ABUSE TRACKER

DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Kreis Neuwied – Lehrer Dirk S. darf nicht mehr katholische Religion unterrichten. Der 37 Jahre alte Pädagoge aus dem Kreis Neuwied, der Anfang 2007 einer damals 14-jährigen Schülerin seiner Parallelklasse als Klassenlehrer gehörig den Kopf verdrehte und mit ihr eine sexuelle Beziehung einging, musste dem Bistum Trier die Lehrerlaubnis für dieses Fach, die sogenannte Missio Canonica, zurückgeben. Das erklärte Dr. Stephan Kronenburg, Leiter der Bischöflichen Pressestelle in Trier, und bestätigte somit Informationen der RZ.

Der Generalvikar des Bistums hatte den betroffenen Lehrer zum Verzicht aufgefordert, erklärte Kronenburg. Der Aufforderung aus Trier sei der Pädagoge innerhalb der gesetzten Frist nachgekommen. „Der Lehrer hat daraufhin erklärt, dass er auf die mit der Missio verbundenen Rechte (Erteilung von Religionsunterricht) verzichtet“, sagte der Chef der Bischöflichen Pressestelle. Der Generalvikar des Bistums habe seinerseits diesen Verzicht jetzt angenommen. Erst Ende August war S. auf eigenen Wunsch hin aus dem Beamtenverhältnis entlassen worden, um einem Disziplinarverfahren des Schulamtes aus dem Weg zu gehen.

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

WISCONSIN
Urban Milwaukee

By Marie Rohde – Oct 4th, 2012

What does it take for a deaf man to be heard? That’s the question asked by the documentary film “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God,” which will be shown by the Milwaukee Film Festival Friday night.

Long before the waves of the Catholic Church’s child sex abuse scandal surged across America, three young men, molested as children at the St. John’s School for the Deaf in St. Francis, tried to tell their stories and stop one of the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s most prolific — and horrifying — pedophiles.

The deaf men — Gary Smith, Bob Bolger and Art Budzinski — would not accept defeat. They began their battle in 1974, launching their first organized protest a decade before the case of an abusive priest in Louisiana, Gilbert Gauthe, which was the first to make headlines across the country.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Legal Examiner

Mike Bryant
Attorney

(866) 735-1102 Ext 555

The plea of Rev. Shawn Ratigan last month to production of child pornography was a major step in the prosecution of priests who have been involved in the abuse of children. What has been revealing is the deposition testimony of Julie Creech, the IT director for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. In the deposition, she described confronting Finn about the naked images of young girls she found on Ratigan’s computer.

“Finn did indicate that…sometimes priests do things they shouldn’t,” Creech said in the deposition. “He said, ‘Sometimes boys will be boys.'”

Since this deposition, Creech did release the following statement through her lawyers:

The statement Julie Creech attributed to Bishop Finn during her deposition that “boys will be boys” is not consistent with her recollection of any conversations she had with the bishop concerning the Shawn Ratigan matter. Following the deposition, Julie realized she had misspoken. She understood that pursuant to the rules of civil practice, she would receive a copy of the deposition transcript and have the opportunity to acknowledge and correct her mistaken testimony. Because the deposition was so recently completed, Julie has not yet had a chance to do that, so we were certainly surprised to learn that an unverified copy of her testimony was attached to a pleading in a civil case.

It will be interesting what happens the next time she testifies. As with any deposition testimony, what she said was taken under oath. Seems like a very significant quote that shouldn’t have been said or offered lightly. It could be confirmation of the very attitudes that have gotten the Church in so much trouble.

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SALEM (NH)
Eagle-Tribune

By John Toole jtoole@eagletribune.com The Eagle-Tribune

SALEM — For the first time in the Greater Salem area, the leader of New Hampshire’s Roman Catholics will offer a healing Mass tonight for victims of child abuse.

Bishop Peter Libasci is scheduled to celebrate the Mass at 6:30 p.m. at St. Joseph Church on Main Street.

The service comes 10 months after Libasci became bishop of the Diocese of Manchester and 10 years into the still-unfolding Catholic clergy abuse scandal in New Hampshire.

A critic of the church’s response to the scandal, David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Libasci has disappointed those who hoped for change. “He has been disappointing on so many levels,” Clohessy said. “Libasci is in an enviable position. He can say, ‘I don’t know these men. I wasn’t here.’ That makes it much easier for him to be forthcoming and proactive.”

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

CHILE
Generaccion

[con audio]

El obispo Marco Antonio Órdenes Fernández, de la región Iquique en Chile es investigado por el Vaticano a raíz de una denuncia de abuso sexual a un menor de edad.

Es la primera vez que un obispo chileno es investigado por esta causa. Y ha consternado a la población de dicha región.

El obispo, que es el más joven de la Conferencia Episcopal chilena con 47 años, dejó sus funciones en agosto de este año, aduciendo problemas en su hígado. En esa ocasión le comunicó a su entorno que estaba siendo investigado y pidió que rezaran por él.

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UNITED STATES
The Atlantic

Oct 3 2012

Michael Agresta – Michael Agresta is a writer living in Los Angeles.

Twenty years ago today, Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live—and the media largely misunderstood why. Is America finally ready to hear her out?

In the weeks and months after Sinead O’Connor tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on live television, commentators in the media sought to explain the motives of her protest. Very few, however, made use of the traditional tools of journalism: interviews, research, and textual analysis. Instead, most commentators seem to have consulted their own imaginations.

On the right, John Cardinal O’Connor in Catholic New York suggested that the singer had employed “voodoo” or “sympathetic magic” to physically destroy her enemy in the Vatican—an extraordinarily poor choice of imagery for a Church authority attempting to silence an outspoken female. On the left, Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times celebrated Sinead for providing “a moment of truly great television.” He assumed offhand that she was protesting the Vatican’s positions on women’s rights or the ongoing violence in Northern Ireland, but he focused his praise on O’Connor’s acumen as an entertainer.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee and victims of sexual abuse by clergy and others will continue to try to settle after Judge Susan V. Kelley extended the mediation deadline a second time, to Oct. 12.

At issue is how many of the estimated 570 victims should be compensated and to what extent. At least one attorney has said previously that he would not agree to a settlement that did not also include the release of church documents.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2011, as it prepared to defend itself in a dozen fraud lawsuits, saying it was the only way it could fairly compensate victims and continue its essential missions. But it has sought to limit its liability by objecting to claims that are beyond the statutes of limitations for the underlying allegations; involve victims who received a prior church settlement; or accuse a teacher, religious order priest or other individual the archdiocese doesn’t consider its employee.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pocono Record

By Michael Sadowski
Pocono Record Writer

October 04, 2012

A Long Pond man who was once a volunteer at the Pocono Community Church is accused of sexually molesting a 16-year-old girl and having inappropriate relationships with two other minors at the church, according to police.

Criminal complaints against 47-year-old Ramzan Ali say he met and coerced a 16-year-old girl into sex every week for five or six weeks in a handicapped bathroom stall at the Pocono Community Church.

Pocono Mountain Regional Police also said he had inappropriate relationships with two other girls — ages 16 and 12 — though those victims’ accounts did not detail any physical, sexual contact.

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IOWA
World-Herald

By Chad Nation
WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE

COUNCIL BLUFFS — The Iowa Court of Appeals has reduced one of the three charges a former pastor at a Council Bluffs church was convicted of in 2011.

Although Efrain Umaña had the charge of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse reduced to assault, he will still likely spend the same amount of time in prison.

Umaña, 57, was found guilty of second-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sexual abuse and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse in January 2011 after members of his congregation came forth with several allegations of abuse.

The victim in the second-degree sexual abuse conviction was 11 when Umaña took her to his Council Bluffs church, Templo Monte Horeb, where she said he forced her to have sex with him.

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TEXAS
The Monitor

Elizabeth Findell

SAN JUAN — A small cluster of activists gathered for the media Wednesday morning outside the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville offices near the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan Del Valle holding pictures of children – victims of sexual abuse by clergy members across the country.

Such victims exist in the Rio Grande Valley, too, but their abusers remain anonymous, they said.

Members of the national support group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and the local branch of Catholic activist group Call to Action held the news conference to call on Bishop Daniel Flores to release the names of priests within the Brownsville diocese who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

The diocese released a report in 2004 indicating that it has reason to believe that seven area priests sexually abused children between 1965 and 2004, based on 12 allegations.

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HAWAII
KHON 2

[with video]

Reported by: Kanoe Gibson
Email: kgibson@khon2.com

It was supposed to be a safe place– the church just across the street from his home– where a now 49-year-old Colorado man says he was sexually abused when he was an altar boy.

He’s been named John Doe No. 87 and has filed suit against the Diocese of Bismarck, alleging that while his family was stationed at Fort Shafter in the early 1970s, he was sexually abused by Father Maurice McNeely.

According to the man’s attorney, this is only the beginning of a series cases he will be filing in Hawaii and claims that there may be more victims in military families.

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PHILIPPINES
Catholic Culture

A retired Filipino prelate has told reporters that he accepted a priest for ministry, after he was charged with sexual abuse in the US, under an agreement with the accused priest’s religious order.

Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, the former Archbishop of Cebu, said that Msgr. Cristobal Garcia was given permission for ministry in the Cebu archdiocese years ago. Msgr. Garcia is now under investigation in a probe into the smuggling of ivory. When news of that investigation first became public, the Cebu archdiocese said that the priest was suspended from ministry because of the sex-abuse charges. Police reported that Msgr. Garcia was acting as administrator of a shrine.

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ALABAMA/TEXAS
Sand Mountain Reporter

Posted: Wednesday, October 3, 2012

By Jonathan Stinson | jstinson@sandmountainreporter.com

In June, Mark Allen Green, former pastor of the Cowboy Church in Marshall County, said he turned himself over to authorities in Ellis County, Texas, after he was charged with the sexual abuse of a minor.

