ABUSE TRACKER

OREGON
The Oregonian

By Helen Jung, The Oregonian

A plea hearing scheduled for Monday in the sex-abuse case for Woodburn priest Angel Armando Perez has been postponed.

Marion County Circuit Judge Thomas Hart, who was assigned to hear the case, recused himself from the case Monday morning. He declined through his clerk to comment on his reasons.

Prosecutors and attorneys for the 46-year-old priest are scheduled to meet for a status conference with the new judge assigned to the case, Marion County Circuit Judge Susan Tripp, on Monday, Sept. 24.

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BOSTON (MA)
The Republic

JAY LINDSAY Associated Press
September 17, 2012

BOSTON — A plan to revive the Boston Archdiocese by organizing its 288 parishes into 135 clusters that share staffing and resources has reached Cardinal Sean O’Malley for final approval.

The Boston Archdiocese devised the plan over nearly two years as it faces potentially crippling problems, including a priest shortage, and worsening financial and attendance numbers. The proposal aims to keep parishes intact while a push to draw back lapsed Catholics reinvigorates the archdiocese and fills up churches again.

Two key archdiocesan groups, the Presbyteral Council and Cardinal’s Cabinet, approved the proposal earlier this month. O’Malley will make his decision by November.

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ARGENTINA
Nuevo Diario

Buscan evitar que el cura Justo José Ilarraz quede detenido. El abogado Jorge Muñoz, apoderado legal del sacerdote, anunció que hoy presentará un recurso de hábeas corpus preventivo. “Esta presentación judicial es a fin de resguardar la persona del sacerdote, evitando la situación de condición de peligrosidad procesal”, explicó el letrado a LA GACETA.

“Estoy convencido absolutamente -agregó Muñoz-, que las actuaciones derivadas de oficio en la provincia de Entre ríos, (que corresponden en virtud de la probable competencia judicial) devienen nulas al no existir denuncias por parte de los presuntos ofendidos del delito. Ello, en virtud de que esta clase de tipos penales requieren de la promoción de las denuncias de las victimas para poder activar al órgano jurisdiccional. Se trata de delitos de acción pública dependientes de instancia privada”, insistió.

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OREGON
KOIN

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The plea hearing for a Woodburn priest accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy has been postponed.

The Oregonian reports that Judge Thomas Hart recused himself from the case Monday. The judge declined to say why.

The priest, Angel Armando Perez, has been charged sexual abuse, use of a child in display of sexually explicit conduct, furnishing liquor to a minor and tampering with physical evidence.

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ARGENTINA
Online-911

Asi lo informó el abogado Jorge Muñoz, apoderado legal de Justo José Ilarraz. El sacerdote es acusado de abusar sexualmente de al menos 50 chicos que asistían al Seminario Menor de la capital de Entre Ríos entre 1984 y 1992.

18:07 : Un recurso de hábeas corpus preventivo en resguardo de “la libertad ambulatoria” fue presentado hoy por el abogado defensor del cura Justo José Ilarraz, acusado de abusar sexualmente de al menos 50 chicos que asistían al Seminario Menor, en Paraná.

“Esta presentación judicial es sólo al fin de resguardar la persona del sacerdote y evitar la condición de peligrosidad procesal”, explicó a Télam el abogado Jorge Muñoz, apoderado legal de Ilarraz.

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ARGENTINA
La Gaceta

El abogado Jorge Muñoz, apoderado legal del sacerdote Justo José Ilarraz, acusado de abusar sexualmente de al menos 50 chicos que asistían al Seminario Menor, en Paraná, anunció que hoy presentará un recurso de hábeas corpus preventivo. “La presentación judicial tiene el fin de resguardar la persona del sacerdote, evitando la situación de condición de peligrosidad procesal”, explicó el letrado a LA GACETA.

“Estoy convencido -agregó Muñoz-, de que las actuaciones derivadas de oficio en la provincia de Entre ríos, (que corresponden en virtud de la probable competencia judicial) devienen nulas, al no existir denuncias por parte de los presuntos ofendidos del delito. Ello, en virtud de que esta clase de tipos penales requieren de la promoción de las denuncias de las victimas para poder activar al órgano jurisdiccional. Se trata de delitos de acción pública dependientes de instancia privada”, insistió.

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ARGENTINA
Catholic News Agency

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sep 17, 2012 / 04:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archdiocese of Parana, Argentina voiced sorrow over the actions of Father Justo Jose Ilarraz, who is accused of sexually abusing at least 50 children over the span of eight years.

“The latest news reports cause us great shame and immense sorrow over the most serious crimes committed by someone who ought to serve the moral life of the people by his example and teaching,” the archdiocese said in a Sept. 13 statement.

According to the archdiocese, Fr. Ilarraz abused children between the ages of 12 and 14 at the Seminary of Parana from 1984 to 1992.

It also announced that the Archbishop of Parana and the Bishop of Concepcion de Tucuman have taken steps to remove the accused priest from ministry “until the Holy See resolves his situation.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

By Jean Edwards

Two former Catholic school teachers have broken their silence about sex abuse in the Doveton parish in Melbourne’s south-east.

They say the church hierarchy covered up or ignored their repeated pleas for something to be done about a predatory priest.

Graeme Sleeman, a former school principal and teacher, resigned from his job in the mid-1980s in a desperate bid to force the church to stop Father Peter Searson from sexually abusing children at the Holy Family School.

“I was contemplating suicide because I did not see a way out of the problem that the church had created,” he said.

“I’d stood up for the rights of children. I’d stood up for the right of the church and I’d been cast aside.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

A Roman Catholic priest in Philadelphia who was previously cleared of inappropriate conduct has been suspended due to new allegations of sexual abuse, church officials said Monday.

Reverend Michael Chapman, 56, was placed on administrative leave due to allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

The accusations, which involve minors and date back about 30 years, first surfaced last spring, according to the archdiocese.

Chapman was first placed on leave in March 2011 for allegedly violating standards of ministerial behavior and boundaries, church officials said. A subsequent investigation found him suitable for ministry.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 17, 2012

Here’s the next step in the Boy Scouts child sex abuse and cover up scandal – every Scout official who knew of or suspected or concealed these heinous crimes should be ousted and, if possible, prosecuted for failure to report possible child sex crimes to law enforcement.

It’s not enough to say “we’re doing better these days.” Scout officials deceived parents, police and the public about child molesters in the past. How can we believe them when they claim now that they’ve stopped?

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UNITED STATES
CNN

(CNN) — A sex abuse support group called on the Boy Scouts of America to oust any official still with the organization who was involved in covering up child sex crimes.

The demand by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests was in reaction to a Los Angeles Times story detailing previously sealed files that it said showed scouting officials “failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.”

The 1,600 “ineligible volunteer” files from 1970 to 1991 reviewed by the Times were obtained through a 1992 lawsuit against the Boy Scouts, the newspaper reported Sunday. The “perversion files” were a blacklist of alleged sexual molesters, it said.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Prominent Milwaukee pediatrician identified as child sex offender in Boy Scout’s ‘perversion files’

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

Dr. Thomas Kowalski, a highly prominent Milwaukee physician who specializes in pediatrics, neonatal, and adolescent medicine and who worked as a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for over 35 years has been identified as a child sex offender in secret files maintained by the Boy Scouts of America as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Kowalski, who was a volunteer camp doctor for the Milwaukee County Council of Boy Scouts, identifies himself in his online professional profile as “semi-retired” but “looking for part time or consulting work” with children and adolescents.

Kowalski’s Boy Scout file was obtained by the Times in a court ordered release of 1,600 secret documents maintained in what Boy Scout officials dubbed the “Perversion Files”. The files detail hundreds of child sexual assaults known by scouting officials but kept from the public and often the police.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Washington Post

By Tim Townsend| Religion News Service, Updated: Monday, September 17

ST. LOUIS — In the middle of the 16th century, Catholic bishops and theologians met sporadically in the city of Trento in northern Italy to discuss the church’s response to the Reformation. Over the course of 18 years, the Council of Trent produced documents correcting abuses like indulgences and other corruption.

In 1564, the council ordered that some naked figures in Michelangelo’s massive “Last Judgment” fresco in the Sistine Chapel be covered up as a result of the council’s dictate that “all lasciviousness be avoided; in such wise that figures shall not be painted or adorned with a beauty exciting to lust.”

It will be difficult for critics to compare Michelangelo’s nudes with the ones photographed by the Rev. John Blair. Just after the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri launched an investigation of the St. Louis priest, many of his photos of nude models were removed from the Internet.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WPVI

PHILADELPHIA – September 17, 2012 (WPVI) — A Philadelphia priest who was cleared of sexual abuse allegations has been placed on leave because of new allegations.

