ABUSE TRACKER

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter

Sep. 14, 2012
By John L Allen Jr

Charles Chaput, whose blunt speech and strong leadership style made him both a celebrated and a controversial figure for almost fifteen years in Denver, was installed as the ninth Archbishop of Philadelphia on September 8, 2011. To say the very least, he’s had a tumultuous first year on the job.

The very day Chaput arrived, he was informed that the archdiocese’s chief financial officer, Anita Guzzardi, had been suspended. She would later plead guilty to embezzling almost $1 million over a decade, to support a gambling addiction. The experience hinted at two constants Chaput has faced — scandal and red ink.

The past twelve months have also brought:
•The trial of Monsignor William Lynn, which ended in the first-ever conviction of a church official not for sexually abusing a minor, but for allegedly covering it up. Lynn was sentenced to 3 to 6 years in prison, and is behind bars while the case is on appeal.
•Review of the cases of 27 priests suspended after a damning 2011 Grand Jury report on the handing of sex abuse allegations. So far, seven priests have been permanently removed from ministry by Chaput, seven have been reinstated, and one has died, while decisions are pending for the rest.

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WICHITA (KS)
The Wichita Eagle

By Stan Finger
The Wichita Eagle
Published Friday, Sep. 14, 2012, at 4:05 p.m.

James Conley, who was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Wichita, has been named the bishop of Lincoln, Neb., by Pope Benedict XVI.

Conley has spent the past four years as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver.

“I am honored, and humbled, by this appointment,” Conley told the Denver Catholic Register. “There is nothing more important for a bishop than the care of souls.”

Conley said he needed to rely on God’s grace “for this great responsibility.”

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UNITED STATES
Joyful Heart Foundation

We’ve all been reminded this week of the solace we found eleven years ago in the communal sense of shock and the shared resolve to heal from the horrible losses we experienced on September 11. No doubt, scars still remain. But together, we faced down our fear, we shored one another up against our new-found sense of vulnerability and shook off the stunning betrayal of our belief that we were safe from attack.

Whether we experienced the impact of 9/11 directly or indirectly, that spirit of mutual support has nurtured much of whatever healing we have achieved both as individuals and as a community.

In many ways, the power of that all-encompassing response to a huge catastrophe like 9/11, which had such devastating consequences for so many, may also hold valuable lessons for individuals who experience trauma on a less spectacular scale.

As we collectively mourned this week for the thousands who died on 9/11 and in the subsequent wars that those attacks unleashed, I was attending a national conference on abuse and trauma, including childhood sexual abuse. And as I sifted through both sad and inspiring memories from eleven years ago, I couldn’t help but wonder how child victims of sexual abuse might also be shored up by such an ongoing validation and community-wide declaration of support and nurturance for the traumatic disruption in their young lives.

But because sexual abuse is most often a private, rather than a public upheaval in a child’s world, children are more likely to find themselves fighting to restore a sense of safety on their own, in silence. And sadly, because of socialized norms of masculinity that discourage boys from disclosing feelings of vulnerability or fear, males who experience childhood sexual abuse may face an even higher hurdle to seeking outside help and support. Imagine the positive difference in the lives of our men, their families and communities if men’s acknowledgement of painful experiences and their expression of a range of deep emotions were encouraged rather than belittled by our cultural standards.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Patch

By Benjamin Paulin

Indecent assault charges have been dropped against a Walpole priest from Blessed Sacrament Church, Emile “Mike” Boutin.

Prosecutors dropped the case, July 31, at Stoughton District Court when the then 21-year-old accuser, who alleged that Boutin had grabbed him inappropriately, refused to testify.

“The alleged victim contacted the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office and communicated that he did not wish to testify at trial and asking that he not be forced to do so. At that time, a Nolle Prosequi was entered in the case, withdrawing the charges from consideration by the court,” Norfolk County DA spokesman David Traub said.

“Police have brought no other charges and there has been no additional information provided that would indicate other charges,” Traub said.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Riverfront Times

By Jessica LussenhopFri., Sep. 14 2012

In these jaded times, we’re somewhat accustomed to hearing about sexual misconduct by Catholic priests. Less so from Episcopal priests. After all, they have to live by way fewer crazy rules.

They can have sex, they can marry, they can be gay. Hell, they can even be women, believe it or not.

But one local priest is in hot water because of a letter that was forwarded to several media outlets, including the Riverfront Times. In it, the anonymous author condemned the priest for his side-gig as an erotic photographer.

According to his online bio, Father John Kenneth Blair graduated the University of Missouri-Columbia, Eden Theological Seminary and Lindenwood University. He has a Masters of Divinity and an MA in counseling, and is the “Manager of Spiritual Care and CPE Supervisor for Christian Hospital.” He’s also certified to counsel drug and alcohol addiction sufferers.

The Post-Dispatch broke the story yesterday, seemingly spurred by a letter that was also received by the RFT. The anonymous author starts with a lengthy description of Blair’s credentials, then includes a couple dozen photos of naked and semi-nude women purportedly pulled from Blair’s Model Mayhem account, his Facebook page, and from the artwork page of Shameless Grounds, the sex-positive coffee house in Fox Park.

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

Posted by Barbara Dorris on September 14, 2012

Kansas City Catholic officials are now admitting that they kept secret for 18 years about credible child sex abuse allegations against a local priest.

18 years of secrecy. That gives a predator many more opportunities to victimize children, destroy evidence, intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, discredit whistleblowers, fabricate alibis, and escape detection.

Shame on every single current and former church staffer, volunteer and member (and there were likely a dozen or more) who knew of or suspected Fr. Wegenek’s crimes and stayed silent. How do they live with the realization that for years and years, they let a credibly accused child molester live and work among unsuspecting families and probably sexually assault more kids?

We hope every person who was hurt by Fr. Wegenek steps forward. We hope every person who saw, suspected or knew of Fr. Wegenek’s crimes will find the decency to speak up.

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LINCOLN (NE)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 14, 2012

Pope Benedict has accepted the resignation of the Bishop of Lincoln, Fabian Bruskewitz. Given Bruskewitz’s actions over the past decade, we are grateful that he is no longer in his position.

For yrs, Bruskewitz has violated the weak, vague and largely unenforced sex abuse policy. He has publicly admonished the church hierarchy for trying to force bishops to obey it; something Bruskewitz believes is not in its power to do. He has also repeatedly balked at allowing outsiders into his diocese to even look at his abuse policies.

USA Today

Bruskewitz has also been particularly stubborn on releasing the names of predator priests publicly, and has refused multiple requests to make a list available on his diocesan website of priests who have credible accusations of abuse against them.

SNAP

In Bruskewitz’s place, the Vatican has elevated Fr. James Conley to become Lincoln’s next bishop. For the past four years, Fr. Conley has been an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Denver.

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LINCOLN (NE)
Lincoln Journal Star

By ERIN ANDERSEN / Lincoln Journal Star

The new bishop of the Lincoln Catholic Diocese, James D. Conley has no plans to change the conservative philosophies and practices established by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz.

Conley, auxiliary bishop of Denver, Colo., was named the ninth bishop of the Lincoln diocese Friday. He will assume the role held by Bruskewitz since 1992.

“I have held the Diocese of Lincoln in high esteem, it is rich with vocation, Catholic education and family life. I am not going to mess around with that,” he said during Friday’s press conference announcing his appointment. “I plan to continue to build that up and encourage it.”

With Conley’s assignment, Pope Benedict XVI formally accepted Bruskewitz’s resignation — which he tendered in September 2010 on his 75th birthday, as required by Canon Law.

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Patriot-Ledger

GateHouse News Service

Posted Sep 14, 2012 @ 10:00 AM

CANTON —

A man who said a local priest groped him while they were in the Blue Hills Reservation two years ago has refused to testify and the case has been dropped, Norfolk County prosecutors confirmed Friday.

Prosecutors decided not to proceed with charges of indecent assault and battery against the Rev. Emile R. Boutin Jr., 48, of Walpole.

Boutin was a priest at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Walpole and before that, at Immaculate Conception Church in Stoughton. Parishioners knew him as Father Mike.

In June 2010, a 21-year-old man told State Police that he had been touched inappropriately in a wooded area behind the Route 138 Park and Ride lot on the Canton-Milton line. The lot is bordered on three sides by the Blue Hills Reservation, parts of which are a wildlife conservation area.

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LINCOLN (NE)
KLKN

Posted By: KLKN Newsroom
8@klkntv.com

Pope Benedict has named Denver auxiliary bishop James D. Conley the ninth Bishop of Lincoln.

The Pope also accepted the resignation of Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Lincoln.

Bishop Conley is a native of Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, and a convert to Catholicism. He served as a priest for 23 years before his episcopal ordination, including 10 years of service to the holy father as an official in the Vatican congregation for bishops in Rome.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed him auxiliary bishop of Denver on April 10, 2008. For his episcopal motto, Bishop Conley chose the same motto as the great 19th-century English convert, John Henry Cardinal Newman, “cor ad cor loquitur,” which means “heart speaks to heart.”

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INDIANA
The Message

By RICK JILLSON (Message Editor)

Over the past several weeks, Bishop Charles C. Thompson has touched upon the strategic planning process that is ongoing in the Diocese of Evansville in nearly every homily he has delivered. “This is a challenging time for us, but it can also be a time for opportunity,” he recently told parishioners at St. Rupert Church in Red Brush. “It presents an opportunity to ask ourselves, ‘How do we best serve our people and the Church in the 21st century? How do we learn to use our gifts, talents and resources in new ways that meet the needs of the Church and its people?’”

The answers to these questions are at the very heart of the strategic planning process, which enters a critical new phase in the weeks ahead. Beginning Monday, Sept. 17, a series of seven deanery meetings (one in each diocesan deanery) will take place over a 10-day period. Each meeting will be attended by priests, pastoral life coordinators, deacons and staff members from each parish in the deanery, along with principals of all schools within the deanery, strategic planning committee members and three non-staff members from each parish.

During these meetings, attendees will review the changes being proposed within their deanery and throughout the diocese. These changes include the merging and/or linking of some diocesan churches and schools, as well as a redefined role for some Church properties.

