ABUSE TRACKER

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

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

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

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

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

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

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Authority in the Church

[Deutsch]

[Nederlands]

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

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

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

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

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IRELAND
The Mayo News

Fr Kevin Hegarty

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

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

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

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

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

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TULSA (OK)
Christian Post

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter

October 23, 2012

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

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

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

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

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

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

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

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

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

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

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VATICAN CITY
ADN Kronos

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

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

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

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

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

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

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

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

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

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

VATICAN CITY | Tue Oct 23, 2012

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

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

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

By NICOLE WINFIELD 10/23/12

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

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

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

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

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ILLINOIS
The State Journal-Register

By NATHAN WOODSIDE
The State Journal-Register

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

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

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

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

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UNITED STATES
What They Knew

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

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

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

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

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[Submissions to the inquiry – Government of Victoria]

[with video]

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

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

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

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

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MICHIGAN
Daily Tribune

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

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

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

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

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

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SAN ANTONIO (TX)
CBS 7

Diocese of San Angelo
Press Release
October 22, 2012

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

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

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

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

By Suzanne McLaughlin, The Republican
on October 22, 2012

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

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

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

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IRELAND
Irish Times

ELAINE KEOGH

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

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

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

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

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CANADA
The Observer

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

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

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

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CANADA
Saaich News

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

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

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

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

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ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on October 22, 2012

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

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

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UNITED STATES
Stop Baptist Predators

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Written submissions to the Inquiry closed on 21 September 2012.

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

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

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

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

Anglican Diocese of Melbourne (3.40 Mb)

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

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

[Des Cahill submission to the Victoria inquiry]

Barney Zwartz October 23, 2012

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

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

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

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

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LINCOLN (IL)
Lincoln Courier

By Nathan Woodside
GateHouse News Service

Posted Oct 22, 2012

LINCOLN —

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

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

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

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

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

EMPLOYMENT MATTERS – PETER CULLEN

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

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

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

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

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GEORGIA
ActionNewsJax

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

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

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

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GEORGIA
First Coast News

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

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

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

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

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

Posted by Barbara Dorris on October 22, 2012

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

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

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

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

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

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

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

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CROATIA
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)

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

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

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

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

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

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

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

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

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

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

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
NECN

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

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

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

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COLORADO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on October 20, 2012

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

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

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

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

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UNITED STATES
Feast of Eden

October 22, 2012 By Dawn Eden

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

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

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

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

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EUROPE
Screen Daily

22 October, 2012 | By Andreas Wiseman

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

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

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

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

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AUSTRALIA
The Telegraph

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

Grant McArthur
Herald Sun
October 23, 2012

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

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

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

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

“But children matter.

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UNITED STATES
Bangor Daily News

[national database – Attorney Kelly Clark]

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

By Ashley Powers, Los Angeles Times

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

Two civil lawsuits filed against the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph — one claiming sexual harassment and another alleging wrongful dismissal — have been settled.

The lawsuits are among about 30 that have been filed against the diocese in the last two years and are the first to be settled. Most of the lawsuits allege sexual abuse by priests.

The diocese and the plaintiffs were tight-lipped about the cases.

“Both cases have been resolved to the parties’ mutual satisfaction,” said Rebecca Randles, the Kansas City lawyer whose firm represents the plaintiffs.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

October 22, 2012

Barney Zwartz

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

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

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

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

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

ABC
Updated October 22, 2012

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

Des Cahill is now a professor at RMIT University.

He was among those to give evidence on the second day of public hearings.

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

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

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

By Paul Mulvey
From: AAP
October 22, 2012

A FORMER priest has called for the Catholic Church to accept married clergy to help change a culture which has contributed to sexual abuse of children.

Des Cahill says the Victorian government should amend the Equal Opportunity Act to remove the exemption allowing religious organisations to bar people from serving in the church because of their marital status.

Professor Cahill told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry the reform would require “major changes” in the church and admitted it would be a long shot.

But allowing married clergy in the Catholic Church could be the “circuit breaker” needed to change the whole culture of what he called “celibate caste clericalism”, he said.

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CANADA
Northern Life

By: Darren MacDonald – Sudbury Northern Life

The law firm representing victims who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests says maintaining the abusers’ status as priests is an insult to victims and good priests alike.

At a press conference Oct. 19 at the Radisson Hotel, Rob Talach called on the church to defrock clergy who have been convicted of sex crimes. Talach, a lawyer with the firm Ledriot Beckett Litigation Lawyers, also wants the local diocese to help pay for counselling of victims of abuse, and to create a sexual abuse policy with input from victims.

“You would be shocked to learn that many of those local offending priests still hold the honourable designation of ‘father,’ ” Talach said. “Retired from active ministry is their official disposition, but regardless, they are still priests of the Roman Catholic Church … It is an affront to good priests and an insult to victims.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

This is not the first time the Secretary of the dicastery which oversees men and women religious has been sent away from the Roman Curia

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

The nomination of the Secretary for the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the American Redemptorist, John William Tobin, as the new archbishop of Indianapolis is just the latest of a series of similar moves. Tobin was appointed as the dicastery’s number two man in charge of men and women religious in August 2010, thus he only spent two years in the Roman Curia. The reasons for his transferral to the U.S. are apparently linked to his excessive openness to the LCWR’s (Leadership Conference of Women Religious) requests.

Although he was nominated two days ago, hints were already given about his departure from Rome at the beginning of 2012. This means that there were signs of his promotion-removal (the classical Vatican adagio “promoveatur ut amoveatur” is also true for Tobin) just18 months after his appointment to the Congregation for men and women religious.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

There is ongoing unrest in parts of Newcastle’s Anglican Diocese in the wake of the defrocking of three priests.

A group is planning a service to pray for what they call a damaged diocese.

Newcastle Anglican Bishop Brian Farran recently defrocked three priests including the former Dean of Newcastle, Graeme Lawrence.

Another priest was sanctioned.