The Reverend Michael Chapman, 56, is the pastor of Ascension of Our Lord Parish.

He was first accused of abuse back in March, 2011.

The Archdiocese cleared him of any wrongdoing this past May and deemed him suitable to return to his post.

But, before Chapman returned, the Archdiocese said it received several allegations of sexual abuse of minors, which allegedly occurred 30 years ago.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New Jersey Herald

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Roman Catholic church officials in Philadelphia have suspended another priest due to allegations of sexual abuse.

According to the archdiocese, the accusations involve minors and date back about 30 years. Officials say the claims first surfaced last spring.

The Associated Press is not naming the 56-year-old priest because he has not been criminally charged. He could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Church officials say the priest was first placed on leave in March 2011 for allegedly violating standards of ministerial behavior and boundaries.

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UNITED STATES
The Church of England Newspaper

Posted by George Conger on Monday, September 17th, 2012

A Missouri state court has found Bishop Robert Finn of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph guilty of failing to report suspected child abuse. The 7 September 2012 conviction of Bishop Finn makes him the most senior U.S. Catholic cleric convicted in that church’s clergy sex abuse scandal.

After pleading no contest to the charges and declining to exercise his right to a trial by jury, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John Torrence placed Bishop Finn on probation, ordered him to ensure the diocesan staff implements an effective child abuse prevention programme, and create a fund to pay for the counselling of abuse victims.

Last week’s ruling follows the August conviction by a Philadelphia court of the secretary of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Msgr. William Lynn, who was sentenced to six years imprisonment for covering up child sex abuse by Philadelphia priests.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

By WJAC Web Staff and The Associated Press

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. —

The state attorney general may take over the investigation of a local priest who was suspended last month amid allegations of sexual abuse from more than 30 years ago.

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown last month suspended the Rev. George Koharchik, who had been pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Mount Union.

Koharchik is not permitted to function as a priest and won’t have contact with children while he is on leave.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., has placed Reverend Michael Chapman on administrative leave following allegations of sexual abuse of minors. Father Chapman, Pastor of Ascension of Our Lord Parish in Philadelphia, was originally placed on leave in March 2011 for an alleged violation of The Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries.

After investigation of the alleged Standards violation by the Multi-Disciplinary Team, and evaluation by the Archdiocesan Review Board, Archbishop Chaput found Father Chapman suitable for ministry in May 2012. As part of the Honesty, Healing and Hope in Christ parish restoration initiative, the Office for Child and Youth protection was working with the parish to prepare for his return. Before Father Chapman’s return, the Archdiocese received allegations of sexual abuse of minors against Father Chapman in May 2012. The abuse reportedly occurred approximately thirty years ago. The Archdiocese immediately reported the new allegations to law enforcement and delayed Father Chapman’s return to the parish. Since the allegations were received, Father Chapman has not been exercising his ministry publicly or residing at an Archdiocesan parish. After an initial investigation by the Archdiocesan Office for Investigations, the Archbishop placed Father Chapman on administrative leave.

An announcement was made at Ascension of Our Lord Parish this past weekend and counselors were available.

Father Chapman is 56 years old. He was ordained in 1982. He served at the following parishes, schools, and offices: Saint Bonaventure, Philadelphia (1982-1986); Little Flower High School(1983-1985); Saint Agnes, West Chester (1986-1990); Saint Henry, Philadelphia (1990-1991); Priest Vocation Coordinator for the Hispanic Apostolate (1990-1994); Hispanic MinistryCoordinator for Montgomery County (1991-1992); Saint Veronica, Philadelphia (1994-1999); Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul (1999-2001); Ascension of Our Lord, Philadelphia (2001-2011); placed on administrative leave (2011).

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Mercury

By Mercury staff
Posted: 09/17/12

A Philadelphia area priest who had recently been OK’d to return to ministry is being kept on administrative leave after new allegations emerged against him.

According to a press release from the Philadelphia Archdiocese, Rev. Michael Chapman, who had been previously accused of violation of the church’s standards, had been cleared in May and was expected to return to ministry when the archdiocese was made aware of allegations that Chapman sexually abused minors about 30 years ago. Chapman was immediately placed on administrative leave until the allegations were investigated. Chapman was serving as pastor at Ascension of Our Lord Parish in Philadelphia when the initial claims were made against him ov violating the Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries in March of 2011.

“Since the allegations were received, Father Chapman has not been exercising his ministry publicly or residing at an Archdiocesan parish. After an initial investigation by the Archdiocesan Office for Investigations, the Archbishop placed Father Chapman on administrative leave,” read a press release from the archdiocese that also said the claims were reported to law enforcement.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Monday said it had suspended a former Northeast Philadelphia pastor to investigate new claims of misconduct involving minors, three months after church officials publicly cleared the priest of a similar allegation.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput declared the priest, the Rev. Michael Chapman, suitable in May to return to active ministry. Chapman, 56, was preparing to resume his priestly duties when the archdiocese received a new accusation that Chapman had abused a minor approximately 30 years ago, the archdiocese announced.

Church officials immediately turned over the accusation to law enforcement and halted Chapman’s return, according to Donna Farrell, a spokeswoman for the archbishop.

“Father Chapman had never actually returned to active public ministry, did not have access to children and was not residing in a parish at any time since the May 4th announcement,” Farrell said.

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UNITED STATES
What They Knew: An Archive of Jesuit Accountability – Clergy Sexual Abuse in the Society of Jesus

[with documents]

In September 2001, then Bishop Raymond Burke of the Diocese of La Crosse Wisconsin was shopping for a retreat master. He asked around and then remembered hearing a name from his good Jesuit friend John Hardon SJ (Burke later goes on to nominate Hardon for sainthood). The name he came across was Donald McGuire SJ of the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus. He writes to McGuire, and McGuire accepts his invitation.

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OREGON
Statesman Journal

Written by
Emily Gillespie
Statesman Journal

The priest of a Catholic church in Woodburn who is accused of sexually touching a 12-year-old Salem boy is expected to enter a plea this morning.

Angel Armando Perez, 46, faces charges of first-degree sex abuse, using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct, four counts of delivering alcohol to a minor, tampering with evidence and driving under the influence of intoxicants.

The boy reported that he had spent the night on an air mattress at Perez’s house and awoke to the Perez touching his genitals and taking pictures with his cell phone, court record states.

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UNITED STATES
Las Vegas Review-Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted: Sep. 17, 2012

LOS ANGELES – The Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of suspected child sex abusers to authorities and often helped cover up the accusations over two decades, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

In a review of 1,600 of the organization’s confidential “perversion” files dating from 1970 to 1991, the newspaper found that Scout leaders helped suspected molesters push the allegations under the rug in about 400 instances.

The Scouts have fought to keep the files confidential, but they emerged as part of a lawsuit against the organization, the Times said.

The files date to 1919 and were kept as a type of “blacklist” of people unfit to serve in the organization.

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UNITED STATES
USA Today

Over a 20-year period, the Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and even helped many to cover their tracks, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The newspaper says its extensive review of 1,600 confidential “perversion files” from 1970 to 1991 found that BSA officials frequently allowed suspected molesters to leave the organization for bogus reasons like business demands or “chronic brain dysfunction.”

Times reporters Kim Christensen and Jason Felch write that while the Boy Scouts has kept a blacklist of alleged molesters since 1919, it often didn’t work, as men would slip back into the program and face new accusations.

The newspaper, which broke earlier aspects of the story in August, examined more than 500 cases in which the Scouts had heard of alleged abuse through tips from parents or staff members.

DOCUMENTS: A paper trail of abuse

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KMBZ

A small group of supporters and opponents of Bishop Robert Finn were at Kansas City’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception yesterday. Finn was recently found guilty of failure to report suspected child abuse connected to the Shawn Ratigan case. Kristine Ward, chair of the National Survivor Advocates Coalition organized the event.

She says the diocese is sending the wrong message. “The highest values that are being taught now from the Bishop’s chair are to protect the reputation of the church, save the bishop from embarrassment and if you happen to get caught to give a luke-warm milk-toast apology,” says Ward. But one Finn supporter told KMBZ, the bishop has been unfairly singled out.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
San Antonio Express-News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A national Catholic organization is pushing for Bishop Robert Finn to resign after he became the highest-ranking U.S. church official convicted of a crime related to the child sexual abuse scandal.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/Nxevak ) reported that the National Survivor Advocates Coalition made the demand during a news conference Sunday in downtown Kansas City. Coalition chairwoman Kristine Ward says a criminally convicted bishop “cannot lead.”

