ABUSE TRACKER

KANSAS CITY (MO)
20 Pounds of Headlines

The Ombudsman for the Kansas City Catholic Diocese says she checked into 79 cases of abuse, or suspected abuse in the Diocese in its first year of her operation, Ombudsman Jenifer Valenti was appointed to the newly created post a year ago by Bishop Robert Finn.

Finn created the position after the Fr. Shawn Ratigan sex abuse scandal rocked the Kansas City Diocese and led to calls for its Bishop Finn to step down. He remain at his post.

“This report shows my commitment to being open and honest”, Valenti told KMBC 9 news.

Valenti’s report says they looked at 20 claims of sexual abuse by priests, diocese employees or church volunteers.

Seven cases were ‘substantiated”, according to the report.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Time

By Associated Press | August 10, 2012

(ST. LOUIS) — At a pivotal national meeting, members of the largest group for American nuns have been weighing whether they should accept or challenge a Vatican order to reform.

The national assembly is the first since a Vatican review concluded the Roman Catholic sisters had tolerated dissent about the all-male priesthood, birth control and homosexuality, while remaining nearly silent in the fight against abortion. Officials at the Holy See want a full-scale overhaul of the organization under the authority of U.S. bishops.

The 900 sisters at this week’s meeting in St. Louis “are asking God to show us to the next best step we can take,” said Sister Mary Waskowiak, director of development for the Mercy International Association in Burlingame, Calif. The executives of the group have called the Vatican report flawed.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious represents about 80 percent of the 57,000 American sisters. The rebuke from the Holy See, issued in April, prompted an outpouring of support for the sisters nationwide, including parish vigils, protests outside the Vatican embassy in Washington and a resolution in Congress commending the sisters for their service to the country. A spokeswoman for the nuns group said Thursday they had received more than 1,500 cards from supporters from around the world, some of which were placed on tables at the meeting.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Equities

PR Newswire
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Sister Mary Hughes of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an association representing about 80 percent of U.S. Catholic nuns, will discuss her organization’s dispute with the Vatican during a National Press Club Luncheon on Aug. 16 . The coalition’s national Assembly is taking place now through Aug. 10 in St. Louis. During this gathering, members are debating how to deal with a critical report issued this year by the Vatican, recommending that the nuns’ organization be overhauled by bishops — at the direction of the Holy See.

Sister Mary Hughes, past president of LCWR and Prioress of the Sisters of St. Dominic in Amityville, N.Y., will discuss the Leadership Conference’s mission and the results of its national Assembly event. In an interview on PBS last month, Sister Mary said there is a “profound sense of sadness” over the tension with the Vatican, but added that asking questions “does not mean we are against Church teaching.”

The Vatican began investigating LCWR over ecclesiastical and doctrinal issues and alleged radical feminism in 2008. The Vatican report released in April said the group was not speaking out strongly enough against abortion, gay marriage and the ordination of women. Many members of LCWR endorsed President Barack Obama’s health care reform plan in 2010.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KCUR

[the report]

[with audio]

By Steve Bell

The ombudsman for the people of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic diocese to look into accusations of sexual abuse by clergy has released her first annual report. Jennifer Valenti received 79 reports of suspected sexual abuse and boundary violations in her first year of duty,

Almost half of of the total of 79 incidents reported involved suspected abuse in the home, according to the article published in the Catholic Key on Thursday. But ombudsman Jennifer Valentii says she did uncover 7 substantiated reports of church-relaed incidents of sexual abuse.

Valenti’s report says five persons that were named as abusers and that all of them were removed from whatever type of servivce.

But Valenti emphasizes that they weren’t all priests. Some were volunteers, she says, some members of religious orders. In cases where actual sexual abuse was suspected, she says law enforcement officials led any further investigation, but she, herself, looked into non-criminal cases of “boundary violations.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Examiner

By Maria Sudekem
The Associated Press

Kansas City, MO —

The ombudsman appointed to investigate abuse allegations for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph said in a report Thursday that sexual abuse claims have been substantiated against five people, though it didn’t indicate whether those individuals were clergy, employees or someone outside the diocese.

Diocese ombudsman Jenifer Valenti said in the report that her office received 79 allegations of sexual abuse or inappropriate behavior, but nearly half involved people outside the diocese such as a school official calling to report the possible abuse of a student.

Since those cases were outside her jurisdiction, they were referred to civil authorities, administrative staff and caseworkers, according to the report. But the report didn’t clarify who those authorities or agencies were.

Valenti, a former Jackson County assistant prosecutor, didn’t return phone messages and an email Thursday seeking clarification on aspects of the report.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Fox 4

[with video]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The ombudsman appointed by the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese in the fallout of a priest abuse case says that only a few of the allegations of sexual abuse or inappropriate behavior reported in the last year have been substantiated.

The report from diocese ombudsman Jenifer Valenti says that of those 40 allegations, 20 were reported cases of sexual abuse that involved clergy, diocese employees, religious orders or volunteers, and that only seven of those cases were substantiated, and involved five people.

Click here to read the report (PDF).

Valenti says that in each case, if a crime were committed then law enforcement was notified.

“In the past our members were encouraged to report abuse. But now our members are encouraged to know the warning sings of abuse and know what kind of behaviors are suspicious, and we’re asking people to report those so we can be proactive and look into those behaviors,” said Valenti.

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LOUISIANA
KPLC

By Cedric Haynes
By Elona Weston

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) –
The former Lake Area priest accused of sexually assaulting several children decades ago was indicted Thursday by a Calcasieu Parish grand jury on 10 sex-related charges.

Mark Anthony Broussard, 56, faces three counts of molestation of a juvenile, two counts of aggravated oral sexual battery, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of rape and one count of sexual battery.

Broussard was a priest at St. Henry Catholic Church in Lake Charles. He left the church in 1992 and relocated to St. Eugene Catholic Church in Grand Chenier. He resigned from the priesthood in 1994.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Tom Rastrelli

People don’t expect their priests and bishops to lie, but as Michelangelo Signorile’s recent post illustrated, clerics do lie. Some even make a virtue of it. I know this from experience, for I was ordained a Catholic priest on a lie.

In spring 2002 I walked with my spiritual director along the blacktop road encircling the seminary. He’d been my confessor and guide for two years, helping me discern God’s presence in all aspects of my life, intimate and mundane. Over our heads, a canopy of newborn leaves rustled in a sunny breeze, a welcome relief from the bitter fog that had engulfed the church and my vocational surety.

For the previous two months an unprecedented number of bishops and priests, starting with Cardinal Law of Boston, had fallen from grace for participation in the sexual abuse of children and the ensuing cover-up. Their duplicity was palpable in my knotted back and abdomen. In a few months I’d be ordained a priest. I didn’t want to do so on a lie.

“I’m coming out of the closet,” I said. …

When I’d applied for seminary, the director of seminarians — the priest who’d recruited me — explained that orientation didn’t matter, only celibacy. But on my intake interviews he’d told me to answer “yes” when the archdiocesan psychologist asked if I was attracted to women, and “no” when he asked if I was attracted to men. It was for the greater good, he said. Frightened of being cast out and ashamed of my true nature, I had lied as instructed.

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IRELAND
Huffington Post

Religiosity Plummets In Ireland And Declines Worldwide; Atheism On The Rise

By Dominique Mosbergen

Rocked in recent years by sex-abuse scandals and crises in leadership, the Catholic Church in the Republic of Ireland has been struggling to keep its members close.

But this week, a new global survey on faith and atheism has revealed that the crisis of faith in Ireland may be much worse than previously thought.

According to the poll released by WIN-Gallup International, the traditionally Catholic country has seen one of the steepest drops worldwide in religiosity.

The poll — which was based on interviews with more than 50,000 people selected from 57 countries — asked participants, “irrespective of whether they attended a place of worship, if they considered themselves to be religious, not religious, or an atheist.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KCTV

[with video]

[the report]

By Chris Oberholtz, Multimedia Producer
By Heather Staggers, Reporter

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) –
The newly appointed ombudsman for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to investigate reports of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct released her findings Thursday.

In her report, diocesan ombudsman Jenifer Valenti stated there were 20 reports of sexual abuse, seven of which were removed from public ministry or employment.

Two of the reports were cleared, and eight were found to be inconclusive. The report also found that an investigation is pending in one case while one another was removed and referred to religious order.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KOAM

[the report]

Posted: Aug 09, 2012

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The ombudsman for the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City reports getting nearly 80 reports in the past year alleging various types of abuse or suspicious behavior among clergy, volunteers and people unaffiliated with the diocese.

Jenifer Valenti says in the report released Thursday that of 79 allegations of sexual abuse, sexual misconduct or “boundary violations,” 20 cases involved clergy and 17 involved employees. Of the rest, 11 involved family members, seven were about volunteers, five were about religious orders and 12 involved unknown people.

The two-page report also says nine people were removed from “ministry, employment or volunteer service” over substantiated claims. The report doesn’t specify if any of those were clergy.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph

Dear Members of the Diocese,

Just last year, Bishop Robert Finn made a series of promises to the people of our diocese. In his Five-Point Plan, he pledged to appoint an ombudsman and public liaison to fi eld and independently investigate reports of abuse, suspicious or inappropriate behavior (boundary violations), or sexual misconduct. His call for independence resonated with me. I immediately asked to be considered for this role.

As a mother of young children, my heart was invested in a just outcome for those among us who come forward to report abuse. As a lifelong Catholic, I believe that everyone shares in the responsibility to protect children and vulnerable adults. As a former team leader with the
Jackson County Prosecutor’s Offi ce, I wanted to offer my experience in investigating and prosecuting thousands of cases of physical and emotional abuse.

