ABUSE TRACKER

IRELAND
Spectator (United Kingdom)

Alex Massie

Thursday, 10th May 2012

Last night, I finally watched last week’s BBC This World documentary investigating the latest stage of the child abuse scandal that is destroying the Catholic Church in Ireland and, like Jenny McCartney, suspect it is time for Cardinal Sean Brady, Primate of All-Ireland, to resign his post. I don’t suppose Cardinal Brady is a bad man, nor should one suppose that his resignation would draw some manner f line under the whole, sorry, rotten, scandalous affair. But it would be more than just a gesture too. William Oddie, writing in the Catholic Herald, plainly would prefer Brady to remain in office but accepts he “almost certainly” must “bow before the storm”.

The BBC programme probably did, as Cardinal Brady complains, overstate the role he played in the Brendan Smyth affair back in the mid-1970s. Brady maintains he was a mere notary – that is, note-taker – when he heard evidence from 14 year old Brendan Boland that Smyth was abusing young boys. Boland even supplied the names and addresses of some of Smyth’s other victims. Despite this, none of the parents of any of the five children named by Boland were told of what was happening and Boland himself was asked to sign an oath agreeing that he would keep his testimony secret and speak about it only to “authorised priests”.

Brady submitted his reports and that was that. Smyth was, for a spell, subject to a “children’s ban” though this did not prevent him from abusing other children. In any case, the ban, ineffective though it had proved, was formally lifted in 1984. The man who made that decision was Bishop McKiernan of Kilmore who was also Father Brady’s Bishop at the time. No-one argues that Father Brady had, then or now, primary or even secondary responsibility for thwarting Smyth. Nevertheless he was, at the very least, an accessory to the failure to stop Smyth raping young boys.

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ONTARIO (CA)
Redlands Daily Facts

Doug Saunders, Staff Writersbsun.com

ONTARIO – The Rev. Alejandro Castillo, convicted of molesting a child at his parish and released early from jail on April 21, was back in custody Wednesday.

He was booked back into a San Bernardino County jail after violating his probation terms after his release from jail by attending a gathering in his honor where children were present, authorities said.

Castillo, who ministered at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Ontario and previously was in Rialto, was arrested Wednesday by probation authorities and was being held without bail. A May 14 court date has been set, a sheriff’s official said.

Prosecutors filed criminal charges against Castillo in connection with one alleged victim – a 12-year-old boy from Ontario who said he was abused in late 2008, according to court records.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

By SHARON OTTERMAN and RAY RIVERA

Published: May 9, 2012

The first shock came when Mordechai Jungreis learned that his mentally disabled teenage son was being molested in a Jewish ritual bathhouse in Brooklyn. The second came after Mr. Jungreis complained, and the man accused of the abuse was arrested.

Old friends started walking stonily past him and his family on the streets of Williamsburg. Their landlord kicked them out of their apartment. Anonymous messages filled their answering machine, cursing Mr. Jungreis for turning in a fellow Jew. And, he said, the mother of a child in a wheelchair confronted Mr. Jungreis’s mother-in-law, saying the same man had molested her son, and she “did not report this crime, so why did your son-in-law have to?”

By cooperating with the police, and speaking out about his son’s abuse, Mr. Jungreis, 38, found himself at the painful forefront of an issue roiling his insular Hasidic community. There have been glimmers of change as a small number of ultra-Orthodox Jews, taking on longstanding religious and cultural norms, have begun to report child sexual abuse accusations against members of their own communities. But those who come forward often encounter intense intimidation from their neighbors and from rabbinical authorities, aimed at pressuring them to drop their cases.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Religion

„Helmut Schüller tritt nicht beim Deutschen Katholikentag in Mannheim nächste Woche auf“ – diese Meldung sorgte gestern für Aufsehen. Dabei war der Sprecher der österreichischen Pfarrer-Initiative ohnehin nie eingeladen. Er wird aber sehr wohl nach Mannheim reisen und dort am Alternativprogramm zum Katholikentag teilnehmen.

„Von einem Einreiseverbot nach Mannheim ist keine Rede“, stellte Schüller gegenüber religion.ORF.at klar. „Ich fahre natürlich nach Mannheim.“ Ein Auftritt beim Deutschen Katholikentag war nie geplant, vielmehr soll Schüller beim zeitgleich stattfindenden Alternativprogramm zum Deutschen Katholikentag auftreten. Die Verwirrung über Schüllers Auftritt in Mannheim ist durch einen Artikel im deutschen Nachrichtenmagazin „Spiegel“ entstanden, wonach Schüller angeblich als „Gastredner“ beim Deutschen Katholikentag auftreten sollte.

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DEUTSCHLAND
netzwerkB

Nach dem Bekantwerden der “Missbrauchsfälle” im Canisius-Kolleg Berlin, am 28. Januar 2010 durch die Berliner Medien und der darauf folgenden Welle von Offenlegungen von sexualisierter Gewalt gegen Kinder in einer Vielzahl von Einrichtungen, versuchten die meisten Verantwortlichen in Politik, Kirche und anderen Institutionen so zu tun, als hätten sie davon nichts gewusst.

“Sexueller Missbrauch in der römisch-katholischen Kirche” wird seit Jahrzehnten verleugnet, verschwiegen und vertuscht. Und sexualisierte Gewalt in der Familie – und das macht fast 90% aller Betroffenen aus – wurde und wird fast gar nicht thematisiert.

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BRASIL
Die Presse (Osterreich)

Noch ist Brasilien mit ca. 136 Millionen Katholiken das stärkste Standbein von Papst Benedikt XVI. Allerdings hält eine starke Abwanderungswelle an – hin zu evangelikalen Pfingstkirchen und Erweckungssekten.

Religion ist das „Opium des Volkes“ und „Seufzer der bedrängten Kreatur“, hat schon Karl Marx geschrieben. Was er damals, 1844, nicht so genau beschrieben hat, ist, wie man mit Religion Geschäfte macht. Da hilft in Brasilien das private „Seminar für Theologie“ (Centro de Formação Ministerial, Cefom). Laien können hier in einem 90-Tage-Schnellkurs lernen, wie man erfolgreicher „Glaubensmanager“ wird, quasi Religionsstifter mit eigenem Tempel.

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OSTERREICH
Tirol

Die Diözese Innsbruck setzt Schritte gegen sexuelle Übergriffe auf Kinder. Ab sofort muss jeder, der mit Kindern und Jugendlichen zu tun hat, eine Verpflichtungserklärung unterschreiben.

Mehr als 4.600 Männer und Frauen arbeiten in der Kirche mit Kindern, darunter viele Ehrenamtliche z.B. in der Vorbereitung zur Firmung oder in der Jungschar, und viele Hauptamtliche z.B. in kirchlichen Schulen oder Kindergärten. Sie alle, auch Priester, Diakone und Ordensleute, müssen die Erklärung künftig unterzeichnen.

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IRLAND
Kipa (Schweiz)

Dublin, 9.5.12 (Kipa) Der katholischen Kirche in Irland droht womöglich eine neue Klage wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs. Einem Bericht der Tageszeitung “Irish Independent” (Mittwoch) zufolge leitete die Polizei eine Untersuchung über Anzeigen von 20 ehemaligen Schülern einer Schule der Herz-Jesu-Missionare in Cork an die Staatsanwaltschaft weiter. Dort wird nun entschieden, ob es zu einer Anklage kommt. Die Anzeigen beziehen sich auf Vorfälle in den 70er und 80er Jahren.

Drei Männer im Alter zwischen 60 und 70 Jahren wurden im Zusammenhang mit der polizeilichen Untersuchung vorübergehend verhaftet, jedoch ohne Anklage wieder freigelassen.

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UNITED KINGDOM
itv

A former Cumbrian vicar appeared at Carlisle magistrates court today charged with 15 sexual offences on boys under eighteen. 74 year old Ronald Johns is accused of abusing four youngsters during his time working in Cumbria between 1979 and 1991.

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AUSTRALIA
CathNews

Published: May 09, 2012

BY CHRISTINE HOGAN

During the recent Australian Catholic Media Congress, I had a conversation in three parts with another delegate. He obviously felt deeply about the stories which reflect negatively on the Church, which can make it harder for priests and religious to operate in their ministries. He shared something of that feeling with me.

The clerical sexual abuse scandal, and its coverage on CathNews, really affected him, and I hope I was sympathetic to his concerns. He wanted to hear the good news about the Church, and what the people who work for the Church, who fills its pews, and who sustain and are sustained by it, are doing.

I did my best to point out that those stories are featured on CathNews: the lives of devoted men and women religious and others celebrated in the Obituaries; ordinary people Living Catholic in their everyday lives… both of those sections can be found every week on CathNews Perspectives.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Alice Popovici on May. 09, 2012

The following letter was sent to the National Catholic Reporter by a former Sister of Mercy, and it is signed by 14 other women who were once members of religious communities. In a cover letter to Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, Helen Urbain-Majzler writes: “We would be grateful if you shared the contents of our letter with other member bishops.”

The “Open letter to the U.S. Catholic Bishops” letter reads:

The Vatican crackdown on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) sends this message for religious women and average Catholics: there is no room for dissent; no opportunity for differing perspectives; no way to engage in dialogue about traditional, often narrowly-held, Catholic views. In a word, women religious leaders need to keep their ideas to themselves and simply follow the dictates and directions of Rome. Anything less than this position will be met with censure, public embarrassment, heavy-handedness, and even potential expulsion.

