ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED STATES
OpEd News

By
Joey Piscitelli

On May 11 th , 2012, the University of Santa Clara, California, sponsored a conference called ” Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church- A Decade of Crisis, 2002 — 2012.”

This is also the name of a new book, which was hosted by Thomas Plante, PhD, and Kathleen McChesney, PhD. The book features chapters of literary contributions by 20 experts on clergy sexual abuse: psychologists, professors of law, priests, judges, sociologists, judges, etc.

Among the speakers of the conference were: Thomas Plante-PhD, Kathleen McChesney-PhD, Thomas Reese-SJ priest, Karen Terry-PhD-(John Jay College Report), Barbara Blaine-founder of SNAP, Judge Terrence Carroll-Seattle School of Law, Rev. Gerald Coleman-PhD, Rev. Thomas Doyle-J.C.D-canon lawyer-expert witness, Rev. Paul Macke-SJ, Gerard McGlone-PhD-St. John Vianney treatment center, Judge Michael Merz-USCCB review board, Anson Shupe-PhD-Professor of Sociology, A.W. Sipe-author and expert on Catholic priest issues, and Rev. Richard Vega-Pres. National Fed of Presb Councils-priest.

The conference was open to the public (for a $100 ticket,) and there were approximately about 150 people in attendance. The conference began at 9 A.M. and lasted until 4:30 P.M.

I was an attendee; and I am a clergy abuse victim. I am arguably a “biased” writer, and a controversial and vocal victim’s advocate, and a successful jury trial plaintiff against the church. I have fought clergy abuse in the Roman catholic church for a decade.

The following account is my rendition of the conference, the authors, and the speakers of the event; who are also the contributors to the new book.

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UNITED STATES
The Catholic Thing

Sunday, 13 May 2012

By Michael Novak

Burning injustices rest on our consciences, and will continue to burn us until we correct them.

I had dinner the other night with a marvelous priest, who started out our dinner by having the little children who were with us recite together (partly in song) the blessing before meals. They loved doing it. Loved the sound of it. Loved the solemnity. Loved the fun.

I did not know until well along in the meal, almost at the very end, that this good priest – so well informed about so many matters of faith, so genial, and so patently good-hearted and faithful – had been falsely accused of sexual molestation eight years ago. He was forced to leave the ministry (an accusation these days is enough to do this – a horrible scandal in itself). His accuser died of a cocaine overdose in his mother’s house, but not before exonerating the priest by admitting the falsity of his accusation.

But all that notwithstanding, the bishop in his diocese has not moved – dared? – to reinstate this good man and return him to his proper standing in the priesthood, or even to give a public apology for his unjust treatment. Nor has the press that stirred up the atmosphere of high-tech lynchings revisited his case (and hundreds if not thousands of others) to clear them of this horrible wrong.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

We have a blind spot concerning the privileged position of the Roman Catholic Church, writes Carol Hunt

Last week’s RTE documentary showed a bemused rather than embittered Edna O’Brien explain how an anonymous letter was sent — presumably by a concerned citizen — to her mother. It’s moral mission?

To inform the woman that her daughter was living with a (ex) married man who was also a communist. No doubt the sender persuaded themselves they were performing a civic and moral duty.

It reminded me of those anonymous complaints we now know were sent to Rome about good clerics like Fr Tony Flannery and Fr Brian D’Arcy, who were deemed not to be toeing the Vatican line. The senders obviously believe they are acting in the best interests of the Catholic Church and its hierarchy.

On the other hand there are clerics such as Jesuit theologian Fr Gerry O’Hanlon, who previously said: “It will not do any more for priests, bishops, cardinals, the Pope to simply tell us what to think, what to do. People rightly want a say.”

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CALIFORNIA
Monterey Herald

[with copy of the letter]

By VIRGINIA HENNESSEY
Herald Staff Writermontereyherald.com
Posted: 05/12/2012

A well-known Palma High School alumnus has filed a lawsuit alleging he was sexually assaulted by the school’s chaplain, possibly after being drugged, in 1984.

Dr. Steven Cantrell, brother-in-law of Palma’s head football coach, Jeff Carnazzo, is the fourth man to allege sexual abuse by the Rev. Gerald “Jerry” Funcheon and the second to do so publicly, rather than as “John Doe.”

In an exclusive interview last week, Cantrell said he is suing and speaking publicly to support Christopher Spedden, the other named accuser, and to call on Palma President Brother Patrick Dunne to reach out to former students who were abused at the school.

In an open letter to the community, the Visalia opthamologist says legal actions related to the Irish Christian Brothers bankruptcy and an approaching deadline for victims pose an opportunity for Palma to “live up to the same morals they have instilled in young men for over 60 years.”

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UNITED STATES
The Sun Chronicle

BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

20 years ago this week, he was brought to justice

John Robitaille sits at his desk at the Larry Friedman Center for Entrepreneurship at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, and looks back over a lifetime of achievement: starting several businesses, running on the Republican ticket for Rhode Island governor, inspiring students to innovate.

But within the business lab’s sunny rooms, few would guess that the dynamic 63-year-old former North Attleboro resident had once been at the center of a controversy that would rock the foundations of the Catholic Church – and liberate hundreds of people who were abused as children by sexual predators hiding behind the robes of priests.

“I dislike the word victim,” said Robitaille, one of the original accusers who went public 20 years ago about how former St. Mary’s Church curate Father James Porter sexually abused them and others during the early 1960s. “I’m a survivor. We were all survivors.”

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UNITED STATES/UNITED KINGDOM
Birmingham Mail

UNITED States prosecutors are considering legal action against the Los Angeles Catholic Church after it was revealed that bishops knew a Midland paedophile priest shipped to America had a shameful past.

Birmingham church leaders already knew Father James Robinson had an unwholesome realtionship with a man 25 years before he was jailed for 21 counts of sex abuse on boys.

Predatory priest Robinson, who worked at several churches in Coventry and Birmingham, fled to the US in 1985, days after the police were first alerted by a victim who had been abused as a child.

Months later, the Birmingham Archdiocese wrote to its Californian counterpart, stating that the “immediate reason” Robinson was in America was because he had recently met again “a man with whom he had an unwholesome relationship about 13 years ago”. …

Now the LA County District Attorney’s (LADA) office says its lawyers are reviewing the letter to see if a case can be brought against church leaders.

“We have received a copy of the letter, ” said LADA spokeswoman Jane Robinson. “We will be reviewing to determine what action, if any, should now be taken as a result.”

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

The Vatican is reported to be investigating seven priests of the Legion of Christ order in connection with allegations of child abuse.

In a statement to the AP news agency, the Mexican order said seven cases had been referred to the Vatican’s department that deals with sex crimes.

The Legion of Christ’s founder, Marcial Maciel, sexually abused many boys and young men over a period of 30 years.

He was disciplined by the Vatican in 2006 over the abuse.

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CHILE
Bio Bio

Sábado 12 mayo 2012 | 9:35

Publicado por Alejandra Jara

Durante 2010 se conoció públicamente una de las denuncias que para muchos marcó un antes y un después en la Iglesia Católica. Tres reconocidos profesionales, provenientes del sector más acomodado de nuestro país, daban a conocer sus testimonios donde aseguraban haber sido víctimas de abuso sexual por parte del ex párroco de la Iglesia El Bosque, Fernando Karadima.

Tras cerca de dos años de investigación por la justicia civil, finalmente se sobreseyó al sacerdote, pero se comprobó que había cometido los delitos de abuso sexual por los que fue acusado.

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UNITED STATES
The Catholic World Report

Media reports often presume accused priests are guilty until proven innocent, doing irreparable damage to the lives of the wrongly accused.

David F. Pierre, Jr.

When a Catholic priest is publicly accused of the crime of abuse, it is typical for the media to trumpet the name of the cleric, while allowing the accuser to remain completely anonymous throughout the ordeal.

Although this situation is not unique to Catholic priests, it is a practice that clergy have frequently griped about in private, and it is an issue that has received almost no public attention.

For example, last August in Hawaii, a criminal jury took just minutes to acquit Father Bohdan Borowec, a Ukrainian Catholic priest on vacation from Canada, of charges of kidnapping and sexual assault stemming from an incident alleged to have occurred months earlier. Father Borowec had never had any other accusations of wrongdoing against him in decades in ministry.

Throughout the process, Father Borowec had his name and picture plastered across media reports as a “priest charged with rape.” Yet never did the media publish the woman accuser’s name.

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DEUTSCHLAND
op-online

Das hat eine Umfrage der Nachrichtenagentur dpa in den Bistümern Fulda, Limburg und Mainz ergeben. 56 Anträge wurden in den drei Bistümern gestellt, in 48 Fällen wurde Geld gezahlt – bis zu einer Höhe von 14 000 Euro. Vor einem Jahr hatte die katholische Kirche Missbrauchsopfern ermöglicht, finanzielle Hilfen zu beantragen.

Nach Angaben der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz (DBK) in Bonn sind aus dem Bundesgebiet bislang 1030 Anträge eingegangen. In mehr als 90 Prozent der Fälle sei eine Geldzahlung empfohlen worden, die über die jeweiligen Bistümer oder Orden erfolgt. Die katholische Kirche hatte im März 2011 angeboten, Missbrauchsopfern bis zu 5000 Euro zu zahlen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
News4Press

Heimkinderentschädigung – Franz Sales Haus Essen hält Zusagen nicht ein – “Barmherzige Schwestern” – Die Leiden des Rolf-Michael Decker (57) und der 600 Heimkinder

444 Tage in der Dachbodenzelle – Dormagener Schweinestall – Monsignore Hans Faber+

News4Press.com

Der Bericht des ehemaligen Heimzögling Rolf-Michael Decker – Foto – ist ein einzigartiges zeitgeschichtliches Dokument. Es gibt Einblicke in Kinder- und Jugendheime einer Nachkriegszeit, in der Menschen an Kinder und Jugendlichen Verbrechen begangen haben in einem unbeschreiblichen Ausmaß. Es hat das Urvertrauen in Erzieher, Priester, Nonnen, Beamte, Angestellte und Politiker tief erschüttert. Fast alle Täterinnen und Täter sind zwischenzeitlich verstorben und haben sich der irdischen Gerechtigkeit erfolgreich entzogen. Es ist ein religiöser Irrtum, die Menschen glauben zu lassen, dass mit dem Tod alle Sünden vergeben sind und man über Tote nicht schlecht reden darf. Der eigene Tod mag für die Täterinnen und Täter eine Erlösung sein, für die Opfer nicht. Das Erinnern an die zahllosen Gefolterten, Vergewaltigten und die noch Lebenden, ist unserer aller Pflicht. Staatliche und kirchliche Einrichtungen tragen die Verantwortung, allen Opfern Gehör zu verschaffen – auch den Behinderten – und sie in menschenwürdiger Weise zu entschädigen. Es sind gesetzliche Richtlinien und Kontrollen zu schaffen, dass solche Verbrechen nie wieder passieren.