Finn leads the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. He was convicted earlier this month of one misdemeanor for failing to report child abuse suspicions.

The charges stem from a case in which church officials knew about child porn photos on a priest’s computer but didn’t turn him in until six months later.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WFMJ

Posted: Sep 17, 2012

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) – The state attorney general may take over the investigation of a central Pennsylvania priest who was suspended last month amid allegations of sexual abuse involving children several decades ago.

The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown (http://bit.ly/V3DN0q ) reports Monday that may happen because four alleged victims have now come forward, including one outside Cambria County, where the district attorney is now investigating the claims of 3 other alleged male victims.

The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown last month suspended the Rev. George Koharchik, who had been pastor of Saint Catherine of Siena Parish in Mount Union. He’s not permitted to function as a priest and won’t have contact with children while he is on leave.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office today released the following communique.

“Giuseppe della Torre, president of the Tribunal of Vatican City State, today issued a decree ruling that the first hearing of the trial of Paolo Gabriele and Claudio Sciarpelletti, will take place at 9.30 a.m. on 29 September. The two accused were sent for trial by the examining magistrate on 13 August. The hearing will take place in the audience hall of the Tribunal of Vatican City State. The parties concerned have been notified of the decree”.

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VATICAN CITY
CNBC

Published: Monday, 17 Sep 2012

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The trial of Pope Benedict’s former butler on charges of aggravated theft in the so-called “Vatileaks” scandal will start on September 29, the Vatican said on Monday.

Paolo Gabriele will be tried alongside Claudio Sciarpelletti, a Vatican computer expert, in a case which involved the leaking of sensitive documents alleging corruption in the Vatican.

Gabriele, who helped the pontiff dress, served him his meals and rode in the front seat of the popemobile at general audiences, is accused of taking letters from Benedict’s desk and leaking them to reporters.

The episode, which has been highly embarrassing for the Vatican, exposed what some saw as a power struggle among some cardinals in the Vatican.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Gloucester Times

By Tom Dalton Staff Writer

A decade ago, as the priest sex abuse scandal rocked the Archdiocese of Boston, media reports appeared about a small group of lay Catholics meeting in the basement of a Wellesley church to share the hurt and anger they felt over the church leadership’s handling of the crisis.

Miles away in Topsfield, Vince and Jolene Guerra heard the news and knew they had to do something.

So they jumped in their car and made the nearly hourlong drive to St. John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley, where they were moved by gut-wrenching accounts of abuse and by the heartfelt, thought-provoking dialogue with other Catholics. It was a trip they made many times.

It was also a heady time. Media flocked to the meetings. The national press came.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune reporter

9:10 p.m. CDT, September 16, 2012

A group of Chicago-area Roman Catholics dedicated to reforming its church is asking parishioners which leader they would like to see at the helm of the Chicago Archdiocese once Cardinal Francis George retires.

Members of Voice of the Faithful, an organization of progressive Catholics focused on church accountability, have set up two websites to solicit suggestions from people in the pews.

Activists said the unprecedented undertaking fulfills centuries-old canon law that calls on the faithful to communicate their needs and weigh in on major decisions.

“The average layman does not realize his duty according to canon law to make needs known when it comes to selecting bishops,” said Mary Jean Cardwell, a parishioner at Sts. Faith, Hope and Charity Catholic Church in Winnetka and one of the initiative’s organizers. “Who knows better the needs of the community than I do? I’ve lived here for 43 years. … So many things have been done by our current cardinal, but there are things that have been left undone. It’s a very important endeavor that we’re doing.”

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CANADA
Salem-News

Kevin Annett Salem-News.com
(Affiliated with The International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State)

Learn more: www.hiddenfromhistory.org

(SASKATCHEWAN) – Hello and welcome. My name is Kevin Annett Eagle Strong Voice and I am speaking to you today on behalf of the Council of Elders of the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State: a multinational coalition of over fifteen organizations in seven countries.

Under the authority of that Tribunal as well as Common Law and the Natural Land Law Jurisdiction of Sovereign Nations, I declare that as of this day, Saturday, September 15, 2012, a Public International Court of Justice is hereby convened to consider evidence related to charges of crimes against humanity and criminal conspiracy by institutions of church and state, and their fiduciary officers.

The crimes that will be documented and judged in our Court are abominable and almost unimaginable. They span centuries, and range from outright murder to systematic torture, rape, slave labor, germ warfare, medical experimentation, drug testing, involuntary sterilizations, child trafficking, genocide and wars of extermination against peaceful nations. These crimes are all the more heinous by the fact that they were often aimed at children and occured not randomly by isolated individuals, but historically, systematically, deliberately, and officially, by express command of heads of church and state according to their laws and customs – and by the fact that many of these crimes carry on today against the innocent at the hands of the same authorizing institutions and heads of state.

The enormity of these crimes requires a new approach. For this Court is a unique experiment, in that under existing international law, institutions cannot be brought to trial or account for genocidal or criminal actions, despite the fact that these crimes arise from and are caused by such institutions. There has consequently been no legal recourse for millions of people whose cultures and lives have been destroyed by the deliberate plans and actions of institutions of church and state, such as in the case of the conquest of entire continents of non-Christian people by European kingdoms operating under the sanction of so-called papal laws.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Kathy Mellott kmellott@tribdem.com

— The number of people who say they were sexually molested by a priest in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is growing, and indications as of late last week are that the investigation and any criminal prosecution of the Rev. George Koharchik may be handled by the office of the state attorney general.

As of Friday, four men had stepped forward to say they were molested by Koharchik, some as long ago as three decades ago, when they were young boys.

On Aug. 24, the diocese announced that Koharchik, 63, a Windber native who was raised in Johnstown, had been placed on leave from active ministry in the priesthood by church leader Bishop Mark Bartchak.

Information regarding the allegations, minus the names of the victims, was turned over to the Cambria County District Attorney’s Office for investigation last month.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By KAREN DILLON
The Kansas City Star

Members of a national Catholic organization on Sunday demanded the resignation of Bishop Robert W. Finn, who was convicted this month of failing to report child sexual abuse.

The National Survivor Advocates Coalition, which has its headquarters in Dayton, Ohio, held a news conference at Barney Allis Plaza in downtown Kansas City — in the shadow of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception — to make its demand.

“A criminally convicted bishop cannot lead. Bishop Finn must resign or be removed by Pope Benedict,” said coalition chairwoman Kristine Ward. “Every hour he remains bishop revictimizes survivors and their families.”

Finn, who is head of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, is the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic cleric to be convicted in the church’s decades-long child sexual abuse scandal.

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AUSTRALIA
Adelaide Now

HUNDREDS of people have gathered in Newcastle to call for a royal commission into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

Almost 400 people attended the public forum at the Newcastle Panthers club on Sunday, in which people shared their experiences of abuse within the Catholic Church and other organisations.

“We filled the auditorium. We couldn’t have fitted any more,” NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge told AAP.

He said there was a unanimous call for a royal commission to investigate cases of abuse and look at offences which were covered up.

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WASHINGTON
Patch

By Jeanne Gustafson

September 16, 2012

Timothy L. Dampier pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple charges of rape of a child and child molestation for sexually abusing boys when he was involved in church and youth organizations, the King County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Dampier, 39, pleaded guilty to a total of 22 counts involving ten victims between the ages of nine and 17. The charges include Rape of a Child (First and Second Degree), Child Molestation (First, Second and Third Degree), Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Possession of Child Pornography, and Communication with a Minor for Immoral Purposes.

Dampier was arrested last year and charged with a number of crimes against minor boys, after being questioned at his job at the Boys & Girls Club. The investigation was launched after one of the victims, now 21 years old, went to the minister of a Seattle church and told him that Dampier had abused him. The victim had heard that Dampier was hired as a musician by that church and told the minister he was concerned about the safety of other children. The minister notified Seattle Police of the man’s report.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

BY: Lou Michel

The mother of a 6-year-old girl molested by an elder at a West Side church calls the crime more than just a criminal act.

It was a breach of trust in a spiritual setting.

Abel Poloche gained the confidence of her and other church members, the mother said, in part because he once worked as a doctor in Venezuela and conducted himself in a caring manner at the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Vermont Street, especially when working with the children.

Poloche, 61, was sentenced earlier this summer in Erie County Court to six months in jail after pleading guilty to felony attempted sexual abuse of the girl in a computer room at the church as she sat on his lap.

