ABUSE TRACKER

WAUKESHA (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Waukesha priest removed from ministry for sexually assaulting minor; Fr. John Schreiter had been suspended and reinstated once before

June 10, 2012

Waukesha priest removed from ministry for sexual assaulting minor
Fr. John Schreiter had been suspended and reinstated once before

CONTACT
John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director, 414.336.8575
Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director, 414.429.7259

Fr. John Schreiter, pastor of St. John Neumann parish in Waukesha, has been removed from ministry for reports of sexually assaulting a minor several decades ago by Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki. The announcement was made this morning at the conclusion of mass by Fr. Bill Kohler, Vicar General of the Archdiocese. Schreiter had been previously suspended from ministry for sexual abuse allegations in 2004 when he was pastor of St. Bruno’s Church in Dousman. The report was ruled “unsubstantiated” at the time by the archdiocese and Schreiter was reinstated.

“This obviously raises serious questions as to the previous investigation and why Schreiter was put back in ministry in 2004 and allowed to have further access to children,” says John Pilmaier, the Wisconsin Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPwisconsin.com). “But more importantly,” according to Pilmaier, “why has Schreiter been removed and investigated when there are allegedly dozens of more newly named clergy reported to have sexually assaulted children as part of the Milwaukee Archdiocese bankruptcy filing in federal court? Who is vetting the mechanisms and procedures that are supposed to be in place to investigate these dozens of newly alleged child molesters? ”

Schreiter’s previous assignment before becoming pastor of St. John Neumann in June 2010 was St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Beaver Dam. Schreiter worked in several assignments over the course of his career, including St. Gall Parish in Milwaukee’s inner city where Schreiter was Vicar of Inner City Parishes for the archdiocese.

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VATICAN CITY
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)

Anti Mafia prosecutors have asked the secretive Vatican Bank to disclose details of an account held by a priest in connection with a money laundering and fraud investigation, it emerged on Sunday.

By Nick Pisa in Rome
10:25PM BST 10 Jun 2012

The official request was made more than a month ago but so far the Vatican Bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works, has refused to disclose any records of the account held by father Ninni Treppiedi – who is currently suspended from serving as a priest.

Investigators want to know more about vast sums of money that are said to have passed through his account to establish if they were money laundering operations by on the run Mafia Godfather, Matteo Messina Denaro.

The reports emerged in the Italian media and came just two weeks after the head of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was sacked amid claims of power struggles and corruption within the Holy See which have been linked to the leaking of sensitive documents belonging to Pope Benedict XVI.

More in line with a Dan Brown thriller, it is not the first time that the Vatican Bank has been embroiled in claims of Mafia money laundering. Thirty years ago this month financier Roberto Calvi was found hanging under London’s Blackfriars Bridge with cash and bricks stuffed into his pockets.

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NEW YORK
The Wall Street Journal

Associated Press

NEW YORK — The abuse went on for nearly three years before the schoolgirl told anyone that her spiritual adviser was molesting her while he was supposed to be mentoring her about her religion, authorities said.

But in Brooklyn’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community, 53-year-old Nechemya Weberman has been embraced and defended as wrongly accused. The girl has been called a slut and a troublemaker, her family threatened and spat at on the street.

The rallying around Weberman, who goes on trial this month, and ostracizing of his accuser and her family reflects long-held beliefs in this insular community that problems should be dealt with from within and that elders have far more authority than the young. It also brought to light allegations that the district attorney was too cozy with powerful rabbis, a charge he vehemently denies.

“There are other people that claim misconduct and they can’t come out because they’re going to be re-victimized and ostracized by the community,” said Judy Genut, a friend of the accuser’s family who counsels troubled girls.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY MCGARRY and GENEVIEVE CARBERY

The papal legate to the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin has prayed that the event will “bring a special blessing to Ireland at this turbulent time”.

In a homily at the opening Mass at the RDS this evening, attended by about 12,500 people, Cardinal Mark Ouellett acknowledged that the Church in Ireland is “suffering” and “faces many new and serious challenges” of the faith.

“Well aware of these challenges, we turn together to Our Lord, who renews, heals and strengthens the faith of His people,” he said.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY MCGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

A number of small protests were staged at entrances to the Eucharistic Congress at Dublin’s RDS today.

Separate protests were staged by abuse survivors, a Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) group, Atheist Ireland and a parent and former Dublin school board member who wants his school named after someone other than former arcbishop of Dublin Dermot Ryan.

At the main entrance to the congress site, abuse survivor Paddy Doyle said nobody was listening to the protests. “Priests and bishops are just walking by,” he said.

It was “offensive” to hold the congress in Ireland at this time, he claimed. “There’s s still an awful lot of rawness out there where the abused are concerned. We’re still smarting…after the Redress Board, all the reports,” he said.

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IRELAND
RTE News

A number of protest groups have gathered outside the RDS in Dublin this afternoon to demonstrate against the holding of the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.

About ten people representing Survivors of Child Abuse and survivors of the Magdelene Laundries are demonstrating to highlight their disgust at the refusal of Cardinal Seán Brady to resign as Primate of All Ireland.

SOCA spokesperson John Kelly said it was a small dignified protest. He said thousands of people had wanted to come but as emotions were running so high they felt it would be wrong to do so.

But he said they wanted to send a clear message to the Vatican that no longer would people be able to get immunity from crimes that happen in this country.

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IRELAND
AFP

DUBLIN — Around 20,000 pilgrims on Sunday attended the start of an international Catholic festival of faith and culture in Ireland where the church has been hit by child abuse scandals and falling attendance.

The 50th International Eucharistic Congress began with an open-air mass in the Royal Dublin Society on the southside of the city which has been transformed into a religious village for the week-long event.

Some 10,000 pilgrims from more than 120 countries are attending the Congress which is an international gathering held every four years.

However, there were also a number of protest pickets at the opening mass, including victims of child abuse.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who is president of the Congress, said the abuse of children by priests was a “travesty”.

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IRELAND
Houston Chronicle

SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press
Updated 01:47 p.m., Sunday, June 10, 2012

DUBLIN (AP) — An international conference celebrating Roman Catholicism opened Sunday in Ireland against a backdrop of anger over child abuse cover-ups and evidence of declining faith in core church beliefs.

About 12,000 Catholics, many from overseas, gathered for an open-air Mass in a half-full Dublin stadium at the start of the Eucharistic Congress, a weeklong event organized by the Vatican every four years in a different part of the world. The global gathering, begun in the 19th century and last held in Quebec in 2008, highlights the Catholic Church’s belief in transubstantiation, the idea that bread and wine transforms during Mass into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ.

An opinion poll of Irish Catholics found that two-thirds of Irish Catholics don’t believe this, nor do they attend Mass weekly. The survey, published in The Irish Times with an error margin of 3 points, also found that just 38 percent believe Ireland today would be in worse shape without its dominant church. And just three-fifths even knew the Eucharistic Congress was coming to Ireland.

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IRELAND
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin

Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin

Gaudet Mater Ecclesia: Our Mother the Church rejoices. These were the first words of the homily preached at the opening of the Second Vatican Council by Blessed Pope John XXIII, almost fifty years ago.

Today the Church in Ireland rejoices. It rejoices not in triumphalism or external festivities. It rejoices in the gift of this Eucharistic Congress which has been attentively prepared throughout the length and breath of Ireland through prayerful reflection on the great Mystery of our Faith: the sacrificial death and the life-giving resurrection of Jesus, present in the Church wherever the Eucharist is celebrated and worshipped.

The Church in Ireland rejoices today in the presence of pilgrims from many parts of the world who witness to the universality of our Catholic faith and who show their faith-filled fellowship and solidarity with the Church in Ireland. …

The Church in Ireland is a Church on the path to renewal. The fifty years since the Second Vatican Council have brought many graces to the Church in Ireland. The message and teaching of the Council still constitute the blueprint for our renewal.

But those fifty years have also been marked with a darker side, of sinful and criminal abuse and neglect of those weakest in our society: children, who should have been the object of the greatest care and support and Christ-like love. We recall all those who suffered abuse and who still today bear the mark of that abuse and may well carry it with them for the rest of their lives. In a spirit of repentance, let us remember each of them in the silence of our hearts.

The Church in Ireland is on the path to renewal. It will be a lengthy journey. It requires renewed and vigorous New Evangelization, a renewal in faith and in coherent and authentic witness to that faith in the world and in the culture in which we live.

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IRELAND
The Press Association

One of the most senior members of the Catholic Church in Ireland has called on thousands of pilgrims to remember victims of clerical abuse.

As 50 protesters picketed the RDS where the 50th Eucharistic Congress opened on Sunday, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin reflected on the “darker side” of the Church.

“The 50 years since the Second Vatican Council have brought many graces to the Church in Ireland,” said Archbishop Martin. “But those 50 years have also been marked with a darker side, of sinful and criminal abuse and neglect of those weakest in our society: children, who should have been the object of the greatest care and support and Christ-like love.”

As the Archbishop made his opening address, clerical abuse victim campaigners Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (Irish SOCA) staged a peaceful protest at the gates of the RDS, where the Eucharistic Congress is being held over the next week.

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HOLYOKE (MA)
The Republican

By Jeanette DeForge, The Republican

HOLYOKE – Protesters have decided to comply with an order from the Vatican’s highest court and end a round-the-clock prayer vigil at the Mater Dolorosa Church.

“We are starting our systematic withdrawal today,” said Victor Anop, of Chicopee, an organizer for the vigil.

The group must remove some personal property people have brought in for over the past 12 months but they should be finished in a day or two. The members plan to notify the security officers for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield before they leave.

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ROME
Corriere della Sera

ROMA – «Lei si sente come l’uomo nero che voleva fare male a Ettore Gotti Tedeschi?».
A ben vederlo, maglietta Lacoste a mezze maniche, mocassino fuori ordinanza, capelli cortissimi, l’aspetto dell’uomo nero non ce l’ha neppure un po’. Si scusa subito per aver violato il dress code del dirigente di banca. «Vengo da casa, sa, è sabato pomeriggio». Eccolo qui, quello che Gotti avrebbe descritto nel suo memorandum come il suo nemico numero uno, quello che avrebbe tramato per cacciarlo dalla banca. L’appuntamento è alle 18 a Porta Sant’Anna, i piazzali sono vuoti, senza una macchina parcheggiata, si sale su, al Cortile di San Damaso, poi un piccolo portoncino con un campanello che sembra quello di una casa. È Paolo Cipriani, direttore generale dello Ior dal giugno 2007, dopo aver avuto un’esperienza internazionale per banche italiane in Lussemburgo, a New York e a Londra. Un protagonista centrale del caso che ha portato il 24 maggio all’uscita traumatica di Gotti dall’Istituto. Parla per la prima volta.

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ROME
CNBC

Published: Sunday, 10 Jun 2012

ROME (Reuters) – A senior official of the Vatican’s bank denied on Sunday a reports that prominent Italian lay clients including politicians held secret numbered accounts at the institution, which is caught up in a money laundering investigation.

The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) has been in the spotlight since 2010 when Italian investigators froze 23 million euros ($28.75 million) of its funds in Italian banks as part of their inquiry.

In a newspaper interview published on Sunday, IOR’s Director General Paolo Cipriani denied allegations which have surfaced since its president was abruptly ousted.

“There are no numbered accounts or accounts of politicians,” Cipriani told Corriere della Sera. “The only non-clergy Italians that hold accounts are employees or pensioners of the Holy See.”

