ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
ABC Newcastle

The Director of Public Prosecutions has lodged documents appealing a sentence given to a former Hunter Valley Anglican Church worker who admitted sexually abusing 20 boys.

Former youth worker James Michael Brown abused the boys between the 1970s and 1990s, mainly at Kurri Kurri.

He admitted giving boys as young as eight alcohol before abusing them.

Last month he was sentenced to 10 years jail with six years non-parole.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Apr. 26, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

When the Vatican put the largest organization representing U.S. women religious into church receivership, saying it needed to submit to the control of an archbishop and reform its statutes, a major criticism cited was the group’s annual assemblies, which were said to have presented viewpoints that were “a serious source of scandal.”

Despite that concern, this year’s assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, planned for August, is to go forward with Vatican support, NCR has learned.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Independent.ie reporters

Thursday April 26 2012

HIGH-PROFILE priest and broadcaster Brian D’Arcy has become the latest Irish cleric to be censured by the Vatican.

The popular BBC Radio Two contributor, author and Sunday World columnist was disciplined after concerns were raised about some of his published work.

It is understood the action by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) means the Co Fermanagh priest, regarded as liberal within the Catholic church, must now submit his writings and broadcasts to an official censor.

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RHODE ISLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on April 26, 2012

Shame on Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin. He got a credible report of sexual abuse by Fr. Timothy Gordon and kept it secret, just like bishops have done for decades.

Remember ten years ago, when bishops pledged to be “open” about child sex cases? Here is an example of another promise by Catholic prelates broken. Why? So the reputation of church officials might be protected. Shame on every single Rhode Island Catholic employee who knew about this allegation and kept quiet.

The only reason this has surfaced is because of the bravery of James Wilkinson. We commend him for his courage and his compassion. Because he acted responsibly, kids are safer now.

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FALMOUTH (ME)
Bangor Daily News

By Seth Koenig, BDN Staff

Posted April 26, 2012

FALMOUTH, Maine — Two men stood outside the official Falmouth home of Catholic Bishop Richard Malone Thursday morning to protest what they described as Malone’s refusal to publish an updated database of priests and church employees “credibly accused” of sex crimes against children.

The duo, Paul Kendrick and Harvey Paul, represented the Ignatius Group, a loosely knit nationwide network of supporters of victims of the alleged sexual abuses. Kendrick, who spoke to members of the media at the Twin Ponds Drive site Thursday, said he and other group members have demonstrated outside Catholic Church properties repeatedly over the years seeking the creation of a church-run database similar to the state of Maine’s sex offender registry.

Kendrick used the example of Father John Audibert, a Catholic priest who 10 years ago admitted sexually abusing a teenage boy, to illustrate his point. He said the whereabouts of Audibert since his removal from active ministry in 2002 has not been kept public, and that he remains a threat to young people wherever he is.

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IRLAND
Radio Vatikan

Die irische Regierung plant eine Verschärfung der Anzeigepflicht für Kindesmissbrauch. Ein gemeinsamer Gesetzentwurf des Justiz- und des Familienministeriums sieht vor, das Unterlassen entsprechender Hinweise mit bis zu fünf Jahren Haft zu bestrafen, wie irische Medien am Donnerstag berichten. Priester sollten sich dabei nicht auf das Beichtgeheimnis berufen dürfen, betonten Justizminister Alan Shatter und Familienministerin Frances Fitzgerald bei der Vorstellung des Textes am Mittwochabend. Die Untersuchungsberichte über sexuellen Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche hätten gezeigt, dass das betreffende Gesetz verschärft werden müsse, erklärte Shatter. Es sei nicht hinnehmbar, dass über solche Vergehen „ein Mantel des Schweigens“ gebreitet werde.

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OSTERREICH
voralberg

[mit Video]

Im Prozess eines 58-Jährigen gegen das Kloster Mehrerau am Landesgericht Feldkirch haben Rechtsvertreter des Klosters die Missbrauchsvorwürfe des ehemaligen Schülers angezweifelt. Die beiden Zivilprozesse wurden vertagt.

Am Landesgericht Feldkirch wurden am Donnerstag gleich zwei Klagen gegen das Kloster Mehrerau verhandelt. Zwei ehemalige Internats-Zöglinge gehen zivilrechtlich gegen das Kloster vor, weil sie Schadenersatz für jahrelange und schwere sexuelle Misshandlung verlangen. Beide Zivilprozesse wurden vertagt.

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AUSTRALIA
The Conversation

Judy Courtin

Victorian victims of clergy sex crimes and their families have been fighting for justice for years – some for decades. The previous Labor state government did nothing for them.

The Baillieu government, despite being dragged kicking and screaming all the way, has succumbed to mounting public pressure and announced a parliamentary inquiry into the way in which religious and other organisations handle sexual abuse complaints.

The announcement came initially as a relief for victims and their families and, being a first for Australia, it has been applauded. But the applause should not go the government, but to the victims, their families and the many workers behind the scenes who have been pushing for justice in this area for years.

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VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (United Kingdom)

Tom Kington in Rome
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 26 April 2012

Vatican staffers who have been leaking embarrassing letters about corruption and nepotism inside the tiny city state are to be hunted down by a crack squad of cardinals led by a senior member of the religious group Opus Dei.

Irritated by the anonymous release of documents to the press this year, Pope Benedict has named Cardinal Julian Herranz, 82, to lead a three-man team which will haul in staffers for questioning and rifle through files until they catch the perpetrators of what has been dubbed “Vatileaks”.

A short statement printed on Thursday on the front page of the Vatican’s daily newspaper warned the team had a full “pontifical mandate” to “shed complete light” on the whistle blowers, who have lifted the lid on alleged theft and false accounting.

Herranz was a long-time personal secretary to Josemaría Escrivá , the now canonised founder of Opus Dei, which has been accused of excessive secrecy, strict control over members and undue influence within the Vatican – a reputation pushed by Dan Brown’s thriller The Da Vinci Code.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome

Fresh off approving a sweeping overhaul of America’s main umbrella group for the leaders of women’s religious orders, Pope Benedict XVI this week turned to getting his own house in order by creating a panel of three veteran cardinals to investigate the tawdry recent Vatican leaks scandal.

The Vatican announced yesterday that Benedict has created a new Commission of Cardinals “to undertake an authoritative investigation” and “to throw light on these episodes,” which it characterized as “recent leaks of reserved and confidential documents on television, in newspapers and in other communications media.”

The commission is led by Spanish Cardinal Julián Herranz, 82, formerly the president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. It also includes Slovakian Cardinal Jozef Tomko, 88, a former prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and Italian Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, 81, who resigned in 2006 as the archbishop of Palermo.

Because Herranz is a member of Opus Dei, Italy’s most influential daily, Corriere della Sera, ran the news under a headline proclaiming, “A detective of Opus Dei against the ravens in the Vatican.” (“Ravens” has become standard argot for the leakers, and has roughly the same sense in Italian as “snakes” in English.)

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UNITED STATES
Christianity Today

But how we answer the restoration question is paramount to our theology.

Second, we must extend the gospel to child sex abusers. This is a monumental task. A 2011 Slate report titled, “Are molesters really the most hated people in prison?” answered, simply, “Yes. Convicts who have committed crimes against children, especially sexual abuse, are hated, harassed, and abused.” Even Christians instinctively feel that child abusers should “rot in jail” when they imagine a fellow Christian fondling a child or masturbating to such images. So when we begin preaching that such “monsters” are known and loved by Christ, it will horrify the watching world. And even us.

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UNITED STATES
U.S. Catholic

Thursday, April 26, 2012

By Bryan Cones

It’s deja vu all over again: About 150 years ago the Vatican’s first response to the “modern world” of democratic reform and theological renewal was to silence and shame any Catholic who spoke positively about either. So we got the Syllabus of Errors in its various incarnations and the condemnation of “modernism” and anyone who espoused modern approaches to scriptural interpretation or the “new theology” of the early and mid 20th century. Big names there: Congar, DeLubac, Jungmann, Murray–all ordered to silence on this topic or that.

Until, of course, the Second Vatican Council undid all that nonsense and brought the church–at least theologically–into the late 19th century (still 100 years behind the rest of the world). All those silenced became heroes, the bright lights of the renewal.

Now here we are at the beginning of the 21st, and once again the Vatican (and presumably the pope) is choosing the former path: condemnation and silencing, first of American women religious, and now of the Redemptorist leader of the Irish Association of Catholic Priests, Father Tony Flannery. His crime? Raising questions and organizing pastors around issues of concern, including the church’s sexual teaching and the new English translations of the Mass, and lining up with victims of abuse in the ravaged Irish church.

To be honest, this smells a bit of desperation on the part of the Vatican. The Association of Catholic Priests counts 20 percent of Irish clergy on its roster; an American counterpart is now in the works. Irish Catholics are voting with their feet, with Sunday Mass attendance having plummetted to levels seen in the rest of Europe. On this side of the Atlantic, four Catholics leave the church for every one who joins, even as the U.S. bishops double down on deeply partisan political involvement in this year’s presidential election.

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NEW YORK
Observer-Dispatch

By ROCCO LaDUCA
Observer-Dispatch

Posted Apr 26, 2012

UTICA —

The sentencing of a New York Mills priest accused of stealing more than $87,000 from the church was postponed one more time Thursday.

The Rev. Valentine Krul, 61, of Forestport, has already been serving time behind bars in the Oneida County jail since late January after he pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny for stealing from the Church of the Sacred Heart and St. Mary Our Lady of Czestochowa in New York Mills between October 2008 and January 2011.

On Thursday, Krul was supposed to be formally sentenced by Oneida County Court Judge Barry M. Donalty to 6 months in jail, as well as 5 years of probation.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY and SARAH McDONALD

The Passionist congregation has confirmed that 14 months ago the Vatican acted against Fr Brian D’Arcy on articles he had written.

