ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

July 16, 2012

Church has employer’s duty of liability for parish priests

UNITED KINGDOM
UK Human Rights Blog

July 16, 2012 by Rosalind English

JEG v The Trustees of the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan [2012] EWCA Civ 938

Elizabeth Anne-Gumbel QCand Justin Levinson of One Crown Office Row acted for the claimant in this case. They did not write this post.

The Court of Appeal has now confirmed that the church can be held liable for the negligent acts of a priest it has appointed. Permission to appeal to the Supreme Court has been refused.

This appeal was another preliminary stage in the main action between the claimant’s action for damages following the alleged sexual abuse and assault by a parish priest (now deceased), and the trustees of the diocesan where he served. The Court of Appeal has now confirmed that the defendants can held to account, even though there was no formal employment relationship between Father Baldwin and the Diocesan – see Rachit Buch’s post for an excellent analysis of the issues and summary of the facts.

Background

The claimant argued that the defendants should be held liable for the wrongdoing of the priest because at the time they “operated and/or managed and/or were responsible for” the church where he served. The defendants were said to have entrusted the safe keeping and care of the claimant to Father Baldwin. It was also alleged that the sexual abuse and assaults perpetrated by the priest were committed in the course of or were closely connected with his employment and therefore that the defendants were vicariously liable for the injury and damage which the claimant suffered.

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

Most Brooklyn Abuse Cases Involve Kin

NEW YORK
Forward

By Paul Berger

Published July 16, 2012, issue of July 20, 2012.

Recent media accounts of child sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s Orthodox community have highlighted the threat victims face from teachers, rabbis and yeshiva staff as perpetrators, and the special pressures — even intimidation — they face from community leaders not to report such cases to secular law enforcement.

But a list of child sexual abuse cases in that community suggests that another source of pressure, even closer to home, may be at least as important.

The list, released by Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes earlier this year, describes 97 abuse cases that Hynes says he prosecuted over the last three years. According to the data, 20% of these cases involved family members — usually fathers, brothers or uncles — and another 37% involved a perpetrator who was a friend or acquaintance.

By contrast, only about 12% of the cases appeared to involve rabbis, bar mitzvah tutors, counselors or yeshiva employees, including janitors and security guards. The next largest group of perpetrators consisted of strangers, who accounted for about 17% of Hynes’s Orthodox-related prosecutions.

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

Livingston Priest Victims Talk About Abuse

NEW JERSEY
Patch

By Scott Egelberg

Just days after reaching a settlement with the Archdiocese of Newark, some of the men who allege that they were sexually abused by the Rev. John Laferrera as youngsters assembled outside St. Philomena Roman Catholic Church on Sunday to talk about the case.

Earlier this week, the Newark Star Ledger reported that the Archdiocese “quietly reached a six-figure settlement with six alleged victims last month” and Laferrera was stripped of his collar and sent into retirement. No mention was made as to whether he will keep his pension or not.

“He is no longer administering,” archdiocese spokesman James Goodness said. “He is out of the ministry.”

Laferrera stepped down approximately a year ago from his position as monsignor of St. Philomena following escalating complaints. Before that he served 13 years at St. Aloysius in Caldwell. The men who settled with the church say the abuse happened in the late 1970s and early 1980s, while Laferrera was pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish in Newark.

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

Priest at Don Bosco school arrested for molesting male student

INDIA
NDTV

Reported by Monideepa Banerjie, Edited by Abhinav Bhatt (With IANS inputs) | Updated: July 16, 2012

Kolkata: The warden of the Don Bosco School at Sagardighi in West Bengal, about 238 kilometres from state capital Kolkata, has been arrested for allegedly molesting a 10-year-old student. Father James Soren had been missing since Thursday when the Class V student complained to his parents.

The incident happened on Wednesday night when Soren called the child and allegedly molested him. The child later told his father about the incident – a resident of Raghunathganj, some 277 kilometres from Kolkata – following which a police complaint was lodged.

“Father James Soren was arrested and booked today for sexual assault after being accused by the father of a ten-year-old boy, a boarder in the school’s hostel, of calling him to his room and sexually assaulting him,” Additional Superintendent of Police Mrinal Majumdar said.

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

Priest removed after ‘concerns’

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Colm Kelpie

Monday July 16 2012

A PRIEST in the Diocese of Ferns is no longer ministering after alleged concerns were raised about him.

The Institute of the Incarnate Word, founded in Argentina in 1984, informed the Wexford diocese about three weeks ago that Fr Ignacio Mikalonis was no longer available for ministry.

The diocese said the Institute “made it known that there were concerns in his (Fr Mikalonis’) regard, which remain undetermined”.

However, the diocese declined to give further information on the nature of the concerns.

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

Priest in court on sex abuse charges

UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

Published on Monday 16 July 2012

FORMER high ranking priest Canon Gordon Rideout from Eastbourne is pictured arriving at court this morning (Monday July 16) to face charges of sexually abusing young people.

Rideout, 73, of Filching Close, Wannock, is alleged to have committed 38 offences between 1962 and 1973 in Crawley, London and Hampshire.

Some 36 of the 38 alleged offences are of indecent assault on girls and boys in their early teens and he also faces two counts of attempting to rape a girl between 1962 and 1966.

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

Ex-Delco priest deemed unsuitable for ministry

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Times

By PATTI MENGERS
pmengers@delcotimes.com

Twenty months after federal agents seized his computer in connection with a potential pyramid scheme, the Rev. Geraldo Pinero has been deemed unsuitable for ministry by Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.

The 47-year-old Roman Catholic priest, who served at St. Joseph Parish in Aston from 2000 to 2003, was found to be in violation of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries.

In a press release, archdiocesan officials declined to elaborate on the priest’s violation, but noted that he has been on administrative leave from his position as pastor of Incarnation of Our Lord parish in the Olney section of Philadelphia since November 2010 “when federal authorities executed a search warrant at the parish rectory.”

According to the Associated Press, on Nov. 16, 2010, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided Incarnation’s rectory and seized a computer after learning Pinero allegedly endorsed online multilevel marketing companies. Reportedly, none of the companies were found guilty of any wrongdoing, but Federal Communications Commission officials warned that such plans can be dubious pyramid schemes.

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

Chaput removes priest who ran an online business

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Walter F. Naedele and Jane M. Von Bergen
Inquirer Staff Writers

A Roman Catholic Philadelphia priest who has identified himself as “an online business owner” – a avocation not permitted by the church – has been removed as “unsuitable for ministry,” Archbishop Charles J. Chaput announced on Sunday

The Rev. Geraldo Pinero, former pastor of Incarnation of Our Lord Church, 5105 N. Fifth St. in the Olney neighborhood, had committed “a substantiated violation of the Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries,” the announcement said.

The announcement did not define his violation.

But the priest was “a local face of a pyramid-like Illinois-based enterprise calling itself Teamwork Revolution Power Systems,” The Inquirer reported after federal agents served a search warrant on the Incarnation rectory in November 2010.

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

Belgische bisschop wil getrouwde priesters

BELGIE
Kerknieuws

De Antwerpse bisschop Johan Bonny wil graag getrouwde mannen tot priester wijden. Dat zegt hij in een interview met De Standaard. Dat een bisschop zo’n klare taal spreekt, is een belangrijke evolutie, oordeelt theoloog Jürgen Mettepenningen.

Gehuwde priesters kunnen een verrijking van de pastorale dienstverlening betekenen, vindt Johan Bonny. In deze paastijden neemt de Antwerpse bisschop geen blad voor de mond. Met zijn uitspraken gaat hij lijnrecht in tegen Rome.

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

Nieuw meldpunt seksueel misbruik

NEDERLAND
Kerknieuws

“Maak haast met een meldpunt voor slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik”. Die oproep deed Rieke Samson gisteren in dagblad Trouw. Nog dezelfde dag maakte staatssecretaris van Volksgezondheid Marlies Veldhuijzen van Zanten bekend dat er inderdaad zo’n meldpunt komt en dat dat op 1 oktober van start gaat.

Het nieuwe meldpunt wordt ondergebracht bij Slachtofferhulp Nederland (SHN). Via één landelijk nummer worden slachtoffers snel in contact gebracht met de juiste hulpverleners en instanties.

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

‘Misbruik was publiek geheim’

NEDERLAND
Kerknieuws

Dat pastoor H. Boonk in de jaren ’70 en ’80 van de vorige eeuw misdienaars seksueel misbruikte, was een publiek geheim in het Overijsselse dorp Albergen. Veel mensen wisten ervan. Het is ook meer dan eens gemeld bij de deken en de bisschop, maar daarna is nooit gecontroleerd of er ook iets met die meldingen is gedaan.

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

Sin, spin and sex abuse in the church and military

AUSTRALIA
Eureka Street

Editorial

Michael Mullins July 15, 2012

Church leaders have a responsibility to protect the reputation of the institution of the Church. They are also custodians of a very high moral duty to protect the most vulnerable in their care, including sexual abuse victims.

It is a common criticism that they have previously given priority to looking after the reputation of the institution over the needs of sexual abuse victims, who have suffered further as a result.

On the other side, many critics are not obviously concerned about the rights of the Church’s ‘good people’ and positive values represented by the institution.

It appears they wish to see the needs of victims addressed in isolation.

There is goood reason for suggesting the needs of victims are more important than those of the institution, but it is not helpful in the long term to assign priority to one or the other. Because the sexual abuse problem is endemic, the long term common good requires a more wholistic strategy.

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

EDITORIAL: Painful similarities between Archdiocese, PSU

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

Published: Sunday, July 15, 2012

Since the sickening news broke last November of alleged sexual abuse of minors by Penn State University ex-assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, the similarities with the clerical sexual abuse cases in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia have been painfully apparent.

Sandusky, who recently was convicted of sexually assaulting 10 boys over a period of 15 years, continued to have access to boys on campus even after Penn State officials were informed of suspected assaults. More than 60 priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia allegedly assaulted children over six decades and were reported to church officials who, in many cases, gave them continued access to children by simply moving them from parish to unsuspecting parish.

In both instances, it took grand jury investigations to bring these disturbing allegations and subsequent cover-ups to light.

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

July 15, 2012

Priest ‘Jerry from Philly’ barred from ministry

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
York Daily Record

The Associated Press
Updated: 07/15/2012

PHILADELPHIA—The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia says a priest involved in online money-making promotions and suspended after federal agents seized a computer from his inner-city rectory has been barred from public ministry.

The Rev. Geraldo Pinero, who called himself “Jerry from Philly” online, stepped down as pastor of Incarnation of Our Lord in north Philadelphia following the November 2010 raid.

Archdiocese officials said in a news release Sunday that Pinero since then has been barred from public ministry and also prohibited from wearing clerical garb or presenting himself as a priest. They cited the raid and said the finding was due to “a substantiated violation of the standards of ministerial behavior and boundaries” but were not more specific.

Pinero, 47, known as “Father Jerry” in the parish, advertised scented candles, life coaching and get-rich-quick ideas online. An archdiocese spokeswoman has said that priests are typically not permitted to pursue secular jobs, except for teaching and other approved posts.

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

A Bittersweet Anniversary

LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on July 15, 2012

This weekend marks the five-year anniversary of the 2007 Los Angeles Archdiocese’s $660 million settlement with more than 500 victims of child sexual abuse by priests, religious, employees and volunteers. While the financial settlement has allowed many Los Angeles victims to get therapy, healing and a sense of justice, the real reason many of these victims came forward still remains elusive.

To date, the public still has not seen the tens of thousands of pages of sex abuse and cover-up documents. Those are still “stuck in the system,” and the latest ruling by an LA judge will require that all names in the documents be redacted.