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Jun. 10, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

ST. LOUIS — Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley addressed for the first time publicly Friday evening the Vatican’s harsh criticism of one of her books, saying it points to “profoundly important” questions facing the Catholic community regarding the roles of truth and power.

Speaking slowly, and at times faltering for words, Farley, a prominent moral theologian, addressed the issue during a session at the 67th annual meeting of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) that saw some 300 colleagues gather to ask what the Vatican’s critique might mean for the future of their discipline.

Ultimately, said Farley on Friday, the critique of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of her book Just Love, indicates different understandings of the role of theologians in the church and how our tradition changes and grows over time.

“We clearly have grown in many spheres of knowledge — about humans, about the way the universe runs,” said Farley. “It seems reasonable … that if we come to know even a little bit more than we knew before, it might be that the conclusions that we had previously drawn need to be developed. Or maybe even let go of.

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ROME
Chiesa

In a Church that has its most promising “market” not in Europe but in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and even in the United States, the signs are pointing to a single candidate: Canadian cardinal Marc Ouellet

by Sandro Magister

ROME, June 10, 2012 – The Catholic Church is like Fiat-Chrysler. Slumping in Italy and Europe, it is coming back strong in the United States and has its most promising market in the rest of the world. With a clue about who the future pope will be.

The nation that has the largest number of Catholics today is Brazil, with 134 million, more than Italy, France, and Spain put together. Catholicism there has successfully confronted fierce competition, which in recent decades inflicted serious damage on it. Because when liberation theology was in fashion among the neo-Marxist Catholic élite, the faithful did not convert en masse to their message. They went over by the millions to the new Pentecostalist Churches, with their festive celebrations, music, singing, healings, speaking in tongues. But now this exodus has stopped. In the Catholic Church as well, the faithful are finding the warmth of participation and firmness of doctrine that three and four centuries ago brought success to the Reductions, the Jesuit missions among the Indians. Next year, world youth day will be in Brazil. Pope Joseph Ratzinger has promised that he will be there.

Then there are the Asian tigers. South Korea is the emblem of these. There the number of Catholics is rising at an astonishing rate, with tens of thousands of adults baptized each year. They were the soul of the popular movement that peacefully overthrew the military dictatorship. And they are an active part of the productive classes that produced the Korean economic miracle. In the capital, Seoul, they are now 15 percent of the population, when only half a century ago they didn’t even exist. And as in a big company, the Korean Catholic Church has set itself the goal of converting 20 percent of the population by 2020: “Evangelization Twenty Twenty” is the title of the program.

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UNITED STATES
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

June 10, 2012

By Ann Rodgers / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Sister Janet Mock, a Pittsburgher at the center of the dispute between the Vatican and an umbrella group for nuns, is perplexed at the order for an archbishop to oversee her work.

She acknowledges that a few sisters have moved so far outside church tradition that it’s difficult to recognize them as Catholic. But the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, of which she is the executive director, didn’t encourage that, she said.

“I have been actively involved in LCWR for over 20 years and, for the life of me, I don’t know what the myth is that makes it such an ogre in the church,” said the Sister of St. Joseph of Baden.

On Tuesday she will meet in Rome with Cardinal William Levada of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle, who is slated to oversee a reform of the LCWR. They will discuss the sisters’ concerns that the evaluation is unfair.

“Somebody, and we don’t know who, is behind all of this questioning of our organization,” she said. “If we could just sit down with whoever has a question, I think it would be easier. This comes close to maligning the organization, painting everybody in it with the same brush.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The notes trickled out, a few each day, from the jury room behind Courtroom 304.

Define attempted rape. Explain endangerment and pedophilia. Send in the files, a marker board, and easel.

Trying to interpret the signals during deliberations in the landmark child sex-abuse trial of two Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests may be a fool’s errand, experts say. What was clear after one week was that the Common Pleas Court jury was immersed in its task.

“This is a jury that’s been asking a lot of questions, which means that they are engaged,” said Edward D. Ohlbaum, a professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.

The seven men and five women met for nearly 25 hours over five days to consider the charges against Msgr. William J. Lynn and the Rev. James J. Brennan. They sent more than a dozen questions and requests to Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina in their first four days, seeking guidance on the law or pieces of evidence.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Beast

Barbie Latza Nadeau

The recently ousted head of the Vatican bank may have evidence that the organization is involved in money laundering—and now he’s afraid for his life. By Barbie Latza Nadeau

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi feared for his life when he was ousted as head of the Vatican bank after a vote of no confidence May 24.

The 67-year-old Italian was brought in by the pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in 2009 with a mandate to turn the troubled bank around and help “facilitate transparency” with an eye toward quashing rumors that the bank was a den of iniquity. The Vatican had hoped that through Gotti Tedeschi’s guidance, the tiny city-state could finally earn a coveted spot on the global Financial Action Task Force “white list” of states whose financial practices can be trusted.

In reality, Gotti Tedeschi says he found the bank’s record much worse than he could have imagined, and that he spent the last two years struggling endlessly against the Vatican’s powerful Vatican forces, whom he says blocked his every attempt at transparency. He stormed out of his final meeting of the board of the Vatican bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), even before they cast their no-confidence vote against him. The bank says it dismissed him due to lack of management skills and “progressively erratic personal behavior.” But Gotti Tedeschi says he was ousted because he got too close to the truth about the bank’s alleged shady dealings. He told a Reuters journalist moments after he was sacked, “I have paid the price for transparency.”

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UNITED STATES
Toledo Blade

BY MARILOU JOHANEK
BLADE COLUMNIST

Fundamental fever grips the Vatican. The affliction is evident in the renewed mission of the church to separate the wheat from the chaff among Roman Catholics in the United States, to cull the conservatives from the liberals who cause so much trouble.

Under Pope Benedict XVI, a paternalistic pattern of crackdowns, censorship, and intolerance for dissent is emerging. The largest Christian denomination in America, and one of the world’s largest religions, has taken a hard turn to the right.

The Catholic Church is on a path toward imposed orthodoxy. Like a father who pulls unruly children into line, the mission of Benedict and his bishops is to regain control over freethinking faithful who dare to question their authority.

This is miter muscle. Power is maintained through dictate, not dialogue. No one but the church hierarchy has the wisdom to decree the right words to pray, what to think on issues from contraception to gay marriage, why to believe, or who can belong.

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AUSTRALIA
WPEC

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian bishop who ruffled the Vatican’s feathers by calling for reform says his decision to retire early is his alone and is unrelated to his differences with Catholic Church leaders.

Pope Benedict XVI last week accepted Bishop Patrick Power’s resignation five years before the mandatory retirement age of 75.

The auxiliary bishop of the Australian capital Canberra said Sunday he has long planned to retire at 70 and will continue to work as a priest.

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ATLANTA (GA)
Charlotte Observer

By KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press

ATLANTA The 15-year-old daughter of megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar told authorities her father choked and punched her, and hit her with his shoe during an argument over whether she could go to a party, according to a police report.

Dollar’s 19-year-old daughter corroborated most of her sister’s story, but Dollar disputed it, telling a sheriff’s deputy he was trying to restrain her when she became disrespectful. When she began to hit back, he wrestled her to the floor and spanked her, according to the police report.

Dollar is one of the most prominent African-American preachers based around Atlanta. His World Changers Church International has 30,000 members in the Atlanta area, and the ministry has satellite churches across the U.S.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

James Robertson
June 10, 2012

A DISSIDENT Catholic bishop who criticised the church’s ”authoritarian” nature and doctrines on celibacy and female priests has resigned.

Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Patrick Power, an auxiliary bishop of the Canberra-Goulburn archdiocese, on Thursday, five years before he reached the church’s mandatory retirement age of 75.

Bishop Power had criticised the church’s response to sexual abuse scandals and called for its systemic reform.

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UNITED STATES
Erie Times-News

Editorial

The Erie County Courthouse at 140 W. Sixth St. and the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte are about 200 miles apart. The Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, in turn, is approximately 200 miles from Bellefonte. But long distances don’t matter. Throughout Pennsylvania, many eyes are focused on high-profile courtroom cases alleging sexual abuse of youngsters, and the price that is paid when such travesties occur.

On June 1, a federal jury in U.S. District Court in Erie awarded $8,654,769 to Kenny Bryan, 20, who sued two Erie County Office of Children and Youth social workers. The lawsuit claimed that Bryan’s civil rights were violated when the social workers place a sexually aggressive 14-year-old foster child with the family that adopted Bryan, a former foster child. This lawsuit was about the “very broken child-welfare system” that harmed Bryan, said his adoptive mother, Bonnie Bryan, after the verdict. …

The Associated Press reported that the Philadelphia archdiocese spent $11.6 million in legal fees in the last two fiscal years, most of it on priest abuse sex cases. Additional money has been spent on a criminal case in which one priest was charged with raping a 14-year-old boy and another was charged with helping to cover up sexual assaults of children. “It’s a great sadness that people were hurt and that the costs have been so great for the people of Philadelphia,” Archbishop Charles Chaput said.

For victims, families and society, the true toll of sexual abuse can never be measured in dollars spent in the courtroom. We can only hope that these high-profile cases raise awareness about sexual abuse, perhaps preventing such trauma from occurring in the first place, and then also helping professionals learn how to help victims heal.

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ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union

By Brendan J. Lyons
Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Albany Roman Catholic diocese’s handling of sexual-abuse complaints against priests has the potential to be laid bare in a Vermont federal court where a Glens Falls man has filed an unprecedented lawsuit against the priest who was convicted of taking him across state lines to rape him when he was a young altar boy.

For the full story buy a copy of the Sunday Times Union at your favorite newsstand. It will appear later this week on timesunion.com.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Chronicle

Written by BISHOP LEONARD P. BLAIR

Friday, 08 June 2012

When you are in a position of leadership or authority, it is a great cross sometimes to know firsthand the actual facts of a situation and then have to listen to all the distortions and misrepresentation of the facts that are made in the public domain.

Having conducted the doctrinal assessment of the entity known as the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), I can only marvel at what is now being said, both within and outside the Church, regarding the process and the recent steps taken by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to remedy significant and longstanding doctrinal problems connected with the activities and programs of the LCWR.

The biggest distortion of all is the claim that the CDF and the bishops are attacking or criticizing the life and work of our Catholic sisters in the United States. One report on the CBS evening news showcased the work of a Mercy Sister who is a medical doctor in order to compare her to the attack that she and sisters like her are supposedly being subjected to by authoritarian bishops. The report concludes with a statement that the bishops impose the rules of the Church but the sisters carry on the work of the Church.

Unless the sister in question is espousing and/or promoting positions contrary to Catholic teaching—and there was no reason given to think that she is—then the Holy See’s doctrinal concerns are not directed at her or at the thousands of religious sisters in our country like her to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude for all that they do in witness to the Gospel.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

[Reality check: The LCWR, CDF and the doctrinal assessment – Catholic Chronicle]

by Joshua J. McElwee on Jun. 09, 2012 NCR Today

One of the three bishops appointed by the Vatican to oversee the group representing the majority of U.S. women religious says the that the bishops “have a legitimate cause for doctrinal concern” about the group.

Bishop Leonard Blair of the Toledo diocese, who was appointed in April along with Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain and Springfield, Ill., Bishop Thomas Paprocki to oversee the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), made the comments in a column in the Toledo diocesan newspaper Friday.