Green went on to say he spent 90 days in jail and, since then, a grand jury in Ellis County decided not to indict him on the charges after the child who made the accusations recanted her story.

A clerk in the Ellis County District Attorney’s office confirmed that the grand jury did not indict Green.

He is also facing the same charges in Navarro County, but Green said he expected those to be dropped as well, since they were based on the same investigation, and involved the same person, in Ellis County.

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MISSOURI
Connect MidMissouri

A Morgan County pastor will be back in court again for sex crimes charges.

Travis Smith, 42, is charged with statutory rape and statutory sodomy.

The Moniteau County prosecutor said these charges stem from an alleged incident in 2005.

Smith has bonded out of jail on a nearly $70,000 bond for all the charges. He’s due in court for his arraignment later this month.

These new charges come a little more than a year after Smith was found not guilty on child molestation charges.

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CANADA
The Windsor Star

Convicted sex offender Rev. William Hodgson Marshall will be out of prison in time for Thanksgiving.

The 90-year-old disgraced Basilian priest and former Windsor high school teacher will released from custody next Monday — having automatically qualified for statutory release under federal law after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

“He is not a free man,” said Greg McCullough, one of Marshall’s Windsor victims.

“He’s free in the sense that he can walk the streets, but he’ll never be free. He’s a cowardly person who was protected by various people … when they knew full well what was going on.”

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CHILE
Catholic News Agency

Santiago, Chile, Oct 3, 2012 / 12:05 pm (CNA).- In a statement Oct. 2, the Apostolic Nunciature in Chile revealed that local Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes of Iquique is under investigation for sexual abuse.

According to the Chilean daily La Tercera, Bishop Ordenes, 47, has said he is innocent. Since the accusations were made, his poor health caused by genetic kidney condition has worsened.

The Diocese of Iquique confirmed that his health is deteriorating and that he is currently in Peru resting on doctor’s orders. He is expected to return to Chile soon to continue his recovery. Because the accused is a bishop, the investigation is being carried out by the Vatican.

The nunciature added that is has “offered psychological support and assistance to those involved and has been in contact with Bishop Ordenes.”

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UNITED STATES
What They Knew

[with document]

In another letter from November 30, 1959 Chicago – Detroit Province Jesuit superiors state in correspondence that there is “serious doubt about [his] fitness for the Order” of one Donald McGuire SJ. McGuire would later rise through the ranks of the Jesuits, befriend popes and three candidates for sainthood, only to be convicted criminally twice by juries in both state and federal court for child sexual abuse. Names of other “doubtful” Jesuit novices are included as well. Who they are, we don’t know yet.

Given the severity of the letter below, it is remarkable to see the image above from June 11, 1961 when McGuire was ordained to the priesthood. Although he remained a Jesuit for over 50 years until 2008 (although he was convicted criminally in 2006) reports of sexual abuse and improper relationships with minor children began in 1964 as we shall see later.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Heise

Thomas H. durfte für die TSA unter anderem “pat downs” bei Minderjährigen durchführen

Früher wurden katholische Priester, die in den Verdacht gerieten, Kinder zu missbraucht zu haben, nach dem Bekanntwerden der Vorwürfe in aller Stille ermahnt und versetzt. So erging es auch dem 1978 geweihten Priester Thomas H. aus der US-amerikanischen Diözese Camden im Bundesstaat New Jersey. Erst im Mai 2002, nach zunehmendem öffentlichen Druck im Gefolge tausender Missbrauchsfälle in den USA und lange nach dem Ablauf der strafrechtlichen Verjährung, meldete man Vorwürfe gegen ihn den weltlichen Behörden und warf ihn hinaus. Vorher hatte sich die Religionsgemeinschaft in zwei Zivilklagen wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Mädchen auf eine Vergleichszahlung in Höhe von 195.000 Dollar einigen müssen.

H. entging einer Anklage und fand vier Monate nach seiner Entlassung einen neuen Job: Die Transport Security Administration (TSA) setzte ihn am Philadelphia International Airport zum Kontrollieren von Fluggästen ein. In diesem Rahmen durfte er nicht nur Erwachsene betatschen, sondern auch “pat downs” bei Kindern durchführen, bis man den heute 65-Jährigen 2004 zum Kofferdurchleuchter mit einem Jahresgehalt von 75.600 Euro beförderte.

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OSTERREICH
Der Standard

Kommentar | Markus Rohrhofer, 3. Oktober 2012

Der Kardinal rät zu einem Rückschritt. “Step back and see” lautet sein Motto

Streng nach Lehrbuch haben die heimischen Bischöfe und die Pfarrerinitiative die letzte Stufe einer Konfliktbildung erreicht. Die Eskalation ist vorüber, es folgt die Phase der Abkühlung. Doch ohne Konfliktlösung verhärten sich die Fronten. Stimmt das Kräfteverhältnis, ergibt sich eine klassische Pattsituation. Das hat nun auch Kardinal Christoph Schönborn erkannt. Ein labiles Gleichgewicht, das schnell ins Wanken gerät.

Der Kardinal rät daher zu einem Rückschritt. “Step back and see” lautet sein Motto. Doch nur einen Schritt zurückzugehen und aus sicherer Entfernung zu schauen, was passiert, wird eindeutig zu wenig sein. Der jüngst präsentierte Hirtenbrief zeigt einmal mehr auf, dass man auf Bischofsebene immer noch nicht verstanden hat, dass das provokante Spiel mit dem Ungehorsam längst vorbei ist. Schlusspfiff. Unentschieden im Match Pfarrer-Unterhaus versus Bischofs-Oberliga. Eine Verlängerung wäre sinnlos.

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OSTERREICH
Tiroler Tageszeitung

Von Wolfgang Otter

Thiersee – Seelische Wunden verheilen nur langsam, oft schmerzen sie noch Jahrzehnte später. Manches Mal brechen sie auch erst spät auf und erst dann können die Betroffenen darüber reden. Diese Erfahrungen musste die Dorfgemeinschaft im idyllischen Thiersee machen, als plötzlich die Taten des verstorbenen Pfarrers und Ehrenbürgers an die Öffentlichkeit kamen.

Der Geistliche hatte vor Jahrzehnten mehrere Buben und Jugendliche sexuell missbraucht, über einen langen Zeitraum hinweg, wie sich herausstellte. Die Erzdiözese Salzburg machte die unglaublichen Vorgänge sogar selbst öffentlich. Im Anschluss an einen Gottesdienst verlas Prälat Johann Reißmeier eine dementsprechende Erklärung.

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HAWAII
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on October 03, 2012

We are grateful that more victims of Fr. Maurice McNeely are stepping forward. 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 a priest, 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. . . .

Let’s hope that every person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Hawaii will find the courage and strength to speak up, call police, expose wrongdoing, protect kids and start healing.

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

HAWAII
The Garden Island

Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — A 49-year-old Colorado man is suing the Catholic diocese serving western North Dakota, alleging one of its priests sexually abused him when he was a child in Hawaii decades ago.

A lawsuit filed in state court in Honolulu on Tuesday alleges a military chaplain sexually abused the plaintiff at an Army base around 1974 to 1975.

The plaintiff was an 11-to-12 year-old altar boy at a Fort Shafter chapel where the priest ministered to soldiers and their families. The priest now lives in Michigan.

The lawsuit accuses the Diocese of Bismarck of negligence. The diocese didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 3, 2012

Fr. Jose Alexis Davila, the Venezuelan national, San Diego priest, and misdemeanor sex offender, has vanished.

There has been no comment or statement from Diocese of San Diego, who just a few months ago, said that the “sex-probation priest” was “fit for ministry.”

This past New Year’s Eve, Davila, the associate pastor of St. Jude Shrine of the West, went to a young woman’s Southcrest home and forced himself on her. She called the police and he was arrested.

Parishioners and the priest’s friends rallied on behalf of the priest. In fact, parishioners supporting the priest formed a “lynch mob” at the victim’s mother’s home, in the hopes of forcing the victim to recant her story. It didn’t work.

In April, Davila pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of “unlawful touching of an intimate part” and was sentenced to probation.

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SLOVENIA
Vatican Insider

A 42 year old German claimed he was the cardinal’s son: “I was defamed and isolated”

Vatican Insider staff
Rome

The DNA paternity test taken by Cardinal Franc Rode to prove he was not the father of a German citizen who claimed the opposite has proven negative. Ljubljana’s local press communicated the news today.

A spokesman for Munich University’s Institute of Legal Medicine, where the test was conducted, confirmed that Cardinal Franc Rode was definitely not the father of the interested party. “I am glad that the results are those I expected at the start. Defamation of this kind isolates a man in his pain,” the cardinal and former archbishop of Ljubljana said in a statement quoted by the media.

At the end of August, Slovenian daily Delo published a statement by Peter S., a 42 year old German who claimed he was born out of a relationship between Tanja Breda, his mother and Franc Rode in 1969. At the time, Cardinal Rode was a young priest and professor at the faculty of theology in Ljubljana.

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NEW YORK
Albany Times Union

By Bob Gardinier

Published 2:51 p.m., Wednesday, October 3, 2012

HUDSON — A former Claverack Catholic priest who spent nearly four years in federal prison on child pornography charges was given a Level 1 sex offender status in Columbia County Court.

Raymond Ethier, 55, who was released from federal custody in January, appeared in court last week. Assistant District Attorney James A. Carlucci asked Judge Richard M. Koweek to assign Ethier the most severe, Level 3, status, according to the district attorney’s office.

Ethier’s lawyer, Daniel Stewart, asked for Level 1, stating that his client was a “low risk to re-offend” and noting that he was also sentenced to 10 years post-release federal supervision.