The LCWR leadership may have expressed surprise and confusion at the report from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) but, frankly, women like us were not surprised. All of us (now former members) have lived many years in religious communities and have witnessed cruel and punitive treatment of women religious who have taken courageous public stands to defend the poor, medically vulnerable, and the targeted victims of society, including homosexuals. As you know and may not fully appreciate, religious communities of women have been the central providers of charitable services, including hospitals, schools and parish ministries, and have been in the forefront of social justice causes including efforts at world peace and an end to oppression in all its many forms. For these selfless and tireless efforts, their faith and integrity is called into question.

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UNITED STATES
Tucson Citizen

by Don Lacey on May. 10, 2012

A friend of mine recounted a recent visit he had to a mega church he attended while visiting relatives. The congregation seemed to be rather financially well off and many of them were paying the church 10% of their income. Also the church was selling books, DVDs, CDs and an item he described as 25 dollar charm bracelet. The attendees enjoyed the emotion heavy sermons and the sappy praise music. Guilt and forgiveness was sold in a soft rock concert atmosphere and a great deal of money was wrested from the congregation.

These churches are multi-million dollar enterprises. The people who preach in them and run them live rather plush lives and tax free. The term McChurch has been coined to describe these sort of broad based, hyper-commercial consumerist enterprises. Realistically, they operate primarily as entertainment businesses. Churches are tax exempt and are not subject to the same disclosure requirements as non-religious charities. This allows the mega churches to rake in millions of tax free dollars with little oversight. In 2007, the Iowa Senate investigated whether Mega-churches were abusing their tax exempt status. The report exposed that their leaders were living in multi-million dollar homes, traveled around in Rolls Royce cars and private jets. They took lavish vacations in the Hawaii and Fiji. It is clear that these mega-churches are big business. They are not charities and we should consider revoking their tax exempt status. We should be reconsidering the tax exemptions, and lack of disclosure requirements for churches in general. This is especially true of those that endorse or oppose political candidates, parties, or legislation.

Mega-churches create profits for Christianity. They enjoy an insular ready-made captive audience for any charismatic performer willing to spout a Christian message. Mega-churches that preach the prosperity gospel have greatly enriched themselves by making the rich feel righteous about their wealth. How much of this is just cynical, manipulate showmanship? We know that Ted Haggarg and Jimmy Swaggart didn’t live up to the ideals they preached. Additionally, Mega-church leaders Eddie Long and Earl Paulk have also found themselves in scandals involving sexual abuse and adultery. Many of these rock star ministers live like rock-stars complete with the scandals involving sexual abuse, drugs, and prostitutes. When you get on stage each week and preach the evils of homosexuality, you had better not get caught in the midst of a meth binge with a gay prostitute. What hypocrisy! Amazingly, it is not always a career ender for the mega-church preacher.

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AUMSVILLE (OR)
Statesman-Journal

Aumsville police arrested a man Wednesday on 15 counts of encouraging child sexual abuse and invasion of privacy after an investigation of a video camera found in a church bathroom stall.

Police Lt. Richard Schmitz said Christopher Fowler, 32, was held in the Marion County jail without bail pending an arraignment.

The investigation began in December after a video camera was found in a women’s bathroom stall at Bethel Baptist Church in Aumsville, Schmitz said in a news release. Fowler was employed as a youth leader and janitor at the time.

During the investigation, computers were seized that belonged to Fowler, Schmitz said.

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EXETER (CA)
The Foothills Sun-Gazette

By Reggie Ellis Updated: Wednesday, May 9, 2012

One of Exeter’s most prominent pastors and spiritual leaders was arrested Monday on suspicion of multiple counts of sexually abusing a young girl.

Alton “Gene” Dorrough, 62, was arrested by Tulare County Sheriff’s detectives after a female juvenile reported he had been sexually abusing her for several years, according to a news release issued by the Sheriff’s Department. Dorrough was booked on one charge of engaging in three or more acts of substantial sexual conduct with a child residing in the same home, four charges of oral copulation with a minor, two charges of forcible sex with a child under 14 and two charges of forcible sex with a child over 14. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of between 10 and 16 years in prison.

Dorrough is being held on $1.05 million bail at the Tulare County Main Jail. As of press time, no charges had been filed by the District Attorney’s Office.

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FLORIDA
Sun-Sentinel

By Ludmilla Lelis, Orlando Sentinel

TAVARES — More than six years after a 13-year-old boy was sexually abused by a Baptist preacher, a jury this week is hearing a case to determine whether the Florida Baptist Convention is liable for failing to find out about past allegations of sexual abuse against the minister.

The Eustis boy and his mother are asking jurors to find the statewide Baptist group — comprising nearly 3,000 congregations and 1 million members in Florida — negligent for not thoroughly researching Douglas W. Myers, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence for molestation.

Though he had no prior criminal charges, Myers faced allegations of abuse at churches in Maryland and Alabama, according to court testimony. Officials with the Baptist organization said the convention didn’t “hire” Myers to be a minister and that a background check turned up nothing.

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KANSAS CITY (KS)
The Kansas City Star

By MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star

A Kansas City, Kan., man has accused a Johnson County priest of “inappropriately touching him” on a youth outing 30 years ago, according to the local Catholic archdiocese.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas is investigating and has appointed an auditor with law enforcement experience to investigate the allegation, according to a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann informed the priest of the allegation and temporarily relieved him of his ministerial responsibilities while the investigation proceeds, the statement said.

The accuser, now 45, alleged that the misconduct took place on a 1982 youth outing. And though the priest acknowledged the time, location and circumstance, he denied engaging in any sexual misconduct.

According to the archdiocese, the priest has served most recently as an associate pastor at a northeast Johnson County parish. Ordained in the 1970s, he also has served at parishes in Kansas City, Kan., and in Shawnee.

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CANADA
Cloverdale Reporter

By Kevin Diakiw – Surrey North Delta Leader

A Surrey man described in court as one of the most prolific sex offenders in Canada faces seven more charges of sexually assaulting young people.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have charged former Anglican priest and scout leader Ralph Rowe with five new counts of sexual assault and two counts of indecent assault.

The charges, laid on April 22 by the OPP North West Region Crime Unit in Thunder Bay, relate to incidents that allegedly occurred in northwestern Ontario between 1973 and 1986 in the First Nations communities of Fort Severn, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Wunnumin Lake and Kingfisher Lake.

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MISSOURI
St. Joseph Post

Prosecutors are asking to add a second misdemeanor charge against Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City – St Joseph.

Prosecutors at the Jackson County Prosecutors office announced this week that the office had filed a motion to a charge of failure to report suspicious child abuse.

The bishop and diocese already face one count of that charge over the way they managed the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who is facing child pornography charges.

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MINNESOTA
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: Joseph Wajda was accused of the sexual abuse of at least three boys, ages 12-16. One of the boys is said to have gone to him for counseling regarding his sexuality, and another allegedly went to him for support after his grandmother died. Two of Wajda’s accusers said the incidents occurred in the early 1970s, and a third said Wajda abused him in 1986. Wajda denied the accusations. Wajda was taken out of parish ministry and served on the archdiocesan Tribunal from 1991-2002. He was the Tribunal’s Judicial Vicar from 1997-2002.

Ordained: 1973
Incardinated: St. Paul and Minneapolis

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia file on the Rev. James J. Brennan had dozens of documents bluntly detailing what the archbishop, nuns, pastors and even Brennan himself thought of his strengths, flaws and potential.

Missing from those same records were words like sex abuse, molestation, and accusation, a detective acknowledged Wednesday.

“Those words are not used, no,” said James Dougherty, an investigator for the District Attorney’s Office, told jurors at the landmark trial for Brennan and Msgr. William J. Lynn.

Brennan’s lawyer, Richard J. Fuschino, used that omission to underscore a theme of his defense: that no one reported any evidence of misconduct before or after prosecutors say the priest tried to rape a 14-year-old boy in 1996. And that, despite widespread publicity about that allegation, no other accusers have come forward, bucking a pattern prosecutors have suggested is common among sexually abusive priests.

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CALIFORNIA
The Press-Enterprise

BY DAVID OLSON The Press Enterprise STAFF WRITER
dolson@pe.com
Published: 09 May 2012

An Ontario priest recently released from jail after serving time for child molestation was arrested Wednesday morning, May 9, for allegedly violating his probation.

The Rev. Alejandro “Alex” Jose Castillo was taken into custody at 11:35 a.m. at his Ontario home by officers with the San Bernardino County Probation Department, department spokesman Chris Condon said.

Castillo, 59, had been released April 21 after serving nearly eight months in West Valley Detention Center for molesting a 12-year-old boy from his Ontario parish.

Condon declined to say what the alleged probation violation was.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on May 09, 2012

Amid nearly complete and callous – silence by Catholic officials in Missouri, Tennessee and Florida, Bishop Anthony O’Connell passed away last Friday. http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/boconnell.html

Ten years ago last month, O’Connell became the first Catholic prelate to admit molesting a boy after the US clergy sex abuse and cover up scandal began attracting national attention.

(Back in 1998, Palm Beach Bishop J. Keith Symons admitting molesting boys. Ironically, in January of 1999, O’Connell was promoted to be Palm Beach’s bishop. It’s the only known instance in which one child molesting bishop replaced another.)

BishopAccountability.org

In April 2002, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch broke the story of St. Louisan Chris Dixon’s settlement with the Jefferson City diocese, which stemmed from the abuse he suffered at the hands of O’Connell and two other priests Fr. John Fischer and Fr. Manus Daly. All three were on the staff of St. Thomas seminary in Hannibal, which O’Connell headed for years, where the crimes took place.

