ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRIA
The Irish Times

THE CATHOLIC Church in Austria has laid down the law to its rebel priests by telling them they cannot support a reform manifesto criticised by Pope Benedict and stay in an administrative post.

One priest said he had already stepped down from the post of deacon rather than renounce the Call to Disobedience manifesto, that challenges church teaching on topics such as women’s ordination and offering Communion to non-Catholics.

Another priest had withdrawn his support for the campaign and kept his job, a church spokesman said yesterday, while two or three more had yet to decide.

The manifesto’s demands, which issue from a reform group called Priests’ Initiative, have been echoed by some Catholic groups and clerics in Germany, Ireland, Belgium and the United States.

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.

NORTHERN IRELAND
The Irish Times

GEORGE JACKSON

A Catholic priest who is originally from Moville, Co Donegal, has been found not guilty at the crown court in Derry of five charges of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl 20 years ago.

Fr Eugene Boland (66), the parochial house, Killyclogher Road, Omagh, was found not guilty yesterday of the charges by majority verdicts. He had denied claims he had indecently assaulted the girl in the parochial house at St Joseph’s parish in the Galliagh area of Derry between June 1990 and June 1992 when he was the then parish administrator.

The verdicts followed an eight-day trial before Judge Stephen Fowler and almost four hours of deliberation over two days by the jury. Following the verdicts, the complainant wept in court.

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JOLIET (IL)
CBS Chicago

JOLIET, Ill. (STMW) – New allegations of sexual abuse are being leveled at a former priest from the Diocese of Joliet already accused of molesting several young boys in the 1970s.

Terence Breen sued Lawrence Gibbs and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Will County Circuit Court this week. He claims Gibbs gave several young boys alcohol and pornography during a retreat at a Wisconsin cabin in 1977, had them play games, swim and perform other activities naked.

And he said Gibbs took him into a cabin bedroom to molest him in 1978.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Joliet didn’t return a call seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.

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BELGIE
HLN

Het Centrum voor Arbitrage inzake Seksueel Misbruik heeft reeds 238 dossiers ontvangen van slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in een pastorale relatie. Dat bleek in de Opvolgingscommissie Seksueel Misbruik in de Kamer. Verslaggever Renaat Landuyt (sp.a) vermoedt dat nog een 150 slachtoffers zich zullen melden tegen de einddatum eind oktober van dit jaar.

Een dozijn dossiers werden aan de aanvragers overgemaakt voor een reactie op de opmerking van de stichting Dignity, die door de bisschoppen en religieuze oversten opgericht werd om in hun naam op te treden in de procedure. Daarna kan de Permanente Arbitragekamer (PAK) een poging tot verzoening opstarten.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
National Catholic Reporter

Jun. 27, 2012
By Brian Roewe

Full restoration continues to inch closer for 11 shuttered parishes in Cleveland.

Bishop Richard G. Lennon announced Wednesday afternoon the names of pastors and opening dates for five of the 11 parishes that successfully appealed their closure to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy in early March. A 12th parish required restoration in name only.

The new pastors and assignments are:
•Rev. Gary Chmura, St. Adalbert parish in Cleveland, effective July 2;
•Rev. A. Jonathon Zingales, St. John the Baptist parish in Akron, effective July 2;
•Rev. Eric Orzech, St. Casimir parish in Cleveland, effective July 9;
•Rev. Joseph Hilinski, St. Barbara parish in Cleveland, effective July 16;
•Rev. Joseph Workman, St. James parish in Lakewood, effective July 23.

Assignments for the remaining six parishes are forthcoming, according to a diocesan statement. Each priest will determine the date for the opening Mass at their new parish homes, though a source told NCR the first Mass at St. Barbara is expected to be celebrated July 22 at 11 a.m.

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ARLINGTON (VA)
CBS DC

RICHMOND, Va. (CBSDC/AP) — A woman who claims Rev. Thomas Euteneuer repeatedly molested her during a more than two-year exorcism has filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, its bishop and an anti-abortion ministry that employed the exorcist.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Arlington County Circuit Court, seeks more than $5.3 million in damages.

According to the complaint, the Warren County woman went to Euteneuer, then president of Front Royal-based Human Life International Inc., for spiritual help in February 2008. The lawsuit says Euteneuer knew that the woman, identified in court papers by the pseudonym Jane Doe, believed she needed exorcism. He told her that her case was “severe” and had her sign an agreement promising full cooperation, the complaint says.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

A San Francisco man accused of assaulting a priest at the Los Gatos Sacred Heart Jesuit Center more than two years ago yelled at the cleric that he had molested him, a health-care employee who once worked at the facility testified Wednesday.

Defendant William Lynch “seemed agitated,” said retired worker Mary Margaret Eden. He “was still upset with Father [Jerold] Lindner … was still screaming, saying that he molested him.” Eden said Lynch tried to re-enter the parlor area where the alleged attack on the priest took place, but she prevented him from doing so.

Eden said she then told Lynch that receptionist Carol Santos, now retired, was calling 911. Eden then saw Lynch go out the front doors of the center’s main building and down the steps, she testified.

Lynch is standing trial for the alleged May 10, 2010 attack on Lindner. The defendant faces one count of felony assault with intent to cause great bodily injury and one count of elder abuse under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

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CALIFORNIA
The Associated Press

By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The priest accused of molesting children has “pleaded the fifth.” The judge has stricken his testimony and denials of abuse from the trial record. Three of the priest’s alleged victims are no longer allowed to testify. And the man on trial for beating the priest he says raped him will be limited in what he can tell the jury when called to the witness stand.

Still, after several emergency meetings in chambers, traded barbs of professional misconduct, and defense demands for a mistrial stemming from the priest’s alleged false testimony, Judge David Cena for the first time in nearly a week convened trial on time and without legal rancor Wednesday.

William Lynch, 44, is charged with assaulting retired Catholic priest Jerold Lindner on May 10, 2010, at a Los Gatos home for priests accused and convicted of sexual misconduct. Lynch claims Lindner raped him and his brother during a 1975 camping trip in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Lynch was 7 years old, and his brother was three years younger at the time. The brothers earlier settled a lawsuit over the allegations for $625,000.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
RTE News

Father Eugene Boland, 66, has been found not guilty of five charges of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl over 20 years ago.

Fr Eugene Boland, Parochial House, Killyclogher Road, Omagh had denied committing the charges in the parochial house and at St Joseph’s Church, Galliagh, Co Derry between 1990 and 1992.

After four hours of deliberations by the Jury yesterday and today, Fr Boland was found not guilty of the five charges that he inappropriately touched the complainant between June 1990 and June 1992.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Michael D’Antonio

After months of testimony and deliberations the Philadelphia jurors who found Msgr. William Lynn guilty of child endangerment did more than any Vatican official has ever done to address the problem of sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church. This was made possible by the simple fact that the men and women of the jury confronted him as a peer, in a system that confers equal rights and responsibilities upon all.

Those who wonder why the Church has been unable to halt the rolling catastrophe of sexual abuse claims need only consider the difference between the American system of law and Catholic justice. Within the Church, ordained men are regarded a special creatures with extra-human powers. They alone conduct the sacraments, such as communion and reconciliation (confession) and they alone can ascend through the clerical ranks to become bishops, cardinals and popes. Their superior status culminates in the pope’s claim of infallibility, which places certain of his statements on a par with the voice of God.

Inside the institutional Church, ordination opens the doors to a brotherhood of men who have officially forsworn sex, marriage and children, and embrace the Church as their main source of emotional, spiritual and even financial support. This sacrifice makes many feel entitled to special treatment, and while they may not always get it from laypeople they generally receive it from each other. To put it crudely: priests give priests a lot of breaks. This is why complaints about sexual abuse were so often covered-up and resolved by sending “father” to another post. None of the men in charge wanted to discipline a brother.

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CALIFORNIA
The Sacramento Bee

By PAUL ELIAS
Associated Press

Published: Wednesday, Jun. 27, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO — Jurors in the trial of a California man accused of beating a priest he says molested him are hearing the abuse allegations.

Mary Eden, a health-care worker at the retirement home where the Rev. Jerold Lindner lived, testified Wednesday that she witnessed defendant William Lynch punch Lindner twice and scream that Lindner had raped him and his brother and ruined their lives.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

Victims group urges Philadelphia archbishop to defrock convicted priest, Monsignor William Lynn

By David Gibson| Religion News Service, Updated: Wednesday, June 27

The leading advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse by clergy is urging Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput to defrock the priest convicted last week of shielding other clerics who preyed on children. But laicizing Monsignor William Lynn is not as simple as it sounds.

Lynn oversaw clergy assignments in the Philadelphia archdiocese for a decade and is the first high-ranking church official ever found guilty of covering up for abuse, not committing it.

Lynn, 61, was convicted on one charge of child endangerment and was acquitted of conspiracy and a second endangerment charge after a closely watched three-month trial. He is in custody and could face up to seven years behind bars when he is sentenced on Aug. 13.

The request by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, came in a letter sent Wednesday (June 27) to Chaput. It highlights the unusual challenge of what punishment the church should levy on Lynn, if any.

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ARLINGTON (VA)
NBC Washington

A woman who claims a priest repeatedly molested her during a more than two-year exorcism has filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, its bishop and an anti-abortion ministry that employed the exorcist.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Arlington County Circuit Court, seeks more than $5.3 million in damages.

According to the complaint, the Warren County woman went to the Rev. Thomas Euteneur, then president of Front Royal-based Human Life International Inc., for spiritual help in February 2008.

The lawsuit says Euteneur knew that the woman, identified in court papers by the pseudonym Jane Doe, believed she needed exorcism. He told her that her case was “severe” and had her sign an agreement promising full cooperation, the complaint says.

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.

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

by Edward Pentin Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The supervisory board of the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), popularly known as the Vatican Bank, held its first meeting today since the board issued a vote of no confidence in former president Ettore Gotti Tedeschi last month.