Appearance of the column by Blair, who undertook the “doctrinal assessment” for the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) which led to the appointment of the bishops to oversee LCWR, comes as two of the LCWR’s leaders are expected to meet in Rome with the head of the congregation, Cardinal William Levada, and Sartain June 12.

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DUITSLAND
Katholiek Nieuwsblad (Nederland)

Seksueel geweld treft volgens de Duitse misbruik-expert Ursula Enders de Evangelische Kerk in Duitsland net zo hard als de rooms-katholieke.

“De Evangelische Kerk heeft zichzelf lange tijd in slaap gewiegd en geloofd ‘bij ons gebeurt dat niet, want het ligt aan het celibaat’”, aldus de therapeute tijdens een bijeenkomst over misbruik in instellingen.

Dat is volgens haar een mythe. “Misbruik heeft met het celibaat weinig te maken.” Enders is directrice van ‘Zartbitter’, een instelling tegen seksueel misbruik van meisjes en jongens in Keulen.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

Intrigue mounts over Vatican bank chief ouster; leaks show board, psych questioned behavior

By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, June 9

VATICAN CITY — Intrigue is mounting over the controversial ouster of the Vatican bank’s president, with leaked documents showing the bank’s board members and even a psychiatrist questioned his behavior and fitness for the job months before he was fired.

The board ousted Ettore Gotti Tedeschi on May 24, firing a man handpicked by the pope’s No. 2 to help turn around a bank plagued for decades by scandal.

The board has already made public a scathing denunciation of Gotti Tedeschi’s failings as bank president. On Saturday an Italian newspaper reproduced a letter from the bank’s in-house psychiatrist who in March wrote the bank’s general director with concerns about Gotti Tedeschi’s personal behavior. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter Saturday.

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IRELAND
Vatican Insider

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin hopes it will promote ‘reconciliation’ and encourage ‘renewal’ in the Catholic Church in this island that has suffered greatly from the sexual-abuse of children by priests’ scandal

Gerard O’Connell
Rome

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, representing Pope Benedict XVI, will preside at the opening Mass of 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, on Sunday, June 10. Some 230 cardinals and bishops together with 12,000 priests will join in the opening celebration that will be attended by some 25,000 Catholics including over 7,000 pilgrims from 120 countries. The event will be broadcast on national TV and be given wide media coverage. Pope Benedict has recorded a message for the occasion.

The week-long ceremony will focus on the theme of “Communion” – a central concept of the Second Vatican Council, in 160 workshops, talks, discussions, group reflections. It will showcase Irish spirituality and culture in over 100 stands, and celebrate it with a rich contribution of Irish song and music.

It is only the second time the Congress is being held in Ireland and, significantly, each time it has taken place after an event that has shook the country. The first one was held in 1932, also in Dublin, not long after the end of a bitter civil war that divided the country and families. This time too it comes after another bitter event: – more than two decades of revelations of the terrible abuse of children by clergy and religious men and women that shocked the nation and brought the Catholic Church and its leadership to its knees.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Jun. 08, 2012
By Joe Orso

Essay

The Eucharist will live only if we find a way for it to live outside the Mass. I heard this from a Catholic sister last year, who was quoting a lay parish worker.

Another sister told me this about a decade ago: The hierarchy is like a dying dragon, breathing fire on those around it as it flails through its final collapse. But don’t worry, she said, it is dying and someday something else will resurrect.

I believe both of those statements, I love both of those sisters, and the recent news about the Vatican’s actions toward the Leadership Conference of Women Religious does not stir anger in me one bit.

I am not shocked by the Vatican’s bad manners in handling the incident, nor by the hypocrisy of these so recently scandalized Catholic authorities attacking some of the most admired members of our Catholic family. At this point I, like many, expect such behavior.

Even more than a dragon, the church hierarchy looks to me like a senile old man, babbling, impotent and chastising anyone within earshot. What I struggle to understand is why anyone with a congruent perspective still listens to the old man. Why do thinking Catholics become outraged by the absurd actions of a hierarchy that holds little moral or practical authority in the world?

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Il Fatto Quotidiano

Uno psicoterapeuta osservò durante una festa il comportamento dell’ex presidente della banca vaticana. Poi la “diagnosi” arrivò sulla scrivania di Bertone. Seguita dalle lettere del vicepresidente e del segretario dello Ior: “O il banchiere o noi”

di Marco Lillo | 9 giugno 2012

I documenti che pubblichiamo in esclusiva oggi sarebbero una buona base per un legal thriller dentro le mura leonine. Nemmeno John Grisham e Dan Brown avevano ipotizzato la seguente scena descritta in una delle lettere: Pietro Lasalvia, “psicoterapeuta e ipnoterapeuta”, come scrive nell’incipit della sua roboante carta intestata (nella quale prosegue vantando le seguenti specializzazioni: “psicoterapia occupazionale; perfezionato in psichiatria di consultazione, e clinica pscicosomatica; specializzazione in psicoterapia; iscritto nell’elenco degli psicoterapeuti presso l’Ordine dei medici; professore a contratto presso il corso di laurea nella professione sanitaria, seconda facoltà di medicina e chirurgia La Sapienza”) nel marzo scorso arriva a scrivere una sorta di diagnosi a scoppio ritardato sul conto del presidente dello Ior. Lasalvia è un medico che si occupa della salute sul lavoro dei dipendenti dello Ior ed è in ottimi rapporti con Paolo Cipriani, il direttore generale, il vero uomo forte dello Ior, che è in forte contrasto con Gotti Tedeschi.

La festa di Natale
Prima delle feste di Natale 2011 viene invitato a un rinfresco allo Ior e, casualmente, per tutta la serata osserva a sua insaputa il comportamento del presidente dello Ior sotto il profilo medico per poi stilare un rapportino che finisce però solo tre mesi dopo, caualmente quando infuria lo scontro su Gotti, tramite la direzione generale dello Ior, sul tavolo della Segreteria di Stato. Questa sorta di certificato diventa così un’arma che i nemici del presidente brandiscono sulla sua testa e che dà forza e fondamento medico ad altri due documenti che pubblichiamo: la lettera del segretario del consiglio dello Ior Carl A. Anderson e la missiva del vicepresidente Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz. Entrambe le lettere dei due uomini forti dello Ior sono dirette a Tarcisio Bertone e contengono accuse pesantissime a Gotti Tedeschi.

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VATICAN CITY
AFP

ROME — Vatican bank board members plotted to oust their director, letters leaked to an Italian newspaper on Saturday showed, as prosecutors investigated possible money-laundering operations at the bank.

The board dismissed Ettore Gotti Tedeschi on May 24, a day before Vatican police arrested Pope Benedict XVI’s butler for allegedly leaking sensitive papal documents to the press in an apparently unrelated case.

Ahead of the board meeting, according to letters in the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano that could not be independently verified, the bank’s vice president Ronaldo Schmitz threatened to resign if Gotti Tedeschi was not dismissed.

Gotti Tedeschi “does not have the necessary qualities to guide the Institute,” Schmitz wrote in the letter, referring to the bank’s official name, the Institute for Religious Works, or IOR under its Italian acronym.

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ROME
The Guardian (United Kingdom)

Tom Kington in Rome
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 9 June 2012

She is the American nun who after 15 years spent working with war refugees in El Salvador now leads the majority of the 57,000 Catholic sisters in the US. He is the American cardinal who marched in San Francisco protesting against gay marriage and was accused of turning a blind eye to paedophile priests before he took over the Vatican’s doctrinal office, the modern version of the Inquisition.

On Tuesday, Pat Farrell and William Levada will clash in Rome at the climax of a raging row over what Catholicism means for women. It will be a confrontation that pits America’s increasingly independent and broad-minded nuns against the Vatican’s male guardians of the faith. “Pat Farrell knows it will be daunting, but she sees the importance of this meeting for the whole Catholic community,” said her spokeswoman, Sister Annmarie Sanders.

The showdown follows the claim by Levada’s department that Farrell’s Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the umbrella organisation for most US orders, has been promoting “radical feminism” and glossing over the Vatican’s hard line on gay marriage and abortion.

To set the sisters straight, Levada plans to send an archbishop to rewrite the group’s statute and institute re-education programmes to combat heterodox thinking. The reaction from Farrell, the group’s president, was swift, denouncing the Vatican move as causing “pain and scandal”. “We’re all hurt by this,” she told the National Catholic Reporter.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

[memorandum – Carl Anderson]

The method used to get rid of the Vatican bank’s former head have created an image of the Vatican divided by power struggles

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

Looking back at the flurry of events that have shaken the Vatican in recent weeks and the recent developments in the case of the Vatican bank’s former director, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, one had to admit that the Vatican could not have chosen a worse time to get rid of him. The banker’s dismissal – which was decided by the supervisory council, a board of laymen made up of a German, Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz, an American, Carl Anderson (the Knights of Columbus leader), an Italian, Antonio Maria Marocco and a Spaniard, Manuel Sotoserrano – was announced the day after Benedict XVI’s butler was arrested on charges of possessing confidential documents he was not authorised to.

The Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, had tried to mediate to remedy the rift within the Vatican bank (IOR), but in the end, the board of laymen decided to proceed anyway. In terms of media strategy, the decision to “dismiss” Gotti Tedeschi with such a harsh document that destroyed him both morally and professionally, which led to believe that he was also implicated in the document leak by Vatican poison pen letter writers, was not a wise one. Carl Anderson’s letter (which listed nine reasons for the no-confidence vote) was intended as an official response to the explanation Gotti Tedeschi had leaked beforehand, linking his abrupt removal to clashes over the anti-money laundering laws in force and the rescue of Milan’s Saint Raffaele hospital. That the IOR should intervene to explain the reasons for the no-confidence vote in Gotti Tedeschi was perfectly understandable. What was not was the fact that they did this by publishing an excessively harsh document, written in a style that was nothing like that typically used by the Holy See.

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ROME
Vatican Insider

The Franciscan Brothers Minor have sent an open letter to Rome asking for the rules of the Catholic Magisterium to be respected

Maria Teresa Pontara Pederiva
Rome

Some are talking about a “boomerang effect” but it is still early days. The reactions triggered by the Vatican’s investigations into the LCWR show no sign of ceasing. After letters and demonstrations – such as last week’s one in Washington, during which the city’s Apostolic Nuncio, Viganò, opened the doors of the Vatican embassy to some LCWR demonstrators – and after stands were taken by important figures from the world of culture, journalists and individual clerics such as the Jesuit, James Martin, it is now the turn of the Franciscan Brothers Minor of the United States to do their bit. The organisation sent an open letter, dated 31 May, to Rome which is now being published across U.S. and foreign media.

The fact that the letter was signed by the heads of all 7 American Provinces and that the minister general was also an American – the only one in the Order’s history – proves it is an influential document. The minister general, Fr. John Vaughn from the Province of Santa Barbara (which comprises all Western American states) had lived in Rome from 1985 to 1991.

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KENTUCKY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on June 08, 2012

We applaud Rep. Burch for his courage. It’s always tough to disclose horrific childhood trauma, especially at the hands of a trusted clergyman.

But each time a victim speaks publicly, he or she makes the road to recovery a little less lonely for others who are suffereing.

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KENTUCKY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on June 08, 2012

We are grateful that a victim of Rev. Louis Francis Piskula has stepped forward and is cooperating with law enforcement. When victims stay silent, nothing changes. But when victims find the courage to take action, there’s at least a chance for prevention, healing and justice.