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UNITED STATES
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

[Boy Scouts helped alleged molesters cover tracks, files show – Los Angeles Times]

Boy Scouts of America covered up HUNDREDS of child sex abuse cases and let molesters slip away, according to secret ‘perversion files’

By Snejana Farberov

Over the course of about two decades, the Boys Scouts of America (BSA) has failed to report hundreds of cases of child sex abuse involving counselors and officials, according to the organization’s confidential internal files.

An explosive expose by the Los Angels Times based on 1,600 documents dating from 1971 to 1991 has revealed that Boy Scout officials would often urge admitted molesters to quietly resign and then hide the allegations from the victims’ parents.

Volunteers and employees linked to possible abuse were allowed to leave the organization citing such far-fetched excuses as ‘chronic brain dysfunction’ and duties at the Shakespeare festival. …

The records show that the teenage victim was counseled ‘with positive results’ by the Rev. Edmond C. Micarelli, the camp’s Catholic chaplain, who later ended up in the ‘perversion files’ himself after a man told officials that he and his bother were raped by the cleric as young boys.

In 2002, the Diocese of Providence paid $13.5million to 36 victims who sued Micarelli and 10 other priests over sexual abuse going back to at least 1975.

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UNITED STATES
The Imperfect Parent

September 17th, 2012 by Ella Desrosiers

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the Boy Scouts of America’s confidential internal files revealed that the organization failed to report hundreds of child sex abuse cases to authorities over a period of twenty years.

The Los Angeles Times obtained over 1,600 of the scouting organization’s documents dating from 1971-1991. In those documents, BSA officials urged admitted child molesters to quietly resign and helped to cover their tracks with the parents and community.

Many that resigned cited unusual reasons for leaving the organization, such as “chronic brain dysfunction” and duties at a Shakespeare festival. …

The records do, however, say that the boy was then counseled by the Rev. Edmond C. Micarelli, the camp’s Catholic chaplain, with “positive results.” Unfortunately, Micarelli himself ended up in the “perversion files” after a different man told officials that he and his brother were raped by Micarelli when they were young boys.

In 2002, 36 victims sued Micarelli and 10 other priests over sexual abuse dating as far back as 1975, resulting in a judgment against the Diocese of Providence for $13.5 million.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

Almost 400 people have gathered at a public forum in Newcastle to support calls for a royal commission into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Hundreds of people have gathered in Newcastle to call for a royal commission into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

Almost 400 people attended the public forum at the Newcastle Panthers club on Sunday, in which people shared their experiences of abuse within the Catholic Church and other organisations.

“We filled the auditorium. We couldn’t have fitted any more,” NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge told AAP.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

At a rally in Newcastle more than 300 people have supported calls for a Royal Commission into the Catholic Church’s handling of clergy abuse.

The rally at Newcastle Panthers club heard from abuse victims and their families, Greens MP David Shoebridge, Independent Lake Macquarie MP Greg Piper and President of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Andrew Morrison.

The meeting heard how clergy abuse over the decades has lead to suicides, alcohol and drug abuse, divorce and shattered relationships.

So far Premier Barry O’Farrell has refused to support calls for a Royal Commission, saying it would hinder police investigations.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Caroline Crawford

Monday September 17 2012

A CATHOLIC bishop who described paedophilia as “a friendship that had crossed a boundary line” has apologised for his remarks.

In a special message read at Masses throughout the Clonfert diocese yesterday, Bishop John Kirby said he had never intended to minimise the gravity of the crime and apologised especially to survivors of child abuse.

Despite his apology, the bishop at no stage said he was considering his position.

Instead, he claimed that his comments had been taken out of context.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Loyolan

Posted: Monday, September 17, 2012 1:00 am

Zaneta Pereira, News Editor

Posted on September 17, 2012

The latest alleged sexual abuse scandal committed by a member of the Roman Catholic clergy hits close to home for LMU as the accused Jesuit, Brother William Farrington, S.J., spent 15 years on the University’s campus from 1987 until his retirement in 2002.

The allegations against Farrington were brought to light last Tuesday, Sept. 11, via a letter sent out to hundreds of graduates of San Jose’s Bellarmine College Preparatory, where Farrington worked as a dormitory supervisor and a coach for the swim and dive teams. In the letter, a man who attended the Catholic high school in the 1960s came forward with the accusation that he had been sexually molested on campus by Farrington, according to the Sept. 13 Mercury News article, “Bellarmine abuse controversy still has plenty of questions remaining.” The man also urged anyone who “might have been victimized by Farrington in the mid-1960s to 1970s to come forward,” according to the same article.

The accuser’s letter was supported by an email sent from Bellarmine Prep’s president, Fr. Paul G. Sheridan, S.J, who called the claims of abuse “credible.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KSHB

[with video]

By: Lisa Benson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A national survivor’s group is calling for Bishop Robert Finn to resign from the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph. The group believes Finn’s criminal conviction leaves him unfit to lead diocese.

Kristine Ward is the chair of the National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC). She and a group of demonstrators met at Barney Allis Plaza to lay out their demand and march to the the Kansas City – St. Joseph diocese.

Ward called for Catholics to send a message with their feet and their wallets.

“We are asking them to not give their money in collection baskets until Bishop Finn resigns,” Ward said. “Put it in escrow or give it directly to survivor organizations.”

NSAC supporters met Finn supporters in front of the diocese offices. Finn supporters, like Tessa Hatler, want Finn to stay.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated September 16, 2012

There was a Walk the Talk to make Bishop Finn resign today in Kansas City, see news updates below. We will see how they will succeed like us Bostonians who ousted Cardinal Bernard Law to leave Boston forever, out of sight and out of our land. The problem of course is how, the last Tsar of the Vatican, Benedict XVI will try to protect his live Achilles Heel Bishop Finn, just like John Paul II protected his Achilles Heel Cardinal Bernard Law.

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CHILE
La Segunda

Agrupación religiosa responde a críticas del defensor de O’Reilly y da respaldo a psicóloga

Una extensa y dura respuesta emitió la entidad religiosa «Sacerdocio bajo la Ley de JesusCristo» al abogado Luis Hermosilla , quien representa al sacerdote legionario John O’Reilly, acusado de abusar sexualmente contra una menor del Colegio Cumbres.

El jurista aseguró durante una audiencia realizada el 5 de septiembre pasado que la psicóloga Ana Eugenia Chevarría -quien realizó el informe que establece los supuestos abusos- es integrante de una “secta” en cuyo sitio web se menciona el caso de Marcial Maciel, fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo, insinuando que la mujer podría estar actuando bajo mandatos espirituales para “investigar las actividades de la Iglesia Católica y en particular de Los Legionarios de Cristo”.

A través de una declaración publicada en ese mismo sitio de internet, la agrupación sostiene que “nunca hemos atacado a personas, y si las hemos nombrado ha sido porque efectivamente tienen que ver con el tema tratado. Y en particular, nunca hemos hecho ‘campaña’ en contra de una persona o institución. Los legionarios no son una ocupación en nuestro hacer”.

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UNITED STATES
Los Angeles Times

Since at least 1919, the Boy Scouts of Amer­ica has main­tained “in­eli­gible vo­lun­teer” files in­ten­ded to keep sexu­al ab­users, among oth­ers, out of its ranks. The re­cords have been closely held by the Scouts, which con­tends that con­fid­en­ti­al­ity is es­sen­tial to pro­tect vic­tims, wit­nesses and any­one falsely ac­cused.

The Times re­viewed about 1,600 of the files dat­ing from 1970 to 1991. In hun­dreds of cases, sexu­al ab­use was not re­por­ted to law en­force­ment, and Scout of­fi­cials at times act­ively hid it from par­ents and the pub­lic. In at least 50 cases, the Boy Scouts ex­pelled men for al­leged sexu­al ab­use, only to dis­cov­er later that they had reentered the Scouts and were again ac­cused of mo­lest­ing.

Here are files from some of those cases. The Times has re­dac­ted vic­tims’ names and oth­er identi­fy­ing in­form­a­tion. Some files in­clude ex­pli­cit ac­counts of sexu­al ab­use. …

Edmond C. Micarelli

[document]

Sept. 14, 2012
A long­time Scouts chap­lain and Cath­ol­ic priest, Mi­carelli was ac­cused in 1990 of rap­ing two broth­ers years earli­er. No charges were filed, but Mi­carelli later was one of a dozen de­fend­ants in a law­suit that in 2002 ended in a $13.5 mil­lion set­tle­ment by the Dio­cese of Provid­ence with 36 ab­use vic­tims.