A Level 1 offender is required to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 20 years, while Level 2 and 3 offenders, considered more likely to re-offend, must register for life.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Paolo Gabriele has implicated the Holy See’s police force in the Vatileaks trial

Alessandro Speciale
Vatican City

It is not just the allegations of mistreatment made by Paolo Gabriele against Vatican policemen (he claims he was treated inhumanely during his first few weeks of detention in a Vatican security cell) that have raised questions about the Vatican Gendarmerie’s conduct.

During the second hearing of the Vatileaks trial on Tuesday, the Vatican Gendarmerie – the police force of the world’s smallest State – came under the spotlight on more than one occasion because of doubts regarding its investigation methods.

The Vatican Gendarmerie was founded in 1971 and is staffed by Italian citizens. It is led by Domenico Giani, a former Italian secret services agent. Giani is the man responsible for the investigations into and arrest of Paolo Gabriele and is at the centre of some confidential documents which Gabriele leaked to the press. Particularly that “defamatory libel” – as the Vatican Promoter of Justice, Nicola Picardi called it – which ended up in one of the chapters of Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi’s book “Sua Santità” (“His Holiness”).

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

PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

By Bernadette A. Parco

Thursday, October 4, 2012

A CHURCH official wasn’t expelled from a religious order in the midst of a child abuse case more than two decades ago, but chose to return home to Cebu, said Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

Cardinal Vidal also told reporters yesterday that his office received last Friday, when he was still in Manila, a copy of Arbishop Jose Palma’s instructions to stop issuing statements to the media regarding the issue.

The 81-year-old prelate said he is abiding by the directive but had to first hold a press conference just to clarify some issues that were already reported.

Msgr. Cristobal Garcia, former Archdiocesan Commission on Worship chairman, was not expelled from his former congregation, Cardinal Vidal said.

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

UNITED STATES
Patrick J. Wall

Think that Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn’s recent guilty plea is a shock to Rome? Alas, for the Holy See, this is nothing new. The real question in the case of the Kansas City Bishop is: What options does the Holy See have available?

From the Roman viewpoint, this is a delicate balancing act. On one side, the Holy See does not want to concede to the “people” demanding the removal of Finn. Why? Because it is reminiscent of 19th century Lay Trusteeism. On the other side, the embarrassment of how Finn handled the Shawn Ratigan case (nearly ten years after the Charter and Norms were promulgated) is scandalous.

Here is a list of management techniques deployed by the Holy See in recent history to snuff out scandal created by Bishops. The management techniques fall into two categories: Geographic and Privation of Office.

Geographic Solution

As a new priest twenty years ago, I saw the results of the Vatican quietly removing Bishop Lawrence Welsh of Spokane, WA.

Larry sexually assaulted a teenage prostitute in Chicago while at a Knights of Columbus convention. Larry was the national Chaplain to the Knights. Chicago police investigated and the Spokane newspaper exposed it.

The Holy See acted quickly, neutralizing the scandal by saying that Welsh was arrested for drunk driving and applying the “Geographic Solution.” Larry was removed as the Ordinary of Spokane and relocated to Saint Paul/Minneapolis.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 3, 2012

Let’s talk about Joliet, IL and Fall River, MA, two dioceses with bishops who, were it not for public embarrassment, were more than happy to throw child safety under the bus.

In Joliet, Bishop Dan Conlon (the head of the USCCB committee on child protection, by the way) was going to reinstate a priest suspended two years ago for credible allegations of child sex abuse. In fact, not only were the allegations credible, but no one within the church denied that the abuse had taken place.

Instead of following the polices of the organization he heads, Conlon told the press that the Vatican was “forcing him” to reinstate Fr. Lee Ryan. Ryan was going to minister to shut-ins. In their homes. With their children and grandchildren. Unsupervised.

Conlon finally reversed his decision after huge backlash. We have yet to hear if the Vatican is mad.

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ILLINOIS
Daily Journal
By Dennis Yohnka
dyohnka@daily-journal.com
815-937-3384

Washington, D.C. attorney Mark Schamel has been offering some informal counsel to the friends of Rev. Lee Ryan, former pastor of St. Edmund Catholic Church in Watseka.

He makes it clear, though, that he can offer little optimism to the group hoping to see their 79-year-old priest cleared of sexual allegations, dating from the mid-1970s.

Schamel, a 15-year veteran defense lawyer, represents the Rev. Kevin McBrian, the other priest accused by a Florida man, now 52, who reported that his former teachers — Ryan, at Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, and McBrian, at Joliet Catholic High School

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CHILE
UPI

Published: Oct. 3, 2012

SANTIAGO, Chile, Oct. 3 (UPI) — A Catholic bishop in Chile is being investigated by the Vatican in connection with the sexual abuse of a minor, sources close to the church said.

The sources told The Santiago Times that the Vatican’s Chilean representative began looking into the case of Bishop Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez, 47, four months ago.

Ivo Scapolo has been given the task of determining if the allegations are true and whether any other complaints have been made.

Ordenes reportedly stepped down from his post in the northern city of Iquique in August, blaming ill health for his absence from religious events.

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CHILE
La Republica

Ministerio Público chileno pidió solicitó al Episcopado detalles de la investigación canónica que iniciaron. Mientras tanto Órdenes se encuentra en nuestro país con descanso médico

La justicia chilena inició una investigación contra el al obispo de Iquique por violación sexual contra un menor, luego que El Vaticano iniciara una indagación canónica.

La Fiscalía de Tarapacá señaló que pedirá al Obispado de Iquique y a la Conferencia Episcopal los antecedentes de la denuncia realizada contra Marco Órdenes, obispo de dicha diócesis, que data del 2009.

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CHILE
La Tercera

Rodrigo Pino, uno de los denunciantes por abusos supuestamente cometidos por el obispo de Iquique, Marco Antonio Ordenes, aseguró que si bien no estaba seguro de la naturaleza de su relación con el sacerdote, “a los 16 años me enamoré del obispo”.

“Estaba muy embobado, lo defendí siempre”, agregó en un testimonio rescatado por Cooperativa.

Añade que “cuando yo experimenté la primera vez y me sentía una persona culpable y sucia”, pero que el obispo le habría dicho “yo soy tu padre, yo te veo como un hijo, como un hermano, como un amante y como un amigo”.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on a petition drive against Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph:

Approximately 100,000 persons have signed a petition demanding the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn. It’s a phony exercise.

The petition is found on the website of change.org, home to mostly left-wing activists. Anyone can sign it—you don’t have to be Catholic or from Finn’s diocese. For example, almost 7,400 signatures were sent to the diocese, and all but approximately 150 were from outside the area. Of the signatories online, activists from foreign countries have signed. In short, there is no grassroots rebellion against Bishop Finn.

We know who Bishop Finn’s enemies are: the Kansas City Star and the National Catholic Reporter (both are located in Kansas City, Missouri). They are the real source behind this phony petition drive: Both have been beating the drum calling for Finn to resign. It is not child sexual abuse that angers them, it is where it takes place and under whose purview it is.

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DEUTSCHLAND
News 4 Teachers

HEPPENHEIM. Zweieinhalb Jahre nachdem der Missbrauch an der Odenwaldschule an die Öffentlichkeit kam, kritisieren viele Opfer immer noch die mangelnde Aufarbeitung durch die Schule. Schule und Opfer starten jetzt einen neuen Versuch, die Vorgänge aufzuarbeiten.

Die als schleppend kritisierte Aufarbeitung des sexuellen Missbrauchs an der Odenwaldschule könnte neuen Schwung bekommen. Zweieinhalb Jahre nachdem die Übergriffe in großem Ausmaß an die Öffentlichkeit kamen, ist ein Treffen geplant, das es in dieser Zusammensetzung aus Vertretern von Schule und Opfern noch nicht gegeben hat.

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VATIKAN
Tagesschau

Im Prozess gegen den früheren Kammerdiener von Papst Benedikt XVI. sind neue Details zur Dimension des Diebstahls bekannt geworden. Polizisten fanden in der Wohnung des Kammerdieners etwa 1000 vertrauliche Papiere. Nur ein Bruchteil davon wurde bislang veröffentlicht.

Von Tilmann Kleinung, ARD-Hörfunkstudio Rom

Der ehemalige Kammerdiener des Papstes, Paolo Gabriele hat sich offenbar im Lauf der Jahre ein regelrechtes Privatarchiv angelegt. Die Polizisten, die heute vor dem vatikanischen Gericht aussagten, bestätigten, dass sie alles in allem 82 Umzugskartons aus der Wohnung Gabrieles heraus getragen hatten. Voll mit Kopien und Originaldokumenten aus dem Büro des Papstes und seines Sekretärs.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Schafsbrief

.Ein Schaf fordert den Rücktritt von Bischof Ackermann als Missbrauchsbeauftragter der deutschen Bischofskonferenz. Ein zweites überlegt noch. Hat aber schon mal Fakten gesammelt:

Von und für + Dr. Stephan Ackermann, dem Missbrauchbeauftragten der deutschen Bischofskonferenz

In Würdigung seiner Taten für uns arme betroffene Schweine.

In Anerkennung seines Leids mit dem leidigen Thema.

Auch wir sind der Meinung: Null Toleranz gegenüber der Nicht-Tat,

aber Nachssehen mit dem Untätigen.

Und für ein Quantanamo für Vertuscherbischöfe.

