ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Parents could be sued for the actions of their children and charities could be required to rethink their volunteering policies, lawyers warned yesterday after a landmark ruling over clerical abuse.

By John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor
7:00AM BST 13 Jul 2012

A woman who alleges that she was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest, who can never be brought to trial because he has died, was told she can bring legal action against the Church.

The woman, who cannot be named, was a resident in a children’s home in the 1970s when she says she was assaulted by Father Wilfred Baldwin.

It is claimed that he raped her in the robing room of a church on the day of her first Holy Communion and she is now seeking compensation from the Diocese of Portsmouth.

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VATICAN CITY
Inside Bay Area

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
Posted: 07/13/2012

VATICAN CITY—The troubled Legion of Christ religious order says it is revamping a specialized high school program for teenage girls after dozens of alumni denounced psychological abuses they say they endured that resulted in eating disorders, stress-induced ailments and depression.

The Legion’s lay branch Regnum Christi posted a statement on its website Thursday outlining the changes after The Associated Press reported that 77 alumni had written to the Vatican calling for the program in the U.S., Mexico and Spain to be closed because of the harm done to them in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Girls in the program now have more contact with their families, more exposure to the “realities of the world,” more freedom from rigorous work schedules and, for the first time, and assistance in getting into college, the statement said. Many of these changes began some time ago, but some are more recent.

The problems in the program are the latest blow to the troubled, cult-like Legion, which was discredited in 2009 when it revealed that its founder was a pedophile and drug addict who fathered three children. The Legion suffered subsequent credibility problems following its recent admission that its most famous priest had fathered a child and the current Legion superior covered it up for years.

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NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand Herald

A young woman turned to drugs and alcohol and tried to kill herself twice after she was repeatedly sexually abused by a leader at her church.

Leslie Mervyn Gubb was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison when he appeared at the Manukau District Court today. He had earlier pleaded guilty to nine representative charges of indecent assault.

The 74-year-old cupped his hand around his left ear to better hear Judge Charles Blackie tell him that the community viewed his offending with “abhorrence”.

Crown prosecutor Susanna Locke said Gubb was a trusted family friend who held a senior position at the Papakura Presbyterian church, which was attended by the girl and her family.

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FLORIDA
WFTV

KISSIMMEE, Fla. —

A Kissimmee pastor who claimed a demon made him sexually abuse a 16 year old boy is accused of ripping off a member of his own church.

Investigators said Angel Perez-Nieves stole the victim’s personal information and used it to get an alarm system for the church, then never paid the bill.

Perez-Nieves garnered quite the following at the Templo Pentecostal Puerta de Salvacion in Kissimmee.

Under his leadership, the congregation grew to more than 100 members. According to a police report, he is accused of preying on one of them.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald

By Mark Greaves on Thursday, 12 July 2012

The Diocese of Portsmouth is liable to pay compensation for alleged sexual abuse by a priest, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

The decision, by a majority of two judges to one, makes dioceses liable for the wrongdoings of its clergy and clears the way for similar compensation claims.

A 48-year-old woman known as JGE says as a child she was beaten by a nun at a care home and later raped and sexually assaulted by a priest, Fr Wilfred Baldwin, who has since died. The diocese disputes her claim.

Lord Justice Ward said the relationship of priest and bishop was “close enough” to employer/employee “to make it just and fair to impose liability”.

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APPLETON (WI)
Green Bay Press Gazette

Written by
Jim Collar
Gannett Wisconsin Media

APPLETON — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay says its First Amendment rights protect it from liability in a civil lawsuit filed by two childhood victims of clergy sex abuse.

Brothers Todd and Troy Merryfield were awarded $700,000 in May by an Outagamie County Court that found the diocese committed civil fraud. The brothers claimed the diocese knew of the Rev. John Feeney’s illicit sexual history when it installed him as a priest at Freedom’s St. Nicholas Church and misrepresented him as safe while knowing he was a danger to children.

The Merryfields, then 12 and 14, were molested by Feeney in 1978. Feeney was sentenced to prison in 2004 for the assaults.

Sarah Fry Bruch, an attorney for the diocese, said the jury verdict should be overturned, arguing the court is constitutionally barred from reading any meaning into Feeney’s assignment to a pastoral role. The Merryfields didn’t show evidence the diocese represented Feeney as safe.

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COLUMBUS (OH)
The Columbus Dispatch

By Jeb Phillips
The Columbus Dispatch

Friday July 13, 2012

The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus has placed a long-serving priest on administrative leave after an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

The Rev. Thomas J. Brosmer, most recently the associate pastor of St. Cecilia Church on the Far West Side, will be on leave during an investigation by the diocese, the diocese announced yesterday.

Brosmer, 68, has been a priest of the diocese since 1969. The sexual abuse is alleged to have occurred while he was at St. Nicholas Parish in Zanesville from 1969 to 1973. Brosmer was also a teacher at Bishop Rosecrans High School then, according to yesterday’s news release.

The diocese’s Chancery Office received the accusation on July 2 and reported it to Zanesville police, the diocese’s victims’ assistance coordinator and the Board of Review for the Protection of Children.

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

By Josh Dulaney
Thu., Jul. 12 2012

A pastor was convicted Wednesday of sexually assaulting five boys in his Lake Forest apartment.

Oscar D. Perez Perez, a 69-year-old Lake Forest man, was found guilty by a jury of 22 felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14, four felony counts of lewd acts on a child, and sentencing enhancement allegations for lewd acts against multiple victims.

Perez faces a maximum sentence of 330 years to life in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration at his Sept. 14 sentencing in Santa Ana’a Central Justice Center.

Perez was a self-professed apostolic pastor and bishop at Iglesia Antigua Católica in Laguna Hills. He met his five victims through the congregation, which operates out of rented space at St. George’s Episcopalian Church, and gained their trust by befriending their families and having the boys assist with church services.

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ROME
Legion of Christ

Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, Pontifical Delegate to the Legion of Christ, has released a letter summarizing the renewal of the congregation, including how the process will now involve the Regnum Christi movement. He acknowledges the “common mission” and “shared purpose and mission” of the religious, consecrated and lay members in the first and second degrees, and recommends a period of “joint reflection” resulting in a “fundamental norm” or “rule” common to all members.

The text of the letter follows:

The original Italian version can be read here.

***
To the members of the Regnum Christi Movement and the members of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Since I was named Pontifical Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ in July, 2010, I have focused my energies, with the help of my counselors, strictly to the Legion and its various problems. Particularly, we started the process of revision of the Constitutions – the main responsibility that the Holy Father entrusted to me – as an important moment in the journey of renewal of the Congregation. During this period we have addressed other problems as they have surfaced.

After the apostolic visitation carried out by His Excellency Mons. Ricardo Blázquez, Archbishop of Valladolid, Spain, together with my counselors, I have dedicated time and attention in a particular way to the consecrated persons who form the 3rd degree of the Regnum Christi Movement. This part of our responsibilities, particularly the feminine branch, has demanded much time and attention and has distracted us more than a little from the problems of the Legion. It has been a tiring and complex journey which has had its painful moments. Today, we can look at things with greater serenity. Of course, the job is not finished, but good principles have been put in place which allow us to look to the future with hope. The Lord who has been with us and has brought us through difficult moments will not leave our side in the coming phases of the process.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Alessandro Speciale| Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY — The disgraced Legion of Christ religious order needs to rethink its identity before going forward with its internal reform, the papal envoy in charge of the group’s overhaul told priests and lay members in a letter published on Wednesday (July 11).

Cardinal Velasio De Paolis was appointed in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI to oversee the order’s reform after revelations that its founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, had lived a double life, abusing children and fathering a son.

Macial had enjoyed iconic status in the Legion, with strong suspicions that its leaders had been at least partly aware of his actions.

De Paolis writes that the troubled groups’ various branches, which include priests, religious and lay people, need “a common platform” to “regulate reciprocal relations … according to the identity proper to each group.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Armidale Express

STEPHEN JEFFERY

13 Jul, 2012

YEARS of research by an Armidale woman underpinned the ABC Four Corners program that investigated claims of a Catholic Church cover-up of child sex abuse cases involving defrocked priest and prominent Armidale resident, ‘Father F’.

The high school teacher, who prefers not to be named, has worked in child protection for more than two decades, and for the last few years she has provided information to Broken Rites, an organisation dedicated to supporting and empowering victims of church-related sexual abuse.

She was approached by a producer of Four Corners in May and invited to contribute to an exposé of the former Armidale diocese priest, who is known as Father F for legal reasons.

Father F has been accused of sexually abusing several boys in Moree during the 1980s. He was subsequently moved to the Parramatta diocese, where he allegedly abused another boy, who later committed suicide.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on July 12, 2012

There is little time left: Victims of the Irish Christian Brothers or victims abused at Irish Christian Brothers schools only have until August 1, 2012 to come forward and get justice in the courts.

Last year, the Irish Christian Brothers (ICB), a Catholic religious order based in New Rochelle, New York, sought bankruptcy protection after more than 50 victims in Canada and Seattle came forward about the sexual abuse at ICB schools. The bankruptcy court instituted the deadline, otherwise known as a “bar date,” for all victims of the ICB and victims at ICB-run schools to come forward to the courts.

The Irish Christian Brothers ran and currently run schools across the United States and Canada. For a list, click here or here. Although a school may be listed as “closed,” victims from those schools still have rights. In other places, like Los Angeles’ Cantwell/Sacred Heart of Mary, the Archdiocese booted the brothers and took over the school. Victims who were abused at Cantwell (where a convicted child abuser and at least two accused child sexual predators worked) before the ICB were kicked out also have rights in the bankruptcy.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Humanistischer Pressedienst

SCHARBEUTZ. (hpd) Berlin ist eine Reise wert, so heißt es immer wieder. Die Reise, die Norbert Denef morgen von seinem Wohnort Scharbeutz nach Berlin plant, dürfte eine der ungewöhnlichsten, mit anderen nicht vergleichbare sein. Am Freitag, 13. Juli 2012, wird er um 14:00 Uhr vor dem Reichstag in Berlin sein.

