ABUSE TRACKER

NEW JERSEY
MyCentralJersey

Written by
Sergio Bichao
Staff Writer

SOMERVILLE — About 100 parishioners gathered at 9 a.m. at the Church of the Immaculate Conception to celebrate the first Mass on the first Sunday of the new year.

Halfway into the ceremony murmurs spread through the pews when the pastor, Monsignor Seamus F. Brennan, brought up the school sex scandal that rocked the community less than a week earlier.

It was Brennan’s first public comments on Patrick Lott, the Bernardsville Middle School assistant principal who serves as a volunteer basketball coach at the parish’s Immaculata High School.

Lott was arrested Dec. 23 and is facing more than 50 charges of videotaping 15 boys, all 15 or 16 years old, showering together at the high school. He remains in the Somerset County Jail in Somerville in lieu of $500,000 bail.

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NEW JERSEY
MyCentralJersey

The following is a transcript of the full remarks delivered Sunday by Msgr. Seamus F. Brennan, pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, following his homily during the 9 a.m. Mass.

Brennan discusses the Patrick Lott scandal at Immaculata High School, where the volunteer coach is accused of video-recording boys showering together in the locker room.

“I do want to address a few words to you regarding the recent incident that took place at Immaculata High School and all of the reports in the paper this week. I want to address the allegations that have been made against one of our volunteers, a longtime volunteer and a part-time assistant coach at Immaculata. And I want to do this in no way to be defensive. We own this and we will deal with it. I just want that understood.

“But I do also want to try to clarify what [are] known facts, just to give you a little information to correct some of the rather misleading and inaccurate information that is often report in the press, [which has] been rather sensational sometimes.

“The first thing I want you to understand is the nature of the allegations that have been made. They are still allegations; nothing has been proven, and so we need to be aware of that. But the wrongful act that is alleged is that of taking pictures of boys showering in the locker room area. That, of course, is serious. That is a breach of the law, that is a serious invasion of privacy, and we do not deny that.

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UNITED STATES
OpEd News

By
Roger Shuler

What was the top news story of 2011? My choice would be the growing list of child sex-abuse scandals, which started at Penn State and quickly grew into a story that is national and international in scope.

Why is this my No. 1 story? The death of Osama bin Laden, the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, and Arab-world unrest led the Associated Press’ list of top stories. The Penn State story did not even make the AP’s top 10, coming in at No. 11.

So why am I going with the child sex-abuse scandals? They are driven by what one columnist has called a “culture of domination.” And that culture, I submit, drives many other stories about unrest in societies around the globe. The protests that marked the Arab spring and the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States, for example, are efforts to strike back at the few who try to dominate the many.

Of all the words written about the child sex-abuse scandals of 2011, perhaps the most profound come from Chicago-based journalist Robert Koehler. In a piece titled “Saluting Rapists,” Koehler gets to the mindset at the heart of sex-abuse scandals. And I would argue that he describes a mindset that is present in many other forms of dysfunction.

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NEW JERSEY
MyCentralJersey

Written by
Cheryl Makin
Staff Writer

SOMERVILLE — In response to the recent arrest of Patrick Lott, assistant principal of Bernardsville Middle School and a volunteer coach at Immaculata High School, an organization for victims of sexual abuse plans to demonstrate in front of both schools today as they reopen after the winter break.

Lott was arrested and charged with videotaping naked teenage boys showering at the Immaculata High School in Somerville.

Prior to his current role as assistant principal at the middle school in Bernardsville, Lott was assistant principal at Bernardsville High School and a teacher at Montgomery High School, where he coached the wrestling and basketball teams for about a decade. The borough resident had volunteered with academic and athletic programs at Immaculata for years.

The group planning the protests, Road to Recovery Inc., is a nonprofit organization that assists sexual abuse victims and their families and friends. According to co-founder and president Hoatson, the intention of the demonstrations is to keep the issue fresh in the minds of those involved.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Mark Arsenault
| Globe Staff
January 03, 2012

A decade after revelations of clergy sex abuse rocked the Archdiocese of Boston, survivors still come to Cardinal Sean O’Malley in search of healing.

Not a month passes, O’Malley said, without a victim asking for an appointment. Nearly nine years into his tenure as archbishop of Boston, the cardinal still ministers to victims, still encourages them to return to the church that so profoundly let them down.

He sees his pastoral duty to sex abuse survivors as this: “First of all, to let them know how sad we are that this ever happened,’’ he said. “And a recognition that, you know, apologies won’t make the hurt go away.’’

In a lengthy interview marking the 10-year anniversary of revelations about the archdiocese’s role in protecting abusive priests, which sparked a worldwide Catholic upheaval, O’Malley could not say when the church would achieve redemption and forgiveness.

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SOUTH AFRICA
IOL

January 2 2012

Johannesburg – A 50-year-old Limpopo pastor was arrested over the weekend in connection with the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl, SABC radio news reported on Monday.

He will appear in the Seshego Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

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MISSOURI
Catholic Culture

In an odd reversal of roles, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is fighting against court-ordered disclosure of the group’s internal documents.

David Clohessy, the director of SNAP, has been ordered by a Missouri court to turn over documents and correspondence relating to the case of Father Michael Tierney, a priest who faces sex-abuse charges. Lawyers for the accused priest argue that a plaintiff’s lawyer violated a gag order by providing information about the case to SNAP.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Richard McBrien on Jan. 02, 2012 Essays in Theology

Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., is the only U.S. bishop I know of who has explicitly taken into account the report of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life that appeared more than two years ago and found that one in 10 Americans has left the Catholic church.

Thus, if ex-Catholics were a denomination unto themselves, they would constitute the second largest, behind only the Catholic church itself.

Bishop Hubbard is also one of the few bishops who was known and respected by the Catholics of the Albany diocese when he was named in 1977. Today, the frequently heard comments after a bishop has been appointed are: “Who is he? Where is he from?” or “Oh my God, not him!”

Bishop Hubbard has been writing a series of monthly articles in his diocesan paper, The Evangelist, regarding the departure of so many Catholics from the church. His initial column attributed the fall-off to the usual suspects: the loss of a sense of sin, individualism, rampant consumerism, secularism and so forth.

But he received some feedback to these articles. Readers noted that he had “neglected to acknowledge ways in which the church itself has contributed to the alienation of many of its members and to its lack of appeal, especially to younger people.”

Other bishops would do well to read his column, “Failings of the Church,” in Origins, November 17, 2011, vol. 41, no. 24.

At the top of his list of failings is the sexual abuse scandal in the priesthood. The problem was “not only that a number of priests betrayed the sacred bond of trust by sexually abusing minors, but more significantly there is a disillusionment and a loss of faith created by the way we bishops engaged in negligent retention and placed the image of the church before the protection and well-being of children and vulnerable youth.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Domradio

Ab sofort können ehemalige Heimkinder in Deutschland Anträge auf finanzielle Hilfen stellen. Bund, Länder und Kirchen starteten mit Jahresbeginn 2012 den „Fonds Heimerziehung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in den Jahren 1949 bis 1975“. Betroffene, die in kirchlichen und staatlichen Heimen unter Misshandlungen und Missbrauch leiden mussten, können sich an Anlauf- und Beratungsstellen in den westdeutschen Bundesländern wenden.

