ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
The Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY

09 Apr, 2012

TORONTO Catholic priest Tom Brennan will break a three-year silence today in a statement announcing his retirement over church handling of a notorious Hunter paedophile priest case.

Victims and their families expressed relief yesterday that Brennan, convicted in 2009 of a charge flowing from a police investigation of the paedophile priest, would no longer hold the position of parish priest.

‘‘Thank God for that. Finally some justice,’’ said a victim who described the church’s failure to act against the Toronto priest until now as an ‘‘open wound’’.

Brennan will express regret for the ‘‘terrible things’’ that happened to young boys at a Hunter Catholic school where he was principal in the 1970s and 1980s when the paedophile priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was a teacher.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: April 7, 2012

WASHINGTON

THERE was a boys’ club, of course, a band of ardent, jockeying disciples. But as his fame grew, the messiah was also surrounded by women and talked about women with great respect. With his father far away, the golden boy was most influenced by his strong mother and the women in his inner circle.

I’m talking about the real messiah, not Barack Obama, although it applies to both. …

Finally, in the perverse pantheon of reactionary men in robes, we have God’s Rottweiler, as Pope Benedict is known. He welcomed Easter by sitting on a golden throne and denouncing the “disobedience” of Catholic priests who want the decaying, ingrown institution that sheltered so many abusive priests to let in some fresh air and allow female and married priests, as well as Holy Communion for Catholics who have remarried without an annulment.

“It seemed like a bitter statement,” said Kenneth Briggs, the author of “Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American Nuns.” “It further erodes, almost tragically, the respect for the papacy because it looks like what you want is institutional conformity rather than obedience to the Gospel.”

The message of Jesus, after all, is not about exclusion, but inclusion.

Briggs said that most American Catholics will never go along with retrogressive dictates of the church, like the one against artificial contraception. “God,” he noted dryly, “only had one son.”

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INDIA
The Australian

The Times
April 09, 2012

TERRIFIED babies screamed in shock as they were thrown 9m from a temple balcony amid a crowd of dancing worshippers in the southern Indian state last week.

The temple’s baby-throwing ritual, an annual event in which infants under two are dropped by a priest and caught in a blanket, has been denounced as “barbaric” by children’s rights groups, which have demanded an end to it.

The ceremony is believed by participants to bring good luck, prosperity and health to the children. Footage of last week’s event, filmed by an Indian news channel, showed the babies in obvious distress as they plunged towards the ground.

The priest, who was cheered by the crowd every time he dropped a child, did not appear to be paying attention to where they fell. Perched on top of the elaborate Digambeshwara temple in Nagrala village, he pulled away one frightened child who tried to grab his shirt, and then hurled him down.

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MICHIGAN
Observer & Eccentric

Written by
LeAnne Rogers
Observer Staff Writer

A Canton woman will avoid having a criminal record on a charge of embezzling from St. Theodore Catholic Church in Westland, if she completes paying restitution within the next 120 days.

On Wednesday, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge James Chylinski allowed Kathleen Galoch, 63, to enter a diversion program. The former parish bookkeeper has repaid about a third of the $13,169 she was charged with stealing.

“People are furious. About 16 of us went to court. We were so surprised we could have fallen out of our seats,” said parishioner Loretta LaBerge.

Galoch was charged with embezzling only a fraction of the $143,000 reported missing from the parish where she had been employed since 1986 to handle bookkeeping and other administrative duties until being laid off early in 2011.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Sun

Exclusive
By ANILA BAIG

DRESSED in a fancy new outfit, little Samina Shah thought she was getting ready for her birthday party.

Instead she was being married off — having just turned FIVE.

The Islamic ceremony effectively ended her childhood and paved the way for years of abuse.

Just as shockingly, this was not happening in a remote Third World village — but in a large town in the north of England.

Samina has decided to speak out after Britain’s Forced Marriage Unit revealed that last year the 1,468 cases they investigated included another girl of five. …

“There is no Islamic justification for forced marriage and doing it to a child of that age is not just wrong — it is criminal.”

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BELGIE
De Morgen

Door: Maarten Rabaey − 04/04/12, 06u34 − Bron: De Morgen

Het misbruik van de Belg Marc V. in Brazilië haalde ook daar de media, al zijn de onlinesporen schaars. V. werd opgepakt in Soure, een kustplaats nabij de regionale hoofdstad Belém aan de monding van de Amazonerivier in de deelstaat Pará.

“De Belg V., die zich uitgaf voor een toerist, werd in 2006 gearresteerd op beschuldiging van het betalen van tieners om pornografische afbeeldingen te maken”, zo refereerde een lokale krant aan de zaak in 2008, toen een andere buitenlander er voor gelijkaardige feiten werd opgepakt.

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BELGIE
RKnieuws

BRUGGE (RKnieuws.net) – “Esse est percipi” is de naam van het glazen beeldje dat mgr. Jozef De Kesel, bisschop van Bruggen, zaterdag in de doopkapel van de Sint-Salvatorskathedraal te Brugge onthulde om de slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de Kerk te herdenken, meldt de persdienst van bisdom Brugge. Mgr. De Kesel kreeg dit van de werkgroep “Mensenrechten in de Kerk”.

De Latijnse naam van het beeldje, “Esse est percipi”, betekent “Zien is waargenomen worden”. Dit werk van Ingrid Rosschaert stelt in glas een doopkleedje voor dat volgens Rik Devillé (werkgroep ‘Mensenrechten in de Kerk’) tegelijk ook een doodkleedje kan uitbeelden. “De titel van dit beeld wil helemaal uitdrukken waar slachtoffers al zoveel jaren mee hebben geworsteld. Het is ook een kreet om herkenning. Met dankbaarheid erkennen wij het gebaar van mgr. De Kesel die hier heel spontaan op reageerde en dit beeld graag een symbolische plaats wil geven in het hart van dit bisdom.”

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BELGIE
Knack

zaterdag 07 april 2012

Brugge – Esse est percipi (zijn is waargenomen worden) is de titel van het poëtisch witglazen beeld dat zaterdagmorgen onthuld werd in de Sint-Salvatorskathedraal in Brugge. Het beeld zal altijd herinneren aan de enorme dreun die het geloof gekregen heeft door het seksueel misbruik in de kerk.

Het kunstwerk, dat geplaatst werd in de doopcel, toont een doopkleed, het teken van onschuld en vertrouwen. Met ingetogen schoonheid geeft het vorm aan het verlangen om ooit geheeld te worden, iets wat de slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik binnen de kerk nooit meer zullen kunnen ervaren. Dat was te horen in de pakkende en moedige getuigenissen van verschillende slachtoffers. Het was Rik Devillé, de voorzitter van de Werkgroep Mensenrechten in de kerk (WMK), die ceremonie leidde. Hij was bijzonder blij met het gebaar van Mgr. Jozef De Kesel, die de toelating gaf om het beeld in de Brugse kathedraal te plaatsen. “We kregen op verschillende andere plaatsen een nee, en een nee maar, maar in Brugge was het onmiddellijk ja”, vertelt Devillé. “Symbolisch kan het ook tellen. Het was na de ontdekking van het misbruik van de Brugse ex-bisschop Vangheluwe dat de bom barstte binnen én buiten de kerk.”

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BELGIE
Nieuws

[met video]

De slachtoffers van het seksueel misbruik in de kerk hebben een gedenkbeeld gekregen. Het kunstwerk staat dat in de Sint-Salvatorkathedraal in Brugge waar Bisschop De Kezel het is komen onthullen. Dat gebaar is belangrijk voor de slachtoffers. Zo wordt het misbruik door de kerk erkend.

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BELGIE
Kerknieuws

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

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

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NEW YORK
Boston Globe

By Verena Dobnik
Associated Press / April 7, 2012

NEW YORK—The head of New York City’s Roman Catholic archdiocese faces a challenge to his stance on gay rights: the resignation of a church official who says he’s “had enough” of the cardinal’s attitude.

Joseph Amodeo told The Associated Press on Saturday that he quit the junior board of Catholic Charities after the cardinal, Timothy Dolan, failed to respond to a “call for help” for homeless young people who are not heterosexual.

The conflict began when the head of an organization that helps homeless gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender homeless young people wrote to ask Dolan to help the cause.

Dolan responded by saying he was adhering to church teachings. That prompted Amodeo to quit.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

In een monsterdossier over pedofilie hebben politiediensten in het hele land foto’s gekregen van zeker vijf jongens die misbruikt werden door een psychiatrische verpleger uit Asse. De politie is vrij zeker dat het om Belgische kinderen gaat. De man maakte ook slachtoffers in Brazilië en Polen.

Op de computer van Marc V. (53) thuis in Asse, nabij Brussel, vonden specialisten amper bezwarend materiaal. Zijn computer bij zijn ouders thuis daarentegen bleek de grot van Ali Baba: Marc V. had daar meerdere harde schijven staan, sommige waren versleuteld. Maar allemaal stonden ze vol kinderporno. Tien miljoen bestanden in totaal. Een deel daarvan maakte de psychiatrisch verpleger zelf aan. Op sommige foto’s en video’s is Marc V. ook zelf te zien terwijl hij jongens misbruikt. De slachtoffers zijn tussen acht en zestien jaar. De speurders vonden bij Marc V. ook zelfgeschreven boeken waarin kindermisbruik een hoofdrol speelt.