Ausgestattet mit Transparenten, Ideen und Parolen war der Vorsitzende von netzwerkB (B wie Betroffene) in den letzten Jahren immer wieder in die Hauptstadt und den Regierungssitz unseres Landes gereist, um mahnend in Begleitung einiger meist auch Betroffener und Fürsprecher die Forderung zu präsentieren: “Weg mit den Verjährungsfristen bei sexualisierter Gewalt an Kindern und Jugendlichen”.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Sophie Gosper
From:The Australian
July 13, 2012

SUPPORT groups for sexually abused children say the Victorian parliament’s terms of reference to investigate widespread cases of sex abuse within the clergy and beyond is a step in the right direction, but that the August 31 cut-off for submissions does not allow enough time to make their case.

The spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Nicky Davis, said the committee was asking victims to reveal incredibly traumatising and distressing personal information, which some may struggle to even submit in writing, so to offer such a small window was unrealistic.

“The time is vastly inadequate,” she said. “Even if they were just covering the Catholic Church it wouldn’t be enough time, let alone all other non-government organisations and any other organisation that might come up. It is actually a far bigger task than they may think.

“I am also concerned whether or not the magnitude of church (public relations) material that will be dumped on the committee during this time period will drown out the voice of the victims.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Catholic Herald

Written by Tracy Rusch, Catholic Herald Staff Thursday, 12 July 2012

MILWAUKEE — Capuchin Fr. Matthew Gottschalk, 85, cofounder of the House of Peace, retired from his position as spiritual director and moved from Milwaukee to a retirement home in Detroit on Saturday, June 17.

Amy Peterson, director of the Office of Pastoral Care & Conciliation for the Province of St. Joseph, told your Catholic Herald by telephone Monday that Fr. Gottschalk retired for a number of reasons, including his age, health and medical needs. She also said that while the Milwaukee County District Attorney office’s investigation into an allegation made against Fr. Gottschalk found no criminal behavior, it prompted the order to look at his situation.

“(The allegation) brought to light a conversation about Fr. Matthew and his deteriorating health, his age, he just lost his driver’s license – there were just a number of things,” Peterson said. “So the reason he’s not removed from minstry and he’s been retired is because he didn’t, as far as we know, we have no information about him committing a criminal act against a minor.”

Milwaukee County Chief Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern told your Catholic Herald Tuesday that three allegations against Fr. Gottschalk came to their attention earlier this year as a result of the bankruptcy proceedings involving the Milwaukee Archdiocese: the first incident allegedly occurred in 1970, the second allegedly occurred between 1974 and 1976, and the third incident allegedly occurred in 1993.

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MILWAUAKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

July 7, 2012

A prominent Catholic priest who co-founded Milwaukee’s House of Peace and has long ministered to members of the African-American community has retired, in part because of inappropriate behavior involving a minor 30 years ago, his religious order said Friday.

Father Matthew Gottschalk, 85, who was working at the House of Peace when the allegation arose this year, acknowledged the behavior was inappropriate, said Amy Peterson, who handles sex abuse cases for the Detroit-based Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph.

She said the incident did not rise to the level of a crime, according to an investigation by the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office, and that it was not solely the reason for Gottschalk’s retirement. Other factors, including his age, health and the recent loss of his driver’s license, also were considered, she said.

“But this gave us an opportunity to look at his situation holistically,” she said. “And the House of Peace just wasn’t the place for him.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director

CONTACT: 414-336-8575

On Saturday, it was reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Fr. Matthew Gottschalk, a Milwaukee Capuchin priest who has been working with inner city families for over fifty years, had been accused in a report submitted to Milwaukee Federal Bankruptcy Court of abusing a minor. The act or acts, which the Capuchins will not specify, allegedly occurred in the 1970’s.

According to Saturday’s story, Gottschalk admitted to his superiors that he did, in fact, commit an “inappropriate” act against a minor. Citing as her authority the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office, a Capuchin spokesperson insisted that Gottschalk’s action did not “rise” to the “level” of a “criminal act”. Gottschalk, in other words, just “happened” to have been accused of some kind of non-criminal abuse of a minor as the order was readying him to retire. He was moved to Capuchin headquarters in Detroit for health and other mundane reasons, such as his inability to renew his driver’s license, and not because he was accused of committing a criminal act. So, according to the Capuchins on Saturday, there was one report of abuse against Gottschalk for abusing a minor, the abuse was “inappropriate” but, according to the DA, not criminal. And, after all, Gottschalk admitted to the inappropriate behavior, so let’s just move his retirement forward but not remove him from ministry.

Today, however, we are learning that, once again, church authorities and spokespersons seem congenitally unable to simply speak the truth in a candid, responsible, and transparent manner.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Main Post

Monatelang hat er sich an einem Buben sexuell vergangen – ein ehemaliger Mesner ist deswegen zu vier Jahren Haft verurteilt worden. Das Landgericht Würzburg hielt den 30 Jahre alten Angeklagten am Donnerstag des sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern in 20 Fällen für überführt.

Der einst ehrenamtliche Mesner aus einer Pfarrgemeinde im Landkreis Kitzingen hatte am ersten Prozesstag gestanden, den damals zwölf Jahre alten Ministranten über Monate hinweg sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Der inzwischen 20 Jahre alte Ex-Ministrant hat über die Jahre nach eigenen Angaben mehrere Suizidversuche unternommen und ist noch immer seelisch gezeichnet.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

Vatican scandal probe to last 2 more weeks, with pope’s butler staying in custody for now

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, July 12

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican says its investigators will finish questioning witnesses and the pope’s butler within two weeks in the probe of leaked documents, including from the private papal apartment.

The leaks exposed corruption, infighting and power struggles at the Vatican’s highest levels.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters Thursday that the butler, Paolo Gabriele, who has been detained since May 23, will be held for “few days” beyond the 50-day period initially envisioned.

Lombardi said that if Gabriele, a layman accused of grand theft, is indicted, a public trial would be held, possibly in September.

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INDIA
Press Trust of India

STAFF WRITER

Bangalore, July 12 (PTI) A priest, suspected to be mentally unsound, was detained by police today for questioning on a complaint that he was allegedly trying to sacrifice a three year-old boy here, police said.

The man, a native of Shimoga and in his early 50s, has been detained and “sent for medical examination as he was suspected to be mentally unsound”, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Division) Sonia Narang told PTI.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Catholic News

A ruling that the Catholic Church can be held liable for the wrongdoings of its priests has been upheld by the Appeals Court today (12 July).

Last year Mr Justice MacDuff decided in favour of a woman who claimed she was raped and assaulted as a child by a priest of the Portsmouth Diocese. The Court of Appeal has upheld this decision.

The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth have issued the following statement in response to the judgment by the Court of Appeal in respect of vicarious liability in the case of JGE v The Trustees of the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust.

‘We brought this appeal in order to achieve clarity as to the nature and extent of the bishop’s liability for the actions of diocesan priests. A number of judgments in recent years have sought to extend the scope of vicarious liability, which is designed for relationships of employment, to very different relationships, including that between a bishop and his priest, who is an office holder and not an employee.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 July 2012

A Roman Catholic diocese is liable to pay compensation for alleged beatings inflicted by a nun and sexual abuse perpetrated by a priest on a young girl, the court of appeal has ruled.

The decision, by a majority of two judges to one, will have far-reaching implications for the responsibilities of all employers, significantly widening the scope of their “vicarious liability” for the actions of employees.

The claim was brought by a 48-year-old woman known as JGE, who cannot be named for legal reasons. She said that as a child she was beaten by a nun at a convent-run care home and later raped and sexually assaulted by a priest.

Father Wilfred Baldwin, who has since died, was said to have abused her in the robing room on the day of her first communion. The facts of what took place are disputed: the Portsmouth diocese denies there was any abuse and insists a priest is an office holder not an employee.

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CANADA
Hamilton Spectator

There are many questions. There are likely to be few answers, now and in the foreseeable future.

Perhaps the biggest unknown is whether the deal that allowed a Roman Catholic priest to leave the country without facing prosecution on a sexual assault charge is the best outcome for the case.

There is too much we don’t know, so that question, like so many others, is impossible to answer. We do know that if Jose Silva ever returns to Canada, there is a bench warrant for his arrest. That means the sexual assault charge can be prosecuted by the Crown if Silva comes back to this country.

Silva, a native of Brazil, spent two years at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church on Park Street North, where he was a popular parish priest. The sexual assault charge was laid last September following a complaint to police by an 18-year-old musician who alleged he was assaulted in the priest’s residence at the church.

Silva’s lawyer and a Hamilton assistant Crown attorney negotiated an agreement that allowed Silva to return to his native Brazil — without having been prosecuted for the alleged sexual assault — on the condition that he not return to Canada.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Sentinel

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

A PRIEST locked up for repeatedly abusing schoolboys deserved every day of his 22-year jail term for his ‘unimaginable breach of trust’, top judges ruled.

Alexander Bede Walsh, aged 58, was handed the sentence at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court in March after he was convicted of two serious sex offences and 19 counts of indecent assault.

Walsh’s victims included schoolboys in Cheadle and at Coton College, near Alton.

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CANADA
Hamilton Spectator

He doesn’t think about it every day. But there are flashbacks, out of the blue. Even a highway sign for “Hamilton” will trigger the memory of what he says took place in a Roman Catholic priest’s office last September.

He is the young complainant in the Reverend Jose Silva sex assault case. And he isn’t entirely satisfied that Silva, 34, was permitted to leave Canada and return to his native Brazil without facing prosecution.

The deal, struck between Silva’s defence lawyer and an assistant Crown attorney, is now under review by the Ministry of the Attorney General.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A ruling that the Catholic Church can be held liable for the wrongdoings of its priests has been upheld.