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BELGIEN
Radio Vatikan

Der ehemalige Pfarrer von Dinant ist wegen des Vorwurfs der Pädophilie verhaftet worden. Zehn Missbrauchsopfer hatten den Pensionierten beschuldigt, sie zwischen 1968 und 2001 sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Über den Fall berichtet die italienische Agentur Ansa an diesem Freitag unter Berufung auf belgische Medienberichte. An mindestens zehn Jugendlichen zwischen 13 und 16 Jahren soll Pfarrer Marcel Colignon sich demnach vergangen haben.

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The future of the believer

NEDERLAND
Reformatorisch Dagblad

Is er nog wel toekomst voor de wereld? Dat is de vraag die allerwegen klinkt in deze laatste dagen van 2011. En overal waar die vraag gesteld wordt, klinken sombere woorden en zien we zorgelijke gezichten.

Wat Deetman heeft gezegd rond de aanbieding van het rapport over het seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk, is in allerlei situaties wereldwijd van toepassing: „Wij zijn er niet in geslaagd een toekomstperspectief te bieden.” Dat geldt voor de EU en voor de euro. Dat geldt voor de christenen te midden van de Arabische lente in het Midden-Oosten. Dat geldt voor tal van Afrikaanse volkeren en voor Noord-Korea na de dood van de ”Grote Leider”. Dat geldt –om maar niet meer te noemen– voor de massa’s jongeren die wereldwijd aan hun lot worden overgelaten.

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NETHERLANDS
The Irish Times

PETER CLUSKEY

TWO DUTCH priests have been suspended on suspicion of child sex abuse in the 1970s and 1980s, following the publication of a report earlier this month which collated evidence of as many as 20,000 cases of abuse by Catholic clergy in the Netherlands between 1945 and 1985.

The priests – both of whom worked in the parish of St Lucas, in the Archdiocese of Utrecht, in the east of the country – were suspended after KLOKK, the umbrella organisation representing victims of child abuse, passed complaints against them on to the police and the church authorities.

One of the priests has been named by the church itself as Fr Bert Sturkenboom, who chaired the parish committee at St Lucas and was “team leader” of the five priests who worked in the parish before the suspensions. The second priest is understood to have worked regularly and said Mass in the market town of Putten, in the heart of the deeply traditional “Bible belt”, most of whose inhabitants are conservative Protestants. The Archdiocese of Utrecht refused to comment on the suspensions at the weekend, but it’s understood both cases are being investigated by the church authorities.

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HOLYOKE (MA)
WGGB

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB)–A hearing is scheduled for supporters of Mater Dolorosa holding vigil at the church.

Attorney Victor M. Anop, the spokesperson for the individuals holding vigil, announced that they would be at the Hampshire County Superior Court on Wednesday at 2 pm. The group will contest a Bishop’s motion to stop their praying at the church.

Anop also says they have a cross motion in to keep the Mater Dolorosa vigil going and to dismiss the case.

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HOLYOKE (MA)
The Republican

By Jeanette DeForge, The Republican

HOLYOKE – The New Year brought a celebration of a different kind at the Mater Dolorosa Church where more than 100 people gathered to recognize the six-month anniversary of a round-the-clock vigil held to save the church.

Friends of Mater Dolorosa – formed shortly after the last Mass was said at the Maple Street church in June – gathered inside the church to say prayers and sing in Polish and English. They shared food and hugged.

Throughout the six months of arranging a schedule to make sure at least two people are in the church at all times, huddling in blankets to stay warm in the heatless building and battling with Springfield Roman Catholic Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell, the group has grown stronger and remains determined, said Shirley Anop, of Chicopee, a long-time member.

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NEVADA
Las Vegas Review-Journal

By Doug McMurdo
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Posted: Jan. 2, 2012

When Kevin McAuliffe appears in federal court Jan. 13, the Catholic priest’s addiction to gambling will be used as an argument for leniency in his sentencing for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his Summer­lin parish.

His attorney, Margaret Stanish, has hired an expert who will offer testimony about gambling and his assessment of McAuliffe as a pathological gambler. The expert, Dr. Timothy Fong, is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and on the staff of UCLA’s Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior. He treats problem gamblers with a combination of pharmacology and psychotherapy, trying to rewire brains that can’t shake the feeling the next bet is going to yield a big payday.

According to court papers, Fong will tell Mahan that the former monsignor, in addition to being a pathological gambler, suffers from major depression and social anxiety.

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MONTANA
Great Falls Tribune

[the lawsuit via BishopAccountability.org]

BILLINGS — A Northern Cheyenne woman has filed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, contending she was sexually abused as a young girl by a popular priest at the St. Labre Mission School in Ashland between 1955 and 1962.

The lawsuit seeking unspecified damages was filed Friday in Cascade County District Court in Great Falls. It also names as defendants the Order of Friars Minor, the Capuchin Order and the school.

Rev. Emmett Hoffmann is not named as a defendant but is identified as the reason for the lawsuit. The 85-year-old Hoffmann retired in 1993 and lives in Ashland.

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IRELAND
Kerryman

Sunday January 01 2012

A priest wrongly accused of sexual abuse has returned to full ministry.

Father Sean Cahill voluntarily stood down from duties at St Malachy’s Church in Castlewellan after the claim was made against him in early 2010.

In August last year it emerged that no charges would be brought against the priest.

Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor welcomed Fr Cahill back to ministry at St Malachy’s at Sunday morning’s Mass.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput is seeking to sell the large estate in Overbrook where he lives. Word of the sale comes as a blue ribbon commission prepares to recommend the closing of dozens of parish schools.

A source in the archdiocese says the proposal to sell the archbishops’ residence has been presented to the priests’ counsel and the finance counsel and now has only to be approved by the Vatican.

The eight-plus acre estate has been home to the archdiocese chief since 1935 but the source says the bishop does not want to continue to live in such splendor when he is about to ask area Catholics to accept sacrifices in the educational system.

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NEW YORK
The Post-Standard

By The Post-Standard Editorial Board

The sexual abuse charges against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and the allegations of abuse by former assistant Syracuse University basketball coach Bernie Fine have drawn attention to a reality children’s advocates have long known: Victims of child sexual abuse often wait years before talking about the incidents.

In New York, that means many victims wait too long to be able to seek justice in the courts. Under current state law, the statute of limitations for most sexual felonies involving child victims is five years after the victim turns 18. Bobby Davis, the first person to accuse Fine of sexually abusing him as a child, was 30 when he first reported the alleged abuse in 2002. Mike Lang, who accused Fine in November, is also too old to seek criminal or civil charges in New York.

It’s not unusual for people to go decades without telling anybody about troubling sexual abuse, experts say. Complicated feelings of shame, guilt and fear make it difficult for some to talk about it at all. That means some perpetrators may go free, possibly to abuse others.

New attention to the issue should propel the state Legislature next session to extend the statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse and allow more victims to seek justice in the courts.