After meeting with Bishop Finn and asking and answering questions, I accepted the offer to become your ombudsman. I was assured that I had the authority and responsibility to consult with law enforcement or social services at any point in an investigation. My appointment gave me a responsibility to investigate your concerns – about a priest, an employee, or volunteer – whether it
occurred yesterday or decades ago. I promised to honor the trust you have placed in me by being open and honest about my work.

This report documents how I am keeping this promise.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By GLENN E. RICE
The Kansas City Star

In her first year of the job, the ombudsman for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph handled 79 reports of sexual abuse, sexual misconduct or suspicious behavior by clergy, lay staff, volunteers and people not affiliated with the diocese.

About a fourth of the cases involved allegations against people working or volunteering in diocesan activities, according to a report released today by Jenifer Valenti, the diocesan ombudsman and public liaison officer who previously worked as a Jackson County assistant prosecutor.

Bishop Robert W. Finn made the appointment in July 2011 as part of a five-point plan that the diocese offered as a response to lawsuits and allegations of sexual misconduct by clergy.

Her two-page report covers July 1, 2011, through June 30.

The 79 complaints involved 72 people, including 20 clergy, 17 lay employees, seven volunteers and five members of “religious orders.”

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DEARBORN (MI)
Detroit Free Press

By Jim Schaefer
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

The pastor of a Catholic parish in Dearborn was completely undressed and told city police “I like to drive around naked” after he was pulled over last week on suspicion of drunken driving, according to the arresting officer’s report on the incident.

“I was, uh, hot … I like to drive around naked,” A Dearborn officer quoted Rev. Peter Petroske as saying after he was stopped at 11:18 p.m. on Aug. 2. Police said Petroske’s clothes were scattered across the inside of his Volkswagen Passat and he was allowed to get dressed before stepping out of the vehicle for sobriety tests.

“I don’t know want to say. I’m embarrassed,” police quoted the 57-year-old priest as saying.

The police report, obtained by the Free Press under a Freedom of Information Act request, said officers detected a strong odor of alcohol in the vehicle and that Petroske was unable to recite the alphabet or count backwards. A chemical test showed his blood-alcohol level was .09, just over the limit for drunken driving, the report said.

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DEARBORN (MI)
The Detroit News

By George Hunter and Christine Ferretti
The Detroit News

Dearborn— A Catholic priest accused of driving through the city in the nude while intoxicated last week told the officer who pulled him over that he liked “to drive around naked,” according to a police report.

The Rev. Peter Petroske, 57, who is now on administrative leave from his post at Sacred Heart Parish, was questioned by Dearborn Officer Robert Gafford after police were called at 11:18 p.m. Aug. 2 to the Garrison and Haigh area.

According to the report, Petroske had a blood alcohol content level of .09.

“I approached the driver’s side vehicle and observed Petroske to be completely naked. Petroske is attempting to grab clothing scattered around the vehicle,” according to Gafford’s report.

Gafford allowed Petroske to put on his clothes and began further questioning, inquiring about his nudity.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Berlin Daily Sun

Written by Melissa Grima

BERLIN — A local man with a claim of abuse pending against the Diocese of Manchester hopes that telling his story will help bring the focus of the church sex abuse scandal onto the victims rather than the abusers.

Frank Laferrier, a Berlin resident who grew up on the Seacoast, said he was raped by a priest as a young teen in Durham as he sought refuge at St. Thomas More Parish after running away from an abusive foster home. Laferrier said that although he has a claim pending with the diocese, he is coming forward to tell his story publicly because he believes Catholics “really need to see what was done to the victims.”

“I think if someone like me tells them what I went through, they would understand what the victims went through,” Laferrier said.

Careful to point out that he does not blame all Roman Catholics for the abuse he sustained, only the priest who did it, Laferrier said he recognizes that not all priests and parish leaders are like this. “I’ve met some really good people,” he said.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Aug. 09, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

ST. LOUIS — As Catholic sisters from across the country were sequestered in meeting rooms Wednesday to discuss broad issues of the place of women and men in the church, specifically their relationships with bishops following a harsh Vatican rebuke, five people stood outside the building.

Their focus was on issues sadly familiar to Catholics: Sexual abuse of minors, followed by denial and confusion.

For two of those standing outside the annual assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), however, the alleged abusers didn’t wear clerical collars. They were Catholic sisters.

The group outside the LCWR assembly in the humid Missouri heat were representatives of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the leading advocate for victims of clergy sex abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Anti-Catholic League

By David Fortwengler

Two groups affiliated with the Catholic Church consider the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) so dangerous and evil that they are using the same warlike tactics as the CIA. Last year Bill Donohue of the Catholic League planted two of his troops surreptitiously into enemy-held territory when he had them register for and attend the SNAP National Conference in Washington, DC. This year Dave Pierre of the catholic bishop apology group The Media Report sent spies to take up positions inside the group that advocates for survivors child sexual abuse.

The Catholic League’s and The Media Report’s hatred of SNAP is so intense they are willing to use some convoluted version of the “just war theory” to infiltrate SNAP’s conference. Donohue claims the registration for the conference was open to the public so he believes his spies did nothing morally wrong or sinful by lying about their presence. The SNAP convention advertises its meeting as a gathering of survivors, their supporters and advocates. Since SNAP does not make attendees go to confession to explain their presence Donohue and Pierre believe their spies are entitled to lie about their motives and report on the inner workings of SNAP the same way the CIA spies on Al Qaeda and terrorist groups.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By MARY SANCHEZ
The Kansas City Star

Today, the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese takes another step toward transparency and common sense.

The first report by the Catholic diocese’s new ombudsman will be released. Jenifer Valenti’s two-page report will outline allegations of sexual misconduct or suspicious behavior she has received in her first year, her assessments and the status of each case.

Less encouraging are filings in some of the legal proceedings against the diocese and Bishop Robert Finn. There, officials appear to be clinging to the excuse-making that helped create this horrible situation — the Rev. Shawn Ratigan guilty of child pornography charges and the diocese and Finn facing further legal troubles.

Understandably, the bishop’s legal team will use any viable argument to defend Finn in the civil suits and on the criminal misdemeanor charge of failing to report suspicions of child abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

The Vatican will announce on August 13 whether Paolo Gabriele, the Pope’s valet, will face trial for stealing confidential papal documents.

Gabriele’s lawyer has already conceded that it is unlikely his client will be cleared of all charges. Gabriele has insisted that he acted alone, and his motive was to help Pope Benedict XVI. His lawyer has said that a fuller explanation would emerge at his trial.

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UTAH
Deseret News

By Emiley Morgan, Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, Aug. 8 2012

SALT LAKE CITY — Arturo Tenorio was like a father to the two women he inappropriately touched while “counseling” them on their marriage problems, they testified Wednesday.

Both of the man’s alleged victims took the stand Wednesday on the first day of Tenorio’s trial in 3rd District Court. He is accused of using his reputation and influence in the LDS Church to gain work as a marriage “counselor” and then manipulating that trust to take advantage of two clients.

Tenorio, 59, is charged with two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.

Both women said they were referred to Tenorio by their LDS bishop and their first few sessions with Tenorio also involved their husbands. Later, they said, Tenorio told them he needed to meet with them “one on one.”

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UTAH
KSL

MILLCREEK — A Sandy man has been charged with sexually abusing a mother and her daughter and biting the woman’s son in a sexual assault in their home.

The man was serving as branch president of an LDS Spanish-speaking branch in Midvale and was released from his church position after the incident, LDS church officials confirmed.

A 13-year-old girl told police that on May 8, “family friend” Efrey Antonio Guzman, 46, knocked on her door when she and her older brother were home alone. When Guzman learned that the brother was in the shower, “the defendant suddenly grabbed her, hugged her tightly and would not let her go,” charges filed in 3rd District Court state.

The teen said Guzman started kissing her and grabbed her buttocks, but left when her brother entered the room.

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SANDY (UT)
The Salt Lake Tribune

By Cimaron Neugebauer
| The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Aug 08 2012

A church leader in Sandy was promptly released from his calling after allegedly biting another man’s penis and sexually abusing that man’s little sister.

Prosecutors charged Efrey Guzman, 46, of Sandy, on Tuesday in 3rd District Court for aggravated sexual assault, aggravated burglary, both first-degree felonies, and sexual abuse of a child and forcible sexual abuse, both second-degree felonies.

Guzman was an LDS branch president of a Latino congregation in Sandy. A branch is smaller than a ward.

In a statement from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spokesman Scott Trotter wrote, “The church has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. Mr. Guzman has been released from his church duties effective immediately and faces further church discipline following the legal process.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Leader

BY LINTON BESSER, JOANNE MCCARTHY

09 Aug, 2012

THE church prematurely terminated an investigation last year into the alleged failure of a top Catholic education official to take action over the sexual assault of an 11-year-old boy in the 1970s by a lay teacher.

A former principal of St Patrick’s at Sutherland, Brother Anthony Peter Whelan, had been accused by Robert Lipari of failing to take action against a science teacher, Thomas Keady, after he reported being molested by the man at a caravan park.

Shortly before being employed at the school, Keady had completed a three-year jail term in Victoria for child sex offences.

The church commissioned an investigation by the former NSW Police assistant commissioner Norm Maroney, who substantiated the 1976 assault, and the fact it was reported to another senior teacher at the school, Brother John Vincent Roberts.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

By Brad Bumsted

HARRISBURG — Two high-profile criminal cases helped increase the number of complaints alleging child sex abuse since fall, and some advocacy groups for victims are struggling with strained budgets, prosecutors and advocates said on Wednesday.

Calls to the Department of Public Welfare’s 24-hour Child Line jumped about 5 percent from November through the end of June, compared with the same period in 2011, agency spokeswoman Donna Morgan said.