From Missouri, O’Connell went on to become bishop in Knoxville Tennessee and bishop of Palm Beach. He’s been living at a monastery in South Carolina for several years.

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MONCKS CORNER (SC)
Catholic News Service

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (CNS) — Bishop Anthony J. O’Connell, whose admission of inappropriate conduct with high school seminarians decades ago led to his resignation as head of the Diocese of Palm Beach, Fla., in 2002, died May 4 at Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner. The Irish-born bishop had lived under supervision at the abbey since his resignation. His funeral Mass was May 7, also at the abbey. Bishop O’Connell died after a long illness, less than a week before his 74th birthday. A priest of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Mo., he had been bishop of Knoxville, Tenn., before being named Palm Beach bishop in 1998. At the time of his resignation, he publicly acknowledged inappropriate conduct with minors while he was at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, the Jefferson City diocesan high school seminary in Hannibal. He was spiritual director there in 1968-70 and rector from 1970 to 1988. “It always hung over me,” he said at the March 8, 2002, news conference announcing his resignation. “I don’t think I have ever preached without being conscious (of it). I certainly have been powerfully motivated in my preaching.” The Jefferson City Diocese paid $125,000 in a settlement to a former seminarian in 1996. Two other ex-seminarians received out-of-court settlements in cases involving Bishop O’Connell in 2004.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BY DEB PETERSON • dpeterson@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8276

IN PASSING: Bishop Anthony J. O’Connell, a former rector of the shuttered St. Thomas Aquinas Preparatory Seminary in Hannibal, Mo., and self-confessed sexual abuser, died Friday.

Catholic News Service reported on the website’s daily news briefs site yesterday that O’Connell died at Mapkin Abbey, in Moncks Corner, S. C., after a long illness. He would have been 74 tomorrow.

A Funeral Mass was said for him on Monday at the Abbey.

O’Connell was a native of Ireland who emigrated to the U.S. when he was 20 and entered Kenrick Seminary here. He resigned as the Bishop of Palm Beach, Fla., in 2002, a day after he admitted in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he had sexually abused a teenage seminary student at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Hannibal, Mo., in the 1970’s.

O’Connell was the first prelate to resign after the church’s child sex abuse scandal made national headlines in 2002. The Jefferson City Diocese gave Christopher Dixon, the student who accused O’Connell of abusing him for three years, $125,000. In the secret settlement, Dixon had to promise that he would not pursue further claims against the diocese, O’Connell and two other priests he accused of abuse. The diocese did not admit to Dixon’s allegations in the settlement.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Derry Journal

By Catherine McGinty
Published on Tuesday 8 May 2012

Inishowen TD Padraig MacLochlainn has robustly defended party colleague Martin McGuinness after criticism of the Deputy First Minister by Bishop Donal McKeown.

The Auxiliary Bishop of Down and Connor accused Irish politicians of displaying ‘a lack of statesmanship’ regarding Cardinal Sean Brady.

Martin McGuinness said the Vatican should ‘move out of denial mode’ on child sexual abuse. He also called on Cardinal Brady ‘to do the right thing’.

Bishop Donal McKeown said: “It is hard to take criticism of Cardinal Brady from many people who during the Troubles were involved in state bodies, paramilitary bodies or who shared platforms with those organisations, who did huge damage to children and their families.

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AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

10 May, 2012

One of the men who was allegedly abused by a Hunter priest told a Sydney District Court jury in great detail how one-on-one wrestling matches turned into regular sexual assaults when he was a young boy.

He told the court the assaults allegedly happened several times, but he didn’t tell anyone at the time because his mother “thought the world” of the priest.

The alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave evidence yesterday, revealing how the priest, who was at least 10 years older than him, would start wrestling with him, pin him to the ground by straddling him face-down and would rub himself inappropriately on the 12-year-old boy.

It is understood wrestling was a popular hobby among young boys during this time.

The pair would usually chat first before the wrestling started and it would take place at the church grounds or often at a “deserted” park on Sunday afternoons, the court heard.

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ITALIA
Blitz Quotidiano

CREMONA, 8 MAG – Non e’ una sentenza di condanna, ma nelle sei pagine dell’ordinanza con cui il giudice per le indagini preliminari del tribunale di Savona, Fiorenza Giorgi, ha disposto l’archiviazione del procedimento per concorso in atti sessuali su minori, perche’ il reato e’ prescritto, emerge che il vescovo Dante Lafranconi, dal 2001 a Cremona, nei dieci anni in cui ha retto la diocesi di Savona, avrebbe ‘coperto’, pur essendone a conoscenza, le tendenze pedofile di almeno due sacerdoti della sua stessa diocesi.

Quindi non avrebbe impedito atti che avrebbe avuto il dovere di impedire, come e’ scritto nel capo di imputazione formulato dal procuratore della Repubblica, Francantonio Granero, e dal sostituto Giovanni Battista Ferro, che al gip avevano chiesto l’archiviazione, essendo appunto i reati prescritti per il decorso del tempo. ”Non avendo ancora avuto ufficialmente notizia dell’ ordinanza e quindi non conoscendone l’effettivo contenuto, per il momento mi riservo qualsiasi considerazione”, ha detto oggi l’avvocato Michele Tolomini, difensore del vescovo Lafranconi.

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CALIFORNIA
Daily Bulletin

By Melissa Pinion-Whitt, The (San Bernardino County) Sunsbsun.com
Created: 05/09/2012

An Ontario priest convicted of molesting a 12-year-old boy has been released from jail after serving eight months of a one-year sentence.

The Rev. Alejandro Castillo, 58, was released April 21 from Central Detention Center in San Bernardino, said San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller.

He had been sentenced in August to a year in jail.

Castillo was pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Ontario until mid-2010, after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
San Antonio Express-News

MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press

Updated 12:36 p.m., Wednesday, May 9, 2012

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Defense lawyers for an accused predator-priest are challenging evidence that their client once said he had been sexually abused as a boy.

The exchange involves the Rev. James Brennan, who’s charged with sexually assaulting a teenager in 1996.

Philadelphia Archdiocese records show that Brennan requested a leave that year to deal with childhood sexual abuse.

But Brennan later denied telling Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua (beh-vih-LAH’-kwah) or Monsignor William Lynn that he had been abused by four young men.

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IRELAND
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)

This is no ‘witch hunt’: Cardinal Brady has lost his moral authority over the paedophile priest cases

Jenny McCartney

My column calling for Cardinal Sean Brady to resign from his post as Primate of All Ireland has prompted a great deal of discussion, in particular from the distinguished commentator William Oddie in this week’s Catholic Herald, in which he suggests that my words exemplify a mood that “may well be nearer to the phenomenon we call today a ‘witch hunt’ than to a common understanding based on an equitable understanding of the reality of the situation.”

Since my comprehension of a “witch hunt” is that it is a highly public effort to uncover wrongdoing, but one based on flimsy or negligible evidence, I would argue the opposite: in fact, my view is founded in the facts of the case surrounding the late Fr Brendan Smyth, the notorious paedophile priest, and in what Cardinal Brady has said and argued about it since.

I will not restate the detail of the then Fr Brady’s involvement in the Smyth case, which I set out in the original column. But Mr Oddie – feeling that the Cardinal had been unjustly maligned – asked if anyone had bothered to read the full text of his response to the BBC Two This World programme. I had of course read it closely, and it was this text which disturbed me. It referred to the question of who in the Church at the time had the “authority” to stop Brendan Smyth in his rampant abuse of children – children whose horrifying evidence, incidentally, the 36-year-old Fr Brady fully believed.

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IRELAND
Offaly Express

Published on Wednesday 9 May 2012

ARCHBISHOP Diarmuid Martin’s call for an independent international commission of inquiry into the crimes of the paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth is to be welcomed.

Even in a country jaded by commissions, this is one that is needed. Such a body would be free to address in a comprehensive manner the heinous crimes committed by this man, and the consequent issues the Catholic Church has to face in its handling of the whole abuse scandal.

One of the principal questions that has to be addressed is why this man was allowed to continue in this role for years, a role which afforded him the opportunity to be in the company of children.

At this stage only an outside body will be able to get an answer on this, and determine the truth.

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IRELAND
Herald

Wednesday May 09 2012

SO, Sean Brady is finally sorry.

That’s all very well, but what I want to hear is a resignation, not an apology.

But, despite widespread unease, disgust and anger at the way he handled complaints of abuse against paedophile Brendan Smyth, Cardinal Brady remains in situ.

The cleric clearly has no intention of throwing in the towel and going quietly into retirement — as anyone with half an ounce of common sense would do.

In fact, Brady’s only response to the tidal wave of calls for his resignation has been a belated, anodyne apology to Brendan Boland, one of the victims of the notorious serial paedophile Smyth.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic-Hierarchy

Deceased
Bishop Emeritus of Palm Beach, Florida

Events
Date Age Event Title
10 May 1938 Born Lisheen, Ireland
30 Mar 1963 24.9 Ordained Priest Priest of Jefferson City, Missouri, USA
27 May 1988 50.0 Appointed Bishop of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
8 Sep 1988 50.3 Ordained Bishop Bishop of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
12 Nov 1998 60.5 Appointed Bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, USA
14 Jan 1999 60.7 Installed Bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, USA
13 Mar 2002 63.8 Resigned Bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, USA
4 May 2012 74.0 Died Bishop Emeritus of Palm Beach, Florida, USA

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NEDERLAND

Introductie

Iedere morgen zat broeder Alphonsus tijdens de mis, de eucharastie viering, broeders te tellen. Waren ze er nog allemaal? Was weer een broeder overgeplaatst? Niemand sprak erover maar het moge duidelijk zijn, vaak was een broeder plotseling verdwenen. Rond 1960 woonden en werkten ruim twintig Franciscaner broeders op internaat St. Maria ter Engelen klooster te Bleijerheide. Meer dan zeventig jongens bevolkten de bedden en schoolbankjes van de vijfde, zesde en voorbereidende klas, de lagere school met broeder Servatius als prefect. Onder zijn leiding hebben we veel gedoucht, blote jongens waren we!

