librarian of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. The post has been vacant since outgoing librarian Cardinal Raffaele Farina (who will turn 79 next September) presented his resignation recently. The man that seems tipped to win the post is 68 year old French archbishop, Jean-Louis Bruguès, a Dominican. But even in this case there could be last minute surprises as the Pope could choose a cardinal from the Roman Curia who is nearing the end of his mandate. Vatican Librarians traditionally keep their role well beyond the age of 75.

Next 2 December the Vatican Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, will turn 78. When Bertone reached resignation age three years ago, Benedict XVI sent him an affectionate letter asking him to stay on. In an interview with Italian daily newspaper La Stampa last March Bertone stated: “Serving the Holy Father is always a strong experience of pastoral charity because of the way he leads the Church with clear judgement and moderate firmness. Obviously, however, whether my service continues or ends depends on Benedict XVI’s decision.” Many believe that the Pope wants to keep Bertone by his side for at least another two years, that is, until Cardinal Bertone turns 80. The Pope chose him for the role of Secretary of State shortly after his appointment as Pope in 2005 – although the nomination was announced in June 2006 and the installation the following September.

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VATIKAN
Focus

Ein US-Journalist soll dem Vatikan nach dem „Vatileaks“-Skandal wieder zu einer guten Presse verhelfen. Der Rom-Korrespondent der konservativen Fox News, Greg Burke, wird Kommunikationsstratege des Vatikans.

Das bestätigten Burke und der Papst-Sprecher Federico Lombardi am Samstag der italienischen Nachrichtenagentur Ansa. Burke (52) erhält ein Büro im Führungsgremium des Vatikans. Er gehört zum konservativen Opus Dei und arbeitete früher als Korrespondent des US-Magazins „Time“. Seine neue Aufgabe wurde ihm Ende Mai angetragen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Jesus.de

Das konservative “Netzwerk katholischer Priester” hat Erzbischof Robert Zollitsch zu einem härteren Vorgehen gegen Reform-Priester aufgefordert.

So solle der Vorsitzende der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz die Reformforderungen von Priestern, auch geschiedene Wiederverheiratete zur Kommunion zuzulassen, «nicht zweideutig kommentieren», zitiert «Der Spiegel» die Forderungen des Netzwerks. Der Sprecher des Netzwerks, Guido Rodheudt, wirft Zollitsch laut «Spiegel» vor, zuzusehen, «wie die Eindeutigkeit der katholischen Botschaft ins Zwielicht gerate».

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DEUTSCHLAND
netzwerkB

Berlin – Wir zwei Hungerstreikende, Christiane Kieburg und Katharina M., nutzten die CSD-Parade am 23.6. 2012 in Berlin, um mit Transparent und netzwerkB-Flyern auf unsere Forderung nach Abschaffung der Verjährungsfristen bei sexualisierter Gewalt gegen Kinder aufmerksam zu machen.

Am Startpunkt sprachen wir Klaus Wowereit (SPD) persönlich an und bekamen die momentan übliche SPD-Antwort:

„Wir haben keine Mehrheit“

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VATIKAN
Politaia

Das folgende Video mit Alfred Lambremont Webre und Rev. Kevin Annett befasst sich mit der öffentlichen Deklaration an Papst Ratzinger und dem Vatikan, in der ausgesagt wird, dass – sollten keine spezifischen Maßnahmen seitens des Papstes und des Vatikans bis 15. September 2012 ergriffen werden – “jeder bekannte römisch-katholische Priester oder Beamte, der einem Kind Schaden zugefügt hat oder dieselben gedeckt hat, öffentlich durch unser Netzwerk namentlich genannt wird, öffentlich festgenommen wird und aus seiner Kirche vertrieben wird.”

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UNITED STATES
dotCommonweal

June 24, 2012

Posted by Paul Moses

At the same time the U.S. Catholic bishops are giving daily lessons on how important it is for government to respect individual conscience, the Philadelphia jury that convicted Monsignor William Lynn on Friday of child endangerment has offered a lesson on the role of conscience in the church.