Those months were marked by publicity about the arrest and conviction of former Penn State University football defensive coach Jerry Sandusky, who awaits sentencing for his June conviction of molesting 10 boys, and a case in Philadelphia in which jurors convicted Roman Catholic Church supervisor Msgr. William Lynn of sending abusive priests from church to church. Lynn was sentenced to three to six years in prison.

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TEXAS
Houston Chronicle

Chad Foster, 32, a former youth pastor has reached a plea deal in a child sexual assault case, according to a report from KHOU.

Foster is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl who, according to the report, he met while working at the Community of Faith Church on Becker Road in Cypress.

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TENNESSEE
The Tennessean

Nashville pastor headed to prison for sexually assaulting church member

John T. Vine, a former South Nashville pastor, will serve 22 years in prison for sexually assaulting a teenage girl who attended his church.

In May, a jury found Vine, 68, former pastor at Lake Providence Missionary Baptist Church, guilty of two counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of solicitation of a minor.

Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Seth Norman delivered the sentence on Wednesday.

Vine met the victim at the Baptist church when the victim was a small child. He was an associate pastor at the church, according to a Metro police report.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
U-T San Diego

San Diego

The Rock Church on Wednesday confirmed that one of its former teachers has been accused by some students’ families of sexual abuse.

The allegedly inappropriate physical contact at Rock Church Academy — rubbing and fondling young girls — was first reported two years ago. Church leaders fired the instructor, a man who has not been identified, after verifying his behavior, Rock Church senior pastor Miles McPherson said in a statement Wednesday evening.

He also said the church reported the initial allegations to the San Diego Police Department for investigation, and recently forwarded new claims of abuse made by parents of other students involving the same suspect. “We will continue to cooperate as we have since the beginning,” McPherson said.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

By Jay Tokasz
News Staff Reporter

The surprise in Maine among people who worked closely with Bishop Richard J. Malone was that he hadn’t moved sooner to a larger diocese.

Malone is a rising star in the rarefied world of the Catholic hierarchy.

Not only can he manage people effectively, he radiates confidence in explaining Catholic beliefs under a media microscope. He has juggled a massive reorganization of parishes in the mostly rural Diocese of Portland, while raising more than $40 million in capital funds. …

Pope John Paul II named him an auxiliary bishop in 2000, a post that put him in charge of the Boston archdiocese’s south region. Two years later, the archdiocese was in the throes of the devastating clergy sexual abuse scandal that ended up rippling from Boston across many of the nation’s Catholic dioceses.

Malone’s superior, Cardinal Bernard Law, resigned in disgrace over the manner in which the hierarchy had handled abuse complaints.

Questions arose, too, about Law’s inner circle and what role its members might have played in shuffling abusive priests.

Early on in Portland, Malone was peppered with questions about whether he was complicit in the cover-ups.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Washington Post

Nun leaders believe most sisters don’t want to submit to Vatican oversight

By Michelle Boorstein

Early reports on this week’s meeting of the country’s largest group of Catholic nuns show the women are in for an intense few days.

Executives of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious reportedly believe most members — who make up 80 percent of U.S. nuns — do not want to submit to a proposed Vatican takeover of their group. Regional meetings around the country this summer seem to show most women “do not ‘necessarily’ need to be part of formal church structures,” said a report in the National Catholic Reporter Tuesday, as the meeting in St. Louis began.

The sisters this week are considering how to respond to a Vatican plan to “reform” the Silver Spring, Md.-based organization, which bishops say is straying too far from official doctrine on things like the possibility of women priests and not focusing enough on abortion and traditional marriage.

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OHIO
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: Brown was ordained in 1939 for the Columbus diocese, which split in 1944. He was thereafter a priest of the Steubenville diocese. By 1964 he had achieved Monsignor status; he held several chancery positions throughout his career. In 2005 a woman testified at the Ohio state house during a hearing regarding the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children that Brown sexually abused her brother in the late 1960s, when her brother was 16 years-old. She stated that Brown also sexually abused their three young cousins. In August 2006 the Steubenville diocese announced that it had received a credible allegation that Brown and a church volunteer sexually abused a boy in the late 1970s. Brown retired in 1984 and died in 1991.

Ordained: 1939
Retired: 1984
Died: Oct. 7, 1991

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

The large drop over the past seven years in the proportion of Irish people describing themselves as religious is almost certainly part of the fallout from the Catholic hierarchy’s disastrous mishandling of the clerical child sex abuse scandal.

Since 2005 the percentage of Irish people describing themselves as “a religious person” has fallen from 69pc to just 47pc.

Over the same period the proportion of Irish people describing themselves as either “a convinced atheist” or “not a religious person” has almost doubled.

These results are contained in the latest WIN-Gallup global index of Religion and Atheism, which surveyed people in 57 countries, including Ireland, on their religious beliefs.

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VIRGINIA
The Roanoke Times

By Duncan Adams | The Roanoke Times

Salem resident Guy Adam Ritter, 92, faces an additional indictment related to charges of child sexual abuse of boys that allegedly occurred decades ago in Botetourt County.

Ritter is a prominent alumnus of Roanoke College, a former professor there and an ordained Lutheran minister, according to a college biography of him.

A Botetourt County grand jury indicted Ritter Monday for crimes against nature, which was the relevant statute at the time of the alleged offense, reported to have occurred in the county in 1958.

A county grand jury indicted Ritter June 4 by on five counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. Those offenses allegedly occurred during the 1970s.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOX

ST. LOUIS–(KMOX)–The clergy abuse survivor’s group SNAP was picketing outside a nationwide conventions of nuns here, calling for changes in the way U.S. nuns handle allegations of child sexual abuse.

SNAP’s David Clohessy says the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) has failed to match the standard set by U.S. Bishops to handle allegations against its members.

“At least the Bishops do have a national policy where they’ve made some promises to try to do better to protect kids and heal victims,” Clohessy said, “Collectively, America’s nuns haven’t even done that.”

A KMOX reporter visited the nun’s convention hotel, seeking comment from their media spokesman. The security team said no spokesperson was available to comment on the SNAP protest.

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MICHIGAN
Huffington Post

Peter Petroske, Michigan Catholic Priest, Suspended After Alleged Naked DUI

After a Catholic priest allegedly drove through Dearborn, Mich., intoxicated and naked, the Archdiocese of Detroit has put him under indefinite suspension.

Rev. Peter Petroske, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, was arrested late Thursday night, according to the Detroit News, and faces charges of disorderly/obscene conduct and operating while intoxicated.

When he was arrested, Petroske was alone in the vehicle with a laptop, according to the Detroit Free Press, and was just over the legal limit.

His arrest didn’t stop him from performing Mass to his parishioners on Sunday, according to WDIV, before the Archdiocese learned about incident.

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

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

4:14 p.m. EDT, August 8, 2012
HARTFORD – —
A New London woman who says she was molested as a 12-year-old by a now-deceased priest is seeking at least $1.1 million in damages from the Norwich Diocese.

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

Shea is suspected of abusing as many as 15 girls in 11 different parishes from 1953 through the 1970’s. He died in 2006.

Superior Court Judge Marshall Berger ordered jury selection to start Wednesday afternoon in Hartford after denying a motion by the diocese attorneys to postpone the trial until late October. Evidence in the case is slated to begin Sept. 5.

Among the reasons diocese attorney Gary Kaisen cited in a motion to delay was the $60 million fine levied against Penn State by the NCAA following the conviction on sexual abuse charges of former coach Jerry Sandusky. The diocese attorneys argued the large fine could desensitize jurors in this case or impact potential damages.

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CONNECTICUT
The Day

By Karen Florin

Published 08/08/2012

Hartford – Lawyers for a New London woman say she will tell a Superior Court jury next month that Father Thomas W. Shea, who is now deceased, molested her when she was 12 years old.

The now 49-year-old woman is prepared to say that Shea forced her to perform a sex act inside the choir loft at St. Joseph’s Church in New London one day and that he also fondled her and kissed her.

Her attorneys, Robert I. Reardon and Kelly E. Reardon, introduced their client only as “Jane Doe” Wednesday as jury selection got under way in Hartford before Judge Marshall K. Berger Jr. She was in court with her husband and sister.

The woman is suing the Diocese of Norwich, Monsignor Thomas Bride and retired Bishop Daniel P. Reilly for lost earnings and medical expenses, past and future. She has undergone years of treatment and still requires care for severe depression and other psychological problems, according to her attorneys. She is seeking at least $1.1 million, according to testimony.

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NEW YORK
The Guardian (United Kingdom)

Reuters in New York
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 August 2012

A New York judge found no evidence of juror misconduct during a trial in which a Brooklyn rabbi was acquitted of violating an order barring him from interacting with a young boy who had accused him of sexual molestation.

The Brooklyn district attorney’s office said that on the final day of the four-day trial, the mother of juror No 6 was spotted having a “spirited conversation” with defendant Joel Kolko outside the courtroom.

However, Kings County criminal judge Michael Gerstein held in a July 30 order that he saw no basis for questioning the juror and her mother about possible misconduct.

“The behavior of juror No 6’s mother may easily be characterized as unusual,” Gerstein wrote. “But there has been no showing, let alone a colorable showing, that the mother’s conduct impugned the integrity of the trial process.”

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CANTON (GA)
Patch

By Rodney Thrash

First Baptist Canton allowed a fired employee with a history of sexual misconduct against children to return to the church as a volunteer, a misstep that led to the sexual battery of a teenage boy, the parents of the victim allege in a civil suit.

The boy’s parents are suing the church, senior pastor George Anderson and former church employee Shawn Finch, alleging that they not only failed to properly supervise the volunteer and the children in their care, but tried to “downplay” the abuse in a meeting at the church.