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WASHINGTON
Seattle PI

By JOEL CONNELLY, SEATTLEPI.COM

A painful truism of this Holy Week, Christianity’s most important days of the year: Moral leadership in America’s Catholic Church is starting to flow from lay persons in pews and priests who deal with human problems, not prelates on thrones wearing white, red and purple hats.

Just look around to events from Rome to Berlin, and from Worcester, Mass., to Seattle.

In the Archdiocese of Seattle, our bishops issued a letter saying parishes will become signature-gathering centers for Referendum 74, a ballot measure designed to roll back same-sex marriage. But the state’s marriage equality law was sponsored by a Catholic state senator and signed into law by a Catholic governor.

Archbishop Sartain and Bishop Elizondo talk about treating all persons with “respect, sensitivity and love,” but then urge support for a campaign put together by the National Organization for Marriage — an outfit that wants to “drive a wedge” between blacks and gays, “sideswipe” President Obama and make opposition to marriage equality “an identity marker” for young Latinos.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Telegram & Gazette

Dianne Williamson
dwilliamson@telegram.com

Today is Easter Sunday, which makes it a good time to talk about Jesus.

You know, the real Jesus — the guy who preached humility and sacrifice. The prophet who urged his followers to relinquish power and embrace the poor. The man who, even when persecuted by ignorant enemies, offered nothing but forgiveness and love.

Twelve years of Catholic school does not a theologian make, but I’m guessing that if Jesus returned to Earth in 2012, He’d be hard-pressed to recognize the strident messages from some church leaders and activists who purport to speak in His name.

Last November, Archbishop Charles Chaput lectured at Assumption College about a sexual minority seeking to dominate life in America, according to Patrick Whelan, president of Catholic Democrats. When Whelan asked the archbishop during the question-and-answer segment if the bishops planned to address poverty at their annual meeting, the archbishop replied that there wasn’t enough time, Whelan said.

But the bishops have time for other issues. From the pulpit, they continue to rail against the evils of contraception, even if they no longer speak for the overwhelming majority of Catholic women. One of their priorities for 2012 was overturning mandatory birth control coverage in health plans. They lobby against same-sex marriage while remaining largely silent about established teachings of the church, such as opposition to the death penalty and protection of the poor.

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HOLYOKE (MA)
WWLP

[with video]

Sy Becker

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – On Saturday embattled parishioners at Mater Dolorosa Church in Holyoke continued an Easter tradition that has continued for more than 100 years.

The parishioners, who’ve occupied the church since Mater Dolorosa was ordered closed last summer, spent the day decorating the Holyoke house of worship with lilies and tulips.

Parishioner Helena Sulewiski told 22News, it’s an Easter tradition that means a great deal to members of the church.

“We are very proud this is a long standing tradition for Easter to create this beautiful church. It’s not just a Polish church and we welcome everyone and we are very proud to do as much as we can as long as we can,” said parishioner Helena Sulewski.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
WKYC

[with video]

CLEVELAND — Easter Sunday is one of the holiest days of the year. Parishioners of the 13 churches closed by Bishop Lennon had hoped he’d respond to the Vatican’s ruling to reopen them before Sunday Mass.

Saturday night, a vigil was held outside the church doors. Rick Cyngier, supporter of the closed Cleveland churches, was in attendance. “Honestly I was hoping that he would have it in his heart to open the churches for Easter services,” Cyngier said.

Pat Schulte-Singleton was the last parishioner to leave the church before it was closed.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
Fox 8

[with video]

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Emboldened by a decree from the Vatican that their church and 12 others in the Diocese of Cleveland should not have been closed, members of St. Patrick’s Parish in West Park gathered on the steps of the church on Saturday night, for an Easter prayer service.

Established in 1848, St. Pat’s is one of the oldest parishes in the Diocese of Cleveland. Members of the congregation were stunned when the current church, built in 1896, was one of 50 closed down by Bishop Richard Lennon, in a re-organization of the Diocese that he called necessary because of difficult finances.

But the St. Pat’s community never gave up hope that they could save their church, even though the Bishop has steadfastly refused to reconsider his decision.

Pat Schulte-Singleton of the Save St. Pat’s Committee, told Fox 8, “We knew when we heard from our Bishop that our doors would be closed, that it was wrong. We knew that our parish was vibrant, we knew that our parish was very important within the community of West Park.”

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IRELAND
Sunday Independent

[Enda Kenny’s speech following publication of the Cloyne Report]

[click to view the story]

By JEROME REILLY

Sunday April 08 2012

THE Redemptorist priest who has been silenced by Rome for publicly backing Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s broadside against the Vatican’s handling of child sex abuse allegations is a brother of leading Fine Gael strategist Frank Flannery.

The censure of Fr Tony Flannery has provoked a storm of anger among fellow clergy and lay organisations.

Fr Flannery was censured by the powerful Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which first contacted the Redemptorist Order in Rome with an order that he no longer be allowed to write in the Irish Order’s influential magazine Reality or on the Association of Irish Priests’ website, of which he is a founding member.

He is also banned from talking to the media.

Fr Flannery visited Rome to argue his case after the rebuke two months ago.

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CANADA
Times Colonist

By Maxine Matilpi, Times Colonist April 8, 2012 2

In February, I attended the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing in my northern Vancouver Island Kwakiutl community of Fort Rupert. Although the event was open to the public, I was disappointed at how few nonindigenous people attended.

In a room of more than 100 people, there were maybe six non-indigenous people, including two Anglican ministers and my husband. I wondered about this absence of people of good conscience, those who consider themselves moral citizens and who are proud to call themselves Canadians.

I’d heard about the TRC hearings through the moccasin telegraph and the Kwakiutl band’s newsletter. Maybe non-indigenous people hadn’t heard about it.

Later, I worried that other people knew about the hearing, but thought it had nothing to do with them, that it was only for survivors or family members and communities. I don’t like to think it was wilful blindness, or that they think Canada’s history of residential schools and their legacy is about others, not them.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Independent

Peter Stanford

Sunday 08 April 2012

He claims that half of all Catholic priests are gay – and has himself been married to his husband for 14 years. He believes celibacy is to blame for many of the Church’s problems – and that the Vatican must take responsibility for the paedophilia in its midst. Is it any wonder so many people want rid of Father Bernard Lynch?

Unlike other whistleblowers, Lynch doesn’t have a straightforward job. Vocation is more accurate, for he is a Catholic priest, a member of the Society of African Missions religious order for the past 42 years. That sense of being called has sustained his work, he says, through “terrible” times. In the 1980s, in New York, he was one of the first priests to support those dying from Aids-related illnesses. It was a ministry that earned him awards from secular authorities – including New York’s mayor – but hostility from the Vatican, which was then describing the Aids pandemic as the “natural result of unnatural acts”. It would have preferred he kept well away.

The tension between Lynch and his superiors ended up involving the FBI – called in by the local cardinal to investigate him – and a trial on trumped-up charges in 1989. “It was soul murder,” Lynch recalls, “and it will follow me to my grave.” The judge dismissed the charges out of hand in what became a cause célèbre for progressively minded Catholics at the time, later the subject of a best-selling book and several TV documentaries.

To escape the furore, Lynch came to live in England in 1992. Today, his ministry includes counselling gay priests who are in the closet in a Church that describes homosexuality as “intrinsically disordered”. Yet he claims that as many as 50 per cent of Catholic clergy are gay. It is an example of how this 64-year-old has continued to point things out that discomfort his ecclesiastical superiors. Another was his decision to speak in defence of gay rights at the “Protest the Pope” demonstration that greeted Benedict XVI in London in 2010. Lynch lined up in full clerical garb alongside Peter Tatchell and militant atheist Richard Dawkins. Yet somehow, he has always managed to stay within the fold of his Catholic religious order. Until now.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Dan Buckley

Saturday, April 07, 2012

Dan Buckley profiles a priest at odds with some dogmas of the Church

If Fr Tony Flannery lived 300 years ago, it is almost certain he would have been burned at the stake as a heretic. But the Vatican — and Catholic Church teaching in general — has come a long way since then.

Or has it? The Vatican retains a tendency to view unfavourably any Catholic — particularly a priest — who has the temerity to question its dogma. A group of priests acting in consort is bound to come in for particular scrutiny.

As part of his crackdown on so-called dissident clerics, Pope Benedict has ordered an investigation into Fr Flannery, one of the founders of the Association of Catholic Priests, an independent organisation that provides a forum for members to discuss issues affecting the Church in Ireland and Irish society in general.

The association shares some of the views espoused by the more radical Austrian organisation, the Austrian Priests’ Initiative, which last year issued a public ‘call to disobedience’ in relation to a number of Catholic Church teachings. The public letter, issued in June 2011, demanded “reform” on priestly celibacy, men-only priesthood, and the proscription on giving Holy Communion to divorced and remarried Catholics.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

After the homily addressed today by Benedict XVI to rebel Austrian priests, their leader Mgr. Helmut Schüller took the floor

Alessandro Speciale
Vatican City

At first it might seem like an extreme attempt to keep a stiff upper lip: the leader of the “rebel” Austrian priests, Mgr. Helmut Schüller, stated he was satisfied with the homily pronounced today by Pope Benedict XVI who responded directly to the Pfarrer Initiative which he supports. In an interview with TM News, Schüller said that the Pope’s homily was “an open explanation” and “There was no threat or sanction implied.”