If you were hurt by this priest – or any church employee – suffering in shame, isolation and self-blame won’t fix it. Only by stepping forward, speaking up and getting help can you both recover personally and help others. Now’s the time to do it.

We hope that every person who has any information or suspicions that could shed light on these allegations will find the courage and strength to call police so that the full truth might become clear.

We especially hope that every person who suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Kentucky will find the courage and strength to speak up, call police, expose wrongdoing, protect kids and start healing.

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SACRAMENTO (CA)
The Record Searchlight

SACRAMENTO — The preliminary hearing scheduled today for a suspended Redding priest charged with seven felony counts of child molestation was continued until July 20, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento County district attorney’s office said this afternoon.

The Rev. Uriel Ojeda, 32, was arrested Nov. 30, 2011, after surrendering to law enforcement officials in Sacramento County after the diocese received a complaint from a parishioner’s family.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on June 8, 2012

San Diego, California: Fr. Jose Alexis Davila was arrested in January 2012 and pled guilty in April for battery and “unlawful touching of an intimate part of a victim’s body.” He is serving three years’ probation.

Parishioners tried to accost the victim’s mother at prayer group in an attempt to get her to recant her story, confronted her other family members and called the 19-year-old a liar in the media.

The diocese put Davila back into unresricted ministry in May, saying

“All legitimate and pastoral concerns have been addressed as regards his case.

Consequently, we have no reason to believe that women or children are at risk because of his return to ministry. He returned to St. Jude at the beginning of May.”

When SNAP asked that Davila (who is still on probation), be taken out of the parish and assigned to a remote and secure facility where he would have no contact with women and children, parishoners defended the priest … who PLED GUILTY. (Hello? Anyone home?)

No one at the church or the diocese has publicly said a prayer or a word of support of the victim. (but I am grateful for the whistleblower at the parish who called to tell me that Bishop Brom snuck Davila back into ministry. I mean, if Davila is so awesome, why not make a public announcement about it?)

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

June 8, 2012

Legal fees and expenses approved to date in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy are approaching $4 million, according to court records. And hundreds of thousands dollars in additional fees are pending approval or have yet to be filed.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley called the fees “astronomical” at a hearing this week and threatened to bring in a mediator if the parties could not come to some agreement in the coming weeks.

“The legal fees in this case are over the top. . . . And the pleadings being filed . . . don’t show me that we are getting to a resolution,” said Kelley. “It looks to me like it’s all-out war.”

Assistant U.S. Trustee David Asbach echoed Kelley’s concerns, calling the fees a sign of a “scorched earth” legal battle.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

Pope OKs early retirement of Australian bishop who questioned celibacy, church teaching on sex

By Associated Press, Published: June 8

VATICAN CITY — The pope has agreed to give early retirement to an Australian bishop who ruffled the Vatican’s feathers by calling for a total reform of the Catholic Church, questioning mandatory celibacy for priests along with church teachings on sexuality.

Pope Benedict XVI accepted Monsignor Patrick Power’s resignation on Thursday. Power, an auxiliary bishop in Canberra, asked to retire five years before the mandatory retirement age of 75 for bishops.

In a 2010 article penned at the height of the renewed clerical sex abuse crisis, Power said the church needs to be totally reformed since it had strayed from the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.

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OSTERREICH
Tiroler Tageszeitung

Von Wolfgang Otter

Thiersee – Seit öffentlich bekannt geworden ist, dass der verstorbene Pfarrer und Ehrenbürger von Thiersee Buben sexuell missbraucht haben soll, gehen im Passionsspieldorf die Wogen hoch. Viele fragen sich: Kann jemand, der solche Übergriffe getätigt hat, noch weiter Ehrenbürger eines Dorfes sein? Der Gemeinderat von Thiersee hat sich (wie berichtet) nicht dazu durchringen können, diese Frage zu beantworten. Der Tagesordnungspunkt wurde nach einer zweistündigen hitzigen Debatte im Gemeinderat mit 7:8 abgesetzt.

Wie nicht anders zu erwarten, war das für manche Betroffene zu wenig. Daher erwartet sich Bürgermeister Hannes Juffinger, dass in einer der kommenden Gemeinderatssitzungen das Thema neuerlich behandelt wird.

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OSTERREICH
Petebrosman’s Blog

Die Plattform „Betroffener kirchlicher Gewalt” hat neun römisch-katholischen Bischöfen eine Liste mit 40 Beschuldigten geschickt, denen sexuelle Gewalt gegen Kinder und Jugendliche vorgeworfen wird. Die Beschuldigten sind laut Plattform nach wie vor unbehelligt im Amt. Jetzt müsse es Konsequenzen geben, so die Plattform.

In der Vergangenheit seien Beschuldigte oder Verurteilte einfach nur versetzt worden, kritisiert Philipp Schwärzler. Das sei definitiv zu wenig, auch für die Betroffenen. “Deren Leben ist ja in vielen Fällen durch die sexuelle Gewalt massiv beeinträchtigt worden. Sie leiden zum Teil bis heute unter diesen Folgen.” Auf der anderen Seite jene Männer sehen, die ihnen das angetan haben, nach wie vor in Amt und Würden und hätten ehrenvolle Aufgaben. “Das empfinden diese Menschen als massiv ungerecht.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Tribune-Democrat

Kathy Mellott kmellott@tribdem.com

BEDFORD — The trial of a traveling minister accused of having sex with an 11-year-old girl in a motel has been delayed again.

Bedford County Judge Thomas Ling on Friday granted a continuance to defense attorney Thomas Crawford of Pittsburgh. Crawford had requested additional time to line up and subpoena witnesses to testify on behalf of the Rev. Walter Donald Bradshaw.

The trial, expected to last two or three days, had been scheduled next week. It has been rescheduled for Sept. 19 and 20.

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ALABAMA/TEXAS
WAFF

[with video]

By Stephen McLamb

MARSHALL COUNTY, AL (WAFF) –
A Marshall County pastor now facing child sex abuse charges in Texas spent nearly a decade in the Texas state prison system before he was hired to pastor a church in Albertville.

41-year-old Mark Allen Green is jailed on a half million dollar bond in Texas and faces sexual abuse and aggravated sexual abuse of a child charges in Ellis and Navarro counties involving two victims under the age of 18.

Looking at his criminal background, his life of crime appears to have begun before the age of 20. Over the years, he’s faced numerous charges in at least six counties in Texas.

State prison officials said Green first entered the state system in 1996 on theft and burglary of a vehicle charges.

He was released in 1998 but was put back into the system in January 2001, and that’s where he stayed until late 2007.

Earlier this year, Green was hired to pastor the Cowboy Church of Marshall County in Albertville.

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NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Julia Terruso/The Star-Ledger

ELIZABETH — There’s no way a popular pastor could have sexually assaulted young girls at a crowded church camp without anyone knowing, George Benbow’s attorney told jurors just before they began deliberations Thursday.

But prosecutors say that’s exactly what happened. They say Benbow would approach girls in private corners of the camp — the basement, an empty pool and the kitchen — pull them onto his lap and move against them. On some occasions, prosecutors say, Benbow would go to the bathroom immediately afterward.

Now, after listening to four weeks of emotional and sometimes graphic testimony, jurors must decide whom to believe: Benbow or five girls who have accused the former Plainfield pastor of molesting them.

“This was sexual intent,” Assistant Prosecutor John Esmerado said. “It wasn’t accidental. It wasn’t innocent.”

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ATLANTA (GA)
Charlotte Observer

By KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press

ATLANTA Megachurch pastor and televangelist Creflo Dollar – who has drawn scrutiny for his flashy lifestyle and preaching that prosperity is good – was arrested early Friday after authorities say he slightly hurt his 15-year-old daughter in a fight at his metro Atlanta home.

Fayette County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of domestic violence at the home in unincorporated Fayette County around 1 a.m., said investigator Brent Rowan. The pastor and his daughter were arguing over whether she could go to a party when Dollar “got physical” with her, leaving her with “superficial injuries,” Rowan said.

The 15-year-old was the one who called authorities, and her 19-year-old sister corroborated the story, Rowan said.

Dollar faces misdemeanor charges of simple battery and cruelty to children. He bonded out of Fayette County jail Friday morning.

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KENTUCKY
Tristate Homepage

[with video]

By: David Shepherd

Updated: June 8, 2012

OWENSBORO – (UPDATED 8:31 P.M.) — A former priest at Blessed Mother Catholic Church in Owensboro was arrested Friday morning after a grand jury indicted him on charges of sodomy and sexual abuse on a child under the age of 12, according to city police.

72-year-old Louis Piskula of Owensboro is in the Daviess County Jail on those charges.

This is not the first time Blessed Mother Church has drawn fire. Last year a man committed suicide in the church’s parking lot claiming he had been a victim of sexual abuse by a priest there. No charges were filed in that case but this new incident puts the church in the spotlight once again.

For Owensboro native, Aaron Layson, the thought of a priest molesting a child in his neighborhood is shocking.

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KENTUCKY
Indianapolis Star

Written by
Mike Wynn and Peter Smith
The Courier-Journal

FRANKFORT, KY. — State Rep. Tom Burch said Friday he stepped forward with his story of alleged sexual abuse as a child at the hands of a Roman Catholic priest to defend nuns from Vatican criticism.

Burch, D-Louisville, first publicly claimed that he suffered the abuse as a sixth- and seventh-grader in a letter last month to The Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader that questions the Vatican’s assertion of control over an umbrella organization for most American Catholic women’s religious orders.

A Vatican report earlier this spring criticized the Leadership Conference of Women Religious over challenges to church doctrines and male church leadership that speakers had made at its meetings. It put an American archbishop in charge of making changes in the organization’s structure.

Burch said the nuns deserved better treatment.

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UNITED STATES
Social Science Research Network

Steven H. Resnicoff
DePaul University College of Law

June 1, 2012

Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2012

Abstract:
Jewish law requires a person to exert one’s energies and expend one’s financial resources to prevent the commission of interpersonal crimes and to protect or rescue victims of such crime. By contrast, American law generally permits a person to watch another bleed to death without offering any assistance at all. Most Jewish law courses place great emphasis on this difference, and commentators frequently cite it as proof of Jewish law’s moral superiority.

However, with respect to the tragedy of child sexual abuse, the systems seem to have switched roles. American law imposes a variety of affirmative duties on individuals and organizations to protect prospective victims. These obligations include conducting fingerprint-based criminal background checks on employees and reporting reasonably suspected or reasonably believed child abuse to public authorities.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Robert McClory on Jun. 08, 2012 NCR Today

The roots of the boiling conflict between U.S. Catholic sisters and the Vatican can be understood, I think, as an unfortunate assault by advocates of one image of the church on the proponents of another image. It is a case of outright ecclesiastical bullying, I believe.

In his classic book, Models of the Church, the late Avery Dulles proposes five legitimate ways of viewing the Catholic church: as institution, as community, as sacrament, as herald or proclaimer of the good news, and as servant. When asked what comes to mind when the word “church” enters a discussion, many Catholics immediately choose institution — church as organization founded by Christ and directed through the centuries by popes and bishops who have divine authority to teach, sanctify and rule the faithful. It’s what was handed down, preached, put into catechisms and memorized for ages. But other models are not of lesser value, Dulles says. They express other aspects of the church that church as institution does not express.

