ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

February 15, 2012

Deetman doet nader onderzoek misbruik in kerk

NEDERLAND
Nieuws

(Novum) – Wim Deetman is bereid een aanvullend onderzoek te houden naar misbruik van meisjes en vrouwen in de katholieke kerk. Deetman verwacht dat het rapport dit najaar gereed is. Vertegenwoordigers van de katholieke kerk hebben ingestemd met het onderzoek. Dat schrijft minister van Veiligheid en Justitie Ivo Opstelten (VVD) in een brief aan de Tweede Kamer.

Deetman was voorzitter van de commissie die seksueel misbruik in de katholieke kerk heeft onderzocht. Eind vorig jaar werden de resultaten gepresenteerd. Uit het rapport bleek onder meer dat tussen 1945 en 1981 tussen de tien- en twintigduizend kinderen zijn misbruikt in katholieke instellingen. Het misbruik was bekend binnen de ordes en bisdommen.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Catholic bishops are out of touch

UNITED STATES
Savannah Morning News

Barbara Kelly can be reached at bkellyshaw.kelly@gmail.com.

There is a big hubbub lately about religious freedom and birth control. As with many other issues of the day, this has been overblown and used for political purposes. Thanks to the Catholic bishops, a group of men whose following has not believed their stance on birth control for many years. More than 90 percent of American Catholic families admit to using birth control. The families of five to 10 children are gone, replaced by smaller families. No one believes anymore that sex is only for procreation. Except the Catholic church. After their record on sexual abuse you would think they would know when to take a back seat when it comes to matters of legality.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

New inquiry into Catholic abuse in Netherlands

NETHERLANDS
Expatica

The Deetman Commission is to conduct a follow-up investigation into sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.

The new investigation will examine the fate of girls and women, according to Security and Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten.

The report published late last year by the Deetman Commission was not specifically restricted to boys, but the Dutch parliament took the view that the position of girls and women was not covered thoroughly enough. Wim Deetman recognizes that it would be a good idea to examine the abuse of this group separately.

According to the justice minister, church directors have approved the additional research. Mr Deetman expects it will be ready this autumn.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Should O’Grady case be evidence in Kelly trial?

CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel

By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Lawyers in the Michael Kelly sexual assault civil suit argued Tuesday whether the case of former Lodi priest and convicted pedophile Oliver O’Grady should be included as evidence.

During Tuesday’s hearing on what evidence will be admissible in Kelly’s civil trial, Stockton Diocese attorney Jim Goodman argued that O’Grady shouldn’t be included in the Kelly trial. Goodman accused the plaintiff’s attorney, John Manly, of trying to bring O’Grady’s history into the case to strengthen Manly’s case against Kelly.

Manly said that the Stockton Diocese’s history of handling allegations against O’Grady and other priests who allegedly committed sexual abuse should be included in Kelly’s trial to establish a pattern by diocese officials.

“Father Oliver O’Grady was a disgrace to the priesthood,” Goodman said. “(O’Grady and Kelly) are two completely different individuals.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Vatican sex abuse investigator says bishops should be more accountable

ROME
Catholic San Francisco

February 14th, 2012
By Francis X. Rocca

ROME (CNS) – The Vatican’s top sex abuse investigator called for greater accountability under church law of bishops who shield or fail to discipline pedophile priests.

Msgr. Charles Scicluna, promoter of justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made his remarks to reporters in Rome Feb. 8, after addressing an international symposium on clerical sex abuse.

“It is a crime in canon law to show malicious or fraudulent negligence in the exercise of one’s duty,” Msgr. Scicluna said, regarding the responsibility of bishops to protect children and punish abusers.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

February 14, 2012

Former Priest Norbert Maday Declared a Sexually Violent Person

WISCONSIN
WBAY

A defrocked priest convicted of sexually assaulting boys in Winnebago County has been committed as a sexually violent person.

In 1994, then-Father Norbert Maday was convicted of sexually assaulting two teenage boys during a visit to Oshkosh.

Maday has been working his way through the penal system since his prison term ended in 2007.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Civil Case In Priest Sexual Abuse Case Begins

CALIFORNIA
KCRA

STOCKTON, Calif. — Priest Michael Kelly appeared in court Tuesday morning for the beginning of a six-week trial.

Kelly is accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy in the mid-1980s.

The plaintiff known as John Doe plans to be in court to testify.

“I’m totally and completely innocent of these allegations. I’m doing my best to prove it,” said Kelly.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Pedophile priest who received special treatment …

WISCONSIN
SNAP WisconsinI

Pedophile priest who received special treatment from ex Wisconsin governor could be out in nine months

SNAPwisconsin.com
February 14, 2012
Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
CONTACT: 414.429.7259

Pedophile priest who received special treatment from ex-Wisconsin governor could be out in nine months

Pedophile priest Fr. Norbert Maday, whose bizarre case illustrated the hierarchy’s sometimes deep reach into the political world, could be out of a secure state facility for violent sex offenders in time for Christmas.

Today, prosecutors in Winnebago County have reached an agreement with Maday, who has been awaiting trial for civil commitment under Wisconsin’s Chapter 980 law for sexually violent persons, that would release him in nine months if it is signed off by a state medical evaluator.

There are between 35 to 45 known victims of Maday, according to church documents released in a previous civil case against Maday and the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Maday was convicted in the mid-1990s’ for bringing grade school children from his Chicago parish to Wisconsin for purposes of sexually assaulting them. At the time, he was also convicted for intimidating a witness. The priest threatened to kill a victim’s older brother if he testified against him in court.

In a truly bizarre act of political favoritism, when Maday’s mother died in 1997, then Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, at the personal request of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, ordered state correction officials to work with the state’s legal counsel and arrange to have the body of Maday’s mother transported across state lines to the Fox Lake Correctional Institute in a sealed casket and hearse, accompanied by two funeral home workers, at least one Catholic priest, and six people that Maday himself approved to attend a private viewing and service.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Philly prosecutors OK with church-abuse judge; monsignor wants her removed on eve of trial

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHILADELPHIA — Prosecutors are challenging a defense motion to have a Philadelphia judge removed on the eve of a landmark church sex-abuse case.

Lawyers for Monsignor William Lynn call the judge biased because of a remark she made about potential jury questions.

Common Pleas Judge Teresa Sarmina suggested that child sex-abuse was “widespread” throughout the Roman Catholic Church. Lynn say that shows her bias.

In a written response, prosecutors say Sarmina compared the remark to drug dealing — saying a juror could fairly hear a drug case even if they believe drug dealing is a big problem.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Juan Carlos Cruz a cuñada de Karadima…

CHILE
La Segunda

Juan Carlos Cruz a cuñada de Karadima: “Si no fuera por la prensa aún se estarían ocultando estos abusos”

El periodista Juan Carlos Cruz, uno de los denunciantes en el caso por abusos sexuales en contra de Fernando Karadima, respondió a la carta enviada a El Mercurio por Marta Iturriaga, cuñada del ex párroco de El Bosque que pedía que los medios de comunicación nacional dejen en paz a la familia, consignó Soychile.cl .

“Si no fuera por la prensa y los medios de comunicación, aún se estarían ocultando estos abusos”, dijo Cruz en entrevista con CNN Chile.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Haredim increasingly open to addressing sexual abuse

ISRAEL
The Jerusalem Post

By JEREMY SHARON

Specialists and professionals this week highlighted a changing attitude within the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community toward reporting suspected sexual abuse of minors.

During a two-day conference on children’s well-being at Ben-Gurion University, which ended on Tuesday, experts and government officials in the field spoke of the ongoing challenges of tackling the issue of sexual abuse in the haredi sector, as well as recent progress that had been made.

The conference also covered issues such as increased youth delinquency among children from broken homes and children whose parents have criminal records; high rates of physical violence at boarding schools; and other social concerns relating to the well-being of children.

Discussing the issue of sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox sector, National Council for the Child director Dr. Yitzhak Kadman said that in recent years, the haredi public had become much more inclined than before to report incidents of abuse.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Nader onderzoek misbruik in kerk

NEDERLAND
ND

Wim Deetman is bereid een aanvullend onderzoek te houden naar misbruik van meisjes en vrouwen in de katholieke kerk. Deetman verwacht dat het rapport dit najaar gereed is. Vertegenwoordigers van de katholieke kerk hebben ingestemd met het onderzoek. Dat schrijft minister van Veiligheid en Justitie Ivo Opstelten (VVD) in een brief aan de Tweede Kamer.

Deetman was voorzitter van de commissie die seksueel misbruik in de katholieke kerk heeft onderzocht. Eind vorig jaar werden de resultaten gepresenteerd. Uit het rapport bleek onder meer dat tussen 1945 en 1981 tussen de tien- en twintigduizend kinderen zijn misbruikt in katholieke instellingen. Het misbruik was bekend binnen de ordes en bisdommen.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

New research into Catholic sexual abuse

NETHERLANDS
Radio Netherlands

The Deetman Commission is to conduct a follow-up investigation into sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.

The new investigation will examine the fate of girls and women, wrote Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten in a letter to the Lower House of the Dutch parliament.

The research report published late last year by the Deetman Commission was not specifically restricted to boys, but the House took the view that the position of girls and women was not covered thoroughly enough. Mr Deetman recognizes that it’s a good idea to examine the abuse of this group separately.

According to Mr Opstelten, Church Directors have approved the additional research. Mr Deetman thinks that it will be ready this autumn.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Grupo se separa del ala femenina de los Legionarios de Cristo

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Terra

NICOLE WINFIELD
El ala femenina de los Legionarios de Cristo atraviesa un período de turbulencia luego de la renuncia de su líder y tras la decisión de unas 30 integrantes de separarse de la orden religiosa, plagada de escándalos.