Fr Pat Duffy, provincial superior of the Passionist congregation in Ireland said in a statement this afternoon that “last year concerns were expressed to Fr Ottaviano D’Egidio, C.P. – the Passionist Superior General (in Rome) – by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) about some aspects of Fr Brian D’Arcy’s writings”

He continued that “since then Fr Brian has been co-operating to ensure he can make a contribution to journalism in Ireland. Fr Brian remains a priest in good standing.”

Fr Duffy’s statement follows an article in the current issue of the UK Catholic weekly the Tablet, which reported that Fr D’Arcy, a columnist with a popular Irish tabloid The Sunday World, a regular contributor to BBC Radio 2’s Pause for Thought, as well as to RTE and a best selling author “has been told he must submit his writings and broadcasts to an approved church censor.”

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the reaction to Vatican efforts to reform the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR):

Most Catholics identify with their parish, not their diocese; they have even less interest in Church matters beyond the diocesan level. This explains why they are non-plussed by Vatican efforts to reform the LCWR. Some liberal Catholics, as well as liberal non-Catholics, are predictably unhappy with the proceedings, and more than a few show clear signs of a nervous breakdown. What is most perplexing is the way non-Catholics have shoved their way into this internal matter.

Jim Wallis is perhaps the most prominent non-Catholic to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong. The former Marxist-turned-Protestant activist runs an organization and a magazine that is heavily funded by atheist billionaire George Soros. His reaction to the Vatican initiative was striking in one respect: he claims that the bishops do not speak for the Catholic Church. “Quite honestly,” he writes, “do most of us believe, or even most Catholics believe, that the bishops are the only ‘authentic teachers of faith and morals?’”

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IRELAND
Larne Times

Published on Wednesday 25 April 2012

High-profile priest and broadcaster Brian D’Arcy has become the latest Irish cleric to be censured by the Vatican.

The popular BBC Radio Two contributor, author and newspaper columnist was disciplined after concerns were raised about some of his published work.

It is understood the action by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) means the Co Fermanagh priest, regarded as liberal within the Catholic church, must now submit his writings and broadcasts to an official censor.

The 67-year-old member of the Passionist Order has spoken out against mandatory celibacy for priests and has been a fierce critic of the church’s handling of child abuse scandals in Ireland.

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IRELAND
Inside Ireland

By Ciarán Hanna

A British Catholic weekly journal has reported that six Irish Catholic priests are being silenced by the Vatican.

The Tablet newspaper, which has been published since 1840, is reporting that five Priests have been censured from speaking to the Press.

The Vatican based Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, CDF, has warned Fr Tony Flannery, one of the leaders of the Association of Catholic Press,to stop writing for a magazine while the paper’s editor, Fr Gerard Moloney, is being investigated by the CDF.

The other priests include Fr Sean Fagan.

A supporter of Fr. Fagan wrote in a blog:

“ The silencing of Sean, after a lifetime of service to the Church, was even more painful because if any word of this action demanded by the CDF got into the media, he would be immediately be prohibited from exercising his priestly faculties.”

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RHODE ISLAND
Patch

By Rob Borkowski

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence has announced Rev. Timothy Gorton of Precious Blood Parish in Woonsocket has been removed from his duties after a recent allegation of sexual misconduct 30 years ago.

“The Diocese of Providence takes very seriously allegations of sexual abuse by a member of the Church. When allegations of misconduct by Rev. Timothy Gorton were received by the Diocese, allegations that date from approximately 30 years ago, law enforcement officials were notified immediately,” reads the Diocese’s statement.

The Woonsocket Call, which has interviewed the victim, Gorton’s nephew, reports there are no charges from the reported incidents from the Narragansett Police Department. The incidents occurred in Narragansett and Cumberland.

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UNITED KINGDOM
itv

A former Cumbrian vicar has been charged with sexual crimes against four boys. 74 year old Ronald Johns is a former rector of Caldbeck and was a canon at Carlisle Cathedral. He now lives in Norwich after retiring 12 years ago.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

An ex-canon of Carlisle Cathedral has been charged with a string of child sex offences dating back more than 20 years.

The Reverend Ronald Johns is charged with 15 offences on four boys including gross indecency and indecent assault.

The offences were allegedly carried out in Cumbria between 1979 and 1991.

The 74-year-old, of Kings Road, Coltishall, Norwich, has been bailed to appear at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court on 10 May.

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UNITED KINGDOM
News & Star

A former Cumbrian vicar has been charged with a string of sexual crimes against four boys stretching over 12 years.

Ronald Johns, 74, is accused of 15 offences, allegedly carried out in the county between 1979 and 1991.

Johns, a former rector in Caldbeck who was also a canon at Carlisle Cathedral, was charged last night following investigations carried out by city detectives.

Police said the church had fully co-operated during the investigation and a special helpline had been set up with the NSPCC.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald

By Margery Eagan
Thursday, April 26, 2012

Let’s call it a “Catholic spring.”

Via the same social networking that created an Arab spring and toppled dictators, local Catholic activists in three short weeks collected 20,000 signatures protesting a Worcester bishop’s uninviting of Ted Kennedy’s widow, Vicki, to speak at the commencement of Anna Maria College in nearby Paxton.

The same networking could prove a powerful tool for frustrated Catholics opposed to their supposed leaders, the U.S. Catholic bishops, and hoping to organize where their dollars will go.

Yesterday thick bound books containing protesters’ signatures — and many blistering attacks — were brought to the sidewalk outside Worcester diocesan headquarters and handed to Ray Delisle, spokesman for Bishop Robert J. McManus. Delisle said McManus was not there.

McManus has declared Kennedy unfit for Anna Maria because her views on abortion and gays are out of line with Catholic teachings. Yet yesterday Delisle could point to no specific instances of her speaking out publicly on either issue — though her late husband surely did.

Meanwhile, McManus himself appears out of line with Catholic teachings on healing the post-sex abuse crisis. He’s consistently played “hard ball” with child abuse survivors, said Skip Shea, a Worcester survivor. Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston attorney who’s represented hundreds of survivors, characterized McManus as “one of the worst” bishops, refusing to provide lists of credibly accused priests or to settle credible claims as many fellow bishops, including Cardinal Sean O’Malley, have done.

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IRELAND
National Catholic Reporter

Apr. 26, 2012
By Michael Kelly

DUBLIN, IRELAND — Just weeks after a report from a Vatican inquiry into the Irish church lamented what it described as “fairly widespread” dissent from church teaching, it was revealed that the Vatican has “silenced” Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery.

The Holy See’s move provoked fury among the members of the 800-strong Association of Catholic Priests, which has accused the Vatican of issuing a fatwa against liberal clerics.

It’s not exactly clear why Flannery, a popular author and retreat director, has come under Vatican suspicion. He has voiced support in the past for opening up debates around the ordination of women, a change to the church’s ban on artificial birth control and an end to mandatory celibacy. He also provoked dismay among senior Irish bishops when he publicly backed Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s 2011 attack on the Vatican in the wake of the report into the mishandling of clerical abuse in the Cloyne diocese. Kenny accused the Vatican of “dysfunction,” “disconnection,” “elitism” and “narcissism.” Flannery described the speech as “wonderful.”

By acting against Flannery now, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith may well have scored an own goal by provoking the ire of the priests’ association. As well as his retreat work, Flannery is a founder of the association, which now represents some 20 percent of Ireland’s clergy.

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BOSTON (MA)
The Boston College Chronicle

By Office of News & Public Affairs

Published: Apr. 26, 2012

Rev. Bradley M. Schaeffer, SJ, who had served on the Boston College Board of Trustees since 2004, resigned on April 19 after questions arose last week over his role in supervising Donald J. McGuire, a former Jesuit convicted of child sexual abuse, while Provincial of the Chicago Province of Jesuits from 1991-1997.

“As all in our community know, Boston College is a wonderful, caring institution of higher education,” said Fr. Schaeffer in a statement. “I do not want to harm it or be a distraction. Therefore, I am ending my service as a trustee today.”

A Boston Globe article on McGuire, who was expelled by the Society of Jesus and is serving a 25-year federal prison sentence for child sexual abuse, criticized Fr. Schaeffer’s supervision of the former priest. Fr. Schaeffer has expressed regret for not having done more to prevent the abuse, saying in a statement released through the Chicago Province: “The 25 years that Donald McGuire is serving in federal prison will never be enough to lessen the anguish of the children and their families who were victimized by his reprehensible actions. While Provincial of the Chicago Province, I did my best to restrict him. I deeply regret that my actions were not enough to prevent him from engaging in these horrific crimes.

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UNITED STATES
WBUR

By The Associated Press
Apr 26, 2012

A priest who resigned from the Boston College board of trustees following criticism of his supervision of a former Jesuit priest convicted of child sexual abuse has resigned from the boards of three other Jesuit-affiliated institutions.

Officials at Georgetown University, Loyola University of Chicago, and Brebeuf Jesuit, a preparatory school in Indianapolis, said this week that the Rev. Bradley Schaeffer had cut his ties with their schools.

The Boston Globe reports that Schaeffer allowed Donald McGuire to continue ministry despite complaints about McGuire’s behavior with boys in the early 1990s when Schaeffer led the Chicago Jesuit Province.

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INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
TheIndyChannel

BOSTON — A priest who resigned from the Boston College board of trustees following criticism of his supervision of a former Jesuit priest convicted of child sexual abuse has resigned from the board of Brebeuf Jesuit in Indianapolis.

The Rev. Bradley Schaeffer had cut his ties with the preparatory school and has stepped down from boards at Georgetown University and Loyola University of Chicago.

The Boston Globe reported that Schaeffer allowed Donald McGuire to continue ministry despite complaints about McGuire’s behavior with boys in the early 1990s when Schaeffer led the Chicago Jesuit Province.

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IRELAND
BBC News

Father Brian D’Arcy, one of Ireland’s best known priests, has been censured by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican, according to the Tablet newspaper.

The Graan in Enniskillen, where Fr D’Arcy serves as rector of St Gabriel’s Retreat, confirmed the report.