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BOSTON (MA)
National Catholic Register

by JOAN FRAWLEY DESMOND
01/02/2012

A decade ago, the Boston clergy sexual abuse crisis engulfed the archdiocese, ultimately drawing global attention to a once-hidden scourge that has destroyed the innocence of minors, shattered families, severely damaged the credibility of Church leaders everywhere and led to an estimated $1 billion in settlements to American survivors.

Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley was named archbishop of Boston in 2003. He replaced Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned after the 2002 publication of archdiocesan personnel files revealed that clergy with credible allegations of child sexual abuse were reassigned to new parishes, rather than removed from ministry, and that parishioners were not warned about their history.

In a two-part interview with Register senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond, Cardinal O’Malley discusses a range of topics, from the path to healing and spiritual reconciliation for survivors, to rebuilding the moral credibility of the Church, and penalties for bishops that neglect to protect the innocent.

When he arrived in Boston nine years ago, then-Archbishop O’Malley had already addressed clergy sexual abuse scandals in two other dioceses. In 1992, he was appointed to the nearby Diocese of Fall River, Mass., where then-Father James Porter would subsequently receive an 18- to 20-year prison sentence for sexually abusing 28 children.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By Amanda Poole
Monday, 2 January 2012

A Catholic priest who had been at the centre of abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s has been restored to his full ministry.

Father Sean Cahill from the dioceses of Down and Connor had always denied wrongdoing and voluntarily stepped aside in February 2010 while the PSNI investigated allegations against him.

In August 2011, the PSNI confirmed no prosecution has been directed against Fr Cahill, who had been working in Castlewellan, Co Down when he stood down.

At Mass yesterday Bishop Noel Treanor told the congregation at St Malachy’s Church in Castlewellan he was “delighted” to welcome Fr Cahill back to his priestly ministry, “with an unblemished character”.

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MONTANA
KFBB

[the lawsuit via BishopAccountability.org]

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Jan 2, 2012

The Roman Catholic Church is coming under fire again in another sexual abuse case.

The latest lawsuit accusing the church of sexual abuse was filed Friday in Cascade County District Court.

A Northern Cheyenne woman from Ashland is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings. She claims a priest abused her at the St. Labre Mission School between 1955 and 1962.

The woman is seeking unspecified damages. Other defendants named in the suit include the Order of Friars Minor, the Capuchin Order and the St. Labre School.

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WISCONSIN
The Sheboygan Press

The bold move by a group of Catholic priests — including two from Sheboygan — to work with and help victims of clergy sexual abuse gives all victims hope that they can receive justice.

The Rev. James Connell, pastor of Sheboygan’s Holy Name and St. Clement parishes, and the Rev. Richard Cerpich, who serves St. Peter Claver parish, recognized that the Catholic Church needed to do more to reach out to abuse victims.

Last week, they and abuse victims, including Vicky Schneider of Sheboygan, took out full-page ads to remind victims that the deadline for filing claims against the church is less than a month away.

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MISSOURI
TheMediaReport

The strident National Catholic Reporter has exclusively reported that a Missouri judge is forcing David Clohessy, the national president of SNAP, to appear at a deposition, and Clohessy is vehemently fighting the order.

A judge has told Clohessy and SNAP to turn over all of their documents related to the case of an accused priest. According to the Reporter, these demanded documents may include:

press releases or press release drafts;
correspondence with members of the press;
any correspondence with the victim named in the lawsuit;
any correspondence from members of the public “that discuss or relates to repressed memory”;
and more.

Clohessy and his legal help are frantically fighting this court order, weakly claiming that the deposition could have “a huge chilling effect on helping child sex abuse victims at every stage.”

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on January 1, 2012

I am not (usually) an angry person, but today, my head is about to explode.

I opened the paper this morning to find out that my son and every other child in the state of California must be in a car booster seat until age eight or until they are 4-foot-9. My son is five. He will turn eight at the end of the second grade.

I’m not going to go into the sheer hassle, expense and waste this will cause parents who carpool sports teams, have multiple young children, allow their children to attend field trips, encourage play date companions, etc. Nor will I mention that this legislation flies DIRECTLY in the face of California’s push for higher MPG cars (because many families will be FORCED to buy bigger cars for the four or five carseats that they must now cart with them everywhere. And you can’t fit more than two car seats in the Prius).

But I will say this: I am my son’s parent. Not the State of California.

It is MY decision how to educate my child, how to feed him, clothe him, discipline him (and he is a very good boy), help him create his moral foundation, and/or take (or in my case NOT take) him to church. It is not the government’s job. Period.

But wait, there’s more! My outrage gets a little more personal.

I have to wonder, what happens between age eight, when my kid is still stuffed in a car seat, and ages 9, 10, 13, or 15 when officials at JSerra and Mater Dei High Schools, Penn State and Syracuse Universities, and the Archdioceses of Philadelphia and Los Angeles deem that if my kid is sexually assaulted, it must be my kid’s fault (or not really a crime at all)? My son goes from car seat occupant to sexual provocateur overnight? To add insult to injury, many of these officials and their paid spokespeople blame the victims’ parents for the fact that their children were raped.

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GREAT FALLS (MT)
Montana Eighth Judicial Court – Cascade County

Posted on December 30, 2011
in the Billings Gazette

1.1 Plaintiff suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse by Father Emmett Hoffmann, who was employed by the Order of Friars Minor, Capuchin, the St. Labre Mission School, and the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Great FallslBillings (hereinafter referred to as “the Bishop”). Plaintiff was then a minor in the care, custody, and control of the St. Labre Mission School, and/or Father Hoffmann, and the Bishop.
. . .

4.1 From approximately 1955 until 1962, Plaintiff was a minor and student at the St. Labre Mission School in Ashland, Montana.

4.2. From approximately 1955 until 1962, Plaintiff was victimized physically, sexually, and emotionally by Father Emmett Hoffmann at the St. Labre Parish and School.

4.3 While inflicting corporal punishment upon Plaintiff, Father Emmett Hoffmann removed Plaintiff’s panties and rubbed her buttocks before and after he spanked her. Father Emmett Hoffmann would tell Plaintiff that God told him to punish her in that manner.

4.4 From approximately 1955 until 1962 and sometime after the incidents described in paragraph 4.3 began, Father Emmett Hoffmann exposed himself to Plaintiff and made her touch and rub his penis.

4.5 Sometime between approximately 1955 through 1962, Father Emmett Hoffman digitally penetrated Plaintiff’s vagina and on at least one occasion digitally penetrated Plaintiff’s anus.

4.6 Sometime between approximately 1955 through 1962, the incidents of sexual abuse perpetrated by Father Emmett Hoffmann upon Plaintiff progressed in scope and severity and included acts of sexual intercourse that were unwanted and unconsented to by Plaintiff, a minor under the age of eighteen.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Independent

By David Young

Sunday January 01 2012

A priest wrongly accused of sexual abuse has returned to full ministry.

Father Sean Cahill voluntarily stood down from duties at St Malachy’s church in Castlewellan after the claim was made against him in early 2010.

In August last year it emerged that no charges would be brought against the priest.

Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor welcomed Fr Cahill back to ministry at St Malachy’s at this morning’s mass.

Bishop Treanor said the unfounded allegation had had a devastating impact but stressed the priest returned with his character unblemished.