This proposed restructuring is a result of a number of key factors, including:
A shift in our population — as in many other communities, the Diocese of Evansville has experienced a population shift from the city to the suburbs.
Advancements in technology — modern transportation and improvements to roads make it far easier to travel from place to place than in the days when some of our churches and school buildings were constructed. In addition, computers, email and smart phones have dramatically changed the speed and ease with which schools and churches can communicate with families.
A declining number of priests — today, there are 46 active priests serving 69 parishes, and many of these men are nearing retirement age.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Dan Box
From:The Australian
September 15, 201212:00AM

THE Catholic priest leading his diocese’s response to the effects of its own historic child sex abuse says the hurt caused continues to be felt years, and generations, after the crimes themselves.

“The church has failed,” Father Geoff Mulhearn said of the crimes in NSW’s Hunter region. “I can see the pain this abuse has caused.”

For decades leading up to the 1990s, three priests, Vince Ryan, Jim Fletcher and Denis McAlinden, abused young boys and girls in the diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, in the Hunter Valley.

The total number of their victims may be in the hundreds, while more than one of those involved in investigating or responding to these priests’ abuse describes it as “organised crime”. Ryan and Fletcher were ultimately jailed. McAlinden died before charges could be brought.

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CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel

Posted: Friday, September 14, 2012

By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Former Lockeford priest Michael Kelly says that he did not sexually abuse a 12-year-old former altar boy in about 2000.

“I am completely and totally innocent of these allegations; they are utterly untrue,” Kelly said in an email to the News-Sentinel from his native Ireland. “Never, ever, did I do anything of the sort to the plaintiff, or to anyone else, for that matter.”

Kelly responded to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Stockton by a 24-year-old man who was an altar boy in San Andreas when Kelly was lead priest there. The suit alleges that Kelly sexually abused the plaintiff more than a decade ago.

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UNITED KINGDOM
DWF

Date: 18/09/12

Andrea Ward and Denise Brosnan consider the potential implications for local authorities following the recent Court of Appeal decision in JGE v Trustees of the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust (2012) and ask: will there be an extension of the doctrine of vicarious liability to the relationship between local authorities and foster carers?

Background

The doctrine of vicarious liability establishes that an employer is liable for the tortious acts or omissions of its employees. It is a strict liability principle, in other words, the employer automatically becomes responsible for the employee’s tort without the need for actual fault on the part of the employer. The courts have been extending the range of relationships giving rise to potential vicarious liability.

In November 2011 Mr Justice MacDuff determined as a preliminary issue in the High Court that a Roman Catholic diocese could be vicariously liable for the wrongful acts of one of its priests given the nature and closeness of the relationship between them. The diocese appealed, denying that the priest was in the service of the diocese and that he was at all times following his vocation and calling as a priest. It was denied that the diocese was vicariously liable for the acts or omissions of priests in the diocese: specifically, a priest is the holder of an office, not an employee of the diocese.

Court of Appeal Findings

On appeal, the first instance decision was upheld. In particular, the Court of Appeal found that the relationship between a bishop and a Roman Catholic parish priest was so close in character to that of employer and employee to make it just and fair to hold a diocese vicariously liable for the wrongful acts of one of his priests. In determining whether vicarious liability can be involved in a case of this type, there is a two-stage test. The first stage involves the relationship between the Diocesan Trust (to be equated with the then diocesan bishop) and the parish priest. The second stage involves the connection between that “employment” relationship and the alleged acts of sexual abuse on the part of the parish priest. In this case, the parish priest did not match every facet of being an employee but the result of each of these tests led to the same conclusion that he was more like an employee than an independent contractor. The Court of Appeal was split and did not find it an easy case to decide so an appeal seems probable.

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LINCOLN (NE)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. — Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop James D. Conley, S.T.L., 57, auxiliary bishop of Denver, the ninth Bishop of Lincoln, Neb., and accepted the resignation of Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz, 77, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Lincoln.

The appointment and resignation were publicized in Washington Sept. 14, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Conley is a native of Overland Park, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City, and a convert to Catholicism. He served as a priest for 23 years before his episcopal ordination, including 10 years of service to the Holy Father as an official in the Vatican Congregation for Bishops in Rome.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed him auxiliary bishop of Denver on April 10, 2008. For his episcopal motto, Bishop Conley chose the same motto as the great 19th-century English convert, John Henry Cardinal Newman, “cor ad cor loquitur,” which means “heart speaks to heart.”

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Nigel Hunt
The Advertiser
September 14, 2012

THE STATE’S top prosecutor is considering whether there is enough evidence to charge Catholic priest Ian Dempsey with the alleged rape of Archbishop John Hepworth.

SA Senator Nick Xenophon caused a scandal last year when he named Father Dempsey in Parliament, after the Adelaide diocese of the Catholic Church had refused to suspend him.

In a major development, legal sources have told The Advertiser police now believe there is enough evidence to charge Father Dempsey with multiple counts of rape and indecent assault arising from incidents that occurred in the 1960s.

The police move to seek a legal opinion from the Director of Public Prosecutions Adam Kimber, QC, on the strength of the evidence gathered in the 10-month investigation indicates the investigation is in its final stages. The sources said Mr Kimber has asked Sexual Crimes Investigation Branch detectives to follow up on several areas. Senior police and Mr Kimber yesterday declined to comment on the status of the investigation.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Lowell Sun

By Lisa Redmond, lredmond@lowellsun.comlowellsun.com
Updated: 09/14/2012

STOUGHTON — Charges have been dropped against a suspended priest, formerly from St. Mary’s Parish in Chelmsford, who was accused of groping a man at a rest area in Canton two years ago.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office officially dropped a charge of indecent assault and battery against “Father Mike,” the Rev. Emile Boutin Jr., 47, on July 29 in Stoughton District Court after Boutin’s accuser refused to testify against the priest, according to Norfolk DA spokesman David Traub.

“The victim asked the commonwealth that he not be compelled to testify,” Traub said.

The 21-year-old victim alleged that Boutin, a co-pastor at the Blessed Sacrament in Walpole, followed him into a wooded area behind the Route 138 Park and Ride lot at about 8:30 a.m. on June 28, 2010, and grabbed him inappropriately while the victim was trying to urinate.

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CALIFORNIA/IRELAND
Irish Central

By
KERRY O’SHEA,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Friday, September 14, 2012

Another lawsuit has been filed in California against the Diocese of Stockton, members of the clergy, and the now disgraced Father Michael Kelly for another round of allegations of sexual abuse against children.

The new lawsuit, which comes just months after a settlement of $3.75 million was reached between Fr. Kelly and a separate abuse victim, claims that Fr. Kelly sexually abused a child in the early 2000s.

Included in the lawsuit are Diocese of Stockton, Bishop Steven Blaire, Monsignor Richard Ryan and Father Michael Kelly, a native of Tipperary in Ireland.

Fr Kelly joined the Stockton diocese in 1973 after completing his seminary studies in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. He returned to Ireland after a civil jury had ruled that Fr. Kelly had indeed molested a young boy. Since it was a civil case, Kelly had broken no law by leaving the country.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Croyden Advertiser

A CATHOLIC priest has been arrested after being accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy.

Francis Moran, of St Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church, in Brook Road, Thornton Heath, was questioned and then bailed by police last Thursday.

In a statement read out during Mass on Sunday, Archbishop Peter Smith informed parishioners that Canon Moran, 52, had been “temporarily withdrawn” from church life and moved away from the parish.

He added: “I want to make it clear that this action does not in any way imply guilt on his part, nor does it constitute Canon Francis’ removal from his office as parish priest.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, (VIS) – The Holy Father:

– Appointed Bishop James D. Conley, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Denver, U.S.A., as bishop of Lincoln (area 61,732, population 580,826, Catholics 95,584, priests 147, permanent deacons 3, religious 224), U.S.A. He succeeds Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

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CONNECTICUT
The Day

By Karen Florin
Publication: theday.com

Hartford — Mary Howarth Maynard was looking for an apology from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich along with a $1.1 million settlement.

The 48-year-old New London woman, who went public Thursday with the story of her molestation in 1976 at the hands of the late Rev. Thomas W. Shea, will be getting the money, but may never hear the word “sorry” from a church official.

Her civil lawsuit against the diocese, retired Bishop Daniel P. Reilly and Monsignor Thomas Bride was resolved in Superior Court just as a jury assembled for the first day of trial.

The lack of an apology was disappointing, Maynard said, but she did get the satisfaction of confronting Reilly, who had transferred Shea to St. Joseph Church in New London knowing the priest had a history of fondling young girls.

“I told him, ‘Shame on you,’” Maynard said.

Had the case gone to trial, plaintiff’s attorneys Robert I. Reardon Jr. and Kelly E. Reardon would have called Reilly as their first witness and followed up with several other Shea victims.

Reilly, who is 84 years old and lives in a church rectory in Worcester, arrived at the courthouse mid-morning with Bride and appeared relaxed as he sat on the witness stand while an associate from the diocese’s law firm tested the courtroom acoustics and asked practice questions.

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LINCOLN (NE)
Lincoln Journal Star

By ERIN ANDERSEN / Lincoln Journal Star

Bishop James D. Conley, S.T.L., 57, auxiliary bishop of Denver, is the new bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, replacing Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, who has lead the diocese since 1992.

Pope Benedict XVI made the announcement Friday morning.

Conley is the ninth bishop of the Lincoln Diocese. A formal announcement and introduction of Conley will occur at a press conference at 10 a.m. Friday at the Blessed John XXIII Diocesean Center, 3700 Sheridan Blvd.

Bruskewitz, 77, submitted his letter of resignation to the Pope in September, 2010 when he turned 75, as required by Canon Law.

Conley is a native of Overland Park, Kan., and a convert to Catholicism. He served as a priest for 23 years before his episcopal ordination, including 10 years of service to the Pope as an official in the Vatican Congregation for Bishops in Rome.

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LINCOLN (NE)
Catholic News Agency

Lincoln, Neb., Sep 14, 2012 / 05:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the Diocese of Lincoln celebrates its 125th anniversary, Bishop James D. Conley has been named the region’s ninth bishop by Pope Benedict XVI.

“He will serve the people of Lincoln with great enthusiasm, strong leadership, and with a deep love for Jesus Christ and the Church,” Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver said in a Sept. 13 statement.

Bishop Conley, who has served as the auxiliary bishop of Denver since 2008, is a Kansas native and was raised Presbyterian.

He will succeed Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz, who has served the diocese for over 20 years and submitted his resignation according to Church procedure upon reaching his 75th birthday in 2010.