The meeting, in which members discussed the selection of Gotti’s successor, took place a day before the IOR receives a large group of journalists at its offices as part of efforts, initiated by Pope Benedict XVI, to increase transparency.

In a communique published this afternoon, the Vatican announced the board had “two very useful meetings for sharing information and proposals both regarding day to day management as well as the universal criteria of professionalism and experience that are called for in light of the choice of [the Bank’s] new president.”

The statement said one of the meetings involved the board reporting to a supervisory commission of cardinals, chaired by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, June 27 (Reuters) – The board of the Vatican bank met on Wednesday to start the hunt for a new president to replace Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who was unceremoniously ousted last month.

The Vatican said the board, which is made up of outside lay experts, had met to “identify the universally recognised criteria of professionalism and experience” needed for the job.

The board includes Carl Anderson, the American head of the international charity group Knights of Columbus, Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz, formerly a top executive at Deutsche Bank, Manuel Soto Serrano of Banco Santander and Antonio Maria Marocco, a prominent Italian notary.

Former Bundesbank head Hans Tietmeyer has denied Italian media reports that he was a candidate to become the next head of the bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).

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LAS VEGAS (NV)
KSNV

[with video]

Reported by: Elizabeth Donatelli
Email: EDonatelli@Mynews3.com

LAS VEGAS (KSNV & MyNews3) — A lawsuit filed against a catholic friar who was accused of sexually abusing a young boy while he was stationed in Las Vegas is over.

It was settled out of court for money and information. News 3’s Elizabeth Donatelli spoke with the former church leader and has that story.

The diocese of Las Vegas, which was also named in the suit, issued a statement back in 2011 saying they were not aware of previous allegations.

The following was read during mass at St. Christopher’s parish in March of 2011 when the Diocese of Las Vegas was made aware of the allegation against Brother Tom Thing who was temporarily assigned to the Diocese for a period of time in the early 1980’s. The Diocese was not aware of any allegations or misconduct by Brother Thing prior to or during his time in Las Vegas.

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TEXAS
Amarillo Globe-News

By KAREN SMITH WELCH
karen.welch@amarillo.com

A Roman Catholic priest restricted to ministry within the Diocese of Amarillo appears to have won a loosening of the restraints placed on him by his bishop.

The Congregation of the Clergy at the Vatican has overturned Amarillo Bishop Patrick J. Zurek’s decision to prevent the Rev. Frank Pavone from performing religious services outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Amarillo, according to information from both sides in the dispute.

But a statement from Zurek said Pavone still must continue “until further notice” his ministry as chaplain of the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ at Prayer Town, near Channing, and the two must agree, in advance, about Pavone’s participation in pro-life events.

Pavone has been operating since September under restrictions placed upon him by Zurek, who raised questions about the finances of Priests for Life, a New York anti-abortion nonprofit, and affiliated organizations directed by Pavone.

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CALIFORNIA
Oakland Tribune

By Tracey Kaplan
@mercurynews.com
mercurynews.com

Posted: 06/27/2012

Judge David A. Cena, two hours into Wednesday’s deliberations, summarily and abruptly ordered the public out of the Will Lynch assault trial courtoom. Only the jury remained, along with the mystery of what legal housekeeping the judge needed to do with such immediacy.

In many such situations, a judge will want to query jurors about whether anyone on the panel violated his orders and researched the controversial case thru media reports or in other ways. It’s also possible that Cena is contemplating replacing a sitting juror with an alternate.

However, 15 minutes later when the public was allowed back in, the judge gave a stern warning to onlookers about them having absolutely no contact with any juror — regardless of how innocent that contact might seem.

“Don’t even say, “So what do you think about the 49ers moving to Santa Clara?”’ said Cena, giving an example that illustrated how no topic with a juror is allowed. “If you do, I will not hesitate to eject anyone no matter how innocent the contact.” The judge did not explain exactly what caused him to clear the courtroom or why he made that particular warning to the returning gallery.

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AUSTRIA
Reuters

By Michael Shields

VIENNA | Wed Jun 27, 2012

(Reuters) – Austria’s Roman Catholic Church has laid down the law to its rebel priests by telling them they could not support a reform manifesto criticized by Pope Benedict and stay in an administrative post.

One priest told Reuters he had already stepped down from the post of deacon rather than renounce the “Call to Disobedience” manifesto that challenges Church teaching on taboo topics such as women’s ordination and offering communion to non-Catholics.

Another priest had withdrawn his support for the reform campaign and kept his job, a Church spokesman said on Wednesday.

He added that two or three more have yet to decide whether to withdraw their support from the manifesto from a reform group called “Priests’ Initiative” whose demands have been echoed by some Catholic groups and clerics in Germany, Ireland, Belgium and the United States.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 27 June 2012 (VIS) – Below is the text of the communique released late this morning by the Press Office of the Holy See:

“This morning there was a meeting of the Board of Superintendence of the Institute for Works of Religion, currently composed of Vice President Dr. Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz, Dr. Carl Albert Anderson, Dr. Antonio Maria Marocco, and Dr. Manuel Soto Serrano.

Following that meeting, the Board reported to the Commission of Cardinals, presided over by Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

These two meetings were very useful for sharing information and proposals both regarding day to day management as well as the universal criteria of professionalism and experience that are called for in light of the choice of a new president for the Board of Superintendence.

Pope Benedict XVI is closely following the situation of the Institute for Works of Religion and is being constantly briefed by the Cardinal Secretary of State.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on June 27, 2012

June 27, 2012

Dear Archbishop Chaput;

We are leaders of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Our mission is to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.

We are writing you today with a simple and straightforward request about Monsignor William Lynn. He has been tried. He has been convicted. He should be defrocked.

This is not about being vindictive. It’s about being prudent. It’s about trying to reverse decades or centuries of self-serving secrecy in child sex abuse cases by thousands of Catholic officials. It’s about sending the most clear and severe message possible to current and future church employees who ignore, conceal and enable heinous crimes against kids. That message should be a “no brainer” – if you protect predators and hurt kids by hiding known and suspected crimes, you will be out of a job.

Sadly, even now, that message is virtually never sent. With only a handful of exceptions, Catholic staffers who act recklessly, callously and deceitfully with the safety of kids are virtually never disciplined by officials like you. So sadly, the same hurtful patterns of complicity – that have been so thoroughly exposed, so extensively documented and so widely criticized – continue.

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NEDERLAND
de Volkskrant

Door: Marjan van den Berg − 27/06/12

De vereniging voor pedofielen, Martijn, is vanochtend door de rechtbank in Assen verboden. Is dat goed nieuws, of een bedrieglijke bescherming voor kinderen? .

Uit de uitspraak van de rechtbank Assen:
‘(…)De Vereniging Martijn creëert of draagt daarmee bij aan het bestaan van een subcultuur waarbinnen seksuele handelingen tussen volwassenen en kinderen als normaal en acceptabel gelden. Daarmee tast de Vereniging Martijn de rechten van kinderen aan. De bescherming van de seksuele integriteit van kinderen vormt onmiskenbaar één van de meest wezenlijke beginselen van onze rechtsorde.’

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

[SNAP’s letter to Archbishop Chaput]

Posted by David Clohessy on June 27, 2012

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging Philadelphia’s Catholic archbishop to start defrocking a high-ranking church official who was convicted last week of endangering children by refusing to report known and suspected child sex crimes.

Leaders of SNAP are writing Archbishop Charles Chaput asking him to initiate the process of “laicizing” Msgr. William Lynn. On Friday, Lynn became the first American Catholic staffer ever found guilty of enabling predator priests to be quietly sent to unsuspecting parishes where they molested again.

Since the jury verdict, Chaput has given no indication as to whether he plans to discipline Lynn.

“No reasonable person can deny that, for more than a decade, Msgr. Lynn ignored, concealed and enabled child sex crimes,” says SNAP’s letter. “Lynn repeatedly refused, in dozens of cases, to call police even once about known or suspected child sex crimes.”

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UNITED STATES
The Deacon’s Bench

June 27, 2012 By Deacon Greg Kandra

That’s the statement being put out by Priests for Life:

We are happy to announce that the Vatican has upheld Father Frank Pavone’s appeal and has declared that Father Pavone is not now nor has ever been suspended. Father Pavone remains a priest in good standing all over the world.

We were confident all along that a just decision would be made by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy. While we fully agree that Bishop Zurek has rightful authority over the priests of his diocese, we also see the urgent need for Father Pavone to be allowed to conduct his priestly ministry outside the diocese of Amarillo for the good of the pro-life movement.

However, last week, Bishop Zurek had this to say:

In its decree of May 18, 2012, the Congregation for the Clergy has sustained Father Frank A. Pavone’s appeal of his suspension from ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo and his appointment from me on October 4, 2011 as Chaplain of the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in Channing, Texas. Father Pavone is to continue his ministry as chaplain until further notice. As a gesture of good will, I will grant permission to him in individual cases, based upon their merits, to participate in pro-life events with the provision that he and I must be in agreement beforehand as to his role and function.

All other matters are outside the purview of this statement.

Amarillo, Texas, June 20, 2012

+Most Rev. Patrick J. Zurek, STL, DD
Bishop of Amarillo

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Karen Polesir on June 26, 2012

We believe Msgr. Lynn being behind bars is just, and helps end current cover ups and deter future ones, both inside and outside the church.

Before making a decision next week about his fate, we hope the judge does thorough research into the hundreds of predator priests who’ve crossed or been sent across national boundaries. We hope she bases her ruling on the past behavior – not future promises – of Catholic officials.

We’re less concerned about the short term and more concerned about the long term. What we really want is for Lynn to get the maximum sentence and for prosecutors to retry Fr. Brennan and pursue other charges against other complicit staff in the hierarchy. That’s the best way, we feel, to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded and expose the truth.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Vatican bank’s supervisory council has met and reported to the commission overseeing the bank’s activities, led by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone

Vatican Insider staff
Rome

The first board meeting since the vote of no-confidence in the Vatican bank’s (IOR) former president Ettore Gotti Tedeschi on 24 May, took place today. Current members of the board include Vice-President, Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz who acts as interim president, Carl Anderson, Antonio Maria Marocco and Manuel Soto Serrano.