Among these others, the idea of church as servant is most intriguing and perhaps the most powerful because its practitioners mirror precisely what Jesus did in his public ministry. It is also the only one of Dulles’ models in which the agenda, the object of its activity, is not set and determined by the church itself, but by the needs of human beings, especially the poor and suffering.

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UNITED STATES
PBS – Religion & Ethics Newsweekly

[with video]

KIM LAWTON, Managing Editor, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly: After a two-year-long investigation, the Vatican strongly condemned a 2006 book on sexuality written by a prominent American nun. The Vatican’s doctrine office said Just Love by Sister Margaret Farley reflects a “defective understanding” of church teaching on issues including masturbation, homosexuality, marriage and divorce. Sister Farley taught Christian ethics at Yale Divinity School for more than 30 years. She said her book was not intended to be an expression of official Catholic teaching, but rather an “exploration of contemporary interpretations.” With this week’s news, the book has shot up the bestsellers charts. Many lay Catholics around the country have been rallying in support of US nuns. Last week, the umbrella group representing the majority of American Catholic sisters pushed back against a Vatican rebuke of them. In April, the Vatican accused the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) of having “serious doctrinal problems” and ordered the group to place itself under the authority of Seattle’s archbishop. Conference leaders will go to Rome Tuesday (June 12) for a meeting with church officials to discuss the situation.

Meanwhile at the Vatican, the investigation continues in the so-called “VatiLeaks” scandal in which private papal documents have been leaked to journalists. The pope’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, was formally questioned this week. Under Vatican law, he faces up to six years in prison on charges of aggravated theft of the documents. But after Gabriele’s arrest, more documents were leaked, along with an anonymous note threatening still more unless certain church officials resign, including Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state. Bertone, who has been targeted in many of the leaks, accompanied Pope Benedict XVI to Milan last weekend for a huge event—the World Meeting of Families. An estimated one million people attended a special Mass there. Benedict announced the next World Meeting of Families will be in Philadelphia, in 2015. He said he looks forward to taking part “God willing.” He’ll then be 88 years old.

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UNITED STATES
Time

By Tim Padgett | June 8, 2012

If you want some perspective on just how benighted the Roman Catholic Church looks today on the subject of women, consider Hildegard of Bingen. Hildegard was a German Benedictine nun in the 12th century and a leading feminist writer of her time. But even though that time was the 1100s, the Vatican rarely hassled her for asserting that men and women are equal — that God’s true nature, in fact, is maternal — or that nonprocreative sexual pleasure is O.K.

In the 21st century, however, Hildegard would no doubt receive the same censure that Sister Margaret Farley is facing this week after the Vatican denounced her book Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics. Farley, a Sisters of Mercy nun, a retired Yale divinity professor and a past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, condones practices that have been morally acceptable to most U.S. and European Catholics for quite a while, including divorce, homosexuality, nonprocreative intercourse and masturbation. But Rome’s doctrinal bulldogs are sternly reminding her that those acts are “disordered,” “deviant” and “depraved.”

Sadly, it’s the church that’s looking unhinged these days. The Vatican was apparently just warming up in 2010 when it declared, astonishingly, that ordaining females into the all-male Catholic priesthood would be a “grave sin” on par with even pedophilia. Since then, as if scapegoating women for the escalating dissent among Catholics toward its hoary dogma, the church seems to have embarked on a misogynist’s crusade. Its legal assault on the Obama Administration’s requirement that Catholic institutions like colleges and hospitals make contraception available to female employees as part of their health coverage is, ultimately, less about religious freedom than about women’s freedom. Then there’s the U.S. bishops’ absurd probe of whether the Girl Scouts are selling feminist theology as well as fattening thin mints — and Rome’s accusation of “radical feminism” within the Leadership Conference on Women Religious (LCWR), which represents most of the U.S. nuns doing genuinely Christ-inspired work with the poor and the sick.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Jun. 08, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

ST. LOUIS — Problems of discrimination and exclusion are so manifest within the Catholic community today that the church “totters on the brink of compromising its self-identity as the basic sacrament of salvation,” a theologian told his peers here Friday.

Speaking frankly to some 300 colleagues assembled for an annual meeting of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA), Jesuit Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator said that of particular concern is the disregarded role of women in the church.

Saying that women are often the “face of redemption turned visibly” toward those the church serves, but are often “banished beyond the borders of relevance,” Orobator said the state of their participation in the church community leads to an uncomfortable question.

“As a church, so long as we surreptitiously but tenaciously rehearse the politics of discrimination and exclusion, we stand before God, as Cain was, befuddled by a question that we simply cannot wish away at the wave of a magisterial wand,” said Orobator.

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KENTUCKY
SurfKY

OWENSBORO, KY (6/8/12) – According to an Owensboro Police Department press release today, an investigation that began in February of 2011 has resulted in the arrest and indictment of 72-year-old Father Louis F Piskula. The alleged victim claims that he was sexually abused in 1978 by Piskula, who was a priest at Blessed Mother Church.

A Detective completed an investigation and forwarded all case information to the Daviess County Grand Jury, where Piskula was indicted on charges of: Sodomy in the 1st Degree, (victim less than 12 years of age)–Class A Felony and Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree (victim less than 12 years of age)–Class C Felony. The Indictment Warrant was served on Piskula this morning, and he is lodged in the Daviess County Detention Center.

The Diocese of Owensboro provided SurfKY News with a press release that claims the alleged victim approached the diocese last year concerning the matter:

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NEW YORK
Zaakah

Rabbi Yaacov Behrman wrote an op-ed in The Forward on Friday where he says that, although he doesn’t agree with Agudah’s stance that cases of sexual molestation need rabbinical permission to be brought to the authorities, he also doesn’t agree with Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes recent move that would make rabbis mandated reporters of such crimes.

Rabbi Behrman sets out to argue against DA Charles Hynes new push to make rabbis mandated reporters, but before he gets to that point he takes a long detour and first defends Agudah’s policy.

He begins by explaining Agudah’s reasoning behind their stance that cases of child molestation must be brought to rabbis first:

“Although in the overwhelming majority of cases, abuse allegations turn out to be accurate, there has been a minority of cases in which innocent individuals were wrongly charged with abuse crimes. These individuals were vindicated only after lengthy proceedings. Therefore, some rabbis feel that in a case where there are no witnesses to the abuse and there is only one victim, who is a minor, a rabbi should assess the validity of the allegations before the accusations are brought to the police.”

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IRELAND
The Anglo-Celt

Paul Neilan

An American abuse survivor has criticised the apology of Fr Brendan Smyth’s former abbot, which The Anglo-Celt printed last week, and has launched her search for answers.

Attorney Helen McGonigle, who features in our lead story this week, has sent a fax addressed to the former abbot, Fr Kevin A Smith, at Holy Trinity Abbey, Kilnacrott, Ballyjamesduff, requesting the abbey “provide[s] me with a copy of the entire file at the abbey on Fr Brendan Smyth”.

The fax, which has an accompanying letter, is dated May 31, two days after Fr Smith released a statement apologising to victims of the paedophile Brendan Smyth. Smyth started abusing McGonigle in 1967, in Rhode Island, when she was six before Kevin Smith became abbot.

“Having had some time in prayer and reflection in Medjugorje on the past when I was Abbot and Superior of Holy Trinity Abbey, Kilnacrott, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, I wish to acknowledge and apologise to all those who were abused in any way, their family, friends and fellow priests for mistakes which happened within the Church and various Institutions from August 1969 – March 1995, when I retired,” said the abbot’s statement.

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Writing as an “individual” but not as an official spokesman for Chabad, an official Chabad spokesman says that making rabbis mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse is wrong.

Rabbi Yaakov Behrman, the director of media relations for the official Chabad Lubavitch News Service, writes in the Forward:

…As the law currently stands, victims and their families have the ability to seek the advice of a rabbi with confidence that their allegations will not be disclosed. Parents of victims are often terrified of the psychological effect a public trial would have on victims and their families. Victims often go to the rabbi for support, afraid to report the abuse directly to the authorities, afraid of being intimidated or impugning the reputation of an otherwise-respected member of the community, and afraid that public knowledge will hurt their chances of finding a suitable bride or groom in their community. It is in such cases that the rabbis play an invaluable part; they are often able to persuade a reluctant victim to come forward and testify. To paraphrase what one rabbi told a victim: “I do not say that you may report this crime to the police, I say you must report it to the police.”

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KENTUCKY
Tristate Homepage

By: David Shepherd
Updated: June 8, 2012

OWENSBORO – Owensboro police have arrested a priest accused of molesting a male child back in 1978, according to a news release from the department Friday.

72-year-old Louis F. Piskula was a priest at Blessed Mother church in Owensboro when the alleged abuse took place.

Details are sketchy at this hour but police say the arrest comes after an investigation in to the matter.

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VATICAN CITY
WOI

VATICAN CITY (AP) – The Vatican has chastised Italian authorities for seizing documents intended for Pope Benedict XVI during a raid on the home of the recently ousted Vatican bank chief.

The Vatican said in a statement Friday that it is an internationally recognized sovereign state and that it expects Italian judicial authorities will respect that in any proceedings concerning Ettore Gotti Tedeschi.

Italian paramilitary police raided Gotti Tedeschi’s Piacenza home on Tuesday as part of a corruption investigation into Italy’s state-controlled aerospace giant Finmeccanica.

During the raid, police seized a memorandum Gotti Tedeschi had prepared for the pope concerning his controversial May 24 ouster.

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AUSTRALIA
The Freethinker

By
Barry Duke
– June 8, 2012

A CATHOLIC priest, charged in 2005 with 28 counts of indecent assault and one of buggery, had earlier been appointed “spiritual advisor” to a fellow priest charged with multiple child sex offences.

According to this report, in 1994 the then Vicar-General of the Melbourne archdiocese, Gerald Cudmore, oversaw the appointment of Father Frank Klep as spiritual director to Father Victor Rubeo after child sex abuse allegations about Rubeo were first reported to the archdiocese.

At that time, Klep had been charged by police with child sex offences. He was convicted of indecent assault in December 1994. Despite his conviction, Klep continued to act as Rubeo’s spiritual adviser during 1995.

Since the 1980s, Klep had been the subject of repeated child sex abuse complaints from parents of students attending the Salesian order’s school at Rupertswood in Melbourne’s outer north-west. He was sentenced to perform community service for his 1994 conviction and sent to Samoa by the Salesian order in 1998, when it became clear he was to be charged with more child sex offences.

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IRELAND
Breaking News

The “spiritual Olympics” of the Catholic Church will be staged in Ireland next week, attracting thousands of pilgrims from around the world.

Final preparations are under way for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, which will begin with an open-air Mass for 25,000 people on Sunday.

Some 230 cardinals and bishops and 12,000 priests and deacons will attend events in Dublin throughout the week of celebration. …

The Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (Soca) plan to stage a “dignified” protest outside the RDS on Sunday to highlight its disgust at Cardinal Brady’s refusal to step down as Primate of All Ireland over the recent Father Brendan Smyth scandal.

Cardinal Brady acted as a note-taker during a probe into the notorious paedophile priest and was given a list of children’s names who were being abused – but failed to inform Gardai and their parents.

Spokesman John Kelly said the protest will be about the Vatican interfering with Irish sovereignty and its laws.

“The Ireland of 2012 is not the country of 1932 when fear of and deference to the Church was the norm,” said Mr Kelly.