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VATIKAN
Klosterwolf

Die systematische Vertuschung sexuellen Missbrauchs ist bei der römisch-katholischen Kirche nicht zuletzt eine Folge der Überzeugung, es gäbe außerhalb dieser Kirche kein Heil. Wer dies glaubt und über Missbrauchsfälle öffentlich spricht, schädigt das Ansehen der Kirche, provoziert Kirchenaustritte und nimmt in Kauf, dass viele Menschen „dem ewigen Feuer“ verfallen. Er verstößt dabei gegen die päpstlichen Schreiben „Crimen sollicitationis“ (1962) und „De delictis graviboribus“ (2001 und 2010), die alle drei zur Missbrauchsvertuschung aufrufen, indem sie anordnen, Missbrauchsfälle als „päpstliches Geheimnis“ zu behandeln und nur dem Vatikan zu melden. Dadurch wurde und wird verboten, bei noch nicht öffentlich bekanntgewordenen Missbrauchsfällen die Staatsanwaltschaft einzuschalten.

Herr Dr. Ratzinger war von 1981 bis 2005 der Leiter der Kongregation für den Glauben, zu deren Aufgaben die Behandlung von Missbrauchsfällen gehörte. Schon 1976 zeigte Bischof John R. McGann dem Vatikan 20 Fälle an, bei denen Pater Marcial Maciel Degollado sexueller Missbrauch vorgeworfen wurde. 1989 wandte er sich direkt an Papst Johannes Paul II.. Im Jahr 2002 erklärte Kardinal Ratzinger einem Reporter von ABC, er sei über den Fall Maciel „not so informed“. Ratzinger war wegen dessen Frage nach dem Fall Maciel verärgert und schlug dem Reporter leicht auf die Hand. Papst Johannes Paul II. wurde mehrfach von Maciel auf Südamerikareisen begleitet. Ende 2004 empfing der Papst Maciel im Vatikan und übertrug ihm in einer Zeremonie die Leitung des Notre Dame Centre in Jerusalem.

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OSTERREICH
Steiermark

Die Diözese Innsbruck gab bekannt, dass sie Missbrauch in Zukunft mit einem Verhaltenskodex vorbeugen will. In der Steiermark überlegt man nun, diesen Verhaltenskodex ebenfalls einzuführen, will zuerst aber noch Gespräche führen.

Künftig sollen in der Diözese Innsbruck alle Priester, Diakone, Ordensleute sowie alle haupt- und ehrenamtlichen Mitarbeiter, die mit Kindern zu tun haben, verpflichtend eine Erklärung unterzeichnen – mehr dazu in Kirche verpflichtet sich zu Kinderschutz (tirol.ORF.at; 10.5.2012). Möglichen Tätern in den eigenen Reihen soll damit der Zugriff auf Kinder so schwer wie möglich gemacht werden.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Bistum Erfurt

Im Bistum Erfurt gab es bis heute fünf glaubhafte Hinweise auf sexuellen Missbrauch von Kindern durch Geistliche, die schon verstorben sind, davon drei aus der Kriegs- und unmittelbaren Nachkriegszeit, zwei aus den 60er bzw. 70er Jahren. In diesen fünf Fällen konnten natürlich keine Anzeigen der Täter durch das Bistum erfolgen.

Aus der jüngeren Zeit sind drei Anzeigen gegen noch lebende Personen, zwei Geistliche und ein Laienmitarbeiter, durch das Bistum Erfurt bei der zuständigen Staatsanwaltschaft erfolgt. In allen drei Fällen sind die Untersuchungen durch die Staatsanwaltschaft eingestellt worden.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Markische Allgemeine

Berlin – Keine Facebook-Kontakte zwischen Schülern und Lehrern, keine gemeinsamen Saunabesuche und kein Ausfragen von Jugendlichen zu ihren sexuellen Erfahrungen: Mit einem umfangreichen Verbots- und Maßnahmenkatalog soll der sexuelle Missbrauch von Kindern und Jugendlichen schärfer als bisher bekämpft werden. Der Bundesbeauftragte für Fragen des sexuellen Kindesmissbrauchs Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig handelt nach MAZ-Informationen gegenwärtig mit 20 Dachverbänden wie der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, dem Arbeitskreis der Internate oder der Arbeiterwohlfahrt Vereinbarungen aus, in denen sich die Mitglieder dieser Verbände verpflichten, konkrete Regeln im Umgang mit Kindern und Jugendlichen einzuhalten.

In dem Verhaltenskodex wird unter anderem festgelegt, dass es zwischen Lehrern und Schülern keine Facebook-Kontakte geben soll. Bei Übernachtungen sollen die Räume der Kinder und Jugendlichen erst nach vorherigem Anklopfen betreten werden. Die Anwesenheit in Dusch- und Waschräumen ist den Erwachsenen – abgesehen von Notfällen – demnach generell untersagt. Das morgendliche Wecken soll ohne Körperkontakt stattfinden. Bei sportlichen Hilfestellungen soll der Griff an die Geschlechtsteile tabu sein, auch dürfen Lehrer und Erzieher im Intimbereich sowie an Bauch und Oberschenkeln keine medizinische Versorgung vornehmen. Ausnahmen sind auch hier nur in Notfallsituationen erlaubt.

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ROME/UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Tony Thompson
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 12 May 2012

One month before the 30th anniversary of one of London’s most enduring murder mysteries, the mafia godfather at the heart of the case has spoken for the first time about why he believes the real killers of Italian financier Roberto Calvi will never be brought to justice.

Calvi, dubbed “God’s banker” because of his work with the Vatican, was found hanging from scaffolding beneath Blackfriars bridge in London on 18 June 1982. Bricks had been stuffed in his pockets and he had more than £10,000 in cash on him. In the months before his death he had been accused of stealing millions being laundered on behalf of the mafia.

His death was originally ruled a suicide but later judged to be murder. In July 1991, Francesco “Frankie the Strangler” Di Carlo, a mafia godfather who had lived in England since the late 1970s, was named as Calvi’s killer by a supergrass. Di Carlo has since become a supergrass himself.

Speaking from the small town in central Italy where he now lives, Di Carlo related how he first came to hear that he had been accused of Calvi’s murder.

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UNITED STATES
Toledo Blade

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring general assembly in Atlanta is to include an update on progress since the bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002.

In addition to giving the 10-year report, the national review board is to make recommendations from the study Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010.

The meeting is scheduled June 13-15.

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VATICAN CITY
The Irish Times

PADDY AGNEW

The Holy See senior spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi, last night confirmed media reports that cases of clerical child abuse in the disgraced, ultra-conservative Legionaries of Christ movement have been reported to the Vatican.

“The relevant superiors followed the norms in force, signalling to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) some cases that have come to light from several decades ago,” Fr Lombardi told reporters.

Vatican insiders say the CDF is investigating paedophilia accusations against seven Legionary priests. Founded in Mexico in 1941 by the late Marcial Maciel, the movement has been at the centre of bitter controversy in recent years after it was revealed that Fr Maciel had himself been a serial paedophile who had children by at least two women.

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NEW YORK
JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — Brooklyn’s district attorney has inflated the results of a program for combating child sexual abuse in the haredi Orthodox community, a New York Times investigation concluded.

Whereas the office of Brooklyn’s district attorney, Charles Hynes, has claimed that its Kol Tzedek program has led to 95 arrests, the Times reported Friday that its investigation suggests that these claims “appear to be inflated.”

The Kol Tzedek program was launched in 2009 by the district attorney’s office in order to combat sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s large haredi community and encourage reporting of such crimes. The office has faced criticism over its refusal to publicly identify abusers prosecuted as a result of Kol Tzedek.

The Times reported that using public records it was able to identify the names of suspects and other details related to 47 of the 95 cases.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua left an estate worth about $375,000 when he died in January and bequeathed nearly all of it to two institutions central to the church he led for 15 years: St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Bevilacqua’s four-page will, filed in Montgomery County, shows he also left $25,000 to his nephew and executor, the Msgr. John Alesandro.

He gave $5,000 to pay for Mass intentions, in minimum $20 increments, at the Diocese of Rockville Center, N.Y., where Alesandro serves. Bevilacqua was born nearby in Brooklyn, and later served as an auxiliary bishop there.

He was 88 when he died Jan. 31 at the Wynnewood seminary, where he had lived since retiring as archbishop in 2003.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
The Plain Dealer

By Michael O’Malley, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It’s been nearly a month since Bishop Richard Lennon announced he would reopen 12 closed churches in the diocese, but so far no shuttered sanctuaries have been resurrected.

As they wait, parishioners from some of the moribund parishes have begun organizing committees in preparation for the reopenings, which the diocese this week said are in process, although it gave no timetable.

At St. Mary of Bedford, parishioners have formed a parish council, a finance committee and a music committee. And they have tied blue and white bows and a “Welcome Home” sign on the front of their church, which was closed by Lennon 2 1/2 years ago as part of a diocesewide downsizing.

“We’ve got our committees organized,” said St. Mary parishioner Carol Szczepanik. “We’re just waiting for the bishop.”

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

By RAY RIVERA and SHARON OTTERMAN

Published: May 11, 2012

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Friday sharply criticized the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, over his handling of child sexual abuse cases among the borough’s large ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

Mr. Bloomberg said through a spokesman that he “completely disagrees” with Mr. Hynes’s decision to not object to the position of an influential ultra-Orthodox advocacy group on reporting allegations of child sexual abuse. The group announced last year that adherent Jews must obtain permission from a rabbi before reporting such allegations to district attorneys or the police.

The group’s position could conflict with a state law that requires teachers, counselors and others to report allegations immediately to the authorities.

“Any abuse allegations should be brought to law enforcement, who are trained to assess their accuracy and act appropriately,” said a spokesman for the mayor, Marc LaVorgna.