Hundreds of former priests are still living unmonitored and unsupervised in communities full of children. Although the LA Archdiocese pays for retirements of many of these men, they refuse to take responsibility for the safety of children around these known predators.

And Cardinal Roger Mahony, who supervised many of these predator clerics? Well, he’s enjoying retirement.

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

Chaput removes Olney priest involved in side business

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Walter F. Naedele and Jane M. Von Bergen
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

A Roman Catholic Philadelphia priest, who has identified himself as “an online business owner” – a avocation not permitted by the church – has been removed as “unsuitable for ministry,” Archbishop Charles J. Chaput announced on Sunday.

The Rev. Geraldo Pinero, former pastor of Incarnation of Our Lord Church, 5105 N. Fifth St. in the Olney neighborhood, had committed “a substantiated violation of The Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries,” the announcement stated.

The announcement did not define his violation.

But the priest was “a local face of a pyramid-like Illinois-based enterprise calling itself Teamwork Revolution Power Systems,” The Inquirer reported after federal agents served a search warrant on the Incarnation rectory in November 2010.

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

U.S. Confidence in Organized Religion at Low Point

UNITED STATES
Gallup

[with graphs]

Catholics’ confidence remains significantly lower than Protestants’

by Lydia Saad

PRINCETON, NJ — Forty-four percent of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in “the church or organized religion” today, just below the low points Gallup has found in recent years, including 45% in 2002 and 46% in 2007. This follows a long-term decline in Americans’ confidence in religion since the 1970s.

In 1973, “the church or organized religion” was the most highly rated institution in Gallup’s confidence in institutions measure, and it continued to rank first in most years through 1985, outranking the military and the U.S. Supreme Court, among others. That began to change in the mid- to late 1980s as confidence in organized religion first fell below 60%, possibly resulting from scandals during that time involving famed televangelist preachers Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. Confidence in religion returned to 60% in 2001, only to be rocked the following year by charges of child molestation by Catholic priests and cover-up by some in the church.

The latest results are from Gallup’s June 7-10 update of its annual “Confidence in Institutions” question. The same poll found Americans’ confidence in public schools, banks, and television news at their all-time lowest, perhaps reflecting a broader souring of Americans’ confidence in societal institutions in 2012. Still, the church/organized religion ranks fourth this year among the 16 institutions tested, on par with the medical system.

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

UPDATE REGARDING REVEREND GERALDO J. PIÑERO

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Reverend Geraldo Piñero has been found unsuitable for ministry by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput after a substantiated violation of The Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries.

Father Piñero had stepped down as pastor of Incarnation of Our Lord Parish in the Olney section of Philadelphia in November 2010 when federal authorities executed a search warrant at the parish rectory. His ministry has been restricted since that time and he has not been permitted to exercise his public ministry, wear clerical garb or present himself publicly as a priest.

An announcement was made at Incarnation of Our Lord Parish when Fr. Piñero stepped down and was placed on leave in November 2010. An update was provided at the parish this weekend. Counselors were present.

On May 4th and July 6th, Archbishop Chaput announced a total of 14 resolutions to the 26 cases of priests on administrative leave as a result of the February 2011 Grand Jury report. The announcement regarding Father Piñero is not connected to those cases.

Father Piñero is 47 years old. He was ordained in 1991. He served at the following parishes and schools: Incarnation of Our Lord, Philadelphia (1991-1997); Personal Leave (1997-2000) with residence at Saint Bridget, Philadelphia (1997-1999), Saint Charles Borromeo, Philadelphia (1999), and at a private residence (1999-2000). He also served at Saint Joseph, Aston (2000-2003) and Incarnation of Our Lord, Philadelphia (2003-2011).

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

Philly priest found unsuitable for ministry

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WPVI

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – July 15, 2012 (WPVI) — The Archdiocese of Philadelphia says a priest who was suspended after federal agents seized a computer from his inner-city rectory has been found unsuitable for ministry.

The Rev. Geraldo Pinero had stepped down as pastor of Incarnation of Our Lord parish in north Philadelphia following a November 2010 raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The archdiocese cited the raid and said the finding was due to “a substantiated violation of the standards of ministerial behavior and boundaries” but gave no other details.

Forty-seven-year-old Pinero was known as “Father Jerry” in the parish but called himself “Jerry From Philly” online, where he hawked scented candles, life coaching and get-rich-quick ideas.

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

Priest sex case reviewer will be named this week

AUSTRALIA
The Armidale Express

16 Jul, 2012

THE NAME of the person commissioned to undertake an independent review of the Father F case and the terms of reference of the inquiry will be released this week.

The Catholic Bishop of Armidale, the Most Reverend Michael Kennedy, released a one paragraph statement on Thursday evening in response to inquiries relating to the review he had announced last week.

“It is expected that the name of the independent person and terms of reference should be released by early next week,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the mother of one of Father F’s victims said the family had not talked to police or a legal representative since the actions of the former priest and the church’s response to the molestation allegations were aired on the Four Corners program on ABC-TV on July 2.

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

Nachrichten: Italien: Bischofssprecher wegen Missbrauchsverdacht verhaftet

ITALIEN
Gloria.TV

(gloria.tv/ KNA) In Italien hat die Polizei am Wochenende den Pressesprecher eines katholischen Bischofs wegen des Verdachts auf sexuellen Missbrauch verhaftet. Der Priester Giacomo Ruggeri, Leiter der Kommunikationsabteilung des Bistums Fano, soll sich an einem 13-jährigen Mädchen vergangen haben, berichtet die katholische Tageszeitung «Avvenire» (Samstag).

Bischof Armando Trasarti hat Ruggeri von allen seelsorgerischen Aufgaben entbunden und ihm die Spendung der Sakramente untersagt. Der Priester wurde nach der Festnahme in das Gefängnis von Pesaro gebracht.

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

Vol complexen en frustraties

NEDERLAND
Cinema

In ‘The Magdalene Sisters’ draait Peter Mullan er niet omheen: de katholieke kerk is een barbaarse instelling, die flirterige meisjes opsluit en ze vervolgens misbruikt. Het Vaticaan ontstak in woede. ‘Niemand durft zoiets te zeggen over het jodendom of de Islam.’

Volgens de overlevering kreeg Alfred Hitchcock tijdens een autotocht door Zwitserland de schrik van zijn leven. Hitchcock keek uit het raam en riep: ‘Dit is vreselijk. Dit is het vreselijkste dat ik ooit heb gezien.’ Zijn gezelschap zag niets alarmerends. Pas in tweede instantie zag het in de verte een priester. Hij was in gesprek met een klein jongetje, op wiens schouder hij zijn hand had gelegd. Hitchcock, tegen de jongen: ‘Ren, jongen! Ren voor je leven!’

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

Spiegel-Online-Panorama: Trier – Bischof Ackermann entlässt Priester wegen verjährten Missbrauchs an Jungen vor über 30 Jahren

DEUTSCHLAND
K13

Stephan Ackermann fängt mit dem “Aufräumen” in der Kath. Kirche an: Erster pädophiler Priester wurde im Bistum Trier aus der christlichen Glaubensgemeinschaft ausgestoßen und entlassen

Der Trierer Bischof und Missbrauchsbeauftrage der Katholische Kirche Stephan Ackermann hat offensichtlich nun doch dem öffentlichen Druck nachgegeben und einen Theologieprofessor & ehemaligen Priester entlassen. Der Priester, der sich bereits im Ruhestand befindet, soll angeblich zwischen 1966 und 1980 fünf minderjährige Jungen missbraucht haben. Es gab damals zwar ein polizeiliches Ermittlungsverfahren, aber keine gerichtliche Verurteilung, weil der vermeindliche Vorfall juristisch verjährt gewesen ist. Demnach gab es auch keine strafrechtlichen Beweise für einen “sexuellen Missbrauch”. Die jetzigen Anschuldigungen beruhen lediglich auf den Angaben des heute erwachsenen “Opfers”. Nach über 30 Jahren kann es keine konkreten Beweise von einer “Tat” mehr geben…

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

Heimskandal: Pfarrer bat zur “Reinigung”

OSTERREICH
Kurier

Der sensationellen Entscheidung des Bundessozialamtes, einem ehemaligen Heimkind eine staatliche Pension zukommen zu lassen (der KURIER berichtete in der Sonntag-Ausgabe) , liegt ein tragisches, persönliches Schicksal zugrunde.

Die gebürtige Salzburgerin Heike K., 68, (Name von der Redaktion geändert) lebt heute in Deutschland. Als Kind wurde sie missbraucht, mit 14 wurde sie schwanger, mit 16 in das Tiroler Fürsorge-Erziehungsheim St. Martin in Schwaz gesteckt. “Das war für sie der Horror”, sagt ihr Anwalt Christian Sailer. Heike K. lebt heute zurückgezogen. Die Pension wurde ihr zuerkannt, da sie schwere psychische und physische Probleme hat, die auf Verbrechen zurückgehen, die in St. Martin verübt wurden.

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

Missbrauchsprävention: „Viele Länder hinken noch hinterher“

ROM
Radio Vatikan

Das Internationale Symposium zu kirchlichem Missbrauch, das im Februar in Rom Vertreter des Vatikan, Psychologen, Rechtsexperten und Ordensvertreter versammelte, war für viele Bischofskonferenzen der Welt ein „Augenöffner“. Das betont Pater Hans Zollner, Direktor des Instituts für Psychologie an der päpstlichen Universität Gregoriana. Fünf Monate nach der Tagung berichtet Zollner im Gespräch mit Radio Vatikan von ersten Zwischenergebnissen der kirchlichen Missbrauchsprävention. Zugleich benennt der Jesuit im Interview mit Anne Preckel klar die Probleme und „Baustellen“ im Kampf gegen Missbrauch.

„Speziell, was folgende Fragen angeht, müssen wir sicherlich noch nachlegen: der Umgang mit Opfern, der Umgang mit kirchlichen Verantwortlichen, die nicht den Leitlinien, die die Bischofskonferenz eingeführt hat, folgen. Was natürlich auch Konsequenzen hat für rechtliche Fragen im Umgang mit Bischöfen, mit Oberen, die sich nicht an das halten, was eigentlich Vorschrift ist.“

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

Stockende Aufarbeitung: Die katholische Kirche und der Missbrauchsskandal

DEUTSCHLAND
netzwerkB

Norbert Denef ist Sprecher der Organisation netzwerkB, die sich für die Rechte der Opfer einsetzt. Mit dem HUNGERSTREIK will Norbert Denef, der in Scharbeutz an der Ostsee lebt, vor allem erreichen, dass die strafrechtliche Verjährung aufgehoben wird.

Auch Prof. Dr. Christian Pfeiffer, Leiter des Kriminologischen Forschungsinstituts Niedersachsen, plädiert für eine Aufhebung der Verjährungsfrist, weil die Betroffenen den Missbrauch oft jahrzehntelang verdrängen: “Das kann man diesen Menschen nicht vorwerfen, dass die Kraft dazu, sich zu entscheiden, hier in jungen Jahren nicht da ist. Dass oft Anstöße von außen, die zufällig kommen, eine Rolle spielen. Der Rechtsstaat bricht nicht zusammen, wenn wir aus guten Gründen hier eine Sonderregelung schaffen und Herrn Denefs Wunsch entsprechen.”

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

Moneyval report on Vatican money secrets, alleged laundering expected Wednesday

VATICAN CITY
Toronto Sun

Philip Pullella, REUTERS

First posted: Sunday, July 15, 2012

VATICAN CITY – A European report on efforts by the Vatican to embrace financial transparency after a series of scandals involving its bank will laud recent reforms but also underscore what remains to be done to reach international standards in all areas.