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KENTUCKY
Messenger-Inquirer

Posted: Friday, June 8, 2012

By James Mayse Messenger-Inquirer

A former priest at St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church in Whitesville and other Daviess County churches was arrested this morning by the Owensboro Police Department on charges of first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse.

The Rev. Louis Francis Piskula, 72, of the 7100 block of Kentucky 815 was indicted Tuesday by the Daviess Grand Jury on charges of first-degree sodomy, victim under 12, and first-degree sexual abuse. The sodomy charge is a class A felony, punishable upon conviction by a sentencing range between 20 years to life in prison. First-degree sexual abuse is a class D felony punishable upon conviction by one to five years in prison.

In a prepared statement, Chancellor Kevin Kauffeld, chief administrative officer for the Diocese of Owensboro, said diocese officials received a report from a man that he had been sexually abused by Piskula “in incidents dating from 1978.” The statement says diocese officials reported the man’s statement to the Daviess County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office and has cooperated with the investigation.

The Diocese statement says counseling services have been offered to the person who made the abuse allegations.

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KENTUCKY
WKYT

A former priest at St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church in Whitesville and other Daviess County churches has been arrested in Owensboro on charges of first-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse.

The Messenger-Inquirer reported that a Daviess County grand jury on Tuesday charged the Rev. Louis Francis Piskula, 72, charges of first-degree sodomy, victim under 12, and first-degree sexual abuse. Police arrested Piskula on Friday.

Diocese of Owensboro Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Kauffeld said in a statement that diocese officials received a report from a man that he had been sexually abused by Piskula in incidents dating to 1978.

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UNITED STATES
London Glossy

Posted by admin on June 8, 2012

US prosecutors said today they have broken an international child pornography ring that produced and distributed explicit images of infants and toddlers online.

The US attorney’s office in Indianapolis announced that seven men have been convicted, and two more defendants have pleaded guilty. Authorities are investigating suspects in the US, UK, Sweden, Serbia and the Netherlands.

First assistant US attorney Josh Minkler said more than two dozen children in the US and other countries were abused in the production of the pornography.

He said the children “far too often, weren’t old enough to comprehend the crimes committed against them”.

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SACRAMENTO (CA)
The Record Searchlight

By Jim Schultz

Thursday, June 7, 2012

SACRAMENTO — A trio representing a network of people sexually abused by priests staged a quiet demonstration Thursday outside the Sacramento Roman Catholic Diocese headquarters in an effort to convince church leaders to make public a suspended Redding priest’s reported confession to a church-paid investigator that he molested a teenage girl.

The Rev. Uriel Ojeda, who is charged with seven felony counts of child molestation, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing today in Sacramento County Superior Court.

Joelle Casteix, western regional director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said she and two others staged the small demonstration and were able to deliver a letter to a spokesman for Bishop James Soto asking him to make Ojeda’s alleged confession public.

Casteix said in a telephone conversation she and others in her group decided to hold the demonstration after growing alarmed at the number of Ojeda’s vocal supporters who have been attending his court hearings and holding prayer vigils since his arrest last year.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

Speaking tonight in St. Louis at this weekend’s conference of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) is Sister Margaret Farley, the nun whose book, Just Love, has been criticized by the Vatican. The CTSA defends Farley, as does Lisa Miller of the Washington Post: Miller says Farley is acting in the grand tradition of the late Catholic feminist Mary Daly. Also speaking at the conference is retired Archbishop Rembert Weakland. Who are these people?

Farley’s intellectual hero is Michel Foucault, a homosexual drug addict who intentionally transmitted HIV to unsuspecting boys and who also justified rape. In the 1970s, the CTSA sponsored a book by Rev. Anthony Kosnick, Human Sexuality, that took a radically nonjudgmental position on homosexuality, swinging, adultery, and bestiality; it was used to teach seminarians at a time when the sexual abuse scandal was in full swing (the book was censured by the Vatican). Mary Daly taught at Boston College for decades, maintaining that Christianity was a form of “phallicism” and oppression; she quit in 1999 when she was told that she could no longer ban men from her classes. Weakland resigned as Archbishop of Milwaukee after it was discovered that his male lover of 23 years was paid $450,000 from church funds to keep quiet.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Christopher Brauchli

Anybody can be pope; the proof of this is that I have become one. ~ Pope John XXIII, Letter to a young boy

He’s two for three. Earlier appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, there are things that can really upset Pope Benedict. Abuse of children isn’t one of them. Nuns and press commentary on perceived internecine warfare are. Benedict’s indifference to tales of sexual abuse is well known. Cardinal Bernard Law serves to make the point.

Cardinal Law was Archbishop of Boston from 1984 to 2002. During his tenure many priests under his supervision engaged in inappropriate conduct with children. Although told of the abuse, he did not act on the information. In December 2002 he tendered his resignation as Cardinal and moved out of the $20 million church-owned house in which he had been humbly living, as befitted a man of the cloth. The house was sold to help pay for the judgments entered against his diocese because of the sexual abuse. Two years later the Pope appointed him Archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica, one of the four most important basilicas in Rome where he was in charge of the administration of the priests and anything related to the basilica.

As archpriest he reportedly receives a monthly stipend of about 4,000 Euros a month, an amount that permits him to walk humbly with his God yet live fairly well. Upon learning of the transfer, Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston lawyer who represented more than 130 victims of sexual abuse by priests under Cardinal Law’s supervision, said: “The Vatican either doesn’t understand the problem of clergy sex abuse, or it doesn’t care.” No one will say that about the most recent events. The Pope clearly cares. One involves his administration and one involves nuns.

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KENTUCKY
NECN

Jun 8, 2012

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A long-serving Kentucky state lawmaker and child advocate is speaking publicly for the first time about the sexual abuse he suffered by a Catholic priest at his grade school in the 1940s.

Democrat Tom Burch of Louisville wrote about the abuse in a letter to the editor published last month in the Lexington Herald-Leader. He wrote it to condemn the Vatican for attempting to impose more control over Catholic nuns who Pope Benedict XVI felt had not been more vocal against gay marriage and abortion.

Burch said in the letter that he had never been sexually abused by a nun, “but I was sexually abused by a priest.”

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on Jun. 08, 2012 All Things Catholic

In moments of crisis, there’s a natural desire among many Catholics to rally around the flag, meaning to show support for the church and the pope. It’s not about denial, because Catholics are nothing if not sober realists about the church’s failures. It’s instead about saying to the world that despite it all, there’s still something positive about the church that commands grassroots loyalty.

That instinct seemed to be the principal subtext to Benedict XVI’s June 1-3 outing to Milan.

Formally, Benedict made the short trip north to attend the seventh “World Meeting of Families,” a Vatican-organized event held every three years to celebrate marriage, youth and the family. In context, however, the trip also offered an opportunity for the Catholic rank and file to embrace Benedict amid one of the greatest trials of his papacy, the mushrooming Vatileaks scandal

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Neue Presse

Ob katholische Kirche oder Odenwaldschule: Die Entschädigung von Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs lässt nach Meinung des Jugendforschers Benno Hafeneger lange auf sich warten.

Darmstadt/Marburg.Der Forscher fordert von der Odenwaldschule Mut, Courage und mehr Konsequenz. Archivfoto: dpa “Mit den Worten ist man schnell, die Worte kosten nichts”, sagte der Pädagogik-Professor an der Philipps-Universität Marburg. “Der Unterschied zwischen der Schule und der Kirche ist nicht so groß. Beide haben keine Eile.” Es gehe um “Struktur, Macht und Finanzen”. Beide Organisationen scheuten sich, sich selbst durch Entschädigungszahlungen finanziell in Gefahr zu bringen. “Selbsterhalt ist das oberste Gebot.” Das Aufarbeiten eines Missbrauchs geschehe auch deshalb eher mühsam und langsam. “Es dominieren die beharrenden Tendenzen”, sagte der 63-Jährige.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Kirche in Hamburg

Hamburg – Missbrauch in den eigenen Reihen – welche Schritte muss eine Organisation gehen, um sexuelle Übergriffe aufzuklären? Zu diesem Thema haben die beiden Hamburger evangelischen Kirchenkreise Experten und Mitarbeiter eingeladen. Bischöfin Kirsten Fehrs sagte, dass die Ahrensburger Missbrauchsfälle die Kirche in einen „Schockzustand“ versetzt haben.

Zwei Jahre nach Aufdeckung der sexuellen Übergriffe in den 80er Jahren habe die Kirche lernen müssen, ihre Schuld gegenüber den Opfern einzuräumen und mit ihnen auf Augenhöhe zu sprechen, sagte die Bischöfin. Sie verstehe mittlerweile, dass manchen Opfern der Wunsch der Kirche nach Versöhnung zu früh komme.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Hamburger Abendblatt

Die Hamburger Bischöfin Kirsten Fehrs kritisiert Verhalten der Kirche im Missbrauchsskandal – und erntet Lob von der Opferinitiative.

Eine traumatisierte Kirche versucht, zurück zur Normalität zu finden: Dieses Bild zeichnete gestern nicht etwa ein Kirchenkritiker, sondern die Hamburger Bischöfin Kirsten Fehrs höchstselbst. “Ja, wir sind traumatisiert”, sagte sie vor rund 90 Teilnehmern einer Fachtagung im Hotel Baseler Hof an der Esplanade. “Wir sind in Ahrensburg an unsere Grenzen gekommen, und das hat dazu geführt, dass man desaströs verharmlost hat.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
RP Online

VON MICHAEL BROCKERHOFF – zuletzt aktualisiert: 08.06.2012 – 10:43

Düsseldorf (RP). Nach 18 Monate dauernden Ermittlungen hat die Staatsanwaltschaft entschieden, es zu keinem Gerichtsverfahren kommen zu lassen. Gegen dieses Vorgehen hat ein Anwalt der Opfer Beschwerde eingelegt. Über diese entscheidet der Generalstaatsanwalt.

Das Ermittlungsverfahren gegen einen ehemaligen Priester in der katholischen Pfarre St. Margareta wegen des Verdachts des sexuellen Missbrauchs Schutzbefohlener ist nach 18 Monaten von der Staatsanwaltschaft Düsseldorf eingestellt worden. Zu dieser Entscheidung kam die Ermittlungsbehörde nach der Beurteilung der Aussagen der jungen männlichen Opfer durch einen psychologischen Gutachter: “Es ist nicht sicher, dass die Aussagen so belastbar sind, dass sie in einem Prozess zu einer Verurteilung führen”, sagte Staatsanwaltschaft Ralf Herrenbrück unserer Zeitung.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Christliches Forum

Wie Norbert Denef öffentlich mitteilte, hat er ab heute mit einem Hungerstreik begonnen. Denef ist ein durch Presse, Funk und Fernsehen bekanntes Mißbrauchsopfer und Gründer des Vereins “Netzwerk B”, einem “Netzwerk Betroffener von sexualisierter Gewalt”.

Denef und seine Initiative setzen sich vor allem für die Aufhebung von Verjährungsfristen bei Mißbrauch ein.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Medienburo Nord

“ICH BIN IM HUNGERSTREIK”, teilte Norbert Denef, Sprecher des Opferverbandes “NetzwerkB*,” heute mit.

Grund: Die Bundestagsfraktion der SPD sei “nicht dazu bereit, sich im Deutschen Bundestag für die Aufhebung der Verjährungsfristen von sexualisierter Gewalt einzusetzen”. Quelle: Norbert Denef

Am 6. Dezember 2011 hatten sich die SPD-Delegierten auf dem Bundesparteitag noch einstimmig dafür ausgesprochen (siehe hier Video von der Norbert Denef -Rede auf dem SPD-Parteitag).