Fr D’Arcy, a Passionist priest, is a broadcaster and regular contributor to newspapers.

He recently wrote a column in favour of a married priesthood.

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NEDERLAND
Trouw

Marc van Dijk − 25/04/12

Zaken die ooit waren aanvaard, vinden we nu soms verwerpelijk. Twee denkers filosoferen over de vraag: Hoe kunnen we oordelen over omstreden handelingen uit het verleden?

Castratie is de laatste toevoeging aan het dossier ‘misbruik in de rooms-katholieke kerk’, een doos van Pandora vol onaangename verrassingen.

In de Tweede Kamer gaan stemmen op om seksueel misbruik door geestelijken nader te laten onderzoeken. Daarbij hoort nu ook de vraag hoe vaak castratie voorkwam, zowel binnen als buiten katholieke instellingen.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Business Week

By VICKI SMITH

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.

An independent investigation of Wheeling Jesuit University’s billing practices for federal grants and programs in 2008 found no violations of laws or regulations, the school’s president said Wednesday.

President Rick Beyer said the Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to turn that report over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Wheeling, adding that the Northern Panhandle Catholic school is cooperating in the investigation.

Federal investigators are looking into whether the university and a vice president, former Mine Safety and Health Administration chief J. Davitt McAteer, conspired to use millions of federal grant and program dollars from NASA and other federal agenices for personal gain.

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WEST VIRGINIA
The State Journal

By Andrea Lannom

Updated: Apr 25, 2012

After allegations of fraud surfaced against Wheeling Jesuit University and its employee J. Davitt McAteer, the university’s board of trustees has authorized the release of findings in an independent special counsel report that addressed its technology centers’ cost-allocation methods.

The recently filed federal court documents were filed by a NASA special agent alleging the university and McAteer fraudulently diverted federal funds to maintain non-federal aspects of the university and McAteer’s law firm.

“The university has always been, and always will be, completely transparent with regards to its cost-allocation methods of its technology centers,” said Wheeling Jesuit University President Rick Beyer. “Once the affidavit was reviewed, the Board of Trustees decided to release a report of an independent investigation regarding the issue, which was originally addressed by the university in 2008.”

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NEW YORK
Watershed Post

By Lissa Harris

Catholic priest Jeremiah Nunan, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Cairo and Our Lady of Knock Shrine in East Durham, has been suspended from ministry, while the Albany Diocese and the Greene County District Attorney investigate charges that he sexually abused a minor.

The Daily Mail has a brief item about the charges in today’s paper.

The Albany Times-Union, which has done quite a bit of in-depth reporting on allegations of sexual abuse in the Albany Diocese, has more. This is not the first time the 74-year-old Nunan has faced abuse charges, reporter Bryan Fitzgerald writes:

In 2006, Nunan was placed on leave after allegations surfaced that he molested a child in the late 1960s and early 1970s. That case began after a California priest, Rev. Mark Jaufmann, accused Nunan of abusing him for about three years, starting in 1967, when Jaufmann was 9. Nunan was serving at St. Mary’s Church in Hudson at the time.

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NEW YORK
The Daily Mail

By W. T. Eckert
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

Published: Wednesday, April 25, 2012

ALBANY — Alleged sexual abuse, apparent hush money and a lawsuit from a 23-year-old inmate were brought to the front steps of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany Tuesday.

Supporters of 23-year-old Martin Morales gathered in the front yard of the Albany Diocesan headquarters Tuesday afternoon to rally against the alleged sexual abuse the former Cairo altar boy and his brother, New York State Trooper Ivan Morales Jr., experienced at the hands of Father Jeremiah Nunan.

Martin Morales filed a civil suit against Nunan for alleged sexual abuse that took place while he was between the ages of 7 and 12 during the years of 1996 and 2003. The alleged abuse then continued for a series of another five years between 2006 and 2011.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

April 26, 2012 by Susan Matthews

by Susan Matthews

I successfully navigated I-95 rush-hour traffic, paid exorbitant parking prices and made my way into the Criminal Justice Center at 13th and Filbert this morning. I didn’t know what to expect in room 304. Thus far, I’ve somehow managed to escape jury duty and traffic court. I entered the double wooden doors. Instead of TV’s Judge Judy, it was Judge Sarmina. I had to make a seating decision. Was this like a wedding? If so, I knew whose side I wanted to sit on – the prosecution. I sat next to Kathy Kane on what must have seemed far too much like a pew to victims seated nearby.

“James” was on the stand calmly delivering his testimony in response to the prosecution’s questions. He was incredibly composed throughout the specifics of his molestation by Father Edward Avery and his subsequent recollection of communication with the archdiocese. His voice only wavered during a reading of a letter he wrote to Avery years later. His emotional conflict in reconciling Avery the dear friend and Avery the molester was heart-wrenching. The full impact of the betrayal was palpable.

“James” is now a doctor specializing in hospice care, married and a practicing Catholic with five children in Catholic school. When asked how the sexual abuse impacted his life, there was a long pause. Imagine what he must have been weighing. To say his life was ruined would diminish his family and all that he has accomplished. Yet, any one of us can imagine the toll.

The prosecution delivered the timeline of what Msgr. Lynn knew about Father Avery and when he knew it. If Lynn had acted appropriately on his knowledge, the next witness might not have been sexually abused by Avery as a fifth-grade altar boy at St. Jerome Parish. My own son is just a year older. I can’t bear to recount what happened to “Billy.” Please refer to the 2011 Grand Jury Report on our Resources page.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: A priest of the Superior, Wisconsin diocese, Ericksen was the subject of a 1989 lawsuit in which he was accused of sexually abusing four boys. He is said to have raped a 17 year-old boy and that boy’s 8 to 9 year old cousin. Further, he is said to have been caught assaulting two boys in the rectory, one of whom was the younger cousin of the 17 year-old. Ericksen said in 2010 that he “just fondled and stuff like that”, in regard to the three boys, but he denied involvement with a fourth boy. Ericksen was removed from the priesthood in 1988. He had moved to Minneapolis in 1983, then to Kansas City, MO in 2005, where he was still residing in July 2010. In July 2010 the Sawyer County, WI Police Department began a criminal investigation of the 1980s allegations.

Ordained: 1973
Incardinated: Superior

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NEW YORK
WPIX

[with video]

By ELLYN MARKS
pix11.com | @marksPIX

BRONX, NY (PIX11)— More than two decades after graduating from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, two men claim they were sexually abused by the Dean of Discipline, Brother John Justin O’Connor.

“Two to three times a week he’d single you out in class or put you in detention, then have his way with you and terrorize you,” said a now 41-year-old man who claims he was molested by Brother O’Connor for two years after he entered the high school in 1985.

Classmate Ernie Sierra, 40, said he too was abused by Brother O’Connor.

“I was afraid every day that I came to school,” said Sierra. “We can no longer turn a deaf ear. There comes a time when silence is absolutely a betrayal.”

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TEXAS
The Salt Lake Tribune

Lindsay Whitehurst

Here are the “revelations from God” Warren Jeffs filed Tuesday with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest court. They’re not ones we’ve seen mailed out before, but rather directed straight at the court.

This about a month after the appeal of his sexual assault of a child conviction was dismissed from the Third Court of Appeals because he didn’t do anything with it.

In the new filing, Jeffs, who is acting as his own attorney, tells us he decided to skip the lower court and go straight to the top. He wants the judges to drop all the charges and let all the FLDS men in prison go free, especially Merril Jessop (who he seems quite concerned about these days.)

The revelation threatens God’s “full whirlwind judgements” if it doesn’t happen.

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TEXAS
Fox 13

by Ben Winslow

AUSTIN, Texas — Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has filed a new appeal of his child sex assault conviction, threatening God’s wrath if he is not freed from prison.

In revelations filed with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Fundamentalist LDS Church leader claims Jesus Christ is asking the Texas Supreme Court to free him.

“My people have endured persecution by government powers since Joseph Smith’s day on earth; and this nation is ripened for my full judgments, living in corruption,” Jeffs writes. “Let my servant and his brethren of my Church in Texas prisons be released, for they are prosecuted for abiding my law of Celestial Eternal Marriage of Plural Marriage Celestial; my most holy pure law of salvation, necessary for them and all others to receive full salvation.”

Jeffs was convicted of child sex assault, accused of taking as polygamous brides a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl, whom he fathered a child with. In another revelation, the polygamist leader warns of God’s punishment if he and other FLDS members convicted of charges related to underage marriages are not freed.

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WOONSOCKET (RI)
Providence Journal

April 26, 2012

By News staff

WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence has defrocked a Woonsocket priest on sexual misconduct allegations involving a relative nearly 30 years ago.

The Call of Woonsocket reports the Rev. Timothy Gorton was defrocked and stripped of his priestly duties at the Precious Blood parish earlier this month. Diocese officials confirmed the report and say they forwarded the allegations to police, who haven’t filed criminal charges.

Gorton’s nephew, James Wilkinson, told the newspaper that Gorton fondled him at a church in Cumberland in 1983 when he was 12, and Gorton exposed himself to Wilkinson in Narragansett later that year.

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IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Thursday, 26 April 2012

Priests could face ten years in prison if they fail to report sex abuse revealed in confession.

In a move which will further sour ailing relations between church and state, new laws requiring priests to break the seal of the confessional are expected to be enacted by the end of the year and are one element of a suite of legislation to protect children and vulnerable adults, said the Republic’s Justice Minister Alan Shatter.

But the new rules have prompted accusations of “very bad lawmaking” by the government from both legal and religious experts who believe they will create an obligation which priests cannot live with under Canon Law.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Reuters

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA | Wed Apr 25, 2012

(Reuters) – A 23-year-old man testified on Wednesday in the child sex abuse case against the Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese that he was molested by two priests, one of whom prosecutors said had been known to church officials as a sex abuser years earlier.