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NEDERLAND
Trouw

English translation of title:
Bishops flew with ‘regret’ right off the road

Kerkleiders zijn er niet klaar voor om misbruikonheil het hoofd te bieden. Hun woorden zijn als een schild waar niets door komt.

Eigenlijk ging het in de eerste alinea al mis. De bisschopen openden hun brief over seksueel misbruik met de zinsnede ‘kwetsbaar en klein is God bij ons gekomen, zo klinkt het in de eerste prefatie van de Advent’. Ze spraken ook over Maria en Jozef, ‘bij wie Jezus veilig en geborgen is, ook tijdens de angstige en onzekere dagen in de kindertijd’. Zo vlogen de bisschoppen meteen helemaal uit de bocht.

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NEDERLAND
de Gelderlander

English translation of title:
The manager of the Cornerstone parish center in Elst will resign

ELST – Yvonne Vos, manager van parochiecentrum De Hoeksteen in Elst en voorzitter van de pastoraatsgroep, legt per 1 januari haar taken neer.

Vos nam afscheid tijdens de viering in de RK kerk te Elst waar een bisschoppelijke brief over het seksueel misbruik binnen de katholieke kerk werd voorgelezen. Haar besluit om functies neer te leggen, heeft daar niets mee te maken, benadrukt Vos in een interview, zaterdag in dagblad De Gelderlander.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Press Association

A priest wrongly accused of sexual abuse has returned to full ministry.

Father Sean Cahill voluntarily stood down from duties at St Malachy’s Church in Castlewellan after the claim was made against him in early 2010.

In August last year it emerged that no charges would be brought against the priest.

Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor welcomed Fr Cahill back to ministry at St Malachy’s at Sunday morning’s Mass.

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UTAH/TEXAS
UPI

SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 31 (UPI) — A follower of Warren Jeffs said the polygamous church leader ordered his followers not to have sex while he is in a Texas prison.

The member said he was excommunicated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for having sex with his wife, CNN reported. The man has asked that his name not be used.

Jeffs was sentenced to life plus 20 years in Texas for the aggravated sexual assault of two “spiritual wives,” one 12 and the other 15.

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UTAH
Fox 13

Ben Winslow, Reporter
Fox 13

HILDALE, Utah—
A deadline set by Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs for his members to reaffirm their commitment to the faith is prompting some people to walk away from the polygamous church on the Utah-Arizona border.

Other FLDS members are simply vanishing once they are re-committed to the faith, ex-members and observers told FOX 13.

Jeffs, who is imprisoned in Texas for child sex assault related to underage marriages, has ordered his followers to be questioned by FLDS leaders. They’ve had to fill out questionnaires, confess their sins and be re-baptized into the faith, only after church elders deem them worthy, ex-members said.

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MAINE
Maine Sunday Telegram

If ever there was a window into the state of the modern-day Roman Catholic Church, it’s my inbox.

Over the past few days, I’ve received three emails having to do with the faith in which I grew up back when daily Mass attracted a crowd, all five Sunday Masses were packed and a nun in full habit presided over every classroom.

“Just Hours to Go: Give Now to Hold Bishops Accountable in 2012,” implored bishopaccountability.org in its end-of-the-year appeal for a tax deductible donation. Fifty dollars, it promised, will help “obtain and post 250 pages of once-secret church abuse files and other crucial documents” for all the world to see.

“One More Day,” echoed Voice of the Faithful in its request for money to help work toward optional celibacy for priests, deaconships for women and eternal protection for children from sexual abuse by priests, to name but a few of their causes.

And then there was this from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine: “Media Campaign Welcomes Catholics Home.”

The first two messages, truth be told, have appeared regularly in the decade since revelations of child sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests scorched parishes from Maine to California and, more recently, around the world.

But the “Media Campaign Welcomes Catholics Home”? In these parts, as diocese communication director Sue Bernard noted in her news release, that’s a “first-time ever television event.”

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Greenville Online

By Ron Barnett
| Staff Writer

Bob Jones University will review its policies and procedures for dealing with allegations of sex abuse in order to make sure they “fully comply with the law and ensure a loving, scripturally based response,” according to a statement posted on the school’s website.

The review, which was called for by BJU President Stephen Jones, comes “as a result of recent national media reports of the mishandling of sexual abuse,” the statement says.

“When I — or any member of the BJU family — hears of sexual abuse, we grieve for the victim,” Jones said in the statement. “The scars of abuse are deep, long-lasting and life-altering, and our hearts ache for every individual who’s been abused by a predator.”

The school was drawn into controversy earlier this year when ABC’s 20/20 reported on a 1997 rape case that involved a 15-year-old girl and a male member of a Concord, N.H., church whose pastor was a member of BJU’s Cooperating Board of Trustees.

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MONTANA
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: December 31, 2011

BILLINGS, Mont. — A Northern Cheyenne woman has filed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings contending she was sexually abused as a young girl by a popular priest at the St. Labre Mission School in Ashland between 1955 and 1962.

The lawsuit seeking unspecified damages was filed Friday in Cascade County District Court in Great Falls. It also names as defendants the Order of Friars Minor, the Capuchin Order and the school.

Rev. Emmett Hoffmann is not named as a defendant but is identified as the reason for the lawsuit. The 85-year-old Hoffmann retired in 1993 and lives in Ashland.

Hoffman did not return a call Saturday from The Associated Press, and a message left at the retirement home where he lives was not returned. A message left at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings was also not returned.

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MONTANA
KTVQ

BILLINGS- A legal complaint was filed Friday in the Cascade County District Court in Great Falls by a Northern Cheyenne tribal member claiming she was abused as a young girl by a popular Catholic priest in the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.

The woman, who is choosing to remain anonymous, says Fr. Emmett Hoffmann sexually abused her from the mid-1950’s to the early 1960’s.

That information was sent out in a press release this weekend by the defendant’s attorney, Vito de la Cruz (of a Yakima, Washington law firm), and claims the abuse began as a form of discipline and evolved into penetration and eventually rape.

In the release from Vito de la Cruz, Hoffmann is described as a hero in the eyes of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe:

“…hailed by some as a priest who did good things for the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe. The subject of the book, The Renegade Priest, depicts Hoffmann’s success in converting tribal members to Catholicism. In 1961, Hoffmann (called “Father Emmett” by his faithful), was made an honorary Chief of the Northern Cheyenne Council of 44.”

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MONTANA
KXLH

Updated: Jan 1, 2012

A Northern Cheyenne tribal member alleges she was sexually abused more than 50 years ago by a well known priest while attending school in Southeastern Montana.

The victim, listed as Jane Doe to protect her identity, accuses Father Emmett Hoffmann of molesting and raping her over a period of time.

The complaint was filed Friday against St. Labre Mission School and the Roman Catholic Bishop Diocese of Great Falls – Billings, among other groups.

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.