De M.U.L.O telde nog meer leerlingen, flinke knapen die bij elkaar hingen op het schoolplein en waar de jongens van de lagere school niet bij mochten staan. Taalerupties over geslachtsdelen met pikante verwijzingen waren taboe voor de kleintjes. Communicatie liep geheel volgens andere wegen, daardoor leerde je te observeren. Het hoofd van de MULO was een streng heerschap, broeder Leonardus. Zijn loopstijl was uniek, als hij over het plein draafde kreeg je het gevoel dat een chique razia zou plaatsvinden. Zijn autoriteit kende geen tegenspraak. Er waren veel kleurrijke broeders op internaat zoals Bulletje de ziekenbroeder, alias de portier. Bijna ieder jongetje wist dat hij ieder schaafwondje van boven tot beneden observeerde en onderzocht. Je moest altijd terugkomen ter controle, het genezingsproces moest in de gaten worden gehouden…ach kom laten we ter zake komen….jaren later.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

May 9, 2012 by Susan Matthews

“Honesty, Healing and Hope in Christ: Confronting Sexual Violence in Our Archdiocese,” is a long overdue archdiocesan outreach to the parish level. It could very well help some Catholics begin to heal and give them hope. My fear is those healing wounds will be ripped open and hope shattered by yet another grand jury report. Pardon my cynicism. I really believed all the right things would be done after the 2005 grand jury report. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

For this to be a success on any level, the hierarchy has to get on board with the honesty portion. When asked why it took a second grand jury report to get action, Archbishop Chaput said he wasn’t here, so he won’t comment. Really? The past is the best predictor of the future. How can we possibly change the future without an honest analysis? I suppose that will be left to the civil authorities rather than our moral authority. With two grand jury reports, internal communications and an ongoing trial, there is plenty of reference material. I hope the binder sent to each parish, includes that information.

When I asked Archbishop Chaput how he personally would work to restore our hope in the institutional Church, he said he didn’t know. That very honest answer strikes at the core of the problem. The solution needs to come from the top down. Pope Benedict requested that all Bishops craft their recommendations regarding clergy sex abuse. The deadline is this Spring. I would love to read what Bishop Finn compiled. Perhaps it’s time to step outside that collapsing box and look to what Amnesty International, our civil authorities and others who specialize in human rights and justice have recommended. It’s time for the Vatican to act decisively on this global issue.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Mid-Ulster Mail

A CATHOLIC priest from Magherafelt has said many priests feel demoralised by clerical child abuse.

Father Eamon Murray, who is now based at St Peter’s Church, Biggleswade, said Cardinal Sean Brady would have to do “a lot of soul searching”.

Fr Murray was speaking on the Nolan Show following allegations that Cardinal Brady had names and addresses of children abused by Father Brendan Smyth back in 1975.

Smyth, a paedophile, continued to attack children for further 13 years.

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NEDERLAND
Limburgs Dagblad

Heerlen
ANP

Dat blijkt uit het dinsdag opgestelde proces-verbaal van aangifte, in het bezit van het ANP.

Ook deed de in België wonende 52-jarige man aangifte wegens het vernietigen van de archieven van het internaat en bisdom Roermond, waardoor hij niets meer terug kan vinden over zijn tijd in Bleijerheide. Verder deed hij aangifte tegen aartsbisschop Wim Eijk wegens nalatigheid in de aanpak van nog levende vermeende daders.

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UNITED STATES
ABC News

[with video]

By ALAN B. GOLDBERG, GAIL DEUTSCH, SUSAN JAMES and SEAN DOOLEY

April 8, 2011

For years, her church was all she knew but today, Tina Anderson has left that church and says she’s not going back.

“I still struggle, because I’ve been made to feel guilty for so long,” she told “20/20.”

Anderson was only 16 when she said she was forced to stand terrified before her entire church congregation to confess her “sin” — she had become pregnant. She says she wasn’t allowed to tell the group that the pregnancy was the result of being allegedly raped by a fellow congregant, a man twice her age.

She says her New Hampshire pastor, Chuck Phelps, told her she was lucky not to have been born during Old Testament times when she would have been stoned to death.

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NEDERLAND
hbvl

Een oud-leerling van RK jongensinternaat Bleijerheide in het Nederlands-Limburgse Kerkrade heeft dinsdag bij de politie in Heerlen aangifte gedaan van seksueel misbruik en mishandeling door 11 broeders van het internaat.

Drie van de broeders leven nog, onder wie de huidige Maastrichtse pastoor Jan S. Eerder deed de in België wonende 52-jarige Nederlander samen met twee medescholieren van toen aangifte bij de Nederlandse Klachtencommissie voor seksueel misbruik.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Concerns have been expressed in the report that is to be discussed with the Holy See, over the reorganisation of the body that monitors Vatican finances and the political influence of the Secretariat of State

ANDREA TORNIELLI
Vatican City

The draft report containing Moneyval assessors’ initial observations arrived in the Vatican a couple of days ago but remains top secret. Moneyval is the committee of Council of Europe experts whose task it is to assess measures taken against money laundering and terrorism financing. The assessors were called to evaluate the progress made by the Holy See in getting in line with international regulations. The draft of the report which Moneyval still needs to discuss with Vatican authorities, recognised the areas where progress has indeed been made, but also pointed out some issues that still need to be resolved, including the reorganisation of the role and tasks of the AIF, the domestic financial monitoring authority, which came about when the new transparency law – promulgated last January – came into force. It looks like the Vatican still has a long way to go until it can be added to the “white list” of financially virtuous countries and complete all steps towards the transparency called for by Benedict XVI.

As previously stated, Moneyval’s report is still just a draft: the appraisals of individual assessors have not yet been discussed to provide a jointly agreed set of points. A meeting is due to take place in Strasbourg between 14 and 16 May 2012, to clarify everything. Here, the Vatican delegation will make observations and offer clarifications. There is no doubt whatsoever, however, that the draft’s passages, which define the reorganisation of the AIF and the emphasis on the role and influence of the Secretariat of State as steps backwards, will spark controversy in the Holy See.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

John Spain

Last week the political parties here began their campaigns for the referendum on the European Fiscal Compact, probably the most important vote this generation of Irish people will cast.

Depending on how you see it, the outcome could make or break the Irish economy for decades to come.

It’s not only a very important matter but a highly complex one. It deserves all our attention for the next few weeks as we decide whether to vote yes or no.

It should have been dominating the headlines here last week, but it failed to do so. Instead it was pushed to the margins as sex abuse by priests yet again took over the news agenda.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

In the mid and late 1960s, Father James Patrick Jennings was listed as a priest at St Vincent’s College — a Catholic boarding school for boys in Bendigo, 150 kilometres north of Melbourne. Father Jennings was then a member of the Vincentian religious order (this order is also called the Congregation of the Mission).

More than 40 years later, in May 2012, Jennings was charged in the Bendigo Magistrates Court with a series of child-sex offences, allegedly committed against boys at the school in the 1960s.

James Jennings, aged 79 when charged in court, faces multiple charges of gross indecency and indecent assault on a male child aged under 16. The charges relate to three complainants, all students at this Bendigo school in the 1960s.

Magistrate Jennifer Tregent heard evidence concerning the three complainants.

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IRELAND
Galway Advertiser

Posted on 09/05/2012

by Marie Madden
@galwayindo

The standards of journalism displayed in the making of RTE’s ‘Mission to Prey’ documentary were “shambolic”.

That’s according to solicitor Robert Dore, who made the statement to the Galway Independent on behalf of Ahascragh priest Fr Kevin Reynolds.

The ‘Prime Time Investigates’ programme had levelled libellous and untrue allegations against Fr Reynolds, namely that he had raped a minor and fathered her child during his time as a missionary in Kenya 30 years ago.

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IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By Gail Walker
Wednesday, 9 May 2012

Why doesn’t he just go? Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Martin McGuinness and, crucially, the people want Cardinal Sean Brady to resign. But His Eminence hangs on. Desperately. Counting angels on the top of the pin. A mere humble note taker, he says he did nothing wrong during the investigation into paedophile priest Father Brendan Smyth.

Actually, he did absolutely nothing (apart from forcing Smyth’s victims to keep their testimony silent, of course) and consequently many children were raped, abused and forced to endure the anguish of the damned. The investigating panel must have known this was a possible outcome, but instead it seems the policy was to let Smyth go on his merry way and hope for the best.

Did they inform the police about the alleged abuse? No. Did they inform parents of the victims? No.

Did they warn the congregations of parishes that Smyth was shipped to that a child rapist was in their midst? No.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mid Sussex Times

Published on Wednesday 9 May 2012

A former priest at St Johns Church, Burgess Hill faces charges of indecent assault against children alleged to have happened up to 25 years ago.