Das Schwarzbuch der Opferverarsche Teil 1:

Beispiel 1: Treffen im bischöflichen Generalvikariat am 11.01.2012:

… Trier – Sexuelle Gewalt verjährt moralisch nie. Zugleich sollten die zivilrechtlichen Verjährungsfristen verlängert werden. Das hat der Trierer Bischof Dr. Stephan Ackermann am 11. Januar in Trier betont. Bischof Ackermann hatte die haupt- und ehrenamtlichen Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter des Bistums und weitere Interessierte zu einem Meinungsaustausch zum Thema „Sexueller Missbrauch“ eingeladen. In dem Gespräch ging es um die Fragen, wie die Aufarbeitung von Fällen sexueller Gewalt gut gelingen kann, wie ein angemessener Umgang mit den Opfern, aber auch mit den betroffenen Gemeinden möglich ist und wie eine Kultur der Achtsamkeit im Bistum Trier noch stärker etabliert werden kann. Rund 200 Interessierte folgten der Einladung des Trierer Bischofs.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Schafsbrief

Heute sollte eigentlich in der ZDF-Sendung frontal21 ein Bericht über die Vorgänge am Aloisiuskolleg gesendet werden. Kam nix. Nach Informationen von schafbrief.de wurde die Ausstrahlung wohl auf juristische Intervention hin (?) abgesetzt.

Auch ein WDR-Videobeitrag, der vom Gerichtstermin am letzten Mittwoch berichtete ist derzeit nicht mehr auf der WDR-Seite abrufbar. Auf Nachfragen unseres Netzwerkes war hier wohl auch Juristerei im Spiel.

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CHILE
kathweb

Vatikan nahm im April Ermittlungen gegen Bischof Ordenes von Iquique auf und bot zeitgleich Opfern psychologische und medizinische Betreuung an

03.10.2012

Santiago, 03.10.2012 (KAP) Die Chilenische Bischofskonferenz hat am Dienstag (Ortszeit) Untersuchungen gegen Bischof Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernandez (47) bestätigt. Dem Bischof von Iquique wird sexueller Missbrauch in mehreren Fällen vorgeworfen. Um sich zu den Vorwürfen zu äußern, soll Ordenes in den kommenden Tagen aus Peru nach Chile zurückkehren, wo er sich derzeit wegen eines Leberleidens behandeln lässt.

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OSTERREICH
Vorarlberg

Der Vorarlberger Autor Hans Weiss hat Gewaltätigkeiten und sexuellen Missbrauch an Kindern in 135 Heimen untersucht. In seinem eben erschienenen Buch „Tatort Kinderheim“ beleuchtet der Autor auch Vorfälle im Klostergymnasium Mehrerau.

Bis weit ins letzte Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts waren Kinder- und Jugendheime in Österreich „Zentren der Gewalttätigkeit und des sexuellen Missbrauchs“. Zu diesem Befund kommt der Autor Hans Weiss in seinem Buch „Tatort Kinderheim“, das am Montagabend in der Wiener Hauptbücherei vorgestellt wird.

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OSTERREICH
Mein Bezirk

Beim unabhängigen „Anwalt für Opfer von Gewalt und sexuellem Missbrauch in kirchlichen Einrichtungen“ und der „Ombudsstelle der Diözese Gurk für Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs in der Kirche“ hat es von 1995, seit Installierung der Ombudsstelle, bis heute insgesamt 43 Kontaktnahmen gegeben.

Von diesen 43 Kontaktnahmen erfolgten elf anonym, sechs Fälle sind bereits seit mindestens sieben Jahren abgeschlossen. Durch diese Kontaktnahmen wurden Verdachtsfälle von Gewalt und sexuellem Missbrauch in kirchlichen Einrichtungen in der Diözese Gurk gemeldet, die alle – bis auf einen Fall aus dem Jahr 2002, bei dem die Staatsanwaltschaft die Vorerhebung eingestellt hat – mehr als 30 Jahre zurückliegen.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Today was the third hearing of the Paolo Gabriele case. During today’s testimonies, descriptions were given of the seized letters and books which the Pope’s former butler had kept in paper and digital format

Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican City

The poison pen letter writer’s strange 007-style archive. Letters from politicians, correspondence between cardinals and the Pope and documents on freemasonry and secret services. When Paolo Gabriele’s house was searched on 23 May, for the leaked Vatican documents, the hunt extended to the children’s rooms as well. As the search dragged on and Gabriele had decided not to send his family away, the commander of the Vatican Gendarmerie, Domenico Giani, issued an order for the search in the children’s rooms to be speeded up so as to protect them as afar as possible and allow them to sleep.

On the third day of the butler’s trial, the four Vatican policemen who were heard in court, provided information on the scene where they discovered the poison pen letter writer’s dossier. Two of the m in particular – Silvano Carli and Luca Bassetti – arrived on the scene when the house search was already underway, especially to look through the children’s rooms. The policemen said that Gabriele offered them coffee during the search and then said to them: “It’s a pity you’ll be finish here late tonight, as you can see I like reading and writing.”

Eighty two crates of seized material were taken from the former butler’s house, plus two leather briefcases and two yellow folders full of letters. “Paolo Gabriele thanked us again and again for the humane attitude shown throughout the investigation.”

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CANADA
The Globe and Mail

HEATHER SCOFFIELD

OTTAWA — The Canadian Press

The federal government has been billed more than $3-million for its unsuccessful attempts to keep a high-stakes battle over first nations child welfare out of the courts.

Invoices obtained through the Access to Information Act show the Justice Department, acting on behalf of Aboriginal Affairs, paid out at least $3.1-million for legal services between 2007 and June 2012.

Government lawyers were trying to quash claims from first nations child rights advocates that Ottawa is short-changing native communities by funding child welfare services at 22 per cent below provincial levels.

The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations launched a human rights challenge that dates back to 2007.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by
Carol Glatz,
Cindy Wooden,
Catholic News Service

Vatican police officers who searched Paolo Gabriele’s apartment testified they found “an infinite amount” of documents and news clippings covering a vast range of topics, including the Masons, the Vatican bank and yoga.

Although they sequestered 82 moving boxes full of materials, once the police inspected all the paper, only a fraction of the material was deemed relevant to the case, officers told a three-judge panel on the third day of the “VatiLeaks” trial.

Vatican judges said they would hear closing arguments Saturday; a verdict was possible the same day.

Each of the four police officers testifying Wednesday also said they did not wear gloves during the search, saying that was not the usual protocol for conducting a search and seizure of paper.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

The trial of Pope Benedict Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler for stealing documents is due to end on Saturday, the Vatican has announced.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi confirmed the trial would end just hours before a major Vatican conference of the world’s bishops.

Paolo Gabriele’s arrest and trial have proved embarrassing for the Vatican, correspondents say.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Providence Journal

October 3, 2012

By Thomas J. Morgan …

20 years ago today:
Former priest James R. Porter likely will challenge on constitutional grounds the child molestation charges brought against him in North Attleboro, Fall River and New Bedford between 1961 and 1967, local criminal lawyers say. A key issue is expected to be the state’s statute of limitations.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Ralph Riegel and Barry Duggan

Wednesday October 03 2012

A parish priest has slated Taoiseach Enda Kenny as “a dope” over the controversy surrounding his Vatican visit.

Fr Gabriel Burke, a priest in the diocese of Cloyne, Co Cork, also demanded answers as to why “spin doctors” hinted that the Taoiseach was ever going to get a private meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.

Fr Burke yesterday told the Irish Independent that it was “inevitable” people would interpret the Taoiseach’s constant fiddling with his mobile phone during a speech by the Pope as “bad manners”.

“If he was a true statesman he would have had a well-worded press release that would have said absolutely nothing — but for that you need intelligence. Remember, Indy (sic) is a trained school teacher and only a few weeks ago told us Lenin came to Ireland,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Newswire

Contact: Robyn Williams, 360-802‐9758, robyn@winepresspublishing.com

ROCK ISLAND, Ill./ENUMCLAW, Wash., Oct. 3, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ — As a young child, Bill Christman experienced the ultimate betrayal. Sexually abused by a Catholic priest, Bill’s life was set down a path of fear, rage, violence, drug abuse and alcoholism to mask the pain.

For Bill, the trauma of his priest’s perverse pleasures had taunted, and then ruined his childhood innocence. Playful boyhood pranks spiraled into patterns of anger, fits of rage, and lawless violence. Alcohol and drugs played their part, pushed him into homelessness, and finally brought him to his knees. Desperate, Bill cried out to God for an answer.

Through AA he stopped drinking, but inner misery cloaked him like an angry shroud. How could he find the peace he craved? A fellow AA member — ironically, a priest — soon became his emotional and spiritual mentor.

Wanting only an apology, and encouraged to go through proper channels within his Diocese, Bill was forced to engage a lawyer. A series of tense, intimidating and seemingly fruitless meetings dragged on but through the support of godly Catholic priests, Bill did the unthinkable: he faced his abuser, released the burden of hate, and received the gift of forgiveness. A visit to the Vatican with his mentor leads to Bill receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation and a touch from God.

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UNITED STATES
What They Knew

Given our previous post publishing the Christmas card sent by Pope Benedict in December 2006 to Donald McGuire SJ in prison after his conviction for child molestation, WTK thinks it’s only appropriate to show you what the Pope got from the Jesuit sex abuse and priest Donald McGuire SJ who was first convicted in a public trial by jury in February 2006. It was widely known HERE.

So there is no confusion as to what Pope Benedict knew, below is the letter he received from Donald McGuire SJ or Registered Sex Offender/Inmate 00499325 (link to Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry) for 944.11: Indecent Behavior with a Child, Conviction Date 02/23/2006. The letter and the card pretty much tell you everything anyone, including his friend the Pope, would need to know.

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MISSOURI
Belleville News-Democrat

By CHRIS BLANK — Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A federal judge rejected a request to stop Missouri from enforcing a new state law that makes it a crime to disturb a worship service, but opponents vowed Tuesday to press on with their efforts to overturn it and said they are confident they’ll eventually succeed.