In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, jury foreman Isa Logan spoke of how he told the other jurors about his military experience; he served two years in an artillery unit in Korea. “All I told them was, I’m a soldier, and if my commander tells me to do something that’s inhumane or against any kind of Army rules,” he would not, Logan said. “I’m a human being before I’m a soldier.”

Contrast that with Monsignor Lynn’s testimony, reported here by journalist Ralph Cipriano:

Lynn’s direct testimony ended in a flourish, when [defense lawyer Thomas] Bergstrom asked the monsignor why he didn’t just quit his job as secretary for clergy, as some critics have suggested.

It’s “not in my nature to do that,” Lynn said. He explained he had a “simple faith” that “the will of God works through the bishop as far as your assignments are concerned.” He said he preaches that belief to fellow priests. It was a belief that provoked classmates in the seminary to call him a fool, Lynn said with a smile. But the monsignor said he sincerely believed it, so how could he quit his job as secretary for the clergy under Cardinal Bevilacqua?

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Orlando R. Barone is a writer in Doylestown

The verdict on Msgr. William J. Lynn has been rendered; it is very big news, and yet that verdict is not the one that occupies me this day.

I was 11 as I looked out the window of my front porch toward the near-blackness of early morning. Mom stood at my side, and I held my cassock and surplice in hand. At 5 a.m. I kissed my mother and ran outside as Father’s car stopped to pick me up on the other side of Main Street. It was my week to serve as altar boy at the 5:30 Mass in the lovely little chapel at Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital just two blocks away. I can still see Mom’s trusting smile as I ventured into the wintry darkness and into Father’s waiting car.

Much has been lost by my church since the child-abuse horror broke into public consciousness a decade ago. None of these losses, except those occasioned by the beastly acts themselves, can match the loss of that trusting smile on the faces of Catholic mothers everywhere. The mothers of today’s 11-year-old sons and daughters have issued their own verdict, and it is ominous. They are far less apt to release their children from their safe embrace to enter the car of a parish priest.

Rocco Palmo, Philadelphia-based author of the Whispers in the Loggia website, the place to go for what’s happening in worldwide Catholicism, has said that “a very different church is going to emerge from this” latest turn in the sex-abuse scandal. He is speaking of the hierarchical American church of bishops and cardinals, chanceries and palaces — the mansion in Philadelphia is up for sale, a sure sign of some kind of change.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

June 24, 2012 by Susan Matthews

I just finished reading “Catholics have rendered a verdict” – an opinion piece in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer by Orlando R. Barone. He ends his thoughtful column with, “No bishop living today will see that trusting smile fully restored, but no living bishop can dodge the moral imperative to begin the healing. There will be more trials and more juries and more lengthy deliberations, but it is the mothers who will render the verdict that counts.”

This mother will need more than the weak statement issued in response to Msgr. Lynn’s verdict. Here it is:

“Archdiocese Reacts to Verdict In Trial of Monsignor Lynn, June 22, 2012

This has been a difficult time for all Catholics, especially victims of sexual abuse. The lessons of the last year have made our Church a more vigilant guardian of our people’s safety. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is on a journey of reform and renewal that requires honesty and hope. We are committed to providing support and assistance to parishioners as they and the Church seek to more deeply understand sexual violence, and to create an environment that is safe and welcoming to all, including past victims.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia offers a heartfelt apology to all victims of clergy sexual abuse. Now and in the future, the Church will continue to take vigorous steps to ensure safe church environments for all the faithful in Philadelphia.”

We’ve heard these promises before. Healing and real protection can’t begin without truth. When will the Church admit that not only Bevilacqua but many other Cardinals have harmed children through their cover ups? When will the root causes of the cover up be addressed in open forums with the laity? I’m not talking about the hope and healing initiative on the parish level. I’m referring to the Vatican. Archbishop Chaput could be the best Archbishop ever but what happens when he is gone? A pervasive culture of clericalism persists throughout the institution. That culture will continue to allow this kind of cover up.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo

What, if anything, changes with the June 22nd conviction of Monsignor William J. Lynn for child endangerment? Legally, one can expect an appeal in order to prevent the former clergy secretary for the Philadelphia Archdiocese from serving the maximum sentence of seven years in jail. But, unlike previous cases, this trial was not of a clerical abuser but of a priest in charge of personnel appointments. The court finding substantiates Lynn’s culpable responsibility for knowing that such abuse was likely to occur, but endangering children nonetheless by assigning abusers to what we Catholics call “near occasions of sin.”