According to people familiar with the still-secret report, due to be issued on Wednesday by a department of the Council of Europe, the eagerly anticipated evaluation will give the Vatican an overall passing grade in key areas but criticize others.

The report is by Moneyval, “The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism”, which is the Council’s monitoring mechanism that ensures that member states comply with international financial standards.

The external evaluation and recommendations are a milestone for the Vatican, which has been trying to shed its image as a suspect financial centre since 1982, when Roberto Calvi, an Italian known as “God’s Banker” because of his links to the Vatican, died under mysterious circumstances.

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

Priests should rein in voracious sex instincts

ZIMBABWE
The Standard

Sunday, 15 July 2012

Spending most of our teenage years at a Catholic secondary school, we never really believed that priests and nuns were celibate. It was impossible for us adolescent African boys, born and bred in rural areas, where we received our sex education as soon as we realised we were boys and not girls, to agree to the lie that a real man could live without a woman for all his life.

Our highly patriarchal sex education inculcated into us that boys should have girlfriends, marry them at the appropriate time and have children. The real man loved women and had several at his beck and call. It was, with the benefit of hindsight, the wrong kind of education, hence the now entrenched “small house” phenomenon. It seems our priests also went through the same education.

At the mission school we always paired certain priests with certain nuns and alleged that they had sex romps once in a while. The more imaginative boys described in sordid detail how they had “seen with their own eyes” Father So-n-so doing it “live” with Sister So-n-so. The situation was not helped by open friendships exhibited by some priests and nuns.

We were innocent little boys who admired these priests for the education they gave us, both in the classroom and on the sport field; like us, they loved macho sport. If abuse of boys was present we didn’t see it perhaps because we were too innocent to even think that homosexuality existed. Looking back, and putting one and one together, some incidents come up that may suggest there were “special” relationships between some boys and some priests.

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American Confidence In Organized Religion At Lowest Point Ever

UNITED STATES
The New Civil Rights Movement

by David Badash on July 12, 2012

Gallup today released a scathing survey, finding that Americans’ confidence in organized religion is at its lowest point since Gallup began asking the question in 1973. Currently, only 44% of Americans hold “a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the church or organized religion,” down from a high of 68% in 1975.

Gallup points to the Church’s sex abuse scandals, which include the great many and infamous child sex abuse and rape scandals that continue to plague the Catholic Church, as a key reason for the continual drop in confidence of organized religion, but notes that “the decline in confidence does not necessarily indicate a decline in Americans’ personal attachment to religion. The percentage of Americans saying religion is very important in their lives has held fairly steady since the mid-1970s, after dropping sharply from 1952 levels.”

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Father of pope’s imprisoned butler …

VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

Father of pope’s imprisoned butler defends son over leaks of sensitive Vatican documents

By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, July 15

VATICAN CITY — The father of Pope Benedict XVI’s imprisoned butler says his son is honest and hopes the truth will emerge concerning the leaks of sensitive Vatican documents.

Andrea Gabriele wrote a letter Sunday to television station Tgcom 24, the first time Paolo Gabriele’s family has commented on his alleged involvement in the scandal since his May 23 arrest. The documents, which were published in Italian media, exposed infighting and power struggles in the highest levels of the Vatican.

While Andrea Gabriele defended his son, he hinted that the motivation behind the leaks was to expose wrongdoing for the sake of purifying the church. He said his son was “paying the price first-hand.”

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Bill Donohue Disgraces Himself Again

UNITED STATES
Anti-Catholic League

By David Fortwengler

On July 10th Bill Donohue, president of the pro Catholic bishop group the Catholic League, issued another of his infamous diatribes in a news release. Titled “SNAP Disgraces Itself Again” bombastic Bill was responding to a paid advertisement SNAP ran in the NY Times.

The high-decibel speaking Donohue’s main complaint is that SNAP didn’t mention in its ad the “positive reforms” made by U.S. bishops over the last decade. What Donohue ignores is the “reforms” made since 2002 are in spite of the bishops, not because of them. The bishops were forced by societies outrage at their illegal and immoral behavior that was uncovered in investigations by media, government, and civil lawyers.

I believe the most important reform the church has made is background checks and training about child sex abuse for its volunteers. I am grateful for these changes but make no mistake, catholic parishioners are not to blame for the scandal. My parents weren’t aware a known pedophile was assigned to our parish in charge of the altar boys, the diocese and the bishop were.

Donohue’s organization is a professional bishop excuser group. Not professional as in competent, professional as in highly paid to spew nonsense. When the Catholic League claims the “scandal” ended in the mid-eighties he ignores the definition of scandal.

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Priest helped by his police friend to bring charges against boy

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

July 16, 2012

Rory Callinan

AN ARMIDALE priest suspected of child abuse was assisted by a ”mate” who was a policeman to bring blackmail charges against one his former altar boy victims, court transcripts reveal.

The charges resulted in the victim, Daniel Powell, going on trial and appeared to permanently halt police investigations into his allegations of abuse.

Mr Powell was found not guilty of blackmail in 2004 but committed suicide in 2007. The priest, whose name was suppressed during the proceedings, admitted under cross examination during Mr Powell’s trial that he had told senior church officials in 1992 that he had sexually abused children.

The Catholic Church’s handling of the priest, dubbed Father F, has come under scrutiny after a recent Four Corners investigation. It has raised questions as to whether the church should have reported him to police, rather than taking internal disciplinary action.

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Some would welcome new blood, others won’t

ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat and Chronicle

With a reputation as a strict enforcer of the Catholic faith, Pope Benedict XVI earned the moniker “God’s Rottweiler” shortly after he was elected in April 2005.

That reputation has some members of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester concerned that the successor to Bishop Matthew Clark will be a man who mirrors the Pope’s unwavering conservative stances on social issues.

“This is a very well-educated diocese, and also an educated diocese in terms of the faith,” said Mary Kate Driscoll of Rochester. “I cannot see this community surviving with some sort of totalitarian ‘Because I said so,’ kind of guy.”

But that’s exactly the type of bishop that some are hoping for.

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Former principal facing child porn charges

COLORADO
San Francisco Chronicle

DENVER (AP) — A former private Christian school principal facing child pornography charges has been released on bond.

KUSA-TV (http://on9news.tv/NqZEvG ) reports Daniel Ivan Ashby must stay at his parents’ house, and no one in the home is allowed to have a computer or Internet access.

Ashby, who resigned from Community Christian School in Northglenn on Dec. 6, has been charged with distributing and possessing child pornography.

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Pedofilia:arresti portavoce vescovo Fano

ITALIA
euronews

(ANSA)- FANO (PESARO URBINO), 13 LUG – Il portavoce del vescovodi Fano (Pesaro Urbino) don Giangiacomo Ruggeri è statoarrestato dalla polizia per presunti abusi su una minorenne. Ilsacerdote è portavoce del vescovo Armando Trasarti ed originariodi Fossombrone. Giornalista pubblicista svolge pure l’incaricodi direttore dell’Ufficio diocesano per le Comunicazionisociali. La ragazzina che avrebbe subito abusi ha 13 anni. DonRuggeri e’ stato rinchiuso nel carcere di Villa Fastiggi, aPesaro, in isolamento.

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Local D.A. Investigating WVa Bishop

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

Authorities have re-opened a 2007 fondling complaint against a priest who taught at a suburban Philadelphia high school and is now the Roman Catholic bishop of West Virginia.

The complaint stems from Bishop Michael Bransfield’s days at Lansdale Catholic High School in the 1970s. The Philadelphia Archdiocese said it did not find the complaint credible at the time, and passed it on to Montgomery County authorities.

But the archdiocese said last week that the complaint has been reopened.

“The Archdiocese of Philadelphia promptly reported the allegation against Bishop Bransfield to the Montgomery County D.A.’s office in 2007. … The situation is again being reviewed by law enforcement authorities,” spokesman Kenneth Gavin said in an email.

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Philly DA officially re-opens Bransfield fondling investigation

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WTOV

By NEWS9

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—

Authorities have officially re-opened a 2007 fondling complaint against Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, who at the time was a priest who taught at a suburban Philadelphia high school back in the 1970’s.

The development comes after trial testimony in a Philadelphia priest-abuse case. A trial witness testified that a priest who abused him told him that Bishop Michael Bransfield was sexually involved with a young teen. The witness said he was raped by the priest at Bransfield’s beach house.

Bransfield has said he wasn’t home at the time. He denies ever abusing anyone.

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Kunstenaar provoceert met prijsvraag over seksueel misbruik

NEDERLAND
BN DeStem

zaterdag 14 juli 2012

OOTMARSUM – Hij weet van geen ophouden. Opnieuw tart de Ootmarsumse kunstenaar Frans Houben menigeen met een nieuw protest tegen het seksueel misbruik in de katholieke kerk.

Het is niet te missen. Wie langs zijn atelier aan de Oldenzaalsestraat pal bij de ingang van het stadje komt móet het bord zien. Met daarop de prijsvraag die Frans Houben voor de verandering heeft verzonnen. ‘Hoeveel burgers van Ootmarsum zouden seksueel misbruikt zijn’, vraagt hij zich af en geeft vervolgens vier mogelijkheden. A: mijnheer pastoor, B: mijnheer kapelaan, C: burgemeester, 4: brave en lieve oom.

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Man, St. Cloud diocese settle lawsuit

ST. CLOUD (MN)
St. Cloud Times

Written by
David Unze

The St. Cloud diocese has settled a lawsuit with a man who accused a former deacon of sexually abusing him in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The lawsuit originally named the former deacon, Michael Weber, as a defendant, but Weber was dismissed from the lawsuit before it was settled. The lawsuit accusing Weber of abuse decades ago came after Weber had built a distinguished career in child protection in public and private agencies.

And it came after the St. Cloud diocese, at a Mass in the St. Cloud church where Weber used to serve as a deacon, called the allegations against Weber credible and scheduled listening sessions to address the issue.

The lawsuit, originally filed in Hennepin County, was transferred to Stearns County after Weber was dismissed as a defendant. Documents finalizing the settlement of the case were filed last week in Stearns County District Court. Terms of the settlement were not available.

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July 14, 2012

Amorous clergyman in dock for fondling boy

INDIA
Deccan Herald

A clergyman belonging to the Thanjavur diocese was arrested for reportedly misbehaving with a class 10 boy who travelled on his motorcycle.

The 15-year-old boy, son of Ramaraj of Aravampatti village and studying in class 10 at Holy Mary higher secondary school at Thachangkurichi, was waiting for a bus at the bus stop with his schoolmates on Friday evening to return home.

When he saw the priest riding a motorbike, he hesitantly asked for a ‘lift’.

The clergyman generously obliged and made the boy sit on the fuel tank. But he reportedly misbehaved with the boy by kissing and hugging him during the ride.

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Sen. Hoeven wants hearings on reservation abuse

NORTH DAKOTA
The Jamestown Sun

The Associated Press – GRAND FORKS, N.D.

Republican North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven is pushing the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to hold hearings about child abuse and neglect on American Indian reservations, according to his deputy chief of staff.

Hearings would be held in Washington, D.C., because more senators could attend and the discussion would draw national exposure, Ryan Bernstein told the Grand Forks Herald ( http://bit.ly/NnNa9p) for a story published Saturday.

“We’re working with the chairman, and we hope we can get that scheduled soon,” Bernstein said. “We’re hoping this summer, but if not, right after the August recess.”

Both Hoeven and Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota are members of the panel.

A Bureau of Indian Affairs review earlier this year detailed problems in tribal social services programs on the state’s Spirit Lake Indian Reservation.