A Cherokee County grand jury in April 2011 indicted the volunteer, 29-year-old Matthew Brent Sheffield of Canton, in the June 2010 sexual battery of the boy, who was 14 years old at the time. Sheffield faces two felony counts of child molestation.

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CANTON (GA)
CBS Atlanta

By Mandi Milligan – email

CANTON, GA (CBS ATLANTA) –
The parents of a young boy have filed a lawsuit against a Baptist church in Canton on claims the church failed to protect him from a church volunteer who sexually assaulted him.

The lawsuit against First Baptist Church of Canton was filed Aug. 1 in the Superior Court of Cherokee County.

The boy’s parents, who are not being identified to protect the child, claim senior pastor George Anderson and church employee Shawn Finch knew of Matthew Brent Sheffield’s history of sexual misconduct with minors.

Sheffield was employed by First Baptist to supervise children in various church services and was also employed by the Cherokee County Board of Education as a substitute teacher.

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

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

1:54 p.m. EDT, August 8, 2012
HARTFORD -—
A Superior Court judge Wednesday denied a motion by attorneys from the Norwich Diocese to delay the start of a trial involing sexual abuse allegations against a former priest.

The church had requested a delay, in part because it claimed negative publicity from the recent Penn State sex-abuse scandal could make it difficult to find impartial jurors.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Jury selection is expected to start later Wednesday. An unidentified woman filed the suit, claiming she was abused by now-deceased priest Thomas Shea when she was 12 in 1976. She is claiming that the diocese knew Shea had a history of previous abuse allegations and moved him from parish to parish.

Shea is suspected of abusing as many as 15 girls in 11 different parishes from 1953 through the 1970’s. He died in 2006.

Among the reasons that attorney Gary Kaisen cited in a motion to delay the trial until late October was the $60 million fine levied against Penn State by the NCAA. The diocese attorneys argued the large fine could desensitize jurors in this case or impact potential damages.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Aug. 08, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

ST. LOUIS — The much-anticipated gathering of 900 U.S. Catholic sisters who make up the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) opened here Tuesday night with song, prayer, and references big, small, and in-between to the Vatican’s attempted take-over of the group.

References to the Vatican’s critique of the group, which came in an April 18 announcement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, came early in the two-hour event, with LCWR president Franciscan Sr. Pat Farrell telling the assembled that “we don’t have to remind you that our gathering this week is an historic time in the life of this organization.”

The opening of the annual assembly of LCWR, which represents some 80 percent of U.S. women religious, also included a welcome by St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson and details about how the group’s members would discern steps forward during the gathering, which continues through Friday night. …

During an address Tuesday night, Farrell outlined the process by which the group’s members would discuss the Vatican’s mandate in their gathering, saying they want to “gather the collective wisdom of this group to make a response that we hope can be for the good of the church, for the good of LCWR, for the good of religious life throughout the world, and ultimately for the good of the human family.”

Starting Wednesday, LCWR is to host a number of closed door “executive sessions” where members are to discuss the Vatican mandate.

Those meetings, said Farrell, will involve a process “that will be sort of like a seamless garment of discernment.”

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UTAH
Fox 13

August 8, 2012, by Meredith Forrest Kulwicki

The trial begins Wednesday for a man accused of posing as a marriage counselor and sexually abusing his patients.

Arturo Tenorio, 59, faces two counts of felony sex abuse.

Tenorio is the brother of a general authority of the LDS Church and his accusers say they were refered to him by their bishop.

Last year, two women came forward, saying Tenorio was their counselor and that he made inappropriate comments and sexual advances toward them.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on August 08, 2012

An Iowa man who says he was molested as a boy by a nun is prodding the largest group of US Catholic sisters to do more to “protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.”

Steve Theisen and other members of a self-help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org) are spending much of this week on a sidewalk outside a St. Louis Missouri hotel where Catholic nuns are meeting. SNAP is urging the 900 sisters, here for the annual meeting of the Leadership Council of Women Religious (LCWR), to “act more prudently to prevent future child sex crimes by nuns and more compassionately towards those who have been hurt by past child sex crimes by nuns.”

“Tragically, nuns are moving even more slowly and timidly to deal with child molesters in their midst than bishops are,” said Theisen. “No one knows how many nuns have victimized kids, but no one’s even trying to find out. Nor is anyone really taking any real steps to prevent such devastating crimes in the future.”

According to BishopAccountability.org, there are at least 77 US nuns who have been publicly accused of child sex crimes. SNAP says it has heard from several hundred adult men and women who report having been sexually assaulted as youngsters by nuns.

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NEW YORK
Thomson Reuters News & Insight

NEW YORK, Aug 7 (Reuters) – A New York judge found no evidence of juror misconduct during a trial in which a Brooklyn rabbi was acquitted of violating an order barring him from interacting with a young boy who had accused him of sexual molestation.

The Brooklyn district attorney’s office said that on the final day of the four-day trial, the mother of juror No. 6 was spotted having a “spirited conversation” with defendant Joel Kolko outside the courtroom.

However, Kings County Criminal Judge Michael Gerstein held in a July 30 order that he saw no basis for questioning the juror and her mother about possible misconduct.

“(T)he behavior of Juror No. 6’s mother may easily be characterized as unusual,” Gerstein wrote. “But there has been no showing, let alone a colorable showing, that the mother’s conduct impugned the integrity of the trial process.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

By Robert Blair Kaiser

COMMENTARY

Over the weekend, an editor on the Internet observed that many events this year commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council “seem to be wakes, lamenting and grieving over the lost opportunity.”

Rather than wring our hands over what the church has become under back-to-back popes who have acted in an arrogant and authoritarian manner, we should celebrate what Vatican II has already done for us.

It has given us a new view of ourselves. It’s made us more free, more human and more at the service of a world that Jesus loved.

It has given us a new view of the church. It’s our church, not the pope’s church, or the bishops’ church, or a priest’s church.

It has given us a new view of our place in it. We can think, we can speak, we can act as followers of Jesus in a world that needs us.

Rather than whine over what daddy won’t let us do, we can put the Council into play ourselves.

American nuns showed us how.

In 1979, Mercy Sr. Theresa Kane, then the president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, told Pope John Paul II the church ought to be ordaining women. Doing that, she implied, the church could break the stained-glass ceiling and give first-class citizenship to half of its membership, the women in the church.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

GORDON DEEGAN

THERE WAS a significant reduction in payments by Killaloe’s Catholic diocese arising from clerical sex abuse, according to diocesan accounts for 2011 published yesterday.

They show that €20,748 was paid under that heading last year compared to €428,162 in 2009 and 2010. It brings to €2.44 million the total paid to survivors of clerical abuse there since 2003.

Diocesan spokesman Fr Brendan Quinlivan said yesterday that such payments to survivors came from a special fund, called the Bishop’s House donation, established from the sale of six acres of land beside the Bishop’s House in Ennis.

The 2011 accounts also show that the diocese received over €1 million from a will which stipulated that the money could not be used for the day-to-day running of the diocese.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on August 7, 2012

I am guilty of instantly running to the defense of American nuns after the Vatican announced that women religious in the United States had ”a prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.” Like most people, I remembered American nuns working with the most dejected among us – helping the poor, the sick, the homeless, and the fringes of society … and my junior AP English teacher Sr. Lorraine, who was in way over her head.

But I had forgotten something: The leadership of American nuns in the United States is also no stranger to child sex abuse and cover up.

Since 2004, SNAP has been trying to get the Leadership Conference of Religious Women (LCRW) to make some kind of statement on behalf of children who were sexually abused by nuns. There are a number of SNAP members and leaders who were sexually abused by women religious, and many of them feel like their plight is ignored. Eight years later, SNAP has received no response. Victims have been simply shut out of the conversation.

This week, the LCRW is meeting in St. Louis where they will figure out how they will respond to the Vatican report.

Outside of the meeting, members of SNAP and victims of sex abuse by nuns will be holding a press conference, asking that the bishops “appointed to ‘supervise the overhaul’ of their organization” carefully evaluate the cover-up of sexual abuse by nuns and secret settlements with victims.

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CHICAGO (IL)
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

On the opening night of SNAP’s recent annual conference, National Director David Clohessy attempted to convince his audience that SNAP “does not hate churches,” suggesting that the group does not have any particular animus against the Catholic Church.

Clohessy’s denial rings hollow, however, in light of an alarming presentation later delivered at the conference by Judy Braun, a writer raised in an ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn. (Braun has also written under the pseudonym, Eishes Chayil (“woman of valor”), and her name has more often appeared as “Judy Brown.”)

Braun’s talk was oddly titled, “Monotheism and Child Sacrifice.” According to Braun:

“For centuries the Catholics and Jews have been sworn enemies. Only now after two millennia of distrust and contempt, the world’s ancient religions have finally come together as leaders of these religions, both popes and rabbis, are united in rare agreement that child sexual abuse is allowed, as long as it is done in secret and its victims are buried deep under the fear of God.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Breda Heffernan and Colm Kelpie

Wednesday August 08 2012

THE scale of the crisis facing the church in Ireland is laid bare today in a stark survey which reveals that religious faith is plummeting.

Irish people are abandoning religion faster than almost every other country worldwide, the massive global survey on faith reveals.

Only Vietnam has seen a bigger drop in people declaring themselves to be religious over the past seven years, a period when the Catholic Church in Ireland has been rocked by sex-abuse scandals and a crisis of leadership.

Red C interviewed more than 51,000 people worldwide, including just over 1,000 people in Ireland.