There is little doubt that since 2002 the bishops have legislated stricter guidelines that have had the effect of substantially reducing the instances of clerical pedophilia.

I would not agree with Dr. William Donohue of the Catholic League, however, that the conviction of the monsignor represents a “victory” over the church’s anti-Catholic enemies. Reading the transcript makes it hard to avoid the prosecutors’ insistence that the monsignor had “helped the archdiocese keep predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches.” This may not be a conspiracy, (one of the charges on which Lynn was dismissed) but it is a crime.

To a reasonable observer, this case demonstrates that the courts will not afford clergymen a version of the Nazi’s Nuremburg defense that they “were only following orders.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Vatican has hired American journalist Greg Burke to batten down the hatches after the recent media storm

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

Right in the midst of the storm which brewed up around the paedophilia scandal in spring 2010, Fr. Federico Lombardi, who succeeded Joaquín Navarro-Valls’ as head of the Holy See Press Office, gave an interview published on the BBC website, in which he stated he was a spokesman who depends on the Secretariat of State’s instructions. “The Secretariat of State decides the line to take and I try to communicate it as best as I can,” Lombardi had gone on to say, concluding: “No one has ever given me the task of co-ordinating of a Holy See media strategy.”

One of the core reasons for the media crisis that has marked certain phases of the current papacy is the lack of a united communicative leadership as well as the lack of involvement on the part of the person in charge of communication during decision making processes. It would be simplistic to blame the crisis solely and exclusively on journalists, which is what is happening in the Vatican on all levels.

The Holy See’s appointment of American journalist Greg Burke as “media advisor” shows that the Vatican Secretariat of State has finally taken the problem seriously after kicking itself in the stomach on a number of occasions over the past weeks. Burke is a distinguished professional who has worked as Rome correspondent for Time magazine and is currently employed by Fox News in the same role. One of the most notable media gaffs was the piloted disclosure of the reasons for the dismissal of the Vatican bank’s former head, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi: regardless of whether he deserved to go, the media coverage of his dismissal was morally and professionally destroying for this man who was only appointed to the position three years ago and in whom a great deal of trust had been placed. An unprecedented event in the recent history of the Holy See, made worse by his exposure to an unpleasant psychiatric assessment, the results of which were sent to Gotti Tedeschi’s superiors by a diligent professional who had been made to sit next to the Vatican bank’s former president as a celebration and covertly examine him.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

Editorial

We arrive on this beginning of Summer Friday at a critical nexus for survivors of sexual abuse.

First, our thoughts go to the brave, dignified, and courageous survivors who testified and who have spoken out in interviews in the Penn State former coach Jerry Sandusky case which has gone to the jury amidst a report that an adopted son of Sandusky was willing to testify for the prosecution.

After nearly two weeks of deliberations, the jury in the Philadelphia case of Monsignor William Lynn, returned a verdict of endangerment of children.

Juxtaposed to these two major cases is the downbeat of dueling campaigns: the Bishops’ “Fortnight for Freedom” and the Nuns Bus Tour.

Playing out against these backdrops this weekend and next in baskets in parishes across the depth and breadth of the United State is the Peter Pence collection.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

[with video]

Judy Courtin says the rape of children by Catholic priests is best dealt with by a royal commission, writes Michael Short.

[WHO] Judy Courtin, lawyer researching sex crimes against children by Catholic clergy
[WHAT] Victims are being denied truth and justice by the church and the state
[HOW] A royal commission or full judicial inquiry is essential

WERE Jesus Christ to reappear today, the first thing he might do is walk into the golden, treasure-gorged edifice that is the Vatican and throw out not money merchants, as he did some 2000 years ago, but the very people purporting to represent him and his ideas.

The core idea, it seems to me, that this radical man so influentially ventilated is simple and beautiful: treat others as you would wish to be treated, for we are all equal and all deserve and owe decency and kindness.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

Michael Short: Judy Courtin, thank you for your time, and welcome to The Zone.