Missouri’s worship law, which took effect in August, makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally disturb or interrupt a “house of worship” with profane language, rude or indecent behavior or noise that breaks the solemnity of the service. First-time offenders face up to six months in jail and a $500 fine, and repeat offenders face escalating penalties, culminating in up to four years in prison.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing to overturn the law on behalf of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, another group and two individuals, sought a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court in St. Louis that would bar enforcement of the law pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

Senior Judge E. Richard Webber rejected the request in a 16-page ruling issued last week. He found that the plaintiffs didn’t sufficiently show they were likely to win, and he said the hardship caused by blocking the law would exceed that of allowing it to stand.

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WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Oct. 2, 2012

It is a story almost too horrible to comprehend.

Deaf boys sent by their parents to a Catholic boarding school in Wisconsin, where they were molested again and again by a popular priest who stalked them in their dorm rooms at night, on trips to his North Woods cabin, even in the confessional.

Dismissed as “mentally retarded,” they were often not believed, or worse ignored, for years by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, police, prosecutors and the media.

Gary Smith and Arthur Budzinski are among the victims of the late Father Lawrence Murphy who have worked for decades to make their voices heard. Their heartbreaking accounts have since been told on the pages of the Journal Sentinel and The New York Times.

Now they’ll reach a new and potentially wider audience with the release of an HBO documentary by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney.

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UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

Illinois Justice Anne M. Burke (wife of Chicago ward boss Ed Burke) once served as the interim chair of the National Review Board, a lay group who advises the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on sex abuse policy. However, after her spiteful speech at this year’s Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) Conference, one cannot help but ask, “If these are the ‘faithful,’ who needs enemies?”

Burke’s 30-minute diatribe on September 14 at the Boston get-together took sharp aim at the Church’s bishops, as she accused Church leaders of:
■treating lay people as “second class citizens” and “serfs”;
■asking Catholics “to check [their] brains at the front door”;
■prioritizing “pride, untruths, [and] protecting the institution at all costs”;
■implementing “a needless attack upon the women religious”;
■”resurrecting the Inquisition”; and
■committing a “new form of lay abuse.”

Just.plain.weird

Yet the most bizarre aspect of Burke’s speech was her citations of various cultural and Church figures sprinkled in her talk. Among others, Burke variously quoted Cher, Wayne Gretzky, John Wayne, Thomas Edison, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, John F. Kennedy, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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OHIO
The Columbus Dispatch

By John Futty
The Columbus DispatchTuesday October 2, 2012

A group that advocates for the victims of sexual abuse by priests wants a more thorough investigation of a Greek Orthodox priest who pleaded guilty last week to seeking sex with boys.

The case of Patrick N. Hughes, known as Father Nicholas, deserves closer scrutiny in light of concerns expressed by a fellow cleric in Ashland County, according to members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

The group’s Columbus director, Carol Zamonski, hand-delivered a letter to Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien today, asking him “to seek out and offer encouragement to others with knowledge of or suspicions about Hughes’ misdeeds or the Greek Orthodox hierarchy’s complicity.”

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 2, 2012

It isn’t about faith, it’s about crime.

Here are five reasons you should care about the Catholic Clergy Sex Abuse and Cover-up Crisis:

1) Many church officials have broken and are breaking the law. The William Lynn trial in Philadelphia and the child pornography cover-up scandal in Kansas City are only unique because church officials—Former Philadelphia Vicar for Clergy Msgr. William Lynn and Kansas City’s Bishop Finn—were criminally punished.

In Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Gallup, Seattle, Fairbanks, Boston, Toledo, Wilmington DE, and elsewhere, these crimes have continued for decades, but have never been punished because statutes of limitations have passed or church officials kept evidence hidden. The children who were injured came from many faiths and all income levels. They all had one thing in common: they were vulnerable.

2) The Church uses your tax dollars to pay for victims’ care. Victims of child sexual abuse are horribly injured, and many suffer for decades after the abuse. In most cases, the church knows exactly who the predators are, where they worked, whom they encountered, and who the victims are. Or, they can easily find out.

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VATICAN CITY
Belfast Telegraph

Vatican police found thousands of documents hidden inside the home of the pope’s butler, including originals signed by the pontiff with indications they should be destroyed.

Officers gave evidence in the trial of Paolo Gabriele, the pope’s once-trusted butler who faces four years in prison if convicted of aggravated theft for stealing papal documents and leaking them to a journalist.

The final four witnesses were heard and closing arguments are set for Saturday, when a verdict by the three-judge Vatican panel is expected.

Inspector Silvano Carli said that of the hundreds of thousands of documents seized from Gabriele’s home, about 1,000 were of interest since they were original or photocopied Vatican documents.

Some documents came from the pope’s office, some carried the processing codes of the secretariat of state, others originated in various Vatican congregations “and some documents concerned the total privacy and private life of the Holy Father,” said police officer Stefano De Santis.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella and Naomi O’Leary

VATICAN CITY | Wed Oct 3, 2012

(Reuters) – Pope Benedict’s former butler Paolo Gabriele, on trial for stealing and leaking papal documents, possessed papers the pope had marked “to be destroyed,” police testified at his Vatican trial on Wednesday.

On the third day of the process, held under a 19th century Italian penal code, members of the Holy See’s small police force said the theft of encrypted documents had compromised some Vatican operations.

They also found instructions that Gabriele had printed on how to hide files in computers and how to use cellphones secretly.

Members of the Corps of Gendarmerie said many newspaper clippings, books and other material seized in the search of Gabriele’s apartment showed he was fascinated by the occult, Masonic lodges, secret services, and past Vatican and Italian scandals.

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VATICAN CITY
Fox News

Published October 03, 2012

Associated Press

VATICAN CITY – Members of the Vatican police force have testified that they found thousands of pages of documents — about Freemasonry, secret service security forces and internal Vatican letters — inside the Vatican City apartment of Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler, who is on trial for aggravated theft.

Their testimony continues Wednesday in a Vatican courtroom in the trial of Paolo Gabriele, the 46-year-old father of three who faces four years in prison if convicted.

On Tuesday, Gabriele declared himself innocent of the charge, but acknowledged he photocopied the pope’s private correspondence, in broad daylight and in the presence of others, using the photocopier in the office he shared with the pope’s two private secretaries.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
UTV

A jury has failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a young girl nearly 30 years ago.

Jurors returned to Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday after over five hours of deliberations to say they couldn’t agree on a verdict in the trial of Father Peter Donnelly and the foreman said there was no prospect of them doing so.

Donnelly, from Drumaroad Hill in Castlewellan, had denied six counts of indecent assault and one of gross indecency against the girl.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

JOANNE HUNT

PROVIDING TREATMENT for those who sexually abuse children is essential to breaking the cycle of abuse, a victim support group has said.

One in Four, which treated 28 sex offenders last year, says that with fewer than 5 per cent of offenders ever convicted, there is a great need for treatment in the community.

“Research consistently shows that effective treatment programmes reduce the risk of reoffending, yet most sex offenders in Ireland do not have access to treatment,” said executive director of the body Maeve Lewis.

“We also know that many sex offenders will continue to abuse throughout their lives until they are caught. While good programmes are available in prison, fewer than 5 per cent of sex offenders will ever be convicted. There is a huge need for treatment in the community.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The jury has been discharged in the trial of a priest accused of sexually abusing a young girl almost 30 years ago, after failing to reach a verdict.

Fr Peter Donnelly, from Castlewellan, denies six counts of indecent assault and one of gross indecency.

The alleged victim claimed it happened at the parochial house of St Matthew’s Church, Belfast, where he was curate.

The jury foreman told the judge there was no prospect of them agreeing on a verdict.

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OHIO
Fox 19

LOGAN, Ohio (AP) – A former southeastern Ohio youth pastor has pleaded guilty to sex charges involving a 13-year-old girl in the congregation.

The Logan Daily News (http://bit.ly/Ry1Ggg ) reports that 31-year-old Travis Branstetter pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of attempted gross sexual imposition as part of a negotiated plea agreement. Other charges were dropped.

Branstetter was an ordained minister who was youth pastor for five years at the Church of the Nazarene in Logan, about 50 miles southeast of Columbus.

A judge said he could get up to three years in prison, but his attorney will ask for probation and other sanctions. He will be sentenced Dec. 21.

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OHIO
Logan Daily News

BY DEBRA TOBIN Logan Daily News Reporter dtobin@logandaily.com

LOGAN — Travis Branstetter, a former youth pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in South Logan who was charged with 10 counts of sexual battery and four counts of sexual imposition in October 2011, appeared in Hocking County Common Pleas Court with his attorneys Kevin O’Brien and Tom Martello as part of a plea agreement on Tuesday.

Branstetter pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted gross sexual imposition, all fifth degree felonies.

Upon request by the victim’s family, Hocking County Assistant Prosecutor Bill Archer addressed the court with regard to a plea agreement with Branstetter.

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CHILE
El Boyaldia

[The Diocese of Iquique made a statement.]

El Departamento de Comunicaciones del Obispado de Iquique, ante las noticias aparecidas en los medios de comunicación social, declara:

– Que efectivamente, monseñor Marco Antonio Órdenes Fernández, Obispo de Iquique, está siendo investigado canónicamente por una denuncia formulada en su contra.

– Que efectivamente, como se ha dicho, monseñor Órdenes Fernández, padece de una antigua afección al hígado, lo que terminó transformándose en una descompensación enzimática y en un agudo estrés.

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CHILE
Terra

La Fiscalía Regional de Tarapacá informó este martes que el obispo de Iquique, Marco Antonio Órdenes Fernández, fue investigado hace algunos años por el Ministerio Público por una denuncia de delito sexual interpuesta por los padres de una víctima que, a la fecha de la denuncia, ya era mayor de edad. Estos hechos corresponderían a los mismos denunciados ante las autoridades eclesiásticas.