La Legión confirmó el martes que Malen Oriol solicitó en una carta enviada el domingo renunciar como asistente del director general de la orden. En su función, Oriol dirigía la división de mujeres consagradas, un grupo de unas 600 mujeres que viven como monjas y trabajan en escuelas de la Legión, además de reclutar integrantes y recaudar fondos.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Scandal-hit Legion of Christ’s female branch in turmoil…

VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

Scandal-hit Legion of Christ’s female branch in turmoil as director resigns, group splits off

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, February 14

VATICAN CITY — The female branch of the scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ religious order was in turmoil Tuesday following the resignation of its leader and the decision of some 30 members to split from the movement.

Malen Oriol announced in a letter Sunday that she had asked to resign as the assistant to the general director of the Legion, which Pope Benedict XVI took over in 2010 after the order revealed its late founder had sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children.

In her role, Oriol had headed the Legion’s branch of consecrated women, some 600 women who live like nuns working in Legion schools, recruiting and fundraising.

Oriol also revealed that a group of consecrated women had decided to leave the movement and live out their vocations under the authority of local bishops — a blow to the Legion that suggests that groups of reformers are now stepping outside the movement because their superiors are refusing to change.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Group of consecrated women look at life outside Regnum Christi

Regnum Christi

We offer gratitude for their contributions and prayers for their success

Malén Oriol, the assistant for consecrated life to the General Director, has sent a letter to all the consecrated women announcing that she has presented her resignation to Cardinal Velasio De Paolis. In her letter, she mentions that some consecrated women have asked the Holy See for permission to live out their consecration not as members of the Regnum Christi movement but under the authority of a bishop. As of yet, Malén has not clarified if she intends to form part of this new group.

We don’t yet have details of this initiative, but we wish them all the best in their new endeavor and pray that they will be blessed with great success in their spiritual growth and service to the church. We are deeply grateful for all the years that they have lived as consecrated members of Regnum Christi; let us pray for them and keep the gift of the consecrated life in Regnum Christi in our prayers so that God grant each one of us the grace to move forward in this path of renewal that the Holy Father has invited us to undertake.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Juan Carlos Cruz a familia Karadima: Si no fuera por la prensa se mantendría “cultura de silencio”

CHILE
BIo Bio

Publicado por Nicole Villagra | La Información es de Rodrigo Durán

Juan Carlos Cruz, una de las víctimas en el caso Karadima, respondió a la familia del ex párroco y afirmó que si no hubiese sido por los medios de comunicación se habría mantenido “la cultura del silencio”, que pesó en este caso.

Esto frente a una carta enviada a El Mercurio por la cuñada de Fernando Karadima, quien -recordemos- fue condenado por el Vaticano por abuso de menores, pidiendo una tregua a los medios.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Group splits from Legion of Christ’s female branch

VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The female branch of the scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ religious order was in turmoil Tuesday following the resignation of its leader and the decision of some 30 members to split from the movement.

Malen Oriol announced in a letter Sunday that she had asked to resign as the assistant to the general director of the Legion, which Pope Benedict XVI took over in 2010 after the order revealed its late founder had sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children.

In her role, Oriol had headed the Legion’s branch of consecrated women, some 600 women who live like nuns working in Legion schools, recruiting and fundraising.

Oriol also revealed that a group of consecrated women had decided to leave the movement and live out their vocations under the authority of local bishops — a blow to the Legion that suggests that groups of reformers are now stepping outside the movement because their superiors are refusing to change.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Former minister pleads guilty to abuse

MARYLAND
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

FREDERICK, Md. (ABP) – The former pastor of a Southern Baptist church in Maryland pleaded guilty Feb. 7 to sexually abusing a girl in his congregation.

Joe Nix Ivey, 74, of Walkersville, Md., confessed to a second-degree sex offense in a plea bargain, according to the Frederick News-Post. In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of second-degree assault and sex abuse of a minor.

Ivey was pastor of Barnesville Baptist Church for more than 10 years before resigning last September after he was charged with having sexual contact with a girl who was either 10 or 11 years old. The assault occurred while the two watched a movie together at his home.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

SNAP statement on Fr. Charles H. Miller

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on February 13, 2012

We are members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org). Our mission is to heal the wounded and protect the vulnerable.

The Marianists are a St. Louis-based Catholic religious order that runs, and has run, parochial high schools like Vianney, Chaminade, St. Mary’s and McBride (now closed).

A Marianist cleric was accused of molesting a teenage girl here. Her allegation was deemed “credible” by church authorities. Those church officials say they’ve found evidence that Miller had perpetrated this same behavior with at least two other teenagers.

Where’s the alleged offender now? He’s working for the Marianists in Rome. These Catholic officials deliberately and quietly move a credibly accused sex offender into the literal and figurative center of Catholicism, where hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting devout believers go every year.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Convicted predator priest to be deported; SNAP responds

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on February 14, 2012

We are both grateful and worried about Fr. Superiaso being deported to the Philippines. We are thankful he won’t be able to hurt kids here anymore, but we fear that kids in his home country will be vulnerable to his attacks.

We disagree with the Catholic quoted in the article linked below who urges forgiveness for a convicted child molesting cleric. Kids need adults to be vigilant first, and forgiving later.

We hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered Fr. Superiaso’s crimes will speak up, get help, call police, protect others, expose wrongdoing and start healing.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Lombardi: “The Vatican will not be bullied. The commitment to financial transparency persists”

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Vatican spokesman says that whoever is hoping to stop the Vatican by leaking documents is mistaken and whoever takes recent events to signify a power struggle is ‘morally uncouth’

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

The Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, released a statement yesterday evening concerning the ‘spreading of documents undermining the credibility of the Vatican and of the Church.’ He guaranteed that the process of strict adherence to the rules and financial transparency called for by Benedict XVI and enforced by his collaborators, will carry on. Fr. Lombardi also implied that the recent leak of documents might be an attempt to ‘discourage’ this commitment.

Lombardi said that it is necessary to ‘remain calm as there is nothing to be surprised about’ and while the American administration faced wiki-leaks, the Vatican now has its own leaks: disclosures of documents aimed at creating confusion and bewilderment and casting doubts over the Vatican, the leaders of the Church and the Church as a whole.

“It is necessary to remain cool, calm and collected and to use one’s intelligence which unfortunately not all journalists seem to do.” The Director of the Vatican Press office drew distinctions between the documents published during the last two weeks “because they are each of a different nature and importance,” he said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Ex-priest committed as sexual predator

WISCONSIN
Fox 11

OSHKOSH – Norbert Maday, a former Catholic priest who was convicted of sexually assaulting teenage boys, has been committed as a sexual predator.

A deal between prosecutors and Maday was reached in Winnebago County Court Tuesday, avoiding a jury trial which had been scheduled.

Maday, now 73, was a Chicago area priest convicted in 1994 of sexually assaulting teenage boys during a visit to Oshkosh. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Upon completion of the sentence in 2007, the state sought to have him committed as a sexual predator under the Chapter 980 law. That’s a civil commitment – not a criminal one – that places the offender under the care of the Department of Health for treatment.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Pope’s PR says Vatican in grip of WikiLeaks-style scandal

VATICAN CITY
The Register (United Kingdom)

By Joe Fay

The Pope’s top PR man has declared that the Vatican is in the midst of its own “WikiLeaks” scandal after a flurry of confidential Papal documents were fed to the media by apparently disgruntled cardinals.

The leaks have ranged from documents covering allegedly murky operations at the Vatican bank, to an investigation into a Cardinal’s apparent certainty that the pope will be bumped off by November this year.

The steady stream of embarrassments are being seen as evidence of a power struggle within the church as one group of elderly men pits itself against another group of elderly men to replace an even more elderly man. Possibly with an elderly Italian.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

OC Register Discovers Ricardo Aldana Was Pervert Before at Hawthorne High–Two Months After Weekly Broke News

CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

By Gustavo ArellanoTue., Feb. 14 2012

​In some ways, I feel bad for the Orange County Register. Their institutional knowledge has been eroded to only a couple of reporters and editors–and many of them plain suck, upholding the angle that the lords of Orange County dictate. That can be the only explanation as to why the Reg reported today that accused child molester Ricardo Aldana, the former JSerra High Spanish teacher, was accused of the same last decade at Hawthorne High–two months after we reported the same.

Reporter Frank Shyong ignored this very pertinent point in the Aldana scandal for months–but instead of excoriating JSerra for not digging deep enough into Aldana’s past, he gives the private Catholic school a pass, allowing spokesperson and former Reg investigative reporter Bill Rams the luxury of 20/20 hindsight; he told Shyong, “Had we known, we wouldn’t have hired him.”

Well, DUH, Bill (whom we know a bit and like). But Shyong doesn’t ask a simple question: if what Rams says is true, why didn’t JSerra know? Or, as people with institutional knowledge in OC know, is it really just a case of JSerra officials not giving a shit about child molesters and allowing them to hang around campus, just like they did with John Lenihan? In fact, why doesn’t Shyong mention that Lenihan served as an adviser to JSerra in its early days, even though he had admitted to molesting girls long ago?

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Kevin Myers…

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Kevin Myers: Any senator or TD who tried to raise the issue of clerical child abuse in the Dail would have been shouted down

Tuesday February 14 2012

IF the Vatican was in any doubt about the relative futility of appeasing the apology-culture that we now live in, it shouldn’t be any longer. “I want the Pope to know that if he’s invited to Ireland — and in fairness, he is welcome to come — he must apologise to the people of Ireland and meet survivors of abuse”: thus, Michael O’Brien, former mayor of Clonmel, and himself a victim of abuse, as quoted in the ‘Sunday Times’ over the weekend.