Judy Courtin: Thank you, Michael, for inviting me.

MS: You are you a lawyer do a PHD on sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. Can we begin, please Judy, with the size and scope of the issue?

JC: This is something we don’t know. This is one of the very important issues or questions that an inquiry, a properly constituted commission of inquiry, should be doing. So we don’t know the prevalence, we don’t know the incidence.

There is one known statistic coming out of the Victorian Law Reform Commission, which says that about 10 per cent of adults who were sexually assaulted as children will ever report to the police. The process called the Melbourne Response – that is, the process set up by the Melbourne Archdiocese to investigate complaints against Catholic clergy, reported about a year ago that about 450 complaints had been lodged since 1996.

Recently the Archdiocese said they had investigated about 330 complaints. Either way, if that represents that 10 per cent figure, that’s a lot; between 3,500 and 4,500. That is just the Melbourne Archdiocese. The Melbourne Archdiocese only deals with diocesan priests. They don’t deal with all the religious orders such as the Christian Brothers or Salesians, for example. And the Melbourne Archdiocese is just one geographical area. So, if we have a possible 3,500 to 4,500 victims just from diocesan priests, how many victims are there across the state?

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VATICAN CITY
RT

The Vatican has turned to a Fox News reporter for help to improve its relations with the media amid communications blunders and a leaks scandal. The Holy See hired the Channel’s Rome correspondent for the position of senior communications adviser.

­The TV journalist Greg Burke is also a member of the Opus Dei movement, described by Dan Brown in his “The Da Vinci Code” as a “secretive, powerful and murderous sect whose members whip themselves bloody.” The best-selling book portrays the sect as being at the root of an international Catholic conspiracy. Burk said he didn’t know what, if any, role his membership in Opus Dei played.

Burke, Fox’s Rome-based correspondent for Europe and the Middle East, will leave the channel and assume the new post of senior communications adviser to the Secretariat of State, the Vatican’s key department responsible for all political and diplomatic functions.

His role will be similar to that of a communications adviser in the White House.

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IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests

All over the face of the earth, there is a compelling hunger for justice and a persistent cry demanding respect for human rights. The Church hears the cry, responds with solemn pronouncements, and is a forceful advocate of human dignity. The Church, however, speaks not only with words but also with actions: it is called to proclaim the Good News with signs and symbols as well. Judicial proceedings within the Church are part of such signs and symbols ‑ so much so that it is important to look at how the Church deals with doctrinal disputes and then at the ideal of justice that modern jurisprudence has created. In doing so, we follow a venerable tradition: throughout its long history the Church has turned for legal wisdom to secular sources and it made ancient Roman law the very foundation of canon law.

On June 29, 1997, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith promulgated new procedural rules entitled ‘Regulations for the Examination of Doctrines.’ They have superseded the norms published in1971. The Explanatory Note issued by the Holy See stated: ‘After twenty‑five years of experience … it was decided to prepare new Regulations that might respond even better to the demands of the present day.’

By referring to ‘the demands of the present day’ ‑ demands of justice, obviously ‑ the document itself invites us to consider whether it meets them. The first part of this article will present the Regulations; the second part will compare them with the best principles of modern jurisprudence. Paul the Apostle wrote to the Philippians: ‘whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just … you must consider’ (Phil. 4:8).

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IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests

Is it possible to get some kind of dispensation from the need for priests in the spiritual life of a Roman Catholic ? That you don’t need to ‘avail’ of the sacraments which can only be administered by an ordained priest, when it can be that all they are for you at times are triggers to earlier, more recent and it seems constant recalls of spiritual, emotional, psychological and sexual abuses ?

In the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, a dispensation is the suspension by competent authority of general rules of law in particular cases. Its object is to modify the hardship often arising from the rigorous application of general laws to particular cases, and its essence is to preserve the law by suspending its operation in such cases. When a person so abused seems incapable, though not for want of trying, to find any real peace in heart and soul in that practice of the faith that can often seem endless reminders and revelations of betrayal.

This in no way suggests or is meant to imply any kind of negative feeling towards, perception or judgement of all the really good men and women, priests and religious in the Catholic Church, past and present.