Last year Mr Justice MacDuff decided in favour of a woman who claimed she was raped and assaulted as a child by a priest of the Portsmouth Diocese.

The Court of Appeal has upheld this decision, which raises “an issue of wide general importance in respect of claims against the Catholic Church”.

A diocese spokesman said the case was about “fundamental legal principles”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
RTE News

The British Court of Appeal has ruled that the Catholic Church can be held liable for the wrongdoings of its priests.

The decision was announced in an action which has been described as raising “an issue of wide general importance in respect of claims against the Catholic Church

In the British High Court last November, a decision was given in favour of a woman, who claims she was sexually assaulted as a child by a priest at a children’s home in Hampshire run by an order of nuns.

The judge held that, in law, the Church “may be vicariously liable” for the priests alleged wrongdoings.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Caernafon-Denbigh Herald

Jul 12 2012

A ruling that the Catholic Church can be held liable for the wrongdoings of its priests has been upheld by the Court of Appeal.

The decision was announced in an action which has been described as raising “an issue of wide general importance in respect of claims against the Catholic Church”.

At the High Court in November Mr Justice MacDuff gave a decision in favour of a woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who claims she was sexually assaulted as a child by the late Father Wilfred Baldwin, a priest of the Portsmouth Diocese, at a children’s home in Hampshire run by an order of nuns.

Giving his decision on a preliminary issue in the damages action by the woman, who is now 48, the judge held that, in law, the Church “may be vicariously liable” for Father Baldwin’s alleged wrongdoings.

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GERMANY
Vatican Information Srvice

Vatican City, 12 July 2012 (VIS) – Members of the press and spokespersons of the European Episcopal conferences met in Cologne, Germany to discuss the relationship between the media and the Catholic Church.

Bishops, priests, and laypersons from across the continent are participating in the various sessions of the meeting, which will take place from 11 to 14 July. It will deal with, among other themes, communication regarding financial issues related to the life of the churches. A special session will be held dedicated to the Year of Faith and the media projects of the various episcopal conferences related to this event.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

A Lake Forest pastor was convicted Wednesday of sexually assaulting five boys and now faces a maximum sentence of 330 years to life in state prison, Orange County prosecutors said.

Oscar D. Perez, 69, knew the boys through their church in Laguna Hills and assaulted them when they stayed over at his apartment or came for visits, according to a statement from the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Perez was “found guilty by a jury of 22 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, four felony counts of lewd acts on a child and sentencing enhancement allegations for lewd acts against multiple victims,” the statement said.

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CALIFORNIA
The Orange County Register

By PETER LARSON / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SANTA ANA – A Laguna Hills man who had acted as a pastor bowed his head and stared forward Wednesday as he was convicted of molesting five boys from the congregation during visits to his Lake Forest apartment.

A jury of seven women and five men deliberated less than two hours before finding Oscar Perez, 69, guilty of 22 counts of lewd acts upon a child younger than 14, four counts of lewd acts on a child, and sentencing enhancements for lewd acts against multiple victims.

Perez faces a maximum sentence of 330 years to life in prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.

Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker said Perez asked victims’ parents to have their sons sleep over when he felt sick. The victims assisted Perez with services at Iglesia Antigua, a church that rented space at a Laguna Hills Episcopal Church, where he represented himself as a Catholic and Apostolic pastor and bishop.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

Dianne Williamson
dwilliamson@telegram.com

For more than three years, Susan Manter endured humiliating physical abuse from a trusted priest she had turned to for counseling. After she summoned the strength to testify against him in criminal court, friends and fellow parishioners turned their backs on her.

So when the Rev. Charles M. Abdelahad was found guilty May 25 of two counts of assault and battery, she felt only partial vindication. While grateful that the judge believed her, she was disappointed with the sentence — two years in the House of Correction, with just 90 days to serve.

“I did get some satisfaction,” said Manter, of Rutland, a petite mother of three. “But I know what happened in that office and I know what I went through. He got off very easy.”

But the priest was scheduled to get off even easier than she imagined. On July 5, she received a phone call from the state Parole Board, informing her that the Rev. Abdelahad had been granted parole and would be released July 13 — tomorrow — after serving just 49 days.

Ms. Manter was dumbstruck. Not only was she unaware that parole was an option, but she was never notified of the July 2 hearing so she could object to his release, which is her right as a victim under state law.

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OHIO
The Columbus Dispatch

By JoAnne Viviano
The Columbus Dispatch
Thursday July 12, 2012

A Columbus megachurch has welcomed back a former associate pastor who spent about 18 months in counseling and reflection after it came to light that he had a sexual relationship with a woman he was counseling for sex addiction.

Steve Robbins has fully repented and is returning as a church member “who is loved and welcome and restored to fellowship,” Vineyard Columbus’ senior pastor, Rich Nathan, announced in closing his weekend sermon on “Disciplining and Restoring Fallen Leaders.” Robbins will not be on staff.

“We’re going to do something that you have never seen before, and that is a public restoration of someone who walked away and now is coming back home,” the pastor said to applause as he welcomed Robbins on stage and embraced him.

Robbins, 62, was asked to break off contact with the woman and to refrain from worshipping at the evangelical Christian church pending the counseling and reflection, Nathan said when reached by phone on Monday.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sarah de Crescenzo

The pastor of a Laguna Hills church was convicted Wednesday of molesting five boys—ranging in age from 9 to 15—in his congregation as they slept over or visited his Lake Forest apartment.

Oscar D. Perez Perez was convicted of 22 counts of lewd acts on a child younger than 14 and four counts of lewd acts on a child. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 14.

Perez faces up to 330 years to life in prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker. The minimum sentence would be 15 years to life, she said.

Perez claims to be a bishop and pastor of Iglesia Antigua, or Old Church, which at the time of his arrest rented space at St. George’s Episcopalian Church in Laguna Hills. Perez’s church is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church or the Diocese of Orange.

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ILLINOIS
The Southern

BY BRENT STEWART, THE SOUTHERN

JONESBORO — Judge Mark Boie has ordered another fitness hearing for Bill Vandergraph, a former Alto Pass pastor accused of sexually abusing a minor.

In his order, issued Tuesday, Boie said, “Based on the history of this matter… the Court’s opinion is that it must fully determine whether the Defendant is unwilling or unable to cooperate with his counsel.”

Concerns about Vandergraph’s mental fitness, possibly including depression and signs of dementia, have been an issue in the proceedings. Psychiatrist Naeem A. Qureshi, MD, testified Vandergraph was fit to stand trial in a fitness hearing in April 2011.

As recently as March, Qureshi issued a supplemental report that deemed Vandergraph fit for trial.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Wave

Posted: Wednesday, July 11, 2012

By Betty Pleasant, Contributing Editor

While the Rev. Gordon Solomon was busy last Friday pleading not guilty to charges that he “substantially” sexually abused a child, people who used to know him suddenly never heard of him and the Inglewood church he pastored became a Southland tourist’s mecca as everyone flocked to it to experience whatever Jerry Sandusky-esque vibes emanated therefrom.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, the 50-year-old Solomon, a native Belizean, was arrested on or about the Fourth of July and charged with nine felony counts of committing lewd acts on a 14-year-old girl who attended his church — acts which began in June 2010 when the child was 12 and did not end until July 1, 2012, when the child’s mother stumbled upon explicit text messages Solomon allegedly sent the girl. The mother immediately summoned police who confiscated the lewd missives and set about building the case against him.

The counts against Solomon break down like this: He was charged with seven counts of committing a lewd act on a child; one count of continuous sexual abuse and one count of oral copulation of a person under the age of 14. He is being held in lieu of $3 million bail, and faces up to 26 years and eight months in state prison if convicted of the charges.

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CALIFORNIA/BELIZE
7 News Belize

The story of a pastor from a church in Inglewood California who is accused of sexually abusing a 13 year old is making news in Belize tonight.

And that’s because 50 year old Gordon Solomon used to teach at a number of high schools in Belize. We have received reports that he was a teacher at a number of Belize City High Schools in the 80’s and early 90’s. It’s important because according to multiple accounts – he allegedly did the same thing in Belize – preying on teenaged girls. He was never charged – but we have spoken to persons who insist that he was a known predator.

And while he was never charged in Belize, Solomon faces nine felony counts in California court. He is being held in lieu of $3-million bail.

According to news reports from Los Angeles, Solomon met the now 14-year-old victim at Christ’s Community Church, where he is the pastor. The alleged abuse started in June 2010 and didn’t end until Sunday, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office this afternoon announced it will not re-file a misdemeanor assault charge against the San Francisco man acquitted last week of felony assault and elder abuse that resulted from a confrontation with the Los Gatos priest he claims brutally raped him and his brother as children.

Prosecutor Vicki Gemetti is scheduled to make the decision official before Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge David Cena at 9 a.m. Friday, July 20, in Department 34 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, the DA announced in a press release.

On July 5, a 12-member jury found Lynch, 44, not guilty off the two felony charges, and acquitted him on the charge of misdemeanor elder abuse, but hung on the lower charge of misdemeanor assault on Rev. Jerold Lindner.

Gemetti had the option to re-file the misdemeanor charge on which the jury deadlocked 8-4.

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AUSTRALIA
WA Today

July 12, 2012

AAP

Allegations of past sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church have been appallingly handled, opposition leader Tony Abbott says.

Mr Abbott, a prominent Catholic, says a series of allegations which are only now coming to light are “absolutely horrific” but he believes things have improved since the abuse occurred.

“There’s no doubt that these things have been appallingly badly handled in the past,” he told the Macquarie Radio Network on Thursday.

“Thank God we’re now alive to these things and much, much better, though still far from perfect, at dealing with them.

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CALIFORNIA
Christian Post

By Rev. Austin Miles

Antioch, California. On Saturday July 7th, news headlines proclaimed in highlighted caps: “LYNCH ACQUITTED IN PRIEST BEATING.” John Lynch had been brought to trial for beating Catholic Priest Jerold Linder who had molested and raped Lynch when he was a little boy as well as his little brother who was 4 years old.