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FLORIDA
Tampa Bay Times

By Tony Marrero, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, May 12, 2012

BROOKSVILLE — A well-known former youth pastor accused of having sex with a 17-year-old congregant has pleaded no contest to a lesser charge, heading off a jury trial scheduled to begin next month.

Brian Brijbag, 36, was charged with two counts unlawful sexual activity with a minor after the teen came forward in April 2011 and claimed she had two sexual encounters with Brijbag, one of them at his home and one in his office at First Baptist Church of Brooksville. With a trial looming, Brijbag on Thursday pleaded no contest to one count of child abuse.

The plea does not come with a conviction or formal admission of guilt, nor will Brijbag’s name be added to the state’s sex offender registry.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Sun

By JAMIE PYATT

AN ex-altar boy cleared of killing a priest was yesterday convicted of murdering his gay lover after he was freed.

He wrongly suspected the 57-year-old supermarket worker was a paedophile. Hunnisett was jailed for eight years in 2002 for killing alleged paedophile the Rev Ronald Glazebrook, 81.

He was acquitted at a retrial in 2010 when he said he had been protecting himself from the priest’s advances. Just four months later, he killed Mr Bick at his studio flat in Bexhill, East Sussex, by smashing him over the head five times.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By ANDREW ROSENTHAL

The men who run the Catholic Church seem to have a lot of time on their hands.

In April, the Vatican criticized the leadership conference that represents 80 percent of American Catholic nuns for promoting “radical feminist themes.” The Vatican felt the nuns were focusing too much on economic injustice while keeping “silent” on abortion and same-sex marriage. Silly nuns, worrying about poverty instead of trying to break up loving couples.

Meanwhile, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has set its sights on an even bigger offender against piety and morality – the Girl Scouts of America.

According to NPR, the Bishop’s committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth is conducting an inquiry into whether the Girl Scouts have “problematic relationships with other organizations.” NPR says that’s code for Planned Parenthood.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

BREDA O’BRIEN

‘A CRISIS is a terrible thing to waste.” This adage, coined by economist Paul Rohmer and adapted by Obama adviser Rahm Emmanuel, suggests that when everything seems to be falling apart, there are opportunities to do things differently and better.

The phrase keeps running through my head recently. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland report on the Fr Kevin Reynolds case, and the way that RTÉ has reacted, to me is a perfect example of a waste of a crisis.

It is being spun as a one-off failure, and I believe that Aoife Kavanagh is being scapegoated in order to maintain this fiction.

Helen Shaw, former head of RTÉ radio, and currently head of award-winning transmedia company Athena Media, is very interesting on this. (See her blog at www.athenamedia.ie/ blog/)

Quite rightly, Shaw says: “The emphasis on the reporter . . . and the media’s portrayal of her as ‘shamed’ and ‘disgraced’ obscures the fact that layers of management lay between her and the programme’s transmission. She had an executive producer, a head of department and a head of division above her, and they had RTÉ legal affairs advice.”

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WISCONSIN
Fox 11

APPLETON – Former Green Bay Bishop Adam Maida, now a retired Cardinal in Detroit, Bishop David Ricken, and Bishop Robert Morneau, are among the witnesses who could be called next week at a civil trial against the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay.

Todd and Troy Merryfield sued the diocese, claiming it committed fraud by repeatedly transferring a priest without telling parishioners of the priest’s history of abuse. The diocese says it had no knowledge of abuse committed by former priest John Feeney.

Both sides submitted their witness lists to the court Friday.

Other potential witnesses include the Merryfields themselves; the introduction of prior testimony of Bishop Aloysious Wycislo – who died in 2005 but led the Diocese from 1968-1983; and prior testimony of Feeney.

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VATICAN CITY
The New York Times

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

Published: May 11, 2012

VATICAN CITY — The Legion of Christ, a powerful but troubled worldwide religious order whose late founder became enmeshed in a sex scandal years ago, said Friday that the Vatican was investigating seven Legion priests for alleged sexual abuse of minors.

The investigation cast a new shadow upon an order already struggling to move beyond revelations that its charismatic founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, had fathered several children and molested underage seminarians.

On Friday, the Legion said that after looking into “some allegations of gravely immoral acts and more serious offenses” committed by some Legionaries, internal preliminary investigations “concluded that seven had a semblance of truth.” Those cases were forwarded to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that handles investigations of sexual abuse, the Legion said in a statement.

The Vatican confirmed that the Congregation was investigating “cases of abuse” carried out by Legionaries but did not address the allegations. The inquiry was first reported by The Associated Press.

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CALIFORNIA
The Press Enterprise

BY DAVID OLSON The Press Enterprise STAFF WRITER
dolson@pe.com
Published: 11 May 2012

The Ontario priest convicted of molesting a 12-year-old boy was re-arrested Wednesday, May 9, for a probation violation because he allegedly attended a party with children present, the San Bernardino County Probation Department confirmed.

Probation spokesman Chris Condon said Friday that officers had been investigating reports the Rev. Alejandro “Alex” Jose Castillo was at the party on April 22 and that children were present.

The party was one day after his release from jail, where he had served less than eight months of a 1-year sentence for the 2008 molestation.

Court documents show Castillo allegedly violated sections of his probation agreement that ordered him not to associate with males under 18 or frequent places where minors of either gender congregate without the presence of an adult approved by the probation department.

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VATICAN CITY
The Wall Street Journal

By STACY MEICHTRY

ROME—The Vatican has launched an investigation into whether seven priests in the Legion of Christ sexually abused minors, the Vatican and the Legion said on Friday, opening a new chapter in the prominent religious order’s struggle to recover from a scandal that disgraced its founder.

The Legion, an order of priests founded in Mexico in 1941, said in a statement that it had reported the cases of alleged abuse to the Vatican’s watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, after a preliminary investigation by the order concluded that the allegations had “a semblance of truth.” One of the cases involved alleged abuse that occurred recently while the other cases involved alleged abuse from decades ago, the Legion said.

The Legion said other priests in the order—in addition to the seven under investigation by the Vatican—had faced allegations of sexual abuse. Investigations by church officials and, in some cases, civil authorities cleared those clerics of wrongdoing, the Legion said.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi confirmed an investigation was under way, adding that the Legion had complied with Holy See rules requiring church officials to report credible allegations of abuse to the Vatican and to restrict the ministry of the priests involved.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on May 11, 2012

The bar for criminal prosecution in child sex cases is pretty high. Still, we are disappointed that a grand jury feels that there is not enough evidence now to prosecute Msgr. Thomas Brady. We hope that others who may have seen, suspected, or suffered Brady’s crimes will come forward and make a report to the DA’s office. Only this way will the case be able to proceed.

Brady remains on “forced administrative leave.” That strongly suggests church officials think the accusations against him are credible. However, kids are safer when predators are jailed, so we urge every current and former church employee and member in the Diocese of Brooklyn to find the courage to call police if they have any knowledge or suspicions about Brady.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on May 11, 2012

For months or years, Catholic officials have put kids at risk by staying silent about these credible allegations of heinous crimes. Each of them should have been publicly announced the moment they were deemed credible. And in each case, high ranking church officials should have publicly begged anyone who saw, suspected or suffered these clerics’ crimes to call police and get help.

Instead, for their own callous, selfish reasons, Catholic authorities – perhaps dozens of them – said nothing. Their silence and inaction gave each of these predators even more time to destroy evidence, fabricate alibis, intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, discredit whistleblowers and even flee to other nations.

Shame on every Catholic Church employee or member who knew or suspected these crimes and chose self-serving, comfortable silence over their duty to protect the vulnerable.

And given the Legion’s long, alarming track record with children’s safety, we frankly do not believe these child molesting clerics are being kept away from kids.

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NEW YORK
The Wall Street Journal

By SOPHIA HOLLANDER

A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews have rented out Citi Field for a meeting later this month intended to draw thousands of men to discuss the dangers of the Internet and formulate a communitywide response.

The event, set for May 20, has been publicized internationally within the Orthodox Jewish press and tapped into a world-wide debate over how to reconcile modern life with the Internet’s perceived moral dangers.

It is a concern that transcends the Orthodox community, organizers note. …

But the meeting, which some published reports have estimated will cost nearly $2 million, has drawn a series of sharp attacks—for its men-only policy, for instance, and for its cost, criticized as extravagant at a time when many families are struggling.

The Hasidic rabbis wanted women to attend, but “logistics did not permit for it,” said Mr. Kobre, noting that in this community “a religious gathering of this nature is gender-separated.”

A live video-feed will be streamed to six locations around the metropolitan area for women to watch, he said.

Other critics say the event is a smokescreen for religious leaders seeking to consolidate control over their congregations by limiting access to outside information.

A counterprotest—dubbed “The Internet Is Not the Problem” and expected to draw hundreds—is scheduled for across the street from the stadium event. It accuses Jewish leadership of scapegoating the Internet while avoiding a more pressing problem: child abuse.

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UNITED STATES
The Times-Picayune

By John Simerman, The Times-Picayune

A national victims group at the forefront of revealing clergy sexual abuse allegations against the Roman Catholic Church may soon be forced to reveal its own inner workings, the Chicago Tribune reports today. The report says a Missouri judge has ruled that decades of correspondence of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, be turned over.

The ruling would include correspondence with victims, lawyers and journalists that the group considers confidential. It comes in the case of a Kansas City priest who faces abuse allegations.

Members of the Chicago-based group, which has chapters across the country, fear that the church is pursuing a frontal attack. The group says the ruling could chill victims from coming forward to SNAP. The St. Louis Archdiocese, the report said, is pursuing a similar strategy in another case.

Lawyers for the church argue that their aim is not to violate the privacy of victims, witnesses and others. The correspondence, they say, would shed light on whether plaintiffs who have sued the church revealed their alleged abuse to SNAP earlier, falsifying claims of “repressed memory” under coaching by the group.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

by Kathy Kane

I attended the trial on Wednesday. It was one of the more uneventful days with a lengthy cross examination of a detective regarding documents related to Fr. Brennan. Instead, I’d like to share what happened during the break. “Had it” whose name is Kate, flew in to attend a few days of the trial. We went to lunch with Beth, a frequent commentor on C4C, Steve, a clergy abuse victim and Bob, a retired school teacher and former seminarian. Steve attends the trial every day and Bob has joined a few survivors and family members at the lunch break each day. It’s an interesting mix: Beth, who is a practicing Catholic very involved on a parish level; Kate who has struggled with practicing her faith in recent years; a victim; and a former seminarian.