When the true spiritual welfare of the individual is at stake, which impacts everything else, is there anything in Church law that would allow a person to live as Catholic, even having faith to a degree in the sacramental aspects of the Church as being of benefit for others, without the requirement to avail of those sacraments ? Would it suffice to try to obey the commandments of God in seeking God with the all, and in and through that searching, learning to love neighbour as the self. In this being all the law and the prophets – the keys to the Kingdom within and around us.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Daily Times

Published: Sunday, June 24, 2012

By JEFF WOLFE
jwolfe@delcotimes.com
@delcoreporter

When a Philadelphia jury delivered a child endangerment conviction against Monsignor William Lynn on Friday, it may have been the end of a trial, but the beginning of other things for the victims and the Catholic church in the region.

“I think in regard to the whole process, when it comes to healing, I just don’t know that healing can come by way of a trial,” said Father James Olson, who is the president of Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School in Upper Darby. “It can bring about a sense of closure and at best a sense of justice, but neither of those things can bring healing. I still pray for healing.”

Olson says first and foremost that he is praying for those who were abused.

“There has to be a lot of sorrow for the victims,” he said. “Sometimes in the middle of a trial, when you are thinking about results, and you focus so much on that, you begin to lose focus on the victims. That always has to be first in our minds and prayers.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
BishopAccountability.org

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. William J. Lynn, Edward V. Avery, and James J. Brennan : Trial Narrative and Resources

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The trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn and Rev. James J. Brennan in Philadelphia was complex and lengthy, and its conclusion was a watershed event: the first conviction of a church official for child endangerment. During the trial, witnesses and exhibits provided the jury with information on 21 other accused priests whom Lynn had managed.

We have provided two resources for understanding the trial and the evidence that has been presented during it. On this page, we offer a day-by-day list of the witnesses, evidence, and courtroom discussions, with links to articles by journalists who were present at the trial and filed detailed accounts. The mainstays are John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Maryclaire Dale and Joann Loviglio of the Associated Press, and Ralph Cipriano of the Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog sponsored by The Beasley Firm. Many other reporters covered the trial, and we have included selections of their work. We have emphasized the longer accounts. The men and women of the press deserve everyone’s sincere thanks for their dedicated and able reporting during this epic trial.

We also provide, on a separate webpage, a day-by-day outline of the topics and persons in the trial to complement the chronological narrative offered on this page. The outline of topics and persons is linked to the narrative below.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyBurbs

Posted on June 24, 2012

by Hilary Bentman

Bucks County residents had a lot to say about the verdicts in two landmark Pennsylvania trials involving child sex abuse.

Justice was served in the Jerry Sandusky case, they said Saturday, a day after the former Penn State assistant football coach was convicted on 45 of 48 counts that he sexually assaulted 10 boys. But the mixed outcome in the priests’ trial, also announced Friday, didn’t make them so happy.

“Dude is a pig,” Huntingdon Valley resident Kate Lewyckyj said about Sandusky, who is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison. “Hope he goes to jail forever.”

In the priests’ trial, a jury agreed with prosecutors that Monsignor William Lynn, 61, helped keep predators in the priesthood by moving them to different parishes under the guise that the transfers were health related. …

Doylestown resident Carol Wilbur, a Catholic, said this kind of reasoning was reminiscent of the defense strategies used by some Nazis after World War II in their attempt to deflect responsibility for the Holocaust.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

VATICAN CITY
The Australian

POPE Benedict XVI has convened a special meeting of cardinals for advice on how to deal with the Vatican’s leaked documents scandal.

The pope was already scheduled to attend a regular meeting of the heads of Vatican offices on Saturday morning.

The Vatican press office said he added a second meeting later in the day with other cardinals – including Sydney archbishop George Pell – in a bid to try to ”restore a climate of serenity and trust” in the church.

The Vatican said over the coming days he will meet with still more cardinals gathering in Rome for a church feast day on Friday to ”continue the dialogue with the people who share the responsibility of the church’s governance with him”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

Ten years … Three grand jury reports … One trial … 11 weeks of testimony … More than 60 witnesses … A trial judge who gave so much favoritism to one side that she was actually described as “often mistaken for a member of the prosecution team.” … 13 days of jury deliberations.