Homosexual rape is so violent that it rips the inside of the rectum, leaving raw nerves exposed resulting in continual excruciating pain. Making matters worse, that pervert made Lynch perform oral sex on his little brother as Linder watched.

Lynch tried to tell people but nobody listened. After all, a priest would never do such things. Finally, two years ago Lynch visited the so-called priest to talk to him about the molestations and rape when he and his brother were children.

Linden seemed to sneer as Lynch tried to talk to him and ask for an acknowledgment and apology. That sneer was the match that lit the fuse.

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CALIFORNIA
The Modesto Bee

By PAUL ELIAS
Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The man accused of assaulting the priest he says molested him decades ago won’t face another trial.

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosen announced Wednesday that his office won’t pursue a misdemeanor assault charge against William Lynch. A San Jose jury last week acquitted Lynch of felony assault and felony elder abuse after a 2010 altercation with Jerold Lindner, a retired Jesuit priest. Lynch testified that Lindner molested him in 1975.

The jury deadlocked eight to four to convict Lynch of misdemeanor assault. Rosen also said his office is deciding whether to charge the priest with perjury.

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CALIFORNIA
Santa Cruz Sentinel

By Robert Salonga and Tracey Kaplan
Mercury News
mercurynews.com

Posted: 07/11/2012

Will Lynch, the man acquitted last week in the beating of a priest he says raped him as child more than three decades ago, will not be tried for a lingering misdemeanor charge that deadlocked a jury, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office announced this afternoon.

Jurors last week cleared Lynch, 44, of felony assault and elder abuse charges and a misdemeanor elder abuse charge in a May 10, 2010 attack in Los Gatos, but could not reach consensus on a misdemeanor assault charge, leaving room for District Attorney Jeff Rosen to re-file.

His office said prosecutors will not take up the case a second time.

“We have heard the jury. We believe it is unlikely that a new jury would render a substantially different decision,” Rosen said in a statement.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on July 11, 2012

What we know is bad. What we don’t know is scary.

Last week, family members of Matthew Carrigan gathered outside of Corpus Christi Parish in Aliso Viejo to warn parishioners about Fr. Tim Ramaekers. According to a lawsuit filed by Carrigan, Ramaekers allegedly molested Carrigan when he was a young student at St. Justin Martyr Parish and School in Buena Park.

Ramaekers denies the allegations.

And that’s where the problem starts.

When Ramaekers spoke at the Saturday and Sunday masses, he continually referred to “false allegations.” He kept mum about the lawsuit, even though the suit itself is in jeopardy. Because of the recent California Supreme Court decision in the Quarry case, it could be dismissed on the statute of limitations, NOT because of the merits of the case. Ramaekers said nothing about that.

The Diocese and Ramaekers also said that the Diocese did a complete investigation on the allegations. To date, they have not publicly disclosed the findings. What we do know is that the investigator had no access to Ramaekers’ secret personnel file, which is the sole property of the bishop and can only be released by a court order. We also know that a church-hired investigator has the same credibility as Enron hiring a private investigator (in fact, Arthur Anderson, Enron’s auditor, was criminally charged with shredding Enron documents).

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

BY JOANNE MCCARTHY

12 Jul, 2012

DEFROCKED Catholic priest John Sidney Denham violently sexually assaulted a 12-year-old schoolboy over a number of months in 1977, police have alleged.

But another priest’s violent response at news of the alleged assaults stopped the boy speaking about it until decades later.

Police who have charged Mr Denham, 70, with 47 child sex offences involving 14 boys, allege a priest, who cannot be named, repeatedly hit the boy and yelled: “How dare you make up these lies? How dare you come into my office and make up lies about a man of his stature?”

The boy, who came from a violent home and had seen his Catholic school as an “outlet from this family abuse”, “believed from that time that he could not tell anyone”, police allege.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Bill Tammeus on Jul. 11, 2012 A small c catholic

Like the oblivious frog sitting in the pot of water that’s slowly coming to a boil, we often find it almost impossible to discern even historic changes while they’re happening.

And sometimes when we guess at seismic shifts that may be occurring, we’re embarrassingly wrong: Thomas Watson, IBM chairman in 1943, is (maybe falsely) reported to have said then: “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”

So I acknowledge I could be way off-base here. But from my Protestant, outside-Catholicism perspective, it looks as if the current hierarchical institutional expression of the Catholic church is dying and will be essentially gone in a few generations — certainly in the U.S. Whether another form of the church will survive is unknowable.

As educator Richard Giannone correctly notes in his new memoir, Hidden, “The history of Christianity as an organization has been a history of disagreeable confrontations with new forces at work in era after era. The church (his reference is to the Catholic church) is either unable, or unwilling, or scared to deal with the evolving society in which it lives and claims, often loudly, to serve.”

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VATIKAN
Neue Zurcher Zeitung (Schweiz)

Von Franz Haas

Zumindest am Namenstag von Peter und Paul, den Schutzheiligen der Stadt Rom, gab sich der 85-jährige Papst zuversichtlich in seiner Predigt: «Die Mächte des Bösen werden nicht vorherrschen», sagte Benedikt XVI. am 29. Juni im Petersdom. Er wiederholte mehrmals wie zur Beschwörung das lateinische «non praevalebunt», das auch als Motto auf der Vatikan-Zeitung «L’Osservatore Romano» prangt. Zwischen den Zeilen der päpstlichen Predigt stand die Sorge um jenen Skandal, der seit Wochen als «Vatileaks» durch die Medien geistert. Italienische Zeitungen bekommen regelmässig geheime Dokumente aus dem Vatikan von anonymen Informanten. Unter diesen ist der im Mai verhaftete Paolo Gabriele, Kammerdiener des Papstes, wohl nur ein kleiner Fisch oder Sündenbock, denn auch nach seiner Verhaftung sickern noch Informationen durch. Die «Mächte des Bösen» werkeln also weiter, und sie sitzen auch innerhalb der Mauern des kleinen apostolischen Staates.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Osnabrucker Zeitung

uwe Osnabrück/Hannover. Auch die evangelisch-lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers will Opfern sexueller Gewalt bald individuelle Entschädigungen zahlen. Dazu soll eine unabhängige Beschwerdekommission mit einem Richter an der Spitze eingesetzt werden, so gestern Christoph Künkel, Direktor des Diakonischen Werks Hannover.

Die Landeskirche folgt damit einer Empfehlung der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (EKD). Diese hatte den einzelnen Gliedkirchen und ihren Diakonischen Werken empfohlen, dann eine Entschädigung zu zahlen, „wenn ein Versagen der Institution vorliegt“. Dies soll nun in jedem Einzelfall geprüft und bei Anerkennung eine Entschädigungssumme festgelegt werden.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Nachrichten

Alles gut also in der römisch-katholischen Kirche? Pädophilie in den eigenen Reihen nur ein Problem, das man mit anderen gesellschaftlichen Einrichtungen teilt? Der Sexualmediziner Klaus Beier von der Berliner Charité glaubt das nicht. Er sagt: „Sexuelle Neigungen prägen sich in der Jugend aus. Doch was mache ich, wenn ich mich als junger Mann nicht zu Mädchen hingezogen fühle, sondern zu Kindern? Ich ahne dann, dass ich in dieser Gesellschaft nur Ablehnung erfahren werde.

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VATIKAN
Welt

Der umstrittene katholische Orden Legionäre Christi steht erneut in der Kritik. 77 Frauen haben den Vatikan aufgefordert, die Jugendprogramme des Ordens zu beenden, weil sie dort Missbrauch erfahren hätten. Ein entsprechender Brief liegt der Nachrichtenagentur AP vor.

Die Legionäre Christi stehen nach anderen Skandalen schon seit Sommer 2010 unter Zwangsleitung des von Papst Benedikt XVI. beauftragten Kardinals Velasio De Paolis, der den Orden umfassend reformieren soll.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Post

By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter

July 11, 2012

Father Bernard Lynch, a homosexual Catholic priest and activist known for defying Vatican teachings, has once again challenged the Roman Catholic Church by revealing that he has been married to a man for the past 14 years. Lynch also blames teachings on celibacy for the child sex abuse cases gripping the Catholic Church.

Roman Catholic doctrine calls on all priests to be celibate, but Lynch, who has served in the ministry for over 40 years and moved to London from New York in the 90s, revealed in his new book, If It Wasn’t Love: Sex, Death and God, that he is married and has been helping closeted gay priests in the English capital in his counseling program. He has also been marrying gay and lesbian couples in the church, despite Catholic doctrine prohibiting such a practice. …

Lynch, born in 1947 in Ireland, was himself accused of abusing children, but that claim was dismissed in court when the man who made those allegations was proven to be a pathological liar. The gay Catholic priest claims that people angry at his pro-LGBT views pushed the man to create such charges against him.

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CANADA
CHCH

Updated Father Jose Silva, the Roman Catholic priest charged with sexual assault last fall, is now a free man back in his native Brazil.

According to his attorney, it comes as result of a deal struck between prosecutors and the defence.

Father Silva had been a priest at St Mary’s Church on Park Street North since 2009. In September was charged with sexual assault and received bail a few days later. One of the conditions was that he hand over his passport to Hamilton Police.

Tonight CHCH News has been informed by his attorney, Dean Paquette, that Father Silva’s passport was returned by the Crown as part of a deal which would see Silva leave for his native Brazil, never to return.

The alleged incident took place during a courtyard party outside of the church. The accuser, an 18 year old man, alleges that he was sexually assaulted at a house just down the road from the party.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Dan Box
From:The Australian
July 12, 2012

NSW police were told that a Catholic priest now at the centre of a child sex abuse scandal was abusing boys almost 30 years ago, but took no action against him.

In 1983, the father of an 11-year-old altar boy told officers in the town of Moree that his son had been touched inappropriately by the priest, known as Father F for legal reasons.