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UNITED STATES
Los Angeles Times

When volunteers and employees were suspected of sexually abusing children, Boy Scout officials often didn’t tell police, files from 1970-91 reveal. In many cases they sought to hide the situation.

By Kim Christensen and Jason Felch, Los Angeles Times

September 16, 2012

Over two decades, the Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.

A Los Angeles Times review of 1,600 confidential files dating from 1970 to 1991 has found that Scouting officials frequently urged admitted offenders to quietly resign — and helped many cover their tracks.

Volunteers and employees suspected of abuse were allowed to leave citing bogus reasons such as business demands, “chronic brain dysfunction” and duties at a Shakespeare festival.

Documents: A paper trail of abuse

The details are contained in the organization’s confidential “perversion files,” a blacklist of alleged molesters, that the Scouts have used internally since 1919. Scouts’ lawyers around the country have been fighting in court to keep the files from public view.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Somerset County Gazette

7:00pm Sunday 16th September 2012 in News By Phil Hill

THE victim of a paedophile Anglican priest believes his human rights have been taken away by a court ruling.

He is angry the Rev Geoffrey Cooke at some stage could appeal to have his name taken off the Sex Offenders’ Register.

It follows a Supreme Court decision that placing offenders on the list for life breaches their rights.

The victim, now in his 40s, who cannot be named, said: “His human rights? What about mine?

“He took my human rights away when he abused me, so it gave me fulfilment when he was jailed and put on the register.

“Now it feels like he’s getting his human rights back and mine are being taken away again.

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NEDERLAND
Parochie Hielige Drie-eenheid Veldhoven

Geachte parochianen,

Het bestuur van de parochie is net zoals u, waarschijnlijk overvallen met de berichtgevingen de krant van vrijdag 31 augustus 2012 over de situatie met betrekking tot pastoor Donders.

Er zijn kennelijk belastende foto’s gevonden op een computer.

Wij respecteren het lopende justitiële onderzoek en wachten de resultaten af.

Wij hechten eraan te melden dat het bestuur op geen enkele manier op de hoogte was van dit onderzoek. Wij gaan na wat de rol van het Bisdom in deze is geweest. Het Bisdom heeft besloten om pastoor Donders officieel op non actief te stellen.

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NEDERLAND
Omroep Brabant

Auteur: Ronnie Vermonden

VELDHOVEN – ‘Wat een overdreven heisa’ en ‘ik heb moeite medeleven te hebben met de pastoor’. Parochianen van de Lambertusparochie in Veldhoven reageerden verdeeld op de commotie over hun pastoor Dominique Donders. Vrijdag kwam de pastoor in het nieuws nadat bekend werd dat er kinderporno op zijn computer was gevonden.

Na de viering zaterdagavond gaf het parochiebestuur een verklaring over alle ophef. Ook het parochiebestuur bleek onaangenaam verrast door het politie-onderzoek naar de pastoor, die op non-actief is gesteld.

‘We maken allemaal fouten’
Het bestuur veroordeelt het hebben van kinderporno, maar vroeg ook om compassie. Volgens Hans Uyl van het parochiebestuur ‘zijn we allemaal mensen met fouten’. “Als de pastoor berouw toont, schenkt God hem vergiffenis. Laten wij dus ook voor hem bidden.”

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NEDERLAND
Omroep Brabant

Auteur: Bert van Doorn

VELDHOVEN – Pastoor Dominique Donders (50) uit Veldhoven, die op non-actief is gezet omdat bij hem kinderporno is aangetroffen, heeft spijt van zijn acties. Dat meldde hij in een persoonlijke brief die zondag op zijn verzoek is voorgelezen in drie parochiekerken. Hij zegt ‘vooral ontzettende spijt heeft van de eventuele zorgen die jonge ouders in onze parochie hebben over hun kinderen’.

De brief is voorgelezen in de parochiekerken Caecilia, Lambertus en St. Jan de Doper. Het bisdom heeft Donders na de vondst van de kinderporno op non-actief gesteld.

Alleen meerderjarige modellen gedownload
Donders heeft in april ongeveer honderd foto’s van ongeveer tien jonge vrouwen gedownload en op zijn computer gezet. Het zou gaat om foto’s van meerderjarige modellen die geen seksuele handelingen zouden verrichten.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KMBZ

Today victims and survivors from the National Survivor Advocates Coalition will descend upon Kansas City seeking the resignation of the Bishop Robert Finn. Theresa Torres is a religious studies professor at UMKC. She told our news partners at Channel 9 that Finn isn’t likely to be removed from his post by the Diocese. “It would be very surprising if he was asked to resign,” Torres said. “The pope hasn’t done that in any case so far in which there have been questions.” Two weeks ago Finn was found guilty of failure to report suspicion of child abuse.

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IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

A Catholic Bishop who said he used to think paedophilia was friendship gone too far has apologised.

Bishop of Clonfert John Kirby made the remarks after a church child abuse watchdog revealed he moved two priests from parish-to-parish after allegations were made against them.

In a public letter sent to 24 parishes in east Galway and parts of Roscommon and Offaly, the Bishop admitted he had made a mistake over the transfers and the subsequent paedophilia reference.

“I may have given the general impression that I was somehow minimising the gravity of the criminal activity which we know to be child sexual abuse,” he said.

“This was never my intention and I wish to apologise, especially to all survivors, on this point.

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IRELAND
RTE News

A Co Galway-based Catholic Bishop who moved two priests who abused children to different parishes in the 1990s has apologised for appearing to minimise the gravity of their crimes.

In a weekend message to the diocese of Clonfert, Bishop John Kirby said that it was never his intention to do so in a recent media interview.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s News at One on 5 September, Bishop Kirby said his understanding of paedophilia in the mid-1990s was that it was “a friendship that had gone astray or wrong”.

In a message, published today, the Bishop says that, unfortunately, the words he used on air, when separated from their context, came across negatively.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

September 17, 2012

Barney Zwartz

Former teacher Graeme Sleeman lost his career, health and financial security when he took a stand against a sexually abusive priest in Doveton.

GRAEME Sleeman knew Peter Searson was trouble even before Searson arrived as parish priest of Doveton in 1984. Searson liked to dress in military fatigues, often carried a revolver, and had a bad reputation when it came to money – and sexually abusing children.

The two locked horns immediately when Sleeman, principal of the Holy Family school, told the priest he knew of his reputation and would be watching him, and Searson replied that as priest he was the boss. Their main battleground was bizarre: the sacred Catholic sacrament of confession, where Searson could get the children alone and unsupervised.

“I was concerned about his addiction to confession,” Sleeman recalls.

Peter Searson (bottom row, second from right) and Carmel Rafferty (top row, second from right).

“Sometimes he would get children to sit on his lap, or kneel between his legs.” Later he would help a church investigation into two sexual assaults during confession.

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AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

September 17, 2012

Barney Zwartz

THE Catholic Church’s leading investigator into sexual abuse paid $90,000 out of his own pocket to the former principal of a Catholic school whose career was ruined over his stand against a paedophile priest.

Peter O’Callaghan, QC, has agreed that he made the payments over several years, saying he did so out of compassion for the principal, who had suffered a mental breakdown.

The school involved, Holy Family in Doveton, had as parish priest or assistant priest six sexual abusers.

Mr O’Callaghan, the independent commissioner who examines allegations of abuse made under the Melbourne Archdiocese’s Melbourne Response, said it was the only time he had made such payments, despite having dealt with more than 330 abuse victims. ”It was a one-off. I never did it for anyone else. It was paid for no other reason than to give them [the principal and his wife] assistance,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Birmingham Mail

by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury
Sep 16 2012

POLICE have finally revealed details of their probe into detectives accused of collusion with the Catholic Church during a paedophile priest case.

Officers who dealt with the hunt for, and trial of, Father James Robinson have been cleared of misconduct by West Midlands Police’s Professional Standards Department.

Robinson was jailed for 21 years in October 2010 for subjecting six boys to decades of horrific abuse.

The evil priest – who worked at parishes across the West Midlands – fled to America in 1985 after a victim went to the police.

The paedophile was living in California in 2009 when he was extradited back to the UK to stand trial.

His victims have repeatedly claimed Robinson was protected by West Midlands Police detectives in the 1980s, saying that they helped him to flee the country.

They also claimed witness statements were destroyed and illicit information passed to the Archdiocese of Birmingham.