One of the themes of the meeting, a communiqué explains, is “the identification of internationally recognised criteria for professionalism and experience, ahead of the selection of the bank’s new president.”

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NEDERLAND
Ruard Ganzevoort blogt

De vereniging Martijn is omstreden, daarmee is niets te veel gezegd. De club is gericht op de acceptatie van (seksuele) relaties tussen ouderen en kinderen. Het CDA grijpt de veroordeling van de voorzitter wegens het bezit van kinderporno aan om op een verbod aan te dringen. Het is echter zeer de vraag of dat verstandig is. Voor de strijd tegen seksueel misbruik kon het wel eens averechts werken.

De discussie over pedoseksualiteit is in de loop van de jaren een paar keer totaal verschoven (zie mijn artikel ‘tussen trauma en tolerantie‘ voor die ontwikkeling binnen de kerken). In de jaren zeventig en tachtig werd vooral gestreefd naar tolerantie en begrip. Het taboe moest doorbroken worden. De voortrekkers van deze tolerantie meenden zelfs dat het grootste probleem de reactie van de maatschappij is en niet de seksuele contacten zelf. Twintig jaar later is van dat streven naar acceptatie weinig over. Bijna niemand durft het op te nemen voor pedoseksualiteit.

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ARLINGTON (VA)
Fox 8

June 27, 2012, by Joe Borlik

RICHMOND, Va. — A woman who claims a priest molested her during a more than two-year exorcism is suing the Catholic Diocese of Arlington.

The lawsuit in Arlington County Circuit Court also names Bishop Paul Loverde and Front Royal-based Human Life International Inc. as defendants. It seeks more than $5.3 million in damages.

The complaint said the woman went to the Rev. Thomas Euteneur in 2008 for spiritual help. Euteneur was president of HLI, an anti-abortion ministry, and also performed exorcisms.

The lawsuit claims Euteneur’s sessions with the woman frequently involved inappropriate touching and directing her to undress. The complaint said Euteneur explained passionate kisses as “blowing the Holy Spirit” into her

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Derry Journal

Published on Wednesday 27 June 2012

A priest cleared of indecently assaulting a teenage girl has said the allegation had “a devastating impact” on his life.

A jury at Derry Crown Court found Father Eugene Boland (66), of Parochial House, Killyclogher Road, Omagh not guilty by majority verdict on all five charges of indecent assault on the girl of around 14 years old in the parochial house of St Joseph’s Church, Galliagh between June 28, 1990 and June 30, 1992. There were cheers from Fr Boland’s supporters as the verdict was delivered following an eight day trial and several hours of deliberation by the jury of four men and eight women.

In a statement read on the cleric’s behalf by solicitor Kevin McGuigan outside Derry courthouse, Fr Boland said he now hopes to return to his ministry which was suspended by the Catholic Church when the allegations first arose two years ago.

“As a result of the allegation I have had to step back from my ministry as a priest. I have been a priest for 42 years and look forward to returning to my ministry as soon as possible with my reputation and good name restored.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

A Donegal-born priest has been cleared of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in a parochial house in Galliagh, Londonderry, 20 years ago.

Fr Eugene Boland, of Killyclogher Road in Omagh, was acquitted of all five charges by a jury at Londonderry Crown Court after an eight-day trial.

Two women who clapped and cheered after the verdict were warned they could face contempt of court proceedings

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

Two Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies found a bloodied, bruised and lacerated priest when they arrived at the Los Gatos Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in May 2010 following a 911 call reporting an assault.

Deputies Rick Chaeff and Jonathan Seaton took the stand Tuesday afternoon during the trial of William Lynch, a San Francisco man accused of beating Rev. Jerold Lindner, who the defendant claims raped and sodomized him and his younger brother while on camping trips to the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1975.

Chaeff’s account came after prosecutor Vicki Gemetti showed him several photographs of Lindner depicting injuries to the right side of his face, back of his head, his left ear, and his thigh area.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

After Tuesday’s deliberations in the William Lynch Los Gatos priest-beating trial, defense attorneys Pat Harris and Paul Mones walked out of the San Jose Hall of Justice to challenge the testimony by a Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy.

On the witness stand, Rick Chaeff testified that Father Jerold Lindner had suffered several bruises and one laceration above his left eye that bled heavily. However, Harris said he believed the injury to be minor and amounted to one cut.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
De Redactie (Belgie)

[Summary: Criminal neglect. Why a decision taken by a court in Philadelphia is important to victims of sexual abuse in Belgium]

“Monsignor William J. Lynn, de voormalige rechterhand van kardinaal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, werd vrijdag 22 juni 2012 in Philadelphia schuldig bevonden aan het in gevaar brengen van kinderen en wordt zo officieel de eerste vertegenwoordiger van de Katholieke kerk in de Verenigde Staten die veroordeeld werd wegens het verzwijgen van seksueel misbruik door priesters waarvoor hij verantwoordelijk was. Hij riskeert 3,5 tot 7 jaar cel.

Het verdict wordt door zowel het Openbaar Ministerie als door de slachtofferorganisaties in de VS als een keerpunt beschouwd in de benadering van schandalen rond seksueel misbruik die de Katholieke Kerk sinds jaren belasten. Belgische slachtoffers voelen het precies zo aan.

Dit alles kadert binnen een jarenlange strijd voor gerechtigheid met als doel de kerkelijke oversten verantwoordelijk te stellen voor het verstoppen en verzwijgen van bewijsmateriaal en het stiekem en schaamteloos verplaatsen van pedofiele priesters naar parochies of instellingen die het verleden van de daders niet kennen. Waar ze echter onbezwaard kunnen hervallen in hun oude gewoontes en opnieuw een gevaar vormen voor kinderen waarmee ze in contact komen.

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VENTNOR (NJ)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Amy S. Rosenberg
Inquirer Staff Writer

VENTNOR, N.J. – The sight of elderly Catholic priests rocking in wicker chairs outside the grand oceanfront home on Princeton Avenue has been a familiar part of this seaside town for nearly a half-century.

But that era is about to come to an abrupt close after an order by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput to shut the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s 19-room vacation home at the Shore by Saturday and put it up for sale.

“It’s not listed with a broker yet, but will be soon,” archdiocesan spokesman Kenneth Gavin said of the property at 114 S. Princeton, which stretches a full block along the Boardwalk and is assessed at $6.2 million.

The retired priests who had planned a stay at Villa St. Joseph by the Sea were recently told that their reservations would be canceled as of Saturday, the end of the archdiocese’s fiscal year. Facing a $17 million operating deficit and a price tag of at least $11.6 million for its response to the 2011 Philadelphia grand jury report on clergy sex abuse, the archdiocese has been engaged in massive restructuring, cost-cutting, and selling of assets.

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DEUTSCHLAND
SVZ

Keine besonderen Geschenke für den Lieblingsministranten, kein gemeinsames Duschen von Kindern und Betreuern im Zeltlager, keine “herausgehobenen, intensiven freundschaftlichen Beziehungen” zwischen Erziehern und Schutzbefohlenen. Nach dem Missbrauchsskandal, der seit 2010 die katholische Kirche bundesweit erschütterte, setzt das katholische Erzbistum Hamburg verstärkt auf Vorbeugung.

Erzbischof Werner Thissen, zu dessen Diözese auch die 40 000 Mecklenburger Katholiken zählen, hat eine “Präventionsordnung” erlassen, die künftig in allen 95 Pfarrgemeinden, den 315 Sozialeinrichtungen und 24 Schulen seines Bistums gelten soll. Gestern wurde sie in Hamburg der Öffentlichkeit vorgestellt. Für Vorpommern, das in der katholischen Kirche zum Erzbistum Berlin gehört, hatte Erzbischof Rainer Maria Kardinal Woelki bereits im April ein Dokument in Kraft gesetzt.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Welt

Eine Präventionsordnung des Hamburger Erzbistums soll Übergriffe auf Kinder und Jugendliche verhindern. Mehr als 6000 haupt- und ehrenamtliche Mitarbeiter müssen an zweitägigen Schulungen teilnehmen. Von Edgar S. Hasse

Tausende haupt- und ehrenamtliche Mitarbeiter des Erzbistums Hamburg werden in den nächsten Monaten zwei Tage lang geschult, um sexuellem Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche vorzubeugen. Die Schulungen gehören zur Strategie einer jetzt von Erzbischof Werner Thissen in Kraft gesetzten kircheninternen Präventionsordnung. Damit zieht das Erzbistum Hamburg Konsequenzen aus den Missbrauchsfällen bei Kindern, Jugendlichen und erwachsenen Schutzbefohlenen.

Nach Angaben von Domkapitular und Personalchef Ansgar Thim wurde inzwischen ein Priester wegen Missbrauchsverdachts suspendiert. Zwei weitere Verfahren werden derzeit im Vatikan geprüft. Den Geistlichen droht möglicherweise die Rückversetzung in den Laienstand.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

“Wir hören oft den Satz „Kinder sind unsere Zukunft“. Ich möchte den Satz etwas umformulieren: Kinder sind unsere Gegenwart.” (Zitat Generalvikar Holkenbrink”)

– ein gewagtes Zitat aus dem Bistum Trier, wenn man bedenkt, dass mehrere Priester, denen sexueller Missbrauch vorgeworfen wird, die sexualisierte Gewalt angewandt haben oder sich im Besitz kinderpornografischen Materials befanden, im Bistum Trier weiterhin Sakramente spenden, Messen zelebrieren, in Alten- und Pflegeheimen sowie in Krankenhäusern als “Seelsorger” arbeiten dürfen und tagtäglich Kontakt zu unseren Kindern und Jugendlichen haben…

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DEUTSCHLAND
Welt

Der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Bundesregierung, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, hat den Bundestag zur schnellen Umsetzung des “Gesetzes zur Stärkung der Rechte von Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs” (StORMG) aufgefordert. “Beim StORMG läuft uns die Zeit davon”, sagte er. Der Entwurf liege bereits seit Ende 2011 im Rechtsausschuss. Rörig sagte, die Verjährungsfristen von nur drei Jahren liefen für zivilrechtliche Schadenersatzansprüche weiter. “Ich befürchte, dass es in dieser Legislaturperiode eher nicht mehr klappt.” Rörig forderte ein breites gesellschaftliches Bündnis gegen sexuelle Gewalt. “Ich möchte, dass man mit dem Thema genauso ernsthaft umgeht wie mit den Gefahren für Kinder im Straßenverkehr”, sagte Rörig.