I wish everyone could have joined us because the conversations we had are the ones that need to happen on the parish level and probably never will. Steve shared that he was a former altar boy under Cardinal Krol and the honor he felt in that role as a child, and then later the sting of the rejection by the Church as a clergy abuse victim. When Bob was asked about the climate of St Charles Seminary in the 1960’s, he was very honest that he had a positive experience. He also spoke of his frustration when a problem seminarian he reported went on to be ordained. Beth who is seeking a pastoral response by the clergy to our victims, asked Steve if he would even want priests to join at the vigils with us. Kate shared her observations that a priest in court that morning, who was there to support Msgr. Lynn, seemed to literally turn his back in on Fr. Brennan. I guess pastoral concern is a pick and choose option.

I told Steve and Bob what Susan and I hope to accomplish with the C4C site and that we felt that the side calling all priests pedophiles is no different than the side calling all victims liars. When two sides of opposing viewpoints do nothing but scream at each other, no children are protected and no victims are comforted. Bob, who I just met today, seems to be a thoughtful, prayerful type asked me if I was still Catholic. I started to answer with, “well my kids…well I am angry…,” and then simply looked at him and said “I don’t know.” He answered, “I understand.”

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VATICAN CITY
AFP

VATICAN CITY — The ultra-conservative Legion of Christ movement on Friday said it had reported seven suspected cases of child abuse by its priests to the Vatican for investigation under new anti-abuse rules.

Six of the cases “are from decades ago” and one “refers to recent events,” the movement said in a statement, adding that it had taken precautions such as “restricting the priestly ministry of the accused” to protect children.

The Legion did not give further details about the cases but said it had received allegations about abuse “in several countries” and that internal preliminary investigations found that seven “had a semblance of truth.”

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said: “The relevant superiors (of the movement) followed the norms in force, signalling to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith some cases that have come to light from decades ago.”

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NEW YORK
Emes Ve-Emunah

An article in the Wall Street Journal reports that the upcoming Asifah on safe internet use has already been sold out. The capacity of Citi Field Stadium – which they have rented for this event is 42,000. This should not surprise anyone who has been paying attention. The organizers have been pushing this event hard! So hard in fact that in one reported case, a relatively moderate Charedi school has required all fathers and their sons to pay the ten dollar per seat admission charge to attend. I have no doubt that other schools have done the same.

I say fathers and sons because women have been barred for modesty reasons. Charedim tend to have separate seating for men and women at their large public events. Chasidim have an added requirement of a Mechitza. Without it they will not attend such an event.

Building one for this event would be cost prohibitive. I can understand this since the upcoming Agudah Siyum HaShas has spent about a half million dollars to construct one for their event. Were women allowed to attend, the potential attendance would be at least double that number. I guess 2 million dollars is their limit. Internet porn is a serious problem but not THAT serious! Women can watch in on the internet via a live stream. But I digress.

But there is something else happening that day. From the Journal:

A counterprotest—dubbed “The Internet Is Not the Problem” and expected to draw hundreds—is scheduled for across the street from the stadium event. It accuses Jewish leadership of scapegoating the Internet while avoiding a more pressing problem: child abuse.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

May 11, 2012 by Susan Matthews

I ask this question to survivors on behalf of other survivors struggling with healing. I know that healing is ongoing, but what has helped you cope and heal so far? What has hurt or slowed your healing process?

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

May. 11, 2012
By NCR Staff and Catholic News Service

Bishop Anthony J. O’Connell, whose admission of inappropriate conduct with high school seminarians decades ago led to his resignation as head of the Palm Beach, Fla., diocese in 2002, died May 4 at Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner, S.C.

The Irish-born bishop had lived under supervision at the abbey since his resignation. His funeral Mass was May 7, also at the abbey.

O’Connell died after a long illness, less than a week before his 74th birthday.

A priest of the Jefferson City, Mo., diocese, he had been bishop of Knoxville, Tenn., from its founding in 1988 until he was appointed bishop of Palm Beach in November 1998.

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NEW YORK
New York Magazine

By Joe Coscarelli

Last month the Jewish Daily Forward reported that Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes was keeping the names of ultra-Orthodox Jews charged with, and even convicted of, sex crimes secret because of the “very tight-knit and insular” nature of the community. Victims’ rights groups believe that such protections endanger children and encourage a culture of cover-ups that has long persisted among Hasidic Jews, as detailed in this 2006 New York story by Robert Kolker. Now the New York Times is following up with their own series on sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, and Hynes does not come out looking good.

Late last year, Hynes touted the success of his Kol Tzedek (“Voice of Justice”) campaign meant to “ensure safety in the community and to fully support those affected by abuse,” while also being sensitive to the Hasidic culture. But the Times reports today that Hynes’s numbers are “inflated”:

Through an extensive search of court and other public records, The Times determined the names of suspects and other details in 47 of the 95 cases attributed to the Kol Tzedek program. More than half of the 47 seemed to have little to do with the program, according to the court records and interviews.

Some did not involve ultra-Orthodox victims, which the program is specifically intended to help. More than one-third involved arrests before the program began, as early as 2007. Many came in through standard reporting channels, like calls to the police.

Evidence that the D.A. is beholden to powerful religious interests can be seen in light sentences for admitted abusers and the withholding of their names, with Hynes “essentially allowing rabbis to act as gatekeepers.” In the words of one expert, “That’s exactly what the Catholic Church did, what the Latter-day Saints did, what the Jehovah’s Witnesses did.”

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NEW YORK
Shalom Life

By: Sammy Hudes
Published: May 11th, 2012

A Hasidic man living in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn told the New York Times he and his family were shunned after he accused a prominent member of the community of sexually abusing his mentally disabled son, leading to the alleged abuser’s arrest.

After learning that his mentally disabled teenage son had been molested in a Jewish ritual bathhouse in Brooklyn over two years ago, Mordechai Jungreis decided to notify the police, however this was quickly met with backlash from the local community.

Jungreis says his answering machine was filled with anonymous messages cursing him for reporting a fellow Jew and his family’s landlord kicked them out of their apartment. Even old friends of the family would storm past them while walking through the streets.

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SANTA CLARA (CA)
National Catholic Reporter

May. 11, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Ten years after widespread news coverage of sexual abuse by priests rocked the U.S. Catholic church, hierarchical response to the continuing crisis indicates the church has “lost its ability to be a self-correcting institution,” Jesuit Fr. Tom Reese told a symposium of experts on clergy abuse today.

Reese delivered the keynote speech this morning at a daylong conference titled “Clergy Sexual Abuse Ten Years Later,” being held at Jesuit-run Santa Clara University. Following Reese is a series of panel discussions from a wide-range of sex abuse experts.

Among the speakers are some who firmly defend the U.S. bishops’ response to the crisis, particularly since the implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002 and others who sometimes vehemently point to its weaknesses.

The presenters include Kathleen McChesney, the first director of the U.S. bishops office of child and youth protection; Ohio Judge Michael Merz, a former member and chair of the bishops’ National Review Board; Dominican Fr. Tom Doyle, a canon lawyer known for authoring one of the first reports on the subject; and Barbara Blaine, founder and president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

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VATIKAN
Spiegel (Deutschland)

Von Simone Utler

Es geht um mindestens sieben Verdachtsfälle sexuellen Missbrauchs Minderjähriger: Die Legionäre Christi haben dem Vatikan mehrere mutmaßliche Vergehen ihrer Priester gemeldet. Der verstorbene Gründer Marcial Maciel Degollado brachte den Orden in Verruf, weil er sich an Kindern vergangen hatte.

Hamburg – Der Mexikaner Marcial Maciel Degollado bescherte dem Vatikan einen der größten Skandale des 20. Jahrhunderts. Der vor vier Jahren verstorbene Gründer und frühere Leiter des konservativen Ordens Legionäre Christi predigte Keuschheit, Armut und Gehorsam – und verging sich jahrzehntelang an Seminaristen. Außerdem zeugte er mehrere Kinder, die er ebenfalls sexuell missbraucht haben soll.

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UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

The left-wing National Catholic Reporter newspaper is suggesting that a newly discovered 27-year-old letter somehow may be evidence that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles knew that a priest it had welcomed from England had been accused of child abuse there.

In fact, even a cursory look at the 1985 letter reveals that such a claim is blatantly untrue!

The author of the feckless piece is Joshua J. McElwee, a “staff writer” at the discordant publication.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Archbishop of Dublin confirmed this during today’s presentation of the 50th Eucharistic Congress due to take place in the Irish capital from 10-17 June

Alessandro Speciale
Vatican City

Presenting the upcoming 50th International Eucharistic Congress to journalists, the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin – who has been instrumental in the internal clean-up of the Church across the world – said this would be no sumptuous and celebratory event but a small and “modest” affair. The event, which will run from 10 to 17 June 2012, has the potential to push for steps forward along the path towards “renewal” and “reconciliation”. This will be important for the Irish Church given the battering it received after the explosion of the paedophilia scandal which shows no signs of ending.

As has already been announced, Benedict XVI will not be participating in the event: “We invited him” but the journey towards renewal is going to be a long one, Martin said in response to requests for clarification on this point. He went on to say that a papal visit to Ireland would be a vital part of the process towards renewal of the Irish Church and must represent the culmination of this renewal, not a step in-between. Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops will attend the event on behalf of the Pope and will preside over the opening liturgy on Sunday 10 June.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A former altar boy cleared of killing and dismembering a Sussex vicar has been found guilty of the murder of a 57-year-old man whom he met for sex.

Christopher Hunnisett was convicted of murdering Peter Bick less than two years after being cleared at the Court of Appeal of killing Reverend Ronald Glazebrook, in 2001.

During his trial for Mr Bick’s murder, Hunnisett told jurors he wanted to rid the world of “paedophiles” and had drawn up a hit list of 900 men.

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VATICAAN
RKnieuws (Nederland)

ROME (RKnieuws.net) – Het Vaticaan voert een onderzoek naar zeven priesters van de Legionairs van Christus wegens seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Zach Hiner on May 10, 2012

A student may not graduate from college this spring because of his refusal to be silent about child sex abuse and cover up case in New Hampshire. He is Chris Peterman, and the case involves Chuck Phelps and Bob Jones University in SC.

It is unconscionable that a student could be denied his chance at graduation speaking out about a possible sexual-abuse cover-up, but unfortunately, witnesses and whistleblowers are often the targets of smear campaigns when they attempt to report what they may have seen.