En 1989 son ordenados en Ecóne, 34 nuevos sacerdotes, entre ellos:Ø Francois Castel (francés)  Ø José Ma. Mestre Roc (español)Ø Oliver Berteaux (francés)Ø Crain Bufe (zimbawe)Ø Coenraad Daniels (sudafricano)Ø Wolfgang Dickele (alemán)Ø Bruno Isenmann (alemán)Ø Burkhard Kaldenback (alemán)Ø Francois Knittel (francés)Ø Phillippe Lovey (suizo)Ø Robert Matheus (belga)Ø Markus Pfluger (suizo)Ø Jean-Luc Radier (francés)Ø Guillaume de Tanouarn (francés)Ø Klaus Wilhem (alemán)
En Winona, son ordenados los norteamericanos Paul Kimball, Timothy Pfeiffer, Paul Tague y John Young.
El 20 y 21 de mayo de 1989 tiene lugar la más grave crisis de la Fraternidad en Hispanoamérica: una salida masiva de Sacerdotes y seminaristas, la mayoría con un año o dos de estudios del Seminario argentino de La Reja. Catorceestudiantes mexicanos, entre ellos Manuel Odríz Ramírez, Salvador Velásquez Fuentes, Pedro Hugo Esquives, Luis Alberto Madrigal Madrigal, Florentino Panecatl, José Álvaro Reyes Cabrera (diácono), Urbano López, Edgard González y Jaime Siordia Portugal, así como el guatemalteco Luis Armando Argueta Rosal, y 10 sudamericanos, entre ellos el peruano Sixto Machaca Fernández (diácono), el colombiano Héctor Rodríguez y los argentinos Luis Alberto Jurado (diácono), Fernando Navarro, Julián Espina Leupold, Hugo Daniel y Juan José Squetino Schattenhofer, Carlos Augusto Ercoli, Diego Lima y Gerardo Granero, de un total de 45 seminaristas, junto con 6 sacerdotes, abandonan la Fraternidad argumentando relajamiento de la disciplina y criticando la posición ambigua de la Fraternidad respecto del reconocimiento de Juan Pablo II como legítimo Papa. 
Los seminaristas que se quedaron, eran los mexicanos Gustavo Quintanar Rivera (ordenado al año siguiente), Juan Carlos Luna Navarrete, Marcelo Cohetero Terán (quien saldría al poco tiempo y fuera ordenado por Mons. Marco Antonio Pivarunas en 1992), Bernardo Castillo, los argentinos José Ramón García Gallardo (ordenado en 1990), Fabián Ham, José María Espósito, Alejandro Contento, Alejandro Sosa, Marcelo Castro Cano, Juan José Turco, Claudio Formica, Ezequiel María Rubio, el venezolano Tomás Paz, el dominicano Porfirio Martínez, el chileno Pedro Salas, y los brasileños Pablo de Lima, José de Matos Barbosa (ordenado en 1994) y el Hno. Ángel.
Los sacerdotes que salieron eran: Andrés Morello, Antonio Félix Mathet, Alfredo Medina, Ricardo Ruiz Vallejo, José de Jesús Becerra Rodríguez y Rafael Lira Gutiérrez.
En realidad esta salida masiva fue el resultado de una grave crisis que se venía gestando desde hacía tiempo. El Superior de Distrito desde 1980 era el P. Jean-Michel Faure, bajo cuya dirección sucedieron hechos bastante confusos: 
a) el rector del seminario, el P. Andrés Morello, fue sustituido en 1988 por Mons. De Galarreta, y enviado al Priorato de Santiago en febrero de 1989. Otro profesor, el P. Sergio Ruiz, fue enviado a la ciudad de México.
b) en el Seminario no se enseñaba a los alumnos sobre la infiltración judeo-masónica dentro de la Iglesia Católica.
c) se aceptaron a algunos seminaristas mexicanos tales como Juan Carlos Luna Navarrete y Abraham Medina, que a los ojos del Rector del Seminario, el P. Andrés Morello, no tenían la “idoneidad” para el sacerdocio.
Ch) el papá del P. Faure era judío y en esas fechas murió y fue sepultado según el ritual judío.
d) promovió el ingreso como seminarista de Gustavo Zonana, judío y sobrino del Rabino de Mendoza.
e) promovía al P. Álvaro Calderón Robello y al P. Ernesto Cardozo para que fueran maestros en el Seminario, siendo ambos de origen judío (dos tíos de Calderón estaban casados con judías, y un tío suyo, hermano de su madre, recibió homenajes de un instituto científico israelí otorgados solamente a personas judías)
f) designó el judío húngaro Andrés Tothvaradjay de Asboth como director de la publicación oficial del Distrito, “Roma Eterna”.
g) hasta en tres ocasiones permitió la entrada de homosexuales como aspirantes al  Seminario, siendo el caso más escandaloso el de Carlos Urrutigoity.
h) mantenía relaciones con las familias judías brasileñas Rosen y Fleichman.
Desde 1988 el P. Sergio Ruiz se dio cuenta de esto y viajando sin permiso del P. Faure fue desde México a Ecóne a exponer la situación a Mons. Lefebvre, quien le pidió que le entregara un informe detallado al P. Schmidberger, Superior General de la Fraternidad. Así se hizo y el resultado fue que Schmidberger defendió a Faure y acusó a Ruiz de calumniador. Entonces el P. Ruiz viajó de nuevo sin permiso a Chile para contactar al P. Morello y juntos viajaron a Ecóne para volver a hablar con Mons. Lefebvre. Como éste no les hizo caso, ambos armaron expedientes completos con todas las pruebas y los mandaron a todos los superiores del Distrito. La respuesta fue que la Fraternidad expulsó formalmente al P. Sergio Ruiz. En el Seminario, el P. Schmidberger personalmente expulsó al seminarista Abraham Medina la mañana del domingo 20 de mayo, siendo éste el detonante para que 20 estudiantes más decidieran irse.
Algunos de ellos (Manuel Odríz Ramírez, Salvador Velásquez Fuentes) todos mexicanos, acuden con el antiguo Rector del Seminario, el P. Morello, y fundan el “Seminario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe”, en el poblado de El Bolsón, provincia de Río Negro, en  la patagonia Argentina, con una mística jesuítica, formando la Congregación denominada “Compañía de Jesús y de María”, adheridos a la tesis de “cassiciacum”. 
En 1996 Mons. Martínez ordena en Guadalajara a Manuel Odríz, Salvador Velásquez y a Luis Alberto Madrigal. Este último decide quedarse permanentemente con Monseñor, mientras los 2 primeros regresan a la Argentina con el P. Morello. El 16 de Junio del 2001 Mons. Martínez ordena en Guadalajara a Adán Martínez, Noel Ramírez y a Rigoberto Sánchez Mariscal. Ya antes había sido ordenado Pedro Hugo Esquives. El P. Odríz y el P. Velásquez llegan a Guadalajara a establecer una Misión. Con esto, en total había 7 sacerdotes y 5 seminaristas en la Congregación. El 21 de septiembre del 2002 Mons. Martínez ordena a Alfredo Contreras.
En México, cuatro sacerdotes de la Fraternidad (Alfredo Medina, José de Jesús Becerra Rodríguez, Rafael Lira Gutiérrez y Ricardo  Ruiz Vallejo) la abandonan. Los tres primeros pasan a ser sedevacantistas y el último de ellos ingresa al año siguiente  al “Instituto Cristo Rey Sumo Sacerdote”, haciéndose cargo de una capilla en Madrid. Los PP. Sergio Ruiz, Rafael Lira y José Álvaro Reyes fundan el 17 de Octubre de 1995 en Guadalajara la “Obra Mariana Carmelita”, congregación religiosa que sigue la Regla del Carmen, con el objetivo principal de orar por la conversión del pueblo judío y difundir el mensaje de Fátima.
En diciembre de 1989 son ordenados en La Reja:Ø Silviano Bernabé Uribe (mexicano)Ø Bernardo Terrera (argentino)Ø Porfirio Martínez (dominicano)Publicado por El Integrista Mejicano en 12:2619 comentarios: Enviar por correo electrónicoEscribe un blogCompartir con TwitterCompartir con FacebookCompartir en Pinterest