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SCHWEIZ
20 Minuten

Der ehemalige katholische Pfarrer von Aadorf TG wurde wegen sexueller Handlungen mit einem Kind verurteilt. Mehrere weitere Teilverfahren wurden eingestellt.

Die Thurgauer Staatsanwaltschaft hat gegen den ehemaligen katholischen Pfarrer von Aadorf einen Strafbefehl wegen sexueller Handlungen mit Kindern erlassen. Mehrere Teilverfahren wurden eingestellt. Der Schweizer sass 2010 einen Monat in Untersuchungshaft.

Die umfangreiche Untersuchung hätten bestätigt, dass es in der Zeit von 1999 bis 2010 zwischen dem Beschuldigten und mehreren Jugendlichen zu körperlichen Kontakten gekommen sei, heisst es in der Mitteilung der Thurgauer Staatsanwaltschaft vom Mittwoch.

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CALIFORNIA
KYPost

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange settled a clergy abuse lawsuit for $2 million on the day of trial, an attorney for the plaintiff said.

The settlement was reached at 9:30 p.m. Monday after hours of negotiations, attorney Vince Finaldi said.

It resolves a civil lawsuit filed by a 41-year-old decorated Air Force combat pilot who alleged that former Monsignor Michael Harris molested him in 1986, when he was a student at Mater Dei Catholic High School and Harris was principal there.

Harris has never been charged criminally and denies the allegations. His attorney, James Ingram, did not return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.

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ALASKA
Alaska Dispatch

Alex DeMarban | Jun 26, 2012

Heart-wrenching rates of Alaska Native children witness domestic or sexual violence, and many are victims themselves, troubling facts that mean the cycle of abuse is poised to continue, experts say.

That’s one of the takeaways from a newly published database called Healthy Native Families: Preventing Violence At All Ages. It’s a warehouse of information harvested from recent reports that drills down on the problem among Alaska Natives statewide.

Consider:
•Native mothers of 3-year-olds are eight times more likely than non-Natives to report that their child had witnessed violence or abuse, according to a 2009 state survey. …

Elsie Boudreau, a survivor of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest, works with abused Native children at Providence Hospital in Anchorage. A Yup’ik, she provides cultural education and support for child abuse victims and families as part of a response team that includes police, social workers and others.

She said Alaska Native children are disproportionately seen at the program, known as Alaska Child Abuse Response and Evaluation Services, or Alaska CARES. Of 900 children who received services last year, 40 percent were Alaska Natives.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writer

After five nights of solitary confinement at Philadelphia’s largest prison, Msgr. William J. Lynn has hope for a brief respite before he is sentenced to up to seven years for his role in the Catholic Church sex-abuse case.

Following an often-tense hour-long hearing, Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina on Tuesday conditionally approved releasing the 61-year-old cleric to house arrest at the Northeast Philadelphia home of an in-law until he is sentenced on Aug. 13.

But Sarmina delayed Lynn’s release until a July 5 hearing while lawyers research her questions about options if he were to flee.

Lynn might have to remain at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility even after July 5, prosecutors said, because of an inmate waiting list for the electronic-monitoring ankle bracelets used to ensure that someone on house arrest stays put.

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ARLINGTON (VA)
WAVY

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A woman who claims a priest molested her during a more than two-year exorcism is suing the Catholic Diocese of Arlington.

The lawsuit in Arlington County Circuit Court also names Bishop Paul Loverde and Front Royal-based Human Life International Inc. as defendants. It seeks more than $5.3 million in damages.

The complaint says the woman went to the Rev. Thomas Euteneur (ET’-en-our) in 2008 for spiritual help. Euteneur was president of HLI, an anti-abortion ministry, and also performed exorcisms.

According to the lawsuit, Euteneur’s sessions with the woman frequently involved inappropriate touching and directing her to undress. The complaint says Euteneur explained passionate kisses as “blowing the Holy Spirit” into her.

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ITALY
Forbes

By Avi Jorisch

Italian prosecutors have now detained the former head of the Vatican’s bank after searching his home and former office for suspected criminal behavior. Catholics and followers of the Holy See will be disappointed to learn that the Vatican’s bank appears to be embroiled in yet another financial scandal. After a number of very embarrassing episodes in recent years, the Pope pledged to comply with international standards on illicit finance and clean up the bank’s image. The European Union has an important role to play in helping the Vatican mitigate risk and come into full compliance; the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), set up by the G-7 to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, has a responsibility as well.

The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), commonly referred to as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held financial institution located inside Vatican City. Founded in 1942, the IOR’s role is to safeguard and administer property intended for works of religion or charity. The bank accepts deposits only from top Church officials and entities, according to Italian legal scholar Settimio Caridi. It is run by a president but overseen by five cardinals who report directly to the Vatican and the Vatican’s secretary of state. Because so little is known about the bank’s daily operations and transactions, it has often been called “the most secret bank in the world.”

The bank’s president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, a well-known and well-regarded figure throughout European banking and social circles, was effectively sacked when the board passed a unanimous “no-confidence” vote in late May. Hired in 2009 with the hope that he would clear the IOR’s reputation, he was fired, according to the Vatican announcement, because he failed to fulfill the “primary functions of his office.” Tedeschi echoed this when he told prosecutors that he came to the office only two days a week, spending the vast majority of his time as the head of Spain’s Banco Santander office in Milan.

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UNITED STATES
Ventura County Star

By Martin Schram

Posted June 26, 2012

Like planets and stars, two huge news masses with much in common hurtled for years through their independent orbits until — in a happening far more rare than a lunar eclipse — they unpredictably came into perfect alignment last Friday.

In the same news cycle on the same day in the same state, two juries announced two guilty verdicts in two totally unrelated court cases that were both rooted in the same shameful subject: the sexual abuse of children by trusted iconic figures of institutional authority.

One case was the focus of monumental news coverage, and it may be the only verdict you really know about: Jerry Sandusky, former Penn State University assistant football coach and founder of a celebrated program helping disadvantaged boys, was convicted of 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys.

But it was the other case that was of truly monumental significance, historically, legally, culturally and ecclesiastically. For the first time in the United States, a senior official of the Roman Catholic Church was convicted of covering up sexual abuses by priests he supervised.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Dallas Morning News

The conviction of Jerry Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator at Penn State, took place on the very same day last week that a jury in Philadelphia delivered a devastating verdict against the Catholic Church. Both cases involved sex abuse of minors by men whose horrific crimes, to a great degree, were facilitated by an institutional failure to protect vulnerable children.

Sandusky, for understandable reasons, received the national headlines. But the case in Philadelphia merits equal, if not greater, attention because it represents the first time that a senior official of the Catholic Church was held responsible for the abuse carried out by priests under his supervision.

The conviction of Monsignor William Lynn on a single charge of endangering a child was rightly hailed as a significant victory by victims of abuse by priests and their advocates, who for years have complained that the Catholic Church itself was often complicit in the crimes. As secretary for clergy at the Philadelphia archdiocese, historically one of the most important in the country, Lynn was like many church administrators in that he knew the histories of abusive priests and yet did nothing to prevent them from preying on children.

The significance of the verdict in Philadelphia, however, does not end with Lynn’s conviction. Evidence produced in the case offers indisputable proof that Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, an ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church and the head of the Philadelphia Archdiocese from 1988 to 2003, was equally guilty of endangering children.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter

by Brian Roewe on Jun. 26, 2012 NCR Today

For the time being, Msgr. William Lynn will remain in jail.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina has given conditional approval to release the 61-year-old convicted priest to house arrest, but the final decision will wait until lawyers can research what would happen should Lynn attempt to flee.

That plan could keep Lynn jailed until at least July 5.

The former secretary of clergy for the Philadelphia archdiocese was convicted on one of three charges — one count of child endangerment — brought against him for his role in supervising priests accused of abuse, and was acquitted on charges of conspiracy and another count of child endangerment.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

By Kristen Byrne

PHILADELPHIA –
A decision has yet to be made on whether a Roman Catholic official convicted of child endangerment will be released on house arrest until his sentencing hearing.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina indicated she might release Monsignor William Lynn on house arrest while he awaits sentencing if the Vatican agrees they will not harbor him in the event he flees the country.

Lynn’s defense insists he’s not a flight risk and want him on house arrest while he awaits his sentencing. His passport was surrendered to the court on Tuesday.

“Get the hell out of here, he’s not going to the Vatican,” defense attorney Tom Bergstrom said after the hearing. “That’s ridiculous.”

The prosecution argued for Lynn to stay in jail, citing an article that 35 priests have fled during criminal cases. However, most of these were before their criminal trial.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

Judge M. Teresa Sarmina wants Msgr. William J. Lynn to sign an extradition waiver before she’ll consider letting him out of jail on house arrest.

The judge told lawyers in the case that she’s worried about the monsignor fleeing the Commonwealth to hide out at the Vatican. If the monsignor wants to get out of jail, he’ll have to sign the extradition waiver first. Then if he subsequently becomes a fugitive and is captured on Vatican soil, he cannot legally fight extradition back to the U.S.

Sounds like a plot for a TV potboiler, right? But the judge was serious, and so Lynn agreed to the request. The judge was crabbier than usual as she repeatedly lit into defense lawyer Jeff Lindy for mistakenly telling her last week that the monsignor does not have a passport. He does, although on Tuesday, the monsignor handed his passport over to the judge before he went back to jail.