Esta causa fue objeto de conocimiento en su momento por la Fiscalía Local de Iquique, bajo el mandato del ex Fiscal Regional, Claudio Roe. Considerando que el espíritu de la denuncia era más que investigar el hecho ocurrido años anteriores, que estaría eventualmente prescrito, el que se evitara la repetición o comisión de hechos similares en otras víctimas, se realizaron diversas diligencias policiales que no arrojaron resultados positivos.

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CHILE
Radio Santiago

Por orden del Vaticano se inició una investigación eclesiástica de carácter previo respecto del obispo de Iquique, Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernández. La indagatoria que comenzó hace cerca de cuatro meses y busca esclarecer la veracidad de una denuncia de abuso sexual a un menor, que afecta al prelado de 47 años.

Debido a la investidura de Ordenes, las pesquisas no se encargaron a un sacerdote en Chile, sino que fueron derivadas al nuncio apostólico Ivo Scapolo, representante del Vaticano en el país.

Según información de tres fuentes ligadas a la Iglesia, el nuncio deberá analizar la verosimilitud o no de los hechos y determinar si existen más denuncias en contra del religioso.

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CHILE
Conferencia Episcopal de Chile

Al tratarse de un obispo, el procedimiento es realizado por la Santa Sede.

Martes 02 de Octubre del 2012

El Portavoz de la Conferencia Episcopal de Chile, Jaime Coiro, dio a conocer el comunicado de prensa emitido por la Nunciatura Apostólica, sobre la denuncia en contra de monseñor Marco Antonio Órdenes.

El texto dice lo siguiente:

La Nunciatura Apostólica en Chile informa que se está desarrollando desde abril de este año una investigación en relación a Mons. Marco Ordenes, Obispo de Iquique. Por el hecho de que la persona denunciada es un Obispo, el procedimiento es llevado a cabo por la Santa Sede.

Desde el inicio de este caso, la Nunciatura ha procurado ofrecer apoyo psicológico y acompañamiento para las personas afectadas y ha estado en contacto con Monseñor Ordenes, quien se encuentra con permiso médico.

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CHILE
Emol

Iglesia ha procurado apoyo sicológico a afectados por supuestos abusos de obispo de Iquique

SANTIAGO.- El portavoz del Episcopado, Jaime Coiro, confirmó este mediodía que el Vaticano inició una investigación eclesiástica de carácter previo por una denuncia de abuso sexual en contra del obispo de Iquique, Marco Antonio Órdenes Fernández (47 años).

De acuerdo a los protocolos de la Iglesia Católica, el vocero señaló que desde el inicio de este caso la nunciatura “ha procurado ofrecer apoyo sicológico y acompañamiento para las personas afectadas”.

“La Nunciatura Apostólica en Chile informa que se está desarrollando desde abril de este año una investigación en relación a monseñor Marco Órdenes. Por el hecho de que la persona denunciada es un obispo, el procedimiento es llevado a cabo por la Santa Sede”, explicó Coiro .

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CHILE
La Tercera

por Natalia Ramos y Jorge Poblete

Una investigación eclesiástica de carácter previo inició el Vaticano respecto del obispo de Iquique, Marco Antonio Ordenes Fernández. La indagatoria se inició hace cerca de cuatro meses y busca esclarecer la veracidad de una denuncia de abuso sexual a un menor, que afecta al prelado de 47 años.

Debido a la investidura de Ordenes, las pesquisas no se encargaron a un sacerdote en Chile, sino que fueron derivadas al nuncio apostólico Ivo Scapolo, representante del Vaticano en el país.

Según informaron a La Tercera tres fuentes ligadas a la Iglesia, el nuncio deberá analizar la verosimilitud o no de los hechos y determinar si existen más denuncias en contra del religioso.

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CHILE
Santiago Times

Tuesday, 02 October 2012
Written by Mischa Wilmers

Sources close to the Church say the Vatican has been investigating sex abuse claims for months.

The Vatican is launching a historic investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of a minor perpetrated a Chilean bishop, according to sources close to the Church. It is the first time a Chilean bishop has been investigated by the Vatican.

Fourty-seven-year-old Marco Antonio Órdenes Fernández, bishop of the northern city of Iquique, is being investigated by Ivo Scapolo, the Vatican’s Chilean representative who began looking into the case four months ago.

Scapolo has been assigned the task of determining if the allegations are true and whether any other complaints have been made against the bishop.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Lez Get Real

Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on October 2, 2012

Pennsylvania Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick ordered serious charges of deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault and statutory sexual assault against Father Andrew McCormick reinstated. The charges were initially dismissed by Municipal Judge Karen Y. Simons after a preliminary hearing back in August. The now 24-year-old alleged victim was an altar boy of ten when McCormick allegedly tried to force him to have oral intercourse.

McCormick was, at that hearing, held for trial on misdemeanor charges of indecent assault, corrupting the morals of a minor and endangering the welfare of a child.

Assistant District Attorney Jack O’Neill praised the man who came forward over the alleged assault, and stated that “This was an extremely clear law. The judge looked at the law, looked at the testimony and applied the law. Most of all, we’re just grateful the victim was courageous to come forward. Now, this case is moving forward as it should.”

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NICARAGUA
The Tico Times

By David Hutt | Special to The Tico Times

LEÓN, Nicaragua – Last month saw two major stories involving sexual abuse in the headlines of Nicaraguan newspapers. First came the account of a mentally and physically disabled 12-year-old girl allegedly raped by four policemen and a security guard 30 meters from the presidential compound in the capital. Three policemen were arrested, but not the guard, who local media reported works for a company with political ties to a top Sandinista leader.

Days later, the alleged victim attempted suicide. “She cut one of her wrists and was taken to a hospital last week,” a statement published on the website of the Nicaragua Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) said.

The trial against the three policemen begins Oct. 7. …

Jiménez also mentioned past allegations against President Daniel Ortega. In 1998, Ortega’s stepdaughter, Zoilamérica Narváez, accused the current president of sexually abusing her from 1979 (when she was 11) until 1990. Both Ortega and Narváez’s mother, First Lady and Sandinista spokeswoman Rosario Murillo, denied the charges, and the case was never brought to trial. Instead, Nicaraguan courts granted Ortega immunity from prosecution because he was a member of the legislature.

In Nicaragua, charges of sexual abuse and rape have a five-year statute of limitation. Narváez has never withdrawn her accusation, although the charges expired long ago. …

Then, in 2011, the Sandinista government gave red-carpet treatment to Belgian priest François Houtart during the commemoration of the anniversary of the Sandinista revolution. Houtart is a confessed pedophile who renounced a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2010 after admitting that he raped his 8-year-old cousin.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Wednesday, 3 October 2012

A jury has failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a young girl nearly 30 years ago.

Jurors returned to Belfast Crown Court yesterday after more than five hours of deliberations to say they could not agree on a verdict in the trial of Father Peter Donnelly.

The jury foreman said there was no prospect of them doing so.

Donnelly, from Drumaroad Hill in Castlewellan, had denied six counts of indecent assault and one of gross indecency against the girl who was aged between 10 and 14 at the time of the alleged offences between July 31, 1983 and August 1, 1987.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

BY MENSAH M. DEAN
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Staff Writer

A PHILADELPHIA judge Tuesday reinstated three felony charges against a Catholic priest who is accused of forcing oral sex on a 10-year-old altar boy in 1997.

Father Andrew McCormick sat stoically at the defense table as Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick held him for trial after a brief hearing on involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault and statutory sexual assault.

Those charges were dismissed by Municipal Judge Karen Y. Simmons following an August preliminary hearing, during which the now-24-year-old alleged victim testified that McCormick, 56, straddled him and put his penis on the victim’s lips and on his teeth.

The alleged incident took place in the rectory of St. John Cantius Church, in Bridesburg, where McCormick was a priest and the accuser was an altar boy.

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OHIO
The Columbus Dispatch

By Mary Beth Lane
The Columbus Dispatch

Tuesday October 2, 2012

A former youth pastor pleaded guilty today in Hocking County Common Pleas Court to three counts of attempted gross sexual imposition involving a 13-year-old girl in the congregation.

Visiting Judge Dale Crawford scheduled sentencing for Dec. 21.

Travis J. Branstetter, 31, of Logan, an ordained minister who was youth pastor for five years at the Church of the Nazarene, took a negotiated plea deal.

The offense carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison, the prosecutor’s office said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Your Erie

October 2, 2012 – Catholic Bishops from all over Pennsylvania extended their stay in Erie after Monday’s ordination and installation of Bishop Persico.

The Bishops spent the day at Saint Mark Center for the provincial meeting of the Bishops of Pennsylvania.

They meet annually.

And this year, because of Bishop Persico’s ceremony, they had the conference in Erie where they had meetings and a mass this morning.

Several topics were discussed including the health and human services mandate.

“We’ll talk about other common interests like how do we bring back Catholics who have left the church, how do we try to minister to those who have been hurt by the sexual abuse scandal in the church, how do we find good candidates to take our place as bishops and those sorts of things we do every year,” said Bishop Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

A Philadelphia judge has reinstated felony sex-assault charges against a suspended Roman Catholic priest, weeks after a different judge dismissed them.

Tuesday’s ruling means the Rev. Andrew McCormick will face trial on charges he molested a 10-year-old altar boy at St. John Cantius rectory in 1997. The 25-year-old accuser says he went to authorities amid news of the Jerry Sandusky and Philadelphia archdiocese abuse cases.

An earlier judge had found the alleged abuse described by the accuser at a preliminary hearing did not meet the legal definition of the felony sexual assault charges. But Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick has reinstated them after hearing arguments Tuesday.