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SPECIAL REPORT: Hoeven to seek Indian child abuse hearings

NORTH DAKOTA
In-Forum

By: Chuck Haga and Patrick Springer, Forum Communications, INFORUM

SPECIAL REPORT: Protecting Spirit Lake’s kids

GRAND FORKS – Ryan Bernstein, deputy chief of staff for Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said Friday the senator is “pushing for hearings” by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on the issue of child abuse and neglect on reservations.

Both Hoeven and Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., are members of the panel.

“We’re working with the chairman, and we hope we can get that scheduled soon,” Bernstein said. “We’re hoping this summer, but if not, right after the August recess.”

Hearings on the problem of Indian child abuse likely would be held in Washington, D.C., “because more senators would be there, and there would be national exposure,” Bernstein said. “We see the issue right now in our state, but this is an issue in other states, as well.”

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Catholic Church officials come to agreement with 3 Navajo men

GALLUP (NM)
Gallup Independent

Published in Gallup Independent, Gallup, NM, July 14, 2012

First in a two-part series

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent

GALLUP — Three Navajo men who filed the first clergy sex abuse lawsuits in the Navajo Nation court system have signed settlement agreements with Catholic Church officials.

“I just really had a courageous group of clients,” Patrick Noaker, the Minnesota attorney who represented the Navajo plaintiffs, said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Noaker, of Jeff Anderson & Associates, said all parties in the three different civil cases agreed to try mediation as an alternative to continuing litigation. Paul Bardacke, a former New Mexico attorney general, worked as the mediator throughout March and April, with all the settlement details being recently finalized, Noaker said.

Abuse allegations against Charles “Chuck” Cichanowicz, a former Franciscan priest who once worked on the Navajo Nation, were at the center of each lawsuit. In November 2007, Noaker and Gallup attorney William R. Keeler filed the first lawsuit in Shiprock District Court on behalf of “John Doe BF,” a Navajo man who said he had been sexually abused by Cichanowicz when the priest was assigned to Shiprock’s Christ the King parish. Two more Navajo men later came forward with allegations that Cichanowicz had abused them while he was assigned to St. Michael Mission in St. Michaels, Ariz. Noaker and Keeler filed those lawsuits in Window Rock District Court.

As part of the settlements, Cichanowicz has agreed not to apply for or accept any kind of work that involves contact with minors, Noaker said. This provision also includes volunteer positions.

“That was a big part of the settlement,” Noaker said.

The provision is court-enforceable, he added, and Noaker believes advocacy groups for survivors of sex abuse will keep a close eye on the former priest’s whereabouts. When the first lawsuit was filed, Cichanowicz was discovered working as a mental health counselor for adolescents and adults in Lafayette, Ind.

In addition, all three plaintiffs will receive monetary settlements from the four defendants in the cases: Cichanowicz, the Diocese of Gallup, the Franciscan Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Albuquerque, and the Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist in Cincinnati. Noaker said his clients have asked that the settlement amounts not be publicly disclosed.

Describing settlement agreements as sometimes being “a little bittersweet,” Noaker said these clergy abuse settlement agreements offered some concessions to the defendants as well. Attorneys for the defendants, mindful of the possible threat of future litigation, offered no statements of apology to any of his clients and Cichanowicz made no admission of guilt, Noaker said.

Pursuing further litigation through the Navajo court system would have publicly exposed more details about the abuse his clients said they were subjected to by Cichanowicz, Noaker added, but it would have also been difficult on his clients.

“We’ve been at this a long time,” he said. “Some of the guys were feeling a little run down.”

During the nearly five years since John Doe BF v. the Diocese of Gallup, et al was filed, the first Navajo clergy abuse case has had its share of dramatic courtroom twists and turns. In January 2010, Shiprock District Court Judge Genevieve Woody ordered a controversial dismissal of the case, which Noaker and Keeler subsequently appealed. In September, the Navajo Nation Supreme Court weighed in and reversed Woody’s dismissal and remanded the case back to district court.

By filing their lawsuits in the Navajo Nation’s courts, Noaker said his clients feel like they have protected other children by raising public awareness of the sexual abuse of children on the reservation. Noaker said none of the men ever considered pursuing out-of-court confidential settlements with the Catholic Church.

“It was a real inspiration for me to watch all three of these guys grow,” Noaker said of his clients. He said the men started the legal process ashamed and embarrassed by what had happened to them and grew into men willing to take on their accused abuser.

“I think they went from victim to survivor,” Noaker said. “All three of these guys are better … a weight has been lifted off them.”

Noaker singled out his first Navajo client, the man known in court documents as “John Doe BF,” for his courage in filing the first tribal lawsuit against a clergyman and church officials.

“He stood up to them,” Noaker said. “He took them all to the Navajo Supreme Court. He stood up for himself and then he stood up for others. He has every right to be proud.”

Joelle Casteix, the Western regional director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, accompanied Noaker to Shiprock and Gallup in 2007 after that first case was filed.

“These victims are pioneers in seeking rights for Native American victims of abuse,” Casteix said in an email Friday. “Because of their tenacity and strength, other victims will be able to get help and healing through the Navajo courts.”

“Even though church officials refused to warn the Navajo Nation of the threat that Cichanowicz posed, his victims are now hopefully empowered and can help ensure that what happened to them does not happen to another child,” Casteix added. “I hope that other victims in the Navajo Nation come forward to seek the accountability and healing that they deserve.”

Attorneys for the Diocese of Gallup and Cichanowicz did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Albuquerque’s Franciscan Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Toni Cashnelli, the communications director for Cincinnati’s Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist, did not respond to questions but noted the province’s child protection policy is posted on the religious order’s website.

Editor’s Note: In Monday’s Independent — An interview with the Navajo plaintiff who filed the first clergy sex abuse lawsuit on the Navajo Nation.
Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 870-0745 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.

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Pa. prosecutor reopens ‘07 fondling complaint …

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

Pa. prosecutor reopens ‘07 fondling complaint against Roman Catholic bishop of West Virginia

By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, July 14

PHILADELPHIA — Authorities have re-opened a 2007 fondling complaint against a priest who taught at a suburban Philadelphia high school and is now the Roman Catholic bishop of West Virginia.

The complaint stems from Bishop Michael Bransfield’s days at Lansdale Catholic High School in the 1970s. The Philadelphia Archdiocese said it did not find the complaint credible at the time, and passed it on to Montgomery County authorities.

But the archdiocese said last week that the complaint has been reopened.

“The Archdiocese of Philadelphia promptly reported the allegation against Bishop Bransfield to the Montgomery County D.A.’s office in 2007. … The situation is again being reviewed by law enforcement authorities,” spokesman Kenneth Gavin said in an email.

The development comes with the recently completed Philadelphia priest-abuse trial in which a witness testified that a priest who abused him told him that Bransfield was sexually involved with a young teen. The witness also said he was raped by the priest at Bransfield’s beach house.

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Italien: Bischofssprecher wegen Missbrauchsverdacht verhaftet

ITALIEN
Kipa (Schweiz)

Rom, 14.7.12 (Kipa) In Italien hat die Polizei am Wochenende den Pressesprecher eines katholischen Bischofs wegen des Verdachts auf sexuellen Missbrauch verhaftet. Der Priester Giacomo Ruggeri, Leiter der Kommunikationsabteilung des Bistums Fano, soll sich an einem 13-jährigen Mädchen vergangen haben, berichtet die katholische Tageszeitung “Avvenire” (Samstag).

Der Bischof der mittelitalienischen Diözese, Armando Trasarti, entband Ruggeri daraufhin am gleichen Tag von allen seelsorgerischen Aufgaben und untersagte ihm eine weitere Spendung der Sakramente. Der Priester wurde nach der Festnahme in das Gefängnis von Pesaro gebracht.

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Heimkind erkämpft erste Opferrente

OSTERREICH
Kurier

Der Bescheid des österreichischen Bundessozialamtes könnte alle bisher für ehemalige Heimkinder gezahlten Entschädigungen weit in den Schatten stellen: Einer gebürtigen Salzburgerin wurde der Anspruch auf eine Pension nach dem Verbrechensopfergesetz zuerkannt.

Wie das Tiroler Nachrichtenmagazin Echo berichtet, erhält Frau Heike K., 68, (Name von der Redaktion geändert) rückwirkend bis 1. Dezember 2011 eine “Ersatzleistung infolge Verdienstentganges”. Sprich: Eine monatliche staatliche Pension, die einem Vielfachen ihrer bisher kärglichen Rente von nicht einmal 300 Euro entspricht.

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Ein Paukenschlag – nicht mehr

DEUTSCHLAND
Volksfreund

Da hat sich der Trierer Bischof und kirchliche Missbrauchsbeauftragte Stephan Ackermann aber mit einem Paukenschlag in den Sommerurlaub verabschiedet: Ein angesehener Theologieprofessor wird, beinahe 50 Jahre nach seiner Priesterweihe, aus dem Klerikerstand entlassen. Der Bischof wirft ihn raus; und es war auch noch sein eigener Vorschlag und nicht etwa eine Anweisung aus Rom.

Der 72-jährige katholische Geistliche steht damit vor den Trümmern seines Lebens. Mitleid ist unangebracht. Der Mann hat sich über Jahre hinweg an Minderjährigen vergangen und auch den eigenen Neffen missbraucht. Hätte die Staatsanwaltschaft davon rechtzeitig Wind bekommen, wäre der Bistums priester dafür ins Gefängnis gewandert. Sein Glück, dass die Straftaten verjährt waren, als die Ankläger davon erfuhren.

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Sexueller Missbrauch: Priester aus dem Klerikerstand entlassen – Opfer aus Hennweiler

DEUTSCHLAND
Wormser Zeitung

Von Frank Schmidt-Wyk und Michael Bermeitinger

Erste Exkommunizierung wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs

Der Onkel bestritt gegenüber dem Bistum Trier und dessen Missbrauchsbeauftragtem alle Vorwürfe, worauf die Kirche den Fall an die Staatsanwaltschaft weitergab. T. fürchtete, so erzählte er später, dass dies das Ende seiner Bemühungen sein könnte, dass die strafrechtliche Verjährung allem ein Ende setzt, doch dann meldeten sich zwei weitere Zeugen, die auch angaben, von M. einst missbraucht worden zu sein.

Nun kam das Verfahren in Gang, das nach dem neuen Kirchenrecht durchgeführt wurde, das 2010 vor allem unter dem Eindruck des Missbrauchsskandals verschärft worden war. Gegen Paul-Gerhard M. wurde nun die höchste Strafe unterhalb der Exkommunizierung verhängt – es war das erste Mal in den letzten 40 Jahren, dass diese Strafe im Bistum gegen einen Priester wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern ausgesprochen wurde.

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Missbrauchsverdacht: 40 Amtsträger der Kirche angeblich weiter im Dienst

OSTERREICH
Der Stnadard

Linz – Neun österreichische Bischöfe müssen demnächst mit heikler Post rechnen. Absender ist die “Plattform Betroffener kirchlicher Gewalt”, die eine Liste mit 40 Beschuldigten (35 Priester, zwei nicht geweihte Ordensangehörige sowie drei Laienmitarbeiter), denen sexuelle Gewalt gegen Kinder und Jugendliche vorgeworfen wird, zusammengestellt und jetzt den Bischöfen übermittelt hat. 35 Priester dieser klerikalen “Blacklist” sollen sich derzeit unbehelligt im Dienst befinden. Einige Priester seien zwar kurzfristig suspendiert, aber nach Abflauen des öffentlichen Interesses schon bald wieder in der Seelsorge eingesetzt worden, wirft die Plattform den Diözesen vor. Jetzt müsse es aber Konsequenzen geben.