The judge got things started at the hearing over house arrest by telling lawyers on both sides of the case that she wanted them to be civil.

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CALIFORNIA
Mercury News

By Tracey Kaplan
tkaplan@mercurynews.com
mercurynews.com

Posted: 06/26/2012

A wireless communications expert this morning testified Will Lynch’s cell phone made a number of calls from near a Jesuit retirement center the day he allegedly beat a priest.

Jim Cook said Lynch’s cell phone made eight calls from the Los Gatos-Campbell area, in the area of the Sacred Heart center, on the same day when Rev. Jerold Lindner was attacked, May 10, 2010.

The calls were made between 2:36 p.m. and 3:04 p.m., Cook said. Earlier in the day, the phone was used to call the center from San Francisco, where Lynch lives.

On cross of the prosecution’s Modesto-based wireless expert, Lynch’s lead attorney Pat Harris went on the attack.

First, he asked how much Cook was being paid, a standard question typically lobbed by both sides.

Cook said $175 an hour, or a little over $6,000.

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CALIFORNIA
KGO

Amy Hollyfield

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — There was another legal setback Tuesday morning for the man charged with assaulting a priest he claims molested him and his brother as children. William Lynch’s attorneys had asked for a mistrial but the motion was denied.

Lynch’s parents apparently sighed as the judge announced the decision and they were scolded by the bailiff for reacting in court.

Lynch is on trial for felony assault. He is accused of beating Father Jerry Lindner, who he says repeatedly raped him as a child.

The district attorney’s office put Lindner on the stand last week, but not before telling jurors that he would likely lie and deny the molestation. The priest did just that. The defense then asked for a mistrial, calling it perjury. Monday, the prosecution argued it was only being honest and upfront with the court. The judge said that the defense can’t prove with 100 percent certainty that Lindner lied because he was never charged nor convicted of molestation.

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BERLIN (CT)
The Hartford Courant

By DAVID OWENS, dowens@courant.com
The Hartford Courant

5:00 p.m. EDT, June 26, 2012

BERLIN —
A priest already facing felony charges that he engaged in sexual talk with young boys is facing additional charges, including possession of child pornography and four more case of the priest having sexually charged conversations with young boys.

The new charges arose out of searches of the hard drives of the Rev. Michael Miller’s three computers, which were seized by police at the time of Miller’s initial arrest on July 12, 2011.

Police said a search by forensic examiners at the New Britain police department turned up evidence of chats via Facebook with two 16-year-old boys, a 17-year-old boy, three 15-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy. Police focused their efforts on the Facebook chats with the boys younger than 16.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Jamie Tripp Utitus/Parental Guidance

When Todd Kostrub, of Surf City, LBI, finally came to terms with the years of abuse that he suffered under the hands of a Franciscan Clergyman, he spoke to his family and brother-in-law who was a Seargent in the NJ State Police. He was 31. The police went to clergyman, Brother Munn of Holy Assumption Church in Roebling.

Surprisingly, when Brother Munn was detained, he confessed to everything, even particular instances of abuse that Todd had managed to block out after all these years.Todd was surprised by the confession, to say the least. But something even more surprising happened a few hours after Munn was detained. Munn was released.

According to a N.J. statute, a victim of abuse has to report the incident two years from the day they turn 18. In order to stop this predator, Kostrub would need to have reported the abuse 11 years earlier. That would mean about a day after the abuse stopped and Kostrub left for college, give or take a few hours,he would have needed to march down to the station and file a report.

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OHIO
ABC 6

Judah Christian Community Church sent a statement regarding the sexual abuse allegations that one teenager and his mother has revealed to ABC 6 / FOX 28.

Camp Impact Vision:
Impact Camp exists to provide a fun and safe environment where students can encounter God and build godly relationships with each other.

Statement:
As senior pastor of Judah Christian Community, I was heartbroken when I received word on Friday morning of this serious incident.

I am grateful for the student’s quick reporting of this incident, for the Impact Camp leadership contacting the authorities, and the fast actions taken by the Erie County Sheriff’s Department.

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ITALIA
QN

Rovigo, 22 giugno 2012 – Nuovo scandalo sessuale nella Chiesa. Il Vaticano, nell’organo del Pontificio Consiglio per i laici, ha rimosso dal suo incarico il 73enne padre Luigi Prandin, missionario e fondatore della comunita’ di Villaregia (Rovigo). Il religioso è accusato di ‘’gravi atti immorali nei confronti di alcune missionarie’’, avvenuti in passato. Il sospetto e’ che si tratti di abusi sessuali nei confronti di donne impegnate nelle missioni gestite dalla comunita’ polesana in Sud America.

Ma l’azione del Vaticano non si è conclusa con questo atto. Ad essere rimossa dal suo incarico è stata anche la co-fondatrice laica della comunita’, la 61enne Maria Luigia Corona. La donna lavora assieme a padre Luigi dal 1981. Secondo quanto trapela dal riserbo dei missionari, la donna sarebbe stata a conoscenza dei ‘’gravi atti immorali’’ imputati a Prandin, ma li avrebbe taciuti, per coprirlo.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Excelsior

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO, 26 de junio.- El Papa Benedicto XVI aceptó hoy la renuncia anticipada del obispo argentino Fernando Bargalló, tras la publicación en la prensa de unas comprometedoras fotografías suyas con una mujer en el balneario mexicano de Cancún.

En un comunicado la sala de prensa del Vaticano informó que la renuncia fue acogida según el apartado 402.2 del Código de Derecho Canónico, la ley fundamental de la Iglesia, que considera dimisiones anticipadas de prelados por enfermedad o “causas de fuerza mayor”.

El pontífice designó como administrador apostólico de la diócesis de Merlo-Moreno, hasta ahora pastoreada por Bargalló, a Alcides Jorge Pedro Casaretto, obispo emérito de la diócesis de San Isidro.

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ARGENTINA
El Pais (Espana)

El Papa Benedicto XVI aceptó ayer la renuncia del presidente de Cáritas Latinoamérica, Fernando Bargalló, a su cargo de obispo de la diócesis de Merlo-Moreno, dos municipios pobres de la periferia oeste de Buenos Aires. Después de que se difundieran la semana pasada unas fotos de Bargalló bañándose en la playa con una mujer, el obispo reconoció el romance y dimitió el viernes por tratarse de una “causa grave”, según el Código de Derecho Canónico.

El prelado, de 57 años, no era progresista ni ultraconservador. Era de una línea moderada, fiel a Roma, pero tolerante con curas tercermundistas, con un compromiso social que lo llevó a enfrentarse con políticos. El viaje con su amante a un hotel de lujo en México en 2011 ha puesto en tela de juicio su austeridad, pero también ha demostrado que alguien quería arruinarle la carrera y lo siguió en todo su periplo. ¿Quién fue y por qué guardó las fotos casi un año y medio? No se sabe. El obispo se defendió ante la Nunciatura Apostólica (embajada del Vaticano) acusando de difamación al alcalde de Merlo, Raúl Othacehé.

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ARGENTINA
El Dia

El Papa Benedicto XVI aceptó la dimisión del titular de la diócesis de Merlo-Moreno, monseñor Fernando María Bargalló, involucrado en un escándalo por la publicación de unas fotografías que lo vinculan sentimentalmente con una empresaria, de quien dijo ser “amigo de toda la vida”.

Además, el Santo Padre nombró Administrador Apostólico -ad nutum Sanctae Sedis- de esa diócesis a monseñor Alcides Jorge Casaretto, de 75 años, obispo emérito de San Isidro y ex presidente de la Comisión Episcopal de Pastoral Social.

Esto quiere decir que Casaretto permanecerá en el cargo de Administrador Apostólico hasta que la Santa Sede designe al nuevo obispo diocesano.

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‎ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Herald

The Vatican said today it accepts the resignation tendered by Argentine bishop Fernando María Bargallo, who was caught living an alleged affaire with a woman in a Mexican beach resort, in the latest of a string of sex scandals that hit the Catholic church.

Monsignor Bargallo, bishop of Greater Buenos Aires districts of Merlo and Moreno since 1997, was forced to tender his resignation after photographs emerged this month showing him embracing a blonde a woman at a luxury resort in Mexico.

Bargallo, 57, has allegedly admitted to having “love ties” with the woman he was seen embracing in the waters of a hotel swimming pool, who’s been indicated as a single (divorced) owner of a restaurant in the exclusive City area of Las Cañitas.

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VATICAN CITY
Telegraph (United Kingdom)

The Vatican has accepted the resignation of an Argentine bishop who was caught cavorting with a blonde, bikini-clad woman on a Mexican beach.

Bishop Fernando Bargallo, 57, was forced to hand in his resignation after photographs emerged this month showing him frolicking and embracing the woman at a luxury resort in Mexico.

Bargallo, who led the Argentine diocese of Merlo-Moreno outside Buenos Aires since May 1997, has reportedly admitted to having “amorous ties” with the woman he is seen embracing in the water, thought to be a divorced restaurant owner.

He had initially claimed she was just a longtime friend.

The news broke as the Vatican ousted the founder of an Italian mission for “serious immoral behaviour,” after it emerged he had sex with female missionaries during a posting in South America.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

Vatican City, Jun 26, 2012 / 12:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of an Argentinean bishop who admitted a romantic relationship with a woman photographed with him on a beach in Mexico.

The resignation of Bishop Fernando Maria Bargallo of Merlo-Moreno, the diocese west of Buenos Aires, was accepted June 26 under a provision of canon law allowing bishops to resign if they become unsuited for their office for a “grave reason.”

The Pope has appointed Bishop emeritus Alcides Jorge Pedro Casaretto of San Isidro as apostolic administrator of Merlo-Moreno.

Last week, photos were published showing the 57-year-old Bishop Bargallo and a woman on a beach in Mexico. He initially acknowledged that the photos were of him but said that the woman was only a “childhood friend.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 26 June 2012 (VIS) – The Holy Father:

– Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Merlo-Moreno, Argentina, presented by Bishop Fernando Maria Bargallo, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law, appointing Bishop Alcides Jorge Pedro Casaretto, emeritus of the diocese of San Isidro, Argentina, as apostolic administrator “ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” of Merlo-Moreno.