No criminal charges have been laid and the priests deny all sexual abuse allegations.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated October 21, 2012

The Vatican and Rome are not one and the same. The Vatican and Rome are no longer synonymous. The Vatican is the smallest theocratic, autocracy, ‘it is not a democracy’ country while Rome is the secular city of the democratic state of Italy. Vatican Pied Pipers must stop writing that the “Pope summons bishops, nuncios to Rome”. The correct way is “Pope summons bishops, nuncios to the Vatican”. The last time that “All roads lead to Rome” was during the longest papacy (27 years) of John Paul II when he was obsessed with building his legacy as “JP2 the Great” (to match King Herod the Great) and when he glorified in Rome his favorite criminals Cardinal Bernard Law and Fr. Marcial Maciel (his two evil Achilles Heels) and when he with Cardinal Josef Ratzinger together covered-up thousands of perpetual pedophile priests of his JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army through his Latin addiction Crimen Sollicitationis

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NEDERLAND
Next Checkt

Diverse media vorige week naar aanleiding van het rapport van de commissie-Samson over misbruik in de jeugdzorg

Vorige week presenteerde de commissie-Samson het rapport Omringd door zorg, toch niet veilig, over seksueel misbruik in de jeugdzorg, met daarin schokkende conclusies. Een van die conclusies was dat de professionals die met uit huis geplaatste kinderen werken slechts een fractie van wat er aan misbruik voorvalt, waarnemen. Om precies te zijn: slechts 2 procent. Verschillende media berichtten hierover. De NOS meldde: „Begeleiders van instellingen signaleerden slechts 2 procent van het misbruik.” De Volkskrant schreef: „Volgens de commissie-Samson constateren werkers in de jeugdzorg slechts 2 procent van de gevallen.” En RTL Nieuws had het zelfs over „nog geen 2 procent van de gevallen”. next.checkt-lezer Ko Ruyter vraagt zich af of het klopt, die 2 procent. Immers, hoe kun je de onderrapportage van misbruik zo precies meten?

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BELGIE
Knack

vrijdag 19 oktober 2012 om 10u09

Tielt – Norbert Bethune doet een ultieme oproep naar slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik binnen de Kerk. Eind deze maand verstrijkt de deadline bij de arbitrage van de parlementaire commissie rond seksueel misbruik en daarna kunnen de feiten enkel nog bij het bisdom gemeld worden. “Ik doe nog één laatste inspanning”, zegt hij.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

October 21, 2012 by Susan Matthews

One of the more promising developments over the past year has been parish-based forums on clergy child sex abuse. We need more to do so. Some have held healing services, but I prefer “information forum” for several reasons. While healing is most certainly needed on all fronts, it seems that would come more easily after all other appropriate steps. There is little trust that the entire hierarchy is taking all those steps. In the meantime, information is critical. Bringing the issue into the light will enable the faithful to enforce efforts.

At a recent parish council meeting on whether or not to hold a forum, someone said this issue is best dealt with in private. What? Child sex abuse happens in private. Cover ups happen in private. The solution will be found out in the open. We must shine a light on this issue. Hasn’t Penn State, the Boy Scouts, the Catholic Church and many other organizations proven that fact? The staggering statistics compel us to deal with this issue. This is not another person’s problem. This is our responsibility as human beings. We owe it to our children, our community and our God.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISN

[national database – Attorney Kelly Clark]

MILWAUKEE —
A southeastern Wisconsin advocacy group for sex abuse victims is asking the Boy Scouts of America to release more information about Wisconsin cases.

Earlier this week a judge ordered the Boy Scouts of America to release thousands of documents related to abuse allegations against scouting volunteers.

The Associated Press reported the files identify 29 Wisconsin men as alleged abusers.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, has asked the BSA to release all the information they have regarding the Wisconsin allegations. They are also encouraging any other abuse victims to come forward.

“No matter when you’ve been harmed, it does not matter, ” said Peter Isely of SNAP. “Make a report and see if they can find out where this individual is.”

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VERENIGDE STATEN
Trouw

[national database – Attorney Kelly Clark]

Een Amerikaans advocatenkantoor publiceert vandaag 20.000 vertrouwelijke documenten van de Amerikaanse padvindersorganisatie Boy Scouts. Hierin staan de namen van 1247 scoutingsleiders en vrijwilligers die weggestuurd zijn wegens beschuldigingen van seksueel of ongepast gedrag met jongens, meldt CNN. .

In de documenten, waarin informatie uit 1965 tot 1985 staat, zijn de namen van slachtoffers en getuigen weggehaald. De documenten worden vrijgegeven na toestemming van het Hooggerechtshof van Oregon. Het advocatenkantoor dat over de documenten beschikt heeft de zaak van een jongen die eind 2009 door een vrijwilliger is misbruikt behandeld. De vrijwilliger is veroordeeld, de Boy Scouts of America moesten 18,5 miljoen dollar schadevergoeding betalen.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.comtwincities.com
Posted: 10/20/2012

A priest who resigned from his church post after his arrest for indecent exposure in a St. Paul park has asked a court to seal his record.

Michael John Krenik’s misdemeanor conviction was dismissed in November 2011 upon the successful completion of his probation.

Krenik, 54, of St. Paul, petitioned Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner on Oct. 5 for an expungement of his criminal file. If the judge grants his request at the Jan. 23 hearing, the record will be sealed from public view.

Krenik was the pastor at St. Hubert Catholic Community in Chanhassen at the time of his Nov. 4, 2010, arrest. At 1:20 p.m. that day, he exposed himself to a police officer at the river flats near Eustis Street and Mississippi River Boulevard, just north of the Marshall Avenue-Lake Street bridge.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Sunday, October 21, 2012

The Catholic Church is to make a full apology to a priest wrongly accused of child protection issues.

Fr Oliver Brennan was reinstated as a parish priest in Louth on Saturday night after two years under investigation.

The 67-year-old had voluntarily stepped down immediately as parish priest of Blackrock and Haggardstown in August 2010 when the allegation was made.

The Sunday Independent reports that a police investigation could find no evidence against Fr Brennan.

The paper says the “allegations were totally lacking in credibility.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Saturday October 20 2012

This evening, in Dublin’s Convention Centre, former pupils of Christian Brothers schools will come together to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Edmund Rice.

Advertised as “an evening with former President Mary McAleese and guests”, its theme is “to reunite, reconcile, give thanks and look to the future”.

For many, though, it’s impossible to forget the past.

Few names evoke such opposing reactions in Ireland as that of Edmund Rice.

Mention his name to grown men who attended a CBS, founded by the Kilkenny-born educator, and often a shadow will cloud their ageing faces.

Many recall the discipline, the fear, the corporal punishment and the physical and sexual abuse dished out to them and/or others.

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AUSTRALIA
Care Leavers Australia Network

[CLAN’S submission to the Victorian Inquiry]

Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) has recently completed a submission to the Victorian Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations.

Although the Victorian Government has shown great initiative in instigating a parliamentary inquiry, CLAN is concerned that the current inquiry deliberately excludes the Victorian Government to avoid accountability through transparency.

Many Victorian Care Leavers who had government experiences in the ‘care’ system are now excluded. The inquiry is consequently discriminatory to former state wards.