We commend Chris Peterman for his bravery in searching for the truth regarding Chuck Phelps and his alleged impropriety. Peterman was suspended from Bob Jones University in South Carolina for questioning the reappointment of Phelps to the Board of Trustees. While a pastor at a Concord, NH Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, Phelps forced a teenage rape victim to apologize in public for her “sin” of pregnancy, and allegedly covered-up evidence of rape.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on May 10, 2012

Our hearts ache for the brave victims of ultra-orthodox child molesters. And we extend our deepest sympathies to their suffering families, especially Mordechai Jungries and Pearl Engelman.

Our hearts also ache for those few who have publicly and privately supported those victims and sadly, often paid a high price for their courage and compassion. We are grateful to Justice Guston Reichbach of Brooklyn (who called out community members for supporting the criminals and not the victims), Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg of Williamsburg (who has set up a hotline to urge people to call police with information and provide victims and their families with advice), and Rabbi Tzvi Gluck (who helps victims bring abuse cases to the prosecutor in Queens NY).

At the same time, we hope that Yona Weinberg and Joseph Gelbman who have committed horrific crimes, someday face more serious consequences for their wrongdoing. And we hope that Meir Dascalowitz is convicted and kept away from children for a long time.

Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zweibel is sorely misguided. Suspicions or knowledge of child sex crimes should virtually always be reported to the independent professionals in law enforcement and almost never to the biased and often self-serving amateurs in religious institutions.

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KANSAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on May 10, 2012

A Roeland Park priest has been accused of molesting a boy at a youth outing in the 1980s.

We applaud this brave survivor for coming forward and reporting his experience. By doing so, he has taken a tremendous step towards keeping kids safe. And we believe he has helped his own recovery from this trauma.

We hope that anyone who may have seen, suspected, or suffered crimes at the hands of Fr. John Wisner will come forward and make a report to police. Children are safer when survivors are able to break their silence and report their abuse. We hope that others are inspired by the man who finally broke his silence today.

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ROME
Irish Central

By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Friday, May 11, 2012

Recommendations from New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan are believed to have played a part in the transfer of three priests from the Irish College in Rome.

Cardinal Dolan was part of an apostolic visitation last year which also took in St Patrick’s College in Maynooth and the Milltown Institute and All Hallows College in Dublin.

The Irish Times reports that the transfer of the priests back to Ireland from Rome was based on a summary of all seven visitation reports published last March.

The report called for ‘a more systematic preparation’ for priestly life in the seminaries.

The Irish Times says it also suggested measures ‘to ensure that seminary buildings be exclusively used for seminarians of the local church and those preparing them for the priesthood, to ensure a well-founded priestly identity.

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NEW YORK
Brooklyn Daily

By Colin Mixson

A grand jury failed to indict a Marine Park priest who police say tried to molest two teenage boys — but the 77-year-old spiritual leader has yet to return to his parish, Brooklyn Daily has learned.

Peter Spencer, a spokesman for Richmond County District Attorney Daniel Donovan, admitted this week that the grand jury didn’t think prosecutors had enough evidence to take Monsignor Thomas Brady to trial, stopping the case in its tracks.

Yet Brady, who’s had several strokes and is currently suffering from lung cancer, won’t be returning to Good Shepherd Church on Batchelder Street anytime soon: he’s still in the trouble with the Diocese.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Der Westen

Berlin. Stephanie zu Guttenberg hat der Bundesregierung im Kampf gegen Kindesmissbrauch Versagen vorgeworfen. Sie hatte durch eine Sex-Täterjagd bei RTL 2 Schlagzeilen gemacht – und hofft auf eine Fortsetzung der Sendung. Die Frage, ob sie mit ihrer Familie nach Deutschland zurückkehre, ließ sie offen.

Stephanie zu Guttenberg findet keine guten Worte für ihr Heimatland: Deutschland sei, was den Umgang mit dem Thema Kindesmissbrauch angehe, ein Entwicklungsland, sagte die Frau des ehemaligen Bundesverteidigungsministers Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU) am Donnerstag in Berlin anlässlich des zehnjährigen Bestehens der deutschen Sektion der Kinderschutzorganisation Innocence in Danger. Zu Guttenberg ist Präsidentin des Vereins, der 2010 unter anderem durch die Sendung “Tatort Internet” bei RTL 2 in die Kritik geraten war. Eine Fortsetzung der Sendung sei zwar wünschenswert, allerdings derzeit nicht geplant, sagte sie.

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INDIA
Daily Bhaskar

New Delhi: In a shocking incident, a priest of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has been accused of sodomizing another priest.

According to the reports, a governing body commissioner of ISCKON along with three others have been booked on the complaint of a priest, who alleged that the other priest had unnanatural sex with him, while the society officials supressed the issue.

The incident dates back to April 8 when the priest had sodomized the complainaint in Kurukshetra. Notably, the priest had earlier also attempted to have unnatural sex with him on February 15.

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IRELAND
Galway Bay FM

May 11, 2012

It’s been revealed that RTE’s current affairs department spent 60 thousand euro on travel costs for its “Mission to prey” programme, which libeled Ahascragh priest, Fr Kevin Reynolds.

The Irish Times reports that the overall cost of the programme was 184 thousand euro, which is more than the 137 thousand recorded in the BAI Anna Carragher report.

A spokesperson for RTE says the BAI figure quoted did not include staff salaries of 22 thousand and other costs.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Tom Gallagher on May. 10, 2012 NCR Today

Hats off to The Tablet, the international Catholic news weekly based in London, for two back-to-back stories. Last week you recall, writer Robert Mickens opened up the back story on the investigation into the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women’s Religions. Mickens laid out the work of the tag team of Arcbhishop-designate William Lori, of Bridgeport, Conn., en route to the Archdiocse of Baltimore, Maryland, and disgraced U.S. Cardinal Bernard Law.

Says Mickens:
Both Cardinal Law and Archbishop Lori (he was appointed to the prestigious see of Baltimore in March) have long supported women’s religious orders that have distanced themselves from the LCWR. Cardinal Law, 80, staffs his residence in Rome with the Mercy Sisters of Alma (Michigan) and Archbishop Lori, 61, helped set up several traditional communities of sisters during his tenure in Bridgeport (2001-12). All these communities, marked by their loyalty to the hierarchy, belong to the Conference of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR), which broke away from the LCWR in 1992.

Incidentally, Cardinal Law was a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious when it launched its own visitation – separate from the CDF investigation – of women’s communities in the US. According to news reports, that project was at least partially funded by the Knights of Columbus, a wealthy fraternal order of Catholic men for whom Archbishop Lori has been supreme chaplain since 2005. Under the leadership of an influential Washington lawyer and former Reagan White House official, Carl Anderson, the knights have increasingly backed conservative causes and routinely make sizeable donations to the Holy See. Mr Anderson is a member or consultor of several Vatican offices, and one of the five-man board of directors for the so-called Vatican Bank. His close association with the Vatican and Archbishop Lori, and the archbishop’s own determination to bring the LCWR into line, should not be underestimated.

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NEW YORK
The Guardian (United Kingdom)

Zoë Blackler in New York
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 May 2012

Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes has strongly defended his handling of child sexual abuse cases in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in the face of growing criticism from victims’ advocates.

Hynes has repeatedly refused to respond publicly to accusations – revealed by the Guardian in March – that he has allowed rabbinical leaders to get away with covering up decades of abuse.

Advocates have questioned his policy of keeping secret the identities of alleged offenders, the number of arrests for which he claims credit, and the intimidation of victims and their families who report abuse to the secular authorities.

But on Thursday night, Hynes, whose jurisdiction includes the world’s largest ultra-Orthodox community outside Israel, said: “The Brooklyn DA has the most active investigation, prosecution of any Orthodox members in the country. In LA or any major centre of Orthodox communities, there are no prosecutions.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier-Mail

Matthew Fynes-Clinton
From:The Courier-Mail
May 11, 2012

PETER Slipper, junior priest, political turncoat and former parliamentary Speaker, is “not naughty” but a “classic larrikin” who likes a second bottle of red, according to the archbishop who ordained him.

John Hepworth ordained Slipper as a deacon (subordinate clergyman) in the Traditional Anglican Communion in 2003, before his elevation to a priest five years later.

Hepworth, a former priest in both the standard Anglican and Catholic folds, created a storm last year when he revealed that as a seminarian and junior cleric, he was subjected to repeated rapes by Catholic clergy.

The Archbishop has suspended Slipper from his dual roles as priest and chancellor or senior legal officer of the TAC, pending the outcome of the current claims against him. (Slipper, while denying all allegations, has also stood aside as Speaker on full pay of $323,750.)

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ROME
Chiesa

by Sandro Magister

ROME, May 11, 2012 – “Windows open on the mystery”: this is the title of the conference with which, two days ago, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross broke the silence on one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, the French Jesuit Jean Daniélou, made a cardinal by Paul VI in 1969.

A silence that lasted almost forty years, and began with his passing away in 1974.

In effect, the memory of Daniélou is today reduced, for many, to the mystery of his death by heart attack, one May afternoon, at the home of a prostitute on the fourth floor of Rue Dulong 56 in Paris.

When in reality the true mystery on which Daniélou opened the windows to many, in his activity as a theologian and a spiritual man, is that of the triune God. One of his greatest works was entitled “An essay on the mystery of history.” A history not governed by chance, nor by necessity, but filled with the “magnalia Dei,” by the grandiose wonders of God, each more astonishing than the last.

Today, few of his books are still available for purchase. And yet they are still of extraordinary richness and freshness. Simple and yet very profound, as few theologians have been able to do over the last century, apart from him and that other champion of clarity named Joseph Ratzinger.

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CALIFORNIA
KPCC

By Don Frances

A Catholic priest released early from prison after molesting a boy in his parish has landed back in custody for violating his parole, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Alejandro Castillo, the former parish priest of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Ontario, spent several months in prison for molesting a 12-year-old boy, according to the San Bernardino Sun. He was let out on April 21, but ran afoul of the law on Wednesday, the Sun reports. He remains in custody without bail.

Castillo isn’t accused of molesting anyone this time, only of attending a party in his honor where young children were present — something he is strictly forbidden to do.

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IRELAND
Leitrim Observer

Published on Friday 11 May 2012

CARDINAL Sean Brady is understood to be “reflecting seriously on his future” amid new allegations of cover-ups by the Catholic Church – particularly the Kilmore Diocese in the Brendan Smyth child abuse scandal.