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FRANCE
la Montagne

Mis en examen pour viol et agressions sexuelles sur mineur de 15 ans et sur mineurs de plus de quinze ans, un prêtre de Riom, âgé de 43 ans, a été placé en détention provisoire, jeudi 6 septembre, à Saint-Etienne.

Pour ces faits qui se seraient déroulés en Centrafrique entre 2007 et juillet 2010, où il avait été envoyé comme prêtre, il s’est lui-même dénoncé à la justice, sur les recommandations de l’archevêque de Clermont, Mgr Hippolyte Simon. Et ce, en adressant un courrier au procureur de la République de Clermont le 31 janvier 2011, six mois après son retour en France, en juillet 2010.

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FRANKRIJK
RKnieus

PARIJS (RKnieuws.net) – Een priester van het Franse bisdom Clermont is gearresteerd omdat hij zich schuldig maakte aan verkrachting en seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen. De feiten gebeurden tussen 2007 en 2010 in Centraal-Afrika.

De 43-jarige man werd in 1995 priester gewijd. Op 30 juni 2007 werd hij als Fidei Donum priester naar de Centraal-Afrikaanse Republiek gezonden. De priester misbruikte er minstens 3 jongens jonger dan 15 jaar. Hij is opgesloten in de gevangenis van Saint-Etienne.

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RHODE ISLAND
Catholic Culture

CWN – September 14, 2012

A Rhode Island judge has ruled that the niece of Gabrielle Mee does not have legal standing to challenge her late aunt’s will, which left $60 million to the Legion of Christ.

The niece, who according to the ruling “had seen or spoken to her aunt only once in the 46 years before her death,” did “not seek any personal recovery in this litigation.” Instead, she contended that her aunt would not have left the funds to the Legion had she known more about the scandal surrounding Father Marcial Maciel, the order’s founder.

Mee’s husband, a bank director, died in 1985, and four years later the widow came in contact with the Legion. In 1991, according to the ruling, Mee “became a consecrated woman with the Legion of Christ,” after “the Legion of Christ waived its usual consecration requirements to allow Mrs. Mee to expeditiously become a consecrated woman within their religious community.”

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RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island Superior Court

[A copy of the Rhode Island Superior Court decision involving the Legionaries of Christ.]

DECISION
SILVERSTEIN, J. Before the Court are Defendants‟/Appellees‟ (Defendants) Motions for Summary Judgment, pursuant to Super. R. Civ. P. 56.1 This Decision applies to the three separate, unconsolidated cases captioned above. The Court heard oral argument regarding all three matters together over the course of three days. In the will case (C.A. No. PB 10-1195), Plaintiff/Appellant Mary Lou Dauray is appealing a probate court Order admitting the will of Gabrielle D. Mee, claiming the will was executed under undue influence, fraud, and mistake in

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1 Originally, Defendants brought motions to dismiss rather than motions for summary judgment in the civil actions numbered PB 11-2640 and PB 11-2757. These motions have been converted to motions for summary judgment. See Tidewater Realty, LLC v. State, 942 A.2d 986, 992 (R.I. 2008) (providing court may convert motions to dismiss to motions for summary judgment).

—-

the inducement. In the inter vivos gifts case (C.A. No. 11-2640), Ms. Dauray claims the Defendants unduly influenced and fraudulently induced Mrs. Mee into giving approximately $60 million to the Defendants—particularly, the Legion of Christ.2 In the trust case (C.A. No. PB 11-2757), Ms. Dauray alleges that Defendant Bank of America, N.A. (the Bank), as successor-in-interest by merger or otherwise to Fleet National Bank, breached its fiduciary duties as trustee of multiple trusts. Defendants move for summary judgment in all three matters, arguing mainly that Ms. Dauray has not and cannot present any evidence creating a genuine dispute of fact that Defendants did not unduly influence or fraudulently induce Mrs. Mee‟s actions and that the Bank did not breach any fiduciary duties.

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VATICAN CITY
CBS Springfield

[court decision]

Updated: Sep 14, 2012

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press
VATICAN CITY (AP) – A U.S. judge has thrown out a lawsuit contesting the will of an elderly widow who gave some $60 million to the disgraced Roman Catholic religious order the Legion of Christ.

But Judge Michael Silverstein of Rhode Island Superior Court found evidence that the woman, Gabrielle Mee, had been unduly persuaded to change her trusts and will and give the Legion her money, detailing the process by which the Legion slowly took over control of her finances as she became more deeply involved in the movement.

Pope Benedict XVI took over the Legion in 2010 after a Vatican investigation determined that its founder, the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, lived a double life: he sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children by two women. The pope ordered a wholesale reform of the order after finding serious problems with its very culture, and named a papal delegate to oversee it.

The Maciel scandal has been particularly damaging for the church given that the Mexican-born priest was held up by Pope John Paul II as a model for the faithful, admired for his perceived orthodoxy and ability to bring in money and new seminarians.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

September 13, 2012

By John P. Martin, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Msgr. William J. Lynn will stay in jail, at least for now.

A state appeals court Thursday rejected a bid by the former Archdiocese of Philadelphia official to be free on bail while he appeals his historic child-endangerment conviction.

The Superior Court didn’t include an opinion with its order – or even identify which judge made the ruling.

But it effectively adopted the arguments of Philadelphia prosecutors that Lynn’s crime was serious and his sentence long enough to keep him behind bars.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Sacramento Bee

The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — An appeals court has denied a bid for bail by a Philadelphia monsignor appealing his child-endangerment conviction.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports ( http://bit.ly/QeTZLT) the state Superior Court on Thursday rejected Monsignor William Lynn’s request for bail. His lawyers say he has a good chance of having his case overturned because of alleged trial errors.

Prosecutors argued freeing him on appeal would amount to unfair special treatment.

One of Lynn’s lawyers, Thomas Bergstrom, told the newspaper his defense team would “explore its options” after the ruling.

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UNITED STATES
The Savannah Reporter

By Guy Speckman

Published: Thursday, September 13, 2012

A Ponder The Thought favorite topic was forefront in national news of late with the trial of Bishop Finn in Kansas City. Finn was the first American bishop criminally charged and convicted in a clergy sex abuse scandal for failing to report suspected child abuse. He was found guilty in a non-jury trial and given two years of probation that was suspended and will be wiped from his record if he adheres to a set of conditions that include abuse reporting training and other miniscule tasks.

That last paragraph makes me laugh a little. Can you believe that he is the first ever to be charged? Seems almost incredulous to me.

The important part of this story is that the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph was also originally charged but those charges were dropped as part of Finn’s conviction. My initial reaction is what a joke! The tough talking prosecutors in Kansas City got weak kneed as they approached the finish line and the Catholic Church swept in with their money and bought one more fall guy in Bishop Finn.

I have a good Catholic friend who has devoted his life to teaching kids, much of it in Catholic schools. I respect him and his life’s work. Whenever I write about this he says that there are just as many pedophile newspaper publishers percentage wise in the country as there are priests by percentage. I don’t know if I agree with that, but assuming that to be true, it furthers my point in this case. The Catholic Church has spent over a hundred years moving priests from one community to another when these activities were discovered. Their only corrective action was to take a priest that had molested kids in one area of the country and move him to another area (sometimes only a few miles away), only to repeat the crime. I doubt the Missouri Press Association would cover up a pedophile publisher and ship some guy from St. Joseph to Montana.

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SEATTLE (WA)
Q13 Fox

[with video]

James Lynch
Q13 FOX News reporter

SEATTLE—
In May 2011, one of Timothy Dampier’s victims came forward and told his story — it marked the end of years of abuse Dampier had exterted on children he had contact with.

Dampier has been in jail since then and in court today, as one of his victim’s looked on, he pleaded guilty to 22 counts of child sexual assault and possession of child pornography.

Once a trusted leader in two Seattle churches Dampier had been a respected role model, but now he is viewed as a convicted felon and predatory child molester.

His appearance in court today was part of a plea deal that avoids a trial and ensures his victims won’t have to relive the abuse on the witness stand.

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SEATTLE (WA)
The Seattle Times

By Jennifer Sullivan
Seattle Times staff reporter

A Seattle minister and musician charged last year with the sexual abuse of young boys pleaded guilty Thursday to 22 counts.

Timothy L. Dampier, 39, abused 10 boys between 1997 and 2011, some members of his congregation, other members of youth programs he played a role in, according to the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

His guilty plea is for charges that include: first- and second-degree rape of a child; first-, second- and third-degree child molestation; sexual exploitation of a minor; and possession of child pornography, said Dan Donohoe, prosecutor’s office spokesman.

Dampier has served as a foster parent and worked at the Bellevue Boys & Girls Club, according to court documents. Seattle police say he once worked at Samuel House, a group home in Kent, and the Union Gospel Mission.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
NBC DFW

By Frank Heinz

After more than a decade, a woman is bringing charges of sexual assualt against a Fort Worth pastor.

Crowley police arrested Pastor Darrell Blair Sept. 10 after a woman told them he sexually assaulted her in 2000.

The woman said between the ages of 14 and 18 she was molested four times by Blair. She said she was too afraid to say anything until now.

Blair is a pastor at the New Breed Christian Center on Riverside Drive in Fort Worth.

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UNITED STATES
Real Screen

[film trailer]

Kelly Anderson

Academy Award-winning doc director Alex Gibney (pictured) returns to the Toronto International Film Festival this year, with a film telling the story of a group of deaf men who launched one of the first clerical sex abuse protests in the U.S.

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, which was recently announced as a London Film Festival selection, delves into the controversial subject matter of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, focusing on a case first opened by a group of men coming forward after years had passed since they’d been allegedly abused at a school for the deaf in Wisconsin.

The alleged abuse by Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy of more than 100 children over two decades at the school is at the center of Gibney’s doc, which argues that there was a systematic cover up that went all the way to the current Pope, who had received letters concerning Murphy when he’d headed a council overseeing child sex abuse cases as a cardinal. Murphy was never defrocked as a priest and was never criminally charged for sexual abuse, although the priest did admit to abusing children.

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JOLIET (IL)
WLS

September 13, 2012 (JOLIET, Ill.) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet will allow a priest to resume limited duties after the Vatican determined his alleged sexual relationship with a teenager in the 1970s didn’t meet the criteria of a crime under church law at that time.