What were the results of the charges against the two high-profile defendants in this months-long landmark Philadelphia criminal trial? Let’s look:

Msgr. William J. Lynn
– Conspiracy charge #1 (w/ ex-priest Edward Avery): Not guilty
– Conspiracy charge #2 (w/ Rev. Brennan): Dismissed, May 2012
– Endangering the welfare of a child #1 (re: Edward Avery): Guilty
– Endangering the welfare of a child #2 (re: Rev. Brennan): Not guilty

Rev. James J. Brennan
– Conspiracy charge (w/ Msgr. William J. Lynn): Dismissed, May 2012
– Attempted rape (a reduced charge): Deadlocked jury
– Endangering the welfare of a child: Deadlocked jury

In other words, of all the numerous charges sent to a jury, only one charge was returned as a guilty verdict, and it was against a senior priest who left his diocesan secretary position eight years ago.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CANADA
Leader-Post

By Jason Warick, The StarPhoenix June 23, 2012

Twelve-year-old Chance Adrian sat onstage with 32 other relatives, listening to his grandfather, Ted Quewezance, tell the audience about his residential school experience.

“(Quewezance) has been talking about this for a long time. I thought it would be good to be here for him,” Chance said Friday following the morning session of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada hearings at Prairieland Park.

“I learned a lot. They were treated almost like animals. It was crazy.”

Residential school survivors are testifying before the commission this week as part of the TRC’s fourday national gathering in Saskatoon, which continues through the weekend. Survivors are generally accompanied by a spouse, friend or counsellor as they testify. Chance and the rest of his family, wearing colourful matching scarves, decided they all needed to be there.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILIPPINES
YouTube

Published on Jun 20, 2012 by rapplerdotcom

Parañaque Bishop Jesse Mercado refuses to show Rappler his diocese’s financial records. “What for?” he tells Rappler’s Aries Rufo.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILIPPINES
Rappler

by Paterno Esmaquel II

Posted on 06/23/2012

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Can’t pay tuition?

St Andrew’s School (SAS), which is under the controversial Diocese of Parañaque, allegedly offers a solution that has sparked outrage from concerned alumni. This is for the school to “forcibly” demand collateral from parents that include game consoles and television sets, said SAS alumni in a public manifesto.

Through representative Eduardo Carabeo Jr, the alumni sent the statement in the wake of a Rappler exposé on Parañaque Bishop Jesse Mercado who is accused of fund misuse. (Read: Bishop accused of diverting millions.)

“We denounce the present SAS management’s decision in implementing a non-standing policy of forcing parents whose children have back accounts with the school, to produce ‘anything of considerable value’ such as certificate titles of land title (sic), jewelries, wristwatches, vehicle registration papers, even PlayStations, laptops, payroll-linked ATM cards, television sets, video cameras, etc, even those not owned by the parents themselves but even those of friends and relatives, to be posted as guarantee, as if SAS were already engaged in the business of pawnshops,” the alumni said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEW YORK
New York Post

By JENNIFER BAIN and JOSE MARTINEZ

A teenage boy faced off in court today with the rabbi he accused of molesting him when he was in first grade.

The 13-year-old boy testified that he was “scared” when Rabbi Joel Kolko glared at him and his dad on their way to synagogue – an encounter that now has the notorious Brooklyn rabbi on trial for allegedly violating an order of protection.

“When I crossed the street I turned around and saw him staring like this,” the boy said, as he crossed his arms. “Staring at me and my father. I said… ‘Why’s he looking at me?'”

Kolko escaped sex-offender status by pleading guilty in 2008 to misdemeanor child endangerment of the boy and a first-grade classmate at a Flatbush yeshiva. The boys had accused him of touching their private parts.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEW YORK
New York Post

By JOSE MARTINEZ

Even a rabbi who’s been accused of being a pervert can live wherever he darn well pleases.

A defense lawyer for Rabbi Joel Kolko insisted yesterday that his client did no wrong when he had an up-close encounter near his Brooklyn home with a 13-year-old boy he was barred from contacting.