He must apologise, must he? This is what the Pope said in his pastoral letter two years ago:

“To the victims of abuse and their families. You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated. Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen. It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the Church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel . . .

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

August Deadline Set For Irish Christian Brothers Abuse Victims

UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on February 14, 2012

The Irish Christian Brothers (ICB), a religious order of brothers (monks) headquartered in New York state, filed bankruptcy last year when they were faced with more than 50 victims of abuse, molestation and beatings. The Canadian congregation (affiliated with the ICB in New York) faced national disgrace when more than 300 children came forward to tell their stories of abuse at the Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland.

In Ireland, it’s estimated that thousands of children were raped at ICB schools.

As a part of the federal bankruptcy proceedings, the court has set a special deadline date of August 1 for victims of sexual abuse. Read the court order here. ANYONE who was abused by a Christian Brother or was abused at an ICB school only has until that date to file a claim. After August 1, 2012, victims can no longer hold the ICB accountable for covering up and facilitating child sex abuse.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

US bishop: Church must discover why victims don’t report abuse

ROME
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) — Catholic bishops should find out what is keeping sex abuse victims around the world from coming forward, said Bishop R. Daniel Conlon, chairman-elect of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People.

U.N. statistics have shown “that sex abuse is widespread and crosses all cultures and societies” and is not just a phenomenon plaguing the church or Western nations, he told Catholic News Service Feb. 13.

A further indication that abuse is a concern for the global church is the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s mandate for all bishops to establish anti-abuse guidelines by May this year, he said.

“We as a church, we want to be at the forefront of society in helping to deal with this issue so, even in countries where there have not been allegations of abuse in the church, the church can still be a forceful agent for bringing about change in the larger society,” he said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Commissie-Deetman onderzoekt misbruik kerk opnieuw

NEDERLAND
Elsevier

dinsdag 14 februari 2012

De commisie-Deetman gaat misbruik in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk opnieuw onderzoeken. Dit keer kijkt de commissie naar misbruik van meisjes en vrouwen. Kerkbestuurders hebben al ingestemd met de studie.

Dat schrijft minister Ivo Opstelten (VVD, Veiligheid en Justitie) in een brief aan de Tweede Kamer, meldt NRC Handelsblad.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

‘Justice was done and a just sentence served’

NORTHERN IRELAND
Enniscorthy Guardian

Tuesday February 14 2012

A FORMER priest who abused a student cleric at St. Peter’s College seminary in Wexford and was labelled a ‘sexual predator’ by the judge at his trial, was jailed for ten years at Belfast Crown Court on Friday.

In sentencing 53-year-old James Martin Donaghy, Judge Patrick Lynch said that his litany of offences and other similar offences had ‘seriously compromised, perhaps irrevocably’ the trust in the priesthood in this country and others.

Donaghy, of Lady Wallace Drive in Lisburn, had been convicted by a jury of of a total of 23 sex offences, committed over a 17year time span against three victims who were all teenagers when the abuse first began.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Trial for priest accused of sexual abuse

ITALY
UPI

GENOA, Italy, Feb. 14 (UPI) — Trial began Tuesday in Genoa, Italy, for a priest accused of sexually abusing young parishioners and providing them with drugs.

The Rev. Riccardo Seppia stood trial for allegedly trading young boys cocaine for sex, and attempting to molest an altar boy. In a tapped phone call obtained by investigators, Seppia allegedly told a drug dealer: “I do not want 16-year-old boys, but younger. Fourteen-year-olds are okay. Look for needy boys with family issues.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

SNAP to Hold Public Meeting on Chaminade Abuse Claims

ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOX

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) — An advocacy group for those abused by priests is holding a public meeting Wednesday to let the community air concerns about the mounting allegations against Catholic Priests at Chaminade High School. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests say it’s important for the public to know what’s going on.

SNAP’s David Clohessy says victims also need to know how to make allegations. “It is important for victims to break their silence. But it is important to do so carefully,” Clohessy explains. “Go to independent sources of support, like the police prosecutors, therapists, support groups like SNAP, instead of going — initially at least — only to church officials.”

Clohessy says when the Church is the only one that knows about the allegations, its easier for cover ups to happen. Earlier this month, SNAP accused Chaminade of taking too long to get the word out about two brothers recently accused of sexual misconduct in the 1970s. The Marianist Order, which runs Chaminade, has sent out a letter to some 1600 alumni about allegations of abuse involving Brother John Woulfe and Louis Meinhardt — both of whom are now dead. Clohessy claims these allegations were well known for some time.

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Plymouth priest denies child abuse allegation

PLYMOUTH (MA)
Boston Herald

By Associated Press
Tuesday, February 14, 2012

PLYMOUTH –The lawyer for a Plymouth priest placed on leave by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston pending an investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse dating to the early 1980s says his client has been wrongly accused.

The Rev. James Braley, pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha parish, was placed on leave on Sunday.

William Sullivan, the lawyer who represents Braley, tells the Patriot Ledger (http://bit.ly/wZwybz) the charge is “unsupported, inaccurate and untruthful.”

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Prosecutor seeks 11 years, 8 months in jail for ex-priest

ITALY
AGI

14 FEB 2012

(AGI) Genoa – Public prosecutor Stefano Puppo demanded 11 years and 8 months in prison for former priest Don Riccardo Seppia.

Don Riccardo Seppia is on trial in Genoa for attempting to molest a minor and giving drugs. The prosecutor’s office also demanded a fine of 32,000 euro. In particular, prosecutor Puppo requested a 5-year sentence for attempted rape and attempted incitement to prostitution of a minor, 8 months for giving drugs to minors (plus a 26,000 euro fine), and 1 year for giving drugs to his associate Emanuele Alfano (and a 6,000 euro fine). Riccardo Seppia will appear in court for the next hearing on March 19.

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Vatican appeals for calm in teeth of leaks and scandals

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome

In effect, the Vatican spokesperson addressed a plea to the media Monday night. Facing a seemingly never-ending series of leaks of confidential documents, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi called on the press to “make careful distinctions,” to not “just throw everything together,” and to not allow the reality of the situation to be “swallowed up in a whirlpool of confusion.”

Betting houses did not immediately open a line on the odds of that happening, but they would have to be astronomic.

In recent days, confidential correspondence related to charges of corruption and cronyism in Vatican finances, internal memos suggesting loopholes in a new papal anti-money laundering law, and even an anonymous letter hinting at a plot to kill the pope have all created media sensations.

Though in each case the Vatican has played down, even ridiculed, the content of the documents, they’ve also been forced to admit that the documents themselves are authentic.

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Fr. Lombardi SJ: reason and good will in reporting

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

The Director General of Vatican Radio, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, has published an Italian-language Note concerning the responsibilities of journalists working in various media, including print, television and radio, as well as the new media. Fr. Lombardi cites a recent series of real or presumed document leaks from the Vatican, which have stirred interest in the Italian press and garnered a degree of international media attention.

Fr. Lombardi encourages all those who cover the Vatican and the Church to exercise prudent discernment both in the choice of sources and in the use and diffusion of information, recalling the need to practice journalism out of a sense of love for and duty toward the truth.

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Vatican ‘having its own WikiLeaks-style scandal’

VATICAN CITY
AFP

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican is having its own version of the WikiLeaks scandals that have hit the United States, spokesman Federico Lombardi has said following a recent rash of leaks to the Italian press.

Newspapers have published letters by a whistleblower alleging rampant corruption in the Vatican, as well as accusing the Vatican bank of failing to implement laws against money laundering.

Last week a confidential letter from a cardinal claiming knowledge of a plot to assassinate the pope within the next 12 months also came to light.

“We need calm, cold blood and reason,” Father Lombardi said in a long statement published on Vatican Radio’s website late on Monday.

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„Huiselijk geweld in orthodox-protestantse kring slecht bespreekbaar”

NEDERLAND
Reformatorisch Dagblad

UTRECHT – Slachtoffers van huiselijk geweld in orthodox-protestantse kring durven nauwelijks over hun problemen te praten. De kerkelijke omgeving zou een belangrijke bijdrage kunnen leveren aan het vroegtijdig signaleren én bespreekbaar maken van het geweld.

Dat stellen de auteurs van een dinsdagochtend verschenen verkennend onderzoek van Movisie, landelijk kennisinstituut voor de aanpak van sociale vraagstukken.

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Gereformeerden: Incest? Dat lossen we zelf wel op

NEDERLAND
Joop

Joop-onderzoek: Dominees geven slachtoffers zelden advies aangifte te doen … Rapport luidt noodklok over veel voorkomend seksueel misbruik onder gereformeerden

Movisie, een landelijk kennisinstituut luidt vandaag de noodklok over huiselijk geweld en seksueel misbruik in orthodox-protestantse kring. Een cultuur van zwijgen en toedekken houdt dat misbruik in stand, constateert de organisatie. De daders gaan daardoor veelal vrijuit. Online onderzoek door Joop wijst uit dat gereformeerde online hulpverleners nauwelijks tot actie aanzetten om daders te laten vervolgen.

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Klacht tegen Heilige Stoel wegens seksueel misbruik geseponeerd in VS

VERENIGDE STATES
De Morgen (Belgie)

In de VS is een zeer mediatiek proces, waarin paus Benedictus XVI ervan beschuldigd werd seksueel misbruik toegedekt te hebben, afgesloten. De advocaten van een man uit Illinois kondigden aan dat zij hun klacht teruggetrokken hebben. Dat meldt de Franse krant La Croix onder aanhaling van CNS.