The Victorian Government, through its predecessor agencies to the current Department of Human Services:

 Established 17 Orphanages, Children’s Homes and other Institutions.
 Funded and inspected against standards religious and non-government organisations which ‘cared’ for state wards.1

It is clear in some cases that the Victorian Government’s failure of duty of care enabled the criminal treatment of children by churches and charities.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By TERRY CONLON

Sunday October 21 2012

A 67-YEAR-OLD Co Louth Catholic priest, who was the subject of a child-protection allegation, has been cleared after over two years to return to active ministry.

Father Oliver Brennan voluntarily stepped down immediately as parish priest of Blackrock and Haggardstown in August 2010 when the allegation was made.

The finding of the garda investigation was that the “allegations were totally lacking in credibility”. Similarly, the church inquiry concluded last Friday that the allegations were “fabricated and have not been substantiated”.

At a special Mass last night in Blackrock, near Dundalk, Co Louth, Fr Brennan. was reinstated. He is expected to be given a full apology by the church.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Claire O’Sullivan

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Survivors of abuse at Christian Brother schools have accused organisers of a Christian Brothers commemoration event this weekend of attempting to muzzle them by not allowing them to speak.

Former President Mary McAleese and Sen Martin McAleese are set to join past pupils of Christian Brothers schools at an event at Dublin’s Convention Centre today to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers.

Survivors of child abuse at Christian Brother schools were invited.

Tonight’s event is part of a year-long initiative to raise funds for international work being carried out in the spirit of Edmund Rice.

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MARYLAND
Herald-Mail

October 19, 2012|By C.J. LOVELACE | cj.lovelace@herald-mail.com

In the wake of the release of decades of confidential sexual-abuse allegations within the Boy Scouts of America, a local Scouting official said Friday that the organization remains committed to protecting youth and providing a safe environment above all else.

“Safe-guarding the Scouts is the number one priority for the Scouting organization,” said Mark Barbernitz, Scout executive for the Mason-Dixon Council of the BSA, which oversees approximately 2,300 kids and about 100 troops of Scouts in Washington County as well as parts of Franklin and Fulton counties in Pennsylvania. …

The Rev. Tim Leighton, pastor of Church of the Holy Trinity UCC in Halfway since 2006, said their congregation will continue to support Boy Scout Troop 136 and the Cub Scout pack that meet at the church.

“The congregation as a whole has been very supportive of Scouting, both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, for a number of years,” Leighton said. “The Scout troop has done several service projects.”

Leighton, who also took part in the Scouts as a kid, said the church has not considered re-evaluating its relationship with the organization despite the abuse allegations, adding that Troop 136 leaders are very conscientious of the parents and adults that work with the kids.

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Eagle-Tribune

[national database – Attorney Kelly Clark]

By Mark E. Vogler mvogler@eagletribune.com The Eagle-Tribune

In early 1977, allegations about an assistant scoutmaster having sex with boys rocked the old St. Joseph’s Church in Haverhill, then home for Boy Scout Troop 27.

Stories grew rampant about the 27-year-old scout leader inviting boys to stay overnight at his home, where indecent exposure and fondling were common. One boy accused the troop leader of performing “an unnatural act” on him.

A father who was on the troop committee consulted with a lawyer and the police for assistance after reporting that his son was a victim of sexual abuse by an adult leader “who should not be allowed to stay in scouting.”

But despite the controversy, police never prosecuted the assistant scoutmaster for the alleged sexual crimes. Neither he nor the Boy Scouts were named as defendants in any lawsuits.

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INDIA
Times of India

MADURAI: Police are on the lookout for a pastor, who is absconding following a complaint of sexual harassment of a 12-year-old Sri Lankan refugee girl, by her parents. The complaint has been registered with the Dindigul taluk police.

Kumarasamy (47) is a Sri Lankan refugee staying in the Adiyanoorthu refugee camp. He works as a loadman with the railways. His 12-year-old daughter was a student at a Roman Catholic school in the neighbouring area. A few days ago, she had come home weeping, saying that the priest, Amaladas, of the church next to the school misbehaved with her. Enquiries by her mother and relatives allegedly revealed that the priest had abused the girl sexually.

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KENTUCKY
The Courier-Journal

[national database – Attorney Kelly Clark]

[with video]

Written by
Andrew Wolfson
The Courier-Journal

When a 47-year-old Louisville Boy Scout leader attempted in 1967 to molest a boy in a tent during an outing, scouting officials promised that they would keep the matter strictly confidential and say only that the leader resigned.

“The Scout office will make no general announcement,” Scouting Executive Hal Cory wrote on Nov. 6, 1967, to Boy Scouts of America headquarters, which promised to put the report in its “confidential file.” ..

Cal Pfeiffer, a founding member of the local chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the disclosures show how pervasive sexual abuse of children is in society “in one group after another after another.”

He said the Boy Scouts at least forced accused leaders to resign rather than moving them from parish to parish, as the church often did. But like the church, the Scouts didn’t refer leaders for prosecution, he said, potentially allowing them to continue to prey on children in other capacities.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Fresno Bee

The Associated Press

Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 | 10:58 AM

LOS ANGELES — Five years after settling with sex abuse victims, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles says it will release the confidential personnel files of about 200 accused priests.

Spokesman Tod Tamberg told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune ( http://bit.ly/XBblV3) on Friday that the Archdiocese will hand over the records to a judge on Dec. 10.

The newspaper says the files – with the names of innocent individuals redacted – will ultimately be made public under a record $660 million settlement the Archdiocese agreed to in 2007.

The personnel files of 13 priests were released Friday to an attorney who represents a victim allegedly abused by the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar Rivera. That case is pending and the records remain under a protective order from the court and cannot be made public.

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BIRMINGHAM (AL)
San Francisco Chronicle

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A guard at the Birmingham Museum of Art has been accused of receiving child pornography at work.

Federal authorities charged Loyd Jeffrey Hitt with a child pornography offense this week. He was denied bond during a hearing Thursday. His defense lawyers did not immediately return a call seeking comment. …

Investigators said in court documents that they focused on Hitt after learning he was on the customer database of an entity in another country that was distributing child pornography. Police said Hitt told investigators that he was involved with a church youth group. The name of the church was not released.

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BULGARIA
Focus

Vidin. At a sitting the Eparchial Court in the Northern town of Vidin, under the presidency of Right Reverend Bishop Sioniy, examined the case of manciple Slaveycho Borisov, who was subpoenaed by the court over of abuse and misappropriation of large amount of church property, occupation of civil positions without the knowledge of the Vidin Bishopric, non-observation of the regulations of the Vidin Bishopric Council and reluctance to appear and defend himself, as well as other misdeeds in the execution of the church services.