The diocese said the Rev. F. Lee Ryan will minister to homebound parishionersof St. Edmund Catholic Church in Watseka, south of Kankakee, and St. Joseph Mission in Crescent City. Ryan was removed from the ministry in 2010 because of the allegations.

A 52-year-old Florida man had alleged that he was 14 when he and Ryan began the relationship.

Church officials said the man’s complaint was assessed by a local review board, then sent to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Catholic officials in Rome decided that because of church law in the 1970s, which stated that 14 was the age of consent, Ryan did not commit a serious crime by the church’s standards and could not be permanently removed from ministry, a spokesman for Bishop R. Daniel Conlon said.

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AUSTRALIA
Geelong Advertiser

Danny Lannen | September 14th, 2012

MORE than 500 Geelong region people are believed to have suffered sexual, physical and psychological abuse at the hands of religious and other organisations, it has been revealed.

The figure was disclosed on Thursday as the region was labelled among Victoria’s worst for abuse inflicted by people in positions of trust in churches, schools and orphanages and other institutions.

“Cases from Geelong … some of the situations are appalling,” sexual crimes consultant and former chief of Victoria Police’s sex crimes squad Glenn Davies said.

“Individuals and communities have been re-victimised. Communities have been re-victimised in some instances where parishes had history, and priests had disposition to this sort of behaviour and weren’t removed or were moved around,” Mr Davies said, “and in another sense, with people having to go before a bureaucratic system to tell their story and being let down by another system.

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By DAVE ALTIMARI, daltimar@courant.com
The Hartford Courant

5:29 p.m. EDT, September 13, 2012
HARTFORD ——
A New London woman who says she was molested as a child by a now-deceased priest will receive $1.1 million from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich after a retiring Superior Court judge spent his last day on the bench mediating the settlement.

Mary Maynard revealed her identity in court Thursday. She had charged that she was abused by the Rev. Thomas Shea in 1976 when he was pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in New London.

Her lawsuit alleged that diocese officials, including former Bishop Daniel Patrick Reilly, knew that Shea had a history of abuse allegations and moved him from parish to parish. …

As word spread in the courtroom Thursday that a settlement had been reached, Maynard turned to face Reilly, who was sitting no more than 5 feet away at the defense table.

“Shame on you,” she said to Reilly, who did not respond and was quickly led out of court.

“Through this whole process he’s been sitting there laughing and I just couldn’t understand that,” Maynard said. “He never apologized.”

Reilly was at Superior Court in Hartford preparing to testify as the first witness in what was scheduled to be at least a two-week trial when word filtered out of Judge Carl Schuman’s chambers that a settlement was afoot. …

Maynard said she was abused in 1976. Reilly was the bishop at that time. Reardon was planning to introduce hundreds of church documents that showed Reilly and others knew that Shea had been accused of abusing girls for many years yet installed him in a parish that had a girls’ school.

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JOLIET (IL)
Naperville Sun

By Janet Lundquist jlundquist@stmedianetwork.com

The Joliet Diocese is allowing a priest accused of molesting a 14-year-old Joliet boy in the 1970s to return to a limited ministry.

Naperville is in the Joliet Diocese.

In May 2010, after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor surfaced, the Rev. F. Lee Ryan was removed from his ministry at St. Edmund Parish in Watseka and St. Joseph Mission in Crescent City.

A spokesman for Bishop R. Daniel Conlon confirmed by email Wednesday that Ryan will be allowed “very narrow ministry” to homebound parishioners of St. Edmund Parish and St. Joseph Mission.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By MATT CAMPBELL
The Kansas City Star

A Florida man who says he repressed memories for most of his adult life of being sexually abused by a priest filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

The man, now 57, says he was abused by the Rev. Jerry Joseph Wegenek when he was about 11 years old.

Wegenek died last year at age 73. The suit says he was assigned to St. Gabriel and St. Patrick parishes in Kansas City when the abuse took place, which would have been in the late 1960s.

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MISSOURI
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: September 14, 2012

After losing its appeals, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has turned over about 180 documents that were subpoenaed by lawyers for a Roman Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse. The Survivors Network had argued that the documents, mostly e-mails, should remain confidential because they contained information about victims. The organization, the nation’s largest advocacy group for victims of clergy sexual abuse, was supported by rape crisis centers, news media outlets and several former prosecutors, but the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a judge’s order to comply.

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JOLIET (IL)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet

September 12, 2012

In late May of 2010 then Bishop J. Peter Sartain of the Diocese of Joliet informed the members of St. Edmund Parish in Watseka, Illinois and St. Joseph Mission in Crescent City, Illinois that their pastor, Father F. Lee Ryan was being placed on administrative leave because of a serious allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, alleged to have been perpetrated many years before.

The case was reviewed by the diocesan Review Committee and subsequently sent to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, as required by church law. That congregation determined that, under church law in force at the time of the alleged abuse, Father Ryan was not guilty of a grave delict (serious crime) and therefore could not be removed permanently from ministry.

Nevertheless, the local bishop always retains the right and obligation to manage the ministry of the diocese’s clergy for their welfare and the good of the people. After carefully reviewing the case, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon, current Bishop of Joliet, has determined that Father Ryan may provide priestly ministry to the homebound parishioners of St. Edmund Parish and St. Joseph Mission, as approved by the current pastor. From time to time Father Ryan may request a review of this arrangement.

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JOLIET (IL)
Catholic Culture

CWN – September 14, 2012

The Diocese of Joliet has issued a statement on Father F. Lee Ryan, a priest permitted to resume limited ministry despite a serious abuse allegation.

In 2010, the priest was “placed on administrative leave because of a serious allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, alleged to have been perpetrated many years before,” according to the statement.

“The case was reviewed by the diocesan Review Committee and subsequently sent to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, as required by Church law,” the statement continued. “That congregation determined that, under Church law in force at the time of the alleged abuse, Father Ryan was not guilty of a grave delict (serious crime) and therefore could not be removed permanently from ministry.”

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UNITED STATES
YouTube

Trailer for the movie Mea Maxima Culpa Silence in the House of God.

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RHODE ISLAND
National Catholic Reporter

Sep. 13, 2012
By Jason Berry

A Rhode Island Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the scandal-ridden Legionaries of Christ that had alleged the religious order defrauded a wealthy widow out of millions of dollars. Yet the judge’s 39-page ruling details dubious fundraising tactics of Legionaries priests and seemingly opens a door for appeal.

“The transfer of millions of dollars worth of assets — through will, trust, and gifts — from a steadfastly spiritual, elderly woman to her trusted but clandestinely dubious spiritual leaders raises a red flag to this Court,” Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein of Providence, R.I., wrote in a summary judgment Sept. 7.

Pope Benedict ordered the scandal-battered Legionaries into a Vatican receivership in 2010, and appointed Cardinal Velasio De Paolis as delegate, or overseer of the order.

Silverstein dismissed the lawsuit against the Legionaries of Christ, Fr. Anthony Bannon and Bank of America on Sept. 7, ruling that Mary Lou Dauray, the niece of the late Gabrielle Mee, lacked the legal standing to sue.

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UNITED STATES
Variety

[movie trailer]

By Justin Chang

An HBO Documentary Films presentation of a Jigsaw production, in association with Wider Films Projects and Below the Radar Films, with the participation of Irish Film Board. Produced by Kristen Vaurio, Alex Gibney, Alexandra Johnes, Jedd Wider, Todd Wider. Executive producers, Lori Singer, Jessica Kingdon, Sheila Nevins. Co-producer, Sloane Klevin. Directed, written by Alex Gibney.

With: Terry Kohut, Gary Smith, Pat Kuehn, Arthur Budzinski, Jeff Anderson, Rembert Weakland, Thomas Doyle, Richard Sipe, Patrick J. Wall, Geoffrey Robertson, Laurie Goodstein, Jason Berry, Robert Mickens, Marco Politi. Voices: Jamey Sheridan, Chris Cooper, Ethan Hawke, John Slattery. Narrator: Alex Gibney. (English, Italian, American Sign Language dialogue)

Weaving a uniquely devastating account of priestly pedophilia into an excoriating indictment of the entire Vatican power structure, “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God” is an expansive and authoritative study of the widespread practice and concealment of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Alex Gibney’s typically well-assembled, meticulously researched docu occasionally falters with over-aestheticized reconstructions of his subjects’ experiences, an unnecessary touch in light of their brave, chilling testimony and the horrific scope of the personal and institutional corruption conveyed here. Hard-hitting synthesis of established facts and new interviews merits theatrical exposure before its 2013 HBO airings.

With a staggering arsenal of interviews, documents and archival materials at his disposal, Gibney digs deep into the case of Lawrence Murphy, a priest alleged to have abused more than 200 boys while teaching at St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee from 1950-74. Four alums — Terry Kohut, Gary Smith, Pat Kuehn and Arthur Budzinski — recall in sign language about how Murphy repeatedly molested them well into their teenage years, painting an angry picture of how their disability rendered them especially vulnerable to the misdeeds of a trusted leader and made it even more difficult for them to tell others what was going on.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

September 13 Marks One-Year Anniversary of International Criminal Court Filing on Vatican Officials for Crimes Against Humanity

Posted by Barbara Blaine on September 13, 2012

Since the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) filed a formal request for an investigation one year ago to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at The Hague alleging that top-ranking Vatican officials are committing crimes against humanityincluding abetting and covering up the rape and sexual assault of children by priests, hundreds of additional survivors are coming forward.

In this short year the movement of survivors across the globe has grown significantly. SNAP now has members in 67 different countries. Visits to the SNAP website come from 122 countries. “Survivors are creating a worldwide movement in response to crimes by priests that have been committed across the globe,” said CCR lead attorney, Pam Spees.

Survivors have discovered that in spite of coming from different time zones, countries and cultures and even though they speak many different languages, all had similar experiences. SNAP President Barbara Blaine said, “First we were sexually violated and assaulted by priests, nuns, brothers or other authority figures, and then we were betrayed by church officials who enabled and covered up the crimes. Regardless of where they occurred, our experiences are eerily similar.” The insights and mutual support survivors give to each other also challenges survivors to recognize how their healing is intrinsically tied to their efforts to protect others and stop sexual violence.

“SNAP members continue to welcome and invite anyone seeking support and information to contact SNAP,” Blaine says, “while we continue to work to hold those who enable and cover up sexual violence and torture to be held accountable.”

Spees says, “We encourage anyone with information about sex crimes and cover ups by church officials to report it to police and to contact us so that we can add it to our complaint.”