Breve historia de la Fraternidad Sacerdotal de San Pío X (Parte XXI)

Sin embargo, hasta la fecha, a pesar de contar con más de 130 sacerdotes y presencia en Alemania, Australia, Austria, Bélgica, Canadá, Estados Unidos, Francia, Inglaterra, Italia, Nigeria y Suiza, la Fraternidad Sacerdotal de San Pedro aún no tiene un obispo, y celebran Misas “indultadas” a condición de no hablar nada de la actual crisis de las estructuras humanas de la Iglesia, y siempre con el riesgo de que en cualquier momento los Obispos Diocesanos revoquen la autorización respectiva, además de que sus sacerdotes, para poder oficiar en el rito tradicional, deben también concelebrar el Novus Ordo con los Obispos Diocesanos.
El 6 de Julio de 1988 el P. Josef Bisig se reunió con Juan Pablo II e informó que su finalidad era “recuperar a aquellos tradicionalistas seguidores de Mons. Lefebvre que quieran permanecer fieles a la obediencia del Papa”. A finales de mes ya eran 20 los sacerdotes que se habían pasado a la Fraternidad de San Pedro (los segundos fueron: Phillippe Tournyol du Clos, Christian Lafargue, Albert Jacquemin, Jean-Marie Gervais, Christian Gouyaud  y Franz Prosinger). 
Para fines de 1988 ya eran 25 los sacerdotes que se habían pasado a la Fraternidad de San Pedro. Del año 2000 al 2006 el P. Arnaud Devillers, fue el Superior de la Fraternidad de San Pedro. Después fue relevado por el P. John Berg, formado en el Seminario de Alemania.
El 18 de agosto, el Abad Gerard Calvet (1927-2008, ordenado en 1956), del Monasterio Benedictino de Santa Magdalena ubicado en Le Barroux (http://www.barroux.org/), fundado entre 1978 y 1981, se separa de la Fraternidadllegando a un acuerdo con Roma “sin ninguna concesión doctrinal ni litúrgica”, según dijo entonces para justificarse. Tal acuerdo origina que 3 monjes, el P. Cipriano, el P. Laurencio Fleichman  y el novicio Thomas Haynos dejen el Monasterio y acudan con la Fraternidad de San Pío X. En 1991 abren un pequeño monasterio en Silver City, Nuevo México, llamado “Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe”.
El 27 de octubre de 1988 muere en un accidente de carretera en Francia el P. Dennis Marchal, de 32 años, ordenado en Ecóne en junio de 1983.
A fines de año son ordenados en La Reja los argentinos Pablo Arzuaga, Ernesto Olmedo, Manuel Joya Altamirano y el mexicano Gerardo Zendejas.
El 23 de Noviembre de ese año muere en Ecóne el monje benedictino Joseph Le Boulch, Director Espiritual del Seminario.Publicado por El Integrista Mejicano en 12:221 comentario: Enviar por correo electrónicoEscribe un blogCompartir con TwitterCompartir con FacebookCompartir en Pinterest

viernes, 11 de marzo de 2011

Breve historia de la Fraternidad Sacerdotal de San Pío X (Parte XX)

En 1988 abre el Seminario Australiano con 14 alumnos.
El 5 de Mayo de 1988 se firma el protocolo de acuerdo entre Mons. Lefebvre y el Card. Ratzinger. En tal acuerdo Roma aceptaba que la Fraternidad pudiese tener un obispo propio, pero sin plazo para decidir en cuanto a la fecha y elección del candidato. Además lo obligan a retractarse de sus “errores”. Mons. Lefebvre sospecha que la intención de Roma es esperar su fallecimiento (entonces Mons. Lefebvre contaba 83 años de edad), además de no designar a un Obispo que pudiera ordenar los sacerdotes salidos de los Seminarios de la Fraternidad y después obligarlos a celebrar el Novus Ordo Missae, por lo que al día siguiente Lefebvre rompe el protocolo firmado.
El 30 de Junio de 1988 Mons. Lefebvre asistido de Mons. Antonio de Castro-Mayer consagran Obispos a los sacerdotes Bernard Tissier de Mallerais (francés, de 43 años), Bernard Fellay (suizo, de 30 años), Richard Nelson  Williamson (inglés, de 48 años) y Alfonso Ruiz de Galarreta (español, de 31 años). Un día antes habían sido ordenados 16 nuevos sacerdotes:
Jean-Manuel Espi (francés), Peter Lemay (norteamericano), James Doran (norteamericano), Peter R. Scott (australiano), Christophe Héry (francés), Paul Morgan (inglés), Dominique Boulet (francés), Ugo Carandino (italiano)Francesco Paladino (italiano)Marc Gensbittel (francés)Shane Johnson (australiano)Daniel Joly (francés)Pascal Lorber (francés)Bernard Lorber (francés)Hervé Mercury (francés)Jean-Baptiste Quilliard (francés)Patrick Troadeck (francés)
En el seminario alemán son ordenados: Antonius Becker, Anselm Ettelt, Matian Grun y Karl Stehlin.
Ese mismo día Roma anuncia la excomunión de los 2 obispos consagrantes y de los 4 consagrados. En algunos medios se difunde también que quedan excomulgados los sacerdotes y los fieles.
El 2 de Julio Juan Pablo II emite el Motu Propio “Ecclesia Dei”, en el que condena las consagraciones y autoriza a los Obispos diocesanos para que permitan  a su vez a los fieles que lo soliciten la celebración de la Misa latina, “indultándolos” para tal fin.
Consecuencia de lo anterior, un grupo de 14 sacerdotes franceses, alemanes y austriacos de la Fraternidad, encabezados por el suizo P. Josef Bisig, que había sido rector del seminario alemán, y aproximadamente 20 seminaristas, salen de la Fraternidad de San Pío X y se acogen a Ecclesia Dei, publicando una “declaración de intención”, formando así la “Fraternidad Sacerdotal de San Pedro”, autorizada el 18 de Octubre por Juan Pablo II, sociedad que  gozaría de los “beneficios” del protocolo del 5 de Mayo.
Dichos sacerdotes eran:
Josef Bisig (superior, suizo, 36 años)Engelbert RecktenwaldPatrick du Fay de ChoisinetKaus GorgesGabriel Baumann (segundo asistente, suizo, 35 años)Denis Coiffet (primer asistente, francés)Martin LugmayerRaymund NollBernward DenekeDominic SchubertAlexander LeonhardPeter MikschThomas HauthDietmar Aust
Establecen un seminario en la localidad alemana de Wigratzbad, en Baviera, en Noviembre de 1988 con 31 estudiantes. En Junio del año 2000 abrirían otro seminario en Denton, Estados Unidos, con 50 alumnos.Publicado por El Integrista Mejicano en 16:43No hay comentarios: Enviar por correo electrónicoEscribe un blogCompartir con TwitterCompartir con FacebookCompartir en Pinterest