Indeed, the Pope did not make any harsh remark about the group or its initiative and, unusually, engaged in a “dialogue” with the priests who supported the initiative, in an attempt to put himself in their shoes and even raised potential objections to his own reasoning. Benedict XVI focused on the subject of “disobedience”, frequently asking himself and the priests present whether this really was the path to a “true renewal” of the Church, “or just a desperate push to do something, to transform the Church according to our wishes and ideas?”

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

This is one of the reasons why the Untied Nations must end the status of the Vatican as a “country” because of the totalitarian regime of the Pope. He preaches one thing and does the contrary like in his recent visit to Cuba, Benedict asked Fidel Castro to allow more freedom of speech and soon as he gets home into his out-of-touch-with-reality Vatican Palace, he silences an outspoken priest Fr Tony Flannery, for his liberal views. Fr Tony Flannery is a founder of the Association of Catholic Priests and has had his monthly column and written his opinions with Reality, the Redemptorists’ monthly magazine for the past 14 years, but now it has been discontinued. It is quite timely that during this Holy Week, Benedict XVI the criminal head of the Mystical Body of Christ is showing his true hypocritical colors as the pathological liar “Holy Father” of 1.2 billion Catholics, read our related article Benedict Ratzinger & Marcial Maciel are 2 criminal heads of the Mystical Body and Legion of Christ

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

”. . .Former St. Louis archbishop Raymond Burke may soon preside over a highly unusual case in his role as head of the Catholic church’s top court. In an unusual move, Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon has been ordered by Vatican officials to re-open parishes that he closed as part of the diocese’s “downsizing.” Lennon may appeal that decision to Burke’s court, called the Signatura. Burke, now permanently ensconced in Rome, recently rubbed shoulders in Florida with President George W. Bush, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and other conservatives at a gala for Legatus, a group of Catholic CEOs founded by Domino’s pizza founder Tom Monaghan. . .

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DEUTSCHLAND
Readers Edition

Helmut Jacob
7. April 2012

Bischof Stefan Ackermann ist Missbrauchsbeauftragter der Katholischen Kirche. Als solcher hat er einen großen Themenkomplex zu beackern. Da wurden Kinder und Ministranten anal vergewaltigt. Ein ehemaliger Ministrant berichtet, dass er dem Pfarrer in der Sakristei noch vor der Messe sein Hinterteil zur Bedienung bereit halten musste.

Unter seinem Messdienergewand durfte er keine Hosen tragen. Andere Kinder und Jugendliche wurden gezwungen, Priester oder sonstige kirchliche Mitarbeiter oral zu befriedigen. Wieder andere wurden von ihnen unter der Bettdecke befummelt und teils mastubiert. In die Liste der Abscheulichkeiten lässt keine Perversionen im Umgang katholischer Mitarbeiter mit solchen Kindern und Jugendlichen aus, die sie eigentlich beschützen sollten. Die Zeitspanne reicht wenigstens vom Kriegsende bis in die heutigen Tage hinein. Die Zeit davor wurde nicht aufgearbeitet, weil es kaum Überlebende mehr gibt. Die meisten Verbrechen sind juristisch verjährt.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KMBC

Missouri law requires school officials, clergy and others with authority over children, to report any suspicion of abuse. That’s why a Jackson County judge ruled that Bishop Finn must stand trial for allegedly not reporting to police when he was alerted to possible inappropriate behavior by Father Ratigan involving children. This is an editorial from KMBC/KCWE President and General Manager Sarah Smith.

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DEUTSCHLAND
ARD

[mit Video]

Die Diskussion über den Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche bekommt neuen Schwung. Anlass ist eine Äußerung des Trierer Bischofs Ackermann. Er will nun doch, dass die katholische Kirche ihre Leitlinien ändert. Zuletzt wurde Ackermann immer häufiger kritisiert – auch, weil das Bistum Trier pädophile Priester weiter arbeiten lässt. Jetzt scheint sich Ackermanns Haltung zu ändern.

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CHILE
La Tercera

por Sebastián Labrín

El arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, reconoció ayer que, tras sostener una reunión con integrantes del clero capitalino, se retomó la idea de disolver la Unión Sacerdotal del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, creada en 1928, la cual era liderada por el ex párroco de El Bosque Fernando Karadima, condenado por el Vaticano por abusos sexuales contra menores.

Durante la conmemoración del Vía Crucis realizado en la comuna de Colina, Ezzati dijo que la disolución del grupo religioso “es una posibilidad”.

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NEDERLAND
KLOKK

Kunstenaar Frans Houben maakte een monument voor slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik. Het kunstwerk krijgt een plaats voor de Onze Lieve Vrouwe kerk in Hengelo. Op tweede paasdag wordt het onthuld. Gerard Klaasen van Kruispunt Radio sprak met de kunstenaar:

Beluister hier het interview

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BELGIE
Deredactie

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

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

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IRELAND
The Journal

RTÉ FACES A fine of around €200,000 for the libeling of Fr Kevin Reynolds following an investigation into the Prime Time Investigates programme by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI).

A report commissioned by the authority has found that the Mission to Prey programme, broadcast almost a year ago, was unfair to the priest and breached fairness, the Irish Times reports.

The paper’s political reporter Paul Cullen says that RTÉ faces a fine of around €200,000. TheJournal.ie understands that this figure is accurate. Under legislation, the maximum fine the BAI can levy is €250,000.

BAI would not comment on the sum when contacted today.

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IRELAND
Herald

By Jane Last

Saturday April 07 2012

THE defamed priest at the centre of the Prime Time Investigates debacle says he doesn’t want anyone at the station to lose their job.

Fr Kevin Reynolds (right), who was falsely accused of fathering a child while working in Kenya, says he is now keen to put the entire saga behind him.

“The one thing I will say is I don’t want to see anyone losing jobs from this,” he said in the wake of a staffing shake-up at RTE.

“I have no hang-ups, no grievances and no ill will towards anybody,” he continued. “The only road to pursue is the road to forgiveness. I’m a priest, that is it for me.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Westdeutsche Zeitung

Das Interview führte Holger Möhle

Der neue Erzbischof von Berlin, Kardinal Woelki, beharrt darauf, dass nur Männer ein kirchliches Amt bekleiden dürfen.

Herr Kardinal, Sie sind in Köln mit dem Ruf weggegangen, ein konservativer Geistlicher zu sein, und haben nach Ihrem Amtsantritt im atheistischen Berlin ein positives Echo erfahren. Wie das?

Woelki: Ich kann mit diesen Zuordnungen – konservativ, liberal, progressiv – grundsätzlich nichts anfangen. Ich habe mich in Köln darum bemüht, ich bemühe mich hier in Berlin darum, einfach der zu sein, der ich bin. Ich bin also in Köln kein anderer gewesen als jetzt in Berlin.

Ein evangelischer Pastor ist Bundespräsident, die Tochter eines evangelischen Pastors Bundeskanzlerin. Verliert die katholische Kirche an Einfluss?

Woelki: Ich würde in der Politik weniger nach katholisch und evangelisch unterscheiden. Entscheidend ist, dass wir Politiker haben, die aus einer christlichen Grundhaltung handeln. Da ist das Konfessionelle weniger entscheidend, es ist das christliche Bild vom Menschen, das uns verbindet.

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MINNESOTA
Minnsota SNAP

ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS

Copyright © 1991, ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS
Friday, December 06, 1991
Edition: Metro Final Section: Metro Page: 3B Source: Clark Morphew, Staff Writer

Correction: In a Dec. 5 story about two lawsuits involving sexual abuse by Catholic priests, one name of a defendant was incorrect. The correct name is the Rev. Robert Michael Thurner.

ARCHDIOCESE TARGETED IN LAWSUITS ALLEGING SEXUAL ABUSE BY 2 PRIESTS

Two lawsuits involving alleged sexual abuse by priests were filed against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Thursday.

The first suit alleges that the Rev. Michael Thurner abused a boy from 1980 through 1984 while he was a priest at the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Hopkins and at the Church of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. Thurner resigned from the Church of St. Therese in Highland Park on Sunday.

The second suit involves a deceased priest, the Rev. Francis Reynolds, who is alleged to have sexually abused a teen-age girl from about 1972 through 1984 while she was a parishioner and student at the St. Francis Xavier parish and school in Buffalo, Minn. Reynolds died in 1987.

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PENNSYLVANIA/OHIO
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

April 7, 2012
/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The plaintiff in a landmark priest-abuse lawsuit against the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese has been found dead at his Ohio home at age 44.

Attorney Richard Serbin told the Altoona Mirror that his former client, Michael Hutchison, was found dead in Akron on Wednesday.

Gary Gunther, chief investigator for the Summit County medical examiner’s office, said the cause and manner of death is pending toxicology results, which will take at least three weeks.

“There are no signs of foul play,” Mr. Gunther said. “It’s probably going to be either a natural or an accident. There is no indication of suicide — there was no suicide note and no one we spoke with mentioned him being suicidal.”

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VATICAN CITY
NewsMax

By Edward Pentin

Pope Benedict’s firm chastisement of a group of dissenting priests during a Holy Week homily has been described by some commentators as a return of “God’s Rottweiler” — the image the Pope had when he was in charge of defending Church doctrine.

But although it is rare for the Pope to make such an explicit statement, his views on the matter are neither new nor surprising but rather consistent with his teaching as Pontiff.

During a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, the Pope singled out a group of European priests who have issued a summons to disobedience. The summons included a call for an end to priestly celibacy, and for women’s ordination which was categorically ruled out by Blessed Pope John Paul II.