Denef ist Betroffener sexuellen Missbrauchs in der römisch-katholischen Kirche. Er wurde in seiner Heimatstadt Delitzsch als Messdiener vom 10. bis zum 16. Lebensjahr von einem Priester und vom 16. bis zum 18. Lebensjahr von einem Organisten missbraucht. Denef leidet auch heute noch an den Folgen des jahrelangen Missbrauchs, unter anderem Depressionen und weiteren Folgen einer posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung als Folge von sexuellen Missbrauchs in der Kindheit.

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MASSACHUSETTS
La Salette Journey

In a previous post, I noted how then Deacon and now Father Jonathan Joseph Slavinskas was quoted in The Catholic Free Press as having said that, “Father Coonan [Fr. Joseph Coonan] was a great influence and helped nourish my vocation.” Fr. Slavinskas also credited the late Bishop Timothy J. Harrington, who was dissent-friendly, as being an inspiration.

Now Fr. Slavinskas’ sister, Amy Whittemore, has left a comment at this Blog taking exception with the legitimate concerns of Catholics who find this troubling. And all the more so since St. Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, warns, “Do not be led astray: Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15: 33). She writes:

“It sickens me that people in todays society feel the need to judge a person by who their role models or influences are. How bad is it to look up to someone who was ACCUSED of something that may or may not have happened? Fr. Coonan was an influence to my brother before any of the scandals come out. Who are we to judge others? The only one to judge is God. Father Coonan was a better role model than the ones teens look up to today such as the drug addicted alcoholic singers, actors, and reality show stars…”

Something that may or may not have happened? Fr. Joseph A. Coonan was removed from ministry at St. John’s Church in 2002 after allegations of inappropriate contact with children dating back to the 1970’s. He was also charged with domestic assault and battery, assault and battery on a person over 65 years of age (his mother), and one count of intimidating a witness according to court documents. The Worcester Diocese found the accusations to be credible and removed Fr. Coonan from any and all ministry.

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ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre

Friday, 08 June 2012

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – June 8, 2012 – Pope Benedict XVI has appointed two priests, Rev. Msgr. Robert J. Brennan, 50, and Rev. Msgr. Nelson J. Perez, 50, – as auxiliary bishops of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States, made the announcement public earlier today in Washington, D.C. Bishop-elect Brennan is from the Diocese of Rockville Centre and currently serves as vicar general. Bishop-elect Perez is from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and is the pastor of Saint Agnes Church, West Chester, Pennsylvania.

The Most Rev. William Murphy, bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre will ordain the new bishops at a Mass of Episcopal Ordination to be celebrated at Saint Agnes Cathedral, Rockville Centre, New York on July 25, 2012, the Feast of Saint James the Apostle.

“I wish to express my fervent thanks to the Holy Father for responding so quickly to my request for two auxiliary bishops to help me pastor the fifth largest diocese in our nation,” said Bishop William Murphy. “God has blessed this Diocese with good and holy priests and now two new auxiliary bishops, one a native son, the second, a Cuban American who will bring his many gifts and his Latino language, culture and heritage to enrich this wonderful Diocese.”

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IRELAND/UNITED STATES
Irish Central

By
KERRY O’SHEA,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Friday, June 8, 2012

Helen McGonigle, who was sexually abused by Irish priest Brendan Smyth when she was six years old, believes the priest also murdered a child during his time in Rhode Island. McGonigle says that Smyth warned her by saying she would “end up like the body in the woods” if she told anyone about the abuse.

The Anglo-Celt reports on the connection McGonigle made between Smyth’s chilling comments and the finding of a child’s remains in the woods near her school in the 1960s. The discovery of the body, however, came about after Smyth laid down his threat on young McGonigle.

McGonigle notified police of the connection she made in 2007. Police, however, confirmed to the Anglo-Celt that they were not able to launch an investigation in regards to McGonigle’s theory because of the amount of time that had since passed, the death of Smyth, the time-frame quoted in her statement and that their older records were not digitally stored.

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ROCHESTER (NY)
The Evening Tribune

By Neal Simon
The Evening Tribune

[Dispositions, 2002-Present]

Posted Jun 08, 2012

Rocheter, N.Y. —

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester has released the names of priests who have been removed from public ministry over the last decade for credible claims of sexual abuse of minors.

In addition to the names of the nearly two dozen offenders, the list summarizes the final dispositions of all claims resolved since the church established comprehensive procedures for addressing sexual abuse allegations in 2002.

“No priest who has harmed a minor remains in public ministry,” the diocese said in a statement.

The diocese said will update the list if new, credible allegations of abuse are presented.

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RUSSIA
RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, June 8 (RIA Novosti)

A scandal involving a cross-dressing prosecutor erupted in southern Russia on Friday after he was discovered dressed as a woman and trying to talk to teenage girls.

The man, 32-year-old Konstantin Fominov, who sent a pedophile priest to prison three years ago, approached a group of teenage girls outside an apartment building in the southern Kuban region on June 4. He was wearing a dress, a corset, high-heeled shoes and a wig.

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IRELAND
IrishCentral

By
ANTOINETTE KELLY,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Friday, June 8, 2012

Cardinal Timothy Dolan will host two special editions of his Sirius XM Radio show during his pilgrimage to Ireland. it has been announced.

Conversation with Cardinal Dolan will air from Ireland on Thursday, June 7 at 12:00PM ET and Wednesday, June 13 at 7:00AM ET on The Catholic Channel (Sirius Radio and XM Radio channel 129).

Dolan is leading about one hundred New Yorkers on a ten day Archdiocesan pilgrimage to Ireland from June 4 – 13, where he will participate in the opening of the International Eucharistic Congress to promote an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church.

Dolan’s visit has been shadowed by controversy however, after a New York Times report at the weekend claimed he personally approved substantial payouts to multiple priests accused of sex abuse charges while he was archbishop of Milwaukee, an accusation he called ‘groundless and scurrilous.’

According to the Times, Dolan reportedly agreed that the priests accused of sex abuse should be paid $20,000 in exchange for leaving the priesthood.

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TEXAS/ALABAMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on June 07, 2012

We applaud Texas law enforcement for taking charges of sexual abuse seriously. And while we are glad that the Cowboy Church of Marshal County has fired Mark Allen green after his arrest we feel that step is the bare minimum.

We fear that children in that congregation may have been hurt by Green and call on church officials to work with the congregation to encourage anyone who has been hurt to come forward and seek help and that witnesses and whistleblowers work with law enforcement.

It is troubling that Green has been able to land a job as a pastor despite his past criminal behavior. The Southern Baptist Convention does not screen prospective ministers, because under Baptist polity each church is free to choose its own leaders with our without the guidance of denominational leaders. This policy needlessly places innocent children at risk.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on June 07, 2012

Our hearts ache for the dozens of courageous victims, witnesses and whistleblowers who have exposed wrongdoing, protected kids and helped law enforcement and who are anxiously waiting for a verdict in this historic trial. No matter what happens, their bravery has not been in vain. They deserve closure and justice and we hope they’ll get both soon.

To every person who saw, suspected or suffered Philly clergy sex crimes and cover ups – it’s not too late to step forward. Every single person – ordained or lay, Catholic or non-Catholic, staffer or volunteer – who has even a shred of information or suspicion about Philly clergy sex crimes, has a duty to speak up, no matter what happens in this trial.

Silence only protects wrongdoers.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Culture

The Holy See Press Office announced on June 7 that Auxiliary Bishop Patrick Power of Canberra and Goulburn has resigned from his position, which he has held since 1986.

The resignation of Bishop Power comes five years before the normal retirement age of 75 and one year after he threatened to resign over his dissatisfaction with the state of the Church.

In 2010, Bishop Power called for “total systematic reform” of the Church, including a reconsideration of “the authoritarian nature of the Church, compulsory celibacy for the clergy, the participation of women in the Church, the teaching on sexuality in all aspects.” He has also called for an open discussion of women’s ordination.

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UNITED STATES
The Dickinson Press

By: Bonnie Erbe, The Dickinson Press

U.S. nuns are having none of the Vatican’s dictatorial management tactics. And the women religious are to be applauded for it. Especially considering the various scandals enveloping the Vatican’s storied walls these days (from corruption to document theft to priest pedophilia), the sisters are wise to say: Enough.

That said, they are doing so in a most dignified manner. The Vatican should adopt the nuns’ stalwart, inclusive, honest, open and helpful approach — and not the other way around.

A nasty tiff arose between the Vatican and U.S. nuns in late April, you may recall. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees church doctrine, ordered a “supervised renewal” of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The conference represents 47,000 of the 57,000 or so U.S. nuns. Essentially, the Vatican placed control of the women religious under a U.S. archbishop, an unprecedented and disrespectful move.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 8 June 2012 (VIS) – The Holy Father appointed: …

– Msgr. Nelson J. Perez of the clergy of the archdiocese of Philadelphia, U.S.A., pastor of the parish of St. Agnes in West Chester, and Msgr. Robert J. Brennan of the clergy of the diocese of Rockville Centre, U.S.A., vicar general, moderator of the Curia and pastor of the parish of St. Mary of the Isle, as auxiliaries of Rockville Centre (area 3,164, population 3,527,942, Catholics 1,737,498, priests 485, permanent deacons 270, religious 1,241). Bishop-elect Perez was born in Miami, U.S.A. in 1961 and ordained a priest in 1989. He has served in a number of parishes and, among other roles, has worked as director of the Catholic Institute for Evangelisation. Bishop-elect Brennan was born in New York, U.S.A. in 1962 and ordained a priest in 1989. He has worked as a pastor in various parishes and served as private secretary to bishops of Rockville Centre.

On Thursday 7 June it was made pubic that the Holy Father: …

– Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Australia, presented by Bishop Patrick Percival Power, in accordance with canons 411 and 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)/ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Curriculum Vitae of Bishop-elect Nelson J. Perez

It was announced today in Rome that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Reverend Monsignor Nelson J. Perez as Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York. Bishop-elect Perez, age 50, was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1989. In addition to service at the parish level as a parochial vicar and pastor since that time, Bishop-elect Perez was also the Founding Director of the Catholic Institute for Evangelization and has been heavily involved in ministry to Hispanic Catholics.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. said, “Pope Benedict XVI’s appointment of Bishop-elect Perez continues a long and generous tradition of service to the Universal Church by priests from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It also demonstrates the Holy Father’s confidence in Bishop-elect Perez, who has served our Archdiocese and its people with faithful devotion for many years. Bishop-elect Perez has a joyful and down-to-earth personality, an obvious love for the priesthood, and a tireless devotion to his ministry. Knowing how much he is loved by those he serves makes the sacrifice of losing him to another diocese all the greater.

As Bishop-elect Perez prepares to begin his episcopal ministry, I offer him heartfelt congratulations and pray that the Holy Spirit will strengthen him as a successor of the Apostles. I’m confident that he will be of great service to Bishop William Murphy and all of God’s people in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. They are fortunate to receive such a gift from the Holy Father in the person of Bishop-elect Perez.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)/ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Breaking News Desk

Pope Benedict XVI today appointed a priest from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to become an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York

Monsignor Nelson J. Perez, 50, currently is pastor of St. Agnes Church in West Chester. He also is founding director of the Catholic Institute for Evangelization and has been heavily involved in ministry to Hispanic Catholics, the archdiocese said in a statement.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre covers the suburban counties of New York’s Long Island and serves about 1.5 million Catholics, a growing number of them Hispanic.