De klacht werd in april 2010 ingediend bij het federaal hof van het district Milwaukee. De klacht ging uit van ‘John Doe’, een pseudoniem dat door de Amerikaanse Justitie wordt gebruikt om personen te beschermen die hun anonimiteit willen vrijwaren. De klacht wegens seksuele agressie was gericht tegen priester Lawrence Murphy. Volgens de indiener van de klacht gebeurden de feiten toen hij leerling was in een school voor doofstommen.

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Drie priesters teruggebracht tot lekenstaat

COLOMBIA
RKnieuws (Nederland)

BOGOTA (RKnieuws.net) – Drie Colombiaanse priesters zijn wegens seksueel misbruik teruggebracht tot de lekenstaat en riskeren zware gevangenisstraffen. Dat heeft de Colombiaanse bisschoppenconferentie maandag bekendgemaakt.

Mgr. Juan Vincente Cordoba, secretaris-generaal van de Colombiaanse bisschoppenconferentie, bevestigde op televisie dat er momenteel ook nog een onderzoek loopt tegen twee andere priesters.

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NOTE FROM HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE DIRECTOR ON LEAKED VATICAN DOCUMENTS

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 14 February 2012 (VIS) – Given below is the text of a note written by Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Frederico Lombardi S.J. and released late yesterday afternoon by Vatican Radio, concerning the recent leaking of a series of Vatican documents.

“Nowadays we must all have strong nerves, because no one can be surprised at anything. The American administration was affected by Wikileaks, now the Vatican too has its disclosures, its leaked documents, which tend to create confusion and bewilderment, and to throw a bad light on the Vatican, the governance of the Church and, more broadly, on the Church herself.

“We must, then, remain calm and keep our nerve, make use of reason, something which not all media outlets tend to do. The documents in question are of different kinds and importance, drawn up at various times and for differing situations. One thing is the discussion of the improved economic management of an institution such as the Governorate, which has many different activities; another are notes on current juridical and legislative questions, about which it is quite normal that there should be contrasting opinions; quite another are delirious and incomprehensible reports about plots against the Pope’s life. Yet, putting them all together helps to create confusion. Serious reporting should be capable of distinguishing the issues and understanding their differing importance. It is obvious that the economic activities of the Governorate have to be managed wisely and rigorously. It is clear that the IOR and financial activities must be correctly integrated into international anti-recycling norms. These are of course the Pope’s instructions. At the same time, it is evident that the story about a plot against the Pope, as I said immediately at the time, is nonsense, madness, and does not deserve to be taken seriously.

“There is something very sad in the fact that documents are dishonestly passed from the inside to the outside in order to create confusion. Both sides bear responsibility: firstly the suppliers of documents of this kind, but also those who undertake to use them for purposes that certainly have nothing to do with pure love of truth. We must, therefore, stand firm, not allowing ourselves to be swallowed up by the vortex of confusion, which is what ill-intentioned people want, and remaining capable of using our reason.

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Allen: withdrawal of abuse suit against Vatican ‘enormously important’

VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

February 14, 2012

John Allen, senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, has told Vatican Radio that the withdrawal of a federal lawsuit against the Vatican is “enormously important.”

“I think it is enormously important that this case is not longer on the docket, because this was the case centered on revelations about Father Lawrence Murphy, who allegedly abused almost 200 kids at a school for the deaf in the Milwaukee area from 1950 until 1974,” says Allen.

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Cali priest convicted of sexual abuse of 3 children

COLOMBIA
Colombia Reports

A priest from the southwestern Colombian city of Cali is convicted for the 2009 sexual abuse of three children when they were 10, 11 and 12.

According to Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office’s website, the judge considered it proven that priest William de Jesus Mazo Perez had sexually abused the three children inside one of the church’s properties and will rule on the sentence within days.

Following the sexual abuse, the priest gave the victims money and gifts so they would not tell their parents, the press release said.

Police arrested the priest on charges of sexual abuse of minors in June 2010 after parents told the authorities about the abuse of their children.

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Priest convicted of child molestation may be deported

CALIFORNIA
ABS-CBN (Philippines)

by Henni Espinosa, ABS-CBN North America Bureau

Posted at 02/14/2012

DALY CITY, California – The former lover of a Filipino priest who was convicted of child molestation is finally speaking out.

Father Jose Superiaso may have served his time in prison, but his former lover said the community should remain vigilant.

The Filipina, who did not want to be identified, said she was in her 20s and a youth coordinator for the church when she began a sexual relationship with Superiaso in the 1990s.

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Victims’ hidden abuse by paedophile priests in Sussex

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

[with video]

14 February 2012

BBC Inside Out investigates the Anglican paedophile priests who abused children in Sussex.

It has prompted an inquiry ordered by the Archbishop of Canterbury for the first time in over 100 years. But at the very heart of this story are the victims who have been left fighting for the truth.

We meet Phil Johnson who was groomed then seriously sexually abused by a priest when he was a nine-year-old choir boy and church server.

His abuser Father Roy Cotton was at the time a revered, trusted Anglican priest.

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Closure a step too far

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Paul O’Brien, Political Editor

Monday, February 13, 2012

There’s quiet diplomacy and megaphone diplomacy.

When Enda Kenny stood up in the Dáil in July and issued a blistering denunciation of the Vatican and its handling of clerical child sexual abuse, he was most certainly engaging in the latter.

Sean Donlon, who as a former secretary general of the Department of Foreign Affairs was once Ireland’s most senior diplomat, believes it was the “absolutely correct” thing for the Taoiseach to do, given the historical lack of co-operation from the Holy See on the issue.

What Mr Donlon does not agree with is tánaiste Eamon Gilmore’s subsequent decision, approved by Cabinet, to close the Irish embassy to the Vatican.

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The Church as a Powerful Voice for Abuse Victims (Part 1)

ROME
Zenit

By Ann Schneible

ROME, FEB. 13, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Last week’s conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Toward Healing and Renewal, confronted the crisis of clerical pedophilia with the objective of finding solutions whereby all future cases of child sex abuse would be prevented.

Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, associate dean for seminary and ministerial studies and a licensed psychologist, spoke with ZENIT last week during the conference about the concrete steps being taken to address the crisis, and offered some insights into the psychology of pedophilia.

Part 2 of this interview will be published Tuesday.

ZENIT: What is the most important thing that needs to be communicated by the media regarding the sexual abuse of minors?

Monsignor Rossetti: I think the biggest thing, I’d say, is that it’s a terrible problem, but prevention does work. We’ve been involved in a much stronger prevention program in the States for a number of years, and the abuse cases are dropping, the number of cases are dropping significantly. Prevention does work, and I think that’s important for people to realize. The most important thing about abuse is to stop it before it happens. And so, I’m just strongly encouraging people to start with these child safety programs and implement them.

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Initiated trial against Fr. Seppia on charges of pedophelia

ITALY
AGI

(AGI) Genova – Riccardo Seppia, the defrocked priest accused of attempted rape of a minor and drug dealing, appeared in Court today. Donning a blue woollen cap, a navy-blue sweater, jeans and dark shoes, the 52-year old man no longer wears a goatee.

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Priest accused of abuse has served on North Shore

MASSACHUSETTS
Salem News

By Tom Dalton Staff writer

The Plymouth priest who is accused of sexually abusing a child three decades ago served at three parishes on the North Shore.

The Rev. James E. Braley, longtime pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Plymouth, also served at parishes in Salem, Lynn and Marblehead.

He was assigned to St. James Parish, Salem, from 1986 to ’90; St. Mary’s, Lynn, from 1990 to ’94; and Our Lady Star of the Sea, Marblehead, in 1994, according to the Archdiocese of Boston.

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Former deacon, teacher gets three years for sex abuse of children

CANADA
The Record

CAMBRIDGE — Denouncing the former church deacon for preying on innocent children to satisfy his sexual cravings, a judge on Monday sentenced Chesley Petten to three years in penitentiary.

Justice John Lynch said appeal courts have stressed the need to impose stiff sentences in such cases to denounce the sexual molestation of children.

Petten, 49, had pleaded guilty to one count of sexual interference and two counts of sexual exploitation involving three boys aged 11 to 15 from 1991 to 2007.

Petten was a deacon at Temple Baptist Church and a teacher at Temple Christian Academy in Cambridge. He was forced to resign as deacon in 1995 after one victim’s mother found her son with a pornographic movie Petten had given him.

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Ex-pastor facing more charges

NEVADA
Mohave Daily News

LAS VEGAS (AP) — New charges allege that a fourth girl was victimized by a 55-year-old former pastor who has been accused of abusing girls in his storefront congregation under the guise of counseling, a Las Vegas prosecutor said Monday.

Known as Reverend Otis to members of his United Faith Church congregation, Otis Holland was arrested Jan. 25 in Tijuana, Mexico, after his disappearance a year ago was highlighted on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.”

The latest allegation says Holland abused a girl under the age of 14 at locations in Las Vegas, prosecutor James Sweetin said.

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Accountability, ‘fraternal correction’ for bishops

ROME
National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 13, 2012 NCR Today

ROME — Bishops and other church officials from around the English-speaking world have been meeting in a gathering called “The Anglophone Conference on the Safeguarding of Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults” since 1996, comparing notes and trying to identify best practices in fighting child sexual abuse.

This year’s gathering is taking place in Rome at the Domus Sanctae Martae, the $20 million hotel on Vatican grounds where cardinals stay when they gather to elect a pope.

Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, Australia, who’s served since 2006 as President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, is in Rome for the event this week. Over the years, Wilson has carved out a reputation as a “healing bishop” on the abuse scandals, and became the first Australian prelate to address the U.S. bishops when he was asked in 2002 to provide advice as the abuse crisis exploded in America.