Entscheidung bis Ende Juli

Mit dem Bekanntwerden der zahlreichen Missbrauchsfälle hatte die Plattform Anfang 2010 eine Hotline eingerichtet, bei der sich seither 400 Menschen gemeldet haben. “Viele schilderten nicht nur, was ihnen passiert ist, sondern haben auch Namen von Beschuldigten genannt”, erzählt Psychologe Philipp Schwärzler von der Opfer-Hotline. Bis Ende Juli hätten die Bischöfe jetzt Zeit, konkrete Maßnahmen zu präsentieren.

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Archdiocese of Newark, 6 alleged sexual abuse victims reach 6-figure settlement, priest forced to retire

NEWARK (NJ)
The Star-Ledger

By Kevin Manahan/The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — When five men filed a lawsuit in March 2011, alleging they were sexually abused by the Rev. John Laferrera as youngsters, the monsignor of St. Philomena Roman Catholic Church in Livingston took a voluntary leave of absence and pledged to use all of his energy to clear his name.

In a letter to his congregation, Laferrera vowed to prove his innocence and blamed his sabbatical on “many in the public” who “take any statement at face value, especially if it’s lurid.”

But the Archdiocese of Newark quietly reached a six-figure settlement with six alleged victims last month and Laferrera, 65, was stripped of his collar and sent into retirement, The Star-Ledger has learned.

“He is no longer administering,” archdiocese spokesman Jim Goodness said Friday. “He is out of the ministry. Aside from that, I can’t provide any more discussion.”

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Accused Irish Christian Brothers

UNITED STATES
Jeff Anderson & Associates

[with list of accused Christian Brothers]

The Irish Christian Brothers are located throughout the United States, including states like New York, California, Washington, Hawaii, Illinois, and New Jersey, where they primarily run schools. A number of Brothers have been accused, and some convicted, of sexually abusing students at schools where they worked. For instance, Brother Robert Brouillette was convicted on child porn charges and sexual abuse of a student at St. Laurence High School in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Similarly, three boys accused Brother John Lackie of sexual abuse when they were students at Briscoe Memorial School in Kent, Washington. The boys also alleged abuse by six other Brothers at the school. The following is a partial list of Christian Brothers that have be publicly accused of sexually abusing children in the United States. As we become aware of additional names we will add to this list.

If you, or someone you know, were sexually abused at a school where the Irish Christian Brothers taught, call Jeff Anderson & Associates today for a free, private and confidential consultation.

Disclaimer: Even though settlements may have been awarded in these cases, many of the Brothers and/or organizations who settled or paid awards as a result of arbitration or trial, maintain they are not at fault.

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Peter’s House Is Broken

INDIA
Outlook India

The meek shall inherit the earth? Not if the Church has its way.

Paul Zacharia

The Catholic church is an ancient monolith and has been in the game of power, wealth, cadre- and institution-building for so long that nothing can change it except its own perceptions of survival. It is an inflexible iron-frame with a cold sense of history that can rebuff its enemies with a bizarre patience. At the same time, it is also a highly malleable—almost amoebic—system that bends to the times with strategies so subtle that they remain invisible for centuries. It is the canniest self-perpetuating bureaucracy of the world. That is how it has withstood the turbulent forces of history ever since Emperor Constantine transformed it into the master of the Roman Empire in AD 313 through the Edict of Milan. One signature made the underdog top dog. The Church has never looked back.

It survived the tempestuous challenge of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Its expertise in conducting immense and long-standing wars is simply mind-boggling. The Crusades are just one example. It emerged unscathed from the second world war thanks to the notorious neutrality it maintained with the two horrendous dictators: Hitler and Mussolini. In fact, few remember today that the papal state of Vatican City was granted to the Church by Mussolini in return for its acceptance of fascist authority.

The point is, the Church is a tough nut to crack. It remains doubtful if it can be reformed even if the Pope were inclined to try. Because, its empire is today flung far across continents, nations, cultures and civilisations, and there are the machinations of countless vested interests at work. The Pope might be able to ensure that the cardinal principles of faith remain uniform and sacrosanct. But even that is not easy. For instance, saints deposed by the Vatican years ago are still venerated in Kerala. The Kerala church finds them useful. As for celibacy, if a priest gives it up, what can the Church do? Next to nothing.

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“When The Priests Drink, What Spews Out Is Absolute Filth”

INDIA
Outlook India

Sixty-seven-year-old Sister Mary Chandy walked out of the Congregation of the Daughters of Presentation of Mary in Chevayur, Kozhikode, 14 years ago. She wrote her autobiography, Nanma Niranjavale Swasthi (Peace to the One Filled with Grace), in April 2012. Excerpts from an interview:

What did you do after you left the convent?

I only had the clothes that I was wearing. I did not have any money. I remember envying men for they can sleep at night under a tree but a woman cannot do that. I would visit houses and ask for donations. My dream was to open an orphanage and look after unwanted children.

Is there one incident that made you quit the order?

There are so many incidents that hurt me. After I left the convent, I went through many trials and tribulations. It has been a long journey outside.

You have said that the priests drink during festive occasions?

Yes, both the priests and nuns drink wine and foreign liquor. When the priests drink, what spews from their mouths is absolute filth.

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Sins Of Our Fathers

INDIA
Outlook India

Do nuns and priests have civil rights? The canon law and the Catholic Church say the professed people have no right to sue the Church. It took six brave sisters of Little Flower Convent, Narakkal, in Ernakulam district, to prove it otherwise. They created history of sorts when they sued a Syro-Malabar bishop of the Ernakulam diocese and the priest of St Mary’s Church for criminal intimidation and forgery.

In the normal course, the sisters would have had to take up their problems with the ecclesiastical forums and, under the precept of obedience, listen to them. What made the sisters take this drastic step? The sisters run two schools and a poor home on three acres of land in Narakkal. From the late 1930s, successive parish priests of St Mary’s church had been helping them to manage the school. The sisters knew the priests collected money illegally as donations but they kept quiet for awhile. In 1971, unknown to the sisters, the priest of St Mary’s church forged documents and transferred the management of the Little Flower School to the church. Then, after over 30 years, in 2007, the sisters were asked to shift their second school, St Joseph’s, to another location.

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To Cast The First Stone

INDIA
Outlook India

“Later, I’m taken to the priest’s room for coffee. While I’m having coffee sitting on the cot, the only place in the room to sit, he comes and embraces me hard, almost suffocating me. When I struggle to escape from his clutches, he squeezes my breasts and asks me to show them to him. ‘Have you seen a man?’ Stunned, I shake my head ‘no’. In no time, he undresses himself.”

Sister Jesme in her book Amen: The Autobiography of a Nun

***
“The convents and nunneries are being converted into brothels. The priests have sex with the nuns at night in these convents. Because of these acts, the chastity of the priests and nuns has come under suspicion. Their love for God has shrunk…some of the clergy protect their chastity by watching pornography and reading pornographic material. They lose themselves in this habit. These books and DVDs are kept in secret places and can’t be found easily.”

Father Shibu Kalamparambil in his memoir Oru Vaidikante Hrudayamitha (The Heart of a Priest)

***
“The cry of a baby came from the bathroom of one of the inner rooms along with the sobs of a woman. We used our might to force open the bathroom door and what we saw would break anyone’s heart. A nun who had given birth to a child was pushing the head of the baby into the closet. The bathroom was filled with blood. The legs of the child, which were sticking out of the closet, were kicking for life.”

Sister Mary Chandy in her autobiography Nanma Niranjavale Swasthi (Peace to the One filled with Grace)

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“A Life Is Not Born In The Church. The Nun Is Forced To Abort…”

INDIA
Outlook India

The priest, whose memoirs were published in 2010, on the sexual misconduct of priests and financial irregularities

Outlook Interviews Father Shibu Kalamparambil

Father Shibu Kalamparambil, 40, was defrocked from the Vicentian Congregation after 12 years as a priest. His memoir Oru Vaidikante Hrudayamitha (The Heart of a Priest) was published in 2010.

Why did you decide to write the book?

I had aired my views about the sexual misconduct of priests and financial irregularities many times but they were not willing to correct themselves. So I wrote this book and for four years I showed it to near and dear ones and to those inside the Church. They advised me not to publish it, they said it would be catastrophic. They kept saying that things will be corrected but they never were so I published my book.

What is the Church establishment’s response when a priest makes a complaint?

The complaints are dealt with by the bishops and they influence the laity. If a woman among the laity becomes pregnant because of a priest or a bishop, they build houses or give money to them and hush it up.

What happens when a nun gets pregnant?

A life is not born in the church. When it comes to the nuns, they either make her abort the child or she is sent out of the church. If the nun tries to take it up, then she is ostracised by society.

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European Court to hear abuse case against State

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Ralph Riegel

Saturday July 14 2012

AN abuse victim has won a legal victory after the European Court of Human Rights agreed to hear her case against the Irish State.

Louise O’Keeffe (46) confirmed to the Irish Independent last night that the Strasbourg-based court has agreed to hear her complaint despite vehement objections from the State.

If Ms O’Keeffe wins her action, it could open the floodgates to a raft of appeals from abuse victims denied compensation from the State because the incidents occurred in church-run or independent schools.

Ms O’Keeffe was abused as an eight-year-old in a Dunderrow primary school in Cork in 1973 by then principal, Leo Hickey.

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European Court agrees to hear abuse victim appeal

IRELAND
The Irish Times

BARRY ROCHE, Southern Correspondent

A WOMAN who was sexually abused as an eight-year-old by her teacher has been told by the European Court of Human Rights that it will hear her appeal against an Irish Supreme Court decision that the State was not legally liable for the abuse she suffered.

Louise O’Keeffe (47) yesterday welcomed the decision by the European Court of Human Rights.

“It’s a big step for me and a very welcome development – the fact that the European Court of Human Rights has decided that my case is important enough to be heard is hugely encouraging,” said Ms O’Keeffe.

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Pedofilia, don Ruggeri in lacrime: “Ho sbagliato, non ci ho pensato”

ITALIA
Quotidiano

Fano (Pesaro-Urbino), 14 luglio 2012 – Don Giangiacomo Ruggeri, 43 anni, parocco della Chiesa di Santa Maria in Orciano, e portavoce di monsignor Armando Trasarti, vescovo di Fano, è stato arrestato con l’accusa di pedofilia.

“Ho sbagliato, ho sbagliato…non mi sono reso conto…’’. Queste le sue prime parole dopo l’arresto, pronunciate con gli occhi pieni di lacrime e lo sguardo perso nel vuoto. Un investigatore ha riferito che, nonostante i suoi 43 anni, “sembrava un bambino”.

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Parla il prete arrestato per pedofilia “Ho sbagliato, non mi rendevo conto”

ITALIA
La Repubblica

FANO (PESARO URBINO) – “Ho sbagliato, ho sbagliato… non mi sono reso conto…”. Sono queste le uniche parole pronunciate da don Giangiacomo Ruggeri, parroco della Chiesa di Santa Maria in Orciano, arrestato ieri per abusi sessuali su una ragazzina di 13 anni 1. Per gli agenti che hanno eseguito l’ordinanza di custodia cautelare, Ruggeri – portavoce del vescovo di Fano, assistente spirituale degli scout e giornalista pubblicista esperto in web tv – sembrava consapevole del motivo per cui i poliziotti lo stessero portando via dalla sua casa. Non era preoccupato e non ha opposto resistenza. Era angosciato, dicono. All’avvocato difensore, ora spetta il compito di richiedere un’eventuale perizia sul grado di maturità psicologica del sacerdote.

Il procuratore di Pesaro che coordina l’inchiesta, Manfredi Palumbo, ha potuto richiedere al gip l’arresto del parroco grazie alla testimonianza di Marco Mandolini, titolare con il fratello Mauro dei ‘Bagni Torrette’ di Fano. Mandolini ha deciso di rivolgersi alla polizia dopo aver assistito alle effusioni, baci e palpeggiamenti in spiaggia tra il sacerdote e la vittima: “Sono un padre di famiglia anche io, non potevo lasciar passare sotto silenzio atteggiamenti come quelli di don Giangiacomo Ruggeri, non certo consoni al suo ruolo”.