The testimony came at the trial of Monsignor William Lynn, former secretary of the clergy, who is charged with child endangerment and conspiracy over accusations he covered up abuse allegations against priests, many of whom were simply transferred to unsuspecting parishes.

The case has put a spotlight on the Philadelphia Archdiocese, the nation’s sixth largest with 1.5 million adherents, and experts say has likely caught the eye of the Vatican, given Lynn’s rank as the highest U.S. church official to go to trial in the abuse scandal.

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UNITED STATES
Religion Dispatches

By Mary E. Hunt

When it comes to the Vatican’s crackdown on women religious, I believe it’s time to declare that for the purpose of this struggle: we are all nuns.

The mandate by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to reform the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) via the appointment of an Archbishop Delegate to bring the nuns back in line—below and behind the bishops—has outraged those who respect its rich legacy.

If you can spell Catholic, you are probably asking: how dare they go after 57,000 dedicated women whose median age is well over 70 and who work tirelessly for a more just world? How dare the very men who preside over a Church in utter disgrace due to sexual misconduct and cover-ups by bishops try to distract from their own problems by creating new ones for women religious?

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IRELAND
Irish Central

By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Thursday, April 26, 2012

Irish priests have vowed to defy a new law forcing them to report details of sexual abused revealed in the confessional box.

Ireland’s Justice Minister Alan Shatter is to introduce new legislation which will force the clergy to reveal all details disclosed in confession.

But priests have vowed to defy the law despite the threat of a 10-year jail sentence after the introduction of the mandatory reporting legislation.

The 800 strong Association of Catholic Priests has even told the Irish Independent newspaper that its member will flout the Shatter law.

Spokesman Fr Sean McDonagh told the paper: “I certainly wouldn’t be willing to break the seal of confession for anyone — Alan Shatter particularly.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New Civil Rights Movement

by David Badash on April 26, 2012

A 23-year old man testified in court Wednesday that as a 10-year old boy he was forced by a Catholic Priest to perform a strip tease in a church storage room, Reuters reports:

Wednesday’s witness testified that in 1998 when he was 10 years old and serving as an altar boy, he was abused by Rev. Charles Engelhardt and Edward Avery, who is no longer a priest, at St. Jerome’s in northeast Philadelphia. Reuters does not identify victims of sexual assault unless they come forward to identify themselves.

Avery ordered him to do a strip tease in a church storage room, he testified.

“I was swaying back and forth and took off my clothes,” he said before detailing sex acts that he said Avery demanded.

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IRELAND
Donegal Democrat

By Declan Magee
Published on Thursday 26 April 2012

The Donegal Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre is continuing to experience an increase in demand with more than 60 per cent of clients last year having suffered sexual abuse as a child.

The centre says last year was one of its busiest in recent times with increases in demand experienced after the publication of the Catholic church’s report into clerical sexual abuse in the Raphoe dioceses and the media attention around the conviction of child sex abuser Michael Ferry.

In both cases the centre responded to an increase in demand by providing a 24-hour service.

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IRELAND
Build

A new law requires them to report sexual abuse disclosed to them in the confession box, failure to do so could result in a 10-year jail sentences.

Fr Sean McDonagh of the Association of Catholic Priests, which represents 800 clergymen, warned last night: “I certainly wouldn’t be willing to break the seal of confession for anyone — Alan Shatter particularly.”

The defiant stance comes after Justice Minister Alan Shatter confirmed the mandatory reporting requirement would apply to priests hearing confession.

“The seal of the confessional is inviolable as far as I am concerned, and that’s the end of the matter,” said Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin Raymond Field.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

CARL O’BRIEN

SEAL OF CONFESSION: THE DEPARTMENT of Justice was unable to confirm last night whether priests will be legally obliged to report serious offences against children to gardaí that are disclosed during Confession.

The issue first sparked controversy after Catholic bishops warned last year that any laws that would breach the seal of Confession would be a “serious offence” to the rights of penitents.

To date priests have been allowed to refuse to answer questions relating to what is said in the confessional under what is known as “sacerdotal privilege”.

However, Mr Shatter said yesterday the issue had become a “media obsession” and the new law would not protect priests from prosecution for failing to pass on information that arises during Confession.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

[Murphy Report: Fr. Benito – BishopAccountability.org]

STEVEN CARROLL

THE CATHOLIC Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin has said he was put under “a huge amount of legal pressure” when dealing with the case of a priest who was recently asked to stand aside from his parish, several years after allegations of child sex abuse were made against him.

Dr Martin said he understood but regretted the decision of a child-safeguarding representative in the Dublin parish to step down after she discovered last month the priest had been on “restricted ministry” in her parish for years.

The archbishop said the matter, reported in yesterday’s Irish Times, was “a classic example of the lacunas that exist in our current legislation”, as he was restricted from sharing information about the priest as the matter was not sufficiently serious to result in a conviction.

“There is a real need to update our legislation which respects the rights of individuals but also which respects and covers the need to share information with those who have responsibility,” Dr Martin told RTÉ Radio.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

Kristen Byrne, Blogger
MyFoxPhilly.com

A young man took the stand Wednesday in a clergy-sex-abuse trial involving the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, telling the jury of the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of two priests; leading to his use of drugs.

The 23-year-old testified that former priest Edward Avery sexually abused him twice in the church storage room at St. Jerome Parish in northeast Philadelphia. Both incidents happened after Mass in 1999, when he was a 10-year-old altar boy.

Prosecutors showed the jury a photograph of the young man when he was a smiling fifth grader as the jury listened to him describe his involvement in school before the abuse.

The victim told the jury that Avery would have him do a striptease to fast-paced church music as he looked on with an “eerie smile”. The witness and Avery would then masturbate and perform oral sex on each other.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CNN

By Sarah Hoye, CNN

Philadelphia (CNN) — A former altar boy molested in a church sacristy testified Wednesday in the child sexual abuse and conspiracy trial of two Philadelphia priests.

“He told me God loves me, this is what God wants, and it was time for me to become a man,” the witness told jurors.

Just days before the trial began, defrocked priest Edward Avery of the Philadelphia Archdiocese pleaded guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child after admitting that he sexually assaulted the 10-year-old altar boy during the 1998-99 school year. Avery, 69, was sentenced to two-and-a-half to five years.

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WOONSOCKET (RI)
The Woonsocket Call

April 25, 2012

By
RUSS OLIVO
rolivo@woonsocketcall.com

WOONSOCKET — Citing allegations of sexual misconduct that happened nearly 30 years ago, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence has defrocked a priest assigned to Precious Blood parish and ordered him to move out of the rectory.

The Rev. Timothy J. Gorton was sanctioned by the diocese over allegations brought against him by his nephew, James C. Wilkinson, according to documents obtained by The Call and interviews with the victim. Wilkinson said he was 12 years old when Gorton fondled him in the rectory of a church in Cumberland in 1983 and, later that year, when Gorton allegedly exposed himself to him at a beach cottage in Narragansett that belonged to a family friend. Despite the allegations, which have been forwarded to law enforcement, Gorton is not charged with any criminal offense.

Long troubled by the encounters, Wilksonson said he lodged a complaint with the Diocese Office of Education and Compliance in January after talking the matter over with his therapist.

In an April 10 letter to Wilkinson sent to him from the Diocese, Lt. Robert N. McCarthy, the director of education and compliance, told him that an investigation based on his complaint of “alleged sexual impropriety by your Uncle, Rev. Timothy J. Gorton …” concluded that “the complaint was credible.” The investigation began on Jan. 27.

In a brief statement, the diocese confirmed that Gorton has been stripped of his priestly duties.

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WOONSOCKET (RI)
WPRI

By Dan Carpenter

WOONSOCKET, R.I. (WPRI) – A Rhode Island Catholic priest has been defrocked following accusations of sexual abuse.

A spokesman with The Diocese of Providence says Rev. Timothy Gorton is being accused in allegations dating back 30 years.

The Woonsocket Call is reporting Gorton has been ordered to move out of the rectory at Precious Blood Parish.

The Diocese released the following statement Wednesday night:

“The Diocese of Providence takes very seriously allegations of sexual abuse by a member of the Church. When allegations of misconduct by Rev. Timothy Gorton were received by the Diocese, allegations that date from approximately 30 years ago, law enforcement officials were notified immediately. The Diocesan Review Board, a committee comprised of laity and clergy which is charged with reviewing such allegations, thoroughly studied the matter and provided its recommendations to the Diocesan Bishop. As a result of this preliminary study, and in light of persistent health concerns, Fr. Gorton has retired from the active ministry of the priesthood and his faculties to function as a priest have been revoked by the Bishop. In accordance with Church law, the matter will be referred to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome for any further action that might be required.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New York Times

By JON HURDLE

Published: April 25, 2012

PHILADELPHIA — Two men testified Wednesday of abuse they suffered as youths at the hands of a now defrocked Philadelphia priest. The two victims of Edward Avery, a former priest who has pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges, appeared during the landmark trial of Msgr. William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, who is charged with child endangerment. Monsignor Lynn is suspected of allowing priests accused of abuse to remain in positions where they could continue to abuse children.

One victim, now 23, told the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas how Mr. Avery abused him in the sacristy of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Northeast Philadelphia in 1998, when he was 10 years old.

The man said that he had already been abused by the Rev. Charles Engelhardt, another priest who is charged with abuse, and that Mr. Avery said he intended to do the same thing with him.

“He said he heard about my sessions with Father Engelhardt and that ours were going to begin soon,” said the man, who was an altar boy.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

[Murphy Report: Fr. Benito – BishopAccountability.org]

By Paul Melia

Thursday April 26 2012

A PRIEST named in the Murphy Report was asked to step aside from his ministry in February after new information relating to an allegation of child sexual abuse emerged.

The Dublin diocese confirmed yesterday that the priest, given the pseudonym of Fr Benito in the report, had been asked to leave his post after new information relating to abuse allegations made to gardai in September 2001 was passed on to authorities.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said yesterday that the new information relating to the allegations, which was received by child protection services, gardai and HSE just before Christmas, resulted in him reassessing the allegations against Fr Benito, before asking him to leave his ministry.