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MAINE
San Antonio Express-News

FORT KENT, Maine (AP) — Attorneys for a northern Maine priest say a criminal investigation leading to his voluntary leave of absence has nothing to do with allegations of sexual misconduct.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland announced this week that the Rev. James Nadeau had taken a leave pending results of an investigation launched by the Maine attorney general’s office. Neither the diocese nor the attorney general’s office would disclose the nature of the investigation

The Bangor Daily News (http://bit.ly/Ie1afx ) reported that two attorneys released a statement Friday saying the investigation does not involve allegations of sexual impropriety. But the attorneys would not disclose what the investigation is about.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

Friday’s scheduled pretrial motions in the case against a San Francisco man accused of beating a priest at the Los Gatos Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in May of 2010 have been postponed until 9 a.m., May 3.

William Lynch, 44, has been arraigned on 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.

The scheduled hearing was changed since presiding Santa Clara County Superior Superior Court Judge David Cena is tied up with a homicide trial that is running longer than expected.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WHBL

MILWAUKEE, WI (WTAQ) – Federal Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley said no today to unsealing some of the documents filed by the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese in its bankruptcy case. The records included a deposition given by former Archbishop Rembert Weakland on how he transferred pedophile priests from parish-to-parish without telling local church members about the sex abuse. Attorneys for 570 abuse victims said the documents would help justify their requests for financial compensation as part of the bankruptcy case. And the attorneys said the public’s right-to-know outweighed the church’s interest to keep the incidents private. But Judge Kelley said the records could identify victims, even if their names are blacked out. And Kelley called the material “scandalous.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Our View

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley may believe that she is protecting the victims of pedophiles, but in fact she’s doing quite the opposite. Her ruling Thursday to keep under court seal the testimony of two retired Catholic bishops who handled child sex abuse cases in the Milwaukee Archdiocese helps maintain the shroud of secrecy that has been the shameful hallmark of the Catholic Church’s darkest scandal.

Kelley said her fear is that the testimony could potentially identify victims who have sought anonymity in the case and that the testimony contained “scandalous material.” Of course it’s scandalous; this is a scandal that demands more light, not continued darkness. And victims groups who had sought the release of the testimony and other documents argued that the names of victims would be protected through redaction, as has been the case in other church bankruptcies around the country. The victims’ names really aren’t at risk.

An attorney for the victims groups called Thursday a “very sad day for survivors.” It is. And it’s a sad day for all those within and outside the church who seek the facts.

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CHILE
El Mostrador

por El Mostrador

Una de las víctimas del padre Fernando Karadima, el periodista Juan Carlos Cruz, hizo un llamado durante las celebraciones de Semana Santa a realizar cambios profundos en la cúpula de la Iglesia chilena, encabezada por el arzobispo Ricardo Ezzati.

En el blog que tiene en Cooperativa.cl, Carlos Cruz se inspiró en los últimos hechos acontecidos con el joven Daniel Zamudio, quien murió tras una larga agonía luego de ser brutalmente golpeado por un grupo de neonazis, para solicitar como católico practicante que “cómo un arzobispo de Santiago parte corriendo a dejarle chocolates a Karadima y no es capaz de tomarse un rato de su día para ir a ver a un muchacho inocente que se moría de a poco y que tenía consternado al país”.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

By
JANE WALSH,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Saturday, April 7, 2012

Irish liberal priests are being subjected to FBI Edgar Hoover like tactics says Fr Adrian Egan, the head of the Redemptorist Order in Limerick.

His comments came after The Vatican stated they were investigating fellow Redemptorist Father Tony Flannery for his liberal views on issues such as female priests and his criticism of the church sex scandal.

In a defiant show of public support for his “friend and colleague”, Fr Egan said he was “hugely disappointed”, “dismayed”, “flabbergasted, shocked and amazed” at the move by the Vatican.

“I’m speaking on my own behalf and not for the Redemptorist order. I see nothing to be gained from silencing Tony. It doesn’t sit well in today’s culture and it doesn’t benefit anyone. He (Tony) is articulating what he is hearing on the coal-face from ordinary people.”

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IRELAND
RTE News

Two Catholic lay organizations and a number of prominent priests have criticized the Vatican’s investigation of the Redemptorist author, Fr Tony Flannery, for his liberal views.

Referring to Pope Benedict’s recent visit to Cuba, a leading member of the Association of Catholic Priests said Pope Benedict XVI could not ask the Cuban leadership to permit freedom of expression if he does not respect it within the Church.

Sources say that the Vatican began investigating Father Tony Flannery two months ago. He has been prevented from contributing his monthly column to the “Reality” magazine. And his order, the Redemptorists, have been told to scrutinize both the Magazine and its editor, Fr Gerry Moloney’s, output.

Cardinal William Levada’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has not explained its moves publicly, but for years Fr Flannery has opposed the Church’s ban on artificial contraception and obligatory priestly celibacy.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

THERE HAS been a strong reaction to Vatican efforts to silence two Redemptorist priests over their liberal views.

Fr Tony Flannery, a founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, has had his monthly column with Reality, the Redemptorists’ monthly magazine, discontinued at Vatican direction, while the magazine’s editor Fr Gerard Moloney can no longer write on certain issues. Both priests hold liberal views on contraception, celibacy and women priests.

Fr Kevin Hegarty, who was moved in 1994 to a Kilmore Erris parish on Mayo’s Atlantic coast by the Catholic bishops because of his liberal views, has described as “quite shocking” Vatican treatment of the two priests. When he heard the news first he thought it “some gauche April Fool’s joke”, he said yesterday.

He knows Fr Flannery as “very sincere, with a creative approach to ministry”, and “a loyal dissenter from official decisions” in Rome.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Sally Mulready

Saturday April 07 2012

I WELCOME the Bill to set up the statutory fund that will enable former residents of Irish institutions run by the Religious Orders to obtain the emotional, welfare and counselling support they continue to need as a consequence of childhood experiences.

I believe Minister Ruairi Quinn has made a very genuine attempt to secure a way forward that meets the ongoing needs of survivors.

I hope earnestly that he will appoint an independent chairperson, who will have sound knowledge and understanding of the complex needs of survivors and above all else a person who will have compassion. I am very pleased with the proposal to include representatives of survivors on the trust board.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Katherine Donnelly

Saturday April 07 2012

THE Residential Institutions Redress Scheme was set up in 2002 in response to revelations about abuse suffered by children living in industrial schools, reformatories and other institutions run on behalf of the State by Catholic priests, brothers and nuns up to 50 years and more earlier.

The scale of the abuse was graphically outlined in the RTE documentary ‘States of Fear’ in 1999. The scheme awarded compensation based on abuse and injuries suffered, emotional damage, loss of employment and other opportunities, and medical, psychiatric and legal expenses. Almost 17,000 claims were lodged with the scheme, which has now closed. Up to the end of February, there were 14,000 awards, while 943 have been refused. There are 1,902 late applications still being considered.

Awards range from below €50,000 to €300,500 and the average value is €62,860. About half of claimants have received awards valued between €50,000-€100,000.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Katherine Donnelly

Saturday April 07 2012

EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn yesterday admitted publicly for the first time that religious orders don’t have the cash or assets to pay their share of the compensation bill for abuse.

And he said he had no intention of bankrupting the orders — which leaves him facing a massive battle to recover their half of a €1.5bn bill.

The taxpayer is already picking up €750m of the expected final cost but now faces having to pay far more.

In the place of previous offers, Mr Quinn now wants the orders to hand over the deeds of schools and medical facilities to finally settle the deal on compensating victims of abuse in residential institutions.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Colm Kelpie

Saturday April 07 2012

FR Tony Flannery has not been shy in expressing his opinions about the need for reform in the Catholic Church, writes Colm Kelpie.

His liberal views include calling for an end to the celibacy rule and opening up the church to lay people and women.

Here is a sample of some of Fr Flannery’s thoughts:

– “Many of us priests are very frustrated with the way the Vatican conducts its business.”

– “To hear someone in the position of the Taoiseach speak so strongly, so eloquently, and with such dignity, in challenging the Vatican was good.”

– “Many reforms are needed in the church, and there is little or no discussion allowed at any level.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By David Raleigh and Colm Kelpie

Saturday April 07 2012

Priests are being subjected to FBI-like attention from Catholic “agents” who want to silence anyone brave enough to voice their own opinions from the pulpit, a leading cleric claimed yesterday.

Fr Adrian Egan — the head of the Redemptorist Order in Limerick — criticised the Vatican and publicly backed Fr Tony Flannery, who is being investigated by Rome because of his liberal views.

Fr Flannery, an Athenry-based Redemptorist, who is the founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, has for the past 14 years written his opinions in the Redemptorist Order’s ‘Reality’ magazine.

However, the Holy See has now intervened, and his monthly column has been discontinued.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Caroline Crawford

Saturday April 07 2012

THE defamed priest at the centre of the ‘Prime Time Investigates’ controversy has insisted he wants no one to lose their job with RTE as a result of the now infamous broadcast.

Fr Kevin Reynolds told the Irish Independent he holds no ill feeling towards anyone about his treatment at the hands of RTE.

He was speaking in the wake of the massive shake-up of RTE’s current affairs programming, sparked by the controversy.

Fr Reynolds, who was falsely accused of fathering a child while working in Kenya, said he was putting the entire saga behind him.

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OSTERREICH
Nachrichten

WIEN. Der Wiener Erzbischof Kardinal Christoph Schönborn fordert nach der Kritik des Papstes an der österreichischen Pfarrerinitiative die Rücknahme ihres “Aufrufs zum Ungehorsam”. “Es muss hier eine Klärung geben bezüglich des Aufrufs zum Ungehorsam”, sagte Schönborn am Freitag in der “Zeit im Bild” des ORF-Fernsehens.