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Italian priest arrested for child abuse

ITALY
Press TV (Iran)

An Italian catholic priest has been arrested in the central town of Fano over allegations of abusing a 13-year-old girl, local media reported.

Italian police arrested Father Gian-giacomo Ruggieri on Friday.

His home was raided and his computer was seized by officers investigating the case.

The accused priest was immediately suspended from all his priestly duties right after the arrest.

Bishop Armando Trasarti said he was shocked and upset by the incident, and expressed “full solidarity with the abuse victim.”

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Italian priest arrested on child abuse charges: report

ITALY
Deccan Herald (India)

Rome, Jul 14, 2012, (AFP) :

Italian police arrested a Catholic priest working as a bishop’s spokesman in the central town of Fano on allegations he abused a 13-year-old girl, ANSA news agency reported.

Father Giangiacomo Ruggieri, 43, was immediately suspended from all priestly duties yesterday and police have raided his home and seized his computer.

The incident caused widespread outrage in the town where the clergyman, a former journalist, was known as “the young people’s priest.”

Bishop Armando Trasarti said he was “shocked and pained” by the incident and expressed “full solidarity with the abuse victim,” ANSA reported.

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KU Leuven schuift bisschoppen aan de kant

BELGIE
De Morgen

Door: Remy Amkreutz − 13/07/12

De KU Leuven snoert de Vlaamse bisschoppen de mond. Léonard is voorzitter af van de hoogste raad en verliest, net als zijn collega-bisschoppen, stemrecht. De universiteit distantieert zich zo verder van de katholieke kerk. .

De macht van de katholieke kerk aan de KU Leuven kalft af. De vijf Vlaamse bisschoppen waren van oudsher lid van het hoogste bestuursorgaan van de Leuvense universiteit. In deze raad, ook wel de inrichtende overheid genoemd, hadden zij 13 procent van de stemmen. Met aartsbisschop André-Joseph Léonard leverden zij zelfs de voorzitter. Daar is nu verandering in gekomen. Voortaan hebben de kerkleiders slechts een adviesfunctie.

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‘Misbruik door dorpspastoor was publiek geheim’

NEDRLAND
Trouw

Dat pastoor H. Boonk in de jaren ’70 en ’80 van de vorige eeuw misdienaars seksueel misbruikte, was een publiek geheim in het Overijsselse dorp. Veel mensen wisten ervan. Het is ook meer dan eens gemeld bij de deken en de bisschop, maar daarna is nooit gecontroleerd of er ook iets met die meldingen is gedaan. .

Dat schrijven het parochiebestuur en het pastoraal team van de Pancratiusparochie vandaag in een brief aan de parochianen.

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Commission Investigating ‘Vatileaks’ Will Meet With Pope Next Week

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

by CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY/EWTN NEWS

07/13/2012

VATICAN CITY — The special Commission of Cardinals established by Pope Benedict XVI to investigate the leak of confidential Vatican documents is on the verge of presenting its discoveries.

“It is expected the committee will meet with the Pope next week to present him with the results of their investigation,” said Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, adding that “the Pope will then be able to draw his own conclusions.”

The three-person committee has been looking into the so-called “Vatileaks” scandal since April, when it was tasked by Pope Benedict with undertaking “an authoritative investigation” to “throw light on these episodes.”

The investigating team is led by 82-year-old Spanish Cardinal Julian Herranz, the former president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. He is being assisted by the 88-year-old Slovakian Cardinal Jozef Tomko and the 81-year-old Italian Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, the archbishop emeritus of Palermo, Sicily.

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Deacon busted in church assault

NEW JERSEY
The Trentonian

Staff Report
PEMBERTON TWP. A 59-year-old deacon has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a girl during a church service Sunday morning, officials said Friday.

Joseph V. Pullen Jr., 59, of Pemberton Township, was charged with aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

The assault of the juvenile occurred in another part of the Calvary Baptist Church on Scrapetown Road as the public participated in the Sunday service. Pullen, a 59-year-old deacon at the church and a retired water utility worker at Fort Dix, was alone with the girl at the time of the alleged assault.

No information about the girl was released.

The investigation revealed that Pullen allegedly assaulted the same girl at another location during the fall of 2011, according to a news release from Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi and Pemberton Township Police Chief David H. Jantas. Pullen was charged with aggravated sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child in that case.

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Church Deacon Sexually Assaults Girl During Service: Cops

PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP (NJ)
NBC 10

[with video]

By David Chang

Saturday, Jul 14, 2012

A local deacon was arrested after he allegedly sexually assaulted a girl during a church service.

Police say it happened last Sunday during a service at the Calvary Baptist Church. Joseph Pullen Jr., 59, of Pemberton Township was alone with the girl when he sexually assaulted her, according to investigators.

Police say an investigation revealed Pullen assaulted the same girl at a different location during the fall of 2011. Police have not released information on the girl’s age.

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Pemberton deacon charged with sex assault on girl

PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP (NJ)
Philadelphia Inquirer

A deacon at a Pemberton Township church was charged with sexually assaulting a girl, including during a service on Sunday, authorities said.

Joseph V. Pullen Jr., 59, of Whispering Pines Boulevard, Pemberton Township, appeared in Superior Court in Mount Holly on Friday. He was charged with aggravated sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and related offenses in two alleged incidents.

Authorities said the most recent assault took place at the Calvary Baptist Church on Sunday when Pullen was alone with the victim. They said he previously assaulted her at an undisclosed location in the fall of 2011. They did not provide details about the alleged assaults or more information about the victim.

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Legal Expert Links PSU, Catholic Church Scandals

PENNSYLVANIA
ABC News

By MARK SCOLFORO and MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. July 14, 2012 (AP)

Legal experts say emails and other evidence from the Penn State sex abuse case suggest that Joe Paterno and other university officials put boys in danger with their failure to report sexual abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky more than a decade ago.

The allegations are similar to those made against a top Philadelphia archdiocese official who was convicted on child endangerment charges last month.

Duquesne University law professor Wes Oliver said former FBI Director Louis Freeh’s investigative report on the Penn State scandal reads like a prosecution case for a child endangerment charge against Paterno, then-President Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and now-retired vice president Gary Schultz.

Oliver noted that Monsignor William Lynn was convicted for allowing a suspected pedophile priest to be around children. Prosecutors said Lynn helped the Philadelphia archdiocese keep predators in ministry and the public in the dark.

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Pemberton Twp. deacon charged with sexual assault at church s

PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP (NJ)
PhillyBurbs

Posted on July 14, 2012

by Danielle Camilli

MOUNT HOLLY — A deacon at a Pemberton Township church was charged with sexually assaulting a girl during a church service Sunday morning.

He also molested the child in a separate incident last fall, authorities said Friday.

Joseph V. Pullen Jr., 59, of Whispering Pines Boulevard in Pemberton Township, was charged with aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child for the alleged assault at the Calvary Baptist Church, Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi and township police Chief David H. Jantas said Friday.

Pullen, a deacon at the Scrapetown Road church, was alone with the girl at the time of the incident, authorities said. They would not release any information about the victim.

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Ex-student testifies in trial of former teacher

DANVILLE (IL)
The News-Gazette

Thu, 07/12/2012 – 9:00am | Noelle McGee, staff writer,

DANVILLE — A former Danville Christian Academy student testified Wednesday that his teacher, tutor and mentor fondled him at the school on numerous occasions and once in his bedroom during his sophomore and junior years of high school.

During what he called the first of four “major incidents,” the former student, now 20, recalled that in January 2008, when he was 15, he and his teacher, Mark R. List, were in List’s office around 9 p.m., where List was helping him with homework. The two began wrestling and ended up on the floor with him lying on the ground and his teacher straddling his body. Then he felt the teacher’s hand and later his lips on his genitals.

“I was squirming around trying to get free, but it wasn’t working,” he said on the second day of List’s sexual abuse and assault trial in Vermilion County Circuit Court. He said he finally bit List’s genitals to get him off of him.

List, 36, of Danville, faces one count of criminal sexual assault-a position of trust, a Class 1 felony; one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony; and one count of indecent solicitation of a child, a Class 3 felony.

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Defendant, victim seen at school at night, but not alone

DANVILLE (IL)
The News-Gazette

Fri, 07/13/2012 – 7:00am | Noelle McGee, staff writer,

DANVILLE — A former custodian at the Danville Christian Academy testified Thursday that he occasionally saw teacher Mark R. List and a male student at the school at night while making his cleaning rounds.

But the custodian, Anthony Hughes, said that on those occasions, the teacher and student weren’t alone; List’s wife and/or the student’s mother were there, too.

Hughes was one of two defense witnesses who testified on the third day of List’s sexual abuse and assault trial in Vermilion County Circuit Court. The trial is scheduled to continue today.

List, 36, of Danville, faces one count each of criminal sexual assault-a position of trust, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and indecent solicitation of a child, stemming from the student’s allegations that List — his teacher, tutor and mentor — fondled him numerous times at the school and in his bedroom and performed oral sex on him “once or twice” during his sophomore and junior years of high school.

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Jury finds List not guilty of abuse

DANVILLE (IL)
Commercial-News

BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL Commercial-News

DANVILLE — Four days after walking into the courtroom as a man charged with sexual assault, Mark List of Danville left Vermilion County Courthouse exonerated.

A jury deliberated for almost three hours before returning a verdict around 5:30 p.m. of not guilty on three charges List faced charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, criminal sexual assault in a position of trust and indecent solicitation of a child.

Danville police arrested List in January 2010 based on accusations he sexually abused a student at Danville Christian Academy while List was an associate pastor there.

Defense attorney David Ryan said Friday night he was grateful for the jury’s verdict in the case.

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Critic: Citizens deserve answers in Silva case

CANADA
Hamilton Spectator

The Hamilton case of a Roman Catholic priest leaving Canada to avoid criminal prosecution of a sexual assault charge is disturbing, says the Progressive Conservative critic for the Ministry of the Attorney General.

“It’s not exactly justice served,” Sylvia Jones, MPP for Dufferin-Caledon, told The Spectator Friday.

“The Attorney General’s office has stated ‘the case is unusual, we are looking at it’ but the silence has been deafening,” Jones said.

Jones was referring to the case of Rev. Jose Silva, who was permitted to leave Canada on May 4 to return to his native Brazil. Silva was on bail at the time and a July 20 trial date had been set to resolve a Sept. 22, 2011 sex assault charge against him involving an 18-year-old male musician.

The ministry has stated there was a deal between a Hamilton Crown prosecutor and a defence counsel to permit Silva to leave. A Canada-wide warrant was put in place — but the charge would only proceed should Silva return to Canada.

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Diocese looking for possible abuse victims

OHIO
Zanesville Times Recorder

Written by
Kathy Thompson
Staff Writer

COLUMBUS — The Catholic Diocese of Columbus is asking anyone who might have been sexually abused by a former Zanesville priest to report it to them and local authorities.

Father Thomas Brosmer was placed on administrative leave Thursday by the Diocese after an accusation of sexual abuse of an 11-year-old boy surfaced.

The abuse is alleged to have taken place at St. Nicholas Parish in Zanesville from 1969 to 1973 while Brosmer, now in his 60s, was assistant pastor and a teacher. Brosmer has been at the St. Cecilia Church in Columbus from 2004 until his administrative leave.

Paul Ritter, a Columbus attorney who represents the Diocese in Columbus, said he called the Zanesville Police Department on July 5, after the allegation was deemed credible by the church.