Defense lawyer William Brennan says he still believes the commonwealth has a weak case.

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CANADA
The StarPhoenix

By Jason Warick, The StarPhoenix October 2, 2012

A former Saskatoon priest who sexually abused more than a dozen children will be out of prison in time to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner.

“This is just ludicrous,” one of William Hodgson Marshall’s alleged Saskatoon victims said Tuesday.

“I’m not afraid of him anymore, but it just pisses me off. He should spend the rest of his life behind bars.”

Marshall, who is in his early 90s, is due for statutory release from an Ontario prison Monday after reaching the two-thirds mark of his two-year sentence, according to Parole Board of Canada documents.

He was convicted of abusing 17 children while working at schools across Ontario during a 30-year period and also stands charged with abusing two Saskatoon boys at a Saskatoon high school in the 1960s.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Vatican spokesman Fr. Lombardi dismissed the accusations made by the defendant during today’s hearing

Vatican Insider staff
Rome

During the second hearing in the Vatileaks case, the Pope’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele criticised the mental pressure and other mistreatments he was subjected to for the first 15-20 days of his detention. “I couldn’t even stretch my arms out,” and “the light was kept on 24/7, he stated.”

“There was no light switch and so I suffered loss of vision.” Answering questions addressed to him by his lawyer, Gabriele also complained about the “mental pressure” he was put under, “particularly on the fist night” of his detention: “I was even refused a pillow.”

The President of the Vatican Tribunal, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, asked the Promoter of Justice, Nicola Picardi, to open case file no. 52/2012, to check whether there were any other abuses during the defendant’s detention.

In relation to this, the Vatican’s spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, pointed out that Paolo Gabriele’s conditions were “very humane”.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Sentinel

Catholic News Service

The senior Vatican official with authority for investigating priests accused of sexual abuse said the most important concern is for those who have been the victims of this terrible abuse.

Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the congregation also has an obligation to ensure that the process of justice does not “become a lynching.”

He inherited cases, studies and projects the congregation had begun under his predecessor, U.S. Cardinal William Levada, including the congregation-ordered revision of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the largest organization of superiors of women’s orders in the United States.

Muller already knew something about these issues because he had been a member of the congregation for the past five years while serving as archbishop of Regensburg, Germany.

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UNITED STATES
Renew America

By Matt C. Abbott

I’ve written about the Truth Alliance Foundation previously, but it’s worth revisiting.

Thomas R. Hampson, an Illinois licensed private investigator and founder of the Truth Alliance Foundation, is determined to fight the plague of child sexual abuse by investigating and exposing pedophile networks.

Hampson’s résumé is impressive. In the 1960s, he worked for the U.S. Air Force Security Service as an intelligence analyst. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he worked for the Illinois Legislative Investigating Commission as a chief investigator.

From 1983 to 2004, he served as president of Search International, Inc., a company he established as an international investigation and security agency. And from March 2006 to September 2007, he was hired as a contract employee by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to investigate the sexual exploitation of children by priests.

Hampson writes that TAF is presently investigating three pedophile networks.

The first is the ‘Boys’ Club’ [see my Nov. 18, 2011 column for more on the matter].

The second is the Pentagon child porn network. A few years ago it was determined that hundreds of computers at the Pentagon had downloaded child porn. Several people have been arrested and convicted, but the prosecutions are scattered and there seems to be no central account of the overall case. Having come out of the national security apparatus, I know the control that is exercised over the use of computers at the Pentagon. It should have been no problem to get all of the perpetrators. I have to wonder why the case seems to be so disjointed.

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AUSTRALIA/UNITED STATES
The Freethinker

By
Barry Duke
– October 2, 2012

“PRO-CHURCH” members of the Australian police, in cahoots with top US Catholics, have been accused of derailing an investigation into a paedophile priest who fled to America where his is now under the protection of the Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Brother Bernard Hartman, now performing clerical work under a ”safety plan” that ensures he had no contact with young people or vulnerable women, is accused of raping several young Victorian children and teenagers in the 1970s.

Interference with the case manifested itself, according to this report in The Age, with the removal of the police sergeant leading the investigation, who claims he was taken off the investigation after a complaint from a high-ranking Catholic official in the US.

In a letter sent last month to one of the alleged victims of Hartman the officer also accuses church officials in America of ”actively hindering” his inquiry.

The 26-year veteran of the police force, whom The Age has decided not to name, was removed from the Hartman case by a more senior officer last month, only days after the sergeant initiated proceedings to have the Marianist brother extradited to Australia.

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CANADA
London Free Press

The top priest at St. Peter’s Seminary in London is tackling a topic often seen as taboo in the Catholic Church.

Rev. Stevan Wlusek, the rector at the seminary, penned From Darkness into Transforming Light, a book focusing on the how Catholic teachings can be used as a resource to help the spiritual healing process of sexual abuse survivors.

The target audience of the 299-page book is priests, bishops and abuse victims themselves, said Wlusek, an associate professor of spirituality and pastoral theology.

Wlusek, who served as the Bishop’s delegate for sexual abuse allegations for several years, has seen first-hand how sexual abuse wreaks destruction on survivors’ lives.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

Reminder: First Friday Vigil outside the Archdiocesan Offices at 222 N. 17th Street on October 5, 2012 from 12 noon to 1 p.m.

Advocate Sister Maureen Paul Turlish sent the following to the Archdiocesan-administered PhillyCatholic.com in response to Archbishop Chaput’s recent comments regarding child sex abuse legislation.

by Sister Maureen Paul Turlish

What about our Church’s Sanctity of Life issues, its Pro-Life position and the fact that so many refuse to broaden their vision to include the comprehensive ethic of life about which Joseph Cardinal Bernardin speaks of in “A Consistent Ethic of Life: An American-Catholic Dialogue?”

How is it that Archbishop Chaput and the bishops of Pennsylvania can oppose PA House Bill 2488 so cavalierly? Do not all of Pennsylvania’s children have a right to the full protection of law? To access Justice?

Then why has Archbishop Chaput misrepresented this law and the previously introducted HB 832 & 878 saying that such laws would only apply to the Catholic Church? That was untrue.

The same thing was tried in Delaware when opponents, including the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, claimed that Delaware’s proposed law only applied to accusations of childhood sexual abuse against those representing the Catholic Church. That was never true.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

BY MENSAH M. DEAN
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Staff Writer

A Philadelphia judge Tuesday reinstated three felony charges against a Catholic priest who is accused of forcing oral sex on a 10-year-old altar boy in 1997.

Father Andrew McCormick sat stoically at the defense table as Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick held him for trial after a brief hearing on involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault and statutory sexual assault.

Those charges were dismissed by Municipal Judge Karen Y. Simmons following an August preliminary hearing, during which the now-24-year-old alleged victim testified that McCormick, 56, straddled him and put his penis on the victim’s lips and on his teeth.

The alleged incident took place in the rectory of St. John Cantius Church in Bridesburg, where McCormick was a priest and the young man was an altar boy.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WPVI

PHILADELPHIA – October 2, 2012 (WPVI) — Felony charges have been reinstated against a former Philadelphia priest, accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy over a decade ago.

56-year-old Andrew Mccormick is facing endangering the welfare of a child, corrupting the morals of a minor, indecent assault, and indecent exposure charges. However, he is now facing additional felony charges, including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault.

The charges stem from the alleged sexual assault of a ten year old boy in 1997. McCormick was a priest at St. John Cantius Church in Bridesburg at the time.

Prosecutors say following the abuse, McCormick attempted to keep the boy quiet, allegedly telling the victim, “Masturbation is a sin, homosexuality is a sin, pre-marital sex is a sin and lying is a sin.”

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PHILIPPINES
Manila Standard Today

By Manila Standard Today | Posted on October 03, 2012

A PARISH priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cubao was suspended after he was found to be fond of going to a nightclub, a diocesan spokesman said over the church-owned Radio Veritas.

Diocesan spokesman Rev. Aries Sison identified the priest as Bong Guerrero, parish priest of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the city’s Cubao district, who was suspended by Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco last Sept. 25.

Sison said the diocese was already imposing disciplinary sanctions on Guerrero even before the priest’s activities was revealed by the television news program XXX of the ABS-CBN network.

“The fist measure was to remove him as parish priest. Secondly, Bishop Ongtioco suspended his priestly functions. These two measures were done to avoid further harm, further scandal and to stop him from falling into greater sin,” Sison said in the radio interview.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
ABC News

By Genevieve Shaw Brown
@gsbrownabc

A Catholic priest who was defrocked for allegedly sexually abusing young girls was hired by the Transportation Security Administration before his background check was complete and has worked at Philadelphia International Airport for the last 10 years.

Thomas Harkins joined the TSA in 2002 after resigning from the priesthood the same year. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the TSA hired the former priest before completing a background check. The Diocese of Camden revealed to the TSA in 2003 as part of the background check that Harkins had been removed from his ministry in the diocese because of allegations he had molested two girls in grade school.

The diocese told ABC News Harkins was ordained in 1971 and was placed under restrictive ministry in 1993 when the diocese was informed of a report of inappropriate sexual contact with an adolescent female. Later that year, the diocese was informed of another report involving another adolescent female, diocesan spokesman Peter Feuerherd said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
York Dispatch

The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA—A Philadelphia judge has reinstated felony sex-assault charges against a suspended Roman Catholic priest, weeks after a different judge dismissed them.

Tuesday’s ruling means the Rev. Andrew McCormick will face trial on charges he molested a 10-year-old altar boy at St. John Cantius rectory in 1997. The 25-year-old accuser says he went to authorities amid news of the Penn State and Philadelphia archdiocese abuse cases.

An earlier judge had found the alleged abuse described by the accuser at a preliminary hearing did not meet the legal definition of the felony sexual assault charges. But Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick has reinstated them after hearing arguments Tuesday.