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VATICAN CITY/ARGENTINA
Huffington Post

[with video]

By NICOLE WINFIELD 06/26/12

VATICAN CITY — The pope has accepted the resignation of an Argentine bishop photographed frolicking on a Mexican beach with a woman, one of several personnel changes announced Tuesday by the Vatican before the pontiff heads off for summer vacation.

Monsignor Fernando Maria Bargallo, bishop of Merlo-Moreno outside Buenos Aires, initially denied having had any improper relationship with the woman, whom he described as a childhood friend. But the 57-year-old Bargallo later decided to step down under the church rule that lets bishops retire before age 75 if they’re found to be unfit for office.

Photographs of the encounter were broadcast on television last week and have been circulating on the Internet.

The resignation was one of several personnel changes announced Tuesday by the Vatican before the pope leaves next week for Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence in the hills south of Rome. The Vatican frequently announces a rash of personnel moves before the pope leaves town and the Vatican slows down for the summer.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Breaking news, thanks to this press release by David Clohessy of SNAP: a woman who alleges sexual abuse by Father Thomas Euteneuer, formerly head of the pro-life organization Human Life International, has sued the Catholic diocese of Arlington, Virginia, its Bishop Paul Loverde, and Human Life International for, as she alleges, covering up sexual abuse she says she endured as Euteneuer performed exorcisms on her.

The suit claims that the defendants knew that the rite of exorcism should not be performed by a priest acting alone and with no observers–and that this did, indeed, happen in her case, as Euteneuer, who told her that her case was “severe,” took her to a bedroom where he lay with her all night, touching her, and “blowing the Holy Spirit” into her with passionate kisses. I’ll spare readers other details of subsequent exorcism sessions that are provided in the preceding article, and which the plaintiff alleges involved physical violation under the guise of exorcism that became more intense.

She is also alleging that because Euteneuer knew she had kept a journal chronicling her interaction with him, he asked to keep the journal in a safe place for her and then informed her he had burnt it, and searched her house for other journals she might have kept. She also maintains that Euteneuer remained in his position at Human Life International for two months after she described in detail his violation of her to a priest of the Arlington diocese.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
In-Forum

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, The Associated Press – PHILADELPHIA

A judge might release a convicted Roman Catholic priest to await sentencing if the Vatican will honor his waiver of extradition if he flees.

Monsignor William Lynn could be released on house arrest if the conditions are met. The judge also would double his bail to $100,000. The judge will reconsider Lynn’s request for release July 5.

Lynn is set for sentencing Aug. 13 after he was convicted of felony child endangerment.

He faces about 3-1/2 to seven years in prison. His lawyers say he is not a flight risk.

Prosecutors say at least 35 priests have fled during criminal cases, but most apparently fled before trial, often to their native country.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
dotCommonweal

June 26, 2012

Posted by Paul Moses

Having spent about eight years as a reporter covering various court beats, I was surprised when Monsignor William Lynn was jailed immediately after his conviction on a charge of child endangerment. The practice I’ve witnessed countless times, except for gangsters, drug dealers and other violent criminals, is for the defendant to be free on bail pending sentencing. And even then, the judges I covered – some very tough judges in the federal court – often allowed defendants to remain free pending appeal.

At a hearing in Philadelphia today, prosecutor Patrick Blessington came up with a surprise piece of information to support his call for Lynn to remain in jail pending his Aug. 13 sentencing: a Chicago Tribune article reporting that since 1985, some 32 priests who were charged or under investigation in child-abuse cases fled the country. Only five returned to face trial.

I hadn’t caught that troubling story when it ran in March and, as the Philadelphia Inquirer makes clear, neither had Judge M. Teresa Sarmina, who “appeared to be taken aback.”

Blessington warned her that the Vatican doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S., implying that Lynn could find refuge there.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writer

Updated 12:35 p.m.:

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina has given conditional approval to the idea of house arrest for Msgr. William J. Lynn, who was convicted last week of child endangerment in a Catholic sex-abuse scandal. But Lynn will have to remain in jail until at least a scheduled July 5 hearing on several legal issues the judge asked the lawyers to research.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A Philadelphia judge has given conditional approval to a plan that would release Msgr. William J. Lynn on house arrest pending his sentencing for child endangerment in the Catholic church sex-abuse case.

But Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said Lynn, 61, must remain in prison at least until a July 5 hearing so lawyers can try to answer what would happen if Lynn were to flee.

Lynn, the first church officially criminally charged for his administrative duties in the landmark sex-abuse trial, was found guilty by a jury on Friday and Sarmina ordered him immediately taken into custody.

Lynn’s attorney asked for today’s hearing to proposed a monitored house arrest program to allow Lynn to remain out of prison pending his Aug. 13 sentencing.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CNN

By Sarah Hoye, CNN

updated 3:46 PM EDT, Tue June 26, 2012

Philadelphia (CNN) — The highest-ranking Catholic church cleric charged and convicted in the landmark child sexual abuse trial will remain in jail for the time being, a Philadelphia judge ordered Tuesday.

Monsignor William Lynn was found guilty Friday of one count of child endangerment, the first time a U.S. church leader has been convicted of such a charge.

The trial marked the first time U.S. prosecutors have charged not just the priests who allegedly committed abuses but church leaders for failing to stop them. Lynn is the highest-ranking cleric accused of imperiling children by helping cover up sexual abuse.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks

June 26, 2012
By Elizabeth Fiedler

The jurors have spoken in the landmark priest sexual abuse case in Philadelphia. Now what?

In addition to a spate of civil lawsuits, there are also the upcoming trials of the Reverend Charles Engelhardt and former schoolteacher Bernard Shero. The two are accused of molesting the same altar boy and will be tried in the fall.

The jury found Monsignor William Lynn, a former high ranking church official, guilty of one count of endangering the welfare of a child. Jurors found Lynn not guilty on two other charges.

“The civil lawsuits may well be stayed a little bit longer,” said Law professor Marci Hamilton is co-counsel in seven cases brought by plaintiffs who allege abuse and cover-up by Philadelphia church officials. “Because there’s a case against Engelhardt going forward in the fall and we wouldn’t be surprised at all if there were further grand jury charges arising out of some of what we learned during this criminal trial.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks

June 26, 2012
By NewsWorks Staff

Monsignor William Lynn in jail until July 5 at least.

After being convicted last week on one count of child endangerment in a landmark sex abuse trial for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Lynn is hoping to be put on house arrest.

The judge is reviewing the house arrest conditions, including that Lynn double his cash bail to $10,000 on $100,000 bond. Lynn would also sign a waiver acknowledging that if he flees, he could be extradited from any country—including the Vatican, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

The judge has not made a decision, but put Lynn in line to receive an electronic bracelet for house arrest; a process that could take several weeks.

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NEW JERSEY
New Jersey 101.5

In New Jersey, as the law currently stands, if you’re a victim of sexual abuse, you have 2 years from the time you realize you’ve been sexually abused to file a lawsuit against the individual or institution that carried out the abuse.

A two year limit is way too little.

However according to a recent report: an Assembly panel has approved a bill abolishing 2-year time limit for sex abuse lawsuits… but would allow them to file suit no matter how much time has passed.

In one example in the report,

Todd Kostrub said his seventh birthday was “a big deal” because that was the day he became an altar boy at Holy Assumption Elementary School in Roebling.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on June 26, 2012

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer is a manipulative, sick charlatan. He has sexually violated other devout, vulnerable Catholic women. Like Fr. Daniel McGuire and Fr. John Corapi, Fr. Euteneuer travels widely and trades on his charm and charisma to exploit unsuspecting parishioners who are often in awe of his high profile and impressive connections.

Catholic officials rarely supervise or monitor these kinds of predators, making them particularly dangerous.

We are grateful that more victims of Fr. Euteneur are stepping forward. When victims stay silent, nothing changes. But when victims find the courage to take action, there’s at least a chance for prevention, healing and justice.

If you were hurt by a priest, suffering in shame, isolation and self-blame won’t fix it. Only by stepping forward, speaking up and getting help can you both recover personally and help others. Now is the time to do it.

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OSTERREICH
Kreuz

Es genügt, daß ein Wiener Dechant nur äußerlich an der Einheit mit dem Bischof interessiert ist, um im Amt bleiben zu können.

(kreuz.net, Wien) Am 12. Juni trat Pfarrer Peter Meidinger von der altliberalen ‘Ungehorsam-Initiative’ auf Druck von Homoporn-Kardinal Christoph Schönborn von Wien als Dechant zurück.

Heute verschickte die Erzdiözese Wien dazu eine ausführliche Rechtfertigung.

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DEUTSCHLAND
News

Berlin – Die katholische Kirche in Berlin hat Konsequenzen aus den Missbrauchsvorwürfen gegen einen Pfarrer aus Reinickendorf gezogen. Der Mann, der in den 90er Jahren einen Jugendlichen missbraucht haben soll, verzichtet auf Wunsch der Kirchenführung künftig auf sein Amt.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Hamburger Abendblatt

Der Missbrauchsskandal in der katholischen Kirche ist auch an Hamburg nicht vorbeigegangen. Um sexuelle Gewalt in der Kirche künftig zu verhindern, hat das Erzbistum Hamburg – wie bereits andere Diözesen zuvor – Mitte Juni eine Präventionsordnung in Kraft gesetzt. Damit solle eine „Kultur des Hinhörens“ gefördert werden, betonte Domkapitular Ansgar Thim am Dienstag.