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NEDERLAND
Protestantse Kerk

10 september 2012
De ‘Beroepscode en gedragsregels voor predikanten en kerkelijk werkers’ zijn op de website van de Protestantse Kerk te raadplegen.

Pagina-inhoud
De tekst werd in november 2011 door de generale synode vastgesteld. Daaraan werd in april 2012 toegevoegd een ‘Handreiking voor predikanten en kerkelijk werkers voor het gebruik van sociale media’. De voorgestelde wijzigingen zijn nu allemaal verwerkt in één digitaal document (pdf), dat begin september op de website is geplaatst.

Beroepscode en gedragsregels
Het document bestaat uit drie gedeelten. In de beroepscode komen onder meer aan de orde: het leiding geven, pastoraal gedrag, aannemen van giften en de publieke rol van de predikant en de kerkelijk werker. In de gedragsregels gaat het onder meer over de predikant/kerkelijk werker als betrouwbaar persoon, als vertrouwenspersoon, als collega en als participant in allerlei verbanden binnen en buiten de kerk.

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NEDERLAND
Protestantse Kerk

1 Inleiding
Gedragsregels voor een predikant en kerkelijk werker zijn bedoeld om hen te helpen in
hun dienstwerk. Bij de opstelling van de regels is de formulering toegesneden op
gemeentepredikanten en op kerkelijk werkers met een opdracht in het pastoraat. Voor wie
op een ander terrein werkzaam is, zal niet elke regel letterlijk van toepassing zijn en zullen
instanties die worden genoemd (de kerkenraad b.v.) door een andere moeten worden vervangen.
De gedragsregels vloeien voort uit wat in de kerkorde over predikanten en kerkelijk werkers is geschreven en wat in de belofte die bij de aanvaarding van de ambtswerkzaamheden wordt
afgelegd, is vermeld. De kerkorde is zo de basis van de beroepscode. De beroepscode is een toegespitste beschrijving van het werk van een predikant of kerkelijk werker op grond van de kerkorde, waarin de kernmomenten van het dienstwerk en de daarmee gepaard gaande houding beschreven is. Hieronder wordt eerst deze code beschreven en daarna volgen de gedragsregels.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent

The Bishop of Clonfert John Kirby has apologised for describing instances of paedophila as “friendship that crossed a boundary line”.

In a “special message” read at Masses in the diocese over the weekend, he said: “I may have given the general impression that I was somehow minimising the gravity of the criminal activity which we know to be child sexual abuse. This was never my intention and I wish to apologise, especially to all survivors, on this point.”

He continued: “The fact is that I reported the allegations to the civil authorities in the 1990s within days of becoming aware of the issue because I knew that crimes may have been committed.

“What I failed to appreciate sufficiently at that time was the addictive and repetitive compulsion of sexual abuse. Unfortunately, my words last week, separated from their context, came across negatively. I am very sorry for any anxiety or embarrassment that I may have caused to people in Clonfert or throughout the country.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

The ex-Devon Prep teacher, suspected of sex assault in the 1990s, was working in the Philippines. He is now in supervised therapy.

By John P. Martin
Inquirer Staff Writer

The religious order that let one of its priests relocate to the Philippines after he allegedly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old Devon Prep student in the 1990s says it has removed him from active ministry, almost two decades after the attack.

The Rev. Theodore Podson relocated last month to a residential therapy center and “is being submitted to a carefully controlled supervision,” a Rome-based spokesman for the Piarists order said Friday.

The move came after The Inquirer reported that Podson, 64, was working as a priest and promoting himself as a teen mentor 20 years after officials at the Main Line boys school and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia concluded he had sexually abused a minor.

The order’s spokesman, Giorgi Pezza, declined to identify where Podson was transferred but said the setting includes “integral supervision” by superiors in his order.

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

September 16, 2012 by J-Wire Staff

A Melbourne journalist has spoken at a forum focusing on the topic “Airing our Dirty Laundry: Child Sexual Abuse in the Media”.

Last year, Melbourne broadsheet The Age’s Jewel Topsfield wrote a story naming community leader Manny Waks as an alleged victim of child sexual abuse at Melbourne’s Yeshivah College. The report gave a name and a face to the victims of the abuse, and was instrumental in enabling other victims to come forward with their stories.

Inevitably the coverage also ignited debate about the way the Jewish community handles child sexual abuse and about Manny’s decision to take his story to the media.

Recently, a capacity audience at Melbourne’s Shira Hadasha heard community leader and anti-child sexual abuse campaigner Manny Waks and The Age Education Editor Topsfield speak at a forum titled Airing Our Dirty Laundry: Child Sexual Abuse in the Media. Senior journalist and former Australian Jewish News Editor Ashley Browne facilitated the forum. Ashley opened the forum with a range of questions to both Waks and Topsfield and the forum was subsequently opened to the floor.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

AAP
September 16, 2012

HUNDREDS of people have gathered in Newcastle to call for a royal commission into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

Almost 400 people attended the public forum at the Newcastle Panthers club on Sunday, in which people shared their experiences of abuse within the Catholic Church and other organisations.

“We filled the auditorium. We couldn’t have fitted any more,” NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge told AAP.

He said there was a unanimous call for a royal commission to investigate cases of abuse and look at offences which were covered up.

Mr Shoebridge said a royal commission was necessary as it would tackle the “systemic failures” within the church, and other organisations, in a way criminal or civil proceedings could not.

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VENTNOR (NJ)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Amy S. Rosenberg
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

VENTNOR, N.J. – With a bid of $4.125 million, Steve and Ilene Berger of Newtown Square won Saturday’s auction of an historic oceanfront seashore villa owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that played host to decades of vacationing and elderly priests.

The Bergers said they plan to preserve the former St. Joseph’s Villa by the Sea as a family vacation compound for their children and grandchildren, retain longtime caretaker Fran McManus, and have the priests over for an annual party.

First off, a second story porch expansion, a total renovation – and a mezuzah, the ritual parchment placed on doorposts of Jewish homes.

“I feel very blessed to have this home,” said Ilene Berger, who blurted out an incremental $25,000 raise in the bid price to seal the deal for the property. “It’s a very spiritual house.”

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

September 16, 2012 11

Rachel Browne
Sun-Herald journalist

THE archdiocese of Sydney has produced 100,000 booklets stating the Catholic Church’s position on sexual abuse, which several victims said has added to their trauma.

The 16-page booklet, titled Sexual Abuse, has been distributed to parishes, Catholic agencies and schools.

About 38,000 booklets were given to children to take home from schools in the Sydney archdiocese.

The director of Catholic communications, Katrina Lee, said the booklet was overseen by the archdiocese’s Professional Standards Office and was released in response to claims made by the Greens NSW upper house MP David Shoebridge.

”There has been a lot of consistent misinformation about the issue, so we decided to pull all the information together in one booklet,” she said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

EDITORIAL

The sexual Abuse booklet distributed through Catholic schools by the Archdiocese of Sydney. Photo: David Porter

A man was jailed for a minimum of 33 years on Friday for the callous murder of an innocent couple in their home. He suffocated the husband and wife at the behest of the couple’s adopted son for the fee of $17,000, which would enable him to buy a motorcycle.

This was evil in the extreme, beyond comprehension. But in an attempt to make at least some sense of such heinous, dispassionate taking of life, Supreme Court judge Peter Hidden revealed that the murderer, from a supportive family with an ”unremarkable upbringing”, had at the age of 11 been sexually attacked by a Catholic priest. It was the second time the child had been sexually abused by a person in a position of trust and his ”loving, easy nature” (his mother’s description) was irretrievably lost.

Nobody will know whether the killer would have become capable of such evil had he not been abused, but it’s no great stretch to assume to be the victim of such horror at so early an age was hardly conducive to a balanced personality.

That wicked priest, like the Catholic Church, has a lot to answer for. The victims’ lives were taken, the perpetrators’ lives were ruined and families were shattered.

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BOSTON (MA)
National Catholic Reporter

Sep. 15, 2012
By Jerry Filteau

BOSTON – Some 450 members of Voice of the Faithful gathered in Boston yesterday (Sept. 14) to mark their 10th anniversary with a conference that featured new calls for deep structural reforms in the church, including election of bishops and ordination of women at least to the diaconate, if not to the priesthood and episcopacy as well.

“Your voice is uniquely American and it is uniquely Catholic,” said Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, keynote speaker at the opening dinner.

Burke, a former chairwoman of the all-lay National Review Board the bishops formed in 2002 to oversee its progress in combating clergy sexual abuse and promoting the protection of children, said the job of doing that is far from over.