“Is there anything in that order that directs Mr. Kolko to turn and run in the opposite direction if he sees [the alleged victim]?” lawyer Jeffrey Schwartz asked a state court clerk who was testifying about the order of protection.

“No,” said associate court clerk Peter Montella.

The boy and his dad got the order of protection in 2008 after accusing the ultra-Orthodox rabbi of being a child molester — allegations from 2006 that did not stick.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEW YORK
The Jewish Week

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Hella Winston
Jewish Week Correspondent

A 13-year-old boy who alleges he was molested by Rabbi Yehuda Kolko told a Brooklyn jury on Thursday that he felt “scared” when the rabbi — whom he identified from the stand — stared at him on the street on two occasions in late 2010.

Rabbi Kolko is currently on trial for violating an order of protection requiring him to refrain from having any contact with the boy. The order was part of a 2008 plea deal stemming from charges that Rabbi Kolko sexually abused the boy when he was a first grader in Kolko’s class (charges were also brought against the rabbi for allegedly abusing another boy).

Rabbi Kolko — who has been dogged by child molestation allegations for over 30 years — ultimately pleaded to lesser charges of child endangerment and received probation; he was not required to register as a sex offender.

The plea deal has drawn criticism from advocates and some observers because of the lack of jail time and/or mandatory sex offender registration. But the district attorney has defended the plea, claiming that neither family wanted their child to testify and noting that both signed a document consenting to the deal.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • Failedmessiah.com

He may finally go to prison.

Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, a haredi teacher and camp counselor with a long history of alleged child sexual abuse covering four decades, escaped a prison sentence in 2008 when Brooklyn’s ethically challenged District Attorney Charles Hynes gave Kolko what some observers say was the sweetheart plea deal of the decade.

Kolko, who allegedly fondled the genitals of two first graders while rubbing his erect penis against their clothed bodies, got 10 years probation and escaped sex offender registration because, Hynes claimed, neither of the victims’ families wanted their little boys to testify in court.

But that appears to have been a lie, as Hella Winston reminds us in The Jewish Week:

…The Jewish Week reported at the time [of the plea deal] that both families claimed they were willing to have their sons testify. The paper also obtained a letter to the district attorney, written by one of the fathers to the district attorney and dated one day after he signed off on the plea deal, that “[m]y son was ready to go to trial and we feel he would have done an excellent job and I am sorry to hear that [the case against] Joel Kolko will not proceed further.”…

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

TENNESSEE
The Daily Times

Katie Forrester | Daily Times Correspondent

Charlie Jones was just 8 years old when he was the victim of sexual abuse by a family friend. It happened when his parents left him, his sister and a friend with their “brother” in the Jehovah’s Witnesses a few times.

“He’d take me to the other room and molest me back there,” Jones said. This abuse happened on at least two occasions that Jones can remember, and each time the other two children were told that Jones had misbehaved and was about to receive punishment.

Jones said that on one occasion his mother came back and the man cleaned him up and told his mother that he was punished for misbehaving to explain why Jones was crying. Jones said that he was punished by his unknowing mother on the way home for not behaving as he should have.

Parents didn’t know

“The issue was that my parents did not know he was a predator,” Jones said.

According to Jones, a major factor in cases such as his within the Jehovah’s Witnesses is the secrecy policy. Jones said that the written rule for bringing to light cases of sexual abuse states that for any accusation you must have two or more witnesses, including the victim. If both witnesses were victims of different attacks by the same person, then those testimonies would suffice as two witnesses.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NEW YORK
New York Post

By ZACH BRAZILLER

Family, friends and countless members of the city’s basketball community convened upon the Church of the Intercession in Morningside Heights to remember Ernie Lorch, the multimillionaire corporate attorney and controversial founder and director of powerhouse AAU program Riverside Church, at a memorial service Saturday morning.

Lorch passed away at the age of 80 May 14 at a Yonkers nursing home after batting diabetes and growing dementia, among other health issues. He was remembered on Saturday as a caring man who gave to others, who built Riverside Church from scratch into the nation’s top AAU program, who took inner-city youths around the world for basketball tournament.