Breve historia de la Fraternidad Sacerdotal de San Pío X (Parte XIX)

Para 1987 la Fraternidad tiene 205 sacerdotes, trabajando en 23 países, y 263 seminaristas.
En Ecóne, el 25 de Enero de 1987, Mons. Lefebvre declara: “los principios que orientan y dirigen el espíritu del Papa y de los obispos no son ya los principios de la fe”.
El 9 de Mayo de 1987 se publica el libro “Lo destronaron”, de Mons. Lefebvre. 
A fines de Julio de 1987 el Seminario Americano se traslada de Ridgefield a Winona, Minnesotta. Para el curso de Octubre entran 19 nuevos estudiantes.
El 26 de Julio de 1987 fallece el primer sacerdote de la Fraternidad: el P. Stephen Abdoo en un accidente de carretera en Nueva Zelanda. Apenas había sido ordenado el año anterior en Ecóne.
Del 8 de Noviembre al 8 de Diciembre de 1987 el Card. Eduard Gagnon visita el Seminario de Ecóne, enviado por el Card. Ratzinger. En el libro de visitas, deja el siguiente mensaje: “La Virgen Inmaculada se digne escuchar nuestras oraciones fervorosas para que la obra de formación que se lleva a cabo maravillosamente en esta casa encuentre todo su resplandor para la vida de la Iglesia”. El 8 de diciembre asistió solemnemente a la Misa Pontifical que celebró Mons. Lefebvre, supuestamente suspendido desde hacía 11 años.Publicado por El Integrista Mejicano en 16:41No hay comentarios: Enviar por correo electrónicoEscribe un blogCompartir con TwitterCompartir con FacebookCompartir en Pinterest

Breve historia de la Fraternidad Sacerdotal de San Pío X (Parte XVIII)

En 1986 se funda la Casa de la Fraternidad en Gabón, abre el priorato de Wanganvi, Nueva Zelanda, y el de Martinica. 
Se abre el seminario menor en Flavigny, Francia, con 36 seminaristas.
En este año la Fraternidad sufre su tercer descalabro: un seminarista de nombre Carlo azuza a 9 estudiantes de Ecóne a abandonar el seminario. Al poco tiempo salen otros 8 más. El 15 de Octubre de 1986 el Card. Ratzinger funda en Roma un Seminario aparentemente tradicionalista con ellos denominado “Mater Ecclesiae” dirigido por el Card. Antonio Innocenti y al poco tiempo los obliga a aprender a celebrar únicamente el Novus Ordo Missae. A los 2 años este seminario estaba prácticamente vacío y tuvo que cerrar. Carlo escribió una carta en 1988 donde decía que las autoridades romanas los trataban “como parias, que les obligaron a quitarse la sotana, que nadie los recibía.”
Poco antes, el 22 de septiembre de 1985, el Monasterio Benedictino de San José de Clairval, ubicado en Flavigny, fundado en 1972 y dirigido por el Abad Agustín Joly, se separa de la Fraternidad y vuelve a la iglesia postconciliar, celebrando desde entonces el Novus Ordo. Como consecuencia de lo anterior, 2 monjes lo abandonan y se unen a la Fraternidad: Philippe Marcille y Bruno de Bligniéres. 
El 30 de Marzo, previendo la visita a la sinagoga de Roma y la reunión ecuménica de Asís, Mons. Lefebvre declara: “Pienso que los obispos y el Papa tienen la intención de honrar a Dios por un culto no católico en el cual ellos participan… que implica la profesión de una falsa religión y consiguientemente renegar de la fe católica”. Y termina diciendo: “es posible que estemos en la obligación de creer que este Papa no es Papa”.
En el verano de 1986 son ordenados en Ridgefield 3 nuevos sacerdotes: Charles J. Ward, James P. Haynos y Richard González, todos norteamericanos.
El 30 de Noviembre de 1986 son ordenados en La Reja 5 seminaristas argentinos: Ricardo Olmedo, Ernesto Cardozo, Rubén Horacio Gentili, Juan Carlos Iscara y Álvaro Calderón Robello; 4 seminaristas mexicanos: Enrique León Martínez, Arturo Vargas Meza, José de Jesús Becerra Rodríguez y Rafael Lira Gutiérrez, quienes habían ingresado a raíz de unos ejercicios que algunos sacerdotes de la Fraternidad(Jean-Michel Faure, Alfonso de Galarreta, Jean-Luc Lafitte y Regis Babinet) habían predicado en la Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara a fines de 1979 y durante 1980, así como dos brasileños seguidores de Mons. Castro-Mayer (entre ellos el Hno. Juan de la Cruz, argentino de nombre José Schoö).
En esa época  llegaron a ser 18 los seminaristas mexicanos en este Seminario, casi todos provenientes de la Ciudad de Guadalajara, y vinculados de cierta manera con la Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara.
El 2 de Diciembre de 1986, derivado de la visita de Juan Pablo II a la sinagoga de Roma y a la convocatoria para el Congreso de religiones en Asís, Mons. Lefebvre y Mons. De Castro-Mayer redactan una declaración en la que afirman que “las autoridades romanas vuelven la espalda a sus predecesores y rompen con la Iglesia Católica, poniéndose al servicio de los destructores de la cristiandad y del Reinado Universal de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo”.

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Algunos representantes religiosos han sido acusados de la comisión de varios delitos.

México.- La desaparición de una adolescente en el municipio de

Atizapán de Zaragoza, quien aparentemente, mantenía una relación

afectiva con un párroco de la colonia Las Alamedas, desató la polémica

sobre los curas que aprovechan su posición y carisma para cometer

actos impropios de su condición, como religiosos.

La Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de México (PGJEM)

informó que en este caso no existen elementos que indiquen la

comisión de un delito.

En conferencia de prensa, Alfredo Castillo Cervantes, procurador de la

entidad, indicó que el sacerdote no mantenía una relación amorosa con

la menor, sino de “amistad afectiva”.

Este caso levantó muchas interrogantes. Por su parte, Gustavo

Rodríguez Vega, Obispo de Nuevo Laredo, pidió no excusar de

responsabilidades al presbítero Gerardo Romero Hernández, pero que

tampoco se le dé un trato injusto por ser clérigo.

En cualquiera de los casos, ya sea que Romero Hernández, haya

brindado apoyo a la menor ante supuestos conflictos familiares o que

efectivamente entre ambos existía una relación afectiva o incluso

amorosa, este acto vuelve a poner en el ojo del huracán a la Iglesia,

pues se traen a colación casos probados de pederastia cometidos por

sacerdotes, y no sólo en México.

En el 2009, el Papa Benedicto XVI durante una visita a Londres,

Inglaterra ofreció perdón a las víctimas de abusos sexuales cometidos

por clérigos, e indicó “reconozco con vosotros la vergüenza y la

humillación que todos nosotros hemos sufrido a causa de estos

pecados”.