However, he said he could not inform the parish pastoral council, made up of members of the community, or the parish’s child safeguarding officer of the allegations until recently because of legal restrictions.

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IRELAND
The Irish Sun

By MYLES McENTEE

ANYONE found guilty of staying silent about sex crimes against a child will face five years behind bars under tough new measures unveiled yesterday.

The crackdown came as Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin insisted it had become more difficult for clerics to share sensitive information with anybody other than gardai or health officials.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter told how the latest legislation he was pushing through would close a loophole and make it a criminal offence to withhold information about abuse of children or vulnerable people.

Meanwhile, a second law will make it mandatory for organisations, including churches and named professionals, to report abuse or neglect.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

Shortly before 2 p.m., Jeff Lindy, one of Msgr. William J. Lynn’s defense lawyers, stood up in Courtroom 304 of the Criminal Justice Center to announce a deal.

The Commonwealth and the defense had agreed that there would be no questions on cross-examination of the former altar boy raped in 1998 by Edward V. Avery, the former archdiocese of Philadelphia priest now serving a prison sentence of 2 1/2 to 5 years.

Avery pleaded guilty on the eve of the archdiocese sex abuse trial to charges of conspiring to endanger the welfare of children, and raping a 10-year-old. His former victim, now 23, testified in court Wednesday about what the priest did to him. He described two sessions of oral sex and masturbation that took place after Mass in a supply closet at St. Jerome Church in Northeast Philadelphia.

Defense lawyers seemed eager to cross-examine the former altar boy, who was tearful, and did not appear overly confident on the witness stand. But the defense decided that the price of trying to poke holes in the witness’s story was too high.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

The soft-spoken 49-year-old doctor on the witness stand said he was angry at himself, because the last thing he wanted to do was cry.

But it’s not easy to sit in front of a jury of strangers and tell all the tawdry details from your worst personal nightmare. The doctor, however, pulled himself together, and described how he felt after a priest he trusted and admired had just molested him.

“I froze,” the doctor said. “I felt betrayed, I felt confused.”

The grown men in the front row of the jury box looked uncomfortable as the doctor shared his story. They stared straight ahead, or looked away, as if they shared his anguish. It was a powerful moment in Courtroom 304, and a bad day to be a defendant at the archdiocese of Philadelphia sex abuse trial.

He was a sixth grader when he met Father Ed Avery, the assistant pastor at St. Philip Neri in Pennsburg. The boy was impressed by the priest. Father Ed was an “outgoing, energetic, gregarious individual, very charismatic, very popular with the young people,” the witness testified. “I got a lot of affirmation from him.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Michael Brennan Deputy Political Editor

Thursday April 26 2012

CATHOLIC priests will defy a new law that requires them to report sexual abuse disclosed to them in the confession box — despite the threat of 10-year jail sentences.

It came after Justice Minister Alan Shatter confirmed the mandatory reporting requirement would apply to priests hearing confession.

Fr Sean McDonagh of the Association of Catholic Priests, which represents 800 clergymen, warned last night: “I certainly wouldn’t be willing to break the seal of confession for anyone — Alan Shatter particularly.”

And Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin Raymond Field said: “The seal of the confessional is inviolable as far as I am concerned, and that’s the end of the matter.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writers

The two men followed starkly different paths to the witness stand.

The 49-year-old was raised in the outer suburbs, graduated from medical school, got married, and had five children. The 23-year-old from Northeast Philadelphia was kicked out of two high schools, attempted suicide, and spent much of the last decade hooked on heroin and prescription drugs.

But in tense and emotional testimony to a Common Pleas Court jury Wednesday, both former altar boys described a bond: Each said he was sexually abused by his parish priest, Edward Avery.

“God loves you, and this is what God wants,” Avery allegedly told the Philadelphia altar boy after forcing him to dance a striptease and engage in oral sex at St. Jerome’s Church in 1999, when the boy was 10.

Together, their testimony represented a pillar of the landmark conspiracy and endangerment case prosecutors are trying to prove against Msgr. William J. Lynn, the former secretary for clergy under Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua. They contend Lynn’s failure to remove Avery from active ministry after learning of one allegation in 1992 enabled the priest to abuse the fifth grader at St. Jerome’s seven years later.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Joe Ferullo on Apr. 23, 2012 NCR Today

About twice a month, my wife meets up with a Vietnamese-American nun in a rough part of town, and together they roam in a beat-up white van, scouring the streets for homeless women. It never takes long. The sister knows just where to look: dirty alleys, dark underpasses — they are there.

Many of them are regulars, seeking out the van from their hidden places. The sister and my wife offer to bring them back to a church shelter; if the person refuses, they hand out bags of food and essentials then head on their way.

This slender, slight but fierce nun is apparently a clear and present danger to the Catholic church.

I’m talking, of course, about the now-infamous Vatican report that says the real trouble with the church in America is that our nuns here just can’t seem to toe the line of the bishops, “who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.”

Funny statement, that — as noted by Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez. He points out that, at the very moment the report was being issued, a child abuse trial in Philadelphia involving the clergy also revealed that a West Virginia bishop was accused of abuse. In Kansas City, Mo., another bishop goes on trial in September for failing to report abuse. And, Lopez writes, last year church officials paid $144 million to settle abuse allegation and cover legal fees — more than a decade after the scandal first broke.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Robert McClory on Apr. 24, 2012 NCR Today

The attitude toward women that prompted the Vatican crackdown on the LCWR was there in the beginning and it’s never been exorcised from Catholicism. It even got into the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians, for example, where the writer declares that women “should keep silence in the churches for they are not permitted to speak but should be subordinate. … If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husband.”

Today, we are assured by every credible Scripture scholar that this was inserted by some scribe after Paul’s death; it totally contradicts his attitude toward women and his acceptance of women as co-workers. In Romans, he commends an entire list of women, including Junia, whom he calls “prominent among the apostles.” Nevertheless, several putdowns of women got placed in the texts and have remained as stumbling blocks for the unwary.

The paintings in the catacombs from the first centuries give witness that women, portrayed in the garments of priests and deacons, even presiding at the Eucharist, shared in the radical equality of the Gospel. But soon the declarations of bishops and synods warn that women should not be ordained and the practice is to be snuffed out wherever it has taken root. The hierarchy alone, they reminded the people (just as they told LCWR), are the deciders.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Joshua J. McElwee on Apr. 25, 2012 NCR Today

The leadership of the largest organization representing U.S. women religious announced this afternoon that the board of the group will meet in an “atmosphere of prayer, contemplation and dialogue” in May to discuss news that the Vatican has ordered it to revise its statutes and has appointed an archbishop to oversee the revision.

The announcement comes on the website of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), which was the subject of the April 18 order from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and is signed by the group’s president, president-elect, and past-president.

The statement says the national board of the group will meet from May 29-June 1 to “begin its discussion” on the matter.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Phyllis Zagano on Apr. 25, 2012 Just Catholic

What’s left to say? By now the whole world has heard the Vatican is going to take care of those uppity, radical feminist nuns.

Except they’re not that uppity. They’re not radical feminists. For Pete’s sake, they’re not even nuns.

Which is where the problem begins. In the sixth century, a bishop named Caesarius of Arles endowed a monastery for his sister to run, and wrote “A Rule for Virgins.” You know, enclosure and all that. For about 1,000 years, that was pretty much the only choice for women who wanted to consecrate their lives to God.

While a few women were also ordained as deacons, any vocation for women soon got stuffed behind fortified walls. Over the centuries, new women’s vocations broke through here and there — the Beguines, Catherine of Siena — until Mary Ward and others brought defunct diaconal ministries to the alleys and byways of Europe. Eventually, the church recognized this new vocation, now called apostolic, or active religious life — “sisters” — as opposed to cloistered, or contemplative, nuns. …

Great theater here. Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle with Bishop Thomas J. Paproki of Springfield, Ill., and Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio, are the men in black. One of Sartain’s five older sisters belongs to the conservative Nashville Domincans. Paprocki, an amateur ice hockey goalie, once blamed priestly pederasty on the devil. And Blair, secretary to the archbishop of Detroit around the time of Agnes Mary Mansour, was in it from the start.

In fact Blair, together with now-Archbishop Charles J. Brown, the new apostolic nuncio to Ireland, prepared the recommendations to the voting members of CDF.

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AUSTRALIA
News Mail

Adam Carroll | 26th April 2012

PETER Slipper is a “complex character” and a “larrikin” who should relinquish his role as an ordained priest in the Traditional Anglican Communion while allegations of fraud and sexual harassment hang over his head.

That was the assessment of Archbishop John Hepworth, who confirmed on ABC radio yesterday that he had also asked Mr Slipper to stand down as the church’s senior legal officer.

“I’ve said to Peter that I think it is not appropriate to stand aside from the speakership and not stand aside from an important office in a church position,” Archbishop Hepworth told the AM program.

Mr Slipper, the Member for Fisher, stood down as Speaker in the Federal Parliament on Sunday after allegations surfaced he misused taxpayer-funded Cabcharge dockets, a potentially criminal offence.

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OKLAHOMA
The Wartburg Watch

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matthew 18:6

By now, most of our readers – an astute bunch – have probably read of Tom White’s apparent suicide. Tom had been the executive director of the Voice of the Martyrs for many years. Voice of the Martyrs is a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian organization dedicated to assisting the persecuted church worldwide. In the interest of full disclosure, I have donated to this fine organization and know the wonderful work they have done, giving voice to those who are persecuted for their faith worldwide. What I am about to write in no way reflects on their many good works. I urge you to visit their website here in order to more deeply understand this vital ministry.

There is one thing that can be said, without hesitation, about The Wartburg Watch. Pedophilia is our hot button issue. Not only were we involved with a pedophile situation at a church and were under duress for doing so, we have had extensive contact with victims, their families and with SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests – pastors, too) as well as lawyers who have represented victims on a national scale.