Like many bishops, however, Wilson’s record has also come in for critical scrutiny. There have been complaints about two cases from his time as a vicar general in an Australian diocese in the 1980s which were allegedly mishandled, though in both instances, Wilson has denied wrongdoing.

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Vatican Sex Abuse Case Dropped: Jeffrey Anderson, Prominent Lawyer Dropped Lawsuit, Vatican Welcomed Decision

VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

By Alessandro Speciale
Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A prominent sex abuse lawyer has dropped a high-stakes lawsuit that sought to hold Pope Benedict XVI and other top church officials responsible for a clergy sexual abuse case.

The Vatican’s U.S. attorney, Jeffrey S. Lena, welcomed the decision to drop the suit on Friday (Feb. 10), saying the case was “held together by no more than a mendacious web of allegations of international conspiracy.”

The plaintiff’s attorney, Jeffrey Anderson, said the case was withdrawn as a consequence of progress in a separate court case involving the bankruptcy bid of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

The case involved the victims of the late Rev. Lawrence Murphy, a priest who was accused of molesting some 200 boys at the Milwaukee-area St. John’s School for the Deaf between 1950 and 1974.

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Vatican’s lawyer says abuse suit was withdrawn to avoid loss

CALIFORNIA
Catholic News Agency

Berkeley, Calif., Feb 13, 2012 / 07:29 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The withdrawal of a sex abuse lawsuit against the Holy See which tarnished the reputation of Pope Benedict XVI and added to a worldwide media controversy in Lent of 2010 shows the case had no legal merit, the Holy See’s U.S. lawyer Jeffrey Lena says.

“They withdrew because they knew that they would lose the case if they continued to pursue it. They did not want a negative ruling from the court,” Lena told CNA on Feb. 13.

He charged that the lawsuit’s initial prominence was an example of “the use of the judicial system to generate a media event.”

“In my view, the victim was used to promote a legally unsustainable attack on the Holy See,” Lena remarked.

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His Eminence in Denial

NEW YORK
The New York Times

Ten years ago, Cardinal Edward Egan, then the leader of the New York archdiocese, famously apologized to his parishioners for the church’s failure to deal with priests who abused children. Now, three years after his retirement, he suddenly feels moved to renounce that courageous move.

“I never should have said that,” Cardinal Egan said in a combative interview with Connecticut magazine in which he offered a heartless and bewildering defense of his time as bishop in Bridgeport, Conn. Court records and the church’s lay investigation showed him at fault in covering up the scandal and protecting rogue priests accused of abusing children.

“I don’t think we did anything wrong,” Cardinal Egan declared. He accused the news media of exaggerating the scandal, despite the American church’s admission of culpability in having to dismiss 700 suspect priests across a three-year period. “The fact that sex abuse becomes overpowering in people’s eyes, that’s a part of life,” said the cardinal. He maintained there was no obligation to report abusive priests, although the American hierarchy promised to do so and Connecticut law has long required it.

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Trial begins for priest in sex abuse lawsuit

CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee

By Sue Nowicki
snowicki@modbee.com

The Rev. Michael Kelly’s trial in a civil lawsuit over complaints of sexually abusing a boy in the mid-1980s will open today in the San Joaquin County Courthouse in Stockton.

Kelly, pastor of St. Joachim in Lockeford, was accused by a man who is now in his late 30s of molesting him in his family’s Stockton home in 1984-86. John Manly, a Southern California attorney who specializes in such cases, is representing the plaintiff. He previously described his client as a “young father, an officer in the military, someone that you’d be proud to have live next door to you.”

Manly said the lawsuit comes as a result of “repressed memories” that were recalled in 2006.

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Diocese faces questions over its response to abuse-claims priest

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

Published on Tuesday 14 February 2012

A CATHOLIC diocese which said it ordained a priest without knowing he had previously been sacked for sexual abuse of boys did not inform police even when it became aware of the dismissal.

Middlesbrough Diocese said it decided to await the outcome of an “extensive investigation” by Humberside Police into former staff at the St William’s children’s home rather than proactively tell detectives about Father Joseph O’Brien.

Humberside Police’s inquiry was later heavily criticised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission for failing to follow up potential lines of inquiry.

The police probe ended without any investigation into Father O’Brien.

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Prosecutors in priests’ case say judge still impartial

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
Inquirer Staff Writer

Prosecutors in the child sex-abuse and endangerment trial of three Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests say defense lawyers “distorted” a judge’s remarks last week in a misguided bid to oust her from the case.

In a motion Monday, the assistant district attorneys disputed that Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina forfeited her impartiality when she said anyone who doubted there was “widespread” child abuse in the Catholic church “is living on another planet.”

Lawyers for Msgr. William J. Lynn asked Sarmina to step down, citing her remark as proof she “harbors a firm predisposed opinion” against the church.

But Assistant District Attorneys Mariana Sorensen and Patrick Blessington said the lawyers, Thomas Bergstrom and Jeffrey Lindy, misrepresented the judge’s comments.

“The court merely stated the obvious – that the problem of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church had been worldwide,” they wrote.

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Exclusive: Church probes how priest was ordained after abuse sacking

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

By Rob Waugh
Published on Tuesday 14 February 2012

THE Roman Catholic church is to launch an inquiry into how it dealt with allegations surrounding a priest who was ordained despite being previously sacked for sexually abusing boys at a Yorkshire children’s home.

Last year the Yorkshire Post revealed how Father Joseph O’Brien was able to become a priest despite his dismissal from the St William’s home in Market Weighton and claims that further allegations surfaced after he joined the clergy.

He died in 2010 without Humberside Police or the regional Catholic diocese investigating his activities, despite both being made aware of his history.

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Plymouth priest denies sexual abuse allegation

PLYMOUTH (MA)
Enterprise

By Fred Hanson
The Patriot Ledger

Posted Feb 14, 2012

PLYMOUTH —

The lawyer for the Rev. James Braley, a Plymouth priest accused of sexual misconduct, said his client “denies any wrongdoing whatsoever.”

The Archdiocese of Boston announced Sunday that the Rev. Braley, who has been the pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in West Plymouth for a decade, has been placed on administrative leave. The archdiocese took the action after it received an allegation of sexual abuse of a child.

In its statement, the archdiocese said the allegation concerns conduct that took place in the early 1980s.

Ordained in 1975, the Rev. Braley served as chaplain at Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree from 1981 to 1986.

Sullivan said he has not been able to meet with investigators from the archdiocese to review the specifics, and only has “very general” knowledge of the allegation.

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February 13, 2012

US clergy sex abuse case against Vatican dropped

UNITED STATES
AFP

CHICAGO — A civil lawsuit launched in the United States seeking to tie the Vatican and the Pope to an alleged decades-long cover-up of clergy sex abuse has been dropped, the plaintiff’s lawyer said.

The suit was filed in 2010 on behalf of an unnamed victim of an alleged serial pedophile priest called Father Lawrence Murphy, who is accused of molesting up to 200 boys at a school for the deaf in Wisconsin.

It came a month after the victim’s lawyer released documents showing that Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was made aware of the allegations against Murphy in 1996 but took no action.

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More child sex charges filed in Vegas against former pastor already charged in Henderson

NEVADA
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: February 13, 2012

LAS VEGAS — A 55-year-old fugitive former pastor is facing more felony child sex assault charges stemming from allegations he abused a fourth girl in his Las Vegas congregation under the guise of counseling.

Otis Holland’s public defender, Jeff Maningo, declined comment about the case Monday following a brief hearing before a Las Vegas judge.

Prosecutor James Sweetin says the new charges stem from allegations that Holland abused a girl under the age of 14 at locations in Las Vegas .

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Diocese Fights Suit Over Alleged 1950s Sex Abuse

SEATTLE (WA)
Courthouse News Service

By JUNE WILLIAMS

SEATTLE (CN) – The alleged victim of a pedophile priest asked the 9th Circuit to ignore the statute of limitations and revive his case against Portland’s archdiocese and archbishop.

While presiding at St. Charles Church in Portland, Ore., the Rev. Maurice Grammond allegedly sexually abused the anonymous plaintiff when he was a young parishioner in the late 1950s.

In 2000, the archdiocese issued an apology and settled a lawsuit with 25 men who claimed Grammond molested them. But John Doe says he didn’t come to terms with his abuse and history of depression until an “epiphany” in late 2007 or early 2008.

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Eine Lehre für die Welt

DEUTSCHLAND
Bundesregierung Aktuell

10.02.2012 | sueddeutsche.de

Die katholische Kirche zieht demütig wichtige Schlüsse aus den Missbrauchs-Skandalen Einen ‘Meilenstein’ hat Bischof Stephan Ackermann, der Beauftragte für Missbrauchsfragen der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, genannt, was in…Weiter lesen…

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El Vaticano destituyó a tres sacerdotes colombianos por pederastia

COLOMBIA
Radio Santa Fe

Los tres religiosos ya están en la cárcel, confirmó el secretario de la Conferencia Episcopal, Monseñor Juan Vicente Córdoba.

El alto prelado informó que el Papa Benedicto XVI, después de evaluar y estudiar denuncias por pederastia, cometidas en nuestro país, se determinó, retirar del ejercicio eclesiástico a los sacerdotes.

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Vaticano destituyó a tres sacerdotes en Colombia por pederastia

COLOMBIA
RCN Radio

El secretario de la Conferencia Episcopal, Monseñor Juan Vicente Córdoba, informó que el Papa Benedicto XVI, después de evaluar y estudiar denuncias por pederastia, cometidas en nuestro país, se determinó, retirar del ejercicio eclesiástico a tres sacerdotes, quienes ya se encuentran en la cárcel.