Child protection detectives in West Sussex have charged retired Church of England priest Keith Wilkie Denford, 77, now of Broad Reach Mews, Shoreham, West Sussex.

He and Michael Mytton, 68, of South Road, East Chiltington, near Plumpton Green, East Sussex will appear on bail at Mid-Sussex Magistrates court on May 22.

Denford has been charged with three indecent assaults on a boy then under 16, two in or near Shoreham, and one in or near Cuckfield on dates between June 1987 and January1990, and has also been charged with one indecent assault on another boy then aged under 16 in or near Cuckfield on dates between January 1987 and December 1990.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Greg Harkin

Wednesday May 09 2012

A SEX-abuse victim has welcomed a public apology from Cardinal Sean Brady but insisted last night that the cleric should quit his position as the leader of Ireland’s Catholics.

Brendan Boland was abused for two years from the age of 12 by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth. In March 1975 he told three priests, including the cardinal — who was then Fr Brady — of the abuse. He believed his bravery in coming forward would prevent further cases. But Smyth went on to abuse dozens more victims.

Brendan Boland’s devastating testimony in the BBC ‘This World’ programme led to calls for Dr Brady to resign.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Independent.ie reporters

Wednesday May 09 2012

FR KEVIN Reynolds, the priest at the centre of RTE’s worst libel ever, has said he is accepts the decision not to seek resignations from the RTE board.

Fr Reynolds expressed agreement with the response of his solicitor Robert Dore who said he respected the judgement of Communications Minister, Pat Rabbitte, not to seek changes.

Fr Reynolds, who was wrongly accused of fathering a child in Africa in the notorious Prime Time Investigates programme, was speaking to the Irish Times from his home in Ahascragh, Co Galway.

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IRELAND
IFTN

RTÉ has agreed to submit a report to Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte in one week’s time, as well as provide a monitoring report every three months, detailing the measures it is taking to ensure it does not repeat a defamatory programme such as ‘Mission to Prey’.

The agreement was the result of a two hour-long meeting between the minister and the RTÉ Board yesterday. Minister Rabbitte called the meeting following the publication of the BAI’s report on the now infamous RTÉ ‘Prime Time Investigates’ A Mission to Prey’ programme.

Following yesterday’s meeting Minister Rabbitte said: “Arising from the meeting I have agreed that the Board will provide me, within a week, with a detailed report on all of the steps they are taking to address the serious systemic short-comings that have been exposed by this case.”

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IRELAND
Galway Bay FM

May 9, 2012

The Taoiseach’s backed calls from the Fianna Fáil leader for an Oireachtas inquiry into Public Service Broadcasting.

Micheál Martin made the call this morning in the wake of the Carragher report into the libelling of Ahascragh Parish Priest Father Kevin Reynolds by RTE.

Mr Martin wants a special committee established but Enda Kenny says he believes that’s not necessary.

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UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

They are at it again.

The Grey Lady just published another editorial on Sunday on its favorite topic: sex abuse in the Catholic Church from decades ago. This time the Times praises the state of Hawaii for passing a law to lift the statute of limitations for two years to file stale sex abuse claims and then lobbies Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York to do the same in an attempt to bankrupt the Catholic Church in New York.

The sex abuse story has been an obsession at the Times for a decade now. But in those ten years, the Church has radically reformed its polices requiring prompt reporting and annual audits while contemporaneous abuse claims have now fallen to near zero; abuse victims have already filed scores of often questionable lawsuits collecting billions in judgments; half of the accused priests have already died; a vast industry of wealthy contingency lawyers and professional victim’s groups have emerged who heavily advertise for still more victims; and, indeed several dioceses have already been forced to file for bankruptcy protection amid the flood of claims.

So the simple, if sometimes unpopular, truth is that the problem of sex abuse in the Catholic Church has already been solved.

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UNITED STATES/AUSTRALIA
Catholic Leader

Published: 13 May 2012
By: Catholic Religious Australia

CATHOLIC Religious Australia (CRA) has sent a letter of support to the United States’ Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) following the recent announcement of a Vatican proposal to reform the association.

The announcement from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was based on an investigation by Bishop Leonard Blair began on behalf of the Vatican in April 2008.

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Courier-Journal

Written by
Mark Boxley
The Courier-Journal

When more than 50 laypeople took to the steps of Cathedral of the Assumption on Tuesday, they had one message in mind: “We are all nuns.”

The group gathered at 5 p.m. for a silent prayer vigil to support the nuns of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which has recently been the focus of what vigil participants called a Vatican investigation.

In a statement concerning the Women Religious, the Vatican said that while lauding sisters’ historic work in education and on behalf of the poor, the conference had allowed influential members and speakers at its meetings to undercut, without challenge, core church doctrines on sexuality, the nature of Jesus and the male-only priesthood.

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EXETER (CA)
KSEE

[with video]

By KSEE News

Alton Dorrough was a respected man, a man many people trusted. He was a volunteer chaplain for the Exeter Police Department. Chief Cliff Bush has known him for years, “He was the kind of person you would think, this person has the community at heart.”

His reputation was tarnished Monday after a teenage girl walked into police headquarters. According to authorities, she claimed Dorrough sexually abused her for four years. Investigators called him in and took him away in handcuffs.

Chief Bush said, “I’m sick to my stomach, this is just awful. It’s just shock, betrayed, disappointed.”

Dorrough is 62-years-old. He was involved with several drug recovery groups and ministries. Chief Bush said he was also a minister at The Church of God of Exeter.

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CANADA
The Chronicle-Journal

Northwest Bureau
Wednesday, May 9, 2012

A former Anglican Church minister who worked in First Nations communities in Northwestern Ontario in the 1970s and 1980s has been charged with sexual abuse offences following a lengthy provincial police investigation.

Ralph Rowe, 72, of Surrey, B.C., is to appear in Kenora court on May 31, charged with two counts of indecent assault on a male and five counts of sexual assault.

Provincial police said Tuesday that the charges relate to incidents at Fort Severn, Big Trout Lake, Wunnumin Lake and Kingfisher Lake between 1973 and 1986.

The OPP North West Region crime unit has been investigating reports of sexual offences against Rowe since 1994. The accused was last charged by police in 2009. Since then, new information has come forward, police said.

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IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

A priest in the Dublin Archdiocese has voluntarily stepped aside from his position over child protection concerns.

Parishioners in Rathnew, Co Wicklow, were informed at weekend masses that curate Fr Denis Nolan was taking time away to allow for church and state investigations to take place.

The Dublin Archdiocese declined to give specific details about the nature of the concerns, but stated that reports of all allegations of abuse are passed to gardai and the Health Service Executive.

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IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Catholic Church braced for new child sex abuse scandal in Republic of Ireland

By Ralph Riegel
Wednesday, 9 May 2012

The Catholic Church is bracing itself for another potential child abuse scandal, with a file to be sent to the Republic of Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) about allegations of physical and sexual abuse at a boarding school.

Colaiste an Chroi Naofa in Carraig na bhFear in Cork — which was formerly run by the Order of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (OMSH) — is the focus of a garda probe into abuse complaints lodged by almost 20 former pupils.

The complaints all relate alleged events at the school in the 1970s and 1980s.

Three men have been arrested as a result of the complaints.

The men — all in their late 60s and 70s — were released without charge.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
WTVR

By Michael Saba, special to CNN

(CNN) – Former Bob Jones University student Chris Peterman expected to graduate on May 4. But on April 24, nine days before he was set to receive his diploma, the 23-year-old poli-sci major was suspended from school.

According to BJU, Peterman was suspended for a variety of infractions involving the school’s code of conduct. Most of the violations involved Peterman’s activity on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Peterman responded by uploading videos to CNN iReport alleging that he was the victim of a pattern of intimidation and coercion on the part of several BJU staff and administrators. He claims to have been forced out of school in retaliation for his activism against Chuck Phelps, a former BJU Board of Trustees member who was accused of covering up a sex-abuse scandal at the church where he served as pastor.

Carol Keirstead, BJU’s Chief Communications Officer, denied these allegations.

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CALIFORNIA
KMPH

[with video]

Nicole Garcia

EXETER, Calif. (KMPH) –
An Exeter congregation in crisis – after a beloved pastor is accused of preying on a teenage girl, who is a member of the church.

62-year-old Alton Dorrough is in jail, facing at least nine counts of sexual abuse.

Dorrough is a pastor at the Church of God of Exeter and a volunteer chaplain with the Exeter Police Department.

Church members say the girl accusing Dorrough of sexually abusing her for several years is a youth leader at the same church.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington got worked up in court Tuesday, repeatedly calling the defendant, Monsignor William J. Lynn, a liar.

“The lies, the outrageous lies that he [Lynn] continues to tell,” Blessington shouted. That prompted an objection from Thomas Bergstrom, a defense lawyer who rarely raises his voice.

Judge M. Teresa Sarmina, often mistaken for a member of the prosecution team, continued the surprises by siding with the defense. “Stick to the facts, Mr. Blessington,” the judge admonished.

Blessington was trying to convince the judge to take a road trip to a cloistered convent in North Philadelphia, as part of his recent campaign to prove that the monsignor is a liar.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

Father James J. Brennan dreamed of becoming a Trappist monk. He thought the monastic life would bring him closer to God as he meditated and prayed in solitude for hours on end.

But after he joined the Trappists in 2000, Father Brennan found the reality of the monastic life was far different then he had imagined. He was getting up at 3 a.m. to feed the chickens on the monks’ organic farm. The priest who used to lead church choirs was reduced to serenading hens to the tune of White Christmas.