+++Neue Missbrauchsfälle – Vorermittlungsverfahren+++

Seit Bekanntwerden des Skandals in der katholischen Kirche haben sich beim Erzbistum Hamburg etwa 50 mögliche Opfer sexueller Gewalt gemeldet. 38 Anträge von Betroffenen seien an die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz in Bonn geleitet worden, sagte Thim. „Wir zahlen dann, wenn die Anträge positiv beschieden werden, 5000 Euro pro Antrag.“ Zusätzlich zu der Entschädigung könne es Therapieleistungen geben.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Unabhangige Beauftragte

Der Unabhängige Beauftragte für Fragen des sexuellen Kindesmissbrauchs, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, lädt in regelmäßigen Abständen Betroffenen-Initiativen zu einem Gesprächsaustausch nach Berlin ein, um mit ihnen Schwerpunktthemen zu identifizieren, die auch nach Ende des Runden Tisches „Sexueller Kindesmissbrauch“ aus Sicht der Betroffenen im Vordergrund der weiteren Arbeit stehen sollten.

Vier Vertreterinnen und Vertreter der teilnehmenden Betroffenen-Initiativen sind auch in den Fachbeirat beim Unabhängigen Beauftragten berufen worden. Der Fachbeirat begleitet die Arbeit des Unabhängigen Beauftragten und wird Schwerpunktthemen in Hearings vertiefen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
netzwerkB

Offener Brief  an:

Frau Ministerin Prof. Dr. Anette Schavan
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Platz der Republik
1
11011 Berlin
Fax: 030 227 76794

Frau Ministerin Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger
Bundesministerium der Justiz
Platz der Republik 1
11011 Berlin
Fax 030 – 227 764 02

Frau Ministerin Dr. Kristina Schröder
Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend
Platz der Republik 1
11011 Berlin
Fax: 030 18555 4400

Herr Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig
Unabhängiger Beauftragter für Fragen des sexuellen Kindesmissbrauchs
Glinkastraße 24
10117 Berlin
Fax: 030 20655-41551


Forderung Beteiligung am Runden Tisch

Sehr geehrte Frau Dr. Schavan,
sehr geehrte Frau Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger,
sehr geehrte Frau Dr. Schröder,
sehr geehrter Herr Rörig,

das Netzwerk Betroffener von sexualisierter Gewalt e.V., kurz netzwerkB, ist eine Vereinigung von und für Menschen, denen sexualisierte Gewalt, oftmals verbunden mit weiteren 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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OSTERREICH
News4Press.com

Hans Hermann Kardinal Groër OSB * 13. Oktober 1919 in Wien; † 24. März 2003 in St. Pölten war Erzbischof von Wien. Am 27. März 1995 erhob im Nachrichtenmagazin „profil“ Ausgabe 13 < / > 95 ein ehemaliger Schüler Groërs schwere Vorwürfe wegen seinerzeitigen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Jugendlichen gegen den Kardinal. Dieser hüllte sich darauf in Schweigen und trat am 6. April 1995 als Vorsitzender der Bischofskonferenz zurück. Der Vatikan reagierte „diplomatisch“: Groër wurde am 13. April 1995 Christoph Schönborn als Koadjutor-Erzbischof mit dem Recht auf Nachfolge beigestellt und mit Wirkung per 14. September 1995 sein schon am 13. Oktober 1994 – vor der „Affäre Groër“ – aus Altersgründen eingebrachtes Rücktrittsgesuch angenommen. Die Affäre Groër führte in Österreich im März 1995 zu einem Kirchenvolksbegehren. Die Initiative Wir sind Kirche sammelte mehr als 500.000 Unterschriften für eine „grundlegende Erneuerung der Kirche Jesu“. Reformen seien notwendig, um der katholischen Kirche „wieder zu mehr Ansehen und Akzeptanz zu verhelfen“.

Nach dem Rücktritt wegen der Vorwürfe des sexuellen Missbrauches zog sich Groër in das von ihm gegründete Zisterzienserinnenkloster Marienfeld zurück. Am 1. September 1996 übertrug man ihm wieder ein kirchliches Amt als Prior des Hauses St. Josef in Maria Roggendorf, einem Ableger des Stiftes Göttweig, das er allerdings nach anhaltenden Vorwürfen am 5. Januar 1998 ebenfalls aufgeben musste. Nachdem die Bischöfe Christoph Schönborn, Johann Weber, Georg Eder und Egon Kapellari in einer Stellungnahme erklärt hatten, dass sie zur „moralischen Gewissheit“ gelangt wären, dass die Vorwürfe gegen Groër „im Wesentlichen zutreffen“, und nach einer vom Vatikan verordneten Visitation im Stift Göttweig bat Groër 1998 in einer Erklärung, „Gott und die Menschen“ um Vergebung, „wenn ich Schuld auf mich geladen habe“. Kardinal Groër zog dann in ein Nonnenkloster der Nazarethschwestern in Goppeln in Deutschland, ab Oktober 1998 lebte er zurückgezogen in Marienfeld.

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OSTERREICH
Kleine Zeitung

LEOBEN. Es geht um sexuelle Übergriffe auf Ministranten. Mindestens ein Mädchen und fünf Buben aus Leoben soll der 24-jährige Pastoralpraktikant aus dem Bezirk Graz-Umgebung unsittlich berührt haben. Zu sexuellen Handlungen ist es nicht gekommen.

Chefinspektor Josef Klec vom Kriminalreferat des Polizeistadtkommandos Leoben bestätigt: “Es ist richtig, die Vorwürfe stehen im Raum. Wir ermitteln.” Kaplan Lukas Wojtyczka vom Pfarrverband Leoben-West, wo der Pastoralpraktikant bis vor wenigen Tagen beschäftigt war, hatte Anzeige erstattet. Es seien Vorwürfe laut geworden, man habe daraufhin sofort reagiert, sagt Georg Plank, Pressesprecher der Diözese.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Jun. 26, 2012
By John L Allen Jr

ANALYSIS

In the original “Star Trek,” Capt. James T. Kirk was both the brilliant tactician and the swashbuckling ladies’ man. When “Star Trek: The Next Generation” rolled around, Kirk’s character was split in half, with Capt. Jean-Luc Picard as the brains and First Officer Will Riker as the brawn.

In effect, the Vatican has now unveiled a “Next Generation” strategy to address its perceived PR woes.

During the John Paul years, the Vatican had its Kirk on the communications front, someone who combined both external visibility and insider clout. Spanish layman Joaquin Navarro-Valls was a power broker in his own right, with a place at the table when decisions were made and the public face of the institution, second only in terms of visibility to the pope himself.

Under Benedict XVI, the Vatican has limped by on half that formula. Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, the current spokesperson, is endlessly accessible and visible, but he lacks the insider muscle wielded by Navarro-Valls.

The Vatican has finally moved to plug that hole.

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CHILE
La Tercera

Víctima de Karadima responde a Yrarrázabal y asegura que parroquia estaba “llena de heridas”

El actual párroco de El Bosque, Carlos Yrarrázaval, señaló que no ha ido a ver a Fernando Karadima debido al rol de los medios de comunicación en el caso y que al momento de recibir esta iglesia del sector oriente de Santiago, ésta estaba viva y llena. Sin embargo, estas palabras hicieron eco en Juan Carlos Cruz, una de las víctimas del ex párroco.

Cruz afirmó a La Tercera que cuando viene a Santiago -ya que vive en Estados Unidos- no ve a una parroquia El Bosque “llena”. “Si el párroco dice que recibió a una iglesia llena, será llena de heridas, porque las veces que he pasado por ahí no se ve llena para nada”.

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DEUTSCHLAND
taz

HAMBURG taz | Wenn es um sexuelle Übergriffe geht, tut sich die Kirche immer noch schwer, eine Sprache zu finden. Von „Anerkennung von Leid“ spricht der Hamburger Domkapitular Ansgar Thim, Beauftragter für Fragen der sexuellen Gewalt an Minderjährigen beim Erzbistum Hamburg. 50 Anträge auf „Anerkennungsleistungen“ seien bei ihm eingegangen, 38 habe er an die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz nach Bonn weitergeleitet, sagt Thim auf der Pressekonferenz am Montag. „Heißt das, Sie gehen davon aus, dass die Anschuldigungen in diesen Fällen der Wahrheit entsprechen?“ – „Ja.“

Thim ist ein gepflegter Herr mit randloser Brille, seine Aufgabe ist es, Gespräche mit den potenziellen Opfern zu führen. Und mit den Tätern. „Kein Fall ist wie der andere“, sagt er. Oft sei die Situation die, dass Vorwürfe erhoben würden, und die Beschuldigten sagten: „Das war nicht so.“ Die Staatsanwaltschaft sei in allen Fällen eingeschaltet worden, aber sie ermittle in keinem – die Vorgänge seien verjährt.

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CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times

By Tracey Kaplan tkaplan@mercurynews.comcontracostatimes.com
Posted: 06/26/2012

The judge in the priest beating trial this morning once again denied a renewed motion by defense attorneys for a mistrial, then made a ruling that dealt a blow to their case.

Although Judge David A. Cena ruled that three other alleged victims of Rev. Jerold Lindner will not be able to testify in the trial of Will Lynch, who is accused of beating Lindner at a Jesuit retirement center in Los Gatos two years ago.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

Paolo Gabriele, the valet to Pope Benedict XVI who was arrested on May 23 in connection with the leaks of confidential papal documents, will remain in a secure room inside the Vatican.

Gabriele has been questioned extensively about his role in the “Vatileaks” affair in two sessions with magistrates. Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, said that no further questioning is currently scheduled.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

June 25, 2012

By Ruth Ann Dailey

Two adult men, Monsignor William Lynn and Jerry Sandusky, were convicted Friday of, simply put, hurting children.

One is a high-ranking priest, the other a respected football coach. Both harmed society’s most vulnerable members.

Both men are, or were, part of great institutions whose reputations — and whose other innocent members — have been damaged by their crimes.

But there the likeness ends, because Mr. Sandusky is a predator, and Monsignor Lynn is an enabler of predators.

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WEST VIRGINIA
The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

June 25, 2012

No one will ever know how many children have suffered needlessly because adults decided it was less important to protect them than to avoid the taint of scandal at a school, church or other institution. But last week two juries in Pennsylvania issued reminders that the children always take priority.