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CROAZIA
Globalist

Fra’ Sime Simac, il francescano che l’altra sera si è fatto arrestare dopo una fuga avventurosa con una donna, facilitata dal milione e 300mila euro sottratti al convento, in Croazia si sta trasformando in una “star” del web. Un gruppo di sostegno su Facebook in un solo giorno ha ottenuto 4.500 “mi piace”. Un fotomontaggio mostra in francescano in groppa a un cavallo bianco, un altro vuole che sia pronto ad usare quel danaro per salvare l’ “Hajduk”, la squadra di Spalato che sta rischiando il fallimento.

Compaiono anche una lunga serie di immaginari fra’ Sime che lanciano battute e informano il pubblico su loro fantasiosi spostamenti. In una vignetta il frate, che era fuggito su un’auto sportiva in compagnia di una donna, manda a dire: “Non temete, il danaro è al sicuro”. In un’altra gli si fa dire: “E’ giunto il momento di dissipare le ombre e dire la verità, questo non è un furto ma un equo sistema di divisione poiché chi ruba ai ladri non è ladro ma servo di Dio”.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOV

[with video]

by Russell Kinsaul / News 4 and KMOV.com staff

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) — Confidential files kept for years by Boy Scouts of America detailing allegations of sexual abuse against boys include 47 cases from Missouri.

A majority of the Missouri cases included in files released Thursday come from troops in St. Louis and Kansas City or their suburbs, but cases also were reported in such places as Neosho, Fort Leonard Wood and Chillicothe.

The Boy Scouts released about 14,500 pages of what are being called “perversion files” on cases across the country dating from 1959 to 1985. …

But it’s unclear from the records of those four cases whether scouting leaders ever notified police.

“Unless those who conceal sexual abuse are revealed and punished then they’ll continue to do it,” said SNAP’s David Clohessy, who works with survivors of abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

James Preece of Catholic and Loving It comments on my recent post, The Pattern, and affirms what I suggest, which is (to quote James), “The problem is that we haven’t tried to fix the culture that enabled sex abuse, we’ve just made sex abuse a special case.”

I encourage you to follow the link and read his very well-written article. In it, he strikes upon an apt metaphor.

I don’t think it would be fair to talk about a “culture of abuse”, because I’m quite sure the majority of Catholics are not in favour of abuse and do not encourage or perpetrate abuse. What we are talking about is a culture which is favourable to abuse. It’s like storing raw meat in a warm place. Warmth itself is not food poisoning, but it is better to keep food in the fridge.

Indeed, this bad spiritual food-hygiene leads to abuse of many varieties. As in spoiled meat, the culture that springs up is a bacterial and a poisonous culture.

Preece describes this culture and hits upon the heart of the problem …

Looking at the definition of “abuse” we find that the word essentially means “misuse”. That’s why there are so many kinds of abuse such as verbal abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, substance abuse and so on. We call it abuse when somebody misuses a person sexually but we also use the word in other ways, like “I let my daughter have access to the biscuit jar but she abused the privilege”.

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CANADA
Northern Life

By: Sudbury Northern Life Staff
Fifteen people who say they were abused by members of the Roman Catholic clergy are calling on the church to do more to help current victims and protect any future ones.

Lawyer Robert Talach of the law firm of Ledroit Beckett is holding a press conference this afternoon at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Sudbury. He will be joined by 15 people who say they are victims of abuse by priests.

“It is both disturbing and disappointing that in this day and age a religious organization, whose mandate is supposed to be compassion and care, has failed to support victims,” Talach said in a news release. “It is time that they get with the program.”

The press conference, the release stated, represents “a demand from victims of local Catholic priests for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie to do more to support victims.”

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CANADA
Sudbury Star

By Carol Mulligan, Sudbury Star

Saturday, October 20, 2012

A Sudbury woman ordained a bishop with Roman Catholic Women Priests of Canada has her own take on how the church in which she is fighting for reform should handle cases of sexual abuse by priests.

Marie Evans Bouclin, who once worked for the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Bishop Jean-Louise Plouffe, agrees with Rev. Bob Bourgon that allowing offending priests to remain on the church’s radar helps track them and ensure they don’t offend again. Bouclin suggests priests convicted of sexual assault should undergo assessment and, if they are determined to be so psychologically damaged they never should have been ordained in the first place, they be defrocked.

If it’s deemed they are “unfit for ministry, then there should be some kind of an action to annul their ordination just like you annul a marriage,” said Bouclin.

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CALIFORNIA
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

By Christina Villacorte, Staff Writer
dailynews.com
Posted: 10/19/2012

Five years after promising to do so, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will hand over the confidential personnel files of about 200 priests accused of sexual abuse and child molestation to a judge in December.

Those documents – with the names of innocent individuals redacted – will ultimately be made public under the Archdiocese’s record $660 million settlement in 2007 to 508 people who said they were victims.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Joelle Casteix, Western regional director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“I’m very encouraged that the judge has laid down a concrete schedule but, at the same time, I and other survivors will remain vigilant about holding the archdiocese to account.”

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

This story was reported by Travis Andersen and Martin Finucane of the Globe staff and Globe correspondents Colin A. Young, Melanie Dostis, and Liam O’Kennedy. It was written by ­Andersen.

Forty-five people from Massachusetts are listed in the secret “perversion files” maintained by the Boy Scouts of America that were released Thursday by an Oregon legal team ­under an order from the Oregon Supreme Court.

The hometowns of Massachusetts residents listed in the Scouts’ ­ineligible volunteer files were spread across the state, from South Boston to Pittsfield. The files contained 44 names and one person listed as ­unknown. …

In addition, a former Catholic seminary student from Dorchester who admitted to sexually assaulting an 11-year-old Scout at Thompson’s Island in 1969 was listed with the names released, according to his file.

He also admitted to committing lewd acts in front of scouts at various time during troop meetings, the filing states. The man received a suspended prison sentence for his actions and was later treated by a therapist, he wrote in a letter to scout officials asking to be admitted to a South Boston troop. That request was denied.

“I admit I did something terribly wrong, and never have denied that fact,” the man wrote in his letter. “But through therapy, I was able to see the underlying causes. … I can assure you there is no further problem and can document this. How many other Scoutmasters can?”

The Globe did not name the man because it could not determine on Thursday night if the man was ever charged.

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UNITED STATES
Kelly Clark, Attorney

Disclaimer:

The information contained in the ineligible volunteer (“IV”) files is being made public pursuant to a court order from The Honorable John Wittmayer, Multnomah County Circuit Judge for the State of Oregon, in the case of Lewis vs. Boy Scouts of America, Case No. 0710-11294. The Oregon Supreme Court upheld the ruling on June 14th, 2012.