“Das Wort Ungehorsam kann so nicht stehen bleiben”, so der Wiener Erzbischof. Es brauche hier “eine öffentliche Klärung und ich denke, wir müssen sie bald angehen”.

Die Pfarrer-Initiative hatte ihren “Aufruf zum Ungehorsam” im Juni 2011 im Internet (http://www.pfarrer-initiative.at) veröffentlicht und darin u.a. angekündigt, das Predigtverbot für “kompetent ausgebildete Laien und Religionslehrerinnen” missachten und sich für die Zulassung von Frauen und Verheirateten zum Priesteramt aussprechen zu wollen. Die Rücknahme dieses Aufrufs lehnt die Initiative ab, wie es auf der Homepage heißt: “Dies können wir guten Gewissens nicht tun, weil wir weiterhin zum Inhalt stehen. Der Ungehorsam gegenüber einzelnen geltenden strengen kirchlichen Regeln und Gesetzen ist bereits seit Jahren Teil unseres Lebens und Arbeitens als Seelsorger geworden.”

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DEUSCHLAND
netsworkB

10 Millionen Menschen sind in Deutschland von sexualisierter Gewalt betroffen

Laut einer Studie sind 12,5 Prozent der Bevölkerung in Deutschland, also mehr als 10 Millionen Menschen, von sexualisierter Gewalt betroffen.

Strassbourg – Der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte wird die Beschwerde von Norbert Denef an den Europäischen Gerichtshof gegen die Ablehnung der Petition ‘Verjährungsfrist für sexuellen Missbrauch im Zivilrecht aufheben’ durch den Deutschen Bundestag voraussichtlich binnen diesen Jahres prüfen. Das teilte der Europäische Gerichtshof in einem Schreiben vom 26. März 2012 mit.

Die meisten Betroffenen von sexualisierter Gewalt können viele Jahrzehnte nicht darüber sprechen, aus Angst, Scham und Schuldgefühlen.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
Fox 8

[with video]

CLEVELAND – A Vatican decree issued last month had called for 13 closed Cleveland area churches to be reopened.

Parishioners of those churches had hoped they would be able to hold Easter Sunday mass once again inside their churches. But as of Friday, it was highly doubtful that would happen.

Bishop Richard Lennon of the Diocese of Cleveland has said he and advisers are reviewing the decree.

Bruce Godfray is a former parishioner of St. James Church in Lakewood, where his mother has been a member for more than 60 years.

He had hoped Bishop Lennon would have complied with the Vatican ruling in time for Easter services.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
The Plain Dealer

By Michael K. McIntyre

One of the messages from supporters of shuttered parishes.

Catholics pushing for Bishop Richard Lennon of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese to re-open 13 shuttered parishes have taken their message digital. An electronic billboard on Carnegie Avenue and East 14th Street alternately reads:

“Bishop Lennon, Rome has spoken. Restore our parishes.” … “How much longer must we wait?! Re-open and restore our parishes! Parishes decreed to be re-opened by the Vatican!” … “Bishop Lennon, We desire peace! We want to pray! Restore the parishes decreed to be re-opened by the Vatican!” … “Bishop Lennon, When will you re-open our church doors? Vatican decrees were issued on March 1st! … “The parishes decreed to be re-opened by the Vatican say, Grazie al Vaticano! Thanks to the Vatican!”

The Vatican ruled last month that the bishop violated procedures and church law when he merged or dissolved parishes and padlocked churches. Parish proponents say that means he must restore and re-open the churches and parishes. They hoped the diocese might do it quickly so that Easter Sunday services could be held.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Saturday April 07 2012

YET another Irish institution is in crisis. Like all the other institutions, RTE stands in need of reform. And, as so often, it has to reform itself in an atmosphere of angst and confusion instead of our old friend calm deliberation.

An institution comparable to the Catholic Church, the political system or the banks? Certainly. Much as print journalists like myself may dislike it, television is the most powerful communications medium yet invented. It is far more influential than the “social media” and will remain so.

As a means of delivering serious information, of course, it can never come close to newspapers or even radio.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Neil Maddox

Saturday April 07 2012

MORE than a few eyebrows are likely to have been raised by the recent statement of the Christian Brothers that they no longer own or manage any of their schools.

This is because, in 2008, the Edmond Rice Trust assumed ownership of all Christian Brothers and Presentation Schools formerly under the ownership and control of the order.

This is not the only religious order subject to an obligation to contribute to the residential redress fund that has opted to transfer ownership of all of its school property by means of such a trust arrangement.

Five female religious congregations transferred over 100 secondary schools to the Catholic Education and Irish Schools Trust in 2007 (among them were the Sisters of Mercy and the Daughters of Charity).

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By David Quinn

Saturday April 07 2012

If RTE was really as impartial as it claimed, then why the need for new interim Journalism Guidelines issued by the station this week?

After all, if it was the very model of fairness that it claims to be, and the Fr Kevin Reynolds defamation was simply an unfortunate lapse, then these new guidelines should hardly be needed at all.

All the station would need is a new rule that says if you make a scientifically falsifiable claim against someone — like you fathered a child — get it scientifically tested first. But the problem at RTE goes very much deeper than this and involves a generalised and systemic bias.

However, in the new guidelines there is a hint or two that a tiny bit of a realisation might finally be dawning on some people at the station that it really does have a problem.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Archbishop Diarmuid Martin

Saturday April 07 2012

CHRISTIANS around the world are celebrating Easter. It is the most important feast in the Christian religious calendar. However, for many around the world, even baptised Christians, Easter means very little. Easter is a break. It is about children and chocolate. Many will celebrate in church; others might barely spare a fleeting thought about what Easter means.

The religious culture of Ireland is changing. We can read the change in different ways. Some will see in the recent census figures that Catholicism is still the largest religious tradition to which Irish people adhere, and will take that as a sign that the faith is as strong as ever. Others will see the same figures as hiding a faith that is weak and symbolic, rather than one which has the robustness to survive and be creative in a changing contemporary culture. …

There are many who tell me to stop talking about sexual abuse in the church. There is no way we can bury and hide a painful past; it remains with us and will remain with us. But that does not mean that we shy away from announcing the teaching and the person of Jesus Christ. We should have no fear in bringing his message on to our streets, into our media, to our younger generations.

Jesus is still there. What the church has to fear is the fearfulness of its own members.

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NETHERLANDS
Expatica

The first Dutch victims of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church are to receive compensation payments within the next six weeks.

The commission charged with assessing the abuse cases has so far ruled that ten victims should receive financial compensation. In these first ten cases, the diocese or order concerned has been ordered to pay damages of between 5,000 and 20,000 euros, the compensation commission announced on Friday.

In the coming months, it is expected that compensation of up to 100,000 euros will be awarded in certain exceptional cases. To arrive at a ruling, in many cases the commission says it requires additional information from the claimant about the material damage they have suffered.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Penny Arevalo

An independent panel has concluded that JSerra Catholic High School officials acted in an “appropriate and prompt manner” regarding accusations that a teacher and Dana Point resident engaged in sexual misconduct with a former student.

A report released to the media exonerated school officials, while recommending some tightening of procedures. It also shed new light on accusations against Ricardo Aldana, a former Spanish teacher and coach of two school athletic teams.

In December, Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Aldana on suspicion of having sex with the former student, who is a minor. JSerra officials immediately terminated him.

The 37-year-old is charged with seven felony counts of lewd acts on a child and faces a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison if convicted.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Stockton Record

By Jordan Guinn
Record Staff Writer

April 07, 2012

STOCKTON – The jury in a civil trial found that Father Michael Kelly should be held liable on three counts related to child molestation, according to the lawyer of his accuser.

Attorney John Manly said Friday a civil jury unanimously agreed his client, a 37-year-old man identified in court papers as John TZ Doe, was molested by Kelly while Kelly was a priest at Annunciation Cathedral in Stockton. The plaintiff was a student at Annunciation school in the 1980s.

“Kelly will never again have access to a child as a member of the Stockton Diocese,” Manly said.

Kelly, 62, was removed from the ministry immediately after the verdict, according to the Diocese of Stockton. Before the verdict, Kelly served as a pastor at St. Joachim Catholic Church in Lockeford.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Claire O’Sullivan and Jimmy Woulfe

Saturday, April 07, 2012

The Irish priest muzzled by the Vatican for his liberal views has received overwhelming support from colleagues worldwide, with a senior member of the Irish Redemptorist order saying liberal priests are being subjected to FBI-like attention from ultra-orthodox “Catholic agents”.

Fr Adrian Egan, who heads the order’s Mount St Alphonsus monastery in Limerick, went on radio in Limerick yesterday to deliver a stinging attack on the Vatican.

Speaking in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the Redemptorists, he described himself as “dismayed, disappointed, flabbergasted, amazed, and hugely disappointed at the action by the Vatican”.

In a forceful interview, Fr Egan claimed priests were being subjected to FBI-like attention from Catholic agents who wanted to silence anyone brave enough to voice their opinions from the pulpit.

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STOCKTON (CA)
News 10

STOCKTON, CA – The Diocese of Stockton has removed a priest from its ministry after he was found guilty of child sex charges in a civil trial Friday.

Father Michael Kelly, who served at St. Joachim’s Catholic Church in Lockeford, was accused of molesting a former altar boy at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton in the mid-1980s.