The boy’s father, who asked not to be named, said he raised the allegation with the late Monsignor Frank Ryan, a church official in the diocese of Armidale on three occasions, but nothing was done. “So I spoke to the police and they said they were aware of (Father F’s) activities and something would come out of it,” the father said.

“But nothing happened.”

Father F subsequently moved to Sydney, where he continued working as a priest and allegedly abused another boy, who later committed suicide.

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

By Gustavo Arellano
Wed., Jul. 11 2012

In late 2010, the Catholic Diocese of Orange revealed that they were looking into allegations made by Matthew Carrigan that Father Timothy Ramaekers molested him as a child at St. Justin Martyr Church in Anaheim during the 1980s–this, after Carrigan filed a civil lawsuit in 2009 alleging Ramaekers and other priests abused him. The diocese said they found no evidence that Ramaekers abused Carrigan, but that hasn’t stopped Matthew and his family from letting the world know what they think of the priest, who just got the nod to head Corpus Christi in Aliso Viejo.

They were there in force this past weekend, where Ramaekers continued the arrogance that characterizes the modern-day Catholic Church in the United States by comparing Carrigan’s allegation and subsequent actions to a “9/11 moment” against him.

“A 9/11 [moment] is something that we don’t create,” Ramaekers told parishioners, according to eyewitnesses. “It’s not something that we do. 9/11, when we look at it, it is not fair. It’s not right. It’s not just. We may be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but when we are in our 9/11 Ground Zero experience, our life is altered forever. My 9/11 experience is being accused of sexual misconduct.”

All together now: IDIOT.

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CANADA
Hamilton Spectator

Ken Peters

The Ministry of the Attorney General plans to investigate a deal struck by a Hamilton Crown prosecutor that allowed a Roman Catholic priest charged with sexual assault to leave the country without facing prosecution.

The ministry acknowledged the agreement permitted Reverend Jose Silva to return to his native Brazil on condition that he not return to Canada.

“This is not common practice and we will look into this matter further,” ministry spokesperson Brendan Crawley said in an email Tuesday night.

Prominent defence lawyer Dean Paquette said his client left Hamilton in early May as part of a resolution he negotiated with assistant Crown attorney Carey Lee.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Huffington Post

By Jonathan Luxmoore
Posted: 07/10/2012

(RNS/ENInews) Influential church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch said he believes Christianity faces a bright future, but predicted the Roman Catholic Church will undergo a major schism over its moral and social teaching.

“Christianity, the world’s largest religion, is rapidly expanding — by all indications, its future is very bright,” said MacCulloch, 60, professor of church history at Oxford University and an Anglican deacon. His latest book, “Silence in Christian History,” will be published in the fall by Penguin.

MacCulloch said in an interview that “there are also many conflicts” within Christianity, “and these are particularly serious in the Roman Catholic church, which seems on the verge of a very great split over the Vatican’s failure to listen to European Catholics.” He predicted that Catholicism faces a division over attempts by popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI to “rewrite the story” of the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council by portraying it as a “minor adjustment” in church governance, rather than as a “radical move to change the way authority is expressed.”

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VATICAN CITY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on July 10, 2012

Almost half of the world’s bishops have failed to meet a Vatican deadline to submit child sex abuse policies. That shows how little Catholic prelates care about kids’ safety.

These policies will largely be vague and unenforced, but the fact that hundreds or thousands of bishops refuse to even write them down and turn them in on time shows how little or nothing is changing in the church hierarchy’s response to the ongoing child sex abuse and cover up crisis.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY

11 Jul, 2012

DEFROCKED Maitland-Newcastle diocese Catholic priest John Sidney Denham has been charged with 10 fresh child sex assault offences from the 1970s.

Denham declined to appear on an audio visual link from Goulburn Jail today where he is in custody, Newcastle Local Court magistrate Ian Cheetham was told.

He has been charged with 10 offences against two boys, aged 12, at St Pius X High School, Adamstown, in 1977, including three charges of buggery, and seven charges of indecent assault.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Newscastle

Updated July 11, 2012

Ten additional child sex charges have been laid against a defrocked Hunter Valley priest in Newcastle Local court.

69 year old John Sidney Denham is already serving a lengthy jail term for sexually abusing 39 boys in Newcastle, Sydney and Taree.

The former Catholic Priest declined to appear by video-link in Newcastle local court from Goulburn jail.

He has been charged with another 10 sex offences against two boys.

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register

July 11, 2012

By HEATHER ZIEGLER – Associate City Editor , The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

Following the landmark guilty verdict against a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia charged with endangering children, the leader of the Catholic Church in West Virginia continues to deal with the fallout of accusations.

Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, whose name was brought up by prosecutors in the Philadelphia case, steadfastly denies any wrongdoing. Bransfield has never been charged with any crime.

The Philadelphia case stems from a 2011 grand jury investigation into allegations that two priests and a teacher sexually abused a 10-year-old boy at St. Jerome Parish in Philadelphia, and that another priest assigned to St. Jerome sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy.

The grand jury presentment recommended criminal charges, including for rape and indecent sexual assault, against the three priests – Edward Avery, Charles Engelhardt and James Brennan – and the teacher, Bernard Shero. The grand jury also recommended charging Monsignor William J. Lynn, secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Press TV (Iran)

New documents by US prosecutors present evidence of ‘uncharged crimes’ by a priest who already faces more than a dozen child pornography-related charges.

In a new court filing, US federal prosecutors said that Rev. Shawn Ratigan, 46, surfed the Internet for photos of young girls and also searched online for two-way mirrors and tiny cameras disguised to look like pens.

A federal indictment accuses the priest of having been taking explicit photos of girls for six years.

Ratigan faces 13 federal counts of sexual exploitation of children, along with three state child pornography charges.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

John Salvesen, executive director of the Foundation to Abolish Child Abuse, Bryn Mawr, Montgomery County.

Q: What is different about the crime of child sex abuse that requires a longer statute of limitations in civil cases and no statute of limitations in criminal cases?

A: It routinely takes the victims decades to come forward if they come forward at all. That’s the nature of the reaction to child sexual trauma. It takes time. A statute of limitations that limits the age by which a victim must come forward almost, by definition, excludes virtually all victims.

Q: Doesn’t waiting a long time to report a crime weaken a case?

A: These changes to the statutes don’t do anything but give victims of child sexual abuse a chance to have their case heard in court. If too much is forgotten, you’re going to lose your case. This only lets you in the door.

In many cases, you’re not relying on the memories of eyewitnesses other than the victim. There is almost never an eyewitness — it’s not like assault with a deadly weapon. The fact that there was a witness in the Sandusky case is one in a million. That never happens.

If there’s no evidence, or if it’s too old or too stale, there will be no conviction. All this does is guarantee that it actually goes to court. In the case of the Roman Catholic Church, there is a lot of evidence other than memories. They’re called personnel files.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Daniel M. Filler, professor at Drexel University law school, Philadelphia.

Q: What are the ramifications if the statute of limitations were eliminated in child sex-abuse cases in criminal proceedings?

A: The whole problem with the issue is that child sexual abuse is a hair-trigger issue in our society, and that fact has led to some real miscarriages of justice. That doesn’t mean that there really aren’t ugly things that happened to people who wait to report. Increasing or eliminating the statute of limitations might lead to more justice, but it also might increase more injustice. The question is how much injustice are we willing to tolerate to get more justice.

Q: What do you mean by more injustice?

A: These kinds of cases make people particularly anxious. I think when it comes to these cases, the worry is that, on one hand, memories are sometimes repressed. But it is also true that a person can be nudged toward remembering things that might not have occurred. Given that, people feel a statute of limitations is needed. It’s the only way a defendant has a chance to disprove such allegations. It’s impossible to find an alibi so long after the event is said to have occurred. The older the memories are, the fear is that it’s more brittle and more likely a person is to create mis-remembrances.

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DANVILLE (IL)
Commercial-News

BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL Commercial-News

DANVILLE — Courtroom proceedings began Tuesday in the trial of a Danville man accused of sexually abusing students while working as an associate pastor.

Vermilion County State’s Attorney Randy Brinegar said opening arguments were presented Tuesday morning at the trial of 36-year-old Mark List of Danville. The trial could end as early as today, he said.

List is charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, criminal sexual assault in a position of trust and indecent solicitation of a child. The crimes allegedly took place between Feb. 4, 2008, and Aug. 1, 2009.

Testimony early in the case by Danville police detectives indicated List is accused of sexually abusing a student at Danville Christian Academy while he was an associate pastor there.

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.

SPOKANE (WA)
National Catholic Reporter

Jul. 10, 2012
By Tom Gallagher

•On Dec. 6, 2004, the Diocese of Spokane filed for bankruptcy and submitted a Plan of Reorganization, which provided a fund of $48 million to compensate victims of sexual abuse.


•The Bankruptcy Court set March 10, 2006, as the deadline or “Bar Date” for filing of future claims for persons who have claims of sexual abuse occurring before Dec. 6, 2004.


•Under certain conditions, a person who did not meet the March 10, 2006, Bar Date may still make a claim of sexual abuse as a “Future Tort Claimant.” The Plan defines such a claimant as a person who was not aware that he or she was abused or harmed prior to the Bar Date. Future claims can be made until 2016.


•A future claims fund was created by setting aside $1million of the total $48 million bankruptcy settlement. In the event that future claims and the awards exceeded $1 million, the diocese was required to recapitalize the future claims fund so that it did not dip below $200,000.


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AUSTRALIA
The Catholic Leader

Published: 15 July 2012
By: Paul Dobbyn

YOUTH worker Salesian Father Chris Riley has described recent Four Corners reports of the cover up of sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church as “sickening and disappointing”.

However, Towards Healing executive officer Missionary of the Sacred Heart priest Fr Tim Brennan and Bravehearts founder and executive director Hetty Johnston have both rejected demands for a national Royal Commission focused solely on allegations of sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church.