“I think too much of me is being wasted on chickens,” he wrote Msgr. William J. Lynn in 2001, asking to come back to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

On Tuesday at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex abuse trial, the prosecution had Detective James Dougherty spend several hours reading into the court record more than 60 formerly confidential records from Father Brennan’s personnel files and the archdiocese’s secret archive files.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

Kristen Byrne, Blogger
MyFoxPhilly.com

Documents from the file of an accused priest were read to the jury in a clergy-abuse case involving the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

On Tuesday, Detective James Dougherty read numerous documents outlining Rev. James Brennan’s assignments and leave of absence from the archdiocese. The documents spanned from 1989, which was the year Brennan was ordained, to 2006.

In 1995, complaints began to surface regarding Brennan’s “inappropriate behavior” at Divine Providence Village, where he both resided and served as chaplain. There had been reports of a younger man living with him, whom he claimed to be his nephew, and later his cousin.

According to a memorandum filed by Monsignor William Lynn, Brennan confronted him requesting a leave of absence from the ministry in 1996. Brennan said he was leaving for personal reasons; to face his issues with sexual and emotional abuse. However, in Brennan’s 2008 canonical testimony read last week, the jurors heard that Brennan denied claims that he ever experienced sexual abuse as a child.

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CALIFORNIA
Marin Independent Journal

By Tracey Kaplan
tkaplan@mercurynews.com

The judge in the high-profile case of a San Francisco man accused of beating up an elderly Los Gatos priest he claims molested him as a child took a grueling seven hours to hammer out a game plan Tuesday for the upcoming trial that gave both sides reason to rejoice.

For the first time, defendant Will Lynch’s attorney publicly conceded that his client pummeled the Rev. Jerold Lindner two years ago at the Sacred Heart retirement and medical center in Los Gatos. That admission set the parameters for a June 20 trial and should make it easier for prosecutor Vicki Gemetti to prove Lynch committed felony elder abuse and assault.

But in a victory for the defense, Judge David A. Cena ruled that Lynch and up to three other people from a list of about 11 can testify that the Jesuit priest allegedly molested them as kids and threatened them with violence or death if they told anyone. Even though the judge narrowly limited that testimony to avoid inflaming the jury against the priest, it may well have an influence.

“We’re not getting into details because there is a substantial danger of them being misused by the jury, of creating an emotional response,” said Cena, adding that the priest would have to deny he molested anyone for the testimony to come in.

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IRELAND
Waterford Today

Wednesday, 9th May 2012

Here we go again. The Roman Catholic Church has gotten itself bogged down in yet another scandal surrounding the issue of child sexual abuse. This time however it is the head of the Church, The Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Brady that is in the firing line. It has emerged that he knew about the actions of perhaps the most notorious of Ireland’s paedophiles – they are many to choose from – Fr. Brendan Smyth and effectively he did nothing about it. There have been some, in the Church and outside of it, that have come to his defence. They say that he did as much as he could have done and that effectively there was nothing that he could have done at the time. Also, they point out, he did as much as anyone could and that the whole issue of priests who sexually abused children was handled differently back then and also that there was not as much information on the issue as there is now and that it is not fair to look at things that happened in the past using the standards that we have today. Those arguments might be well and good for some people but just how much water do they really hold? The first point, and perhaps the only point, is, since when did the rape of children become acceptable to those in the church?

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

May 08, 2012|By John P. Martin, and Joseph A. Slobodzian

Weeks before prosecutors say he tried to rape a 14-year-old boy, the Rev. James J. Brennan called the clergy office at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

At the time, Brennan had just started a leave of absence to deal with “inner turmoil” he blamed in part on being sexually abused as a child.

Brennan complained to Msgr. William J. Lynn, who ran the clergy office, that other priests had been gossiping that he really took the leave so he could “shack up” with one of his former students at Cardinal O’Hara High School.

“I told him not to be concerned about the rumors, that we only take facts as we find them,” Lynn wrote in a June 1996 memo.

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MISSOURI
KOMU

by Amanda Macias

JEFFERSON CITY – A 200-page case study revealing the names of eight Missouri children sexually molested by priests was released on Monday. Michael Wegs of the organization, Come to the Stable-The Stephens Spalding Foundation, held the news conference in remembrance of the 10th anniversary of the closing of St. Thomas Aquinas Preparatory Seminary in Hannibal, Missouri.

According to Wegs, the seminary was closed in 2002 because of low attendance. Wegs said the low attendance was because there were numerous reports of priests molesting the students.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Defense lawyers complained Tuesday that the lengthy priest-abuse trial of a Roman Catholic church official has veered far afield from the original charges.

Monsignor William Lynn is charged with conspiring to hide child sex-abuse complaints against two co-defendant priests, and endangering children by keeping them in ministry. But a judge has let jurors hear weeks of testimony about how Lynn, the longtime secretary for clergy for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, handled abuse complaints lodged against 20 other priests.

“This case has come down to (the Rev. Stanley) Gana and (the Rev. Nicholas) Cudemo, despite the fact they’re not charged,” defense lawyer Thomas Bergstrom argued outside of the jury’s presence.

Gana and Cudemo were accused of heinous, repeated sexual assaults in a 2005 grand jury report. Both were defrocked in the years that followed, but neither was charged criminally because of legal time limits. Prosecutors have spent days detailing their alleged crimes to the jury, through testimony from accusers and church documents.

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MISSOURI
News Tribune

By News Tribune

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

An advocacy group for victims of clergy abuse held a press conference Monday to allege priests in the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City were involved in past sexual abuses and to announce additional alleged victims of Bishop Anthony J. O’Connell.

The timing of the press conference by The Come to the Stable/Stephen Spalding Foundation coincides with the 10th anniversary of the closing of the St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Hannibal, after O’Connell admitted to having molested students while he worked there.

Before his resignation in 2004, O’Connell was transferred to Palm Beach, Fla., to help a church recover after another priest there admitted to having molested five boys.

Wegs said O’Connell’s transfer is part of the Jefferson City diocese culture of promoting those who hide sexual abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Care2

by Jessica Pieklo
May 8, 2012

Last month the Vatican announced it was cracking down on American nuns for not sufficiently pushing the Catholic Bishops anti-gay, anti-woman agenda. Who was behind this sudden and aggressive push-back against women many American Catholics deeply respect? The same shamed men behind the church’s sex abuse cover-up and complicity.

David Gibson reports that conservative American churchmen living in Rome, among them the disgraced former Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, were key figures pushing the hostile takeover the the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, or LCWR. Law and other hard-right Catholic leaders don’t like the group because of its emphasis of social justice work over loyalty to church hierarchy and issues like abortion and gay marriage.

Law was joined by a former archbishop of St. Louis, Cardinal Raymond Burke in his efforts to aggressive investigate the LCWR. Burke was named to a top Vatican judicial post in 2008 because his hard-right views made Burke a lightning rod in the U.S.– a move familiar within the Catholic Church’s leadership structure and one knowing as getting “kicked upstairs.”

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MINNESOTA
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: Jeub was accused in 1992 of having engaged a 15 year-old girl in unwanted sexual activity in 1969. Jeub denied abusing the girl. Another woman accused Jeub of having sexually abused her when she was an adolescent, from 1967-1970. She turned down a settlement offer, and he was found in a civil trial not to have engaged in abusive behavior. Jeub was sent to St. Luke’s Institute in Maryland in 1990 for evaluation and treatment. The archdiocese’s Vicar General wrote in 1991 that Jeub had a history of exploitative sexual relations with adult women. A St. Luke’s psychiatrist wrote that these women included a nun Jeub was counseling, a blind woman he was caring for, the wife of a patient in a hospital in which he was chaplain, among others. Jeub was taken out of full time parish ministry for a few years, eventually being allowed to return. He resigned from parish ministry in June 2002, after publicity about past accusations. Per the archdiocese, Jeub took early retirement.

Ordained: 1966
Incardinated: St. Paul and Minneapolis

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NEDERLAND
De Telegraaf

HEERLEN – Een oud-leerling van RK jongensinternaat Bleijerheide in Kerkrade heeft dinsdag bij de politie in Heerlen aangifte gedaan van seksueel misbruik en mishandeling door 11 broeders van het internaat. Drie van hen leven nog, onder wie de huidige Maastrichtse pastoor Jan S. Dat blijkt uit het dinsdag opgestelde proces-verbaal van aangifte, in het bezit van het ANP.

Ook deed de in België wonende 52-jarige man aangifte wegens het vernietigen van de archieven van het internaat en bisdom Roermond, waardoor hij niets meer terug kan vinden over zijn tijd in Bleijerheide. Verder deed hij aangifte tegen aartsbisschop Wim Eijk wegens nalatigheid in de aanpak van nog levende vermeende daders.

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NEDERLAND
Zie

Bij het katholieke meisjesinternaat St. Anna in het Limburgse dorpje Heel was in de jaren ’50 van de vorige eeuw geen sprake van een sterftepiek. Dat blijkt uit een maandag gepubliceerd intern onderzoek door de Koraalgroep, waaronder St. Anna nu valt.

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NEDERLAND
Nu

HEEL – Bij het katholieke meisjesinternaat St. Anna in het Limburgse dorpje Heel was in de jaren ’50 van de vorige eeuw geen sprake van een sterftepiek.

Dat blijkt uit een maandag gepubliceerd intern onderzoek door de Koraalgroep, waaronder St. Anna nu valt.