Los religiosos responden por el delito de acto sexual abusivo, agresión que se castiga hasta con 20 años de prisión.

Actualmente en los tribunales eclesiásticos, trabajan en nuevos procesos. Los miembros de la Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe en Roma, evalúan la posibilidad de expulsar del ejercicio sacerdotal a otros dos sacerdotes colombianos que estarían al parecer involucrados con actos de abuso sexual.

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Kolumbien: Drei Priester wegen Missbrauchs laisiert

KOLUMBIEN
kath.net (Deutschland)

Bogota (kath.net/KNA) Wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs hat der Vatikan drei Priester in Kolumbien in den Laienstand versetzt. Wie die Bischofskonferenz des Landes mitteilte, verhängten staatliche Gerichte gegen die drei Geistlichen bereits mehrjährige Haftstrafen wegen der gleichen Delikte. Der Generalsekretär der Kolumbianischen Bischofskonferenz, Bischof Juan Vicente Cordoba, bestätigte dem TV-Sender RCN, gegen zwei weitere Priester liefen kirchliche Ermittlungen.

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Katholische Kirche darf “Kinderficker-Sekte” genannt werden

DEUTSCHLAND
Law Blog

Die katholische Kirche darf als “Kinderficker-Sekte” bezeichnet werden – zumindest in der aktuell laufenden Debatte über die Missbrauchsfälle in dieser Religionsgemeinschaft. Ein Debatteneintrag mit so einer Aussage sei nicht geeignet, den öffentlichen Frieden zu stören, befand nun eine Berliner Amtsrichterin. Sie lehnte die Eröffnung des Hauptverfahrens gegen den Blogger Jörg Kantel ab, den die Staatsanwaltschaft wegen Gotteslästerung angeklagt hatte.

Kantel hatte die katholische Kirche in seinem Blog Schockwellenreiter als “Kinderficker-Sekte” bezeichnet. Eine Beschimpfung vermochte die Richterin sicherlich noch zu erkennen. Aber eben nicht, dass die Äußerung geeignet ist, den öffentlichen Frieden zu stören – dies jedoch verlangt das Gesetz ausdrücklich.

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Aufdecken und Aufarbeiten

DEUTSCHLAND
dradio

[mit Audio]

Von Mathhias Gierth, Deutschlandfunk

Der Missbrauchsskandal hält die katholische Kirche seit Jahren fest im Griff. Immer ungeheuerlichere Einzelheiten kamen in zahlreichen Ländern und Kontinenten an den Tag. Es sind erschütternde Details von Verbrechen an Kindern, Jugendlichen, Schutzbefohlenen.

Jene, die besonderer Fürsorge und Zuwendung bedurft hätten, die Kleinsten, wurden Opfer verantwortungsloser Kleriker und kirchlicher Mitarbeiter. Das Neue Testament hält dafür nur eine Warnung bereit: “Wer einen von diesen Kleinen, die an mich glauben, zum Bösen verführt”, heißt es im Lukasevangelium, “für den wäre es besser, wenn er mit einem Mühlstein um den Hals im tiefen Meer versenkt würde.”

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Bistum Trier: Merkwürdige Prioritäten bei Missbrauch

DEUTSCHLAND
Skydaddy’s Blog

Obwohl die Leitlinien der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz dies vorsehen, hat der Trierer Bischof Ackermann einem Priester, gegen den wegen Missbrauchs eines Messdieners ermittelt wurde, nicht den weiteren Umgang mit Minderjährigen verboten. Stattdessen wurde der Priester auch noch in einem Wohnheim für geistig und psychisch Kranke eingesetzt. Das Kirchenrecht stellt diese in Bezug auf sexuellen Missbrauch Minderjährigen gleich.

Gestern berichtete ich darüber, dass im Bistum Trier ein Priester, gegen den ein kirchliches Verfahren wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs läuft, in einem Wohnstift für geistig und psychisch Kranke tätig war. Er sollte dort Messen zelebrieren und war auch an einer Adventsfeier mit Kindern beteiligt.

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Die Opfer kommen immer ganz zu Schluss

DEUTSCHLAND
Nicht Spurlos

Kindesmissbrauch ist so ziemlich das Schandvollste was ich mir vorstellen kann. Erst recht dann wenn der Missbrauch von Menschen vollzogen wird denen sowohl die Kinder als auch deren Eltern ein besonders hohes Vertrauen entgegen bringen – Priestern. Der Schaden der den Kindern zugefügt wird ist zeitlich nicht begrenzt und zieht sich durch deren ganzes Leben. Erst recht dann wenn die Taten unaufgedeckt bleiben, was gar nicht so selten der Fall ist.

Wenn Missbrauchsfälle ans Tageslicht kommen landen diese meistens bei den Medien und somit in der Öffentlichkeit. “Meistens” deswegen weil es immer wieder zu Vertuschungsaktionen seitens der Kirche kommt die dieses Thema am liebsten komplett totschweigen würde. An eventuell vom Bistum ausgesprochene Kontaktverbote zu Kindern und Jugendlichen halten sich die Täter nicht immer. Und so kommt es zum Missbrauch von Kindern der ggf. über Jahrzehnte fortgesetzt wird.

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„Ein Entschädigungs-Bluff“

DEUTSCHLAND
Streiflichter

Dülmen. Christina Stadie aus Dülmen und Gregor Ter Heide aus Osnabrück verfassten gemeinsam die Beschwerde an das Bundesverfassungsgericht für hunderttausende Opfer von Willkür, Zwang und Gewalt in der Heimerziehung zwischen 1949 und 1975. Der Beschwerdeführer ist Friedhelm Münter aus Dülmen, der am 24. November 2011 persönlich nach Karlsruhe gefahren ist. Mit ihm, der als Kind und Jugendlicher hautnahe Erfahrungen als Kinderheimkind machen musste, sprach Streiflichter-Mitarbeiter Reimund Menninghaus (siehe auch Seite 2):

Streiflichter: Herr Münter, Sie haben am 24. November vergangenen Jahres beim Bundesverfassungsgericht in Karlsruhe eine Verfassungsbeschwerde gegen die Bundesrepublik Deutschland eingereicht. Können sie uns kurz den Grund und den Inhalt Ihrer Beschwerde mitteilen?

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Remember the Abusers?

UNITED STATES
Rail Bender

Now that we’ve had a recent surge in political rhetoric regarding religious freedoms and morality, I think it’s important to remind everyone exactly who it is that has been crying, “religious persecution”. In no uncertain terms, those in the media, current politicians, and the general public need to remember that the people that continue to dictate what is, and what is not moral are in fact the ones that are sexual deviants – NOT the rest of us.

Religious leaders and religious apologists, particularly in the Catholic church, have been flexing their political muscle over the past 10 days or so, in a struggle against providing health insurance coverage for contraception. And of course they have plenty of conservative bedfellows, who aren’t even Catholic themselves, that are willing to wage political warfare while they continue to NOT practice what they preach. Now I realize that I have a cynical worldview when it comes to both politics and religion, but what this collective group of misogynists is trying to do is beyond reprehensible.

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Pedofilia: domani a Genova via al processo per don Seppia

ITALIA
La Repubblica

Si apre domani a Genova, di fronte al gup Roberta Bossi, il processo in abbreviato a don Riccardo Seppia, arrestato nel maggio scorso per avere offerto droga e chiesto prestazioni sessuali a un ragazzo minorenne e avere molestato sessualmente un chierichetto. L’ex sacerdote della parrocchia dello Spirito Santo di Sestri Ponente, risponde di tentata violenza sessuale pluriaggravata per i palpeggiamenti al chierichetto, plrurime offerte di cocaina, anche a minori, offerta di cocaina al complice e amico Emanuele Alfano, tentata induzione alla prostituzione minorile e detenzione di materiale pedopornografico. Don Seppia e’ difeso dall’avvocato Paolo Bonanni.

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Cuñada de Karadima pidió que dejen en paz a su familia

CHILE
La Segunda

Marta Iturriaga, cuñada de Fernando Karadima, sacerdote sancionado por la Iglesia dibido a abusos sexuales, pidió a través de una carta enviada a la sección de Opinión de El Mercurio, que los medios de comunicación dejen en paz a su familia.

La mujer es casada con Jorge, hermano mayor del ex párroco de El Bosque, dijo ser parte de la familia Karadima hace 60 años y conocer bien a los hermanos del sacerdote que se han visto afectados por los titulares de prensa.

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Familia de Karadima acusa “ensañamiento” y asegura que han sufrido mucho

CHILE
Emol

SANTIAGO.- A través de una carta a El Mercurio que hizo llegar Marta Iturriaga Bührle, esposa del hermano mayor del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, la familia del clérigo condenado por abusos sexuales le pidió a los periodistas y a los medios en general que se pusieran por un momento en la situación de los parientes del ex párroco de la Iglesia de El Bosque y todo lo que han sufrido con la exposición mediática de este caso.

En la publicación la cuñada del religioso expresa que “quisiera que los señores periodistas, en general, se pusieran por un momento en el lugar de los seis hermanos del padre Fernando Karadima (todos ellos de la tercera edad, a quienes conozco, quiero y respeto desde hace más de 60 años. Soy parte de ellos, estoy felizmente casada desde hace casi 56 años con el mayor, Jorge)”.

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Leaks undermine Pope’s Vatican clean-up: Cardinal

VATICAN CITY
Straits Times (Singapore)

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – A top Cardinal condemned on Monday the leaking of confidential Vatican documents, which he said were undoing the Pope’s efforts to clean up the its image after a spate of sex abuse scandals.