Diocese Bishop Stephen E. Blair released the following statement regarding Kelly:

Today, a civil jury found in favor of the plaintiff in a case alleging sexual abuse by Fr. Michael Kelly in the 1980s. In light of this verdict, I have made the decision to remove Fr. Kelly from ministry, effective immediately.

The Diocese’s decision to defend this case was based on a careful analysis of the information available and on a genuine belief that the accusations are not true. Our view of the evidence has not changed, and Fr. Kelly continues to deny the allegations against him. Nevertheless, it is my belief that the jury verdict must be respected, and I have taken action in accord with our Church’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Lodi News-Sentinel

Posted: Saturday, April 7, 2012

By Maggie Creamer and Lauren Nelson/News-Sentinel Staff Writers

Three hours after hearing the verdict in his civil trial, a teary-eyed, choked up Michael Kelly faced an emotional congregation.

Earlier that afternoon, he was held liable on three counts of assault, sexual assault and abuse. He had been removed as a priest, stripping him of the ability to lead his congregation just before Easter.

“Practically speaking for now, and several years to come, I cannot be your pastor anymore,” he said as his voice cracked. “It breaks my heart, but I can’t. That is the way it is written. As much as I love all of you, I have to obey what the rules are.”

Yet he maintained that he is innocent, and reaffirmed his plans to keep fighting.

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STOCKTON (CA)
The Record

By The Record

April 06, 2012 5:58 PM

STOCKTON – The jury in a civil trial has found a local priest guilty of three counts related to child molestation, according to the the lawyer of his accuser.

Attorney John Manly said Friday that the civil jury unanimously agreed with the plaintiff, a 37-year-old man identified in court papers as John TZ Doe, was molested by The Rev. Michael Kelly while he was a priest at Annunciation Cathedral in Stockton and the plaintiff was a student at Annunciation school.

Kelly is currently at St. Joachim Catholic Church in Lockeford.

The second phase of the jury trial will focus on the Stockton Diocese’s role in the abuse, Manly said.

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CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel

Posted: Friday, April 6, 2012

News-Sentinel Staff

Father Michael Kelly was held liable on three counts of assault, sexual assault and abuse late Friday afternoon.

The 10-woman, two-man jury took just a matter of hours to determine whether Kelly was held liable for the charges brought against him.

The trial, which began Feb. 29, centered on a 37-year-old Fairfax man who sued Father Michael Kelly for sexually assaulting him when the plaintiff was an altar boy in the mid-1980s at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton.

The plaintiff remained unnamed throughout the trial because he was a possible victim of sexual assault.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on April 6, 2012

The jury came in with a unanimous verdict for Michael Kelly’s victim. If a jury can determine that in less than two hours, why did the Diocese of Stockton allow him to keep working with kids? For years?

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STOCKTON (CA)
Lodi News-Sentinel

Posted: Friday, April 6, 2012

By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel Staff Writer

The case of a 37-year-old former altar boy who is accusing a Lockeford priest of sexually assaulting him is now in the jury’s hands.

The 10-woman, two-man jury was scheduled to began deliberations after lunch Friday and will continue until it reaches a verdict.

The trial, which began Feb. 29, centers around a 37-year-old Fairfax man who sued Father Michael Kelly for allegedly sexually assaulting him when the plaintiff was an altar boy in the mid-1980s at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton.

Kelly, pastor of St. Joachim’s Catholic Church in Lockeford since 2004, has not been criminally charged. The statute of limitations for criminal complaints had expired by the time the plaintiff told his father about the alleged assault in 2007.

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VATICAN CITY
The Irish Times

PADDY AGNEW in Rome

POPE BENEDICT XVI has begun the Catholic Church’s Easter celebrations in Rome with a sharp rebuke of those priests and laity who choose to question key tenets of church teaching.

In a homily during the traditional Maundy Thursday “Chrism” Mass in St Peter’s, the Pope issued a highly unusual rebuttal to those who question Church teaching on questions such as the ordination of women. “Recently a group of priests from a European country issued a summons to disobedience . . . even to the point of disregarding definite decisions of the church’s magisterium, such as the question of women’s ordination . . . But is disobedience really a way to do this? Do we sense here . . . a desperate push to do something to change the church in accordance with one’s own preferences and ideas?”

While the pope here seems to be making a clear reference to the “Pfarrer Initiative”, promoted by over 300 Austrian priests, his hardline rejection of the call for changes also fits in perfectly with reports yesterday that dissident Irish priest Tony Flannery is under investigation by the Holy See.

Furthermore, the pope’s words this week re-echo criticism of the Irish Catholic Church expressed last month in the Holy See’s summary of the recent Apostolic Visitation to Ireland: “ . . . the visitors also encountered a certain tendency, not dominant but nevertheless fairly widespread among priests, religious and laity, to hold theological opinions at variance with the teachings of the magisterium . . .”

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

PAUL CULLEN

LAWYERS FOR a second missionary named in the Prime Time Investigates programme that libelled Fr Kevin Reynolds are seeking discovery of documents from RTÉ in a separate defamation case.

The statement of claim by former archbishop Richard Burke, who alleges he was falsely accused of child abuse when he was a priest in Nigeria, has been completed by Robert Dore, the same solicitor who represents Fr Reynolds.

Meanwhile, RTÉ has received the report commissioned by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland into the Mission to Prey programme which libelled Fr Reynolds.

The broadcaster confirmed yesterday that director general Noel Curran had taken receipt of the report along with the authority’s decision on what fine is to be imposed, if any, for errors made in the programme

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

PAUL CULLEN, Political Staff

A FINE of about €200,000 is believed to have been imposed on RTÉ for breaches of fairness in the Prime Time Investigates programme that libelled Fr Kevin Reynolds.

Informed sources say the draft fine recommended by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is close to the €250,000 maximum allowed under legislation. One source told The Irish Times that it was substantial, while another described it as “circa €200,000”.

It is understood that there was disagreement on the board of the authority over the level of fine, before a majority decision was reached in favour of the imposition of a penalty at the upper end of the range allowed.

The report commissioned by the authority has found that the Mission to Prey programme broadcast last May was unfair to Fr Reynolds. Sources say the report, which was received by RTÉ last Thursday, “pulls no punches” in its criticism of the way the programme was made.

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NEDERLAND
Kerknieuws

Monseigneur Wim Eijk heeft een drukbezette agenda tijdens zijn eerste Pasen als kardinaal. De aartsbisschop reist niet af naar de paasviering in Rome, maar gaat in Nederland voor tijdens tal van vieringen en bijeenkomsten. Op de avond van eerste paasdag ontsteekt hij zelfs een paasvuur in het Overijsselse Hengelo met vuur uit de basiliek in die plaats.

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NEDERLAND
RKnieuws

DEN BOSCH (RKnieuws.net) – De Contactgroep van de bisschoppenconferentie en de Konferentie Nederlandse Religieuzen (KNR) en KLOKK hebben mekaar donderdag ontmoet in Den Bosch. KLOKK is de grootste landelijke koepel van slachtoffergroepen kerkelijk kindermisbruik. Het was het tweede gesprek van KLOKK en de Contactgroep. Het eerste gesprek vond plaats op 1 maart jongstleden in Rottterdam.

De Contactgroep werd in januari 2012 ingesteld door de bisschoppenconferentie en de Konferentie Nederlandse religieuzen, als gevolg van het advies van het rapport van de Onderzoekscommissie onder leiding van de heer Deetman (‘Commissie Deetman’). De Onderzoekscommissie vroeg om een aanspreekpunt voor lotgenotengroepen en individuen, waarbij het onderscheid tussen bisdommen en congregaties en ordes en bijbehorende verantwoordelijkheden niet wordt gemaakt.

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MAINE
Bangor Daily News

By Julia Bayly, Special to the BDN

Posted April 06, 2012

FORT KENT, Maine — Attorneys consulting with the Rev. James L. Nadeau issued a statement Friday declaring that the Maine attorney general’s office investigation of unspecified allegations against the priest do not involve sexual impropriety.

“While we are unable to comment on the substance of the investigation at this time, we can state unequivocally what it is not about,” attorneys Scott G. Hunter of Solman & Hunter in Caribou and Richard S. Berne of the Law Offices of Richard S. Berne LLC in Portland said in the joint release. “We have been informed by the attorney general’s office that the investigation has absolutely nothing to do with anything sexual in nature.”

Late Friday afternoon, Hunter said the statement was released on behalf of Nadeau “in response to the speculation surrounding the initiation of an investigation.”

Nadeau, 50, has been on a voluntary leave of absence from his post as pastor of St. John Vianney Parish since Tuesday, when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and the attorney general’s office announced the investigation.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

April 6, 2012 by Susan Matthews

Kathy and I want to thank everyone who came to the vigil today. It was so nice to put faces to names. You all feel like old friends.

It was a good turnout for a holiday weekend and FOX 29 recorded some footage. Grandparents, parents, children, a priest, three nuns, survivors, professionals and advocates joined in our vigil on the sidewalk in front of the Cathedral. A young priest even stopped by on his way to the Stations of the Cross to say he agreed with us. But my most meaningful Good Friday moment came when the mother of a clergy abuse victim reminded us of Mary’s pain watching her son suffer on the cross and asked us to pray the Hail Mary with her.