We have advocated, along with Wade Burleson and Tom Rich, for a pedophile database within the Southern Baptist Convention which, unfortunately, has seen its fair share of abusive pastors. So far, we are being studiously ignored.

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DEUTSCHLAND
TAMMOXSCHE GEDANKEN – II

Christen sind schon ein komisches Völkchen.

Komisch für den Betrachter von außerhalb jedenfalls.
Wer direkt mit ihnen zu tun hat, wird weniger amüsiert sein über die Meldungen, welche von Profi-Gläubigen jeden Tag produziert werden.

Da ist zum Beispiel der Abschaum-Bischof Gerhard Ludwig Müller aus Regensburg, dessen Anwälte einen Jungen, der bei den Regensburger Domspatzen sexuell missbraucht wurde, mit interessanten Argumenten abwehrten.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Bistum Regensburg

Als Leiter der Kommission sexueller Missbrauch im Bistum Regensburg bin ich bestürzt über die verantwortungslose Berichterstattung einiger Münchener Journalisten im Bayerischen Rundfunk. Die Beiträge in der Sendung kontrovers, in Bayern 1 und auf dem online-Portal des Senders sind eine Form des Aufheizungsjournalismus, der die wesentlichen Informationen unter den Tisch fallen lässt, den Zuschauern keine Möglichkeit lässt, sich ein sachgerechtes Urteil zu bilden und ein Bild unserer Arbeit in der Öffentlichkeit zeichnet, das ich als persönliche Herabsetzung empfinde. Ich weise diese Form der Verunglimpfung entschieden zurück und danke gleichzeitig allen Journalisten, die für eine sachliche Darstellung in der Öffentlichkeit sorgen.

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OSTERREICH
betroffen

Wien, 25.4.2012, kurier.at

Vertrauliche Gespräche eines Missbrauchsopfers mit Psychologen der Klasnic-Kommission sollen an die Kirche weitergegeben worden sein.

Datenleck oder breiter Datenmissbrauch? Diese Frage stellt sich Herbert Loitsch. Der Niederösterreicher ist ein von der Kirche anerkanntes Missbrauchsopfer.

Im Sommer 2011 holte sich Loitsch im Erzbischöflichen Palais in der Wiener Innenstadt von der Stiftung Opferschutz 10.000 Euro Schmerzensgeld ab. Diese Summe war ihm nach ersten Clearing-Gesprächen von der unabhängigen Klasnic-Kommission zugesprochen worden.

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

The appeals court ruled that Lebovits’ conviction is reversed, on the law and as a matter of discretion, and has ordered a new trial because the D.A. did not promptly turn over a police detective’s notes to the defense that documented an alleged attempt by Lebovits to bribe a victim to get the victim to drop the charges against Lebovits.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

APPELLATE DIVISION : SECOND JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
MARK C. DILLON, J.P.
RANDALL T. ENG
ARIEL E. BELEN
SANDRA L. SGROI, JJ.
2010-03777
(Ind. No. 11393/08)

[*1]The People of the State of New York, respondent,
v
Baruch Lebovits, appellant.

Dershowitz, Eiger & Adelson, P.C., New York, N.Y. (Nathan Z.
Dershowitz, Amy Adelson, and Alan M. Dershowitz, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, pro hac vice, of counsel), for appellant.
Charles J. Hynes, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard
Joblove and Anthea H. Bruffee of
counsel), for respondent.

DECISION & ORDER

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (DiMango, J.), rendered April 12, 2010, convicting him of criminal sexual act in the third degree (eight counts), upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.

ORDERED that the judgment is reversed, on the law and as a matter of discretion, and a new trial is ordered.

The defendant was charged with, inter alia, 10 separate counts of criminal sexual act in the third degree. The indictment alleged, among other things, that the defendant engaged in oral sexual conduct with the complainant, a then-16-year-old boy, on 10 separate occasions, approximately once a month, between May 2, 2004, and February 22, 2005.

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VATIKANSTADT
kathweb

Vatikanstadt, 25.04.2012 (KAP) Die Verantwortlichen für den Mitte Mai in Mannheim stattfindenden Deutschen Katholikentag wollen vermeiden, dass die Pfarrer-Initiative bei dem Großevent die Szene beherrscht. Im Zuge eines Besuchs im Vatikan sagte der Präsident des Zentralkomitees der deutschen Katholiken (ZdK), Alois Glück, er sei zuversichtlich, dass es in Mannheim möglich sein werde, alle Fragen, “die uns als Katholikinnen und Katholiken bewegen in einer guten Diskussionskultur miteinander zu beraten”. “Aber ich will hinzufügen: Alles, was in Österreich die Menschen bewegt, werden wir auch diskutieren – aber ohne Aufruf zum Ungehorsam”, so Glück im Gespräch mit “Radio Vatikan” am Dienstagabend.

Mannheim sei “nicht nur eine Diskussionsveranstaltung”, erinnerte der ZdK-Präsident: “Es ist ein geistliches Erlebnis, und es ist ein Miteinander-Ringen, Miteinander-Beten, -Feiern, -Diskutieren.” Zudem gebe es nicht nur Reizthemen, “die wir ja auch nicht isoliert in Deutschland entscheiden können” – wie z.B. den Zölibat -, sondern “es gibt viele Themen, die innerhalb des bestehenden Kirchenrechts und als Antwort auf seelsorgliche Themen vorangetrieben werden können”. Der “große gemeinsame Ruf” der ersten deutschen Dialogprozess-Veranstaltung sei der “Ruf nach einer barmherzigen Pastoral” gewesen. In den Vordergrund gestellt werden solle das Leitbild einer “dienenden Kirche, die nicht Selbstzweck ist”.

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CONNECTICUT
Norwich Bulletin

By ALISON SHEA
The Bulletin

Posted Apr 25, 2012

Norwich, Conn. —
A Taftville man was arrested Tuesday in Miami after Norwich police say he returned to the states from Haiti rather than face extradition on sex assault charges.

Luckner Sylvain, 49, whose last known address was on South A St. in Taftville, was charged with one count each of first-degree sexual assault and fourth-degree sexual assault, and two counts of risk of injury to a minor.

Police say an investigation was opened in 2006 into Sylvain’s alleged sexual relationship with a then 12-year-old. Sylvain fled to Haiti when the investigation started, and did not intend to return to the U.S., police said.

The Norwich police sought help from the U.S. State Department and Haitian authorities to help take Sylvain into custody, police said.

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CONNECTICUT
The Day

By Karen Florin

Published 04/25/2012

A Haitian church and community leader from Norwich who allegedly fled the country to avoid prosecution was arraigned in Superior Court this afternoon on charges that he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl multiple times in 2006 and 2007.

Luckner Sylvain, 49, of 44 South A. St., Taftville, is a pastor at the First Haitian Baptist Church and is the co-founder of the Bethany Foundation, a group dedicated to raising funds to helping Haitian children impacted by the earthquake in January 2010.

Norwich police said Sylvain fled Norwich for Haiti on Dec. 4, 2011 after learning the victim had disclosed that Sylvain had sexually assaulted her while she and her mother lived with Sylvain and his family in 2006 and 2007. With the assistance of Haitian authorities and the U.S. State Department, Sylvain was captured and transferred to Miami, Fla. He waived extradition and was returned to Connecticut on Tuesday.

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ROME
National Post (Canada)

ROME — Italian prosecutors have authorised police to open the tomb of a crime boss in a church in Rome, as part of a probe into the suspected kidnapping of a Vatican employee’s daughter in 1983.

Emanuela Orlandi was 15 when she disappeared. Her body has never been found and Italy has been gripped for years by a mystery which mixes a notorious band of criminals, the Magliana gang, with the murky world of Vatican finances.

Enrico de Pedis, the leader of the band which terrorised Rome in the 1970s and 1980s, has long been suspected of playing a part in her disappearance.

De Pedis, who is thought to have had ties with the Sicilian mafia, Italy’s shadowy P2 Masonic lodge and the Vatican bank, was murdered by rivals in 1990 and rather oddly buried in a basilica in Rome usually reserved for cardinals.

There are many conspiracy theories surrounding Orlandi. The band is thought to have kidnapped the young girl in an attempt to recover money invested in the Vatican’s bank — or because her father was involved in laundering their cash.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Jim Wallis

After an official investigation, the Vatican seems pretty upset with the Catholic Sisters here in the United States. They have reprimanded the women for not sufficiently upholding the bishops’ teachings and doctrines and paying much more attention to issues like poverty and health care than to abortion, homosexuality and male-only priesthood.

There are concerns with “a prevalence of certain radical feminist themes” and they have been taken to task for “occasional public statements” that disagree with the bishops, “who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.”

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the largest representative group of all the Catholic sisters orders, has now been put under the control of some bishops who are to “reform” them, change the group’s statutes and programs, and approve who will speak at their events.

The Vatican’s approach to its concerns, to say the least, is quite regrettable. Condemnation and control were chosen over conversation and dialogue. Quite honestly, do most of us believe, or even most Catholics believe, that the bishops are the only “authentic teachers of faith and morals?”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Two former altar boys on Wednesday described being sexually assaulted decades apart by the Rev. Edward Avery, a priest who remained in ministry for years after the Archdiocese of Philadelphia logged its first complaint about him.

The first witness, a 49-year-old physician, told a Common Pleas Court jury that he was 15 when Avery let him get drunk in a University City bar in the late 1970s, took him home to his nearby rectory and fondled him as he slept. More than a dozen years passed before he confronted Avery in a 1992 letter and sent copies to church officials.

After undergoing treatment at church-owned hospital, Avery was reassigned and allowed to live and celebrate Mass at St. Jerome Church in Northeast Philadelphia. That’s where the second alleged victim said Avery sexually assaulted him twice in the church in 1999, when he was 10.

“This is what God wants,” the priest told him, man testified.