“Without your voice, here in the United States everyone’s freedom as a Catholic would be even more threatened. Everyone’s liberty as a disciple would be more contained. We never needed you more,” she said.

“The formation of the Voice of the Faithful established a new American vocabulary for the truth,” she said.

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VENTNOR (NJ)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Amy S. Rosenberg
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

VENTNOR, N.J. _ A seashore villa owned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that played host to decades of vacationing and elderly priests will go to auction Saturday afternoon.

The winning bid will be subject to final approvals, but real estate and Archdiocese officials have indicated that the cash-strapped Church, led by a cost-cutting Archbishop Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, will be inclined to accept any reasonable bid to unload the historic and tradition-laden property known as St. Joseph’s Villa by the Sea. The property is assessed at $6.2 million.

The auction will be conducted at 1:15 p.m. by the Max Spann agency in the spacious brick-wall surrounded yard of Boardwalk property at 114 S. Princeton Ave. in Ventnor, in a yard that featured religious shrines at either end and a lily pond in the middle. It could easily be transformed into a backyard with a generous swimming pool in its new incarnation, or the property could be subdivided into six lots. Bidders have to present a certified check of $100,000 made out to themselves to register to bid.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

By Alys Francis, ninemsn

Legal sources believe prosecutors may have enough evidence to charge an Adelaide Catholic priest accused of raping Archbishop John Hepworth in the early 1960s.

Senator Nick Xenophon caused a scandal last September when he told Parliament that Ian Dempsey was accused of raping Archbishop John Hepworth, after the Catholic Church refused to suspend him.

Now legal sources have said they believe there is enough evidence to charge Father Dempsey with multiple counts of rape and indecent assault occurring in the 1960s, the Adelaide Advertiser reports.

Police are seeking the legal opinion of Director of Public Prosecutions Adam Kimber QC, after a 10-month investigation into the allegations.

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MISSOURI
St. Joseph News-Press

By Kim Norvell St. Joseph News-Press

The late Rev. Jerry J. Wegenek, a St. Joseph native and former priest in the area, has been named in a civil suit alleging he repeatedly abused a boy in 1966.

The civil suit was filed Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court on behalf of John Doe F.A., who is a 57-year-old man living in Florida. It names the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph as the defendant.

Rev. Wegenek died in February 2011 at age 73.

According to the civil petition, Rev. Wegenek allegedly sexually abused the victim when he was 11 years old at various locations, including church parking lots and in the rectory of either St. Gabriel or St. Patrick Parish in Kansas City, Mo., where he was assigned at the time of the abuse.

Court documents also allege the victim was raped by Rev. Wegenek at an area hotel. He was alleged to have taken the boy to the hotel during a church retreat.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By Michael O’Keeffe / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Friday, September 14, 2012, 9:04 PM

The judge overseeing the Poly Prep sexual-abuse lawsuit urged lawyers for the school and the men who say they were molested by football coach Phil Foglietta to reach a settlement at a hearing in Brooklyn federal court on Friday — and then gave them plenty of time to do so.

U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block, citing scheduling issues, said he won’t hold a hearing until Feb. 11 to determine if the school covered up decades of abuse by Foglietta, preventing the plaintiffs from filing a case before the statute of limitations expired. New York state law requires survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file a case by the time they are 23 years old.

Block ruled last month that portions of the explosive lawsuit filed on behalf of 10 students and two day campers can proceed. Lawyers for the elite private school, which charges up to $36,000 a year for tuition, had argued that the case should be dismissed because the statute of limitations had long expired. But Block’s 40-page ruling said that argument may not be relevant because administrators may have lied about when they first learned that Foglietta, who died in 1998, was a sexual predator.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

The time has arrived for a royal commission to expose the gross abuse of power within the Catholic Church , writes JOANNE McCARTHY.

IT is the list that underscores a tragedy, a roll call of shame with crimes against children at its heart.

It is the genesis of decades of suffering, the silent wrecking ball in our community behind too many broken families, too many lost and shattered lives and too much pain.

It is the list the Catholic church tries to deny, minimise, consign to the past and dispatch as ‘‘ancient history’’, the ugly truth so cruelly dismissed by Australian Bishop Anthony Fisher in 2008 as people ‘‘dwelling crankily on old wounds’’.

It is a list reflecting the church’s offences against children in the Hunter and Central Coast regions since the early 1950s.

Some people are named, others can’t be for legal reasons. Some are dead but are included because documents and court decisions leave little or no doubt about offenders, or knowledge of offenders.

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CHILE
Cooperativa

El ex feligrés de la parroquia de El Bosque Rafael Zanetta acusó de “abusos de poder” y “manipulación de conciencia” del ex párroco de la Iglesia y fiel seguidor de Fernando Karadima, Juan Esteban Morales.

Zanetta, de 25 años, estuvo 10 años en un “sometimiento espiritual”, como denuncia, en la Iglesia enlodada por los abusos sexuales cometidos por el sacerdote Karadima, quien para cometer esos delitos abusó de la confianza de jóvenes que se acercaban a él pensando que era un santo.

Entre los que se acercaron a Karadima está Juan Esteban Morales quien, a juicio de Zanetta cometió “manipulación de concienci

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Today, I spent lunch with my friend and Theater of the Word actor Dave Treadway of Steward Media and I was on a tear, complaining about many things, especially this. “Dave,” I said, “I used to think the liberals in the Church caused all the trouble, until I met the conservatives in the Church. Now I’m getting used to rampant hypocrisy on both sides of the spectrum, from left to right – Catholics who are as bad as I am and worse, regardless of the number of devotions or novenas they pray. I am hurt by, but used to, leftist Catholics who ignore Church teaching and right-wing Catholics who despise the Catechism. I am used to, but hurt by, bad liberal bishops and bad conservative bishops. I am used to, but hurt by, my own infernal sinfulness, which keeps rearing its ugly head again and again.

“But what really bothers me at a fundamental level is how many conservative Catholics there are who are making excuses for rape and child abuse.”

***

To wit (from comboxes, blogs or other published material of the past two weeks) …

In cases where priests molest children, Fr. Benedict Groeschel stated in an interview published in the National Catholic Register, “A lot of the cases, the youngster – 14, 16, 18 – is the seducer.”

As a response to this comment, I posted what I thought was a simple explanation of What Rape Is , pointing out that a 14-year-old, for example, while he or she can act seductively toward an adult, can in no way seduce an adult; pointing out that statutory rape is indeed “rape”, since a minor does not have the capacity to consent to a sex act; and after I did so, the dam burst in little trickles, including a Facebook friend who asserted, “Statutory rape is a legal fiction.” How little I suspected then that this is the attitude of many, if not most, Catholics.

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JOLIET (IL)
Southtown Star

BY BOB OKON

The Diocese of Joliet is not denying that the Rev. F. Lee Ryan had inappropriate sexual relations with a minor.

But Ryan is being returned to the ministry based the Vatican’s interpretation of an obscure tenet of canon law that suggests such conduct can be tolerated if the victim was at least 16.

Except the victim says he was 14 at the time.

And he’s baffled by a decision implying that his age at the time made all the difference.

“I can only tell you that’s what they tell me, but I don’t know what that means,” said the victim, who does not want his identity revealed. “I don’t know canon law from anything. But it seems to me ludicrous and out of sync with what happened.”

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UNITED STATES
Anti-Catholic League

By David Fortwengler

Last basketball season the spectacular play of previously unheralded New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin inspired one of the most popular terms in sports journalism today, “Linsanity.” My shameless efforts to steal from popular culture have finnspired me to use this simple technique to comment on the current scandal in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City led by Bishop Robert Finn.

Finnsanity Begins with Lost Finncome

In 2008 the Kansas City Diocese settled a civil lawsuit brought by 47 plaintiffs who were sexually abused by Kansas City priests. Finn authorized a 10 million dollar settlement and agreed to several non-monetary provisions. Most important to the victims, he promised his “top priority” would be to protect children with rigorous new policies, vigilence, and reform. Would 10 million reasons to do the right thing be enough for a Catholic Bishop to protect kids?

First Finncedent with Ratigan

Shawn Ratigan was ordained a priest in 2004 and there are unconfirmed reports of early complaints about his behavior around minors. The first finndisputed evidence of Ratigan’s finnappropriate behavior around children occurred in May 2010 when Julie Hess, principal of the school at the parish where Ratigan was assigned, was so concerned she notified the diocese in writing.