By the terms of Judge Wittmayer’s order, the names and contact information of persons identified as victims of sexual abuse and those that reported the abuse were redacted. If the person identified as an abuse reporter was a professional Scouter, i.e., an individual employed by the Boy Scouts of America or an affiliate, then the name was not redacted.

The information in the IV files concerns allegations of child sexual abuse. In a number of the cases, the allegations were later substantiated by court proceedings. However, in a great many cases no such substantiation ever occurred. Consequently, the law firms of O’Donnell Clark and Crew LLP and Paul Mones, and any agent or representative thereof, make no representations or suggestions that any of the allegations in these files are in every case true. In fact, we are in no position to verify or attest to the truth of these allegations as they were compiled by the Boy Scouts of America. The incidents reported in these documents attest to notice of potential child abuse given to the Boy Scouts of America and its affiliates and their response to that notice.

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UNITED STATES
KSDK

[with video]

By Alex Fees

St. Louis (KSDK) – Officials with SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are weighing-in on the Boy Scouts child sex abuse scandal.

They say the documents made public Thursday by civil suits show the same kind of callous, reckless maneuvers by scouting officials that SNAP called attention to in other contexts, such as the Catholic Church and Penn State.

“The sad truth is many institutions value their own reputations over the safety of the kids they serve,” said David Clohessy, with SNAP in St. Louis.

Regarding the release of confidential, so-called “perversion” files kept by Boy Scout officials, Clohessy said, “We in SNAP are calling upon law enforcement officials to look through these files and use their bully pulpits and beg victims, witnesses, and whistle-blowers of scout abuse to come forward. Obviously most of these cases are from years and years ago. And the statute of limitations has probably run and nothing can be done, legally, but we believe it’s reckless to make that assumption.”

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MASSACHUSETTS
Lowell Sun

By Lisa Redmond, lredmond@lowellsun.comlowellsun.com
Posted: 10/20/2012

BOSTON — One of the 45 Massachusetts residents listed in the Boy Scouts’ newly released “perversion files” is a former Pepperell resident and Level 3 sex offender who is in prison serving time for his fourth child sex-assault conviction.

Due to an Oregon Supreme Court ruling, the Boy Scouts of America on Thursday released a list of 1,250 “ineligible volunteers” from across the country who were accused of child molestation as far back as 1965. …

On the published list is Donn Kruger, of Pepperell, who was listed as an “ineligible volunteer” in 1983. Also listed as ineligible volunteers are Normand R. Harnois, of Lowell (1989); Steven A. Conti, of Burlington (1988); Alden R. Farrar, of Ayer, (1978); and the Rev. Walter N. Stone, of Fitchburg (1989). …

According to published reports from 1989, Stone was a Congregational minister in Fitchburg when he was charged with rape and sexual abuse involving children in his parish and in

In a July 28, 1978 letter from George Fraquair, Scout executive of the Nashua Valley BSA Council, to the BSA Registration Service, Fraquair asked that Alden R. Farrar, of Ayer, be “placed on the confidential list. He has admitted to a morals offense against one of our scouts. The family, including the scout, fortunately have decided not to prosecute.”

Stone, of the Rollstone Congregational Church in Fitchburg, was sentenced to seven to 15 years in state prison after being convicted of eight counts of indecent assault and battery on a child. Two victims testified that Stone befriended them during church counseling and activities.

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ILLINOIS
Herald-Whig

By DON O’BRIEN
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Information about three cases concerning local Boy Scout leaders were among the 14,500 pages of secret “perversion files” released Thursday by order of the Oregon Supreme Court.

The Associated Press reported an array of local authorities — police chiefs, prosecutors, pastors and town Boy Scout leaders among them — quietly shielded scoutmasters and others who allegedly molested children. The files document sex abuse allegations across the country, from a small town in the Adirondacks to downtown Los Angeles, from 1959 to 1985.

The local cases involved a Memphis, Mo., minister in 1960, and incidents in the 1980s in both Quincy and Fort Madison, Iowa. …

º The Rev. Dean Jones, a pastor at Christian Church in Memphis, Mo., was accused of oral sodomy in June 1960, according to papers filed by The Great Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The Boys Scouts’ memo said Jones “failed to deny or admit (the charge) but immediately resigned his position in the church.”

Jones, 28 at the time, was the cubmaster for Pack 97 in Memphis. His file does not indicate if he was ever charged. The memo stated that “sufficient evidence has been collected to verify the major complaint.”

Click here to view documents related to the Jones case.

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IOWA
KWWL

[with video]

Written by Jackie Manternach, Producer

MARION COUNTY (KWWL) –
Former Pella Pastor Patrick Edouard, 42, will serve prison time after sexually abusing four members of his congregation.

One victim described it in court saying, “Edouard violated me emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.”

Edouard’s accusers say he took advantage of their time in counseling on personal issues. But the former pastor says that he wasn’t counseling any of the woman, rather he says all of the relationships were consensual.

A jury disagreed with him on several accounts in August.

Edouard was found guilty of four counts of sexual exploitation by a therapist or counselor and one count of a pattern of sexual exploitation. He was also found not guilty of three other counts of sexual abuse.

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RHODE ISLAND
Westerly Sun

Associated Press

PROVIDENCE — The newly released Boy Scouts “perversion files” name several former Scout officials in Rhode Island, including one expelled from the organization in the 1970s after being accused of forcing a boy to perform a sex act on him.

The 14,500 pages of files, released Thursday, show that William Lazzareschi was expelled from his Providence troop in 1971 after a Scout leader said he saw a 12-year-old performing oral sex on him behind a tent at Yawgoog Scout Reservation. The boy later said “Mr. Lazzareschi made me do it to him,” according to a letter from the assistant reservation director to the head of the Narragansett Council.

It appears that authorities were not notified. The letter indicates that a Scout chaplain, the Rev. Edmond Micarelli, recommended the boy’s parents not be told. It said the boy was “counseled” by Micarelli with “positive results.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

Published on Saturday 20 October 2012

A ROMAN Catholic diocese which ordained a priest despite his dismissal for abusing boys at a children’s home received more abuse allegations after his ordination but did not report them to the police, the Yorkshire Post can reveal.

The Diocese of Middlesbrough, which appointed Joseph O’Brien to a series of clerical posts in Middlesbrough and North Yorkshire after he had been sacked from the St William’s children’s home in East Yorkshire, kept fresh allegations of abuse ‘in-house’ from 2000 onwards.

The latest revelations surrounding Father O’Brien, who served for 15 years in the parish of Thirsk until retirement in 1998, are contained in an executive summary of a report compiled by a Catholic child protection agency.

The Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS) carried out an inquiry following a Yorkshire Post investigation into the priest, who died in 2010. The summary reveals that the diocese kept two separate files, one of which – termed the ‘Bishop’s file’ – was only discovered last year.

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FLORIDA
Huffington Post

The Archdiocese of Miami continues to defend embattled priest Father Rolando Garcia, who is facing a fresh accusation he used hush money to conceal another priest’s abuse of an underaged boy.

That victim, now an adult, appeared before the media Thursday with attorney Jeff Herman to allege that Garcia, currently pastor at St. Agatha Catholic Church in West Miami-Dade, bought the victim’s complicit silence regarding his knowledge of the repeated assaults.

“He was paying me to keep it quiet while [Fr.] Cristobal de Jesus Puertas was raping me,” said the man, whose identity is being concealed. “This man is preaching to hundreds of people over there and he’s wearing a mask.”

Fr. Garcia has himself been accused of molesting young boys in the church. The church leader was named in previous lawsuits against the archdiocese alleging he engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with alter boys, with the most recent suit filed in September.

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CANADA
The Sudbury Star

Carol Mulligan
The Sudbury Star

Friday, October 19, 2012

The lawyer representing 15 men who allege they were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests is demanding the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie take a “trinity” of actions to help his clients get over their pain.
Rob Talach is calling upon the diocese and its spiritual leader, Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe, to begin the process of defrocking priests who are convicted sexual offenders, to create a diocesan sexual abuse policy with input from victims and to pay for counselling for men who were abused.

Talach, from London-based Ledroit Beckett Litigation lawyers, was joined at a news conference Friday by four Sudbury men who were victims of two of six priests convicted criminally of sexual abuse dating back 50 years in Sudbury.

Talach lambasted the diocese and Plouffe for not taking a proactive approach to helping these men by funding counselling before the civil cases he has launched for the men are dealt with in court.

“Up here, this diocese, it’s the middle ages,” Talach said Friday at the Radisson Hotel on St. Anne’s Road, a stone’s throw from the diocese’s office across the street.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 19, 2012

Today, LA judge Emilie Elias gave the Archdiocese of Los Angeles a concrete schedule for the public release of thousands of pages of sex abuse and cover-up documents. If all goes according to plan, the redacted files on perpetrator priests will be made public by the end of the year.

The documents were a part of the 2007, $660 million settlement with more than 500 victims of child sexual abuse. More than 200 predator clerics were named as abusers. Lawyers for the Archdiocese and accused priests have spent the past five years (and who knows how much money at $600/hr) to keep the files secret.

In other dioceses (like Orange and Wilmington, DE, to name a few), similar files have shown the severe damage caused by many current and former clerics, and also show how complicit church officials ignored public safety and recklessly put children in harm’s way.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

Socioloog Jan Hertogen, een van de slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de kerk, heeft in een e-mail aan de pers het proces-verbaal publiek gemaakt dat onderzoeksrechter Colette Calewaert opgesteld heeft over de verdwijning van dossierstukken in Operatie Kelk. Dat is het gerechtelijk onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik en schuldig verzuim dat de onderzoeksrechter erfde van haar voorganger, Wim De Troy.

Het proces-verbaal maakt deel uit van het gerechtelijk onderzoek en is als zodanig een geheim stuk. Het federaal parket heeft het daarom over een verwonderlijke démarche die mogelijks strafbaar is.

Gisteren schreven de Coreliokranten al dat er tientallen processen-verbaal uit het onderzoeksdossier waren verdwenen. Vandaag meldde minister van Justitie Turtelboom in de Kamer dat het ging om 445 stukken. Die verdwenen in de periode net voordat onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy, die het onderzoek eerst leidde maar zich niet liet herbenoemen tot onderzoeksrechter, vervangen werd door onderzoeksrechter Calewaert.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

dm Operatie Kelk Socioloog Jan Hertogen meent dat hij in Operatie Kelk het geheim van het onderzoek niet heeft geschonden. De man maakte donderdagavond via e-mail minstens een deel van het proces-verbaal publiek waarin onderzoeksrechter Colette Calewaert vaststelt dat een groot aantal dossierstukken uit het onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik en schuldig verzuim binnen de katholieke kerk verdwenen zijn. Volgens Jan Hertogen deed hij dat om de belangen van de slachtoffers te beschermen.

“Als minister van Justitie Turtelboom laconiek vaststelt dat er 445 processen-verbaal verdwenen zijn, vraagt het niet veel verbeelding om zich in te leven in de gevoelens van de slachtoffers”, schrijft Jan Hertogen in een nieuwe e-mail. “Die vragen zich af of hun proces-verbaal of verhaal daarbij zit, in wiens handen dat terechtgekomen is en wat die persoon daarmee gaat doen. Maar dat zulk een onzorgvuldigheid in een uiterst gevoelig dossier kan voorkomen, lijkt geen probleem. Er is niemand in de media of politiek die zijn bekommernis voor de slachtoffers uit.”

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BELGIE
De Morgen

Er zijn niet enkele tientallen, maar wel honderden pv’s verdwenen uit het onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik in de Kerk. Welgeteld 445 om precies te zijn. Dat heeft minister van Justitie Annemie Turtelboom (Open Vld) bekendgemaakt in de Kamer. Intussen is een kopie van alle ontbrekende processen-verbaal wel weer aan het strafdossier toegevoegd. “Dat is dus opnieuw volledig”, klonk het. .

Gisteren raakte bekend dat tientallen pv’s zijn verdwenen. Ze zouden per vergissing door de poetsvrouw zijn weggegooid bij de verhuis van de griffier van toenmalig onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy. Maar een deel ging vermoedelijk ook mee naar huis om er daar verder aan te werken, zonder dat ze ooit terug tot op kantoor geraakten, klonk het.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

Tientallen pv’s in het onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik in de kerk zijn verdwenen. Dat schrijven de Coreliokranten. Ze werden per vergissing door de poetsvrouw weggegooid. Het federaal parket bevestigt de verdwijning, maar over de oorzaak spreken ze zich niet uit. “Het verhaal van de poetsvrouw is slechts een veronderstelling.” .

Colette Callewaert, de onderzoeksrechter die Wim De Troy afloste in het onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik in de kerk, stelde in april dit jaar vast dat tientallen processen-verbaal van de federale politie niet meer in het onderzoeksdossier zaten. Het zou onder meer gaan over verhoren van slachtoffers, maar ook over pv’s die gemaakt werden van verschillende huiszoekingen.