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VATICAN CITY
The Irish Times

PADDY AGNEW

THE HOLY See has rejected the man nominated as next Bulgarian ambassador to the Vatican because of a steamy gay scene in a best-selling novel recently written by him, it is alleged in the Rome newspaper La Repubblica.

On paper, Kiril Maritchkov (39) looks the perfect choice.

He is married to an Italian, he is the father of two children and a graduate in law and political sciences.

He not only speaks five languages but he is also an expert in post-Berlin Wall eastern Europe.

The problem is that Mr Maritchkov is also a novelist.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Aug. 6, 2012) — Medieval clerics did not relish the prospect of giving up sex when the Papacy tried to introduce the principle of celibacy. Resistance was widespread, it was revealed at an academic conference at the University of Huddersfield where two historians are playing a key role in developing the burgeoning study area of medieval masculinity.

Dr Pat Cullum an Dr Katherine Lewis organised the conference, entitled ‘Religious Men in the Middle Ages’. It was attended by 50 delegates from 14 countries.

Now Dr Cullum and Dr Lewis — in tandem with Dr Philippa Hoskin and Dr Joanna Huntington of the University of Lincoln — have announced the formation of a network named ‘The Bishop’s Eye’.

Dr Lewis explained: “This network will foster new research into the lives, experiences and representation of medieval religious men, both those following a professional vocation — bishops, monks and priests for example — and laymen.

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CANTON (GA)
Courthouse News Service

By LISA COSTON

CANTON, Ga. (CN) – A Baptist Church failed to protect a boy from a church volunteer who sexually assaulted him, though the senior pastor knew of the man’s history of sexual misconduct with minors, the boy’s parents claim in court.

Brian and Carmen Aaron sued the First Baptist Church of Canton, its senior pastor George Anderson, church employee Shawn Finch, and the alleged assailant, Matthew Brent Sheffield, in Cherokee County Superior Court.

“Defendant Sheffield sexually abused multiple victims, while working for the Cherokee County Board of Education and through his employment and volunteer work with First Baptist,” according to the complaint. “His continued sexual abuse was enabled by the negligent oversight of Sheffield by defendant First Baptist, defendant Dr. George Anderson and defendant Shawn Finch.”

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MONTANA
Beartooth NBC

By Aniseh Hamour

The lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena was amended Monday, bringing the total number of plaintiffs in the case to 200.

The amended complaint includes 10 new alleged sexual offenders and eight new sexual abuse victims. There are now 26 accused in the case.

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LONG BEACH (CA)
Contra Costa Times

By Tracy Manzer, Staff Writer
presstelegram.com

August 7, 2012

LONG BEACH — A Catholic priest once assigned to a North Long Beach church who now faces sexual assault charges appeared briefly in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing setting.

The Rev. Luis Jose Cuevas, the former parish priest at St. Athanasius Catholic Church, 5390 Linden Ave., is no longer in custody after his release on $260,000 bond on July 27.

The 67-year-old is scheduled to return to the Long Beach Superior Court on Sept. 11, when a preliminary hearing is scheduled to be set, according to court staff.

Cuevas has pleaded not guilty to nine counts of sexual assault following accusations from three alleged victims. His attorney, George Bird, has repeatedly denied the allegations against his client, noting the massive community support for the defendant, demonstrated by nearly 100 members of the church where he once served attending his arraignment.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Aug. 07, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

ST. LOUIS — As representatives of Catholic sisters from across the country gathered here Tuesday for a meeting expected to formulate a formal response to harsh critique from the Vatican, current and past presidents of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious met in closed session to share experiences and lay a foundation for that response.

The meeting, which was attended by about 20 women and lasted just over two hours, was full of great energy and feelings of solidarity, several of the women who attended the session told NCR. But they also expressed feelings of uncertainty because of questions left unanswered.

The overall opinion of the group was that the LCWR could not unconditionally accept the Vatican’s mandate that the leadership conference reform its statutes and structures but neither did the group want to walk away from the canonical structure of the LCWR.

The leaders hope to find a middle path, NCR was told, but that they also want to give the Vatican a firm expression of how they understand themselves as religious, suggesting that the sisters do not “necessarily” need to be part of formal church structures.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Pfalzischer Merkur

Lebach/Trier. Ein Pfarrer aus Lebach, der wegen des Verdachts auf sexuellen Missbrauch zurzeit beurlaubt ist, hat trotz eines vom Bistum Trier ausgesprochenen Verbotes eine Messe gefeiert. Einen Tag, nachdem das Bistum ihn beurlaubt hatte, hielt der 65-Jährige am vergangenen Dienstag ein Sterbeamt und eine anschließende Beerdigung ab, wie Bistumssprecher Stephan Kronenburg gestern der SZ bestätigte. “Das ist aus unserer Sicht nicht in Ordnung”, sagte Kronenburg. Das Bistum habe, als es davon erfahren habe, Kontakt zu dem Geistlichen aufgenommen. Dieser habe versichert, er werde sich an das Verbot halten. Im konkreten Fall habe er allerdings – so schildert das Bistum die Aussage des Pfarrers – eine Ausnahme gemacht: Zu einem Zeitpunkt, als er noch nicht beurlaubt gewesen sei, habe er den Angehörigen des Verstorbenen versprochen, das Sterbeamt zu halten. Kronenburg sagte, dies sei mit dem Bistum nicht abgesprochen gewesen.

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POLEN
Reformatorisch Dagblad (Nederland)

WARSCHAU – Uit een sociologisch onderzoek blijkt dat meer dan 60 procent van de priesters in Polen het celibaat met de voeten treedt door het hebben van een relatie. Ongeveer 10 tot 15 procent heeft kinderen en is daar ook (financieel) verantwoordelijk voor.

Dat maakte de Poolse uitgave van het weekblad Newsweek onlangs bekend. Godsdienstsocioloog Jozef Baniak van de Universiteit van Poznan bracht de cijfers naar buiten. Een paar geleden schatte Baniak het aantal priesters met een relatie op ongeveer 15 procent.

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LONG BEACH (CA)
KABC

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — A Long Beach Catholic priest accused of inappropriate behavior with three church members was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.

Father Luis Jose Cuevas was arrested in July after two women filed a police report accusing the 67-year-old of sexual battery. A 17-year-old female then came forward claiming she also was inappropriately touched by Cuevas.

The district attorney filed eight misdemeanor charges in July against Cuevas and one felony count involving lewd acts with a child.

Through his attorney, Father Jose Luis Cuevas entered a plea of not guilty July 25 in a Long Beach courtroom overflowing with supporters of Cuevas.

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MICHIGAN
CBS Detroit

DEARBORN (WWJ) – The pastor of a Dearborn church was suspended after being arrested for drunk driving.

The Archdiocese of Detroit said Pastor Peter Petroske of Sacred Heart Parish was charged with driving under the influence and indecent exposure in Dearborn.

Reports are that Petroske was not wearing any clothes when he was arrested.

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BELLEVILLE (IL)
The Record

8/7/2012 5:17 PM By Kelly Holleran

An Illinois man has filed suit against the diocese that he says hired a former Catholic priest who has already settled numerous lawsuits for millions of dollars. In the lawsuit, the man alleges he was abused by the priest for six months.

The man, identified only as John Doe S., claims former priest Raymond Kownacki sexually abused him in 1985 while Doe was a parishoner at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Valmeyer.

Before Kownacki was appointed to St. Mary’s, he had served at numerous churches throughout the region, according to the complaint filed July 26 in St. Clair County Circuit Court. The diocese had received reports of various instances of child abuse involving Kownacki, but continued to allow him to work around children, the complaint says. In addition, it failed to warn parishioners of the reports, Doe claims.

Because of the diocese’s failure to advise people of the alleged abuse, Doe claims he and his family trusted Kownacki. Doe began staying with Kownacki at the rectory, according to the complaint.

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MICHIGAN
Patch

By John Hetzler

The Archdiocese of Detroit has suspended the Rev. Peter Petroske, a priest at Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn, following his arrest on drunken driving and indecent exposure charges.

Petroske was placed on administrative leave on Monday, according to a statement from the archdiocese.

Dearborn police arrested Petroske on Thursday, Aug. 2, for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol and indecent exposure, the archdiocese said. He was alone in his vehicle.

According to the Detroit News, the Archdiocese confirmed that Petroske was naked when police pulled him over.

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MICHIGAN
ClickonDetroit

[with video]

DETROIT –
A Catholic priest who serves as a pastor of a church in Dearborn was arrested for driving under the influence while naked and carrying a laptop computer.

A statement from the Archdiocese of Detroit indicates Father Peter Petroske, pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Dearborn, was stopped and arrested by police last Thursday on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Petroske is facing charges of indecent exposure because he was naked at the time he was arrested. He also reportedly had a laptop computer with him in the car.

The Archdiocese has suspended Petroske indefinitely from his duties as pastor. He is not allowed on church property. He cannot live in the rectory. He cannot present himself as a priest.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Fr. Z’s Blog – What Does The Prayer Really Say?

SNAP to protest LCWR meeting in St. Louis (schedule posted)

Posted on 7 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is planning on protesting outside the hotel where the Leadership Conference of Women Religious are meeting in their annual assembly. Why? For years they have been trying to work with the LCWR to prevent abuse of children by nuns.

My emphases and comments.

MO – Sex abuse victims to protest outside nuns’ conference
POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY

As hundreds of American Catholic nuns meeting this week in St. Louis, clergy sex abuse victims will protest outside urging them to address the under-reported issue of clergy sex crimes and cover ups by nuns. [UNDER-REPORTED]

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

U.S. nuns meet to discuss Vatican criticism, their affiliation with Rome

By Michelle Boorstein

It seems hard to imagine, but it’s possible this week that American nuns could take a huge — if symbolic — step away from the Vatican.