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July 13, 2012

The Passion of John Wojnowski

WASHINGTON (DC)
Washingtonian

Haunted by his past, he has stood outside the Vatican embassy nearly every day for 14 years. His lonely vigil has made him a hero to victims of sexual abuse. But will he ever find peace? By Ariel Sabar

Time weighs on John Wojnowski. It wears him down. It winds him up.

Time, for Wojnowski, is not just the half century since the priest in the mountains of Italy touched him. It is also the lost days since then, the wasted months and years when he is sure he let everyone down: his parents, his wife, his children, himself.

Markers of time are there, too, in the ragged datebooks that cleave to his body like paper armor. While riding the bus late one night, after another of his vigils outside the Vatican’s United States embassy, he showed them to me: The 2010 datebook inhabits the right pocket of his frayed chinos, 2011 the left; the 2012 book, its pages bound by rubber bands, stiffens the pocket of his shirt.

He has come to this corner and stood with his signs for some 5,000 days. In his datebooks, he records—a word or two, just enough to jog memory—the sights and sounds that keep one day from bleeding into the next.

The Apostolic Nunciature, as the Vatican’s embassy is officially known, sits across the street from the tumbling red digits of the US Naval Observatory’s Master Clock, which displays official US time. There’s a strange symmetry between that clock, its seconds yoked to the oscillation of cesium atoms, and Wojnowski, whose own circuitry can at times seem as unblinking and relentless.

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Norbert Denef und NetzwerkB in Berlin vor dem Reichstag

DEUTSCHLAND
Nics Bloghaus

By Nic On 13. Juli 2012

“Norbert Denef, Sprecher des Netzwerks Betroffener von sexua­li­sier­ter Gewalt e.V. mit Sitz in Scharbeutz, befin­det sich seit dem 8. Juni 2012 im unbe­fris­te­ten Hungerstreik. Ihm schlos­sen sich eine Reihe von Unterstützern an, dar­un­ter Christiane Kieburg, Katharina M., Anette W., Alwin Michel, Wilfried Fesselmann und Brigitte Lunzer Rieder aus Öster­reich. Wegen Unterlassungsklagen der Täter kön­nen nicht alle Namen genannt wer­den.

Das Netzwerk Betroffener von sexua­li­sier­ter Gewalt e.V., kurz netz­werkB, ist eine Vereinigung von und für Menschen, denen sexua­li­sier­ter Gewalt, oft­mals ver­bun­den mit Formen von psy­chi­scher und phy­si­scher Gewalt ange­tan wurde, ein­ma­lig, mehr­ma­lig bis hin zu jah­re­lang sys­te­ma­tisch, im Säuglings-, Kindes-, Jugendlichen oder Erwachsenenalter. Sie wurde 2010 in Scharbeutz gegrün­det. Die Vereinigung arbei­tet bun­des­weit, sie besteht aus einem Bundesvorstand, Landesgruppen und der Mitgliederversammlung. Sie ver­steht sich als Interessenvertretung der Opfer und ihrer Angehörigen. Sie setzt sich für die Aufklärung und Prävention ein.”

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Legislation requiring reporting of child abuse is passed

IRELAND
The Irish Times

CAROL COULTER

WITHHOLDING INFORMATION: Legislation requiring the passing on of information concerning offences against children and vulnerable adults has been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. It is part of the Government’s response to mandatory reporting of serious instances of child abuse.

The Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012 makes it an offence to withhold information on serious offences, carrying a jail sentence of five or more years. Such offences include most sexual offences and assault causing harm, abduction, manslaughter or murder.

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What if Catholic Church = Penn State?

UNITED STATES
Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk |Jul 13, 2012

Imagine an alternate universe where the Catholic Church behaved the way the trustees of the Pennsylvania State University have when confronted with evidence of the cover-up of sexual abuse of minors by the leadership of one of its important institutions.

Let’s call that institution the archdiocese of Boston, headed by one Cardinal Bernard Law. And let’s say a newspaper, the Boston Globe, published an investigative series showing a disgraceful pattern of covering up sexual abuse of minors by a large array of priests.

Faced with the evidence, what does the Vatican do? It turns to a distinguished law enforcement official–say, a former head of the FBI–to conduct an independent investigation. The result? To paraphrase yesterday’s report on the Penn State affair:

The most saddening finding by the Special Investigative Counsel is the total and consistent disregard by the most senior members of the archdiocese for the safety and welfare of the child victims.

Not only are the perpetrators of abuse indicted and convicted, but so are the masters of the cover-up. Cardinal Law and his immeiate subordinates land prison.

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Former Church, School Leader Indicted On Porn Charges

COLORADO
TheDenverChannel

Deb Stanley, New Media Producer

DENVER — A former church and school leader has been indicted on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Daniel Ivan Ashby, 39, of Thornton, was affiliated with Calvary Community Baptist Church and Community Christian School in Northglenn as a school administrator in 2011, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Ashby allegedly knowingly distributed child pornography across state lines.

“The defendant allegedly did knowingly possess child pornography, which has been shipped in interstate commerce,” prosecutors said.

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Child porn charges filed against former Christian school administrator

COLORADO
Fox 31

July 13, 2012, by Will C. Holden

DENVER — A former administrator at a Christian school was indicted by a federal grand jury Monday on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography.

Daniel Ashby, 39, was an administrator at Community Christian School in Northglenn, but the school said he resigned on Dec. 6 of this past year — the same day the school learned of the investigation.

According to court documents, police served a search warrant at the school and at Ashby’s home in December after an undercover FBI offer discovered images of child pornography had been shared using a computer belonging to Ashby.

The search produced several photos, including one image that showed an underage girl having sex with an adult.

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Former church school admin faces child porn charges

COLORADO
9 News

[with video]

Written by
Jace Larson

NORTHGLENN – A former private Christian school principal has been charged with distributing and possessing child porn, 9Wants to Know has learned.

Daniel Ivan Ashby resigned from Community Christian School on Dec. 6 which is the same time the school learned of the investigation.

The FBI served a search warrant at the school in late 2011 and seized several computers from school offices, chairman of the church deacon board for Calvary Community Baptist Church Justin Welch told 9Wants to Know.

Community Christian School is operated by the Calvary Community Baptist Church.

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Nevada Catholic Conference director resigns after questions about felony conviction

NEVADA
National Catholic Reporter

Jul. 13, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

The person responsible for representing the concerns of Nevada Catholics at the state’s capital has resigned following NCR inquiries about his pleading guilty to a charge of obstruction of justice, a federal felony, and serving three years’ probation.

John Cracchiolo, the executive director of the Nevada Catholic Conference, resigned his position at the conference “sometime in the last few days,” the chancellor of the Reno diocese said Friday.

In the last week, NCR asked the Reno and Las Vegas dioceses, Nevada’s only two dioceses, about Cracchiolo’s role at the conference after learning he had accepted a federal plea deal in 2009 stemming from charges that he was part of a plan to defraud investors during his time as the chief financial officer at a publicly traded medical device company in California.

According to court documents, Cracchiolo remains on probation under the terms of the deal until Saturday and is not allowed to work “in any management position” at any publicly held corporation.

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Green Bay diocese…

WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

Green Bay diocese: US Constitution allows bishops to transfer and conceal pedophiles

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director (Milwaukee)
CONTACT: 414.429.7259

In a stunning motion filed in an Appleton, Wisconsin court the Diocese of Green Bay has argued that bishops and religious officials who operate schools, churches, and youth centers can intentionally conceal and transfer clergy child molesters, even if found guilty of doing so by a jury.

The argument was made by lawyers for Green Bay Bishop David Ricken who are attempting to dismiss a May jury verdict which found the diocese guilty of fraud by intentionally concealing and transferring one of the state’s most prolific sex offender clerics, Fr. John Patrick Feeney.

Following the logic of the diocese argument, the US Constitution allows a bishop or religious official full civil immunity to secretly assign a cleric to a parish or school to work with children, even if that cleric has or is intending to commit child rape. When a bishop assigns a priest, according to the diocese, that does not mean the bishop believes the priest is safe to be around children. And any decision a bishop makes about a cleric may “not be evaluated or explained” by courts because the First Amendment allows religious organizations to essentially do what they want and be accountable to no one.

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Central Ohio Priest Accused Of Sexual Abusing Child

COLUMBUS (OH)
NBC 4

By: Denise Yost | NBC4
Published: July 13, 2012

COLUMBUS, Ohio —
A longtime Columbus priest is off the job, placed on leave by the Diocese after an allegation of sexual abuse.

Rev. Thomas Brosmer has been a priest for more than 40 years. Most recently, he served as the associate pastor at St. Cecelia Church on the city’s far west side.

According to a release from the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, the allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, allegedly occurring during Brosmer’s tenure at St. Nicholas Parish in Zanesville from 1969 to 1973, was reported to the church on July 2, 2012.

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Hungerstreik für missbrauchte Kinder

DEUTSCHLAND
shz

Als Kind wurde Norbert Denef missbraucht. Heute ist er 63 Jahre alt – und im Hungerstreik. Sein Ziel: Die Politik soll die Verjährungsfristen von Sexualstraftaten abschaffen.

Scharbeutz. Seit 36 Tagen verweigert Denef die Nahrung. Der gelernte Elektriker ist glücklich verheiratet, lebt in einem Reihenhaus in Scharbeutz, zehn Minuten vom Ostseestrand. “Mit der Ostsee”, sagt Norbert Denef, “verbinde ich positive Kindheitserinnerungen.” Gelitten hingegen hat er im Pfarrhaus von Delitzsch bei Leipzig. Er war neun Jahre alt und Ministrant, als ein Missbrauch begann, der neun Jahre andauern sollte. Erst war es der Pfarrer der Kirche “Unbefleckte Empfängnis Mariens”, der sich an ihm verging, später der Kantor.

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Bischof entlässt Priester wegen Missbrauchs

DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

Der Trierer Bischof Stephan Ackermann hat erstmals einen Geistlichen seines Bistums wegen sexueller Übergriffe aus dem Klerikerstand entlassen. Der Mann soll fünf Jungen missbraucht haben.

Trier – Die Entlassung des katholischen Theologen erfolgte bereits am vergangenen Dienstag, wurde aber erst am Freitag öffentlich gemacht. Bischof Ackermann, Missbrauchsbeauftragter der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, habe zunächst die Opfer und den Täter informieren wollen, sagte ein Bistumssprecher.

Der Priester, der sich bereits im Ruhestand befindet, soll zwischen 1966 und 1980 fünf minderjährige Jungen missbraucht haben – in zwei Fällen über einen längeren Zeitraum hinweg. Er äußerte sich bisher nicht zu der Maßnahme, hat aber die Möglichkeit, innerhalb von 60 Tagen gegen die Entscheidung Einspruch einzulegen.

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Denn der Zweck heiligt nicht die Mittel!

DEUTSCHLAND
Kath.net

KATH.NET-Interview mit Pfarrer Uwe Winkel, Netzwerk katholischer Priester, über das Ende eines geplanten Forschungsprojekt der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, bei dem ein Institut Zugriff auf alle Personalakten der 27 Diözesen gehabt hätte

Linz (kath.net/as/rn)
KATH.NET: Vor knapp einem Jahr hat sich das „Netzwerk katholischer Priester“ gegen das Vorhaben gewandt, dem Kriminologischem Forschungsinstitut Niedersachsen Zugriff auf die Kleriker-Personalakten in allen 27 Diözesen zu geben. Das Forschungskonzept für eine empirische Untersuchung des sexuellen Missbrauchs an Minderjährigen durch katholische Priester, Diakone und männliche Ordensangehörige im Bereich der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz (DBK) sah die Durchsicht aller Personalakten des genannten Personenkreise der letzten 65 Jahre vor. Offensichtlich wurden diese Pläne jetzt von Rom eingeschränkt? Welche Instanzen innerhalb der DBK setzten sich aktiv für dieses Projekt ein? Wurden die einzelnen Bischöfe vorher über die Zusammenhänge ausreichend informiert?