El Universal presenta 5 casos donde los sacerdotes protagonizaron

casos judiciales en la entidad mexiquense:

1. En abril de 2010, el sacerdote Jéronimo Chávez, de la diócesis de

Tlalnepantla, a quien se la acusó de abuso de menores renunció al

sacerdocio, pese a que fue declarado inocente en el juicio que se le

siguió.

En 1987, Chávez fue detenido y consignado al penal de Barrientos,

acusado del abusar sexualmente de un menor de ocho años; salió de

prisión mes y medio después, luego que los familiares de la víctima le

dieran el perdón.

2. En el 2006, la PGJEM, detuvo al sacerdote César Torres Martínez, de

42 años, quien confesó el asesinato de Verónica Andrade Salinas en la

parroquia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús ubicada en avenida Rancho

Grande, colonia Benito Juárez, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl.

Torres, admitió que sostuvo una relación amorosa con Andrade, de 22

años, quien llegó a la residencia parroquial para informarle que estaba

embarazada y pedirle dinero. Torres estranguló a la mujer y luego llevó

el cadáver hasta un baño. Allí, la decapitó y descuartizó con un cuchillo

de cocina. El padre de la víctima explicó que desde hacía más de siete

años tenían relación con el padre César cuando estaba a cargo de la

parroquia de su comunidad.

3. En 2004, el padre Alfonso Carmona, fue acusado de abuso sexual con

menores en el CERTEMAC (Centro de Rehabilitación para

Toxicómanos) en Metepec Estado de México, donde era director. Sin

embargo no hubo pruebas que le comprobaran el delito.

4. Zenón Corrales Cabrera, es un nicaragüense prófugo que en su país

fue acusado de violar a una joven en 1998. Fue trasladado a Texcoco,

Estado de México, donde la diócesis de ese municipio negó las

acusaciones en contra de Corrales Cabrera y aseguró que apoyababa al

nicaragüense, quien llegó a mediados del año 2000, para primero ser

vicario en la parroquia de Ojo de Agua, y de ahí pasó al templo de

Otumba.

5. El sacerdote Antonio Hernández fue acusado por presunto maltrato

y abuso de niños huérfanos en Metepec. Por su parte Iván Rovira,

obispo auxiliar, quien trabajó en Toluca, fue acusado de abuso sexual y

enviado a Matamoros, donde se le volvió a denunciar. Lo último que se

supo es que vivía “exiliado” en Brownsville, Texas, en Estados Unidos.

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Chilpancingo, Gro. La Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE) presentó al sacerdote Hermilo Gerardo Solís Jaimes, quien fue detenido la tarde del miércoles en el municipio de Xochixtlahuaca, en la Costa Chica de Guerrero, acusado de violar a una niña de siete años, y a cuando menos otras 10 menores de edad, ilícitos que habría iniciado en 2004.

De acuerdo con la PGJE, el clérigo fue trasladado el miércoles por la noche a las instalaciones de la dependencia, luego de que fue detenido poco después de las 6 de la tarde en la comunidad Xochixtlahuaca, cuando se hallaba a punto de oficiar una misa en la iglesia de María Guadalupe.

El presbítero, de 51 años de edad y originario de Acapulco, fue puesto a disposición de la Fiscalía de Delitos Sexuales de la PGJE, bajo la averiguación previa BRA/EDS/01/221/2004, acusado de haber violado a una niña de siete años, aunque trascendió que otras diez pequeñas habrían sido víctimas de abusos sexuales a manos del inculpado en el seminario ubicado en la comunidad Dos Caminos, municipio de Chilpancingo.

La PGJE asimismo mencionó que en febrero anterior el sacerdote Solís Jaimes viajó a los estados de Veracruz y Sonora, con la finalidad de ubicarse en alguna diócesis de esas entidades, pero tal plan no se concretó.

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The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office has recommended criminal charges be filed against Santa Rosa Bishop Daniel Walsh for failing to timely report evidence of sexual abuse by a Sonoma priest who has since fled the country.

“Based upon our investigation, the evidence indicates that this case is worthy of district attorney review,” Lt. Dave Edmonds said in a written statement released Friday. It is up to the Sonoma County district attorney’s office to decide whether it can prove Walsh broke the law and whether there is “sufficient evidence and circumstances to sustain a conviction,” Edmonds said.

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua could not be reached for comment.

If prosecutors decide to charge Walsh, the case would appear to mark the first time a U.S. Catholic Church official has faced criminal prosecution for failing to properly report sexual abuse.

It would also be the first case where a U.S. bishop was charged in the sexual abuse scandal that has marred the Catholic Church for more than a decade and seen priests from Massachusetts to California face criminal prosecution, a victims’ rights official said.

“The very root cause of this is because bishops aided and abetted or transferred priests they knew were molesters and perpetuated the abuse — somewhere that’s got to stop,” said Mary Grant, the Western regional director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “I hope that law enforcement, for the first time, (charges a bishop) because this is the root cause.”

Walsh and an attorney for the diocese could not be reached for comment. In a statement posted earlier on the Diocese of Santa Rosa Web site, the bishop apologized for not immediately reporting suspected abuse by the Rev. Francisco Xavier Ochoa, 68, but said that his delay was “an error in judgment” and not intended to allow Ochoa time to escape.

“The best way to renew the healing process and rebuild a spirit of understanding is to admit my own personal fault, and accept any consequences that may ensue,” Walsh wrote. “If I am found guilty for not taking immediate action, I will accept whatever punishment is imposed.”

State law requires clergy, teachers and others to report suspected child abuse to a law enforcement agency “immediately or as soon as is practicably possible” and then follow up with a written statement within 36 hours. Failure to do so is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.

Walsh, in a letter to his parish, said Ochoa admitted in an April 28 meeting that he’d sexually abused a boy in Sonoma County and confessed to two other incidents with boys in Napa County and Mexico years earlier. Two other church officials were present at the meeting, Walsh wrote.

The boy in the alleged Sonoma County incident was 12 years old at the time, and the boys in the other two alleged incidents were between the ages of 14 and 16 at the time, according to the district attorney’s office.

Walsh said in the letter that he consulted with the diocese’s attorney the next day, on Saturday, April 29, and a decision was made that the attorney would notify authorities after the weekend, on Monday, May 1 — three days after the initial meeting with Ochoa.

Authorities have said they believe Ochoa fled to Mexico in early May. He is being sought on a warrant alleging unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on 10 felonies — including lewd acts with a child, forcible sodomy and oral copulation — and a misdemeanor charge.

According to court documents, Ochoa acknowledged kissing the 12-year-old boy on the mouth and offering him $100 to do a striptease. Another alleged victim said Ochoa showed him gay pornographic videos, authorities have said.

Walsh has said he immediately placed Ochoa on administrative leave, removed him from all ministries and barred him from serving as a priest. The bishop has said he is “deeply sorry” for not immediately reporting Ochoa’s “reprehensible behavior” to authorities.

“I waited from an excess of caution,” Walsh wrote to parishioners. “In attempting to consult first with our diocesan attorney, I made a mistake. I failed to be guided by my own precepts for decisive action and for doing the right thing.”

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