Fr Brennan said such calls were “simplistic”.

Ms Johnston said it was “shallow indeed to concentrate on just one organisation – at end of the day it’s to do with kids being sexually assaulted and the cover-ups which occur.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Huffington Post

In a new book, Father Bernard Lynch, a gay Catholic priest who has incurred the wrath of the Vatican for his views supporting LGBT Catholics, not only says he is non-celibate; he reveals that he has been married to a man for the past 14 years, and has officiated over the weddings of many gay and lesbian Catholic couples. The Vatican, he says, is trying to “get rid” of him, while he has been operating a counseling program for closeted gay priests in London since 1992.

Lynch, who has been a Catholic priest for 40 years, left for London from New York in the early 90s, after he was completely cleared of charges related to child abuse allegations made by a man who recanted his story and whom court testimony showed to be a pathological liar. The scandal had Father Lynch at the center of a media firestorm. He believes to this day that right-wing Catholic groups and now-deceased Cardinal O’Connor of New York, angry at his advocacy on behalf of LGBT people and people with AIDS, were behind his trumped up indictment. He had previously gained awards for his AIDS advocacy from politicians and AIDS activists, while local church officials and the Vatican became concerned about his advocacy.

Lynch wrote a a book in 1993 about the trumped up charges and about his speaking out in support of LGBT Catholics, and discussed his own homosexuality. In the new book, “If It Wasn’t Love: Sex, Death and God,” Lynch says for the first time he has been married for 14 years to Billy Desmond, with whom he lives in London. They were married by an American monk, and Lynch himself has officiated at gay and lesbian weddings. He also writes that he believes more than half of all priests are gay. And he blames the Catholic Church’s child abuse scandal on the celibacy rule.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
PhillyBurbs

Posted on July 10, 2012

by Margaret Gibbons

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office is taking a second look at information first received in 2007 concerning alleged inappropriate conduct by a priest with a student at Lansdale Catholic High School in the 1970s.

The information alleging inappropriate contact between a student and Father Michael J. Bransfield, who is now bishop of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese that serves all of West Virginia, had been provided to the DA’s office by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman.

“Based on the statute of limitations and the victim’s unwillingness to talk to investigators, we did not have a sufficient basis at that time to move forward,” said Ferman. “Within the last month, new information has come forward to cause us to re-examine the older complaint. We are in the process of doing that now.”

Ferman repeatedly declined to answer further questions on the matter.

Bransfield, a Philadelphia native who began his pastoral service in Huntingdon Valley after he was ordained a priest in 1971, served as a teacher, chaplain, chairman of the religion department and vice principal at Lansdale Catholic High School from 1973 into 1979.

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VATICAN CITY
U.S. Catholic

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The majority of bishops’ conferences in the Americas, Europe and Asia have complied with a Vatican mandate to draw up anti-abuse guidelines, said the Vatican’s top investigator of clerical sex abuse.

Without counting Africa, “more than half of the conferences responded” by the May deadline, Msgr. Charles Scicluna of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said in an interview with the Italian monthly Catholic magazine Jesus.

All those who did not send in their proposed guidelines would be getting “a letter of reminder,” he added.

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, quoted from the interview July 10 and said that the congregation received an encouraging number of responses from Anglo-Saxon countries, “but also Europe, Asia and Latin America have high percentages of responses.”

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MEMPHIS (TX)
WREG

[with video]

(Memphis)— A Memphis minister faces aggravated statutory rape and sexual exploitation of a minor charges.

50-year-old Orlando Wallace is behind bars, accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl, while another 15-year-old girl took pictures on her cell phone of the two in the act.

” He`s a minister, but he don`t work here. He`s just a preacher here,” said Pastor of Lakeview Community Temple, Jesse Lipford. Wallace is associated with the church.

Sunday, Lipford was disturbed by the news.

“It bothers me any man, would do that.” It’s a child.”

Lipford wasn`t happy to see our cameras Sunday morning, or that the church`s name was caught up in the shocking story.

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MEMPHIS (TN)
Commercial Appeal

By David Waters

Posted July 10, 2012

A 50-year-old elder at a local Church of God in Christ has been removed from church duties pending a police investigation of charges of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Orlando Wallace, one of seven elders at Lakeview Community Temple Church of God in Christ, was arrested Friday on accusations of having sex with a 15-year-old girl while another 15-year-old girl took pictures on her cellphone. Wallace pleaded not guilty in a Monday court appearance. He is in Shelby County jail on $50,000 bond.

“None of the alleged victims are members or affiliated with Lakeview Community Temple Church Of God In Christ in any way,” Jesse Lipford, Lakeview’s pastor for more than 30 years, said in a statement issued to the congregation and the public.

“In addition, none of the alleged acts took place in the church. The church is not responsible for any of its members’ questionable lifestyles. We teach holiness, and we expect our members to live godly lives in the presence of the Lord, their families, and the community.

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CALIFORNIA
NBC Bay Area

By Aliyah Mohammed
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2012

Less than a week after being acquitted by a jury of felony assault and elderly abuse following a confrontation with a Los Gatos priest he says raped him as child, a San Francisco man has created an non-profit organization that aims to end the cycle of sexual abuse against children.

William Lynch, 44, never denied the 2010 assault on Rev. Jerold Lindner, a Catholic priest living at the Sacred Heart retirement home in Los Gatos. But he testified he did so because Lindner allegedly brutally raped and sodomized him and his brother when they were children in the 1970s.

Now Lynch, hopes to prevent what happened to him and his brother from happening to other children and to provide resources to and empower survivors of sexual abuse.

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WHEELING (WV)
West Virginia Public Broadcasting

[with audio]

By Ben Adducchio

July 10, 2012 · According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, prosecutors in Pennsylvania are investigating a claim made against the Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Michael Bransfield.

According to the newspaper, prosecutors in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, are reviewing a complaint that Bransfield allegedly fondled a high school student in the 1970s.

Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston spokesman Bryan Minor released a saying the diocese’s stance is that this is old news, and appears to be further reference by the newspaper to information released during this year’s clergy sexual abuse trial in Philadelphia.

In the statement, Minor says these allegations are not new and that – quote -“In April, Bishop Bransfield released a statement responding to all allegations, and he stands today by that response.”

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

[The ad in the New York Times – SNAP]

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responds to the full-page ad placed by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in today’s New York Times:

Instead of looking at the positive reforms made by the U.S. bishops over the last decade, the professional victims’ lobby SNAP is rehashing its age-old claim that there is an ongoing abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. Never mind that in the last three years, an average of seven new credible accusations were made against over 40,000 priests in this country. Indeed, 99.98% of Catholic priests did not have a credible accusation made against them last year.

The John Jay College of Criminal Justice issued its Causes and Context study last year that found the abuse scandal ran from the mid-60s to the mid-80s, peaking in the 70s. After it was published, I issued a report analyzing the study [click here]. Since the end of the scandal, the Church has reformed its policies and curbed the problem, thus becoming a model of how to protect children.

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NEDERLAND
Dagblad de Limburger

Maastricht
Van onze verslaggeefster

De advocaat van de man eist dat een in opdracht van Schafraad opgesteld deskundigenrapport niet wordt meegenomen in de klachtenprocedure en dat Schafraad zich ‘van verdere privacy schending in deze zaak onthoudt’.

Tegen de geestelijke waren aanvankelijk drie klachten ingediend door oud-leerlingen van jongensinternaat Bleijerheide in Kerkrade. Schafraad werkte daar in de jaren zestig als broeder. Een van de klagers zou zijn klacht inmiddels hebben ingetrokken.

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DEUTSCHLAND
netzwerkB

Norbert Denef, Vorsitzender des Netzwerks Betroffener von sexualisierter Gewalt, wird am Freitag, 13. Juli 2012 um 14:00 Uhr vor den Reichstag in Berlin kommen, um das Gespräch mit Vertretern der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Deutschlands zu suchen.

Denef ist selbst Opfer jahrelangen systematischen Missbrauchs in seiner Kindheit. Er ist heute 63 Jahre alt. Den an ihm begangenen Verbrechen folgten 35 Jahre, bis er mit viel Anstrengung und mit der Unterstützung seiner Kinder darüber sprechen konnte. Als Sprecher von netzwerkB erlangte Denef ein wenig Bekanntheit. Die Vielzahl der Opfer bleibt namenlos und ohne Hilfe. Die Vielzahl der Opfer leidet still.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
CBS News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Federal prosecutors say they’ll present evidence at trial that a Kansas City priest charged with sexually exploiting children possessed two pairs of young girls’ panties and searched the Internet for photos of scantily clad children.

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan is scheduled to go to trial next month on 13 counts of sexually exploiting children. Prosecutors filed notice Monday that they’ll present evidence of “uncharged crimes” to illustrate Ratigan had a sexual interest in young children.

Prosecutors say that among the evidence they may present is a photo of the priest in his underwear at the home of one of his alleged victims.

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CANADA
Hamilton Spectator

A former Hamilton priest facing a sex charge has become a fugitive.

According to court documents a bench warrant has been issued for the arrest of Rev. Jose Silva.

Rev. Jose Silva, 34, a popular former parish priest at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, is facing a sexual assault charge in connection with a Sept. 18, 2011 incident. An 18-year-old musician told police he had been assaulted in the priest’s residence during a festival that day.

The Diocese of Hamilton announced Silva’s resignation in October. A statement issued by the church said Silva “has further indicated that he no longer wishes to remain in pastoral ministry in this country” and wanted to return to his native Brazil.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: Born in 1938 in Lisheen, Ireland, O’Connell emigrated to St. Louis, MO in 1959 to attend college seminary. He had been rejected by 36 dioceses and religious orders before being accepted by St. Louis. O’Connell was assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas Preparatory Seminary in Hannibal, MO, where he was a teacher, spiritual director, dean of students and, for 18 years, Rector. O’Connell was also the diocesan Vocations Director for years, and was a member of the Priests’ Senate and Personnel Board.