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OKLAHOMA
Tulsa World

By LOUISE RED CORN World Correspondent
Published: 4/6/2012

PAWHUSKA –
A Pawhuska preacher who admitted to police that he had touched a teenage girl to “prepare her for her future husband” was convicted late Wednesday of three counts of child sexual abuse and one count of lewd molestation.

Creth Dean Hopkins, 62, was taken to the Osage County Jail at 11 p.m. with no bond allowed as he awaits formal sentencing June 13. The six-man, six-woman jury recommended he serve 20 years on each of the sexual abuse convictions and three years for lewd molestation, centering on the four most specific allegations that Hopkins himself described as part of his “teaching modality.” The jury acquitted him of seven other counts of sexual abuse.

Defense attorney Trevor Reynolds told jurors that the case was impossible to defend because only one charge, alleged to have occurred on the girl’s 14th birthday, was specific; the others were alleged to have occurred within a broad, four-year time frame.

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OKLAHOMA
Bartlesville Radio

An Osage County jury found 62 year-old Creth Hopkins guilty Thursday of three counts of felony child sexual abuse and one count of lewd molestation. Hopkins is the former pastor of Osage Indian Baptist Church and for the past seven years has pastored a non-denominational church he started at the Osage County Housing Authority’s Cedar Ridge housing development. The verdict came after a two-day trial. During the trial, jurors heard taped police interviews in which Hopkins admitted to some of the alleged acts with a teenage girl.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

This post by Beasley Firm attorney Max Kennerly is cross-posted on his Litigation and Trial blog.

As Ralph Cipriano reported, the defense attorney for Father Brennan spent a lot of time cross-examining the prosecution’s chief witness against Father Brennan by going into the alleged victim’s reaction to the molestation, including why the alleged victim — an adolescent boy at the time — did not call out to his mother afterwards, why the alleged victim took a subsequent motorcycle ride with Father Brennan, and why the alleged victim didn’t report the assault to authorities sooner.

Father Brennan’s attorney, coincidentally named William Brennan, has an important job to do — safeguarding his client’s constitutional rights and challenging the testimony of his accuser — so I don’t fault him for going into those issues, but these types of questions raise a common problem in both criminal sexual assault prosecutions and civil sexual abuse lawsuits: the persistence of rape myths in society and in the courts. The term “rape myths” was coined by psychologists as a means of describing false attitudes and beliefs that serve to deny allegations of sexual abuse and to thwart accountability for abusers.

Some of these rape myths are easy to spot. For example, many people will thoughtlessly say a victim “asked for it” by wearing the wrong clothes or by drinking alcohol, or they assume that victims are lying for attention or to cover up an affair. Myths like these are so pernicious and pervasive that the people perpetuating them don’t realize it. Thus, even people acting in good faith can end up applying rape myths to treat allegations of sexual abuse differently from other allegations of criminal conduct and to demand more proof from sexual abuse survivors (such as corroborating evidence in addition to testimony) than they do from other crime victims.

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TEXAS
Fox 13

April 6, 2012, by Ben Winslow

PALESTINE, Texas — Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs issued a revelation calling for “all peoples” to celebrate Jesus Christ’s birthday, by bowing and praying on April 6 at 7:18 a.m. It came the same day that Jeffs was given his privileges to make phone calls once again from prison.

In another revelation mass mailed to political leaders, including Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, the imprisoned Fundamentalist LDS Church leader demanded world leaders mark the occasion or face the wrath of God.

“Let all peoples bow the knee, confessing Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, Jehovah Christ Ahman Holy Lord over all peoples. Amen,” he wrote.

The revelation, dated March 17, promised floods, winds, earthquakes, disease and other destruction if people refused to repent. April 6 is a significant date in the history of Mormonism: it is the date that Joseph Smith founded the Mormon faith.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

As the head of America’ bishops, we urge you to publicly denounce, and stop, the bullying tactics used by bishops and church defense lawyers against those seeking help from the support group SNAP, including victims of abuse by clerics, witnesses, whistleblowers, police, prosecutors and journalists.

1,885 signatures

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ARIZONA
The Arizona Republic

A blog from Phoenix New Times (see it here) reports that George Bredemann, a notorious pedophile priest who was protected by former local Bishop Thomas O’Brien, has died in prison.

Last November, when a local Catholic charity had plans to honor O’Brien I spoke to the father of one of Bredemann’s victims. (See that column here.)

The honor was withdrawn.

Whether or not Bredemann is “at peace” will be determined by a high authority.

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ARIZONA
Phoenix New Times

By Terry Greene Wednesday, Oct 25 1989

The road dips into rocky washes, winds through forests of saguaros and climbs up a windswept hill to a toppled wooden cross that marks the entrance to Father George Bredemann’s twenty-acre kingdom.

Father George spent practically every weekend at his “Castle.” Nestled a few miles south of U.S. 60-89, the highway that links Sun City West and Wickenburg, the priest’s desert hideaway is miles away from the nearest neighbors and can be reached only by the primitive dirt road.

The grounds are strewn with donations from Catholic charities and loving parishioners, gifts meant to help the priest as he built his retreat for altar boys, retarded Boy Scouts and troubled youths.

Even when Father George was there, the donations rotted and rusted randomly throughout the acreage–lawn chairs, loose nails, barbecue grills, stoves, wheelbarrows, mattresses, rolls of carpet and padding, used lumber, insulation, roofing, a children’s swimming pool. There are also empty beer cans and vodka bottles. At the far end of the hill there are thirteen old toilets and several sinks, and next to them is a grave marked by a wooden cross that bears no name. The grave contains the ashes of a Catholic who wished to be buried at the Castle, says deputy county attorney Cindi Nannetti, who prosecuted Bredemann.

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ARIZONA
Phoenix New Times

By Paul Rubin
Fri., Apr. 6 2012

Stories about pedophile Catholic priests have become de rigueur in recent years, in Phoenix and around the rest of the world.

But some of us “oldsters” remember some of the very first detailed accounts of the disgusting diddlers and how those in charge–Bishop Thomas O’Brien here in the Phoenix area–were going to extreme lengths to cover up the criminal goings-on.

We published one of those stories back in 1989, a startling piece entitled “Father Joe” by Terry Greene Sterling, who worked here for many years and was a great colleague.

It told the story of one George Bredemann, a priest whose young victims included many Phoenix-area boys, and how the church and (for a time) the criminal-justice system had continued to allow him to operate with impunity long after he should have been locked up.

Here is that story, which we re-read yesterday after learning of Bredemann’s death at the Arizona State Prison in Buckeye. He was 69.

It’s an ultimate creepy-crawler read.

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OSTERREICH
Radio Vatikan

Der Sprecher der Pfarrer-Initiative, Helmut Schüller, ist über die Kritik von Papst Benedikt XVI. am Aufruf zum Ungehorsam „angenehm überrascht“. Die Predigt am Gründonnerstag sei zum Teil „sehr sanft“ gewesen, sagte Schüller. Auch mit Sanktionen sei nicht gedroht worden. Schüller freut sich, dass die Pfarrer-Initiative vom Heiligen Stuhl und in der Öffentlichkeit wahrgenommen werde: „Er billigt zu, dass es um die Zukunft der Kirche geht.“ Ebenfalls positiv sei zu werten, dass der Papst von der „Trägheit der Institutionen“ gesprochen habe. Dass der Papst beim Thema Ungehorsam der Initiative nicht entgegenkomme, sei zudem zu erwarten gewesen. Der Papst hatte in der Predigt in der Chrisammesse am Gründonnerstag die Forderungen der österreichischen Pfarrer-Initiative abgelehnt.

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OSTERREICH
APA OTS

Wien (OTS) – Die reformorientierte Pfarrerinitiative rund um Helmut Schüller hat viel erreicht. Dass Papst Benedikt XVI. auf ihre Forderungen in der Chrisammesse vor 3000 Priestern eingegangen ist, wertet die Reformkräfte auf und zeigt: Sie werden ernst genommen. Auch wenn er “von einer Gruppe von Priestern in einem europäischen Land” gesprochen hat, war klar, wer gemeint ist. Benedikt XVI. billigt den Initiatoren sogar zu, dass es ihnen um die Zukunft der Kirche geht. “Wir wollen den Autoren dieses Appells glauben, dass sie von Sorgsamkeit für die Kirche bewogen sind, dass sie überzeugt sind, die Trägheit der Institutionen mit drastischen Mitteln in Angriff zu nehmen, um neue Wege zu öffnen, die Kirche wieder auf die Höhe des Heute zu bringen.”

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AUSTRIA
Austrian Independent

The head of the Austrian Preachers’ Initiative has reacted positively to the Pope’s criticism.

Pope Benedict XVI. said in his Maunday Thursday sermon held in Italian in the Vatican that disobedience was no solution. The Pope mentioned a “group of priests from a country in Europe” without directly referring to Helmut Schüller or his movement. He claimed that obedience was the only way to manage the challenges of the Church in the world of today. Pope Benedict XVI. took a clear stand against the Preachers’ Initiative’s appeal to stop women from becoming Catholic priests. He said that his predecessor John Paul II. determined that such a reform was unthinkable.

Schüller described the Pope’s criticism as “relatively cautious”. The Probstdorf parish priest admitted in a television interview yesterday evening (Thurs) that he was surprised about the leader of the Catholic Church to speak about the points his movement had raised. The former Caritas Austria head stressed he appreciated the Pope’s estimation regarding his initiative’s intention. Benedict XVI said it seemed to him that the group of preachers got active to change the Church for the better. He acknowledged the movement’s concerns about the Church’s future.