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MANCHESTER (NH)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 13, 2012

■Two clergy sex cases settle
■Victims urge bishop to do outreach
■On his 1 year anniversary, SNAP prods NH’s top Catholic official
■”Go beyond bare minimum,” group says, “and visit predators’ parishes”
■“And put names of pedophile priests on your website,” support group begs
■SNAP: For kids’ safety & victims’ healing, “it’s the LEAST any Catholic diocese should do”

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, a year after NH’s Catholic bishop was picked, clergy sex abuse victims and supporters will publicly
—disclose that two clergy sex abuse and cover up lawsuits against a NH priest have just settled,
—urge NH’s bishop to aggressively seek out other victims, witnesses, and whistleblowers of this child molesting cleric and others, and
—-beg him to post on his diocesan website – like 30 other bishops have done – the names of proven, admitted and credibly accused pedophile priests (to help protect innocent kids and heal wounded victims).

WHEN
TODAY, Thursday September 13 at 2:15 PM

WHERE
Outside the Manchester Diocese headquarters (“chancery office”’), 153 Ash Street (between Orange and Myrtle) in downtown Manchester.

WHO
Three-four members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri man whose brother is a predator priest and who is the organization’s long time director

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.

CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By DAVE ALTIMARI, daltimar@courant.com
The Hartford Courant

2:27 p.m. EDT, September 13, 2012

A New London woman who says she was molested as a child by a now-deceased priest will receive $1.1 million as part of the settlement of her lawsuit with the Norwich Diocese.

The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, alleged she was abused by Father Thomas Shea in 1976 when he was pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in New London. She alleged that diocese officials, including former Bishop Daniel Patrick Reilly, knew Shea had a history of abuse allegations and moved him from parish to parish.

The settlement was reached Thursday just before the trial was set to start in Hartford Superior Court.

Reilly was in court Thursday morning preparing to testify as the first witness in what was supposed to be at least a two-week trial when word started filtering out of Judge Carl Schuman’s chambers that a settlement was afoot.

Superior Court Judge Robert Holzberg, on his last day as a judge before retiring, met with attorneys from both sides to iron out the last-minute deal.

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CONNECTICUT
The Day

By Karen Florin

Publication: theday.com
Published 09/13/2012

Hartford — A New London woman resolved her civil lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Norwich today just as her attorney was set to tell a jury how the late Rev. Thomas W. Shea molested her in 1976.

Mary Maynard, who had previously been known only as Jane Doe, had decided to go public with her story even though she had the right to remain anonymous. Her attorney said, after a judge had announced the $1.1 million settlement, that she wished the public to know there will be no secrets in her life.

A jury had been selected and evidence was to begin in Superior Court in Hartford when the diocese agreed to settle the case. Judge Robert L. Holzberg, who mediated the settlement on his last day of work as a judge, donned a black robe for the last time to announce the 11th-hour agreement from the bench. He is returning to private practice.

The talks began Wednesday afternoon, according to New London attorney Robert I. Reardon Jr., who represents the 49-year-old plaintiff. The outcome remained unresolved this morning, and the jurors assembled at the courthouse as instructed.

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JOLIET (IL)
WGN

[with video]

Katie Kormann
WGN News

1:34 p.m. CDT, September 13, 2012
JOLIET, Ill.—
A Joliet area priest removed from ministry over a sexual abuse allegation has been reinstated.

Reverend F. Lee Ryan allegedly had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy in the 1970s. The now-52-year-old accuser said he and Ryan had a relationship for more than a year.

The man confided in Ryan that he was gay, and things turned sexual as the two became closer. He believed they were dating.

The accuser said he did not tell anyone at the time, and it was only two years ago that he told his mother about his relationship with the family’s priest.

His mother spoke to a victims advocate who arranged for him to submit a complaint to the church.

The Vatican cited Canon No. 2359 in the 1917 Code of Canon Law to explain why the priest was not found guilty of violating church law. The code states that a cleric who violates the commandment forbidding adultery, by indecently touching a person under the age of 16, has committed a canonical crime.

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MIAMI (FL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 13, 2012

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is blasting Miami’s Catholic archbishop for keeping a controversial priest on the job despite two child sex abuse and cover up lawsuits against him. And the priest’s own parishioners have started an on-line petition drive to get him ousted.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are writing Archbishop Thomas Wenski about Fr. Rolando G. Garcia of St. Agatha’s parish in Miami. SNAP is outraged that Wenski is keeping Garcia in the parish, especially because one lawsuit against him has been settled and another is pending.

“It’s supposed to be ‘one strike and you’re out’ when it comes to child molesting Catholic clerics,” said Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “Wenski is deliberately breaking official church policy and endangering the safety of young lives.”

Last week, Garcia was sued – for the second time – for allegedly abusing a young boy. These alleged crimes took place over at least a year and a half in the 1980s. The victim, referred to in the suit as John Doe 94, also charges that the Miami archdiocesan officials actively hid an earlier abuse allegation against Fr. Garcia.

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

Posted by Barbara Dorris on September 13, 2012

Our hearts ache for the betrayed and wounded Catholics of Kansas City who again are learning about a predator priest through sources other than their bishop. Our hearts ache even more of course, for this victim of Fr. Wgenek and any others he may have hurt.

We commend this brave man for exposing this child molesting cleric and helping to shine light on this continuing abuse and cover up crisis. We hope his decision to seek justice in the courts will be healing for him.

Roughly 30 US bishops have posted names predator priest on their diocesan websites. We have repeatedly asked Finn to take this simple, inexpensive and proven step to helping victims heal. He refuses.

Imagine how much safer kids would be and how much better Catholics would feel if Finn took this practical step towards really making children safer and helping victims heal.

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

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and supporters will publicly
–announce a new child abuse lawsuit naming publicly for the first time a Kansas City priest,
–prod the bishop to post the names of credibly accused predators on diocesan website, and
–urge those who see, suspect or suffer clergy sex crimes and cover ups to keep calling police and prosecutors, not church officials.

WHEN
TODAY ————————Thursday, September 13 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE
Outside the KC Catholic diocesan chancery office/headquarters, 20 W. 9th Street in downtown KC

WHO
Three-four members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a St. Louis woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director

WHY
Clergy sex abuse victims will announce a new lawsuit naming Fr. Jerry J. Wegenek and the diocese of Kansas City MO as defendants. The suit says that diocesan officials were first warned about Wegenek in 2001 when a Kansas City man reported his abuse to them.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Monica Yant Kinney, Inquirer Columnist

The e-mail was brief and blunt.

“I would be happy to receive good and professional advice, but not when it is delivered as cynically as you have done it,” the writer scolded. “Christians do not speak to others that way.”

That missive is one of a dozen e-mails readers forwarded me from their remarkable electronic conversations with Archbishop Charles J. Chaput. From the moment the conservative yet high-tech cleric arrived to lead the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, he made it his policy to connect with his new flock.

The archbishop shared his e-mail address, shepherd@adphila.org, and vowed to respond personally, so Catholics flooded him with concerns about school closings, parish politics, and, of course, the clergy sex-abuse crisis and criminal trials.

In a recent interview with my colleague David O’Reilly, Chaput said he “received more negative mail about clergy” during his first year in Philadelphia “than in all the 23 years I’ve served as bishop.”

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KENYA
Standard Digital

By Linah Benyawa

A Catholic priest alleged to have sired a son has been sued in a Mombasa court for neglecting the 13-year-old boy.

Father Josephat Mweu of St. Joseph Allamno Mbiriri social center in Nyeri on Thursday found himself at the Tononoka Children court after one, Cecilia Mbiki instituted a legal suit against him for neglecting the boy who happened to be his biological son.

It is alleged that Fr. Mweu was intimately involved with Mbiki in a village in Kilifi County between 1998 and 1999 where she claims she was staying with her aunt.

In an affidavit of a suit that was filed September 3, Mbiki requested the court to force the priest to recognise and assume fatherhood of the son by paying an upkeep fee of Sh35, 000 per month.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

Walk the Talk for the removal of Bishop Finn.

A silent “Walk” while carrying signs around block of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

What
Holding signs and childhood photos at a press conference and silent walk around the block of the Cathedral, leaders of two organization, concerned Catholics, and concerned citizens will call for the resignation of an area bishop Finn, found guilty of failing to report child porn, and
— show support for survivors
— urge anyone who saw, suspected or suffered the predator’s crimes to call police

When
Sunday, September 16th . Meeting, greeting, gathering at 2:00 PM. Press conference at 2:45PM, and then the Walk.

Where
At the pergola in Barney Allis Plaza, (corner of Central St and W 12th St) Kansas City, Missouri. ( Map & Walk)

Who
Clergy sexual abuse survivors and their supporters and families, Members of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), Representatives of the National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC), concerned Catholics, and concerned citizens who are fed up with the leadership in this diocese

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JOLIET (IL)
CBS Chicago

JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) — The Roman Catholic bishop in Joliet is allowing an accused predator priest to return to limited ministry, and advocates for priest sex abuse victims are livid over the decision.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Bernie Tafoya reports, the Rev. F. Lee Ryan was removed a couple of years ago from his ministry at St. Edmund Parish in Watseka and St. Joseph Mission in Crescent City, both in downstate Iroquois County.

Allegations have been deemed credible that he had sexually abused a boy in the 1970s, starting when the boy was 14.

Now, Joliet Bishop Daniel Conlon is allowing Ryan to minister to homebound Roman Catholics.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

A RETIRED Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting four children over two decades has been charged with three more offences that allegedly occurred 10 years earlier.

Finian James Egan, 77, has been charged with indecently assaulting a girl in Leichhardt, in Sydney’s inner west, on three occasions between 1961 and 1962, Downing Centre Local Court heard yesterday.

Egan was charged in May with 17 sexual offences that allegedly occurred between 1972 and 1987 while he was a priest in Sydney and on the Central Coast. He has not entered a plea.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

His name is René Bruelhart, he is 40 years old and is a Swiss lawyer. The Vatican’s spokesman commented on his recruitment, saying: “We are continuing along the path of transparency”

ANDREA TORNIELLI
Vatican City

After employing American journalist Greg Burke as Communications Advisor for the Secretary of State, the Vatican has now announced the arrival of another high profile advisor. The Holy See has recruited Fribourg-born Swiss lawyer and anti-money laundering expert, René Bruelhart to further the work being done to get the Vatican in line with international standards. Vatican Radio reported the news today.