“Mr. Ernie Lorch was the greatest man I ever knew because he taught me about life,” said NBA veteran and Riverside player Albert King, who had to hold back tears as he spoke. …

Lorch was also dogged for years by alleged sexual abuse. He turned Riverside Church into arguably the nation’s elite program before allegations of sexual abuse of a former player led to his resignation in 2002.

Lorch was also indicted by a Massachusetts grand jury for allegedly molesting a New York teenager in Amherst more than 30 years ago, but in November a Westchester judge ruled Lorch wasn’t competent to be extradited to stand trial.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

OREGON
Mail Tribune

June 24, 2012

By Sanne Specht
Mail Tribune

Officials of a local church are battling their insurance company over demands that sex offenders who come to worship be treated as if they had come to prey, rather than pray.

Chad McComas, pastor at Set Free Christian Fellowship in Medford, said his church disclosed to its insurance company that there were known sex offenders within its congregation. That honesty may spell the end of Set Free, a church he started in 1997.

On May 1, the insurance company, Church Mutual, sent a letter requiring McComas to disclose to his congregation the identity of any and all sex offenders, allow those offenders to attend only one predetermined service each week where they must report in and be assigned an escort who will accompany them at all times, and bar them from participating in any child or youth programs.

“Please respond by June 15, 2012. We will review your procedures. If you have not met all the requirements, we may no longer be able to continue your coverage,” the letter states.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer

Inquirer Editorial

Outside their own circles, they’re mostly unknown — and certainly not referred to as Victim No. … But other child sex-abuse victims across Pennsylvania are just as entitled to justice as those whose accusations were heard in the sensational trials of a former college football coach and a high-ranking Catholic Church official.

Many of the other victims have also suffered in silence for decades, often unable to admit to themselves the horror of being abused as a child or teen. And if they did decide to come forward, it would likely be too late under the state’s criminal and civil statutes.

These other victims waited even as separate juries wrestled with the charges against former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, whose alleged victims now include an adopted son, and Archdiocese of Philadelphia Msgr. William Lynn — who on Friday became the first U.S. church official convicted in a child sex-abuse case.

Sandusky was found guilty late Friday on 45 counts of child sex abuse. Lynn was found guilty earlier on one count of child endangerment and acquitted on two other charges. The jury deadlocked on two child-abuse counts against the Rev. James J. Brennan.

For victims in yet unknown cases to get their day in court, Harrisburg lawmakers and Gov. Corbett must push aside special interests, including the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and the insurance lobby, and carve a path to the courthouse.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Digital Journal

[Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. William J. Lynn, Edward V. Avery, and James J. Brennan – BishopAccountability.org]

By Yukio Strachan

Philadelphia- No top U.S. official of the Roman Catholic Church has been ever criminally convicted for child endangerment –– until now.

After 13 days of deliberations, a Philadelphia jury of seven men and five women found Monsignor William Lynn guilty on Friday (June 22) of one count of endangering the welfare of a child and acquitted of two other counts — one of conspiracy and a second endangerment charge.

The Washington Post writes that lead prosecutor Patrick Blessington, seemed angry at Lynn’s acquittals. So he wasted no time in asking that the priest be taken right to custody.

The 61-year-old Lynn, face reddened but stoic, slipped off his black clerical jacket before deputy sheriffs led him out of the courtroom and into custody, his family members weeping, Reuters said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED STATES
Boston Herald

By Margery Eagan
Sunday, June 24, 2012

Just hours before a jury on Friday found former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky guilty of raping and sexually abusing boys as young as 9, a Philadelphia jury convicted a Catholic monsignor of allowing a known pedophile priest to continue his ministry with children — resulting in the sexual assault of a 10-year-old boy.

The parallels between the two cases and the church sex abuse crisis here just take your breath away.

One parallel: The predators were not strangers in trench coats but respected, supposedly upstanding members of powerful, all-male, insular and elite communities. “A saint,” is the word a local wrestling coach used to describe Sandusky, legendary for his charisma, charm and generosity to the disadvantaged children he helped and even adopted. Now one adopted son has accused Sandusky of abusing him, too.

How ironic that so many parents today, fearing strangers, won’t let our children play outside or walk anywhere alone. Yet we now know that attackers almost always turn out to be those both we and our children know and trust, those we may not suspect even after the abuse occurs.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.