The abuse by Avery and another priest plunged him into years of drug abuse and at least one suicide attempt, the witness said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Fox News

Published April 25, 2012

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA – A young man told a jury in a criminal priest-abuse case heard Tuesday that he was sexually assaulted as a youngster by two priests and his Catholic school teacher and that he turned to drugs for respite.

A policeman’s son, the witness said he started smoking marijuana at age 10 to deal with the abuse and has since tried drug treatment 23 times to battle addictions to heroin, painkillers and other drugs.

The 23-year-old testified at the trial of Monsignor William Lynn, a former secretary for clergy at the Philadelphia archdiocese who is charged with child endangerment for helping keep accused priests in ministry.

The witness told jurors that parish priest Edward Avery twice raped him after Mass in 1999, when he was a 10-year-old altar boy.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

April 25, 2012

By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Today was another day of disturbing and potentially devastating testimony in the clergy abuse case, as two victims of admitted predator priest Edward Avery describe the abuse to the jury.

Monsignor William Lynn is charged with endangering the second victim by not removing Avery from ministry after the first victim came forward.

The first victim told the jury he was molested by Father Edward Avery and came forward a decade later, in 1992, because he was concerned that Avery could hurt others.

In a soft voice at times choked with emotion, the second victim, now 23, today said he was assaulted during the 1998-99 school year, when he was a 10-year-old altar boy. He says Avery sexually assaulted him twice, telling him afterward that he “did a good job” and that God loves him.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Times

Published: Wednesday, April 25, 2012

MARYCLAIRE DALE,Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 49-year-old doctor is testifying in a groundbreaking clergy-abuse case about molestation he says he suffered at the hands of a now-defrocked Philadelphia priest.

The man said he was abused by Edward Avery at the ages of 15 and 18. He said he told the archdiocese about the abuse in 1992.

Avery’s guilty plea days before his trial confirms that he went on to abuse a boy seven years later, in 1999, while still in parish work.

On cross examination of the doctor, he acknowledged that defendant Monsignor William Lynn not only responded to his letter but arranged a 1993 confrontation with Avery at a facility where the priest was being treated.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League – Catalyst

April Issue 2012

Readers of Catalyst know that we have long felt that Father Gordon MacRae has been treated unjustly. In 1994, he was sentenced to prison for up to 67 years for allegedly molesting a minor. His case garnered national attention when Dorothy Rabinowitz raised serious questions about MacRae’s guilt in a pair of articles in the Wall Street Journal in 2000.

Father MacRae’s case is on appeal; he is being represented by Robert Rosenthal of New York City and Cathy J. Green of Manchester, New Hampshire. The National Center for Reason and Justice is sponsoring the case. The new trial is entirely warranted.

Tom Grover is the accuser. In the early 1990s when the alleged offense took place, it was well known around Keene, New Hampshire that the Diocese of Manchester was forking out a lot of money to alleged victims. Enter Grover, an unemployed drug addict and alcoholic. He charged MacRae with molestation when he was a teenager and won a settlement of $200,000.

There were no witnesses, but there are plenty of family members and friends who are now talking. They say Grover is a liar and that he perjured himself at MacRae’s trial. We know, for example, that when Grover won in court, he paraded around flashing wads of cash and taking pictures with it. Moreover, FBI Special Agent Supervisor James Abbott, who spent three years investigating this case, has said, “I discovered no evidence of MacRae having committed the crimes charged, or any other crimes.”

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UNITED STATES
These Stone Walls

by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on April 25, 2012

My dear old friend, Jacquie Miles, now an avid reader of These Stone Walls from her Northwest Kentucky home, sent me this story a few weeks ago – sort of an “inside” joke:

A young man wandered into a Southern church during a healing service. The exuberant preacher invited anyone in need of prayers to step forward. The 20-year-old, thinking he had little to lose, walked up the aisle. “What can we do for you, son?” the preacher asked loudly. “I’m worried about my hearing,” the young man replied.

“Step right on up here!” shouted the preacher as his flock braced themselves for a miracle. The preacher placed his hand on the boy’s head and called upon the Lord to restore him body and soul and cast out every discomfort. After several minutes of the preacher’s ALLELUIAs and a chorus of shouted AMENs, the preacher stepped back from his subject. “How’s your hearing now, son?” the preacher asked loudly. “I don’t know,” said the young man. “It’s not ’til Thursday!”

The story was a big hit in my current locale where the only kind of hearing anyone ever worries about is the latter. If you read Ryan MacDonald’s brief “Special Report,” you know that I also have one to prepare for. I’m not sure when it’s coming, but it’s coming. It could be many months away. Justice at this level moves at a glacial pace. It takes a lot more effort and evidence to get a priest out of prison than to put one in these days. Catholic League president, Bill Donohue also wrote of these developments in a great editorial in the April issue of Catalyst entitled “Father MacRae’s Appeal.” Rill Donohue wrote:

“The website Of the National Center for Reason and Justice, (www.ncrj.org) provides all the legal information you need to make up your own mind.”

That must be true because there are some who don’t want you to read those documents and make up your own minds. Just last week, a friend read me a series of ugly comments posted by SNAP members denouncing my appeal. The comments were posted at the website of the Philadelphia Inquirer after a story about the ongoing prosecution/persecution of Catholic priests and Church officials there. I had not realized how much of a threat to the agenda of SNAP my own appeal might be until I read Ryan MacDonald’s report, “Why Do SNAP and VOTF Fear the Case of Fr. Gordon MacRae?” at his A Ram in the Thicket website.

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VATICAN CITY
TrustLaw

25 Apr 2012

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, April 25 (Reuters) – Pope Benedict has set up a commission of cardinals to investigate the leaks of sensitive documents to the media alleging corruption and mismanagement in the Vatican.

The documents included private letters to the pope from an archbishop who was transferred to Washington after he blew the whistle on what he said was nepotism and cronyism in the awarding of contracts, and documents alleging internal conflicts about the Vatican bank.

The Vatican said the commission would be made up of three retired cardinals: Spaniard Julian Herranz, Jozef Tomko of Slovakia and Salvatore De Giorgi of Italy.

A statement said they would “undertake an authoritative investigation and throw light” on how the leaks happened.

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VATICAN CITY
Jakarta Post

Associated Press, Vatican City | Wed, 04/25/2012

The Vatican says Spanish Cardinal Julian Herranz has been named to preside over a special commission set up by Pope Benedict XVI to shed light on the so-called “Vatileaks” scandal.

The Vatican said Wednesday that the Commission of Cardinals held its first meeting Tuesday to establish the method and timetable for its activities.

The commission members are Slovak Cardinal Jozef Tomko and Italian Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgio.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Vatican Secretary of State has stated that the Commission will “act at all levels on the strength of its pontifical mandate”

Vatican Insider staff
Rome

The Commission of Cardinals, created by order of the Holy Father, met on 24 April to decide on a method and set a timetable for its activities. The Cardinal’s Commission, which is chaired by Cardinal Julian Herranz and include Josef Tomko and Salvatore De Giorgi as members is setting to work straight away “to undertake an authoritative investigation and throw light on” the “recent leaks of reserved and confidential [Vatican] documents on television, in newspapers and in other communications media.”

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

CARL O’BRIEN, Chief Reporter

Any sports club, society or voluntary organisation that works with children faces being shut down if they fail to implement official guidelines on how to handle child protection and welfare concerns.

It is one of a number of measures contained in two new pieces of legislation published today which are likely to have far-reaching implications for how the State, voluntary groups and wider society respond to children at risk.

Details of both Bills were published today by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald.

Under the Children First Bill, all organisations where children attend without their parents – such as schools, sports clubs or religious groups – will face a legal requirement to ensure they provide a safe environment for children.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

STEVEN CARROLL and PATSY McGARRY

Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin has said he regrets a recent decision by a child safeguarding representative to step down after learning a priest in her area had been on “restricted ministry” for years after child sex abuse allegations were made against him.

Dr Martin said the case in a Dublin Catholic parish was “a classic example of the lacunas that exist in our current legislation” as he was restricted from sharing information about the priest as it was not sufficient to result in a conviction.

“There is a real need to update our legislation which respect the rights of individuals but also respects and covers the need to share information with those who have responsibility,” he told RTÉ’s Today with Pat Kenny programme.

Dr Martin said there was a “very serious difficulty” around soft information and legislation had been promised for some time. Soft information is material not strong enough to base a prosecution or conviction but indicates a concern over the suitability of a person to have access to children.

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DEUTSCHLAND
taz

Pater Mertes bekommt von SPD-Chef Gabriel den Heinemann-Preis für besonderen Bürgermut. Ein anonymer ehemaliger Canisius-Schüler über den Mut der anderen.

Blick aus dem Canisius-Kolleg in den Innenhof. Bild: dapd

taz: Pater Klaus Mertes bekommt am Donnerstag einen Preis als Aufklärer der sexuellen Gewalt gegen Schüler am Canisius-Kolleg. Wieso bekommt er ihn zu Recht?

Anonymus: Weil er es war, der als Vertreter der Institution die Zugbrücke herunterließ. Zu uns, die wir von draußen jahrelang versucht hatten, auf die sexuelle Gewalt aufmerksam zu machen. Pater Mertes sagte den wichtigsten Satz, den es für einen Betroffenen überhaupt geben kann: „Ich glaube euch!“

Dennoch sagen Sie, Pater Mertes musste zu diesem Satz bekehrt werden. Warum?

Weil Mertes und der Orden schon seit Jahren von den Missbrauchsfällen wussten. Er hat wiederholt erklärt, dass er bereits 2006 gemeinsam mit der Ordensleitung in München über den Umgang mit Missbrauchsfällen durch den Täter S. beraten hat. „Die Täternamen habe ich dem Pater Provinzial [Chef der Jesuiten in Deutschland, d. Red.] mitgeteilt“, sagte er in einem Interview. „Ich war bei den Beratungen dabei.“

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 25 April 2012 (VIS) – Given below is the text of a note released this morning by the Secretariat of State:

“In the wake of recent leaks of reserved and confidential documents on television, in newspapers and in other communications media, the Holy Father has ordered the creation of a Commission of Cardinals to undertake an authoritative investigation and throw light on these episodes.