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COLORADO
Colorado Springs Gazette

October 19, 2012

R. SCOTT RAPPOLD
scott.rappold@gazette.com

A retired priest pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he lured a 15-year-old Colorado Springs boy into a sexual relationship.

The Rev. Charles Robert Manning, 77, is accused of molesting the boy while serving as pastor at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church, where he began work in 2007. The alleged abuse took place in June 2011.

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

Manning was suspended from the church in January and arrested in May.

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COLORADO
San Francisco Chronicle

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A retired Roman Catholic priest has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he engaged in sexual acts with a 15-year-old boy in Colorado Springs.

Charles Robert Manning pleaded not guilty Friday to three counts of sex assault on a child by one in a position of trust and two counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and sexual exploitation of children.

The Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/R8Muqe ) Manning is accused of molesting the boy while serving at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in 2007. He also is accused of giving the boy alcohol and marijuana.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Joshua J. McElwee | Oct. 19, 2012

The Knights of Columbus, the U.S. Catholic fraternal organization known for its wide-ranging charitable work and parish fish fries, has been a significant contributor to political efforts opposing same-sex marriage across the country, according to a study commissioned by a coalition of Catholic groups that support same-sex marriage.

“Since 2005, the Knights of Columbus has provided more than $15.8 million dollars toward [opposing same-sex marriage], providing $6.25 million directly to anti-marriage equality efforts,” says the report, released Thursday.

Earlier this year, a coalition called Equally Blessed commissioned a study of the Knights’ tax filings, annual statements and other public documents between 2005 and 2012. The result is a 37-page report, “The Strong Right Arm of the Bishops: The Knights of Columbus and Anti-Marriage Equality Funding.” …

The Equally Blessed group criticizes the Knights’ donations to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as “essentially untraceable.”

“Since the USCCB is part of the Catholic Church and does not have to report its charitable contributions, money given to the USCCB’s anti-marriage equality efforts is essentially untraceable unless it shows up in specific state-level reporting requirements,” the report states.

“This is especially important because it makes it difficult to ascertain how much the church has invested in influencing voters in Washington, Maryland, Maine and Minnesota, where marriage equality-related initiatives are on the ballot in November 2012,” the report says.

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BIRMINGHAM (AL)
AL.com

By Kent Faulk | kfaulk@al.com

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — A Birmingham Museum of Art security guard has been charged with receiving child pornography, which included movies and photographs shipped from a foreign country to his workplace at the museum.

Investigators also found pornographic images of young boys on the home computer of the guard, who was also involved with his church’s youth group, according to federal court documents.

Loyd Jeffrey Hitt, 53, of Center Point, was charged with receipt of child pornography in a court document filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday afternoon.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert R. Armstrong denied bond for Hitt during a hearing Thursday at the Hugo L. Black U.S. Courthouse, court records show. The judge also appointed defense lawyers to represent Hitt from the Federal Public Defender’s Office.

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HOUSTON (TX)
KTRK

Pooja Lodhia

HOUSTON (KTRK) — Investigators say they found hundreds of pictures and videos stored on Gordon Oehmig’s home computer. Oehmig was head wrestling coach at St. Thomas High School on Memorial Drive.

Houston police are warning parents that their kids could be victims. They are calling this an elevated threat because the suspect worked with kids, both as an employee and volunteer.

Oehmig, 29, bonded out of jail early Friday morning on a $20,000 bail. He has now been charged with five felony counts of possessing child pornography.

Investigators raided his home Thursday morning after Oehmig allegedly joined a file sharing network. They say they found 1,600 images and 550 videos of child pornography on his home computer. Most of the pictures allegedly involved young boys. We’re told there were 21 images of toddlers.

Police are now concerned the suspect may have even more victims. He was employed as the head wrestling coach at St. Thomas High School and the assistant wrestling coach at Episcopal High. Police say Oehmig also worked and volunteered at several other local wrestling organizations.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

By Robert Stanton | Friday, October 19, 2012

The wrestling coach at St. Thomas High School has been arrested on child porn charges, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Gordon Daniel Oehmig, 29, faces five counts of possession of child pornography, court records show. He was released from custody after posting a $20,000 bond on each count, for a total $100,000.

Oehmig was arrested at his Houston home Thursday following a monthlong investigation into the trafficking of child porn in the Harris County area.

Using specialized software, officers with the Houston Metro Internet Crime Against Children Taskforce located a computer online that was using a peer-to-peer program to share hundreds of images of child porn, according to an arrest warrant filed on Thursday.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Fox 26

By Alexander Supgul, Web Producer

HOUSTON (FOX 26) –
A former St. Thomas High School coach has been charged with possession of child pornography.

Gordon Daniel Oehmig is out of jail after he posted a $20,000 bond early on Friday morning and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, Oct. 22 to face the felony charges.

Oehmig has been charged with five counts of possessing child pornography and is no longer a coach at St. Thomas.

Houston police found Oehmig, 29, in possession almost 1,500 digital images and 500 digital videos of child pornography, according to court documents.

The videos and photos found in Oehmig’s possession include images of young boys and girls, ranging in age from toddlers to 9 years old, involved in explicit sexual acts, based on the probable cause statement filed against him.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Press

By Richard Connelly
Fri., Oct. 19 2012

A former Prep Coach of the Year from St. Thomas High has been arrested after authorities found 1,500 digital images and 500 videos of child porn on his computers, court documents show.

Gordon Daniel Oehmig, 29, is no longer at the school, but coached there from from 2009-12, when he won the coach of the year award.

Court documents say child-porn activity was traced to the IP address on his computer, and a search found the images and video. (The court document somehow lists the day of the search as October25, 2012, but that’s for the lawyers to hash out, we guess.)

Oehmig is a grad of The Kinkaid School and the University of North Carolina, according to a news profile in which he says ” “My job is not to just win or lose, but to help grow the kids personally, spiritually, and athletically. Part of that is making sure where they’re going to be after they leave St. Thomas.”

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HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU

Posted on October 19, 2012

HOUSTON – An assistant wrestling coach at St. Thomas Episcopal High School has been arrested on child porn charges.

Gordon Daniel Oehmig, 29, was taken into custody at his home Thursday　following a month-long investigation. He is charged with five counts of possession of child pornography.

Investigators with the Houston-Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force searched Oehmig’s Montrose home and seized several computers, a server and digital storing devices.