“Following the Moneyval report on the Vatican and the Holy See, which received extensive coverage during the month of July, the time is ripe, not for a slackening of commitment, but for renewed efforts to respond to the Report’s recommendations and ever more efficaciously pursue transparency and financial trustworthiness, thus contributing more effectively to the fight against money-laundering. A powerful sign of its commitment to work in this direction is that the Holy See has hired an international expert in Anti-Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) activities,” Vatican Radio reported.

Rene Bruelhart, 40, a lawyer originally from Fribourg, Switzerland, spent eight years as the director of Liechtenstein’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and is an expert in AML/CFT. As director of Liechtenstein’s FIU, he was also appointed in 2010 as the vice-chair of the Egmont Group, the global network of FIUs. Bruelhart began work this month as a consultant to the Holy See in all matters related to AML/CFT. His arrival does not imply any cuts to the personnel already working on ensuring that the Holy See fulfils Moneyval’s requirements: a taxing task for the Secretariat of State. Bruelhart’s considerable experience in the field should help speed the process of meeting international money laundering regulations up. The Holy See needs to satisfy Moneyval on all the points where it scored unsatisfactory or not completely satisfactory ratings in the committee’s recent report.

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JOLIET (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Kate Botche on September 12, 2012

Today we learned that Bishop Daniel Conlon of Joliet plans to reinstate a priest to ministry who was removed in 2010 because of allegations of sexual misconduct. This is a shocking and dangerous move by Bishop Conlon. He is the man in charge of children’s safety for all of America’s bishops as head of the bishops committee on sexual abuse.

We are being told that Conlon is being forced to reinstate Fr. Lee Ryan by the Vatican. The victim was told that according to the code of Canon law at the time of the sexual assault the code did not have an age of consent. The victim was fourteen years old when the priest first abused him and it continued for two years.

We don’t know if Bishop Conlon is telling the truth and won’t know until he produces copies of his alleged correspondence with Vatican officials. Even if he is telling the truth, he has many options.

First, he could stand up for kids and against recklessness, telling Vatican officials he refuses to put Ryan back on the job. Second, he could have, at any point over the past few months, gone to every place Ryan worked and begged victims, witnesses, and whistleblowers to come forward – to secular authorities or church officials. Third, he could assign Ryan to prison ministry.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Victoria White

Thursday, September 13, 2012

THE boy’s shoe laces were tied together.”

So I’d heard. More than 30 years ago, when I was at school in Dublin. One of my friends said it to me and I never forgot.

I hoped that it wasn’t true. And it’s still possible it wasn’t. However, now it’s been said to me twice I’m beginning to think it was, especially as the second person who said it to me was Colm Begley who was at the Westbank Children’s Home with my schoolmate when he was damaged for life by falling off a train.

Since I wrote in this newspaper about the boy who had this horrific accident on the way home from my school I have been contacted by people who remember him and Westbank Home in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, where he lived.

The detail about his shoelaces being tied together when he fell out of the train was a while coming. But it made me realise I had to write about this again. Because it isn’t over, not by a long shot.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KSDK

[with video]

St. Louis (KSDK) – A local priest is under investigation by the Episcopal Diocese for possible sexual misconduct.

The Rev. John Blair works as a chaplain and supervisor at Christian Hospital Northeast but he also describes himself online as an artist.

His hobby is erotic photography of nude male and female models, some of which have been shown at St. Louis art shows.

“Sexual misconduct as its understood by the church has to do with a pastor relationship between a clergy person and a priest and somebody that’s in their pastoral care which makes this particular investigation somewhat difficult because there’s no indication that Father Blair had a past relationship with any of the people that he photographed,” said Daniel Smith, Canon to the Ordinary Diocese of Missouri.

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STOCKTON (CA)
The Record

September 13, 2012

STOCKTON – The attorneys for a 24-year-old former altar boy who says he was molested by removed Priest Michael Kelly say they want top officials of the Diocese of Stockton to be held accountable for Kelly’s sex crimes.

“Why did (Bishop Stephen Blaire) allow this man to continue to minister?” said John Manly of the Newport Beach-based Manly and Stewart law firm.

Manly announced that the firm has filed a civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Stockton on behalf of the former altar boy referred to in court documents as John CC Doe at a news conference Wednesday in front of San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Manly also represented Travis Trotter, who agreed to settle his child sex-abuse civil case against the diocese and Kelly for $3.75 million in April. Trotter said he was raped by Kelly as a student and altar boy at Cathedral of the Annunciation. He said a lawsuit was his only way of obtaining justice, since the statute of limitations prevented criminal proceedings.

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UNITED STATES
Catholica (Australia)

by A.W. Richard Sipe

In 2012 the Roman Catholic Church is in the throes of a Reformation. Cardinal Carlo Martini—a voice of reason in the Church—said, “Our culture is out of date, our churches are big and empty and the church bureaucracy rises up, our rituals and our cassocks are pompous.”

Human sexuality is the centerpiece of a conflict…

Human sexuality is the centerpiece of a scientific and doctrinal conflict analogous to the time when Copernican observations necessitated a shift of perspective about humanity, our relationship with each other and our place in the world. The crisis of bishops and priests sexually abusing children has led to an awareness of how desperately the church needs, in the words of Martini, “to admit its mistakes and begin a radical change, starting from the pope and the bishops.”

The Church is incorrect and wrong headed in its teachings on human sexuality. We can no longer defend and teach our children with a clear conscience that all sexual activity outside marriage is mortally sinful. Reasonable and sincere people cannot teach that masturbation, contraception, and sexual love outside marriage is intrinsically evil.

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CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Chronicle

Erin Allday

Updated 10:57 p.m., Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Santa Clara County district attorney will not charge a priest for lying under oath during the assault trial of William Lynch, when the priest told a jury that he did not molest Lynch and his brother 30 years ago.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement Wednesday that he believes retired Catholic priest Jerold Lindner did lie during his brief testimony at the trial in July. But to charge Lindner with perjury, the district attorney’s office would have to prove that Lindner’s testimony was critical to the trial.

Since both the prosecution and the defense teams agreed that Lynch had been molested as a child, Lindner’s denial of the molestation was not a key element of the case, Rosen’s office said. A jury eventually found Lynch not guilty of felony assault and elder abuse and deadlocked on a count of misdemeanor assault.

“We believe that Lindner lied. However, perjury is not merely lying under oath,” Rosen said in a statement. “It is a highly technical criminal offense that requires several elements to be proved.”

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UNITED STATES
Falls Church News-Press

By Wayne Besen Wednesday, September 12 2012

Last Thursday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan gave the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention, offering a divisive sermon that touched on abortion and marriage equality.

“We ask your benediction on those waiting to be born, that they may be welcomed and protected.”

“Show us anew that happiness is found only in respecting the laws of nature and of nature’s God. Empower us with your grace so that we might resist the temptation to replace the moral law with idols of our own making, or to remake those institutions you have given us for the nurturing of life and community.”

While he prayed against my family and for the unborn, a Catholic leader in Kansas City, Bishop Robert W. Finn, was convicted of covering up the crimes of a pedophile priest, Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who liked to take nude pictures of the barely born. According to a detailed article by Laurie Goodstein in the New York Times:

In December 2010, Bishop Finn got some disturbing news: Father Ratigan had just tried to commit suicide by running his motorcycle in a closed garage. The day before, a computer technician had discovered sexually explicit photographs of young girls on Father Ratigan’s laptop, including one of a toddler with her diaper pulled away to expose her genitals.

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KENYA
The Star

Thursday, 13 September 2012

BY MAUREEN MUDI

A Catholic priest has been charged in a children court with neglecting a 13-year-old son whom he is said to have sired.

Father Josephat Mweu Mwazia, the parish priest of St Joseph Allamno Mbiriri Social Centre, Nyeri, has been taken to the Tononoka Children’s court by Cecelia Mbiki, who claims the priest is the biological father of the boy.

Mbiki wants the court to compel the priest to accept that he is the father of the boy and to pay Sh35,000 per month for the upkeep of the child. She wants Sh5,000 for school fees, Sh10,000 for food,Sh8,000 for clothing, Sh5,000 for medical, entertainment Sh2,000 and transport Sh5,000.

Through her lawyer Oduor Okumu and Company Advocates, Mbiki says she has been providing for the class eight pupil alone since 1999 and now wants the priest to take responsibility.

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SAN JOSE (CA)
UPI

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 12 (UPI) — The head of a Jesuit boys’ school in California has publicly apologized to a former student who says he was sexually molested there in the 1960s.

The Rev. Paul Sheridan of Bellarmine College Preparatory sent the letter by email to alumni, the San Jose Mercury News reported Wednesday. Sheridan named the alleged abuser, Brother William Farrington, and the accuser. …

David Clohessy, founder of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, suggested to the newspaper that Sheridan’s letter is more public relations than substance.

“They’re working harder to look better,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Telegraph

AAP
September 13, 2012

A NSW bishop’s refusal to publicly debate the need for a royal commission into sex abuse by clergy shows the Catholic Church continues to hide from the issue, a Greens MP says.

Bishop William Wright, of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, was invited by NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge to speak on the matter at a public forum in Newcastle on Sunday.

But in a statement, Father Barry Tunks, vicar-general of the diocese, said the invitation was declined as the question of a royal commission was a “party political” one the bishop had declined to canvass.

He said Bishop Wright had made it known that it was for the government to determine if any public inquiry would take place and what form it would take.

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CALIFORNIA
KTVU

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, Calif. —

New child sex allegations have been made against a former California priest in a lawsuit filed just months after a jury found him liable for molesting an altar boy.

The latest case filed Tuesday in San Joaquin County claims Michael Kelly sexually abused a 12-year-old boy in the early 2000s when Kelly was a priest at St. Andrews Church in San Andreas.

The lawsuit alleges the boy had served as an altar boy when Kelly repeatedly came to his house unannounced and assaulted him. It seeks unspecified damages, stating the boy had attempted suicide after the abuse.

Five months ago, a civil jury found Kelly liable for the molestation of another altar boy when Kelly was a priest at Cathedral of Annunciation in Stockton in the 1980s. The Catholic Diocese of Stockton paid nearly $4 million as part of the suit.

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CALIFORNIA
The Sacramento Bee

The Associated Press

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Prosecutors say they won’t be filing perjury charges against a retired priest who testified in the trial of a Northern California man charged with assaulting him.