Pfarrer Winkel: Beim Bundestreffen des Netzwerks katholischer Priester im Herbst 2011 im Würzburger Exerzitienhaus „Himmelspforten“ hat der Leiter des Kriminologischen Forschungsinstituts Niedersachsen (KFN) Prof. Dr. Christian Pfeiffer im Plenum sehr offen über sein Forschungsprojekt gesprochen. Demnach gab es eine enge Kooperation zwischen seinem Institut und dem Sekretariat der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz. Nach Darstellung von Professor Pfeiffer entschied man sich im Ständigen Rat der DBK einhellig für das Projekt.

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German priest fired for decades old sex abuse

GERMANY
The Garden Island

Associated Press | Posted: Friday, July 13, 2012

BERLIN (AP) — The Catholic Church has fired a German priest for sexually abusing five underage boys more than 30 years ago.

The diocese of Trier in western Germany says Bishop Stephan Ackermann dismissed the unnamed man from the priesthood Tuesday.

It said in a statement Friday that the retired priest had committed the abuse between 1966 and 1980.

The Trier diocese said it only learned of the abuses in 2010, by which time the statute of limitations for prosecuting the crimes had expired.

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Sandusky/PSU-like situations in SBC churches

UNITED STATES
SBC Plodder

William Thornton

Clergy sex abuse is one of the main subjects that occupy my thoughts and blogging that is not strictly an SBC matter. I read a good bit on such things and occasionally write about it partly because of the appalling ignorance and ineptness among pastors and churches in handling such things.

Yesterday, the lengthy, near exhaustive, independent report on the Penn State, Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno child sex abuse scandal was released. It has some jaw-dropping information.

Consider this paragraph:

“Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State,” Freeh wrote. “The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.”

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Former Z-ville Catholic Priest Facing Sex Abuse Allegations

ZANESVILLE (OH)
WHIZ

A Catholic priest – who served at St. Nicholas Church in Zanesville over 40 years ago — has been placed on administrative leave after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. The Catholic Diocese of Columbus – in a press release – said the action was taken upon a recommendation of Board of Review for the Protection of Children. Bishop Frederick Campbell of Columbus placed Father Thomas Brosmer on leave pending the findings of the investigation. The sexual abuse is alleged to have occurred in Zanesville from 1969 to 1973. Brosmer was also a teacher at Bishop Rosecrans High School during that time. The Diocese says it received the allegation on July 2nd and reported to the Zanesville Police Department.

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Marx residiert in millionensaniertem Prunk-Palais

DEUTSCHLAND
Welt

Ein edles Rokoko-Palais in der Münchner Altstadt beherbergt seit Kurzem Erzbischof Marx. Die Sanierung des Prachtbaus hat 8,7 Millionen Euro gekostet – zum Großteil bezahlt vom Freistaat Bayern.

Der Amtssitz der Erzbischöfe von München und Freising im Rokoko-Palais Holnstein in München ist nach jahrelanger Sanierung nun fertig. Für 8,7 Millionen Euro war das von Hofbaumeister François de Cuvilliés errichtete Baudenkmal seit 2008 renoviert worden.

Eines der Prunkstücke ist ein restauriertes Deckenfresko des Malers und Stuckateurs Johann Baptist Zimmermann im historischen Treppenhaus. In aufwendiger Arbeit sei es gelungen, das Gemälde der allegorischen Figuren Justitia (Recht) und Pax (Frieden) weitgehend wieder in den Originalzustand zu versetzen, sagte der Leiter der Hauptabteilung für Kunst im Erzbischöflichen Ordinariat, Norbert Jocher. Der Münchner Erzbischof Kardinal Reinhard Marx nahm an dem Rundgang nicht teil.

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Priester aus Klerikerstand entlassen

DEUTSCHLAND
Bistum Trier

Bischof Ackermann verhängt Strafe wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs

Trier – Der Trierer Bischof Dr. Stephan Ackermann hat am 10. Juli einen Ruhestandsgeistlichen des Bistums Trier aus dem Klerikerstand entlassen. Der Priester hatte in der Zeit zwischen 1966 und 1980 fünf minderjährige Jungen sexuell missbraucht, in zwei Fällen auch über einen längeren Zeitraum. Die Entlassung aus dem Klerikerstand ist das höchste Strafmaß, das das Kirchenrecht vorsieht. Der Priester verliert damit sämtliche Rechte, die mit seinem Priesteramt verbunden sind. Es ist das erste Mal in der jüngsten Geschichte des Bistums Trier, dass diese Strafe gegen einen Priester ausgesprochen wird, der sich des sexuellen Missbrauchs an Kindern und Jugendlichen schuldig gemacht hat. Der Priester hatte schon bisher keinerlei seelsorglichen Auftrag mehr.

Das Bistum Trier hatte im Frühjahr 2010 durch Opfer von den Vorwürfen erfahren. Entsprechend der Leitlinien der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz wurde den Anschuldigungen nachgegangen und eine kirchenrechtliche Voruntersuchung eingeleitet. Nach deren Abschluss wurde die Glaubenskongregation in Rom über die Ergebnisse informiert. Die Glaubenskongregation hat daraufhin die Unterlagen geprüft und den Fall an das Bistum Trier zurückverwiesen mit der Maßgabe, ein so genanntes außergerichtliches Strafverfahren auf dem Verwaltungsweg durchzuführen, wie es in can. 1720 des kirchlichen Gesetzbuchs beschrieben ist. Nach Abschluss dieses Verfahrens hat der Bischof von Trier der Glaubenskongregation vorgeschlagen, den Priester aus dem Klerikerstand zu entlassen.

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Ackermann feuert pädophilen Priester

DEUTSCHLAND
SR

Der Trierer Bischof Stephan Ackermann hat einen Priester wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs aus dem Klerikerstand entlassen. Damit verhängte er die kirchenrechtliche Höchststrafe. Der Priester hatte zwischen 1966 und 1980 fünf minderjährige Jungen missbraucht.

(13.07.2012) Zwei der Jungen seien auch über einen längeren Zeitraum missbraucht worden, teilte das Bistum am Freitag mit. Es sei das erste Mal in der jüngsten Geschichte des Bistums, dass diese Strafe gegen einen Priester wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern und Jugendlichen ausgesprochen wird. Mit der Entlassung verliert der Geistliche sämtliche Rechte, die mit dem Amt verbunden sind.

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Former priest judges his Church’s sins

AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

July 14, 2012
Opinion

Graham Downie

It was hard to imagine a wandering preacher in Palestine, with a few mates and no home, planning to establish an international enterprise with offices in every town and city in the known and the unknown world, and with its headquarters in Rome.

So says former Catholic priest, theology lecturer, lawyer and NSW district court judge Chris Geraghty in his new book, Dancing with the Devil, which traces his life from a child of 12 entering the seminary, through his great enthusiasm and hope from Vatican II, personal stress while a theology lecturer and to his finally leaving the priesthood for marriage and family, and a career in the law.

Now retired, Geraghty remains a Catholic but sharply critical of that Church. In the book he writes, ”I had been unhappy teaching in the seminary at Springwood, before leaving to study overseas. An alien in the ranks of the clergy; attacked by silly, pompous bishops; trapped and broken in a top-heavy, sluggish institution. The old brigade was clinging onto their power and privileges like falling angels grabbing on to thin clouds as they tumbled into oblivion.”

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OH- Former associate pastor welcomed back, SNAP responds

OHIO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Judy Jones on July 12, 2012

This is an extraordinarily callous and dangerous move. Forgiveness is good. Recklessness is not.

We can forgive a school bus driver whose drunkenness costs children their lives. But we don’t give her another set of keys. We can forgive a police officer whose misuse of a weapon causes injury to others. But we don’t give him another gun.

Forgiveness is a private, personal choice. Giving a proven wrongdoer the tools and the chance to hurt others again is a public act. And it’s wrong.

There is a huge and inherent power imbalance between clergy and church members. It is like a doctor-patient or therapist-client relationship, where any sexual contact is expressly forbidden. And for good reason: because it almost always results in devastation, with individuals and with congregations.

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Catholic Church loses case in UK, SNAP responds

UNITED KINGDOM
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on July 12, 2012

We applaud this ruling and the message that it sends. We believe that, when church officials who conceal or enable are held accountable alongside the offending priest, it helps deter future crimes. Church officials who remain silent and fail to report crimes to police must be held responsible as well, both financially and publicly.

Now that this ruling has come down, we hope the brave victim who has endured this long and arduous legal process will be able to continue her healing journey, comforted by the fact that she has taken great strides to protect children, both in the UK and elsewhere.

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Freeh-ed

UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

There are days when the avalanche is made not of snow but of clay feet.

Such was the day Thursday when Louis Freeh delivered his independent report of the child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State.

The 267 page report was the result of an eight month independent investigation and it was delivered a month to the day that former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of the sexual abuse of children.

In it, Freeh Report our readers will find the top leadership at Penn State: the legendary and nearly god-like Joe Paterno, university president, Graham Spanier, both of whom were fired when the scandal broke, and the two vice presidents who face criminal charges, – all as Freeh describes it “had a callous and shocking disregard for child victims.”

Beyond that, the report says, by their lack of action against Sandusky and by allowing empowered him to abuse children.

The similarities between what happened at Penn State and what happened in the Catholic Church are identical twins.

The report reveals:
◦the desire to avoid bad publicity
◦the failure to make inquiries
◦a president who discouraged dissent and discussion
◦a lack of awareness of child abuse policies and whistleblower policies and protections
◦the decision by Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schmitz (the two vice presidents) to allow Sandusky to retire, not as a suspected child abuser but as a valued member of Penn State football with continuing ties and continuing access to its facilities
◦a culture of reverence for the football program that is ingrained at all levels of the campus community

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Yesterday’s Appeal Court ruling strikes me as a serious blow to religious freedom

UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald

By Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith on Friday, 13 July 2012

The decision of the Court of Appeal in the case concerning the Diocese of Portsmouth, which has been reported in the Catholic Herald but not received any attention that I have noticed elsewhere, is extremely interesting.

The court has upheld the ruling that the diocese is liable for the action of one of its priests, on the grounds that the relationship between priest and bishop is close enough to employer/employee for this to be the case.

Now this seems to be a case mainly about compensation for the victims of child abuse, and so it is. I would like to leave that part of it aside, and consider something that may be overlooked, but may be of great importance both for the Church and for all other voluntary organisations.

Until now, as far as I understand it, priests volunteer to serve in various offices at the invitation of the bishop or religious superior. If the bishop and the priest are now to be considered in an employer/employee relationship, then this represents an innovation. Employees can sue their employers, and vice versa; the relationship between employees and employers is governed by a vast corpus of case and statute law. At present the relationship between bishop and priest is governed by canon law, the only force of which is in the will of those who adhere to it. A priest can, but rarely does, initiate a canonical process against his bishop, and vice versa; but if we are employees, then this opens up a whole new range of possibilities, and potentially, a considerable new territory for litigation.

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Catholic Priest Placed on Administrative Leave

OHIO
10 TV

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – A Catholic priest was placed on administrative leave Thursday, after allegations he sexually abused a minor.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus said the accusations against Reverend Thomas Brosmer, 68, date back to his time at the Saint Nicholas Parish in Zanesville in the 1970s.

The Columbus Dispatch reports the diocese found out about the accusation, reported it to police and placed Brosmer on administrative leave.

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