The fallout continues from a BBC documentary ‘The Shame of the Catholic Church’ which last week revealed that Cardinal Brady had a list of children’s names who were being abused but failed to inform gardai and their parents in 1975. The cardinal said as a “note taker” he gave the information to his superior, Bishop Francis Mac Kiernan a native of Aughawillan Co Leitrim, but no action was taken against Smyth and he was able to continue abusing children for a further 20 years.

According to a statement issued by current Bishop of Kilmore, Dr Leo O’Reilly, in 1984 Smyth asked the then Bishop, the late Dr Francis MacKiernan, to lift the ban put in place in 1975.

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VATICAN CITY
RTE News

The Vatican is investigating seven priests from the Legion of Christ religious order for alleged sexual abuse of minors and another two for other alleged crimes.

In a statement, the Legion confirmed it had referred seven cases of alleged abuse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

All but one of the seven cases involves alleged abuse dating from decades ago; one case involves recent events, the Legion said.

A preliminary investigation cleared two other priests accused of abuse, the order said.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

By NICOLE WINFIELD 05/11/12

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican is investigating seven priests from the troubled Legion of Christ religious order for alleged sexual abuse of minors and another two for other alleged crimes, The Associated Press has learned.

The investigations mark the first known Vatican action against Legion priests for alleged sexual assault following the scandal of the Legion’s founder, who was long held up as a model by the Vatican despite credible accusations – later proven – that he raped and molested his seminarians.

The Legion, which is now under Vatican receivership, has insisted that the crimes of its late founder, the Rev. Marciel Maciel, were his alone.

But the Vatican investigation of other Legion priests indicates that the same culture of secrecy that Maciel created within the order to cover his crimes enabled other priests to abuse children – just as abusive clergy of other religious orders and dioceses have done around the world.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post UK

Huffington Post UK | By Felicity Morse

Seven priests from the secretive Catholic religious order the Legion Of Christ are being investigated by the Vatican over claims of child sex abuse, the Associated Press has reported.

Two other priests from the conservative order are also being investigated for other alleged crimes, according to the news agency, after the Legion issued a statement to AP.

The Legion of Christ has already been forced to cope with a wave of scandal after it was proved that the order’s late founder, Reverend Marcial Maciel Degollado, had abused and raped students of the Legion.

In the wake of the revelations, the Vatican insisted that the crimes of Degollado, who was also a close ally of Pope John Paul II, had been his alone, and the Legion was to continue under their leadership.

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VATICAN CITY
Eagle Radio (United Kingdom)

The Vatican is investigating seven priests from the troubled Legion of Christ religious order for alleged sexual abuse of minors, according to the Associated Press news agency.

All but one case involves alleged abuse dating from decades ago, the Legion said.

Two other priests are also under investigation for alleged sacramental violations, believed to involve using spiritual direction to have inappropriate relations with women.

It is the first time the Vatican is known to have taken action against Legion priests for alleged sexual assault following the scandal of the order’s founder.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Washington Informer

Written by Michelle Booth Cole, Special to The Informer
Friday, 11 May 2012

When I heard about the allegations of child sexual abuse at a local church-run daycare center and saw on the news a mother asking how she could ever feel comfortable sending her child there again, it took me immediately back to what happened at my daughters’ school in 2008.

In the spring of 2008, my eldest daughter’s third-grade teacher at Beauvoir, the National Cathedral elementary school, was alleged to have sexually abused students at the school. The revelation was shocking to many. But it confirmed what I see regularly in my work: perpetrators can lurk anywhere, even in our midst.

Beauvoir’s response to the crisis offers a guide for daycare centers and any organizations that serve children. Beauvoir’s head of school, Paula Carreiro, responded with integrity and accountability. She took every possible step to minimize the risk that such a crime would ever happen again at Beauvoir.

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UTAH
Deseret News

By Geoff Liesik, Deseret News

DUCHESNE — A judge dismissed all charges Thursday against an LDS bishop accused of telling a teenage girl not to seek a protective order and failing to report the girl’s disclosure that she had been sexually abused by a teenage relative.

Bishop Gordon Moon was charged in 8th District Court last August with witness tampering, a third-degree felony, and failure to report abuse, a class B misdemeanor.

On Thursday, Judge Lyle Anderson dismissed those charges in the middle of a hearing at the request of Duchesne County Attorney Stephen Foote. The prosecutor’s request came after Moon testified under oath that he should have handled his interview with the girl differently and should have contacted a legal hotline operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The decision to dismiss surprised Moon and his attorney.

“In 20 years of practicing law, I’ve never seen it operate like this,” defense attorney David Leavitt said after court.

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UTAH
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: May 11, 2012

DUCHESNE, Utah — A Utah judge dismissed all charges against a Mormon bishop accused of failing to report a teenage girl’s disclosure that she had been sexually abused.

The Deseret News reports (http://bit.ly/LuKIuQ ) Gordon Moon, of Duchesne, was cleared Thursday on charges of felony witness tampering and misdemeanor failure to report abuse.

Authorities say a 16-year-old girl, who belonged to Moon’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation, confided in him that she’d been sexually abused by a teenage relative. Prosecutors had argued that Moon advised her not to seek a protective order, and broke state law by failing to tell police about the girl’s disclosure.

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VATICAN CITY
Sky News (United Kingdom)

The Vatican is investigating seven priests from the troubled Legion of Christ religious order for alleged sexual abuse of minors, according to the Associated Press news agency.

All but one case involves alleged abuse dating from decades ago, the Legion said.

Two other priests are also under investigation for alleged sacramental violations, believed to involve using spiritual direction to have inappropriate relations with women.

It is the first time the Vatican is known to have taken action against Legion priests for alleged sexual assault following the scandal of the order’s founder.

The church had previously insisted the crimes of the late Reverend Marcial Maciel were his alone.

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NORTH CAROLINA
Care2

by Paul Canning

The North Carolina pastor who sermonized that boys should get “a good punch” if they were being too effeminate now says that physical discipline depends on their weight.

Pastor Sean Harris of Berean Baptist Church in Fayetteville drew international opprobrium with his rant, which included telling his laughing parishioners:

Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok?

In a strange new interview (watch below) with local Justin Griffith, Harris responded to a question about whether he was literally recommending the use of a rod:

“No, of course not. We may use some instrument of discipline in a careful and appropriate way. Depending on the age of the child, depending on the weight of the child.”

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FORT SMITH (AR)
Arkansas Catholic

By Maryanne Meyerriecks
Fort Smith Correspondent

FORT SMITH — Father Greg Luyet, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church, stepped up to the pulpit the weekend of April 21-22 to speak out against child abuse, particularly sexual abuse of minors.

He was joined by ministers throughout the area, rallying together to challenge their congregations to protect children and inviting them to attend a Step Up, Speak Out Rally at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith the following Saturday.

Immaculate Conception parishioner Sam Sicard got the idea for “Step Up, Speak Out” while listening to news coverage of child sexual abuse accusations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky in 2011. After hearing statistics on the prevalence of child sexual abuse, he gathered together a group of community and church leaders, business people and others to plan a rally to raise awareness. They formed an organization under the auspices of the United Way and planned a media campaign using Facebook and other social media to network and educate people about violence against children.

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IRELAND
Church Times (United Kingdom)

by Gregg Ryan Ireland Correspondent

THE Roman Catholic Primate of All Ireland, Cardinal Seán Brady, is resisting calls for his resignation, after revelations that he failed to inform parents of children who were being abused by the late Brendan Smyth, a paedophile priest (News, 19 March; 21 May 2010), after he acted as note-taker at an inquiry in 1975, where a 14-year-old boy gave evidence.

At the time, Dr Brady was work­ing in the diocese of Kilmore, and already held a doctorate in Canon Law. His Bishop, the late Dr Francis McKiernan, asked him to be part of a three-member canonical inquiry into the allegations against Fr Smyth, a priest of the Norbertine order.

The boy, Brendan Boland, gave the names and addresses of five other children who were also being abused by Smyth, but their parents were never told. As a result, some of them were continually abused for a further 15 years.

On Wednesday of last week, a BBC Northern Ireland documen­tary, This World: The Shame of the Catholic Church, was aired, giving details of Cardinal Brady’s failure to alert the children’s parents. His response was that he was merely the note-taker, and that even Dr McKiernan had limited control over Smyth, whose Abbot at the time had full jurisdiction. He said that he was devastated on learning that Smyth had continued to abuse the named children for further years.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

A nun who was sexually abused as a minor by a predator priest called out Monsignor William J. Lynn Thursday from her perch on the witness stand.

It was a dramatic confrontation as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex abuse trial wrapped up its seventh week of testimony. Lynn is on trial for allegedly conspiring to endanger the welfare of children by allowing abusive priests to continue in ministry

All along, the defense mantra has been that the monsignor was just a cog in the wheel down at archdiocese headquarters on 222 N. 17th St., and that the ultimate villain in the case was the guy who wielded the ultimate power in the archdiocese, the conveniently dead Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua.

But the nun on the witness stand refused to play along.

It started when Thomas Bergstrom, a defense lawyer for Msgr. Lynn, tried to get the nun on cross-examination to agree that Msgr. Lynn did not have the power to remove a pastor who had sexually abused her and at least 10 other young women.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
dotCommonweal

Posted by Paul Moses

The trial of Monsignor William Lynn on charges of child endangerment for allegedly permitting predatory priests to continue in ministry took an interesting turn today with the testimony of a sister who said Lynn could’ve removed an abusive priest if he really wanted to.

The sister, not named in news accounts because she was herself a sexual-abuse victim as a girl, challenged Monsignor Lynn’s defense, which is based on the assertion that he didn’t have authority to remove a priest from his job.

The sister said Lynn, who was secretary of the Office of Clergy in the Philadelphia archdiocese, had the power to at least suggest removing a miscreant priest, and that given his position, the archbishop would have likely signed off. And besides, she said, there was another choice: “You can also say, ‘I cannot do this.’ … You can walk away.”

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MISSOURI
Chicago Tribune

By Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune reporter

May 11, 2012
A prominent activist group in the Roman Catholic Church’s clergy-abuse crisis is fighting a Missouri judge’s ruling to open more than two decades of correspondence with victims, lawyers, witnesses and journalists thought to be confidential.

Lawyers for a Kansas City priest accused of abuse said the documentation will shed light on whether the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, commonly known as SNAP, has coached victims to fabricate claims of repressed memory. Lawyers for the St. Louis Archdiocese are pursuing the same strategy in a separate case.

But Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court Judge Ann Mesle’s ruling last month that SNAP must provide access to the documents has sent a chill through the community of sexual-abuse survivors who have leaned on SNAP for confidential support and protection they never thought they would get from the church, the group’s officers and members said.

“Rather than taking a look at themselves and reflecting on what the priests have done, the church has decided SNAP is an enemy to be crushed,” said Barbara Meyer, 66, of Chicago, who said she turned to SNAP when the Chicago Archdiocese ignored her allegations of priest abuse. “They’ve destroyed lives in a really ugly way … I don’t think much of a church like that. SNAP has given me my life back.”

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VATICAN CITY
Poughkeepsie Journal

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican is investigating seven priests from the troubled Legion of Christ religious order for alleged sexual abuse of minors and another two for other alleged crimes, The Associated Press has learned.

The investigations mark the first known Vatican action against Legion priests for alleged sexual assault following the scandal of the Legion’s founder, who was long held up as a model by the Vatican despite credible accusations — later proven — that he raped and molested his seminarians.

The Legion, which is now under Vatican receivership, has insisted that the crimes of its late founder, the Rev. Marciel Maciel, were his alone.

But the Vatican investigation of other Legion priests indicates that the same culture of secrecy that Maciel created within the order to cover his crimes enabled other priests to abuse children — just as abusive clergy of other religious orders and dioceses have done around the world.

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PALM BEACH (FL)
The Palm Beach Post

ByJulius Whigham II
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Posted: 6:05 p.m. Thursday, May 10, 2012

Former Diocese of Palm Beach Bishop Anthony O’Connell, who resigned a decade ago after admissions of sexual misconduct, died Friday at a South Carolina monastery.

O’Connell died at Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner, S.C., after a long illness, the Catholic News Service reported. He was 73.

A funeral Mass was held for him on Monday at the abbey.

Diocese of Palm Beach spokeswoman Dianne Laubert confirmed O’Connell’s death Wednesday evening and issued a brief statement on the diocese’s behalf.

“The diocese is praying for his family at this time,” Laubert said.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WTAQ

MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) – A Catholic priest in Waukesha County has been cleared of allegations that he molested a boy in the mid-1990’s at the state’s juvenile institution for boys.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki said the allegation against Father Mark Molling could not be substantiated – so he’s being returned to St. Paul Parish in Genesee Depot this week.

The purported victim is now in a state prison. His claim of being molested was checked out by an independent investigator hired by the archdiocese and a Diocesan Review Board, which cleared Molling.

A church spokeswoman could not immediately say why the allegation was not found to be credible.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

CARL O’BRIEN

A NEW standalone agency will take over responsibility for child protection from the Health Service Executive early next year, Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald has said.

Speaking at a forum on children’s rights at NUI Galway last night, Ms Fitzgerald said significant progress had been made in establishing the new Children and Family Support Agency, which will have a budget of almost €600 million.

“The establishment of a single agency incorporating key children’s services will provide a focus for the major reforms already under way,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

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ROME
The Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY

THREE OF the four priest staff members at the Irish College in Rome who deal with the formation of seminarians are to return to their dioceses in Ireland.

In a statement last night, the Catholic Communication Office said that the rector of the Irish College, Dublin priest Fr Ciaran O’Carroll, had announced that vice rector Fr Albert McDonnell, director of formation Fr Billy Swan, and college spiritual director Fr Chris Hayden were to return to their respective dioceses at the conclusion of this academic year.

Fr McDonnell returns to Killaloe diocese, Fr Swan and Fr Hayden to Ferns diocese. The four Irish archbishops, who are trustees of the Irish College, are expected to announce new appointments to each post after they meet later this month.

Rector Fr O’Carroll, who himself was only appointed last September said he wished “to acknowledge the contribution that Fr McDonnell, Fr Swan and Fr Hayden have made to the life of the college during their time of service here. I wish them every blessing and success in their new appointments and for the future.”

It is widely believed that the changes have been precipitated following the apostolic visitation to the Irish College by the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, last year.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 10 May 2012 (VIS) – “The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another” is the theme of the fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress, due to be held in the Irish capital Dublin from 10 to 17 June. The initiative was presented this morning in the Holy See Press Office by Archbishop Piero Marini, president of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses; Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, and Fr. Vittore Boccardi S.S.S. of the secretariat of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.

“The Roman Ritual ‘De sacra Communione et de cultu mysterii eucharistici extra Missam’ establishes what an International Eucharistic Congress actually is”, Archbishop Marini explained. That document, “enacting the principles of Vatican Council II, defines the Congress as a ‘statio orbis’; in other words, a ‘a pause for commitment and prayer to which a particular community invites the universal Church’. During that time the celebration of the Eucharist becomes the centre and vertex of all forms of piety, … of theological and pastoral reflections, of social commitment”.

“By a noteworthy coincidence”, the archbishop went on, “the fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress of Dublin coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II; and it is to the Council that the Congress will refer because the theme chosen – ‘The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another – has been taken from paragraph 7 of the Dogmatic Constitution ‘Lumen gentium’. That theme reminds the baptised that it is by participating in the Eucharist that we construct communion with Christ and, at the same time, with one another; in other words, the most authentic face of the Church. … Progressive emphasis on the ecclesiology of communion ‘according to which the Eucharist has a causal influence at the very origins of the Church’, is replete with pastoral, ecclesial and ecumenical consequences, which will be studied in Dublin at a theological symposium to be held before the Congress”.

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VATICAN CITY
Herald-Tribune

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY – The archbishop of Dublin, a leading voice for reform following Ireland’s devastating Catholic church sex abuse scandal, said Thursday that the Irish church is trying to rebuild even as he demands the full truth be told about the past.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin told a Vatican briefing that he hoped an upcoming church meeting in Dublin would show the world that the Irish church is “alive and vital and anxious to set out on a path of renewal.”

But the June 10-17 congress is being held against the backdrop of new revelations over how the country’s primate, Cardinal Sean Brady, handled the case of a serial abuser in the 1970s – revelations that have sparked new calls for his resignation.

In 1975, Brady helped take testimony from a 14-year-old boy about the abuse he had suffered at the hands of the Rev. Brendan Smyth, a serial pedophile who went on to abuse scores of children in the U.S. and Ireland before being imprisoned two decades later.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Concerned About Abuse in the Catholic Church

William Green the former parish priest of Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, Wigan was arrested on 27 December 2007. In August 2008 he was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of 26 offences of indecent assault. On 1 October 2008, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment (Case No: T20080502).

In 2008, the Manchester Evening News reported, “Father William Green 67, had pleaded guilty to 27 assaults on six – boys aged between 11 and 15 at St Bede’s School in Alexandra Park while head of religious education, and a deputy prefect there, and assault on an eight year old at a different school at which he had previously taught. Passing sentence, Judge Clement Goldstone told Green “You systematically and sexually abused these boys, who were vulnerable and impressionable, and they were groomed by you for the purposes of your own sexual gratification.”

You abused them in school, on school trips and on church-related activities, and you procured the trust and respect of families of several of your victims. You breached their trust and friendship remorsefully and repeatedly.”

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UNITED STATES
Moyerboard

Thursday, May 10, 2012

It’s no secret that the Vatican’s once esteemed reputation has faded dramatically in recent years, especially in westernized nations. Papal visits still draw massive crowds of Catholic worshipers around the world, and the Pope himself still meets regularly with both cherished and vilified world leaders. But these visits are now merely symbolic, carrying only slightly more weight than visits by members of England’s Royal Family.

The Holy See’s once commanding authority, which played a role in collapsing the Berlin Wall and dissolving the Soviet Union, has all but evaporated. This dramatic fall from grace has been primarily attributed to the Church’s sex abuse scandal and subsequent cover up, in which Cardinals and other top officials have attempted to egregiously shift the blame onto secular society, lawyers, and the media.

But the sex abuse scandal is not the only reason why respect for the Church’s hierarchy is quickly diminishing. The Vatican’s unwavering insistence on pontificating politics is also turning many Catholics, particularly American Catholics, away from Church doors. Earlier this month, the Vatican issued a scathing reprimand directed towards the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an organization that represents the vast majority of American nuns. According to the reprimand, the Vatican believes that American nuns are concentrating too much on feeding the poor and on income inequality, and too little on politicized social issues, such as abortion and gay marriage.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on May. 10, 2012 All Things Catholic

Right now, the “next pope” conversation isn’t creating much buzz. There’s no sign of a health crisis around Benedict XVI, and Catholic attention around the world is focused on more local matters: the LCWR crackdown in the States, the disciplining of liberal priests and calls for Cardinal Sean Brady to resign over the sex abuse crisis in Ireland, a political scandal involving Communion and Liberation in Italy, and so on.

Yet with an 85-year-old pope beginning to show his age, speculation about who might come next is always in the background, even if it’s on a low boil.

I just returned from a couple of weeks in Rome, and below I offer a sort of “poll average” of the current state of thinking about papal candidates among Vatican-watchers, by which I mean Vatican personnel, prelates from around the world, diplomats, journalists, academics, and so on. Such conventional wisdom is hardly infallible, so take this for what it’s worth – no more, really, than the kind of thing you’ll hear at many Roman dinner tables.

The eleven names below are organized into concentric circles of plausibility, from “front-runners” to “possibilities” to “long shots.” My experience is that pretty much everybody agrees on the top two names on this list, Cardinals Angelo Scola and Marc Ouellet, but after that things get murkier.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

By Clifford Ward
Special to the Tribune

A priest working at a factory to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars he stole from his parish and then gambled away heard some straightforward counsel today from a judge: Don’t quit your day job.

DuPage County Judge John Kinsella ordered the Rev. John Regan to continue working at his low-wage job, which Kinsella mandated as part of Regan’s 2011 sentence on theft charges.

Regan and his attorney appeared before the judge Thursday, seeking court approval for Regan to return to full-time ministry work and quit his $9-an-hour job in a Joliet air filter factory.

Attorney Jack Donahue said Regan could earn twice as much as a priest, and, therefore, could more quickly make restitution.

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WAUKESHA (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

May 10, 2012

A Waukesha County Catholic priest, who was placed on leave because of a 20-year-old sex abuse allegation, is being returned to ministry after Archbishop Jerome Listecki ruled the allegation unsubstantiated, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee announced Thursday.