‘Those who do these things provoke confusion among the Catholic faithful.

They damage the Church’s image,’ said Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

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GENOA TRIAL AGAINST PAEDOPHILE PRIEST KICKS OFF TOMORROW

ITALY
AGI

16:50 13 FEB 2012

(AGI) Genoa – Genoa Courts are to hold the first hearing in the trial against father Riccardo Seppia tomorrow. Seppia was arrested last May after he tried to entice a minor into having sex in exchange for cocaine. The priest is also accused of molesting an altar boy at his former parish in Sestri Ponente.

He is currently charged with multiple rape attempts, with offering drugs and attempting to prostitute a minor, and with possessing paedophile pornography.

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Il vescovo Lafranconi indagato dalla Procura

ITALIA
Il Secolo XIX

Savona – Non avrebbe impedito a un parroco della propria diocesi di commettere abusi sessuali su minori e su almeno altre quattro-cinque vittime. È questa la grave accusa contestata a monsignor Dante Lafranconi, attualmente vescovo di Cremona, ma dal 1991 al 2001 alla guida della curia di Savona e Noli. L’alto prelato secondo la procura savonese avrebbe omesso di segnalare ai suoi diretti superiori le morbose attenzioni di almeno due preti nei confronti di ragazzini di cui avrebbero dovuto occuparsi e che sono stati condannati per pedofilia (don Barbacini) e abusi sessuali (don Giraudo). E come recita il secondo comma dell’articolo 40 del codice penale «non avrebbe impedito un evento, che si ha l’obbligo giuridico di impedire, equivale a cagionarlo».

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«Tacque sui preti pedofili» Accuse al vescovo Lafranconi

ITALIA
Corriere della Sera

CREMONA – Ha suscitato clamore in città la notizia, rimbalzata dalla Liguria, che il vescovo Dante Lafranconi è stato indagato dalla Procura di Savona perché avrebbe taciuto e omesso di segnalare ai suoi superiori casi di pedofilia da parte di due sacerdoti savonesi, successivamente condannati. Gli episodi risalgono agli anni Novanta, quando monsignor Lafranconi, ora a Cremona, reggeva la diocesi di Savona-Noli. È la prima volta che viene rivelato il nome dell’ alto prelato. La magistratura savonese, vista la delicatezza dell’ argomento, era riuscita a mantenere il riserbo più assoluto durante le indagini, avviate in seguito alle denunce di una delle vittime dei preti pedofili savonesi, Francesco Zanardi, che ha fondato il movimento «Democrazia Atea» il cui obbiettivo è quello di smascherare la pedofilia nell’ ambito della Chiesa. Dopo un’ inchiesta approfondita e il rinvio a giudizio, il tribunale aveva condannato Don Giorgio Barbacini a tre anni per pedofilia, mentre l’ altro prete savonese, don Nello Giraudo, aveva patteggiato un anno per abusi sessuali.

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Billy Baldwin Film Targeted by Sex Abuse Victims Over Locale

FLORIDA
ABC News

[with video]

By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES

Feb. 13, 2012

Advocates for sex abuse victims have called on actor Billy Baldwin and his production company to cancel plans to film a movie on the grounds of a Florida evangelical church that was scarred by a child molestation scandal.

Baldwin, 48, and the brother of actor Alec Baldwin, is set to shoot the film, “Blind Faith,” on the campus of Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, where its founder, Robert “Bob” Gray Jr., was alleged to have molested more than 20 young children in the 1970s and 1980s.

Gray was arrested in 2006, but died at age 81 before he could be prosecuted. For 38 years, ending in 1992, when he fled the country, he led the church and its Trinity Christian Academy, where his accusers were elementary students or parishioners.

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Omissione su abusi, cade l’accusa a Lafranconi

ITALIA
La Provincia

SAVONA – La procura della Repubblica di Savona ha chiesto l’archiviazione per il vescovo di Cremona Dante Lafranconi in relazione alla vicenda degli abusi sessuali addebitati a due preti della diocesi di Savona e Noli. I fatti risalgono alla fine degli anni Novanta, quando il presule reggeva quella chiesa diocesana.

Per quel che riguarda Lafranconi, le attenzioni dei magistrati savonesi si sono concentrate su un aspetto delicatissimo della vicenda: l’ipotesi che l’allora vescovo della terza città ligure non avesse dato seguito a condotte in grado di impedire quel che è stato contestato ai religiosi, poi ritenuti responsabili (uno di pedofilia, l’altro di violenza sessuale).

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Pedofilia, Zanardi: “Come associazione vittime ci opporremo all’archiviazione per l’ex Vescovo

ITALIA
IVG

Savona. “In riferimento alle dichiarazioni di mons. Lafranconi e mons. Calcagno apparse su alcuni media locali oggi, preciso che due giorni fa è stata notificata all’associazione, dalla Procura della Repubblica di Savona, la richiesta di archiviazione”. Così il portavoce della Rete L’abuso Francesco Zanardi commenta il caso dell’indagine aperta a carico dell’ex Vescovo di Savona accusato di aver “coperto” alcuni casi di pedofilia, ma che starebbe per chiudersi.

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L’ex vescovo di Savona Lafranconi indagato dalla Procura

ITALIA
Savona News

Non avrebbe impedito a un parroco della propria diocesi di commettere abusi sessuali su minori e su almeno altre quattro-cinque vittime. È questa la grave accusa contestata a monsignor Dante Lafranconi, attualmente vescovo di Cremona, ma dal 1991 al 2001 alla guida della curia di Savona e Noli. L’alto prelato secondo la procura savonese avrebbe omesso di segnalare ai suoi diretti superiori le morbose attenzioni di almeno due preti nei confronti di ragazzini di cui avrebbero dovuto occuparsi e che sono stati condannati per pedofilia (don Barbacini) e abusi sessuali (don Giraudo). E come recita il secondo comma dell’articolo 40 del codice penale «non avrebbe impedito un evento, che si ha l’obbligo giuridico di impedire, equivale a cagionarlo».

Trattandosi però di episodi risalente alla fine degli anni ‘90, il procuratore della Repubblica Francantonio Granero e il sostituto Giovanni Battista Ferro hanno avanzato al gip richiesta di archiviazione per prescrizione degli eventuali reati commessi dal Pastore della diocesi savonese.

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The Church in Japan fights abuse

VATICAN CITY/JAPAN
Vatican Insider

The Land of the Rising Sun is one of the Asian countries most committed to drafting measures to stop paedophile priests

GIACOMO GALEAZZI
Vatican City

The Japanese model against child abuse. Japan is the Asian country most committed to developing procedures against sexual abuse by priests in order to comply with the Holy See’s anti-paedophilia directives. Unlike the rest of the continent, the Church in the Land of the Rising Sun is passing measures to prevent and counter paedophilia in line with the “zero tolerance” requested by the Vatican.

The Japanese Catholic Church is a small but noble organisation. It does not live to excess, there are no driving forces or careerist prelates within its ranks, it is governed by an episcopal conference used to obeying Rome and that does not seek the limelight. The head of its bishops – the archbishop of Tokyo, Peter Takeo Okada – is a quiet, reserved person. It’s thanks to his discreet but efficient leadership that one of the problems that currently has a particular stranglehold on the Church all over the world is being approached in a positive way that is universally valid in this country.

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Bishops get earful at Vatican sex abuse summit

ROME
National Catholic Reporter

Feb. 13, 2012
By John L Allen Jr

ROME — Though a four-day summit in Rome on the sexual abuse crisis was, in a sense, directed at everyone, its primary audience was composed of approximately 100 bishops and superiors of religious orders from around the world, who face a Vatican-imposed May deadline to submit their anti-abuse policies.

As it turns out, those church potentates got an earful.

First, they were told, if you come from a place where you think sexual abuse of children isn’t a problem, think again. Experts said child abuse occurs at roughly the same high levels in every region of the world, so that if the clerical abuse crisis has not yet exploded someplace, it’s only a matter of time.

Second, the bishops were warned, if you drop the ball on handling abuse charges, be ready to face the music. There seems to be a new determination in the Vatican and across the Catholic world to use the tools of church law to hold bishops accountable.

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Leaked letters reveal Viganò’s complaints of corruption

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Feb. 13, 2012
By John L Allen Jr

ROME — Both in Washington and in Rome, leaking supposedly confidential material is high art. Conventional wisdom in both places, therefore, holds that you should never write anything down you’d be uncomfortable seeing in the newspapers.

As a veteran Roman now living in Washington, Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has fresh occasion these days to take that wisdom to heart.

Named last October as Pope Benedict XVI’s new nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States, Viganò found himself in the eye of a media storm in late January, triggered in Italy by leaks of confidential letters he wrote to the pope complaining of alleged financial cronyism and corruption in the Vatican.

As the Vatican’s former point man for financial reform, Viganò reportedly warned Benedict that his exit from that position, either to Washington or anyplace else, would send exactly the wrong signal.

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“Monsignors’ mutiny” revealed by Vatican leaks

VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY | Mon Feb 13, 2012

(Reuters) – Call it Conspiracy City. Call it Scandal City. Call it Leak City. These days the holy city has been in the news for anything but holy reasons.

“It is a total mess,” said one high-ranking Vatican official who spoke, like all others, on the condition of anonymity.

The Machiavellian manoeuvring and machinations that have come to light in the Vatican recently are worthy of a novel about a sinister power struggle at a mediaeval court.

Senior church officials interviewed this month said almost daily embarrassments that have put the Vatican on the defensive could force Pope Benedict to act to clean up the image of its administration – at a time when the church faces a deeper crisis of authority and relevance in the wider world.