They say they found more than 1,000 images and video files of young children engaged in sex acts. The cases in which he is charged involved photos of girls and boys ranging from 1 to 9 years old who are being sexually abused by adults.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald

By Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith on Friday, 19 October 2012

Readers with long memories may recall the case of Salvatore Riina, the Sicilian mafia boss of all bosses. Mr Riina was on the run from the police for twenty-three years but was finally arrested in January 1993. I was living in Italy at the time, and the capture of Riina was hailed as a great success in the fight against crime. The fact that he had evaded capture for so long had been emblematic of the Italian state’s helplessness in the face of the Mafia.

Riina’s arrest probably did mark a turning point in the battle against the mafia in Sicily. But questions remain to this day. Riina was not on the run or in hiding in the usual sense of the word. There were no recent photos of him, so no one knew what he looked like, but he was living normally at home in Palermo, not in some mountain hideout, nor moving from place to place. He was, as they say, hiding in plain view. And it has often been assumed that he was able to do this with the connivance of the authorities: in other words, Riina had significant backing from politicians in Rome. …

There are one or two facts about the Soper case that make you wonder. He was interviewed by police in England, but the police did not photograph him, and they did not confiscate his passport There are no recent photographs of him ( a bit like Salvatore Riina) and there is also confusion about his age: it seems that he is 68, but other sources mention him being in his eighties. If he is living quietly in Italy, this raises important questions. Has he a bank account in his own name? Is he living under an alias, and if so, how did he acquire it? Who is helping him? Or has he been able to disappear relying purely on his own cunning? This seems doubtful: you cannot do anything in Italy without an identity card or passport. You cannot have someone to stay in your house for more than three nights without advising the police of it. There are numerous rules and regulations, all of which were flouted by Riina, but which Soper might find harder to avoid.

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IOWA
KCCI

KNOXVILLE, Iowa —

Former Pella pastor Patrick Edouard was sentenced Friday morning.

Sentencing:

Edouard received four years for the sexual exploitation charges, one for each of the four counts, and five years for the charge of a scheme, pattern or practice.

The sentences are expected to run concurrent, meaning Edouard will spend five years in prison.

Judge Paul Huscher also applied a special sentence. At the conclusion of his prison term, Edouard will serve an additional 10 years on parole or work-release.

Edouard will part of the sex offender registry for the rest of his life. There are also no contact orders in place with the victims or their families for the next five years.

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CHICAGO (IL)
What They Knew

In what would seemingly be an uncomfortable situation for all involved, The Jesuit Club of Chicago in having a luncheon speaker who successfully prosecuted one of their own in 2008, former US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. Why, is another question for both parties to answer. Fitzgerald stopped his office’s successful prosecution of a child abusing priest when the Jesuit hierarchy who covered-up child sex abuse for decades came under scrutiny. No one has yet figured out why the case was shut down when the grand jury, who wanted charges brought against the leadership of the Chicago Province, started asking uncomfortable questions about what the Jesuit leadership knew was going on for decades.

The Jesuits have a long history with former US Attorneys, the chief Federal prosecutor in a State, and have routinely hired them, both for their legal skills at defending the Order from criminal prosecution and for their political connections that ensure any criminal action brought against the Jesuits would have dire consequences politically. More on this later.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

The Boy Scouts of America, on order of the Oregon Supreme Court, yesterday released over 15,000 pages of files detailing child sexual abuse by scoutmasters and other volunteers from 1959 through 1985.

The pattern that is revealed is the same as that within the Roman Catholic Church and at PennState.

Our question is: will the response be the same or will there finally be an uprising of men and women of goodwill that will protect children and provide access to justice for survivors?

Don’t children matter?

If members of a religious organization that was proclaimed a moral pillar of the planet can’t lead in this fight to protect the innocent, guard the vulnerable and say and mean enough is enough can society in general?

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IOWA
Journal-Express

Steve Woodhouse
Journal-Express

Knoxville — The main courtroom in the Marion County Courthouse was filled with hugs and praise moments after former Pella Pastor Patrick Edouard was sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Edouard was convicted of four counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist and one count of entering into a pattern/scheme of exploitation by a therapist. He was sentenced to one year in prison on each of the exploitation counts and five years on the ongoing charge. The individual sentences per exploitation count will be served consecutively, and the sentence on the pattern charge will run concurrently with those.

Members of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Pella Police Department were stationed around the courtroom filled with members of the community Edouard’s crimes had affected. Edouard’s attorney, Angela Campbell, filed a motion in arrest of judgment and sought a new trial before the sentencing proceedings began. Judge Paul Huscher felt the jury’s findings were supported by adequate evidence and ruled against Campbell’s motions.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on October 18, 2012

Where is the list of scout officials who’ve been fired, demoted, disciplined and denounced by Scout executives for hiding child sex crimes of their colleagues? When Scout executives post that list on their websites, voluntarily, that’s when we’ll believe progress is happening.

Virtually every single fact about abuse that is publicly known about abuse and cover-ups in scouting has been made known despite, not because of, the Scout hierarchy. When scout officials claim that 60% of the cases in the newly released files had “some degree of public knowledge,” that’s irrelevant. What’s relevant is what percentage of those cases was made public voluntarily by Scout leaders. Scout executives should answer that today.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
Leon J. Podles: Dialogue

Archbishop Lori has written a column, “Remembering the painful past,” in Baltimore’s Catholic Review. He summaries the case of John Merzbacher, who abused dozens of children at a Catholic elementary school in south Baltimore, a school where Sister Eileen Weisman was principal. His version does not jibe with what the victims said or what was said to parents:

From my book, Sacrilege:

One alleged victim said that he saw Merzbacher having intercourse on a table with Sister Eileen Weismann, the principal of the Catholic Community Middle School at which he taught from 1972 to 1979. Several plaintiffs said that Merzbacher bragged about it: “Privately he would say he would have to fuck her so that he could do what he wanted in the school.”

His former students said that Merzbacher had a gun in his desk; he once held it to a victim’s head when he molested her. He had sex, according to the plaintiffs, with many boys and girls during and after school. Sister Eileen, the plaintiffs said, saw the molestation and did nothing. The students were terrified into silence after Merzbacher convinced them that he had Mafia connections. Gary Homberg, who taught at the school with Merzbacher, gave an affidavit in which he said, “I personally observed John Merzbacher sexually touching, molesting, and fondling both male and female students.” After one student came to Homberg to tell him that Merzbacher “was raping him and threatening to kill him if he ever told anyone,” Homberg called a meeting at his house with Sister Eileen, the Rev. Herbert Derwart, another priest, and told them what had happened. The three archdiocesan employees met privately, and then told Homberg “that they would like me to continue as a teacher in the school, but only under the condition that I made no mention to anyone of my observations on John Merzbacher’s sexual misconduct.: Homberg resigned his teaching position, but he did not tell anyone of Merzbacher’s conduct because he was afraid of him.

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