Father Mark Molling would return to St. Paul Parish in Genesee Depot this week, Listecki wrote in a May 5 letter to the congregation.

In reinstating Molling, Listecki said he was following the recommendations of an independent investigator hired by the archdiocese and the Diocesan Review Board, which bases its review on the investigator’s report. A spokeswoman for the archdiocese said she did not know the reasons the allegation was deemed not credible.

Molling was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation after a man, now in prison, alleged he molested him in the mid-1990s when he was a minor at Ethan Allen School for Boys in Wales. Molling denied the allegation.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

Kudos to veteran journalist Ralph Cipriano, who is raising questions about the impartiality of the judge presiding over the high-profile Catholic clergy criminal abuse trial in Philadelphia.

Covering the trial for the Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog, Cipriano opined in a recent post that Judge M. Teresa Sarmina is “often mistaken for a member of the prosecution team.”

Cipriano’s reference is to the fact, ignored by others in the media, that it seems almost all of the judge’s rulings have gone in the favor of the prosecution – and against the Catholic clergy.

A record of troubling statements and actions

Sarmina’s fairness has been questioned before. As we have noted previously:

• On January 31 (before the trial), Sarmina declared in an open courtroom in front of Catholic priests and their defenders: “Anybody that doesn’t think there is widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is living on another planet.” Not only was Sarmina’s remark incredibly biased, but it was factually wrong, prompting a call from the Catholic League for the judge to step down. [Read More]

• On April 23, Samina opined, “I would not be surprised if there are not many, many more people out there who have chosen never to come forward [to report abuse].” [Read More]

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Miami Herald

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic nun testified Thursday that she and two relatives were sexually abused by a priest described by a church leader as “one of the sickest people I ever knew.”

The nun testified in the clergy-abuse trial of Monsignor William Lynn, the first U.S. church official charged with felony child endangerment for allegedly leaving predator-priests in ministry.

The nun said she, her sister and cousin went to the archdiocese in 1991 to report 1970s-era abuse by the Rev. Nicholas Cudemo, and ask that he be removed as a parish pastor. They met with Monsignors James Molloy and Lynn, who worked in the Office for Clergy.

The sisters had been molested as girls and the cousin repeatedly raped, they reported.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/10/2793277/nun-catholic-official-could-have.html#storylink=cpy

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A few months after she started working in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia clergy office in late 2005, Louise Sullivan was handed a task: straighten up the file room.

After more than two years of grand-jury investigations into allegedly sexually abusive priests, the room on the 10th floor of the archdiocese’s 17th Street headquarters was cluttered with cardboard boxes and random files. Sitting atop one cabinet in the corner was a safe.

Sullivan, the office’s newly appointed director of operations, asked around: Whose safe was it? And what was inside?

No one knew, she told Common Pleas Court jurors on Thursday.

The backstory of the safe — and its contents — remain a disputed but potentially critical piece of evidence in the conspiracy and child endangerment trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn, who once ran the office.

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COLORADO
KRDO

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — A former Hilltop Baptist School teacher has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges.

Terah Rawlings is accused of having sexual relations with one of her students from 2007 to 2008.

In November, a grand jury indicted Rawlings and charged her with four counts of sexual assault on a child while in a position of trust, four counts of alleged pattern of the same crime, and one count of promoting obscenity.

On Thursday, she pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Friends of the victim were at the courthouse Thursday and spoke to KRDO NewsChannel 13. They say they are shocked at her plea and that they think the victim now lives out of state with his mother.

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SANTA CLARA (CA)
America Magazine

Posted at: Thursday, May 10, 2012
Author:

Thomas J. Reese, SJ, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center in Georgetown and former editor in chief of America has sent us his keynote address to the Clergy Abuse Conference in Santa Clara University today:

I am not an expert on the crisis, but rather a journalist, commentator and priest. Perhaps my contribution can be first to congratulate and thank Kathleen and Tom and all of the contributors to the book, Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: A Decade of Crisis 2002-2012 (Praeger, 2012). The book makes a genuine contribution to a better understanding of the crisis. The church should be very grateful for your work.

For the rest of my talk, I would like to concentrate on what I think is the unfinished work of responding to the sexual abuse crisis. Needless to say, I cannot list all of the unfinished work, but the items I will highlight strike me as being important.

First, I think the church—and by church I mean both the clergy and the people of God—needs to re-envision its attitude toward the survivors of sexual abuse. In Latin America, liberation theologians developed the concept of the preferential option for the poor. The American Catholic Church needs to embrace a preferential option for the survivors of sexual abuse.

Nor should we look at the victims of abuse simply as clients or problems to be dealt with. Just as people in the church have learned not to look on the poor as a problem to be solved, but to recognize their contribution to the church, so too we need to see the survivors of abuse as persons who can teach us what it means to be Christians, what it means to be church. No one who listens to their stories can fail to be touched by them.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Australian

From correspondents in Philadelphia
From: AP
May 11, 20125:39AM

A ROMAN Catholic nun has testified that she and two relatives were sexually abused by the same priest when they were children.

The testimony is the latest in the landmark trial of a Philadelphia Archdiocese official charged with child endangerment for allegedly leaving abusive priests in ministry.

The nun said all three went to the archdiocese in 1991 to ask monsignors James Malloy and William Lynn of the Office for Clergy that the priest be removed.

She said she felt “misled” because the priest was put on leave but allowed to say Mass elsewhere.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

How can the International Eucharistic Congress help bring Irish Catholics back to the sacramental life of the Church? According to the Archbishop of the host diocese, Msgr. Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, by showing them the joy of celebration: “I see a willingness in some people to want to celebrate something different in the Irish Church and actually to use the word ‘celebrate is important”. Emer McCarthy reports Listen:

Speaking to Vatican journalists Thursday as he launched the 1 month countdown to the beginning of the 50th edition of the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC2012), Archbishop Diarmuid Martin directly answered questions over the divisions that currently beleaguer the Irish Church. But he said none of these should overshadow what really is the most pressing challenge in the Church in Ireland: the challenge of bringing Christ to people. This he said will require new pastoral tools and in this sense preparation for Congress has been a learning experience.

The divisions the Archbishop referred to in his address to journalists have a range of causes: the ever present reality of the child sex abuse scandal; the results of the Apostolic Visitation; dialogue with the Association of Catholic Priests; the Churches ongoing journey of internal renewal and the resulting tensions these create within the community.

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IRELAND
The God Squad

Mary Lou McDonald TD
Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill 2012
Tues, 8 May 2012

It is important to say at the outset that the State and the Government continue to fail the women and children of the Magdalene Laundries and Bethany Home. It is to the great shame of the Fine Gael Party and the Labour Party that they have done nothing to right the wrong perpetrated against these women and children despite having been so critical of the previous Government’s inaction when in opposition.

The current Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, said in 2010 that former residents of the Magdalene Laundries and Bethany Home must be included in the redress scheme. She went on to criticise the then Minister for Education and Skills for failing to allow these institutions to be included in the list of qualifying institutions for redress. She went on to say that for her, and I quote, it “was becoming clearer and clearer that these institutions were, to all intents and purposes places of detention, and that as such, “residents” were effectively sentenced by servants of the state, to periods of confinement therein”. The Labour Party Minister of State, when in opposition at the time, concluded her outrage with a demand for Government to do the right thing. She was correct to do so.

If we go further back to 2005, the Minister’s party colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O’Sulliven, rightly described the scandal surrounding Bethany Home as a matter of national importance. In the same year the Minister of State, Deputy Joe Costello, called on the Government to include Bethany Home in the redress scheme. All three of those Labour Party Deputies are now Ministers of State – they are part and parcel of this Government. During their years on the opposition benches they all shouted loudly against the decision by the Fianna Fáil led Government to exclude the Magdalene Laundries and Bethany Home from the redress scheme. They were right to do so, but I have to ask where are they today? What is the point of being in Government if one does not act against the very injustices that so exercised one when in opposition?

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KANSAS CITY (KS)
Fox 4

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A priest who served at St. Agnes Parish in Roeland Park, Kansas, has been relieved of his duties because of a sexual abuse accusation made against him by a former parishoner.

A 45-year old Kansas City, Kansas man claims Father John Wisner inappropriately touched him 30 years ago when the man was 15 years old.

Wisner denies the charges. The archdiocese says it has contacted local police and the chairman of the Independent Review Board. The archdiocese says it has no record of any other allegations of sexual misconduct raised against Father Wisner in his forty years of ministry.

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ITALIA
La Provincia

CREMONA – «… da tali documenti, perfettamente in linea con l’atteggiamento assolutamente omissivo del Lafranconi risulta — è triste dirlo — come la sola preoccupazione dei vertici della curia fosse quella di salvaguardare l’immagine della diocesi piuttosto che la salute fisica e psichica dei minori che erano affidati ai sacerdoti della medesima.

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ITALIA
La Provincia

CREMONA – Sull’archiviazione del procedimento a carico del vescovo Dante Lafranconi (che avrebbe coperto abusi su minori quando reggeva la diocesi di Savona), la diocesi di Cremona bolla come inopportuni e strumentali tutti i commenti sulla vicenda.

Ecco la posizione della diocesi di Cremona – L’8 maggio 2012 il Gip del Tribunale di Savona ha accolto la richiesta di archiviazione, presentata dal Pubblico Ministero in ordine al procedimento inscritto a carico di mons. Dante Lafranconi, per intervenuta prescrizione. Premesso che nessun processo è mai stato formalmente aperto né tanto meno celebrato a carico dell’attuale Vescovo di Cremona, essendo giunta la richiesta di archiviazione da parte del Pubblico Ministero ancor prima di un’eventuale sua richiesta di rinvio a giudizio, non è nostro intendimento discutere ad oggi di fatti e circostanze mai affrontate prima in un’aula giudiziaria, unico luogo deputato a tale operazione.

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Register

By DOUG SAUNDERS / THE SUN

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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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
PhillyBurbs

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Defense lawyers for an accused predator-priest who had been stationed three times in Bucks County are challenging evidence that he once told church supervisors he had been sexually abused as a boy.

The Rev. James Brennan, 48, is charged with sexually assaulting a teen in 1996, when he was on leave from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Brennan was stationed at St. Andrew Parish in Newtown Township from 1989 to 1991 and later at parishes in Lower Southampton and Feasterville.

While serving there, the grand jury report alleges, the priest befriended a 9-year-old parishioner identified only as “Mark.”

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