Defense lawyer William Brennan says he still believes the commonwealth has a weak case.

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PHILIPPINES
Inquirer

By Michael L. Tan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
10:32 pm | Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

My last few columns have been quite serious with martial law and blood ivory, so let’s take a break today and talk about lighter matters.

“Lighter” is relative. I will still have to refer to the National Geographic article by Bryan Christy about ivory trafficking, where a Monsignor Cristobal Garcia was implicated by the author as a particularly avid collector. In my column I wrote about how the monsignor had gotten into trouble in the United States, was dismissed, came home and “became a bishop,” which I presumed was the case because he was a monsignor.

Three clergymen, no less, wrote me to clarify that a monsignor is not necessarily a bishop. Let me share parts of their e-mails.

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PHILIPPINES
GMA News

A Catholic priest, whose parish was in Quezon City, has been stripped of his clerical obligations after he was caught on television inside a nightclub, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said Tuesday.

Fr. Alfredo Guerrero was suspended and replace as parish priest of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help by Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco last week, said Cubao diocese spokesman Fr. Ariston Sison said on Catholic Church-run Radio Veritas.

Sison said the action was taken to “avoid further harm, further scandal and to help the priest not to fall into a greater sin.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

A Philadelphia judge has reinstated the felony sex abuse charges against the Rev. Andrew McCormick, the 56-year-old priest charged in July with assaulting a 10-year-old boy in 1997 when he was a priest at the St. John Cantius Church in the city’s Bridesburg section.

In August, a Municipal Court judge stunned prosecutors when she dismissed the most serious charges against McCormick at a preliminary hearing.

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office appealed that decision and today Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick reinstated the felony charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault and sexual assault.

McCormick faces a formal arraignment on the charges on Oct. 23 before his case gets assigned a judge for trial.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Das Parlament

INNERES

Vorstoß der SPD-Fraktion zur Verlängerung der strafrechtlichen Verjährungsfrist bei sexuellem Missbrauch von Kindern von zehn auf 20 Jahre bleibt im Bundestag umstritten. Der SPD-Vorschlag einer “Sonderverjährungsvorschrift” sei “nicht der richtige Weg”, sagte der CDU-Abgeordnete Ansgar Heveling vergangene Woche in der Bundestagsdebatte über einen entsprechenden Gesetzentwurf der Sozialdemokraten (17/3646). Dagegen forderte seine SPD-Kollegin Sonja Steffen (SPD), die zivil- und die strafrechtlichen Verjährungsfristen für Kindesmisshandlungen zu verlängern. Es sei “zu kurz gedacht”, wie die Koalition nur die zivilrechtlichen Verjährungsfristen auf 30 Jahre erhöhen zu wollen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Saarbrücken: Nur wenig Kinderschutz in Sportvereinen

In den saarländischen Sportvereinen wird zu wenig für den Kinderschutz getan. SR-Recherchen ergaben, dass bei allen 20 angefragten Vereinen kein Kinderschutzkonzept vorliegt.

Nur ein Trainer des 1.FC Saarbrücken konnte einen entsprechenden Verhaltenskodex vorlegen. Vor einem Jahr hatte der Landessportverband von den Vereinen Kinderschutzkonzepte gefordert.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Regensburg-Digital

„Kirchensteuer-Rebell scheitert mit Klage“, schlagzeilte Spiegel Online am Mittwoch. Eine Falschmeldung, die der Nachrichtenagentur dpa entsprungen ist und die zahlreiche Medien übernahmen. Tatsächlich war genau das Gegenteil der Fall und – Gott sei Dank – entscheidet in Deutschland bislang noch kein weltliches Gericht über Fragen des Glaubens.

Dass zahlreiche Medien auf Nachrichtenagenturen zurückgreifen, ist bekannt und es ist auch nichts Ungewöhnliches. Dass sie samt und sonders eine Falschmeldung übernehmen, kommt hingegen (hoffentlich) eher selten vor. Vergangenen Mittwoch ist es allerdings der Nachrichtenagentur dpa „gelungen“, vom Spiegel, über die Süddeutsche Zeitung bis hin zur FAZ zumindest eine Verzerrung der Tatsachen zu verbreiten.

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VATICAN CITY
The Irish Catholic

2 Oct 2012

Garry O’Sullivan in Rome

When the Pope’s butler Paolo Gabriele was thrown into a Vatican prison cell after he was discovered in possession of stolen documents from the Pope’s desk, few could have guessed that as well as the medieval architecture of his Vatican prison, the treatment would also be medieval and, if true, in contravention of human rights standards accepted around the world. Paolo Gabriele, alleged in court Tuesday that his cell was so small he couldn’t spread his arms. Also, the lights were left on 24 hours-a-day for his 20 day imprisonment in his first cell. The head of the Vatican police who was present in court looked decidedly embarrassed by the allegations of mistreatment.

Mr Gabriele also said that he didn’t have a pillow and these allegations have resulted in the Chief Prosecutor of the Vatican launching an investigation.

And this is only day two of a trial that is beginning to have all the hallmarks of a Da Vinci Code type saga.

Also present on Tuesday was Msgr Georg Gaenswein, the Pope’s private secretary, who greeted several people when he entered but not Mr Gabriele, yet Mr Gabriele stood up for the Pope’s secretary, testimony to the respect for the clerical caste inside the Vatican. He didn’t stand up for one of the female witnesses when she entered. Msgr Gaenswein, who looked uncomfortable during the questioning spoke of the trust he had in Mr Gabriele and how he never doubted him at which point the butler cast his eyes down.

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VATICAN CITY
The Oregonian

Oct. 2, 2012

AP

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI’s onetime butler declared Tuesday he was innocent of a charge of aggravated theft of the pope’s private correspondence, but acknowledged he photocopied the papers and said he feels guilty that he betrayed the trust of the pontiff he loved like a father.

Paolo Gabriele took the stand Tuesday in a Vatican courtroom to defend himself. Prosecutors say Gabriele stole papal letters and documents alleging power struggles and corruption inside the Vatican and passed them off to a journalist in one of the most damaging scandals of Benedict’s pontificate. …

In addition to Gabriele, the court heard Tuesday from four witnesses, including the pope’s private secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, who along with Gabriele was the closest assistant to the pontiff.

Gaenswein testified that he began having suspicions about Gabriele after he realized three documents that appeared in Nuzzi’s book could only have come from the office he shared with Gabriele and Benedict’s other private secretary.

“This was the moment when I started to have my doubts,” Gaenswein said.

The book, “His Holiness: Pope Benedict XVI’s private papers,” became an immediate blockbuster when it was published May 20, detailing intrigue and scandals inside the Apostolic Palace. The leaked documents seemed primarily aimed at discrediting Benedict’s No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, often criticized for perceived shortcomings in running the Vatican administration.

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VATICAN CITY
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)

The Pope’s butler, who is accused of stealing sensitive documents, declared his innocence in court on Tuesday and accused Vatican police of mistreating him during his incarceration.

By Nick Squires, Rome
2:10PM BST 02 Oct 2012

In a surprise development, the judge in charge of the trial of Paolo Gabriele ordered Vatican prosecutors to open an investigation into whether the valet was held in inhumane conditions, as it emerged that he was kept in a tiny cell with the lights on 24 hours a day for up to 20 days.

The butler disclosed details of his incarceration in a “secure room” in the headquarters of the Vatican gendarmerie, the Pope’s police force, during cross-examination by his lawyer.

He said that the cell that he was initially held after his arrest on May 20 was so narrow that he could not stretch out his arms.

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VATICAN CITY
Deutsche Welle

Former papal butler and Vatileaks whistleblower, Paolo Gabriele, has said the Pope was not informed enough about important issues. Gabriele also claims inhumane detainment conditions, which has prompted an investigation.

During the second day of his trial, former papal butler Paolo Gabriele said he did not have any direct accomplices but was influenced by others and by widespread malaise in the Vatican.

Gabriele is on trial for allegedly stealing papal documents indicating corruption in the Vatican and leaking them to the media.

Gabriele also told the court on Tuesday that Pope Benedict XVI was “easy to manipulate” and did not know enough about Vatican affairs.

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VATICAN CITY
AGI

(AGI) Vatican City – During a dramatic hearing in the trial in which he is charged with aggravated burglary, the Pope’s ‘disloyal’ butler Paolo Gabriele reported that he has experienced inhuman conditions in prison at the barracks of the Vatican Gendarmerie, especially during the first days following his arrest. “The cell was so narrow I could not stretch my arms, the light was on 24/7 and I was even denied a pillow,” he told the judges. Court President Giuseppe della Torre asked judge Nicola Picardi to investigate these allegations.

Accepting the presiding judge’s invitation the prosecutor specified that “every possible was done to find a more suitable cell, unavailable at the time because two people were under arrest, Gabriele and Sciarpelletti.” Picardi added that the situation “lasted less than 20 days” and meals were not served to the detainee through the small opening on the cell door.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden and Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Paolo Gabriele, the papal butler charged with stealing and leaking papal correspondence, said he was innocent of charges of aggravated theft, but “I feel guilty for having betrayed the trust the Holy Father placed in me.”

“I loved him like a son,” Gabriele said of the pope during the second day of his trial.

The morning session of the trial Oct. 2 also featured brief testimony by Cristina Cernetti, one of the consecrated laywomen who work in the papal apartment; and longer testimony by Msgr. Georg Ganswein, Pope Benedict XVI’s personal secretary.

Msgr. Ganswein, who described himself as “extremely precise,” said he never noticed any documents missing, but when he examined what Vatican police had confiscated from Gabriele’s Vatican apartment, he discovered both photocopies and originals of documents going back to 2006, when Gabriele began working in the papal apartment.

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