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IRELAND
Herald

By Alan O’Keeffe

Friday April 06 2012

DEFAMED priest Fr Kevin Reynolds is being kept in the dark about the results of the investigation into his defamation by RTE.

The report completed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) was given to RTE but is being withheld from Fr Reynolds.

He has been told he will not get a copy of the report until RTE has finished studying it. The defamed priest may be kept dangling for a further fortnight as RTE was given until April 20 to respond to it.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

Yael T. Abouhalkah

In a full-scale setback for Bishop Robert Finn, he lost a legal battle today when a judge ordered him to stand trial in a child abuse case.

You can read the full ruling regarding this nationally watched case by Jackson County Circuit Judge John Torrence here.

Finn essentially lost the most important bid he and his lawyers were making in court, which was to throw the whole thing out.

And here’s a key part of the Torrence ruling:

“The court finds that the evidence in this case is sufficient to allow a jury to conclude that Bishop Finn was a designated reporter as defined by Missouri law.”

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CHILE
Emol

SANTIAGO.- Juan Carlos Cruz, una de las víctimas del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, se sumó a las críticas contra el arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, por no visitar al joven Daniel Zamudio durante los 25 días que agonizó en la Posta Central tras la brutal golpiza que recibió.

En su blog de radio Cooperativa, el periodista acusó un “doble estándar” de los “líderes morales” de la Iglesia Católica, aludiendo a la visita que realizó monseñor Ezzati al sacerdote Fernando Karadima a fines del año pasado.

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NEDERLAND
Kerknieuws

De eerste slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk krijgen de komende tijd een schadevergoeding. De commissie die de zaken beoordeelt, heeft tot nu toe in tien gevallen definitief geoordeeld dat een financiële compensatie op z’n plaats is.

Het gaat in deze zaken om bedragen tussen de 5000 en 20.000 euro, zo heeft de compensatiecommissie vrijdag gemeld. Het bisdom, de orde of congregatie van het slachtoffer betaalt de schadevergoeding binnen 6 weken uit.

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NEDERLAND
Kerknieuws

De van ontucht beschuldigde pastoor Jan S. uit Maastricht heeft gerechtelijke stappen ondernomen tegen het bisdom Roermond. Het bisdom heeft dat weliswaar bevestigd, maar wil niet ingaan op de inhoud daarvan, aldus de Limburgse zender L1.

De pastoor is door het bisdom op non-actief gezet omdat hij wordt verdacht van seksueel misbruik op jongenspensionaat Bleijerheide in Kerkrade.

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NEDERLAND
RKnieuws

UTRECHT (RKnieuws.net) – De Compensatiecommissie voor seksueel misbruik in de r.-k. Kerk heeft momenteel (1 april) 86 zaken in behandeling. In 10 zaken heeft de commissie inmiddels definitief geadviseerd en zijn uitspraken verstuurd naar het bisdom of de orde/congregatie waartoe de dader behoort of behoorde. Bisdom of orde/ congregatie zorgt voor uitbetaling aan het slachtoffer binnen 6 weken.

In deze 10 zaken vinden met name uitkeringen plaats binnen de categorieën 2 (7.500 Euro) en 3 (tussen de 10.000 en 20.000 Euro) en een enkele keer binnen categorie 1 (maximaal 5.000 Euro). Er zullen spoedig ook uitkeringen volgen binnen de categorieën 4 (25.000 Euro) en 5 (maximaal 100.000 Euro), maar veelal dient in die zaken nog een aantal vragen te worden beantwoord zoals hieronder aangegeven. De commissie werkt permanent aan het uitwerken van uitspraken zodat een volgend reeks uitspraken nog deze maand zal worden verzonden.

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NEDERLAND
Fok Nieuws

De rooms-katholieke kerk handelt binnenkort de eerste zaken van seksueel misbruik af. Tien misbruikslachtoffers binnen de kerk krijgen een schadevergoeding, laat het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik RKK weten.

De compensatiecommissie heeft de tien zaken goedgekeurd. De slachtoffers krijgen bedragen die variëren tussen de vijfduizend en twintigduizend euro. Het bisdom of congregatie betaalt het slachtoffer binnen zes weken.

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NEDERLAND
Hart Van Nederland

De eerste slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk krijgen de komende tijd een schadevergoeding. De commissie die de zaken beoordeelt, heeft tot nu toe in tien gevallen definitief geoordeeld dat een financiële compensatie op zijn plaats is.

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NEDERLAND
HLN

Eerste slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik Kerk krijgen geld in Nederland

De eerste slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de rooms-katholieke Kerk in Nederland krijgen weldra een schadevergoeding. De commissie die de zaken beoordeelt, heeft tot nu toe in tien gevallen definitief geoordeeld dat een financiële compensatie op zijn plaats is. Het gaat in die zaken om bedragen tussen 5.000 en 20.000 euro, zo meldde de compensatiecommissie vandaag.

Het bisdom, de orde of de congregatie van het slachtoffer betaalt de schadevergoeding over zes weken uit. De komende maanden volgen naar verwachting ook uitkeringen voor uitzonderlijke gevallen van seksueel misbruik, waarbij een schadevergoeding tot 100.000 euro kan worden gegeven.

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NEDERLAND
Zita

De eerste slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik door leden van de rooms-katholieke kerk in Nederland krijgen weldra hun schadevergoeding uitbetaald. Tot nu toe wees de commissie in tien gevallen een compensatie voor de slachtoffers toe. Het gaat om bedragen tussen de 5.000 en de 20.000 euro.

De schadevergoedingen zullen over zes weken worden uitbetaald door het bisdom, de orde of de congregatie van het slachtoffer. De komende maanden volgen nog zaken, waarbij in bepaalde gevallen over bedragen gesproken wordt tot 100.000 euro. In die zaken gaat het om uitzonderlijk seksueel misbruik.

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NEDERLAND
Rijksoverheid

Aanbiedingsbrief van staatssecretaris Weekers (FIN) aan de Tweede Kamer bij de beantwoording van de Kamervragen over belastingheffing op smartengeld van slachtoffers uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog en mogelijke vergoedingen voor seksueel misbruik binnen de Rooms-Katholieke kerk.

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IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests

I arrived into the Parochial House after spending some time with Jesus in the Garden, It was Holy Thursday night. He didn’t know what He was facing. Maybe the ordeal of arrest, false accusation, condemnation, suffering, and death! For he had continued saying what the religious authorities did not want to hear. He had just given us the Eucharist, ordained Priesthood, His New Commandment ‘Love one another as I have loved you’, and His example of humble service. I picked up my iPad to read the Journal as I do at the end of each day, and there in-front of me was the headline, ‘Priest confirms that he is under Vatican investigation.’

I am saddened that Fr. Tony is now being censored. I also admit to feeling shock, anger, and a little fear. As a member of the ACP – like the other 900 plus – we too are now open to censorship or worse still being ‘silenced’.

While I may not always agree with what Fr. Tony says or believes, I still respect and defend his right to hold those views and express them. Is this not part of what it means to be Christian? Are we as a Catholic Church not mature enough to listen to other opinions? We may not be a democracy, but we are certainly not a totalitarian regime!

As a ‘Northerner’, I ask ‘can our Church not learn lessons from what has happened in this part of our homeland’? The terrible conflict was brought to an end through respecting other people’s opinions, other cultures, and other traditions. Resolution was through respectful dialogue.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Mid-Ulster Mail

Published on Friday 6 April 2012

PARENTS in Pomeroy won’t allow their children to take part in a First Holy Communion ceremony if a priest embroiled in an indecent image scandal is in attendance, the MAIL understands.

Parish priest Father Martin McVeigh this week remained at the centre of a media storm after “indecent” pictures appeared on a projector to parents during a presentation at St Mary’s Primary School in the village.

On Tuesday night around 26 parents, a number of teachers, plus an eight year-old child, gathered for the First Communion meeting at the school with Father McVeigh.

During the course of the gathering parents were left “horrified and distracted” after a reported 16 obscene images of men appeared during a PowerPoint presentation after the priest inserted a memory stick into a connected computer.

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UNITED STATES
Christian News Wire

Contact: Rev. John Trigilio, PhD, Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, 717-957-9309

HARRISBURG, Penn., April 6, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ — Five hundred priests and deacons of the national association, the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, pledge their complete loyalty and obedience to the Pope and Magisterium and, by means of fraternal correction, exhort their dissident Austrian brothers of the ‘Pfarrer Initiative’ to repent and recant. Disobedience among deacons, priests and bishops is not only scandalous to the faithful but injurious to the Mystical Body of Christ (the Church). We are not just resigned to the discipline of celibacy and merely tolerant of the doctrine of a male priesthood, we totally accept and embrace them. The marks of the Church (one, holy, catholic and apostolic) are personified in the Petrine ministry. Hence, to obey the Pope is to obey the Church, the Bride of Christ. Like Judas who betrayed Christ, dissident clergy betray the same Lord by their prideful refusal of submission to lawful authority.

Dissent from Magisterial teaching and disobedience to Papal authority are incompatible with Catholic Christianity. Jesus founded the Church and instituted the Sacraments. Holy Orders is one of the sacraments and it is the essence of the hierarchy (which means an orderly chain of command). The soul of Holy Orders is obedience. Clergy must lead by example, as did Our Lord, who submitted to the will of His Father. When Deacons, Priests and Bishops disobey the Church and her chief shepherd, the Pope, they do a grave disservice to the people they have been sent to serve.

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