In 1991 a diocesan youth minister told Jefferson City Bishop McAulliffe that boys were disclosing to her that they were being sexually abused by O’Connell and other priests of the diocese. The youth minister was fired. In 1994 a young man told Kansas City bishop Boland that O’Connell had molested him as a boy St. Thomas. Boland is said to have responded, “We like to keep these things quiet”. The accuser soon started to receive secret monthly payments from O’Connell. The Jefferson City diocese settled with one accuser in a “secret agreement” in 1996. This man went public with his accusation in March 2002. O’Connell acknowledged the abuse and resigned a few days later. By 2004 at least nine former St. Thomas seminary students had come forward alleging sexual abuse by O’Connell. Some of the men said they suspected there were dozens of others. Some said the abuse that began while they were boys at St. Thomas, between the 1960s and 1980s, continued into their early adulthoods, including while O’Connell was a bishop.

In June 1988 O’Connell was appointed first bishop of Knoxville, TN. In Nov. 1998 he was appointed bishop of Palm Beach, FL, replacing Bishop Symons, who resigned after admitting to molesting boys. After his 2002 resignation, O’Connell went to live at a Trappist Monastery in South Carolina. He is said to have been free to travel to and from his native Ireland. O’Connell died May 4, 2012.

Ordained: March 30,1963
Ordained Bishop: Sept. 8, 1988
Died: May 4, 2012

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CALIFORNIA
San Jose Today

Posted by Christopher Schumb on Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The verdict is in for the William Lynch Trial, and unsurprisingly it was “not guilty” on all felony counts. The jury did hang 8-4 for “guilty” on a misdemeanor battery charge, but Mr. Lynch was never charged with the misdemeanor count by the District Attorney—it was added by Judge David Cena as a “lesser included offense,” which allows the jury to find him guilty of a less serious offense if the court believes there is evidence to support such an instruction.

The difference between felony and misdemeanor battery is the severity of the injury inflicted on the victim. Felony battery requires a showing of force that would have inflicted great bodily harm, whereas misdemeanor battery is merely “touching” done without consent in a rude or insolent manner.

The not guilty verdict was not a surprise to most experienced attorneys. As one juror noted, it is tough to find someone guilty of a crime when the court tells you that you cannot rely on the testimony of the victim. Indeed, many felt that the defense was crazy to move for mistrial after Father Jerold Lindner’s testimony was stricken by Judge Cena, after the priest invoked his Fifth Amendment Right to remain silent. Once the priest’s testimony was out, the allegations of sexual abuse were no longer relevant evidence, because the Judge had ruled it was admissible only to impeach Father Lindner’s credibility.

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CALIFORNIA
Calaveras Enterprise

Posted on July 10, 2012

by James DeHaven

Former San Andreas priest Michael Kelly faces renewed sex abuse allegations this week after Stockton attorney John Manly confirmed he will press ahead with litigation on behalf of several new clients.

An untold number of accusers have come forward to police and attorneys across three counties after a civil trial against Kelly ended in a $3.75 million verdict last April.

That trial saw Kelly barred from the ministry after the jury found him personally liable for abusing a former altar boy. A criminal case against Kelly was dismissed due to the statute of limitations.

Kelly, who maintains his innocence, fled to Ireland as the civil case was coming to an end, citing stress-related health issues for his departure just days before scheduled liability proceedings against his former diocese.

Manly said he was personally approached by nearly a dozen ex-parishioners and others in recent months, including two from Calaveras County.

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AUSTRALIA
The Armidale Express

STEPHEN JEFFERY

11 Jul, 2012

ARMIDALE Dumaresq Council will ask a former Catholic priest at the centre of a sex abuse scandal to step aside from his position on the sesquicentenary committee.

The man, known as Father F for legal reasons, is alleged to have confessed to sexually abusing five altar boys in the Armidale diocese during the 1980s.

The confession is alleged to have taken place during a 1992 meeting between Father F and three Catholic priests; Father Brian Lucas, Father John Usher and Father Wayne Peters, the current vicar-general of the Armidale diocese.

Father Usher and Father Lucas have denied that any such admission by Father F took place, but a letter sent by Father Peters to the then Bishop of Armidale, Kevin Manning, indicates a confession was made.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Jul. 10, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Federal prosecutors in a case against a priest charged with possession of child pornography outlined Monday some of the evidence they intend to present at the priest’s August trial.

Among the material prosecutors said they will introduce in the trial of Fr. Shawn Ratigan is a long list of images of alleged “child erotica” in his possession, a web history that allegedly proves the priest accessed websites specializing in female child pornography, and web searches that allegedly show he was researching “spy” pens.

Altogether, the evidence will allegedly show that Ratigan’s motive in his actions was “to indulge in and satisfy a sexual interest in female children,” prosecutors write in their filing, which was first reported by The Kansas City Star Monday.

Ratigan, who had served as pastor of a local parish until his arrest in May, 2011, faces 13 federal counts of production and possession of child pornography.

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OHIO
Beacon Journal

Beacon Journal staff report
Published: July 10, 2012

CLEVELAND: The resentencing for the Rev. Samuel Ciccolini has been rescheduled for 12:30 p.m. July 27 before Judge James Gwin in U.S. District Court.

Ciccolini, 70, a well-known Catholic priest in Akron, pleaded guilty two years ago to banking and tax fraud. He was sentenced to one day in custody, fined $350,000 and ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution to the Interval Brotherhood Home Foundation in Coventry Township.

An appeals court voided his sentence last week, ruling that Gwin had no authority to order the restitution and that Ciccolini must be resentenced.

Ciccolini has asked the court to have the $3.5 million returned to him. The money has been held by the federal Clerk of Court’s Office in Cleveland during the appeal. Gwin has deferred ruling on the request until the resentencing.

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CALIFORNIA
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

The anti-Catholic advocacy group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) says it is “grateful” that a criminal jury acquitted a man of felony assault after he brutally attacked an elderly priest that he said abused him some 37 years ago in 1975.

On May 10, 2010, William Lynch used a ruse to enter a retirement home for retired priests. He then violently thrashed 65-year-old Rev. Jerold Lindner in front of shocked witnesses until the priest was bruised and bloody. Lynch readily admitted to the angry beating. [Read more about the case]

Following the acquittal last week in the high-profile trial, SNAP issued a media statement written by its alleged “Outreach Director” Barbara Dorris:

Violence is always wrong. Still, we are grateful for this verdict. The odds that Lynch would ever reoffend are infinitely small.

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NORTH PALM BEACH (FL)
First Coast News

NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Catholic priest at a North Palm Beach church has taken a leave of absence after his arrest on shoplifting charges.

In a letter to parishioners at St. Clare Church dated June 30, the Rev. Giuseppe Savaia advised that he is “taking time away to tend to personal duress” at the request of the bishop.

Savaia was arrested on a grand theft charge in December after Boca Raton police said he stole an $895 picture frame from Neiman Marcus. Police said he was also arrested in connection with a theft at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise a few days later.

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RHODE ISLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on July 10, 2012

We call on Pope Benedict and his Vatican staff to investigate and harshly punish the priests who violated the privacy of these young, devout girls and abused their trust in the confessional. It’s a horrific betrayal for Catholic officials to use the sacrament of confession to manipulate vulnerable youngsters.

The 77 brave women who spoke out about the abuses they had suffered under the Legion of Christ at their high school in Rhode Island deserve praise for stepping forward and trying to protect other girls from suffering the same fate.

This story is another mar on the face of the controversial and cult-like Legion of Christ. The evidence that this group is out of control is overwhelming, as reports of abuse suffered at the hands of Legion priests have existed for as long as the organization has. In May, it was revealed that the long-time public face of the Legion, Fr. Thomas Williams, had secretly fathered a child after manipulating a parishioner. The worst part of this case is that the head of the Legion, Fr. Alvaro Corcuera, had known of Williams’ manipulation since 2005, when he began to “take steps” to remove Williams, but never followed through.

Earlier that month, the Vatican opened an investigation into seven Legion priests and whether or not they had abused children. The investigated priests hailed from different countries, but all were alike in that they had received allegations of abuse against them, and the Legion had been slow to act.

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IRELAND
The Catholic World Report

July 10, 2012

Neglect of canon law, not adherence to it, contributed to the covering up of child abuse by Irish priests.

Michael Kelly

“Catholic bishops covered up abuse by priests because they relied on canon law rather than the civil law”—it’s a familiar line in the media and from politicians when bishops or religious superiors have been shown to have mishandled abuse allegations. This side of the Atlantic, at least, it’s hard to have a conversation about the issue without this claim being raised—even by faithful Catholics.

It is, of course, true that many bishops did grievously fail children and the Catholic community at large by failing to respond properly to allegations of abuse against priests and religious. However, on closer inspection it becomes obvious that at the heart of the crisis was not only a failure to report a crime to the civil authorities, but also a failure to apply the Church’s own rules, rather than an overreliance on canon law.

Revealing new statistics published by the Archdiocese of Dublin in May offer a decade-by-decade breakdown of when abuse reported to Irish authorities is alleged to have occurred.

The analysis of allegations of abuse made against 98 priests of the archdiocese over a 70-year period shows that the alleged abuse began to skyrocket in the 1960s. Approximately 2 percent of accused priests are alleged to have abused in the 1940s, 4 percent in the 1950s, 23 percent in the 1960s, 27 percent in the 1970s, 34 percent in the 1980s, 9 percent in the 1990s, and 1 percent in the 2000s.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
CBS St. Louis

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)- Federal prosecutors say they plan to show Internet searches at a trial that they say back up claims that a Kansas City priest had a sexual interest in young children.

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan is scheduled for trial in August on 13 federal counts of sexual exploitation of children after a technician found troubling images on his computer in late 2010.

The 46-year-old also faces three state charges of possessing child pornography.