Van 1952 tot en met 1954 overleden 40 zwaar gehandicapte meisjes tot 18 jaar. Ze stierven allen een natuurlijke dood. De meesten voor hun 10e verjaardag, wat in die tijd de levensverwachting was van kinderen met die handicap.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
U.S. Catholic

By Lou Baldwin Catholic News Service

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Church action following the clergy sexual abuse scandal is most importantly about justice for the victims. But it’s also about healing — not only for the victims, but for the entire church community.

With that in mind the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has begun a new initiative, “Honesty, Healing and Hope in Christ: Confronting Sexual Violence in Our Archdiocese.” The plan, which consists of four phases implemented over six months, is designed to address the feelings and responses experienced when final resolutions about clergy are announced and going forward.

Coordinating the initiative is Mary Achilles, who served as victims advocate for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania for a decade, and who is the victims advocate for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

“This is all about the parishioners, people who have been impacted,” Achilles said at a May 4 news conference. “As Catholics, we have been battered by this experience, and our sense of the integrity of the process has been robbed.

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CANADA
CBC News

The Ontario Provincial Police in northwestern Ontario have laid more charges against a former Anglican priest and boy scout leader for alleged sexual offences.

Ralph Rowe, 72, will appear in court in Kenora, Ont., later this month. He’s charged with five counts of sexual assault and two counts of indecent assault.

The charges relate to incidents that occurred between 1973 and 1986 in the First Nations communities of Fort Severn, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Wunnumin Lake and Kingfisher Lake.

Rowe has already been convicted of more than 50 counts of sex-related crimes.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has accused the Vatican of “miserably failing” the victims of child sexual abuse.

He said the failings of Rome were a greater issue than the position of Cardinal Sean Brady.

Mr McGuinness told the Assembly that he loved the Catholic church but that Catholics throughout Ireland were “dismayed and angry”.

The cardinal is accused of failing to act over abuse allegations in 1975.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY

09 May, 2012

PUBLIC prejudice against Catholic priests was going to be ‘‘the elephant in the room’’, a barrister told a Sydney District Court jury yesterday at the trial of a priest charged with sex offences involving four boys.

‘‘There’s a prejudice in our community, that if you’re a priest and you’re charged with crimes of a sexual nature with respect to young boys then that’s it. Game over. Walk away,’’ the priest’s barrister said.

The priest, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has entered not guilty pleas to eight charges, including indecently assaulting the four boys and unlawfully detaining one of the boys at a Hunter location for a short period during an alleged indecent assault.

The court was told a three-week trial would hear evidence of wrestling bouts involving the priest and boys, during which the priest would allegedly hold the boys down and rub his erect penis over their bodies.

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CANADA
Brandon Sun

By: The Canadian Press

8/05/2012

IQALUIT, Nunavut – An accused priest already convicted of sex abuse against Inuit children will face dozens of fresh charges in court next Monday.

Prosecutors in Iqaluit (ee-KAL-oo-eet), Nunavut, say Eric Dejaeger (deh-YAY-ger) will now face a total of 74 charges in a case that just keeps growing.

Dejaeger originally faced 28 charges when he was returned from Belgium last spring.

He will now face 74 charges of abuse and assault against girls, boys and dogs, and the total is expected to grow larger before the case comes to trial.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Calaveras Enterprise

by Alex George

An unidentified 25-year-old man has filed a lawsuit against the Stockton Diocese, alleging defrocked priest and convicted pedophile Oliver O’Grady molested him at the age of 5.

O’Grady, who is serving a three-year prison term in Ireland for possessing child pornography, was assigned to San Andreas’ St. Andrew’s Parish in 1992, when the alleged incident occurred. O’Grady bounced around from parish to parish throughout the 1970s and ‘80s in what critics say was an effort by diocese officials to conceal sexual molestation allegations.

The complaint also names the Stockton Diocese’s highest-ranking official, Bishop Stephen Blaire, who became the presiding bishop in 1999.

Blaire said he shared the complaint with the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office after receiving it Wednesday, but has not had the opportunity to review it.

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IRELAND
BBC News

Brendan Boland, one of the victims of paedophile priest Father Brendan Smyth, has said his healing and that of other victims cannot begin while Cardinal Sean Brady remains as Catholic Primate of all-Ireland.

He was responding to a public apology made by Dr Brady.

In it, the cardinal admitted he should have passed on information to parents given to him in 1975 by Mr Boland.

That information warned Fr Smyth was a danger to other children.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Boland thanked the cardinal for the apology and said that one day he hoped to find the strength to accept his offer of a face-to-face meeting.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Farming Life

Published on Monday 7 May 2012

The Vatican has miserably failed the victims of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church, Stormont’s Deputy First Minister has claimed.

Amid continuing calls for Irish Primate Cardinal Sean Brady to resign over his involvement in a controversial Church probe that did not stop notorious paedophile priest Brendan Smyth’s reign of abuse, Martin McGuinness shifted focus to Rome’s attitude to historic clerical sex crimes.

“The issue of Cardinal Brady’s position in all of this is important for a lot of people but of more importance to me is the attitude that pertains in the Vatican and I believe that the major failing that exists in the Catholic Church resides in the Vatican,” said the Sinn Fein politician.

Mr McGuinness hit out at how Rome had approached previous inquiries into abuse scandals and warned the Catholic authorities that if they failed to co-operate with a forthcoming investigation into institutional abuse in Northern Ireland they would be compelled to do so.

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AUSTRALIA
Bendigo Advertiser

ELISE SNASHALL-WOODHAMS

09 May, 2012

A former priest who taught in a Bendigo Catholic boarding school in the 1960s has been committed to stand trial on a series of child sex offences.

James Jennings, 79, faces multiple charges of gross indecency and indecent assault on a male child aged under 16.

The charges relate to three complainants, all students at St Vincent’s College in Bendigo in the 1960s.

Magistrate Jennifer Tregent heard from the victims now aged in their 60s, and some of Jennings’ teaching colleagues, in a two-day committal hearing that finished in Bendigo Magistrates Court yesterday.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
San Antonio Express-News

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia prosecutors hope to take testimony from two cloistered nuns as they pursue a child-endangerment case against a Catholic church official.

They say Monsignor William Lynn lied when he told a man the nuns were keeping an eye on his alleged priest-rapist in 1997, and knew about the priest’s history.

The priest had been sent to their monastery after sex-offender treatment. Prosecutors say he was soon saying Mass — and working with altar boys — nearby.

Lynn’s lawyers object to the nuns’ depositions, calling the subject “far afield” of the charges against Lynn.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A Church of England priest and an organist have been charged with sexually abusing two young boys in the late 1980s.

Father Wilkie Denford, 76, who is semi-retired and from Shoreham, and Michael Mytton, a 68-year-old organist from near Lewes, were arrested in November.

The pair are accused of abusing the boys at a number of locations in West Sussex between 1987 and 1990.

The men are due to appear at Mid Sussex Magistrates’ Court on 22 May.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Brighton and Hove News

A priest who worked in Brighton and Hove has been charged with sexually assaulting two boys more than 20 years ago.

Father Wilkie Denford, 77, of Broad Reach Mews, Shoreham, was charged today (Tuesday 8 May) and has been bailed to appear at Mid Sussex Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 22 May.

The Church of England minister is accused of indecently assaulting a boy under 16 on three occasions between June 1987 and January 1990.

Two of the offences were said to have taken place in or near Shoreham and the other was said to have happened in or near Cuckfield.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The prosecution in the Philadelphia clergy sex abuse case presented evidence today they say shows that one of the defendants, Msgr. William Lynn, lied to police during their investigation of alleged abuse by another priest.

The police interview in 2001 was related to an allegation of abuse two decades earlier by Father Nicolas Cudemo.

Police officer Denise Holmes testified today that she interviewed Msgr. Lynn about the allegations against Father Cudemo. During the interview, she says, Lynn told her of allegations of abuse against by Cudemo by members of the priest’s own family.

But when she asked about any other complaints, she recorded this response: “Not that I am aware of.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

May. 08, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri judge’s decision to go forward in seeking a wide range of documents from the leading advocacy group for clergy sex abuse victims could have far-reaching consequences for survivors’ support organizations, say victims’ advocates and lawyers.

Among those consequences, the experts tell NCR, could be a “chilling effect” on victims willing to come forward to report abuse and a bogging down of criminal and civil cases across the country trying to bring abusers from both the church and wider society to account.

Experts’ worries stem from Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court Judge Ann Mesle’s most recent order to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in a case concerning a Kansas City priest accused of abuse. The case, in which SNAP is not a party, made headlines in January when it became the first in which one of the group’s leaders was ordered to provide testimony.

Following back-and-forth filings from SNAP lawyers and those defending Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocesan priest Fr. Michael Tierney, Mesle ordered the group in late April to make available 23 years of internal files and correspondence to the priest’s lawyers.

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IRELAND
National Catholic Reporter

May. 08, 2012
By Michael Kelly

DUBLIN, Ireland — An assembly of the entire church in Ireland took one step closer Monday with an overflow meeting that saw more than 1,000 priests, religious and laypeople gather to discuss the future of the church.

Organizers say they expected about 200 participants to attend the event, which the Association of Catholic Priests sponsored. However, Dublin’s Regency Hotel was packed to capacity, with many at the event forced to stand.

Speaker after speaker pleaded for a more open church centered around a spirit of dialogue. Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery, who was recently forbidden to write by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, maintained a discreet presence and was greeted by many well-wishers.