Many, many Catholic eyes are on St. Louis as the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, by far the largest representative body of U.S. nuns, has their annual meeting. On the agenda for the Silver Spring, Md.-based organization: Whether the group should remain an official arm of Rome, or become independent.

This is their first meeting since April, when the Vatican’s doctrine-guarding arm issued a report saying the Conference isn’t focusing enough on abortion and traditional marriage and is dabbling dangerously in “radical feminist” ideas such as whether women could be priests. The report said the group needs to be “reformed” and is calling for essentially a takeover and monitoring of the Conference, whose members represent about 80 percent of the country’s sisters.

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MONTANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on August 07, 2012

These brave victims from the Blackfeet Indian reservation deserve gratitude for coming forward and reporting heinous child se crimes. It could not have been easy, but we are glad that, by speaking out, these victims are helping to expose at least 26 child molesting clerics. We hope that others who may have been abused by those clergy or any other Catholic employee in Montana will find the courage to break their silence and add their name to the list of these survivors.

Bishop George Thomas and Bishop Michael Warfel should immediately use all of their resources – websites, newsletters, parish bulletins and personal appeals – to reach out to others within Montana who may be hurting. They should urge those who saw, suspected, or suffered clergy abuse to immediately contact police, so that those who commit and conceal child sex crimes can be prosecuted and so that kids can better be protected, and so that victims can better heal.

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MICHIGAN
The Detroit News

By Christine Ferretti and George Hunter
The Detroit News

Dearborn— A Catholic priest has been suspended after he was arrested last week on allegations of drunken driving and indecent exposure.

The Archdiocese of Detroit in a Tuesday statement said Father Peter Petroske, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn, was placed on administrative leave Monday.

The 57-year-old is charged with misdemeanor counts of operating while intoxicated and disorderly/obscene conduct, according to officials with Dearborn’s 19th District Court.

The Archdiocese said Petroske was arrested by Dearborn Police late Thursday while driving unaccompanied in his vehicle

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MICHIGAN
Press & Guide

By Julie Walker Altesleben
Press & Guide Newspapers

DEARBORN — The Rev. Peter Petroske was arrested Thursday and charged with drunken driving and indecent exposure, according to reports.

Petroske is the head pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and School in Dearborn. He was placed on administrative leave Monday by the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Petroske joined Sacred Heart in 2008.

Calls and emails Tuesday morning to Sacred Heart and to Petroske were not returned. The archdiocese released the following statement:

“Father Peter Petroske, pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Dearborn, was placed on administrative leave of absence on Monday.

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VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Palash R. Ghosh

August 7, 2012

The Vatican has rejected a proposed ambassador from Bulgaria, because the candidate wrote a novel that featured the themes of homosexuality and prostitution.

Kiril Marichkov’s highly successful novel, “Clandestination,” offended Vatican officials, placing his nomination to the Holy See in jeopardy.

The 39-year-old attorney, who speaks five languages and is married to an Italian woman, is also the grandson of the first Bulgarian ambassador appointed to the Vatican after the fall of communism.

Despite his sterling credentials, the Vatican will not approve his appointment.

His book is about illegal immigrants who escape Eastern Europe for Rome after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The principle character, a man named Ivan, is forced by poverty to sell himself to men for sex on the streets.

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VATICAN CITY
Jakarta Globe

The Vatican said Tuesday it has not accepted Bulgaria’s proposed ambassador to the Holy See, apparently rejecting diplomat Kiril Marichkov for writing a racy novel featuring gay sex and prostitution.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said that “the proposal has not been agreed to,” leading observers to surmise that Marichkov had been rejected over a graphic scene in his successful 2005 novel “Clandestination”.

The book, based on the lives of illegal immigrants in Italy, features one scene where a desperate young eastern European man prostitutes himself with a man he picks up on a Rome street, before begging God’s forgiveness.

Lombardi would not comment on Sofia’s chosen candidate for the post, but confirmed there was no current Bulgarian ambassador at the Vatican.

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

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

3:01 p.m. EDT, August 7, 2012
The Norwich diocese is arguing that a civil trial involving charges that one of its priests sexually abused a 12-year-old girl should be postponed because of publicity surrounding the Penn State sex abuse scandal.

Attorneys for the church requested the delay to at least October, arguing that publicity surrounding the Penn State case “creates an adverse and hostile public sentiment” that would make it hard for the diocese to get a fair trial. The civil trial is scheduled to start in Hartford Superior Court this week. The judge has not ruled on the request for a delay.

The case involves now-deceased priest Thomas W. Shea. It was filed by a woman who claims Shea abused her more than 35 years ago.

West Hartford In his motion, attorney Kevin G. Smith of Milano & Wanat argued that in nearly all of the articles written about the Penn State case “the media equates the Pennn State situation to sexual abuse allegations against the Catholic Church.”

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INDIANA
Post-Tribune

By Teresa Auch Schultz tauch@post-trib.com
August 7, 2012

A Valparaiso man will serve a 10 year sentence in connection with trying to entice a 15-year-old boy.

Wayne E. Wigglesworth, 71, said little during his sentencing Tuesday morning at the U.S. District Court in Hammond and looked down as U.S. District Judge James Moody read his sentence.

“No, I do not your honor,” Wigglesworth said when he was asked if he had anything to say on his behalf.

Wigglesworth, who was an ordained priest in Baltimore in the 1960s through the 1980s, was originally arrested in 2009 in Chicago when police pulled him over for a traffic stop. They discovered the 15-year-old boy in the car with him, and the boy eventually told police he had met Wigglesworth on a website for teenagers. The two exchanged phone numbers, and Wigglesworth asked the boy to meet him to perform sex acts.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on August 07, 2012

■SNAP will try to hand deliver letter to head of nuns’ group
■They want names of predatory Catholic sisters posted on line
■And victims urge nuns – “Don’t investigate crimes internally”
■An independent source cites at least 77 sexually abusive women religious

WHAT:
Holding signs and childhood pictures, outside a hotel where Catholic nuns are meeting, clergy sex abuse victims will hold a news conference, urging the sisters to post, on their websites,

— notices urging victims and witnesses to report child sex crimes to police, not church officials, and
–the names, photos and whereabouts of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting nuns on church websites.
They will also prod nuns to
–stop requiring gag orders when civil lawsuits against abusive nuns are settled, and
–actively reach out to victims of nun abuse

They will try to hand deliver a letter to the head of the nuns’ organization expressing frustration over the unwillingness of Catholic sisters to take proactive steps to address nuns’ sex crimes, heal the wounded and protect the vulnerable.

WHEN:
Tuesday, August 7,—-1:00 p.m.

WHERE:
Outside the Millennium Hotel, 200 S. Fourth (between Clark & Walnut) in downtown St. Louis.

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UNITED KINGDOM
National Secular Society

Posted: Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:37 by Alistair McBay

Back in 2009, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, held a private seminar entitled “Leadership in the financial sector: a moral and spiritual challenge?” for top City financiers to explore the relevance of Pope Benedict’s encyclical on social teaching, Caritas in Veritate, for the financial sector. The Pope even sent a personal message to the meeting, the underlying theme of which was to see how the financial sector would be much more ethical with Christian principles.

The list of delegates to that 2009 City seminar now makes interesting reading. For example, you will find the Catholic Marcus Agius, then chairman of Barclays Bank, now soon to be its ex-chairman in the wake of the Libor-fixing scandal that was clearly well established by the time of that seminar but about which Agius says he knew nothing at that point. Another delegate was Stephen Green, (no, not that one!) then Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings and now Lord Green, Coalition Minister for Trade & Investment. Much has been made of Lord Green’s Christian belief — he is an Anglican lay preacher or ‘non-stipendiary minister’ — in influencing his business career, not least in his own book Serving God, Serving Mammon. In a typically obsequious piece in the Times (one of several, including one titled “The banker with God on his side”) the Anglican journalist Ruth Gledhill said “A senior manager (in the banking industry) told The Times that he believed it no accident that the world’s strongest private-sector bank, HSBC, criticised in the “good times” for being too conservative but now well placed to survive the crisis, is headed by an Anglican lay preacher, Stephen Green. Mr Green has made no secret of how his religious convictions inform his business life.” The inference here is all too clear.

But how does it stack up three years on, I wonder?

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UNITED STATES
These Stone Walls

by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on August 1, 2012

The Catholic Press Association’s June convention handed out lots of awards, but none was for covering the story of Catholic priests falsely accused.

This is Part II of a post I wrote at this time last year entitled “The High Cost of Father Marcial Maciel and Why I Resent Paying It.” To explain exactly what I resent and why, I have to first tell you an old story.

When I was twelve years old, another boy in my neighborhood had a beautiful dog, a German shepherd, kept tethered 24/7 in his backyard. It used to break my heart to watch as this spoiled bully tormented his dog for hours on end. He would stand just beyond the limits of the tether, and taunt the dog mercilessly. This dog would bark and stretch his tether to the point of exhaustion. I feared the poor dog would go mad.

The bully and I were the same age. I tried to intervene using reason, but diplomacy got nowhere and day after day the taunting continued. One Saturday morning, I felt I had no choice but to take a more direct approach. I climbed over the fence, and told him I was going to knock him on his ass if he did it again. He never did it again.

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UNITED STATES
These Stone Walls

by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on July 13, 2011

After 9/11, religious profiling in the war on terror was deemed unjust, yet many use sexual abuse by one high profile Catholic priest to imply the guilt of others.

Remember the Juan Williams fiasco at National Public Radio? I wrote about it last November in “At the Twilight’s Last Gleaming.” To refresh your memory, the story began when FOX News commentator Bill O’Reilly declared on “The View” that not all Muslims are terrorists, but all the terrorists who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001 were Muslims. This sparked a loud media fury about religious profiling and whether it is fair and just. The Bill O’Reilly episode culminated in Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar storming in protest off the set of “The View.”