“His Holiness has determined that the said Commission of Cardinals, which will act at all levels on the strength of its pontifical mandate, shall be presided by Cardinal Julian Herranz, and shall have as its members Cardinal Jozef Tomko and Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi.

“The Commission of Cardinals celebrated its first sitting on 24 April to establish the method and timetable for its activities”.

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IRELAND
RTE News

[Murphy Report: Fr. Benito – BishopAccountability.org]

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said that it is even more difficult now for bishops to pass on sensitive information about sexual abuse allegations about priests than before.

Archbishop Martin was speaking about the resignation of a child safety officer in a Dublin Catholic Parish who resigned after she learned of allegations of child sexual abuse made against a priest who had served there.

The priest had put on restricted Ministry for years as a result of the allegations.

However Archbishop Martin said that he removed him from Ministry when new information about an old allegation came to light.

Archbishop Martin said he understood and sympathised with the woman, who he said, must have felt betrayed.

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OKLAHOMA
Huffington Post

By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS 04/23/12

TULSA, Okla. — Oklahoma authorities are investigating whether the executive director of an international Christian ministry killed himself amid allegations he’d molested a 10-year-old girl, police said Monday.

Tom White had been reported missing last Tuesday, the same day police in Bartlesville received a report about the alleged molestation, said Bartlesville Police Capt. Jay Hastings. White was the executive director for The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit headquartered in in the city 50 miles north of Tulsa that says it provides medical supplies, food and clothing to persecuted Christians worldwide.

Police found the 64-year-old’s body at the organization’s Bartlesville headquarters Wednesday. Employees discovered a letter in White’s vehicle indicating he was “suicidal or possibly fleeing to avoid investigation” and turned it over to police, Hastings said.

“You can take it either way,” Hastings said. “It was kind of a goodbye letter. You don’t know if he was talking about himself.”

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OKLAHOMA
Peoria Journal-Star

By Mike Miller

The death of Tom White, executive director of Voice of the Martyrs, on April 17 was a profound shock.

White, who experienced persecution himself while imprisoned for 17 months in Cuban jails, took his own life.

VOM reports that he was facing allegations of “inappropriate contact with a young girl.”

“Rather than face those allegations, and all of the resulting fallout for his family and this ministry and himself, Tom appears to have chosen to take his own life,” the statement says.

The Associated Press had more information, according to The Christian Post:

The AP also revealed that the police had requested from the Washington County District Court an order to have White’s cell phone carrier provide “real time GPS pinging” of his phone in hopes of discovering his whereabouts. Authorities had noted in the document that White “had been reported to have molested a 10-year-old juvenile female” and disappeared as the investigation got underway.

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OKLAHOMA
Christian Today

Posted: Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Walter Thomas “Tom” White, head of Voice of the Martyrs, may have taken his own life amid abuse allegations.

Mr White, 64, was reported missing last Tuesday and found dead at the Christian ministry’s headquarters in Oklahoma the following day.

On the day he disappeared, police in Bartlesville received a report that Mr White had molested a 10-year-old girl.

Employees found a letter in his vehcile indicating that he was “suicidal or possibly fleeing to avoid investigation”, which was given to police.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

[with video]

A church leader says controversial MP Peter Slipper is shattered by the allegations of fraud and sexual harassment against him, which have been followed by calls for him to step down from his religious roles.

Archbishop John Hepworth said on Wednesday he had asked Mr Slipper to stand aside as an ordained priest and legal officer for the Traditional Anglican Communion.

Archbishop Hepworth, the primate of the pro-Rome breakaway conservative Anglican movement, said the allegations had hurt the Queensland independent MP.

‘Well, he’s obviously quite shattered by this,’ he told ABC Radio.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WTRF

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A key witness is set to testify Wednesday in a groundbreaking clergy-abuse case in Philadelphia.

The former altar boy says he was raped by two priests and a teacher in the late 1990s.

And he says the Archdiocese of Philadelphia had an earlier complaint against 1 of them.

Defense lawyers have attacked the man’s credibility based on his history of drug and legal problems.

But one defendant, defrocked priest Edward Avery, pleaded guilty days before trial.

Jurors don’t know about the plea, but could learn of it if defense lawyers go too far in challenging the witness.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

A CHURCH leader says controversial MP Peter Slipper is shattered by the allegations of fraud and sexual harassment against him, which have been followed by calls for him to step down from his religious roles.

Archbishop John Hepworth said he has asked Mr Slipper to stand aside as an ordained priest and legal officer for the Traditional Anglican Communion.

Archbishop Hepworth, the primate of the pro-Rome breakaway conservative Anglican movement, said the allegations had hurt the Queensland independent MP.

“Well, he’s obviously quite shattered by this,” he told ABC Radio.

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MALTA
DI-VE

by Gabriel Schembri – editorial@di-ve.com
Current Affairs — 25 April 2012

St Joseph’s Home is looking towards a brighter future after nine years of infamy as the place where the notorious child abuse cases by priests took place.

In an interview, the home’s director Fr Frankie Cini told di-ve.com, “The cases are now a part of the home’s history. It is a dark chapter in the story of St Joseph’s Home, but we have to move on.”

Fr Cini said this is a case where they either come out as the victims, or survivors. The approach towards the future of the home is definitely one of survival, just as the title of this year’s Annual Booklet suggests, the House is moving from ‘Trauma to Transformation’.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Tyrone Times

Published on Wednesday 25 April 2012

A PRIEST at the centre of a media storm surrounding the showing of sexually explicit to parents who had gathered in Pomeroy to hear a presentation about their children’s First Holy Communion, has taken a temporary leave of absence at his own request.

Following a stormy meeting on Friday night between around 25 of the 30 parents who had witnessed the offending imagery and representatives of the Archdiocese of Armagh, Fr Martin McVeigh’s future remains uncertain.

According to weekend newspaper reports, an 800 word Church statement clearing Fr McVeigh of any wrongdoing was read out, but was not released publicly after the lengthy meeting with parents.

When the statement suggested Fr McVeigh had given great service to the Archdiocese of Armagh, there were said to be loud objections from the floor.

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UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

Since when have journalists been so concerned about internal doctrinal matters in the Catholic Church? Why are journalists suddenly fretting about the status of nuns in America?

It has been no secret that many Catholic women religious (nuns) in recent years have been in open dissent of a number of gender-related components of Church teaching, such those regarding the all-male priesthood, celibacy requirements, and, in some cases, abortion.

Because of this open dissent, the Vatican has finally taken efforts to review and monitor the leadership of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). These efforts simply seek to align the conference – a Church-recognized body – with the teachings of the Church and with Church law.

Now it seems that the Vatican’s actions have journalists worked up all over the country.

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes has consistently refused to divulge the identities of Orthodox Jews accused and convicted of sex crimes, giving a blanket exemption to sex offenders who commit their crimes in tight-knit Orthodox communities. Now his office has been compelled to formally explain why it won’t name the accused and convicted. In response to a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request by The Forward, Assistant District Attorney Morgan Dennehy argues that releasing the names of suspects would allow others in the community to identify their victims. She writes:

The circumstances here are unique. Because all of the requested defendant names relate to Hasidic men who are alleged to have committed sex crimes against Hasidic victims within a very tight-knit and insular Brooklyn community, there is a significant danger that the disclosure of the defendants’ names would lead members of that community to discern the identities of the victims.

But the Forward points out that last year Hynes announced the arrests of 85 Orthodox Jews on sex crimes charges since 2008, refusing to release the suspects’ names, citing the need to protect the victims. “Yet that same week, Hynes issued a press release publicizing the name of a non-Jewish man convicted of raping his girlfriend’s daughter,” The Forward’s Paul Berger notes. “Hynes released the man’s name, the neighborhood where he lived and the victim’s age, enough information for any neighbor to identify the girl.”

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
The State Journal-Register

By STEVEN SPEARIE
The State Journal-Register

Springfield Bishop Thomas John Paprocki is one of three U.S. Catholic bishops tapped to address what the Vatican says are “serious doctrinal problems” in views espoused by the leadership body representing the majority of the country’s nuns.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, founded in 1956, represents 83 percent of the nearly 56,000 women religious in the United States.

Its leader, in a speech in 2007, talked of some religious “moving beyond the church or even beyond Jesus” — a statement Paprocki described as “pretty radical.”

The delegation of bishops, appointed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith after a four-year review, will be led by Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain, who served as bishop of the Joliet diocese from 2006 to 2010. Paprocki, who has been bishop of Springfield since 2010, was tapped for his acumen in church law. The third member is Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio, who carried out the original inquiry.

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SARASOTA (FL)
TBO

By TBO.com
Published: April 24, 2012

A Sarasota man who said he worked for a ministry has been convicted in a child sex case, the Sarasota Police Department said.

Joe Harrison Jr., 42, was found guilty Monday of three counts of sexual battery on a child and one count of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child.

Harrison is scheduled to be sentenced April 30.

Harrison said he was a bishop for Liberty Central Ministries International. At the time of his arrest, he listed his home address in the 1000 block of Four Seasons Circle in Sarasota.

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SARASOTA (FL)
ABC 7

SARASOTA – A Sarasota man was found guilty Monday of several counts of sexual abuse of a child.

42-year-old Joe Harrison, Jr. was arrested last year and charged with three counts of Sexual Battery on a Child over 12 years of age but less than 18 years of age by a Person in Familial or Custodial Authority and one count of Lewd or Lascivious Molestation of a Child over 12 years of age but less than 16 years of age.

The cases were prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Stickley and Assistant State Attorney Buff. Joe Harrison Jr. is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30th.

Joe Harrison Jr. identifies himself as a Bishop of Liberty Central Ministries International.

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