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February 12, 2012 – Archdiocese of Boston Places Rev. James E Braley on Administrative Leave

MASSACHUSETTS
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston

For Immediate Release
Contact: Kellyanne Dignan
kdignan@rasky.com
617.803.3444

(Braintree, Mass.) February 12, 2012…The Archdiocese of Boston today announced that it has placed Rev. James E Braley on administrative leave as a result of receiving an allegation of sexual abuse of a child. Fr. Braley is the Pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Plymouth. The allegation concerns conduct alleged to have occurred in the early 1980s.

The Archdiocese immediately notified law enforcement of the allegation and has initiated a preliminary investigation into the complaint. Fr. Braley will remain on administrative leave pending the outcome of the preliminary investigation. The decision to place Fr. Braley on administrative leave represents the Archdiocese’s commitment to the welfare of all parties and does not represent a determination of Fr. Braley’s guilt or innocence as it pertains to this allegation. The Archdiocese will work to resolve this case as expeditiously as possible and in a manner that is fair to all parties. Further, the Archdiocese is making arrangements for the ongoing pastoral care of the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish community. Fr. William Williams, Pastor of St Peter’s Parish in Plymouth has been named administrator and will be assisted by Fr. Jack Schatzel, the Pastor Emeritus of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

“We remain committed to doing everything possible to ensure the safety and well-being of children and young people in our parishes and institutions,” stated Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley. “I am very grateful to Bishop John Dooher, who on my behalf visited the parishioners of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish to offer prayers and support. I know the faithful and the clergy of the Archdiocese join me in this pledge of prayerful support.”

Through its Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach, the Archdiocese continues to make counseling and other services available to survivors, their families and parishes impacted by clergy sexual abuse and by allegations of abuse by members of the clergy. Cardinal Seán encourages any person in need of pastoral assistance or support to contact the Archdiocese’s Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach by calling (781) 794-2581.

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Plymouth priest in sex abuse rap

PLYMOUTH (MA)
Boston Herald

By Chris Cassidy
Monday, February 13, 2012

The Boston archdiocese suspended a Plymouth priest yesterday over a child sex abuse allegation from the early 1980s.

The Rev. James E. Braley, the pastor of the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston announced yesterday.

A spokeswoman refused to disclose where the alleged abuse took place or any other details of the allegations, citing victim privacy concerns.

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Eastbourne brothers speak of church sex abuse ordeal

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Two brothers have spoken of the repeated abuse they were subjected to by an East Sussex Anglican priest and their fight for justice.

Phil and Gary Johnson from Eastbourne were abused by the Reverend Roy Cotton, who worked for the Diocese of Chichester, in the 1970s and 1980s.

Cotton, who died in 2006, was ordained in 1966 despite having a conviction for indecently assaulting a choirboy in the 1950s.

“It was prolonged – it went on for years and years,” said Phil Johnson.

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Wisconsin court case dismissal “enormously important”

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

[with audio]

Attorneys for the victim in a Wisconsin sex abuse case voluntarily withdrew a lawsuit against the Holy See on Friday, in which Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinals Tarcisio Bertone and Angelo Sodano, the Secretary of State and Secretary of State-emeritus, respectively, were named as defendants.

“I think it is enormously important that this case is not longer on the docket, because this was the case centred on revelations about Father Lawrence Murphy who allegedly abused almost 200 kids at a school for the deaf in the Milwaukee area from 1950 until 1974,” said John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.

“This was the case that triggered the global media firestorm in early 2010 that led to a very incendiary front page piece in the New York Times suggesting that the Vatican and Pope Benedict had failed to respond aggressively to the crisis, and really did galvanize and shift public perceptions in very important ways,” he told Vatican Radio. “So that fact that this case has now in a sense died on the vine does mark the end of what has been a very important chapter in this story.”

Attorney for the Holy See, Jeffrey S. Lena called the original claim “outworn and discredited” in a statement released on Friday.

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Cloyne Report priest threatens legal action against texters and complainants

IRELAND
Irish Central

By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Monday, February 13, 2012

A priest at the centre of the Cloyne Report’s largest chapter is the latest cleric to threaten legal action against his accusers.

The priest – referred to as Fr Ronat in the lengthy report into clerical sex abuse in the Cork diocese – has made threats to sue several people including victims who have texted him.

A report in the Irish Independent states that the priest has made contact with police and is considering the legal action.

He has complained to police of a ‘two-year campaign of personal abuse’ which included public cries of ‘paedophile’ in his direction.

But one alleged victim has already told the priest ‘See you in court’.

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Confession, Not Prosecution, For Bishop Who Let Alleged Abusive Priest Off the Hook

MISSOURI
Ms. Magazine

November 16, 2011 by Julie Cain

Ms. Blog readers will recall the recent indictment of Bishop Robert Finn of the Kansas City (Mo.)-St. Joseph’s Catholic diocese, making him the most superior member of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. to be charged with a crime related to abuse by priests. The misdemeanor charge against Finn is that he failed to report that a priest under his jurisdiction, Shawn Ratigan, had pornographic pictures of young girls on his computer.

But that news has now been followed by this: Bishop Finn has made a pact with the prosecuting attorney of Clay County, Mo., Daniel White, in an effort to avoid prosecution on the misdemeanor or face further charges.

The New York Times reported that, for the next five years, Bishop Finn will meet on a monthly basis with a county prosecutor to report all and any suspicious activity regarding priests and sexual abuse. Terms of the contract state that if the bishop breaks the contract of this diversion program, the misdemeanor charges could be imposed.

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Catholic Priest Allegedly Told Child He Was Raping That ‘This Is What God’s Love Feels Like’

UNITED STATES
Addicting Info

By Stephen D. Foster Jr.

The Catholic Church has thrown a temper tantrum over contraceptives, abortion, and homosexuality over the last few years. Catholic bishops and priests have gone on the offensive, crusading against what they call sin, immorality, and abomination of the word of God. But the Catholic Church can’t seem to clean up its own act. Over the years, child molestation and rape scandals have rocked the Catholic Church. But instead of dealing with the problem, many in the Catholic hierarchy have largely ignored the scandal and some priests have tried to use their religious affiliations to escape justice or use God to justify their actions. The horrendous scandal has now hit California, where 200 Catholic priests have been accused of sexually abusing children.

Ray Boucher is the attorney at the helm of this investigation and he says that not only have “many if not all” of the 200 priests admit to sexually abusing children, “they live within a mile of 1,500 playgrounds, schools and daycare centers” across California. You heard that right. 200 priests that are under investigation for sexually abusing children live near areas where children play and learn.

According to NBC Los Angeles, one victim has detailed the tragic incident of a priest raping him. Dan Smith told NBC, “He would rape me and then say this is what God’s love feels like.” Sick isn’t it? Smith was just one of 500 people who joined together to sue the Los Angeles Archdiocese for sexual molestation.

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Priest suspended for failure to report alleged sexual assault

MICHIGAN
Digital Journal

By Arthur Weinreb
Feb 13, 2012

Mount Clemens – The Michigan pastor was suspended for failing to report an allegation that a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in the basement of a Mount Clemens, Michigan church.

The announcement of the suspension was made yesterday by Bishop Michael Brynes of the Archdiocese of Detroit. Byrnes’ statement was read at all Sunday Masses conducted in the parish.

The alleged sexual assault took place in December in the basement of St. Peter Parish church. In his statement, the bishop expressed regret and apologized to the 14-year-old girl. He also reached out the the girl and her family.

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Diocese investigating former Waterville priest

MAINE
Morning Sentinel

PORTLAND — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is investigating a retired Maine priest for “reported incidents” of abuse between 1982 and 1986, according to a press release distributed Saturday by the church.

The church did not elaborate on the incidents, but retired Father Antonin “Tony” Caron has a history of disciplinary and legal troubles.

Caron was a priest at Notre Dame in Waterville shortly after his ordination as a priest in 1969; he served in Waterville for about six months, according to Father Joseph Daniels of Corpus Christi Parish.

In March 2000, the church suspended Caron for several months for involvement with a now-defunct website for gay clergymen.

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A snapshot of Karen Polesir, SNAP’s local director

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

KAREN POLESIR stands in the kitchen in her cozy one-bedroom Ambler apartment, the kettle boiling for English tea, as her cat, Harley, sits perched on a chair at the table, a scrunchie around her neck, as if she’s a toddler waiting for cake.

“She’s like a dog,” says Polesir. “She loves hair ties. I throw them across the floor and she brings them back to me.”

The name Harley seems more suited for a crazed pitbull, but here’s how Polesir explains the name for her tortoise-shell cat with piercing, sea-green eyes who was abandoned on a doorstep: “She purrs like an engine.”

Given that Polesir is director of the Philadelphia chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), you’d expect her to be reflective.

And yes, Polesir, 52, is serious when it comes to supporting people who have suffered years of torment after being molested by priests.

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Vatican conspiracy leaks attributed to ‘power struggle’

VATICAN CITY
The Irish Times

PADDY AGNEW in Rome

AN OUTSIDER could be forgiven for thinking that an unlikely troika of John Le Carré, Dan Brown and David Yallop has been writing current Vatican news reports.

In recent weeks, thanks to a series of apparently authentic leaked Holy See documents, we have moved from accusations of graft and corruption within the Vatican city-state to reports of an alleged “murder conspiracy” that would see Pope Benedict XVI dead by November of this year.

This latter “revelation”, contained in a document consigned last month to the Pope by Colombian cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, has been dismissed both by the Holy See and by the Archbishop of Palermo, Cardinal Paolo Romeo. Cardinal Romeo is alleged to have revealed the plot while on a visit to China last November.

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