The decision not to prosecute Jerold Lindner comes even though prosecutors say they believe Lindner lied under oath when he denied molesting boys in the July trial of William Lynch.

Lindner was testifying in the case against Lynch, who was accused of beating the priest for allegedly molesting him during a 1975 camping trip. Lynch was acquitted in the case.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

A retired Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting four children over two decades has been charged with three more offences that allegedly occurred 10 years earlier.

Finian James Egan, 77, has been charged with indecently assaulting a girl in Leichhardt, in Sydney’s inner west, on three occasions between 1961 and 1962, Downing Centre Local Court heard on Thursday.

Egan was charged in May this year with 17 sexual offences that allegedly occurred between 1972 and 1987 while he was serving as a priest in parishes in Sydney and on the NSW Central Coast.

He has not entered a plea to those charges, which relate to one boy and three girls.

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JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune reporter

9:59 p.m. CDT, September 12, 2012
A Joliet-area priest removed from ministry over an allegation of sexual abuse has been reinstated because his alleged relationship with a teenager in the 1970s did not meet the criteria of a crime under church law at that time, according to the Joliet Diocese.

Starting this weekend, the Rev. F. Lee Ryan will minister to homebound parishioners of St. Edmund Catholic Church in Watseka, south of Kankakee, and St. Joseph Mission in Crescent City, the diocese said in a statement.

A spokesman for Joliet Bishop R. Daniel Conlon, who also serves as chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People for U.S. Catholic bishops, declined to say whether a local review board had substantiated the allegation, but he said the decision to reinstate Ryan had been difficult.

“He will not return to (full) ministry, but he is being permitted (a) very narrow ministry,” the statement said. “This was a very difficult decision. I believe it respects the law of the Church and protects children.”

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JOLIET (IL)
Southtown Star

JOLIET — The Joliet Diocese is allowing a priest accused of molesting a 14-year-old Joliet boy in the 1970s to return to a limited ministry.

In May 2010, after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor surfaced, the Rev. F. Lee Ryan was removed from his ministry at St. Edmund Parish in Watseka and St. Joseph Mission in Crescent City.

A spokesman for Bishop R. Daniel Conlon confirmed by email Wednesday that Ryan will be allowed “very narrow ministry” to homebound parishioners of St. Edmund Parish and St. Joseph Mission.

A written statement from Conlon said the determination was made after Catholic officials in Rome decided that, according to church law in place at the time of the abuse, Ryan did not commit a serious crime by the church’s standards and could not be permanently removed from ministry.

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CALIFORNIA
The Union Democrat

Written by Alexander MacLean, The Union Democrat

September 12, 2012

A new sexual-abuse lawsuit against a former Catholic priest who ministered in both Tuolumne and Calaveras counties was filed Tuesday in San Joaquin County Superior Court.

The lawsuit alleges Michael Kelly sexually abused a 12-year-old altar boy while head priest at St. Andrew’s Parish in San Andreas from 2000 to 2002.

The plaintiff, now 24, is identified only as “John CC Doe” to protect his privacy as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, according to the civil claim for damages.

The lawsuit names as defendants the diocese, St. Andrew’s Parish, Kelly, Bishop Stephen Blaire, Monsignor Richard Ryan, and 100 unnamed defendants.

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CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel

SAN ANDREAS — The Calaveras County District Attorney’s Office has yet to complete its investigation into allegations that former Lockeford priest Michael Kelly committed clergy sexual abuse against a 12-year-old boy more than a decade ago in San Andreas, according to a spokeswoman from the District Attorney’s office.

However, a civil lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Kelly, St. Andrew Parish in San Andreas, Stockton Diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire and diocese Monsignor Richard Ryan.

Attorney Paul Balestracci, who represents the diocese, said he had just received a copy of the lawsuit Wednesday afternoon and hadn’t had time to read it. The suit was filed in San Joaquin County because the diocese office is located in Stockton.

— Ross Farrow

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CALIFORNIA
Irish Times

GENEVIEVE CARBERY

A FORMER altar boy has filed a civil case in the US against an Irish priest who, he claims, sexually abused him as a child in California.

The Californian man (24) claims that he was sexually abused and harassed by the now-defrocked Tipperary native Michael Kelly in the early 2000s from the age of 12.

Last April Michael Kelly was removed from ministry by the Californian Diocese of Stockton after a civil jury found against him in a separate civil case alleging sexual abuse in the 1980s.

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CANADA
CBC News

There’s only one week left for survivors of Indian residential schools to file abuse claims with the federal government — and the offices receiving the claims have been extra busy.

“We expected the applications to increase in the last couple of months … and that has happened,” said Daniel Ish, Canada’s chief adjudictor for abuse claims. “In the month of August, there were over 1,500 applications.”

The five-year period to apply for compensation expires on Sept.19.

Anybody who hasn’t already done so, should get their forms in the mail as soon as possible, Ish said.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BY TIM TOWNSEND • ttownsend@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8221

An Episcopal priest who works as a chaplain and supervisor at Christian Hospital in unincorporated St. Louis County is under investigation by the Episcopal Diocoese of Missouri for possible sexual misconduct.

The Rev. John Blair is the BJC hospital’s manager of spiritual care and its clinical pastoral education supervisor.

The diocese began an investigation Tuesday after receiving an anonymous letter complaining about Blair’s ministry, and after the Post-Dispatch called the diocese to ask about a similar letter the newspaper received complaining about Blair’s erotic photography.

Bret Berigan, a spokesperson for Christian Hospital, said only that the matter is “being followed up on internally as appropriate.”

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CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times

By Tracey Kaplan and Robert Salonga Mercury News contracostatimes.com
Posted: 09/12/2012

Santa Clara County prosecutors have declined to file perjury charges against a former Jesuit priest who denied molesting a boy who as an adult was acquitted of assaulting the ex-clergyman in retaliation.

Jerold Lindner testified during Will Lynch’s trial that he did not molest Lynch as a child in 1975. Lynch said the molestation motivated him, years later, to confront Lindner at his Los Gatos retirement home and attack him.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement that while he believes that Lindner lied, the DA’s office was constrained by legal guidelines in its decision. He said his office consulted with Lynch before announcing the decision.

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CALIFORNIA
NBC Bay Area

By Lori Preuitt

Wednesday, Sep 12, 2012

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced Wednesday his office will not charge former priest Jerold Lindner with perjury.

That is not the news Rev. Lindner’s victims, who claim he sexually abused them when they were children, wanted to hear.

One of the alleged victims, Will Lynch, went to trial for assaulting the former priest earlier this summer. He was acquitted even though he admitted to the attack.

It was during that trial that Lynch and others said Rev. Lindner committed perjury when he denied the molestation charges on the witness stand.

Lynch has spent weeks pressuring the DA to charge the former priest for lying when he said that.

Rosen said although he believes Rev. Lindner did lie, the charge of perjury is not just about lying under oath.

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BOSTON (MA)
Enterprise

BOSTON —

The Catholic Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful will hold a 10th-year conference in Boston this weekend.

Speakers will include Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke; John Morgan, chairman of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church Ireland; Boston College professor Thomas Groome; Brother Donald Cozzens, international commentator and lecturer on religious and cultural issues; David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests; executive director; Jamie Manson, columnist for the National Catholic Reporter; and Brother James Connell, an advocate for clergy sexual abuse survivors.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By OC Patch Staff

A former priest who was convicted of sexually abusing two boys was arrested at the Resort at Pelican Hill last month after authorities found him near a swimming pool, according to a report in OC Weekly.

Michael Stephen Baker, 64, was arrested on Aug. 17 and is currently being held in an Orange County jail cell, according to jail records from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department .

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests were walking around downtown Los Gatos at noon Wednesday alerting the community that Brother “Bill” William Farrington, who resides at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, has been named as a credible molester of children in Northern California.

Joey Piscitelli, Northern California director of SNAP, stood at the intersection of College Avenue and E. Main Street with fliers in his hand that read, “Protect your children. Accused sex offender Catholic priest!”

“We’re trying to alert the town of Los Gatos that there’s an alleged serial sexual predator that’s been roaming around unsupervised,” Piscitelli said, after Channel 4 had interviewed him about the recent outing of the former religious brother who’s been accused of sexual wrongdoing while working at Catholic schools.

Piscitelly said the Jesuit High School authorities in Carmichael and Los Gatos Jesuit Center officials released statements Tuesday to the public that’s he’s alleged to have molested children. At least one former Bellarmine College Preparatory student in San Jose and another at the Catholic school near Sacramento have come forward alleging Farrington molested them, Piscitelly said.

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CALIFORNIA
Mercury News

By Mark Gomez and Tracey Kaplan Mercury News
contracostatimes.com
Posted: 09/12/2012

SAN JOSE — A Jesuit brother, accused of sexually molesting a student at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose more than 40 years ago, was also accused on two occasions of misconduct while working at a Sacramento-area Jesuit high school in the 1980s.

Following the accusations in 1987 at Jesuit High in Carmichael, Brother William Farrington was no longer allowed to work with minors, according to the Provincial of the California Jesuits. In an official statement, the Jesuits main office in California characterized the accusation made by the former Bellarmine student as “credible.”

Tuesday, the presidents of Bellarmine and Jesuit High School sent letters to alumni informing them of the allegation of sexual abuse against Farrington, who currently lives at the Sacred Heart Jesuit retirement center in Los Gatos. The allegation was first made by the former Bellarmine student in 2003 and stems from his time as a student at the elite boy’s school in the 1960s.

Farrington served as a teacher, counselor and swim coach at Jesuit high from 1976 to 1987, according to school spokesman Jordan Blair. Farrington’s time at Jesuit High ended in the spring of 1987 following two reports of misconduct, Blair said.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram

By Domingo Ramirez Jr.
ramirez@star-telegram.com

A Fort Worth pastor has been arrested and faces a charge of sexual assault in a 2000 case in which he is accused of performing sexual acts on a then-18-year-old girl at a Crowley residence, according to Crowley police reports released Wednesday.

The female, now an adult, told Crowley police that she had kept quiet about the alleged assault until now because the pastor owned a gun and he told her that no one would believe her, the reports stated.

Crowley police identified the suspect as Darrell Wayne Blair, pastor of New Breed Christian Church in Fort Worth.