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OHIO
ONN

Tuesday July 10, 2012

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty in Ohio to tax fraud must wait to be resentenced before learning if he can reclaim $3.5 million in restitution.

Federal Judge James Gwin in Akron has set sentencing for July 27 for 70-year-old Rev. Samuel Ciccolini (chih-koh-LEE’-nee).

The judge had ordered him to pay nearly $3.5 million in restitution to the fundraising arm of an alcohol and drug rehab center he founded. An appeals court overturned the restitution order and one-day sentence.

The judge says he won’t decide on returning the money until re-sentencing.

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AKRON (OH)
The Columbus Dispatch

By Rick Armon

AKRON BEACON JOURNAL
Tuesday July 10, 2012

AKRON — The Rev. Samuel Ciccolini wants his $3.5 million back.

The federal clerk of courts in Cleveland has been holding the money since the Catholic priest from Akron appealed his October 2010 sentence for banking and tax fraud.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star

Federal prosecutors announced Monday that they plan to introduce evidence of uncharged crimes and other “bad acts” at the trial of the Rev. Shawn Ratigan in August.

Ratigan, 46, is charged with production and possession of child pornography while he was pastor of Catholic parishes in St. Joseph and the Northland.

Authorities arrested Ratigan in May 2011, five months after officials and staff at the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph found hundreds of lewd images of young girls on a laptop computer that the priest had sent for servicing.

In the ensuing furor of how church officials handled the discovery, authorities charged Bishop Robert Finn and the diocese in Jackson County each with a misdemeanor count of failure to report suspicions of child abuse. A trial on those counts is scheduled for September.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

William Lynch, the man acquitted last Thursday of felony elder abuse and assault charges stemming from an encounter two years ago in Los Gatos with a priest he says brutally raped him as a boy, has began a nonprofit organization to help sexual abuse victims.

Speaking to reporters after the not-guilty verdict was read by the jury in Department 34 of the San Jose Hall of Justice the afternoon of July 5, Lynch said he wanted to start an agency that would also help repeal the statute of limitations for sex abuse cases.

Lynch, 44, was acquitted of felony assault with intent to cause great bodily injury and felony elder abuse under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death. The jury also found him not guilty of misdemeanor elder abuse, but hung 8-4 on the lesser misdemeanor assault charge.

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VATICAN CITY
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

Anorexia, despair and thoughts of suicide: Inside the Legion of Christ high school where young girls were forced to live like teenage nuns

By Kerry Mcqueeney

Dozens of young women have claimed they developed severe psychological problems after being forced to live like teenage nuns at a high school run by a disgraced Catholic religious order.

Former pupils of the Legion of Christ high school, in Rhode Island, say the psychological abuse they endured led to multiple cases of anorexia, stress-induced migraines, depression and suicidal thoughts.

They have called on the Vatican to shut down the controversial programme to spare others from a similar ordeal.

This weekend, the women sent a letter to the Pope’s envoy denouncing the manipulation, deception and disrespect they say they suffered at the hands of counsellors barely older than themselves at the school.

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VATICAN CITY
Care2

by Annie Urban
July 9, 2012

A group of 77 women who attended a high school run by the Legions of Christ is calling on the Vatican to shut down the program. In a letter to the Pope’s envoy, the women described the psychological abuse that they suffered while “trying to live like teenage nuns,” including anorexia, stress-induced migraines, depression and suicidal thoughts.

The women who signed the letter suffered a wide variety of traumatic experiences. They were forced to follow strict rules, detailing how they should walk, sit, pray and eat. They never had more than five minutes between activities so that there was no time for self-reflection. They were prevented from making friends, had to obey strict silence for much of the day, and had very limited contact with their families.When the girls developed health problems, including anorexia, migraines, sight problems, they were forbidden from telling their parents and were prevented from seeing a doctor or going to a hospital. In the end, the abuse suffered by these women cost them many years of psychological treatment costing tens of thousands of dollars.

On the blog 49 weeks a year, some of the women have been sharing their stories:
Sarita wrote: “One of the most damaging aspects of the PC was the manipulation of conscience and God’s Will. Everything was considered God’s Will: the norms, the schedule, your director, and your spiritual director. If you were told to do anything you were expected to obey instantly with a spirit of supernatural obedience and without questioning.”

Tricia wrote: “The continual need to find fault with each and every action and report my failings not only to my confessor but often to my spiritual director and sometimes even peers created a deep sense of insecurity and self loathing. The Regnum Christi Movement implemented several activities to find and express oneʼs faults to the point of creating a scrupulous conscience. More importantly, the danger that persists is that you begin to have a disgust for yourself.”

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KENTUCKY
LEO Weekly

Though the trial of Rev. James Schook — a Louisville priest charged with sexually abusing two underage boys in the ’70s — was to begin last month, it now looks like it will be delayed until next year, if it’s even tried at all.

While the reason for the postponement in hearings until Dec. 17 was initially a scheduling conflict with another case being prosecuted by Jefferson County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John Balliet, The Courier-Journal subsequently found that the delay was due to Schook suffering from stage IV melamona. With Schook currently undergoing chemotherapy, Balliet says that “now would not be a good time for him to stand trial.”

Balliet tells LEO that Schook’s health will be evaluated at the December hearing, at which time they will determine whether the trial will go forward.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Cappy Larsen and Melanie Sakoda on July 10, 2012

Eleven days after his consecration as bishop, Metropolitan Jonah Paffhausen was elected to lead the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). The gathered clergy and laity believed that this synodal “outsider” would lead their church, which had been plagued for years by financial scandals at the highest levels, into a better future.

We didn’t. We strongly suspected that Paffhausen would be just like his predecessors when it came to clergy sexual abuse. He talked tough. However, the archbishop failed to follow the words with actions.

Shortly following his election as primate, he told a reporter, “With a crime in the church, the church leader’s responsibility is that such a priest would be immediately removed from his role, and his case would be turned over to the civil authorities.”

Yet in one of the major sex abuse scandals of his tenure, Paffhausen failed to act when the OCA’s Canadian leader, Archbishop Seraphim Storheim, was accused of child sexual abuse. Storheim was finally suspended from the priesthood almost two years later, and only after the Canadian authorities arrested him.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Saabrucker Zeitung

Saarbrücken. Die Staatsanwaltschaft hat ein Ermittlungsverfahren gegen den früheren Völklinger Dechanten Klaus Leist eingeleitet. Das teilte die Behörde der SZ mit. Leist steht im Verdacht, Ende 2010 und Anfang 2011 anonyme Drohbriefe an den früheren Pfarrer der Köllerbacher Herz-Jesu-Gemeinde, Guido Johannes Ittmann, verfasst zu haben (Veröffentlicht am 10.07.2012)

Saarbrücken. Die Staatsanwaltschaft hat ein Ermittlungsverfahren gegen den früheren Völklinger Dechanten Klaus Leist eingeleitet. Das teilte die Behörde der SZ mit. Leist steht im Verdacht, Ende 2010 und Anfang 2011 anonyme Drohbriefe an den früheren Pfarrer der Köllerbacher Herz-Jesu-Gemeinde, Guido Johannes Ittmann, verfasst zu haben.

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CONNECTICUT
Patch

By Megan Bard and Jason Vallee

The four cases against a popular Berlin priest alleged to have held sexually oriented chats on Facebook with young male parishioners and possessed child pornography were continued to Aug. 22.

Michael Miller, 42, pleaded not guilty in New Britain Superior Court on Monday to having inappropriate contact with a juvenile and allegations that he possessed child pornography on three of his computers, which were seized in 2011 after Miller was arrested and charged with having inappropriate contact with the young males.

Miller is charged with eight counts of risk of injury to a minor, two counts of obscenity, one count of attempting to commit an obscene act and one count of possession of child pornography. Miller, a pastor of Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Kensington, is currently free on $450,000 bond, a total amount set for the four cases pending against him. Miller is currently suspended from his church duties.

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CALIFORNIA
Christian Post

By Nicola Menzie , Christian Post Reporter

Gordon Solomon, pastor of Christ’s Community Church in Inglewood, Calif., has been arrested by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and charged with seven felony counts of committing lewd acts upon a Child for allegedly carrying on a two-year sexual relationship with a teen congregant.

Solomon, the senior pastor of Christ’s Community Church of Los Angeles, was arrested July 4 and charged last Friday. The minister, who is married, was being held on $3,000,000 bail. In addition to the felony lewd acts, Solomon was charged with one felony count of oral copulation of a person under the age of 14 and one felony count of continuous sexual abuse, according to the District Attorney’s office. If convicted, the pastor could be sentenced to 26 years in prison.

The authorities became aware of the accusations against the Solomon, 50, when the young girl’s mother discovered an explicit text messages allegedly from the minister on the teen’s cell phone. The mother immediately contacted the police, who later discovered a trail of emails and text messages allegedly between the 14-year-old and Solomon going back about two years.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Thomas G. Plante

Recent weeks marked several landmarks in the Catholic Church’s dark history with child sexual abuse. In Pennsylvania, the Rev. William Lynn became the first American church official convicted in the cover-up of child sex-abuse. In an Atlanta meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the bishops recognized the 10th anniversary of the Dallas Charter, the church’s document to prevent child abuse in its ranks, with a reflection presentation by the National Review Board, an independent lay advisory group to the bishops.

What have we learned in the past ten years?

We have learned that more than 10,000 youth were victimized by perhaps four percent of Catholic priests in America during the past half century, with the vast majority of cases occurring during the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, 94 percent of all cases occurred before 1990, according to the recent John Jay College of Criminal Justice study on the causes and context of the crisis. The sexual abuse of children by priests is horrific enough but it was the repeated stories of cover up and lack of accountability of bishops and other church leaders that has made this crisis a decade-long story.

The sexual abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky at Penn State underscored the fact that child sexual abuse is certainly not confined to the Catholic Church or to any church organization, but can and does occur wherever adult men have power, control and unsupervised access to youth.

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