Born in Miami, Perez grew up in West New York, N.J., and was ordained a priest in 1989.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated June 7, 2012

Why should the Vatican be considered as a “country” when it is only one medieval building and one public Square inhabited by a few hundred only-men (less than a USA High School) comprising of the Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, priests and their fanatic obedient religious personnel? And all those millions and billions of dollars going to the Vatican Bank are managed only by a few men and they do not really go to charity but to secret fishy international dealings by the Pope and his “diplomatic immunity” Princes of the Church and Papal Nuncios, and fanatic Catholics who “Pray, Pay, Obey” have no clue where these money are being channelled to. But two things are sure: First, the Pope who is suppose to “Feed My Sheep” is not feeding them but rather sucking food – money from these sheep, and second, he does not – and cannot – protect the most vulnerable, the children and women and missionaries in far-flung countries, in fact he is callous to victims of the JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army and he couldn’t bother to offer water to those Italian JP2 Army victims who walked across Italy to meet with their “Holy Father” in Rome, as All Roads Lead to Rome”.

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UNITED STATES
USA Today

By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

Ten years ago, the Roman Catholic sex-abuse scandal dominated the headlines with horrific stories of priests preying on vulnerable youths and a church hierarchy more concerned with protecting clergy instead of kids.

Now, it’s back. A Philadelphia jury is deliberating whether, for the first time, a high-ranking church official will be held criminally accountable.

However they rule, the case carries symbolic freight far heavier than the grim details in the trial of Monsignor William Lynn, former secretary for the clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It revives the breadth and depth of the abuse crisis, its extraordinary costs and unending frustrations.

Lynn’s trial brings the ugly mess to mind “like it was yesterday,” said Mary Jane Doerr, associate director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Child and Youth Protection. “It’s still shocking, the degree of damage a handful of priests have done. When will the numbers ever stop?”

The statistics are staggering:

•More than 6,100 accused priests since 1950, Doerr said. She draws the number from two reports: a 2011 analysis by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and the latest annual report by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), which tracks U.S. Catholic statistics.

•More than 16,000 victims, chiefly teenage boys, since 1950. However, “since there is no national data base tracking clergy abuse, we may never really know how many victims there are across all the dioceses and across time,” said Mary Gautier, senior researcher for CARA.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

Christine M. Flowers

As I write, a jury of 12 good Philadelphians is deliberating over the fate of Monsignor William Lynn, who stands accused of protecting sexual predators. He is the proxy for a hierarchy that far too late came to understand that criminals are criminals even if they are sick of mind and spirit, and wear Roman collars.

Today, I don’t know what type of verdict those good people will render. But it doesn’t matter. The fact that there is a trial at all, one where the defendant is protected by the same system that separates the guilty from the innocent regardless of creed, color or cash flow, is a triumph. Caesar is given his due, because no one — priest or penitent —is above the law.

The lawyer in me is proud of that fact; proud, too, that the secular mobs who scream for the dismantling of statutes of limitations have not been successful. While priests should be held to the same standard as laymen, they should not be targeted for special punishment, which is exactly what those who advocate eliminating limiting statutes seek. You cannot ignore the fact that this move to make it easier to sue alleged sexual predators gained strength just at the moment that the sex-abuse scandal exploded in Boston almost a decade ago. So many of the so-called civil libertarians who would use their last breath to defend the rights of the accused see nothing wrong in neutralizing those rights when it comes to clergy. Anyone who denies the anti-Catholic or, at least, anti-clerical nature of these ‘reforms’ is either naïve or dishonest.

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AUSTRALIA
Failed Messiah

Originally published at 10:30 pm CDT Thursday, 6-7-2012

Zephania Waks, the father of Manny Waks – the most outspoken of the more than one dozen alleged victims of David Cyprys, David Kramer and other pedophiles who operated with impunity at Chabad’s flagship Australian yeshiva, Yeshiva College in Melbourne – has been barred from receiving aliyot, Torah honors, by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Telsner, the leading Chabad rabbi in Australia and the son-on-law of the late head of Chabad in Australia, Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner.

Telsner refused to tell Waks why he has been banned – a move apparently meant to protect himself and Chabad from prosecution for possible witness tampering and intimidation (these are not the exact legal terms used in Australia, but you get the point) and from civil suits.

I asked Manny Waks tonight about Telsner’s treatment of his father:

“Rabbi Telsner’s actions are simply outrageous. He has essentially executed precisely what he said [during a recent Sabbath sermon] would happen to anyone who speaks out on this issue – excommunication. The ongoing persecution of me and my family by the Yeshivah leadership and their blind followers over the past year or so has been relentless. This has now reached a whole new level. Rabbi Telsner’s actions ought to be condemned by everyone, especially by members of the Yeshivah community.”

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NEW YORK
Forward

By Yaacov Behrman

Published June 08, 2012, issue of June 15, 2012.

All competent rabbinic authorities are in agreement that cases of sexual abuse should be reported to law enforcement. Agudath Israel of America nevertheless requires parents to obtain rabbinic permission before reporting abuse to authorities. Although in the overwhelming majority of cases, abuse allegations turn out to be accurate, there has been a minority of cases in which innocent individuals were wrongly charged with abuse crimes. These individuals were vindicated only after lengthy proceedings. Therefore, some rabbis feel that in a case where there are no witnesses to the abuse and there is only one victim, who is a minor, a rabbi should assess the validity of the allegations before the accusations are brought to the police.

Personally, I don’t feel victims or their parents are required under Jewish law to ask for rabbinic permission before reporting sexual abuse to authorities, even though, in all likelihood, the rabbis will instruct the victims to pursue charges. I do believe, however, that having a rabbinic authority involved may end up benefitting the victim and helping ease the stigma and trauma that comes with a publicized trial.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’s recent move to have a new state law enacted that would compel rabbis to report child sex abuse allegations to authorities is a miscalculation and a mistake. As the law currently stands, victims and their families have the ability to seek the advice of a rabbi with confidence that their allegations will not be disclosed. Parents of victims are often terrified of the psychological effect a public trial would have on victims and their families. Victims often go to the rabbi for support, afraid to report the abuse directly to the authorities, afraid of being intimidated or impugning the reputation of an otherwise-respected member of the community, and afraid that public knowledge will hurt their chances of finding a suitable bride or groom in their community. It is in such cases that the rabbis play an invaluable part; they are often able to persuade a reluctant victim to come forward and testify. To paraphrase what one rabbi told a victim: “I do not say that you may report this crime to the police, I say you must report it to the police.”

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HOLYOKE (MA)
The Republican

By Jeanette DeForge, The Republican

HOLYOKE – Protesters who have been holding a vigil at Mater Dolorosa Church since it was closed by the Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese a year ago voted Thursday if it should end the round-the-clock occupation of the church.

The group of about 100 people will not announce the results until Sunday. They began the prayer vigil the day the church closed on June 30 and was merged into the new Our Lady of the Cross.

The vote was sparked after the highest court of the Vatican, the Apostolic Signatura issued a preliminary decision over an appeal of the closure that called for the group to end the vigil. It also ordered Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell to refrain from selling, destroying or damaging the church until the appeal is heard.

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NIGERIA
allAfrica

8 June 2012

EDITORIAL

Apparently, even the pious enclave of the head of the Roman Catholic Church is not immune to the vices of base human machinations, high-level intrigues, corruption and power struggles which have long been the bane of the secular world.

Nothing else better illuminates this assertion than the recent arrest of one Paolo Gabriele, the personal butler of Pope Benedict XVI, on charges that he leaked confidential information in papal and Vatican documents to Italian journalists and others, an activity that has both embarrassed and confounded important institutions of the Holy See over the last few months.

Gabriele is a 46-year-old father of three and a layman who had direct and unrestricted access to the Pope’s living quarters in Vatican City. He had been employed as the Pontiff’s personal butler since 2006. It was perhaps this vantage position he occupied in the Pope’s personal life that enabled him to position himself at the centre of what has now come to be known as the “Vatileaks” scandal.

The scandal, which began in January this year, involved the surreptitious leaking of documents from inside sources that have seriously embarrassed the Vatican.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
The Baltimore Sun

By Tricia Bishop, The Baltimore Sun

Baltimore prosecutors plan to look into new sexual abuse allegations from the 1970s against former Catholic school teacher John Merzbacher, according to his most recent accuser.

“They’re investigating what I reported,” said Donna Berger, 48. She met with a team of people Thursday morning — about a half-dozen prosecutors, detectives and victims’ services representatives — to outline abuse that she says happened to her nearly 40 years ago, when she was a preteen at South Baltimore’s Catholic Community middle school.

Merzbacher has not been charged with a crime related to Berger’s allegations, and he might never be. It depends upon whether law enforcement officials deem her story credible and think they can make a case in court.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic News Service

[Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People – BishopAccountability.org]

By Carol Zimmermann
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” — now 10 years old — was not meant to be “the last word” in solving the abuse crisis, according to the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People.

Instead, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Joliet, Ill., said the charter has provided a framework for ongoing efforts. Its requirements are “not a temporary fix” but have to “become part of our culture,” he added.

The charter was part of the U.S. bishops’ response to the clergy abuse scandal that was a top concern when they met 10 years ago in Dallas.

Their June meeting took place just five months after The Boston Globe began publishing articles about the sexual abuse of minors by priests and accusations of a systemic cover-up by church officials. The reports prompted other victims across the country to come forward with allegations of abuse that put the scandal in the national spotlight.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

It’s getting strange down at the courthouse, folks.

After a 10-week trial, the jury in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex abuse case has decided they need some time off for family events, like graduations. So on Thursday, after Judge M. Teresa Sarmina approved their request, jurors walked out of Courtroom 304, to get an early start on a long weekend.

The jury of seven men and five women that began deliberating last Friday afternoon are off this Friday. On Monday, they’ll be coming in around 1 p.m. and hopefully put in a full afternoon, before they are scheduled to leave around 4:30 p.m. On Tuesday, they’re expected to deliberate again, but Wednesday, they’re off, and Friday they’re off again.

So if they go the full route on Tuesday and Thursday, the jury will deliberate at most 2 1/2 days next week.

Usually, juries measure their time in terms of minutes and hours, and can’t get out the door fast enough. But this jury seems to be digging in for the long haul. They’ve already ordered a marker board and an easel. Lunch today was from Chick-fil-A. This could take a while.

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ALABAMA
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

An Alabama Baptist church fired its new pastor after his recent arrest on sexual abuse charges in Texas, but it isn’t the pastor’s first time in jail.

Mark Allen Green, 41, in jail under a $500,000 bond in Waxahachie, Texas, has a long criminal rap sheet, including nearly a decade in the Texas state prison system before his release in 2007, according to WAFF television in Huntsville, Ala.

A website started by a man in Arlington, Texas, who claims Green stole money from him, but could not be arrested, describes him as a “career criminal” who “floats around” four Texas counties and “hides at any local Cowboy Church.”

Most recently it was the Cowboy Church of Marshall County in Albertville, Ala., which reportedly called Green as pastor a couple of months ago. Last Sunday church members were informed of his arrest and termination earlier in the week, according to the Sand Mountain Reporter.

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