By coincidence, separate trials in Philadelphia and Bellefonte ended Friday. In one, a jury in Philadelphia convicted a Roman Catholic church official of child endangerment for covering up situations in which priests had abused children. Monsignor William Lynn was the first U.S. church official convicted of a felony in such a coverup.

In Bellefonte, another jury convicted former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky of sexually abusing children during a period of about 15 years.

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KENTUCKY
The Courier-Journal

Editorial

Do not think that the guilty verdicts handed down in Pennsylvania last Friday have little or nothing to do with anyone here.

Just because they dealt with a Roman Catholic official in Philadelphia who was convicted of child endangerment for his role in moving around predatory priests without informing the public of the danger that awaited in their churches, and with a serial molester who used his Penn State coaching credentials and his community standing as a “saint” who worked with at-risk kids to shield his crimes, doesn’t mean those horrors are somehow removed from us.

It is true that Monsignor William Lynn, who could spend up to seven years in prison, and former football coach Jerry Sandusky, who faces more than 400 years behind bars, were convicted of crimes they committed in a different state, and held accountable by juries of their peers.

But both defendants and what landed them in court illustrate unthinkable horrors that are visited on children throughout the country, including those in our own communities.

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NEW YORK
Times Herald-Record

Similar verdicts in similar cases in two Pennsylvania courtrooms last week provided a small measure of justice to some of the most vulnerable victims imaginable, young men who trusted older figures of authority who then abused them.

In Bellefonte, Pa., a jury quickly decided that Jerry Sandusky, a legendary part of the legendary Penn State football program, had systematically lured and abused these victims over decades. In Philadelphia a jury took almost two weeks before deciding that Msgr. William J. Lynn was guilty of endangering children because of his role in covering up abuses by Roman Catholic priests.

While the Sandusky case had the bigger media impact, the decision concerning the church could have much longer-lasting and wide ranging effects. For the first time, prosecutors were able to convince a jury of something that most people have already concluded, that failing to do something about this abuse is almost as despicable as the abuse itself. And when the cover-up has been an integral part of the institutions, as the cases showed it has been in Penn State and the church, the message is as clear as those warnings we see in another context: If you see something, say something.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Patriot-News

By Patriot-News Editorial Board

Pennsylvania lawmakers cannot continue to hide behind the “we’ll get to it” mantra when it comes to reforming the state’s child abuse laws.

We owe it to the victims of Jerry Sandusky who bravely came forward against community pressure and in the midst of a media circus.

We owe it to the victims of child molestation at the hands of certain Catholic clergy in Philadelphia. They, too, stood their ground, leading to a landmark guilty verdict in the case of Monsignor William Lynn.

And we owe it to all the victims who have only felt able to come forward recently or who are still living in confusion and shame.

Just last week The Patriot-News received a letter to the editor from a woman in Camp Hill alleging abuse from a neighbor when she was growing up.

Lawmakers know what they should do.

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – A St. Paul priest has been dismissed from his parish after allegations that he engaged in misconduct involving a minor.

According to Jim Accurso, media and external relations manager for the St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese, Reverend Curtis Wehmeyer was removed by Archbishop John Nienstedt after learning of allegations of misconduct. Wehmeyer was the pastor of Blessed Sacrament parish in east St. Paul.

The Archdiocese reported the allegations to police, and is fully cooperating in the investigation. Wehmeyer is barred from any involvement in ministry in the Archdiocese pending the outcome of the investigation. He is no longer in residence at Blessed Sacrament.

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ARLINGTON (VA)
Courthouse News Service

By JAMES BRIDGE

ARLINGTON, Va. (CN) – A Roman Catholic priest “kissed (a woman) on all parts of her body” during a so-called “exorcism” session, and “frequently explained full, passionate kisses as ‘blowing the Holy Spirit into’ her,” the woman claims in court.

Jane Doe sued the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, its Bishop Paul Loverde – who is not the priest accused of the abuse – and Human Life International and the HLI Endowment Inc., of Charlottesville, in Arlington County Court.

Doe claims she was sexually abused repeatedly by her “exorcist,” Thomas J. Euteneur, who was president of Human Life International and the HLI Endowment; Euteneur, however, is not named as an individual defendant.

Doe claims that Euteneur, a Roman Catholic priest, offers “‘spiritual deliverance’ and the performance of the rite of exorcism,” and did it “with the knowledge and consent of the Diocese and the Most Rev. Paul S. Loverde. … On at least one previous occasion, the Diocese and Bishop Loverde gave permission to Euteneur to conduct an exorcism within the Diocese.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

In an interview with Vatican Insider, Greg Burke, the Vatican’s new media adviser said his job would not just involve putting together responses but coming up with strategies

Andrés Beltramo Álvarez
Vatican City

Last 10 June, U.S. journalist Greg Burke decided he was going to turn his life around. He accepted the offer of a position as media adviser to the Vatican Secretary of State. This is a new role and was conceived in light of the Vatileak scandal, the crisis triggered by the leak of confidential documents belonging to Benedict XVI. Burke said this was a “high risk” job.

The 52 year old Opus Dei member will officially start his new role on Monday 2 July. Up until now he has been working as a correspondent for Fox News, following a stint at Time magazine. He has been living in Rome for over two decades and is well aware of the difficulties that exist within the Vatican. Burke is also aware of the fact that no one can snap their fingers and change the world of the Roman Curia just like that. No one. Not even the Pope.

But like any journalist, he is also well aware that the Holy See is going through a terrible moment in terms of its image. It is being tormented by news leaks, poison pen letter writers and by a series of obvious internal management errors which have received negative attention in the press. In an interview with Vatican Insider, Burke explained how he imagines his contribution, which he refers to as his “grain of sand”, to the vital change of course in apostolic communication.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has decided that a senior priest in the Diocese of Down and Connor has no case to answer following abuse allegations.

Father John McManus from Portaferry has always denied any wrong-doing but stepped aside during the investigation.

The police conducted an inquiry after a complaint was made to the Down and Connor child safeguarding office more than a year and a half ago.

The PPS has now directed that no prosecution will be brought.

When contacted by the BBC, Fr McManus said he had “nothing to say”.

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CALIFORNIA
The Press Democrat

By PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Monday, June 25, 2012

Three men who said they were molested by a Humboldt County priest in the 1980s have settled their lawsuit against church officials for $550,000.

A fourth man has rewritten his lawsuit to avoid being timed out by the statute of limitations.

All claim they were victims of Father Patrick McCabe, a priest at St. Bernard Parish in Eureka from 1983 to 1985. McCabe was arrested in 2010 on unrelated child-sex charges and extradited to Ireland for prosecution.

In March, three men who sued the Santa Rosa Diocese and the Archdiocese of Dublin, alleging officials knowingly placed a pedophile in their midst, settled their case for $550,000, their lawyer, Joseph George Jr., said Monday.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Jon Collins, Minnesota Public Radio
June 25, 2012

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A St. Paul priest has been removed from his post after allegations surfaced that he sexually abused a minor.

The priest was arrested on Friday, but has not yet been charged. MPR News typically does not name suspects before they are charged. The abuse allegedly occurred during a two-year period.

Police spokesperson Howie Padilla said the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis approached police with the allegation.

“We had information on Thursday that there was a possible allegation of sex abuse regarding an employee of the archdiocese and a juvenile male victim,” Padilla said. “The investigation is at this time ongoing.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

A St. Paul priest was removed from his job after allegations surfaced that he sexually abused a minor.

The Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer is no longer at the Blessed Sacrament parish in St. Paul, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The archdiocese learned of the allegations and reported them to police, according to the statement posted on its website Sunday.

St. Paul police filed a report Thursday that said a juvenile reported being sexually abused by Wehmeyer for two years, starting in 2010. Police arrested Wehmeyer on Friday. He has been released, and has not been charged.

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CONNECTICUT
New Britain Herald

Monday, June 25, 2012

By Lisa Backus
Staff Writer

Newly released arrest warrants allege that a popular priest was having sexually oriented conversations with at least nine teenage boys, most under the age of 16, while he was working at St. Paul’s Church in Berlin.

Michael Miller, 42, was arrested in July 2011 on charges he made inappropriate comments during conversations on Facebook with a 13-year-old boy. As part of the investigation, police seized several of Miller’s computers, according to three warrants issued for Miller’s June 14 arrest.

The warrants detail the results of the computer examination which revealed that Miller was having inappropriate conversations with several teenage boys, most of whom were parishioners who met him through the church, according to police.

In the talks on Facebook, which were retrieved by the Digital Forensics Unit at the New Britain Police Department, Miller described for one 15-year-old boy the pornographic movie he was watching and said he preferred boys “because they know how the parts work.”

Another 15-year-old confirmed that Miller, who used the screen name “Brendan Duvey,” would describe sex acts to him and how to perform certain maneuvers. Yet another 15-year-old told police he began talking to Miller about his parents’ divorce and his girl problems and ultimately the priest began discussing his bisexual relationships with the boy and which sex acts he preferred to perform, according to the warrant.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

June 26, 2012 by Susan Matthews

Many on this site, including myself, have commented that they no longer wish to contribute to the archdiocese. We’d like to offer a comprehensive a list of Catholic or victim organizations that could use those funds for their good works. Please submit you suggestions (with url and short description) in the comments and I will create a Charity Resource page. Thank you.

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MINNESOTA
My Fox Twin Cities

[with video]

by Leah Beno

St. Paul Police are investigating a local priest accused of abusing a boy for the past two years.

Last Tuesday, a spokesman for Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis says it was brought to their attention that Reverend Curtis Wehmeyer maybe abusing a boy within the church. The next day, the church spoke with the victim. By Thursday, St. Paul police were investigating.

“We have been in complete communication with the Archdiocese and they have cooperated to this point,” said Howie Padilla, St. Paul police spokesman.

According to the police report, the victim claims Wehmeyer has been sexually assaulting him for two years. To complicate things further, the boy’s mother also works for the church.

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