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CANADA
Global News

Roxanne Stasyszyn, Yukon News : Saturday, September 15, 2012

WHITEHORSE – Malcolm Dawson remembers August as a time of dread, a time when the soap couldn’t wash the colour off his skin before he had to return to the Whitehorse Baptist Mission school.

“It was something like being in jail. I used to play hooky all the time because all I had in school was trouble. I used to wander around and hide in the alleys,” Dawson, now 70, said in an interview.

“I was just a little guy and they’d tell me I was good for nothing and wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

Dawson also remembers scrubbing himself vigorously with soap and water as a kid.

“I was trying to wash the brown off me,” he said.

But these memories are not enough for him to qualify for claims intended for former students who endured severe physical or sexual abuse.

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Salem News

BY TOM DALTON STAFF WRITER

A decade ago, as the priest sex abuse scandal rocked the Archdiocese of Boston, media reports appeared about a small group of lay Catholics meeting in the basement of a Wellesley church to share the hurt and anger they felt over the church leadership’s handling of the crisis.

Miles away in Topsfield, Vince and Jolene Guerra heard the news and knew they had to do something.

So they jumped in their car and made the nearly hour-long drive to St. John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley, where they were moved by gut-wrenching accounts of abuse and by the heartfelt, thought-provoking dialogue with other Catholics. It was a trip they made many times.

It was also a heady time. Media flocked to the meetings. Boston newspapers and TV were there. The national press came.

Inspired by what they heard in Wellesley, the Guerras helped organized the North Shore affiliate of Voice of the Faithful, which held its first meeting, or “listening session” as it was called then, at their home parish, St. Rose of Lima in Topsfield

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

WORCESTER — A physical education teacher and former football coach at Holy Name Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School has been placed on administrative leave after police arrested him during a prostitution sting last Saturday.

Philip O’Neil, 65, of Heroult Road, Worcester, was one of 16 people arrested. He is charged with paying for sexual conduct and was released on personal recognizance. His case was continued to Oct. 12.

“Obviously the administration doesn’t want this to be distracting in the school community, so he’s on leave,” said Raymond L. Delisle, a spokesman for the Worcester Diocese. Mr. Delisle did not know how long the leave would last but said it started Monday.

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TULSA (OK)
NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma –
A Tulsa church responded Friday to questions raised about their handling of allegations of sexual abuse on their campus.

Court records show employees at south Tulsa’s Victory Christian Center waited two weeks before reporting allegations that a man had raped a 13-year-old girl.

An arrest report for Chris Denman, 19, states that the girl told Victory Christian employees on August 15 that she was raped by Denman in a stairwell on the campus. Those employees notified the girl’s parents and police on August 30.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Huffington Post

John Rudolf

A Philadelphia judge on Friday granted a condemned man a rare hearing to weigh whether prosecutors failed to disclose key evidence indicating the true motive behind a grisly killing nearly 30 years ago.

The ruling is a major break for Terry Williams, 46, slated to be the first prisoner in more than 50 years to be executed in Pennsylvania while still appealing his sentence. Attorneys for Williams say his life should be spared due to his traumatic and violent childhood, and the fact that he was sentenced to die for killing a man who sexually abused him and other teenage boys. …

But jurors never heard Williams’ claims that he and Norwood were involved sexually, or that Norwood was implicated in the sexual abuse of underage teenage boys in his church congregation.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

A pastor was sentenced Friday to 330 years in prison for sexually assaulting five boys between the ages of 9 and 15 in his Lake Forest apartment between 2007 and 2011.

Oscar D. Perez, 69, was an Apostolic pastor and bishop at Iglesia Antigua, a church that rented space at St. George’s Episcopalian Church in Laguna Hills.

Perez befriended various families at the church, enlisted children to help with church services, and eventually began to invite the victims over to his apartment, sometimes for sleepovers, prosecutors said.

Perez was arrested and charged in the assault of two victims in September 2011 after a boy told his mother of the abuse. Further investigation yielded three more apparent victims.

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SEATTLE (WA)
Seattle PI

SEATTLE — A minister and former foster parent accused of sexually abusing at least 10 young boys pleaded guilty Thursday to a number of charges, including child rape.

Timothy L. Dampier, 39, pleaded guilty to a total of 22 counts involving ten victims between the ages of nine and 17 years old, according to prosecutors.

Dampier had been involved in a number of Seattle-area youth programs at the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, New Hope Baptist Church, Ruth Dykeman Children’s Center, Ruther Child Center, Samuel House, Union Gospel Mission and Seattle Parks and Recreation. He also works as a minister at several Seattle churches, detectives said.

The allegations of abuse came to light after Dampier was hired as a musician at the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in the city’s Central District in April 2011. Prosecutors say he committed the crimes between 1997 and 2011.

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ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner

Dermot Cole

The Rev. Pat Bergquist, a Catholic priest from the Fairbanks diocese, is to receive the “Priest of Integrity Award” this weekend from a Catholic group at its Boston conference, recognizing his writings about the clergy sexual abuse scandal in his book “The Long Dark Winter’s Night: Reflections of a Priest in a Time of Pain and Privilege.”

A press release from the Voice of the Faithful says the award “acknowledges specific actions demonstrating the leadership needed in the Catholic Church.”

Bergquist, the former parish priest at St. Raphael’s Catholic Church in Fairbanks, is now pastor at Holy Mary of Guadalupe Parish, Healy; St. Theresa’s Parish, Nenana. He also works with those at Clear Air Force Base and the villages of Tanana and Huslia.

“Bergquist forces readers to reflect on the raw wounds exposed by the scandals with an uncompromising authenticity and brokenness, all within the context of universal truths spoken by prophets, poets, and in iconic passages of Scripture,” said Bill Casey, former VOTF trustee, who nominated Bergquist for the Priest of Integrity Award, the press release said.

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JOLIET (IL)
CNN

JOLIET, Ill (CNN) – 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.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Fox 4

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former Kansas City, Missouri, resident has filed a lawsuit against the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese claiming that a now-deceased priest sexually abused him over 45 years ago.

In the lawsuit filed on Thursday, the plaintiff – identified only as John Doe, F.A., and now a resident of Florida – claims that Father Jerry Wegenek abused him when he was 11-year-old between 1966 and 1967. The alleged victim says that this was a case of repressed memory, and didn’t remember the alleged abuse until 2010.

Father Wegenek, who died last year and had never been named in a sexual abuse lawsuit, was assigned to St. Gabriel’s and St. Patrick’s parishes during the time of the alleged abuse.

In a statement, the Diocese said that Wegenek was removed from ministry in June of 1994 following an allegation of sexual misconduct with a teenage boy in the 1970′s, but they had not received any allegation of sexual misconduct by him prior to 1994.

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WEST ROXBURY (MA)
The Bulletin

By Zack Huffman
September 13, 2012

A second alleged victim of abuse from Rev. James J. Foley publicly spoke out Monday morning about his experiences for the first time.

Foley Jr., now 60, was assigned to St. Ann’s in Dorchester in 1978 before moving to Holy Name in West Roxbury in 1981.

It was at Holy Name when he was alleged to have had committed abuse.

Later, Foley served in Scituate, Beverly and was in New Mexico when the first allegations of abuse came out in 1999. In that same year, Foley was placed on health leave and was formally banned from ministering to minors by the Boston Archdiocese, which had ordered him back to the Commonwealth.

Since then, Foley’s case has remained in limbo while in the church’s internal legal system. Meanwhile, Foley has reportedly remained on the payroll of the Archdiocese, while maintaining his own law practice.

The second victim, who requested that he not be identified, decided to come forward in case there were any other victims in the Parkway area that were remaining.

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WALTHAM (MA)
BishopAccountability.org

Foley was accused in 1999 of sexually abusing an altar boy (Accuser #1) on one occasion at Holy Name parish and sent for assessment and treatment at Southdown. Foley denied the allegation but was restricted from parish and youth ministry. In 2002, he was accused of criminally abusing many boys at Holy Name, in a letter an informant sent to a local newspaper, which passed the allegation to the archdiocese. In 2011, Foley was accused of repeated sexual abuse of an altar boy (Accuser #2) at Holy Name, from 1984 or 1985 to 1996, beginning at age 11 or 12. Accuser #1 came forward anonymously in 2002. Accuser #2 came forward anonymously in 2012. Below we provide an illustrated assignment record of Foley, who worked in the Boston and Santa Fe archdioceses. Then we offer links to articles about Foley, and an extensive collection of relevant documents.

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UNITED STATES
YubaNet

By: Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)

NEW YORK, Sept. 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 humanity including 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.

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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.

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

MASSACHUSETTS
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.

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

ST. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.