The next evening, appearing on “The O’Reilly Factor” on FOX News, National Public Radio news analyst Juan Williams expanded the fray. He said that he’s sometimes uncomfortable when he sees people in Muslim garb board a plane he is on. The next day, NPR fired Juan Williams for exhibiting a religious insensitivity that did not reflect NPR’s journalistic standards – standards which have apparently never applied to NPR’s treatment of Catholics.

Imagine, for a moment, what might have happened if the entire affair was about priests and sexual abuse. What if Bill O’Reilly had said on “The View” something like, “Not all Catholic priests are sexual abusers but too many sexual abusers have been Catholic priests.” It would have been blatantly unfair and irresponsible, but do you think Whoopi and Joy would have stormed off the set over it? What if Juan Williams had said something like, “Sometimes when I see a Catholic priest board a plane I’m on with my grandchildren I feel uncomfortable”? Would NPR have fired him for that?

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UNITED STATES
Vatican Insider

It’s the moment of truth for the American nuns who have been put by the Vatican under external administration, as they gather for their yearly assembly in St. Louis from the 7th to the 11th of August

Maria Teresa Pontara Pederiva
Rome

After the executive Council sent the accusations back to the sender, after a long period of silence when it was just the lay people who chose to take action with public demonstrations, after influential testimonies and shows of support by male clerics and after a radio sparring match between president Pat Farrel and bishop Blair, a member of the commission sent by Rome, tomorrow 7th of August the nuns will gather at their yearly assembly in St. Louis, Missouri.

The traditional August week-long gathering of the LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which includes 80% of American sisters, mostly over 70) will centre around the subject “Mystery Unfolding: Leading in the Evolutionary Now”. The keynote speaker will be Barbara Marx Hubbard, a lay woman born in 1929, who studied at L’Ecole des Sciences Politiques at La Sorbonne in Paris and who is a prolific futurist author.

This gathering, says the website, provides members with opportunities for education, reflection on issues pertinent to religious life leadership, networking, prayer and celebration. The assembly also provides time for the members to vote for officers and on resolutions.

Many read between the lines a reference to the “Vatican issue”, which sister Farrel recently reiterated to journalists should not be considered a “challenge”.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

Editorial

We know the 900 Sister leaders representing 320 religious communities at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) have a full plate for their meetings that begins today in St. Louis.

We don’t think anything on the plate should keep the Sisters from opening the door to the survivors that will be outside the hotel where they are meeting.

The Sisters are made of strong stuff. Plenty of Catholics have attested to that in the public discussions in both the religious and secular news media regarding the Vatican and the Sisters, before, during and after the recent Nuns Bus Tour, as well as in multitudes of private conversations.

We are not saying that the support is not justified.

We are saying that the Sisters, to date, have chosen the Bishops’ route for the most part in dealing with sexual abuse by their members: silence and lawyering up.

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MAINE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Robert Gossart on August 06, 2012

Penobscot County Sheriff Glen Ross put his friendship with Fr. Robert Carlson, an admitted child predator, over the needs of victims by warning him of an ongoing investigation.

“I did it not to warn him, but to prevent his access into the jail,” Ross said. “You cannot fault somebody for trying to make sure they’ve protected their inmates and their agencies. That’s my job as a sheriff.”

“It boggles the mind that Ross would try to claim he was putting the safety of adult prisoners over the safety of innocent children” said Robert Gossart, SNAP Maine leader. After getting the sheriff’s warning, who knows how many victims Carlson may have intimidated, how many witnesses he might have threatened, how many whistleblowers he may have discredited, how much evidence he may have destroyed?

Carlson took his own life after being warned by Ross. SNAP hopes that Bishop Richard Malone will use his considerable resources, diocesan newspaper, website, church bulletins and pulpits, to reach out to anyone who may have been hurt by Carlson.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Reading Eagle

A former Roman Catholic priest admitted Monday in Berks County Court that he stole money donated to a Reading parish, but disputed the amount.

Richard Nachajski, 66, of York pleaded guilty to theft for taking money donated to St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church, Millmont, between 1997 and 2009.

He was pastor there from 1992 until 2009, when he was granted a leave of absence for personal reasons.

Nachajski admitted taking more than $100,000, but denied it was more than $400,000, as investigators charged.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

By Mensah M. Dean
Daily News Staff Writer

A PHILADELPHIA judge on Monday denied bail to Monsignor William Lynn, the Catholic priest who was sentenced last month to serve three to six years in state prison for his role in enabling another priest to sexually abuse an altar boy.

After a brief hearing, Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said Lynn, 61, had no constitutional right to receive bail while his case is being appealed. Lynn, who served as secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004, was not at the hearing.

Sarmina, who presided over Lynn’s three-month trial, said she denied the defendant bail because of the serious nature of his crime and because he was convicted of a felony.

Lynn’s attorney, Jeff Lindy, decried the ruling and Lynn’s conviction on one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

August 7, 2012 by Susan Matthews

Click here to read: “Judge Denies Bail for Monsignor While Archdiocese Battles Its Own Lawyers Over Money for Appeal,” by Ralph Cipriano, Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog, August 6, 2012
Excerpt: “That prompted a bizarre two-paragraph response from the archdiocese public relations office that baffled the archdiocese’s own lawyers:

“Msgr. Lynn’s counsel is strongly convicted that there were many errors at trial and the sentence is disproportionate to other punishment meted out to administrators for this same charge. This strong belief and care for Msgr. Lynn and his family has resulted in Msgr. Lynn’s primary counsel, Tom Bergstrom, deciding to complete the appeal for Msgr. Lynn largely on a pro bono basis.”

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HAMMOND (IN)
NW Times

By Matthew Saltanovitz

The firing last week of the Rev. Jack Schaap as pastor of Hammond’s First Baptist Church came as a certain surprise and shock to Northwest Indiana residents.

The pastor of the 15,000-member megachurch and patron of Hyles Anderson College in Schererville was recognized nationwide as a leader of the fundamentalist brand of religion.

The church, under his leadership, carried on programs ranging from a Hispanic Ministry to annual pastor and youth conferences. It operates a fleet of buses to bring the faithful to worship – often children from Chicago neighborhoods.

He and his wife, daughter of First Baptist legendary preacher Rev. Jack Hyles, authored a book on marriage.

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VIRGINIA
The Virginian-Pilot

By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
August 7, 2012

For decades, Paul Traub bottled up memories of what happened to him as a child in Virginia Beach. Whenever he tried to talk about it, it seemed no one wanted to listen. He felt there was no place to turn.

Through all those years of silence, the anger inside him smoldered. The father of three sons saw two marriages crumble. Often, trying to dull the pain, he drank himself into a stupor.

His girlfriend of seven years, Kathleen Cleary, says Traub’s struggle to deal with his emotions has affected their relationship, too.

“He told me about it on our second date,” she said. “I wasn’t prepared for how bad it’s been.”

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UNITED STATES
Pew Research Center

Roughly eight-in-ten Catholics say they are very or somewhat satisfied with the leadership provided by Catholic nuns and sisters in the U.S. (83%), and 82% express satisfaction with the leadership provided by their parish priests.

Nearly three-quarters of Catholics (74%) say they are satisfied with the leadership provided by their bishop, and 83% the same percentage expresses satisfaction with the pope’s leadership. Seven-in-ten Catholics say they are very (24%) or somewhat satisfied (46%) with the leadership of the American bishops in general.

The percentage of Catholics who say they are satisfied with the leadership of American bishops is significantly higher than it was a decade ago, at the height of the church’s child sex abuse scandal (70% today, 51% in 2002).

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
The Wall Street Journal

By BEN KESLING

Leaders of Catholic nuns and sisters in the U.S. are gathering this week for their first major meeting since the Vatican ordered the women to abandon controversial positions and closely hew to official teachings.

During the weeklong event in St. Louis, which starts Tuesday and is estimated to draw 900 participants, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious is expected to solidify its response to church authorities. Any policy changes will be announced Friday, a conference representative said.

The group represents 80% of American nuns and sisters. Nuns are cloistered, while sisters typically serve in the fields of education, health care and service to the needy.

In April, the Vatican issued its report on the group following a four-year doctrinal review by Catholic bishops. The scrutiny was prompted by concerns that the group, which comprises the senior leadership of some 56,000 nuns and sisters in the U.S., had widespread policies of dissent against church authorities, and espoused “radical feminism,” according to the Vatican report.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Catholic Culture

CWN – August 06, 2012

Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle, who has been charged by the Vatican with responsibility for supervising a reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), has been told by the group’s leaders that his presence “would not be helpful” at the LCWR’s annual assembly this week.

As the LCWR prepared for the annual meeting, at which members will discuss the Vatican’s demand for reform, the group’s president, Sister Patricia Farrell, told reporters that the group would continue to question Church teachings. She expressed concern that in the Vatican’s eyes, “that questioning is seen as defiance.”

“I would also say that there are very few doctrines in the Church that are not discussable, that are absolutely infallible,” the LCWR president said. She voiced her conviction that the women religious of the LCWR would “continue raising and responding to questions, according to our own consciences and according to new information and questions that arise in our day.”

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UNITED STATES
dotCommonweal

August 6, 2012, 10:07 pm

Posted by Eric Bugyis

The Immanent Frame has been continuing to post a series of articles from the “Sex Abuse and the Study of Religion” conference hosted at Yale by Kathryn Lofton last September. I commented on Lofton’s provocative opening post here. In that piece, she argued that for scholars of religion the perpetration and cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church ought to be understood, among other things, as a case of religious praxis. Given that the abuse took place in the context of theologically coded relationships, often occurred in ecclesial spaces, and was systematically covered-up by a hierarchy who claim a divine mandate to protect the institution from scandal, Lofton argued that an analysis of the abuse crisis that explains it primarily against the backdrop of secular culture, as the John Jay reports did, is short-sighted.