Blair, 43, of Waxahachie, surrendered to authorities on Monday and walked out of jail about an hour later after posting $25,000 bail.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Sep. 12, 2012
By Brian Cahill

Opinion

A friend who is a faithful Catholic and is at daily Mass once told me the Catholic hierarchy’s idea of communication and public relations seems to be purchasing thousands of gallons of kerosene to pour on the flames they themselves ignited.

The loss of credibility and moral authority of American bishops comes from the abuse scandal, the insensitive treatment of women and gays, and the emphasis on orthodoxy and authority. But the bishops also have been ineffective at public relations. There are many examples.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, head of the Vatican’s highest court, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, said the failure of “knowledge and application of canon law” was a “significant contribution” to the sex abuse scandal. He seems to be saying that if only those pedophile priests had paid more attention to their canon law class, they would have behaved themselves, and if all the delinquent bishops had just consulted their canon lawyers, they never would have covered up any of this.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan navigated his way through the national conventions, but commenting on President Barack Obama’s health care mandate, suggested that if contraception is available, perhaps prostitution services should be available for men with erectile dysfunction. Dolan also compared homosexuality to incest and reminded us that “we bishops are pastors, not politicians,” and reassured us that “it’s not that we hold fast, that we’re stubborn ideologues, no.” Dolan has trumpeted his friendship and admiration of vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, saying he “wants to see him in action.”

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UNITED STATES
Reno Register-Journal

Written by
Jaclyn O’Malley

The Reno man arrested in Denver for masturbating on a commercial air flight while viewing Internet pornography is a former priest from Texas, who was removed from his small parish there after he was accused of inappropriate behavior with a child, according to reports.

Daniel Michael Drinan was ordained in 1977 with the Eastern Province of Claretians and had served as a priest under the Austin (Texas) Diocese, according to the website BishopAccountability.org.

The Claretians headquarters in Chicago said Wednesday that Drinan is no longer a priest, and is no longer affiliated with their congregation. The headquarters referred further inquiries to a Claretians spokesperson, who did not immediately return a call Wednesday.

Austin Diocese communication director Christian Gonzalez did not immediately return a call Wednesday for comment.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Phyllis Zagano on Sep. 12, 2012 Just Catholic

One great mystery of Catholicism may be solved soon: how long does it take for something to get from Missouri to the pope’s desk?

While the best way to boost a bishop’s reputation is for The New York Times to call for his removal, the Bishop Robert Finn saga is clearly over the top. Only the most churchy of church types support his staying as bishop of Kansas City,-St. Joseph, Mo., where he was judged guilty of a misdemeanor in not reporting the very strange priest he had sent to a convent.

The good news is Finn got a bench trial — no testimony, no jury — sparing us all the agony of hearing yet again about a bishop who does not (or at least did not) “get it” about pederasty and its relatives. The bad news is despite detailed coverage in the National Catholic Reporter, some first-day-of-school articles in major media and that Times editorial, the story has faded. Finn remains in place.

So, how long will it take? Will anything happen?

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CALIFORNIA
KLIV

Matt Burrows Reporting

A group of alleged molestation victims of a retired Los Gatos priest are pushing to have perjury charges filed against him.

Santa Clara County prosecutors are meeting with advocates of the alleged victim group to discuss filing charges against Reverend Jerold Lindner, who testified in the July assault trial of William Lynch.

Lynch claimed he and his brother were molested as children by Lindner, and that he was trying to get the priest to confess when he attacked him at his retirement home in 2010.

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FLORIDA
Palm Beach Post

By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

WEST PALM BEACH —

A priest who in June left his job at St. Clare Catholic Church in North Palm Beach, pledging to prove he was innocent of shoplifting, this week was placed on probation for 18 months and ordered to pay $895 restitution to Neiman Marcus for the picture frame he stole from its Boca Raton store in December.

Rev. Giuseppe Savaia, 43, refused to confess but agreed that a guilty plea was in his best interest, said prosecutor Kirk Volker.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Richard Oftedal withheld adjudication before placing Savaia on probation, ordering him to take a theft abatement course and to get psychological treatment.

He also barred Savaia from entering a Neiman Marcus store.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome

In the abstract, if one were to draw up the ideal profile of a financial expert the Vatican might enlist to help clean up its reputation as a magnet for scandal, the wish list might include the following four points:
•Someone with clear secular credentials as an advocate of transparency and a leader in the fight against money laundering;
•Someone who’s had experience helping a place with a shady past attain new respectability;
•Someone comfortable in a multi-lingual and multi-cultural environment;
•Someone who understands an idiosyncratic small state with a monarchical system of government.

Defined that way, there probably aren’t many people who would fit the bill, but the Vatican seems to have found one: a 40-year-old Swiss lawyer named René Brülhart, who for the past ten years has led anti-money laundering efforts in the tiny European principality of Liechtenstein.

Yesterday the Vatican announced that Brülhart has been hired as a consultant to help organize its response to a first-ever evaluation of the Vatican delivered in July by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering agency.

That review found the Vatican “has come a long way in a very short time,” but also that serious problems remain. They include confusion about the powers of a new Financial Information Authority created by Pope Benedict XVI, and the lack of external regulation of the Vatican Bank.

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NEVADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 11, 2012

A Kansas City Catholic priest who is being sued for raping a teenaged girl reportedly now runs a shelter for abused women and their families in his Nevada home. “For the sake of public safety,” clergy sex abuse victims are urging two bishops to stop him and warn others about him.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are urging the bishops of Kansas City and Reno to “take simple, common sense prevention steps” to keep Fr. Thomas J. Cronin away from “innocent children and vulnerable adults.”

Fr. Cronin, a Kansas City native who was sent to Nevada about 15 years ago, is accused in an Oct. 2010 lawsuit of repeatedly raping a 17 year old girl in 1979 in western Missouri. That suit is still pending.

SNAP is contacting Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn and Reno Bishop Randolph Calvo, begging them to force Fr. Cronin to sever all ties to the shelter. And SNAP wants both bishops to use parish bulletins, church websites, and pulpit announcements to warn the public and parishioners about him.

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NEVADA
Reno Gazette-Journal

Written by
Brian Duggan

Thomas Cronin, a suspended Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl in Missouri in 1979, is also the president of a Fernley-based women’s shelter called Rachel’s Sanctuary.

Three members of a victims advocacy group called the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests gathered in front of the offices of the Catholic Diocese of Reno on Tuesday to call attention to Cronin’s involvement with the organization.

“We want to bring things to light and make the community more aware,” said Tim Lennon, a member of SNAP, adding the diocese in Reno should do more to make people aware of Cronin’s affiliation. “We think there could be more, there has to be more and we’re demanding more.”

Cronin was placed on suspension by the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City in October 2010 when a civil lawsuit was filed in Kansas City, Mo., accusing him of molesting and sexually assaulting the teenager at the Sacred Heart Parish in Hamilton, Mo., more than 30 years ago.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Monterey Herald

The Associated Press
Posted: 09/12/2012

STOCKTON, Calif.—There are new child sex allegations against a former California priest.
A San Joaquin County lawsuit filed on Tuesday says Michael Kelly sexually abused a 12-year-old boy in the 1980s when he was a priest at St. Andrews Church in San Andreas.

Five months ago, a Stockton civil jury found Kelly liable for the molestation of an altar boy when he was a priest at Cathedral of Annunciation in Stockton in the 1980s.

The Catholic Diocese of Stockton paid nearly $4 million to settle that suit.

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DENVER (CO)
Westword

By Michael Roberts
Wed., Sep. 12 2012

Former Catholic priest Daniel Drinan made headlines after being charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver for masturbating in view of other passengers on a plane — and they weren’t his first.

Even before this latest incident, Drinan, 63, had an entry on BishopAccountability.org, which describes itself as a “database of publicly accused priests in the United States.” Why?

Here’s the site’s Drinan narrative, sans additional information about the aircraft arrest:

Removed 5/02 after complaint of inappropriate behavior with a minor. Charged with misdemeanor assault not involving sexual contact or injuries to a child. Paid a fine but no jail time. Bishop refused to return him to ministry because of incident & because of other issues from the past discovered during investigation. Working in Reno NV in 2005 at treatment facility for paroled prisoners with addiction problems.

Accompanying this passage are links to articles from the Austin American-Statesman. An April 2002 report notes that Drinan, described as a “member of the Eastern Province of the Claretians” affiliated with Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Austin, had been accused of inappropriate conduct with a minor — news that left many members of his parish in tears. A July 2002 followup notes that the charges against Drinan had been changed to misdemeanor assault — an accusation that, as pointed out above, didn’t include a sexual component or claims of injury to the child in question. Nonetheless, he left the parish.

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IRELAND
Kilkenny People

Published on Wednesday 12 September 2012

THERE were 18 allegations of sexual abuse made against 10 priests in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin in the past 37 years.

THE diocese, which encompasses local towns such as Graignamanagh, Paulstown and Bagenalstown, is one of those recently audited by the National Board for Safeguarding Children.

Two of the priests against whom allegations were made are still alive.

One of those, Father Peter Cribben, was convicted of the abuse of a 14-year-old boy in 2009. The second priest was never charged.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

Published on Wednesday 12 September 2012

A DETAILED report on child abuse allegations against a Scottish Catholic priest has been sent to the Vatican for a decision by the Church’s highest authorities.

Father Thomas Mullen, the priest at Our Lady of Lourdes in Dunfermline, was arrested in March last year by officers from Fife Constabulary in relation to allegations of child sex abuse dating back more than 30 years.

But earlier this year, the Crown Office decided to place the possible prosecution of the priest on hold, after Fiona Cameron, the procurator fiscal at Dunfermline, received a report from the Fife force.

A separate investigation into the allegations against the 
71-year-old priest by the Catholic Church in Scotland was then 
ordered by Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the head of the Church in Scotland.

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SCOTLAND
The Courier

The Scottish Catholic Church has asked the Vatican to look into claims dating back more than 30 years against Father Thomas Mullen, of Our Lady of Lourdes in Dunfermline.

A police investigation was launched and the priest was arrested after two people alleged they had been molested by him.

However, despite prosecutors deciding not to proceed with the case because too much time had passed between the alleged offences, the Catholic Church considers the claims so serious it is conducting its own investigation.

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh told The Courier: ”Father Thomas Mullen was placed on administrative leave in 2011 while allegations against him were investigated by Fife Police.”

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