The priests association now represents about 25 percent of Irish priests in active ministry and has called for a re-evaluation of the church’s teaching on sexuality and a “redesigning” of ministry “to incorporate the gifts, wisdom and expertise of the entire faith community, male and female.” The group also wants local involvement in the appointment of bishops.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
News-Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri prosecutors have asked a judge to add a second misdemeanor charge against a Kansas City diocese and its bishop, who is the highest-ranking U.S. Roman Catholic official criminally charged with shielding an abusive priest.

The Jackson County prosecutor’s office announced Monday that it had filed a motion to add a charge of failure to report suspicions of child abuse. Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph already face one count of that charge over the way they managed the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who has pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges stemming from claims that he took hundreds of pornographic pictures of children. After the images were found on Ratigan’s computer, the diocese waited five months to turn copies of them over to police.

Prosecutors also want the diocese to turn over a broad swath of records detailing how it has handled child abuse allegations.

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ITALIA
IVG

Savona. Caso giudiziario archiviato per prescrizione del reato: si chiude così, in sede penale, la vicenda che vedeva l’ex vescovo di Savona, Dante Lanfranconi, indagato per concorso in atti sessuali su minori per non aver impedito ad alcuni sacerdoti della diocesi di compiere atti di pedofilia.

Il giudice per le indagini preliminari Fiorenza Giorgi ha oggi firmato l’ordinanza di archiviazione, in base agli elementi esaminati, ma nell’atto ha evidenziato che “è astrattamente configurabile” l’omissione nell’impedire il verificarsi degli eventi, che equivale a cagionarli. Ossia monsignor Lafranconi avrebbe “coperto”, pur essendone a conoscenza, le attitudini pedofile di almeno due preti della sua comunità ecclesiale.

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ITALIA
La Provincia

CREMONA – Reato prescritto, caso archiviato per il vescovo Dante Lafranconi, dal 2001 a Cremona, finito nei guai giudiziari a Savona, quando dal 1991 e per dieci anni ha retto la diocesi, indagato per concorso in atti sessuali su minori perché non avrebbe impedito ad alcuni sacerdoti di compiere atti di pedofilia.

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ITALIA
Punto Savona

Il giudice per le indagini preliminari Fiorenza Giorgi ha disposto l’archiviazione del procedimento per concorso in atti sessuali su minori a carico di monsignor Dante Lafranconi perché il reato è prescritto, ma resta comunque il fatto che il presule coprì degli episodi penalmente rilevanti.

L’ex vescovo della diocesi di Savona Dante Lafranconi, (nella foto) era stato indagato per non aver evitato a don Nello Giraudo, non più sacerdote, di mettere in atto i suoi gesti di pedofilia nei confronti di minori legati agli scout e al mondo cattolico.

Un’ accusa che sembrava destinata a cadere dopo la richiesta di archiviazione presentata dalla Procura savonese.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Msgr. William J. Lynn seemed to downplay the sex-crime allegations against the Rev. Nicholas V. Cudemo — one of the Archdiocese’s most notorious priests — during a 2001 interview with a Philadelphia police sex crimes officer investigating an assault charge involving against Cudemo.

Officer Denise Holmes told a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jury this morning that during a 2001 interview with Lynn, the church official said the only allegations of sexual abuse against Cudemo were made in 1991 by three female relatives of the priest.

Holmes asked to meet with Lynn on Jan. 22, 2001, after getting a call from a woman complaining that Cudemo sexually molested her 20 years before when she was a student at the school in the St. Irenaeus parish in Southwest Philadelphia.

Holmes testified that Lynn, then secretary for clergy and the ranking Archdiocesan official responsible for investigating sex-abuse allegations against priests, said he knew nothing of an allegation against Cudemo during his time at St. Irenaeus. Lynn also claimed not to know where Cudemo was living, except for “Florida, maybe.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

3:08pm Tuesday 8th May 2012 in News By Emily Walker, Chief Reporter

A priest has been charged with child abuse.

The Diocese of Chichester has confirmed that priest Reverend Keith Wilkie Denford and Michael Mytton, worked as an organist in the Lewes area have been charged in relation to allegations of abuse.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “Child protection detectives in West Sussex have today, charged two men with sexual offences allegedly committed between 22 and 25 years ago.

“Keith Wilkie Denford, 72, a priest, of Broad Reach Mews, Shoreham, and Michael Mytton, 68, of South Road, East Chiltington, will appear on bail at Mid-Sussex Magistrates court on Tuesday May 22.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Shoreham Herald

Published on Tuesday 8 May 2012

CHILD protection detectives in West Sussex have today, (Tuesday, May 8), charged two men, including a priest who lives in Shoreham and worked in Tarring, with sexual offences.

Keith Willkie Denford, 72, a priest, of Broad Reach Mews, Shoreham, and Michael Mytton, 68, of South Road, East Chiltington, will appear on bail at Mid-Sussex Magistrates court on Tuesday, May 22.

Denford has been charged with three indecent assaults on boys under 16.

Two of these allegedly took place “in or near” Shoreham and one took place “in or near Cuckfield” between June, 1987, and January, 1990.

Denford, who was previously based at a church in Tarring, has also been charged with one indecent assault on another boy, aged under 16, “in or near Cuckfield” January, 1987 and December, 1990.

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UNITED STATES
The Philly Post

Sandy Hingston

A few weeks back, I wrote about how the Catholic Church was cracking down on rabble-rousing nuns who despite Rome’s exhortations continue to care more about social justice issues like affordable health care than about cracking down on gay rights and abortions. This week, a priest in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Australia, is telling females to get over themselves and get married to loser guys.

Young hussies today, opined Father Tony Kerin, are “too choosy” in looking for a mate: “I think many are setting aside their aspirations for later, but by the time they get around to it, they’ve missed their chance.” In trying to have it all, Father Kerin cautioned, the breastified will “end up missing out.”

I could say a few things about marriage and missing out and taking relationship advice from celibate guys belonging to an organization that’s proven to be a haven for pedophiles, but that would be a cheap shot. I will note that Father Kerin, not content with advising women to rush to exchange eternal vows with questionable fellas, also warned us not to shack up without the benefit of matrimony. I will mention that Australian priests are such stalwart proponents of marriage that one of them recently admitted to having been secretly married for a year.

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CANADA
CBC News

The case against Roman Catholic priest Eric Jose Dejaeger continues to grow.

The 65-year-old now faces 74 criminal charges – up from about 35 – stemming from his time in Igloolik, Nunavut, between 1978 and 1982.

The new charges, which come from 39 complainants, were announced by Crown prosecutors in the Nunavut Court of Justice Monday afternoon.

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NEDERLAND
de Volkskrant

Door: Anneke Stoffelen

Kinderen in pleeggezinnen en tehuizen worden daar drie tot vier keer vaker slachtoffer van seksueel misbruik dan jongeren die thuis wonen. Uit huis geplaatste jongeren met een licht verstandelijke beperking zijn zelfs tien keer vaker slachtoffer. Tussen 2008 en 2010 kwam misbruik in de jeugdzorg ‘schokkend vaak’ voor, stellen wetenschappers van de Universiteit Leiden in een nog niet openbaar gemaakt onderzoeksrapport in opdracht van de commissie-Samson.

Seksueel misbruik is volgens de onderzoekers nog een groot taboe. De helft van de ondervraagde jongeren die slachtoffer werd van seksueel misbruik in de jeugdzorg, durfde zelfs in de anonieme vragenlijst niet te melden wie de dader is. Degenen die wel antwoordden, noemden medewerkers van de instelling als dader, maar ook pleegouders of groepsgenoten.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Greg Harkin

Tuesday May 08 2012

CARDINAL Sean Brady last night admitted he was wrong when he failed to tell parents that their children were being abused by Fr Brendan Smyth.

The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland also apologised to a victim of the notorious paedophile priest.

Brendan Boland was among those targeted by the predatory sex attacker in 1975.

Dr Brady also insisted he would not resign despite growing calls for him to do so, many from within the church.

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HAWAII
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Joelle Casteix on May 07, 2012

Last month, Hawaii officials made their state safer for children by enacting a law that will help expose dangerous child predators. The measure creates a two-year civil window for victims of child sexual abuse and opens the courthouse doors to dozens of victims who, until now, were denied justice. It also means that at least some child molesters – and any colleagues or supervisors who helped them hide their crimes – may be publicly exposed as the wrongdoers they are.

No amount of money can make up for a lost childhood. But when victims are allowed to use the tried-and-true civil justice system to name sex offenders, uncover cover ups, get secret records and provide valuable evidence to law enforcement, children are safer and victims can heal. In California and Delaware, hundreds of perpetrators were exposed and thousands of pages of evidence of abuse and cover-up helped police begin investigations and make arrests.

Simply put, this is a pro-victim, anti-crime law.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on May 07, 2012 ·

We applaud the new charge against Bishop Finn. At the same time, however, this kind of legal maneuvering by the prosecutor wouldn’t even be necessary if not for Bishop Finn’s desperate hair-splitting defense moves.

We also applaud Baker for seeking more information on these credibly accused pedophile priests: Fr. John Basket, Fr. Thomas Cronin, Fr. Mark Honhart, Fr. Earl Johnson, Fr. James Lawbaugh, Fr. Stephen Muth, Fr. Thomas Parrott, Fr. Bede Parry, Fr. Michael Tierney and Fr. Anthony Pileggi.

It’s pathetic that Finn’s lawyers, paid by parishioner donations, claim that the state law requiring prompt reporting of known or suspected child sex crimes is too vague.

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