Not surprisingly, Lofton’s piece raised several difficult questions concerning the substantive role of theological rhetoric in the perpetration and cover-up of abuse. Was theology simply deployed by abusers to “rationalize” their behavior, or is there something problematic in some of the Church’s traditional theological tropes themselves that lent moral plausibility to such abuse? Did the clinical language of psychopathology give clarity or confusion to those charged with responding to cases of abuse? Was the perpetuation of abuse aided by the monarchical ecclesiology of the Church, or was it caused precisely by the more permissive, democratizing, and secularizing ecclesiastical influences of Vatican II? Mark Jordan addresses these questions in his recent contribution to the forum. Here’s a key paragraph on the first question:

The possibility of authorizing abuse theologically follows too easily from the always exceptional status claimed for modern church power. In modern Catholic contexts, official languages often pretend to be exempt from qualification, questioning, or appeal. They are absolute languages. They function in a state of exception. When that rhetorical character is extended to traditional images of a masculinized God or angel who ravishes—rapes—souls that are gendered as feminine, then erotic domination seems to receive divine blessing.

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VIRGINIA
The Virginian-Pilot

By Elisabeth Hulette
The Virginian-Pilot
August 7, 2012

VIRGINIA BEACH

Police have charged a minister with sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy about six years ago.

Gregory Douglas Forehand, 40, of the 600 block of Brisa Court in Chesapeake, has been charged with taking indecent liberties with a child.

Forehand was identified by police as the youth minister at Real Life Christian Church on N. Centerville Turnpike. The church’s website has Forehand listed as lead minister. He has been released on bond.

The police department’s Special Victims Unit learned Aug. 4 of allegations of sexual abuse taking place between May 2005 and June 2006.

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COLOMBIA
Caracol Radio

El Cuerpo Técnico de Investigaciones de la Fiscalía acaba de capturar, en el norte de Bogotá, a Alexandra Castro, de quien se dice es pareja sentimental del pastor Álvaro Javier Gámez Torres, investigado por varios casos de abuso sexual en el departamento de Nariño.

El juez que lleva el caso del pastor ordenó la captura de su compañera quien sería vinculada a una investigación por el delito de acto sexual en persona indefensa y en incapacidad de resistir.

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COLOMBIA
Diario del Sur

En un operativo conjunto del CTI de Pasto y de Bogotá, fue privada de la libertad Johana Alexandra Castro Becerra, acusada como coautora del delito de actos sexuales con persona puesta en incapacidad de resistir.

En un baño de un apartamento del norte de Bogotá trató de esconderse Johana Alexandra Castro Becerra, la mujer que es acusada de ser la principal cómplice del pastor Alvaro Gámez Torres, sindicado de haber abusado sexualmente de varias integrantes de la Iglesia Evangélica Salem que tiene su sede en la ciudad de Pasto.

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VIRGINIA
WTVR

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WTVR) — A pastor in Virginia Beach is facing charges of sex crimes against a teen.

On August 4th, the Virginia Beach Police Special Victims Unit was notified of a case of sexual abuse from 2005 to 2006.

Police say the victim reported being abused by the Youth Minister of his church.

The victim was 16 years old at the time of the alleged abuse according to officials. It was reported this had happened on several occasions at the suspect’s home.

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COLOMBIA
Colombia Reports

Courtney Scott

Colombian authorities have captured the partner of the pastor accused of sexually abusing at least 27 women, local media reported Monday.

Alexandra Castro was captured Monday by authorities north of Bogota on the charge of being accomplice to Reverend Alvaro Javier Gamez Torres, a pastor accused of sexually abusing members of his congregation.

The religious leader fled after evidence was submitted against him with implications of abusing many members of his Christian church “Salem” in the southern Nariño department, many of which were reportedly minors. The reverend surrendered in the country’s capitol after being on the run for one month.

Investigations into the case implicated Castro as the pastor’s partner, and the order for her capture was submitted. Allegedly, Castro was responsible for contacting the women and organizing meetings with the pastor where sexual abuse took place.

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MONTANA
Bradenton Herald

By MATT VOLZ — Associated Press

HELENA, Mont. — New claims of sexual abuse at the hands of Roman Catholic clergy are coming from the Blackfeet Indian reservation, bringing to at least 280 the total number of plaintiffs in two lawsuits seeking damages from the diocese that oversees western Montana.

One lawsuit alone has 200 plaintiffs after eight more were added Monday. Many are Native Americans who claim they were abused as children at schools, in orphanages, in church or in their homes.

They say the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena knew or should have known about the abuse, but covered it up instead of stopping it. The lawsuit says 26 clergy members were involved in the abuse that stretches back to the 1940s.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

Judge M. Teresa Sarmina today denied a defense motion that would have allowed Msgr. William J. Lynn out on bail pending an appeal of his historic conviction. Lynn, the first Catholic administrator in the country to be convicted in connection with clerical sex abuse, has been in jail since June 22, when a jury convicted him of one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a third-degree felony.

On July 24, Judge Sarmina sentenced Lynn to three to six years in prison for failing to protect a 10-year-old altar boy back in 1999 from a predator priest. The defense argued that by the time an appeal is heard, the monsignor may have already served his prison sentence, which is why Lynn’s defense lawyers thought the monsignor should be freed during the appeal process.

Judge Sarmina, however, rejected that motion. She said that technically under the law, Lynn was not entitled to bail because his sentence was more than two years in duration. Jeff Lindy, one of Lynn’s defense lawyers, argued that although Lynn did not have a right to bail, it was within the judge’s powers of discretion to grant him bail.

Lindy cited extraordinary circumstances, namely that Lynn had been the first supervisor in the history of Pennsylvania to be charged under the 1972 state statute for endangering the welfare of a child. Normally, those charged under the child endangerment statute had direct contact with children, such as teachers, parents or guardians. Lynn, however, never laid eyes on the victim in this case, the former 10-year-old altar boy, until he took the witness stand during the monsignor’s trial.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writer

Citing the “serious nature of his conduct,” a Philadelphia judge denied a request Monday by lawyers for Msgr. William J. Lynn to free the 61-year-old former archdiocesan official on bail while he appeals his child-endangerment conviction.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina rejected the motion by defense lawyers Jeffrey M. Lindy and Alan J. Tauber after an often-acrimonious 15-minute hearing.

On July 24, Sarmina sentenced Lynn to three to six years in prison after a jury found him guilty of child endangerment in the landmark Catholic clergy sex-abuse trial.

Lynn was not at the hearing. He had waived his right to be present and is at the state prison at Camp Hill, near Harrisburg.

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VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

[with video]

August 6, 2012. (Romereports.com) The scandal known as Vatileaks that shook hierarchy of the Catholic Church has been a long story with many details. Here is a look back at how it all started and where the case stands now.

On January 25, the Italian television program known as ‘The Untouchables’ first revealed the letters written by the Vatican official, Monsignor Carlo Maria Viganò, in which he complained to the Pope that many of the construction and work projects payed for by the Holy See were being charged much more than a normal price. He was right, but his complaints upset many inside the Roman Curia.

In response, the Pope decided to send Viganò to the United States as a nuncio. Afterward, in another letter, he asked the Pope that his new position not be seen as a retaliation, he then named some of those who opposed his management of the Vatican State. Quien?

The next day, on January 26, the Vatican spokesperson, Federico Lombardi, made a statement expressing his “bitterness over the release of classified documents” and left open the possibility of legal action.

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VATICAN CITY
AFP

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI’s butler is likely to be charged with leaking confidential papers, his lawyer said Monday, days before a Vatican judge is expected to rule on whether Paolo Gabriele will stand trial.

“We expect a formal charge,” lawyer Carlo Fusco told Italian news agency ANSA. The Vatican has said the decision over whether Gabriele will be charged with “aggravated theft” is expected some time between Thursday and Saturday.

The 46-year-old was arrested in May during an investigation into the leak of private papal documents to the media. He was held for 53 days in a Vatican cell before being put under house arrest in July to await the judge’s decision.

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NEDERLAND
Parool

Een rapport van een rechtspsycholoog dat is opgesteld in opdracht van de van misbruik betichte pastoor Jan Schafraad uit Maastricht, mag donderdag gewoon worden gebruikt. Op die dag wordt een zitting over Schafraad gehouden van het meldpunt seksueel misbruik binnen de RK kerk.

Twee misbruikslachtoffers spanden maandag een kort geding aan tegen de pastoor. Zij willen dat het rapport niet wordt gebruikt omdat er privégegevens over hen in staan. De rechter doet pas over twee weken uitspraak in dit geding. Hierdoor kan het rapport tijdens de zitting van het meldpunt aan de orde komen.

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VATICAN CITY
The Independent (United Kingdom)

Michael Day
Milan

Tuesday 07 August 2012

The Vatican has been accused of rejecting Bulgaria’s new choice of ambassador to the Holy See because he wrote a novel containing a gay sex scene.

Kiril Maritchkov, a 39-year-old lawyer who speaks five languages including Italian, and is married to an Italian woman, would appear to be an ideal choice for Sofia’s representative at the Vatican.

However, Bulgarian newspapers and the Italian press are reporting that an explicit encounter between a young Eastern European male prostitute and a Roman in Mr Maritchkov’s popular novel, ‘Clandestination’, has upset officials at the Holy See, despite the Catholic church’s less-than-spotless record on sexual transgression.

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